First Meeting

"Hey." Daryl said as his mom opened the door up to him.

"Why are you knocking?" Carol shook her head, making a face at him.

"I don't live here anymore. Felt like the right thing to do." Daryl shrugged.

"Stupid." Carol scoffed, "Get in." She encouraged as Daryl walked into the house. He'd never felt so nervous before. Even his first day at prison wasn't as nerve-wracking as this. He felt so conscious of not screwing it up, that he figured he probably would.

"Is she here?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, she's just had lunch. She's in the kitchen." Carol smiled.

"She stays with you a lot?" Daryl asked her.

"Every now and then. Not just because I want to spend time with her but… I figure Shiv needs a break from time to time." Carol said as Daryl nodded.

"What'd she have for lunch?" He asked curiously, walking down the hallway, approaching the kitchen.

"Oh, she had tomato soup and a grilled cheese. That's her favourite." Carol nodded.

"That's a good lunch." Daryl nodded, "Wait… before we go in." He paused outside the kitchen as Carol turned to him, "Is there anything I should say or do? I brought her a present but it kinda feels like I'm just kissing ass and also she might not want to take something from a stranger-"

"Daryl." Carol interrupted him before he went on, "There's nothing you need to say or do. Just spend time with her. Let her talk to you. I told her you were coming, so she's not going to be surprised or anything." She nodded.

"Ok." Daryl nodded, taking a deep breath as Carol walked on into the kitchen. He followed behind, trying to cast away any negative thoughts he had about himself or his capability as a father.

"Look who's here, Brie." Carol smiled as Brianna looked up from the colouring in book she was focused on, sitting at the kitchen table.

She looked over at Daryl, her little eyes looking him up and down before going back to her colouring. It wasn't the best start in Daryl's eyes, but he wasn't sure what he expected from a three-year-old.

"Hey." Daryl smiled as Brianna looked back up.

"Hi." Brianna said quietly.

"I uh… I brought you something." Daryl said, walking over to the table and taking a seat across from her. Looking at her, he just couldn't believe she was his. How could something so adorable and innocent belong to him? It was still hard to process, even after a week.

"What did you bring?" Brianna asked, putting her pen down and fully focusing on him now with interest.

"Here, you can open it up." He said, sliding over the wrapped box.

"It's not my birthday." Brianna said with confusion.

"No, but I wanted to bring you something. I think you might like it." Daryl nodded as Brianna took the box, tearing into the wrapping paper, a huge smile appearing on her face which made Daryl's stomach sink.

"It's an Elsa." Brianna smiled happily, "I don't have this one." She told him.

"Yeah, granny might have told me you didn't have that one so… I thought you'd like it." Daryl smiled. Seeing her smile was infectious to him. Knowing this sweet little girl was his daughter, this adorable little thing sitting in front of him with her pigtails and football jersey on, it was doing things to his heart and his emotions which he'd never felt before.

"I love it." Brianna said, "Do you like Frozen?" She asked him.

"I haven't seen it." Daryl said, "Maybe we can watch it together one day." He suggested as Brianna nodded.

"What do you say, Brianna?" Carol smiled.

"Thank you." Brianna whispered.

"You're welcome." Daryl smiled, "I like your jersey, by the way." He pointed as she looked down. Meanwhile, Carol had discretely disappeared from the kitchen to leave them alone for a little while.

"I don't know what it is. Mommy makes me wear it." Brianna said as Daryl chuckled.

"That's the Chicago Bears." Daryl said, "I thought you liked sports?" He asked.

"I do." Brianna nodded.

"What sports do you like?" He asked her, watching her swing her little legs back and forth on the chair.

"Uhh… I like gymnastics and baseball. And hockey. I have a Hawks jersey, but mommy said it was in the wash." Brianna shrugged.

"I like all those too." Daryl smiled, "I used to play football. I loved it. I got tons of jerseys just like that." He said.

"Mommy said you hurt your leg so you can't play anymore." Brianna remembered.

"Yeah, that's right." Daryl nodded. His heart ached as he thought about Shiv talking to Brianna about him.

"I do gymnastics." She told him.

"That's pretty cool. What do you do? Flips and stuff?" He asked her.

"Not yet. The big girls do that." Brianna said, "But I can do cartwheels and I go on the trampoline." She told him. Given the fact her mother and grandmother had talked so much about Daryl, she didn't feel nervous or weary of him. She felt comfortable talking with him, like he could become her friend.

"That's cool." Daryl said, "And you like colouring?" He asked, pointing to the book in front of her.

"Yeah. I have another book. Do you want to colour, too?" She asked him, taking another colouring book and passing it over to him.

"Thank you." Daryl smiled, "Is this a cat colouring book?" He flicked through the pages.

