AN: Hi everyone! Sorry for the brief absence. Real life is really kicking me with tons of work and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down…ever. LOL Still, I didn't want you to think that I'd run away or anything. I'm still here, it's just that some days…especially when I literally work all day…it can be tough to spend the after work hours writing. I promise to do my best though, I just ask for patience if stuff isn't as great as it could be or chapters are a little shorter at times than they normally would be. I love the story, I love writing it, and it's a good stress relief and escape for me, and therefore sometimes shorter or not so fantastic chapters might be all I have to give, but I will give those freely!

I appreciate your comments and reviews always! You're great!

I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111

"Good?" Daryl asked.

He was sitting in the bed, cross legged, watching Carol as she ate the third of the bananas that he'd brought her from the kitchen as a peace offering to the annoyed hormonal god or whatever it was that was making her crave milk and bananas more than she could even begin to explain.

"Mmm hmm…" she hummed.

They'd retired to bed for what was a pretty early bedtime for them, but they didn't figure it mattered much. Everything was taken care of for the day and Andrea was out with Merle on either their second or third "official" date, so it wasn't like there was really anything pressing to do around the house.

Lincoln sat between them on the bed, trying to negotiate his way into having more of the bananas than he'd already been giving by giving Carol his saddest eyes possible. Daryl watched her watching Lincoln, but he'd already cut the dog off since he'd eaten probably about as much of the fruit as she had.

"I think Andrea was saving these to make banana bread for Thanksgiving dinner," Carol said. Her facial expression expressed clearly that she was feeling a little guilty for working her way through the bananas, but Daryl wasn't going to make her feel bad about it. She'd been talking about and eye balling the damn things for most of the day. He assumed it was because they were reaching their ripest point and therefore they were very easy to smell…and he'd already figured out she'd developed some kind of supersonic smelling capabilities.

"So I'll go an' get her some more tomorrow," Daryl said.

"I think they need to be really ripe…" Carol said.

"They's four more in there an' I'm sure the A an' P's got some really old bananas they won't mind unloadin' ta stop a fight from breakin' out between women," Daryl said with a snicker.

He knew that the bananas weren't really a big dead. Banana bread or not, their little Thanksgiving gathering would go on…and Daryl was pretty certain that the banana bread wasn't going to be the hot topic of conversation afterwards or the particular thing of interesting during.

"What'cha think about this whole Thanksgivin' thing?" Daryl asked.

They'd volunteered to have a little gathering, nothing big, at their house. Michonne and Tyreese were coming, Merle was coming, and Andrea had already invited Axel as well. Needless to say, it was mostly on Daryl's mind what might happen between Merle and Axel if they were in the same room together. He wasn't sure, exactly, how Andrea had handled the whole situation since she'd started talking to Merle again, and the last thing he wanted was them to become known around the neighborhood as the rednecks who had a fist fight in the yard during Thanksgiving dinner.

Carol shrugged a little at him.

"We got the food…Michonne's bringing the turkey…and Axel's bringing pie. Plus you're getting that pie from Miss Jo," Carol responded. "I think we're set for a small Thanksgiving feast."

Daryl made a face.

"Could ya stop thinkin' 'bout food for a minute?" Daryl asked. Carol just blinked at him and finished the last of the banana, tossing the peel into the trash can they had propped on the nightstand table so that Lincoln couldn't go garbage diving in the middle of the night. "I was talkin' 'bout this whole Andrea love thing…feels like some kinda damn thing ya see on T.V. 'cept we ain't tryin' ta figure out who the fuck the Daddy is."

Carol giggled.

"You mean Axel and Merle?" Carol asked, turning her attention now to her milk. Daryl nodded at her. She shrugged a little, gulping down a good deal of the milk. "I don't think there's going to be a problem," she said when she came up for air. "Why? Did you think Merle was going to do something?"

Daryl scoffed.

"Why's it always gotta be Merle that starts shit? Could just as soon be Axel," he responded.

"OK," Carol said. "Do you think that Axel's going to start something?"

Daryl shook his head. He didn't think that Axel was going to start anything at all. That didn't exactly seem to be Axel's style. The man was about as low key as they come, and that was something that might not mix well with Merle Dixon.

Since Andrea had started talking to Merle again, Daryl wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Andrea was going out to dinner with Merle from time to time and they were getting along…better than they had when they'd lived together…any time that he came over to the house to work on the bike that Daryl had determined was going to be parked under their carport for the rest of eternity.

