A.N. - Oh man, this is IT guys! My first finished Bethyl fic :D Thank you all so much for all the support and crazy enthusiasm that made it so much fun to write. So I have major plans to do an optional sequel. By this I mean y'all are more than welcome to take this as the end of this particular universe, or brave the follow up story, but know that it is going to be angsty in comparison to this story line.

Anyway! More notes at the end :)

Happiest of readings my pals!

Chapter 27

Saturday, May 5th and Friday, June 1st

- Honestly? I miss you a lot, and wish you were here.

He traced the lines of the letters for far longer than was necessary, feeling the weight of his new phone like a brick in his palm. Beth's text had come back after a ten minute delay, like she'd debated on actually admitting the information or not. Must have been hard for her, to tell him something she knew would make him worry – if not worry – then at least want to fix whatever was bothering her. Not real easy at the moment, considering he was out in the middle of nowhere with his brother, hunting.

Hunting fuckin' turkey.

Because when he'd told his woman, during the fall and winter months, that he was thinking of going deer hunting – she'd whispered Bambi and he'd spent ten minutes listening to a goddamn Disney movie plotline. Even after she'd assured him afterward that she really didn't mind, and that she'd just make herself scarce while he cleaned whatever kill he bagged…well she'd already managed to get into his head a bit and the holiday season had been a bitch at each of his jobs anyhow. Hadn't seemed worth the effort when he could be home keeping his girls warm instead.

Speaking of which –

Daryl tapped an agitated thumb against the Otter camo case covering his phone. The one that Beth had gotten him on his birthday in order to keep him from dinging up the pricey device inside, any worse than he'd managed to already that is. Mama and baby were at that stupid fundraiser thing in Atlanta with the rest of the Greene family and Glenn to support Maggie. It was basically a carnival from the way Beth had explained it, and the whole bunch of them had pitched in to set up some of the tables and cooking stations. Had spent almost the entire week he'd been off hunting doing it too.

He'd almost canceled the trip, when they realized the two things overlapped, but Beth had sworn she'd be alright surrounded by her parents, siblings etc. That Negan hadn't done anything other than make her feel uncomfortable the first time they'd met. Daryl's lip almost curled at the thought of the other man. Fucker had gone and done plenty, far as he was concerned, but like the girl said – she had more than enough backup this time around.

Another anxious buzzing vibrated the pads of his fingers.

- But we're both totally fine, Auri's keepin' me company, and we hope you're having fun :)

The grunt that kicked out of him was devoid of humor or levity in any sense. That was classic Beth. She'd gone as far to tell him what she wanted, but in a guilty rush, had backtracked so that he wouldn't feel bad about being where he was. He wondered sometimes if she knew the kind of pull she had with him, to know that she needed little follow up messages like that one to keep him from bounding into his truck quicker than the screen on his phone could go dark. Woman probably didn't even think of it, just didn't want him to worry. Shit, she'd barely mentioned the deer thing, and here his ass was hunting turkey.

Thank Christ Beth hadn't seen any cartoons starring his current prey – he'd have gone the whole year without tracking a damn thing.

"What's it gonna be little brother?" Merle drawled, while lounging in one of the camp-chairs that Beth had picked up for them during an early summer sale. It hadn't escaped Daryl's attention, how attentive the other man had been for the last day or so. Especially to any of the text messages or calls that'd had Daryl glaring down at the innocuous object in his hands. "We gettin' the fuck outta here or what?"

Glancing up, he was met with Merle's carefully blank expression.

They exchanged squints.

Daryl stood from his crouching position and hefted up the nearby cooler. With a whoop, his brother leapt to his feet and snatched up both chairs, closing them in quick jerking movements before tossing them in the bed of Daryl's truck.

Come to think of it.

Daryl realized that Merle hadn't been real into the hunting this time. Actually, now that he took a second, Merle never seemed to enjoy being out in the woods like Daryl did. But he always offered to come along anyhow…Daryl watched with barely contained affection (damn kid and Beth were making him soft) as his brother turned into a whirlwind that loaded up the rest of their small camp before he himself could even get the truck started.

