Ok everyone...this is the final chapter. I am very sorry it took so long to finish out this story, I have a really bad habit of not finishing my stories because new ideas pop into my mind and I get distracted and all that. But I wanted to finish this one for you all :)

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The farm was in a frenzy. A good sort of frenzy, but a frenzy none the less, and it was highly unsettling for the Dixon brothers as everyone's personalities had begun to change. The snow had fallen a few night's prior and had been powdering off and on ever since, every once in a while throughout the days, big fat flakes would fall and add to the blanket on the ground. It wasn't a completely white terrain around them, but it was good enough to cover the majority of the ground and coat the tree branches.

Merle had mused that there must be something in the snow that affected non-Dixons, because everyone was ridiculously smiley and everyone was laughing and whispering and being giggly, it was somewhat disconcerting. Daryl figured there might just be something to Merle's theory as he watched Lori and Rick kissing underneath a stupid little bundle of leaves in the doorway to the living room on his way into the kitchen to see Carol.

"Oh, Daryl, I'm glad you're here!" Carol smiled at him when he stepped into the kitchen. She was washing dishes, but she didn't seemed bothered by it even though he knew she hated that job. "I need you to gather everyone up and get them to come inside."

"What for?" Daryl questioned, dropping the string of small game he'd come in to give her in the first place on the island.

"You'll see," Carol smiled, flicking sudsy water at him. He dodged it and smiled.

"Sure, I'll get 'em," he agreed. He interrupted Rick and Lori to give them the message and they jumped apart, blushing furiously. Rick stuttered that he would help find everyone and they soon had everyone rounded up and in the living room. Carol walked in with a bowl, smiling from ear to ear, making Daryl's stomach flip at the sight of it.

"Ok, here's the deal," she announced happily, "Christmas is coming very soon! As you can see, I already started the decorations."

She pointed at the leaves hung in the doorway and there was a collection of laughter in the room that Daryl and Merle had no clue how to interpret.

"But something we always did in my family was do a name draw," Carol continued, "We put all our names in this bowl on paper pieces and everyone takes one piece. Whoever's name you get is who you get a present for."

There was an excited murmur from most everyone in the room, but Daryl and Merle just exchanged similar, understanding looks. They'd never bought or received a gift in their lives and they had no clue how the hell they were suppose to find anything to give anyone in the current state of affairs. But they kept silent and drew their papers along with everyone else. Thankfully, no one drew their own name and so there was complete and utter secrecy amongst them as they eyed the names on their papers.

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The next couple of weeks were spent readying the farm for Christmas. The cows were herded closer to the farm to take up residence in the barn if they felt like it, and the sweet smell of cattle could be smelled from every corner of the place. Firewood was being stored up in large amounts as the sky threatened to pour down more snow. Daryl was out in the woods nearly every spare second of his days, bringing back meat of all kinds.

But for Carol, Beth, Maggie, Lori and Patricia, all the preparation inside the house was the icing on the proverbial cake. Maggie, Beth and Patricia had gleefully led Carol and Lori upstairs where they found boxes full of decorations, ornaments, and assorted Christmas paraphernalia and they had gone absolutely crazy with the decorating, adding to the mistletoe Carol had hung several days prior.

"Carl," Carol said as she brought the ladder in from the shed, "Can you please go find Sophia and tell her we're decorating for Christmas if she wants to join us? She loves this part!"

Carl nodded eagerly, setting down the box of garland he'd brought downstairs. He trotted out the door and found Sophia playing with Lulu by the woodpile where Merle was stacking the wood Daryl was chopping nearby.

"Sophia! Come on, we're decorating the house for Christmas!" Carl announced eagerly, pulling Sophia to her feet and tugging her arm excitedly. Daryl eyed them with that threatening squint and Carl immediately released his hold and hung his head slightly.

"They are?!" Sophia squealed excitedly, "Oh my gosh! Come on, Carl, let's go!"

The two kids ran back to the house and added their hands to the decorating efforts. Carol couldn't even describe the warmth inside her as she watched the two children and Beth sorting through the box of garland and the boxes of knick knacks. Sophia handed her a long string of plain green garland and Carol hung it gently and perfectly on the pre-hung hooks on the fireplace so that it framed it beautifully, then she added a strand of silver to give the effect of snow on the green and they all stepped back to look at the end result. Beth started placing little collection of candle holder village buildings on the mantel and Carol went to the kitchen to get the tealight candles from the box Lori, Patricia and Maggie had taken to the kitchen to begin their decorating there.

