AN: Here we go, another little chapter to keep us moving along. There's a lot that's going to be happening here, but we finally get to meet Sophia.

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

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Daryl had called into work first thing in the morning and then he'd gotten the suitcase out of the hall closet that he was supposed to take for Sophia to pack her things. Carol made Daryl breakfast and brought him his coffee in silence.

She wasn't acting insane at all, but it was clear that she had little desire to speak to him at the moment, and she'd had little desire to speak to him the night before as well. She'd stayed up late working her sewing room and she'd moved away from him the first time that he'd tried to hold her when she finally came to bed. Eventually she'd settled into him, but he hadn't felt nearly as welcome as he usually did when she snuggled into him for sleep.

She'd made it clear that she expected for them to tell Sophia immediately about her situation…she wanted Sophia to know how she'd ended up in the home and she wanted Sophia to know "what she'd done," as she put it.

So while Daryl was waiting on the girl in the quiet room that he'd been left in, bouncing his foot absentmindedly on the floor with his nerves, he'd tried to figure out how in the world he might go about softening the blow since he'd learned he wasn't great with giving people news that might be difficult to swallow.

When Sophia was brought into the room, pulling the suitcase with her, Daryl could barely breathe. Up close the girl looked enough like Carol that it was shocking and Daryl was having trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that in a matter of minutes he would be taking this girl…this almost woman as Carol had called her…home with him to be his daughter. She was already Carol's daughter, even if neither of them had been properly introduced.

Daryl reached and took the suitcase from the girl with barely more than the words required to get her to let go of the handle and he marveled at how light the piece of luggage was. He finished up everything that he had to sign and fill out and finally he was taking her home…

And he still wasn't entirely sure how to breach the topic with the girl so he walked in silence toward his car, Sophia following behind him.

"This all you got?" Daryl asked, putting the light suitcase in the car while Sophia stood to the side, silent and watching him, her hands tangled together in front of him. "You ain't got nothin' more'n this? Don't feel like there's nothin' here…"

Sophia nodded.

"Yes sir," Sophia said softly. "That's all I have."

"Fine," Daryl responded. "Come on…Sophia…"

Daryl walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. Sophia climbed up and he closed the door, going around the car and growing increasingly nervous as he went. When he got in the car, he rolled down the window and lit a cigarette.

"You hungry?" Daryl asked.

Sophia looked at him…stared at him…but she didn't respond.

Daryl chewed at his cuticle before taking another drag off his cigarette.

"Lemme try this again," Daryl said. "I'ma go get somethin' ta eat…I'm hungry…if I get you somethin' ta eat, you gonna eat it?"

Sophia nodded her head.

"Yes sir," she responded.

Daryl nodded his head slightly. He was having something like déjà vu at the moment. He was also wondering how in the world he was going to tell this girl anything that he needed to say to her when he couldn't feel like he was talking to anyone with the capacity to understand him and respond to him.

He pulled the car out of the home and knew exactly where he was taking her to eat.

"Long as we out this way, they's a woman, Marge Simms, lives not too far from here. She serves plate lunches outta her house about this time every day," Daryl said. "Let's go get somethin'…"

No response from Sophia, but Daryl wasn't really expecting anything at this point. He drove to the place and got Sophia out of the car, guiding her to one of the picnic tables not occupied by the handful of men on their lunch break taking advantage of a cheap, home cooked meal, and then he went to get the plates. Marge Simms, seeing he was going to have a hard time carrying everything, followed him out to the table with the glasses of sweet tea and put them down, smiling at Sophia and telling her what a pretty young lady she was, before she took her leave of them and went about clearing one of the recently abandoned tables.

"You can eat," Daryl said finally to Sophia, wondering if the girl was actually going to eat or was simply going to stare at the table while they sat there.

He was maybe starting to understand why it was that she hadn't caught the attention of too many people who might have come there to pick out kids like produce.

"You like the food?" Daryl asked after Sophia had taken a few bites from her plate.

"Yes sir," she responded.

Daryl clenched his teeth not to growl.

"You takin' any kind a' medication?" He asked. "They give you any pills or anything?"

Sophia looked a little perplexed, but she shook her head.

"I'm well," she said. "I take something for a cough at night…but I don't really need it. It's only that my coughing was bothering my friends at night."

"Hey!" Daryl declared, smiling. "You can say somethin' besides yessir and no sir!"

Sophia stared at him.

Daryl decided to save himself and change the subject. At the moment he didn't know if there was something wrong with Sophia…if they'd done something to her in this home…or if she was trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

One thing he did know was that there was no mistaking that she was Carol's child. And that reminded him of why he was here and what kind of job he had ahead of him.

Daryl cleared his throat.

"Sophia…what'cha thought a' that place you was in?" Daryl asked.

"My home?" Sophia asked.

Daryl nodded.

"It was my home," Sophia offered.

"You ever lived anywhere else?" Daryl asked.

Sophia shook her head.

"Can you talk ta me, please?" Daryl asked. "I prefer conversation that's two sided."

"I don't remember living anywhere else if I have," Sophia offered. "I changed rooms a few times."

"What you know about your parents?" Daryl asked.

