AN: Here you ago, another little chapter. That's probably all for me today since I'll have to be focused on getting ready for the show tonight! LOL
I'm so glad that so many of you seem to like the name. I really love it and I'm usually very bad at names, so I'm so pleased to see that everyone was fond of it! I know that a lot of people thought I was going to go with Sophia, but I just didn't really want to do that. Nothing against Sophia, of course, but the story is so different from the show that I just decided not to do that one.
I hope you enjoy the chapter and the show tonight! Let me know what you think of the chapter!
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Carol was sick. She'd started getting sick the day before, but it had blown up over night until today there was no denying that she was sick. She had the flu, at least that's what they'd all decided it was, and she'd already spent some time arguing about how unfair life was because she was the only one of any of them that was sick and she was the only one of any of them that had bothered to take a flu shot in hopes of avoiding the mess.
Daryl had stayed home from work to take care of her. Andrea was on her day off, so she'd been at the house all day long as well, helping Daryl. Carol had spent the entire day on the couch going somewhere between sleeping and complaining about the fact that she was sick.
And tonight was supposed to be one of the nights that they were going to their baby class, but Daryl was already trying to get himself over the fact that they weren't going, even though he was disappointed.
He brought Carol some of the chicken noodle soup that Andrea had made and handed her the bowl, moving her blankets around her and sitting on the edge of the couch near her.
"Ya gonna feel better if ya eat this," Daryl said. He glanced in Andrea's direction where she was sitting in the dining room in one of the chairs that she'd angled so that she had a pretty clear view of the couch.
"Well, you might not feel better," Andrea offered, "but at least you won't be hungry. I've never figured out how soup was supposed to solve anything anyway."
Carol swiped at her nose with the blanket that was around her shoulders before drinking a little from the bowl in her hand. Daryl had brought her a spoon, but apparently she'd decided not to use it at the moment.
"It's not going to solve anything," Carol said. "It's the flu…the stupid flu…and now I have to just suffer through it, right?"
Daryl felt bad for her. He wished he could take it away, but there wasn't anything that he could really do about it.
"Need anythin' else?" He asked.
Carol shook her head and sipped at the soup again.
"I'm fine," she said. "I just want to go back to sleep."
"Soon as ya eat'cha soup ya can go back ta sleep," Daryl said. He glanced back at Andrea, but she was focused on a tug of war game with Lincoln. There wasn't anything she could do about the flu either. "Do I need ta call someone an' tell 'em we ain't comin' tonight?" Daryl asked.
Carol looked at him and frowned.
"I forgot tonight's the class," she said. She glanced at the clock. "You could still go…I know you wanted to go."
Daryl shook his head, chuckling.
"Ya sick, we ain't goin'. Don't reckon they'd thank ya for comin' in there with the flu," Daryl responded.
Carol frowned at him again and sipped at the soup.
"You wanted to go tonight, though," Carol said. "You could go on your own. I've got the flu, Daryl. I'm not going to die…at least not literally. I'm just going to stay right here on the couch. You should go."
Daryl had been looking forward to this week since they'd started the class. They were supposed to get their babies for the week tonight and learn how to take care of them. It was sort of the class project. They were going to keep baby diaries or something like that and then they were going to discuss the different things they'd thought and learned about what to expect from the babies by spending the week with their electronic dolls.
But Carol was sick and Daryl figured that dragging her to class would be an asshole thing to do when she seemed reluctant to even get up to go to the bathroom every time she needed to go.
"Ain't goin' by myself ta the class," Daryl said. "An' ya sick…gotta take care of ya."
"Daryl, I don't need you to take care of me," Carol responded. "Really…I'm fine. And I think it's so sweet that you want to stay with me and take care of me…but I'm really going back to sleep. You're just going to be bored. You might as well go. Pick up the baby and take notes for me or whatever. You can fill me in on everything when you get home. It's better that one of us go than neither of us…Bobbie might give out some secrets and we'll miss them if no one goes."
Daryl chuckled a little at Carol's face. She was offering him a smile, but it looked out of place with her red nose tired eyes.
"That'll look real damn funny," Daryl said. "Me walkin' up in that shit alone."
Carol smiled.
"Everyone knows you there already," Carol said. "Just tell them I'm sick and you're sitting in."
She broke off, giving into a cough and Daryl reached over to steady the bowl she was holding while she finished the coughing fit so that she didn't end up with a lap full of soup to go with everything else.
