Daryl and I were in the bathtub together. I was leaning back against him, his body was so warm and welcoming. It always was. This was so nice. It's been a while since we took a bath together, it's been a long time since I felt his touch causing my bereft feeling to slowly fade away.

I love my husband, I really do. I know we have had our problems but I miss him so much. I'm so glad he's back with me. I began to scrub his back, cleaning the dirt off to reveal his scars. I kissed him back there and put my arms around him. I felt his hands on mine making me smile.

Suddenly, I had tears in my eyes. I was so emotional now…but it was a good emotional feeling, they were tears of joy. "I love you, Daryl." I said. "I love you so much."

I heard the most awful sound in the world and woke up out of my amazing dream. Looking around the room, I realized that's all it was…a dream. Depression set in immediately and I hesitated to turn off the alarm.

Once that was done, I slowly got out of bed and threw my pants on. Gemma was laying there still asleep somehow. She sleeps with me all the time now so I can keep an eye on her. I moved closer to her and kissed her forehead. "Come on, baby. Time to get up. You have to get your medicine and you have to go see Dr. Cohen." I gently pushed her hair back, she stirred in her sleep but still didn't get up. "Come on, my precious little gem."

"I no wanna go doctors today." She mumbled and sounded sad. "I no like it."

"I know, baby, but you have to." I picked her up. "Come on. Gotta start the day." I carried her into the kitchen to give her her medicine.

This had become part of my routine. Gemma and I get up bright and early, she gets her medicine and a healthy breakfast. Then, sometimes she has her treatments at the doctors.

We usually go visit the twins at my dad's house afterwards, then I get Gemma home so she can eat a nice lunch, take more medicine and put her down for a nap. I usually spend that time cleaning.

Then we have dinner, stay up for a little after spending time with each other, I usually try to read to her, then we go to bed. We sleep in Gemma's room because…it's just too painful to be in my room without…without Daryl. Then, we do the whole thing again tomorrow.

"Medicine yucky." Gemma said after I gave it to her. She made a disgusted face.

"I know, but it's good for you, sweetheart." I gave her a hug, then kissed her three times. "I love you so much." I smiled.

"I love you too, mama."

I hugged her again burying my face in her beautiful hair. "Come on. Time to see the doctor."

"I no want it!" Gemma cried and pushed the needle away. "I no want it! It hurts. Mama!" She cried hard.

"I know, baby. It's okay. It's okay." I hugged her close and tried to calm her. I nodded at the doctor to do it now while she wasn't looking. He quickly gave her the injection. Gemma cried loudly and clung to me. I looked at her sadly. "It's alright. It's over now. You did it." I tried to make her happy. She was still crying while the doctor put a bandaid on her.

I hated to see her cry, it was heartbreaking. I was wrong about what I said earlier. My alarm is not the most awful sound in the world.

Dr. Cohen let Gemma play with his stethoscope once she calmed down so that he and I could talk. "How is she doing?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "The same. She's in pain, she gets sick, sometimes vomits and has nosebleeds."

"Really?" He said. "She seems to be doing pretty well to me at this point in the illness."

I gave him a pleading look. "Dr. Cohen, it's been a year. A whole damn year and she's not any better. In fact, she's worse. Why isn't she getting any better?"

The doctor stared at me for a moment, his lips pressed into a thin line. I could tell there was something he wanted to say but didn't want to say it. That scared me the most. "Abigail…I think you know the answer to that. I don't have to tell you again that we just don't have the kind of equipment that we need."

"Right," I raised my voice a little, "but she's still getting treatments. And you said you would do everything in your power to help her get better."

The doctor held a hand up. "I did…but correction, I did not say to get her better, I said to help her. I can't guarantee that she will be cured. I just can't say that. That's not up to me." He said quietly and shook his head. I gave him another pleading look. "I want her to get better, too, Abigail, I would love that. I would give my own life to save that little sweetheart, I would. But…we have to be realistic here." There was a brief pause. I felt lost. "You wanted me to be straight and that's what I'm doing."

