AN: Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a great day! Here's a little something for you in the world of Sweet Junction.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl tried to remind himself a few times that he'd asked for this. He hadn't been forced into it and hadn't been drug into it. He'd asked for it.
The waiting room was crowded…or at least he thought it was…and he didn't care for being crammed into one of the tight chairs with the wooden arms with so many people around. He felt like he was the only man in this entire fucking building and it was making him sweat a little.
He wasn't sure, time wise, how long he'd been waiting but he knew that he'd found Waldo four times. Either he'd been waiting a while or Waldo wasn't the sneaky little fucker that he thought he was.
Finally, though, the same nurse that he'd seen before, the first time he'd come with Carol, came and escorted him through the maze to a room. She smiled at him, dropping him off and going on through the maze, presumably toward some other destination.
Daryl went into the room. There was a doctor in there, one he'd never met. She was a woman who didn't look to be too much older than they were. She stretched a hand out at him when he came in the door. Daryl took it and offered it a quick shake, only later hoping that his hands weren't sweaty.
"I'm Dr. Peterson," the woman said, smiling. "I'm Carol's regular OBGYN…and you must be the father?"
Carol was on the table, her shirt pulled up and her pants pushed down and Daryl felt himself grow nervous. He didn't have any real reason to be nervous, but he really hated doctors and anything having to do with them and even though this was just supposed to be some kind of checkup thing the very smell of the place sort of had his stomach churning.
"Daryl," he said. He glanced around the room. The doctor smiled at him again and went back to whatever she'd been doing, prodding at Carol. Daryl struggled to swallow at least somewhat smoothly and looked at Carol who had her eyes glued to him. He could tell that she was trying to send him some sort of telepathic message or something, but he just couldn't read it.
"Well…" Dr. Peterson said. "We were right, you're short of the twelve week mark…probably eleven."
The woman looked at Daryl and he didn't know if he was supposed to respond to any of this. He hoped not because he didn't have a clue what he was supposed to say.
"Everything alright?" Daryl asked, looking at Carol and somewhat surprised that he'd found his own voice.
"Blood work looks good," Dr. Peterson said. "Everything looks good."
Daryl felt a little relieved and Carol smiled softly at him. He felt the knot in his stomach untangle a little, though there wasn't complete relief. He knew that wouldn't come until they were in the truck and leaving this place.
"Let's listen to the heartbeat, OK?" Dr. Peterson said.
Daryl watched the woman as she fiddled around setting up some kind of odd machine that almost looked to Daryl like an old cassette player or something. Carol reached a hand out to him and he felt her fingertips digging around at his hand before he realized what she wanted and offered her his hand. He watched the doctor carefully and listened to the odd sounds as she fiddled around with the wand of her cassette player on Carol's stomach. He felt Carol's hand tighten around his and he looked at her. She was staring at the ceiling and he thought she kind of looked like she might hurl. He hoped the doctor hurried up with whatever she was doing because Carol didn't give a whole lot of warning before she hurled these days.
Suddenly, though, Carol's grip loosened and Daryl looked back at the doctor who seemed pleased.
"There it is," she said.
Daryl focused in on the sound coming from the cassette player looking thing. He glanced at Carol and she was smiling.
"It's fast," Daryl said.
The doctor nodded at him.
"Fetal heartbeats are faster than ours," she said. "But it sounds just like it's supposed to sound."
It changed a little and she moved her wand.
"What happened?" Daryl asked.
He was more fascinated by this sound than he thought he'd be. When he asked to go with Carol it was more for confirmation…more something to ease his mind after the things that Merle had spouted off to him. He'd figured if he heard the heartbeat he could at least know for sure that the baby was in there. It was real and it had a heartbeat and he'd heard it.
Now, though, hearing it for himself, it was kind of strange. The knot in his stomach over being in the office had almost faded for the moment. That was his kid's heartbeat.
The doctor smiled at him again.
"Nothing happened," she said. "The baby just rolled away from me a little bit. Carol can't feel it yet because the baby's too small, but it moves around in there. She'll feel it before too very long, and then a while after that you'll be able to feel it."
Daryl was almost sad whenever the doctor turned off her little cassette player and put it away. Daryl listened, somewhat half-heartedly to most of what she was saying to Carol. He was busy thinking about the sound…about the whole thing. He thought back to what Hershel and he had spoken about, about when it started to feel real. It still didn't feel real, at least not entirely, but it felt different. He'd heard the kid's heartbeat. This wasn't just something they were talking about that may or may not exist…there was really something in there.
Daryl was still daydreaming when Carol sat up, repeating his name until he looked at her.
"Are you OK?" She asked.
Daryl realized he'd been kind of staring off into space and bit at his thumbnail, sorry for having drifted off like that and wondering what he'd missed.
"Fine," he said.
"Do you have any questions?" Dr. Peterson asked. Daryl realized she was directing her attention at him and not at Carol and he assumed that Carol had asked everything she wanted to know.
The truth was Daryl had a lot of questions, but he figured that they probably didn't have time for all of them and they were probably silly questions that he could ask Carol later.
