So we've reached the end of the road! I would say I was sad but I am ready to finish up the others and take a break. I'm running on empty, so this makes me feel a little accomplished. Thank you all for sticking with it! As always, you're all awesome! As far as this chapter, I must have been feeling mushy and sentimental when I wrote it. Lol But I guess that's okay. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Fifty Two

Sophia creeped out of her bedroom as silently as she could. Her foot wasn't broken but it still hurt to walk on it. Her mom and Daryl had been in bed for over an hour so she was sure they were asleep. She saw the light coming from the front of the house as she made her slow way down the hall.

This was a nightly ritual. They had stayed true to their word. They didn't ever mess around unless they were away from the house, usually in the car at school, and things never got out of hand. They weren't willing to put Daryl and her mom's relationship at risk. But sometimes it was hard.

"Hey," he muttered when she stepped into the kitchen.

She smiled. "Hey."

His eyes went to the open doorway behind her and then back to her. "They asleep?"

She nodded. "I think so. It never matters. We're allowed to be in the kitchen at the same time."

He chewed his bottom lip for a second, waiting until she closed the distance herself. "You know, another year and a few months and we won't have to worry about it anymore."

She couldn't go on her tiptoes because of her foot so she grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him down. His hands went straight to her waist, no wondering, no moving at all, other than his lips on hers. Her own hands cupped his neck, feeling the quick throb of his pulse under her palm.

He broke the kiss as soon as his fingers pressed into her. He stopped every single time he felt that control start to slip. He grinned at her, dropping his hands and taking a cautious step back.

"Night," she said, a little breathlessly.

The grin on his face never faltered. "Night, Sophia."

She gave him another lingering look and then limped back out of the kitchen, to her bedroom. She leaned against it, smiling like a big dork until her pulse slowed down a little. They were good now, but there was nothing wrong with kissing him before bed. Nothing wrong with that at all.

~H~

Carol shut the door silently behind her and crept back into bed.

"Same?" Daryl asked once she was settled in next to him.

"Same," she confirmed with a sigh.

"You still don't think we should say anything?" He asked, rolling onto his side, gripping her around the waist and then rolling back onto his back, dragging her on top of him.

She laughed quietly and tried to squirm away but his grip on her was firm. "I don't think we should. I almost feel bad for spying on them. It's actually really sweet."

He snorted.

"I'm serious," she sat up but he kept his hands on her hips to keep her in place. "They sneak into the kitchen every night just for a goodnight kiss. No groping or anything. They just need that small moment together. It's very sweet." She meant it too. There was something about the way Damon and Sophia were around each other in those quiet few moments when they thought no one was looking that melted her heart a little. Maybe it was just an intense case of puppy love, but she was happy that her daughter found it. And she was happy that she was sure they weren't doing anything other than stealing a kiss every once in a while. At least while they were home.

"I'm sweet," he said in a husky voice, drawing her out of her thoughts.

She laughed, bracing her hands on his chest and leaning down to kiss him. "You have your moments."

"So do you."

She kissed him again. "Not just moments, Dixon. I'm always sweet."

She felt a low rumbled below her hands as he laughed quietly. "No you ain't. You're always a big pain in my ass." He grabbed her hand, fumbled for a second as his fingers moved over them and then dropped it just as quickly as he had picked it up. She sat up, her heart flipping in her chest and then pounding loud in her ears when she realized that there was something on her finger.

He grunted when she lunged for the lamp next to his side of the bed and she would have toppled over if he hadn't had a tight grip on her.

She sat back up, looking down and then gasping at the site of the ring on her finger. Even in the soft light from the lamp the stone shimmered brilliantly. It wasn't huge, but the quality was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The band was white gold filigree, the pattern was intricate and she couldn't stop staring at it. It had to have been the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life.

~H~

He wasn't sure if this was such a great idea anymore. In his head he had everything worked out but of course he botched it. He told her that she was a huge pain in his ass right before he gave her the ring and when he gave her the fucking thing he hadn't been able to figure out where the fucking hell his voice had gone. And now she was staring at her hand and he was staring at her and they were both completely still and he could feel sweat break out over his forehead. He wanted to wipe it away but was too chicken shit to move because he wasn't sure what she was going to say and he was afraid of drawing attention to himself.