Andrea hadn't, however, stopped talking to Axel. Granted, Daryl hadn't seen her kiss the man in a long time, but he still came and went as he pleased and she often went down to his house. Daryl wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing and he didn't know if it was just a case of Andrea couldn't make up her mind about which one she liked more or what.

"What'cha think is even happenin' there? I mean I kinda figured Andrea would stop talkin' ta Axel an' then she's tellin' us she's invitin' him ta Thanksgivin'?" Daryl asked after a second.

Carol shrugged again.

"I don't know…I don't think she's…I think Axel is just a friend," Carol said, obviously not sure at first how she wanted to respond. "I think that Axel's willing to take what he can get. He's alone here…and Andrea's his friend…we're his friends. That's why she invited him to Thanksgiving."

"An' ya don't think he don't think there's more to it than that?" Daryl asked.

"Andrea said there's never been much more to it than that," Carol responded. "So…yeah…I think that's all there is to it. He needed friends and we're his friends. It's only right that he eats dinner with us instead of spending the holiday alone."

Daryl nodded his understanding, though he still wasn't entirely sure about the whole situation. Merle could have a short fuse at times, and since he'd been giving this, at least in Daryl's opinion, a lot more effort than he'd given damn near anything in his whole life, Daryl thought he might be more than a little annoyed if he thought that Axel might mess it up somehow.

Still, it seemed like there was nothing to do but wait and see what would happen. The most they could do was hope for the best and hope that their first attempt at a nice "family" Thanksgiving wasn't going to be marred by rivalry over Andrea.

"Don't look so worried," Carol said.

Daryl snapped his attention back to her. She was looking at him, her milk glass still in her hand, smiling. She rubbed her belly and Daryl smiled at her, determined not to worry anymore about the mess that Andrea, Merle, and Axel might all three be making of their lives.

"Feel better?" Daryl asked.

Carol nodded and finished off the milk, putting the empty glass on the nightstand. She rubbed her belly again and sighed.

"I do…I'm too full now, though. I should have stopped at two," Carol said.

Daryl snickered.

"Ya didn't eat but one an' a half, no way. I see that shit eatin' look in Lincoln's eye. Lil' bastard knows he ate just as damn much as you did 'cause ya can't tell him no," Daryl said.

Carol frowned at him, though there was enough of a smile behind it to show that it was only a frown for theatrical sake. She reached over and rubbed Lincoln's head, running his ears through her fingers.

"I can too tell him no," Carol said. "When it's important…besides, I bet you're going to be terrible about giving Lil' Bit every single that she wants. She's going to have you wrapped so tight around her little finger that you won't want to tell her no for anything."

Daryl snickered.

"Yeah, right!" He said. "It's gonna be the hard knock life for that young'un. She best stay in there as long as she can 'cause I ain't givin' in ta nothin'!"

Carol laughed at him.

"You went and got the bananas, didn't you?" Carol teased, raising an eyebrow at Daryl.

"Got 'em for you," Daryl said. "If I'da knowed they was for her I'da told her she had ta go an' get 'em herself."

Carol laughed.

"Now that's a trick I'd like to see…" Carol said.

Daryl couldn't help but break his assumed character for the moment and laugh in response.

"Yeah, me too," he said.

"Soon enough, right?" Carol asked.

Daryl suddenly remembered that he'd been a bad husband…and father…he remembered that she'd gone to the doctor today and he hadn't asked her about it. He felt his blood run cold for a minute, wondering if she'd gotten her feelings hurt. He hadn't meant to forget…it had honestly just slipped his mind since Andrea went with her instead of him having to take off work because it wasn't supposed to be anything special.

Daryl swallowed, trying to gauge if she was reacting in any way to the conversation, perhaps with annoyance or something over his forgetfulness.

Carol didn't seem to be bothered by anything in the world, though. She was just sitting quietly, leaning back against all the pillows that she'd piled up, pilfered from everywhere she could find them, and stroking Lincoln's ears.

"Everythin' go alright today?" Daryl asked, feeling his cheeks burning hot over his own embarrassment at the fact that he'd forgotten to ask first thing.

Carol looked up at him from where she'd been staring at the dog and smiled, nodding a little.

"Right on track," she said. "Today wasn't too exciting. We did get to hear the heartbeat, but that was all."

Daryl smiled, relieved that she clearly wasn't bothered that it had slipped his mind.

