*Just a quick note because I received a review I couldn't respond to because they were a guest - Beth and Patrick were never married in this story. I wanted to address that in case there was some confusion. And yes, Patrick's name would be on the birth certificate but Daryl adopting George was not in my plans. Thank you for the review!

…

Merle had needed to go to Aldi and Daryl was working on one of Kristy's sink that was lacking water pressure and since Kristy washed her client's hair in one of those sinks, it was obviously a bit of a deal. Instead of waiting for Daryl or making him feel like he had to hurry up, Merle was just planning on using Daryl's pickup truck. But there was a rule in the trailer park.

Well, not really a rule but more of a common courtesy so Merle did what he was supposed to do.

He went trailer to trailer, asking everyone if they needed something from Aldi.

Bridget, Mr. King and Rosita – with Coco – all wanted to come, too, and the pickup truck wasn't going to work anymore so they took Bridget's car – a piece of shit but it was still a car and got them to where they wanted to go.

"Here, Merle," Rosita said. "Can you hold her for a second?"

Merle didn't even have time to agree – or say hell no – before he found Coco in his arms as Rosita went to the trunk and helped Bridget gather all of their bags that they had brought with them. Merle was frowning at Rosita and then looked to the girl. He knew how to hold a baby – remembering from when Daryl was a baby and Merle would hold him – but that didn't mean that he wanted random babies just dropped into his arms. Coco was over a year old now and was cute as far as kids went, Merle supposed. She had black curly hair and the tan skin of both her mama and dad. She was sucking on her pacifier and looking at Merle with her big brown eyes – also from both her parents.

She suddenly broke into a smile but the sight made Merle frown.

"If you jus' took a shit, 'm givin' you back to your mama," he told the baby. Coco just kept smiling and he didn't smell anything but he still frowned.

Mr. King had already gone ahead to get a shopping cart and was waiting for them right inside. Bridget got another shopping cart and Merle gladly handed Coco back to Rosita. Merle looked to the cash registers and saw Beth sitting at one, smiling as she checked someone out. It didn't surprise him whatsoever that Beth was the kind of cashier who smiled so warmly at people. When she asked a customer how they were, she probably genuinely meant that, too.

Merle could admit that he liked Beth and could admit that he thought she was good for his brother. His little brother had always been quiet – a lot on the shy side – and he preferred keeping to himself despite Merle's constant efforts when they were both younger to pull him out of it. Daryl never did though and when he did some out with Merle and his friends, Merle knew it was to just shut him up about it.

But with Beth, and with George, Daryl smiled and even laughed. He spent as much time as he could with them and many nights, after George was asleep, Daryl and Beth would be sitting outside on her front steps, sometimes for an hour or two, just talking.

Merle normally didn't pay attention to things like that about people, but Hell. Even he could tell that his little brother was damn happy with the pretty blonde and her son who lived next door.

Daryl told him the story about Beth and her abusive asshole ex that she got herself and George away from and it didn't happen often to the people in Merle's life but when it came to Beth, she had Merle's respect. As he said when Daryl told him, a lot of women didn't walk out that door even when she saw it in front of her. And she sure as Hell didn't take her kid – or kids – and walk and walk to get them somewhere safe.

He sure as Hell didn't think about her anymore but he looked at Beth and thought how completely opposite she was of his and Daryl's mom. Maybe things would have turned out better if their mom had been more like Beth.

"I think Mr. King is in the witness protection program," Rosita said suddenly. She was pushing one of the carts – Bridget and Mr. King had gone ahead – and Merle found that he had stuck with Rosita and Coco.

Merle snorted at that, grabbing a few packages of different cookies and putting them into the cart next to where Coco was sitting. "Don't eat 'em," he pointed a finger at the baby, who just gurgled a giggle at him from behind her pacifier. If Merle loved one thing in this world, it was cookies. Any and all cookies. Whenever he was in jail and Daryl put money into his commissary account, Merle would almost always spend it on cookies. "Alrigh', I'll bite. Why do you think Mr. King is in the witness protection program?" He asked Rosita.

