Sorry I skipped a day. I'm trying super hard to get one of these other stories complete before this one is over so I can start posting right away but it isn't working out that way! Any free time I had yesterday I spent writing. It turned out to be not a lot of time at all. Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Sixty Four

When Carol got home she was surprised to see Daryl's truck and Sophia's car in the driveway. She was expecting him to still be at work and Sophia to be out with Piper. She climbed the steps slowly. All she wanted to do was lie down on the couch and take a nap. She went in early and she stayed over and her and June had worked non stop all day. Her feet were killing her and her back was aching.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside, stopping in her tracks at the sight before her. Daryl was sitting on the couch, his head tipped back and his eyes closed. Sophia was wrapped in the quilt like a burrito, her head resting on Daryl's leg, her eyes closed and Daryl's hand pressing a wash cloth to her forehead. Carol stood there for a few minutes, just watching them. Sophia must have missed school today and he must have stayed home with her. She crossed the room and knelt down in front of the couch, touching Sophia's cheek. She didn't feel very feverish but she was still a little warm.

She stood back up and shook Daryl's shoulder lightly. His eyes snapped open and then he sat up straighter, glancing down at Sophia.

"Did you miss work?" Carol asked quietly.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah. She woke up with a fever and shit. She's been sick as fuck all damn day."

"Has she eaten anything?"

He made a face. "I made her eat earlier but then she got sick so I didn't want to make her eat anymore. Fever came back once but I got it down again. There's probably gonna be an ass indention in the couch. I've sat here all day."

"You should have called me," she admonished gently.

"You were busy. You woulda came home and then you would have felt guilty about leaving June or you would have stayed at work and felt guilty because you wasn't here with Sophia. I saved you the grief."

She smiled. "You are amazing."

He snorted. "What is it with you two tryin' to give a guy a big ego?"

"Something tells me you weren't lacking in that department to begin with Dixon."

Sophia shifted and then sat up slowly. "Hi, mom."

Carol raised an eyebrow. Her hair was a mess, she was pale and sweaty and she looked very much like a ten year old. "How do you feel?"

She shrugged lightly. "Like crap. I think I'm gonna go up to my room. Give Daryl a break."

Carol gave Daryl a lingering look and then followed Sophia up the stairs. "I bet now you're wishing you would have taken a room closer?" She asked.

Sophia blew out a breath. "I do. But I won't feel that way tomorrow. I love my room."

"It is a very... interesting room," Carol said with a smile as they slowly climbed the second set of stairs.

Sophia smiled weakly as she pushed the door open. Carol glanced around the room. The black walls didn't bother her like she thought they would when Sophia and Daryl had first started this project. Maybe she could have gone without the devil face that was hovering above the bed but Carol wasn't worried about Sophia sacrificing anyone. Daryl did most of the work and he had done a really good job of making it look more like a teenagers room rather than a place to have a black mass. It was also a mess. Clothes were strewn about and the dresser was cluttered and the bed wasn't made. It was much different than how Sophia used to keep her bedroom but that was because she hadn't wanted to ripple the waters. Ed wouldn't allow a mess. Daryl seemed to think it added to the décor.

"I'll clean it when I feel better," Sophia said as she crawled into bed.

Carol sighed, remembered her countless conversations with Daryl and smiled. "It's your space. As long as there isn't anything growing under the bed then you can keep it a mess if you don't mind it."

"I love that man," Sophia said with a smile, a large one this time. "He's turned you into the cool mom."

Carol snorted. "I've always been the cool mom. And just a reminder, if you do plan on having clean clothes, it's your job to gather up this mess and bring it to the laundry room."

This got an actual laugh out of the girl. "There's my mama. I'll bring them down later. I just feel like sleeping."

Carol sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed Sophia's hair out of her face. "I'm going to bring you something to eat here in a bit. Nothing heavy but you have to eat something."

Sophia nodded and her eyes drifted closed. Carol checked her head one more time but it was cool now. After pulling a sheet up to her chin she kissed her forehead and then left the room, keeping the door open so she could hear her yell if she needed anything, not that the girl would. She would do it on her own no matter how sick she was.

She found Daryl in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. He was obviously distracted since he didn't even seem to notice that she came into the room. His arms were crossed over his chest and his feet were crossed at the ankles and he seemed to be studying the far wall.

"Hard day?" She asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water.

He shrugged. "Not really. Freaked me out at first but I handled it."

She grinned. "Yes you did. And your girl seems to be under the impression that it's only your influence that's turned me into a cool mom that doesn't force her to clean her pig sty room."

The corner of his mouth turned up and he looked away. There was no teasing quip and she found herself frowning.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, shutting the fridge, her hands going to her lower back.

He shrugged. "I don't know. We talked today. It's kinda depressin' I guess."

"What's depressing?" She asked.

