"Jus' shut the fuck up already!" Ani yelled at Daryl after what seemed like his millionth time of telling her she was doing well.

She was in the worst pain of her life, was only dilated to a nine as of the last check, and had been having contractions every minute for a minute. She was barely able to catch her breath before another wave hit and her husband was being so helpful. His help, however, was in the form of platitudes and encouragements that had her wanting to rip his face off. It had been days, literally two days, since she had started active labor, but her waters hadn't broken and Carson wanted things to progress as naturally as possible. They had the needed supplies for a c-section, but he was certain that she would be able to deliver the babies naturally as she had for Lou. Yet, when she asked about pain management when things refused to progress faster and the contractions had kept her awake, she had been told they only had enough for in case they needed the surgery. Ani had cursed the doctor out, and then everyone who came to check on her, with the exception of Lou, who had been with them for the first day, but as the pain progressed, had been left with Merle. She missed her son, missed her room, missed feeling like she could laugh without pissing herself, and, most of all, was in no mood for anyone's bullshit.

It had been a trying two weeks, during which her contractions had steadily grown in number and shortened in time in between. When Merle had gotten to the Hilltop and learned of Ani's ultimatum, he had gone off on her and wound up literally losing a tooth because of it. She had tried so hard to reason with him and had gotten heated and lashed out at him when he called her a stupid bitch that was trying to get his nephews killed. She could forgive the man of many things, but not of accusing her of wanting to harm her kids. He'd tried to have a go at Daryl, too, for allowing it, but that ended about as well as his conversation with Ani. Both brothers were sporting minor injuries from that fight and Merle hadn't spoken to them for nearly a week before relenting. It had been Sophia who had managed to talk sense into him by pointing out everything Ani had, but in a less heated, less direct way. He hadn't apologized, but he also had stopped badgering them about their decision to see what it was like living outside of a community. Instead, he'd started nagging them about the names of the newest Dixon boys and what they would need to do to protect their little camp. Things were tense between them all and it had made it difficult for Ani to enjoy the last little bit she had with Lou and Daryl before labor.

Sophia had informed them that only two other people had walked off, and one had made it known that she was leaving well before she left. Her reasons for leaving had to do with her mother back at the Sanctuary that was ailing and Ezekiel had offered her refuge at the Kingdom. The other person who left had threatened to do so a couple times due to not liking having to work so much and get nothing back and everyone assumed he had just followed through with his threat. All of his stuff had been missing when they checked after he didn't show up to his shift, so it had been easier for the Saviors to accept they were gone. Tensions were still palpable back at the camp, but things had settled down well enough to where work was progressing well. She would be heading back after the babies were born so that she could help Carl keep things civil out there. Sophia and Carl had been talking to everyone and had managed to at least keep the more understanding Saviors in line, who helped keep the others in line. They'd even suggested throwing a party to bring everyone together and it had gone rather well in the way of smoothing tensions at least a little. Ani was proud of the teens accomplishments and the fact that they had been able to get things to calm down some and had told her as much. Sophia had grown into a wonderful human being despite all her hardships both before and after, and Ani simply couldn't be prouder of her.

That didn't make her want to see or hear the teen at the moment for the same reasons she wanted to rip her husband's face off. Daryl was doing his best, had sore hands and bruised forearms from Ani's tight grip, and simply didn't know what else to do for her. She was in so much pain and was pale and covered in sweat and tears he was sure she didn't even know were there. She'd barely been able to eat anything and had only managed to get a couple sips of water before curling into herself again. Ani had spent some time walking and rocking in a chair, but most of the time she was groaning or moaning from the contractions. He wanted to take the pain away from her even more than he had when she was giving birth to Lou. Carson was constantly checking on her, too, which made her cringe every single time he came to monitor the babies' heartbeats. She didn't even want Daryl's touch at the moment and Carson being the doctor didn't shield him from her anger every time he came over with his stethoscope. Daryl was thankful that Lou wasn't around to see his mother like this or the little boy could very well end up fearing her with how vocally violent she was being. Two days of worsening pain would do that to anyone, though, and Daryl knew it wouldn't last and she would apologize when all was said and done.

"Alright," Carson said as he came over yet again, "let's check again and see if it's time to push."

"If ya say that one more fuckin' time, I'm goin' ta crush ya nose with my heel!" Ani seethed, starting through her teeth and ending in a yell as another contraction hit her and she started begging Daryl to make it stop.

"I'm sorry, baby girl," was the only thing he could do as he crawled onto the bed behind her to hold her as she cried.