"They in Atlanta?" Daryl nodded in answer, and Merle hooked a hand around the top of the open-windowed door as they went mudding down a barely there dirt road. "Well open 'er up boy," his brother grunted, as they went over a large bump, almost throwing out the never opened tent Beth had also gotten them, "girls are waitin' on us, whether they know it or not."

He took a quick moment to peek at his brother, and being met with a bulldog grin, felt his own mouth curve as he went up another gear and managed to hit paved road at last. Luck had been shit anyway, hadn't even shot a goddamn thing, and Merle hadn't been the only one getting restless. The first day in the woods had been nice, sure his brother never shut the fuck up and they were hunting turkey of all things – but it'd felt good to get away for a bit and decompress.

That feeling had lasted until the sun had gone down.

When he was running over the routine he was missing out on, the one that was going on back at home without him. Dinner, with the kit trying new kinds of baby food and making the funniest fucking faces he'd ever seen. Bath time, still Auri's favorite thing in the world to do, they still used the tiny pink bathtub but had had to put it inside the regular one because the splashing was a serious habit of his daughter's these days. And of course the best part of the night, bedding down, listening to Beth sing (these days it was Frankie Valli) making sure Aurora was fully asleep inside her crib before…

His woman's arm around his stomach, sometimes reaching up for a smartass little jab at his ribs, sometimes reaching down –

The highway was pretty clear since it was still early as hell, and he slammed the truck into the next gear, part of him wishing he were on his bike for the increased mobility. He'd feel embarrassed about how desperate he felt to get back to them, if it weren't every side-eyed look at Merle that showed his brother with a grim kind of determination as if they were heading for some kind of brawl.

For how decidedly crotchety and set in his ways as the old con seemed to be, his brother certainly had taken to home life almost as well as Daryl had. He didn't disappear for days on end, hadn't failed any of his UA's or drug screenings. There was no way Daryl would go as far as to say that Merle was completely reformed, or any dumb shit like that, but there was a kind of relaxed edge to the man that hadn't been there before.

Part of him still couldn't believe he'd found the courage to ask Beth to move in with him, or more accurately, pointed out the possibility of her just not going back to the farm. And now, all these months later, Beth was registered to start classes in the fall, had officially finished her two week notice and quit the super center, and was enjoying the time between now and school starting with her family and friends. Hershel and Annette were going to pay for college – as much as they could – and Daryl was more than down to keep up on all the other bills that he was covering already as it was.

He was proud of her, strange as that might be.

Wasn't gonna be an easy degree, or an easy job, but she'd gone about planning it all with the same tenacity she did everything else these days. Personally, what he was focused on, was making sure she was able to do her studies without anything from what he was bringing in on his side stalling her out. Meant what he told her a little while back, wasn't going to be something else that made her hurt, or brought her down. The fierceness of which he felt that sentiment was, right next to his protectiveness of Auri, the strongest thing he could ever remember feeling. Beth Greene was going to achieve every last goddamn thing she wanted in life, and if that didn't come about, it wasn't going to be due to him.

No matter what.

Not ever.

Checking in the rearview mirror for any flashing lights looking to pull him over for going twenty over the speed limit, Daryl grimaced when the reddish streak of Georgia clay caught his attention. He was a little worse for wear, that wasn't arguable, and another glance at Merle delivered up much the same. No way could he show up looking like trailer trash to the shindig that all of Maggie's high and mighty political contacts were going to be at. The idea of embarrassing the whole Greene family wasn't something he wanted to see realized. Plus, if it came to having words with that prick, Negan, he'd like to have as close to even ground as he could. No point starting a fight with a sprained wrist and lame leg, metaphorically or otherwise.

"W'look like shit," he grumbled to Merle, who breathed in deep as if being pulled from his own twisting thoughts, and gave them both a quick once over. "Can' get there all fucked up an' smellin' like roadkill."

He tensed, expecting a round of ass chewing from Merle about any one of a dozen subjects, all of which would probably center around the loss of his balls. But his brother only stayed silent for a few beats before nodding something to himself.

"S'a big city lil' brother," he began, gesturing to the buildings that had just come into view. "Ya know where this thing is goin' down at?" When Daryl grunted an answer, Merle continued. "Alright then, we find some fuckin' store like the one you work at, an' we get us a change a' clothes an' get cleaned up." His brother's grin was back and accompanied by a wink. "We Dixon's clean up good bro, shove our heads under a faucet somewhere's an' yer pretty hair can dry the rest of the way over."

