Epilogue: Life After

"What are y'all doin' under here?" Daryl had to go to his hands and knees and part the long Willow branches so he could slip into their private world.

Beth was sitting on her knees, posed all pretty under the tree, their four little blonde haired, blue eyed angels sittin' around her. He was lucky...they all looked like Beth, took after her more than him.

"Uncle Merle said we should play hide and seek. We decided to just play hide," his eldest boy offered.

The little ones all giggled, and Beth shook her head, smiling. He knew why she was there, under the tree. It had been her secret place long before even he knew her. Now she shared it with all of them.

"Daddy, how come you can find us here? Mama says that Granddaddy Hershel could never find her here when she was little, and Uncle Merle, well, he can't never find us neither," their youngest son questioned.

"'Uncle Merle can't ever find us either'..." Beth corrected.

"Huh...Uncle Merle can't ever find us either..." the boy sighed, sayin' what his Mama told him.

Well, they all favored Beth's appearance, but there was no doubting they were his, carrying some of his traits that she probably wished they didn't. It was a complex answer though, about why Merle couldn't find them. Hershel could never find Beth because he was the kind of father who wanted his children to have magic in their world. Now, this tree...Beth's Weeping Willow...it was their sanctuary...their magic place. Before Daryl could answer, he watched Merle pacing through the tall grass that separated the Willow tree and the house.

"Uncle Merle's gonna find you...ol' Merle's comin' to get you..." Daryl's family...his family...giggled as he watched his brother pass by oblivious to their existence. "Where are you stupid little bastards..." Merle said under his breath.

Daryl couldn't help smilin' at that one himself. When the novelty of Merle's inability to find them wore off, and it didn't take too long...they had short attention spans...he had four sets of bright blue eyes on him, waiting for an answer. And Beth, she smiled at him 'cause she already knew the answer.

"You're my family...my life. I love you all. Your Daddy, you see, I used to be a tracker, and I'll always be able to find you, no matter what, no matter where you are. I was a tracker...it's what I did...what I knew before...when..."

"You mean when you and Mama met and fell in love?" Their middle boy asked.

"In love..." His little girl mimicked her brother in a sing-songy voice, comin' to Daryl so he could wrap her in his arms.

If he had to imagine what Beth looked like when she was little...this was it. She was the spittin' image of her mother...and her voice...she was gonna have the voice of an angel. Daryl remembered a time when he'd just first been thinking that he might someday have a family with Beth...before...well, the thing that had scared him the most...scared the shit outta him...was a daughter. He knew Beth's daughter would be beautiful, kind, sweet, gentle...just like Beth...everything that world tried so hard to destroy. Now, those were things he didn't have to worry about anymore, but in any world...any place of existence...his heart could probably only handle one daughter...

"Yeah...exactly...when I met your Mama, and she taught me what life was supposed to feel like."

"If you used to be a tracker, what are you now, Daddy?"

"Something different." I was a tracker...now, I'm something different, something more, Daryl thought to himself.

All four of them where in his arms, holding on tight. It was a place, a life he never imagined was possible before Beth. It was still strange, but somehow...somehow it all fit. And Beth...she was everything.

"Kids, it's time to come out now..." Merle was goin' back in the other direction, back across the expanse of yard towards the house. "Get your asses out here!"

The boys all pulled away from Daryl to watch Merle in his ill-fated quest, laughing. If Merle heard them laughing, he would be so pissed. But she stayed in his lap, his little bright angel, reaching up and twirling his hair between her fingers.

"Whole pack of little Dixon whelps, and I can't even fuckin' find my own blood," Merle mumbled to himself, but they all heard.

"Dumbass..." Daryl couldn't help it. It just came out.

"Dumbass. Uncle Merle's a Dumbass!"

"Hey, watch your mouth sunshine!" Daryl snapped his fingers and pointed at the boy. He might be the oldest, but he wasn't gonna start talking that way.

"You said it first!" The boy challenged, setting Daryl on fire. His kid had a defiant spirit. His kid...this one was him made over. He saw it every day.

"You do as I say, not as I do, you hear me?" Daryl barked, getting a rebellious stare, but he glared too and won. Do as I say, not as I do? Classic parent cop out. God, how did he turn into that kind of father? He needed to do better than that. "Respect your Mother and your sister. You don't talk like that around them."

"Yes, sir."

"Dum-as...dumass..."

Daryl let out a deep breath, trying to control his anger, as the sweet little voice so close to him tried to mimic the words of her brother.

"We're gonna talk about this later," the boy looked sheepishly away, knowing Daryl meant business. "Sweetheart, don't say that. That's not a nice word. Not a nice word at all." He softened his tone, brushing back her soft blonde curls as she smiled at him, reaching up to touch his face with her tiny hand.

"Hey kids, y'all need to listen up. I came out here to tell you that I'm gonna be leavin' for a little while..."

"Why?" The three littlest voices asked at once, their big brother still sulking. He was a carbon copy of Daryl through and through.

"Uncle Rick, he needs some looking after. He needs all the help he can get right now." Rick, his brother...he might not know he was there, but Daryl was, and that was all that mattered.

