"Listen, if you want my advice— "
"I don't." Daryl wasn't interested, he didn't look up from the meat that was grilling on the fire.
Negan continued regardless, " —I'll tell you how I got it done."
"I ain't listening."
"I'm telling you, man it's what worked, you just gotta grip a hold of her ass with one hand" Negan stood up to show Daryl exactly what position he meant. "And reach around with the other. And you just— "
"Dude, shut the fuck up! Sit your ass down."
Negan laughed, he always loved being able to make Daryl raise his voice.
"Hey, I'm just fucking with you. Seriously, just," Negan sighed and sat back down. He picked up a stick and threw it into the fire. "Just, enjoy the trying. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves. That shit'll ruin you, trust me. It'll happen."
Daryl stared into the licking flames as he remembered all that Negan had once confided in him.
"Wom!" Vincent shouted as he bent down to inspect the grass. "Hi, wom!" He poked at the worm he'd found and squealed with excitement as it curled up. "Hello, wom wom wom."
"Shit, c'mon kid." Negan hollered, "Your ma's gonna string my ass up if you get dirty again!"
Daryl was laughing at Negan's expense because his warning almost certainly came too late, Vincent was already on his knees and digging through the dirt.
Negan let his face fall into his hands and groaned before he laughed too. "Fucking kid always fills his pockets with bugs and mud and I'm the one who gets it in the neck! Like I told him to put them there."
Daryl nodded back at Vincent. "Definitely your son, man."
"Wha... " Negan turned around in time to see Vin stomping his foot down over and over on the poor worm.
"Ah, shit. Vincent!" Negan yelled. "Leave the damn thing."
"Uhoh!" Vincent held his hands up. "Uhoh! Oopsies wom, uhoh wom."
He fell down onto the grass and lifted up his foot to inspect the bottom of his shoe.
•••
"A'right. Come get it, Vince, dude." Daryl called. He was still sitting by the fire and had just finished dishing up their lunch.
Vincent looked concerned, he was staring at the forest line where Negan had just disappeared into.
"He's just gone to take a leak, he'll be back in a minute. Come on, come try some fish. It's real yummy."
Vincent's thumb made its way into his mouth as he continued to stare toward the trees.
"Right, Imma count to three then I'm comin' to get ya," Daryl warned.
Vincent was familiar with this game, he turned and scurried another three feet further away from Daryl.
"One... "
Vincent watched Daryl with a grin on his face, like he was calling his bluff.
Daryl raised his eyebrows. "Two... "
Vincent shook his head furiously and Daryl laughed. He couldn't help it, the look of displeasure on Vincent's face was exactly the same one that Carol wore when she wasn't happy.
"All right! Three! I'm a-comin'... " Daryl stood up and Vincent ran away giggling.
"Got ya!" Daryl easily caught him and carried him back to the firepit under one arm like a football.
"No! No, Da." Vincent wriggled and pushed at Daryl's arm, trying to free himself. He was giggling so hard.
"You're gon' piss your pops off calling me that, kid." He shifted Vincent in his arms so he was upright and so they could look eye to eye. "Try'n say 'Daryl'."
"Da!" Vincent snickered a mischievous laugh.
"Daryl." Daryl shook him gently.
"No! Noooo!" Vincent shriek-laughed as Daryl started to tickle him. "No —o —o."
"Say Daryl!"
"Da— " Vincent could hardly speak at all, he was laughing so hard. "Dawol!"
"That'a kid," Daryl laughed and offered a high five. Vincent slapped his big hand with both of his little ones, a big goofy smile across his face. "We'll work on the 'uncle' part later, okay? All right."
"What a damn noise you two are making." Negan was back, his grin matching that of his son's.
"Daddy!"
Negan crouched down and pretended to be winded by the impact of Vincent's hug.
"He's got some damn separation thing going on, Negan."
"Well, you'll just have to babysit a little more, get some practice in." Negan winked as he took Vincent to sit down by the fire with them.
Daryl scoffed, he and Julie looked after Vince plenty as it was.
Not five minutes later, the grown men were yet again being sassed by the two-year-old.
"Daddy likes it, see." Daryl held the bowl of food out so Negan could take a piece of fish and chomp down on it.
"Mmm. That shit's good." Negan played along but his overzealous hum did nothing to curb the toddler's disdain.
"And I like it, Uncle Daryl likes it. You'll like it too, dude. You gon' try some?" Daryl held the bowl in Vincent's direction again.
Vincent shook his head, his thumb returning to his mouth.
"A'right, suit yourself." Daryl shrugged and sat back. "C'mon, Negan. Let's eat."
