AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

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

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Daryl let Carol sleep a great deal since she seemed to have fallen into a pretty deep sleep with the coming of the morning. While she slept, he took Dog and set some traps in the woods for Walkers and some snares for meat. He shot a few squirrels and cleaned them—traipsing back and forth to the house throughout the whole process to make sure that, in his absence, Carol hadn't woken and gotten concerned—and then he'd started a small fire in the fire pit outside where he could keep a close watch on the horses. Ezekiel had brought a box of food in the wagon—enough to get them through several days—and Daryl used that with what he had to start a breakfast that was damn near good enough for royalty, whether that royalty was imaginary or otherwise.

Daryl didn't mean to wake Carol when he was pulling an extra blanket down from the shelf in the top of the closet, but he accepted that she should probably start to wake up since breakfast would be ready soon.

He'd given her a few minutes to get her boundaries before he'd taken her outside to a picnic breakfast and explained that the horses needed to be looked after while they waited for the trip to the Hilltop that they'd start just as soon as they were finished eating.

Carol might have tried to refuse the trip to Hilltop—whether it was because of what was going on with Henry or whether it was nerves that would make her do so, Daryl didn't know—so Daryl was glad that Ezekiel had thought to leave the wagon there. It was an added push to tell Carol that there was no sense in refusing the trip. They'd have to take the wagon back to the Kingdom and, as long as they were getting on the wagon, they might as well use it to make the trip to the Hilltop.

The wagon was also proof that Ezekiel had been there and it gave credence to Daryl's promise that Henry wasn't really mad and was going to get over this little fit he was having—even Ezekiel said so, and he had most recently seen the boy. It backed up Daryl's insistence, too, that Henry wasn't going to come and wonder where they'd went, because Ezekiel was going to talk to him and, while he talked to him, he'd be sure to let him know that they were away for a day or two.

When they'd finished breakfast, of which Daryl thought Carol ate more than a satisfactory amount, and they'd let Dog have what he wanted of the scraps, Daryl made sure the fire was out while Carol packed a small bag for them both. As soon as the wagon was loaded, and Dog was happily riding in the back for the first leg of the journey, Daryl had flicked the reins and they were off.

The best feeling that Daryl didn't expect was when Carol got as close to him as their bodied would allow and leaned her head against his shoulder. He shifted the reins to one hand, since there was little that needed to be done with the reins until their next turn, and he put an arm around her shoulder before he leaned his face lightly against the top of her head.

"You—wanna talk about it?" Daryl asked.

"About what?" Carol asked.

Daryl laughed to himself.

"Anything," he said. "Absolutely anything that's on your mind."

"There's more on my mind than you want to hear," Carol said with a sigh.

"We've got a long way to Hilltop," Daryl pointed out.

"You might get tired of hearing it," Carol said.

"If you keep feeling it," Daryl offered, "I'll keep hearing it."

Carol snuggled into him and Daryl wondered, for a moment, if she might actually be considering going back to sleep.

"I hate that we just got—to our house," Carol said. "That it just became our house. And we're leaving it."

Daryl laughed to himself.

"For like—one night only," he assured her. "And this is real important."

"That's another thing," Carol said. "If I think about it too much, I feel sick. What if—something's wrong?"

"Then we deal with it," Daryl said.

"You mean I deal with it," Carol said.

"No, I mean we deal with it," Daryl said. "There ain't no I no more, Carol. Isn't that what this is all about? You and me and…this whole new life thing?"

"That is what it's about," Carol said. "But it's me who…might not be able to do this. You've kind of done your part."

She laughed quietly to herself and rubbed her face against Daryl's shoulder.

"You talkin' about the baby, right? Just—just so we're clear?"

"Mmm hmmm," Carol hummed.

"Well if that's all the hell I have to do with it, Carol, then…"

"What?" Carol asked after a moment. "What were you going to say?"

"I don't know," Daryl said. "That's why I didn't say it. Listen—I get it. The whole thing—havin' the baby and all that? I get that it's like a thousand times bigger deal for you than it is for me. But—I kinda like the idea of being involved. Havin' some kinda role in all this."

"You can be as involved as you want to be," Carol said.

"Not if you keep shoving me out, I can't," Daryl responded.

"I'm not shoving you out," Carol said. "But if something happens, it'll be my body that—couldn't handle it."

"Or—it could be me that give you defective shit to work with in the first place," Daryl offered. "Let me just ask you one thing. Is this makin' you feel better?"

"No," Carol admitted.

"Me either," Daryl said. "Let's try somethin' else. Let's say—you see this doctor and everything's just great. Perfect. What are you hopin' for?"

