Kenny let his eyes gravitate to the choked sound, doing a double take as he recognized the dirty face, brown eyes and, most prominently, the freckles he would know from anywhere. He lowered his gun down from its aim as he looked at his son, awe striking him as he relished in seeing what he can only describe as a miracle happening right in front of his eyes.

His son's face was caked in dirt and dried blood, his hair shaved and, while starting to grow again, still looked odd on the son who he remembers never really liked haircuts. He looked tired, stressed, older. He had facial hair, which only reminded Kenny of how much he was missing as a father. His clothes were torn and his body had built up considerable muscle and roughness from the harshness the world forced upon him.

All in all, his son didn't look anything like the boy he remembered and Kenny was wondering if he'd even recognize him in passing had he not had the chance to study Duck's face.

They stared for a moment, halting the argument with shock and an atmosphere that was hard to place, effectively silencing everyone. Clementine pushed Luke out of the way of her view and held onto Duck's arm, making him jump slightly but not look away from his father. She then followed his gaze to where his eyes lay, her eyes going wide but silencing herself even with the shock.

"...Kenny? Do you know them...?" A voice behind the man said but Duck couldn't register the voice. Neither had he register that he was moving until he felt his walk turn into a small sprint and let himself run into Kenny, wrapping his dad into a hug and forcing his arms to squeeze as tight as he possibly could. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, willing the wetness he felt away and burying his face into his dad's shirt, knowing his father would feel the tears soak through when he couldn't keep them from falling anymore.

Kenny was pushed back with the weight of Duck's body crashing into his, soon followed by Clementine's own weight crashing into both of them and making him heave from the impact.

"I'm guessing that's a yes," He heard the same man say, this time registering the voice but not caring less of who he actually was. How could he when his father's scent, warmth and the sound of his heart was so close to him? The amount of times he's dreamt of this situation, the number of days he daydreamed of what he'd say, the amount of times he had lost hope that he'd meet him again and he can't form a single syllable right now for fear his voice would break or he'd sound unintelligible through the tears.

"I thought you were dead..." Duck finally said after finding his courage, his voice shaky and muffled as his whole body shook, tears becoming harder to control as the years of pent up sadness came crawling back up and exploding like the ticking time bomb he knew it was. "I thought I killed you and I thought you didn't make it out and I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry, dad. I never should've been so clumsy and- and I never should've just-done anything! I should've never moved! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"Duck, what're you goin' on about?" Kenny asked, prying his son's arms off of him, pushing Clementine off in the process and kneeling to his level with his hands on Duck's shoulders in an attempt to console the boy. He then held Duck's face in his hands, the wetness of his tears coating Kenny's palms.

"I thought I killed you and it's my fault and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! You don't know how much I wanted to take back what happened and how much I wish it was different— how much I wish I was different! I was a stupid kid! And I still am! I wish I-"

"Duck, that's enough. You didn't get me killed so there's no use for these tears," Kenny said, making Duck finally open his eyes and attempt to slow down his crying and breathing to no avail.

"But I—"

"What you did was fall into a building from the roof and lose your footing due to your shoe getting stuck in a crack on that very roof. You weren't stupid, you just obeyed the laws of gravity. I went in and saved you and goddamnit, I'd do it again. Ya know what woulda happened if I didn't?" Kenny asked, looking for a answer that never came from a ruined Duck. "You wouldn't be here and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be dead right now either,"

Duck didn't say anything, just swallowed his own spit and continued breathing, taking big, slow gulps of air in an attempt to calm down. He didn't believe a word his father said, nor did he want to think he wasn't at fault even as Kenny put it in simple terms and made his muddled mind finally use logic after so many years. There were a million of different scenarios he thought of throughout the years about how his father could've been saved just as he had every death he deemed himself responsible for, his brain reserving an entire space especially just for his mother.

Instead of saying said scenarios, however, Duck accepted what his father said, letting out a shaky breath as he silented his protests and finally let himself find comfort in his father's forgiveness. Duck saw Kenny give him a sad smile as he tried to wipe the tears away from his son's cheeks. "My poor boy...." Was all Kenny said as Duck wrapped his arms around his neck to force another hug, burying his face into the crook of his neck in fear that, if he didn't hold on tight enough, Kenny would be taken away from him again.

Duck sniffed once. Twice. Three times. His breath was a steady staccato as he tried his best to calm down but it was a fruitless wish, he soon realized. "They're with you, right, Ducky?" Kenny asked, pulling Duck's arms from around him and standing. This made Duck pull his attention from his father and overlook the entire group behind him.

