I leaned my head against the car window and watched the scenery pass by. I can still remember going on vacation. We didn't go on vacation a lot, but I remember a few specific times. My family and I went to Virginia once, then we also went to New Jersey to visit family and to Florida one time for the same reason. I also went a few places with my friends. We had good times.

I remember looking out the window like I'm doing now, the only difference is…I was looking at different things. The world sure was a lot different than it used to be. I remember always seeing cars pass by, even when it was late at night. There were always cars on the highway. The headlights blinding me. The loud noises and the movement keeping me awake. I never could sleep in the car.

Daryl hasn't told me anything about where we are going yet. He said something about it being a surprise. I doubt there was anything that could make me happy right now. I just wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing.

Something caught my eye just then. I saw a yellow balloon tied to a stop sign, deflated obviously. It looked so familiar. I tried to remember where I had seen that before. Did we travel on this road before? Maybe I just saw that in a movie or something and got mixed up. That's real easy to do.

I felt Daryl's hand and jumped a little. I glanced at him. "Sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to scare ya."

I felt stupid and shook my head. "No, it's fine." I looked back and could see the balloon in the distance. It was getting farther and farther away.

Daryl tucked my hair behind my ear. "Ya alright?"

I nodded without looking at him. "Yeah." I sighed. "Yeah, I'm good." I gave him a small, fake smile. He put his hand on the back of my head and played with the ends of my hair. He used to do that all the time, I loved it. I decided to change the subject. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going now?"

He glanced at me and then away again before answering. "No, ma'am." He smirked.

I stared at him annoyed for a moment. "Daryl…I appreciate trying to…"cheer me up" but please don't get offended if whatever it is that you have planned doesn't excite me." I said looking at him. He gave me a look. I felt bad saying that, but it was true. "I don't mean to sound rude, it's just…I haven't exactly been myself lately if you haven't already noticed." I gave him a sad look.

He looked away and back at the road, then back to me again and nodded. "I know." He said. "I know. But it's gonna be alright. I promise. You'll see." He pushed my hair out of my face twice, then ran a hand down my cheek. I just looked at him for a moment, then back at the window. He kept his hand on the back of my head. I had to admit, it felt nice that he was touching me. However, I just hope he's right about everything being alright.

Daryl and I were pretty much quiet during our car ride. We just made small talk occasionally. At one point though, he stopped the car like in the middle of the road. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

He pulled his bandana out of his pocket and gestured for me to lean over to him. I gave him a startled look. He let out a small laugh. "Abby, it's okay. I just wanna blindfold ya the rest 'a the way."

"Why?" I blinked a few times.

His shoulders slumped a little. "Cuz I don't want ya to see where we's goin'."

I looked down at the bandana in his hand. I didn't like being in the dark, it makes me feel weird. "I don't know if I want that." I said.

Daryl sighed. "Will ya just do it? Please." His eyes were a little wider than usual.

I thought for a minute. "Fine." I gave in. "This better not be long though."

"It ain't." He tied it around my head and covered my eyes. I felt the car in motion again. I already didn't like this. I don't like being in the dark, it makes me feel like I'm blind.

I hated wearing that damn blindfold, but I figured I would just grin and bear it. I had no idea where we were now. We made a few turns but where we were going was pretty much a straight shot, or so I thought. That's what it felt like.

After about ten minutes of not being able to see, I started to get a little antsy. "Daryl." I complained. "How much longer is it? I hate this."

"Almost there. We're turnin' down the road now."

He said we were almost there about three minutes ago. I was about to say something again but I finally felt the car slow down. We turned and then the ground felt different. "It feels like we're driving over grass or something." I said.

"That's cuz we are." Daryl said. He parked.

"Thank God." I breathed out. "Can I take this off now?"

"Just one minute." He said. I felt the car lift a little and his door closed.

"Daryl?" I questioned. It was quieter. Did he just leave me? I moved my head around even though I couldn't see. I heard and felt my door being opened and looked in that direction. Daryl helped me out of the car. He closed the car door and stood me in front of him. I knew because he had his hands on my shoulders.

"Okay, ya ready?" He said.

"I been ready to take this damn thing off this you put it on." I complained.

I heard him chuckle. "Okay, you can take it off now."

