Storm Part One
"What's that?" Finn asked, walking up the dirt road to the Eckles farm on Sunday night.
"What?" Daryl turned to him.
"That." Finn pointed to the bottle of tequila which Daryl was holding.
"It's for Becca." Daryl said as Finn looked at him with confusion, "It's her birthday, remember?"
"We were supposed to bring a gift?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, that's kinda what you do when someone invites you to celebrate their birthday with them." Daryl nodded.
"Can we say that's from both of us?" Finn asked, "I don't want to look bad."
"Fine, whatever." Daryl rolled his eyes, looking on at the trees blowing in the strong wind in the distance, "Check for updates." He told Finn.
"You made me check two minutes ago." Finn said.
"Check again." Daryl said, "If it gets worse, I'm chowing down my dinner and leaving. Last place I want to be stuck in during a storm is a farm."
"Wrong. Last place you want to be stuck is with Shiv." Finn shook his head, taking his phone out and checking the local news app for weather updates.
They'd been forecasted for a storm later on in the night and just a few hours ago the severity of the storm had been upped, recommending no travel in certain parts of the mid-west.
"I didn't say that." Daryl rolled his eyes, "I haven't spoken to her in days. I've been seeing Brianna at my mom's."
"Sounds like it's going to be awkward then." Finn nodded.
"Thank you for the reassurance." Daryl nodded, "What is the news saying?" He asked impatiently.
"The same thing it said two minutes ago." Finn said, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"You think we'll be open tomorrow?" Daryl asked.
"Doubt it." Finn shook his head, finally reaching the farmhouse where Becca and Patrick now lived, "You think we're the last to arrive?"
"We are… twenty minutes late." Daryl nodded, checking the time.
"Not bad." Finn said, knocking on the door and waiting for an answer.
"It's rude to show up late to a dinner party." Becca answered the door, staring at them both with folded arms.
"Don't call it a dinner party." Daryl groaned, "Sounds mega republican."
"Did you just call me a republican?" Becca raised her eyebrows.
"Ok." Finn interrupted, "Happy birthday, Becca. Sorry we're late. This… is from the both of us." He yanked the tequila from Daryl and handed it to her.
"Thank you." Becca nodded, "Come in." She said as the boys walked into the house, closing the door behind them and following Becca through to the dining room.
It was a pretty large farmhouse, with a huge kitchen and dining area. The long dinner table was wooden with benches around it instead of individual seats.
"Oh, you made it." Punk said, sitting beside AJ at the table where everyone else was. Shiv included.
"Daddy's here." Brianna smiled, getting off the bench and running over to Daryl excitedly.
"Hey." Daryl said with surprise, lifting her up as she clung her little arms around his neck, "How's that broken wrist doing?" He asked her.
"Still broken I think." Brianna nodded seriously.
"Damn." Daryl sighed, "I thought you were going to granny's tonight." He said, surprised to see her, looking over at Shiv for some sort of answer.
"Your mom is feeling a bit under the weather." Shiv said as Daryl just nodded.
"Snap!" Rudy exclaimed, smacking her hand down on the table, aiming for the playing cards and getting her brother's hand instead.
"Rudy!" Thomas yelled at her.
"Oops, sorry." Rudy said, "But I win." She made clear, collecting the matching pair of cards which she'd called snap on it.
"I'm not playing anymore." Thomas made clear, "Can I have my switch?" He looked up at AJ.
"Not at the table, babe." AJ shook her head as Thomas huffed.
"Let's play again." Rudy insisted, splitting the cards between them whilst Daryl took a seat with Brianna.
"It's getting pretty wild out there." Daryl said.
"It's just been updated to a local emergency." Patrick said from over in the kitchen, looking at his phone.
"What does that mean?" Lyla asked, "On a scale from one to death, how bad?" She said.
Lyla." AJ scoffed, nodding to the twins.
"They're not even listening." Lyla shook her head.
"I'd say a five." Patrick shrugged.
"You need help securing the farm?" Cole asked. He was thrilled to have been asked to join the party as a guest. Being new to the town had been daunting, especially when he didn't really know anyone, but he definitely felt welcomed and part of the gang, and he was enjoying sitting across from Lyla, watching her sip on her wine and occasionally look over her glass at him. He didn't care she was catching him looking. She was looking too.
"No, I got it taken care of earlier this afternoon." Patrick said, "Thank you, though. You could say a prayer for no damage."
