As soon as Daryl had Carol's attention, he had dropped to both knees in front of her. His hands grasped her hips. Looking up into Carol's eyes, he saw confusion there. He kicked himself that he was doing things in the wrong order. Making sure her eyes were solely on him, he began to speak quietly from the heart, but loudly enough so the others heard him.

"Carol, I know we ain't known each other long. We allowed our daughters and our hearts to tell us to join our families. Ella and I have never been so happy. You and Sophia are our family. Everybody here has witnessed the four of us together."

He looked around the room briefly and was happy to see the other men smiling wide. They knew where he was going, even though it appeared Carol didn't.

"When I said I said I had an idea . . . well, my idea involved jewelry. I think I did this in the wrong order, but we ain't known for doing things in the proper order."

He saw the moment things began clicking in her head. He knew she had the right idea when she started tearing up.

"Carol, I want you to be my wife."

He was going to say more, but all of a sudden she dropped down to her knees before practically launching herself at him. She kissed him hard.

"Is that a yes?" he asked between kisses.

"Of course it's a yes Daryl. I love you. I would be honored to be your wife."

"Holy shit" came two female voices.

Unbeknownst to the happy couple; Lori, Andrea, Carl, Sophia and Ella had returned to the room in time to witness the proposal.

Sophia and Ella looked confused.

"Girls, come here" said Daryl.

They walked up to their parents who were both still on their knees. Daryl brought them both between him and Carol.

"Girls, I just asked your mama to marry me. Whatta ya think of that?"

Ella squealed saying "yay, I want to get married to mommy too daddy."

Sophia was speechless for a moment, then launched herself at Daryl.

"Does this mean you are my daddy for real?"

"You were already my daughter Soph, just like Ella was already your mama's daughter. This will just make things legal. Legally you would be step daughter's, but maybe we could do adoptions later. Andrea?"

Andrea knew what he was asking, and knew she needed to be delicate in her answer.

"When you sign a marriage certificate, both girls are bound to both parents as step children. However, there are laws in place to speed up termination of birth parent's rights, leading to adoptions. I can help speed the process up."

She waited a moment and chose her next words tactfully.

"There will be a formal notice served to Ed. If he for any reason cannot be located, or if he does not respond to public notices, then the path will be clear for Daryl to adopt Sophia."

"What about Ella? Can I adopt her too?" asked Carol.

Now that will be an easier process since Marie already relinquished her parental rights. All requests for adoptions are listed in public records in state and county newspapers. If Marie sees it, she could try to show cause why the adoption should not go through. She can't stop it based on her birth of Ella however. She would have to show how the adoption would not be in Ella's best interests. But she would not have a leg to stand on."

Daryl and Carol looked at their girls. They were ecstatic.

"Since everybody's on board, that brings me to the next parts of my idea. Merle, call Dale and get Dale here quick. Glenn, ain't Maggie's daddy a preacher?"

"Yeah . . . "

"Well, call him up now. I don't want to wait one more day than we have too. I know it won't be legal yet until we can get a license being that it's Saturday; but whatta ya think about marrying me this weekend Carol? The sooner, the better."

Carol just nodded as she was too overcome to speak. But the searing kiss she gave Daryl proved her willingness.

The next part of Daryl's plan included jewelry.

As soon as Dale joined the group, Daryl drug Dale and Merle downstairs with him to the resort's gift shop that adversised the use of no blood diamomds. He was on a mission – and not just for wedding rings. He had it all mapped out in his head. He would find Carol a ring set - engagement and wedding band. He would then find the closest one to match for his own wedding band. Then he wanted to find the girls little rings that had the birthstones of the members of their family in it.

He explained all this to the man behind the counter. By the time he was done, he had a one and a half caret center stone round cut platinum engagement ring set in a line of smaller diamonds. The matching wedding band was another row of diamonds. The set was done in a modern style. He was able to find a ring that matched the platinum for his own wedding band. Thank God there was an inhouse jeweler because the birthstone rings would take the most time. But in the end, he had two mini rings with Blue (Sapphire), Red (Ruby), Green (Emerald) and White (Diamond).

When Dale made sure that Daryl got everything that he wanted, he waited for Daryl to pay for his choices. When they were walking down the hall together, Dale looked at Daryl and stopped.

"Jesus Christ Daryl. I think this is the first time I have ever seen you smile like this."

"Boy ain't stopped smiling like that since he met his woman." Merle agreed. "There won't be any getting these two apart in this lifetime."

"I'm getting that feeling, Merle. But I have yet to meet Carol and her daughter. How do they take all of this?"

"They are loving on him in the same obnoxious way he is loving on them. They also love Ella like you wouldn't believe. Don't worry there Dale. I was suspicious at first. Until I saw them together. I ain't never seen anybody be in love like these two yahoos are. Just don't repeat that to my new bride. Must be meant to be."

The women were almost ready by the time the men came back. In their absence, Richard and Dixie had made it back to join in on the impromptu festivities. They were nothing but thrilled for this couple, and were helping out any way they could. Dixie had hit a bridal store on the way up, puchasing no fewer than twelve gowns in a span of thirty minutes in Carol's size for her to select from (thank God for a good return policy). By the time the men were opening the door, Carol was in her chosen gown.

"Out! Out! Leave! Get out of here! Daddy, you aren't supposed to see Mommy's dress. Carl told me that Miss Lori told him that it's bad luck." Ella was indignant.

With that the boys were ushered off to one of the other rooms where the other guests were milling about. Some knew each other, and intoductions were made all around for the others.

The door to the ladies' encampment soon had a knock on it. In came T-Dog with flowers for the ladies to inspect. When the lilys had passed the proverbial muster, T brought them downstairs to the little room by the fountain for safe keeping.

Shane, Abe, and Glenn made it their priority that neither Marie nor Ed's whore made an appearance just in case Will's surveillance had lead him to the resort. They made rounds until just before the ceremony, as well as making sure security was on the look out for them.

Before anybody knew it, it was time for all involved in the ceremony to come downstairs and huddle outside the little room beside the fountain. Hair, makep and clothing changes had been made. Lori and Andrea had ran to a local store and got two white flower girl dresses with burgandy floral accents. Sophia and Ella loved them. They had also gotten a little suit jacket, dress pants, a dress shirt and burgandy tie for Carl. Lori as maid of honor had lucked out in finding a burgundy sun dress. The men were outfitted by a local tux shop. Daryl in black tie, with Merle's best man tux having a burgundy tie.

Now, all that was left was to arrange the flowers and put seating out for the dozen or so guests. Daryl, Merle, and Carl all waited around a corner. The women used that little room by the fountain to prepare. Hershel Greene (Maggie's father/Glenn's future father in law if he had his way about it) was an ordained minister. Following Glenn's frantic call, he had agreed to preform the ceremony.

Daryl rounded the corner away from all the others. He leaned back against the wall, head tilted back with eyes closed. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and steady his hands. This was it. He was about to marry Carol.

Notes:

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