Sorry for the wait. I started working again and it's a lot more hours than I was working before, so it might take me a couple of weeks to get a chapter out from now on. I truly apologize for the wait.

"Maggie told me you might show up this afternoon," Carson said as he opened the door to the medical trailer to see Ani and Daryl standing there. "Come on in."

"Thank ya," Ani said as she entered the room. "What's she said?"

"That I should expect you to show up. She didn't really expand on that. What brings you to see me?"

The two Dixons glanced at each other before she quietly stated, "I'm pregnant again."

"How far along, do you know?"

"About twelve or so weeks, we think."

"She's already showin', though," Daryl told him. "That normal?"

"It can be. The muscles tend to loosen faster with consecutive pregnancies, which can lead to earlier showing. Why don't you lie down and lift your shirt and we'll take a look?"

Ani slowly laid back on the table and pulled her shirt up above her stomach as he brought over the ultrasound machine and started it up. As soon as it had booted up, he made sure it was ready for use and put some aloe vera on her stomach before pressing it there. The sound of a baby's heart beating immediately started echoing through the room while making everyone smile. Carson's smile was bright before he looked off into space and started moving the wand without looking at the screen at all. Daryl noticed it at the same time as Ani and they shared a concerned look as the doctor stared at the screen. His smile became softer, though, and he looked at them with an air of excitement after a moment. Telling them he was just going to take come quick measurements and then he'd show them the screen, he really did look to be doing as he said. It didn't help Ani's nerves, however, let alone stop Daryl from scowling as the doctor spoke on what he was doing. Ani stopped him after a few minutes of him going back and forth on her stomach, clicking away on the screen and keyboard as he moved the wand. He assured her that everything was alright and that he was only making sure everything was right on track after her problems last time. Carson admitted that he was surprised when he saw the screen and that he'd show them why in just a moment. When he turned the screen around to show them why he had been so secretive for a few minutes, Ani and Daryl stared at the screen in shock.

"What the fuck is that?" Daryl asked as he stared at the screen.

The sight on the screen had left Ani speechless as her brain started to catch up with her eyes and comprehend what she was seeing. Right there, two little dark circles along with two white beans were showing with their limbs clearly beginning to form. As the doctor began describing the picture to them, Ani was beginning to panic beyond just finding out she was pregnant before Lou was even a year old. Carson explained everything that was happening in drowned out words where the sound of the heartbeats and her own blood rushing through her ears echoed in her head. Two separate embryonic sacks, two separate placentae, and two separate fetuses were front and center on the screen. All that was ringing through her head, though, was three babies within a year of each other and two at the exact same time. Worse than that, Lou wasn't even off the teat yet and she was going to have two more on them as soon as he was. And how was that even supposed to work? Did she feed one and then wait to feed the other or feed both at the same time and hope one boob was enough for each baby? What about sleep and how they would tackle that if they both woke up at the same time and Daryl wasn't there and then Lou woke up? It took her a few minutes before Daryl's voice brought her out of her thoughts along with a hand on her shoulder gently shaking her.

"I'm fine," she stated automatically, not even comprehending what had been said to her.

"Are you sure?" Carson asked. "You're quite pale. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Ani responded again.

"Ania," Daryl's warning came, causing her to look at him and see him giving her a hard look.

"Twins," was all she could say.

"Yes," Carson said slowly as he looked between the two still staring at each other, "which makes it especially good that you guys moved here. You're going to need constant care and observation."

"What?"

"It's nothing major, I promise. However, given your last pregnancy and the fact that you're pregnant with twins, I'll be closely monitoring you during this one. We might have to find a way to induce you before your delivery date in order to ensure they're both delivered safely and the three of you are in good health, but there's just as much chance of you going into labor early."

"Why?" Daryl asked.

"It's normal. Almost half of all twins end up being born around the thirty-seven week mark. Given the fact that Lou came earlier than expected, I think it's safe to say she might go a few weeks earlier."

"Are they identical?"

