Ani was waiting outside with Lou when Daryl and the others rolled into the Sanctuary's courtyard and began unloading the two wagon that came with them. Daryl immediately went up to her and checked on the two of them while Merle, Jerry, and Eugene came out to help. She sighed into his chest as his arm wrapped around her and she admitted that she was happy he was back, even if it'd only been an hour since she'd seen him. The roads had been clear when she'd gone ahead and gotten back to the Sanctuary early and she was thankful that they'd stayed that way until he got home. Nothing major had happened while they were gone as far as Jerry and Eugene had told her and she relayed that on to him. She also let him know that nothing major happened with Lou, just that Sophia and Merle had done a good job keeping him occupied and he hadn't cried too much. The boy had no problem in reaching out for his dad and grab a hold of his vest, making Daryl take him from a chuckling Ani's arms. Daryl had the smile on his face that was dedicated to just interactions with Lou and Ani was completely enthralled by the entire vision of him and Lou until Rick walked up.

"He's gotten big," he commented, wiping the looks off both hunters' faces. "How old is he now?"

"Almost eleven months," Ani answered while still paying more attention to Lou than the other man.

"They grow up fast. Judith has gotten big. She talks about the two of you and asks when she gets to meet the baby," Rick informed them. "Could swing by Alexandria for a visit."

"Maybe when 'e's olda," Ani told him as they turned to walk into the dimly lit building.

They had barely entered the Big Room when a woman shouted out, "Rick Grimes is here!"

"That's the man that ended the war!" a man said to his kids, making Ani roll her eyes with a look of disgust on her face as they stared at Rick in awe, as if he was some kind of hero. "Is Negan suffering? I hope to hell he damn well is."

"Hello," Eugene said, walking up to Daryl, who still had Lou on his hip as he walked through the room. "All was well in your absence, as was already told to Ani when she returned ahead of you. Aside from a certain cabal of Saviors slingin' me some serious stink-eye, I've compiled a list of items that need yours and Ani's semi-immediate attention."

"Not now, man," Daryl said quietly as Laura walked up, Ani moving to stand beside Daryl as she knew how he felt about being bombarded first thing when he walked into a room.

"I checked out the supplies," she told them. "It's a pretty good haul. You should let everybody know."

"I ain't gettin' up on a stage and givin' a damn speech like him," Daryl practically spat at her, leaving her looking discouraged.

"Give 'im some space and make the announcement yaself," Ani told her. "We jus' lost someone out there, barely more'n a kid. We don' need all this shite piled on top a that."

"Daryl!" Michonne called out, bringing their attention to the woman who was staring at a wall. Ani had a bad feeling about what was going to be found and, sure enough, after walking over and looking at the wall, she was right and cursed as Michonne asked, "Does this happen often?"

SAVIORS SAVE US! We are STILL Negan! was written in black and red paint on the wall of the factory, not quite out of sight, but not directly in plain view, either. It had been painted in a rather unnoticeable place to the people who lived at the Sanctuary and walked by the area every day. It was the fourth sign they'd found in the last five weeks and Ani wasn't sure which of the 'Js,' as she called them, was doing it, but she knew it just had to be one of them. Jared, Joe, and Justin were three of Negan's more loyal soldiers who had once worked under Simon until he switched sides. They were ashamed of having ever been associated with someone they thought was a coward and a traitor and were still very active in their defiance. While they might not have been vocal about their desire for Negan to return, their actions more than spoke loudly enough for their beliefs. They had become the unsaid leaders of a group of Saviors that had decided that they didn't like the status quo and wanted to change it. Ani had to be thankful that Rick was smart enough to disarm the Saviors, taking practically every single gun, with the exception of Merle's rifle and a couple other hunting rifles that Merle was in charge of. Other than that, spears, knives, and bows were the only means of both defending the Sanctuary and attempting any kind of coup, and those things simply didn't hold up to a group of well-trained individuals who were better at all three.

"More and more," Daryl told Michonne. "Ever since we started havin' problems with the crops."

"Things aren' workin' out 'ere, Michy," Ani added quietly. "People aren' likin' how bad shite's gotten."

"Eugene, Jerry!" Daryl said loudly, calling the men over.

"We'll make it work," Michonne told her.

"Keep tellin' yaself that," Ani said, turning to the men.

"You know who did that?" Daryl asked the others.

"Don't know, man," Jerry admitted.

