"I imagine things I am powerless to execute." - Jane Eyre
But imagine this. I'm sitting in my car listening to 2000s Pop Radio and Nelly's Hot in Herre starts playing. For God knows what reason, this scene flashes through my head and refuses to leave until I finally write it out three days later.
Oh boy. Enjoy.
Beth's ankles were swollen and achy, and her back was killing her. And yet she was still one of the first people up and about in the overflowing house, only beat out by her restless husband who was allergic to sleep. She stretches as much as she could in her state, going up onto her tiptoes and stretching her arm up high, the hem of her nightgown rising above her knees, before she dropped down to her flat feet, her hands down to cradle the ever-growing abdomen. She still had a couple of months to go, but most days she found it hard to believe that she could get bigger still. She smiled to herself at the thought of just toppling over one day, and rubbed circles in her stomach, comforting the little one who was also up at the early hour.
Despite the early hour she could already feel beads of sweat on her skin. Summers in Virginia weren't like the ones she grew up with in Georgia, and something she'd still have to spend time getting used to. Last year she'd only just arrived a few weeks before harvesting season and this year…well. This year was going to feel differently to her no matter what.
Maggie had gone on and on about all of the ways pregnancy had changed her body and chemistry, Rosita and Michonne often jumping into the conversation if they were nearby. Carol always just smiled softly with memories, and Beth never pushed her for more. But they all regaled her with tales of her older sister's hardships during pregnancy, Maggie especially fretting over her in concern during her first trimester. But unlike her sibling, Beth has had an easy pregnancy from the start. Well, biologically easy. Dramatically, not so much. Both Daryl and her sister had a habit of making something out of nothing, and it was even worse now that she was carrying the next member of their family.
Now, however, she was finally starting to feel a level of discomfort that she'd been expecting while growing another human, and it was because of this damn heat.
For a moment Beth considered changing out of her night clothes before heading upstairs, but she ultimately decided against it. She'd probably have to change after helping in the gardens later, so there was no point in creating more laundry to wash later. Besides, everyone in the house was family, and the extra breeze around her legs would help her keep cool as the sun continued to rise.
She walked over to the dresser pressed against the wall of their room, and looked at herself in the attached mirror. Her cheeks were full and already flushed, and her hair was a mess from both the heat and her sleep. Beth picked up her hairbrush from the lightly painted wood – a pale yellow that Daryl had found somewhere a few days after she mentioned it was her favorite color – and ran it through her curly hair. She methodically brushed as she thought through her tasks for the morning. Breakfast first, the baby hiccuped at the thought, then cleanup, and weeding in the gardens before the sun got too high, and… She moved on from brushing to braiding as her mind roamed and feet moved towards the bedroom door.
Beth took a deep breath and twisted the knob, trying to sneak out as quietly as possible. The sun was just now moving past dawn, and while she knew that the other members of the house would be up soon, she didn't want to rush them along.
She crept up the stairs from their space on the lowest level of the house, the sun from the front upper-level windows casting light shadows around her as she moved. Beth turned the corner to head into the kitchen, and was surprised to find that she wasn't the second person to wake for the day.
The young girl that Daryl had taken under his wing was not Beth's biggest fan. Lydia was skeptical of her at best, and suspicious of her on her worst days. But Beth understood. When she first met the teenager after her return to her family, she was reminded of the man she met back at the farm so many years ago. Like a previously wild animal that someone was trying to house-train, doubtful of any kindness and much more at home in the woods. She suspected that the young girl and her husband had had similar upbringings, but she didn't press either of them for details, and she never would. They'd talk about it if they wanted to.
Lydia lifted her head from where it was resting on her crossed arms when Beth entered the room, and looked at her with uncertainty. Beth smiled at the girl but said nothing. She knew that like Daryl, the teenager would talk when she wanted to and not a minute before.
The younger of the two ladies continued to sit at the kitchen island and stare as Beth turned around to get started on breakfast for everyone. She began pulling pans and bowls from various cabinets planning out the meal in her head. When her nephew or goddaughter woke up in a few minutes she'd send one to gather some eggs from the community's coop, and the other to grab a few ripe berries from off the vines. Daryl would likely be back soon with the morning's hunt, but there was some ground venison left over for the day before that she could make into patties to fry.
She started humming to herself as she pulled the meat from the refrigerator – still impressed that Alexandria was able to use solar panels to run just about everything – and the covered bowl on the counter to wash her hands. With the faucet running she remembered that she still needed to boil water for the herbal tea that most of them drank in the mornings, shaking her head at how flighty her mind had been lately. One thing her sister didn't exaggerate was pregnancy brain.