"Fuck off, Merle," he muttered, but the clench in his chest subsided a great deal, and he kept a look out for signs that'd direct them to a store nearest the park where the carnival was happening at.

Couple hours later and they were pulling into the nearest grass lot that'd been set aside for the event's parking. Daryl shook his head with a bit of force, relieved when the strands hitting his face were light – and as his brother had called it – mostly dry. He wasn't totally sold on his new clothes, had wanted to get something nice, or at least something with sleeves, but Merle had intervened and brow beat him into what he was currently wearing.

A not too deep navy blue sleeveless, that looked as ripped and frayed along his shoulders as anything he had at home in his closet. He hadn't even attempted to fuck with the three buttons that'd do up his collar, but at least he could move in it, and wasn't apt to sweat through the damn thing in two seconds. Jeans were a bit darker than he'd usually get them, but they'd gone best with the fuckin' shirt he'd had to buy – all and all he just wanted to find their girls and stop worrying about what the hell was covering him.

Merle looked presentable too at least, he'd found some black old rock and roll band shirt, and gotten him a clean pair of pants as well. A few travel sized bars of soap and the super store's bathroom sink, and they were doing well enough for a couple of country boys, he figured. The last text he'd gotten from Beth had sounded mildly strained, and he'd almost broke and told her they were coming, but all of a sudden he was someone who gave a shit about surprises. So he'd held back and scrubbed his filthy body faster, ignoring any confused looks getting tossed his and Merle's way from the other guys looking to use the facilities.

As they got amongst the booths and little eateries, Daryl noticed a few lingering looks, and immediately looked down to make sure he hadn't either gotten something on his brand new shirt, or forgotten to do up his fly in the rush to get over here. Everything seemed to be in order, and he glanced over in confusion when Merle's chortling reached his ears.

"They're checkin' ya out you dumb fuck." Merle's heavy jawed smile took most of the bite out of his words, but it didn't stop Daryl's face from screwing up in disbelief. "Don't listen to me, I don't give a' shit," his brother scoffed, obviously enjoying their change of scenery and all the single women that were milling about. "But jus' you wait 'til yer ole' lady sees ya, big bro did you a solid, you'll see."

Daryl could only shake his head again and continue scanning the area for a particular blonde ponytail and a smaller dark mop of slightly curling locks. It was stupid, he was a fucking chump for sure, but his heart was racking bone bruises into his ribs with the force of its beating. His palms slid along the front of his new jeans, leaving undetectable sweat marks, and he was going to need to stop at one of the overpriced huts for a drink soon if he ever hoped to salvage the barren state of his tongue. He didn't know if it was the nostalgia that the familiar scents were dragging up, or if he'd missed his family far more than he'd allowed himself to admit, but he felt nervous as hell. Like he had back in the day when he and Merle would sneak into the old county fair with a pack of Merle's friends, and he'd see all the pretty girls from class and ones from different towns too.

Wasn't like he'd wanted any of them to notice him, or to go up and talk to them either, but unfailingly either Merle or one of his gang of idiots would shove him into doing just that. It had never ended well. None of the girls had wanted the guy that looked, not only like trouble, but angry trouble at that. They'd laugh or shriek, hurrying away in their gaggle of a group while the men behind him guffawed and threw insults at their retreating backs. It had felt awful, until he'd built up new walls to block against it, had reminded himself each time that he didn't want anyone to get close to him anyhow.

Didn't like the feeling.

The touch.

The chance that they'd see his back, and then he'd have to hear that shrieking all over again.

They'd almost made a full lap of the grounds, he was right about to give up and call Beth, when a very familiar squawking sound caught his ear. Both he and his brother snapped their heads to one side, locking in unison on the scene before them. There was really nothing to tell him, could be totally wrong, that the man leaning in with a smirk towards his girls was Negan. But Daryl felt his teeth clench and his eyes slit like he had zero control of the matter. The guy was tall, bearded, and grinned like he knew what Daryl's woman looked like outside of that pretty grey and yellow summer dress she was wearing. The material of which matched what his kid was sporting for the event too. His kid – that was angrily batting away the hand of the guy who was hitting on her mom.

