I have no clue where this idea came from...but I think this has some potential to be really funny, so I'm gonna write it :)
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Carol and Sophia had just finished the entire group's laundry and it was still only about noon, they hung them all up to dry in record time and now Sophia was sitting on a stump just kicking her feet back and forth looking bored as all get out. Carol sighed, it WAS a pretty slow day.
"Sophia, we're done here if you want to go play," Carol suggested.
"Ok, mom, I'm gonna go find Carl," Sophia replied with a smile. "But I think he has homework to do today."
A few minutes later, Carol saw Sophia and Carl sitting on the porch with a stack of paper and she wondered vaguely what they were doing. Sophia leaned over and started drawing and Carol figured that was all it was so she headed to their campsite to clean up the tent and shake out the bedding...Daryl tended to track in a lot of dirt chunks and leaves.
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"Hey, Carol, come on up here and talk to me," Andrea called down from the RV when Carol made her way back to the yard. "I'm bored as Hell!"
Carol laughed, but she had to agree that she wasn't all that busy so she climbed up and settled down next to Andrea.
"Seen anything interesting?" she asked.
"Well...that depends on what counts as interesting," Andrea replied with a wink.
"Oh?" Carol sensed some juicy gossip, whoever was on watch saw everything that went on.
Andrea leaned over with a twinkle in her eye, but didn't even bother lowering her voice.
"Maggie and Glenn disappeared into the stable a few minutes ago," she said with a grin, "They go in there the same time almost every single day. Once I put my ear up to the wall and, let me tell you, those two go at it like rabbits!"
Carol giggled and covered her hand with her mouth.
"T-Dog was down in the cellar earlier," Andrea continued, "Sometimes he goes down there and sneaks a little extra before dinner."
Carol gasped and laughed.
"Andrea! Do you know ALL the farm's dirty little secrets?" she asked in amazement.
Andrea grinned wickedly.
"I spend almost all day up here, Carol," she replied, "And everyone is so use to it that they don't even think about it."
"Good grief! What kind of dirt do you have on Lori?" Carol asked, caught up in the old familiar feeling of gossiping with a good friend.
"She stays in the house mostly," Andrea admitted with a disappointed half smile. "To get the goods on her, I'd say ask Patricia."
Carol giggled and looked out over the field and her heart squeezed happily at the sight of Daryl strutting across the field with a string full of small animals, she could tell he was feeling good by the strut in his walk.
"Looks like someone had a good hunt," Andrea commented, grinning knowingly.
"Mmhmm," Carol mumbled without really paying attention, her eyes glued on the approaching figure. She smiled at him as he passed the RV and he gave her a grin and a wink in return.
"Carol, you're drooling a little," Andrea teased, bringing Carol back to reality. She shook her head and gave Andrea her attention.
"I'm sorry, Andrea," she said meekly, "I can't help it...I like to look at him."
"Don't we all?" Andrea laughed, her eyes following Daryl to the log where he began skinning the creatures he'd caught.
"You can look all you want, but you better never touch," Carol warned with amusement. She watched him work, hands deftly working to remove the skin without taking the meat with it, his tongue stuck out in concentration, his brow scrunched as he worked. "God...he just...exudes pheromones. Can't keep my hands off him!"
"Exudes pheromones?!" Andrea burst into laughter and Carol blushed when Daryl gave them a knowing look out of the corner of his eyes.
"Shut it, you," Carol blushed brightly, "He's gonna know we're talking about him!"
"Oh, trust me, he already knows," Andrea waved her hand in dismissal. Carol laughed and she spent a good amount of time chatting and gossiping with Andrea about everyone in the group. Only when Carl came running from the house with a handful of papers and climbed into the RV did they stop and Carol climbed down and headed into the house to help make dinner with Patricia.
Sophia came into the kitchen a few minutes later and sat down at the table, grabbing the potato peeler without hesitation and started peeling said potatoes. Carol and Patricia stood at the sink washing more potatoes and carrots.
Carol remembered Andrea's suggestion of asking Patricia about Lori's daily activities and the two women got to gossiping happily as they sliced veggies.
"Ya'll are like a couple of old hens, standin' around cacklin' about everyone's business," Daryl's voice cut into their discussion and the two women jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around looking utterly sheepish.
"Oh, come on, Daryl," Carol rolled her eyes with a smile, "What else is there to do on a slow day like this?"
"How about cook up these?" Daryl held up the freshly skinned and cleaned mix of small animals. "Squirrel, rabbit...possum."
"Possum?" Patricia took said creature with a hesitant look. "Well...we just won't tell anyone what it is."
Daryl nodded and washed his hands in the sink while Carol piled the meat in a bowl to clean, then he turned and ruffled Sophia's hair before he left the house. Carol wondered where he was going as she craned her head to watch the back of his jeans for as long as possible.
