"You must get pretty lonely in here." Five year old Daryl Dixon squirmed in the uncomfortable seat he had been given in the Visitor's Centre. He was such a small child that he could barely see over the top of the table and he had to sit on his knees. Merle snorted at his younger sibling.

"Don't get lonely." The older of the two said with a shrug of his shoulders. Merle leaned back in his seat and continued to watch his younger brother struggle to find the best way to sit in his seat and see over the table.

"Ya must, otherwise ya wouldn't a' asked me 'nd Momma to come see you," Daryl rebuttled. A brief silence set in before Daryl piped up again. "I get lonely all the time, it's borin' when you ain't home. I gotta do all your chores too, no kidding. You should come home soon."

A silence settled over the table, although the rest of the Visitor's Centre was buzzing with conversation, the Dixon table was awful quiet. Daryl didn't mind, though because he hated loud places.

"Hours almost up." Merle said in a rather unconcerned manner, his eyes drifting to the clock on the wall. Their mother and Daryl followed his gaze.

"I guess we'll hit the road then. You take care of yourself, okay? - I mean it." Their mother said. Daryl thought his mom sounded kind of sad when she said that but he didn't really comment on it because he knew his Mom didn't like it when he pointed these things out. He just stood up from his seat and gave his older brother a hug around the leg before being promptly shaken off.

"I'll visit again soon," he said. Then he grabbed his mom's hand and let her lead him out of the Visitor's Centre, calling over his shoulder the whole time, "try not to get too lonely without me!"

Daryl felt a sharp sting on his arm snapping him out of his thoughts, he immediately pulled his arm out of reach of his young counterpart.

"Jesus, Lily!" Daryl yelped upon feeling his niece pinching his arm with great force. He hissed and cussed under his breath before glancing quickly at the red mark that was starting to show in the spot where she had pinched him. "'M tryna' drive, ya know."

Lily didn't feel even a little sorry for pinching her uncle, he was totally spacing out on her. She merely sighed and collapsed back in the passenger seat of the crummy old car. The only sound to be heard was the rattling that the A.C. made every now and then or the occasional birdsong from outside.

"You totally just zoned out." Lily explained, she made a point out of rolling her eyes and Daryl shook his head in response.

"Weren't zoned out, little miss." He replied, glancing momentarily from the road to his small counterpart. She shrugged her shoulders and moved over on her seat so she could better face Daryl.

She observed him for a few moments and he thought perhaps she expected him to say something. He just focused on the road ahead and tried to ignore the fact that Lily was staring at him.

"You were gonna tell me about visiting Dad." She prompted before relaxing back in her seat as if waiting to hear a story. Her eyes stayed glued to her uncle, though.

Daryl thought about what he should say because he knew sometimes if he spoke too quickly he could choose the wrong words, and he definitely did not want to do that now. Lily seemed a little nervous and he sure as shit didn't want to inflame it.

"Ain't much to tell." Was all he said, and then the car fell into silence again for a few moments and it was an enjoyable type of silence.

Lily used the quiet to think, though. She hadn't really ever thought much about the whole situation with her dad, now it seemed he was all she could think of. Would he like her? Why hadn't they spoken more? - Her curiosity had quickly turned into something else - something that felt like nervousness. She turned her thoughts over in her mind like a living Chinese finger trap.

Although Lily was half excited to meet her Dad, she was also a little wary of him. She thought perhaps there must have been some reason for him blatantly avoiding her. However, she finally decided to do what Daryl had told her and "give him the benefit of the doubt".

"I should have stayed home today, I could have gone to Soph's." Lily grumbled, leaning back so she could rest her head on the cool glass of the window and still catch a glimpse of the passing scenery. It was still pretty early in the day, not quite noon yet, but it had been a long drive to the prison and it would be a long drive back. Then they still had to make it on time for their dinner plans.

"You'll see Soph tonight," Daryl was absolutely terrible at cheering people up. He thought it would do good, though, to remind Lily that in just a few short hours she would be home and shortly thereafter reunited with her friend. "'Sides, it'll be good to see ya dad." Daryl added.

"Maybe." Lily said as casually as possible. Really she figured that if she'd made it eleven years on the earth sans a dad she could merrily go through life that very same way.

"Maybe?" Daryl echoed, raising an eyebrow and looking quickly at Lily, who was nodding.

"Yeah. Maybe," Lily nodded once firmly. "I just don't know what I'll say, is all." She admitted a little sheepishly. Daryl chuckled and shook his head.

