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carylerxsecretsanta · 2 years

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Celebrating Carol

written for @laurellibra

Title: Celebrating Carol Author: @theresnosafeharbor4myships Rating: PG Summary: Daryl, Judith, and RJ surprise Carol for her almost-Christmas birthday. A/N: Happy holidays, LauralLibra! I hope you're having a blessed season and that you enjoy this little bit of lighthearted Caryl. Merry Christmas! :D

“Okay, Jude, can you measure the cinnamon while I slice the oranges?”

“Sure.” She opened the silverware drawer and took out the measuring spoon before grabbing the small canister of spice from the cupboard.

“And what can I do?” RJ asked enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Daryl pulled one of the kitchen barstools over and set it in front of the stove. “You can put some of the cranberries,” Daryl pointed to the small container of fruit, “into the pot, but be careful.”

He stood next to RJ and watched the kids about their tasks as he quickly cut orange slices to add to the red wine he’d just set to heat on the stove.

“What’s this called again?” RJ wondered, gently plopping cranberries one by one into the pot.

“Mulled wine,” Judith answered before Daryl could. She stood on the other side of her brother, carefully sprinkling cinnamon from the measuring spoon into the warming liquid.

“Why’s it called that?”

Judith shrugged and looked to Daryl for the answer.

“Dunno. It just means there’s extra stuff added for flavor.”

“Is it good?”

“I never tried it before,” Daryl answered honestly, handing a wooden spoon to RJ to stir the concoction as he dropped the orange slices in. He snagged the small container of cloves off the counter and added a few of them to the drink.

The kids peered into the pot as RJ stirred. “One more thing, Jude. You wanna measure in one tablespoon of maple syrup?”

She nodded and moved to get the sweetener as Daryl hovered over RJ for safety’s sake.

“Why didn’t you never tried it?” RJ asked.

“’Cause I never thought it’d taste good.”

“Then why are we making it?”

“It’s a present for Aunt Carol,” Judith responded, turning the tablespoon full of syrup upside down over the pan and watching the sweetener ooze slowly into the mixture. “For her birthday.”

“But I thought it’s Christmas time.”

“It is,” Jude responded.

“But isn’t that Jesus’s birthday?”

“Yeah, but Aunt Carol’s birthday isn’t the same as Christmas,” Daryl explained. “It’s just close to Christmas.”

“On a different day,” Jude clarified.

“How do you know it’s her birthday?”

“’Cause she told us.”

“When?”

Daryl’s mind immediately flashed to those first nights at the quarry, a hundred lifetimes ago. Several in their party, including Carol, Lori, and the kids, sat close to the campfire as the sun dropped below the horizon, making way for the cool of the evening. He would’ve moved closer to the warmth, but Merle would’ve given him hell for it, so he stood in the shadows on the periphery with his pain-in-the-ass brother, arms crossed in frustration, eyeing the group of people who’d bonded together for safety.

“What do you miss the most?” Sophia’s voice, barely audible, reached his ears, and he watched her and Carl huddling close together.

“Watching cartoons,” Carl answered. “Playing baseball. Pizza. And going to lake with my friends. We were supposed to do that a few weeks ago for my birthday.”

“When was your birthday?”

“October 12th. When’s yours?”

“July 7th.”

“Oh, that’s close to my mom’s. Hers is—”

“Your mom’s what?” Lori wondered, having heard herself mentioned and turning her attention from her conversation with Carol to the kids.

“Your birthday is July 5th,” Carl finished. “Right?”

Lori ruffled his hair. “Yep. Why?”

“We’re just talking about stuff we miss,” Sophia answered, somewhat forlornly.

“Like school?” Carol asked, half hiding a smirk.

“No way!”

“Come on, Sophia, let’s get outta here before we give them any other bad ideas!”

They took off running towards the RV, and Daryl turned his attention to the two women, ignoring Merle’s grumbling about the kids kicking up dust while he was trying to clean his gun.

“You’re an Independence Day baby, huh?” Carol asked Lori.

“Yeah, never really got a party of my own. It was always lumped together with the 4th.”

“I know how that is. My birthday’s December 22nd.”

“Brutal,” Lori sympathized. “You must’ve hated that as a kid.”

Carol’s answer was lost as her beast of a husband joined them around the campfire and she drew up the walls around herself.

The old memory shot an arrow of fury and pain through his heart. He looked at the two kids staring at him, waiting for an answer. And yet still so much to be grateful for.

“Long before you and your sister were born,” he stated, covering RJ’s hand on the spoon with his own, ensuring the stirring happened to focus on the present.

“When was that?”

“Alright, enough questions.” He turned off the stove as the wine barely started bubbling and playfully swatted the kid’s butt. His curiosity would go on forever if he didn’t nip it.

“Yeah, we gotta get everything ready for Aunt Carol,” Judith said excitedly peering into the pot of now-mulled wine.

