I know many of you want me to follow Carl and what happens with Negan, but this story was never supposed to be about that. I just wanted to give Carl a way of getting rid of Negan without being stupid about it. I plan on staying in the mountains with Daryl, Beth and their new family. I am very sorry if I have disappointed some of you. I am thinking this story will be about 40 chapters. Definitely my epic.

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Chapter Thirty-five. Return.

Beth was lying on her stomach on their bed, propped up on her elbows, and Daryl was behind her, straddling her thighs, angling her hips a little so he could easily slide into her. And when he did and she felt him part her and fill her, the breath caught in Beth's throat and a soft gasp escaped. Daryl's lips brushed across her shoulder blades and she felt his exhales of breath against the back of her head, rustling her hair.

He started out slow, thrusting gently into her, his hands holding her butt cheeks apart as he dove into her over and over again, slowly gaining speed, and Beth's fingers curled around the sides of the pillow, needing to hold onto it as she moaned a bit louder.

Beth had no idea if the others knew that she and Daryl had talked about having another baby. Neither of them had mentioned it to any of them; not feeling a need to unless they did become pregnant and there was something then to talk about.

But after breakfast, Beth had said that she was going to strip the beds in the tree-house so she could wash the sheets down at the creek and Daryl said that he would help and maybe they saw the way Daryl was looking at her or the way Beth's cheeks flushed and maybe they had all been together for so long, there was no keeping secrets. Maybe they knew they wanted another baby or maybe they just thought that Daryl and Beth wanted some early morning delight. So when Eli said that he would help, too, Rosita had swiftly swooped in and said it was time to start the kids' lessons for the day.

Beth admitted that she was honestly surprised when Daryl had agreed to try for another baby. And she admitted that she was honestly terrified and yet, having another baby – at least trying for one – just felt right to her and maybe it felt right to, Daryl, too. Beth knew that he loved her more than anything so maybe he was just going along with this because he knew that it was what she wanted.

She thought of their little Ruby. She'd be about six-months old right now and Beth sometimes liked to imagine what she would look like. She liked to imagine that like Eli, she would be a mini-Daryl and she would be a happy baby and they would all smile as she let out her babyish little giggles at everything. She would have made everyone so happy just because she was a baby in this new world and no matter how hard it was to have a baby now, it was still a miracle and a way to show that the world kept turning and that they were doing more than surviving. They were living.

She wanted another baby for all of those reasons, but she wanted another baby because ever since she lost Ruby, she had felt this emptiness and ache inside of her that couldn't seem to be quenched. And she loved Eli more than her own life. Eli was her first baby, her pride and joy, but when Ruby died, it felt as if something had died inside of Beth right along with her baby girl and she didn't know how to get it back.

"Fuck, Beth," Daryl grunted in her ear as he began picking up speed and Beth bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. "Does it feel good, Beth?" He asked and she frantically nodded her head.

Holy shit, did it feel good.

Daryl slid a hand down the side of her body and slipped it between her and the bed so he could begin rubbing gentle circles on her clit. And when he did that, Beth's hips bucked up and she moaned loudly as Daryl began moving even faster.

She white-knuckled the pillow and came with a cry of his name, her body trembling and clenching around his and within a dozen more thrusts, Daryl came deep inside of her, his own body shaking as he emptied himself and she squeezed around him, making sure that not a single drop was wasted.

Daryl bent over, his breath heavy and panting against her back, and he kissed the side of her throat – wet and open-mouthed – before he slipped from her, Beth whimpering as she always did when he did because she always just felt so empty, and collapsed next to her. Still on her stomach, she slid her arms beneath her pillow and turned her head towards him, watching as he laid there, taking a moment to catch his breath. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned his own head to look at her and she gave him a little smile.

"Wha'?" He asked.

Beth shook her head and kept smiling a soft smile. "I'm really happy," she told him.

"Yeah?" Daryl asked as if he had been expecting her to be something else. She smiled and nodded again. "Good," he then said.

"And are you?" She found herself having to ask him in return because sometimes – and she will never admit it to him – but sometimes, she worried about it.

