AN: Here's a little something. I know…I know…I'm a sucker for fluffy/feely things. I can't help it. It's how I'm built. I hope you can survive it. LOL

We get to meet Miss Jo a little here. :-) We all know Hershel, so we might as well meet the woman who stole his heart, right?

I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

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Carol was halfway around the front of the truck when Daryl got out and shut his door. She could tell in his demeanor that something was wrong. He had a more rigid way of walking when something was wrong, and he'd been tense all morning.

"Daryl!" Carol called as he started like he'd walk right past her toward the farmhouse. He stopped and turned but didn't say anything. He really didn't have to. The facial expression said it all. "Come here," Carol said.

Daryl sighed a little and walked over, his walk almost painfully stiff from whatever it was that was bothering him. Carol met him and quickly took his hands in hers, leaning against him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothin'," Daryl said. Carol made a face.

"Before we go in there, Daryl, tell me what's wrong," she said.

Daryl bit at his lip.

"I shoulda opened the door for ya, an' I didn't," Daryl said. Carol chuckled.

"Do you want me to get back in the truck so you can open the door?" Carol asked, trying not to laugh. He made a face and his eyebrows knitted together.

"No," he said. "But I shoulda done it an' ya can bet they seen that I didn't."

Carol leaned in a little more toward Daryl.

"Daryl, it's OK. Listen, no one is judging you, OK? This is just dinner, that's all. It's supposed to be a nice dinner," Carol said.

Daryl looked down at her still not wholly convinced obviously. He'd been worried about one thing or another all morning until Carol was beginning to wonder if dinner was even a good idea.

"Just a nice dinner, Daryl," Carol said. "No one is judging you," she repeated. "Can I have a kiss?"

Daryl smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms tighter around him.

"I'm going to have to turn the hose on you two," Hershel said.

They both jumped, breaking away, and Carol felt her cheeks immediately flood with heat. Hershel was standing, leaning against the side of the house, smiling at them. He chuckled when they both looked in his direction, red faced.

"Jo said dinner's almost ready," Hershel said. "You can come inside whenever you're ready."

Carol reached over and took Daryl's hand, tugging him with her toward the house. They made their way through the door, following after Hershel.

As soon as they got inside, Carol almost felt herself being thrust toward the kitchen where Jo was preparing dinner. The old woman smiled at Carol as soon as she saw her and stopped what she was doing to step forward and hug her. When she pulled away she held Carol's forearms a moment, holding her at arm's length, and smiled at her.

"Carol Ann! You look wonderful. It's been so long since I've seen you," Jo said. Carol couldn't help but smile back at the woman. Her hair was white with streaks of the faded chestnut it had once been and her eyes were a shimmering blue.

"You look beautiful, Miss Jo," Carol said, "and it has been a while."

"When Hershel told me you were seeing Daryl I thought there couldn't be a better thing," Jo said. "He's such a sweet boy, and you've always been a sweet girl…I didn't think either of you could have found anyone better."

Carol smiled.

"He is sweet, you're right," she said. She looked around. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Jo shook her head.

"Heavens no," Jo said. "Beth is setting the table and Maggie's already started carrying the food in. You can keep me company while I wait on the biscuits to finish if you want."

Carol nodded.

Jo stepped to the oven and opened the door, gazing inside for a minute. Carol stood a little awkwardly to the side, feeling like she should be doing something. Maggie passed in, nodding her head in greeting, and swept back out again.

Carol knew Hershel and Jo's children by name, but she didn't know any of them hardly beyond that. She knew the two girls were the only two that lived at home now, but that didn't really constitute as any wealth of information.

"Hershel told me about your little one," Jo said, closing the oven and turning around to face Carol again. Carol felt her stomach clench. She wasn't used to talking about the baby. Right now it was something that only their closest friends new about and she hadn't really been prepared for Jo to talk about it, even though she knew that the Greene family was aware of their situation. "Congratulations," Jo said. "You're already glowing, so I can tell it's a joyous event."

Carol nodded her head a little, worried that she was blushing or something to show that she wasn't used to the idea of talking about it.

"Thank you," she said.

"I didn't embarrass you, did I?" Jo asked, her face growing concerned.

Carol felt her cheeks go red again and suddenly she was feeling a little warmer in the space than she wanted to feel. She shook her head.

