It had been a couple of hours since they had moved in. It was late afternoon and soon they'd be heading down to eat dinner with the rest of the villagers. Daryl was busy putting all of their new clothes and possession into the closets and bureau in their bedroom. She was sitting on the couch, he swollen feet and ankles propped up on a foot rest. She had her eyes closed, listening to the birds chirping through the open windows. The place had smelled a bit musty, having not been opened up in awhile, but now the fresh air had filtered in and although it was a bit chilly, it felt amazing. She had been having small pain in her abdomen for the past hour or so and she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself yet that they could be labor pains.
Daryl emerged from the bedroom and said
"Ready to go?"
"Ya," she said, propping herself up with a struggle. He gently took her hands and helped her up. As soon as she was fully standing she felt a warm wet feeling seep down her legs. For a moment she thought she had pissed herself but then she realized her water had broke. "Shit!" Having read some of her baby books himself he knew what it meant and he went from zero to one hundred in a second.
"Is that-?!" Beth nodded, cutting him off. He dashed away from her, instantly trying to get everything together. "What do we need?" Beth's mind was blank as she tried to answer his question.
"I dunno…." They had just moved in and nothing was prepared. He ran back in the bedroom and returned a moment latter, a bag full of clean clothes for her to change into.
"Come on!"
"It's ok," she said, smiling at his worried demeanor. "The hospital is right down the street, we'll make it there in time." Surprisingly she wasn't feeling as nervous as she would have thought she would be. She took a deep breath and said "Come help me." Still jittery with nerves, he threw the bag onto his back and took her hand and held her lower back as they headed out the door. As they turned out of the yard she looked at him. His face was red with stress and worry. Gripping his hand tighter she said
"I love you Daryl, whatever happens I promise I'll always be here with you." He turned to her, clearly a complete wreck.
"I love you too Beth." She knew he was holding his worries inside as not to make her nervous. He leaned in for a quick kiss and then the two were on the move again. Not many people were out at the moment, all down for dinner at the dining area. Hunger was the furthest thing from Beth's mind. By the time they reached the hospital the pains had worsened.
The moment they walked in the two women who were standing behind the desk came out. Smiling they could tell exactly what she was in for and said
"How bad are your contractions?" A third nurse brought a wheelchair over for her.
"Not too bad," she said, "My water broke."
"Good," said one of them, "We'll get you into a room right away." All of the color had drained from Daryl's face as he watched them converse. The nurse turned to him and said
"I'm assuming you're the father?" He nodded, unable to speak.
"Good," she said, "You can come along with us."
Daryl felt light headed as the nurses helped bed get situated in the room. This was it. In the next couple of hours he could become a father or a widower. Once Beth was in bed, her feet up in the holders the nurses moved around quickly, getting everything ready. A bucket of hot water, plenty of towels and all of their tools. Meanwhile, he went to her side and took her hand. Despite the sweat and obvious stress she was smiling at him, gripping onto his hand. The fear must have been evident in his eyes because she said
"It's going to be alright." He felt tears well up in his eyes as he said
"I can't lose you."
"You won't." He kissed her hard and passionately. Mid-kiss she let out a cry of pain with another contraction. Her face was twisted in pain as she lay back on the bed, breathing heavily as the pain passed over her body. He would take it all away if he could. He hated seeing her like this. He could protect from anything else that was causing her pain or discomfort but this was different. He had no control and he hated it.
The pain kept increasing and coming more frequently. They had started out like normal menstrual cramps and now it was burning and every spasm was excruciating. She gripped Daryl's hand tightly, digging her nails so hard into his flesh that she broke the skin. Her other hand held tightly on the bar on the side of the bed.
"You're already seven centimeters dilated," said the nurse "You have to be ten to start pushing." Starting to lose control and feeling highly impatient she said
"When will that be?"
"Soon," said the nurse, "You just gotta hold tight." A wave of pain worst then the last washed over her and she screamed out, sobbing as she came back down. Nothing could have prepared her for the pain. She knew it was going to be bad but having never have given birth before she had had no idea. It worse than anything she had ever felt. She felt like her insides were coming apart. She turned her head to look at Daryl who seemed miserable. She released his hand for a moment so he could stretch out his wrist which was bloody from her sharp nails. Another pain hit her and she unexpectedly grabbed onto his hand again, causing him to hiss in pain as she dug back into the fresh wounds.
"Son of a bitch." Her emotions were high and she turned to him, her face red and said
"Quit your whining, I'm the one hurting!" He looked absolutely shocked and slightly amused as she went back to trying to take deep breathes. It was all seriousness again when the nurse said
"Ok you're good, you can start pushing!" Beth didn't wait to be told twice. She pushed with all of her might.
Daryl was queasy as he saw Beth struggling to keep pushing. She had been for awhile now and she was clearly running out of energy. Her hair was a golden mess and her face was red and covered in sweat but she was still beautiful. In her ear he whispered.
"I love you so much Beth, you're doing so well, you're almost there 'n then we get to meet our child. Just gotta push a little harder." There were tears flowing down her cheeks now as she lay back against the bed, panting and clearly exhausted. With a sob she said
"I can't! My body can't anymore."