I pretty much ripped the thing off of me. However, when I opened my eyes, I could barely see anything because I was so used to the darkness. "Ah." I said and covered my eyes with my hands. "It's so bright. I can't even see now." I gently rubbed my eyes and occasionally looked up until they adjusted. That's when I finally saw where Daryl took us. It was the cottage. The one we all stayed at the one time. "Oh." I finally spoke. "It's the cottage…where we first had sex." I let out a small laugh.

"What do ya thank?" Daryl said and moved from behind me.

"Uhh…" I stood there with my mouth open, probably looking like an idiot. I truthfully didn't know what to say. I didn't hate the idea. In fact, I liked it…but I just didn't know how to react to certain things anymore. I had to tell him something though. I couldn't just blow him off. "Yeah." Is what I finally said.

"Yeah?" He questioned.

"It's a nice idea." I cleared my throat. "Let's go inside and…make a fire or something. The nights are getting colder." I nodded and headed inside. I could see Daryl out of the side of my eye as I passed him. I could tell that he didn't like my reaction. But…I told him already that I might not be surprised.

I went inside of the cottage taking a few steps in, then stopping. I looked around. It looked exactly how I remembered it. Exactly how we left it. It was a little darker and dirtier inside but that was the only difference.

I looked around at the furniture in the living room. It made me remember that one night when we were altogether laughing and having fun. I could even picture where everyone was sitting. I felt actual pain from that memory. I was so happy back then. Or was I? My drinking was out of control. I drank because I was lonely. That's how I felt now only I didn't have the alcohol to help me.

I suddenly felt Daryl's hand on my shoulder and jumped a little. I turned to face him. "What's 'a matter?" He said. "Somethin' wrong?"

I had to just look at him for a moment. "Nothing." I said quietly. "I was—I was just…remembering something." I looked around the room again. "It…it looks exactly how we left it."

"That's a good thang." Daryl said and walked more inside. He dropped the bags we brought onto the floor. I stared at them for a minute. "So, what do ya wanna do?" He said.

It took me a few seconds to realize that he just asked me a question. "Huh?" I said and looked up. "Oh, uh…" I awkwardly scratched my head trying to think of something. "Well, I could make a fire like I said." I quickly grabbed what I needed and sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace. I started immediately without really thinking.

"Want some help with that?" Daryl asked me.

I looked up at him. That gave me deja vu and I had to smile. "No, I'm good." I wiped my hands on my pants. "I'm almost done." I sat there until I got the fire going, then I got up. I decided to try and be in better spirits about this. The least I could do was try. Daryl was sitting on the couch so I went over to join him.

We sat there awkwardly for a moment. "So what now?" He said.

"I don't know." I gave him a small smile. "This was your idea."

"I know but…I wanna do whatever you wanna do. This whole trip is fer you. Well, fer us but mainly fer you." He nodded.

I let out a nervous, little laugh. "Okay…well, we could…try to like do things we did when we were here the first time." I suggested.

"Alright." He shrugged. Then, he just looked at me.

I bit my lip nervously because I still didn't know what to do. "Well…we drank a lot while we were here but we can't do that so…"

"Nah, we can." Daryl said. "We can drink."

I was so surprised to hear him say that. "Really? Are you sure? I mean…"

"Don't worry. I'll babysit ya." He smirked and waved.

I gave him an annoyed look but still smiled. "That's not what I meant. I can pace myself." I sighed. "But if you really want to…that's fine with me." I smiled. "I'll get us a drink." I was about to get up.

"No, I'll do it." He said and stopped me and stood up. "You just stay here." He ran his hand down my cheek like earlier in the car. It gave me a good feeling. "What do ya want?"

I thought for a minute. "I'll just have whatever you're having."

"Alright." I watched him get two glasses. I smiled inside. I wanted this to work. I wanted to have a nice time with my man.

I was taking small sips of my drink, I wanted to get tipsy but not drunk. Daryl was doing most of the talking for once. I wanted to chime in too, but I just kept zoning out. It was hard not to. I felt…weird. It was almost as if I didn't have an attention span anymore. It's hard to explain. I took a small sip of my drink and looked down. "Abby?" Daryl said. I looked back up at him. "You okay?"

