Epilogue

Daryl remembered when he had wondered what kind of personality his child would end up having. He had wondered if he would be quiet like Sophia or a hell raiser like Piper. He had wondered if he would be a trouble magnet like himself or filled with kindness like his mama. As he pulled into the driveway he sighed heavily. It hadn't taken him long to find out.

"We kind of thought this was going to happen," Carol said, sliding her hand into his when he killed the engine.

Daryl leaned his head against the seat and glanced at her. "Two days. We leave for two days and he goes and pulls some shit like this," he muttered.

She was trying hard to fight a smile and he narrowed his eyes. That only made it harder and she grinned. "Remember when Buck said he hoped that some day you had a son that gave you half the grief that you gave him?"

He rolled his eyes and looked out towards the house. Merle came out then, Tyler and Damon on his heels. Daryl gave her hand a final squeeze and then slipped out of the truck.

Merle held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Now look, little brother. You gotta hear his side of the story, alright? It wasn't his fault."

Carol laughed. "Merle, that exactly what you told me when I came home and Sophia had gotten into a fight at school."

Merle nodded and then hugged her quickly. "Yeah, and I meant it then just like I do now."

Daryl stomped past him but Damon stopped him. He looked up at the boy, who wasn't much of a boy at all anymore.

"Daryl, I saw the whole thing. It really wasn't his fault," Damon said quickly.

He rolled his eyes and stormed up the steps. "Yeah, that's the same damn thing people used to say about me and you seen where that got me."

Carol was next to him, laughing like this wasn't a very big deal. "Actually, it got you a house, a wife and three kids."

He felt his lips twitch but he refused to crack. This was the last damn straw. They walked into the kitchen and instantly everyone in the room looked up at him. Piper and Sophia were perched on the counter, Buck, Odin, Andrea and June were sitting at the table. Randy, Merle, Tyler and Damon were standing against the wall. Eli was there, looking like he was trying to hide a smile while he tried to restrain a squirming toddler. His and Piper's youngest boy.

"Daddy, it wasn't his fault."

All eyes slid over to Buck and the little girl, Lilly, that sat patiently in his lap. Daryl's hands went to his hips but, just like every other time he looked at the girl, his heart melted a little. At seven she was two years younger than her brother and she was her mama made over. Her auburn curls were pulled away from her freckled face and her large blue eyes regarded him calmly. "Is that right?" He asked.

She nodded solemnly. "It was my fault."

He raised a brow. "Your fault, huh?"

She nodded again. "It was. Jacob and Allan, those two redheaded kids, were there at the park and Mike was mindin' his own business on the monkey bars talking to some girls when Jacob came right up and he kicked sand all over me. Almost got it right in my eye and you know I don't wanna wear no eye patch like uncle Randy. I like my eyes. Anyway, Allan thought it was the funniest thing and before I could even get up he kicked even more sand all over me."

Daryl scowled. "Those little fuckers."

Lilly nodded. "Well, that's the same thing Mike said. He jumped down and stomped right over there and punched Jacob right in the nose."

"And let me guess. He wasn't finished, was he?" Daryl asked, raising a brow at her.

"Well, course not! Like I said, I could have lost an eye!"

"So what else did he do?" Daryl asked, knowing damn good and well what he did.

"He made him..." Lilly glanced up at Buck who was having a very hard time schooling his features into something severe. "He might have made him..." Her voice trailed off and she sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Well, I ain't tellin'."

"I made him eat sand. A lot of it."

Everyone turned. Daryl bit the inside of his jaw to keep from smiling. This was serious shit. He couldn't smile. The boy was only nine but he didn't look it. His eyes, the exact shape and shade as Daryl's own narrowed as they met Daryl's. "You made a kid eat sand?"

"Mikey, you know better than that," Carol said softly.

The boy huffed. "And they're both older than me so they know better than to pick on little girls. Ain't my fault if their stupid mama didn't raise them no better than that."

Daryl groaned. "And you couldn't have just let Merle handle it?"

Mikey rolled his eyes. "If Merle woulda made him eat sand then he'd go to jail. Better if I just did it myself."

"What about the other boy?" Daryl asked.

Mikey pointed to his eye, that would have a decent shiner tomorrow. "Sucker punched me right in the face."

"Then what?" Daryl asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lilly piped up then. "Then I kicked him in the balls, like you told me to do if a boy tried to hit me."

