Modern Love 2: The After Years

Demons

Demons

Waking up to a faint camera shutter was not how Daryl expected any day to start. But he soon realized why. Looking down, Van had curled himself into Daryl's side and was sleeping contently. Looking at Beth, her eyes were shimmering with joy and she tried so hard not to wake the sleeping child with her tiny squeaks of elation. A smile slowly crosses Daryl's face as Van yawns and snuggles closer.

"I have to get up and work." Daryl whispers over the sleeping child.

"Aw, can't you just let him sleep like that? He doesn't sleep Daryl. He hasn't slept for a long time." Her voice makes him feel bad about wanting to wake jim up.

"Fine. One more hour, then I have I get to work on his room. He's not sleeping with us every night."

Beth smiles and hopes out of the bedroom toward the kitchen. He's glad she can be happy again. To love a child, even if it isn't theirs. Daryl looks at the small boy. His blonde hair is the color of hers. An his blue eyes too. He could pass as her son, but not his. Not besides his scars and demons.

Demons. Yes, they are what cause anger and tremulous feelings in anyone. His demons have yet to disperse. He still sometimes has nightmares of his father He knows Van must also and that's why he can't sleep. Why he can't love Daryl.

Looking down at his side, he longs to embrace the child. He gently places a hand on Van's head. Huge mistake.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh." Van screams and starts to cry loudly. Daryl sits up and wants to console him, but it only makes him worse. The closer Daryl gets to the child, the farther he scoots away from him. Soon, Van flies from the bed and into the nearest closet and cries.

"Huhhh." Daryl puts his head in his hands and tugs at his hair.

"What! What happened? Where's Van?" Beth is in a panic.

"All I did was touch him. Place a hand on his head. And he screamed and ran away from me... I jus..... I can't do this." Daryl gets up an storms out of the room. Hurt and broken. Beth looks around and knows exactly where Van is.

Going to the closet, she opens it up and kneels in front of it. He's hiding in the far corner. Crying and rocking back and forth on his heals. Beth turns the light on in the tiny room and crawls in beside him, shutting the door behind her. She feels cramped, almost claustrophobic, but to a child, it's like a hiding place. A sanctuary.

"Van....come here baby boy." Van looks up, teary eyed and runny nose. "Come to Mommy."

It hit her. She is his Mommy. His mother never hit him. She was probably blonde, blue eyes, an maybe beautiful. Van is quite handsome for a four year old, so he had to get it somewhere. The reason Van probably excepts Beth, is because of the resemblance. And for Daryl, it's probably because he's tall, gruff, and a man. An his angry voice isn't too warming either.

Van crawls into Beth's lap and lays his head on her shoulder as he twirls her hair in his hand. This must have been his comforting thing. To twirl long hair. To be held. Love is a burning thing that makes (no not a firery ring) people come together for warmth and solace.

"Daddy didn't mean to scare you sweetie. He loves you just as much as I do. He'd never hurt you Van." He wouldn't. It's not in Daryl. It's not in him to be mean or hurtful, especially to children. "Come on. Let's go eat breakfast."

She opens the door and they crawl out. Getting up, Beth carries him to the kitchen and places him in a chair with a booster seat. In front of him, she has made him smiley pancakes, a glass of milk, and a small portion of eggs with chopped up pieces of hot dog in them.

His eyes are wide as he uses his hands to shovel some food in his mouth. Beth just laughs at how cute he is. Daryl steps out from the new addition and watches. Van has picked up a piece of hot dog and holds it out toward Beth, who is leaning over the center island.

"Is this for me?" Van hands it to her and she eats it. "Thank you so much Mr. Van."

Daryl smiles at his beautiful fiancé and then frowns. Van will never love him. He'll never trust him. Hell, he'll never off Daryl a piece of hot dog off his plate am smile huge when he takes it.

"Daryl!" She turns to yell for him, but sees him there. "Oh...sorry. I was gonna call you for breakfast."

"Nah. I'm good." He goes to turn away, but Beth catches his arm.

"Daryl. If he's gonna get to trust you, he has to see you. And not upset or angry. I get it. You're upset cause he's scared, but that'll go away.... just give it time." Leaning up he kisses him and then drops to her feet. He's about to leave when he sees Van looking at them with wide eyes and a half smile.

"Huh."

"Thank you Daddy!" Beth says and kisses his cheek. Daryl goes to sit next to Van, but the child gets wide eyes and looks frightened. When he does sit, Van covers his eyes. "Van...eat baby."

Van looks up an sees Daryl eating with his fork. He watches him for a few minutes. Daryl watches Van out of the corner of his eyes and keeps eating. Soon Van is enthralled with the silverware. Beth is eating across from them with her fork and Van makes a squeaking sound and has both hands out in front making a grabbing gesture.

"What? what do you want baby boy?" Beth says as she takes another bite. Van bounces quicker and hakes his hand. Daryl is still eating. Beth realizes that Van looks at Daryl and then back at her making the gesture more grand. "Okay."

She hands him her fork. Daryl feels like this is a bad idea, but doesn't say anything. He just keeps eating, until Beth makes a sound at him and nods over to Van.

The tiny boy is mimicking the way Daryl eats with his fork. Holding it the right (ish) way and the way he puts it in his mouth. Beth just smiles and Daryl looks in wonder at the boy.

"He's mocking you. Do something else." Beth says quietly. Daryl puts his fork down and Van pauses. Daryl picks up his glass of milk and takes a slow drink. Van also reaches for his sippy cup and takes a drink as long as Daryl's. When Daryl sets his cup down, so does Van. "He is so cute. Hold on I'll be right back!"

Beth runs off and grabs her video camera. She starts filming as Van keeps mimicking Daryl. Daryl never looks at Van, because when he does, Van stops what he's doing and hides his face.

They finish their breakfast this way, with mimicking and video taping. When they're finished, Beth puts down the camera and clears Van's plates. She comes and stands in between Daryl and Van, both who are just the right height for her to kiss on the cheeks. She kisses Van and then Daryl. Daryl leans back in and kisses her cheek. She feels a tug at her arm sleeve and turns toward Van. He places a small wet kiss on her cheek also. Good thing, Daryl got that recorded on the camera real fast before they missed it. Beth laughs and picks Van up from his chair.

"I gotta get back to work. Thanks for breakfast baby." He leaves back into the addition. Beth loves that he had that small moment with Van. She looks at the boy who is still in yesterday's clothes. She heads towards the addition and looks at Daryl, who is mixing paint. "He can't be in here Beth. the fumes aren't good for him."

"I know. I was jus letting you know I was gonna go get him some things he needs. Clothes, a highchair, a small bed. Just things we don't have for him." Daryl looks up and then back at the paint. Getting up he steps closer and Van hides his face.

"Okay. Be safe and call if you need me." He kisses her and then goes back to the paint.

"Love you. Say bye to Daddy Van. Say Bye Bye." Daryl doesn't expect him to. He just continues with his paint. "Hmm. You think he knows English?"

"I'm sure he knows a little bit. But probably not a lot. Maybe you should get a Hungarian Rosetta Stone." Daryl cracks up and Beth glowers at him before leaving.

Demons. They turn you into pumpkins even before midnight.