I felt stupid and a little embarrassed that he noticed. Of course he noticed! You've hardly paid any attention to a damn word he said! So much for trying! I scolded myself. "Yeah, I'm fine." I shook my head and looked at him. He was a giving me a look that he knew what I just said was bullshit. I sighed. "I'm lying." I decided to just tell him the truth. "I'm sorry." I put my head down. "I was listening to you. Really, I was. It's just that…I sometimes have a hard time just…talking." I nodded. "Like I don't know what to say." I shrugged.

"It's alright." Daryl said.

"Pfft." I looked down. "Yeah."

"It is. It's okay." He tried to reassure me. I still felt like an idiot though.

I looked up at him without lifting my head. "Do…do you mind if we just…sit here? Like together?" I gave him a nervous look waiting to hear his response.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Sure." He sat his drink down on the coffee table, I copied him, then he switched his position on the couch and sat back. I moved closer to him and leaned against him. He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my temple. I was glad he was so understanding. I gave him a small smile, which he returned.

We sat together like that for a while, then I started to feel weird again. It was almost like I knew something was going to happen. I found myself looking around the room waiting for something that I didn't even know was going to happen. I began to breathe a little heavier. I needed to move, to get out of this position. I sat up suddenly.

"You alright?" Daryl asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded looking straight ahead. I needed to give him an excuse to leave the room so he doesn't ask anymore questions. "I just have to…I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I said getting up.

"Okay." Daryl said quietly. I knew he was concerned about me. I wasn't exactly giving him a reason not to be.

I locked myself in the bathroom and stood over the sink with my hands on the counter and leaned over. Taking some deep breaths, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. "What's wrong with me?" I whispered.

"I think you already know, mommy." I heard a voice say to the right of me. I gasped and looked. My eyes were about to pop out of my head because they were so wide. Gemma was standing there! Clear as day! She was smiling at me. "You miss me." She said.

"G-gemma?" I said. I took a step towards her but stopped. No. She's not really there. You know she's not. I tightly shut my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened them, she was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief.

However, I looked back at my reflection and got a scared feeling. What if that really was her? What if she's here? I looked over at the door, then practically ran to it. I opened it and peeked out. I didn't see anything.

I heard a giggle, just then, and she ran passed me into the other room that leads to the back porch. "Gemma?" I said. I followed her in there. I looked around the room but didn't see anything.

"Mommy?" I heard. I looked over and saw her standing by the corner.

"Gemma, is it really you, baby?" I said, my voice shaking. She smiled and nodded. I suddenly became very emotional and ran to her embracing her. "Oh, baby." I cried. "I missed you so much." I knelt there holding her and crying.

"Abby?" I heard Daryl's voice. My eyes shot open. I looked down and Gemma was gone. My eyes were wide and I felt like I was going to throw up. I think I'm actually going insane.

I slowly stood up and turned to face Daryl, he was giving me a look like I never saw before. I didn't even know what to say to him. I glanced down, then back up. "I…I…I'm not okay." My voice shook. "I'm not okay." I shook my head. I put my face in my hands and cried.

"Hey, hey." Daryl was suddenly there. "Shh. It's okay. It's okay." He held me. "I know. But yer gonna be." He put his head on mine. "It's gonna be alright."

I took a few deep breaths trying to calm down. "I saw her." I finally said. "I saw Gemma."

Daryl seemed to hesitate. "You know that weren't really her, right?"

I nodded. "I know. It can't be." I closed my eyes and put my head down.

"You lost a child, Abigail." Daryl said. "Ya ain't crazy. You just gotta take things one step at a time."

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right." I wiped my tears away. I was able to give him a smile. He kissed the top of my head.

"It's gettin' late. Why don't we just call it a night and head to bed?" He nodded.

"Sure." I said. "Yeah." I took a step forward but he grabbed me and lifted me making me giggle. He carried me into the bedroom. The one we had sex in for the first time.

We kissed each other the whole time. He finally set me down and we locked eyes. I smiled at him. Everything changed as soon as I looked at the bed. She was sitting there smiling at me. I screamed.

"What? What?" Daryl said alarmed. I just looked to and from him and the bed, she was gone. I still hadn't spoken. "Abby, what is it?"

"…I don't wanna say." I cried. I left the room and walked out onto the porch grabbing my jacket on the way out. I tightened it around me and stood there in the darkness.

Taking slow deep breaths, I tried to calm down. Maybe the fresh air would help. I heard the door open and then close and heard Daryl's footsteps coming closer. "Was it her?" He said. "Did you see 'er again?"

