A/N: So here it is, the last chapter! Thank you so much for reading my story. I have had a blast writing this one. I love Beth and Daryl and their fandom. Y'all are the best! Enjoy…
"Daddy, tell Shawn about how you and mama burned down that shack."
"I done told ya' that story a hundred times by now. Why don't you tell him?"
" 'Cause you make Mama sound like such a badass when you tell it."
"Watch your mouth, Annie," Beth says patiently with one eyebrow raised. Beth and Daryl's thirteen-year-old daughter is her father made over. Piercing gray-blue eyes, barely-there smile, tough as nails, and stubborn as a mule. Not to mention that mouth 'a hers!
Daryl gets up from his seat at the checkerboard, and ten- year-old Shawn quickly plops down in the vacated spot. Daryl ruffles his blond curls and whispers a little friendly advice in his ear to help with the next move on the board. Seven-year-old Patrick hops from his daddy's lap to his back and is hanging on like a spider monkey. They make their way over to Beth, and Daryl kisses her forehead. Patrick leans over his daddy's shoulder, crinkles his nose, and does the same. "How ya' feelin', sweetheart?"
Daryl tries to hide his concern, but he isn't fooling Beth. He isn't fooling anyone, truth be told. This pregnancy has been the most difficult one yet. Beth has been sick to her stomach for most of it. The fatigue hit her hard this time too and won't let up. He can't help but worry about the delivery. The memory Judith's birth and her mama's death is still there. It sneaks up on him at the most unexpected times. Sets his teeth on edge. But Beth, the one who brought sweet baby Judith into this world in exchange for her mother's life, never blinks at what could happen. Fear has never had a place in her pregnancies. More of that unwavering faith of hers, Daryl supposes. Beth tells him she is fine, just tired, and rubs at her swollen belly. It won't be long now.
Daryl nearly lost his mind when Beth went into labor with their first. He felt utterly helpless. The fear of losing Beth gripped him like a vice. Watching Beth struggle through the delivery of Annie was both excruciating and beautiful. Each time Beth would grit her teeth and bear down through a contraction, every muscle in Daryl's body would tense. He forgot how to breathe. Ended up light headed and sweaty. When Annie slid from her mama and started whaling like a banshee, he couldn't help the tears that slipped down his cheeks. His wife is a badass. Always has been.
Their second and third were born without complication, but it still did a number on Daryl to see Beth go through that struggle. They had tried for a fourth when Patrick was 2, but it never took. They just assumed it wouldn't, so when Beth discovered she was pregnant five years later, they were understandably surprised. Maybe it was the shock of it, or maybe it was Daryl's deep seeded propensity to look for the other shoe to drop, but the worry he felt with this pregnancy had been almost overwhelming at times. So much so, old nightmares re-surfaced. Each one ending in the loss of Beth.
They had been blessed with three beautiful children. Sarah Annette after both their mothers, Shawn Hershel, and Patrick Merle. They hadn't yet settled on a name when their fourth made her debut. Beth said not to worry. As soon as they met him or her, they would know. Turns out their fourth was a her. A tiny baby girl, significantly smaller than their other three had been, with a head full of wispy blond hair, one deep dimple in her cheek, and one startling defect that nearly took Daryl's breath away. Their baby girl was missing part of her arm. It ended at her elbow in a perfectly rounded mound of soft muscle and skin. Perfect no longer met 10 fingers and 10 toes. His new definition of perfect was just shy of that number.
Beth was exhausted and Daryl's nerves were raw. Labor had taken twice as long this time as it had with their other three. When their baby girl finally arrived, she was too tired to breath. Denise did everything she could, but in the end, it was up to God and the baby. Denise laid her down across Beth's chest, and Daryl settled in next to Beth on the bed. Pulled her snug against him. He stroked his baby girl's cheek, patted her bottom, lightly pinched at her legs. Did everything he could think of to piss her off and make her cry. He begged her to keep breathing. Begged God not to take her away. Beth kept her tilted to her side and continually patted her back. Kept singing even as her tears bathed the silent baby in her arms. Daryl had almost lost hope when their little fighter coughed weakly and finally made a little peep. He swiped at his tears, heart picking up speed, and doubled down on his encouragement. "You sound like a bird, little one. Let me hear you sing. Come on little bird, sing for Daddy."
She made another peep, then another, until finally, by the grace of God, she let out a squawk that had their hearts racing and their hope surging. "Birdie Faith," Beth whispered when their baby latched on and started to suckle as if she hadn't just brought Badass Beth and The Last Man Standing to their knees. Daryl agreed, Birdie Faith was perfect.
