Daryl never knew a typical family setting. He grew up most of his life with no mother, his brother was in and out of juvey and on drugs early in life, and his father beat the two Dixon brothers until the day they left the house. Even after Daryl and Merle left their home, there lives were not all that great. They bounced around doing odd jobs, staying in shady motels and friend's houses, and not doing much with their lives at all. It did not both Daryl most of the time, just glad to have any sort of life beyond the small Georgia town he grew up in. Other days though, he would see a family out and about somewhere doing a normal activity, such as grocery shopping or getting ice cream, and wish his life turned out a little better. He wished he would have left Merle and did something to further himself, whether it was working a better, more stable job, getting certified in some sort of skill to make more money in a profession, or anything else to get himself a better life. He never did, and before he knew it, the world ended, and his life did not experience a great amount of change. While now he fought for survival every day and scavenged, he did not lose a steady home and job, already possessed skills to survive the apocalypse, and it was not until the Atlanta group and after he initially lost Merle that he had any sort of genuine family.

If Merle never went missing, chances are, he would have ever ended up with Kayla. For God's sake, he just up and left her when Merle came back into the picture because of the influence his brother possessed over him. Even though she was forgiving enough to move on from it and take Daryl back, he would have understood if she chose not to. It is a decision he still regrets it every single day of his life and always will. Things seemed to be as perfect as they could be once the prison community became established. While there, life became normal by apocalypse standards. They had their own jobs and responsibilities as well as their own little bubble that was just them sometimes. After they lost that, it was just them and their group again but now they were given the responsibility of Johnathan. He fit into the group immediately, already adoring Kayla and Daryl since he already saw them almost everyday at the prison. Only now he was not just a little kid that ran around the prison, he was Kayla and Daryl's adopted son essentially.

As if Johnathan was not enough for the two of them to watch over, now they had Adaline. She was another kid whom lost the ones who brought her into the world, forced to seek care and protection of strangers. Despite the chance of Adaline's parents possibly being alive and the short amount of time Daryl has known the girl, he already cared for her like he did Johnathan. Part of it was just his natural instinct to protect the people within Alexandria, especially kids, but the other part was from him never getting the chance to have kids of his own, especially a daughter.

While he knew there was a part of him that longed for a family in the past, an even bigger part of him that longed for a little girl of his own. Growing up in the South made him see a lot of darling little girls that would run around in the dresses their mothers would force them into and then proceed to dirty them up as they played outside. It always made Daryl laugh when he would see mothers get frustrated with their daughters whom just wanted to play, not dress up. After he left home, he would see fathers with their daughters and see how the little girls looked up to their dads as if they were the kings of the world. He saw that in Judith with Rick a lot. Judith loved Rick, and the way she looked at him, clung to him when he held her, and lit up like the fourth of July when he entered the room. A big part of him longed for a relationship like that where he had a little girl that looked at him like he was the best person in the world. While Adaline would never be his own flesh and blood and would always have her birth parents in the world somewhere, he looked forward to the opportunity of having a little girl in his life to help raise with Kayla.

The event that caused all these thoughts and feelings to evoke in Daryl was when he woke up the day after he returned from his run with Aaron. He awoke to an empty bed, his wife already out of bed and nowhere to be seen in their room. Most of the time when she rose from bed, he would wake up from her movements or the feeling of her not being near him. However, he was exhausted enough last night after the day's events that it did not surprise him to have slept through Kayla getting up without him. He sat up on his forearms and listened for the sound of voices, hearing them down the hall accompanied by the sound of music in what he presumed to be the kitchen. Once he knew they were still home, he got out from under the covers to get dressed. As he pulled on a pair of clean jeans and gray t-shirt, he realized that he slept most of the morning away as it was going on eleven o'clock. He scoffed, not believing how his internal alarm failed to go off and wake him up earlier.

Once dressed, he walked down to the kitchen where he stopped in the doorway when he saw the sight before him. The music playing was from the record player in the living room, the sounds of Mel McDaniel filling their small home. Louisiana Saturday Night was playing as Kayla sang along, dancing with Johnathan in their kitchen. Ada was at the table laughing, the smile on her face infectious. Daryl knew it was infectious because it made him smile. Kayla's back was to him, but as he watched her spin Johnathan around in circles as they danced it made him smile more. He crossed into the kitchen, picking up Ada from her seat quickly, causing her let out a loud laugh as Daryl lifted her through the air. He turned her around and held her up by supporting her body with his arm, knowing ankle probably would not be able to handle dancing on her feet. He used his free hand to hold hers and dance her around the kitchen like that, making her even happier now that she was included in the activity. Kayla finally saw Daryl and the sight of him dancing with Ada made her heart warm. She continued her dance with Johnathan but could not help but watch her husband. It was a perfect moment at that point in time full of music, them dancing with the kids they took in as their own, while she prepared to cook a late breakfast for everyone.

When the song ended, Daryl plopped Ada back in her seat and Johnathan returned to his as well. Kayla was greeted with a good morning kiss from her husband as soon as he set Ada down, pulling her into his frame to give her a proper kiss. He felt Kayla's smile in it, causing his smile to reappear as he kissed her.

