A short follow-up to Catch Me that will probably be around five chapters and will take turns with POV.

...

Part One.

"Which one's yours?"

Daryl turns his head away from having been watching the practice on the field to look at the man standing next to him. For a second, he's not sure that he's talking to him since the man's own eyes are still set to the field but there's no one else around them for the question to be asked to. Most of the other parents there are on the other side of the field, on the parking lot side, some getting things ready for when practice ends and the kids can get something to eat and others watching the practice like Daryl.

Daryl jerks his chin towards the field. "#22. Matty," he answers, watching as Coach T blows his whistle and starts yelling at the kids for not running the play right for the fourth time in a row.

"Damn. Heard about that kid even in our other league," the man replies.

"Which one's yours?" Daryl asks, trying to be polite though all of the parents know that Daryl Dixon's not one for small talk and when it comes to watching the practices, he likes to do it on his own. Even his wife, Beth, doesn't stand near him.

"#7. Henry. We were up in Cherokee County but we moved here this summer for work," the man continues talking. "We had to make sure there was football though. We couldn't even think about moving here if they didn't have football." He chuckles at that and then glances back to Daryl again. "But your kid's getting famous for his age. Where does he get it from? You or your wife?"

"Definitely not me," Daryl smirks a little at that with a shake of his head and he watches as Coach Tyreese bends down in front of Matty to talk with him. "Not my wife much either. Her brother though, Matty's uncle, was into football. 's one of the coaches now."

Daryl's actually surprised himself by saying so much at one time to this stranger.

"Henry doesn't really take after myself or my husband. I played baseball but never football and Eric is a bit of a klutz by his own admission," the man smiles.

Daryl looks at him. Can't really help it. It's not a big deal. Not to him anyway. He's just actually never met a gay man before. Especially in their little town where there are none. And he must have been looking at him for longer than he meant because the man then smiles a little at him and Daryl snaps himself out of it.

"Sorry," Daryl mumbles but he just smiles and shrugs and Daryl wonders how used this guy is to people looking at him as if he has horns. "Didn' mean to…" he trails off when the man chuckles and shrugs again. "How you like it 'round here so far?" He asks.

"We came from a town with about two hundred people so this is a big city to us," he smiles. "I work from home and Eric did have a job but he was feeling unsatisfied so he quit and was able to find something else. I told him we're too young for mid-life crises like that but it seemed to work out for the best. What about you? Do you like it?"

"Lived here for a long time," Daryl gives his head a nod. "Like it well enough. Quiet and small and 's a good place."

It's more than that. This is the town where he has a good job – managing Martinez's auto garage for him – and he has a wife, Beth, and she has her cupcake shop, and he has a son, Matty, who is nine-years-old and is already having high schools come and watch him on Saturdays during his football games. His family and friends are here. It's not just a good place. He would have never thought it but this little town is the best place in the world. He knows not everyone will think the same. Who knows if this guy and his husband and kid will even like it?

"Tavon! You have to nail this pitch! If you can't pitch it to Sammy, the play is over and what are you going to do?" T-Dog is yelling at the quarterback, holding the front of the boy's facemask so he has to look at him. "They are all expecting you to hand the ball off to Matty and they are going to be so far up that kid's ass, you won't even be able to think about handing him the ball! You need to get it to Sammy if you want to see points up on that board! Now, tell me what you don't understand about that?"

Daryl finds Beth across the field as she helps some of the other moms set up the cups for water and he can see her frowning to herself, not surprised to see her doing so. She has never been comfortable with the way the coaches sometimes yell at the boys.

"He's intense," the man comments and Daryl realizes he still doesn't know his name.

"T's good," Daryl says and he realizes he still doesn't know this guy's name.

And then, as if he can read Daryl's mind, and has realized that, too, himself, he turns towards Daryl and holds out his hand. "Aaron Raleigh," he says.

"Daryl Dixon," Daryl returns and shakes his hand.

"Tavon!" T-Dog blows his whistle again. "You see that tree? You run to that tree and back until I tell you to stop! Maybe it will help get your memory working. And Matty, you keep glaring at me like that, you can join him!" He blows his whistle again and the two boys begin to run off, side by side.

Daryl looks to Beth again from across the field and he's pretty sure he can see smoke coming out of her ears. Beth then turns her head and seems to instantly find Daryl's eyes and he watches as she walks around the entire practice field, coming to his side, and she seems to be completely unaware of Aaron standing there for the moment.

"What is his problem today?" Beth asks as if Daryl has any insight into T-Dog's mind.