"It doesn't look like it," he said, going back in with the wand while pointing at the screen to show what he was talking about. "Look here. This is one of the the embryonic sacks. You can tell that there's cleavage between the two and this right here is the placenta for this sack. Over here, you can see the other embryonic sack and another placenta. Most likely, they will be fraternal twins, but there is a small chance they could be identical. We won't know until they're born and, even then, it could still take some time to know depending on how similar they look at birth. Do you have any questions, Ani?" he asked as Ani had barely said anything.

"Uh..."

"How's it change things?" Daryl asked, knowing with one look at Ani's face that she was at a loss for words, her wide eyes still fixated on the screen.

"It changes a few things. Like I said, we'll need to keep a closer eye on her for the duration of her pregnancy to ensure both babies are developing properly. We'll also need to keep her iron levels up as much as possible and watch out for nutrient deficiencies. There's a chance she could develop gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, which we'll need to keep an extra close eye on after her last pregnancy. We'll probably be putting her on bedrest the closer she gets to her due date due to the fact that Lou was a pretty decent sized baby and we want them to cook as long as possible. She'll still probably go into labor early, but that's normal for twins."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we'll have you guys come back every week to check the progress and make sure all three of them are healthy."

"Anythin' we should look out for?"

"The same as last time; bleeding, fainting, dizziness, swelling. Make sure she eats enough because twin pregnancies need more calories than single births."

"They're both healthy?" Ani asked quietly, finally coming back to reality as everything sunk in.

"Yes," Carson assured her. "Have a listen." He moved the wand to one side and the whooshing of the baby's heartbeat sounded, "There's baby number one. And here," he said as he moved it again, "is baby number two. Both are strong and healthy."

"How far along are we?"

"I'd say about thirteen weeks. You might even be able to start feeling them move, soon."

"I didn' feel Lou movin' 'til I was ova twenny weeks. Jus' 'fore we came ta the Hilltop, actually. It's part a the reason I took the test."

"Well, there are two babies, which means less space for them to move. Even if there were one, most women are able to feel the babies move and start showing far earlier in consecutive pregnancies than they do in the first. It's completely normal because the body remembers the process. Try not to worry too much and we'll plan on having you back here in a week to check on the progress. Until then, just enjoy it. And hope another war doesn't break out," he joked, though it fell on death ears with blank stares.

They left the trailer and walked back into the house where Sophia and Carl had been looking after Lou and went straight to their room. The kids followed behind them asking questions as they'd seen them coming out of the medical trailer, but neither adult said a word. Daryl was still thinking about what he'd seen, learned, and heard with the doctor and was still trying to decipher how he felt about it. Ani, on the other hand, was reeling; her mind was racing with thoughts about what she needed to do and how to prepare for the twins' arrival. She was also having intrusive thoughts about how she'd had to separate Bobby and Catty and now she had twins all over again. And even more, darker, intrusions warning her that her human twins would end up just like the bobcats and try to kill each other. She knew that those thoughts were based on nothing, but knowing it didn't help matters any when her thoughts were already chaotic. It didn't help that one look at Daryl told her he was dealing with similar thoughts himself with how his brow was furrowed. They were both probably dealing with the same thoughts and worries about the fact that they weren't having one more kid, but two.

"Will ya two give us a little bit?" Ani asked as soon as they got to the room. "Look afta Lou a little bit longa while we talk and then I promise I'll tell ya everythin'."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're alright. We jus' got a bit a shockin' news that I'll tell ya lata. Jus', give us some time, okay?"

"Come on, Sophia," Carl said, pulling her hand as he held Lou in his other arm. "We should go see how Enid's doing."

Sophia gave Ani a hard stare before sighing and saying, "Okay."

As soon as the teens turned away and headed back down the stairs, Ani closed the door and turned to her husband, who was standing by the windows with his arms folded chewing on his thumb. She took a deep breath and walked over to him, putting a hand on his bicep, causing him to look at her for a moment. He didn't say or do anything, just stood there looking at her for a moment before looking back out the window. She stood beside him and rested her head on his arm while breathing in his scent to relax. They hadn't been able to really enjoy the last pregnancy and this one was going to come with a whole new slew of issues. She couldn't say she didn't understand the stress she was sure he was feeling at carrying two babies, but she was concerned he would become as unbearable as he had been before. The last thing either of them needed during the next few months was to add them fighting about her activity level to the stress they were already under. One look at Daryl, though, and Ani had a feeling that she might have to have a few fights with him before all was said and done.