"You should go, really," Carol said. "Take Andrea."
Andrea perked up at the mention of her name.
"What are we doing to Andrea?" Andrea asked.
Daryl chuckled.
"Says ya should go ta baby class with me," Daryl said.
"Oh no…" Andrea responded. "Oh no…no…no…"
Carol glanced in Andrea's direction.
"Go with Daryl, please?" Carol asked. She wiped her nose again and Daryl made a mental note that if he was going anywhere he was going to at least bring her a roll of toilet paper to use as tissue. He thought they had one out there earlier, but Lincoln had more than likely stole it to destroy it somewhere in the house or either it was lost in the nest of pillows and blankets that Carol was curled up in. "I'd go if I could," she said. "Please, Andrea? Tonight's baby night and Daryl wanted to go to that one."
Daryl felt his face burn red at the mention. He didn't really want anyone to know that he wanted to do the stupid project with the babies. It was just that he'd never really been around a baby before…not for a long time…and even though he knew the doll wasn't like a real baby exactly, he thought he'd like the practice.
Andrea looked at them both, screwing her face up in concern.
"What do I have to do?" She asked, not seeming entirely sure of this.
"Nothing," Carol responded for Daryl. "Just go and keep him company, listen so you can tell me anything I need to know."
Andrea sighed.
"And who's gonna stay with you?" Andrea asked.
"I'm fine alone," Carol said.
"Oh hell no ya ain't!" Daryl responded. That would be the one thing he wouldn't stand for. They knew that Ed was out there somewhere and he'd been spotted here and there in Sweet Junction. The last thing he was going to do was leave Carol alone somewhere, even if it was in their house.
"Call Michonne," Andrea offered.
"She's got the girls," Carol said. "I'm not giving Michonne or those babies the flu. I'll be fine."
"What about Merle?" Daryl asked. He knew it wasn't an ideal solution, but it was better than leaving Carol alone. He'd have to drive across town to pick him up, and that would mean they'd be late to the class, but at least he'd know that someone was there with Carol.
Carol looked at him, though, her face expressing that she thought he was crazy. He couldn't help but chuckle in response.
"Call Axel," Carol said finally. "He's right down the street. He'll come over and tell me stories or something while I nap…it'll be fine."
"Axel's probably a pretty good nurse," Andrea offered.
Daryl bit at his thumb and nodded.
"Ya sure ya ain't gon' care?" Daryl asked. "'Cause I can stay if ya want me ta stay."
Carol smiled at him half-heartedly.
"I have a blanket…I have soup…I have Lincoln," Carol said. "What more could a girl want? Send Axel over and take Andrea." Carol glanced back at the clock. "And you better get a move on…you don't want to be late."
Daryl leaned over to kiss her and she offered him her cheek. She wasn't as warm to the touch as she had been earlier, and Daryl was at least pleased with that.
"I'ma get'cha some more tissues," Daryl said. "An' I'ma call Axel."
Daryl got up to go for the tissues and directed his attention to Andrea.
"Go put'cha fuckin' shoes on so we can get ready ta go…an' get'cha pillow," he directed to her.
"What do I need a pillow for?" Andrea asked.
"Just get the shit," Daryl responded, slipping into the bathroom to get a roll of toilet paper for Carol.
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"Don't say shit ta Merle 'bout this," Daryl warned as he was getting out the truck at the Y. Andrea slid out her side and slammed the door, coming around the back of the truck by the time that Daryl was dropping his keys into his pocket.
They'd left Carol at home with Axel keeping her company. The man had jumped at the mention of any company and apparently a sleeping Carol was preferable over whatever he had…which was essentially nothing…at home. Now they were ready to go to the baby class, but Daryl was already hearing the harassment he might suffer from Merle over taking Andrea to the class and being enthusiastic about the baby project. Carol had already agreed to make it out to be a chore he was being forced to do if his brother asked, but he wanted to be sure that Andrea wasn't going to rat him out either.
Andrea eyed him as she circled around, her pillow under arm.
"You think I'm saying anything to Merle about this?" She asked. "You better not say anything about it."
Daryl chuckled.
"Long as we hear each other," Daryl said.
"Loud and clear," Andrea responded. Daryl chuckled again and reached out, shoving at her shoulder a little to push her toward the Y.
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Andrea wasn't sure, sometimes, how she got drug into the things that she got drug into. Daryl had introduced her to the class as his sister, which wasn't entirely true, but it was easier than trying to explain to a bunch of people she considered complete strangers who she really was.