Daryl shrugs. "Jus' tryin' to teach the boys discipline…" he then says as if he has any idea what the hell he's talking about but he figures that's what's going on.

He watches Matty as the boy runs side by side with his best friend. Matty's the fastest runner on the team – damned near one of the fastest runners in the whole county, probably – but he doesn't leave Tavon's side. Not that Tavon is a snail but Matty can run laps around any of these kids. Doesn't mean he will though.

"Maybe T's jus' tryin' to distract Tavon from everythin' that's goin' on," Daryl then suggests, turning his head back towards Beth.

She's been watching the boys, too, and she looks to Daryl. She sighs softly. "Maybe…" she agrees though it seems like she's still unsure and not at all happy with the harshness the team's head coach is expressing to the boys today.

She then notices Aaron standing there and her mood does a complete one-eighty. She bursts into a smile. "Hi!" She greets cheerfully like she does everyone. "I'm Beth Dixon."

Aaron smiles. "Hi. Aaron Raleigh. My son just joined the Gators this year," he says.

"Oh, you're Henry's dad," Beth keeps smiling. "He's a really good corner-back."

"Thank you. Your husband and I were just talking. We don't know where the kids get it from," Aaron chuckles a little.

"Definitely not me," Beth smiles wider, shaking her head, her eyes drifting back to watch Matty. "But I'm glad he has it. It makes him happy."

T-Dog blows his whistle. "Tavon! Matty! I said run! Not take a stroll!" He blows his whistle again and both boys abandon their jogs to start running at a faster speed.

Beth sighs heavily and stands beside Daryl, her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pursed together. He knows she won't complain to any of the coaches about this – not even to her brother. Parents who complain to the coaches – either about their boys getting yelled at or their boys not getting enough play time during the games – usually get their sons yelled at more because of it. Not to mention that the boys on the team are all now at that age where they're starting to get embarrassed by their parents and Beth would never want to embarrass Matty.

"Michonne's here," Beth says then and Daryl looks across the field to see Michonne, Tavon's mom, walking from the parking lot with her youngest son in her arms.

Without another word, Beth stands on her toes and kisses Daryl's cheek before hurrying away, walking back around the field towards their friend. Daryl watches Michonne for a moment and Beth approaching her and the two women talk with one another away from the others. Michonne has recently just left her husband and she and the two boys have moved in with her mother. Beth offered them a place immediately but Michonne had assured her that they'd be alright with her mom. Besides, they have just bought a house and should get the chance to settle into it before having house guests stay over.

T-Dog has resumed yelling at another player and Matty and Tavon are still running, not having been told to stop yet.

"Is it always like this?" Aaron asks from beside him with a slight frown on his face.

"Not always," Daryl answers truthfully. "Sometimes, it's just football."

Aaron nods but doesn't comment further, his eyes still watching sharply and not looking away from the field, and Daryl doesn't say anything else either. It does take a while to get used to – to watch your kid getting yelled at even though they're just eight and nine year old boys and it's just football and not life. And most of the time, Daryl knows he's actually still not used to it.

…

After practice, Matty is on the verge of tears, he's soaked with sweat and he has a nasty cramp in his side because even though he loves running, even he has to stop eventually. Daryl gets him a bottle of water from the table and he and Beth walk him away from the others. He's panting heavily, trying to catch his breath, and Beth helps him take off his practice pads and Daryl pours some of the water over the boy's head and back of the neck before handing him the bottle and Matty chugs the rest of the water down.

"Are you having fun?" Beth asks as she gently runs a towel over his head.

She asks him this from time to time because she's always said that if Matty ever answers with anything other than a yes, they'll stop. Just like that, they'll walk away from the team and playing for the season because it's just football. It's supposed to be fun. And Daryl agrees with her. Everyone else is already talking about high school and universities and drafts into the NFL but he and Beth only care about what Matty really wants to do and the decision is entirely up to him. Because if Matty burns out at nine or winds up hating the sport, what the hell's the point of planning this kid's future around it?

For the first time, Matty doesn't say yes. He's still out of breath, trying to catch it, and he closes his eyes as Beth gently rubs the towel over his sweaty face. But he doesn't say no either. He actually doesn't give her question any answer and Beth and Daryl look at one another over the top of his head, wondering exactly what that means.

…

They moved out of their apartment a couple of months earlier and bought a little blue house on a quiet street with quiet neighbors. Beth had sat down and figured out that they would be paying as much in a mortgage as much as they pay now in rent and it was time to move out of the apartment into their very own house.