"Mm, mm, mm," Patricia said with a grin when Carol straightened up again, "That boy's got an ass so tight you bounce a dime on it."
Carol looked at Patricia in shocked amusement.
"Patricia! You been eyein' my man?"
"We all have, Carol," Patricia laughed, "It's kind of hard not to. Don't worry though, we know better than to get on your bad side."
"I can't say I blame you for looking," Carol grinned, "He's pretty much sex embodied."
Patricia laughed loudly and Carol grinned as she began washing off the possum.
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The next morning, Carol woke up and had a mini heart attack when she looked over Daryl's shoulder and noticed Sophia was gone. She grabbed Daryl's arm and shook him roughly.
"Daryl! Where's Sophia!?" she squealed in panic. Daryl's eyes shot open and he placed his hands on her forearms to calm her down.
"Relax, Carol," he said sleepily, "She's fine. She wanted to see Carl about something so I walked her to the house. Ok? Relax."
The adrenaline stopped pumping and Carol felt her muscles relax and her mind stopped running through possible, terrible scenarios. She scooted closer to the warmth of Daryl's body and buried her face in his chest.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I was just scared there for a minute."
"Understandable," Daryl muttered, then she felt his chest rise and he yawned.
"Why aren't you hunting?" Carol asked sleepily.
"Wanted to spend the morning with you," Daryl replied, sounding equally tired. "But, actually, I don't think I can stay awake."
"Just hold me," Carol replied, smiling into his shirt and wiggling closer to him to escape the chilly air of the October morning. "Spending time with me doesn't always require sex, you know?"
"Not always," Daryl chuckled, "But as often as possible, right?"
Carol giggled, but her eyes dropped closed as sleep once again claimed her.
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When Carol woke up later that morning, Daryl was gone so she got dressed and headed to the house for breakfast.
But...she knew something was wrong before she even made it to the yard because the entire group was on the porch with Carl and Sophia sitting on the porch swing looking shocked and contrite. Lori was standing behind the children with her hands on their shoulders and Carol heard angry tones before she could make out words and she started running.
"What's going on here?" she demanded when she reached the steps, Sophia looked at her wide-eyed and hung her head.
"Did you know about this?" Andrea asked angrily, waving a sheet of notepaper in her face, Carol leaned back and tried to read what it said.
"This is the most humiliating thing I've ever seen!" Maggie groaned as she handed Carol the paper she was holding much more calmly than Andrea. Carol took it with some hesitation and started reading the childish script under the impressively drawn title "The Daily Moo: News from the Farm".
When she had finished reading the headline, she knew why everyone was so upset, it read "Everyone's Got Their Secrets". Carol read on in horror as the words she and Andrea and Patricia had exchanged on the RV and in the kitchen swirled before her eyes in the childish handwriting on the paper.
"Oh...my goodness..." Carol groaned, running her hand through her hair as she lowered the paper with a sigh. "This is...so embarrassing."
"What are you two going to do about this?" Herschel asked, "This is as much your responsibility as theirs!"
Carol backed up to stand next to Lori and behind Sophia, placing her hands on Sophia's shoulders to soothe her because she looked absolutely miserable.
"Would ALL of you just please give us some space and let us handle this?" Lori spoke up angrily, "We're both very much aware of your concerns now so please...let us work this out."
The group dispersed slowly and the two mothers sighed heavily.
"Carl, what were you thinking?" Lori asked wearily, "How could you write this?"
"And you, Sophia," Carol stated sadly, "Didn't you think about how this was going to sound?"
The kids both remained silent and sullen and Carol was glad to see Rick and Daryl walking up from the barn, returning from whatever they had been doing. The two women each got their children up and off the porch, stomping angrily towards their husbands with their terrified children in tow.
"Mom, please don't tell daddy!" Sophia begged, humiliated tears spilling down her face.
"He's gonna be so mad!" Carl whined, tugging against Lori. "Please, mom!"
"You two dug your own graves," Lori snapped back at her son, who fell silent again immediately.
"Hey, ladies, what's..." Rick began but Lori's shrill and angry explanation cut him off and she pushed Carl forward, handing Rick a copy of the paper.
Daryl looked at Carol with his "What the fuck?" expression and she too handed him the paper, although silently. Lori was dragging Rick and Carl off towards the barn so Carol remained where they were are Daryl read the kid-written gossip column. She watched his expression go from confused to comprehension to amusement ending up with him laughing loudly.
"Daryl! This is NOT funny!" Carol said, horrified at his reaction. "Sophia and Carl have upset the entire group!"