Enid and Sophia helped hold her legs up as Carson went to check her, only to quickly order Enid to get a towel and Sophia to get some water. He immediately order Ani to start pushing because one of the babies was already crowning. Both she and Daryl panicked because her waters hadn't broken yet, but he assured them that everything was alright and she just needed to push. The delivery ended up being quick, very quick, but what came out of her didn't look like a baby at all and wasn't crying. He told the two girls to keep an eye on Ani and help her deliver the other baby once it started crowning as he moved to a different bed and carefully placed the thing on the bed. Ani cried out in pain again as Daryl held onto her, trying to see what Carson was doing as Enid and Sophia encouraged her to keep pushing. She couldn't concentrate on the contractions or breathing or anything after what Carson had taken to the other table and she had barely been able to see it before it was carried away. It wasn't until a second contraction began, a gush of water poured from her, and she screamed as she pushed that the sound of a baby's cries filled the room. Not even ten minutes later, the second baby had been born, coming out crying and flailing as he hit the cold air. It took another ten minutes for her to deliver the placenta and the doctor to clean her up, giving her two stitches in the process. Ani was exhausted and panting by the time it was over and just wanted to hold her sons before passing out.

"What happened with the first?" Daryl asked as Carson handed him over.

"That was an exceptionally rare sight, my friend," Carson said with a smile. "We call it a mermaid delivery, sometimes a veiled delivery. Medically, it's known as an 'en caul birth,' or when the baby is born in the sac along with the placenta. I have read about it during my studies, but I've never actually seen one. That was absolutely beautiful."

"Why'd it take 'im so long ta start cryin'?" Ani asked while getting the first twin to the teat.

He latched like a pro as soon as she had her nipple near his mouth as Carson explained how he'd had to break the water. The doctor had wanted to be as careful as possible since he had never seen a delivery like that and was in a state of shock himself. All Ani could say was that it looked like she had delivered a monster before he'd started crying and proved to be a baby. There had been nothing special about how the bundle he'd taken away had looked and she was certain it was going to haunt her for years to come. Daryl couldn't help but agree a bit, the fear and worry about having seen it anything but beautiful in the moment. Looking at the baby boy in his wife's arms, though, his dark hair tinted red like hers with blue eyes shining up at him, that was beautiful. He held onto his second son and noticed they had similar hair color, though he wondered if he'd be another blue eyed Dixon or if he'd have green eyes like his mother. The thought of having a little one that looked just like her had come to his mind more than once and he hoped at least one of his boys got their mother's eyes. Her eyes had been what had drawn him to her to begin with and he wanted them to be the last thing he ever saw if he could help it.

"Which one are we namin' which?" he asked as he stared down at the baby in his arms.

"It really don' botha ya that I can' pronounce Hunta right?"

"You've asked me that a thousand times. You've tried doin' it a thousand times. Even Carson said it ain't your fault. Tongue-tie, ain't that what he called it?"

"Yeah, but, still. Ya wanted ta name one Hunta and I can' get the 'r' right. It hurts."

After they had talked about names and decided on them, Ani had gotten very upset that she couldn't say 'Hunter' properly and asked Carson about it during one of her prenatal checks. It was then that she found out that the reason for her speech impediment was most likely not from having an accent. After a brief examination, he declared that she had a tongue-tie, albeit a minor one, that had, according to Carson, most likely been missed as a baby. Ani knew better than that, and immediately said that it probably hadn't been missed and her parents simply didn't bother having it corrected. In private, she admitted that she'd always wondered why it hurt to say some words and why she had never been able to pronounce any words with 'er' in it aside from 'her.' Even that was said more like a simple 'r' than the way everyone else said it because it was easier for her to pronounce it like that than force herself to be in pain just to say it right. Her parents had probably used it as another excuse to mistreat her, not that they'd needed one, and she couldn't believe it had taken so long for her to find out. She'd never thought to bring it up to a dentist or a doctor after her speech therapist at school told her she'd probably never get better at pronunciation. It hadn't been something that ever came up when she was talking to others, either, because it was just how she had always been, and she'd simply assumed that it had to do with her mother's accent. Now that she knew better, it had added a new insecurity, especially when Daryl had fallen in love with the name Hunter, a name she'd originally been joking about.

"It ain't like you're gonna be the only person sayin' his name, Ania. He'll know it's Hunter. That gonna be his name?" Daryl asked, motioning to the boy in her arms as she started to adjust him.

