A/N Thanks to everyone who has read this story. I appreciate you all so much. I hate to say goodbye to these folks, but I feel our story's been told, and this chapter puts a bow on it. I hope you enjoy!

He finished up at work a little earlier than he'd expected. He had plans to meet Aaron and Eric at their place, but he had more than an hour to kill. He decided to head to the beach and watch the power of the Pacific Ocean, it was something he'd enjoyed doing since first moving to Oregon.

He sat on the short seawall staring out at the waves and he started to reflect.

It had been almost 21 years since he and Beth had gotten married. The best day of his life. He never thought he'd find the kind of happiness that his wife and family had brought to him, he never knew how good life could be.

Oh sure, there had been ups and downs, that's part of life, but there had been a lot more good than bad, and they were about to embark on a whole new phase of their lives. Annie would be getting married in just a month, on his and Beth's Anniversary, and at their cabin. It was a sort of recreation of his and Beth's wedding he supposed.

When Carl had come to him and asked for Annie's hand he hadn't really been surprised, they'd been dating since Annie was 18, but he'd never prepared himself for the idea that someday she'd actually be a married woman, no longer his baby girl.

She knew he was feeling overwhelmed when she wrapped her arms around him and said, "You'll always be my Daddy Dawell."

And he laughed softly, kissed her on the top of her head and said, "And you'll always be my Sunnyside, I love ya."

"I love you Daddy."

He thought the world of Carl, Rick and Lori had raised a good man. And for his own selfish reasons, he was glad she was marrying a local boy with roots in the community. He didn't know how he'd deal with it if she had wanted to move away.

Everyone had expected Carl to follow in Rick's footsteps and go into law enforcement, but Carl had other ideas. He wanted to be a Doctor, and he wanted to be a traditional rural Doctor, kind of a throwback. Annie had followed his lead and gone into nursing.

With Lily and Axel retiring, Maggie and Beth once again had to make a decision about the store. Neither one wanted to re-open it, and since Maggie and Glenn had decided not to have children and had no one they were interested in leaving it to, Maggie and Beth agreed to sign the deed over to Annie, keeping the property in the family.

Carl and Annie would be remodeling the store into a medical office, with Daryl and Chance's help, and living in the house Annie had lived in as a small child.

Daryl smiled at how life had made a full circle.

She'd been such a sweet little girl, she and Daryl had bonded right away, and although he almost never called her by the name anymore, she would indeed always be his Sunnyside. He silently thanked Johnny every day for giving him and Beth the gift of this girl, now a woman.

She'd been his little fishing buddy, but she'd never really cared for hunting. She did love archery and was an excellent shot with a bow. She was a terrific cook, especially baking, just like her Mama.

She'd always been what he thought of as "chatty" with Beth, Chance and himself, and their close circle of "family," but she was quiet and shy around others. She was so pretty, just like her Mama, with slightly darker hair, and she had freckles, which she hated and Daryl loved.

He'd started noticing the way she and Carl looked at each other when Annie was about 14, but Carl was in his second year of college by then, and he knew enough to wait until she was older to ask her out. He liked that Carl was a little older, after all, he had 10 years on Beth.

Then there was his boy Chance, and the closest thing Chance had to a brother, Merle and Carol's boy Travis. Half the county referred to them as 'The Dixon Twins.' They were a pair those two.

Daryl smiled to himself, he knew Chance was like him in so many ways, quiet, and not one to share his thoughts and feelings easily. He was Daryl's number one hunting buddy. The boy could track better than his Daddy by the time he was 10. He was always a bow hunter, but unlike Daryl, Chance was an instinctive archer, something Daryl did only on occasion, it was a whole different skill set. Damn Chance was good, he could've competed and achieved a lot of fame in archery circles, but that wasn't of interest to Chance, yep, just like his Dad. His skills impressed the hell out of Daryl and Merle both.

And Chance looked like Daryl, similar height and build, with dark hair and deep blue eyes. But he'd never been a hot head, like Daryl had been when he was younger. Chance had a calmness to him.

The way Chance was about school didn't come from Daryl, he knew that for a fact, and Beth knew it didn't come from her. He was just himself Daryl supposed. The boy was so smart. He was going into his third year of college with a full scholarship. He was studying Marine Biology with his mind set on working right in Newhope at the marine science center, but he was determined to get his Master's Degree first, and then work on his PhD. His "Uncles" Aaron and Eric had offered him their expertise, and their sound advice, helping him in every way they could.

But as smart as Chance was, he'd done his share of dumbass things, and Daryl almost laughed, asking himself, "Well, what the fuck did you expect? He's a Dixon."

He and Travis were as wild as an acre of snakes when they were younger, doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Like when they built those plywood ramps in the yard and were racing bikes up and down them like they were motocross riders. Until finally Chance ended up with a busted lip and a messed up knee, and Travis broke an arm.

And there was the usual teenage stuff. Daryl had caught them smoking down by the river, and he and Merle had made their lives miserable for a while over that.

Now that time they'd gotten drunk, that was bad. Chance had been on restriction for two months over that, and Daryl had him in the woods every chance they got. Daryl had a deep seated fear, he knew it ran in the blood, he didn't want his boy to be a drunk. Fortunately, Chance didn't seem interested in taking up the vice.

Then there was that time they'd nearly burned the damn property down.

It was when the boys were 10 years old. It was tough times for the Dixon families. Carol was fighting breast cancer, Sophia was off at Cosmetology School over near Salem, and Merle was having a helluva time dealing with shit. Oh he was taking good care of Carol, acting like he had it all together and everything was under control, but Daryl knew his brother, knew her suffering was making Merle suffer twice as much.

