A/N And we're back! Thank you all so much for the faves, the follows the reviews. And thanks to the guests for their comments. This chapter we're going to have a mixed bag, we're going to see how Merle and Beth are doing, and we're also going to learn a little more about Daryl and Michonne. I hope you enjoy.

Somehow sharing the shower with him was more intimidating than sharing the bed.

First off, she never took showers, just baths. But that wasn't really what was daunting, it was the fact that they would be completely naked, in a small stall, in a very well lit room.

He could see she was nervous, and he attempted to reassure her, "Don't ya worry Lil Darlin', we're just gonna have a shower and enjoy each other a little bit. We ain't gonna do the other, I ain't the kinda man that would have his wife in the bathroom. Maybe after we get all cleaned-up, then you'll wanna lay with your husband in our bed." And he smiled warmly at her.

She gave him a shy smile and nodded.

He got in the warm spray first, then held out his hand to her and she went to him. He began by washing her hair, then his own. And then he stopped to kiss her deeply and she was surprised that she enjoyed it so much.

Then he took the soap and a wash cloth and began to wash her arms and her back and finally her breasts and stomach. She was getting excited by his touching, she had'nt expected that. He asked her to do the same for him, and she found it quite thrilling to touch him that way.

He started to wash her legs and then moved to wash between them and she heard herself moan. He smiled at her and then he washed her bottom, at first she tensed, he paused and looked at her, and she just nodded her head. And again, she was surprised how much she liked it.

He held his washcloth out to her and ask in a hoarse whisper, "Will ya do the same for me Darlin'?"

She still hadn't been able to find her voice, so she just nodded. She knew her face was bright red, but she also knew she was excited to touch his body. She was both fascinated and intimidated by his manhood. She was surprised it had fit inside her.

When they were done he stepped from the shower first, quickly wiped himself down with the towel, and then got one for her, she reached her hand out to take it, but he just smiled and shook his head no. He dried her off and she was surprised how excited it made her.

When he was done he put his arms around her tightly and gave her a kiss filled with desire. Then he scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

And this time when they made love she didn't tense or hesitate. She knew he wasn't going to hurt her, and she also knew she loved his touch.

Merle was happier than he ever remembered being or ever thought he could be. He looked out the kitchen window and he saw the little building, and he thanked God for the apartment out back that brought her to him.

He didn't want her cooking or doing any type of work, so he said he'd handle dinner. She had some hamburger in the fridge and he just made them each a patty, fried up some potatoes and opened a can of corn. Nuthin' fancy, but she seemed happy.

"I'ma hate ta leave you in the mornin' ta go ta work, gonna be a long day. I'll tell ya what, I don't want ya worryin' about supper, I'll get home as soon as I can and we'll just go out ta eat. You just take it easy tomorrow and we'll get back in full swing on Tuesday. Sound okay?" He smiled that big smile she loved so much.

"Thank you Merle, that's so nice. You do know that I enjoy doing for you, don't you?" She smiled almost shyly.

"Yes Darlin', I know, I just like ya ta have a little time off now and again. I don't aim ta have my wife be a workhorse, K?" He had his serious face on now.

"Yes Merle, it sounds very nice. Tommy and I will work in the garden, but not too hard," She smiled more now.

The next night when they walked in the diner Carlotta was working. Merle was holding Tommy's hand, and his other arm was protectively around Beth's waist.

He nodded to Carlotta and they took a seat.

Carlotta never made any trouble.

xxxx

Four weeks later Merle, Beth and Tommy were headed to the cabin in the woods of North Carolina to see Daryl and Michonne. Beth was so excited to see them and so curious about their cabin. She wanted to see where they lived, she wanted to talk to her friend, and she couldn't wait to see if Michonne's tummy had grown.

She was surprised how far into the woods they drove, but she supposed that was why Michonne and Daryl weren't worried about being discovered.

When she saw the cabin she practically jumped up and down in her seat. "Darlin', are ya excited or sumthin'," Merle smiled.

