Chapter Sixty Three

A week after the girls had their party Daryl got his first real taste of parenting. June was in charge of a huge wedding cake, plus all the desserts for the reception plus two huge Birthday parties for some rich kids. She was swamped and Carol went to work a few hours early. Daryl was sound asleep when a knock at the bedroom door woke him up at a quarter till seven in the morning. He hurriedly shoved his legs into his jeans and was shoving his arms through the sleeves of a t-shirt when he opened the door.

Sophia looked up at him, her eyes wide and apologetic. "Is mom up?" She asked.

He nodded, rubbed his eyes and then yawned loudly. "Yeah but she left out about an hour ago. What'cha need?" He realized that she was still wearing her pajamas. She should have been ready for school by now.

"I think I'm sick," she muttered.

He blinked, his heart jumping in his chest at the first thought that raced through his mind. "Oh God. Sick sick or pregnant sick?"

She seemed to grow even more pale. "Sick sick! Jesus," she hissed.

He stepped out into the hall, frowning even though he was relieved. "Maybe it's just a summer cold or somethin'. We got some shit in the medicine cabinet."

She nodded, and was about to turn when he finally noticed that there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked a little sweaty. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her and then felt her forehead with the back of his hand.

"Holy shit, kid. You're burning up," he muttered.

She stared at him, looking much younger than she usually did, obviously waiting for him, who was the adult, to do something to make her feel better.

"What the hell does your mom usually do when you're sick?" He asked, feeling his nerves kick up. He wasn't good at this grown up shit.

She shrugged. "I don't know. She gives me medicine and makes me soup and lays around with me." She gave him a weak smile. "Trust me, Daryl. I don't expect you to do any of that. You have to work today and besides," she shrugged. "I'm twelve months away from being an adult. I can take care of myself."

He actually thought about taking her up on the offer of braving it on her own. But then he thought better of it. He knew what it was like to feel like total shit and he could tell that she was feeling pretty damn bad. She was already doing better than he would have been. He was a goddamn cry baby any time he got sick. Piper usually waited on him hand and foot. Sometimes he even acted sicker than he actually was just so he wouldn't have to do anything but watch movies and lay around. "Nah, I got this."

She smiled but he knew she was skeptical. He was a little skeptical himself but he led her down the stairs. He found a thermometer next to the Tylenol and grabbed that along with the bottle of pills. She stuck it under her tongue and sat there at the bar until it beeped. She was about to take it out but he plucked it from between her lips and looked at it.

"Mother fucker," he grumbled, glancing at her worriedly.

"What is it?"

"Hundred and three point three. That's bad. I heard if a fever gets too high it can fry your fuckin' brain like an egg and make you retarded."

Her eyes grew wider and she actually looked afraid. "What?"

"Not that yours is that high or anything. I was just makin' conversation. Here," he took her hand and dropped two Tylenol onto her palm. "Take these."

She nodded and popped them into her mouth while he grabbed a glass and poured her some juice. She took it gratefully and swallowed them down. "Daryl, really. I can take care of myself. You really should just go."

He shook his head. "No way." Especially now that he was thinking about her brain sizzling away to nothing. Goddamn, he wished he knew who had told him that. What kind of asshole would put that kind of evil on a man? "Do you feel dizzy? Nauseated? Headache? Muscle aches?"

"Kind of all of the above," she muttered.

His anxiety spiked. "Go lay down on the couch and I'll call Buck and tell him I ain't comin' in today. You want me to call your mom? Shit, a doctor. Should we go to the doctor?"

She shook her head. "No. Usually I just get better on my own. It's just a bug. I'll be fine, Daryl, really."

He nodded but he didn't believe a word she was saying. Once she was out of the room he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed Buck's number.

"What's wrong?" Buck answered, not bothering with a greeting. Daryl never called this early for no reason.

"If Sophia is running a fever and it's bad how long till her brain melts?" he asked, glancing towards the doorway.

Buck was silent for a few long moments and then he finally spoke. "What?"

Daryl growled in frustration. "The kid's sick and she's running a fever. What the fuck do I do?"

"Call Carol," Buck said after another infuriating pause.

Daryl shook his head. "No, she's too damn busy. June got swamped. I can do this. All you gotta do is tell me how."

Buck chuckled. "Piper's out with the same thing. Give her something for the fever and make her drink plenty of fluids. Feed her soup. It ain't brain surgery."

"What do I do if her fever don't go away?"

"It will. It's the flu," Buck said, sounding much too calm.

"What if she pukes?" Daryl asked, not willing to let go of the phone just yet.

Buck sighed. "Then you let her puke. If you're feelin' particularly nice you'll do what Merle did for your woman all those times and hold her hair back for her."

Daryl made a face but nodded, realized that Buck couldn't see and then muttered, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Cold compress on her head wouldn't hurt. Switch it out between her forehead and the back of her neck. It'll bring a fever down faster."

