I do not own any of the TWD characters.
Everyone Should Probably Have a Seat
Boy, everyone was sure glad to see Daryl and Beth pull down that long gravel drive. All three of the kids ran out on the porch and heck, Glen even joined them. Daryl had called ahead and asked Merle if he and Carol could come on over to the house for a family meeting. Of course, Merle immediately thought the worst.
"Damn Carol" Merle rubbed at his scruff. "Ya reckon they couldn't work it out - surely they ain't callin it quits. What the hell will we do?"
Of course, Carol knew that wasn't the case. She knew what this family meeting was all about. Carol felt absolutely awful about leaving Merle in the dark, but if truth be told, she was excited to see the look on her husband's face when he found out that Daryl was going to be a daddy again. As a matter of fact, Carol had been downright looking forward to it - it was going to be quite the show. In addition to Carol, Merle, Glen, and Maggie, Daryl and Beth were also expecting George and Josepha to show. Daryl considered them family and they were definitely going to be affected and needed to prepare as much as possible as well.
The boys ran out to help with the luggage and leftover groceries, Katie Raye jumped up and down before running out for hugs from her parents. Merle walked around the corner of the house about the time all of them began to make their way up the sidewalk. Everyone looked happy Merle thought to himself. Surely to goodness, if it was bad news they wouldn't be so damn happy lookin right now he told himself.
"Hey kids" Daryl began. "Momma and I ordered pizza on the way home - it oughta be here anytime."
"Good" Jacob exclaimed. "I'm starvin Man."
Maggie looked confused. "Jake, we just had supper - Glen grilled chicken and vegetables."
"I know Aunt Maggie" the boy laughed. "And it was real good, but I'm hungry again."
"Good grief Bethy!" Maggie laughed. "I don't know how on earth you keep these people fed - it's like they just consume 24/7."
Beth just nodded in agreement, "Yes, it does seem so." Maggie just stared at her sister. Beth had the weirdest smile plastered all over her face. Normally, Maggie would want all the down and dirty details of a week long sex fest, but she was unsure if she could handle the truth this go round.
"Micah, can ya get a fire going outside for us? The grown ups got to have a business meeting of sorts tonight. You kids can have the run of the house if ya give us our privacy" Daryl spoke to all three of the kids.
"Yes sir" Micah told his dad.
"Jacob, you and Katie Bug get our luggage to the laundry room and put all the leftover food up. Hell, ya'll can eat it with pizza tonight if ya want to."
"We're on it" Jacob answered.
"Daddy?" Katie Raye asked.
"What sweetheart?" Daryl pulled his daughter in for another kiss to her forehead.
"What were those packages still in the truck?" she smiled a wicked little grin.
"I think it's safe to say it's nunya business" Daryl laughed "I'll be gettin those after while - you stay away from em. Ya hear?"
Temporarily defeated, Katie Raye agreed.
Daryl and Beth walked through the back door to the kitchen, dropping off items as they made their way in. Keys on the hook by the door, a random bag of dirty clothes tossed into the laundry room, leftover snacks from the road trip into the pantry room. That's when Daryl heard the unmistakable cheep, cheep, cheep from the old mud room.
Now, the old mud room was rarely used - if you kept walking through the pantry room, you'd eventually come to the old mud room. It was meant to be Annette Greene's laundry room but Hershel had taken over at some point to nurse some of the smaller, sickly animals on the farm back to life. He had tried to set up in Annette's kitchen and she absolutely put her foot down, so the poor man had resorted to setting up shop in the laundry room - and then he had to build on another laundry room for his wife - oh well.
Daryl remembered now. "Oh shit" he exclaimed. "Katie Raye! Did those chicks come in while we's gone?" Katie Raye had been begging for chicken for years. All Beth remembered about raising chicks was that she was usually the one that had to feed, tend, and gather eggs back in the day. She'd protested adding chickens to the Dixon Green compound for as long as she could - Daryl had finally given in to his daughter and had promised her a flock for Christmas this year.
His daughter came running with a big smile on her face. "Yes sir! They're so sweet and fluffy. Aunt Carol and I went to the post office to pick them up on Tuesday. They had a little heating pad thing right there in the box with them to keep them warm on the trip. They came all the way from Ohio. Can you believe that?" Katie was talking a mile a minute. She grabbed her dad's hand and pulled him toward the mud room. "Wait till you see em" Katie Raye giggled. "Now they've had pastey butt and we had to look up on Pinterest how to deal with it. You know you can find anything on Pinterest?
Yes, Daryl was quite aware of the damnable Pinterest - it had cost him a whole bunch of money since Beth became a Pinterest addict. "Aunt Carol helped me with it, cause, well, it's a two person job. It's hard to give a baby chick a soak in a chickie hot tub all by yourself. Then ya gotta dry the feathers with the hair dryer - set on low, of course. "
"A chickie hot tub?" Daryl asked, trying to hide his smile. "And a hair dryer? Ya didn't use my hairdryer on a chicken butt did ya?"
"No" Katie Raye quickly answered. "Uncle Merle said I should, but Aunt Carol made him take me into town and we bought a little one at the dollar store."
"Mmmmm" Daryl grumbled under his breath. Good ole Uncle Merle.
"It's not really a hot tub" Katie whispered as she picked up one of the chicks. "It's an old margarine bowl with really warm water. Ya gotta soak that poop off their feathers. Ya see right here" Katie held the chicken's bottom up so her dad could inspect it. Daryl nodded. "Well, pastey butt is when they get poop stuck to their bottoms and it dries. If it covers their vent, ya got problems. They can die cause they can't get any more poop out."
"Wow" Daryl commented, genuinely interested. Who knew!
"Gives new meaning to the phrase "full a shit", huh?" Katie asked her dad.