I put my head down and nodded. "I know." I wiped away a stray tear.

I felt Dr. Cohen's hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

I nodded at him, then quickly pulled myself together. I turned to my precious little gem happily playing with the doctor's equipment. "Come on, baby. You ready to see grammy and pappy? And big bro and sis?" I put on a smile for her.

"Yeah." She said with a big smile. I helped her down, then took her little hand. We started to walk out of the room, but I took a look back at the doctor. He gave me a sympathetic smile. I ignored it and walked on.

"Hi." I said walking into the Grimes household. They don't live in that small ass trailer anymore. They moved into one of the houses that were built so they can have more room. I can't say I blame them.

"Hi, sweetheart." My dad greeted me and we kissed each other.

"Hi, pap pap." Gemma said sweetly.

"Hi, baby." My dad put his arms out and Gemma practically jumped into them. She immediately stared playing with his beard. I smiled. A real smile.

"Mommy!" I heard. I turned around to see the twins running over to me.

I got down immediately so I could hug them. "Hi, my babies." We hugged tightly. "Oh, I love you guys so much." I kissed each of them and we stayed like that for a little, then finally pulled apart.

"Guess what, mommy?" Dallas said. "Aunt Judy took us to the playground the one day and I beat all the guys in a race!"

"Wow!" I pretended to be surprised. "That's great." I looked at my sister and smiled, I mouthed the words "thank you" to her. She just smiled back. She's not a kid anymore, she's fifteen but she really is good with the kids.

"And I aced my math test yesterday!" LB said.

"That's my girl. I knew you would." I pushed her hair back. I was awful in math, I don't know where she got that from. I glanced at my dad real quick. I wanted to tell him about what Dr. Cohen said but I didn't want all of the kids to hear. My dad was the only person I could talk to. "Hey, kids. Why don't you go play in the other room? I wanna talk to pappy for a minute."

"Okay!" They said and ran into the playroom.

"I wanna play too." Gemma said. My dad put her down and she ran in there after them.

"Be careful with Gemma!" I called to them. I sighed and turned to my dad, I gave him a look.

"How is everythang?" My dad asked me.

I shrugged. "The same."

He nodded and was quiet for a minute. "Hey, Abby, Michonne and I were thinking…the twins are nine now. They're almost old enough to go out there." He paused. I looked up at him curiously. "We were thinking about…taking them out there, you know, for the first time?" He nodded. I gave him a look before answering. "What do ya think?"

I began shaking my head before I realized it. "No." I finally said. "No, I wanted to be there when they go out the first time. And so does their father."

My dad gave me a sort of disappointed look. "Well, Daryl isn't here and no one has any idea when he will be back. And you…well, I was telling you because we want you to come too."

"No." I said immediately. "I can't. I have to be here for Gemma."

"Abby." My dad kind of tilted his head. "Someone else can watch Gemma for a day."

"No." I said almost before he finished his sentence. "I don't trust anyone else with her and…and…" I trailed off. I was getting emotional again. "I wanna spend as much time with her as possible."

There was a brief pause. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." My dad spoke softly. "How is she?"

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and shook my head. "She had a doctor's appointment today."

Another pause. "It's not good, is it?" He spoke even softer. I shook my head and started crying. "Hey, hey." My dad hugged me. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." I snapped.

"Abby, come on. That's not helping anyone. You have to stay strong." He held onto my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"Yeah, well…it's hard." I sniffled and wiped my tears. I needed to calm down before I take Gemma home. No one has any idea what I'm going through right now. I have a sick child, my family fell apart and to top it all off I'm alone. I haven't seen my husband in almost a year. Who knows where the hell he is.

"Daryl needs to get his ass home." My dad said roughly and randomly.