"When's Uncle Rick coming home?"

"Eventually..." Daryl hoped Rick wouldn't come home for a while. Didn't want him to be separated from his family. "He's still got stuff and things to do."

He heard Beth laugh a little at that one.

"Why doesn't Uncle Merle ever go with you?"

"Merle's just lucky to be here, but self-sacrifice...it always gets you in." Daryl paused for a minute, wondering if that was how he got here...what reunited him with Beth. It didn't matter though...he was with her. "They sure in the hell aren't going to give him any sort of responsibility..."

Looking back to Beth, they both shared a knowing smile...a smile that acknowledged the person Merle was and always would be, but that would never make him any less a brother...a brother who sacrificed.

"Blondie...hey Blondie...Beth Dixon!" Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear. Merle just gave up, standin' out there in one spot, bellowing. "I lost your kids. I can't find Daryl's little bastards." He turned around from where he was standing, hand coming up to shield his eyes from the sun, lookin' all around. "Beth! Lil' Blondie...where in the hell are you?"

"Go on y'all. Go find Merle before he gets pissed off," Daryl told them. Merle's patience only went so far, even in the most ideal situations.

They went reluctantly, leaving the safety of Beth's Willow tree.

"I miss you Daddy," she said before he could let her go.

Daryl never thought he could be so affected by four little words. He leaned down, kissing her forehead.

"I'll miss you too, sweetheart." He knew he had to let her go. "Daryl." The eldest boy stopped, looking back when he called out. "Hold your sister's hand, and watch out for your Mama and her while I'm gone."

"Don't gotta tell me that. I'm a Dixon." He was defiant, but Daryl couldn't have been more proud of his son. He waited for his sister to reach his side, and he didn't just hold her hand, he picked her up and carried her. "Come on, Faith, we gotta let Uncle Merle find us."

He moved closer to Beth, watching the kids run to Merle who let himself be tackled.

"Get off me you lil' ankle-biters! I'm gonna get you..." Merle laughed as the children attacked him.

"That oldest...kid's go a mouth on him. Already bucking me. People used to listen to me."

"He's your namesake. I wouldn't have expected anything less." She was smiling, watching the children, but her smile, it was sad...Why sad?

Daryl saw her shiver a little, reaching out and pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her.

"You okay, Lil' Bit?"

"Yeah, I think..." She paused, leaning into him. "The children...do you remember them when they were babies?"

"I remember all of them...what it felt like to hold them in my arms the day they were born. My first son...Daryl...he came and things were still so dark out there. He was like a sign that showed life found a way even when the world was fallin' apart. And Faith ...my little girl..." Daryl choked up just thinking, "she stole part of my heart on the day she came into my world, and things were suddenly all bright and beautiful."

Beth nodded against him. He needed to say those things, feel them, as much as Beth needed to hear them.

"Is that why you're sad...'cause the kids are gettin' older?" He pulled her tighter. "We should have another."

"You want more?" Was she really askin' that, doubting?

"Yeah, why not...it ain't like we can't take care of 'em. I thought we talked about this...a big family?" Daryl thought about the prospect of another child. It made his heart warm. "And besides, we gotta do our best, our part to compensate for Merle bein' here."

He felt Beth laugh at the last part. "We should...I want that...another..." she trailed off, and Daryl knew that wasn't the end of it, wasn't the only thing upsetting her. "I'm going to miss you. I know you need to, but I don't want you to go..."

"You know there ain't nothin' to worry about anymore." Daryl didn't even need to convince her. They both knew.

"I know...it's just...I still remember what is was like to be apart..." That part of their lives was over, but he knew the memories still haunted her. They haunted him too. But they were their memories; if they wanted to remember the good, they had to keep the bad.

"Beth, I love you. I'm always comin' home to you..."

Daryl checked for his handgun tucked in his back waistband, shifted his crossbow to a more comfortable position over his shoulder, and looked back to Beth, his kids, and Merle all playing together before he headed out. He didn't know how it happened...how it was possible, what it all was, but he wasn't gonna question it. He had Beth...he had a family. Time here, in their place of existence...it didn't work the same. A day could pass in a moment, and a moment could last a lifetime. The children were conceived, born, and grew, but he and Beth stayed the same. It wasn't a place free of emotion or even pain, but it was a place with no tragedy, death, or torture. There had been a first time for them... it was awkward...with tears and pain, but it was beautiful...many times after that with pleasure, lust, love. Love...love was constant.

Through it all, Daryl still had a job to do...his watch wasn't over. Not by far. Rick had a purpose. Rick couldn't die until that purpose worked its way out. And Rick, Rick was his brother. Daryl would stand by his side till the end, just like Rick had done for him. Apparently those wings on his back in life meant something all along. His purpose. Daryl had thought on it a lot, and he could only come up with one answer that made sense...if anything could make sense. Maybe he was born to die because in death, he got to live. It wasn't the afterlife. Everybody who believed that was fucking wrong. It was the life after...the life after was what mattered...and he and Beth...they lived...

Fin