…

Annette studied Daryl Dixon and the way her daughter was with him.

She remembered that boy and the vibe Annette had gotten when looking at him. She hadn't liked him at all. He had hidden his drug use from all of them so at the time, that wasn't why Annette hadn't liked him. She hadn't known that that had been the biggest reason of all to not like him. She hadn't liked him for something far simpler. He hadn't given off anything good. Beth would smile and look at him with shining eyes and Patrick never seemed to muster the same in any way, shape or form when looking at Beth.

Daryl was a little different. A lot different. For one, Beth was older now and Daryl was older than that. He was a grown man who had been out in this world as an adult. He was responsible and hard-working – from what little Annette had seen. But anyone who ran and operated a trailer park that looked like Dixon Trailer Park, Annette knew, were those things without question.

As promised, Annette returned to Orson on Friday and had kept one eye on the speedometer the whole way. She wanted to speed there, but she was a responsible woman and she wanted to arrive safely. Beth had invited her and Beth had had no obligation to do so. If she hadn't said anything and let Annette leave again, Annette wouldn't have blamed her whatsoever. But she hadn't done that. Beth had said she didn't work Friday and she could come back if she wanted and of course Annette wanted that. She wanted everything but she also knew that she could only take what Beth offered and nothing more.

Annette knew that she would never have any right to make any kind of demand from Beth.

Her grandson's birthday was on Sunday. He would be four. Five years of she being completely out of Beth's life – and the life of her son – but Annette was slowly taking individual steps to change that. She wanted to buy George for his birthday – she had more than one missed birthday and Christmas to make up for – but she didn't know if Beth would let her do that and she didn't know how to ask.

Walking with her and Daryl into the Wal-Mart, Daryl took the cart and Beth walked at his side and Annette wasn't entirely sure where to walk so she walked next to Beth; a step behind. She closely watched everything Beth looked at; what she put into the cart and what she didn't. As a cashier at a grocery store, Annette could only imagine how stretched her daughter's finances were and seeing for herself the things Beth did and did not have in her home, Annette wasn't surprised that Beth looked far much more than actually putting things into the cart.

When Beth wanted to stop and look at something, her hand would rest lightly over Daryl's on the cart's handlebar and Daryl would stop immediately.

They were in the toy department and Annette looked to see what Beth looked at; she not knowing whatsoever what her grandson liked, but she was going to change that.

"He likes dragons?" Annette found herself smiling.

Beth smiled, too. "He loves dragons."

And then, at the same time, Annette and Beth spoke. "His name."

Mother and daughter looked at one another and Annette's smile grew as Beth let out a laugh.

Beth looked back to the selection of different plastic dragon and dinosaur figures. But then her eyes caught the prices and without a word, she moved on down the aisle, keeping her eye out for something else she could buy. Daryl began to follow her, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Annette step up to the dragons and looked at one in particular that Beth had seemed to pay the most attention to. It was the black dragon, Toothless, from How to Train Your Dragon and was thirty dollars.

She took the box down from the shelf, looking it over, and then she looked up the aisle to Beth, who hadn't realized yet that Daryl and her mother weren't following her. Annette felt eyes on her and looked to Daryl. Sure enough, the man was looking at her.

"Good luck to you if you think you can get that without Beth stoppin' you," he commented.

That got a smile out of Annette and the man smirked a little.

"Would he like this?" Annette asked, looking back down to the toy. This man knew her grandson far better than her – she hadn't even officially met George – and she wanted to know everything about him and what he both would want and need for his birthday.

"He would," Daryl confirmed with a single nod of his head. "But 'm serious. You're not gonna get it passed Beth. She's already said doesn' wanna get 'im a lot."

Annette didn't say anything to that but kept looking at Daryl, waiting for him to continue.

"She's not makin' that much at Aldi. Enough, but jus' enough. She doesn' wan' George to get used to gettin' a ton of presents for his birthday and Chris'mas."