Beth spun to grab the kettle from the island where it was kept, and glanced at the young woman who continued to stare at her. Another quick smile her way before turning back to the sink to fill the pot, the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs in the other room.
Some things never change, she thought to herself as her sister entered the room and walked over to press a kiss to her cheek. "Mornin' Bethy," Maggie said as the younger of the two siblings reminisced over the older's forever-loud walking – something she'd fixed for outside, but indoors she reverted back to the loud stomping that Beth grew up with. "Hey Lyds."
The teen lifted her head a bit when she was acknowledged and replied with a small "Hey," as the sound of laughter and smaller feet on the stairs filled the air. Beth set the filled kettle on the stove and lit the burner. The early morning quiet was now gone.
The house's three smallest residents soon joined the others in the kitchen, the mother of two following behind silently. Still humming nonsense, Beth moved away from the heat of the stove, not needing to feel any additional warmth in the already stifling kitchen, and started working on the meat patties. Behind her, beautiful sounds of life brighten the room alongside the rising sun. Michonne was quietly waiting for her mug of tea as she watched over the children with a smile on her face, as Maggie mostly talked to herself about them keeping the noise down at the early hour. And Lydia still sat quietly, observing the scene.
Beth's hands were covered in venison when the kettle sounded, so she briefly stopped her humming to turn her head and get her sister's attention. "Mags!"
The elder Greene walked around to the other side of the island to join her sister and turn off the burner and grab a few mugs out of the cabinet above. Beth hadn't even realized that she'd started humming again until Maggie said something. "Oh my God, Beth! Really?!"
Beth stopped her hands in the bowl and turned towards her sister knowing her face looked as confused as she felt. "What?"
"Hot in Herre? Seriously?" Maggie laughed and shook her head as Beth thought back and realized that the nonsense she'd been humming had turned into the long forgotten song. "I remember when that song came out and Daddy went crazy, banned it from the house." The younger Greene smiled at the memories that flashed through her mind. "Everytime Mama and Daddy'd leave we'd blast it on the radio, and Shawn would threaten to tell on us if we didn't do his chores that day."
Both sisters were smiling at each other at this point thinking back on their happy family memories from days before the world fell apart, not noticing that the noise behind them had died down at the beginning of the story. At least not until a small voice asked "What song?" Lydia didn't often ask questions of Beth, so she figured that the young girl's natural curiosity was getting the better of her this time.
Beth smiled at her husband's protege and tried to explain as Maggie started making the mugs of herbal tea. "It's an old song from way back."
"Waaaaay back," Michonne added. "Before you were even born," she said, pointing at Lydia as she walked around to grab two of the mugs, one for herself and one for the teen.
The young girl's face screwed up and Judith decided to join the conversation. "Like the music Uncle Jerry listens to?"
Maggie barked out a laugh thinking of the Earth, Wind and Fire record that the Kingdom got ahold of a few years before it fell. "Nooooooo. This was so good. A classic."
"Well how's it go?" her son asked. She smiled at her husband's mini-me and looked at the other adults in the room. Meeting eyes with Michonne, they agreed silently to glare at Beth until she started it. This was all her fault anyway.
Beth had already turned back to continue shaping the meat but she soon felt eyes on her. Slowly turning her head she saw that every eye in the room was focused on her, and she had to stop herself from comfortingly rubbing her stomach with her dirty hands. "Uh…"
"Oh come on Bethy! Get your Nelly on!" she said, attempting to dance and get the kids riled up.
Judith looked at them confused. "Nelly? Like your old horse?" She'd grown up hearing stories of the farm before the fall, and the time that Nervous Nelly had thrown Daryl down a ravine.
The adults laughed and shook their heads. "No, Miss Judy," Beth explained. "Nelly was well…" She struggled to find the words to describe something that the kids had never experienced. They'd gotten better over the years with telling old stories about the old world, but as far as she knew, she'd never had to explain a rap artist. "There's this type of music," she started again, "where the singer would talk really fast. It was called rapping and Nelly was pretty big at one time."
"He wore a bandaid on his face right here," Michonne added pointing to her cheek.
The kids looked confused. They grew up in a world where you knew to never waste a bandage. "Like all the time?" Lydia asked.
Maggie laughed at the looks on their faces. "Yeah, it was like…a thing." She looked at her sister and wiggled her eyebrows. "Come'on Bethy, I'll help! Just get us going."
She shook her head and smiled. "It won't be the same without the music."
"You know," the elder Greene said, tapping her chin with her fingers, "you're right." She looked around at the waiting faces before landing on Michonne, and she grinned.
The woman caught on fast. "Ohhhh no," she said, shaking her head with a laugh. "This is a Greene family concert. I'm just here for the show."
