My Little Dove // Bethyl

Chapter nine

It had been a few days since Beth and Daryl had seen the others. They did say it would be a while till they popped back again as they did have work to do back at their community. Beth noticed how he missed his brother and Anne kept asking to see Judith again. Her feelings of guilt were subsided when she saw Daryl spinning both girls around in his arms, him smiling as wide as he can and their girls giggling like crazy. Beth heard the familiar engine of ricks car, expecting to see him and Michonne and others leave the car, accept it was just him.

"Y'right?" Daryl asked Rick who walked up to their gates. He recognised Ricks worried face, after all these years, he still knew his brother well.

"Yeah- Umm..." Rick trails off, putting his hands on his hips as he attempts to finish his sentence. "We could use your help back at Alexandria" He finally says after a long pause. It takes Daryl a while to comprehend what Rick is asking of him.

"What do you mean?" Daryl asks as he picks up Anne who just came running over to him, Beth already holding Ava.

"We're not doing good man, we could use your expertise" Rick says with a guilty face. He doesn't want to pull Daryl away from his family but he isn't really left with any choice: Alexandria is struggling and running low on food, Daryl is smart, good in the wild and knowing how to find things, they could really benefit from his help.

"For how long?" Daryl finally quirks up, not looking at Beth as he knows if he does, he'd be less willing to go.

"I'm not sure, a couple weeks" Rick replies, rubbing his forehead then putting his hands back on his hips. Daryl looks at the little girl in his arms and then Beth, he doesn't know what to do, he knows his brother need him, but so does his family here.

"Daryl..." Beth finally says something, breaking her shield of silence, he feels the guilt bubbling in his chest, he knows he's hurt her, upset her, and he hates that.

"Can I bring Beth and our girls?" Daryl asks, still not looking at Beth as he bites the skin off his lips.

"Of course man, like I said, you're all always welcome" Rick says with a hopeful smile knowing his friend is actually considering helping.

Beth whispers something in Daryl's ear, asking to talk privately for a moment, Rick nods at them as he steps away and waits by 5the gate for them to get back to him.

"Beth I'm sorry" is all Daryl says as they step away alone. They put the girls down who have gone to play with Rick, who doesn't mind at all, having his own little girl.

"Don't be, I understand" Beth says as she looks down at the ground. She feels so selfish, she doesn't want Daryl to leave her, she needs him, their girls need him. Daryl strokes up her arm, moving his hand to her chin as he guides her face to look at him. He tilts his head with a solemn expression, telling her to be honest with him. "I'm just scared if bein' alone is all" and that's true, she is scared, terrified even.

"You've got the girls-"

"You know what I mean"

"He said you can come with us" Daryl says with a hopeful glint in his eye, but the expression on Beths face makes it disappear.

"The girls have never been on the other side of that gate" Beth says, a mild shake un her words. Their girls have never seen the world truly, never seen what really lies out there. They've seen the odd walker outside the walls, but Beth or Daryl always takes them inside while the other deals with it, they don't want them to be subject to that horror.

"Alexandria might be good for them, seeing a little more normal than just our little farm" Daryl says in a sensitive tone. He's right, and Beth knows he is, it would be good for them to experience a community, even if it is just for a couple weeks.

"What about our animals, the chickens and ducks?" Beth asks, honestly just trying to fund excuses to stay in the comfort of her home. Daryl then turns around and doesn't answer her, shouting at Rick.

"Hey! Can we bring our animals? Could be a good bit of food?" Daryl asks Rick who looks up at him from where he sat on floor, have daisies placed in his hair.

"Yeah course, s'why I bought the truck, so you can bring everything you need" Daryl turns to Beth who just shrugs in response, she has nothing left to say, but isn't too bothered now. She's come to the conclusion it's a good idea for her girls and they can still keep their animals safe. Daryl looks at her with a questioning look and she just nods, a small smile on her face as he grins and gives Rick the thumbs up.

"We'll just get our shit packed up" Daryl's yells to Rick who is still being taunted by toddlers with flowers.

In there cabin, Daryl built in a mini cellar, it's a door under the rug and a small ladder, they have it there for emergencies and Beth and the girls need to hide quickly. It's big enough to fit about four people if they all sat down. What they did, is they packed all the things they wanted to take to Alexandria, like some of the girls favourite toys and books and Beths favourite books, some of their clothes and a couple blankets. Then they stored all of their valuables, all their food, blankets, clothes, books, anything important to them, they put into the cellar so if anyone came raiding their house while they were gone, they wouldn't find nothin'.

Once they got all there stuff onto the back of the truck, Rick helped Daryl get the animals on. Luckily the coup had a seperate chicken hutch which they put their chickens and ducks into and then strapped to the back of the truck. They made sure they locked all the doors and windows to their house snd that they were boarded up, trying to minimise the risk if break in. Once they were ready the walked close to the gate.

"Anne and Ava, come here quick" Beth said calmly as her and Daryl bent down to talk to their children before they left. "We're all going outside the gate today and we'll be gone for a while. So that means being really good, you both know how dangerous it can be out there, so never leave me or daddy's side unless we say otherwise you understand?" The girls nod, a little bit scared. They've never seen their momma be so serious before, it worried the little girls, barely comprehending the idea of danger, just that it clearly scared their momma. The girls know to be good, to listen to their parents to stay safe, to be scared of what could happen and to take caution. They're little girls, but they understand what fear is and they understand that to not be scared, they stay with their parents and listen to them.

Daryl and Beth each pick up one of the girls and walk over to the truck, they don't have any type if booster seat so they sit in the backseat with the girls on the laps and pull the belt of themselves and the girls. They've never taken their girls in a car before, so they're very scared but also very intrigued.