I sighed. "Yes."

He wrapped his arms around me. "You have to let 'er go, Abby. Ya have to let 'er go." He whispered. "I know that ain't easy, but you gotta. It's the only way—

"I need to go." I said cutting him off.

"Go? Where you need to go?"

"Away from here. Back home." I walked back inside and just stood in the middle of the room.

"Baby…what are ya talkin' about? We ain't been here a full day yet—

"I can't be here. I don't feel like myself." I started shaking. "Just…being back here. It's bothering me."

There was a brief pause. "So, that's it?" Daryl said. "You don't even wanna try?"

I turned to look at him. "I did try."

"You shit tried!" He snapped taking me by surprise. "You been ignorin' me. You don't wanna do nothin'. Ya said in the damn car before we even got here that ya ain't in the mood fer this."

"Daryl…that's not what I meant—

"Don't try to act all innocent now." He cut me off. "You wanna go home, here!" He threw the car keys on the ground in front of me. "Go back to yer damn house and lay in bed and ignore me and yer kids and everyone else!" He walked away a little.

I started thinking about all that he just said and anger arose in me. "Don't you dare try to tell me about ignoring our children. I took care of them. Me! I did…while you ran off to God knows where! But some for reason they love you now. You're a saint! Isn't that right?"

"You took care 'a them?" He snorted. "Maybe that's why they cain't stand ya."

I stared at him. "I also took care of our sick daughter who you abandoned."

"Oh yeah. It finally comes out." He nodded. "You didn't even want anyone else to touch 'er but you! You remember that?"

"You didn't even want her!" I cried. "When I told you I was pregnant, you were mad. I could see it in your eyes. And even after she was born, you were mad. You were jealous of her because I paid her more attention than you!"

"Yeah, that's right, ya did. You gave her more attention than yer other kids." Daryl said next. I closed my eyes. "You got mad when the twins wanted to sleep with us but ya sure were okay with it when yer precious little gem wanted to."

I licked my lips and paused. "I will admit…that I had a closer bond with her than I did with the twins…but that does not mean that I didn't care about them." My voice cracked. "They are my children and I love them."

"Sure don't show it." He said and sat down on the sofa in that room.

I felt angry again. "You don't make any sense!" I yelled. "You don't even know what you're talking about! You want me to get help, then you criticize me like this? You know what you are? You're an immature little boy stuck inside a man's body!"

He stood up. "Oh yeah? Then what does that make you?" He yelled. "A careless fool?"

I was over there in a minute. "Me, careless?" My eyes were wide. He couldn't be serious right now, could he? "Gemma wasn't just mine. You lost her too, and you still haven't even shed a tear! You act like it didn't even happen! So if anyone is careless, it's you!"

I could tell he was getting really fired up, and I knew how he was when that happened and so did he. But that didn't stop me. He turned and tried to walk outside, but I stopped him.

"Where you going?" l grabbed his arm. "Huh?" I yelled.

"Just stop it, Abigail!" He yelled, making his voice crack.

"What the hell do you want from me, Daryl Dixon?" I yelled.

"I just wanted ya to chill out and have a nice time!" He yelled. "You had so much weighin' on yer shoulders all the time with the kids, especially Gemma!"

"Yeah, cuz ya really care about that." I said. "You brought me here to have sex."

"It's true!" He said. "I just wanted us to be close again."

"Close?" I snorted. "You didn't really think bringing me back here, getting away for a few days was just going to make everything better, did you?" I tilted my head a little when I looked at him. "Like I was just going to forget the past and everything just go back to normal…just like that?" I shrugged. He was just staring at me. I let out a small laugh. "Huh. Maybe you are just a stupid hillbilly."

He looked at me in my eyes, I could see that I hurt him. And that's what I wanted to do, so I kept going. "You know, I think…I figured something out about you after all of these years." I said. "You try to act like you're such a good person, but really you're just self-centered. Like you said to me once. And like I said earlier. You're a little boy in a man's body."

He was just staring at me with his hard look. "Fuck you, Abigail." He said. "You just don't get it."

"No, you don't get it!" I yelled. "My daughter is dead! She's dead! I feel like she took me with her!" I looked down. "I'm dead too."

"No, ya ain't!" He tried to touch my shoulder but I pulled away.

"I might as well be because I'm never going to be the same again!" I yelled. "I'm not that same person anymore."