"What do you know about him?" She asked but then continued without an answer. "Do we even know his first name? Ms. Mackey is Ms. Mackey but we all know her first name is Hannah. What do we know about Mr. King? He said he's a widow but he never talks about his wife. We don't know her name either. We don't know what he did for work or how he ended up at the trailer park. All we know about him is that he eats just about anything if you deep fry it, he loves checkers, loves his guard dog and he watches the five o'clock news as religiously as the Leesman family go to church three times a week."

"You're out of your damn mind, girl," Merle smirked, stopping as Rosita stopped at the breads. He grabbed himself a bag of pretzels from across the aisle. "Some people jus' wants others to stay out of their business. Doesn' mean their hidin' a thing."

"But you can't tell me, with absolute certainty, that I'm wrong."

"Can't say you're right neither. Can call you crazy though." Merle grinned when Rosita hit him for that.

They moved through the store together. Daryl needed paper towels so Merle made sure to grab a pack and he waited as Rosita picked out jars of baby food. He wanted to ask why a doctor's fiancée shopped for their groceries at Aldi but Merle supposed there was nothing wrong with saving money, no matter who you were or what you did. He grabbed himself some cans of soups and boxes of pasta and Daryl had asked for a box of Aldi's version of Apple Jacks cereal. They also had pillows as one of their Aldi Finds and Merle grabbed himself a couple, needing them. Pillows in jail were so thin, it was like sleeping without one so when he could, Merle liked to buy himself actual pillows. It was weird, he knew, but he knew – firsthand – that there were worse things he could be buying.

Mr. King and Bridget were already in the checkout and when Rosita and Merle finished with their shopping, they got in line behind them.

"Hey, Mr. King," Merle grinned, leaning over the handle of the shopping cart. "What's your first name?"

Mr. King looked at him. "Why don't you guess?"

"Bob," Merle said the first name that popped into his head.

Mr. King smirked to himself. "Bob."

Merle noticed that Mr. King didn't tell him he was right or wrong. Rosita noticed it, too, because she gave Merle a look and Merle rolled his eyes at her.

"Hi!" Beth exclaimed happily when Bridget and Mr. King were next. She began scanning their items, quickly, dropping them into the waiting cart. "How is everyone today?"

"Annoying as always," Mr. King said as he pulled out a debit card.

"No, Bob. You didn't buy that much," Bridget began to protest, trying to – gently – push him aside, but for an older man, Mr. King was a statue and wouldn't be moved.

Beth gasped. "Bob? Is that your name?" She seemed excited about that.

"They seem to think so," Mr. King frowned at the other three.

Coco let out a squeal as she picked up a pack of Merle's cookies and dropped it again.

"Damn it, girl," Merle frowned, bending down and picking up every package of cookies, putting them safely on the conveyer belt.

Coco just giggled again, gripping the sides of the cart and trying to pull herself up. Instead, she fell down, landing against Merle's pillows. For a second, she seemed confused that she had fallen but then she felt the softness of the pillow again and the girl grabbed the cart again so she could pull herself to her feet; dropping herself down onto the pillow and splitting into laughter.

"Rosita, can you control that thing?" Merle asked, his frown remaining.

"You try controlling a one-year-old," Rosita replied as she began emptying the things from the cart onto the conveyer along with Merle's cookies.

With a heavy sigh, Merle bent down and lifted Coco up, holding her in one arm as he took the pillows and dumped them out with the other groceries. From her new height, Coco began looking around at everything; as if that was what she had wanted all along.

Mr. King paid for the groceries and he and Bridget pushed their cart away to start bagging and Beth brought up the next cart so she could begin scanning Rosita and Merle's things. She smiled as Merle came to stand in front of her with Coco still in his arm. Coco gave Beth a wide smile from behind her pacifier, it almost falling out as a result, and Merle quickly caught it before it could.