"Yeah. Our little Hunta. And 'e's goin' ta be one some day, too," she smiled up at him. "Can ya put Bowie down 'ere?" she asked, motioning to an extra pillow she'd been given, propped up against her stomach. "I want ta try feedin' 'em both. I can' jus' make 'im wait 'til 'is brotha's done."

"Sure. Should I go get Lou?"

"Nah, not yet. Maybe afta they're done feedin'. Don' need 'im wantin' a sip right when 'e's meetin' 'is brothas."

~x~

Daryl walked into the room after about twenty minutes of helping his brother get his stuff together to head back to the bridge. Sophia had decided to stay back while Carl and Enid had been back at the bridge for a week already, but she was also out hunting at the moment. He'd asked Ani if she could manage on her own for a few minutes while he helped Merle and she assured him that she could. Daryl was quite proud of her in how well she'd taken to being a mother of three in the last two weeks and the fact that she'd had no emotional outbursts when Lou did. In fact, when Lou got upset seeing her feeding his brothers and had a cosmic level breakdown, she'd simply done her best to help him calm down. She'd managed to wean Lou off of breastmilk in the last four months and switched him to a bottle and cows milk, but that work was seemingly ruined the moment he saw the babies on the nipple. It wasn't until after she had finished feeding the twins that she asked Sophia to take them while she took Lou and held him while singing. It had taken about thirty minutes between the start of it and the time she was able to end it and she had been the more level-headed person between the two of them when it happened. At the next feeding, Daryl was going to take him out of the room entirely only for Ani to tell him not to. She had him go get a bottle and strip him down to his diaper, instead, asking him to put the boy between her legs so he could lay on her belly. It was overwhelming to have all three boys on her the first few days, but Lou stopped wanting to be involved in the constant feedings shortly after that. Now, it was just the special feedings, like when he had his solid meals, that he wanted to lay down with her and the twins with his bottle. Daryl didn't know how she had managed to figure out what he'd needed so quickly when he'd been absolutely useless when it was happening, but it had worked. Lou was no longer angry at his brothers for getting breastfed and was still getting the attention he so desperately needed during the change.

Walking into the room, Daryl was treated to the sight of her and the boys all asleep on the bed in their feeding positions. The twins had fallen off the teat and were just peacefully laying on either side of his wife while Lou had his bottle in one hand and his rabbit in the other. Ani's arms were around each of the twins protectively and her legs were wrapped carefully around their older son. She didn't look overly comfortable at all with her limbs cocked out like they were, but it was obvious she was exhausted and needed the sleep. Daryl carefully walked over and took Lou's bottle away before picking him up and putting him in his pack and play with his blanket and his bunny. Afterwards, he went over and picked up Hunter, bringing him to the crib and laying him down before repeating the process with Bowie, gently putting a blanket over their lower halves. Once that was done, he moved back over to the bed and started trying to get Ani into a more comfortable position without waking her up. He was successful for the most part as she rolled over and scootched down a little bit while moving her hands around. He whispered that the kids were asleep and she should get some herself, pulling a blanket up around her naked top as she settled down. Daryl didn't want to disturb the four of them and so left the room as quietly as he'd entered it and headed back outside.

"How's Ani doing?" Sasha asked him when she saw him, having come to the Hilltop with some of the others to get a larger amount of supplies.

"She's sleepin'," he told her. "She's doin' a lot better than I am. She leaves the room to get a shower or somethin' and they start cryin' and I'm just standin' there like an idiot tryin' to figure out how to get 'em all to calm down. They start cryin' while she's there and she manages to get all three in her lap, rockin' 'em and calmin' 'em down. Hell, she was just up there with all three of 'em sleepin' on her."

"How's Lou taken to being a brother?"

"It's gettin' better. He still gets emotional sometimes when he wants to be picked up and Ani's busy with the twins, but he's gettin' better. He's not throwin' fits seein' 'em eatin' or when they're gettin' their diapers changed anymore."

"That's good. How are you doing, though?" she asked, giving him a hard look.

"I'm fine."

"Are you really?"

"Why you askin'?"

"Tyreese, he used to have a daughter before all this happened. We lost her when it all went down, before we locked ourselves in that bunker," Sasha told him. "I remember when he was a new dad. He was always panicking over if he was doing things right. There was one time when the baby wouldn't stop crying all night and Tyreese broke down crying by the time the sun was up."

"Where was the mom?"

"She was there, too, but she was just as frazzled. And that was just one child. You and Ani have three."

Daryl thought about it for a minute before saying, "The twins are more difficult than Lou, that's for sure. One of them starts cryin', the other starts up. Then Lou starts gettin' worked up. Ania's been doin' well dealin' with all of it, but she ends up cryin' after the boys are sleepin' most nights."

