AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

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

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"Get outta that car, woman, or I'll drag you out!" Daryl declared. "The kids'll love to see that."

His voice cracked at the end of his declaration. He could barely hold it together and it made Carol laugh in response. He had the day off and he'd been doing things in town for the earliest hours of the morning while Carol had been at home with the kids. He'd come back to the house and told Carol that they had to go to the grocery store and they had to go right away. It wasn't up for negotiation. He'd found the sweet spot of the day, and it was the moment when it seemed as though most of the town was out procuring food for the week.

"We don't even need anything, Daryl," Carol said. "This is silly."

"I don't care if we spend an hour in there and come out with a can of corn," Daryl said. "We're goin' in. It's all I've heard since we found out that baby was even in there—so we're going in there to start cashin' in on our congratulations. Besides—as soon as I seen that damned Cadillac? I knew it. We had to go in. We gotta get in there 'fore she gets whatever the hell she's here for an' gets out. Get outta the car, Carol. You ain't too big for me to throw you over my shoulder and carry you in. But I can assure that nobody's gonna think that's proper. Gonna be hard for me to handle you an' the kids...but if I gotta do it..."

Carol laughed to herself and offered Daryl her hand. He helped her out of the car and he freed Jack and June from their seats. He closed the doors on the car and Carol took June's hand and reminded her that if she was on her best behavior, she'd get a treat when they got home. Daryl propped Jack up on one hip and then he dropped his arm around Carol. He steered her toward the store, arm around her shoulders, like they were going on a date instead of going to the grocery with their youngest children.

And Carol let him do it because it made him happy, and it made her happy to make him happy.

Jack went into the front of the shopping cart and June went into the back. Daryl pushed the cart because he had created his own rule that, when the two of them shopped together, that was his job.

"Maybe I could get some fresh bread," Carol offered.

Daryl hummed at her.

"And some of them real thin pork chops like we had. I liked them," Daryl said.

"We had those two days ago, Daryl," Carol said. "You really want pork chops again?"

He looked at her out the side of his eye and raised his eyebrow at her.

"Are you criticizin' my choice of food?" Daryl asked.

Carol laughed to herself.

"We'll have pork chops," she said. "And brussel sprouts."

"Had them two days ago," Daryl said. "And if I ain't mistaken, you ate some of 'em for leftovers last night. They were just swimming in vinegar."

"Now are you criticizing my food choices?" Carol challenged.

"Just wonderin' where you got this newfound love of brussel sprouts," Daryl said with a laugh. "You ain't never hated 'em, but you ain't never showed no interest in eatin' 'em ten times a day, neither."

Daryl caught Carol's arm and surprised her just as she was settling in to examine the produce. She jumped and he quietly apologized for startling her. She didn't even have time to see what he'd seen or to put down the apple she was holding in her hand before he'd dragged her with him—doing his best to steer the cart with one hand—toward whatever prize he'd set his sights on.

It was Pru.

And Carol's stomach dropped to her feet at the sight of the woman. Without any explanation, her knees got a little shaky and her heart pounded in her chest. Carol actually tried to turn and go in the other direction, but Daryl's strong hold on her arm prevented that from happening.

Before Carol could verbally protest and beg Daryl to abort his mission, Daryl had loudly called out the woman's name like they were close friends and he was tickled pink to "bump" into her so accidentally while out shopping. He certainly wasn't announcing that he'd driven by and specifically looked for her Cadillac before he'd gone home to gather up his wife and children for an impromptu trip to the store.

Pru looked confused, but of course she had every reason to feel that way. It wasn't like Daryl regularly sought her out in public, and Carol had been known to regularly duck down aisles just to avoid the woman. Out of her brood of nearly as many children as Merle and Andrea had, only three of her smallest ones trailed around in her vicinity. She looked up from talking to one of them when Daryl called out to her and she offered him a smile that looked strained.

"Daryl," Pru said. "Carol." She sounded more like she was identifying them than greeting them.

"I guess Walt's at home?" Daryl asked.

