Dead Days

Chapter Nineteen

Heart for It

This chapter took so long for me to update. I had it written it for the longest time now but trying to find the actual time to sit down, make my edits, and then upload it here kept getting put off. Every time I opened this site to sit down and do just that I'd realize there was something else I needed to do.

So, I hope that all the fluff and heartwarming moments you'll find inside is more than enough to make up for it.

With it being December, my weekends are going to be overly busy so I might just decide to update during the middle of the week if I find time. If all works out, you'll get another update sometime in two weeks! So, keep an eye out!

"I feel safe at times

Certain emblems

tell me it's time

Serpents in my mind."

-Serpents by Sharon van Etten

As they moved from house-to-house Remi began to get the impression that this subdivision had been cleared out early on, or at least before anyone had managed to get sick. From the looks of the place either rich or important people had lived here, and all signs showed that they had all bailed. Seven out of eight houses had been cleared, no signs of Walkers or anything on the inside of them, and Remington began to wonder if they would get lucky and their new home would just fall into their laps. It almost felt too easy, and Remi wasn't sure if she felt comfortable with the realization or uneasy.

"Hot damn," Sweeney muttered as they searched the eighth, and last house. Like before each house was in pristine condition, or at least in apocalyptic standards it was. "Seems that this place has just been sitting all pretty like waiting for us."

"There's got to be a catch," Remington muttered as she placed her gun back in her holster at her hip and eyed the last house warily. "Why hasn't this place been taken by someone else already if it's just sitting here empty?"

"There's no signs of anyone havin' cleared it out before us," Merle added, following along with her train of thought. "Would'a been signs of blood or somethin'."

"Could be no one else was brave to even try before us," Cromwell said with a shrug, but he too was feeling a little uncertain over this development.

Every single one of them had gone into this believing that something would be waiting for them in at least one of the houses. Nothing like this, an obvious safe haven, could have gone long without someone stumbling across it. Survivors were a thing. They all knew that, but the realization that this walled in home development hadn't already been taken by someone else, and they didn't have to vacate any of the dead, well… it felt far too easy.

"Looks like yah are a good luck charm after all, sweet cheeks," Merle mused as he swung his shot gun over his shoulder. There was a constant feeling that swirled around Merle that if they didn't have Remington things could have been a lot worse for them. That she was their personal guardian angel, and even though he felt that this was far too easy, it almost seemed right. Remington had been involved and life just seemed to slide into place for her when she put her mind to something.

"I don't know, Merle." The two of them had walked back toward the front door together while the others had gone to sweep the house one last time before calling it safe. They would check the back wall that was right outside this house, but unless a Walker was stuck the place was secure and clear of any of the undead. "Could this really have just been waiting around for us to find it? What if someone else had put the work in clearing it out and they are just gone?"

"Don' think somethin' like that happened, but I'd think it a good idea if we wait ta bring in everyone." He stepped outside, moving to grab a cigarette and lighting it as he took a drag from it.

"We should have someone waiting, watching, for a couple of days before we officially claim it as ours. After today we still have five days at the farm. We don't need to immediately settle in and get everyone caught up in something we're not prepared for."

Merle watched her as she followed him out, that determined glint in her eyes, as she mentally went over what the best course of action would be. He knew that right at that moment she was mostly speaking out loud. Getting it all out. His opinion, and the opinion of the others would be asked for after she had figured out every possible solution first. If the group decided for whatever reason that this place wasn't for them, she'd have another plan in motion.

He felt a swell of what could only be described as appreciation and arousal as he watched her. Holding the smoke in a little longer, his eyes slowly dragged over her as she began to pace in front of him.

Exhaling the smoke he flicked the butt down to the ground, stepped on it, and then moved forward, catching her around the waist. His hands carved a path from her waist to her hips as he gently pulled her toward him. His grip firm as the corners of his lips tilted up in slight amusement, but his eyes reflected his inner thoughts.

He found her enticing, utterly encaptivating when she got that focused look, and her mind ran a mile a minute. Merle couldn't help but wish she was just as intently fixated on something else that required only the two of them.

"Doll," he purred as he dipped his head lower his breath brushing against the shell of her ear as his voice lowered. "I can practically hear yah mind workin' up a storm. Nothin' has got ta be figured out right this minute, or by yah alone."

Caught by surprise, Remi blinked as she was suddenly surrounded by Merle's presence. She reacted automatically by pressing a little closer to him, inhaling softly, as her eyes fluttered closed at the sound of his voice and the way that pet name rolled off his tongue.

