A/N Thank you all so much! Let's see if we can wrap things up down the mountain and get Daryl home.

The Homecoming

When the prison family happens upon the large storage room at Terminus they know right away, the Termites really lucked out. Those bastards found a food distribution warehouse, the kind that delivers to restaurants and institutions. What makes it obvious is the foodstuffs and supplies aren't in grocery store packaging. Everything is oversized and industrial looking. They shake their heads, it's creepy. They know these conveniently packaged carbohydrates would be perfect for fattening up the Termites' victims. They can't dwell on those thoughts though, they have people to feed and they'll take what they can.

With everything Daryl has to haul home, he won't have room to share in much of the spoils. He'll be leaving the prison with just his dog, the small trailer he and Michonne took from the construction site, three 20-pound boxes of dry milk, one huge restaurant-style paper bag of ground coffee, a 40-pound bag of red beans and a 40 pound bag of white rice. He's happy with what he got. Shit, there's coffee.

With the foods he took from the houses he visited, plus the spoils of Terminus, that's a pretty good grocery haul. A whole lot more food than he thought he'd be bringing back, which was none. Plus he's got all that baby furniture, the clothes, the hygiene stuff, and he'll have the woodstoves. So yeah, he scored. Big time. He's not feeling it though. Mostly he feels like shit.

No amount of anything he might find makes up for the amount of time he's spent away from Beth. Still, he's aware, all these things are going to benefit her, their children, and Merle's family back on the mountain. Yeah, well fuck, it doesn't feel like that matters, nothing could make up for the time he's been away and how much he misses her.

Rick has announced that both he and Michonne will be going with Daryl to retrieve the stash of stuff he left at Jack Knife Pass. Although Daryl's sure him and Michonne could handle it alone, Rick's insistent. Fine, the extra help will definitely come in handy when it's time to lift those woodstoves into the truck bed.

Daryl can't help smiling to himself though. No one, especially him, would consider Daryl a romantic, but he hasn't missed the signs. Anyone could see it if they were paying attention. There's a small flame burning between Rick and Michonne, and Daryl's sure by the time he comes back this way again the two will be all coupled up. That's good for them and good for the prison family, and what's good for the prison family is good for Dale. With Rick and Michonne working and living as a team, it's going to be hard for anyone to attempt overthrowing their leadership, or for outsiders to come in and take over.

Rick feels like he owes Daryl more than what the mountain man is taking. The prison got a hell of a haul of foods, clothes, books, and all manner of household items at Terminus. Then the sheriff gets an idea he thinks will make things a little more even, and offers, "Hey, you said you'd come back and see Dale about harvest time, and I should have something to give you then."

There was a time in his life when Daryl's pride would have had him saying no to anything and everything anyone wanted to give him. He'd tell whoever was offering that he didn't need their charity. Nowadays it's different, you have to be smart enough to throw your pride out the window and take anything you might be able to use or trade, "Oh yeah, like what?"

"That sow of mine will be farrowing any day now, I might have a nice fat piglet or two for you to take home."

Now that would be worth the trip back. Daryl smiles and jokes, "Hell yeah, and if you can find me a cow I'd never have to come down the mountain again."

The two men smile as they shake hands and start toward their vehicles, but before they set out Michonne reminds Daryl, "I know you're anxious to get home, but if you can spare a couple of hours, I can take you somewhere I think you'll find plenty of stuff for your kids, and Rick and I will be able to get plenty of things for the children at the prison too."

He remembers her saying she knew such a place, "How far?"

"It's about twenty miles."

"What kinda place is it?"

"It's a big facility that looks crappy from the outside, like every government building. It's a state facility that housed children from newborn through 17 who are waiting to be placed in temporary or permanent foster care. Needless to say, they had to have supplies for those kids. Food, clothes, diapers, all of it."

Daryl's skeptical, "How would you know about it?"

Michonne gets it, Daryl questions everything, "Before the world ended I was an artist. Me and some of my artist friends visited there once. We were pretty proud of ourselves thinking we were such do-gooders. We took several boxes of art supplies, paints, color pencils, easels, paper and donated it all for the children. You know how it goes, it made us feel better about ourselves and not quite so guilty about everything that we had, while they had so little."

Daryl nods, "Yeah, I get that. A'ight. Let's do it."