"You always got somethin' to say and 'sides, I'll be there too." He explained. Lily felt a little better when he said that. She still wished she was at home playing in the yard or making up some game with Sophia. She sighed a heavy sigh.

"I wonder what Soph's doing, though."

When Sophia walked through the kitchen she found she was almost lost. Between the towering stack of recipe books and the mountains of kitchenware it was incredibly hard for her to see what she was doing. She quickly spotted her mother sitting cross legged on the floor in the midst of the clutter, a recipe book in her lap. The small girl navigated her way through the messy kitchen until she could see her mother.

"Momma… what's all this?" She asked, picking up a few bowls off of a counter and pushing them to the side. Carol looked up from the book her head was shoved in to see her daughter standing before her in the middle of the mess, like a lighthouse in the ocean.

"Well that's a mixing bowl, aaand that's a spoon and I think those are the shoes I asked you to put in your room two days ago." Carol jested, pointing to random objects around the room and naming them. Sophia did not look particularly impressed.

"No, I mean what's it all doing all over the place like this?" Sophia giggled. Carol shrugged and picked herself up off the floor before she moved to a bench and pulled some things out of the cupboard. Only then did she notice how messy the kitchen was.

She bit her lip as she looked around and wondered how long it would take to clean up after herself. It wasn't exactly Armageddon level, but it definitely wasn't as clean as it usually was. It was definitely going to take a while to restore it to it's original condition; cleanly and orderly.

"I'm just excited, I guess." Carol pulled out some measuring cups and laid them on the counter. She watched as Sophia rounded the counter to sit at a chair at the bench and pick up some of the objects scattered across the bench before playing with them.

"Because Lily's uncle will be coming?" Sophia guessed. The small girl began playing with a wooden spoon left abandoned on the bench top. Carol was thankful that Sophia didn't notice her turning one hundred different shades of red.

"No. Because I like to cook and with just you and me I don't really have a reason to cook a lot." Carol explained. Sophia put down her spoon jumped off her seat.

"Well, I'm gonna go read or something. Call if you need me." Sophia said, whizzing off to her room. She had a few hours to kill before Lily arrived.

"Well ain't this one helluva family reunion?" Merle jested from his seat across the table. Lily wasn't sure whether or not to laugh at that, she noticed Daryl wasn't laughing so she guessed she should stay quiet. "I see ya bought the kid." Merle nodded in Lily's general direction before redirecting his gaze to his brother. Daryl nodded once, firmly.

"Said I would." Daryl replied. Merle hummed in agreement.

"That ya did." Then Merle reclined in his seat and kept his eyes on Lily. If it wasn't awkward before, it certainly was now. Lily tried not to look at her dad, but it was hard to ignore the fact he was staring right at her. She didn't know what to do so she grabbed at the hem of Daryl's shirt and gave it a barely noticeable yank. Daryl would know what to do.

"So uh, Merle this is Lily…. Lily this is, uh… ya Dad." Daryl cleared his throat. It was weird to introduce someone to their own dad, Daryl thought. It was like he was introducing Lily to a co worker or acquaintance rather than the man who was half the reason she was on the earth.

Lily thought of what to say, years of meeting her mom's friends and being told to use her manners gave her one thing and one thing alone.

"It's nice to meet you." Was all she could think of. She mentally chided herself because it just didn't seem like the right thing to say, no one else seemed to mind though and she thought that some of the initial awkwardness had subsided.

Introductions had been made, a few words exchanged, Daryl was still sitting next to Lily and she was still holding the hem of his shirt and then she felt like maybe the whole ordeal wasn't so scary any more. It was just like meeting a new friend, and Merle was reasonably friendly. Daryl would estimate his brother was overly friendly but he assumed after being in prison with no guests he was just grateful for the companionship.

"Daryl told me 'bout ya some." Merle had said after a few beats of silence. Daryl looked at him with a confused expression because if he was being honest he hadn't really told Merle all that much about Lily. He supposed though that if Merle was going to try and have a conversation he wasn't going to object because it was sure as hell better than the silence.

"What did he tell you?" Lily asked, looking at her uncle before setting her gaze on her dad. Merle looked quickly from Lily to Daryl before deciding on a reply.

"Only the good stuff." Was his final answer. Lily nodded and made a small 'oh' sound. She felt weird trying to imagine Daryl telling her dad about her and she quickly shook off the thought. Lily swung her legs under the table as she thought.

