Chapter 9: Kids
Brooke woke up in Daryl's arms and smiled. It was kind of hard to move her cheek because Daryl's was right on it. She shook her head and he snorted awake. She moved her head into the pillow and laughed into it so she wouldn't wake up the others in the camp.
"You're awful, you know that?" he rubbed his eyes. She turned to face him and her face was red from the laughter.
"I'm sorry but that was too funny!" she said quietly. "Good morning!"
"Good morning!" he said acting a little annoyed. He reached up and brushed the hair that was blocking her face behind her ear. Rudy came up behind them with a little container in his mouth. "Give me that you mutt!" he grabbed it and opened the container. "Breakfast?" he asked.
"Where did you find these?" she asked.
"Just out in the woods." He replied but she had a worried look on her face. "Don't worry Mrs. Germaphobe I washed them." She sat up next to him and grabbed one.
"There still good!" she said with a bite still in her mouth. "Take one." He grabbed one and bit into it. It didn't take them long to finish their breakfast and they got dressed. Brooke wore a turquoise tank top, another pair of dark skinny jeans, and some lace up combat boots. Daryl wore his usual sleeveless, flannel shirt, jeans, and light brown boots. They walked out and Lori, Amy, and Carol were washing the dishes. Rudy trotted out to Carl and pulled Brooke with him. Sophia and the Morales kids joined them. They started to play tag and Brooke was it. She quickly scooped up the twelve year old and swung him around. "Your it!"
"Alright kids, Brooke, that's enough." Lori said. The kids, and Brooke, gave her a disappointed look. "I need to give you a haircut."
"Aw come on Mom!" Carl pouted but walked towards her. Shane was sitting in a chair checking his gun and Lori started to cut his dark brown hair.
"Don't worry little man! How about after this we go catch some frogs?" he asked and Brooke's ears pricked up.
"What?" Carl asked and Lori pushed his head down. "That sounds kinda gross."
"It's so much fun!" Brooke enthused.
"You caught frogs?" he asked.
"All the time with Shane and, uh, his friend." Brooke said. She tried to not use Rick's name for the sake of Carl. "I did a lot better than they did. They barely caught two every time we went. Shane's never beat my record of twenty frogs." She smugly grinned.
"If we catch any we can cook 'em!" Shane said and rubbed his stomach.
"Ew, frog legs?" Lori asked snobbishly. Brooke rolled her eyes. In this time they couldn't but twenty dollar steaks anymore like Lori used to have even though they didn't have that much money.
"When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna' lovin' those frogs legs lady, I can see it now." Shane said. "Shane do you think I could have a second serving, please? Please? Just one?" He imitated Lori.
"Yeah I doubt that." Lori scoffed.
"Don't listen to her, little man. You and me will be heroes and feed everyone! We'll be cookin' Cajun-style Kermit legs!"
"Yeah you've seen everything about that lady. She probably begs like that every night." Brooke thought but kept to herself. "Don't worry Grimes, they taste just like chicken." She smiled at the two. "Shane, don't mention Cajun food! You know that's my weakness!" She playfully pushed Shane's head to the side.
"Can I go with Shane, Mom?" Carl asked.
"After your hair-cut." She replied and he sat still. Eliza Morales and Sophia came to Brooke. Eliza had two dolls in her hand while Sophia only had one.
"Ms. Brooke will you play with us?" Eliza asked and held out a blonde haired rag doll.
"I would love to Eliza!" she replied and took the doll. "Call me when y'all go catchin' frogs okay, I may just join y'all." Shane nodded and continued working on his gun. She walked over with the kids to a table and played doll house for about thirty minutes. Daryl was getting ready to go hunting and saw her. Brooke was always great with kids. Whether it was Carl or one of her friend's kids. He continued to go hunting. He remembered when he helped her look after Carl when he was six.
