AN: Here we go, another chapter here.

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

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"There isn't any pressing business to keep me here," Michael said. "As soon as a team can be spared to pull the trailer and the generator, I'll head to the Kingdom."

"We can send a team back," Daryl said. "A couple hands to help out."

"There's no hurry," Carol insisted.

"You're a high-risk pregnancy," Michael said, "in a high-risk environment. I'd like to be closer in case you need me."

Daryl saw Carol's expression. It darkened from the way she'd looked most of the morning. She pretended she had a sudden interest in rearranging a few of the items on the back of their wagon.

"If something's going to happen, Michael, there's nothing you can do about it—whether you're at the Hilltop or the Kingdom," Carol offered.

"That isn't true," Michael said. "There are some things that I can do for different problems that may arise."

"And we appreciate anything you have to offer," Daryl interjected. "Carol—you about ready back there?"

"I'm just fixing Dog's bed," Carol said.

The blanket that she was referring to had already been fixed once. She was, more than anything, putting a moment of distance between them. Daryl glared at Michael. The man looked at him apologetically.

"Your vitals looked good this morning," Michael offered out.

Carol abandoned her pretend work with Dog's blanket and called to the animal that wasted no time in making the leap into the back of the wagon. As soon as he was settled, she closed the back and wiped her hands on her pants as she circled around.

"Did they?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the ground or anywhere else they might trail to keep them away from Michael.

Daryl reached and caught her shoulder, guiding her toward the seat of the wagon. As soon as she started to climb up, he rested his hands on her hips to let her know that he was offering support in case she might find she needed it.

"Your heartbeat was regular," Michael said. "Your temperature was elevated, but no more than I'd expect for an expectant mother. Your blood pressure was lower—closer to what I'd like."

"And everything over a really hearty breakfast," Carol mused, finding her seat. Daryl climbed up after her and got settled. "Sounds like I'm doing everything right."

"It was prob'ly all that blood pressure lowerin' we were doing," Daryl teased. He felt his own face burn at hearing his words, but he would sacrifice his own comfort in the chance that it might amuse Carol. It seemed to work, too, because she did laugh quietly beside him.

"That could be it," Michael said. "Sometimes the best medicines are the natural ones."

"What was that chemical called again?" Carol asked.

The smile was still lingering on her lips. Daryl normally would be mortified to be so openly discussing their sex life, but the truth of the matter was that he'd spent the last day or so talking about it in a round-about manner with nearly everyone at the Hilltop who wanted to know why it was that Ezekiel wasn't there to hold Carol's hand at the moment when she saw the child she was carrying for the first time.

He might as well talk about their sex life in a way that benefitted them in some way.

"Oxytocin," Michael said.

"Oxytocin?" Carol repeated. Michael hummed and nodded to her. She repeated it again, committing it to memory. The smile hadn't faded. In fact, when she looked at Daryl, the smile was still there and very much the smirk that he was familiar with—the smirk that meant that she was about to tease him, and she was going to enjoy it. "Maybe you should—add that to your prescription. Good food, lots of rest, and…lots of oxytocin."

She leaned enough to bump against Daryl. He was smiling and he wasn't trying to hide it. The whole thing was making his face ache and he was pretty sure that his temperature, pulse, and blood pressure were elevated—but nobody was concerned about that. For her to feel better, even briefly, it was worth it, though.

"I wouldn't complain," he said. "Oxytocin. Hell—move it to the top of the list."

"Consider it done," Michael said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Daryl said. "Alright—Doc. Thanks. You want us to send a team back for you?"

"There will be horses to spare," Michael said. "I'll be there soon. I'll let you know when I'm there."

"Pay us a house visit," Daryl said.

They'd already said goodbye to everyone else that cared that they were heading out, so Daryl flicked the reins and urged the horses onward toward the gates. Tara was working the gates and she called out to them and waved goodbye as they passed through.

As soon as they were back on the road, Daryl dropped his arm around Carol's shoulder and she snuggled in close to him.

"Feelin' OK?" He asked.

"If I say I'm still nervous," Carol said, "then you'll probably just turn around and go back as fast as you can and I just want to go home."

Daryl laughed.

"Is him sayin' high-risk what's got you with a bee up your nose?"

Carol laughed and pulled away from him just enough to stare at him with a half-confused look on her face.

"A bee up my nose?" She asked.

"Yeah—like a bee up your nose," Daryl said. "You know, because you're upset or mad or whatever that he said the words and you didn't like 'em."

"Do you mean a bee in my bonnet?" Carol asked.

"I don't give a damn where you got the bee, Carol," Daryl said. "Results the same."

Carol sighed and returned to her position of leaning into Daryl. He wasn't going to complain. If she wanted to ride the whole way back to the Kingdom like this, he'd gladly let her.

"High risk," Carol said. "Geriatric pregnancy. They sound so terrifying. It's like I'm feeling fine and then one of them comes to mind and suddenly I can't breathe and my knees are shaky because it feels like…it's just a matter of days. Like I'm a bomb, waiting to go off, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

"Well—you kinda are waitin' to go off," Daryl said. "Because one way or another, the clock is tickin' down. And when it gets to the end? Out comes a baby."

Carol snorted.

"That is the most—that's really poetic, Daryl," Carol teased. "You should write that down."

"Asshole," Daryl offered with a laugh. "Tryin' to make you feel better an' you just jerkin' me around. So I'ma shut up now."

