I watched Daryl holding LB after she apologized to him. It was sweet seeing those two together like that. I'm glad that they made up. He looked so upset when she said that to him. I wanted him to understand that she really didn't mean that she hated us. LB is just a little kid, they say mean things all the time without realizing it.

"Guess what, mommy?" Dallas said excitedly.

I smiled down at him. "What?" Giving him an amused look.

"We told the other kids in school about you making us ice cream! And they got real jealous!" He grinned from ear to ear. I had to laugh. "They all said they wanted some!"

I gave Daryl a look, then looked back down at my son. "Dallas, honey, we can't do that. We don't have enough supplies for that." I shook my head. "If you had one friend over, that'd be a little bit different. But I just simply can't do that for all the kids." I smiled again. "Besides, more for you, right?" I joked. He laughed. "I'm kidding. We're not selfish."

I was in bed later that night, Ponyboy was with me. I was petting him and he was all happy and purring. I wish I felt that way. I don't really remember what that feels like. I mean…I'm fine when I'm with people but…not when I'm alone.

"Hey." Daryl walked into the room. "The kids told me what happened. How come ya freaked out like that? I didn't even thank ya cared is they did skip school?"

I just laid my head back on the pillow and didn't look at him. "I don't know." I said clearly sounding upset.

"Hey." Daryl got into bed next to me. "It's alright. It ain't a big deal. I just wondered is all." I didn't say anything to that, I was facing away from him. "Everythang okay?"

I thought about his question. Things obviously weren't okay. I didn't know if I wanted to talk about this. How would I even explain it? He might get the wrong idea. He might think you are crazy. Maybe you are. I shook that thought. I didn't want to lie to him. I sighed and rolled over so that I could face him. "No. Not really." I finally said. We stared at each other.

Daryl wrapped his arms around me after that. I leaned against him with my head on his chest and we just held each other for a long time. It felt nice, definitely something that I needed. All the stress inside of me, all of the worry and bad feelings, the temptation of drinking that vodka today, that all needed to come out. I tried taking a deep breath and relaxing.

I exhaled sharply. "Do…" I started to say but trailed off. "Do you remember when the twins were three and Lori-Beth ran away?"

"Yeah." Daryl said. "I found 'er all the way by the gate." He snorted.

"I was so scared that day."

"I know ya were."

I hesitated. "…but I was mad too. I was mad at her, and I know she was just a toddler and she really didn't know what she did, but…" My voice started shaking. "I thought about spanking her. I know we agreed not to but…I still wanted to hit her. The thought scared me that I wanted to do that to that little girl." I had tears in my eyes.

"You didn't though." Daryl said to try and help me, I guess. "You didn't hit her. You never did. I never did neither. We didn't."

I sighed. "I guess but the memory still haunts me." I breathed out heavily again. We were both quiet for a moment. I decided that I wanted to tell him more and I didn't care if he didn't understand. "You know…sometimes I get these…uncomfortable feelings. Very uncomfortable feelings. Almost like I'm a stranger in my own body…or like being naked in front of a crowd of people…It's hard to explain." I sighed. "I've experienced them for as long as I can remember, even like as I little kid. But now…they've gotten worse. I thought that…it would get better as I got older but it's the opposite. It's at it's worse probably when I'm alone. But it was also bad when I was pregnant with the twins…" I looked at him up at him, but he wasn't looking at me.

"I'on know what to say." Daryl said. "I'm sorry."

I looked back down. "I don't like being alone here." I blurted out. "You leave all the time and-and I know what you're doing is important, but sometimes I just want you here." I paused. "It was different when the twins were younger because they were here all the time with me and I had them to look after…but now that they've started school…I just can't be alone all the time."

"Then don't." Daryl looked at me. "Come on runs with me again. We was a great team." He smirked.

"I want to but…who's gonna be here for the twins when they get home?"

"We'll get someone else to look after 'em fer a little. I'm sure there's someone here that's lookin' fer somethin'."

"I don't know. I'll think about it." I shook my head. "It just feels wrong. They're our kids."