"Ya okay?" she asked quietly.

"You?"

"Twins."

"Mm-hmm," he answered, sighing before turning away from the window. "What the hell we gonna do?"

"Hope and pray it all works out," Ani said with a shrug.

"Says the woman who says 'hopes and prayers are like wishes and wants.'"

"Well, they are! They don' do shite for anyone but the one doin' the hopin' and prayin'! It don' change shite. But we can' exactly take action when it comes ta me bein' pregnant. I ain' gettin' rid a 'em."

"Didn't ask you to."

"Didn' say ya did, but it was an intrusive thought as ta what could be done 'bout me bein' pregnant right now," she said with a sigh. "We'll get through this jus' like we did with Lou."

"Face it, you're just as freaked out as I am," he told her. "Barely could speak to the doctor."

"Yeah, well, I was in shock. Fuck, we're havin' two babies. I'm fuckin' carryin' two fuckin' babies right now! Fuck!" she said, getting louder with every word before shouting the last, one hand in her hair with her other on her hip as she paced a small circle.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Don' be a fuckin' ass, D," she shot at him. "This is your fault. I'm blamin' all a this on ya and ya shitehead a a brotha. Him for sendin' ya ta me drunk off ya ass and fuckin' me practically raw and ya for bein' too fuckin' good at fuckin'!" she said, though they were both chuckling after sharing a look.

"Fine, whatever. I'll take the blame. But you don't be a dumbass and go off doin' everythin' for everyone this time around. Gotta keep from doin' too much."

"Yes, dad," she teased while rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious, Ania. Don't push it. You gotta be more careful this time around. Ain't just one baby you've gotta think about."

"I know, D, I know," she said as she walked up to him and folded herself into his chest, his arms wrapping around her. "We ain' at war and I promise ta let ya do all the fightin' if one breaks out. I'll keep ta medical shite. Jus' do me a favor and help me keep ya brotha in check this time 'round. We already talked 'bout everythin', talked 'bout ya bein' too harsh, too controllin'. We already made promises and agreements. He's goin' ta have ta keep ta 'em, too. I ain' dealin' with the Dixon brothas becomin' the Dickhead brothas again. Okay?" she asked before yawning.

"I've got 'im. You should rest. Gonna be a long night," Daryl told her, both of them knowing that Gregory was being hung after nightfall.

"Ya should, too. Ya didn' sleep much last night, Phia and Carl have Lou and won' mind watchin' 'im for an hour or so more. Merle headed out ta hunt as soon as we got 'ere and Mags don' need us 'til lata. Might as well take a nap with me," Ani suggested, looking up at him almost pleadingly.

Daryl took a long, hard look at her before simply nodding his head, "Alright."

~x~

"You're pregnant?!" a very shocked Sophia, Carl, and Merle cried at the same time.

Ani and Daryl had slept for a couple hours before getting up to find the teens and get Lou, who had been happily playing with Hershel in Maggie's office. She let them know that the kids, including Enid and a couple of the younger kids, had all gone out foraging as a group. While they waited for them to return, Maggie asked Ani if she'd be willing to talk to Earl for her and figure out what the state of his mind was. She didn't believe he was a bad guy and wasn't willing to hang him over something she was sure he was tricked into doing, but she also wanted to know why he would attack her. It wasn't just her, either, but Enid and Hershel, too; he'd knocked Enid to the ground making her hit her temple on a log and Hershel's pram had been knocked over, causing him to fall out as his mother fought for her life. Maggie needed to know the man was safe and he wasn't going to cause any more problems before she was willing to think about releasing him. Even then, she still hadn't fully decided what she was going to do even with Ani offering option before the group of teens came back with Merle in tow. The Dixons and Carl had bid her farewell as Maggie talked to Enid about how things had gone, Ani and Daryl leading the others out and around the back of the manor before telling them the first part of the news.

