AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

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

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Daryl had really gotten into making selections from the storage area. Before Michonne knew it, he'd selected a full set of furniture to send to their house for their return, and he'd selected a number of other items to gift to Carol, immediately, to help her begin to nest, as Michonne had suggested to him that she might be interested in doing. Of course, throughout the process, Michonne had helped to guide him a little in his selections.

As he continued his quest to make things perfect for Carol, Daryl seemed to lose some of the fatigue that he'd clearly felt earlier in favor of excitement for how she would react. Michonne urged him on and enjoyed watching him bask in his own excitement over what was sure to come.

When he woke Carol from her nap, Daryl convinced her that he wanted to spend some "Uncle Daryl time" with Judith and RJ. It hadn't been too difficult for Michonne to convince Carol to get some fresh air and go for a walk with her, either. Michonne promised that she'd keep Carol far away from the house and far away from storage, so that she couldn't see anything that was taking place as Daryl employed a few citizens of Alexandria to help him move things, and got Judith and RJ to help him place the finishing touches on creating a home away from home in the finished basement of the house.

Daryl was sure that, if he could show Carol how cozy and wonderful their little nest had the potential to be, she would be happy to stay there and finish building the nest herself.

Michonne thought Carol already looked happier. The nap had done wonders for the woman. After two hours of clearly much-needed sleep, Michonne thought Carol woke looking like ten years had been lifted off of her. She'd gladly followed Michonne on the walk.

Michonne had offered Carol the same warm congratulations that she'd given Daryl, but Carol's response was to smile to herself and brush fingers over her belly before she thanked Michonne with something that almost appeared to be embarrassment.

In the back part of Alexandria, they could hardly be more alone than they were, but Carol still glanced around them like she expected people at every turn. Her silver curls, let loose from the knot she'd worn her hair in before her nap, bounced around her shoulders as she looked for people she'd never find.

"I'm sure people are looking at me like—what is she doing?" Carol said. "Having a baby at her age."

"That's nonsense," Michonne said quickly and just sharply enough to make it clear that she wasn't teasing. "If anything, they're saying—look at that. Another life. These days, that's amazing."

"The more obvious it gets, the more ridiculous they'll think it is," Carol said.

Michonne's stomach churned a little as realization settled inside of her. It might have been a life that was long left behind, but Carol had been taught that everyone would judge her. She had been taught, too, that everyone would disapprove of her.

She had been taught, after all, that she was the worst example of everything human that had ever existed. And no matter how much she might not want to believe it, it was always difficult to discredit entirely what you'd been conditioned to believe.

"The more obvious it gets, the more precious they'll think it is," Michonne said. "And the more beautiful they'll think the mother-to-be is."

"When she comes, they'll think I'm her grandmother," Carol said.

"They'll think you're her mother," Michonne said, "and everyone will be begging you to let them see your beautiful baby and hold your beautiful baby."

"I'm too old to do this," Carol said.

Michonne laughed to herself though, really, she didn't feel much humor.

"Clearly Mother Nature disagrees," Michonne said. "I never thought of you as one who really cared what other people thought. At least—that hasn't been the Carol that I've known."

"I don't care," Carol said. "I thought I didn't care. But ever since…"

Michonne hummed to herself. She reached a hand out and, without asking or in any other way indicating what she intended to do, she slipped her hand through Carol's arm and fixed it so that they were walking, comfortably, arm-in-arm. Carol didn't object. In fact, she brought her hand up to affectionately hold onto Michonne's arm. Michonne reached her free hand over and gently rubbed her fingertips against the evidence of Carol's growing little one.

"You're feeling very vulnerable," Michonne said. "And that's a scary feeling. It's always been a scary feeling, but it's even scarier now. In this world and after—after everything you've seen and experienced."

