Over the couple of days that followed, Mia's cold did not seemed to relent, with the tiny toddler clinging to Blake and bursting into wet and snotty tears every time the blonde woman left her sight.
She was indeed feeling sorry for herself, and it seemed that cuddles from Blake were the only thing that made her feel even slightly better.
Negan had grumbled at first, trying to prise Mia away, vocalising his worries about Blake catching the flu in her condition. But Blake had merely pawed him away, and told him not to worry so much.
But it was obvious to Blake that Negan was feeling irritable himself after night after night of Mia waking up every hour, snuffling and whining. And so, had soon got work started on clearing out the room next door to his and Blake's, to set Mia up with her own space. Or rather, he barked orders at people to do the work for him.
And soon enough, the room was livable, bright and airy, with pale walls and a small twin bed tucked into one corner, but as Blake had stood there in the doorway, fingers brought up to her mouth, she knew that something about it, just didn't feel quite right.
By the third day, Negan, after being kicked out of bed to go get Mia some juice at 5am as the toddler with a high fever wailed to the heavens, had come back upstairs declaring that he was off out on a run with Simon for the day and wouldn't be back until late.
It was obvious that he needed a break. And Blake was not ever going to deny him that.
And so he had kissed her gently, glared at Mia, but ruffled her brown locks warmly nonetheless, before stalking from the room.
Blake couldn't say she was a huge fan of Negan being away for too long, but at least that gave her a chance to do what she wanted to do today.
And so, roping in Tanya and Franke to help out, Blake had set to work.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Tanya as she and Blake climbed the stairs with arms laden, not even thirty minutes later.
The two women had left Frankie keeping an eye on a snoozing Mia and had headed down to the marketplace to look for an entire list of things Blake had had her eye on, to decorate Mia's room with.
It was certainly safe to say that Blake was in a nesting mood. And there was no way that Mia was going to be holed up in some dingy little room without so much as a rug across the unpolished floorboards.
But rather than be put-out by Blake taking what she wanted from the expansive marketplace down on the ground floor of the looming factory, as she had been slightly worried about, the Sanctuary residents had been more than happy to advise and offer things that weren't on show to the expectant mother, showering her in love and kindness as they so often did these days.
"Oh I've got the cutest little throw rug Mia might like, let me just go fetch it."
"Tommy used to be a carpenter, how about he makes you a little painter's easel for her? My grandaughter used to love playing on hers."
And so it was safe to say that Blake had been overwhelmed by the response she had gotten from the Saviours.
She was liked. Certainly more than Negan was.
People didn't kneel for her these days, granted, but they still seemed to worship her, treating her like she was family.
And perhaps in a way, she was.
This woman who had brought everyone together. Made them feel safer under Negan's reign.
And all of that made Blake happy.
But now, as she ascended the stairs up to the third floor and the hallways that led to her, Negan and Mia's rooms, Blake let out a small sigh.
"It's a great idea," she said reassuringly over her shoulder to the dark-haired woman following her up the staircase. "I just want Mia's room to be cute. Like any normal kid's room, y'know?"
And it was true. Mia had grown up in this horrible world and had been through so, so much for someone so young. So she certainly deserved something nice.
But that obviously was not what Tanya had been meaning.
"No, I meant carrying all that stuff," said the woman in worried voice. "I can carry something else you know..."
But this only caused Blake to roll her dark green eyes in frustartion.
"Ugh, you just sound like Negan," she tutted. "I'm pregnant, Tan, not at death's door. I can still carry a couple of boxes up some stairs."
"I just don't want you pushing yourself too hard," the dark-haired woman mused in a quiet voice. "This is your first pregnancy, you've got to take it easy."
Blake pursed her lips together, her heart dropping a little.
In fact, it was her third pregnancy. Not that Tanya or anyone but Negan was to know that, and it still hurt to think of the things that could have been back then.
But Blake took a deep breath now.
This was a fresh start. She was pregnant with a child by the man she loved and she couldn't be happier.
Despite the circumstances she found herself in, this is what she had always wanted. A family and happiness.
And it was crazy to think that only a few short months ago, she didn't have any of this. She didn't have Negan, or Mia...or the baby growing inside her right now.
Blake smiled to herself, reaching the top of the stars as she lingered to wait for Tanya.
The dark-haired woman soon caught up with her and the pair of them made their way back to Mia's new room where they deposited the boxes and armfuls of stuff down onto the small bed.
