Here's the next chapter! :D
TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD
The morning dawned crisp and clear, not a cloud in the sky, and Carol longed so much to be outside in the cool sunshine, but she was confined to the house with Beth and Maggie while Dale and Shane kept Daryl pinned up in the stables. Everyone else was outside setting up seats and making an "aisle" from the driveway to the trees where their tents use to be with stones.
"Carol, come here, I found it!" Patricia called excitedly. Carol stopped looking out the window and went upstairs to one of the bedroom where Patricia had opened a trunk and emptied it's contents on the floor. She was standing there with a dress bag in her hands.
Carol slowly took the dress bag from her when she offered it and pulled it off. She wanted to cry when she saw the simple, yet beautiful wedding dress beneath the plastic. It was smooth satiny material with no flashy ties or bows, just pretty lacework on the chest and the straps on either shoulder. It didn't have a train, Carol was glad to see, trains just got in the way.
"Oh, Patricia, it's beautiful..."
"I wore that for my first wedding before I married Otis," Patricia said, "I was young...it didn't work out between us. So I want you to have it and put it to use for something worthwhile."
Carol felt tears stinging her eyes and she hugged Patricia firmly before going to try it on.
The dress was a perfect fit and Carol twirled around, feeling like a princess from the fairytale books she would read to Sophia before bedtim when she was little. Something about wearing a dress makes a woman feel special and this was no exception.
"Stop your twirling, Carol!" Andrea laughed from the doorway where she was leaning, "You've got to take a bath, get your hair and makeup done...come on, get out of that and into the tub!"
Trying on the dress had sparked something in Carol and she found herself eager to let the girls take over making her beautiful. She washed her hair and body in the shower, but then filled the tub up and poured the bath salts Maggie had insisted she use into the water. The crystals made an oily feel to the water and the smell of vanilla filled the air and covered her skin as she laid back and let it soak in.
"You almost done in there?" she heard Beth's excited voice call from the other side of the door, "I'm doing your hair!"
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes to dry off," Carol called back, almost sad to be getting out of the now luke warm water. She looked at the watch she had set on the back of the toilet and realized she'd been soaking for a good forty five minutes! She stood up and let the water drip off for a minute before stepping out and grabbing her towel.
She finally emerged from the bathroom wrapped in the towel and Beth took a long whiff of her.
"Mmm, you smell amazing!" she said, before grabbing Carol's hand and dragging her back downstairs to the kitchen where a huge pile of hair clips and jewelry and makeup was lying on the table. She was led to a chair and sat down in it to wait for the girls to do their thing.
Beth tugged back pieces of her hair and clipped, then unclipped and reclipped for a good hour before she stepped back and nodded with a smile. She wouldn't let Carol see yet, not until Maggie got her makeup on. Carol felt like a lab rat with all the prodding and poking Maggies was doing to her face but she had confidence that she knew what she was doing and Lori was offering tips on eyeliner and how to get the eyecolor to blend so two people working on her makeup should have it covered.
Finally, Maggie pulled back, looked her over and nodded with a smile.
"Beautiful!" she exclaimed, "Girls come here and look at this!"
All the ladies came back in the kitchen and oohed and aahed over her before they all dragged her upstairs again to get her in the dress. Only once she was zipped up and comfy in the dress did they let her look in the mirror.
Carol gasped at her reflection and almost started crying again. She couldn't remember the last time she looked like this, like a real woman. She swished the dress around and smiled at herself through lips red as sin from the lipstick Maggie had chosen, her eyes were shaded on the top with tones of copper that made her light green eyes look big and bright. She batted her eyelashes that were curled upwards and black as night from the mascara and grinned when she imagined how Daryl would react to this drastic change in appearance. All she had ever been when he had seen her was the beaten down ragdoll of a woman that her past had made her.
"You guys..." she said softly, "You do a fantastic job!"
"Jewelry!" Andrea squealed as she ran out of the room. She returned seconds later with her hands full of gold and silver and jewels and placed them on the bed where they started digging through and holding it up to Carol's neck, wrists, ears and chest. Lori found a necklace that was a simple thin gold chain with a loop of gold that hung down beneath her clavicle line with a false diamond dangling within. Carol ran her fingers down it and smiled when Andrea handed her the earrings to match. The set was completed by a simple gold chain bracelet that Beth placed on her left wrist.
Just as they went to take her back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on her hair, Rick came in the room looking flustered and annoyed.
"Carol," he said sharply, "I need you to send a message back with me for Daryl."
"Um...what do you want me to say?" Carol asked nervously.
"Tell him to stop being an asshole about getting cleaned up," Rick replied with a slight whine, "He won't even put on the clothes you picked out, Andrea!"
Carol looked at Andrea in surprise, but the blonde simply looked away.
"Ok, tell him I said he better do whatever you guys ask him to do because I'm in here getting pawed over by every female on this farm and if I have to, he has to." Carol offered her message to Rick who nodded and left to relay it.
"We better get Carol locked away before they drag Dixon into the shower," Lori said, shutting the door behind Rick, "It's bad luck to see the bride ahaead of time!"
