AN: Here we are. This chapter brings this little story to an end.
Thank you to everyone who has read, and a special thank you to everyone who has reviewed and commented throughout the story to let me know that you were reading.
I hope that you enjoy the final chapter and I hope that you enjoyed the story as a whole! Let me know what you think!
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"He's gone," Carol said, her voice barely carrying even in the silent room. "He's gone, sweetheart." Daryl stood with his arms crossed across his chest and watched as Carol lie on her side with Sophia facing her in the bed. The day had carried so much activity that they'd missed any semblance of a normal evening and they were just getting Sophia to bed hours beyond her normal bedtime.
Their afternoon and evening had consisted of a trip to the hospital, more than a few conversations with police and officials, and a long meeting with Andrea and another lawyer that had taken place over pizza in Andrea's office so that Sophia could at least sit, eat, and watch television in the waiting room instead of feeling trapped all day.
There would be testimonies that still needed to be made in court, and they would walk Sophia through it all with as much support as they could possibly give her, but Ed was in custody and he wasn't getting out. Andrea was sure, too, that her lawyer friend could get Ed the harshest sentence possible for felony assault and battery. Carol had caused him a great deal of injury, but it would be wiped away as self-defense. The police testified to the danger she and Sophia had been in—especially once they found the gun on Ed's person and the proof, in his vehicle, that he'd intended to take Carol back with him, bound, if it was necessary. The hospital testified to the fractures and cuts that Carol had received before she'd gotten her hands on the cast iron shovel—which was now evidence—that had likely saved her life and possibly Sophia's. The brutality of Carol's retaliation—from which Ed may not fully recover—would be explained by simply arguing that she was a mother who feared for her life and the life of her child. The shovel, which was perhaps an overly effective weapon, was the only thing she had, so she'd used it.
"But what if he comes back?" Sophia asked. She trailed a finger up to touch the one of the bandages on Carol's face—bandages that Daryl would change before they went to bed to keep away any risk of infection.
"He won't come back, sweetheart," Carol said. "He's not coming back. They're going to put him in jail where he can't come back."
"But what if he does?" Sophia asked again.
"He's not gonna come back, Soph," Daryl said, standing up from his leaning position and crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed. He rubbed Sophia's leg through the blanket. "But if he does? We're gonna stop him. Simple as that."
Sophia sat up and looked at Daryl.
"But then Mama will get hurt again," Sophia said.
Daryl shook his head at Sophia.
"No," Daryl said. "We won't let that happen again. I won't let it happen again. And—when we go tomorrow and you pick you out that dog you been wantin'? The dog won't let it happen neither."
Sophia rested her head on her pillow again. The dog had been a quick decision made between Daryl and Carol in the emergency room, no less, to try to calm Sophia. A dog meant companionship and play, but it could also mean a certain level of protection. Maybe, if they'd had a dog, Ed would have never gotten in the back gate. Maybe he would have never tried because the animal would have alerted Carol to his presence and woken up everyone in the neighborhood.
And, maybe, a dog would make Sophia feel more secure.
The girl was handling everything that happened well, and she'd talked quite sincerely to the police officers that had questioned her and offered her ice cream afterwards to soothe any discomfort that reliving the experience might have brought about, but she was worried about Carol. In fact, Carol was her greatest concern at the moment.
Her mother had protected her, but Sophia's greatest fear had been losing Carol while Carol's greatest fear had been losing Sophia.
And Daryl was still dealing with his feelings about the possibility of having lost them both to a man that, in Daryl's opinion, could never suffer as much as he deserved to suffer.
"I'm OK, sweetheart," Carol assured Sophia for the tenth or twelfth time in the past few hours. "I'm just fine. And all of this? It's going to heal."
"And you're going to stay with us?" Sophia asked.
Daryl saw Carol nod her head. She smiled at Sophia and trailed her finger around Sophia's face, tracing the freckles that dotted her cheeks.
"For as long as..." Carol started.
"Forever," Daryl said quickly, interrupting her before she could resort to any form of "as long as I'm allowed" or "as long as your Daddy wants me here".
Carol glanced at him and then looked back at Sophia. She nodded her head again.
"I'm going to stay," Carol assured Sophia. "Forever. I'm only leaving if—if we all go together. You and me and your Daddy."
"And the puppy," Sophia pointed out.
Daryl laughed to himself and he heard Carol fail to swallow back her amusement.
"The puppy too," Carol said.
