Carolina in my mind

Chapter 57

Since their group was so large, Deanna assigned them two houses that would be theirs until their probation was over and they were accepted as full members of this new community. Carolina hoped they might be able to claim a few more of the empty houses once that time was up. Because even with two whole houses, figuring out where everyone was going to sleep was looking like a game of musical chairs. No one was complaining yet. After being on the road and living on a bus, just having somewhere clean and safe to sleep still felt like a luxury even if the space was shared. But Carolina knew people were going to get tired of living on top of each other. They would eventually want the privacy that came with having their own spaces.

For the first night, they were all staying together. Not just in the same house, but in the same room. Even Carolina felt safer that way. And she knew the people in this town weren't any more than the naive morons that they appeared to be. Daryl claimed them a spot over by the wall on the other side of the couch. Carolina was helping him spread out their sleeping bag when she felt a tug on the back of her shirt.

"They won't let me bring Griselda inside," Lizzie whined. Carolina tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, trying to hide her amused grin. The people of Alexandria were in agreement with Deanna letting them into town. The captive walkers they had with them were another story. People didn't want them inside the gates. Not that Carolina blamed them. Walkers were scary. Especially for people that had never seen one up close. But the captive walkers were useful. And it was a huge pain in the ass to catch them and remove all their teeth. So they didn't necessarily just want to put them down or turn them loose either. For now, the walkers were locked up in the garage to be dealt with later.

"If we bring her in here, she's going to stink up the house," Carolina explained. "But I can take you out to the garage to say goodnight to her. Would you like that?" Lizzie nodded, looking at least halfway placated with the compromise.

"Can we sleep with you?," Mika asked, eyeing the empty spot on the other side of the blanket Daryl was spreading out on top of their sleeping bag. Carolina nodded, laughing as the girls took off across the crowded space. They weaved through the group like little rats. After gathering up their blankets and stuffed animals they barged back through the room, dragging Carol along with them. She was scolding the girls, repeating what Carolina guessed she'd already told them. That there wasn't room over here for all of them and that she found them a spot near the staircase.

"S'fine," Daryl countered. "There's room."

"We'll all be squashed no matter what," Carolina added, "...you're fine over here." Carol sighed and nodded her head, moving to help Mika arrange their blankets while Carolina took Lizze out to the garage. She was sort of a weirdly creepy little girl. And Carolina guessed she was in serious need of a qualified therapist. But the captive walkers seemed to be keeping Lizzie from going totally bonkers like she did on the show. Maybe now that they were in a safe place, she hoped they might be able to get the girl some help.

When Lizzie got done messing around with her favorite pet walker, Carolina corralled her back inside the house. As Lizzie picked her way back through the living room, there was a knock on the front door. Rick answered it, moving back to allow Deanna and her older son inside the house. The woman came by to check on them and bring a welcome basket. Carolina didn't have much interest in it until she saw the corked top of a bottle sticking out behind the toothpaste and toilet paper.

"Is that wine?," she asked, moving forward and eagerly taking the basket from Deanna's hands. She pawed through the contents, confirming that there were a few bottles of wine mixed in with the toiletries before she offered her sincere gratitude. "Thanks!"

Carolina immediately took off for the kitchen in search of a bottle opener, pulling Michonne behind her. She set the basket on the counter and started jerking the kitchen drawers open and shut. Carolina could hear Rick hollering after her from near the front door. Apparently, he didn't think they needed to be drinking right now. Carolina promptly ignored him as she continued her search for a corkscrew.

"Maybe he's right," Michonne said. "We could save the wine for later."

Carolina stopped in mid-motion. Leaving the drawer hanging open, she straightened her back up and stared across the counter at Michonne with a look of total shock on her face. Rick was always acting like a buzzkill. But this was serious. Michonne was her partner in crime. Carolina was quite concerned that her friend had somehow been infected with Rick's hatred of all things fun. "You don't want a glass of wine?," Carolina asked. "Not even one glass?" She raked her watchful eyes over Michonne, trying to figure out if a pod person was suddenly inhabiting the woman's body. Michonne shifted her weight slightly from one foot to the other and tugged at the hem of her leather vest. Carolina raised a brow at her. Michonne was definitely hiding something. Something to do with her sudden disinterest in alcohol. And she and Tyreese seemed suspiciously close lately, smiling and snuggling with each other even when other people were looking. Carolina's eyes suddenly widened.

"OH MY GOD!," she exclaimed. "YOU'RE PREGNANT!"

Michonne rolled her eyes. "Just because I don't want a drink right this second doesn't mean…"

"YOU ARE!," Carolina squealed, cutting her off before she could even bother to deny it. She pointed at Michonne, spilling out all the proof she had to back up her accusation. "Your stomach's been bothering you. You're all wifed up with Tyreese all of the sudden. And now you don't want to drink. You're knocked up!"