"We'll figure somethin' out." He nodded. "We will. It ain't fair fer ya to be feelin' this way. Just…try not to worry about it too much right now." He kissed my forehead. "Tomorra's Thankgivin'." He smirked. "And I got a turkey."

I smiled at him, then I had to laugh. "You." We kissed each other. "I love you."

The next day, I was trying to take care of the turkey and prepare it. It was a lot harder than I thought. I watched my mom make it the one year but…I never actually did it myself. I hope it turns out right. While stuffing the turkey, I got some of it on my hands. "Ew." I said and wiped my hands off on a towel. I saw Daryl looking at me just then. I let out a small laugh. "You know…I never actually did this before. I hope it turns out right."

"It'll be fine." He said. "Everythang ya make tastes great." Daryl popped an olive into his mouth. I gave him a small smile.

"Don't ruin it, mommy!"

"Yeah, mom!"

"Ay." Daryl said to the twins. He looked back at me and I laughed. He smirked. "Here, I'll help ya." He helped me with the turkey.

Daryl and I continued to make food. I'm glad he helped without me asking him because I hope he didn't think I was going to make all this food myself. I mean…I don't want to complain but…there was a lot to do. He ended up helping with the turkey and the mashed potatoes. Mainly because I didn't think I would make them good. He said we could just have regular potatoes but I wasn't okay with that. We always had mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Plus, I wanted this to be nice for all of us, especially Daryl. He never had holidays with his family and that saddens me. Holidays were great in my family. I wanted him to have that too.

I sighed sitting down on the couch once everything was put together. I don't know how my mom and grandma did this every year? I was exhausted already and a little annoyed. I probably won't even feel like eating once everything is done. Although… I put my hand over my stomach and looked down.

Dallas noticed that I sat down and come over by me and snuggled up against me. I smiled. "Hi, sweet boy." I kissed his head. "You guys enjoying yourselves? Or maybe you'd rather be in school?" I smirked.

"No!" They both yelled in unison. I smirked, then laughed. I had to give Dallas a squeeze after that.

"Mommy?" LB came over to us now. "Can we play games?"

"You wanna play games?" I asked enthusiastically. She nodded rapidly and smiled. "Well, go ahead. Play games."

"No, I want you to play with me." She tugged on my hand.

"Ugh." I said making them both giggle. "Mama doesn't wanna play games. I'm tired."

"Please!" LB begged.

I had a thought just then and smirked. "Why don't you go ask daddy? I think he's in the den." I know Daryl won't tell her no.

"Okay!" She got excited. Just as she was about to leave, though, Daryl stepped into the room.

"LB." He said. "Here. I made that bracelet ya wanted." He handed her the little piece of jewelry. A few days ago, her and Dallas were messing around and the clasp broke on her bracelet. Daryl said he would fix it but something happened and he couldn't. So, he said he would make her one instead. I guess he just did now. I smiled at them. However, LB did not look thrilled. "What's a matter?" Daryl asked her when he saw her face. "Ya wanted a bracelet, right?"

"Yeah." She said quietly and didn't take her eyes away from it. I wondered what was wrong?

"LB?" I said.

Suddenly, she started to cry. "It's not how I wanted it." She complained.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "LB, that isn't nice."

"But it's not what I wanted." She continued to sob. I think Dallas giggled. "Look at it." She held it up. "I wanted a real bracelet. This one's made with beads."

I glanced at Daryl while our daughter stood there and cried about her bracelet. I couldn't read his expression. I couldn't tell if he was mad, sad, annoyed, like he wanted to laugh or like he didn't even care. But either way, it made me feel bad. I know how generous my husband is and how he likes to do things for others. I won't let our kids be ungrateful like this. There's no way I'm letting this go. "Lori-Beth." I said sternly. "Come over here." She slowly walked over to me with her head down and still crying but not as hard, she probably knew she was in trouble. "Look at me." She lifted her head. "Your daddy wanted to make you something nice because he loves you. So, you stop it." I looked at her seriously. "Now, you thank him and give him a hug right now."

She cried harder as she walked over to him. "Thank you, daddy." She hugged him.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." He said and hugged her back, then he lifted her. "Sorry it ain't how ya wanted it." He patted her back. My husband and I shared a look, he smiled at me and I returned it. It was to say…"thank you" and "I will always have your back."