"We go anywhere," Daryl said, "we're all goin' together. That's what we do. We're family. We go together. But—you gotta get some sleep, Soph. It's way past your bedtime and I called the shelter. They ain't open but a couple hours tomorrow and you don't wanna sleep too late and miss the chance to get your pup."
Sophia looked hard at Carol.
"You're gonna go with us?" Sophia asked.
Carol nodded her head again.
"I am," Carol said. "I am—I'm gonna go with you. I can do that now. I can—leave the house. I can go with you."
"Because he's gone?" Sophia asked.
"Because he's gone," Carol confirmed.
"But none of us is going if you don't go to sleep an' let us get some sleep," Daryl said. He got up and leaned over Carol, resting his hand on her shoulder so that he didn't topple onto her and Sophia, to give Sophia a kiss. She leaned up enough to meet him and make it easier on him. "I love ya."
"I love you too, Daddy," Sophia said sincerely.
"You need us? You know where to find us, right? Just—just across the house. But how about you knock first, though? OK. Just—so you don't scare nobody that's sleepin' too good," Daryl said, straightening up.
Sophia nodded her head and breathed out an "OK" to him. Daryl left her where she was and patted Carol's arm to let her know that he was going to leave her alone for a few moments with the girl to finish tucking her in. He would take his time checking the locks again and preparing the house for the night. He wanted Carol and Sophia to have a few more minutes together, in private, to say whatever they needed to say.
There were some things, after all, that he assumed could only be said between a mother and daughter.
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The burning on her face was so widespread that it almost didn't hurt anymore. Daryl blew gently over the broken skin after he finished cleaning it and then he delicately replaced the bandages from the large supply they'd purchased after leaving the hospital.
It wasn't that bad.
Her nose was broken and there was one place where Ed had broken the skin well enough to require a few stitches, but that was mostly because he'd seemed to have broken open the last wound he'd left in that exact spot.
The other spots, on her arms, chest, and face, she'd barely even noticed until the hospital staff had pointed them out. Mostly they were cuts, scratches, and scrapes. Her knees, too, were slightly scraped from her impact with the ground.
It wasn't that bad. Honestly, Carol had seen worse.
But it was enough. Ed's attack on her, his threats to Sophia, and the items he'd never used but had, perhaps, intended to use, were enough. He'd go to jail for a while. In jail he'd be known as a man who had attacked, and possibly planned to kill, a woman and child. His record would follow him forever.
Sophia was safe, though, and that was the most important thing. Sophia was safe and Carol was finally free from Ed.
"I can clean this myself," Carol said softly as Daryl worked his way through the whole process.
"I wanna do it," Daryl said.
Carol allowed him to do it because it was clear that he meant what he said. He wanted to do it. He wanted to help. He hadn't said too much during the day, but Carol thought she understood his silence as much as she would have understood any words that he might have strung together. He was dealing with a lot of feelings in his own way, and Carol was happy to let him deal as he needed. He was feeling a little guilty for not having been there—for not having read Ed's mind from a distance or something of the like—and he wanted to do what he could for her and for Sophia. Carol wanted him to do what made him feel best.
"I'm—I don't want you to take this wrong—but I'm kind of glad that you weren't here," Carol said.
Daryl furrowed his brows at her.
"I coulda stopped this," Daryl said.
"And you might have gone to prison for murder," Carol said. "They might not—it might not have been seen as self-defense. Not in the same way. I'm glad that it was me. And—I'm glad that—I'm glad I was able to do it. If that makes any sense at all."
Daryl laughed to himself.
"More'n you know," he said. "I get it."
"It lets me know I could do it again," Carol said. "If he came back? If I had to? I could do it again. I didn't lie to Soph every time I comforted her today. What I said was true. What you said was true. We'd stop him if he came back. I'd stop him if he came back. I'm never letting him touch her again."
"I know you ain't," Daryl said with some sincerity, even though he was clearly paying a great deal of attention to his work with the bandages—much more attention than it really required. "He ain't comin' back, though. That was the truth too."
"He might," Carol said. "We can hope they'll put him away forever but—we don't know that they will."
"We don't," Daryl agreed. "But what I do know is that towns like this ain't quick to forget stuff. If he was to come back here? To this town even? He'd be drummed out of here bigger'n shit. Wouldn't get a job. Probably couldn't even find a place to rent. Towns like this don't forget shit like what he tried to do today. They won't soon forget this."
"But it doesn't mean he'll never try," Carol said.
Daryl shrugged his shoulders.
"Tell you the truth, I'd understand if you don't want to stay here," Daryl said. "If you wanna—pack up and go somewhere else. Move a couple towns away. An hour away. Pick up somewhere I ain't lived before. Somewhere you ain't lived before. If you wanted to do that? I'd understand."
