"Mama, daddy! Wake up!"
Airianna cracked her eyes open to the sight of her now three-year-old son bathed in sunlight as he shook her arm. She grinned at Eren's beaming face, brushing his shaggy hair out of his face.
"Morning, baby," She muttered as she felt Daryl grumble and roll over in the bed. "What are you doing up so early?"
"I'm hungry!" He wailed. The redhead flinched at her son's piercing screech.
Her husband leaned over her slightly and scooped up the toddler, tugging him into the bed with them, "Stop yelpin' ya little varmint," He tickled the child while Airi sat up in the bed and stretched as she watched her boys mess around.
"Daddy, stop it!" The boy pressed as he flailed in his father's arms. "Hungry!"
The mother smiled at them before she groaned and leaned over as she clutched her stomach. Daryl paused in his horsing around, "Everything alright Airi?"
"Fine, everything's fine Daryl," He leaned over and lightly kissed her on the lips before crawling out of the bed. He offered his hand to his wife and helped her up from her spot before scooping up their son and carrying him from the room to wake up his uncle.
Airianna pulled the sheets straight on the full-sized bed, fluffing the pillows after she tucked the sheets into their corners. She turned to the dresser on the other side of the room and pulled a pair of jeans out of one of the drawers along with a pale green baggy shirt. She quickly dressed and stepped from the room, giggling at the sight of a half-asleep Merle trying to shake Eren off of his metal arm as the boy swung from it by his arms.
"Eren, get off your uncle," He hopped from Merle's raised arm and ran over to his mom, "How about you go find Sophia? I'm sure she's making food with Beth and Maggie."
The boy took off down the stairs, stumbling as he reached the ground, but hopped back up and continued on his way into the common room. Airi glanced at Merle as Daryl passed her to get himself dressed for the day.
"Your son's an animal," Merle grunted as he rolled his shoulder.
"You like spending time with him though," She replied as he ducked into his room to toss on a flannel over his wife-beater.
"You right there, sugar," He conceded as he walked out and motioned for his sister-in-law to walk down the stairs. She rolled her eyes, but made her way down the stairwell, waving to Sasha as she passed the girl's cell. Most of the people from Woodbury had taken shelter in D block when the first arrived, but Rick insisted Sasha and Tyreese join the original group in C block, and the siblings happily agreed.
"Morning Airi, how you feeling?" Sasha asked as she joined her as she walked towards the common room.
"Better than yesterday, my nausea was off the charts."
The woman nodded, "I'm joining Daryl and Merle on the run today, heard their short a few people."
"Yeah," The redhead agreed. "More walkers have been piling up in the past few days."
The women passed through the common room where Beth was feeding Judith and out the door to the courtyard where they watched Eren and Sophia sitting at one of the outdoor tables with some of the other children crowding them. Most of the courtyard was bursting with potted plants scattered around the outdoor cooking area they built after they scavenged a construction site in the early summer. Airianna made her way over to the roofed area and motioned for the woman manning them to go relax. She watched the pork on the grill along with the children nearby, waving at Sophia as the thirteen-year-old tried to get along with two of the other girls sitting by her, Lizzie and Mika.
Apparently, it didn't go well for her since she swept up Eren and moved to a table closer to his mother. Airi quirked her brows at the girl but was distracted as Daryl wandered up to the cooking area with a large blush on his face as many of the people in the courtyard cheerfully greeted him.
He shuffled up to the counter and smirked at his wife, "Smells good."
"Just so you know, I liked you first," She grinned as she passed him a plate.
He shook his head as he dug into his meal, "Stop," He glanced around at the crowd of people in the courtyard. "You know, Rick brought in a lot of them too."
"Not recently," She countered. "Give the stranger sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love." She smirked as she pointed behind him, "Besides Merle looks even more uncomfortable than you do."
He looked back and watched as people greeted his brother as well, with Merle grunting in reply as he tried to get away from the attention, "Right."
"I need you to see something," She turned and noticed one of the teenage boys sitting nearby. "Patrick, you want to take over?"
The boy nodded and moved to stand by the doctor's side, "Yes ma'am," She passed the spatula to him. "Uh, Mr. Dixon?" Daryl paused and eyed the boy, "I just want to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat, sir. And I'd be honored to shake your hand."
