AN: I hope you're enjoying your day. Here's a little reading material for you and I'm slowly making my rounds. I've got a few "neglected" fics that need to be updated soon, but I'll be around to this one again as soon as possible. (Plus this one has a tendency to be my stress relief when I'm not in the mood for anything else.)
Your responses about Andrea and Merle were interesting. We'll find more out about Philip as we go and indeed, Merle needs to get his act together post haste!
I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
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Daryl woke up to the sound of his normal alarm now and lie in bed a moment, stretching and rubbing at his eyes. It was Sunday, and theoretically it was the day that he could sleep in as late as he wanted. The sound of Carol retching, though, made him feel guilty to still be lying in the bed with the covers pulled up around him. He sat up and stretched once more before throwing his legs over the side of the bed and getting up. He found his boxers hanging on the post at the head of the bed where he'd thrown them the night before to keep Lincoln from engaging in some act of fine dining while he slept. He stepped into them and shuffled into the bathroom.
Carol was in her customary morning position, her legs bunched under her, holding her hair back with one hand while she rested her head and the other arm on the seat of the toilet. Lincoln was running circles around her, occasionally trying to climb up her sides or back.
"Still pukin' or just gaggin'?" Daryl asked. Carol gagged as a response and he chewed at a loose piece of skin at his cuticle, leaning against the doorframe. "Want me ta make ya some toast?"
"Nooo," Carol responded, not lifting her head or looking at him. He nodded a little to himself. "Lincoln needs to go out," she said. Daryl snickered.
"Come on ya lil' fucker, let her ride the porcelain bus in private," Daryl called. He started out of the bathroom and whistled. That was all it took and Daryl reasoned the dog probably had to piss about as bad as he did. He stepped to the door and opened it, letting Lincoln out and leaving it so the dog could come in when he was ready. Daryl went to the hall bathroom and relieved himself, washing his hands with the flower soaps that he'd made peace with. Now it was becoming interesting to him to see how long one of them could hold out before they stopped looking like some kind of flower and started looking like a blob of nothingness.
He made his way back toward the kitchen, hearing Lincoln already running laps around it in expectation of his treat. Daryl pulled the door shut and went into the kitchen flipping on the coffee pot and digging around in Lincoln's treat jar for one of the bones. He laughed.
"Ya 'bout ta lose ya fuckin' mind, ain't'cha?" He asked the dog. He thought that with a little patience they could probably teach the dog to do some kind of circus dance when he was hyper like this. Daryl sniffed the milkbone. "Fuck they put in this shit? Fuckin' dog crack?"
Daryl glanced around, and satisfied that he was alone with Lincoln he nibbled the edge off the dog treat. He chewed the tiny piece he had and handed the dog the rest of the treat.
"Don't taste bad," he said, shrugging. "Don't see why ya so fuckin' excited about it, but it don't taste like shit or nothin'."
Lincoln wasn't listening to him, though. He'd already gone to his bed with the bone. Daryl got the loaf of bread and put two pieces into the toaster. She might not eat them right away, but she'd get around to it eventually. He stretched and then went for his coffee mug. He knew by now that the coffee was really only waking him up because he decided it would. Carol told him that they were drinking decaffeinated coffee now because apparently that's all she could process or something like that. Daryl didn't really care. He put enough coffee and cream into his that he didn't think it tasted any different if it was supposed to and he wasn't going to try and make her process shit that she couldn't when she already spent more than a few hours a day with her head in the toilet.
Daryl checked the clock and shuffled back through the house. Carol was sitting back on her ass now in the floor, her head leaned back on the back of the tub.
Daryl watched her for a minute. Over the past few mornings he'd really been trying to figure out how to fine tune this into some kind of routine. He liked routines…and if she was going to barf every day until that kid decided to come out, he might as well shape it into something of a routine. So far, in just a few days, he'd learned about what time she'd go from actively staring into the toilet into wallowing around on the floor.
Daryl reached over Carol and yanked the washrag out of the tub. He ran it under water in the sink and handed it to her. She took it without saying anything, but he didn't care. The first time he did he thought she should say thanks, but just the act of choking out the word sent her back to gagging, so now he didn't insist she say anything if she wasn't ready to.