Brooke was 20 and Daryl was 23. She was back in King County for Christmas break from getting her doctorate. Lori and Rick wanted to have a date night and Shane was too busy working. Daryl had met Brooke and Carl in town and Brooke was driving them to some place out of town. He had helped Brooke babysit Carl before but this time was different. They weren't just staying at home; they were going to the Santa's village near by King County. Rick said they would meet there after about an hour or so of them arriving at the village at seven. Merle had just gotten back from serving another tour in the military and Daryl didn't know what he was doing. He just hoped he would be back in time for them to go visit their Meemaw for Christmas. It was two days before Christmas and Carl was about to jump out of Brooke's new Prius. She had to get a new one since someone rammed into her car while it was parked. Damn drunk driver! No one was hurt, just the car.
"Are we there yet?" Carl asked. Brooke laughed but Daryl was annoyed. That was the tenth time he'd asked that question.
"Just five more minutes, handsome!" she said and turned up the Christmas tunes to hopefully shut him up. Carl sat impatiently with his hands to the window trying to see if Santa's village was close. She turned her car into the parking lot and Carl unbuckled himself. "Alright here we are!" Carl cheered gleefully and got out of the car. It was a white Christmas for the first time in years and it was flurrying at the moment. It was probably 30 degrees outside but they were all bundled up. Brooke wore a red pea coat over her black turtle neck, some black leather boots, skinny jeans, which was her favorite thing to wear, a black knit cap, and a pair of black gloves. Brooke was still her natural light tan color but her cheeks were red from the cold. Carl was in a dark blue, puffy jacket, a red scarf ,hat, and gloves with a white reindeer design on them, jeans, and some tennis shoes. Daryl was wearing some Jeans, a long sleeved blue t-shirt, a black coat, some work boots jeans, and gray gloves and knit cap. Carl held her hand and they walked into the village. Christmas music was playing in the background and they had every souvenir shop known to man. Along with some kiddy rides and some actual reindeer.
"Daryl?" Carl asked.
"Yeah kid?" he asked.
"Why are the reindeer here? Shouldn't they be in the North Pole to be with Santa?" he asked innocently. He smirked and saw Brooke smiling.
"They're just here to help Santa plan his way across the world. They're just resting a bit and meeting all the kids on the nice list." Daryl replied.
"Come on! We gotta go see them before they leave!" Carl said and pulled the two of them to go see the reindeer. They petted the reindeer. Santa wasn't there which was easily explained by the all knowing Daryl. Good thing that Lori had already taken him to the mall to see Santa. Brooke bought him a stuffed reindeer and a silver bell.
"Why'd you buy the kid a bell?" He asked holding Carl's hand. Carl had complained that his hands were cold so Brooke took is left and Daryl took his right. They would lift him over the icy spots and he would laugh with glee. They lifted him up and over another spot and he laughed.
"Have you ever watched It's a Wonderful Life?" she asked.
"No I've only watched those little clay figures on the TV." He replied.
"That's my favorite Christmas movie! I'm making you watch it when we get home." She said and he chuckled. "Well in the movie they say that every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings."
"Can we have a snowball fight over there Aunt Brooke?" Carl asked.
"Alright handsome!" she said and again he pulled them over to a little area. Carl wanted Daryl to be on his team so they could gang up on her. They were beating her at first but then Daryl decided to have a little fun with Carl. He formed a snow ball and threw it a Carl.
"Hey we're on the same team!" Carl said and Daryl threw another one at him. "You traitor!" Carl smiled and threw some at him. Brooke decided to help out and attacked Carl with snow. Carl focused on her.
"Daryl, help me!" She giggled as she was being pelted with snowballs.
"I'm comin' my lady!" Daryl yelled and ran to protect her from the mighty Carl."He's too strong for us we must surrender!" he said.
"Oh, powerful Carl we beg for your mercy!" Brooke said.
"Does this mean I win?" he asked stopping with his fire.
"Yes!" Brooke said. "You are the champion of snowball fights!" Carl cheered and tackled the two to the ground.
"Can we go get something to eat now?" Carl asked making the two adults laugh. They got up and dusted themselves off.
"I'm so freaking cold!" Brooke whispered.
