I do not own any of the TWD characters.

Not sure about ya'll but our family is kinda like this – it's not a holiday until somebody cries and there's been a fight or two. It just goes along with the territory. Enjoy!

Save the Neck for Me!

While Silas played in his room, Daryl emptied their suitcases and Beth cleaned out the fridge. She figured they might as well take advantage of the time here to get some things squared away at home so that the upcoming work week wouldn't be so hectic. They had a lot of exciting things going on right now, but also had a lot of things to get done.

Beth was going to visit her ob/gyn first thing Monday morning. She had already scheduled a meeting to speak with her supervisor at work about the whole working part time thing, and they had to get Silas back on some sort of normal schedule. Daryl had to report to work Sunday night for six straight days – a double cycle. On top of all that, Daryl had told Beth that if she felt like it she really needed to start packing up anything she could. It would be that much less for them to deal with the closer they got to their move in date – December 20!

Daryl had the washing machine filling up and he was pulling out the dirty clothing from their trip. He laughed when he came across the beach bag that Beth had packed.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Hell, we didn't even go to the fuckin beach" Daryl snickered. He unzipped the bag to see what all was in there and how it should be dealt with. "What the hell is this?" he asked as he held up a gift.

"Oh my gosh!" Beth gasped. "That's your wedding gift! I completely forgot about it. I am so sorry."

"Ain't nothin to be sorry 'bout – we didn't go to the beach – and we's kinda busy with other stuff, so – it's alright" he laughed.

"What a crappy wife I am. You built me a house and I forgot to even give you your gift" she managed to get out before she started crying.

Daryl dropped the package and ran over to Beth who was holding some obviously beyond its prime baby spinach – it was kind of dripping on the floor. "Hey, hey, hey" Daryl whispered as he first took the blob of wilted greens to throw away, and then pulled her in for a comforting hug. "Hey now, don't cry" Daryl told her "ain't nothin to cry 'bout. Shhh."

Beth wiped her eyes and tried to dry it up. "Well, open it silly" she said with a hiccup "unless you wanta save it for our anniversary." Beth thought a minute and then said, "No! You better open it, it can't wait another year."

Daryl grinned at her because now his curiosity had been peaked. He used to hate opening gifts because it made him uncomfortable having all the attention focused on him. However, he was starting to get used to it because it seemed like Beth or her family were always giving gifts of some kind – and they weren't necessarily expensive gifts, just thoughtful ones. Daryl tore into the Sponge Bob Squarepants wrapping paper – probably left over from some birthday party that Silas had attended. He laughed out loud when he saw and unfolded what was in there. His very own, adult sized beach towel with a built in shark fin hoodie.

"This makes me almost sad we didn't make it to the beach – I'll use it when I shower all the time. I love it Babe!" he kissed her on the nose.

"There's more" she said. Daryl looked to notice that there was an envelope pinned to the shark's mouth and Beth had drawn in bite marks on the envelope and Silas had colored it with a red marker to make it look bloody. Daryl just shook his head – both of those two were sticklers for the details and it's one of the many things he loved about them.

Daryl opened the envelope, careful not to tear it because he was going to keep it forever like a grandmother keeps birthday cards that her kids send. Inside the envelope he found two tickets to see Chris Stapleton in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium for February 19. Daryl's eyes shot up to Beth's. "That show's been sold out for months" Daryl said.

"Yep" she said.

"Beth, this is awesome" he said. He couldn't believe it – he fricken loved Chris Stapleton.

"There's more" Beth said "we're spending the weekend at Opryland Hotel." Beth squealed and jumped up and down when she shared that bit of news with him. "I've always wanted to stay there" she said. Daryl pulled her in for another hug. "Beth – wow – that's all I can say – wow" Daryl told her. "Oh shit – wonder if I can get off work, or if I'm scheduled to work" Daryl was already stewing over the details. He should have known though that Beth had already tended to those details.

"You're off – already had a looksy at the work schedule" she told him.

"How? They don't put out next year's work schedule until mid-December" Daryl questioned.

