CHAPTER NINE: NURSERY

Shift work wasn't easy for anybody.

Changingthe pattern of work week in, week out meant that it was difficult to keep on top of your body clock. Beth found that the weeks when she had to work the night shifts were usually the worst for her, not only because it meant that she didn't really see much of her husband considering he worked during the day, but also because she had a tendency to wake up quite early in the morning - meaning she didn't get much sleep at all during that week. Sometimes, the unsociable hours could be a bit on an inconvenience, too; but Beth had always been able to manage it and keep a hand on it, always just got along with it and never really complained. After all, she adored being a nurse at the hospital - it was a job she had dreamed of doing since she was a little girl and this was just part of the parcel of it.

Plus, Beth thought that she was a little bit lucky, too. Most nurses had to work weekend shifts, too, whereas she had (by some miracle) managed to work it into her contract that she had weekends as set days off. That meant that her job role was just a little bit sweeter, and the knowledge that she got to have her two days off alongside her husband every week (well, unless Daryl decided to work some overtime on a Saturday) pushed her through the Monday-Friday shifts.

But things were different now.

Beth was twenty two weeks pregnant now and she was finding that she was starting to have trouble sleeping completely through the night. When she had confided in Annette about it, her mama had teased her and said that this will be good preparation for her for when the baby actually arrives, although Beth was still struggling to see the funny side of that. Especially on the weeks when she had to work the night shift and it seemed as though it would be impossible for her to ever be able to get any sleep at all. During the day, the rooms in the house were too bright and too warm and during the evening she had to grab her things and go. It was made even worse by the fact that she had strictly limited her caffeine intake now that she was pregnant, so she couldn't even indulge in some coffee or a red bull to give her a much-needed boost before work.

Thankfully, that week of working the night shift was over now, so come two o'clock in the afternoon, Beth was grabbing her belongings from the staff room and waving both hello and goodbye to Noah who was just starting his shift as she was leaving. Today was Daryl's day off, too, since he was due to go into work for a few hours on Saturday morning, and he had informed Beth that Merle was going to come round for some lunch.

And it wasn't that Beth didn't get along with her brother in law - his presence didn't intimidate her, at least any more. In fact, Beth got along just fine with Merle and thought that he wasn't half as bad as she originally thought he might be when she first started meeting up with Daryl and knew that she would eventually have to meet his older brother. But Beth knew that Daryl and Merle didn't spend much time together as it was - Daryl had Beth and Merle had Carol and he had a sort of step-daughter, too - so the brothers were both busy with their families and that meant that they lacked in spending quality time together, just the two of them.

So instead of heading home, Beth decided to get changed out of her scrubs in the changing area at work and then headed straight into town to go and do some shopping. True to her word, Beth had written up a list of everything and anything that she and Daryl could possibly need for the baby, and she decided that today was as good a day as any to get started on ticking off the items from the list.

Beth's parents had been kind enough to purchase a stroller for them - one of the fancier-type ones that you can use until the child is toddling about everywhere because it comes with that many different adjustments and attachments - but there were still lots of other items to buy, too. Beth decided that she wanted to wait to buy the bigger items with her husband, like the crib and the car seat, because there were far too many to choose from and she would be glad to have Daryl's input on what they really needed. But Beth knew her husband well enough to know that when it came to baby clothes and shampoos and nappies, Daryl would be more than happy for her to do all of the choosing.

So that's what she did.

Well, in a way.

Beth figured that she would take it easy for now and start buying little bits and bobs so that in the end, it all added up. She took her time strolling through the limited choice of stores in town and thought that maybe her and Daryl could take a trip into the city in a few weeks where there would be a lot more options for her to choose from. But for now, Beth was happy enough with what the town would provide for them and in the end settled on buying a pack of vests and some simple body suit's. They were cute enough - all dark and light blue colours - and pretty cheap, too, so Beth figured that it didn't matter if (when) they got ruined.

It was close to quarter to five when Beth finally pulled up in the driveway of their home and she was relieved to see that Merle's bike wasn't parked up there. Not relieved because she didn't want to see him, but relieved because it meant that she wasn't interrupting on that brotherly bonding time that she was always encouraging Daryl to have.

The house was quiet when she entered, but she didn't think much of it. Daryl had taken to reading the books upstairs in the office some weeks ago now, so she came to expect him to be up there if he wasn't downstairs. Instead of going to find her husband straight away, Beth kicked off her shoes and walked into the living room, placing her shopping bags down onto the floor beside the coffee table and made a beeline for the kitchen.

As she made herself a glass of water, Beth listened to the sound of Daryl's footsteps as he walked around upstairs. She was almost certain that the noise that he was making was coming from their spare room, but she didn't think much of it as she began to chug down her water.