"What's it like in prison?" Lily finally asked, her only education on prison came from watching T.V. and she didn't think it was particularly accurate. She'd always wondered what prison was like and she could no longer contain her curiosity.

"Just peachy keen, bed's a touch uncomfortable but I'm thinkin' of complainin' to management in the morning," Merle's voice oozed with sarcasm and he was quickly met with a warning look from Daryl. "Buyin' my soap on a damn string, was in the showers the other day and I shit you not-"

"Merle." Daryl stopped his brother there. Whatever he was about to say, it didn't sound like it was going to be appropriate. Merle sighed and rolled his eyes but promptly returned his attention to the youngster at the table.

"What about you? You uh... ya like stayin' with Daryl?" Merle replied. He wasn't really very interested but he guessed he was skating on thin ice with Daryl right now and so he dedicated himself to being on his best behavior, if only for the sake of pleasing his younger sibling.

Lily took a moment to think about this question. Initially she hadn't been looking forward to moving in with him because she just wanted her mom. She did like living with Daryl, though; even though he wasn't her parent he took good care of her and he was nice, she never had to do too many chores because Daryl was pretty laid back about that sort of thing, he did give her little jobs around the house every now and then.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, I guess." Lily shrugged. She debated whether or not to keep talking. "I still miss Mom sometimes, but I like it okay with Daryl." She added. Daryl was a bit surprised by that, he didn't know Lily was still missing her mom too much. The table got quiet then and no one wanted to say much.

Daryl took up chewing on his nail and Merle sucked his teeth. Merle didn't really remember who Lily's mom was too well and he had to admit he felt pretty lousy about that. He could see Daryl shifting in his seat and he wondered if he'd say something. He didn't.

"Almost outta time." Merle broke the silence and Daryl and Lily couldn't believe how quickly the time had flown by. The small group quickly stood from their seats and prepared to say goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon, I guess," Lily said. Merle only gave a half nod half shrug in reply. "Maybe I can call you sometime." She added hopefully. She waited patiently while Daryl and Merle exchanged a quick goodbye and then the visit was over. Lily had made it through her first visit with her dad and it went of pretty damn well, if she did say so herself.

Sophia excitedly ran around in the kitchen, jabbering to her mother about how exciting it was that Lily was coming over and how good it was for everyone to get together. Carol was having a hard time following the conversation.

"Do you think they'll be here soon? It's gonna be so much fun - Mom, you excited? I've been so bored I can't wait." Sophia babbled as she raced around performing various jobs her mother assigned her.

Carol pulled a few glasses and some cutlery out before handing it to Sophia to put on the table. Sophia quickly ran over to the table and placed the items she had been handed in their positions. There was a knock at the door, informing them that their guests had arrived.

Within seconds Sophia was at the door and letting in Daryl and Lily, the two girls whispered away excitedly and Sophia said she was going to show Lily something in her room and they would be back in a minute. Daryl awkwardly hung around near Carol because he didn't really know what the hell else to do. He'd never been invited to someone's house for dinner before.

"Uh, s-sorry if we're late. That'd be my fault." Daryl said. Carol waved it off and shook her head.

"You're not late at all, you're just on time." Carol fiddled around with a few things in the kitchen, pulling pots off of stoves, stirring this and checking on that. Daryl didn't know what the hell she was doing but it looked difficult.

"Can I help ya with anything?" Daryl offered. Carol shook her head and finally came to stand next to Daryl. She leaned back against the counter and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Soph said you and Lily were out of town today." Carol said as she turned her body to face Daryl a little more and shifted her weight to one side. Daryl bobbed his head in affirmation.

"Went to visit my brother, uh, Lily's dad." Daryl explained, Carol smiled and nodded.

"Sounds fun." Carol broke out in a wide smile and it made her eyes twinkle, that made Daryl smile too. He couldn't help but notice that she was looking very pretty this evening, he wanted to say something about it but he decided to just kept to the topic they were already on.

"Was pretty good, I s'pose." Daryl shrugged. They stood in companionable silence for a few moments before Carol pushed herself off the bench and headed across the kitchen to pull a pot off the stove, lifting the top to inspect the contents.

"Think dinner's just about ready, would you mind getting the girls? Sophia's room is the second door, just down the hall." Daryl went off down the hall to fetch the girls while Carol doled out the food onto plates.

