On Vacation!
By Amwaaker
Chapter 23 - Early Phone Calls
Summary:
Merle makes an early morning phone call that changes things.
It was still early in the morning when the D-phone next to Daryl rang loudly. Three rings later, he finally picked it up – glancing over at a still sleeping Sophia and Ella. Carol was still mostly asleep, but raised her head in question to the morning interruption.
"It's Merle" Daryl said as explanation, and picked up the phone.
"What the fuck Merle – it's early still."
He glanced over at the alarm clock.
"It's not even seven yet ya prick. Ya couldn't wait for a decent hour?"
"Now, now little brother. Ya gotta be all polite and such in the presence of your girls now."
"They are still asleep moron. Like I should be. What the fuck ya want?"
"Just letting you know that all problems are taken care of as of last night. You and that woman of yours can rest easy now."
"What ya tellin' me Merle?"
"Just that you and Carol can breathe now. There will be no more problems. Wanted you to be able to enjoy the morning knowing you ain't gotta be lookin' over your shoulder."
"You serious Merle?"
"Always brother. Wake the two little ones up and send 'em over to me and Andrea. She wants to take them to the salon here before hours. Her friend Karen is gonna be there before hours and do 'em all up proper. Nails, hair, the works. Gives you and your little mouse some time alone."
"Daryl?" Carol asked sleepily from beside him. Daryl put his hand over the phone.
"Get the girls up Carol – Andrea's gonna spoil 'em before hours at the salon downstairs. You and I gotta talk."
Carol nodded and went over to the adjoining nook where the girls had "camped out" last night with all the couch cushions and pillows. As soon as she was away, Daryl got back to the conversation with Merle.
"Listen bro – gotta stay another couple of days on cameras to make things look right. Can you do me a favor and get all the grown ups together? Wanna meet up while Andrea has the girls. Maybe get Lori to take Carl somewhere? Us men and Carol need to talk. Give us an hour after we send the girls over. Can we meet up in your room?"
"Sure thing bro. Glenn and T too?"
"Definately – they don't need to go with the girls now, so make sure they are there too."
After hanging up the phone, he turned to Carol and looked at her – making sure to catch her eyes so she would see how serious he was.
"It's over baby."
"It's over?"
"Last night I guess. Merle just told me."
He watched her face a moment. Waiting for any kind of show of remorse, guilt, or upset. Instead, she just nodded, gave a small smile, and turned to get the girls moving to meet Andrea.
An hour and a half later, the meeting took place in Merle's suite. Lori was gone with Carl to the arcade, and Andrea had the girls. Merle called attention to himself, and side chatter stopped.
"Shane called last night. Ed's dead."
Rick, Glenn and T-Dog all looked at Carol and Daryl with relief.
Nobody knew what really to say about the fact that they had played a part in the death of two men to keep their adopted family safe.
Finaly Merle broke the silence with a smile.
"We got two more days of our family vacation here. Gotta make things look good – we can't just up and quit the family stuff since the assholes are gone. So, now that we aren't on guard, we can get some fun stuff out of the way. Glenn – call your woman. T – you too. Have them join us for dinner tonight and in our suites. Maybe we can come up with something to all do to make things look even better just in case."
Daryl and Carol had stayed quiet the whole time, but were practically attached at the hip and lips. When the room went silent again, Daryl swung Carol into his arms and said quietly and carefully "I have an idea . . . . . "