They had already unwrapped all the Christmas plates, cups, silverware, placemats and other kitchenware and Carol picked up one the plate with a warm smile. White china plates outlined with holly leaves and red berries, much like her old Christmas plate set.

"How's the living room coming along?" Lori asked brightly, sitting down to feed Judith.

"We're working on the mantel right now," Carol replied with a smile, "Are those tealights in this box, Patricia?"

Patricia nodded and tossed her the pack of candles and Carol headed back to the living room. She walked smack into the back of Daryl as she rounded the corner and she giggled as he looked at her funny.

"Want to help decorate?" she asked, waving the tealights at him. He eyed them funny and then smiled.

"I wouldn't know where t' start," he admitted, "I ain't never celebrated Christmas."

Carol's heart squeezed uncomfortably at his confession and she almost gave him a pitying look but she stopped herself and nodded.

"Well, you're going to this year!" she stated confidently, "Starting now!"

She leaned forward and pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his sweetly then backed off with a grin. He was grinning too.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Carol pointed up at the sprig of mistletoe in the doorway.

"It's tradition to kiss someone of the opposite gender under the mistletoe," she stated simply. "Not that I need that excuse to kiss you, Daryl. Come on, help us decorate!"

"Can't," Daryl sighed, eyeing the boxes almost wistfully, "Rick, T-Dog, Jimmy and I are going out to chop down some trees."

Carol clapped her hands together suddenly, making Daryl jump and look at her strangely.

"Daryl while you're out there, can you cut us down a Christmas tree?!" she squealed excitedly.

Daryl smiled at her expression and laughed lightly before he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"O' course I can," he replied, "I'll getcha a perfect one."

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That night, everyone came bursting into the house at the same time and Carol nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud bang of the door and the commotion coming from the porch. She heard Daryl's name mentioned several times and she felt her heart jump into her throat in concern. She dropped the wreath she had been hanging on Hershel's bedroom door and ran down the stairs to see what had happened. When she reached the foyer she stopped in her tracks and smiled.

Daryl and Rick were dragging a good sized spruce tree on a makeshift sledge across the driveway and everyone was grinning like crazy as they scurried around the living room pointing at the corner of the living room next to the large sliding door where they'd cleared a space for it. Between Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Jimmy they managed to get the tree in and up while T-Dog nailed the stabilizing boards to the trunk to keep it upright. Finally they stepped back and eyed their handiwork and the women and kids clapped in excitement. Carol stood back behind everyone and waited for Daryl step back like she knew he would, like he always did and she took his hand inconspicuously and smiled softly at him.

"Thank you, Daryl," she whispered, "It's perfect."

He smiled back and she felt him squeeze her hand tighter.

"Can we decorate it?!" Sophia came running up with Carl on her heels. "There's a whole box of decorations and tinsel and things! Even some candy canes that are still good!"

"How d'ya know they're still good?" Daryl asked with a knowing grin.

"Um...Carl and I split one," Sophia admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Ask Maggie or Herschel," Carol said with a chuckle, "It's their things."

The kids scurried off to find one of them. Hershel smiled at the kids and nodded, Carol couldn't hear what he said but Sophia fixed that. She stood up on the fireplace hearth and announced they were going to decorate the tree and everyone should take a seat while she and Carl handed out the ornaments for everyone to hang. Carol laughed and pulled a confused Daryl towards the couch and they sat down and waited.

"Is everyone in here?" Carl asked, looking around.

"Uncle Merle's not!" Sophia announced with a look of utter horror on her face. "We better go get him!"

"I'll go," Andrea announced, she was the only one who hadn't taken a seat yet so she headed for the door. A while later, she returned with a nervous looking Merle on her tail, they halted in the doorway and leaned against the frame on either side.

Carol got a wicked idea.

"Kiss you two!" she called, "You're under the mistletoe!"

