AN-short chapter since last chapter was so long. The next one will be Allie's POV of this chapter. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and held their breath waiting for Allie and Natalie to talk about Daryl. I promised I'd deliver, just took me a bit to get there!

Enjoy!

Allie made sure Rick was fed before settling him into the sofa in the den. The rain beat steady against the windows, quickly lulling the man into a deep slumber. Allie crept up the stairs into her mother's room, finding Natalie sitting on the bed with her jewelry box open beside her. In Natalie's hand was a worn, but cared for horseshoe nail. The nail had the point shaved down, and had been turned to form a ring. Allie had heard these kind of rings called "Prairie Diamonds" as the young men of the Wild West days asking for the girl's hand couldn't afford a diamond ring, so they made her a ring with what they had on hand with their own hands. Allie sat down next to her mother, reaching out to touch the hand that held the ring.

"Mom, where'd you get that? I've never seen you wear it ever. All I've ever seen you wear was the diamonds Jake gave you until you divorced. Then you quit wearing those. Can I see it?" Allie reached her hand out as Natalie dropped the nail into her waiting palm. Allie turned it over in her fingers, sliding it onto her finger. It fit perfectly, like it was made for her. Allie took it off handing it back to her mother, who set it on the nightstand next to the bed before she lay back against the headboard.

"Honey, I've had that since I was your age. I quit wearing it when Jake asked me to marry him. I put it away in my jewelry box, waiting for the day you grew into the beautiful young woman you are. Then I'd tell you the story behind it, and give it to you. I wanted to wait until you were eighteen, but I guess seventeen is close enough. Your Daddy gave it to me when he asked me to marry him downstairs in the kitchen when we were seventeen. Your Grandpa gave his blessing, your Grandma was so happy for us. You're Daddy and I had been together since we were sixteen, and we were in love." Natalie's eyes misted over as she spoke, watching her daughter digest the information.

Allie didn't speak; she listened intently to her mother telling the story as questions formed in her own mind. Allie never saw pictures on the wall of any man with her mother but Jake, and even those pictures were now down off the wall.

Natalie began again as she wiped a tear from her cheek, "That evening, before your Daddy and I came into dinner, I told him I was pregnant with your older brother. He thought it was the right thing to do and marry me. Grandpa and Grandma let him move here into the house, the guestroom is my old bedroom. Your room was your Uncle Ryan's room. You're Daddy and I lived like we were married here in this house. We promised Grandpa and Grandma we wouldn't get married till we finished high school. We hid my pregnancy from them until I was about two months along, when Grandma caught me throwing up in the bathroom. Grandpa, I think, was disappointed when we told him the truth, but at least they stood by us and helped us while I was pregnant."

"Mom, I couldn't imagine being pregnant so young, much less getting engaged. It had to be hard. What happened to my brother? You've never mentioned him before. But you always laid flowers at a marker next to Uncle Ryan's in the cemetery. I never really paid attention to what it said. I don't mean to pry Mama, but what was my Daddy's name?" Allie took a deep breath, hoping for her mother to answer to the question that had plagued Allie for over a year.

"I was about six months pregnant with your brother when something went wrong. He died in my womb, I had to have surgery. Your Daddy wasn't there when I woke up from surgery. When I came home from the hospital; he'd taken all his stuff out of my bedroom like he had never been there in the first place. I was so heartbroken. He didn't even show up for your brother's burial. When I needed him the most, he wasn't there for me. Six months later he showed up the night before I was to leave for the Air Force, to talk to Grandpa. We had a fight and he left again. I couldn't just skip out on leaving for boot camp. So I left his ring on my finger and got on the plane to Texas. Three years later I came back, and you happened. You're the best thing he ever gave me; I don't regret having you ever Allie. His name is Daryl Dixon, and he's lying in the guest room right now. You saved his life tonight. He doesn't know about you, he's never known. Please leave it to me to tell him."

Natalie handed the ring Daryl had made her to Allie, sliding it onto her finger, "I want you to keep this. You need something of your Daddy's."

Allie choked on the breath she was holding, she never knew this story, never knew his name, and now he was the man she had saved earlier in the night. She ran her thumb over the ring, watching it spin on her finger. For everything her Daddy had put her Mom through, the love for him was still apparent in Natalie's eyes. Everything made complete sense now, as Allie blew out a breath.

"Mom, would it be okay if I went and sat with him for a minute? Please? Would you go with me?" Allie's voice took on the tone of her younger self, asking her mother a question she wasn't sure she would get the answer she wanted to.

Natalie stood up as she took her daughter's hand, "I think that would be a good idea. Come on, I'm sure he's still asleep."