"With twins," Ani said after giving them a moment to absorb the shock of the pregnancy in general.

"With what now?" Merle asked.

"Twins," she repeated. "I'm carryin' twins."

"How the fuck did you get knocked up with twins?!"

"Merle, if I fuckin' knew how the fuck ta stop shite like this from happenin', don' ya think it wouldn' a happened?" she asked incredulously. "Seriously, shite happens. This time, the shite is twins."

"Lou ain't even a year old!" he said, the realization dawning on his face comically.

"No shit," Daryl spoke up. "Think we didn't notice that?"

"How far along are you?" Sophia asked.

"'Bout three months," Ani answered. "Looks like I'll be havin' 'em right 'fore fall hits. Septemba, maybe? Haven' been payin' attention ta months so much as seasons and countin' how many days 'til Lou's b-day. Got 'bout five weeks left."

"Are you gonna throw a party for him?" Carl asked her.

"I don' know. I want ta do somethin', but 'e ain' goin' ta rememba it, so I don' think it needs ta be somethin' grand."

"It's his first birthday!" Sophia said, looking aghast at the fact that Ani didn't find it important. "You have to do somethin'!"

"I'm plannin' on it! I jus' don' know what ta do and the pregnancy kind a takes precedence at the moment. Ain' like we got cameras ta take pictures and shite. I want ta do somethin' and I want ta make it memorable, but all I can think a is the fact that I'm havin' two babies at the same time."

"We'll plan it!" she said, offering hers and Carl's assistance. "We planned the baby shower with Beth! We can plan the birthday party!"

"Do ya want ta?"

"Well, we haven't really celebrated a birthday in years," Carl said as he thought about it. "I don't even know if we've had one for Judith, yet. It kinda slipped our minds."

"Why don't you jus' throw a party for all the kids, then?" Ani suggested. "Not jus' Lou, but Judy and Hershel, too. He ain' quite nearin' a year, but 'e's old 'nough ta call it good."

"You'd really be okay with that?" Merle asked her. "Givin' your boy's day up for all the kids?"

"We can celebrate jus' 'im lata or earlya or the next day, day before," she listed off with a shrug. "It's jus' a damn party for everyone else. Again, he ain' goin' ta rememba it at all, so why does it have ta be jus' 'im this time 'round?"

Merle had the decency to shrug it off before returning to the former topic by saying, "Don't gotta worry 'bout that next time around. They're gonna share the day anyway!"

Ani and Daryl groaned at the reminder after momentarily being distracted by the discussion of birthday celebrations. They stood around for a while longer as Ani explained to Sophia that she'd known for a few weeks that she was pregnant and apologized for keeping it from her. She explained that she had been so stressed at the thought of having two babies under two and the fact that Lou was just starting to walk and she was going to have another on her hip. She hadn't wanted Sophia to worry about her until she knew for sure that she was, in fact, pregnant and not just pretty sure and also wanted to be able to know the baby was healthy. The last thing Ani had wanted to do was get Sophia's hopes up just for something else to be happening or for there to be something wrong with the baby. On top of that, they had also been preoccupied with trying to get things set up to move to the Hilltop after the trip to DC. Ani also admitted to Sophia that she knew it had upset the girl that she had pulled away a little bit and apologized for worrying her. Sophia, with all the innocence of a child, told her she wasn't upset and tried to play it off like she hadn't been moping around the Sanctuary the last week. They all ended up sharing a laugh when Carl called her out on it and the two teens went their own way while Merle simply meandered off to who knew where. Ani, however, handed Lou to Daryl and told her she was going to go talk to Earl for Maggie and try to find out what happened the night she was attacked.

Walking to the cellar door and entering it, she couldn't help but notice how much it had changed since the last time she had seen it. The war had still been going on back then and there had been a secret area behind shelves that Daryl and Maggie had used to hide in. The entire cellar had been redone, the shelves opened up to reveal a much larger room than there had been before. It was still a storage area, but it also had an area now that had been completely cleared in order for the blacksmith to create holding cells; no one thought he'd be the first one being held. Ani could almost see the way the changes in the Hilltop in general had been portrayed in the change in the cellar. Beyond the shelves and cells, the once boarded up windows had been cleared in order to grant some natural light and make things easier to find. There was also a lot more items that weren't food based, mostly weapons and items they used for the winter, a couple roughly made shelves and tables, and other odds and ends they needed to build one thing or another. If it weren't for the fact that the cells were in there, the cellar felt extremely calming to Ani.

