Over the next five months, Beth and Daryl could see their world was changing.

Gareth's body was eventually found, or at least whatever the walkers hadn't eaten. There weren't many strong people from Central left and eventually the whole area was annexed by the Western Georgia Territory. It was a slow but sure process to cleanse the area of the corruption and moral depravity that area was known for but with Rick Grimes as the new Governor, there was rebuilding...there was hope.

And yet Daryl was surprised when shortly after the war with Central, Rick had approached him asking him to take over his former position at the walker control post. Daryl had respectfully declined. Daryl felt his place was at the farm helping out however he could. He did however helped to clean out the bodies that were still around. It was during one of those days when he killed a female walker who had a nice diamond ring on her finger. From what he recalled, this was exactly how Glenn got his wedding ring for Maggie, wasn't it?

Either way he cleaned the ring up and brought it back to Beth.

They never had a real ceremony. There was no need.

When the day finally came, Daryl was waiting outside the door to their bedroom...being a nervous wreck. He was no family man. How was he going to be a good dad? His early childhood before the fall gave him no inspiration of the sort.

Hershel came out of the bedroom. "You can go see her now."

Beth knew how to be a trooper. Daryl came to know that very clear. Since the day he met her...the way they were forced into their "marriage" he never thought she would be able to tolerate him or his world the way that she did. In turn, he learned to look past how there lives have changed at Rick's advice.

Rick put an end to the marriage law under his leadership. A bit too late for himself and Beth but when he got to hold his daughter for the first time, he thought perhaps the timing wasn't all that bad.

It was a few years later, after the birth of their second child, did the reality set in that Hershel was getting on in age. He wasn't long for this world and he knew farming wasn't as strong in the blood of his daughters as it was in his. But when he saw how Daryl had single-handedly taking care of things, he knew his farm would be in good hands after his eventual passing. Daryl felt strange about living in the house, being a family man. It was something he had to master just by diving in.

Merle had survived the shootout at Woodbury and the war with Central. He eventually found the farm but luckily for Daryl, his visits were far and few in-between (for only the occasional and reluctant handout). The Greene family tolerated him as much as they could. And he was not big on being referred to as "Uncle Merle". He became known to the children of the farm as the uncle you should never imitate in any shape or form.

And then eight years would go by...the farm was prosperous in an age where starting over was everything. The walkers became a dangerous but manageable nuisance. But the farm itself was well protected.

Best of all Beth was happy. She was able to settle down in the home she truly belonged in. Be the mother she always hoped to be. And that was enough for both of them.

I apologize for the rushed ending. You could see my desire to want to wrap this up quick so I can focus on my new fic. When you have a bad attention span like me, it's best to have only one story at a time to work with. "Atonement" will also be wrapping up soon.

Anyway I would like to thank you all for your reviews and enjoyment of this story. It surpassed my expectations even though this fic is now one of my "cringe worthies". Sometimes I will write something or look back on something I wrote and be like "OMG I can't believe I wrote this, I'm gonna hurl" or something like that. But yeah you fans are awesome. I hope you stick around for my other works and Bethyl on.