"OK folks – lets go around the room and make sure we are all on the same page with our tasks being ready." Deanna was smiling at the group assembled that had worked overnight to get things right for their friends.
Sasha spoke up first. "The church is ready. Father Gabriel has the message prepared, and we are just waiting for the flowers from Eric."
"The flowers are ready" said Eric. He proudly showed off the three bouquets, the two boutonnieres, and the two baskets of petals he had pilfered.
"Both suits are good to go" said Aaron. They actually match pretty well, so things should look good."
"The bridal arch is built" Abe said. I took some lattice work from a couple houses. Will fix them up again tomorrow. You might have to smooth out Mrs. Neidermeyer's shit though."
Deanna chuckled. "I will give her my pasta maker to make up for it too".
"The cake looks wonderful" said Maggie. I even was able to take a couple of buds of flowers from Eric and decorated the top."
"I got a formal dress for Maggie in a shade of red that will look good on her. The sundress I got for Sophia has touches of red in it too – so it looks like they will match just fine" said Rosita.
Beth grabbed the bagged dress she had laid out on the armchair and opened it. "I finished the dress. I think Carol is going to love it".
The rest of the group oohed and aahed over the dress and Beth's handiwork. "You did great Bethie" said Maggie. "It's gorgeous."
Reg spoke up then. "I made a ring for Daryl thanks to Denise." Everybody stared at him questioningly. "I took some steel from the handle of one of Denise's medical instruments with her blessing. I was able to torch shape it from a hollow handle of steel into a ring." Rick looked at it for a moment before declaring it perfect for Daryl.
Tara spoke up then. "After their breakfast, I got them into the tub with only slight threats to them if they got out by 10:30. That should give us enough time to get the two bedrooms set up."
"But Tara," Glenn said; "it's 10:20 now."
"Holy shitballs let's move it people!"
Tara, Maggie, Sophia, Beth, and Glenn all walked into Carol and Daryl's house quietly. They split off. The girls went into Sophia's room with their spoils. The guys into the guest room with theirs. Tara grabbed Carol's robe and the robe Reg had leant for Daryl. She lightly tapped on the door to the ensuite.
"'Bout time you showed up woman, we're practically prunes" Daryl exclaimed when he heard Tara knock at the door.
"Cool your jets big guy. You could have just given her another orgasm. Ya know, made better use of your time? But anyway, I have something for you." She started to open the door.
"Hey! We're naked in here ya know! Stay out!"
"Relax Daryl. I'm not peeking and I am not coming in. Just dropping something through the door for you both. Put them on and meet me in your bedroom."
Five minutes later. Daryl and Carol emerged into the master bedroom. They were surprised to see more than Tara there. Maggie, Beth, Glenn and Sophia were there two.
"What's going on?" Carol asked.
"Happy wedding day mama and daddy!" Sophia said excitedly.
"Thanks baby girl" said Daryl. "But what are you all doing here?"
"Say goodbye to your bride Daryl." said Glenn. Next time you see her you will be at the altar waiting for her."
Carol didn't have it in her to complain about being apart from Daryl for the morning. Daryl on the other hand was spewing all kinds of threats at Glenn as he was being led down the hallway.
Tara spoke up then. "OK Carol. We are here to give you and Daryl your dream wedding. Let's get the fun started."
It had been a whirlwind of excitement for the last four hours. Carol had no idea what the heck the guys could be doing in that stretch of time, but her time was chocked full of being pampered to a pulp. She had refused to look in the mirror as the preparations had been going on. She wanted to wait to see the whole picture when she had her dress on.
Beth and Maggie had done what they could with her short locks. They had managed to put some light curl into it, and affixed a few strands with tiny flowers. Her makeup was done by Rosita who had shown up a bit later than the rest of them. It was then that she found out Rosita had been one of those make over people at some expensive department store before the turn. She was told she looked gorgeous, but again she was waiting to look for herself.
Tara had presented the ring Reg had fashioned to her earlier. Carol had stared at it for a long time. So long that Tara was worried enough to ask what was in her head.