Annette gave her own nod and looked back to the toy. That made perfect sense. It did. She knew it made perfect sense. And yet… George was her grandson. Her first grandchild. Beth couldn't expect her to not buy him a present for his birthday no matter how much of the door Annette was through or not. She wanted to be completely in, but again, she wasn't going to make demands to Beth. She knew they both needed to take small steps in order to rebuild some kind of relationship between them. But surely, that didn't mean that she couldn't buy her grandson a present for his fourth birthday.

Further up the aisle, Beth was now looking at a variety of different plastic cars and trucks. She picked up a yellow dump truck, looking it over closely. Annette took a deep breath and still holding onto Toothless the Dragon, she began to walk to her daughter.

Seeing her coming, Beth turned her head and looked at Annette. And then she looked to the box.

"No," Beth shook her head, already knowing what Annette was going to ask her. "I have a budget and a one thirty dollar toy is not in the budget, mom."

"Please let me buy this, Bethy. Please," Annette went right into pleading-mode. "I would love to be able to buy my grandson a present for his birthday. You don't have to tell him it's from me. I would just love to be able to do this for him. If you think he would like it."

Beth stared at her and then her eyes lowered to the box. "George would love it." Her eyes went back to Annette's. "But I want to be able to buy my son his best birthday present. Not you."

Annette did her best to not be stung by her daughter's words. She deserved those words.

"Please let me buy it for both of you then," Annette offered. "Please, Beth. I have so much to make up for. I've missed so much-"

"I don't want you to buy me things, mom!" Beth exclaimed – quite loudly. She heard her voice echo and she took a deep breath. "I don't want you to buy me things, mom, and I don't need you to buy me things. I just…" she took another deep breath. "I asked you to come with me and Daryl today because… I thought you wanted to spend time with me."

"I do. Beth, of course I do." And then, to prove her point, she set the Toothless toy down. Her heart was both pounding and fluttering from Beth's words. She wanted to spend all of her time with Beth. "Now, tell me what you think you'll get George for his birthday."

Beth looked at her – as if to see if Annette was being sincere – and then, deciding that she was, she looked back to the toy vehicles in front of her. "I have some coloring books and crayons and Aldi had Play-Doh this week on sale, but I wanted to get him an actual new toy. He had all of these Happy Meal toys but we left them behind when we left and I know he misses them."

She picked up a pack that had four different plastic vehicles – a car, pickup truck, a fire truck and a cement truck – all in bright colors and for ten dollars. The vehicles were on the smaller size – hence the price – but George would absolutely love it. He wouldn't care about the size. She knew her boy. He would just be so excited to have an actual birthday party with an actual present to unwrap.

"What do you think about this one?" She held up the pack in front of her so Annette could look, too. She then looked back up the aisle to see Daryl, looking at a much larger car – remote controlled. "Don't even think about it, Daryl Dixon."

He turned his head and looked at her with a smirk. He came to stand on the other side of her. "He'd like that," he said simply.

"And the price is right." Beth looked at it for another moment before looking back to all of the different toys on the shelf in front of her. These just seemed so cheap. Not the price, but the quality. She might as well go to the dollar store and buy some off-brand toys there if she was going to get him this.

She couldn't help but look back to the Toothless dragon her mom had set on the shelf. George would really love that, but thirty dollars was just too much. And she began to hate herself that thirty dollars was too much for her son. Her stomach felt hot and tight and her eyes felt the same.

She lowered her head so Daryl or her mom wouldn't see the water beginning to build in them but then she felt a hand on her lower back. She lifted her head and looked to Daryl.

"He'll love anythin' you get 'im, Beth," he said in a quiet voice, reading her mind.

"I know. It's just… this is his first real birthday. I used to try and always get him a little treat. Ice cream and last year, Patrick actually got him a cupcake, but I've never been able to give him anything else. This year, there will be a cake and a few balloons, but I still can't get him anything truly great."

