I got a couple of reviews that I couldn't reply to privately. Yep, I write in a formula, but actually, I think this story is a little different as Beth and Daryl got together quite a bit before the end. I have found with my other stories that once they get together, interest drops off. But that's why I usually wind up writing little sequels stuffed to the gills with domestic fluff so I'm sure we will see something further from this story eventually.

…

Chapter Twenty-Five. Whoosh.

It is a beautiful Labor Day weekend: sunny with clear blue skies and a slightly chilling breeze blowing through the air. A storm had swept across the area during the week and on its heels, a cold front had moved in, and after a sweltering summer, the people of Dogwood are reminded that fall is just around the corner.

The newly renovated gazebo is decorated for the ceremony. White streamers and pink carnations because those have always been her favorite flower and there are folding chairs set up, each one filled. Almost the entire town has shown up from the ceremony and the celebration that will immediately follow. The Commons is filled with carnival rides and food vendors – the town's annual Labor Day Festival set up and ready to go.

The preacher and groom stand on the steps of the gazebo, awaiting the bride, and everyone is smiling because the groom doesn't look nervous whatsoever. If anything, he looks eager to get this going so he can get married. And when Bob, a fiddle player in town, begins playing the first notes of the bridal march, everyone turns in their seats to look up the aisle as the bride appears and begins walking to the gazebo, her sons in suits on either of her sides.

Beth meets Daryl's eyes from her seat and they share a smile with one another. Beth then looks to Paulie. She had helped the woman shop for a dress to wear today. She had been unsure about wearing white, but Beth had convinced her that she should, telling her that this second marriage will be absolutely nothing like her first to Will Dixon and she should look like a bride on her wedding day. The saleswoman in the dress department in the department store in town had spent an afternoon with Beth and Paulie, and Rosita along to help and keep an eye out for something for herself, until they found Paulie the perfect dress; a dress that is perfect for a woman in her sixties who is getting married.

Daryl, Beth and Merle had all been over at Paulie's house for supper when she told them and they were all surprised and taken aback, but at the same time, after thinking it over, maybe it wasn't all that surprising. Paulie had been close to Dale and Irma for so many years, working at the diner and helping when Irma got sick and the couple had opened their home to Paulie Dixon and her two sons. When Irma passed away, people in town worried that Dale would soon follow after her from a broken heart.

But he and Paulie continued working together and spending time together and they have remained close all this time. And it is no secret that Dale has been harboring a crush on his waitress for some time now. It is a surprise to her sons however when they find out that their mom has had her own crush on her employer as well.

Dale had proposed and Paulie had said yes and she told her family the next night.

"Ain't you too old to be gettin' married?" Merle asked with a wrinkled brow and Paulie's first response to that was a sharp frown in his direction.

"If I'm some old fogy, Merle Dixon, then you ain't that far behind me," Paulie quipped back.

Daryl had just been confused. He talks to his mom every damn day, but he guesses he never talks to her about her feelings in regards to things. He's going to change that.

The ceremony had been planned quickly and with the gazebo just finished, Daryl had asked Spencer if the wedding could take place there. Pulling a few strings and making a few promises to those who he needed to agree, Spencer got it approved.

And now, Dale stands on the step, watching Paulie walk up the aisle to him, beaming as excitedly as if he was a some kid, getting married for the first time. When they reach them, Merle and Daryl both hug Paulie tightly, Paulie whispering something to them both, and then they and Dale all shake hands. Glancing across the aisle from her, the Grimes sit and Beth can see that Lori is already crying, smiling as she dabs at her eyes.

Merle and Daryl both then turn to sit in their seats. Merle gives Beth a wink as he slips past her in the row to sit down in his empty seat between her and Carol Peletier, his date for the day. Sophia, Carol's daughter, sits on the other side of Carol. Daryl comes and sits down in his aisle seat next to Beth and Louis sits in front of them. For the occasion, Beth has bought him a bow tie and has tied it onto his collar. When Daryl sits down, he looks to Beth and she smiles at him again and he smiles a little, too, his hand sliding to rest on her thigh. And Beth slips her arm through his and watches the ceremony, feeling a little teary herself.

She had told herself this morning as she had been getting herself ready that she wasn't going to cry. She had even promised Daryl when he teased her about it. But watching Paulie and Dale slip rings onto one another's fingers and feeling Daryl's warm hand on her thigh, she feels moisture build in her eyes and she can't stop it. After all of these years, Beth feels like she's watching a woman and her family finally get a happy ending.

And she's a part of it.

"Dale, you may now kiss your bride," the preacher tells him with a smile and before Dale can even step forward, everyone is already clapping and cheering, and tears are streaming down Beth's cheeks now as she stands up along with everyone else, clapping her hands and smiling as Dale and Paulie share their first kiss as husband and wife.

"Knew you were gonna cry," Daryl teases her.

"Shut up," Beth does her best to frown at him and Daryl just keeps on smiling and sliding an arm around her shoulders, he tugs her in close to his side.

The celebration follows right after and to make sure that Dale and Paulie don't cook and bake for their own wedding, everyone has pitched in, bringing food and cakes they have prepared themselves. Jacqui's made her puff pastries and T-Dog has made ribs and brisket and Joe has donated bottles of beer and liquor from the bar. There is a picnic table spread out, covered with food, and Daryl knows that the four coconut cakes on there were baked by Beth just yesterday.