Remington had seen moments of how alluring Merle could be. The art of seduction had been honed and mastered by the man, especially when he did things like this, and Remi found herself easily being seduced in that moment. It was a new experience as they hadn't had very many moments to properly flirt or explore the emotions, they had with one another.

Other than the kisses, and that night of passion with Shane, Remi didn't have many chances she could carve out of her busy days to properly just appreciate her men.

A fact that became abundantly clear to Remington as she thought about how much she had been missing out when it came to being properly pursued by the three of them and how much they could have been seducing her if they only had the extra time. It also spoke of how often she'd be a puddle of goo when they did finally have the time. Remington was uncertain about how operatable her brain would be if she had all three of them doing something like this more often. Already, having him so close, voice low, and touching her had Remi unable to think of anything other than him.

Her brain was toast.

That didn't mean she didn't try to get it working again. Once she had a safe place set up for everyone she could settle down and properly give in to emotions such as this but there just wasn't any time at the moment.

Merle seemed to think the exact opposite.

"Merle, I've got to get this figured out."

The way her voice had turned soft, her normal conviction lost, and spoke of temptation, drove him forward.

"Yah just did somethin', doll." His fingers lightly pressed a little firmer into the skin of her hips as he moved his lips from her ear to her lips. "Yah can take a moment, let yerself feel ta excitement of a job well done, and let me celebrate a moment wit yah. This place ain't nobodies but ours and we'll make sure of it."

It was really hard to counter his argument at that moment and Remington found herself letting it slip away as his lips finally pressed against hers. Merle hadn't ever led her astray, and she had a habit of overthinking things until it drove her crazy. He was probably right.

She melted a little further into his embrace as her arms moved to wrap around his broad shoulders and all thoughts of where they were, and what they were doing was replaced with thoughts of what they could be doing instead. Her body felt warm as their lips moved against one another and her mind blissfully empty.

He goaded her further, aware of the noises from the others inside the house, knowing that anyone could suddenly stumble upon them, but Merle didn't much care. As long as it was clear she was his, he didn't particularly care who caught sight of them, or what they thought. He simply acted on his desires and focused on the pleasure that action could give him.

He coaxed her tongue to dance against his, loving how easily she reacted to him until suddenly there was a clearing of a throat, and a noise of disgust as a male's voice continued to loudly complain until they stopped.

"If you don't like walking in on it then maybe not hang around after you do," Remington teased, only feeling slightly shy at the fact that Barrett had been with Jackson when they stumbled upon them.

"No matter how many times this happens I'll never be able to stomach the sight of you kissing a man, little bit," Jackson groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Can't yah do it away from where we all are going to be? Right outside the front door, Rem. Really."

Remington detangled herself from Merle, her fingers lingering longer than the rest of her before she moved to knock her shoulder against Jackson's as she walked by him.

"You're such a baby, deal with it."

She was in much better spirits after that and still felt like she was floating. Worries over whether or not this place had already been taken by another group, or if the easiness was really just leading up to some kind of hardship wasn't nearly as bothersome as it was just minutes before.

Jackson turned, following after her, jibes already falling from his lips as the two naturally fell back into roles of siblings.

"Is this going to become a thing now? Running into you making lovey faces at one of them?"

"There are three of them the chances of it happening are considerably higher. Maybe you should call out before entering places."

"So, what? I'm supposed to just run around hollering out every time I turn a corner."

The bickering continued, each sibling fighting against showing their amusement until Cromwell joined them and Remington felt herself slide back into leader mode.

"It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would since we didn't run into any Walkers," she stated, turning toward the other man. "You said you knew there were Walkers in the mall?"

"Yeah, can hear them when you get close to the parts, they reside in. Mostly quiet unless they hear something. The only reason we knew they even existed inside was because Barlowe tripped, cursed loud enough to rile them up on the inside."

"Could have been real bad if we had gone inside before knowing," Barlowe, the man in question piped up.

"How bad?" Remington asked, not taking her eyes off Cromwell.

"More than we'd like to handle," he muttered, shifting, as he thought back to that day. "Not sure how much is really in there, but that one group that responded to hearing us was fairly large. I'd say they evacuated this place and then placed everyone into that mall until they could move 'em out. That never came and sickness swept through the place."

"There's only eight houses and even if a full family lived in each of them the group couldn't be more than a couple dozen in there," Remington said to herself as she tried calculating what the average amount could possibly be.

"Including any military personnel in there," Sweeney said. "Spotted a few among the civilian looking ones."