"Come here!' Daryl smiled. "I need some warmth too ya know." He threw his arms around her to hopefully warm up. Brooke saw Carl shivering.
"You need a lift, handsome?" she asked and Carl nodded. Brooke knew that Carl was a lot bigger than he used to be when he was three.
"Come here Carl." Daryl said and lifted him up so he could hold him up on his side. Carl hung on to Daryl's shoulders and Daryl had one arm around Carl and one arm around Brooke. They walked into one of the shops.
"Oh look here! We have another happy family!" A photographer for the local newspaper said.
"Oh no, we're not-" Daryl began.
"Smile!" the photographer said and they did as they were told. Daryl thought and they did kind of look like a family. Daryl bought them each some warm gingerbread men, a gingerbread woman for Brooke and they walked out of the store. It was eight thirty by the time Lori and Rick had finally shown up. Brooke and Daryl were still drinking their hot cocoa while Carl had fallen asleep on Daryl's shoulder after he finished his small cup. Brooke and Daryl joked about how Carl went to sleep right after he had a full dose of sugar. They were walking towards the exit when they saw them.
"Hey guys!" Brooke whispered so she didn't wake up Carl.
"Hey Brooke! Hey Daryl!" Rick replied. "Any problems?"
"No he was fine!" Daryl whispered. "No problems. He's a great kid."
"Thanks for looking after him." Lori said. Rick tried to take Carl away but Carl snuggled into Daryl more. Brooke snickered as they continued this game for a little bit longer.
"Come on kid, you need to go home." Daryl whispered to Carl.
"I don't wanna." Carl mumbled.
"I promise we'll hang out again." Daryl persuaded. "Just you, Brooke, and me." Carl liked the promise and went to his dad. Lori smiled and gave them both an awkward hug. Rick thanked the two and gave Brooke a quick kiss on the cheek He shook Daryl's hand and they went to their car while Daryl and Brooke did the same.
"I'd say that Carl has grown to like you contrary to your beliefs." Brooke smiled. Her nose had gotten to be a bright red color. Daryl held her a little closer with both arms to warm her up and she did the same.
"Never thought that would happen." He confessed.
"Alright let's go watch that movie!" she said and hopped into her car. Daryl got into the passenger seat. "Do you think we'll see our picture in the paper?"
"If we do it'll probably be labeled as a happy family." He smirked. "Merle would never let me live that down."
"Neither would Shane." She laughed and started the car to warm it up. Daryl thought about that assumption of them being a family.
Daryl also remembered the time only two years ago that Becky had her daughter Meghan.
Brooke had just turned25 and Daryl was about to turn 28 in a couple of days. Daryl had just gotten home from a little get together with Brooke since she was home for a visit. They ran into Becky who was heavily pregnant with her husband Mitch who was a high school biology teacher. Becky had taken over the boutique and got married to Mitch after a year of dating. Now a year later she was about to have a kid. Daryl laid down on his bed and went to sleep. It was two in the morning when his home phone went off. Merle yelled for him to answer it. He'd recently moved back in since he couldn't pay his rent. He couldn't keep a job and Daryl knew he would have to support him.
"Hello?" Daryl groaned.
"Daryl?" Brooke asked.
"Brooke, it's two o'clock in the damn morning! What in hell is so important that you call me at two o'clock in the damn morning?" he snapped.
"Becky is in labor!" she huffed. "She wants us to be there along with Amber!"
"On my way!" Daryl said and hung up the phone. He got dressed fairly quickly and was pulling on his boots as he opened the door.
"Where you goin' little brother?" Merle asked with a headache from his hangover.
"Becky's in labor and she wants me to be there with Amber and Brooke." He said and ran to his car. He got there at around 2:30 and Brooke was apparently surviving on coffee. Becky's parents were out of town and so were Mitch's. "How is she?"
"She's fully dilated and she should have the baby pretty soon." Amber yawned. They were outside her room and Amber caught up with Daryl. Amber was busy studying to be a veterinarian and she even met a boy at school that she was actually crazy about. They heard a cry coming from the delivery room and they all lit up. Mitch walked out smiling.
