I do not own any of the TWD characters.

Everybody's Making Plans

Supper was amazing. Beth had prepared two chicken and wild rice casseroles that Michonne had slid into the oven when everyone started grumbling about being hungry. By the time Negan and Glen showed up after work, the house was already "stinkin good" as Hershel used to say. In addition to the chicken and rice, they had roasted asparagus, new potatoes, and for the kids (Daryl and Negan) - mac and cheese. For the men folk, Annette had made her famous peach cobbler. Beth swears Negan's eyes rolled back in his head when he took his first bite.

After dinner Andre begged and begged Negan to help him build one more cabin – a really big cabin. Negan laughed and told the little boy that if he wanted a really big cabin, he was going to have to go get them a few more sets of Lincoln Logs.

"Hey Dre" Negan said getting the little boys attention "I'll get us a bunch more logs and then Daryl, Glen, and Daryl will each build a cabin. We'll let you decide which cabin is the best – architecturally speaking of course."

"I don't know what that means Mr. Negan, but sure" Andre agreed. Negan laughed so hard he had a coughing fit.

"You been smokin Negan?" Beth asked.

"No" Negan answered quickly. "I don't smoke anymore – hadn't for at least ten years now." Negan looked at Andre and rolled his eyes as if the six year old were his only ally in the room. "Pffft" he sighed.

"Pffft" Andre imitated his newest hero. Rick looked at the floor trying to avoid Beth's gaze at him.

"Yeh, I know you quit smoking lots of times from what I've heard" Beth put it back to him. "But, I keep catchin a whiff of cigarette smoke and I think it's you!" Beth moved closer to where Negan sat in the floor with Dre.

Negan tried to act discreet when he hooked his thumb in Rick's direction. "Must be somebody else." Beth looked over at Rick who looked like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"What?" Rick said belligerently.

"Wait a minute you smell like smoke too" Maggie said accusingly while leaning closer to her husband.

"Nuh uh" Glen said looking across the room and pointing at Daryl who was chewing on his thumb. "He bought a pack when we took Sam out."

"The fuck Man?" Daryl blurted out.

"I knew it!" Beth exclaimed. "I knew it didn't take all four of ya'll to go walk Sam – ya'll been out smoking!"

Well that got everyone fired up for sure. There was yelling and screaming and scolding on the part of the women. There was denial, finger pointing, and excuse making on the men's part. When Negan realized everyone was real good and stirred up, he decided he had an early day tomorrow and needed to get on home.

"Well, ya better change clothes 'fore ya go in Neg!" Beth yelled down the hallway. "She's gonna smell it and you're gonna be in trouble!" Then Beth slammed the door. "You're all in big trouble!" she hollered at the men, but at this point she couldn't keep from laughing. Men were idiots – plain and simple.

Before the entire party was busted up Glen and Rick made arrangements for the next day. Glen and Maggie were going to take Rick, Michonne and the kids to some of the local museums and Beth was taking her Momma to the salon. During Daryl and Beth's "nap time" earlier Beth had told Daryl all about it.

"We're gonna go first thing tomorrow, so we can get back and get started on the turkey and everything" Beth explained.

"Honey, you ain't gotta ask my permission" Daryl had told her "but, thought ya'lls all goin to the spa Friday."

"Well, yeh, we are" Beth smiled. "That's the spa. We're all gonna get a massage, and a facial, and mani pedis." Beth looked as if she may have an orgasm at the mere mention of a spa day.

"Damn Baby" he teased. "Is the spa that damn good or ya still feelin the effects of what I just put to ya?"

Beth punched Daryl playfully in the stomach. "The spa is wonderful" Beth giggled. "Anyways, I'm takin Momma to get her hair done. I think she could benefit greatly from a cut and color – get her brows shaped. I may get a few highlights in mine – there ain't no sense in Momma goin 'round lookin like an old woman."

"Well shit, Beth" Daryl said in disbelief. "That's ya Momma. What do ya want her to look like?"

"I didn't mean anything by it" Beth started to explain. "But, Daryl, she's just fifty-three. Fifty-three! She's got a lot of livin to do still. I'm not sayin I want her to go out and get all wild or anything, but she's been tied down for so long takin care of everybody else – I want her to get out there in this world and enjoy herself."

