A lot's not happening in this chapter, mainly just Dessa fluff in the beginning, although Beth and Ethan do have a rather tense conversation in the middle, as well as Daryl/twins bonding time in the end, which everyone loves. Overall, I'm content with it, just throwing in a filler chapter before the second half of the previous flashback chapter.

By the way, for the sake of spoilers, I CANNOT tell whether Tessa is still pregnant or not. So really, I'm sorry if my answers to you guys sound clipped when I tell you to keep reading because really, I CAN'T tell you guys anything or else I'll be spoiling a lot, so, yeah, hope that clears up some things :)

DarylDixon'sLover and NanamiYatsumaki: Thanks guys, the flashback chapters are pretty fun to write :)

HaloHunter89: I'm actually thinking about starting a fic after this one is finished, about their younger years, but its just a thought. It might not see the light of day but knowing my intense love and interest of Daryl and Tessa, I wouldn't be surprised if it does eventually see light.

Enjoy!

- Nagiana

PS: Brownie points to you who can find the Pop Culture Easter Egg in here. If you do, you get a virtual cookie ;)


The room that morning, a day later, was absolutely silent when Daryl opened his eyes, waking up from one of the best sleeps he's had in a good long while. He lay there for a moment, wondering if he had died and gone to Heaven with all the silence that surrounded him, before he registered that there was sound in the room. There was a light, slightly cheerful humming and when he turned his head to see where it was coming from, he saw Tessa kneeling on the floor, gathering up the dirty clothes from the previous night, that morning and possibly even the day before yesterday.

"Ya could have woken me up, babydoll . . ." He grumbled as he gingerly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and he could see the smile on Tessa's face out of the corner of his eye as she glanced at him and then got to her feet. Her arms were full of clothes and she dumped them on the nearby desk before turning around to face him.

"Yeah, well, I figured I'd let you sleep in. Today's gonna be a lazy day anyway, we think, so . . . we could afford it."

"Where are tha kids?"

"Ethan's showering and Wren and Beth took the twins outside for some much needed fresh air and sunshine. I got most of our stuff packed up this morning too with Wren's help, so with any luck, we'll be moving into our old room back in the cellblock today, if not in a few days when we finally have it properly cleaned and disinfected." She told him before moving over and taking a seat on the edge of the cot that had miraculously fitted them both on it for the past previous couple nights. Daryl quickly scooted out of the way to give her more room and he smiled as his hand reflexively moved to the small of her back, where his fingers immediately moved underneath her shirt to run along the warm flesh underneath.

"It sounds like ya've been busy all mornin'!" He told her and she nodded in relief.

"I have. And it's a relief too. I've been stuck in this room practically since you guys left. Now that you've returned with the meds, things can hopefully return back to normal. I'll be helping Maggie and Hershel today with distributing the meds to the rest of the people in the quarantine area and then after that . . . after that, I suppose it'll be lunch or dinnertime, wouldn't it?" She asked and he nodded.

"And what 'bout ya, Tess? Ya've . . . have ya been feelin' . . . okay?" He asked, slightly uncertainly, and she gazed at him expressionlessly for a moment before swallowing hard and nodding. She looked down at her hands lying in her lap for a moment before turning her eyes back onto him.

"Of course I'll let you know if it hung on, Daryl, but for right now, I'm still not sure and . . ." She gave a shrug. "To tell you the truth . . . I'm not sure if want it to have hung on. It's nothing against you, because it's not – I love you, Daryl, and I always will and if – if – this baby has defied all odds and is clinging to life, then I'll love it as much as I do Ethan and the twins, but . . ." She wordlessly shook her head. "We've got so much right now Daryl – more than, quite frankly, I'm comfortable with. We've been extremely lucky so far, all things considered. We just avoided a major catastrophe by the skin of our teeth, and the twins are turning nine months the first of next month and they're healthy and growing and . . . I just can't help but think that sooner or later, Fate is going to do something to fuck things up, and I . . ." She bit down on her bottom lip. "I never thought I'd be doing this again, Daryl – going through pregnancy and labor and . . . I don't think I can do it again, you know? I always thought I'd be helping Wren or Beth or-or for the love of God – Maggie – with their firsts next! I never . . . I never thought it would be me again."