"I am just wondering how I can be here again, but yet things are so different. Last time I was going to put a ring on a man's hand, I was wishing I could be escaping instead. I wanted to call the whole thing off, but of course I didn't. Ed's ring to him meant power. He had the power to own me as property. This time . . . . "
"It's different." Tara supplied.
"In so many ways that I think I am not done finding them all. I love Daryl in a way that I didn't think existed in real life. I know things went super fast for us, and as his family, maybe you guys have some reservations about us . . . "
"Not a one." Tara assured. "We all felt it. Daryl has never talked about women, sex, love, settling down, kids, marriage or anything like that. Honestly I was not sure he would be open to that all before we got here. When we saw the two of you together though, we knew. I think he was surprised that we all had figured it out before he had even mentioned his feelings for you. He loves you Carol. He loves Sophia. He would never think of you as property. I think Daryl is the kind of man that when he realized how he felt, he also knew he could never let it go."
Carol smiled. "I don't think I could ever be without him now. Not as a protector, but just him."
"OK ladies; if you keep this up we will all be crying and we can't ruin the makeup" Rosita said. She then turned to Carol and softly said "This marriage and love thing? You guys have got this! No worries."
Beth had hung the dress up on the closet door and announced that it was time Carol step into it. Once she was zipped up and the girls pronounced her bridal gorgeous, she finally allowed herself to look in the full length mirror. What she saw took her breath away. Beth had turned Deanna's dated gown into a beaded wonder with tank style straps. The bodice was beaded and caught light here and there making her look radiant. The lace scalloped skirt was now made fuller with the addition of some stiffer fabric underneath. It just reached the floor and looked made for her. Once she added the silver sandals that Maggie produced, she looked like a true bride. She for the first time in her life thought she looked gorgeous.
Tara instructed Maggie and Sophia to get on their dresses now too, and went in search of Daryl while Beth got the bouquets together for the three of them.
Daryl, Glenn and now Rick were in the guest room still. Daryl was pacing back and forth mumbling to himself. When she walked in, he looked at Tara. "How is she doing? These jackasses won't let me see her myself."
"That's because they were told if they did that I would have Denise give them prostate exams." Tara said smirking.
"Dude – I love you and Carol, but I am not getting no finger shoved up my ass just to let you see her." Glenn said.
Rick just chuckled. Daryl glared at Tara, but then just shook his head and let out a small smile. "Seriously. How is she?"
"She is doing great. She is probably the best looking bride I have ever seen – even before the turn. You are gonna have your socks knocked off Dixon."
"I wanna look good for Carol, but I ain't never been in no damn monkey suit voluntarily. I look alright enough for her?"
"Enough to make me wish I swung the other way. Damn, you are one fine looking man. Take away the scruffiness and dirt, and I swear you could be in GQ."
"What the fuck is GQ?"
"Never mind. You look great. You got the ring and the vows?"
"Glenn's got the ring. I got what I wanna say down in my head pretty well. Just having trouble putting them into really talking though."
"Yeah, he's been muttering for two hours now to himself. He won't let us hear them, so . . . . "
"You don't gotta hear them. Those words are for Carol." Daryl said.
Tara understood. She really did. She knew Daryl wanted to tell Carol everything he felt. She also knew he was not the greatest talker.
"What you say to Carol will be perfect for both of you. As Rosita said earlier; you got this!"
She then got the guys together and shooed them out of the room. They were instructed to go to the church and be ready for the wedding to start in half an hour. She also suggested that they leave weapons behind. That wasn't happening though – so she got Daryl to at least agree to just have a gun in the back of his waistband and to leave the crossbow with her.
"I promise I will bring it to the church. It will be there if shit goes down, but you aren't carrying it today dude."
With a roll of his eyes Daryl turned to leave. Stopped a sec, and did something never seen before from Daryl Dixon. He turned back around and gave Tara a big hug. He thanked her for everything and then went to join Glenn and Rick on the way to the church. He was getting hitched.
Tara went back to the room the girls were in. She made sure everybody was ready, and let them know that they were leaving the house to head over to the church in five minutes. This lead to last minute touch ups, glances in mirrors, and assurances back and forth that everybody looked wonderful. Then Carol was led out of the room and down the stairs. She stepped out her front door and she smiled. Today she was marrying her love.