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Chapter Ten. Egg.

Just like he said he would do, as soon as they stepped out of the church at the end of service, Hunter ripped the tie off from around his neck that his mom had made him wear that morning and she had promised him that he could take it off as soon as they were done with church. With a scowl but without a word, he handed it to her and Beth gave him a smile before kissing him on the head.

"You are such a baby," Luke snickered from behind him.

"'Cause I don't like wearing a noose around my neck?" Hunter frowned at him.

"We all have to do things we don't want to do. Right, dad?" Luke looked to Daryl as he walked behind them with Abby in his arms.

Daryl was wearing black slacks and a white button down shirt with a black tie under a black sweater. He nodded. "That's right," he said.

Beth reached out and swatted Daryl in the arm. "Don't tell them that. You boys all look very handsome and dressing up for a few hours on an important day like this won't kill any of you."

The people were flooding from the church and heading towards the large grounds in the back that the church sat on. Every year, after Easter service, there was a large lunch for everyone and an egg hunt for the children. Beth spotted her mother already helping some of the other women bring food from the church kitchen to the tables spread out throughout the grass and she turned to Daryl.

"Have fun. See you in a little bit," she said and kissed Abby's cheek before she broke away from her family and headed towards Annette.

Daryl watched her go and then looked back to the boys. "Ready for the hunt?"

"Always are," Hunter grinned proudly.

The past couple of years, he and Luke seemed to find more Easter eggs than anyone – much to the envy of some of the other kids. Hunter loved being the best at things and rubbing it in other's faces though his mama often told him that he shouldn't gloat and being too prideful was a sin. Hunter didn't understand though. If he was the best at something, everyone should know it. And all mama said to that was that he should pay more attention when he was in Sunday school.

Daryl bent down and set Abby on her feet. "Watch out for her and don't get yourselves killed," he said as Luke reached down and took Abby's hand in his. "If you need me, I'll be over there with Sherriff Grimes and Mr. Douglas," he said, pointing to where Rick and T-Dog had already settled themselves at a picnic table with a couple of bottles of beer. "'member. Don't go too far in the woods. They don't put the eggs in that deep so there's no reason for you to. Your mama will hold me directly responsible if the three of you get poison oak." Hunter's lips began upturning into a grin and Daryl looked at him. "And don't go lookin' for poison oak just to get me in trouble," he said, reading his son's mind.

Like Beth did, Daryl kissed Abby on the head and he left them then, heading towards his friends and leaving the three kids alone – which was just the way they wanted it when it came to the hunt.

"Let's go get our baskets," Luke said, walking himself and Abby over to the table where Father Gabriel sat, a wide smile on his face as he handed one of the baskets to one of the little girls.

"Ah. The Dixon boys. Ready to find some of God's treasures this morning?" Father Gabriel asked as he handed them to baskets, Luke immediately handing his to Abby.

"It's not God's treasures. It's chocolate. And it's all ours," Hunter said with a gleam in his eyes and his lips practically smacking together.

"Everything is God's treasures, Hunter," Father Gabriel reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," Hunter muttered and Luke elbowed him in the side as they walked away from the table and headed past the eating area.

"You gotta stop doing that," Luke frowned at him. "I don't feel like Father Gabriel talking to mom and dad. Mom'll force us to sit through one of the man's lectures."

And though Hunter frowned at him for elbowing him, he nodded his head in agreement. There was no punishment worse than having Father Gabriel lecture them. Hunter hated listening to the man talk. It was bad enough when they came to service every Sunday and had to listen to him then. Anything more was torture.

"There's Mika," Luke said, spotting the girl on the other side of the baseball diamond. He looked to Hunter. "You mind watching Abby for a little bit? I'm gonna go talk to her."

Hunter took his baby sister's hand while smirking at Luke. "Thought you two broke up," he said.

Luke frowned. "We didn't break up. I'm really busy with the art show and she's really busy with science club. We're just taking a break."

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Hunter said and broke into a grin when Luke smacked him up the back of the head before walking away from them. He looked down to Abby and she tilted her head up, smiling at him. "Ready to find some eggs, Abby?" He asked.

"Egg!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Hunter found a blue colored plastic egg sitting by the third base right away. He snorted as he put it in Abby's basket. Did these people even try to hide them?

He walked Abby over to the second base next and sure enough, there was another one. And another on the pitcher's mound. And were the other kids even trying to find these? All of these eggs just sitting out in the open like this and he was going to take them all.

"Egg!" Abby exclaimed, pointing her finger, and Hunter followed. Sure enough, there was an egg in the grass next to the metal bleach stands.