Daryl gazed at her keenly for a moment before his hand moved from the small of her back to wrap around her waist. His hand curled around her hip and he moved to sit up as he brought her closer to him. "Tess, I know ya – I know ya better than ya know yaself sometimes. Now what's wrong? What exactly are ya worried 'bout happenin'?"

Tessa gazed at him for a moment, knowing that he had yet to ask Rick about Carol like the both of them had begged Hershel to tell him to do, but as he continued to gaze at her as intently and with as much concern as he was currently doing, she knew he wouldn't let her off the hook – not that time.

"Have you talked to Rick about Carol yet?" She asked him and Daryl shook his head.

"No. I was supposed to do tha' yesterday, but . . ." He trailed off and closed his eyes before shaking his head. "I was jus' . . . I had a lot on ma mind yesterday and there was a lot to do so we didn' really get a chance to talk. But why do I need to, Tess? Why is everyone tellin' me I need to talk to Rick 'bout her?"

Tessa gazed at him for a moment before quietly speaking: "Carol is gone, Daryl. She's gone and I doubt she's gonna come back anytime soon."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, it suddenly dawned on him. It dawned on him just what Tessa was terrified of when it came to this fragile pregnancy and he shook his head in shock. "W-what do ya mean? Where did she go – did she jus' . . . leave?" He asked and Tessa shook her head.

"From how he explained it to me, the both of them went out on a run not that long after you guys left. While on that run, Carol confessed to him that she had killed Karen and David – that she had been the one to burn them. She wanted to avoid this whole thing by possibly killing the infection before it even spread. Rick kicked her out of the group because of it – he said he couldn't trust her anymore. And quite frankly, I agree with him, but . . . it was Carol, Daryl!"

Daryl nodded sagely. "Ya afraid tha' without Carol, we could lose Hershel in some freak something or another and . . . us be fucked." He replied and she nodded in return, a look of relief that he finally got it, appearing on her face.

"But honestly, Daryl, I don't know if I can do this again – I mean it! Last time was all well and good, but now that we have only one person left who can do this and-and . . .!" She trailed off and shook her head then as she turned her eyes up to his, tears shining in them. "Daryl, I can't give birth to another baby! I . . . I don't think I have it in me – not even for you!" Daryl nodded and pulled her into his arms then, her head moving to tuck underneath his chin as he held her and allowed her cry into his chest. It was the first real crying she had been able to do since she found out about the miscarriage in the shower and it felt good. Daryl was quickly becoming the only one she would allow to see her tears and quite frankly, she liked it that way. Daryl was her husband – he should be the only man who should see her cry, especially when she needed to stay strong for everyone else.

"Tess, I told ya a long, long time ago, tha' I didn' care how many kids we had, jus' as long as ya were their momma," He told her, his voice coming out slow and soothing and her sniffles deadened to the point to where he knew she was listening to him. "And even though I know this baby has stayed on 'cause he – or she – is a Dixon and tha twins held on through worse - we'll still admit we dodged a bullet if it comes out tha' ya lost it."

Tessa stayed silent for a moment before giving a wry chuckle. "'Dodge a bullet' . . . sounds horrible, but it's the truth, ain't it?" She fell silent and stayed silent for a moment before shaking her head. "But I agree with you, Daryl . . . I think the baby hung on. I mean, I'm not for certain, but I can . . . I can feel it, you know? It's the way some women instinctively know they're pregnant even before they take the test or go to the doctor's . . . it's along that same line, I think." Daryl gave a snort of amusement.

"Well ya do have more of tha' maternal instinct a Hell of a lotta women I've known and met since this whole shitstorm began, so . . . I won' argue with ya on tha'. Hell, tha' maternal instincts kept ma kids alive through a lotta shit when other's didn'. Guess I can' be complain', can I?"

"Well, I am Momma Bear . . ."

"Momma Bear, Den Mother, Queen Bee, Babydoll – there's no real difference – jus' semantics."

