After traveling along for some time in comfortable silence, Daryl turned to Michonne, who sat in the passenger seat, polishing her katana.

"Hey listen ...thanks ... You know, for goin with me."

"Well, I kinda had no choice, cause you know that if I didn't go, Charlotte was gonna insist on going. And she ain't got no business going anywhere."

Daryl chuckled.

"Yeah she's gettin' stir crazy and it's only been about two months since Mark told her no more goin out. If it weren't for runnin' the pharmacy and helpin' out Mark, I don't think I could keep her around. She's like a fucking wild animal." Daryl said.

Michonne laughed at this.

"You're BOTH like fucking wild animals!" She quipped in reply.

Daryl didn't reply, what could he say? She was right.

"Here we are." Michonne said as the deserted mall loomed into view over the horizon like a huge, slumbering beast.

"It's gonna be dark soon, we'd best get out asses in there and find a safe place to stay for the night. Tomorrow we'll have a look round." Daryl said.

Though Daryl had scoffed at Michonne's decision to take the Prius, he now found himself thankful for the little vehicle's quiet engine and low profile.

There were a good number of walkers milling about in the parking lot, but they were so frail and emaciated that they made quick work of them.

They entered the mall through what looked like it used to be a Dillards.

"Would they have you know ... Baby stuff?" Daryl asked Michonne.

"Oh yeah! I never bought anything here though, their stuff was so damn expensive back in the day." She replied as she dug a lantern out of her bag and lit it.

"The kids and baby section should be upstairs." She said as they scaled the long frozen escalator.

She grabbed a large duffle bag from an end cap by the sports section as she passed it.

Once she reached the kids and baby section, she started piling stuff in.

"Whoa hold up! Are we gonna need ALL this shit for ONE kid?!" Daryl exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, kids grow fast. Now all we need is a car seat and we'll be good. Best to get one if the convertible ones that's for multiple stages of growth. Thank God we don't have to pay for it, those mother fuckers are expensive!" Michonne said as she scoured the shelves.

"Ah! Found you, you son of a bitch!" She hissed to herself as she grabbed the car seat which back in the day would've set them back nearly a thousand dollars.

"I just wanna make one more stop first, this one's for Charlotte. She ain't gonna be able to have a proper baby shower, so I want to get her something." Michonne said as they crept through the dark, deserted mall until they came to a stop in front of a bath and body works.

"I should've fucking known." Daryl said.

"Don't pretend that you don't like this shit, I've seen the looks you give her when she wears it." Michonne said as she shook a finger at him.

Daryl didn't reply, he merely looked away quickly as a traitorous blush dusted his cheeks.

Michonne merely smirked at him as she quickly ducked inside.

They set up camp in what was once a sun and ski sports store in a comfortable silence.

Neither one of them were big on conversation, and Daryl had to admit it was kind of nice. The last supply run he'd gone on, he'd gone with Aaron, and that asshole never shut up.

As he lay back against his sleeping bag with his hands behind his head, his eyes fell on the dark shapes of the duffle stuffed full of clothes for a child.

He'd done many times for other people.

He'd done it for Sophia when she was younger, he'd done it for Lori when she was pregnant, and he'd done it for Maggie.

This time though, it waa different... this time, was doing it for HIMSELF.

For HIS child ... that would be here very soon.

Panic once again rose up within him as he realized that he still didn't know just how the fuck he was going to do this.

He wouldn't have any fucking idea what to do even if things hadn't gone to shit, the only good thing is that they didn't have to pay for anything anymore.

Which was good because as he was finding out, kids were hella expensive.

Anger and frustration suddenly roiled through him.

He was a Dixon for fuck's sake! He'd survived a long time in this hellhole of a world, he'd overcome a lot of shit and learned a lot along the way and this would be no different.

One thing was for damn sure, he was going to do everything he could to make sure his kid had the best life he could have in this world they now lived in.

"Hey hey, where do you think you're going, little missy?" Sasha said from her perch on the lookout stand overlooking the gates.

Charlotte out her hands out in front of her in a placating gesture.

"Nothing ... I promise, just showing up for my shift."

"Resting is what you should be doing. You look like you're going to drop that kid any day now." Sasha chastised.

"Hey watch it! I still Have a whole month and a half to go!" Charlotte called up to her indignantly.

Up until now, she had liked her small frame. It made it easy to hide if things went to shit, and had allowed her to be quite agile.

However, she had quickly found out that being petite meant there was no where for the baby to grow but out, and even though Mark had told her that the baby would be of average size, her small frame made him look much bigger than he really was.

"This is one of the few things I can still do, so I'm gonna keep doing it. Besides, Rick okayed it." She called up to Sasha.

"Yeah ... I know, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." She said as she climbed down the latter.

"I didn't work so hard learning how to shoot with my left eye for nothing." She said as Sasha handed the rifle to her, albeit reluctantly.

I'll stay and make sure you get up there okay. Daryl will have all of our heads on platter if something happened to you and that little one." Sasha said as her gaze fell to Charlotte's stomach .

Charlotte smirked at her.

"Don't worry, I'm a whizz at compensating, remember?" She said as she pointed to her eye patch.

Sasha watched, and couldn't help but be impressed as Charlotte hauled herself up the latter with surprising ease.

"Damn! And most pregnant women can't even get out of bed without help!" She quipped

Charlotte smirked down at her as she leaned over the railing.

"I'm not most women."

Sasha laughed.

"No, no you're not."

"Shit!" Daryl cursed as they rounded the corner, loaded down with supplies to find a crowd of walkers milling about their vehicle.

