Love After War

by TheAlderTrees

Carol lives a lonely life with her daughter Sophia and is in a loveless abusive marriage with her 'high school sweetheart' Ed and doesn't know how to escape. On the night of one of the worst storms in 5 years her life changes after she meets Daryl Dixon, and begins a developing love affair with him. But their affair quickly becomes dangerous when suspicions are raised. Caryl AU

13. Chapter 13

(Warning contains terminal illness references, references to depression, abuse, sickness, and murder)

March, 6 months later

Carol carefully slid her feet across the soft landing, her eyes turned to stare out of the clear window as one hand protected her large stomach. The morning light shone in brightly and in the distance she could see the sea beginning to glisten and twinkle optimistically, in the sunlight as it roared quietly. She grinned to herself, it was such a beautiful March day.

Because you're mine, I walk the line. I find it very very easy to be true.

The sound of the old Johnny Cash song mixed in beautifully with the sound of Daryl's gravelly voice laughing along with Sophia's. She peaked her head around the corner noiselessly, to see Sophia and Daryl delicately moving their bright yellow coloured brushes up and down the room wall. Both of Daryl's sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, despite the fact that his clothes were pretty much already covered in multiple dabs and splashes of bright paint. Carol shook her head, the tips of Sophia's hair were covered in yellow paint.

"You don't like it?" Daryl asked as he covered another white corner.

Sophia laughed, "Nope. This song is ancient"

Daryl smirked teasingly and quickly flicked a small dab of pink paint on her face. She gasped, half out-raged and half amused and didn't hesitate to dip her hand into a can of green paint and flick it back onto Daryl playfully. Carol softly cleared her throat and knocked on the door, with one amused eyebrow raised.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Daryl immediately grinned at her with a bright smile,

"How ya doin'?" he asked before rushing over to her. His strong arms moved to wrap around her while his body leaned in close to kiss her but she quickly hit him playfully with a laugh.

"I didn't make these drinks to get them spilled!" she exclaimed, allowing a small peck on the cheek. Daryl smirked a small crooked smile and deviously propped his hands beneath the tray before setting it gently on the side. He pulled Carol's body close into his,

"Not a problem now" he grinned, his hands stroked through her short hair delicately as he pressed his lips up against hers. Her cheeks blushed scarlet, she could still feel his smile in their kiss. Sophia lingered awkwardly in the background, a tiny smile appearing on her face.

"I'll go get cleaned up" she beamed before rushing down to the bathroom. Carol smiled against his lips.

Over the last few months, things seemed to have been getting better. It had been a while since Daryl had had another incident with his health, the chemotherapy seemed to have been working and ever since Daryl had finally become more comfortable with the baby, he had become even more affectionate than before. He could almost barely keep his hands off of her, it was nice. For the first time in a long time, things were becoming perfect. She remembered how wonderful Christmas had been this year, they didn't have to worry about decorations being torn down and instead they got to enjoy hot chocolate, presents Daryl had worked extra shifts for (to Carol's displeasure), the amazing décor in Sophia's room and the amazing turkey Daryl had managed to cook up. She had attempted, to cook but he wouldn't let her. Either he'd force her to sit down and relax with Sophia, or he'd keep smelling and kissing her neck until she gave in and got distracted. Especially when he continued to hang Mistletoe above their heads. He was always sneaky like that. But she managed to get her revenge later with a bright blue deer sweater, which she knew he secretly hated but continued to wear miserably. Carol didn't quite know what had happened in the last few months but everything suddenly felt like it was falling perfectly into place for them. They were more in love than ever, Sophia was happy and they were a few weeks, maybe even days away from another little addition to the Dixon family.

She stared down at her bulbous stomach, maybe she was their little hope. Daryl slowly bent her backwards in his kiss and her hands rubbed his arms gently as she pushed him backwards.

"Slow down mister" she laughed.

Daryl held her face in his hands, "I'm just so fuckin' happy to see ya"

Carol grinned, "I only went down stairs for a few minutes"

Daryl shrugged, "I just wanted ya to appreciate my hard work" he joked throwing an arm over her.

Carol stared down at all of the brightly coloured paint cans lining around the floor, he had spent almost the whole morning painting this room. She didn't know exactly what had come over him, but before it got late he raced out in the night and brought home 6 paint cans and promised to get the room done by the afternoon. She didn't understand the rush, but she appreciated it. The room looked so beautiful. She had never gotten to do this kind of thing with Ed. She remembered wanting to paint a room a pretty purple colour for Sophia but Ed wouldn't listen to her. According to him, she was just gonna be throwing money away for the kid and she didn't need all of that material shit. In the end, Ed wouldn't even buy her toys or books, she had to buy them herself with the little money Ed allowed her to have. At least this time it was different with Daryl.

"The wall aint bad" Daryl smiled, glancing at her for approval. Carol rested her head onto his shoulder.

"You did it so neatly"

"Didn't really want to fuck it up. An' anyway, got a lot of practice from paintin' the bar. Someone had to make that shit hole look good" he laughed as Carol pat his back playfully.

"Could I get a turn on this?" she asked eyeing the smaller paintbrushes, she always had a small need to paint every now and then and this was the perfect opportunity. Daryl heisted slightly, she could see his eyes watching her stomach poke out in front of him.

"You sure? Maybe you should sit…"

Carol put her hands on her hips insulted. "I'm not totally weak. Nine months pregnant and I can still handle myself" she frowned.

Daryl laughed, "I know, you proved that enough times" he said kissing her cheek. He bent down quickly and dropped a white paint can into her hand. "Why don't ya paint the flowers on the wall? Since you're the artist" he smirked.

Carol smiled, "I still wish I had that sketch book. I did some beautiful sketches of you"

Daryl scoffed, "Aint nothin' beautiful about me"

Carol shook her head, "You're more beautiful than you think Daryl"

He glanced up at the wall, "Maybe a few Cherokee Roses would look fine".

Carol nodded with a smile and picked up the second green can full of paint, although it weighed her down slightly. Daryl moved forward attempting to pull it away from her,

"Let me hold it-"he offered and suddenly his arm swung backwards as he pulled, spreading green paint across each of their clothes. Daryl froze, half glancing up to see Carol's reaction and half embarrassed.

Carol raised a single eyebrow and pouted,

"No…I think I can handle it"

Daryl rubbed his head turning away and Carol took a step forward before she dipped her fingers in a tiny bit of green paint.

"You've barely got any on you" she smiled and wiped it across his cheeks. He chuckled stepping backwards, towards another paint can.

"Hmm, is that right?" Daryl smoothly dipped his fingers into white paint and he casually drew a small white moustache above Carol's lips. "You look sexier this way"

She turned to look at the mirror standing behind them and giggled at the neat moustache curving above her lip,

"You're turning me into Hershel now?"

Daryl shrugged and turned to look at the mirror to see the two messy green streaks on his face. There was a long silence between them as they stared at their reflections until finally they caught each other's eyes and burst out laughing. Carol wiped the green streaks lightly,

"You're looking a little green, Mr Dixon"

Daryl put his arms over her, "You still look sexy" he muttered before kissing her softly, the paint on their faces getting smudged up against each other. Carol pulled away, admiring the shades of white and green on Daryl's face.

"Now we match"

"And you thought I was messy" Sophia said unimpressed with her arms folded over her chest.

The two of them turned their heads to see Sophia standing in the doorway, waiting for an explanation.

Carol smiled softly, "You can take a little break if you want. Lizzie and Mika are holding a bake sale today for their animal's rights charity" Daryl pulled a few dollars from his back pocket and handed it to Sophia, who with a smile rushed down the stairs quickly, calling out "I'll bring you something!"

They stared at each other, amused.

"Now come on Pookie, we need to get this done before Rick and Lori arrive" she said bending down to pick up the white paint can and she began to paint the first big flower. it really had felt like forever since the last time she had done something artistic. She remembered being so artistic all the way through high school, drawing nature as much as she could and Ed when she was young and in love. She had so many plans to continue it in college after she married Ed, but that all changed after the abuse had begun and she was forced to drop out. After that, all of her drawings of Ed had been torn out and burned and she never touched the damn book again. It wasn't until Sophia had been born that she had begun sketching her along with Daryl a few years later. It felt kind of nice.

Daryl stared at her, "Maybe when this is over, I'll buy ya a bunch of art books, an' as much paint as you want and you could do this again"

Carol laughed brightly, "I don't think we'll have the money for all of that"

Daryl shrugged lightly, "I don't care, I'm savin' up and I'll do what I can to make ya happy. When our little one arrives, you can paint all day and I'll watch her. And after a while I'll keep workin' for Abraham"

Carol smiled to herself, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks. He was starting to sound a lot like the first time they met. Just so hopeful, like he could see their future staring directly at him.

"What about your health? Work is out of the question, I was unhappy enough when you took those little jobs from Abraham for Christmas." She said lowering her brush.

"I feel fine and I aint had an accident in a long time" he laughed "Chemo shit is probably doin' its work" he moved closer to her, his hand grazing her bump delicately. "Things are gettin' less shitty. Might even make it to her first birthday" he smiled. Carol moved around him and kissed his forehead, her hands slowly stroked through his hair.

"No, you will make it to her first birthday. To her first day of school…graduation…her wedding. Hers and Sophia's too. If they both want one at least" she laughed. Daryl grinned faintly and began stroking his hands along the tiny white cot. It was one he had built himself with a little wood he'd cut along with some white paint. She stared down at it, it was already filled with the tiny toys he'd bought her, the different coloured sleeping suits and the many little fairy tales he'd bought from Tyreese and Karen's store. He'd done good so far, a lot better than Ed ever had.

"How long do you think it will be 'til…" he hesitated.

