Song of the Day: Acid Wolfpack- Coyote Kisses
Thought of this today working with ItsAnShortyy's prompt (working on yours too TriviaQueen, and I'm actually glad you mentioned that because I was thinking of that a while back but forgot about it!)
Enjoy! :D
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The farm was in an absolute uproar. Daryl stood there in confused silence as people ran around him like chickens with their heads cut off, wondering what he should be doing with himself during this time of insanity. Andrea was yelling down the stairs, demanding something from Glenn who suddenly rushed into the kitchen, Carol flew through the living room towards the stairs with her arms full of blankets, Rick came crashing through the front door and pushed past Carol to take the stairs three at a time, Maggie, Herschel and Patricia were yelling things loudly to each other somewhere upstairs and Lori screamed like a banshee. Sophia's hand tugging on his vest brought him down to earth and he looked down to see her gazing up at him with terrified, wide eyes.
"Daddy, what's going on!?" she asked with a little frightened voice. Daryl smiled and knelt down to meet her eyes at her level.
"Lori's havin' her baby," he said simply, "It's nothing serious."
"It sure sounds serious!" Sophia demanded.
Daryl twisted his lips thoughtfully. Sometimes he had to remind himself that Sophia was thirteen now...not a child anymore.
"Well...it could be serious if anything goes wrong," he agreed, glancing at the stairway as Glenn rushed up them with a basin of water in his hands.
"She sounds like she's dying!" Sophia stated with a frightened look toward the stairs.
"She ain't," Daryl assured her, "But, uh, she's in a hell of a lot of pain. That's just how it always is."
Sophia mulled this over for a minute, taking in the screams and moans and frantic movements upstairs. Finally she met Daryl's eyes and took on a very serious look.
"I don't think I'll ever have a baby then," she stated firmly.
Daryl grinned and ruffled her hair.
"Fine by me, peaches," he laughed, "One less thing I have to worry about."
At that moment Carl came bursting through the door and headed for the stairs. Daryl was up in a flash and grabbed Carl in his arms and pulled him back into the living room. Carl didn't come easily, he lashed out and kicked and clawed and hollered, effectively catching Daryl's jaw with a flailing fist which only made Daryl hold him more firmly.
"Calm down, kid!" he growled.
"What's wrong with her?!" Carl shrieked, "What's happening!? My mom!"
"Yeah, I know, kid," Daryl muttered, "There ain't nothing you can help with up there. Your mom's havin' the baby!"
Carl almost immediately went limp and stopped fighting. He twisted his head to look at Daryl with wide and excited eyes.
"She is?!" he asked brightly, "She's finally having it!?"
"Yup, now I'm gonna let you go and you gotta stay down here until they say you can go up," Daryl said in a no nonsense tone. "Can ya handle that?"
Carl nodded, all the fight was gone out of him.
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Finally, the screaming had stopped and the small group in the living room froze to listen to the silence. A smack and then a shrill cry split the silence and Daryl released the breath he'd been holding, even HE knew a baby was suppose to cry when it was born and the silence had stopped his heart for a moment.
Maggie came down the stairs moment later and smiled at Carl.
"Carl, would you like to meet your little sister?" she asked happily.
Carl nodded and jumped up from the floor where he and Sophia had been playing checkers, he was up those stairs in a flash.
Daryl sighed, glad the whole ordeal was over. He smiled when Carol finally made her way down the stairs with a pile of bloody blankets. He followed her to the laundry room where she placed them in a basket to take out and wash and he followed her outside too in silence.
"Hey you," he finally spoke up. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.
"Hey to you too," she replied as she set the basket down and handed him a bucket. "Can you do me a favor and pump some rinsing water while I go get the warm water?"
"Yes, ma'am," Daryl drawled, taking the bucket with a charming smile.
He watched her walk back to the house and bit the inside of his cheek as he thought carefully. She wasn't acting right...he could really place it but there was something off about her and it had him concerned. She was trying to hide it too and that worried him even more...he was terrible at approaching sensitive subjects and when she tried to keep them from him it was even harder.
He watched her face and her posture and her walk as she returned to the yard with the warm wash water. She looked a little stooped, kind of like she was exhausted, and her face looked kind of...blank? Daryl full out bit his bottom lip as his worry increased.
"You alright, Daryl?" he heard her voice invade his thoughts and he let his lips go and smiled, "You look like you're trying to figure something out."
