This is a short one, but I've left you all hanging long enough so I thought I'd go ahead and throw it out there. We'll get back into the action in the next chapter, but here's some fun stuff for you in the meantime. I hope you enjoy! Leave me a review if you're still reading and let me know what you think (and so I know I'm still writing for someone besides myself haha).
Thanks!
-B
"So when is this kid going to make an appearance?" Daryl asked a bit awkwardly, unsure about how to phrase his question as his hand trailed absently over Tilly's abdomen.
She chuckled at his statement, her head still foggy from the bliss of the lovemaking that ensued shortly after she'd let him know he was going to be a father. He had been unable to help himself, despite how stressful the day had been, and in that moment all he wanted to do was have her as close to him as possible. So, there they laid half-underneath the thick quilt that covered their bed, basking in the afterglow of the last hour.
"Denise really just took an educated guess, but she figures I'm about eight weeks along. It'll be a while," she finally replied, "which is probably for the best. It means I can still be useful in a fight for a bit longer."
"I don't want you out in the thick of this," Daryl said gently as he felt the redhead's long fingers begin moving up and down the length of his arm. She knew that gesture was soothing to him, and he was sure she was doing it to keep him from exploding at the idea of her fighting in her state. He wasn't angry with her, but the responsibility to keep her, and his child, from harm had been amplified ten-fold.
"I may not have a choice, Daryl," she countered, turning her head to the side to meet his gaze. "I know I'm responsible for more than just me now, and that isn't something I take lightly, so you can rest assured I'm not going to voluntarily jump into the middle of it. We all have to be ready and able to fight, though; me, Maggie, Carl, the old folks down the block… all of us. It may very well come to that."
"Now that we have at least part of the Hilltop on-board we can start moving forward, get things organized," he observed. "We'll have their people to fight with us so we can keep the ones who shouldn't be in the crossfire safe. That Jesus guy is fucking strange, but he did take down Abe and Michonne on his own. Seems like a good guy to have on our side. Plus, he's gonna get us the shit Eugene needs to start making bullets."
"You really think Eugene can pull that off?" she asked earnestly.
Daryl thought for a moment before nodding. "Talked to Rosita about it a little and she says he's been doing a shit-ton of research. She also swears he's not nearly as stupid as he looks."
"Well, that's a relief," she laughed. "It's gonna take us a couple of months to get this sorted, though. We need to make sure whatever we do is well-hidden since they have a tendency to show up whenever the fuck they want."
"Carol thinks we should hit them the next time they come for supplies," he shared, his face giving away nothing about his feelings for the plan.
"It makes sense," Tilly shrugged. "Like I said, we'll need more time than that, and opening fire inside the walls isn't ideal, but it'd be about like shootin' fish in a barrel. Plus, Negan is prone to wandering off from his men while he's here and all he carries is that goddamn bat. His precious Lucille can't stop a bullet."
Daryl brought the hand that wasn't rubbing her stomach up to his mouth and chewed on his thumbnail as he considered her words. "You have a hand in Carol coming up with this plan?"
She laughed and shook her head as she leaned back further onto her pillow. "No," she answered honestly, "but Carol and I realized pretty early-on how alike we were, so I'm not surprised she drew up something that sounds like it came out of my brain. It's not a plan anyone outside of our group is going to go for, though."
"We can get Aaron in," he shrugged. "Eric, too, by association."
"The other men from the run crew and Holly," she added, the hunter nodding in agreement. "We'll figure it out." She waved her hand dismissively, not wanting to dwell on that conversation any longer.
"Do I have to keep this a secret?" Daryl asked, his blue eyes suddenly shining like a child who just found out their parents were taking them to Disney World.
"The plan?" she teased.
He narrowed his eyes and scowled at her, but he couldn't hide the way his lips were itching to curl into a smile. "You know I ain't talkin' about the plan, woman." He moved his hand from her stomach to her ribs and tickled her lightly, making her squirm as she laughed.
She shoved at his hands in an attempt to escape, and he allowed her to move away after a moment. "It doesn't have to be a secret if you don't want it to be," she answered as she tried to catch her breath.
"Hell no," he smiled, sitting up on the bed and pulling her over to sit in his lap, "I want everyone to know that's my kid in there." He once more laid his hand against her belly, as he'd found himself subconsciously doing since the moment he'd found out about the child's existence. If he couldn't hold it in his arms yet, he was going to get as close as possible in the meantime.
"You can tell," Tilly chuckled, "but only if you promise you're not going to stick this baby with a ridiculous nickname like you did poor Judy."
"Can't help it 'Asskicker' suits her," he shrugged. "Plus, she likes it. I'll do my best with this one, but no guarantees."
"I guess that's as close to a promise as I'm gonna get."
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"You got a minute, Maggie?"
