Holy Jesus balls, are you guys as excited as I am? Next chapter is the long-awaited for birthing chapter and I, as the writer of this fanfic, is so excited for you guys to read it! I already have it written out so it will be posted tomorrow and I hope you guys like it cause I loved writing it!
Now, I did put a little Wren and Tessa bonding at the end of this chapter, mainly because I haven't really dealt with her and Seth yet, although I promise that will! I'm just getting past this whole birthing thing and then I'll be focusing on them. I've also decided (partially) on what direction I want to take Seth but if there are any directions that you guys think would be an interesting way for him to go, then feel free to PM me or even review it. I swear I don't bite lol. There is also some Daryl and Tessa fluff (there always is; if I don't include at least SOME in a chapter, I feel weird) and I did add the guard room that Daryl and Tessa are staying in too.
HermioneandMarcus - thanks for the review, love ya :)
HaloHunter89 - Yeah, you know that Daryl heard. Eventually, Daryl might MIGHT get fed up with Rick's attraction to his girl and he MIGHT do something about it but I'm not sure yet. That's WAY too far in the future for me to be worried about right now ha ha.
Maddy-MarieXO - Yeah, I know and now that I've written this far ahead, I'm kinda regretting NOT putting more lemons in the earlier chapters but I know in some pregnancies (mine included) that when the third trimester hit, those hormones can go away and your just not wanting it. That was the case with Tessa - she just wasn't really up for it. But, of course, when they CAN have that long awaited for lemon after three months of waiting, you can bet your ass its gonna be a raunchy one ;)
And dammit, I forgot to do a disclaimer earlier. Shit. If ya know me, though, ya know that this is only gonna come once. Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, yadda, yadda, yadda. The only people I own are Tessa, Ethan, Seth, Wren and any other character that you do not recognize.
Favorite Line(s):
"I thought it was a boy?" Daryl shook his head.
"Nope – I changed my mind. It's a girl."
"What makes ya say that?" She asked and Daryl grinned.
"Cause ain' no male Dixon ever waited this long to be born!"
When the time came for them to clear out the rest of the prison before actually entering the structure itself, Tessa watched with Lori, Hershel, Carl, Beth, Wren and Carol with bated breath and wide, nervous eyes. They watched as the rest of them, carrying knives and machetes and whatever else sharp or blunt they could grab, go in grouped in a circle, perpetually watching each other's backs and their senses sharp.
Tessa let out a sharp gasp when she saw Ethan slide his machetes through a walker's head lumbering towards Daryl already struggling with another walker, and then Daryl quickly return the favor. She had to force her heart beat to settle down after witnessing that and she was helped by Wren and Beth, who linked their arms through briefly with hers before they withdrew and continued banging on the chain-link fence separating them.
"Get tight – get tight!" Rick called out, and everyone nodded as Daryl and Ethan quickly returned to the group, putting their backs to the center like they had started out doing.
"What the fuck is he doing?" They heard Lori breath out and they had to agree when they saw T-Dog break rank and run after something. They saw the group's nerves fray a little as everyone struggling to cover him but when he returned, they saw he was carrying a riot shield.
"Good idea, but you couldn't wait until the fight was over?" Tessa replied, her voice coming out as a hiss towards her friend and Lori shot her a smile as they returned back to watching and beating on the fence.
When they reached the doorway to the cell block and then suddenly disappeared, Tessa felt Lori's hand take hers. "I can't see them – I can't see them – can you?" She asked her hastily and Tessa slowly nodded as she craned her neck slightly.
"I think I do . . . they met with more walkers . . ." She told her and Lori swallowed hard and for the first time, found herself praying to God that they got out of there alright. It wasn't just Rick in there, but there was Daryl and Ethan too and she knew how antsy Tessa got when the both of them were in situations like that – situations where they might come back bitten or scratched or – like Daryl would probably do – not at all.
They heard Rick roar for Daryl and immediately, the man slammed his knife into the walker he had been dealing with, and after making sure that Ethan was alright (he was – him, Glenn, Maggie, T-Dog and Seth were back in a little circle) ran over to Rick. Daryl covered him as they ran for the open fence and once it was relatively free of walkers, Daryl helped him slide it closed, Rick securing it with a chain that was already there.
Then, they returned to the rest of the walkers.
