Sorry I haven't updated, been having some problems at home I've been having to deal with. But anyway, this chapter is finally out and so expect the next one in the next couple of days. This chapter jumps around a little bit but does have some bonding time with the twins, which I am really excited about because they are at that age to where I can start playing around with their personalities a little bit, as well as a little heart-to-heart scene with Sam. Hope you guys enjoy :)

MaddyMarie1212: I actually can't say too much because that would be giving away something I have planned for later, but yeah, I kinda agree. Its just the fact that they would have to go out to find the pill and like everything, the pill is a finite resource. Simply put, after six months (which are six pill packs) it simply doesn't sound that realistic that she would be able to use the pill.

HaloHunter89: Don't worry, Tessa is not an arsonist nor a psycho LOL. I don't think I'm going to have TOO much to do with Sam this season, he's just someone I can throw around whenever Daryl needs a chew-toy (ouch, I know! LOL)

DarylDixon'sLover and NanamiYatsumaki: Thanks for liking and reviewing guys - hope you continue to do so :)

PS: Sorry for the little bit longer than normal chapter - I didn't want to cut anything :(


"Patrick was fine yesterday and he ended up dying overnight."

Everyone seated around the round table in the library later that afternoon when everything had calmed down, remained silent as Carol spoke. Tessa sat beside Daryl, hand tightly grasping his and he glanced at her as Ethan shifted closer to him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Sasha sat on Tessa's other side, with Glenn and Hershel sitting across from them, Hershel's face as grave as they had ever seen it.

"Two people died that quick?" She added and Tessa swallowed hard and glanced at everyone present.

"We have to separate everyone who's been exposed. It's the only logical thing we can do in the hopes of saving the whole group." Daryl nodded in agreement.

"Tha'd make everyone in tha' cellblock, easy." He spoke before glancing at Tessa. He saw her swallow hard again and her hand tightened slightly on his. "Tha's all of us . . . maybe more." Hershel heaved a sigh.

"We know this sickness can be lethal. We don't know how easily it is spread, though," He gazed at Tessa and Carol. "You two were possibly the last ones who saw him alive. Is anyone else showing symptoms similar to what Patrick had been showing?"

"We can't just wait and see, though." Carol replied, her voice going quiet, and Tessa nodded in agreement.

"I agree. We can't allow this spread to the children and the elderly and . . . and the twins and Judith. They are the ones most vulnerable right now – we need to make sure they are taken care of."

"And it isn't just the illness we need to worry about, too," Carol added. "When people die, unless they suffer a trauma to the head, they become a threat." Hershel nodded.

"Tessa is right – we need a place for them to go – somewhere safe. They can't stay in D – we can't risk going in there and cleaning it out." He turned his eyes onto Daryl and Ethan then. "Does one of you two have any ideas?" Ethan nodded as he ran his fingers over his lips.

"There's cellblock A," He told him, his voice quiet as well. "It's been clear for a while now – me and Glenn and Maggie did it." He nodded towards him and Glenn nodded in agreement.

"Death Row . . . not sure that's much of an upgrade, but we'll have to take what we can get for now."

"It's clean – tha's an upgrade," Daryl replied as he shifted ever-so-slightly closer to Tessa, their fingers moving to entwine seconds later. "Ya think tha'll work for Doctor S?" He asked Hershel and he nodded.

"I'll help Kale set it up -" He told him but immediately stop when they heard coughing coming from down the hall and getting closer. All of them shared alarmed, uneasy looks as they got to their feet and moved to the door, where they all filed out into the hall, right when Tyrese turned a corner with his hand splayed out on the small of Karen's back.

"You okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"You sure?"

Tyrese and Karen turned around when they heard Carol's voice, and both of their eyebrows furrowed in confusion as they made their way to them. Tessa rolled her eyes at Carol's slightly suspicious tone before she smiled a small smile and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's just . . . you don't sound too good, honey, that's all." She told her and Karen gave her a weak smile and a shrug as she coughed again, the back of her hand immediately moving to cover her mouth. Tessa had nothing against Karen – she didn't have a reason to have anything against the other woman. She was a former resident of Woodbury and while some of the Woodbury women had tried to hit on Daryl when they first arrived (flirtations that quickly ended when Tessa reminded them rather succinctly that he was taken) she never had to worry about that with Karen because she had always shown an interest in Tyrese. Actually, Tessa thought they were kind of cute together.