"They've picked up our scent. God damn it they're getting good." Michonne hissed.

Daryl cursed again. He didn't have the fucking time for this!

With the birth of their son getting closer, he didn't want to be gone for any longer than he had to be. If he ended up missing it because of a bunch of walkers, there'd be hell to pay.

"Listen, I got an idea, but you ain't gonna like it. I can use one of those bikes in that sports store we stayed in to lead em' away, then double back." He whispered.

Michonne held his intense gaze with hers before blowing out a frustrated breath.

As much as she hated it, they didn't have any other options, that herd wasn't going anywhere anytime soon with their scent all over the car, and there was too many for even the two of them to take on alone.

"You better come back safe."

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I will, I ain't leavin' my son without his dad." He said.

Michonne nodded to him.

"Go."

He sprinted off towards the store where they had made camp that night and returned riding a sweet mountain bike that would've set him back thousands back in the day.

"Hey! You ugly sumbitches! Look here! Fresh meat!" He bellowed as he circled slowly around the large group of walkers.

They growled hungrily, drool dripping from their rotting mouths as they all collectively turned towards him and began to give chase.

Worry settled like a lead weight in the pit of Michonne's stomach. She hoped like hell that he would be okay, because she didn't want to be the one to tell Charlotte that something had happened to him.

"Charlotte! Come on! You know the drill! Carl called up at the guard tower at first light the next morning.

Charlotte blew out a sigh as she made her way down the latter.

"I'm still impressed at how you can do that ." Carl said with a grin.

"Hey, I ain't gonna be no helpless damsel in distress. " she said as she handed him the rifle.

"It's almost time for my shift at the pharmacy anyways. " she added.

Carl shook his head.

"I came to get you early so you could go home and REST ... you know... like you're supposed to be doing ?" He scolded her.

"Holy fuck! It's like I have twenty mothers!" She said exasperatedly.

He merely raised an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms sternly over his chest.

Charlotte had to bite back a grin, he looked so much like his father when he did that.

"Well, its hard to sleep when you have a tiny human inside of you that's tap dancing on your organs." She replied dryly.

Carl's expression softened and he shook his head at her as she bid her goodbyes and walked slowly towards the pharmacy.

The walk wasn't very far, but the baby's position forced her into what she had deemed 'the pregnancy waddle' in lieu of her normal ground covering gait, so as a result, walking anywhere took her twice as long, much to her chagrin.

"Sorry I'm late, I had gate guard duty last night and as you know, it takes me a little longer to walk anywhere now thanks to this little asshole. " she said as she gestured to her stomach.

Mark eyed her with stern concern over his glasses.

"I also told you that you should be taking it easy." He replied.

"You ALSO told me that I needed to remain active." She retorted.

"I think 'within moderation ' were the words I used." He replied.

"Six of one, half a dozen of the other ... as my sister used to say. " she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

His expression darkened as he studied her.

"Have you been sleeping at all, Charlotte?"

"Well like I told Carl, its hard to sleep when you have someone doing what feels like gymnastics inside of your stomach."

"I know it is, but you also need to rest, you have to remember that your body is making a whole new human being in there. " he said as he offered a small smile.

Charlotte blew out a sigh.

"You're right it's just ... old habits die hard, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. " He replied.

Michonne didn't know how much time had passed, she never knew anymore, none of them did. For them it was just day and night, spring, summer, fall and winter, there was really no concept of time anymore.

But if she had to guess, over an hour had passed since Daryl had disappeared around the corner of the parking garage, with the herd of walkers over a hundred strong in hot pursuit.

"So help me God, if you make me be the one to tell Pirate that you fucking died, I'm gonna find your dead body and kick its dead ass!" She whispered to herself.

The sun was getting low and the shadows were lengthening. Where the fuck WAS he?!

Then, as if on cue, he rounded the corner, sweaty and exhausted, but otherwise unharmed.

"Thank fuck!" Michonne said as she rushed to meet him.

"I'm keepin ' this thing, it'll make a sweet present for my kid when he's old enough. " he said as he stuffed the bike in the trunk area of the Prius along with the other stuff they took.

"Come on, let's get while the gettin's good." Michonne said as they piled into the car and she floored it.

It was well past dark when they finally arrived back.

Daryl didn't even wait for the car to stop before he was hopping out. He wrestled the bike out of the back, slung the duffle over his shoulder and took off towards his and Charlotte's house.

Charlotte stood from the couch as the door crashed open and there stood Daryl, filthy and sweaty and panting like an exhausted lion.

He let the duffle fall from his shoulder, it made a loud plopping sound as it hit the wood floor of the living room.

He rushed to Charlotte and pulled her into his arms as his mouth crashed into hers in a desperate passionate kiss.

"I'm not going anywhere no more, not until this little guy's here. If I missed that, I'd never forgive myself. " He said against her mouth.

She cupped his face as she pulled back to look at him.

"I have to admit, I was hoping you'd say that. " she replied.

Then, her mouth suddenly turned upwards into cat like grin.

"Let's go to bed." She purred.

Desire zinged through his veins as she pulled him to the bedroom.

But the logical side of his brain that was still able to function caused him to stop.

"But ... are you sure? Is it ... safe?"

Hee grin widened.

"I asked Mark, and he said we're good to go. We just might have to get... creative." She said coyly.

He practically growled in reply as he allowed her to pull him to their bedroom.

God he loved this woman so much, she owned him, body, heart and soul. And he wouldn't have it any other way.