December 25, 2010

~*~ SW ~*~

They're overdue at the main house, but Shane figures everyone will understand. The rest of the day may be too busy to get into stores to make sure the second bedroom becomes Anaya's bedroom. It's one thing Scout insists on, that for Anaya to start feeling safe, she needs some degree of control over her environment. More importantly to them both, she needs more than the backpack of clothing and personal items she retrieves from the bunkhouse she's been sharing with Gareth's family.

Luckily, being on council means they don't have to rouse Carol or Lori for access to inventory, and they've helped unload enough to not really need the computer to find what might be. It doesn't take them long, because they don't want to overwhelm her with too much too soon, but she's walking down to the cabin holding each of their hands, her expanded possessions in the wagon.

He lets them step ahead of him into the cabin, unloading the wagon to the couch and leaving it parked outside. Scout's giving Anaya the tour and the girl is reaching out to brush everything hesitantly as if she can memorize her surroundings with her fingertips.

"I have my own room?" she asks, the first words she's added to Scout's tour spiel. The door's open, so part of the brightly lit room is visible, the plainly made bunk beds with their tidy blue blankets in case any of the younger family members stayed the night.

"Yes. You remember the baby, right?" he says, stepping close to them. Anaya's hesitating and hasn't stepped forward toward the room yet. He knows Terminus kept all the children together, since they had so few even before the attack.

She nods, the motion making her black curls bob around her face.

"Well, we added a room, because eventually the baby will be big enough to need a bed when she's here. But that'll be maybe a year from now. So, for at least that long, the room will be just yours, and even after, she won't be sleeping here every night."

"They're next door? The other cabin?"

"Daryl, Lori, Carl, and Abby, plus the baby when she comes. It's one big backyard, so you'll be able to go next door when you like as well."

"Because Daryl is an uncle, right?" she's frowning. He doesn't blame her, because there's a lot of Dixons to keep up with.

"And because when we have to be on runs, Lori will look after you for us, probably most of the time, since Abby is about your age. Other times it might be Carol," Scout explains.

"Okay." Anaya lets go of Scout's hand and goes into the room at last, leaving them to hover at the door.

"It doesn't have to stay blue," he offers, but Anaya's smiling, and he remembers that the comforter she picked out for the bed is a navy blue sea life one.

"I like blue best. Then green or yellow." She's admiring the stained glass, tracing the silvery dividing lines with her fingers for the geometric design Scout did on the alternating panes.

"You'll fit in here then. Both our favorite colors are blue." Scout indicates the empty shelves. "We can put your things up, and we'll get you a table if you like for the middle of the room for art or puzzles." Shane actually thinks it will be more 'made' than 'gotten' once Merle knows what the girl wants.

"Can we do that now? Put things up?" Anaya's glancing toward the couch, which holds all her belongings, old and new.

They agree, so everyone sheds their winter wear in a pile on a kitchen chair and gets to work. It doesn't take long, with Shane and Scout acting as her helpers, to have books, puzzles, and a few select toys on the shelves, and all her clothing tucked neatly away. He makes a mental note that she needs about double what she has, for the long-term, and to check in that the rest of Terminus has at least a week's worth. The shelves are still fairly sparsely populated, but he knows that'll change over time. She leaves the blankets on the bed, spreading her comforter out a little clumsily, but smiles at the fish themed bed.

"Would Brandy and Jocelyn get to stay the night sometimes?" she asks.

"That can be easily arranged, and you can stay the night with them as well." Scout takes her hand and leads her to the bathroom, now situated between the two bedrooms, so they can put away the final few things.

It's funny how something as small and simple as a child's toothbrush in the cupholder with theirs makes it all feel real.

~*~ CP ~*~

"It looks like a gift wrap store exploded in here," Carol says happily. She starts to get up, to start tidying away paper, but doesn't make it far before Cricket cries out something about evasive action and plops Christian in her lap.

