The Heart of Dixie

by gillyflower34

Sequel to Gone for Good and Here to Stay. Fifteen years after the final battle with the wolves, the survivors have carved out lives for themselves. Little do they know they are about to face a threat more evil than any of them could ever imagine. Only the Alexandria Seven can stand against it, but it will take the heart of Dixie to bring them together. Rated M for sexual content.

37. Chapter 37

** This chapter will contain lyrics from the song "Hands" by Jewel. As always I own nothing from the walking dead and thank you to everyone that has read and reviewed. **

Jenny

The bathroom was crowded up with everyone trying to get ready at once. Since Jenny's mom was the person in town that knew how to fix hair, all the women ended up at her house. Jenny's father had taken off for the bar with her uncles, but MJ was still hanging around in the hallway upstairs, giving everyone his opinion on how he thought they looked. Jenny didn't have much hair to fix, and her mom had already braided the front down like a thin little headband the night before. So she helped Lori with her hair and then they headed into Jenny's room to dress, shutting the door behind them. Jenny already had the proper undergarments on, including the underwear that her mother insisted upon. So she took her shorts and tank off and pulled her dress on over her head, adjusting it so it lay right and then zipping up the side of it.

She took the necklace down off the corner of her mirror and Lori helped her tie it on. Jenny touched it with her eyes closed, feeling the cool smooth shells against her skin and thinking about the man that gave them to her. Lori had a strapless dress on that was snug fitting on top and flared when it hit her hips. Jenny didn't say anything, but she guessed strapless was the girl's only option. Her arms were so big they would never fit into a women's dress with sleeves. Lori wasn't wearing jewelry, but she had flowers pinned up in her hair that her mother had fastened together into a headband.

Lori came around to look at the necklace now that Jenny had it on. It was really more like a piece of art than jewelry. And with the pale color of the shells, and Jenny's dark skin, it looked even better on her than it had looked hanging on her mirror.

"Andrew gave it to me," Jenny said. Lori nodded her approval. Andrew's friend Greg had been hanging around her a lot, but he had not given her any presents. Jenny had always had a certain power over men. And she never felt guilty taking gifts from men even if she planned to give them nothing in return. As far as Lori was concerned it was part of her charm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Lori told her. Jenny looked serious about whatever she had to ask, which was and unusual way for Jenny to look. Lori had a feeling her friend might be catching feelings for the man that had given her the necklace. By this point, everyone in town knew they had been spending every night together in his room at the boarding house.

"Andrew asked me to go back to Seaside with him," Jenny said. She smoothed down her dress and felt the necklace again. Then she sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Are you in love with him? Have you told your parents? Do you think he might want to stay here instead?" Lori took a breath. "Sorry that was a lot of questions."

"I know he won't stay here, and I haven't told my parents anything yet." Lori noticed that Jenny had not answered the most important question of all.

"But are you in love with him?" Jenny looked down. Then she nodded.

"I think I might be."

"Then you should go," Lori told her, "If you hate it there, just make him bring you back home." Jenny stood up and wrapped her arms around the other girl, hugging her tightly. She knew what she wanted to do, but it had helped to hear someone else say it out loud.

All the people that were not directly involved in the ceremony had left and walked down to the festival site. And Hershel's sister had been sent to find him and send him to Dixie's house. He and his brother Carl were the only men there. The remainder of the group consisted of the rest of the seven and their mothers. Carl was going over the ceremony again, and where everyone was supposed to stand and what they were supposed to do while Dixie's aunt Jessica dabbed at Hershel's neck with makeup, trying to cover up the red and purple marks that were all over the right side of it from behind his ear all the way down into his collar. He did not look pleased. Jenny and some of the other girls were having quite a giggle about it.

"Could you all please listen up before we get out there and make fools of ourselves bumping into each other," Carl asked the girls. Jenny rolled her eyes. They did this stupid garbage every damn year. Get up on the stage. Listen to a boring ass speech. Then everyone claps. Sometimes they shot arrows off, sometimes not. Then whoever was getting married got married. Ceremony done.