"And we can't put aside the possibility that they brought in others from outside of the development," Remington sighed.

"I'd say there's no less than maybe forty inside," Barrett announced. "Gotta think these houses are huge. As we were clearing them each had on average four bedrooms, and most were fully set up. On average each household probably held at least five people within them, and that's not including that huge ass house that had more bedrooms then was normal."

"If we had them all swarming us at once it would be too much," Cromwell said. "Even if we added more of your people."

"To take this place over we need to properly get rid of the threat that lives next to it," Remington said. "Having everyone moving in, we'd make enough noise to attract their attention, and it would only be a matter of time before they broke through the glass doors."

"We'll need to control the flow of how many we're dealing with at one time," Cromwell agreed.

"We did good today. We should have a group stay here, make sure no one else has laid claim to it before us, or can try to take it after us."

"Agreed. You and your people should head back to your base, explain things to your people, start getting ready to move in."

Remington turned to Cromwell, eyes taking him in, before a kind smile crossed her lips, as she moved to stand in front of him.

"I think we should have a talk, leader to leader, and see how this alliance is going to work moving forward."

Cromwell swept his arm out wide, motioning for her to lead the way, a wide grin on his face as he showed his consent.

"Let's talk."

┈┈┈┈ ․° °․ ┈┈┈┈

At the end of the day, they had put off viewing the mall, Remington trusting that there would be a lot inside, and none of them wanting to risk riling up the dead and potentially having them try to break out. Jackson had agreed to stay overnight with the Military group to make sure no one came back to claim the housing development, and to make sure that they could trust the group that seemed to offer them so much. He had plans to talk with Barrett and get a feeling for these men, and to see if his old subordinate had changed any since the downfall of civilization.

Remington felt worried about leaving him on his own but was unwilling to leave Merle behind when he offered to stay with her brother. There was another conversation that would be held tonight, and she knew Merle needed to be there for it. That didn't stop her from entertaining the idea of having him stay behind to help her brother, but in the end, she knew the kids would want to speak to him, and the other two after their talk, and she was unwilling to keep putting it off. It helped that Jackson had assured her he would be fine. If with how many men were in the other group none of them were on his level, and he felt confident that he could either take care of them or disappear if needed.

The military group didn't give her vibes that they would turn on her, but Remi also understood that sometimes your first initial impressions of someone weren't always right.

Trust would need to be built between the two groups, but after her discussion with Cromwell about how cohabitating would work, she leaned a little more on the side of things working out.

She carried these thoughts with her until the farm came into view and she stepped out of the car instantly being swarmed by two small bodies of her children, and the yipping sounds of her two dogs. Laughing a little she knelt down to hug the children who kept vying for her attention and then patted the dogs until they calmed down.

Once the initial wave of chaos calmed down Remington found herself being pulled into a pair of warm familiar arms as Shane tilted her back and then rather dramatically kissed her. She heard the noises of disgust coming from Landon, and giggling, from Maisie, as they watched the theatrics.

"Ugh, that was gross," Landon muttered as he rolled his eyes. This caused Remington to laugh as she had a flashback to Jackson just earlier in the day when he caught her and Merle.

"I think your Uncle Jack would agree with you," she said while laughing.

"Mommy can kiss whoever she wants!" Maisie said, coming to her defense. "It's not gross!"

"Definitely not gross," Shane agreed.

"It was a little gross," Glenn coughed, as he had made his way over when the group arrived back.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had someone to kiss on," Shane rebutted, but it only caused a disbelieving look to cross over Glenn's face. There was no way the younger man would ever see that as being anything but kind of gross unless it regarded his own relationship status.

"You're both acting like children," Remi teased as she turned her attention toward Glenn. "Was there something you needed?"

"It's nothing super important but I could use a girl's perspective on something."

He looked distinctly uncomfortable and nervous about something but not in a way that spelled doom for everyone. Just for himself, and Remi began to wonder if something had already started to blossom between him and Maggie. She grew a little excited at the idea, a little worried that it would have been pushed off to the side due to all of her changes. They hadn't had many moments to go off together into town because Remington had grabbed so much that night she was there, and the others going out so often to search for supplies.

"I've got a thing I've got to do right now, but I can come find you later and talk with you about this… problem, you have."

Remi smirked, seemingly knowing what advice he needed, and Glenn blushed at the realization.

"Yeah… that would be great. Thanks."

His words came out a little awkward as he caught the eye of both Shane and Merle, and within moments he was mumbling out an excuse to leave and darted away from them.

