** I know I got a review asking for more of Rick with Beth, so here you go. This story is rated M for a reason. As always enjoy and review. **

Alexandria

Beth went to hide her gun in the back of her pants, under her shirt, and then remembered that she didn't really have to do that anymore, so she put the gun into the leather holster she had and clipped it onto her belt. Rick gave her a look of approval. RickyJo and her cousin had been carrying their guns openly since what happened the other night and Deanna had not made a stink yet, so he figured it was carte blanche now on the having and carrying of guns. And watching RickyJo nurse two babies with a giant hand cannon strapped to her thigh was as funny as it had always been. Deanna's sons had been over the day before, and had seen her doing it on her new front porch. The looks on their faces had said it all. It was a fairly equal mix of fear, arousal and the naughty feeling you got when you checked out a woman's tits while a baby was latched on to them. Her cousin had smiled and given them a little wave, then both women had started giggling like crazy. Spencer had been over there looking for Jessica's daughter, the pretty one. He had asked if she wanted to come eat lunch with them. She had gone, taking her younger sister along with her at her mother's insistence.

Beth turned and smiled at Rick. He wasn't sure why, but she seemed so much happier the last day or so. When she talked about her pregnancy now, it was with a lot more excitement and a lot less fear. She came towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips. He took her by the chin, kissing each one of the scars on her face before putting his mouth back on hers. She kissed him back, parting his lips with her tounge and pushing him back so he was sitting on the bed.

"Thought you wanted to walk the wall with me?," he asked, her smile making him smile. If he knew she wanted to stay in bed with him, he wouldn't have bothered getting all dressed in his uniform. She didn't answer, but instead pulled her shirt up over her head and threw it in his face. He reached for her, but she danced back, leaving him with a handful of nothing but air. She laughed, stepping sideways and thinking about making a run for it. The room wasn't that big, but she could dart behind the playpen and then run around the other side of the bed. But he was up before she even had a chance, grabbing her around the waist and pushing her up against the wall. Pulling the holster off her waist and tossing it on the dresser, he kicked her legs apart.

"Hands on the wall," he told her. She put them up, biting her lip to keep from giggling. Laughing now would ruin the game they were playing. He started at her ankles, playing like he was patting her down but really just feeling her up. If this was really the kind of pat down that criminals got, she would have started breaking the law a long time ago. He ran his hands over her hips and up the curve of her waist. By the time he got to her breasts, she was already panting.

"Be gentle with them," she reminded him, "they're still tender." He kissed her neck, and moved his hands to her back to unhook her bra. She took her hands off the wall and let it fall to the floor, then put them back. Rick leaned in close to her, pressing his body against hers and kissing up her neck. She could feel the rough scratch of his stubble against her skin. He put his hands over hers, then rubbed up her arms, starting at her wrists and ending at her shoulders. He moved his hands down, rubbing her stomach and then up, touching her breasts lightly, being careful not to get too excited and start squeezing. They were already bigger and her nipples were a darker shade of pink. When he brushed his knuckles across the hard little tips of them, thats when she started moaning. There was a soft knock on their bedroom door.

"Go away," Beth yelled at whoever was out there. There was some soft laughter on the other side of the door, that sounded like it was probably Michonne, and then the sound of footsteps going back down the hall and away from them. At the sound of the knock, Rick had stepped back from Beth a little, and she used that chance to unzip her pants and push them down, kicking them off along with her underwear and then resuming her position with her feet apart and her hands on the wall. She arched her back just a little, pushing her ass out so he could almost see a hint of her cleft down between her round cheeks. Didn't know this was a strip search, he thought to himself with a little smirk. She could hear the rustle of Rick removing his clothes, and then he was pressed against her again, his skin warm where it touched hers. He put his hands back on her breasts, touching then lightly, and gently pinching at her nipples. Then he moved his hands down, rubbing her hips and squeezing her ass, thankful that part of her wasn't as tender as her breasts. Then he moved his hand around the front of her, feeling the silky hair above her opening. Using the fingers of one hand to spread her open, he dipped inside with the tip of his finger on the other hand and started to flick his finger across her most sensitive spot. Every time she started to moan and move her hips, he stopped.