"That would be a negative," was Eugene's reply.

"Justin!" Daryl called out to the closest Savior he knew was most likely involved in it. "Clean that up!" he told him.

"How?" Justin asked.

"What do you mean, 'how?' Paint over it!"

"We just used up all the paint."

"Ya can always use a bit a the ethanol ta scrub it out," Ani suggested.

"Are you serious?"

"Serious as sepsis," she told him, stealing the line from Eugene. "Get on it."

The man got up with an air of annoyance and arrogance and moved to get on task without saying the words he so clearly wanted to. Ani bounced Lou on her hip as she watched him get to work before Daryl's arm was around her and leading her away from the area. They watched as a small group of the old workers swarmed around Rick and asked him for help. She could literally feel Daryl tense up as he began to talk to everyone around him about what they'd managed to get from the museum. She couldn't blame him as the same disgust she'd felt at the children's looks of awe earlier returned. It was difficult hiding it and her displeasure at Rick's antics from her face, only made easier by Lou leaning back to look at his daddy and making her snort a chuckle. Still, Ani understood that leaders needed to be able to stand in front of their groups and talk and reassure them everything would be fine, but that wasn't what it felt like Rick was doing. It didn't feel like he was just reassuring the Saviors that the Sanctuary wasn't going to fall, it felt like he was almost promising it wouldn't, which was what Negan did. A good leader didn't make promises they couldn't keep, and yet Rick had been doing just that since the end of the war. She supposed that he could tell the uneasiness and displeasure in the Dixons when he turned around looking at the people's faces as they applauded him only to see them off to the side wearing matching scowls.

"I'm goin' ta go get Lou ta bed," Ani told Daryl when Rick started their way.

"'Kay, I'll be there soon," he responded, kissing Lou's forehead before her temple and watching as she walked away.

He turned and walked away as Rick began following him and lead the man up the stairs and to the catwalk above the factory floor. Daryl preferred to have any kind of important talk up there because they could see if someone was trying to come up to them or not. It made it a hell of a lot easier to plan without having to worry about eavesdroppers or naysayers getting involved. He and Ani had spent many a night up there talking while Sophia was helping them keep an eye on a sleeping Lou. It was where they decided to try to move to Hilltop and where they agreed that they couldn't stay in the Sanctuary. They had talked long and hard about the state of things at the Sanctuary and what they could do to change the fate of the factory in the long run that they just weren't seeing in the short term. Between the fact that they were surrounded by concrete inside and out and the Saviors had already gathered and used as much potting soil as they could find in years prior, the place was dead on arrival. Why Rick, Negan, or anyone else thought the old factory was a good place to make a permanent settlement was beyond Ani's comprehension and Daryl didn't even want to think about it. They both knew that there was no way to get the concrete building up and running without sufficient, constant supplies being brought in from the outside. It was something Rick just didn't want to see and, whether or not he could finally make him understand with the conversation they were about to have, Daryl was taking his family and leaving for the Hilltop with everyone else come sun up.

"What's up?" Rick asked him, sensing the tension in Daryl's steps as they reached the landing.

"I don't wanna be the one leadin' these people anymore," he blurted out, getting right to the point.

"Okay," Rick sighed out while putting his hands on the railing and looking down at the Saviors below. "Why?"

"There's a lot of reasons, man," Daryl told him. "Bein' here, behind these walls again...it just don't feel right. I don't wanna raise Lou here with all them assholes tryin' to start shit up every time we leave. And we're better out there, me and Ania. We always have been."

Rick sighed as he listened to him speak before responding, "You kept this place together. You kept people in line here. We can't just let the Sanctuary fail after everything that's happened."

"Man, it's gonna fail anyway. I've told you that. Ania, hell, Negan knew it! Nothin' grows here. It's a damn factory, man. That's why when Negan was around, he needed people to provide for him. It's still the same. Nothin's changed."

"No," Rick denied. "It's different now. We give what we give willingly."

"How long's that gonna last?" Daryl asked. "Most of the bridges are out after the big storm. The highway's done. We've scavenged every drop of gas for miles. And we can't make enough corn fuel to run the cars or the trucks. Pretty soon, it's gonna be more than a day's ride from one spot or another."

"Well, it's on us to figure out how to make it work," Rick tried to reason, only causing Daryl to get more frustrated.