"Yeah..."

"We can talk inside,"

"Great! I just started dinner!" A man behind Kenny said, enthusiastic tone as he did. Nobody moved, however, until a beat later when Carlos spoke up.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"It's gonna storm soon. Besides that, Kenny's son and.... daughter...?"

"No. She was a survivor in the first group my son and I were a part of," Kenny explained to his friend, causing him to nod.

"Either way, we can't very well let you all stay out here when we've got plenty of room. Wouldn't be fair to take the kids and leave you out here," The man smiled at them, a cheery tone as his eyes crinkled at the edges, looking as if he had so much joy pre-apocalypse and perhaps even post. Only then did anyone move, Duck remaining close to Kenny's side and Clementine staying just as close to Duck's, which ultimately made for their older group to be slightly behind them.

———-

The man opened the doors to the lodge before he spoke to the children. "Kenny and Sarita have been staying with us for several weeks," He explained, noting how Clementine looked around her area. "It used to be a ski lodge so we obviously have plenty of food and, believe it or not, we still get some power from that wind turbine out front," He walked up the stairs as he kept talking. "We tend to keep the lights off to avoid drawing attention but after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exception," He finished, Kenny making a 'blah blah' motion with his hands behind his friend's back, causing Duck and Clementine to laugh under their breaths. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothin', Walt," Kenny said, coming up beside the man known as Walt and clamping a hand on his shoulder. "Walter here's one smart son of a bitch. Makes a mean can of beans too," Kenny said, looking at both Clementine and Duck and seeing a smile on each of their faces. Though, he noticed his son's was much more bigger and brighter than Clementine's. She almost looked like her mind was elsewhere while Duck was focusing entirely on his father, Kenny not helping himself from making a note. What was she thinking about? They were safe here, she trusted him, right? Kenny knew that Clementine trusted him. Maybe Lee just told her to be careful even when comfortable?

With that thought, Kenny reminisced about his time with Lee. He wondered how Clementine was holding up with that. Lee was like a father to her. Maybe she's still grieving?

"Why don't you guys catch up while I get dinner started?" Walter said, his attention being caught as the rest of the group came through the doors. "Please, make yourselves at home! You can leave your things over there," Walter said, motioning to the wall beside the door.

Clementine studied the faces of each member, opting to speak for them to avoid any tension. "I think they'd rather keep their things. They're very cautious people, you wouldn't mind, right?" Clementine said to Walter, her face trying to beg him for acceptance before ultimately failing once she saw the unawareness behind the smile he had.

"You're our guests here. There's no need to worry," Walter said, making Clementine groan internally as she heard the ever defensive voice of Nick.

"Tell him to put his gun down then," Nick said accusingly, looking directly at Kenny as he did and getting nothing but a hatred fueled glare from Duck. Clementine sighed and looked to the ground, wanting to tell Duck to try and behave in case anyone in Kenny's group thought his glare meant to shoot. She had to stay quiet though, too far to whisper in his ear and knowing it'd look a little out of place if she got closer to do so.

"Kenny?" Walter offered, his tone telling Kenny to comply to the guest's wishes. Kenny was not as accepting to lay his gun down, however, looking to the kids.

"Are they okay, guys? If they're cool then I'll put it down," Kenny said, looking at both children as he searched for an answer.

"They're cool," Clementine said as fast as she could, not giving Duck the chance to speak as she didn't trust he'd be so forgiving of the defense Nick had shown. Carlos, Sarah and Sarita came in, effectively catching the tension in the room all except for Sarah, who remained blissfully unaware as she stared at the tree near the fireplace.

"Dad, look, a Christmas tree!" Sarah exclaimed with awe in her eyes, attempting to walk over to it to get a closer look before being stopped by her father.

"Not now, Sarah," He said, waiting to see if he could catch up on what was truly happening at that moment and hoping he didn't have to shoot.

"Isn't it great? We found it all in storage," Sarita spoke up in an attempt to diffuse the situation with the childlike attitude Sarah showed. Hoping that maybe reminding the adults that at least one childhood innocence was still present would diffuse the situation.

"It's amazing," Sarah responded, a smile on her face as she did. Sarita gave a look to Kenny, causing him to take his gun and lay it on the floor where Walter said to leave the stuff. The older group followed suit, leaving their weapons and valuables at the same place once they've secured their safety, including Clementine, who put her bag down.

