A Marriage Chapter 3

Maggie paced the living room. Daryl had asked for a few days to think things over after her mother gave him Hershel's letter. That had been a week ago. A whole week in which Maggie waited for word from Daryl about the fate of their family's future. He'd offered to do anything he could for the family, but this was taking that offer to the extreme. While she waited for him to come over that evening, possibly to tell them no, she was losing precious time to find someone. She especially feared that Beth would have to wed Noah, without being certain he was the man she wanted to be with, at least until she could produce a male heir. She was so young, and Maggie dreaded putting such heavy responsibilities upon her shoulders.

"He'll say no, of course," Maggie said, worrying her thumb between her teeth, chewing on the nail. "Who the hell marries somebody for a farm they don't need or want?"

Maggie wanted to rage against the sexist, draconian laws General Walsh refused to overturn. His excuse was always the same: Until society fully bounced back from near annihilation from the outbreak, they had to use a system that works, a system based on patriarchy. Humanity always fell back on what it knew to survive, blah, blah, blah. It was bullshit. As far as she was concerned all that was just an excuse to create a power imbalance in favor of men, but there was nothing that could be done to change it. Not yet. Not for a very long time.

When a military Jeep trundled up the driveway on that early February morning, Maggie felt her stomach clench. Beth's eyes were wide when she looked at Maggie.

"If he doesn't want you, maybe me?" She said in a timid, trembling voice. "I'll do it if I have to."

Maggie squeezed Beth's shoulder knowing if Daryl declined he probably didn't want the whole deal, not because he didn't have the hots for her, specifically, but she didn't have the heart to say that.

"That's brave of you, Beth," said Maggie. "Thank you. We'll see what he says."

Josephine leaned in the kitchen entrance. Her arms were tightly crossed, she shivered, and her even, white teeth bit her bottom lip. She nodded at Maggie to answer when Daryl rang the bell.

"Come in," Maggie said. He had a few snowflakes on his shoulders that she brushed off. She accepted his jacket and hung it up before she closed the door against the cold.

"Would you like some tea? Patricia grows it," Josephine said. "Coffee is just too pricey, I'm afraid."

"Oh, Lord up above, are you gonna say yes or not?" Beth blurted. She wrung her hands and looked a nervous wreck.

"Beth!" Josephine snapped. She looked as mortified as Maggie felt. For his part, Daryl looked amused.

"I'd love some tea, Miss Jo," he said.

"Beth, would you make the tea?" Josephine asked.

"Can't Patricia do it? I don't wanna be left out like some kid."

"Perhaps you should behave like an adult if you wish to be treated as one," Josephine scolded. "Do as I say. Make the tea."

Beth went to the kitchen without further protest, while Josephine ushered Daryl and Maggie over to the couch. She took Hershel's easy chair and sat to face them.

"So, Daryl, have you come to a decision?"

"I did some research," Daryl said. "I spoke to a lawyer concerning the laws around the issue. It's clear, Miss Jo. If agree then the house, the land, all the equipment, animals, everything, would come under my authority. This wouldn't be the Greene farm anymore, but the Dixon farm. This would still spell the end of the Greene family name, at least in Genesis."

"Yes, I know," Josephine said, "but at least the place wouldn't be snatched up by the government. It would be in the family. Maggie would be able to call this place home and that's what matters. The Greene family will have to carry on elsewhere in Georgia through his cousin, Vernon Greene, in Augusta. All I ask is that you give Otis and Patricia time to find housing, and give me a few months to find a place for me and Beth. Then you and Maggie would have the house to yourself."

"Ma'am, this is a five-bedroom house," Daryl responded. "There's plenty of room for all of us. I wouldn't, if I agreed, ask any of you to leave. Housing is scarce anyway. It's unlikely y'all would find anything in Genesis with us barely running at sustainable capacity already."

Josephine and Maggie both sagged in relief. This had been their biggest worry, having to move out and split the family apart. Now they knew they wouldn't have to if he decided to grant Hershel's request. Josephine thanked Daryl, and then waited on him to make a choice.

He looked at Maggie for a few moments. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive," she said, without hesitation.

"All right," he said, "then my answer's yes. I'll do it."

"You're picking Maggie instead of me?" Beth asked, having returned from the kitchen without the tea. "Oh, thank God."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow at her, and she immediately stammered an apology.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like you're…I mean…uh…"

"It's all right, I get it," he said, smiling at her, before he pulled a black velvet box from his pocket.

It was a surreal moment, watching him open it to reveal a diamond ring that was much more expensive than she would've believed possible in these hard times, even for a ranking SL officer. He even got down on one knee for a proper proposal.