"You mean—with the doctor?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said. He tried to sound as enthusiastic as he possibly could. At that moment, he would take anything. He'd listen to any list she wanted to give him as long as it was a list of hope and not the list of hopelessness that seemed to have started to form the night before. She'd been lighter at the camp than he'd seen her in a while—once she'd told him about the baby and he'd promised to come back with her and really make something together—and he wanted her to have that. He thought she could have that, if she could be reminded that there could be good things out there.

This was a new life, after all, for the both of them. They'd decided it. They'd claimed it and named it to be so. It might as well be a new life that came with some hope.

"Well…" Carol started. She paused.

"Go ahead," Daryl said. "Everything's perfect so…don't think about what could be bad. What do you want most?"

"I want the baby to be healthy," Carol said.

"Done," Daryl said. "Perfect. So, you're healthy, too. All the way."

Carol laughed quietly. Daryl rubbed his hand down her arm and pulled her a little tighter against him in a hug.

"I want—to see the baby," Carol said.

"Got a machine for that," Daryl said.

"Hear the heartbeat," Carol said.

"Can he do that?" Daryl asked.

"He should be able to," Carol said. "With the machine or…or a stethoscope or something."

"Then we'll do that, too," Daryl said.

"I wouldn't mind—knowing what the baby is," Carol said. "A boy or a girl."

"He can do that with his machine?"

"If it's not too early," Carol said. "I don't know when it's too early. I didn't find out—with Sophia. I didn't find out until she was born. I was too scared to know."

"We'll find out," Daryl said.

"Unless it's too early," Carol said.

"Then we'll find out when it ain't too early," Daryl offered. "I got—in my back pocket? I got a royal invitation or declaration or whatever that asks him to come to the Kingdom. Bring all his stuff. Move for the duration or, at least, until the baby comes."

Carol sat up and twisted her neck like she might be trying to loosen up a knot there, but she didn't put any distance between herself and Daryl. She stayed close enough to him that their bodies might be glued together and, if the temperature dropped anymore, they could easily share a blanket to keep warm.

"He might not want to move," Carol said.

"Then we'll come back to Hilltop," Daryl said. "Either way…what do you want?"

"I told you what I want," Carol said. "I don't have too many more expectations for the exam. It's a physical exam, Daryl."

"Boy or girl, Carol," Daryl said.

She laughed quietly.

"You tell me," she said. "What do you want? Or—do you not want to know? We don't have to know."

"You want to know," Daryl said. "And I don't care. I mean—I'm going to know eventually so today's as good a day as any."

"Boy or girl?" Carol asked.

"You can't go first?" Daryl asked.

"Boy or girl?" Carol repeated.

"You gonna—think I'm pissed off or disappointed or whatever if what I say isn't what we get?" Daryl asked. "Because that ain't the case. I'm kinda pickin' here like…like you like two flavors of something and you're picking which one you like best."

"Just because you like chocolate doesn't mean you hate vanilla?" Carol asked.

Daryl smiled to himself.

A week ago, he might have spent this hour of the day—the intoxicating hour when the sun was bright and the whole world almost seemed to be something that wasn't quite real and the air was cool and fresh and felt clean—sitting on a stump feeling sorry for himself. He might have been stewing in his past miseries and convincing himself that life—at least his life—was a shitshow that was only getting progressively worse. He might have been suffocating under the weight on his chest that felt like an anvil—the same anvil that had been resting there for years.

The weight of that anvil had only ever even been lessened in the presence of one person.

And now that person was sitting beside him, silently stealing his body warmth against the chill of the air stirred up by the moving wagon, with her hand resting affectionately on his thigh. That person was talking about a child that she carried—a child created between the two of them.

They were talking about forever together, hiding away from the world in a little house where they reached out from time to time but mostly kept their distance from the unnecessary drama created by others.

Maybe it wasn't too ridiculous that the good King Ezekiel lived in his make-believe castle when Daryl really thought about it.

Daryl realized that he was looking forward, after all, to his own fairytale in his quiet little enchanted home in the woods with the woman that he'd heard Ezekiel call, more than once, a faerie queen.

The first hints of true happiness felt good.

Daryl moved his arm from around Carol's shoulders. He slipped a hand over and tentatively brushed his fingers against her stomach before dropping his hand to her thigh.

"I like chocolate and vanilla," Daryl said. "And I'd like a boy or a girl—as long as…you're it's mama."

"You aren't going to tell me what you want?" Carol asked.