"Man, there ain't no 'us' anymore," Daryl retorted. "Everyone's everywhere. That small group we had back in the beginning...we could do anything. That was right. That's what I know."

"Well, you wanna come home to Alexandria, then?" he asked, trying his hardest to understand his friend.

"No," he told. "We'll go to Hilltop. Check in on Maggie and the baby. Talk to Carson."

"Well, you go, someone's gotta take your place," Rick told him after a moment's pause. "And it can't be Merle. He's too much of a hot-head still. Eugene's headed to Oceanside to help set up their communications system and Sasha and Abraham are meeting him there. Maggie's sendin' food, but not people, and Kingdom's got its own problems rebuilding after losin' the majority of its fighters. If Alexandria sends another person out, I could use the help back home." Daryl just continued staring down at the factory floor, growing more and more irritated with Rick by the minute, and it didn't help when he became condescending, "Huh. We're not together because things have changed."

"Mm-hmm," Daryl hummed. "Thing is, we're goin', one way or another. We ain't raisin' Lou here and Ani's gonna need Carson."

"Why?"

"You tell me."

"Already? Are you sure? Lou's not even a year old."

"Pretty damn sure," Daryl admitted. "That's why we're goin' to the Hilltop. Be near Carson. I ain't takin' any risks."

"You still need to find someone to take over here," Rick told him, earning him a dirty look. "We can't have a hole in leadership or it will all fall apart. We need to keep the Sanctuary standing."

~x~

"How'd it go?" Ani asked Daryl when he got back to the room.

"Asshole," was the only reply she got.

"He doesn' want us ta leave, does 'e?"

"Says we gotta find someone to take over if we want to," Daryl told her. "Told him why and all he says is we gotta keep this place goin'. He don't want to hear what we're sayin'!" he said angrily, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake Lou. "He wants us to find someone to take over before we leave. Can't be Merle, Eugene's headin' to Oceanside, Sasha and Abe are goin' with him. Kingdom's got issues tryin' to rebuild from everything that went on in the war, the Saviors and King blowin' shit to hell."

"So, we're stuck 'ere?" Ani asked for confirmation of what she was understanding his words to mean.

"Hell naw, we're leavin'," he said with conviction. "I'm gonna make it work. You ain't stayin' here. Lou neither."

"You ain' stayin' 'ere. I can' raise Lou and go through this alone," she told him, her scared eyes betraying her calm demeanor as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I know. I'll make it work," Daryl reassured her, his own arms curling around her in an effort to comfort her.

Ani sighed and melted into his embrace before telling him, "I know ya will. I trust ya."

Daryl didn't say anything, just held his wife as she breathed in his scent, knowing that they both were still upset about the way things had gone on the run and were going at the Sanctuary. It didn't help that they could both feel her protruding stomach pressed against his adding to their stress. Ani breathed in deeply before exhaling hard and pulling away from Daryl, trying to give him a reassuring smile. She walked away from him as he watched and stripped herself of the clothes she'd been in to change into his shirt she'd been using to sleep in and a pair of biking shorts that clung to her legs. He sat down in the rocking chair and grabbed his crossbow to inspect it, though he barely moved once it was in his hands. He was too busy watching his wife move through a serious of slow motion martial arts that focused on her flexibility while also toning her lithe body. Daryl was neither ashamed of nor hid the fact that he stared at her as she flowed from one form to another. Ani knew he was watching her, too, and added some extra movements that allowed her to show off a little more and showed extra skin. His loose shirt rose and fell to show her stomach and sometimes the underside of her breasts which made sure his focus remained on her. She knew damn well that his eyes were following her every movement and ended up switching from Tai Chi to yoga.

She got on all fours and faced away from Daryl, giving him full view of her backside as well as her breasts when she was bent in certain ways. Daryl was beginning to squirm in the rocking chair as her teasing began to make him grow in his pants. He knew that's what she wanted and knew that he would give in and was simply trying to stall as long as possible. Watching her lock eyes with him as she crossed her legs and held her hands in her lap before slowly leaning all the way back had him on the edge of his seat. Her large breasts were still fuller than they had been and seeing them steadily rising and falling while her stomach was in full view and her back was arched off the floor. It was quite the perfect position for him to simply walk over, tear her shorts off and eat her out, but he kept still, his mind still reeling from his conversation with Rick and not fully distracted by her show. Of course, that didn't stop his body's reaction as she began rising again, her hands never once leaving her lap. Her eyes focused on his again with a knowing smile before she stood up and stretched her arms high over her head as she turned around. Bending as far over as she could, Ani could feel his eyes on her at the same time as she heard his breathing becoming harder, her ass in full view for him. She proceeded to walk herself out so that she went from standing to plank before moving her butt back and as far into the air as it could go with her knees shoulder length apart and at a right angle and her hands spread out as far as her arms could reach. That seemed to do the trick as she heard him put the crossbow down and stand up, completing her count before she slowly went back into resting position and looked up at him.