Sophia wrinkled her forehead at him.

"I don't have any parents," she responded. "I'm an orphan…"

Daryl stared back at her now. It was official. She was looking at him like she wasn't sure that he was qualified to live, less likely to be any kind of guardian.

"I know what an orphan is," Daryl said. "But…Sophia…everybody's got parents. Everybody comes from somewhere. Whether they alive or dead…you got parents. You didn't just spring up outta the ground like a weed."

Sophia nodded.

"Yes sir…I had parents, but I never knew them," she responded, looking a little more relaxed with explanation.

"They ever tell you anything about 'em? They ever tell you who they were or what happened to 'em?" Daryl asked.

Sophia looked around like a squirrel or a blue bird might offer her some information, but none offered anything at all, so she looked back at Daryl and shook her head.

"I've never asked," she responded. "Most of us at the home never had parents. I think that mine died."

"You got reason ta think that or you made it up?" Daryl asked.

It was becoming clear that Sophia knew nothing of her situation. Part of it could very well be that they didn't speak of the children's parents at the home, but he was suspecting that another part of it was simply that she wasn't interested. She didn't have parents, and that's all there was to it.

Sophia shook her head at him.

"What would you say if I was to tell ya that'cha got parents? Or at least that you got a Ma?" Daryl asked.

Sophia wrinkled her forehead again.

"I know that you're taking me home," Sophia said. "And…I promise that I'll do my best to be what you'd like me to be…they told me that you might want me to call you my parents. I'll call you whatever you like."

Daryl shoveled in some of his food and regarded the girl. She seemed to take that as an invitation…or maybe an order…to eat some of her own food because she ate too.

"We'll get around ta what'cha wanna call me," Daryl said after a moment. "But…ya Ma…my wife, Carol Ann…what I'm tryin' ta say is that she's ya Ma, Sophia."

Sophia nodded her head.

"Yes sir," she said. "I understand. I'll call her that…Ma?"

Daryl shook his head with a sigh and moved his almost finished plate to the side so that he could lean on his elbows, closer to the girl.

"Sophia…when Carol Ann was real young…not too much older'n you is, she was gonna marry another man an' turns out she was gonna have a baby. He said she couldn't keep it, so she had ta give it up…give it away. Sophia…you that kid. My wife…is really ya Ma. An' we just found ya…an' now I'm takin' ya home ta live with us," Daryl said.

Sophia looked at him now like he was telling her a story that she had to memorize…like she was listening to him construct a history for her that she was going to be responsible for repeating later. She didn't look like she really believed him.

"Sophia," he said, "what you think about that? That my wife's ya Ma…your real Ma."

Sophia stared for a moment before she made any sort of response.

"Are you being serious…sir?" Sophia asked, shaking her head slightly.

"Yeah, Sophia," Daryl said. "I wish I didn't have ta tell you this…an' I wish it didn't sound like it does…but I'm bein' serious."

She looked doubtful.

"Sophia…ya Ma had some trouble…'cause she never wanted ta give you up…she wanted ta keep you. An' they said that you was…gone…that she couldn't keep you…an' she spent a couple years tryin' ta understand that…in a special kinda home. It was a place a lot like where you was…but while she was there, she lost a lotta her memory…" Daryl said.

He felt terrible. The girl's face was telling him that he was doing this all wrong. It was telling him that it was too much. It was too much for a fourteen year old girl to take in on a moment's notice and it was too much, probably, to even believe.

But he didn't know what else to do and Carol was already pissed at him. She was going to be even more pissed if he brought Sophia home and suggested they wait a while to tell the girl what had happened…just like he'd waited maybe a bit too long to tell Carol what had happened to her.

"Sophia," he continued, seeing that she was taking silence as her best option, "your Ma didn't remember too good that you was borned because of…everything that happened in this place, see? But I told her…and I done it all wrong…so she's a little mad at me right now, but she ain't mad at you. She's…sorry…that she don't know you yet…but she's real happy you comin' to live with us."

Big eyes peered at him under furrowed brows.

"Sophia, do you understand any a' this?" Daryl asked.

Finally she nodded slightly, though not with any strong commitment.

"I think so," she said, turning her attention back to her food.

Daryl didn't want to eat any more of his...suddenly he wasn't nearly as hungry as he'd thought he was.

"You got questions for me?" Daryl asked.

Sophia looked at him and shook her head with the same amount of commitment as she'd nodded it earlier.

Daryl nodded back at her in response and sighed.

"You got plenty a' time," he said. "You can ask whatever you wanna ask…when you ready. I just…wanted you ta know…'cause I don't know how Carol's gonna react or how she's gonna try ta make it up ta you…an' I didn't want'cha ta be confused."

Sophia nodded.

"I think I understand," she said quietly.

Daryl didn't think she understood at all…but maybe she did. Time would tell. He couldn't help but think, though, that things were going to be at least a little tense around his home for a bit…especially since they were tense before he'd ever even left to come and pick up the girl.

Daryl sighed again and drank down half his glass of tea. He lit a cigarette and turned to sit in a more relaxed position on the bench of the picnic table.

"Eat'cha food," Daryl said. "Then we'll head on home."