Naomi

"Hey, slow down, will ya?" Daryl grumbled from beside me in the backseat. "This ain't in a damn sports car."

Glenn stared at him through the rearview mirror. Everyone else in the car turned to look at him with the same question in their eyes - since when did Daryl Dixon care about speed limits?

"Did you see a speed camera back there, Daryl?" Glenn said in an effort to lighten Daryl's grumpy backseat driving.

"Ain't that," Daryl muttered. "But take it easy on the corners, yeah? We're bouncing around like pinballs back here."

In the mirror, Glenn's gaze slid over to me. He didn't have the full picture but had correctly pieced together that worry over me was the cause of Daryl's agitation. "Is your foot okay?"

"It's fine," I said, squeezing Daryl's hand. "Everything is fine."

Daryl muttered something under his breath, and Glenn looked close to crashing the car out of spite. He shot Daryl another annoyed look and said, "Next time we're coming back from a bunker full of nuts, you can drive."

Thankfully, we were getting close to Hilltop. My grip on Daryl's hand tightened from a comforting squeeze to a keeping-his-sass-in-line squeeze. He huffed a big sigh through his nose but kept his trap shut.

Mia was waiting outside the gates. I could tell it was her from a distance. Carol stood next to her. Bryce, still on Daryl's bike, was way ahead of us and would definitely beat us back, thanks to Daryl's new job in Highway Patrol. Bryce slowed to talk to her. She started bouncing up and down with excitement and then ran away from the open gates toward the car. Sensing Daryl was close to blowing a fuse, Glenn slowed right down as she got nearer.

"Do you want to hop out here?" Glenn asked when Mia was close enough that I could hear her shouting. Glenn paused slightly self-consciously and then said, "That wasn't a joke about your foot, I just…thought…maybe…."

"Yes, please," I said, one hand already on the door handle. I waited for Daryl to protest, but he knew better than that. Glenn brought the car to a stop, and I opened the door. Mia started sprinting.

The image of her that lived in my head was always a few steps behind reality. Years passed in the blink of an eye. I wondered what age she'd be when I caught up. As it was, she constantly caught me off guard with how much she'd grown, and not just physically. How clever, thoughtful and strong she could be never failed to blow me away either. But as she ran toward me, all I could say was, "Oh my God, did she get taller?"

For some reason, this made Daryl tut as he got out of the car behind me. He got the shovel I'd been using as a makeshift crutch out of the trunk. Glenn drove away very slowly, and then when he was too far away for Daryl to yell at him again, sped up.

Last time I'd seen Mia, she hadn't been able to run. She'd barely been able to move from her bed. Now, she threw herself so hard into my arms she almost knocked me over. I held on tight, kicking myself for ever letting go. I should have sewn her to me the day our Momma handed her to me as a tiny, screaming newborn.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed into her hair. "I'm so for leavin'... being away so long…"

"It's okay, it's okay," she said. "You're home!"

One of these days, she'd be too old and too cool to hug me like this. Maybe she already was. Maybe I'd have to fake my death a couple of times a year to get another one of these. Or, just cherish this one like it was the last.

The shovel scraped against the ground. Mia sniffed and looked up at Daryl.

"I owe you an egg," he said.

"Told you so." Mia reached out a hand and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward us. He hugged us both, letting me lean into him as I balanced on my one good foot. Both of us relaxed. The final piece of our puzzle was here, and we had so much to tell her.

I had no idea how I was going to handle the 'Mom' and 'Dad' of it all. From what Daryl had said, she was as nervous about it as I felt. It was such a big decision, and I didn't want to push her into making it one way or the other.

I immediately wanted to tell her about the baby, too, but I needed peace of mind from Doctor Carson that everything was still okay. My body had been through a lot in the last few days. I didn't want to give her this news only to have to rip it away again.

For now, it was enough for the three of us just to be together.

"She's definitely taller," I said to Daryl over the top of her head. I wouldn't be able to say anything over the top of her head for much longer. I wondered if she'd wind up taller than me.

"That's two eggs," Mia laughed, wiping tears from under her eyes.

"Damnit," he sighed again and let go of us. He picked up the shovel from where he'd dropped it on the ground and passed it to me. "C'mon, let's let a Doctor take a look at you, yeah?"

"All right," I grumbled, fighting the urge to radio someone to bring Doctor Carson out here because I didn't want to let go of either of them just yet.

I was getting pretty used to moving around on my makeshift crutch, but progress was still slow. Mia and Daryl slowed down to walk with me as if they were worried that if they got even one step ahead, they'd turn around and see that I'd fallen into another lake. They flanked me, marching me toward Hilltop like I'd broken out of house arrest.

Carol was still waiting at the gates. She started walking toward us as we got nearer. Her familiar welcoming smile on her face. The kind you can't help but return.

"It's so good to see you," she said, holding her arms out for a hug.

"You too," I said as I squeezed her. "Thank you."

"What on Earth for?" she asked. I pulled back to look at her, she kept a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not the one who got you out of that place."

"For everything else," I said. I knew she'd have looked out for both of them while I was away. Nobody needed to say it. I knew it was true because I knew Carol. I'd been glad not to see her on the team getting me out, her capacity for violence took such a toll on her. Staying and keeping Mia safe and sane meant the world. Carol nodded, and her hand squeezed my shoulder.

While Daryl was distracted by hugging Carol, I ducked away through the gates and up to the big house. Or, at least, I tried to, but I was too damn slow. I got a few paces before he caught me up.

"Where you going?"

God, I had more privacy in the bunker.

The Colonel could have saved a lot of money on surveillance equipment if he'd had access to one Daryl who'd learned he was about to be a father. Security had never been tighter, and we were amongst friends.

"I need to pee."

"Didn't you just…?" Daryl frowned. I'd made Glenn pull over for a pee break on the way.

"Yes. I need to pee all the time now," I said in hushed tones, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Mia couldn't hear. She was talking to Carol, the gates squeaking shut behind them. "It's basically all I do now because someone is growing and putting a bunch of pressure on my bladder."

"Oh. Right," he said, a smile spreading across his face. I'd learned pretty quickly I could distract him from any level of grump with a new reminder of the baby. Every reference stopped him fretting for a few seconds while a big, dopey smile spread over his face. "Well, don't be long."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I said, more than slightly relieved he didn't demand to accompany me to the bathroom.

When I was done, both he and Mia were lurking suspiciously close to the bathroom door, pretending to be engrossed in something that had absolutely nothing to do with waiting for me.