"Why didn't you get me up?" he asked as they broke apart.

"You seemed like you needed the sleep." Kayla told him before pressing another kiss to his cheek and backing out of his arms to start breakfast. He watched as she began pulling things from the fridge and cabinets to make what he assumed to be pancakes based off the ingredients. He was about to offer his assistance with cooking when there was a knock at the door. Kayla looked towards the noise, seeing Daryl already going over to their front door to answer it. He opened it, revealing Rick standing behind it.

"Town meeting," he told Daryl, his breathing somewhat rapid and tone nervous. "Now."

OOOOO

Daryl and Kayla gathered Jonathan and Ada to join them at the town meeting. Once there, the couple sat them together on the steps before joining everyone in the living room. The meeting was being held a t Deanna's, most of the town present. Kayla noticed Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha Eugene, Rosita, and Abraham all sitting in relatively close in proximity. Daryl and Kayla sat with one another on the windowsill, their nerves from the situation already on edge. Rick took the lead on the meeting, Deanna remaining quiet as she stared out the window blankly. It started with Heath explaining the origin of their problem. Not far from Alexandria, an overrun camp turned into a quarry filled with walkers on the verge of getting out of the confines of their area. Once the trucks holding them in gave way, they would head straight for Alexandria.

As Rick went over the plan, Daryl was the first person to take point on the plan to guide the walkers the direction they wanted on Daryl's bike. Right before Kayla was going to offer up her assistance, Daryl stopped her quietly. "No," he said. "Not both of us."

"Are you serious right now?" Kayla whispered back, shooting him an angry look. "How many times are you going to be the one that goes out while I sit at home terrified?"

"We have two kids that are our re at home now. They can't lose both of us if somethin' goes wrong."

Kayla let out a frustrated breath. She knew Daryl was right. If hell broke loose, one of them had to be at home to protect Ada and Johnathan. Times like this were what bothered her the most about the world, feeling helpless no matter what side of a situation you were on. If she was staying at home, she worried about Daryl. If she was out with Daryl, she would be worrying about the kids.

As the meeting continued, tensions rose when Rick's authority was questioned, and the night's events prior were brought up. Deanna diffused the situation and soon enough, more people volunteered to take part in the plan. The town went over the plan another time as a group once more before parting ways temporarily. Rick and few others met with Carter, Reg's second man with all thing's architecture related to reinforce the walls they would use to keep walkers on the designated path. After the meeting ended, and Kayla and Daryl took Ada and Johnathan to the group's main house. They introduced Ada to the rest of the group, explaining that she was one of them now.

"When Daryl and I aren't around for one reason or the next, these are the people that will keep an eye on you for us." Kayla explained. "You can always trust them."

Ada shook hands with everyone, Abraham getting a kick out of the young girl's formality. She carried herself with confidence, her head and shoulders raised as she walked between people. Once the formal meetings were complete, Daryl and Kayla had to indeed leave the kids in the group's house. Daryl needed to meet up with Rick, and Kayla was needed at the infirmary to check on Tara's condition.

"When will you guys be back?" Ada asked, Jonathan already settled on the couch with a comic book. Despite being around Daryl and Kayla's group, the two were still the only people she felt comfortable with fully. She knew she had Johnathan, but the rest of the unfamiliar faces made her a bit nervous.

"Later this afternoon," Daryl told her, sensing her worry. "And if you need us, we won't be far. Place ain't that big. Be good."

Daryl messed up Ada's hair in an effort to make her laugh which it did. He and Kayla gave her a reassuring look before leaving the house together. They walked out onto the street, stopping and turning to face one another. Their destinations were in opposite directions which meant now they had to part.

"How do you feel about Rick's plan?" she asked. While she knew she was giving Rick a chance of redemption after the events of the last week, she still valued Daryl's opinion more. The plan sounded as solid and sensible as it could be given the circumstances, but she wanted to hear Daryl's thoughts.

"It's our best option," he told her. "There's not much else we can do. Too many to take on, too risky to leave em' in the quarry. Best option is to lure them away as far as we can."

Kayla nodded in agreement, her newfound concern only pertaining to the group's safety, especially Daryl's. She looked up at Daryl, fully realizing the inch or so he had on her in height. She brushed some his long locks out of his face. "I know we are a few days away from this, but I'm telling you this now," she told him. "When the day comes for this plan to go into action, you better be thinking about what you got here at home."

Daryl put his hands on either side of Kayla's face. "I'm always thinkin' of that," he told her. "The second I leave until the second I come back."

Kayla smiled and reached up to press a kiss to his lips. He held her face to his as deepened the kiss, only for her to break away far too soon for his liking. She offered him one of those looks he knew far too well telling him that they needed to tend to their responsibilities. He half-smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead before the two parted, going their own separate directions.

A/N: Hey y'all. This chapter is boring, I get it. The gears really were not turning on this one, but I promise the upcoming chapters will be much, much better. I am excited to get to those since they are climactic and eventful. Stay tuned and as always, review!