Author's notes: Listen to "Shut up and Dance" by Walk The Moon.

To set the mood. :D

…

Quinn, Commonwealth

November 26, Saturday night

The wedding

When everyone found their seat at the restaurant Carol and Aaron served champagne. The kids got apple juice, so did I. Negan rose to make a speech. He cleared his throat and waited for the others to stay quiet.

"I know none of you are here because of me. I know what I did and that I don't deserve any kindness from you. And yet… here we are. Who would have guessed, right? But… the reason we are all here is that this amazing woman changed all of us. I know you are here for her, my dear Quinn, but I still want to thank you. All of you. For tolerating me and for loving Quinn so much that you can even sit down with me for a dinner, even after everything I did. I know it's not easy and I am truly grateful. So, thank you all for being here and showing your love for Quinn."

"I still hate you!" Rosita said raising her voice a little bit, making everyone chuckle. It was a joke. They all knew how Negan changed. Rosita was smiling too.

"Yeah, I know, thank you," replied Negan.

"I'm here for you too!" said Judith. Negan put his hand on his heart.

"Oh… my… god…" he said. "Quinn, I'm cheating on you. That's it," he said and blew a kiss to Judith.

"Ew, I take it back," said Judith. Everyone was laughing at the scene heartily.

"She's mine!" said Daryl and pecked Judith's cheek. She pushed him away yelling: "Ewww!"

"She is the only girl you are allowed to ditch me for," I told Negan, joining in the fun. Everyone was chuckling. Negan took the word back.

"So… yeah… I'm truly grateful for tolerating me in your presence and being here to celebrate how wonderful Quinn is. Cheers!" he said and we all drank. Negan sat back down next to me and I turned towards him, whispering.

"Thank you."

"I meant every word," he said and kissed me gently.

"Do you think I could announce our pregnancy now? Is it the right time?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. Go for it!" he said smiling happily. So I stood up this time.

"Before everyone gets drunk, I'd like to grasp the opportunity to announce… that we are having a baby!" I said smiling happily. Those who didn't know about it were all surprised and smiling happily at me. Clapping and drinking the rest of the champagne, congratulating us. I sat back down and Negan smiled at me so handsomely I wanted to melt like an ice cube.

"I hope that's not champagne!" said Rosita as I was drinking.

"No, it's apple juice!" Carol answered her.

"Wow, going hard at it," said Daryl smiling. I giggled into my glass.

After the toast, Carol with the help of Henry, Lydia, and Daryl, served the food. It was so much… I haven't seen so much food in a long time. The dinner went in a good mood. Everyone was having fun, eating, and chatting. Aaron and Jesus announced that they were engaged too. Rosita was feeding Coco baby food. My eyes ventured back to her from time to time. I was going to be just like her in a couple of months. I slipped my hand on my belly, smiling to myself. Everyone had so much fun. Daryl made the kids laugh. Aaron praised Daryl's suit and Daryl got offended, staring at Carol, like it was a bad thing. Carol just giggled and fixed his collar once again.

When we finished with the dinner, Carol served a huge cake too which she baked for us. She even wrote "Quinn & Negan" on it. I was so surprised and happy. The kids were over the moon happy. Carol had to stop RJ from stuffing the third slice of cake in his mouth.

After we ate everything, Daryl set up the gramophone and it was time for the other part which I was nervous about. The opening dance. Negan offered me his hand, Carol put on some slow music, and we started dancing while everyone was watching. I was happy that it didn't take long for Gabriel to ask Rosita for a dance too. As they joined in, Jesus and Aaron did too. I saw Carol poking Henry with her elbow to ask Lydia. Henry blushed but did ask her. They joined the dancers too. Judith, Gracie, and RJ were watching us. Daryl was standing next to Carol. I saw the looks on their faces. Carol was waiting for him to ask her to dance and Daryl was embarrassed and nervous.

"Do you think Dixon's gonna dance?" asked Negan quietly. Apparently, he was watching them too. I chuckled.

"It takes time, but he will," I said. Negan chuckled and turned his eyes to me. We were slow dancing romantically, getting lost in each other's eyes.

Judith noticed too how Daryl was behaving. She poked him with her arm.

"What?" asked Daryl.

"Ask her!" Judith scolded him.

"Okay, okay, jeez," said Daryl. He cleared his throat and took a step closer to Carol.

"Would you like to…?"

"Thought you would never ask," said Carol interrupting him. Daryl scoffed embarrassed. Carol smiled at him warmly and they finally joined the dancefloor.