I will never have another moment alone for the rest of my life.

"What you smiling about?" Daryl asked.

"Enjoying the Barrington family tree?" I grinned. Daryl folded his arms across his chest and tried his best to look annoyed.

"Lotta old rich dead people married to other old rich dead people," he said. Then he actually took a look at the family tree of Hilltop's original owners. "Think some of 'em might have been cousins."

"That's rich folks for ya," I said.

Daryl grunted in agreement and then gestured toward the door. "C'mon, quit dawdling."

"Should I come too?" Mia asked.

"No," I said. "I'm all good. Don't wanna crowd the man."

"Go see Perla," Daryl said to her, his hand coming to rest on my back as I limped toward the door. I could see the restraint he was exerting to resist offering to carry me the rest of the way. "I'll holler if I need ya to keep the patient in line."

"Alright," Mia said. She looked pointedly at me, eyes narrowing, "I won't be far."

"I'll be on my best behavior," I promised.

At the top of the steps down from the big house, I took a moment to breathe in being somewhere so familiar, with faces around me that I knew. Open air. Space enough to watch Mia run toward her friend, even if I wasn't in a fit state for running myself. It was good to be back. I wouldn't say back 'home' because I'd been there since the moment I'd woken up in Daryl's arms, but it was nice to be at Hilltop all the same.

Daryl looked close to yelling at me so I hauled ass down the stairs and over to Doctor Carson's office. He was waiting for us, and had been prepped for our arrival at Hilltop. He took a look at my foot and re-wrapped part of it but mostly seemed to think Denise had done a good job. Daryl watched, arms folded, leaning on the wall by the door. I couldn't decide if he felt more like my bodyguard or prison officer. When Doctor Carson was done, I asked. "You still got sonogram stuff here?"

It was still hard to keep track of what the Saviors had raided and what Hilltop had managed to claw back for themselves.

"Yes," a flicker of surprise on his face. "Are you…?"

"Yes," I nodded. "Can we check everything's okay?"

"Of course," Doctor Carson said. If he was worried about the pregnancy after everything I'd been through, he didn't let it show. "Give me a moment to set things up."

I looked over at Daryl. "You wanna see the baby?"

Daryl's whole face lit up. He looked from me to Dr Carson and back again. "Is that… Can I?"

Doctor Carson indicated to the now vacant seat he'd been perched on while fixing up my foot. "Take a seat, I won't be a moment."

Daryl took a few hesitant steps toward the chair Doctor Carson had indicated to. Slowly, like he half expected someone to pull it out from under him, he sat down. Cleared his throat. His knee bounced up and down, he rubbed his hands against his pants. I reached over and took one of them. He looked over at me, his whole face was tense.

Please still be okay in there, little one.

Please.

Your Daddy's right here now.

Doctor Carson asked me a few questions about how I was doing and how everything had progressed so far. I'd done this so much with Jocelyn - an amount that now flagged as suspicious given what they'd been up to - that I was able to give him some pretty in-depth answers.

I lay back and lifted my shirt, unbuttoning the jeans Daryl had thoughtfully packed for me that had fit before I'd left, but were on the tight side now. The now familiar cool of the gel hit my lower abdomen and I froze up.

Please be okay. Please be okay.

Daryl's hand gripped mine like a vice, and I knew I was squeezing back just as hard. The hard press of the transducer against my stomach and a now familiar sight swam onto the screen. So much bigger than that initial little bean had appeared. Doctor Carson paused for a moment, assessing the scan, and I thought my heart was about to stop. He nodded, "Everything's looking as it should."

I relaxed and looked over at Daryl. My breath caught in my throat. I'd almost forgotten how monumental the first time seeing that image on the screen had been. I'd been in shock to discover I was pregnant, overwhelmed in a strange place and deeply homesick.

But this?

Seeing Daryl lean so far forward in his seat to get his first glimpse of his growing baby he was perched on the edge. The way his misty eyes searched the screen like something he'd lost long ago was finally coming back to him. This was how that first time should have been.

He swallowed, his voice gruff, "That's our kid?"

"Yeah. That's them right here," Doctor Carson indicated on the screen. A smile tugged at his mouth. Daryl was usually so stoic around anyone who wasn't in his inner circle, but this had melted all of that away. His awe and joy was written all over his face. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

"You seein' this angel?" Daryl asked, almost breathless.

"Yes," I said, but I couldn't take my eyes off his face. You could tell just by looking at him how much he already loved his kid.

"God, Naomi," he whispered, raising my hand to his lips and kissing it.

"Do you want to know the sex?" Doctor Carson asked.

"Do you already know?" Daryl asked without looking at me. "Did they tell you down there?"

"No," I said. Jocelyn had offered, but I'd declined. Didn't feel right knowing without him. "And I'm not sure I want to. I think the surprise might help me get through labor. You can find out if you want, though. As long as you don't tell me."

"They doing okay, Doc?" Daryl asked.

"Yes," Doctor Carson replied. "It's all looking healthy."

Daryl nodded, eyes shining. "I don't care. As long as they're doing good, that's all that matters."

"They're doing really well," Doctor Carson said, unable to hide the smile he'd been suppressing.

"Really well," Daryl repeated, finally turning to look at me. "You hear that, angel?"

"I hear it," I nodded. He was so proud of his kid already, for just coming into existence. I couldn't imagine what he'd be like when they took their first step or said their first word. It would be unbearable. I couldn't wait.

Daryl looked back at the screen like he couldn't bear to look away for too long.

God, how many times can you fall in love with the same man?

I worried I'd have to sit here for six months until the kid was born.

Maybe Doctor Carson had the same concern because he asked, "Would you like a copy of the scan?"

Daryl nodded enthusiastically enough for the both of us. As Doctor Carson printed it out, Daryl looked over at me. He tried to say something but couldn't get the words out. When he closed his mouth again, his bottom lip trembled a little.

Doctor Carson handed him the print-out and Daryl took it from him like it was the single most breakable, precious thing in existence. I sat up, pulling my shirt back down over my stomach, to look at it over his shoulder. The last time I'd seen Daryl holding one of those, it had been of Hershel - now happy and healthy with his parents at Hilltop. I'd kissed Daryl for the first time that night. The two hadn't felt connected at the time, but maybe that was naive. Thinking about the future had pushed me, with the clarity only a tipsy person could have, into the arms of the only man I could ever picture it with.

