There is something about this story. I don't know what it is but I just love it. I love Daryl and Beth in it. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing and loving it, too. Some were requesting we see Annie again so here we go!
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Chapter Eight. Dog Days of Summer.
Beth couldn't help but find her husband to be absolutely adorable. She knew her opinion was probably biased but she couldn't imagine that many arguing with her.
They sat on the bench outside the bus depot, Beth watching him as he chewed at the skin around his thumbnail and doing her best to not smile with amusement. She didn't know why he was so nervous and if she asked him about it, he would deny that he was even though it was as clear as day. The bus wasn't due until three o'clock that afternoon but Daryl had gotten them to the depot by two-thirty, just on the chance that the bus was running early.
Beth reached a hand out and rested it on her husband's thigh, giving him a small smile as he turned his head to look at her. Daryl let out a deep sigh as he sank back into the bench and gripped her hand. He stroked his thumb over her knuckles and she kept smiling, resting her head on his shoulder.
And when the bus arrived – three o'clock on the dot – Daryl instantly stood up and the bus's brakes squealed to a stop as Beth got to her feet, too. The bus doors opened and she was the first one off. The instant Daryl saw her, he broke into a smile, and she came running towards them both.
"Daryl!" Annie exclaimed as she jumped and practically threw herself against him.
Daryl smiled as he hugged his cousin, her feet dangling above the ground.
"That ride took forever!" Annie said once Daryl returned her to her feet and their hug broke apart. Annie then beamed and Beth laughed as Annie threw her arms around her in a hug. "It didn't feel that long when we drove down here in May."
"That's 'cause your dad drives twenty above the speed limit and the bus driver don't," Daryl said. "Which bag is yours?"
Annie hurried past him and snatched up the black duffel bag that the driver had pulled out from beneath the bus. Daryl took it from her and slung it over his shoulder. They began walking towards the pickup truck parked in the small lot.
"Other than how long it took, how was the trip?" Beth asked.
Annie shrugged. "'s fine. I'm just really glad to be here now. Grandma sent me with some of her biscuits to give to you," she told Daryl, who smiled a little as he tossed the duffle bag into the back bed of the truck. "And everyone wants to know if you're pregnant yet," she said, looking back to Beth.
Beth laughed slightly. "Not yet," she shook her head. "You know I'd call if I was."
Annie looked to Daryl once more. "What's takin' so long?" She almost demanded of him and Daryl didn't answer but his ears were noticeably redder as he unlocked the passenger door, letting Annie and then Beth climb in.
Annie pulled her bookbag from her back into her lap and as Daryl drove away from the bus depot, she pulled out a small plastic container, prying back the lid. She handed Daryl one of the homemade buttermilk biscuits and Daryl took it, not even trying to hide his excitement as he took a large bite from it. She then handed one to Beth and then kept one for herself before putting the container away once more.
"What's goin' on with the family?" Daryl asked once he had swallowed his first bite.
He used to not care about talking with a mouthful of food but then he married Beth and he supposed the girl was trying to make him more respectable or something. And chewing and swallowing before speaking and not resting his elbows were things that were becoming habit to him now. And having manners weren't that bad.
"Well," Annie took a deep breath. "Mandy's pregnant and dad's super pissed at her."
Mandy was Annie's second oldest sister – just barely sixteen. Daryl tried not to sigh as Annie's announcement settled over him and he swallowed down a rising bubble of disappointment. It wasn't him to have a reaction like that. He was just a cousin. He wasn't Bill, her dad, but if Bill needed to beat some kid up, Daryl would help.
"Who's the boy?" He asked.
"I think you met him. He was at the house for Easter. Brandon?" Annie asked.
Yeah, Daryl remembered him. The kid was dumber than a pinecone. He decided to just switch topics. Mandy was a pretty girl and her having a kid so young was almost too depressing to think about. Especially now that it was August and he and Beth still weren't pregnant themselves.
He knew it wasn't a big deal. They had only been married since May, for God's sake, and before they were married, Beth was on the pill. He knew these things took time. Maybe it just seemed like it was taking such a long time because they both wanted it so badly. But as Beth reminded him every time she got her period, it had only been three months and it didn't matter how many times they had sex. They would get pregnant when God decided for it to happen.
"Anythin' else?" Daryl asked.
"Aunt Cheryl got arrested 'cause she was drunk and slugged the hell out of Uncle Rusty and he called the cops and wanted to press charges. She gave him a black eye and everythin' and Roy's been teasin' him so bad 'bout givin' 'im self-defense lessons," Annie said with a giggle. "You know Uncle Rusty's been threatenin' for years to take her in to one of the abandoned mines and leave her there. Mama says they hate each other but they'll never get a divorce. They'll kill each other but they won't get a divorce." She paused and took a bite of her biscuit. "What else? Oh! Dairy Queen laid me off. They said now that it's nearin' the end of summer, they don't need as many people workin' anymore – especially the younger ones."