"No…it's fine," she said. "We just aren't…we just haven't started telling people really. We're not talking about it yet."

Jo frowned at her a little.

"Well why aren't you talking about it? If you don't mind my asking," Jo said.

Carol shook her head a little.

"It's just early…" she said. "We're waiting at least three more weeks…just to be sure. We don't want to talk about it too early."

The smile returned to Jo's face.

"Oh hogwash and old wives' tales," Jo said. She chuckled. "You can talk about your baby any time you want to with anyone you want to, sweetheart."

Carol considered, for a moment, stepping on her own toe or something to distract herself. She had absolutely no reason to feel like she was feeling at the moment, but she could feel some kind of emotion bubbling up in her and she was a little afraid that it was going to get out without her wanting it to. She tried to smile and shook her head a little.

"We just don't want to talk about it…in case something happens…" Carol said.

Jo walked over and put her arm around Carol's shoulder.

"Carol Ann, things are going to happen the way they're supposed to happen. Talking about it won't make anything happen. I didn't mean to upset you, though, and I can see you're flushed. Would you like to step outside? Get some air?" Jo asked.

Carol couldn't bring herself to really say anything else, so she just nodded. Jo let go of her shoulder and Carol started back through the house and out the door they'd come in, not even looking around her. She tried to walk slowly, but as she got just outside the door she almost broke into a run. She realized that she was going to be sick and she really didn't want that to happen, but it was all she could do to hold her hand over her mouth and run for the side of the house.

Daryl came out a few minutes later while Carol was leaning with her hands on the side of the house, throwing up in the bushes.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked. "They got a bathroom ya know?"

Carol turned to face Daryl a little, thankful for the fact that it was cool outside. She just shook her head and turned before another wave of nausea swept over her.

Daryl walked over then and started rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry," she gasped out between waves of the feeling. Daryl chuckled a little.

"Nothin' ta be sorry 'bout," he said. "If ya don't wanta stay I'm sure we can take a rain check…I mean eventually the kid's comin' out an' ya ain't gonna be sick no more."

Carol turned around and leaned against the house.

"Better?" Daryl asked.

Carol leaned there a few minutes, just breathing and wishing it was colder than it was.

"I think…it was too hot in the kitchen," Carol said, finally. "And Miss Jo started talking about the baby…and God it was so hot in there."

Daryl smiled and pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket, offering it to Carol. She took it and wiped her mouth.

"I mean it, ya know," Daryl said. "If ya don't wanta stay we don't gotta."

Carol shook her head.

"No," she said. "I think I'm fine. I hope it's not that hot in the dining room."

"I didn't think it was too bad," Daryl said, "but then again I ain't got no kid in my guts."

Carol put the handkerchief back over her mouth and shook her head.

"Don't say guts, Daryl," she said. Daryl chuckled.

"Ya got it," he said. "Ain't gon' say it again. Ya wanta just stand out here a minute? Get good an' cooled off?"

Carol nodded. Daryl stood there a minute, biting at his nail.

"Be right back," he said. He disappeared inside and Carol slumped against the wall again willing herself to feel better. It wasn't polite to come to someone's house for dinner and spend the day throwing up in their bushes. She was pretty sure that was a big no no in etiquette, even if she hadn't bothered ever studying the stuff.

When Daryl reappeared he had two washrags.

"Miss Jo soaked 'em down in ice water," Daryl said, holding them out to her. "Said get'cha neck an' all real good an' wet with 'em an' ya gonna feel better."

Carol smiled and took them, putting one on her neck and awkwardly swiping at her face with the other. She couldn't help but moan and Daryl chuckled again.

"Ya keep that up an' I'ma put'cha on ice when we get home ta see what happens," Daryl said.

After a few minutes, Carol felt like she could hold herself together. She went back inside with Daryl and returned the rags to Miss Jo, thanking her and apologizing at the same time. Jo wrapped Carol's hand in hers.

"Honey, if there's one thing I can say it's that I've thrown up in every bush on this property," Jo said, covering her mouth a little with one of her hands and laughing. "I think it helps 'em grow better."

Carol shook her head.

"I don't think I'm going to get used to it," Carol said. Jo chuckled.

"By the time you've done this three or four times, you won't even hardly stop what you're doing to get sick. You just keep on going," Jo said. "Are you going to be alright? I don't mind sitting out on the porch with you while they eat, and then we can join them later."