Fuck, his kid was smart.

Daryl's feet were moving without his conscience command, and he knew the exact moment that Negan laid eyes on him and his brother. That charming and cheerful expression froze, and something predatory took its place. Looked like the creep maybe thought some other mutts were sniffing around his territory. While it was a given that Beth was more than capable of putting Negan in his place just as she had with Jimmy, Daryl felt no inclination to see that happen. Just because the girl could do every damn thing on her own, didn't mean she should have to.

"Sorry," Beth was saying, sounding anything but, as Auri continued a high pitched tirade of formless words. "She's probably tired, I'm gonna go find somewhere quiet, lay her down for a nap. You enjoy the festivities."

Negan's gaze was flicking from the approaching men back to Beth when Daryl called out.

She spun immediately, and he was probably imagining it, but even from the distance they were at, he thought he heard a hard draw of breath being sucked into her chest as she completed the rotation. Adrenaline, pure as a shot, rocked through his body, and the look of shock and hope on Beth's face was enough to send the irritation that was Negan almost completely out of his head.

They both looked…perfect.

Maggie had ordered the matching outfits from somewhere online, and even though he'd seen a picture of them, it in no way prepared him for the sight it made of his girls. The sun lit up Beth's winding ponytail that curled down over her shoulder, made his kit's eyes a shocking hue that was all starlit galaxies. Both of them stared at him and Merle in surprise until Auri began to fidget like mad, little legs and arms swinging while she let loose with his favorite word in the world.

"Da! Da-Da-Da-Da!"

Reaching them at last, Daryl eased a squirming almost-one-year-old from Beth's arms, got a sticky kiss and a nuzzle before he passed her to Uncle Mer-mer (his second favorite word for a whole different reason) and turned his attention back to Beth. She was beaming at him, in a rapt sort of way, made him want to flush and grin all at once. Made him certain he and Merle had made the right choice in coming too. He watched as she stepped toward him, the way her head tipped back and the light touched on the rosiness of her cheeks and the flash of her teeth. Beth's hands landed on his ribs, and Daryl liked the way it made his muscles pull in and clench, how pleased she was to see him – that just showing up seemed like more than she could have ever hoped for.

Even though he could feel how she was leaning in, clearly going for a quick hug since she knew how he felt about PDA and the fact that Negan was still very much present, Daryl couldn't stop from bobbing down and capturing her mouth with his. It wasn't anything crazy, couldn't really even call it a way to stake his claim or anything like that, but he just couldn't stop the motion. Fuck it. Let the prick standing behind her think what he wanted, it was all Daryl could do at the moment, not to tug her somewhere out of sight and chase that strawberry cream taste he picked up from her lips.

When he pulled back, Beth gazed up at him with another blindingly cheerful smile, and he gave her a small one in return. Yeah they might be on the far side of ridiculous, but the relief was well worth any hard time anyone might be looking to give them over it. Expecting her to step back, make introductions that whole thing, Daryl was surprised when Beth only slid a bit to the side and kept her arms wrapped firmly around his torso. Moving his arm so that it was circling her shoulders, he beat back the small spikes of unease from the continued acts of affection, and focused back onto Negan.

The man was watching them with a smirk that went nowhere near his eyes as Beth introduced them and Daryl's gut feeling that the man was indeed Maggie's boss were confirmed. It was surprisingly hard for him to keep a straight face as they went through the always painful experience of small talk. Auri was laying her head on Merle's shoulder, and every time Negan spoke, the baby grumbled in a way that sounded both derogatory and disrespectful. For his part, Daryl's brother was fixated on the interloper like an old wolf on a newly found rival – his slash-like smile showed glinting canines.

"So how's the week been little sister?" he asked, putting his own overt claim on Beth, as he rubbed a blocky hand down Auri's back. "Ya miss your boys any?"

