Okay, so this short is an AU where Beth did die at the Hospital but it took the group much longer to find her. However, she didn't die until after giving birth to she and Daryl's daughter, Anette Dixon, who Beth named after her mother.

Daryl watched Anette closely as she played by the treeline, her blonde whisps of hair blowing in the hot Georgia breeze as she picked flowers with her small hands.

She was close by, maybe a few feet away, and there were other people around, but it felt like too much of a distance for Daryl. He gathered up his things, which were his crossbow and a picnic basket, and moved closer to her. She looked up at him when he came over, her wide blue eyes sparkling as she held out a small boquet of wild flowers.

"Here!" she said, smiling.

"Fer' me?" he asked, kneeling down and taking the small bundle of plants. She nodded vigorously. One dropped to the ground and she was quick to pick it up, offering the single Buttercup to him. He took it and tucked it in with the others. "Thank you, Darlin'."

Anette had turned three this year, and for Daryl, it was hard to believe it had been that long since Beth's passing. Time went by quicker with Anette around, which he had mixed feelings about. It allowed him a distraction from the pain that still plagued him, but it also meant that Anette was getting older quicker, or, it seemed that way at least. Not that it was a bad thing that she she didn't call walkers with her wailing every couple hours anymore, but surprisingly, he found he missed her being a baby.

Anette didn't like to be carried around as much anymore. She liked to walk around with everyone else, most of the time right alongside Judith, and sometimes it was physically painful for Daryl to have her just walk around. He was so terribly afraid something would happen to her that it hurt his already broken soul.

She was what had kept him going after Beth died. After the only light he had ever known in this sinner ridden, Walker covered, God awful world, had been blown out to smoke.

He had carried her out of that hospital like a dead man walking, Tyrese and Carol carrying Anette just behind him.

He had lost so many people before then, namely Sophia and Merle were the deaths that had caused him the most pain, but what he had felt when Beth died wasn't just pain. It was this awful sense that he had lost himself, and everything he had been fighting for.

Then Maggie, after clinging to the child once Beth's body was buried, handed small, pink, and helpless Anette to Daryl, and he broke down once more.

That little girl was so beautiful, he couldn't help but nuzzle her small face and pet the small tufts of bright blonde hair on her head, sobbing and rocking her gently. He vowed to protect her as soon as he laid his sorrow filled eyes on her small form. For Beth, for Hershel, for Maggie, and for him. If he couldn't protect his own little girl, then he wasn't worth all the trouble and time that spunky blonde had ever put into him. If he couldn't protect her, than he was just as he had been before. Nobody. Nothin'.

But here she was. Safe and sound and beautiful, and looking more like her mother every day, which was both a blessing and a curse.

She had Judith and Carl to play with, although Carl usually wasn't interested in the kinds of games the girls wanted to play.

She had her Aunt Maggie and Uncle Glenn, who both loved her with all of their hearts.

She had Rick, who almost acted like a second father figure, and Carol, who had been an incredible friend to have with little Anette around. Most of the time though, he really didn't like handing her off to other people. He liked to be the one to take care of her.

But he wondered briefly, when she would start asking about her mother. Judith had already started, and he could see the pain it caused Rick and Carl, the younger Grimes more willing to give the little girl answers than his father was..

He wondered, as he followed Anette's small form through the pasture of their temporary camp, if he would be ready when she wanted to know about Beth. About their time together.

It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, it was the exact opposite actually, but like Rick, it was so hard for him to even think about it sometimes. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell her about the Moonshine cabin, or the fact that he had fallen in love with her because she had called bullshit on everything he was doing. Because she saw right through him into his very soul. He hoped Maggie would be able to help if she asked about when Beth was younger. About what she was like before the whole world decided to go to shit.

He felt someone give him a gentle nudge and he looked over to see Maggie smiling at him. Speak of the devil.

He eyed her suspiciously. "What chu' want Greene?" he asked.

"You're doin' good Daryl," Maggie said, her eyes moving to the little girl who had stopped to watch a butterfly as it perched on a purple flower. "With her… With everythin'. You surprised a lot of us, ya' know?"

"What? That I knocked up yer' sister?" he asked.

She scoffed. "Well, yeah, that, but that's not what I meant and you know it."

Daryl straightened his shoulders, watching Anette carefully. "If it ain't that, then I don't know what ya' mean."

"I can see why she picked you," Maggie said.

Daryl looked over at her, surprised, but was careful not to show it. "You sure you mean that, Greene?" he asked. "Not like we got too many options I guess, especially not durin' the time Beth and I were together, but even then, still don't get why she liked me."

Maggie patted his shoulder. "Because you love her," she said. "And her," she continued, gesturing towards little Anette, who had moved on to some other supposedly incredible thing.

Daryl tried not to let her use of the present tense get to him. Was it really that obvious that he couldn't get over Beth Greene?

"Yeah, whateva'," he said softly, reaching forwards to scoop Anette in his arms before she got herself tangled in some thistles.

Maggie just shook her head. "Say what you like, but I know what's underneath yer' bad boy exterior," Maggie teased, smiling.

Daryl raised an eyebrow. "'Nd what's that, Greene?"

Maggie's smile suddenly turned soft yet serious at the same time. "A fallen angel that's found redemption in the little things." Her eyes moved to Anette, who was happily playing with the strap to his crossbow. "And he hasn't even realized it yet."

With that, Maggie Greene walked away, over to where Glenn sat with Rick and Abraham, probably discussing which direction they should go next, or how they should get supplies.

He looked down at the little girl in his arms, who looked right back at him and smiled, saying "Daddy," over and over as she bounced up and down as much as she could in his arms.

He watched her and smiled a bit, knowing that Maggie was right. He shook his head.

"Why're all Greene girls such a pain in the-" he looked down at Anette, who was watching him intently, his own eye color staring back at him. He smiled and kissed her forehead gently, tucking one of the flowers she gave him behind her ear.

This little girl truly was his redemption.