"You don't think George won't think cake, balloons and coloring books are great things?" Daryl asked.

Beth swallowed the thickness in her throat and a few of the tears slipped from her eyes. Just what she wanted – crying in a Wal-Mart aisle. She put the toy back on the shelf and angrily wiped at her cheeks.

Yes, she was angry. Daryl thought she was such a good mom and compared to his (and even hers, but at least Annette was trying after all of these years), Beth didn't want to think highly of herself – considering how George's life had been for the first three years of it – but for the most part, she was a good mom. She thought so anyway.

But she wanted to be a great mom.

And what would a great mom do? She would swallow her pride and hurt and ask for help to make this the best damn birthday party a four-year-old has ever had in this world.

Daryl rubbed his hand on her back and kissed her temple. "Hey," he said to her in that quiet voice of his that was so comforting but at the same time, it just made her want to cry more. He kissed her temple again. "You wanna get 'im somethin' else, don't you?"

Obviously, she did, and she nodded her head, wiping at her cheeks again.

"Beth," Annette said gently from her other side.

Beth knew what she was going to say. Five years apart and Beth still knew her mom, she supposed. Or perhaps, it was just the most obvious thing to say, Beth was easily able to guess her mom's words.

She nodded before Annette could even say anything. Beth looked at her, her stomach still feeling so tight and painful, but she pushed on. This wasn't about her pride or feelings. This was about George. Everything was about George.

"Yes," Beth whispered.

Without a word, Annette slowly took the Toothless dragon – as if giving Beth time to change her mind again – and went to go put it into the shopping cart. Beth wiped at her cheeks again and Daryl brought her in close to him.

"Hey," he said quietly and Beth moved her eyes to him. "You give that kid a pair of socks, he'll love it."

"I know," Beth replied, still whispering. "I just wish I could afford something on my own."

Daryl was quiet at that, thinking that through. "Wait, 'm sorry. I thought we were talkin' about George." Beth sniffled and gave him a confused look. "You know George? The boy who worships the damn ground his mama walks on?"

Beth looked at him for a moment and when his lips began to twitch, she began to smile, too, and then, the smile led into her letting out a small laugh and Daryl smiled, too. Turning towards him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and Daryl slipped his around her waist and they hugged one another tightly.

Annette was still standing by the shopping cart and watching her daughter and Daryl Dixon, she smiled.

…

George liked Merle Dixon. He liked to act like everyone and everything annoyed him, but George knew that wasn't the truth. The first time he met him, George had hidden behind his mama's legs. He spoke roughly and was always frowning and George was scared of him.

But he was Daryl's brother and George didn't think that Daryl would have a mean brother. He started watched Merle to see what he was like. Mama called him gruff and George didn't really know what that meant but he knew his mama was the smartest lady in the world so if she said Merle was gruff, that's what he was. She didn't say he was scary or mean. Just gruff.

And if mama didn't mind that Merle was gruff, George wasn't going to mind either.

George liked Merle's laugh. It was loud and echoed in the air and when he heard it, it made George laugh, too. Daryl sometimes sighed heavily when his brother laughed – as if he didn't find anything to laugh about like Merle – but when Daryl sighed like that, it just made Merle laugh more.

George didn't have a brother but he liked to watch Daryl and Merle and imagined it would be like that.

Mama and Daryl had to go somewhere and mama asked Merle if he would mind watching George for a little bit. "If you don't want to, I can go ask Ms. Mackey," mama then told him.

"I can watch Georgie. No big deal. There's a Married With Children marathon on and I think he'll like it," Merle said that with a grin.

"Merle," Daryl frowned and Merle just laughed.

"And no smoking around him, please," mama added.

"Damn, woman. Wanna crack my head open so you can see that I do got a brain in there?"

Mama rolled her eyes and then kneeled down, pulling George into a tight hug. "Be good for Merle, alright? I'll be home soon. Can you promise me?"