"I'm sure she does. What about you, though? You haven't really said how you're feeling."

"I feel useless a lot," he admitted with a shrug. "Sometimes, it's like Ania's the only one that can get them all to calm down and Lou's definitely more clingy now. He's always wantin' to be in my arms or on my lap if I'm sittin' down. Still wantin' to sleep on my chest every mornin', but he'll also wake up the twins if I don't wake up fast enough to get him. And then Ania wakes up and feeds 'em and gets 'em back to sleep, but then can't always get back to sleep herself. She just lays there starin' at me and Lou or the ceilin'. Feels weird just bein' watched like that. Makes it hard to get back to sleep myself sometimes," he said, rubbing his eye with his palm. "Thought I was bone tired with Lou, but with the twins, feels like there's never enough hours in the night."

"I can only imagine."

"When you and Abraham gonna have one?"

"When it happens, it happens. Isn't that how you and Ani went about it?"

"Yeah, look where that got us."

"You have three beautiful boys," Sasha pointed out. "Is it difficult telling the twins apart?"

"Not really. I mean, it's harder when they're sleepin', but when they're awake, one look and you can tell," Daryl said as a smile formed on his face. "Bowie's got his momma's eyes. Both of 'em has hair that's got this red tint to it when they're in the sun. But Bowie's eyes are that same emerald green. Hunter's change between blue and gray depending on the light."

"You seem really happy about that."

"I was hopin' one of them would have Ania's eyes," he admitted.

"Well, at least Ani's got one more green-eyed Dixon besides her," Sasha laughed. "Are you going to come back out to the bridge?"

"Mm-hmm. Couple more weeks. Wanna make sure we got the kids' routines down before we come out."

"'We?'" she repeated.

"Yeah, Ania and the boys are comin' out, too."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

Daryl scoffed and threw his arms out as he turned to face Sasha, saying, "You think I don't know it ain't? That Ania don't? But she can't take care of all three of the boys on her own and everyone but Maggie's out at the bridge. Phia's goin' back out next week, too. We're gonna be takin' a lot of precautions. Havin' the pack and play, keepin' them close to the medical tent, where Phia and Enid can both help her out. Merle's gonna be keepin' an eye on them, too. He ain't happy 'bout it, but it is what it is. Ania wouldn't budge about it. Usually, we can talk it out and agree on somethin', but she wasn't backin' down. Gave me the ultimatum of bein' a father here or the bridge. We gotta get that bridge done. You said you've finally got enough supports up and wood that we can really start buildin' the damn thing. We gotta get it done before the rainy season gets here again."

"Yeah, the work has to get done quick. We've got about three months before that starts."

"That's not a lot of time. Hell, construction used to take weeks with power tools. We've already been workin' on the damn thing for six months or so! Ain't no more than five feet done and Eugene says we need twenty eight! Work's gotta get done faster, so we need all the hands out there we can get."

"Me and Abe will help keep an eye on Ani and the boys for you," Sasha told him as she noticed her man waving her over as it was time to go. "I'll let the others know you're all going to be out there, too. We'll make sure the boys stay safe."

"Thanks."

Daryl watched her walk over to the wagon and climb up after Merle and Abraham before heading over to the gate to open it. He told them goodbye and good luck as they went through, a warning from Merle about remembering what they'd talked about being given back. It had been a conversation between the brothers about how dissatisfied they were with Ani and the kids moving out to the bridge, too. They had decided to fortify their little area with traps they could easily keep the kids away from and that would make it impossible for walkers or people to sneak up on them. Merle was going to get started on it as soon as he had the free time out at the bridge and would also ensure that there would be at the very least a sound barrier around their camp. He was going to make the small clearing they called home the safest he possibly could and was also going to make sure there was enough space in the tent for what they needed. If Ani wasn't giving them a choice but to accept what she was going to do, then he wasn't giving her a choice in how much more they did to prepare for her stay. The last thing Merle wanted was to lose another tooth for saying the wrong thing when they were both overly heated, and the man was sick of being knocked on his ass by a midget. Daryl had to agree that he was sick of the three of them getting into physical fights because they couldn't see eye to eye on what he and Ani should do as parents.

