"It's just as I expected." Dr. Cohen said. "It's your gallbladder. You're going to need that taken out." He paused. I looked down and sighed. This is not good. I wasn't extremely worried at the time, though, because my pap had to have his gallbladder removed and so did my friend. They said that the operation itself wasn't that bad. "If you were having these problems before," the doctor continued, "I wish you would have come sooner. Now we're not going to be able to do the surgery until after the babies are born."

My eyes widened and it felt like I was punched in the stomach. "Really? I mean…that's a long time away. Is there anyway you can just do it now?"

Dr. Cohen was shaking his head before I even finished that sentence. "It's hard doing the surgery now with the equipment we have, but it's going to be ten times harder with two babies in the way. Not to mention dangerous." He gave me a serious look.

I glanced at Daryl, he looked mad. It's obvious he's angry with me. "Well…isn't leaving it in dangerous too? What if it ruptures or something? Can it be fatal?"

"It's possible but not often." Dr. Cohen nodded. "Believe it or not, I've seen a lot worse off than you. It's not going to kill you but you'll probably wish that you're dead, I can tell you that much." He raised his eyebrows. I closed my eyes for a second. "But we're just going to have to wait, it's too dangerous with the babies. You could get an infection and that's not only putting you at risk but also them." He gave me a disappointed look. "I don't know any other way to say it. You're just going to have to put up with this, Abigail." The doctor said slowly and shook his head.

I looked down and sighed. I knew after that that there was nothing I could do about this right now.

Dr. Cohen told me about some foods to avoid so I wouldn't have as many attacks. One of them was greasy foods, that explains my attack this morning because I had bacon last night, which is one of the greasiest things in the world.

Another one was dairy. I don't eat a lot of that nor do we even have a lot of that around here. So, I figured I would be okay with that. I wanted to try to avoid it as much as possible since I would have to put up with this for another like five months or so.

I was standing at the counter making some iced tea when Daryl walked by. I turned to him but he ignored me and walked right passed me. I blinked in confusion. He must be mad at me. I sighed and felt a little defeated. I turned back to the tea. Well, that's his problem. I thought. If he wants to be immature like that, then he can go right ahead. I'm not going to let it get to me.

However, as the day went on, he continued to avoid me and I was getting sick of it. Somebody had to say something and it obviously wasn't going to be him. I went to give him a hug and he moved away from me. I huffed. Now was the time. "Daryl." I turned to him. "Are you seriously avoiding me?" I gave him a dirty look. He didn't say anything. "You're really mad at me right now?" I said wide-eyed.

"Yeah, I am." He snapped. Well, at least he's finally talking. "You kept this from me fer months. This could be a lot worse right now." He paused. I was about to say something but he spoke first. "After you made that big speech to me when I was sick, telling me that it's not just about me." He said roughly. Shit. He got me there. My expression changed. "Yeah." He nodded. "And it's worse fer you cuz yer the one carryin' the babies. You didn't just put yerself in danger, but them too. MY children." He raised his voice at me.

"Do not raise your voice at me." I said back.

"Oh, shut up about that. I'm yer husband, not yer son. I'll raise my fuckin' voice if I want to!" He snapped.

I gave him a little shocked look. Then, it turned to anger. "I made a mistake." I squinted at him. "Like you're not guilty of that." I scoffed. "But I have enough to worry about right now." I nodded. "I don't need you being angry with me. So, stop being so immature and grow up." We glared at each other for a while, then finally, Daryl walked passed me and out the door slamming it behind him.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, then closed my eyes. Stay calm. Don't get worked up over it. He'll be back later and you guys will work this out, like you always do. I nodded to myself. I looked down at Ponyboy, he was meowing at me. "It's okay, my baby boy." I picked him up. He wasn't really a kitten anymore. He was still young but he grew pretty big already. "Come on, come snuggle with mama." I kissed his head.

I took him and we both laid down on the couch. He walked on me and stepped on my ribs. "Oh, ow." I said and grimaced. I moved him. "You can't lay there that hurts. Sorry, baby boy." I petted him. The pain was still lingering. "Damn, that still hurts." I rubbed it. "What did you do?" I looked at him and let out a small laugh. He meowed at me, I giggled a little. "It's okay, it's not your fault."