He swallowed around the fear that clogged his throat. She hadn't said a word yet so maybe she wasn't ready for anything like this. They hadn't been together for very long and this was a big fucking move. He'd been thinking about it for over a month, though, and finally decided that buying the ring wouldn't really hurt anything. So he'd done it, without thinking about when or how he'd eventually ask her. He thought he had time.

Why the hell had he given her the goddamn ring when he hadn't been one hundred percent sure she would even want it!

Finally she looked from the ring on her finger and met his eyes. She looked disbelieving but she didn't look upset or anything so that was a good sign. Then her eyes filled up, spilling over before she could even blink. He'd never seen someone's water works turn on so fast in his life.

His heart sank and he sat up. "You ain't gotta keep it. It's not a big deal. Just give it back and I'll go get the money back for it."

She slapped him in the chest so hard he winced, rubbing the spot. As quick as she had slapped him she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You try to take it back and I'll break your hand!"

He rolled his eyes but sighed in relief.

She pulled back, her hands on his shoulders. Her hands were trembling so hard he was surprised she wasn't shaking his whole frame. "Is this what I think it is?"

He nodded and finally swiped the sweat away.

"You're asking me if I want to marry you?"

He flushed and then nodded again, wondering when the fuck it got so hot in the room. He knew the air conditioner was still on and it was going full blast like it always was but he was burning up. He should have thought this through a lot better. He was floundering so hard right now.

"When did you decide to do this?" She asked, searching his eyes. "Jesus, Daryl, you look like a deer trapped in the headlights!"

"Shut up," he grumbled, shifting uncomfortably under her weight. She still hadn't told him yes and he was starting to think that he was close to a panic attack.

"When?"

His eyes widened. Was he suppose to come up with the when part too? He hadn't known that was a part of it at all. He didn't fucking know when. "I don't know."

She looked at the ring again and then grinned. "Where did you get this?"

He glanced at it and then shrugged. "Buck knows an antique dealer so I went to him. The rock is new but I think the band is from the twenties. I wasn't payin' much attention to the guy when he was talkin' about it. There was other ones if you don't-"

She glared at him. "Don't you dare say trade it for something else!"

"Okay. But you're gonna have to tell me if this means you want to or are we gonna sit here all night like a couple of awkward fucks," he said, needing to know what the hell was in her head.

She looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Are you insane? Of course I want to!"

He didn't have time to even breath a sigh of relief before her arms were back around him and her mouth was on his. The kiss was deep, slow, and full of promise. All of his doubts washed away then, leaving room for his mind to wonder to the future and what this all really meant. When she pulled away she met his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked, almost worriedly.

He rolled his eyes. "If you had any clue how much cash I had to drop on that damn ring just to make sure it was impressive enough then you sure as fuck wouldn't ask me that."

She scowled. "You are the least romantic person I've ever met in my life."

He leaned back on his elbows and huffed. "You didn't expect me to drop on one knee and sing you a song and beg for your hand, did you? Cause you know I ain't gonna do any of that."

She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, like she was actually picturing him doing just that and then she laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, you have a point."

He sighed and let his head hit the pillow. "Look, you know I love you. I know you love me back. We got a good thing goin' here so I figured that maybe you would want to, eventually. I wasn't even plannin' on giving it to you yet. I'm doin' my best here, woman."

She smiled. "You're doing great, actually." She climbed off of him and curled into his side, propping her head up with her hand and grinning down at him. "We are gonna rock the hell out of this marriage thing."

He chuckled, raising a brow at her. "You think so, huh?" He felt a lot better now.

She snorted. "I know so. Look how good we are at everything else."

He stared up at the ceiling and laughed. "We fight all time."

She shrugged. "We disagree on occasion. If we're being completely honest, sometimes I like to start fights with you because you're sexy when you're mad."

He glanced over at her. "You're a whole big bag of asses, you know that?"