"I can't ask you to do that," Carol said. "I wouldn't. You're just getting settled here. Sophia's getting settled here. And Merle and Andrea are close by. I know you love that."
"An hour or two ain't that far to drive," Daryl said. "And spendin' a weekend with 'em's just as good as seein' 'em here or there. I love havin' 'em close, but hell—that's because I been on my own with Soph for so long. Truth is—they might not stay here that long. Andrea up and finds a better job and they move on. That's what they do. If you wanna move somewhere—get us a fresh start where don't nobody know nothin' about Ed and about—about Sophia bein' left on my doorstep? We'll go somewhere where—where all they gotta know is that I'm Daryl and you're..."
He stopped talking. He didn't pick his words back up very quickly and Carol finally pressed him to continue.
"And I'm?" She urged.
Daryl swallowed.
"I was hopin' to say that—you're Carol. You're—my wife. And, you know, this is Sophia and...our dog and...maybe, one day, some kid brother or sister for Sophia. Ya know? They don't gotta know all the rest. It ain't none of their business. All they gotta know is—we're just a family."
Carol laughed to herself.
"They just have to know we're a family," she echoed. Daryl nodded his head. "They don't have to know how we got here."
"Yeah," Daryl said. "Somethin' like that. I mean—it don't gotta happen right now. Can't happen right now. Not with everything goin' on with Ed. They're gonna want you around here. But—you know—one day. If it's what you wanted."
"You want to marry me, Daryl?" Carol asked.
"Can't think of nothin' I've wanted more," Daryl said. He'd finished with the bandages, but he was still sitting on his knees on the floor in front of Carol like he had more to do.
"As soon as my divorce is final?" Carol asked. "Or...?"
"Very same day," Daryl said. "If they'll let'cha do such a thing. If you...wanted to do it."
Carol nodded her head at Daryl.
"I want to marry you," Carol said. Daryl smiled in response to the declaration. "And I want—to have a family with you. The whole thing. Sophia. Another child. Maybe two?"
Daryl laughed to himself and nodded his head.
"Yeah—I mean yeah," he stammered. "I never really thought about it, but if that's what you want?"
"I want everything with you," Carol promised him. "And here or there or—wherever? It doesn't matter to me. What people know and what they say? It doesn't matter to me. I just—want this. I want you and me and Sophia...and everything good that's waiting on us."
Daryl's cheeks burned a slight pink. He sat back on his feet, raised up on his knees, and then sat back on his feet again. He smiled to himself, a burst of sound coming out that wasn't quite laughter.
"You got no idea how damn good that sounds to me," Daryl said. "Because—I do love you."
Carol nodded her head. She couldn't help but smile at him.
"I know," she said. "And—I know it even more because...you can sit in front of me looking like I look right now and say it again."
Daryl shook his head.
"Beautiful," Daryl said. He ran his tongue across his lips. "Ain't that what you said about me?"
Carol swallowed.
The first time she'd been with Daryl—the first sincere conversation they'd had—he'd told her about his scars. He'd made it clear, too, that they were something that he didn't really like talking about. She knew enough. She knew enough that she didn't need to ask him about them again. She knew enough to know that they'd come from someone who wasn't able to save him from the "Ed" in his life.
She knew enough to know that he'd take his daughter in, off the threshold of his back door at dusk, just to save her from knowing what he'd known.
"Beautiful," Carol breathed out, swallowing against the lump in her throat. "And—I love you too."
"Battle wounds," Daryl said. "We both got 'em."
Carol laughed to herself and nodded her head.
"Yeah," she said. "I guess—we do."
"So we're doin' this? Take care of what we gotta take care of here. Move somewhere. Start us a fresh life together with the dog and the kids and the whole—whole damn thing?"
Carol smiled and nodded.
"But one step at a time," Carol said. "Let's just—start with us right now. The dog tomorrow? Maybe start picking a town? We'll work on the rest."
Daryl leaned up and offered Carol a kiss that he placed on her lips delicately enough to not disturb her newly broken nose. She returned it with all the enthusiasm that she could. The kiss was worth any pain it caused her. She'd suffered more pain for far less return.
Daryl raised his eyebrows at her when he pulled away and smiled at her.
"Fast or slow," Daryl said, "it don't matter to me how we get there just so long as we're all headed to the same place together."
Carol nodded her head.
"Absolutely," she assured him once more. "We're a family. We go together. And—now that I've found you? I'm not letting go of you—either of you—ever again."