"I'll give you guys a moment," Doctor Carson said. He hesitated by the door, "And I'll try to find you a crutch that's not a shovel."

"Thank you," I said. Doctor Carson gave a nod and stepped out.

"Holy shit, Naomi," Daryl breathed as the door closed. He looked back down at the scan in his hands. "Holy shit."

"I know," I said. "Feels more real, don't it?"

"Yeah," he said. I watched it hit him again, a big wave of it washing over him. "You sure you're okay with it all?"

Bit late if I'm not.

"Yes."

"But…" he looked over at me. "All the… medical stuff. All of the shit that can go wrong… it's…"

He was so scared. Of losing me. Of losing this kid he was already so devoted to. Of losing both of us. Was this what parenthood was - just swinging between fear and awe?

I was stuck in the same cycle myself, and there had been times, especially alone, when my own anxieties felt overwhelming. My mind would slip to the worst case scenarios and I'd see them play out as strong as premonitions. Now, these old fears were tinged with guilt, because our kid was already on the way and it wasn't their fault that I'd spent so many years being conflicted about it.

Seeing Daryl struggling kicked in my instincts to protect him. Reassure him. It was an instinct so strong it didn't leave room for me to freak out too. I was pretty certain it would be the same for him when it was my turn to freak out. This was how we'd get each other through. I'd be strong when he faltered, and he'd be there when I needed him in return.

I swung my legs over the side of the medical bed and patted the space beside me, "C'mere."

Daryl stood up from his chair and sat down beside me. He put an arm around me, his hand curled around my hip. In the other, he held the scan between us so we could both look at it.

"It's scary," I admitted. "Everything my body's doing, and all the changes it's going to keep going through… honestly, it makes my head spin just to think about it. But I'm past the 12 week point, which means this baby's got a damn good chance. And we can face whatever's coming. We're in good hands here. Do you know how lucky we are to have Doctor Carson to keep an eye on things?"

"Yeah, that's true," he seemed a little reassured by that. I'd seen, even in the last ten minutes, that he had enough love for this child for the two of us. But, I didn't tell him that if there were complications and I didn't survive childbirth, he'd be okay. Losing me was still too raw a thought. "Should we move here?"

"Here?" I looked around.

"Well, not the medical room, dummy," he said. "Doc's probably got a lot of patients to see, but… Hilltop might not be a bad shout. Keep you near in case… somethin' happens."

He avoided eye contact, but I could still see the worry in them. Maybe it was easier for me to spot because I'd put it there when I spilled all of my fears about pregnancy and childbirth. Unburdening me had shifted some of that load onto him.

"Do you want to live here?" I asked. During our conversations over the radio, Mia had filled in a lot of blanks on what had happened while I'd been away. I was sure there were a lot of little pieces I was missing, but the big ones - Daryl killing Negan, Carol taking over Sanctuary - I had those.

"I dunno," he said. "Mia loves them horses."

"She does," I laughed. "It's pretty much all I heard about between bunker updates."

Daryl gave a start like he'd remembered he left a stove on somewhere. "Shit, we should tell Mia."

"Yeah? You want to?"

"You don't?"

"No, I do. Feels like I'm lying to her face," I said. "But I've had a lot longer to get used to the idea that we're having a baby. It's okay if you need more time where nobody else knows."

Daryl took a moment to think about it. "Nah. Feels wrong that she doesn't know."

He stood up and went to the door to holler for Mia. She arrived in seconds, she couldn't have been more than a few paces away. Her face was flooded with worry as she looked in at me.

"Are you okay?" she stepped into the room.

"C'mere a moment," I said. "We got news."

Daryl sat back down where he'd been on the medical bed next to me. I think he meant for her to take the chair, but she was too apprehensive for that. She stood in front of us, not knowing which of us to look at. There was something kind of stern in the way her gaze flickered between us.

"If you eloped without me, I'll never forgive you," Mia said. She looked pointedly at Daryl, "Either of you."

"I told ya that detour to Vegas was a mistake," Daryl said, nudging me with a grin.

"How else were we gonna get Elvis to show?"

Mia rolled her eyes and gave us a very dry, sarcastic, "Haha. What is it really?"

Daryl looked over at me. Took my hand. The way he squeezed it told me he was leaving this bit to me. I gulped, "We… I'm…"

Shit.

Why is this bit always so difficult to say out loud?

I looked at her. She'd been the first kid I'd ever seen on a sonogram. The reason I already knew how to put on a diaper. The first tiny little baby I'd ever seen Daryl hold and, it turned out, the first kid to ever call me 'Mom.' And just like that, I knew exactly how to tell her, "You're gonna be a big sister."

I watched the words hit her. Two shocks jolted through her.

"What?" she said, looking at both of us like we might still be messing with her. "What?!"

Daryl held out the sonogram. "Take a look. That's them right there"

Mia's fingers trembled as she took the picture from him. I tried to read her face.

"Oh my God," she said, her breathing as shaky as her hands. "Oh my God."

"See how good they're growin'?" Daryl said, peering at the picture while she looked at it too. That pride was back in his voice. Warmth spread through me just hearing it. Mia kept staring at it in disbelief. It felt like the longest amount of time I'd ever experienced her being quiet.

It was hard to read anything past her shock. She'd once told me the idea of Daryl and I having a kid was, hypothetically, something she'd be excited about, but maybe that would change now that it was real. Now that she'd started thinking of us as our own little family, maybe she'd worry about a child that was biologically ours pushing her out.

"You okay?" I asked her, unable to deal with her silence any longer.

Mia looked at me like she'd been broken out from under a spell.

"This is the best news ever," she hugged me so tight. Daryl carefully took the sonogram picture back so she didn't crush it like she was in danger of crushing me. Silence finally broken, Mia couldn't stop, "Is it a boy or a girl? Do you know yet? Do you want to know? We should do a supply run for baby things. We need a crib. And toys! And babygrows! Can I help choose them? When are you due? Can I paint the nursery? Wait. Where are we gonna-?"

"Mia," I laughed, pulling back so I could hold her at arm's length. "We got more than five months to work all of this stuff out. And most of that ain't for you to worry about. Me and your Dad will sort it all."

As the word 'Dad' left my mouth, I heard a sharp inhale from Daryl. He turned his head to look at me as Mia threw her arms around him next. Our eyes met as Mia squealed, "I can't believe it! I can't believe it!"

