A/N I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! I thank all of you so much for reading, following, favorite - ing, and commenting, you're the best!

He asked her when she'd like to have the wedding and she'd told him she didn't want to wait, that she was anxious to be Mrs. Grimes. That sounded perfect to him and Carl both.

They'd talked about trying to put it together in just a couple of weeks, it wasn't like they wanted a big affair. She just wanted her family, Rosita and Rosita's boyfriend Abraham there. Rick just wanted Dale and Erma, Morgan and his son Duane, and Daryl.

They'd agreed that having a small ceremony and lunch at the farm would be perfect. Dale and Erma could watch Carl for a few days, and they'd take a short honeymoon trip.

It all sounded perfect, they were in complete agreement.

Then something big suddenly occurred to her. While Carl was on the phone telling Duane everything he'd gotten for Christmas, she quietly told him, "I guess we should have settled something before I said yes. Before we made plans." He felt his heart fill with dread. "I always wanted to be a mother, and being a stepmom to Carl would be wonderful, he's such a good boy, and he's nice and kind, just like his Daddy. I know you know I love him. But I'd like to have a baby Rick. I always wanted to be a Mom."

He didn't know what the fuck was wrong with him, why the hell hadn't he thought of that? She was 22 years old of course she'd probably want a baby. Damn, could he do the baby years again? Could he take yet another huge leap of faith? He loved her, he wanted to marry her and yeah, he could see them raising a child together. But was that what he wanted?

She smiled and said, "I'd like to get pregnant right away Rick. I want to have your baby, our baby."

Shit, what was the old saying? "No time like the present." She was right, they should have talked about these things before they decided to get married. And damn, he loved her, he wanted to marry her, he wanted to give her whatever the hell she wanted, but a baby. He just wasn't sure.

"Sweetie, I had no idea you were so anxious to be a Mom. I think you know by now I'd do anything to make you happy. But we're talking about bringing a new life into the world, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have to give this some thought."

She felt her heart break, "If it's not what you want too then it can't work. I wouldn't want you agreeing to something because you think it will make me happy, I won't be happy if you're not happy." He saw her eyes were glistening but tears didn't fall.

"Sweetie I'm just, well you caught me off guard. I'm confused and I need time to think about this. I hadn't really given having another child a thought. Carl is 10 years old and I've done the baby thing. All I thought about was marrying the most wonderful woman I know." He wanted to be a family, he wanted that lifestyle with her. But he'd thought of that as being him, her, Carl, he hadn't thought about another child. He'd been stupid, he realized that.

"I think while I'm still somewhat in control of my emotions you should give me a ride home." He didn't know what to say so he just nodded. They agreed to wait before saying anything to Carl.

"Carl get off the phone now we need to get Beth home."

He walked her to the door and she said, "I think you'd better take this." And she'd handed him that ring back, his heart broke into a million pieces.

He gave her a quick hug, "I love you Beth, please let me just try to work this out." She squeezed his arm, walked in the apartment and shut the door. That's when she gave into it, she lay down on the bed and cried for a good 10 minutes, then she called Maggie.

"Do I still have wine there?" Her sister asked. "Yes Maggie, there's three bottles."

"Okay good. I'll be there in twenty."

Rick drove right to Dale and Erma's. They took one look at him and they knew something had gone wrong. Erma smiled sweetly, "Carl I have quite the craving for some chocolate pudding, what do you say we make some?"

They went in Dale's office and Dale did something he didn't often do, he got a bottle of whiskey from the big file cabinet behind his desk and poured them each a shot. "Alright sheriff, what the hell happened?"

Rick told him the whole story, Christmas morning, the proposal, the acceptance and then the ax that fell. He told Dale he'd just taken her home and she'd given him back the ring.

They sat quietly for a few moments and then Dale spoke, "I'm a little puzzled Rick. She's a lovely woman, she's always so kind and she seems like such a gentle soul. She loves Carl enough to be willing to help raise him, and you enough to be willing to marry you. Obviously you love her or you wouldn't have asked her to marry you. And you love being a Dad, you're a terrific father. You and Carl have a bond that most fathers only wish they could have with their sons. So why is it you're so opposed to having a child with this woman?"

Rick pursed his lips and thought about his answer, "I grew up like most people, thinking someday I'd meet someone, fall in love, get married have a couple of kids and it's happily ever after. Shit, it sure as hell didn't work out that way for me. I ended up raising Carl alone even when Lori was alive. That's not fair to a child, it's like having half a family life. I don't want to sign up some new innocent child for the same thing."

Dale was a little dumbfounded, "So you're going to project everything that happened with Lori onto Beth, is that it? Lori was a bad Mother and a terrible wife, so Beth will be too? She'll give birth to a child and then hand it to you, tell you to raise that child alone, she's going to be busy making love to some other man. Is that what you're thinking? Because if it is, you never should have asked that sweet young woman to marry you in the first place, she deserves a whole lot better than that."

Rick had been hit with an ugly reality. Dale was right. He hadn't been fair to Beth. He didn't deserve her. She deserved a husband who wasn't going to be looking at her for the rest of her life just waiting for her to fuck up like his first wife had. And he told Dale that.

