A/N I'm so happy that we're all so darn happy! Thank you so, so much.
NOTE: When I receive a signed review, good, bad, indifferent, one word, I always respond to that review. It seems FF doesn't always send message notices, so if you posted a review and you think I didn't respond, please check your inbox.
I appreciate all the reviews from my "signed" readers, but also want to thank my "guests" who visit every week, KS, MaggieDee and all the others who give me no hint who you are. I love hearing from you too.
Oh, and just in case you're wondering if I mean it when I say, I love ya large, I do indeed! xo
00
He was holding her to him, his face nuzzled in the curve of her neck as he slowly rolled onto his back, taking her with him. She looked in his eyes and he asked her, "Ya happy?"
"Very. A little sore, but more happy than sore."
He held her face in his hands, looked in her eyes and said, "You, us, bein' married, what we just done. It all seems too good ta be true." She smiled at his words while she lay her head on his chest and his arms circled her. He held her tighter as they whispered, "I love you," and slept.
It was about one in the morning when they began to stir and as their eyes opened he apologized, "Sorry. I shoulda got up before. We got a mess." She felt herself flush with embarrassment when she saw the blood and the proof of the love they'd made had dried to their bodies. The sheets were worse.
He helped her from the bed and walked her to the bathroom, then hurried to put the sheets in the washer before joining her.
They were still embarrassed, yet they smiled at each other as they stood side by side in the tub. He used warm water from the sprayer, doing his best to rinse the dried mess from their bodies. When the last of the blood was rinsed away he reached his arm over to the shelf and grabbed the bubble bath, held it up and with a sly little smile asked her, "Wanna?"
She giggled as she looked down shyly and shrugged, "Why not?"
The newlyweds slid into the warm bubbles and she nestled herself between his legs. They were happy and content as they lay with his arms wrapped lovingly around her. Their eyes were closed and they were quiet while they enjoyed the simple pleasure of being alone, being in love and being together in each other's arms.
It was two thirty in the morning and the sheets were in the dryer. She was wearing his pajama top; he wore the bottoms. They were seated close at the small kitchen table while he sipped a beer and she sipped an apple juice. With legs touching and feet entwined they happily munched on leftovers from their wedding celebration.
As he slipped a big bite of the casserole in his mouth his eyes drifted to the bride and groom cake topper sitting at the center of the table. That's when the thought struck him, "This ain't much for a honeymoon, is it?"
She smiled, "This honeymoon is better than anything I ever dreamed of," and she squeezed his hand as she took a dainty bite of their wedding cake.
He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, "Anythin' special ya wanna do tomorrow, or today, or whatever it is?"
"Besides spending all of my time with you? No, I can't think of another thing that appeals to me."
He softly slid the back of his finger along her soft cheek, kissed her there and whispered, "I knew I loved ya Beth, I just didn't know how much."
They put the fresh sheets on their bed and crawled in together, their bodies clean, their stomachs full and their hearts fuller. He held his bride close, kissed her and asked, "Ya wanna mess it up again?"
"Let's," was all she needed to say.
00
It was early Sunday afternoon when Mick came running in the house calling, "Daddy, Mama! I'm home!"
Daryl shook his brother's hand and thanked him for keeping Mick. Merle insisted, "Nah, thank you. Ya know Karen an me are always happy ta have Mick with us."
When Merle left the new little family hugged and kissed and Mick told them all about her cartoons and making popcorn and the big fish they caught. There was so much love and happiness, and the the little girl asked, "Did ya get all your kissin' done?"
Her Daddy smiled when he answered truthfully, "I'll never be done kissin' your Mama."
He didn't want her to have to give up her things, and she didn't want him to have to give up his things. They'd thought about it, discussed it until neither one of them ever wanted to talk about it again, and finally they made their decision. Which of her things would they keep, which of his?
There was plenty of room for it and it was one of the most practical things either of them owned, so there was no question. Her sewing cabinet went in their bedroom. She said she could live without her vanity table if there was no room, he insisted, "We got room," as he slid the dresser over and set the vanity next to it.
A person just can't let go of perfectly good bedding, so they stored his dark quilt and the extra linens in the cabinet, and her brighter patchwork quilt and fluffy pillows went on their bed.
They didn't want to part with his couch and they didn't want to part with hers. He was willing to give up his chair to make room for her small couch, but she insisted not. Finally they found that if they moved things just right they could fit her smaller couch on the back porch.
He grinned when they had it in place, "Gonna be sittin' mighty comfortable out here, ain't we?"