"You have a bazillion able bodied people for wrapping paper patrol, Carol," she advises. "Enjoy baby slobber while we do that today."

Christian's apparently in on the plot, as he promptly tries to stick his fingers from his mouth to hers. She dries them off with the little bib he's wearing to protect his clothes from all the teething drool and decides to roll with it and pretends to nibble fingers while the baby cackles with glee.

She's lost Merle somewhere in the chaos of two dozen people tossing Christmas presents at each other (the adults anyway) and sorting out ones for the kids. She's still overjoyed that everyone voted to wait and have a massive group Christmas present exchange rather than lots of little ones, although she's fairly certain it's because it gives everyone a chance to spoil the smaller ones. Even without the craziness of an old-world Christmas of oodles of individual presents, the kids are still getting a lot of unique and individualized items from their loved ones.

She loves that there's no line between Christian, Abby, Meghan, or Andre in that, and despite not entirely knowing Anaya would be joining the family as of bedtime last night, somehow, her crazy, adorable offspring seem to have magicked up an equal offering to welcome the girl to the family. From the several handmade items in Anaya's bag, she suspects most of the crafters in the family delved into extras, but the girl doesn't seem to mind. Carol's own contribution was intended for the unborn baby, but it suits Anaya too.

Anaya keeps touching the little necklace at her throat as if it might disappear, and it's good match for the ones the other girls are wearing, although those are even on the teenagers. Someone managed a trip by Daryl's workshop to get it engraved too.

At least Anaya looks a little less wary and suspicious than she did when she first arrived, about half an hour after everyone else, to already find the living room a sea of paper and giggling. She's also sporting a navy cable knit hat that looks like a match to one of Shane's gifts. When Patricia produced the child-sized hat for the girl, she just shrugged and told Carol she had a good feeling about things. She may have been the only one certain the couple would take the plunge, but Carol's glad they did. Anaya's folded into the oversized bean bag with Scout and Shane as if she's spent all her Christmases here instead of just a few hours of this one.

Honey hugs her from behind the couch, sliding her arms around Carol's shoulders and kissing her cheek before smooching Christian's forehead for good measure. "Are you having a good Christmas, Mom?"

Carol reaches up to cup the back of the teenager's neck in the best hug she can give at this angle. "Absolutely the best, sweetheart."

"Y'all are just going to do a little ceremony before everyone eats, right?" she asks.

Maybe Carol's only been the mother of this many kids for a few months, but she's been a mother long enough to catch on to a plot afoot from that carefully worded question.

"That's the plan, yes. Just us, nothing fancy." Other than the nice clothes Merle insisted on, but most people will probably be wearing nice things for the Christmas 'mega-meal' they're serving at two. Everyone's on their own if they need evening snacks if the leftovers don't hold out. After Thanksgiving, she suspects there will be plenty, even if she's been banned from cooking and spent the morning relaxing with Merle.

"Not even Hershel, right?"

"Hannah Catherine, just how much are y'all plotting?" Like she can say no, if the kids have something planned. Formalizing the relationship is as much for the kids as for her and Merle.

Honey squirms a little and tightens her hug. "For once, I am not the ringleader. I have created a monster who is more persuasive than I ever dreamed. The student has surpassed the master."

Sophia. Carol laughs softly. "I'll let you keep the secret then."

"Good. She's worked really hard on it." She parts with another kiss and a blithe love you as she heads off on whatever new quest she has for her day.

Carol eyes Christian. "Were you in on this plot too, little man?"

He cackles enough that she suspects he probably was, so she covers him in kisses.

"Hey now, baby boy, don't steal all Grandpa's kisses."

Merle's grinning as he reclaims his seat beside her. "You look really damn happy, darlin'," he says softly. "Just glowing like the moon."

So, he gets a kiss and that's a signal for Christian to kiss them both, and ending a kiss covered in baby drool might be just one of her all-time favorites.

~*~ TD ~*~

"Sorry, oops, wild wildebeest on the tromp here," Honey exclaims as she literally plows into T-Dog while carrying boxes from further down the hall that are mostly blocking her vision of where she's going.