"I'd say it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to talk to that counselor again Rick. If you somehow straighten this out with Beth, you need to go into the future with her loving her and expecting the best. Not loving her and expecting the worst."

"Wine first Bethie, then you tell me everything. I'll pour while you blow your nose." Maggie always liked to get right down to business.

And Beth told her everything, the lovely Christmas Eve, the wonderful Christmas morning, the engagement, the happiness and anticipation of the wedding plans, and then everything getting turned completely upside down. By the time she was done sharing, crying and repeatedly blowing her nose, Maggie was on her second glass of wine.

She took a deep breath, "You know Glenn and I have had the baby discussion a few times. Rick's right, it's a huge step. You are bringing another life into the world, one you're a 100% responsible for. That kind of decision deserves some thought. And talk about catching the guy completely off guard, sheesh. I know Rick well enough to know he's a very responsible guy, and he's doing the right thing saying he needs time to think about this. Give him time. And Beth you have to be honest with yourself, you need to ask yourself if you can just give him and Carl up, walk away. Or can you chose them and give up your dream of being a Mom? It seems to me you and Rick both have a lot to think about."

Beth's crying had quieted and she nodded, "You're right Maggie. I know I love Rick and I love Carl, but I do want a child. I'm going to have to really think about which dream I'm willing to walk away from."

Maggie gave her sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Maybe you won't have to walkaway from either. You and Rick are in love, maybe you guys can work this out. Now I'd better call my loving husband for a ride home, let's see, that'll give me just enough time to have another glass of wine."

Maggie hadn't been gone 10 minutes when there was a knock on her door. She just assumed Maggie had forgotten something and she opened it without thinking, certainly not expecting to see Rick.

"I knew I wouldn't sleep if we didn't talk Beth. Carl is hanging out at Dale and Erma's for a little while. May I come in?"

She was thinking, oh my god I'm a complete mess, red puffy face, swollen red eyes, and my clothes are a rumbled mess. But she was so happy to see him, she held the door open wider to let him in.

The first thing he did was take her in his arms and she didn't fight it. They held onto each other for a few minutes. They were both emotional and working hard to maintain their composure.

He pulled back just enough to put his palms to her cheeks and look into those beautiful eyes, "I'm so sorry Beth, this is on me. I screwed up. I should have thought about the fact you might want to have children. You deserve to have your happiness. And Sweetie I just had a big fat reality check. I know now I'm still carrying around some baggage, and I think I am projecting what went wrong in the past onto you. Not only is that not fair to you, it's going to cause problems with us. I need to work this out, do you think you can be patient, wait for me while I do?"

She looked into his eyes, and she knew she loved him, knew she didn't want to live without this wonderful man in her life. Maggie was right, he was so responsible. If he was willing to work on this, go into counseling, then she was willing to wait and hope for the best.

"You're more than worth the wait Rick, I love you and I want this to work so much. I'm going to talk to someone too."

She didn't pull away when he made a move to kiss her, in fact it was intimate and it seemed somehow more special than ever. They knew there were issues, and they were both willing to work on correcting those issues.

Two Months Later

He'd started seeing his old counselor regularly and he'd started back with his group. It was no fun to face his issues, to bring up all that bullshit that had happened with Lori, for what seemed like the millionth time. But it would be worth it if he could finally put the past behind him, really give himself fully to Beth, and really have that family life he'd wanted for so long. So he worked at it like his entire future depended on it, because it did.

They hadn't told Carl everything, just that they'd decided to postpone the wedding so they'd have more time to plan. If later he had to tell his son there was never going to be a wedding, well he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

One month in they were having Sunday dinner at the farm and her Daddy asked him to go for a walk. "Son I'm going to tell you a little story. It might help you in your decision making and it might not, but I'm going to throw it out there for you."

"I was nearly 10 years older than you are when I married Beth's Mama. I had my daughter Maggie, and Annette had Shawn. That seemed like enough to me, I had no desire for more children. But my beautiful wife, let's just say she had different plans. And as sweet and pretty as she is the woman can be a force. I finally gave in and two years after we married Beth was born. I fell in love with that little girl, we all did. She's been a blessing in our lives, and every day since she was born I've thanked God I gave into what my wife wanted. I can't imagine what life would be like without Beth. Sometimes we just don't know what's best. But that's my story, and you certainly have to follow your own heart on this."

Rick's counseling expenses were covered by his insurance plan, but Beth didn't have that kind of coverage. She didn't have the means to pay for private counseling so she'd talked to her pastor. He been kind and understanding and he'd put her in touch with a couple of groups. She found one where she felt comfortable. It was six women all of whom had married single fathers.

She wanted this to work so much. She loved Rick, she wanted to spend her life with him, but she also wanted to have children with him.

They were on their Saturday Date Night, and he'd taken her to a very nice restaurant, a place they'd never been. It was kind of elegant, and she almost felt out of place. Instead of sliding into the seat across from her, he sat next to her, he'd ordered them each a glass of champagne, but asked them to put a little orange juice in hers.

When they had their wine he lifted his to toast, she smiled and lifted hers, "Are we celebrating something Rick?"

"I hope so. Beth Greene, there's nothing I want more than to marry you and have a family with you. Will you marry me?" He held the ring out to her.

"Yes."

A/N Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I'd love to read your comments/reviews xo