LB got over herself pretty quickly after that and now the kids were playing with the dog. Daryl and I were sitting together on the couch. I heard Dog barking and squealing and looked up at what they were doing. They had him trapped under a basket and were laughing.

"Hey!" I said. "Get him out of there." They lifted the basket off of him and he ran. "Come here, my boy." I called him over, he came running to me. "What were they doing to you?" I picked him up. "Oh, my." The kids were just laughing. "You think that's funny? Watch this." I held Dog so that he was facing me and I howled. He tried to imitate me. They laughed. I did it again. He tried but you could tell from his howl that he was just a puppy. "You're so cute." I snuggled him to me. "He wants to howl but he can't because he too baby." I baby talked the dog. Daryl smirked at me and shook his head. The twins were laughing pretty hard.

Just then, the timer went off. "Uh oh." I said. "You know what that means? Time to eat!" I acted excited.

"Yay!" They yelled in unison.

"Yeah, yay." Daryl said. I laughed.

"Where the hell is my dad and Michonne?" I said while we were putting all the food out. "I told them dinner was at 5." I burned my finger on something. "Ow." I quickly pulled my hand away. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Daryl and I shared a look. "Well…" I said. "How about that?"

"Everything's real good, Abby." My dad said as we were eating.

"Thanks." I said. "Daryl helped with the turkey." I smiled at my man. All of a sudden, I saw a piece of food being thrown across the table, it hit RJ. I knew it was Dallas. "Dallas." I scolded him. RJ threw something back. "RJ." I scolded him now. Dallas was about to throw something else but I grabbed his hand. "We are not having a food fight. Drop it." He dropped it back onto his plate.

"Boys." Judith said and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah." Lori-Beth agreed. I looked at her. I knew she was only agreeing with Judith because she wanted to be like her, a big kid. Plus, my LB was very smart. My dad smiled at me. We had the same thought.

"Heard a group was going out tomorrow." Michonne said after sometime. "You goin'?" She asked Daryl.

I gave my husband a look, he looked back at me. I hoped that he would take the hint after our conversation last night. I don't want him going out so much, I want him here. "Nah." Daryl finally said looking at Michonne. "Imma sit this one out. They can handle thangs without me fer a while." He glanced at me, I smiled at him. I was glad, he made the right choice.

A little later after dinner, the kids were running around playing, Michonne was playing with Ponyboy and my dad, Daryl and I were talking. "So full." My dad said. "I ate too much."

I laughed. "Well, you guys can take some if you want to. Otherwise, we'll be eating turkey until New Year's." We all laughed.

Just then, LB ran into the room. She stopped when she saw my dad on the couch. "Hi, pappy." She said and hugged him.

"Hi, sweetheart." My dad kissed her. She sat on his lap with him. Lori sure loves her pappy. I just watched the two and had to smile.

"Guess what, pappy?" LB said. My dad gave her an amused look. "I'm the smartest in my class!"

"Oh yeah?" He said. "That doesn't surprise me. I always knew you were gonna be a little smarty." He kissed her a bunch of times on her temple. Judith came over and joined us. I guess she didn't want to play with little boys.

"Hey, let's not forget to do our secret Santa now." I said. "Everybody has to participate." I looked at Daryl. "Everyone." He snorted. "And if you pick yourself, you have to pick again."

"Maybe I wanted to get myself a gift." My dad said. He and LB laughed.

"Well, too bad." I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

I decided to make it easier on everyone and I wrote names down on a piece of paper, then cut them out, folded them up and put them into a bowl. We all took turns picking one. "I got grammy!" Dallas said.

"Dallas." I said. "You're not supposed to tell anyone who you got."

"Oh." He said.

I sighed. "Put it back in and pick another one." He did. "Now, no telling this time, got it?" He nodded. "Good." I picked last. I got my dad. I smiled.

