Wildflowers and Squirrel Guts

One Month Later

~

It's been a month since it ended.

Since the chaos, the heaviness, the pain of it all finally cracked into something resembling peace.

I still can't get used to Rick being here - alive. Every time I see him digging post holes, chasing RJ, laughing with Carl and Judith... my brain takes a minute to catch up.

Daryl watches him sometimes. Just... watches. And every so often, I catch that flicker in his eyes, like he's bracing for Rick to disappear again.

That's the thing with this world - it's taken too much from us to believe that things won't be ripped apart again, but we're trying.

We're really trying.

Hilltop's slowly starting to rebuild. Maggie and Glenn have set up a makeshift camp just beyond the ruins - they're doing it the hard way. The "right way" according to Glenn... Brick by brick. Day by day. Jesus and Tara are right beside them, helping to make the new Hilltop a reality.

Alexandria and Oceanside offered help initially - tools, manpower, supplies - but after a while, it became clear Maggie wanted Hilltop to rise from the ashes under its own strength. A pride thing, I think. Not arrogance, just a kind of quiet dignity. Glenn felt the same. So we backed off and let them do things their way.

Somebody who wasn't back at Hilltop just yet, was Enid. And of course, by her side were Alden and baby Adam. I knew there was something off about her back on the night Hilltop was lost - and I'd suspected it then, but not dared to ask...

She was pregnant.

When the couple finally revealed the surprise to everyone not long after we returned to Alexandria, it was a real cherry on the cake of everything else that seemed to be working out for once.

Much like when I'd discovered I was having Briar, Enid wasn't being allowed to lift a finger. I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw how frustrated she was getting with Alden for wrapping her in cotton wool because Daryl had done the exact same to me both times.

I'd acted like it drove me mad, but part of me had secretly loved it.

Alden had even taken a team back to the hospital we'd sheltered in while the horde was at Alexandria - swearing blind he's seen an ultrasound machine lying on its side in one of the corridors there. He was right, and somehow, despite all these years - and the fact it had clearly been tossed over at some point - the damn thing actually still worked.

Of course, Enid being the fantastic doctor she'd blossomed into, sent him back the very next day in search of more medical tech.

I'll admit, it's been weird getting used to not living in fear of the Whisperers again. The kind of weird that makes you glance over your shoulder sometimes for no reason, or wake in the night expecting to hear screams - but slowly, that's fading.

Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside - we're learning to breathe again. We're focusing on growing crops, reinforcing the walls for the thousandth time, taking in new survivors and figuring out how to make space for them - how to make room for peace.

Things are good. Better than they've been in a long time.

And now, with all the progress happening around us, Merle and Annie are about to have their wedding.

They weren't doing it the way Daryl and I did. Not in some quiet, private sliver of forest with nothing but leaves, sunlight and the weight of love between us. Oh no. Merle and Annie were going all-out celebration - at least as far as the end-of-the-world allowed. Tomorrow, Gabriel's church would be filled with candles, whatever clean clothes folks had managed to scavenge, and enough joy to rival anything the old world had to offer.

~

The four of us were gathered around the dinner table - me, Daryl, Briar, and Sawyer. The kitchen was warm and soft with the flicker of lamplight. The scent of garlic and stewed vegetables still lingering in the air.

Briar could hardly contain herself. I actually don't think anyone's more excited about tomorrow's nuptials than she is.

She'd just finished picking all the carrots out of her bowl and hiding them under a piece of bread like I couldn't see them, when she kicked her legs under the table, not out of impatience, just bubbling energy. The kind that builds up in a kid when something big's about to happen.

"What was yours and Daddy's wedding like?" she asked suddenly, lifting her chin and looking up at me with wide eyes.

Daryl paused mid-chew, his brow lifting just slightly as he glanced my way.

I smiled softly, setting down my fork. "We sort-of had two weddings, actually. One right after the other."

"Two?" Her little face scrunched up. "Why?"

"Well, because the first one was just for us," I explained. "Daddy asked me to marry him in the woods. It was just us out there... and it felt right. So we exchanged our rings and promised to love and take care of each other forever right there in the trees."

