I do not own any of the TWD characters.
It's the Gift that Keeps on Giving Clark!
The kids had retreated to their rooms upstairs - Daryl could hear drawers banging shut, some laughter and teasing, a hair dryer cut on and one of the showers going. Beth was clanging around in the kitchen, putting the last of the dirty glasses into the dishwasher. Sitting alone in the family room, amongst all the carnage left from unwrapping Christmas gifts, Daryl was reflecting on the year that was slowly slipping away from him.
They'd survived football season and Micah, bless his little heart, sure learned how to take a beating. It wasn't that he didn't do a half decent job of quarterbacking - especially for a boy who'd never played any football. Hell, they made it to the first round of playoffs this year. Micah was just skinny, inexperienced, and soft as all get out. Or he was. Daryl could tell that the season had toughened the boy up some. Micah was ready to give Jacob his spot back that was for sure, but he'd gotten a taste of the football life and he liked it - a lot.
Jacob had finally been dismissed from medical treatment and could start light training with the baseball team in January. Everyone was truly grateful for that because they didn't think they could listen to his belly aching much longer. Jacob had also picked up a girlfriend somewhere along the way. Daryl wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. The girl was real sweet, and she'd been out for supper a couple of times. They hadn't scared her off yet, but hey, there was still time.
Katie Raye had been busy designing the ultimate chicken coop in her spare time. Daryl had found her very detailed plans and drawings in the mud room. He was so glad he'd taken the time to ask her about them - she was all too happy to share her ideas and reasoning behind all the neat features she'd planned. A rotating chicken run and a chicken moat around Beth's kitchen garden - now who would have come up with that? Anyway, Daryl was glad he'd been armed with all of that info - it made having Thomas build a coop for her big Christmas gift a breeze. Thomas- Mr. George helped a lot too- built the coop down at the shop. The coop would be moved to wherever Katie Raye (and Daryl approved) decided later. When Katie Raye saw her coop, you would've thought she'd won the lottery.
He loves his family so much and although, many many years ago, he never thought he'd have the whole big family Christmas thing - Daryl cannot imagine life without it. Daryl sipped the last of his orange juice, realizing Beth is going to be irked when he brings that lone glass to her, but he kinda likes to do that shit every now and again - gets a rise out of his woman. Daryl's feet are propped up on the coffee table and there's a fire raging in the fireplace. He can hear the kids upstairs bumping and banging around - still excited by all the cool stuff they got from Santa.
Daryl snorts at that thought - Santa. They've all got Santa figured out by now, but in some sort of mafia style, non spoken agreement on everyone's part, everyone still believes. Daryl never had a visit from Santa until he met the Greene family and after all these years, he's beginning to see just how much fun it is to actually BE Santa.
Beth eases around the corner from the kitchen. "Hey" she half whispers. "Ya okay in here?"
Daryl flashes a wicked grin at his wife and holds up his empty juice glass.
Beth grunts, "I shoulda known - give that here."
Daryl's grin grows bigger by the second. "Ya ready to give em the big gift?"
Beth smiles nervously at her husband, but nods her head. They'd both decided to wait as long as they could to let the kids in on their secret, but it was getting harder and harder to do so. Beth's standard uniform had become leggings and concert t shirts. She'd been shopping and had bought some of the cutest maternity tops she'd been dying to wear. It was becoming harder and harder to keep it from the kids. Beth was pretty sure Jacob was on to them - he'd caught his dad rubbing Beth's belly on more than one occasion. "Cut it out guys" Jacob would say as his neck turned three shades of red.
"Okay, here it goes" Daryl prepared Beth. They both stood near the wall of the dining room that had all the formal baby pictures hanging. For years, they'd hung the same way. All three baby portraits, in a straight line (spaced out evenly, of course) hanging at eye level - just the way it should be done. Well, now the pictures had been rearranged so that they would be in a two by two array, except the fourth picture still wasn't in place. Beth snickered as Daryl geared up for his fake blow up.
Daryl walks over to the stairs and yells up "Hey, ya'll get down here RIGHT NOW!"
