Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or Walking dead. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Robert Kirkman. I do own the rights to the original characters created for this storyline. Please support the official release.

Writer's notes: Enjoy!

[Two weeks Later]

Things were coming along on the farm. The RVs were moved closer to the house as well as the vehicles. The fences were being repaired in the areas that needed it most. Carl was able to walk around now, but he wasn't allowed to lift anything. Sophia and Annalise got along great. The babies were all healthy, two of the babies were girls and the third was a boy. They were named, Chance, Hope and Lucy. Hope was the one that Bella connected to the most. She carried her around and played with her. Patricia and Beth tended to Lucy and Chance the most.

Glenn and Jasper led a run to find more baby items and one of the things they found was a carrier that strapped to you with buckles that were easier to take on and off and more comfortable for the baby and the person carrying them.

Bella had Hope in the carrier strapped to her as she bounced with her on the porch. Hope smiled wide as Bella smiled at her and bounced a little and cooed.

Rick found Bella on the porch with Hope and he smiled, watching her interact. She was so beautiful and he knew that motherhood seemed to suit her well. He watched her for a moment until she turned and looked at him. She smiled a little. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." Bella said back and turned fully to face Rick. "What's the plan for today?"

"Glenn and Jake are going with Jasper to the hardware store with the farm truck to load posts for extra fencing." Rick relayed.

Bella nodded. "Daryl heading out on a hunt? I'm supposed to go with."

"Yeah, he said in an hour." Rick said and then scratched his head. "Um. Paul said he would go with."

Bella looked down at Hope's smiling face and then back at Rick. "Uh. Sure. Tell them to be careful." She said with a nod.

Rick raised a brow. "What? You're not going to fight about it?"

"No. Why?" Bella frowned.

"You usually try to make sure you're on one of the runs."

"Well, I'm still recovering with my rib. Makes more sense." Bella said with a shrug.

Rick was impressed that Bella was letting others handle things. "So, your flare up. How are you doing with that? The medicines working?"

"Yes." Bella said and her blue-green eyes met Rick's again. "I'm okay Rick. Just recovering from the rib. I'll be good as new in another week or so."

"Good." Rick said. "Want me to take her for a bit?" He offered.

Bella shook her head. "Um. I'm okay. She's awake and happy." She said and bounced a little more.

"You know… she needs a mother." Rick said.

Bella stopped bouncing, her smile faltering. She swallowed. "Um. Maybe you should take her."

Rick frowned. "Did… I say something wrong?"

"No it's just… maybe I will go out with Daryl." Bella said and unstrapped Hope.

"Wait Bella… you said-"

"Yeah, but I should… I should work it out. Sitting still for too long is bad too." She said and handed Rick, Hope and then walked away.

Rick frowned, but he bounced Hope a little and looked down at her happy face. He was confused as to what just happened and why Bella's demeanor suddenly changed.

Bella and Daryl took to the woods together, welcoming the silence. They sat in the brush, waiting for deer to come through since there was plenty of signs that deer were in the area.

After a long moment, Daryl spoke. "How's the babies doing?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Bella nodded. "They're fine." She said and rest her back against a tree.

"Is everything okay?" Daryl asked. "Rick seemed a little off when we left. I figured you would rest some more."

"I just needed to stretch." Bella said, making up an excuse.

Daryl snorted. "You can stretch plenty on the farm. Are you and Rick on the outs?"

"What does that mean?"

"You two are a couple right?" Daryl asked.

Bella shook her head. "I don't know what we are." She said with a sigh. She was quiet a moment. "It was a one time thing. I'm not… we're not."

Daryl shook his head. "Denial."

"I am not in denial."

"Yup you are." Daryl said and then lifted his crossbow when he saw the glimpse of a deer in the distance. He looked through the scope and waited patiently until the deer was right where he wanted and then he fired his arrow and the deer went down.

Bella got to her feet and moved with Daryl down towards the deer. "He's a big one too." She said, surveying the now dead deer.

Daryl grunted his agreement. "Yeah, he's big. Let's get him back. I don't want to waste time out here in the woods." He said and they worked together to get the deer tied so they can lug it back to the farm.