"I'm just going to go check in on Frankie-" Blake began, before Tanya gave a gentle smile, pre-empting Blake's words with a hand to her forearm.
"I'll make a start here," she said in a sweet voice.
Blake really was so happy she had found these women. Her friends. And in this world finding people you could call genuine friends really was a rarity.
Her mind suddenly thought back to those people she had left behind in Alexandria….
Tara...Aaron...Eric….
The people she had always considered close, but when push came to shove had turned their back on her..after everything, all because of her alliance with Negan.
Wasn't she still the same person?
Hadn't they all been through the same shit, at the end of the day?
Of course Blake understood their issues with Negan, and knew it was too much to ask them to forgive him for the things he had done.
But for the briefest of moments during her last visit to Alexandria, Blake had thought that maybe her and Tara couldn't have put everything behind them, started over…..
….but Rick's attitude, as well as other's, like Michonne's, and Rosita's, had changed all that. They had caused Blake's hackles to rise, and when Mia had been in danger, Blake had felt like a wild animal, willing to go to any lengths to protect her.
And perhaps in that moment she hadn't been too different to Negan, issuing threats and ultimatums.
But that was because, in her eyes, those people she had once called her friends and community, deserved nothing more now.
Blake gave a small gulp, shoving open the door to her and Negan's room to see Frankie stood over beside the far window, staring out, arms clutched around herself.
She turned upon hearing Blake enter, blinking her eyes and offering her a soft smile.
"Hey. Mia's still crashed out," she informed Blake in a whisper.
Blake glanced over to where Mia was tucked up beneath the covers of her and Negan's large bed.
She really did look so tiny now, lying there with sheets tangled around her.
Blake looked back up to Frankie.
"Want to come next-door to help, Tan and I set things up?" she asked, as Frankie gave a delighted nod and followed Blake from the room once more.
Three hours later, and after a short break in which Mia had started wailing from the bedroom next door and Blake had given her a little lukewarm chamomile tea and comforted her until she had fallen soundly back to sleep, Blake and the other two woean were just putting the final touches to Mia's room.
In Blake's opinion it looked pretty close to perfect, with a large poster of an alphabet of animals on one side,a rug and plenty of soft furnishings covering the small space giving it a cosy look, and a sweet little lampshade covered in birds hanging in the centre of the room.
There was just one thing missing.
"Right, I'm just gonna put up the finishing touches…" Blake murmured, more to herself than the two women, suddenly grabbing a chair and climbing up onto it.
"Blake, I really don't think you should-" Frankie said sounding concerned.
But with a string of fairy lights in one hand, Blake waved her aside airly from her vantage point high up on the rickety chair, her back to the two women who were now standing by the door.
God, why the hell was everyone treating her like she was made of glass. She was pregnant, not dying!
"Stop fussing," she scolded, standing up on her tiptoes to loop the string of lights over the curtain rail. "God. You both sound just like Negan…"
But before Blake could say another word she suddenly felt a strong hand grab her around the middle and tug her from the chair with one foul swoop.
"NOPE!" came a sudden loud and very recognisable voice, as she felt herself being pulled backwards into a firm, taut body.
"What the hell-?" Blake protested, jerking her head around to see Negan standing behind her, as he dropped her gently to the ground once more.
Blake swung around, scowling, but at this moment Negan's face was like thunder too, as he removed his hand from her, and pointed a long tanned finger at her instead.
"Nope, nope, fucking, nope," he said again in a warning voice, prodding her gently in the collarbone. "Hell, I hope my eyes were fuckin' deceivein' me, 'cause there's no way you had better've been' standin' up on that damn piece of crap chair, Peaches!"
Behind him Tanya and Frankie were standing awkwardly, clutching at their arms, keeping their eyes firmly from Blake's.
But the blonde woman continued to frown, incited by Negan's attitude towards her right now.
"I was just putting up some fairy lights, Negan," she said an incredulous voice, shaking her head and shrugging. "I wasn't riding a fucking rollercoaster."
What the hell was his problem? What the hell was everyone's problem?
She wasn't a moron. She knew how to take care of herself.
But Negan grimaced, taking a step step back and raising both eyebrows goadingly.
"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Darlin'," he said blinking own at her. "You're fuckin' pregnant. An' hell, I don' want you liftin' a dam finger, let alone standin' that oh-so-fuckin' fine ass of yours up on a goddamn chair! I mean, shit, Sweetheart. I really gotta keep an eye on your twenty four fuckin' seven, for the next seven and half fuckin' months?!"
