AN: Here we go, another little chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Carol was working on preparing the food so that it would be ready to cook by the time that Daryl and Russ arrived for dinner. Thankfully Alice had been home all day and had agreed to pick up Sophia and get everything ready…otherwise Carol, who got home a little later than she'd planned from work, might have been stuck trying desperately to thaw chicken that could have caused major bodily harm to someone.
While Carol prepared the food she tried to dodge Sophia who was laughing and running back and forth between the kitchen and Alice's room where the woman was changing clothes and very obviously playing some sort of game that Carol wasn't entirely aware of the rules to.
"OK…good enough?" Alice asked, coming into the kitchen in overalls.
Carol looked at her and laughed.
"You're wearing make up?" Carol asked.
"Too much?" Alice asked, leaning against the counter.
"No…you look good," Carol said. "I just didn't expect you to be wearing make up."
"I figured if I'm going to meet this mystery guy you're all but u-hauling with, I might as well make a decent first impression…and Soph and I watched Alice in Wonderland today to refresh, but not the shitty cartoon…the real movie," Alice said, fumbling around.
She had set the living room up in a little tea party around the coffee table figuring that it might add something to her attempt to pretend to be the girl from the story. She'd made kool aid instead of tea and she had some cookies for Russ…and then she opened the box from the cabinet that had Sophia's favorite snack bars.
And the act drew Sophia's full attention so she ran to Alice, stretching herself to her full height, reaching up at Alice like she might climb her if given the chance.
"Addie! I eat cookie Addie! I eat that now! Thanks Addie thanks!" Sophia said, her voice bordering somewhere between excitement and possible future hysterics.
Carol glanced over her shoulder to make sure Alice didn't need back up. Alice leaned down.
"These are for the tea party…you get to eat it at the tea party with Russ," Alice said.
Carol knew before Sophia got upset that she was going to get upset. She didn't always understand "later" and she certainly didn't understand "at the tea party." All she knew was that she wasn't getting the snack that she wanted. She was being denied the treat that Alice had in her hand…and especially coming from Alice who gave her everything she wanted before she anticipated she wanted it, that was the ultimate betrayal.
And down she went to sit against the cabinet and cry at Alice's feet.
"Carol…" Alice started.
"Just give it to her," Carol said. "She's probably hungry and she might as well eat it now…"
"But then she won't have anything to eat when Russ is eating the cookies," Alice declared.
"So break it in half!" Carol responded. "You're supposed to be good at problem solving."
"Not when she's crying I'm not!" Alice responded.
But she must have broken the thing in half because Sophia, although she didn't immediately stop crying, thanked Alice and remained, sitting there on the floor, eating her treat while Alice scurried off to get rid of the evidence of the other half.
"I'm telling you," Carol called, washing her hands, and then teasing Sophia with her foot while she dried them, "you should have kids, Al."
Alice hooted at her as she came back into the kitchen.
"Yeah…that wouldn't happen even if I had any interest in men," Alice said. "Besides…didn't you promise me in college you were going to have one for me because I don't like all the gory details of it?"
Carol laughed.
"I did promise you that," Carol said. "But that was before I realized that if I'm putting nine months into the thing, I'm not giving it up."
"Some friend you are," Alice teased. "I was going to say that I could just keep Sophia and you can make more…"
"Oh," Carol responded. "Well…in that case…you can have Sophia…"
"Mmm…" Alice hummed. "Nah…she's already ruined. I want a fresh one."
Carol laughed and checked back over her scribbled down checklist to make sure that she had everything going the way she wanted it so that she could make sure it came off at more or less the time that she had planned.
When she heard the doorbell, she didn't even have to ask who it was and she silently congratulated herself on having everything so well timed.
"I'll get it," she declared, rushing to wash her hands.
"I was going to let you get it," Alice said. "I figured that you could maybe introduce us…something like that?"
Carol made her way to the door with Alice behind her, Sophia following the both of them with her fist and mouth both full of the snack she hadn't finished.
When she pulled open the door, Carol was pleased to see that Daryl was dressed nicely and smiling in anticipation of the gathering.
"Come on in!" Carol declared.