Mikey nodded. "She did."

"Then?" Daryl asked.

"Then I held him down and Lilly made him eat some sand too."

"Mickey broke Jacobs nose. There was blood in his sand but none in Allen's, if that helps," Lilly said helpfully. "His mama was freakin' out."

"See," Damon said, gesturing towards both kids. "It wasn't his fault. Wasn't Lilly's either."

Daryl ran a hand through his hair. "You know what, you shut your mouth," he snapped. Him and Damon hadn't been on the best of terms since he found out about Sophia. He didn't know why it bothered him so much but it did. The two of them had been together for ten damn years and it just made sense that they would end up having kids eventually but ever since Sophia had dropped the news months ago, he had wanted to punch Damon right in the nose. Damon sighed and looked down at his boots.

"Both of you need to go on up to your rooms and be glad I don't kick you both in the ass," he said sternly. The corner of Mikes mouth turned up as he pushed himself away from the wall. Lilly sighed and hopped down from Buck's lap, making her way towards the doorway, and Daryl, her head down.

He scooped her up just as she passed him. Her blue eyes met his, wide and wet, as her arms went around his neck.

"You mad?" She asked, her bottom lip trembling slightly.

He sighed and shook his head. "Nah, I ain't mad."

"At either of us?" She asked.

He sighed. "Your brother's gotta quit fightin' so damn much."

"It wasn't his fault," she said.

"And the time before this one?" He asked, raising a brow.

She bit her lip. "Well, that was kind of his fault."

"Time before that?"

She tried not to smile. "That might have been his fault too."

"What about the time he had to get that cast on his arm?"

She shook her head. "That wasn't his fault. There was three boys."

"And he hit one of them first," Daryl countered.

"But they called him names. You always tell us not to take any shi-"

"Lilly," Carol warned.

"Crap," Lilly said, flashing Carol a grin. "You can't tell us not to take any crap and then kick our asses when we get into fights."

Carol sighed and threw her hands up. "I give up."

Daryl put the girl down and shoved her gently towards the doorway. "Go on," he grumbled. He looked up at all of the faces staring at him. "What?"

The room was filled with quiet laughter then. He glowered at all of them and flipped them off on his way out of the room.

~H~

Carol followed him through the house and up the stairs. She still found it difficult to watch him deal with his unruly offspring. Sophia had been easy on him because she had pretty much been grown when they met, but these two, they gave him a run for his money.

"Who's first?" Carol asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

Daryl grumbled. "The boy."

"You know, he's just like-"

"Shut it," he said, shooting her a look.

She bit her lip and fought a grin. When they walked in Mikey was laying on his bed, his arms folded behind his head and his feet crossed at the ankles. He sat up. "Okay, let me have it."

Daryl's arms crossed over his chest. "For starters, what have I been tellin' you?"

"That when I get in a fight, it's my own fault."

Daryl nodded. "Exactly. So you know what you did wasn't right."

The boy nodded. "I got mad. Lilly's little and if anybody is gonna push her around it's gonna be me, not those redheaded as-"

"Hey," Carol rose a brow, her hands going to her hips.

He sighed. "Look, I know what you said. You said the same damn thing you always say. No fighting. But Lilly was right. You also tell us not to take crap. I guess now the question is, which is it? You want me to stick up for my little sister or do you want me to sit back and watch boys kick sand in her face? Cause I don't see how I can do both."

Carol studied Daryl's face. He looked torn and finally his eyes came up to meet hers. All she could do was shrug. "He's right."

Daryl threw his hands in the air. "You didn't have to shove sand in their damn mouths, boy! And you know it. You did what you needed to do to stick up for your sister but then you went overboard and that's why I'm pissed."

Mikey leaned back on his elbows. "Grandpa says that you were doing way worse than that when you were my age. He said that he had to come down to the school two or three times a week because you were a raging lunatic as a boy."

Daryl opened his mouth and then closed it again and took a deep breath. "You ain't me. And I ain't Buck and you're gonna listen this time. Quit getting into so much trouble. You need to thump somebodies head, fine, sometimes shit happens, but goddamn it, boy! You gotta stop going over board. Think about your mama. Do you think it don't hurt her to see you in trouble all the time?"