Realizing he was biting at his thumb, Daryl dropped his hand and regarded the woman.
"So it's OK?" He asked. "Like everything's…how it's supposed to be?"
The doctor nodded at him.
"Just fine," she said.
"So…" Daryl hesitated. He didn't know if the question he was going to ask was a proper question or if it was one that he was even supposed to ask the doctor, but he wasn't likely to get a direct answer out of Carol…especially not with how moody she'd been since they'd found out about the whole situation with Ed. "Are we supposed ta start buyin' it stuff yet?" Daryl asked. "Like a crib an' stuff? I mean is it safe ta say we gon' keep it?"
Dr. Peterson looked at him and glanced quickly at Carol. She smiled at him again.
"You can prepare however you like…" the doctor said. "It's up to you when you buy a crib and everything else for the baby." She glanced back at Carol. "I know that Carol has had some concerns and there are never any guarantees in medicine, but your baby…at least as far as I can tell at this point…is healthy. There aren't any caution flags."
Daryl felt himself release a breath and he smiled. He nodded.
"Thank ya," he said to the doctor. He started to glance in Carol's direction, but then he felt his cheeks go red at the thought that maybe he wasn't supposed to ask the doctor something like that. The woman didn't look mad, though. She simply smiled at him, shook his hand again that he was sure was sweaty this time, and left.
It was only then that Daryl turned his attention back to Carol. She was standing now and readjusting her clothes.
"Ya good?" He asked.
Carol smiled at him and nodded. He could see that her eyes were glittering the way they did when she was thinking about crying but not letting it come out. He only hoped this was one of those good cries instead of one of the bad ones, though he was starting to think crying was just a hobby that she practiced from time to time. He'd come into the kitchen the other night to find her crying and when he'd asked her what was wrong she told him some story about finding one of Lincoln's baby teeth in his blanket or something equally strange. That had been pretty much the point when Daryl had decided that he would not understand the phenomenon of crying…ever.
"We gon' go then?" Daryl asked.
Carol nodded at him again and started forward. He followed her out the door and through the labyrinth and once they'd reached the waiting area again he stood to the side while she dealt with the woman behind the desk. When she was done he walked her to the door and held the door open while she passed through into the bright sunlight of the parking lot.
"Well?" Carol asked as they walked through the parking lot.
"Deep subject for shallow minds," Daryl responded, snickering at the face she made at him. "What?"
"What did you think?" Carol asked.
Daryl walked around the truck and opened the door, waiting on her to crawl in. He stood there a second and held the truck door open. He shrugged.
"I don't know what I thought," he responded. "I mean…what was I s'posed ta think?"
Carol looked disappointed and Daryl smiled at her, reaching in to bump her chin with the knuckle of his pointer finger.
"Don't pout," he said, closing the truck door and circling around. He crawled in his side and closed the door.
"I don't know what you were supposed to think," Carol said with a sigh as she buckled her seatbelt. "I guess I just thought that you'd think something about it. I mean it was the first time you heard the heartbeat…"
Daryl leaned over and pulled her toward him, bringing his lips to hers. He hated when she was disappointed by something, but he had to admit that the facial expression she made was so damn cute that he almost wanted to disappoint her from time to time just to see it.
Carol wasn't expecting the kiss, but she responded back to him after a second, opening her mouth a little, more for breath than anything else, and Daryl took advantage to slip his tongue into her mouth and run a quick exploration. Carol responded by gliding her tongue against his and moaning a little.
Daryl pulled apart from her, chuckling a little.
"Gotta stop that shit," he said, smiling at her. "That's what the fuck got us here in the first place."
He cranked the truck and threw it into reverse.
"I thought it was pretty damn amazing ta hear the heart, OK?" He said, glancing over his shoulder and backing out. He glanced at her briefly as he stopped to drop the truck into drive and she was beaming.
"You did?" She asked.
Daryl couldn't help but chuckle at how damn pleased she looked.
"Yeah," he said. "I did."
Daryl pulled out of the parking lot and steered the truck toward town instead of in the direction that would have been quicker for getting back to their house.
"Where are we going?" Carol asked.
Daryl chuckled.
"Ya think I'm kidnappin' ya?" He responded.
"No…I don't think you're kidnapping me," Carol said, teasing him a little. "I just asked where we're going."
"Figured the kid might want some ice cream," Daryl said. "I got a hankerin' an' I figured since the kid had ta go ta the fuckin' doctor an' shit we'd get it some ice cream."
He glanced at Carol and she smiled at him.
"Reckon it wants it?" He asked.
Carol giggled.
"I supposed the baby might be convinced to have some ice cream," Carol said. "As long as it's OK if it's in a waffle cone."
Daryl chuckled.
"If my damn kid wants a waffle cone, I reckon that's what the little fucker gets," Daryl said.
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When they pulled up into the yard, Carol noticed that Axel was paying a visit to Andrea and she couldn't help but be pleased. Lincoln wasn't outside, but Axel and Andrea both were sitting on towels on the ground inside the fence, and Axel apparently had Juniper with him.