Walking over to the cell Earl was in, Ani stood and looked at the man looking at the ground at first, then her, for a moment before asking, "What happened?"

"Ken died," he said quietly.

"I know. I was there. That ain' what happened. That's a part a what caused what happened ta happen, but ya know damn well that ain' the 'what happened' I'm talkin' 'bout. Ya ain' stupid, Earl. Ya managed ta figya out how ta make my throwin' knives. Ya know damn well why I'm 'ere and what I'm tryin' ta do. So cut the bullshite and tell me what Gregory made ya do."

"He didn't make me do anything, Ani. I chose to do it."

"Ya were inebriated, yeah? Maggie said ya'd been drinkin' with Gregory, though 'e didn' seem drunk at all. So 'e was feedin' ya liquor, wasn' 'e? Feedin' ya liquor and whisp'rin' in ya ear 'bout Maggie, yeah?"

"I did what I did. I'm not going to blame Gregory for my choices," he said, earning even more respect from Ani for taking responsibility for his choices and not allowing her to try to justify them.

"Would ya have tried ta hurt Maggie if 'e hadn' a planted the seed? If 'e hadn' come with drink and egged ya on. Ya told me 'bout how that shite damn near ruined ya life once upon a time. Didn' seem like ya would eva drink anotha drop."

"My son had just died," Earl said with a sigh. "My wife was hurting and I couldn't do anything to help her feel better. I felt so helpless and weak and Gregory offered that bottle. The minute I smelled the liquor, I remembered how I'd feel just nothing when I was drinking, and that's what I wanted to feel. Nothing. So I took that bottle from Gregory and I got myself wasted for the first time in over twenty years. He kept talking and I started talking and I don't even remember when the conversation turned to taking it out on Maggie. It just did. And Gregory talked about how the Saviors had taken everything and Maggie was just letting things happen. One thing lead to another and then I was waiting for her to come around to the graves, wanting to hurt her to make my wife feel better. I'm happy she wasn't hurt and I'm gonna be regretting what I did for a long time to come, but, in that moment, I wanted to."

Ani had studied him while he spoke and took a minute to decide what she was going to say before telling him, "I don' know what's goin' ta happen, but I'll talk ta Maggie. I appreciate the honesty and I'm sure it'll help make ya case. But also don' expect ta be let out any time soon. Ya could a hurt Hershel when ya attacked Maggie. Ya did hurt Maggie and Enid. Ya goin' ta have ta wait 'til Mags is ready ta be let go."

She talked to him about a few more things he needed for his cell or wanted to be relayed to his wife through her before leaving. There wasn't much that she could really do for him except to plead leniency with Maggie as he admitted and took full responsibility for his actions. If Gregory had done the same from the beginning, Ani couldn't help but wonder if she would feel different about the other man. With that thought in mind, she switched gears from going to see Maggie and began climbing the stairs up to the room they had Gregory locked in. Maggie hadn't wanted him to be in the same room as Earl just in case he whispered in the other man's ear again. Ani couldn't blame her for that and wouldn't put it past Gregory to try to make Earl take the fall for the entire thing. Only Earl had been seen attacking Maggie and it had been Maggie who had realized what was really happening and who was behind it. Even though Gregory had practically confessed to Maggie, no one else had been in the room with them and he had claimed innocence and misunderstanding ever since. While no one had come forward to doubt Maggie's story after Earl admitted it had been Gregory's idea, it had turned into a he said/she said situation that Ani wanted to clear up entirely before problems arose at the Hilltop due to his death.

Jesus was standing outside the door to the room Gregory was being held in with Kal as she approached with a sheepish grin, Jesus returning it with a knowing one of his own with a hand up, stepping in her way as he told her, "I can't let you in there."

