There is another time jump and this chapter will start in the week before Christmas. Carol has found a letter from her grandmother upstairs and a really special Nativity scene.

Christmas Time

The weather had been fairly warm and dry until Thanksgiving and after that it was colder and there was an occasional snowy day or night. The men took advantage of dry clear days and worked hard to gather food, clothing, tools, and liquor. All medicines were divided between the homestead and the hospital with the hospital getting the greater share. Melody Hakim had given a list of supplies that she needed and they began whittling that away in December.

The crews at the dam had worked twelve hour shifts and managed to complete the work needed to generate electricity to the town of Adair just after Thanksgiving. The hospital was their first priority and there was a community celebration when the hospital officially turned the lights on. The town hall, the library, and the courthouse were next. Street by street the lights were coming on and the dam was able to manufacture enough electricity to finish the town and surrounding communities. The dam was under county control and a committee made decisions. There was a limit for electrical use per household and the meters were checked carefully.

Melody had enjoined the December appointment with Michonne and Carol. They were accompanied by their husbands and she had been able to use an ultrasound machine to show them their babies and to listen to the heartbeat. Michonne and Jesse had watched the ultrasound and then asked if Carol and Daryl could come in with them. She was glad to say yes, Jesse and Daryl brought in supplies regularly. Carol and Daryl had come in and Carol stood behind Michonne and held her as they watched and Daryl had moved to Jesse's side.

Melody had not been surprised when after they looked at the ultrasound that Carol and Daryl asked if Jesse and Michonne could come in and see their baby. Michonne had kept the tears at bay through her own ultrasound but fell apart when she watched Carol's baby on the screen. Jesse kept patting her back and handing her tissues.

Jesse waited until they were back in the waiting room, "Why did you fall apart when you saw Carol's baby? You were just a little weepy when you saw our beautiful blob that will someday look like a baby."

Michonne just shook her head, "I don't know. I was so excited when I saw our baby and heard the heartbeat. It was like something I dreamed up and not quite real but when I saw Daryl's face staring at that screen trying to figure out how those moving blobs all came together to be their baby I started to cry and looking at Carol's face aglow with happiness made me lose it. It made our baby more real. Those squirming blurs are actual human beings just hanging out inside of us until they want to come out. I am going to have a baby". She cried some more and Jesse looked for more tissues.

Michonne and Carol cried together on the way home. Jesse and Daryl tried not to let these Debbie Downer's affect their good mood and they chatted all the way home. They were daddies and they had a small blurry image on a piece of paper that proved it.

Andrea and Rick were waiting in the great room with Judith when they got home. Rick beamed with real enthusiasm at the gray blobs and hugged everyone. Andrea looked at the blurs and thought of making a joke about Fifty Shades of Gray but decided against it. She looked instead at the tear soaked faces of her two sisters and cried with them for the children they had lost and the children who were alive in them right now.

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The house was decorated for Christmas. There was a somewhat overgrown tree that hadn't looked that big when they cut it in the woods but seemed to grow every night. The tree had electric lights that they lit for a couple of hours at night and an angel on top. The girls had sorted through the decorations and decorated the tree with Carl's help.

Carol had found a letter to her from her grandmother among the Christmas ornaments. Her grandmother had realized that she would not live to see Carol come home and she had written a letter telling her how much she had loved her. Grandma Nancy also told her that she had left treasures for Carol within the house.

The first treasure Carol had found was boxed up among the tree ornaments. Carol had loved her Grandmother's Nativity scene as a child. Grandpa had made a wooden stable and a manger and the figurines were made of some sort of plaster with real cloth for the costumes and festooned with imitation jewels for eyes. The wise men wore robes decorated with sequins. Her grandmother let Carol arrange the scene on a table by the window. Everything was stored in a box that Grandpa had made.

Carol had grabbed the box and moved it closer to the window as Lizzie and Mika went through the plastic bin of decorations. It seemed a lot heavier than she remembered and she put the box on a table and opened it up. It was a Nativity scene and Carol picked up one of the wise men and held it up to the light. This figure was made of plaster and clothed in some sort of heavy material. The face was painted and the inset eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The robes were festooned with rubies and diamonds that looked real to Carol. The wise man was carrying a box with gold in it. Carol felt something shift within it and she turned it up and saw that there was a latch on the base of the figure. She fiddled with it and it opened up and a small bag came out. She looked inside and saw several gemstones inside.

Carol looked at the other pieces. Baby Jesus could be removed from the manger and underneath his bed were more precious stones. Jesus was especially heavy and Carol realized that he was made of gold carefully painted over. The animals had gold hidden inside of them. Mary was concealing gold and Joseph gemstones. Her crafty Grandmother had realized that gold and gemstones would have more value than money and salted her wealth away in something that Carol would look for sooner or later.

Carol loved the Nativity scene but she decided to box it back up for right now. She noticed that there was another smaller box inside and she opened it up and found the Nativity scene from her past. Grandma had kept it and it was beautifully restored. Carol decided to put this one up in the great room for everyone to see and only show Daryl this one for right now. She didn't want to keep secrets from the others but she didn't want to attract any more attention from thieves and raiders.

…..

Ashton and Jo had a Christmas Eve party complete with a Black Santa that looked suspiciously like Tyreese. Santa handed out small presents for the youngsters and cookies for the adults. Carol was admiring the Nativity scene on the mantel and recognized that it looked a lot like the one that she had hidden away. Ashton said, "Did you find yours?
Carol nodded, "It's beautiful but I am afraid to show it off."

Ashton smiled, "I hid what needed to be hid and I put the rest in plain sight. People don't notice as much as you think when it's out in the open. Carol, are you ready for Christmas?"

"We have presents for the Lizzie, Mika, Carl, and Judith. We have Christmas dinner planned. So I guess we are ready."

Beth and Brandon sang and led everyone in some Christmas songs. Daryl wondered how he had wound up here with these people. No one was drunk or ready to start a fight about nothing just to mess up the party. He was sitting in this house as a married man with a baby on the way. He had a really good chance of getting laid when he went back to his own house. If it was a dream, he hoped like hell that nobody would wake him up.

The walk home was cold but they turned toward Adair and you could see the haze of light that was Adair. The stars were gleaming in a dark sky with only a crescent moon tonight. The flashlights pushed the darkness back and they walked quickly back to their homestead.

Mika had insisted on leaving the Christmas tree lit when they left and it shone its colors out into the darkness. Inside the house was warm and comforting. Lizzie and Mika kissed Daryl good night and Carol went upstairs with them for a bit. Everyone went upstairs and Daryl checked the doors and the windows and came back and sat by the fire and watched the tree.

Carol came back downstairs and sat beside him. "I was just sitting her thinking if I was you I'd be crying now," he said to her. Carol smiled at him and put her head on his shoulder and just let the quiet seep in.

Presently, she sat up and looked at Daryl, "I was just sitting her thinking if I was you that I would be taking me to bed now." She gave him her best mischievous smile and Daryl knew that he was a lucky man.

Daryl stood up and held his hand out for her and he unplugged the tree. The room went dark but they both knew the way to their room in the dark.