Her eyes grew round. "With nobody watching?"

"Just the squirrels," I said, chuckling.

She looked half-impressed, half-confused. "That's weird," she declared. "So what was the second one for?"

"When we went back to Father Gabriel's old church," I said, glancing at Daryl. "He married us properly - well, as properly as he could in his office. Just the three of us. It wasn't fancy. But it was official."

Briar frowned, deep in thought. Then: "Did you wear a wedding dress?"

I snorted. "No. Just normal clothes."

She wrinkled her nose like I'd told her I wore garbage. "But you're supposed to be all pretty for your wedding..."

Before I could respond, Daryl leaned back in his chair and rasped, "She was."

I looked toward him again, and his eyes met mine over the table - warm and steady, softened by the firelight and some memory only he could see.

"Ain't never been no bride more beautiful," he added, like it was the simplest truth in the world.

My throat tightened in that way it always still does when he says something soft and unexpected. He's always had the power to hit me right in the chest with a few rough-spoken words and it gets me even now.

"Not to me, anyway," he added after a pause, voice lower now.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks, but I smiled. "Daddy looked very handsome too," I said lightly, turning back to the kids. "Even if he did have squirrel guts on his pants."

Briar and Sawyer both erupted into laughter.

"Yuck!" Sawyer giggled.

"You didn't marry him like that, did you?" Briar asked, horrified and delighted all at once.

"I did," I said proudly. "Guts and all."

"Was it a big squirrel?" Sawyer asked seriously.

"Pretty big," Daryl muttered, going back to his plate.

They both laughed harder. I leaned back in my chair and let the sound of them wash over me. It was the best sound in the world.

After dinner, the kids ran off to the backyard, whispering and giggling like little conspirators. I could hear them plotting something. They weren't exactly subtle.

I leaned over the sink, rinsing off the plates while Daryl wrapped our leftovers.

"What do you think they're planning?" I asked, not looking up.

"Nothin' good," he said without hesitation.

I chuckled. "You think they're gonna try and sneak into Carol's and steal the cake?"

"Or the wine stash," he added, deadpan.

We moved together like we always did in the kitchen - years of practice making every motion smooth, every handoff easy. It was quiet for a while, just the clink of dishes and the distant giggles from outside.

Then he leaned in a little closer, his voice just for me.

"Still one of the best days of my life," he said quietly, almost shy. "When ya married me."

I swallowed, letting my hand rest against the side of the sink. His eyes were on me again, blue and steady.

I smiled. "Mine too. I think even more than when the kids were born... Nobody was fighting their way out of my uterus that day."

He huffed a soft laugh, shaking his head. "S'a fair point."

Then, I couldn't resist. "You were just fighting to get in..."

Daryl snorted quietly, the corner of his mouth twitching up as he leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to my temple. His stubble scratched lightly against my skin, a sensation I'd come to love. It was one of those small, grounding moments - one that made me feel settled, safe.

But that peace lasted all of two seconds before Briar and Sawyer skidded into the doorway, all wild hair and chaotic energy, their faces lit with barely-contained excitement.

"We're ready," Briar announced, standing tall with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah?" Daryl's brows lifted with cautious curiosity. "For what?"

"For your wedding, silly," she said, as if it was obvious.

I glanced at Daryl, and he looked back at me with the same baffled squint. We followed the kids out into the yard, exchanging matching looks of suspicion...

And that's how I ended up standing with a towel draped over my head like a makeshift veil, holding a tiny, slightly wilted bunch of wildflowers. My wedding ring was clutched in Sawyer's sweaty little hand alongside Daryl's, and I was too stunned to do anything but let it happen.

"Okay," Briar beamed, proud as hell. "So now you have to go back inside and walk out from the door while Daddy stands here with me... because I'm Father Gabriel."

Daryl's face twisted into a smirk. "Ya got too much hair to be Gabriel."

Briar frowned and considered that. "Oh yeah... well, I'm just Priest Briar, then."

Sawyer saluted like a little soldier. "And I'm the music!"