"Daryl is working stuff out." I said. "And you know how he is. "Daryl will come home when Daryl wants to." I nodded. I took a few deep breaths calming myself down. There was a brief pause. "I have to get Gemma home so she can eat lunch and take her medicine." I said and walked into the other room where the kids were playing. "Gemma." I called. "Come on, baby, time to go." She slowly got up and walked over to me.

"You're leaving already?" LB said. Please don't do this to me. This is hard enough as it is.

"Yeah, we gotta get home." I said. "Come give your mama a hug." They both ran to me. I let out a small laugh.

"Can we come home now, mommy?" My sweet boy's voice broke my heart.

"Yeah, please mama?" LB said. She hasn't called me mama in a long time. It cut my heart in half.

"Not just yet." I said. "Soon." I hugged them tightly and closed my eyes as if I were in pain. When I opened them, I saw my sister giving me a concerned look. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I quickly let go of them and stood up. "I love you guys." I said. They looked sad, it was killing me and I had to get away. "Bye, Judith and RJ." I waved. "Come on, Gemma." I took her hand and we left.

I made lunch and gave Gemma her medicine, then put her down for a nap. I was sitting in the living room alone and sad. I had no one right now. There was my dad but…I wanted Daryl. I needed Daryl. My husband was always my best company.

There were times when I thought about going to look for him, but…I can't do that. I had no idea of where to even start. He could be miles and miles away for all I knew. And besides that, I needed to be here for Gemma. She needs me more than anyone else does right now.

I was trying to relax but it was nearly impossible. All I kept thinking about was my poor little girl. How she's sick all the time and how she hates going to the doctor and cries. And my other babies. They have to be away from their mom like this, still being kids themselves. I don't want them seeing their sister like this though. And then there's me…alone and sad.

I started beathing heavily. What if Daryl never comes home? What if he decided that he liked his life better before me and wants to stay out there? What if the twins get angry with me and decide never to come home and stay with my dad and Michonne? And what if…what if Gemma dies? I will be all alone. My eyes widened and I gasped. I was breathing heavy and feeling faint. I think I'm having a panic attack.

Just then, there was knock at the door. I looked up, all other thoughts were abandoned. My curiosity yearned to know who that was, so I got up and answered the door. It was my sister. I was surprised to say the least. What could she want?

"Hey." She said. "I know what you said before, but…I don't care." She shook her head. I gave her a questioning look. "I'm staying here with you for a while. I can help out around the house and even with Gemma, if you let me." She said firmly.

My shoulders slumped. I appreciated her wanting to help, I really did, but this wasn't her problem. "Judith—

"Don't try to tell me that you don't need my help." She cut me off. "And don't try to tell me that you're okay because you're clearly not. I could see it in your eyes. It's all over your face." She stopped to take a breath. "So…I'm staying. You don't have a say."

I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to send her away…but…my conscience was telling me something different. It told me to let her. It told me that this was a good thing and that I wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Deep down, I knew I had to agree to this. For my health and my kids. A stray tear fell down my face and I nodded at her. She smiled and stepped inside.

"You know I really appreciate you doing this?" I told my sister. "Still…you don't have to."

"I know. But I want to." Judith said. "We're family, it's what we do. So, you're just going to have to get used to it." She just smiled at me. She reminded me of someone when she said that. I think…Beth? But she wouldn't even remember Beth, she was way too young when Beth died. I just put my arm around her and rubbed her back for a minute.

"Well, I gotta go wake up Gemma and give her her medicine, then get dinner started." I said and turned away. My sister stepped in front of me.

"Let me, sis." She said. "You look tired, go get some rest. I'll take care of Gemma and make something for dinner." She nodded. I hesitated. I was reluctant to let her help because I'm the only one who has been giving Gemma her medicine besides the doctor. I bit my lip and my eyes glazed over. "Hey." She said again making me look back at her. "I got this. I promise." She smiled. "Go get some rest."