"Toast prob'ly done popped out by now an' coffee's gonna be ready soon," Daryl said. Carol put the rag over her face and nodded in response. "I'm makin' cereal for breakfast today so ya ain't gotta cook."
Carol nodded again.
"Ya comin' up or ya stayin' down there for a bit?" Daryl asked.
"I'm good for a minute," Carol said. She pulled the rag off her face and slung it backwards into the tub, looking at him.
"I tasted one a' Lincoln's treats," Daryl said, fumbling with a few of the items that cluttered the sink area.
"You did what?" Carol asked, chuckling.
"I tasted one a' his treats," Daryl said. "Ya ever tasted one?"
"No," Carol said.
Daryl shrugged.
"Ain't too bad, really. Kinda tastes like a graham cracker or somethin'. As much as ya like crackers ya could put some peanut butter on 'em an' I betcha'd like 'em," Daryl said.
Carol sat up and stretched an arm in Daryl's direction. He moved and helped her up.
"I'll stick to toast, thanks," Carol said.
"Suit yaself," Daryl said. He left her to finish whatever she needed to do and went back to the kitchen to fix himself a bowl of cereal. He was almost done eating it when she came through, buttoning up one of the long sleeve red and white checked shirts they'd started wearing with their jeans at Lula's. "Fuck ya doin'?" He asked.
Carol poured herself some coffee and got a piece of toast out of the toaster before joining him at the table.
"Getting ready," she said.
"I thought ya might go back ta sleep," Daryl said. Carol hadn't gotten home until around two and he knew she'd been up since at least five or so.
"I'll go to bed early," Carol said. "It's Sunday. I work at Lula's."
Daryl crinkled his nose up and watched her pecking at her dry toast. He was trying to go back over her schedule in his head, but he couldn't remember what day she'd had off of work this week.
"Ya off tomorrow?" He asked.
Carol shook her head.
"Michonne's," she said around the bite of toast.
Daryl shrugged finally. Carol was better at keeping up with her schedule than he was. He liked the fact that it was pretty much always the same thing at Hershel's. He got there early, he worked all day, he left. Sundays he was off unless something special was up. He could ask for other days off if he needed them, but for the most part he didn't need much to disrupt his schedule. Carol's, like Andrea's, was much more confusing and he figured that they had to be pretty damn smart to keep up with it all.
Now, though, Daryl wasn't sure what he was doing with his Sunday. He'd intended to spend the day with Carol, but if she was working at Lula's then she wouldn't be home until almost supper time.
"Ya gonna make supper or ya wanna order somethin'?" Daryl asked.
"I can make something," Carol said. "There's stuff in the freezer." She got up and carried her napkin and coffee cup back into the kitchen.
"Ya want me ta do somethin' while ya gone?" Daryl asked. "I ain't got no plans."
Carol smiled at him and shook her head.
"Merle's probably going to be over here later," Carol said. "Why don't you help him with his bike? Keep him company."
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Daryl and he leaned down to kiss her. Her mouth tasted like minty coffee.
"I guess I'll see ya when ya get off work, then," Daryl said. Carol smiled at him and he walked her to the door. She slipped out before Lincoln could take an interest and make a break for it through the carport and Daryl decided he'd go get dressed and wait for Merle.
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Apparently it was hiring season at the mill and the plant nearby because Carol waited on at least four new people who were checking out the area before two. The new customers coupled with the normal diner crowd for Sunday at Lula's kept her and Jacqui both hopping around most of the time.
Carol smiled, though, when she recognized an old new face among the diners. She walked up to the table.
"Hey there," she said, putting down the silverware. She caught the man off guard and he jumped a little before he smiled at her.
"Hey yourself," he said with a smile.
"I hadn't seen you around," Carol said. "I just assumed you'd chosen another town nearby."
"No ma'am…well not exactly," Axel responded. "I been lookin' and right now I'm stayin' in some of the little rent houses they got out by the mill, but I'm finally narrowing it down to a couple of neighborhoods I like."
"Did you look at the one here?" Carol asked.
Axel nodded.
"I did," he said. "It's a little steeper than I was hoping to go, but it's pretty much the nicest one so it's right up there in my top ten. Plus, I just can't help but like the ambience." He smiled at her. "I like the diner too, and the staff sure don't make it a bad deal for a Sunday dinner."
Carol smiled.
"Do you know what you want to eat?" She asked.