I gave a mock curtsy and disappeared back into the kitchen, carefully holding the towel veil in place so it didn't fall off. Honestly, the whole thing was ridiculous, but my heart was already aching in the best way.

When I re-entered the yard, Daryl was standing where Briar had placed him - a paper bowtie taped around his neck like a crooked dog collar. He looked awkward as hell, but also like he was fighting laughter.

"Dum, dum, de dum!" Sawyer sang at the top of his lungs, entirely off-key.

I stopped in front of Daryl as instructed, biting back a grin. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked me over, full of dry amusement and something softer too. Something that settled warm in my chest.

"Okay." Briar cleared her throat and puffed up importantly. "Now, you do your vows."

Daryl scratched the back of his neck. "Tha hell d'ya know so much 'bout weddin's?"

"Aunt Annie told me all about them," Briar replied matter-of-factly. "But don't interrupt Priest Briar, please."

I let out a snort, covering my mouth. "Yeah, Daddy... behave."

"Alright," Briar said, lifting her chin. "Mommy, you're first."

It was meant to be silly. Just a game. But as I turned to face Daryl, something shifted inside me. Maybe it was the way he looked at me, steady and open, with just a hint of that old vulnerability he never showed anyone but me. Maybe it was the quiet way Sawyer fidgeted with our rings, or the way Briar had taken this whole thing so seriously. Or maybe it was just love - raw and real and always surprising me, even now.

I cleared my throat, suddenly unsure how to begin.

"I know this is pretend," I started, keeping my voice light, "but... I love you. Always have, always will... Even back when you were grumpy and half-feral and didn't have a clue what to do with me."

That made him smirk, but I was too lost in the moment to remember we were just supposed to be playing make-believe.

"I'll always take care of you," I said, quieter now, emotion bubbling in my throat. "No matter what comes. No matter how bad it gets. Because you took care of me first - even when you didn't know you were doing' it."

His eyes softened, just a flicker, but enough to for me to catch if.

"I love the life we've made. The kids, the chaos. You. And I promise - just like I did the first time, and every time since - that we're forever. We always have been."

Briar blinked at me. "Umm. That wasn't quite right, but it's okay... Daddy, your turn."

Daryl seemed like he was as strangely lost in this odd moment as I was. He was looking at me like we were back in the woods, dirty and exhausted and promising forever when we didn't know if we'd even survive the month.

He reached up, plucked a loose strand of hair from my towel veil, and said in that low, gruff drawl of his, "Didn't never think I'd get somethin' like this. You. The kids. This whole life. Still don't feel real sometimes."

I swallowed hard, chest tight.

He glanced down for a second, then back up at me. "Ain't good with words like you are. But I'll always take care of ya, Ath. Of them. Always. 'Cause yur everythin' I didn't know I needed. Everythin' I didn't think I deserved. But I got ya anyway. Somehow. 'N' I ain't lettin' go. Never."

God. If he knew what that did to me.

Taking a deep breath, I held it together somehow - just. No tears. Not in front of Priest Briar and the music man.

"You're really not doing it right," Briar interrupted, unimpressed. "But I'll let you off. Sawyer, it's your part now."

Sawyer stepped forward, solemn as a judge, and handed us back our wedding rings. Mine was slightly sticky. I didn't want to know why.

Daryl slid mine onto my finger, slow and deliberate, his calloused thumb brushing against my knuckle. I mirrored the action, gently sliding his ring into place.

My chest squeezed. My mind drifted, unbidden, to the times I'd done it before.

In the woods, when we first promised ourselves to each other under nothing but sky and branches. In the back of a damn truck before a Savior attack, when I'd put it on him again after he'd come out of the Sanctuary, hollowed out and bruised, thinking he didn't deserve to wear it.

He was wrong. He never stopped being mine. Not for a second.

Briar stood a little taller. "Okay. Do you, Mommy, take Daddy to be your husband? For richer or for poorer... whatever that means... And in walkers and in bad guys?"

"I do," I said, voice steady even as my heart stuttered.

"And do you, Daddy, take Mommy to be your wife? In sickness and in health and even when she won't stop talking?

Daryl nodded, eyes locked with mine. "Yeah. I do."