Dressed in SWAT gear and other armored clothing, they were giving the rest of the group a pretty tough time. They couldn't get past the armored helmets and were hard-pressed to remove them because they were the only things keeping them from being bit. And likewise, the gloves they wore kept them from scratching. Finally, Maggie managed to slide her knife underneath the walker's neck that she had been struggling with – right in-between his collarbone and the strap of his helmet and immediately, the others took notice when he slumped, dead, to the ground. Another walker lumbered up to Glenn and T-Dog and Glenn pushed up the helmet as T-Dog slid his pipe into the walker's neck and then straight into his head. They finished off the rest of them fairly quickly and regrouped when they were done. They were bloody, sweaty and beyond tired but as they headed back towards the rest of the group, they languidly observed the carnage around them all the while.
Rick called Glenn back before he could run and let the others in and Rick turned to them. "It looks secure." Glenn spoke up and Daryl shook his head.
"Not from tha look of tha' courtyard over there," He replied, mainly to Rick, as he pointed out the crumbling stone wall. "And tha' one I killed right there – tha's a civilian."
"That means that the interior could be pretty overrun with walkers – maybe more than we can handle." T-Dog spoke up next and Glenn shook his head.
"Well, if the walls are down, then what do we do? We can't go about rebuilding this whole place!"
"I don't care what it is – we're in a blind spot. We need to push in." He told them as he moved towards the door and the others nodded in agreement as they followed close on his heels. Daryl shot an assuring look back towards Tessa, one that instantly made her calm down, whereas Rick avoided Lori's eyes. She tensed whereas her friend relaxed and let go of her hand.
Rick stood point as Daryl slowly reached over and opened the metal door of the cellblock, only to find another barred gate in the way. Rick moved forward and slowly opened it, all of them flinching at the creakiness of the hinges as it swung open and they all moved cautiously around the room, Daryl with his crossbow held aloft and T-Dog with his newly acquired riot shield. Rick moved up the stairs to the mini-guard tower in the middle of the room and retrieved the dead guard's keys hanging at his belt. He unlocked the gate leading to the actual cellblock and they all let out sighs of relief when they saw all the men in it had died of gunshot wounds to the head and that they weren't walkers.
Except for a few upstairs, trapped in their cells – of course it couldn't be that easy.
Daryl and Ethan had followed Rick up the stairs to the upper cells and stopped when the walkers, snarling and teeth gnashing, stretched their arms out as far as they would go outside the bars towards them. Daryl and Ethan, coolly and impassively, took out their knives and buried them in the two walker's head without much further ado.
They rolled the two dead walkers over the side of the fence to the ground floor as Glenn came in, leading the rest of the group. "What do you guys think?" Rick asked, seeming pretty proud of himself as he walked down the stairs towards them. Hershel was the one who spoke first, giving a shrug before he actually said anything, though.
"It's home, sweet home." Rick nodded in agreement.
"It is for the time being, anyway."
"Is it secure?" Lori asked and Tessa's eyes immediately locked with Daryl and Ethan's as they leaned on their elbows on the railing above them. She could the slight trepidation in Daryl's eyes and knew he would tell her about it later, like he always did. There was a reason Tessa was quickly becoming the Queen Bee of the group. Unlike Lori, Tessa was who everyone came to when they needed someone to talk to or just plain needed something and Rick and Daryl were nowhere to be found. Unlike Lori, Tessa knew everything that was going on.
"This cell block is," Rick answered her and his eyes flickered onto Tessa's but they didn't last long as Tessa moved hers away first in order to continue running them along every inch of surface and nook and cranny she could find. It seemed secure . . . why did Daryl seem nervous, then?
"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked and Tessa nodded. Bingo. There was the reason right there. Rick nodded as he stepped closer to them.
"In the morning, we'll find a cafeteria, the infirmary and hopefully the armory too."
"Will we sleep in the cells?" Beth asked him, a hint of trepidation in her voice and Rick nodded.
"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too." He replied and Daryl shook his head as he stood up from his place leaning on the railing, where he hefted his crossbow higher up on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, but I ain' sleepin' in no cage," He gestured to the guard box located above them, the door leading to it easily accessible from the stairs. "Tess and I will take tha office." Rick turned around and watched him go as Tessa grinned and shook her head as she began climbing the stairs after him, Ethan immediately leaping forward to take some of their stuff from her arms. She smiled in thanks as she turned to the three people following her.
