Glorious fluff - I love writing you. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to read with this story and the Dixon family.
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Chapter Eight. Holiday.
Beth hummed along to the Christmas carol – "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" – that was playing on the record player in the corner as she taped paper snowflakes to the front living room window that the kids had made in both school and at the daycare.
Beth supposed that it was no secret that she loved Christmastime. Ever since she was a little girl and she was in a perpetual state of excitement for the entire month of December. The songs, the shopping and the presents, the food, the decorations. Beth loved it all and her love of it all just passed onto all of those around her. She knew Daryl had never been into the holiday. How could he have been? For his entire childhood, it was just another day. It held no meaning for him whatsoever.
The first Christmas they had been together – not married yet but seeing one another nearly every single night – she noticed that he hadn't put up any decorations of any kind and when she pointed it out to him, he just looked at her like she was crazy. The next night, she came with a wreath in her hand and asked if she could hang it on his door. Again, he looked at her as if she was crazy but he just shrugged and grunted and didn't stop her as she hummed to herself and hung it on the front door. She almost wanted to ask him about getting a tree but she stopped herself before she could because Christmas was a delicate subject for him and she didn't want to upset him. She knew she would have to ease him into this holiday.
She wouldn't be able to see him on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and on the twenty-third, she kept apologizing again and again to him.
"There's no one I'd want to spend Christmas with more than you," she told him.
"'s fine, Beth," he said. "You got a family."
And he knew it wasn't his intent but hearing him say that, her heart cracked a little in her chest because he was her family, too. Or rather, she wanted him to be, and the holidays were all about spending time with and celebrating them with your family.
"I got you a Christmas present," she said to him in a quiet voice even though it was only the two of them and he lived close to no one in the woods.
He looked at her, his brow furrowed as if he didn't understand what she had just said, and she just smiled before slipping from the bed. She crossed the small bedroom, still naked, and reached into the bag she had dropped onto the chair when she had arrived earlier that evening. She could feel his eyes on her as she searched and finally located it. She had wrapped it in green paper and red bow and when she came back to the bed, she felt nervous about giving this to him but she couldn't stop smiling. She hoped he liked this. She wanted to get their first Christmas right.
Daryl sat up a bit more and leaned back against the headboard as she slipped back in between the sheets beside him.
"Merry Christmas, Daryl," she smiled to him softly and extended the gift out to him.
He didn't take it right away. He just stared at it for a long moment and then looked at her. She kept smiling, faintly, holding it out for him to take and the longer he didn't, the more the nerves in her stomach tightened.
Finally, he took it from her and she watched with a practically held breath as he tore at the paper so slowly; not ripping it like some crazed kid but rather, he removed it as if it was something delicate he didn't want to destroy. And when he finally revealed what was inside, he didn't move or say anything. He stared down at the leather sheath in his hands and Beth swore she felt her palms beginning to sweat.
"I noticed that the one you have now for your knife is really worn," she explained, hoping that he didn't completely hate it. "And I already water-proofed this one."
Daryl stared at the sheath for another minute before lifting his eyes and looking at her. "I didn' get you anything," he said in a quiet voice.
She smiled a little. "It's alright."
"No, it ain't," he frowned but she just smiled and leaned forward, kissing his cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Daryl," she said again.
Their next Christmas together in the next year, they were married this time and Beth informed him that they were going to decorate their house for the holiday. Daryl didn't argue or complain though sometimes she saw him looking like he really didn't understand what was going on.
Her mom and her went shopping and she bought them an inexpensive artificial tree and stockings – even though they didn't have a fireplace – and snowmen figurines as well as a nativity set and she hung the wreath on their door again and she bought lights for inside and out. She put Daryl in charge of decorating outside even though he had never decorated anything with Christmas lights before. And she declared him a natural when she went out and saw that he had wrapped lights around the front porch and the bushes outside. He had looked proud of himself for that and when it was dark, he plugged them into the outside outlet and they stood in front of the house, looking at the lights and the glow of the Christmas tree through the front window.
She wrapped her arms around him and he dropped an arm around her shoulders and he smirked slightly, shaking his head.
"Can't believe it's the same house," he said.
Beth stood on her toes then and kissed the corner of his mouth. "It's the best house."
For Christmas that year, they exchanged presents on Christmas Eve before going to her parents' house for the night. She had gotten him new bolts for his crossbow and he had gotten her a new bracelet. Even though he told her that she didn't have to hide her wrist, he knew that she still liked to and still wore a collection of bracelets at all times. He was worried that it wasn't enough or wasn't good enough but Beth had beamed when she saw the purple and green braided bracelet and instantly put it on before leaning over and kissing him, thanking him for it as if it was gold.