I felt so tired and comfortable that I must have fallen asleep. It was evening now, it was still a little light outside but it would be dark soon. "Daryl." I called. He never answered. I slowly got up and stretched a little. "Daryl." I called again. He wasn't there. Then, I remembered about our argument. He must still be out. I hope he comes home soon.

I wanted to take a shower, but I was worried about if I fell or something and no one was here. So, I decided to make some dinner instead. I figured I would make pasta. We had a lot of noodles, after all. We will have Alfredo, I opened a jar of cheese sauce. I had a good idea just then. I can use the leftover chicken from yesterday in the Alfredo! I smiled. I can't even remember the last time I had chicken Alfredo. It's going to be good.

So, I made dinner. In the time that it took to make, Daryl still wasn't back. I waited and waited but eventually said, screw it and just ate by myself. Technically, I wasn't completely alone. I had Ponyboy there with me.

When I was done, I cleaned up a little and put the pasta in the fridge. I was pretty tired after that so I decided to just go to bed. I wrote Daryl a quick note about there being pasta for dinner and left it on the table.

I was feeling very worn out and a little dizzy for some reason. Maybe Daryl isn't coming home. I thought as I laid down. He'll be back tomorrow. I told myself. He's just doing what I did that time when I was mad about the alcohol. I slept at Glenn and Maggie's that night. So, he will be back. I closed my eyes. "Goodnight, love." I said out loud.

I nervously tapped my fingers on the table. It was the next morning and Daryl still hadn't come home. I was beginning to get worried about where he is and why he hasn't come back yet. I still had faith that he would come back eventually, but I didn't like that it was taking him this long. What could he be doing? I had no idea.

What I did know was that I had to stay calm, it's not good for me or the babies. I put my hand over my stomach and seemed to calm down. I smiled down at them and rubbed a little.

I decided to make pancakes, I only made enough for me. They tasted great. I wanted to have eggs but I had to stay away from fried, greasy foods. I had to watch what I'm eating with my gallbladder and everything. I glanced down at my note that I left for Daryl. I started to feel bad again.

I want him here with me, I hated all this arguing and negativity. It's bad for us and it's bad for them. I became saddened and played with the note. No. I suddenly thought. I'm not letting this happen to us. This is stupid. I'm going to be the bigger person and go find him. We need to talk.

I quickly finished the last of my pancakes, then threw the plate in the sink. I will take care of all that shit when I get back. I slipped my shoes on and headed out the door.

I walked around for a long time trying to find Daryl. I even asked a few people that knew us if they saw him. They didn't. I went up to the front of the gate to ask whoever was on watch if Daryl went out. They also said no, that they didn't see him. But they told me to ask Rita because she was on watch last night and he might have left then. She was working up at the clubhouse now. Damnit. This is going to be harder than I thought.

I went back the way that I came and headed towards the clubhouse to find Rita. I walked inside and looked around. I realized then that this was the first time that I was in here. This place was pretty nice. I never went to any events or anything. That's probably going to change in a few years when the twins are older. I will be going to events with them just like my dad and Michonne does with Judith.

I walked up to a woman that was writing stuff. "Rita?" I said.

"Oh, hello." She smiled at me. "Abby, right?"

"Yes, that's me." I let out a small laugh, then became serious again. "You were on watch last night, right?"

"Yes, I was." She said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you saw Daryl leave?" I questioned her.

"Who?" She looked at me more closely.

"Daryl." I repeated. "Daryl Dixon. He's my husband." I nodded.

"Oh, I don't think so." She said. "I don't remember anyone leaving last night, to be honest."

I sighed. I guess that's a good thing though. That means, he's not out there. I nodded. "Thank you." I left the clubhouse.

Where do I go now? I looked around. "Abby?" I heard someone say. It sounded like a girl, but I didn't see anyone. "Abby, is that you?" I heard footsteps and turned around. It was Paige. My shoulders slumped.

"Oh, hey, Paige." I said apathetically.

"Holy shit." She said walking over to me. "How far along are you?"

"A little over four months." I said. "And I just found out yesterday that I'm having twins." I smirked.