The slow dance went on for a little while and when the song finished, Eugene went to the gramophone and put on some happy dancing music. Then, with a smile on his face, he asked Rosita to dance. Gabriel checked on the baby. Aaron and Jesus were dancing with Gracie. Carol and Daryl approached us.

"Can I have this dance?" asked Carol looking at Negan.

"What? Really?" Negan asked surprised.

"Yep. Come on, before I change my mind," she said and pulled Negan away. I smiled at the two of them. Daryl was standing right in front of me it was written all over his face that this was Carol's idea too.

"We don't have to dance if you don't want to," I said smiling at him. Daryl let out a sigh and offered me his hand. Of course, I accepted. I was giggling the whole time. He didn't really have any dance moves and he was embarrassed, but he did okay.

"I didn't drink enough for this yet," he said. I chuckled and we kept on dancing. When the song finished, I let go of Daryl's hand.

"You survived," I said.

"Barely," he said as he exhaled sharply and quickly disappeared to look for some alcohol. I chuckled at him. It was so obvious that he hated these formal clothes and hated dancing and wanted to disappear into the forest. He was like a big kid.

I saw Negan going towards Judith. He bowed before her theatrically and offered her his hand. Judith was chuckling and accepted, they started dancing. I was smiling at the two of them. Suddenly my hands were grabbed by Carol and she made me dance.

"You have to tell me how Jesus and Eugene showed up here," I said. "I know it was you and Daryl."

"It's a surprise, you don't have to know everything," she replied smiling with an impish sparkle in her eyes. I chuckled and dropped the topic for now. We were dancing for a while until Eugene switched with her.

"I'm really sorry for my previous behavior," he said while we were dancing.

"It's okay, I understand," I said.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't ditch my friends like that."

"I'm glad you're here," I smiled at him. He let out a sigh.

"When you visited me, you wanted to tell me about the baby too, right?" he asked guiltily.

"It doesn't matter, Eugene. You are here and that's all that matters," I tried to dissolve his guilt. He flashed a sad smile at me. I hugged him and patted his back gently.

"I'm not mad at you," I said. He smiled at me and we continued our dance. Finally, Jesus showed up too. Eugene asked Carol for a dance this time, while Negan was dancing with Lydia, and Daryl with Judith. I smiled as I glanced around.

"So how did you get here?" I asked Jesus as he took my hand.

"You are ruining the magic," he said. "Daryl came to Alexandria and asked me and Aaron if we wanted to come. And we said yes, so they brought us back. That's it," he explained.

"I knew it was Daryl. And Carol convinced Eugene, right?" I asked.

"Yeah… But I think I had my hands in that case too," he said mysteriously. I chuckled.

"Thank you very much," I said. "How are things at Alexandria?"

"Better. Slowly but surely better," Jesus replied while we were dancing.

"Did Daryl mention that we are thinking about going back? Me and Negan," I said.

"Yeah, he told us. Of course, you are welcome to come back. I would be happy," he said.

"Now that Maggie went back to Hilltop, I think we could go back to Alexandria."

"Sure. But wouldn't it be better for the baby to stay in the Commonwealth? At least till the birth?" he asked.

"I'm thinking about that a lot. We will see. I don't know yet," I admitted. He nodded understandingly.

"You're always welcome to Alexandria," he reassured me. "Well… Negan not so welcomed, but since Maggie and her gang left it would be okay."

"Thank you. I'll think about it some more," I said.

"Alright, but no serious topics right now. We are dancing!" he stated. I chuckled and kept dancing. Suddenly Aaron came by and took my other hand, then Gracie joined in between Jesus and Aaron, so the four of us were dancing together, holding hands.

When the song ended I headed to the bathroom. By the time I came back to the dancefloor I was hit by the loud rock music which I heard not so long ago from Carol's apartment. Judith put it on and now they were rocking out. The scene made me laugh heartily. I felt a warm hand slip on my waist. Negan stood behind me.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked chuckling. He was watching the scene smiling while he hugged me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"I don't have the slightest idea," he admitted. I smelled alcohol on his breath, but he wasn't tipsy yet. We were watching the scene chuckling. When the song finished Judith yelled "Wooo!" and everyone laughed. She really did like that rock music. After this little happy scene, Eugene put back on some dance music and the rest of them started dancing again. I grabbed a drink. Some apple juice to really kick in. Carol and Daryl disappeared. Negan was talking with Judith and Lydia, making the girls giggle. Wasn't he the favorite of the ladies?

