Not Just Good, It's Right

Carol made everyone fried apple pies for breakfast the next morning topped with some whipped cream from the new cow on the hill. Sam and Dave came over on an errand and stayed for breakfast. It was a happy and relaxed crew at the long dining table and Carol and Daryl were busy keeping the pies going. There had been a thunderstorm last night and it was cooler on the mountain this morning.

Judith was enjoying her own small pie sitting in her high chair between Rick and Andrea. Carol was delivering a pie to Rick and bent to kiss Judith on the cheek. She hesitated there so long that Rick asked if she was okay. Carol stood back up and said she was fine. She returned to pie making and Daryl did the serving.

Carol and Daryl brought their own pies to the table and joined the conversation. The topic was the next run; sooner was better than later according to Rick. They had struck gold and he wanted to keep mining until the gold was gone. Sam wanted to try some other places as well; he had driven trucks for different companies in North and South Carolina. He wanted to find more fuel so that they could do runs with lots of cargo room.

Daryl wanted to find more energy creating supplies. He thought that Emily would know more than anyone else about that; she had ran a company that specialized in building energy saving houses. Daryl thought that maybe he and Rick could talk to her after breakfast. Rick agreed. Sam and Dave invited every one over for an early dinner and they could talk things over after dinner.

Rick told the group to wait just a minute; he had gifts to give. It seemed the Shopping Grinch had gotten over his funk and had done some shopping too. Santa Rick gave his presents out. Carol - patterned silk scarf, Michonne- a carved ebony box, Maggie –table linens for her new house, Beth- laptop. At last it was Andrea's turn and Rick presented her with a box. She opened it cautiously; it contained a manicure and pedicure kit, loofah sponges, facial creams, bubble baths, and everything from the spa section of the store. Andrea pretended to be offended; did Rick think she looked that bad? Rick said it was because she looked that good without these things and would look even better now. Andrea blushed a little at the complement and everyone thanked Santa Rick. Carol had been quiet during the gift giving and she watched Andrea thoughtfully.

Carol invited herself to go with Rick and Daryl to see Emily. She volunteered Andrea to watch Judith while they were gone. Andrea said that she would give Judith a manicure and Carol said maybe just a bath because she had rubbed applesauce in her hair. Andrea took Judith from Rick and again Carol had that feeling of rightness seeing them together.

Emily was happy to talk about her work in designing and building energy efficient houses. She had built some "off the grid" dwellings that had used a variety of materials. She had worked with Grandma Nancy in redesigning her house to be "off the grid". Emily printed off a list of companies that she used when she was building houses. Emily agreed to go to dinner with them to discuss scavenging supplies. Carol watched her interaction with Rick; they were comfortable together.

Grandpa had a woodshop where he liked to make furniture. Most of the furniture in the house including her bed had been made by him. He took a long time to finish anything. Grandma would go out there trying to hurry him on some project. Carol could hear her still in her mind telling, "Jamie McAllister, that table is perfectly good just the way her is." Grandpa would smile at her and reply, "Nancy, I am not looking for good, I want it to be right". He would always emphasize the word right. He would eventually finish it and then he would make Grandma come back out to the woodshop to admire it. She would run her hand over the smooth surface and she would say, "It's not just good, it's right". Grand pa always laughed when she said that. Together, they would move the project from the woodshop to the house and Grandma would find a place for it.

Judith was just coming out of the tub when they got back. Andrea had washed the applesauce from Judith dark curly hair. Andrea was drying her off and playing peekaboo. Judith was laughing and Andrea was smiling. Rick helped Andrea dress Judith and Carol watching them knew that they were not just good, they were right.

Tyreese and Michonne were off on some adventure and the place was quiet. Andrea announced her intention to bake something for tonight's dinner. Baking was not work for Andrea; she found it relaxing. Carl was off somewhere doing whatever Carl did when he wasn't in the house. Carol decided that she and Daryl were going to vacate the house right now. She put together a lunch of cheese sandwiches, apples, and a bottle of wine. She didn't forget the plastic glasses, the opener, and assorted weapons. Daryl was talking with Rick on the porch when she came out with a little basket. Judith held up her arms for Carol to take her, but she just kissed her instead.