"Yes you can," he said, "Keep tryin'." Releasing his hand she gripped onto both of the bars on the side of the bed. Leaning up she gave another hard push, yelling out as she used the very last bits of energy in her body. Daryl heard the nurse say
"I can see the head!" With that all of his worries were gone; all thoughts of Lori's traumatic death left his mind. Beth was going to be ok. The baby was going to be ok. He was going to be a daddy and he couldn't be any happier. "One more!" With a strangled yell she did as she was told and a shrill cry broke the air. Both Beth's and Daryl's attention was towards the end of the bed where the nurse was still leaned down, cutting the umbilical cord. "It's a healthy girl!" Daryl felt the air leave his lungs as the nurse lifted her up. The newborn was still crying loudly as she squirmed in the nurse's arms. Despite the blood and fluids that she was still covered in she was beautiful to him. It was his daughter, theirlittle girl, half of him and half of Beth mixed together. She quickly cleaned off most of the blood, wrapped her in a blanket, brought her around and handed her off to Beth. As soon as the baby was secure in Beth's arms one of them said
"We'll leave you two alone for now. If you need anything just call down the hall." Daryl realized he had tears in his eyes as he watched his daughter continue to whimper and squirm in her mother's arms. She was so little and delicate. Her tiny fingers clasping and unclasping. Her eyes were still closed, blocking out the new light. She looked up at him, pure love and adoration in her eyes.
"You can hold her." He suddenly felt extremely nervous. What if she didn't like him? What if he did something wrong and he accidentally hurt her? Beth had seen the fear on his face and said
"Go on, she wants to meet her daddy." Gently Beth handed her over to him. Daryl kept the soft white blanket tight around her body as he cradled her. She was still whimpering but no longer crying. Her hands were curled up by her face and her eyes were no squinted up at him. From what he could tell they were blue. But it didn't matter; he had read that all babies' eyes would stay blue for awhile. She had a thick tuft of brown hair that was still plastered to her little head. Intrigued and completely in love, he gently touched one of her little hands. Her tiny fingers automatically wrapped around his ring finger. This is what they'd been living for. They'd gone through hell and back for their little girl. He was so overwhelmed with emotions all he could manage was
"I'm your daddy." The little girl kept looking up at him, her eyes slowly opening more and more. Her whimpers began to turn into cries again. He must have looked panicked because Beth laughed and said
"She's hungry, let me see her." She had slipped out of her shirt and when he gave her back over it didn't take the baby long to latch onto her breast and start to suckle. He watched in wonder and complete disbelief. He never thought in a million years that he'd be a father or head over heels in love with Beth Greene. "What should we name her?" Beth's voice brought him out of trance. They hadn't quite ever agreed on a name. "After someone maybe? Like Andrea or Lori." She paused for a moment and said "Carol?" Ignoring her inquiries he said
"She's beautiful, just like her mom." Beth smiled and said
"She's got brown hair; I think she looks like you." Remembering Merle's old taunting he said
"Maybe we should name her Darlina then." Beth laughed and said
"No way." Daryl thought about Merle and what it would be like if he was there now. He'd tease him and tell him that now he'd have two girls wrapped around his finger. But he knew he'd be happy and proud for him.
"What about Annette after my mother? We could call her Anna." Daryl shoke his head and said
"She's gotta have her own name." Both of them were silent as they thought and he said "Georgia, after the state." Beth gave him a weird look and said
"Why?"
"Cause someday she's gotta know where she came from." Beth smiled and said
"I think it's a sweet idea but it sounds too weird if we just call her Georgia." It was like a light bulb went off in Beth's head and she said "Georgette! We can combine both my mother's name and the state name." Daryl smiled, thinking that it was a pretty name. "Georgette Maggie Dixon."
"Maggie?"
"Middle name, after my sister." He nodded and said
"Georgette Maggie Dixon it is then."
Beth was fast asleep, exhausted from the labor that had taken place hours earlier. Of course she'd given him orders to wake her up if little Georgette started to cry but so far Daryl seemed to be keeping her content. Daryl was sitting in the large arm chair next to the bed, holding his daughter in his arms. She was awake, now in a diaper and swaddled in a pink blanket.
"You're momma can say whatever she wants but I think you're beautiful like her." Georgette stared up at him, blowing bubbles with her rosy pink lips. The love and happiness he was feeling for her was indescribable, it was nothing he'd ever experienced. "I love you," he said, "and your mom. I'm gonna make our lives the best it can be here. I'll protect you and I ain't ever gonna leave you. Nuthin' in this world will keep me away from you two." He leaned in and gently kissed her forehead. His deep voice had lulled her into sleep and she shut her little eyes and was soon in a deep slumber. He gently put her inside the little crib the nurses had brought in earlier. Making sure she was tucked in and warm he sat back down in the armchair. As tired as he was he knew he wouldn't sleep, he'd stand guard. He'd watch over Beth and Georgette till the day he died and then he'd look down on them from heaven.
Thanks DarylDixon'sLover, stateofgrace-xo and fancyfaye for commenting :) Throughout the second half of this chapter, especially in the last few paragraphs I couldn't help but think of the song Father and Daughter by Paul Simon lol. This is the last chapter in the past story line as we all know what happens now. I might do a little epilogue or something at the end of this story about Daryl and Beth's adjustment to parenthood once they bring Georgette home but from now on I'll be focusing solely on the present timeline.
Thanks for reading,
Wanderlustt