Birdie was tough. Tiny and fierce like her mama. Soft-hearted and quiet like her daddy. Much to Daryl's delight, she had a voice that rivaled her mamas. Beth taught her as many songs as she could remember. Taught her how to play the melodies with one hand on the piano. Growing up with one arm never slowed Birdie down. She was determined to keep up with her older siblings, never using her handicap as an excuse. For her 13th birthday, Daryl made her a metal prosthetic with a soft, bendable knife-like extension. For her 16th, he made her the real thing.
~~~TWD~~~
Beth and Daryl have a good life. "Blessed," Beth always says. They are doing their part to help rebuild the world. Alexandria has become the epicenter in a network of thriving communities, most within a day's walk or less, and several more accessible within two or three. Daryl, Merle, and Reg figured out how to build more solar cells, how to put those solar cells together to build large solar panels, and how to repair the existing panels. Daryl and Merle have made quite a name for themselves building and fixing those panels in the network of neighboring communities.
Beth and Denise finished their medical training under the guidance of Dr. Carson and Dr. Saddiq. They stay busy taking care of folks from Alexandria and from their neighboring communities. Sometimes it's hard not having the things they need readily available to help someone, but they have learned to improvise well, and most days are good. They have a wagon and a team of mules to pull that wagon should they need to send someone to D.C. for more advanced care.
As with most lives well-lived, the time flies. Beth blinks, and her first baby girl is married. She and Daryl become grandparents, Pops and Bee, to Annie's baby boy, DJ (Daryl James Proctor). That same year, Shawn marries a girl he met traveling with Daryl and Merle learning the family business. Their sweet baby Birdie is next. She marries the boy she has teased and pestered and loved since she was 8 years old. It was inevitable they suppose. She has had him wrapped around her little finger from day one. They weren't sure Patrick would ever find his match, but a sassy newcomer to Alexandria managed to tame him. Daryl is still in awe of how things have turned out. Four children, nine grandchildren, and the most beautiful girl on the planet still by his side.
It is the middle of summer and Beth and Daryl are sitting on the front porch. They have spent 42 summers together in Alexandria. It hasn't always been easy. Far from it. Multiple threats have come and gone over the years. But they have more than merely survived. Together they have lived and loved and built something lasting in this new world.
Beth reaches over and takes Daryl's hand, tells him he needs to remember that she loves him beyond space and time, just like she promised the day they wed. He looks at her with a worried scowl, knows there is more to that statement. Knows he isn't ready to hear the rest of it. Beth's been looking a little pale lately. She has never been big. Didn't even gain much weight during or after her pregnancies, but now that he really looks at her, he is forced to admit to himself that she is too thin. He can see the bluish tint to the skin around her eyes. His heart starts pounding against his chest, and it makes him cantankerous. "What the hell you goin' on about, woman?"
"Daryl, I'm tellin' ya' to remember that I'm always with ya'… in here," she says patiently and lays a delicate finger over his thudding heart. "Annie got my test results back from D.C. today. My liver's eat up with cancer and I'm tired, babe. I'm just so tired. Annie and I talked. We agree it won't be long."
"Now listen, Beth," he growls and stands up to pace. "There's no way ya' can know how much time ya' got left. That ain't up ta' you." He flicks his wrist in the air and waves a finger toward the gates. "I'll take ya' to D.C…. to that hospital where Annie sent Rick that time. I bet there's somethin' they can do for ya' there. We'll leave tomorrow," he says with every intention of going in the house and packing their suitcases right now.
"Daryl, now you sit down and listen ta' me," Beth says gently but in no uncertain terms. She scoots his chair around to face her and pats the seat. Daryl stares at her for a minute from across the porch, eyes narrowed and as piercing as ever. Beth watches as he comes to understand that he's not gonna' win this argument, not with her and not with God. He plops down in his chair with a huff and a grunt, and Beth takes both his hands in hers. "I'm not spendin' my last days in a hospital in D.C. I can't beat this thing… and neither can you. I ain't scared, babe. I know where I'm goin'…" She sees the pain and the fear flash in his eyes before the sadness settles in. It breaks her heart, but she is determined to stay strong. She smiles sweetly and leans in a little closer. Chuckles when she says, "In case you haven't noticed, we're ooold, Mr. Dixon, and dyin' is just a part 'a that."
"Naw, Beth. I don't wanna' hear this," he whines. "I can't do this without ya'. Ya' know that." His head is shaking back and forth as he pleads with her to stop.
Beth cups his face in both hands and wipes at his tears with her thumbs. "Yes, you can, Daryl Dixon," she says with conviction. "I know you're gonna' miss me so bad when I'm gone, but you gotta' keep on livin'. For the kids. For the grandkids. For Rick and for Carol. For Aaron and Maggie. You gotta' keep livin' until the Lord calls ya' home. I'll be waitin' for ya'. You know that. Then we really will be together forever."
