AN: Here we go, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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Daryl wasn't sure at all how he was going to make the announcement. He was excited about it, but he didn't quite know how he wanted to handle things.

When Andrea had fallen pregnant the first time, Merle had made a grand announcement. He'd gone all out. He'd had everything he could think of to drive home the fact that this was an exciting announcement for him. With each pregnancy, though, the announcements had been less and less important until, for the last pregnancy, Daryl couldn't even recall there having been an announcement at all. It seemed like they'd just mentioned the pregnancy in passing and let news spread as it would.

Something similar had happened, too, with Daryl and Carol. Sophia coming had been a grand announcement. June's adoption had been announced over a dinner. Jack's adoption had come over coffee.

Adding to the family lost some of its excitement for everyone when they were used to it.

But this time was at least a little different and Daryl hoped that all his guests would somehow know that when he made the announcement. He hoped they could somehow, even if they didn't feel it, scrape up a little extra enthusiasm.

Carol needed it and he and Sophia desperately wanted it.

Daryl greeted Merle with a handshake and a slap on the back when his brother arrived. He offered Andrea a kiss on the cheek and a word over how nice she looked. When Alice and Melodye arrived, he offered each of the women a kiss on the cheek and some comment about their hair or dress. He followed all the social niceties required of him as their host. Then he shuffled them all inside where Sophia served them all drinks and Carol started the salad to welcome them.

They made it through the salad and on to the main meal before anyone pressed Daryl at all about why they'd been called together.

"You were being kind of mysterious about dinner," Alice said. "It sounded like a pretty special occasion. Are you going to tell us, at any point, what we're celebrating? Or are we just celebrating this...this incredible food that Sophia cooked?"

Alice winked at Sophia before she looked back to Daryl with expectation on her features.

Daryl looked at Carol and she smiled at him before she dropped her eyes to her plate to focus very hard on the food that she was really pushing around more than she was eating it. She was giving him permission to make the announcement. More than that, she was telling him that the only way it was getting made was if he put it to words.

Daryl stood up at his chair and cleared his throat. He couldn't help but smile to himself, but he didn't try to hide it. He wasn't even going to pretend that this wasn't one of the happiest announcements he might ever get to make. He wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't thrilled to make it. Before he could actually get it out, though, they'd already begun to speculate about what it might be.

"Grinning like a mule eating briars," Merle commented. "Spit it out, brother. What's got you so wound up?"

"Is it a promotion?" Melodye asked quickly. "It's a promotion. I knew you had to be up for one soon."

Daryl laughed to himself the moment that everyone jumped on Melodye's suggestion as clearly having to be truth.

"It ain't no promotion," Daryl said. "Not a promotion. Actually—it ain't just my news. It's Carol's news too. Family news. It's—all of us."

Now they were just staring at him and it was practically unnerving. They had so much expectation on their faces that Daryl felt like nothing could really live up to it. He'd let it go on too long. He'd let the excitement build too much. Now even their first biological child together would never live up to what everyone was expecting—or dreaming—that Daryl might announce. He wasn't sure if there was anything within the realm of possibility that might live up to what it was clear they were expecting at this point.

So he knew that he shouldn't leave them waiting any longer because that just risked even more diminished enthusiasm.

Daryl cleared his throat again.

"Carol an' me have been carryin' this secret around for a little while—and by that, I mean she's really been doing most of the carryin' around," Daryl said. "But we couldn't wait no longer and we just wanted everyone to know." Daryl glanced at Carol to see if she might want to jump in and make the announcement, but she didn't. She was just smiling at him. She was waiting on him. Daryl laughed to himself. "I wanted to have some great words for this or just the right way to do it but, I'm not sure how I could say it that could make it come out soundin' like everything it means to us..."

"Just say it, Daryl!" Andrea said quickly. She let out something like a bark of nervous laughter and twisted her napkin in her hands. "The anticipation is killing us!"

"Are you moving?" Alice asked. "Did you get—transferred? If it's not a promotion?"

