My internet worked for the most part yesterday but I couldn't get my fanfiction to load! I heard it was out for several other people too so it must have just been a site issue. Anyway, we are down to the last twenty one chapters I believe! Makes me almost sad!

Chapter Fifty Seven

Once they all filed out of the clinic they stopped to talk about what they needed to do for dinner. It was getting late and everyone was in a celebratory mood. Carol looked dazed and Daryl completely understood. He felt that way himself. Up until now, he didn't think the reality of all of this had really sunk in. Sure, he knew that she was pregnant. He knew that the baby she carried was his. He knew, but hadn't really grasped what all of it really meant until he was looking right at it. He'd just stared his son right in the face. The thought had him stunned.

"We should hit that steakhouse outside of town," Merle suggested. "We need to celebrate."

Everyone seemed to be in complete agreement. Daryl and Carol had ridden in together in the truck and as everyone piled in their own vehicles the two of them were still standing there. Once the others were gone he looked down, meeting her eyes. They were wide and clear, reflecting the blue of the sky. "Are you okay?" She asked suddenly.

He blinked in surprise. "I think so. Just a lot to take in."

"Would you rather just go home? We can call Buck and tell him we just want to be alone. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea. You don't know how awful it can get when we all go out together."

"Oh trust me, I can just imagine." She made the call as he drove towards home. He felt stoned. There was a strange nebulous feeling in his chest, like it was filled with helium. When the house came into view he saw it in a different light. There had always been an air of the past that seemed to cling to the eaves. It had been a little dark. Now it felt like a different house. There was a lightness there. He could see himself raising a family here. Really see it. It wasn't just an idea anymore. It was real. Very very real. He had a son. Not one that he could touch just yet but he was real all the same. An actual person. A living breathing part of himself. Flesh and blood and bone and very real. And he even knew the sound of Daryl's voice. Reacted to that sound because it was familiar.

He swallowed hard and killed the engine, still staring at the house. The large yard enclosed on three sides by the woods. The sun shining off the windows in the tower, causing him to squint. "You wanna get married?" He blurted, not putting much thought into the words but meaning them with everything in him. He glanced over at her.

She was staring at him with wide eyes, her lips parted in a silent gasp. "What?"

"Do you wanna get married?" He repeated even though he knew she heard him the first time.

She blinked and then searched his face. "You mean eventually?"

He shook his head. "No. Now."

Her brows pulled together in a frown. "What?"

"Now."

"Daryl, we can't just get married now. You have to get a marriage license and you have to-"

"Where do you get one of those then? We can get one now."

She was still staring at him and then the horrible realization that maybe she didn't want to marry him crossed his mind. He'd asked her and she hadn't said yes and now she was telling him why they couldn't do it.

"Forget it," he said quickly. "That was stupid. I don't know what the fuck I was thinkin'. It's been a weird day." He tried to laugh but it sounded strained.

She shook her head. "You can't ask me to marry you and then tell me to forget it!"

"Yeah I can."

"No you can't!" She exclaimed, sliding across the seat as he opened the door to jump down. "Daryl!"

He turned, reaching up and gripping her by the waist so he could help her down. He really needed to just start using her car, even though he hated it. He couldn't have her jumping out of this monster when she was huge. He gripped her hand and started leading her to the porch.

"Stop!" She yelled, jerking him to a stop and hurrying around him so he had to look at her.

He raised a brow. "I was just fuckin' around," he said quickly, wishing she would drop it. What the hell had he been thinking?

"I know your fucking around face Daryl Dixon and that was not your fucking around face," she said, hands on her hips.

He growled and tried to step around her but she stepped in front of him. "What do you want me to say? You said no so I'm tryin' to save face here. Goddamn, you really wanna rub my nose in it?"

Her mouth dropped open. "I did not say no!"

"Lets just go in, okay? I'm starvin'."

"Do you really want to get married?" She asked, eyes wide. "To me?"

He shook his head, "I told you I was fucking around."

"I want to. If you were serious I mean. I want to," she said eagerly. "But I don't want to if you're only doing this because I'm pregnant. I've already went down that road and it didn't work out. I want you to want to do it because you-"

"I love you," he said suddenly. "I know this whole thing is so goddamn fucked up, been fucked up from the get go, but it don't change the fact that you're the first person I've given a fuck about. Ever. Well, that ain't true. I love my family, even though they're a bunch of bastards a lot of the time, but other than them, you're it. I didn't even think I ever could, then you showed up and I did. I knew that you were it even before I found out about him," he nodded towards her stomach. "I knew you were it that night in your goddamn room. And I've known every fuckin' day since then. The more time goes by the more intense it gets. I want to..."

She teared up, sniffling delicately. "That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard."

He rolled his eyes. "You're always leakin'."

"You're always making me leak," she mumbled, swiping at her eyes.

With a heavy sigh he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into him.