"It ain't fair to ask me that. Ain't fair ta' ask me ta' live without ya', Beth."
~~~TWD~~~
Four months have passed since Beth told Daryl the news. She has done every bit of living and loving she can in those four months. Has made sure everyone is prepared, advised, and taken care of because she is Beth, and that's what needed to be done. She gave Birdie her journals. Forty-plus years of detailed memories. She started writing about her childhood as soon as they arrived in Alexandria. Stories about her parents and Maggie and Shawn and growing up on the farm. Stories about how different life was then. About how it felt to leave it all behind and brave the new and violent post-apocalyptic world.
The second and third journals are the product of quiet hours spent alone, reaching into her memory to record her recent history from the time of the turn. She wrote about a motley crew of survivors that landed on the doorstep of their family farm. She wrote about meeting Daryl and that first night they spent talking in her treehouse. She wrote about losing her mama and her brother. About Daryl sacrificing a piece of himself to put down a sweet old man named Dale in his suffering and another piece looking for Sophia. She wrote about that awful day when the horrors of the walking dead became all too real. About riding Daryl's motorcycle for the first time as they sped away from her home. Seeing it overrun and on fire from the corner of her eye. In the fourth journal, she wrote about their lives as scavengers, knocking down doors, and wondering in an endless circle to do nothing more than exist. She wrote about finding the prison and making it a home. About bringing Judith into this world and letting Judith's mama go. About Daryl calling her Lil' Asskicker and saving her life by charging into the unknown for formula and baby supplies. She wrote about finding her singing voice again, falling in love slowly then all at once, and about all the things Daryl would bring back to her from a run. She taped a worn-out piece of leather with the word "faith" etched into it to an empty page. Drew a heart around it and wrote "first kiss" beneath it.
She wrote about Daryl going to her daddy to declare his intentions. About growing in a relationship with Daryl and about becoming the best version of herself alongside of him. She wrote too about how their second home was destroyed on the same day she lost her daddy. Life at the prison filled up a couple of journals by the time she detailed stories of her and Daryl, stories of Judith, of her family, of the Woodbury folks, and the Governor.
In the next, she wrote in detail about her time with Daryl out on the road scavenging, learning to survive, learning how to be brave. She even wrote about killing a man with a jar of jelly and not being sorry about it. She wrote about her partnership with the man she loved. About how they survived together, how they screamed and yelled and stripped each other bare of their fears and guilt, and how they came out stronger because it. How they became irrevocably bound to each other from that day forward. She wrote down Daryl's childhood stories as best as she could remember them. Wrote about burning down a moonshine shack as a final f-you to his violent upbringing. She wrote about eating a rattle snake, learning to track and hunt, and shoot Daryl's beloved crossbow. She wrote about finding their family again by the grace of God. About learning to be a part of the group again and about how she was determined to be accepted as the Beth she had become, not the Beth she was before. She wrote about knocking down the rest of Daryl's walls and about willingly giving herself to him completely.
In one of Birdie's favorite journals, Beth talks about meeting Aaron and the day they first saw Alexandria. About settling in and staying vigilant. About Daryl's proposal and their spontaneous wedding. She wrote about making Alexandria their home. About becoming a doctor, a mother, and a grandmother. Her journals are full of stories about her children, their extended family, the re-birth of the world, and life with her beloved Daryl. Their love is woven into every story Beth writes. All in all, she handed Birdie nearly 200 journals knowing her baby girl would cherish them the most not only as her daughter but also as an historian. The only stipulation Beth gave Birdie was that she wasn't allowed to read them until after Beth was gone. Birdie promised her mama she wouldn't, but what a temptation that turned out to be!
Birdie keeps public records for Alexandria and the other communities in their network. Distributes a written newspaper of sorts each month to all the communities. Sends information across the radio to the other communities if there are any pressing issues. And she writes. She has already had two novels published in D.C. and has quite the fan following. They are fiction novels about life before the turn. She's been keeping a journal since she learned to read and write. When she was little, she used to bug the snot out of Beth and Daryl wanting to know about the old world, the technology, the way they lived and worked before the turn. Daryl took to bringing her back pieces of the past when he would go on a run. They would sit and talk about each little thing. What it was used for. How it worked. Why it was necessary. Birdie wrote a detailed history and description for each little thing. Daryl made her a notebook, something like an old three-ring binder so she could keep adding to it as new discoveries about the past were made. Daryl found some history text books in an abandoned high school on his way to a new community. Thank goodness he was in the wagon on that trip. Those books kept his baby girl busy for months, reading and in her daddy's lap asking questions. It's no wonder she grew up to be a writer.
