Merle woke to an annoying tapping sound. It wasn't steady and it paused every now and then before starting up again. He rolled over and opened his eyes when he found the space next to him was empty. Had he dreamed last night? He sat up and looked behind him and found Peaches sitting at the desk that he had yet to move out of his room. He thought he might be still dreaming when he saw that she was typing on a laptop.

"What?" He asked as he got up. He wobbled over to her while reaching down to scratch his genitals. "What are you doing? Is that a computer?"

"Morning." She said. "Yeah, it is. I'm writing."

"Writing what?" He asked as he read a few sentences. "About me?"

"Not just you. Everyone. Everything I can remember. Just to keep a record. Air my feelings." Peaches said. He watched her rapid typing for a second – she felt Merle's eyes on her hand movements.

"So it's a diary?" He asked.

"Yeah but there are some gaps – stuff I can't recall. It's been a while since I've been able to charge this thing and turn it on." She said.

"Where'd you get it?" He asked.

"That shopping center we were in about five months ago had a computer section. The display was still up and I looked at a few before grabbing a Mac. Battery actually lasts a long time but it went dead while we were at the old farm house – where we lost Beth, Maggie and Carol." She answered.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "Who do think will read it?"

"It's therapeutic. To get everything that happened out of my head. Not so much to remember all the crap that's happened to us but yeah I guess in someway I do want to remember. It's not all bad – there's good times." She said as she fiddled with the mouse for a second. She opened up some other pages and Merle squinted at them. "This one is our first night together…it goes on for forty pages." He smirked as he slowly read her description of things. There were several paragraphs about his body, his stump, how he looked at her. "This ones about finding Daryl – fixing up the motel – that first snow last year." She pointed them out.

"How many have you got so far?" He asked.

"Well…I'm on chapter thirty-eight. But the chapters vary in page numbers. Some go on for fifty pages, some only two. And it's not just what happens it's stuff I think about."

"Like what?" He asked.

"Well…it's a bit of a fantasy of what I'd be doing if I wasn't here. If none of this had happened – where I'd be, who would be president, how I'd feel if society went back to normal after this – that kind of stuff."

"I think I'd lose my mind if things went back to normal." Merle admitted. "After all the shit that's happened to just go back to doing construction work and hanging out in bars with other people."

"I don't know. Watching TV at night without worrying about a walker jumping through your living room window would be nice." She said.

"But with regular society comes all the bullshit with it. You'd stay with me if you had your regular group of friends and co-workers back?" She looked at him for a long moment. "Don't be afraid to say no. If the Arian brotherhood knew I had a black wife at home they'd kill us both. I'd welcome a wayward walker if the other option is 'going back to normal'." He stood up straight when she frowned. "Didn't mean to rain on your parade, baby. I just—

"No you're right. If this hadn't happened we would have never know each other. Kirk would still be alive. We had no relatives in Georgia so there'd be no reason for us to ever come here." Peaches said as she stared at him. She held up her hand when he opened his mouth. "Please do not ask me which I prefer. No matter how I answer it depresses us both."

"Fine…but to be honest I prefer this life with you. Sure you're a snooty little pain in the ass but in my old life I had no one. Daryl, cocaine and a jail cell were my only constants and in this life I still have him so…" Merle shrugged and went to get dressed. Peaches sighed – there was nothing she could do anyway. Fact of the matter was that this was the life she had and she might as well be happy with it. She'd always love Kirk but he was gone. She couldn't compare him to Merle because they were from two different worlds – trying to find any thing they had in common was impossible. She closed that chapter and opened one she had specifically about Merle. All the things she loved, all the things she hated. His numerous quirks and tendencies. She loved him – just not the life it took to get him.


"So…" Andrea started as she elbowed Katherine gently. "How was it?" she asked coyly.

"How was what?" Sasha asked over hearing them.

"Yeah, what?" Katherine asked equally confused.

"Your first time with Kevin." Andrea clarified. Katherine looked at her like a dear caught in headlights. She could feel all eyes on her when Andrea finished her question. Luckily it was just the females out berry picking in the woods. Michonne was keeping watch while the rest of them stripped a few bushes of their blackberries.

"You slept with Kevin?" Sasha asked, making a face. The guy reminded her too much of her brother so understandably she didn't see the attraction to the biker.