What would they have said anyway? She lived with Daryl and Carol because she was working things out with his brother who may or may not be suffering from either a mental breakdown at the moment or perhaps is part of an alien experiment to put hearts into the bodies of humans that they'd snatched and found to be lacking them?
It was easier to go with sister, and Daryl thought quickly on his feet when it came to making things as simple as possible.
And so here she was, her pillow in her lap, sitting on a kindergarten nap mat next to Daryl, surrounded by women who looked uncomfortably huge and men that just looked uncomfortable. In fact, Andrea reasoned that Daryl and the woman leading the class, Bobbie, were the only two people in the room that didn't look uncomfortable out something, herself included.
Andrea shifted, thinking the mats were uncomfortable and would be even more so if she was as big as a boat like most of the women in the room.
Apparently they were down a couple…someone had their blessed event and had checked out the class. Andrea listened with absolutely no interest as they gave details on the bouncing baby boy's weight and well…she tuned out after that.
Finally it seemed they were on to something as Bobbie brought out a box of babies…the moment Daryl had been waiting for and the fathers…who were clearly more able to move at a higher velocity than the mothers, went over to sort through it. Daryl lingered beside her.
"Well?" She asked, elbowing him. "Go get your kid," she finished.
Daryl looked at her, his cheeks giving away that he was embarrassed to look too enthusiastic about it. Andrea offered him a smile.
"Go get your doll, Daryl. I'm not going to tell Merle. Besides…I'm supposed to be over here being pregnant and stuff. Don't make me crawl to the box," Andrea said.
Daryl nodded a little and went over, joining the other men as they sorted through the box of mechanical babies. Andrea worked hard on controlling her face so that she wouldn't laugh at the men that were picking through the babies with more interest than any of them would have probably confessed to outside of the confines of these four walls.
Finally, Daryl turned and came back, sitting on the floor next to her, holding the doll by the waist.
"That's not how you hold a baby," Andrea said.
"Ain't doin' nothin' yet," Daryl said, looking at the doll with some concern.
His questions were answered a few moments later when Bobbie instructed them all on how to turn on their little babies and handed out Ziploc baggies with supplies because apparently the baby came with accessories. Andrea took the baggie and rifled through it in her hands.
"So after the baby's born," she asked quietly, not wanting to get in trouble for talking in class, though it was something she'd been in trouble a lot for in her life, "is Carol gonna spit out a baggie full of trinkets too?"
Daryl shot her a look and Andrea stifled a giggle.
"Sorry…this is serious…" she said.
Then their doll started crying. Andrea looked around. Theirs was the only doll crying at the moment. She shot a look at Daryl who already looked panicked.
"Stop it!" Andrea commanded.
"I'm tryin'!" Daryl responded, trying to rock the doll.
Bobbie laughed, her attention apparently having been called by the electronic baby's protests.
"That's fine," she said. "You probably need to feed it or change it. Now the doll will go through a variety of needs that it has. Sometimes it'll need to be fed, sometimes it'll need to be changed, and even other times it will simply need to be rocked. Babies need attention too, even when their needs are met."
Andrea fished around in the bag and offered Daryl the bottle that was in there. He tried feeding the thing and it got quiet. He grinned at her, somewhat proud of himself for shutting up the thing.
"See?" Bobbie said from where she was sitting and trying to get another doll to turn on that had apparently decided it didn't want to join the class. "It just needed to be fed."
"She," Andrea offered. "It is a girl…isn't it?"
Bobbie smiled.
"The babies are gender neutral, but you're welcome to pretend they're whatever you want them to be," Bobbie said.
Andrea watched as all the couples worked with the babies that seemed to be springing to life one at a time. Apparently these babies were complicated little creatures to some degree, in that if you turned them wrong and stuff, they would start crying, but in other ways Andrea was already coming up with her own little set of ways to get around the so called baby's needs.
She figured you didn't need the bottle. A finger over the sensor would do as soon as you isolated and located where it was exactly. The same thing could go for the diaper.
Of course, as she was watching Daryl "take care" of the doll and she was thinking about ways to get around actually caring for the stupid thing, she realized that maybe she was missing the point of the doll.
They sat through the rest of the class and Andrea tried to listen to back Daryl up about what they were supposed to be recording in the notebook she assumed they had at the house for this project. Different thoughts and feelings that emerged while they spent the week caring for their bald little baby doll.