"Good. If you'll all follow me, I'll show you where you can sleep," Sarita said, underlying relief present in her joyful tone. Clementine tapped Duck on the shoulder and gave him a smile when he looked at her.

"I'll leave you and your dad alone. You can come find me when you want me," She said, feeling much more relaxed as she saw Duck's signature smile he always gave her. The attitude of the older group didn't seem to cause a long term of negative feelings in him, which was good. His temper was something she always liked calming but it's even better when there end up being no real problem she had to fix.

"Thanks, Clementine,"

"It's no problem. I'll busy myself some way or another,"

"You can join us if you want. If Duck's okay with it," Kenny said, giving a tired smile but Clementine shook her head, having other plans in mind and, frankly, wanting to see how the others react to the people in Kenny's group. She knew how untrustworthy they were of new people.

"You guys need to be alone and I've been with Duck so often I'm getting sick of his face,"

"I'm getting sick of your face. Get outta here," Duck said, a tone of both offense and joy in his words as he watched her go off somewhere with a satisfied smile. He rolled his eyes at her as he followed his father. "She can literally fight me," He grumbled.

"She'd kick your ass, son," Kenny said as he sat down with a laugh. Duck sat down with a huff.

"Not true. It'd totally be a tie at the very most,"

"Sure... God, it's great to see you both again! I thought I'd never be able to find you. Worst scenario would've been seein' you as a walker. I'm sorry I made you think I was dead, Duck, I really am. You didn't deserve that, especially so young but.... I had to get you outta that building. I thought it was better me be in there than you," Kenny said, making Duck hang his head at the guilt he still felt despite Kenny's forgiveness and even apology as if he did something wrong.

It was right to assume he was dead, wasn't it? "Dad, I'm so sorry..."

"Duck, please. Your apology is unacceptable. If you'd of been in there, you'd be dead. And Clem would be alone," Kenny said, pulling Duck's attention back to his partner as she looked in the pot of whatever Walter was fixing with curiosity and... was that disgust? The face she was making made him smile with whatever he just felt in his chest.

"Yeah... I guess your right..." Duck said, knowing how scared he is to be alone and accepting Kenny's reasoning as to why he shouldn't feel sorry for surviving.

"If you'd been in there, there's no way you'd be in front of me right now. I was lucky enough to escape. You were only ten. I can't even imagine..." Kenny said, not finishing his sentence as he smiled at Duck. "Where'd you guys end up?" He asked.

"Well, Lee saved Clementine,"

"I knew it! He had a fire in him, I knew he would! There's no way he woulda let that little girl stay missing from his sight! I knew he wouldn't die until he saw her again. We didn't always agree but I respected him," Kenny said, making Duck think back to the last things Lee had ever said to him.

"Cutting his arm off didn't stop the virus though...." Duck said, informing Kenny of what he already suspected.

"How's Clementine doin' with that?"

"She's.... quiet about it. She doesn't like talking about it. She'll share good and fond memories with me, like when I talk about mom, but.... she won't do anything else. Just like.... me..." Duck finished, Katjaa's face showing up in his mind momentarily, his mother smiling fondly at him in the image. He wished he had a photo of her like Clementine did of Lee. Her face was beginning to get fuzzy in his mind from how far away the memory of her was. He feared she didn't even look how his mind perceived her.

"I'm sorry for the both of you. Who took care of you before you got to this group?"

"Well, it took a while before Clem found us, but Christa and Omid did. Omid.... Omid was killed and then Christa took over but..... bandits, you know? Clem and I are really lucky to be alive right now," Duck said, remembering the multitude of times during that raid him and Clem could've died, along with the river incident that could've drowned them among other things even after finding Luke and the rest of the group.

"Sounds like it's been hard. I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner, son, but you had company. That's more than some folks can say,"

"Where have you been?" Duck asked, hoping to get some closure on just how close he had been to his father this entire time.

"Aw, hell, all over, after Savannah. I spent a long time bein' alone..." Kenny said, pausing for a long while and closing his eyes. Almost as if he were reminiscing over the few years he and Duck had been apart. "And then I met Sarita, thank god. You're gonna love her, Duck! I just know it!" Kenny said, smiling a big smile as he did. The woman in question came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You two catching up?" Sarita asked, a smile on her face as she looked between Kenny and Duck.

