"Maggie," the brown haired woman came running up the steps when she heard her sister call. Beth stood inside the bathroom, hands resting on the sink, looking down at the white stick.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked.

"What's this mean?" she held up the stick. Maggie grabbed the box and looked at the meanings on the back. She couldn't help the squeal of excitement that left her lips right away.

"You're pregnant," Maggie jumped up and down, she couldn't believe it. She was so excited.

"Oh my God," Beth was excited. But she didn't know if she should be. She was conflicted about her feelings about this pregnancy. She wanted to have Daryl's children. There was no question about that. It was just that she didn't know if this timing was right. She was so afraid that he would react badly to this news. She loved him and he loved her. They were in a decently safe place, but in the apocalypse, anything could always change.

"So are you going to tell him?"

"Of course. I'll tell him when he gets back tonight," she said.

"Good." Beth nodded in agreement. This was good. It would be good for her to tell Daryl everything. It would be good for both of them. She hoped. And if not, she still had Maggie to be there with her.

XxX

When Daryl arrived home that night, he and Beth had a quiet and simple meal together—Maggie had already gone up to bed alone—complaining that she was exhausted from the long day.

"How was the run?"

Daryl just shrugged. "Didn' get much. Stuff ended up at the bottom of a lake."

"Well, that sounds like an interesting story...Care to share?" the blonde offered, hoping to engage him in casual conversation before going into more depth about this whole pregnancy thing.

"Some asshole. I don' wanna talk 'bout it," he said.

"Oh," she said. "Well um..." she chewed on her lip and picked at her food. "I wanted to ask you something else," she added as a second thought. Maybe she could just bring up kids, to get an idea of how he was going to react to her big news.

"Ya got a lotta questions tonight," he mumbled. She didn't know what was up with his particularly sour mood this evening, but she couldn't stop her question now. This was very important. And who knew what tomorrow would bring for the group? It was important to get this out in the open right here and right now. She didn't want to keep things from him. No matter what. Even if she was afraid he'd be upset with her.

"How do you feel about having kids...like um...with me?" she heard his fork clang against his plate and he just locked eyes with her before looking back down.

"Ain't never wanted kids," Daryl said. And he hadn't. What the hell had brought this on? They couldn't have kids, didn't she know there were dead people walking around? That wasn't safe. Judith was lucky to even be here. The group wouldn't be lucky twice. That was why he was kind of worried for how Maggie and Glenn would deal with having a baby too.

"Well...I have. And I've been thinking a lot, Daryl. I would want to have kids with you. I love you and I'd be happy to be the mother of your children."

"Beth, it ain't safe," he said. "Look 'round ya? This ain' gonna last. An' I'll be dammed if 'm gonna risk yer life or our baby's life. We ain't gonna have a baby jus' ta have one," he said.

"But...Daryl."

"No. I'd do anythin' fer ya, 'cept that," he said, standing from the table. He headed upstairs and Beth felt her heart shattering into a million pieces. She had expected a general lack of desire to have kids, but she hadn't expected him to freak out on her like that.

She followed him upstairs and noticed that he had gone into the bathroom. Alone. Shit. She had left the test in there. Unless Daryl suddenly became non-observant, he would see it.

While in the bathroom, Daryl took a minute to himself. He didn't know why that got him all worked up. Maybe he feared seeing Beth end up like Lori. But maybe he also feared making the mistakes of his father. Or having his kids grow up like he did. He couldn't be a dad. Daryl never had a real dad. He didn't even know how to be towards his own children he—

Daryl stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the box in the trash. It was for a pregnancy test. Then he looked to the sink and it all made sense. She was pregnant. His mouth went dry and his blood turned cold. He felt the nervousness wash over him. He opened the bathroom door—barely avoiding hitting Beth with it.

"Yer—" she just started crying.

"I'm so sorry, Daryl," she sobbed, hugging him and crying into his chest. "I'm so sorry," she repeated over and over again. "I did want this...but I didn't know how much you didn't want it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." she cried again and again. He found himself—instead of being incredibly uncomfortable—hugging Beth back.

"I ain't mad at ya," he told her. "M'self, maybe, but not mad at ya."

"But...Daryl, I'm pregnant," she looked up at him with her tear soaked face.

"I kno'. It ain't yer fault..." he said. "C'mon, let's go to bed."

"We have to talk about this...We have to figure out what we're gonna do."

"Nothin' we can do. Yer gonna have a baby," he said. "Can't change that, might 's well get used to it." That last part was mostly for himself. He couldn't leave Beth alone with their child. That was not even remotely an option. He had to step up and figure out a way to be a dad. That was all he could do. And he swore that he would do it. No matter how much getting used to it took.

AN: I really hope that I wrote Daryl's reaction well. I didn't know how to do it. I'd love your reviews...Ideas about the baby? Ideas in general? I'm planning to keep up with the show. Which means I should have a another chapter posted Monday-ish. I don't know for sure. I also don't know if I can manage to do two chapters per week. I'd like to, but we'll have to see what the show gives us.