He looked up at her, noticed that she was trying without success to rub the knots out of her own back and motioned for her to come to him. He didn't say anything until she was parked in front of him and his skilled hands went to work on the kinks. "Like you said, she's not really a kid, ya know? She's just about old enough to go out there on her own."

Carol smiled even though he couldn't see it because her back was to him. "You're depressed because she's not a little kid?"

"It ain't that. It just sucks that she ain't really ever been a little kid. I know what it's like to grow up too fast. She didn't have a choice but to be a damn grown up because of that dumb shit bastard and now it's too late."

Carol wasn't smiling anymore. She sighed and then leaned her back into him. His arms came around her, his hands absently moving over her belly. She covered his hands with her own, stilling him. "I think about that all the time. She's happy now. It makes me wonder how I could have put her through all of that for so long. I didn't even realize how miserable she was until she wasn't miserable anymore. Hell, I didn't even realize how miserable I was. That was just how things were. It was normal. It's crazy what a person can get used too."

"She said she's always wanted a dad," he muttered.

Carol felt tears sting her eyes. "She said that?"

"Yeah. She brought up what I mentioned before," he said hesitantly.

She was sure she knew what he was talking about. "You don't have to do that, Daryl."

"I want that," he said, his voice low. "I called Andrea. She said it ain't too hard and she'll get everything together."

She was quiet for a long time after that because she was too choked up to say anything. Sometimes she couldn't believe how lucky she was. Her life was perfect and it terrified her to no end. She sniffled delicately and then felt him laugh at her. She smacked his hand. "Don't make fun of me."

"Oh yeah, she also wants us to name this kid Merle," he said, sounding much more like himself.

She laughed. "Could you imagine how proud he would be?"

"Yeah. And he was there for the worst part. He was right. I got to have all the fun makin' a baby and then he had to clean up puke afterwords."

She made a face. "Merle's a good name. Even if we think of something else, Merle is still a good middle name."

The baby chose that moment to give her a hard kick. She had been feeling him for a long time now but this was the first time she had felt it on the outside.

"Holy shit," Daryl exclaimed, moving his hand. "That's fuckin' creepy. Does it hurt?"

She laughed. "You feel your son move for the first time and then you call it creepy? And no. It doesn't hurt at all."

"You know what I meant," he grumbled, jumping slightly when another kick landed right below his hand. "I meant it was creepy in a good way."

She shook her head, laughing again. "Strangely enough, I'm not offended. I know what you meant."

~H~

Daryl didn't want to move. They had been standing there for a good fifteen minutes but he only felt the kid move a few times. He wanted to feel more. His heart was beating fast and he felt all light headed but there was no fucking way in the world that he would ever tell anybody that. He knew she was tired and she needed to get off her feet but damn if he didn't want to make her stand there for the rest of the night.

"What do you want for dinner?" She asked suddenly.

He made a face and finally let her turn around to face him. "Take out. You busted your ass today, Sophia ain't gonna want anything and you need to get off your damn feet."

She looked down and frowned. "I think it's not gonna be too much longer before I won't know what my feet look like."

He grinned. "You know, I'll be kinda sad when it's over. I don't know what it is but the big belly thing is pretty hot."

"Dear God, you're a closet chubby chaser, aren't you?" She asked, wide eyes full of mock surprise.

He laughed and pulled her closer. "I might be. You never know."

With a shake of her head she pulled him by the hand towards the living room and forced him to sit back down on the couch. He was sick and tired of sitting but he let her get her way cause he was a sucker. Not to mention that she straddled his lap as soon as he sat down. She kissed him and then pulled back. "When do you want to do this?"

He shook his head, "Whenever you want but we shouldn't do it here. You know, since the kid's home and shit."

She rolled her eyes. "Daryl, you know that isn't what I was talking about. When can we go get things straightened out so she can legally be yours and this whole Ed nightmare can finally be over?"

He shrugged. "I'm just waitin' on Andrea to call me back."

"And you're sure that this is what you want?" She asked. He could tell that she was trying to hide the worry but it was there. He knew her too well to not see it.

"If it wasn't then I wouldn't have brought it up and I sure as hell wouldn't have already made the call. You gotta know by now that if I don't wanna do somethin' then I don't do it."

She shrugged. "Not when it comes to us. You do everything."

"So far I ain't done a damn thing I ain't wanted to do," he countered.

She sighed and offered him a small smile. "I'm gonna go check on her. I hate when she gets sick. I always worry, it doesn't matter how old she is." She stood up but he stood up right behind her and forced her to sit back down.

"Have a little faith in me woman, goddamn. I can do it."

"I'm not an invalid, Daryl," she muttered.

"Just go to sleep. No sense in fuckin' up your routine," he said, walking out of the room. He glanced over his shoulder and sure enough she was already curled up on the couch. She worried too damn much. He had this.

This was much filler, I know. We start moving again soon. lol