We Belong Together

Chapter 24

Beth and Daryl were glad to have things go back to normal as they sat on the swing in the front of Herschel's large porch. It was a beautiful, sunny Spring day and the smell of fresh cut grass was in the air as they sat close together. Daryl had his arm around Beth as she held Jayden in her arms as she nursed him. Daryl's thoughts went from watching Beth feed his son to the events of the past four months. After getting Beth out of that warehouse and finding Merle, Daryl found out that Martinez had kidnapped Beth to find out where he was and was intending to kill him. Martinez had figured out that Daryl had gone to the police to get them to drop the charges against him and that Martinez was the one that actually killed Zach over a bad drug deal and because of his younger sister. The police had physical evidence pointing to Martinez being the killer, but when Tyrese brought in the video surveillance tapes that he had it just helped solidify the case against him. Martinez got wind that he was about to be arrested and so he retreated to his abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. This is where he did his "deals" and took care of business. In fact, there were other murders that were done in that warehouse that the police were looking into if Martinez was also involved with them or if his boss, The Governor conducted the killings himself. Merle's involvement in all of this was different from what Daryl had thought. Merle found out that Martinez had killed Zach and tried to confront him about it after finding out that Daryl had been arrested for the crime. Merle told Martinez that either he made it so the cops would let up on his brother or he would take care of Martinez himself. That didn't sit well with either Martinez or the Governor and the Governor requested Martinez to kidnap Merle so that they could work on changing his mind. Merle had been kept in another room for a couple weeks while Martinez and the Governor tried to convince him that it was in Merle's best interest to let it go. The Governor even tried to convert Merle by telling him he would give him a substantial amount of money to be his right hand man. Merle was supposed to give an answer by the end of the next day before he was found or he would've been killed too along with Beth. The cops had a lot of questions for Merle once he was checked out by the hospital. They really wanted to get their hands on The Governor and so they questioned Merle relentlessly about where The Governor was staying, who his people were and how he operated. Merle answered their questions as best he could but The Governor remained elusive. Every time the cops got close to arresting him, someone would have tipped him off and he was gone. Still, that didn't deter Rick and his officers, who vowed that they would get a hold of this guy and bring him to justice for what happened to Zach, Beth and countless other people he had harmed.  

Beth was finishing up with the baby when Daryl started to shift nervously in the swing. Beth had prepared a picnic lunch for the two of them out by the pond while she visited her childhood home. Maggie had agreed to watch the baby so that Beth and Daryl could have time to themselves. It had been a tumultuous past few months and it was nice to have time away for just the two of them. Daryl rubbed his pocket to make sure the box was still there. "I'm going to take him into the house. Maggie will put him down for his nap and then we can have lunch," Beth said to Daryl as she stood up to go into the house. "Ok," he said looking like he was about to throw up. Beth looked at Daryl. "Are you ok? You've been acting strange all day," she said as she gave him an inquisitive look. "No, everything's fine. Just looking forward to lunch s'all", Daryl replied in his typical raspy southern drawl. Get it together, he thought to himself. Daryl didn't want to ruin the surprise. He had planned this for over a month and even talked to Maggie about it beforehand so that she could have her schedule free for this day. Beth walked out of the door and said, "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go eat." Taking Daryl's hand, she lead him from the porch, several yards away to the blanket she laid out by the pond. Plopping down she motioned for Daryl to join her. The food was in a closed picnic basket and as she opened it the smell of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans hit Daryl making him temporarily relax. "MMMM smells so good," he said not taking his eyes off the beautiful woman that was in front of him. Beth blushed. She recognized that look. He always had that look when he wanted to become intimate. "We can do that later", she said winking at him. Daryl gave her one of his half smiles that she loved so much. "You know me so well, girl", he said to her as he took plate of food from her. They ate together, talking and laughing and enjoying this time alone that was rare now that they had the little guy. Neither one of them would trade their son in for anything, but it was nice to have just one on one alone time with each other. As the meal came to a close and Beth started to gather up the leftover food and plates, Daryl realized that this was his chance. Clearing his throat, he nervously reached out for Beth. Taking her hand, as she was putting some dishes in the basket he looked at her. "Beth, um, I need to talk to you about something." Beth's eyes met with his and she gave him a questioning look. "What about?" she asked. "Well," he began, "s'nothing bad, just...I.." Daryl was all tongue tied. Glancing back and forth from Beth to the blanket and then to his winged vest. "Daryl, what's this about?" she said not sure what to make of his nervous behavior. "Beth, will...will you...be my wife?" he said as he pulled out the box and opened it revealing a heart shaped diamond with tiny diamonds on each side of the band. Beth was shocked! Her hands flew up to her face to cover her mouth as Daryl patiently awaited her response. "Oh my God, Daryl", she said. "It's beautiful", she said as she looked at the ring as it sparkled in the afternoon sun. "Yes!" Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as Daryl took her in his arms and kissed her. "I would love to be your wife, " she said when the kiss ended. "I love you, Beth," he said as his crystal blue eyes locked into her stormy blue ones, "I always have," he continued, " I've been waiting to give this to you for months. In fact, I got it the night you were taken. Was going to do it that night. Glad I was able to give it to you like this. This is more us than what I was planning." Beth smiled at her man in the winged vest. "This was perfect. I love you so much," as she pulled her face closer to him to claim another kiss.