"Awesome job, Abs," he said, dropping her hand to go and fetch it and when he came back, he dropped that one into her basket as well. "Look for more."

His sister might have only been three but if she knew one thing, it was eggs and if he knew one thing, it was chocolate. He wished Luke would get back here because if there was one thing his older brother knew, it was hunting. With the three of them, they could be unstoppable. But no. Luke had to go flirt with his little girlfriend and wear a tie and be completely useless to him.

It was like setting a bloodhound loose. As soon as he told Abby to look for more, she was off, leaving the baseball field and heading towards the picnic tables. Hunter wanted to tell her that they never put the eggs close like this to the other people but he didn't. He just watched her go and followed and when she pointed, sure enough, he saw an egg next to the big bowl of potato salad set out on the buffet table.

Hunter laughed and snatched it up and when he turned back to Abby, she was already off again. He didn't question her this time as he followed behind. She stopped at one of the pecan trees and pointed. There, balanced carefully throughout the branches, were three eggs.

"Alright, Abs!" Hunter exclaimed and quickly gathered those eggs, putting them into the basket with the others. "This is gonna be our best year yet," he grinned at her and Abby beamed at him in return.

She looked around for a moment. "Egg!" She pointed but this time, she was pointing towards Daryl and Hunter shook his head. Abby used 'egg' for several different things and even though she knew the word 'daddy', it wasn't weird for her to say that while pointing towards either of their parents.

"No, Abby. That's dad," Hunter shook his head but Abby ignored him and set off.

Daryl had just taken a sip of beer when he turned his head and saw two of his three kids approaching them. He began to stand up, thinking they needed him, but Abby didn't look at him as she dropped to her knees, subsequently getting grass stains on her white tights. She crawled past Daryl and beneath the bench of the picnic table.

"What are you makin' her do?" Daryl asked, looking to Hunter.

"You should take her hunting with you, dad," Hunter said. "It would be awesome."

Abby crawled out from under the table where she had found a yellow egg next to T-Dog's shoe. "Egg!" She exclaimed and Hunter laughed as she stood up, dropping it in the basket. She looked to Daryl and smiled and then hugged one of his legs. Daryl smiled a little but before he could even pat her on the head, Abby was gone, off again, and Hunter happily followed behind.

Daryl shook his head and sat back down. "I think he's treatin' his sister like a dog."

Rick smiled a little at that and took a swig of his beer. "Judith still treats Carl like a horse. I think most siblings go through an animal phase with each other."

Rick looked back to T-Dog and the two men began their conversation again about baseball season and Daryl had never been into sports so he just sat and listened and drank his beer while seeing Abby and Hunter from the corner of his eye.

Abby led them to the back of the church and Hunter could see her eyes were on a sharp lookout. He found himself an egg beneath the steps and he quickly grabbed it because it was hot pink and he couldn't believe no one else had spotted it before him. Abby dropped to her knees again and reached her hand in the downspout. Hunter crouched down beside her and watched her for a moment. She pulled back her hand with a huff and frown and no egg. She looked at Hunter and pointed to the spout and Hunter nodded, kneeling down in front of it. There was a bright green egg but Abby had pushed it further back and hadn't been able to reach it.

He tried to stretch his fingers as far as he could but he still couldn't reach it and his entire hand wouldn't fit inside of the spout. They'd have to get a stick or something.

"You're cheating."

Hunter looked up at the voice, his eyes squinting in the sun. He sighed when he saw who it was. Billy Hardy. A boy two grades above him and a bully through and through but even if he wasn't a bully, Hunter wouldn't have been able to stand him. He was fat and sloppy and just because his daddy was the dentist in town, Billy thought he was better than most of them.

Hunter stood up with a glare and a set in his jaw. "Just jealous because I'm finding all of the eggs before you?" He asked.

"I'm not jealous of cheaters. We don't all have retarded sisters who can find every egg like a freak," Billy sneered.

Hunter felt everything in his body go absolutely still. He stared at Billy for a moment. "What did you say?" He said in a low voice, his body tensing and his hand curling into a fist.

"I said you're a cheater and your sister's retarded," Billy said with a smile.

Hunter knew that he shouldn't fight – especially on Easter Sunday while at church and he could only imagine how angry his mama was going to be but he wanted to punch that stupid smile right off Billy Hardy's face so that was exactly what he did.

Hunter was only seven and Billy was older and bigger but Hunter was small and quick and when he punched Billy in the face, the boy was completely caught off guard. When he fell on the ground with a thud, Hunter followed after him.

