A/N Thanks for the love of this version of Daryl, to me he's pretty much the perfect man :-)

Sometimes he swore she was just goin' out of her way to be mean to him. For hell sake, D.J. was his son too and he just wanted to take him out huntin' for the day, but she said six months was too young. As far as Daryl was concerned, a guy's never too young ta go huntin'. I mean shit, he wasn't gonna take him bear huntin', maybe just out for some squirrel and rabbit.

She said she would consider letting him take D.J. fishing if all the proper precautions were followed. Damn, rules for goin' fishin'? He just knew she hated him.

She said there had to be plenty of sunblock, a hat, no wading out in the water with the baby, no casting. No settin' the baby down while he was reeling one in. Crap, why the hell didn't she just say "no" in the first place?

So he settled for putting D.J. in that Baby Bjorn thing-a-ma-jig thing she had that strapped him to his chest, with a ton of sunscreen on the poor guy, and of course, his hat, and took him for a walk in the woods.

He was talkin' to him while he walked, "You just wait D.J., you and me are gonna do plenty a huntin' tagether. I'ma teach ya how ta shoot a crossbow, a pistol, a shotgun and a rifle, dress out an animal, set a snare, all that. But yer Mama says we gotta wait 'til ya get bigger so 'til ya grow up a little I'ma just teach ya how to track."

Ah, he knew he was kiddin', but it was fun to be out here in the woods with his boy, and he could hardly wait 'til the little guy really was big enough ta do all that stuff.

In the meantime he just pointed things out to D.J., and D.J. musta liked it cuz he just kept giggling.

And he did caution the boy, "We're havin' fun out here now son, just a talkin' and laughin' and you're gigglin', but when we come out here huntin' for reals we gotta be real quiet, k? We don't wanna be scarin' off the game."

When they got back to the cabin his Beth was sittin' in one a the rockers on the porch, Merle was sittin' on the top step a the porch, but Holy Mother of God, that woman who'd caused so much grief to befall Daryl was sitting in the rockin' chair right next to his Beth. Why the fuck had Merle brought Cindy here, and why was everyone smilin'?

When Merle saw Daryl and D.J. coming up the path he shouted, "D.J. bag us any game taday?" Then he cackled like he thought he was real damn funny.

So Daryl went along, "Yeah, he shot a six point buck, but he didn't feel like it was quite big enough so we left it for the scavengers."

"Daryl" she was practically jumpin' outta her chair, "Merle has some exciting news to share…"

Before she could go on, or Daryl could even ask what, Merle was saying, "Whoa now little sister, we gotta ease into this for just a minute here. Little Brother, you remember Cindy dontcha?"

Daryl was thinkin' well fuck, did the dumbass get married, but he said, "Yeah, hi Cindy, how ya been?"

"Just fine you sweet little thing," and fuck if she didn't jump up, dash over and give him one her big ol' hugs, like they were best pals. And the real shits a the deal was, there was his Beth just watchin' and givin' one of her great big beautiful smiles like she lived to see other women hug her man.

So, now Daryl was curious, "Spill it Merle, what's goin' on?"

And Merle just gave him that big ol' shit eatin' Merle grin and said, "Me and Cindy here, we been keepin' company for a while now and Cindy has give us all a very nice invitation."

And Beth couldn't control herself, she had to blurt it out, "Cindy invited us to stay at her family's beach cottage down in Panama City. Isn't that the most exciting thing ever?!"

Well fuck no, in fact it may be the least excitin' thing ever, but then he was kinda happy she did that thing to Merle that she usually just did to him, you know what I mean, when she blurts everything out right when yer tryin' ta tell yer story? And Daryl just smiled to himself, ha, at least I'm not the only one she pulls that shit on.

And then Cindy got a goin', "Beth said you have all kinds of vacation time saved up and we all just thought it would be so much fun if you took one of those weeks and we went down to the cottage, a week of laying around on the beach, soaking up the rays, playing in the water, we can go to Shipwreck Island, play Goofy Golf, cook out, drink too much, all the good stuff. I just can't wait!"

And Daryl was 100% sure she squealed, cuz it sounded kinda like a baby pig.

And like he always did, Daryl blamed it on Beth. He'd do any fuckin' thing that woman wanted and she knew it. Maybe she'd cast some kinda spell on him, or maybe it was just cuz he loved her, he loved her more than anythin', and for all his talk otherwise, he knew she loved him the same. He always went along with whatever half-baked scheme she came up with. And the real kicker was, she thought he was happy about all the stuff he agreed to and went along with, and he guessed that's cuz he wanted her ta think he was.

So he said, "Sounds great. I'll talk ta the boss in the mornin'. I should be able ta get next week off, we ain't too busy right now, waitin' on a big order that's gonna start in three weeks. Will next week do?"

And fuck a duck if everyone wasn't getting' all excited and makin' big plans, and Daryl was just thinkin' it's only a week, I can do this.

Later when they were alone he asked her, "So Baby, yer serious about this little trip, ya sure ya wanna go? Cuz ya know, I thought you was pretty upset before about Cindy and well, ya know, what all."