A rage suddenly bubbled up inside Blake at his words.
"Ughhhhh. All of you are as bad as the other!" she said suddenly tossing down the fairy lights onto the floor in anger. "Telling me what I can and can't do."
She shoved Negan's hand away from her now angrily.
"For fucks sake, I'm a grown woman, I'm not an idiot!"
Blake glared at the three people standing before her.
She knew what she was doing.
"Well right now, it ain't just yourself your puttin' at fuckin' risk, Sweetheart," said Negan loudly. "It's our damn kid too!"
Blake suddenly stopped, gaping.
Did he really think that she would care that little about the welfare of her unborn baby?
"You know what, Negan, you can be such a fucking asshole sometimes..." she uttered, sounding hurt.
And with that, she shoved past him and the two women, stalking hurriedly from the room, long blonde hair flying behind her.
Negan gaped as he watched Blake leave the room, slamming the door behind her causing the entire room to rattle.
Was he so fucking wrong for trying to make sure that the woman he loved and his unborn baby were safe and well?
Why the fuck was she being so damn defensive here?
He chanced a glance at the two girls standing near to the door, both looking anywhere but at the dark-haired man right now.
"We tried to tell her-" Tanya said eventually in a sorry voice, her eyes finally meeting his, but Negan waved a hand at her before she could finish.
"S'not your damn fault she's so fuckin' stubborn," he said in a weary voice, lifting his hand and dragging it over his tired and lined face.
Negan let out a carrying huff, suddenly noticing the room.
It did look, by Negan's own admittance, fucking great. Like the kind of room a kid should have. And Blake had done all this.
It was warm, homely and looked far better than Negan could ever have made it.
And that really was Blake all over, wasn't it?
The way she had come into Negan's cold, dark life, and made it better, made it warm and full of light.
Fuck. Perhaps he had acted like an ass.
But it was all just because Negan had never been through this before.
He had always wanted kids of his own, but had never be in the position to give a shit about a woman carrying his kid before now.
He looked once again at Tanya and Frankie, his ex-wives, who stood there, hands clasped before them, looking slightly concerned.
"Look, thanks for your fuckin' help girls," he said in a level voice, offering the pair of them a nod. "Make sure you take what you fuckin' want from the marketplace tomorrow, no questions fuckin' asked, alright?"
Since Negan had announced to the Sanctuary his abandonment of the wives, all of the women had been put on the points system. But these two, as well as Michelle, had thankfully been given a very generous 'wage' of points after taking on looking after Mia almost full-time.
But the two women took the hint, leaving the room without another word.
It was obvious that they detested him, but all his 'exes' still seemed wholly devoted to Blake. Although to him, that really was no surprise.
It was as though she cast a spell over everyone she met. With her kind nature and no-nonsense attitude.
To him she was perfection. It seeped from her every pore.
And she seemed to make everything she touched into something good and bright and clean. Even in this dark and horrible world.
She had certainly done that to the Sanctuary anyway.
Even Negan couldn't deny that everyone here seemed far happier these days under their shared rule, rather than his alone.
For that was what this was now….
Negan was no longer alone anymore. Everything he had, was hers too. Even his people…
The dark-haired man took another long look around the room, before sighing to himself, hanging his head and heading out the door.
He stopped out in the corridor, swinging Lucille limply from his gloved hand, and pacing a little, composing himself for a moment.
Negan considered himself a pretty tough guy. He didnt take shit from anyone.
And yet here he was, gearing himself up for a fucking apology.
And so, taking a deep breath, he pressed his lips together and gave the door to his room a shove open, heading inside.
She was there, of course, scowling at him over her shoulder from her position perched on the edge of their king sized bed, stroking Mia's sleeping face.
"You're an ashhole," she repeated again, in a pouting tone.
And Negan, lifting his free hand, scratched the back of his neck, hissing a little at her words.
"Yeah I fuckin' know," he mused in a low voice, dropping Lucille down onto the table nearest the door.
"And I'm still mad at you," Blake uttered, looking him up and down.
"Yup, I know that too, Peaches…" Negan sighed.
Her green eyes lingered on his for a long moment, before she opened her mouth to speak again.
"I thought you were out on a run anyway," she said, the smallest of frown-lines twitching between her brows, but her voice was a little softer now.
Negan lifted his free hand, scratching awkwardly at his stubbly cheek with one finger. "Well when I said goin' out on a run, I should've probably fuckin' said parkin' up a couple of blocks from here and catchin' up on some shut eye."