"Somethin' I can do for ya, Mr. Dixon?" Ani asked innocently.

"You know what to do, baby girl," he told her, his pupils blown and the look in his eyes wild.

Ani knew she was in for a treat as she pulled herself up onto her knees and reached out for his belt buckle, undoing it with one swift motion. Daryl stared down at her as she licked her lips, her face already flush from the thought of taking his dick in her mouth. It almost seemed like she was moving in slow motion as her fingers gently undid the button and pulled the zipper of his trousers down. His member immediately popped out of the opening, Daryl having taken to free balling after a time when clothes started getting harder to find; he wasn't having someone handmake his underwear. Ani was happy with the change, though, as it had allowed her more than one occasion to tease him and walk away before he could do anything about it for one reason or another. This time, though, she had no intention of teasing him any more than she already had when the look on his face told her to just do what she was told, whether it was vocal or not. Daryl's eyes locked onto her face and watched as she once again licked her lips before leaning forward and locking her own eyes on his face. She kissed the tip of his member before licking a trail all the way down the shaft to the hilt and going for his balls. Ani sucked each one into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it before licking her way back up his throbbing shaft and taking his head in her mouth.

Daryl hissed in a breath as he watched her staring up at him while sucking her way slowly down his member. One hand made his way around her neck to grip the hair at her nape when her nose reached his pubes and his tip hit the back of her throat. He held her there for a moment and she took advantage of that fact by sticking her tongue out and licking his taint. His legs jolted and he let her move her way back to his head to suck deeply while wrapping her tongue around the tip, her eyes still staring up at him. Ani knew just how to get him riled up when it came to giving him head and had gotten much better at it than the very first time she ever had. She wasn't afraid to try something new or to use her tongue against the slit to make him hiss in pleasure. She knew how to relax her throat so that she could take him all the way to his balls and keep him there without gagging for at least a few seconds. He was bucking into her mouth as she sucked him down after giving his head enough attention to make his grip on her hair tighten. Daryl loved the fact that her eyes stayed on his while her cheeks hollowed out more with every inch she took down her throat. He held her there once again, bucking into the back of her throat while her hands went up to his hips and held on tight. He let her take a breath before continuing to fuck her soft throat until he felt his balls tighten and she finally gagged, her throat clenching around his head in a way that made him shoot his seed and her to swallow it straight down.

Ani coughed a few times when he slipped his dick out of her mouth, but his hand remained in her hair and pulled her upwards. She followed his movements and used his body to help her stand up before he pulled her in for a ravenous kiss she was more than willing to respond to. His free hand moved to her ass as he dipped down just enough to put it between her legs and pull it up to his hip, forcing her to jump up and wrap her other leg around him as well. Daryl carried them over to the bed and gently laid her down, the softness of the motion belying the fierceness of his kiss. He was careful about how much weight he put on top of her but still put enough pressure on her to make her moan. Her hands were trapped around his neck and in his hair with her nails raking across his skin and scalp the longer the kiss persisted. When he finally released her lips, Daryl began his normal route down to her shoulder, but his kisses and nips were rough and left marks the entire trail. He bit into her shoulder, making her cry out, as he pulled his hand from her waist and slithered it up her shirt to cup one breast tightly. Ani's chest heaved into his hand and the odd sensation of both the pleasure at the feel of his hand and the slight pain of how tight his grip was. She could feel his limp cock start growing against her thigh when he pulled away from her and sat up long enough to stare down at her as he slowly gathered the ends of the shirt she was wearing in his hands.

"Don'," she told him. "We don' got 'nough shirts ta go 'round if ya keep tearin' 'em!"

"Are you tellin' me what to do?" he gruffed out, causing Ani's breath to hitch.

"Please, daddy," Ani pleaded. "Please? I'll do whateva ya want me ta, jus' don' rip any more a my clothes."

