I'm not going to sit here and describe the pains of childbirth simply because I can't. The only thing I can say is that it sucked. The contractions were some of the worst pain I had ever felt, but that wasn't the bulk of my pain. No. There would be moments of clarity when the worst pain would hit. Daryl and the others were not back yet. My labor pain did not even compare to the heart pain I felt. I needed Daryl here.
Hershel wasted no time. He opened one of the lockers with a bed inside and set up what he could. Beth and Lori helped with what they could. T-Dog was sweet enough to stand and hold me while pain surged through my body. I just wished it was Daryl doing that. Carl stood in front with his gun at the ready. My screams were regrettably loud and walkers within miles would be able to hear me. I wasn't lying when I said Carl really grew up.
They finished the bed quickly and laid me down. Lori stayed by my side the whole time. She held my hand through the worst of the contractions. Over the last few months, Hershel taught Carol some stuff about childbirth so he could have at least one helping hand during this. She did whatever he asked of her.
Once he believed that I was situated, T-Dog joined Carl outside the locker. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to see this either. He was best used for protection anyway.
About two hours passed and the contractions were closer together. When I was able to catch a breath, I pulled Lori down. "Where are they?" There was nothing I wanted more than to have Daryl here. I didn't want him to miss the birth of the child he promised to keep safe. wasn't going to let him miss the birth of my child, our baby.
"They should be back soon," she assured.
"I'm not giving birth until they're back."
"Rosalyn, I know you want Daryl here, but you can't wait for them." Hershel was on the other side of me, making sure everything was going properly. Since he didn't say anything about it, I guess everything was going exactly the way it was supposed to.
"Yes, I can and yes, I will." That's when another contraction pushed me. I screamed. I started to remember the time I fell off the RV. That was just a tiny booboo compared to this. I started to wish my back was scratched up again.
"They're coming!" Carl yelled.
I propped myself up, and waited for Daryl to coming running though and drop by my side. I guess I should know better than to get my hopes up. When Carl said 'they,' he wasn't referring to the rest of our group. As I had predicted, walkers heard my cries and came running for their next meal. From what I could tell, there weren't too many because they didn't use guns to take them out. Instead, they waited for the walkers to get close enough and killed them with their knives or axes. There were too many for Carl and T-Dog to handle, though. They called for help as more of them showed up. Carol, Hershel, and even Beth went out to help. Lori stayed behind with me.
From the bed I stayed on, I could see dark red blood splatter all over. Everyone's bodies were covered in no time. There were more corpses than I originally thought. I tried to muffle my screams to avoid drawing more, but it was too late. The small herd kept getting denser. We could all be dead before I even have this baby.
I screamed again and clutched Lori's hand. She squealed slightly. I didn't know my own strength. I was making her hand turn red. I apologized to her repeatedly. Lori was never one of my favorite people, but I had to hand it to her. She may have been annoying, but she's here for me now while everyone was battling the walkers. She may not be all that bad after all.
The walkers got to be so bad, our group had to turn to their guns. There were too many to take on with hammers and machetes. Lori even pulled out her gun in case one of them happened to slip by everyone else. She was planning on protecting both her and I. Like I said, not as bad as I originally thought.
"Is there a way to make her stop screaming?" Carl fired shot after shot. My heart dropped to my stomach. I was going to be the reason he was going to die today and there was nothing I could do about it.
"No, Carl!" Lori shouted to her son, not fearing to be heard by the walkers. "She's in a lot of pain. She can't control it."
It was then I heard more gunshots a bit further away. Oh, no. I knew it had to be another group. It just had to be. One of two things could come out of this. They could be nice people who will see a woman having a child and offer their help to get rid of the walker threat. The other option is they are complete psychopaths and came to kill us all, or worse. Judging by the world's current condition, the second option seemed more likely.
A tear fell from my eye. I let everyone think it was from the pain, but it wasn't. The current situation we were in was bound to end terribly. The chances of my baby even getting to live was becoming slimmer and slimmer with every growl and gurgle that came out of those undead freaks. I knew I should have never decided to bring a child into this world. It was just going to end in heartache.
"Rick!" Carol called. Rick? The shots came from them?
Another contraction, another scream. This one was the worst so far. I shut my eyes and screamed my lungs out. This was just awful.
When the contraction passed, I opened my eyes and saw Daryl running through the crowd of people. The gunfire stopped and all the walkers were cleared. He dropped down next to me and grabbed my other hand.
"What happened? "Rick asked Hershel.
