The day felt like a blur as Matt and Annie took the lead in welcoming Negan, Alexandra and Sarah to the community. The people in the small town gushed over Lucy and as much as Negan wanted to blend in for his family's sake he couldn't embrace their enthusiasm. It was all too surreal.

"Here's a dining hall kind of place," Matt said, pointing to a brick building. "Don't piss off the lunch ladies," he began to chuckle but took a deep breath when Negan didn't humor him. "We've been breeding livestock... cows, pigs, chickens... Sometimes we use the meat but we get unlimited eggs and milk. We have a lot now."

"John's the butcher when we decide to... ya know." Annie shrugged. "Someone's got to do it when we need the meat."

"We have enough pigs and stuff now," Matt went on. "But we do it humanely." He took them inside another building, "Kids take classes here."

Sarah eyes a short few rows of desks and then a chalkboard that was full of eraser marks. "Old school," she said quietly.

"Not very big but it works," Annie went on. "I was a second grade teacher before all this so I've taken on some of the teaching responsibilities."

"That's nice," Alexandra said honestly with a smile.

"There's a library too," Matt explained. "Nothing special."

"Annie!" A female voice shouted.

They all looked as a heavy-set woman in her thirties carried a young boy with brown hair.

"Mom!" was his only call.

Annie's face lit up. "This is our son Christopher." She grinned and hurried to greet the woman and the young boy.

Matt shared her enthusiasm when greeting their son and then introduced the other woman as Annie's sister Sharon.

"I hope you all can feel comfortable here," Matt told them taking a leaping Christopher into his arms. "If I didn't think this would work then I wouldn't have approached you guys." He glanced at his son. "It's not my best interest I have in mind, it's his."

Alexandra looped her arm through Negan's. "He's adorable. Two years old?"

"Yeah," he and Annie said at the same time.

"And how old is yours?" Sharon asked.

"A couple months," Negan replied. He glanced at Lucy a moment and then back to Matt.

"Why don't you guys take it easy the rest of the night," he suggested. "We even left a stack of DVDs in the house. I know it's been a long day... and a long road; but you can relax now."

"And help yourself to food in the dining hall tomorrow morning whenever you get up," Annie added. She smiled.

"Thank you," Alexandra said with a polite nod.

"Yeah, thanks." Negan couldn't loosen up the way Alexandra had but he was trying to give the place a chance.

"You know how to get back to the house?" Matt asked.

"We'll be fine," Negan assured him with a nod.

"We're four house down," Annie added, "If you need anything at all."

"Thank you so much," Alexandra repeated. She felt Negan already pulling her away toward their home and could see he wasn't as sold the way she was despite the positive vibes.

When they got a good one hundred yards away Alexandra looked at him. "What do you think?"

"Seems too fuckin' good to be true, no?"

"Same type of set up as The Sanctuary... right?"

"Got to be a dirty secret somewhere." He looked over his shoulder to see Matt and Annie walking on either side of Christopher with their hands interlocked with his.

"Not necessarily." Alexandra followed his gaze. "That's their son. They wouldn't put him in danger."

"We don't fuckin' know them."

"She's his mother Negan..." Alexandra raised her eyebrows.

He sighed and motioned to the front door as they approached the house to allow her and Sarah in first.

"I'm tired," Sarah confessed and plopped down on a dark brown sofa.

"Go take one of the rooms," Alexandra urged.

"Not the biggest fucking one," Negan demanded, gaining an eye roll from the pre-teen before she took the set of five or six stairs to the second floor of the split-level.

"All of our stuff is in here," Alexandra pointed out, "What now?"

He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I don't want to sleep but... shit I'm fuckin' running on fumes over here."

Alexandra glanced out the window as the world began to grow darker. A boy on a bicycle made her smile as he rode by. "Would you trust my instinct if I said I honestly think we're okay? We can investigate and ask a ton of questions in the morning."

Lucy began to cry as Alexandra shifted and Negan reached for her. "Come to your daddy since Mama can't keep you happy." He flashed a passing grin and Alexandra shook her head with a smile.

"Let's go make ourselves at home." She tugged on his sleeve, "Come on."

Negan wandered over and closed the shades and clicked on a single light that provided some lingering light on the lower level. He then followed Alexandra up to a room that Sarah hadn't taken and sat down on the edge with Lucy still crying in his arms.

"What do you think kiddo?" He asked quietly, bobbing her up and down while running a hand over her hair. "We fuckin' safe here?"

Alexandra smile and snickered before changing into a pair of hospital scrubs and then plopped down exhausted on the bed. "That might be her first word."

"Which word?" Negan joked with a laugh. He looked over his shoulder and winked at Alexandra. A moment later Lucy calmed down and Negan rose to his feet, soothing her to the best of his ability before setting her down in a crib that had already been laid out complete with yellow blankets with ducks printed across them. "They had everything ready for us huh?" He set Lucy down gently and stared at her with his hands on the railing.

Alexandra laid with her eyes closed for a moment. "Yeah... you think Sarah's alright in the next room?"

"She's fine." Negan took a deep breath and then turned. He removed his shoes and shirt, and then joined her on the bed, rolling onto his stomach and laid his head down on Alexandra's stomach. "I don't want to fuckin' just fall asleep but I don't think I can physically stay awake."

She began to run her hand over his head and smiled when his eyes closed and his arm draped over her. "Let's try to trust them."

"That's how you fuckin' die." He sighed.

"I trusted you when you saved me," she reminded him.

"Mmm... you had no fuckin' choice."

"Neither do we really." Alexandra continued to rub across his head and then down his back. "Plus me trusting you worked out pretty well, right?"

Negan let out a deep breath against her and hugged himself tighter against her. "Yeah."

She relaxed into the pillow and closed her eyes, feeling Negan's breathing steady out. Alexandra glanced down at him as he laid against her. She would be more than happy to tell the world of how much she needed Negan, but knew he wasn't the type to do something like that. Still, in that moment she could see how much he needed her. Each time Alexandra acknowledged that it brought out the deep fear in her heart of losing him, or any member of their small, unorthodox family.

Alexandra took a deep breath and continued to run her hand through Negan's hair as he slept. She took in their new surroundings - the neatly put together room, the television, the DVDs, the bedside lamps and the neighborhood of people that surrounded them. As much as she tried not to get her hopes up, she knew if The Manor was indeed what it appeared that they were set up for something great. In her heart she felt that things would work out for them there, and the new beginning could be the start of a new forever.