CHAPTER FOUR: HOLDING BACK
Unfortunately for Daryl, the pregnancy books that he had purchased from the store just several weeks before contained more than just a handful of unpleasant and very detailed diagrams.
Daryl couldn't help but wonder what had possessed the author's of these books to fill them with so many graphic images. As far as Daryl was concerned, nobody walking the surface of the earth needed to know half of the things that the books were pointing out by using those diagrams unless they were a doctor or a midwife; and Daryl figured that if said person was indeed a doctor or a midwife, then surely they would be turning towards an accredited medical textbook for that sort of information, not a book aimed at giving women (and in some cases - very much like his own - men) a greater insight into the stages of pregnancy.
"Wow. That looks interesting."
Daryl had heard Beth as she stepped into the office and make her way over towards where he was sitting in the computer chair at the wooden desk, but Daryl had made no effort in an attempt of physically acknowledging his wife's presence. Instead, he had still been focusing pretty much all of his attention on the words that scattered the pages of the current book that he had been reading and had tried to busy himself by concentrating on those words whilst ignoring the rather large and intricate diagram of a vagina that was positioned in the center of the two pages that he was currently reading.
Or, well; trying to read.
As much as Daryl would enjoy nothing more than skipping over to the next page so that he could avoid having to look at the image for another second longer, he also decided in his mind that it would make him seem like some kid, all worked up and awkward just because of a damn diagram. That thought alone made Daryl decide to simply suck it up, reasoning with himself that he didn't want to miss reading anything that was important or that would end up being of some sort of significant value to him simply because he would rather skip over the drawing of a fucking vagina.
Before he knew what she was doing, Beth's arms were wrapping around his neck from behind whilst she bend her upper body down slightly so that her chin was resting on his shoulder. Daryl noted that Beth was still in her scrubs and he could smell the very distinct scent that he could only ever describe as being 'the hospital' upon her skin and all in her hair.
He never knew how to explain that damn smell to everyone, but whenever he said it, people seemed to understand exactly what he meant. Well, everyone except Beth. It was a mixture of strong cleaning products, old patients, hand gel and cheap food, and it wasn't necessarily unpleasant - just really, really distinctive.
"It is," he grumbled back to her in response to her statement, and Beth giggled in response to his words before she leaned closer and pressed a light kiss to his neck.
"I'm going to go and get a shower," Beth informed him as she unwrapped her arms from around his upper body and took a few steps backwards from he remained sat in the computer chair.
Daryl mumbled out an "okay" at her in response before he attempted to return his attention back towards the book that was still sat in his hands, and it took him a few more seconds to realise that he was still yet to hear Beth leave the room. When she finally cleared her throat quite audibly in an attempt to grab his attention, Daryl swiveled himself around in the desk chair so that he was looking directly at her.
A confused expression decorated his features as he stared at her.
Beth was stood leaning in the doorway; one of her hands resting on the doorknob, the other holding tightly onto the door frame so that her body was kept upright. At some point on her very brief journey from being stood at the desk behind Daryl to being at the door, Beth had released her hair from it's high ponytail and she was chewing on her bottom lip, too.
A mischievous smirk spread across her lips when Daryl raised a brow at her expectantly.
Well?
The question that he asked her was silent, completely non-verbal; but after years of practice, Beth understood what Daryl was saying to her loud and clear.
"Don't you wanna join me?"
During their time together, there had been plenty of occasions where Daryl had ended up taking showers with Beth. In fact, there had probably been more occasions than he could remember, let alone count. And although Daryl had absolutely no business trying to predict the future - even he could admit to himself that he would probably be pretty damn bad at doing that - but he was fairly certain that this shower would not be the last shower that he took with Beth, either.
But still.
It was different this time.
It was different because his wife was pregnant now, carrying his child in her stomach. Holding himself back was proving to be more of a challenge than Daryl originally thought that it would end up being, though, as Beth was pretty persistent in her efforts - offering him devilish smiles and biting down on her bottom lip in a way that she just knew would drive him absolutely crazy.
It was only a matter of seconds of Daryl stepping into the shower behind her slender frame that Beth took the opportunity to spin around on the spot so that the two of them were face-to-face, wrapping her arms around his neck so that their naked bodies pressed together whilst she tugged him under the warm spray of the water; wiggling herself against him in an attempt to create some delicious friction between the pair of them.
And Daryl would be damned if Beth didn't turn him on and hell, he wanted her. He wanted her so damn badly. Especially when she stepped up onto her toes and pressed her lips firmly against his, wasting no time at all to push her tongue into his mouth, grinding it against his. Daryl groaned as one of her hands snaked away from where it was interlocked with her other at the back of his neck and she trailed it slowly down his chest, briefly tugging against some of the hairs there until she began her exploration of his body again. Soon, her delicate fingers were finally brushing against where he was hot and hard and -
Daryl's deep blue eyes flew open and he grabbed at Beth's wrist before she could make any further move to grab at him. He pulled her hand away from him ever so slightly so that her fingers were out of reaching distance from him; even if he was painfully hard, and even if he did want her badly - so, so badly.