"Think there's something between him and the farmer's daughter?" Shane asked with a wide grin on his face. "They came back from a run-in town looking mighty awkward." Shane sounded far too amused at her friends' expense, and Remi lightly elbowed him.

"Leave them alone. I won't have you doing anything to make those two-feel awkward about whatever it is their doing. I'm determined to get them together."

"Playing matchmaker, are we?"

"They are a couple that I'm highly invested in."

Remi wasn't going to mention how later on when she found Michonne she would be invested in getting Rick and her together. Her foreknowledge about things like that wasn't openly known and she found herself struggling to make the decision to tell her men about what she knew. Having Jackson not here tonight meant that she would be putting off her plans a little bit to talk to him about it all.

After she had said that Daryl came swooping in, having not been in camp when they first arrived, but on his way back from the woods. He spotted Remington and his brother, feeling relieved that nothing seemed to have gone wrong during their meeting, and upon realizing that some of the tension he had been carrying fell away. Feeling a little awkward under the stares of everyone, he did step forward and placed a kiss on her forehead in welcome. While he had been okay with that kiss in front of everyone earlier, and he was sure there would be more in the future, he wasn't entirely the type to constantly display it for everyone to see. He'd leave that to Merle and Shane.

Remington eyed her children and the way they once again didn't bat their eyes at the fact that she had kissed not just one man but two in front of them within minutes and decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to them. Dinner wouldn't be for a while yet and they would have plenty of time to put any worries or curiosities to rest before then. Remi could then inform the rest of her group of what was going on with their potential new home.

"Why don't we go over to that pond the Greene's got close by and have ourselves a talk," Remi said to her children as she reached out to take each of their hands.

"Are we gonna talk about you dating, momma?" Maisie asked curiously. "Daryl said yah would."

Remi glanced over toward Daryl wondering what kind of conversation they had but focused back on Maisie and nodded.

"Yeah, we're going to have that talk now." She turned toward Landon and motioned with her head for them to start walking. "What do you know about dating?"

"Landon said that it's when people like one 'nother they get together and kiss."

Remington couldn't help but smile at the explanation and she squeezed Landon's hand gently as she nodded along.

"That's certainly a part of it. You're going to see me kissing Daryl, Shane, and Merle sometimes because I'll be dating all three of them. I'm fond of each of them." They came to a stop at the little wooden dock and Remi motioned for them to sit next to her by the water. Merle, Shane, and Daryl didn't follow them out to the end, they stayed a bit away to give the small family a moment of privacy. "How does that make the two of you feel?"

"I don't really mind," Landon said, shrugging a little bit, as his voice lacked any real emotion behind it. Remi eyed him for a few moments until Maisie suddenly gripped her arm and began to shake her in excitement.

"I like all three of them, momma! We already live with 'em, and Shane gives the best hugs, but so does Merle, and Daryl gives good ones too. They each comfort me when I'm sad too, though Daryl, and Merle are a little bad at it at first." Words began to spill from her lips, one after the other, and Remi realized this wouldn't affect her in any way that was negative if her mini word vomit about how much she loved them was anything to go by. That pleased the mother greatly as one child at least wouldn't have any issues with her choices. Remi listened to the rambling, as she nodded, and gently began to try to calm the girl down, as she began to focus her sights back on Landon.

"Are you sure?" she asked softly. "I would never do something if it made you uncomfortable. You're a little older than Maisie, you know of how the world worked before a little better than she does, so I understand if it's a little odd."

"It doesn't make me uncomfortable." Landon bit the inside of his cheek as he let the tip of his shoe poke at the water under him. "Their okay I guess." Landon's feelings about Shane and Daryl were more than okay, and he even had to admit that Merle wasn't as terrible as he used to be in his mind, but he still was holding onto some negative feelings toward the man.

"Maisie why don't you go over to Merle and the others and talk to them for a bit. You can ask them questions if you want."

"Sure, momma!"

She scrambled up quickly from her spot next to Remi and took off toward the three men. Her feet slapped against the wood and Remi didn't speak again until the dock stopped swaying slightly from the force in which the little girl ran.

"Something is bothering you. You gonna tell me or do I need to do some prying first?"

Landon sighed slightly and Remington knew that there was more to his mood than her having the talk about her dating three different people. She remembered how Shane had hinted at something being amiss with Landon and decided this was the perfect opportunity to figure it out.