"Yeah. I have a cat. Did you know that?" Brianna asked him.

"I did. Laffy, right?" Daryl smiled. He never would have thought, when he and Shiv found Maple's kitten down a side alley, that one of those kittens would grow up to be their daughter's pet.

"Yes, he's my best friend." Brianna nodded, "He sleeps on my bed. And I carry him around. And we watch TV together." She told him as Daryl reached for a pen.

"He sounds like a good cat. I had lots of cats growing up." He told her.

"What colour where they?" She asked him.

"I had a ginger one called biscuits when I was little like you." He told her.

"Biscuits?" Brianna giggled sweetly, "That's a silly name."

"I thought it was a good name." Daryl defended, "And then I had a black cat. He was called Joey." He told her. Slowly but surely, he felt his nerves and his panic start to melt away. He didn't understand what everyone meant when they said his instincts would kick in, until now. He found himself knowing exactly what to say to the little girl.

"Any more?" Brianna asked with intrigue, colouring her picture in whilst Daryl began colouring his own.

"No but you wanna hear a cool story?" He asked her as she nodded, "I used to work at the coffee shop where your mommy works just now-"

"With Uncle Finn and Uncle Phil?" She asked.

"Yeah, with them." Daryl nodded, "And there was a stray cat who always came to the back of the shop. She was smoky grey like Laffy. She came every day and I'd give her tuna." Daryl nodded.

"She had no family?" Brianna frowned.

"No, but she had kittens. So they went to one of the farms around here and guess who one of the kittens was?" He asked her.

"Who?" She looked up at him.

"Laffy." Daryl nodded.

"You found Laffy's mommy? Maple?" Brianna asked with fascination.

"Yeah." Daryl chuckled.

"She's fat now." Brianna cared to tell him.

"Yeah, I've heard." Daryl said, "But now she has a home, and so do all her kittens." He smiled.

"I like that story." Brianna smiled, focusing back on her colouring as Daryl watched her with fascination. He had no idea he could feel such immense bouts of love course through his body for someone he'd only spoke to for ten minutes. But it was there. He felt every bit of it.

"So when is the sleepover?" Punk asked AJ as they sat down to dinner with the twins.

"Who is having a sleepover?" Rudy asked, stabbing her fork into her broccoli and examining it with disgust.

"Mommy is having a sleepover with her friends." AJ told her, "Next Saturday. We're gonna do it at Becca's house." She smiled to Punk.

"You're too old for sleepovers." Thomas shook his head with confusion as Punk chuckled to himself quietly.

"Anyone can have a sleepover." AJ told him as he stared at her, unconvinced.

"What are we gonna do on Saturday night then?" Punk looked at the twins.

"Watch Spider-man." Thomas nodded.

"No." Rudy turned to him angrily, "No, I want to do bracelet making."

"We can do both." Punk suggested whilst AJ smiled.

"I'm not bracelet making." Thomas mumbled, moving his veg around his plate.

"Can you guys eat the veg, please?" AJ said, noticing they were both eating around the vegetables on their plate.

"It doesn't taste nice." Rudy sighed.

"But it makes you healthy and strong." AJ said, "Just a few pieces." She said as Rudy turned to her father for help.

"Listen to your mom." Punk nodded as Rudy huffed unhappily.

"I wonder how Daryl is getting on with Brianna." AJ said to Punk, "I've been thinking about it all day."

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded, "I'm sure it will be going fine. From what I can remember, he was always good with kids when they came into our shop. And there's a big age gap between him and his sister. He probably helped out with her when she was little."

"I just wish Shiv was there to see it. I know she has her own shit going on with Daryl but… she'll probably regret not seeing them meet for the first time." AJ said.

"Maybe she'll open up to you guys at the sleepover. It's a step in the right direction." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, although I've warned Lyla and Becca to not be overbearing and bombard the poor girl with lots of questions. If she wants to talk about things, she can on her own terms." AJ nodded.

"Is Patrick going to be joining you for the sleepover?" Punk chuckled.

"No, he's out of town at the weekend. Some farming thing." AJ said, "So we have a huge farmhouse to ourselves." She said excitedly, "You will be ok with the kids, right?"

"I have been on my own with them a few times, yes." Punk nodded sarcastically as she shoved him. She couldn't help ask. Her motherly instincts were always alert.

"Hey, come in." Carol smiled, later that night, opening the door to Shiv who had come to pick Brianna up and take her home.

"Did everything go ok?" Shiv asked, not being able to hold her tongue. She had to know. She'd been an anxious mess all day. Her plan was to relax. Take a bath. Read her book or watch TV, but instead she'd stressed cleaned and went on a jog to try and distract herself from thinking about Daryl and Brianna's meeting.