"I have my ways" she grinned at him. Daryl thought it best not to ask any more questions. Together they finished up the laundry, cleaned out the fridge and disposed of all the yuck that had collected in there, and made a grocery list. Daryl realized it had been a while since they had seen or heard anything out of Silas so he went to check on him. The boy was so happy to be in his own bedroom, that he'd fallen asleep in the middle of his floor surrounded by all of his cars and trucks. Silas clutched Bingo around the neck tightly and a little trail of drool slid down his cheek. Yep, he was his momma's boy.

The Dixon family made their way back out to the farm for the Thanksgiving meal. As they pulled up in the gravel drive, Silas piped up from the backseat to ask, "Ya'll ain't droppin me off again are ya?" Daryl tried not to laugh and Beth looked like she might cry.

"Naw son" Daryl told him "we ain't droppin ya off. We're here to eat – it's Thanksgiving!"

"Oh, good" the little boy sighed in relief.

Beth and Silas went on in to the house where Annette was already fussing at Hershel to get out of the stuffing. Glen was in the jam cake, but she wasn't saying a word to him Beth noticed. Maggie was getting dishes and glasses down from the china cabinet. When Maggie saw her baby sister she climbed down off the chair she'd been standing on and ran over to her.

"There's my baby sister!" she screamed "Ya have a good time? How was the beach? God, why are ya still so damn pasty?" Maggie fired the questions at her.

"Margaret" Annette said "Beth, dear, where's Daryl?"

Beth grinned, "He's out on the porch."

"Well, what on earth is he doin out there?" Annette asked her daughter "it's cold out."

"He's waiting on Rick to get here" Beth giggled.

"Did I miss something?" Maggie asked.

"Ya know, we came home early. Daryl texted Rick to send somebody to come pick us up in Atlanta at the airport." Beth explained.

"Yeh, and?" Maggie asked. Annette had turned around to listen to the story. She knew that Daryl had seemed to be out of sorts when they showed up on the doorstep earlier that morning.

Beth was grinning and trying not to laugh. "He sent Daniel."

"Daniel?" Maggie asked, looking very confused "who the fuck".

"Margaret Josephine!" Annette said.

"Who the heck is Daniel?" Maggie rephrased her question.

"Ya know – Daniel. Daniel Davis that helped with the wedding" Beth said no longer being able to hold back the laughter. "Ya shoulda seen him. He was holding this sign that said "Dick"son and it had a bright pink, glittery penis on it."

Annette gasped and covered her mouth. "Dear Lord" she said.

Maggie was beside herself. "Oh my – that's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. I would have loved to have seen the look on Daryl's face."

"It was priceless" Beth said. "Anyway, pretty sure Rick's gonna get a beat down when he gets here."

"There's not going to be any beat downs on Thanksgiving Day – not if I can help it" Annette said as she started making her way out to the porch. Maggie and Beth scurried behind her to watch Daryl get his first "talkin to" by Annette. This was going to be good!

Oh, but Annette was too late. Rick and Lori had just arrived. Silas was running out to greet Judith since it had been several days since he'd ridden into town with Merle (they took him to see Judith before they went to Wal Mart). Lori was grabbing some bags from the back seat – looked to be snacks and sodas to have when everyone played cards and board games later in the evening. Rick had a casserole dish in his hands as Daryl walked out to meet him. It reminded Beth of one of those scenes from a black and white western – where two guys were getting ready to shoot each other down.

Rick looked up at Daryl and smiled. "Hey man. Ya'll have a good time?" he asked. Rick was completely clueless that he was getting ready to get his ass kicked.

"Oh, not the pineapple casserole" Annette called out. "Rick! Rick!" Annette yelled at him and then she ran out to get the dish from him. He handed it off to her but wondered why she was so damn tore up over him carrying the casserole. As soon as Annette and the casserole were out of the way, Daryl waylaid Rick and knocked him down to the ground.

Lori looked up in disbelief. "What the hell Daryl? What's your problem?" Lori screamed.