"We're just taking her back to my cell so that she can rest." Tyrese told them with a smile and Hershel replied with an apologetic one of his own.

"Tyrese, I don't think that's such a good idea." He told him and their eyebrows furrowed in confusion again.

"Why, what's going on?" She asked and Tessa glanced at Hershel before stepping forward. She felt herself being jerked back, however, when a callused hand shot forward and wrapped around her wrist. She glanced back, only to see Daryl subtly shake his head behind her, his face grave. No matter what level of friendship she and Karen had developed over the months, it was possible she was infected and Tessa knew as well as he did that for the sake of their children, she would have to be much more careful than she had been.

"We think it's the flu or something," Glenn eventually informed them when Tessa did not. "It's how Patrick died."

"Judith is in that cellblock," Hershel told them, his voice taking on a slightly protective tone as he stepped past Tessa and towards them. "So are Danny and Aayla. All three of them are very vulnerable. Anyone who is sick or who has been exposed needs to stay away."

"It-it killed Patrick?" Karen asked in disbelief as she placed her hands on her hips and Tessa silently nodded.

"Well now she's going to be okay, right? Now that we know what it is, we can treat it, right?" Tyrese asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist and Hershel shook his head.

"It's not that simple, but don't worry, we'll figure this out. Until then, though, we should keep you separated," He gazed at Karen as he spoke. "I'll have Kale take a look at you and I'll see what we have in way of medication."

Karen nodded. "David . . . from the Decanter group – he's been coughing too." She told them and Glenn nodded as they all heaved a sigh.

"D-don't worry; I'll go get him," He glanced at Ethan. "Are you coming with?" He asked him and Ethan nodded and moved to go but Daryl's hand immediately shot out and grabbed ahold of his shoulder. Ethan turned an inquiring look onto his father and even though Daryl had no idea what made him lunge out and grab ahold of his son and keep him back, he knew it wasn't nothing. He had a feeling that allowing Ethan to go with Glenn would be a bad thing and his feelings had never steered him wrong before.

He shook his head. "Ethan's comin' with me – we got tha next shift for watch." He told him and Glenn nodded and shrugged as he moved past Tyrese and Karen, where he left the group, Daryl avoiding the curious, inquiring looks that both Tessa and Ethan kept shooting him as Sasha gave them both a slightly apologetic look and stepped forward, where she placed a gentle hand on her older brother's shoulder.

"Come on, I'll help you get settled . . ." She told them as she steered them through the group, and when Tessa gave her a comforting smile and moved to follow, Daryl's hand on Tessa's wrist kept her from doing so when he yanked her backwards again at the last minute. She stumbled back into him and immediately turned an angry glare onto him. She opened her mouth to say something but he shook his head, silently telling her to wait a minute as he stepped forward once they passed.

"I'll call another meeting later, okay?" He told them and Daryl nodded.

"Alright," He nodded to Ethan. "Me and Ethan will get to burin' tha dead ones before we have to report for guard duty."

"Remember – the both of you – to wear gloves and a mask." He told them sternly and the both of them nodded as Hershel left them as well, disappearing around the corner that Glenn and the others had disappeared around seconds earlier, leaving just Carol, Daryl, Ethan and Tessa.

"Are you alright?" Tessa asked her and Carol swallowed heavily.

"I'm worried about Lizzie and Mika, you know?" She told her and Tessa nodded, remembering well the little borderline fiasco in the cell earlier. Carol nodded.

"But they were also around Patrick, remember?" Daryl nodded, his eyes flickering to Tessa's, where he held them for a moment.

"We all were. Some more than others, but there's . . . there's a pretty good chance all of us are infected, we jus' ain' showin' tha signs yet. But Karen and David are goin' to be separated until they feel better." Carol nodded.