Her suggestion caused a change in their guests almost suddenly. Nobody liked the idea that Daryl and Carol might be moving, so Daryl took advantage of that moment of lowered expectation and, perhaps, disappointment, to make his announcement because anything he said was sure to cheer them up.

"We're not moving," Daryl said. "We're—havin' a baby!"

If Daryl expected any reaction at all, then he'd guessed dead wrong about what would happen in the immediate aftermath of his announcement. Everyone stared at each other—eyes shifted back and forth from person to person—but nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. Daryl saw a look of disappointment run across both Carol and Sophia's faces.

Daryl waved at Carol and she got up from her seat. She walked over to where he was and Daryl put his arm around her. He laughed nervously to himself and patted Carol's arm.

"Maybe you ain't heard me," Daryl said. "What I said was—we're havin' a baby."

"You mean like—a real one?" Merle asked.

Daryl was giving him a pass only because his brother actually looked stunned. There wasn't any trace of malice on his face. There was no indication that he meant the question in any way other than simply as a genuine question.

"As opposed to artificial babies, Merle?" Daryl asked.

Merle furrowed his brow at Daryl.

"You know what the hell I mean," Merle said.

"You're—having a baby?" Andrea asked, clearly directing her question to Carol.

Carol smiled at her, even though she'd looked like she might be thinking about crying over the whole thing and nodded her head.

"Yeah," Carol said. "We are. We—had been talking about adopting when Jack turned two but..."

"But it looks like God had it all figured out some other way," Daryl said. He leaned over and kissed the side of Carol's face before he squeezed her in a sideways hug.

Everyone still looked like they could be blown over with feathers. But the stunned expressions at least soothed the blow that nobody had reacted with any great enthusiasm just yet. They weren't reacting negatively, they simply needed a second for it to sink in.

It had been so long that everyone had given up any hope of it happening. That much was clear.

It was Andrea, receiving her confirmation from Carol, that seemed to come around first.

"Congratulations!" She declared, standing up and throwing the napkin she'd been harassing at the table. "Congratulations! Oh...Carol! I'm so happy for you!"

Daryl sidestepped to allow Andrea to reach Carol. It was clear that she might get around to congratulating him eventually, but he wasn't her immediate concern.

In front of him, everyone still seated at the table, it was Melodye who seemed to thaw out of her surprise next. She got up and rushed over with a hug and a declaration of congratulations. She offered her hug to Daryl since she found Carol otherwise occupied with Andrea who had decided, for whatever reason, that crying and snotting all over her was the best way to congratulate her about their impending arrival.

Sophia got up to get into the mix, then, and she was the one who accepted the first congratulations from Alice—the last of the females to realize what was going on—before they began something like a game of musical hugs.

When they finished, all the women had at least some dampness to their eyes and they were wiping at them when they took their seats again to finish the meal.

Daryl sat down in his seat, too. He couldn't help but notice that his brother was still just sitting there, watching the whole thing, but he hadn't offered any congratulations.

"You got anything to say, brother?" Daryl asked, pressing him.

Merle shrugged and laughed to himself. He wiped his mouth with his napkin even though it had been some moments since he'd taken a bite of food.

"What can I say, brother?" Merle asked. "You got me—where I don't know what to say."

"Someone write down the date," Alice said. "That's got to be some kind of historical holiday. The day that Merle Dixon didn't know what to say."

"Say something, Merle," Daryl said.

"Congratulations," Merle said, even though the word came out flat. Carol thanked him for the word like it meant something, but it didn't mean much to Daryl. In fact, the way it was said, it simply made his stomach twist up a little. He couldn't say Merle was being cruel, though. He couldn't say that he was showing out or ruining the meal. He couldn't very well turn his brother away from his table because he was sitting there quietly instead of responding with gushed enthusiasm.

Andrea apparently saw something wrong with the situation because she quietly leaned over and rested her hand on her husband's arm. He looked at her and then he offered a somewhat insincere smile.

"Congratulations," he repeated, this time with a little more enthusiasm than before, though still not with a great deal. "Yeah—congratulations. How—when did it happen? You just find out?"

"Couple weeks ago," Daryl said. "Baby's comin' around November. We're givin' a lotta thanks this year."

