Chapter Text
The quiet days of settling into the new community didn’t last as long as Olivia hoped they would. She wished she could stay in the house and watch Daryl cheer Ellie on as she pushed her head up forever. They really were the sweetest pair.
Olivia watched the pair lay on their stomachs, Ellie reaching for her Daddy’s hair. Many times, in the last few days, she’d actually gotten ahold of it. Then Daryl didn’t cheer as much. Merle found such a thing hilarious.
“Cut tha’ damn hair a yers, little brother. S’yer own damn fault.” Merle had told him the first time it happened. “Lookin’ like a drowned dog anyway.”
Daryl had taken Merle’s advice and let Jessie cut it a bit shorter, much closer to the length it had been at the prison. Still, Ellie had pulled it so many times by then that she still reached for it.
“Here.” Daryl held a toy with rubber loops out for her. She reached right past it to press her little hand to his nose.
Olivia giggled at her determination, “Guess she’s got some Dixon stubbornness after all.”
Daryl hummed. “Gets it from ‘er momma.”
“It’s called Dixon stubbornness there, Dixon.” She teased back.
Daryl hummed again, still shaking the toy out for Ellie to grab at. “Ya gotta go back today?”
Olivia lightly groaned at the thought. Daryl and Aaron weren’t going outside the fence which meant he got to stay with Ellie, and she desperately wished to be able to spend the day with them as well. “Unfortunately. They’ve been nice enough to cover me for nearly a week, but Maria needs to rest too.”
“Jus’ you an’ me, Ellie-girl.” Daryl told the baby. He’d been alone with her for a couple hours at a time, but never all day yet. He was trying not to show Olivia how nervous he really was about it. The last thing he needed was her thinking him incapable of handling their child.
“You’ll be just fine. You won’t, but if you need me, I’m just a few blocks down.” Olivia reassured him, crouching down to place a kiss on the top of his head. She picked up the little girl from the floor and returned the baby’s smile. “You be a good girl for Daddy, ok? Momma will see you sooo soon.”
Daryl couldn’t help but smile as Olivia kissed Ellie’s nose. She was such a natural mother. He was damn lucky to have her. He didn’t even want to imagine how much he’d mess Ellie up without her. Speaking of, Olivia handed the girl back to him and gave him a real kiss. “Promise me you’ll be here when I get back?”
Daryl scoffed. As if he had anyplace else to be. “’Course. Where else would I go?”
“Wandering around with Rick, getting attacked by cannibals for five months?”
Ahh. Daryl supposed that was a legitimate fear. The panic he’d felt when he left the prison and couldn’t find her…he suppressed a shudder. “Hey. Be righ’ here for ya, alright? Ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
She gave him a small smile and one last kiss. “Good. We’re not allowed to get separated again. Pretty sure it’s illegal here. Or at very least, a breach of my job description. Pretty sure it was in there that I can’t be without the hunter.”
Daryl smirked at her reference to all those months ago. It felt like forever and yesterday. They’d been so young…had been so sheltered from what was really out there. He wasn’t sure how to turn it off; the fear. Maybe it was good to have an idea of what went on outside Alexandria’s walls. Maybe it was good to be afraid. Maybe fear kept him alive.
If fear kept him alive, then fear could definitely keep Ellie alive until Olivia returned from work.
The last week he’d spent with his little family taught him a lot about Ellie’s schedule. He was actually quite surprised at how structured she was; eating every couple hours, sleeping and doing a little playing in between. Ellie wasn’t quite strong enough to do a lot of playing, she couldn’t crawl or move around too much yet, but she was darn good at pushing herself up to look at things. Very recently she had started grabbing for and holding different toys that her parents brought for her. The first time she had waved around a little rattle toy, one would’ve thought someone in the house had won the lottery with loud the group was. Poor little Ellie had freaked out, eyes wide and lip trembling until Olivia scooped her up and comforted her. Ellie still clutched Daryl’s finger while getting Momma cuddles and that was enough to melt his heart.
But now, he was her sole comfort.
It was a little awkward at first. Daryl wasn’t exactly sure what to do to help her stop crying, other than giving her the little pacifier. Little girl was not excited about taking her midday nap and he wasn’t sure how to coax her into sleep. Usually, Olivia rocked her for a little bit, humming a tune, then when Ellie’s eyes were getting heavy Olivia would put her in the bassinet and all would be right in the world.
Daryl tried rocking the girl, he tried humming nursery rhymes and the old rock music he and Merle used to listen to (he didn’t know many nursery rhymes or how the stupid songs went most of the time). He gave her the pacifier and got up to bounce her as he walked. That was the only time she really seemed content; laying on Daryl’s chest as he walked around the house.
