…

It never occurred to Luke that they were poor. There was no reason for him to even consider it. They lived in a house with a roof over their heads that didn't leak when it rained. The house was small but it was perfect for the three of them and was always warm and dry and safe.

There were only four rooms in the house - Daryl and Beth's bedroom, a bathroom where he could take a bubble bath with a bar of soap whenever he wanted, the kitchen and the living room so Luke slept on the couch every night but he didn't mind. It was soft and comfortable and most importantly, clean. His blankets and pillow were clean too and Beth washed them every week so they always smelled like soap and fabric softener. There was a dresser in the living room that the television and a few framed photographs were set on and in the drawers, his bedding and his clothes were kept because he had more than one change of clothes now. It didn't bother him that except for his socks and underwear - fresh packs bought at Wal-Mart - the rest of his clothes came from the Goodwill Store. He had never had a choice of shirts and jeans before and every morning when Beth asked him, "What would you like to wear today?", Luke went and pulled open dresser drawers and looked at his clothes. Why did he care if someone else had worn them before him?

(For his first birthday with Daryl and Beth, they had given him more underpants and socks and Daryl had said sorry because what kid wanted that for his birthday? But Luke had been so excited because these underpants had superheroes on them and who wouldn't want them?)

In the corner of the living room, there was a plastic bin of toys. His toys and he had never had toys of his own before and they came from Goodwill, too, but he didn't care because he had toys. Stuffed animals, old lego sets, trains and cars and puzzles (that were always missing some pieces but Luke didn't mind because it was just a few). Daryl and Beth did buy him some new things. Coloring books, a new box of crayons when he worked his old ones down to nubs, and Play-Doh. Luke loved Play-Doh. It was his favorite thing in the whole word - after Daryl and Beth and living here with them.

Sometimes, the dryer would break down and Daryl would curse and kick the thing before trying to fix it again. They didn't have money for a new one so it would break and Daryl would fix it and they would use it until it broke again. The washer and dryer were in the back mudroom and if it was too cold outside, Beth would hang their clothes on a line she had hanging back there to dry. But if the weather was warm and nice enough, Luke helped Beth carry the basket of wet clothes out to the backyard where she had a clothesline and she would pin the clothes to dry in the sun. Luke didn't tell either of them but he liked when the dryer wasn't working because he liked his clothes smelling of sunshine and summer.

Luke never thought that there was anything wrong with getting all of their groceries at Aldi. He loved Aldi and he loved when they went every Saturday morning to buy food. Sometimes, they sold special things for the home or clothes or even little toys. He loved sitting in the cart and answering when Daryl and Beth asked him if he wanted this or that. He couldn't get used to living somewhere that no matter when he was hungry, there was always food in the kitchen. It never occurred to the little boy that there was ever something wrong with Aldi because it was "generic" food and some people looked down on that. They liked to buy actual Oreo cookies or actual Ritz crackers but Daryl said that those things were just names and a name was just a name. It didn't have to mean anything.

(When Luke got a little older, he felt like maybe Daryl, now dad, just wasn't talking about name-brand foods.)

Sometimes, Beth and Daryl would sit at the kitchen table and cut coupons for laundry detergent and other things - pizza specials from Dominos, garbage bags, toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste and mouth wash, shampoo, special products for Beth and Daryl explained to Luke that guys didn't need those special things. One time, they found a coupon for buy one Dilly bar at Dairy Queen and get one free and that was Luke's favorite coupon in the whole world. And the Dominos coupons were his second favorite.

It never occurred to him that they didn't have a lot of money even when they went to the farm to see Beth's parents. Hershel and Annette Greene's house was the biggest house Luke had ever seen, let alone been inside - especially compared to their little house in the woods - and every Sunday, they would go there for dinner and Hershel taught Luke how to ride a horse and after that, he always let Luke ride one.

Sometimes, when at their house on Sundays, Luke overheard things that he knew weren't meant for his ears. Beth, now mama, and Annette, now grandma, seem to talk about it a lot.

"No, mom. We're not taking any. We're doing fine," mama said.

