AN: I didn't realize how rapidly this was going to come to a close! I have like this chapter and another one…two more max! Whoa! Okay I'll let you get started then

"Shane…" Vanessa groaned as they trekked trough the thickly foliaged woods. "How much further…do you think?" she was getting tired of carrying Larayne. She had gotten heavy! Plus, the baby would need fed again soon.

"Want me to take Raynie?" was the only answer he offered.

"Yeah. My back is killing me…" carrying a child could do that, even if said child was only a baby.

"C'mere, Raynie!" he smiled at his daughter. She grinned back and made a faint coo as she switched arms.

Saying it had been a long morning was an understatement. It was about ten o'clock now and they'd left Woodbury at five. It was a miracle they had even made it out. Shane found a place in the fence that wasn't guarded and they slipped out that way. He led them into the woods and that's where they'd been ever since.

"I can take one of the bags," Vanessa offered.

"Okay," he slipped one of the duffle bags onto her shoulder. We should be there soon," he sighed, hoping he was right.

"I hope so," she sighed. She wasn't ever a very patient person to begin with, but it didn't help the fact that she was scared out of her wits to see the rest of her family. Lori was going to give her an earful, that was for sure. But then, she'd coo over her niece and probably end up spoiling her in some way, just as Vanessa had done to Carl.

After another hour, Shane and Vanessa made it to the prison gate. It was locked from the inside, there was two different watch towers facing the outside of the prison. They assumed somebody had to be in one of them. On either side of them were walkers held back by chain-link fences. Luckily, they were seen pretty quickly. Since, the prison group didn't know who exactly was at the gates, they all came running outside to the fence.

"Here, let me hold her," Vanessa said, holding her arms out for Larayne. Shane passed her wordlessly.

"Shane…Vanessa…" Rick breathed at the fence.

"AUNT VANESSA! UNCLE SHANE!" Carl shouted as he ran to the fence.

"Ya gonna let up in, or are you gonna make us stand out here?" Shane asked with a small smile.

"He shot at us Rick! You can't let him in here!" Glenn called, making his way to the front.

"Did he actually shoot any of you?" Vanessa asked, venom in her tone. No one spoke. "No! And y'all know he could've very well killed you all," she paused, to look at the faces of the group, they were all shocked to see the two, let alone with a baby. They all knew that Vanessa was pregnant, but they thought she'd end up like Lori. "Where's my sister?" she asked when she noticed the older dark haired woman wasn't there.

Nobody had the guts to say anything, Rick just opened the gate and brought the three into the prison. Shane wrapped his arm around his wife's waist as they walked. Her muscles were tense as she feared the worst. No talking couldn't be a good thing.

"C'mere," Rick said, bringing the trio into an empty cell. He took a seat on the bed and racked his hands through his hair. Carol waked in carrying a small bundle in a blanket.

"Would you like to hold her?" she offered Shane the other, younger baby.

"I don't understand…" Vanessa said carefully. There was a baby here…she didn't know who it belonged to. Maybe Carol and Daryl had a baby or Maggie and Glenn or something…she didn't know though.

"That is Judith…Carl named her," Rick stood, and Carol walked back out of the room. They needed their privacy.

"Who's her parents?" Vanessa asked. Shane knew to stay quiet and let Rick take his time explaining.

"Lori was pregnant when you two left. She had been for a few months…and you remember when she had to have a c-section…y'know when she had Carl?" the blue eyed woman nodded. "She…she…" Rick began to cry, again. Vanessa pulled him into a hug. He cried on her shoulder. She joined him once he realized what had happened.

"Oh my God…" was all she was able to say. Shane wanted so badly to join them in their hug, but, he was holding Judith and they needed to have their time together. Once the two separated, Rick wiped his red puffy eyes. Vanessa rested her hand on his upper arm comfortingly.

"Is this-?" Rick asked, gesturing to the baby still in Vanessa's arms.

"This is Larayne," she smiled softly. "Raynie, this is your uncle Rick," she said in a baby voice to the raven haired little girl.

"Can I hold her?" Vanessa nodded and passed the baby to her brother-in-law. She looked up at Shane, he took his place at her side with the other baby still in his arms. Vanessa looked down, and was met with the dark eyes she'd know anywhere…they matched Lori's perfectly.

"How are you feeding her?" she asked Rick.

"Formula…ever so often we make a run…"

"Oh…"

Shane and Vanessa got settled into a cell of their very own that evening.

"Do you think we made the right choice?" she asked her husband.

"Why? You don't?"

"No, no I do. I'm glad we came here…well as glad as I can be after everything today," Vanessa changed into one of Shane's shirts and a pair of sweatpants.

"Then I am too," he kissed her cheek and laid on the bottom bunk. It wasn't their bed back in Woodbury, but they were surrounded by family. She tucked Larayne in the mattress on the floor.

"I'm gonna go talk to Rick…he seems kind of tense."

"Okay," Shane couldn't say he was completely comfortable with her going out there alone with Rick…but then again, he was jealous by nature.

"I'll be back in a few."

"Be careful, please," she leaned in and pressed a hard kiss on his lips.

"Always am," she started to pull away, but he pulled back for another kiss.

"I love you, Ness."

"I love you too, Shane," she rested her forehead on his and kissed him one last time before slipping her shoes back on and making her way outside to the watchtower. She climbed the stairs and went to the top. Rick turned around at the sound of footsteps.

"Hey," he smiled, not getting up from his seat with his feet over the railing.

"How are you?" she took a seat next to him and patted his knee affectionately.

"It has been hard…" he replied.

"I'm here if you need to talk about anything."

"It's my fault y'know?"

"How is it your fault?"

"I was just so angry with her…I wouldn't talk to her…she thought I hated her!"

"She knew you loved her," she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"I don't know about that…"

"She did…trust me. Have I ever lied to you before."

"No…" he rested his head on her shoulder. "Larayne is really something…Shane seems great with her too."

"He is."

"Nessa, I gotta tell you something, it may not be easy to hear…wasn't easy for me either, but me and Lori were fighting because of you two."

"Because of us two?" Vanessa asked with a knitted brow.

"Yeah…Shane mostly…but I think they didn't tell us the whole story at the CDC. She told me that they were more than just a one time thing…and they were more than just sex."

"Well I don't see how any of this matters now, they both clearly made their choices. And in times like this, we have to accept the mistakes of our loved ones and keep them close."

"What happened to you?" Rick picked his head up from her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"If this hadn't of happened," he gestured to everything around them, meaning the end of the world. "You would've kicked his ass back at the CDC for even looking at another woman."

"Rick, the world changed."

"No. You changed," he turned her head to face him. In the moonlight, he could only make out her silhouette, but she was gorgeous. Her hair framing her heart shaped face, her blue eyes sparkling, and her lips bright pink without lipstick. Rick's eyes focused on her lips for a moment. They were full with the top being just a little bit thinner than the bottom. Suddenly, and without any warning, Rick pressed his lips against Vanessa's.

AN: I really hope I didn't go too OOC on Rick's part, but who knows? If Lori had a sister and she was there after her death…ya never know. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.