Blake's head swam with worries and questions that continued to run through her busy mind, as she returned to her and Negan's room, with Mia in tow, not even five minutes later.

It was, to her stomach churning relief, vacant of the dark-haired man. So she silently flipped on the light, heading straight into the bathroom, as Mia's fingers curled into her long caramel-blonde hair.

It was getting late now, and Blake, running on automatic, bent over, plugging the tub, before beginning to run a nice warm and shallow bath for Mia.

But she felt light headed, perching hurriedly on the side of the tub, while she stripped Mia out of her clothes, neatly folding them onto the countertop near to them.

What was wrong with her?

Was it really any surprise that the man with six wives, over two long years, would have gotten one of them pregnant?! Or thought he had at least...

But perhaps, to Blake, it wasn't the idea of that, that hurt her the most. It was the idea that Negan perhaps had once been excited about having a baby with Sherry, just as he was now with Blake.

Had he been as elated, as proud, as loving with her? Or had it never even gotten that far?

If Sherry had had the baby, would he be with her now?

Would he even have looked at Blake' twice?

Would it have been her he had been cuddled up to at dinner tonight while Blake had sat there bruised and battered across the dining hall with David...still the broken woman she had come here as?

"Wai Bwakey look sad?"

Blake blinked, Mai's words breaking her suddenly from her thoughts.

"Im not sad, sweetie," lied Blake, offering the tiny girl and warm and caring smile. "Come on, let's get you into this bath, shall we."

Mia gave a giggle as Blake carefully lowered the little girl into the water, observing the way the toddler, splashed about, giving a small squeal as she did so, obviously enjoying herself.

Gosh, Blake loved her. With all her heart.

She placed a hand to her stomach.

And Blake also knew that, boy or girl, she would love the baby growing inside her right now, just as much.

But this, well it was a hard bout of news to get given...now…..after everything.

Why had Negan never told her? Did he not think it was important?

Or perhaps she was not important. Blake.

Perhaps she was just one in a long line of women…

But of course, Blake already knew that she was. She was not the first. And perhaps she wasn't the last either.

But she shook herself again huffily.

God, she just needed to snap out of it. What was wrong with her?

Negan loved her, she knew that.

Then why was she unable to shake these horrible feelings of doubt from her mind.

Right now she should have been elated...happy that she was having a baby with the man she loved and adored.

But this had just come from nowhere, blowing Blake out of the water, at a time where her hormones and her health was already all over the place.

Mia's bath didn't take long, and within ten minutes, Blake was stood at the edge of the large four poster bed in the room she shared with Negan, drying off the wriggly toddler who squerimed about in a large white fluffy towel.

"Come on," sighed Blake smiling gently down at the little girl, whose brown hair was currently sticking up at all angles around her head, like a little lion. "Let's' get your jammies on."

Blake had already grabbed a pair of pink pony-covered pyjamas from a small pile that had been left on the arm of one of Negan's couches, blatantly full of stuff pulled either from the marketplace, or from runs on Negan's orders.

Some of the clothes were either way too small for her, or way too big, but some things, like these cute little pjs for instance, fitted just right. And Blake knew that Negan would be grateful for not having share his tshirts with the little girl any longer.

She smiled to herself now, as she lifted Mia up from under her arms, hauling her a little way up the bed before plopping her gently down upon the soft white pillows.

The teeny girl gave a humongous yawn, shuffling herself down under the covers without much protest as Blake tucked her in.

And before Blake had even paced across the room to find a picture book that Mia enjoyed to read before bed, she turned, hearing a small sniffly sigh, to see Mia fast asleep, the time spent with the wives this afternoon obviously having worn her out.

Blake stopped staring at the sweet little girl for a long, long moment, unable to take her eyes off her.

This should have been a perfect moment.

But Blake could help that it was tarnished now by Amber's revelation.

Perhaps the young blonde girl had only been looking out for Blake…

Perhaps she had seen Sherry hurt in the past and didn't want to see it happen again….

Blake was under no illusion that Negan was a saint. But with him Blake had found herself feeling safer and more loved than she had ever felt before in her entire life.

So it was still hard for her to deal with this information.