"Abby, just stop." Daryl tried again.

"No!" I continued to yell. "You know, back when I wanted to take Gemma off of her meds but you didn't want to? I thought of you. What you said and I went along with it even when I didn't want to because that was for you. And that's what I did when you wanted me to come here, to get away. I did it for you, not me. And not to 'be close again'." I mocked him. "I did it for you, and that's the only reason."

I could tell that hurt him a lot. He looked down at the ground for a moment. "Oh." He said quietly and squinted at me. "Okay." He sat down at the table. I guess he's done talking.

We were quiet for a long time, I guess Daryl finally got sick of the silence because I saw him staring at me. I didn't look at him though. I was just sitting there, miserable just like before. I didn't know if he was ever going to say anything, then…he finally did. He started shaking his head. "I don't get it. I'm confused." I looked up at him. "You don't make sense." He paused while I just looked at me. "Yer pissed." He nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Yer pissed because yer daughter is gone and you claim you ain't you no more. But the thing is, you didn't even want to TRY to help yerself or find yerself. Yet, you wanna sit here and be miserable?" He said roughly. "Also, I don't know why yer bein' so cold towards me. I didn't do anythang to you. And—I bet that if I died instead of Gemma, you wouldn't be like this." He got up and walked out of the room into the living room.

I decided to follow him, he was sitting on the couch. I stood there in the doorway. It was quiet for minute. Then, I finally spoke. "Yeah?" I cleared my throat. "Yeah, what do you know?" I probably sounded angrier than I actually was. "Okay, so…if you miss Gemma too, then how come you don't seem more upset? Huh?" I snapped.

"What am I supposed to do? Sit here and cry all day? Or lay in bed and ignore everybody like you do? That ain't gonna do anythang." He seemed to became more angry and defensive. "And at least I actually wanna do shit and try to get along, not like you that wants to live in a bedroom and stare at a wall." He snapped.

"Yeah?" I came walking over to him. "You think I like that? You think I like laying in bed and staring at the wall? I hate it." I started to tear up a little. "It's hard to do everyday things because everything reminds me of her."

"I know." He looked up at me. "And I do miss her. I just have a different way 'a showin' it." He said. "And don't thank I don't feel bad about not takin' her off them meds like you wanted to. We should 'a just done what you wanted from the start." He said quietly.

I knew he was trying to be reasonable but that made me more mad for some reason. "Yeah, well, it's a little too late for that now, isn't it?"

His expression changed again. "What the hell do you want, Abigail? Is this what you want? You wanna fight?"

"What I want is for you and everyone else to leave me the hell alone." I snapped.

He paused and just looked at me. "Okay, fine." He stood up and walked over to me. "You want me to leave? I'll leave. Just say it." He looked at me. I hesitated. "I need you to tell me what you want right now, girl. Right now. I'm askin'. Do you want me to leave?"

I shot him a dirty look. "Do whatever the hell you want like you always do."

He glared at me just then. He moved quickly and grabbed his bag, then headed for the door. I felt a feeling inside of me that I haven't felt in a long time. Stop him! I told myself. Stop him! Now, before it's too late! "Wait!" I said. Daryl stopped dead in his tracks at the door but didn't turn around. I walked over to him, he finally turned to look at me. "Things got out of hand. I didn't want this to happen." I said with tears in my eyes. Daryl was just staring at me with his rough expression. "We both said some stuff that…I don't think we meant." I shook my head. "I just…I don't know…I don't know how to move forward from here. I just know that I love you and the twins but I don't know how to go back to that. I don't know how to repair things." I sniffled. "And I don't know why you or the twins would want me back either after…" I trailed off and shook my head. "Maybe I should be the one that goes." I turned and started to walk away.

Suddenly, I felt Daryl's arms wrap around me from behind. My eyes widened a little. But his hug felt good. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was the one being comforted. I didn't have to comfort myself because Daryl did. It was just like what I did for him all those years ago. I finally gave in and let myself cry.

Daryl and I were sitting on the couch in the living room. We weren't really talking. I decided to change that. "I'm sorry I called you a stupid hillbilly." I said. "I don't know why I said that." I shook my head. Daryl was looking at me. "And you're not self-centered…or a little boy in a man's body. You're a man."

Daryl was staring at me, then he looked away. I hope he forgives me. "I feel like that sometimes." He said looking back at me.

