AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

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

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Daryl had admittedly let the blonde do most of the proverbial heavy lifting when it came to washing the baby. He hadn't really considered how tiny and delicate the baby would look. He hadn't considered how big and dangerous he would feel in her presence.

His hands shook when he held her.

Melodye helped him wash the baby, her own small fingers seeming much more suited for the job. She seemed to have some skill at this—either learned or simply innate—that Daryl didn't feel he was born with. When the baby was clean and dry, she'd worked with Daryl a little to fasten her tiny diaper and dress her in the outfit that Carol had chosen.

"It's such an important day for all of you," Melodye had said. "It's your first day together."

"She's been here, with us, for a while now," Daryl had responded. He'd gotten a warm smile in response.

"She has, but it's her first day as an independent person. And that's a big day for everyone."

Daryl couldn't and wouldn't argue with that. Before they'd fully finished with the baby, they'd gotten the question from the bedroom about whether or not they'd be done soon. Alice, it seemed, needed Daryl's assistance. He left the baby in what he felt to be Melodye's very capable hands, and he rushed into the bedroom—half nervous to find out what Alice needed, but telling himself that she'd sound much more frantic if there were something wrong.

In the time that they'd been working on cleaning and dressing the baby, Alice had finished with what she had to do with Carol. She was cleaning up so that she and Melodye could leave them for a while. In anticipation of the birth, they'd stripped the bed down to the bare necessities, and she had half the dirty fitted sheet off.

"Can you help me with Mama, Daddy?" Alice asked.

Daryl smiled to himself.

Carol looked smaller to him, in general, than he remembered her being. She looked delicate. Maybe it was simply because he was feeling so giant and imposing at the moment. She smiled at him.

"I don't have my sea legs just yet," she said. "I'm sorry."

"That's not entirely true," Alice said. "Mama tried to pop of the bed like a Jack-in-the-Box, and she would have succeeded, but I stopped her. I don't have much in the way of pain medication to offer her, but I did give her a shot of something I do have. It'll have no lasting effects on Mama or Baby Girl, and it'll be out of her system in a couple of hours, but it should take the edge off for a bit. It might make Mama loopy, though, and I'd rather she run laps with assistance if that's what she's feeling up to. I can't make the bed, though, and give her a hand."

Daryl felt his stomach untangle from any concern that he had. He walked over, worked his hands easily under Carol, and lifted her. She leaned her head against him.

"I'm going to be really quick, Daddy," Alice said, backing off from the bed. "I'm going to trade out with Melodye, OK? I want a good look at Baby Girl before I leave."

"Take your time," Daryl said. "Holdin' Carol ain't no problem for me."

Alice grabbed her bag from the mass of items that she'd moved in throughout the day, and she slipped into the bathroom. A moment later, Melodye came out and started to work on the bed, restoring it to how it normally looked.

"You don't have to hold me. You can just stand with me," Carol offered. "It's only a precaution."

"I got you," Daryl assured her.

"I'm too heavy," Carol protested.

"You're lighter'n you were on our honeymoon," Daryl offered. "Got all that baby outta there."

"When do I get my baby back?" Carol asked. "You're going to think I'm crazy but—I miss her."

"I don't think you're crazy. We won't hold her hostage, either. You'll get her back just as soon as we get you settled," Melodye answered. "And I'm working as hard as I can. Daryl—we put those ice packs in the freezer, remember? Alice wanted her to have those so she can use them whenever she's ready. Try to make sure it's not on too long—fifteen to twenty minutes, if you can, per hour. Only when she needs them. You don't want to restrict blood flow too much, because that's necessary for things to heal."

"I saw 'em," Daryl responded. He knew where the ice packs were—brought from Alice's freezer at the clinic to the freezer in the kitchen. He hadn't asked, but he was guessing what they might be for.

"OK—I think that's good enough to put her down," Melodye said. "The bed's clean and comfortable. Al—is everything OK?"

"We're coming," Alice called. There was some crying, clearly from the baby. "We're just double checking that everything is cleaned up. Baby Girl has some strong opinions."

"Oh—bless her heart," Carol lamented. "I'm ready for her…"

"I'm going to get Mama some Tylenol," Melodye said, starting to gather soiled linens and cleaning supplies that she and Alice had brought. "It's not much, but it'll help while everything's healing. We'll bring that and a few other care items for her and Baby Girl."

"What do I do?" Daryl asked, sitting down on the bed next to where he'd situated Carol.

"You do exactly what you're doing," Melodye said. "Take care of your wife. Take care of your brand-new baby. Mama will tell you what she needs. And if something doesn't seem right? You come and get Alice or me. Or, if someone's around, you can send someone to get us. I'm sure you'll want a little quiet time for a while, though."

"Yeah. I'd say I'd send T because he lives here," Daryl said, "but I don't imagine we're seeing him for a while."

