The helicopter vanished as fast as it appeared. Daryl followed it with his eyes, trying to memorize the direction where it disappeared. He looked around. There were several of Oceanside's inhabitants outside, also starring into the sky. They were all startled for a moment and then everyone was talking loudly. Daryl wished he could follow the helicopter, something inside him was screaming, it had to be connected to Rick's voice, he heard back at the Hilltop. But the helicopter flew away so fast and he knew he wouldn't be able to follow it.
They were standing outside for a while discussing what the helicopter could mean. Most of the Oceansiders were concerned, since they lost their trust in people after what happened with the Saviors and even after so many years, they still didn't trust new people and thought the helicopter could mean some sort of trouble.
After some time Daryl and the others went in and had some dinner. Daryl was so lost in his thoughts, he barely managed to eat something or to follow what Lydia and Henry were talking about. Connie took his hand and looked at him intensely. He looked back at her and smiled faintly.
What a day, he thought. Part of him still couldn't realize that this woman agreed to marry him. It seemed to be as unreal as the appearance of the helicopter.
Henry and Lydia were still talking about the helicopter. While Lydia was anxious and thought it could mean trouble, because they were so many bad people out there in the world, Henry was hopeful.
"Just imagine there's still a normal life going on somewhere. Maybe they even found a cure."
Lydia rolled her eyes.
"That's ridiculous, there is no cure," she said.
"You don't know that, there could be. Maybe some years from now on, the world will be as it was before the outbreak," Henry told her, still hopeful.
"You're such a dreamer," she said and smiled.
"I'm not. Daryl what do you think about it?" Henry asked him.
"What?" Daryl turned his head to Henry.
"I dunno," he said then. He didn't want to share his thoughts about Rick, since people already thought he lost his mind, after he said he heard Rick's voice on the radio.
"Maybe we'll never find out," he said then, gravely and Lydia and Henry both went silent. They could see Daryl had a sad expression on his face.
"So what's about the wedding? You will marry in a church?" Lydia asked, trying to change the topic and cheer him up.
"Or will you just say your vows and exchange rings, like my parents did?" Henry added.
Daryl looked at Connie he didn't think about it much, but something official seemed to be right.
He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"We'll see," he said.
Daryl couldn't sleep there was too much on his mind. The wedding, the helicopter and Rick's voice on the radio. He desperately needed some time on his own to process all this. When morning finally came, he decided to go out to hunt. Dog woke up and followed him, as he sneaked out of the bedroom.
It was a cold but calm morning, most of the people were still asleep when Daryl left and went into the woods. He was going into the direction where the helicopter disappeared. He knew he wouldn't find it and he didn't know why he even went into that direction.
He searched so long for Rick and even as years went by and his mind was telling him that he wouldn't find him, he couldn't stop looking. He realized it was the same thing with the helicopter now. He desperately wanted to find it, to see if Rick was there or people who knew Rick, but his mind was trying to tell him that this was impossible.
Maybe he should just let it be. He had Connie and his own family now. But hell, he wished so much he could tell Rick all about it, he wished he would see his face when he introduced him to them. Daryl looked up in the sky.
I wished you could be here, Rick, He told him in his mind.
In the meantime Connie woke up. She was surprised that Daryl wasn't at her side and she became anxious. But then she found a little note lying there.
Went out hunting. Will be back soon.
She took a deep breath and was relieved.
They started the preparations for the dinner early. There were almost 40 people living in the community, so they gathered in one of the biggest houses, preparing the food. Lydia, Henry and Vicky were decorating the room with anything they could find. They also put some tables together, so everyone would be able to sit there. They had a lot of fun and Martha and Connie were smiling all the time. Connie told Martha about the proposal and Martha was so happy for them, she had tears in her eyes and congratulated her.
"Imagine Daryl in a wedding suit," Lydia giggled.
"You could marry at the beach. Wouldn't that be romantic? Maybe a little ceremony with Father Gabriel present," Henry suggested.
Connie thought about it all. She wasn't that religious, but she thought it would be nice to have something official. She also wanted to have her friends present, since they didn't even knew about it. But then she realized that someone must have shown Daryl the sign for the proposal, so maybe some of her friends knew.
They were busy with the preparations all day and when it was late in the afternoon and Daryl still wasn't back, Connie started to worry. She was glancing out of the window, hoping to see him. After another anxious hour, he finally showed up in front of the house.
She ran outside to him.
"Hey," he said. "I brought something for dinner." He showed her a couple of rabbits he had shot.
After they prepared the rabbits, which were a delicious addition to the dinner, they all gathered around the table. Cyndie gave a little speech about how thankful she was for their little community and that they all were still together and had enough food.
Then they started to eat.
It was a vivid dinner with everyone talking, laughing and Connie felt so happy about it. She looked at Daryl who had also a little smile on his face.
When they finished eating, everyone was still sitting at the table, talking.
What do you think about Christmas now? She wrote and showed Daryl the note.
He didn't say anything, just shrugged, but there was a little smile on his lips which he couldn't hide.
Admit it, you like it! Connie continued.
Daryl looked down for a moment.
"Guess I do," he said then. "This is much better than watching stupid TV shows, hoping my drunk dad doesn't wake up or doing whatever stupid shit my brother tells me to do."
He looked at Connie took her hand.
"I don't have a present for you, though," he admitted shyly. Connie smiled and hugged him.
You gave me my present yesterday, remember? She wrote.
Daryl grinned.
"So, um... how you want it to be? You want us to marry in a church or something?"
Connie chuckled. She could see that he frowned at the word "church" a little bit.
No, I would be fine without that. But it would be nice to have something official with all our friends present.
Daryl nodded, his expression showed that he wanted this too.
They kissed and Daryl put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned on him and then they sat there, watching people who were still talking, laughing and singing some Christmas carols. Daryl and Connie sat in silence, enjoying the joyful atmosphere and the presence of each other.
In the next morning Daryl was the one who woke up to an empty bed. When he went out of the bedroom, he saw Connie coming through the front door. From the expression on her face he could see that she must have felt sick. She gave him a faint smile, when she saw him. He went to her and patted her back.
"You good?" He asked and she nodded.
"Morning sickness, huh?" He noticed and she just shrugged and tried to smile. He hugged her from behind and then put his hands on her belly, she smiled and he kissed her temple. He was starting to get used to the thought that they would have a baby together. Oceanside seemed like a calm place, maybe it would work out.
But Daryl immediately regretted his thoughts, as he suddenly heard people talking loudly outside. They seemed to be shocked about something. He told Connie to stay in the house and went outside.
Some people with anxious faces were standing out there. He went to Cyndie and asked her what was going on.
"The guards from our outposts came back. They said a herd is coming." She paused for a moment. "It's a very big one, too big to fight it and it's impossible to lead it away. I'm afraid, we have to leave this place."