I gave him a serious look. "Me too. That's how I feel about myself sometimes. Like I'm still a kid. It makes me uncomfortable."

There was a brief pause. "We both said some shitty things." Daryl said. "Let's just forget it happened." He nodded.

I hesitated. That's all fine but…how do we fix things? "Okay." I nodded back. "So, what do we do now? How do we move forward from this? Not just this moment, but everything that's happened."

Daryl looked down. "I don't know, baby." There was another pause. I looked away too because I didn't know what to say. "You know…" Daryl started but trailed off. "Never mind." He shook his head.

I put my hand on his knee making him look at me. "You can't start to say something and just stop." I repeated those words we once said to each other and smiled.

He stared at me. "It's about her."

My smile faded and I became more serious. "It's okay. Just say it." I nodded.

Daryl seemed hesitant. "…I made a mistake. I never should 'a left-left you alone with all that to deal with." He sounded like he was getting choked up. I looked at him more closely. "And I missed out on so much. I let her down. I let you down. I'm the shitty one, not you." He looked at me and I could see that he was crying. "We should 'a took 'er off the meds like you said. That was me, I know." He sniffled. "I'm sorry." He cried. "I'm sorry."

I hated seeing Daryl upset like this but another part of me was relieved that he was finally grieving. I sat on my knees and hugged his head to me. "It's okay. It's okay." I kind of pushed his face into me and let him cry. "Shh." I played with his hair a little. "She knew that you loved her." I nodded. "She did. You were still there."

"I wasn't there enough." He mumbled.

"Yeah, you were." I assured him. "You know how I know?" I moved a little so he could lift his head to look at me. "She was happier in the end." I smiled and wiped his tears with my hand. "She didn't care that you weren't there before, she cared that you were there then. She was loved. She knew that and I know that." I smiled at him.

Daryl was just staring at me. "I love you." He finally spoke and touched my face.

My smile faded. "I love you too."

We just stared at each other for a moment, then Daryl nodded. "I know what we gotta do then." He said. "Let's just start over."

I thought long and hard about what he said. He's right. That could be the answer. That could be the only thing we could do. That could work. I had a thought just then and smiled. "Okay. Let's start over." I cleared my throat. "Why are you wet?" I let out a small laugh.

Daryl couldn't hide his smirk. "Not that far." He raised his eyebrows. I giggled.

I thought for a minute and became serious again. "Okay for real this time. I want to know if you want to be in a relationship with me. I want to know now." I smiled. I stared at him waiting for an answer.

He smiled back. "Yeah, I do."

That's all I needed to hear. I moved forward and kissed him, he kissed me back. I sat on his lap facing him while still kissing. I started to unbuckle his belt and he grabbed the hem of my shirt but then stopped. "Do you want me to—

"Yes." I said before he could even finish the sentence. He lifted my shirt up over my head then threw it aside. We continued kissing. "Wait." I stopped. "We should move into the bedroom." I suggested.

"Okay." He grabbed my hand and we went into the bedroom.

Daryl and I looked at each other for a moment, we could only see from the moonlight illuminating the room. "Let's make this similar to our first time together." I nodded. "Except…I think you know what I'm going to say."

"Yeah." He looked down a little embarrassed. I loved that about him, he was adorable that way. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Okay." I said. I started taking my clothes off until I was naked, then I got into bed. I gestured for him to do the same. I watched him take his clothes off with a smile on my face. Once he was naked, he got into bed next to me.

I slowly turned over so that I was facing him. I took a deep breath. My hand slowly moved down until I was right where I wanted to be. I put my hand on Daryl's dick. I think I saw his eyes widened for a second. I smiled at him lasciviously, I quickly climbed on top of him. "I want to have sex." I let out a small laugh, as did he. "You know, you want to. You can't resist me." I repeated my words from that night and grabbed his hands and placed them on my bare breasts. I felt him get hard under me and smiled. I remembered thinking that that was a booby trap. I almost laughed.

He leaned up, I knew he was going for a kiss so I leaned down and our lips met. "Do you want me to wear a condom?" He asked. I gave him a questioning look. "Ya said ya don't want no more kids."

Oh yeah, I did say that. I thought for a moment. "No." I shook my head. "No, don't worry about that."

