I really miss Daryl and Beth.

…

Beth woke up early as Daryl still snored away and Olive and Chris were still asleep in the other double bed in their motel room. She went into the bathroom and treated herself to a long, hot shower; much needed after a long day of traveling. Opening the door again to let out the steam, she tightened the towel around her body and after wiping the mirror, she then began to comb out the tangles from her hair.

She liked this bathroom. Despite the name of Black Clay Motel, whoever had designed it had certainly liked pink. Not only were the doors to each room painted pink, but the tiles in the bathroom as well as the bathtub, sink and toilet were all pink. She knew it was probably too much pink and she probably couldn't handle her own bathroom to be like this but for a night or two, this bathroom was making her smile.

She then thought of the kinds of bathrooms they would look at today. They had looked at pictures of houses online and none of them had pink bathrooms but still, Beth expected that seeing something in person could be quite different than just looking at pictures online. She already knew that the three houses they were scheduled to view today, she would walk into each room and picture where all of their furniture would go.

There was a part of Beth that was naturally scared for such a change but the larger part of her felt pure excitement at this new chapter she, Daryl and their family were about to open to. She never imagined ever living anywhere other than Georgia for the rest of her life but things happened and as her daddy liked to always remind all of his children, God had his own plans.

Daryl still couldn't quite believe that anyone in his company thought he was capable of anything but once she had gotten past the surprise of his news, Beth wasn't surprised at all. Of course his boss and boss's boss thought of him when it came to this kind of new role and promotion. Her husband was amazing at his job and he had earned and deserved this kind of promotion.

She was nervous for moving here, to West Virginia, but thankfully, the kids were still so young and could adjust and she and Daryl would adjust, too. They visited his family often enough in Kentucky so living in Appalachia wasn't completely foreign to her but still, West Virginia wasn't Georgia.

Beth finished combing out her hair and was about to close the door so she could use the motel's complimentary hair dryer without waking everyone up but before she could, Chris suddenly appeared, still looking half-asleep as he held his blanket over his shoulders, his fingers toying with one of the corners.

"Good morning, baby," Beth smiled and carefully knelt down in front of him. Her hand went around to feel his bottom and that he needed a fresh diaper. As she went to go get one from the bag on the dresser, Daryl began to stir. He then sat up with a yawn, looking to the clock on the nightstand. He then looked at her. "Can you get Chris a fresh diaper? I want to dry my hair and get dressed," she whispered to him so not to wake Olive. Olive could be… well, she could be a terror if they woke her too early.

Daryl nodded while yawning again and Beth tossed the diaper on the foot of the bed before going back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

She emerged again when her hair was dried – and pulled into a ponytail with a braid through it and pulled over her shoulder – and a light coating of makeup was applied on her face. Olive was still passed out and Daryl now had Chris dressed for the day as well in blue jeans and a red hoodie. Daryl was also dressed in blue jeans and a flannel shirt. Beth gathered some clothes and went back in the bathroom to get herself dressed.

Emerging in blue jeans, a long-sleeve tee-shirt and a long, black cardigan sweater, she then sat down on the edge of the bed to tug on her boots. "I'm going to the office to go get some coffee," she said, still whispering.

"I figured," Daryl smirked a little.

"Do you want a cup?"

"Nah. 'm alrigh' for now." Daryl wasn't nearly half the coffee addict his wife was.

"Come on, Chris. You can stretch your legs," Beth said as she clipped the leash onto Moseley's collar. She looked to Olive, still sleeping away despite all of the movement now going on around her. "Should you…"

"Yeah. I know that's why you're conveniently goin' to get a cup of coffee. You don't wanna be the one to wake her," Daryl said, still with that little smirk.

"I am not afraid of our four-year-old daughter, Daryl Dixon," Beth frowned at him but still, she left their room with Chris and Moseley, closing the door on Daryl's snicker.

