Thank you all for reading so far, also a big thanks to Jaded79 for going over this chapter for me. I really hope you guys don't hate me after readying this it's a bit of a tear jerker but Carol's secrets are finally reviled. Let me know what you think

Chapter 26

Sweetest Rose

Michonne watched as Carol moved around the SUV at the front of the prison. The sun wasn't quite up yet, but from the looks of things Carol was getting ready to move out. Sighing, she prepared herself for a fight. Moving outside the prison entrance, Michonne walked across the front of the yard stopping next to Carol, clearing her throat to get Carol's attention.

"What?" Carol asked stopping just long enough to look at her.

"Is there a reason you look like you're getting ready to head out?"

"Yeah, because I am, I need to get back to the zone, I have responsibilities, you know that," she told Michonne, moving around to load the rest of her gear into the car.

"Yes I know you do, that is something else we need to talk about, you told him the truth yet?" Michonne asked her crossing her arms across her chest; Carol stopped looking up at her.

"Stay out of it Michonne," she snapped.

"He has a right to know, Carol."

"Just stop!," she hissed finding herself getting angrier with each passing moment. Moving past Michonne, Carol set about helping Margret and her daughter Josie into the car. Margret had told her she felt safer with her and they wanted to be at the zone with her.

"Do you think I'm thick or something? I know why you didn't come back to the room last night, you were with him."

"It was a mistake."

"No, it was a bloody revelation!" Michonne yelled at her. Carol stopped, turning to look at her. "Don't do this, Carol; you have a real chance here to fix things with him." Carol sighed.

"There is no going back for us; we just don't fit into each other's lives anymore, besides I don't deserve him," she whispered.

"He will forgive you but you have to be honest; you leave now and he finds out some other way, he may not be so forgiving."

"I'm just not ready. I'm sorry," Carol replied shaking her head watching Jake get in the back of the SUV and Tyrese hop into the driver's seat waiting for her. "I'll see you back at the zone," Carol said jumping into the passenger's seat.

"You're making a mistake," Michonne tried warning her.

"Just stay out of it Michonne, it's none of your business," she snapped slamming the car door closed. Michonne watched as they drove from the zone disappearing down the road.

"Like hell," she whispered under her breath storming back into the prison; she had a new mission.

Daryl groaned stretching, daylight streamed through the curtains as he rolled over reaching for Carol only to find her side empty. His eyes shot open, sitting up he looked around the room noting her clothes were gone and her spot on the bed was cold.

He got up, dressing quickly and hoping she had just gone to get coffee or breakfast. But as he swung open the bedroom door, he saw Michonne leaning on the wall across from his room waiting for him.

"She's gone," she informed him, pushing off the wall to stand in front of him. "She bolted out of here before sun up." He sighed running his hands through his messy hair; he really thought he had gotten through to her last night.

"Damn it!" he yelled slamming his fist into a nearby wall, punching a hole right through it, pulling back to see his bloody knuckles.

"Carol is a complicated woman, just when you think you have figured her out, when you have just reached her, she pulls away again," Michonne spoke moving to lean on the wall next to him.

"Tell me about it," he huffed.

"You know, Rick, Andrea, Beth and your brother are all coming with me to the zone to see our set up. Now that the threat here is gone they feel better about going away for a few days… I have one extra seat if you wanna tag along?" she offered.

"I'll be ready in ten minutes," he smiled down at her, running back into his room to shower and pack a few things. Carol was going to explain herself whether she liked it or not. Michonne smiled moving down the hall, she just hoped Carol would forgive her but she knew she was doing the right thing.

They had been driving for nearly four hours and Daryl was getting restless. They had left the prison about a half hour after his talk with Michonne. Rick had left T-Dog and a few of the other men in charge, they were competent and well trained so they all felt comfortable with being away for a few days.

When they pulled up at the zone, Daryl couldn't wait to get out of the car. Michonne had asked the guard at the gate if Carol had returned yet, he had confirmed she had returned about half an hour before and was getting the two new people settled into a place of their own.

Daryl had to admit the place was amazing, it was a school before but they had built up the land since arriving. Little houses were spread across the yard. There was a playground where he could see kids playing and laughing; they had done an amazing job here.

"If you go down there, it's the cream house with the blue trimmings at the end, you can't miss it." He nodded about to move when her voice stopped him. "Go easy on her okay, she isn't perfect." He looked at her slightly confused but figuring she was talking about Carol running out on him this morning.

"Alright," he spoke, she smiled before moving away. He turned, walking down the dirt road, there was about ten houses in this area, young children ran past him laughing and chasing each other and he couldn't help but smile.