"The last I saw T," Melodye offered, "was when you pointed him out to me. And if you don't mind me saying, he looked like he was trying to talk up a baby of his own."

Daryl and Carol both laughed, but Daryl could tell from Carol's fidgeting that she was hardly able to focus on anything beyond getting the baby back in her arms.

"Here we go, Mama," Alice said, coming from the bathroom. Carol was almost out of the bed, reaching in the woman's direction. Daryl practically had to hold her down. Alice brought the bundle over and placed the now-clean infant in Carol's arms.

"Oh—look at you!" Carol breathed out. "That was too long. Oh…it was too long…Is she OK?"

"She looks great, Mama. No worries, OK? And now you don't have to give her up anymore," Alice offered. "Not until you're ready to show her around a little, but there's no rush on that. Do you know how to nurse?"

Carol nodded, nuzzling the baby that was currently trying to sleep.

"Great," Alice said. "I want you to nurse her, OK? Whenever she wants, as much as she wants. There's no such thing as holding her or feeding her too much, OK? She's a tiny little thing, so we want her to bulk up. She should ask to feed—you know how that looks, right?" Carol nodded and hummed. "She should ask to feed within a couple of hours at the latest. If she doesn't or anything seems off, you let me know, OK?"

"I promise," Carol assured her.

Alice smiled.

"Good. We're gonna take all this…shit we brought, and we'll get out of your hair. We have a little cart outside. Daryl—can you help us load up?"

Daryl looked to Carol to ask her if she was fine. She smiled at him, warmly, and nodded.

"Go ahead," Carol said. "Stretch your legs. Smoke a cigarette or two. You've been cooped up inside all day. We're fine."

Daryl nodded. He leaned and kissed Carol. He eyed the sleeping baby, but he didn't dare to touch her and risk waking her.

"I'ma be right back, woman," Daryl said. "I'ma leave the door open. I can hear you if you call for me."

She accepted this and Daryl helped Alice and Melodye to gather up everything. They'd moved it into the house in several different loads from the little cart they'd borrowed to haul everything they might need, but it was all going out at once.

Outside, Daryl helped load things on the little cart, and then he immediately helped himself to a cigarette. When Alice asked for one, he gave her one and lit it.

"Thanks for everything. Really. You need me to pull all this shit to the office for you?" He asked.

"My pleasure—any time. I'm always up for bringing another human into the world. Remember that when Mama gets baby fever again. As far as pulling all this?" Alice said. "I'm a hawse. Can't you see that? I've got it. You spend some time with Mama."

Daryl nodded his head. He didn't realize how accustomed he was growing to the woman after they'd spend so much time together in anticipation of the baby's arrival.

"Anything I should know?" He asked. "Be honest."

Melodye and Alice exchanged looks with each other that clearly allowed one to ask the other if there was anything they could think of. Shrugs and half-shook heads were answer enough to say that there was nothing majorly important.

"She's going to know what she needs," Alice said.

"Alice did tell me that—it's her second baby?" Melodye said.

Daryl nodded, his stomach tightening.

"Sophia—her daughter—died prob'ly like seven or eight months ago, now," Daryl said. "Got—lost. Torn up by them things. Turned."

"She wasn't a baby, though," Alice said.

"Ten-ish," Daryl said. "Why?"

"Just—you might want to be aware of Mama's potential mental state," Melodye offered. "She's probably going through a lot. Maybe more than she's going to say or—maybe even more than she fully realizes right now. It's possible that this new baby is going to cause her to grieve, again, for her first."

"She never got to really grieve for her no way," Daryl said. "There wasn't really time. It was all about survival."

Melodye nodded her understanding.

"I just wanted you to know it might not start right away. It might come in waves. People might ask her, over and over, if it's her first baby," Melodye said. "Maybe they'll—give her advice for a first time Mama. My point is to just be gentle with her when it comes to emotions. Realize they might be all over the place."

"They're gonna be all over the place because she just had a baby," Alice said. "Go ahead and buckle up, Daddy, it's going to be a bumpy ride while her hormones get settled."

"What I'm trying to say is that there might be even more than there would be if this was just a first baby or a second baby and, as it is, and not a baby born after a loss," Melodye added.

"Thanks," Daryl said, nodding his head. "I'ma keep that in mind. I swear I will. But—whatever it is she needs to do? I'ma let her do it. That's all the hell there is to it. Ain't gonna lie—I didn't understand why she was in labor and supposed to be screamin' at me, from what I understood about labor, and she was insisting on refolding every damn thing in the nursery twice and then beggin' me to hold her and rub her belly." Daryl shrugged his shoulders and laughed to himself. "Figured—those are the secrets of the universe. For women only. It ain't for me to understand. It was just for me to—hold her when she asked and hand her more shit to fold when that was what the hell she needed."