She could feel the need building up inside her until it was so strong it was almost painful. Her legs were shaking and the insides of her were throbbing. She spun in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting herself up so she could wrap her legs around him as well. He hand went between them, guiding himself inside, pushing in harder and faster than he meant to do. She felt the wall on her back and then he was gripping her ass, slamming into her over and over. It was on about the third thrust that she felt herself explode around him. Someone was yelling out some of the most obscene words she had ever heard and she realized it was her and bit down on her lip, digging her nails into Rick's back. He meant to take his time with her, but the next thing he knew he was groaning into her hair, spilling himself inside her tight little well. He pushed in once more, finishing off and then started laughing, bracing them against the wall so he wouldn't drop her on the floor.

"Those were some of the dirtiest words I have ever heard," he told her. And they sounded worse coming from Beth, who never swore. No she was laughing into his chest. Beth had no idea why she had been cursing, it had just come out of her.

"Going to have to start watching my mouth before the baby comes," she said, laughing into his neck. She felt Rick tense up a little, then he backed up and set her down carefully on the floor. He had forgotten about the baby. Maybe he shouldn't have been so rough with her.

"Are you okay?," he asked her, "I didn't hurt you did I?" She hugged him tightly.

"I am fine," she assured him, "I am not going to break." He nodded, but she could tell by the look on his face that what just happened was probably going to be the last hard fuck she got for a while. Beth was so small, he really shouldn't be going at her like that anyway. If he had hurt her or the baby, he would never be able to forgive himself. She thought about telling him again that she was fine, but she could tell it wouldn't do any good. "Lets get dressed and go walk the wall," she suggested.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I think Michonne is waiting for us downstairs."

Jessica heard the sound of the motorcycle before she saw them and she was out on the steps waiting for Morgan when he pulled up. She got a few seconds of holding him to herself before they got mobbed by Duane and Desiree. Cassie would have ran in too, forgetting that she was too old and mature for that sort of behavior, but she was off riding RickyJo's horse. Cassie had always loved horses, and the horse had seemed quite taken with her. Since RickyJo really had too much on her plate already, she had been more than happy to turn the horse over to her niece for training and care. They wanted to train it to pull some kind of plow, to help them with the gardening. Eugene and Reg were working on designing and building the plow in question, but after that it was going to be up to the girls to train the horse to wear the thing. There had also been some talk about teaching the horse to pull a small wagon, so they could go out for supply runs without using up all their gasoline.

Daryl watched Morgan with Jessica and the kids, feeling happy for the man, but a little jealous as well. He wouldn't mind getting that kind of reception when he came back after only being gone a day. No one had even bothered to acknowledge that he was standing there. And he had been looking after Desiree since she had been born. He sighed and turned away, heading for the other house.

"Where are you going?," RickyJo called to him from the porch. She had been putting her son down for a nap, or she would have come out sooner. "We stay over here with Jessica now," she informed him.

"Got to get my shit at least," Daryl told her.

"We already moved it over here for you," she said. Seeing that he looked a little surprised, she added, "I hope that's okay." Daryl stepped back off the porch of their old house and walked over. He was happy they had thought to move him over when they moved their own stuff, and he was also wondering if his brother knew what the girls had done. RickyJo met him on the steps of his new house, taking his hand and practically dragging him inside and up the steps. She took him down to the end of the hall, and pointed into the room on the right.

"This one has the best view of the trees," she told him, "Cassie picked it out for you." Really she had picked it, but she felt embarassed to tell him. Daryl looked around the room. He had to admit, the girls knew him well. And it did have a nice view of the woods out behind the wall. His things were folded neatly on the bed, which was made up with fresh sheets and blankets. And on the little side table next to the bed there was a little wooden statue of a squirrel holding a nut. "We put your extra arrows in the closet," she said. Daryl suddenly felt a little overcome with his emotions. This was the nicest thing anyone had done for him in a long time. He turned and caught RickyJo by the wrist, pulling her close and hugging her to his chest. His hand went between them, rubbing her stomach.

"How's the baby," he asked her.

"Fine as far as I know," she said, smiling softly at him. He looked back at her, but then she saw his face tighten up in anger and pain.

"Does Merle know?," he asked. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and walked over to shut the door to the bedroom. Then she turned back to Daryl.

"He knows about the baby," she started, "and he knows we slept together... But he doesn't know that you know." She paused a minute and decided to tell him the rest. "He says the baby is his and thats what he wanted me to tell you." RickyJo sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. She had really made a mess out of things this time. And it seemed like no matter what she did, things just seemed to keep getting worse. She felt Daryl take the seat next to her and his arm went around her back. It almost made her feel worse. After what she had done to him, she didn't deserve his comfort.