"Ooo, that was a big word, Daryl . . . did it take you long to come up with that?" She grinned and Daryl gave a bark of a laugh and rolled his eyes.

"I swear to God, if ya and/or Ethan make one more crack 'bout me and big words . . .!" He trailed off and Tessa arched a playfully challenging brow as she turned her eyes up onto him.

"You'll do what exactly?" She asked and he gazed at her for a moment.

"Abso-fuckin'-lutely nothin'?"

"Good boy – keep that in mind."

She spoke the last words with a grin and a wink and for a moment, Daryl marveled at how Tessa could eventually turn even the bleakest, most sarcastic, angriest – whatever – moments, into something so worth living for, for him.

He grinned and after planting a loving kiss on the crook of her neck, got to his feet from the cot, where he began searching the floor for his boots and a shirt. "I'm gonna go check on tha' kids – make sure the twins and Wren ain' got somewhere they ain' supposed to. Then I guess I'm gonna go talk to Rick 'bout tha Carol situation. Man's prolly done pissed his pants with fear from tellin' me by now."

"He's your best friend, Daryl. He's not afraid to tell you she's gone – he knows I've probably already told you. He's just afraid of how you'll react knowing that we only have one person left who could reasonably deliver this baby . . . or any baby, for that matter! It's clear by now that your family comes before anything else – that you'll rip out anyone's throat who dares to try and use me or our kids to get to you or hurt you. And while Rick certainly wouldn't do that, the fact does have a tendency to daunt people at times. It's a pretty dangerous weakness for people to try and fuck with, although not many people have tried!" Tessa replied to his slightly teasing words, her own coming out in a soft and gentle tone. Daryl gave a snort of derision, though, as he finished pulling on his boots and turned to gaze at her for a moment.

"Yeah, 'cause ya damn straight tha' Martin ain' gonna do it!"

Tessa shook her head. "We might not get a choice eight months down the road. You know I'll have to take whoever is there at the time . . ." She told him, her voice coming out quiet and slightly on edge, and Daryl nodded as he leaned forward and planted another kiss on her forehead.

"I know, babydoll, I know. And if it comes to tha', then . . . Hell, I'll put aside ma differences, jus' as long as ya and tha' baby comes out on tha' other side safe! But I'm tellin' ya now – tha' asshole better not touch tha' bottle for damn near a week leadin' up to it!" He warned her and Tessa grinned as he got to his feet, buttoning up a shirt as he did so.

"Or Papa Bear will come out, right?" She asked him and Daryl gave another snort, this time in amusement again.

"Fuck tha'. They'll see jus' how much of a Big Bad Wolf I can really be!"

"Sexy."

Daryl couldn't help but allow the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards into a smile before he shook his head and leaned down to her. "I worry 'bout ya sometimes." He told her before pressing a light kiss to her lips and she returned it, a grin still on her face.

"Your one to talk, Mr. Crossbow-Wielding-Badass!" She replied and he nodded.

"Oh, I know. Thank God some of ma inherent badassery was passed down to ma kids, right?"

"Oh, for the love of God, Daryl!"


"Hey, Ethan, wait up!"

Ethan turned around when the bright, cheerful voice reached his ears, only to find the voice belonged to Beth. His eyebrow furrowed in slight confusion, slight interest, and he paused on his way back to the room his mother and girlfriend had shared while they were gone, to wait for her.

She picked up her pace to reach him quicker and when she did, her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't been around him that much in months, so it shocked her at the height difference that was now starting to drastically show. Of course, Beth knew she wasn't the tallest woman in the prison, but she wasn't exactly short, either. Ethan, though . . . Ethan might have been fifteen-years-old but he towered over her, just shy of reaching his father's own 5"11' frame. And like Daryl, he was leanly muscled and handsome - a teenage boy that continued to look years ahead of what his actual age was.

"Hey, I just . . . wanted to see how you were doing." She told him and he nodded as he began a slow walk back in the direction he was going, Beth immediately picking up the pace as well.

