Beth is splayed out on a blanket in the front porch, baby Judith bouncing in her lap and drooling all over her blouse.

Aaron would be returning with the new recruit soon, and she was anxiously waiting to see the new face wander in through those gates. She always waited at a distance, watching the newcomers wander into their community, their home, and she'd made a habit of keeping a keen eye peeled to their every action once that gate slammed shut behind them. It wasn't that she didn't trust Aaron's judgement, she did, but she felt she had well-earned her wariness by now.

She heard the faint rumbling of Aaron's car and the rattle of Daryl opening the gate down at the end of the street. She was too far away to hear anything either of the men said, not that she was listening to begin with.

But then Daryl did something unexpected...something extremely un-Daryl-like at the sight of the stranger exiting the car...

He dropped his crossbow onto the pavement of the road beside him. The tip of one of his hand-whittled arrow's scraped against the asphalt with a shrill squeak loud enough for even Beth to wince at. Beth placed Judith on the blanket behind her and rested her hand on the hilt of the knife, sheathed and concealed inside the waistband of to her jeans away from the baby's grabby hands. If the stranger made a move, she was willing to defend this baby at any cost; be it her own life or theirs. But then stranger did something unexpected. He lifted his one-and-a half arms as wide as his wingspan would allow and brought Daryl into a rough embrace, his remaining hand scuffing up Daryl's already perpetually messy hair.

Because this wasn't a stranger...

Beth lifted the baby back into her arms and practically jumped off the porch. She cupped her hand against the back of the baby's head as she jogged towards the gate and skidded to a stop behind Daryl, her wide eyes focused on the face beside Aaron.

"Holy shit, Ne'er thought I'd see you again Sugar! Neither o' ya."

Judith shrieked excitedly, wanting to be included in the excitement.

"You miss your uncle Merle Sweetheart?" he said and ungracefully unstrapped the metal prosthetic from around the stump of his arm.

"How...how did...?"

"Been asking myself that too," Merle said, reaching for the baby Beth was offering him.

Merle had always been good with Judith back at the prison. Beth wasn't sure what it was about the Dixon brothers, but kids always seemed to be drawn to them, and neither man seemed to mind the excited eyes or attentive minds of children.

"She sure is big now," He said bouncing the baby slightly, "Lil' Asskicker. She gon' be runnin' the whole show soon enough, ain't you Darlin'."

Merle handed the baby back to Beth and returned his prosthesis to its position on his right arm. Aaron, who had been quiet throughout the interaction came up then to greet Beth.

"Hi Beth, hi Judith!" he said waving at Judith, who immediately used her slobbery fingers to pat at Aaron's outstretched hand, "So I guess you two know each other then?" he asked Beth, though it was Daryl who answered the question.

"'s my brother..."

Daryl was clearly trying his best to conceal his emotion, though he was barely managing to keep from tearing up.

"Your...your brother?! My god, that's amazing. First things first, let's get you up to Dianna for an interview. Welcome to Alexandria Merle."

The news spread through their group, and then quickly through the rest of Alexandria's inhabitants. Maggie was less than thrilled at the news of the eldest Dixon's return; as was Glenn, which was to be expected given the events at Woodbury. Rick was optimistically cautious, and Carol was simply happy to see Daryl happy.

As was customary, Dianna came by to check on their new resident and announced that the welcome party would be starting around eight.

"I don' see the point o' this. Ain't these people noticed tha' geeks outside these here walls? World's ending and y'all're drinking chardonnay. What kinda bullshit is this, eh little brotha'?"

Daryl shrugged, "Did the same thing when we got here too. Don't make much sense to me either, but they've got food, so ya might not wanna go pissin' 'em off if ya wanna eat t'night."

Beth, who had been walking over with the brothers had kept quiet during the exchange, but she had to keep her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from smirking. Carol had forced Daryl into a shirt with honest-to-god sleeves and a pair of slightly less worn-out pants. She'd had far less success when it came to convincing Merle to do the same. He had at least agreed to a shower, but refused to accept anything from Alexandria's closet of spare a bleach stained button down top. His black cargo' were sloppily stitched back together at the knee and the hems along each pantleg were chewed up from what was probably dozens of kilometers of walking.

