AN: Here we go, just another little chapter here to keep me working on this story and not let it sit. More to come soon!
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl saw Carol leading the parade across the community with Alice and Melodye close behind her, all three of them loaded down with items that they were transporting. He didn't even feel the need to ask what was going on…he was sure that he'd find out later.
The only thing that it made him wonder was where in the world Cayden was since he'd seen Michonne already and she was walking fences, Darius strapped to her like a little joey, so he knew she didn't have his offspring.
He wandered down toward the barn area to wash off a little in the water and to see if he couldn't find Ned and Hershel, both of whom managed to spend most of their free time down near that area, to locate Cayden and maybe take him to play in the water for a while before it was time to go eat and then call it an evening.
Daryl walked quickly down toward the water and found Hershel without any effort at all. The old man was sitting in the shade, laughing at some joke that Imogene, scrubbing clothes in the water near him, was telling him.
"Where's Cayden?" Daryl called out before he even reached the two of them.
"Come again?" Hershel asked.
Daryl made it to the water, playfully pretended to lose his footing as an excuse to nudge Imogene who splashed him as a response, and then went to washing off his hands and arms, dirty from the work they were doing trying to get the houses up and going with all the comforts of a life they'd known before this.
"Where's Cayden?" Daryl repeated. "Saw he ain't with Carol and 'Chonne…an' I wanna hang out with him some…ain't seen him damn near all day."
Hershel hummed his understanding of the question then and Daryl realized he probably hadn't heard him before.
"He's down at the far end, near those heavy gates, with Maddie. She took him and Judith down there a while ago," Hershel said. "Wyatt found some berry bushes down there and she took Jude to pick some…thought Cayden might like going along better than hanging out with a bunch of old people."
Daryl glanced around. Usually Ned and Milagros were the rest of the "three stooges" when it came to the older members of the group, but they were nowhere to be found that Daryl could see.
"Where's Ned an' Milagros?" He asked, standing up and shaking his arms and hands dry, not wanting to rub them on his clothes that weren't any cleaner than his body had begun.
"They went to talk," Imogene said, pausing in her washing to exchange a look with Hershel that made both of them smile.
Daryl shook his head. He didn't need or want any more details than that.
"Down ya, huh?" He asked, pointing in the direction that he thought he was supposed to be going.
Hershel nodded his head.
"You'll see them…not long before you get to the gates," Hershel responded.
Daryl nodded and took his leave of the two of them, crossing as quickly as he could down toward the area that had been indicated to him by Hershel. As he got there, it wasn't too hard to find them. He saw Judith first, since his eyes were turned toward the fences. Through the fences there were some berry bushes growing and she was slowly and inexpertly picking the berries that she could reach off and putting them, probably smashed, into a small bucket that she was holding, eating every third one or so for good measure.
When he found Maddie, sitting nearby under the shade of some overhanging tree branches, though, he was surprised at what he saw.
She was sitting, her hands out, and Cayden was toddling toward her.
For a moment Daryl stopped in his forward progress and stared to make sure that his eyes weren't fooling him.
The boy would walk holding onto things, and he'd let go of what he was holding and stand there as long he didn't realize what he was doing, occasionally sneaking in what might be considered an accidental step or two, but Daryl hadn't seen him actually complete a series of steps in a row, aware of what he was doing, like he was doing at the given moment.
As Daryl walked up, though, Cayden turned toward him, smiled, and plopped down with a force that would have jarred the teeth of any adult, before squealing "Dada" at him and crawling full steam ahead in his direction.
Daryl reached down and scooped him up, growling in the boy's ear and nipping gently at his cheek to make him laugh before he turned his attention toward Maddie who was sitting on the ground and smiling at him and the scene.
"How'd ya do that?" Daryl asked the woman.
She laughed and shook her head.
"Cayden did that," she said. "All it takes with kids…when they're ready to walk…is a little patience. You've got to give him your time and attention…and it helps if you don't pick him up immediately all the time."
Daryl felt his stomach flop slightly and looked at Cayden who was chewing on his hand and probably trying to tell Daryl some story that he couldn't understand yet.