"You remember that promise, baby girl," Daryl told her, ripping it over her head and tossing it somewhere behind them.

His mouth was against her skin all over again with both his hands gripping her hip and her breast tight enough to make her cry out for a moment before the pleasure settled in. One of her hands gripped his shirt at his shoulder while the other tangled into his hair as he moved on to suck the nipple of her entrapped breast into his mouth. Between his teeth and his tongue, Daryl had her crying out for more long before he moved onto the other nipple and gave it the same brutal ministration as the first. She was writhing beneath him as he traveled further down, his kisses turning sensually gentle as he got to the small protrusion of her stomach. That gentleness was replaced by an animal when he reached her core, though, as his tongue and teeth attacked her clit through her shorts and made her slap one hand over her mouth in order to keep from crying out too loudly and waking the boy. Her fingers gripped into his hair while his hands reached around to her waistband and began pulling her shorts down. She had already soaked through the shorts between teasing him and giving him a blowjob and he got back at her for it by blowing on her sex as soon as it was exposed. Ani squirmed at the feeling but Daryl held her legs open and threw one over his shoulder before attacking her core.

Ani's fingers pulled at his hair as her back arched off the bed and she ground her hips into his mouth, her leg on his shoulder holding him as close as she could. He felt her walls twitching when his tongue entered her while he was trying to lap up all the juice he could from her. She moaned and mewled under his touch while his teeth clamped around her clit for a moment and had her holding his mouth to her. He gripped her hip with one hand as he teased her sensitive nub with his tongue while snaking his other hand around her front. A stream of curses and his name came out of her mouth when two of his fingers shoved their way inside her and curled in just the right spot. Her hands clamped in his hair even harder and pulled at it from the scalp while she held him against her core. His fingers moved inside her and caused the bubble sitting low in her abdomen begin to tremble, knowing it would burst if he kept going. She tried to tell him to stop, tried to form the words to say she wanted to feel him inside her, but all she could do was moan and buck into his face. Another clamp of Daryl's teeth against her clit had Ani cry out as her back arched and her juices flowed down his chin while her walls held his fingers still inside her.

"You want more, baby girl?" he growled out.

"Y-yes," Ani panted out, Daryl's slap to her hip making her groan and repeat herself. "Yes, daddy. Please."

"Stand up and turn around," came the command as he moved away from the bed and started stripping himself of his clothes as he watched her do as she was told.

As soon as her back was to him, Daryl stepped up into her and brought one hand up to squeeze her breast roughly, but sensually, while his other hand snaked down to her glistening sex. He toyed with her some more at the same time she ground back against him for a moment before he reached a little further down and made her place one knee on the bed. His thick cock found its way through her thighs and began rubbing against her core while his hand brought her arm around back to his neck. Ani didn't know what was causing her to feel more overstimulated: his hand on her breast strongly kneading the soft tissue, his thick cock between her legs rubbing against her already swollen clit, or the soft and gentle kisses he was spraying along the back of her neck and shoulder combining with his stubble scraping against her skin. It was all too much and had her begging him to take her, to fuck her, to do anything as long as his dick went inside her. Daryl was ready to oblige, but grabbed one of her arms and told her to keep it there when he clasped it around his neck and reached behind her to properly align himself. In one motion, he had himself seated inside her all the way to the hilt while she tried to hold on for dear life.

He had a hand around her neck to keep her back flush against him as he began to slowly move inside her. Each buck of his hips was calculated, it seemed, pulling out almost all the way before slamming back in and making her cry out. She ground back against him as best as she could while he continued peppering her shoulder and neck with his scruffy, gently kisses and his fingers tweaked her nipple. His other hand was wrapped around her hips, forcing her to take every thrust as far as possible without giving her any room for reprieve from his brutal use of strength. It was his lips barely touching her skin before moving and his hands gripping at her flesh before massaging it that sent her over the edge again and had her giving him a passionate kiss as her juices dripped down his balls. His own dick twitched inside her as her walls trembled around his shaft and prompted him to lean forward with her, forcing her to bring her other knee up onto the edge of the bed after a moment just to keep her balance. Daryl took full advantage of the new angle and began moving slowly again, much to Ani's ire as she mewled and begged for more. Her back was still against his chest, but his hands were on her shoulders, holding her still for him to buck as fast or slow, hard or soft, as he wanted to.

"Please, Daddy, please," she begged. "More. I-I need more."

"You asked for it."