Negan squinted his eyes as Daryl started to eat the fish out of Vincent's bowl.
Vincent's expression mirrored Negan's once more. He looked confused too as he watched his uncle eat out of his special bowl.
With curiosity finally getting the better of him, Vincent held onto Daryl's shoulder and got on his tiptoes to peer into the bowl and get a better look at the fish. He turned up his nose and shook his head when Daryl held a piece in his direction.
Daryl didn't give in, he kept the piece held out.
Vincent's big round eyes stared at the fish for a second before he opened his mouth wide and let Daryl pop it into his mouth.
Vincent looked less than impressed as he awkwardly chewed. He opened his mouth again, letting pieces of chewed-up fish spill down his chin.
"Guess that's a no to the fish." Negan laughed as Daryl wiped away the grossness with no hesitation using just his hand. "I'll see what else we got for him."
Negan stood up but stopped to look at Daryl.
"You're gonna be a great fucking dad by the way." He told him.
Daryl looked a little stunned by the comment, his body stiffened. He cleared his throat and shrugged, stuffing another piece of fish into his mouth.
"Yeah, well if your dumb ass can do it... " He murmured.
Negan chuckled, he slapped Daryl's shoulder before leaving him to fetch his backpack. There were bound to be enough snacks in there to keep Vincent happy until they got home again.
"Daddy?" Vincent had of course followed him. "Daddy, mick."
Negan looked down to see that Vincent was frowning while hanging onto his pant leg. He chuckled, he was in trouble it seemed.
"Nope. No milk, Vinny. We've got fish for lunch."
Vincent's frown deepened as he thought for a moment.
"Pees?" He offered. Again the pronounciate was a little off but Negan could understand him.
"Shit, that's very polite of you, kiddo. But there's still no milk. Mommy ain't here, is she?"
As Vincent's bottom lip began to wobble, Negan very quickly realised what a dumb thing that was to have reminded his toddler. Not a second later, his head was thrown back and he sobbed a loud open-mouthed wail.
His howling cry was truly sorrowful.
"Ah, don't cry, buddy." Negan was quick to pick him up. "Don't cry."
But there was no consoling Vincent, he cried like this was the worst thing to have ever happened to him.
"Momma!" He gurgled out. "Mo-mmy!"
"Hey now. Sh, sh. Daddy's got you." But Negan's efforts to soothe Vincent didn't work, he was still letting out a broken-hearted bawl.
Negan held his face to his chest. "Sh sh sh."
"Negan," Daryl warned as his eyes darted around the trees. All the noise was going to attract some unwanted visitors.
"I got it. Toss me his binky will you?"
"His what?"
"The pacifier," Negan rolled his eyes. He kept bouncing on his toes. "Oh, buddy. Aw, shit. Is it nap time already?"
The binky that Negan had tried to shove in fell straight back out of Vin's wide-open mouth. He was inconsolable.
"M-o-o-o-mmy!"
"I know you miss your momma, I know. Let's go find her, bud."
Daryl helped Negan put his backpack over his shoulders. "You gonna manage back okay?"
"Yeah, he'll fall asleep once we get to walking." Vin was still screaming in Negan's arms. "Listen, I'll be back out after I drop him off. I'll radio in."
•••
After a successful morning of many try-ons and tears, Carol was rifling her way through the tall, sweet-smelling Peonies that were growing outside of Alexandria's windmill. She was picking out the best ones to add to the growing pile of flowers that she had already gathered in her wheelbarrow, they'd be used as decoration in the hall tomorrow.
Admittedly, Carol had been feeling quite emotional recently. Nostalgic and rather hopelessly in love. After she'd left Julie, with excitement bubbling in her stomach, she went home to get changed and found herself trawling through Negan's side of the closet. She got dressed in one of his old plaid shirts that carried his musky scent. She rolled up the sleeves and finished her outfit off with his faded Stetson hat and a thick pair of leather gardening gloves.
She leaned in and closed her eyes to smell a particularly beautiful bloom of crimson pink and soft yellow, the sweet smell reminded her of the first time Negan had brought a flower home with him. He had brought her one just like this, just a single simple stem. It marked the start of a summer she would never forget. There had been countless flowers since then. She realised she almost took them for granted now, the vase in the hall had never sat empty since. She'd be sure to thank him for all that he'd ever done for her, and all that he ever would do.
"Carol?"
Carol turned around and pulled her hat back out of the way of her eyes to find it was an old friend that had called her name. Maggie stood there smiling, the reins of her horse and cart in her hands.
"Hey, you're a few days early!" Carol pulled off her gardening gloves and wiped the swear from her brow.
