I had a rough time writing today and I couldn't focus, so this chapter is a little shorter than yesterday. Next chapter we'll see some new faces and little Judith gets a more permanent home. There may be some romance and perhaps even some smut next chapter. I'll have to see how it goes while writing.

Collyn:

She looked down at the tiny human being in her arms. This baby was born into a world of danger, a world filled with death, and she wouldn't know any other world then this one. It wasn't the brightest future but the least she could do was make her happy. To find her a loving family or take her into her own.

"Ya gotta figure somethin' out. You can't leave the kid now." Merle said, looking down at the little baby in Collyn's arms. She could see the little lines on his face and around his eyes that showed his confusion. The conflict within him was almost palable.

"I know… let's get her outta here and have her checked out. We shouldn't stay here." Collyn said softly, guiding the brothers out of the room and to one of the smaller examination rooms.
"Hey, could I hold her?" Daryl asked as he shuffled a little closer to take a better look at the baby. She smiled up at him and shot Merle a quick but amused look.

"Sure, come here." She pulled him closer and positioned his arms correctly. "Hold your arms like that and mind her head." She instructed, smiling brightly when the usual tough and gruff redneck melted away to show a kind and loving man.

"Look at ya, huh. Came into the world like the greatest bad ass of all time. Lill' asskicker."

"Little asskicker?" Collyn smiled at the younger Dixon, it was just so darn cute to see Daryl with that baby.

"'Suppose he's gotta point, thing's a bad ass." Merle added, he was looking at the baby and at the same time he kept his distance from it. It was a little funny to see a big, moody, bad ass like him backing away from a little baby.

One of the nurses came in with a bottle of formula and handed it to Collyn before leaving. Collyn looked down at the bottle and handed it to Daryl, teaching him how to feed the tiny little girl.

"Ya like that, huh?" Daryl looked up at his brother and Collyn, smiling at them before focussing back on the baby. He gently rocked her in his arms and talked to her as she nursed on her bottle.

"What are you gonna do, darlin'? Can't leave her with Darlyna. He don't know nothin' 'bout babies."

"Shut up Merle, you don't either."

"I ain't the one holdin' her, little brother."

"Both of you, can it. I'll take her in." Collyn said, effectively stopping the banter between the two brothers.

"You sure you can handle that, shorty?" Merle smirked, teasing her was a new hobby of his in the last few months and it just annoyed the crap out of her.

"She gave birth to your son, brother. She can handle anythin' that comes her way." Daryl spoke up.

"Don't mean she can handle officer friendly's kid."

"News flash, Merle. I am a mother already. I got this."

"Just don't expect me to step in. I ain't takin' care of kids that ain't my own."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Collyn muttered, taking the baby from Daryl to burp her.
One of the doctors came into the room and checked the little girl for any health issues. Thankfully, she was given a full clean bill of health and Collyn took her back to her own room to give the poor child some rest. There was a long road ahead for her.

—**—**—**—**—
Caden:
He just couldn't understand why everyone was so upset. Carl, Sophia, Beth, Amy and even aunt Kailyn looked really scared right now. And the adults like Carol and Dale looked scared too! What was going on around here? Why was everyone acting so strange?
He saw his mom and ran to her to ask but Daryl and Merle stopped him. Why were they stopping him?

"What's going on?" He asked softly, clutching Merle's leg as he looked up at the two brothers. Merle sighed and gently lifted him up on his arm, he didn't look worried or scared. So whatever it was that had scared the others couldn't be that bad. Because Merle wasn't scared of things that weren't bad. He wasn't even scared of zombies! Cause Merle was really tough, nobody could hurt him.

"Carl's mom had a baby, but she didn't make it." Merle told him and that confused him. Why was that scary? It wasn't like Carls mom ever did anything. She didn't even watch Carl most of the time. And that was really weird cause moms are supposed to watch their kids, but mom had told him that he couldn't say anything about that.

"Oh." He muttered, cocking his head in confusion when he realized Merle hadn't told him if the baby was okay. "Does Carl have a sister or brother?"

"He's got a lill' sister now." Merle looked down at him and it took all of his will power not to yawn right then and there. He was really tired. But he didn't want to go to bed, not yet.

"Can I see her?"

"Nah, sport. Not today. How 'bout we go spend some time together? You, me and Daryl?"
He smiled at that and nodded enthousiastically. Spending some time with those two sounded like a really good idea to him. They could tell him stories and teach him how to shoot better with his bow and all kinds of other cool things.

Merle and Daryl brought him to their room and they settled down on the sofa. It was so hard to stay awake after all the excitement of today and he tried really hard not to fall asleep as Merle started telling him a story…

—**—**—**—**—

Merle:
He'd never thought to be here one day, but here he was. Sitting on a couch next to his brother while telling a story to his four and a half year old son. Especially the four and a half was really important. Caden constantly reminded everyone about that, the little sass monster. Oh he was a good kid most of the time. He just had a bit of a sassy mouth and way too much guts for a kid his age. His own father would've whooped his ass if he ever talked like that. He couldn't do that to his own boy, he was better than his old man.

"And that's how Daryl got his nickname, Darlyna." He finished, smiling just slightly as he took in the four year olds sleeping form. Caden wasn't so bad when he was asleep, he was actually kinda cute, as far as a kid could be cute of course.

"You really had to tell 'im that story?" Daryl complained, glaring at him as he made himself more comfortable.

"Ah come on little brother, it's your best adventure yet." He teased, laughing softly at Daryl's glare. "Seein' you come out of the girls bathroom was the funniest fuckin' thing I ever saw."

"Wasn't funny."

"To me it was. And I had your back, remember?"

"Yeah, guess so."

"Did you have to tell him that?" Daryl asked.

"Oh come on, he had a good laugh. God knows he needed it."

"'Suppose things have been rather shitty lately."

"They'll only get worse. Told her not to let them in."

"She did what she thought was right, Merle. Ain't nothin' wrong 'bout that."

"I know, 's just… Never mind. Don't matter."

"You like her, don't you. Really like her."

"Like you like Callie? Yeah."

"Damn… we're fucked."

Merle chuckled and the brothers shared a grin. "Yeah, but it don't matter. We got a place to sleep, eat and perhaps even fuck. For the first time we got someplace we belong. We ain't gonna fuck up this time, little brother."

"Hell no. We gonna do right for once."

Caden stirred in his sleep and rubbed his nose in his sleep. The two brothers looked down at the child, sharing a quick look before focusing back on the little boy.

"Look at him." Merle muttered as he gently brushed Caden's hair out of the little boys face.

"Lill' Dixon in trainin'." Daryl said, nodding at the child's bow next to their front door.

"Yeah…" Merle looked down with a frown, averting his gaze so he wouldn't have to look at his brother or little son.

"Ya ain't anythin' like him, merle. You're way better than him." Daryl laid a hand on his brothers shoulder in comfort and gently squeezed it. "He's happy and he ain't scared of you."

"I know…" Merle paused for a minute and sighed "But he don't know I'm his dad."

"Collyn didn't tell him yet?" Daryl looked surprised at that revelation.

"Nah, she thinks it's best to hide it. See if we work out before we get his hopes up."

"Don't think that's right but…"

"Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, kinda. She gonna tell him when you two…"

"That's the plan, don't like it. It's fuckin' stupid. But that's what she wants."

"Man you're fucked."Daryl laughed softly, mindful of the sleeping child next to him.

"Shut up." Merle chuckled, shaking his head at his younger brother's amusement. He smiled down at the child sleeping in his arms and pulled him a little closer. He wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.