Daryl hugged her, still looking at me. The sense of family that had been tentatively growing, rooted deeper in this moment. A silent acknowledgement of it passed between us. This was family. This was it.

Mia's energy was bubbling over and she couldn't stay still for too long. She left the room in a whirlwind of excitement. In the silence she left behind, there was nothing but relief and the quiet, steady kind of love that lasts through any kind of change.

"Where are we gonna live?" Daryl asked. There were so many things to decide, so much to prepare for.

"We'll work it out," I said, taking his hand in mine. "We ain't gotta decide this minute."

Daryl let out a long breath, and slipped the sonogram picture carefully into his pocket.

"How do we… tell everyone else?" he asked. "When do we…?"

"Y'know, I have a feeling we already have," I said. Even through the walls of Doctor Carson's office, I could hear some squealing, which was unmistakably Mia and Perla.

Less than a minute later, Bryce pulled open the door and gawped at me like I was in a museum. "Pregnant, Miss Payton?!"

Behind him, I heard Glenn shout, "Maggie! Herschel's got a friend on the way!"

"Damn," Daryl whistled. "That girl moves fast."

Daryl

"Anne is missing," Gabriel said. From the way he said it, and the look on Rick's face, I knew there was more to it than that. I think everyone who'd crammed into Maggie's office did. We waited. Gabriel cleared his throat, "Or, perhaps it would be more accurate for me to say… Anne left."

Not sure we needed a whole-ass meeting for this announcement.

There was little reaction from the people in the room. Again, it was clear we weren't done. Gabriel glanced at Rick again, like he wanted him to take over. Rick shook his head. Gabriel swallowed, and then said, "I have reason to believe she might have been trading people to…someone."

Fuck this.

Shock rippled through the crowd.

"Hold up," I was on my feet before I realised I'd moved. My back was up. This tight knot of anxiety formed deep in my stomach. "Trading folks? To who?"

Naomi's hand on my back tried to coax me out of blocking her view. I hadn't deliberately stood in front of where she was sitting, but now I was there, my feet stayed rooted to the floor. I fought the urge to yell at Mia to get over here, too. I wanted them both close.

"I don't know," Gabriel said. "She was talking to someone on a walkie-"

Fuck.

"Was it a short-range walkie?" I asked. "Long-range?"

"I… I don't know," Gabriel said. "I followed her back to the Heaps a few nights ago and overheard her. She wouldn't tell me who she was talking to, but she admitted she'd been trading people for supplies for her and the Scavengers. Now that she's the only one left, it sounded like she was trying to leave and go wherever these other people are."

"Did she say anything about where that might be?" Michonne asked.

"No," Gabriel said. "Just that there was another place, far from here, where we could have a life like I couldn't imagine, so long as we fulfilled some kind of deal. I said no, and she… she knocked me out."

"Any idea what that deal might have been?" Carol managed to sound calm even in the face of this absolute fuckery.

"When I woke up, I was tied up in the Heaps. Anne was about to feed me to a Walker. Somehow my death was the price she had to pay to get wherever it was she wanted to go. But she couldn't do it. She knocked me out again and when I woke up she was just… gone."

Rick let it sit with us for a moment in that way he does when he wants to be sure we're all really taking it in. Then he stepped up a little closer to Gabriel.

"Now, we don't think she's coming back-" Rick started to say, but Aaron interrupted him.

"How can you know that?"

"Since the Scavengers fell, Anne struggled to find a home here," Rick said.

Too fuckin' right.

She betrayed us like five fucking times.

"She didn't feel welcome, and I understand why many of you were resistant to her. There was a lot of baggage there," Gabriel said. "But, it really sounded to me as if she wished to start fresh somewhere else."

"What if she ain't? What if Jadis has gone to get whoever the fuck she's been selling people to?" I said. "Give 'em the lot of us at once to save the hassle of having to kidnap us one at a time."

"Anne," Gabriel corrected me. "Wouldn't do that."

"Anne. Jadis. Whatever-the-fuck," I said. I wasn't about to start trusting her based on some priest's little crush. "You wanna trust her? She can't even decide on her own fuckin' name."

"It's okay, Daryl. We're not just gonna ignore this," Rick put on the tone he uses when he's trying to stop me from flying off the handle. Naomi stood up, her arm around my middle now. I wanted to tell her to sit down and rest that foot, but when I looked at her that knot in my stomach tightened and all I could do was pull her closer to my side. Rick continued, "If anyone sees Anne out there, bring her in so we can talk to her."

"That's it? We just sit here and wait to see if they come?" I said. "Fuck that."

Rick looked at me. "You think we should go looking? Bring the fight to them?"

I got why his mind had jumped there. Back when I had nothing to lose, I wanted to fight everybody. Hell, I'd been the dumbass who suggested going after Negan.

But that was before. Before I knew the love of my life loved me back. Before we'd found Mia and started growing into the kind of family I'd always wanted us to be.

Now that I had so much to fight for, I didn't want to risk anything. I'd lay down my life for my family, but I'd rather live it out with them. Watch them grow up while I grow old on a porch holding Naomi's hand.

"Nah, man," I said. "Let's just go."

Naomi tensed against my side. I felt her turn to look at me. There was a pause. I think they thought I had more to say but I didn't.

"Go… where?" Rick asked eventually.

I shrugged. "Don't matter. Just somewhere she don't know we've been."

Another ripple of shock ran through everyone. For some reason this one felt bigger than after Gabriel's initial announcement. Like what I'd said was somehow crazier.

"We're not leaving our communities," Rick said, holding his hands up to try and calm everyone else. "If Anne comes back, if she brings whoever she's been talking to, we'll deal with it. Everything that we've built here, the safety we have, it will stand. We will stand together. Just like we did with the Saviors."

I wanted to argue back. Tell him he was crazy for staying here when someone might have already sold our location to some unknown group, but Rick had calmed everyone. Everyone but me.

"Anne didn't appear to be out for any kind of vengeance or retribution," Gabriel said, to back Rick up. "It seemed to me as if she wanted a way out, a way to leave and never come back."

"And the price she had to pay?" Carol asked.

"Maybe she found someone else to pay it," Gabriel said. He had the decency to hang his head a little when he said it. We'd had a lot of people go missing. Especially Saviors. The communities were all getting so big now that it was hard to keep track of everyone. Hard to know who might have gotten into some kind of trouble and who might have just moved on someplace else. Without Naomi's call, we'd never have known that Amber, Mark, Marissa and John hadn't left of their own accord. As an outsider herself, Anne would probably know who to take without causing a fuss.