Daryl was in the middle of internally warring over the matter of beginning to like him and Beth's current position, and was glad of Merle's presence, considering his brother had always been better at the vocalizing thing than he himself had. It was odd, and something he should no doubt not get attached to, but he felt…solid, with her hugging onto him the way she was. It was more than reassuring, did more than ease his mind, she made him feel like he could stand straighter somehow. Like there was no way that even his insecurities could form up a way to make Beth Greene holding onto him any kind of a bad thing.

At Merle's question her arms flexed that much more, and for some reason, it made his nerves settle. "You got no idea." Her answer could have meant a lot of things, but there was absolutely no question in his mind that it had most to do with the fucker in front of them. "Did you guys get sick of hunting or somethin'?"

"Nah," Merle lied easily. "Jus' a nicer day ta' be ridin' than shootin' is all. Figured ya might be wantin' to get the fuck outta dodge."

"Nice of you boys," Negan said, ticking his chin a little to the side. "Both come runnin' like this, just because you thought Miss Beth here might be wantin' a ride."

Beth's arm went from hooking his waist, to pressing a few warning fingertips into his lower back, and Daryl leaned further into her in response. He was past the days of clocking assholes without warning in front of God and everybody, or piping off and telling the greasy shit-licker to watch his sneering goddamn mouth.

No.

He was a dad now.

He was a guy with a girl, and he wasn't the one being run away from anymore.

"You ride much?" he asked, letting a couple fingers slide into Beth's ponytail.

Negan's grin widened into something fully Cheshire, and his gaze slipped to the woman at Daryl's side. "Oh, I do my fair share."

"Yeah?" Merle managed somehow to sound interested and belligerent with the word. "What's yer speed? It here? Or you come in a' cage like me an' Daryl?"

Daryl watched as Negan's expression faltered with a twitch, as if the guy had really thought they were just double talking this whole damn time. "What? Like a bike?"

"Ain't talkin' a ride with hooves," he said evenly, and his gaze tracked every blink and weight shift that happened. "Tha's more Beth's thing."

"Yeah lil' sister likes 'em with a' heart," Merle chided good-naturedly, his hand coincidentally slapping onto Daryl's back. "Me an' my bro here are more into the two wheeled and loud as fuck kind if ya get me."

The conversation was clearly taking a turn into territory that the politician wasn't prepared for. He tried to keep that easy tilt of his lips, but Daryl could tell that he was no longer sure where things were going. Or, what possible traps the two hillbillies were possibly going to lead him into.

"Been thinking about gettin' me one," Negan said, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them, Beth momentarily fading from his radar.

"Should take the leap," Merle encouraged, and Daryl's mind spun through the possible ways his brother was trying to take things. It was pretty fuckin' obvious he was wanting their opponent off balance, and was doing a good job, but Daryl always had to be on his toes when it came to Merle and his games. "Motorcycle's the only way to travel once ya get a' taste. Ain't that right Daryl?"

He nodded obligingly, splitting his attention between what was said, and the distracting way that his woman smelled – like fruit and sugar.

It was going to be a real good thing, when Maggie got around to quitting and moved back. Wasn't like he minded showing some teeth now and then to anyone that was looking to harass his family, no matter who it was or how far he'd come from the version of himself who pulled faceless women into bathroom stalls. Maybe it was age, but he'd sure as fuck like to just get back to enjoying his low key, not-shitty, life.

"You got your eye on anythin' in particular?" Merle kept going, and now Daryl thought he might have an idea of where things were headed. It was petty, and a little childish, which meant it was right up Merle's alley. He doubted very much though, that he wouldn't play his part. When Negan shook his head, seeming for the first time like he was wanting an excuse to slip free of them, the hunter in Daryl had to question just how much the other man wasn't used to not having the upper hand in a conversation. "Hell, don't worry about it buddy, Daryl's got an eye for this sorta thing. Whadda'ya say lil' bro? Yamaha? Ducati?"

The brands weren't actually bad ones, not according to him, but considering that motorcycles were something talked about to the point of exhaustion with the two of them – Daryl knew that it was Merle's veiled version of an insult. They were un-American, which basically meant inferior in the mind of his moderately racist brother. The one who still referred to Glenn as 'that Chinamen' and disliked any machine not classically stateside made. Daryl didn't even attempt to argue with him about all the ways that the logic was flawed as shit, it just wasn't worth it to him anymore.