"Ethan, Wren – you guys can share the cell closest to the stairs where apparently, Daryl and I will be sleeping because he doesn't want to sleep in a 'cage'!" She rolled her eyes as she gave a shake of her head and Wren giggled as Ethan cracked a grin. The both of them nodded as she turned her eyes onto the seventeen-year-old standing behind them. "Seth, honey, where are you sleeping, do you know?" She asked him and Seth gave a shrug and a sigh.
"I guess I'll room with whoever wants me." He answered her and she nodded as she shot them small smiles before turning around and heading back up the stairs to the guard office, Ethan, who had been holding some of their stuff, hot on their heels. She glanced behind her and saw a grinning Lori place a loving hand on Rick's arm. She heard a 'thank you' echo off of the stone walls to them but Rick only averted his eyes away and pulled gently out of her grasp, leaving a slightly shell-shocked Lori still standing there. Carol eventually shepherded her away but Tessa shook her head as she continued ascending the stairs.
They entered the guard room, finding Daryl had already placed his crossbow down on a nearby bank of dead switches, and had cleaned off the nearby bunk of any dust, dirt and debris that could be on it. It was a pretty good-sized bunk – bigger than you would think being in a guard room and Tessa supposed that while the prisoners were given little single-sized mattresses, the guards had to make do with doubles. Ethan set down the remainder of their stuff as Tessa shot Daryl a weary look. He left the room then to place his stuff in the cell he would be occupying with Wren, and Tessa shook her head as she dropped her bag on the floor and then collapsed on the nearby bunk.
"I'm so exhausted that I just don't care anymore!" She told him with a laugh and Daryl chuckled as well as he dropped to his knees to the cold cement floor in front of her. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed in confusion as she sat back on her hands.
"Daryl, baby, what are you doing?" She asked him with a grin on her face, and watched as he bent down in front of her and gently slid her shirt up over her full moon of a pregnant belly. He pressed his lips to the smooth surface and she let a shudder go up and down her spine. It wasn't a shudder of desire or lust, though. It was the kind of shudder you'd get when someone you loved touched you – the shudder that immediately put butterflies in your stomach and made your head swim. Even now, after all that they had gone through as a couple, Tessa was still relieved that Daryl could put butterflies in her stomach and make her head swim.
"I'm jus' checkin' for scratches . . . got a problem with tha'?" He murmured with a grin and Tessa couldn't help but continue to grin as well as she shook her head and allowed her fingers to slide through his dark brown hair, his bright blue eyes seeking hers through the gloom.
"How could I have gotten scratched, Daryl? I was behind the fence the entire time!" The man kneeling before her shook his head.
"Ya never know. And even then, ya could have gotten scratched on a rusty nail or somethin' – don' want ya getting' tetanus or anythin' . . ." He closed his eyes then and let out a groan as he placed his forehead on her stomach. "Oh fuckin' great! Now why in tha Hell did I make myself think of tha'?"
Tessa immediately grinned as she pulled him up by the collar of his shirt, where she pressed her lips to his. They kissed for a moment and when they broke apart, Daryl had taken his place beside her on the bunk, his hand still resting on her stomach as he buried in his nose in her hair. "I can' wait for us to meet her . . ." He murmured to her and Tessa grinned and laughed again.
"I thought it was a boy?" Daryl shook his head.
"Nope – I changed ma mind. It's a girl."
"What makes ya say that?" She asked and Daryl grinned.
"Cause ain' no male Dixon ever waited this long to be born!"
Tessa had to sit there and silently agree with him. Ethan had been like Merle and had been born not exactly premature, but on the bare fringes of being premature. Daryl himself had actually been born premature – or so he told her that he had learned from his mother's often drunken lips. She had to admit that for one, Daryl was right . . . no male Dixon had ever waited this long to be born.
Tessa chuckled. "If I were you, I wouldn't be too anxious. Hershel says our love life can't resume for at least three months after the birth, just to be safe." She told him and Daryl grinned and shook his head in slight bemusement as he planted a kiss in her hair before planting the same one at the corner of her mouth.
"Tess, I've waited this long for ya – I think I can wait three months more!" She gave a laugh.
"Can you unpack without me?" She asked him and his eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion.