"Is Merle home with Piper?" Daryl asked.

"Yep. Just me at the garage today. You'll be alright boy. Don't over think it. I know you got some paternal instinct in there somewhere. Take care of her and call me if somethin' really bad happens."

"Like what?" Daryl asked, his heart thumping a little harder.

Buck chuckled again. "I was fuckin' with you. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait! What about food? Am I suppose to feed her anything besides the soup?"

"Jesus, Daryl. She ain't a damn puppy. If she's hungry she'll tell you."

"Okay. I'll call you back if I need to."

Buck sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure you will."

Daryl hung up, grabbed a Gatorade out of the fridge, and two ice packs out of the freezer. He thought about it and put them back, replacing them with a cold rag, and made his way back to the living room. She had the heavy quilt pulled down and she was wrapped up in it.

"Are you cold? I feel like I'm freezing to death," she said, her teeth chattering.

He shook his head and came around the side of the couch. She sat up and even that small movement looked like it took half her strength. He wasn't sure if he should let her keep the blanket around her and he didn't want to call Buck again so soon so he figured that he'd just leave her alone for a while. He sat down on the couch and handed her the bottle of Gatorade. She took it and drank a little, making a face. She handed it back and he sat it on the floor.

"Piper's sick too," he said, grabbing the remote and turning on the T.V. so they wouldn't just be sitting there all awkwardly.

She sighed. "I don't think I've felt this bad since I was little."

He offered her a smile. "There you go. You ain't gotta act tough. You can whine at me if you want to."

She smiled and then surprised him when she laid down, facing the T.V. with her head resting on his thigh. He placed the cold rag on her forehead and she hissed. "That's only making me more cold."

"Gotta do it, kid."

"Did you call my mom?"She asked miserably.

"No, I can handle this," he muttered.

"I'm glad you stayed home," she said after a while.

He glanced down, a smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, me too."

"Have you and mom talked about names?" She asked as he surfed through the channels.

"Not really. You got any ideas?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I think you should use Merle's name somewhere in there."

He laughed. "Merle? What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "Leave it on that channel!"

He glanced up and grinned. "Tom and Jerry?"

"I'm sick, don't judge me. And I think you should use Merle because I don't think you realize how hard those months were on him. When you were in jail he was always there at that apartment. He hardly slept at all. We all tried to do what we could for her but not like Merle did. And when she got better he just slipped right into a whole other role. She'd call him in the middle of the night and he'd bring her whatever she needed. When she didn't want to be alone he'd spend the night and sleep on the tiny couch."

He felt awful, even though this wasn't the first time he had heard about everything Merle had done. He should have been the one that was there. That was something he would always regret. And the debt that he owed his brother was something he would never be able to repay. He took the rag off her forehead and shook it to cool it back off before moving her hair and placing it on the back of her neck. "I'm glad Merle was there. I'm lucky to have a brother to step up like he did."

"You would have been if you could. I think sometimes people underestimate you. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me or my mom. She's happy and I... I can be me and not be afraid of anything. Maybe you weren't there for a few months but you're here now. This baby is going to be the luckiest kid to have you for a dad. If I wasn't as cool as I am I'd have serious jealousy issues right now."

He stared at the screen as she spoke, unsure what to say. It was true that people underestimated him. It was true that even Buck had been skeptical when he'd found out that they had gotten married. It was just something that he was used to because that's how people had always thought of him. "I wasn't always such a stand up guy, kid. People ain't passin' judgment on me for no reason."

"Well, they can keep their judgments to themselves if they know what's good for them," she grumbled, her voice sounding sleepy.

He chuckled. "You gonna defend my honor?"

She nodded but didn't say anything else for a long time. He thought she had fallen asleep and he was dozing off himself when she started talking again. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"What you said that night you got out of jail, did you mean that or were just joking because you were drunk?"

He opened his eyes and looked down, taking the rag off of her neck and then he placed his hand on her forehead. She wasn't so hot anymore. He knew what she was referring to. "Is that what you wanna do?"

She nodded. "I know it's probably stupid. I'm almost an adult now but... I've always wanted a dad. Do you think that's stupid?"

He swallowed hard and then shook his head. "Nah. I don't think that's stupid. And if that's what you wanna do then that's what we can do."

"What do you want?" She asked hesitantly.

"I wanna do whatever the fuck I can to make you and your mom happy," he said, his voice low.

"There's just one thing," she muttered, pulling the blanket down further now that the chills had passed.

"What's that?"

"Well, legally that would make me and Damon second cousins. Would that be gross or creepy?"

He chuckled, glad that the heavy moment was passing. "Nah, I don't think so. It ain't like you're kids will end up deformed or anything."

She snorted, sounding just like her mom.