“What for Aunt Carol?” Carol’s voice came to them from the hallway.

She must’ve come in through the back door. Judith pushed the messily wrapped gifts to the edge of the counter, and she and RJ stood up straight as Carol came into the kitchen.

“Surprise! Happy birthday!” they sang out.

“Happy birthday,” Daryl chimed in, noting the pink flush in her cheeks from the cold.

Her eyebrows rose, and a small smile graced her face as she peeled off her jacket and folded it onto one of the kitchen barstools. “What’s all this?”

As a quick, unspoken hello, Daryl grasped her hand as he passed her, moving to the cupboard over the sink to grab cups for all of them as the kids explained. “Uncle Daryl told us it was your birthday, and we wanted to surprise you!”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her look at him briefly before fixing her attention on the kids again. He hung the handles of three mugs onto the fingers of his left hand and grabbed one more cup with the other, knocking the cupboard closed.

“Well, I’m certainly surprised!” She saw a few haphazardly wrapped gifts on the counter and a steaming pot of something-or-other on the stove. “You did all this for me?”

He turned back to his family, the kids nodding furiously and beaming at Carol, then excitedly taking up their gifts for her and setting them on the dining room table in front of her chair. He moved in close to her, the right side of his body nearly spooning hers as he leaned closer, his lips at her right ear. “There’s nothin’ I wouldn’t do for you,” he whispered.

Those words in that husky whisper of his sent shivers racing down her spine. Before she could recover, he placed a quick kiss against her neck, then walked to the island and set the mugs down.

“Aunt Carol, you okay?”

Judith’s question made Daryl glance up at Carol, who stood where he’d left her, frozen in place, staring at him. He winked at her before turning his attention back to serving the mulled wine.

“I’m okay,” she finally answered, though it sounded a bit breathless to him.

The kids tugged her by the hands towards the table. “Come on, we got you presents!” RJ exclaimed.

“Alright, alright.” She allowed them to pull her to her seat at the table. She sat down, and the kids scrambled into their chairs, one on each side of her. Daryl set a mug of steaming liquid in front of her with a small flourish, and she looked up at him questioningly.

“We made you mold wine!” RJ told her, and Daryl and Carol both barely refrained from laughing.

“Mulled,” Jude corrected emphatically, then, questioning herself, turned to him. “Right, Uncle Daryl?”

“Yeah, mulled. Aunt Carol’s favorite.”

“Can I try some?” RJ asked.

“No way,” Daryl answered, grabbing the kids’ cups off the counter. “But you can have apple cider.”

“Yum!”

“Yum!” RJ mimicked his sister, as Daryl set a cup down in front of each of them.

He took up his mug full of the seasoned wine and held it out towards Carol. “Cheers. To a happy birthday.”

She clinked her cup to his, her eyes bright, a pleased smile on her face. “Thank you.”

He leaned down to kiss her cheek as the kids lifted their mugs to toast her. “Happy birthday, Aunt Carol!” Judith exclaimed.

“Happy birthday and Merry Christmas!” RJ clinked his glass twice to Carol’s before slurping down a large gulp of cider.

“Thank you.” She looked at each of them in turn, her eyes lingering gratefully on Daryl, who now sat across the table from her. “This is very sweet of you.”

“And we have presents too!” RJ enthused. “But you can only have your birthday presents now. Christmas presents on Christmas.”

She gave them a surprised look. “Separate presents!?”

“Yeah, it was Uncle Daryl’s idea,” Judith told her.

Carol tilted her head slightly in inexpressible gratitude, and Daryl couldn’t stop staring at her, her pink cheeks, tear-filled eyes, loving expression. “Love you,” he told her simply.

“I love you,” she responded, and his heart beat faster, same as it did every time she said those words to him.

“I love you, too,” RJ told her, breaking the moment of intensity.

She chuckled and reached for his hand, then looked at Jude and did the same. “And I love you both.”

“You wanna open your presents now?” RJ asked excitedly.

“Yes, of course!”

“And then we can have cake, right, Uncle Daryl?”

He nodded as Carol’s eyes went wide. “There’s cake too?”

“Lots of dessert waiting for you,” Daryl promised with a twinkle in his eye, though his expression remained neutral.

A smile flirted on her lips. “Well then, let’s get started so we can get to the good stuff.”

#Caryl #Caryl Secret Santa 2022 #gift 1 of 1 #from theresnosafeharbor4myships #laurellibra

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carylerxsecretsanta · 2 years

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I really enjoyed using your favorite color purple as accents and added your favorite characters @tigereyes45

Your Caryl Secret Santa. xoxo Mel ( @mel-loves-all )

#Caryl #Caryl Secret Santa 2022 #gift 2 of 2 #from mel-loves-all #tigereyes45

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carylerxsecretsanta · 2 years

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A New Tradition

Written For: @madwomanlexie

Title: A New Tradition Author: @tigereyes45 Rating: G (Maybe a T rating due to the joke at the very end.) Summary: Carol and Daryl host a party for a new yearly tradition. A/N: It's vague on the holiday on purpose. Also I love the idea that they're Aunt Carol and Uncle Daryl to all the kids.

