Woke up to no water due to a main break, but I still have internet despite the flooding so I'll keep my complaints to a minimum! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Eight

Daryl found the kitchen pretty easily. All he had to do was follow his nose. He took in the décor, noting the quality of the wood and stonework that made up the walls of the inside just like the outside. A huge fireplace dominated one wall, the exposed beams seemed to glow as the early morning sunlight poured in from the huge windows.

He stopped in the wide doorway that led into the kitchen, leaning his shoulder against the frame as his eyes took in the scene before him. He felt like an intruder as he stared at them. The kids were sitting at the table, eating. His mind was just a little bit more clear, his emotions in check for now, but his chest felt strange. He was still scared to death. He still wasn't sure where he was suppose to fit in to this scene. It was such a normal situation, a family about to share a meal together, and yet things like that were so foreign to him that it was almost fascinating to see it, because this was what he would have been a part of for a long time now if he had found them sooner. It made him sad for the kid that he had been because he had never been a part of anything like this. She had managed, on her own, to create this safe world for her kids. For his kids. And no matter what happened to the two of them after today, he would never be able to repay her for that.

He watched as the boy glanced over to where Carol was standing in front of the stove with her back to them. He sat his fork down and then started eating scrambled eggs with his fingers. The girl gave him a disapproving look. Daryl found himself smiling slightly. He did the same thing. For some reason, it made the food-

"Jake, use your fork," Carol said, her back still to the table.

"It tastes better this way," the boy grumbled but he picked up his fork anyway.

He agreed with the kid. It did taste better but he wasn't about to say anything. He was still wondering how the hell she knew he'd sat the damn fork down to begin with.

"Aunt Avery said you look like a badly bred hillbilly when you did that," Lily said suddenly.

"Aunt Avery is a pompous bi-"

"Don't you dare think about finishing that sentence, Jake!" Carol turned then, spatula in hand as she eyed the boy. "Where do you learn this stuff?"

Lily laughed. "Avery," she answered with a grin.

Daryl saw it then. It was subtle but he was there mixed into the Lily's features. The girl did resemble him a little. Nothing like her brother but, Jesus, that boy's resemblance to him was flat out eerie. His eyes slid over to Carol as she groaned. "I should have known that. She's a bad influence on the both of you. You know good and well what words are bad words and what words aren't."

She had changed her clothes and put herself together and it was almost comical how she hadn't seemed to change at all since last time he had seen her. She looked like a fucking hippie and his heart ached a little when he remembered how much time had passed. He was still afraid that he was going to wake up. Still unable to wrap his mind around any of this actually happening to him. After all those years of dealing with that crushing loss, and then have it suddenly lifted, it was the strangest feeling in the world.

"Are you just gonna stand there staring or are you gonna eat somethin'?" Lily asked. "My mama is a real good cook now. She wasn't that good before but she went to school and learned how to feed us proper. Now it's really somethin'."

"I wasn't that bad," Carol grumbled.

Jake shook his head. "You wasn't that good either, mama."

Daryl felt his face flush when Carol turned her head and smiled. There was no way he would be able to eat anything right now. His stomach was in knots, but he went to the table anyway and sat down across from them. He knew that they didn't know who he was and he wasn't sure how the hell Carol was going to tell them, or when. They were only four years old. Would they blame him for not being around? Thank God they weren't a couple of angsty fucking teenagers. At least he hadn't missed out on that much.

He had been around plenty of girls with daddy issues and he was gonna try like hell to make sure that this little girl never had any. Everything was still up in the air, though. He didn't know what the hell was going to happen. He needed to find a new place. If she didn't want to be with him then maybe she would let him have them on the weekends or something. He didn't know how to be their dad but he would learn fast, just like she had learned fast. He couldn't know he had kids and not try to be apart of their life.

The thought of her not wanting to be with him was dismissed as soon as he thought it, though. She had made it clear that she hadn't been with anyone else since he'd left her, and he hadn't been with anyone else since he'd left her and since they had two kids together it just made sense to just fucking be together. Surely she thought the same. But how the hell did they just pick up where they left off like that? Neither one of them were the same people that said goodbye that day.

Carol sat a plate down in front of him and then sat down in the chair with her own plate. There wasn't a whole lot on either and he knew that she was probably just as sick as he was over this whole thing.

"What's your name?" Lily asked suddenly, jerking him from his thoughts.

He glanced at Carol but she was just chewing her food and watching the girl. "Daryl," he said after a moment.

She beamed. "That's Jake's name."

His eyebrows raised. "Ain't his name Jake?"

Lily nodded. "That's his other name."

"He's got two names?" Daryl asked, keeping his eyes on Lily's.

She nodded. "Daryl Jacob Reynolds. She only calls him that when he's in deep trouble though. Mama said he's named after our dad but we haven't met him yet. There must be a lot of Daryl's around here if your name's Daryl too. Unless you're him. You look like Jake. A lot like him and even a little bit like me. And mama said that we would be able to find our dad easier if we moved here. My dad don't know about us yet so it's gonna be a surprise for him. So, can we stop looking for him now or are you just another Daryl and not the Daryl that's our dad?"

He swallowed and looked away. He wasn't sure what to say. What in the hell were the rules for situations like this? When a man was forced to sit across from his own children that he'd never even known existed and his little girl wanted answers, what the hell did a man say?

"Well?" The girl pressed.