Daryl shrugged his shoulders and licked each of his fingers clean before he slapped his hand into the boy's, giving him a light shake. Airi snorted and tilted her head towards the fields and he let Patrick's hand go to follow after his wife. They walked slowly up to the inner fence and she pointed out to the outer one where multiple people were attempting to take out the mass of walkers building up on the outside.
"About today, I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run," She said as they both watched the fences. "Sasha and Tyreese agreed to go, so that's a plus."
Daryl leaned back on his feet, "That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it," He blurted out as he continued to shove food in his mouth.
"Yeah," She side-eyed him. "The thing is, we had a pretty big build up overnight. Dozens more towards tower three. It's getting as bad as last month. They don't spread out anymore."
"With more of us in here, we're drawing more of them out," He theorized. "You get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up."
She nodded as she ran her hands over her stomach, "Pushing against the fences again. It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long."
Airi frowned at the growing issue, but Daryl placed his hand over hers on her belly, "Stressing's bad for you two."
She smiled, "I know. I have another check with Hershel and Doctor S. later today, they're guessing I'm near the end of the second trimester by now."
"Gonna end up with a spring kid this time around," Daryl guessed.
"Think you're right," She mumbled. "I gotta go check on Eren and Sophia, something was bothering her earlier."
"Alright," He grumbled as they started to make their way back to the outdoor kitchen. "No runnin' or shit."
Airi chuckled as he continued past her once she reached where Sophia and Eren were still sitting, "I promise. Kids and infirmary work for me."
"Damn straight," Merle added as he ran up to his brother. "Ya swollen up like a balloon again." The two wandered over to where Sasha and Tyreese were packing up the cars as Airi flipped off her brother-in-law while holding in a laugh.
She grunted as she took a seat next to Sophia and smirked ass Eren waved at her with messy hands, "Okay, what's up Sophia?"
"Nothing's up really," She muttered as she scuffed her feet on the ground. "Just bored. Carl's working with his dad all the time now."
"There are other kids to play with," She offered. "Patrick is a little bit older, but he seems nice."
"I guess everyone's just so childish," The blonde girl attempted to explain. "I mean I agreed to run storytime, and now it's all awkward talking to kids I read books to."
"I could do storytime, give you a break."
"No," Sophia shook her head. "I like doing it, just makes me realize how the other kids don't know how to take care of themselves."
Airi nodded, "Well, that's their parents' choice."
"I know."
Airianna picked up a rag on the table and cleaned her son's greasy hands, "So what sent you running from Lizzie and Mika this morning?"
Sophia furrowed her brows, "Lizzie's weird."
The mother stood up and swiped her boy into her arms, "They're new," She said. "Still getting their bearings."
"No, Lizzie's just weird," Sophia denied as she followed Airianna back into the block. "She does weird things."
"Like what?" She asked the girl as they walked through the halls to the prison's infirmary. The blonde shrugged her shoulders as the woman used the key around her neck to unlock the door to the room. They wandered in and Airi set Eren in a small playpen next to her desk.
Sophia hopped up on one of the examination beds and swung her feet, "She names the walkers."
"What?"
The doctor turned to face the young teen, "She noticed one of them had a name tag and she started to name more of them," Sophia whispered. "A bunch of the other kids joined in. I believe they think it's a game."
"Does Carl know?" She shook her head. "What about Rick? Or anyone else on the council." She shook her head again. "Do you want me to talk to her?"
"No, I think I can handle it," Sophia assured.
Airi bit her lip, but relented, "Alright, just let me know if you need help."
A knock on the door startled Sophia, but she relaxed when Maggie walked through the doorway and sat on one of the beds. The girl nodded at the short-haired woman and stepped from the room, granting her some privacy.
"Hey, Maggie," The doctor greeted. "What can I do for you?"
"I umm," She stuttered. "I need a pregnancy test. Just to check."
"Sure," Airi walked over to one of the metal cabinets and opened it, pulling out a boxed test and tossing it to the girl. "Got a bathroom through that door." She motioned to the only other door beside the exit in the infirmary and Maggie rushed to it.
Airianna sat at her desk while Maggie took her test and shuffled through some of the files she had. She was glad the rest of the council approved of reopening the infirmary for the growing group members. Now she and Doctor S. ran the small area and constructed medical files on everyone living in the prison. Most of the files consisted of normal things checked during a physical, with only a few of the group members having extra things for previous issues and allergies. She glanced at her own file and smirked, seeing the papers in Doctor S.'s cursive regarding her pregnancy.