So Carol spent the next hour and a half locked away while Beth finished her hair and makeup, listening to the sound of the shower next door, Daryl's growling voice from the hall when he came out, and the sound of the boys tromping around getting him ready...she wanted more than anything to just run out of this room and find him at the sound of Daryl's griping.
TWD/TWD/TWD/TWD
Carol was a bundle of nerves as she stood behind the closed door that would open at any moment to her brand new future and she stepped nervously from foot to foot in her white heels. Sophia stood in front of her with a basket of fake flower petals and she was smiling up at her.
"Mom," she said softly, "You look so beautiful! Dad's going to go crazy when he sees you."
Dad? When had Sophia started calling him that? Carol smiled down at her daughter and laughed happily.
"You look lovely too, Sophia," she commented. Sophia was wearing one of Beth's old Sunday dresses and Sophia had squealed with delight when told she could have it. "Dad's going to be mighty surprised at us, isn't he?"
Sophia nodded excitedly and Carol fiddled with the fake daisys Beth had clipped in her hair. Then she heard footsteps on the porch and her heart lept into her throat, making her gap audibly.
"You ready for this?" she heard Andrea's voice from the other side of the door, "You're not going to believe your eyes!"
"Yes, I'm more ready than you can imagine!" Carol replied through the wood. It pushed open and Carol took a deep breath as she stepped out onto the porch. She didn't know how, but they had managed to set up a tent which was completely closed on the side she was approaching from and Andrea made her stop outside of it and then disappeared between the flaps. Carol heard her make the announcement that "the bride is here" and the flaps were slowly pulled apart by Shane and Glenn and she took a deep breath as she followed Sophia's trail of daisy petals into the tent.
If Carol thought her breath had been caught when Andrea had spoken through the door, it was nothing compared to the level of breathlessness she felt when she spotted Daryl at the other side of the tent. That couldn't possibly be the same man. He was standing there with his hands clasped in front of him, back straight and tall, wearing a full suit. Black shoes, pants, jacket with a white button up shirt and even a black tie to match. He was clean and not a speck of dirt was on his face or hands and his hair was tamed down instead of wildly sticking every which way. But the look on his face was what nearly did Carol in. He turned to look at her as she walked in and his face immediately took on a look of absolute admiration, in fact Carol would almost say he was 'glowing' if she knew he wouldn't kill her for it. The surprise wore off his face and was replaced with a tenderness she had never witness on him before and she felt tears stinging her eyes as she came to stand in front of him, her eyes never leaving his as Rick stepped forward to say the words and Daryl reached out and took her hands gently, his gaze never shifting from hers.
"In the times we live in now, moments like this are too far and few between," Rick's voice reached Carol's ears, "So we are truely blessed to be a part of this day. Our good friends, who are like family to us all, have grown close over this period of time when survival is the top thing on everyone's minds and we're all glad to see that there IS still room in this world for life to continue."
Carol nodded in agreement with Rick's speech and she gulped her nervousness down her tight throat. Daryl gave her a twitch of a smile.
"Since this world is not going according to law or tradition anymore, I'm going to ask that the two of you make your vows in whichever way you want," Rick continued, "Daryl...you first. Carol, you'll follow then I will make it official. Please refrain from kissing until I give you the go ahead."
Carol giggled and Daryl rolled his eyes but he cleared his throat and shifted his weight nervously as he gathered his thoughts.
"Carol," he began softly, nervously. Carol squeezed his hands to encourage him "I...I ain't got much t' offer ya and I never will, but there are some things that I can promise ya."
Carol waited for him to continue and he took a deep breath before he did.
"Carol, I promise that I'll love ya no matter what. I can promise ya that I'll be strong for ya when ya can't take another day and I'll never let ya give up. I promise I'll protect ya from the world around us to the best of my ability. I promise I'll treat ya with nothin' but respect and give ya my very best every single day."
Carol felt her smile widening at every single word.
"I know we ain't perfect and we ain't never gonna be," Daryl continued, his voice had leveled out and she knew he had blocked out the rest of the people in the tent with them, "But even when I'm unreasonable or rude or stupid...know that I'll NEVER love you less."
Carol heard a few sniffs from the crowd beside them but she ginored it as she organized the words she wanted to reply with.
"Daryl," she started, her voice quivered with the unshed tears and the tightness of her throat, "I have nothing to offer you either...except for me. I want to give you the love and respect and honor you deserve and I want to be your partner through everything that comes our way. I want to give you my full trust, my full heart and everything else that I possibly can. You're the hero I've dreamed of since I was six years old reading fairy tales and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I love you, Daryl Dixon, and I'm ready to give my life to you."
"Since we have witnessed today that these two have vowed themselves to eachother," Rick stated after a moment of silence, "We will now witness their acceptance of eachother. Daryl, do you take Carol to be your wife, your partner, your help and your future?"
"Yeah, I do," Daryl replied with a crooked grin. Carol's heart did a happy flip.
"And, Carol, do you take Daryl to be your husband, your partner, your help and your future?"
"I do...I very much do!" Carol couldn't help but over emphasize the point and Daryl's grin turned into a full smile.
