AN: How far along is Marie? Um…gosh I'm off on my math right now…let's go with like four months? Does that sound about right? I'm bad at this whole pregnancy stuff…I really should've done more research on it…I don't know when women actually start showing…

On a separate note, I don't know how well written this chapter will be. I'm kind of distracted because I read these two reviews from the first two chapters of Keepin' Secrets from a guest and I just felt like they were overly mean. A little bit of criticism is okay…as long as you talk about the good. They mentioned something about Marie becoming an unlikable character and a Betty-Sue (Mary-Sue?) and I just didn't think that at all…I wish that they weren't a guest so that I could PM them about it…instead of doing this. Last chapter I mentioned another review. It didn't make me upset like this. I know that people are entitled to their own opinions but to they need to be mean about it? Maybe I'm sensitive or something…but I don't know. Sorry, I felt the need to get that off my chest and now I'm going to get started on actually writing.

"Are you two part of this group?" Jedd asked.

"No. That asshole took us prisoner," Daryl said.

"We'll get you two both back to your group, don't you worry," Jedd was a tall man, a little over six foot; he had soft green eyes and blonde hair.

"We sure appreciate it," Marie said.

"Don't mention it. That's what we do."

"What are ya gonna do with the Governor?"

"Don't you worry about that." They didn't like that answer but what choice did they have? They couldn't demand he tell them where they were taking the other man. "Do either of you need any further help."

"We got it," Daryl said. He didn't trust Jedd, not one bit. The man nodded. "C'mon, let's get back to Gavin and Sophia."

"Yes, let's go," Marie said. They started to walk out to their truck; they'd have to switch vehicles, given that the tire was flat.

"Is that offer still on the table?" Laura asked. "The one where we can come back to stay with y'all? We have supplies and lots of it."

Marie looked at Daryl. He and Glenn had taken over the roles of leader for the most part. "Have any of you killed anybody since this started?"

"I have," an older man with salt and peppered black hair said. He had hard brown eyes. "He was tryin' to hurt my granddaughter."

"Y'all are in," those were the rules they agreed on. They'd let anyone in so long as they hadn't murdered anyone in cold blood. The only true defense against walkers was people. "Do you have cars?" Laura nodded.

"You can just move your stuff into the car with me and Spencer," she offered.

"Thank you," Marie smiled.

"MOMMA!" Gavin exclaimed as he saw his mother step out of a smaller silver car. He ran to her and hugged her tightly. She picked her son up, and kissed his cheek. She held him tightly.

"I missed you so much. Oh, I'm so happy to be back."

"I thought I losed ya!"

"You won't lose me. I'm here for you baby." By that point both Marie and Gavin were crying. "I won't ever leave you here alone again." She really didn't want him to be more than a few feet from her.

"Uncle Rick wouldn't help…I wanted them to go find ya but he wouldn't let Lizabeth go!"

"He wouldn't?" Marie asked. She knew it would've been a risky thing to do, but she was a little offended. You'd think that him being her older brother, he'd want to go find her.

"Yeah! I'm gonna go see daddy now," Marie set him on the ground. She understood how Gavin would see Daryl as his dad…but still. It was rather heartbreaking

"Soph, why are you standin' there all the way over there by yourself?" Marie asked, noticing the younger girl's distance. The blonde made her way over to her almost mother and hugged her tightly. "I missed you. You kids mean the world to me."

"I was so worried! You were gone…Gavin couldn't stop crying…and Rick wouldn't let anybody go look for you…Marie I was afraid you wouldn't come back."

"I'm here aren't I?"

"Is the baby okay?"

"Yes, the baby is fine," Marie assured her.

"What's going on out here?" Carl asked, making his way to the front of the group of everyone standing outside. He moved to where Marie and Sophia were standing. "You're back!" he exclaimed, hugging his aunt. Somehow he'd gotten out of whatever funk he'd been in. After hugging Marie, Carl took Sophia's hand in his discretely. The older woman smiled.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Laura, Spencer, Don, Ali, and Andy," she pointed to each of the new group members as she said their names. There was a mumbling of 'nice to meet you' but in truth, people had grown so used to there being new people, everyone would forget their names within a few minutes. "Why don't we go back inside? I brought y'all's stuff."

"Our stuff from the farm?" Carl questioned.

"Yeah. That's why me and Daryl left. I wanted Gavin's baby pictures, and I know that you wanted Judith to see your mom and such."

"Thank you," Carl said. He took the initiative to unload all of the bags. "You two go ahead. I've got this," he said.