When she first found out in the early weeks of summer it honestly scared her shitless. She and Daryl weren't planning on having another kid in the foreseeable future, but it appeared anyway. Hershel assured her they would take every precaution they could when she told him and Rick, especially since she wouldn't have to worry about being on the run like Lori was the past winter. Merle had found the whole situation hilarious and compared it to the last time she found out she was expecting, joking how she would soon be yacking everything up again.
Eren didn't fully understand, but he was happy to have a sibling. She thanked the small miracles.
The bathroom door creaked open and Airi turned to Maggie expectantly, "I'm not pregnant."
"Good to know," She pulled out the woman's file and jotted down the note. "Guessing you and Glenn were a bit worried."
"Yes, no offense Airi," Maggie sputtered as she realized who she was talking to. "Just, it would be hard. And you saw what happened to Lori, what I had to do."
"Yes, childbirth is hard and terrifying," The redhead agreed. "But I had Eren naturally, so I should be in the clear. Also helps that your father and Doctor S. are here to help."
"And Bob," Maggie added.
"Ah yeah," She moved and grabbed the file on the newest addition to the prison. "He was a field medic in the army. Not sure if he's delivered a baby, but he could help."
"Guess this is the safest place to have a kid," Maggie figured. "I just don't know if I'm ready for it yet."
"And that is completely fine if your not," Airianna assured. "Kids are hard, especially now. Honestly, if we didn't already have Eren I would be completely terrified." She got up from her seat and gave her friend a tight hug, "You and Glenn would be great parents."
"Thanks, Airi," Maggie pulled away and gestured to Eren. "Want me to take the little guy for a bit? I know daddy's coming to check on you soon." The mother nodded and Maggie scooped the little boy up and carried him from the room.
She smiled at her father as he and Doctor S. stepped into the infirmary as she carried Eren out, "Hey Hershel, how's the leg?"
The older man smiled at the expecting mother, "Works mighty well. It's a good thing Merle recalled the warehouse he found his arm in."
"How are you doing?" Doctor S. asked as he motioned for the female doctor to sit on one of the examination beds. "Any odd pains?"
"No," She answered as he lightly pressed on her stomach. Herschel walked over with a stethoscope and placed it on her bump. "I think she's doing great."
"Thinking it's a girl?" Herschel wondered as he listened to the heartbeat of the fetus.
"Eren's a big momma's boy, so I figured Daryl needs a daddy's girl," She mumbled.
"Blood pressure's a bit high," The Arabic doctor muttered. "Might have you take a break from all the overtime you've been having."
She rolled her eyes, "Come on, Siddiq. I've been treating minor things and sorting files. That's as easy as it gets."
"I mean your other work," He commented. "Anyone ever needs a hand and you suddenly pop up. I know being on the council is a lot of responsibility, but you can't overwork yourself."
"I have to agree with him," Hershel chimed in. "Taking it a bit easier will be better for the baby long term."
"Okay," She begrudgingly agreed as she stood up. "How about I check in on storytime? That's easy work."
"No complaints here," Siddiq said as he moved to sit in the behind the desk. "I'll watch the clinic."
She smiled at the two men and slowly walked out of the office, slightly waddling as she made her way towards the library. As she shuffled along she bumped into Carl, who embarrassingly admitted he was going to storytime as well, but just to visit Sophia. The mother smiled at the boy's obvious crush on her adoptive daughter and wrapped her arm around him as they walked together. They quietly peeked their heads into the doorway and noticed a few parents left in the room as Sophia sat in the middle of a semi-circle of the other children.
The blonde lifted the book she was reading closer to her face, "The children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched it melt pitilessly away," Carl grabbed Airi's arm and pulled her behind one of the bookshelves to avoid the attention of the other kids. "Saw the half-inch of wick stand alone at last. Saw the feeble flame rise and fall. Climb the thin tower of smoke. Linger at its top a moment and then..." Sophia lifted her eyes from the book as the final parent rose from his seat and wandered from the room, leaving her alone with the other kids.
"Sophia? Should I take watch now?" One of the younger boys asked.
She nodded as she opened up the trunk she was sitting on, "Yes, Luke, you do that," Carl and Airi watched as she pulled a tray of knives from the crate and set it in front of the kids. "Today, we are talking about knives. How to use them, how to be safe with them, and how they could save your life."
