I'm still writing frantically, trying to finish SOMETHING before this story is marked complete! I have like 8 other stories going at once and working on whichever one the muse points at. What a mess! But I am trying. That should count for something anyway! Hope you all enjoy this one. Things get a little harry here soon so enjoy the smooth ride while it lasts. Thank you for reading!

Chapter Sixty Six

Daryl hated that she always thought he would end up having a problem with her body. He was the one that got her pregnant for fucks sake. He knew she worried about it more than she should and he also knew that it was still just old fears raising their ugly heads. Ed probably hadn't had a problem with letting her know that he didn't like how she looked but Daryl thought that was crazy. He actually did like it. Not that he went around gawking at every pregnant woman that he saw walking down the street, but that was because they weren't the ones carrying his kid. She was, and that made all the difference in the world.

"Now that we're gonna have the house to ourselves for a change, what the hell do you wanna do?" He asked, his lips trailing down her throat.

She laughed. "I want to sit on my ass and not do anything until it's time for bed and then I want to sleep for two days."

He huffed. "You ain't very good at talkin' dirty to a man, you know that?"

"Hmm, well, I can guarantee you that I won't be wearing a bra while I sit on my ass."

He laughed into her neck, lifting his head and glancing over his shoulder when he heard someone come into the room. He scowled at what he saw.

"I'll see you guys later," Sophia smiled.

"Uh oh," Carol muttered, trying to fight a smile.

Daryl moved so he was standing next to Carol. He leaned down as he studied the girl that was now looking between them quizzically. "You gotta tell her to go change," he said under his breath. She was wearing shorts that were way too short and a tank top that looked at least two sizes too small.

Carol shook her head. "Nope."

He glanced at her, his frown deepening. "You can't let her leave the damn house like that," he whispered.

"Hello?" Sophia said, glancing over her shoulder before looking back at them.

Carol leaned her head into his shoulder. "No, you can't let her leave the house like that. You're always pushing the bossy mom crap onto me while you look like the sympathetic hero. She adores you for it but I'm tired of being the bad guy."

"Are you guys hearing me right now?" Sophia asked, hands on her hips.

"You gotta change," Daryl said after giving Carol a hard look.

Sophia blinked and then suddenly Damon appeared behind her, his arm going over her shoulder. "Why do I need to change?"

Damon glanced down, grinned like an asshole and looked back up. "No shit. I think she looks great."

Daryl glared at the boy until he dropped his arm and stepped back into the other room, muttering under his breath. "You can't leave lookin' all-" He waved his hand in her direction.

Sophia looked down at herself and then back up. "Seriously?"

"Well yeah, your shorts are too short and your shirt looks like you borrowed it from Piper!"

"These are mom's shorts," she said defensively. "And... I did borrow this shirt from Piper."

He heard Carol giggle next to him. "Well, your mom's shorts are too damn short and you can't wear Pipers shirt cause you're regular sized and she's the size of a ten year old."

Sophia sighed but then she nodded. "Okay."

He blinked. He had seen Merle have this conversation with Piper a million times and it never ended with her saying "okay". Piper would storm around, yelling about how she lived the life of a prisoner. "Okay?"

She nodded. "If I leave the house wearing mom's shorts then you're gonna worry that some guy like you were is going to check me out. So I'll change so you won't have to worry about it." She grinned and left the room.

He glanced down at Carol. "What the hell is that suppose to mean? A guy like I was?"

Carol shrugged. "I have no idea. Last I knew, she already had one just like you were."

He scowled after thinking about that for a minute. "He better not be."

Carol laughed, grabbing his hand and leading him back outside to join the others.

~H~

Carol was standing in front of the sink, washing a few dishes that the kids had missed. Another small cramp hit her low in her abdomen, causing her to frown. She had been dealing with them since this morning but hadn't thought much of it. This one, however, was strong enough to have her wincing a little. Braxton Hicks contractions weren't really anything to worry about. She had had them towards the end of her pregnancy with Sophia. Her due date was January second. It was November twenty Seventh. She had five weeks to go.

She finished up the dishes and then made her way to the living room. It was getting late, already after nine, and she was dead tired. Daryl was in the shower, most likely skulking because she had passed up taking one with him. Not that she wasn't extremely tempted but the contractions were worrying her a little and she didn't want to risk having sex with him and then go into full blown labor. She could imagine how horrified he would be if something like that happened.

It was nine fifteen when he came back down, shirtless, damp, hair disheveled. She felt her pulse pick up at the sight of him but then was reminded why she shouldn't be thinking about that when another cramp hit her. This one was a little sharper and lasted just a little bit longer than the last one had. Her hand went to her stomach and she frowned.

"What?" He asked, stopping on his way past her, his eyes flicking down to her hand and then back up to meet her eyes.

She shook her head, waiting for the pain to pass before answering him. "False labor."

She might as well have not even said the word false because at the mention of labor he froze, his face draining of color and his eyes widening.

"Daryl, I said false labor. It's nothing. It's just..." She paused, another pain ripping through her, a little worse than the one right before it. "Maybe..." This felt different than what had happened to her with Sophia. She placed her hand on top of her stomach and actually felt it tensing. That didn't normally happen with false labor.

"It ain't time yet," he finally said, his voice low.

She met his eyes and offered him a smile as the pain faded. "No, it isn't. But even if he's like you and decided that it's time, whether it was time or not, then I don't think there's anything to worry about really. Remember what they said at the last appointment? He's big. Bigger than what he's suppose to be."

"I don't give a damn how big he is, he ain't done yet," he barked, looking at her stomach like he could will the child to stop and wait for another five weeks.

"It's probably nothing. If you want we can go ahead and go on to the hospital and have them take a look. But if this is it, you have to keep a level head and not threaten to kill any doctors or nurses."

He took a deep breath and nodded, finally dragging his eyes back up to her face. "Fine, lets go then." He grabbed her hand and led her towards the door and wrestling a shirt over his head.

She was actually kind of proud of him. She expected him to come completely undone. She was nervous herself. Nervous because he was right. It didn't really matter how big the baby was. There was still a lot happening in there. There were still vital things happening as far as development went. She knew that, even if this was it, everything would be okay but she would be a liar if she said she wasn't scared.

He was halfway to the hospital when he cursed under his breath.

"What's wrong?" She asked, worry lacing her voice.

"I forgot to grab anything. You've had a bag packed for months and I didn't even grab the damn thing."

"It's okay. I probably won't even have to stay. They're going to say that it's false labor and tell me that I need to take it easy. You can call Sophia and have her meet us up there if you want. She can bring it with her."

He nodded but he still looked more troubled than he needed to be. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Daryl?"

He glanced at her sharply and then looked back towards the road. "What?"

"Everything is fine, okay?"

He nodded. There was silence for a few long moments before he said anything. "It don't feel that way though. Somethin' feels off."

"It's just your nerves."

He nodded and then found her hand. "You're probably right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right," she said, giving his hand a small squeeze. "And thank you for making Sophia change her clothes earlier. For God's sake, she really doesn't need to borrow anything that belongs to Piper."

He shook his head. "I thought she'd be pissed."

"Honestly? I think she was testing you. She's going to do that. If you actually let her leave the house dressed like that then she would wonder if it was because you didn't care enough."

He snorted. "She knows better than that."

This was good. This was distracting both of them and they seemed to need the distraction. "She does, but she likes the reassurance. I think every time you let her know that you really do care about her, care about her the way a man is suppose to care about a daughter, it just makes her feel good. She never had that before and I think she's always wanted it."

He didn't say anything after that. He still looked troubled.