The first time Shane tells her that he loves her, Carol almost misses it.

Sophia is teething, so it was a rough night all around. Unlike Ed, Shane took his turn soothing Sophia while waiting for the baby Tylenol to kick in at the worst part of the night. Although Jean's recovered well from her health scare, the second the daycare told Carol that Sophia was teething on Friday afternoon, she made plans to stay at Shane's. They haven't quite figured out their pattern for when she stays over in the apartment, although Shane hadn't hesitated to share Carol's room at the house the first three days after Jean's heart attack.

Normally, Dale doesn't ask Carol to work on weekends, but they have new software that needs to be installed, and it's better to do that on a quiet Saturday morning than a busy weekday one. It coincides with Shane's schedule allowing a full weekend off, so he is keeping Sophia for the day. The pair of them are slumped on the couch when Carol comes out of the bathroom, Sophia curled on Shane's broad chest while gnawing on a teether while a recorded football game plays on the television.

Trinity is perched on the back of the couch, watching over them both with intent feline eyes. The Siamese is fascinated by Sophia, thankfully, although Carol suspects the cat sees Sophia more as a toy or pet than a human part of the family. How that will change now that Sophia is trying to crawl, they'll have to wait and see.

"She's drooling all over you," Carol notes softly, kneeling next to the couch to press a kiss against Sophia's forehead. The baby's eyes cross briefly as she tries to focus on Carol. The drool really is significant, covering a damp spot larger than Sophia's head and creeping down the side of Shane's shirt.

"I'm washable, and so's the shirt." Shane switches the hand he has against Sophia's back, reaching out to cup the back of Carol's head and urge her closer for a kiss.

When they finally come up for air, Carol wishes a lazy Saturday was in the cards. "I should be done by one or so."

"If it looks like it's going to run longer, text and me and Jellybean will bring you some lunch." He blinks at her lazily. "Only plans we have today is her learning the rules for football so she can watch the Super Bowl with me."

"I'm sure she'll watch it with you even if she doesn't understand a thing." Just like Carol will, because Shane genuinely enjoys trying to explain the game to her and doesn't seem to mind if he has to repeat himself.

"Yeah, I bet she will. She's my buddy, aren't you, sweetheart?" Shane asks, turning his attention to Sophia, who babbles nonsense at him before smacking him in the cheek with her drool-covered teether. He just tucks his head to wipe his cheek on the shoulder of his shirt while tickling Sophia. "Tylenol kicked in really good. She's happy again."

"Let me know if the tooth comes in finally?" Carol asks, thinking of the inflamed little bud she'd found in Sophia's bottom gums yesterday afternoon that was still there when she nursed Sophia right before she showered. It's the first time Carol's really thought about missing milestones because she's working, but she knows it won't be the last.

"Of course. I'll even take pictures."

Smiling, Carol steals one last kiss before going to gather her purse and keys as Shane calls out what her brain first registers as a casual stay safe and goodbye. She's outside, halfway down the stairs, when what he actually said registers and halts her descent.

Maybe she heard it wrong. Maybe he meant Sophia. Insecurity grips her until she shakes her head, trying to clear away the damage that still lingers from her marriage.

This is Shane, and it seems exactly like him to slide "love ya" in so smoothly that Carol doesn't even comprehend it at first. If she goes back inside, she just knows she'll see that sly grin of his, mischief dancing over his features.

Instead, she just lets the warmth and acceptance caused by the casual acknowledgment of his feelings settle over her and smiles all the way to work. If he wants to be sneaky about major declarations, she can do the same.

Carol makes it home before Sophia sprouts the tooth completely. Frozen banana slices in a mesh feeding bag do the trick, and Jean looks quite smug about her banana plan after the dramatic "ouch!" she gives when Sophia bites her finger. Supper is a bit of a group gathering, because a week is not enough time for Jean's family to stop feeling nervous. The elderly woman has had a full table every night for supper since.

Even with the teething pain passed successfully, Carol still follows Shane back to his apartment as Sophia snoozes on his shoulder. Shane seems distracted and even a little nervous as they unlock his door, and at first, Carol thinks it's this morning's sentiment that has him unsettled. That flees her mind the second he hesitates in front of the closed door to the office that doubles as a guest room. That door is never closed anymore, since Sophia sleeps in there in the spare playpen.

A spare playpen that Carol realizes is in the living room, even as Shane ignores it despite the fact that Sophia is sound asleep.

"Jellybean and I didn't watch football much today," he says at last. "But our other plans were a surprise."

As Shane slides the door back on the railings, the room is dimly lit by a pinkish-red light that gives the room a bit of an eerie look. It gives her just enough of a look at the room to understand that none of the furniture she's navigated around in the past is where it was this morning. Since Shane is waiting on her and starting to look anxious, Carol reaches out and flips on the overhead light.

Everything is different. This morning, the room had a desk and a futon, with minimal decoration as expected from a spare room in a bachelor's home.

Tonight?

The once plain white walls have colorful woodland animal decals decorating them, along with a big tree complete with birds perching on the branches. Where the futon sat, there is a pretty crib just like one that Carol once admired in an episode of some remodeling show she coaxed Shane into watching. There's a matching changing table and glider rocker, along with a sturdy dresser that has the specialty nursery lamp sitting on top. All of the furniture matches, a rustic-colored wood that gives a bit of a nod to the fact that the apartment is above a barn.

It's absolutely beautiful, and from the peek of cardboard she can see behind the not-quite-shut closet door, everything assembled recently. She steps forward and runs her hands along the crib's rail. "Did you do all this today?"

"Yeah. Me and Sophia hung out and put everything together. She may have learned a few new cuss words." Shane shrugs sheepishly, movement limited by still holding Sophia. "Merle and Daryl came up and took the futon over to Rick's and helped me move the desk into our bedroom, but I thought this part I needed to do myself."