Carol shrugged touching her stomach, "I don't know. I got a feeling a few days before Sophia was born. But this little one is being stubborn" she said in a playfully squeaky voice "I can already tell she'll be like you"

Daryl nudged her teasingly, "At least I know I'll be here. Not like Ed or my own bastard father."

"You're nothing like them. You've already done so much"

Daryl wrapped his arm over her again, his eyes focused on the large Cherokee rose painted in the centre of the wall. It wasn't her best work, but at least it looked decent on the wall.

"The big one kind of looks good on its own. Probably don't need to paint any more" Daryl glanced down at her face and suddenly chuckled to himself, causing her to frown.

"What's so funny?"

Daryl smiled down at her, "Even with a moustache you look beautiful. Even more than the day I met ya". Carol's cheeks continued to go an even brighter shade of scarlet, Daryl was on fire today with his affection. She held his hand,

"You look even more handsome. You don't look like what you've gone through".

Daryl scoffed, "Now I know that's a damn lie" he chuckled. Carol stared up at him, her hand moving to touch his face gently.

"I'm being serious. The last three and a half years, you've had to deal with so much. If I met you today, I wouldn't know."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Even with the scars and my cheeks swellin' up from the meds?"

Carol pinched his cheeks lightly, "I'd think you were a cute squirrel"

Daryl smiled and ran his thumb over the white paint above Carol's lips and kissed them softly, "It's almost eleven. We should get cleaned up before I get bossed around"

"Rick's not gonna do that"

"Nah. But Lori might, sometimes I think the woman loves ya more than I do"

Carol laughed, "Go ahead then, I'll be out in a minute"

Daryl leaned in again and kissed her cheek softly before he quickly made his way across the landing, his shirt covered in bright colours almost making him look like a walking rainbow. Carol moved across the room slowly, her hands moved into the drawer and she carefully picked up her most recent sonogram picture before walking towards the view of the pale beach. She couldn't wait for all of the summers they would spend together, running and playing on the beach and taking pictures with the old camera. To see Daryl be able to run and play with his daughter without running out of breath, or to see Sophia teaching her sister new things. Carol stared down at the photo of their daughter's growing body. Things were gonna get better, she could feel it.

Carol heard the shower come on and suddenly the door creaked open again.

"The water aint bad! You comin'?" he called out.

Carol laughed to herself, "Is that an invitation?" she called back.

"Depends. I just know I got paint on my ass" he hesitated "Don't ask how"

Carol shook her head lovingly, "You're ridiculous!" she called "I'll be right there!" She carefully sat the sonogram down on the side of the cot and left the room. Only to see Daryl waiting by the bathroom door with a goofy grin on his face.

…

Carol wrapped herself up softly in her robe as she watched Daryl searching through the cabinets, his towel falling slightly, exposing his ass. She smirked at him, half tempted to give him a playful slap just to surprise him.

"Did that get all of the paint out?" she asked smoothly.

"I'm sure it did" he chuckled for a second, but his laugh quickly turned into an annoyed grunt as his hand reached further into the cabinet. Carol strolled towards him and wrapped her arms around his slender waist,

"What are you looking for?"

Daryl sighed, "I gotta take my pills but I can't find the damn things anywhere"

Carol pressed her face into his neck softly taking in his fresh scent, "Maybe they're in our room" she muttered.

"Nah I never keep 'em in there" He suddenly clasped something with a smile, but it quickly disappeared as he shook it to see the bottle was completely empty. Daryl stared at the see-through cylinder and threw it to the ground angrily. Carol's hands smoothened over his chest, trying to comfort him as much as she could. It couldn't have been easy going through those pills as fast as he did.

"You're out?" she asked gently.

Daryl sighed rubbing his face tiredly, "Yeah, looks like I gotta go to the pharmacy. Still got the prescription…" he stared at the bottle again "Damn it"

Carol smiled, "Don't get so worked up"

Daryl turned around, his hands resting on her hips. "I don't wanna leave ya alone. Not with you bein' so far…" he said his eyes trailing down to look at her stomach.

"I'll be fine. The store is about twenty minutes away, what can happen in twenty minutes?"

Daryl shook his head, "A lot can happen in one".

Carol's hands cupped his face gently, "Look at me" she said softly and he stared up at her slowly, his deep blue eyes focusing greatly on her paler eyes. She stroked her thumb over his hair and alongside his jaw, his stubble tickling her slightly "Do I look worried?"

Daryl silently shook his head and Carol smiled.

"Then you shouldn't be. I understand so much has happened, but we need to trust each other. I trust you to go out and get your meds safely, so trust me to just relax until you get back. If anything goes wrong, I'll call you". Daryl continued to stare at her quietly, his hand moved up to touch hers and he held her hand against his face, sinking into her warm touch. His fingers creeped over the back of her neck and he pressed his forehead up against hers, taking in a small sigh.

"I just wanna keep ya safe. Even though it's been a while…I'm afraid of losing ya." He breathed deeply "I keep losin' people, and you're-you're the ones-". He shook his head and gazed up at her. She nodded and kissed his cheek softly.

"I understand" She smiled "It's in the past now, like all of the other pain. We can forget…we can start over-"suddenly Carol gasped as she felt a small surge of pain, she clutched her stomach tightly. Daryl's hands immediately moved to support her arms and stomach, his eyes looking intense and afraid.

"Are you okay?" he asked nervously.

Carol breathed heavily, "I think I need to sit down…she must've kicked too hard"

Daryl refused to let her go, "You sure?"

Carol nodded straightening herself up, "I'm okay. Just let me get changed, Rick, Lori and Carl should be at the station in thirty minutes". Daryl nodded silently but he continued to watch her. She half laughed to herself as she walked back to the bedroom. She could still tell this scared him no matter how tough he tried to act. It almost made her cry that he reacted like this, it showed that he actually cared and was worried about how he would act. When she was pregnant with Sophia, and she started getting little pains like that Ed would barely bat an eye. In fact, sometimes he'd accuse her of faking it to get out of working around the house. Her blood still boiled at the memories.

Sometimes it seemed like a miracle that she didn't miscarry Sophia from all of Ed's bullshit. It was a miracle that either of them managed to survive through it. The beatings, the being grabbed and pushed all of it convinced Carol that she wouldn't make it to her birth. When the doctors had told Carol that Sophia was completely healthy, she cried and held her as closely and as delicately as she could. Not just because her survival had felt like a miracle, but because she didn't know if she would be able to make it last. All those days she sat in the hospital without Ed, the only thing she could think of was their home. Their cold, loveless home stinking of cigarettes, booze and blood.

It wasn't a place to bring something as precious and as hopeful as a new born baby. She knew, taking her home would take away any chance of her safety and happiness and that wasn't what home was supposed to be. That wasn't what Carol wanted her growing up and thinking was normal. At the end of the day she needed two loving parents, non-pretend smiles and sweet songs sung into her tiny pink ears instead of a protector, tearful smiles and screaming.

The bed squeaked as Carol sat down on it carefully with Daryl still holding her hand and watching her cautiously. He wasn't even bothering to grab his own clothes to get changed. This was the kind of home, Rose needed to come into.

"Could you pass me some clothes please?"

Daryl slowly moved towards the closet and pulled out a long, red shirt along with a pair of black pants. Just as she was about to pull her robe off, she felt Daryl's hands smooth over her shoulders to pull the soft robe down, exposing her nude body. She moved to grab her shirt but instead she felt Daryl's lips graze along her shoulder until his face nuzzled into her neck. She stroked down his face delicately.

"What's wrong with you today?" she asked. Daryl shrugged silently and she pulled her shirt on. "You've been acting differently since last night…" she stared into his eyes "If there's something wrong. You know we can talk."

Daryl shook his head, "Jus' been doin' a lot of thinkin' lately" he took her hand into his "For a long fuckin' while I didn't think I'd make it this far. I thought I'd be dead before she'd even take her first breath. I guess I'm just happy to be alive with ya" he said with a smile.

"I never thought I'd make it this far either. The first time I said goodbye to you, I sat in that bath tub and with every bone in my body I believed I'd be dead before I'd get to escape. I always figured, Ed would eventually catch us or he'd hit me too hard one night and it would be the end."

He blinked, "Why didn't ya end it after the first night?" he asked softly.

Carol beamed, "You're ridiculous. After all this time, you still have to ask?" Carol's hands gripped the back of his neck and she kissed him breathily "When I met you, I knew no matter how much I wanted to, I could never say goodbye to you" she stroked his hair "Jim Henson said once, "There isn't a word for old friends who just met". I guess that's the only way I can describe it." Daryl stroked his fingers through the shorts of her hair, while her lips continued to sweep softly across his "No matter what, we're always gonna make it".

Carol grabbed Daryl's shirt from the side, she slipped it onto him carefully and buttoned it slowly before passing him his pants as she slid into her own. Sometimes she wondered how many times he needed reassurance, or how afraid he still was of losing people. Sure, sometimes he talked about how he was afraid of losing her or their children. But it was always hard to tell what was going on in Daryl Dixon's mind. The things in your head could sometimes be too dark to be expressed out loud. Daryl acted as if he didn't care or as if that kind of stuff rarely bothered him but he didn't hear the things she heard sometimes as they lay together at night. It wasn't worryingly frequent but it still crushed her soul. As she lay on her back staring at the ceiling sometimes she'd hear him whimper, move around and mutter things in his sleep sometimes sadly and other times angrily. She'd do as much as she could to try to soothe him but it never worked, the thoughts must have been too bad. In all honesty, it barely surprised her that this was happening as he slept. In the thirty eight years he'd been alive, he'd lived through and witnessed more bloodshed than he had deserved. All of those memories must have been torturing him.

And that was always his biggest problem. He never let himself really forgive and forget. Even though he didn't talk about it, she could still see it in his eyes from the way he watched her to the way he protected Sophia that he still blamed himself for not being able to save the people he cared most about. Hell, Sophia had gone AWOL around the beaches a few weeks back and she had never seen someone worry as much as he did.