"I'm sorry," Beth spoke up. "I know you were excited about making your own money for the first time."
Annie shrugged as if it didn't bother her but Daryl could read her almost as well as he could read Beth and knew she was a little depressed about it.
"There'll be other jobs," Daryl offered though good jobs up where his family lived seemed to be few and far in between.
Annie shrugged again. "It's okay. I think if I had to see another Dilly Bar, I'd puke," she said and he smirked at that.
Daryl drove down the road leading through the woods and pulled to a stop in front of his and Beth's cabin. They got out and as Daryl went to get her duffel bag from the back bed, he watched as Annie stood and looked around. It wasn't her first time seeing their home but he remembered in May, her looking around like that then, too.
More than one family member had taken to asking him if he would ever move out of Georgia and head to Kentucky to live near the rest of his family and Daryl knew that if he had met them sooner and they had asked him even just a year ago, his answer probably would have been a different one.
But now, he had this cabin and he had a wife and Georgia was his home. And though he found Appalachia to be one the prettiest spots he had ever seen in all of his years, wandering around – he supposed that was in his blood – his little spot here, deep in the woods that he shared with Beth was his idea of heaven – if he got to thinking that heaven actually existed.
It was quiet out here. Just the birds chirping and the quiet gentle rush of the small creek behind their house. Daryl never cared for people and being away from them, waking up in a safe, warm house and hearing the quiet and thinking that no one else in the world existed, it was all he really ever wanted in this life. He couldn't leave it and he would never ask Beth to leave her family behind.
Beth had gone up the steps to unlock the front door and instantly, their Beagle, Moseley, came bounding up. First, he greeted Beth with paws up on her thighs and his tail wagging so quickly, it was just a blur, and then he spotted Annie. The dog ran so fast to her, he nearly seemed to trip over his legs on his way, and Annie laughed, bending down and bestowing love and affection on the beast.
"You take 'im huntin' yet?" Annie asked as Daryl walked past her towards the house. She stood up to follow and Moseley excitedly jumped all around her.
Daryl nodded. "Took 'im out a couple times now. He's good. Quiet and able to pick up the scent. Shot a couple rabbits and he's gone and fetched 'em and brought 'em back," he said and Annie smiled, patting Moseley at that as if quite proud of him.
Inside, he set the duffel bag in the corner of the living room. He was excited to be having Annie stay with them for the next few days. They wrote to one another often and in every one of her letters since May, she has asked him if she could come visit. Daryl and Beth, of course, had no problem with it but she had to talk to her parents about it and make sure that it was alright and, of course, Bill and Clementine had no problems with it either. Working at the Dairy Queen for the summer had helped her save money for a bus ticket and she was able to come a couple of weeks before the summer vacation ended and the new school year started up.
"I love your house," Annie said as she walked into the cabin.
It was small but it was perfect – the big room that was both the living room and kitchen and eating area and the small bathroom off to the side and up the stairs, the lofted bedroom. Everything was so clean and open and they didn't have to trip over their things or had to crawl over the other people living there.
And it smelled so good. Each house smelled like the people who lived there; every family having their own scent. Beth and Daryl's house smelled like a mixture of buttercream frosting and fresh pine trees. It didn't seem like the two would mix together but it blended together in a pleasant aroma that tickled Annie's nose.
"This couch pulls out and this is where you'll be sleeping," Beth said as she pulled down pillows and blankets from the closet. "I've washed some fresh sheets for you and neither of us have slept on this so you'll have to let us know if it's really uncomfortable."
"Can't be worse than the one you sleep on when you're visitin' us with the bar goin' straight 'cross your backs," Annie said.
The cabin was sticky. It didn't have air-conditioning but all of the windows were open and the slightest – muggy – breeze could float in through the screens and Daryl was pulling a fan out of the closet, too, setting it down on the floor next to the couch. Annie wondered if the summer heat would get a bit better once the sun went down.
"So, in a little bit, we're heading over to my dad's," Beth was saying as she placed the pillows and blankets on the couch. "There's a tradition in my family and every Saturday night, we go for pizza and Greene family movie night. It's kind of a big deal and you are very lucky that you are able to be here for it."
Annie beamed at that. She really liked Beth's family from when she met them in May for the wedding. Her brother, Shawn, and sister, Maggie, were both friendly and funny – the way the two bickered constantly with one another. And Glenn, her brother-in-law, was kind and funny in his own way. But she really couldn't wait to see Hershel again. The man reminded her of Santa Claus with his white hair and matching beard and he had no problem letting her ride any horse she wanted to.