Things were better when we had a smaller group.

When all I had to worry about was the people I trust.

With a few more reassuring words from Rick, everybody else calmed down. Happy enough to sit around and wait to see whether or not Anne betrayed us. Again. That sickening dread in my stomach only got worse. Everything I wanted to say - every thought, every worry - all melted into this big lump in my throat.

I waited to see if it would go away. I followed everyone else out of the big house and into the grounds of Hilltop where the sun was dipping low in the sky. I stuck close to Naomi. If she drifted too far away, that lump grew so big I thought it would block my windpipe.

A bonfire was lit to roast up some meat for everybody. I circled an arm around Naomi's waist, hoping she'd lean more on me than her crutch. As her body slowly relaxed into mine, slotting in so perfectly where she belonged, I finally felt like I could talk again.

"We could still leave," I said, hushed so nobody overheard.

She looked at me. "Daryl… no."

"Why?"

"This is our home. Our friends. Our family," she said. "If Anne brings anyone back here, we'll face it together. Like we always do."

"But…" The words got all caught up again. She turned fully to face me, her eyes so full of worry. Not about the right shit. Not about whether or not someone was about to come and try and take her away from me. Again. She was too busy worrying about me.

"It'll be okay, Daryl," she said, her hands cupping my face. "We're safe here. We got food and shelter, and … who knows what the rest of the world is like out there? Leaving is probably a bigger risk than staying. There's no telling how long it would take to find another place like this one."

"I know," I said. "But another fight? I can't… You can't…"

My hands instinctively went to her hips, pulling her closer. Her stomach pressed against me and I was painfully aware of the kid growing in there. She couldn't fight. Hell, how long did we even have until running wasn't an option? Fear clenched around my heart.

"I'm not gonna do anything to risk this baby," she said like she was reading my damn mind. "I know I can be a little… reckless, but you ain't gotta worry about that. If there's a fight, I'll sit it out."

"I know," I said, although it was reassuring to hear her say it out loud. "But…"

It's not just that.

I only just got you back.

Every time shit felt like it was close to being settled, something happened that made it bounce back up and hit the fan again. I'd had her back for, what, twenty four hours and there was already some other bullshit cropping up? I was so close to having everything I'd ever wanted in life. It felt right, inevitable, that no matter how many promises I made, the universe knew I wasn't a good enough man to deserve this woman, the kid I loved like she was my blood or the one on the way who would be, and was going to take it all away from me.

Not without a fight.

"Marry me," I said. The moment I said it, the heaviness started to lift. I hated that we'd had to wait this long as it was.

"Daryl," Naomi said my name all soft, the kind of smile on her face that made me go all soft, too. "I already said yes. Did you forget?"

"No, I mean…" I looked around at the people gathered at Hilltop. Mia was laughing at something with Carl and the other kids. Baby Hershel was strapped to Glenn's chest, and Lucas was pouring out some water for him, Rosita, and Eugene. Bryce and Aaron were sitting by the fire, trying desperately not to give each other googly eyes. Carol and her family were sharing out a box of something she'd made. Maggie and Michonne were walking out of the big house to join us. I couldn't think of a single reason to delay it. "Gabriel's right here. Everyone's right here."

"Oh, you mean right now?!"

Her shock made me doubt myself. "I know it ain't… fancy or… we haven't planned any kinda big…event, but…

"You know I don't want any of that," she cut me off, shaking her head. Her smile changed a little. Shyness creeping in that told me whatever she was about to admit to was going to be cute as hell. "I don't know if you heard, but… I was already using your name on the radio. I… I already think of you as my husband. We ain't gotta do a big… thing. Honestly, I'd be happy with a pinky swear."

God, you're the best.

But I want this to be as real as can be.

I want everyone to know you're mine.

"You wanna be the one to tell Mia we're just gonna pinky swear and call it a day?"

Alarm flashed across her face, "God, no."

There was a moment of quiet between us, then we both looked over at where Gabriel was standing by the fire, talking to Rick. So serious it made that knot tighten. We looked back at each other. Naomi gave me this giddy smile like we were crazy for even thinking about it.

"This thing we have it's… it's way more than I ever thought it could be, and I ain't crazy about havin' a bunch of people around, but they're family and…" I sighed. I could never say things the way I wanted to. "I don't wanna wait another second."

Her smile changed again. Excitement radiating from her. "Me neither."

The excitement was contagious. My stomach fluttered. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Are we doing this?" My heart flipped.

"Gabe!" she called over to where Gabriel was talking to Rick. "You got a minute?"

Wary, a frown crossed Gabriel's face. Our grins must have looked so out of place with everything they'd been talking about, "Everything okay?"

"Will you marry us?" she shouted back. We probably should have gone over there. Had a private conversation with him, but neither of us wanted to wait. We'd walked a long enough road to get here, I didn't want to take another step until she was officially Mrs Dixon.

"Wait! Wait!" Mia shrieked, racing around from the other side of the bonfire. "What?!?"

Naomi braced herself, "Look, I know you were probably wanting us to take a run into DC and see if the Cathedral's still standing, but that ain't us, sweetie, and we just… want to be married already."

"Five minutes," she said, already darting off. "Please. Just… give me five minutes."

"Whatddya think?" Naomi looked at me. "Can wait another five minutes?"

I pretended to weigh it up. Mia looked like she was about to burst. "Been waiting for this longer than you've been on this earth and you wanna make me wait even more?"

"Pleeeease."

"Alright," I said. She'd already taken off before she could hear me say. "Five minutes."

Gabriel was still making his way over. The others had started gathering around us. I kept looking at Naomi, expecting her to tell me this was too crazy and we should think about it. Make a pro/con list. But she didn't. She just kept smiling this big, beautiful smile at me. Like this was the best day of her life.

What did I ever do to deserve you?

As she reached out to touch one of my cheeks, I realized I was giving her the exact same kinda smile. Bet I had the same damn sparkle in my eye too.

Mia came racing back with a fistful of flowers.

"You gave me absolutely no time!" She shoved the flowers into Naomi's hand. She plucked one from the bunch and very carefully put it in Naomi's hair. "It was supposed to be… I wanted…"

"Mia," Naomi caught her hand and made her slow down for a second. In that moment of stillness, Mia's stress gave way to something else. What was really underneath it all bubbled to the surface.

"I just want it to be perfect for you guys," she whispered. "It has to be perfect so… so it's forever."

