Chapter thirty will be an epilogue of sorts.


Chapter Twenty-Nine.

"Daryl's almost done with his pen and when he is, this little guy should be ready to go to his new home," Beth said as she watched as the lamb walk ahead of her through the grass. It was like having a dog – the lamb looking back every few steps to make sure that Beth was still following him and he would come back when she called out for him if he got too far ahead of her.

Hershel walked beside her. He had recently gotten a new prosthetic leg from the doctor and he was walking as much as he could, trying to get himself adjusted to it as quickly as he could. Shawn was getting himself ready to move back to Savannah – Hershel proving to all of them that he didn't need his children to take care of him and he told them that they had their own lives to see to and it was time they got back to living them.

Maggie was still seeing that boy and Hershel had mentioned to Beth that Maggie was thinking about moving to Atlanta to be closer to him, where he was a college student. Beth couldn't help but be surprised at that – not only that she was still seeing the same boy but also that she was wanting to move closer to continue seeing him – but she didn't ask anything about it. She didn't really think she had any right to. She was out of Maggie's life just as Maggie was out of hers.

As for her, just a few months earlier, she would have loved to return to Atlanta and being Rosita's roommate but now, so much had changed and she now had no desire to leave. Daddy was here and her job was here and Daryl was here and she was never going to want to leave. She had made a life for herself here. This was home.

Hershel looked to Beth and gave her a smile.

"It'll be good for you and Daryl to have an animal to take care of together. Might be good practice for any other little living thing that may come along."

"Daddy," Beth sighed softly and she watched the lamb trot a couple of steps ahead, almost tripping over his still slightly clumsy legs. "You know that probably will never happen," she said.

"You don't know that, Bethy," Hershel responded. "You're getting stronger and miracles happen every day."

Beth just shook her head. "I think you're getting way too ahead of yourself right now." She looked to him and he was still smiling despite the heavy turn of the conversation and Beth couldn't help but feel her own little smile begin to form. "Daryl and I aren't looking to have babies. We're not even talking about marriage. Right now, we're just… us and that's all we want right now. And don't go talking to him about marriage and babies neither."

Hershel just kept on smiling.

She was telling the truth. She wasn't thinking about babies with Daryl or marrying Daryl. Right now, it was just them in this relationship of theirs and she had never been happier. She didn't need anything more than what she had with him right now. She had learned to think things one day at a time and that was what she was going to do with this relationship and Daryl. One day at a time. They were here and together and that was all that mattered to her.

And if the day came where Daryl wanted children and she couldn't have any, they would cross that bridge when it came time to.

"What are you going to name him?" Hershel asked, switching the topic.

"I have no idea. I've been trying to think of one but I was thinking Harvey for some reason," she said and then laughed a little. "I've never been good at picking names."

"I think Harvey is a fine name," Hershel said with a chuckle.

"Harvey," she tried out on her tongue. "Harvey!" She called out then and the lamb actually turned towards her as if he knew, all along, that that was his name. She smiled brightly and clapped her hands once. "Let's start heading back," she said as if he understood every word that she was saying.

The lamb let out a quiet "bah" and turned, heading back towards her. They began heading back across the field towards the barn and both Beth and Hershel looked when they heard a car approaching. Beth lifted her hand to her brow, shielding her eyes from the sun overhead to see if she could make out who it was.

"It's Daryl," she said as she saw his pickup truck near the house, the tires kicking up dirt from the road behind it. Instead of the barn, she headed towards the truck and Harvey followed behind. She wondered if she should get him a bell for his neck.

Daryl parked the truck in front of the house and stepped out, turning his head and smiling when he saw her. Beth swore she felt a skip in her step as she came to him and bounced up on her toes, smacking her lips to his in a quick kiss.

"Hey," she greeted with a smile. "I didn't know you were coming here."

"Your pops called," Daryl said and his eyes slid past her to look behind her and she turned her head, smiling as she saw Harvey standing there. Daryl formed a small smirk. "You tell him he's goin' home soon?" He asked, looking back to her.

"Yep," she smiled. "As soon as the pen's done."

"By this weekend, I figure," Daryl said and she smiled as she felt his hand lightly slide onto her hip and she shuffled a step closer to him.

She hadn't thought it possible but something even more had shifted between them – ever since the night where he had taken off his shirt. He didn't talk about it and she didn't ask questions. She supposed the many scars upon his back were all self-explanatory and she would never ask him to talk about them just as he didn't ask her about her starving herself. They both knew that if the other ever wanted to talk about it, the other would always be there to listen.

