A/N: I'm back...trying to get into the swing of writing again! Not my best I believe but hopefully not horrible!

Chapter Fifty-Four: Day of Thanks

Beth sat on the steps of her house the gentle breeze blowing throughout the field. She held her phone tightly in her hands any moment Riley would be calling. It had been three months since she had been deployed and Beth couldn't help but count down the days till she returned home. Beth kept a small calendar tacked to her wall; she circled the days Riley would call and placed a large red heart over the day Riley would return November 27th…Thanksgiving, only three more weeks

Beth's eyes gazed over the land she spotted her father in the distance tending to the horses her eyes looked down at the phone willing it to ring; as the moments ticked by her heart started to fill with fear what if something had happened, what if Riley was injured or possibly worse. Hearing the porch door slam shut her eyes watched as her sister Maggie took a seat beside her

"she call already…how is she"

Beth shook her head "she's late…she told me 1:00 and still nothing" Beth spoke looking down at the phone and seeing that the time stamp read 1:48

"it's the army Bethy…things happen, I'm sure she'll call soon and if not today, tomorrow"

The day wore on and still no call. Beth knew Maggie was right and that things could have happened and that Riley would call she was a Dixon after all and a Dixon always kept their promises.

The days went by each one slower then the one before it was now the day before Thanksgiving and Beth still hadn't heard from Riley

Standing in the kitchen Beth was working on peeling the potatoes her mind reeling on all the possible outcomes for the reasons why Riley hadn't called and all of them were horrible

Maggie walked in and leaned against the wall "Beth stop stressing no news is good news right"

"it's the army" Beth replied her hand gripping the peeler shaking slightly "anything could have happened"

"exactly" Maggie replied pushing away from the wall with a smile "it's the army if something happened we would have heard…Daryl or Merle would have been notified and they would have found you"

The door behind the girls slammed shut and both Maggie and Beth turned watching as their father entered followed by Daryl and Merle Dixon

"hey there girls" Herschel started leaning down and placing a kiss on Beth's head

"Daryl and Merle were driving by and wanted to know if you needed anything with tomorrow being Thanksgiving and Riles coming home"

Beth's eyes found Daryl's "so Riley is coming home tomorrow…that's still the plan"

Daryl looked at Beth and smirked "of course why wouldn't she"

Maggie looked at the Dixon brothers before grabbing a carrot off the counter "Riley missed their weekly phone call the past three weeks so Beth is freaking out" she spoke as she walked from the room

Merle looked at Beth "its war blondie….things come up but we haven't got no letter or man dressed all fancy at our door so its fine" he spoke his eyes going to Daryl

"we'll all see Rye bread tomorrow, now what do we need to make it the best home coming we can"

The day had arrived Thanksgiving was here and Beth stood in the kitchen with Patricia helping her pull the turkey from the oven. It smelt wonderful and looked like it belonged in a cooking magazine

"well we're all set" Beth replied wiping her hands on the apron tied around her waist, her eyes going to the front window that showed the road leading away from the farm and down the road

"it's still early" Patricia whispered in Beth's ear as she walked by with a bowl of cranberry sauce.

Beth nodded her head but bit her lip. Maybe Patricia was right; Daryl and Merle still haven't arrived maybe Riley chose to go there first to wash up…that was it, all the Dixon's would arrive together in a matter of moments. Beth smiled to herself and walked over to the mirror fixing her hair and running a bit of lipstick over her pale mouth.

The old grandfather clock stuck five and the door to the Greene family home burst open both Merle and Daryl stumbling in. Beth could tell in an instant that something was wrong. Merle was clearly drunk and most likely also as high as a kite and while Beth was disappointed that Merle was already in this state it was nothing new she just hoped that he wouldn't make any rude or crude comments before the turkey was even craved. What really struck Beth was that Daryl was also clearly on his way to becoming just as drunk and worlds away as Merle.

Merle walked forward and pushed an apple pie into Beth's hands as he tripped his way towards the table. Daryl walked towards Beth only tripping over his feet once. Coming to a halt in front of the farm girl, Daryl grabbed her shoulders and looked over her head for a moment before bringing his red rimmed eyes down to her

"she's gone Beth…."

A/N: hmmm should this be a dream? reviews please