I watched her expression change twice. "No wonder you're so fat already." She smirked.

I really wanted to deck this girl. "Yeah, thanks." I turned. "I don't have time to talk though. I have some important stuff to take care of. I'm looking for my husband."

"You mean Daryl?" Paige said and scoffed. "I just saw him." I looked at her wide-eyed. "He was over there at a pavilion talking to a woman with short, gray hair."

What? No. I looked where she was pointing, then back at her, then headed over there. I couldn't believe my eyes. Paige was right! There he was…with Carol! They appeared to be talking, Daryl looked stressed. Carol rubbed his back just then. My jaw dropped. I stood there for a minute, then turned and hurried back home.

I was so mad I couldn't even see straight. What the hell does he think he's doing? I got myself a glass of water and immediately drank it down. I know they were always good friends, but I'm his wife! He comes to me with problems, not anyone else! Let alone another woman. I was pissed. I could kill him right now. Just wait until he gets home!

I was cleaning up the kitchen area when I heard the door open. I didn't acknowledge him at all. "Hey." Daryl said. "I thank we need to talk." I didn't say anything. "Abby?" I continued to do the dishes. I heard him sigh. "Yer mad, I know." He started to say. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't come home last night. But I was doin' somethin' really important that I thank yer gonna like." I scoffed. "Abby? Will ya please just look at me?"

I finally turned around to face him. I was calm, way calmer than before. "I don't think I want to talk you right now, Daryl. I really don't think I do." I put the last plate in the strainer, then pulled the plug and let the water drain. Then, I wiped my hands on a towel. I turned back around to face him briefly. He was giving me a curious look. "I'm going to lay down." I threw the towel on the counter and walked into our room without another word or even a glance.

I laid down on the bed and curled up. It was about five minutes later that Daryl came in there. He sat down next to me where I was laying. "I know yer mad at me, but please just listen fer a minute."

"Why were you with Carol?" I snapped. He looked taken aback. "I saw you two." I nodded. "I went looking for you because I was worried, and I saw you guys at that pavilion. Did she make you feel better, Daryl? Huh?" I didn't hide my anger and I didn't hold back. "She just has all the answers, doesn't she? I guess I don't do that enough for you. I can't make you feel better like she can."

"Abby." Daryl was shaking his head. "We was just talkin'. She's my friend."

"Yeah, and I'm your wife." I snapped back. "I guess that doesn't mean anything to you though." I couldn't read his expression. "I'm the one you come to about problems. I'm the one who makes you feel better about things. We work things out!" I was getting choked up now, I couldn't help it. I sniffled.

"Abby, please just—

"You don't know how bad you've hurt me." My voice cracked. "I don't even want to look at you right now, Daryl Dixon." I rolled over facing away from him. "Just go away. Leave." I started to cry.

Eventually, I felt him get up and slowly walk out of the room, then close the door. I sobbed hard into the pillow.

I stayed in our bedroom for about an hour when Daryl came back into the room. I wasn't crying anymore, but I was still extremely sad. "I, uh…made ya some tea." Daryl said. "It has honey in it. I know ya like that."

"Thank you." I said.

Daryl sat the cup of tea on the end table, then sat down on the side of the bed. I didn't chase him away this time. I felt his hand on my back, then it slowly started to move. For a while, neither of us said anything. "I'm sorry." Daryl said quietly breaking the silence. "If it makes ya feel any better, we wasn't talkin' about you. We was just…talkin' about the twins." Daryl continued after I didn't say anything. "I told 'er I'm nervous…cuz I don't thank I'll make a good dad." He shrugged. "I just didn't say nothin' to you about it cuz ya got upset the other day. I didn't wanna upset ya no more. But I did anyway." He put his head down.

I didn't know what to say. What he just informed me about makes sense, but it doesn't change how I feel. The damage was already done. I started to cry a little again.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked quietly.

I sniffled and looked up at him. "No." I finally spoke. "No, lay down with me." I grabbed his arm and pulled him. He laid next to me like I wanted. I moved his hair out of his face.

For a while no one said anything. "I hate this." I said. "I hate arguing."