The brunette smiled as Tilly popped her head into the tower where she was keeping watch. "Course," she nodded. "I still have another two hours up here, so as long as it stays quiet I have all the time in the world."
She nodded and went to lean against the window sill, copying Maggie's stance minus the sniper rifle the brunette held in her arms. "You're pregnant," Tilly blurted. It wasn't a question, and Maggie's eyes went wide as soon as she'd processed the words.
"Did Glenn tell you?" she huffed. "I swear, that man can't keep a secret to save his life."
Tilly chuckled as she shook her head. "I just had a suspicion, which you obviously just confirmed. How ya feeling about it?"
Maggie spun around to lean her back against the wall adjacent to the window and crossed her arms over her chest. "Better now," she admitted. "Glenn's burstin' at the seams, but what happened with Lori-" She shook her head, trying to cast away the images that would be burned into her brain until the day she died. "But I've had a lot of time to work through it, and I've decided I'm happy about it." She ran her hands lightly over her stomach, momentarily revealing the small bump that had been concealed under her loose shirt. "Daddy and Beth would both be thrilled, and that's enough for me."
"Beth would be over-the-moon," Tilly smiled. "I know how strongly she felt for Judy. I can only imagine how she'd be with your baby."
Maggie nodded, a sad smile playing on her own lips. "We're going to tell everyone tomorrow at dinner. I can't really hide it much longer, and Glenn, like I said, can't keep a secret without it completely devouring him."
That drew a chuckle from the redhead. Maggie had told her previously about their time on the farm and his inability to keep both her father's penchant for keeping walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnancy to himself. It was an almost childlike quality and, while it may have been a bit obnoxious for Maggie, Tilly found it endearing.
"I have a secret myself," Tilly responded quietly, quirking her eyes over toward her friend.
Maggie frowned for a moment as she pondered her statement, then she threw her arms out to the sides as if she'd been hit by a bullet. "Oh my god, Tilly!" she gasped, grinning widely. "Are you serious?"
Tilly laughed as she nodded, amused by Maggie's reaction. "We don't want to steal your thunder or anything, but-"
"No!" Maggie insisted, quickly rushing forward and tightly embracing the other woman. "You're not stealing anything! I'm so glad I'll have you to go through this with me."
"Look at us repopulating the world and shit," Tilly laughed as Maggie finally released her hold, her hand sliding down to Tilly's stomach.
"Do you know how far along you are?" the brunette pried.
"Eight weeks or so," she replied. "Denise had to make a guess based on when I think my last period was. How about you?"
"Twelve weeks, based on my count," Maggie answered. "What's Daryl think?"
Tilly smiled at the memory of his reaction. She'd been terrified to tell him, but in the end, as usual, he'd surprised her. "He seems pretty damn excited. He got all handsy and then asked if he could tell everyone."
"He's such a softy," Maggie laughed, before her face dropped in mock-seriousness. "Don't tell him I said that, though."
"Your secret's safe with me." Tilly pretended to cross her heart with her index finger.
"Ya know," Maggie began, "if you can catch him before he tells anyone we can announce together tomorrow night. That'd be a pretty great way to get everyone's minds off all this other crap going on for a second."
"You think the others will be happy?"
Maggie shrugged. "They'll be concerned, I'm sure, because they care about us, but they'll be happy. We came here to start a new life, and how better to make that happen than to, ya know, actually create new life?"
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It had been a bit of a struggle for Tilly to quickly track Daryl down when she bolted out of the watch tower after her conversation with Maggie. She drew quite a few odd looks as she sped through the streets of Alexandria, hoping to catch the hunter before he opened his mouth to anyone. When she finally found him standing in the garden speaking with Carol, she assumed she'd already missed the boat. Surely, as close as he and the older woman were, he had already told her.
"Hey, guys!" Tilly greeted them, out of breath from her impromptu sprint through town. Her sweaty appearance drew concerned looks from both Carol and Daryl, but she held up a hand to assure them that nothing was wrong. "Everything's fine, I just need to borrow Daryl for a minute if that's alright."
"Of course," Carol smiled, patting Daryl lightly on the arm before she grabbed her basket off of the ground and made her way into the commissary.
"You alright?" Daryl asked quickly once Carol was out of sight. "You should be restin', not running around gettin' yourself all worked up."
Tilly couldn't help but find his concern sweet, and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him against her. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm suddenly made of glass," she said into his neck. "I just wanted to catch you before you talked to anyone else. Did you tell Carol?"
"Nah," he shook his head as Tilly pulled away a bit to look him in the eye. "Was about to, but then you came boltin' in here like a bat outta Hell."
"Good," Tilly laughed. "I just talked to Maggie. I was right about her being pregnant, too. She and Glenn are going to announce at Rick's tomorrow night and she suggested we make it a joint affair."