I sighed. Maybe she's right. Maybe it would be good for all of us. And…I am pretty wore out. "Okay." I nodded. "Thanks." I smiled at her.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I got up, I felt so much better. I felt like I had more energy, I must have really needed that extra rest. I was thankful for my sister. I realized after that that it was really quiet in the house. Maybe Judith let Gemma sleep some more?

I got up and started looking around to make sure everything was okay. I could hear voices and laughter but it sounded like it was from a distance. I finally realized that it was coming from the den.

When I walked inside, I didn't say anything just watched. Mainly because, I heard the most beautiful sound, a familiar sound. My precious little gem was laughing. My eyes widened as I watched the scene in front of me. Judith was playing with my daughter and making her laugh. She had two toys and was making them have a conversation. The stuff she was saying was so dumb, but…Gemma found it hilarious. I just stood there and smiled.

"You're funny, aunt Judy." Gemma told her. "I'm glad you're here."

"Aw, you're so sweet." Judith said and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad I'm here too."

I just could not stop smiling, tears were brought to my eyes. My baby was…happy. That's all I could ask for. Maybe Judith staying here is a good thing.

It was now months later, some time in the summer time, which I loved. Summer is my favorite season, it just makes everything better and everyone seems happier. Things have been good for the most part. My little sister really stepped up and helped me out. I appreciated her more than she will ever know. And what was more important was that my precious little gem was happier, which made me happier.

I still missed my family a lot. I wonder about my husband all the time, where he is and if he is okay. I wish he would come home. I wish there was some way that he could get in touch with me. He sure has been gone a long time. Maybe he really isn't coming back. Maybe he met someone else out there? Or maybe he's…dead.

I put my head down and shook that thought. I don't want to think about that. I want my children to come home too. I think they are almost ready, they are almost old enough and mature enough to handle Gemma's sickness. I didn't want them around it before because I didn't want them to be afraid. But I think they can handle it now. It will be soon that they can come home.

So, everything was pretty good besides that. This morning started out like any other morning. However, something out of the ordinary happened on this day that changed everything.

Judith, Gemma and I were having lunch when there was a knock at the door. "Oh." I said turning in that direction. "It's probably dad coming to see if we're okay." I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah." Judith laughed too. "Want me to get it?"

"No, that's okay." I said standing up and putting the last of my food in my mouth. "I got it." I wiped my hands on my pants as I walked over there. I opened the door still looking down, then quickly looked up. I froze and couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Daryl! My eyes widened, and I just stood there. It felt like time itself stopped while we just stared at each other. Finally, my husband gave me a small smile. "Hey." he said. I still hadn't said anything.

"Daddy!" Gemma yelled and ran to him. He scooped her up and held her tightly. I could see in his eyes that he missed her terribly.

"Hey, Daryl." Judith said next. They hugged.

"Wow, look at you. You ain't a kid no more." Daryl said. My sister looked away and let out a laugh. Dog barked just then and ran inside. I didn't even notice him. Judith got him some food and water.

I still hadn't said anything. "So, where's my other kids?" Daryl said.

Suddenly, anger erupted inside of me. He's been gone forever and he thinks he can just walk back in here like everything is fine? I don't think so. "Are you out of your mind?" I snapped. Everything became serious again. "You've been gone for almost two years and come back here saying 'hey?' You must be our of your mind, Daryl Dixon!" There was a brief pause after that. I made it real awkward in here.

"Hey, I have a good idea." Judith said breaking the silence. "How about I take Gemma to the playground? That way you guys can catch up." She turned to me. "Is that okay?"

I sighed. "Yeah, sure. Just…be careful with her." I said. She nodded and left quickly with Gemma. Damn. I didn't mean to make her feel that awkward. Now it was just Daryl and I. I stared at him.

"I know yer mad at me." He started to say. "And ya have every right to. I shouldn't 'a been gone so long without lettin' ya know but—

I cut him off by throwing myself into his arms and kissing him. It was a long, sexy kiss. I felt our past slowly float back in my memory. Everything that I have been feeling, everything that I have been longing for also came at me at once. I was about to cry.

