Dixie

The night before the festival was when everyone lit candles. There was no set time that the candle lighting began. But they always put the candles down by the front gates. Dixie guessed that had begun after something bad had happened in that spot, but no one ever told her what it was. After the meeting in the infirmary, Hershel had walked her home. Then they had gone around the back of her house and sat on her back steps kissing for a while. Eventually, he had to leave, since he had been gone all night and most of the day, he needed to a least go home for dinner so his parents wouldn't start searching for him.

Most of the time, Dixie and her family ate in smaller groups or down at the bar. But tonight they were all together. Even her Aunt Jessica's other daughters were over, with their husbands and children. This meant she and MJ had to go down in the basement and get the extra slats of wood that were used to extend the dining room table. Her mother and her Aunt made a big dinner, and Dixie's cousins brought dishes to pass from their house. The food was good, but Dixie found herself pushing it around on her plate, lost in her own thoughts. She should really be thinking about that man in the woods and how they were going to lure him out of his hidey hole, but instead she found herself thinking about Hershel. His hands, and the way the palms of them were so much softer than hers. The way that one curl of his blonde hair fell down into his face and swung back and forth with the rhythm of his movements when he had been inside her.

"Dixie!," her daddy Merle yelled at her," yer momma is talking to you girl. Get yer head out of the clouds." He snapped his fingers in front of her face. By the way several people started laughing, she guessed her mother had been trying to get her attention for some time.

"Oh!," she squeaked, "what is it mom." Her mother was smiling at her.

"Do you want to do the candle lighting with me tonight?," her mother asked. Dixie nodded. She wasn't sure who to light her candle for anyway, so she might as well just go with her mom.

"I will go with you mom," MJ offered. His mom made a face. He could tell there was something she didn't want to sat to him.

"I am going with Judith," she tried to tell him as gently as possible. The girl had asked her a few days before when she had caught her alone outside the bar. RickyJo expected her son to be upset with this news but he only shrugged like he couldn't care less about the girl he had been dying of love for just a week ago.

"You can go with me and yer dad," Daryl offered the boy. MJ nodded. He liked going with his mom best, but it didn't really make much that much difference to him. The conversation went on, and Dixie was able to slip back into her own thoughts, unaware that her mother was quietly observing her and trying to figure out what was different about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Dixie walked with her mother over to Lori's house to get Judith, then to her surprise they turned away from the gate and headed back down the street. Judith didn't ask any questions, so Dixie guessed she must already know what was going on. Dixie had not gotten to spend much time with Judith since she got back from Hilltop, but they used to be good friends. Judith always made Dixie think of what her brother would be like if he was a girl instead of a boy. They had the same funny sense of humor and hunger for adventure. Her mother swore the two of them had given her every single one of her white hairs before they were even teenagers. But Judith seemed so much calmer now, like she had grown up since Dixie saw her last.

Dixie's mother stopped in front of Hershel's house and went up on the steps, knocking softly on the door. Dixie didn't think her mother knew anything about her and Hershel, but she couldn't think of any other reason why they would be at his doorstep. It made her heart beat faster in her chest. When Hershel's mother answered the door, RickyJo smiled at her warmly. Then she asked to talk to Rick. They must have been cleaning up the dinner dishes because he came to the door drying his hands with a towel.

"Something wrong?," he asked the woman. She shook her head.

"I was going to take Judith down to light a candle," RickyJo said, "for her dad. I thought you might want to come." Rick looked surprised at first. But then a look of melancholy came over his face. He thought about what he wanted to do.

"Yes," he finally said, "I think I'd like that." He called into the house, letting Beth know he would be back shortly. Then he hung the towel on the banister behind him and came out onto the porch, shutting the door behind him. When they came down the steps, Dixie watched him stop her mother with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Then they hugged. It was very brief, but Dixie could see they were both struggling with their emotions. They had not always seen eye to eye on everything, but over the years they had come to respect each one another. Dixie's mom threw her arm around Dixie's shoulders and she saw that Hershel's dad did the same with Judith. Then they all walked down to the front gates together.

There was a small fire going inside a charcoal grill. Next to that were many bins that were full of candles. A few were already lit and burning on the pavement near the gate. People were milling around, some talking in small groups, and some crying together. Dixie's mom took a candle out of one of the bins and stuck the tip of it into the fire to light it. Dixie did the same, and she saw that Judith and Hershel's dad were leaning in close, also getting their candles lit. The tradition was to light a candle for a lost loved one. Then make a wish on the candle for the future. They all bent down to drip some wax on the ground to keep the slender candles in place. Then they stuck them to the pavement near the ones that had already been lit. They stood up slowly so the force of their movements would not cause the candles to sputter out. Dixie's mom had her eyes closed, one hand clutched to her chest, and with the other she was clinging to Dixie. She always wondered what her mother wished for. But she knew better than to ask her.