She laughed and nodded yes and her excitement got Tommy all wound up, and Merle just laughed. He was a happy man.

Beth loved the cabin, it seemed just perfect for Daryl and Michonne. The living room spanned the width of the house and was furnished with big, comfortable chairs and a huge couch. There was a wall with nothing but bookshelves and they were full. When Beth mentioned it Michonne just smiled, "I may have a small addiction to reading."

Daryl snorted and said, "Mishy likes her damn reading so much she made me learn how ta read so I could do some of it for her."

Michonne just laughed.

Beth had never seen a kitchen quite like the one in the cabin. It had a huge ancient wood burning cook stove that was in perfect condition. The sink was large enough for her to take a bath in, and there were long expanses of countertop that were all butcher block. Rather than the modern built in cupboards, there was an old fashioned Hoosier cabinet, a pie and jelly safe, and two large oak storage cabinets. Pots and pans hung from hooks above the stove, and ceramic mixing bowls sat on the Hoosier. It was beautiful. Michonne explained to her Daryl had designed the kitchen for a single man who liked to hunt and be able to bring the game home and butcher it in his own kitchen. The concessions to modernity were a refrigerator and also a freezer unit.

"My husband is a wonderful provider of game meat, and not only does he harvest it himself with a crossbow, he cleans and butchers it all himself, and then he cooks it for me, he's quite the man," she smiled.

Michonne showed her to the room she, Merle and Tommy would share. It was good size with a big feather bed covered in a colorful quilt. Rather than a built in closet, there was a large freestanding wardrobe cabinet. There were two bedside tables. Michonne had made up a small cot for Tommy in one corner of the room. Beth loved it all.

"You and Daryl have such a beautiful home Michonne, I love it," Beth smiled at the woman.

"Thank you Beth, but again, I have to give Daryl all the credit for this lovely home. He designed it, built it, and he built most of the furniture. The only thing that changed when I moved in was, he built an additional wardrobe for our bedroom, and he built the bookshelves in the living area. The man is a multi-talented genius," she smiled proudly, her love and admiration for Daryl so obvious.

When they walked back to the living area Michonne looked to Merle and Daryl, "Would you two watch Tommy while I take Beth for a little walk outside?"

Daryl didn't hesitate, "Course woman, but I want ya ta take yer gun and yer blade, I seen wolf sign."

Michonne walked close to him, he wrapped an arm around her and simply said, "I love ya woman."

She smiled and said, "I love you too, husband."

Beth loved the way they were with each other.

Merle walked over to her, put an arm around her waist, and said, "Ya stay close ta Michonne, if anything tries ta bother ya, she won't hesitate ta kill it." And he kissed the top of her head.

"Yes, Merle."

Beth could not believe the beauty of these deep woods. There was a small backyard area with a grill and a homemade smoker, a nice sun porch that was screened in, and a picnic table. But beyond that was nothing but trees.

"I love your screened porch Michonne, it's so pretty and it seems relaxing," Beth smiled.

"Daryl built that for me so I could sit outside and read, even in the worst bug months. Once it was done, we found we often enjoyed having our dinner in there," Michonne was smiling.

"You two are so in love, and you sometimes seem like you're in the same thought. I wonder, if you don't mind telling me, how did you and Daryl meet?" Beth had been wanting to ask her for so long.

Michonne smiled and she began her story:

Well it started off a very sad, but touching moment. I had gone to call on a woman at her home, Mrs. Bernice Combs. Mrs. Combs had lost her middle son, Walter, in the war, and she had been having some trouble getting his things, and she thought he'd been awarded a medal she wanted very much to have as a keepsake. Mrs. Combs is a lovely woman, but like many people of color she is not well educated and writing letters to people in a position of power was daunting for her. The N.A.A.C.P. had asked me if I could try and provide her some assistance, and of course I agreed.

