AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a short fic I wrote on my old laptop about 3 years ago. I'm going to post these as I edit them. This fic is only few chapters long.

WARNING: Hurt/Angst, Misunderstandings and Miscommunication

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters

Apologies in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors. Thoughts in Italics


You, Me, We are Family

Chapter 1


The crack of lightning and the rolling rumble of thunder awakens Beth from her slumber. Her eyes fly open looking around the darkened room. Another flash, the room lights up and she relaxes when her eyes fall upon the face of the man who walked into her life just over a year ago sleeping beside her. Settling back down into the fluffy pillows arranged around her, she lays there, her body glistening in her own perspiration from the sudden increase in temperature. Another clap of thunder, she lays still listening to it as it echoes and then the downpour of rain beating down the windows takes over.

Looking over at the nightstand, it was three in the morning. She was glad Rick didn't stay out longer like the last time and came home when he did, otherwise he'd have been stranded in his truck on a flooded and blocked road or some dingy bar that didn't close until the crack of dawn.

She had been worried, it was seven in the evening when he slammed the front door behind him after they'd had another disagreement which turned into an argument and then a muted round of silence. That was when the storm began inside and continued out. He just stopped talking, had enough explaining, closed himself off from her and walked away. She couldn't get that look of hurt, disappointment and frustration spread across his face off her mind. She just crumpled to the ground when his truck roared out of the drive leaving her with the thoughts that she was somehow now irrelevant in his life, someone holding him back and he wouldn't care if when he returned, she was gone, it would be a relief and he could go back to his old life before she entered it. This wasn't the man she had fallen in love with, he was always so loving and thoughtful and now he'd changed in a small amount of time and it was disheartening and going to bed alone some nights with silent tears was becoming a norm.

She felt she couldn't breathe. She wanted to pack her bags and run back home to the comforts of her parents but she couldn't do it. She couldn't breathe with him - she couldn't be or breathe without him. She didn't know what to do. She felt like they were becoming distant and one day would become strangers again if this continued. He tried to avoid her as much as he could and they were living together. When she walked into a room, she barely got a full sentence out of him at times, too busy with paperwork or he'd walk out the room when the silence was unbearable.

He hasn't touched her in weeks. A kiss on the head, cheek or a quick peck on the lips was all he would give her, a huge contrast to a couple of months ago. She needed him mentally, emotionally and physically and that hurt more than she could admit to explain or express. It wasn't always like this, there was a time he'd constantly be on her like glue and even turned up at the diner a dozen times a day when she was on shift needing a refill of caffeine - an excuse just to see her and a couple of times when they were both on break, they'd sneak off to his patrol car parked far away from everyone and got hot and steamy. Shane would tease Rick relentlessly about not being able to stay away from her and even more so when he walked in on them in a compromising position at the back of the car.

She was a twenty-year-old college student trying to juggle school and a part-time waitressing job away from her family farm and he was a thirty-six-year-old Sheriff's Deputy, a divorced father of one, trying to work his way up the career ladder whilst trying to be actively a part of his son's life which was dictated by his ex-wife.

Sixteen years between them and the world and their families disapproved.

She remembers that day they met so vividly like it was only yesterday. It was her second week waitressing and she was rushed off her feet trying to do the job of two. Her co-worker that evening had called in sick and it was a busy evening. She was carrying a tray overloaded with food, depositing plates off at each table as she went whilst taking the fresh orders fired at her. Overloaded by food and trying to keep a mental note of orders, table numbers and faces, she tripped over a backpack left in the middle of the floor. He and his partner had walked through the door and just as he did, he stepped quick, caught her in his arm and caught her tray and saved two bowls of ice-cream and two bowls of house specials, apple crumble and custard in his other. She had instantly felt relieved and relived to have been held up and not laying face flat down on the floor with desert all over her.

"You okay?" He had asked helping her up and placing the tray down on the little empty table.

"Yeah, I think so!" She had said flushed distracted trying to get her foot out of the tangled strap of the backpack, grabbing hold of his arm frustrated a little, she kicked and shook her foot to no avail. She took a deep sigh when it didn't shift and fall off.

"Let me!" He had insisted squatting down and pulling the strap aside and she was able to free her foot.

"Thanks for your help, I'm so happy I'm not wearin' desert tonight! Thank you!" She had half-laughed embarrassed at herself but relieved she wasn't covered in ice-cream and custard.

"You're welcome and anytime!" He had said and she could hear the smile and sincerity in his voice and then she heard and saw him lick his finger of the custard that had splashed on his finger as he stood up.

"Whatever ya want, it's on me!" She had said feeling indebted to him.