"I jus' want ta undastand why. What 'e was thinkin'. He had ta know they weren' goin' ta succeed."

"He was hoping that Maggie would be caught off guard," he informed her. "You don't need to talk to him to know that. We all know that's what he was thinking. This isn't the first time he's tried to get rid of her."

"Nah, it's not, but it's 'is dumbest attempt afta more'n a year and a half. There has ta be a reason why, Jesus. And ya can eitha let me in there ta talk ta 'im and join in the convasation or we can see which one a us has the more knowledge a fightin' techniques."

"You would rally fight me over this?"

"If ya won' let me talk ta 'im, yeah, I will."

Jesus gave her a hard stare that she returned knowing that the determination she was feeling at talking to Gregory was shining through. She knew that Jesus was worried she would attack the man on her own before letting Maggie handle it, as she had in the past. There wasn't one person within the Hilltop that didn't know about the bad blood between Gregory and Ani or the reason why. Everyone stayed out of it and the man had taken to staying out of Ani's way during her visits to the Hilltop. His first impression on her had left a lasting mark that he had only turned into a deep stain with every infraction he wracked up. He barely knew everyone's names, took advantage of others for selfish reasons, didn't think about the greater good for everyone, only himself, and had openly betrayed the Hilltop several times. On top of that, he was the biggest hypocrite she had ever met by condemning the Saviors Jesus had taken as prisoners when he, himself, had betrayed the Hilltop that same day. She had no love in her heart for nor any kind of remorse for the things she had done and said to the man. But, if there was anything extra she could gleam from this situation that could help her plead Earl's case, she wanted to hear what Gregory had to say.

"I'll stay in the room with you, but the minute you get out of hand, we're done," he warned, getting a dirty look from her.

"I'm not a child, Jesus. I've only eva punched 'im once and I've only threatened 'im twice. I ain' some wildcard, asshole."

"You can't say you didn't want him dead."

"I didn't want 'im dead, past tense. Not when I first met 'im, not the first time 'e betrayed the Hilltop and came back 'ere, not the second. But 'e hurt Mags. He hurt Enid. Could a hurt Hershel. I'd be lyin' if I said death weren' the only option now, whateva Mags would a had ta say 'bout it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Try ta fool me thrice? Well, ya know what happens afta three strikes. This was 'is third. Now, ya goin' ta let me take 'is death row confession and witness it or are ya goin' ta be a pussy ass bitch and make it 'bout ya peaceful nature?"

"Damn," Kal laughed for a moment, he and Ani having had a few good rapports throughout the months. "Gotta admit, it was a stupider plan than he's ever had before."

"I swear, I jus' want ta talk. I ain' goin' ta do anythin' ta hurt 'im 'less he tries comin' afta me."

Jesus sighed and relented, moving back to open the door, though he walked in first and warned him, "Gregory, Ani's wants to have a talk."

"I have nothing to say to that woman," came the response, though Ani was having none of it.

"So, ya goin' ta let Earl go down with ya, huh?" Ani asked, baiting him. "Ya a real great leada, Greg, real great. Lettin' ya people take the fall for ya bullshite."

"I'm the whole reason this place is standing, sweetheart!" he shot at her. "Without me, none of this, none of it, would be possible!"

"Oh, I think it would be. Way I see it, way I've been seein' it from the start, anyone could do what ya were doin'. Wasn' nothin' more'n crunchin' numbas. And those numbas started gettin' betta afta ya stopped crunchin' 'em. Ya literally gave nothin' ta this place 'cept platitudes ta enemies. There's a reason the Saviors wanted ya dead 'fore we got involved in it all. So, do yaself a favor and be fuckin' honest for once in ya life. What the fuck did ya think was goin' ta happen? What the fuck did ya think ya were goin' ta fuckin' accomplish by attackin' or killin' 'er? Or havin' someone else do it for ya? What was the fuckin' reasonin' for riskin' the fact that ya had a life worth livin' 'ere jus' for a misconceived shot ta gettin' back in charge?"