While Carol wrestled with the dishes in her domain, Daryl found himself more or less in control of the gaggle of kids taking over their living room. He tried to give them each a different task to do. Something productive, or at least energy consuming. However, as children often do, they weren't really staying on task. Judith attempted to bark orders at a few of the other kids to keep them in line, and help, as Socorro climbed his leg. As Coco swings herself from Daryl's outstretched arm, he carefully attempts to catch her.

Nabila and Aliyah distract themselves by using the crayons he had give to draw on the wall under the stairs. Jerry, Gabriel, and Nabila were out catching back up with old friends before the party would truly begin.

RJ has taken to putting pinecones and cinnamon sticks on the windows. He liked the way they smelled, and decided the whole house should smell like it for the house party. Carol didn't mind it, and gave the go ahead. Which now means the little punks is constantly moving the eight pinecones and half a dozen cinnamon sticks he grabbed from window to window. As Rj walks away from his latest pile, Daryl moves over to it. He lifts Coco up onto his shoulder, as he picks up a wash rag, Carol uses for dusting, and resets Rj's offerings on top of it.

Gracie was given permission to stay the night with Judith and Rj. Aaron was unable to make it to the party due to patrols. Daryl half expected him to just keep Gracie in Alexandria then, but apparently she had begged and pleaded. Now she stands at Judith's side, copying the other girl's lead and leading the younger kiddos. As she picks Nabila up, Aliyah screeches for her to put her sister down, splashing some washable paint across her face.

Gracie carefully sets Nabila back down as Judith shouts to stop throwing paint. Daryl sighs, and pulls Coco off of him. As he crosses the room, Gracie dips all five of her fingers into the blue paint, and splashes Aliyah and Judith's face. "On the wall! The wall!" Daryl attempts to be heard over the screaming utterly fail as the girls take off chasing each other through the house. By the end of their second round through the yelling was over, and giggling had replaced it. Paint and crayons were no longer just on the wall, but absolutely everywhere on the floor. Thankfully the girls seemed to know well enough to not flick any paint about, when near the photographs.

He would hate to see the expression on Carol's face if they ruined Rj's and Judith's school photos. "It's good to see them acting their age."

Willing himself not to react to Carol's sudden words, Daryl pretends to be completely calm. "Yeah." He crosses his arms as the girls run past them. "It's good for 'em."

Carol loops her arms around Daryl's. "It's good for you too."

He glances down at her before looking away. Rubbing his thumb across the end of his nose, he fails to hid his smile. "Yeah." Daryl gestures towards the kitchen with his chin. Always quick to change the subject. "What are you cooking this year? It smells delicious."

"Well aren't you a charmer." Carol teases as she squeezes his arm against her. Gently she tugs on it, leading him to the kitchen. Daryl resists a little, letting her walk him to the threshold, but refusing to step out of the living room. "They'll be fine. It'll take two minutes."

True to her word, Carol makes sure to point out the litany of side dishes an deserts she has been preparing for the last three days. She had pecan, pumpkin, and apple pies made out and spread around. A cheesecake like dish that had her fresh, handmade cranberries topping. There were baked pork chops, a whole ham that glistens from the sugar, and honey she had added to the glaze. A smaller, but just as juicy turkey sits, partially carved up already. That was probably to help the younger kiddos get their meals. Bacon was cooling next to the stove, with a green bean casserole sitting on top of it. Fried onions, baked beans, and toast spread on a long plate with an entire assortment of jams behind it.

"Think it's enough for the party tonight?"

He nods as his eyes continue to take in the sight. For too long he stood there, smelling the food. He knows that thanks to the loud growling from his stomach. The fish he had filleted earlier was typically enough to keep him going for a whole day and a half. Too bad it's nothing in the face of such a feast. "It looks good."

Carol shoots him a knowing smile. Her lips open for a moment. He waits for her teasing. Instead she presses them back shut and turns to the sink to wash her hands. "I know some of the others will be bringing their own dishes to add, but I figured it's better to be over prepared, then under."

"Did you take all the extra rations?"

"Perks of being in charge," she jokes with a wink. At least, he hopes it's just a joke.

"Shouldn't these be for the new holiday party?"

"Eh, that's tomorrow. I'll make a few extra side dishes tonight." She waves the idea away as if it's not a worthwhile concern. "This is just for us," Running a finger along a dirty bowl on top of her little pile of dishes in the sink, she collects a decent amount of cheesecake filling. Daryl waits patiently for her to put it on his nose. Just like always. "and our own little celebration." Smooth cream covers the tip of his nose. Carol rolls her eyes at his total lack of a reaction. He smiles at her, wipes the cream off, and looks back at the food.