When everything was done, they were supposed to do some relaxing breathing techniques, which Andrea didn't actually participate in, and then they were free to go after having cookies and juice if they wanted them.
Andrea got to her feet almost as soon as Bobbie quit talking and made a beeline for the door. Daryl shuffled after her, the doll in his arms so it wouldn't cry from being tipped wrong and the sandwich baggie shoved in his pocket.
"Ya ain't want no cookies?" Daryl asked as they hit the hallway.
Andrea glanced back at him.
"Is that a requirement?" She asked, wrinkling her brow. Daryl shook his head.
"No…but Carol likes the oatmeal ones that Bobbie brings," Daryl said.
"I'll pass. I want to get out of babyville," Andrea responded, scooting down the hallways in the reverse order of turns that they'd taken to arrive there.
"Can ya carry the baby ta the car?" Daryl asked.
Andrea stopped walking and turned around.
"Why? Looks like you've got it," Andrea said. Daryl gnawed at his lip.
"I just don't want no one ta see me carryin' it ta the car," Daryl said.
Andrea snorted.
"You've got that thing for a whole week," Andrea said. "I have a feeling plenty of people are going to see you carrying it plenty of places. You might as well start feeling better about it now."
"So ya ain't gon' carry it?" Daryl asked.
Andrea reached out and tipped the doll and started its mechanical screaming.
"Damn it!" Daryl said, pulling it back and trying to rock it. "What the hell'd ya do that for! Now I gotta get it quiet again."
Andrea laughed.
"See, you're better with the doll than I am," she offered. "You can carry it."
She continued through the building and out into the parking lot while Daryl was still trying to hush the doll from the havoc she'd wreaked. While he looked for his keys, she smiled and waved like she was Miss America at the other couples who were spilling out to get into their vehicles, some with noisy babies and others with silent ones.
When they finally got in, Daryl locked the doors and they sat there a moment while he fumbled to change the baby's diaper, finally making the thing quiet down.
"Ya gotta hold it while I drive, Andrea," Daryl said. "An' don't be an asshole 'bout it neither or I'ma tell Carol that'cha ain't touchin' Lil' Bit when she gets here."
Andrea chuckled at him and made her best apologetic face. She took the doll from him and balanced it in the crook of her arm while she waited for him to start the truck and drive them back.
"I'm sorry I made your doll cry," Andrea said, examining the doll in the dark in search of the mouth sensor in case she needed to "feed" the thing on the drive.
"S'alright," Daryl said. "But'cha gotta take this serious. It's like a test drive an' we all need all the fuckin' help we can get."
Andrea chuckled again.
"Did you want a doll when you were little, Daryl?" Andrea asked.
"Shut up," Daryl responded.
"I'm serious!" Andrea said. "A lot of little boys want dolls…the only reason they don't get them is because society says there's something wrong with it. Maybe it's not that little boys don't have the so called baby skills that women have…maybe we just never let them practice."
Daryl bit at his thumb while he drove.
"Ain't wanted no damn doll," he said.
Andrea looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He might not have wanted a doll…or he might have wanted one. It was hard to tell what truth was and what was fiction when a Dixon was hard set on not letting you know the difference.
The fact of the matter was that he wanted a baby…or rather he wanted Lil' Bit and that was clear to anyone that was around him. And whether he wanted it or not when he was a kid, he had a doll now, and Andrea could see that he was going to be serious about this shit.
"I just hope Merle doesn't break it," Andrea said, looking back at the doll.
Daryl shot her a look before returning his eyes to the road.
"He better not," Daryl responded.
Andrea snickered. Once upon a time, Merle might have broken the head off Daryl's doll simply to piss him off…or simply to be Merle…but she was starting to think that the nice alien altered Merle they'd gotten back from the invasion that no one knew about wasn't the kind that would do such a thing.
"I'm teasing," she said. "I don't think he'd do that. I wouldn't let him."
"Ya think ya could stop Merle from doin' what he damn well pleases?" Daryl asked.
Andrea thought for a minute that she hoped she wasn't getting to bold, but decided that she felt confident, at least for the moment in what she was saying and in herself.
"I think I have my ways," she said.
Daryl cut his eyes at her, but smiled a little, continuing back toward the house where they could introduce a sick Carol to her new, fake offspring for the week and figure out how to keep Lincoln from thinking it was a very noisy chew toy.