And after going to the bathroom and having a tall glass of fresh lemonade that Beth had made earlier that day, they were all back in the truck, Moseley with them this time, and Daryl drove them towards the Greene farm. And once arriving, Hershel, Shawn and Maggie were already there and they all greeted Annie as if she was a part of the family and Annie guessed that in a very extended way, she was.
Annie didn't know that much about Daryl's family. The Dixons. She had heard her mama and some of the cousins and Grandma Anne talking though, eavesdropping on them when she knew she wasn't supposed to. She heard plenty of stories of Aunt Liv – Grandma's sister – and the man she had married – Chris Harper. They had had a daughter – Anne – and she had married a right bastard, according to Grandma Anne. Will Dixon had beat the hell out of his wife and kids and Annie had never seen Daryl's upper body but apparently, it was a mess of scars. Annie knew she didn't want to see it. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to beat her cousin like that. Daryl was the coolest, nicest guy in the world and as she watched him with Beth and the rest of the Greene family, she was glad that he had this family so close by.
"What's your pick tonight, son?" Hershel asked, clapping a hand on Daryl's shoulder as they all walked into the house.
"Night of the Walkin' Dead, the original," Daryl said and Beth pulled the DVD case from her bag slung across her chest.
"Oh, veto!" Maggie groaned.
"Excellent," Shawn grinned, taking the case from Beth and reading it over.
Glenn arrived a little later with two extra-large pizzas from the pizzeria he owned and Daryl pushed Annie towards them so she got the first slices.
"It's survival of the fittest with this family," he whispered in her ear and she giggled before helping herself to three large triangle slices. She was starving, hardly able to eat anything that day, too excited for her trip and to see Daryl and Beth.
Every Saturday Greene family movie night, they took turns picking which movie would be watched and everyone got to use one veto if they really hated the idea of watching it. Shawn told her that they only really used their vetoes when Maggie tried to get them to watch Dirty Dancing and Maggie always vetoed Shawn's choices no matter what. "Because she's evil," Shawn explained.
And the only reason Maggie used her veto tonight on Daryl's choice was because she wasn't the biggest fan of zombie movies – which Daryl apparently seemed to pick more times than not when it was his turn.
They all settled in the family room with their pizza and drinks and the movie started, Maggie immediately practically crawling into Glenn, who didn't seem to mind the movie choice at all. Annie finished her three slices but she could feel as if she wanted a fourth but she didn't know if she could just get up and get another one. She didn't want to just help herself. No one else seemed to be getting seconds.
But then Daryl stood up and went into the kitchen and when he came back, he had three more slices on his plate. He sat down and without a word, he leaned forward to where Annie was sitting on the floor and he dropped one of the slices on her plate. The smile she gave him was wide and grateful and he gave her his own little smile in return before settling back beside Beth on the couch.
Daryl and Beth were worried that Annie would be bored the four days she was staying with them. They lived a quiet life and they didn't do anything exciting but Annie thought that just being there was pretty exciting. On Sunday morning, they went to church – the church where their wedding had been – and they then came back home where Beth made a breakfast of French toast and sausage links. Daryl then took Annie out to show her around the woods, Moseley tagging along. And although he wasn't planning on hunting, Daryl brought his crossbow anyway.
When they got back home, one of Beth's friends, Amy, was over and they were listening to music and she stayed for dinner. Annie listened to Amy complain about her job during the entire meal. She was a music teacher at a junior high and apparently, she didn't like it that much. Apparently, this school district started the school year earlier than Annie's.
"You had such the right idea of dropping out of education, Beth," Amy said. "The constant administrative bullshit is enough to drive anyone to insanity! And the kids are just ridiculously horrible. They have absolutely no appreciation for anything. I actually had to walk out the other day before I slapped one of them."
"Maybe it will get better," Beth suggested. "They're probably just still hyper from summer vacation."
Amy shook her head though. "A demon is always a demon."
"I didn't know you were going to be a teacher," Annie said once Amy had left and Annie was helping Beth and Daryl clean up from dinner.
"I had planned on it but my senior year, I wound up dropping it and just focused on my music degree," Beth said. "I knew it wasn't the right thing for me to do."
"But you teach piano lessons, don't you?" Annie asked and she couldn't help but be a little confused by that.
Beth just smiled. "I think teaching students in my home one at a time is different than teaching thirty at a time all day. This way, I can focus on each one individually and teach them the way I want."
Annie thought that over for a moment. "Can you teach me?"
