A/N: Oh, my goodness, y'all. This is it. The end. I don't know how to thank each and every one of you for the amazing reviews and cheerleading and support. Writing this story took me by complete surprise and I have enjoyed sharing it with you and I hope to be back with something else soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Fingers crossed for an awesome season five! Ugh! I can't wait until October!

Five years later…

"Beth, Beth, Beth!"

"What, what, what?" Beth asks turning to see Judith running over to her, her three-year-old little sister, Andy, following close behind.

"Look what we found!" Judtih says holding out her cupped hands.

Beth finishes pinning up a pair of Daryl's pants on the clothes line beside her own jeans, then crouches down to see what Judith has found.

"Let's see here, oh, wow, look at her," Beth says when Judith very carefully un-cups her little hands to let Beth peek inside.

A little bright red ladybug complete with perfect black spots crawls over the tiny folds in Judith's palm.

"Andy found her," Judith says breathlessly.

"I found her," Andy says leaning against Beth's side, her curly hair tickling Beth's arm.

"Good job, both of you," Beth says.

"Can we do the song?" Judith asks, her brown eyes wide as she looks up at Beth.

"Of course," Beth says. "Let's do it by the bushes by the house."

They walk over to the azalea bush that's just starting to bloom next to Beth and Daryl's cabin and they all kneel down.

"Ready," Beth says, then they all say:

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home,

Your house is on fire and your children are gone,

All except one,

And her name is Ann,

And she hid under the baking pan.

Judith opens her hand and the ladybug flies off to land on the azalea leaves.

"Perfect," Beth says smiling. "Now, weren't you supposed to be reading with Carol?"

"She had to help Carl with one of the chickens," Judith says.

"Chickens," Andy says nodding.

"Ah, I see," Beth says getting to her feet and holding out her hands Andy takes one and Judith takes the other. "Well, let's go see what big brother's up to."

They walk towards the edge of the small grouping of cabins they found close to four years back.

Beth and Daryl found the rest of the group where they'd said they'd be, just on the edge of Clarkesville. They found a big house that must have been a bed and breakfast and holed up inside for the winter.

When the worst of the winter weather was over, they decided to find some place they could live. After several discussions, the majority of the group decided that they just wanted to live in as much peace as they could and the idea of heading to Washington, DC just didn't seem wise.

Abraham hadn't taken it very well. When spring came in, he, Eugene, Rosita, and Tara headed north.

Beth was never sure why Tara decided to go. She figured it was due to a lingering sense of guilt about the Governor.

Rick had wished them well and told them that if they ever wanted to come back, they'd be welcome.

They never saw Abraham or Eugene again.

But Tara and Rosita showed up at the cabins a year and a half later. It turns out, Eugene hadn't been totally honest about having a cure to the virus and Abraham had been killed when they'd met up with a bad group of people. They weren't sure what happened to Eugene and had decided to just come back.

They set themselves up in the same cabin as Tyreese and Sasha and contributed daily to helping their little settlement keep on running.

After Clarkesville, they'd all headed towards the Chattahoochee National Forest. On a run, Sasha had found a bunch of brochures for holiday cabins near the forest. Advertised as 'rustic' and 'a chance to get back to nature', they decided to check them out. Namely because they were off the main highways and the cabins looked to come with wood stoves, as well as being near a stream.

Unfortunately, other folks had had the same idea, so when they arrived, there were quite a few walkers and bodies to deal with. But after that, the amount of walkers they dealt with on a regular basis seemed to dwindle.

Not that they didn't take precautions. Night watches were still adhered to and they'd created a perimeter of alarm systems and a few traps. After all, it wasn't just walkers they had to deal with. But being off the main roads had limited their interaction with other people quite a bit.

Rick had immediately set up another vegetable garden and everyone pitched in. Daryl ransacked a library on a run and brought back every book he could find on how to live off the land.

Carl got really interested in raising chickens and after a few setbacks (foxes and a weird fungus), there was a good-sized hen house and eggs almost every day.

Beth and Carol made it their mission in life to figure out how to preserve and can food for the winter and this last winter they had a very good store.

Daryl taught Glenn how to hunt and the two of them would go into the forest and come back with all manner of game, usually venison, quail, and rabbit. Daryl had taken it upon himself to learn how to make jerky and while his first attempt was beyond disgusting, the next several were more than decent.