"Nah, he'd be better on somethin' like a' Brixton BX," he replied, face revealing nothing even as Merle coughed and cleared his throat to hide a laugh. "That 125 model we was talkin' about, you remember?"

"Yeah man," Merle wheezed slightly. Negan's eyes narrowed, unhappy to be out of the loop. "I think yer right on the money there." He went on, obviously trying to keep himself together. "You go to the nearest dealership, you'll see m'brother steered ya right."

Opening his mouth to respond, Negan was cut off as a familiar voice called out.

"Negan!" They all turned to one side in time to see Shawn jog over, looking an emotion similar to irritated relief when he saw all of them. Beth's brother shook hands easily with Daryl and Merle, nodding to them before leveling an openly hostile glare at his older sister's boss. "Maggie says you got some speech or somethin' that you should be in the middle of giving, instead of hittin' on her sister."

"Shawn!"

"Just repeating what I was told sis," Shawn answered Beth's hiss unworriedly. The man was for the most part immune to both of his sisters' ire.

"Better get goin'," Daryl said, dismissing Negan with a head jerk toward the way Shawn had come from. "Maggie ain't one to keep waitin'."

Negan bared his teeth at them in an approximation of a smile, the red of his tongue flashing behind the white as he made a clicking noise. "That is the God's honest truth."

He left them without much else, and the group watched until he was out of sight.

"Sorry sis," Shawn said once they could no longer see the other man. "Lost ya somewhere around the turkey leg stand."

Beth still didn't release her hold on him, and Daryl decided to just accept the fact that this would be the way he'd be walking the fairgrounds today. "Yeah, wonder why that was Shawn."

"They're so good though!" The defense was halfhearted but pretty sincere. "I thought I told ya to wait up, how in the heck was I to know that perv was goin' to sniff ya out like that?" Flicking a pleading look to Daryl, Shawn's brows jumped up, silently asking for backup.

"An' what'd you get distracted by?" he asked, squeezing her to him and looking down to see her lips part in denial before snapping closed again. He'd tasted something recent on her when they'd kissed and Beth, bless her, still wasn't one to lie if she could help it.

"Ok, so they've got these real long skewers now that've got all different kinds of fruit drizzled with chocolate and stuff. Auri an' I thought they looked tasty." Daryl scoffed and turned to cast a glance at his kid, but she'd totally conked out on Merle's shoulder. Poor kid, had to have been tough, watching out for everyone while him and Merle were away. "Well, she's sleepin' now, but it was as much her idea as mine."

"Blaming an innocent child," Shawn deadpanned. "That's even worse than blamin' your hearing when you attempted to scar me permanently."

"It was a marshmallow!" They started walking through the area, with Shawn telling Merle the whole food fight incident as they looked around. "He's clearly blowin' things outta proportion," she defended herself with fake agitation to Daryl and his brother. "You gonna get one of the fruit kebab things Merle?"

"Hell no," the older man griped, peering around at all the selection. "I like m'fair food done right, salty and or fried, ta' within an inch of its life."

"L'share one with ya," Daryl muttered, keeping his words to her low and hoping their brothers didn't hear. "If yer wantin' another one."

Her strawberry stained mouth quirked in answer, and she came up on tiptoes to kiss him quickly. Something like heated goosebumps rolled down the length of his back, and he tried telling himself this much PDA was alright as long as he was just sort of letting it happen to him without participating overly much.

"Was thinkin' of tryin' one of them crazy lookin' cheeseburgers with the donuts for buns, or maybe some curly fries?" Beth's eyes ran over his face a couple of times before lingering once more on his lips. "Split one a' those with me?"

He had a bunch of junebugs or crickets in his stomach, and those blue eyes were making them squirm and chirp. "L'go get it." He wasn't entirely sure which one he was talking about, either, both, he was moments away from tipping forward and falling if he didn't either get away or get held onto tighter.

Her arms wrapped more firmly around him as she replied. "I'm goin' with ya. All these women around here are eyein' you like you're one of the things on the menu. Ain't about to let them gobble you up." He made a disbelieving sound that got puffed against her chin as she came up again to kiss him in a way that shut his brain completely off. Her next sentence was whispered quietly, and danced along his whiskers while he attempted to not swallow his tongue. "Thank you so much for coming. You didn't have to."