"You're right. Are you guys okay?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she turned her eyes onto Tessa, Ethan and Daryl respectively. They all nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine – thanks for asking." Tessa told her with a grateful smile and Ethan echoed the sentiment as Daryl simply stood there and nodded. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he took Tessa's hand and began pulling her down the corridor.

"I gotta be." He told her simply and they stayed silent as he turned around and led them down the corridor.

"Why did you hold me back, Daryl? Karen's my friend, I should have -!"

"Ya shouldn' have done nothin' in the first place, babydoll." He interrupted her, his voice terse. He shook his head and glanced at her. "She's infected, Tess – we know tha'! She's infected, we have two eight month old babies tha' we are 'round constantly and ya don' need to be 'round her 'cause ya don' need to be takin' tha' back to them!" He shook his head as he came to a stop, Tessa and Ethan stopping with him. He adopted a slightly sad look in his eyes as he turned to face her. "Look, I know tha' if she was Michonne or Maggie, I couldn' have stopped ya, and really, I don' think I would have wanted to stop ya. But what ya and Karen have, Tess, are nowhere near the friendships tha' ya and Maggie and Michonne have and thus, she is not worth the risk of infection!"

"Deddy's right, momma . . ." Ethan spoke up, his voice quiet as he stepped closer to them. "Right now, you need to be thinking of Danny and Aayla – how easy it would be to infect them." Daryl nodded.

"And if tha infection ran tha' quickly through Patrick, then think how fast it would run through them!" He shook his head then, his eyes becoming scared as he stepped closer to her, where he took her hands. "Tess, I can' lose 'em! I can' lose ma Little Man or ma Huntress – I refuse to!"

Tessa stood there and gazed at him for a moment before she eventually nodded, feeling the buildup of tears begin in her eyes. She sniffed as she planted her hands on his arms and pulled him closer, where she pressed a kiss to his lips before stepping away and planting an equal one on Ethan's cheek. "You guys heard Hershel – wear masks and gloves while you bury the bodies, okay?"

Ethan and Daryl silently nodded as they began walking down the corridor again towards the doors that led to the outside courtyard and when they parted ways, Tessa heading off in the direction of a Maggie and Carl supporting a limping Michonne in-between them, Daryl and Ethan headed towards the field and the pile of bodies that were already beginning to stack up.

"You think she's going to be okay?" Ethan asked him and Daryl nodded.

"As long as we're there for her when she needs us, she'll be fine. Ya momma's a strong woman, Ethan – she'll survive as long as we do."


"Glad ya were in there . . ."

Rick gave a small smile as he moved to join Ethan and Daryl in the middle of the field, where the two Dixons, each clad in a pair of gloves and wearing a bandana around their mouth and noses, dug the cubic buttload of graves they would need in order to give all the people who had died, a proper funeral.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't anything without my gun." He told him as he placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the area around them. Ethan came to a stop and leaned on his shovel as Daryl came to a stop too and turned his gaze up to him.

"Nah, ya were . . ." He told him with a nod as he pulled down his bandana, Ethan following suit seconds later. "All this time ya been takin' off . . . maybe thought ya had gotten a little rusty or somethin'. Hell, ya earned it, though! We wouldn' be here without ya!" He told him as he began digging again, thinking 'fuck it' to the mask as he did so. They weren't handling bodies yet and Rick wasn't exactly wearing one either.

"Ah, no, it was all of us." Rick told him as he picked up a shovel and moved over to Ethan. He helped the teenager climb out of the deep grave before turning his eyes back onto Daryl, who had stopped once again.

"Nah, it was ya first," He told him. "If ya could help us figure this out . . ." He trailed off and Rick gave him a look that suggested he had just grown three heads as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Daryl, I've screwed up way too many times!" He told him. "Those calls I had to make – I start down that road again and . . . fuck, Daryl, I almost lost my boy – who we was!" He gave a weak shrug. "Whatever else this place needs, I'm here for it."