She lingered for a moment on her feet, before moving over to the nearby leather couch, and, sinking down onto the seat besides the pile of toddler clothes, she slowly drew the laundry onto her lap and began to re-fold each item neatly.

But her eyes stared blankly at her lap...her mind whizzing and whirring at 100 miles a minute.

And it wasn't long until Blake flinched at the familiar sound of Negan's boots approaching, and a second later the sound of the door to the room being shoved open.

But Blake didn't look up, merely staring down at the far-too-small white snuggly all-in-one sleepsuit in her hands, running her fingers over the soft material.

Negan stopped in his tracks just a foot or two into the room, gazing over at a sleeping Mia tucked away in their bed, before slowly closing door behind him with a small snap.

"Beansprout, crashed already, huh?" he asked giving a low chuckle and placing Lucille down onto the sideboard near to the door.

But Blake didn't answer him now, the smallest of hard gulps sliding its way down her slender throat.

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

She could feel her face burning hot, her heart thudding away inside her chest, feeling like she wanted to be sick.

But she didn't.

Instead Blake just sat there, staring down at the sleepsuit, as Negan's eyes flickered over to her.

"Y'alright, Peaches?" he asked, taking a step towards her as she sat there, almost unmoving in the lamplight.

Should she scream at him?

Burst into tears?

Right now, Blake didn't want to do either. In fact she just wanted to run away. To do the opposite of confront Negan about this?

Did that make her a coward? An idiot? Or just someone who was so sick of being hurt?

After years of abuse…

...of pain…

...of bruises…

...of miscarriages….

...of losing people she loved….

Blake wasn't quite sure how much more she could cope with.

She ran her slender digits over the fleecy lining of the baby outfit in her hands. Wondering how her own baby would look all cuddled up in this…

...how Sherry and Negan's baby would have looked in the same thing…

And it was then that Blake spoke, her voice cold and quiet.

"Why didn't you tell me about Sherry? About how she thought she might have been pregnant…"

At her words Negan was silent for a very long moment, causing Blake's pleading eyes to rise and meet with his chocolate gaze.

And it took what felt like an age for him to give a short huff, dragging his hand down his long and lined face tiredly.

"Peaches, I-" he began in a low voice, his eyes darkened with a sorryness Blake had never seen from him before.

But Blake shook her head.

"Did you love her?" she whispered out sharply, her heart aching with a sadness she had hoped to never feel again.

But Negan took a step towards her now, a frown appearing between his eyebrows.

"All that. That shit with Sherry….. well it was a long fuckin' time ago, Darlin'-" Negan began again, but once more Blake spoke over him, her voice becoming hoarse as she held back tears of frustration.

"That's not the point, Negan," she said with a dry gulp. "Did you love her? Y-You tried to get her pregnant, so you must have felt something for her?"

From the bed, Mia stirred a little in her sleep at the sound of Blake's slightly raised voice.

The blonde woman stared over at the toddler for a second, before turning her attention back to Negan, whose frown had already deepened.

"I didn't try to get her pregnant, Doll-face-" he started, but Blake got to her feet suddenly, pointing at him.

"You had fucking unprotected sex with her Negan, what the fuck did you think was going to happen?!" Blake exclaimed, trying as hard as she could to keep her voice down.

So much anger and frustration at everything seemed to be pouring out of her now. So many unsaid things drifting to the surface…

But Negan looked troubled, not saying a word, his tongue reaching his back molars, as he clenched his jaw hard, staring at her.

"Did you love her?" Blake asked again starkly, sounding hurt.

But Negan just tilted his long face to the side, never taking his eyes off hers.

"You really think I fucking loved her, Darlin'?" he asked in strained and questioning voice.

But Blake just shifted her weight from foot-to-foot.

"Well you got her pregnant…" Blake said in a tearfully exasperated voice, turning away from him now and holding her arms over herself.

Tears began to fall freely from her cheeks for the second time today, but now, for a completely different reason than before…

"Carson did a fuckin' test, Sweetheart," Negan said in a carrying voice, causing Mia to shuffle about in the bed again. "It came back goddamn negative. Sherry wasn' even pregnant. Damn woman just thought she might have been is all."