He tells Jill, "Get in the truck girl," the dog hops right up and he smiles, "You're learnin' real quick." Daryl walks over to say his goodbye to Dale and tells the man, "I'll be back at harvest time. Just before the baby's born. Maybe you'll wanna make a trip back up the mountain with me and visit a while."

Dale's all smiles but non-committal, "That sounds real nice. I can't wait to see you back here." Then he surprises Daryl, giving him a strong embrace and whispering, "I'm proud of you son. Proud of the man you are. You stay safe and take care of that wife of yours and the little one."

"I will, and you stay well. You're my family Dale and I want ya ta meet the rest of my family."

Michonne says she knows of a back way they can take where there shouldn't be a lot of people, living or dead, so Rick and Michonne lead the way and Daryl follows. She's right, they only have to stop a couple of times, once to clear a fallen tree and an abandoned vehicle, and once to kill a small herd and get the bodies off the road.

The outside appearance of the place is that of any other sterile government building. It's not the kind of place that would attract anyone who's looking for anything other than paper, files and computers. That's good, maybe they'll get lucky, still, they pull in the alley at the back of the building so their vehicles won't be visible to anyone who might happen to pass by.

Daryl takes his knife and easily pops the back entry door lock open, while Rick, with a hand on his hip says, "I should arrest you for even knowing how to do that."

Daryl rolls a shoulder, "I guess you could try to."

Rick nods, "Maybe next time."

They enter directly into the kitchen and Michonne was right, the place looks untouched. The pantry is stocked with cans and boxes of food, but they leave it alone for now. Daryl's got limited space and he's only taking what he's sure will fit, and Rick and Michonne will be taking what they can too. For now they're checking things out. The next room is the dining hall which consists of a long rectangular table, an assortment of chairs and a couple of high-chairs. If he takes one, that makes three and Daryl's set for his family.

Upstairs they find clothing, but they also come across four of the dead. It's nothing they can't handle and they mostly feel gratitude the walkers aren't children. In fact, they purposely avoid speculating where all the children may have gone. They don't want to think about the possibilities. For now, these walkers are adults and they're dealt with quickly.

Daryl takes some clothes he thinks will fit Jamie, and some the boy will grow into over the next two or three years. He does the same with the baby and toddler things. He's never given clothing much thought, his or anyone else's, but things are different now. They have three kids to keep dressed in a mostly cold climate, soon to be four, and on this trip he's managed to come across a lot of things for them. That's good because his new reality tells him, there could be more even more kids coming along.

He's not taking anywhere near everything they found, it's a lot. Rick and Michonne will take what he doesn't take. What he damn sure won't leave behind is a plastic tub he finds. The tub is filled with colorful little metal cars and trucks, he's pretty sure they're Hot Wheels. They have three boys on the mountain who will put those vehicles to good use. Shit though, he better take a couple of those baby dolls and that stuffed unicorn too, just in case.

Along with the toys and the clothes, Daryl ends up taking a case of instant oatmeal and some canned fruit. He's too anxious to get home to think about much more than that.

Rick and Michonne load up everything they can fit in their rig, and the trio are just backing out of their parking spots when a gang of the living turn the corner in a big black pickup, and it pulls in front of them in the alley. The pickup stops and several young men jump out from the cab and bed of the vehicle. There appears to be about ten of them and they look a lot like old school street thugs. They're young, tough and well-armed, and the one who appears to be the leader is nonchalantly flipping a switchblade knife open and closed against his thigh. The nasty sneer on his lips and glare in his eyes are enough to let a person know he's 100% attitude. Bad attitude.

Daryl looks at his dog on the seat next to him and orders her, "Ya stay right here girl. Don't move." Jill appears to understand his rough and gravelly command and lays down, looking a little meek. Daryl wants her to mind him, but he doesn't want her to be afraid of him or to think she's in trouble. He reaches over and gives her a quick head rub, "Yer a good girl," opens the door and steps down from the vehicle.

He stands behind the open pickup door, like he's using it as a shield, and looks out at the gang while slyly slipping his knife out of it's sheath with one hand, and his pistol out of it's holster with the other. The leader calls out, "Hey guys, and oh, excuse me, gals too. Thanks for getting everything gathered up for us and all neatly packed in our new trucks. We'll just take them off your hands now."

Daryl waits for Rick to respond to the little asshole, "Well now fellas, I don't think that's how this is going to turn out. We did the work, we took the risk, and the vehicles have been ours for a while. So, why don't you boys just turn around and go home, then there won't be any trouble." Rick, Daryl, and Michonne all know these men won't turn around and go home, but they have no guilt about what's coming next because they gave them the chance to.