She stopped their forward steps and Carol stopped with her. Michonne let go of the loop they'd created, but she rested her hand on Carol's shoulder to purposefully keep the physical connection. Since Carol neither seemed uncomfortable with the touch—as some women did—and, rather than recoil in any way, she almost seemed to lean into Michonne's affections, Michonne kept her hand on Carol's belly, occasionally moving it ever so slightly to see if she might detect any of the first twitches of the new life that grew there. She smiled to herself, fully recognizing where Judith's affections may have come from.

"It's OK to be a little vulnerable in a safe place," Michonne offered.

"Nothing stays safe for long," Carol offered.

Michonne nodded her understanding.

"Maybe you could trust that Daryl and I could—work together—to keep it safe for a little while? At least four or five more months?"

Carol laughed to herself.

"That really doesn't make me feel better," Carol said with a sigh. She put her own hand on her belly, but Michonne noticed that she didn't push her hand away. She let their fingers just barely touch. "Getting her here is only half the battle."

"If anyone's ready for a battle," Michonne said with a laugh, "her mother is. Her daddy, too."

The smile that immediately ran over Carol's face made Michonne's own heart skip a beat. She couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Can I make a request of you? Friend to friend?" Michonne asked.

"I don't know if I have it in me to grant too many requests these days," Carol said. "But—I'll try."

"Let him have this," Michonne said.

Carol raised her eyebrows in question.

"Daryl," Michonne responded to the expression. "Let him have this. He's so excited. He truly is. And he wants this for you—for both of you. He wants you to be happy more than anything in the world. Carol—he's going to tell you this and I want you to act surprised, but you need to know that he already sent your rig back. Half an hour ago. With two people who volunteered to go. He sent back everything you'll need and everything you won't need for a nursery to be prepared for you when you get back. And—he sent back word that a certain someone might want to come and visit because his mother already missed him and she would absolutely miss him by the time the wagon made it there and back."

"He asked Henry to come?" Carol asked.

Michonne nodded.

"And to bring your things from the house—just in case. At the same time, he sent a rider out to Hilltop."

"Why?" Carol asked.

Michonne smiled to herself.

"Enid's been wanting to study with Siddiq," Michonne said. "Working with him, firsthand, to get a baby here—healthy and beautiful—would be excellent training. It's the kind of invitation that she can't really pass up and, even though people are having some babies these days, it's not common enough for her to just to wait for the next opportunity she could have to work this closely with the mama. Daryl thought that having her here might sweeten the pot a little for Henry to stay."

Carol was trying to smile, Michonne was pretty sure of that, but the tears had a mind of their own as they worked their way out of her lower lids. Michonne squeezed her shoulder with one hand and used the thumb of her other hand to wipe away the tears.

"Don't do that," Michonne said. "You've got to pretend you don't know, remember? But I need you to understand exactly how serious Daryl is about making you happy. He might not know a hundred percent what he needs to do, but he's willing to do whatever he can."

"I love him," Carol said, laughing to herself at her own tears as she helped to brush them away.

"I'm happy to hear that," Michonne said. "He's a good friend of mine. And I care about him very much."

"I know," Carol said with a nod. "He cares for you. We both do."

"And—you're a good friend of mine, too," Michonne added, hopeful that she hadn't come off as callous or distant by not mentioning it before. "I'll never forget that—you loved Andrea even when I felt like I needed to punish her. You were, maybe, even one of the last friends she had that she knew loved her before…" Michonne broke off, unable to finish, but Carol didn't require her to finish. She offered Michonne a sympathetic nod and a quick hug, instead. "And I thank you for that," Michonne said when she could. "All of that."

Carol smiled at Michonne.

"You don't have to thank me for caring about someone," Carol said.

"Now I need you to do something for me," Michonne said. Carol made a face at her that only made Michonne laugh. It told her, immediately, that Carol was humoring her, but she already knew what Michonne was going to say. "It's safe here. We're doing well. I need you to stay here and rest. I need you to let Daryl rest. Let him worry about what's going on in here instead of about how to keep you safe in some house stuck out in the woods."

"The house is safe, Michonne," Carol said. "As safe as anywhere, really. Nothing is safe these days."

