AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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"I got Maddie an invitation to Christmas," Andrea said.

They were sitting at a table at the Chambers since Andrea insisted that her back hated the front barstools. Really, Carol thought Andrea just liked the privacy that the table offered them—somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of the bar in the after-work hours. Andrea was dressed up a little too much for the bar, but she'd come straight from a late meeting at her office, and she was dressed as a lawyer and not as the President's Old Lady. Still, nobody so much as batted an eye other than offer some playful wolf whistles as she walked in the door. Realistically, though, she would have earned a few of those from some of the brothers no matter what she wore.

The Judges had Court that night, and now that it had ended, everyone was hanging out, drinking beer, and shooting the shit. The Saviors, too, had been invited to the bar, though not to Court, and Negan had brought along a few whores as a special "treat" to give Carol the night off from being the House Mouse and passing out drinks.

Madison had offered to do something to proverbially earn her keep, now that she felt like she owed Merle such a thing, and rather than argue with her, Merle had put her to preparing some finger foods and passing them around to keep people entertained and happy.

She wasn't bad in the kitchen, and that made Carol a little more excited, even, than she had already been about Madison's arrival. It meant that she could put the woman to work with handling the books, but she could also expect her to flip a burger or make some fries when the situation called for it.

Honestly, Carol was enjoying the opportunity to simply sit, for the first time in a while, without having to pass out drinks or fry food.

"Jo didn't have a problem with her coming to the family Christmas?" Carol asked.

"She was thrilled," Andrea said. She smiled broadly. "I might've even told her that we thought, you know…Maddie might be a potential companion for Negan."

"What'd she say to that?" Carol asked.

"She loves it. Really, really, loves it," Andrea said. "And the minute I told her that Maddie has nobody? You know Jo—she's probably buying her a Christmas present as we speak."

"So how do we do this?" Carol asked.

"Do what?" Andrea asked, picking at the fried cheese stick in front of her.

"Get Maddie and Negan to be a thing," Carol said, keeping her voice low. Nobody was listening to them. The only person who had even been near them in the past half hour had been Sadie, and she was in on the whole thing—and she'd dismissed herself to go to the bathroom and then to entertain Alice for a bit.

"You know the drill, Carol," Andrea said with a laugh. "You're not that far removed from it. We just…introduce them into the same environment, like we've done, and then we give them a little time to smell each other."

Carol smirked at Andrea and cocked her eyebrow.

"Are you suggesting that—getting Daryl and I together was part of some master plan?"

Andrea smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm saying it wasn't entirely arbitrary that we arranged things to make you comfortable here," Andrea said. "Does that offend you?"

"I'm happier than I even feel I have a right to be with Daryl," Carol said. "Happier than—I ever imagined I could be."

"Then, it was a job well done," Andrea said. "As I was saying…we have to let them smell each other a little bit. Now, I've already noticed Negan noticing Maddie."

"Everyone has been noticing Maddie," Carol pointed out.

"Therein lies our one difficulty," Andrea said. "If anybody else gets too close—tries to get a really good whiff? We're going to have to beat them back with brooms. You know how they are."

"The sharks are already circling," Carol teased.

"We just have to make sure that only one shark gets in there," Andrea said. "We have in our favor that Maddie's a little nervous right now. Brothers don't bother her. It's pretty clear that she's unshakeable around them in general. And the MC doesn't phase her, but she's nervous about making a good impression and keeping this opportunity."

"She's nervous about being homeless and jobless," Carol said. "Call it what it is."

"That means she's not likely to be looking for anything right now," Andrea said. "Not right away. She'll be totally focused on work. And that's when we're around to help her notice Negan."

"What if she doesn't like him?" Carol asked.

"He's good looking," Andrea said. "Charming when it suits him to be charming. What's not to like?"

"We don't know her type."

"We know her type killed himself, left her desolate and, essentially, another man's property," Andrea said. "She might be willing to take a chance on a different type, Carol."

Carol laughed to herself and helped herself to one of the fried cheese sticks. They were salty and, now that they were cool, they had a texture that appealed to her more than she remembered most fried cheese sticks having appealed to her in the past. Of course, she was willing to consider that it was possible that, these days, Pea Baby had a hand in making her think about food in different ways.

"OK—what if…Negan doesn't like Maddie?" Carol asked.

"Pretty," Andrea said, "but still—natural. Earthy. Negan doesn't like whores and tarts because they put on too much. He doesn't like make-up and being made-up. He doesn't like fake women. He likes down-to-Earth. Blonde—Lucy was blonde. It's a type thing for Negan. She's got a strong personality, when she's not so nervous she could probably puke—and that'll pass as soon as we can get her settled and comfortable—but she also knows how to flatter a man if it interests her to do so. There's nothing about Maddie that Negan wouldn't like."

"Except for the fact that she's liable to want more than a one-night stand," Carol said.

"Therein lies the beauty of it all," Andrea said with a snort. "Negan doesn't like whores and tarts because, at the core, Negan is a man who is interested in monogamy and the family life. He always has been. Just like Daryl and Merle, he cut his teeth watching Hershel and Jo, and Teeter and Wilma, together—even where his own parents kind of fell short. He grew up seeing long-term dedication. Marriage, love, playful and long-term flirtation—and the comfort of knowing the person that you loved was going to be there no matter what. He grew expecting love, marriage, and a house full of babies that would eventually give way to a house full of grandchildren. That's what the hell he wanted with Lucy."