Michonne made a feeble attempt to hush her up, motioning for Carolina to keep her voice down. But she was already over the edge with excitement. Carolina squealed again, this time so loud that Daryl came charging in from the living room to defend her from whatever caused the screams. He leaned against the doorway with a soft grin on his face when all he found in the kitchen was Carolina and Michonne hugging each other while they laughed and cried at the same time.

"Guess what babe?," Carolina chirped. Daryl just raised a brow at her, knowing that there was no need for him to guess. She was going to blab whatever had her so excited without him having to say a word. Carolina kept one arm wrapped around Michonne's shoulders as her other hand moved down, rubbing over her stomach as she beamed with happiness. "I'm about to be a Titi," Carolina announced. Daryl smiled. He wasn't familiar with the term. But from the way Carolina was touching her friend, it wasn't hard to guess what it meant. Michonne was going to have a baby. And Carolina was claiming her position as the baby's aunt.

Daryl offered Michonne his congratulations, laughing at the fuss Carolina was making over her friend. He didn't think anything about how excited Carolina was. Not until later when they were lying down to sleep. Carolina was on his left near the wall with her arms curled around Mika. Both of them were breathing slow and heavy, comforted by his presence nearby and by their shared body heat. Carol was on his other side, sleeping between him and Lizzie.

Daryl was lying back with his arm under his head, staring up at the ceiling. Aaron told them the house they were sleeping in would have sold for over eight hundred thousand dollars. And Daryl found himself strangely disappointed that the ceiling in a near million dollar house looked the same as every ceiling in every house he'd ever slept in. But it wasn't the look of the ceiling that was keeping him awake. It was the smile on Carolina's face when she told him about Michonne being pregnant. He hadn't seen her smile like that since the prison fell. The very thought of being a father made him feel sick to his stomach. And since Carolina always seemed uncomfortable around Lori's daughter, this was the first time Daryl had ever considered the possibility that she might want a baby of her own someday. The idea of it was like a mind fuck, equally interesting and horrifying at the same time. And he eventually just had to tell himself that it was a worry for another day so he could get some sleep. Daryl turned onto his side, stroking his thumb over the fading bruises on Carolina's face before he wrapped one strong arm around both her and their little bed invader and let his heavy eyes blink shut.

The idea of a welcome party sounded strange at first. But once they were upstairs helping each other with their hair and comparing outfits, Carolina could tell everyone was starting to get more excited than nervous for the event. She helped Maggie and Carol curl and style all the little girls' hair. Once they were all primped and ready, Michonne put on some music and they had a grand time marching up and down the long hallway upstairs, pretending to be fashion runway models.

Carolina felt better than she had in as long as she could remember. There were real showers here. Hot showers. Disposable razors, soap, shampoo, and body scrub were all available. And she'd spent some time earlier that afternoon scrubbing, shaving, and plucking herself free of unwanted hair and dead skin. Her long blonde hair was soft and clean and curled into loose waves that fell down over her bare shoulders. It smelled like the apple scented shampoo she washed it with. Carolina hooked on the strapless bra she found to wear under her dress. And once she pulled the dress up and wrangled the zipper closed she checked out her reflection in the full length mirror on the back of the closet door. Turning one way and then the other, she admired her reflection. And she decided that she was just going to go ahead and enjoy her new slimmer figure instead of thinking too hard about how half starving in the apocalypse for months somehow made her look better by conventional beauty standards. She ran her hands over her hips and newly hollow stomach, talking to her reflection. You look great, what's your secret? Oh, you know, just running from undead cannibals and eating worms. I call it my shit in the woods diet. Carolina giggled, sticking her tongue out at herself before she swung the closet door shut.

This was the room she and Daryl claimed for themselves. It had a queen sized bed inside that was made up with fresh sheets and blankets. One look at it and Carolina made up her mind. Now that she was looking better than she had in the entire last year, she had better things to do than go to Deanna's horrifically awkward welcome party.

Carolina grabbed a sweater off the bed, pulling it on to cover the cleavage her strapless dress exposed. She wanted to keep the top half of her dress hidden. At least for now. Skirting around Tara and Meghan, Carolina smiled down at the girl. She headed down the hall, looking for Carol. And Carolina found her in the bathroom, cleaning up the giant mess they all made while they were getting ready. Carolina moved in, wrapping the cords around the cooled curling irons and tucking them away under the sink. Once the place no longer looked like a cosmetics store exploded inside it, Carolina turned to Carol and asked her for a favor.