We were having tea and cookies in her parlor while she told me her story when suddenly a military jeep pulled up to the curb in front of her house. We both looked to see a man in a Marine uniform step out of the jeep and walk towards her front door. Mrs. Combs was a bit frightened, so I went to the door for her and I opened it before he even had a chance to knock.

He had the most intense steel blue eyes I'd ever seen, I asked him, "May I help you?"

He responded in a very serious tone, "Hello Mam, I'm Master Sergeant Dixon with the United States Marine Corps. I've come to pay my respects to Mrs. Bernice Combs, mother of Walter Combs."

By then Mrs. Combs was on her feet and at the door. She said to him, "Sergeant Dixon, Walter spoke so highly of you, won't you come in?"

He nodded his head, stepped into her parlor and said, "Mam, I just wanted ta come by and speak to ya a little about yer son, if that would be alright."

Mrs. Combs smiled brightly at the man and said, "Please, have a seat, may I get you tea and cookies?"

"That would be real nice mam, I appreciate it."

I was impressed that he knew enough about the sensitivities of the situation to accept her offer of food and beverage, as many white people don't want to eat or drink from the same glasses, dishes and utensils as Negro people.

Negros hadn't even been allowed to join the Marines until 1942.

After she'd gotten his tea and a plate of cookies for him, Mrs. Combs introduced me to him, and told him why I was there. I was surprised when he stood, nodded his head to me and said, "Very nice to meet you Miss. I sure am glad Walter's Mother has someone ta help her out." He was so respectful, and I wasn't really used to being treated so formally by white people.

He proceeded to tell Mrs. Combs that he wasn't there in a professional capacity, but that he wanted to come by and tell her what a fine young man Walter was. He had been his training officer in firearms and he told her Walter was an exceptional student, an outstanding Marine and a true American Hero.

He gave Mrs. Combs a photograph he had of himself and Walter on the gun range. Mrs. Combs had tears in her eyes, thanking him for coming to her home to tell her good things about her son, and to give her such a special gift of a photograph.

He told her stories about Walter and the things he'd learned, and she shared stories of Walter growing up.

She asked him if he would kindly stay for dinner and he said, "Mam I'd be honored ta share a meal with the Mother of a fine Marine like Walter Combs."

I think it was in that moment that I fell in love with Daryl Dixon.

To go on with my story, Mrs. Combs is not a woman of means, she prepared a humble meal of ham hocks and turnip greens with hoe cakes. Daryl acted as though that was the finest meal he'd ever eaten, and he told her, "Walter was mighty lucky to have a mama that's such a good cook."

When he excused himself for the evening I walked him to the door and he said to me, "I'd like ta get ta know ya better Michonne. I got a place off base, I could fix ya dinner or sumthin', whatever ya like."

Well I was completely enamored of him, but I just couldn't see how this could work and I said, "Don't you think this would be way too complicated?"

He looked at me with those eyes and he said, "Part of my field of expertise is dealin' with and overcoming complications, and for a fine woman like yerself I got no doubt I can make this work."

And we began our love affair. We came out here, or we met at Mrs. Combs house, and she has kept our secret for us. In fact, Mrs. Combs is my midwife.

"Oh Michonne, that is such a beautiful story. I hope I get to meet Mrs. Combs. And I can sure see why you fell in love with Daryl," Beth smiled at her.

"Well I'd say we both did very well in the husband department Beth, Merle is a fine man and a supportive and loving brother to Daryl," Michonne smiled back.

"Now, we'd better get back inside before our husbands panic," Michonne laughed softly.

As soon as they walked in the door Daryl went right to Michonne, put an arm around her and said, "Missed ya woman." And she just looked at him and smiled.

Beth didn't think she would ever tire of watching that scene.

Merle looked a little concerned as he came up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "I's getting' worried about ya Darlin'."

"I'm sorry Merle, we were just chatting and I guess the time got away from us," she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

"S'okay Darlin', I just worry about ya s'all," and he gave her a tight hug.