As Beth walks with Judith and Andy, she passes Tyreese and Bob who are still trying to get the generator they found up and running.

They give her a smile and a nod and Tyreese calls, "They show you their ladybug?"

"Sure did," Beth says. "We sent her on her way."

"Her house was on fire!" Judith says cheerfully.

Bob chuckles and shakes his head while Tyreese grins.

They round the corner, heading towards the chicken coop, and Andy lets go of Beth's hand, calling out, "Mama!"

She dashes off as fast as her little legs can go and Michonne smiles wide as she scoops Andy up into her arms.

"Hey there, baby," Michonne says pressing her cheek to Andy's.

Beth smiles as Judith also runs over to Michonne and wraps her arms around one of her legs and grins up at her.

Michonne looks up and grins at Beth. "I heard there was a ladybug?"

"It had to be dealt with," Beth says mock-seriously and nodding.

Michonne chuckles and hitches Andy up further on her hip.

Out of all the little dramas and incidences the group had seen after they'd reunited, little Andy was the biggest surprise.

Everyone knew that Rick and Michonne were close, but one night after a bad run involving walkers, they'd gotten even closer.

Apparently, sometimes all it took was the one time. Michonne realized she was pregnant two months later and just left the settlement. On her own.

Carl was angry at Rick, Rick was angry at himself, and everyone felt beyond helpless to do anything.

Finally, it took Carol cornering Rick and saying, "Rick Grimes, man up and go find that woman and bring her back. I don't care what you have to do, but you bring her back here. She is not going through this alone."

Rick went after Michonne.

Three days later, they came back. Seven months later, little Andrea, with the biggest brown eyes and the curliest dark brown hair, was born.

"They aren't back yet?" Beth asks as they walk towards the cabin Michonne and Andy share with Carol. While Rick was involved heavily with Andy and taking care of her, he and Michonne hadn't gotten together since that one night. Although lately, Beth thought she'd noticed a few looks back and forth between the pair of them.

"Not yet," Michonne says glancing at Beth with a smile. "But they will. He'll be back soon."

"I know," she says taking Judith's hand again. "Just…you know."

"Worried?"

"Something like that."

"It's just a quick one to see if the place is worth looking at," Michonne says. "They'll be back."

"I know," Beth nods. Rick, Glenn, and Daryl had headed out two days before to take a look at a town a few hours away. Some of their tools were wearing down and Daryl wanted to find some spare parts for the trucks and the motorcycle.

They hadn't bothered going too far away from the camp, but Rick had figured it'd be a good idea to see what the world was looking like these days.

Daryl had agreed.

Beth had, too, but it was the first time he'd been so far from her and it made her chest ache.

Beth takes a deep breath and looks around the area that they'd claimed and made theirs. Clothes hang on clotheslines, chickens cluck happily in their pen. Beth can hear Maggie cutting up firewood near her and Glenn's cabin while Tara and Rosita are tilling the gardens and weeding.

They head inside Michonne and Carol's cabin and get the girls something to drink.

Carol comes back in, covered in feathers and just shakes her head. "Chickens're fine. Just ornery."

"Ornery!" Andy says happily.

Beth grins and says, "On that note, I'm going to go back to my washing. I'll get started on cleaning the jars, too, for the preserves."

"I'll come by later," Carol says, referring to their canning endeavor.

Beth gives Andy and Judith kisses on their cheeks and then heads back to her cabin.

Their cabin.

No one said a word when Beth and Daryl joined back up with the group and had taken a room for themselves. It had just been accepted as something that just was.

And things had been good.

Real good.

Not that they hadn't had their share of fights and misunderstandings. Usually when that happened, Daryl would slip off into the forest, find something to kill, and bring it back; while Beth would clean everything in sight at least three times over or start knitting.

Then when they'd see each other again, they'd stare at each other awkwardly, then fall immediately into bed, and work it out under the covers.

They just got each other. More than either of them had really expected.

Beth sighs as she hangs up the rest of the clothes, then goes inside to check on the bit pot of vegetable soup she plans on canning later. She's busy stirring it and getting the glass jars clean when she hears an engine approaching.

She quickly puts the lid back on the soup and removes it from the heat, then dashes outside.

They'd chosen the cabin closest to the back and the forest, so by the time Beth gets to where they park the trucks, everyone's already there.