"Okay, then you can kiss now."

Daryl didn't move right away. Neither did I. We just stood there, caught in the quiet weight of it. Then Daryl leaned forward and kissed me - soft and sure, the way you'd kiss someone who'd saved your life a thousand times over. It was careful, mindful of the kids, but it didn't need to be more. Not when it meant everything.

When we separated, Briar clapped once. "Now you're married... again!"

"Guess we are," I murmured, smiling up at Daryl as he tugged lightly on the end of my towel veil.

"Think we get another honeymoon?" he murmured.

I smiled. "I wouldn't say no."

His eyes flicked to the kids, now arguing over who got to be the priest next time. Then back to me.

And that quiet look said it all.

We'd made it. We really had.

~

Further to Annie and Merle's insistence that their wedding be as "proper" as possible, Briar and I had been evicted next door for the night, while Merle and DJ swapped to our house to bunk with Daryl and Sawyer.

It had been planned for weeks, but I still wasn't thrilled about it. Not because I didn't believe in that whole "groom can't see the bride before the wedding" superstition - though I really didn't. And not because I didn't want to spend Annie's last night of so-called freedom with her.

No. My sulk came from the fact that, after the unexpected make-believe nuptials that had somehow become ridiculously heartfelt, I'd been very much in the mood for some post-fake-wedding sex with my newly re-wedded husband... but now I was stuck in Annie's bedroom instead, with Briar snoring like a little chainsaw beside me.

I'd expected her to be too excited to sleep - she'd been buzzing like a firefly all week - but within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, she was out cold, face buried in the blankets, hair sticking out in every possible direction. The room smelled faintly of the homemade lavender soap Annie kept in her dresser, with a lingering sweetness from the apple pie she'd baked for us earlier.

Our dresses for tomorrow hung on the back of the door. Briar's was a frilly, off-white number with puffed sleeves and a bow on the back that she swore had once belonged to a princess. Mine... well, mine was more of a lost cause. While everyone else had been sewing, scavenging, and generally going all out for the big day, I'd procrastinated myself into a corner. The best I'd managed was a sad beige number I'd found last week in what I assume was once a Goodwill. Even the looters from the early days had apparently deemed it too ugly to bother with.

A couple mornings ago, I'd blamed my lack of effort on Daryl.

"How's that on me?" he'd scoffed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Because you've always made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world - even when I've got walker entrails in my hair... It's made me lazy."

"Ain't my fault I want ya even when yur gunky." He chuckled, kissing my forehead, "Ath, ya'll look beautiful in whatever ya wear."

I hadn't even tried the dress on. I knew it wasn't going to flatter anything. Still, what did it really matter when we were just playing fairytale for a day? We'd all be back in our patched up, gore-stained gear come the following morning anyway.

I'd just started to drift when the door creaked open and Annie - who I'd assumed was asleep already - slipped into the room with a mischievous grin and a dusty bottle of wine she'd clearly liberated from the wedding stash.

"She asleep?" she whispered.

"She is," I said, smirking.

"Good. It's very important that we drink this."

We ended up cross-legged on her and Merle's threadbare couch downstairs, passing the bottle back and forth and falling into one of those deep, unplanned conversations that seem to happen only in the middle of the night. We talked about the Dixon brothers - how they were so similar it was scary in some ways, and polar opposites in others. She teased me about how much Daryl must be dreading being best man, picturing him standing stiff as a board in front of the crowd, trying not to scowl.

She was probably right.

"So be real with me," she demanded next, suddenly serious. "Is it true the lovemaking dries up once the rings are on?"

I nearly choked. "What?"

"You know - gets boring. Becomes... routine."

"Not in my experience," I said, wiping my mouth and shaking my head. "I want Daryl more than ever."

Her eyes narrowed, testing me. "Really?"

"Really. I used to think marriage would kill the romance - that's why I never wanted it before. But it's bullshit... maybe something to do with being on the edge of dying a lot... but I still find myself falling for him more even now... which I didn't think was possible."

She tilted her head. "You never wanted to get married?"

"Nope," I said plainly, draining my glass. "Not before all this."