"How about I help you with those?" He appropriates the top box and gives her his best smile, happy when she returns it as brightly as she used to smile at him. "Where are they going?"

"Front porch for now, then one's going home with Scout and one with you."

He follows her out the front door, bypassing the mass of people all over the living areas of the house, feeling puzzled. "Me?"

She sits her box down and fishes a pen out of a pocket and writes "Walsh" on that box. "There, now you'll remember which one is yours. Well, Meghan's, actually, but I don't figure you're going to make her carry it."

That answers his question about whether or not she's aware he hasn't been "home" overnight in a week or more. It's just become harder and harder not to stay the night, and while he and Lilly haven't formally had the 'move in' discussion, he knows it's coming.

"What's in the boxes?" he asks.

"Clothes, books, and toys for the girls. Some from the attic, because I think Daddy's physically incapable of tossing anything we kids owned. A couple of sneaky ones that might have left inventory today while I had Tyreese's key."

He arches a brow at her and she shrugs. "I don't really spend my credits on much."

"I think Meghan will like having things that used to be her cousins'." Because that's how it seems to have settled out. Tara's family, therefore Lilly and Meghan are family, and with this relationship with Lilly, he supposes he's going to be included from now on.

"I hope so. If she's less than impressed with anything, just chuck it in my place and I'll rehome it again."

She doesn't move to go back inside, instead stuffing her hands in her pockets and shivering with a smile in the chill air with no coat in a Rudolph sweater that he suspects has the ability to play cheesy Christmas music. She's lost that little furrow between her brows when she looks at him.

"I've missed you," he admits. He knows he made the right decision in not accepting a relationship with Honey, because he's found what he was missing with Lilly. Even now, standing in the near-midday sunshine, she just looks so young to his eyes. But they call her Honey for a reason, and he's missed her sweet brand of bright friendship fiercely.

"I missed you too." He gets a flash of mischievous smile. "Maybe we should play Boggle again, now and then, when you've got time."

"As if I'm the only one with a full social calendar now."

That draws a laugh out of her. "I suppose I haven't been home much myself, have I?"

"Not really." He knows it was deliberate at first, her changing her routine so that they didn't have awkward conversations on their shared porch. Then she broke her arm and her schedule really changed for a while, but even back to her normal routine, he's fairly sure she's only been home twice in the entire past week in the night time hours. He's seen her trekking back from other parts of the Village on his way out to his morning run too many times.

She hugs him tightly, pressing one cold cheek to his. "You look so damned happy," she says softly. "I like it."

He hugs her back, glad they're over the hurdle of what wasn't to be and that she seems genuinely content to see him with Lilly. "You're looking happy too. Whatever it is, keep doing it."

She just laughs and lets him go. "Let's get inside before we have to go plead with your lady to fix our frostbite," she says, opening the door and leading the way back inside.

She bobbles off to join in a conversation that ends with her draped across Christopher's back from the arm of the couch where he's sitting, and he rejoins Lilly in the kitchen after remembering to actually go use the bathroom like he intended.

"You two clear the air?" Lilly asks.

He nods and moves to help her stack the food prepared here into the boxes for transport down to the community center. He's been honest with Lilly about what happened, and thankfully, she seemed amused by his obliviousness and supported his wish to mend the friendship.

Lilly brushes a kiss across his lips in passing. He's a very lucky man.

~*~ TC ~*~

"Babies make out like bandits even in the apocalypse," Tara remarks as she slides the box on their couch. Cricket laughs as she strips off the baby's pudding stained reindeer outfit.

"Be glad it's not before, when my father would have shamelessly bought out a baby toy store for him. Hand me that little black outfit, why don't you?"

Tara passes her the outfit and studies the box. Almost every item is handmade or close to it. With storerooms of stuff available for the taking, their family reverted to crafts instead. There are wooden blocks and animals, handmade clothes, and felt and crocheted animals.

