Fool Me Once

Daryl had coffee ready when Carol made it downstairs the next morning. Carol gave a longing look at the coffee machine but took a mug down from the cabinet, filled the teapot with water, and turned the heat on under it.

She finally looked at Daryl, "My doctor doesn't want me to drink caffeinated coffee. Might be bad for the baby."

"Didn't know that." He fiddled with his coffee cup, "Guess I don't know much about babies."

Carol resisted the impulse to reassure Daryl. He had chosen to take off and just because he had blown in yesterday? He might leave today and never be seen again.

"I can get a book. I can learn what I need to know. The baby doesn't feel real to me right now, but I want to be a good father."

Guess what? Puke a lot and get fat anyway. The baby will start feeling real soon enough.

Sophia came in the kitchen. She tousled her mother's hair and ignored Daryl. Muffin barked and Daryl muttered something about taking him out for a walk.

Carol eyed her daughter who was pouring milk into her cereal. "Being civil means that you say good morning to Daryl. He's your brother's father."

"Daryl ran off and left us. I don't trust him now." Sophia was nearly in tears.

"Just be polite."

Daryl came back as they were finishing breakfast. Sophia walked past Daryl without a word and Muffin followed her upstairs.

Daryl leaned against the counter, "I need to talk to you about why I left. Not this morning, but maybe this afternoon after you get home from work?"

Carol nodded, "Sophia is in a computer club that meets after school. She's eating dinner at a friend's house. I am picking her up after that. It's probably best that she not be here." She stood up and began to run water in the sink, "Daryl, what is it that you want? Forgiveness? I forgive you. You want to be a father? I won't fight you on that. So you can get in your truck and go the hell wherever home is." I am keeping the red door though.

"I am where home is." Daryl shifted his feet. "I want you to give me a real chance to explain what happened. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I did the right damn thing. So go to work and release your rage on some defenseless keyboard. I am going to gut a bathroom and rehearse what I have to tell you. You know that I don't communicate all that damn well, but I am fucking trying here."

Carol threw the dish rag at him, "I'll see you later."

Daryl caught the cloth before it made contact with his face. Carol had released some rage with that throw. She probably didn't mean to throw it at this face. Probably.

Carol was calm by the time she and Sophia left. Daryl was upstairs working on the hall bathroom. She winced at the noise he was making. He dumps me via a text message. Moves out. Has a fence built between his house and mine. Leaves town. Doesn't make contact for four months and then waltzes in without permission, and he doesn't think that he needs forgiveness?

Daryl gutted the bathroom. The plumbing was in good shape and he made a list of all the supplies he needed. Muffin looked lonesome and he let the faithless pup go with him to town. He got rid of the debris at a refuse center, went to the home improvement store, and then a bookstore on way out of town. He threw some ingredients in the crock pot and hoped that it would make an edible supper. This is me trying.

The hall bathroom was large enough to have been a bedroom. Daryl decided that it was big enough for a bathtub and a separate shower. He spent the morning working on plumbing. He ate a sandwich for lunch and walked the dog, and then was back at it putting in cement board and fashioning the frame for the shower stall. He had spent most of the summer working on kitchens and bathrooms so he worked confidently.

Carol had spent most of the morning being furious with Daryl and by afternoon she was over it. She was mystified by his statement that he had did the right damn thing in leaving. She wanted answers even if she might not like what they were.

She even admitted to herself that she wasn't exactly over Daryl. It isn't fair. I am gaining weight and he has only gotten tanner, stronger, and more toned. I love the shorter hair. He looks good. There is something different about him. He was more assertive. He had shown up here, changed the door without asking, filled up the refrigerator, and made supper. He's trying. Or he's manipulative. Too close to call.

There was the smell of something cooking when she went into the house. Carol approached the crock pot cautiously. Daryl had left the cooking to her before but he seemed to be trying to show that he could cook. She added some seasonings and went upstairs to find Daryl.

He smiled at her from his spot on the shower floor, "Just finishing this and I think I have done enough for today. Muffin needs a walk. You want to go with me?" Muffin had been lying on the floor watching Daryl work but jumped up and did his happy dance when he saw her.

"Just give me a minute."

