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December 5, 2015
Miss Deveau,
All is well in Tennessee, I'm pleased that Sergeant Delgado's men have taken it upon themselves to create a sort of mail system in order for all our groups to keep in contact with each other. It makes these reports I send you easier.
My men are wintering well in Fort Knox, we have enough supplies scrounged from Memphis to keep us alive and in good health.
I'm grateful for your report on the condition of your people. It pleases me to know that things are happy and prosperous there. I should also send my congratulations on behalf of myself and my men to Miss Carol for what surely is a beautiful baby girl. We're all relieved both survived the birth and are in good health. I personally look forward to meeting the young lady when we return on our Spring rounds of the two states.
As far as young Annie's inquiries as to whether or not Elvis really did own a pink car that was still parked at Graceland I can confirm that, yes he did and yes there is a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado convertible parked inside the museum there. The jam she sent me was very delicious and I regret to inform her that it was confiscated by Sergeant Fredricks soon after its arrival. I managed to obtain a spoonful and enjoyed it.
As far as Olivia's own contribution to the report you've sent me, I wasn't aware that my hair was green, but now that I have been informed of the situation I have taken care to rectify it. You can send my thanks for the portrait I have it hanging by my desk for the time we spend here and will take it with me when we leave.
As for your inquiry over whether or not we will be returning before Spring, the answer is no, I do not feel like now is the time to be leaving our post here at Fort Knox. We will be around as soon as possible come more clement weather.
I hope you're doing well. And that Celeste and Langdon are happy. If there's anything you need, if I have the capabilities to help, I will do my best. You must know this. I am at your service, Miss Deveau.
Major Henry O'Hara
US Armed Forces (remnants thereof)
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**Adele**
"I'm going to die."
Looking up from where she was sitting with Celeste and Langdon on the rug in front of Grace's office fireplace where a hearty fire was raging, letter from Major O'Hara in hand, Adele sighed and shook her head at her brother.
"You aren't going to die," she argued. "My God throw a sweater on or something."
"Texian winters with their goddamned Texian chill," Fate went on, teeth chattering as he huddled by the fireplace. "One morning they'll find me curled up like one of those hikers on Mount Everest, huddled over for warmth. I should have never left the bayou."
"I'll be sure to put your body in a more hilarious pose then," she stated. "As least until Spring thaw sets in and you start shuffling around like an uggie."
Sniffling, her brother wriggled further under his heavy blankets as Grace waddled in with a cup of steaming tea in hand.
"Here, put this in your mouth," the woman snarled.
Everyone had been ducking out of her path lately since hormones were amping up as her due date crept on them.
Standing up with Celeste in her arms and Langdon close at her heel, Adele approached Grace tentatively. "Is there anything I can do for you, Grace?" She asked.
"Yes, honey," Grace sighed, easing her ass against her desk and touching a weary hand to her stomach. "You can squeeze my gut until I pop like a pimple."
Adele blinked at her brother, who sullenly sipped at his tea and slipped further down into his blanket maelstrom. Grace only had one more month to go, then she would go back to her sweet, charming self.
Until then, it seemed it was wise to just avoid her.
"Well I'll be around then," she said sweetly, giving Grace a peck on the cheek on her way out, hoping to encourage the woman somehow.
Seemed no one moved very far or very fast since winter set in. Carol and Daryl were holed up in the beautiful little cottage type home Daryl had built for them with their sweet, bubbling baby girl. Even the others in the dorms kept to their rooms. There were only two walking the walls at all times now, just because the threat level was low and the weather was miserable.
It was a dark and lonely winter and while there was no snow on the ground, there was a fairly heavy chill in the air.
The letter (or report as he called it) from Major O'Hara was nice, it was very nice. Sort of old fashioned to send mail, but she supposed it was how things would be for a while yet.
Pace had delivered it just that morning, riding his horse through the cold, quietly speaking with Father O'Rourke at the gate, handing off the letter from O'Hara and one from Ruth in the woods letting them know that they were doing fine, before heading home for a hot meal and a warm bed.