"But then you did... So what happened?"

"Daryl Dixon happened."

Annie grinned. "And you just knew?"

I pondered for a moment. "Not right away. We were friends a long time. I mean I was definitely falling for him even then - he was the only person who could make me feel safe, but I didn't expect anything back."

I paused, remembering. "Daryl was different back then. Even more closed off, more guarded. I thought I was just going to have to accept we'd never be more. It was just a me thing."

Annie looked invested. She wasn't around back then. She didn't know all this, but she scoffed.

"Nah. I can't imagine him ever looking at you with anything other than those puppy-dog eyes."

"For real. I couldn't tell if he liked me even as a friend sometimes. We were close, but then he'd act weird. It drove me mad, to be honest. And then one night, we were fighting on a roof, and he just... kissed me."

Her brows shot up. "Out of nowhere?"

"In a way, yeah." I said, topping up our glasses.

"And you were together from then?"

"No. We had ups and downs, but I knew we were meant to be together then. I just... knew- but anyway, why are we talking about me? You're the one getting married tomorrow - I take it by the grand ceremony that you were that little girl who always dreamed of being a bride?"

"Actually," Annie said mischievously, like she was about to reveal a deep dark secret. "I wasn't that bothered - it was Merle."

"What!?" I choked on my wine again. "Seriously?"

"He'd been going on about us doing it for ages, even since before DJ was born. I didn't ever see the point. But when I thought I'd lost him in those caves..."

She trailed off, the memory too painful, so I finished for her.

"...You decided you wanted it?"

She nodded, a faint smile returning. "Yeah. I knew the next time he asked, I wanted to say yes."

A realization hit me then. "Annie, do not tell me Merle's the one wanting the big white wedding..."

She smirked, and it told me everything I needed to know.

I nearly sprayed wine across the room. "No... way."

Then, I cackled so loudly I was surprised it didn't wake Briar... or half of Alexandria.

She was laughing now too. "Do not tell anybody!"

I couldn't answer. I was hysterical again.

By the time the wine was gone, we'd gotten silly, laughing at nothing and everything. Annie suddenly hopped off the couch, disappeared upstairs, and came back with something draped over her arm.

"Daryl left this for you," she said, smiling, "Think he felt awkward giving you it, like he was trying to say your outfit was shitty or something."

My heart stuttered in disbelief as she handed me a dress unlike anything I'd worn in years - maybe ever. Soft dove-grey silk that caught the light, the skirt flowing but not overly fancy, with a bodice that was fitted just enough to make me feel like a woman, not just a survivor. It smelled faintly of cedar and dust, like it had been waiting years for someone to claim it.

"He said you weren't happy with yours," Annie added. "Asked me to fix the tear."

"Thank you," I mumbled quietly, my gaze still fixed on the fabric.

Suddenly, all those "urgent" supply runs Daryl had taken with Merle over the last few days made sense. He knew I felt uncomfortable about my beige monstrosity, he must've been scouring for something I'd feel beautiful in.

The thoughtfulness of it made my heart swell. It took everything in me not to bolt next door and wrap my arms around him. This must have been so hard for him to find, but he'd done it - for me.

"I have something else for you too," Annie said, her voice softening. "Because you're my maid of honor... and because I never had a sister before... Always wanted one."

It caught me off guard, that honesty. My throat tightened.

"I did have one," I said quietly. "But... I love that I have another now."

The silver chain she handed me was delicate, a tiny crescent crescent pendant cool against my palm.

"A moon?" I breathed.

"Yeah. It's nothing fancy. Found it a while ago just lying there in the dirt... Do you like it?"

I rubbed the small moon gently between my fingers, then looked up at her and smiled. "I love it."

And I really did. Her calling me her sister, then handing me a goddamn moon of all things...

Call it woo-woo - but in that moment, it felt like the universe was winking at me. Like, somehow, Selene had sent it.

A/N: This is actually just half of the chapter, but for some reason, it won't let me publish it all! 😅

The second half is coming right up - it actually works nicely being split into two.

Let's have a good old Dixon wedding, shall we?

Hope you enjoyed! ❤️