Don't Waste Your Love On Me
Chapter 24

Beth-

Merle jumped up out of the bed quicker than I had seen him move in a while but he stayed calm.

"Alright, Sugar," he said. "Don't ya worry 'bout nothin'."

Daryl and Carl stood in the doorway watchin' Merle move around the room like he knew what he was doin'.

Merle-

Sugar watched me an' after a lil' while she started laughin'.

"What tha hell's so funny?" I asked 'er.

She shook 'er head at me an' reached out 'er hand. "Just come sit with me, please Merle."

I smiled at 'er then looked up ta see baby brotha an' tha boy was still standin' in tha doorway.

"Why don't y'all go tend ta Angel 'til it's time fer Sugar ta have lil' Junior an' Daryl, when she does I'ma need ya ta come in 'ere an' help out. There's only so much I can do with one hand."

He gave me a nod an' they both stepped out a tha room, shuttin' tha door behind 'em.

Sugar sat up as best she could an' patted tha bed next ta 'er an' I quickly took that offer.

She leaned against my chest an' I put my arm 'round 'er.

"Ya know I love ya, Sugar, an' I'ma love this baby too."

I felt 'er smile against my chest then' she put 'er hand on my leg an' gave it a squeeze.

"Ya alright, Sugar?"

"I'm fine. It was just a little contraction."

Daryl washed his hands in the kitchen sink, scrubbing them good to make sure they were as clean as he could possibly get them for when he had to help Merle deliver the baby. Until then, he paced the floor and prayed for his brother, Beth, and his niece or nephew.

This was all still weird to him. He had thought of Beth as a little sister and he had thought Merle was taking advantage of her but after months being on the run with Carl, they both came to see that Merle loved Beth and he loved Judith because if he didn't, he wouldn't have gotten them out of there when he did.

They had been back with Beth, Merle, and Judith for a few days now and Daryl could see that Beth had been just what Merle had needed all along and he questioned himself about why they didn't all see it sooner.

He wondered if Merle knew just how lucky he was and if this change he had seen in Merle was something that would stick. He hoped like hell it would because if it didn't, well, he planned to kick his brother's ass until he saw just how lucky he was.

"Daryl!" Beth screamed suddenly. "Get your ass in here. Now!"

Carl quickly stood up, clutching Judith tightly to him as he and Daryl stared at the bedroom door.

"Now would be good!" Beth screamed again and he hurried inside.

"Oh shit," Daryl muttered when he entered the room.

Beth was on the bed with both legs pulled up as far as she could get them and Merle was sitting on the bed, hunched over and pale.

"What tha hell's wrong?" Daryl finally asked.

Merle glared up at him then motioned for him to come closer but he stayed right there by the door.

"It's alright, Daryl." Beth said with gritted teeth. "It seems Merle ain't as tough as he thought. He started throwin' up when he checked to see if ….." Then she screamed again and Merle jumped up and threw back the sheet that was covering her up.

Daryl almost laughed at the look on his brother's face, almost. He was that stupid.

"Get over 'ere, baby brotha," Merle muttered. "Ya got ta deliver this kid. Junior's already crownin'."

"Crownin'?" Daryl questioned.

"Oh for God's sake," Beth mumbled. "Get over here and get this kid out of me!"

Carl walked around the living room, bouncing Judith as he did to try to keep her calm while Beth was screaming.

It was all so overwhelming for him to be there, listening to her screams like he did with his mom but at least he knew if something happened, Merle and Daryl would be the ones to take care of her. He just wasn't up for that this time around.

Judy cooed and pulled on his hair a little but he didn't mind.

After a while he finally sat down on the floor and put Judy down next to him.

"Ma….ma," Judy mumbled and pointed to the bedroom door when Beth started screaming again.

Carl smiled and nodded. "Mama," he repeated. "Mama's havin' a baby. You excited 'bout that?" He asked his sister. He didn't expect any kind of reaction from her but she grinned and clapped her hands together.

Merle showed Daryl the books and pointed out exactly what it was he was supposed to do then he took his spot behind Beth and gave her his hand to hold on to.

It seemed to Beth that it took forever for her to finally give that last push but as soon as she did, she fell back against Merle and sighed.

Merle kissed her forehead and smiled. "Ya ready ta see if I's right, Mama?"

Beth closed her eyes, smiled, and nodded as Merle eased from behind her and over to Daryl and the baby.

She laid back on the bed while they took care of cleaning up the baby then scooted back enough to sit up against the headboard and reached her arms out when Merle turned to her with the baby wrapped in a little blanket.

He smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen and gently placed the baby in her arms.

She gave a little laugh and smiled. "I guess you were right, Merle, Dixon's don't have daughters."

"Damn straight. Told ya Junior 'ere was gon' be a boy."

"You're not really namin' him Junior, are ya?" Daryl asked from the foot of the bed.

"Naw," Merle shook his head. "It's jus' what I been callin' 'im."

Beth shook her head. "I happen to like Junior. Besides, you've been callin' him Junior this long, why change it now?"

"We ain't namin' that boy Junior," Merle replied sternly.

Beth just gave him a little smile then looked down at the baby in her arms. "We're namin' him Junior and that's final."

Merle shook his head. "I done told ya, Sugar, we ain't namin' 'im Junior."

She cocked her head to the side and looked up at him and asked, "How about Merle Junior then?"

"Aw hell," Merle mumbled. "I ain't winnin' this one, am I?"

"Nope," Beth said with a laugh.

All the while Daryl was standing there, watching this little exchange and how happy they were and he knew then this change was here to stay.

His brother, Merle Dixon, was a changed man, a better man and it was all because of Beth.

Carl had picked up Judy when they heard the baby crying and was waiting by the bedroom door when Daryl opened it and gave him a nod to step inside.

"Bring her here," Beth said happily when she saw Judy.

Carl did as he was told and sat down on the bed next to Beth, letting Judy crawl out of his arms and over to her.

"Hey Angel," Merle said to her as he picked her up to look at the baby. "This 'ere is yer baby brotha Junior."

Three Months Later…

"You don't have to go," Beth said with tears in her eyes. "You're our family and we need y'all."

"We gotta go, Beth," Daryl murmured, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Me an' Carl, we told tha others we'd meet up with 'em if we found y'all or not an' that's what we're gon' do."

Beth reached her arm out and pulled Carl to her and said, "Y'all better come back."

She and Merle stood on the porch of their little cabin, Merle with Judy in his arms and Beth with Junior in hers, as they watched Daryl and Carl walking away.

"We should be goin' with them," she said.

"I know but we got a good thing 'ere right now. Maybe when Junior gets a lil' older we'll see if we can find 'em somehow."

Later that night after Judy and Junior had fallen asleep and Beth had laid down, Merle sat down in the recliner, opened an envelope and unfolded the papers Daryl had given them before he left.

Inside there were letters from Rick, Maggie, and Hershel, all with the same message that if they were reading them, they were sorry for how they had acted and they wanted them to come home, wherever home was now.

There was also a map with the route their family was supposed to be taking to their new home and he knew that eventually he would have to show these to Beth, but until then they would stay here where he knew they were safe.

He would protect Beth, Judy, and Junior until the day he died and then he prayed like hell they would all be with their family so he didn't have to worry about them.

A/N: This chapter was much shorter than I planned but I felt it was time to wrap it up and hopefully this was worth the long wait. Thank y'all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. This was my very first Meth story and I am really going to miss writing for it.

Please leave a review!

-Angie