Carol changed her clothes and Daryl was waiting at the front door. Carol led the way through the meadow toward the farm road that met up with the public road. Muffin scampering around them and just a few leaves coasting down. Let's not talk right now. I want just to enjoy being outside walking in the sunshine. I want to pretend this is what it looks like. A man and a woman walking with a dog. Happy. Content. In love.

Daryl was silent. Carol turned to him, "Let's talk when we get back to the house."

He smiled at her. "Fine by me."

They walked back to the house after a while. Carol felt her contentment fade as they came into the yard. Put on your big and getting bigger everyday girl panties and listen to what ever shitty story Daryl says. Listen to your damn head. Don't listen to your heart or those traitorous nether regions because they aren't designed for higher level thinking. They just want what they want. They want you to believe the story so that they get their way. Be strong now.

The living room seemed to be a neutral place and Carol settled into comfortable chair. Daryl sat down on the couch opposite her. Muffin looked torn and finally chose to lie down on the floor where he could watch them both. It's the dogs and children that get hurt when parents break up.

"Remember when I came back from visiting Merle in the prison and I told you that he said he might get out early?" I remember how much I missed you that day.

"Yes, you brought back the lights for the kitchen. You didn't think he was getting out early." So this is about Merle? You might want to rethink that part where you didn't need to be forgiven. I'm not blaming Merle

. Never made me feel as if just being with me made him happy.

Daryl nodded, "The day I left was just an ordinary day, except you know. It started better than most days."

Carol remembered that morning. She had been brushing her teeth at the sink when Daryl had stuck his head out of the shower. He grinned at her in the mirror and their eyes met. Daryl came out of the shower and draped his bath towel around her middle and began pulling her toward the shower. Not roughly but the tile floor was slippery enough so that she was pulled backward toward him. "Let's make whoopee this morning." He dropped the towel and put his wet warm arms around her and pulled her close to him.

She had met his eyes again in the mirror and she knew the choice was hers. It was always her choice with Daryl. He was a man that took no for an answer. "Okay."

He slipped off her bathrobe and she smiled at him in the mirror, "I love you."

There was a sudden knock on the front door and Daryl stood up, "I'll get it". The neighbor who had helped him put in the door yesterday was standing there, "I hate to bother you, but my cows got out and I need some help in getting them back in."

Daryl turned to Carol. "I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Carol went into the kitchen. It really was dreary in here. She turned the heat down on the crock pot and looked at the clock. She needed to go pick Sophia up soon. How did we go from that happy morning to it all being over in hours? And now Daryl is back and I am ready to believe that he was captured by aliens and had to stay on the mother ship until they were finished with him. And there will be a million little Daryls running around the universe because his seed will populate. the cosmos.

Carol ate dinner alone and when it was time she drove into town and picked up Sophia. Daryl wasn't home when they got back. Sophia romped with Muffin and then she and the dog went upstairs.

She contemplated the dreary kitchen again. The bathroom remodel was going well and prospective buyers would be happy that they didn't have to do any work in there. It would sell well. The kitchen on the other hand was out of date and prospective buyers would be looking for granite and stainless steel. Why am I thinking like this? I have a house and a mortgage. I finally have the little farm that I want. This is my dream.

She turned the lights off in the kitchen and then went back to the living room. What do you want, Carol?

I want everything. Sophia, my baby boy, a farmhouse, some land to call my own, and enough to get by… And I want to have all that with Daryl. I still love him.

The house was quiet and Carol could hear the back door swing open and the surreptitious sound of someone sneaking into the kitchen and moving toward the back hall.

Carol grabbed the baseball bat that Aaron had left there. Her pistol was upstairs and she didn't have time to go upstairs and get it. She was on her own here and she walked barefoot through the room optimistically called their library. The outside light showed a shadow slipping down the hall and Carol raised her bat with one hand and flipped the hall light on with the other.

It was Daryl. He was standing in the hall with only his wet boxers on. He had left a trail of water behind him and he was still dripping as he stood there.

They both stared at each other for a moment, "What the hell, Daryl?" She managed before bursting into laughter. He looked like a drowned rat.