"Yes. Since Andrea is apparently awake at five in the morning and could hear us – yes, me and Kevin had sex last night." Katherine said shooting Andrea a look. She gave her a sheepish grin until Katherine smirked at her. It was a well-known fact through out the group that Katherine had been abstinent since her decision to let her infected boyfriend into a safe zone cost a lot of people their lives. Not only that but she hadn't really met anyone that she wanted to be intimate with. Charles had been close to her but only on a plutonic, sibling like level. Shane was a nice male specimen but his temperament made her steer clear of him the few months that she knew him. Everyone else was either spoken for or too old or too young for Katherine's tastes.

"You actually like him?" Sasha asked.

"He's really smart for an old greaser." Katherine said. "And far sweeter than his beard will leave you to believe. His eyes are hazel…did any of you know that?" she asked a little wistfully. Michonne just snorted and Katherine glanced at her. The amount of disapproving scrutiny in her features was annoying. But Katherine ignored her judgment and went on with her story. "Peaches can you hear over there? Cause I'm not telling it twice."

"I can hear you." Peaches said from her position at a bush a few feet away. Michonne looked at her for a minute – she had been straggling all day. She looked a little paler than usual but Michonne chalked it up to her run in with Bruce the other night – wondering for a moment why such a seemingly strong woman was still so shaken by it.

"Well for lack of a better word it was fantastic. So sweet but really intense. Well worth the wait." Katherine said. "He's got these really interesting tattoos all over and has this birthmark on his thigh that looks like Rhode Island." Andrea let out a little noise before she chuckled. "He's a great kisser – I never used to like beards but when he went down on me—" She was interrupted when Peaches suddenly made a loud retching sound. "Oh real funny, Peach. I didn't do that when you told me about sleeping with Merle." They all looked at her when she did it again – only this time it was followed by the wet splash of something hitting the ground. "Ew… are you okay?" Katherine asked as they approached her cautiously. She seemingly heaved until she was done throwing up her breakfast and stood up straight. Andrea handed her a handkerchief to wipe her mouth before she put her hand to her head and checked her temperature.

"Are you infected?" Michonne asked as she got closer. She checked Peaches quickly for bites before she looked her up and down.

"No." Peaches answered and cleared her throat.

"Bad food?" Sasha asked.

"We'd all be sick." Katherine pointed out.

"You're a little warm. Do you feel like you have a cold?" Andrea asked.

"No. Besides just barfing I feel fine." She rubbed a hand over her stomach when it seemed to rapidly settle after what just happened.

"Are you on your period? I used to get bad cramps that made me sick too." Sasha said. Peaches stared at her for a second and she stared right back. "What?" Michonne seemed to be able to read Peaches' expression and sucked her teeth.

"You gotta be kidding." She said and Peaches held up her hand.

"Don't jump to conclusions." She said sternly. "Let's get back to the church and tell the boys we're going on a supply run."


Glenn was a little suspicious when the girls quickly refused his offer to go with them to the store. They rationalized that it wasn't that far away and they were capable to going without a man. Rather than get into an argument about sexism he let it drop and went back to helping the men. He told Daryl and he agreed it seemed like they were hiding something.

"Relax, boys. It's probably just a tampon and condom run." Merle said as he hauled some furniture out of the halls.

"What's a tampon?" Carl asked. Merle just looked at the boy before glancing at his father. Rick gave him an expression that let him know he was on his own as far as explaining things.

"It's a girl thing." Merle said simply – wondering for a moment why Carl hadn't asked what a condom was instead. That he could answer without feeling like a tool.

At the corner store the girls were looking through the shelves fervently. Sasha suddenly gasped and held up her arm. "Found one!" she announced and the others gathered around her. "Okay, says on the back it only takes ten minutes. You wanna do it here?" She asked and everyone looked at Peaches. She seemed to mull over her options before she took the box from Sasha.

"Let's get this over with." Peaches said as she headed for the one stall bathroom they had cleared out. They all waited outside – collecting other things they needed so they didn't come back empty handed. Making sure to get tampons and hemorrhoid crème so the boys wouldn't pry too much. Michonne looked at Peaches as she paced around – counting out ten minutes one second at a time. When the time was up she stood there for a second before going into the bathroom where she left the test to dry. She came out looked at it and the instructions.

"Well?" Andrea asked.


Peaches pinched her cheeks to give the illusion of color and fullness. After promising the other girls to secrecy and threatening bodily harm if any of them said anything to anyone they went back to the church. Peaches had been quiet the whole time – clutching the bag of private items so tight her hand went numb. She looked down at it before emptying it out on the desk in front of her. She took a few breaths and looked at the pill bottle. She started feeling a little better about her situation – the prenatal vitamin company had chosen a cute, black, baby girl to be their poster child. She nearly fumbled the bottle when Merle came in the room – laughing about something with Daryl.

