Thank you to anyone who is reading and please let me know what you think, reviews are always welcome xxxxx Krissy

"I don't give a fuck; I know she likes girls, as long as she's happy that's all Andrea, and I care about." Merle said to Daryl as they sat on the porch of his and Andrea's house, "She's my only child, and her happiness is all I care about."

Merle and Daryl were having a beer after work on a warm night and once again discussing their lives and kids. They were close and always had been; it had been Merle who picked up the pieces of his brother's life once it exploded. Merle was always the constant in Daryl's life, whenever something was up with him, he went to his older brother.

It had been that way forever and all their lives.

"You ever think things would have been different if he wasn't who he was?" Daryl asked.

Merle nodded, "All the time, but we turned out ok."

"Maybe you did."

"You did too, that's Sandy's words, and you stop that right now, Chase says you have a new lady friend," Merle said with a smile on his face.

"Chase is jumping the gun," Daryl replied and lit a cigarette.

"Either way, you ain't so bad, and neither am I, we survived and we ain't passing it down to our kids," Merle said, "Put yourself out there brother you ain't got nothing to lose."

"Chase said I ain't getting any younger," Daryl laughed.

"The boy is right, you're thirty-eight, how old you suppose this honey you got your eye on is."

"My age, she has two kids and a bunch of other kids that hang out at her house, I see them going in and out all the time."

"Like we would have liked when we were young?" Merle said, and his voice was soft at that moment, "Like we do for our kids."

Daryl nodded, "She would have let our friends come over if he wasn't there."

Merle took a drag of his cigarette, "Yes, she would have."

Nights like this were what gave Daryl back his equilibrium, Merle had been worried about him for a time, but he felt like the worrying was over now.

"Tell me more about your new neighbor?" Merle asked, "She cute?"

Daryl paused and then thought better about what he was going to say, "Yeah, she is."

"What are you waiting for, your kid is right you aren't getting any younger." Merle said flicking his cigarette into the driveway, "Chase and Greta will be here soon, might as well stay for dinner."

"Thanks, man," Daryl said as he followed him into the house.

Andrea was at the stove stirring a huge pot of the best smelling chili he'd ever seen, and he made a mental note to ask her how to make it.

"Hey darlin, Daryl's got a girlfriend finally," Merle bellowed as he walked over to kiss his wife.

"Not exactly, Ange," Daryl said, and Andrea smiled at him, and offered him the spoon to taste the concoction she had made, "Awesome as usual," Daryl said and kissed his sister in law's cheek.

"Glad you like it, I'll give you and Chase some to take home, "Now what's this about a girlfriend."

Daryl leaned against the sink and shot Merle a look, then he ran his hand through his hair, "It ain't like that."

"But you want it to be," Andrea said, "I can tell, it's good to have you back."

They were interrupted by a thunderous Chase and Greta as they came through the door after dropping off Tara and Kelsey at home.

"Smells, delish mom," Greta said as they came through the doorway and dropped their books on the living room couch on their way.

"Come on and let's set the table," Andrea said as she led the kids into the dining room so Merle and Daryl could talk some more.

"You got a bounce in your step now, you sure you ain't laying the blocks to your neighbor?" Merle asked.

"Right Merle cause that's what I'd do," Daryl replied.

"Well if you ask me you could use it, you're a little cranky," Merle said with a grin.

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"Tell me about your new neighborhood," Merle said to Chase as they all sat around the table later that night. The plates had been cleared and the family sat there talking to each other as they usually did, a luxury neither Dixon man had before. Family dinners did not happen when they were kids, but at Merle's house and Daryl's they happened at least five nights out of seven and the two families ate together often.

It was called breaking the cycle, and both men worked hard at it.

"Well," Chase said, after taking another spoonful of chili, "We live next door to a bunch of beautiful women."

"You don't say," Merle said, "Like a sorority?"

"Kinda," Chase said, and grinned at Daryl.

Daryl just shook his head as Chase rattled on about Geana and her kids, every once in a while Greta would say something about Tara and Merle and Andrea listened intently. They loved their only child and were pleased that she was making new friends and found someone she liked.

Like Geana, they had known long before Greta told them, and it didn't matter to them a damn, as long as she was happy and no one was bothering her. Greta went on to say that they were all going out as a group that Friday night and it was her first date with Tara.

Chase fist bumped her from across the table and went on to tell everyone about he and Kelsey deciding that they were too young to be serious even though they liked each other a lot.

"Who are you and where's my kid?" Daryl said with a laugh.

"She wants to go to med school one day," Chase said, "She needs to get good grades and not be distracted."

"That's us Dixon's," Merle laughed, "Distractin, right baby?" He said giving Andrea a kiss.

"So distracting," Andrea said with a smile, "What does Tara want to do after High School Greta?"

"She wants to be a cop," Greta said with a smile.

"Like you?" Andrea said, "Hmmm, imagine that."

"Chase, you gonna turn wrenches with us or what?"

"Think so," Chase replied, "Seems like the thing I do best."

"But do you love it?" Andrea asked, "Cause you have to love what you do."

"Yeah, I really do," Chase answered, "It's in my blood I guess," He said with a shrug.

"You can go to college if ya want to Chase," Daryl said, "Whatever you want to do, you can do it."

"Thanks Dad," Chase replied, "I'll let ya know."

"That's all we ever want for you kids, is to be happy at what you're doing," Andrea said, "And to be happy."

"You'd like her Ang," Daryl said, and Merle and Chase's heads turned on a dime.

"Who?"

"Geana," Daryl answered, "She's a lot like you."

"I'm sure I would if she made this kind of impression on you," Andrea said with a wink, and then the conversation changed to Andrea's upcoming bar exam, which she had been preparing for since Greta was a baby and she went back to school. It took her 17 years but Andrea never gave up, and now one exam stood between her and her dream.

Never give up on your dreams was her mantra.

Thank you for reading please let me know what you think.