Daryl thought about what Beth had said and it made sense. It made him a little sad too because his Momma had died young, real young, but he remembered that even when he was a little boy, his momma already looked so very old. Old and used up. "I think that's a real good idea" Daryl agreed with Beth and kissed her on the end of her nose. 'Now, what's highlights and why do you need them?"

"Hush up" Beth told him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth had gotten up early Wednesday morning, not to fix Daryl's breakfast or anything, but while she was up she figured she might as well fix her sweet man something to eat before he trudged on to the office. He'd already fixed his plate of leftovers from the night before for his lunch.

"Hey" she chirped with her ass stuck up in the air and her head stuck in the fridge. "Ya hadn't seen that carton of heavy whippin cream have ya?"

Daryl quietly crept up behind his wife and took her hips in his hands so he could pull her body to his, pushing his quickly hardening dick into her. "I don't even know what whippin cream is" he growled into her neck. "Could I pour it on your pussy and lap it up?"

Ignoring his advances so early in the morning, she went on to explain "Well, it's like milk but it's got a lot of fat in it – it's real thick. I need it to make homemade whipped cream for the pumpkin pies tomorrow."

"Awwww" Daryl snapped his fingers. "Was it in a tall red carton?" Daryl asked.

"Yes" Beth turned around and gave Daryl the stink eye.

"Ohhhhh" Daryl said. "Rick and I been usin it in our coffee."

"Ugggghhhh" Beth complained. "Write it down on that list over there – Momma and I gotta grab some things when we finish at the salon. You boys are gonna be the death of me 'fore this holiday weekend is over" she mumbled to herself "eatin and drinkin every damn thing in the house."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth and her Momma had certainly had a big time together that morning. They'd gotten an early start at the salon, both had their brows waxed, plucked a bit, and then shaped. A color specialist had been assigned to each lady as well. When they'd spun Annette around in the chair to look at herself she couldn't help the big smile that she felt coming on.

"Oh Beth" her mother almost had tears in her eyes. "I never thought I's a vain person, but getting rid of that mousy, dull hair sure made a world of difference. I don't even recognize myself almost."

"You look beautiful Momma, as always, but" Beth paused for a second. "Gosh, ya look like a million bucks right now."

"Oh, I feel a million bucks" Annette was still smiling.

"Wait till ya get all that pamperin done Friday and then get into that fancy dress" Beth teased. "Daryl might need to get a stick to fight all the men away from ya."

"Huhhhh" Annette blew out "he can just leave his stick at home!"

"Momma" Beth pretended to be shocked. They got a good laugh out of that.

As they left the salon, Beth turned to her Annete. "Wanta see the grocery store where I do my grocery shoppin? It's called Bockwinkel's."

"Why, of course" Annette acted like that it would be the best thing in the world. "I hadn't even thought about where ya get your groceries."

"It's a really neat place. Oh, but first" Beth was so excited to be showing her Mom a bit of the life that she had come to love. "I want to take you to MBurger for lunch."

"MBurger?" Annette asked cautiously. "Is it kinda like our Dairy Freeze back home?"

Beth giggled. "No, not so much Momma. And, it's not to chilly today – we can sit outside and eat."

Beth didn't usually bother with ordering a burger – all she ever wanted was the cheese fries. Today however, she ordered them each a cheese fry and they split the crispy chicken sandwich. Both ordered a soda and they took a high top table out on the sidewalk.

"People just eat out here on the street?" Annette looked around before taking a seat. Beth didn't seem to hear her mother.

"Wait till ya taste those fries" Beth told her Mom. Annette didn't want to put that off so she dug right in.

"Oh those are good" Annette said excitedly. "Like crack good!" They both got a kick out of that. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Beth had gotten a plastic knife to cut the sandwich in half. Annette was taking in all of the activity going on around her. People everywhere – people of all sorts, cars dodging in and out of traffic – speeding, honking their horns, fire truck sirens wailed in the distance.

"Beth, I think there's a fire truck goin somewhere all the time" Annette observed.

"I know" Beth gushed. "Isn't it great? Hey Momma" Beth was trying to get her mom to look across the street at the doorman working at an apartment building across the street. "This guy has double parked, he's walkin away like he ain't done nothin wrong, and the doorman's 'bout to rip him a new asshole."