I finally pulled apart and breathed into him. I was close to tears. "I'm sorry." Daryl said.

"Shut up." I stopped him before he went any farther with that apology. "Before I let you back in here, are…are you here to stay or…are you just coming back to leave again?" I looked up into his eyes. "And don't you lie to me."

Daryl cleared his throat and swallowed before answering. "I'm here to stay…if you'll have me?"

I gave him a look. "Well…of course I want you here, but…you're in a lot of trouble." I crossed my arms.

He gave me a smile. "I know."

He won't be smiling soon. I thought. We just stood there for a minute not saying anything. I looked him over, he was dirty from head to toe and you guessed it…he didn't smell good. "Come on," I grabbed him by his shirt, "we're taking a bath together."

"Uh…are ya sure? I'm dirty."

"I'm positive." I said sternly. "Now let's go."

"Yes, ma'am." He said. I smiled but he couldn't see it because I was facing away from him.

I hummed while squirting some soap onto a rag and rubbing it together to get a lather, then I started to wash my man's back. I had to practically scrub him clean. I already washed his hair. "Where were you all this time?" I asked him.

"Just all over." He said. "From here to New Jersey. Ran into some trouble a few months back." There was a brief pause. "I know I shouldn't 'a stayed out that long, and I'm sorry. Really I am."

I listened while gently scrubbing the dirt from his back revealing the scars back there. I traced them with my finger. It makes me so sad that that happened to him, especially that he was just a kid. I gave him a kiss on one of his scars. I began to feel emotional about that and what he said. I missed him so much. However, I didn't want him to know that I was upset, so I quickly shook those feelings. "Well…did you find what you were looking for?"

Daryl didn't answer me right away. It was quiet for a long time, which kind of scared me. I didn't know if he was thinking or if there was something he just didn't want to say to me. "Yeah…I did." He finally said. He lifted my hand and kissed it. "That's why I came home."

I felt a certain feeling inside of me after he said that. That just confirmed that he wants a relationship with me again and he wants us to work things out. "Well, good." I finally said holding back tears. "Because I missed you." I hugged him from behind, he put his hand over mine. Just like in my dream. "Come on, I don't wanna spend all day in the tub." I said. "I still have to cut your hair and I wanna have sex before Judith and Gemma get back." I said getting out of the tub and getting us towels.

"Yes ma'am." Daryl said a little happier. He took the towel I gave him and started to dry himself off. "Hey, where are the twins?" I looked back at him and saw the curious look he was giving me.

"Well, at least you had Judith to keep you company." Daryl said as I was cutting his hair. I told him everything that has happened while he was gone.

"Actually…she only moved in a few months ago. It was just me and Gemma for a long time." I said quietly.

"Oh." Daryl hesitated and looked away. I brushed the old hair off of his shoulders and onto the floor. "…how is she? How's the baby?"

It felt like I was punched in the stomach. I bit my lip in an attempt to hold back the tears. "She's seen better days." I wiped a tear away. "But we're not going to talk about that right now." I said quickly before he said anything to that. I also wanted to change the subject. I took a deep breath. "So, what happened out there? You said you ran into trouble."

Daryl's eyes casted down like he was thinking. "Nothin'. Just assholes and walkers. Same stuff as always."

I looked at him for a moment, then nodded. I guess he doesn't want to go into detail right now. "Well, are you okay?" I pushed his hair back.

"Yeah." He said softly. "I am." I felt his hands on my waist, he started moving them up under my shirt. It gave me a feeling "there."

"You're done." I said. "It looks way better." I ran my hands through his hair, then kissed his forehead and hugging his head to me. He rested his head on my chest and wrapped his arms around me. I continued playing with his hair. "Come on. Let's go in the bedroom." I said all breathy.

