AN: Here we go, another little chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Sophia sat beside Daryl in the car, her hands folded in her lap, and watched as things went by outside the window.
In Daryl's opinion, she was almost dressed as a doll. Carol had insisted that she have all new things and Daryl knew that down to her very socks and underwear, Carol had assured that she would have the best to start school with. She wouldn't face any sort of discrimination by her classmates that might come from the fact that she "looked" any less put together or parented than any of them had been. She had on her new dress that Carol had made her, the one she'd worn to the party that hadn't gone quite as Daryl had hoped it would, and new shoes to match. She had a new leather satchel that Daryl had picked up in town for her for the books that she would be issued as soon as she arrived.
They'd really tried to do everything that they could think of to make this a positive experience for Sophia. And if the girl was worried, she wasn't showing her fear.
Daryl snubbed the cigarette he'd been smoking out in the ash tray and exhaled the smoke slowly before he spoke.
"They know not all the legal stuff's done yet," Daryl said. "Talked to 'em an' they said it ain't no problem. It's gonna get done soon as it can be an' in the meantime they gonna call you Sophia Dixon at school like it ain't no problem."
Sophia turned and looked at him then.
"Sophia Dixon?" She asked. Daryl nodded his head at her and she repeated the name like she was testing out the flavor of it on her tongue to find out what she really thought about it.
Daryl cleared his throat again.
"We thought…" he stopped and he hesitated. He and Carol were making decisions for the girl just like he'd made decisions for Carol…this is what's best for her. This is what will she will like better. Maybe all the way around it was a poor practice. It certainly hadn't worked well in his favor with Carol. "Well, you're gonna be adopted by both of us…we thought you'd wanna have the same last name."
Sophia looked at him and then she nodded her head slightly before she turned her vision forward again.
"Yes sir," she commented. "I would like that. Thank you."
Daryl nearly chuckled to himself at the programmed response of the girl. The home that she had been in had very clearly drilled manners into their heads every second of the day. He didn't doubt that the sentiment was there and true to the words, but the words themselves sounded rehearsed and performed.
"You don't gotta always talk ta me like that," he commented.
She looked at him again and then she nodded once more.
"Listen, Sophia…'bout last night," he started. "I don't want the way my brother an' his wife acted to make you upset."
He paused a moment.
"Did it make you upset?" He asked.
Sophia shook her head slightly.
"I shouldn't have spoken back to him," she mused. "It was impolite."
Daryl chuckled to himself.
"Weren't you that was impolite, but then not too many people ever accused Merle of bein' too damn polite. He's got his own system of beliefs. One of those men, ya know? The ones that believe that…well…that all men got boat loads of kids an' that the more boys you got, the bigger an' better the man you can say you is," Daryl explained, not entirely sure why he was willing to go into such depth with the girl.
"But you don't have any kids," she offered, not skipping a beat and not seeming to find it questionable that he would share so much information with her. "So that means that he thinks…what?"
Daryl scratched at his chin.
"Means that he don't think I'm much of a man, I reckon," he muttered. He cleared his throat. "But he's wrong. Reckon now I got a kid, right?"
Sophia looked at him, wide eyed for a moment, but then she smiled. She didn't offer any words, but he figured the smile covered what needed to be covered. He winked at her and pulled up at the school to let her out.
"You like the idea of it an' we'll let'cha ride the bus," he said. "But we figured you might like it better if I bring you in the mornin' for a while."
Sophia looked around and Daryl got out of the car with the satchel she'd need for her books, which already held everything that had been bought for her, and the lunch that Carol had packed her. When he opened the door on her side, Sophia slid out and accepted the items that he held out for her to take.
"Have a good day," he offered. "We'll see ya after school."
Sophia stared around, some of the nerves she'd been swallowing down starting to show on her face a little and she nodded, chewing at her lip. Daryl didn't expect for her to wrap her arms around him like she did, sinking into him for a hug, but he returned the embrace and patted her back a few times before he pushed her off and gave her a nudge in the direction of the courtyard space where some of the other students were congregated.
"You gon' be alright," he offered, barely loud enough for her to hear him when she glanced back at him for a moment before turning and completing the walk toward them, chin higher than he would have expected, to start her first day at the school.
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Carol knew that Daryl had the day off from work and that he would be coming back to the house as soon as he'd taken Sophia to school, but he'd still caught her off guard when he'd appeared in the door of her sewing room and cleared his throat.
She finished the run through of the dress that she was working on before she stopped her hands and the activity of the machine. She looked at him and waited for him to speak. He came into the room, settled down into the chair that she kept there for anyone who wished to sit with her while she sewed, and lit a cigarette, pulling over the little glass ashtray that rested on the nearby table.
"I think she's going to be just fine," Daryl commented when all of his actions were done and out of the way. "I think she's gonna…"
He paused and shook his head, a light smile flitting across his face.
"I think she's not gonna have too much trouble finding herself…or…hell…who she is…or whatever we're supposed to be so damn worried about," he commented.
Carol got up from her work. She was too distracted anyway to focus on it. She was afraid, honestly, that if she continued to try to work with her level of distraction that she'd simply end up doing far more damage than she was good and then she'd cost herself money.
"You done?" Daryl asked, looking at her with some confusion and uncrossing his legs from the position he'd taken reclining back in the chair.
"For now," she admitted. "I'm too distracted. If I keep going…I'm just going to ruin something and then I'll be upset about that."
