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THE MORNING SUN rolled through the windows of the prison like a thick haze of the summer. August had proven to be a blistering month, spreading a heatwave throughout all of Georgia. The clock read the time as 11am, which was later than Ellie had typically awoken. The group had all arisen and continued with their duties, while Daryl sat in the perch, cleaning his crossbow as Coda played quietly to herself, leaving Ellie to sleep.
Ellie let out a squeak as she stretched, and gained Daryl's attention as he dropped to the mattress, and curled his arms around Ellie. The warmth of her body caused his to sink delightfully into the softness of the bed. She shut her eyes once again, and rested her head against Daryl's arm as he laughed at her sleepiness.
"Mornin'," Daryl let out a slight nasal laugh as Ellie pretended to be asleep once again. He leaned down to kiss the woman on her forehead, but she leaned up, and shifted his kiss to her lips, "Good mornin', I mean."
Ellie laughed and curled her arms around Daryl's torso as she pulled him closer. Daryl then cleared his throat, and gestured towards the small child at their side. Ellie propped herself up on her elbows and glanced over at Coda as she sat quietly, colouring in one of her books they had discovered for her. Ellie flashed Daryl a fake frown, but immediately sat up, and held her hands out to her daughter.
"Come here, monkey," she whispered as Coda cheerily stood to her feet, and ran over to her mother, "Careful, you're heavy now."
Coda giggled as Ellie blew raspberries onto her face and neck, but immediately pushed her off, while smiling still. Coda folded her arms over her chest, and flung her hair over her shoulder, "I am not a child anymore."
Ellie scoffed and pulled Coda down onto her lap and confined to mercilessly tickle her daughter, aided by Daryl as he tickled her feet gently, "You're not a child anymore, huh?" The child's innocent laughter filled the entire prison, leaving everyone to smile with happiness as it filled their ears delightfully. "You're always going to be my baby."
Breaking their playtime, Coda leaped onto Daryl's lap, and clung to his shoulders, "Mom is the princess, isn't she, Dad?"
Awkwardly, Daryl bowed his head down to avoid Ellie's eye contact, and merely nodded in response. He then buried his face in Coda's blonde hair, to conceal his blushing cheeks.
Ellie raised her eyebrow in suspicion, and turned to face Daryl, a smirk toying at her lips, "I'm a what, Dad?"
"Daddy—" Coda begun to explain, only Daryl covered her face with his hand, and scooped her into his arms from behind, tipping her upside down as he did so.
Her giggles filled the entire room with a melodic chime, which only made the small family feel warm inside. They were truly the family they had always wanted to be, with the exception of Luke nor Merle being present. Both Daryl and Ellie were in the same boat, and neither of them knew how to fix it.