All of the good things he had done in his life always managed to get drowned out by the self-hatred, the fear and lack of forgiveness he had for himself.

Carol stared at Daryl fully dressed and looking handsome as ever as she extended her arm out to him. He latched onto her hand and stroked her finger gently as the two of them began walking downstairs together, to see Sophia sitting down with six freshly baked cupcakes on her lap. Sometimes, she cried when she heard the things that came out of his mouth at night as she shushed him and stroked his hair. Carol watched as Sophia hopped in the backseat of the truck as Daryl started up the engines. She squeezed his hand carefully and admired his usual charming smile before smiling back sadly.

It was such a tragedy to watch. He always focused on saving everybody else but himself.

…

Carol and Lori stood in front of the house as they watched Rick and Daryl discussing the prices of the prescription and the extra food and drinks. That was one of the other things they could not stop worrying about, money. It seemed to have a tight hold on their lives lately. Lori suddenly squeezed Carol's hand, probably noticing her worried expression and Carol squeezed back with a simple smile. Daryl leaned his head out of the truck with his hand out and Carol immediately moved forward, holding it for a few seconds.

"I'll be back in twenty maybe thirty minutes"

"Okay" Carol smiled and Daryl gently kissed her hand.

"Stay safe"

"You too" Daryl smirked up at her one more time before Rick pulled the truck out of the driveway and continued down the street. Carol turned around slowly to see Lori smiling slyly with her arms folded over her chest. Carol tilted her head slightly.

"You know our kids are probably getting to know each other again" she called out. Carol smiled knowingly as she made her way back up to Lori. "You know Sophia is all Carl talks about these days"

Carol laughed, "I know, I've seen the text messages"

As soon as the two of them walked inside, Lori almost immediately headed for the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea!" she called out as Carol followed. As the water boiled slowly, the two of them stared out of the window and at the scenery of the beach where they could see Sophia and Carl sitting with their hands linked as they stared at the water. The two of them exchanged knowing smiles and turned back to face the boiling water.

"How are you all doing?" Lori asked.

Carol shrugged, "Doing better. The chemo seems to be working for Daryl although he has his off days and Sophia is getting better too, she doesn't seem so unhappy anymore." She smiled simply. Lori rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What about you?"

Carol didn't answer. Instead she simply stared out of the window at the bright scenery. One of her many jobs was to pretend to be okay when she wasn't. Sure, things had finally been getting better for the three of them, but every now and then she needed to pretend. There were days where the bad thoughts and all of her doubts about the future would attack her all at once, they would internally drag her down to the point where all she wanted to do was lie in bed all day and let the tears dampen her pillow. Sometimes she would be dancing in the living room with Daryl and Sophia, her cheeks stinging from all of the smiling and yet have the overpowering urge to scream. There were days where she liked to force herself to believe that she was better and all of those were just ghosts of her depression. But deep inside, when she felt overwhelmingly out of control she knew that they were still just symptoms. It was strange, she felt both so happy and so sad and she couldn't understand in the slightest how it could be. Maybe it was Daryl. He always worked as her light and darkness.

Carol's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the kettle screaming in her ear, she turned jumping slightly to see Lori pouring the hot water into one of the cups, before handing it to her.

"Thank you" she muttered.

"You didn't answer my question".

Carol raised an eyebrow and lightly sipped her tea,

"I'm fine…I have to be." She breathed out.

Lori nodded and suddenly began pacing around the kitchen nervously.

"I just want to make sure because I have something to tell you…but I don't know how you'll take it."

"Lori are you okay?"

Lori continued to pace, "I don't want to make things worse if they're already not great…Rick wanted me to keep it quiet for now but I think you need to know".

Carol threw an irritated look, "I'm a grown woman Lori. I can handle it."

Lori sighed, "Maybe you should sit down for this…" Carol raised her eyebrow again and leaned against the counter unimpressed until Lori let out a sigh. "Fine." She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter, her eyes focusing on the ground until she caught Carol's eye and suddenly looked helpless. "We don't know all of the details yet but Ed's gone"

She opened her eyes widely, "Dead?" she choked out in almost a whisper.

Lori was silent again.

"They don't know where he is" she exhaled.

Carol suddenly lost her grip on her cup and the whole thing shattered within seconds, spilling tea all over the ground. Her hands shook,

"H-How could this happen?"

Lori moved to pick up the shards, "They don't know. They just know one night they thought he was being too quiet in his cell and they went to go check up on him and he was gone. And…" Lori hesitated. Carol could immediately tell there was something else she was hiding from her.

Carol put her hand on Lori's shoulder to pause her from collecting the shards of cup. Lori looked up at her nervously.

"If there's something else tell me now, before I go and find out myself. You know I will" she snapped sternly.

Lori nodded and stood up slowly, before she carefully held onto Carol's shaking hands.

"They found a guard dead and they think there's a chance he'll go back to your old place so it's on watch."

Carol snatched her hands away from Lori's touch and rubbed her face shakily. She walked around the room in circles, not knowing where to go it was like she was suddenly trapped in her own kitchen. This couldn't be happening, not now. She couldn't understand why this was happening now, after three years of being in prison what could have provoked him to break out now?

Suddenly she stopped and the memories flooded back.

"This is my fault" she whispered. It was almost 9 months ago that she had visited him in prison and taunted him, for no reason at all except for her own amusement.

Go to Hell! She remembered screaming at him before flipping him off as he screamed back at her behind glass.

"How could it be your fault?"

"That night I found Daryl, I-I visited him and I taunted him. I got him really angry, because I knew he couldn't do anything about it. Just so stupid…" she rubbed her face again, cursing herself for her own stupidity. She knew she should have driven straight to Daryl's that night instead of a lame attempt at revenge.

"That was nine months ago. This happened only forty-eight hours ago how could you think-"

"He told me he wanted to kill me and was banging on the glass trying to get to me. Shit" she whispered out as she ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times "I screwed up and now he could come after us…after Sophia…Daryl…" she touched her stomach and bowed her head "Even the baby if he finds out…whatever happens we have to be ready so he can't hurt us again" Carol said. She eyed the knife rack sitting in the corner of the room, her hands stroking over the handles. Lori's hand suddenly covered Carol's and she pulled her away from the knives.

"You're not thinking straight Carol, don't let it get to you." She smiled reassuringly "It probably isn't your fault but…I'll let Rick know just in case" Carol latched onto Lori's hand desperately and stared into her eyes.

"You can't let Daryl know or Sophia…just not yet. I can't have him getting stressed or her getting afraid. Okay?" she almost pleaded. Lori hesitated for a moment, her hands shaking in Carol's and then she finally nodded.

"Okay for now. But we need to tell them at some point so they can stay safe." She said sternly and Carol nodded. She turned her attention to the window as she stared at Sophia and Carl sitting on the beach and all she wanted to do was crumble. At first it seemed like their future was only starting out again, but now the past was returning to fuck it all up. It wasn't fair the way things worked out for them, why was it that everybody else got to live their lives the way they wanted to without this conflict, where all it did was follow them around like lost puppy.

Thud. Thud.

There were two heavy knocks on the door and the two of them stared at each other, frozen.

"I didn't hear the truck" Carol whispered lightly.

Lori curved her neck to look out at Carl and Sophia sitting in the sand,

"I think we should get them inside" she looked back at Carol desperately "Just in case-" she hesitated slightly but Carol knew what she was referring to, she wasn't an idiot. Carol stared back at the knife rack and immediately marched over to it, before swiftly snatching a shiny knife out and gripping it sternly.

"I'll sneak over to the door" she whispered about to crouch over.

"I can't let you do that!" Lori whispered back sharply.

"Then come with me! If we leave this too long, he'll get bored of waiting and will try finding another way around the beach"

Lori hesitated for a second until she finally sighed,

"Fine".

Carol nodded with a small smile, she slightly crouched over and began creeping towards the door with the knife gripped firmly in her hand. Her heart was pounding but if this meant protecting her family, she had no other choice. She was kind of glad Daryl wasn't here, if it really was Ed knocking at the door she knew there was a large chance Daryl wouldn't be able to win this fight against him. She glanced up at Lori creeping behind her, although she kind of wished Rick was here. Considering he carried handcuffs everywhere he went.

"Don't you have a peep hole?" Lori whispered

Carol shook her head and leaned up against the door.

"I'll get a look through the window" Lori nodded and Carol quickly but carefully shimmed towards the window, her feet dragged across the ground and her heart beat against her ribcage. She slyly leaned her eyes up against the window. Only to see, not Ed but Merle. Carol slid back confused, why the hell was he here? Did he know about Ed too?

"It's Daryl's brother" Carol whispered. Lori narrowed her eyes back at her as Carol cautiously unlocked the door, her knife hidden behind her back. Once she opened the door, Merle grinned back at her brightly and sinisterly.

Her heart continued to thud as her eyes studied the area behind him, she was so sure Ed was gonna suddenly pop up and grab her.

"Wooo, you got huge! Good to see my nephew growin'!" Merle chuckled. He gazed around the living room "Where's my baby brother at?"

"He's not here. What the hell are you doing here?" Carol growled.

Merle smiled, "I heard officer friendly was comin' out to see ya. Thought I'd follow, his asshole 'partner' was sittin' in the bar bitchin' about him goin' out of town." Merle suddenly pushed past Carol, his arm jammed slightly into her arm, causing her to drop her knife with a small thud. Merle stared between the silver knife on the floor and Carol and scoffed mockingly "You aint got the nuts to kill me"

Carol snatched it up from the ground and marched towards him, "Get out".

Merle threw himself onto the couch, letting his dirty boots flop onto the coffee table. He crossed his arms stubbornly,

"Nah, don't think so. We're uh…we're family aint we, that's what Daryl said. And you aint gonna throw family out are ya?" he asked with a less than charming smile.