"Sure I can, but why?" She rolled her eyes.
"I gotta go check on everyone – especially Lori." She told him and Daryl let out a 'tch' as he moved to slump against the wall the bunk was bolted to.
"Of course ya do. I keep forgettin' tha' ma Momma's Bear is Queen Bee of tha group now!" He grinned and she returned the grin as she bent down and pressed a slow, loving kiss to his lips. It was a kiss he eagerly reciprocated and she grinned against him as he slid a hand around her neck and brought her closer to him. After a moment, she reluctantly broke apart and nuzzled him.
"This place ain't exactly soundproof, ya know? That's gonna make things interesting . . ." She spoke up and Daryl let out a snort of amusement.
"It's like I told ya yesterday night – when it comes tha time for our sex life to pick up again, I'll clear us out a cellblock. Ya can be as loud as ya want then!" He shot her an assuring look. "Don' worry, babydoll – I got ya covered!" Tessa grinned and rolled her eyes as she got to her feet.
"I feel so lucky that I have a man who is so concerned about my needs!" She grinned and Daryl shook his head in playful disbelief.
"Bitch, I'm unpackin' for ya while ya go 'round and make ya rounds! Not-to-mention, do I have to mention the countless amount of deer tha' me and Ethan and Rick had to ruthlessly track durin' tha winter 'cause someone was cravin' venison so bad she almost couldn' stand it?" He asked her and she nodded like he had no choice unless he wanted to sleep on the floor before she got to her feet. She threw him a loving look over her shoulder, one that he quickly reciprocated as she left the guard room then and moved back down the stairs to the cell block. She ducked her head into each individual cell as she moved down the line, everyone giving her weak smiles as she asked how everyone was doing and they answered her in turn.
When she reached the cellblock Rick and Lori were sharing, she smiled a small smile as she immediately took a seat beside her friend. Rick was gone, probably helping someone do something, and she automatically wrapped an arm around Lori's shoulders. They sat there for a minute, in silence, and eventually, they looked at each other and a light laugh appeared in their eyes.
"Are we safe, Tess? Can we actually rest for a moment?" Lori quietly asked and Tessa smiled and slowly nodded.
"I . . . I think we can. We might not be able to for a while, but . . ." Her hand moved to her stomach then and Lori knew what she was thinking. "We can rest long enough for it to matter."
"Nothing to kill or die for . . . and no religion too . . ."
"I'm sorry, Tess, but . . . what . . . what is that you are singing?"
Tessa almost jumped out of her skin and the hunting knife she had been holding, clattered out of her hands and onto the bloody metal of the table standing in front of her. Tessa was standing in front of one of the many tables located in the common room of the prison that they would use in order to prepare their scant meal from day-to-day. When she saw it was just Wren making her cautious way towards her while everyone else flitted to and fro getting their things better situated, she immediately let out a grin and a slightly nervous laugh. Her clean hand flew to her chest, covering the two pendants that still hung from her neck and she shook her head in order to rid herself of the fright she had just been recently dealt. As if in anger at the fright as well, her baby kicked and Tessa's hand reflexively flew to her stomach, feeling the actual movement of the foot as it lifted her flesh and drew its path across her stomach. That was one of the few things that Tessa hated about being pregnant – in the last couple of months, you could actually see your baby move. It looked so alien.
"Oh God - Wren, honey, you scared the living daylights out of me!" She gasped and the pretty young girl smiled as she stepped closer towards her, nodding as she went. Like Ethan, Tessa had to consciously remember that Wren was thirteen and not closer to Beth and Seth's seventeen-year-old selves. In fact, she had to keep reminding herself that when the group first made contact with her, she was alone – completely and irrevocably alone with only her older brother to keep her safe.
"Yeah, sorry, but you were pretty out of it!" A curious look appeared in her eyes again. "What were you singing?" It was Tessa's turn to give her a slightly curious look as she resumed the gutting of the squirrels and rabbits that were lying on the table before her. Daryl and Ethan had caught and brought them back for dinner not that long ago after an hour or two of being gone, and now that they were back, her heart seemed to rest a little easier. She hated being this far along in her pregnancy and absent Daryl for so long. She wanted him to be there with her when she gave birth, almost as much as he wanted to be there. If they were away from each other longer than an hour or so, the both of them started to get a little antsy.
