Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 56

Author's Note: I love when I get five positive reviews in ten minutes after I post a chapter and everyone loves it, especially since it deals with a change in story line! LOVE you guys. I posted the link for Jewel's Engagement ring in my profile. As well as Rick's wedding band. I work strange like that LOL. This is all fluff (with a little bit of scolding to Carol.) So, I did have one more idea after the Merle centric idea for them. Not telling! Review please

"Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is a quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses-Ann Landers"

Group POV:

Beth and Summer glanced up from the fire as Mariah played the piano "Come on Summer…sing for me," Jewel told the teen as she leaned against Rick as she watched everyone enjoying relaxing and opening gifts.

"You to Bethy," Hershel told him. "Maggie."

"I missed it the last time you sung Summer. Come on," Rick said.

"As long as it's not from the Sound of Music, I'm good," Daryl teased as he greased his new arrows.

"Come on, don't let me sit here with a perfectly good piano and no one to sing," Mariah told them.

"Can't you sing?" Lori asked.

"NO! I'll sing! We don't want to lose our hearing!" Summer said as she jumped up.

Mitch, Carl and Sophia all laughed. "That bad?" Sophia asked.

"Worse then bad," Daryl teased.

"Yeah….my voice would attract walkers," Mariah assured them.

"Hey! Don't mention the W word. Not today!" Glenn exclaimed.

Summer laughed as she sat down on the piano bench. "Jane's favorite?"

"Yeah, three of us in this room wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her," Mariah said as she started playing.

Summer smiled as she started. "Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland," she said.

"Gone away is the bluebird, here to stay is a new bird, he sings a love song as we go along walking in a winter wonderland," Beth sang.

Maggie smiled as she started to sing. "In the meadow we can build a snowman, then pretend that he is Parson Brown He'll say: Are you married? We'll say: No man But you can do the job when you're in town," she said as she leaned against Glenn.

"Later on, we'll conspire as we dream by the fire to face unafraid the plans that we've made walking in a winter wonderland," the three sung together. "In the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he's a circus clown. We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman until the alligators knock him down. When it snows ain't it thrilling though your nose gets a chilling we'll frolic and play the Eskimo way walking in a winter wonderland walking in a winter wonderland, walking in a winter wonderland," they finished.

"That was real good, Sophia and I can't sing either. But the three of you, you all were blessed," Carol said as she carried some food to them. "Dinner should be in a few hours."

Mariah couldn't help the glances that Carol was giving Jewel and the ring every time she entered the room. "I have an idea, why don't you kids get all bundled up and go have a snowball fight. You guys against the adults. Carol and I can handle things inside."

Summer grinned. "Oh we're so going to win this," she said as she stood up.

Daryl arched an eyebrow. "Unfair advantage there Mar, she's a pitcher!"

"Yeah I know," Mariah said with a grin.

"Lori and I can handle it," Carol told her.

"No Carol I'm helping. I insist," Mariah said as she stood up and gave Daryl a nod.

"Well if we're going outside, I guess Summer could use her birthday present today. What do you think Maggie?" Jewel asked.

"May be nice…and at least it'll stay clean for a bit without walker blood," Maggie answered.

"Didn't I say not to say the W word?" Glenn told her as he kissed her.

"It's not books," Beth said with a grin.

Summer grinned. "OK where is it?" she asked as she looked liked she was going to search the whole lodge.

Carl laughed. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Hey when you have a birthday the day after Christmas, you learn to enjoy it!" Summer said.

Rick laughed. "Closet hanging up," he said as he kissed Jewel. "Sorry she looked like she was going to tear the whole place down!"

Summer laughed as she ran to the closet and opened the door and saw the black leather jacket hanging there. "YES! I absolutely love you mom!" she said as she put it on and hugged her mother.

Mariah laughed as she watched everyone go outside and went to the kitchen. "We need to talk Carol."

"I thought you were here to help me with dinner," Carol said.

"I am, but we're talking as we do it. Those glares you are giving Jewel and the ring, it's going to stop now," Mariah told the other woman as she started helping.

"Lori needs Rick now, and she doesn't need a reminder that she's never going to get her husband back because some….tramp came in and stole him," Carol said.