The house is small but it's still more room than they've had. The kitchen is bigger – which is a plus for Beth – Matty is excited to have a bedroom upstairs, the backyard is fenced in so Otter, their pit bull, has plenty of room to run around in and Daryl has a garage where he can do all of his own projects when he's not at work.

When they get home, Otter is barking, excited to have them home again but Matty barely pets him before he's trudging upstairs to get himself cleaned up before dinner. Otter almost follows him up the stairs but Daryl calls his name and the dog comes, obediently going out the backdoor into the back yard. Beth is at the sink, where she had put a few chicken breasts in there this morning to defrost for dinner, and she now gathers the eggs, flour, and container of breadcrumbs.

Daryl stands at the back door for a moment, looking at her, not too sure what to say. He and Beth have been married for a while now and he's been Matty's dad for a while, too, but he still sometimes feels like he has no right to say anything when it comes to certain things even though he knows this is as much his family as theirs. He's just worried about saying the completely wrong thing and pissing Beth off. After all, she's the one who actually made him and gave birth to him and when it comes to Matty, Daryl admits that he usually just follows her lead.

She goes to preheat the oven and she must feel his eyes on her because she looks at him. "Do you mind going in the garden and getting some green beans to have tonight? I think we probably have just another couple of more harvests before they die."

"Yeah," Daryl nods and is silently relieved to have something to do. He goes into the backyard, seeing Otter sniffing at a spot in the fence where a squirrel had probably been, and he goes to the vegetable garden they have growing in the back corner of their yard, surrounded by chicken wire to keep the wild animals – and Otter – out.

Otter starts barking and Daryl looks to see that there is a squirrel in the sycamore tree planted in their backyard, clearly taunting the dog.

Over the summer, they had planted tomatoes, green beans and radishes and had gotten plenty of the vegetables from each plant and they are already planning as to what they'll plant next spring. Daryl likes being able to take care of himself for some things without having to rely on a store for everything.

He hears the back screen door open and then slap shut and he lifts his head, seeing Beth cutting across the grass towards him. He straightens and waits for her to reach him, she obviously wanting to talk with him or else, she would have waited until he got back into the house. She steps into the garden and closes the little gate behind her.

"Our baby is not allowed to be an athlete of any kind," Beth informs him. "Either they'll bake or fix cars and that's it."

Daryl smirks a little at that. "Not too sure that's up to us."

Beth sighs and without another word, she comes to him and slips her arms around his waist, turning her head and resting it against his chest, her ear over his heart. Daryl holds the small plastic bin with green beans in one hand and his other arm wraps around her shoulders, holding her close.

He drops his lips down to the top of her head and rests them there and he stands there, holding her and letting her hold him.

They've been trying. Ever since they got married, they've been trying. She wants another baby and he knows he's ready for one, too. And he's going to try his hardest to not wonder why it hasn't happened yet. Beth obviously has no problem getting pregnant. Maybe it's him. Maybe something's wrong with him because it's not like they aren't trying. He's pretty sure they're trying as much as they possibly can.

But it just hasn't happened yet.

But Daryl isn't going to wonder why not or worry about it because Beth doesn't seem worried and he knows she believes in everything happening when it's supposed to so probably, in her mind, she's not worried because they're just not meant to have a baby yet. Daryl will admit to himself that he's getting a little impatient for it to happen. It's not like he's getting any younger and he wants a baby with Beth a lot. A lot. Probably more than anything, to be honest.

They finally break apart and head back into the house, Otter on their heels, and Matty is in the kitchen now – his blond curls damp from the shower he has just taken – sitting at the kitchen table, one of his notebooks for school opened in front of him. Otter trots over to him and nudges his leg with his snout and Matty absently rubs him behind his torn ear with one hand as he continues writing with his other.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," Beth tells them both. "Matty, do you want to drink milk or apple juice tonight?"

"Apple juice," Matty answers without lifting his head from his notebook. He writes for another moment and then looks up as Daryl begins setting plates on the table and Beth is standing at the counter, cutting the ends off the green beans and tossing them into water to steam. "Can I call Grandpa?"

"Of course, sweetie," Beth answers. "You don't have to ask that."

Matty gets up from the table and steps up on the stool that's beneath the old fashioned rotary phone that hangs on the wall. Daryl pretends that he isn't listening as he goes into the small room laundry off of the kitchen to get Otter some dry kibble for dinner.

"Hi, Grandpa," Matty says. "It's Matty," he then says as if Hershel Greene wouldn't be able to guess that for himself. "If God makes you really good at something but you don't know if you want to do it, are you going to make God angry?"