She smiled and agreed, "It's going to be wonderful."
Beth's things fit quite nicely right alongside his in his dresser. Her dresser went in Mick's room along with her small overstuffed chair. He carefully stored her bed in the shop, knowing eventually Mick would outgrow her little bed.
They added her dishes, her glassware and her flatware to his, replaced some of his cookware with some of hers, and added two of her chairs around the small kitchen table. What they couldn't use and didn't have room for they donated to her church for whomever might need it.
The last thing they did was set her Greene family portrait on the mantle. It was next to the photo of their little family of three that Abraham had taken at the wedding celebration. As they stood back a step looking at the photos, Daryl lay his arm across her shoulders. She smiled up at him and wrapped her arm around his waist, they glanced at the photos once more, looked at each other smiled and agreed theirs was the perfect home and perfect family.
Everything was so different now. She was healed up, healthy and full of energy again, and most importantly they no longer had the cloud of impending separation hanging over them. These days in their home love was freely expressed in words, in actions and in the nights they shared.
Mick stayed home with her Mama while her Daddy went to work. He missed having his daughter around, but he thought she was better off at home learning the things only her Mama could teach her. It wasn't long before the little girl made her Daddy two handkerchiefs, and he kept one or the other of them with him every day. Mick also helped sew buttons on her new dresses, and she and her Mama even made a new dress for her dolly with leftover fabric.
The little family attended two weddings in two weeks. First was the wedding of Merle and Karen. The couple told everyone not to make a fuss, after all, they'd been together a long time already. Still a bit of a fuss was made. There was the celebration meal and the special champagne and chocolate milk for Mick, and just as Beth promised she would, she made them a beautiful wedding cake and took care of serving it to the family.
Maggie and Abraham's wedding was an entirely different matter. Maggie not only wanted a fuss, she insisted on a fuss, and so of course a fuss was made. Although like Daryl and Beth and Merle and Karen, Maggie and Abraham married at the courthouse, they held their celebration at the nicest restaurant in town. Maggie made it clear to Abraham, "I'm only getting married once and I plan to eat a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant when I do. I might even have one of those martini drinks."
Abraham knew he was a whipped pup and he'd long before decided he kind of liked things that way. He just grinned and told her, "You betcha Hurricane, whatever your little heart desires. I dunno about martinis, but I think I'll probably have a big ol shot of whiskey."
On the morning of Mick's first day of kindergarten her proud parents both accompanied her to the school; and her Daddy carried the handkerchief his daughter had made for him in his back pocket. Mick was feeling a little nervous and apprehensive, and she held her Daddy's hand as tightly as she could.
The little girl was wearing her favorite new dress, she had her new lunchbox adorned with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and she had her bookbag. Her Mama had stitched her name right on it, Michele Marie Dixon.
They walked their daughter to her classroom, chatted with the teacher for minute, and then they kissed and hugged their little girl goodbye. Mick had already made a new friend and she seemed happy and excited, no longer worried about being left there without her Mama and Daddy. It was Mama and Daddy who were having a rough time.
He helped a teary-eyed Beth into his pickup, and when he climbed in his side he took her hand and admitted, "Damn, I didn't expect it ta be so hard. My baby girl's gettin' all growed up."
She was still teary-eyed when she caught him completely by surprise, "Daryl, have you given any thought to the idea of you and me having a baby?"
He hadn't exactly been being careful to avoid the possibility. Maybe without even realizing it, it was what he wanted too. Still for just a moment he slipped back into his old ways of thinking, and he asked her, "Really Beth? I mean ya think that's a good idea? I ain't exactly father of the year an we got such a small place. Probably won't be gettin' a bigger one. I ain't ever gonna be rich."
Beth was in no mood to let him get away with his mood, "Daryl Dixon I won't hear that from you. You're a wonderful Daddy and you know it, I know it and Mick knows it most of all. We have a beautiful home and it's just right for one more. Maybe even two more." She shook her head in frustration as she added, "And how can you say we're not rich? That's just nonsense. The bills are paid, we have food on our table, nice clothes to wear but most of all we have each other, we're family. Just how rich do you think we need to be?"
He forgot he was in the school parking lot when he gently cradled the back of her neck in his strong hand, kissed her hard on the lips and said, "Just like usual, you're right. I love ya Mrs. Dixon and if ya want a baby then I want one too." Then he winked and suggested, "We could go home n try right now."