Mariah turned and looked at her. "Excuse me? I know you just met me, and you don't like me. Probably because you see me as a threat to whatever you want to happen with Daryl. It's one sided, Carol, because he sees how weak you are when it comes to Sophia. And if he EVER heard you call his sister a tramp….I'd be helping him bury you. You don't know anything about Jewel if you think that. In the two years I knew her before this, she never let anyone get close. She wouldn't. Jane and Daryl said she had been doing it for years. She's changed…she's in love. From what I hear, Lori is the one that made her bed and now she has to lay in it. Jewel's doing nothing but being supportive of her, and the baby. She's doing the best in a bad situation. I don't care if you make googly eyes at Daryl, he's not mine, I don't care if you coddle Sophia, unless it puts someone else's life in danger, but like hell am I going to have my best friend being made feel bad every time you pass her because she dares to be happy. Lori seems to be alright with it, and it has nothing to do with you. Got it? Good. Don't let me see you do it again. Jewel won't say anything, she wont want to cause a riff in the group with her personal problems. She'll pull away, try to shut Rick out. And I'm not letting that happen. This is keeping them both alive. And in a way it's keeping you and your child alive. Now what do you need help with?" Mariah asked calmly.

Jewel's POV:

Jewel looked up from the bench she was sitting on in the patio as Carl sat down beside her. "Hey…." she said.

"Mom and I talked last night after dad came to talk to us," Carl told her.

"Yeah?" Jewel asked.

"Yeah…" Carl answered. "Mom's OK with it, you two are kinda family already."

"We are family Carl," Jewel said as she playfully hit his shoulder with hers. "I'm not trying to be your mom, you have one. I'm a friend though? Can't ever have to many of those, especially now a days right?"

Carl nodded. "Yeah."

"You can come to me if you can't talk to your parents bout something' but I'm not going to keep anything from them that I think they need to know," Jewel told him.

Carl nodded. "I know, wouldn't expect you too. I'm worried bout Sophia…Carol's not letting her step up."

Jewel nodded. "Your dad and I tried to talk to her about it. We'll talk with her again. I'm going to do my best to keep you safe. I can't guarantee it, Carl, but if we can have a few days like this, then it's worth it right?"

"Yeah," Carl said with a smile.

"So go have some fun," Jewel told him as she ruffled his hair.

Carl laughed as he got up and Rick came over covered in snow. "Summer got you huh?" Jewel asked.

"Actually her and Mitch," Rick said as he kissed her. "Everything OK with Carl?"

"Yeah, we were just havin' a conversation," she told him. "Lori's doin' better with this then I thought she would."

"She knows we're with her for whatever she needs. Daryl's being gruff big brother. But he's always a gruff big brother," Rick said. "I can talk to Carol…I saw the looks."

"I think Mariah has that handled," she told him. "So….want to sneak back to the room before dinner?"

"Oh you read my mind," Rick said as he kissed her and went inside.

Dinner Time:

Mariah slapped Daryl's hand as he reached for a biscuit. "Wait, you Neanderthal."

Jewel laughed. "You are channeling Jane!"

T Dog laughed. "I have to agree with Daryl wanting to grab food, it looks amazing."

Rick laughed. "Hershel, mind saying something before we have a riot on our hands."

Maggie smiled as she poured drinks for everyone. "Please daddy?"

Hershel smiled as he stood up. "All our lives were different last year, most of us didn't know each other, paths wouldn't have crossed. But the Lord had plans, plans I don't understand. But they included me crossing paths with all of you. We've been through a lot, and I'm sure there's more to come. But everyone at this table is family. If nothing else comes out of this mess, right here right now, we're making memories. We hold onto those things when days are dark, we get through them. There are people that we have lost, or not here with us that our thoughts are on, but they are happy to know that we are living, finding love and joy in the darkest of times," he said. "To new family and family that are not here," he said as he held up his cup of water.

"New family and old," everyone said as they held up there glasses.

"Now can we eat?" Daryl grumbled.

Carol laughed. "Yes, fine!"

"Can I just have cookies?" Mitch asked with a grin.

"Or the apple pie," Sophia asked hopefully.

"Or the chocolate crème pie?" Carl questioned.

"Or the Pecan chocolate pie?" Summer asked.

"NO!" all the adults at the table said.

Summer laughed. "Well it was worth a try."

"A very poor try," Jewel said as she laughed.

"Are you making Summer a birthday cake for tomorrow?" Sophia asked.

Daryl took a drink of his wine to wash down the biscuit. "We don't want food poisoning, kid," he teased his sister.

"Or to set the building on fire," Mariah answered.

"Hey that was once and you didn't even know me!" Jewel said as she passed the green beans.

Beth laughed. "Maggie and I can make the cake. We already planned on it."

"We're going to get fat," Glenn said with a grin.

Lori laughed. "That's the good thing about being pregnant, I have an excuse to eat everything in sight."

"We'll be eatin' leftovers while we're here that's for sure," Rick said. "Carol, Maggie, Beth, Mariah, Lori and you kids all did an amazing job."

"Let's not forget who hunted these big old birds," Daryl said with a grin.

"Boyah!" Summer said as she winked.

Jewel laughed as everyone ate.

Next is a Merle centric chapter.