A/N: So, a while back I had promised that I would write an alternate ending to this story and here it is. There will be another and final part to this ending and I will try to get it posted as soon as I can.

Until then, Please leave me a review and enjoy the story.


Little Sweet Cigars

Chapter 29

What Might Have Been

Part I

Beth-

I had been lucky and I had been foolish.

I shouldn't have taken those steps towards Dawn. I shouldn't have pulled out those scissors. There's really too many things I shouldn't have done and too many things I should have done differently.

When I woke up in Grady and they told me I had lost the baby, I thought that was the end. I thought I was gone and would never be able to find myself again but somewhere along the way I managed to do just that.

Dr. Edwards and several others had told me how they found me in the parking lot of the hospital and how they assumed my family had just left me there.

I was angry at first but then they told me about Daryl. They told me how he shot Dawn and carried me out. Of course that wasn't what I wanted. I had wanted to put an end to Dawn's reign and let those at Grady see the truth and find their own way while I could walk away from it and join my family wherever we would call home.

I believed Daryl and I could raise Wyatt and our baby together. I believed we could be together again but no matter how much I believed that, I knew it wouldn't be easy. We would have to work really hard at keepin' things together. Not just keep ourselves alive but to really keep things together as a family.

"You've come a long way, Beth. If you were to find your family now, if you were to find Daryl now, would you still try to work things out?"

I would but only if they would have me.

"Only if they would have you?"

It wasn't just Daryl I let down. I let down my whole family. I wanted to show them I was stronger than they thought I was, that I wasn't a scared little girl anymore. I wanted them to see me as Beth, a woman, a mother, a fighter. But when it happened, I know I was nothin' more than a foolish girl to them. I know Maggie probably thought I had done it on purpose, that I had tried to end my life but that wasn't true. That wasn't what I wanted. I'm sure they wouldn't want me back after everythin' I've done.

"I'm going to turn off the camera now so we can talk," she said as she hit the button. "Now Beth, you talk as if you have lost your family for good but surely you don't believe that's true or you wouldn't have come all this way."

It doesn't matter if I believe it's true or not. Even if I never find them, maybe I can find where they have been. Maybe I can find out who they have become since I lost them.

"Other than that, wanting to find them or where they have been, what made you come all this way by yourself?"

I've had hope. That's somethin' I've always had even when I know I shouldn't. I had to hope and believe they would make it because they are survivors.

"Okay. I think we are done for now. If you would like, I can show you where you will be staying temporarily and then I'll take you to get a few supplies or I can show you around first."


"These people, your family, you would know them if you saw them?" she asked as we walked through the streets of Alexandria.

"I could never forget them. Why do you ask?"

"Aaron, the scout that brought you here, he found a group of survivors holed up in a barn a few months ago. The names you have told me, are the same names they had given us."

"My family…my family is here?"

"Yes," she nodded. "After everything you have told me, I believe they are."

"Can I see them?"

"Of course you can. I wouldn't dream of keeping you from them or them from you but not all of them are here at the moment. Several of them went to another community to discuss a trade deal and a few others went scouting for more survivors."

"Who's here? I would like to see whoever is here."

She smiled and said, "Come with me and I'll take you to them."

We walked a few streets over from where we had been and right up the front steps of a house.

I stood behind Deanna as she knocked on the door. That was a strange thing to see in this world but it served as one more thing that proved to me there were still good people.

"Beth!" Carl shrieked and barreled into me.

I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. He was the one from my family I had seen and I didn't want to let go. I knew when the time came and I was finally able to see the rest of them, I wouldn't want to let any of them go and I sure as hell wouldn't.

He pulled away from me when we heard footsteps gettin' closer.

"Carl, who's…..," Carol stopped and gasped. "Beth. Is that really you?"

Before I could say anythin' to her, Carl had grabbed my hand and was pullin' me inside, tellin' me there was someone I had to see.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I hit my knees when we entered the livin' room.

There on the floor, lookin' happier than ever and playin' with blocks, was Wyatt and Judith.

Wyatt waved his arms as he tried to stand up and Judith tried her best to do as he had done.

"Mama," he cooed as he toddled towards me.

"Daryl worked with him every chance he could to get him to walk on his own," Carol informed me.

Deanna reached down and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'll leave you to this but when you're ready to see where you'll be staying, come back to my place and I'll be happy to show it to you."

"That won't be necessary," Carol said. "She's our family."

"Yeah, she's stayin' here with us," Carl said.