Carol crawled down out of the truck, not waiting on Daryl to come around. She was still working on the ice cream cone that she'd gotten since Daryl had insisted that she have technically enough to probably make her sick if she finished it. She'd considered offering what was left to Andrea or Daryl if she didn't want it.
Andrea looked over at her and Carol walked to the side of the fence, leaning just against it a little and shivering. It wasn't really cold outside, but the slight chill coupled with the ice cream was enough.
"How'd it go?" Andrea asked.
Carol smiled.
"It went great," she said. "Daryl got to hear the heartbeat."
Daryl walked around then and stood beside Carol, waving awkwardly at Andrea and Axel over the fence. This was the first time that Daryl had been home when Axel was making his rounds, so he hadn't met the man before, though he'd certainly heard about him.
"Daryl, this is Axel," Carol said. "Axel, this is Daryl."
"Nice to meet'cha," Axel said.
"Same," Daryl responded, nodding his head a little before diving back into the cone that he was almost done with.
"Where's my ice cream?" Andrea asked.
"Ain't brought'cha none," Daryl responded. "This weren't about you." He teased.
Carol punched him playfully on the arm and started to offer Andrea what was left of hers whenever Axel broke into the conversation.
"Ya know," he said. "If ya wanna go with me to take Juny back to the house…we could go and get some ice cream. Might grab a bite too. I ain't eat since lunch and eating out the vendin' machines leaves me a might peckish."
Carol watched as Andrea looked at him, the gears obviously turning in her head. Carol focused her attention on licking the ice cream that was dripping down her hand to keep from smiling at the offer.
"I'm not really dressed…" Andrea started to protest.
But Axel was a man who had his foot in the door and Carol could see he was going for it with enthusiasm. She almost wanted to hug him.
"Don't be silly," he said, interrupting Andrea. "I'm goin' like this and I still got mess on me from the mill. Just some burgers and ice cream."
Andrea smiled and nodded.
"OK," she said.
"OK?" Axel asked, starting to get to his feet.
Andrea's smile broadened and she nodded again.
"OK," she repeated. Axel offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. Carol caught Andrea throwing her a glance but she didn't respond to it. She stood there, focusing far more on the mess her ice cream was creating than necessary, and waited until the two of them were out the gate and closing it behind them, heading in the direction of Axel's house.
"Have fun!" Carol called, trying not to sound as excited as she felt at the thought of it all. She turned after they were on their way and saw that Daryl was already under the carport and headed into the house. She jogged to catch up with him, almost skipping, and he waited by the door for her.
Daryl looked at her, a questioning grin painted on his face.
"What's that face all about?" He asked.
Carol smiled at him and handed him her ice cream cone as she slipped through the door he opened for her and pushed Lincoln back.
"Nothing," she said.
"Ya ain't gon' eat this?" He asked, stepping inside and looking at the cone she'd slipped into his hand.
"I'm done," she said. "Unless you want to suck the ice cream out and give me the rest of the cone?"
She leaned against the bar, almost excited enough to squeal at the thought that Axel was taking Andrea to get burgers and ice cream.
Daryl chuckled a little and dug his tongue into the leftover ice cream.
"Reckon I can do that," he said. "Ya coulda just given it to Andrea if ya didn't want it, though. There's enough here for her an' she wouldn'ta had ta go get no more."
Carol smiled.
"This way I get my waffle cone," Carol said. She grinned. "And Andrea gets ice cream and a date."
"Ain't much of a date is it?" Daryl asked.
"It's enough," Carol said. "Now hurry up with that ice cream and we might have time for not much of a date before they back."
Daryl raised his eyebrows at her and she laughed as he bit the bottom of the cone off and sucked the ice cream through that way. After a moment he grimaced and handed her the cone, not noticing that he was dripping it everywhere and Lincoln was running around on the floor like it was the most exciting day of his furry existence.
"Fuckin' brain freeze!" Daryl spat.
Carol laughed and took the cone from him, eating it quickly.
"You shouldn't have tried to swallow it whole," she said, her hand over her mouth to keep from spitting out parts of the cone and showering Lincoln in more ice cream bliss.
"Ya fuckin' tellin' me that we might have sex an' all I gotta do is eat the damn ice cream in a hurry…the fuck ya think I'ma do?" Daryl asked, still grimacing a little but with a hint of a smile forming.
Carol crunched the rest of the cone and Daryl stepped over the dog, already reaching his arms out toward her like he was going to grab her. She tried to chew fast enough not to choke over her desire to laugh at him.
"Eat faster woman! Ya got the damn easy part!" Daryl commanded.
"They've got to get to town…get food…eat…and get back," Carol protested, still finishing chewing and already heading in the direction of the bedroom with Daryl right behind her. "We've got time!"
"Not for all the shit I can think of, get movin'!" Daryl said. Carol laughed and rushed toward the bedroom, realizing Daryl wasn't even giving her time to wash the ice cream off her hands.
"I've got ice cream on me!" She protested again. "I'm sticky."
"I promise ya," Daryl said, "ain't gon' matter."