Author's Note: Here it is! The end of this story. Thank you so much for being open minded about pairing Carol with someone so different. I wanted to bring back Martinez and give him some happiness. He seemed like deep down he was a good guy that just got lost along the way. I hope I gave the ending justice. The ending was always Carol finding happiness and I think she deserves it more than anyone on that show. Please let me know what you thought about how things wrapped up for our girl.

My love for Carol knows no end and my next story will focus on Merle/Carol. Hopefully, you guys come along with me for that wild ride!

Thank you again to everyone who traveled down the river with me. I hope your new year is full of happiness and hope.

XOXO Pamela

12. The River's Edge

Three years passed by slowly and steadily, like the river as it meandered its way through the Georgia countryside. Maggie ingratiated herself into the group like a duck to water. Her heart, having a tremendous capacity to love, found happiness once more with Pete. They fell in love and were now the proud parents of nearly two year old, Joshua. He had bright emerald eyes and chestnut curls and Carol loved him dearly. He clearly had a preference for his Auntie Carol and they spent many days in and around the river, catching fish and swimming in the warmer months. Carol was always more than happy to take the young toddler off of Pete and Maggie's hands so they could spend some quality time together as a couple.

Little Joshua was such a bright spot in Carol's life. She was alone once more. Caesar had been killed over half a year prior on a supply run by raiders. Pete and Mitch had brought back a mortally wounded Caesar to Carol and she was able to have her goodbye with the man she loved as he died safe and comfortable in their bed. His last words to her and been to live on and love well. At that moment, Carol had been pissed at him. As the life left him, she lashed out, angry words and curses spilling from her until she collapsed onto his chest, his body already bereft of its warmth. Pete had come in, eyes red, holding Caesar's favorite pistol. Carol had snarled at him, scratching his neck as he approached. It took Maggie's gentle embrace and soothing whispers to snap her out of it so they could end the possibility of his turning into the walking dead. As the sound of the gunshot echoed in the cabin, Carol grieved for Caesar, for the man who never judged her, gave her a home, acceptance and a new beginning.

She stood at the water's edge that late summer morning, watching Joshua as he tried to skip pebbles across the river. She had her jeans rolled up and the cooling water lapped around her ankles. His vocabulary was limited at his tender age but the two seemed to be able to communicate without words. He tugged on her shirt as he held out his wet hand, offering her one of his small stones.

"You want me to show you, baby? Here, watch this." She took aim and with a flick of the wrist, her rock skipped almost a half a dozen times across the water. Joshua squealed and stomped his tiny feet up and down in excitement. He then grabbed her hand and placed another stone in it. They repeated that more than a dozen times over, until Carol felt her arm start to ache. "Okay, Joshy, your turn now. My arm has an ouchie." His big eyes grew wide and he carefully reached out his little chubby hand and caressed her throwing arm. "Oh, thank you. I feel much better." She picked up a pebble for him. "Your throw, sweetpea." He bit his little lip in concentration as he aimed the pebble and threw it with all his wee might.

Without warning, the sound of Maggie hollering excitedly filled their ears. They both turned to see her waddling rapidly toward them. Her face was flush and her hair was falling from its ponytail. She cradled her seven month bump with her left hand while she flapped her hand at her son and Carol with her other. Her extraordinarily white teeth were gleaming as she grinned at them. "Hey baby!" She huffed out as she neared her son. "Are you having fun in the water with Auntie Carol?" Joshua nodded and toddled out of the water to hug his hugely pregnant mother. Maggie ran her fingers through his curls before addressing Carol, giving herself a moment to catch her breath. "Pete just got back from his trading run. Turns out he ended up meeting with some head people from the sanctuary. He was telling them about losing Caesar, how he was concerned that you were running yourself ragged, trying to deal with everything at the camp along with getting ready for the baby to come. One offered to come back with him and help ease the load a little so you could concentrate on helping Lilly get ready for Owen's arrival." She rubbed her belly lovingly. She was convinced it was another boy and blamed Pete's genetics for surrounding her with men.

Carol's teeth set on edge at Maggie's announcement. "I thought I was doing fine, Maggie. I don't really think we need a stranger coming in here and telling me what to do. Caesar and I ran the place just fine for over three years." She took a larger rock and chucked it hard. It sailed in the air and landed in the flowing water with a satisfying splash. She turned back to Maggie, scowling.

"Oh, stop with that face. Trust me, you'll like him." Maggie tilted her head towards her right, as a figure emerged from the trees.

Carol's heart stopped as she took in the sight in front of her. The hair was shorter and cleaner, the scruff trimmed, sleeves attached and pants that were free of holes. But it was the smile that did it. The slight upturn of the side of his mouth, right above his beauty mark. The smile he reserved just for her. Her vision blurred for a second as tears filled her eyes but she blinked them away so she could focus on him again. She could see Maggie's goofy smile as she also had tears running down her face. Maggie quietly took Joshua's hand and led them away from the reuniting couple.

"Hi." Great, she mentally berated herself, real smooth, Carol. She cleared her throat and tried again. "So, leader of the sanctuary? What would make you give up that sweet gig?"

Daryl walked closer to her until he was at the water's edge. She still stood barefoot in the river in front of him. He smirked, shrugged his shoulders and toed off his boots and cuffed his pants. He shuffled out into the water until he was so close to her she could feel his body heat. He lifted his index finger and traced her face from her eye to her chin. He then lifted her chin so their eyes met. "The only thing that would make me give it up is standing right in front of me."

She let out a shuddering breath as she lost herself in the intensity of her gaze. "I guess I should show you around your new home then, shouldn't I?" She held her hand out to him. He took it gently, sliding his fingers through hers. She led him out of the water and towards the camp. Behind them, the river flowed out and onward, its current always moving, always changing, never content to cease its murmurings to the world.

Thank you for reading my story. I was inspired to write a story that focused on Carol and what struggles she might go through from being turned out from the only family she had left. I hope you were as inspired as I was by her journey. This quote by Aiden Chambers from This is All: A Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn, was my main inspiration for this entire work. I hope all of you can plough a valley of your very own.

"I thought how lovely and how strange a river is. A river is a river, always there, and yet the water flowing through it is never the same water and is never still. It's always changing and is always on the move. And over time the river itself changes too. It widens and deepens as it rubs and scours, gnaws and kneads, eats and bores its way through the land. Even the greatest rivers- the Nile and the Ganges, the Yangtze and he Mississippi, the Amazon and the great grey-green greasy Limpopo all set about with fever trees-must have been no more than trickles and flickering streams before they grew into mighty rivers.
Are people like that? I wondered. Am I like that? Always me, like the river itself, always flowing but always different, like the water flowing in the river, sometimes walking steadily along andante, sometimes surging over rapids furioso, sometimes meandering with hardly any visible movement tranquilo, lento, pianissimo, sometimes gurgling giacoso with pleasure, sometimes sparkling brillante in the sun, sometimes lacrimoso, sometimes appassionato, sometimes misterioso, sometimes pesante, sometimes legato, sometimes staccato, sometimes sospirando, sometimes vivace, and always, I hope, amoroso.
Do I change like a river, widening and deepening, eddying back on myself sometimes, bursting my banks sometimes when there's too much water, too much life in me, and sometimes dried up from lack of rain? Will the I that is me grow and widen and deepen? Or will I stagnate and become an arid riverbed? Will I allow people to dam me up and confine me to wall so that I flow only where they want? Will I allow them to turn me into a canal to use for they own purposes? Or will I make sure I flow freely, coursing my way through the land and ploughing a valley of my own?"