"Okay." Marie and Sophia both walked into the prison.

"Your baby's gonna be a girl," an old woman said, walking up to the two. She was about five feet tall, with white hair and soft blue eyes.

"That's hogwash, Mary!" another old man exclaimed, the two looked identical, Marie guessed they were twins. "Your baby is gonna be a boy!"

"Girl!"

"Boy!"

"How about we just wait like five months and we'll all know?" Marie offered.

"Don't worry girl, it'll be a boy," Amanda-the other old lady said.

"Girl. Look at the dryness of her hair."

"Her belly's basketball shaped, it's a boy."

"Hooey, that's just an old wives tale!"

"So's the dry hair! Is your hair normally dry?"

"I think that's the lack of showering…"

"See! You don't know nothin'! This girl is having a boy!"

"Girl!"

"Boy!" Sophia and Marie both slipped out of the area to leave the two to their arguing.

"Ya get everything unpacked?" Daryl asked, walking into his and Marie's cell.

"Just about," she replied, folding one of his shirts. They were stored in small bins that slid under the bed. Somebody had the brilliant idea of sliding two of the bunk beds together, creating one large bed, which was nice. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Although none of my clothes fit," she frowned. "Not even any of my jeans…"

"Too small?" she nodded.

"Which is really too bad, I'll have to stick to sweat pants…jeans are warmer, but whatever.

"Is gettin' chilly ain't it?"

"It's freezing in here. I'm wearing two pairs of socks with my boots right now…"

"Want me to warm ya up?" he offered suggestively. They were alone in the cell and his offer was very temping but she shook her head.

"I've got stuff to do…Don't get me wrong, I'd love to right now…but I just feel like there's no privacy during the day. Tonight?"

"Can't Rick's got me on watch."

"Seriously? You just got back from being held hostage! I'm really gonna kick my brother's ass! Cock blockin' me!" Daryl laughed softly. It was more so the fact that she'd said 'cock blockin' than anything.

"He sure needs it. Gavin said he was a pain."

"Yeah. I thought you and Glenn were supposed to be the leaders…"

"Me too. Guess not…"

"I'm gonna go talk to him," she decided, dropping Daryl's shirt into the pile and hurrying to find him. Once she did, she glared at him. "What the hell is your problem? Daryl and I were hostages and you put him on watch tonight? There's like a hundred other people you could put out there!"

"Look that's just how it works."

"You're an asshole. He needs sleep," and he did. When he walked into their cell, his blue eyes were extremely tired and he looked as if he just wanted to go to sleep.

"You two shouldn't be going on suicide missions!"

"Like you haven't abandoned your family on suicide missions before!"

"I came back!"

"So did I! What the hell is your problem? You said you were giving up your place as leader. You let Glenn and Daryl take over, you're supposed to sit back and take care of Judith."

"Maybe they're not fit for the job."

"Neither are you, you arrogant asshole! Whatever your problem is, you need to let it go and move on with your life."

"Don't start this shit, you've always been bossy and annoying, thinking that you know what's best for everyone. Why don't you stop stickin' your nose where it doesn't belong?"

"Speak for yourself! I heard how you wouldn't let anyone come and look for us. I'm your sister; does that count for anything anymore?"

"Not really. If you're gonna go out there with some stupid ass plan and get yourself killed that's your own damn fault. Don't expect a rescue team."

"I didn't expect a rescue team. But you could've at least given my son-your nephew some hope! I'm sure he was crying his eyes out the entire time."

"Attracting walkers too," Rick scoffed.

"You gone cold…I can't even look at you anymore…what happened to that big brother that I looked up to? The one that was selfless and just the sweetest person you could ever meet? I want that Rick Grimes back. Not this shell of a man. Not this cold-hearted asshole," she turned on her heel and left. She couldn't stand to hear anymore of Rick's callous words. He wasn't the man she'd grown up with…not in the least.

"Hey Marie," Judd said with a smile, noticing her. "What's wrong?" he noted her quick and angry pace.

"Just…family stuff." She said defectively.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Oh um, I hope you work it out…so listen…are we gonna be havin' weapons trainin' in the mornin'? There's a lot more people that'd like to learn the knives, since they can already shoot guns…"

"Um, yeah. Maybe, I don't know. We'll have to see how I feel. Plan to have it, and I'll let you know otherwise, how's that?"

"Great. I'll let the rest a 'em know. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Judd."

"Okay, had to make sure. You'd tell me if you weren't okay, wouldn't ya?"