"Sounds to me like you might just be a man on his way to understanding the deepest fucking secrets of women, as you call them," Alice offered, laughing to herself. "Many people have been working a long time and still haven't reached the level of understanding that you seemed to have achieved during your wife's labor. You're going to do all right. Let us know if any of those secrets get you too stumped, OK?"

Daryl thanked both the women, accepted the hug that each of them thought was appropriate after so many hours spent keeping vigil together, and sat down in a chair on the porch to smoke a second cigarette and consider the matter of the tiny baby girl's name.

Daryl wasn't much good at naming things. He'd never had much opportunity to do it because he'd never had anything that was really his—at least not long enough that it required a name. He tended to think of himself as relatively simple and, therefore, calling something what it was seemed absolutely sufficient.

He knew that Baby Girl Dixon, however, couldn't very well go through her whole life with the name Baby Girl.

Daryl thought on it while he smoked his cigarette. He let his mind run back over his life and, especially, over the part of his life that had been the best—the time he'd spent with Carol. He considered everything that might possibly be a suitable name for a baby girl that was new to the world and barely big enough to notice.

Finally, he got up and went inside, stopping by the kitchen for water and a snack for Carol. He was sure that if she didn't want it now, she would want it soon. He could go for a meal for them later.

In the bedroom, Carol looked blissfully happy. She was propped on her pillows and the baby had accepted a breast.

Carol smiled at him when he came in the room—the kind of smile that made her nose crinkle. Despite the obvious fatigue in her eyes, her smile communicated the purest kind of happiness, and it looked beautiful on Carol.

"She's eating," Carol said.

"So I see," Daryl said. "You doin' alright?"

"I'm perfect," Carol said. "I mean—I'm tired and…I know I'm sore, even though it's like it's around the edges of my mind with whatever that shot was that Alice gave me. But—I don't care. Does that make sense?"

Daryl laughed to himself. He eased down on the bed next to her, careful not to jostle her too much.

"Makes perfect sense," he said. "You can feel however the hell you wanna feel." Carol leaned up a little and Daryl slipped his arm behind her. She leaned against him and he pulled his legs up onto the bed, fitting himself into the little space beside her. The baby was practically sleeping, and he didn't know how much eating she could really do in that state, but she hadn't let go of Carol and Carol wasn't pushing her off. "Thought about her name."

"What did you decide?" Carol asked.

"If you had somethin', then I wouldn't be offended if you wanted to name her," Daryl said.

"Tell me yours, first," Carol said.

"I'm not good at it," Daryl warned.

"I'm sure you are. I want to hear it."

"I was thinkin' that—she was what brought me and you together," Daryl said. "Sophia—she started it. But—I hate to think how damn long we woulda spent just…wastin' our time. If it hadn't been for you bein' pregnant. So, she kinda brought us together. And—she's what got us outta there—who the hell knows if we'd've even lived, stayin' too much longer with the group. She give us somethin' to work toward. A future. Hope that—things could be a whole lot better than they were."

"She did," Carol said, smiling to herself as she kept her eyes glued on the little thing in her arms.

"She's give this community some hope, too," Daryl said. "For a real future. First—healthy, live-born baby they got. That's a big thing."

"It is," Carol agreed.

"I was thinkin'—she's kinda like our own little Cherokee Rose. So—I was thinkin', what if we just call her Rose?"

"Rose?" Carol mused.

"If you hate it," Daryl said, unable to finish, but also feeling that he didn't have to finish.

"I love it," Carol breathed out. "Does—Rose—have a middle name?"

Daryl's stomach tightened. There was something in Carol's tone of voice. Maybe she was feeling all those feelings that Alice and Melodye suggested she might. Maybe she was just feeling the same kind of feelings that Daryl was—because he was feeling his own sort of overwhelm, even without the aid of all the hormones that Alice suggested might be flooding Carol's body.

"What was Sophia's middle name?" Daryl asked.

Carol smiled to herself. Daryl didn't miss that her eyes were starting to puddle with tears. He didn't say anything about it. He simply brushed his finger under her eyes to wick away the warm droplets.

"Marie," she said.

"Then—maybe she ought to have that one," Daryl said. "That way—she's always got a piece of Sophia with her." He wicked away a few more tears that fell hot and quick from her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "If I shouldn'ta said that. We can pick somethin' else."

"No," Carol said. "No—I love it, Daryl. I was just thinking—how much I loved Sophia."

"I know you did," Daryl said.

"And—how much I love Rose already."

Daryl smiled to himself.

"I know you do," he said. "And it's good. She's gonna need that. Deserves that."

Carol looked at him and he brushed another tear away with his palm. She gave him a smile that was slightly pained from everything she was working through at the moment.

"And I was thinking, Daryl, about how much I love you."

Though he didn't feel that he could respond at that exact second—his own throat having had some reaction that had practically closed it up—Daryl thought he communicated his response to Carol, well enough, in the kiss that he placed on her lips.