"Well—yes..." Pru said, still looking like she couldn't be more surprised if a rabid dog had run into the store from off the street and bitten her.

"Figured with retirement he might be out with you," Daryl said.

"Walt prefers not to buy the groceries," Pru said.

Daryl laughed to himself.

"Yeah, I can see that," Daryl said. "Me—I don't mind it. Just about anything'll do if I'm spendin' that time with Carol an' the kids. You 'member our lil' ones, don't you? June an' this is Jack."

Pru looked at Carol and Carol averted her eyes to focus on Jack for a moment. He was looking at her, and calling "Mama" at her. He didn't really need anything. He was more interested in seeing if he could get Carol's attention with the sound. It worked every time, and she was thankful to have something to look at besides Pru's confusion.

Maybe it was supposed to be Carol's moment, but it felt more like Daryl's. He'd pretend it was all for her, of course, but she wanted him to have this.

"Of course," Pru said. "Of course. Jack and..."

"And June," Daryl supplied when Pru had clearly forgotten June's name.

Pru smiled at him.

"I've always told Walt it was so kind of you to adopt so many. And treat them like your own."

Carol's stomach rolled at the words. It was the first time she'd had such a visceral reaction to something she'd heard enough times that her ears had almost stopped hearing it entirely. For just a moment, she wondered if she might lose the contents of her stomach right there in the middle of the store and end their little shopping trip rather abruptly. She swallowed down against the wave of nausea.

Perhaps her youngest—about to be announced to the world—wasn't fond of the judgment of strangers. Maybe he or she was already sensitive to that sort of thing.

Or maybe Carol's stomach was simply responding dramatically to things these days.

She'd missed the bit of conversation that must have followed Pru's words, because she only came back into herself when Daryl brushed her cheek with his finger. She looked at him and offered him a smile.

"You OK?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Carol said.

"You look a little pale, dear," Pru offered. There was genuine concern in her voice. It wasn't something that Carol was accustomed to hearing from Pru. "Are you feeling well?"

"You feelin' OK?" Daryl reiterated.

Carol swallowed again. And she swallowed once more for good measure. And then Daryl's expression changed. He raised his eyebrows.

"Gotta go now?" He asked.

Carol swallowed again and shook her head.

"No," she said. "I'm fine."

"But we'd do good to pick up some soda crackers and lemonade," Daryl said. "Just in case."

Carol nodded.

"It might be a good idea," she said.

Pru was watching them like they were the most interesting thing she'd seen. One thing about telling one of the greatest gossips of the town their news was that they guaranteed that it would spread far and wide. They weren't likely to make it out of the store before the whole town knew about their impending arrival—and Carol's close brush with soiling the floors of the market.

Daryl put his arm around Carol's shoulder and slid his hand up to squeeze at her neck. Oddly enough, the movement helped the sensation she was feeling to calm itself once more.

Daryl smiled at Pru and raised his eyebrows.

"This lil' one don't hardly let her have a day's peace," Daryl said. "Everybody said it would just be in the mornings, but the lil' one's got other ideas. Whenever it pleases..." Daryl stopped and cleared his throat. "But then I don't know if you knowed we were expecting."

Carol's nausea felt better because her brain couldn't hold onto the sensation well while she struggled against laughing at Pru's expression. The woman's lower jaw actually dropped and her eyes went wide. It made her look very much like the fish at the fish market that laid up on the ice on display.

"You mean you're—going to adopt again?" Pru asked.

Daryl cleared his throat again. He raised his voice, this time. He was either doing it to suggest that Pru might be hard of hearing, or he was doing it in the hopes of drawing the attention of a few other grocery patrons when he spoke.

"I mean we're expecting," Daryl said. "Mean to say—Carol's expecting. My wife—she's with child, as they say."

Pru's fish-expression didn't change. She looked at Carol. Carol wasn't feeling a hundred percent well, but she was feeling a little better. She forced the best smile she could at Pru.

"We were quite surprised," Carol assured her. "But the baby's healthy. And I'm healthy."