Mikey's smug look faded and he met Carol's eyes before sitting the rest of the way up. Daryl knew his week spot and for all of his bad boy attitude, her son was a complete mama's boy. He tried to hide it but it was true and Daryl was pretty desperate if he was bringing her into it. They were all quiet for a few heavy seconds and then Mikey shook his head. "Okay. I'm sorry about the sand."

Daryl finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"But I ain't sorry for the rest of it," he added.

Daryl growled and gripped the boy by the ankle, yanking him towards him and then throwing him over his shoulder. Mikey laughed and tried to get away before finally giving up. Daryl tossed him back down onto the bed and shook his head. "Sand. That's dirty. You know the neighborhood cats shit in that sandbox."

Mikey grinned. "Yeah, I know. Hope the bastards caught worms."

~H~

Daryl shut the bedroom door and leaned against it heavily. The kids were asleep, the others were gone and now it was just him and Carol. They had went out of town, at the insistence of Buck, just to get away from everything. They had been on the verge of packing up and coming back home anyway but then they had gotten the phone call that Mike had gotten himself into some trouble again.

"It feels good to be home," Carol said with a smile.

"It does. Next time somebody tries to talk us into leaving town, lets just take those two trouble makers with us," he said as he stepped towards her and stripped off his shirt.

"He'll grow out of it," Carol said with a smile.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and tugged on her shirt, which was his shirt that she slept in, until she came a little closer. She pushed his hair back out of his face and grinned before she straddled his hips. He shook his head. "Maybe by the time he's grown but I'm doubting it."

Her lips ghosted over his jaw. "You sleepy?"

He grinned, his hands slipping under the back of her shirt. "Hell no. You?"

"Course not," she said before she kissed him hard. His arms went around her, pulling her closer. Even after all these years, he never seemed to be able to keep her close enough. She pulled away and smiled. "I want you to do something for me though."

He groaned. "What's that?" He asked, already knowing that she was going to bring up is cousin.

"I want you to try to cut Damon some slack. He is such a good man. He loves Sophia and he works hard to take care of her. Can't you just let it go."

He snorted. "Hell no!"

"You knew it was going to happen and I have wonderful news and I can't even share it with you because you're being such a... Daryl."

"What news?" He grumbled.

"I can't tell you because you'll just get even more grumpy. I won't risk it."

"I ain't grumpy. What's the news."

"Twins," Carol grinned.

Daryl's eyes went wide and he dropped onto his back, rolling his eyes. "I shoulda expected that. My God."

She smiled because she was beyond excited and had been waiting to drop this news on him since Sophia had told her about it earlier. "Aren't you even just a little happy? I mean, look at how the Dixon clan is expanding. Piper and Eli made Merle and Randy grandpas three times over. This is good news."

He huffed out a breath and shook his head. "You're right."

Her mouth dropped. "What? Did I just hear you correctly? Are you, Daryl Dixon, admitting that I am right and you aren't?" She cried out when he flipped her onto her back and bit her neck roughly.

"Shut it," he grumbled.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned. "Just look at it this way. You'll be the sexiest thirty seven year old grandpa in the whole state of Georgia."

He growled and then shoved her hands over her head and locking them there. "Keep it up."

"Oh, I plan on it."

He kissed her then, the kind of kiss that had her forgetting that there was even a world outside of the two of them. How he could still make her feel this way after all these years, she didn't know. The anticipation hadn't faded. All the feelings that he had stirred up in her the very first time they had met, were still there. And she knew that he felt the same way.

Their clothes disappeared but he didn't rush. He took his time with her, savoring the moment, enjoying the time that they had with only each other. She had a large beautiful family that she loved more than words could describe but it was this, just being with him, that she looked the most forward to at the end of every day. And she had no doubt that she always would.

Okay, so that's it. Hopefully I crossed all my T's and dotted all my I's and didn't leave anything hanging. I am so glad that I shared this instead of keeping it hidden away in my documents. I appreciate all of you that took time out of your life to read it! I just hate to see it end. Hopefully I'll have something else ready soon.

Two of the stories I've been working on have the same OC's, just different worlds. No more bikers, unfortunately. But Piper, Damon, Buck and the rest are being recycled in a few WIP's anyway. I have 9 stories total that need to be finished. Hopefully, whenever they're complete, you guys will tag along for another ride!

Halohunter89, this is just as much your story as it is mine! Thank you for all of the advice and input and for finally saying, "Maybe you should just post it, Dude. If that's what you want to do." I'm glad I did. Much love!