Carol sat with her legs pulled up in the swing, leaning into Daryl while he fanned from time to time the mosquitos that would make a meal out of them given the chance.

They couldn't see Alice and the kids any longer, but anyone within a mile distance could probably hear them as Russ yelled and squealed about the adventure that they were on, their whereabouts evidenced by the dancing flashlight beam in the darkness.

Daryl rubbed the hand he had wrapped around Carol's shoulder up and down the arm that it rested on and she rooted into him a little more.

Her friend was loud and when she laughed, it was a cackling laugh of the kind that almost hurt your eardrums. She was probably everything that Daryl had thought anyone with as much as education as she had to have to be a doctor wouldn't be at all.

But he liked her, and it was clear that she liked Carol…though he wasn't sure if she'd made any such decision on him just yet.

And Russ thought she was the closest thing to a movie star there was…even better because she was a movie star that would let him sit in her lap and would take him out chasing imaginary rabbits when all they were likely to find in this neighborhood were some nasty bug bites.

"Ya friend…Alice…she just like kids that much or is she as crazy as she seems?" Daryl asked.

Carol chuckled.

"She likes me that much…and she likes kids," Carol said. "And she might be a little crazy."

Daryl tipped his head and nuzzled at the side of Carol's face and she turned, kissing him before she snuggled back into her position before.

"So this what we gon' do while they run around?" He asked. "Listen to 'em wake up the whole neighborhood."

"I think it's nice," Carol said. "You don't?"

Daryl chuckled.

"Gotta admit…every time I thought about us gettin' alone…if it ever happened…I didn't think about this," Daryl said. "We ain't never had the kids not in the next room."

Carol ignored him, though. She sat in silence for a moment and then finally broke it herself when she felt like speaking.

"The story…the one that you tell Russ…when did you start it?" She asked.

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"Hell…don't know," he responded. "Don't know when it started…but I know how it started. I started it 'cause I was sick an' damn tired a' readin' them books over an' over again. I been readin' ta Russ since before he had teeth…Andrea read somewhere said it makes 'em smarter if ya read to 'em…I don't know if it made Russ smarter, but it calmed him down. He always liked for ya ta talk to him…didn't matter what about…just talk. Used ta keep him in that lil' bouncy chair? Haul him 'round the house an' narrate every damn thing any of us did. We was always like 'now I'm puttin' this in the microwave 'cause ya gotta warm it up' or 'Andrea's gonna take a bath 'cause she smells like sour ass milk 'cause ya keep pukin' on her."

Daryl broke off and laughed remembering that era of his life. It had been true, too. He felt like he'd spoken more in the span of Russ' first four months of life than he'd talked his entire life up to then. They all had. It seemed like everything that could happen to a baby to make them fussy or hard to get along with had happened to Russ…and talking to him was one of the few things that had kept him even partially calm.

Carol laughed too, so she must have thought it was entertaining.

"So…how did narrating life turn into the story?" Carol asked.

"Oh…hell…like I said…I got tired at night a' readin' him the same story over an' over again," Daryl said. "So…just started makin' up this story an' it just kinda keeps on growin'…every damn night I'm comin' up with new ways for it ta keep on goin'…new adventures for Hansel ta have…"

"Will it ever end?" Carol asked.

Daryl grunted.

"I reckon it will one day…I don't got no idea when or how…but one day I guess Hansel's gotta find his way…" Daryl responded.

"His way where?" Carol asked. She yawned and Daryl echoed the yawn, unable to avoid it.

"Don't know that either, not really," Daryl said when he'd recovered from the yawn. "Home, I reckon…wherever it is he's tryin' ta get to."

"What do I do? In the story?" Carol asked.

Daryl laughed.

"Ain't you…it's the damn fairy queen," Daryl said, poking her in the arm with his finger.

"OK," Carol said. "What does the fairy queen do?"

"She's…" Daryl broke off. It was hard to explain that. It was hard to say what any of the characters in his story really did or why they were there. He just sort of plucked them out of thin air and stuck them in places when he needed them. "I guess she's somethin' like a guide," he said. "She's travelin' with Hansel…an' with the Hunter…an' she's takin' 'em 'cross the glass land, but I reckon she's gonna go farther with 'em 'cause Russ ain't gonna wanna give her up. The damn good queen has ta pop every now an' again too ta keep him happy…so I don't reckon we done with the fairy neither."

Carol laughed and shifted her weight so quickly to sit up that Daryl grabbed at her, his mind tricked into believing that she was falling or something with the sudden movement. As soon as he realized, though, that she was simply shifting of her own volition, he released the sudden grip he'd gotten on her arm.

She moved to face him, barely illuminated by the porch light on the corner of the porch.

"Are you still mad at me?" She asked after a moment.

Daryl swallowed.

"I weren't never mad," he said.

Carol nodded her head.

"You were mad…you were mad enough to avoid me entirely…" She said.

Daryl shook his head.

"I weren't mad…" he insisted.

"Then what were you?" Carol asked.