Andrea's eyes went wide and she looked up to see the aforementioned sprig and then proceeded to give Carol a look that could melt steel. But she must have been one for following tradition or superstition because she sighed and turned to Merle, pulling his face down and pressing a quick kiss to his lips, leaving him looking utterly shocked and embarrassed...Carol mused that expression ran deep in the Dixon family.

"Gross! Let's do the tree!" Sophia laughed, running over and taking Merle and Andrea's hands and pulling them into the room. They sat on the floor, avoiding the others' eyes and then Carl and Sophia began an assembly line where Carl pulled out the ornaments and hung them on the little hooks and Sophia took them from him to hand out among the people in the room. Carol accepted the little glass bell from her daughter with a smile and held it up to look at. It was delicate and clear with silver details of stars etched into the glass and she almost cried because it was so pretty and so unlike anything she'd seen in so long. She glanced over when Sophia ran up to Daryl and handed him a plastic reindeer with a bright red nose.

"Rudolph," Carol giggled, pointing at the little ornament in his hands. He looked at her with a totally confused look.

"What'dya say just now?" he asked, clearly annoyed at his lack of Christmas knowledge. Carol giggled.

"That reindeer ornament your holding," Carol clarified, "It's name is Rudolph. There was an old claymation movie and there's a song...we'll sing it tonight, don't worry."

"Ok," Sophia chimed before Daryl could reply, "Everybody hang your first one!"

Everyone stood and lined up to hang their given items on the tree and then returned to their seats. Carol noticed Daryl and Merle both looked ridiculously nervous about the whole ordeal but they remained silent and Daryl even managed a small smile when Sophia handed him his next ornament, a plain golden ball ornament. Carol received a ceramic angel holding a painted gold horn.

After several rounds of this, the tree was stuffed with every single ornament out of the box. Carl and Sophia hung the candy canes and tossed the tinsel on the branches and when they stepped back everyone looked at the tree with a universal expression of nostalgia and longing for things they knew they'd never have again...all except for Daryl and Merle, who looked thoughtful.

"Tomorrow's the twenty-fifth," Hershel said suddenly, breaking the silence with his choked voice. "I think she should all do our best to make it as festive as possible. After all, this season is about celebrating the birth of Jesus and I believe it's Him that has kept us all alive and brought us all together. We ought to remember that."

Everyone agreed and took that as the signal to depart to their various sleeping quarters. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

"Daryl," Carol stated as they walked to the RV, Sophia skipped along beside them with Lulu at her heels, "Tomorrow I'd like it very much if you and Merle would help me and the girls with the baking and stuff. I know you're thinking I'm crazy but...this is the first Christmas you've ever had and I think you'll really like what goes on in a house on Christmas."

She expected him to balk, but he simply gave her a smile and nodded.

"I'll get my chores done early," he stated, opening the RV door for her. She stepped up and then leaned down to press a kiss to the tip of his nose, making him crinkle it like he always did when she kissed him like that, and then went inside laughing.

"I'ma do a quick look around," he chuckled from behind her on the ground, "Just be sure."

Carol nodded. He did this every night and she always admired his survival instincts and his loyalty to keep them all safe. She tucked Sophia into bed and then made her way to the back and kicked off her shoes then pulled on her pajama pants, leaving on her sweater. She laid down in the darkness on the bed and waited for Daryl to return.

She heard him come in a few minutes later. The click of the lock announced he'd locked the door and the halt in his steps announced he'd stopped to kiss Sophia goodnight and she heard his murmured "Night, Peaches" and the reply of "Night, daddy, love you!" from Sophia before she heard him come in the back and set his crossbow down next to the bed and kick his boots off. She felt the bed shift as he slid in behind her, his arm soon came over her shoulder to pull her back into him.

"See you tomorrow," he whispered before they both drifted off to sleep.

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Carol and Sophia were up at dawn and heading for the house, both of them had a spring in their steps as they reached the porch and went inside. The place was already bustling, the men were getting up to do the outside work and the women were congregated in the kitchen, even Andrea was in there.

"Ok," Carol laughed rolling up her sleeves, "First things first, let's decided what all we want to cook!"

