Hello lovelies. Once again I apologize for the delay but my little girl has been incredibly ill with appendicitis which required a couple of hospital trips, endless scans and waiting rooms and an eventual rushed surgery to get it out before it ruptured! She's happy and safe now, so that is all that matters. Thank you for your support with my story. I couldn't do any of this without your lovely comments to me. You are all amazing! And now, without further ado, I present the moment you have all been waiting for... the wedding!
Their wedding day was everything she could have hoped for.
She already knew that she would never be able to forget the expression on Daryl's face as he stood next to the oak tree that bordered the edge of their garden. She had memorized how he had looked, wearing a surprisingly fashionable black suit that Grace or Maggie had obviously thrifted from the embalming room.
She had never thought she'd ever see the day that Daryl would voluntarily don such a traditional garment, but she'd have been lying if she tried to deny how handsome he had looked, his eyes shining as he drank in her figure, wrapped in the simple white lace dress with pink wildflowers adorning her golden curls.
She walked steadily and surely towards him, a bouquet of matching wildflowers clasped in her hands. She saw the tears that leaked profusely from Maggie's eyes as she bounced a giggling Sophia on her hip, her tiny chubby hands still clenching fistfuls of flower petals that she would occasionally throw into the air with an eruption of gurgling laughter. She saw Grace, who was grinning like a fool from the sidelines, her own hair twisted into a fishtail braid and her once weary face now free of anxiety for a moment or two.
When she finally reached Daryl, and his hands quickly moved to encase hers, she was overwhelmed by the tears that were swimming in his eyes.
"You look beautiful," he breathed, his eyes raking her up and down without hesitation. She smiled in response as Glenn suddenly appeared next to them, spouting a lot of bullshit about weddings, and vows, and the sanctity of marriage that Beth was quite sure he had plagiarized from one of the Mills and Boon novels they had once found in the cellar. She stifled a giggle at Maggie's dramatic eye roll in response to his statement that marriage was represented by a circle, because there were no corners, and it continued forever.
And then came the vows.
They stood before each other, and their small family, and professed their love for one another. She did not fail to notice the faint wobble of his chin as he promised to love her for the rest of his life. And then Glenn was announcing that it was time to kiss the bride, and Beth's feet lifted clear off of the ground as Daryl crushed her to his chest, kissing her with dramatic enthusiasm that made Grace start to clap and Maggie to laugh, rocking Sophia and pointing at her mother and father.
"Now it's time for the real party to start!" Grace had procured a dusty glass bottle that was full of some cloudy liquid from behind her back.
"Uhh, is that moonshine?" Daryl set Beth back onto her feet to appraise the bottle with uncertainty.
"It sure is. Found it in the back of your shed. It's pretty powerful, but it's not a wedding unless we pass out drunk!" she giggled, ducking back into the house for cups.
"I'm not sure that we should. Who's going to watch over Sophia?" Beth's brow was furrowed. She hadn't imbibed since their night in the moonshine shack, and was quite certain that even one drink would reduce her to a useless puddle of giggling girlishness.
"Don't worry, Beth. I've got her," Maggie nodded to the little girl jiggling around enthusiastically in her arms.
"Are you sure?" As much as Beth did not particularly want to be known for handing off her own children to be watched by others, she was eyeing that bottle of moonshine a little too eagerly.
"I'll sit this one out. We'll go and read fairytale stories, how does that sound?" her voice rose a few octaves as she grinned down at Sophia who started to gurgle and clap excitedly.
"I guess we're getting drunk, then," Beth shrugged as Grace returned with four plastic cups and began to share out the moonshine. The taste was bitter, and burnt the back of her throat so that she coughed, sipping gingerly on the strange concoction as Grace downed her glass in one mouthful.
"Ugh, tastes like poison," she decided, before pouring herself another glass.
"Maybe you shouldn't hit the booze as hard as Grace over there. I don't want an unconscious wife on my hands," Daryl suggested carefully, relaxing at the expression on Beth's face as she sipped the liquid.
"No chance. I'm only having one drink," she promised, before dissolving into a fit of uncontrollable giggles as he fought to take her cup out of her hand before she smashed it.
Daryl sighed. This girl was a lightweight, and one cup of moonshine was probably equal to at least seven shots of peach schnapps. Before he had the chance to say anything to her, Grace had appeared out of nowhere, and had whisked Beth into the middle of the garden while she sang the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody for a dance.
"Jesus Christ, look at these two," Daryl looked to Glenn for support, but instead found him nose-deep in his second glass of moonshine with a glazed look in his eyes. Daryl took a small sip from Beth's half-empty cup. He could hardly fault her for tipsily tripping all over the front yard, with Grace's excitable squeals filling the air as she swung Beth around and around.
They never let their hair down. Never relaxed their guard. Today would be a few hours of freedom, of not constantly looking over their shoulder. They had rigged the entire block of land with Walker alarms from tin cans and bells, and Maggie roamed the boundaries with the giggling Sophia, her eyes peeled for any sign of movement. For a split second, there was peace and happiness.
Daryl could feel the effects of the moonshine warming him from the inside out, spreading through his veins like wildfire. Euphoria. He hadn't enjoyed a drink since the moonshine shack, when he'd screamed at Beth, had told her that she was spoiled and useless, had made her feel as though she were a burden to his survival. Yet now, Beth danced carelessly around the oak tree under which they had traded their marriage vows, the soft wind fluttering the hemline of her white dress.
Without overthinking it, he drained Beth's glass and took a deep breath before he headed out to join his wife on the makeshift dance floor. Grace had just began a violent head banging choreography to the guitar riff of the song. Beth shrieked in tipsy excitement when she saw him, flinging her arms around his neck and planting a somewhat uncoordinated kiss to his cheek.
"I love you, husband!" she whispered, her cheeks flushed pink from the alcohol and the dancing.
"I love you too, even if you are decidedly pissed," he admonished softly, brushing her hair out of her face.
"I'm not! I'm not even- sl- slightly drunk!" he could see the confusion on her face as her words came out a little sloppier than usual.
"This is the last time you're drinking moonshine," he warned, the smile on his face softening the caution in his words.
"Ooh, Mr. Dixon. You've only been my busband… um, husband for an hour and you're already bossing me around," Beth poked him in the chest in mock disapproval.
Their fingers intertwined and despite his better judgement begging him to stop her, he soon found himself dancing around the courtyard with Beth in his arms, her warm breath on his neck and her soft drunken giggles in his ear.