The closest Daryl Dixon had ever come to a family dinner was when he and Merle would crowd around in front of the television and eat whatever grub they'd scrounged up from the depths of the pantry. Thusly, Daryl was not exactly educated in the social graces of the dinner table. He had done everything he could to prepare for the evening with the Peletiers, he'd even done a quick Google search of 'how to use table manners'.

Sophia told Lily to sit next to her so Carol and Daryl could share the other side of the table and everyone seemed happy with that. After a few moments Carol began bringing down plates piled high with spaghetti and then finally sat down in her seat next to Daryl. The girls got into a conversation with each other and Daryl thought maybe he should say something to Carol.

"Did you make all this?" He asked. Carol nodded and swallowed a mouthful.

"Yup, I like cooking," Carol giggled. "Is it any good?" Carol wondered, nodding toward Daryl's plate. He nodded enthusiastically.

"You uh.. you're a really good cook. Reckon the only thing I can cook is squirrel." Daryl smiled. Carol took on a fascinated look.

"You can cook squirrel?!" She asked. Daryl's only response was to hum and nod in affirmation. "Maybe we'll have to eat some squirrel some time." Carol grinned. Daryl told her he liked the sound of that.

After dinner the girls collapsed down on the couch and watched T.V. and Daryl insisted on clearing the table while Carol ran some water into the sink for the dishes. He set the plates from the table down on the bench and as Carol began placing the washed items to the side he began drying them.

"Daryl, you don't have to dry the dishes." Carol said as he picked up another plate and started drying it.

"Nah, I don't mind." Daryl shrugged and continued drying. Carol shook her head.

"Daryl..." He raised an eyebrow at her and they continued doing to dishes without a word (although Carol did cover Daryl in bubbles from the dish soap). When all was done and the dinner dishes were cleaned the two adults surveyed the living room, where the girls were still sitting and watching T.V. Daryl told Lily it was home time and she seemed too tired to argue the point. The small group moved outside, where the girls talked on the front lawn - out of earshot from the adults - and the adults talked on the porch.

"Thanks for havin' us." Daryl mumbled, looking up to see Carol smiling. She leaned against the porch railing and crossing her arms.

"Thank you for coming. It was fun, have a good night." Carol replied. Daryl nodded and they bid one another good night one last time before Daryl and Lily finally went home.

A.N: Oh gosh, please don't hate me! I took forever to update and then I just... ugh... this was just not a good chapter. *Dodges the bricks you are probably trying to bludgeon me to death with*. Anywho, I hope this chapter turned out somewhat reasonable, I've been re-writing and re-reading so much that my eyeballs are falling out of my head. I promise the next chapter will come quicker, I had a lot of creative block with this chapter *cough*Which you can probably tell*cough*. This chapter just felt like... it should have been... something more? I don't know, I hope you all weren't disappointed.

Big thanks to: lismrox, Dixonrocks, Laurie, itsi3, melniewn, xmoonlighxdreamsx, Tinkerbell99, bspooky3, crazstiz, Creed757, Guest, General KJ, zombieslayer5 and smclendon for your totally rocking reviews on chapter nine! Your lovely reviews are what keep me going :)

Also thanks to: 9livesremember, AermryAvalon, BrucieBaby, Creed757, Dianahhh, Dixonrocks, DoctorGrimes, EmbraceYourFREAK, Emma Kellog, General KJ, Jhill88, Kabrinastar, Lisab876, LopezG, LucyC-96, MSHK, MarcesibleLea, Mione788, , Prodigium, Riah222, Shaniqua Nunyadamnbidness, Stacey73, TWDHGfan, Tasshhy, Tinkerbell99, Writingismypassions, adelicateflower08, bearhead, bspooky3, crystal2817, eowynmd, ferrisbueller, georgiapeachs, green angel01, hockeydrmr9, itsi3, lilhanna, lismrox, liveinadive, mcmannusdixon, melniewn, naenurse, nanashipsCARYL, pharmteachgrl71, protonefrid, sarafina2012, smclendon, smolderhalderxo, spygrrl99, texasbelle91, tyffaany86, vickih, wandwaving, wolfie22, xmoonlightxdreamsx, cthammons, defending-alien, jadastar, snake-charmer68, tessuhhh and zombieslayer5 for all the lovely follows and faves, all of you are awesome.

It's 4AM, I'm going to bed. *Runs away, please don't throw things at me*.

Love

-Boo.