[Later that Night]

Bella watched the flames dance in the campfire. It was nearing eleven now. Everyone had a good dinner. Carrots and potatoes and the deer steaks. Between Daryl and Carol, they were magicians with food.

Jasper came up and sat down next to her at the fire. "You're awake instead of sleeping." He commented.

"Sometimes it's hard to sleep." Bella said. "Dale said the radios are working. So that's good." She said and Jasper nodded. "I ran away today." She said.

"Really? With your hunt with Daryl?" Jasper asked.

Bella sighed. "Yeah."

"How so?"

"Because… of Hope."

"The baby?" Jasper asked. "Why would a baby make you run away?"

Bella shook her head. "It wasn't Hope herself. Rick… Rick said that she needed a mother."

Jasper understood then. He nodded. "Yeah. You ran away." He sighed. "Hope is not Kenneth and she's not Hannah." He said, his voice soft.

"I know." Bella blew out a breath. "I know."

Jasper reached over and took her hand in his and laced his fingers with her. "Hope is also not the others."

Bella swallowed. "Jasper…" she murmured, closing her eyes.

Jasper brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it softly. "Bella, I love you." He murmured. "I'm your person."

Bella sniffed a little. "I know. It's just painful Jazz."

"Darlin' losing a child is painful. You've lost two beautiful babies before their time at a young age and then you suffered… greatly, with being pregnant, three times afterwards. That's hard to handle and I understand completely." He said, his voice low. "Don't think you have to keep it all bottled up inside. I'm here to talk you through it all. I'm your best friend…. your brother. You can tell me anything and everything and I'll be the first to understand it."

Bella knew that Jasper was always there for her. He knew how to calm her down the most. She nodded, wiping her face to get rid of the tears. "Thank you."

"You never have to thank me." Jasper said and leaned over and kissed her temple, before he brought her hand to his lips again and kissed her hand again.

Rick walked out on the porch and glanced over at the campfire. He was silent as he stood on the porch. He heard Jasper and Bella's low voices and he saw Jasper kiss Bella's hand and that somehow hit him in the pit of his stomach. Then he heard Jasper tell her he loved her and that hit him again. He ran his hand over his face. He was an idiot. Jasper did know Bella for years. Where did all these feelings come from. Jasper spoke about children and Bella losing children before and that Bella had been pregnant in the past. It suddenly made sense now, Bella running away earlier when he mentioned that Hope needed a mother. He wanted to smack himself for being so insensitive. He waited until their voices quieted and then he put himself together and walked down the stairs, making noise now towards the campfire.

Bella pulled her hand from Jasper's when she saw Rick. "Hey."

"Hey, the kids are all sleeping now. Carl's side looked okay. Hershel redressed it." Rick said. "Jake and Paul said they'll stay up for first watch. We should all get rest." He said.

Bella nodded and stood. "Yeah. I'll go lay down in the RV. Where's everyone else?"

"In the house mostly." Rick said. I think Dale is still in the camper. Carol and Sophia are in the smaller RV. Daryl is inside helping Beth organize the pantry."

"Daryl, organizing?" Bella raised a brow. "He must be smitten by Beth."

"Something like that." Rick said. "Come on, I'll tuck you into bed." He said and motioned to the RV.

Bella looked at Jasper. "Get to bed Major."

"Rodger that Captain." Jasper said with a smile and watched Rick move with Bella to the RV. It was quiet inside, the light song of the crickets outside in the night that Bella hadn't noticed before until now. She walked towards the back, looking at the king sized bed. She unhooked her gear from her belt and set it in the floor before she sat on the bed.

Rick stooped down and untied her boots. "Don't fuss." He said before she could fuss.

Bella sighed. "Thank you." She said with a small smile.

Rick nodded and set her boots aside and then he stood and unfastened his own belt with his gear on it. "Can I lay with you?" He asked.

Bella smiled. "Of course."

Rick set his gear to the side and then sat on the bed next to her and he pulled his own boots off. They both shifted on the bed to lay down. Bella rolled to face him, he reached for her and she went to him. He sighed, relieved that she wanted to be like this together. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Bella said, as she lay her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"For earlier. I said something and it… triggered something." Rick said. "You can talk to me anytime you want. I really sincerely care about you Bella."

