Alexandria

"We just got here and you have to leave already?," Jessica asked Morgan, wrapping her arms around his neck and then kissing him hard on the mouth. He put his arms around her waist, holding her to him. When Jessica had hugged other guys like this, she had always felt like they were only tolerating her. Morgan always held her like he never wanted to let her go.

"You know why I have to go," he told her. Desiree needed asthma medicine. Rosita searched, but she only found one half empty inhaler in the medical supplies. That meant they were going to have to make a run. Morgan knew what they needed, so he was going. And from his recruting trip, Daryl knew where there was a pharmacy was that had not been totally cleared already. He and Aaron had come across it on their way out. They had planned to stop on their way back and dig through it, but then they had found Jessica and Morgan and it had slipped their minds.

"I can go with you?," Jessica offered again. She had not been apart from Morgan for longer than a few hours since the day they met. The thought of not seeing him until the next day was not sitting very well with her. Morgan kissed her again and cupped her face with his hands.

"I want you to stay here with the kids and your family and get settled in," he told her, "when I get back, I expect our new house to be fully operational." Jessica smiled. She knew he loved her and wanted to keep her safe. But if he went out to get medicine for her daughter and something happened to him, she would never forgive herself. She hugged him again.

RickyJo watched the two of them together. They were so sweet it almost brought tears to her eyes. She was so happy for her cousin. Jessica had such terrible luck with men, it was amazing that at the end of the world, she had finally found the kind of man she deserved. Morgan had already said goodbye to the kids back at the house. When RickyJo saw Jessica was walking him and Daryl to the gate, she had decided to walk with them. MJ was struggling to get down so she set him on his feet. He toddled over to the object of his desire, which in this case was Daryl's motorcycle and started touching the wheels. Daryl leaned down and spoke to the boy.

"When you get big I will teach you how to ride it," he told him. MJ pointed a finger at his uncle.

"Mine," he told him, looking at the bike, "mine, mine." Daryl laughed. The kid knew what he liked and didn't like, that was for sure. Daryl stood up to find RickyJo was standing very close to him.

"His new favorite word," she told Daryl, "everything is mine mine mine now." She said it like the kid was annoying, but she was smiling down at him anyway. The soft way RickyJo looked at her son always did something to Daryl. The expression made her look younger, and it reminded him of when they met. She had a long stretchy cotton dress on with thin straps. The dress hugged her curves and she looked so much healthier now than when they had been on the road. Her hair was braided and fell forward over her shoulders in a long golden rope. She wiped her palms against her hips and looked down at her feet. Daryl felt a strong urge to take her into his arms and kiss her. But he knew he couldn't and it made him mad.

"What are you doing here?," Daryl asked her suddenly. His tone caught her by surprise.

"I don't know," she said, "I guess I didn't want to let you leave again without saying goodbye." She flicked her eyes up, looking into his. Daryl looked around. No one was watching them, and the only people out here were Jessica and her boyfriend. If Jessica didn't already know what was going on, he guessed RickyJo was going to tell her soon anyway. So he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, pressing his forehead against hers. Then he kissed her. Not a open mouth, tounge down your throat kiss, but more like a gentle invitation. She tore her mouth away from his and hugged him tightly around the neck, choking off a sob.

"I want you to be extra careful out there, okay," she told him.

"Why?," he asked her. He wasn't trying to give her a hard time. He just really wanted to know.

"Because I love you," she told him. Then she sucked in a deep breath and said the one thing she had promised herself she wasn't going to tell him when she came walking out here. "And because I'm pregnant." He pulled back, holding her by the shoulder and looking into her face.

"Is it mine?," he asked her. She looked down, biting her lip and feeling ashamed.

"I don't know for sure," she admitted. "Just be careful out there for me, okay?" He nodded and hugged her against him again. MJ stood up, pointing at them.

"Kiss Kiss," he said, "mama kiss." RickyJo laughed and moved to pick him up. She hoped he would forget about that and not rat her out later in front of his father. Merle had really only said she wasn't allowed to have sex with Daryl, but she guessed that meant hugging and kissing were probably frowned upon as well.

"Come on you little tattletale," she said, reaching to pick him up, "Lets go home." She backed up a little, holding her son and giving Daryl room to get on the bike. Morgan climbed on behind him. Jessica said goodbye to Daryl and gave him a quick hug. Then she opened the gate for them and she felt RickyJo's hand in hers as they watched the guys drive away on the bike. Jessica slammed the gate shut, being sure to latch it. They didn't need another repeat of the night before last, that was for sure.