"That's a big ask." Punk said, "I seriously doubt well be opening tomorrow." He looked at Daryl and Finn.
"Us either." AJ added.
"More wine for me." Lyla shrugged, finishing her glass off and reaching for the bottle to top it up.
"Should we really all be here?" Shiv asked as they turned to her, "I mean… they're telling people not to go outside. How are we going to get home tonight?" She asked.
"You guys can stay." Becca suggested, "Yeah! It'll be like a big, huge sleepover." She smiled excitedly as Patrick just chuckled.
"I hope you all have earplugs. Phil grinds his teeth and doesn't have his mouthpiece with him." AJ said.
"Phil." Lyla scoffed unhappily, "I can't stand loud sleepers."
"I'm… sorry?" Punk said, feeling a little victimised.
"I think we might just go." Shiv said, "Get home before it gets any worse." She nodded, standing up just as a tree branch hit off the patio door with a loud thud, causing most of them to jump.
"You're not going out there." Daryl said, briefly looking over to Shiv, shaking his head.
"We have plenty of rooms and sofas. It's fine." Becca assured them.
"I like my own bed." Finn huffed.
"I told you this was a stupid idea." Daryl looked at Finn.
"The storm is my fault?" Finn asked him as Punk rolled his eyes. He forgot how much they both bickered like an old married couple.
"Ok! Hi?" Becca stood at the top of the table, getting their attention, "Can we just chill and have a nice night? The storm is supposed to be over by late morning tomorrow. Patrick and I went to a lot of trouble making dinner so I'm gonna need you guys to stop whining." She said, specifically looking at Daryl and Finn.
"What did you make for dinner?" Brianna asked quietly, looking up at Becca, a little frightened of her.
"Roast chicken and roast beef. Mashed potatoes. Lots of gravy. Roasted carrots. Stuffing." Becca said, "And AJ was kind enough to bring a chocolate cake for dessert."
"I don't think I want that." Brianna whispered to Daryl, sitting on his knee at the table.
"We have emergency chicken nuggets in the oven." Becca overheard her.
"Chicken nuggets?" Thomas looked up.
"So we have to stay overnight here?" Punk clarified, "None of us have anything with us."
"It's not safe to go out. It's clearly worse than anyone expected." Lyla said.
"There's worse places to get stuck." AJ placed her hand on Punk's leg, reassuring him. She knew he was secretly a homebody. Getting stuck in someone else's house definitely wasn't something he enjoyed.
"Thank you, AJ." Becca said.
"Let's just have a good night." Cole inserted, "AJ is right, we're lucky we're here and not out there." He said. He took their silence as them agreeing.
Dinner was devoured. It turned out Becca was right, Patrick knew how to make a good Sunday dinner. Every plate was cleared. However, the twins and Brianna stuck with what they knew and took up Becca's offer of chicken nuggets and potato waffles.
Brianna spent her time going from sitting with Daryl, sitting with Shiv and then sitting with the twins. It was the first time she'd had dinner with both her parents and she was giddy because of it.
"If I was in my own house I'd unbutton my pants." AJ sighed, placing her hands over her stomach which she truly believed had expanded in the short time they'd been sitting at the table.
"We don't discriminate against opening buttons at the dinner table." Becca assured her as AJ just chuckled.
"Maybe the Summer Fair will get cancelled if there's lots of damage." Finn said, having another helping of AJ's chocolate cake which he'd drenched in cream. He was a bottomless pit.
"Yeah, I never thought of that." Lyla said.
"I'm kinda hoping your house is still standing in the morning." Cole said, looking at AJ and Punk.
"Whatever happens we'll deal with it. Don't worry." Punk shook his head.
The whole time they were eating dinner the wind was howling and the windows were occasionally pelted by branches from nearby trees. So much so that the twins and Brianna had gone into the living room to watch TV at a loud volume, telling their parents they didn't like the noise.
"Why are you drinking water on your birthday?" Lyla asked Becca, only now noticing that her friend hadn't sipped any alcohol all night.
Shiv looked over at Becca, not being able to hold her smile back. She'd enjoyed being the only one who knew about the pregnancy, but she also couldn't wait for Becca to announce it so they could all discuss it. By all, she meant the girls.
"Well if you must know." Becca began, "I've decided to stop drinking." She nodded.
"Why?" Lyla scoffed.
"Good for you, Becca." Daryl nodded to her on a serious note.