"Sophia, may I be dismissed?" Patrick asked.
"What is it?"
He shifted, "I'm not feeling very well."
The girl scoffed, "Sometimes you have to fight through it."
"Yeah, but I don't want to yack on somebody," He awkwardly admitted.
"Okay," She motioned to the door. "Go to the infirmary and get checked, they have stuff for nausea." The teen nodded and rushed from the room, passing Carl and Airianna's hiding place. They two eyed each other as Sophia continued her secret lesson. "Okay, we're going to learn how to hold a knife, how to stab and slash, and where to aim for…" She trailed off as she caught sight of Carl and the female Dixon.
Airianna crossed her arms while she glared at the thirteen-year-old, "So this is why you didn't want help with storytime?"
She helplessly looked between the pair, "Please don't tell your father," She begged to Carl. The boy sneered and stormed from the library.
"Kids," The group glanced up shamefully at the pregnant woman. "Storytime is over for today, go do something else before dinner." The small group of children shuffled past her as she kept her gaze on Sophia.
"I'm sorry," The girl blurted out when they were the only ones left in the library. "I thought if they learned survival stuff they would stop messing around."
"Where'd you get all the knives?" The redhead asked as she approached her.
"A few from the kitchen and a few from your and Daryl's cell," She guilty admitted.
"This the first lesson with weapons?" Or have you been stealing more?"
Sophia rapidly shook her head, "This is the first. I started last week with safe berries and plants to eat. In case they got lost."
Airianna nodded as she pulled out a chair and sat down, "Why did you not ask for permission first? I'm sure no parent would argue with lessons on foods and tracking."
"Cause they need to know more than that!" The blonde yelled. "They are defenseless, and I remember when I got lost. I didn't know how to do anything! If you weren't there…"
"You would have been just fine," She tried to assure the girl.
"No, I'd be dead."
"It's not healthy to dwell on the past too much," Airi said as she pulled Sophia into her arms. "You're here and we're safe. But if you want to keep this up you have to talk to their parents and the council."
"Okay," The girl dejectedly agreed. "They'll say no though."
"Maybe for the real little ones like Luke, but I'm sure Patrick and Lizzie could learn just fine," The redhead suggested as she stroked Sophia's hair. "But no more sneaking around. And you may want to apologize to Carl."
"Yeah, you're right," She glumly admitted as she pulled away from her arms.
The mother motioned the teen toward the door, "Go on and find him." Sophia nodded and walked from the room to find her old friend. Airianna sighed and got up from her chair and made her way back to C block.
As she entered the common room she smiled at Maggie holding Eren but paused when she noticed Merle and Daryl were back but had grim looks on their faces.
"What happened?" She asked as Maggie passed Eren over to her.
"Walkers fell outta the ceiling like a pinata," Merle grunted. "They got Zack."
"I'm gonna tell Beth," Daryl muttered as he walked towards the cells.
Airianna walked up to her brother-in-law, "Is everyone else alright?" He nodded. She gave him a weak smile and moved over to grab a small bowl of rice and vegetables Maggie had laid out for dinner. "Come and eat old man."
He chuckled and grabbed a bowl for himself, "Who you callin' ol' man?"
"You," She got out through her mouthful of food.
"I ain't that old," He insisted.
"Right," She sarcastically agreed. "And I'm not like 6 months pregnant."
They eyed each other before they burst out laughing. Daryl rejoined them and furrowed his brows at their mirth.
"What happened?"
Airi passed him a bowl of food, "Called Merle old."
"Ain't that the truth," He agreed as he dove into his food. "Older than a saggy sack of ass."
"Hell that even mean, baby brother?" Merle snapped as he dropped his empty bowl in the tub of dirty dishes.
"Does it matter?" Her husband asked. "You old, get over it."
"Well I'm spry for my age then," He defended as he flexed his arm muscles. Eren giggled at his uncle's exaggerated movements and the small family broke into light laughter once more.
Airianna finished her meal and took Eren upstairs to put him to sleep in the room next to hers and Daryl's. Once the toddler was fully asleep she waddled over to her room and smiled at Daryl's form already laying on the bed. She changed into a tank top and shorts and slipped under the covers to join her husband, smiling as he wrapped his arm around and pulled her close for the night.