And with that shared knowledge between them, they had grown even closer. There were so many touches now, light and fleeting but always there. His hand brushing across her back as she was at one of the filing cabinets and he came into the office to use the bathroom. Her fingers brushing along his hand as she passed him in the kitchen in the morning as they went about their usual routine. It was as if now, there always needed to be some form of contact between them and Beth only felt her happiness grow with each passing day that she had with him.

"His name's Harvey," Beth informed him with a smile.

Daryl smirked again. "Harvey, huh? It ain't the worst name I've ever heard."

She began to laugh. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Thanks for coming, Daryl," Hershel approached the couple, a smile on his face and a visible twinkle in his eye. "Was needing your help with the generator in the back. Neither me or Otis can make heads or tails out of what the problem is."

"Yes, sir," Daryl nodded and broke away from Beth to collect his toolbox from the back truck bed.

Hershel gave him a stern look. "What have I told you about calling me that?"

"You talk to Annie?" He asked Beth as they all began walking towards the generator in the back shed at the back of the house, Harvey now walking right behind Daryl.

"No. Why? Is there something wrong?" Beth felt a panic begin to rise in her stomach.

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "Merle called and told me she's lost her damn mind. She's been craving strawberry jam but she threw the jar when Merle bought the wrong one," he said.

And she didn't mean to but envisioning a jar of strawberry jam being thrown at him was too funny to not laugh and she did before she could stop herself, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

"That's terrible," Beth managed to say.

"Kind of loses the effect when you're laughin' while tryin' to say that," Daryl teased.

"I might have a jar downstairs in the cellar left over from canning. I'll go look," she offered and then with that, she stood on her toes and leaned into him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before turning towards the house.

She looked back and saw that Harvey was staying with Daryl and daddy and she couldn't help but smile, liking the idea of the lamb being attached to both of them.

Coming through the back door, she saw that Maggie was in the kitchen and Beth couldn't help but feel a tension in her back immediately upon being in her presence. She hated this. Absolutely hated this. But she didn't know how to fix this because they were at a standstill. Beth could only say so many times that she was getting better and Maggie could only so many times refuse to believe her.

Maggie was digging around for something in the pantry and she lifted her head when she heard the screen door, turning to see Beth standing there. The two sisters looked at one another without speaking for a few moments.

"Do you mind if I take these?" Maggie asked, lifting a box of four mason jars.

"Of course not," Beth shook her head, both surprised and nervous with Maggie actually talking to her. "I have plenty downstairs," she said. She swallowed the thickness in her throat. "Are you going to be doing canning in Atlanta?"

"No," Maggie shook her head. "That was always more your thing. Glenn has absolutely no glassware in his place that isn't made out of plastic. I figured I could bring these and use these for drinks."

Beth gave a small smile. "Glenn," she then said, recognizing the name immediately. "From Rhee Pizza."

"Yeah," Maggie nodded and then looked embarrassed almost for some reason. "He's not really my usual type but there's something about him…"

Beth laughed a little. "I know what you mean. I don't think Jimmy and Daryl could be more different from one another." Her laughter faded and she looked down to the floor. She wasn't sure if that was the thing to say or not. She and Maggie were talking, yes, but maybe this was a conversation that wasn't time to take place yet.

Maggie set the box down on the middle kitchen island and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "He really cares about you," she then said. "It's obvious to everyone."

"He does," Beth nodded. "He loves me. And I love him."

Maggie looked at her and then slowly nodded her head. "Good. I'm… I'm really happy for you, Bethy."

"Are you?" Beth dared herself to ask, studying her sister closely.

"I am," Maggie immediately nodded her head and she sounded sincere. Beth had always been able to tell when Maggie was lying. She did this shuffle thing on her feet but she stood there, standing still and Beth knew she was being honest. "You deserve to be happy, Beth, and you deserve to be loved."

"I've always known you loved me, Maggie," Beth quickly said.

Maggie smiled a little – not a happy smile – but one that twitched her lips. "And I'll never stop. You're my little sister, Beth. I'll always love you and I'll always be there for you. No matter what happens."

And it wasn't an apology and it wasn't a promise that things would ever be the same between them but for now, Beth stood in that kitchen with Maggie and for the first time in the longest time, she felt like she had a sister – an actual sister and not a warden keeping tabs on her – again.

She woke up to the smell of coffee brewing.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw that sun was streaming in through the open blinds and she noticed immediately that she was alone in bed. She lifted her head, the sleep fog fading from her brain, and she frowned a little. Where had Daryl gone? She looked to the alarm clock. It was a little before seven. Had he gone hunting? He usually told her the night before if he was going to be doing that and then before he left, he would always murmur in her ear that he was leaving.