Sometimes, she wondered how it would have been if they had escaped the prison and hadn't stopped to lay down a little bit of roots and had kept looking for their family instead. Did he sometimes regret that? Especially now that they knew about the pain and suffering that they had been going through without them for all of these years? They had a good life here – as good as a life can be nowadays – but she remembered how angry and guilt-ridden Daryl used to be all of the time and sometimes, even after all of this time and after everything they had been through together, Beth worried that maybe she had forced him into all of these things.

"You think I'm not?" Daryl asked her, breaking through her thoughts.

Beth shook her head slightly and rested it down on the pillow, still keeping her eyes on him. "I sometimes worry," she admitted to him, feeling embarrassed now that she had said the words out loud.

Daryl looked at her as if she was crazy because haven't they had this conversation before? How could she not know that he was happy? How could she not know that this was the happiest he had ever been in his miserable life and before running off with her as the prison burned behind them, he never thought this kind of happiness – especially for a guy like him – was possible?

Beth was the mother of his kid – hopefully, kids – and she was his wife. But more than that, Beth was his partner in every definition of the word. Without her, he would have been dead a long time ago. This, all of this that they had now, it was because of her. She pushed him to do better, to want more, and she did everything she could to show him that it was alright to want more. Not just for her and Eli and the rest of their family here with them, but for himself, too.

Was Daryl happy? He was pretty sure a word hadn't been invented in the English language that would explain just how happy he was.

He rolled towards her then and his arm slipped over the dip of her hip, winding around her lower back, bringing her body flat against his. "You've gone and lost your damn mind, girl," he told her in a gruff, low voice and Beth let out a soft laugh. He leaned in, his nose brushing affectionately against her cheek, near the corner of her mouth. "You're my whole life, Beth," he then whispered to her.

Beth's fingers weaved through his hair and she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. It still amazed her how this man could make her heart flutter even after all of these years together and going through everything they had through together.

Her mind wandered to her mom and daddy for a moment and she wondered if Annette Greene's heart had still fluttered when Hershel had done or said something sweet or if after being married for nearly seventeen years, that had worn off. Beth couldn't imagine – didn't want to imagine – not getting a fluttering heart around Daryl.

"I want a baby girl," Beth said then, switching the subject.

"Damn, woman," he gave her a frown he didn't mean. "I'm not a machine. Gotta give me a minute to catch my breath."

Beth laughed and shook her head before kissing him again. "I didn't mean right this second," she said, still laughing. "I just meant… in general. I want a baby girl."

"Me, too," Daryl admitted. "I mean, I wanna a healthy kid with ten fingers and ten toes and I'd love a lil' boy just as much, but yeah... a lil' girl."

"It was hard with Bee," Beth felt the need to remind him.

So hard because Eli and Aiden had had baby clothes, but by the time Bee had come around, everything had been too worn and frayed for her to wear so they had to find her more things and it really did sometimes feel as if there was nothing left in the world for them to find and take.

Daryl pressed his lips to between her eyebrows. "We'll figure it out if we have to."

We always do, he added those words silently, but they were a given and they hung in the air between them as if he had indeed spoken them.

"I really like the name Lucy," Beth then said, closing her eyes as his lips remained resting against her forehead and in this position, she felt him immediately stiffen.

"Wha'?" He asked after a pregnant pause and his voice sounded as if he had just lost it; hoarse and rough in the back of his throat.

Beth pulled her head back so she could look into his face. "If we have a girl, I was thinking that Lucy Dixon would be a good name. We can think of others, of course. We don't have to use Lucy at all. I just like how it sounds."

Daryl was staring at her and he was going pale. She quickly sat up and her hands went to his cheeks, wondering what was wrong with him all of a sudden and her mind scrambling for what herbs she could give him right now.

"Daryl-" she began to say, beginning to feel frantic.

"Lucy was my ma's name," he then said and that instantly explained his reaction to it. "Her middle name. I…" whatever he was going to say died in his throat though.

"I didn't know," Beth whispered, her hands slowly slipping down from his cheeks to his chest. She knew the woman's first name had been Donna, but nothing other than that. She had had absolutely no idea that Lucy had had any connection for Daryl. "We won't use it. Of course we won't use it. We'll think of something else. When I was pregnant with Eli, I had thought of Cecily for a girl."