"Becky's okay and so is Meghan." He said. They all jumped from their chairs and congratulated them.
"What's her full name?" Brooke smiled.
"Meghan Marie Tomlinson." He replied. "She's perfect. Alright I'm gonna go back and check on Becky."
"We have our own dress up doll now!" Amber said. "I bought something that I was going to give her later." She pulled out a frilly pink dress for Meghan.
"Y'all are goin' to torture that kid." Daryl smiled. "Watch her be a tom boy."
"I think we'll buy her so much frilly, pretty, sparkly things she'll have no choice!" Brooke laughed and held up the dress. "I got her something too!" she pulled out little sparkly red shoes. "The Wizard of Oz is Becky's favorite movie."
"They're perfect!" Amber awed and handed them to Daryl he looked at the tiny little shoes that weren't bigger than the palm of his hand.
"These are pretty cute." He admitted quietly. A nurse walked out.
"Meghan's in the nursery if you want to go look at her." The trio left and went to the window.
"Which one is she?" he asked. Brooke looked around and finally spotted her.
"There she is. The one in the middle." She said softly. "She's so cute and chubby!" she enthused.
"She's perfect." Daryl said. "She has those dark blue eyes and Becky's blonde hair."
"I bet the blue eyes came from her Grandmother." Amber said. "Look she's yawning!" Brooke giggled and Daryl smirked. "She's the cutest thing ever!" A couple of hours later Becky woke up from her nap and held Meghan in her arms. The three walked in and each gave Becky a kiss on the cheek.
"How do you feel?" Daryl asked.
"I feel fine." Becky replied. "Thank you for coming." They all replied "our pleasure". Amber held Meghan for a little bit but had to leave because she had a class the next morning. Brooke held the baby for a little while but soon edged Daryl to hold her.
"Come on, you've waited this long." Daryl warily held out his arms and Meghan was placed in his arms. The baby shuffled a bit and made a cute little noise that made him snicker. Her arms reached up and down. "You want to see something?" Brooke asked.
"Sure."
"Alright." She gently held up Meghan's arm. "Hold out your index finger and place it right here." She pointed to the middle of the baby's forearm. "Now gently lift it to the palm of her hand." He followed the instructions and Meghan's fingers locked around his finger. He smiled.
"She's pretty strong for a girl." He joked knowing Brooke wouldn't do anything because of the baby. Mitch walked in with some coffee.
"Did you ask them yet?" he asked Becky.
"I was waiting for you." She replied.
"Ask us what?" Daryl asked. Becky and Mitch looked at each other and held hands.
"We want to ask you if you two would be her godparents." Becky smiled. Brooke's eyes widened and so did Daryl's. Brooke was more cheerful than shocked while Daryl was more shocked than cheerful. Someone wanted him to be a godfather?
"Really?" Brooke asked quietly. Mitch nodded.
"We know you two will be a good influence on her. She won't call you godfather or godmother but you two will be Aunt Brooke and Uncle Daryl. That is if you want to be of course."
"I would love to be a godmother!" Brooke said and gave Mitch a hug. Becky looked at Daryl.
"How could I possible say no, Becky?" he chuckled and gave her Meghan and a kiss on the cheek. Daryl and Brooke thought it was safe to leave the hospital and go home. "I can't believe Becky's a mom."
"Me neither! It seems like only yesterday we were in science class." Brooke reminisced. "Well now we're godparents."
"I'm still trying to get used to that." He said. "Come on Godmomma, I'll buy you some good coffee."
"That sounds great Godpoppa." She said. Daryl and Brooke would look after Meghan when the parents were too busy. Some people would look at them and smile. People at the ice cream place would comment on what a beautiful daughter they had. Daryl couldn't help but think about it sometimes. What it would be like to have a family of his own. What it would be like to date Brooke, marry her, raise a family with her, and grow old with her. To be honest, it just felt right to Daryl.
Daryl snapped out of it once again when he saw deer tracks.
"Finally, something other than squirrel."