I am very nervous about this chapter and Daryl seeming way too OOC but this was a popular request that several of you want to read so I hope you like it and that it isn't too terrible.

On another note, I'm very tired. I am writing this pairing constantly and doing my best to update my stories every day and I'm just feeling very tired and I have no idea why I push myself to update as much as I do.

…

Chapter Twenty-Three. Anniversary.

It started at dinner one night. Hunter was telling them about a project his teacher at school was going to have them do in class. His teacher wanted all of his students to do the history of their family – starting with their parents and grandparents.

"And she said we have to bring in pictures as visual aids," Hunter was saying over his plate of spaghetti. "Can I borrow some pictures of you and dad?" He asked.

"Of course you can," Beth smiled at him. "We don't have that many of when your dad was young like you but we have plenty from the past few years."

Daryl didn't say anything as he crunched on his piece of garlic bread. Beth was just saying it as nice as she could. He didn't have any pictures of when he was a kid. His mom had been too drunk to care too much about taking his picture and his old man sure as hell wasn't the kind to do something like that. He didn't have someone like Beth in his life when he was young. She was constantly taking pictures of their kids and each one had their own photo album, starting with when they were babies – except for Luke, who's album started when he was four.

"What about your wedding picture?" Hunter asked. "Mrs. Riley said that a wedding picture is always a good picture to have to show of your parents."

Daryl found himself stopping in mid-chew and his eyes floated to Beth, wondering how she would explain that one.

Beth's smile softened as she looked at Hunter. "Your dad and I never got a picture taken when we got married," she said as simply as possible.

"Huh?" Luke spoke up, his brow furrowed, and he sat up in his chair. "Why not?"

Beth shrugged. "Your dad and I eloped to Atlanta and it was just a quick ceremony. No one else was there who would take our picture," she said.

Daryl swallowed his piece of garlic bread, now tasting like sawdust as it slid down the back of his throat. He had never really thought about it before. No reason for him to. He and Beth got married and he had never imagined himself ever getting married before he met her so it wasn't like he had any sort of idea of how a wedding was supposed to be. He knew it wasn't usually like what he and Beth had done – running off to some chapel in Atlanta and getting married in under five minutes in jeans and a dinner in the Taco Bell parking lot afterwards.

"What's elope?" Hunter asked.

"It means they ran off and got married as quick as they could," Luke answered him, his brow still furrowed. "Why didn't you get married around here?" He asked.

Beth smiled faintly. "It's like you said. We wanted to get married as quick as we could and we didn't want to wait to plan a wedding," she said. Abby had gotten spaghetti sauce all over her mouth and Beth leaned over to wipe it with a napkin.

Daryl didn't say anything as he looked at Beth. She was back to looking at Hunter, smiling and laughing and telling him about how he had been at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Glenn's wedding because he had been too little and didn't remember it. Daryl was like Luke though. He was frowning, his brow furrowed, as he watched her.

Later, once the kids were tucked into their beds and they were getting themselves ready for bed, Daryl was still frowning. They stood side by side at the sink in the bathroom, Daryl brushing his teeth and Beth bent over, washing her face. When she straightened, patting her face with the towel, she looked at him in the mirror's reflection and his frown.

"What is it? You've been frowning for hours now," she pointed out to him.

He didn't answer. He leaned into the sink and spit out the toothpaste before swishing it out with water and spitting again. He stood and Beth wiped at his mouth with her towel, a playful smile on her face. He knew that smile quite well. that smile had been very good to him in the past but for once, he didn't find himself in the mood. He looked down at her as she looked up at him with her sparkling eyes.

"Daryl, what is it?" She asked again in a quieter voice now.

"Do you want a weddin' picture?" He asked.

She laughed slightly at his question. "It's a little late for that now, don't you think?" She teased but he picked up on that she didn't actually answer the question. She stepped closer into him then and her arms slipped around his waist. "You frown over the most ridiculous things. I've gone ten years without a wedding picture and I think I've done pretty well," she said.

Daryl grunted at that but didn't say anything, not really too sure what to say because she still hadn't answered the question of whether she wanted a wedding picture or not. He may have been standing in that bathroom with her but his mind wasn't and when she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed his chin, he hardly felt it.

The next morning, they went about their morning routines and everyone got ready for the day and they saw Luke and Hunter onto the school bus and then Abby was buckled into her seat in the back of Beth's Subaru and he gave Abby a kiss on her head and a quick kiss on Beth's lips.

"Have a good day," Beth smiled at him.

"You, too," he said and watched as she drove out of their driveway.