My dad, Michonne, Judith and Rick Jr. stayed for a little while longer, we talked and had dessert. We made plans to get together next week and then my dad and Michonne were going to take the kids for a few nights at their place then, the next week, Judith and RJ would come here. The kids seemed to get excited. Judith really wasn't, but I figured she would probably hang around Daryl and I.

They all left soon after that, and we all said our goodbyes. I walked them to the door. When I turned back around, I saw the huge mess in the kitchen and sighed. I regret doing this at our house. I walked over there. It was even worse looking once I got closer. Well, better just get to work.

I wrapped up all of the leftover food, then put it away into the fridge. I was already feeling tired as hell after that. I decided to take a small break and put the twins to bed. I saw them playing on the floor with their toys. "Alright." I called. "Time for bed, kids."

"Aww!"

"Can't we stay up a little longer, mommy?" LB begged.

"No, you cannot." I said flatly. "Come on." I clapped. "Go brush your teeth, get your pj's on and into bed. I'll be in there in a few minutes to say goodnight." They both walked passed me down the hall with disappointed looks on their faces.

That struck a nerve so I took a deep breath. Since when do you care about stupid stuff like this? What the hell happened to you? Those thoughts hurt me so bad that it felt like actual pain in my chest. I took another deep breath and got myself some water. I drank that down and then another. I must just be thirsty from all of that salty food.

After about ten minutes, I went into the twins's room to say goodnight to them like I said. "Come here, my little butterfly." I said and kissed LB. I moved over to the other side of the room. "And of course, my sweet boy." I kissed him as well and fixed his blankets. "Okay, you both good? Teeth brushed?" They nodded. "No one has to go to the bathroom, no one needs a drink of water?" They shook their heads. "Alright. In that case, goodnight my little twins." I smiled. I started to walk out of the room, but LB stopped me.

"Mommy?" I heard her little voice and turned to her. "How come you've been acting different?"

I gave her a surprised look and walked more into the room. "What do you mean, baby?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes, it just seems like…you're not there. Like you don't pay attention or something."

"I noticed that too." Dallas chimed in.

I just stared at them for a moment. I felt horrible inside after they just told me that. I had no idea that they realized there was something off about me. I silently cursed myself for that. The last thing I want to do is make my babies worry. I cleared my throat. "Mommy just has a lot on her mind right now." I used the excuse that every adult uses when they are going through something. "But I'll be fine. Please don't worry about me." I smiled and just looked at them for a minute. "How about getting some sleep now?" I nodded and slowly left their bedroom.

I sighed as soon as I got back to the kitchen. "Hey." Daryl said behind me. I didn't even know he was there. "Ya okay?"

I looked at him and sighed again. "No."

"What do ya mean no? What's wrong?" He gave me look.

I hesitated just then. "…nothing." I shook my head. "I'm just…tired." I gave him a small smile. "And a little dizzy."

Daryl seemed to look around me, he licked his lips then nodded. "I'll take care 'a this. You go ahead to bed."

I hesitated again. "…are you sure? I mean…there's a lot. We could both do it. It would go a lot faster."

"Nah. I got it." He kissed my forehead. "Just go to bed." He gave my backside a light swat. I smiled.

"Well, if you insist." I gave in and just let him do it. I felt kind of bad but he offered so… I stood there for a moment watching him, he just got started on cleaning up. I stared at his back. I bit my lip. "I'm pregnant again." I said.

Daryl stopped and spun around facing me. "What?" His eyes were slightly wide. I just nodded. "Are you sure? You know?"

"I know." I stated calmly. "I already went to the doctor."

Daryl seemed to calm down a little and didn't look as surprised as he did a moment ago. "We both said we didn't want no more kids." He said roughly. "I thought we was bein' careful about this—

"We were." I said before he even finished his sentence. "I don't know what happened." I paused and just watched my husband carefully. He didn't look mad but he didn't exactly look happy either. I didn't even know if I was happy about it. He sighed and looked away. "Look," I grabbed his hands, "I didn't want to either, but…it's happening…and there's nothing we can do about it." He looked up at me then. "So, we're having another baby." I sort of shrugged.

Daryl was quiet. "Yeah." He finally said. "That's what it looks like." He still didn't look happy, though, which made me nervous.

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