"Come on, let's go someplace", she said to Daryl. He looked at the basket and he face, and got up to go.
"Where do you wanta go?" he asked. "You surprise me" she answered. Daryl had been hunting all over the mountain and he remembered being at a place and thinking that he wanted to bring Carol here some time. Last night's rain would make it even better. "It's a ways, better take the four wheeler. They were loaded and gone before Rick could blink.

Rick took Judith back in the house as Andrea came in the kitchen tying an apron on. He played with Judith until she got sleepy and then they sat in the rocking chair and watched Andrea mix and stir her way through bread making. He put Judith down in Carol and Daryl's room and left the door open so that they could hear Judith. Andrea was planning tonight's dessert; she asked Rick, "What is your favorite pie?" He thought about it, "Pecan pie". Andrea remembered that Tyreese had brought a box of unshelled pecans when they left Georgia. She had made a bourbon pecan pie one time; there was butter in the fridge, bourbon in the house, eggs in the coop, and pecans in the shell. "Get busy, Officer Friendly, let's make some pecan pie. Go get the eggs from the chickens and we'll shell some of Tyreese's pecans."

Rick gathered eggs while Andrea made the pie dough. She separated the dough into three balls and put it in the refrigerator. Rick helped Andrea shell enough pecans to make several pies. Eventually Judith woke up and helped them with her chubby little hands in everything. They ate a quick chicken salad sandwich for lunch. Rick was surprised how long it took to make a pie from scratch but Andrea hummed along as she did it. Finally, three beautiful bourbon pecan pies sat cooling on the slate countertop. Andrea took off her apron and declared it was spa time and she went upstairs. Rick decided to take Judith outside to play on the porch; he needed to stop thinking about Andrea in a bubble bath.

Carol and Daryl had gone farther away in the mountains that she had ever been. Daryl had found this small meadow when he was hunting. It was growing back to woods but there were plenty of flat rock to set on and they parked the four wheeler close to a large flat rock. Daryl told Carol to stay close to the four wheeler while he checked around. He came back in a few minutes and helped her unload the basket. There was a blanket in the cargo area already and a jug of water. Daryl laughed when he saw the bottle of wine and he put it in the small stream that ran along the edge of the meadow to keep it cool.

He came back and sat down beside of Carol, "Okay, I know you are up to something, tell me what it is," he said.

Carol laughed, "Maybe I want to be alone with you". He kissed her and felt her response all the way into his toes. They were alone, on a blanket, and he decided to take advantage of the situation right now. Carol was unbuttoning his shirt and rubbing his arms. Oh, yeah, it was take advantage time.

Later they lay naked together on the blanket, "I hope I don't have to kill a walker right now, it just wouldn't feel right trying to shoot an arrow into a walker with my goods all hanging out," Daryl said. Carol laughed and said, "I'll kill it for you, Daryl".

"Why did you want to get out of the house in such a hurry?" Daryl asked. "I knew you and Rick would be taking off on some business and I wanted you all to myself" Carol answered. "No, that ain't it. You're up to something else." Daryl narrowed his eyes, "You wanted to leave Rick at home with Judith…. and Andrea. Are you trying to be matchmaker to two people who are already seeing other people?"

Shit, Carol thought to herself, Daryl was too smart for her own good sometimes. She might as well tell him what she saw this morning when she kissed Judith. She sat up taking just a minute to revel in the feeling of being naked on a blanket at the edge of a sunny meadow with a naked Daryl. Later, she thought, now back to her vision. "I saw something this morning when I kissed Judith. I saw Judith as a young woman and I was standing on one side and Andrea was on the other putting a wedding veil on Judith. Andrea kissed her and Judith said, "I love you, Mommy".

Daryl was silent for a moment and then, "How do you know that is gonna happen? Maybe it was just something that you want to happen".