"Well that really is something," Pru said. She took a long moment to change her expression. "That is something..." Behind her, one of her youngest was dismantling a display. Daryl watched the child, but he didn't say anything to Pru. She certainly didn't seem to notice that the boy was getting out of hand. "I mean—I never would've thought...You've had such poor luck in the past. We've talked about it, you know, about how what poor luck you've had. We've prayed for you in my Sunday school class."

"And it musta worked," Daryl said. "'Cause we sure do got us a lil' one on the way. Of course—we'll be tellin' everybody else at church. We'll want them to know. I know you ladies are always doin' little socials and such for the expectant mothers..."

Daryl squeezed Carol's neck. She bit her lip not to laugh. He was growing frustrated. They'd come here for Carol—and that's what Daryl would say—but he was growing frustrated. Like a child who had waited too long for a promised prize, it was Daryl who was coveting his congratulations and Pru hadn't given it yet. Carol could literally feel his frustration growing as his fingers worked her neck and shoulder. Jack leaned forward to try to request removal from the cart and Carol offered him her hand to toy with to keep him calm.

Behind them, the second of Pru's offspring joined in the dismantling of the display. They were placing the items on the floor and, once they'd removed a few layers more, the whole display would topple over.

Pru smiled an insincere smile and shook her head.

"Oh we only do the socials for the new mothers," Pru said. "The young mothers."

"Seems to me it shouldn't matter what age a woman is," Daryl said.

"I mean to say for new mothers," Pru said. She shook her head again. "It wouldn't be proper. You've got so many children—Carol's hardly a new mother. It would be better if we weren't to draw too much attention to it. It might start something with everyone thinking they can have something for their third or fourth child..."

"Weren't it always you that said it was a shame she weren't no real mother?" Daryl asked.

Carol almost thanked the heavens that the display behind them finally gave way and crashed to the ground. Products went scattering off in all directions—rolling across the floor. One of Pru's children hit the ground, screaming in fear over the loud sound that the crash had made. June watched the whole thing her mouth wide, but Jack howled at the noise and Carol rescued her baby quickly from the cart.

The distraction was perfect to drag Daryl away because Pru's attention immediately shifted.

Deciding she'd buy just the one apple and forego any of the other produce she might want in order to make a grand escape, Carol practically dragged Daryl—cart and all—in the opposite direction through the store. She didn't stop until they were standing in front of the baker's racks and she was examining the bread there to decide what kind Daryl might like the best.

"She didn't never say a single nice thing," Daryl said.

"I'm sorry," Carol said. "That must be terribly frustrating for you."

"Are you sassin' me?" Daryl asked. There was some humor in his tone and Carol laughed to herself.

"Pru would rather walk on her lips across the parking lot in August than say something nice to me, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm sorry you lost out because of that."

"We're tellin' 'em at church," Daryl said.

"We will," Carol said. "But they'll all know by Sunday."

"I don't care," Daryl said. "We still gonna tell 'em. Every one of 'em. And you gettin' you one of them little church lady socials they do."

"Pru's right that I'm not a first time mother," Carol said.

"And?" Daryl asked. "Their excuse for not doin' one for you when we got Sophia was that she weren't no baby. Same for June. When we got Jack? What'd they say? They said he weren't small enough an' really these was for first time real mothers that was expectin' their babies. They're gonna do it or they're gonna make me raise hell in the home of the Lord," he warned.

Carol laughed to herself.

"Please don't make a scene, Daryl," Carol said. "But—we'll see if we can't get you a little more recognition before we go home. Let's go get those crackers before I have to face your pork chops. I'm going to eat them while we shop. That ought to raise plenty of opportunity for you to discuss our new little-one-to-be."

Daryl frowned at her.

"It was supposed to be about you," Daryl said. "Did I ruin it?"

Carol smiled at him. She leaned into him—proper or not, she didn't care—and pecked his lips.

"You couldn't ruin anything for me," Carol said. "I just love seeing you happy. Here...take Jack. And let's go find some crackers and scour the aisles. There are bound to be a few congratulations to dig up around here."