The leader scoffs, "Nah man, we got you shitbirds out-gunned and we're taking what's ours…"

The words are just passing his lips when a bullet pierces his skull, and Daryl feels no remorse when the body drops. Michonne immediately throws her knife and another man is down. Chaos rules the moment as shots are being fired by the prison family and the gang. Daryl has quickly emptied his gun and now bolts are flying through the air, and Rick is fully in the fray too, blasting rounds from his shotgun and dodging the bullets of the gang.

The trio are experienced fighters and the battle is over almost as quickly as it began, and Michonne, her body charged with adrenaline and her eyes filled with anger, strolls among the bodies of the dead gang members, piercing skulls with her sword so they won't have to fight these assholes again.

Daryl's observing the woman taking out her anger on the dead as he retrieves his bolts. He can't help himself, maybe him and Merle aren't that different after all. He quietly tells Rick, "She'd be a good woman for ya man, just don't ever piss her off."

Rick's smile is wide and he seems a lot happier than usual when he responds, "Yeah, I'll be real careful about that."

Michonne looks over and says, "You two do know I can hear you, right?"

Daryl chuckles, "And she's got good hearin' too." Then he claps Rick on the back and says, "Let's beat it guys. I wanna get home."

Michonne nods, "I think we all know how badly you want to get home Daryl."

The drive to Jack Knife Pass is, for the most part, uneventful. Of course, there are groups of walkers, and there's a group of the living who frantically wave their arms, imploring them to stop. Rick, Michonne and Daryl quit feeling guilty about not stopping for strangers long ago. They've learned it's usually a trap. You pull over to help some desperate family and the next thing you know a group of bandits is taking all your stuff and slitting your throat, or something worse.

They make it to the cabins and begin loading the big dually with Daryl's earlier haul that's been stashed in the cabin, and then the woodstoves. Rick asks, "Are you sure this thing can make it up the mountain with all this stuff and three woodstoves?"

"Oh hell yeah, this is a one ton dually, it could tow a house."

With the extra space of the trailer, the full size truck bed and rear seat, they manage to get everything in the pickup. There's even a small empty space in the corner of the truck bed and Rick jokes, "Shit, we can't have that," as grabs a 20 pound bag of cornmeal and a big box of cookies from his own haul at the children's home and stuffs them in the small spot, smiling, "You're gonna need cornbread to go with all those beans."

Daryl smiles, "Yeah, thanks man."

Michonne has Erma's bible in her hand, just about to set it in the back seat of the pickup when she looks at Daryl and states, "I didn't take you for the bible reading type."

Daryl shrugs, "That's for my wife, she likes that stuff real well."

Michonne smiles, "Like I said, I'd love to meet the woman who married you."

Daryl shrugs, "Ya might someday, and if ya do, ya won't believe how fuckin' lucky I got."

00

The roast turkey dinner is delicious, no one has ever seen Jamie eat like he's eating tonight. As he's getting ready to put another big bite in his mouth his Mama says, "Daddy would be proud to see you cleaning your plate that way."

The other two adults at the table have not missed the fact that Beth isn't eating at all, she's simply moving her food around on her plate and looking like she could start crying at any moment. Frankie slides her arm across the table, lays her hand over Beth's and in a soft voice whispers, "I know you don't want to. I know you're suffering, but you have to make yourself eat Beth. Your baby needs nourishment."

She'll try her best for the baby. Beth nods and puts a bite of the turkey in her mouth, looks at Merle and does her best to smile when she says, "Jamie's right Merle, it's 'licious."

He smiles back, "I didn't do it all, you're the herb and potato master."

Frankie's glad for a topic not involving Daryl, and when the man may, or may not, be home, "And my gosh Beth, I want to start growing herbs in our house too. Your house smells so good."

Merle laughs, "Yeah, lately our house just smells like diapers," and the women laugh with him.

They're still laughing when Frankie says, "Oh yeah Merle Dixon? Just wait until winter when we we can't open a door or window. Oh my gosh, I better plant an entire herb garden in there."

As sad as she is that remark sparks an idea in Beth, "We've got lots of mint and we've got a still, we could distill some mint oil and scent some of our candles with it."

Frankie smiles, "Oh that sounds so fun."