He goes through the line, loading up his plate with food, before heading back towards the gazebo. There are people everywhere, talking and eating and laughing and kids and dogs are laughing and barking, running around; the whir of carnival games in the background. He swears that every single person from Dogwood is in the Commons that afternoon.

A band that has been hired for the carnival has begun playing – an old Patsy Cline song – and Daryl watches as Dale and Paulie dance along with other couples: Rosita and Spencer, Rick and Lori. And Carol has even gotten Merle onto the floor to dance with her. Daryl smirks to himself because even though it's too noisy to, he can just imagine the things his older brother is saying in protest to it.

Daryl turns and heads back to the gazebo. Beth is the only one in it, sitting up on one of the railings, slightly swinging her legs back and forth, Louis sitting in front of her. This morning, when Daryl had been in the living room, he watched Beth come down the stairs in her pink dress and he swore that the girl had damn-near stole the breath from him. Daryl's not the sort to have these kinds of thoughts, let alone even say them out loud, but when he looks at Beth, he can't really believe that someone who's as beautiful as her is with him. She's a doctor, for fuck's sake. A doctor who went to medical school and is probably the smartest person he knows. And he's just a contractor with dirt under his nails and too-rough hands.

Sometimes, he wants to ask her what the hell she sees in him and why the hell she loves him, but Daryl knows he'll never ask her that. Her possible answer scares the shit out of him because any answer she gives him would probably do nothing except confuse him because there's no answer she can give him that will make sense to him.

Beth bursts into a smile when she sees him step into the gazebo and he smiles a bit in return. He hands her the plate to hold as he pulls himself up to sit beside her on the railing. He then takes the plate back.

"Brought ya' a pulled pork sandwich," he says and she smiles as if he's just offered her gold.

"I was just looking at all of these carvings," she says and looks back to the post beside her. In the wood, Daryl has carved an intricate swirling design with dogwood flowers.

That's the part of the entire construction that took him the longest time. Beth had been right. The planning committee, once he told them about the original dogwood carvings he found on the ceiling, had no problem with granting Daryl to carve more and he spent painstaking hours, carving into each and every new post.

"They're so beautiful, Daryl," she tells him, running her fingers along one, turning her head back towards him.

He feels the tips of his ears turn warm from the compliment. "'s nothin'," he does his best to shrug it off.

"You're wrong," Beth says in a quiet voice and Daryl looks into her eyes as she looks at him.

He's never had someone look at him like Beth does. He knows she loves him – truly loves him – but this is always so much more than that. She looks at him like she'd have no idea what she would do without him; like he's honestly the best thing to ever happen to her.

Daryl hopes that when he looks at her, Beth can see all of the same things in his eyes.

He doesn't overthink what he does. He just leans into her and presses his forehead to hers and he makes sure that his eyes stay looking right into hers. He doesn't want to look anywhere else except into Beth's eyes.

He's almost surprised at how nervous he doesn't feel right now.

"Whoosh."

Beth's eyes widen when she hears the word, but she doesn't ask how he knows about it, and he doesn't tell her that he was listening in on hers and his mom's girl night when they were discussing whooshes in the stomach. At the time, he hadn't known what they were talking about because he had never felt anything remotely close to a whoosh when around another person. He hadn't even felt one with Amy.

But he feels it in his stomach now and even though he's never felt one before, he doesn't wonder what it is. He knows exactly what it is and he doesn't see why he shouldn't tell Beth about it the second he feels it.

Beth stares at him, searching his eyes and his face to see if he's telling the truth. And when she does, she presses her forehead against his and she closes her eyes, exhaling a breath that sounds a little shaky; as if she's about to start crying. But she's smiling softly.

"Whoosh," she whispers back.

Daryl feels like he can breathe now that she has said it back and he moves his lips up, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

They sit there for a few long minutes, their food growing lukewarm as time ticks on, and the band is now playing a song he recognizes. And It Stoned Me by Van Morrison. Since he's moved in, he's learned that Beth loves his music and listens to him often and in turn, Daryl is able to identify his songs now. He thinks of the night she sang Moondance in Joe's and he smiles a little to himself now, his lips curving against her skin.

Daryl pulls his head back and looks to her face. "Wanna dance?" He asks.

"You don't dance," she says with a smile, a giggle bubbling in her throat.

"You're right 'bout that. But I'll dance with you." He pulls away and slips down from the railing. He turns back to her and holds out his hand to her.

It looks like she's going to start crying again, but she's still smiling as she places her hand in his and carefully slides down from the railing. His mom showed him how to dance years ago and he tries to remember everything from those lessons now as he slips his arm around Beth's waist, holding her body close to his, and Beth puts her arm around his shoulders. He holds onto her other hand and slowly, they begin to sway back and forth to the song, not moving that much, but enough for a person to know that if they looked to the gazebo right now and saw the two, they would know that they were dancing.

Beth closes her eyes and feels the lightness in her chest and the whoosh in her stomach and she thinks that this might be the most perfect moment in her entire life. And she knows, without having to ask, that Daryl feels the same.

Louis watches them for a moment and then, with neither of them looking or paying attention, the dog stands on his hind legs and looks at the plate of food that Daryl has set down on the railing.

He helps himself to the puff pastry.

…

The End.

As always, thank you to those who read and reviewed and for your constant support. And with that, I finish another Bethyl story.