"You're very good with her," Beth noted.

"'m good with George, too, and you don't make a big deal 'bout it."

"Not in front of you," Beth smiled.

Merle just snorted and watched as Beth scanned everything and then looked to Rosita to see if she needed any more help emptying the cart. He pressed his body to the side so she could push the empty cart past him and continued watching the price of anything that Beth scanned.

"Merle," Rosita said from his side, holding out her hands, and he passed Coco back to her. Now in her mama's arms, Coco seemed to be quite exhausted from driving Merle nuts and she rested her head on Rosita's shoulder, ready for a nap.

Beth scanned the last item and she looked to the conveyer belt to make sure that she hadn't missed anything. But she did see something because Merle could actually see all color drain from her face and she went so still, Merle actually thought – for half a second – that her heart stopped beating right then and there and Merle would have to catch her dead body.

He looked at what she saw but all he was a guy, next in line, holding a single box of saltine crackers. He was tall with tanned skin that a guy got from working outside for hours and his hair was brown. He looked just like a guy; a normal guy.

Merle looked back to Beth. She was staring at this normal guy and she looked absolutely terrified. Her expression made Merle stiffen and stand himself at his full height. Was this the meth head asshole ex? Did he actually find Beth and George? Merle couldn't believe that the guy would care enough to find them; let alone actually even notice that they were gone in the first place.

"You need me to take care of 'im?" Merle asked, watching Beth, ready to take a cue from her.

He was surprised when Beth shook her head, actually hearing him. She still hadn't stopped looking at the guy and the guy was looking right back.

Merle looked to the guy again as well. Maybe this wasn't the meth head. George didn't look like him. He didn't look like his mama, except his eyes, so Merle just assumed that he looked like his dad – he had to get those black curls from somewhere. But George didn't look like guy either.

"When you get back home, can you tell Daryl that I need him?" Beth was finally able to speak. "My shift ends at three and I'm going to need a ride home."

"I'll tell 'im," Merle promised her. "I can take care of this guy, too, you know."

That made Beth smile at him but it wasn't one of her smiles that he was used to seeing. Instead, it didn't even reach her eyes and barely stayed across her face. "I don't doubt that you can, Merle, and thank you for offering. But you don't have to take care of him for me. That's my brother."

…

Beth would admit to no one that after she finished her shift and clocked out, she stopped in the employee bathroom and threw up.

Shawn was here. Why was Shawn here? This was just like when her mom had popped up. Who was next? Maggie or her dad? All just floating back into her life whenever they felt like it when they so easily cut her out of theirs? There's nothing fair about that. She and her mom had had a talk – and many more since – and Annette coming back into her – and George's – life has been slow going. Did Annette tell Shawn that or had Shawn shown up in Orson, expecting Beth to throw her arms around him in a hug, so happy to see him again? If he thought that for even one second, Shawn had another thing coming to him.

Her shift really ended at two but she told Merle to tell Daryl that it was at three because she would talk to Shawn. She might not move a single inch but she would talk to him. She had talked to her mom and she would talk to her brother. She wouldn't take him to her home though. Her mom had just showed up to her front door but Shawn had showed up at Aldi – Beth couldn't decide which she preferred – and at the moment, she didn't want her brother to see the inside of her home or see her son.

She couldn't explain it. Hershel and Annette turning their backs on her had been so awful and painful but when Shawn and Maggie did it, that had hurt on a completely different level. They were siblings. Brother and sisters and that relationship was unlike any other relationship in a family unit. Siblings stood up for one another; lied for one another, fought with one another and protected one another.

But when Hershel and Annette kicked Beth out of the house and told her she could never come back, Shawn and Maggie hadn't done a single thing; either to talk with their parents or to track Beth down. Her siblings had abandoned her like their parents and standing in the employee bathroom, thinking about it now, Beth looked in the mirror's reflection and nearly started crying.