When she lifted her face up smiling appreciatively, and then she had stood momentarily speechless when she saw him – a tall, dark and handsome officer. She felt like she had swallowed her tongue, taking a gulp when he looked over and caught her face for the very first time. He just stared up at her with his finger still in his mouth and then let it pop out as he stood there just staring, his eyes looking straight into hers.

She had felt the instant magnetic force pushing her towards him, pulling him towards her when they're eyes connected for the very first time, they locked. It was an unexplainable feeling; she'd never felt or experienced those feelings she had felt so strong that had manifested in her mind and her body. Something intimate was brewing, especially in the way he looked at her and it wasn't all innocent and she felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. All she knew right then was, she wanted him more than she's wanted anyone and she knew it was written all over her face as he edged closer to take a closer look like he understood what she was thinking. After that meeting, everywhere she went, everywhere she turned - he was there and so was their undeniable attraction that led them to a wild fiery romance and to where they are today.

She rubs her swelling belly feeling the little kicks reminding her, he or she was there. The product of her and Rick's passion growing inside of her.

She swallows the knot caught in her throat and looks at Rick's sleeping face. Right now, his face was a blank canvas and anything he was feeling, he had most probably pushed it to the back of his mind. She remembered that moment when she told him when she found out she was pregnant. She would never forget, she wished she could. His concerned face rushing towards her sitting on his porch steps waiting for him after work turned to shock, alarm, apprehension and panic, you name it, he went through the motions once she revealed she was pregnant. Rick wore his raw emotions on his face when emotional and lost for words. The news had clearly not been what he had wanted to hear and the emotions etched on his face told her so. He had instantly wiped away those emotions, reached out and pulled her into a comforting hug when he saw she had caught the look on his face. She must have looked crestfallen because he was overcompensating with his comforting words of reassurances; telling her that everything would be okay, they were in this together, he was there for her every step of the way and that he loved her.

They were all the words she desperately wanted to hear from him but they didn't feel completely heartfelt. They felt half-hearted words, like he had to say them. She was crestfallen. She wanted to believe him - it was a shock, of course it was, she thought that he would come to terms and accept becoming a father again but the truth was, he hadn't. Rick doted on Carl, he was devoted to his ten-year-old son like he was the most important and precious thing in the world and she had hoped he would become to be like that with their child when he or she came into their lives. Rick wouldn't mention the baby much unless it was about a scan or hospital appointment. There was no excitement.

He was there with her but he wasn't there completely anymore and when something came along about work, with Carl and Lori calling up with her so-called Carl Emergencies, Rick was up and out the door without a second thought and she was left alone to deal with the reality by herself and with the most recent scan he missed - that was when she realized, Rick didn't want this baby and most likely didn't want to be with her. She sat in the doctor's waiting room watching the other pregnant women with their husbands or boyfriends sitting beside them holding their hands - happy. She and the baby had become an obligation. She was only living with him because of this pregnancy because he thought it was the right thing to do. She closes her eyes and agonizingly wonders, maybe she should do the right thing and set Rick free of his obligations. She didn't want him to feel trapped and she didn't want to be and become his burden and she didn't want this baby to feel the same.

Before she slipped into deeper thoughts, Beth feels the baby putting extra pressure down on her bladder. Thankful for the unpleasant distraction, she pushes all thoughts aside and hauls herself up into a sitting position clenching hold of her bladder, swings her legs over the side of the bed, and climbs down slipping her feet into slippers and walking towards the bathroom.

Rick stirs, reaches over and frowns in his sleep. He opens his eyes to see the bed empty. Alarmed, he lifts his head off his pillow in search. The flash of lightening reveals Beth slowly walking towards the bathroom holding her belly whilst talking quietly to who he knows is the baby. He can hear her asking Peanut, the name she had adopted to call the bump, to please stop pushing down so hard so mommy can make it to the bathroom without making a mess. His head flops back down on his pillow watching Beth walk in and shut the door behind her. He drops onto his back staring up at the ceiling and pinches the bridge of his nose taking a shaky breath.

He felt like the scum of the earth, the biggest jerk to have walked the planet. He took out his frustrations on Beth and then walked out on her again and went straight to the bar to wallow in his worries and troubles. She deserved someone better. She deserved a man who could give her everything she needed without asking for it. She needed someone who could keep his promises and not break them at the last minute. Seeing her face fighting not to just break down and remain strong, kills a tiny bit of him every day. Hearing the toilet flush, he lets his hand drop back down to his side and closes his eyes when the door opens.