While Daryl looked at Lori, it gave Rick enough time to grab Daryl around his legs and pull him down to the gravel with him. The two best friends rolled around in the gravel with Lori and Beth both screaming at them to stop it. Maggie simply took a seat on the front porch. Glen came out and joined her. Andrew and Seth were watching from the barn loft – who knew what the hell those two were doing in the barn loft – probably getting ready to set it ablaze if past history were any indicator. Rick and Daryl were drawing quite the crowd. Judith and Silas stood there with their mouths hanging open. Merle, Carol, Sophia, and Carl had pulled up. Once they got out of the vehicle they just stood there and looked on in wonder as well. Carol look horrified while Merle thought it was the best thing since they came up with pay per view – especially since this was free.

Gravel and cuss words were flying, boots skidding in the dirt looking for a foothold, eye gouging and hair pulling. The occasional fist met with a jaw now and again. Annette had seen enough. She turned and went back into the house. The next thing everyone knew there was a gun shot. Rick and Daryl stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. There stood little ole Annette Greene with a shot gun resting on hip.

Again, the show just kept getting better and better thought Merle. Glen didn't think he'd ever witnessed anything like this back in Michigan with his family – this was definitely a first. Maggie was already laughing because she knew that both men were in trouble, but Daryl, he was really, really in trouble.

"I mean for you two to get in this house right now" Annette told them in a remarkably calm voice. "Lori, Beth, ya'll get these men cleaned up. We're eatin in thirty minutes." Annette handed the weapon over to Hershel who appeared to have just been rudely awakened from a nap and then she made her way back into the house.

Daryl got up out of the gravel first and held his hand out to pull Rick up, but Rick swatted it away. That's all it took. Daryl was all over Rick again like white on rice until Merle of all people stepped up to be the voice of reason. He pulled the two men apart. "Ya'll better stop that shit right now 'fore that woman comes back out here with a gun 'gain" Merle told them "What the hell's wrong with ya two anyway?" Neither man would answer him, so Merle just turned them around and marched them towards the house.

The wives got their brawling husbands cleaned up enough to come to the table. Hershel looked around the room at his motley bunch and then asked the blessing. With a chorus of Amens, everyone went through the serving line. As usual, Annette had outdone herself. She had prepared most of the meal. Lori had brought the pineapple casserole, a dish that Annette had taught her to make many years ago and bless her heart, it was about the only thing she could cook. So, that's what Lori always took to any gathering. Beth had gotten off lucky this year – she didn't cook a thing. Glen and Maggie always brought a honey baked ham to go along with the turkey – Maggie wasn't much of a cook either, so a ham cooked by the HoneyBaked store was always a safe bet. What they didn't eat on Thanksgiving Day, they always used for brunch the day after. Carol had made a cherry cheesecake and brought it because she insisted that she could not show up empty handed, as any good southern girl knows – even girls from Kentucky knew that.

Everything was delicious and quiet, very quiet – unusually quiet for this bunch of people. The only conversation taking place was at the kids' table set up in the family room. Actually, kids' tables. Annette had set up one card table for Sophia, Carl, Andrew, and Seth since they were teenagers and probably didn't want to eat with what they considered to be "babies". Maggie had set up another card table just for Judith and Silas. They were certainly two peas in a pod and were just happy to be in each other's company again – they were in their own little world and they couldn't care less if anyone else sat with them or not. Silas tore into the pineapple casserole and Judith was hitting Annette's homemade mac and cheese pretty hard. Both of the youngsters were gluttons for ham, so they each had two slices of that on their plates. Beth and Lori knew they were blessed to not have children who were picky eaters. They loved their country cooking!

Glen had gotten up to get some more tea and brought the pitcher back into the dining room to pour refills for anyone that needed one. Glen caught Rick staring down Daryl and it made him extremely nervous. Seriously, he had no idea that families actually had brawls out in the driveway on major holidays. A smirk started to form on Daryl's face and Rick was developing a grin on his as well. Within seconds the two men were snickering and giggling like two school girls. Beth wiped her mouth with her napkin before looking across to her husband. Lori's attention was on Rick.