"I don't know if you serve it," Axel said.
"I told you, we can fix almost anything you can dream up. Try me," she said.
"I want chicken fried steak and corn on the cob," Axel said.
Carol laughed.
"Lula's just happens to be quite good at chicken fried everything," she said. "And I'm sure the corn won't be any problem. You're in luck too, if you want some we have some really great biscuits that should be fresh out the oven by the time your dinner's ready."
"Now you don't have to go twistin' my arm like that," Axel said.
"To drink?" Carol asked.
"Tea," Axel said. Carol nodded at him and started toward the back to put his order in. She took his drink, chatting with him a moment longer about the places he'd looked at so far, and what he might do to kill the afternoon, and then she went to find Jacqui behind the counter, surveying the diner to make sure no one was low on ketchup or was considering ordering anything for dessert.
"You seem friendly with him," Jacqui said with a smile.
"He's new to town," Carol said, "and he's nice. I might as well be friendly."
"I think you also like how flirty he is," Jacqui said. She wiggled her eyebrows at Carol.
"Hush!" Carol said. "He's not flirty. We were talking about neighborhoods, for crying out loud."
"You don't have to flirt with words, Carol. You can flirt with looks too," Jacqui said. "It doesn't matter, though, if he's nice he's nice. There are a lot of newbies floating around today."
Carol nodded.
"They must be on some kind of big hiring spree," Carol responded. She heard the bell ding for food and she went, picking up the plate and carrying it over. She lingered a moment, making sure there was nothing that Axel needed or nothing that wasn't to his satisfaction. When he asked for butter she smiled. "Sorry," she said, "don't know how I could have missed that one."
She turned quickly to head back toward the kitchen and when she did, she felt her head spin. She reached out to grab at the side of the booth, but she was never sure if her hand made contact or not.
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Michonne got Celine out of her carseat and bumped the doors shut with her hip. Tyreese had Anjelica already out and reached in getting the bag of groceries she brought with her to make dinner. He followed her up to the house.
"Looks like a family reunion," she said, stepping into the kitchen.
Merle and Daryl were sitting at the table, Carol was lying on the couch, and Andrea sat on the floor near the couch playing with Lincoln.
"What are you doing here?" Carol groaned.
"Good to see you too," Michonne said, putting the groceries on the counter and passing into the living room to hover over Carol while Tyreese brought Anjelica over to play with the dog.
"Who called you?" Carol asked.
Michonne shook her head.
"Doesn't really matter, does it? Point is that I'm here to see your beautiful face," Michonne said. "And I'm glad I brought enough food to cook for everyone."
"I turn around too quickly and everyone is camping in my house now?" Carol asked.
"Be glad that you have friends who care about you," Michonne said. She looked at Andrea who was half smiling at her from the floor.
"She knocked the shit out of her head," Andrea said. "Jacqui thought she might have a concussion and she fell on her hand, ripped two of her fingernails back. I bandaged those."
Michonne sucked her teeth.
"Did you really not want to work today, is that it?" Michonne asked. She'd gotten the call from a frantic Daryl that Carol had passed out at work and he had to go pick her up with Merle who was going to drive her truck back and bring Andrea. She didn't know what had happened except for the fact that she was being sent home. No one knew she was pregnant, and they still didn't really want to tell anyone, so they certainly had no intention of keeping her at work if she was going to be blacking out on them.
"She didn't tell you about her genius plan?" Andrea asked.
Michonne raised her eyebrows at Andrea and Carol moaned.
"Oh yeah," Andrea said. "She's put herself down to work for you five days a week. Then she's working at Lula's two days a week and the Watering Hole three nights a week. On top of that she's squeezing in the classes with me by shuffling things around when she can."
Michonne looked at Carol.
"Is she serious?" Michonne asked. She glanced around but apparently the men were entertaining themselves with something in the dining room, having decided that the women could take care of their own. Michonne passed Celine to Andrea and sat down on the edge of the couch. "Carol you can't do that…no one can do that. That's why there are hour limits on work weeks."
Carol sighed. Michonne took her hand and tried to look at the fingers, but Andrea had done a pretty decent job of bandaging them. She couldn't see where Carol had hit her head, so she assumed it must be the back of her head. Michonne frowned.
"I've got to work as much as I can before the baby gets here," Carol protested.