Daryl went to his motorcycle – having decided the night before to ride it today as the weather was supposed to be nice and warm enough for it – but instead of driving straight to the auto garage for work, he instead headed in the direction of the farm. His in-laws were like him and were early risers so he wasn't surprised to find Hershel already standing on the porch as he had heard the roar of the bike nearing.

"Everything alright?" Hershel asked as Daryl climbed off his bike and headed towards him.

Daryl nodded. "Needed to talk with you and Annette 'bout somethin'," he said.

Hershel smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder and ushered him into the house.

…

Beth wasn't too sure what was going on. All she knew was that it was hers and Daryl's ten-year anniversary today and she was spending most of it with Maggie.

Her sister had come over that morning and had asked Beth to come shopping with her. She was looking for something to wear to a dinner she was going to with Glenn and his family and she was convinced her in-laws had always seen her as a slut. She wanted to get a dress they would deem appropriate.

Beth hadn't minded. She and Daryl really didn't do anything special on their anniversaries. They got someone to watch the kids in the evening and they would take a ride on his bike to nowhere in particular and eat a dinner and just enjoy the time to themselves with no one else around.

But she had thought that their ten-year would be a little bit different. She wasn't sure how. It was just something she thought. Ten years together was a big deal – at least in her mind. Ten years together and still married and she could hardly believe that it had been that long already. She thought of what they had gone through and all of the ways their lived had changed together and she found herself smiling to herself as she looked through the racks of dresses in the department store.

"What about this?" Maggie asked as she held up a white dress – a summer dress of lace that Beth immediately loved.

"It's beautiful," Beth smiled as she reached a hand out and touched.

"They don't have my size though. Just yours." Maggie pushed the dress to her. "You should try it on."

"Why?" Beth asked with a slight laugh. "I don't need it."

"It's your anniversary, Bethy," Maggie said as she still pushed the dress to her. "You should treat yourself. I bet you'll look beautiful."

Beth stared at the dress. It really was beautiful. And she really didn't need it. And yet, it had been a while since she had bought something for herself. She didn't need it and yet, she stared at the dress and found herself really wanting it.

Maggie grinned widely when Beth took the dress and went into the dressing room.

After shopping and finding Maggie a dress, too, the two sisters stopped for a quick lunch before heading back home. As Beth pulled into the long dirt drive of the white farmhouse, she knew immediately that something was going on. There were cars parked in the grass and she pulled into her usual spot next to Daryl's pickup truck.

"What's going on?" Beth asked.

"I have no idea," Maggie answered but Beth knew that she was lying because she had answered too quickly and that was always a giveaway when Maggie was lying.

Daryl came out onto the front porch from inside and now Beth knew that something was definitely going on. Her husband was wearing a tie. A white button down shirt, black pants and a black tie. She got out of the car and looked at him, unable to help but frown a little as he came down the steps and approached her. The frown was from confusion though more than anything. She had no idea what was going on but her heart began to quicken because obviously, something was happening.

"Hey," Daryl said gruffly as he came to stand in front of her.

"I'm gonna go get changed," Maggie said, taking her shopping bag and heading towards the house. "And we found her the perfect dress, too," she added to Daryl.

"Thanks," Daryl said but his eyes didn't leave Beth.

"Daryl Dixon, what the hell is going on?" She asked him and he smirked a little.

"I figured we'd get married today," he said with a small shrug.

"We're already married," she pointed the obvious out to him.

"Yeah, well, I figure ten years later, we're due for another one."

"Another what?"

"Another weddin'. A good one this time."

"Daryl…" she said his name, everything that was going on now dawning on her all at once and she felt her heart flipping now in her chest. "I loved our wedding. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But you deserve a weddin' picture and to have your pops walk you down the aisle," he said. She saw him visibly swallow then, clearly nervous. "You wanna marry me again?" He asked.

And Beth had no idea where they came from but suddenly, tears were in her eyes, splashing down her cheeks. "Yes," she laughed, her head bobbing up and down, and Daryl smiled then as if he had expected her to give him a different answer.

"You take as long as you want gettin' ready. We'll wait," he said.

Beth laughed then and she pushed herself up on her toes, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

In the house, she changed into the white lace dress and Maggie helped her with her hair, braiding it and pinning it up and Beth couldn't seem to stop smiling as she looked at herself in the mirror. Before leaving the room, she pulled on her brown cowboy boots and Maggie laughed, nodding with approval.

Outside in their backyard, she saw all of their friends there, sitting in lawn chairs with an aisle between them, leading to where Daryl stood with Father Gabriel from their church and Rick stood beside him. Everyone wore suits and dresses and her eyes scanned for the kids. They had been standing with Annette and Hershel but when they saw her step onto the back deck, they came running over. Luke and Hunter were dressed like Daryl and Abby was wearing a purple dress, her blonde hair braided and pinned up like Beth's.