He chuckled lightly at her. He never understood why she got so upset when she didn't quite make a project turn out the way she wanted. She never really understood it either. It went beyond just simply seeking the act of doing a good job at her profession. When she ruined something, she very nearly felt like she'd committed some unforgiveable sin.
Carol reached a hand out to Daryl and he got to his feet before he took it, pulling her quietly along behind him as he made the transition between the sewing room and the living room. He invited her to sit with him on the couch while he finished the cigarette that he'd begun in the other room and snubbed out the butt in the ashtray.
"I talked to her about what happened with Merle," Daryl said. He shook his head. "She didn't seem bothered too much. Said she shouldn'ta sassed him…which she shouldn't have."
Carol sighed.
"No, she shouldn't have sassed him," Carol echoed, "but Merle shouldn't have said what he did. He was being abrasive the whole evening."
Daryl nodded slightly and chewed at his thumb nail.
"He don't think a' her as my kid," Daryl offered. He wasn't making eye contact with Carol, but she felt her chest tighten a little at the statement, not that it was any surprise to her after the night before.
"Blood means a lot to Merle," Carol commented.
She'd been more than acquainted with some of her brother in law's politics on family. He enjoyed bourbon and he enjoyed, when he had bourbon, to wax poetic on the things that he believed. He never thought for a moment, at least she didn't think he did, how what he said might make others around him feel.
It had become something that had kept Alice and Melodye from coming to their house on many occasions because they…and especially Alice…couldn't bite her tongue around the man long enough to not end up in some kind of argument where things were said that had to be apologized for later, even if it was Andrea that did the apologizing in Merle's absence.
Daryl chuckled at her assertion about his brother.
"Don't know why it means so much to him," Daryl commented. "Been a lotta instances when family ain't been nothin' to run around celebratin'."
"But he's got his family," Carol said. "He's got Andrea and he's got…he's got all his boys."
Daryl looked at her, holding her eyes with the cool, strong stare that he had at times. Sometimes Daryl didn't feel like talking, and when he didn't feel like talking, Carol thought he almost never needed to speak. His eyes would let her know most of what he was thinking.
And right now he wasn't entirely pleased, and clearly a little of that displeasure was caused by her.
"And I got my family," Daryl said, his voice low, each word drawn out and articulated to an extreme so that it contrasted with his typical manner of speaking where he sometimes swallowed pieces of his words.
Carol nodded her head at him. She appreciated his sentiment, even though it was clearly a good deal different than the one his brother had and paraded around.
"Merle's never really…" Carol broke off. She didn't want to criticize Merle too harshly, but the truth was the truth. If he didn't care for the way he was perceived, maybe the best thing for him to do would be not to act that way. "Merle's never really liked me because I never gave you a child."
Daryl sat there a moment and then he shook his head.
"That ain't about you," he said. "That shit? That shit's about me. It's about me not…bein' man enough, in Merle's eyes, to…do it right."
Carol started shaking her head at him even before he'd clearly finished speaking.
"Even bring me over to the side a time or two," Daryl commented. "Offer me the whole…brotherly advice. Don't I know how it all works? 'Cause clearly he does and he's got the boys ta prove it."
Carol continued to shake her head, mostly because she wasn't even sure what words were the best ones to use at the moment.
Daryl chuckled to himself and made eye contact with her again, for the first time noticing her expression and the head shaking.
"Who'd want them boys?" He asked. "They're brats. They run all over the place and don't mind a soul."
"Merle doesn't believe in punishing them," Carol offered. "Because they're boys. They're sweet boys, though. They just don't get punished for anything."
"And Andrea can't punish them 'cause Merle'll get after her," Daryl supplied. "She's got her hands full…"
Carol nodded at that. Andrea did have her hands full with the brood that she had. She had her hands full and she didn't care for it at all.
"He doesn't do it right, either," Carol said. "Or…he doesn't do it well."
She felt her cheeks burn hot with the admission, and Daryl cut his eyes at her. He offered her a half smile.
"Huh?" He asked.
She shook her head and shrugged slightly.
"He doesn't do it…right," Carol offered. "It's just…Andrea says sometimes it's just not…very good."
Daryl laughed lightly and then the laugh grew until he was laughing almost hard enough that tears were prickling in his eyes.
"Maybe that's what we been doin' wrong?" He commented when the laughter had broken. "Maybe that's what I oughta ask Merle. Ask him if the trick is makin' sure she don't like it."
Carol frowned at him.
"Don't!" She protested. "Don't! He'll get after her for saying anything."
Daryl wiped at his nose, his smile not faded and shook his head.
"Nah, I'm not," he said. He chuckled again and shook his head once more at the thought of it all. "But it don't mean that ain't funny."
Carol laughed then.
"It is kind of funny," she admitted.
"We might be doin' it wrong," Daryl said, raising his eyebrows.
Carol shook her head.
"I think, with as much as we've tried?" She offered. "There can't be that many other ways to do it."
He hummed and nodded, going back to chewing at his nail.
"Ya know, you ain't workin' an' I took the day off," he said. "Got a few hours before Sophia gets outta school…might be a good idea ta spend the afternoon doin' somethin' productive. We could practice for a little while."
He offered her a hopeful smile. And really she had no reason to refuse him. So when he stood up and stood near her leg, hand outstretched and fingers wiggling at her to take his hand, she smiled and stretched hers out.
"I've got to go to the market to make dinner," she commented.
"We'll pick Sophia up on the way there," he responded. "She can decide what we eat for supper tonight."