"What do you say?," Daryl asked her.

"I don't know," she said, wiping at her eyes. "I don't know who the father is. I really fucked things up this time." Daryl pulled her close and let her cry into his shoulder. There was always something terrible about seeing her cry. He could stand anyone's tears but hers. "I am so sorry," she told him. She thought about the advice Jessica had given her. If you don't want to choose, don't choose. You are the valued commodity, you make the rules. If either of them don't like it, they can take a hike. The advice had sounded good at the time, but she wasn't really sure how it would actually work out, or if she wanted it to be like that. Daryl was doing some thinking himself, and he was thinking that sitting here, letting RickyJo cry and stress herself out over the feelings of two grown men wasn't going to solve anything. There was only one way this problem was going to get solved.

"I don't want you worrying about this anymore," he told her firmly. "I think it's time for me and my brother to have a talk." She popped her head up, her eyes wide with fear. "He does know doesn't he?," Daryl asked. She nodded.

"I already told him," she said.

"Then what?," Daryl asked, "he say he was going to beat my ass?" She nodded again. If Daryl was going to do this, then he better know what he was getting into.

"He said if he caught us together again," she said, "he was going to make what he did to Glen look like a light slap." Daryl stopped a minute and then started laughing. Merle was really playing dirty, telling her stuff like that to try and make her scared to be around him. He was smart and he knew RickyJo well, Daryl had to give it to him. If she thought it might get Daryl hurt, there was no way she was going to be messing around with him.

"I ain't scared of Merle," Daryl told her. She didn't look convinced. And if Daryl didn't have the sense to be afraid, she was still frightened for him. While he never turned it on her, Merle had a mean streak that was a mile wide. And she knew how he was about her and their son. They were the only good things he had ever had in his life and no one was going to take that away from him.

Jessica and RickyJo were cooking dinner in the kitchen when Merle got back from working construction with Abraham. Abe had made a quick visit to say hello to MJ, his junior ginger, and had gotten in trouble with RickyJo for giving him candy. Not only were they about to have dinner, but that stuff was going to rot his little teeth out. Jessica noticed her cousin seemed unusually jumpy. She kept dropping things and jumping when she heard anyone came into the house. They heard the shower running and then a few minutes later, Daryl and Merle walked throught the kitchen, heading for the back door. RickyJo was leaning over the kitchen sink, trying to look out the small window above it.

"What the hell is going on?," Jessica asked her. RickyJo's face looked like all the blood had drained out of it.

"Daryl said he was going to talk to Merle," she told her, nervously wringing her hands. Now Jessica was shoving at her, trying to look out the window herself.

"What's he going to say?," she asked.

"I don't know," RickyJo said. She felt like she was going to vomit and headed for the kitchen trash, emptying the contents of her stomach into the can. Jessica took hold of her and dragged her over to the kitchen table, sitting her down in a chair. She got her a glass of water from the fridge, making sure RickyJo had a good grip on it before she let go.

"If you don't want to choose," Jessica told her, "Don't let them bully you into choosing." RickyJo nodded and sipped the water, trying to get her stomach under control. Then the back door flung open and Carol was standing there.

"You know Daryl and Merle are beating the shit out of each other in your backyard," she announced. Morgan had been standing in the kitchen doorway. He headed quickly out the backdoor and down the porch steps. The girls followed behind him. The fight looked more like a wrestling match and less like an assbeating, so Morgan stopped on the steps. He saw some people were out on the back porch of the other house, staring down at them and also wondering if they should step in and try to break it up.

"You want me to get the hose?," Carol asked. Jessica started laughing. As far as she was concerned they ought to let them fight. They obviously weren't really going to hurt each other and it was good entertainment. Not only were they rolling around, covered in dirt and horse shit, they were cussing and yelling at each other too. She's my fucking wife. She was my girlfriend first. Fuck you. Fuck you. Thats my baby. No its not you fucking retard. You took her to live with cannibals. That was 'ur fault. No it wasn't you asshole it was 'urs.

RickyJo stood on the porch, staring down at them. Then she took off down the steps, bumping in to Morgan and throwing him off balance, almost sending him over the rail. She just could not believe the two of them, out here making a scene and acting like a couple of children. She leaned in and started smacking at them.