Daryl felt panic crawl up his spine and he glanced at Carol for help. She met his eyes briefly and then she shrugged lightly like this wasn't some kind of big fucking deal. She had told them about him. They were probably too young to hold much against him for missing out on their life so far. He wasn't an expert but he was pretty sure that these two were wise beyond their years. Or maybe that was just how all parents felt. Jesus Christ, he was a parent...

He took a deep breath. He had to stop being a pussy. He looked back up and nodded at the girl who was waiting patiently for his answer. "I'm him."

"Bout time," Jake said suddenly, that suspicious glint in his eyes vanished. "Mom said when you showed up you'd teach me how to track. That true?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. "If you want."

"What about me?" Lily asked, her mouth full.

Jake answered before he could say anything. "You're a girl. You should just stay in the house and learn how to cook or somethin'."

The little girl looked completely outraged. "I can do anything you can do."

Daryl's brows went up. He thought about telling the boy that it was true, that his sister really could do anything that he could do, but he didn't know if that was a good idea. He was at a total loss so he decided that Carol could handle it.

Carol eyed the boy. "Jake, not all girls want to spend all their time in a kitchen. She can do everything you can do and do it just as well."

Jake shook his head. "Okay, then next time you go to the bathroom why don't you two try to piss standin' up. When you can do that, then you can go trackin' with us."

Carol was choking, reaching for her glass and Daryl, despite everything that had happened in the last hour or so, barked out a laugh that even startled himself. Jake grinned but Daryl realized his mistake when Lily turned her angry eyes on him.

Shit.

He cleared his throat. "You're mama can," he said, trying to placate the obviously angry kid.

Lily's eyes went wide and she stared at Carol, her mouth dropping. "You? You can piss standing up? How come you never taught me how to do that?"

Carol shook her head. "Stop saying piss! It's a bad word."

Daryl frowned at that. "How is piss a bad word?" He asked without really thinking. Carol eyed him, her gaze flicking towards the kids. He probably should have just kept his mouth shut. "I mean, it ain't as bad as fuck."

Carol's eyes widened.

Jake shook his head, like he knew that Daryl was really in for it now.

"Fuck don't sound bad," Lily said helpfully. "Are you sure you know what you're talking about, mama?"

Jake jumped right in, seeming to find his chance to help Daryl out. "She's right. Fuck sounds like duck or truck. What's so bad about it?"

Daryl sat there staring, not exactly surprised that he'd managed to turn his first breakfast with his kids into a cuss fest. He seriously had a lot to learn. "I'm guessin' that maybe none of us should say fuck. That one might actually be kind of a bad word. And I didn't mean that your mama could... piss standin' up, anyway. I meant that she can track." This wasn't so bad. He could sit here and talk to them like he wasn't some kind of freak that was scared shitless. Even though that was exactly what he was.

They both looked skeptical. "What?" Carol asked in mock outrage. "I'll have you know that me and him spent a month living out in the desert alone. We didn't have any electricity, phone, food, running water. We lived in the van and we hunted our meals and we had to boil water to drink. I can shoot, track, fish. You name it. But... I can not piss standing up." She grinned at them.

"You never told us that!" Jake said, a look of pure aw on his face as he glanced between them.

"I was waiting for him," she said, nodding towards Daryl. "It wouldn't be fair to him if I got to tell you all the good stories. Now, if you two are done then run and brush your teeth and get dressed in the clothes I laid out for you. Avery's leaving this afternoon and she's taking the two of you out for lunch before she goes."

They both jumped out of their chairs and headed for the door, then they stopped at the same time, turning back to look at him, perfectly in sync. Jake was the one that spoke. "You're stayin' right? If we leave you'll be here when we get back?"

"I'll be here," he said, his voice rough from guilt. Jesus this was hard.

They grinned and then took off through the house. As soon as they left the room he looked at Carol nervously. She was staring right at him and she finally smiled. "I know you just got here but I thought maybe if my friend takes them for a while then I'll have time to explain some things to you." The smile turned into an outright grin. "You did amazing."

He snorted. "Treadin' water." He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair before he rested his elbows on the table. "I don't know how good I'm gonna be at this. I ain't got a whole lot to go on. The only thing my old man taught me was what not to do so I can go from there I guess."

"Are you absolutely sure you want them?" She asked, her eyes wide and searching. "I don't want you to think that you have to do this. You didn't ask for it."

He gaped at her. "And you did? I know it's been a long time but you fuckin' know me better than that. Jesus, Carol!" He scowled and shook his head. How could she think he wouldn't? He was still the same guy she knew five years ago. Maybe a little more bitter, but basically the same.

"I just don't want you feeling pressured into anything. This isn't how any of this was suppose to happen. I wanted to find you and I wanted to-"

"Stop," he said. "You think I'm some kinda dead beat dickhead?"

"Of course I don't think that. I was ninety five percent sure you would want them. Any number lower than that and I never would have told them about you to begin with."

"How the hell are they okay with all this. Ain't kids suppose to be bitter and..."

"They know you would have been around if you could. It wasn't lack of love that kept you away from them. They know that you just didn't know they were even out there."

He stared at his hands. There was a lot they needed to talk about and at this point he wasn't sure if they had enough time in the world to get things out in the open. "They're really somethin', huh?" And he meant it. He wasn't sure if he would ever get over this but it was good. He was going to do everything he could to make sure they knew that he was a good man. He didn't want them to ever question their worth. Because that, that was the most damaging thing a person could do to a kid. He was living proof of that.