It was that time of the year again. Well, for them it was the first time in a long time. Eugene had been trying to recreate the calendar based off of his research on the lunar cycle and algorithm for keeping everything in sync so they could predict weather patterns for making weather preparation more easily as well as crop production. He judged that based off his research, it was nearly Christmas. The temperatures dropped and a fuzzy blanket of pristine snow had covered the homes and grounds of the community, making it a winter wonderland. Snowflakes crystallized onto the windows in intricate patterns outside as warm fires blazed within the homes of the Alexandrians. Everything was still and peaceful, as it had been for the past year without major incidents and enemies. This year brought the most happiness and peace. Maggie finally returned with Hershel Jr. as well as new friends. Michonne had returned with Rick shortly after, reuniting the Grimes family, and everything seemed right. It seemed like the people of the community could finally breathe. It has been so long since they celebrated, but with Rick and Maggie back it felt like they were whole again. A whole community with its leaders returned and a whole family again. They decided it was time to celebrate Christmas. They had a lot to be thankful for and a lot to celebrate.
The community was abuzz with excitement. The adults were excited to partake in such a joyous time that brings people together as well as share it with the kids. Obviously, the young children whose lives started after the world ended had no idea what Christmas was. Since the communities wanted their first Christmas to be special, everyone broke into groups and were assigned jobs of things they needed to make or get to make this Christmas special. Everyone was in charge of food, decorations and gift-making, especially the kids. Jerry, Ezekiel, Luke and Gabriel were in charge of music and storytelling and were, luckily, able to get their hands on some Christmas books and carols from the library. Magna, Yumiko, Kelly, Aaron, and Rosita were in charge of runs for presents and supplies. Aaron had made jokes that they were all essentially one Santa Claus making sure to try their best to get everything on everyone's lists. The only thing left was getting a tree. It would be too much for each house to get a tree, since it's noisy to cut down that many trees and drag them back, so they decided to have one community tree and celebrate all together in the community center. They were, afterall, one big family. The job of getting this great tree was left to some of the greatest trackers: Daryl and Connie, and of course their pal, Dog.
It was the morning of Christmas Eve as Daryl and Connie packed up the horse drawn broken-down truck with supplies. Kelly said goodbye to Connie before she went to practice with the performing group and kids on how to sign "Jingle Bells". Kelly worried about Connie ever since she returned after being lost on her own, even though she knew that she could take care of herself.
I can still come with, Kelly signed. They will be fine without me. Luke's got this.
Connie shook her head. Stay here. I'll be fine, she smiled warmly. Besides, I'm not alone this time. Connie motioned over to Daryl.
Kelly lowered her head and nodded. She knew her sister would be fine, especially with Daryl, but she still worried. Daryl, packing the truck, noticed the worry in Kelly's eyes. He'd seen it before. He walked over and put his hand gently on her shoulder and she turned around.
I'm not letting her out of my site, Daryl signed. Kelly gently placed her hand on his wrist and nodded. Daryl dropped his hand and signed to Connie, You ready?
Connie nodded as she tightened her scarf.
Hey, she playfully hit Kelly, Don't go snooping for presents, ok? I WILL know and you WILL get coal. Kelly giggled before pulling her in for one more hug. We'll be back soon.
Daryl was already in the truck with Dog as he helped lift Connie up by her hand into the passenger side and they were on their way. They had already scoped out a spot with some good looking trees on a previous exploration so they figured that they would likely find a good tree there. It wasn't far from Alexandria, but certainly not close enough to be able to carry a tree and drag back without destroying much of the branches.
The ride to the large forested area of the Virginia pine trees was tranquil. The snow that had fallen that morning was untouched, especially out on the road. Connie took a deep, cool breath of the crisp morning air as she took in the scenery. Some of the snow had iced over and glistened in the morning sun lighting up their path and reflecting off the snow that lay heavy on the surrounding trees that were seemingly statuesque, keeping still from the lack of blustering breeze. A happy memory flooded back to her and she started to slightly chuckle. Daryl looked over and saw Connie smiling and laughing. He tapped her to grab her attention and drew attention to his lips since his hands were busy steering.
"Why are you laughing?" he happily inquired.
Her gloves were flinger-less with an attached piece that makes them into mittens for warmth. She removed the mitten piece to expose her fingers to communicate. This reminds me of when Kelly and I grew up in the Washington D.C. area. Around Christmas, we would always see people in horse drawn carriages all over the city drinking hot cocoa while enjoying the Christmas lights and decoration. But this scenery is so much better. With us in this horse drawn truck, it reminds me of those times. Just wish we had the hot cocoa.
Daryl smirked and gestured at Connie to hold the reins steady. He reached back under the supplies and next to Dog, who was snuggled up under a blanket. Connie had no idea what he was doing and tried to peek back while keeping her eyes on the road. He presented her with a thermos full of hot cocoa. Connie's face lit up with surprise and delight as they traded the reins and thermos.