"No," Carol said, "I think I'll be fine."

Jo frowned at her.

"If you're worried about me, honey, don't be. I eat the whole time I'm cooking. I could almost skip every meal and never lose an ounce," Jo said. "You sure you're OK? We're having fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy…"

Carol felt her stomach seizing a little. Jo smiled and rubbed her back.

"You wait right here. I'm going to tell them we'll see them after dinner and get us some nice lemonade. The tart'll help your stomach some," Jo said.

When Carol had been sitting for a bit on the back porch with Jo, side by side in rocking chairs, she was feeling better, but still not at all sorry that she wasn't inside the warm farm house eating. Jo didn't seem to mind either. She sat, gazing out over the porch with her lemonade in her hand.

"I'm so sorry," Carol said finally. "I know this wasn't how this was supposed to go."

Jo shook her head.

"It's Sunday dinner," Jo said. "It's supposed to go however it goes. That's the beautiful thing about it. Don't you go being sorry and don't you go fussing at that little one either."

Carol smiled.

"I can usually hold it together after lunchtime," Carol said.

"Well then here's your first lesson as a Mama," Jo said. She turned to Carol and smiled. "However much acting up your child'll do when it's just you around, expect them to be at least three times worse when you're around company." Jo leaned back again. She laughed after a minute. "Just wait 'til the little one's here and one of your friends wants to hold it wearing some nice outfit or another and your precious little baby decides to give them a little something to remember them by."

Carol laughed.

"I can't get that far in my head," Carol said. "I haven't really seemed to get anywhere yet."

"It'll happen," Jo said. "Then you won't be able to stop. By the time I was eight months into the ordeal the first time, I already had my baby…and back then I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl so I had to prepare for both…married with babies of its own."

Carol smiled.

"Miss Jo," Carol asked, "did you ever…" She paused and continued rocking a little, worried now about overstepping some boundaries.

"Did I what, sweetheart?" Jo asked.

"I don't know if I should ask this," Carol said. Jo turned her head back toward her and regarded her for a moment. Carol thought, for just a second, Jo looked much younger than she was. Jo smiled.

"Long as you're not about to ask me about my dress size," Jo said, "then I suppose you can ask what you want."

"I was going to ask if you ever…lost a child," Carol asked.

Jo leaned back in her rocking chair a little and gazed back at the yard.

"I did," Jo responded. She shook her head a little. "I don't know many women who didn't…not when they'd admit it. Back when I lost mine, though, we just didn't talk about those things. People acted like it was taboo or something. Like it was something you were supposed to be ashamed of."

"So you didn't think it was?" Carol asked.

Jo shook her head again.

"No, I didn't think it was. I thought it was heartbreaking, but not something to be ashamed of. I feel like if a wanted child is lost…well, it's a tragedy…whether it's been born or not. A mother should never feel like she's got to hide her child," Jo said. "I'm not ashamed of mine."

Carol nodded her head in understanding.

"Were you scared the next time you were pregnant?" Carol asked. Jo chuckled again.

"I was scared every time," Jo said. "I guess I figured it was a natural response to being a mother. You're scared from the moment you even know they exist…and it never stops. You'll be scared for your child as long as you live, or as long as they live, and hopefully you'll outlive them."

Carol sat there silently a few minutes more, enjoying the breeze as it blew against her face. She could hear, ever so softly, the sound of laughter and chatter going on inside. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to be in Jo's place and know that the sound she could hear was her family, enjoying their Sunday dinner, laughing and talking around the table. She sighed a little, not meaning for it to be as audible as it came out.

"That Daryl's a good man," Jo said. Carol woke a little from the daydream she'd allowed herself to slip into.

"He is," Carol said.

"A little rough around the edges," Jo said, "but he'll smooth out, at least most of the way."

Carol giggled.

"Was Hershel rough around the edges?" Carol asked. She couldn't help her smile from spreading just at the thought.

"Lord, yes!" Jo said. "I still haven't gotten all the rough edges taken care of. Don't supposed I ever will. Still, you love them…and that means you love their edges too."

Carol nodded a little to herself. She did love Daryl, and she loved the fact that he was the way he was. Even when there were times that she wanted to choke him for not understanding something she was trying to explain to him or for being hardheaded and doing something in what was completely the wrong way, she still loved him.

"Daryl will be a good daddy," Jo said. "Good men make good daddies."