She was speaking quickly right now, she knew, but she wanted to quickly veer him away from the memories that she had inadvertently let flood into his mind.

She didn't know much about Daryl's childhood – even after all of these years, he wouldn't say much, but she knew the scars on his back said more than enough – but what she did know was this. While his dad had been a horrible man – drunk and mean and who beat Daryl nearly every day of his young life, Donna Dixon hadn't been that much better. A drunk as well who forgot that she had a young son most days – too caught up in her own alcohol and sadness to pay any attention.

"Cecily Dixon is perfect. Or maybe Cecilia," Beth said. "Don't you think?"

Daryl visibly swallowed and he looked up at her for a long moment. "Yeah," he nodded and swallowed again. "I like either of those a lot more," he said and she smiled faintly, leaning back down and kissing him.

Daryl sat up then and his hands slid onto her cheeks, holding onto her face, as he kissed her again. And again, his mouth slanting over hers. But before he could lower her back onto her back on the bed – which was clearly where these kisses were leading – they heard one of their wolves bark. And then the other. Barking and howling and making such a racket, Daryl flew from the bed, still naked, and went to the window that overlooked their yard to see what had their attention. Spencer and Aaron were both trying to get them to quiet down, but Lily and Buck were still wolves – no matter how domesticated they might have seemed to be – and no one was stupid enough to put any limb too close to them when they were acting like the wild animals they still were.

Spencer opened the gate to let them run out and Daryl hurriedly began dressing himself. Maybe it was a walker. Or a bunch of walkers. Maybe the wolves were about to bring a damn herd down on their heads.

Beth hurried out of bed, too, and they were both dressed again in a matter of minutes before Daryl grabbed his crossbow and was flying down the ladder and then the steps with Beth right on his heels.

Spencer and Aaron had run out after Lily and Buck and Daryl ran after them, Beth quickly closing the gate behind them so the yard would stay protected and then hurried towards the cabin to make sure everyone else was alright.

As Daryl ran, that was when he heard it. A third howl. Another wolf, answering the calls of Lily and Buck. Was that… Did that mean…

Daryl didn't allow that line of thinking to continue because if it turned out not to be true, he would be hit with just how damn much he – and all of them – missed her and they had done so good all summer, not letting themselves linger on those kinds of thoughts too often.

But then, he ran over one of the hills and saw Spencer and Aaron at the bottom of it, both hugging someone – someone with a head of blonde as her head was buried between the chests of the two men – and Daryl saw the third wolf, Spitz, and Lily and Buck greeting him. There was also a man standing a couple feet away, keeping his distance as he watched the reunion, but Daryl didn't think about him. Not right this second. Right this second, he only saw – and could only think about – Anna.

Anna had come home.

He nearly slid down the entire side of the hill to get to them as quickly as he could.

"Daryl!" Anna saw him coming and Spencer and Aaron let her go so Anna could go running towards Daryl. The force of her body crashing into his knocked him back a step, but he held his ground and he dropped his crossbow to the ground so he could wrap both arms around her and hug her.

"Holy shit," Daryl breathed and Anna laughed and Christ, that sound. He had been listening to this girl laugh since she was six and he was just now hit with how much he had missed the sound.

She had only been gone for a few months – a little over three – but now that she was back, Daryl realized how much of an eternity it had been.

"Wasn't expecting me today, huh?" Anna teased him as she stepped from their hug.

"Wasn' expectin' you anytime soon," he admitted, stooping down to pick up his crossbow and then Spitz was there, nudging his hand, expecting a greeting, too. Daryl smiled as he gave the wolf a good rub behind his ears. "Hey, boy. You take care of her for us?" He asked and the wolf's tail was waving back and forth so quickly, it looked just like a grey streak through the air.

"You told me to get home by fall," Anna reminded him. "I figured Beth's been canning for a couple of weeks now and the sheep will have to get their summer coats sheered and each morning is feeling cooler than the last."

"I think you've gotten taller," Aaron smiled and Anna rolled her eyes, but hugged Aaron again, the man squeezing her and kissing her on the head.

"We've brought a lot of stuff back with us," Anna said, smiling at Daryl.

