Glenn

I thought I'd miss the thrill of undercover work but starting a new business is exciting in a different way. We're already boarding 10 horses besides our own. It's a full day to feed and exercise them. I can turn them out in the paddock but I also like to take them in teams of three to explore the property. Some of the owners want to keep their horse trailers here so we leveled an acre near the barn for a parking lot and rented out spaces at the back for storage. Daryl and Merle built a ring so owners can practice for horse shows.

The horse boarding venture keeps me so busy I almost forgot it's been a year since Daryl and I met. A year since I knew he was the one. Of course it took another week for him to know it, too. Or at least to accept it.

Our anniversary reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask Merle.

"Did Rick Grimes or Shane Walsh become sheriff?"

"Neither. You remember T-Dog? Well, Theodore Douglas quit SWAT and became the first black sheriff of Benford."

"Are Rick and Shane still deputies?"

"Rick is. Shane's dead. He and Lori had an affair. She ended it and went back to Rick but she was knocked up. Shane had a meltdown, attacked Rick and had to be subdued. Guess there's a reason that chokehold is illegal. He broke Shane's neck."

Merle is like a little old lady who lives for gossip but he's got to be winding me up this time. Just a year ago those guys helped protect me. I glance over at Daryl. He nods his head. It's true. How does all this shit keep happening in one small town!

"What about the baby?" I ask weakly.

"Girl. Trudy or Judy, something like that. Rick claims her. They don't really care about paternity but they're gonna do a test in case they need to know someday for medical issues."

"How do you find out this stuff?" I ask Merle. "You haven't lived there for years."

"I got informants," Merle says mysteriously.

Daryl snorts. "He's got Mama and Daddy who are as nosy about their neighbors as Merle is."

"Well, you don't have to listen next time I fill you in." Merle sounds aggrieved.

"Tell me instead." I can't believe the words came out of my mouth but Merle looks pleased.

Daryl

Before Glenn came along you remember thinking the right person could make a good life better. Everything fell in place when you got together. Glenn says you were waiting for each other and he's sorry you had to wait six years longer than he did. You don't mind, he makes it up to you every day. Who would have thought a Korean could fit in so well with the Dixons? He's as good with the kids as he is with horses. Just before school started this fall Taffy told you to put Glenn on the list of people who can pick her and Tyler up from school.

Glenn

Taffy and I have been friends since our first talk. Over the years she's fallen out with the rest of her family but not me. There was a fight with Shelby and Merle when she was 13 so she moved in with us for a few weeks and hated to leave again after she made up with them.

A few years later she and Daryl quarreled and would only speak to each other through me. I let it go for a couple of weeks thinking it wouldn't last but they're both stubborn and they seemed to be getting too comfortable with the situation. I told Daryl not to be childish so he gave in but Taffy was holding out. Time for another serious honest talk. I reminded her that her father is getting older and won't always be there for her to ignore. She got tearful and hugged him and apologized. Daryl was 35 at the time. I'm glad Taffy went for my 'poor lonely pop' line once more.

Daryl

"You'd tell me if there's something you want me to do, wouldn't you? If there's anything you'd like, all you have to do is ask."

"You just topped me," Glenn says sleepily. "Maybe in the morning." He's silent for a moment. "Wait. You mean there's something you'd like that I'm not doing. Just tell me."

"No! I'm completely satisfied. I just wanted to make sure you were."

"I am. Why would you think I'm not?"

"Well, I just realized we only have sex in bed lately."

"We use the shower sometimes. And we fool around on the sofa."

"We used to be more adventurous. Do you miss it?"

"Apparently not. But I remember the hayloft, the duck blind, the deer stand. The hayloft was dusty. You sneezed and I got a rash."

"That's right. And that damned duck blind was like screwing in a swamp."

"The deer stand was cramped and cold."

You smile at Glenn. "We'd rather be warm and dry and comfortable than have sex in unusual places."

"We tried it and we didn't like it," Glenn replies. "Besides, it's really more about the people than the place."

Glenn

The kids like horses and they helped with chores but they weren't that interested so they contributed in another way. Taffy started making cookies and brownies and sold them at a stand near the barn. Business was brisk so she took on a partner. Tyler made sandwiches and after awhile they were doing so well that we built a real snack bar.

When it was time for college Taffy chose Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. It's near Atlanta but that doesn't mean she stayed in Georgia. There are schools all over the country and she spent time in different regions studying their cuisine. She specialized in baking and pastry arts and became a pastry chef. Summers were spent in France or Italy or anywhere else a dessert caught her eye.

When she married Carl Grimes she chose a slim sheath for her wedding dress. Her taste in clothing is simple anyway but another reason is that a bouffant skirt would have been too wide for the aisle with Daryl and Merle on either side.

The cake was created by the bride of course. There was a miniature traditional cake of three tiers with two layers each. It was red velvet with a creme filling between the layers and crushed pecans imbedded in the cream cheese icing. That was for the wedding party. Guests got individual cakes with filling in the middle and pecans sprinkled on top of the icing. They were called petits fours but I know a cupcake when I see it. It all started 15 years ago in Shelby's kitchen, just Taffy and me with a cake mix and a can of frosting.

Tyler was in charge of the buffet. He followed Taffy to culinary college and became a sous chef. Eventually the brother and sister have a very successful restaurant together. Merle thought he should be ashamed of Tyler's profession but that's a hard attitude to maintain when you want to eat your son's cooking every day. He also wondered if Tyler might be gay but Ty ended up with his sister-in-law Judy whose biological father was Shane Walsh.

The Dixon sister and half-brother and the Grimes brother and half-sister. With our family history, who else could they marry? And that's how we got grandchildren: Tammy and Curtis from Taffy, and Derek and Jared from Tyler.

Merle retired from the ATF after 20 years. He considered private security but rejected it in favor of building a shooting range at the other end of the property so he could continue making money from his lifelong affair with firearms. Daryl added an archery range when he retired from the FBI a few years later.

The horse boarding expanded into a riding school. An indoor arena for dressage was built with changing rooms, lockers and showers. I still take groups on trail rides but we have instructors and other employees now. It's a good-sized operation.

There were the usual losses in life – Daryl's parents are gone and so are mine – but overall our family has been lucky to avoid major illness or injury. Misfortune comes to us through Merle. He still keeps an ear to the ground and has contacts all over so we sometimes hear news before anyone else. One day he passes along something so bizarre even Merle doesn't believe it. A man was pronounced dead at the hospital. Hours later at the funeral home he sat up and bit a mortician who was starting to work on him.

That can't be true.

Can it?

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and especially those who took the time to review.