Carol knew there was no way to explain the "sight" to someone who had not experienced it. She didn't understand it herself but she could try. "I saw two battles before we went down the mountain to kill the Governor. In one we were defeated and the other we were victorious. What I saw today was the victory, the way it should be and that doesn't mean it will be. But, if you had seen their faces, and when Judith called Andrea "Mommy" I knew that she usually called her Mother now that she was grown up, but for just a minute Judith wanted her "Mommy" to know that she loved her."

"Maybe Rick would be just as happy with Emily and Andrea with Joaquin," Daryl said stubbornly.

"They might not be unhappy with them but they won't be just as happy. They are settling for them because all four of those people are lonely. Rick and Andrea are both warriors, they need to protect others, they are alike in that. Joaquin and Emily are builders, they want to create and build something, they'll be happy together." Carol explained.

"What about us, what are we?" Daryl was curious in how Carol thought they fit together.
"We take care of people, we're care takers. You took care of Merle and I took care of Sophia. Then we took care of the group and each other". Daryl thought that being a care taker was a pussy thing to be, but hadn't Hershel talked about them taking care of people and Carl at their wedding.

"Shit, I gotta be a care taker. I wanted to be a warrior," he complained. Carol smiled, "Caretakers have to be warriors too, taking care of people sometimes means you have to be a warrior once in a while."

"Carol, leave this alone. Don't be messing with anybody else. If they are meant to be together, then they will find each other. We did".

"Daryl, good can get in the way of right," Carol said, and she went on to tell Daryl the story about her grandfather and his furniture making. Daryl wasn't convinced. Carol decided to tell him something that she had thought she would keep to herself.

"Carl and I met the car when Rick returned from Woodbury without you. Rick hugged me close but I was devastated. I knew I loved you but you just threw all of us away to run off with Merle. Rick was struggling to hold onto reality and get past Lori's death. He was attracted to me and I knew it. Not in love but he needed somebody and I recognized that need. You came back and there was a lot going on. I didn't quite trust you for a while and Rick was there for me. Not physically but we were drawing closer. We could have been good together but we would never have been right. I knew that in my heart and I pulled back from him. Then you and I had a big fight and I sent you away. I figured that I was better by myself, until you showed up in the cafeteria that morning and followed me to the truck to tell me to "be safe".

Daryl struggled with his jealousy. He had a vision of Carol and Rick having sex, and all that was being with Carol belonging to Rick instead of him. Her smiles, her touches, her kindnesses, and her strange sense of humor being shared with Rick. Good instead of right. He got it.

Carol watched Daryl as she told the story. He hadn't liked it, didn't like to think that he had hurt that bad, and really didn't like to think that she and Rick could have been together. She saw that he made peace with it when his eyes met hers. "We never talk about that again," Daryl said. She agreed most things in the past should stay buried.

They ate lunch and drank some of the wine. They had slow playful sex and then talked for a while. Daryl got up and pulled her up, "Come on, girl I have got something pretty to show you". She eyed him up and down, "I wouldn't call it pretty exactly." He slapped her rump for her impertinence and led her onto a path back into a small hollow. There was a pool of water and water fell from a rock above it creating a small waterfall. There was more flow over the rock than when Daryl had seen it before because of the rain last night. It had felt special to him before but in the afternoon sun glinting through the trees it was magical. Carol ran to the waterfall and let the cold water cascade down over her. Daryl joined her under the shower and they splashed in the shallow water like children. Carol returned to the water fall and Daryl followed her. He kissed her and held her close to him. She was cold from the water and they warmed each other. He kissed her again and knelt before her in the water. She turned her face to meet the water and it wasn't just good. It was right.

Later they dried off and warmed up on the blanket. It was time to go back, but Carol seduced Daryl one more time for luck. She had not shared the entire vision with Daryl. The part that she had left out was about Judith's groom. He was their son conceived this special day and in this special place. She would wait to see if this vision was real or just something that she wanted to happen.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner and the pecan pies that night. Andrea held Judith while they ate and Daryl noticed that Rick kept glancing at them. Damn woman he thought, how does she figure these things out? She had asked Daryl to make sure that tomorrow's run had Andrea and Rick in the same truck without anyone else. He hadn't come up with a plan, but hell he wasn't fighting the universe.