"No," Daryl said. "Because then you'll worry about it. You'll say you won't, but you will. And I don't want you to worry about nothin' else. Not today."

He closed his eyes a split second to the satisfaction of her lips pressing warm against the side of his face. She nuzzled his ear and he shivered.

"Then I'll just hope you get what you want," Carol said.

"Then that'll make two of us," Daryl assured her.

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Daryl steered the wagon through the open gates and into the Hilltop. As they were entering, people were walking up. Some came simply to see who was arriving. The familiar faces, though, were coming because the lookouts already knew who was coming.

Daryl pulled back on the reins and stopped the horses as soon as they were far enough inside the gates to allow for the gates to be shut. Dog, who had run along beside them for the last leg of the journey, ran past the wagon and greeted a few familiar faces in the crowd before he disappeared in search of someone who might have some snack to offer him.

The man they called Jesus approached the side of the wagon as Daryl climbed down.

"Daryl," he said. "Carol. It's been a while since I've seen either of you."

Daryl accepted the half-hug that Jesus offered him because he knew he wouldn't escape without it. Carol slid over and started out of the wagon, and Daryl immediately reached his hands up to catch her sides and help guide her down. As soon as she found her footing on the ground, Daryl looked back to Jesus.

"What brings you to Hilltop?" Jesus asked.

The clothing Carol favored these days hid her belly quite well at this point. Still, there was a hint of it where the cloth was wrinkled and bunched from sitting so long. Daryl reached a hand over and rested his palm flat over her belly. His hand practically covered the entire swell.

"Heard you had a doctor here," Daryl said. "Heard he could take care of babies and things. Thought he might have a look at something we brought with us."

Jesus wasn't stupid or slow to follow things, and his eyes had immediately followed Daryl's hand. He smiled and raised his eyebrows. It was clear that, when he'd been walking up and thinking of all the things that might have brought them there, this wasn't one of the things that he'd included on his list.

"Precious cargo indeed!" Jesus said, he immediately went for a hug and Carol seemed more than happy to accept it. Daryl stepped out of the way so that the two of them could enjoy the strong hug that passed between them. When they were done, both of them still smiling, Jesus held Carol at arm's length. He was clearly having a difficult time deciding if he was going to look at her stomach or her eyes. "Of course—he's here and he'll see you. I'm sure it'll just take him a few minutes to get ready."

"We can put our stuff up," Daryl said. "See about the wagon and the horses. If you got a room for us for the night?"

"A night, a week," Jesus ticked off, still holding onto Carol's arms. "However long you want to stay. But—where is the King? Henry?"

Carol's smile fell and she looked at Daryl. He could feel her anxiety.

She was in a good place for the moment. She was feeling good. And this was possibly going to be as stressful an appointment with a physician as she'd ever had. Daryl preferred for her to go into it with a positive state of mind instead of one that had just been worn out from rehashing the things that had been difficult over the past few days.

He reached a hand out and squeezed the top of Jesus's arm to draw his attention. He did his best, with his words and his facial expression, along with the firmness of his squeeze, to communicate that there was some finality in his words.

"They're at the Kingdom," Daryl said. "We'd really like to square things away. See that doctor. There'll be plenty of time for catching up later. When we're settled."

Jesus seemed to understand what Daryl was saying. At the very least, he seemed to understand that Daryl was telling him "not right now" without using the words. He renewed his smile and nodded.

"Absolutely," he said. "Absolutely. I'll just—send you with Tara to get situated and I'll go and let the doctor know that you're waiting to see him."

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AN: You can consider canon characters as practically OC for me (or at least OOC) because I don't even know how Jesus acts, to be honest. I've seen very little of him and the few snippets I've seen on YouTube to "research" hardly make me an expert. The same goes for everyone, especially with the way characters change on the show (sometimes without rhyme or reason, in my opinion, but that's another story entirely).

Ditto for settings. I really create my own imaginary settings. I don't know how far away one thing is from another. I don't know who lives where, so I'm guessing and using people I want to use. (Do you know how close I came to going total AU and having Glenn meet them? Do you? Can you even imagine? LOL)

Also, I don't do caveman Daryl with the vocabulary of six words and some variated grunts. I can't handle it. Daryl is an intelligent person (though I don't necessarily say highly educated, and I believe there's a difference) and he can speak in full sentences, even complex ones, especially when it matters to him. I keep more of the Seasons 1 and 2 Daryl, but just sort of add on his new experiences. Basically, I guess I create my own Daryl. I'm sorry if that bothers you. It's just what I have to do.

Anyway, there you go, your handy-dandy disclaimers for this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think!