NEW STORY! NEW STORY! NEW STORY!

Just a few changes! Nothing major.

This story does take place in the apocalypse but not much after the group comes to the farm will actually happen in this story. This will be explained as the story unfolds. I promise. Bear with me when it comes to this first chapter...the remaining chapters will tell the events that led to this point in the chapter. Hope you enjoy and stick around for the rest!

Chapter 1

"Come on Lucky, you can do this." Daryl breathed into my ear as I sat in the cradle of his legs gritting my teeth and pushing with all my might one more time hoping our stubborn child would cooperate. I had been in labor since yesterday evening and pushing for what seemed like hours.

With a tired grunt I collapsed back against his chest when Carol nodded at me from her position between my legs where she was attempting to coax our stubborn child into the world. "I see the head, Beth, so I need a few more good pushes to get this little one into the world." She smiled up at me as Maggie laid a damp rag against my forehead.

"Come on Bethie. You can do this." She whispered gently. "You're stronger than all of us put together. Give it your best shot." She whispered with a wink before stepping back to the foot of my bed.

"Come on baby, give momma a break." I pleaded with my unborn child as I felt my large stomach tighten once more in a contraction. I grit my teeth and bared down like Carol had been instructing me to do for the past month. "GOD!" I screamed as I felt the most intense pain I had ever felt in my entire life.

"That's it, Beth. Almost there." Carol said with a bright smile as she looked back down between my legs. "One more. Keep going." She said as I took a deep breath and pushed again. Finally feeling some relief from the tiring job of delivering a baby.

I watched on in amazement as Carol handed my slime covered baby to Maggie who went about cleaning her up. "Is she okay?" I asked as Carol delivered the afterbirth and cleaned me up. "Daryl."

"I love you, Lucky." He whispered against the crown of my head. "Your sister knows what she's doing."

"She's fine, Bethie. Just looking around." Maggie cooed as she cradled our daughter in her arms. "Congratulations you two. You have a daughter." She said as she gently laid the still naked baby in my arms.

Settling the little girl in my arms I looked back at Daryl who was watching us with wide eyes over my shoulder. "You okay?" I whispered as the tiny baby looked up at us with wide black eyes. Lori had explained to me that even though the baby was 'looking' at us she couldn't actually see us but assured us that she would know we were her parents because we had been talking to her my entire pregnancy.

"Yeah." He said in a gruff voice. "It's just surreal. I never thought I'd have a kid. Much less a daughter."

Maggie and Carol laughed as they cleaned up the mess from my delivery and cleaning the baby. "Well Pookie, you now have another girl to boss you around." Carol said softly as she pulled the sheet back over my legs now that the hard part was over. It was summertime in Georgia so even a sheet could be stifling most days but the soft whirl of the overhead fan kept the air stirred around us.

"Great." He muttered as he reached around to play with our daughters feet which caused her to scrunch her nose up and pull her feet away from him.

"Ticklish are you?" I asked as I readjusted her so that I could try to get her to nurse. "Tell Daddy to stop." I said softly as I followed the steps that Carol and Lori had practically driven into my head in the past month. Finally, I got the girl to latch on without it hurting too much.

Carol and Maggie silently grabbed the dirtied linens and left the room, the door clicking shut softly behind them.

"We did it, Lucky. She's absolutely gorgeous, just like her momma." Daryl whispered as he ran his fingers gently over our daughters light brown hair that was covering her entire head. Being able to give birth to our daughter in the same home that me, my sister, and my daddy were all born in was something I never thought would happen once the dead started roaming the earth with us. But Daryl had made it possible.

"We know she's stubborn like her momma but let's hope she's quiet like her daddy." I remarked as I pulled the little girl away from my swollen breasts that Daryl had seemed fascinated with since I had told him I was pregnant while we picked peaches last fall.

Being quiet was imperative with the dead roaming the earth with us but we had defenses in place to make our home the safest place around. "We still going with Lilly Grace?" I asked as we watched our girls little mouth open and close indicating she was still hungry. I put on her the other breast to finish her feeding.

He reached over to stroke a finger down her tiny cheek as she began suckling once again. "Sounds perfect ta' me."

"Lilly Grace. Is that your name little girl?" I asked her as I settled back into Daryl's chest while his arms reached around mine to help me cradle our daughter.

"Do you remember the day we met for the first time?" Daryl asked softly as he glanced up at my face real quickly before focusing back on our daughter.

Smiling at him I nodded. "Of course I do. Not only do I remember it clearly I have it wrote down in my journals." I said pointing across the room to the shelf that was filled with the spiral notebooks Daryl had brought me back from one of his runs before we stopped making runs for good.

"Why?" He asked softly. "Why would you write about us?"

"So our kids can have our story to pass down once we're gone. Our memories may fade but my written words never will." I explained as he eased himself from behind me, going to the shelf to thumb through the notebooks. "Grab a diaper on your way back." I told him as he flipped through the notebooks until he found the place he wanted. The first time I laid eyes on him. Almost four years ago.

He settled back on the bed next to me with his back against the headboard he had made a few years ago when we broke the other one. "Will you read it to us? I love hearing your voice."

Swapping our daughter for my notebook I settled into the bed and began reading our story as he fastened the first diaper on the full baby.