"I figured you might get cold," he said. "Yumiko found some of that powdered cocoa for everyone to have on Christmas day. I may have snuck some for our tree cutting today."
She playfully nudged him. Thank you.
As they came upon their destination, she poured a cup. The steam from the hot beverage warmed her face as she inhaled a whiff and smelled of cocoa danced in the air. Even Daryl could smell it. She took a sip and sighed in relaxation. She poured more and handed the cup over to him. He grazed her fingers as he lightly took the cup from her and gulped it down.
"Thanks." Daryl put the cup back on top of the thermos that she was holding. They sat there for a moment looking at one another. Both of their hands glued to the thermos as their fingers nearly touched. He didn't know if it was from the hot cocoa or the way that Connie looked at him made him feel immense warmth.
Dog barked and jumped out, ready to start their search, breaking Daryl and Connie out of their trance.
Let's get started, she signed.
They grabbed their supplies and headed out in the wooded area. They came across many Virginia pine trees. Some were too bare, too short, too large, starting to die. They were hoping they could find a couple to choose from, but there weren't as many good ones as they thought there would be. Daryl would point to a tree and raise his eyebrows, asking with his eyes is this good? Connie would purse her lips and squint her eyes before shaking her head. He took another glance and nodded his head in agreement. It had taken a bit but they had finally found the perfect tree.
It's strong, Connie motioned showing off her biceps.
Good color, Daryl signed back.
Filled out, Connie replied.
Not too big. Not too small, Daryl finished.
Ok then, Goldilocks, Connie joked, This one is just right.
They agreed. This was the one. Daryl and Connie took turns chopping it down while the other took watch for walkers, even though they were actually watching each other for the most part. Daryl was always so impressed by her strength and admired her with every graceful swing she took. He smirked when she made a really hard hit and her earmuffs fell off her ears and she frustratingly let them hang around her neck. Connie admired watching Daryl as well when it was his turn as his biceps flexed with every hit. They rummaged through their supply bag and pulled out old, frayed netting from Oceanside, laid it down, dropped the tree gently, wrapped it up and dragged it back to the horse drawn truck. They plopped it on the truck and Dog happily hopped in after it as they headed back with their prized tree.
When they had returned to Alexandria, it was still early afternoon. Luckily it only took a couple hours. While unpacking the tree, Daryl heard the happy sound of giggling children and crunching snow becoming increasingly louder and more hurried.
"Uncle Daryl! Uncle Daryl!" Judith cheerfully greeted him with RJ attached to her hip as well as Rosita, Luke, Gracie, and little Hershel not far behind. She stood up on her tippy toes peering over the truck to get a look at the tree. Connie was able to see her by the cute pom-poms of her knitted cap first before she walked around to the other side of the truck. When Judith saw the tree, she went from excitement to disappointment and slight sadness.
"I don't get it, Uncle Daryl," she dismayed. "It just looks like a regular tree. What makes this a Christmas tree?"
"Well, that's because we haven't decorated it yet. That's what makes it special. Did all you kids get the decorations finished?"
They all fervently nodded their heads like bobble head toys on a dashboard truck on a bumpy road.
"Yep!" RJ exclaimed. "Tia Rosita helped. But..." he motioned for Daryl to come closer and he bent down to comply, "...hers weren't very good," he whispered and pulled out a broken up, overly glued pine cone with leaves stuck to it and uneven googly eyes that looked ready to fall off. Daryl had no idea what he was looking at.
"What is this supposed to be?" He inquired, thinking RJ had made it.
"I was going for an owl," Rosita chimed in slightly defensively. Daryl blankly stared at the thing and then back at her. "I'm not very crafty, ok? I'm better with the heavy lifting." She helped Luke take the tree off the truck as they hauled it in.
"Help us decorate the tree! We want to show you everything we made," Judith grabbed Connie and Daryl's hands while RJ clung onto Daryl's jacket. Gracie held Connie's free hand while also holding Hershel's with her other. They followed Rosita and Luke into the community center. The doors opened to reveal that the inside of the building, normally simple with little to no decor and used primarily for meetings and gathering, was transformed into a magical holiday space. Homemade decorations, repurposed and found lights from local abandoned houses, and garland adorned the room. It had been so long since they all had experienced Christmas that it felt like they were kids experiencing it for the first time all over again.
This is beautiful, a stunned Connie stated.
"You all did a great job." Daryl was happy but didn't quite know how to show it. He didn't exactly have the traditional childhood Christmas that everyone else had. He was lucky if there was a small synthetic tree growing up, usually followed by boxed mac and cheese for dinner, and either never got any presents or was gifted whatever crap his dad pulled out of the back of his pickup truck. However, there was one year where Merle had saved up some money and bought Daryl his first ever swiss army knife. It was navy blue, super sleek, a few different tools. It was the best present he ever got. He lost it when the world went to shit and really missed it. While Merle wasn't always the best brother, he did try to make the holidays special for Daryl sometimes.