"Naw, I was just looking at ya," he said truthfully.
Normally, Daryl noted, she would have smiled and blushed and told him to hush or something like that, but this time she just ducked her head and remained silent as she got to her knees and laid the first blanket into the water, turning it red almost immediately. She eyed it with annoyance and sighed as she pulled the blanket out, dumped the bloody water and picked the basin back up to go refill it.
Daryl immediately took the basin from her and murmured that he'd fill it for her. She nodded and turned back immediately to continue her work. Daryl watched her for a few seconds and then headed for the house.
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The next day she was still like that, and the day after was the same. The final straw had been last night when she had flat out snapped at him and shut him down when he had tried to make an advance on her when Sophia was finally asleep. Something was wrong and Daryl was determined to get to the bottom of it. So he found himself climbing the ladder of the RV and sitting heavily down next to Andrea. All-knowing Andrea.
"Is this about Carol?" Andrea asked immediately. Daryl looked at her in awe, jaw slack.
"How did...?" he started but she just gave him a sad grin.
"Don't think I haven't seen her moping around, running on auto=pilot these last few days, sweet cheeks," she said sadly.
Daryl decided to let the term of endearment slide this time and he gave her a puzzled look.
"What's wrong with her, Andrea?" he asked in desperation, "She'll barely speak to me! And she definitely won't let me even touch her lately! I don't know what I did."
"You didn't do anything," Andrea sighed, "She talked to me about it a few days ago, before this big hullabaloo with the baby and I meant to tell you but...well, we all got distracted by Judith."
"Wait, this has been brewing for a week!?" Daryl squeaked in shock. Fuck...what the hell had he done!?
"Yeah..." Andrea looked sheepish, "I'm sorry, I meant to talk to you, I really did!"
Daryl nodded heavily and ran a hand down his face to release some of the stress building up inside him.
"Well it's too late for 'meant to'," he muttered, "Tell me now."
Andrea glanced around to see if Carol was anywhere around and nodded when she spotted her skinning potatoes on the front porch. She turned her chair to face Daryl and leaned down slightly so he could hear when she lowered her voice.
"She told me...Daryl, the woman loves you like crazy, but there are some things you need to work on," Andrea began, "She came to me about a week ago and told me that she felt kind of cheap lately. Now, let me explain before you freak out! Here's the deal, Dixon, I know you're not use to this whole relationship thing but I KNOW you're capable of it...Carol wants some romance."
"But we..." Daryl tried to defend...well, defend something!
"I don't mean sex, Daryl," Andrea shook her head, "I mean romace. Yes, they are, or at least they CAN be, different things. She told me she knows you love her, she doesn't doubt that at all, but she wishes you'd show her sometimes."
"What does she think I'm doing when...?!" Daryl started to snap but Andrea smacked his shoulder slightly to shut him up.
"Hush," she hissed, "Yes, that may be one way to show her, but what about showing her you love her for her personality? In this world lately we don't have the luxury of fancy restaurants and movie theaters so it takes a little bit of thought to be romantic."
Comprehension clicked in Daryl's mind and he thought back to the night he'd asked her to marry him...he'd never seen her so happy and it had nothing to do with the physical aspect, it was the atmosphere. God...he was such an ass! He leaned his forehead down on his hands and rubbed his eyes with his palms and groaned.
"Fuck..." he said quietly, "You're totally right, Andrea. She doesn't deserve this shit!"
"Then change this shit," Andrea suggested simply, lifting his chin with her finger.
Daryl nodded in determination and stood up, heading for the ladder.
"Thanks, Andrea," he said honestly, "Sometimes you're pretty helpful...when you ain't tryin' to shoot my head off."
He grinned as she started hollering at him and he slid down the ladder with a laugh, plans already starting to swirl in his mind of how to take his woman on a date. An honest to God date with no intention of getting in her pants.
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"Alright, ya can look now," Daryl said with a grin as he removed his hand from over Carol's eyes. She stood there in silence as she eyed the thick blanket swinging gently in the breeze between the two trees.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Thought ya'd know a hammock when ya saw one," Daryl teased, giving her a playful poke in the ribs. She looked at him in confusion as he pulled her gently towards the makeshift hammock but she followed in silence.
He made sure she was settled in and balance then he handed her the box he'd brought along while he carefully joined her in the large, swinging blanket. He grinned and took the box back from her, opening it so she couldn't see in and he was glad to see a spark of curiosity in her eyes as she craned her head trying to see.