He'd picked him up immediately…he'd done exactly what he wasn't supposed to do…and maybe that's why Cayden hadn't walked before now.
"I've noticed," Maddie said, "that his mother does it a lot too. She picks him up…doesn't give him the time that he needs to just be on the ground and be comfortable with walking. So I brought him down here and I thought that while Judith was picking berries, I could work with him…give him a little special attention."
Daryl wasn't sure how to respond to the woman because, at the moment, he really wasn't sure how to take the words that she was saying to him.
On the one hand, she had gotten Cayden to walk, and that's something that he and Carol hadn't managed to do yet. So, with that in mind, she must know something about what she was saying…but on the other hand he wasn't sure that he cared entirely for her tone of voice or the words that she was choosing.
They sounded almost accusatory and he wasn't sure what he was being accused of…or what Carol was being accused of.
Finally, though, he decided to leave it be. He decided to simply take what she was saying at the simplest level that he could and accept that she was answering his question. She was explaining to him, quite literally, how she'd gotten Cayden walking when until now he'd shown no great interest in the activity.
Daryl glanced toward Judith who was completely absorbed in what she was doing, which at this point was more making a mess than anything else, and then he glanced back at Maddie who was still looking at him, the smile on her face, her head cocked to the side.
"You best watch Jude," Daryl said. "An' any a' the kids…get 'em down here next ta these fences…I don't think nothin' can get at 'em, but we don't wanna find out an' be sorry for it."
He nodded his head at her and swallowed, still a little put off by her statements but somewhat anxious to find Carol and let her know that there wasn't a thing in the world wrong with Cayden…he could walk just fine if he had a mind to do it.
"I'm takin' Cayden with me," Daryl added. "Much obliged to ya for watchin' him…you can get on watchin' Jude now…"
He turned then and stopped only when he heard Maddie call his name.
"Huh?" He asked, turning back.
The woman was getting up off the ground now, wiping herself off as she got to her feet.
"Are you mad with me?" She asked. "Because I helped Cayden?"
Daryl shook his head at her.
"No…I ain't mad," he said.
And it was true. He wasn't mad. He didn't know if he had any reason to be mad. He did feel a little put off, but he was suspecting now that maybe that was just him reading into things more than he ought to because he was tired and therefore, perhaps a little on edge.
"Just get Jude, or I can take her…Michonne oughta be done before long an' I'm sure she or Imogene won't mind watchin' her…it'll be 'bout time for supper 'fore long," Daryl responded.
Maddie nodded at him.
"I really wasn't trying to do anything wrong," she said. "I did have a son, you know? I know what…they need…I'm not too far removed from when he was learning to walk. I didn't mean anything by it…I was just trying to help out."
Daryl nodded.
"Fine…see ya at supper," he said, starting to turn and take his leave once more. Cayden was starting to squirm now and he figured that maybe the kid was getting restless, or maybe he was getting hungry.
"Daryl," Maddie called again, and Daryl bit the inside of his mouth not to growl at her. He didn't try to hide his expression, though, as he turned back and raised his eyebrows at her. "He's a sweet boy…and I can help. I'm not good at most of the things they do around here…so they don't give me very many jobs…but I could help with Cayden…give him and Judith both some extra attention. That's the one thing I'm good at…children."
Daryl nodded his head, but didn't respond.
This time he didn't even offer so much as a "fine" or anything else. If he offered that she might speak again instead of looking to Jude like he'd suggested so that he could escape and find Carol, having abandoned already his plan to take Cayden to play in the water, and show her the new trick that Cayden had learned…hopefully putting her mind at ease some and erasing the line between her eyebrows that had become in the past few days almost permanent where the baby was involved.
Maddie didn't stop him that time and he directed his feet toward the house where most all of the "domestic" activities were taken care of…the house that Carol and her workers were hauling things out of without explanation earlier…sure that if she wasn't there, she'd be there soon.
And hopefully Cayden would be willing to put on a performance for her and anyone else who wanted to see that he was just as "developed", as Carol put it, as any other damn kid had ever been.