She nodded and kissed his jaw before her arm wrapped around his middle and she laid her head down next to his.

He turned the lamp back off, rolling over and pulling her further against him. She was actually right. They were pretty damn good at everything else. At first it had been a goddamn roller coaster ride with more ups and downs than he knew what to do with. But things had found a good rhythm for all of them and for the most part, it was smooth. She was right. They didn't even really fight anymore.

"Are you sure it won't eventually bother you that you'll never have a baby of your own?" She asked, sounding genuinely worried.

He had already thought about that. He thought about it long and hard because he wouldn't take a step as big as he had taken without examining every single angle first. It wouldn't be fair to her if he jumped into something and then eventually blamed her for his own quick decisions. So he had thought about that long and hard but in the end, it hadn't mattered. "Already thought about that and it don't matter none," he grumbled sleepily.

She seemed to relax a little. "So you've thought about this for a while?"

He blinked, frowning in the dark. "Yeah. Go to sleep."

"How long?"

He sighed.

"Don't sigh at me," she muttered.

"About a month now, okay? I've thought and I've thought and I've covered every goddamn base. I don't want no screamin' baby, I don't care that you're a fuckin' nag, I don't mind that you put your cold goddamn feet on my legs. I don't mind when you use up all the hot water, or when you throw dumb fits over little things, or when you get bossy or when you get crabby or when you-"

"Jesus, Daryl!" She snapped, cutting him off. "Is there one redeeming quality you'd like to bring up now?"

He grinned. "I thought that was what I was doing. I was getting to the annoying stuff."

She sat up and shoved at his shoulder roughly. "I'm being serious!"

"So was I!"

She muttered something under her breath and tried to scoot away from him but he caught her around the waist and hauled her back against him. She struggled but he wasn't willing to let her win. Her back was to him now and he pressed his lips to her shoulder because for some reason that was one of those spots that caused her to give up a fight. Just like he knew she would she stilled. "You're a jerk," she grumbled.

He thought about everything he knew about her. He thought about what her childhood must have been like. How hard her marriage was. How awful prison must have been. He wondered idly if anyone had ever told her exactly how amazing she really was. He was good at picking at her and cracking jokes sometimes but it just occurred to him that he'd never really told her what he really thought of her. And it was time for him to say it.

"You're strong," he said, his voice quieter now, barely carrying but he hoped she heard him because she really did need to hear these things and he just wasn't the type of man that said what needed to be said very often. Sometimes saying what needed to be said was hard. "You're brave. You stand up for what you believe in and you don't back down and when somethin' knocks you on your ass you just get back up and you fight harder. You're kind, even though all life has ever thrown you was bullshit, you didn't let it make you bitter. You went through hell with your first husband but you didn't let it keep you away from feelin' what you feel for me. You're smart."

His face flamed but he kept going. "You're fuckin' beautiful, and not just to look at either, but everything inside. And you're the best goddamn thing that's ever happened to me and sometimes it scares me to death because sometimes I don't feel like I really deserve it but you're right here anyhow. So, yeah, I've thought about everything, okay? I turned over every rock, looked around every corner. If there was a doubt in my mind that I could live one fuckin' minute without you, I wouldn't have went huntin' for that damn ring. Ain't neither one of us perfect by a long shot but I think we're better people when we're together. I don't think many people get to find somethin' like that in their lifetime and I ain't gonna let go."

He hated talking about shit like this. He hated feelings and all that mess, but he felt good that he finally said everything out loud. And then damn if the woman didn't sniffle noisily. He rolled his eyes but he smiled slightly. If that speech was enough to make her cry then hopefully it was because she knew that he was telling nothing but the truth. And he wasn't even going to make fun of her.

She rolled over, hugging him hard, her head tucked under his chin. Her grip never wavered, even long after she had finally fallen asleep.

He felt good. He felt goddamn good. And things were only going to get better. He wasn't used to the feeling but he felt that way right now and he knew that the feeling was there to stay. The sky was pretty much the limit.

She shifted just a little in her sleep, wedging her cold feet between his legs and the mattress. When he finally fell asleep himself her feet were finally warm and he was still smiling.