"I promise, mama," he dutifully told her and she smiled, giving him a kiss.

When mama and Daryl left, Merle swung George up and George peeled with laughter as he sat him down on the couch. Dog leapt up to lay down next to him and George immediately began petting him.

"Stay," Merle pointed a finger at them both and then went into the kitchen.

George heard him, moving around behind him, and George stayed on the couch as he was told, running his hand, over and over again, down Dog's back. If he stopped, Dog would turn his head and look at George as if asking him why he stopped and with a grin, George started petting him again.

Merle came back with two paper plates. "For you," he said and George sat up a bit straighter. He took one of the plates and saw that it was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut in half, and some potato chips.

"Thank you," George smiled up at him.

Merle didn't say anything to that. He went back into the kitchen and came back with a plastic cup. "Milk," he said and sat it down on the coffee table in front of George. Then, with his own sandwich and potato chips, he sat down on the other side of George on the couch. "Wha' do you wanna watch?" Merle asked as he picked up the television remote.

George shrugged, his mouth full of sandwich, and Merle began flipping through the stations. He stopped on a show with four old women and a lot of laughing in the background. George took a potato chip and Merle laughed at one of the jokes.

"This is the Golden Girls, George. If a person you meet doesn't like the Golden Girls, they're not a person you need to know. Got that?" Merle looked at him.

George didn't get that, but he nodded his head anyway. Merle was older so he must know a lot.

One episode led into another and they finished their lunches. George didn't know if he liked the show or not. There was a lot of laughing, but George didn't get any of the jokes that were making everyone laugh. But he kept watching. This was obviously an important show to Merle.

"You're a quiet kid," Merle told him during a commercial break.

"Is that bad?" George looked at him, frowning.

Merle smiled. "Nah, George. There's nothin' bad with that. You do you."

"You do you," George repeated because he liked how that sounded. He smiled when he heard the pickup truck outside and he put his paper plate on the coffee table. "Mama," he smiled at Merle and Merle smiled, too, standing up; George following him to the front door. Dog jumped down to follow them, too.

Merle pushed the screen door open and George hurried out onto the porch.

"Mama!" He exclaimed happily, watching as she got out of Daryl's pickup truck. There was another car, pulled to a stop behind Daryl's truck, and a woman got out. It was the same woman that had been in their trailer a few days ago. George didn't know who she was, but she was looking at him as if she knew him. Daryl came around the truck and ruffled a hand on George's head as he walked past him, carrying a few bags from Wal-Mart into his trailer.

"Georgie!" Mama smiled when she saw him like she always did and he came hurrying down the steps.

He didn't tell her because he knew it would make her sad, but George always missed her when she was gone. He loved where they lived and he loved everyone here, but he was still used to it just being him and mama and he didn't like when she had to go.

"Oof!" She said as she always did when she bent down and hefted him up in her arms. "Too big. You're getting too big for me."

George smiled at that, proud of himself. He wanted to be a big boy. Mama didn't put him down though even if he was getting too big. The woman was still watching them and George turned his head to look at her again. She was slowly coming their way and Beth kissed George's cheek.

"George, would you like to meet someone?" She asked and George looked at her, not saying anything. Mama gave him a small smile. "Would you like to meet your grandma?"

George's head whipped back to look at the woman, now standing not that far away from them. He began to frown. He remembered what mama said. She had done something wrong and her dad and mama kicked her out of the house. George didn't know why they would do that but he knew it wasn't nice. He knew his mama would never do that to him if he did something wrong. When he got gum in his hair and made a mess, she hadn't said that he couldn't come home again.

Did he want to meet his grandma? George didn't know.

If a person you meet doesn't like the Golden Girls, they're not a person you need to know.

George looked back to mama. "Does she like The Golden Girls?" He asked.

…

THANK YOU! George's birthday party in the next chapter and there *might* be more family there.