He had done none of those things. Maybe something had come up with Merle or at the shop and he had left. There was no need to worry. She just had gotten so used to waking up beside him, it was slightly unnerving to being in bed by herself again.

She sat up, smothering a yawn with her hand and a slight ache between her thighs. She was still naked from the night before and almost immediately, as the covers slipped from her body, she shivered. She pulled herself from the bed and found her underwear on the floor, tugging them back on. She then picked up the flannel shirt of Daryl's and slipped that on, buttoning a couple of buttons.

Had he made coffee before he left? It tickled her nose and it smelled heavenly even if she didn't really like coffee. She still loved the smell. It was strange though. Daryl wasn't really a big coffee drinker either so why had he made a pot?

She went to the closed bedroom door but before opening it, she could hear voices on the other side and she stopped herself. One was Daryl's and the other, she recognized as belonging to Rick. Her fingers were still curled around the doorknob but they fell away and she pressed her ear to the door. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she couldn't stop herself. Curiosity was getting the better of her.

"And you're sure?" Daryl was asking.

"Kind of hard to misinterpret what she said," Rick said.

"'m sorry," Daryl then mumbled.

"I guess I saw this coming months ago. How long have I been talking to you about this?" Rick then sighed heavily. "She said that after Judith was born, she felt so unattractive and I didn't do a thing to tell her how beautiful she was. Shane knew just the right things to say. I didn't know I had to tell her she was beautiful. She's Lori. Of course I think she's beautiful. She should have known that."

Daryl was silent and Beth gnawed on her bottom lip. Poor Rick. Poor, poor Rick. And poor Carl and Judith. She had met Lori Grimes a few times and the woman had always been kind to her and Beth wasn't going to judge her because she didn't know her side of the story but Beth stood there and felt her chest ache for Rick right now.

"What are you gonna do 'bout Shane?" Daryl asked then.

"Kill him," Rick said without pause but then sighed heavily. "I don't know."

"You get 'im in the woods, I can have a huntin' accident with 'im," Daryl offered and Beth could hear Rick's smirk through the door.

"Thanks for that, Daryl," he said. "You're a good friend."

"'m sorry," Daryl said again.

"I'm gonna give Merle a call," Rick said. "I don't feel bad going to a strip club now. You want to come with us this time?"

Daryl was quiet for a moment. "I don't think so. I got Beth. I don't need to see any other woman take her clothes off in front of me."

Beth felt her face warm at his words and she felt her heart give a little flip before feeling as if it was expanding past it's normal size in her chest.

That man. God, she loved that man so much. She believed in soul mates and love at first sight and she knew with a doubt that Daryl was her soul mate. They were meant to be. The universe had been planning this all along. He had been born and then a few years later, she had been born and the universe knew from the very start that they would find one another and be together. It was how things were supposed to be.

All was right in the universe.

Rick and Daryl talked for a bit longer and Beth slipped back into the bed, curling on her side, resting her head on his pillow and unable to stop smiling to herself. She began to drift off again and in the back of her mind, she could hear the murmur of voices as Rick bid farewell and then a minute after that, she heard his car driving away and the trailer was silent except for the chirping of birds and the familiar of the woods surrounding them outside.

Her eyes fluttered open when she heard the bedroom door open and Daryl stepped in again. His eyes fell on her immediately and she gave him a small smile, one he returned. He took off his pants and then tugged off his shirt, leaving him in his boxers, and he lifted the covers, slipping back into bed beside her. Immediately, her head found his chest and she sighed contently as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. His other hand found hers and their fingers rested on his stomach.

It was quiet between them but they didn't need to talk. Most times, they didn't have to. So much of their relationship had happened between them without words or discussions and it had been natural and right and they had always been on the same page with one another. Even before they had their first real conversation with one another, she had felt drawn to him – as if they had some sort of connection – and now, after being with him for these past few months, maybe she had never been wrong in thinking that in the first place.

No one understood her like Daryl did and she liked to think that no one understood him like she did. They were true partners in every sense of the word. They would never talk about it but they both knew that he had saved her and they both knew that she had saved him, too. And maybe others could see it be that way between them but it didn't matter whether anyone else could or not. All that mattered was what she and Daryl thought and felt about one another.

And now they had this. Quiet mornings in bed together, their bodies locked in one another's embrace and neither wanting to let go. And Beth knew that they would always have this with one another and there would never be a reason to let go.


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