Chapter Twenty-Two: Home Sweet Home
Daryl had been kind, or awkward, enough to ignore the silent tears that had streamed down Esme's face during the first ten minutes of the drive. Like she'd predicted, the kids had all conked out during the first few minutes of the trip so it was peacefully quiet. Esme turned her head to quietly observe the man driving her vehicle. The older man wasn't what one would call stereotypically handsome, but Esme found herself internally admiring his features anyway.
He was buff, especially his arms, probably from all the exercise he was getting from hauling around his crossbow and running for his life in-between shooting down rotters. He was tall, much taller than she was, but it wasn't as intimidating as it had been when she'd first laid eyes on him. His shoulders hunched somewhat as if the weight of the world was being carried upon his shoulders. His lips were thin, framed by a disheveled looking goatee, and despite the perpetual frown that seemed to rest on Daryl's face, his eyes were kind and somehow soft when they stumbled over her children. His hair was a dirty brown color and was starting to lengthen in some areas since he'd probably hadn't had a haircut in a long time. His voice was soothing to listen to when he did speak, a true Georgian accent that would've made Daisy mockingly swoon before asking where he was from.
There was something about the way that Daryl carried himself that called to Esme. Something familiar. Something that made her pay attention to the way he reacted when she thanked him. Something that made kindness seem like a foreign language to the archer She would hold her suspicions in her heart and not mention them to the kind man. It was only fair. He'd been kind enough not make fun of her for the emotional tears or the guitar. She would keep her mouth shut.
"Is there somethin' on ma face or somthin'?" Daryl asked, blurted really as his cheeks colored somewhat in embarrassment. His eyes were a beautiful blue color that had specs of piercing green clouding them in some areas. They were beautiful. Esme decided that she liked them best.
"No." Esme murmured, "I'm sorry if I'm staring... Everything is a bit strange, it feels like a dream."
"What does that mean?"
Esme gently ran her fingers through Lilac's blonde strands, before pulling Andre even closer to her as he dozed. "I don't know- It's just like I've been in limbo for so long... time has passed, but at the same time not. Sorry that's just weird, right? I haven't talked to another adult in so long... I-I'll shut up now." she finished embarrassed.
"It's not weird. You've been alone a long time, 'sides babies don' make good conversation." he spoke in a soft voice, "I'd of gone insane bein' alone with babies fer months."
A small snort escaped from her throat, "No me digas. After the first month with little to no sleep, I started talking to my cat like a crazy. When I realized... I, dios, I was so happy that Daisy did not see me or else she would have told Mitch and he would definetly never let me forget." she smiled softly, sadness barely coloring her voice or features as she thought of the reactions her family would have had.
"Ya speak Spanish? Who's Mitch an' Daisy?"
"Mitch and Daisy owned the daycare." she expained, "They were my first friends here became my family even, when I moved here from Spain."
Daryl actually looked away from the road for a moment to look at her this time, "Spain?"
"Mhmm, Spain."
"So..." Daryl trailed off, "You're not American?"
Soft giggles erupted from her before she stated in a mock-offended tone, "No. Do I have to be?"
"Stop." the archer pleaded softly as his ears reddened, it seemed like the older man didn't handle teasing very well... it was kind of cute, "Didn' mean it like that, 's just why would someone like you wanna come ta Georgia?"
Esme's brow rose questioningly, she wasn't sure whether or not she should feel amused or actually offended this time... but she really only felt amusement. "Someone like me?"
Red started to bloom on Daryl's cheeks now, "I-I mean Spain's in Europe right? Why would ya move Georgia of all places?"
Humming under her breath Esme decided to answer somewhat honestly, "It was the farthest place away from Spain I could get to with the money I had."
There was an... understanding/comfortable silence for a brief moment before the archer broke it once more, "Running away from your demons?"
"More like my father," Esme admitted unashamed (therapy had helped her come to terms with that), "He was not a good man."
"I hear ya." Daryl grunted after a moment, "Man I've never even been outta Georgia, what's Spain like?"
"Spain... I guess it is beautiful."
"You guess?" he snorted.
Esme smiled, "Yeah I guess. I love Georgia more. I saw more happiness and beautiful scenes here than I ever did in Spain."
"That's ironic." Daryl laughed softly, it was a nice sound, "Dead people are walking everywhere."
Esme's laughter joined his, "Yeah, that's true."
The last five-ten minutes of the ride was filled with a companionable silence, Esme only started feeling the stirrings of anxiety again when the prison actually came into view. A preteen and dark-skinned man in a blue jumpsuit lured five rotters away from the gate as another man in the same prison-jumpsuit opened the gate before Daryl drove confidently through the two gates.
"Home sweet home." the archer murmured as he maneuvered her truck up the green pasture that had once been the recreational yard for the prisoners and into the last fenced gate that was opened by a stumbling older man leaning on crutches before he parked in the courtyard.
"This is it." Esme whispered nervously under her breath as she saw Glenn and Maggie disembark from their truck and greet the strangers running up to meet them.
Daryl grunted as he took in her nervous expression, "They don' bite."
She smiled shakily at him, "Hope not. There's enough of that going on outside the fence."
The man snorted in amusement, before opening the driver's door and shutting it behind him as he moved towards the others. The sound of the slamming door and jarring of the truck stirred the two toddlers that'd been dozing on her. Lilac, in her very stereotypical manner, whined at the interruption of her sleep while Andre's eyes snapped open as his whole tiny body tensed with fear.
"Esme.." Andre whined as he gripped onto her stomach.
Esme rubbed his hair softly as she pulled him even closer to her, "Shhhh, it's okay I'm here. Everything's alright. We're in our new home."
"New home?" Andre asked, his tiny hands unclenching from the fabric of Esme's tanktop as he shuffled up to peer out of the window to see for himself, his chocolate brown eyes widened as he took in all the new faces waiting for them outside, "Wow!" he gasped making Lilac open her eyes and groggily glare at him, "Look at all the peoples!"
A small giggle escaped from her lips, dios she loved children, "Yeah, we gotta go say 'hello' now. Come on Lilac, we have to get up now." Esme murmured as she pressed a kiss to the crown of her daughter's head, before stealing herself over and opening her door. Time to pull on her big girl panties and socialize like a normal adult.
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(Hello all! I hope you all like this chapter! We got some nice Daryl interaction with Esme... Welcome all of my new readers! A bunch of people fav/followed this weekend so... hello!)
(celia azul: I loooove the name Primrose! The first time I encountered it was when I read the Hunger Games all those years ago, and when I decided to name Lilac, well Lilac, I decided to continue with a flower theme and name her baby sister Primrose. Aww, thanks! Writing is therapeutic for me, posting them is nervewracking for me but I love getting reviews critiquing my writing so I'm glad that everyone is enjoying my work!)
(Beachgirl25: LOL. I bet I got your heart pumping with Esme's interaction with Daryl... Michone and Merle as a couple... wow, that's an interesting thought. I looove Michone and Rick so I think that's where this fic is headed, but I am thinking about possible pairings for Merle... Thanks for the recommendation!)
(JCJ58: Hahaha, yup! I'm excited to write Michone's reaction to her son, or Andre's reaction to his mama...)
(DarkFireNyx: Aww, thanks!)
(I.C.2014: Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
(itsprettyboy: Group interaction is coming up next!)
(hossfan: I don't really blame Carol for Sophia's death, but I don't really understand why she didn't do more. I like her as a character, so no bashing, but I thought that part was a bit unrealistic. Carol's reaction to Esme is going to be bittersweet for the woman.)