Merle and Daryl had finally managed to have a heart to heart after that where Merle admitted that a lot of his reactions was out of fear and guilt. There were so many times when he was a kid that he wanted to protect his mother and then protect Daryl and had failed. And then he'd failed even more when he'd started getting into trouble with the law and left them both at the mercy of their father. When their mother died, he was already so far gone in the addiction to drugs and liquor and chasing tail that he'd kept leaving Daryl to deal with his mess. He kept thinking that, had he stuck around, maybe things would've been different for his little brother and he could've had a real life. Something he could be proud of instead of being a scared puppy dog cowering as he followed his master around trying to get approval. Merle was scared he was going to do something else that would fail Daryl or, worse, fail his nephews when the only thing he wanted to do was keep them safe. He didn't hate Ani or feel like she was actually doing what was worse for her kids, but he also was finding it hard to see things from her point of view sometimes. His desire to keep them all safe was compounded by the guilt and fear of his past failures and it had him spout off a lot without thinking about it. Everyone knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to most things and that the only thing he cared about was his family. That didn't mean he didn't trust Daryl and Ani to protect their kids above even themselves or that he actually believed what he'd spout off. He was still learning what it meant to have a healthy family life with him, Ani, Sophia and the boys and scared he was going to lose it all after what he'd been through as a kid.

Daryl could understand where he was coming from and was terrified himself of what the future held when it came to their family. The thought of the boys being out at the bridge was something that kept him from sleeping some nights ever since it had been brought up. Ani had talked to him in more details about everything she had been planning and had done her best to reassure him. Still, it wasn't a decision that he'd made easily or lightly and he already felt cooped up having needing to be at the Hilltop for almost three months already. Between Ani's plans and reassurances and his own need to be in the woods and away from people, he'd relented and began planning himself. Merle was able to admit that they weren't the kind of people who could just be a part of society all the time and he found himself missing the hunt at times, too. The only difference was that he could still go hunting whenever he wanted to while Daryl was saddled with a trio of brats he had to look after first. Daryl wasn't too worried about it and threw a comment Ani had given him at Merle to get his point across. People had been having babies since the dawn of time and it wasn't as if they didn't have babies in the woods while needing to migrate seasonally back then. Between the three Dixon adults, given that Sophia was nearing adulthood herself and had her own life to live, the three Dixon boys would be more than safe. After all, they had been hunting most of their lives and all knew how to fight both people and walkers. If they couldn't keep the kids safe, it would only be because they were all dead and someone else was doing it for them.

He wasn't sure when the last time he'd actually had a talk like that with his brother was or if they'd ever actually had such a deep conversation. It had brought a lot more to light about their upbringings, being able to be open and honest about it instead of hiding all of it away. Daryl understood Merle a lot better than he used to and realized that he'd done what he'd thought was best back then just to survive their father. He wasn't the same as him, though, and had been much more docile, which was why Merle had him follow him around when they were adults. As soon as he'd been released from military prison, he'd gone back home and dragged Daryl out of their father's house and never let him go back. It was the only way he'd known how to protect Daryl back then when he was on hard drugs and drinking day in and day out. Merle knew he'd messed up a lot, knew he could've done things better as a big brother, and that he'd been selfish at eighteen to run instead of protecting him. Daryl had already forgiven him a long time ago, and seeing his big brother break down during that conversation had him telling him to just let it go. What was done was done and now they just needed to focus on doing for his kids what they couldn't do for themselves and keeping them safe.

"What're ya thinkin' a?" Ani asked, startling him as he stared out at the road from the perch.

"Where're the twins?" he responded, noticing that she only had Lou with her.

"Mags has the baby monitor in the office and I've got this," she said, holding up a walkie. "Ain' like they got ta eat any time soon. Only been an hour."

"You should've slept longer."

"Lou woke up and wanted 'is daddy. Thanks for puttin' 'em all in their beds, though. I don' know when I fell asleep, and I don' like the thought a sleepin' with the babies. Lou's one thing 'cause 'e's big 'nough ta roll and move shite away from 'is face and we're supa careful. But the twins? Nah, I can' believe I fell asleep with 'em on the teat."

"You're exhausted. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. Ain't that why I'm here? Can't keep your shirt off at the camp like that, though," he said, meaning how she would spend hours in their room without either a shirt or a bra.

"I've already got someone from the Kindgom makin' some tops for me that'll make it easia ta feed 'em without needin' ta take everythin' off. And I'm only goin' ta be feedin' 'em in the medical tent or ours. Jus' depends on which one I'm closest ta. I ain' goin' ta leave my tits out for the world ta see. Bad 'nough there's been so many people I actually trust that's seen 'em. Don' mind so much when I'm breastfeedin', but, still, too many people have seen my body for my likin'. I ain' goin' ta let anyone else see me if I can help it."

"Good."