Merle walked into the room to find Beth sitting up starring at her blanket, she appeared to be a million miles away. He walked in and suddenly she was aware of his presence and she looked up and smiled. He would never get over how that smile made him feel whole; like the world was still worth saving.

"Hi there stranger." She teased him as he walked over to her bed.

"Hi yourself. Sorry, but after all that went down, I thought it best to keep my distance. "

"Oh" She looked a bit sheepish. After all, it was her fault. "I guess that makes sense; so what changed your mind?"

"Well your pop and I had a talk. He is at least somewhat ok with me now. I don't know how long that will be. Figured I'd better take advantage of it before he changes his mind."

Beth's face lit up. "Oh well that's great. I'm sure your growing on him. Just like you grew on me."

Merle snorted "Yep, that's me; grow on ya like a fungus."

Beth smiled sweetly. "You know what I mean. You're a good man, you just don't want people to know it. You want everyone to believe that your this Billy Bad Ass, which is true, but you're afraid to let people know you have a heart. You don't fool me Dixon."

Merle was again irritated by the way this young woman could read her like a book. However, he was beginning to get accustomed to it at the same time. He felt a bit exposed and decided to take his leave. "Well princess; there is more than enough work to go around. I best be getting back. I'll check in on you later this evening."

She squared her eyes and pointed at him. "You had better; after all, I know where you live."

Merle headed out the door and glanced over his shoulder to see Andrea and Merle headed to Beth's cell caring a tray. He figured they were running some test or what not. He was feeling particularly optimistic as he headed back to the main floor of the prison.

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Later that evening, everyone was gathered in the main room, enjoying a group meal. Beth was feeling well enough to join them, and everyone was in good spirits. There was a lot of talking and laughter; and for the first time in a long time there was a sense of normalcy that enveloped the gray prison walls. Andrea was sitting next to Milton and across from Beth. Merle was allowed to visit her, but he decided not to press his luck with Maggie and Glen so he sat next Daryl who was sitting beside Carol. Rick walked in and looked fairly somber, that was not out of the ordinary but he was standing in the center of the room. There was just something about the way Rick carried himself that made him a natural authority figure. Everyone became quiet and looked to Rick for news. He waited until he was certain that he had everyone's full attention before talking.

"First off; I'd like to welcome our new friends form Woodbury. I know that there has been a lot of misinformation given to yall about us; but I'm certain that you'll find us to be very friendly and accommodating. If you need anything; please feel free to ask. Now; having said that, I have a more serious matter at hand. As a group, we have collectively decided not to keep secrets from one another. Secrets get folks killed or hurt, and we need to be a united front. Hershel brought it to my attention that there was a positive pregnancy test found in the trash. I appreciate that everyone has a right to privacy, but that is just too big of a risk to take. I need to know who this test was for so we can get you proper medical attention and so we can get supplies to assist you. No one is here to judge, we just want to help. So I'm asking that you come forward now."

Andrea felt her eyes widen, she dared a sideways glace at Beth. The color was drained from her face and she was chewing on her bottom lip. Andrea closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That poor girl probably didn't have time to tell her dad or Merle. She had a lot of respect for Rick, but this was not the way for Beth's family to find out about her condition. Every big sister instinct in her kicked in and she found herself standing up. Suddenly; everyone was staring at her. She was really terrified and swallowed before she spoke. "I'm really sorry; I didn't mean to hide anything I just wanted to get my head around it first. Rick, the test belongs to me."

Karen stared at her with a look of horror painted on her face. "You're pregnant with Philips baby?"

Andrea felt her stomach drop. She could tell by the look on everyone else's face that would isolate her from her old group as well as the people of Woodbury. She started to talk and hoped to God she would come up with something; she was a lawyer for God's sake.

"Uh...actually no. You see I figured out who Phillip really was and we ended our relationship. I did however meet someone who was brilliant and like minded. We worked together to try and exposed Phillip; but in the process we became lovers. Phillip found out about us and tired to kill us both. That's why Milton was in the cellar with me."