"Sorry honey, didn't mean to spook you." He said and Daryl snorted. "What?"

"How she doesn't cut your nuts off in your sleep for the shit you say is beyond me." Daryl said. He looked at Peaches and suddenly frowned. "You okay?"

"I gotta talk to Merle about something." She said and offered him a slightly reassuring smile. She could tell he'd be back to check on them in ten minutes – not truly believing that everything was alright.

"M'kay." He said. As he retreated out the room he punched Merle in the shoulder. Merle closed the door and looked at her expectantly.

"Last time you had that expression on your face you were about to tell me you were dumping me." He said as he got closer to her. She stood up and reached in her pocket. She pulled out the pregnancy test she took earlier that day and handed it to him. He looked at it – uncertain of what he was supposed to be seeing before he met her eyes.

"I'm pregnant." She stated plainly. She had learned long ago that the best way to tell Merle any kind of news was to just blurt it out and let him react.

"With a baby?" He asked. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"No, with pinecones." She said sarcastically. "Of course with a baby."

"Oh." He said and fell silent for a second. "Is it mine?"

"Wha—yes of course it's yours you idiot." She said. "We were only split up for a month or so just now. I'm not Lori – I didn't have time to screw anyone else."

"Oh well then what's the problem?" He asked.

"Besides not having anyone remotely qualified to help me deliver this thing…nothing." She answered with a shrug. "…You're not mad?"

"Why would I be?" He asked as he pulled her to him. "This is what we wanted…right?"

"That was before we lost the motel and Herschel and Charles." She rationalized.

"Well…how many months are you?" He asked as he glanced down at her stomach. There was no sign that she was pregnant at all. He got a little distracted looking into her cleavage for a second – her breasts did look a little bigger but then again he hadn't really seen them in a while.

"Two…maybe." She answered with a shrug. She was trying to think back to the last time they had sex and the last time she menstruated. They had a little tryst in the woods while they were camping out a few months ago. They hadn't been able to be alone for a while after Lori's death. But right before their argument they had a rather nice interlude in the car they found to be clean of bodies or blood. They claimed it as their own. It was an eco-SUV that had a folding back seat.

"The last time we had sex at all was fifty eight days ago." He said – matter of fact. She gave him a look. "Yes, I do keep track of that. Point is, in seven and a half months I'll be able to learn how to deliver that baby and teach everyone else how to do it too." He stated confidently. "It ain't rocket science."

"It'll also need clothes, formula… somewhere to sleep." She looked at their palette on the floor for a second. She then picked up the bottle of pills from the desk. "I'm gonna need way more of these to offset the quality of the food I'm eating. Gonna have to boil my water twice before drinking it and double check the berries and everything that comes out the ground before I eat it." He grabbed her hand when her voice got high. She was starting to panic a little.

"Don't you worry." He said as he pulled her to lay down in their palette. "Merle is the daddy – not Rick. You and junior are in good hands."


Peaches was surprised to wake up the next morning to a loud thump. She grabbed her machete and opened the door only to find the cause of he noise was Merle and Daryl trying to get a mattress down the hall. "Angle it and we'll be able to get it right through the door." Merle instructed from the other end. Daryl did what he was told and glanced at Peaches when she was suddenly next to him.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

"Mattress firm – there's a distribution factory twenty minutes from here. Eighteen wheeler out back was still hitched up and full of diesel." Merle answered. "Damn box spring has no give. Gotta rig these bastards just right to get them in."

"How many—

"Everyone." Daryl quickly. "We been up for six hours now. Where have you been?" he asked.

"Stop sassing her and get this thing in our room before I make you into our bed." Merle barked. Peaches moved aside and Daryl hauled the box spring into their office. Merle came by with the bed frame and kissed her on the way in. "I—" She suddenly covered her mouth and bolted for the bathroom. Merle checked his breath before going in to set up the bed. Peaches came back in just as they were sliding the mattress into place. The bed was pretty tall – and in much better condition than their old one at the motel.

"I'm gonna see if Katherine is done cooking." Daryl said as he left the room – his stomach growled audibly and he put his hand over it. He did look really tired. Peaches smiled at him as he left.

"Are you on crank? You seriously got everyone beds?" Peaches asked as she took a seat on it.