"Alright," she said to RickyJo, "fucking dish the dirt." She had meant to get the scoop from her the day before, but they had been so tired and she had not gotten a chance to get her alone yet. RickyJo tried acting nonchalant at first. She shrugged.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she told her cousin. Jessica laughed and started doing a very over the top imitation of her, batting her eyelashes and sticking her breasts out, holding them up with her hands so they looked bigger. Oh Daryl, be careful out there on the road. I'm pregnant and it might be yours. This was said with no shortage of kiss and face sucking noises. RickyJo was lauging so hard at her cousin's display she had to set her son down.

"I do not act like that," she insisted.

"Bullshit you don't," Jessica said. "Now I want all the dirty details or when we get back I am going to tell Merle all about your little makeout session." RickyJo's mouth flew open.

"You would not!"

"Oh yes I would," Jessica told her, even though they both knew she was bluffing. "So come on, I already know you are pregnant, so who's is it?," she asked.

"I really don't know," RickyJo admitted. Jessica patted her on the back.

"Well at least they are both white," she announced. Then the women looked at each other and started laughing like crazy. When Spencer came out to see what the noise was, he found them sitting on the grass holding their sides, eyes watering. MJ was watching them and clapping his hands.

"Are you both alright?," Spencer asked. He gave them each a hand up off the ground. RickyJo brushed her butt off and picked her son back up. Jessica took Spencer's arm and the three of them started walking back towards their house. Since he had seen them laughing, RickyJo thought it was only fair to tell him what had been so funny.

"You want to hear the story about the time Jessica had her second daughter?," she asked him.

When they got back to the house, the kids were moving RickyJo and Merle's things next door to the house Deanna had given to Jessica and Morgan. Merle was supervising, which seemed to involve drinking beer on the porch. MJ struggled to get down on the ground. He ran for his father, climbing the step and then crawling up into his lap.

"Mine, mine," he chanted, pointing to the beer bottle. Merle waited until RickyJo wasn't watching and then gave the kid a little taste. He made a terrible face and started trying to use his hands to brush off his tounge.

"You better not be giving him beer," RickyJo warned.

"No, no," Merle insisted, "got no idea what his problem is." RickyJo laughed. For someone that everyone thought was so sneaky, Merle was a god damn terrible liar.

Cassie came out of the house with a large stack of diapers. She could easily carry them herself, but Jessica noticed Spencer and a tall rather awkward looking black kid rushed in to help her anyway. Cassie elbowed both of them out of her way and insisted on carrying the things herself. She reminded Jessica of RickyJo at that age. She had been such a stubborn mule, never wanting to let anyone help her do anything. Jessica glanced over at her cousin, who seemed to know what she was thinking.

"She will learn," RickyJo said with a smile. She had eventually figured having a man around and letting him do things for her was actually kind of nice. Jessica smiled. She was worried about her daughter, with all these boys around. At that age, her hormones had been raging out of control. Cassie seemed more level headed, but maybe that was only because she had not had an opportunities yet to be anything else. Duane was close to her age, but in the way of young teen boys and girls, he was way behind her in terms of development. He still looked and acted like a little boy. Cassie was a young woman. And a very pretty one. And these boys were a lot older than Duane.

"When it comes to boys," Jessica said, "I hope she takes after you."

"Hope who takes after who?," Beth asked, coming down off the steps with Judith in her arms.

"Hope Cassie doesn't go too boy crazy," RickyJo explained to her, pointing over to the house next door. Noah had rushed up the steps to try and get the door for her, tripped over his own feet, and she had tripped over him, spilling the diapers everywhere. Spencer was helping her pick them up. Beth shifted Judith to her other hip and tried to hide a giggle.

"They have been sniffing around her like a pack of hound dogs," Beth remarked, "even Carl was talking to her and Sammie didn't seem too happy about it. Its hard to blame them, she is very pretty." The other women nodded in agreement. "Oh," Beth remarked to RickyJo, "I almost forgot what I came down here to talk to you about. I know you are moving next door and I wasn't sure what to do about Judith." RickyJo bit her lip. She was still nursing the girl in the morning and at night, but during the day she was mostly eating regular food now. Unlike a certain other small someone, Judith was no trouble, so RickyJo would not mind taking her over to live with her next door. She looked at Beth, trying to figure out if the girl was trying to get rid of the responsiblilty of the baby, or hoping RickyJo would say she didn't want her so she could keep her. There was something different about Beth. Her hair looked glossy and shiny. She was looking fuller in the chest too, and not anywhere else. She kept moving Judith around to keep her little heels from bumping into her stomach.

"Maybe you should keep her over here," RickyJo suggested, "I have a feeling you might need the practice." Beth opened her mouth wide. She figured out what the woman was implying, and she wondered how she knew.

"Did Rick tell you?," she asked.