Daryl sighed and shrugged, feeling like this was one of those questions that Russ asked sometimes…the questions that he didn't know how to answer and he was left scrambling for something to say and hoping that it wouldn't later be discovered how far off he'd been.

"Maybe I was mad," he ceded after he'd thought about it a moment. "But…I weren't mad at you…I was mad at me."

Carol shifted again, sending the whole swing swaying side to side instead of front to back like it was designed to go.

"Why?" She asked. "I told you why I wanted what I want…so at least tell me why it made you so mad."

Daryl chewed his lip.

"I don't like talkin' 'bout all a' this," he said. He shook his head. "It don't matter no way. You gonna get what'cha want…an' I ain't mad."

"Please?" Carol asked. "Tell me why you were mad?"

Daryl hated talking about some of these things. He was fine to a point, but then it got into that territory where Merle was telling him he was being a girl about shit. It got to the point where Merle would tell him to man the fuck up and get over shit.

And he'd been trying to get over shit for most of his life…but he wasn't nearly as good at getting over things as Merle obviously was.

"Daryl…if you tell me why you were mad…just like I told you why I wanted to have some space…why I wanted us to do things differently…then I might, just maybe, be able to keep you from getting mad like that again," Carol said.

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"I got mad 'cause I figured…hell that I'd fucked it up," Daryl said, almost spitting the words at her. "I figured whatever made you not wanna be around my ass…well you said it weren't Russ…so I just figured it was somethin' about me…prob'ly same damn shit made Heather so miserable she run off an' left her damn kid behind."

Carol stared at him, but she didn't respond.

Daryl shook his head.

"It don't make no damn sense an' I should just get the hell over it," he said. "I know…I heard that before. That's why I ain't wanted ta tell ya in the first place."

"Daryl," Carol said, "it does make sense…but I'm not Heather. And just like I'm having to remind myself sometimes that you're not Ed…that it's not fair for me to think that you're going to…turn into Ed…you've got to remind yourself that I'm not Heather. OK?"

"I know you ain't Heather," Daryl said. "I didn't mean ta say ya were…"

Carol shook her head.

"I know you weren't saying I'm Heather…but I'm not trying to go anywhere, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm not…and maybe she wanted her freedom…but the kind of space that I want? It's different."

Daryl nodded his head at Carol.

"Yeah," he said. "I think I get it."

Carol leaned forward and Daryl felt her teeth scraping his lip gently before she kissed him, her hands going to his face. He sat forward, accepting the kiss and initiating more when she started to move away.

By the time that he let her go, Daryl was pretty sure that he couldn't think straight because he knew that he lacked the full amount of blood flow to his brain. It was clear, though, that nothing was getting done about that tonight. Tonight they were just sitting together, rocking in a swing, while some woman ran around with their kids and a flashlight looking for a make believe land.

Daryl chuckled to himself after a moment.

"Ya friend…she babysit?" He asked.

Carol sat back in her original position, rooting into him a little once more.

"What?" She asked.

"Alice," Daryl asked. "She like babysittin'?"

Carol shrugged against him.

"I mean…she babysits when I need her to," Carol said.

"What does she like?" Daryl asked.

Carol sat up enough to look at him and give him an inquisitive look. He almost laughed at her cocked eyebrow and the obvious confusion on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Carol asked.

Daryl smiled again.

"I asked what she likes," Daryl repeated, using the same tone of voice he might have used to clarify something for Russ. "'Cause I'd buy her just about anything she'd like ta keep the kids for us…one a' these nights when you ain't feelin' so…independent."

Carol made a face at him and then sat back against him, silent.

And he worried for the moment that he might have offended her. It had been a joke…for the most part.

Finally he poked at her shoulder with his finger again.

"Hey…" he said. "I'm sorry…I was just thinkin'…like I said before…we ain't never had too much time without the kids around…I didn't mean nothin'…"

"You know…" Carol said after a moment, "we could ask Alice…or Andrea and Merle too. We've got options. We could make it into a big adventure? But…"

Daryl was relieved that she wasn't mad at him. He was so relieved by that he didn't really even care whatever her stipulations might be…or even if they went through with seeking out a babysitter for some alone time after all.

"But what?" He asked.

"Not overnight," Carol said. "I don't want to spend the night away from Sophia…I wouldn't sleep."

Daryl chuckled.

"Reckon we can work that much out…one day," he offered. "We'll have ta break in that new place ya get…after all…spend the afternoon there? You an' me? Then get Russ an' Sophia an' let 'em be there for the night."

Carol nodded her head.

"I might like that," she offered. "But first I've got to find the place…"

"You'll find it," Daryl said. "That ain't nothin' but a thing…if ya want, I'll even help ya look."

"I think I'd like that," Carol said after a moment.

Then she shifted and got up from the swing, walking toward the edge of the porch. Daryl watched her for a moment as she walked away from him and he realized that the flashlight beam was headed toward them and that if he strained his ears he could make out not only the sound of Russ, but the words he was saying as he chattered back and forth with the woman about the rabbit that they didn't catch…but they "almost did".