Daryl came through the door practically pushing Russ who, for one of the first times since Carol had known him, appeared to be speechless. She wondered if Daryl might have told him to be on his best behavior.
As soon as they were inside, though, Russ went immediately to Sophia.
"What's she eating?" Russ asked. "Can I have some? What is it?"
"Son!" Daryl barked, making Russ jump and look at him.
"It's OK," Carol said quickly. "She's eating cookies…well…her cookies…but we have special cookies for Russ."
Russ looked back at Daryl and Daryl shook his head with a sigh.
"Go ahead…" he said.
Alice leaned down near Russ then.
"I'm Alice," she said. "You must be Russ? I've heard about you…you want a cookie?"
Russ stared at her and then nodded his head, so she went to the little table where she'd set up the tea party for them and offered him one of the cookies. Carol heard him whisper something of a faint whisper while Alice came over and offered a hand in greeting to Daryl.
He shook it and Carol almost felt bad for him because he looked like he felt out of place.
"You want to sit?" Carol asked. "Alice has a little tea party set up for the kids…so you can play with them…or you're welcome to join me in the kitchen. I'm working on dinner."
Daryl didn't respond with words, but he nodded his head, not making it clear what he was nodding at until he started after her toward the kitchen.
She could hear Russ already breaking Alice in and both of them listened for a moment while she went back to her meal preparations.
"Are you…you're not the real Alice…because she's a little girl," Russ declared.
"I grew up," Alice said. "You'll grow up too one day, won't you? No…here…sit here…Soph…you want the other half of your cookie?"
"You don't look like Alice! She has blonde hair like my Anandrea," Russ declared.
Alice laughed.
"That's just Disney. They think it's OK to take my story and sell it with a little blonde haired, blue eyed girl…one day you'll understand that. Here…you like kool aid?" Alice asked.
Carol shook her head.
"She OK with the kids?" Daryl asked when she looked at him.
Carol nodded.
"She loves kids," Carol said. "She…says it's because she's still one…and there's a lot of truth in that. She'll be fine with them. I trust her completely with Sophia."
Daryl cleared his throat.
"That's sayin' a lot," he said. "Hell…half the time I ain't sure I trust Merle an' Andrea with Russ an' they damn near had him as much as I have."
Carol laughed lightly and joined Daryl at the table, giving the food the time it required.
"You're just saying that," she responded. "I know you trust them…and I think kids let you know who's good with them and who isn't."
Daryl hummed.
"Don't know," he said. "If it's true, reckon Russ ain't never been around nobody weren't good ta him, 'cause he ain't never complained…Sophia lets ya know?"
Carol shrugged and then nodded her head gently.
"She…uh…wasn't very fond of her father," Carol said. "She didn't say anything…obviously…but she didn't like to be around him. She didn't want him to hold her…you know? She just didn't want to be around him and he didn't want to be around her. I feel like that's about as close as she can come to saying she doesn't like to be around someone."
Daryl made a face and nodded his head.
"She's pretty easy ta get along with…hell she likes Merle," he said with a chuckle.
Carol smiled.
"He's not so bad," Carol said. "He seemed like he was good with her and Russ both…he'll be good with his kids."
Daryl smiled and then chewed at his lip.
"So this is where ya live," he remarked, looking around the kitchen.
Carol laughed.
"Well…not in the kitchen," she said. "But, yes, for the time being this is where I live. I get paid at the end of the month…so then I'm going to work out a budget…start figuring out what I'm looking for in a place."
"This place ain't real big," Daryl commented. "Bigger'n my house, but it ain't real big."
Carol shook her head.
"Alice lives alone…or she did and she will when we move out," Carol said. "I guess she doesn't need too much space. Her schedule doesn't leave her home all that much."
Daryl nodded and got up from the table. Carol watched as he headed out the kitchen as quietly as he could and she already knew he was going to check on the kids. She could hear the din of talking, and she might have been able to make it out if she'd tried, but she didn't try.
Daryl returned a moment later.
"Everything OK?" She asked.
"Yeah," Daryl commented, sitting again. "Hell yeah…she's tellin' Russ some kinda story an' he's lookin' at her with his mouth open."
Carol smiled and lowered her voice.