"Ohhhhh" Annette gasped. "Beth Anne watch your" but then Annette was too taken with the altercation and began smiling as she watched the scene unfold. Each man stated his case loudly, throwing their hands up in the air. A passerby thought they'd throw their two cents in. Eventually, the double parker kept walking down the street and into a shop. The doorman, having lost that battle, stomped back to his post.

Beth was grinning too. "Pretty cool huh" Beth asked her Mom. "There is always something to look at here – I love it!"

About that time one of those fire engines that Annette had been wondering about earlier came right by their table. Annette felt like she could have reached out and touched it if she dared.

"Oh my!" she looked at her daughter. "How exciting!"

Beth stopped by her and Daryl's grocery store as she'd promised her mom. They each carried a basket since there weren't a lot of items on the shopping list. Beth grabbed not only another carton of heavy whipping cream but a bottle of International Delight's coffee creamer – hazelnut to be precise because she knew that was Daryl and Negan's favorite. Maybe that would keep those pansies out of her whippin cream she grinned to herself.

"So, what do you do if you get a lot of groceries?" Annette asked. "Surely, you don't pack all of them back home."

Beth shook her head no. "They deliver" and Beth smiled and Annette gasped as if she'd never heard of such. "Best thing ever!"

"Well, I guess so" Annette agreed.

Once home and walking into the apartment, Beth noticed that there were three large boxes stacked in the foyer. "What in the world?" Beth wondered. "Looks like more weddin gifts maybe." Beth took the grocery bags into the kitchen. Annette began turning the boxes over and inspecting them. She had one turned up on its end so that she could read the label.

"These are Lincoln Logs" Annette called out so that Beth could hear from the kitchen. "Three boxes. Each box contains four tins. Each tin contains 327 pieces… Oh my God."

"Negan" Beth blew out an exasperated breath. "I'm gonna kill him."

"I was gonna do the math" Annette was really laughing now. "But I don't want to – that's a hell of a lot of Lincoln Logs."

There was a knock at the door. Beth was still unloading their grocery purchases so Annette checked the peephole to see what looked to be a delivery guy.

"I've got a delivery for Beth Dixon" the guy said. He had one of those push carts with him with three square flat boxes – pretty good size.

"That's me" Beth answered, returning to the foyer. Beth stepped forward to sign the delivery sheet. "Bring 'em on in. What are they?" she asked the delivery boy.

"Card tables" he answered.

"Card tables?" Beth asked just to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

"Yes – card tables" he confirmed.

"Who sent them? Do you know?" Beth asked.

The young guy flipped through the papers on his clip board. "Uhm, a J. Negan?"

"Uhhh, okay" Beth tipped the boy and sent him on his way. "What on earth is that man up to?"

It was a damn good thing Beth had planned on ordering pizza and that nearly all the food preparations for the Thanksgiving meal had been completed already. Here she was setting up card tables per Negan's very explicit instructions. I am goin to wring this man's neck she mumbled and spouted and carried on. Shortly after the guy that had delivered the card tables left, a courier showed up at the door with a manila folder and box full of items that Negan needed Beth to take care of.

Hey Sweetness, This is going to be a lot of fun, but I need your help to pull it off. Andre is going to love it!

Set up the card tables in three separate areas of the apartment. (foyer, living room, one of the bedrooms)

Put four tins of logs under each table.

Fold each set of plans letter style – put them in a big bowl so we can draw one out at a time.

Divide the scoring sheets evenly between all of the clipboards.

Annette helped Beth follow the instructions and get everything set up. The entire time she and Beth were fussing but the more they fussed, the funnier it became until they could barely read his instructions for laughing so hard.

"Good Lord, that man's got too much time on his hands" Annette exclaimed.

"And too many resources" Beth added. Another knock at the door. "Now what?" Beth sighed. Both ladies went back out to the foyer to see who or what may be at the front door now. Beth opened up to see Michael, Ginger, and Kelly. "What on earth are all ya'll doin here?"

"We've been sent here to judge some sort of building contest" Michael stated.

"And for pizza and family time" Kelly added with a disgusted look on his face. Ginger let out a not so delicate lady snort and patted Kelly on the shoulder to offer him some sort of comfort.

Annette and Beth exchanged looks. "See what I mean?" Beth asked her Momma. "Entirely too many resources at his disposal." Annette nodded in agreement with her daughter.