"Well then...ya'll go on and seal this deal with a kiss!" Rick's proper attitude went out the window and agreements rose from the crowd.
Carol blushed slightly but she felt Daryl's finger under her chin, tilting her up to meet hi halfway as he leaned forward slightly, she kept her eyes open until the last second when their lips met, slowly and gently at first until Daryl's arms were suddenly around her and she found herself being spun around, when she landed back on her feet their kiss had intensified and she felt his tongue slip in just before he pulled back and broke the kiss. Carol knew it had been a promise of things to come. Hoots and wolf whistles and cheers broke out from the crowd the whole time.
"Alright! Let's eat!" Carol shouted when they had settled, and the cheers started back up again as they all headed toward the house, bride, groom and flowergirl following a way behind.
TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD
The "reception" went on for hours and Carol was getting antsy from all the looks Daryl was giving her from across the room. The Greenes pulled out an old wind up record player and they had even had a dance that consisted of old gospel music, big band, Frank Sinatra and Irish folk songs. Carol discovered something about her husband...he could actually dance! Somehow this only made the wait until the night even harder!
Finally, people started throwing them knowing looks and Beth, Carl and Sophia were sent to bed as the party started winding down.
"You know, I read a book once where at wedding ceremonies the single members of the opposite sex undressed the couple and then threw them together in a room," Andrea offered.
"Perfectly capable of undressing him myself, Andrea," Carol shot back, causing Daryl to blush and look at her with disbelief. "And I'm sure he wants the honor of taking off this dress himself."
"Right," Daryl's voice was gruff in her ear a second before she felt her feet leave the floor as she was scooped up in his arms. All eyes turned to them as Daryl backed out of the living room towards the front door.
"It's cold out there, you two," Herschel said with concern, "You an stay in here."
"We'll be plenty warm, Herschel, but thanks anyway," Carol said, wrapping her amrs around Daryl's neck and resting her forehead on his as she looked him the eyes, silently begging him to get them out of there faster.
The living room filled with laughter and wolf whistles again but they were muffled and cut off when the door shut behind them. Daryl set her on her feet and took her hand, pulling her along as they crossed the farm heading to their tent.
Carol was glad they had upgraded tents and that it was lined with blankets to keep out the cold and wind...and kept sounds inside as well. This tent was big enough to stand in and that came in handy when they were finally inside. Daryl immediately pulled her into a kiss as his hands slid up and down her bare arms, then his lips and tongue explored every inch of her neck as he unzipped the back of the dress. Carol let it fall but then pulled away.
"I have to keep this nice," she stated, picking it up and laying it gently on Sophia's sleeping area so it wasn't on the ground. "You should too."
"I ain't never gonna wear this thing again," Daryl stated firmly, "But yeah...I guess..."
Carol had a blast removing his clothing piece by piece. She slowly undid the tie, her eyes locked on his, making all kinds of dirty promises, then she slid the overjacket down his shoulders and laid both peices on top of her dress. Then she slowly unbuttoned the shirt and kissed her way down his front as she undid each one, then tossed it on the pile as well. She stepped back to enjoy the view of his now shirtless form and smiled.
"Alright, I've been waitin' two days for this," Daryl muttered, his hands unbuttoned his pants and Carol grabbed his hands to stop him.
"I've got this," she said with a wink, and she unzipped them and took a hold at the hips while she slid her body and the material down his legs, her lips pressed to his thigh as she did.
"Damn..." Daryl sighed heavily when she stood back up. His eyes flicked over her form and his hands immediately went to her back to undo her bra which fell to the ground seconds later. He bent his head and shoulders to kiss and lick and nip at the tender flesh he had just revealed and Carol let her head drop back and her fingers twisted in his hair, messing it up and making him look so much more like himself.
He leaned back and scanned her face with his steadily darkening blue eyes and grinned as he started removing hair clips and daisies from her hair. When they were all out, he ruffled her short hair playfully.
"Gettin' shaggy there, princess," he commented, "I like it, gives me something to hold onto so I can do this."
And he threaded his fingers quickly into her hair and pulled her head back quickly, but carefully, his mouth hungrily attacking the front of her throat. Carol gasped slightly but then let out a little laugh as his tongue slid across the little bobbing bump of her Adam's apple...if girls could use that term. He murmered into her throat that she smelled amazing and Carol got a whiff of the vanilla bath salts and grinned, wanting to thank Maggie right now.
"Daryl," she whispered gruffly, heat was building in her thighs and other obvious areas, "Enough of your teasing, put that tongue to better use!"
Daryl pulled back, tip of his tongue still poking out between his lips. She pressed a kiss to it and he pulled it back in with a grin.
"Trust me, I will," he said, his voice was deep and calm, tinged with sex, and Carol felt a wetness between her thighs and she groaned with anticipation. "But don't rush, darlin', we're gonna do this right and proper."
"Right an proper?" Carol asked with disbelief.
"Of course," Daryl said quietly, meeting her glare with a calm look. "After all, it's your wedding night."
TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD
Ta da! That turned out pretty good if I do say so myself :)
REVIEW and let me know how this goes over! This is not the end btw...maybe it will never end because this is too fun!