Daryl looks at Beth as she stands at the counter, seeing that she has gone completely still, her eyes frozen on Matty.

The oven beeps but Beth still doesn't move and Daryl goes to take the chicken out before it can burn. Matty talks for a few more minutes and then hangs the phone up, hopping off the stool and heading back towards the table.

Beth serves them the green beans and Daryl serves them each pieces of chicken and he then goes to get the jug of apple juice from the refrigerator for both Matty and himself. They all sit at the table and Beth says grace and they all then begin eating. Daryl watches Beth as she continuously looks at Matty and hardly eats any of her dinner. Matty doesn't seem to notice though and if he does notice, he's acting like he has no idea.

Daryl takes a sip of apple juice from his glass and then clears his throat. "Matty," he says the boy's name and Matty instantly looks to him. Daryl takes a deep breath. "Do you think you wanna keep playin' football?" He then asks what Beth can't seem to be able to at the moment.

And Matty doesn't answer right away; as if he's really thinking it through. He then shrugs. "I don't know," he then says in a quiet voice. "I know every practice can't be fun but today, it really wasn't fun."

"Baby, you do not have to play if you do not want to," Beth speaks up. "You know that."

Matty nods and is quiet as he cuts a piece of chicken. "I'm going to think about it," he then says in a soft voice but the words drop like rocks down on the table and they're all quiet for a few passing minutes.

"So," Beth breaks the silence. "I've been working on my new carrot whoopee cupcake to take to Merle on Sunday. Are you sure he likes carrots?" Beth asks Daryl and he's glad that she knows what to say to completely switch the subject.

Daryl smirks a little. "Pretty sure Merle'll eat anything if it's not rocks or still movin'."

…

She has a thing for his arms. It's not a secret to him. He doesn't really understand it but whatever works for her. She's always finding a way to grip them – whether he's on top or she is, her fingers will find a way around his biceps and she'll hold onto him as if she'll afraid to let go and have him completely disappear.

Even though Matty is a deep sleeper, they still always try their hardest to keep quiet but sometimes, a low moan or a sharp gasp will escape from one of them before they can swallow it down. They know they can probably be a little louder but they never test it out. When Matty is having a sleepover at Tavon's or he's staying at the farm for the night, they both know that they can let it out but no other time.

Daryl makes sure he always takes care of Beth before he's able to finish himself and tonight, on top of her, he kisses her deeply and dives his hand between their bodies, between her legs, and she moans into his mouth, her back arching from off the bed and her fingers gripping his biceps tightly.

In the seconds after, they lay there, sweaty and panting and he's always so worried about crushing her but the times he has tried to move off of her, Beth always stops him, wrapping her arms or legs – or sometimes both – around him and keeping him right where he is until he's reached the point where he doesn't try anymore.

She presses a series of soft kisses along his scratchy jaw and her fingers run through his hair. It's getting long again and he's noticed that she loves sifting her fingers through it. Maybe he won't cut it just because of that. Maybe he'll just get it trimmed.

He buries his face in the side of her throat, taking a deep inhale of her skin. Chocolate and buttercream are her usual scents and they're mixed in now with sweat and sex. She's the best thing he's ever smelled. He takes another big whiff of her.

Daryl doesn't know if they made a baby tonight. All he can really do is hope they did.

Beth's fingers are light on his back, skimming over all of the scars that litter his skin, but he's stopped flinching so long ago at her touch and can hardly remember when he did.

"Do you think you can get a deer?" Beth asks suddenly and pretty damn randomly.

Daryl doesn't say anything. He just lifts his head and looks at her. She smiles, almost laughs, and shakes her head slightly.

"I was thinking that if you can get us a deer, we can have people over. A housewarming party kind of thing," she explains.

"Mmmm," Daryl replies, noncommittally, not really liking the idea of entertaining some party but knowing that it probably comes with having bought a new house.

She knows he'll do it if that's what she wants. He'll do pretty much anything for this woman and he knows that Beth probably knows that but she probably doesn't know just what anything means. And it means absolutely anything. This little woman has him completely under her thumb and he's not looking to be under anyone else's because the thing with Beth is she would never think she has any control over him and even if she does know, she would never think of taking advantage of that. Beth wouldn't know how to take advantage of a person if someone said her life depended on it.

"When you wan' it by?" Daryl asks and he slowly slides from on top of her, lying down on his front, keeping some of his body still over hers, his arm resting across her stomach, and he keeps his head turned towards her as Beth turns her head towards him. Her fingers are now trailing up and down his arm.