It wasn't exactly Christmas. This little gathering of theirs wasn't really anything that special. It was a party Carol enjoys throwing before the Commonwealth's end of year celebrations. If anything it was just as much a new years gathering as it was a Christmas or Yuletide party. One big bash to cope with the middle of winter. Who knows if they'll ever see another.

That thought pulls his eyes away from the food to the framed photos and drawings on the wall. Rosita, Carl, Glenn, everyone they lost and had photos of, or someone who knew what they looked like and could draw them. The living go up in the rest of the house, but the head are posted up in her kitchen. She had settled in.

Good. He'll have to leave again soon, but it's clear that she's found herself here. Carol turns back to the sink. He wraps his arms around her waist, pressing his head against the back of her left shoulder.

The front door opens. Jerry's voice carries throughout the house, as the children cheer. Now that the rest of the guests were finally here the party will really begin with all the cut out snowflakes, pinecones, and newly painted walls setting the feeling of being home. "Our guests are here." Carol points out, sweetly patting the top of his head. He groans, and presses his forehead deeper into her shoulder. They stand there like that, gently rocking back and forth on their feet. One of Carol's hands on Daryl's head and the other resting on top of his. He pulls her closer against him.

"Don't look Rj!" Judith orders, as Jerry laughs.

"Okay kiddos, they're still cooking in there. Let's focus on clean up." A cry of boos, and oh mans fly out of the living room. Daryl smiles into Carol's shoulder. She lifts his hands to plant a kiss on each of them.

As he pulls away, his hands feel cold without her warmth. She spins around, and quickly cups his cheeks. "So, do you wanna fool around." The smirk on her face betrays her joke.

Daryl rolls his eyes before pulling his face out of her grasp. With a pointed finger he says, "That's still not funny." He grabs an dark red apple out of the fruit basket from beside her.

Carol laughs and playfully pushes him away. "Who says I'm not serious?"

Biting into the red apple he says, "Maybe after the guests are all gone."

"I think I'd like making that a part of our new holidays tradition." She wraps her arms back around his free one. "Come on big guy, time to eat and reminisce."

“Aunt Carol is the food ready?” Rj asks excitedly, hands covered in bits of cinnamon.

#Caryl #Caryl Secret Santa 2022 #gift 1 of 1 #from tigereyes45 #madwomanlexie

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carylerxsecretsanta · 2 years

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CARYLER SECRET SANTA (2022)

Tumblr: @mel-loves-all Favorite Caryl Episode: 5x6 Consumed. Favorite Caryl Moment: 7x10 the hug/reunion and 5x1 reunion hug. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic, graphics or gifs.

/–/

Tumblr: @laurellibra Favorite Caryl Episode: 7x10 or 10x3 Favorite Caryl Moment: Years on but my favourite moment is still when daryl shows up at Carol's house in 7x10 but that reunion is so beautiful, closely followed by that moment where Carol has that dream about the normal life with Daryl in 10x3 What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): I will love whatever someone decides to create so go wild with whatever medium you like!

/–/

Tumblr: @madwomanlexie Favorite Caryl Episode: No Sanctuary Favorite Caryl Moment: I have too many to count! I’ll say my fave atm has to be in season 9 when Carol is giving Daryl his haircut. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): I love any gift! All caryl media is awesome!

/–/

Tumblr: @tigereyes45 Favorite Caryl Episode: Oh man I don't know it's too hard to pick. Any of the episodes with the moments I listed below would probably be my answer. + the one where Daryl offers to runaway with Carol and she stays. Favorite Caryl Moment: I love the moment where right after Carol blows up the facility everyone is running through the woods, and the moment Daryl sees Carol he runs up and hugs her, not letting go for a good minute even though Carol had been kicked out of the group by that point. Another favorite moment of mine is when Daryl is practically crying, asking Carol, "Why did you go?". My third favorite is when Daryl tells Carol that she needs to start talking to him about things because he's the one she talks too. In season 10 My fourth and final favorite moment is when everyone thinks Carol is dead in the prison so Daryl goes out to kill zombies, grieving before finding her and bringing her back. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): I'm good with anything.

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Tumblr: @theresnosafeharbor4myships Favorite Caryl Episode: Consumed, No Sanctuary, What's Been Lost Favorite Caryl Moment: literally all of them! "I'm the one you tell, me!"; the No Sanctuary hug (or any of them, really); the entirety of Consumed; every reunion hug; haircut moment What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): open to all of these, but I'd love a fanfic

#Caryler Secret Santa Participants 2022 #theresnosafeharbor4myships #tigereyes45 #madwomanlexie #laurellibra #mel-loves-all

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