"Please don't," Carol said sincerely. She brushed her lips against his jaw and then again against his cheek. "Please—it does make me feel better. It really does. I'm sorry…I'm just…"

"Disguising your feelings with humor," Daryl said. Carol pulled away from him enough to stare at him. "Read it in a book," he offered. "Got a couple of books in my bag back there. Picked 'em up at the Hilltop. I figured—we gonna spend a lot of quiet evenings at the house…"

"And we can sit and read together by the fire," Carol said.

Daryl hadn't really imagined where they might read, or even that they might read together. Mostly he'd figure that Carol would need to rest and one of the ways to guarantee that she rested was to make sure that she had company. He figured he could probably get her to sit still if he sat still long enough. A book was a good way to pass the time when the conversation started to slow.

She sounded so thrilled by the prospect of reading together by the fire, though, that Daryl certainly didn't have any complaints.

"By the fire," Daryl agreed. "You and me. All curled up."

She seemed pleased, and that made him just as pleased as he could be. She sat beside him, in silence, for a while and the horses slowly made their way down a road that wasn't unfamiliar to them at all.

"Listen," Daryl said, "I won't sit here and tell you not to worry. I know you're gonna worry. You're probably worryin' right now, and if you weren't, you are now because I said somethin' about it. And—I won't tell you that there ain't a thing gonna happen and I'ma make it all alright. I've said that to you before. I've told you I could fix things like I was some kinda god and—I couldn't make good on the promises I made you." Carol slipped her hand under Daryl's hand and threaded her fingers through his.

"I will never hold that against you," Carol said.

Daryl laughed to himself.

"You don't have to," he said. "I'ma do it myself. Just like you got the shit you're wired to do; I got the shit I'm wired to do. So—I won't tell you that I can stop anything you're afraid of from happening. What I will tell you is that I'ma listen to that Michael guy no matter how damn irritatin' I might think he his and we're gonna do whatever—and I mean whatever—the hell we gotta do to come out of this with the best odds possible. We're gonna make her the best environment she could ask for to grow."

"What if it's something like—I have to go on bedrest or I have to rely on you for everything?" Carol asked.

Daryl laughed to himself—he was using humor to disguise his feelings, because he didn't really feel the laughter. He didn't mind the idea of taking care of Carol, but he knew that something like that would be a constant fight. It would be hard on both of them—and not because of physical demands. Still, he thought he'd appreciate the chance to take care of Carol. At least it would make him feel like he had something to really contribute in all of this.

"I said whatever," Daryl said. "And I mean it."

"I don't want to be a burden on you," Carol said.

"So, I gotta cook a couple meals," Daryl said. "You think I can't feed us?"

"I didn't say you can't," Carol said. "Of course, I don't think you can't. But…"

"But nothin', Carol," Daryl said. "Listen—if I gotta cook us food, I can do that. If I gotta feed you and bathe you—I can do that, too."

"I'd go crazy knowing that I wasn't helping you," Carol said. "That I wasn't doing anything."

"You'd be plenty busy growing our baby girl," Daryl said. "We don't even know if it'll come to anything like that, but if that's gotta be the rule? Then you grow the baby an' I'll wash the damn dishes." Carol laughed to herself and hugged Daryl's arm. He freed his fingers to pat her leg. "We're doing this, so we're doin' it right, Carol. All the way. Give her the best chance we can give her."

Carol nuzzled the side of his face.

"I love you," she said softly into his ear.

It was very rare that she said the words. Most of the time when she said them, she said them in the heat of a moment. She told him once that she feared that they were too much for him because, honestly, they usually were too much for him.

Even though he felt them, he found it difficult to say them.

This time, though, he squeezed her thigh where his hand rested there, and he thought that the idea of it didn't seem scary. He thought, maybe, the words ought to be said more often or, at the very least, tried out a bit more.

"I love you," he said, not minding entirely how the words sounded coming out of his mouth.

"I know," Carol said. She nuzzled the side of his face again. She kissed him, close to his ear, with nothing more than the soft and gentle press of her lips against his skin. Normally such a gesture was appreciated, and it gave him a warm feeling in his chest, but this particular time it woke up his interests enough that he shifted a little to be more comfortable. "Something wrong?" Carol asked, pulling away a bit.

"You keep that up? And we gonna pull off the road somewhere an' get you another dose of oxytocin," Daryl said.

"I wouldn't mind that," Carol said. "But—it might be safer if we wait until we get to the house."

"Damnedest thing is we gotta drop the wagon off," Daryl said. "Get someone to drive us back to the house."

"So?" Carol asked.

"So, you think his majesty's gonna just let us run by an' leave? I don't know if you hadn't figured it out yet, Carol, but we're prob'ly about to get fed at the Kingdom. And then? I got a good feelin' the evening's gonna be spent with Henry—as it oughta be."

"It'll give you something to look forward to tonight, then," Carol said. "Although…"

"Although?" Daryl asked. "Oxytocin is on your prescription, Carol. It's pretty damn important…" Carol laughed and Daryl echoed her amusement. "I can tease you as good as you can tease me."

"I was just going to stay that—if Henry stays? Daryl, the springs on that bed are awful," Carol said. "I don't want to scar him."

"We got some oil at the house," Daryl said. "I already told you, I'ma do whatever it takes to help you create the environment that that baby girl is gonna like the best for growing in—and if she likes oxytocin? She's gettin' oxytocin."