"Stop it right now, both of you!," she yelled at them. Now more people were crowding out onto the back porch of the other house and most of them were laughing. Merle was on top of his brother so she smacked at him and tried to grab his arm. "Let go of him," she yelled. Merle looked at her like she was crazy. He almost had Daryl in a headlock, why would he let go. "Stop fighting right now," she screamed, "I fucking mean it." With his brother momentarily distracted, Daryl used the opportunity to elbow him hard in the ribs and flop him onto his back. RickyJo was splashed across her legs with what looked and smelled like creamy wet horse crap. "You are both rolling in shit," she yelled at them. Then she tried grabbing Daryl and pulling him off. Rick walked over with the intention of helping her to break up the fight, but he was laughing so hard he had to stop and grip the rails on the porch to try and get ahold of himself.

RickyJo had ahold of Daryl by the shirt now, and she was cursing at him, trying to drag him off. The two of them were locked into each other, grabbing at each other's clothes and hair. Merle had mud/crap in his eyes and he was swinging wildly with that stupid thing he wore on his arm, hanging on to Daryl by the shirt. RickyJo was pulling Daryl back, screaming at him to let go when his shirt gave out and ripped into pieces. RickyJo flung backwards, still clinging to pieces of the shirt, and she landed hard on her ass in a big pile of compost and horse manure. Daryl had flung forward and both men had smashed their heads together. Daryl was sitting in the dirt, holding his forehead and Merle had his shirt up, trying to wipe his eyes out and stop his lip from bleeding.

Daryl turned to look at RickyJo. She was covered in filth, sitting in a pile of shit, and she was not looking too pleased about it either. Merle finished wiping out his eyes and followed his brother's gaze. Even if he had wanted to try, he had never been able to sensor his opinions. And many times in his life it had gotten him into trouble. A big grin lit up his face and he pointed at her.

"And thats what you get for acting like a little tramp," he informed her. Daryl started laughing before he could stop himself. It wasn't really the comment that he thought was funny; it was more that his brother liked RickyJo so much he was willing to fight him for touching her, but then he turned right around and started insulting her.

"Shut your fucking mouth Merle," Jessica yelled from the porch. Merle grabbed some of the muddy shit from near where he was sitting and flung it at her, sending her shrieking into the house for cover. Rick had unfortunately been standing on the ground in front of the porch and had recieved the worst of it. He could hear Beth's laughter ringing out from the porch next door. Daryl was up and had RickyJo by the arm, trying to help her out of the compost pile, but he lost his footing on the slippery mud and they both fell down in a tangle. The smell was suddenly so strong around her that she couldn't take it. She tried to turn her head but Daryl still got covered in a fair amount of vomit.

"I feel like I am going to faint," she said in a shaky voice that didn't sound like hers. Without warning, Merle was not finding the situation to be so funny anymore. No matted what she had been doing with Daryl, he didn't want his pregnant wife passing out in a pile of creamy wet horse shit. Finding his footing, he got to his feet, and saw that Daryl was doing to same. Between them, they got her on her feet and then Merle scooped her up and carried her into the house.

"Go down and use the basement shower," Jessica ordered, holding the basement door open and pointing. There was no way they were tracking all that nasty crap through the house on the carpets. Merle headed for the downstairs steps, taking them slowly to keep from falling. He was about halfway down when RickyJo threw up all over him.

"Go get Rosita!," he yelled at Jessica.

"She already went," Daryl told him from behind him on the steps. When they got to the bottom, Daryl grabbed a cheap plastic lawn chair that was in a stack against the wall and set it in the shower. Merle set RickyJo down in it as carefully as he could and turned the water on. Then he and Daryl started arguing again. Turn the water warmer. No its better cold. Don't spray her face. There's shit on her face. Stop it. Fuck you.