She didn't say yes and she didn't say no, she simply shrugged and said, "We don't have to be back for Mick until three."
He kissed her one more time, threw the pickup in gear and hurried home.
Thanksgiving rolled around and Maggie and Abraham invited everyone to their place for a family dinner. With the amount of food they'd all prepared you would have thought there were forty of them, instead of just six adults and one little girl who didn't eat much at all.
There was so much happiness and so much to be grateful for in all of their lives. They sat together at the big table, made by setting up a card table at the end of the kitchen table and throwing a couple of tablecloths over all of it.
Beth said the blessing and then Maggie got so serious when she instructed, "Before we start eating we're going to go around the table and everyone tell us what you're most grateful for."
They all smiled and nodded, a couple of them may have even shed a little tear when it got to Mick's turn and the little girl happily answered, "I'm gradeful cuz now I got the most beautiful Mama in the whole world an we love each other."
Later that night, after they'd had story time and Mick was tucked in and happily sleeping in her bed, her Mama and Daddy sat on the couch together. He was sipping a beer and she was having a glass of apple juice, and he kissed her and said, "I didn't have ta give it no thought at all, I knew exactly what I'm grateful for."
She looked up at him and said, "Me too. I'm so blessed to have found you, that we found each other, and that I have you and Mick in my life now." She was getting a little misty-eyed but smiling too. She took his hand in hers, lay them together on her tummy and said, "And there's something new and wonderful I'm so happy and grateful for."
For a moment he was at a loss for words. Could she possibly mean what he thought she meant? No. Well yeah. He moved closer, looked in her eyes and finally got the question out, "Really Darlin'? Ya sure?"
"I'm sure."
Seven months later Michele Marie Dixon became a big sister to Davis Lee Dixon, although she never thought of herself as just a sister, she mothered him almost as well as his Mama did.
It was just three months after Davis was born that Merle and Karen welcomed a baby girl they named Pearl. Two months after Pearl was born Maggie gave birth to a red-haired boy that was just as spunky as his Mama. They named him for his Daddy, Abe, Jr.
One evening after the dishes were done Daryl stood in their small kitchen looking at the little table. He knew there was no way all the Dixons and Fords could fit around it, or even fit in the kitchen. Not all at one time. Nowadays though, instead of getting down and feeling like neither him nor the place would never be enough, he built a huge picnic table for their yard that would hold everyone. Including any other children that may come along.
It was good planning as the family continued to grow. Two years later Michele Marie and Davis Lee became the very protective older siblings of Violet Rose Dixon. Merle and Karen had one more child, a little boy named Max. Maggie and Abraham had twin daughter's, Rachel and Rosemary.
It was a warm spring Sunday afternoon and as they often did, the family gathered at Daryl and Beth's for no particular reason except to be together. The big picnic table held all the fixings and Merle had taken charge of grilling the burgers. Everyone was talking and laughing, children were running everywhere and babies were crying. It was perfectly and happily chaotic.
He never thought he was the kind to enjoy such a scene. He thought he preferred to be alone. But as Daryl and Beth sat together on the bench holding hands, him sipping on a beer and her sipping on apple juice, he smiled contentedly watching the family chaos he'd come to love.
00
Somewhere in the back of his mind and deep in his heart he'd been dreading this day. He talked it over with Beth a hundred times in the last few months and she agreed, it had to be done. Mick had the right to know and there was no one who should tell her these things except her Daddy.
So it happened that the day after Mick's 18th birthday she and her Daddy sat together in her old apartment. He'd been planning his words, practicing over and over what he would say to his sweet girl. The story was harsh and her heart was tender, and his stomach was in knots, his throat dry as chalk and he still questioned if he was doing the right thing.
She was still so tiny and she still seemed so young, but she was grown now and he owed her the truth. They sat together on the little cot and he took her hand, and he made himself look in his daughter's eyes when he told her the story. He didn't sugarcoat any of it, he told her the whole truth. He told her how drunk he'd gotten, he told her about her Mother bringing her to him that day at the garage. He told her how her Mama died and how he became her Daddy in all ways.
He also told her the part about her brother and how later he'd sought out the little boy, and how he'd been willing to take him in and raise them both.
He marveled at how tough she was as she sat there wordlessly listening to him. There were occasional tears in her eyes, but never did they fall. When he was done she spoke, "When I got a little older, about 13, I started to suspect things weren't like you said, that my Mother wasn't some beautiful angel. The signs were all there Daddy. You never talked about her or acted like you missed her, we didn't even have a picture of her. I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to upset anything or anyone. We were happy."