"Shane and Daryl are great, so I don't really mind you dating them, and Merle isn't so bad I guess, so it's fine." He made to flick his foot again causing the tip of his shoe to splash into the water. Deciding he doesn't really want to get into any of his troubles, but knowing that Remington won't just let it drop, he squared his shoulders and chose the issue that gave him less anxiety. "Why do you care what I think about it anyway?"

Remington watched his expressions, took cues from his body language, and realized that this was only part of the problem, but it was a big deal to him. It didn't take her long to figure out what he was hinting at, and she wanted to immediately set any worries to rest.

"You know that day I found you I saw this little boy that had been left behind to deal with a strange and scary world all on his own." She reached out to take his hand into her own. "I saw someone who needed someone to rely on and seeing those big brown eyes looking back at me from underneath that bed with fear and hope within them, there was no way I could just walk away. I admit it, I could have given you over to someone else from this group to watch over you, but you see during those weeks I took care of you, you managed to wiggle your way into my heart."

She reached out to fondly tug at one of his chestnut-colored curls and absentmindedly thought that he needed a haircut just as bad as the men in her life.

"I may not have given birth to you, or raised you your entire life, but kiddo that doesn't change the fact that there's no distinguishing the way I love you from the way that I love Maisie. I understand that you may feel differently about me, and that's okay, I wouldn't ever force you to feel a certain way. I see you as my kid, but you can see me in any way that you feel comfortable with, but because I feel this way, I'm going to keep taking care of you until you can do it yourself, and even then, you'll still be stuck with me."

Lightly reaching out she cupped his cheek in her hand as he watched her with wide eyes that spoke volumes about the emotions swarming within his mind.

"I absolutely care about how my choices make you feel. So, never feel like you can't speak up to me about anything. You are important to me."

Landon couldn't help the way he continued to stare up at her, not saying a word, because the words were stuck in his throat. He felt tears prickle in his eyes, and yet he still couldn't express what this meant to him. Those emotions were locked inside of him because even though Remington expressed all of this, Landon was far too afraid to get attached to another person like that. If he let himself feel love for her, to think of her as his mother, wouldn't she end up leaving him like his mom had, and then his father? He understood that his mother hadn't had a choice in the matter, but he still didn't understand his father's choice, and it all hurt so much to think about it that he wasn't sure his heart could take another blow to it.

"I know I haven't really spoken any of that out loud, and most of it was implied, but I love you, kid. If it makes you uncomfortable let me know, but I find no reason to separate you in my heart from Maisie, and even if you decide I'm just another member of the group to you I promise I'll always treat and protect you like you were my own no matter what."

His throat felt like it was constricting, and regardless of his own mess of emotions about the subject, Landon couldn't help the way he fell forward, resting his head against her side, as he kept everything bottled inside. Her arms wrapped softly and warmly around him, tugging him closer, and the action was filled with so much love, and care that it almost caused him to lose control over his carefully put together handle over his emotions. She felt like a mom at that moment.

Remington was safe. She was a haven that kept the storms that battled inside of him at bay. From that first moment he saw her, when she had crawled under that bed full of dust and unspoken horrors, he had seen her as his savior. The way she reached out to him like some kind of guardian angel and had made sure he couldn't see that rotting corpse of his father reflected the type of soul he saw within her. Someone kind and loving. She continued to even do that for those in the group they had stumbled upon.

She sat there telling him she wanted to be his family. It didn't matter to her what he viewed her as, because no matter what she would love him, and take care of him regardless. Those tears were threatening to overflow, but perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to show that side of himself to her so Landon let go.

It would be a while yet before he would let go of more of his trauma and truly let her in, but in that moment a crack had formed, and Landon would be allowed to start to heal.

"Thank you."

She gripped him a little tighter as those words, softly spoken, and a little broken sounding touched her ears. Fingers, full of love, and care, gently carded through his hair.

"Always, Landon."

He sniffled some but didn't pull from her arms just yet. It didn't even matter much to him that he had heard the way Maisie's loud voice had quieted down and they were probably aware of what was happening to him. If Remington was his family, then the other three would soon turn that way as well, and he already thought of Maisie as his sister. She was important to him. He didn't mind much that they saw this moment of weakness.

"I'm afraid of guns."

The admission slipped from his lips in this moment of vulnerability. It was spoken softly, whispered as if some horrible secret was being revealed. Remington didn't loosen her grip on him. She didn't scoff and damn him for such a weakness in this dangerous world.

No, that kind woman just continued to rock him, fingers soothing his aching soul as she used them to comb through his hair, and she uttered just as softly, in a voice of understanding.