Merle's relieved to see his sister-in-law almost smiling. He's been doing more than his share of worrying about her. She's a strong woman but Daryl's been missing for a while now and he knows that's knocked the wind out of her. That's the other thing that's got him worried, where the fuck is Daryl? It wouldn't be like him to just stay gone or go out on a tear. Nah, that's not little brother. He'd be home with all of them if he could be. He hates the idea of leaving the women and children alone, but if his brother's not home in the next three days, Merle will go out looking for him. Just like Daryl would do for him.

Merle offers to help with the cleanup, and the reality is, he does most of it. He even insists, "I'll take these ovens ta the outdoor kitchen, it's much easier ta clean em in that deep sink."

Like they seem to do all the time these days, Beth's eyes fill with tears. She lays her hand on Merle's arm and softly says, "Thank you Merle, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you and Frankie."

He bends down and kisses her curls, "I know just what you'd do Sis. You'd survive cuz that's who ya are Beth Dixon. You're a sweet and innocent lookin' little package, who just happens ta be fulla grit, fire and determination."

Her smile shows how melancholy she feels, "I wish I was as strong as you think I am."

Frankie adds her two cents, "Merle's right Beth, I've never known anyone like you and there's no woman I'd rather be on this mountain with than Beth Dixon. I'm so sorry you're being forced to be so brave."

After her family leaves, she gives Jamie a good sponge bath, dresses him in warm pajamas because, although they're into summer now, this is the mountain and it gets chilly at night. Beth tells the little boy a story as she wonders how many more stories she has left in her. She sure wishes they would have taken some children's books from the library. Maybe someday they'll get another chance.

The little boy dozes off mid-way through her tale of pirates and lost ships, and Beth almost falls asleep too, but she has another plan. She covers the little boy up, tucking the covers in tightly around him and kisses his forehead, whispering, "Goodnight my sweet Jamie."

She gets her favorite nightie, she's so happy to have gotten the wash done. Merle was a big help to her with that. The poor man, he's been a Godsend. He hasn't complained but Beth knows he must be exhausted from doing the work of two men while also being a husband and the father of two tiny babies. Again, those tears come to her eyes. My God, these darn hormones have made her a mess.

The smell of smoke from the outdoor fire is still in her hair and she doesn't want it on her clean sheets. She's going to take the worlds fastest shower and try to get that smell out of her hair and off her body. She steps in the stall and while she's moving fast to get it done in the short time she has, her mind stays on Daryl. Again the tears start as she remembers that first time he showered her. They were both so embarrassed, although neither admitted to that, or acknowledged the fact that it was also pretty darn sexy.

She remembers being a little worried too. She didn't know Daryl very well back then and she had to just hope it was only a shower, and that he wouldn't try anything else. She learned then, he's a perfect gentleman. An awkwardly perfect gentleman.

Beth's still smiling at the memory as she's rinsing off, and she just finishes as the hot water runs out. Good timing Beth. She towel dries her hair as best she can, combs it out and dries her shivering body. Burr…She slips the nightie over her head, then does her best to braid her hair, wishing Daryl was there doing it for her.

As she turns the doorknob and opens the bathroom door…oh my God, is she hallucinating?! No! He's here! It's Daryl and he's hurrying towards her! "Lady! Damn Lady, it's so good ta see ya. I missed ya so bad I thought it'd kill me."

"Daryl! Daryl, you're home!"

They hurry to embrace each other, hugging and crying and when he pulls away just enough to cup her face in his hands he has tears in his eyes, "I gotta look at ya a minute. I gotta make sure this is real," and as he's talking he's pulling the band that secures her braid and running his fingers slowly through her damp hair. He draws her tightly to him and kisses her deeply before picking her up in his arms and taking her to their bed.

He lays her down and smiles as he's ripping his clothes off like they're on fire, leaving them where they lay. He crawls in the bed next to her and they hold each other tight, and Beth begins to cry again, "I missed you so much Daryl. I was so worried you were never coming back. What happened, where were you?"

"It's a long story and I'm gonna tell ya all of it, and I got a lotta good things ta show ya that I brought home too, but not now. I'm way too busy for all that shit right now, I gotta make love ta my wife."

00

A/N Awww. Please leave a comment. The Chapter Photo is on my tumblr blogs gneebee and bethymethbrick, please have a look. Thanks so much and I hope to see you back next week for more of The Man on The Mountain. Until then remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee