Oh my goodness, the response to the first chapter completely blew me away. Thank you so, so much for the reviews, favorites and alerts. I hope this sequel can live up to your expectations! This story is going to switch back and forth between Beth and Daryl's POV.
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Chapter Two.
Dale had treated the guys to donuts that morning and in the evening, when the garage was closing for the day, there were still a couple left. Dale handed Daryl the box on his way out the door.
"For the kids," the older man said.
There had been a time when Daryl would have frowned and pushed the box back to him, never one to ever accept anything from anyone, always looking to it as charity and Dixons never took charity. But now, he gave his boss a small smile and head nod as he took the box from him, knowing Beth especially would be excited with the surprise treat. She absolutely loved donuts.
He went out to his pickup truck, carefully setting the box down on the floor of the passenger seat. It wasn't a new truck but it was to him. He and Beth had been saving for a few months and finally, they were able to get a used one big enough for the family, trading in his beat-up rusted one with the simple bench seat. This one could fit Hunter's car seat in the back as well as the booster seat Luke sat in.
He left the auto garage and drove to the daycare center, parking at the curb in front. When he and Beth had first gotten married, he would ride his motorcycle everywhere and parked at the curb and waited for her, smoking a cigarette as he did. But then the kids came and he only find time to ride his bike sometimes on the weekends – as long as Beth could ride, too. It wasn't the same if she wasn't behind him, her slim arms wrapped around his waist, holding on tight.
He headed into the center where all of the kids had already been picked up and he found Beth in one of the classrooms, cleaning up from whatever craft they had done that day. She felt his presence in the doorway and she lifted her head, instantly bursting into a smile as soon as she saw him.
"Hey you." She came up to him and standing on her toes, she pressed her lips to his.
"Hey," he grunted in his low voice, his lips twitching in a small smile. "'Bout ready?"
She nodded. "Hunter's there," she pointed to a corner where Daryl stepped into the room and looked to see their thirteen-month old son passed out, his head resting on the neck of a giraffe stuffed animal. "And Luke's probably trailing after Carl. He has some serious hero worship going on."
Daryl smiled a little as he went to the corner, crouching down and gently hefting Hunter up in his arms, the baby remaining asleep as his head found Daryl's shoulder. He turned and watched as Beth put all of the scissors and glue bottles away into the supply cabinet and then grabbed her jacket and bag.
"I got a couple donuts," he told her and watched as Beth's face lit up again. He smirked a little, wondering if he should be insulted that he was on the same level as donuts on his wife's excitement scale.
They found Luke where Beth suspected he might be – sitting outside with Carl, who was waiting for his own mother. Carl smiled when he saw Daryl and blushed when he saw Beth and he wondered if she had any idea the kid had such a crush on her. Knowing Beth, she did. She just didn't want to put attention on it in fear of embarrassing him. He, sometimes, wondered how many guys felt like that about Beth. It wasn't as if he could blame them. His wife was damned-near perfect and she had gone off and married a Dixon and most of the guys her own age in town probably were still scratching their heads about that one. They had missed their chance long before they even realized they had a threat.
And most would expect him to be a possessive caveman over her and Daryl supposed he could be but at the same time, he never felt threatened. Beth wasn't interested in anyone else. Did he think she was crazy? Every single day but she was his crazy girl and he never thought for one second that she would leave him for someone else. Did he think she would leave? Yes. Someday. He was still waiting for her to wake the hell up and realize the mistake she made in choosing to have a life with him but even then, he was never worried that some other guy would catch Beth's attention. For some reason, he was the guy to have her whole heart.
His brother, Merle, often said that Beth was a flower growing in shit and Daryl supposed that that was the smartest thing his brother had ever said because it couldn't be more true. Most had accepted the fact that they were married but there were still those who thought Beth had ruined her life, picking up the Dixon last name as her own, marrying him, living with him, having a baby with him. Daryl tried as hard as he could, worked his ass off, to give her and their kids the best life possible. But sometimes, he would wake up and look at her still asleep next to him, her eyelashes fluttering against her pale skin and her blonde hair against the pillowcase and think to himself how she was the most beautiful thing in the world. And then he would think of his own mother, how she had been pretty once but being married to Will Dixon had slowly worn her down until she was a lady of wrinkles and smoke.
After daycare, Luke was always pretty quiet and Hunter was still asleep.
"Got you a donut," Daryl told him as he drove them home.
Luke gasped quietly from the backseat. "Really?"
Beth had picked the box up from the floor and now rested it in her lap. She opened the lid, practically licking her lips. "Two chocolates, one glazed and one jelly."
"Can I have the jelly?" Luke asked.
Beth smiled, turning in her seat to look at him. "Tomorrow, for breakfast, we're going to have a feast," she said and Luke smiled, too.
"Thank you, daddy," Luke said, his tiredness slipping back into his voice and he let out a small yawn. "I've never had a donut," he then said quietly, looking out the window.
Daryl found himself nodding. There were so many things Luke still hadn't tried; things Daryl remembered not trying for himself until he was a few years older. He had learned to take care of himself before he even hit the double digits and they all knew Luke would have had the same sort of life. His real parents getting arrested and thrown in jail was the best thing they ever did for him. Luke went from being a Ridgeway to being a Dixon and Daryl looked at him so many times and saw himself.
"You'll love them, Luke. They are one of the best things in the world," Beth told him.
"If you had to choose, me or donuts?" Daryl asked her, one corner of his mouth pulling upwards as he turned on the road that led them into the woods to their house. Hunter had woken up and they could all hear him whimpering, knowing he was going to burst out crying any second, and Daryl pressed down on the gas pedal a bit more to get them home faster.
Beth pretended to contemplate that for a minute. "Well, what kind of donuts?" She asked, her eyes dancing, and Daryl smirked.
Beth had left their crock pot on during the day and they walked into the house to the scent of the chili hanging in the air. As Beth went to the kitchen to check on their dinner, Daryl took the boys into their room. Luke put his backpack away and began to change into his pajamas and Daryl changed Hunter into a fresh diaper and his own pajamas.
"Fifteen more minutes," Beth said. "I just threw the cornbread in the oven."
Daryl nodded and set Hunter down, the baby immediately going towards the toy box against the wall next to the television. The box of donuts had been set on the counter and he went to it, taking one of the chocolate ones. Beth didn't say anything and just watched him as she set the table, seeming to know what he was doing.
He ripped off a small piece of a chocolate donut and then went to the couch where Luke was sitting, having flipped on the television.
"Here, Luke. Just a bit for now," he said, holding out the small offering.
Luke's eyes widened and he slid off the couch so he could stand before Daryl. He took the piece of chocolate donut and looked at it for a moment as if he couldn't believe he was about to try one. He then popped it into his mouth and took his time chewing it, allowing himself to taste it.
"What do you think?" Beth asked, having been watching him, too.
Luke licked at the lingering taste on his lips. "I love donuts!" He then exclaimed, Daryl smiling a little and Beth laughing softly.
They ate their chili and cornbread for dinner, all sitting at the table, and Beth talked about her day with Luke throwing in his own stories and Daryl sometimes grunting out what had happened that day at the garage. He mostly just sat and ate as his wife carried the conversation. He had never had this before marrying Beth – sitting at a table with others and sharing a meal and when they got married, it was something she quickly implemented in their life together. He sometimes thought of how glad he was that his sons was growing up with this in their life. It was something so small but most people didn't realize how important it could be.
After dinner, Luke helped clean the dishes from the table and carry them to the sink as was one of his chores and he then returned to the living room where he turned back on the television – no television on as they ate was one of the rules – and he dug out his containers of Play-Doh from under the coffee table. Daryl lifted Hunter from his high chair and the baby went toddling off and Daryl went to the sink. Beth cooked and Daryl cleaned the dishes. Another rule though Beth had never said he had to do it. It was a rule he had made for himself. Marrying Beth had brought those along with it. Rules and structure and having law and order within the house – things a Dixon house had never seen before.
As his hands were submerged in the soapy warm water, Beth came up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his back.
"I love you," she murmured quietly to him.
"'Cause of the donuts?" He asked, the teasing light in his voice, a slight smirk across his lips.
Beth laughed softly and standing on her toes, she brushed her lips across the back of his neck. "Well, obviously."
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