"Yeh, guess it does" Daryl agreed. "And watch your mouth."
"What?" Katie Raye asked innocently.
Yeh, Daryl thought. She's spent the last week with her Uncle Merle. "Don't go stickin that margarine bowl back in the kitchen - don't want your momma puttin my leftovers in it."
Katie Raye rolled her eyes. "Oh, Daddy" she smiled. "I marked everything "chicken" and I'm gonna keep all that stuff in here - this is my work room now."
Daryl took a look around the mud room. Sure enough, Katie had it set up just like a little vet's office. One section of cabinetry had all of her chicken supplies - everything from the feed, feeding and watering bases, extra mason jars to hold the feed and water, Q tips, and cotton balls, and old towels from the out building. The homemade brooder box with the heating lamp hanging above sat on the floor next to that cabinet. An identical, empty box sat down from the one that held the chicks.
"What's that box for? Daryl asked.
"Makes switching the chicks out to a clean box easier. I just move the chicks over to the clean brooder, and then I can clean out the one they've been in. I change them out in the morning before school and in the evening after supper - it's called efficiency Dad" the girl explained.
Daryl couldn't help the enormous pride he felt. This girl seemed to be growing into quite the farm girl. "Well, that's damn impressive Girl!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The general excitement of their parents' arrival back home had subsided a bit and the household was settling back to normal. Well, normal for these people anyway. The kids were inside watching Christmas movies and eating pizza. The last time Beth stuck her head in the family room, they were having a belching contest that had been inspired by Buddy the Elf. Beth grabbed another bottle of wine they'd picked up in the mountains and took it back out to the others - not that she was going to be having any of it. Bummer.
George and Josepha had shown up with some amazing appetizers to share - some kind of cheese and bacon filled peppers that Beth was going to be paying for later in the evening, Merle had added wings to the pizza order, and there was lots of cheese and fresh fruit that Carol had cut up to pass around. The fire was blazing in the huge rock outdoor fireplace, twinkle lights stretched across the outdoor room, and Christmas music filled the air. Beth looked around at everyone gathered at what they thought was going to be a business meeting. And, it was, kind of. It was going to take the whole damn family to help them get through this next stage of their lives and it would definitely affect them all.
"So, tell us about your little get away" Maggie began with an evil grin on her face. "Ya'll manage to stay warm up there in the mountains?"
Merle slapped Daryl on the back causing Daryl to burst into about three shades of crimson. Beth refused to acknowledge whatever the hell her sister was trying to insinuate. "Maggie" Beth whined. "Give it a break - we need to talk to ya'll."
Carol turned her wine glass up to hide the shit eating grin she'd been trying to conceal all night.
"So talk" Merle grumbled. "What the hell you two up to? Ya'll make me fuckin nervous as hell. I'm gettin to where my heart can't take much more of ya'lls shenanigans."
Daryl shot his brother a look - almost a pleading look that made Merle even more nervous.
"Come on guys" Glen, ever the voice of reason. "I'm sure whatever it is, it's important or we wouldn't all be here. But" he paused. "I'm know we can pull together and help if need be."
Josepha had been silent as long as she could. About to explode, the dear lady began speaking so quickly no one could understand her. George patted her arm, "Slow down Dear. And pick a language - Spanish or English - no one can understand you."
George's dry sense of humor provided some much needed relief in the form of laughter.
"Ms. Beth, are you ill? Are you dying?" Josepha jumped up and was now crying and pacing the floor. "It's cancer - isn't it? You have a brain tumor and that's why you've been so crazy….."
Well, this was getting out of control fast. Carol topped off her wine glass, and popped another cheese cracker in her mouth to continue watching the show. Merle was starting to get a little undone with his wife and her attitude tonight. It was like she wasn't concerned at all. Merle even nudged her in the side and gave her a glare like, woman. She just smiled back at him, waggling her half eaten cracker at him.
"Josepha" Beth tried to calm the woman. "No, it's nothing bad."
"Josepha. It's not. We promise" Daryl interrupted, "You may wanta have a seat though."
"Daryl and I have some news, and it is going to affect us all" Beth started again.
"And, we're probably all gonna have to pull together on occasion to get things done" Daryl added. Then they were both quiet for just a second.
"We're not tellin the kids yet" Daryl stated."Just don't wanta get anybody's hopes up - still kinda early and all."
Carol developed the hiccups at this point and snorted as a way to try and cover up the hiccups. Maggie stared over at Carol with a questioning look while everyone else was still completely unaware of what's going on quite yet.
"Get their hopes up?" Glen asked. He's clearly confused, but then it clicks. "Oh. My. God." Glen jumps to his feet. "Dude" Glen barks out in laughter.
"What the hell is goin on here?" Merle asked.
"Uh, Daryl and I are expecting" Beth just couldn't be diplomatic any longer and if Glen figured it out, well, the cat was nearly out of the bag for sure.
"Expecting?" Maggie asked. "What? What are you expecting? Economic collapse? That why ya got the flock of chickens? Gonna try that self sufficiency thing again?"
Carol can no longer hold back. Laughing uncontrollably, "Beth is pregnant! Ya'll are the dumbest bunch of assholes I've been around lately, and I live with Merle Dixon." A hiccup escaped with her last statement. Merle put on a mock offended face - hell, he wasn't really offended. It took a awful lot to offend ole Merle.
"Oh my God" is all Glen can say over and over and for once Maggie is dumbstruck enough to just finally be quiet. Merle looks as if he's been slapped across the face. George and Josepha are the first to regain any kind of composure and offer congratulations to the parents.
"Who needs more wine?" Carol asks, holding up two more bottles from the wine fridge. A group shout of "I do! Me! Over here! fills the air. Glasses clink together while everyone laughs at each other. Beth sips from her bottled water. Yeh, they're gonna be just fine.