"He thinks she's…I guess something of a celebrity," Carol said.
Daryl nodded his head.
"Oz…Wonderland…all them places," Daryl commented. "To us, they just fairy tales…ta Russ? They real…I know I oughta not let him believe in them places…in magic an' fairy tales an' all that happily ever after stuff…but…"
He stopped talking and shook his head.
"But he's a child," Carol said quickly. "And there's plenty of time for him to learn that all that stuff isn't real…but there's not much time that we get to believe that it is. I don't see any harm in it."
Daryl chuckled after a moment.
"What is it?" Carol asked, already smiling, feeling relieved that apparently Daryl had forgiven her for the unforgiveable sin of saying that she needed some time and some space.
She thought that maybe what Daryl needed was this…maybe he needed to actually see that she wasn't going to disappear…maybe there wasn't that much difference, sometimes, in children and adults.
"Russ thinks you a fairy," Daryl said, shaking his head. "There ain't not one damn thing I can do ta convince him that you ain't one an' that I ain't lyin' ta him when I tell him you ain't a fairy."
Carol furrowed her brow.
"Why does he think I'm a fairy?" She asked.
"Damn story I'm tellin' him," Daryl said. "Got this fairy queen…an' I said she looks like you. Hell…he always wants ta know what the people look like an' I make 'em look like people he knows…you know? Andrea's the fairy queen…Merle's the ogre…hunter looks like me…Hershel an' Jo…they the glass queen an' king…"
"Glass king and queen?" Carol asked.
Daryl nodded.
"Don't ask," he said.
She chuckled.
"So you the fairy queen…but Russ…he thinks you might be the fairy queen 'cause she can grow big if she needs to," Daryl said.
Carol laughed.
"I guess there's no harm in that," she said. "But I'm not a fairy...I hope that doesn't disappoint you…"
Daryl smiled.
"I had a pretty good inclination ya might not be," he said.
Russ appeared in the kitchen not three minutes later. He came in, looking at Daryl, and he kept his eyes on him while he bypassed him completely and went to Carol, reaching up and poking her in the arm before crooking a finger at her and gesturing for her to lean down. She did what he asked and he whispered in her ear.
When Russ had finished his message, she looked at him.
"Maybe after dinner?" She asked.
Russ frowned at her.
"You've got to eat," Carol said. "You might get hungry if you don't eat before you go…"
"But…nah ah 'cause we gonna eat…if we find it…we can eat…there'll be food there an' if it gets too dark we won't find nothin'…" Russ protested.
Daryl looked at Carol and she offered him a half smile.
He reached out and caught Russ by the shoulder, turning him so that he was looking at him.
"What you after?" He asked.
Russ looked back at Carol.
"Tell him," Carol said. "You've got to have his permission…"
Russ looked at Daryl.
"Alice said we could…" Russ started.
"Miss Alice," Daryl corrected.
"Miss Alice said we could look for…we could go and see if we could find the rabbit…she said we could see if we found him…and if we found him we could all go to…me and her and Sophia…but you could go if you wanted to…but I don't know if you could fit down the hole…but if we found him we could go with him to Wonderland…but we need to go and look for him," Russ said.
Daryl glanced at Carol and chewed his lip like he was considering the question when she was pretty sure that he was really trying not to laugh.
"After dinner," Daryl said. "If Miss Alice still wants ta take ya lookin' for the rabbit…you can go after dinner…but'cha gotta eat an' if you go with her, you gotta listen to her."
Russ nodded at him.
"Don't look so damn sad son," Daryl said quickly. "It's after a meal not in a million years. Now go be sweet on her so she don't change her mind."
Russ looked at Carol and she nodded at him.
He darted, then, out of the kitchen.
"I guess I better hurry up and get dinner ready," Carol said. "Because they'll be rabbit hunting in the dark."
Daryl chuckled.
"Why the hell would she take him out there lookin' for somethin' they ain't gon' find?" Daryl asked.
Carol smiled.
"If I know Alice…she's doing it for us as much as she's doing it for them," Carol said.
Daryl looked confused for a moment, but then he chuckled and nodded his head. He got up from his chair.
"What can I do ta help?" He asked.