Shawn said he would wait for her outside and stepping through the automatic exit doors, Beth saw that he was still there and he instantly turned to face her.

"There's a place just a few stores up. Arnie's. We can go there," Beth said and Shawn nodded quickly.

Without a word, Shawn led the way to his car and Beth followed. She was tempted to tell him that she was going to walk – taking a few more minutes to clear her mind and get her thoughts straight – but she got into the car anyway. Beth pointed which way to turn from the parking lot and as soon as Shawn did, he could see the sign for Arnie's ahead.

They still didn't speak and inside, one of the waitresses told them they could sit anywhere and Beth led them to a booth. It turned out to be the same booth she, Daryl and George had sat in that very first time that Daryl had taken them here.

"Can I please just get a Dr. Pepper?" Beth asked when the waitress came to their table.

Shawn had been looking at the menu and she knew that he probably wanted to eat something but hearing that Beth hadn't ordered anything, he gave a nod. "Me, too," he said.

"You could have gotten something," Beth then felt the need to tell him when the waitress left.

He shook his head. "Even if I got it down, I don't know if it would stay down."

Beth didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything. She was going to let Shawn take the lead on this one because she really had no idea what to say to him. With her mom, Beth wanted to tell her all about living in Birmingham and what being with Patrick had been like because her mom needed to hear those things, but with Shawn… had Annette told him all of that? Did he already know about the drugs and the abuse? She didn't doubt that he knew about George. Did her dad and Maggie know all of this too?

"I came with mom a couple of months ago when she first found you. She needed me to drive her and we wound up watching you for a couple of hours. You and trailer park were having some sort of cookout."

"And you didn't come back since then?" Beth asked. "Mom's been back a dozen times."

"I didn't know if I was ready to see you."

"Oh. Well, if you weren't ready," she snipped.

Immediately, she felt anger. What did Shawn have to be ready for? She was the one kicked out and abandoned by her family. She was the one who needed help and their love again when Patrick was hitting her and she was trying to figure out how to take care of a newborn and now, that hers and George's life was finally in a good place, her family decided that they were ready to have her in their life again?

In the words of so many of her new friends and family, fuck that.

"Beth," Shawn began, able to hear her anger; feel it from across the table.

"No, Shawn," she cut him off with a rapid shake of her head. "I was ready to see you almost five years ago. I needed to see you. I needed your help. I needed my big brother to come and be protective of me as you had been for my entire life but when mom and dad kicked me out, you just stood there and let them."

"Beth-"

"I'm so relieved that you're ready to have me in your life again."

"I didn't mean it like that," Shawn rapidly shook his head. "I meant that I had to mentally prepare myself for this." He waved his hand back and forth between them. "I knew you were going to be pissed and you have every single right in the world to be and I just had to get myself ready for that anger."

Beth stared at him. The waitress returned with their drinks and after making sure they didn't want anything else, she left again. Shawn ignored the straw and took a giant gulp. Beth unwrapped the paper around the straw and dunked it into her cup, taking a much smaller sip. Her heart was speeding.

She lifted her eyes when she saw someone else come into the restaurant and she seemed to take a deep breath when she was that it was Daryl. He stopped right inside the doors and his eyes met hers. He looked past her to Sawn before back at her. She wondered how he knew that she was here and she wondered what he was going to do. She realized that she didn't even know what she wanted him to do.

Daryl finally moved forward but instead of coming to their table, he sat himself down on a stool at the counter. Beth exhaled a breath again. He was there. He was letting her know that he was right there – if she needed him – but he was also going to give her and her brother a bit of time alone.

Beth knew that that was exactly what she needed.

She looked back to Shawn. He hadn't changed. A little older – obviously – but he hadn't changed. She wondered if he thought that she had. She had.

"Mom's told me about him," Shawn broke the silence. "She really likes him. She says he's a good guy."

For half a second, Beth thinks that he's talking about George but she realizes that Shawn had looked to Daryl and had recognized him. "Did Rick take pictures of him, too?" She wondered.