They had been expecting a visit from Hilltop, although they weren't sure who exactly would be coming.
"Yeah, we got the days a little mixed up."
The pair smiled politely at each other.
"You look real good, Carol," Maggie commented.
Carol self-consciously folded her arms. She knew she looked a little different these days, there was a softness to her now, a happy glow to her cheeks.
Her small smile grew nonetheless. "Thank you, Maggie. You know, we've got a lot to catch up on."
"You got another fair planned?" Maggie nodded at the wheelbarrow.
"Yeah, something like that. A wedding." Carol could feel her face turning red. "Well, my wedding actually, um," She shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh," Maggie's eyes accidentally fell to the sparkling ring on Carol's finger. "Are you still with... "
Carol gave a slight nod to confirm.
"Wow," Maggie seemed to swallow down whatever it was that she really wanted to say.
Carol ignored it, she didn't exactly expect a 'congratulations' from her.
"You know, you could stay? If you wanted. Like I said, there's a lot to discuss. And I'd like to see if our communities could do more for each other. We have this whole new medical set up, I think— "
"I really have to get these supplies back to Hilltop, Carol." Maggie interrupted with an awkward apologetic half-smile. "My people are expecting me home."
"Right, no, of course they are." Carol continued with the obvious pretence of politeness, "Did Aaron have everything you needed?"
Maggie didn't get the chance to answer, she was darkened by the shadow of an approaching figure. Her eyes had to squint to see who it was.
"Well, if it ain't Maggie Rhee." Negan bit into the tip of his tongue as he smiled.
Maggie's eyes immediately moved away from Negan's audacious grin. She held them with Carol's for a few seconds more until he finally joined them.
Vincent wriggled in Negan's arms and began to wail louder when he saw Carol. He spluttered and choked on his tears.
"Mo-mmy!" He sounded truly heartbroken as his little arms reached out for his momma.
"Hey, sweetheart. Hello, baby!" She greeted them while reaching her arms out to take Vincent. "Oh no, what's wrong?"
"Tell her, Vinny!" Negan lifted Vincent's chin and wiped his tears away with his thumb. "Say 'we're tired and hungry, momma! Same shit we were upset about four hours ago.'"
Vincent babbled out a non-coherent sentence while he buried his blotchy red face into Carol's chest. She kissed his head and held him tight.
"Carol... " Maggie's expression alone asked the question. "He's... ?"
"Yeah." Carol's eyes crinkled as she smiled.
"He's ours." Negan finished Maggie's sentence. He stood tall beside his family, looking like he might actually swell and burst with pride.
"This is Vincent." Carol tried to coax the toddler's face away from where he was hiding in her chest but he was having none of it. He kept turning his head the opposite way. "Oh, and he's filthy again!"
Negan laughed, he knew that comment was coming. "Yeah, we found some more worms to torture."
Carol balanced Vincent on her hip and licked her finger to wipe away some of the dry mud from his cheek. He screwed his face and tried to push her hand away.
Maggie smiled softly as Vincent took a quick peek at her. She was taken aback, his resemblance to both of his parents was striking.
"Say hi, buddy." Negan brushed Vincent's curls back with his fingers.
"No!" Vincent hid his face in Carol's neck again and put his dirty thumb into his mouth.
"Sorry, he's just learning that word." Carol pulled Vincent's thumb away from his mouth only for him to stick it right back in again.
"Hey, 'least he ain't saying 'fuck' or 'shit' yet." Negan grinned.
Carol smiled and rolled her eyes.
"No one told me," Maggie was lost for words, she had her eyes fixed on the child as she spoke. "I had no idea."
"Well, you never called." Negan's words were dripping with exaggeration, his facial expression menacing. "He's two already."
Carol was giving him a look that told him to quit it, but he couldn't help himself.
"You sticking around, Rhee?" He continued, "Hell of a party happening here tomorrow. You might even get an invite if you're lucky."
"No." Maggie's reply to Negan was curt, she couldn't even pretend to tolerate him. This was only the second time she'd looked at him after his arrival and if looks could kill, hers certainly would have.
Negan's tongue swept over his bottom lip as he fought back a grin. Meanwhile, Vin was still crying. Carol was struggling to keep hold of him as he tried to bury himself deeper into the crook of her neck.
"He's exhausted." Negan dropped the act and apologised to Maggie while Vincent sobbed. "We better get him home, huh?" He added while wrapping an arm around Carol's shoulder.
"Yeah." Carol smiled up at Negan, thankful he had given her an out.
Even now, years later, her heart still jumped when he smiled at her like that, with his eyes flicking to her lips.