Daryl nodded. "Me too."

"Can we please promise not to do that around the twins?" I don't want my kids to have to hear that. It's a bad environment to grow up in.

"Yeah, no arguin'." Daryl nodded again. "I promise."

I forced a smile and moved closer to him putting my face in his neck. He held me like that. "I love you."

There was a brief pause. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm real sorry." He nodded. "That won't happen again, I promise." He kissed my forehead.

I lifted my head so that I could look at him. "Daryl, I don't care if you talk to Carol. I know she's your friend. But when something's bothering you, any little problem at all, I wanna know about it. I'm your wife." I was feeling emotional again. "I mean…we've known each other for how long now and it feels like I still don't even know you." I gave him a pleading look. "I don't want anyone else to know you better than I do. And same with the other way around. Imagine how you felt when I didn't tell you about being sick. What if I would have told one of my guy friends before you?"

"Okay." Daryl finally said. "I get it." He nodded. "I would wanna punch that guy in the throat. I understand where yer comin' from. I mean it." He planted a long kiss on my forehead. "But I know how to make it up to ya." He said. I gave him a questioning look. "I have a surprise fer you." Daryl said, then sat up. "Come on." He put his hand out to me. I was a little confused, but I eventually took it. He helped me up and led us towards the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"You'll see." He glanced at me and smiled. "I got's somethin' to show ya. Don't ask no more questions til we get there."

"But where? Where are we going?"

He sighed. "I said, you'll see." I was still confused but, of course, I trusted him and just followed where he took us.

"We gotta hurry, we's losin' daylight." Daryl said and hurriedly us along. I still had no idea where he was taking me, and he didn't let on at all about it either. Part of me was annoyed, a bigger part was confused and another part of me was a little excited.

"Daryl." I scolded him. "By the time we get…wherever it is that you're taking me, it's going to be dark."

"That's why we gotta be quick." He said. I almost rolled my eyes.

Daryl took us to the back of Pine Lane and then out of the campground. We were headed for the woods now. I was even more confused now than I was before. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean…I should be able to start piecing things together but…I was completely lost here. I had no idea what to even think he was taking me to see.

We walked farther into the woods. "It's just up here." Daryl said. "We's real close now." We walked a little farther, he pushed branches and such out of our way. I was super itchy and a little sweaty and tired by the time he stopped us. "Alright, ready?" He said.

"I've been ready since you told me at home." I said.

He let out a small laugh. "Well, get ready to get excited cuz here we are." He shined the flashlight ahead of us, I looked and saw a cabin in the woods. At least that's what I think it was.

"Uh…" I was still confused. "A cabin?" I said.

"Yeah." Daryl said. "It's our new home. Well…it's gonna be our new home." I gave him a weird look. "Come on, take a closer look." He grabbed my hand and we walked closer. "I found this yesterday after I left after we had that argument." He stated. "What do ya thank? Ain't it nice? And it's only right outside the community."

I was looking around at it. "Yes, it's very nice." It was a nice place. However, I was wondering how we would be able to live here. I wanted to just ask him but I was afraid I would burst his bubble or something.

"Wanna look around inside?" Daryl asked me.

"Yeah, sure." I said.

We went inside the cabin. It was very dark in there, but we could see just enough with Daryl's flashlight. "This is the kitchen." He said.

"You've already been in here?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I checked it." He said quickly, then handed me the flashlight. "Go ahead, check it out. See fer yerself." He nodded.

I gave him a questioning look before taking the flashlight. I began walking around in the different rooms. The living room was beautiful and very spacey. I spotted a door and opened it, there was a bedroom behind it. It was very nice. The next room I saw was the bathroom, then there was a pretty long hallway and three doors at the end. One was a closet, two were bedrooms. I opened all of them and checked. The house also had a den or something like that. It was gorgeous, I had to admit. But how…?

I went back the way I came to find Daryl and stopped in the first bedroom to take another look. It was a very nice room. "That's the master bedroom." Daryl said almost causing me to jump. I didn't even hear him walk over to me. I swallowed hard and turned to him. "Come on, I want to show you what would be the back yard." He led us back outside and showed me the areas. "So…what do ya thank?" He gave me a smile. It was weird, he seemed like really happy about this.