Shawn nodded, not elaborating. "Is he a good guy?"

"You don't get to act like a big brother anymore, Shawn. And yes, Daryl is a good guy."

Shawn gave a single nod, his eyes lowering to the table. "Good." He was quiet, obviously trying to think of something else to say.

Beth looked back to Daryl. He was talking to a waitress and it looked like he was ordering food. Beth didn't know why but that made her smile. She looked back to Shawn.

"Did mom tell dad and Maggie?" Beth asked.

Shawn lifted his eyes to her again as he gave another nod. "Mom's been coming here to see you and George so much, dad couldn't act like he didn't notice anymore. Mom told us all about you and George and everything you guys have been doing together."

Beth felt her stomach clench. She didn't want to ask and yet, she had to know. "What did they say?"

It was obvious though. Shawn was here alone – without her dad or sister. Obviously, whatever they had said, she still wasn't in their good graces. She thought on that for a moment but she honestly didn't even know what she should have been thinking. She had lived now so long without her family, if half of them still didn't want anything to do with her, she should have been alright with that.

A thought occurred to her as Shawn took another gulp of Dr. Pepper and obviously didn't want to answer.

"Did dad say something about George?" Beth asked and her body was already tense at just the idea of it.

Her dad was a church-going, old-fashioned man. He found out that a girl Beth went to high school with was pregnant when she was fifteen and some of the things Beth had heard her dad say, practically taking it upon himself to condemn the girl to Hell because of her "fornication", as Hershel put it, had been seared into Beth's head for months after.

If Beth had been braver, she would have reminded Hershel that Mary had been a teenage mom, too, when she gave birth to Jesus, but she hadn't been brave enough to ever say anything like that to her dad. The bravest thing she had ever done had been leaving with Patrick; the stupidest thing, too. And then, the bravest thing she did after that was leaving Patrick.

Shawn shifted in his seat. "Dad doesn't know what he's talking about half of the time and I told him that. And mom wasn't letting him get away with that and she told him that she wasn't going to stay in the house with him if he ever said anything bad about you or George again."

"Really?" Beth whispered.

"Really." Shawn held his cup with both hands. "I'm sorry, Beth. For everything. I can't tell you how sorry I am or tell you I'm sorry enough times. You needed me and I just let you disappear without ever trying…" He took a deep breath. "If you don't want to see me again after this, I get it and I'm not going to bulldoze my way back in your life but I had to see you so I could tell you that I'm sorry to your face."

Once again, Beth wasn't entirely sure what to say to that.

To be honest, she didn't know if she could accept Shawn's apology. Certainly not now. But he came and apparently, talked back to Hershel in the process. It wasn't much of anything but it was something.

"I don't want you to meet George," Beth said and she looked for a sign of disappointment on his face but Shawn just looked like he understood. "I don't know when I will want you to meet him. If ever. What mom and dad did was so awful but you and Maggie just let it happen and never stuck up for me or came after me or did anything. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that, Shawn. But…"

She looked to Daryl at the counter. His hotdog had arrived and he was squirting ketchup over his fries. He felt her eyes and he looked up to her. She gave him a small smile and then beckoned him with her hand. He seemed to ask, "You sure?" with his eyes and she gave the slightest nod.

"But you can meet Daryl." Beth scooted across the bench so Daryl could sit down next to her.

She had been brave because of her anger, but now, with Daryl with her, she felt brave because she had him there with her. Daryl always liked to remind her that she was strong and brave all on her own and maybe that was true but she always felt better when he was with her.

She knew that Daryl would protect her if she ever needed it – even against her brother – and if Shawn wanted to get in her good graces – and if he ever wanted to meet his nephew – he would have to get through Beth's boyfriend first and she already knew that Daryl wasn't going to be nearly as forgiving.

…

(If you've read my stories before, you know I've never been the biggest fan of Maggie.)

THANK YOU so much for reading and please take a moment to review!