"Ya'll wanta share what's so damn funny after you've practically beaten each other's brains out?" Hershel asked anyone that would answer him.

"The good sheriff here sent Daniel Davis to the Atlanta International Airport to pick us up last night?" Daryl said.

"What?" Hershel asked "Rick? Why on earth would ya have sent Daniel Davis to go get them youngins at the airport?"

"Couldn't find nobody else – everybody else was busy" Rick replied never taking his eyes off of Daryl.

"Couldn't find nobody – hell, I's here all night" Hershel said.

"No offense Hershel, but ya can't see shit anymore" Daryl said. Hershel just sighed.

Beth loved her Rick – she really did, but she felt the need to help back her husband up here. "Know what else Daddy?" Beth began. Hershel looked to his youngest. "He was holding a sign with a really ugly saying on it 'cause Rick thought it'd be funny." Rick's gaze turned from Daryl to Beth and the man actually looked a little bit betrayed.

"What did the sign say Baby Girl?" Hershel asked her. Rick smirked because he knew Beth would never say it out loud in front of Hershel. Beth called his bluff.

"Oh, Daddy, it's just too ugly for me to repeat" said Beth in her most innocent voice. Lori rolled her eyes, but Merle and Carol were all ears as they had not heard this story yet. Daryl smirked at Rick, but then it turned to worry when he realized that Beth was going to go ahead and tell the man what was on the sign. "Well, it said "Dick" son and it had a picture of a hot pink penis done in glitter." There. She said it. And when she did, she cut her eyes at Rick as if to say "that'll teach ya."

"Good Lord" Hershel gasped "What the hell's wrong with ya boy?" he asked Rick.

Rick was mortified. He couldn't believe Beth ratted him out and he didn't have any words to offer in his defense so he wisely said nothing.

Lori's head dropped while Carol turned about five shades of red. Merle couldn't help but laugh out loud even when Hershel cleared his throat to try and regain everyone's attention. Glen and Maggie were snickering and Annette was wringing the napkin round and round her hands.

Merle looked at Rick and said, "Ya do know Carol and I was in Atlanta last night – we talked about it when we picked up Carl yesterday afternoon."

Daryl looked up at Rick and Rick had an evil glint in his eye. "Oh yeh, that's right – guess I musta forgot."

Daryl threw his chair back and started to go across the table after Rick, but Hershel told them both real quick there'd be none of that foolishness at the table. By the time everyone had a second plate of food, and a dessert or two in them they were all made up and laughing about it. Annette still just kept shaking her head saying she just didn't understand boys and how they thought.

There were plenty of board games to choose from when it was time to settle down for the evening. Judith and Silas alternated between Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry O. Carl, Sophia, and the twins were playing some sort of trivia game, Carol and Beth played Scrabble together, and the rest of the crowd played Rook – they had enough for two tables. A fight broke out at one of the tables when Merle accused Lori and Maggie of cheating. You know, the fairly traditional Thanksgiving Day stuff.

As it approached bedtime, Lori was getting her people ready to head back into town for the night. Daryl and Beth were going to stay in town tonight as well since Glen, Maggie, and their boys were staying with Hershel and Annette. Of course, Merle and Carol and Sophia were headed back to town. They all planned on returning in the morning for brunch.

"Hey" Daryl spoke up as he was zipping Si's coat up for him "tomorrow mornin after we eat breakfast, Beth and I wanta take ya'll somewhere – got somethang to show everybody."

Everybody wanted to know what it was and kept asking for hints.

"Nope" Daryl told them "ain't gonna tell ya. Ya just gonna have to wait and find out tomorrow." Merle of course had a real good idea where they were headed. Which reminded him that he had something to discuss with Carol when they got back to her place.

"Be sure ya'll dress warm – wear some boots – we'll do a little bit of walking" Beth added and she smiled up at her husband who promptly placed a kiss on her lips and hugged her tight.

"Ewwww" Andrew muttered. "Gross" Seth agreed.