"It's nice. Very nice. But…" I trailed off. I wanted to just ask how in the world we would do this. I mean…the house has no utilities.

"But what?" Daryl questioned me. I nervously bit my lip. I didn't want to offend him because he seemed almost…passionate about this. "Just speak yer mind." He told me.

Well, in that case… I cleared my throat. "I love it." I said and nodded. "It's a beautiful house but, Daryl, how do we do this? What do we do for utilities? And even though its's very close to the walls of Pine Lane, it's not in the walls of Pine Lane, which means we're not safe." I shook my head.

"Abby—

"I mean…I know we're both capable but…with two little kids? Two little, curious kids?" I raised my eyebrows. "They're gonna wanna wander around. There's no way."

"Abby." Daryl tried again.

"And what about food and supplies? If we're not part of the community anymore, then we can't be using their stuff. We'll be on our own. Which, again, will be fine for you and I but…it's not just us." I put my hand over my stomach.

"Abby, listen to me." Daryl said. I decided to give him my attention this time. "I already got it all sorted out." He cleared his throat and took a step closer to me. What does he mean by that? "I talked to some people. Craig's gonna do the plumbing, Tom's gonna take care of the water and Mark's gonna do the electricity."

Well, that shut me up. I was trying to form words but it wasn't coming out right. "Is that what you were talking to Carol about earlier? To get Mark to help with the house?" I finally said.

"Part of it." Daryl replied.

I'm an asshole. I put my head down for a moment taking everything in. "Okay. So, that solves the utility problem." I spoke again. "What about the walls? What do we do for protection?" I gave him a look then. Try to explain that one, Daryl!

"They been talkin' about expandin' the community." He said. "Buildin' the walls around this whole area, maybe even further. And they wanna add more homes. Not trailers either, actual houses." He paused and we just stared at each other for a moment. "I'm gonna run it by them once we get the house set up about the walls." He nodded.

Oh. That's a pretty good explanation. I blinked a few times, then my eyes glazed over. "Well…I love the idea of it. But…are you sure about this, Daryl? I mean…it's gonna be a lot of work. Are you sure it's worth all this?"

"Don't you worry about that." Daryl came closer to me and wrapped his arms around me. "You just worry about takin' care 'a yerself and the twins. We're gonna handle everthang." He nodded. "And I don't care how much it's gotta take. Yer worth it to me." He rubbed my face with his thumb. "I'd do anythang fer you."

I felt something run through me when he said that, and I just looked at him wide-eyed. That was quite a speech, and I loved every word of it. How could you not? I love this man with all my heart. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have him in my life.

"I just need to know if yer happy with this?" He asked again. "Do you want this?"

I thought about his question and everything he told me, taking it all in. This would be amazing if we pulled it off. That cabin is gorgeous inside and it's a perfect space for us. There's three bedrooms. Daryl and I will obviously have the master bedroom. The twins can sleep in the same room, and there's an extra room even if we wanted to have another kid someday. Or if the twins aren't the same sex, then they can just have the different rooms once they get to a certain age. And we could still have a third kid if we wanted because they could just move in with their sibling depending on what gender they were. Sounds like it's all figured out. I would be an idiot not to go along with it. I smiled. "Yes." I finally said. "I love it. Let's do it."

"Yeah?" Daryl said.

"Yeah." I smiled at him. "I mean…we might be out of our minds but…let's do it." I smiled at him again. He kissed me long and hard after that. We stood right there in the woods not caring about anything except each other.

We finally pulled apart. "Hey." I said. "Let's go christen our new home." I smiled and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Sex me up." I giggled.

"Yes, ma'am." Daryl said. He lifted me causing me to giggle again and carried me into the house while kissing me the whole time. He kicked the door closed with his foot. Then, he carried me over to the couch and laid me down. We just stared at each other for a minute.

"I love you." Daryl finally said.

"I love you, too." I smiled up at my man.

I was so happy in that moment. I was so excited for us and this new project that we could work on together. It could be just like a normal time putting our house together. We could even decorate it differently if we wanted to. And I couldn't wait to live here in our new home and raise our family.