In the back of his mind, he could hear Abby crying and calling out for mama but Hunter didn't stop. He punched Billy over and over again until someone was physically pulling him off.

He tried to squirm out of the hold but Daryl just tightened his arms around him and carried him off through the crowd that had gathered, walking around the side of the church, heading towards the front. Hunter was panting and his hands were throbbing and he suddenly felt completely exhausted.

"Easy, Hunter," Daryl was saying to him in a low, calm voice as if Hunter was a doe he didn't want to scare off. "Jus' breathe. You're fine."

Hunter sagged in his dad's arms and Daryl didn't let him go as he stood on the sidewalk, shushing him and telling him to calm down. Hunter heard someone else approach and he turned his head to see that it was Beth, Abby in her arms. The little girl had been crying but now her head was on Beth's shoulders and her cheeks were wet but there were no more tears. Hunter expected Beth to start lecturing him right away but all she did was reach out and touch his tender knuckles.

"Let's get Luke and we'll go home," she said but Luke was already there, coming up to stand beside her. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking guilty.

"Come on," Daryl said. He gave his arms a squeeze and then lowered Hunter to his feet on the ground.

"He called Abby retarded," Hunter spat out, calm but just thinking about stupid Billy Hardy and what he had said, he started feeling angry all over again.

"Come on. We'll go home," Beth said again and that was all she said and Daryl didn't say anything as they headed towards their truck in the parking lot.

The ride home was silent and once Daryl pulled up their dirt drive, Beth looked back at Hunter in the backseat.

"We'll go to the bathroom and I'll take care of your knuckles," she said and he nodded, getting out of the truck and trudging slowly up the stairs as if heading to his own execution.

The phone began ringing and Daryl went to go answer it as Beth followed Hunter up the stairs and into the bathroom all of the kids shared. She closed the toilet lid so he could sit on it and she sifted through the medicine cabinet for a moment before gathering a bottle of antiseptic and some cotton balls, coming to kneel in front of him. He sucked in air through his clenched teeth as the medicine stung his open cuts and Beth blew gentle air on it.

Hunter released a breath. "I'm sorry I ruined Easter."

"You didn't ruin Easter," Beth shook her head. "What Billy Hardy said was cruel and untrue and your sister is lucky to have a brother like you so quick to defend her. But Hunter," she paused in cleaning his knuckles and looked at him. "There are other ways to defend her than punching."

Hunter nodded because he knew that even if he thought punching Billy Hardy was the only thing that kid deserved. "Has dad ever punched someone to defend you?"

Beth was quiet for a moment and he watched as a soft smile spread across her lips. "Once," she answered. "A long time ago. And I was so angry at him for it but then…" she trailed off and shook her head as if clearing the memory as she looked back to Hunter. "No more punching."

"But why did dad punch someone?" Hunter asked, sounding a little excited.

Beth shook her head again, obviously trying to bite back a smile because she did want her son to think that punching people was ever an okay thing to do.

"He was defending me just like you were defending Abby but Hunter," she said and her voice became stern. "No more punching. Your dad doesn't go around punching anyone he feels like it, does he?"

Hunter shook his head. He had barely seen his dad yell at someone.

"Hey."

They both turned their heads to see Daryl standing in the bathroom doorway.

"That was your mom. They're gonna to bring us some food from the picnic so we can eat," he said. "How are the knuckles?" He then asked Hunter.

"He'll live," Beth said, finishing up and then standing to throw the cotton balls out and Hunter slid off the toilet. "Tell your son that it's not alright to punch someone."

"Of course it ain't alright," Daryl frowned a little. "No matter how bad that kid deserved it, talkin' 'bout your sister like that."

"He was just jealous that me and Abby were winning the egg hunt," Hunter said.

"That's somethin' else your grandma wanted me to say," Daryl said. "You and Abby won the hunt this year. More eggs in your basket than in anyone else's."

Hunter smirked a little. "Of course we won," he said as he sauntered out of the bathroom.

Daryl couldn't help but smirk as he looked back to Beth. "Me punchin' Jimmy still turns you on after all this time?" He asked, having heard from the hallway.

Beth smiled and felt her cheeks blush. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe a little," she said though they both knew the truth and the truth was that it definitely did.

A lot.

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*added author's note: I have not written Daryl punching Jimmy. This was just a shared memory between Beth and Daryl that many people have been asking for i.e. jealous Daryl. I will write this scene as an eventual one-shot.

Thank you so much for reading and please review!