Charlotte lay back against the headboard of the bed in Mark's office as he readied the ultrasound machine for what should be her final checkup before the baby would be born.
Charlotte blew out a sigh, she was miserable. The baby had turned into the proper birthing position, which Mark had said was a good thing.
But the baby's new position now made it damn near impossible to safely climb the latter to the guard tower anymore, so that meant no more watch duty.
"Is everything... okay? Why ain't he come out yet?" Daryl asked, worry saturating his gruff tone.
"As far as I can tell, everything is fine. The baby is active, his vitals are good."
As if on cue, Charlotte winced as the baby gave her a sharp kick.
"Tell me about it. " she said as rubbed her stomach.
"So. If he's healthy why ain't he come out yet?" Daryl asked again.
"Just because the pregnancy has technically hit full term doesn't mean babies just suddenly get born. It doesn't work that way, sometimes it can be forty two weeks. It all depends on the exact date of conception, which even before all this happened was an educated guess at best. " Mark explained.
"But he's alright?" Daryl asked.
"As far as I can tell with the tools that I have , he's fine, his vitals are good and even with the reduced room he is still active. He's just not in too much of a hurry to see the world yet it seems. I will say that in the old world the doctor would probably would've induced you if you passed forty weeks and had not gone into labor, but since don't have the means to do that, we will just have to wait." Mark said.
"And sex? Is that still okay?" Charlotte asked abruptly.
"Charlotte!" Daryl yelled indignantly as his face turned a hilarious shade of red.
"Yes, provided that you're careful." Mark said.
"Good, cause we've been at each other like rabbits." Charlotte quipped.
"Charlotte shut up! He don't need to know our business!" Daryl roared at her.
"I assure you that even now I take doctor and patient confidentiality very seriously, nothing discussed here will leave this room." Mark said.
"To answer your question, a lot of women experience an increase in libido during pregnancy. Hormones are funny things sometimes. " He added.
"You can say that again. " Charlotte replied as she eased her way off the bed
"If you have any questions of concerns , don't hesitate to come and see me. Otherwise, I'll see you when it's time."
"Come on, let's get the fuck out of here so I can put my feet up before my shift in the kitchen with Michonne and Maggie tonight. " Charlotte said.
"We could've taken a car, ya know." Daryl said as they slowly walked home.
Charlotte shook her head.
"Didn't want to waste the gas."
Having to move slowly was probably the most annoying thing about this whole deal. Charlotte had been so used to hurrying everywhere, but a belly full of baby made it impossible.
What made it worse is the looks of sympathy, and pity people in town gave her when they saw her waddling about.
She knew they meant well, but sympathy was never her bag, and it pissed her off.
Daryl noticed her dark mood and threw his arm around her shoulders.
"I know ya hate it, pirate girl, but they just care bout ya, that's all."
"I know, and it shouldn't piss me off, but I can't help it. I hate feeling useless and helpless."
Daryl abruptly stopped walking and pulled her against him.
"I don't give a fuck what these assholes think. I know the truth; that you're one bad ass bitch." He said with a grin.
She drew her hunting knife and helt it up in front of his face.
"And don't you fucking forget it."
He grinned.
"That's my girl." He replied, as they walked home, arms around each other.
"Don't fucking look at me like that. I get that enough from every other fucking body in this town." Charlotte said as she walked into the kitchen for kitchen duty and was greeted with the same looks from all the other people working in the kitchens, save for Maggie.
"Yeah, I know, they used to look at me the same way." Maggie said as she shot chastising looks at everyone else.
"The fact that she's pregnant doesn't change who she is, she's the same bad ass bitch she's always been. Maybe even more so." Maggie said as she nodded at Charlotte.
"Damn fucking straight." Charlotte replied as she began peeling potatoes for the rabbit stew they planned to make for dinner that night.
"We got some nice rabbit meat here, thanks to that man of yours." Michonne said.
"Yeah and with any luck, this little dude will take after his daddy." Charlotte said.
"Oh he will, with parents like you two, he's gonna come out of the womb a little bad ass." Michonne said.
Charlotte laughed.
"We'll see. IF he decides to come out, that is. Because right now it looks like he's in no hurry." She said with a sigh.
Maggie Chuckled.
"Hershel was the same way, I went a little over forty two weeks, remember? Even Mark started to get worried, but with no way to induce, we had no choice but to monitor his vitals and wait. Then ... there he was, healthy as could be."
"Oh fuck! You're telling me I could be dealing with this another four to five weeks?!" Charlotte said as she braced her hands against her back, which ached almost constantly now.
"Unfortunately the only one who knows for sure is the baby, and they sure as hell never say anything. And you're carrying your baby low, which makes everything worse." Maggie said with a laugh.
"I feel like this kid's using my bladder as a pillow."
"But one good thing is that petite women like you usually get their figures back much faster. Lord knows, it took me forever to get mine back." Maggie said.
"Okay, okay ... Enough about me and my fat cow ass. Thanks for the bath and body works stuff by the way, I love it, Daryl does too." Charlotte said with a sly wink.
Michonne threw her head back and laughed.
"I knew he would."
Charlotte, Michonne, and the others looked to each other with satisfied grins as they watched the whole town enjoy the rabbit stew they had made at a large potluck they had set up.
"Y'all did good." Daryl said as Charlotte joined him with a steaming bowl of her own.
"Thanks to you, my boy scout." She replied.
"Shootin' rabbits ain't nothin'. That's the first thing my boy's gonna learn how to hunt, soon as he's old nuff." He said.
Charlotte drew close to him.
"Have I ever told you how much if a fucking turn on it is when you talk like that?" She purred into his ear.
He turned sharply to look at her, desire burning hot in his eyes.
"I'm gonna fuck you stupid when we get home." He growled at her.
She smirked at him. "I look forward to it." She said as she out her hand on his thigh and began inching it upwards at an agonizingly slow pace.
He quickly snatched her hand away.
"Keep doin' that, and I'm gonna fuck you on top if this table in front of everyone." He said.
She crossed her arms on the table in a mock pout.
"Spoiled sport."
He waited until she had eaten all of her stew before suddenly standing up, pulling her up with him.
"Let's go." He said, the tone of his voice wasn't lost on her.
"Let's go fuck each other stupid." She replied as they hurried home as fast as she could manage to go.