"You just don't enjoy it anymore?" AJ asked, wondering why her friend would announce such a thing.
"Well… I'm only going to stop for nine months." Becca explained, "I'll be straight back on it after." She said as Daryl looked at her with confusion, turning to Finn who also seemed confused.
"Stop." AJ said, immediately understanding what she was getting at.
"What?" Becca shrugged innocently.
"Stop it right now." AJ said whilst Lyla put her hands over her mouth.
"Stop what? What's going on?" Punk asked, feeling left out from his wife's excitement.
"You're pregnant?" AJ asked Becca in a very high-pitched voice.
"What?!" Finn exclaimed, turning to Becca.
"Yeah." Becca smiled, enjoying the shock on her friends faces.
"Oh my God." AJ squealed, "You're going to be a mom. And… and you're going to be a dad." She pointed to Patrick who just chuckled.
"Why aren't you surprised?" Lyla asked Shiv.
"I already knew." Shiv smirked.
"Why? How did she know before us?" Lyla turned back to Becca.
"It just came out. It was only a few days ago." Becca said.
"This is so exciting." AJ said, getting off the bench and running over to Becca, wrapping her arms around her tightly from behind.
"Not without me." Lyla said, getting off the bench and joining in on the hug.
"I think that's your queue." Cole nodded to Shiv.
"Yeah." Shiv smiled, running over and joining in on the hug, all three of them hugging into Becca who stayed seated and smiling happily.
"Congratulations, man. That's awesome." Punk nodded to Patrick.
"Yeah, it's pretty good." Patrick smiled.
"You know what?" Finn said, "I think Becca's gonna be a pretty damn good mom if you ask me." He nodded as Daryl smiled, looking over briefly at Shiv who was smiling so big, infectious enough to make him smile.
"The tone of surprise hasn't gone unnoticed, Finley!" Becca muffled over her friends squashing her with a hug. The best hug she'd ever gotten.
They spent the rest of the night toasting to Becca and Patrick. Mostly the girls swamped Becca with questions, moving their conversation to the living room so they could get comfy on the sofa, leaving the guys in the kitchen to clear up and talk passionately about sports and business.
It wasn't until after midnight, with Brianna and the twins asleep on the sofa, where it began to sink in that they were all spending the night under the one roof. They'd kept the news on the TV to stay up to date with the storm, and it was definitely deemed unsafe to step foot out of the door at this point.
"Community group chat says there's a tree down in the park." Lyla said, scrolling through her phone.
"There's a community group chat?" Daryl scoffed, "That's so lame."
"You're just mad you're not on it." Shiv inserted.
"I'm really not." Daryl assured her as she just made a face at him, of which he replicated back, like the children they still were deep inside.
"Maybe the Summer Fair will get postponed after all." Punk said, he and the boys joining the girls in the living room one by one after they cleaned the dishes.
"Don't say that. I done my stock order two nights ago." AJ sighed, rolling her head back on the sofa.
"Look at the little angels." Becca smiled, looking over to the opposite couch where the kids were fast asleep, "You guys can take them up to one of the bedrooms." She said, looking from Punk and AJ to Daryl and Shiv.
"I'll share with Shiv and Breezy." Lyla announced.
"Yeah, and we'll just sleep with the twins." AJ nodded.
"Ok well Cole can have one room and Finn and Daryl you'll need to share the other." Becca nodded.
"I'll sleep down here." Finn rolled his eyes.
"Rude." Daryl scoffed, "You don't want to cosy up with me?"
"I really don't. You sleep talk." Finn said, "I hear you through my wall at the apartment."
"What does he talk about?" Becca asked, intrigued.
"Last night he kept shouting soda bread." Finn shook his head.
"Ok, that's actually kinda disturbing." Punk said.
"Why were you shouting soda bread?" Cole shook his head.
"I don't know, Cole. I was asleep." Daryl rolled his eyes, noticing at the corner of his eye that Shiv was laughing.
"C'mon, let's take them up to bed." AJ told Punk, standing up and each scooping a twin up into their arms carefully.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm gonna go." Shiv nodded, lifting Brianna up from the sofa as Daryl watched.
A few hours later, they all retired to their allocated rooms for the night, and for Finn, the sofa in the living room. All that could be heard was the loud wind outside wreaking havoc.
A/N: A couple more chapters of the storm sleepover coming up! Hope you all enjoyed Easter and wrestlemania. Our man was robbed! But anyways cm slay will be back next year to main event.