"I said ya earned it, but for what it's worth, ya've made mistake, tha's true, but haven' we all since this whole thing began? Fuck, I almost walked out on Tess for good and for fuckin' Merle – thank God I came to ma senses in time, though!" He shook his head. "The only difference between ya and me, Rick, is tha' when I see the shit startin' to hit, ya standin' there with a shovel -"

"Oh shit – deddy!"

Daryl's eyes snapped onto Ethan when he interrupted him, his voice frantic and immediately on edge and it was then that Maggie ran full tilt for them, a wide-eyed, frightened look to her eyes. "Rick – Daryl!" She screamed, and it was then that the three of them caught sight of the walkers standing on the other side of the chainlink fence like they always were doing. This time, however, they were quickly causing the fence to bow down.

"Oh shit!" Rick hissed as he took off full tilt towards the fence and the others, Daryl immediately grabbing up his crossbow as him and Ethan took off running after him, the three of them hoping the fence wouldn't fall before they got there.


"Hey, honey - how you doing?"

Michonne gave Tessa a 'what-do-you-think' look as she entered her cellblock, a grin playing out on her face as she also gave a laugh. Beth shot her a smile as well, one that she returned, before she returned her attention back onto wrapping the ankle that was currently being supported on her lap and Tessa took a seat on the bunk next to her.

"Did you see anything when you came in?" Beth asked her and Michonne heaved a sigh.

"They were just taking out the dead when I came in." She told her, her voice short and slightly cool and Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in slight concern, although that look of concern disappeared when she saw Judith sitting in a corner of the cell with Danny and Aayla playing with a cluster of red plastic cups. She grinned when she saw them and when Danny turned around and saw her sitting there, he immediately grinned as well, his deep blue eyes lighting up in joy.

"Ma-ma; ma-ma!" He spoke up and they all grinned and laughed – even Michonne – as Tessa got to her feet and moved to sit beside them on the floor, where Danny immediately dropped his cup and climbed into her lap. She wrapped her arms around his small body and held him close as she pressed a loving kiss to the dark wealth of sweet-smelling hair covering the top of his head. Aayla smiled at her too but made no move to fight her brother for possession of their mother's lap because, quite simply, Tessa might be their mother, but she was still not Daryl. Instead, she picked up the cup her brother had abandoned and began banging it against the side of her cup like Judith was doing with two others.

"I don't really want to think about it . . ." Beth told them and Michonne turned her eyes up to the ceiling as Tessa began gently rocking her son back and forth, her eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion. What was wrong with Michonne? Why was she acting so damn differently?

Beth smiled. "I'm glad you came back safe, though." She told her and Michonne shook her head as she turned her eyes onto her.

"Stupid . . ." She spoke, halfway in awe and Tessa nodded towards her.

"What makes you say that, honey?" She asked and when Michonne glanced at her, she was surprised to find tears shining in her eyes.

"I was so stupid, Tess! I fell on my ass – they should have just left me out there!"

"Now that's stupid!" Beth told her, her voice bordering on slight admonishment and Michonne turned a slightly surprised look onto the younger woman. "We care about you," Beth continued, her voice quieting and softening slightly.

"They could have gotten hurt."

"Yeah, well, when you care about someone, hurt is kinda part of the package, sweetie." Tessa laughed as she opened her arms and allowed Danny to move out of her arms, where he sat down on the floor again. Aayla gazed at her for a moment before quickly moving to occupy the spot her brother had on her lap seconds before and Tessa grinned as she wrapped her arms around her daughter and moved to press a kiss to her head as well. She supposed in some instances - namely when Daryl wasn't there - allowing her mother to cuddle her wasn't such a bad thing.

