"Here you go, Georgie," Beth smiled, carefully handing him the stack of three plates with the forks and knives on top. "Do you have it?"

"Yep!" The boy exclaimed with that confidence that all five-year-old's had that they could do anything.

Beth watched as he slowly moved towards the table and set the plates down on top of it. He then began setting them out in front of the three chairs, still moving slowly and carefully. Dog stood at his bowls, crunching away on his kibble though Beth knew that the German Shepherd would absolutely expect scraps from the table as the family ate. She smiled to herself and then turned, checking on wild rice cooking in a pot on the stove. She glanced to the clock on the microwave in front of her and then looked to the front door – closed against the Georgia winter that had come, seemingly overnight. It seemed like just yesterday, everyone was enjoying Thanksgiving with windows cracked open to enjoy the crisp, cool – yet comfortable – air and then, this morning, Beth was digging the flannel bedsheets out from the bin where she kept them in the back of the closet.

When she heard familiar steps on the front porch, she smiled, and leaving her spoon on the rest next to the stove, Beth went to go greet him at the front door. As soon as it opened, Beth was right there and Daryl smiled as soon as he saw her. He stepped in and the screen door slapped shut behind him just as she lifted herself to her toes and slipped her arms around his shoulders. They shared a brief kiss, Daryl's own hands coming to a light rest on her back.

"You're cold," she then shivered once their lips parted.

"Tends to happen in December," Daryl said with that little smirk of his. "Smells good in here."

"Chicken Kiev, wild rice and cauliflower."

"That's a new one."

"Aldi was having a sale and George wondered what white tasted like."

Daryl's smirk slid into a smile at that.

"Dad!" George exclaimed, having finished setting the table. The boy came running to him and slammed himself right into Daryl's side. Still smiling, Daryl put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him tight.

"Did you have a good day today?" Daryl asked the boy as he took off his coat and Beth hung it up for him so he could sit down and take off his boots.

"Yep! Mrs. Leesman took us on a field trip today!"

"Don't remember signin' a permission slip for that," Daryl noted and Beth laughed, going back into the kitchen to check – again – on how dinner was finishing.

"It was very last minute. She loaded the kids up in the minivan and took them to that little Civil War cemetery outside of town for their history lesson and did gravestone rubbings," Beth explained. "I think she needed to get them out before she killed them all."

"Look, dad!" George hurried to the refrigerator and took a piece of paper down – the magnet falling to the floor, too – before going back to him, holding it out for Daryl to take. "No one knew his name when they buried him."

CONFEDERATE SOLDIER – 1862

"I'm going to call him Jackson."

"Seems appropriate," Daryl replied to that with a small smile and George, smiling, took the paper back to hang it again on the refrigerator. "What else happened today?"

With his boots on the small rug next to the front door so they didn't get everything wet or dirty, Daryl stood up and crossed the living room to join his family in the kitchen. He took a glass down from the cabinet and went to the refrigerator, getting himself a bottle of water. Beth unplugged the steamer on the counter and taking a fork, she lifted the lid to stab at the cauliflowers, making sure they were soft. And George – after hanging his gravestone rubbing back up – went to the table to sit in his usual chair.

"Nothing much. Madison called in sick at the last moment so we were short today for a couple of hours before Valerie could get someone else to come in. I was the only cashier open for two hours and I never want to go through that again. One of these days, people will suddenly realize that being rude to the cashier really doesn't help anything," Beth said and Daryl's response to that was giving her a kiss to the side of her head. She smiled up at him. "And how was your day?" She asked.

"Not too bad." Daryl took his glass of water to the table and then went back to get George his usual glass of milk that he had with dinner each night. "Tried to fix Kristy's toilet and then went to the hardware store to put in an order for a new toilet."

"How are she and Cassie going to go to the bathroom?" Beth asked, her eyes slightly wide.

"They're campin' out with Ms. Mackey for a couple of days. New toilet should be in by Friday and Merle swore to me that he knew how to install it."

"And if he doesn't?" Beth carried the pot of rice to the table, setting it down on a potholder.