"You've never heard of 'Imagine' by John Lennon before?" Wren thought for a moment before slowly shaking her head. Tessa let out a playfully indignant scoff as she shook her head.
"I find that impossible to believe! Everyone's heard it at least once! It was his most memorable song after he left the Beatles – Hell, it's probably one of the most famous songs ever written and performed, as well as one of the most beautiful!" Wren grimaced, her dark brown curls shining in the bright fall sunlight.
"Well, if it's such an awesome, beautiful song, then why are you singing it while . . . gutting animals?" She asked and Tessa laughed as she chopped one of the squirrel's heads off, barely missing the slightly green look that Wren's skin adopted at the sight.
"I know it is . . . kinda morbid, but with Daryl helping everyone to get everything better situated here in the cellblock, and Ethan off God only knows where with that brother of yours, then I suppose I'm the only one left who knows how to properly skin and clean game!" She spoke with a laugh. "And I sing because . . ." She gave a shrug as she placed her hand on the huge swell of her belly. "Just because I want to, I guess. I sang to Ethan while pregnant with him – the same song too and while my doctor said that the probability of him understanding a damn thing I was saying was slim to none, he also admitted that he could still hear me. I know it's totally cliché, but . . ." She trailed off then, her voice coming to a quiet end and Wren nodded, regarding the now pink, headless carcass of the squirrel hesitantly. Tessa glanced at her and her grin turned down into a smile. "Daryl taught me how to do this not long after we first met. It was one of our first dates, in fact – hunting and gutting squirrels," She rolled her eyes and Wren let out a grin and a laugh. "It was . . . just about as romantic as you can possibly imagine it being!" Wren shot her a sly smile then.
"Oh you can't tell me that you still didn't find him as attractive then as you do now, all covered in blood and squirrel guts! Heck, the only thing that's different now is his age!" She teased her and Tessa laughed and nodded as she placed the freshly gutted and skinned squirrel aside before picking up a new one. She smiled and gestured down to it, where she offered her the hunting knife.
"You're right, I was as head over heels in love with him then as I am now. But I digress - ya wanna give it a try? It's like Daryl said, every girl needs to know how to clean game, especially in this new, fucked up world," She asked her, and Wren looked at it apprehensively for a moment before slowly taking the knife from her. She stepped forward as Tessa stepped aside, Wren immediately taking a firm hold of the squirrel. "We gotta skin the squirrel first, okay, before we can gut it. Now, I've already done the first two parts for you, so what you wanna do now is cut there first, just a small cut towards the head," She traced out what to do with her finger and Wren nodded as she did as she was told. Tessa nodded before tracing out two more incisions. "Now you cut the skin in front of the hind legs. And once you have that done, you wanna grab the hide and pull it upwards, exposing the front legs," She nodded when Wren did it, cleanly and expertly for just her first time, and a grin appeared on Tessa's face. "Now, you wanna stand it on its tail and pull the hide down to the back feet, just like that. Pull the front legs through and then cut the front feet off – exactly! – and then you do the hind feet and head – awesome!" Tessa smiled and patted the small girl on the back. She didn't look so green anymore. "I do say that you're a natural at this, honey!"
Wren glanced up at her. "Now we . . . now we have to gut it, right?" She asked her, her face adopting another greenish tint again, and Tessa nodded and chuckled.
"We have to. You don't wanna be eating squirrel stomach, do you? Although, I must say that squirrel brains are quite good if you know someone who can cook them good enough." Wren's nose wrinkled up.
"Squirrel brains? Eww – that's disgusting!" Tessa laughed at Wren's interruption as she gently took the hunting knife from her.
"You can say 'eww' all ya want to but it's a general consensus around here that Daryl's the squirrel cookin' master and I garun-damn-tee you, honey, that you guys have eaten squirrel brains more than once and not bothered to ask him what it was! Now, watch closely; I'll do this the first time to show you 'cause it can be kinda tricky . . ." Wren nodded as Tessa sliced open and gutted the squirrel in front of her until the body cavity was as empty and hollow as a dead tree. Slowly her face lost its greenish tint again and Tessa turned her gaze back onto her as she picked up another squirrel from the nearby pile and plopped it in front of her. "Now it's your turn – straight from the top so I know you got it."
