Rick returned in the morning and Parker, exhausted from waking up to feed the baby in the middle of the night and staying awake for an extra two hours until she fell asleep, barely saw him at the cell block door. That is until her brother spoke, and she jumped so hard that she knocked her breakfast onto the floor. "Damn it.."

"Everybody okay?" Rick asked after staring at her for a second, entering the room slowly.

"Yeah, we are," Maggie replied, everyone watched him, all pausing what they were doing.

"What about you?" Hershel eyed him as he walked closer to the group.

"Cleared out the boiler block," Rick announced, ignoring the question he was asked.

"How many were there?" Daryl questioned, spoon halfway to his mouth.

"I don't know," Rick answered, still looking empty like he wasn't really processing anything. "A dozen.. two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl and Parker. See how they were doing."

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies," Glenn told him, getting up from his spot at one of the tables. "You don't have to." 

"No, I do." He nodded his head as he quickly walked over to Daryl. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

"Yeah. We're runnin' low on ammo though." Daryl responded.

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon," Glenn cut in. "Found a phone book. Some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula."

"We cleaned out the generator room," Parker added. "Axel is trying to fix it. In case of emergency. We were also thinking about going and clearing out the lower levels too."

"Good," Rick replied, "Good." He walked out the way he came and Hershel shouted his name. Parker shook her head not even the littlest bit surprised at how Rick had been acting. 

"Let him go."

"So he can get himself killed?" Glenn slightly snapped at her.

"So he can grieve," Parker replied cooly, looking at the cellblock doors. "Look, he feels guilty. He and Lori weren't doing well, we all knew that. We saw it for ourselves. He feels like he's failed. Like he won't be able to fix things before it's too late. He'll be fine. We just have to let him process it his way."

"But we need him," Maggie insisted. "He's our leader."

"I think we're doing fine on our own," Parker responded, looking at her through the corner of her eyes. "Look, I want him to get better. He's my brother, and I hate seeing him like this, but... that's how he handles things. When our mom died, he behaved the same way. The only reason he snapped out of it was because I broke my ankle falling down the stairs. He had to take me to the hospital. He'll come back when he's ready, or when something forces him to."

"So, you're just telling us to give up?" Glenn asked. Parker simply shrugged her shoulders and nodded. 

"Look, I know it'll probably be hard to do, but he'll come back. I promise."

"I trust Parker," Daryl mumbled, pointing the spoon he was holding at her. "If she says he'll come back, I believe her. I mean, she knows him best. She grew up with him."

"Thank you," Parker said, giving Daryl a grateful look. "And if he doesn't, I volunteer to talk some sense into him. In a sisterly fashion." The group laughed, causing a sigh of relief to leave Parker's lips and Carl smiled. 

"It wouldn't be the first time you hit him."

"What?" Beth asked, eyes wide. "What did he do?"

"I broke his nose when we were kids," Parker explained bluntly. "He broke the head off my favorite doll."

"So you broke his nose?" Maggie asked in disbelief.

"He decapitated my doll," Parker repeated.

"They used to fight all the time," Carl told them all. "Before, when she came over on Fridays and we played baseball, she and Dad always used to tackle each other."

"Now I know where she learned everything from," Daryl looked up from his food.

"Yeah, hitting my older brother," Parker said laughing. Later that day, Daryl found himself walking through the prison with Carl and Oscar. Parker had wanted to go, but since she was dead on her feet, Hershel demanded that she rest for at least a day. She didn't need to be told twice. Daryl had never seen someone look so happy to sleep on a prison bed before her. Oscar noticed the door to his right slightly move. 

"Check it out, man. Must have missed it last night."

"It's probably just one or two of 'em," Daryl shrugged it off. "Don't look they got much fight." He pressed his finger to the door shaking it a bit. "They ain't goin' nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back." He noticed Carl standing to the side, looking at the ground. He hadn't said much since the previous day and Daryl knew that Parker was worried about him. Daryl whistled to him. "Come on," He sighed. Parker loved this kid like he was her own son, and Daryl liked him too. "You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims. I was playin' out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They uh, they jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know? Hoping to see something worth seeing. I ran after them but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me. Hell, I saw everybody lookin' at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed, burnt down to nothin'. That was the hard part. You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way." Daryl laughed dryly. "I don't know. She made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?" Carl sighed after a short silence. 

"I shot my mom. She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real," He looked at Daryl then back down to his feet. "Sorry about your mom."

"I'm sorry about yours," Daryl responded, gently squeezing Carl's shoulder. "Come on."

"I see how you are with my aunt," Carl finally said as they continued down the hall. "How you helped her. Thank you for taking care of her."

"Well, she spends all her time taking care of others," Daryl shined his flashlight into one of the rooms, checking in for any walkers. "Figured someone had to take care of her for a change."

"She loves you, you know?" Carl blurted out, and at those words, Daryl felt like a knot had been tied in his stomach.

"Doubt that. We haven't said anything." Daryl quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure Oscar was still behind them.

"Seriously? Why not?"

"Dont know," Daryl turned the corner, crossbow raised in case there was anything to worry about.

"I think she's waiting for you to say it," Carl said, adding the 'I think' to prevent Parker from having an awkward conversation later. She had already told Carl that she was waiting for Daryl to say it first, but he didn't want to embarrass either of them. "And I think she's scared." Now, Parker hadn't told him that, but Carl wasn't stupid. He knew Parker had trouble opening her heart up to anyone other than Rick or... Lori. Only reason he knew any of the stuff he did was because of listening to conversations. Daryl looked at him. 

"What do you mean?"

"Her last boyfriend," Carl elaborated. "He was a jerk. He treated her badly and then cheated on her. I was only six, but as I got older, my parents told me what happened when I asked her. I guess she's just afraid you'll hurt her too or something."

"Well, she shouldn't be." 

"You love her?" Carl asked again, Daryl sighed. 

"I don't know."

"I think so," Carl continued. "You look at her the same way my mom and dad used to look at each other. You should tell her."

"Maybe," Daryl said, still struggling to believe that a child was telling him how to be an adult. "When the time is right." Carl nodded. 

"Please don't hurt her."

"I won't hurt her, and I won't let anyone else hurt her," Daryl assured him. "But she can take care of herself."

"We all can," Carl stated. "Doesn't mean we should."

"No, you're right," Daryl agreed. "But, hey, I'll take care of you too." Carl smiled up at him. 

"Thanks." When they returned to their cell block later that day they found Parker sitting with the baby in her arms. She had woken up an hour ago, and the first thing she did was look for her niece, hugging her so that Lori's death had not been completely in vain. It helped her realize that some good had come out of it. She was sitting on the bench when Rick walked in, looking a little better than before. She looked at him with a soft smile appearing on her face. 

"Hey, you ready to meet your little girl?"

"Hello." Rick looked at her in astonishment, gently taking her from Parker's arms. He handled her extremely carefully, holding her against his chest the same way Daryl had before. The Grimes family ventured outside to get some fresh air, and Rick looked down at his daughter and then at Carl. "She looks like you. You wanna hold her?" Rick asked, handing her to Carl, who nodded.

"Hey, Rick?" Parker asked. "Are you okay?" He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. He wasn't okay, and she doubted he would be for a long time, but the mere fact that he had recognized his daughter was proof that Parker's big speech to her friends was right. Rick would come back, it might take him a while, but he would come back. He may not be the same one as before, but Rick Grimes wouldn't abandon them. As Rick headed to the fence to deal with the walkers that had begun to pile up, he was surprised to find a woman standing in the middle of the group, as if the walkers surrounding her were nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around her. Rick looked at the woman and the woman just stared back at him.