To be honest, the idea sounded a little corny for his taste, but he couldn't ignore the hope shining from her beautiful blue eyes. He was always completely powerless when she looked through those long lashes at him, and he couldn't find it within himself to tell her no.
"If that's what ya want," he smiled, smoothing her wind-rumpled hair away from her face. "Your hair's gettin' long," he mentioned off-handedly as he admired the strawberry waves that fell over her shoulders.
"Mmhmm," she mumbled. "Need to get Jessie to hack some of it off."
Daryl shook his head. "You can do what ya want, but I like it. Looks pretty."
It always felt odd to hear words like "pretty" come out of Daryl. He wasn't one for flowery language, but he seemed to make the occasional exception when it came to letting Tilly know just how much he treasured her. The moments when he let those words slip were little bursts of light, "bright spots" as Glenn had called them once-upon-a-time, and she treasured each and every one.
"So tomorrow, then?" she asked once more, confirming they were on the same page one more time.
Daryl nodded and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. "Don't like waitin' much, but anything for you."
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"Maggie's pregnant," Glenn beamed as he stood in the front of Rick's living room, his hat held tightly in his left hand and his right arm draped over his wife's shoulders.
There were a few happy gasps from amongst the group, but before anyone could say anything Daryl stood from his spot on the arm of the recliner where Tilly sat.
"Tilly, too," he said matter-of-factly, gesturing toward the redhead. He tried to play it cool, but he couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on his face.
That caused the room to fall into stunned silence for a moment as they all processed the double-surprise. Tilly's heart soared at her lover's expression, but she was still a bit on-edge as they awaited the group's reaction.
"Well, fuck me!" Abraham chuckled heartily, breaking the silence as he raised his glass into the air. "Congratulations, y'all!" He turned toward Judith, who was cluelessly drinking from her sippy cup on the floor next to him. "Ya hear that, Judy?" he cooed as he smiled down at her sweet, confused face and clinked his class into her cup gently. "You're gettin' some new little cousins!"
The others laughed at that, and Tilly made a mental note to thank Abe later for being the one to break the tension. Gauging from the way they all slowly made their way over to the couples to offer their well-wishes it seemed they were happy for them after all.
"Didn't think ya had it in ya, son," the sergeant teased as he gave Glenn a rough hug.
The only person who was really bothered by the news was Rick, but the leader refused to show it. He owed both Glenn and Daryl his life, Maggie and Tilly having saved his ass many times as well, and he wasn't about to ruin their happiness. He couldn't help but feel jealous, though.
He thought back to when he found out Lori was pregnant with Judith. It wasn't a joyous announcement for them. It was tainted with the fear of bringing a baby into that terrifying world, and the somehow even greater fear that the baby wasn't even his. To be honest, the more Judy grew and began to develop more distinct features the more he was sure Shane was her biological father. Despite how things had ended between them, he would always feel a tinge of guilt that he'd been the one to ensure his best friend wasn't around to see his daughter grow up. All he could do to somehow make it right was to love her as his own.
He'd always wanted another child with his wife, and he couldn't help but feel like that was stolen from him when the world changed. He'd long since given up on the childish notion that life was fair, though. He'd done more terrible, unmentionable things than he could count, and he couldn't help but feel like the pang in his heart at what happened between him and Lori was some sort of karma.
As he stared out at his new family, though, he was reminded of why he'd done those things. He did it so they could have moments like that one. They were all smiling and toasting to new life in a place that was as safe as they could hope for.
He studied Glenn as he stood beside his glowing wife, his hand laid lovingly over her stomach as his face beamed with excitement. Glenn was the person he'd known the longest of any of them, other than Carl. He'd seen him in moments of weakness and desperation, but the young man had never lost his humanity. Rick knew he would do whatever he needed to do, even if it meant losing himself in the process, if he knew it would allow Glenn to hang onto the hope that shone so brightly on his tanned face.
Daryl, as usual, was a bit more subdued, but he was smiling wider than Rick had ever seen. The hunter would occasionally glance over to Tilly as she chatted happily with Carol and, though it seemed impossible, his smile would grow even bigger.
It was obvious to everyone that Daryl had become Rick's right-hand long ago. He trusted the man with his life and, more importantly, the lives of the people he loved. He'd seen him lose hope time and time again, when he lost Merle, when Beth was taken after the prison, and once more when Tilly was dragged away by the Saviors after pushing him out of the path of Lucille. He just hoped that his surrogate brother had forgiven himself and knew that he deserved this spot of happiness.
There was no doubting in that moment what Rick had to do. He needed to eliminate any and all threats to his family. He was going to make sure the joy that resonated in that room wouldn't be short-lived. He began formulating a plan in his brain, and though it would mean putting his trust in a complete stranger, he knew it was worth the risk.