"No," RickyJo answered, "I guessed." Beth looked down at her still flat stomach, wondering what the giveaway was. "Its your boobs," RickyJo told her, "they have to be at least two sizes bigger." Jessica started laughing. Her cousin, nailing two dudes and still checking out other girl's tits.

"How do mine look?," Jessica asked, pulling her shirt down a little more to show them off.

"Why?," RickyJo asked her. Jessica had that cat that ate the canary look she got when she had a secret. "You preggers too?" Jessica nodded. "No fucking way," RickyJo said loudly.

"Yes fucking way," Jessica told her. "And here is what we are going to do. We are both having girls and we are going to dress them in matching outfits. Every single day." RickyJo laughed and hugged her cousin tight. Beth watched them. She had been frightened when she found out she was pregnant and her first thoughts had been of how to get rid of it. Seeing how excited the other girls were was making her feel better. Maybe she didn't have anything to be so scared about. They did have a safe place to live now. And while what happened to Lori had been terrible, RickyJo had her baby just fine. Beth reached up and touched the jagged scar that ran down the side of her face. She wasn't alone at that hospital anymore. She was here with her family. And Rick was here. He loved her and would take good care of her. Just look at what he had done to that Pete guy for grabbing her.

"If I keep Judith here," Beth said, "would it be alright if I still bring her over to nurse?"

"Of course," RickyJo told her. She would be happy to nurse Judith anytime, even if she wasn't really her mother anymore like she had been when the girl was first born. Leaving with Merle had ruined that and she still felt a little guitly about it whenever she looked at the little girl. Taking her away from Shane would have been wrong, but it had felt wrong to leave without her too. Sometimes there was just no good choice.

Carl and Sammie were over at one of the vacant houses. They liked to sneak into this one because even though no one lived there, there were beds in some of the bedrooms. They made out everywhere. In their bedrooms, in the kitchen pantry. On the back porch. Out behind the garden. But lately they had been coming here to this house more and more. It seemed different, kissing on a bed. Alone in a room. With the door shut. It invited ideas of doing more than kissing.

Sammie thought about the talk RickyJo had with her about sex. RickyJo knew that Sammie's first experience with sex had been the most terrible kind possible. And she didn't want Sammie being afraid of men the way she had been for so much of her life. She had missed out on a lot of years of happiness because of her fears. Whats the best food you can think of to eat, she had asked Sammie. Sammie had thought about it. The thing she missed the most out of anything from normal life was ice cream. Okay, RickyJo had said. Now imagine you are super hungry and you are going to sit down and eat some ice cream, your favorite flavor. Sammie had smiled. It made her hungry just thinking about it. Now, RickyJo said, imagine you are not hungry, but someone is forcing you to eat it anyway, forcing so much into your mouth that you gag and choke and then shoving more in anyway and maybe hitting you if you spit it out. Sammie had sat a while and thought about that, with RickyJo's arm around her. That's the difference between sex with someone you love and what those men did to you. Don't let them ruin it for you. RickyJo had that talk with Sammie a long time ago, back at the prison. But it seemed to make more sense to her now, since she had been spending more alone with Carl. Being with him was like eating ice cream, the more she kissed him, the more she wanted to kiss him.

Sammie had seen Carl looking at that new girl. Carl was her first boyfriend, and she was feeling jealous over him for the first time. And a little scared. That new girl was pretty. Maybe prettier than her. And her boobs were bigger. Even the older boys were trying to talk to her and they never paid any attention to Sammie. She was scared Carl might decide he liked that new girl better and not want to be her boyfriend anymore. And the thought of that made her feel terrible inside. They closed the door and sat down on the bed.

"Do you think that girl is prettier than me?," Sammie asked.

"What girl?," Carl asked her. He didn't have any other girl on his mind right now, that was for sure.

"RickyJo's niece, Cassie," she said. Carl shrugged. The girl was new, she seemed nervous. He had spoken to her, but he was trying to be nice.

"She's not prettier than you," he said firmly. Sammie wasn't convinced, but that did make her feel better. She put her arm around Carl and kissed him. She thought a little bit about all the relationships she had seen. One thing was for sure, the men who had women that let them have sex, they did not look at other women. She thought about Beth and Rick. Beth was only a little older than her, and Rick was a grown man. Still, his eyes followed her everywhere. And she thought about back when they had been on the road that winter, when RickyJo had still been pregnant with MJ. The way Daryl had looked at her had made Sammie feel funny inside. And she had been big and pregnant too, with a baby that wasn't even his. Even now he didn't look at any other girls, or try to them. Sammie did not want Carl looking at other girls. Not ever. And she thought she had an idea on how to keep his attention on her.