Daryl wasted no time in standing straight before putting one foot on the bed, his heel in the crook of her hip to keep her steady. He brought one of her hands to the small of her back and held it there before he picked up the pace while keeping the same jarring thrust he'd had the entire time. Ani was biting the blankets beneath her to keep from screaming at how each and every hit of his tip to her back walls sent pleasure throughout her entire body. Her walls had barely released their grip on his shaft before they were trembling again, but Daryl persisted. With one hand holding her wrist and arm to the small of her back and the other on her shoulder, he had her right where he wanted her. He was relentless as he began rutting her roughly, the build up of tension from being more careful loosening his restraint. The room around them echoed with the sounds of his hips clapping against her ass, her moans and pleas, and his own breathing in his ears. Ani begged for him not to stop as he egged her on, encouraging her to cum for him again as the string that held his own orgasm at bay began to fray. Daryl had built the bubble back up to bursting by plunging all the way to the hilt over and over again and Ani was in no position to deny his command for her to let go once again. Her soft, warm walls clenched down around him as the waves of euphoria washed over her for a third time, forcing his orgasm from him in a breathy curse.

Ani was still twitching from her final orgasm when Daryl softened inside of her and pulled out, barely able to move from Daryl's attention. She moaned one last time as he did before stretching out and moving to lay partially on her side. He watched her move and saw the fingertip bruises forming on her hip already and cursed himself all over again until he saw her knowing gaze. She'd caught his eyes lingering and where they had and knew what he was thinking, her raised eyebrow and smirk all but asking him if he was really feeling guilty for bedding her. Almost as if she was daring him to say something, she moved slowly and raised herself to a sitting position, her hand reaching out for his arm and slowly pulling him towards her. He followed her motion and laid halfway on top of her as she kissed him passionately while holding him close. It only lasted a few moments before they pulled back and he rested his forehead against hers and looked at her relaxed face. Her pupils were still blown and her cheeks were flushed even as her breathing began to settle down and fatigue settled in.

"You should get some sleep," he told her quietly.

"So should ya," Ani replied. "I love ya, D, ya know that, right?"

"You know I do. Love you, too, baby girl. Go to sleep."

"Only if ya stay. I know ya been sneakin' off 'cause ya can' sleep."

"Surprised you can."

"It's on and off. That's how I know ya sneak off when ya think I'm goin' ta be sleepin'."

"That why you're always awake when I come back in?"

"Not always. Sometimes it's Lou fussin'. All depends on how much ya've worn me out," Ani told him with a smile.

Daryl didn't answer her, just kept his eyes on her while she adjusted how she was laying to tuck herself under his chin while still being as close to him as possible. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close to him while listening to her breathing even out. She could hear his heartbeat in her ear, lulling her into a deep sleep within minutes of getting comfortable. Daryl wasn't sure how long he waited to move, but she barely moved when he carefully crawled out of bed, only grabbing his pillow and holding it close in his absence. He quietly got dressed and left the room, running into a drunk Merle on his way outside and getting him to his room before he walked out into the empty courtyard. There was no one out there and it felt completely empty without the hustle and bustle of the group's activities. It was so quiet outside, too; there weren't even crickets around to sing in the night with the place covered in concrete. No walkers were around as the majority of them had grouped up with others over the last year and the large groups rarely came near the settlements. Ani hated how quiet it got at night at the Sanctuary and would only stay out with him because it creeped her out. Daryl didn't mind it so much because he'd gotten used to it thanks to cigarettes and Merle. That was the whole reason he was out there and he had just sparked his second one when he heard the door open.

Carol walked out and over to him, taking the cigarette he offered and throwing it on the ground before stomping it out and telling him, "Those things will kill you."

"Why aren't you in bed?" Daryl asked her, thinking practically everyone but the watch was asleep but him.

"Why aren't you?" she shot back at him. "We don't sleep. I'm surprised Ani's not out here with you. Ezekiel, on the other hand, sleeps like a baby. It's annoying."

"Does he snore fancy, too?"

Carol chuckled before sharing an amused look with Daryl before telling him, "Stop it."

"No, he's alright. He's a bit corny, but..."

"Well, I'm glad I have Pookie's approval," Carol told him jokingly. "After what I went through with Ed, corny is really, really nice."

"No, I'm happy for you," Daryl replied with a small smile. "If anybody deserves to be happy, it's you. Be nice to see you more, though."