Rick is swinging Judith in the air, followed by a swing for Andy, and clasp on the shoulder for Carl. Bob and Glenn are pulling tools and parts out of the bed. Beth looks around and then she spots him.

He and Tyreese are pulling what looks like a chassis off the truck for one of the other trucks. His muscles are flexing as he lifts it and Beth feels that long-familiar simmering start under her skin.

Daryl sets the chassis down carefully and says something to Tyreese, who nods. Then Daryl looks straight over and meets Beth's eyes. The corner of his mouth curves up and Beth smiles at him.

"See you later, man," Daryl says to Tyreese, clapping him on the shoulder.

Daryl nods at Rick and Glenn, gives a quick tweak of a curl to Andy, nods to Carol and Maggie, and then he's right in front of her.

"Hey," she says looking up at him and smiling brightly.

"Hey, yourself," he says, brushing the backs of his fingers quickly on her cheek.

"You look like you could use a wash," she says. "I've got some water back at the cabin."

"Yeah, all right." They head away from the others and Beth ignores Carl's snickering and the knowing glances she is positive everyone's giving each another.

"How is it out there?" she asks as they walk.

"Pretty quiet," he says. "It's getting warmer, so the walkers are perking up again. Didn't see anyone, though."

Beth nods. "I've got soup for dinner. I'm canning the rest of it, though."

"Sounds good," he says as they head up the steps to their cabin.

Beth is barely inside before the door slams shut and she's pinned against it, Daryl kissing her madly. His mouth rough and hot on hers, his body hard and pressed tight up against her.

Not that she minds.

And certainly not that she doesn't retaliate by threading her hands into his hair and hitching her leg on his hip.

He curls his hands under her thighs and hoists her up, pressing his hips and rocking against her.

"Oh, God, I missed you," Beth gasps as he slides a hand up and palms her breast. "Take me to bed, Dixon."

"Yes, ma'am," he says roughly after sucking a hickey onto her collarbone. She winds her arms around his shoulders and her legs wrap around his waist and he carries her into the bedroom.

Later on they lay in bed, his head on her stomach, while she runs her fingers through his hair. There's a bit more gray in it than there was when she first knew him, but she's got more lines on her face now and her hands are a patchwork of calluses and scars from just existing in this world.

He sighs in contentment and curls his arms around her tighter.

"Best feeling I've had in days," he says, his breath warm on her bare skin.

"What? Rick and Glenn don't like to cuddle?" she asks.

"Nah," he says. "And they don't smell half as good as you do."

"High praise, indeed," she says grinning. She bites her lip. "I think Maggie's pregnant."

He stills. "You sure?"

"She's late," she says.

"Glenn know?"

"She was going to tell him when y'all got back," she says. "I don't know if she's happy or nervous. Maybe both."

"Hope things go all right for them," he says nuzzling at her stomach.

"Me, too." Beth closes her eyes and listens to the sound of her heart beating, Daryl breathing, and the sounds of the forest around them.

"You want one?" Daryl's voice cuts into her doze.

"Hmm?" she asks, lazily opening her eyes.

He lifts his head and looks at her. "Do you want one? A baby. With me."

Beth blinks at him and smiles. "You are the only person on this earth I would ever want a baby with. Do you want one?"

He shrugs. "Don't know. Doesn't always seem like a safe thing to do these days."

"True," Beth says, sliding down so that she's underneath Daryl, his face above hers. "I'm not sure, if I'm honest. So many things can go wrong."

He nods. Then he leans down and kisses her gently, slowly, practically sipping at her mouth and making her blood simmer and soon she's lightheaded and her body's rocking gently beneath him.

Eventually, he pulls back and says, "I'd be okay with it, if it happens. But I just…" He hesitates and presses his forehead to hers. "I'm good with it just being us, too."

"Daryl Dixon," she breathes. "You are fundamental to my existence now and I'm so good with it being just us, too."

He leans back down and kisses her again, which leads to other things, which leads to a brief nap, with the windows open, the spring air wafting in and stirring the curtains.

Then they'll get up and Beth will check on the soup and Daryl will get to cleaning the parts they brought back and everyone will eat dinner together. And then later, they'll wind up back in bed and he'll wrap his arms around her and it'll just be good. Just them. Together.

The End.