When Beth began her ascent upstairs, she frowned when she caught sight of the door to the office wide open and revealing that Daryl wasn't in there. Instinctively she walked over towards the spare room where she had heard him walking around and tentatively pushed the door to it open, peaking her head around the side of it when it was only just slightly ajar as though she were afraid that someone was going to jump out at her at any second.

Of course, nobody was there to jump out at her. Just Daryl stood in the middle of the room, his deep blue eyes wide as though he were surprised at her entrance, a roller covered with dripping wet yellow paint in his hand. Beth blinked at him several times, frozen in place as she realised that he had headphones in his ears and was listening to music so hadn't heard her come home.

Daryl tugged out the earplugs as Beth pushed the door into the room further open and took a step inside, her eyes wide as they roamed around the place.

"Did you do this?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper but she knew that Daryl heard her question. He nodded his head at her once, clearly not expecting her to have come home so soon.

So soon, though? She had finished work almost three hours ago. Beth would have almost felt guilty had the sight of him looking so surprised not been slightly adorable.

Beth breathed his name as she edged closer towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck when she reached him and pulling him into her embrace. Daryl was still holding on to the wet roller and so only returned her hug with one of his own arms, keeping the roller away from her. As Beth pulled back she didn't hesitate to press a kiss to his cheek.

"You didn't have to do this," she said as her eyes began to roam around the room once more.

Daryl shrugged.

"Wanted to," he mumbled, but his words were cut off slightly as Beth gasped loudly.

The room was done up beautifully. According to the roller that was still hanging loosely from his arm, Daryl wasn't quite finished with the painting, although all of the walls were painted perfectly in yellow, so Beth wasn't sure where on earth he was trying to paint now.

But it wasn't all that he had done.

Her husband had always been good with his hands and that was one of the things that Beth loved so much about him. She may have been able to play all sorts of musical instruments, but that didn't mean that her hands were much good for anything else, whereas Daryl was able to do pretty much anything he set his mind to. He could make, break and fix all sorts of things that Beth didn't even think were possible of doing with his hands, and one of her most cherished possessions in their house was the desk that he had made for her.

All thoughts of choosing a crib for their baby alongside her husband disappeared from her mind when her eyes set sight on the one that was positioned in the middle of the room, slightly hidden by Daryl's position. Beth scooted around him so that she could get a better look at it and immediately began to run her fingers across the wood, her eyes wide and the smile on her face bright and excited.

"You made this?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

Of course she knew the answer. There was no two ways about it, no doubt in her mind that this was his work and not the work of a crib already made up in a box. It even smelled like freshly carved wood.

"Yeah," he said, confirming her suspicions, and Beth immediately blamed the tears that prickled in her eyes on her hormones.

She'd been doing a lot of that, recently.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, her eyes then flickering up to the decent sized wardrobe that had been placed in the corner of the room beside the bay window and then to the three shelves that decorated the opposite wall. She didn't even need to ask whether he had built those, too; because even if there was room for any doubt in her mind that her husband wasn't capable of crafting such beautiful items, the matching colours of all of the wood gave it away that it was indeed Daryl's own work.

"Merle helped."

Daryl's voice came from behind her, slightly muffled by the noise of him placing the roller back down into the tin of wet paint. Beth laughed at that and span back around so that she was facing him.

"He did?" she asked, and Daryl nodded.

Beth crept closer to him then and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck once more, smiling happily when both of his hands came to rest on her hips. She stood on her tiptoes, her lips dangerously close to his own so that they brushed against each other when she spoke, her voice low and soft.

"Since he's not here, I guess I'll have to just give you a thank-you kiss..." she murmured, pressing her mouth against his.

Her shoulders sagged when Daryl returned her kiss without hesitation, a groan escaping his lips when Beth probed his mouth with her tongue. They were locked in each other's embrace for some time and Beth only parted the kiss so that she could breathe, gasping for air as her forehead rested against his.

Beth pulled back from him slightly, a little bit flustered as she smiled up at him.

"Thank you," she said to him, and he nodded his head at her. Beth sighed as she ran her hands through his hair, her eyes exploring his face before resting on his own eyes once again. "It's perfect."

"You like it?" he asked, and Beth gave him a knowing look.

"You don't even have to ask me that," she said, shaking her head. "I love it."


I just thought that I'd let you all know that I've gone back and edited all of the chapters for this story over the last two days. I've not changed anything major, but I have added a lot more detail to the chapters and the word count has significantly increased. It's been a struggle balancing three stories and keeping on top of them all and I just wasn't all that happy with what I'd written for this story. It doesn't matter if you re-read it or if you don't, but for those of you who wanted chapters that were a little bit longer and more detailed, then you'd probably enjoy starting again.

As always, thank you for reading and please review!