Dixie closed her eyes and thought about her own wish. She had not come prepared. Her mind quickly wandered over everything that had happened. You only got one wish a year, so she always felt pressure to make it a good one. I wish safety and happiness for everyone I know. It was a little generic, but she was happy with it. Her mother must be done too, because when Dixie opened her eyes, her mother was smiling down at her. Judith had been quick. She was getting married the next day, so Dixie knew she had wished for something to do with her marriage. If Dixie had another wish, she would want Judith to stay here in Alexandria with them. But she felt that might have been a selfish wish to make.

They backed away from the candles, to make room for other people. Then Dixie's mom told Judith a quick story about her dad, and how he had been the one to help deliver her baby since Daryl had been gone on a run to get food and diapers for Judith. Then Rick told her a funnier one about high school and some trouble her dad had gotten into with the high school gym teacher.

"Are you still a little mad at my dad?," Judith asked him, "for making me with your wife?" Rick thought about her question. He realized he had not been mad at Shane for a very long time. If Shane had not slept with Lori, Rick never would have gotten together with Beth. It was a cliché, but things happened the way they did for a reason. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"No," he answered, "I got over that a long time ago." Judith smiled her beautiful smile at him, Lori's smile. Then she hugged him tightly around the neck.

"Good," she said, "because I really want you to stand up for me during the wedding tomorrow."

"Nothing would make me happier," Rick told the girl. After that, they walked over to the bar and had a glass of wine together, taking a little about all the friends they had lost over the years, discussing who they missed and why. Dixie chatted with Judith about her wedding and her plans for the future.

Later, Dixie took a long shower, scrubbing up and giving her hair a good wash so she would be ready for the festival the next day. Her mother came into her room with a bag of little scraps of spongy colored fabric that she called tulle. She wound Dixie's hair up in them so that when she took it down in the morning, it would cascade into long ringlets. When she got to the hair near her ear, her mother started laughing.

"Looks like we are leaving your hair down tomorrow," she said.

"Huh?," Dixie asked. It was going to be hot, and she wanted her hair up to show the back of her dress.

"Ya got love bites all over your damn neck Dixie," her mom told her.

"What's a love bite?," Dixie asked, feeling at her neck. She didn't feel anything there. Dixie got up and opened looked in the small tilting mirror above her dresser. Sure enough there were funny looking red marks all over the side of her neck.

"Next time tell him to suck you somewhere it won't show," her mother suggested with a smile. Dixie turned about as red as the marks on her neck. She noticed her mother didn't ask her who had done it. Maybe she already knew, or maybe she didn't want to know. Her mother worked on getting the rest of her hair rolled up before she said anything else. "If yer dad sees it, tell him Aunt Jess burnt you with a curling iron." Dixie laughed. That was a good one. And she didn't have to ask which dad her mom was talking about. When they were alone, Dixie noticed her mom always called her daddy Merle daddy Merle, and her daddy Daryl her mom just called your dad. Dixie had often wondered if her mom knew something that no one else did. Like which one of her husbands had actually been the one to father Dixie.

With that, her mom hugged her gently and asked Dixie if she had anything she needed to ask her. Dixie guessed she meant anything about sex. So Dixie shook her head. Her mother had informed her in great detail on the subject a few years before. Truthfully, there were a few things she wished she didn't know. Then her mom was off to force showers and haircuts on the rest of the family. Dixie could hear her brother downstairs pissing and moaning about not needing his hair cut. Then she heard one of her dads yell at him. Yer gonna do whatever yer mom tells ya and yer gonna like it. There was some assorted laughter, and then she heard MJ out on the porch telling her Aunt not to cut his hair too short. Dixie pulled a big flannel on over her night clothes and took her tiger cub down to the kitchen to warm up some milk for him.

Dixie was lying in bed under her covers. She had given up trying to sleep and was reading a book that she had read so many times before the cover was no longer attached and the pages had a soft worn feel. Her door opened quickly and quietly, making her sit up in bed and grab for the small knife she kept on her nightstand. Then just as quickly it clicked shut.

"How did you get in here?," Dixie whispered, putting the knife back down and setting her book on top of it, open to the page she was on. Hershel held out a little tag of paper that had a key dangling from it.

"My dad has a copy of everyone's house keys," he told her with a big grin. She scooted over the the side of her small bed to make room for him. Her hair was all tied up in colored rags and they flopped around as she moved. It gave her a comical appearance, but Hershel didn't comment on it. His mom had done the same thing to her own hair and his sister's hair earlier in the evening. He walked quietly across her room, stepping over the tiger cub without waking it.

"We are going to have to be quiet," Dixie warned him, "if my dad hears us in here, he will throw a full on fit." Hershel nodded, but he didn't really like the idea of sneaking around every night. He kicked his shoes off and pulled his jeans off, leaving him in his boxers and tshirt before he climbed under the covers with her.

"If we tell them we are gettting married, you think they will let me stay over?," he asked. Dixie thought about that. The thought of telling her father she had a boyfriend, she was getting married, and Hershel was going to be sleeping in her room did not sound like fun. Maybe she could tell her mother, and get her to tell her dads. She still wasn't sure if they would be able to have sleepovers though.