Carol threw him a harsh stare. If there were no witnesses she was sure she would lodge the damn thing in his neck if it meant defending her family. She couldn't understand why he acted like this, just tormenting everyone around him. He belonged with Ed. As far as she could see it, there was barely any difference between them.

Fucking sadists Carol thought to herself before taking another bold step toward him.

"After what you did to Daryl all those years ago and what you did to me…you're no family member of mine. You made things right with him but not with me" she snapped fearlessly. She was done playing games.

Merle raised an eyebrow and smirked, "So if you aint my family, I could sock ya right now" he glanced down at her stomach "Punchin' the face shouldn't hurt the kid".

Lori suddenly stepped forward, "Don't you dare! Rick will-"

"I aint seein' any Rick. All I see is two bitches an' a knife. Now shut the fuck up I'll get to ya" He moved himself off of the couch, his feet falling to the ground with a thud and he slowly and intimidatingly made his way towards Carol. She gripped the knife tightly.

"Don't test me. I don't want to do this but I will if I have to" She warned.

Merle scoffed loudly and continued moving towards her. From the corner of Carol's eyes she could see Lori panicking behind her and watching tensely. She could feel a small bead of sweat rolling down her back but she couldn't lose her stance. He'd hit her and bullied her too many times, he wasn't going to do it this time. She prolonged to holding the knife tightly despite her hand shaking and slowly began to lift it as Merle's boots touched hers.

He smiled down at her, "C'mon cupcake. Really?"

She breathed out deeply and just as she was about to point the knife at Merle, she suddenly lost her grip on the knife as a sharp surge of pain shot through her. Her hands moved to grip her stomach as she let out a pained gasp. Her back felt as if there were knives pushing down on her and before she knew it Lori had her arms wrapped around her, guiding her to one of the chairs. Despite the pain, she kept her focus on the knife on the ground. She was grateful at Lori helping her but at the same time she felt guiltily resentful that she just let her drop her weapon so close to him, leaving them vulnerable.

But to Carol's surprise Merle wasn't at all focused on the knife. Instead, he was staring down at her pants. She glanced down painfully, to see the beige couch was beginning to darken with water and a little bit of blood. She groaned at the pain before she shut her eyes at the pressure of another contraction.

"She aint goin' into labour is she? Fuck." She heard Merle say almost nervously.

Lori pulled her phone from her pocket, "Call Daryl. If you can't get him, call Rick."

Carol didn't hear him move at first, at least not until she heard Lori's footsteps marching in another direction and her sharp voice yelling the words, "Move now!" And to her surprise, she heard Merle obey silently. Merle was never ever the type to take orders from a woman. She felt Lori's hands suddenly cup her face and she opened her eyes, half wincing at the pain.

"There isn't supposed to be blood….there wasn't last time-" Carol cried out at another contraction and quickly squeezed Lori's hand "something has to be wrong" she sighed.

"There's nothing wrong I promise" she hissed softly "Daryl and Rick they'll get here soon and we'll all go to the hospital. Don't worry."

Carol nodded silently although she didn't believe her, since when had things ever gone their way? Merle's heavy boots suddenly moved across the floor and they looked up to see him with his arms crossed while the phone hung from the tips of his fingers. He locked eyes with Lori, as if he were avoiding eye contact with her.

"He aint pickin' up. And uh, neither is officer friendly" he grunted.

"Then try them again!" Lori snapped.

"Already tried three times, they aint pickin' up"

Carol breathed deeply and closed her eyes at another painful contraction. It was never a good sign to have missed calls, especially in their little fucked up family. What if something was wrong on their end?

"What if Ed-" Carol quickly stopped her sentence before it could continue, how had she forgotten about Merle so quickly? Merle suddenly took a few steps closer to her, his fists now clenched and squeezing the phone.

"Ed? What the fuck has this got to do with Ed?" he asked sharply.

Carol turned her eyes up quickly to look up at Lori, she lingered nervously in the background almost as if she was expecting something to shatter. She hesitantly moved forward and tapped his arm, he turned his neck sharply to look at her and she blinked determined.

"Try calling them again" she glanced out of the window "I'm gonna get the kids inside, either way we need to leave soon." She glared at Merle as she rested one hand on Carol's shoulder and pressed her lips against her ear softly "Are you gonna be okay alone with him?" she whispered.

Carol stared up at Merle grumpily looking for Rick and Daryl's numbers and nodded hesitantly. If Merle really was gonna try something he would have done it by now and he wouldn't be calling his brother to announce his presence. Lori slowly melted her hand away from Carol's shoulder as she rushed out of the front door, leaving Carol to stare at the shiny knife lying on the ground with Merle standing above her. How many more times was this gonna happen? Her, just being trapped with someone who she hated more than anything. And she just didn't understand. He hated her and she hated him just as much and yet, here he was standing in front of her and trying to help. Even taking orders from women whom he didn't respect in the slightest. She didn't understand why he didn't have that knife held up to her throat right now.

Carol breathed deeply and gently tapped Merle on the foot with her own as he pressed the phone to his ear.

He glared at her, "What?" he snapped.

Carol winced at another contraction,

"Why are you helping me? You could've hurt me or left me by now but you're still here…what's your endgame?" she asked, her eyes squinting.

Merle chuckled, "Do ya want me to hurt ya or leave ya?" he asked.

Carol shrugged, "It just seems kind of out of character for you"

Merle scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes in annoyance, "you don't know a damn thing about me. After all this time, you aint learned that I take care of my family. Nah, don't make that face. You aint my family but that kid is and Daryl is. An' I'll protect them against what I can. Once this shit is over and done with, I'll be happy to sock ya in the mouth".

Carol laughed in pain, "You're still the same bastard from 3 years ago and you always will be" she breathed deeply "The next time you threaten me or my family that knife won't be on the ground". She smiled through gritted teeth.

Merle put his hands out wide, "I don't know 'bout that. Me and Derlena aint fightin' anymore. Might screw everythin' up if ya kill me" he chuckled "Might even be a good thing, leaving your sorry ass on your own". Carol gasped at another contraction and gripped the couch while simply muttering the words,

"Shut up" softly.

Merle licked his lips, "So, what was that y'all were sayin' about Ed?"

Carol exhaled deeply, "It doesn't matter".

Merle leaned in closer, "It fuckin' matters to me, that's my boy"

Carol sighed, "We're not talking about this now"

"I think we are" Merle suddenly held up Lori's phone, "If they call, I'll keep ignoring it until you tell me what I want to hear." He smiled vindictively. Carol stared between Daryl's name glowing on Lori's phone and Merle's face, she shook her head to herself.

What did she do to deserve this kind of shit? She remembered the first time she had gone into labour with Sophia and it was a less than pleasant experience for both of them. It was a warm sunny August afternoon, she had spent the majority of the day keeping the house clean and preparing dinner for when Ed came back from work when her water suddenly broke. She knew she couldn't call Ed because he'd yell at her for calling him at work and she couldn't drive anywhere because he took the damn jeep. In the end she had to call an ambulance and spent the next 12 hours alone in the hospital, young, in pain and scared along with a lot of complications. It wasn't until 2 days later that Ed finally bothered to stumble in stinking of cheap perfume, his clothes ruffled and covered in lipstick smudges. And it wasn't because he cared, it was because he was tired of waiting for her to come home to cook. He barely even gave a damn about Sophia. She was almost tempted to beg the hospital to let her stay, even a lonely ward was better than a lonely home.

At least at the ward when people promised to keep her safe, they meant it.

Carol cried out in pain again, but this time she gritted her teeth and stared directly into Merle's cold eyes.

"Ed's out of jail and we don't know where he is" she sighed deeply with the pain "Now get me…to a damn hospital".

Carol winced again and this time, without thinking she quickly latched onto Merle's hand and squeezed tightly and to her shock, he didn't bother to slap her away. He barely even flinched, despite his hand going a strawberry red. As soon as the pain faded for a few seconds, she removed her hand from him without looking while he sat there silently dialling the numbers all over again. She wondered what was going through that thick skull of his. From the blank expression on his face, she couldn't tell if he was worrying about finding Ed on his own or worrying about Daryl not picking up after almost eleven missed calls. It wasn't like Merle to stay silent for so long. She held onto her stomach softly.

"Busy. Leave a message." She heard Daryl's gruff voice say before the twelfth beep and her heart deflated a little bit.

She knew he was doing better and that he was safe as long as he was with Rick, but it never stopped her heart from breaking. The thing which always without fail managed to kill her heart was the aching feeling of not knowing. That she never got to know what happened or why these things happened to them. Why the universe continued to drag the two of them further down. All those months, hell all of those years after her and Daryl parted ways, her veins burned and her heart ached just wondering why. She knew the moment she first allowed Daryl to wrap his arms around her and fall in love with her, that this was what their lives were going to be. What they were destined to be until the end. She knew, that they would spend their lives worrying and not knowing because they chose to love each other against all odds. They were two damaged people who decided to drift towards each other and damaged people were the ones who had to watch each other and keep each other safe, because nobody else would. And the worst thing was in the end it would never be enough and no matter how hard they would fight, they will always be left wondering and not knowing what they could've done better to save them.

"Leave a message"

Beep!

Carol shut her eyes at another voicemail tone, she refused to cry.

No matter how far they ran, the trouble always followed. Whether it was Ed, her depression or his sickness. She just wanted to know that he was okay and that he'd be with her soon. She just wanted reassurance, that in the end they'd both be okay and that they'd always have each other. No more fear. It needed to be left behind for once in their lives, so maybe they could forget the way things were before.

The door swung open again and through it came, Carl, Lori and Sophia who rushed straight over to Carol. Carl followed Sophia slowly as he side-eyed Merle threateningly.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked softly. "Your eyes are wet"

"I'm fine. It just hurts" Carol smiled.