"Duck, this is my girl, Sarita. Ain't she beautiful?" Kenny asked. Duck gave a genuine smile and a nod in agreement even if something didn't feel right. Sarita was obviously a nice woman but she didn't give the same energy his mother did. More like a stranger whom he had no connection to. It felt strange to him as he tried to think of her as a new mom, which he was sure his father wanted. "Sarita, this is my son, Duck,"

"Duck, it's nice to finally meet you. Kenny tells me about you all the time. He's been so worried," She shook his hand, pausing as she looked between them again. "I can see the resemblance,"

"You can?" Duck asked, remembering the last time he looked in a mirror and, in his honest opinion, not seeing anything from his parents. Maybe more from an aunt or uncle.

"Yes. You look just like your father. A very handsome young man," Sarita said.

"Thank you," Duck said, recalling only a few times he was described as such.

"Hey, where's Matthew? Still out there rootin' around?" Kenny asked over his shoulder, looking to Walter as he did. Duck noticed that Clementine was no longer with him.

"Of course he is!" Walter yelled back, turning to get some sort of spice for whatever he needed for cooking .

"Carlos, right? Mind if I steal your daughter for a secret mission?" Sarita asked, referring to Sarah as she met Carlos at the bottom of the stairs behind the couch Duck was sitting on.

"Stay in sight, sweetie," Carlos said, turning and letting his daughter have free reign over anything.

"Anything we can do to help?" Luke asked, Nick following close behind him.

"Could use a hand outside. Got a lot of stuff to bring in before the storm hits," Kenny said, getting a nod from Luke in confirmation. "Duck, why don't you help Walt with dinner? Or maybe find out what Clem's doin'?" Kenny suggested, getting a halfhearted nod from his son in response. What Duck really wanted to do was help his father but it looked like he had all the help he needed with Luke and Nick.

Duck made his way over to Walter, scanning around in an attempt to navigate exactly where Clementine was in the process but failed in doing so. It worried him slightly but he assumed maybe she went upstairs. "Hey, Duck," Walter said, smiling as he stirred the pot. "Wanna help?"

Duck looked at the pot, smiling at the smell of a cooked dinner. "So, you're Kenny's son, huh? Look just like him. You've got a lot of muscle on you, why aren't you helpin' Kenny and them?"

"Dad said to help you,"

"I see. So you her little friend?"

"Yeah. We've been best friends for years now. I'm sure that we'd never give each other a second glance if the situation was different though," This pulled a hearty laugh from Walter.

"Out of your league?"

"Nah. We're pretty cool together. If I'm grateful for anything in this apocalypse, it's that I got the chance to meet her. By the way, you haven't seen where she went, did you?"

"Lost her? Sorry, I don't know. You know, you and her have a connection. She thinks real highly of you. I talked to her before she ran off somewhere. And by the looks of it, you think highly too," Duck have him a weird look at the subject change before Walter smiled and continued to further speak on the subject. "Connecting with people is important. I don't know what'd I do without Matthew. I don't know, kinda just want you to see which people you'll go far with and which people you won't..." Walter paused before giving Duck a smile.

"What'd she say about me? I feel like she said something to make you bring that up,"

"Oh nothing at all," Walter said before giving another smile. "Nothing bad, at least. She thinks you're sweet and brave. You're really nice and you wanna help her out as much as you can. She says you can get selfish and you got your daddy's temper but she loves ya anyways,"

"Really?"

"Yep. I guess the last two things were kinda bad, huh?" Walter gave a laugh, causing Duck to laugh too. He had a feeling that Clementine wouldn't praise him to his face like that.

"You and her remind me of my students. I can't imagine growing up in this. I think you'd be a lot different. From what Kenny told me about you, it seems you've changed drastically,"

"Clem and I had to grow up fast," He said with an awkward smile.

"I can imagine," Walter said, bringing the spoon to his mouth and tasting it. "Mm, almost done. Would you do the honor of tasting the first course?" He asked, prompting Duck to look in the pot.

"What is it?" Duck asked, smelling a faint peach in the concoction,"

"Le Walter Surprise. An autumnal legume salad with a peach roux. It's peaches and beans. All we got," Walter said, his humor only pulling a slight smile from Duck.

"Thanks but I gotta find Clementine,"

"I get it. No worries," Walter said, shooing Duck off to find his partner, wherever she may be.

His attention instead deviated to another certain 14 year old, making his way over to her and deciding to watch her decorate the Christmas tree with Sarita. "Hey, Sarah," He said after a while of leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and a smile playing on his lips. She seemed almost surprised he was there for a moment before giving him a bright smile, her eyes shining.