"No speech this year," Carl reminded the mothers. They had already had a meeting without the kids before this and decided on something that might be more entertaining for everyone.

"No speech?," Jenny asked.

"God damn Jenny," her aunt Ricky said to her. Then she stood up on a chair. "Everyone shut the fuck up and listen to Carl! He ain't goin' to say the shit again." Carl laughed and when she jumped down, he followed her example and stood on the chair.

"Everyone needs to have their bows and arrows. We are going to do something else instead of a speech and then I want all the kids to fire off an arrow. And not into the damn crowd like what happened that one year. Aim for the front gates. Then I have a surprise for everyone. Then the weddings. And then we eat."

"Hey!," Dixie called out, "that was an accident." There was some laughter at her comment. A few years ago she had shot her arrow directly up in the air and everyone had scattered off screaming afraid it would come down and land on them. Deanna had scolded her after, but she had a feeling the woman had secretly found it all just a little bit funny. The room fell back into a low hum of chatter. Carl got down off the chair, giving up trying to control the group of noisy excited women. Sammie scootched in close to him, wrapping one arm around his waist and kissing him warmly on the neck.

"Better not let her kiss you there," Hershel warned him, "or they will put makeup on you too." Jenny was close enough to hear his comment and she laughed.

"Kissing and sucking are two different things," she informed the boy. This made Lori's parents laugh. They kissed again, on the mouth this time.

"Who was sucking on your neck anyway?," Carl asked his brother. He hoped it was RickyJo's pretty daughter. Carl had to admit, he had always had a bit of a crush on RickyJo, and her daughter was even prettier than she was. If his brother had somehow managed to land her, he was doing pretty damn well for himself.

"No one," Hershel insisted. But the way he was getting all red in the cheeks and glancing in Dixie's direction told a different story. He had been trying not to look at her. She looked so sexy in her dress, he was afraid he might get turned on. And getting up on stage in front of the whole town while he was pitching a tent in his pants was not his idea of fun. Jenny followed his gaze. She had to admit, she was a little jealous of her cousin's dress. The dress was all beads and sparkles, and it fit her well. Her whole back was bare, and most of her hair was piled up on top of her head in curls, with some long pieces hanging down. She had red nails and red lipstick on, but no other makeup. And she had on that sparkly gold necklace, the charm nestled just above the cleft between her breasts. Jenny figured Hershel better get ready, because her cousin was going to get a lot of attention today. Probably even more than Jenny. And for once Jenny found she didn't really mind. As long as Andrew only had eyes for her, she didn't care how many boys looked at Dixie' boobs.

They climbed up on to the stage one by one. Hershel always stood in the middle because he was the only boy. People in the crowd were starting to clap and cheer. A few of them were whistling, to show their approval of how good all the women looked. Jenny held her bow with her mother behind her. This was the first year that Deanna wasn't around to plan and control everything, and Jenny was excited to see how things were going to go. Big tents were set up with tons of tables under them that Jenny knew would be filled with food once the ceremony part of the day was over. Speakers were set up for music, and lots of people already had drinks in their hands. The day of a big feast like this, they usually skipped breakfast and Jenny could fell her stomach start to grumble in protest. Carl walked up to the pole that held a microphone.

"I wanted to thank everyone for sharing in our celebration," he said, "Deanna was so good at making these speeches, there were a few years I know she brought me to tears." There was some mumured approval from the crowd. "I could never top that, so this year we are going to do something a little different." Jenny didn't know what to expect, and she guessed most people in the crowd were as interested as she was. Hershel's mom walked to the back of the stage and picked up a guitar. Then she took a place next to Carl. Jenny saw all the other moms were crowding in around her.

Beth played the first few notes softly on her guitar before she started to sing. She held the guitar awkwardly, resting against her large round stomach. It was only her voice at first.

"If I could tell the world just one thing..."