She whispered the last part like a little kid making a wish. I touched her shoulder, gave it a comforting squeeze to let her know I wasn't going anywhere. This was the only place I'd ever really, truly belonged.

"It's our family," Naomi said so gently it disarmed anything else Mia could have said. Naomi plucked another flower from the bunch and tucked it behind Mia's ear so they could match. "It's already perfect. It's already forever."

God, I wanna propose all over again.

Mia nodded. The pressure she was putting on this melting away so she could take in what really mattered in all of this.

"Okay," she said, her lower lip trembled a little. "But I'm throwing you the biggest baby shower. That's my little brother or sister in there, and I get to spoil them if I want."

Naomi laughed, "Deal."

I took a little leather pouch out of my pocket. I'd planned on keeping it on me until I needed it, but now I saw a better use for it. I passed it to Mia. "Hold onto this for me. Until it's time."

"What's…" Mia felt through the pouch. "Oh. Oh my God."

Naomi shot me a puzzled look.

"Rings," I answered in a whisper.

Naomi's eyes widened, her jaw dropped. "When did you have the time?"

"Made them when I made this one," I said, my thumb rubbing against her engagement ring. Naomi looked at me like she was about to start crying. I wanted to make fun of her for it but I felt a damn lump rising in my throat too. It would not go away.

"Are you ready?" Gabriel asked.

We nodded and the people gathered around us stopped their whispered chatter. I heard a few sniffs, but didn't turn to look at who'd they'd come from. For a moment, I could feel it - all those eyes looking at me - and I started to clam up. But then Naomi took my hands, and I focussed on her eyes looking at me. The rest of them faded away.

Repeating what Gabriel told me wasn't hard. Because all he spoke was the truth.

Of course I took her to be my wife; she was the only person in the universe I'd ever wanted to have and to hold.

Of course I'd care for her in sickness and in health. I'd give my life for hers. Carry her if she was too weak to stand on her own. Wrap her up in blankets and ply her with honey and ginger tea when she caught a cold.

Of course I'd be with her for better or worse. I'd protect her from everything I could, and for the things I couldn't, I'd still be there, holding her hand.

I'd never be rich, but I'd give her everything I had. As for poorer? I'd never have nothing as long as I had her.

Loving her wasn't a choice, but I'd make damn sure I chose to keep showing her it every day. Cherishing her. Celebrating her. Making sure she never forgot how incredible she was. Everything she did amazed me. Everything she'd achieved and everything she'd been through had shaped this fierce, gentle, perfect person in front of me.

I'd never stray from her side as long as she wanted me there.

My life was hers, until the end of my days. And even then, if there was such a thing as an everlasting soul, if there was a life that came after this one, I would be hers there too.

That "I do," was the easiest two words I'd ever said. The easiest promise I'd ever made.

Then it was Naomi's turn and hearing her say it back solidified everything I already knew.

Hearing her agree to take me as her husband confirmed it was the only title I'd ever wanted.

Of course she'd be there for me in stickiness and in health. She'd always taken such good care of me no matter what part of me was broken.

Of course she'd be with me for better or worse. She was the first person I'd ever been able to depend on. Already seen me at my worst and accepted the parts of me I thought nobody would be able to look at, nevermind love. She made the best moments in my life a million times better.

She'd always accepted me just the way I was. No matter how small the occasion might be, she'd find a reason to be proud of me. Saw somethin' in me that made me proud of myself.

I knew how it felt to be loved because of her. I didn't understand it, but I trusted she'd stay with me.

"You have the rings?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes," Mia said with a big sniff. I tore my eyes away from Naomi to look over at her. Her face was all blotchy, eyebrows quivering as she fought to hold back more tears. She stepped forward. Put the ring for Naomi in my outstretched hand and the one for me in Naomi's.

"Love you guys," she whispered, giving both of our hands a tight squeeze before letting go and stepping back.

I slipped Naomi's ring onto her ring finger with a promise that I was hers forever. She slipped mine on and promised me the same.

And just like that, my best friend became my wife.

I was probably supposed to wait for Gabriel to tell us to kiss, but I couldn't. She was looking at me like she wanted me to, and who was I to make her wait? Who was I to deny her anything?

People around us started cheering and my ears got so hot I thought they'd fall off. We pulled apart. Naomi's face was as red as I felt but she couldn't stop smiling. Neither could I. Mia was in bits. Rick slapped me on the back a couple of times. Glenn did the same, leaping up and down like his team had just won the Superbowl. Carol hugged us both so tight I thought at least one of us would surface with a cracked rib.

So many people came up to congratulate us but I could barely take any of it in. The whole evening became a blur. Food was passed around. Couldn't tell you what. What had started out a tense evening became anything but. When you live for survival, every celebration could be your last. And people really party like it might be. Some people started drinking but not me. Naomi couldn't have any and I was already on cloud nine. Add anything else to it and I might actually have started floating.

I sat with my girl by the fire and watched the sunset over Hilltop while people celebrated around us. When things started winding down, Maggie showed us to one of the bedrooms, made some joke about it being the honeymoon suite.

I carried Naomi bridal-style over the threshold, only feeling a little bad about the kick I got out of doing it. I wasn't sure she'd have let me if her foot wasn't busted. I kicked the door shut behind me so I could finally be alone with my girl.

"Honeymoon suite in a country manor," I whistled, looking around at the inside of the room. The four-poster. The fancy writing desk. Portraits of someone who died so long ago they probably hadn't gotten up and started walking again. "Ever think kids like us would've ended up here?"

"Not in a million years," she said. "Although a shotgun wedding is probably exactly what people would have expected of kids like us."

I looked at her in my arms. "Is it still a shotgun wedding if it took a lifetime to get to it?"

She grinned back at me, "Maybe not."

I kissed her. It was impossible not to kiss that smile, and God, it was good to kiss her without a bunch of people whooping and hollering around us. I could feel her smiling against my lips. The way she melted against me told me she felt the same relief that we were finally alone.

I laid her down on the bed, still kissing her. It creaked as I crawled over her. Being careful not to do anything that might hurt her foot, I nudged her legs apart so I could slot between them. Her arms wrapped around me, her legs pulling me closer.

"Careful," I warned her between kisses, worried she'd get too caught up and forget her injury. "Watch that foot, girl."

"Quit fussin'," she said, her mouth muffled by mine. "I'll tell you if it hurts."