"Quit peekin'," Daryl laughed, tipping the box towards his chest to conceal the contents. He wanted to growl in frustration when Carol's expression became contrite and she hung her head. He shook his head to rid the feeling and pulled the first item out of the box. A slightly dirty, yet still soft and fluffy stuffed brown teddy bear with a bright red bowtie.
Carol took the offered bear with a confused look on her face but he saw the hint of a smile on her lips as she eyed the bear.
"I just...it was left behind in one of the stores in town and it felt wrong to leave it," he explained, "Gives you something to cuddle with when I ain't there when ya wake up cause I'm out hunting."
Carol test cuddled the bear and her eyes fell shut softly, her face looked peaceful and calm and Daryl felt his heart warm at the sight. There was the Carol he knew and loved.
But when she raised her head and opened her eyes, there was that blank look that had been troubling him the last few days. He moved on, taking the next item from the box. He handed the small, velvet box to her.
Carol flipped it open and he heard her little breathy gasp of surprise when she saw the glitter of the emerald bracelet inside. She lifted it out of the box and held it up in the moonlight, and Daryl saw her chin tremble a little before she smiled a soft smile and started trying to put it on. He reached out and gently took her wrist in his hands, he took the bracelet from her and clipped it on her wrist slowly, he suddenly felt very clumsy as he fiddled with the tiny clasp, but he sighed happily when it clicked.
"Emeralds match your eyes," he said, feeling like the words sounded foreign on his tongue. But he held back the hand that desired to badly to reach out and pull her into him and he nibbled the corner of his lips in silence, waiting for her to say something...anything. But she remained silent.
"And, um, one more thing," he finally moved on, reaching into the box one last time. He pulled out the familiar rectangular flat package and handed it to her, Hershey's logo up. Her eyes lit up and her mouth dropped open as she stared at the white letters. She took it with a trembling hand and ran her fingertips over it gently before finally raising her eyes to meet his.
"Thank you, Daryl," she whispered and Daryl felt a bit of relief flood over him at those first spoken words which ended the long period of silence.
He figured now was an appropriate time to finally let his hands have a little freedom and he reached out to pull her into his chest, laying back in the blanket with her halfway on top of him, he pressed his lips gently to her temple and nuzzled his nose into her hair, inhaling her scent. And he stopped there, not asking any more of her as he reached behind him to push the tree and make the hammock swing slightly then pulled the other blanket he'd brought over them to keep out the November night air. Carol's head rested on his chest and he started to twist his fingers through her hair as he looked up at the stars, thinking of what to do next. That's when he felt the warm wetness starting to seep through the material of his shirt and he felt a tiny little spasm in the shoulder his hand was resting on and he felt a jolt of dismay shoot through him. Carol was crying...and she was trying to hide it. He gently pushed her shoulder back, rolling her slightly to the side and ducked his head slightly to look at her face. There were thick tears dripping off her chin, their wet trails tracking down her cheeks, he immediately leaned in and kissed them away, the saltiness on his tongue just reminded him of how little he deserved her...he always seemed to make her cry.
"Carol," he whispered, his own voice starting to get choked up, "I'm sorry I'm such a fuck up, babes. I...I know I need to work on being a better husband. I'm trying, Carol, I really am!"
To his surprise, she looked up at him and looked extremely confused.
"What?" she whispered thickly.
"Andrea told me what you told her earlier this week," he replied with a sigh, "You're right...I was treating you like you're cheap and you're fuckin' NOT! You're priceless and..."
And then the entire situation went from bad to worse when Carol suddenly burst into loud, uncontrollable, body wracking sobs. Daryl had absolutely no idea what to do, or what the hell he'd said wrong.
"Shit! Shit, Carol, what do you want from me?!" he finally lost all sense of resolution and he felt his throat constrict tightly and his eyes stung as unbidden tears started to slip over his lower lashes and slide pathetically down his face. He hated this. He hated that he'd made her cry and he hated that he was fuckin' crying! Dixons don't cry. Not Daryl Dixon anyway. But then again...nothing had ever hurt this bad before, it was worse than any beating he'd ever received, worse than any cruel words from Merle or either of his parents, worse than that arrow ripping through his side, worse than tearing open his leg. He'd never known anything could hurt this much.