And she just smiled that big ol' smile at him, and batted those big ol' blue eyes at him and said, "Oh I was never mad at her Daryl, I was mad at you, but I got over that. And yes, I am super excited, a whole week at the beach with you and D.J. it's going to be just the most fun. Make me a list of what you want me to get for food and drinks, I'll do all the shopping Sweetie (she was forbidden to call him 'Sweetie' in front of anyone else, especially Merle, they had a deal), and I'll do all the packing, you just have to drive me and D.J. Oh Daryl I love you even more for taking us."

And they put D.J. to bed.

And then she showed him how excited and happy she was and how much she loved him, and he showed her how much he loved her, and it was fuckin' perfect, and he felt a little better about goin' ta the beach.

They left Friday as soon as he got home from work. It wasn't too bad a drive, a straight shot really, oughta take no more than six hours, even in Friday traffic.

A course, they were following Merle, and that dumbass brother a his had ta stop at every convenience store on the way and get himself a coke, or a slim jim, or take a piss, or whatever the hell the dumbass did.

And at every stop Beth and Cindy just had ta talk and giggle, and he couldn't ever remember seein' Beth act so damn giddy.

When they finally got there it was darker n' hell. They unloaded their pick-ups and they had more crap than Daryl thought a family of 12 needed for a year, but he hauled it all in cuz he knew that's what she wanted.

The place had three bedrooms, one had a king size bed, one had a double bed, one had a bunk bed. He set up D.J.'s pack n play in the one with the bunk bed.

They tossed a coin to see who got the room with the bigger bed, Daryl didn't even bother ta look, he knew he and Beth would get the smaller bed, but he didn't care, he liked bein' cuddled up right next to her.

By the time he and Beth got ta bed it was hours past their usual bedtime, but to his surprise she reached for him and said, "I want you Daryl, I want you now." And just like always, he couldn't tell her "no." Okay so the truth was, that's all she had ta say to him and he got hard, he was a pushover for his Beth, not that he was complainin', and she was kissin' him all over, and he was kissin' her all over, and then her hand was on him, and his fingers were in her, and his mouth was suckin' her titty, and she was suckin' on his neck, and suddenly she was straddling him, and then he was inside a her, and his thumb was on her sweet spot and she was comin' and he was comin', and then she said she loved him, and he said he loved her right back, and damn, life was just so fuckin' good.

Beth was up early and she was cheery as all fuckin' get out. His ass was draggin' and she was actin' like she'd had a good night's sleep. D.J. was in his bumble chair thingy, chewin' on some kinda nasty teething biscuit and laughin' away, and Beth was cookin' bacon, makin' waffles and fryin' eggs.

"Damn Baby, yer s'pose ta be on vacation, why ya doin' all this?" Sometimes she just puzzled him.

She smiled that big happy smile and said, "Cause I love you and I know you love bacon, eggs and waffles." And then damn if she didn't kiss him, a big ol' kiss with a little tongue action and all. If all this serious lovin' kept on he was gonna pack 'em all up and move them to the fuckin' beach.

After everyone had breakfast they all decided it was time ta get down ta the water and enjoy what they came for, beach time. Daryl felt like he'd already enjoyed what he came for, but he wasn't sharing that news. He just went along. He felt like a fuckin' pack mule, he had D.J. in that Baby Bjorn whatever-the-fuck on his chest, two beach chairs strapped on his back, and some kind of a canopy thing she said she bought so her and D.J. didn't get a sunburn.

Beth was packin' the diaper bag with all D.J.'s stuff in one hand, and a bag full of towels, sunscreen and gawd only knew what the fuck else in the other hand.

Merle and Cindy each had hold of the handle of a giant cooler they was carrying between 'em, full of every kind of snack and beverage known ta man. Hell, they were only gonna be 300 yards from the cottage.

Shit, he thought all ya needed was a towel ta go to the beach. But whatever.

The fun began when he and that dumbass Merle had ta put this canopy contraption up that she'd bought. It seemed like it oughta be easy enough, but ya know that thing about looks being deceiving, yeah, that. Shit, a jet engine went together easier than this. But they finally got the damn thing up, and he nearly admitted out loud that it did provide a nice bit a shade.

They set up their beach chairs and D.J.'s pack n play and then Merle did sumthin' that shocked the shit outta Daryl, he took his shirt off, and there was all his scars, right there for everyone ta see, and Cindy didn't even bat an eye, and Beth didn't bat an eye. Well, she probably figured Merle had as many or more scars than him. And there was Daryl in his t-shirt, and he looked hard at Merle, and Merle just looked at him and it was like they were talkin' without sayin' anything and it was like Merle was telling him it was okay, no big deal, and Merle nodded his head, and Daryl pulled his t-shirt off.

Oh he was uncomfortable with it at first, but then Beth leaned over and rubbed her hand on his chest and gave him a little kiss and he was like, ah well fuck it, here it is world.

But he also got ta thinkin', his dumbass brother must have a lot a big feelings for Cindy ta just let her see the scars, both the brothers were a little skittish about showing off their past victimization.

Beth got the Bob Marley goin' on The Pill, and Merle was snoring in his chair, and he was pretty sure Cindy was, and his Beth, she was looking like a thousand degrees a hotness in that white two-piece suit. Oh it was a modest cut, cuz that was his Beth, she saved the full-on view just for him, but she was still white hot. And D.J. was suckin' on a bottle and happy as a clam in his pack n play, and Daryl had a beer sittin' next to him, and he accidentally got ta thinkin' life was pretty fuckin' great.

A/N Thanks so much for reading, please review xo