AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

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

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When they came back inside and returned to the table, Daryl found that his place had been cleared. His plate was missing. He didn't have time to ask about his meal, though, before Carol excused herself to the kitchen. Immediately she returned carrying his plate with a dish towel to protect her hands, and she place his food in front of him.

"It was getting cold," Carol explained, "so I warmed it."

Daryl smiled at her. It was a simple gesture to put his plate in the oven to warm it. He would have been fine eating the cool food. He didn't even realize that he wished his food would be warm until Carol brought him the warm plate. But Carol was that kind of wife. She seemed to anticipate what he wanted before he even knew it himself. Daryl caught her hand before she moved away to return to her chair and he squeezed it. She smiled at him and gave him a quick wink.

No matter what Merle or any other asshole around might think, there was no way that Carol was making a fool of him and running around with some other man. She simply wouldn't do that. No woman would look at her husband the way that Carol did—or treat him like she did—and secretly be harboring the huge secret of her affections for another man.

Daryl didn't know why it had taken so long for her to conceive the child that she now carried. Maybe Carol hadn't been ready even though they'd thought she was. Maybe they were simply supposed to have Sophia, June, and Jack—and perhaps even a whole mess of children to come that they hadn't even imagined yet—and they wouldn't have been thinking the children that needed to be adopted if they'd had their own first.

Daryl didn't know why it was that right now was the perfect time, in all their years together, for a little one to be born to them, but it was. It felt perfect.

He might not be able to understand all the reasons that things happened the way they did, but there were a great number of things in the universe that Daryl didn't understand. There were so many things that Daryl didn't even know. But one thing that he did know was that he loved his wife dearly—and she loved him.

Together, they were building the perfect family for the two of them even if it wasn't perfect to anyone else.

Daryl tasted his food as soon as Carol sat in her chair, and he assured both she and Sophia that it was just as good as the first time he'd tasted it.

"Didn't nobody warm my food," Merle pointed out. The look he threw in Andrea's direction made it clear that the admonishment was directed at her.

Andrea looked absolutely unbothered by it.

"You said that your food would be right where you left it," Andrea said. "I wanted to be sure that it was." She smiled somewhat insincerely at her husband. "I only want to make you happy, Merle."

Before any kind of fight could break out between Merle and Andrea, Alice interrupted them by throwing out her own topic of conversation and, essentially, pretending that they weren't even sitting at the table.

"So—Daddy—I asked Mama and she wouldn't tell us anything one way or another," Alice said. "What are you hoping for? Girl or boy?"

Daryl smiled to himself. He felt his face flood warm just at the thought of being asked something like that. It wasn't purely hypothetical. They would have a baby. Boy or girl, they would have one.

"Hadn't really thought about it," Daryl said. He looked at Carol. Her cheeks were pink and she was watching him, a smile on her lips. "I guess—I mean I got two girls and I love 'em both enough I wouldn't mind more of that. But—love Jack too an' we're kinda outnumbered as it is." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have an answer, but we haven't really had the time to sit down and talk about it. I guess it don't matter anyway. It'll be whatever it's gonna be."

"If it's a Dixon," Merle said, "it'll be a boy."

Daryl felt the odd sensation that he'd only felt a few times in his life. His whole body felt a little distant from him for a moment. He almost felt numb to himself. His vision darkened a little as his blood pressure immediately responded. Then, slowly, he managed to calm himself down.

Nobody else seemed to have even noticed the words that Merle slipped into his statement. They were still sitting and waiting for Daryl to say something more about what he wanted.

"It's a Dixon, alright," Daryl said. "But that don't mean it'll be a boy. Got just as good a chance of gettin' a girl."

"If it's a Dixon you don't," Merle said. "Dixon men have Dixon men. That's all there's ever been."

"As far back as you know, Merle," Daryl responded. "Which don't take us too damn far 'cause we just know we was both boys an' we don't know nothin' about nothin' when it comes to our old man."

"We know we were both boys," Merle pointed out. "We got no proof the old man didn't just have brothers. Andrea an' me ain't had nothin' but boys."

"The fact that you an' Andrea ain't had nothin' but boys don't mean a thing, Merle," Daryl said, his frustration growing. "I can flip a damn penny twenty times an' get nothin' but heads. But it don't mean that the penny don't got a tails side an' that I didn't have just as good a' chance of gettin' tails later. Don't mean the damn twenty-first time I flip the penny I don't get tails!"

"Cake?" Alice said suddenly and loudly. "Did—Sophia? Did you say something about cake?"

Daryl realized, then, that he was breathing hard. He realized he'd been talking far louder than he meant to speak. He realized that Carol had her hand wrapped tight around his arm. She was clinging to him like he might simply fly off or something and disappear. She was holding onto him like she intended to anchor him there if that should threaten to happen.

And Merle just sat there with a smug ass expression on his face that made Daryl's blood boil.