Merle laughed to himself.

"I bet you are," he said. "I bet you are, brother. So it was just—just like that, huh? Carol—you was just, guess you just knew and it was just like that? Just—unexpected 'cause it's been so many years."

Carol smiled at him. Daryl watched her expression. He reached his hand over and patted hers and she smiled at him before she turned her hand to squeeze him with her fingers. The smile she gave Daryl was far more sincere than the one that she gave his brother.

"It's been a long time," Carol agreed. "But it was—I guess it was just like that. To be honest, I thought it was the change." She laughed to herself. "Daryl thought it was a virus. I guess we were both prepared to believe it was just about anything else. When the doctor told me? I'm still having a hard time believing it."

Daryl squeezed Carol's hand in his to offer her some physical reassurance. Her smile hadn't fully faded, but she renewed it slightly.

"But it's true," Daryl said. "Doctor confirmed it. We even called back. Made him confirm it again." Daryl laughed to himself. "I walked down there when I was on break one day to ask him myself. Just made him tell me one more time. Straight up. But it's true. Carol's healthy, so there ain't no real worry right now. We're just waitin' on the lil' thing to grow. See if we're gettin' us another girl or another boy around here."

"If we're any indication," Andrea offered, "it'll be a boy. A Dixon boy."

Merle hummed.

"Dixon boys are fine boys," Merle said. It was more of a musing than a statement that he directed at anyone in particular, so nobody seemed moved to respond to him. He pushed his chair back from the table and balled his napkin up before he put it beside his plate. "Congratulations again," Merle said. "You'll excuse me. I'ma step out to the porch for some fresh air an' a smoke."

"You haven't finished supper," Andrea said.

"Sophia worked on this meal all day," Daryl said. "Got cake comin' too that she made herself."

Merle looked at Sophia and nodded his head.

"Good meal," he said. "I reckon it'll be here when I come back in. Won't be gone that long."

Without saying anything else, Merle left the table. He left the room and he stepped out on the porch. Daryl wasn't sure what was going on with his brother, but there was something going on. He searched Andrea's eyes for any sign that she might know what it was, but she was looking at him like she was concerned and hoping he had an answer for her.

A mood had fallen over the table that Daryl didn't appreciate. It wasn't the mood he'd wanted for the whole meal. It wasn't a mood of celebration. Instead, everyone was looking at everyone else again like they weren't sure what was happening.

"We brought you all here 'cause we're havin' a baby," Daryl said, deciding to be blunt and honest. "And that's—it's a real important thing to us. Means the world to us. An' you're all here 'cause you're our family. People we closest to. We wanna share this with you. We wanna celebrate somethin' that we've been dyin' to celebrate for a couple weeks now. Now—I'ma step out on the porch. Have a smoke. But when I come back in? I'm hopin' that everybody's gonna be laughin'. I'm hopin' you gonna be enjoyin' what's left of your meal 'fore we move on to cake. I'm hopin' you gonna be talkin' about babies an' everybody's gonna be ready to celebrate with us. Because that's why we asked you here. We're happy—an' we was hopin' you could all be happy with us."

As Daryl started to walk toward the door to follow after his brother, Andrea reached out and caught his hand.

"Daryl..." she said.

Daryl looked at her and shook his head.

"You don't apologize for him," Daryl said before she could even get started. "You don't have to speak for him. I'ma talk to him. You enjoy your meal with everybody else." He smiled at her. "Outta everyone here at the table—you the one that's gonna know best all that stuff you gotta tell Carol about expectin'. I'ma expect you to do it. You can start while I'm gone."

Andrea didn't say anything to Daryl, but by the time he put his hand on the doorknob, she was already rousing the other women in a discussion about the baby by questioning Carol about how they thought of handling the children's sleeping arrangements. Her tone of voice, forced to be more upbeat than usual, seemed contagious, too, because Daryl heard the smile in Carol's voice as she started to explain to everyone the possibilities that they'd discussed.

Daryl smiled to himself.

At least Andrea could keep a conversation going for a couple of hours about expecting a baby—and that was exactly what Daryl wanted.