A small, hopeful part of him wondered if she found comfort in his arms. Wouldn’t that be a hell of a thought?
Merle usually stayed with her during the day while Olivia worked. Maybe Ellie just thought Daryl was a longer-haired, two-handed Merle. That was probably more likely.
The older Dixon was Ellie’s family, and Ellie was far too young to really say much about him or his behavior, but when Daryl thought about it, he was damn surprised that the Alexandrians tolerated Merle. They were excited to see Daryl reunited with Olivia and Ellie, only real assholes wouldn’t be. But in the week that the two groups had gotten to know each other, the Alexandrians didn’t seem to like Rick and the outside gang very much. The two groups were opposites in nearly every sense. His group was strong, rugged, and did anything it took to survive. Alexandrians seemed…meek and weak.
That wasn’t to say that the two couldn’t co-exist. Daryl desperately wanted that to happen. The area was safe. They had walls, food, weapons (ish), and a real community here. They looked after Olivia and Ellie when he couldn’t and took them in. They had heart, something Daryl was fearing that Rick was losing. Of course, Rick had the best of intentions in mind, but maybe their group had something to learn from the Alexandrians too.
Daryl had yet to tell Olivia about Rick’s true feelings. Olivia wasn’t soft, per se. She was a survivor, she did what she had to do to protect herself and her family. She’d been doing that for years, far before the apocalypse started. Olivia wouldn’t agree with Rick’s decision though. And Daryl thought it would hurt her to know that Rick was so willing to turn his back on, and maybe take over, the little community she had lived in for a few months.
Not to say that Rick leading would be a bad thing. He had done a good job thus far. But whole situation just left Daryl uneasy.
Maybe Ellie could sense his mood and that was why she was having a hard time napping. Maybe he was bad at this already. Did Olivia have a trick for keeping her emotions from Ellie? Daryl would have never thought to ask prior to her leaving.
He tried to push the leadership worries out of his mind but was only met with other pressing topics.
The next day, with Aaron, he was supposed to leave Olivia and Ellie to go on a run looking for new people. He wasn’t upset about his position in Alexandria to recruit people. He got to go outside the walls, which was where he felt most comfortable. But leaving his girls was not something he was excited about. It had only been a week since he’d found them, and the trip was supposed to last a few days. He’d already missed so much. Ellie changed and grew every damn day.
“All you can do is enjoy the time you do have with her.” Olivia told him over lunch, running her hand through his hair. She was such a calming presence, easily getting Ellie down for a nap and washing Daryl’s frantic thoughts away. He wasn’t sure what on earth he did without her all those months.
Daryl nodded, biting his thumb nail while he stared into space. He had to leave the girls to do his job, he knew that. This was his place in this new community, and he had to do his part. But he couldn’t leave Olivia in the dark. “I gotta talk to ya about somethin’.”
She frowned, knowing just from his demeanor that it was something serious. She put down her sandwich and scooted closer so she could hold his free hand. “What’s going on? Is everything ok?”
Daryl shrugged. He knew she would be ok. Rick wouldn’t leave Olivia high and dry. But was Alexandria ok? Probably not. “Rick was talkin’ ‘bout taking over Alexandria.”
Olivia’s eyebrows shot up. “What? What do you mean take it over? Like he wants to be in charge?”
He nodded again, “Carol stole some guns from the armory. Gave them to Rick an’ offered them to me too.”
“Daryl.” Olivia sounded disappointed in him, and he quickly clarified that he didn’t take one from Carol. She changed her tone then, whether it was because she was no longer upset with him or because she realized she sounded a way she hadn’t meant to, Daryl wasn’t quite sure. Either way, he was glad she wasn’t mad at him.
“So, what is their plan? They’re going to come in guns ablaze and take over?” She continued, shaking her head at the absurdity of it all. In truth Daryl wasn’t sure what their plan was, other than if Alexandria wouldn’t strengthen up then Rick was going to take it.
“I dunno. Jus’ wanted you to know what was goin’ on ‘fore I left. You know Rick ain’t gonna do wrong by ya-”
“If he takes over this place and throws his weight around like a barbarian then he’s doing wrong by me.”
Daryl was surprised to hear her say that. He knew she liked Alexandria and some of the people in it. For her to use such strong language against Rick though…that was new. Rick had done right by them. Always had since he’d come back to the quarry. Daryl didn’t necessarily think it was right not to try and integrate and compromise with Alexandria. At the same time, he wouldn’t turn his back on Rick either.
Things were getting complicated and for some reason, Daryl had a feeling that this was just the beginning.