Once they had compiled a decent list of food, they began to bustle around the kitchen and cellar and the generator run freezer gathering their ingredients. Carol was heading out the door to get flour from the root cellar when she saw Daryl coming across the yard, grinning and carrying something over his shoulder. As he trotted up the stairs, he held up a pretty good sized Canadian Goose, three rabbits and a string of fish.

"How's this for a contribution?" he asked brightly.

"How'd you get a bird with your crossbow?!" Carol asked in amazement.

"Well, I'll tell ya, it takes a hell of a stubborn person," he laughed, "Merle actually caught the fish. He won't be here for a while, he and Glenn went for a quick run into town."

Carol rolled her eyes and took the goose and rabbits from him and motioned with her head for him to follow her to the kitchen where they laid the meat down and received several excited squeals.

"My goodness!" Lori said happily, "We're going to have a gorgeous dinner!"

"Daryl Dixon, you never cease to provide," Patricia said happily, taking the string of gutted fish and placing them on the counter to filet them.

"You go wash up and then come down here and we'll put you to work," Carol smiled, pushing Daryl out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Don't have to be so pushy, woman," Daryl grinned, but allowed himself to be shoved towards the steps. He took the steps two at a time and left Carol to return to her previous goal of getting flour.

Daryl showed up in the kitchen about twenty minutes later and Carol smiled at the sight of him all clean and ready to work. She pulled him over to where Sophia was mixing cookie batter in a bowl.

"I have no clue what I'm doin', Peaches," Daryl laughed as he eyed the ingredients around them.

"It's just sugar cookies, daddy," Sophia said simply, "Hand me the baking soda?"

"The what?" Daryl grumbled as he picked up the containers one by one. Sophia pointed at a plastic container of white powdery stuff and he handed it to her with a grunt. She put a tiny bit in her bowl of flour and then mixed it all in with her wet ingredients in the large bowl.

"Here," Sophia took pity on the very lost-looking Daryl and handed him the basket of cookie cutters, "Pick out the Christmas ones."

Daryl took the basket to where Carl was peeling potatoes with Lori and started digging through it. Candy Cane, yeah that was Christmassy. Angel. Star. Tree. Snowman. Reindeer. Rabbit.

"What does a rabbit have to do with Christmas?" Carl laughed as he pointed at the cutter Daryl had placed on the table.

"You're gonna be eatin' 'em for Christmas, ain't ya?" Daryl replied, just daring Carl to argue that fact.

"Good point," Lori giggled, dropping a potato into the bowl between her and her son.

Sophia joined them soon and eyed the cutters Daryl had laid out, she giggled when she saw the rabbit and the horse shapes but she didn't second guess him. In fact, she claimed she was going to decorate the horse to look like Nelly.

While they waited for the sugar cookies to be done, Daryl and Sophia were given the task of plucking the goose and skinning the rabbits outside on the porch so they went out to do so.

"This is a big bird, dad," Sophia claimed as she yanked out a hunk of feathers and put them in the bag Patricia had provided, claiming she would use the down for a pillow and the feathers would go to Daryl for arrow fletching.

"Mhm," Daryl replied as he carefully cut the skin from his first rabbit, "It's a Canadian Goose. Never ate one, they were protected before all this shit happened."

"You shot an endangered animal!?" Sophia looked horrified and she eyed the feathers in her hand with wide eyes.

"No! No, it ain't endangered," Daryl quickly assured her, "It was just illegal."

Sophia nodded, seemingly appeased. Soon enough they had accomplished their task and they washed off their freshly plucked and skinned animals at the well before taking it all back inside to be cooked. Carol immediately started soaking the goose in something and set it aside, the rabbits were set aside till it was time to cook the meat and fish.

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After the cookies came out of the oven, Carol put the goose in.

"That's going to take a few hours to cook," she said, "We can have the boys cook the rabbits and fish over the fire outside so it's all done around the same time."

Daryl felt a tug on the hem of his shirt and looked down to see Sophia's excited eyes.

"Now we get to decorate the cookies!" she whispered, her eyes shining. "It's the best part!"

Lori and Patricia set down five small bowls of brightly colored homemade icing.

"I want the red!" Sophia squealed as she snatched the bowl of red icing and a butter knife to spread it with.

"I get blue!" Carl stated, likewise claiming his bowl.

"Yellow!" Lori said, holding back her chosen bowl.