Daryl took the opening. "We?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Anna's smile didn't falter as she turned and left the three men to go to the fourth, who was still standing away from them, looking uncertain and a little nervous. Anna smiled up at him and whispered something and then taking his hand, she turned back to Daryl, Spencer and Aaron.

"This is Matt."

Daryl, Spencer and Aaron all stared at the man and didn't say anything.

"I've brought him back so he could live with us," she said.

"With you, you mean," Spencer said and for a rare time, the man was serious, his face without a smile and his arms were crossed over his chest.

Anna blushed, but she didn't let go of Matt's hand. "Yes," she answered without denying it; seeing no point in doing such a thing.

"What? You bring back the first guy you find?" Daryl said before he could stop himself and damn it, this was not how the reunion was supposed to go when Anna finally got back home, but how did she think it would be when she brought some strange guy back with her?

Anna didn't say anything. She just glared at all three men and then gripping Matt's hand, she tugged him forward. "I'm going to go see the others," she told them in a voice as cold as ice.

Daryl, Spencer and Aaron were all smart enough to look at least a little guilty.

…

Matt smiled a little as the three children were so eager with Anna being back, they all tackled her down on the ground, hugging her, and they were shouting, all talking over each other, wanting her attention, and Anna was laughing, hugging and kissing all of them.

And then he watched as Rosita and Beth hugged her, much like Spencer and Aaron had; all together and tears were flowing freely as the three women clung onto one another, looking as if they would never let her go.

"This is Matt," Anna introduced him for the second time. "This is Beth and Rosita. Aiden, Eli and Bee."

This time, Matt was able to find his voice. "Hello," he managed to say.

At least Rosita and Beth weren't glaring daggers at him, and clearly wishing for his death, and the kids were looking at him with open curiosity.

"Hi, Matt," Rosita said after a moment, stepping forward and offering him her hand, and Matt was more than happy to shake it.

"Nice to meet you all," Matt said and Beth smiled warmly at him.

"You both must be starving," she said and Matt found himself being ushered through the back door into the kitchen of the cabin.

He followed Anna's lead and took off his pack from his back and sat down in the chair next to Anna, not wanting to leave her side. He wasn't welcome here – that was obvious – and he wasn't going to cause a rift between Anna and her family. They would probably sit her down and explain to her that he couldn't stay and Matt knew that he probably wouldn't put up a fight. He didn't belong here. Anna might have been the one to find him at the mine, but ever since that first morning, he felt like he had been the one just tagging along. This girl had taken pity on his ignorant ass and made sure he stayed alive.

He knew Anna liked him and hell. He liked her, too. Really liked her, but that didn't mean that he wasn't in his late twenties and she was only sixteen. What the hell did that say about him where he was able to feel himself be attracted to a girl her age?

Her family would say all of this to her and Matt wouldn't be able to disagree. Beth would probably feed him and then they would send him on his way.

He expected it.

He watched as Beth stirred something in a pot on the stove. There were bushels of flowers and plants hanging from the rafters, drying out, and there were empty glass jars on the table, ready to be filled with something, and jars of cooking supplies – spices and flours – lined the shelf next to the window. The whole cabin smelled of a mixture of cinnamon, wood, and mint and home.

"Matt and me were able to find stuff to bring back," Anna was saying, standing up to place her own pack onto the table. "And there's even more out there, but we didn't have enough arms to get it all."

"We'll get back out there," Rosita said. "We'll take the kids' wagon though. We haven't taken Blackie out in months."

"How is he?" Anna asked as she began pulling things from her pack.

"Slow. We just have him out in the yard so he can graze around and help keep the grass short," Beth said and Anna nodded sadly, not saying anything to that.

Matt wished that he could look into her eyes and figure out what she was thinking.

She cleared her throat then as if clearing her mind. "Um, Beth this is for you."

She pulled out the boxes of sugar and salt packets and a bottle of vegetable oil they had found. Beth gasped when she saw it all and hugged Anna tightly before looking over the finds with eagerness.