"I think he will be," Carol said. "I think he'll be a real good daddy."

Carol did think Daryl was going to be a good father. She knew that he was going to need time to adjust, and she was going to have to be patient with him, but he was already fascinated with the baby. She hadn't even begun to show yet and already he was fascinated with touching her stomach. She couldn't even imagine what he was going to be like the first time he heard the heartbeat or saw some kind of proof beyond the pictures that she kept on the fridge and he thought were secretly blank. She felt like the first time he had some concrete proof of the whole thing he was going to go almost out of his mind. She hoped he held onto that excitement, though, and that Merle stayed away from him enough to keep from dampening that at all for him and for her.

After a while, Hershel and Daryl joined them on the porch. Maggie had excused herself, apparently, to go and meet her boyfriend, but Beth, the youngest of the Greene's came out to sit for a bit too.

"How are you feeling, Carol Ann?" Hershel asked, taking a seat nearby.

"Much better, thank you," Carol said.

"We've been out here enjoying girl talk," Jo said with a smile. "How was your meal? Everything satisfactory."

Hershel hummed a little like he was thinking.

"Well, I wasn't too sure about the biscuits," he said. Jo frowned.

"Did I overcook them?" She asked. Hershel looked concerned.

"Well," he said, "I wasn't sure, so I decided to try some of them with cane syrup for dessert. I think they were alright, though." He chuckled and Jo scoffed at him.

"Had me worried that I was serving bad biscuits to guests!" Jo scolded. Daryl laughed at them and Carol watched him watching the two old people.

"They was real good," Daryl offered. "Carol's gon' be sore she ain't had none."

"Well, I'll pack her a doggy bag to eat when she wants it," Jo said. "And don't you worry, Daryl, I'll pack you one too in case you get peckish later."

Daryl grinned in response.

"So when are y'all getting' married?" Beth asked. "I mean if you're having a baby, surely you must be at least getting married?"

Carol shot a look toward Daryl and then at the floor, her blood freezing up a little. Daryl shifted a little uncomfortably where he was seated as well. They hadn't talked about marriage at all, and this wasn't exactly the place that Carol wanted to have the discussion.

"Bethany…" Hershel warned. Carol was relieved at the look he was giving his youngest daughter. Just from the look on the girl's face she looked as though she'd been burned by the single word, and Carol wondered if she and Daryl would ever have the ability to stop this child from doing anything just by saying its name with that tone. Right now she couldn't even get it not to make her sick, and that was using all of her mind to will it into submission.

"Sorry, Daddy," Beth said softly.

Carol considered saying it was OK and trying to smoothe things over, but she knew if she did that it would necessitate the conversation and she wanted to leave that one dead and buried for as long as possible.

Carol was relieved when Jo changed the direction of the conversation a few moments later by starting to talk about pies and how she had made some pumpkin pies and she was sending one home with them.

"We'll have more pumpkins coming off the vines soon," Jo said. "It's too early for them to sell well at the market, so we have to do something with them. Hershel said Daryl mentioned something about carving pumpkins with you."

Carol smiled. She'd told Daryl that it was something she'd love to do. She hadn't done it since she was a little girl and she'd like the autumn feel of pumpkins around.

"I'm hoping we can," Carol said.

"I'll give you some when we get some nice ones off the vines," Jo said. "The ugly ones are fine for eating, and I'll send you some of those too, but the pretty ones are the ones you want to decorate with. Don't carve them, though. Paint them. They'll keep longer that way and you can enjoy them more."

"I'd like that," Carol said. "I might have to steal your pumpkin pie recipe. I don't have one. Mama never was much for anything pumpkin, but I love it."

"I'll be more than happy to share it with you," Jo said. "Do you, by chance, have your Mama's recipe for fig preserves? The one she used to make for the fair each year?"

Carol nodded.

"I've never made it, but I do have it," Carol said.

"I'd like to get that," Jo said. "Your Mama always did the best with figs."

Carol grinned.

"It's a trade, then," she said.

Hershel chuckled.

"See there, Daryl? This is what happens when you let women alone too long. They start swapping out recipes and talking about food even when you've got a full belly," Hershel said. Daryl smiled.

"I reckon I don't mind none if they wanta talk about food," Daryl said. "I'm even willin' ta try it out for 'em while they practicin'."

"You're a dedicated man, son," Hershel said with a laugh.