Bethyl {One-Shot Collection}

California Christmas

Prompt from buffygurl077: "Christmas fic; Daryl and Beth are spending their first Christmas as husband and wife and Beth reveals they are going to be parents."

Notes: 1) After the end of the apocalypse. Beth and Daryl had met during the apocalypse (which lasted two years) when Beth was 16 and Daryl was 30. They now are 22 and 36. 2) They married soon after society was partially rebuilt (and the rebuilding continues).

***Storytime! And as usual. . . SPOILER ALERT!!!***

*

     The engine roared to life and Daryl took off down Sunset Boulevard, leaving his helmet behind so his hair could air out and dry. He'd been working on the bike all day, sweat beading from his every pore. Southern California was warm, even in December. Beth had begged him to move out there for quite a while to get her music career off the ground. They'd lived in the city for over a year, and Beth was finding it more difficult than she'd expected to bring attention to her efforts. Daryl had been reluctant to make such a drastic change to their lives and his usual, simple culture, but Beth was so determined to shoot for the stars. Besides, the beaches, the sun, and the warm weather are startin' to grow on me. Daryl thought, flicking up a corner of his mouth in a half-smile. His absent mind wandered back to the road as he slowed to a stop at a red light. Having waited calmly for what seemed like forever, he jumped when a honk sounded from his left. There, in her new, green F-150, sat Beth, grinning and waving, apparently on her way home already. He grinned crookedly and wholeheartedly and waved back. She pointed to a side-road that branched off Sunset and sped ahead as the light flashed to green. Daryl followed in her tracks, changing lanes accordingly. They slowed to a stop in front of a small boutique that had yet to be repaired and left their vehicles to meet between them. Daryl's new grinned as she stretched on her toes to kiss Daryl. They'd married only five months before. Daryl wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her close. When they finally broke apart, Beth dropped the tailgate of the truck and pulled out a wide, flat board, which she leaned against the truck bed as a ramp. Daryl smirked and flipped the bike into neutral, beginning to walk it up the ramp that Beth held steady, into the truck. With several bungee cords from the cab, he strapped the now once again parked bike securely down. Once that was done, they replaced their makeshift ramp next to the bike and hopped into the cab, Beth still driving. 

        Beth was a crazy driver; always had been. But she sure was fun to ride with. The truck lurched forward as she hit the gas just a little too hard. They rolled down the street before flying left, back onto Sunset Boulevard and cruised past the scenery to their apartment. Daryl gazed at his beautiful new bride the whole way home; the tiny braid in her golden hair, which was pulled back neatly into a ponytail. Her hair had grown so long since they'd been married, nearly half a year before. Partially re-build buildings whizzed by as they picked up speed, but Daryl didn't bother looking. He was too fixated on Beth's smooth skin, pinkened by the sun; her blue eyes shining with the calm of a California afternoon. However, it was't just any afternoon. 

          Christmas had rolled around so quickly that Daryl had nearly missed it. The unwillingness of the government to shut down all reconstruction efforts made the day even more difficult to remember and recognize as separate. Daryl's group had been among the lucky ones let off of work for Christmas. Nevertheless, Daryl had gotten Beth what he thought was the greatest Christmas gift he could find. Little did he know, she had a surprise in store for him that would change his life forever. 

          Traffic wasn't nearly as dense as before the outbreak, yet driving wasn't quick or easy. There had been a shocking number of survivors of the apocalypse, and most had settled in Los Angeles, downtown where the destruction was more minimal physically. That still left cleaning up walker bodies to begin to clean and repair buildings within the city. Most of the first cleaned-out buildings were grocery stores and apartment buildings. The world had gotten back on its feet remarkably fast, re-opening car dealerships, restaurants, factories, etc. all in just two years. Electricity, TV, radio were all back up. The water had been cleaned out. Much of the "grid" was back in service, which left just more cleanup and rebuild to be done. Beth and Daryl's apartment was in the first building to be refinished following the end of the outbreak, so they'd gotten a nice one. Soon after, it had been realized that it took much more time to make them nice, so the apartments got sloppier as time went on.