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The night with Daryl and Ginger went on with casual conversations of hunting and listening to one of Gingers many rambles of something that randomly popped into her head. The night ended with Isabella convincing Daryl he would be spending the night sleeping in her bed, and she would curl up on Ginger's small bed with her for the night.
After the two went back and forth about how Daryl shouldn't be sleeping in a tent on nothing but a sleeping bag due to his stitches Ginger stood up on the bed the three sat on grabbing their attention. "Daryl you sleep here okay?" Ginger said with her hands on her hips. The man had to stifle back a laugh as he looked up to the little girl and nodded his head. "Mommy and I are going to have a sleepover in my room and you stay here." Ginger added in making Isabella grab her daughter by her waist and bring her to sit back down on the bed.
The young girl had a way of getting what she wanted at the end of the day and it never failed to amaze the woman. Ginger had no problem speaking her mind, and while in school that could get her in trouble, with situations like this it was deemed acceptable. But still, it was funny for Isabella to see someone like Daryl bend to the will of Ginger and give into her demands. "Fine little munchkin, i'll stay right here." Daryl replied, earning a nod of approval from the little girl.
His plan was to wait until the house went quiet, and then sneak out to his tent when he knew Ginger was fast asleep with her mother by her side. Although he could appreciate the courtesy the two showed him - it made him feel out of place. "I'm going to come wake you up in the morning, so you better be here." Ginger said from her mother's arms as she was sitting in Isabellas lap. Daryl sighed, knowing he was caught red handed in his plan to leave in the middle of the night. Nonetheless he nodded his head and bid the two good night as Isabella collected the plates from their dinner. She turned on the lamp on the bedside table and grabbed the plates, ushering Ginger out of the room as she exclaimed a loud goodnight to Daryl and ran down the hallway to her room.
"If it helps," Isabella said, holding the plates ready to head downstairs. "She's never wanted to take care of someone like this before." she told the man making him give her a tiny smile. "Have a good night Daryl." the woman said, turning off the bedroom light, leaving the room illuminated slightly by the lamp. "Goodnight." Daryl replied before Isabella left the room and her footsteps could be heard going down the hallway. Daryl sighed before looking up to the ceiling fan that stayed on, rotating slowly and pushing cooler air around the room. He couldn't help it though, when a small smile lingered on his lips as he thought of the caring woman and the little girl that followed him everywhere he went.
Isabella called Ginger to get changed into her pyjamas from the kitchen as she washed up the dirty plates in the sink. "I am!" Ginger called back, followed by the sound of dresser drawers closing as she went. Once the woman was done cleaning up, she turned off the lights in the house as she went back upstairs planning on talking to her uncle in the morning about the group staying for a bit longer.
When she was back upstairs, Isabella could see the lamp in her bedroom where Daryl was still on. She smiled to herself before turning into Gingers bedroom and found the little girl laying on her small bed with a book on her lap waiting for her mom. "What did you pick tonight little one?" Isabella asked her daughter, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and kicking off her boots. She climbed onto the small pink bed, wrapping herself around her daughter and grabbing the scooby doo book from her small hands. "This is a good pick." Isabella praised her daughter, "Now let's get started yeah?" Ginger nodded her head excitedly, settling down into her mother's arms and letting her read the book out loud.
Daryl sat up on the edge of the large bed he was in. Holding his side slightly as he did the buttons back up of his torn up shirt. Through the thin walls of the farmhouse, Daryl could hear Isabella's soft voice reading out to Ginger. He sighed before slowly laying back down onto the bed, resting his head on the comfortable pillow and closing his eyes to sleep. That night, he fell asleep to the soothing sound of Isabella's voice reading to her daughter finding it oddly calming after the day he had.
When the son had peaked over the horizon the next morning, Daryl opened his eyes to see the sky littered with pinks and light purples. This was his favourite time of the day, when no one else was awake, and the world was calm. He liked when things were peaceful - when the world seemed normal and he was reminded of his early morning hunts alone to escape his household growing up.
It wasn't until Daryl heard the sound of soft hums going down the small stretch of hallway before going down the stairs and hearing cups and plates being moved downstairs. Slowly, he got up from the bed and opened the bedroom door and poked his head down the hallway before making his way down it. He paused and poked his head into a bedroom that had a door cracked open and saw Ginger fast asleep alone. Figuring it was Isabella downstairs, the man slowly made his way down the stairs, holding his side in pain when he would take each step. When he turned the corner to walk through the living room - he could see Isabella puttering around the kitchen humming to herself as she boiled hot water on the stove to make herself a cup of instant coffee.
She could hear his heavy footsteps coming down the stairs the entire way, so hearing him greet her with a quiet 'good morning' wasn't a surprise to her. "Morning, how'd you sleep?" Isabella asked, turning to look at him slightly before grabbing another mug and pouring hot water into two mugs. "Not too bad." the man replied, watching as she held up a cup of sugar, a silent way of asking if he wanted any. Daryl quickly shook his head before accepting the black coffee from her hands. Watching her add two scoops of sugar to her own cup before walking out of the kitchen and towards the front door. "You coming?" she asked, turning when she noticed the man wasn't following her. "Oh, um yeah." Daryl said quickly before following her to the front door.
Isabella settled onto the porch swing, looking out to the rising sun, Daryl joining her. "You're up early." Daryl said quietly, taking a small sip from his mug. "Yeah, i'm always up at this time, it's quiet." she replied making Daryl nod his head in agreement.
The two sat there on the porch, watching the sunrise together staying quiet for the most part. There weren't many words exchanged between the two but it was a comfortable silence that hung over them - and Daryl loved every second of the peacefulness that was Isabella.