Sophia came with the cake and Alice brought the coffee before Daryl even realized that they'd left the table. Somehow his plate had been cleared away. He didn't know where it had gone, who had taken it, or how long it had been since they'd left with it. His head ached a little with his blood pressure and he did his best to mutter a thanks to Sophia as she put a slice of cake in front of him while Carol poured him a cup of coffee.

"Sophia made this cake all by herself," Carol said. "She wouldn't even let me help put the strawberries on."

"It's a pretty cake," Daryl said, trying to force himself to calm down. "Gonna taste real good."

His heart was still pounding in his chest. His breathing wasn't entirely under control. He couldn't look in the direction of his brother because even catching a glimpse of him made Daryl want to leap across the table and choke him until there wasn't breath left in his body.

"Daddy picked the cake," Sophia offered. "We told him he could have whatever he wanted, but he always picks strawberry."

"It's his favorite," Carol said.

"The cake's pink," Melodye pointed out. "Maybe that's Daryl's way of saying he'd like a little girl and maybe he doesn't even know it yet."

"If it's a girl, that'll be somethin'," Merle mused.

Daryl hit his feet before he could stop himself. He slammed his hands down on the table without thinking. Several of his guests jumped and everything on the table rattled.

"Daryl," Carol said softly. Daryl held his hand up in her direction and shook his head.

"Don't," he said. "Not right now."

Carol heeded his warning, probably because he couldn't even remember the last time he'd told her, quite that sincerely, that he didn't want her to do something. He looked at Andrea. It wasn't her fault. She'd be overjoyed for Carol. She'd be thrilled for her. Boy or girl or something entirely unknown to Earth and Andrea would still be happy for them both.

She suffered enough just being married to Merle. Yet that condition was something she continuously had to suffer for.

"Andrea—you welcome to stay. Eat. Talk with everyone. I know Carol'd love to talk about babies with you 'cause you sure got more experience than anybody else here does. I'll run you home. Make sure you get there. But—Merle?" Daryl turned his attention toward his brother and balled his fists up. "You gotta get the hell outta my house. You ain't welcome to stay at this table no more."

Merle laughed to himself.

"You gotta be jokin'," Merle said.

"Strike me dead if I am," Daryl responded.

"What's going on?" Carol asked.

"What happened?" Andrea asked.

Daryl shook his head for both women to simply keep their mouths shut.

"What happened, brother?" Merle asked with a smirk.

"You know what the hell happened," Daryl said. "Ain't no need to talk about it. I won't hear you talkin' about it under my roof. It's time for you to go, Merle. There ain't nothin' else that nobody's got to say to you today."

Merle hummed to himself and stood up. He made a dramatic show of dragging his finger through the icing on the slice of cake that he'd been served and tasted it. He grunted his approval.

"You done good, Sophia," Merle said.

He wiped his finger on his napkin and somewhat dramatically flung the napkin at the table. Daryl didn't care at this point if Merle was pissed off. He didn't care if everyone was staring. He didn't care about what everyone was thinking. As far as he was concerned, Merle had ruined the whole damn thing for him and, just maybe, he could salvage something of the evening they had planned if he got his brother out of his sight.

But one more snide ass comment from his brother, and Daryl wasn't sure that he wouldn't fully ruin the rest of the evening for everyone. It was better this way.

"Andrea—let's go," Merle said.

"She can stay," Daryl said.

"No, she can't," Merle responded.

Andrea got up from her spot. She didn't say anything to Merle. Instead she quickly offered a hug to Alice and one to Melodye, begging each of the women to stay in their chairs, and then she offered a hug to Carol and Sophia both. She didn't even flinch when Merle called her name, trying to hurry her up, and she offered Daryl a hug that he could barely return before she gave a wish of congratulations to both Carol and Daryl and walked to the door to make it clear to Merle that she was coming just as quickly as she intended to move.

"Carol," Merle said. "Daryl. Congratulations. "Soph, Mel, Al? Goodnight to you all. It seems we'll be takin' our leave now."

Daryl didn't see his brother out. He stood, fists clenched, until the door closed behind Andrea and Merle both. He stood staring at the closed door for a moment, half expecting it to open again for Merle to say something else.

Daryl glanced around him at the table. They were all staring at him. Carol, Sophia, Melodye, and Alice were all staring at him. None of them really knew what was going on. Merle was being Merle and, unfortunately, most people had come to expect him to behave a certain way. Maybe even Daryl had come to accept his typical behavior, but he couldn't tonight.

Tonight was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be a supper that was all about celebrating the new life that was coming into their family.

Merle had ruined that for Daryl, and it was just too much for Daryl to take at the moment.

"You'll excuse me," he said. He started to leave the table and Carol caught his hand, tugging at it.

"Daryl," she said.

"I just need to be excused a minute," Daryl said. "Please—y'all eat the cake. Drink the coffee. Talk. Talk about the baby, OK? I'm sorry for...I'm just sorry. I just need to be excused. Just—for a minute."

Carol let go of his arm and Daryl let himself out of the room to go to the bathroom, wash his face, and do his best to simply settle down to begin again.