That evening they had a delicious dinner of wild boar, which Daryl had bagged the day before and had been smoke cooking for hours, with rice, hush puppies and collard greens. Michonne had made a beautiful pecan pie for dessert.

Merle declared, "Daryl, we are lucky men, we both married us women who can cook like nobody's business. Won't be long now we'll both hafta go on one a them diets."

The next morning the brothers left just before sun-up to hunt. Beth and Michonne spent a leisurely morning drinking tea and teaching Tommy his letters and numbers.

Later they took Tommy outside, and Michonne was sure to tuck a pistol in her waistband and a blade in a sheath on her belt. She was determined to teach Tommy to jump rope. She told him she'd been the jump rope champion of her neighborhood and she expected her nephew to follow in her footsteps.

Tommy was able to skip it once each time, pretty good for such a little guy, and the best part was they all laughed and had fun.

Merle and Daryl bagged a nice little buck, they gutted it, and then Daryl strapped it to his back to carry it home.

Along the way Daryl asked, "So how's the married life Merle? You and Beth seem real happy."

"Ahh little brother, smartest thing I ever done was marry that woman. I almost let her get away from me, but Rick talked some sense into me, and I'm mighty grateful," Merle had that trademark smile that seemed to span his whole face.

"I'm happy for ya brother, who'd a thought a couple redneck assholes like us would end up with the finest women in the world," and Daryl smiled that barely there smile.

Beth had asked Michonne a million questions about the baby, did she know when it was due, six months, were they hoping for a boy or a girl, either would do nicely, had they picked out names, yes, but they're secret, had she felt the quickening, no probably next month, was she scared, no.

Michonne finally laughed out loud, "Little sister, you sure do ask a lot of questions, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Oh, well I don't think so but we like to do, you know, 'that' a lot and I'm just thinking I could have a baby," Beth's face was red as a tomato.

Michonne hugged her and said, "I've told you this before Little Sister, but I just have to say it again, you are the sweetest thing. Doing 'that' a lot could definitely lead to another baby for you and Merle."

xxx

Beth had a burning question for Merle, on the drive home from the cabin. when Tommy had fallen asleep, she asked him, "Merle, how did you feel when you found out Daryl was going to marry Michonne?"

Merle looked over at her for just a moment, looked back at the road, took a deep breath and said, "I ain't proud, but I ain't gonna start lyin' to ya. Truth is, Daryl come ta see me, said he had sumthin' important ta talk ta me about. Boy told me he was in love, but he didn't have ta tell me, I could see it when he talked about her. Told me he wanted ta marry the woman, I thought it was good. Then he told me she's a Negro and I come unglued. I told him he was crazy, told him he was gonna ruin his life, reminded him it was illegal. We fought, first yellin' at each other, then throwin' blows, it was real bad stuff. Happened right in our backyard. When we was both bloody and spent, he asked would I please be willin' ta meet her. See Darlin', Daryl and me, we was always all the other one ever had ta count on. Our Ma died when we were little guys, and you already know about the ol' man and what he done. So Little Brother and I, we fight, we cuss, but we always make up, cuz we don't know no other way than ta take care a each other."

"So," he continued, "I said I'd meet her. I drive out ta the cabin. Figured I'd get there, take one look at her and tell 'em both sayonara, and that'd be that. But when I watched how they was tagether, I saw how happy she made my baby brother, I saw what a good woman she was and how she adored the boy, I knew I had ta get the hate outta my heart. She was gonna be my family. I struggled for a while, and she knew it. But she was patient, she understood me. I love Michonne, she's been a good thing for Daryl, he used to be dark and sullen, never seemed to have a happy moment. But now he's happy cuz of her. And now I'm smarter, a better man, I know it don't make no difference what color the woman is, baby brother deserves ta be happy."

And all she said was, "I love you so much Merle."

A/N I hope you enjoyed learning a little something about Daryl and Michonne. I am considering a short spin-off, just a few chapters, focusing on them. But that would be some time away. Thank you for reading, you're the best. Please review. xo