"And that makes it ok?!" snapped Blake, spinning around on the spot and glaring at Negan. "So what am I? Just one in a long list of girls you've tried to get pregnant? Is that it? And bingo," Blake uttered loudly in a simpering voice, gesturing to her stomach. "You finally did it. I mean it took a lot of perseverance, but-"

Negan's eyes darkened at her tone.

"You wanna quit talkin' so much shit, Darlin'?" he said imploringly, pointing a warning finger at her suddenly.

"Or what?" said Blake, tears skimming down her cheeks. "You gonna put me in my place like you did to Sherry or the rest of the wives?"

But Negan didn't let her say another word, his face like thunder.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Peaches!" he cried angrily, closing the gap between the pair of them. "Have I ever given you any fucking reason to think that I don't care about you? Hell, we've all got pasts, Darlin', you should know that as well as I do. An' I've done a lot of fuckin' things in my life, hell, in the past couple of years, I ain't proud of. But don't fuckin' tell me you don't know how much you fuckin' mean to me. You, beanspout, an' our kid you've got growin' inside ya."

He stared down at her now, as Blake gazed up at him, giving him a sad sort-of look, her face awash with tears.

She paused for a lengthy second or two, before opening her mouth to speak again.

"Would you have still been with her...Sherry, if she'd had your baby?" she asked.

Negan blinked and dragged a hand over his bearded mouth, giving another carrying huff.

"What the fuck do you want me to say to that?" he replied slowly. "Hell, I ain't a monster and I aint about to walk out on a pregnant gal. But don't for a fuckin' moment think that I fuckin' loved her, Peacehes."

His eyes were full of honesty now, as he stood there mere inches away from her without their bodies touching.

Blake stared up at him, helplessly, as he finally lifted a hand to her forearm, everything in the room becoming suddenly quiet and still.

"Sit," he asked her gently, his voice soothing now in the lamplight, as Blake did as he said, sitting down onto the couch behind her, her eyes fixed on his, as tears ran down her cheeks to her slender neck.

Negan joined her, but perched on the edge of the couch cushion, hands clasped between his spread knees, his gaze drifting to the floor.

"There's only two people in this world I've ever fuckin' loved," he began slowly. "My first wife….hell, we met when we I was a senior and she was a sophomore, on the cheerleadin' squad, while I played on the football team. She was my every-fuckin'-thing. But we tried for a family. For kids, but she couldn't…"

Negan trailed off, mouthing at the air for a moment, before letting a harsh gulp trail up, and then back down, his bearded throat.

"So we argued, I drank, left her fuckin' home alone night after damn night. I screwed around on her. An' then one day I was lyin' there in bed, with some gal I can't even remember the damn name of, an I get a call that my wife fuckin' collapsed on the street outside the grocery store. I was supposed to have been the one pickin' up dinner that night', but I'd forgotten' the hell about it. An' by the time I'd made it over to the hospital almost three hours after she'd been brought in, the docs, well they'd already ran all their goddamn tests, an' told her she had terminal fucking cancer. Fucking cancer. She'd known the whole time I'd been cheatin' on her, an she didn't care. It was too late to fuckin' care. But it still tore me apart that she'd known."

Blake stared at him, breathing hard.

Blake had heard bits and pieces of this story before. But Negan had never elaborated. And yet here he was now, baring his soul to her.

His head was bowed low, his shoulders hunched, looking like a broken man. But he gave a deep sniff before continuing.

"And so I stayed with her….until the end…." he said, pausing for a moment, before staring straight up at Blake. "An' I could hear those goddamn sirens outside, the copters', but I just sat there holdin' her damn hand, even after she passed...I couldn't even fuckin' move….an' when the time came, when she came back as one of those sorry fucks, I couldn't even do it….I couldn't put her down. I acted like a cowardly piece of shit. An' I have done ever fuckin' since. I mean, I know I look an' act like a smartass-asshole most of the fuckin' time. But that was only because that day, I gave up givin' a shit about anyone but myself. An eventually I found myself some gals who needed me. An' I gave them what they wanted, protection, a shot at an easy fucking life, but they were just an easy screw an' it looked good. Me standin' there with six wives...king of the fucking castle. With my goddamn empire beneath me. But I was fuckin' empty inside. I could fucking feel it. Like a goddamn cancer of my own."