"White!" Merle's sudden exclamation made everyone at the table jump in surprise. Merle and Andrea stood in the doorway of the kitchen with a basket full of brightly colored packages, Andrea snatched the basket away and ran up the stairs with it while Merle took a seat at the table across from Daryl and claimed his bowl of white icing.

Carol smiled brightly as she sat next to Daryl with her bowl of green icing and a box full of assorted sprinkles.

"You want to ice or sprinkle?" she asked, offering both out to him. Daryl claimed the sprinkles with a grin.

The decoration began. Daryl's first cookie to sprinkle was a yellow star and he simply shook some blue sugar on it and set it aside. The next was a red horse and this one was done with much more care.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Sophia exclaimed as she examined the finished horse cookie. It had brown sprinkles for the mane, tail and hooves, blue circle sprinkles for eyes, and a green sprinkle saddle with a holly leaf and berry on its flank.

"Who knew you was an artist, little brother?" Merle sneered, but Carol noticed amusement in his eyes and not his old taunting gleam.

Cookie after cookie, snowflakes and bells and angels and rabbits and snowmen and santas...finally the last cookie was sprinkled and they all sat back with a sigh.

"They're so beautiful," Sophia sighed as she began loading the cookies onto cooling racks to let the icing harden.

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Everyone gathered for dinner as the sun began to set over the cow pasture, chores were done and everyone's bellies were rumbling from the smells coming from the kitchen. Glenn brought in the pan full of smoked fish and the rabbit and the feast was all there.

"Sit, sit, everybody," Carol sing songed as she pulled chairs out from around the huge dining room table. The tablecloth was dark red and white candles on crystal holders stood in the center surrounded by garland and fake holly leaves. The holiday dishes finished off the look, the whole display was stunning to everyone's beauty starved eyes.

Hershel took his place at the head of the table and Rick took the other end with Carl, everyone else filled in where they wanted.

"Goose," Lori stated happily as she set the steaming goose on the table on Hershel's side of the table.

"Trout!" Patricia smiled as she set the platter of fish on Rick's end.

"And rabbit!" Carol laughed, setting the rabbit next to the fish.

"Mashed potatoes!" Andrea squealed as she set her bowl down.

"Lima beans." Maggie stated unenthusiastically as she placed her bowl down. "I hate lima beans."

Everyone laughed as the ladies left to get the rest of the food.

"Cinnamon apples!"

"Peas!"

"Cranberry sauce!"

"And last, but not least, a lovely mixture of assorted animal organs."

"Dibs on the hearts!" Merle immediately said, Daryl's mouth was open to claim the same and he glared at his brother. "Sorry, little brother, but dibs wins it."

"Hearts!?" Carl shuddered.

"They're delicious!" Sophia licked her lips, "Daddy always keeps them for himself but he shares with me. Mom doesn't like them but I do!"

Carl looked a little sick but just swallowed thickly and didn't reply.

"We also have apple cider and a few kinds of soda the boys brought back from their run," Maggie said, "Who wants what?"

Once everyone had their drinks and Maggie sat down, Hershel gave a long blessing over the food and the night ahead...finally everyone was free to enjoy the beautifully made meal.

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After dinner was over, everyone dragged their overstuffed bellies into the living room and collapsed in various sitting places, everyone except Carl and Sophia.

"Can we open presents?" Carl asked.

"Can we sing Christmas songs?"

"Can you read the Christmas story?" Beth asked Hershel. Hershel smiled and nodded towards his Bible that sat on the table near the doorway which Beth fetched for him.

"The book of Luke tells us the wonderful story of why we celebrate this holiday," Hershel began solemnly, "The story of a very special baby's birth."

He cracked open the well used book and skimmed to the page he wanted and sat back to be more comfortable as he began to read: "In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world and everyone went to the town of his birth to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of Bethlehem the town of David for he was from the line of David. He went to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn."

A silence had fallen over the room as Hershel's voice read with passion and feeling, it was clear to everyone how important the words were to him.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Fear not! For I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be for all people! Today in the city of David a Savior has been born unto you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

"Isn't that beautiful?" Carol whispered to Daryl. Daryl nodded with his eyes fixed on Hershel.