"I know."

He buried his face a little more firmly in her side, his tears having left twin wet spots in her shirt but showed no signs of it bothering her.

"I'm weak."

"Not weak simply hurting." She gently pulled him back, so she could look him in the eyes, as she began to swipe away the tears from his cheeks. "All things in time heal, and until then you can learn other skills that will keep you safer than a gun. It's far more dangerous to have such a loud weapon in this world anyway." Leaning forward she kissed his forehead. "Your scars do not make you weak, Landon. Dealt with right they can build you up and make you far stronger than before."

"I don't feel very strong right now."

"They are fresh still. Wounds hurt in the beginning, but with time, and healing, they harden, and that ache fades away. You've got people to lean on we'll make sure you're never weak."

"Healing means talking, right, my pa said that once, but I don't want to talk about it."

His voice was still small, but there was a fire behind it, his conviction with how unsettled that time in that hotel room was to him that he simply could not talk about it.

"That's fine for now. One day you'll feel the need to talk about, to move on from it, and I'll be here to help you do that. I won't force you to open up, but just know, I will always be here when you need someone to be."

For a little while she simply let them stay like that, Landon having buried his face back into her side, and her fingers carding through his hair. It was a moment of comfort and connection between the two. She didn't try to rush him, to push him to move away before he was ready, and Landon never once felt as if she grew tired of caring for him in the time it took him to pull himself back together. Remington was just a wall of patience and the type of mom he thought only existed in the movies. For all his own mother had loved him, and he knew she had, more than anything, she had been a busy person, and even in moments of comfort time had to be split and divided.

It was nice to be able to just sit there and know that there was no time limit to how he felt. No need to push it all aside as quickly as possible because the person who was helping him only had a moment to spare.

All of it was so soothing and freeing that when Landon finally felt some of that grief loosen its hold so that he could breathe again he finally spoke up.

"I approve of them if they make you happy and treat you good."

Remington smiled squeezing him a little tighter.

"As long as they treat you and Maisie right as well then I think I'll keep them around." Remington said both seriously and playfully.

"I like Shane a lot. Maisie is right he's good at comforting us, and I think Daryl is cool, and Merle is annoying."

A giggle escaped her lips at Landon's word over Merle and she wondered, not for the first time, what had exactly happened during her time of being passed out that caused Landon to dislike the man so much.

"Do you think you'll ever like Merle?"

"Maybe."

"Would it upset you terribly if I were to date him as well?"

There was a moment of hesitation and then he shook his head lightly.

"No. As long as he protects you and Maisie, I'll be nice to him."

"I think he'll even protect you too, you know. He cares about you."

"Yeah, I know, it's annoying."

Remington let out another huff of a laugh and shook her head at the boy. Gazing over his face, taking in how he looked, and the way he talked, Remington took notice that Landon was once again feeling fine. She could see a little bit of cheer returning to his eyes, and the heaviness from earlier dissipated.

"What do you say to going and seeing how badly Maisie bombarded them with questions."

A grin lightly curled at the corner of his lips as he nodded. She stood to her feet and reached down to help pull him up alongside her. Landon kept a hold of her hand even as they began to turn to walk.

"Do they want to become dads like you want to be a mom?" Landon asked before they took their first step.

Remington paused, her eyes moving to land on the three men in question, watching how Merle had Maisie in his arms seemingly playing keep away, Shane was making her laugh as he tried to snatch her up, and Daryl watched the scene playing out in front of him with a smirk on his lips. It tugged at something in her heart, and she patted Landon's hand that held onto her own with her free one.

"I think each of them are at varying levels of realization on that front. I can't speak for them, but I think they have the heart for it. What do you think?"

Landon watched them carefully, his honey toned eyes taking them in with a startling clarity that was beyond his years.

"I think they'll do."

"Me too." A mischievousness crossed the tone of her voice as she tilted her head down toward him. "I think there's a kid who's missing out on some fun." She swooped him up into her arms, pouncing, causing him to laugh in slight panic that gave way to pure happiness. Landon was a little too heavy to be picking up in such a way and her muscles groaned at the abuse she put them through, but it was worth it when that sound hit her ears.

The men picked up on the change from the two of them and Shane was quick to alter his intentions, ditching the attempts to gain Maisie from Merle, as he dove in and snagged Landon from Remington.

A mini war broke out between the budding family that was built from jagged pieces, each of them fitting more snuggly than they ever had anywhere else, and unknowingly stumbling upon a home within one another.