"Do you really want to do this?" She asked, her voice muffled because her face was pressed into his chest.

"Yeah. I mean, fuck, we kinda done it all backwards. Least this way we're doin' somethin' in order."

"Did it just come to you out of the blue?" She asked, still pressed against him.

"Yeah." There was no sense in lying.

"And you're sure that's what you really want to do?"

"I know I don't want you walkin' around with another man's last name. I know that there ain't ever gonna be anybody else. Why not?"

"When?"

He shrugged. "Whenever."

"This is crazy," she muttered, finally looking up at him. "But it is very us."

He studied her carefully. "Fuck it. We're on a roll so why stop with a kid, right?"

She laughed and pulled away, dragging him towards the door. Once they were inside he sat down heavily on the couch. It had been an emotionally exhausting day. She surprised him when she climbed right onto his lap, straddling his hips. He definitely wasn't too exhausted for that. Mentally he was tired, physically, yeah, he could definitely handle anything physical. His body responded immediately. "First things first. We need to talk about the girls Birthday. I don't know what to get her. She's so different now."

He met her eyes, his brows coming together in a frown. "Guess I shoulda mentioned that sooner."

"What?"

"She wants a car," he said with a shrug.

She sighed heavily. "That's just great. How am I going to afford a car? June pays me a lot better than she should but that's a lot of money."

He averted his eyes. "We built Piper one. Been workin' on it for a while now. We actually just got it finished. It wasn't easy hidin' it from her either but we managed. She has no idea."

Carol's face fell further. "Damn it. You built her one?"

He nodded. "Sixty nine Plymouth Roadrunner. She's wanted one since she was fuckin' four and Merle took her to her first car show. It's pretty bad ass. Green metal flake paint job, black hood stripes. That kinda car could give a man a boner quick."

"Maybe I can get a small loan. I wish I had more time."

He sighed, realizing that this was one of those times he possibly could have fucked up without realizing it. "You ain't gotta do that."

"Daryl, she would never ever say anything but it would probably crush her to have to watch Piper get a car while I give her, what? Some clothes? I had no idea that getting a car was important to her. She never tells me anything because she doesn't want to stress me out. Why didn't you say anything to me when she told you?"

"Well, cause I didn't think about it."

She looked hurt. "I know that this is all new to you, and I don't expect you to be perfect but you really shouldn't have blown this off."

He scowled. "I didn't blow it off. She's got the damn car, Carol. What the hell do you think I am? An asshole? Jesus. I just didn't think about telling you about it. It kinda just happened. Paid for it yesterday at the shop."

Her eyes grew wide. "You bought her a car and didn't tell me about it? It just slipped your mind?"

He shrugged. "I'm easily distracted, what can I say. And I didn't want you to tell me that it was too much. We split three ways on it. Me, Buck and Merle. Six grand. That's not so bad."

"The three of you spent two thousand dollars a piece on my daughter?" Carol looked like her eyes were about to bug out of her head. It made him feel bad about what he had to say next.

"Uh- no. Six grand... a piece."

"Eighteen... You bought her an eighteen thousand dollar car?"

He nodded, unsure how to proceed. She kind of looked like she was choking. "It was a crazy fuckin' deal though. She could get twenty five out of it easy."

"Daryl, where did you come up with that kind of money? Jesus Christ!"

"I got a lot of money," he said with a grin.

She stared at him. "Okay. Okay, I know that sometimes what you guys do in the club is illegal. I don't ask and you don't tell. I've come to terms with that. I've come to terms with a lot. But you can't just throw that kind of money around like it's nothing. You can't just buy extravagant gifts for a teenage girl because you have some money on hand."

His brows shot up. "I don't make any profit from the shit that goes down in the club. Buck's ran his own garage for a long time now. When me and Merle got old enough he let us in. It's business."

"You can't make that kind of money fixing cars."

He shook his head. "No, you can't. But you can make that kind of money by buying shit and rebuilding them. You have no idea what classic bikes and cars are worth now days if you know how to flip them. And we know how to flip them."

"You... you have money?"

He nodded, squirming under her scrutiny, which was a bad idea since she was still straddling him. He stilled. "Yeah. I have money."

"And you never told me?" She gaped.

Again, all he could do was shrug. "You weren't after me for my money. You were after me for my dick. It's why I love you."

She was too stunned to laugh at his proclamation. "How much money do you have?"

"Not as much as Buck or Merle since I fucked off a lot up until I met you."

"How much?"

"I think I got a bunch in the bank but Buck handles all that. I got some in a safe at the garage. And I got some stashed under the floorboards of that room above the garage. I forgot about that. But yeah, I got money."

"You're rich?" She blinked.

He shook his head. "No. If I was rich I'd dress better and have manners."

She shook her head, her face still disbelieving. "What am going to do with you?"

He grinned. "Whatever the hell you want."