"Maggie Greene, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes," she said. "I will."

This was never what Maggie had in mind for herself. She'd long held a fantasy that she'd be in love with the man who proposed to her. Perhaps they'd be on a romantic walk, get caught in the rain, and he'd propose anyway. They'd laugh as he slipped the ring on her finger, then kiss, and start their lives together. Having a long-time family friend pop the question, merely to save the family farm, had never once crossed her mind, and her dreams of marrying for love were further from her than ever.

When Daryl slid the ring onto her finger Maggie felt like he was slipping a chain around her neck. They'd have a friendly but loveless marriage, some children, and that would be her life, however long it was. She felt the ring on her finger. It was a bit loose once it slid on, but her knuckle kept it from falling off. He'd guessed her ring size perfectly.

"What happens now?" Maggie asked.

"Now we set a date. We have to be married within thirty days of Hershel's passing. We've got eighteen days left," Daryl said. "I'm leading the aid mission to Collins settlement and I have to leave tomorrow. I'll return in ten days, which is plenty of time for us to make it official, I give you my word. How about the sixteenth? A couple of days after I've returned?"

"That sounds fine," Maggie said. "Mama?"

Josephine bowed her head. "Agreed. Shall we move your things here, Daryl?"

Daryl shook his head. "I'll do it when I get back."

"The tea is almost ready," Beth said.

"You ladies enjoy it," Daryl said, heading for his coat. "I've got a lot of preparations to make with regards to my house. Good day."

He faced Maggie. They awkwardly made a couple of attempts at a kiss to the cheek goodbye, moving in the same direction and almost bumping noses, unable to get the angle right, before Daryl settled on kissing her hand. He nodded to the other women.

"The announcement will be in the paper in a few days," he told them. "It's just a matter of public record when a high ranking Security League officer marries. We can't refuse the announcement."

He looked glad to be out of the house when he trotted down the steps, Maggie was relieved when he was gone.

"That attempt at a kiss was plain painful to watch," said Patricia.

Maggie secretly agreed and could only imagine their wedding night. Beth must've read her mind because she melodramatically slapped a hand to her chest.

"How are y'all gonna have sex if you can't even manage a little kiss to the cheek?" Beth asked, earning a shush from Josephine and a gentle nudge in the ribs from Patricia at the same time.

Maggie hurried upstairs, desperate to be alone and away from her sister's blunt honesty, delivered in the guise of a joke.

"Nice going, Beth," Josephine grumbled.

"But it's true!"

Three days later the announcement hit the papers and the cards started coming in to congratulate Maggie on making a good match. Most of the people meant well but there were a few that reeked of phony cheer. It was obvious why she was marrying. It had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with saving the family farm, and everyone knew it. Some of the comments in the cards were nothing short of trolling.

Josephine tutted when she saw a card from one of their neighbors. She set it aside.

"Who sent that one?" asked Maggie.

"Annette Miller," Josephine answered.

"You've never liked her, Mama. May I ask why?"

Patricia and Josephine looked at one another for a long time.

"You may not want to know," Josephine said.

"I've heard rumors," Maggie said. "She and Daddy used to be an item."

"Yeah," Josephine said, sipping from her cup of tea. "The problem is, they were an item ten years into our marriage."

Maggie couldn't have been more shocked if her mother had announced she was an alien from outer space and turned orange to prove it. She also would've been less hurt, and disappointed.

"Is...is that why Daddy slept on the couch for a year when I was twelve? Why you argued when you thought I couldn't hear?"

"Yes," said Josephine. "He had an affair, and it almost cost us our marriage. In the end, I decided to forgive and he earned back my trust. Don't hold it against him, Maggie. It was a long time ago. He was human, and made a mistake. He atoned to me, and I'm the one person it mattered to most."

"He never went back to her?"

"I'm positive he didn't," said Josephine.

"Esther Cartwright," Patricia said. She flicked it toward Maggie.

"Daddy didn't-"

"God no," Josephine said, chuckling. "It's blind luck she never knew about Hershel and Annette. It would've spread all over Georgia in a week if she had. She's a gossip. She tries to ingratiate herself, win your trust, and then spread your business all over town."

"If she doesn't have anything real to gossip about she'll make something up," Patricia said. "She almost got Otis banned from church starting rumors he was a homosexual! This was back when Reverend Tucker oversaw the protestant church. When he found out she'd lied about something so serious he banned her for two years."