"Hi, mom!" Hunter gleefully greeted her. "I'm the ring bearer and I need your ring."

"Alright," Beth laughed a little, feeling completely overwhelmed, having no idea when Daryl had done all of this; having no idea that he was thinking of doing this.

She twisted the band off her finger and handed it to him and Hunter tucked it safely into his pants pocket.

"And Abby's the flower girl. We're walking down the aisle together," Hunter added.

"You ready?" Annette asked her and even though Beth had been married for ten years and had three kids, she looked at her and felt tears in her eyes.

Beth didn't hesitate in nodding. "I'm ready."

"Here, Beth," Maggie suddenly handed her a bouquet of flowers – peonies, Beth's favorite. Maggie had a similar bouquet in her own hand and she bent down, handing a basket of flower petals to Abby. "Remember what to do?" She asked and the little girl nodded and smiled.

"I get to walk Grandma down the aisle," Luke then said, his chest a little puffed out as if proud of himself and Beth smiled, leaning in and kissing him on the head.

She stood on the back porch as somewhere, music began playing. A string orchestra song and she turned her head, finding Shawn and Rosita standing with his iPod and speakers and Shawn grinned when their eyes met.

Luke and Annette began walking down the aisle and then Hunter and Abby, Abby sprinkling the flower petals as she went. Maggie then gave Beth a quick wink and began walking down the aisle and then, it was just Hershel and Beth.

She looked up at her dad as she slipped her arm through his. "Is this really happening?" She asked and he chuckled, his eyes twinkling. "My head is spinning."

"That husband of yours has been a nervous wreck all morning," Hershel told her. "I think he wasn't sure if you would want to marry him again."

Beth smiled at that and she turned her head, looking at Daryl at the end of the aisle, still looking nervous even as he smiled at Hunter and Abby. She saw Hunter sitting beside Luke and Abby went to go sit down in Merle's lap. Even Merle was there – wearing jeans and a flannel shirt and for Merle, that was dressing up.

"You ready?" Hershel asked.

"Definitely," Beth didn't hesitate and Hershel smiled, patting her hand.

She honestly had never wished for anything more. She and Daryl had gotten married at some quickie chapel in Atlanta and then ate Taco Bell for dinner and it had all been so perfect. She hadn't needed anything more than knowing she was marrying him and in all of the years since, she hadn't thought of ever wishing for something different. She hadn't needed a dress or her dad walking her down the aisle or needing a reception with family and friends and food and dancing. Even when Maggie and Glenn had those things at their wedding, she hadn't felt any kind of sadness or longing for how her own wedding had gone.

But having her dad walk her down the aisle as she wore a dress of white and handing the flowers off to Maggie so she could hold both of Daryl's hands as he smiled a little at her and she beamed up at him, she realized that even if she hadn't thought she wanted any of this, she knew now that she definitely loved this wedding already as much as her first.

As Father Gabriel said his opening and then recited the vows, having them repeat after him, Daryl squeezed her hands a little tighter as he vowed to love her through sickness and health and Beth squeezed his hands a little tighter as she vowed to love him through richness and poorness.

Beth stood there and still felt her head spinning. She heard clicking and turning her head away from Daryl for just a moment, she saw that Noah was there, taking pictures of the ceremony, and she wanted to laugh. Daryl had invited everyone and thought of everything and she wondered when he had started planning this and how he had managed to do all of this with her having absolutely no idea.

Her attention snapped back just in time to hear Father Gabriel say, "… I now pronounce you husband and wife. Daryl, you may kiss the bride."

The cheers of everyone had already begun before Daryl had even stepped closer to her and she giggled and laughed and cried all at the same time as he lifted his hands to her face. He lowered his lips and she tilted her chin up and they kissed one another in a way that made Beth lean into him because she didn't trust her knees anymore. He dropped his arms and wrapped them around her waist and she circled her arms around his neck.

"My anniversary present is so stupid to you now," she whispered to him once their lips parted but their faces remained close.

"What'd 'ya get me?" He asked.

She blushed with embarrassment and shook her head and she could hear their family and friends still clapping around them.

"Lingerie," she said and wanted to bury her face in his chest because it was so stupid. He had just given her a wedding, for goodness sakes.

Daryl's arms tightened around her then. "You could 'ave told me that 'fore I planned for us to sit through a dinner with everyone," he said almost in a growl and Beth let out a laugh before pressing her lips to his in another kiss and the cheers rose louder.

…

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