Michonne raised her eyebrows.
"You've got to take it easy some too or there won't be a baby," Michonne said. "You can't work like that and I refuse to contribute to it. Now I can easily see about raising your salary at the office if you need more money, but you're going to have to cut down. One night at the Watering Hole is more than enough and one day at Lula's if you're determined to do it. Less than that would be ideal."
Carol rolled her eyes at her.
"Well at least you're feeling good enough to act like a teenager," Michonne said. "And guess what?"
"What?" Carol asked.
"You're going to a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Don't worry, though, it's during your hours at the office and it just happens to be a paid vacation," Michonne said. She smiled at Carol. "If you won't listen to any of us you'll listen to your doctor."
"And it just so happens that I've got some free time tomorrow," Andrea said. "I don't go in to work at the Korean place tomorrow so I'm free until the evening."
"Well look at that," Michonne said, winking at Andrea. "You've got an escort. Isn't that lucky?"
"You're a bitch," Carol said with a snicker.
"I am," Michonne said, sighing. "I haven't grown out of it yet, though, so I don't expect it's going to pass anytime soon."
Carol sighed and nodded her head a little, bringing her hand up to squeeze at her temples.
"How do you feel? For real?" Michonne asked.
"My head's throbbing," Carol said.
"Wouldn't take anything," Andrea responded quickly. Michonne glanced at her and noticed that she was holding Celine as though she were some sort of alien life form that might melt her skin. The girl didn't mind, though. The thing about Celine was that she liked to be held, period, and she'd take it any way she could get it. Anjelica was more the mover and the shaker and it appeared that right now she was getting acquainted with Lincoln's toys on his bed. At least the dog seemed to think it was great that she brought him a fellow short little creature instead of thinking she was a threat. Michonne shuddered, though, when Anjelica put one of the toys in her mouth.
"Ty, can you stop Angie from eating dog toys, please?" She asked. She turned her attention back to Carol. "I'm going to get you something for your head. Then I'm going to make dinner. You'll eat, get some rest, and then tomorrow you'll come into work for a light day until your appointment. Just to make sure everything's fine. After that, the work schedule is changing, and I'll talk to my dad about your paycheck. He has a tendency to listen to his darling baby girl," Michonne said with a wink.
"You don't have to do all this," Carol protested.
"Nope, I don't," Michonne said. "But I want to and you can ask Tyreese how hard it is to get me not to do something I want to do. Isn't that right, Ty?" Michonne called at Tyreese who was playing with both the child and the dog now.
"What?" He asked. Michonne knew he was ignoring everything.
"Isn't it hard to make me not do something once I've made up my mind about it?" She asked.
Tyreese chuckled.
"Pretty d-a-m-n impossible," Tyreese said.
Michonne smiled.
"So you hang tight and we'll get you something," Michonne said. She stood up and took the baby from Andrea who was looking more than a little uncomfortable with her ward. Michonne crossed into the dining room and handed the girl to Daryl who looked at her with wide eyes. "Here, start practicing," she said. Daryl didn't protest, and she figured that soon enough he'd get the hang of it. At least he was starting out with an easy kid.
Michonne went to the bathroom after finding out where the medicine was located and brought Carol back something for her headache. Then she started making dinner, digging through drawers and cabinets to figure out where everything was. Andrea came some time later to help her.
"Carol will be devastated if something's wrong," Andrea whispered as they worked.
Michonne smiled at her.
"Nothing's wrong, I blacked out in the middle of hearing…twice," Michonne said. "She'll be fine, but she does need to take it easy."
"Do you think she's going to listen to you?" Andrea asked. "She didn't seem receptive to me."
Michonne snickered.
"Look around you, Andrea," Michonne said. "This is a lot of people to try to ignore…she's going to listen. Daryl was worried enough when he called me that I think I could convince him to duct tape her to a chair if she tried to overdo it again."
Michonne was pretty positive that Carol couldn't help but take their advice. Everything would be fine and one way or another she'd make sure that the baby had what it needed, even if she had to play secret Santa or something like that. She knew that's the only reason that Carol would be insisting on going through with the insanity that she had planned.
"Come on," Michonne said to Andrea, "let's get this dinner done so everyone can eat and Carol and Daryl can get some rest. I have a feeling both of them could use it."