He didn't know when it had happened but when he returned to reality, his face was pressed into Carol's shoulder and his entire body was shaking with the force of the emotional overflow he was caught up in, he vaguely registered he'd soaked her shoulder with tears but somehow he didn't care. He really didn't give a shit that she was seeing him like this anymore.
"Daryl," he heard Carol whisper, softly...sadly. "Daryl, don't. Please, look at me."
Daryl took a deep, steadying breath and forced himself to lean back to meet her eyes. She was looking at him in sad surprise and her hands went to either side of his face, her thumbs wiped away the wet drops still slipping down his cheeks.
"Oh, Daryl, this isn't anything you've done," she said softly, her voice was thick with emotion. "I...this is all my fault. I'm completely to blame."
Daryl wanted to tell her to stop talking crazy but his throat refused to open and allow him to speak. Carol's eyes dropped down to the space between them and she dropped her hands slowly.
"I'm worthless," she whispered, almost so softly he didn't hear it. He felt his throat release at that moment and he immediately lifted her face back up.
"Carol," he said in utter disbelief, "What the hell did you just say?"
"I'm worthless, Daryl!" she snapped angrily, and Daryl almost withdrew his hand in shock, but he fought the urge. However, she jerked her chin away and gazed out over the field. "Look around us, Daryl. We're an endangered species. Who knows how many actual people are left in the world? Here's Lori, having a beautiful baby girl...a hope for the future. But me...weak, emotional, infertile me, I'm sitting here wasting your potential."
Daryl's eyes had widened to their maximum by this point so he let the shocked energy go into letting his jaw drop open and letting his head begin to slowly shake back and forth. He couldn't believe what she was saying.
"Carol..." he tried to console her but she raised a hand for silence.
"No, Daryl, don't even deny it," she sighed heavily, almost sounding...accepting. "You're young and strong and handsome. You could have anyone. I mean, come on, it's practically our duty to save our species and here's you...wasting your time with me. I can NEVER. HAVE. KIDS. DARYL!"
And that's when the whole situation made sense. Of course, seeing Lori have her baby and watching the two of them so happy together and watching Rick and Carl's reaction must have torn her apart. Holy shit...
"Oh my god, Carol," he breathed quietly, gently snaking his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest firmly. Surprisingly, she didn't try to resist and simply melted into him as all her strength drained. He let her snuggle into him in silence for a very long time, her occasional sob would send another jolt through him and he'd close it eyes and let it pass.
Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.
"Carol, here's what I have to say about this. Fuck the world."
She sniffed and looked up at him from her spot on his chest.
"Fuck everyone's ideals about perfect couples. Fuck the idea of repopulation. Fuck Lori and that squalling doll of hers. But, most of all, fuck your thinkin' you're worthless!"
At this point he took hold of her shoulders and pushed her back enough to lock eyes with her. He was practically glaring, her knew, but he was so pissed he couldn't even imagine looking at her any other way.
"Now you listen to me and you listen good! I know seein' Lori and her baby brought up some really sore points but you gotta stop thinking that anything is ever gonna make me want you less. I don't give a shit if you can't have kids, and I don't give a shit about our age difference! Now stop your crying and just accept the fact that you're stuck with me because, to me, you're the most precious thing I have and I am never letting you go."
He immediately felt bad for his harsh tone and released her shoulders, looking away as he calmed himself down. He felt her eyes boring into the side of his face so he closed his eyes tight and started taking steadying breaths...and then he felt the feather light brush of her lips on his cheek and the anger melted away immediately and he sunk back into the hammock.
"I...I..." Carol's voice was soft in his ear as she laid down next to him, the tip of her nose just barely touching the arch of his right ear, her breath tickled but he remained still. "I love you."
He smiled widely and rolled onto his side to face her, she was looking at him with a sad, but loving expression.
"Tell me we're gonna be ok," he demanded softly.
And then she smiled...a genuine smile that managed to make it through her sadness. She brought a hand to his chest and she took a handful of his shirt in her fist and she scooted closer to nuzzle her nose into his neck.
"We're going to be ok," she whispered, "But I honestly think it's a waste to keep all your genes to yourself."
"My genes are shit anyway," Daryl muttered with a chuckle, "Probably best to end them with me."
Carol giggled and Daryl thought it was the most amazing sound he'd heard in a very long time.
"If I could have a baby, I'd want a boy with beautiful blue eyes and your nose," she whispered after a moment of silence.