"Ain't so damn funny. Those fucking cows don't come when you call 'em, by the way. I have spent hours chasing those walking T-bones. Me and Good Neighbor Sam had cornered our last steer. I stepped into a damn cow patty and fell down on it. Sam laughed and I think the damn steer did too. It shit all over me and when I tried to get up I fell again." He was laughing now. "We finally got it in the pasture and I told Sam I would walk back. I took the water hose and cleaned up outside. Left my clothes and boots out there too."

Carol was still giggling when Muffin came to investigate. The pup barked at Daryl and then scooted back away from him. Carol wasn't sure that the dog wasn't laughing, but she finally managed, "Go take a shower and I'll heat up something for you to eat. The beef stew is really good. Beef stew." She emphasized "beef" the second time and left to find a mop. Daryl slunk off toward his bedroom.

The stew was hot when he came into the kitchen wearing a pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt. Carol handed him some hot coffee, "It's decaffeinated, but at least it's something warm to drink".

He ate as if he were starved and Carol sipped herbal tea. Muffin jumped in her lap and watched Daryl eat. She stifled a giggle.

He looked at her reproachfully, "I was trying to show you that I could be a farmer. Guess that didn't work out too well."

"You learned not to get behind a cow. Don't think you'll make that mistake again."

He laughed, "You got that right. Sophia have a good time at her friend's house? She like it here?"

"She's shy but she has made a few friends. We need to stop moving around so much." Carol sighed. That last move was because I couldn't live in our house without you there. It hurt too much.

Daryl stopped shifting in his chair, "Are you ready to hear why I left you and Sophia?"

"Right now I want to know why you came here. What did you want to happen?" What ever happened, happened and it does matter. But why is he here now? He didn't know about the baby. So it wasn't that.

"I want you and Sophia to live with me in Virginia. We get married, buy a farm, and rear our children in a happy home."

"So we become the Walton's? Goodnight, John Boy and all that?" That might be a little rude, but considering his four month absence, maybe not. "Why did you leave?"

Daryl took a deep breath, "I need to get something". He went to his bedroom and came back with his wallet. "I want you to look at this." He handed her the wallet.

It was full of money. Not small bills either. Daryl had always carried more money than she thought was wise, but not this much. There was thousands of dollars here.

"Keep looking". Daryl got up and filled his plate again."

She looked at his driver's license. Daryl's face, different name, different address, but he was still an organ donor. Good to know in case she needed a new kidney.

There were various credit cards all in the name of Mark A. Reynolds. Mark A. Reynolds had a health insurance and a current pass to national parks.

"So what does the A stand for?"

Daryl rolled his eyes at her. Alexander. My name is Mark Alexander Reynolds. Seriously, that is what you want to know?

It's valid question. I'm having a boy. Looking for a name other than baby. "Whoare you really? Daryl Dixon or Mark Reynolds?"

"Daryl Dixon doesn't exist anymore. So I am Mark A. Reynolds. I live in Lost River, Virginia and I work for Horvath Construction as a construction supervisor. I have a brother named Michael and he owns a bookstore in Lost River. We've been there since June. We live in a rented house that is can only be described as beige." He took a bite of stew and chewed slowly.

Carol chewed on the information. Daryl wasn't computer savvy enough to build this new identity. Merle would be a felon so he couldn't leave Georgia while he was on parole. Daryl had sold his house so he should have access to cash, but this complete of an identity in only four months seemed more like something that only a government agency would be able to do.

"You and Michael are in witness protection?"

Daryl nodded and then told her a very detailed story of why he left, why he dumped her so cruelly, why he didn't make contact with her, and that now the Stowers family was dead and he and Michael were moving on with their lives.

It was either the biggest pile of bull shit (and it was an evening for that) or it was true. It was more believable than the Daryl and the Alien Ship but only a little more likely.

"What happened to the Stowers family?" Their demise seemed a little too fortuitous.

"They are gone. I'm not going to talk about them. They are gone and no one is looking for the Dixons. We can have the life that we want to have. What do you want, Carol?"

I admitted to myself today that I want a life with Daryl or Mark. He is here telling me that he wants to live happily ever after with me in our own little farmhouse-castle. Do I have the courage to believe him?

AN

Trusting Daryl again isn't going to be easy for Carol. She has her own ghosts to contend with and there is Sophia to consider.

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