"I'm doing fine; thanks for asking." He replied and he could see her balk slightly at the cool tone in his voice. However, she hastened to speak up and to get what she wanted to say, out.

"It's just . . . I heard from Sam and Martin that you guys had some complications while out on the run and -"

She balked again when Ethan came to an immediate stop and whirled around to face her. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and slight alarm. "What do you mean we had 'complications'? What have they been saying?"

Beth shook her head. "Nothing, just . . . Sam and Martin got into it with Daryl a couple of times – they didn't say why, though."

Ethan nodded as he turned around and began walking then, Beth immediately taking up his pace again. "Good. They don't need to be saying anything anyway. The both of them aren't exactly on deddy's good side right now – they don't need to push shit."

"Why, what . . . what happened?" She asked and Ethan glanced at her.

"Was there anything else you needed?" He asked, ignoring her question, and she shrugged.

"No, not really, I just . . . wanted to see how you were doing. We haven't talked or hung out in a while and I was . . . just wondering." She explained and he nodded.

"Well, like I said, I'm doing pretty well, all things considered, so . . ." He trailed off then and came to a stop when he realized that she was no longer walking beside him. He turned to face her, a look of slight confusion appearing on his face again. "What's up?"

Beth shook her head as she folded her arms in front of her chest. "Why did we . . . why did things end between us?" She asked and he immediately out a laugh.

"What thing? I was thirteen, Beth, and you were like, what? Seventeen? Was there anything between us but just a mutual crush?" Beth gave a little shrug.

"I . . . I like to think there was . . ." She muttered and Ethan's jaw hardened slightly.

"Are you serious? I mean . . . I don't mean to start anything or sound mean, but . . ." He gave a weak shrug. "Did you honestly think that something would come up between us? Like I said, I was thirteen, you were seventeen and yeah, that's a four year difference, but still! And then there was Jimmy and the attack on the farm and . . . there were just so many factors that if we had become a couple at the end of it, I would have been shocked!"

"But you know I really did like you, Ethan, right?" She told him before giving a shrug. "And I wanted to tell you, I really did, but then Seth and Wren showed up and you ended up spending more time with them and before I knew, Wren and you were a thing! And I tried to move on with Seth for a minute there, but he was . . . he was different and then there was Zach but truthfully, he was just passing the time until I thought you and Wren would run your course and . . ." She trailed off when she realized she was rambling and swallowed hard, her hands starting to twist nervously in front of her stomach. "I guess . . . I guess I never got over our - what we had – just ending like it did."

He gave a roll of his eyes. "For the love of God, you act like I fuckin' abandoned you!" Ethan snapped and Beth abruptly stopped talking at the very Daryl-like anger that was starting to flicker in his eyes. "And I didn't abandon you, Beth! If anything, we drifted apart – Hell, I even drifted apart with Glenn some! Seth had come into the group with Wren and I naturally gravitated back towards my best friend before this whole thing started, and me and Wren didn't even get together until Rick and the others came back from Woodbury with momma and without deddy. And before you say anything else, she came to me to make sure that I was okay – she was worried about me! You weren't; you made no effort to see if I was alright . . ." He shook his head again, his gaze and voice firm. "Wren was there for me when I needed someone, Beth. I did not abandon you, so stop thinking that I did!"

Beth had tears in her eyes as she slowly shook her head. "She's only with you because you look like Daryl, you know? She has some twisted little crush on your daddy and that's it." She nodded then. "I heard her talk about it with a couple of her friends a few months ago before the attack. They were giggling about how good looking and how devoted he is to Tess . . ." She shook her head and took a few steps towards him. "I'm telling you, Ethan – she's only with you because you look and you act like your daddy. If you need any proof, then for the love of God, look at the way she looks at him when he interacts with her. Its pathetic puppy love, that's what it is."

Ethan shook his head, a hard, angry look in his eyes. "We're done talking, Beth." He replied, his voice low and as hard and as angry as the look flickering in his eyes and it was then that he turned around and walked off, Beth finally making no move to follow him. And he didn't know where he was going, just away from her.


"Hey Little Bird, how they doin'?"