Daryl and Beth asked to have Travis come stay with them for a while, trying to give Carol and Merle both a break.

Now Travis, he was just the opposite of Chance. He may have been born second, but he was bigger, he was sure as hell louder, and he never had any trouble sharing his thoughts and feelings, on everything. He was just like his Daddy, loud and boisterous. But underneath all that noise, he had a great big heart that boy, and it was tender, just like his Daddy's.

Those two boys together were like a couple of wild animals. They ran off in the woods every chance they got, setting snares, climbing trees, ripping holes in their clothes, coming back looking like they hadn't bathed in a year.

And they looked out for Annie and Sophia, every boy in the county knew if he did wrong by Sophia or Annie, he'd have to deal with the Dixon Twins.

So this particular day, he and Beth and Annie are over at the river, having a little picnic and working on catching some fish for dinner, and Chance and Travis said they were going to head out in the woods to eat their lunch and scout deer.

Annie was just reeling in a fish when Beth looked at him and said, "I think I smell smoke." Well Daryl smelled trouble. He raced back toward the house and sure enough, there was a good size fire burning near the shop. Daryl grabbed the hose and managed to get it out. When he was sure he'd extinguished it, he found the 10 year old culprits hiding, scared shitless.

Turns out they'd been using magnifying glasses to try and set fire to an ant hill with dry grass and things quickly escalated beyond their control.

Now Daryl knew all about how boys will be boys, but almost burning down the shop, and possibly the house, this was too much. He knew he had to come down on these boys like the wrath.

He had them waiting on the couch, Beth was in the kitchen working on dinner, and he was pacing in the bedroom pondering exactly what to do. He finally thought of something they'd really hate. He was just coming out of the bedroom, and he saw his very petite 14 year old daughter standing in front of the two criminals, arms folded across her chest, and she said, "You two are a couple of real dumbasses, you're lucky Daddy didn't kill you, because if I was him I sure as hell would." And those tough boys hung their heads, and she stomped off.

It was in that moment Daryl knew Annie was the kind of girl who could take care of herself, and he smiled.

The shop building could use a good coat of stain, a big project to take on, especially if the brushes are very small, and Daryl decided they were the men for the job. And that job took them just over three weeks, and he never saw them trying to light anything on fire, by any method, ever again.

It made him happy Chance and Travis had each other, just like he and Merle had each other. And they both had Annie and Sophia. He knew between the four of them they'd all be looking out for one another the rest of their lives. He took comfort in that.

Unlike Chance, Travis wasn't much for school, oh he passed everything, Carol made sure of that, but he had no interest in going to college.

Right out of High School he went to mechanics school, did real well, and was working for the county road and bridge crew, a plum job. Daryl didn't have any doubt he'd be the lead mechanic in no time.

Rick and Lori had one of those "surprise" babies when Chance and Travis were just a year old. A pretty little gal named Becky. She and Travis had been practically inseparable since she turned 16.

He knew poor Rick nearly tore his hair out when they first took up with each other, but he relaxed when he saw that Travis had learned well from watching the way Merle treated Carol. Travis treated Becky with respect, he was devoted to her and her happiness, and the boy had a very protective nature.

Daryl supposed they'd be getting married in another year or two.

And then there was Chance. Chance was a guy like Daryl when it came to girls, scared to make a move, it would take a girl making the move on him, and a girl had done just that.

A year after Chance was born, Aaron and Eric had gotten married. It was a small ceremony, just their very close "family," and Eric's Mother. Right there at Aaron and Eric's home.

They went through a private adoption agency, and a year after the wedding, they adopted a two year old girl. Her name was Amanda, but they all called her Mandy. She was as sweet as could be and a pretty little thing.

Even now as a 20 year old, she was tiny, with blond hair and big blue eyes. He'd watched his boy look at her for years, and he watched her look back at Chance, and when it came time for them to go off to college, Mandy had gotten tired of waiting, she'd finally put it to him, "Chance Dixon are you ever going to come to your senses and ask me out?"

The boy came to his senses.

Mandy had the same goals as his Chance, they were so close, and so alike it made Daryl truly believe in fate and destiny and all that stuff. He expected they'd marry sometime in the next three to five years, and he'd be happy about that.

He was mighty relieved that Aaron and Eric seemed happy about the whole thing as well.

Sophia had opened her own small salon right in Akron and ended up marrying Caesar's boy Teddy. Teddy worked for Caesar, and Daryl thought he was a real good man. Someday he and Sophia would be running the business, but for now, they both worked hard and baby number one was on the way. Merle was gonna be a grandpa, he and Carol were beyond excited.

As for he and Beth, well he couldn't have asked for any better. Their life together was so good.

Oh they'd had their sadness. Beth had a miscarriage when Chance was two, and it had been so devastating for them they'd decided never to try again. They had two perfect kids, and they felt they should be grateful for their blessings.

And there was that period of time, after they'd been married 11 years or so, when it seemed like they began to drift apart. Daryl got scared. He could deal with a lot of shit, but he knew he could never deal with losing what he had with Beth. So Maggie and Glenn had come to stay with the kids for two weeks, and Beth and Daryl had taken off on the Indian, just riding around with no particular plan or destination. They focused on each other, and reminded themselves what they'd always had, and they grew closer than they'd ever been. They made it an annual event.

It was time, he was off to Aaron and Eric's. He hadn't danced since he and Beth got married, he needed a refresher course, he didn't want to embarrass his girl when they danced that father/daughter dance at her wedding.

A/N And so they really did come full circle. Again, I thank you all so much. If you crave more Bethyl, please try my story Hittin' the Highway. You guys are the best of the best!

xoxoxoxo