Chapter5

The following months were definitely an adjustment period. Merle was learning to not spend every penny that came his way on himself. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, he skipped the bar or strip club two or three times a week and found he saved at least a couple hundred a week doing this. He had surprised Lina by showing up at her house just to watch tv and drink. He paid less attention to Johnny than Daryl did but he was the one that hung around the most. He also kept his lips and other pertinent body parts to himself. The only thing he allowed himself was sleeping in Lina's bed. After a day of lounging and drinking on her couch he usually just crashed there till morning, but after a night of drinking and partying he would stumble into her home, make his way to her bedroom and push her over, before passing out next to her.

The first time he had done this she had laid stiff as a board beside him, unable to sleep. He had just lain there on his stomach snoring for most of the night. As dawn approached he had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her half underneath him. Lina definitely couldn't sleep with him snoring in her ear and had just lain there awkwardly until Johnny cried for his breakfast. She had slipped out from underneath him and gone to her screaming son.

Merle had wandered into the living room several hours later, demanding breakfast. Just like that a routine had been born. Now it was no surprise to find herself waking up in Merle's arms or with his head resting on her chest.

Daryl was far less invasive. It didn't take long for Lina to figure out, Merle was a physical person, he was comfortable getting in your space, touching, and grabbing, even cuddling was normal for him. Daryl on the other had would not touch her unless it was necessary. He was comfortable talking to her. He wasn't talkative by any stretch of the imagination, he didn't talk just to talk, but if he wanted to know something he would ask and he was much more willing to share.

Daryl came over for the sole purpose of spending time with Johnny. He rarely hogged up her TV or ate her food. He gave her as much money and meat from his hunts as he could spare and he never spent the night. He asked her questions about herself, she suspected, because he wanted to know what kind of mother she would be.

She remembered the day he asked her about her family. Lina had been adopted as a baby and never understood why her parents had chosen to adopt her or why they chose to adopt at all.

"I don't really have much to say about my parents. What do you want to know?" she looked up from the formula she was mixing for Johnny and into Daryl's intense blue eyes.

"Everyone knows about our family. My pa's temper, ma's drinking." He didn't waver when he mentioned his horrible home life. "I never heard nothing about your parents."

Lina shrugged "There isn't anything. They never hit me or anything. I don't think they were drunks….I'm not really sure what they did."

"How do you not know? You lived with them didn't you?" his reached for the bottle she'd just finished making and began to feed Johnny.

"I did but…..I don't know…they didn't pay any more attention to me than anyone else did. Food was there when I wanted it, if I needed clothes I would ask, other than that, they left me alone. They were never home much, they liked to travel." She shrugged, she really didn't have much information to give.

"You don't ignore Johnny." He stated

"No, I don't want to be like that to him." She felt ashamed, she didn't want to complain about her childhood to Daryl. He was right, everyone knew how evil his father was and the way his mother died was common knowledge as well. She was ignored, big deal, it could have been worse. She was very painfully lonely but at least she wasn't abused.

He nodded his head in approval.

"I'm the same, I ain't gonna be like my old man. Merle ain't either."

She smiled at that "Johnny's lucky to have the two of your then."

He scoffed at that "He may be but you ain't."

Before she could ask him to clarify, Merle had come through the front door asking if there was anything to eat. Lina got up and began fixing him a bowl of spaghetti she had made earlier.

"Do you want some too, Daryl?" When he didn't answer she looked up to find the brothers staring at each other.

"Yeah," Daryl answered without looking at her "I'll take a beer too."

Merle broke eye contact first, walking over to her and throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"Looks good." He winked at her "I like to have a good base 'for a night of drinkin'."

"Jennifer again?" Merle turned sharply and gave Daryl a strange look "What she's your favorite ain't she."

Leaning back and resting against the wall, Merle eyed Daryl before laughing

"I don't play favorites brother. Jen's the easiest, 's why she's around more. You should know."

Lina felt strange hearing about their sexual conquests. She wasn't anything romantic or sexual to either of them, it shouldn't sting to hear about something she already knew they did.

Daryl shrugged at his brothers comment "They're all pretty easy, Merle."

Lina set the two bowls on the coffee table, along with a couple of beers. She left the brothers to their meal and retreated into the bed room.

"They're all pretty easy." Daryl's words kept repeating themselves in her head. That had to mean her too. She had slept with both brothers and was more than willing to sleep with Merle again, Daryl's return had been the only thing that stopped them. She had never wanted to be that kind of woman.

She was a little more informed now that she had access to a computer and internet. She had been going to school for medical transcriptionist and landed a job almost immediately after she had Johnny. She was lucky to be able to work from home and she had taken advantage of the new technology to look up questions that would normally be asked of friends and family.

She would be smarter next time around. Merle hadn't tried anything with her and in all honesty she liked when he would sleep with her or eat meals at her house, but she would not be one of their "easy" women. Especially since she was the only one they were ashamed of.

She let herself fall to her side and hugged her knees, maybe one day she could be special to someone.