His wife's own light eyes fluttered open gradually and she looked up at him with an expression of utter confusion; her brows knitted together and eyes slightly narrowed, her lips - which were all red and swollen from their passionate kisses - were parted, too, and her head was tilted slightly towards one side, her wet hair dangling over her chest and down her back.
What?
There it was again, that silent communication that they had mastered between them a long time ago. Beth could read Daryl better than anyone else that he knew, and sometimes it seemed like she knew more about him than he did. That thought alone was equally scary and exciting all at the same time, although it probably would have frightened him more if he hadn't been able to read her just as well as she could him.
Daryl stared into her soft eyes for a long few moments, his tight grip on her wrist never wavering as he attempted to convey everything that he was thinking and feeling over to her simply by using his eyes.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work like it usually did, because Beth wanted to know for definite what exactly it was that he was thinking before she took this issue any further.
"Tell me," she murmured, droplets of water streaking down her face as she spoke, voice barely audible over the powerful sound of the pump of their shower.
Naturally, Daryl breathed out a heavy and very reluctant sigh before he ran his free hand through his dampened hair.
"Don't wanna hurt you, girl," he said, voice low.
Beth's eyes narrowed at that. It was what she had been expecting him to say; he knew from the lack of surprise on her features, knew from the understanding way she was looking at him. Daryl couldn't be certain when exactly it was that his girl - his wife - had mastered the art of reading his mind, but it didn't bother him as much as it probably should have done.
"You won't," Beth answered him simply, her tone confident and sure.
Daryl nodded his head at that, not sure of what else she wanted him to do. Beth did have a tendency to be right about these sorts of things, and she probably (definitely) knew more about this topic than he did. Still, Daryl couldn't help but feel hesitant and unsure.
Another long few moments passed between them before Daryl spoke again, his voice breaking slightly.
"The baby..." he said, his deep blue eyes never straying from her own even though a part of him desperately wanted to break the intense eye contact that she was holding him with.
As Daryl trailed off, he couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed; a little bit stupid, too. The back of his neck and the tips of his ears were turning a dark shade of red as he watched Beth's facial expression melt from one of confusion to one of understanding.
It took a moment or two, but then Beth was sighing out his name and nudging against where he was still tightly gripping at her wrist. At the feel of her shifting against him, Daryl immediately released her trapped flesh. Instead of reaching out to brush against him again, Beth moved her arm so that it was wrapped back around Daryl's neck, interlocking her fingers together with her other hand before she offered him a soft smile.
"Stop worryin'", Beth said to him, nuzzling her nose against his lightly.
Daryl thought on about just how strange it was to hear those exact words coming from her mouth instead of his own.
To hear Beth comforting him in such a way made him blush even more furiously than before. Usually, their roles were reversed - it would be Beth who was panicking, Beth who was over-thinking the most simplest of things, and it was always Daryl who was calming her down and make her see sense. The two words that she had just echoed to him were ones that naturally seemed to just roll from his own tongue every time his wife was upset or worried about something.
And Daryl wasn't sure whether Beth's choice of words was intentional or not, but he didn't have too much time to dwell on that before her hands were moving from where they were locked at the back of his neck and cupping at his face instead, distracting her once again. Beth placed a chaste kiss against her lips before opening her mouth to speak to him once more.
"You can't hurt the baby," she told him as she looked him straight in the eyes. "Our baby."
Daryl visible swallowed.
Are you sure?
Her head nodded to the silent question that he was asking her and at her slight movement, Daryl released an unsteady breath.
"They cost you how much, an' none of those pregnancy books that you keep readin' told ya that?" Beth teased.
Daryl only smirked at her before he shook his head quickly from left to right, still feeling slightly embarrassed and unable to find the words to say something - anything - back to her.
And she looked up into his deep blue eyes for a few more seconds longer, allowing the pads of her thumbs to trail over his cheeks once, twice, three times more before Beth eventually reached up on the tops of her toes and kissed him once again. Her tongue brushed gently against his lips and Beth moaned in approval when his own tongue pushed back against hers. Once again, she guided him further underneath the spray of the warm water, allowing it to soak the both of them whilst her hands trailed down his chest, creeping further and further south until they reached their destination.
Beth parted her lips from his and pushed her head back slightly, opening her eyes to look up to his as she wrapped her hand around him. Senses taking over, Daryl hissed loudly at the sensation, enjoying the feel of her hand trailing up and down the length of him. His own blue eyes opened to meet her gaze and Daryl looked down at his wife for a long moment, wanting to be sure that this was something that she wanted - something she was sure about - before he leaned in close again, reconnecting their lips.
And this time, Daryl didn't hold back.