"Suddenly a great company of the Heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace and goodwill to men!' So the shepherds hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him they went out and spread the word concerning what they had seen and heard and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told."

Hershel closed the Bible softly and the only sound to be heard was the sound of the fireplace crackling.

"I think now would be a perfect time for the songs," Patricia said softly, placing her hand on Beth's shoulder with a smile. Beth stood up and walked to the piano and took her seat on the bench. She placed her fingers on the keys and began to softly play the notes of "Silent Night", soon her voice joined as she added the words. One by one, people began to join in, even Daryl and Merle to the surprise of everyone.

Song after song they sang: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, What Child is This?, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and all the older hymns. But they also sang song like Frosty the Snowman and The Christmas Song and White Christmas. Finally, the last notes of the piano and echo of voices faded into silence.

The mood was relaxed and calm, everyone pondering their own thoughts. But it was short lived because Carl stood up and walked to the tree.

"I'll be the elf, Sophia, you can hand them out!" he stated, picking up one of the neatly wrapped packages from under the tree. Sophia stood up and joined him. "This one is for Patricia."

Sophia took the small package to where Patricia sat next to Beth on the piano bench. She took it with a smile and opened the box wrapped in shiny silver paper. Inside was a beautifully carved figure of a fox and she picked it up to examine it closely.

"It's beautifully done," she said in awe, "Such perfect detail! Thank you, Jimmy."

Jimmy blushed and nodded with a smile.

"This one is for Beth!" Carl called, handing Sophia a flat package wrapped in red paper with a green stick on bow. "From Carl."

Beth took the package with a grin and ripped it open unceremoniously. A flat piece of smoothly polished wood lay on her lap, painted yellow on one side with the words "Life is worth living with family by your side" in blue.

"Thank you, Carl," she said with a shy smile in his direction, "Nothing could be more true."

"For my dad," Carl picked up the next gift, a square box wrapped in gold with a white ribbon around it. "From...you, Sophia!"

Sophia giggled and took the box to Rick who took it with a knowing grin as he felt the weight of it. It was a box of bullets for his Python.

"Perfect," he said to Sophia, "This is literally just what I needed."

"Dad picked them up for me," Sophia giggled, "But I thought of it!"

"To Glenn, from Andrea." Carl named the next gift. He tossed the red wrapped box to Sophia who skipped over to hand it to Glenn.

"New socks!" Glenn laughed, "This is the first time in life I've been happy to get clothes for Christmas!"

Everyone laughed, thoroughly agreeing.

"Andrea's from Maggie," Carl handed up the next package, his head stuck deep under the tree as he reached further back for the next one. Sophia handed the green box to Andrea.

"A new pistol?!" Andrea squealed, handling the shiny black weapon gently. "It's just what I need, Mags! And bullets to go with it! Perfect!"

"For Jimmy from Patricia," Carl hollered from under the tree, pushing a blue wrapped box out. Sophia struggled to lift the large box but managed to drag it to where Jimmy sat. It contained a collection of books, mostly classic novels.

"To...you from Hershel!" Carl stated as he pushed out another package, gold with red ribbons.

Sophia gleefully sat down and tore open the wrappings. She pulled out her old doll that Daryl had found in the river, but the doll was fresh and new looking, sewn up and the face restitched.

"Oh, Mr. Hershel! I had forgotten all about her!" Sophia squealed happily as she hugged the doll close. "Thank you very much for fixing her!"

Hershel smiled and told her it was his pleasure.

"Carol's from Glenn!" Carl stated, scooting out from under the tree with a white package with blue ribbons. Sophia happily took the box to her mother and set her doll next to Daryl on the couch.

Carol opened the box and clapped her hand over her mouth, stifling a shocked gasp and then laughter. Daryl curiously looked into the box and sent an amused glare in Glenn's direction.

"Figured you two could use them," Glenn shrugged.

Carol handed the box of various personal lubricants to Daryl and told him to close it and not let Sophia see.

"To Maggie from T-Dog!" Carl said, clearly unaware of the laughter in the room. He shoved out a blue wrapped package and Sophia skipped over to deliver it.

Maggie pulled out the still packaged kukri and grinned.

"I am going to need this, I have a feeling," she stated grimly. "Thank you, T-Dog. I will use it well."