Daryl chewed his bottom lip quietly and pulled her a little closer.
"I'm sorry I can't give that to you," he whispered finally, and he realized how true it was. "But...Sophia has blue eyes."
Carol laughed lightly.
"You want to know something?" she whispered like it was a sacred secret, "I use to see Ed in her eyes every time I looked in them...but I can't even remember what he even looked like anymore. I do see you in her eyes."
Daryl grinned, he felt his chest puff up slightly on its own. Ed had cast a long shadow on him from the moment he'd noticed this woman and he wondered if he could ever slip out from under it completely...and at that moment he felt himself achieve that freedom. There was nothing left of Ed Peletier on this earth. Even his own flesh and blood daughter was Daryl's now...maybe there WAS a God up there watching over them after all.
"So...for real though," he suddenly thought of something, "Were you serious about what you told Andrea?"
"I never told Andrea anything," Carol said quietly, "But...I was starting to feel a little bit...boring. I needed this. I don't know how she knew."
Daryl cast a glare in the direction of the RV. He'd made a trip into town today and that blonde meddler was just LUCKY she was right this time.
"Hey," Carol's whisper made him turn his attention back to her. She was holding up the Hershey's bar. "Wanna share?"
Daryl smiled and took the bar from her and opened it slightly, just enough to break off the first piece. He held it out between his thumb and index finger and ran the edge along her bottom lip, smiling as she gently opened her mouth just enough for the thin segment to slip through and come to rest on her tongue. She let it sit there for a bit, savoring the rich, sweet smoothness spreading over her tongue as it melted slowly. Daryl watched her face as her eyes dropped shut in ecstasy from the taste and the release of hormones the magic little treat triggered and he licked his lips as a thought flitted into his mind.
He set the chocolate bar down carefully so she wouldn't feel the movement and then he took his now free hands and cupped her face, leaning in quickly to capture her mouth with his, his tongue instantly slipping into her mouth to dislodge the block of chocolate from its spot on hers. He tasted the sweetness of chocolate mixed with the natural sweetness of Carol's mouth and he saw little sparks behind his eyes as he twisted his tongue around both her tongue and the sweet square. He smiled slightly when Carol began to get into it, then she clamped her lips closed on his tongue and sucked gently as she leaned back.
"Get your own," she whispered as she held up a piece of the chocolate bar. Daryl smiled a crooked smile and wondered at what point she'd broken that off! But she wiggling it slightly, bouncing it on his lips and he didn't really care when she did it...she was just amazing like that. He parted his lips and took the chocolate between his teeth, then tipped his head back to let it fall into his mouth. He grinned cheekily at her and winked.
"I liked your piece better," he said playfully.
"Mmhm, I bet," Carol laughed and he thought she blushed but it was kind of hard to tell in the moonlight.
And they were quiet for a while as they savored the long denied flavor, each lost in their own thoughts. Daryl's thoughts were mostly of Carol and he kept glancing over at her then back up at the stars then to her again. Then he glanced over and found her looking at him too and he grinned, pulling her closer. He was pleasantly surprised when she reached an arm over to his other side and awkwardly propped herself up on her hand as the hammock wiggled with the movement then leaned down to claim his lips in a gentle, easy kiss. No tongue, no nips...just sweet and simple and almost innocent. So totally Carol.
"This is a really good date idea," she whispered as she pulled back slightly, "Can we please do stuff like this more often?"
"Do I always have to be the one to come up with the idea?" Daryl asked, "Because I only have so much imagination."
Carol laughed and kissed the tip of his nose like she did sometimes when she thought he was "cute".
"Don't worry, princess," she teased, "I'll take you out sometimes too."
"Oh, hush," Daryl laughed as he pulled her down onto his chest and flicked her ear in fake punishment.
After a while, they agreed it was time to go get Sophia and get some sleep. Daryl had been so tempted to suggest they experiment what sex in a hammock would be like, but he kept him mouth shut and felt pretty proud of himself for it and seeing Carol smiling like she was now was totally worth it. As they walked back towards the house, each holding a blanket and Carol holding her teddy bear, he leaned over and kissed her softly on her cheek.
"I love you too, by the way."
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Well...I feel REALLY good about this chapter! Hope it's up to par and satisfying for ya'll as much as it was to me. Leave me your thoughts and keep those prompts and suggestions coming! :D