"There's flour and more oil from a diner we found," Anna told them. "That's one of the places we want to go back to." She reached into her pack and pulled out a bolt of fabric. "Rosita," she said and Rosita looked at the black fabric, slowly running her hand over it as if almost too afraid to touch it. Without a word, Rosita wrapped her up into a tight hug. "We have things for Daryl, Spencer and Aaron, too."

"And us?" Aiden almost demanded.

"Aiden," Rosita frowned at him and Aiden instantly looked sheepish.

Matt stood up without a word and put his own pack onto the table next to Anna's.

"Anna said you might like these. Don't know if all of the pieces are in there, but you could still have fun with it," Matt said as he pulled out a small tin can of Lincoln Logs and handed them to the eldest boy, who looked at them curiously, having never seen such a thing before.

"Oh god, your dad is going to love those, too," Rosita almost laughed.

"And, uh, this is for Eli," Matt said and pulled out a Nerf gun next. "We were only able to find one ball for it though."

Beth smiled as her son eagerly took his new toy, looking it over, recognizing the shape of the gun, but not knowing what this one would do. "Here, baby," she offered. She showed him where to push the ball in and then she pulled back the "trigger" and then, pointing towards the open back door, she fired and Eli gasped as the ball went sailing. "Watch out. We're all target practice now," she smiled at them as Eli went running outside to get the ball back.

"And for Bee," Matt finished, reaching into his pack one last time, feeling a little like Santa Claus right now. Toys had been the easiest thing to find in whatever house he and Anna stumbled upon. No one was looking for toys anymore. "She's a little dirty so she'll have to be washed-"

"She's perfect!" Bee exclaimed the instant she held the doll in her arms. "Thank you!"

Matt wasn't too sure what to do when Bee suddenly rushed forward to hug his leg and he looked to Anna for a little help, but Anna was just watching with a smile.

For lunch, Beth had baked a loaf of lavender bread, had made a bowl of goat cheese with dill, and a light chicory soup that Matt swore he could taste a hint of ginger cooked into it, too. She also made blueberry juice, sprinkling cinnamon over the top of each before serving each at the table a glass. The three men – Daryl, Aaron and Spencer – were all back now, eating lunch – and Matt was well aware of all of them watching him as he did his best to eat his food without resembling too much of a wild animal, but holy shit. There was bread and cheese. What was this magic place Anna had brought him back to?

"Where are you from originally?" Spencer asked, startling him.

Matt made sure he swallowed before answering. "DC," he answered.

"It the promised land everyone was thinkin' it was?" Daryl grunted.

That was one answer to one question Matt didn't even have to think about before giving. "No," was all he said, but it was more than enough for everyone at the table.

Daryl stared at the man sitting next to Anna. He noticed that he hadn't left her side since their arrival – not that Daryl could blame him. Even when Anna had gone to the outhouse, Matt had lingered just a few feet away. Daryl figured it was probably because he was nervous around all of these people he didn't know, in a strange place he had never seen before. But Daryl also remembered the way he and Beth were after the prison and how they had been one another's sole companions and hadn't liked to have one out of the other's sight for too long.

And Daryl supposed he could show a little understanding. After all, he was older than Beth and there were probably more years between them than there were between Matt and Anna. But there was one huge difference. He knew Beth when she was sixteen and had hardly looked at her then. At least when Beth first kissed him, she was of legal age. Daryl wasn't going to think about how technically, legal age didn't exist anymore. Daryl was going to think about how this was Anna and she was the daughter to all of them. They couldn't just let some older guy come in and be with her.

He knew that Anna had wanted love, but if she was in love with this guy, it was wrong and it wasn't going to happen. It was probably just a passing infatuation since she probably hadn't seen anyone else in the three months since she had been gone.

"This diner where you said there was more supplies," Aaron spoke. "Do you two remember where it is?"

"Yes," Anna said, handing Aiden another slice of bread as he reached over her in an attempt to get to the plate himself. "We took note of the road it was on so if we get Mulligan's old map, we can find it again."

"Good," Daryl spoke before anyone else could. "Tomorrow, me, Spencer and Aaron will go and Matt," The man's eyes jumped up to look at him. "You'll come with us."

…

Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to leave a review!

And thank you to rckyfrk for the line Daryl says about bringing back the first boy she meets.