"Then Kristy and Cassie are stayin' with Ms. Mackey for a couple more days until I can get a plumber to come out here."

Beth let out a laugh. "I'm actually surprised you don't know how to install a toilet." Honestly, it seemed like the man could do just about anything and she didn't only think that because she was going to marry him and thought quite highly of him.

Daryl shrugged in response as he carried the cauliflower to the table. "Never had to do it before. 'm sure I could figure it out but I also don't think this is the time to fiddle around until I do."

Lastly, Beth brought the chicken Kiev and they finally all sat down. Dog promptly left his bowls and came to plop himself down on the floor next to George's chair. Dog seemed to know that if George tried cauliflower and didn't like it, he would be getting the pieces.

Daryl sat patiently as Beth folded her hands and watched to make sure that George did the same. She hadn't been to church in years – she still thought that God wouldn't be too interested in seeing her in His House again – but she was teaching George all about Him and was getting the boy into the habit of praying each night. She also read to him from a children's book of Bible stories.

"Lord, thank You for the food before us, the family beside us and the love between us. Amen," Beth recited.

"Amen," George echoed.

"Amen," Daryl said, too, even if he didn't believe in it. He figured there were always worse words that could be coming out of his mouth.

Together, Beth and Daryl began dividing the food up and serving it on the three plates and she helped cut George's Kiev for him.

"What's trailer trash?" George suddenly asked, the question blurting from his mouth in that completely random and surprised way that kids his age always seemed to ask their questions.

Beth and Daryl both froze, blinking at him. Daryl found himself growing stiff in his chair and Beth swallowed, recovering first.

"Where did you hear that, George?" She asked her son.

"After the graves, Mrs. Leesman took us to that place next to the gas station for hot chocolate. Someone walked past us and he said it under his breath." He said it all so matter-of-factly even as Daryl grew, somehow, even more stiff and Beth felt as if the breath was all gone from her lungs and she couldn't suck anymore in.

She looked to Daryl before back to George. She did her best to give him a small smile and she leaned over, taking his hands in hers so he knew to turn a little in his chair towards her.

"What the man said, it was something he should never have said. It was wrong. He was wrong. You don't say bad things about other people whether you know them or not."

"Trailer trash is a bad thing?" George looked from his mom to his dad with that.

Daryl was still silent and Beth could see the slight tick in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together. But then, as if he needed that moment to be furious and stew about it, he exhaled. He sat up a little in his chair and turned so he faced more towards the boy.

"It's only bad if you let it be bad. That man, he was lookin' down on you and you kids because of where you live," Daryl said.

George only frowned though. "I like living in a trailer."

"Me, too," Beth agreed.

"Me, too. 'cept in hurricane season," Daryl smirked a little and Beth smiled. "People think things 'bout people who live in trailers."

"Like what?" George asked.

"Like we're poor and we don't got a lot and that's a reason to look down on us. But remember, George. We got everythin' a person needs. Got a good roof over our heads, we got heat when we're cold, we got plenty of food and cauliflower for our bellies." George smiled at that and Daryl smiled, too. "We got everythin' we need. Don't let anyone make you think that you need more than this and don't let anyone make you think that you're not good enough 'cause you don't have somethin'."

George thought on that for a moment and then nodded. "Okay," he then said. Simple as that.

He stabbed a piece of chicken Kiev and shoved it into his mouth. That signaled to Beth and Daryl that they could start eating their dinners, too. They looked to one another and Beth gave him a small smile. Daryl gave her one of his own. They both looked when George tried a piece of cauliflower next – the boy bringing it to his mouth and chewing it, looking up to the ceiling.

"Well?" Beth smiled. "What do you think about how white tastes?"

George didn't answer that. He simply leaned forward and spit the cauliflower out onto his plate. He then took the other piece and dropped it to the floor. Dog had absolutely no problem with gobbling it up.

"George," Beth said at the same time Daryl said, "Dog."


I love Bruises so much and I was missing it. This idea popped into my head and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to write this world again. I hope you liked it! Thank you for reading!