Her favorite is the sock monkey family Carol made, which is very obviously meant to be them: cop, doctor, baby with crazy hair. They're perfect.

"I'm just glad he used your dad as a nap pillow so he won't be cranky." It's always intriguing to see any of the Dixons go stock still under a sleeping baby's influence.

"Well, we're down to the wire at least. Less than an hour to keep him happy and clean."

Tara grins, already stripping off her morning outfit for the nicer slacks, shirt, vest, and tie. "Think Carol will like the embellishment?"

"I think she will, since it's a family fuss and not a fuss raised over her. Her dress is gorgeous, though. Thank heavens for Jacqui being an argumentative expert in talking her around. Otherwise, she would have worn something more demure and less 'bring on Dixon kid number seven.'"

"That doesn't feel weird? The idea that you could end up with siblings an entire generation younger?"

"Sometimes. But Carol's a good mom and part of me wants to see Daddy get to be the doting expectant father like Daryl."

"You just love babies."

The look Chris gives her is wistful and she kisses her gently as she takes Christian so she can change too. She keeps her close to run a hand over Chris' firm stomach. "We've got the world's best Christmas present coming later, don't forget." And weirdest.

Her partner started charting her ovulation cycle two weeks before Christian came into their lives. They considered waiting, but since every couple Chris knows who conceived took three to six months, he'll likely be two before there's a second baby, especially since he turns one next month, four days after Merle's birthday.

There's tonight's 'present' and a promise of another delivery in two days. Then repeat next month, for as long as it takes.

Chris no longer has to wait on finishing years of medical school to have a baby, and Tara's going to do her part to make sure she gets one and Christian a sibling.

"It almost feels greedy, in this world," Chris murmurs, kissing the baby's head before moving off to change.

"Dead outside our walls is all the more reason for new life inside them." It's the perfect response, because Chris beams at her. "Now, hurry up and get dressed before we end up late."

Maybe it is greedy, but the woman she loves deserves this.

~*~ DD ~*~

Daryl reaches out and straightens Merle's tie, smiling. He's hoping Merle doesn't read anything into his all-black outfit other than dressing nice for today. But thankfully his brother is distracted.

"'Bout gave up on seeing you getting married again."

"Could say the same for you, Daryl. You gonna shack up forever like Cricket or wait for the baby to be flower girl?"

He scoffs. "Would stand up with you and Carol today if I thought she might agree so soon. She's all focused on the baby for now."

"Don't stop you from asking the question now."

"Ain't as slow as you imply." To prove it, he slides the ring out of his vest pocket, holding his self-designed ring out for Merle to inspect.

"Damn fine work. You should set up shop and cater to folks wanting personalized work."

Daryl just shrugs. He enjoys working with the various materials and sees no reason to profit from it. It's good enough seeing them on people.

He returns the ring to safekeeping. "You nervous?"

"Not one bit. Never been more sure of anything in my life except loving you kids." Merle smiles, adjusting Daryl's own tie out of long habit. "First time I got married, I thought I might pass out right there in church. And I was impatient because my mind wasn't on my bride, but the day-long series of flights it was going to take me to get to Georgia and you. Didn't even have a wedding night until about a week later."

"I didn't know it was that close, marrying and coming back for me." He tries to imagine his big brother, so frantic to get to him he barely remembers his wedding. And mourning his mama...

"Lil may have changed over the years, but back then, she had her priorities on straight. Drove me to the airport herself. Told me bring her a baby home."

Daryl stiffens at the mention and Merle sighs. "She loved you, Daryl. I don't know what went wrong, but you were the light of her life when she first got you. Lugged your little blond behind all over that island bragging like she won the lottery."

"Don't matter much now." He doesn't want to think of the mother who abandoned him on a day Merle's marrying a woman who would die before she abandoned her kids.

"Maybe, maybe not. But it stands to say that on my wedding days, both times it's a woman who loves you as her own."