He nodded. We positioned ourselves better. I think he wanted to be on top, which was fine with me. I suddenly felt him slowly easing himself into me. I winced. It actually hurt a little. It's been a while since we had sex. "Ow." I said. "Ow ow."

"Nice actin'." He smirked.

"I'm not actually." I admitted. "It hurts a little."

Daryl looked a little surprised. "Should I stop?"

"No." I answered too quickly. "It's okay. You know I'm fine." I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Just…be gentle." I repeated my words to him.

"Yes ma'am." He said. It sounded sexy. After that, he started slowly, then all of sudden, it was like he forgot everything I just told him and he began fucking me very fast and hard. I winced again. "Hey, whoa." I stopped him. "What'd we just talk about?"

"Ain't that what happened the first time?" He smirked but then slowed down.

I huffed with a laugh. "Whatever. I'm good now. Just…keep going." I nodded.

He began to move faster, I moaned with each thrust. It felt like it was just us again, like we were here the first time we had sex, except this time was better. I took in everything. I didn't have to think about anything in the past, I thought about right now and it was so much better. I looked at my gorgeous man. I was so lucky to have him. Everything that we went through, even the bad times, all of my emotions that I have been holding in…I finally let go.

I climaxed into an ongoing orgasm, the best I had in a long time. It was just what I needed. What we needed. I felt kind of limp afterwards. I leaned up and kissed my husband on his cheek. Daryl finished and gently pulled out of me, then laid next to me.

I put my head on his chest and he held me. "I love you so much." I said.

He kissed my forehead. "I love you."

I smiled and leaned into him. I knew that things were going to be better. I don't know how I knew, but I had a different feeling than I did before when I thought. So, I just knew.

When I woke up, Daryl wasn't next to me. I felt like I had a great night's sleep though. I sat up with a smile on my face and stretched. "Daryl." I called. No answer. I wonder where he is? I quickly threw on one of his shirts and went into the bathroom to take care of a few things.

Once I was done in there, I headed out into the kitchen. I could smell something cooking, then I saw Daryl standing there at the counter. "Hey." I said wrapping my arms around him from behind. "Whatcha makin'?" I kissed his back.

"Thought I would make some breakfast." He said. "You hungry?"

"Mm…I could eat." I said then let out a small laugh. "I could have made breakfast."

"I wanted to." He turned and kissed me. "Sorry, if I woke ya up."

"You didn't."

He looked me up and down. "I like you wearin' my shirt." He teased. "Ya got anythang under here?" He lifted the hem and took a peek. "No." He looked back at me. I giggled. "Good." He gave my bottom a light slap.

I smiled. "Hey, that just reminded me." I thought. "That argument we had yesterday…it was similar to the one we had that day…after the prison when it was just you and I."

Daryl looked like he was thinking. "Huh. Yer right."

"Yeah, except you didn't spank me." I rolled my eyes making him chuckle. "I should have got to spank you this time because our argument was backwards. It's only fair."

"Go ahead." He said. He sounded amused.

My mouth pressed into a thin line. "No." I slapped his butt once. "I'm gonna go put some clothes on." I started walking away but stopped and turned back. "For now." I gave him a lasciviously look, then giggled.

Daryl and ate breakfast a little later, then we were just sitting in the living room talking. Things were pretty good so far, almost like we were back to how things were. At one point, however, I noticed that Daryl got kind of quiet. It was almost as if he wanted to say something but wasn't quite sure how to say it. So, I decided to say something. "Are you okay?" I said. "You got quiet."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

I could tell that there was something up though. So, I pushed him a little farther. "Daryl…what is it? You can tell me." I encouraged him.

He seemed hesitant. "…I, uh…got somethin' fer ya." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little brown bag. "This is somethin' that I been workin' on fer a while now. I was waitin' fer the right time to give it to ya." He handed me the bag. "I just hope…it don't upset ya again."

I took the bag and just stared at it for a moment, I felt nervous for some reason. I could feel something small inside. Like little rocks or something. I decided to just open it instead of sitting here wondering what's inside. I opened the bag and poured the things into my hand. I saw immediately that it was a necklace. It had a diamond in the middle and some other gems on the sides. "It's beautiful." I said. "But why?"

"It represents…Gemma." He said. I looked up at him. "The gems are Amber, Sapphire, Emerald and Ruby. And there's a diamond heart in the center." He stated.