That's when he saw her, only about twenty feet in front of him stepping onto the porch of what he figured must be her house. He was about to walk up to her but what he saw next stopped him dead in his tracks. A woman in her fifties came out of the house handing Carol a small child who was still very young. He stared for a moment figuring it must be a friend's but when he heard her words, he felt everything inside him break.

"Oh my beautiful Rose, mummy missed you so much," she smiled kissing her child and hugging her close.

"Miss Sophie," he heard the woman speak.

"What is it Tammy?" she looked in the direction the woman was pointing to see Daryl standing behind her. "Oh god Daryl." Her mind screamed but she couldn't seem to talk, instead she walked over to him.

"Is she yours? You said Rose was someone who saved you," he finally spoke finding his voice.

"She did save me and yes she's mine," she whispered. He knew she was telling the truth; the little girl looked up at him, her eyes just as blue as her mothers. He felt sick, Carol had a baby to another man, he felt like his heart was being ripped out.

"And her father? I mean are you married? Do you live together? Oh god no, wait, I don't want to know," he babbled feeling like he was hyperventilating.

"What? No, Daryl I'm not married or living with anyone," she replied shocked. Did he really think she could just move on? He was and would always be the only one for her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of the best way to explain. "Rose is five months old, Daryl, I haven't been with anyone but you." His head shot up, he quickly realized what she was trying to tell him.

"Wait she's… she's mine?," he stammered too scare to believe it, but hoping he was right.

"Yes," she admitted. "That's why I called her Rose, after the Cherokee Rose," she explained.

"You told me the baby died." She could hear the anger in his voice and knew she had a lot of explaining to do.

"I thought she had… Daryl, come inside so we can talk about this privately," he nodded numbly.

"Can I... Can I hold her?" he asked nervously.

"Oh course," she smiled handing him his daughter. Rose smiled up at him; placing her little hand on his face, he knew he was lost. Carol had been the only woman in his heart but now Rose consumed him. He moved into her house, sitting on the lounge, waiting for her as she talked to Tammy about some event tonight before the woman left, leaving them alone.

"Do you want a drink?"

"No I want answers." She swallowed nodding, taking a seat across from him as he bounced his daughter on his knee.

"You told me the baby was gone." She sighed nodding.

"I truly believed she was, after the hit I took in town that day I had cramps all night and the next morning I was bleeding and I thought for sure she was gone. I mean between the beatings, the torture and the rape… how does an unborn baby survive that? I barely survived it, but she was a miracle, she was meant to be." Taking a much needed breath, she continued. "It wasn't till almost two months later that I realized something wasn't right, my period still hadn't shown up but I had put it down to stress, but then I started to get a noticeable baby bump, Michonne insisted I get looked at from one of our doctors. And after a test and ultrasound, the doctor confirmed that I was still pregnant, that Rose was healthy and that my bleed that day was from a part of the placenta tearing away from the womb wall. Probably a result of the attack but that it was healing well," she explained. She stopped, waiting for him to speak but for a few minutes he just stared at Rose, eyes glassing over, and then he looked up at her.

"Why didn't you come to me when you found out? Were you just trying to punish me?"

"What? No of course not and I did come, you can ask Michonne… we were about an hour from the prison when we stopped in this little town so I could go to the bathroom and I noticed a car that I recognised, and I saw you and Andrea inside. You guys were hugging and you kissed the top of her head. I was about to make myself known when… when she pulled back and kissed you." He laughed softly at this, shaking his head, he remembered that day well.

"We were talking about you, she was crying about how much she missed you."

"She had a funny way of showing it," Carol muttered.

"She was messed up about you, and Rick who was jerking her around, and she made a mistake," he snapped. Standing and placing Rose in her playpen and turning to look back at Carol feeling the anger fill him. "Had you bloody bothered to wait a few seconds you would have seen me push her away, I may have thought you were dead but you were still the only one for me."

"Were?" she whispered standing to face him.

"I don't know any more Carol, this… it's just too much… I can take a lot but you kept my own child from me," he sighed shaking his head.

"Please understand, I was scared and when I saw you two together I thought you had moved on, I didn't want you to feel like you had to be with me just because I was pregnant with Rose," she spoke her voice begging him to forgive her.

"You had to have realised when you came to the prison that we weren't together and you were wrong."

"I didn't know what to think."

"You should have told me, I had a right to know and you took that from me." She nodded, knowing he was right, tears slipping from her eyes. God how had she made such a mess of things? "I want to spend time with Rose getting to know her but I need time to think about us Carol… I just don't know if we can move past this, I don't know if I can forgive you." She couldn't look at him so she just settled for looking at the ground and nodded her head, she felt him move close, his hands brushing her hair, kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you for keeping her safe," he whispered before turning and leaving. When she heard the door click closed behind him, she just couldn't hold herself together any longer. Her legs gave as she sobbed, hating herself even more and knowing Michonne was right – she had made a mistake.