"Have either of them picked up yet?" Lori asked desperately.

"Nah, goin' straight to voicemail for both of 'em" he sighed.

Lori brushed her fingers through her hair, "Okay. We need to get to the hospital now".

Merle stood up, "Fine. That one with the farmer and his daughter aint too far is it?"

"Not far" Carol said breathily as she clutched her stomach, her insides felt as if they were tearing apart. Lori quickly reached a hand out to Carol and steadily helped her up, along with Sophia clinging to her hand. The two of them slowly attempted to walk, although walking felt almost out of the question for Carol. The pain was already beginning to feel like too much.

Before she knew it, she felt two strong arms sweep beneath her legs and suddenly she was carried out of the house by Merle into his broken down truck. He allowed her to slide and strap herself in as the others hopped in after them. After Merle had pulled away from the house, he immediately sped down the street which led to Lori quickly arguing with him about "Dangerous driving". Carol needed to block it all out, the pain and the worry. She stared at the passing vibrant greenery just beginning to grow and bloom. She wished she could just sit there in the breeze, while her hands passed through the delicate blades and gentle petals and for once in her life feel a little bit of lasting peace. Maybe when this was over, the four of them could just go and lie in the greenery silently with the illusion that things may actually work out in their favour.

Sophia's hand smoothened over Carol's and she stared up at her, with reassuring eyes.

"It'll be okay Mom" she said with a gentle squeeze.

Carol returned an appreciative smile, but quickly let out another cry of pain. She breathed deeply and stared up at the bright blue sky and just wished she could believe her.

…

As soon as they reached inside of the hospital Carol was immediately swept off of her feet and put straight into a wheelchair, which she didn't mind too much the pain was already becoming more and more unbearable the more she tried to walk around and ignore it. As Lori pushed her, that nice receptionist Aaron gave Carol a small thumbs up although he had a hesitant smile and quickly directed them to the ward on the fourth floor. They spent one uncomfortable minute in the elevator, with Merle complaining beneath his breath. Once the doors opened, Lori rushed Carol down the corridor only to be stopped in her tracks, by Rick sitting in one of the waiting room chairs with his head in his hands. A nurse arrived to move Carol, but she quickly put her hand out to halt her and Lori wheeled her over to Rick.

"Rick?" Lori said touching his shoulder. Rick looked up, his face pale and sweaty. On his white shirt, there was vomit, blood and small wet patches scattered across it. His hands shook and Lori without hesitation, wrapped her arms around him. "What happened? What are you doing here?"

Carol stared around the ward, Daryl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Daryl?" Carol asked breathily.

Rick stood up slowly, "I-I'm sorry. We were driving and he started to get sick. He was sweating, his temperature was rising and then he got all shaky and he started throwing up…blood. He couldn't stop I-I I thought" he wiped his face.

Merle stepped forward aggressively, "My baby brother man! Where-"

"Where is he now?" Carol asked sternly.

"With doctors trying to deal with it. I-I'm sorry I didn't call. A nurse said she'd do it"

Carol gripped Rick's hand, her eyes watering.

"Was he awake and breathing when they took him? I need to know!" she stared intensely into Rick's shiny eyes. There was another contraction bursting between her back and her uterus but she resisted the urge to scream out and cry, even if that's all she wanted to do now.

Rick stroked her hand tenderly, the way he always did when he could see she was hurting even though she hadn't uttered a word.

"He was awake, just throwing up. I think they're gonna run some more tests"

Carol winced, but she didn't take her hand away from Rick's. She couldn't leave yet.

"Where?"

"Down the corridor opposite the delivery ward"

Carol let go of Rick's hand, "Take me to him"

Lori crossed her arms, "You can't. You need to get into a room to get checked out. Make sure everything's okay".

Carol stared helplessly down the corridor.

"I can't leave him alone like that" she said painfully "I have to know-I need to see…" she sighed and stared down at her bump poking through her shirt. She needed to come first. "Okay" she nodded and allowed them to wheel her away as she stared at Rick wondering aimlessly as he spoke with Merle.

It only took a few moments for Carol to get changed into the hospital gear and to end up flat on her back as they checked her out, even though she was in pain and worrying about their baby, she couldn't help but be distracted by the thought of Daryl being alone in a big empty room while he was possibly in pain, scared and having God knows what done to him. As she lay on her back waiting for Denise to speak to her, she thought about his fingers. How gentle and soft they were despite their size, how they stroked and tickled her when he was trying to comfort her and how they shook and played nervously with each other when he was afraid. All she could think of in one moment was how they were missing their other half and how they were probably just lying there, maybe even being hooked up to something. She couldn't believe how ridiculously and desperately she wanted to be there to hold his hand and comfort him. She barely cared if he couldn't do the same back, he'd already done so much to comfort her.

As soon as Denise assured her that she was fine and so was the baby, she almost sprinted out of the room despite her struggle to move a few inches without moaning with pain. But to her dismay, they made her sit in the room for another hour just in case something went wrong. In the end she had to beg Lori to bring her a wheel chair so she could go to find Daryl.

Carol wheeled herself down the corridor slowly, when suddenly she bumped into a dark haired girl wearing a black hoodie. As soon as she caught sight of her, her eyes almost lit up with joy.

"You're Carol aren't you?" she asked with a smile. Carol stared and nodded hesitantly. The girl suddenly touched her shoulder, "I'm Tara and I know where Daryl is he's uh…" she fiddled around in her pocket for a moment and pulled out a small white note with writing on it, she slipped it into Carol's hand. Carol shakily opened it, why was he passing notes?

I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.

Stay safe, I promise I'll be there.

Carol read it over again.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner?" Carol stared up at Tara with raised eyebrows "What didn't he tell me? And why is he giving you notes?" Carol winced again, breathing deeply with the pain and Tara just stood there with her mouth open, as she shook her head.

"I don't think he wanted me to tell you" she shook her head to herself "I kept telling him-"

Carol held onto Tara's sleeve. "Where is he?"

Tara's deep brown eyes stared back at Carol's pale ones and she fluttered her eyes shut, almost ashamedly. She could already tell something was wrong, there was always something wrong.

"I'll take you to him" she hissed lightly "But I don't know how long we'll have".

Carol nodded "Thank you" she smiled although her smile quickly disappeared at another contraction and she cried out. Tara nodded nervously and quickly got behind her chair, pushing her down the corridor. Carol held her stomach, as the pain was beginning to get worse she found it harder and harder not to cry out in pain again. She couldn't let Daryl see her in pain right now, all she wanted to do was make sure he was okay and not worrying about anyone but himself. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner the words continued to play around in her head, what the hell was it that he hadn't told her? He couldn't be dying, could he? In the last 6 months this was the first major incident, he was so much happier and looking so much better than before…could it have just have been him lying?

Carol shook her head, despite her thoughts being secure in her mind. She couldn't think like that, not now not after everything. This was the first incident in 6 months and they'd come so far, it couldn't just end like this. She refused to let it end like this.

Tara suddenly came to a stop in front of a large room. Inside, she could see many patients lying down some looking weaker than others while some spoke with loved ones. She scanned her eyes around the room, trying to spot Daryl. She stared up at Tara.

"I can't see him"

Tara didn't break her stare from the window, she simply said

"I can" before wheeling Carol slowly into the room.

Carol stared at the sickly patients and wondered how long most of them have had to fight and deal with this. If they had the chance to walk out at the end of the day and live life normally or if this was another spoonful of false hope.

"Everyone in here is waiting to get tested or waiting for news. I know they could call them but some of these guys are too weak to leave" Tara sighed.

"You work here?"

Tara shook her head, "No. But I've lived here more times than I'd like. My uh, my girlfriend she's your baby doctor." Tara muttered quietly. Carol pressed her lips together softly and edged her hand up slowly to touch Tara's hand, which felt like ice in comparison. "I'm okay. I'm surviving aren't I?" Tara wheeled Carol to the back of the room to see a man bent over in a hospital gown. His longish messy dark hair flopping over his face as he puked painfully into a red bucket. One arm, connected to an IV clutched the bucket while the other wiped away the red and white from his lips. He coughed wheezing and Carol's heart felt like a magnet, attracting pins and needles to stab at it all at once. Daryl trembled meekly and Carol slowly wheeled herself closer to him, her hand softened over his.

Daryl shakily lifted his head to reveal his darkened eyes, the beads of sweat racing down his face and the smudges of blood and sick in the corner of his lips. Carol grabbed a tissue from the side table and wiped it away gently. He stared up at her ashamed, but Carol attempted to force a reassuring smile. Instead, she ended up crying out in pain as another contraction hit. Daryl's hand immediately went to hers.

"If ya need to, squeeze it". He urged nervously.

"I'm fine" Carol exhaled heavily "It's you I'm worried about" Daryl suddenly let go of her hand and dipped his head into the bucket as he violently threw up. Carol smoothened her hand over his back gently, trying to soothe him as best she could. "What's going on, Daryl?" she sighed.

Daryl spat into the bucket, "Jus' fuckin' up as usual" he said gruffly "I'm sorry I…I lied"

"How?"

Daryl wiped his mouth, "I aint gettin' better, I jus' aint. Last few months been rough…" he laughed breathily "the chemo shit ended up not doin' shit."

Carol suddenly felt Tara's warmth disappear from behind her and she turned to see her leaning against a wall with her eyes shut.

"What does that mean?" Carol asked quietly.

Daryl shrugged, "It's what I'm tryin' to find out…but from the looks of this bucket…you know" he sighed.

Carol felt another contraction, but she stopped herself from crying out. Instead she breathed deeply, gripped onto the arms of the wheel chair and stared directly into Daryl's eyes.

"How long have you known?" she breathed through gritted teeth.