"I 'member when that was as excited as ya could get," Daryl said.

Carol chuckled softly.

"Well, I mean it's still exciting, but it's not the same as getting to see the baby," Carol said. "Though the doctor saw her move…"

Daryl raised an eyebrow at Carol. He'd been trying, for some time, to feel the baby, but he hadn't felt much of anything yet…or at least not anything that he was sure he could contribute to the baby. Carol, though, insisted that she knew she felt her all the time, and had claimed that she could see from the outside what she was sure were kicks.

"She movin' now?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head.

"Not right now," she said. "I think I've been still too long. She was moving earlier, and she tends to move just when I'm getting comfortable."

"Then get'cha ass up an' go run a lap," Daryl commanded, grinning at her.

Carol sat there looking at him, defiantly, for a moment and then she shrugged.

"Fine…I guess I'll take the cup back in the kitchen," she said, starting to get up.

"Ya ain't really gotta get up," Daryl said. "I was just teasin'."

"I know," Carol said, getting up and tucking the trash can under one arm before picking up her empty milk glass. "But I want you to feel her move…and Lincoln needs to go out again anyway or he's going to leave a landmine in the hallway for Andrea to find on her way to her bedroom."

Daryl got up too and followed Carol as she made her way through the house, stopping to open the door for Lincoln and then passing through to the kitchen.

"That's if she comes home," Daryl said. "Ain't no tellin' when's gonna be the first time that she don't come home, ya know. I think Merle's givin' it the ole high school try but he ain't gon' hold out forever."

Carol laughed, going about washing her glass and dumping the bathroom trash can into the larger one they kept tucked under the kitchen sink.

"Andrea's not going to wait forever either," Carol said. "But she's serious about not giving in too soon with Merle. She's worried…you know…that giving in too soon will make it too easy for him."

"She's stringin' him along," Daryl said, leaning against the counter. Carol turned around and copied his stance, but across the kitchen from him.

"I don't think it's stringing him along," Carol said. "I think it's what she needs to do. Merle was an asshole…and it's easy to say that you've changed if you don't have to show it all. I think she's just asking for a little more to go on than blind faith."

"So how long's she gonna keep him on the line?" Daryl asked.

He'd talked to Merle a couple of times when Merle was tinkering with the bike and he knew that Merle was really interested in giving this a genuine go, and he was so shocked by his brother's behavior that he almost didn't recognize him, but he figured if Andrea wasn't throwing him any bones at all, then he might just decide it wasn't worth it and go back to his old ways.

Carol shrugged at Daryl though, not responding until after she'd gone and let Lincoln back in and offered him his treat with a long litany about what a good boy he was.

Carol was still wearing her "Lincoln face" when she stood back up.

"I don't know how long she's going to keep expecting Merle to act like a decent human being, Daryl," Carol said, a little annoyance in her voice. "I would think it needs to be something permanent…or did you think he just needs to be nice a little while and then it's OK for him to go back to his old ways?"

Daryl wasn't getting tricked into this one…no way, no how. He knew that tone of voice and his status as either sleeping in his bed or riding this night out on the couch could very well ride on how he answered.

And the truth was that he did think that Merle needed to commit to being the "new and improved" style Merle for good if that's what he and Andrea were after…he just wasn't sure if he believed that Merle really had it in him to change for good. Perhaps he was just as doubtful of Merle as maybe Andrea was.

Daryl shrugged a little, though, recognizing that he needed, at this moment, to think much more about what Daryl needed out of life than what Merle needed.

"Nah…he don't need ta go back ta his old ways," Daryl said. He could have dropped it there, but he did want to at least throw in a little of what he was thinking…perhaps something to defend what he was, maybe poorly, trying to say. "I'm just sayin' it's kinda like Lincoln…if he ain't gettin' no cookies for pissin' outside he might just decide ta piss on the floor again 'cause he ain't gettin' nothin' outta the whole damn thing but a cold, wet belly."

Carol looked at him a minute, holding a stern face of someone who was thinking seriously about something and then she broke and chuckled.

"Well…" she started. "I don't know about the cookies that Merle is or isn't getting from Andrea. I haven't asked and she hasn't offered that information. I know no one else is dipping into the cookie jar…but I imagine she's not going to let him "piss in the yard"," she held up her fingers to do air quotes at Daryl, "for too long before he gets something."

Daryl turned his lip up.

