The sun has been set for at least an hour. The baby has come on and off my finger for the last couple of hours and her suckle has been more and more desperate every time. Where are they? The door bangs open and Maggie and Daryl run in. Oh thank God.
"Gwen" Maggie says as she empties the contents of the bag onto the table.
I hand the baby over to Daryl carefully then make up a bottle, it's cold but she'll take it. I hand the bottle to Daryl. He presses the bottle to the baby's lips "come on, come on" he mutters to her.
She takes the bottle. Daryl looks at me and grins and I swear the image in front of me, my boyfriend feeding a baby, nearly made my damn ovaries explode.
"She got a name yet?" Daryl asks me
"Carl's going to name her, aren't you, kid?" I tell him and look and Carl
Carl shrugs "I was thinking maybe Sofia." There was a silence among us "Then there's Carol, too. And..." He sighs "Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori." Carl looks down "I don't know."
Daryl looks back down at the baby and smiles "You like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker." He looks up at us with a grin "Right? That's a good name, right?" Everyone laughs a little "Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart? Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh?" He says to the baby in a sweet voice I never thought Daryl was capable of.
I would totally have his babies! Looking at him right now just makes me want to jump him and make our own baby right now!
"Snap it back on!" Nessa whispers in my ear.
I laugh a little "nope" I mutter
Carl looks at me "What was your niece's name?" he asks
"We have two, Ava and Paisley" I tell him.
"I'll think about them too" he says
My eyes flick to Andy, "They are Andy's little sisters"
"Did you bring them up too?" Carl asks
I see Nessa look down guiltily out of the corner of my eye.
"I didn't bring anyone up. I just spent the majority of my free time babysitting" I say with a smile
"You mean all of your free time" Andy says with a smirk "She practically lived with us for three months during summer"
I shrug "no I didn't"
I turn back to Daryl and the baby, she's almost finished her bottle. When she finishes it Daryl looks at her then to me "Will she sleep now?"
"She needs to be burped first." I tell him and hold out my arms.
He hands her to me and I sit on the bench, sit the baby up on my knees and hold her chin gently in my hands to support her head as I pat her back gently. She takes a while but she burps.
"Oh, good girl" I say to her and bring her back into my arms gently "Very, very good girl" I look at Carl "Do you want her to sleep in beside you?"
He looks weary "She'll be fine. If you get worried just place your hand on her stomach gently and you'll feel her breath, okay?"
He nods and I smile "Good, come with me."
He follows me through to his cell "Pull that mattress onto the floor" I tell him
He pulls the top mattress down and lies it on the floor "Get me a nappy or diaper or whatever you want to call it and wipes"
He runs and gets one as I place a clean towel down on the bed. Carl comes back and I clean the baby up and put her into a nappy and lay her on the towel and wrap her into a clean blanket and lie her down. I place Rick and Carl's bags on either side of the mattress to act like a barrier.
"There, she'll sleep." I tell Carl and pat his shoulder "You're mum would be so proud at how responsible you have been. I'm proud of you too" I kiss his forehead and leave him with his sister.
I head back into the communal area and drop onto a seat "Guys, go rest. We're going to need it"
Everyone, except Daryl, goes into the cell block. I drop my face into my hands. Daryl drops down next to me and I feel his fingers sift through my hair. I turn to him.
"What are you doing?" I ask
"Checkin' to see if that bastard left a mark" He says
"You were fantastic today" I tell him.
His hands drop from my hair to my neck and down to my shoulders "You too, you're good with little ass kicker"
I turn and throw my arms around his neck and kiss him fiercely. He's stunned for a moment but responds just a passionately. I pull away "I would have your baby" I tell him for the first time.
He looks at me surprised and grins "Yeah?"
I nod "We could live here, we could be safe, even have our own little family" I say hopefully.
He kisses me again then pulls away "You should follow your own advice and get some sleep" Daryl says as he stands and pulls me to my feet.
I groan "I'll just sleep on the table, I don't want to walk anymore" I complain.
Daryl smirks and lifts me into his arms and I gasp a little and struggle "Daryl! You know I don't like being carried!"
He grins "Too bad, I like holding you"
I smile a little "Daryl, don't ever leave me, promise?"
He smiles and kisses my forehead "I promise"
