Beth smiled as she finally put Judith to sleep. The baby had refused to sleep for the past hour, but as Beth sang to her, she finally drifted into unconsciousness.
"She finally asleep?" Carol said as she squeezed Beth's arm. Beth nodded and looked at the baby. Judith could have been at least six, maybe seven months old by now.
"I sometimes wish Lori were still here," Beth admitted. It was true; she had missed her. Lori had been the one who nursed her back to health after she fell into shock back at the farm. She'd been almost like a mother to Beth; comforting her when her dad was bit and lost his leg, and when she lost Patricia.
"We all do." Carol smiled sadly and rubbed Beth's arm. Then she turned around and went outside. Beth sighed when she looked around. She was alone. Her dad was on a walk, Maggie was probably somewhere with Glenn, Rick was tending to the farm, and Michonne and Daryl were on a run.
After a few moments of silence, she heard footsteps. "Hey." Carl said as he walked towards her, smiling. Beth offered a smile back.
"How come you're not with your dad?" She asked. Usually, Rick had Carl help with the pigs, and/or the crops.
Carl shrugged. "He gave me the day off. What're you doing?"
Beth realized that she was just standing there, not really doing anything. She was in the main room of cell block C, the room with all the tables. Judith was in a box on one of those tables.
"Nothing. You seen Maggie?" Beth responded. She had missed her sister, they haven't spent much time together these past few months. Beth was almost always busy with Judith, and Maggie, well she was pretty preoccupied with Glenn.
"Nah." Carl fixed his hat so it was straight. Then he gave Beth a weird look. "You all right?"
"I'm fine, why?" Beth chuckled a little bit. Carl had always been worrying about her. It was so obvious that he had a crush on her, which Beth found sweet.
"You look pretty green." Now that Carl mentioned it, she did feel a bit weird. But she just figured it was exhaustion. But the next thing she knew, she was running outside and throwing up. Carl followed. "Beth?" He called worriedly. She let everything out and when she stood up, her sister was at her side.
"You alright?" Maggie asked. Beth managed to nod, but then knelt down to throw up again. After she was done, her sister dragged her inside and within minutes their dad was there, observing his younger daughter.
"Is she sick?" Glenn had asked him. Hershel shook his head, "Doesn't seem like it."
Maggie squeezed Beth's hand reassuringly. If anything was wrong with her, their father would be able to find out.
In the end, he decided that she get plenty of rest, and water. Beth sent him a thankful smile and let her sister lead her to her cell. After she lied down, Maggie sat down on what little space the bed had left.
"Go on, sleep. I'll stay with you." Maggie brushed Beth's check and smiled. Beth reciprocated, then let sleep take over her.
When Beth opened her eyes, her sister was gone, and Beth immediately panicked. Where did she go? She promised Beth she wouldn't leave. Beth jumped off her bed and sighed in relief when she saw Maggie on the top bunk.
Maggie raised her eyebrows and sat up when she saw the panicked look on her sister. "What's the matter?"
Beth let out a deep breath. "You scared me. I thought something might've happened…"
"Like what?" Maggie asked as she looked around.
The Governor, Beth wanted to say, but she knew that was a sore spot for her sister. That monster had done unspeakable things to her, and Beth knew how hard it was for her.
Instead, Beth shook her head and said, "Never mind. Are Daryl and Michonne back yet?"
Maggie pursed her lips, "Yeah, why?" Beth could see the confusion on her face when she mentioned the redneck, but there was no way to explain what had been going on between them. Beth could never tell anyone, not even her dad.
"Just asking." Beth said coolly. She expected Maggie to keep asking questions, but instead she jumped off the bed, kissed Beth on the cheek, then left.
Beth sighed when she left. She hated being alone, so she decided to go see Carol. The woman always had been happy to see her, and Beth figured it was because she felt like a mother to her. Carol had told Axel off when he started hitting on her, which Beth hadn't even noticed he was doing.
Beth left her cell and sought out Carol. Instead, she ran into Rick, who had Judith in his arms. She smiled when she saw them. She asked him if he's seen Carol, and he said she was in her cell, and Beth nodded.
Carol had been happy to see her, just as Beth expected her to be. "You wanna talk about something?" Carol asked. Beth stared at the wall in front of her. Could she tell Carol about her… condition? Would the older woman judge her? Scold her for being so stupid? Beth had done that to herself many times.
Beth looked her in the eye, but only for a second. "Beth," Carol touched her arm. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Beth nodded, then mumbled an excuse about being tired. She quickly left Carol's cell and went to find Daryl. She assumed he was on watch about this time, and she was right. She quietly slipped outside to talk to him.
He didn't say anything though, but that didn't surprise her. Daryl hardly spoke anyway. She cleared her throat, and said, "I'm pregnant."
Daryl turned around and stared at her, "You sure?" He said in that gruff voice of his.
Beth did nothing but nod, then turned around. She sighed audibly, then started walking, leaving Daryl to his thoughts.
The next morning was quiet, aside from Maggie constantly making sure Beth was okay. She'd thrown up again this morning, which Maggie had walked right in on. Beth cursed herself for letting her sister see. If she wasn't careful, her sister would start to put the pieces together: the constant throwing up, not being able to be around poultry of any kind, her stomach slowly increasing in size…
Beth shivered. Her sister would found out eventually, though. Everyone would.
She met Carol an Judith at breakfast, and she saw Daryl across the room, not-so-discreetly staring at her. She offered him a smile, and he ducked his head. Her smile fell and she started eating the cereal on her plate.
"How you feeling?" Carol asked as she ate. Beth didn't respond at first, instead looking at Daryl, who still wasn't looking at her. She finally gave up and gave a small smile.
"Fine."
Carol nodded at the response and Beth watched as Daryl left the room. Carol watched him too. She grabbed another plate of cereal and followed him.
"You need to eat," Carol called after him. He didn't stop walking though, so she called him again. "Daryl!"
She caught up to him and pushed the plate of food into his chest. "Take it." She said sternly.
Daryl shook his head and pushed it away, "Give it to Beth."
"Beth?" Carol raised her eyebrow in confusion. All he did was nod.
"Yeah you know, blond hair-"
"I know who you mean, but, why?" Carol asked. Daryl had never mentioned her before, so it was very weird to hear him mention her name. Carol had never seen the two of them interact before.
"She's too skinny." Daryl said, then walked away. Carol walked back into cell block C and did as Daryl requested. Beth didn't seem shocked when Carol told her about what he had said, which made Carol think. After the farm, when Lori was still alive and pregnant, they had gone from place to place trying to find a safe shelter. And now that she thought about it, there were a few times when both Beth and Daryl were missing. Could they have been… hooking up?
Carol internally scoffed at the thought of Daryl Dixon having sex with the younger girl. But it was entirely possible.
And Beth throwing up so much? That could only mean one thing…
After breakfast, Beth sought out Daryl. She was furious at him for giving her his food, like she was a child. She could take care of herself.
She failed to find Daryl, instead finding Rick once again. This time they had an actual conversation, and it was about Judith.
"Just wait till she starts walking," She giggled. "Or talking. That'll be fun."
Rick laughed along with her. "I know."
After a few minutes she felt really tired, so she said goodbye to Rick, who was down at the 'farm'.
She lied down on her cell bed and closed her eyes.
What do you think? Was it good? Let me know. This is my first time writing fanfiction for The Walking Dead, so I might not be so good at the whole accent/dialogue thing, or characterization.
Thank you for reading!