"Daryl," she said in a serious tone after a moment, "I heard you talking to Rick. I want to take over here for a while, for you and Ani, and don't argue. She shouldn't be here when she's pregnant."

Daryl looked at her for a moment and contemplated what she was saying, but decided not to argue since she was giving him a way to get his family out and instead asked, "You gonna bring Henry and the King with you?"

"I haven't told him yet," Carol admitted before sighing. "He...he asked me to marry him."

"What?" Daryl asked in disbelief.

It wasn't that he didn't like the thought, but he didn't think the guy was that corny as to actually propose. Hell, he hadn't even proposed to Ani, had just given her her own winged vest and called it a day until they got pressured into saying the vows properly. No one had proposed to anyone as far as he knew after the end. Rick and Michonne had just happened and it was pretty obvious that they were a married couple even without standing in front of everyone and swearing an oath to each other. The same had happened with Sasha and Abraham; the man had just walked up to her and told her a bunch of crap that boiled down to wanting to be with her and she invited him inside and that was that. Glenn had been the one to give any kind of proposal that involved both words and actions and even that hadn't been actually asking Maggie to marry him, just giving her a ring. To hear that Ezekiel had actually asked Carol to marry him was surprising, even though he supposed it was right up the man's alley. If anyone was going to do something as cheesy as proposing, especially considering he could've died earlier in the day, it would be Ezekiel.

"Yeah," Carol said. "And a part of me wanted to just say 'yes' right then. "

"Why didn't you?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I want to help out, take my time, you know?"

"You want me to stay here with you?"

"I thought you didn't want to raise Lou here," she called him out. "Besides, Ani wouldn't like that- you staying behind for me."

"She knows we're just friends."

"Yes, and she's pregnant. For the second time in less than a year. If you stayed behind and sent her on to Hilltop just for me, do you really think she'd just turn the other cheek?"

"Yeah, probably not. Hell, like you said, second time in a year. Lou ain't even gonna be a year and a half. Figured it'd happen again, just didn't think it'd be so soon."

"How are you feeling about that?" Carol asked, making Daryl stare out into the empty courtyard before he sighed.

"I never saw myself as a dad, you know?" he told her honestly. "I love Lou like crazy. Feels nice when he's callin' for me. Feels right. Watchin' Ania with him is like...I don't even know. It's like the world stops and it's just them. I don't know how I got lucky enough to get her, to have a kid with her. Scared it's all gonna fall down around me if I don't hold it all together. But I don't know what the hell I'm doin'."

"I disagree. You're a natural father. Have been since the start. We could all see it when you saved Judith. And the new baby will be all the better for it."

"I don't know. I just hope it goes easier for Ania this time around. It ain't just the baby, you know? It's her. She had so many problems last time around."

"We were at war. Things were different."

"Yeah, that's what she said, too. Doesn't mean much to me. All I see is how close she came to losin' Lou and how bad her blood pressure got. We talked about havin' more kids, but I didn't think it'd be this fast. She's already startin' to show."

"Have you told anyone?"

"Rick. Kinda wanted to talk to Carson before we announced it to the world."

"How far along is she? Do you know?"

"Think she's about eleven weeks now."

"That's not very far along at all. She's already showing?"

"Yeah. It's like, with Lou, she was somethin' like twenty five, twenty six weeks along before she started showin'. This time, it's like she's been showin' since we figured it out."

"When did you?"

"A few weeks ago. Hadn't really thought about it and then she just sits straight up in bed and cusses. Tells me we fucked up and we both freaked out for a bit. Like, what the fuck were we gonna do? We didn't even want Lou here and now we're havin' another one?"

"I thought she was really careful about that, though? I mean, she taught Sophia so that she could avoid getting pregnant if she had sex with Carl. That hasn't happened yet, has it?"

"Naw, they're good kids. Fool around a bit, but they don't do anythin' major. 'Least not accordin' to Ania. And I can't really put the blame on her for forgetting to count or whatever. Ain't like I help her any, always wantin' to be touchin' on her."

"You know she don't mind."

"Yeah, I know," Daryl said before going silent. "I can come check on you. Don't take that long on bike."

"You should save the fuel," Carol told him. "It's alright. You take care of your pregnant wife and son. I'll make sure the Sanctuary stays running. And when it's all set, I'll go back to the Kingdom and take Ezekiel up on that offer."

"You better."

"I will."