"Dunno," she said, "are we getting married?" Dixie had not really thought much about all that yet. But she liked the sound of it. She wiggled around, trying to get comfortable in the small bed. Hershel shifted onto his back and she rested her head on his chest, one arm and one leg draped across him. Since she was in a tank top and a small pair of shorts, she could feel the fabric of his shorts rubbing against the inside of her thigh.

"Well its too late for this year," Hershel said, sounding very disappointed, "but we could do it next year." He knew people usually moved in together once they decided to get married, but waited until the next summer festival before they had an actual ceremony. He rubbed her back, sliding his hand up under her shirt.

"Will you get me a ring?," she asked. Dixie wasn't a fan of most girly things, but she did like jewelry.

"Getcha whatever you want." He slipped his hand down inside her soft cotton shorts, touching the taunt skin of her backside. She tilted her head back to kiss him. But when he moved down to kiss her neck she stopped him.

"Don't leave anymore suck marks on me," she said, "my mom saw the other ones." Hershel had to turn his head into the pillow to swallow his laughter.

"My dad saw mine. I tried to say they were from shaving. He asked me how I managed to bite myself shaving." He could feel Dixie's body shaking with silent laughter.

"My mom said to tell you to leave them where they wouldn't show next time." Hershel stopped laughing. That sounded like a challenge. He hadn't meant to leave the other marks, but he guessed it wouldn't be hard to make some more. He rolled her off him, moving over so she wouldn't fall off the other side if the bed. Then he moved quickly down her body and pushed her shirt up.

Dixie could feel by the amount of light coming in through her blinds that it was time to get up. But she was so snuggly and comfortable, Hershel's strong arms wrapped around her, his body heat lending itself to hers. Her tiger cub was curled up down by their feet. His skin was soft and she could feel the part of him that wasn't so soft pressed up against her ass. Dixie gave a soft little moan and wiggled her body closer to his, feeling him slide so the tip of him was pressing against her opening. Hershel woke up, finding a breast in his hand and starting kissing the back of her neck. He pushed the blankets away so he could fondle and caress her. Dixie closed her eyes, arching her back, trying to get at a better angle so she could get him inside her. She wasn't thinking about where they were or the fact that there was not a lock on her bedroom door.

Without warning, there was a soft knock on the outside of her door before the door was immediately swung open. Her mother stepped into the room, walking quickly towards her bed with the intention of waking her so she could get ready for the festival.

"Sweet baby jesus," her mother swore, she turned around headed back towards the hallway. Two blonde heads popped up from the pillows on Dixie's bed. "Your dad is in the shower," her mother told Dixie. "Hershel I highly suggest you get your clothes on and get on home before he comes out." Then she swung the door shut with a little more force than was necessary.

Hershel was out of bed in about half a second, groping for his clothing and trying to pull it on as fast as possible. Dixie figured she better get dressed too, so she got up and retrieved her night clothes from inside the folds of her blankets. By the time she pulled up here shorts and got her tank top on, Hershel was tying his shoes. She peeked out into the hallway, then motioned to him that it was safe. He darted out and made a beeline for the stairs, practically running over Jenny's dad on his way down.

"What in the holy hell?," Morgan declared. First he thought the boy might be coming from his daugher's room, but then he saw Dixie coming down the steps behind him. Morgan flattened himself against the wall to let them through, a big smile on his face. The boy looked more than a bit disheveled, and Dixie had a load of colored rags tied up in her hair that were flopping and bouncing all over the place. Once they got past him, the both of them were taking the steps two at a time. They took off down the hall and towards the back kitchen door.

MJ was in the kitchen, lounging against the counter and drinking a huge glass of the orange juice that his mother had run through the juicer the night before so they could have it for breakfast. His eyes opened wide before he started to laugh.

"Holy shit man, did you fuck my sister?," he asked. Dixie threw MJ a dirty look. Before Hershel could dart out the back door, MJ lurched forward and caught him by the back of the shirt. Hershel turned on him, yanking away from his grasp.

"Out the front door," MJ told him quickly, "my dad is smoking on the back porch."

"Thanks," Hershel told the boy, holding up his hand to grasp the other boys hand firmly in his for a moment. Then he hugged Dixie close and kissed her cheek before running towards the front door as fast as his feet would carry him. MJ watched him go with a big smile on his face. Then he looked at his sister. Her hair looked like it was wrapped up in medusa's snakes, and her face was flushed and blotchy. She had a tiny little pair of shorts on, and a tank top that looked about three sizes too small for her to be trying to cover her gigantic titties up with it. Her stomach was showing, along with a most of her breasts. And that's not all he could see.

"What in the hell are you looking at?," Dixie asked him, cocking her hand up on her hip and turning her head, making the ends of one of the little hair snakes flop into her face. MJ was snickering at her now, and she didn't like it, not one little bit. The back door opened and then slammed shut again. Now not only was her brother staring at her, but her daddy Merle was standing inside the back door, looking at her like she had grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead. He rubbed at his freshly shaved chin. Then he pointed at her midsection.

"God damn girl," he said to his daughter, "ya got fucking hickeys all over your damn body."