On the second line the other women joined in, singing softly at first, then getting louder as they grew more confident.

"It would be that we're all OK,

And not to worry cause worry is wasteful

And useless in times like these..."

Jenny could see her Aunt Ricky and her mother were starting to tear up. They had their arms around each other, like they were using each other for strength.

"I won't be made useless

I won't be idle with despair

I will gather myself around my faith

For light does the darkness most fear..."

MJ was looking up at his mom with a strange expression on his face. "I swear I never heard this song before," he told his dad, "but I feel like I know it." Most people would not have been able to tell, but MJ could see that his dad was trying hard to keep control of his emotions. His dad leaned in and spoke quietly into his ear.

"Your mom used to sing it to ya when you were a baby."

"And she would sing it to her belly when she was still pregnant with ya," his uncle added. RickyJo and Beth also used to sing it to him and Judith back at the prison. Daryl had not heard it in a long time, not since Dixie was a baby.

"My hands are small I know

But they're not yours they are my own

And I am never broken..."

Glenna felt Hershel's hand close around hers. She couldn't believe her mother was singing. Her mother never sang. But her Aunt Beth had told her that they used to sing together back when they were younger. After Glenna's dad died, her mom didn't want to sing anymore. But there she was, her arm around Beth, singing out for everyone to hear. And she looked younger and happier than Glenna had seen her look in a long time.

"Poverty stole your golden shoes

It didn't steal your laughter

And heartache came to visit me

But I knew it wasn't ever after..."

Hershel had heard his mother practicing the song, but he had not known what she was practicing for. Sometimes she just liked to learn new songs. He had ahold of Glenna's hand, and he reached for Sarah, who was on the other side of him. She had the hood of her dress up, and her long black hair hung out of it in one long braided rope. Her face was still red on one side, but most of it was covered by the side of the hood. When he touched her hand with his, she gripped his hand and held on tight.

"We'll fight, not out of spite

For someone must stand up for what's right

'Cause where there's a man who has no voice

There ours shall go singing..."

Maria watched her mom. She had her arm around Sarah's mom and they both looked close to tears. Maria had heard her mom sing silly little spanish songs around the house, but never anything like this before. It made her feel sad but hopeful at the same time. And when she looked out into the crowd, there were very few dry eyes to be found.

"My hands are small I know

But they're not your they are my own

I am never broken

In the end only kindness matters..."

As the lines and the chorus repeated again, Lori watched her parents. Her dad was the only man up there singing. And he was clinging onto her mom for dear life. But he was singing along with the rest of them, Lori could hear his voice, filling in the spaces, his tone lower than the rest of them.

"And I am never broken

We are never broken

We are God's eyes

God'd hands

God's mind

We are God's eyes

God's hands

God's heart..."

Jenny listened as the song tapered off, getting so quiet it was hard to make out the words. She was on the end, and she stepped close to Dixie, taking her hand.

"We are God's eyes

God's hands

God's eyes

We are God's hands."

With that Dixie gripped tight to Jenny's hand and took one of Glenna's from off of Hershel's arms. They were all linked now, and Jenny felt that same surge flow through her that she had the day before when they had all put their hands on Sarah's dog. People in the crowd were clapping and cheering and almost all their moms were crying and hugging. They stood in a chain, hands linked. And it seemed like people were as moved by that as they had been by the song. Jenny wondered if any of them could feel the powerful pulse that was running through Dixie's hand and into her body, making the roots of her hair tingle.

Dixie dropped her hands first, stepping forward to pick up her bow. The rest of them followed her example and did the same. They all strung their arrows back. Jenny noticed Dixie and Sarah had theirs marked, and they were really pulling them back hard. Jenny guessed they had decided on some sort of contest to see which one of them could shoot the furthest. Hershel gave them a one, two, three and then they all let their arrows go. Even Glenna had a small bow she was shooting with this year. They sailed over the walls and into the woods on the other side of the gate. What came next was something none of them were expecting.