There was a neediness in the way she kissed me and the way she was looking at me that made me doubt that she'd tell me if her damn foot fell off. Because she didn't want me to stop kissing her. Stop touching her.

I had to shut my eyes for a moment. Trying to hold it all back. I breathed her in, my face buried in the warm crook of her neck.

"God, I missed you." It spilled right out of me. Even just the smell of her hair was enough to bring it out in me. She was back, and I still ached for her. Still longed to be closer to her even though she was under me.

"I missed you, too," she murmured, her hands tracing light circles across my back. I shivered. Feeling her hands on me again, touching me the way nobody else ever had made the time she'd been gone more obvious. So many parts of me that had died with her were coming slowly back to life. It hurt. I wasn't used to it anymore. That tenderness.

Before her, I hadn't known what it was like to be touched by someone who loved me. While she'd been gone, I'd retreated back to the kind of guy who flinched when someone got too close. Hated when a hug lasted too long.

But then I'd know what I was missing out on. I'd craved it. Craved her.

The gentle way she tugged on my clothes, eyes asking for my permission before she took anything off me. She had it. Of course she had it.

My hands shook like a damn junkie when I undressed her. Couldn't stand having my lips more than an inch from her skin. Kissing any part of her she'd let me. Clothes piled up on the floor. I pulled her panties free of her legs. An intense heat flashed through me.

Easy…

Easy….

We got all night.

I wasn't in any kind of rush. The opposite, really, I planned on taking my time with her. It had been a whirlwind since she'd got back. Traveling back and sharing a tent with Glenn and Bryce hadn't exactly given us a lot of privacy. So many people wanted to see her when we got back. Then Gabriel had called his damn meeting and, well… I'd been starved of this kind of time with her for so 'd hardly had a chance to be alone. A moment in the caved-in mines. A moment on a hilltop where she told me she was pregnant. And now this.

I'd been starved of this kind of time with her for so long.

Looking at her, completely naked in front of me was almost too much. Almost enough to make me take every promise I'd made myself about taking it slow and throw 'em out the damn window. It wasn't that I'd forgotten how beautiful she was, I'd just forgotten how it felt to be in the presence of all that perfection.

"Daryl?" she asked softly, snapping me out of it.

"Lie back, baby," I told her, slowly kissing my way up her inner thigh. I could tell how wet she was for me and I had to try real hard not to think about it or I'd lose my mind. I paused between her thighs, "Can I?"

Naomi nodded. Her hands shook a little when she ran them through my hair. Anticipation. Neediness. I don't know what it was but I liked seeing it. Liked it even more when she moaned at the slightest nudge of my tongue against her. The throb in my boxers was almost painful when I heard it.

Slow.

Slow.

Ain't no rush.

Her whimpers didn't help much. I'd forgotten how she sounded, and how good it felt to be the one making her sound like that. Sweet Jesus, she was so fucking hot.

"Daryl… please…" she writhed under my tongue. She wanted more. And my girl gets what she wants. I pulled her legs up to rest on my shoulders, angling her better. Opening her up to me like she needed. She ground herself against my face, I ground my hips against the mattress. It was too fucking much. I was fighting against myself.

My fingers joined my mouth, slipping inside her as sucked lightly on her clit. She was close and I had to get her there for my own sanity now as well as hers. Took me a second longer than usual to find that little spot inside her. She was right on the edge, and goddamn I was aware of that. An aching, throbbing awareness.

Naomi gasped out a sound that was almost my name. As close as she could manage like this. Her body tensed, her thighs shook and her hips jerked. Fingernails in my scalp. She pulsed around my fingers.

I looked up at her while she caught her breath, my head resting on one of her thighs. Could still feel tremors running through it under my ear. She was perfect, and she was mine.

Her hands tugged my hair again and I knew what she wanted, even if she couldn't quite speak yet. Bed creaking, I knelt up and moved over her. I kissed her. Real gentle while she calmed down. But, gentle wasn't what she wanted. She wanted me. All of me.

"Daryl, please," she said, her legs pulling my hips to hers so that I couldn't mistake what she was asking for. She asked all the same, "I need you. Fuck me."

I was impressed with myself for holding back for this long. I'd been in danger of busting several times over. But I couldn't wait much longer. Not with her getting so needy.

Untangling myself from her legs, I forced myself away from her. Down onto the floor to root through the pockets of my jeans. I had the sinking feeling I'd forgotten something.

"Whatcha doin'?" She propped herself up on her elbows to watch me. There was something amused in the way she said it but I was too damn flustered to put the pieces together.

"I ain't…I didn't bring…I haven't…" I rechecked my damn pockets as if I'd somehow have missed it the first time.

"You, uh, looking for rubbers?" she asked. I finally caught the amusement and looked up to catch her little smirk. My face felt hot.

"I thought you wanted to… shit… is that not what you meant?"

"You already knocked me up," she reminded me with a laugh. "We're good for the next few months."

"Oh…. right," I hated that I could feel how stupid my big dopey grin was. "Yeah… Damn."

Her laugh drew me back to her. My knees sank into the creaking mattress. Her warm, soft skin under my hands.

"This okay?" I asked as I paused on her stomach. I still couldn't believe that under my hands that little baby was growing. Our little baby.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, looking down at my hands as I mapped her skin. "I appreciate you askin', but I don't think I'll ever mind you touchin' me."

"That kinda talk's what got you pregnant in the first place," I said.

"C'mere," she said. I didn't need to be asked twice. Back over her, back between her thighs I struggled to think of a single reason I was ever anywhere else. She kissed me, her hands caressing my back, my shoulders.

We both groaned as I pushed inside her. Slow. Giving her time to adjust to me again. Giving myself time to remember how damn good this felt. How much I loved being with her, showing her how I felt.

I moved my hips and the bed moved with me, smacking against the wall. Naomi froze up a little. Another thrust and it happened again. She stopped kissing me, distracted. "That's… uh,... a little…"

"Annoying?" I said. I wasn't even up to full speed and it was bugging me.

"Yeah," she said, but there was a nervous light in her eyes. A little frown on her face. "It's an old bed, I guess. Super old…"

She didn't have to say it. I guessed first. I'd finally got her in the kind of bed she deserved and she was too nervous about destroying something that used to have historical importance to properly enjoy herself.

"Such a nerd," I said, lifting her up off the mattress. Laughter shook her body against mine. "You know there ain't gonna be any more field trips here, right? We can wreck a few fancy beds."

"A few, huh?" she repeated. "That's ambitious."