Years later, it was a bit worn and frayed, but it was still her favorite to wear and she wore it nearly every day.
This year was their first holiday in the white house and Beth had been getting ideas for Christmas decorations for months now. They had a bit more money at their disposal now but Beth still shopped sales and second-hand stores, her eyes always on the lookout for something festive she could use.
This was also the first year they had decided to get a real tree. They had gone down to the farm where Hershel grew a few evergreens and let the kids pick one out before Daryl cut it down. They then spent an entire day, setting it up in their living room and decorating it with lights, popcorn garland and all sorts of homemade ornaments and a few precious glass ones that Annette had given to Beth as a gift. And once they were all done, Daryl came and placed the angel on top.
They had actually gotten snow the night before – not a ton but enough to make snowballs and make small snowmen – and the boys had been outside all day. Beth, meanwhile, used nearly her entire Saturday to decorate, wrapping garland around the banister, hanging the stockings because they actually had a fireplace now, choosing a perfect spot for the nativity set, hanging wreaths and setting out her cinnamon-scented candles and all of her snowmen figurines.
She heard the backdoor open and she thought it was one of the boys but a few minutes later, Daryl came in, a glass of eggnog in his hand. Daryl had a slight addiction to eggnog and around this time of year, he drank it as much as he could, having never drunken it before spending his first Christmas with the Greene family.
"Hey," she smiled. "Can you help me?"
He nodded, in the middle of taking a chug, and he set the glass down to come to the front window. "How high up?" He asked, taking the paper snowflake from her.
"As high as you want," she said as he easily stretched his arm up and pressed the snowflake to the window. She then handed him a couple more that he taped at around the same height. "Perfect," she smiled at him. "I thought you were going to be working all day."
He shrugged, going back to where he set his glass down. He took it and then sank down onto the couch. "Just finished it. Didn' want to start on anythin' else right now," he said, taking another swig of eggnog and looking to Abby as the little girl took a nap in her playpen.
Christmastime was a busy time for Daryl and his woodwork with many in town commissioning him to build something or other. He had been working on a rocking horse for Oscar's youngest son and he would start tomorrow on the nightstand table that Martinez had hired him to make for his wife, Teresa.
The record finished and Beth went to go flip it onto the other side before going and sitting down beside Daryl on the couch, leaning into him. Silent Night began playing.
"What do you think?" She asked him.
Daryl took a moment to look around as if he had to actually check everything out before answering and his eyes rested back on her. "Looks real good," he said and she smiled at the compliment. "What are you baking?"
"Plum pie," she said. "I have no idea what we're having for dinner but dessert is set."
He smiled a little at that and his arm circled around her shoulders, his thumb brushing along her jaw. Without a word, he leaned in and his lips touched hers softly. Beth instantly sank into the kiss, her hands lifting to his cheeks, framing his face as their mouths slowly together.
"Hmmmm," Beth hummed softly as she finally pulled her lips away and that was only so she could breathe again. Daryl kept holding her close and she shifted, sitting sideways so she could drape her legs over his thighs. "I think we should have Christmas here this year. The house is big enough for everyone and it'll be easier staying here than taking the kids and all of the presents to my parents' house."
"All of the presents?" Daryl raised his eyebrows at that.
She smiled. "You know what I mean," she said, laughing a little.
It was something they implemented when Hunter was just a baby and something they stuck to even as they got a bit more spending money over the years. They weren't rich by any means but they had more money than they used to but Beth still didn't want the kids to get accustomed to these extravagant Christmases with tons of presents and toys. The kids got a few new toys and that was it.
Beth very much believed that there was more to Christmas than just how much one received and she wanted her kids to believe that, too.
She nestled in closer and her fingers brushed hair back from his face. "It's getting long," she commented in a quiet voice, looking into his face.
"Wan' me to cut it?" He asked.
She just smiled and shook her head. "I didn't say that."
She tilted her chin up and give him a soft, short kiss, her fingers still in his hair and his thumb brushing along her jaw, pulling her in for another kiss. She smiled against his lips because sometimes, he would get into these affectionate moods and she was powerless to protest against them.
Their lips parted once more so they could both breathe and she smiled at him.
"What do you want for Christmas?" She asked.
He shook his head as he always did and she knew that he would probably never get used to being asked that question let alone actually having an answer to it.
"I'm good," he said and that was his usual answer.
"Maybe some jeans," Beth mused out loud as if he hadn't given any answer at all. "Or some new work gloves maybe? I know you've been talking about needing a new saw but I would need daddy's or Merle's help picking the right one-"
"Beth," he cut her off and when she looked at him, he gave a slight smirk. He shook his head and leaned in, giving her another kiss. "I mean it. I'm good."
Beth looked at him for a moment and then broke into a faint smile. "I'm good, too."
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