"Stop fighting," RickyJo moaned at them from the chair. She put her hands to her head, which was pounding. The smell of shit and vomit was overwhelming and it smelled worse than anything she had ever sniffed in her life. The last time she had been pregnant, things had smelled stronger to her, but it had never been this bad. She stood up, pushing the chair away from her and started stipping off her dirty clothes, running her face under the water to try and get rid of the smell. She pointed at the men. "Get all those shitty clothes off and put them in the washer, and take mine and put them in there too." They stood there staring at her for a minute. "I'm not kidding the smell is making me really sick." That was enough to make them start moving. Daryl grabbed her clothes up from the floor where she left them and threw them in the washer, then since his shirt was already in tatters outside, he took his pants off and put threw them in. Then he took everyone's boots and put them in the utility sink to rinse them off. Merle threw his arm piece in there too, the fucking thing was crusted in shit and mud. With only one good hand and his shirt still whole, it took him a little longer to get undressed. By the time he got done, Daryl was already under the shower water with RickyJo, who had one arm covering her breasts and the other hand she was scrubbing at Daryl's hair with a bar of soap, looking ready to puke again.

Jessica found Rosita over in the house that served as the nurses station. Rosita grabbed her med bag and the two of them headed back to Jessica's house. Since RickyJo was pregnant, vomiting and fainting were not huge concerns, but she wanted to have a look at her anyway. Jessica pointed her down into the basement and she took off down the stairs, expecting to find a sick woman. Instead she found three naked people in the shower with the door open. She knew RickyJo had a lot of tattoos, but knowing was not the same as seeing. There were a few in some intimate places that she had not known were there. When she had short shorts on, you could see the ones under her butt, but the little stars on her hips had been covered even by her bathing suit bottoms.

"What the hell are ya looking at?," Daryl asked her.

"I thought you needed help," Rosita answered, holding up her medical kit.

"We do," Merle informed her, "theres no towels down here, go upstairs and get us some."

"Are you fucking kidding me?," Rosita asked him. RickyJo smacked him hard in the shoulder.

"I fainted," she told Rosita, "some horse shit got on me and the smell made me sick. I think I'm alright now." She gave Rosita a hopeful smile.

"I will get you some towels," Rosita agreed, "but only if you let me check you over and make sure that's the reason you fainted." She had been hurt a few times before, so Rosita knew RickyJo was one of her worst patients. I'll be fine was pretty much her mantra whenever she was hurt or sick, and she hated being poked and prodded at. RickyJo sighed. She figured she was going to be bullied into getting examined anyway, so she might as well not have to walk upstairs naked to get the towels. She normally wouldn't care, but Jessica's boyfriend Morgan was up there and she didn't want to weird him out.

"Fine," she said.

A little while later, they were up in RickyJo and Merle's bedroom. RickyJo was nursing MJ and letting Rosita check her over and Merle was hovering close by, making sure she was cooperating. Her blood pressure and heart rate were fine, and she seemed otherwise healthy. She was looking a little thin and dark around the eyes, though, and Rosita worried she might not be getting enough iron or sleep or maybe both.

"Do you have any prenatal vitamins?," Rosita asked her. She nodded and pointed to the dresser.

"Daryl brought them back from the pharmacy run," she said.

"Okay," Rosita said. "Make sure you are taking those, and if you are going to keep nursing while you are pregnant, I want you to up your calories. Small snacks between meals. Red meat if we have it and lots of leafy greens."

"You think my iron is low?," RickyJo asked her.

"I think your iron and your sugar is low," Rosita told her. Then she turned and gave Merle a pointed glance. "And I think you have been under too much stress. Stress is bad for the baby." Merle was still mad at his brother, but the sight of all those vitamin bottles on the dresser was making him question his resolve.

"I will try to take it easy," RickyJo said, hoping that would end her examination. Right now, she just wanted to have some dinner and lay down with her son and go to sleep. Rosita nodded and packed her things back up, giving MJ a smile before she headed home. RickyJo scooted down to lay on the bed and cuddle her son close to her. She saw something on the nightstand she hadn't noticed before. A beautiful bunch of wildflowers was in a mason jar with a little water in the bottom to keep them fresh. She turned and took Merle's hand, pulling him close to her.

"Thank you for the flowers," she told him, "they smell so good." Merle looked at the flowers, a strange expression on his face.

"They are not from me," he said.

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed, "Maybe Daryl left them." Daryl leaned in from the doorway. He had been lurking outside so he could hear what Rosita said about the baby.

"It wasn't me either," he admmitted. Merle was still staring, he swore those flowers had not been there when he got back from the construction site, but he wasn't totally sure. RickyJo looked back and forth between the two men. A strange chill ran up her back at the thought of someone else in her room, touching her things. The clothes in one of her drawers had been disturbed, but she thought Merle had just been in there looking for something. Now she wasn't so sure.

"Who was it then?," she asked.