fake it til
A small smile, grateful, quirked Daryl’s lips when Aaron gave him the out. He’d been roped into dolls once or twice with Judith and he’d had no damn clue what to do with them. (He remembered ‘taking the dolls hunting.’ Jude had been mystified. Rick had laughed himself sick over it.)
“Can handle that,” he answered, turning his smile back to Gracie. “Long as I got the kid helpin.”
A slowly scrunched nose while she thought about it and Daryl half-thought he might kick up a fuss, but then she was back to beaming. Grabbing his hand with a nod and pulling him back toward the kitchen.
“You’re big, you can get the high plates. I’ll get the spoons and the forks and–– Daddy, did you get the candles?” Lower, conspiratorial, like it was some secret and Aaron weren’t a few steps away, listening: “There’ve gotta be. It’s not a date without candles.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d said something like that. Big expectations for such a small kid. Daryl found himself crouching in front of her, curious.
“How you so smart about all this datin’ stuff, huh?”
Those big blue eyes drifted to Aaron, then back. She chewed over her lip, wobbled on her heels, then waved him closer. He leaned in and she cupped her hands around his ear, whispering: “Sweet Valley High. There’s over a hundred books about them but there’s seven in the library.”
Which all meant about as much as a can of beans with the lid stuck on to Daryl, but when she leaned back out, blinking wide like he might disapprove, he followed her forward and whispered right back: “Might have to give ‘em a read then. Get some tips on this datin’ stuff.”
It was the right move. Her hand squeezed his and there she was, back to beaming. Daryl grinned, pushing back to his feet.
“Now, where them plates at?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up as Daryl played along, hoping that Gracie would find it an acceptable compromise. She could be awfully stubborn when she wanted to be - and she did love playing dolls. Luckily though, she seemed to agree easily enough. Candles. He held back a laugh as he poked at the food on the stove. “There’s some in the cabinet,” Aaron said - he hadn’t gone out to get any specifically, and had had no plans to put any on the table, but if Gracie was going to insist - well, it would be easier to just let her use some of the candles that had been collecting dust than to make a fuss. Even though he couldn’t help but think that there might be a day down the line when they would really need them.
He tried not to listen - he did - but they weren’t so far away. He felt his heart melt a little in his chest at the idea of Gracie getting dating ideas from Sweet Valley High books (though he had no idea why she’d choose to employ them on him instead of saving them up for when she was old enough and nope, no he couldn’t think about that right now).
He bit his lip as he smiled, finishing up with the food while Daryl and Gracie set the table. It felt…..domestic. Like something Aaron wouldn’t mind doing every night (maybe sans candles). He loved Gracie and didn’t regret taking her in for a single second, but being a single father was lonely sometimes. A lot of the time. Having Daryl there - it made things feel complete, somehow. Which was a lot to put on Daryl. Not that he could anyway. This was a fake date. Completely fake. “How’s the table coming?” he called over his shoulder. “Food’s just about done!” @boltsandashes