He bit his lip and nodded in agreement, "I'm sorry Mick, I guess I shoulda told ya sooner."
"Oh Daddy don't you see? I see. You weren't protecting her from the truth and you weren't protecting yourself. You were protecting me. I don't miss a woman I didn't know who didn't want me. I don't even feel bad about it. I have Beth and she's the best Mama in the whole world. I know how lucky I am to have her and you and Uncle Merle."
He thought it might be him who would start crying, but he tried hard to keep his emotions in check when he asked her, "Would ya wanna see if we can find your brother Mick? I ain't sure we could, but we could try."
For a long time she was quiet and he let her do her own thinking, and he saw himself in her as she chewed her bottom lip and she chewed at the side of her thumb and finally she answered, "I have a brother. Davis is my brother. I don't know if I want to meet this other brother. I'd bet he doesn't even know I exist, and what good would it do him to know now?"
She nodded as if she were having a silent conversation with herself and added, "I'd like to see him though. I'd like to know that he's okay and that he's happy. If his life ain't good Daddy, then maybe we can help him. But if he's happy, maybe we should let him be."
As far as her Daddy was concerned it was her life and her call, and so they agreed. "Alright, we best get back ta the house and talk ta Mama, let her know what we got planned."
Beth was waiting anxiously for them to return, she told herself over and over that if she didn't stop pacing she was going to wear a hole in the floor. When she heard their footsteps on the porch she felt both relief and dread, as she stood frozen and waited for the door to open.
Mick walked in the door, went right to her and hugged her hard. She kissed Beth's cheek and sounded like the little girl from long ago when she said, "You're my Mama. You love me and I love you, you said so. You're always gonna be my only Mama. You'll see you are," and they both laughed and cried.
Then they sat in the living room and Daryl told Beth the plan they'd made to try and find Mick's brother. Beth just squeezed her daughter's hand and told her, "It's like your Daddy said Mick, it's up to you."
Like all adoptions, the boy's was sealed and Mick's grandparents had passed away years before. Daryl had no luck finding anything. Then Karen made a suggestion and Daryl didn't hesitate, he talked to Rick Grimes. Rick had a buddy who was retired from the FBI and had become a private investigator. He was hired to find Mick's brother.
To everyone's surprise it turned out the young man lived less than five miles away. His name was Billy McNamee, he was 22 years old, newly married and working at the meatpacking plant.
That next Saturday, right after they closed the shop, Mick, her Daddy and her Uncle Merle planned to take a drive by the young man's house, just to see what they might see.
Daryl pulled up to the curb across from the house and there was Billy McNamee, cutting the grass in the front yard. So as not to look out of place, Daryl hopped out of the pickup, went around front and popped the hood like he was checking on something. All the while Mick sat next to her Uncle Merle and watched her brother.
The young man had spotted them and after a couple of minutes he walked across the street and addressed Daryl, "Everythin' okay there sir? Can I give ya a hand?"
Daryl wiped his hands on his handkerchief, smiled and answered, "Nah but thanks, I think I got it."
Billy McNamee said, "Alright, well ya have ya a good day."
"You too and thanks again."
And her brother smiled and gave a quick wave of his hand to her and her Uncle Merle.
Daryl dropped the hood and climbed back in the pickup, just as Billy McNamee's pretty little wife walked out the front door with a smile on her face and a glass of lemonade in her hand. She gave it to her husband, he took a big swallow, handed the glass back and kissed her on the cheek.
Daryl looked at his girl and asked, "Ya good?"
She knew him so well and she answered, "Yes Daddy, and how about you? Is your mind at ease?""
He smiled as he nudged her arm with his elbow, "Yeah it is, looks like he done okay."
Her little sofa still sat on the back porch, worn but still a favorite spot for the couple to sit while he sipped on a beer and she sipped on apple juice. They watched their children who were busy in the yard where their Daddy had an archery target nailed to the old oak tree. Mick had taken charge as they each took turns shooting at it.
He wrapped his arm around her a little tighter, pulled her in a little closer, looked in her eyes and said, "Everythin' right here? It's everythin' that matters ta me."
The End
A/N Thank you all so much for sharing this story with me. I'm going to miss this little family. I hope you'll leave a comment for me. In the meantime, please check out the chapter photo on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick, and please come back for my new Bethyl story next Friday. Until then remember, I love ya large and appreciate you all so, so much! xo gneebee