"Were there any kids?" Beth asked and Tessa turned her gaze onto Michonne at the young girl's question. She didn't answer and Beth simply continued on: "I mean, you have widows and orphans, but what do you call someone who lost a child?" She asked and while she didn't notice because she was too busy wrapping her ankle, Tessa certainly noticed the sheen of tears that had appeared in Michonne's eyes then, as well as the mournful look. "You think someone would have given that a name -"

"Does she cry like that all the time?" Michonne barked, interrupting Beth mid-sentence, and both Tessa and Beth jumped at her tone. It was true, Judith was starting to cry a little bit from her spot beside Danny, but it was nowhere near crying enough to be of any particular sort of alarming. Tessa's eyebrows furrowed even more as Beth gently set down her foot and got to her feet, where she picked up Judith.

"She's probably wet . . ." Tessa told her and Beth nodded as they turned their attention onto Michonne, who was desperately looking like she was trying to drown out the baby's cries.

"I think . . . I think she senses people's moods . . ." Beth spoke up somewhat uneasily as she left then to go fetch something, leaving Tessa, the twins and Michonne the only people in the cell.

"Honey, are you alright?" Tessa asked in concern and Michonne quickly nodded, although Tessa remained unsure as picked up Danny as well. She balanced both twins on each hip as she gave her a small smile. "Aayla needs changing and I think I'll go help Beth with Danny, okay?" She asked her, knowing that the best thing at that moment was to give her space, and she quickly nodded. She gave her a slightly grateful look and Tessa returned it with a smile as she left the cell then, where she went to go hunt down Beth.

"Hey, where's Wren, do you know?" She asked and Beth glanced at her as she continued changing Judith.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure she's helping daddy and Doctor S get cellblock A ready for quarantine. Why?" Tessa gave a shrug.

"It's just that . . . Michonne's acting weird and I don't know why and I have to go check on Daryl and Ethan. I don't feel right leaving you alone with the three of them, you know? The twins can be a handful if they want to be." She told her as she sat Danny down at the nearby pile of faded blocks before lying Aayla down on the changing table beside Judith.

"Well, they should be getting done any minute now so if you think you can wait, then by all means do that," She gave her a weary smile. "I would certainly appreciate it, I mean."

Tessa stood there for a moment before smiling a small smile and nodding. "Yeah . . . yeah, I can wait honey."


"Hey can I talk to you?"

Daryl and Ethan, who had been deep in a quiet conversation on the balcony of one of the guard towers later that afternoon, found themselves interrupted when Sam opened the metal door and stepped out onto the balcony. He stood there and watched them for a moment before he spoke and they were subsequently alerted to his presence, and he felt his heart momentarily stop. Arms crossed in front of their chests, one leg each hiked up and resting on the bottom bar of the railing and small smiles and grins on their faces as they talked, not only did they seem like the best of friends, as well as father and son, but they also looked like two twins keeping watch. The only differences between them were their hair color, their skin tone and their ages. Other than that, their mannerisms, their personalities . . . they were virtual mirror images of each other. Their faces were blank, however, when they turned around to face him at his words, although a look of slight hatred appeared in Daryl's eyes, and he swallowed hard. "You mind if we do, Ethan?"

Ethan glanced uneasily from Sam to Daryl and back again. "Well . . . deddy and I were in the middle of talkin' about somethin' important . . ." He replied, his voice coming out as uneasy as the look on his face, as well as quiet. He ended up trailing off when he saw Daryl nod firmly towards the door.

"It's alright, Ethan - go check on ya momma and tha twins, alright? We'll talk some more tonight before lights out." He told him and Ethan nodded as Daryl gave him a reassuring smile and a slap on the shoulder before his son shouldered his rifle and headed towards the metal door, glancing at Sam as he moved past him. The man's jaw hardened slightly as he shoved his hands down in the front pockets of his jeans. Ethan had never called him 'deddy' – not once when he was growing up, even when he was kid and didn't know any better. He supposed he didn't have a right to complain, but . . . didn't he raise the kid?

"Tessa prolly already told ya tha' it's not exactly a smart move bein' around me right now . . ." Daryl told him, his voice hard and Sam nodded. "I'm liable to rip ya head off at any moment."