The last four months have flown by quicker than any Beth can recall. She is lying in a bed at the Alexandria clinic. Daryl is by her side. Annie adjusts the drip carrying the morphine through the IV in Beth's arm. Beth held out for as long as she could, but the pain eventually took over, too intense to manage. She finally broke down and let Annie, her doctor daughter, hook her up to the meds that would alleviate her pain and eventually escort her quietly into her next adventure.
"Daddy, it won't be long now," Annie says in a choked whisper. Leans down and hugs him from behind. "She'll hang on too long if you don't let her go. She'll hang on for you, Daddy."
Daryl nods his bent head and squeezes Beth's hand. Shawn, Birdie, and Patrick are there too, all gathered around Beth's bed. Maggie and all the others have said their goodbyes. They wait quietly in the hall.
Daryl moves from his chair to sit and face her in her bed. "Beth, sweetheart," he says, and a small, peaceful smile appears on her face. "Annie says…" He stops. Chokes on his tears. Clears his throat, and sucks in a hard, settling breath. Tries again. "Annie says it's time for me ta' let ya' go… Seems right, I reckon, that you should go first. You were always braver than me, girl." He feels a little squeeze from Beth's hand. Her eyes flutter beneath her lids but they refuse to open. "I love ya', Beth. Ya' know that." His words scrape across his throat, thick and heavy with more of his tears. He summons every bit of courage he has to try and say goodbye. No, not goodbye. Beth hates goodbyes. "We did good," he whispers. Runs his hand across the little braid holding her hair back from her face. Leans in and whispers in her ear. "We did real good… You go on, now sweetheart. I'll see ya' soon." He kisses her on the forehead. Stays by her side, watching the rise and fall of her chest as it slows. Beth doesn't linger long. Passes the way she wished her daddy had all those years ago, resting with all of her children and the love of her life by her side.
Daryl is walking in Beth's little garden behind their house. She's been gone ten days now, and somehow the sunflowers have still managed to bloom. He's done his best to keep up the charade. Tells them all he's doing okay, but the truth is, the constant ache in his chest makes it hard to breath. His heart hasn't beat right since she left him. A familiar giggle dances on the breeze, and he spins to find its origin. Sure enough, Beth is standing there waving and smiling like she used to do when he came back from a run. She's wearing that pretty pink sundress she wore on their wedding day. Her hair is braided across the top of her head and pulled over her shoulder in a low ponytail. She is still the prettiest damn thing he's ever seen. His feet carry him towards her, and he feels forty years younger. Stronger and stronger the closer he gets to her. Beth throws her arms around his neck and whispers in his ear. "I've been waitin' for you, Mr. Dixon. You ready?"
"Hell, yeah, I'm ready, girl. I missed you so bad while you were gone."
"I know ya' did, but I'm here now, and I ain't ever gonna' leave ya' again. Wait 'til ya' see where we're goin', Daryl. You're gonna' love it…"
"I don't care where we go, sweetheart. Long as I'm with you. I love ya', Mrs. Dixon."
"I love you too, babe."
Shawn finds him in his chair on the back porch. At first, he thinks his dad is sleeping. Sends his wife to get Annie at the clinic. They bury Daryl next to Beth the following day.
"He looked like he was smiling when I found him," Shawn says.
"Maybe Mama came to get him. I don't think either one of them could stand being apart," Birdie says with a watery laugh.
"Probably so," Patrick nods.
"What are you reading, Bird," Shawn asks.
"It's Mama's journal from right after the turn. I've decided to write my next book about her and Daddy, based on her journals. I think it will practically write itself if all the journals are this detailed. It's crazy some of the things they went through. You know all those stories Daddy used to tell us about 'Badass Beth'? Reading them from Mama's perspective, you can see how they were a team. To hear her tell it, they would have all died if it wasn't for Daddy… They loved each other so much. Might end up being a damn romance novel," she says then her face flushes, and she chuckles. "It's kinda' weird though, reading about the two of them, you know…"
"No way!" Patrick hollers. "Uhuh!" Shawn says at the same time. "Mama wrote about that?"
"Yeah, I was skimming through some of the other journals and… well, Mama wrote about everything," Birdie says dramatically. "They were epic, you know? I'm gonna' make sure everyone knows that."
Annie turns from where she has been looking silently out the back window at her mama's garden. "Everyone that matters already knows, Birdie. But you're right, they were epic, and the rest of the world should know that too. Just don't give away too many of her secrets…"
~The End~
A/N: Well, I hate saying goodbye to Beth and Daryl. I hope I did their epic journey some justice. Thank you, thank you for sticking with me! Please, if you don't mind, let me know what you think. I poured my heart into this one. It would mean so much to me to hear from you! Take care, friends.