"He's still here." Carol nodded as Shiv raised her brows with surprise.

"Oh." Shiv said, "And it's going ok? Brianna is ok?" Shiv asked.

"All good." Carol said with a smile, "They're as chatty as each other. Match made in heaven, I think." She said, beaming with pride upon seeing her son spending the day with his daughter.

"Does he know I was coming to get her?" Shiv asked.

"Yeah." Carol nodded, "They're in the living room. Go through and I'll pack her bag up."

"Ok." Shiv nodded, swallowing the lump of nerves in her throat as she headed through to the living room, pausing at the door as she saw Daryl sitting on the floor with Brianna. It looked like they were having a tea party with some stuffed animals. Daryl also had a tiara on his head.

"Sugar?" Brianna asked Daryl, enjoying playing with her pretend tea set she'd gotten for Christmas.

"Yeah, two please." Daryl nodded, holding out his tiny cup as Brianna pretended to scoop sugar into it, "Thanks."

"Is it good?" Brianna asked as Daryl sipped from the cup, which of course had nothing in it.

"Oh, yeah. Best tea I've ever had." Daryl nodded as Brianna smiled, suddenly noticing her mother standing at the door.

"Mommy!" Brianna smiled happily, running over to Shiv who composed herself, quickly brushing the tear which had escaped down her cheek.

"Hi, baby." Shiv smiled, lifting Brianna up and squeezing her tightly as she walked into the living room, "How are you?"

"I'm good. We're having a tea party." Brianna said.

"I can see that." Shiv smiled, turning to Daryl who took off the tiara and stood up, "You having fun?"

"Yeah, lots." Brianna nodded as Shiv put her back down after their long hug.

"Nice tiara." Shiv scoffed to Daryl with a little smile.

"Thanks." Daryl made a face at her as she smiled.

"I had grilled cheese for lunch and dinner." Brianna told her mother.

"Oh. Why?" Shiv asked.

"That's what I wanted. And daddy had one too." Brianna said as Shiv nodded. It was surreal to hear Brianna referring to her dad, with him being in the same room, and when she looked at Daryl, she knew it choked him up to.

"Was it tasty?" Shiv asked her.

"Yeah, I really liked it." Brianna nodded.

"What else have you been up to?" Shiv asked, whilst Daryl began tidying up some of the toys to distract himself.

"We coloured and I got a new doll. A new Elsa. Daddy gave it to me." Brianna explained as Shiv tried to keep up with her excitement, "Then we watched baseball and then we had a tea party. But I wish Laffy was here."

"Oh, I know. You love having tea parties with Laffy, don't you?" Shiv smiled as Brianna nodded, "Sounds like you had so much fun, baby."

"I did." Brianna nodded.

"That's your bag all packed, little miss." Carol said, coming into the living room and handing Brianna's backpack to Shiv, "She had a grilled cheese for lunch and dinner. I couldn't convince her otherwise." She told Shiv.

"She's already explained." Shiv chuckled, "Thank you for having her."

"My pleasure. As always." Carol nodded to Shiv.

"I was wondering if it would be ok for you to have her overnight next Saturday again?" Shiv asked, "I was going to have a little night, get together thing with the Brewberry girls." She said, not wanting to say the word sleepover. She knew Daryl would have definitely made a face.

"Of course." Carol said, "That's no problem."

"Can daddy be there again?" Brianna asked, putting her jacket on as Daryl finally looked over to Shiv.

"Of course he can." Shiv said, nodding to Daryl who nodded back to her.

"And can I bring Laffy?" Brianna asked.

"Oh, Laffy isn't very good in other people's homes. He gets a little scared." Shiv explained. The real reason was, Laffy was not a people person. He only liked Shiv and Brianna.

"Ok." Brianna sighed sadly.

"Come on then. Let's go." Shiv smiled, placing her hand on top of Brianna's head lovingly before taking her little hand.

"Wait, I need to say bye to granny." Brianna said, running over to Carol and giving her a hug.

"Bye, sweetheart." Carol smiled.

"And daddy." Brianna nodded, running over to Daryl, hugging his legs as he crouched down and gave her a proper hug. Shiv watched with a beaming heart. Never knowing how much this image would mean to her. Even with all the animosity.

Daryl had never been more grateful for a hug in his entire life. It was the best feeling in the whole world, and today had been the best day of his life.

"I had a lot of fun." Daryl told her.

"Me too." Brianna nodded.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" He nodded.

"Yeah." Brianna smiled, running back over to Shiv and taking her hand as they left the house.

"You did so great." Carol nodded over to Daryl who took a deep breath of relief.

"She's fucking amazing." Daryl shook his head as Carol smiled.