Sam couldn't ignore the pang of slight fear at his words, but answered nonetheless. "Yeah . . . yeah she has, along with Rick and Michonne but . . . I just wanted to apologize. I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot and our confrontation yesterday didn't exactly help matters. Can we start over?" He asked him as he held out his hand to him. However, he swallowed hard and stiffly reclined the hand when Daryl declined to shake it and instead, simply glared at him. Sam nonetheless gave a small smile, figuring it was a good thing that Daryl hadn't attacked him yet. He gave a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "So . . . you are the infamous Daryl Dixon, huh?" He continued with a laugh and a half grin as he moved to take Ethan's place beside him. Daryl gave him a terse nod as he turned his attention back onto the treeline beyond the prison fence, his rifle slung over his shoulder and his crossbow sitting at his feet against his leg.

"I reckon I am. Wha's it to ya?"

Sam sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. "Well, nothing, I guess. Way I see it, though . . . me and Tessa could have had a better life together if it wasn't 'cause of you."

Daryl grinned and let out a laugh as he turned to face him. "So what exactly are ya sayin', Yankee? Ya wanna fight 'bout it or somethin'- is tha' why ya came up here and asked ma son to leave us so tha' ya could say what ya needed to say in private between us?" He gave a scoff of a laugh. "Hell, ya lucky I haven' sent ya screamin' over this railing to the walkers yet! Fuck, it ain' like I've been itchin' to do it since I heard ya come walkin' up those stairs!" He told him, his words blunt and to the point, and Sam gazed at him for a minute before allowing his jaw to harden. He then slowly shook his head. Again, hadn't he been the one who raised Ethan? Who had taught him right from wrong?

"No . . . no I don't reckon I do, 'cause something tells me that you would hand me my ass on a silver platter and not think twice about it." Daryl slowly nodded, his face going expressionless again.

"Ya damn right I would. And don' get me wrong, I'm thankful for wha' ya've done for 'em all those years. Ya raised Ethan – even though I'm tha one who should have done it – and ya did a right good job with it, too. Ya were also there for Tess when she needed ya – when I couldn' be 'cause of ma asshole brother." His eyes became hard then as he pointed at him. "But ya forfeited 'em when ya got separated in Atlanta and the others found 'em and took 'em back to our camp. Ya lost her when we were reunited," He gave a flippant shrug then. "Hell, sorry man, but ya lost her when she found out she was pregnant with ma twins – when she gave birth to our son and our daughter!" He shook his head. "And I'm sorry, but it's tha truth. If ya wanna trade haymakers' right here, right now for it, then I'll do it, but I gotta warn ya – when it comes to Tess and ma family, don' begin to expect me to fight fair!"

Sam silently nodded then and when he spoke a few minutes later, his voice was quiet and slightly thoughtful. "Let me ask you something, though; can I do that?" Daryl nodded.

"Ya've already said some shit tha' ya prolly shouldn' have already, so what's the point of holdin' back now?"

Sam nodded slowly, his eyes locked with Daryl's. "How long were you guys in the same camp together before she was sleeping with you?" He asked him, knowing that with Daryl, it was better if you were blunt and didn't beat around the bush. And like he suspected, Daryl didn't waste any time in his answer. A small smile appeared on his face as he turned back to observing the treeline.

"Ya sure ya wanna know tha', Yankee? Ya might not like tha' answer."

Sam was pretty sure he didn't, but he also knew that he wouldn't get any sleep until he had a straight answer. He knew Ethan wouldn't know and Tessa already practically refused to tell him - that or she always ended up not giving him a straight answer. He knew Daryl would – Daryl would do it out of spite and hatred alone.

He nodded. "Of course I do."

Daryl let out a snort of laughter as he ran his fingers across his lips. "Two and a half days, I think? Wait a minute, let me think . . ." He trailed off and stood there for a minute, thinking and when he spoke again, it was with a confident nod. "She and Ethan arrived around nightfall the first night, then spent the entire day with us the next . . . we arrived at the campsite and me and Ethan went huntin', so we came back, had dinner . . . yeah, it was about two days – two days and half." He gave a shrug. "If ya wanna know, it was kinda a spur-of-the-moment decision . . . we didn't really plan it. And in case ya wonderin', we didn' plan tha twins either. They were definitely a shock."