"All right." Negan took the hat from Carol's head so he could place a kiss on her forehead. He pointed it at Maggie. "It was nice seeing you,"
With nothing left to say, Carol and Negan turned away. Without feeling a hint of malice on their part, they left Maggie where she was standing. She watched as Negan placed the hat on his head and took his son from Carol's arms.
•••
After they got home, Negan whipped up some scrambled eggs, Vincent's favourite, and then Carol gave the mucky toddler a quick wipe down by the sink. After he was fed and clean, she took him straight upstairs to get him ready for his nap. Negan stayed behind to tidy up, he was staying out for the entire night so he wanted to make sure Carol wouldn't have to lift a finger. It was a fairly standard afternoon in their household.
Vincent had calmed down a little until he saw it was pyjamas that his mom was pulling out of his drawer. He went straight back into full meltdown mode and threw himself down onto the rug.
"Noooo." He cried.
"Oh, such big feelings for such a small fella!" Carol spoke over his wails. She found that the best way to deal with these tantrums was to just let him get it out of his system.
After a solid thirty seconds of screaming, Vincent sat back up with a sniff. Carol was leaning on his dresser watching him.
"Mick." He pouted and rubbed his tired wet eyes with balled fists.
Carol raised her eyebrows. "Is that how we ask for things?"
"Mick, pees."
Carol chuckled at the puppy eyes she was receiving. "Okay, sweetie but after that it's naptime."
Vincent's face contorted as he threatened to cry again.
"No, Vincent. That's enough, no more crying." She bent down to pick him up. "Mommy's tired too, baby. I'm gonna come to bed with you."
She unbuttoned her shirt as she carried him through to her bedroom. After sitting down in the rocking chair, she let her body relax.
"Okay, okay. Stop fussing." She had to move things around a little to get Vin comfy. "There we go."
She untangled his fingers from her hair and moved his hand so he would grab her shirt instead then laid her head back with a sigh.
Carol knew that Vincent only sought after milk for the comfort now, he was down to nursing only a handful of times a day. It seemed to be his way of making sure she was always nearby. Although sometimes Negan did manage to settle him with just a bottle, usually if Carol wasn't around he wouldn't stop crying for her until she was.
It was hard work, breastfeeding for such a long period of time. Carol hardly felt like her breasts were her own anymore. They were often sore and raw but since their comfortable life in Alexandria could change at any moment, she was glad to be able to provide some guaranteed vitamins and nutrients for her child. Not only that, but she cherished the bonding time with her son as much as he did. And it was about the only time he was calm at the moment. She would miss it.
They were night-weaning at the moment, that was part of the reason why they'd been getting so little sleep and why Vincent had been overly emotional lately. She wouldn't offer him any milk between going to bed and waking up again. Ideally, he would be completely weaned in the next few months and Carol and Negan could get back to having a little more flexibility with their schedules and Vincent's anxiety about separation should calm down.
Carol hummed a tune and twirled the hair at the crown of Vin's head as his big beautiful eyes fluttered and closed. Feeling so tired that she could cry too, she also let her eyes shut.
"You want me to put him down?"
Negan's deep, smooth voice prompted both Carol and Vincent to open their eyes, they had fallen asleep it seemed.
Carol leaned into Negan's body as he perched on the wooden armrest and held onto the back of the chair.
"No, I'm enjoying the snuggles." She smiled, Vin was sleepily suckling again. "I'm gonna take him into bed with me for a bit."
"You okay?" Negan asked while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah." Carol smiled through her heavy eyelids. "I could just, really do with a lie down."
"You know, I don't have to go to Daryl's tonight." Negan said, the suggestion in his voice dripped from his mouth like honey. His hand was stroking her shoulder. "I could spend the night here with you instead."
"Hmm, now that would definitely be bad luck." Carol leaned her head on Negan's chest and looked up at his face. She matched his playful smile. "Besides, Julie and I have a fun night planned."
"Oh yeah?" Negan laughed with eyebrows raised.
"Yep. No boys allowed." She fondly looked down again. "Well, maybe Vin can come."
"Shit, well all right. I guess I'll go get drunk with Dixon then, which won't be near as fun as all the other things I had in mind. Hey, keep your walkie on tonight though, ain't no fucking superstition stopping me from saying goodnight to you."
Carol laughed and accepted the kiss that Negan had leaned down to offer her.
"I love you," She told him and kissed him again before he stood up to leave.
He looked at her a moment before answering, as if he was fully taking in the sight in front of him.
"I love you too," he confirmed.
"I guess," Carol raised her eyebrows, the pure excitement showed on her face. "I'll see you at the end of the aisle then?"
Negan's face grew into a grin. "I'll be waiting."