"You know, most of the people here are actually pretty nice." Beth said, drawing the attention of both men.

"Yeah, maybe ta' you Girly, but I ain't got real high hopes." Merle responded before banging the flat of his fist against the door.

It was Reg that answered, beconing them inside and offering Daryl and Merle a glass of scotch and Beth a glass of chardonnay, which she happily took.

Merle raised an eyebrow at her, "What'd I tell ya."

"You start making fun of me and I'll put baby formula in your boots."

Daryl tried, and failed, to cover his laugh with a cough before moving himself into a less noticeable corner of the room.

"Okay, okay...I see how it is now," he said mockingly.

Two hours and several glasses of wine later, Beth was starting to get tired. She was thankful that Maggie was minding Judith tonight so that she could indulge. The mild lightheadedness reminded her of the moonshine shack she and Daryl had burned to the ground many months prior. It had been a much needed moment of catharsis for both of them. It had been irrational and stupid and fun, and not long after that they had watched Terminus burn. And while that had been it's own sort of release, Beth took no pleasure in watching it smoulder. The sheer terror of that incident had robbed her of her last speck of young foolishness. It had solidified her already stony heart to the ever-present threat of other survivors. Then, in an unexpected twist of fate, she had become the unknown survivor trying to integrate herself into this seemingly untouched community. The rug that she had thought was so solidly glued beneath her feet had been yanked to reveal the tiles beneath, and the pattern of them had felt so foreign to her. It was like trying to remember an only half-learned language during the passing of childhood years. Remembering her own adjustment to the Safe-Zone had her sympathizing with the eldest Dixon and his more-than-likely culture shocked view of Alexandria. She had expected him to be boisterous and obnoxious, but she, like the rest of their group, had been proven wrong. While he continued to pour a steady stream of scotch into his mouth throughout the evening, he was hesitant to be more than a couple of yards from Daryl's side, and when Daryl had been called away by Maggie and Glenn, he had promptly made for the back door.

She wasn't sure what made her do it; perhaps it was sympathy, or concern for him. Maybe it was just a worry that he would start a fight and get himself kicked-out before the night was even over. After all, it wasn't as if any of them had managed to skip over the necessary adjustment period that came with this place.

She weaved through the mingling bodies towards the back door and quietly shut it behind her. The back deck was illuminated by a string of white Christmas lights, but was empty of party goers, save for the one she had been looking for: Merle.

He was sat on the edge of farthest bench away and facing away from the door. Beth slowly walked towards him, the heel of her sandals clicking across the boards unevenly in her drunkenness, before she sat next to him. He sighed exasperatedly, pulling the cigarette away from his lips, "Whatcha doin' Blondie?"

What was she doing? She wasn't quite sure...

"I'm...just getting some fresh air."

He looked at her, one eyebrow cocked and lifted the cigarette, "Fresh air?"

"Or maybe I'm just tryin' to steal the rest of your scotch," she said, trying to make a joke.

Merle let out a single humorless chuckle, "Seems a lil' more likely. Pro'lly ain't gettin' much o' buzz off o'that piss," he said gruffly, gesturing to the glass in her hand.

"Well, it doesn't work quite as good as moonshine."

Both of his eyebrows raised up skeptically, "Moonshine huh?"

"Yeah, I guess Daryl didn't mention it."

"You tryn' to tell me you an' my brother got lit up on moonshine?"

"After the prison, it was jus' me and him for a while. We found this crappy old cottage that had a bunch of bottles of it. Got drunk and set the place on fire just for the hell of it."

He laughed, surprised to hear the words that had just come out of her mouth, "Well I'll be damned. Would've liked to see that. Guess you've got a little more in ya than I thought."

"Oh I've got plenty in me," she said gesturing with her wine glass.

He laughed again, "That don't count! I'mma gon' made you some real moonshine someday. Jus' you wait."

Beth smirked at him and took another sip from her glass as Merle stuck the butt of the cigarette under the heel of his boot, extinguishing the ember. They stared silently out into the darkness, the sounds of the party continuing behind them for several minutes before Merle finally broke the quietness.

"This place is real weird ya know. Y'all are havin' a dinner party in hell."