Tears well up in Carol's eyes as she takes in the green fitted sheet that coordinates with the woodland additions to the room. He even remembered that part and left out anything that might not be safe for the baby. She reaches out and turns the mobile, watching the small stuffed deer, raccoon, squirrel, and fox bobble gently. "It's perfect."

Sophia's already in her sleeper, clothes changed with her last diaper before leaving Jean's so she wouldn't be woken up once they got here to put her to bed. Shane is slow and gentle as he eases the baby down into the crib where Sophia sprawls on her back, limbs loose in deep, contented sleep. Her blonde fluff looks like spun gold against the dark color of the sheet.

Carol turns, clinging to Shane and hugging him as tightly as she can manage. "Thank you."

"Not fussed that I picked it all out?"

The hesitant note makes her look up at him and realize the normally confident man really is nervous about her reaction. Glancing down at Sophia, she tugs him out of the room, flicking off the light and sliding the door mostly closed.

"How long have you been planning this?" she asks. "You couldn't have done it better if I'd made you a list."

It's amazing, to be honest. If anyone had asked Carol to design her own nursery, it would look just like what she walked into tonight. It's also expensive as hell, as that furniture certainly didn't come from Target if it was on the decorating show, but she's not going to argue that point because this isn't a gift or an obligation, it's a declaration of Sophia's place in Shane's life.

This is what a father does for his daughter.

"Since Christmas. Last time I had an off day when you were working, I borrowed Merle's truck and went up to Atlanta to get everything. He stored it at his workshop until today." Shane blushes, an impressive feat with his darker complexion. "She deserves a room like that."

Carol just kisses him, backing him up further and further until he's on the couch and she's astride his lap. He responds so easily to her that she almost loses track of her intent from this morning as the haze of arousal washes over them both. But they need to breathe, and once she's just sitting there with her hands threaded into his hair, she smiles.

"I love you, too, you know."

That sly, mischievous grin she expected appears. "Yeah? Even when I'm a sneaky smartass?"

She brushes a kiss across his forehead. "Especially when you're a sneaky smartass."

"Glad to hear that." Shane shifts, arms keeping her in place even as he twists his body to reach for something on the coffee table. "Hold out your hand."

Trusting him the way she didn't think she'd ever trust a man again, Carol presents her right hand palm up. The cool weight of a keychain plunks into her hand, and she doesn't miss the significance of the plastic-encased photo being Shane and Sophia grinning in some snapshot that looks like one of the selfies she's seen him post to Facebook of the two of them. She doesn't even have to ask what the keys are for.

"You don't have to move in to accept them, Carol," he tells her, mischief fading in favor of a serious expression. "I know how soon it is. But it's a promise of how much I love you and how much I love Sophia. Everything on that keyring is a promise."

There's something in how he says those last words that makes Carol look even closer. Half-hidden under the photo on the keychain is a ring, one that she recognizes and just now realizes she hasn't seen since before Jean went to the hospital.

"Is this your grandmother's ring?" she asks, feeling in awe as she shifts the keychain to look closely at the design of the ring. As often as she's seen it on Jean's hand, she's never been able to really see that it's not a traditional engagement ring by modern standards.

"It is. She gave it to me when she realized I was in love with you." His hands run down her back, warm and soothing. "Even if you need a year to say yes, I want you to have it now."

Carol's hands are shaking so hard she can't get the ring off the keyring that links it to the keychain. Shane takes it from her, popping the ring free with an ease that makes her wonder if he practiced it. He holds it out to her, and his expression is so hopeful and yearning that her breath catches.

Shane loves her. More importantly, he adores Sophia as if she were his own. How she feels for him tells her that her early days with Ed were nothing but lonely infatuation. Taking Jean's ring out of his hand and sliding it on her finger feels like coming home, especially when the ring fits her perfectly despite her knowing Jean's hands are probably smaller.

When he cups her face with his hand, Carol leans into the gentle touch, even as he traces the contours that had been a mess of bruises when they first met on the deserted back road. There's a flash of memory of that rainy night, watching as understanding laced with anger and pain crossed his face when she turned to face him that first time. She knows without a doubt that she never has to fear him like that, and she turns to press a kiss to his palm.

"Yes."

He swallows hard, drawing his hand down and tracing her collarbone with his fingertips. "What kinda yes?"

"The kind means I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you."

How deep this man is inside her heart in such a short time should scare her. Instead, all she can think of is that October night where she was stranded and terrified out of her mind, sure that she was on her way back to Ed. Then Shane appeared out of the darkness and understood exactly what she was running from and brought her and Sophia to a safe place and a family like none she's ever known.

It had taken every ounce of courage Carol ever possessed to flee the evil man she once thought she loved and take her daughter to safety. Here, as Shane claims a kiss with a sense of urgent joy at her reply, she knows she'll never need to escape again.

A/N: Although this is the last chapter, obviously we'll continue to see more of them as the other stories in the series play out, and their eventual wedding will be either featured as part of another story or as a bonus story posted to the series later. I'm considering making it an epilogue piece, and it may be finally be a Grandma Jean POV story, as I feel like it would be the perfect ending to the series to let the matriarch tell the tale.

I do want to thank all the readers who took the plunge into reading a non-ZA story. While the world I come from is as flawed as any cultural background can be, there is a beauty to it as well, which I've enjoyed sharing.

Daryl/Connie's story is next, but there will probably be a month or two delay for it. I need to do some research regarding Deaf culture and look for a Beta familiar with such, as it is a larger undertaking than having Connie guest-star in Beth and Eugene's story. Patience will be rewarded. :)