Gregory scoffed at her while rolling his eye, falling for her scheme to get him talking hook, line, and sinker as his hubris took over, telling her, "I would've been back in charge. Who else could do it?"

"Literally anyone else," Ani deadpanned with a blank look. "Sasha, Abe, and Beth come ta mind right 'bout the same time as Jesus, Kal, and Carson. Hell, Bertie, Madge, and Eduardo are betta options than ya. Literally anyone could do the same damn thing as ya did. But it's Mags who's brought the farmin' ta progress as much as it has and who's been breakin' in the horses. It's Mags and Beth who've been makin' things progress so much that the Hilltop has excess ta share. They don' need ya. They neva did."

"You wanted me dead from the minute you saw me, didn't you?"

"Ya would a been dead by now if that was true."

"Negan isn't," he goaded, Ani's jaw setting as she scowled at the man. "And yet here you are, wanting to kill me. What are you even here for?"

"Ya confession."

"Why? You already know I'm guilty. Everyone does. And half of the people are rooting for me because all you and Maggie do is follow Rick," Gregory told her cockily with a smirk. "I know what I've done. I've kept this place up and running. I've thought about the Hilltop, thought about the people here. I never kowtowed to some guy parading around like he's some kind of war hero!"

"Nah, ya jus' knelt ta a guy who killed ya people all willy nilly," Ani said, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath. "I came in ta see if there was anythin' off with Earl's story and anythin' that might a made it seem like 'e really did want ta hurt Mags. 'Stead, I found the snake in 'is grass and the thorn keepin' the Hilltop bleedin'. I'm done, Jesus. Time ta go talk ta Mags and see if I can' help Earl out."

"You'll help Earl but you won't help me?" he asked, looking at her incredulously.

"Earl's down in the cells blamin' 'imself for your treachery, 'gainst Maggie, 'gainst the Hilltop, fuck, even 'gainst 'imself. So 'e deserves my chances. Ya don' deserve my shite if I defecated on ya grave," Ani said with a sense of finality before turning on her heel and exiting the room.

She didn't wait for anyone to come after her and instead walked straight towards Maggie's office, knowing that even if she wasn't there, someone along the way would know where she was. When she found the woman on the upper balcony with Rick and her son, she said she'd come back, not entirely comfortable being around Rick most of the time anymore. He was just too optimistic when she had become staunchly realistic in the last year and a half. Besides, it wasn't as if she needed to talk to Maggie right that second and she wanted to see Lou, so she headed outside instead. Daryl was sitting on a picnic bench watching Lou play in the grass with Merle, Sasha, and Abraham with him. She walked over, happy when Lou began calling for and crawling towards her until she was close enough to pick him up. They all chatted about nothing and everything, the other couple having a similarly comical reaction to the news of Ani's pregnancy and twins as everyone else seemed to have. Sasha admitted that after their scares, they had gotten a lot more careful in order to prevent a pregnancy just yet. She wanted to be sure things were going to last and continue on without a war before she started a family, but she wanted one. Abraham jumped in and said that if the bridge got rebuilt and there weren't any major incidents, then they would probably start trying over winter. In his words, there was no better way to stay warm than to get hot and heavy under the covers, joking about how it had worked for Ani and Daryl well enough. When Merle said, 'a little too well,' though, Daryl smacked him and it started a little tussle between the brothers that ended with Daryl throwing Merle over his shoulder and onto the ground.

"That's what you get, asshole," he told his brother as he walked back over to the picnic table and pulled Ani with him.

"He ain' really wrong, though," Ani said with a shit eating grin, earning a glare and a 'shut it' from her husband.