Milton's hands were balled into fists and he stared intently at the table. Andrea placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled as he looked up at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Milton, darling...I'm sorry your finding out this way but; I'm having your baby."

Milton shot a quick glance to Beth and then raised his hands in a semi shrug. "What can I say; I'm speechless."

Everyone look at them with suspicion. They did make an odd couple and she was about to choke on the silence that had settled over the room. Carl jumped up and hugged her. "Congratulation honey; and welcome home!"

Andrea was never more thankful for the grace and tact of her friend. Soon, everyone was stopping by to wish them well. Andrea had to laugh as Milton looked like he might crawl out of his skin to escape this attention. She was grateful that he was going along with the charade for now. Beth walked past her and mouthed a thank you. She would have a discussion with Beth later, at least it bought her time.

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Merle came to see her late that evening. She was scribbling on a scrap piece of paper when he entered.

"Hey, I've been waiting for you all night."

Merle gave her his classic smirk "Good things come to those that wait darling."

She rolled her eyes. "Yea yea. Come sit with me."

He sat next to her on the cot. "So Blondie and Poindexter and have a baby. That I did not see coming."

Beth smiled. "About that; I have a question, and I need you to be totally honest."

Merle simply nodded.

"I know that I love you. I need to know, do you love me too? If you don't I'll be disappointed, but I would understand. When all this started, I just wanted to know about sex, but it became much more than that to me. You were honest and you never promised me anything, so what I need is the complete truth. I promise I can take it no matter what."

She looked up at him with those impossibly blue eyes. He held her gaze for what felt like forever as he contemplated how to answer her question. Merle was not accustomed to love in his life. He wasn't even sure he understood what love is. He took a long slow breath. "Darling, to be honest I'm not sure I know what it is to love someone. I do know that there is nothing I won't do to make you happy. I know you make me a better man. I know I want you in my life. If that means that I love you...then yes...I love you."

Beth smiled the most brilliant and beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Well then, I should show you what I've been working on." She turned over the paper in her lap and reveled two list of names. One labeled boy and one labeled girl.

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The next day was fairly uneventful. Andrea had almost forgotten about the events of last night until Rick pulled her aside. He showed her to a slightly larger cell. This one was most likely for minimum security prisoners and had held four bunks. They had removed the bunks and placed two of the cots together to make one larger bed. Milton was sitting in a chair and scribbling into his note book. She looked around but was still confused. "What is all this?"

Rick smiled. "Well, since you in the family way; we figured that you would want to bunk together. This is a larger room so we can fit a crib in here. What do you think?"

Andrea smiled at Rick, he was ever the gentleman. "It's great Rick, I can't thank you enough. Isn't it great honey?"

Milton was still writing, but he glanced at her for a moment. "Um...yea...its great doll face."

Rick smiled at them and excused himself. Andrea stood in the doorway with her eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Doll face?"

Milton stopped writing for a moment. "Well Andrea you'll have to excuse me; I'm not as adept a liar as you are. Beside that was the second thing that came to my mind. However; I thought you might take offence if I referred to you as 'boo boo kitty fuck'."

Andrea laughed a long, deep, honest from the gut laugh. She wiped a tear from her eye as she tried to remember the last time someone made her laugh that hard. After taking a moment to catch her breath she shook her head in Milton's direction and placed a hand on her hip. "You know Milton; I never would have pegged you as a Kevin Smith fan."

Milton looked at her over the top of his glasses, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Andrea I would imagine that there are a number of things about me that would surprise you."

Andrea caught her breath and felt her face flush. She smiled and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear while walking out the doorway. As she walked down the hallway, she contemplated what surprised her more. The fact that Milton had just flirted with her; or how much she had enjoyed it.

AN: So sorry for the delay, but I had some major family medical issues. Everyone is good now, but it definitely cut into my free time. I had planned on writing a longer chapter, but decided to post a short one to say thanks for hanging with me. I love all the support! Please Review! I really want to know what you guys think about how this is going and if you think I'm keeping Milton and Andrea in charter. Reviews are love and all fan fic writers are review whores (don't lie...you know you are!)