"Yeah and a bunch of sheets, pillows and blankets. Found a Costco by the mattress place and got like five hundred diapers and them big canisters of powdered formula. Doesn't look like anyone has found it yet so there's loads more too." He reached for his bag and pulled out something. "I couldn't help myself." She smiled seeing the little army fatigue onesie he held up that said 'I love mommy' on the chest. "Tomorrow I'll get you more vitamins and every baby book they got at the library I spotted."

"I'm so glad you're excited." She said and covered her nose and mouth, as he got closer.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just…you had jerky for breakfast didn't you?" She said.

"I…you can smell that? That was hours ago." He said.

"Yeah…you're sweating a lot too and…oh…" She suddenly bolted for the bathroom again. Daryl came back in the room with a paper plate of food and gave Merle a quizzical look.

"What's going on with her?" He asked.

"She's pregnant." Merle said like it was no big deal.


After her bout of morning sickness Peaches and Merle announced their news to everyone. Merle noticed the other women were somewhat reserved – like they had known already. Rick and Tyrese congratulated him before they started planning out all the possibilities. Carl seemed really excited – something he hadn't been since his mother and baby sister died. He was eager to have a second chance to be 'big brother Carl'. It seemed to renew Rick's vigor for life and leadership. He went back into his regular mantra of securing the area and keeping it safe from walkers and outsiders.

As promised Merle came back the next day with bags and bags of baby books. Everything from 'What to expect' to 'Everybody poops'. He decided to read a few when Peaches still couldn't stand to be around him. In fact the only thing that didn't make her nauseous was lemons. As luck would have it the church had a few trees growing between the shops out front. Merle had been watching her pick a few – he expected her to turn her nose up at the smell like she did everything else but she just plucked one from a tree and took a long whiff of it – like it was a flower or something. So he squeezed them into her water and put the rinds all over their room. He carried a few in his pocket for her should she need to settle her stomach and made sure to take a few licks of one before he attempted to kiss her. With Carl as her bodyguard kisses didn't happen a lot. The boy was determined to not let anything happen to Peaches. Especially when she started showing. Merle had noticed the change as the months went by but Peaches was so distracted that she didn't notice the growing bump until her shirt wouldn't fit over it.

"Oh!" She said before she rushed to the mirror in the bathroom. Merle was shaving at the sink nearby and glanced at her as she examined herself. She seemed amazed by the swell – pushing her hands against it gently and finding it somewhat solid. "Oh my god."

"You're nearly nineteen weeks – that'll happen." Merle said. She looked at him for a second before she started to cry. "What—"

"I'm terrible." She wailed as she rubbed her belly. "I haven't even been keeping track. I've been carrying on like nothing has changed… I'm having a baby." She said like it just dawned on her. Merle checked to see if he smelt enough like lemons before he pulled her close.

"You're doing fine. You take your pills and that's really all you can do for now." He said. "There ain't exactly a 'mommy and me' class in the apocalypse, now is there."

"No, I guess not." She sniffled. "I hate this." She was suddenly angry and pushed out of his grasp. "It's everyday with this shit. Yesterday I was putting on my shoes and bam – crying uncontrollably."

"So… do you want new shoes?" he asked. He was completely inept at dealing with hormonal women. Lori had cried at him once and he just handed her a stick and walked away. His mother cried for hours while she was pregnant with Daryl and he just played in the woods until he was sure she was done.

"No, I don't want new shoes…although my ankles are getting kind of big – maybe." She said as she wiped her face. He nodded, making a mental note to find a shoe store his next time out. When she smiled at him he kissed her.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah I—OH!" She gasped and grabbed his arm. He thought she might fall over from the look on her face.

"What? What is it?" he asked. She ran her hand over her stomach and smiled.

"The baby… it kicked." She said.

"No shit?" He asked as he put his hand on her. He felt a little nudge against him and grinned wide. "It hasn't done that before?" He asked.

"Well maybe it did but from my end it just feels like I have a fart coming down." She said. He looked at her when she tooted and she laughed. "Whoops, guess it's both." He chuckled – happy to see her joking around. Carl came in the bathroom to see it she was ready to head to the lake and she called him over. "Check it out." He put his hand on her belly and smiled when he felt it.

"Is that the baby?" He asked.

"Sure is." Peaches answered. She let him feel for a while before she attempted to pull her shirt down again. "Damn it."

"Just wear mine. I'll go out tomorrow and find a prego-store or something." Merle said as he went back to shaving. She took his shirt from around his shoulders and slipped it on. It covered her but the middle was a little tight. She kissed Merle on his shaved cheek before she followed Carl down to the lake.