"Her water broke about an hour or so after you left. Her screams attracted the walkers."
Daryl's other hand caressed my head.
I smiled widely. "Hey," I said between breaths.
He smiled back. "Hey."
I pulled my hand out of Lori's and punched Daryl in the shoulder. It was a light punch, but he still pretended that it hurt. "That's for not being here and making me worry."
"I wouldn't miss this. You have little faith."
"When you have another human being popping out of you, that tends to happen."
"We can't stay here. This place is crawling with walkers. Her screams are drawing them all in." Rick looked every which way, looking out for more threats.
I screamed again. My contractions were really close. I read through that book two or three times while we were on the road, so I knew that I had to be getting close.
Hershel kneeled down by my legs. "Rick, we can't move her. She's almost ready."
I started getting nervous. There were so many people here. Not that I didn't like them, I just wasn't exactly comfortable with everyone standing around, watching me give birth. I know I've been naked with a lot of people in the past, but I've changed. This wasn't a sight for everyone to see.
"Daryl." He looked down at my face. Sweat dripped down his face despite the cold. "Get everyone out. They don't need to see this."
Lori nodded next to me. "She's right. Everyone go. This is for Rosalyn and Daryl." She stood and pushed everyone out. Before she left with the group, I stopped her.
"Lori. Thank you."
She nodded and closed the locker door. Only Daryl, Hershel, and I remained in the room or I should say locker. And not a minute too soon.
"She's fully dilated."
Daryl pulled his eyes away and looked to Hershel. "Meaning?"
"It's time to push."
Oh, my God. It was time. I was going to become a mom. I was minutes from holding my baby in my arms. I was so close to the start of the rest of my life.
Daryl used both of his hand to grasp mine. "You can do it, Rose. You got this." I think his little pep talk was more for him than it was for me.
"Okay, Rosalyn, push," Hershel instructed.
I pushed and pushed just like Hershel said. I had to stop and breath, but then I tried again. I was determined to get my child out, even if it killed me. I was ready to be done with this experience, I couldn't take the pain or the waiting anymore. I was anxious to just have my baby.
"Come on, Rose. Come on, Rose." Daryl, unfortunately, didn't know how to handle the situation. He was kind of winging it at this point. I loved that man to death, but he wasn't much help. I had to give him credit, though. He was here and he was trying. I couldn't ask for anything more. "I love you. You can do this." And that was it. That was the last push I needed.
I forced my baby out of me and felt relieved. It was over. It was out. It was done.
The cries of a newborn child filled the air around us. The high pitched screams would make anyone frustrated and annoyed, but it was music to me. I started to cry from the joy I felt. My child was alive and it was screaming.
"It's a boy," Hershel said as he wiped him off and wrapped him in a blanket. A boy?
He placed my son in my arms and he stopped crying. A boy. "He's perfect," I blushed as I held him. He was the single most beautiful thing I have ever seen and he was mine. He was my son.
Daryl started laughing. "A girl, huh? You were so damn sure."
I chuckled back. "Shut up."
"What are you gonna name him?"
I hadn't given much thought to a boy's name, but one came to me just like that. "Hunter."
"Hunter?" Daryl wasn't so sure about the name.
"Yeah." My eyes met his once again. "After his daddy."
Daryl's smile seemed to drop at the word. Even after months of preparation, he still wasn't sure what he was going to be to my child. He gulped. "He's got Merle's eyes."
Daryl was right and he was wrong at the same time. Hunter had the same ocean blue eyes as Merle, but Daryl's, too. This may have confirmed that Hunter was biologically Merle's, but that meant nothing to me. "He has your eyes, Daryl."
"But we didn't-"
"It doesn't matter," I interrupted. "He's your son." Daryl just stared at him, not sure what to say or do. I lifted him up to Daryl. "Wanna hold him?"
He hesitated, but reached down and took Hunter from my arms. I wasn't nervous. I knew Daryl had a good hand on him. Daryl would never admit it, but I saw a stray tear fall from his eye. "Hi, Hunter." Daryl leaned down and leaned his forehead against mine.
It was at that moment I knew we were going to be okay. The three of us were going to survive. We were a family, now, and nothing was going to change that. This world wasn't going to bring us down.
A/N: There we go. It happened :D I hope you all liked the way I wrote this one. I had to do a lot of research, but I think it turned out perfectly. I hope you all love it and another chapter will be up within the next couple of days. I also hope you all liked the name I picked out for the boy. Please review and let me know. I love you all and thank you for reading.