Negan gave a frown, lowering his chin and staring at a tearful Blake, with earnest chocolate eyes.

"An' then you showed up," said Negan, his hand moving suddenly to Blake's cheek, as he sat up straight, cocking his tanned face to the side, gazing at her in a look that almost resembled awe, his eyes roving across her features. "An you dragged me the fuck away from that emptiness like a goddamn hurricane, Peaches."

Blake gulped,as another tear slid its way down her cheek, but Negan quickly swiped it aside with his coarse thumb.

"So like I said, there's only ever been two fuckin' people in this world I've ever fuckin' loved. Her…..an' you. There ain't ever been nobody else. An' there never fuckin' will be. We clear on that? Look, Sherry's gone. An' there never was no kid with her. There never has been before now. With anyone."

Negan's hand suddenly dropped from Blake's chin, finding her waist, his fingers tracing over her flat abdomen.

"I was never out to become a fuckin' Daddy," he muttered. "An' I ain't gonna lie that it dont scare the livin' shit outta me. But havin' a kid with you. I could die tomorrow and still feel the happiest I've ever felt in my goddamn life."

Blake gave a breathy laugh at this. "Please dont," she said gently, as Negan blinked, a soft smile curving his bearded lips upwards.

"C'mere, Darlin'," he said, snaking his leather-clad arm around her and pulling her to him.

Blake compiled gratefully, feeling two more tears slide down her cheeks.

God, she had been so stupid. But she had just needed to hear it from him. That this was what he wanted.

He smelled like musk, and burning wood fire, and gasoline, and Blake loved him with every inch of her, including the bay girl or boy currently growing inside her.

After a long few moments had passed she finally pulled away, staring down at her lap and swiping tears from her eyes feeling, very stupid all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry," she said gently.

But Negan shook his head, his hand upon her chin again, lifting her gaze to his long face once more.

"Dont fuckin' be, Dralin'," he said imploringly. "All of this shit my fuckin' fault anyway."

He let out a puff of air, digging his tongue into his inner cheek before speaking again.

"Tomorrow…. I'm callin' a meetin' an' making it clear that those gals...well they're free to do whatever they want from now on."

Blake looked at him, with gentle eyes. "Y-You don't have to do that Negan-" she began, but this time it was Negan's turn to cut across her.

"They can stay in that room if they like, hell, they can become Beansprout' full time babysitters club if that's what they want, but that wife shit. I'm done with that damn stuff now."

And with that, before Blake could say another word, Negan had grabbed her, sat back and pulled her onto his lap, as she threaded her legs, either side of his thighs.

"Cause I've got myself a queen instead," he said lifting his chin upwards until his grinning lips brushed against hers.

And Blake couldn't help but smile into his mouth, as she kissed him gently, a warmth spreading through her.

But for once this wasn't a sexual warmth, this was a warmth, that Blake wasn't aware she had ever felt before in her entire life.

Their lives were open books now and Blake was under no illusions about what she meant to him, her Saviour.

For she was the queen to his king.

She had been through shit in her life...been a broken woman….but also a phoenix rising from the ashes of her former life. With Negan at her side.

They were a powerful and formidable team.

And no bullshit stirring from Amber or anyone else was going to fuck that up for them.

Blake had had her doubts, but she had come out stronger, with a reassurance….with a love, that Blake knew he had only ever given to one other.

And no matter what had happened between him and Sherry, that was done. It was all done.

And now the four of them together, her Negan, Mia and the baby could move on….

...leaving the past in the past.

And that meant more to Blake now, than she could ever, ever say.

Was that ok? I'm not really sure about that chapter. Sorry, my writing felt a little off. Any way… you guys want more?

Thanks to GamerGirl2211, Nicole, JasminJW, Green, Guest, CapatinWilliamsN7, rissbonzo, Jam86, LJH, Haddassah, CLTex, MJ, Guest, meredithgrey23 and ShadowQueen3304 for commenting on the last chapter.

Please leave a review on this one if you'd like to see more. I find myself slowing down a little at the moment, so need to motivation.