"Three months. It's funny at first I hated the chemo shit, but I really thought it could work. Must've been stupid enough to believe that it could be true." He shook his head "they told me it was still spreadin' and gave me new drugs. I thought I could hide it, until today."

Carol breathed through another painful contraction, "Why didn't you tell me? We've been through this so many times, why can't you talk to me?" she breathed on the verge of tears.

"For once, you seemed happy we all did. I didn't wanna fuck it up for ya. I wanted to protect ya for a little bit longer" his fingers hugged her hand "I love ya Carol an' I don't wanna hurt ya, if I told ya any sooner. It would've broken you again, I couldn't let it happen"

"No. We would've had each other." She breathed deeply, the pain was getting more and more intense. "Don't worry about me please. It doesn't matter if it hurts me, or breaks me or tears me apart because I love you and I want you to be safe. You keeping this from me just hurts even more." She held onto his hand tighter, "But I'm still here for you, to fight with you like I always will"

Daryl squeezed her hand back gently and smile. His eyes turned to stare down at her bump and his face suddenly crumbled.

"I never wanted her to see me like this" he rasped.

"She won't have to. You're gonna be fine and you're gonna hold her, protect her and be her daddy." Daryl delicately circled his fingers over her bump gently and Carol stroked his hair back "How did you know I was here?" she asked quietly.

Daryl noticed Carol wincing in pain again and quickly moved his hand to support hers, "When I got here, Maggie said she'd call. I got Tara to wait around for ya, cause I knew you'd come. Like ya always do" he chuckled "I just didn't think you'd be here for…that" he paused staring at her for a second as she squeezed his hand "How'd you get here anyway? Taxi? Ambulance?"

Carol rolled her eyes and sighed deeply with a smile, "Your brother paid us a little…'visit' and he drove us up here. He's in the waiting room with Rick".

Daryl shook his head angrily, "Son of a bitch. Told him to stay away" he muttered "Don't tell him where I am, don't wanna get blood…more blood on my hands today. If he asks, tell him the truth but make sure he don't come after me."

Carol laughed softly for a second but suddenly winced, gasping at the pain. Daryl's eyes looked sadly up at her, like he was disappointed he couldn't do anything to help. He rubbed his hand in a circular motion around her back.

"Breathe…yeah that's it" he muttered with a sad smile. He paused and stared at her crouched over in pain, "You should head back, get a little rest and maybe get some drugs" he said softly. Just as Carol was about to sit up and speak, Maggie appeared next to her, her face looking pale and tired while her eyes puffed out slightly.

"It's time" She sighed.

Carol stared up at Maggie, who avoided eye contact immediately.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"We're gonna do some blood tests, give him another scan and you should get the results in a few days"

The warmth of Daryl's mouth suddenly covered Carol's hand and she looked down to see him kissing it gently, as he stared deeply into her eyes.

"As soon as I'm done, I'll be in there with ya".

Carol smirked, "Promise?"

Daryl grinned back, "Yeah, promise".

Maggie sighed and brushed a loose hair out of her face, "I'm not sure it's gonna be that easy. These things take time and then you'll have to take it easy." Her eyes fluttered shut "I'm sorry".

Daryl shook his head, "Nah, fuck that. I'm makin' it back, I aint leavin' her on her own".

Tara removed herself from the wall quickly, her hand thrusting up as she volunteered.

"I'll be there if you can't make it and Maggie will. Right?" she suggested calmly. Maggie nodded silently and bit her lip.

Daryl scoffed, "Fine but ya won't have to. I always come back for my girl". Maggie nodded again and began moving Daryl's bed out of the room as Tara carefully wheeled Carol out too. Carol's hand latched onto Daryl's as he continued to stroke her soothingly, especially when she squeezed along with the contractions.

"I've got ya. It's okay" he muttered.

"I've got you too" she muttered back, breathily.

Suddenly they ended up in front of an elevator, as Carol watched Maggie casually handed Daryl over to two paramedics, tears began to stream down her face. She didn't know why she was crying, she knew that in a few hours she'd see him again but those moments when she had to let him go were always the worst because she couldn't protect him anymore, she couldn't hold his hand and she couldn't tell him it'd be okay. He was a grown man and she knew he was capable of looking after himself but it didn't stop her from worrying. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn't stop. Daryl's fingers swerved down her face to wipe away the tears.

"Stay safe"

"You too" she breathed and the elevator doors shut, leaving Tara, Maggie and Carol to stand there in silence.

Maggie turned to look at Tara, "You should get back to your room and rest, I'll talk to Denise".

Tara nodded reluctantly and placed her hand gently on Carol's shoulder,

"I'm sorry about Daryl…but I hope it works out" she smiled and Carol nodded with a smile, before Maggie got behind her and began wheeling her back to her room. They walked in silence, the squeak of the wheels being only sound between them. She knew something had to be wrong, Maggie never usually was this quiet. Especially around them.

Carol slid her hand upwards to touch Maggie's hand and she glanced down tiredly.

"We'll get you an epidural soon". She said blankly.

"It's not that" she paused staring up at Maggie's deep sad green eyes "What's wrong?"

Maggie shook her head, "It's nothing…It's stupid" she laughed softly to herself.

Carol rubbed her hand, "Nothing you say is stupid. Tell me" she urged and Maggie sighed.

"Seeing you both here…it's just hard I really thought he was done with coming here like that…I thought the meds would work after the chemo didn't." she rubbed her face exhaustedly "I was thinking about my Mom, my sister…I guess I'm just tired of losing people." She sighed.

Carol nodded as her hands moved to cradle her stomach,

"Me too"

Maggie turned the chair around another corner and the first thing she saw was Merle sitting by the waiting room chairs, with Carl still glaring at him.

"Oh shit" Carol heard Maggie say and suddenly she rushed her back into her room not bothering to stop for passing doctors and nurses, it seemed like nobody wanted to be around Merle today. Just as Carol could see the bright light of the room, she suddenly heard the sound of rushing footsteps and the sharp tone of his voice yelling: "Bitch!" and "Get back here!" Carol rolled her eyes and clutched her stomach in pain, how could this get any worse?

Maggie held onto Carol's hand tightly as she carefully helped her back into her uncomfortable bed. As soon as she was flat on her back, another nurse began hooking things back into her. She crooked her neck sideways to see Rick also racing after Merle and pushing his hand hard against his chest, attempting to bar him from entering the room. Carol shut her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply at another painful contraction. Maggie wiped her sweaty head gently.

"I'm gonna get you an epidural and Denise is gonna check how dilated you are. Just relax and breathe" she said softly, her hands cupped her head as she hugged her softly and rushed past Rick and Merle. Merle's face turned a bright shade of purple and he continued to try to shove Rick away. Carol was half impressed, considering Rick was nowhere near Merle's large size.

"Where's Daryl? Did ya see him?" he yelled desperately.

"Sit down!" Rick warned gruffly.

"Fuck you! That's my baby brother, I gotta know!" he snapped back.

Rick tilted his head to stare at Carol and she nodded approvingly. Rick sighed, unimpressed and suddenly moved his arms across his chest allowing Merle to almost fall against the door. He turned to Rick, sticking up one middle finger and quickly moved to Carol's side.

"What's happenin' to him?"

Carol sat up carefully, despite the pain and bit her lip as she stared down at her hands. She hated this man more than anything. Why did it still hurt to tell him bad news? To see him crumble right in front of her. All she wanted to do was break him the way he broke her and in the end it still made her stomach twist and turn.

She took a deep breath, "Right now he's having some blood work and then he's getting another scan to see…" she hesitated staring down at her bump "Turns out the chemo never worked and it's still spreading" She glanced up at Rick, he wasn't even looking at her anymore. Instead he turned his back away and began rubbing his face tiredly or sadly, it was hard to tell these days. It all looked the same.

"He's finding out what's gonna happen to him now or how long he's got left…if anything can be done…" her voice cracked along with another contraction and she bent forward crying with the pain. She lay forward, expecting to hear Merle yelling, but instead he simply walked out silently and Rick, Maggie and Denise entered. Carol leaned back on the bed tearfully as Denise began to inspect her. Rick slowly moved to her side and held her hand. She looked up at him, but he refused to look directly at her. Rick was someone who always tried to be strong, but the wetness and the little gleam in his eyes always managed to give him away. Carol gently moved her hand up to his face, softly grazing his beard and he looked down at her. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, teary eyed and with few hesitation their arms were all over each other. She held him close, while he buried his face into her and sniffled.

"I know we need to be stronger than this…but it still hurts" she muttered.

"It does, doesn't it? Can't help but think I could've done more" Carol cried out at another contraction and pulled him in closer. "Okay, okay" he said as he wiped his tears. He slowly rubbed her back and gently lay her back down on the bed.

Carol breathed deeply through the pain,

"Everything's gonna be okay" she sighed.

"You're six, nearly seven centimetres already" Denise said with a smile.

Carol glanced at the open door, she wished Daryl would race through to be with her, hold her hand and comfort her. It was all she needed right now.

"It will be okay" she sighed again.

"I'll get Lori" Rick said as he exited the room.

Maggie slowly moved over to Carol and bent her forward slightly, the needle staring at Carol intimidatingly.

She shut her eyes.

Everything will be okay

…

It was around 7 pm when Carol couldn't take the pain anymore. Sure she had been injected with something to relieve the pain, but it didn't stop her body feeling like it was still being torn in two. She couldn't stop watching the door and waiting for Daryl to come through. It had been four hours since the last time she had seen him and he still wasn't back, Merle seemed to have disappeared, Maggie wasn't giving updates and there had been no sign of Tara anywhere.

"It's time" Denise told Carol with a smile. Instead of returning the smile, Carol's heart broke into two.