"She tried to convert to Catholicism but Father O'Bannon wouldn't accept her," said Josephine. "She had to eat crow. She was humiliated, and the talk among the other gossips she usually chatted with. She's still a horrible gossip but she hasn't made up one truly harmful falsehood, that we know of, since."

"I know she likes to feel important," said Maggie. "When Daryl and I have a public ceremony this summer I'm sure she'll expect an invitation. She won't get it. Neither will Annette. I don't want her there."

"It's your day," Josephine said. "You invite only those you want to be there."

Maggie was congratulated at work, too, by both students and faculty, but she wondered how many secretly judged her. She wasn't just marrying to save the farm, which anyone with common sense could figure out. She was marrying the last Dixon in Genesis. Granted, Daryl was the last of his name, but his family history was practically a thing of legend, and for all the wrong reasons.

She was surprised by a cake and tea in the staff break room. Rosita, Carol, and Karen Gutierrez had gathered together, putting a little celebration on for her.

"Is this to save the family farm?" Carol asked.

"Carol!" Rosita said, embarrassed by Carol's bluntness, but she still looked at Maggie with curiosity.

"It's okay," said Maggie. "Yes. It's an arrangement. A marriage of convenience."

"I went out with Daryl a few years ago," said Karen. "Just for a few months. We didn't fall in love but we had fun. Boy, are you a lucky woman."

Carol and Rosita laughed. Maggie felt her face heat. "Yeah?"

"Slightly better than usual endowment but that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what are you talking about, Karen?" Carol asked, batting her lashes innocently.

"His tongue," she answered, with a devilish smile on her lips. "It's like magic. On your wedding night, just lay back and let him do his thing. You'll wake up the whole fucking house, cumming your brains out."

Maggie inwardly cringed at the idea, but she hid it well behind a smile and a wink.

Daryl surprised Maggie with a phone call that night.

"How's food?"

"We're okay," she said, noticing Beth standing on the porch with Noah. They shared a kiss before Beth came back inside and he went to his bike to head home. "Patricia and I plan to go trading tomorrow."

He paused, and in the background she could hear men talking and dishes clanking. Daryl wasn't trying to carry the conversation, and she wasn't sure what to say to him. She was just about to ask about the weather, or how his mission was going, when he started speaking at the same time as her.

"Sorry, you go ahead," he said.

"I just wondered how's the mission going?" she asked awkwardly.

"It's all right," he answered, but his voice was strained. "We've got the citizens safe. They're being fed, tended to."

"It's noble what you're doing," Maggie told him. "You're noble."

There was a lot more intensity in her voice than she expected. She was truly proud of what he did. When she learned he was leading a mission to save another settlement from a fire that destroyed most of it, a fire that started from an attack from Beta Settlement, under General Blake, she'd felt pride in the man he was. It showed through in his voice.

"Thank you," he replied. He sounded embarrassed, a little bashful, at the praise. "That's nice of you to say."

"Just speaking truth. What were you gonna say?"

"I added you to my supplies account," he informed her. "Just call the quartermaster and tell her you need a basic family food package delivered. Tell her it's for a family of five adults. Call tonight and they'll have it delivered by the time you're home from work tomorrow."

"You really don't have to do that."

"You're gonna be my wife, Maggie," he said. "Your family will be mine. It's time I started providing for you. Make the call, please.

"Okay," she said, writing down the number he gave her. "Are you okay?"

"Just a minor wound," he said. "I'm gonna be fine, though. It's nothing."

She told him to stay safe, and as soon as they hung up, she called the number he gave her and put the order in. She'd have to sign for it next day. She set the phone down after and caught Beth smugly grinning at her.

"What?" she demanded.

"'You're so noble, Daryl'," Beth said in a dramatically simpering voice. She batted her eyes, which made Patricia and Otis snicker. Even her mother had to bite down on a grin. "'Oh Daryl, be careful my brave soldier man!'"

"You shut up!" Maggie said, feigning insult. She was just glad her sister was smiling for the first time since their father died. To see her joking was a relief, and it lifted not only her spirits, but everyone else's. "I didn't say anything of the sort, and I don't talk like that."

Her family was outright laughing now. It was embarrassing, annoying, and admittedly she was amused, too. This was the first time she'd heard laughter in the house since her father died, and it felt good. It was nice to see her baby sister smiling again, her blue eyes bright with something besides grief.

"'I can't wait until you're home safe and sound, my love!'" Beth teased again.

"All right, that's enough," Maggie said.

She lunged for her, and Beth barely dodged out of the way. She took off running but Maggie caught her in the living room and pinned her to the couch where she tickled her little sister into fits of screeching laughter until she begged for mercy.

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