"I have no doubt about that," T-Dog nodded, "Sorry it's not a more happy gift, but I wanted it to be something you need. A weapon of your own for you to be excellent with like Daryl with his crossbow and Rick with his big ass gun."

That statement broke the tension and laughter floated around the room again as Rick comically looked down at his gun.

"This one is for Hershel," Carl passed out a silver package wrapped elegantly with green sparkly ribbon. "From my mom."

Hershel took the package from Sophia and opened it reverently, it contained a collection of bandages, ointment and other first aid necessities.

"We can never have too much of things like this," Hershel stated with a nod, "And I thank you, Lori, for thinking of it."

Lori nodded in return with a smile.

"To T-Dog," Carl handed Sophia a small red package with a white stick on bow. "From Carol."

T-Dog pulled the cigarettes out of the box with a grin as big as Texas and laughed happily.

"You know me well, woman!" he said happily. "Thanks, Carol!"

"Anytime, T-Dog." Carol replied with a laugh.

"To my mom," Carl hollered from behind the tree, he slid out a box wrapped in gold. "From Daryl. This ought to be good!"

Sophia picked up the box with a grin and handed it Lori.

"I know what it is," she whispered, "You'll love it!"

Lori's eyes misted as she pulled out the tiny, furry baby moccasin-type shoes and she looked over at Daryl in disbelief, he just shrugged.

"It only took a little bit of rabbit skin," he stated, "Figured the kid needed some warm stuff."

Lori also pulled out a rabbit skin cap sized perfectly for a baby.

"Daryl," she stated softly, "They're perfect. Thank you so much for thinking of her."

Daryl nodded, looking uncomfortable at the praise.

"To Merle," Carl shoved out a tiny, tiny box wrapped in green. "From my dad."

Sophia handed the tiny box to Merle who had some trouble opening it with one hand. He gently picked out the bullet casing from in the box and held it up to inspect. Inscribed in the bullet was the word "Trust".

"That's the casing of the bullet you used to shoot Shane," Rick stated quietly, "You won your place among us that day. We all trust you, Merle, we all want you to know and remember that."

Merle noticed the bullet was connected to a necklace chain and he hung it around his neck with a tightly clenched jaw, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Thank you, Rick," he said thickly, "It means a lot to hear that."

"And for Daryl," Carl scooted out from under the tree with the final package, wrapped sloppily in newspaper. "From Merle."

Sophia happily took the gift over to Daryl, who took it carefully, not meeting anyone's eyes. He slowly opened the box and stared at the contents for a long while in silence.

"Well?" Sophia asked impatiently, "What is it?"

Daryl silently held up a set of keys.

"For my bike, little brother," Merle stated, "You took good care of her, I want you to have her."

Daryl swallowed loudly and cleared his throat. He looked over at Merle with glistening eyes.

"That bike means everything to you," he said softly.

"Not more than you, shit-head," Merle replied seriously.

The silence in the room was heavy as everyone held their breath, waiting for Daryl's reaction.

Daryl closed his eyes and closed his hand over the keys, gripping them tightly. Then he visibly relaxed and a wide smile spread over his face as he lifted his head.

"I never thought I'd hear ya say that, brother," he said simply, the brother both nodded to eachother and that was enough for them to both grasp the enormity of the other's feelings.

"I don't know about everyone else," Sophia said loudly, "But this has been the best Christmas of my life!"

And everyone in the room agreed, falling back into their own minds as they watched the flames in the fireplace crackle.

"Hey, look!" Carl called from the window seat, "It's snowing!"

Sure enough, thick flakes were fluttering down from the sky, blanketing the ground in white, shining in the moonlight. It had been a long time since any one in that room had seen anything so peaceful and beautiful. It was indeed a wonderful Christmas and everyone was relaxed for the first time in a very long time...for as long as it lasted.

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Tada! The end! Thanks you to all my readers who stuck with this story and your beautiful reviews! You all have made me feel more confident about my writing and I want you all to know I am in the process of writing an actual book I plan to publish. Thank you all for your encouragement and positive feedback and your ideas which helped spur this story along. I am so sorry it took me so long to complete it, but I am very glad I came back to finish it.

God Bless and have a Merry Christmas!