I turned around and Daryl caught me off guard by lifting me. I giggled a little. "I missed that sound." He said. He carried me into the bedroom. We took each other's clothes off while kissing. I left my underwear on because I always liked when Daryl takes them off. I loved feeling his fingers on the waistband slowly pulling them down. I got excited and a moan escaped. "Kiss me." I said already breathing heavily. "My body."

Daryl began planting kisses down my body starting from my neck. His kisses were far from soft or feather like, it was more like a leach attaching and detaching itself from me. But…I always liked it. It made him different, which is one of the reasons I fell in love with this man. I breathed out as he kissed my inner thigh.

"I'm ready." I said all whispery. "I need you."

Daryl moved back up and eased himself inside of me. I thought that was strange because he usually just slams into me. I didn't let that bother me though, I still liked it anyway. I wrapped my arms around his neck and we looked into each other's eyes. He began to move after that. He started out extra slow, another weird thing. Maybe he's tired. Maybe I should have offered to be on top. Oh well, we already started.

Daryl began to move faster then, now it was feeling good. "Faster." I breathed out. "Please." He moved even faster. I moaned loudly and closed my eyes. I accidentally moved my hands down from his neck touching his back, I rubbed his skin a little. His back was pretty smooth. I loved touching him, and I loved him touching me. I ran my hands through his hair.

"Don't do that." Daryl said. I opened my eyes and looked at him. Then, I smirked. So, that's his weakness. I'm glad I know. It does feel nice when someone plays with your hair.

I was suddenly brought back to that time Daryl and I went on a "run" just so we could fool around. We had a great time. That was back when he had to hide our relationship. It was difficult trying to keep it all a secret but things were oddly simpler back then. I don't know how to explain it. Just…I know things changed rapidly once we had kids. I don't regret having them, I would never but I wish we would have waited a few more years. I just don't think we were ready.

"Abby?" Daryl said bringing me back to the now. I opened my eyes. "Ya cum yet?"

"Huh? Uh no." I said awkwardly. "Sorry." I let out a small laugh.

"Out of it today?" He asked.

"I must be." I shook my head. "It's been so long since…" I trailed off.

"I know." He kissed my forehead.

"Sorry, just…keep going." I nodded. Daryl started moving again. I needed to make this quicker. I started thinking about some of our past times. Oh. When we had sex in my dad's house while no one was home. Yes. It was so hot. I kept thinking about us getting caught. That was it. I let go and climaxed letting out a long, loud moan. Daryl finished then too, I felt his baby gravy inside of me. My eyes shot open after that. I don't want anymore kids. I quickly pushed him off of me and ran into our bathroom to take care of myself.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked me. I ignored him. I came back out a few minutes later to cuddle with my man. He gave me a weird look. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing. Just had to take care of something." I smiled. I laid beside him and wrapped myself around him. We just laid there like that for a while. "I love you."

Daryl kissed my forehead. "I love you too." There was a brief pause after that. "Let's go bring the twins home." Daryl said breaking the silence. "We can all be together again."

"Yeah, you're right." I nodded still snuggling him. Just then, I had a thought. "Or…we could spend the rest of today and tonight together and go get them in the morning." I suggested. I bit my lip and smiled.

"…yeah, yer right." Daryl said. "C'mere." He grabbed me planting a bunch of kisses on my face. I giggled.

Daryl and I spent that night together, then went to get the twins in the morning like we said. I will never forget the looks on their faces when they saw their dad. It made me smile. They were so happy and surprised to see him.

I talked to Judith and told her that she didn't have to stay with us anymore now that Daryl was back, and I thanked her greatly. I could not thank her enough for what she did for me. She just told me it was nothing because I took care of her when she was little. I smiled and we hugged.

We took the twins home after that. Even though this was a happy moment, things are still not fantastic. I will have to have a talk with the kids about Gemma, that they have to be careful with her and help out as much as possible. I think they are old enough now to understand. I smiled at them all together. They were so happy. We were a family again.