"Technically we're at a dinner party in hell...Yeah, it is kind of weird."

"Mhmm..." he nodded.

"I guess I get it though," Beth said.

"How's that?"

"I think they just want to pretend like things are normal. Just for a few hours at least."

"Well, I don' know about you, but this ain't ever been normal for me. Damned beige-wearin' straight-and-narrow types talkin' 'bout the latest fuckin' Time Magazine. I don' think so."

"They're actually pretty nice once you get to know 'em. "

"Yeah, I ain't real worried about getting to know them . Pro'lly best I keep my damn mouth shut 'round here, for Daryl's sake at least."

Merle took a large swig from his cup before offering it to Beth. Beth downed the contents in one go before setting the glass aside next to her own emptied one.

"So, you really make moonshine?" Beth asked.

Merle chuckled, "Hooch is more like it. Some guy back in juvie taught me how. Tastes like gasoline, but it'll get ya there."

"I guess I'll be lookin' forward to my gasoline-flavored hooch then."

"You want yourself a bottle o' ole' Merle's finest, you're gonna have to kiss the cook first," he joked.

Beth cracked a smile before scooching a little closer and pressing a soft kiss to his scruffy cheek. Merle stared at her for a moment confused before asking incredibly, "How much've you had ta' drink."

Beth shrugged, "I guess just enough to 'kiss the cook'."

He put a finger firmly under her jaw tilting her face towards his, staring back at her, trying to read something in her expression; searching for the punchline of a crudely thought-out joke. He glanced quickly at the back door, which was still firmly closed, before mumbling a indelicate 'fuck it'.

Beth wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her in by the small of he back and crushed his mouth against hers. She let out a little yelp in surprise, but found herself kissing him back eagerly. She tasted the cigarette he had smoked as his tongue found hers. She arched her chest against his when he nipped teasingly at her bottom lip, daring her to push him further.

It ended as suddenly as it began. They both jumped back at the sound of the door opening. Rick was facing away from them, one hand on the door and the other holding Judith as he called out a goodnight to Glenn and Maggie before turning around to face them.

"Was wondering where you went," Rick said to Beth and then looked at his daughter babbling in his arms, "I think someone here might be missing you, ain't that right Judith."

Rick, ignoring Merle, came to sit down next to Beth as he handed the baby to her.

"I thought Maggie had her tonight." Beth said.

"She was mindin' her for a while, but I think her and Glenn were lookin' for some time alone."

"Just a matter o' time 'till we got another one o' those." Merle said, poking Judith on the nose.

"I suppose," Rick said guardedly, "They're married after all."

"Well," Beth began, "Maybe they'll just take this one. Whatcha think of that Judy?"

"I think they might have some competition," Rick said jokingly, "Seems like just about everyone was buggin' me to hold her when we first got here."

Merle looked at the baby forlornly, and Beth flicked her glance over at Rick who gave one quick, almost unnoticeable nod.

"Do...do you want her?" Beth asked.

Merle's gaze flickered between Rick and Beth a couple of times before reaching his good arm out towards Judith. Judith reached up at him and tugged sharply on the hairs of his beard.

"Got a bit of a grip there don' ya," he said bouncing her with his knee.

"Yeah," Rick replied, "She's been makin' a habit of that lately. She'll probably be walkin' pretty soon."

"How old is she now?"

"Probably 15, maybe 16 months by now. I think Carl walked at 14 months so she'll be any day now."

"Daryl was 12 months. Fell flat on his face," Merle chuckled, "Damn near cut his lip open."

Merle's reminiscing took Beth by surprise. She often forgot that Merle must have remembered Daryl's infancy. It was hard for her to picture him as a young child taking care of his new brother, though she knew it had happened. Such a domestic setting seemed so out of place now for the eldest Dixon.

"Yeah, they'll do that at that age," Rick laughed, taking Judith back into his arms protectively, "Anyway, we're gonna get goin'. I've gotta get her to bed. You coming Beth?"

"Yeah, I probably should," she said pulling herself off the bench and following Rick towards the door and hesitating before following him through it. She turned back to Merle, who had another cigarette ready to light.

"Goodnight," she said, giving him a small wave of her hand.

"Mhmm, 'night."