Thanksgiving. A stupid ass holiday at the best of times. It got celebrated for all the wrong reasons in the Dixon household before the world went to shit and now…well what did they really have to be thankful for?
They were barely alive. Things were only just starting to settle into some semblance of a routine, but past experience told him to never take it for granted. The CDC was supposed to be safe. The Greene farm too. Then the prison. Every single one of them had gone to shit.
Birthdays didn't matter anymore. Or Christmas or Valentine's day. Certainly not Thanksgiving. So why the hell was Carol asking him to hunt out a turkey?
He hoped to fuck that he would find anything but a turkey. Couldn't afford to turn down any meat, but he'd be glad for a dozen squirrels over the giant bird. Just so he didn't have to put up with the laughter that would come from the rest of them.
There would be nothing else to set the meal apart from any other they ate. It wouldn't be any different to any other day. So really, he had no reason to let it piss him off, but still it did.
He was even more pissed off when he heard the familar scuffling of wild turkey that practically threw itself into his path. His finger hesitated on the crossbow trigger for a split second, but he pressed anyway, the thing fell dead with a small strangled cluck.
Fuck. Now, they were going to be uncontrollable.
He dragged it off his shoulder as he entered the kitchen, where Carol sat at table, peeling some vegetables and cooing at the baby, babbling away in her rocker, sitting atop the wood.
She didn't even give me a glance as he slammed the door shut and he hoisted it up into the air, swinging it in front of her face.
She backed up in the chair, using her potato peeler to push it over enough to see his face.
"Thank you, Daryl." She gave me a roll of her eyes, but her lips curved up into a smile.
As he stomped back outside he heard murmuring away to the baby. "Yes, I know Judy, Uncle Daryl is definitely showing off…"
He snorted to himself. Showing off? Uncle Daryl? He would have to quash that shit, and quick.
Two hours later, he could smell the bird cooking from where he worked, down in the shed, sharpening a bunch of knives up. It made his mouth water and his stomach rumble.
But he wasn't going up there. Thanksgiving was stupid, that was that. He heard Carl yelling out for him a little while later and he hollered back that he wasn't hungry.
A few minutes later, he heard the shed door creak open, a touch of the fading daylight sliding in.
"Hey, come on." Carol leaned on the door frame. "It's on the table, getting cold."
"I ain't hungry. I'll eat it later." He looked up at her, twisting the tie of her cardigan in her fingers.
"Then just sit with us. The kids are asking for you to be there."
He snorted. "Yeah, I bet." The only kid that seemed to want to see him was Ass-kicker but he figured that as bright as she was, despite not even crawling yet, asking out for him was not within her capability.
"They want us to all eat together." She shifted from foot to foot. "Please."
Fuck. He hated when she used that voice. That quiet, pleading tone that usually meant he gave her whatever she wanted. His hands kept working on the knives, even though his head already told him he would be downing tools any minute and heading up with her.
"Daryl." She took a step forward, fingers brushing over his shoulder. "I know it's stupid, alright? I know. But they're just children. Let them have this, just today."
Daryl sighed, set the knife down. He stole a glance at her and she shrugged.
"Fine."
The others didn't stop chatting about the holiday, the things they were thankful for, old memories and the like.
He sat in silence at the table, Judith balanced on his knee as he ate with one hand. He liked this kid. Didn't answer him back or give him any shit. Her needs were basic, food and sleep. He could handle that.
He knew the others hid their laughter on the fact, watching him with her. But fuck them, he didn't care. This kid was amazing.
Funny though, when all the food was eaten, those who were so eager to have a thanksgiving weren't so keen on the aftermath.
The dishes were left on the table and Carol didn't complain as she started stacking the leftovers into containers. Daryl collared Beth as she made to skip into the hall, passing her the baby.
He picked up the tea towel and dried plates in silence, stacking them on the counter.
"Thank you. For today." Carol broke the silence as she wrung the dish cloth out, moving to wipe the countertops down. "Not just the turkey. But you know…coming."
"Yeah well, turns out I was hungry after all." He muttered.
She let out a little laugh, bit her bottom lip. "We have so much to be thankful for, you know. Even if it doesn't feel like it."
He rolled his eyes. How did she figure that one?
"We do. We're alive. We have a healthy baby here, couple of wonderful kids. Food in our bellies and a roof over our heads." She stopped her wiping motions and turned to face him. "By rights, we should be alone now, all our families are gone. But we're not. We have each other."
She touched his cheek with her damp fingers and moved past him to the sink.
Well, there was that.