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but they were interrupted by the door swinging open, where Tessa, supporting Danny on her hip, appeared, followed closely by Wren holding Aayla, and Ethan. The two of them were grinning and laughing as they held their own private conversation. A tense silence immediately fell between Sam and Daryl, especially when Tessa looked up and after seeing them standing there, came to an immediate stop, the grin disappearing from her face.

They continued to stand there in an awkward silence before Aayla clearly had enough of standing there waiting for someone to hand her to her daddy and started reaching for him herself, letting out little indignant cries as she did so. Daryl immediately grinned and closed the distance between him and Wren, where he took her. "What's tha matter, ma little Huntress? Is no one payin' attention to ya?" He asked her and Tessa rolled her eyes.

"Don't you mean you aren't paying attention to her?" She corrected him and Daryl shot her a grin before he bent down and after pressing a loving kiss to Danny's head, pressed one to her lips. She pulled herself away quite suddenly, though her eyes fell onto Sam seconds after.

"W-what are you guys talking about up here?" She asked and Daryl gave a shrug as he began gently bouncing Aayla up and down on his hip.

"Oh nothin' . . . jus' settlin' shit, is all." He told her and Tessa nodded slowly, although her eyes had never left Sam's. He smiled and gestured to Danny.

"I, uh . . . Jesus, they're beautiful, Tess! I mean, I've never really seen them up close before, so . . ." He told her, trailing off when he realize he didn't know how to continue, and Daryl let out a snort of amusement as Tessa smiled a terse smile and nodded.

"Thanks Sam, we think so too."

"What is it; ya wanna get down, is tha' it . . .?"

Sam and Tessa watched then, Ethan and Wren ignoring them as they stood behind them talking, as Daryl squatted down, where he sat Aayla down on her feet. She wobbled terribly, even with her hands in his helping her stay steady, but she didn't seem to care. Her wide eyes took in everything around her and Daryl couldn't help but grin when she allowed herself to get too distracted and fell back against him, letting out a small 'oof' as she did so.

"They already want to walk?" Sam asked in slight shock and Tessa nodded.

"Yeah, although Aayla is a little bit farther along than Danny is. They both wanna stand up, though, if you put them down on the ground and help them. Daryl, he's, uh . . ." She grinned and laughed as they continued to stand there and watch as Daryl turned them so that they were gazing out at the treeline. His arm was wrapped across her small chest, supporting her as she continued to stand there. He pointed to something off in the distance and Tessa gave a sigh as she shook her head, her head falling onto Danny's when his fell onto her shoulder. "He's the atypical go-get-'em dad."

"He's not as close to Danny as he is Aayla, though, is he?" He asked and Tessa gave him a sharp look, one that was immediately kept from going any further as Daryl returned to them, Aayla in his arms.

"I'll trade ya, okay?" He asked her and she nodded as she took Aayla from him and gave him Danny. Immediately Daryl grinned again and moved away as he gently tossed him in the air, Danny's baby-like laughter filling the air around them. Tessa gave the now beet-red Sam a slightly amused arching of her brow.

"You were saying?" She asked him and Sam gave a weak shrug, not knowing what to say to explain himself, and Tessa shook her head. "We have twins, Sam – they are different than having just one baby. Daryl is a magnificent father and he tries his best to spend equal amounts of time with both of them, so he tries not to have a favorite. It's Aayla who has the favorite, not him." Sam shook his head and gave her a weak smile.

"Tess, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to presume like that -!"

"Yeah, well, you did. So drop it, okay?" She told him before turning a soft expression onto Daryl and their son again. Sam noticed the look and immediately felt his heart fall into his stomach. He had underestimated everything – how much Tessa and Daryl loved each other, how much Daryl loved the twins – the family that they had unbelievably managed to form in this twisted, fucked up new world.

And it was then, as the words popped into his head, that he smiled a tight smile and after saying a quiet goodbye to Tess, slipped out of the storybook-book family moment that was no longer his to claim.