"'Course I did," he was eventually able to rasp back to her. "Crazy girl."

"Yeah," she laughed lowly, reaching up to scratch blunt nails through the scruff along his jaw, made him want to purr like fuckin' cat. "I love you too."

Friday, June 1st

His even steps worked to not jostle the baby cradled against his chest. Dumb thing to worry about, considering the way Kit was turning her little head this way and that, taking in the trees and grass around them. She murmured things that sounded like sentences, but only held a few words that were easily recognizable. Daryl threw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Beth was making it alright through the uneven under-growth. If he had more arms, he'd have offered to carry the thick blanket that she held.

But he already had Auri in one arm, and the box that housed the cremated remains of her biological mother clasped in the hand of the other.

He'd thought about doing this on his own. But then it hadn't felt right, the idea of doing it without his girls. Thought too, about saving up for a proper gravesite, or maybe just keeping the ashes at their house. But he had no name to put on a tombstone, no desire to have some kind of ghost, friendly or not, hanging around the cabin. So he'd thought of a place he wouldn't mind getting buried or laid to rest in, and the meadow had made the most sense for enough reasons to make his mind up.

The woman from that night deserved to be remembered in whatever way they could manage. He'd make it a habit, for the three of them to make these treks out in order to pay their respects. Plus, it was tied so completely to Auri in his mind that a part of him sorta hoped that the lady would be more at peace there in any event.

"So Rick just called an' asked you to come pick up her remains?" He noticed that she didn't even sound winded, which was good. They'd started taking walks with Auri out behind the cabin when they got the chance, and it seemed to be building up her stamina. "I feel awful, I didn't even think about what might be done..."

With the body.

He shook his head and paused to offer a free elbow, helping her over a rotted out log before answering. "Stopped by last week while you were at that orientation thing." The meeting had been unexpected and awkward, his least favorite kind of social interaction. "Got the feelin' he'd been expectin' t' find 'er family or somethin'. Took a' year for the stubborn sumbitch to call it quits."

They made it through the last row of trees before the grass surged up to almost thigh height, and the electric shades of the petals from the flowers, flared through the area like neon lights. It elicited an echoing gasp from his companions before Auri turned to him; her pint-sized lips (that he could already tell were going to be much fuller than his own) were in an O of gaping shock. He mimicked the look minutely and his kid's surprise blossomed immediately into a smile that showed off the whole four of the teeth she was so proud of these days.

"I think you picked right," Beth said, bumping an arm into his as they took a moment to just look around. "You got a specific spot in mind?" Daryl motioned toward the far right corner of the picturesque setting where three of the timber pines had all but grown together.

They'd make for the best marker.

When it was done, he allowed himself a sigh of relief for it being that way. He and Beth were silent as they watched the mild breeze scatter ashes against the trees' bark and into the surrounding vegetation. After that, they moved a ways away and he helped Beth lay out the blanket they'd brought. The day was setting up to be a warm one, so he got to watch as his fair skinned woman slathered sunscreen lotion on both herself and Auri. Regardless of his best glare she did the same to him, straddling his lap to make him hold steady while that dang kid of his giggled until she fell over onto the blanket.

"Your daddy is so dang stubborn," the woman had the gall to grumble, while she fastidiously dragged her fingers down the length of his nose and made sure the substance didn't get into his eyes. "Almost as bad as you are about walkin', little girl."

Auri had decided to take her time when it came to doing much of anything. At first it was rolling, then crawling, and now walking. Each milestone when it came to movement didn't seem to interest his daughter much in the least. Anytime this made her doctor hum and mumble about the need for more physical therapy Daryl just shrugged it off. With how active he and Beth were, how much they liked getting out and about, it was inevitable that she'd be wobbling around soon enough. He didn't see any need to rush her. Kid had fought like hell just to stay alive, no way was he going to harass her about walking.

"Almost as bad as yer mama is wi' everythin' else."