"Come on over, Daryl," Rick called as he sat with Michonne on his lap. The two were inseparable since his return and it was beautiful to see. RJ and Judith ran around Daryl, giving their parents big hugs before running back to the box of ornaments while the tree was being set up.
Michonne grabbed a newspaper wrapped present with a red bow on top of it. "Here is the present you asked me to wrap," Michonne said with a coy smirk as she looked over towards Connie, who was going through the box of ornaments with the kids and Lyida. "She's going to love it."
"Thanks," Daryl half smiled and slightly nodded his head, unsure of himself.
"Have confidence in yourself, Daryl," Michonne assured, "You've got this." Daryl walked over to the tree and put his present under while Connie came over and did the same. They looked at each other and smiled as they both stood back up.
"Uh-oh," Lydia grinned. "Look who's found themselves under the mistletoe." Daryl looked up and Connie followed his lead. It wasn't actually mistletoe, but a bunch of leafy twigs wrapped in red ribbon. It was the closest thing they could get to mistletoe I guess.
Daryl was never too good with public displays of affection or, well, affection of any kind. His cheeks got red as he stammered awkwardly debating what to do. Connie smiled kindly, her eyes reflecting the Christmas tree lights, bringing comfort to him.
It's ok, she pointed to her cheek and then at him. He nodded his head, relieved, as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He did want to kiss her, Just not in front of everyone. Not like this. She lightly grabbed his hand and squeezed it, signaling that it was ok and not to be nervous. They could really understand each other just by body language. He took a deep breath and smiled his crooked smile. Lydia, disappointed, huffed away. She had been trying everything she could to get them together.
They all spent the rest of the day decorating, laughing and preparing for the big day. It was getting late and the kids were getting sleepy. Judith made sure to leave Carol's cookies and "milk", which was actually water, for Santa by the fireplace in the community center. Everyone started to go back to their homes as anticipation hung in the air for the morning. Daryl and Connie were the last ones still up in center. They decided to hang back and clean up a bit. Exhausted, they fell on the couch next to each other. They looked at each other for a moment, happy and tired from a busy day. Connie jolted up like she remembered something and grabbed the present from under the tree next to the couch.
I didn't want to wait until tomorrow, she signed before handing it to Daryl. Daryl decided to grab his present to her, as well.
I don't think Santa will be mad if we open gifts a little early, He joked. You open your gift first.
Connie observed the interesting newspaper wrapping before delicately opening it. She may want to read what was going on at the time of the newspaper. A reminder of the past. She opened it up to find a brown leather-bound journal engraved with the title "Connie's Journal" as well as a nice set of pens. She traced the engraving softly with her fingers and warmly smiled. She opened the journal and inside was a folded piece of newspaper. She unfolded it and realized it was her article from the Washington Post when she was a journalist before.
How- How did you get this article? She thoughtfully inquired, tears welling up.
I asked the search group who went to the library for Christmas book and carols to see if they could search for articles with your name. I remember you telling me the newspaper you worked at. Then, I found a shop in the old town that had the journal and pens, Daryl explained. I asked Alden to show me how to engrave. I just...thought you deserved to have your words written down again. They're important.
Connie reached over and put her hand on his, overwhelmed with emotion. Thank you. You don't know how much this means. He felt good knowing that he had made her so happy. She wiped a tear away and pointed at him to open his present. His present was in a small burlap pouch. He opened it up to find a navy blue swiss army knife. It was so similar to the one that Merle had given him as a child.
I remembered what you said about your brother giving you a similar gift, Connie stated. I found a swiss army knife, spray painted it navy blue and...She stopped. Daryl had just been sitting there staring at it. It brought back one of the few good memories from his childhood.
It's perfect. Thank you. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
They were both so awestruck by their gifts to each other, they didn't know what to say.
We should probably get to bed, Connie said, breaking happy and invited tension.
They got up and looked at each other, still holding hands Daryl put the knife in his jacket, fidgeting with it with one hand like he did when he was young. Connie clung to her journal with her free arm like a school girl walking the hallways. They walked hand-in-hand towards the door, passing the mistletoe again. Daryl decided this was the time. He pulled her towards him under the mistletoe, surprising her, and swung her into his body with light passion and kissed her. She kissed him back. Daryl made her feel cared for and safe again. He made her feel important. Connie kissed him back still clutching onto her journal set like a girl kissing her boyfriend in the hallways before the bell rang for the next class. She made him feel happy and heard. Daryl didn't open up much so to know that she truly cared enough to pay attention to little details and put such thought into his gift, made him feel better than any other Christmas he'd had. He was finally having that fairytale Christmas he'd always wanted. The Christmas where you're surrounded by people you love and who love you in return. It truly felt like magic was in the air. They pulled away from each other slowly and held each other under the twinkling Christmas lights.
Well, Connie signed. It looks like I got my Christmas wish after all.
Daryl smiled, Me too.