"Duck! Hi!" Sarah said, an excited air to her.

"Duck, would you mind helping us?" Sarita asked as she handed Sarah a little more tensile. She then pointed to some decorations in a box. "We need some of those behind the tree, if you will please," She asked Duck. He took the box, making his way behind the tree and decorating it as he saw fit. "You're Kenny's son. It must be incredible to see him! From what I could tell, you thought he was dead,"

"That I did," Duck responded, putting down the box as he thought more about the situation. "How'd you meet my dad?" Duck decided to ask, hoping to get some more answers out of her.

"I found him holed up in an old restaurant, if you can believe it,"

"Holed up?"

"Should've seen his beard then," Sarita said in humor as she looked at the tree. "Perfect. Now we need a topper,"

"My family used to put an angel on top of ours," Sarah said, having Duck file that information in case he finds one.

"My family didn't celebrate Christmas, but I still love the decorations," Sarita said.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to find an angel," Duck said as he looked at Sarah.

"And what if you only find a star?" Sarah asked him with a chuckle.

"Then I'll just have to settle for this angel," Duck said, taking Sarah's hand and kissing the back of it. He could've sworn that Sarah's face turned three different shades of red before he took off upstairs and being met with the teasing face of Clementine as she leaned against the stair rail, overlooking the bottom floor, her sights on Sarah before she turned to him.

"Well well well, aren't you quite the flirt of this evening?" She said.

"What? Jealous? Don't worry, this dashing prince can go around,"

"Yeah, because you're oh so attractive and girls are just lining up,"

"Exactly. You can't resist me," Duck said, only being met with an exaggerated roll of her eyes before she handed him a box.

"I found toppers for you. A star and an angel,"

"Great! Thanks, Clemie!" Duck said as he dug out the angel.

"Anytime," Duck set the angel on top of the tree, making Sarah looked up and smile brightly at the angel on top of the tree.

"An angel! Thanks, Duck!"

"Yeah, but thank Clem! She found it for me!" Duck said, wanting to bring attention to his partner as she made her way downstairs. He saw Sarah thank Clementine and Clementine saying "you're welcome," with a friendly smile. It was nice to see her being friends with another girl.

"Duck, Clementine, dinner's ready. Tell your friends, please," Sarita shouted up to Duck and addressed Clementine, assumingely to get her to tell Luke, Nick and Kenny outside.

Duck spun around and gave a smile to Rebecca as she smiled back. "You okay?" Duck asked Rebecca, noticing her lightheadedness even as she tried to look together.

"Yeah. Just a little dizzy. I don't know how I'm gonna do this. This is gonna be a lot harder now with all that's going on but..... I'm feeling a little less lonely," Rebecca said as she touched her tummy, letting Duck know exactly what she was talking about. "Because I know no matter what happens, I'll get to meet someone new. You've been a great help, Duck. I'm glad someone like you is looking out for this little baby," There was a silence before the look of shock crossed Rebecca's face and then was replaced with a warm smile. "She's kicking. Wanna feel?"

"...Can I?" Duck asked, kneeling and pressing his ear against Rebecca's tummy. He smiled as he felt the baby kick. He didn't know why, but the fact that this baby was showing signs of life made him extremely happy.

"She's gonna be a runner. I can't help but wonder.... what if it's not Alvin's? What would I say? What would I do?"

"...I'll try to help," Duck said, trying to sound as sincere as possible and knowing there'd be nothing he could do. Rebecca smiled, and then looked to the staircase.

"There's my man!" She said, standing to take whatever Alvin had.

"You okay, baby?" Alvin asked.

"I'm fine, ya big dope," She said.

"Oh, by the way, dinners ready," Duck said, having Alvin nod.

"Thanks, Duck,"

"Yeah, no problem," Duck said, making his way back downstairs. He then entered the kitchen, ultimately stopping at the scene presented before him. Two different groups, two different tables; pressure to sit with both.

A/N: Well, I guess it's time for you guys to make a decision! Sit with Luke or sit with Kenny? Btw, can you guys see the decisions I don't let you guys make? There was one in last chapter that would've changed the story drastically had I let you guys decide. But anyways! Luke or Kenny? Also, would you like Clem to sit with Duck whatever you make him choose or sit at whatever table he didn't choose? Vote, vote, vote!!!!!!