"OK," he said. "I really think that's all I wanta say about Merle an' Andrea's sex life…if ya don't mind just leavin' it there…"

Carol laughed again.

"I couldn't agree more," she said. "Shall we go back to bed? See if I haven't stirred around enough to get your daughter to cooperate and speak to you?"

Daryl nodded at her and followed her back to the bedroom.

He almost felt nervous as he stood by the bed and watched Carol settle back into the nest of pillows that she'd built for herself. She'd lose all of them when she was finally ready to sleep, but she seemed to like lounging on them more than just leaning against the headboard.

Lincoln didn't seem nervous at all. He wasn't about to try to feel the baby. He simply bounded up his steps and flumped down almost immediately by Carol's legs, even before she was situated.

"Turn the light on," Carol said. "I'm curious to see if we can see her…"

Daryl walked slowly over and flipped the light on. He'd been trying to feel the baby for some time, but for some reason the thought of it made him nervous and he didn't know why. Maybe it was that he didn't know quite what to expect or maybe it was something else, but he could feel his heart pounding a little faster than it normally did.

He came over equally as slowly and took his place on the bed beside Carol, crossing his legs in front of him again as they had been earlier and watching her as she poked and prodded at herself.

Daryl felt like he sat there, awkwardly, fretting for a while. Carol wasn't paying him any attention. She was involved in apparently trying to dig around in her stomach in search of what was baby and what was the part of the bananas she'd eaten earlier.

She leaned back against her pillows with a sigh a few minutes later and closed her eyes. Daryl wasn't sure if she'd given up and gone to sleep or what exactly was going on. He reached over and started to rub the dog in a nervous attempt to keep his hands busy.

But after a moment, Carol reached her hand out toward him, not opening her eyes.

"Give me your hand," she said.

Daryl bit at his lip and put his hand in hers and she pressed it to her belly.

"There," she said. "Press in a little, you're not going to hurt me…you feel it?"

Daryl waited a minute, his hand pressed to the spot with her cool fingers against it. He didn't feel anything, but he hated to admit it yet again. Everyone was asking him, almost constantly, if he'd felt the baby kick and frankly he was starting to feel like he was failing miserably at this parenting thing because he hadn't felt it at all.

While he was fretting, though, he felt a small something against his hand. It was a nudge. Daryl almost held his breath in response. He glanced toward Carol and she was looking at him, almost with the appearance of a person also holding their breath. Daryl didn't say anything, though, and after a second he felt the nudge again, just against his fingers.

Daryl smiled.

"You're doin' that," he said.

Carol chuckled softly and a second later he felt the nudge again, though softer than before.

"I think she's moving," Carol said. "It feels different. It's not as strong as it was, though…So you did feel her?"

"Come on," Daryl said. "Ya did that!"

Carol chuckled again, still holding his hand to her belly, though the nudge had stopped.

"I did not!" She protested. "Can you do that?"

Daryl thought about it a minute. He wasn't sure exactly how he would make his muscles jump in the place where hers had jumped.

"I reckon I could if I practiced it," Daryl said.

Carol made a face at him, squinting her eyes.

"Do you really think, Daryl, that I've been spending my free time trying to figure out how to trick you into thinking you felt the baby kick?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled more at her facial expression and tone of voice than anything.

"Damn…ya already soundin' like a Ma…" he said. "So that was really her?"

Carol smiled and nodded.

"That was really her," she confirmed.

Daryl grinned and moved his hand, in search of the nudge again, but it seemed it didn't want to be found.

"She already ran outta steam?" Daryl asked, a little disappointed that now he'd finally found the baby and she'd decided to stop kicking.

Carol shrugged a little.

"I'm sorry," she said. She really did sound sorry about it, too. "She doesn't move all that much at a time…or at least not where it's that strong, but it's going to get stronger as she gets bigger."

Daryl frowned, but he leaned over the dog and reached out, catching Carol's face with his hand. She leaned up and they locked in a kiss for a minute.

"Whatta ya know?" Daryl said when they broke apart. "She ain't even here yet an' she's already givin' her ole man a hard damn time."

Carol smiled.

"Oh…you just wait," she teased.

Daryl smiled and leaned back in to kiss her again. He was waiting…as long as he had to…but he had to admit that he was far more excited about it than he'd ever thought he could be. He was far more excited than his need to hold onto whatever "manhood" he felt he preserved would let him even admit to Carol.