He watched as Blake gaped.
"You went out….to sleep?!" she said sounding confused.
Negan of course knew that she wouldn't be fucking happy about this, but hell, he might as well apologise for everything all at once. She'd likely find out eventually anyway.
He let out a puff of air.
"A guy needs him goddamn sleep, Darlin', an' sharin' that bed with Beansprout wrigglin' about all night, ain't exactly restful."
But Blake rolled her eyes dramatically, scowling, and shifting slightly to face him from her position on the bed.
"You realise that when our baby come along you're gonna be up half the night with him or her, right? I'm not doing it all, Negan," she huffed, turning back around and stroking her slender fingers over Mia's forehead and brushing her brown tufy hair from her face.
"Hmmmm, yeah, I know…" Negan offered gently, strolling slowly over and coming to stand at Blake's side, peering down at the sleeping toddler lying with her little mouth hanging open and her little fists scrunched up either side of her shoulders.
The pair of them were silent for a long moment, before Blake let out a gentle sigh and glanced up at him.
"Negan I know you care about me, but I'm not stupid and I'm not not about to do something that'll put our baby at risk,"she said tilting her head to the side, causing her long caramel-hair to drift gently over her shoulder.
She reached up and took his hand, and placed it to her belly.
"I want this," she said in a soft and reassuring voice, giving him a light, sad sort of smile. "I want a healthy baby as much as you do. But you've got to let me live. I'm not gonna break into pieces by doing a few things around the Sanctuary. But I promise I'll be careful, ok?""
Negan gazed back at Blake.
He knew just what she had been through with two miscarriages in just a few years. And knew that coping with that loss and that pain must have been hell for her to go through.
Then why the fuck was he doubting her fucking abilities?
She was smarter than he gave her credit for sometimes.
It was Negan's turn now to reach for her hand, tugging her gently to her feet, as his arms slid around her waist, and hers tangled themselves around his neck.
They stared at each other for a long moment, and Negan felt himself overwhelmed by what he felt about the woman standing before him.
She had come out of nowhere and bowled him over, just like Lucille had all those many years ago. And although Blake could never replace the memories of his long-deceased wife, she was still everything to him.
She was a path that he never thought he'd go down again, but here he was, besotted with this woman carrying his damn kid.
He took in a deep breath, his chocolate eyes flickering over her face.
"You did a good job on fixin' up that room next door," he commented in a husky voice. "I mean shit, you ever think about takin' on the entire damn Sanctuary, Darlin'? God knows this place could do with a damn refresh."
But Blake just smiled up at him, wrinkling her nose a little.
"Uh, now that is too big a project, even for me!" she replied, raising both her eyebrows meaningfully.
And at her words Negan gave a chuckle, before chancing a sudden glance over at a sleeping Mia.
"Y'know," he mused after a moment or two. "Seein' as Beasprout's out for the count, you up for a little Momma an' Daddy alone time in that bathtub of mine over there?"
He gestured with his head over towards the open bathroom door, before leaning his lips in close to her.
"I can help scrub Momma's back…" he growled teasingly. "An' Momma can help get rid the knots in Daddy's shoulders."
And at once, Blake smiled that vixen-like smile of hers, before reaching down and taking his hand once more.
And in a moment, with one last look over at Mia, she had dragged him quickly over towards the bathroom door.
"Sounds good, Papa-bear…." she purred. "But I hope that's not the only part of you that's feeling kinda stiff tonight…"
And with an approving wolf-like grin, Negan leant his mouth into her ear from behind.
"Oh don't you worry, Peaches," he growled, his hands sliding down to the space between her legs suddenly. "Daddy's ready to fuckin' aplologise for bein' an asshole, in the only way he knows how."
And Negan had to admit, he didn't hear a word of complaint leave Blake's lips for the rest of the night.
So it seemed like she was certainly willing to accept that apology of his, without another thing said about it.
Sorry for the delay in updating. I'm too bad at taking crappy reviews to heart these days. As always, I really am truly very sorry to those who don't like this fic, but if you don't like it you don't have to criticise it bit by bit, right? Why not just click off the page? *sigh* Sorry it just gets me down to know that there are people out there that feel the need to tell you just how much they dislike what you've written and criticise every other word. Nevermind.
Anyway, I just want to thank ShadowQueen3304, Nicole, GamerGirl2211, calh, Guest, LJH, MJ, Guest, WickedlyMinx, meredithgrey23 and CLTex so so much for reviewing.