It was a quiet morning. A low mist was still hanging over the ground, evaporating slowly as the sun continued to rise bit by bit over the mountains in the east. There were a couple of other cars parking the motel's lot but she and Chris were the only ones outside.

Beth took a big, deep breath of the fresh air and she laughed as Chris mimicked her, doing the same thing.

They had gone to eat at a restaurant in town the night before – Top Notch – after checking in and Beth had been able to see a bit more of the town and though it had a few stores and businesses, much of the main street had empty storefronts, most with paper over the front windows and "For Rent" signs hanging up. She had read that Bennington had once been a bustling coal town but that had been a few decades earlier and now, like so many towns in this part of the country, they were dying a slow death.

She wasn't going to think about that though. Not this morning. Bennington still was a nice little town and if there wasn't a needed business here, GE wouldn't even have a warehouse/office here let alone offer Daryl the position of head Warehouse Manager where they would have to move him and his entire family here.

Moseley was good off leash – Daryl had trained him to be a hunting dog since he was a puppy – and not seeing a high volume of cars and trucks on the road the motel faced, Beth bent down and unhooked the Beagle. He immediately put his nose to the ground and began sniffing everything in his new environment; finally relieving himself on a small shrub planted at one of the corners of one of the buildings.

Beth held Chris's hand and they began heading across the parking lot, towards the main office. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Moseley was following – slowly as he still sniffed at everything.

The man who owned and ran the Black Clay Motel was a middle-aged man named Norman and Beth was not going to hold that against him though it was slightly unfortunate that he was named Norman and he ran a motel. But again, that wasn't his fault and no one had stabbed her in the shower this morning so it shouldn't matter and it didn't.

Norman was behind the front desk in the office as Beth, with Chris, pushed the door opened and stepped in. A radio on the desk was turned on to a low volume and Beth recognized The Rolling Stone's "Angie" playing. The man stood a little taller at Beth's appearance.

"Good morning," she smiled cheerfully.

"Mornin'," Norman tipped his head to her. "There's freshly brewed coffee and my wife baked fresh muffins."

Beth looked to the table where the coffee machine was and the basket of muffins. "Oh goodness, they look delicious. Look, Chris. Blueberry or chocolate chip?"

"Chocolate!" The boy exclaimed to no surprise to her.

Beth took one of the paper plates and broke the muffin in two before handing it to Chris. He promptly sat down on the floor to eat it and Beth kept one eye on him as she fixed herself a cup of coffee.

"Did you and your family sleep alrigh'?" Norman asked once Beth finished stirring in the cream and sugar and she tossed her little straw away into the trashcan before turning to the man.

"We did," she nodded with a smile. There was something about the way Norman spoke; his accent and the way he pronounced words. It was comforting to her.

Last night, their waitress at Top Notch, Mandy, and Norman had had just about the same exact reaction when they found out what the Dixon family was doing in Bennington. "'m gettin' transferred here for work and we're up here, lookin' at houses this weekend," Daryl had explained when asked.

Both Norman and Mandy had blinked as if they had never heard such a thing.

"It's so quiet and beautiful here," Beth then said and she saw the way Norman smiled; so proud as if he was directly responsible for that. "My husband's family is from Appalachia and we visit them often so we know these parts but I still forget how beautiful the mornings can be."

"Where abouts is your husband's family?"

"Clay County, Kentucky."

Norman nodded. "Never been there myself but I've been close. I've got some family scattered across Leslie and Harlan counties."

"And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone, you will never leave Harlan alive," Beth sang before she could stop and when she did, Norman burst into a smile.

"The very same one," he said and she let out a laugh. "Where you lookin' at houses today, if you don't mind me askin'?"

"We have one on Mill Mountain Road and another on Fairfax and the last one we're looking at is on Grassy Lick Road. Our daughter picked that one because of the road's name," she answered with a smile.