"Carol's the only one I'm ever going to worry about on that. And best not wait a week for that wedding night," he teases, ignoring the heavier implications of his adoptive mother.

Merle snorts. "Y'all gonna be lucky if we finish the meal after."

"Dunno. She might let you eat to keep your strength up. She's marrying an old fart, after all."

It gets the desired laugh and then a bear hug. "Glad you're here with me today, Daryl. Wouldn't have any other man stand witness."

~*~ CP ~*~

"Damned if that dress doesn't make you glow like a beacon," Jacqui says. She commandeered Honey's apartment as closest to the community center, so Carol doesn't freeze for long. It seems wrong to cover the beautiful dress, even for a short walk.

It's a simple A-line, sweeping to the floor and more black than burgundy, but she loves the way the deeper red satin flashes beneath the black lace. There's apparently a cape, but she thinks it'll make her feel too Snow White.

"Just needs one last thing," the older woman advises.

She slides a pretty red stone against the hollow of Carol's throat. It's costume jewelry, but gorgeous, suspended on a black satin ribbon. She's already woven a sparkly net of burgundy flowers into Carol's slowly lengthening hair, and Carol's wearing makeup for the first time since before Sophia was born, courtesy of Lori's deft hand.

The transformation makes Carol almost question her reflection.

"That man's gonna swallow his own tongue when he sees you."

She laughs. "I hope not. I'm fond of him keeping it around."

Lori giggles and Jacqui arches a brow when Carol joins in, blushing. "Guess you two discovered the joys of a man with great attention to detail."

That sets them off further. Carol's never joked about her sex life, even indirectly, since high school. It feels good. It's even better to know that all of them were lonely women before the world ended and found unexpected gifts in the men they love.

"The day we set foot in that quarry, you ever picture where we are today being anything near possible?" she asks.

"Based on the first impressions we and our menfolk made on each other, no way," Lori admits.

"We've all come a long way, haven't we?" Jacqui says.

Carol thinks back. The bored career woman and two unhappy housewives, adding in a barely in the living world mechanic and two seemingly redneck assholes? Yeah, she wouldn't have believed it on a soap opera, yet here they are.

She gives a little twirl, glad they're in an apartment shared by two girls fastidious enough to have a full-length mirror.

"You think either of you will make it formal?" she asks.

"Give me about six weeks past the baby. I want a wedding night I'm flexible enough to really enjoy." Lori's thin frame makes her belly dominate her body, so Carol can understand the sentiment.

Jacqui laughs at that. "Doubt Jim and I will, but if he asks, I'll say yes."

Glad to have their friendship, and Lori's inevitably a sister even if she never actually marries Daryl, Carol tugs Jacqui into a hug and then Lori.

"Thank you, for all this."

"That's what friends are for," Lori says. "Well, that and listening when Merle eventually makes you want to trade him in on a pet fish."

That's the kind of friendship she missed so much in all the years with Ed. Here, just as she's safe with the man she's marrying, she'll never be alone again.

It's the first blessing she's counting today.

~*~ JD ~*~

Jazz looks at Sophia, who looks more nauseous than excited now that it's almost time. He understands the stage fright and hopes they practiced enough, because she'll never forgive herself if she forgets a line.

He pulls her in for a hug. "Just breathe deep and remember you're singing solo a bit but we're all right with you."

She buries her face in his chest and groans. "You know all the words and the best version is sung by a man. You sing it. I'll do chorus."

"If I thought you really wanted that, I would, but you're gonna do just fine. Just be glad you aren't playing too."

She does look up to give him a wan smile at that reaching out to play with his guitar strap. "Would you teach me?"

"Later? Sure."

She spends the rest of the time they wait on their parents leaned into him and whispering lines to herself. He can't resist humming along, which gets them even more smiles off his siblings, but he doesn't care.

Sophia will be fine, and hopefully Carol will really like their gift for her wedding day. Knowing his mother, she will love it even if Sophia forgets every single word. That's what mamas do.