Beth's eyes lit up and her smile was instant. "Of course!"
Daryl went to work every day – leaving the house around six-thirty in the mornings and getting back around four-thirty in the evenings. During her days, Beth worked and wrote her own music. She also had twelve students and gave piano lessons four days a week. When Beth worked on her own music, Annie went into the woods with Moseley so she wouldn't bother Beth even though Beth told her that she wasn't bothering her at all. Annie would stick close to the house though so she could hear the songs Beth was writing. She thought it was so cool that Beth could write her own songs. Pretty much everything about Beth and Daryl was so cool to her.
On Tuesday morning, Hershel came to pick her up and bring her back to the farm so she could help with the horses and the other animals and Annie wondered if Beth had called her dad to help Annie spend her time doing something she would enjoy.
Annie then came back into the house in the early afternoon when Beth's first student arrived and she would sit on the couch, listening to each one play. Beth said that having Annie there was good practice for when they had their upcoming end of summer recital and had to play for everyone's parents. Annie was sorry she was going to miss that.
And in the evenings, she played Uno or checkers with Daryl and they would watch the evening news and he showed her the photo albums he had that had once belonged to his Grandma. She had seen pictures of Aunt Liv but she liked looking at the pictures of her and Uncle Chris together. When they were both young and had just gotten married, they had been such a handsome couple.
They kind of reminded her of Daryl and Beth. Daryl certainly looked like his grandpa. He was handsome and Beth was beautiful and in the few days that Annie had been there, she had seen Daryl look at Beth more than one time the way Uncle Chris looked at Aunt Liv in several of the pictures. Daryl looked at his wife as if his entire life began and ended with her. Her oldest sister, Natalie, loved romance novels and Annie had snuck in a couple to her room to read for herself. She now imagined Daryl to be like one of those heroes and Beth to be like one of the heroines from those books.
On Wednesday, her last day there, Annie woke up to the sound of Daryl coming down the stairs like he had for the past two weekday work mornings. Annie was used to waking up early anyway and as soon as she saw that Daryl was up, she pulled herself from the sofa bed.
"Hey," he grunted in his usual greeting in the morning. "Wanna come and pick up some doughnuts and coffee with me?"
Annie instantly perked up. "What 'bout work?" She asked.
"'s your last day here. I took today off to spend it with you," he shrugged as if it was all rather casual and obvious but they both knew it wasn't. Annie bounced on her toes and hugged him tightly and he smiled a little, patting her on the back.
Annie figured that because Georgia was much more south than Kentucky and they were closer to the equator, that's why the days felt as hot and humid as hell. She couldn't get used to it and she felt as if there was no reprieve because even at night, the heat was still like a thick blanket pressing down on her.
After going to get doughnuts from a coffee shop where Daryl was clearly a regular – the owner a man named T-Dog who knew how Daryl and Beth took their coffee and he gave Annie a free doughnut for coming all of the way from Kentucky to his shop – they returned home where Beth was just coming downstairs, dressed and ready for the day. She took the cup of coffee Daryl handed her with a relieved smile.
"My hero," she said and he smirked a little before Beth pushed herself on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.
And even though Daryl's ears tinged pink with Annie in the room, Annie didn't mind watching them kiss. In fact, she actually enjoyed watching them being affectionate with one another. They were so sweet and so happy together and Grandma was always saying that Daryl deserved happiness in his life like this after going through most of it without any.
Along with Moseley, they spent the day at the creek, swimming in the water. Annie didn't have a swimsuit so she borrowed a large tee-shirt of Daryl's to swim in along with her underwear. And even though the water felt good and refreshing, every time she pulled herself out, Annie felt the humidity and she felt disgusting again and she wished she could just live in this creek. There were creeks back home in Kentucky and she could go swimming anytime she wanted to when the weather allowed it.
And she loved Kentucky and she loved being home. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else. The only bad thing about it was that Beth and Daryl didn't live there, too. She wished they would come move up to be closer to them but she knew that that would never happen. This was their home and out here, their cabin in the woods, it was the best home Annie had ever seen. She didn't blame them for never wanting to leave.
But even though Annie knew she could visit them again whenever she wanted, she was still dreading getting on that bus tomorrow that would take her back home because she knew she probably wouldn't seem them again until Thanksgiving. And they were her two favorite people in her whole family and her family was gigantic. And what about when they had a baby? She wouldn't even get to know him or her that well and that gave her such a sadness in her chest, she didn't even really understand it.
Annie almost wished she had never come to visit them because now, she had to leave again and practicing balancing herself on her back in the creek, listening to Beth as she laughed while Daryl playfully splashed her, she didn't know if she would actually be able to.
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Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!