"Oh, Carol, this is priceless," Daryl didn't stop laughing, he covered his mouth with his hand as he continued to read. Carol was mad at his immaturity, but she had also never seen him laugh so hard and it was a very nice sight. His eyes squinted, causing adorable lines to crinkle in the corners and his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth, which she would never understand how they were so white. His laugh was much higher pitched than his speaking voice, she already knew but she'd never heard him actually have trouble breathing from laughing so hard. She glanced at Rick and Lori who were looking over in surprise.
"Stop it, Daryl!" she snapped angrily, but he just cut it down to a series of chuckles.
"So I 'exude pheromones', huh?" Daryl asked with a grin, he leaned down to Sophia, "Spelled it wrong, 'Phia. It's not an f, it's a ph."
"DARYL!" Carol growled loudly, and she was glad to see him finally take on a serious look as he straightened back up.
"Alright, Carol," he said with a sigh, "Calm down."
"I was calm until you pulled that laughing shit!" Carol replied angrily, "You were suppose to do something about this, not encourage her!"
"And what exactly do you want me to do about it?" Daryl asked, "I didn't even know anything about this until now."
"Well, she needs to be punished," Carol reasoned, "We can't just let this go."
Daryl rubbed his chin and gazed down at Sophia thoughtfully.
"Let me ask you something," Daryl said slowly, "What exactly are we punishing her for?"
"For telling all these stories!" Carol said in exasperation.
"Are they lies?" Daryl went on, "We all know Maggie and Glenn fuck like rabbits in that stable. We all know Andrea watches and knows everyone's business. We all know Lori spends half the day sleeping. The only surprise here is T-Dog's lifting food from the cellar."
Carol gaped at him.
"And the fact that Patricia thinks my ass is tight enough to bounce a penny off of," he added with a wink.
"A dime," Carol said miserably, the whole thing was slowly falling into place.
"Huh?" Daryl cocked and eyebrow.
"Oh my gosh," Carol groaned, covering her face with her hands. "This is all my fault."
"Yep," Daryl nodded sympathetically, pulling Carol into a hug. "It is, but it's also Andrea's and Patricia's, so I think the three of you have the responsibility to make it right."
"I'm so sorry, Daryl," Carol said miserably.
"Hey, I'm fine with it," Daryl laughed, his chest vibrating under Carol's ear. "I already knew you think I'm...what was it...'sex embodied'."
Carol smacked his arm and laughed, the hilarity of the situation didn't make it any less embarrassing.
"I guess I better gather everyone up and explain that this is all my fault," she sighed heavily.
"Mom," Sophia said quietly, her voice sounded choked. "It was Carl's and my fault too. We wrote it."
"And you'll both be standing right there with your mom, Andrea and Patricia when people get the real story," Daryl assured her with a firm look, "Come on."
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After Carol's explanation of the children overhearing the gossip the three women had spread about, everyone turned their anger towards her. Carol nodded silently as insults and anger were hurled in her direction from the group, after all it was her who had dug up the dirt out of boredom and she figured she probably deserved it.
"Carol, how dare you accuse me of sleeping all day!?"
"What Glenn and I do on our own time is our business!"
"I don't eat that much!"
"Shane and I aren't dating and if we were it's not your business anyway!"
Carol hung her head as tears threatened to spill and she suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her from behind.
"That's fuckin' enough!" Daryl's growl cut off the others. "Don't you even for a second think you can talk to her like that! This is as much your faults as hers, Sophia's or Carl's, you assholes. Every one of you, gossipin', sneakin' around, stickin' your noses into other people's business, talkin' shit about everyone else...not one of ya'll is innocent in this!"
The group fell silent, some head hung and some became stiff and indignant.
"She just admitted she..." Lori began.
"I don't fuckin' care!" Daryl yelled, making everyone in the room visibly jump. Carol could feel every muscle in his body tense in rage, "At least she has the balls to admit she was wrong. I don't see anyone else steppin' up to take their share of the blame."
Carol wanted so badly to smile at his protectiveness as he pulled her back from the group towards the door, but she didn't think that would help her case right now so she remained contrite and quiet.
"You all can work this shit out however you want," Daryl said darkly as he took Sophia's hand and turned her and Carol towards the door to the porch. "But you keep my family out of it if you're gonna act like this."
And with that, Carol felt him firmly push her back, herding her and Sophia out the door. Carol felt a bubble of pride in her chest and she finally let herself smile.
"Thank you, Daryl," she whispered as they walked back to their campsite.
Daryl nodded once, sharply. Carol knew it was enough, he wasn't looking for thanks or praise or approval...he was only doing what he felt was the best for his family and he was getting pretty damn good at it.
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Alrighty, I'm starving now because I refused to eat until I finished this chapter! Going to get some spinach and artichoke dip now. Reviews are boss. Let me know what you want to see, for real...need some suggestions, prompts, etc. GO!