Turning the light off, Beth steps back into the bedroom to see Rick still fast asleep. She looks down at her bump rubbing it and knowing she won't be able to fall back to sleep, makes her way towards the kitchen for a snack.

"C'mon Peanut, let's leave daddy to sleep peacefully otherwise we'll wake him up with our fidgeting!" Beth had said gently to her bump, taking one last look over at Rick before leaving the room.

Rick opens his eyes when he sees the bedroom door open and close. He lets out the frustrated sigh believing Beth's gone to sleep in the spare bedroom like she did the time before he had been out of line with her. He knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight with Beth in the other room and not in bed next to him.

Beth takes her glass of water and toasted crumpets smothered in chocolate spread into the conservatory and sets them down on the little table. She sits on the little couch with her legs curled up beneath her watching the rain drizzling down the glass roof and the random flashes of lightening illuminating the sky. Whilst she caresses her stomach, she counts the seconds until the sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble explodes all around them. She's always loved thunderstorms, sitting and watching, something calming to her.

Half an hour had passed, Rick kicked the covers off and made his way out the bedroom and peered into the room next door, only to find it empty. He makes his way to the landing, wooden floors creaking as he begins to descend the stairs. The whole of the flooring apart from the upstairs level which had been done, needed replacing. Something he hasn't gotten around to do yet but knows he'll have to as well as getting the whole of the downstairs plastered and painted with a new kitchen and utility room refitted but he needed money to do that. He purchased the rundown house two years ago, it was a steal but the renovation works was a never endless list. He had hoped on doing it up slowly and with a baby now on the way, he needed a miracle to happen, rob a bank or his Fairy Godmother needed to appear now.

Beth talks to the baby, talking about how she had been studying and wanted to be a Meteorologist, learning how to collect data from satellite images, radar, remote sensors and weather stations all over the world, researching seasonal forecasting, ocean forecasting and climate prediction and she had always been interested in being a Stormchaser for personal pleasure. She's a lover of nature with interests that also include volcanoes, aurora, meteors, eclipses and astronomy and revealing how she had a Crazy Aunt Bessy who did this for a living and got her and Uncle Shawn into this world and inspired Uncle Shawn so much, he was at present chasing tornados in Oklahoma. She laughed, a lot of people didn't believe that, that was what she had wanted to do but it had been a dream of hers since she was a little girl.

"Maybe one day, me and you when you're old enough, can stormchase together?" She smiles down at her bump and then looks back out into the sky.

Rick stood at the door listening and knowing perfectly well that Beth had been studying to become a Meteorologist. Be just like her Crazy Aunt Bessy travelling the world and then he had gone and messed it all up by getting her pregnant. If he'd been more restrained and careful, maybe Beth could have joined Shawn this summer break like she'd planned chasing tornados, but she would pushing out a baby, his baby come this summer.

Beth lets out a yawn and he snaps out of his thoughts knowing she needed to go to bed and get some sleep. He also didn't want her to go and sleep in the spare room which was going to be turned into a nursery. They hadn't yet discussed or chosen colours or picked out any furniture. There was a lot that needed doing and there wasn't enough time to do it in. He had been thinking about getting a bank-loan to do the works and getting a decorator or see if T-Dog wanted to take on the project for extra cash.

"Hey?" He called gently seeing Beth putting down her glass.

Beth was startled when she saw Rick leaning by the doorway just watching her. She smiled and then looked down at her glass of water, usually he just left her alone after an argument. He never woke up looking for her.

Rick makes his way over and takes a seat beside her looking out the window.

"Rainin' cats and dogs out there!" He said breaking the silence, taking a quick look at Beth who was fiddling with a loose string on her nightie and turns back to watch the lightening.

"I was thinkin' about goin' home to the farm and visitin' my parents for two weeks, it's their anniversary and it's been a while since I've seen them." Beth finally took the plunge having been thinking about it after speaking to Maggie who suggested she give Rick some time to see what he wanted and for her to do the same. Mama and Daddy weren't happy but they'd never turn their back on any of them especially their grandchild.

Rick just stares down at the ugly patterned rug he found in the garage. He was silent, unable to formulate a word, pain in his chest, this was his doing. He finally takes a gulp and focuses on the ugly pattern as he speaks.

"If that's what you want, I'll drive you to farm." Is all he said without any emotion hoping it was only just two weeks she was going.

Beth turned and faced Rick and his face was completely blank with no emotion. She wasn't able to read him and she guessed that when he dropped her off at the farm, she wouldn't be leaving or returning to King County.

"Yes and thank you." She replies as they both just sit there as the rain hits down harder on the roof of the conservatory.