Bella was silent. "It did trigger me, but that's my problem. Not yours. You don't have to apologize for that." She said and leaned away to look up at him. She reached up and cupped his face. He was a little scruffy from not shaving in a week. "I have been pregnant five times." She said, venturing into the sharing zone. "The first time, I was raped by my boyfriend. I was sixteen. I was fourteen weeks pregnant when I got into a car accident. My daughter… Hannah. Didn't survive." She said and swallowed. "When I was twenty, I went into labor with my son. I was 30 weeks pregnant. I was in college. My ex boyfriend had found me in Boston and he raped me again. Resulting in Kenneth. He was born stillborn. I had a placental abruption which cut off his oxygen in the womb and we didn't know until it was too late." She explained and blew out a breath. "Then, when I was twenty-four, I was back home in Forks, Washington visiting. I had just finished up medschool and was starting my intern year at Seattle Presbyterian when my ex boyfriend found me again. I thought he was in jail still, but apparently he had gotten out shortly after being arrested the second rape. He uh… you know where that went."

Rick brushed the hair out of her face. His heart ached for her and all the trauma she endured. "I'm so sorry."

"I accepted it. I got pregnant again, but that time I went in and I got an abortion. I couldn't… put my body through trauma again. Edward got arrested, again, but he got out a year later, but this time I was prepared if he attacked. I started training heavily in krav maga. It was intense and it was what spurred me to join the Army actually. I was in my first year of residency when I enlisted, but because I was a doctor, they fast tracked me the officer route and I ended up in the same platoon as Jasper and Paul. We served together… six years." Bella murmured. "Six years of intense deployments. I've seen a lot of pain on the battlefield. I've seen good soldiers ripped apart by IEDs. I've seen children ripped to shreds by packs of wild dogs." She blew out a breath. "When I was twenty-seven, I got pregnant. It wasn't… it wasn't planned by no means. I was in Kuwait that tour…." She swallowed. "I was scared but I wasn't alone. Jasper was there for me… so was Paul and his brother Quil." She explained. "But I miscarried. I was really barely pregnant. Jasper was very understanding and helped me through it and we never reported it or I would have been bounced back stateside."

"Was Jasper… was Jasper the father?"

Bella shook her head. "It was a one night stand with a Naval officer that happened to be at our MASH unit there in Kuwait." She said. "A lot of drinking was involved." She explained. "But uh, I was okay. I have Lupus, have lived with Lupus since I was eighteen, so it wasn't a surprise to me at this point that my body just wouldn't handle a pregnancy very well." She was silent a moment. "My last tour before I came stateside again to Atlanta, I was taken prisoner. Me, Jasper and Paul. Thirty six days we were help captive in what we thought was Afghanistan, but we were flown out by helicopter, blindfolded, deafened and bound to Somalia. We were tortured, deprived of food, light, and water." She stopped talking. "When all your senses are taken away, you are helpless." She said, and then brought her hand up and placed it on Rick's chest. She stared at her hand. "It is a whole new level of torture. I don't know who did it… I don't know how many there were, but the form of torture they resulted to… because I was a woman…."

"Jesus." Rick murmured. "Bella, you don't have to talk about it. I promise you I don't want you to relive that pain, don't… don't force yourself to tell me." He felt sick, he didn't want to imagine the level of trauma that Bella endured.

Bella nodded. "It was horrifying." She admitted. "When we were rescued and brought back home. I was under a hundred pounds." She said. "I was also pregnant and because my body suffered a lot and the flare up was happening…" She shook her head. "Jasper and Paul suffered a lot. They had to listen to them torture me and they couldn't do anything about it. At night, the only comfort I had was that I could crawl to Jasper and he could hold me, letting me know that I wasn't alone anymore." She blew out a breath. "I had a miscarriage six days after I returned home."

Rick kissed her forehead. "You experienced more than any one person should. No one should ever have to have those experiences, but you're still here… breathing, living and being strong."