"It's just a little. We help Maggie and Shawn all of the time!" Grandma was losing patience as she always seemed to when they talked about this. "It's not a loan. You don't have to pay it back to us. We want you to have it."

"Why?" Mama looked to her mom. "Why is it so important you give anything like that to me and Daryl? We're doing just fine. Do you think we're not?"

"No," grandma shook her head. "You are doing fine. But what's wrong with doing better?"

Luke was young but he had a feeling he knew what they were talking about. From his first parents, he learned at an early age that there were usually two things in this world that grown-ups talked about. Money and meth and since Daryl and Beth didn't do anything like that, Luke figured that it had to be about money.

He agreed with Beth even if no one asked him.

He loved their house. In addition to always having food, Beth and Daryl also had a massive vegetable garden in the backyard that Luke helped them with when he moved in and there was also a deep freeze filled with meats that Daryl hunted in the woods and then cleaned. They had a gas generator for emergencies and they also had a barrel to collect rain so they had fresh water if they ever needed it.

"Somethin' ever happens to this world, you, me and your ma are gonna be ready for it," Daryl said and Luke grinned at that.

(A couple of years later, when Hunter was a baby, Beth got a few chickens, too, and Daryl built a coop and now they were really ready if there was ever an emergency.)

The only time that Daryl and Beth did take money from her parents - and it was done so reluctantly - was when the paint began peeling from their house so badly, they needed to have it repainted and that would be a lot of paint and that was expensive. Hershel and Annette were more than happy to pay a painting company to do it professionally so Daryl and Beth wouldn't have to paint the entire house by themselves - even if they knew their daughter and son-in-law were more than prepared to do just that.

One morning after being with them for a couple of months, Luke's eyes fluttered open though he could already tell that he did NOT want to get up. Laying on the couch, on his side, he looked into the kitchen where Daryl and Beth were, already dressed and moving quietly so not to wake him; not knowing that he already was. The light was on over the sink and that was it so any more lights didn't disturb the little boy. Through the windows, the woods around them were turning grey as the sun was getting ready to appear. Luke could smell coffee and bacon in the air and Beth brewed coffee every morning and every Saturday, she made a big breakfast. Daryl was sitting at the table and Beth turned from the stove, sliding scrambled eggs onto his plate. They still didn't know Luke's eyes were open and he was watching them from the couch.

"Wish you wouldn' serve me all the time," Daryl murmured.

Beth rolled her eyes and scraped the rest of the scrambled eggs from the pan onto her own plate. (Luke knew that she would make more bacon and eggs when he woke up because he got a big breakfast every Saturday, too.) She turned and set the pan on the stove again before sitting down at the table across from Daryl.

"You're an idiot," she let him know but the way she said it to him, it didn't leave a knot in Luke's stomach and make him want to run and hide in the closet.

His parents were always screaming at each other; throwing stuff at each other and telling the other that they were going to kill them. Beth and Daryl didn't do any of that. Luke wasn't scared that they would do it either. It was never like that. Even though Daryl's back was to him, Luke knew that the man had rolled his eyes at Beth's words and smirked that little smile of his because Daryl did that a lot when Beth was teasing him.

Now, Daryl reached across the table and taking one of her hands, he kissed it. Beth smiled so prettily at him, it made him kiss it again. Luke had never seen his dad kiss his mom like that and he never saw his mom smile at his dad like that, either. Watching Beth and Daryl now, it made him feel as warm and safe as this house did.

Knowing he still wasn't ready to pull himself off of the couch yet and out from the warm fleece blankets that covered him, Luke kept his head on the pillow, looking into the kitchen as Daryl and Beth began eating their breakfast, talking quietly still so not to wake Luke up. Soon after, Luke felt himself drifting back asleep, feeling warm and dry and safe.

…

I never make New Years Resolutions but this year, I told myself that I wanted to write more - for Bethyl, for GOT (if you read my Game of Thrones stories) and also to finish my original story. The truth is, even if no one reads my stories anymore, I still love Daryl and Beth such a ridiculous amount.

THANK YOU so much for reading and Happy New Year!