"Maybe for this coming Sunday," Beth suggests. "Anyone you would want to invite?"

Daryl thinks that over for a second. He assumes she'll be inviting their family and their friends but he thinks of someone else. "The new kid on the team. Henry. Maybe him and his dads."

Beth smiles at that. "Aaron did seem really nice. I didn't know he had a husband," she then comments.

Daryl smirks a little and moves to rest his head on her shoulder. "Don't think they go 'round, tattooin' it on their foreheads."

Beth playfully pinches his arm and he chuckles softly, his eyes slowly falling shut, listening to the sound of her soft breathing, feeling her fingers once again on his arm. He can't remember ever sleeping as good as he does now; not until he started sleeping next to and sharing a bed with Beth.

But she sighs softly and he opens his eyes again, tilting his face up towards her. She doesn't have to say anything. He can pretty much read her mind – especially about this.

"You always said he can quit whenever he wants," he reminds her.

"I know," Beth sighs again. "I just want him to make sure it's what he really wants because I know how much he loves it and I know how happy it makes him to play and he's so good at it. I just don't want him to quit because practice was terrible today. And I hate that practice was so terrible today."

Daryl's not too sure what to say to that so he doesn't say anything. If he's being honest, sometimes, he just likes to listen to her being a mom. She loves that kid more than anything and everything is about him. He knows Matty doesn't know how lucky he is. That kid doesn't know what it'd be like to have a mom who doesn't love him and make him her entire world. All that kid's known is Beth being there for him and thinking about him and staying up at night because of him.

"Matty's a smart kid," Daryl says after another minute. "He'll make whatever's the right choice for 'im." He settles his head back against her shoulder and closes his eyes once more. "He's the only one to know whether he wants to keep playin' or not."

Beth's quiet and he is almost drifting off to sleep when he feels her arms tighten around him and her lips brush across his forehead.

"And you think you're not good at this parent stuff," she murmurs to him softly and he can hear the faint smile in her voice.

…

Martinez makes him the manager of the garage after talking with his wife and realizing that he needs to spend more time at home with her and the kids. For Martinez, it is an easy decision to make. Daryl is his close friend and the best mechanic he has and he's also pretty confident that Daryl is the most responsible guy there is – even more responsible than him, in Martinez's opinion.

The garage is open Monday through Saturday but Daryl is never scheduled to work on Saturdays – at least not during football season – so Friday is always a bit more busy for him, trying to finish up all of his work before the weekends. Sometimes, after school, the bus will drop Matty off at Beth's cupcake shop and he'll help her clean up before they go home and he starts on his homework and getting ready for practice as Beth gets a start on dinner. And sometimes, Matty will get off the bus at the auto garage and help Daryl clean up there before going home with him.

Today, the bus drops Matty off at the garage and he comes into the front office where Daryl is typing up a receipt on the computer for a customer who's standing at the counter, ready to pay.

"Hey," Daryl looks up when he sees him enter. "How was school?"

Matty shrugs, coming around the counter and climbing up to sit on the stool there as Daryl stands beside him. He drops his book bag heavily to the ground. "Tavon's mad at me," he says.

Daryl prints the receipt and then processes the customer's credit card, thanking them for coming in, and only when they leave the office does he turn to Matty and speak.

"Best friends fight," Daryl offers.

Matty shakes his head though. "Nah. He's really mad at me. I told him that I might take a break from the team for a while and he said it's gonna be all my fault when they lose."

"Would think it'd be their fault for puttin' all of that on you," Daryl says and that really is the problem when it all comes down to it.

He didn't know shit about football before meeting Beth and Matty and becoming involved with their lives but now he can watch the games and understand what's going on and the offense for the Gators team is seriously flawed because almost the entire damn thing relies on Matty. The kid can run – fast – and they use that to their advantage in nearly every single play. And having an entire team rest on their shoulders would take their toll on an adult, let alone a nine-year-old.

Matty nods and doesn't say anything and Daryl puts a hand on his head for a moment. He then leans in and kisses him on the top before another customer comes in, ready to pay, and he wonders how dinner will go. Beth has invited T-Dog and her brother, Shawn, over so they can all discuss Matty's decision to take a step back for a while. Actually, it's not going to be much of a discussion because it won't matter what T-Dog and Shawn say. This is the way it's going to be for a while. The kid's burned out and he just needs the chance to rest up and the Gators coaches need a chance to think of some new damn plays that don't always surround his kid.

If they don't have to worry about a football game tomorrow, maybe Matty will come hunting with him and help him bag a deer for Beth.

…

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