"Yes, Judd. Tell Jessie I said hi, okay?"

"Will do," he saluted her and walked off. She rolled her eyes, he was a funny kid. Although she thought that he liked her a little too much. When she'd told Daryl about the fact that she thought Judd may have a little crush he'd just laughed. He wasn't worried in the least. She made her way back to her and Daryl's cell to find the kids working on their way drawings with crayons, Dug ever faithfully at their sides. The dog wagged his tail when he saw Marie walk in. Gavin had been the one to come up with the idea. He came up to Marie and said, "Momma, I 'member how ya had that colorful wall paper in yer room, I wanna make dis like yer old room." And from that day on, he, Sophia, and Carl had been coloring on her wall. Sure Carl and Sophia may've been a little old to do that, but they had missed just being kids.

"Where's Daryl?" she asked them.

"Showers," they said in unison. Someone from one of the other groups that had merged with them had figured out how to get running water back into the prison. It couldn't be drunk without boiling still, but it was better than washing off in the creek outside. "So what are you drawin' for me today?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed.

"Bunny rabbits!" Gavin exclaimed.

"What color?"

"Rainbow!" he exclaimed. She smiled.

"He's drawing two knights fighting while I draw the pretty princess," Sophia said. A wistful gleam in her eyes.

"Are they fighting over the princess or over something else?"

"They're fighting for her hand in marriage. And one knight is in love with her…but the other just wants to win so that he can be king."

"So who's gonna win?" Marie asked. Sophia shrugged. "Well you can't just end the story there! I gotta know what happens!"

"Well George, the one that loves Lilith will most likely win, because he's been training since he was a child, but in secret. But, then again, Alexander was professionally trained…so it's an even battle…"

"I hope George wins," Marie said.

"Me too, but we'll have to wait and see."

"How'd it go with Rick?" Daryl asked, walking back into the cell. He had a towel and dirty clothes in one arm.

Marie rolled her eyes. "He can be a real ass sometimes. I'm not sure where we stand…"

"I can watch, ain't big deal," he said halfheartedly.

"It is a big deal. Rick needs to stop being a dictator. He needs to just move on with his life. He's just-Carl don't repeat all of this to your dad neither."

"Don't worry, I won't. We don't even talk anymore," the young man shrugged.

"Daddy, look at the bunnies I drew!" Gavin exclaimed, pulling at Daryl's pant leg. Daryl moved over and looked at the colorful 'bunnies' they were really just different colored stick rabbits with long ears. But, he was three. At least Daryl could tell what they were!

"Lookie there, ya've got a purple one and a yellow one…I wonder what purple bunnies taste like?"

"Hey!" Gavin put his hands on his hips. "No eatin' my colorful bunnies!" Marie couldn't help but laugh. Those two were just so funny together.

"Okay. I won't. But the bunnies outside? They're fair game."

"Nuh uh."

Yes huh." Gavin stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry into Daryl's face.

"Hey now!" Marie chided. "We don't spit Gavin. That's rude. Apologize."

"But he said he was gonna eat the bunnies!"

"I don't care, apologize for spitting. And Daryl won't eat your bunnies, right Daryl?"

"Yup. But if ya don't apologize, I'll eat all a them!"

"I'm sorry!" Marie decided not the explain the fact that it would be impossible for Daryl-or anyone to consume his bunnies…drawn on concrete…That could be saved for another day.

"Marie, can I talk to you for a minute?" She was walking in from weapons training when the voice got her attention. She turned and sighed.

"I guess."

"I'm sorry. You were right yesterday; maybe I shouldn't have been so cold. I've been thinkin' a lot 'bout this. You are my sister and you're one of the most important people left here." Rick said.

"Remember what mom used to say?" she asked, not replying to his apology just yet. He shook his head in response. "Don't say you're sorry unless a.) You really mean it and b.) you're not gonna do it again. So are you sure you're sorry?"

"Yes. And I did say I was steppin' back as leader, so I need to do so. I've got Judith and Carl to think about."

"Okay, that's all it took. I forgive you. But, this is your only second chance. If you start being a coldhearted asshole again, you're not my brother, deal?"

"Deal," he agreed. They gave each other a quick hug and moved on with their day. Marie knew that in a normal world, she wouldn't have forgiven him so soon, but nobody knew how many days anybody had left. And, she'd hate for one of them to die while being in a fight. She was her philosophy was to live without regrets. Especially since the baby was due in about five months…and there was a large possibility something could go wrong.