Dead silence from upstairs. Beth could picture all three of them, each in their own rooms trying to figure out who's gone and fucked up bad enough to get their Dad so torn up on Christmas day. Still, silence for at least another thirty seconds - which leads Daryl to bang on the wall at the base of the stairs.
"Jeesh Daryl" Beth nearly jumped out of her skin. "Ya scared the shit outta me" Beth squished her legs together. "Dammit, I think I wet myself a little."
Daryl snickered. "Sorry Babe". He put his hand on Beth's arm to let her know he's getting ready to yell again. "If I gotta come up there and get ya'll sons of bitches."
"Daryl" Beth cautioned.
"Sorry" Daryl was really laughing now. "I can't wait to see their faces when they think they're in trouble."
Slowly, each kid departed the safety of their own room and made their way down the steps. They all had a sick look on their face, trying to recall if they had personally made some kind of monumental fuck up mistake that was just now catching up with them.
"Dining room" Daryl instructed the three of them. "NOW"
The kids slowly made their way to the dining room as if they were making the final walk on death row. They each took a seat at the table, looking at each other and silently asking, "Was it you?" "What'd you do now Katie Raye?" "Aw man, I didn't do nothing!"
"Take a look around and tell me what ya'll notice"Daryl began.
Silence.
"Don't nobody notice anything different in here?" Daryl continued.
Silence. Uncomfortable silence.
"Look guys, whoever moved the pictures around" Beth started with much softer tones than her husband. "Well, I just really wished you wouldn't have done that. I had ya'lls baby pics hung just the way I wanted them. Took me forever to get your Uncle Merle to hang them at the right level."
The only thing missing here was the orb of confusion from the Sponge Bob cartoons. These kids were just dumbfounded - as they should be. Both of their parents, it seemed, had finally gone off the deep end.
Katie Raye found her voice and spoke up. "Momma, I don't think any of us moved the baby pics around. We don't even come in here much anymore - I ain't been in here since last spring when I worked on my science project board in here."
MIcah looked real thoughtful. "That's crazy. Who'd wanta move pictures around?"
Jacob had been extra quiet and extra thoughtful during the whole exchange. Something was up and he couldn't figure it out. "Looks like there's a picture missing now" he finally offered.
Beth fought to keep from smiling and Daryl was doing all he could to hold it together. The kids all just sat there - no one would look at anyone else. At last, Jacob asked, "What's that package over on the cupboard?"
"What package?" Beth dumbly asked without even looking. The one she'd wrapped last night and put over on the Jackson press.
"That package" Katie Raye laughed and got up to retrieve it. "It's a gift" Katie was reading the tag. "To the Dixon Family - Best Wishes for an amazing 2021."
"Open it up" Micah all but shouted at his little sister. Katie Raye looked to her mom for permission, and Beth nodded her head slightly with a sweet smile. The youngest Dixon ripped into the paper to find a matching frame - no photo in the frame, but a beautifully handwritten poster, "Coming soon to a farm near you, May 2021". Included with the calligraphy notice were some pastel chalk drawings of things like baby booties, and a cradle, and teddy bears. Ya know, it left very little to the imagination.
"Oh my God" Jacob blew out. "I knew it - I knew you two were up to something weird."
"What?" asked MIcah, looking to each of his siblings alternately. "I don't get it."
Katie just stood there with the torn paper and ribbon in her hands, looking a bit shell shocked. She'd handed the frame to Micah.
"Oh my God" Jacob kept repeating. "We're gonna be that family."
Beth looked a little offended. "What family?" she asked.
Micah was still clueless. "I don't get it. What's coming in May?"
Katie Raye began to cry and ran out of the room.
"Oh my God" Jacob said one last time.
Beth ran out to chase Katie Raye down, and Daryl plopped down in a dining room chair with the boys. This had not gone off as planned. Daryl and Beth thought for sure that the kids would be just as happy as they were. Obviously not. Jacob seemed embarrassed, Micah still hadn't figured it out, and Katie Raye was very upset. Good Lord thought Daryl.