"Alexandria is safe," Michonne said. "And there's a lot more standing between out there and in here than just some rickety old fence, Carol." Carol sighed deeply and Michonne could practically feel everything she was going through. "I've been there. You know I have."

"Then you know how I feel," Carol said.

"Like you could crawl out of your skin," Michonne said. "And you don't even know what's got you so anxious except—just life." Carol nodded and Michonne mirrored her to nod her understanding. She squeezed Carol's shoulder muscle in her hand again. "I missed having Rick here. I missed seeing him excited to know that RJ was coming. I missed—seeing all the tender moments as he experienced RJ growing. I missed the hope he would have had."

"I'm so sorry," Carol said.

"I didn't say it to ask you to be sorry," Michonne said. "From what I've heard—Ed might not have offered you all of that." Carol shook her head, just barely. "I'm just asking you not to miss out because you're too busy worrying about everything else. Don't make him miss out because he has to worry about everything else. Let Daryl offer it all to you. He wants to. Let him give that to you. Be vulnerable, Carol."

"It's dangerous to be vulnerable," Carol said.

"And we both know that—Daryl knows that," Michonne said. "That's all the more reason that he'll appreciate it if you show him that you trust him enough to show that vulnerability around him."

"So, you're asking me to—let Daryl do what he wants to do," Carol said.

"For the good of both of you," Michonne said. "And stay here. Five months. At least."

"I thought you wanted us to stay until she's born," Carol said.

"It may have been a while since you've given birth," Michonne offered, "but you're not going to feel like travelling out there, with her, before she's a month old."

"You want me to do all this for you?" Carol said. "When you don't benefit from it in any way?" There was no attempt to hide her amusement.

Michonne smiled at her and brushed her hand over Carol's belly again. This time, Carol placed her hand directly on top of Michonne's and pressed it to her. Perhaps the baby was moving. Perhaps Carol was trying to direct her hand. If that were the case, the baby was still too small for Michonne to detect its movements. Or, perhaps, Carol was simply accepting Michonne's affection and showing her own. No matter the case, Michonne felt the connection.

"Don't be silly," Michonne said. "I'm not that selfless. I love pregnant women as much as Judith does, and I'm looking forward to having my own to dote on. And I'm looking forward to some sweet baby snuggles without having to be the one that does all the work to get that baby here and to take care of it. Besides—I'm the one that's going to benefit from all the babysitters that are about to be around here. I might actually get time to take a bubble bath. Read a book."

"And when there's a newborn crying in your house all night and you can't even sleep?" Carol asked with a teasing tone. Michonne's stomach did a little dance as she realized the woman was giving in, right before her eyes and, more than that, she was relaxing into the idea that her baby, without a doubt, would be there in a number of months to keep them all awake. Michonne smiled at her and gestured to get her walking again. She immediately looped arms with Carol once more, anxious to keep the affection flowing freely between them now that it had started.

"Then I'll roll over and sleep good," Michonne said, "knowing that I'm only Aunt Michonne and her mama and daddy can handle all the drama." She took a chance, tugging Carol gently back toward the house and hoping that she'd given the moving crew enough time to do their jobs. "Come on—let's go tell Daryl that he can start unpacking those bags you brought. I'll make you something warm to drink—like Daryl used to make me when I was expecting RJ and he would visit."

Carol laughed to herself.

"Daryl used to make you warm drinks?" Carol asked.

"You don't even know," Michonne mused. "When you were at the Kingdom and I was here, alone, waiting on RJ to come. He'd come and visit me. Check on things. Come on—I'll tell you all that makes me sure that—if you'll put down the guard and be a little bit vulnerable with him, and if you give him the opportunity to relax a little here behind Alexandria's walls—Daryl Dixon will be the best thing that ever happened to you."

"Oh," Carol said, her voice coming out warm and full of affection, "I already know that. He already is."

"Then things can only get better," Michonne assured her, holding tight to her arm as they walked.