The sisters looked at each other, silently forming a plan. Beth could see the mischievousness in her sister's eyes, and knew that between her and the kids, there was no way of getting out of this.
The blue eyed girl finally decided to give in and turned towards the children, all four of them now alert and expecting a presentation. "Ok now, y'all are going to have to help out," she said knowing that at least three of the four would participate. "Mags, get them started on the beat."
Maggie, clearly not expecting it to play out with her instructing the children, sputtered before regaining herself. She looked towards her son and the other children she considered to be nieces and nephews, mind blank and unsure of what to do. "Um…well…uh…" But she had always been good at thinking on her feet. "Oh!" Her whole body moved with the exclamation and Beth laughed at the sight. Maggie's dramatic behavior had always been one of the best things about her. Well, almost always. "Ok, so you guys are going to repeat the background for us, 'kay?"
She glanced first to Beth for confirmation who was pressing her lips together in glee, and then Michonne, who was trying to hide her laugh behind her hand, before looking back at the children who were nodding in excitement, even the teenager. Maggie thought it over in her mind for a minute before deciding that she had it right. "Ok guys, it's like…'Wanna little bit'a uh uh, just a little bit'a uh uh.' Just over and over. Got it?"
The children looked at each other before looking back at the adult who'd just said one of the most ridiculous things they'd ever heard. "Um…" Judith started before Herschel cut in.
"Can you do it again, Mom?"
Maggie, however, knew her son too well, and knew exactly what he was actually asking. He wanted a show, and oh boy was he going to get one.
She grinned widely and popped her hip out with one hand resting on it, the other poised as if she'd be conducting an orchestra. "One more time, you got it?" The younger kids giggled and Lydia finally had a ghost of a smile on her lips. Maggie started out much more passionately this time. "Wanna little bit'a UH UH," she shook her hips on each 'uh', "just a little bit'a UH UH!" She lied about it being only one more time, as she continued with the pattern, now prancing around the kitchen with her hands up in the air and hips still swaying.
Herschel, Judith and RJ quickly joined in the spectacle as a true smile hit Lydia's face and Michonne let go of the laughter she'd been holding in. "Wanna little bit'a UH UH! Just a little bit'a UH UH!"
"Come'on Bethy!"
The blonde laughed out loud and shook her head before grabbing a nearby towel to wipe her hands on, before cradling her belly and stepping into the fray. She was surprised at how quickly the words to the song came back to her as she opened her mouth to sing at the top of her voice, the same way she and Maggie used to when dancing around the farmhouse. "I was like, good gracious ass is bodacious!"
Maggie stopped her chant that the children continued in order to join her sister on the melody. "Flirtatious, tryin' ta show faces! Lookin' for the right time to shoot my steam, yo, lookin' for the right time ta flash them keys!" Both sisters were strutting around along with the children, Beth doing the most that she could with the extra weight on her front, and smiles on everyone's faces. Beth now knew what the brunette teenager's laugh sounded like, and she was pleased to know that she was capable of it at all. "Then I'm leavin', please believin'! Me and the rest of my heathens!"
Every now and then one of the two sisters would drop out from the verse, having forgotten the words, or in Beth's case, running out of air. But the kitchen really came to life, with even Michonne joining in on the singing, once they hit the chorus. Maggie was just shy of screaming the words at this point and there was no way that other members of the community hadn't heard what was going on.
"I said! It's getting hot in herre, so take off all your clothes!" All three adults visibly switched personas for the next line. "I am. Getting so hot. I wanna take my clothes off!"
"What the hell?"
Everyone in the room froze exactly where they were and turned to look towards the back doorway. There, standing covered in dust, grime, and sweat, one hand on the strap of his crossbow and the other on a string of skinned meat, was Daryl Dixon looking both incredibly confused and amused.
Maggie broke first, letting out a loud bark, and set off the rest of the room in a hysterical laugh. The sister's grabbed each other's hands as tears formed in their eyes, and Beth started sinking to the floor. She'd be lying later, if she said she didn't pee a little, but the merriment that filled their house that morning was all worth it. That, and the look on her husband's face and he looked at all of them as if they'd lost their minds.
Daryl knew that his wife had the ability to liven up a room, doubly so if Maggie was in on it too. So when he walked back into their kitchen that morning after a successful hunting trip, he shouldn't have been all that surprised to see his family raising hell. But damn.
He thinks it was the song, or maybe that they got Lydia to join in on it, but man was he caught off guard. And when they all unfroze and broke into a roaring laughter, he couldn't help but smirk a little.
His gaze fell on his wife and when his eyes met hers, only one thing ran through his mind. Fuck, I love her.