Wren nodded as she retook the hunting knife and expertly skinned it again before hesitantly starting with the gutting. They heard laughter come from up ahead and the both of them glanced ahead, right when Ethan and Glenn came walking past them with Seth, grins on their faces for the second time in months and with more supplies from the cars slung over their shoulders. The three of them glanced towards them and Glenn and Ethan grinned and waved as Seth simply smiled a small smile and nodded. Tessa and Wren returned the boys' greetings and Tessa looked down, barely catching the slight pinkness that spread across Wren's face at the sight of her son. She smiled an all-knowing smile.
"You know, Wren . . . you should go talk to Ethan sometime, especially now that you guys are sharing a cell. It's been a long time since he's been around another person his own age and it's not like you two didn't know each other before all this!" She advised her, her voice coming out soft and quiet – slightly motherly - and Wren glanced up at her before returning to the squirrel, giving a shrug as she did so. She could tell that the girl hoped it was a shrug of nonchalance but Tessa was a mother and she could see through it.
"I would, but . . . he doesn't notice me. He . . . he likes Beth." She replied and Tessa smiled a small smile as she placed her arm around the young girl's shoulders. Her son definitely noticed the young girl, for oftentimes she would glance up and notice the kid sneaking glances at her – glances that he wasn't really sneaking Beth all that much anymore. In fact, Beth and Seth were sending more looks towards each other than her and Ethan was. They had grown apart during the harsh winter and while they certainly remained good friends, Tessa would be very shocked if her son and the youngest of Hershel's daughters came up to her and Daryl and confessed to them that they were an item. And besides, Tessa liked this a lot better – Wren and Ethan were closer in age than him and Beth.
That same smile remained on her face as she answered the young girl. "Well, you never know until you try, honey. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough." Wren glanced up at her with a slight smile on her face.
"Did you learn those words of wisdom from being with Daryl?" She asked, and Tessa grinned when she heard a chuckle in her ear and felt strong arms wrap around her waist from behind. Equally strong hands fell onto her stomach and she felt the scratch of Daryl's stubble as he planted a loving kiss on the nape of her neck.
"Ya can bet ya life tha' she did!" Daryl answered Wren for her and Tessa grinned as she turned her head to peck him on the lips.
"Yes, even Daryl has something smart to say if you listen to him long enough!" She agreed and as Wren giggled, Daryl rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Ya lucky I love ya so much, babydoll!" He murmured with a smile as she laughed and planted a kiss on his cheek. He rubbed the back of his neck gingerly as he gestured to the squirrels and rabbit set before them. "I hate to be tha' guy, but are ya guys done yet?" Tessa gave a half-shrug in reply.
"I've been teaching her how to skin and gut 'em so that's the reason it's been going so slow. Give me one more half hour and we'll have 'em done and ready for the fire or the cooking pot or however you're cooking them tonight." She told him and he nodded as she stepped aside so that he could grab up the ones already skinned, chewing thoughtfully on the inside of his lip as he did so.
"Okay, tha's fine – take ya time. I'll jus' get started on these. Group's been workin' hard today and already they're moanin' for their supper. Get tha rest to me as quick as ya can, okay, love?" He asked and Tessa smile and nodded and he pressed a light kiss to her lips, one that she readily reciprocated, before turning around and moving off to the stove that Maggie was currently stoking. Wren watched him go with a look of interest in her eyes.
"He's an asshole -" She spoke up and Tessa immediately shot her an alarmed look.
"Wren – watch your language! And what in the Hell makes ya say that?" She asked, interrupting her, and Wren laughed as she rolled her eyes.
"You didn't let me finish, Tess! He's quite clearly an asshole but around you, he's . . . he's not so much of an asshole. I get how many people could immediately not like him right off the bat like Seth, but I do. He might be an asshole, but he's your asshole, Tess, and he's also got a good heart, I can tell that as well." She thought for a moment before nodding firmly. "I like him. I approve." Tessa grinned and laughed then as she turned back to the squirrels and rabbits, withdrawing another one of Daryl's hunting knifes from its sheath strapped to her hip as she did so.
"Good - I'm so glad that I have your approval, honey," She told her before shooting her a playfully stern look. "Although you're not just telling me that because you have a crush on my son, are you?" She asked and Wren laughed again although this time, she shook her head mysteriously but still slightly teasingly.
"No offense, Tess, but you'll never know the answer to that."