The rest of the day progressed relatively peacefully with dinner and a nap for both Lou and Ani before the meal. It wasn't until afterwards that the tension began to build and Ani could feel the reality of what was about to happen. No one had been killed since the war had ended and the worst that had happened was when Ani and Daryl beat the crap out of the worst of the Negan supporters back at the Sanctuary. Even then, there had been no permanent damage done and they had either relocated or put the hammer down on those who kicked up trouble. That night would be the first time they would be killing someone without it being a kill or be killed situation or in the middle of a war. The gravity of it was weighing on a lot of the people of the Hilltop and Ani could see Rick and Michonne's troubled faces from a mile away. Rick had spent a lot of the evening trying to convince Maggie not to kill Gregory, to let him go to Alexandria and have him deal with him there, but she was hearing none of it. Ani had jumped in once she got sick of waiting to talk to Maggie about Earl and told him to leave her alone because he had already betrayed her once. Asking Maggie to let Gregory go was like asking her to be alright that Negan was still alive even though he'd killed Glenn. There was nothing that Rick could say that would make his point make any sense when the man had tried to have Maggie killed and his actions could have hurt Hershel, too. Rick's optimism had no place in the Hilltop when Maggie was the one in charge, and Ani made sure he knew it. He didn't say another word, at least around Ani, for the rest of the night.

It didn't take too long before most of the populace of the Hilltop was standing in front of the barn's frame, Daryl and Abraham dragging Gregory out of the house. He was still protesting and claiming he was simply misunderstood and he wasn't responsible for what happened. Ani had tied the noose as Maggie brought one of the taller horses over and got the beast settled down. She went back inside to put Hershel to bed before the events of the night took place before Jesus brought Earl from the cellar. His wife stood next to him while both of them stood in front of the barn and facing the crowd. It took a little bit to get Gregory to stop fighting when he was put on the horse, only quieting down when Ani threatened to break his legs and arms before letting him hang. It was after dark when Maggie came back out of the house and walked through the crowd as hushed whispers began to trickle through. Ani knew what they were doing was going to change things in the long run, but they couldn't keep everyone who did something that either killed or almost killed another maliciously under lock and key. It just wouldn't work in the long run and hadn't worked in the old world; there had been so many people that got locked up for the most heinous of acts and lived their life comfortably enough for being in prison. Rick could keep his optimism in Alexandria while Maggie created a true reality at the Hilltop. Maggie looked at Gregory sitting on the horse with Abraham on one side, Ani and Daryl on the other, before turning to address the crowd.

"I don't want to do this," she told them. "But people need to understand that at Hilltop, the punishment fits the crime." She looked over the crowd for a moment before turning to Gregory and asking him, "Do you have any final words?"

The man at least had the grace to understand just how final his situation was as he cried, "What you're doing isn't right. Somebody stop this, please! Killing me in the dead of night because you're ashamed!"

"Ain' shame," Ani cut in. "Kids don' need ta see this shite jus' yet, but the othas do. Day time? Kids could see. Night time? It's jus' a bad dream if they do. What ya did wasn' right, eitha, by the way, so sayin' this ain' right is the pot callin' the kettle black."

"She's right," Maggie told him. "I'm not ashamed. And I don't have reason to be."

With that, she nodded her head at Daryl, who told Ani to stay put as he walked behind her and over to the horse as Gregory screamed for mercy. Daryl already had the bullwhip in hand when Michonne started screaming and tried to run to intervene. Rick caught her and Ani looked around to see what the hell would cause the normally staunch woman to act so uncharacteristically hysterical. A couple of kids had walked out of the house and Ani made a motion to Beth, who had been standing at the back of the group, to at least block their view before it was too late. She had meant what she said about young kids not needing to see Gregory hanged, especially when many of them hadn't seen cruelty since the war ended. Both Beth and Sasha made it to the kids just as Daryl spurred the horse into motion and made Gregory drop. His pleas and cries for mercy and for someone to stop the hanging were cut short in a gurgling gag as he swung back and forth. Ani could tell his neck hadn't happened, but it took barely any time before his eyes were closed and he was on the edge of death.

"Get the children back in bed," Maggie told them before addressing the crowd again. "I made this decision. But this is not the beginning of somethin'. I don't want to go through it again." After a moment of looking out at the faces of everyone, she turned back to Daryl and told him, "Cut him down." When the body dropped to the ground, she spoke to the group for the last time, "Things are going to change from now on. We're gonna make rules, we're gonna have laws. You break them, you take a punishment. I don't ever want to have to do this again, but I will, if I have to. Go get some rest. We've got work to do in the mornin'."