She threw her head back in frustration and shut her eyes tightly. She wished she was somewhere else or at least somewhere where everything could be different. Rick's hand moved to clutch Carol's and she breathed deeply pretending it was Daryl's. She wished, she could be happy like most people would be when they have their child with the person they loved but all her heart continued to do was break into smaller and smaller pieces, at this rate there could only be a couple shards left. She wished she could have Daryl standing next to her, holding her looking scared but looking happy and encouraging her to keep going until his eyes finally welled up and he held their girl for the first time. Instead, he was gonna miss everything and most likely continue to blame himself like he did with everything else. At least this time when he walked in a few hours later, she'd know she still loved him and he wouldn't be covered in another woman's perfume mixed with scattered lipstick marks.

Lori quickly rushed into the room and onto Carol's other side, her hand ready to hold Carol's. She flashed an encouraging smile at her, along with a nod and Carol began pushing. The pressure quickly built up on her back and inside of her, it was almost unbearable. She let out a pained cry and breathed deeply through the tears streaming down her face.

"You're doing great. Keep going" Lori encouraged but Carol shook her head as she breathed.

"I can't do this now" she exhaled "Not without Daryl here too"

"Push harder Carol! You're nearly there!" called Denise.

Carol leaned forward again and pushed for a few more seconds, before crying out again. She let out another gasp and fell backwards breathing heavily, this was a lot harder than Carol had remembered it being. Lori grabbed a cloth from the table and gently wiped the sweat off of Carol's forehead along with the tears on her cheeks.

"It'll be okay, just keep breathing" she said soothingly.

Suddenly Carol heard the door swing open, she turned her eyes to the right exhaustedly and her heart skipped a beat. Tara was hurryingly guiding Daryl into the room, he looked so bare in his hospital gown and had a pale face but she was grateful. Daryl friendlily slapped Rick's back and quickly took his place, he clasped onto Carol's hand and kissed her cheek softly.

"You came" she exhaled.

"I always keep my promises" he smiled as he let her squeeze his hand through another contraction. "C'mon, you're doin' good"

"I can see the head! You gotta keep going Carol, it's nearly over" Denise called.

Carol pushed again, much harder to the point of her screaming as she squeezed Daryl's and Lori's hands to the point of breakage. He continued to encourage her, even though she could hear the wobble in his voice, even in excruciating pain she could tell that he was afraid. She continued to:

Push, squeeze and scream.

Push, squeeze and scream.

Push, squeeze and scream-

Until finally, Carol fell backwards with a final gasp and Daryl stroked her sweaty hair back gently. The two of them looked down as a cry filled the room, and Daryl's eyes almost bulged out at the sight of a tiny, bloody baby on the other side of the bed. Maggie moved away from the crowd of nurses and carefully took Daryl's hand, she led him right to the front and handed him a tiny silver scalpel to slice the cord. His face turning scarlet, as soon as he snipped it. Daryl's mouth hung open, as he watched the nurses clean and weigh the baby at the front of the room. Carol smiled to herself exhausted, it was adorable watching Daryl so amazed by their baby.

"She's 6.5lbs!" Maggie smiled brightly.

Daryl shifted back over to Carol's side and planted a warm kiss against her sweaty forehead before tearfully watching their daughter being wrapped up and handed to Carol. Carol stared down at her with a tired smile, she glanced up slightly to see Daryl's eyes completely fixed on her lying in Carol's arms.

"Hey" Daryl said softly to the squealing baby.

Rick slid away from the wall and patted Daryl on the back.

"Congratulations Dad"

Daryl continued to stare at her, his eyes shimmering.

"Holy shit" he kept repeating.

"You wanna hold her?" Carol asked, her voice flowing like silk.

Daryl shivered with surprise.

"I-What if I drop her?" he asked.

Carol shook her head, it was a good sign to see him so nervous. At least it showed he cared.

"I trust you and anyway, you're gonna be holding her a lot mister" she sighed with a smile. She signalled him over with a small head movement and he edged forward nervously, his eyes switching quickly between the tiny baby and her. He bent forward, his body trembling slightly and suddenly she was in his arms. The tiny baby, let out another noise and Daryl exhaled happily. He hugged her close and shut his eyes to avoid more tears from falling. She looked straight up at Daryl and he stared back, failing to contain his tears and smiles.

"Hey sweetheart" he hissed softly. The baby made another tiny noise and Daryl laughed softly.

"I think she likes you" Carol smiled.

Daryl smiled back,

"Can't believe how tiny she is. Shit"

Maggie grabbed a pad from the side of the room,

"Have you got a name for her yet?"

Daryl turned his head to stare at Carol and she tilted her head to stare back at him, until she touched his strong arm with a gentle touch. And they both knew.

"Rose" Daryl said huskily. Rose suddenly began wriggling in Daryl's arms, letting out a quiet squeak. Daryl grinned a bright smile, "You like that? Huh sweetheart?" he looked around the room with a satisfied grin and leaned in to kiss her head softly, before leaning over to kiss Carol's cheek. He pulled away and noticed something odd, he touched it gently to find that it was a tiny spot of blood. He glanced down at Rose's head to see it completely clean. He slowly touched his own nose and two of his fingers returned bloody.

Daryl quickly moved his head up,

"Shit" he muttered before passing Rose back over to Carol, who stared in horror at the faucet-like blood coming from his nose. Daryl stared at them, he shook his head. "I'm sorry" he rasped in almost a whisper.

Maggie quickly made her way over to him, she softly took his arm and began leading him out.

"It's okay, we'll take care of it and you'll be able to see them when it's over" she smiled encouragingly, although Carol could tell this was killing her again. She recognized the hurt and disappointment in her eyes too well. Daryl took a final vulnerable look at Carol and Rose, before he was led out with Tara following him outside.

And all Carol could do was smile.

That's all she could fucking do when things went wrong.

Smile and pretend she wasn't dying inside.

Once the door shut behind them, Rick and Lori almost synchronising both put their hands on Carol's shoulders softly gripping them. She slid one hand onto Lori's carefully.

"She's beautiful" Lori said tenderly.

"Thank you" Carol nodded agreeing. She really was, considering she had only been born a few minutes ago. When she looked at her, she could already see she was gonna grow up brave like her daddy, kind like her sister and hopefully strong like her Mom. It was woven into her blood.

There was a long silence in the room, for a moment as everybody stared admiringly at Rose. Until Denise finally took off her bloody gloves.

"We should get you cleaned up, and then you two can spend some more time together" she beamed.

Carol stared down at little Rose and kissed her head peacefully.

You're gonna make it Carol thought to herself as she stared at her tiny fists.

"Carol?"

She didn't break her stare once and smiled fondly.

"Okay"

…

It took a few days for all of the madness to end. By the time they had reached Thursday, Daryl wasn't being held in a different ward being constantly monitored, the bleeding and vomiting had been finally stopped and it didn't hurt so much for Carol to walk around to bring Rose to visit him along with Sophia. She remembered that she just couldn't stop smiling every time she saw the expression on his face when they showed up. His eyes would light up, his cheeks would go scarlet and he would attempt to hug them all at once. He watched them as if he were seeing them for the first time. Everybody adored Rose, but not as much as he did. Maggie often told her stories about how he'd try to sneak out during the middle of the night to come see them, but he always got caught out. Instead, he had to let Tara pass notes for him and take a couple pictures on her phone just for him to feel satisfied. It was so refreshing to see him so happy, considering the last few months and Ed.

Ed

She still hadn't told Daryl or Sophia about that yet, the only people who knew were her, Rick, Lori and Merle. Who had, ever since she was honest about Daryl, had disappeared. She often spent nights worrying about where he could've gone, if he had possibly broken into their house, gone home to get drunk or maybe even try to track down Ed himself. Where ever he was, they needed to find him before something else went wrong or Daryl got worse.

Carol gazed down at Rose sleeping in her little cot and smiled to herself. She was so happy something had gone right for once. She had to be their hope.

Sophia sat on the edge of Carol's bed and stared down at Rose, her cheeks going red from smiling for so long.

"She's so cute. I can't wait for her to come home"

"Neither can I" Carol hissed quietly.

Sophia leaned down into the cot and dragged one finger delicately across her cheeks, before kissing her forehead.

"I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" Sophia whispered. She spun her body around, her blonde hair flying and launched herself into Carol's arms. It had been a long six days since either of them had spent much time together. Rick had gone home along with Carl to pick up Judith from his parents, a few days earlier so Sophia had been left to be looked after by Lori. Every day Sophia visited, Carol never wanted to let her go. She always savoured the warmth her hugs gave her. She glanced down at her blonde hair burying itself in her, at least she'd be home tomorrow.

The door slowly creaked open and Daryl stood there fully dressed in something thankfully other than a gown. As soon as Daryl laid eyes on Sophia, he barely hesitated to wrap her up in his arms and swing her for a second.

"How ya doin'?" he asked gingerly.

"I'm good" Sophia nodded with a smile. She waved at Carol one more time before heading for the door "Bye Mom and see ya Daryl"

"Hey where ya goin'?"

Sophia frowned, "Lori's already here to pick me up. I promise I'll be back tomorrow though" Daryl grinned at her and pulled her in for one more soft hug before letting her rush out of the door. Once the door was shut, he smirked up at Carol and sped over to her quickly. His thumb rested beneath her chin and he pecked her gently on the lips.

Her hand slid up to his face, "I missed you"

He chuckled, "I missed the hell out of ya" He turned to face the cot "And this little one. Is she sleepin'?"

Carol nodded.

"Yes, but you can hold her. Just try not to wake her"

"Okay" he murmured. He crept nervously towards her cot and stared back at Carol, who nodded encouragingly at him. He nodded to himself and carefully slid his hands beneath her sleeping body and lifted her up gently into the air. The crook of his arm supported her head and he began to rock her lightly. He smiled up at Carol, still looking completely amazed.