Norman smiled, too. "Well, Mill Mountain Road's 'bout three miles outside of town and is pretty rural." He pointed in the direction Beth assumed the road was. He then pointed in another direction. "And Fairfax is perpendicular to Main, here, right in town. It follows alongside the old railroad tracks. And Grassy Lick Road is pretty much nothin' more than a dirt road that the locals use for their four-wheelers and dirt bikes."

"Which do you recommend?" Beth asked. She finished her coffee and turned to fix herself another cup, taking one of the plastic lids so she could take this one with her.

"Well, Fairfax might be nice for the kids to be close to the school and 's also close to the GE office in town but out on Mill Mountain Road, I wouldn't turn down the chance to buy some acreage if I could get my hands on it." Beth nodded at that and began gathering some muffins to take back to the room with her. "And Grassy Lick Road… a lot of season huntin' cabins out that way and I like havin' indoor plumbin' too much to live out that way the whole year."

Beth laughed as she filed away all of that information. "Thank you, Norman. That is a massive help. Truly."

And once again, Norman smiled that proud smile of his.

…

Their realtor's name was Lloyd and he didn't exactly look like what someone might expect a realtor to look like. He was a big man with a big belly that oftentimes got in the way and he wore a suit but also an old blue WVU baseball cap on his head. He also seemed to have an addiction to butterscotch candies, always pulling a fresh one from his pocket as soon as he finished sucking on the previous.

They met Lloyd at the house on Fairfax first. It was a single story house with white siding and black shutters. There was no garage on this one but an overhang to park a car under. And as Norman had said, there were no houses across the street but rather, railroad tracks.

"You got three churches all within two blocks of this one if you're church goin' people and Daryl, your GE office is jus' over the tracks, over there," Lloyd pointed to a group of building on the other side of the tracks.

Moseley was nosing his way all over the small postage-stamp front yard as Beth, holding Chris, and Daryl, holding Olive's hand, followed Lloyd up the steps of the porch to the front door. Lloyd hit the numbers on the lock that opened the box and he took the key out. Beth looked over the front yard – it really was quite small – and she wanted to see the backyard, hoping it offered more space. They couldn't move their kids from the woods and all of the room they had for playing to a house with no yard.

"When was this one built?" Daryl asked.

"1970s, I believe, and there is some work that would need to be done. Not gonna lie to you 'bout that. But you wouldn' be investin' in a money pit." Lloyd unlocked the front door and pushed it open. "Family first."

"Are those train tracks still used?" Beth asked once they all stepped inside.

"Yes, ma'm. 'Bout two or three times a week," Lloyd answered.

Beth could only imagine how loud that would be with their house right across the street from the tracks. It didn't matter if it was a slow or fast-moving train. It would be loud. She also imagined Chris, who loved heading towards moving cars. Lord knew how he would be with a moving train.

It was a nice enough house. The previous owner had ripped up the carpet so the hardwood floors beneath were exposed – worn in a lot of areas but still nice. The bedrooms were all painted bold colors – deep blue, magenta and a bright fuchsia that actually hurt Beth's eyes to look at. Repainting would definitely be the first thing they did if this was the house they bought.

There was no basement but there was a generous crawlspace. The backyard was a good size, too. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but as she walked the rooms with Lloyd, she didn't feel anything. She had thought that when she walked into the home she and Daryl would live in, she would feel that.

She would feel like she was home.

This wasn't a bad house. This wasn't the house of her dreams, by any means, but she knew that just because she envisioned something in her head, that didn't mean that it actually existed anywhere. It might be good for the kids to grow up in town with other kids around and their school close by and Daryl's commute would certainly be ideal since they would get more winter weather up here than they did now in Georgia. They could make this work if this was the house they decided on.

She and Daryl stayed with Lloyd, looking over every nook and cranny – thankfully, Daryl looked at things that were important like the windows and water heater and electrical box while Beth was worrying about the color of the walls – and Olive and Chris ran from room to room, burning off the energy the chocolate chip muffins from the motel had given them.