"You said he was rough on Lucy," Carol said. "Everybody says that."

"Oh, he was," Andrea said. "But—maybe it's part of the territory. Maybe it shouldn't be, but maybe it is. Everyone knows Hershel and Teeter weren't what they became from the very beginning. And the first time I was with Merle? I didn't tell him I was a virgin because he would've stopped talking to me right then and there. He'd've realized I was every bit as young as he suspected I was. So, I kept it a secret, and I let him get good and annoyed at me. I'm not going to lie, I thought he'd killed me. I actually thought, for a minute, that I might die. I didn't know if you could be fucked to death or not, but…" She let the sentiment hang, but Carol understood it.

"But Merle treats you well now," Carol said.

"Like I'm some kind of rare treasure or something," Andrea said with a laugh. "My point is that…some of the boys? The edges are real sharp. You either have to file them down yourself or wait for them to wear a little. Maybe that's why we say it takes a certain kind of woman to be an Old Lady. At least, it's one of the reasons. She's got to really dig her heels in and wait it out. In the grand scheme of things? Negan didn't get that long. He was already settling some—they were seriously starting to talk babies. Then, she was gone. Scared the shit out of Merle so bad, if we're being honest, that I believe that's one of the reasons it's taken us this long to have a baby. He said he just didn't like the idea of it, but he liked it before Lucy and Negan started talking about it. He even liked it when they started talking. I think he got it into his head that, if he leaned into things? If he really leaned into the whole family thing? Maybe he'd lose me the same way that Negan lost Lucy."

"Her—accident—and their family weren't related, were they?"

Andrea shook her head.

"But you can't always talk to fear," Andrea said. "Negan lost Lucy, and that was hard for Negan. But—all of us? We lost Lucy and Negan. It wasn't the easiest thing for the family to go through. So, I think—if he'd had time? Negan would have mellowed out. I think he's older now. Not as wild. He knows how fast things change, now. He knows how temporary everything is. I think—now? If he were to get hooked up with Madison? He'd probably settle down before she could get out of bed."

"Like Daryl and me?" Carol asked.

Andrea smiled.

"Like you two," she said.

"Daryl's not like that, though. I mean—the rough thing. What you described about Merle and…all of them. Daryl was never like that. At least not with me. Was he like that with Livvy?"

Andrea shook her head.

"Daryl's always been the sweet one," Andrea said. "Right from the start. He's got his little porcupine bristles. They come out from time to time. But every time I've ever seen Daryl get his dander up like that? It was always a defense mechanism. Something got at his soft little underbelly, and he bristled up to defend himself. That's the other thing about these boys, Carol. Every one of them looks hard and, maybe, in a lot of ways they are hard, but every one of them is soft, too."

Carol smiled to herself.

"I like the soft," she said.

"Me too," Andrea confirmed. "It's my favorite part of Merle. But—you have to take the whole package. Look—Negan's definitely noticed our little protégé."

Carol laughed to herself. It was fun to have a project—a game to play—with Andrea. She didn't know if anything would come from it, and she didn't know if it would actually work to create a meaningful relationship for the two people involved, but it was at least entertaining for the time being.

Negan had definitely noticed Madison, but it was impossible not to notice her. She was new blood in the clubhouse—and she was neither tart nor whore. Negan hadn't hidden his checking her out very well, because even Carol had seen the full head-to-toe treatment he'd given her as she walked away from him, around the bar, and started to pull a few more beers to pass around.

"A dozen men in here have noticed Maddie," Carol offered. "Currently, I can count six that are salivating."

"Merle'll be talking her up soon," Andrea said. "A comment here or there to make sure Negan's paying attention. Gauge his initial interest."

"Someone else is liable to make a move first," Carol said, somewhat teasing.

Andrea squirmed a little in her chair. Like Carol, she was enjoying the game. It was, perhaps, cheap entertainment and, if it helped to improve two people's lives, then it was all that much better.

"It's OK," Andrea assured her. "Maddie's nervous. I'm a lawyer. Body language is one of the things I do. Watch her. She's tense. She's using closed body language. Her tail's tucked. She's being warm enough to keep Merle happy and to keep up with the little whores, but she's being closed enough to make it clear she isn't accepting applications."

Carol giggled to herself.

"We're awful," she mused.

"It's the circle of life, or something like that," Andrea teased. "Perfectly natural."

"What if she doesn't relax and start accepting applications by the time Negan's interested?"

"It'll all work out," Andrea said. "We just have to get her relaxing a little. When can we have a girls' night? We'll crash at Alice's house. She'll love to have something. We'll call it a—pussies, pillows, and pajama party. It'll be right up Al's alley. We have to do it soon, though, before the baby comes."

"I'd say this weekend, but Daryl and I are going to the mountains to see the snow and the lights. We already booked our cabin. We're taking Sophia, remember? We leave on Friday, and we're back Sunday night," Carol said. "I'm working, of course, but…I can be flexible. I work every day, but I can open a little late one day."

"I'll look at my appointments," Andrea said. "I'll see what I can move and let you know tomorrow. We'll do it soon. That way, by the time Miss Jo is putting the finishing touches on her plans to bring them closer together over Christmas dinner, they'll be well on their way to something. While we have our little party, Merle and Daryl can do something with Negan. Some male bonding something or other. A little girl time will get Maddie relaxing, and we can use that time to sell her some of Negan's finer points."

Carol laughed to herself.

"Sounds good to me. Just be sure to let me know what they are before we get started. I might need a cheat sheet," she teased.