Wren smiled and turned around to face Daryl as he came out of the administration building and began making his way towards them. "They're doing really good. They really do like being outside, you know?" She told him and Daryl nodded.

"Well of course they do – they're ma kids, ain' they?" He replied grinningly as he squatted down a few feet away from them. Aayla's head had immediately whirled around at the sound of her father's voice and she quickly broke out into a broad grin when she saw him.

"Dada!"

Turning around from a sitting position, to her hands and knees with a speed and litheness that almost shocked him, she immediately took off for him. When she reached him, she grasped his knee with a confidence that made him let out a slightly incredulous laugh, and pulled herself to her feet. She wobbled uncertainly for a moment but managed to stay upright and he shook his head in bemusement as he held her close, pressing a loving kiss to the soft, downy dark hair covering her head. Danny had finally reached them as well by then, being more interested in one of the blocks in front of him, than his father who had so recently come to see them. Daryl smiled a small smile as he wrapped an arm around his youngest son before pressing the same kiss to his head. Danny would be the loner of the family, he could already tell; that or he'd be like Ethan.

"Hey, Huntress – Little Man. Ya guys givin' Wren a run for her money?" He asked teasingly and while Aayla immediately answered him in a jumble of gibberish and baby language, he turned a questioning gaze up to the girl in question. She shook her head assuringly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"They are really good babies, Daryl – you don't ever have to worry about them becoming too much. And if they do, then Tess is quick in coming to my aid." He nodded and turned his eyes down onto them.

"Hey, Aayla, answer a question for me, okay?" He asked and she immediately turned her beautiful, intelligent Dixon blue eyes up to his, where she waited patiently for him to speak. "What does tha fox say?"

Aayla simply stared at him for a moment before looking away, either disinterested in her father's question or not knowing how to answer it, and Daryl grinned and shook his head before he glanced up at Wren. "Thank God ya guys are alright, ya know?" He spoke quietly as Danny grasped Daryl's other knee and pulled himself to his feet, not as steadily as Aayla had, but he managed to keep his balance, nonetheless. "I worried 'bout ya tha entire time."

"And . . . and what about Ethan?" She asked, her voice coming out slightly hesitant, and Daryl turned his gaze up to her for a moment before nodding.

"He didn' say anythin' but I'm sure he missed ya jus' as much as I missed Tess," He gave a shrug. "Ya mean a lot to him, Wren. Don' doubt tha' he doesn' love ya."

Wren nodded in relief. She wouldn't lie – her conversation with Beth earlier hadn't exactly put her as ease and hearing from Daryl that she meant a lot to his son and that he loved her, certainly made her feel better.

"Why?"

Her eyebrows furrowed gently in slight confusion as his question reached her. "What do you mean?" She asked and he gave a light shrug.

"Why tha sudden uncertainty?" Wren gave another shrug as she moved over to them, where she squatted own in front of them as well. Danny chose to leave Daryl then, and fell into Wren's arms. She helped him back to his feet before glancing at Daryl. He was gazing at her keenly, waiting patiently for her to answer and when she did, she was surprised when her words caught briefly in her throat.

"I . . . I had a talk with Beth while you guys were gone and it just . . . I guess it made me think twice, you know?" She confessed and Daryl heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Don' mind her none. She's jus' a bitter little girl. Good girl – love her to death, but . . . jus' a bitter little girl."

"Why?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing in interest, and Daryl opened his mouth to speak but they were interrupted by Ethan walking up to them. He carried an expressionless, almost thoughtful look and when Wren immediately jumped to her feet and moved over to him, where she pecked him on the lips, Daryl noticed that his son's movements were a lot more mechanical than his girlfriend's were as he returned the kiss.

"Everythin' okay?" He asked him quietly and Ethan smiled a strained smile and nodded.

"Yeah . . . yeah, everything's peachy." He told them and while Wren nodded, accepting his answer, Daryl did some with a lot more reluctance. He knew his son – he knew his son better than he did sometimes and likewise, Daryl knew when something got to him.

Something like a bitter little girl.