"It took a year for me to heal fully from that. Before the outbreak… I got orders to spin up to Iraq." Bella said. "Jasper, Paul and me. Then… the world ended." She said and shifted in the bed, moving against Rick. "Don't feel sorry Rick… I'm okay. I'm tougher than I look. Sometimes I let my emotions get to me. I don't share a lot of what I'm feeling an that's my own fault. But… I'll work on it. I care about you… a lot Rick. You make me feel whole inside and I know that seems like a crazy notion… that I could feel so utterly…. in love with you." She breathed.

Rick tilted Bella's face up to look at him and he leaned in and kissed her softly, his hand brushing over her face gently. "It's not crazy…"he murmured against her lips. "I feel the same way." He whispered and she kissed him this time, her emotions bleeding out into the kiss. She pressed against him, her hands reaching down and untucking his shirt and unfastening his pants. "Hold on." Rick breathed, putting his forehead against hers. "Bella I-"

"We've had sex before Rick." Bella leaned up and frowned. "Please don't be afraid to touch me. I am not breakable."

Rick looked up at her and he caressed her face gently. "Okay." He nodded and she leaned down and kissed him again her hands working on his pants again, while his hands worked at her pants. They both rolled in the bed, managing to get their pants off, before Rick was on top, his cock sliding into her fast. Bella moaned as the tip of his cock hit her center, she clung to him as he thrust inside her, careful not to put pressure on her side. Her hands pulled at his shirt and he paused to lean up, taking his shirt off, so she could feel the heat of his skin with her hands.

Her cunt was so swollen already with the pleasure building inside her as Rick thrust inside her deep, plunging towards a cavern of ecstasy until she tightened around him and she orgasmed, moaning a little. Rick moaned too as he felt his cock swell, the sensitivity at the tip of his cock so great he wasn't sure how he could stand it. He pushed faster and a little harder, his hands moving under her tank top to grope her breast a little and she moaned, her body arching as she shuddered under him as another orgasm rippled through her. Rick moaned again and then again until his cock spurted, his release spilling out inside her and he groaned as his hips stilled. He leaned down and kissed Bella softly before he pulled out of her and rolled to his back, pulling her into his arms when he did.

They were quiet, with her thoughts for a few minutes until Rick spoke. "Are you… are you on birth control?" He asked, and he should have asked that before.

Bella leaned up and looked down at him. "No. I'm not." She murmured. "I can't take it. I actually have a pretty severe reaction to the hormonal birth controls." She said and then she sat up. "I um… haven't been able to get pregnant since the last miscarriage after my last tour. I have a lot of scar tissue from some other… issues that Lupus can cause. The flare can cause these fibroids and if I were pregnant at any point a baby would not survive. The fact I could carry Kenneth as far as I did was hard. My body is hostile." She said.

Rick sat up and took her hands in his. "I should be more careful. I should… work on my control. I don't want you to suffer Bella." He said and leaned in and kissed her. "I don't want you to ever be in pain… especially not because of me."

Bella kissed him. "I'm not in pain."

"What happens if you end up pregnant? I'm the cause for that. I have a son, I know how these things work. I should… pay attention to your body and make the effort to do everything right."

Bella brought her hand up and cupped his face. "Okay. Well, I don't have cycles hardly anymore. It's an early sign that it's possible I'm entering into the later stages of fertility health. Another harsh side affect of having an autoimmune disorder, also my mom hit menopause early in life." She said. "I'm not worried about it, but… if you are, then okay. I'll pay more attention."

Rick sighed and kissed her forehead. "I am falling in love with you Bella." He murmured and closed his eyes as he pulled her into his arms. He never wanted her to hurt, not for a minute and it scared him that anything bad could happen to her.

Bella pulled back to look at Rick. "I know that Hope needs a mother… but I can't… I can't be that for her. I want her to grow up with someone that can be there for her everyday. I live my life dangerous Rick. I don't want her to be motherless again."

"Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"You can't know that." Bella said. "I have survived some terrible circumstances, but we're never promised tomorrow, especially in this world now. I need you to understand that too."

Rick studied her, saw how serious she was. He just nodded and kissed her again. "Okay. I understand." He kissed her again and then again before Bella was forcing him back on the bed and straddling him. She pulled her shirt off and he unhooked her bra, letting her breast breathe now. She slid over his hardening cock and she started dancing her hips over him, grinding towards more pleasure and another orgasm.