"Well… it is our wedding night, ain't it?" I grinned. She laughed again, but I didn't put up much of a fight. I didn't much fancy the Rhees walking in here and finding one of Hilltop's beds in bits either. We'd never live it down and then we'd definitely have to move. I set her down on the rug and then reached back onto the bed to grab a pillow. I slipped it behind her head.

"My God, who knew I'd married such a gentleman?" she giggled.

Fucking hell we're married.

I looked at her, my wife, wearing nothing but a smile and the rings I'd made her. She was so goddamn beautiful my heart ached.

"Gotta take care of my girl," I said, "my wife."

Just saying it sent a shiver up my spine. My hand on the back of her shin lifted her leg. Close enough I could kiss the ankle of her broken foot. She watched me do it with such love in her eyes.

"You do," she said. I kissed my way up from her ankle, up her leg, across her stomach, her chest, her neck. Naomi's head tipped back against the pillow as I slowly slid back inside her. "God, you really do."

"You're so damn beautiful, angel." I looked down at her, drinking in the way her mouth fell open. The soft moans that slipped out between those pretty lips. The pleasure that flickered across her face with every roll of my hips. I couldn't believe I was the lucky son of bitch that got to have her for the rest of my life.

Like she'd read my mind, she raised her left hand to my face. I let my eyes drift closed as she touched my cheek. Let the feeling of being with her wash over me.

Fuck, I missed you.

Build your home in a place and if it's destroyed, you can rebuild somewhere else.

Build your home in a person and you can't get it back when it's gone.

I'd spent so many nights alone wishing I'd dream of her and now…here she was. I kissed her harder. I needed the taste of her burned on my tongue. Needed the heat of her body. I sped up. Harder. Needed more of her delicious moans.

Needed to know she was real. That I wasn't going to wake up alone in a Hilltop shed and face the reality that all of this had been a dream. There'd been no call. No bunker. No miracle.

Naomi yelped. My eyes snapped open and I looked down at where my fingers were digging hard into one of her hips. Too hard. Like I was tryna stop someone from dragging her away from me. And I was slamming into her. Head hazy and stomach lurching with guilt, I let go. Stopped. "Shit. I'm sorry"

I looked away from her, trying to catch my breath, catch my thoughts. I'd only been her husband for a few hours and I'd already hurt her. Shame threatened to swallow me whole.

"I'm here," she said softly. Gentle hands coaxing my face back up to look at her. "I'm right here."

Fuck.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered. I don't know how or when she did it, but she'd rolled us over so I was sitting bare-assed on the rug and she was in my lap. I was still inside her. Her eyes were all I could see. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I swallowed. Her eyes. God, her eyes always managed to bring me back. Root me where I belonged.

"Where'd you go?" she asked, soft voice and soft hands somehow the most solid thing in this room.

I didn't go anywhere

You did.

I was struggling to catch my breath. To say what I meant. "I lost you."

"You found me," she reminded me. Her hands slipped around my shoulders. She placed such gentle kisses on my face, my neck. I let myself hold her again. My hands rubbed her back, feeling the solid warmth of her. Reassuring myself this was real. Her sweet voice in my ear sent shivers down my spine, "I'm right here, Daryl. I ain't going anywhere."

"Yeah..." I said. My fingers squeezed her sides. Just a little. Just enough to feel the solidity of her ribcage under her skin. "Yeah."

"You need to stop?" she asked.

"No," I said. It was the last thing I wanted. I wanted every piece of her she was willing to give. "I need you, angel. I need more of ya."

My hands traced her curves, holding her body tight against mine as I started thrusting up into her again. Her hips moved to meet my movements. Her arms squeezed me back, her chest pressed against mine. So tight I could feel the way her moans vibrated through her. Her breath, her kisses on my neck. One hand tangled in her soft hair.

"Baby, I…" I choked out, but I didn't know what I was asking.

Her head turned. "What do you need, Daryl?"

You.

"I need to see you," I said. "I need… I need…"

Naomi leaned back. Close enough that I could still feel her body on me, all of that softness I didn't deserve. That beauty that should be nowhere near me.

"I love you," she said, her gaze anchoring me to her again. I could see it in her eyes. How much she loved me. Needed me. Her body moved against mine, her hands brushing sweaty hair from my face. "I'm always gonna be yours, Daryl. Forever."

It felt as good to hear as it felt to be fucking her again. I put a hand under her chin, holding her face where I could see it. See the way her eyes were getting hazy with pleasure. "You're mine, ain't ya?"

"Yes," she murmured back. "God, yes."

"Good girl," I said and she shivered. Blushed. I loved making her blush like that. "You're so pretty, baby. I can't believe you're all mine."

I really couldn't', she'd always been my one and only dream girl. By some miracle that dream had come true and not only had she given me herself, but she was also giving me everything I'd ever dreamed of. Everything I'd never thought I have.

Family.

Security.

Love.

My hand tangled in her hair as I pushed it back from her face. I wanted to see all of it. So goddamn beautiful and teetering on the edge for me again. There was a question in her eyes, a silent request for permission. I nodded. She let go. I watched her come undone and then I followed her over the edge.

Afterwards, we lay entwined on the rug and I tried to muster the strength to get up and back into the bed. Naomi seemed happy enough, nestled against me as we caught our breath. My hand stroked through her sweaty curls. I knew she'd fall asleep like that if I left it too long. I would too.

"Shit," I said. "Is your foot okay?"

I'd been too caught in the maelstrom of shit inside me that I hadn't thought about what a change of position would do to her foot. And I knew she'd put up with crazy amounts of pain to do something to help me.

"Foot's fine," she said, to my relief. "Knees might have a little rug burn, though."

I kissed the top of her head and with one final burst of energy, scooped her up and threw us both down onto that damn creaky bed. We scooted down under the covers. Naomi reached over and switched off a lamp.

"Goodnight, Mr Dixon," she said. There was a split second where I wondered why she was being so damn formal. Then it hit me.

"Night, Mrs Dixon."

Her hand found mine in the dark like always, but she didn't take it. I knew what she was doing even before her little finger entwined with mine. "I pinky swear I'll love you forever, even when I'm dead."

I laughed but my heart ached with the innocence of it. Childish. But it meant the world. We'd only ever been safe to behave like kids with each other.

"Pinky swear I'll love you even when I'm dead, too, angel."

Whatever came next, at least one part of the future was set in stone; we'd love each other. We have loved every version of each other that we have ever known.