When they left and got back in their car, following Lloyd out of the town to next head to Mill Mountain Road, Daryl looked over to Beth.

"What did you think?" He asked.

She gave him her best smile. "It was nice. Lloyd's right. There are some things to fix but it's not a money pit and it certainly wouldn't break our bank if we bought it."

Daryl was quiet at her answer like he usually was because he always truly thought it over before speaking again. "'s true," he agreed. "It wasn' the worse house 've ever seen. Wasn' wild 'bout it though. I think we can do better."

"You do?" Beth knew she sounded surprised but she couldn't help it.

Daryl glanced at her before back to the road so he didn't miss the gentle curves. "'course. No one said we had to buy the first thing we saw. And buyin' a house ain't exactly cheap so we're allowed to be a little picky."

He looked to her again and gave her the smallest smile and Beth found herself smiling; her chest easing with the relief she felt.

"I wasn't wild about the house either," she told him.

"Nah? You were hidin' it well," Daryl commented with the tiniest smirk and then broke into a full-fledged smile when Beth thumped him lightly on the arm.

Beth turned in her seat to look to Olive, Chris and Moseley in the back. "What did you kids think? Did you like the house?"

"No!" Olive's exclamation was immediate. "Mama, did you see the other houses? They're super close to ours! And there's no grass for Moseley!"

Technically, there had been plenty of grass for Moseley but Beth knew what her daughter was getting at. Their Beagle, like their children, was used to the privacy and space of the woods. And while Moseley was a dog and would more than likely be able to adjust to his new life quickly, Beth supposed that he shouldn't have to adjust to that if there were other options out there for them.

Lloyd turned down the long, curving driveway Beth had seen the pictures of online and she leaned forward a little as the house came into view through the trees. Now this was much more like it. Trees were all around them and she imagined them in the summer when they were full with leaves. Their house might not be visible at all and she obviously had been married to Daryl for too long because privacy to that degree was what she truly wanted.

Daryl parked their car behind Lloyd's and as the man pulled himself out, Beth and Daryl got the kids out. Moseley immediately took off running into the trees and Daryl frowned a little.

"He better come back and not get bit by somethin' out there. Neither of us know West Virginia wildlife yet," he muttered, more to himself, but Beth heard and smiled at how easily Daryl was already saying yet.

She looked back to the house. The front of the house was white with gray shutters and that teal front door. She saw the sides of the house were brick as was the front porch. Beth looked at the house as she and Daryl followed Lloyd up the path from the driveway and she hadn't even seen the inside of it – in person – yet but she was already smiling.

"Mama, look!" Olive called out and Beth saw that she and Chris had discovered something in what very well might be their front yard.

With the trees all around them, the grass was covered in brown, fallen leaves and something had caught Olive's attention. She then lifted her hand and Beth couldn't see what it was. She stepped off the porch and went to her children – and the field mouse in Olive's hand. Beth had no idea how she had seen it, let alone catch it, but Olive was no one if not Daryl's daughter.

"Can I keep it?"

"I'm afraid not, Olive," Beth gave her a smile. "He's shaking, he's so scared. Best to let him go so he can be with his family again."

Olive frowned at that but did as she was told and bent down, letting the mouse go. The little animal instantly darted away, they losing him in the blanket of leaves.

"As long as that family of his isn' livin' in this house," Daryl said as Beth and the kids joined him and Lloyd again and Daryl bent down, hoisting Chris up in his arms.

Lloyd unlocked the door. "Family first," he said like he said at the first house.

Daryl hung back, letting Beth, with Olive, step in first and as soon as Beth did, it was what she was waiting for. She instantly smiled as they all stepped into the living room.

This one, without a doubt, felt like home already and their couch would look absolutely perfect in front of that large front window.

…

Ugh. These kinds of chapters. This is a chapter that had to be written in order to get to the next chapter. Still - I hope you liked it. THANK YOU for reading!