The Texan seemed to switch off mail rounds between himself, Carter and Sid. And it seemed to work, with them riding their horses, keeping to the backroads, moving through the night, riding fast and riding hard.
In the dorm kitchen she found Merle sitting at the table with Dean, Annie and Olivia, the four of them playing poker, Merle patiently teaching the girls how to play, Mary Agnes, or Norma Jean as she asked to be called since following in Grace's footsteps out of the habit and into the secular world, stood at the counter going through their supplies with Sasha.
The two had been put in charge of supplies by Carol, who thought it would be good to have people who specialized in things and no one argued. Whenever she made an appearance from her home, Carol brought with her new and interesting ideas on how to run the convent smoothly.
Grace, it seemed, had become Carol's right hand woman. While Carol came up with the ideas, Grace enforced them.
It was a strange leadership that had just sort of happened, but seemed to work.
Andrea didn't seem to like the idea though. She argued that just because Carol and Grace bossed people around, didn't make it a fair democracy, Grace and Carol usually countered with the fact that they weren't trying to boss people around, only make the convent run efficiently.
Adele didn't know just what to think. She sided with Grace, naturally, because she was family, but she could see Andrea's side of things. They needed a definite leader, a vote to make things fair and honest.
Still, if there was a vote Adele would most likely end up voting for Carol and Grace, they ran the place without being over bearing or dominating. Even with her irritable tendencies as of late, Grace still managed to ask people to do things in such a way that it wasn't a demand, but a request and people seemed eager to do for her, just as they were eager to listen to Carol's wisdom.
Moving to stand beside Toby who was quietly sitting on the floor by the warm kitchen stove, head bent to his math homework, Adele smiled at the boy and set Celeste down to play with her soft plushy lobster and allowed Langdon to grasp her hand as she stood there watching the goings on of the kitchen. Celeste had just begun to sit up last month and this month her baby girl was already able to grasp and shake and wiggle her lobster.
It amazed her that Celeste was growing up so fast. Judith, as well, was on her way to being a toddler quite quickly, as she was already taken tentative steps and had to be placed in a playpen as all she seemed to want to do was go.
That was the task Adele had been given, childcare. She watched over the babies of the convent if needed. Her role would be more important come Spring when people ventured forth more often, for now she only had her own to watch over.
She liked how the place was progressing. Without that many uggies outside the walls (there had only been two sightings since fall), they had somehow all settled enough to finally feel like they could really put down roots.
Glenn was even talking about trading. Since their raids of Atlanta were going so well, he was thinking of setting up a trading post in the nearby plantation where groups from the region could come and trade for things.
Everyone thought it was a wonderful idea and Carol had said that come Spring they would arrange armed people to protect the post and put Glenn in charge of it since it was his idea.
He even came up with the ambitious idea of one day having a travelling trading outfit that could go from neighbouring state to neighbouring state, but that he said would be far down the road.
It was nice to hear people starting to talk about rebuilding society. It was nicer still to think that they had a second chance to do it right. To do things better. To run it smoother.
As for herself, Adele had begun to look around the convent at available men for a husband. She wanted Celeste and now Langdon (who it seemed she sort of adopted without knowing it) to have a nice family structure, in the off chance something happened to her and her brother, but she feared the one person she had set her sights on was hopelessly unavailable (if the overly professional nature of his report was to be believed).
Not that she was going to give up, but she thought she'd keep her options open. There were some good bachelors available at the convent who would also be very good fathers and husbands.
Hell, she even had Mr. Blue on her shortlist. Just because he was a very kind man, who sort of oozed fatherly charm. She wasn't putting anyone out to pasture. Not when it came to her daughter's safety and happiness.