"This still don't feel real" he walked over to her slowly and sat on the edge of her bed "Still expectin' to wake up in that damn apartment. I just- I can't believe I'm here with her. Can't believe she's mine" He stared down at her quietly breathing and he smiled lovingly "Never thought I'd be a dad. Hell, I never thought I'd be someone's husband". Daryl moved in closer next to Carol, she put her finger out and tickled her nose smoothly before staring up at Daryl.

"I never thought I'd have a life outside of Ed-" she paused, her heart suddenly thudding at the mention of his name. She stared down at her hands, they were already beginning to move around nervously.

Daryl nudged her softly, "You doin' okay?"

Carol sighed, "There's something I need to talk to you about. It's important".

"What is it?"

Before Carol could speak, the door swung open and Merle stood there looking dirty as usual, with a little teddy bear gripped in his hand.

Shit Carol thought to herself. Daryl suddenly stood up, still holding Rose in his arms. She stared between them nervously, there was a large chance he could accidentally drop her at the sight of him. That was one of the things she hated most about him, he always barged in when he wasn't needed or wanted. He always managed to make the situation worse.

Merle glared between their expressions and laughed,

"What?" he glanced at Rose sleeping in Daryl's arms "That my nephew huh? Lil Dixon?"

"Our daughter" Carol corrected stupidly, what did it even matter to him?

Merle scoffed, "Fuckin' girls man. We need more men in this family"

Daryl handed Rose over to Carol and moved closer to Merle.

"What the fuck are ya doin' here? I thought I told ya to stay away"

Merle clapped his hands together sharply,

"An' I thought she'd be a boy, but we can't get what we want"

Daryl leaned up to him intensely, his shoulders met Merle's and his fist shook behind his back. He looked almost as if he could punch Merle, just for old time's sake.

Merle grinned, "Calm down brother, I only wanted to see my niece" he said eyeing Rose in Carol's arms. Carol hugged Rose closer, she loathed the fact that Merle continued to call her his as if he earned any right to be near her or have any claim on her. She couldn't understand why he was so cheery, he couldn't have forgotten all of the news he'd gotten a few days ago. It wasn't like Merle to start acting decently out of the blue.

"What's her name anyway? Hmm?"

Daryl looked to Carol and Rose, sucking in his lips slightly and turned to look back at Merle. She could tell he was nervous about telling him the name, it was hard to tell what his reaction would be. Merle was like a ticking time bomb, at first you'd think it was okay to joke around and act naturally and without warning, he'd explode and obliterate everything and everyone in his path.

"We're callin' her Rose. Rose Dixon" he lifted his head up as the name rolled off of his tongue, as if he were proud.

Merle's face turned a white sheet colour, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Why the fuck would you name her that? Wanna have her grow up like Mom? Be weak like her? The fuckin' name is cursed"

"Fuck off. You and Dad, you made her think she was weak. She aint, braver than both of your asses combined" Daryl snapped. He pointed out one finger and pushed Merle backwards slightly.

Merle sneered, "You were always the dramatic shit, weren't ya?" he chuckled and he moved closer to the bed "C'mon let me see her". He attempted to push his arms out to take her but Carol suddenly snatched her away, hiding her from his reach.

"No. After the shit you threatened me with back at the house and all the shit you put us through, there's no way in hell I'd let her near you. She will never know who you are" she hissed sharply.

Merle pulled back, his mouth hung open in an oval shape and his face transitioned into a crimson colour.

"Why the fuck not? I drove ya here, made sure you didn't end up on the floor like a damn animal. She's my fuckin' family you bitch!" he barked.

Carol glared at him and a fire lit inside of her heart.

"Daryl's your family. You said it yourself"

Merle turned his eyes to look to Daryl, whose eyes were focused on the ground. He shoved his shoulder,

"Aint you gon say nothin'?"

Daryl leisurely lifted his head up, his fists relaxing. He stared up at his brother, his eyes softening and he exhaled.

"What I said back at the cemetery, I meant it. We're good but I don't forgive ya for what you did to her. You and her aint, I aint gonna force her to do what she doesn't wanna do. I told ya to stay away from us. And I meant it then and I mean it now"

Merle's mouth trembled to Carol's surprise. She'd never seen him tremble before. She'd witnessed him fall to his knees and cry with grief but she'd never seen him look so broken in front of his brother. So afraid and hurt. It was a look of betrayal.

"S-So what Derlena? That's it? You continue to live with that lyin' whoring bitch and I don't see ya again?"

Daryl sighed, "I can't have ya near them. I'll see you again, but it'll be the last time I do".

Merle suddenly turned around, his fingers pinched his face angrily until finally he stopped in front of Rose's cot and threw it across the room, letting it hit the ground with a thud. Rose's eyes flashed open and she began whimpering quietly, Carol could already tell she wasn't far away from screaming. She rocked her gently.

"You fuckin' need me! She aint told ya yet, has she?" he yelled furiously.

Beads of sweat rolled down Carol's back and all she wanted to do was leap out of bed and cover Merle's loud mouth. But with Rose snuggled up to her, she was completely powerless. Daryl looked between Carol and Merle, his arms stretched out wide.

"What?"

Merle pointed a finger at Carol.

"Her man is out of prison. I fuckin' read up on it too, killed a guard stabbed him right in the neck and now they're lookin' for him. And you know what else? He's probably comin' back for ya. He'll hurt the kids first, then you baby brother and then he'll get to her kill her nice and slow. You want that?" he screamed at the top of his lungs and suddenly Rose started screaming with him.

Daryl looked back at Carol silently and she shook her head, trying to apologise noiselessly. But Daryl simply laid one hand on Merle's shaking body and led him out of the room. She watched as the two of them stood outside of the room.

"It's okay. Shh I've got you, I'm here" Carol whispered but Rose continued to cry louder. Carol stared out of the window again and this time she could see the veins standing out of Merle's neck as he yelled at Daryl, who it barely seemed to faze. All he did was stand there, with his two strong arms crossed over his chest as he stared blankly. He'd been through this so many times, she was starting to think he was getting used to it. Or maybe he was just tired, tired of fighting the same old battles and being forced to pick a side. She knew she would be. She stared at his hands slowly moving to touch Merle's shoulders and Merle's mouth suddenly shutting.

When she looked at Daryl, she stared at his soft eyes but hard face. She looked at how much he had changed, he wasn't the same man she'd had the pleasure to meet three years ago. Back then, he was angry. Angry at the world and most of the people around him and he was hurting and afraid. Sure, he barely showed it when he was around her but she could always see it when he'd hear another story about Ed or he'd talk about Merle. Those little twitches, the extra gruffness in his voice and his shaking fists. It was like he was a boy back then and now he was a man. He was tired but at peace and there was nothing more she wanted for Daryl. For once in his life, to feel some peace.

She watched him pat Merle on the back one more time before he walked away and Daryl re-entered the room. He firstly moved to pick up Rose's fallen cot and then quickly moved over to Carol's side and scooped Rose up in his arms, shushing her softly.

"C'mon sweetheart, it's okay. Got ya mom and ya dad here." Rose's screams slowly quietened down to a tiny gurgle and he smirked up at Carol proudly "Think I'm gettin' the hang of this"

"She definitely likes you" Carol smiled.

"Good" Daryl laughed and he continued to rock her.

She stared out at the corridor, "How did it go, with him?"

Daryl shrugged, "Not great. Aint exactly feelin' peachy about you or me…but he'll back off for now". Daryl paused thinking for a second "Ed…if he comes knocking I'll –"

"Don't." Carol interrupted "We don't need to talk about him right now. I just don't want to think about it. Rick's handling it".

Daryl nodded, "Okay. I get it" Rose squirmed in his arms and began whimpering quietly "I think she wants to be around her mom". Daryl walked over to her slowly and attempted to slide her into Carol's arms, but instead she moved over making a large space for him.

"I think she wants both of us. Lie with me"

Daryl nodded with a smile. He slid the wrapped up baby into Carol's arms and hopped in next to them. Carol delicately rested Rose in a small gap between them as she lay her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead lovingly.

"I love ya" he muttered. His hand stroked down her neck warmly and tenderly.

Carol grinned brightly, "I know you do"

Daryl's hand moved to clasp against hers and he stared down at her, his deep blue eyes gazing into her.

"I mean it. When I was lyin' in that bed while they were scannin' and testin' me, couldn't stop thinking about ya and about how much I loved ya, how much I always loved ya even when I was stuck in that apartment, on the streets and when I left you on that damn train" he stroked his finger over her cheek and softly pressed his lips up against hers "I aint ever gonna leave ya again. I aint gonna let anybody hurt ya none of ya. I love ya" he exhaled breathily. He looked like he was only a few seconds away from tearing up, as if he were afraid he wouldn't be able to live up to his promises.

Rose gurgled beneath them and he laughed quietly.

"You're my family. Fuck, never thought I'd be sayin' that"

Carol pressed her hand against his chest, she tilted her head up and kissed him gently,

"Get used to it, we're stuck together forever" she muttered and her hands cupped his face.

Rose made another tiny noise and at the same time, they both leaned down and kissed her head before sharing one final passionate kiss.

The door suddenly opened and inside stepped, Maggie and Hershel. He held a chart close to his chest and stared at the two of them, almost regrettably. Carol observed Maggie closely, only to find that she refused to make eye contact with her, all she did was face the ground sadly as if she couldn't bear to look at them. Carol immediately locked onto Daryl's hand. Hershel took a soft breath and Carol's mind began racing at what he would say next:

"I'm sorry"

"There's nothing we can do"

"I don't know how to tell you this"-

"We need to talk…about your results" Hershel finally sighed. And Carol immediately knew things were about to change for the worse.

Daryl swallowed dryly with a face of pure relaxation and simply muttered,

"Bring it on"