That earned him a sassy poked out tongue, and then she was peppering his lotioned skin with kisses, rolling off him with a squeal when he went to tickle her sides. Aurora pushed herself back to a sitting position and clapped encouragingly. Daryl didn't know who she was rooting for as he lunged to the side and got a few more good prods in. Giving the blonde a second to breathe, he switched sides and tickled Auri, who let out a shrill noise of surprise before laughing herself a cherry shade. Then she and Beth got revenge and ganged up on him, Beth holding the baby, who chortled and patted his stomach and sides enthusiastically while he 'writhed' and tried to defend himself.

The twenty minutes following that, he had a time stopping the carefully crawling little imp from eating any stock or petal she could get a chubby hand on. When the kit had finished a tantrum over not getting the chance to taste all of the pretty colored flora around them, she settled back to watch the passing clouds and drink from her new sippy cup. Her head pillowed on his bicep, and Beth's on his chest, Daryl tracked the same wayward shapes as his daughter did.

"You excited for her first birthday?" The question sounded like a sleepy one, and he shifted as Beth burrowed into him, finding a more comfortable patch of muscle to rest on.

"We still havin' it at Nana's and Papaw's?"

"Yeah, 'course."

"Then I'm excited as all hell," he replied, grunting when she pinched his stomach. Beth being excited about them living together, had wanted to have everyone at the cabin, but the mere thought of how claustrophobic that'd be had caused Daryl to beg off. If she was going to want to do that kind of thing, he might have to look at upgrading their living situation. Place was too damn small these days as it was. "When're ya wantin' to do somethin' for the other thing?"

"What other thing?"

His face twisted in discomfort, the word tasting nearly acidic on his tongue for its foreignness.

"Anniversary," he said, feeling as she went an uncertain kind of still where she lay. "S'comin' up too."

Just like Auri's first birthday…matter of days.

"Oh, well." He could hear the click in her too dry throat when she swallowed. "When are we counting it by?"

His head ticked back against the ground in confusion. "The sixth, same as Kit's birthday."

Beth's neck craned back and Daryl tucked his chin against his chest to be able to meet her gaze.

"That's the day we met Daryl, not the day we started datin'."

A loud breath shot through his nose. "Might as well've."

Her lips turned up sweetly and she moved to press some chaste kisses against his pulse point. "I think that means ya knew it was a forgone conclusion that I was gonna get you no matter how much you growled at me." The derisive noise he made was more choked than it regularly would have been. "Hmmm?"

"Mhmmm."

"Well I don't mind sharin' the sixth with Auri, but do ya think she will?"

A few necessary swallows happened as he felt the baby in question turn her head slightly to follow a particularly quick moving cloud. "She can' talk in full sentences yet," he reasoned, feeling the wet edge of Beth's smile against his throat. "Don't get a' vote."

Anyway.

That's the way he thought of it in his head, that both his girls had come to him on the same day.

"In that case, I'm alright with doin' whatever ya'd like," she said, taking pity on him and simply lying on his chest once more. "Could go to the arcade, or a ride on your bike, or somethin' like that."

Daryl nodded against the crown of her head, and felt the content sigh that rolled out of her.

He'd never been the faith having kind. Beth hadn't attempted to talk him into Sunday service, and he doubted very much that he'd ever take it up. But despite all that, it sure felt to him as if some kind of power he'd never hope to have a grasp on, was giving him far more of these perfect moments than he'd ever thought to get. The sun filtered through the sheltering bows above them, and he sent up something that might have been a prayer. That he could keep getting them, undeserving or no, that even though that silent bit of something in him had still managed to stay that way – silent – that this wouldn't be held against him.

For all the impossible had happened, and him messing up had actually turned out to be the best thing he'd ever done, it would be great, if he could keep it.

His family.

His baby healthy and happy.

His Beth wrapped around him.

It might be a huge understatement, but for the first time, he was truly happy.

And he was fucking determined to keep it that way.

There it is. Hope everything was enjoyable guys - I really loved doing this story and how much everyone got into it with me. So the convo with the brothers and Negan might not be as funny unless you watch Ride with Norman Reedus and saw S2 with JDM and the "Booter" lol. Daryl's outfit described is of course the one that NR has on for that Men's Fitness magazine cover...I feel as though there were other clarifications I wanted to make - but it's late and I am drawing a blank.

Be sure to message me with any questions, or leave them in your comments and I'll get back to you.