So far her short list of husbands consisted of Mr. Blue, Tyreese, the younger Kowalski brother and St. James. But she kept her eye on Rick closely, just in case he ever looked like he was about to become interested in anything other than his daughter and those silly little feathery fishing hooks he had come to find he liked to work on to keep busy. No one knew why he was doing it, but he seemed content.
Adele worried about him though. Everyone did. But no one wanted to tell him that he couldn't just step back for once, no one had the heart to throw him back out into the white capped waters to sink or swim, so whenever Carl and Glenn made their supply runs, they would bring back the supplies Rick needed.
It still broke her heart a little.
"I have a lot of house," Annie declared loudly and showed her cards to the entire table.
"Full house," Merle corrected. "And that's a goddamned straight."
"Whatever it is, I have it and I win," Annie stated dragging in her winnings.
"Fucking little turd monkey," Merle growled, tossing in his cards for Dean to deal. "How the shit are you winning over there?"
"Just lucky I guess!" Annie stated swinging her legs under the table and taking a gulp of her homemade iced tea like an old card sharp drinking their whiskey from a tumbler.
The girl was spending far too much time with Merle lately and it was beginning to show in the most unexpectedly adorable way. Merle had softened somewhat, not enough to not scare Adele a little, but enough that people didn't hesitate to go 'aw' whenever they caught him and Annie or Olivia on some kind of adventure, one or the other of oftentimes both girls would be trailing behind him like a shadow as Merle ambled about the convent.
It was different from when they draped themselves off of Adele's brother as the man moved about, it was almost respectful but also adoring, far different from the outright love and worship they seemed to possess for their father, but with Uncle Merle it was almost shyly done. Like both girls were too nervous to out rightly adore Merle, so were content to just trail behind him in the hopes he'd offer to entertain them somehow.
Even now, sitting at the table with him, both girls kept their eyes on Merle adoringly, waiting for a prompt from him or any sign of affection or approval.
It was sweet, the man tried hard to not be affected by these two sprites, but they seemed to be the only ones who he ever let get away with certain things.
It wasn't hard for someone who was looking to notice how Merle adored the girls in return. How his eyes softened when he found one or the other smiling at him, how even though he claimed to be annoyed by the two girls, he always seemed to have time to teach them something new and always tried to answer questions they asked him.
Adele had to admit that until she learned that Norma Jean had claimed him, Merle had been on her short list at one point.
But she was pleased to hear that he at least had a good woman. He certainly deserved one.
No, their convent group was growing wonderfully. She was happy, despite everything.
Everyone seemed happy in their own way.
But she somehow knew that it meant that they would find themselves taking a hard fall.
Seemed that was how things went lately.
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Guest - Heartache and tragedy...isn't that how TWD goes? Hehe. ^_^
Claire Randall Fraser - You know that Dixon clan is like wolves. They protect their own fiercely. Newborns especially.
auntheddy - Ugh, now I'm craving cheese. Thanks.
vickih - Oh, you know daddy Daryl is going to be hopelessly devoted and very protective.
Yazzy x - Thanks. I thought long and hard on it. Daryl is a hard nut to crack, but I think he'd be completely overwhelmed a little by the fact that he's actually a daddy.
Ciao Bella - Good question! The kind I love! ^_^ Carol didn't have a C-Section, because I looked into it and because she had a child before, she wouldn't have half the trouble Grace will. Grace will probably have a C-Section performed.
Brazen Hussy - Don't think I put Merle into this chapter just for you...you're getting spoiled. ^_^
itsi3 - He becomes a big child when babies are involved. Giant squishy...
Surplus Imagination - I refuse to even believe that you could think that Carol would look anything but amazingly beautiful. She's a goddess and always perfect. *cheesy grin* Yes, it was Daryl's rose coloured glasses. He thinks like me. Carol could never, ever be awful looking. She could be covered in troll snot and he'd still find her sexy as hell.
Princess Cruella - Thanks for the review! And thanks for reading! I enjoy it when people enjoy this series! It pleases me. Grace should be one month from her due date in this chapter. She's two months behind Carol.