I looked at it more closely. It was what he said. My eyes widened. It's her. It's Gemma. My precious little gem. "It is." I said out loud. "I love it." I was suddenly overtaken by my emotions and I covered my mouth, then I began to cry. Daryl held me. "It's okay. I'm not upset." I nodded and wiped at my tears. "I love it. I really love it." I placed it over my heart. "Can you put it on for me?" I asked him. He took it from and put it around my neck. I looked down at it and tightly shut my eyes. This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me, besides my children. "You really made this?"

"Yeah." Daryl said. "Well…the diamond heart was already there but I added the other gems."

I nodded, then smiled. "Thank you." I sniffled. I still had tears in my eyes. "Now she'll always be with me." I smiled at him, he smiled back. "I love you so much for this. I love you." I hugged my husband.

He held me back. "I'm glad ya like it. I was…nervous to give it ya."

I nodded. I understood why. "I do. I love it." We kissed each other.

I couldn't stop staring at my necklace. It was beautiful. It was Gemma. "Hey." I looked up at him. "We don't have to stay here anymore. Let's go home."

"Are ya sure? We can stay a few more days."

"No." I said looking down at my necklace. "It's time to go home. I wanna see my babies." I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Okay." He placed his hand over mine.

We went straight home after that. We went to my dad's house to get the kids first thing we got there. "Daddy!" LB ran to Daryl. So did Dallas. Daryl hugged both of them and picked LB up. I was standing a little behind them because I was nervous. "We thought you were gonna be gone longer. I'm glad you came home." LB said and hugged her daddy. Daryl chuckled. I just smiled at them.

"It was actually yer mama." Daryl said. "She wanted us to come home so she could see you guys." He put her down.

They both looked at me and stopped. "Hey, guys." I said. "…I missed you." I tapped my fingers together nervously. I didn't know what to do, I glanced up at Daryl. He nodded at me. "Can-can I get a hug?" I opened my arms. They both just stood there. I was losing hope.

Finally, Dallas took a step forward, then he ran to me. I hugged him tightly in relief and kissed his head. "I love you so much, my sweet boy." He was crying. "Shh. It's okay." That was one, what about the other? I looked up at LB and gave her a pleading look. She finally ran to me too. I kissed her just like I did Dallas. She was also crying. I held both of my babies. "Shh. It's okay." I soothed them. I looked up at Daryl, he gave me a smile, which I returned. I was so happy.

I finally let go of them so I could look at them. "Hey." I said and wiped their tears. "I'm sorry." I nodded. "I'm really sorry about the past few months. But…I'm better now. Thanks to your daddy." I looked up at him, he looked down shyly. "Things are going to be different now." I said to the twins. "And I'm not going anywhere but right here with you guys." I pushed LB's hair back. "So…you forgive me?" I gave both of them a pleading look. They both nodded with tears still in their eyes. I smiled. "Come here." I hugged them again. "It's okay. I promise."

And I meant that promise. We took the kids home after that, along with Dog and Ponyboy. They ran in the house and played with the dog. I smiled at all of them, then looked at my man. "I love you." I said to him. "And thank you."

"I love you too." He kissed me.

"Mommy! Daddy!" LB said. "Come play with us!"

Daryl and I shared a look then laughed. I watched Daryl go over to them and began to play their game with them. I smiled. I stared down at my diamond heart necklace and put my hand over it. I love you, my precious little gem. Now I can finally let you go because I know that you are at peace.

"Mommy, come on!" Dallas yelled.

"I'm coming." I laughed and joined in with them. Daryl and I played with our children and the dog joined in too, it was really funny. I was so happy things were going back to normal. I got my family back. That's when I realized that…the diamond heart doesn't just represent Gemma, it doesn't just represent what I lost but what I still have. My family, including myself. We all represent the diamond heart. It was in the middle of the necklace, not the beginning or the end…but the middle. The right now. This life, my life…is the Diamond Heart.

The End

That's it! That's the end! I hope you all enjoyed this story! I sure had a lot of fun writing it and I'm going to miss it! I have to point out that I made the argument between Abby and Daryl very similar to the one they had at the beginning of this story, except the roles were reversed. I did it on purpose. I hope you caught that. Well, thank you all so much for the reviews, favs and follows and for just reading this story. It really means a lot to me. So, if you could, go ahead and leave me one last review for this story! Thank you so much! And love you! :D