I headed outside to check out the garden, smiling to myself. I didn't even go out yet. And I found Carol and Daryl there. Daryl was sitting on a chair with champagne in his hand while Carol was standing next to him, feeding him a piece of cake.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked chuckling.

"No. I just wanted him to eat something because he is only drinking," said Carol.

"You're cruel," said Daryl.

"Eating the most delicious cake in the world is so bad?" I asked smiling.

"Nah… it's really delicious," said Daryl smiling at Carol.

I just noticed Carol had a doll in her arm.

"What's with the doll?" I asked.

"Oh, I think Gracie dropped it. I'm giving it back. And then I'll take all the kids home. Bedtime," she explained. She gave the last bite of cake to Daryl, then she headed inside, leaving us alone. I glanced at Daryl, he put his necktie on his forehead. I giggled.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Are you drunk?"

"Nah… maybe… just tipsy," he said.

"So that's how neckties should be?" I asked as I sat down on another chair. He grabbed the tie and placed it on the side of his head.

"Yep. Fashion," he said as he unbuttoned the top of his shirt, revealing a little bit of his chest, then he leaned his head back. I smiled to myself. I've never seen Daryl drunk before, but he always said he was aggressive. And now he wasn't. Suddenly he looked at me and gathered himself up.

"The bride shouldn' be sittin' alone," he said and took my hand. "Come on."

He pulled me up and we started dancing. I didn't know what to say so I was just chuckling softly and went along with him. After a while, he slowed down more and more till we stopped dancing and he embraced me tightly.

"I love you so much…" he said in a tone that sounded sleepy. I scoffed.

"I love you too," I said still chuckling. Suddenly he kissed my cheek. "How much did you drink?" I asked giggling as I backed away.

"Are you happy with that idiot?" he asked still holding me in his arms.

"Yes," I said smiling happily. He scoffed.

"Good… Don't make me regret it," he said.

"Regret what?" I asked.

"Not killing 'im."

"Daryl… don't say something like that."

"He deserved it… more than anyone. I killed people for far less… what he has done… Glenn… oh, god…" he said as he let me go and sat back down.

"Daryl… that's the past. Negan changed. You know that," I said patiently.

"Yeah, I know…" he said. I let out a sigh and stepped to him. He leaned his head against my stomach and I hugged him.

"He won't do anything like that ever again. He is on our side," I reassured him.

"Yeah… yeah, I know," said Daryl. "Hey, you…" he said as he slightly backed away but still faced my belly. He was talking to the baby, while he rested his hand on my waist. "Yeah, you… inside… I'm Daryl and I'm gonna be your uncle. Ya better be like your mom and not like your father."

I was laughing very entertained. Daryl was the first one to talk to the baby. I mean, sometimes I did, but not even Negan did this yet. It was a strange feeling.

"So yeah… I'm gonna be your uncle. And I'm gonna protect ya from everything," Daryl continued. "I'm gonna teach you how to shoot with my crossbow… And I'm gonna name you… You're gonna be… Lil' Badass."

I couldn't stop smiling and chuckling. Negan stepped through the door.

"What's going on here?" he asked. I noticed he already unbuttoned the top of his shirt too and got rid of his suit coat and necktie.

"Daryl is talking to our kid," I said. "He's drunk." I mouthed to Negan so Daryl won't hear. Negan smiled. I turned my eyes back to Daryl "Does RJ have a nickname? Or you didn't give him one?"

Daryl backed away from my stomach.

"We're not finished yet," he told my belly, then looked me in the eye. "Nah… I didn't get to name RJ. But I would name him… Lil' Sheriff."

"Aww, that's cute," I said. Negan was standing next to me with his hands in his pockets. Daryl gathered himself up.

"I'm gonna go an' get the rest of 'em drunk," he stated and went inside. I chuckled.

Gabriel and Rosita came outside to say goodbye. They had to go because of the baby. Carol got the rest of the kids and took them home. She took Henry and Lydia too even though they were offended. Negan and I were left alone in the garden. There were some lanterns outside so it wasn't completely dark. The music was still audible out here and a slow one just started playing. Negan offered me his hand. He was tipsy, I could tell from the look in his eyes. He looked so hot with his shirt unbuttoned at the top, wearing these elegant clothes.

I smiled at him and took his hand. We started slow dancing. I wish we could stay in this moment. No walkers… no running for our lives. No injuries. No danger.

Let me stay in this moment, please. Let me stay.

Author's notes:

Listen to "The Good Ones" by Gabby Barrett. (Thank You Betty for recommending it! ❤)

Thank You for reading! ❤