First, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update! I've been very busy the past week with work. This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I really wanted to get it out to you quickly. Thank you so much for sticking with me, I hope you like this chapter!

I own nothing.

Chapter Nineteen

It had been a week since their last outdoor gathering, and Daryl had been right, the temperature had barely been reaching fifty in the last three days. As a result, most of their time had been spent indoors. They would rotate times throughout the day, when somebody would go out and check the walls, and somebody was always on guard throughout the day. They knew it was less likely for walkers to attack during the cold, but living, breathing people were a whole different story. None of them were willing to risk another Governor, so having a constant guard was necessary.

Beth was sixteen weeks pregnant, and it seemed as if her bump grew a little every day. She had woken him up the other night, at almost three a.m., and Daryl almost had a panic attack.

Beth woke up in the middle of the night, something feeling off. She sat up quickly in bed, placing her hand over her stomach protectively. She sat there for a moment, and then she felt it. This fluttering feeling in her stomach. She tried to move her hand to where she felt the fluttering, but couldn't feel it with her hand. It took her a few minutes, but Beth realized what the feeling was, the baby was beginning to move. She sat in shock for a few minutes longer, before waking Daryl up. She whispered his name, not wanting to frighten him by talking louder, but it didn't work. After a few failed attempts, she slapped him on his chest, and he sat bolt upright,

"Huh, what? Beth what's wrong!?"

"Nothing! Nothings wrong, it's just, I felt the baby move!"

"Ya what?" Daryl asked sleepily, trying to understand what she was saying.

Beth rolled her eyes slightly,

"The baby. I felt him move. It was like this fluttering in my stomach, so light, but I felt him."

It seemed to take Daryl a moment to realize what she meant, but then a small smile began to creep its way onto his face. He moved his hand to Beth's stomach, but frowned when he couldn't feel anything. Beth giggled at his frown,

"I couldn't feel him with my hand, but I can feel this fluttering. He's moving a lot now. At first it was just a little, but now it's a lot. It's just so amazing, I knew it would happen eventually, but feeling him move, is so beautiful."

Beth had tears of joy in her eyes, making him smile,

"How long do you think it'll be before I can feel?"

"Um, I don't know, probably not long."

He looked a little sad at that,

"Why do you keep saying him? I thought we were sticking to Archer Spawn, Arrow, or bubba, since we have no way of knowin'."

Beth gave a slight guilty smile before answering,

"Well, only a boy exactly like his daddy would wake me up in the middle of the night."

Daryl frowned a little at that,

"Oh relax Daryl, this child acting like you is not a bad thing. You are a good man, and you will be a great father."

Daryl simply nodded slightly, before pulling Beth in for a kiss. At first it was a slow intimate kiss, but quickly developed into one of pure passion. After a moment they pulled apart, panting for air,

"And I thought you were tired Mr. Dixon," Beth teased him.

"Oh I'll show you tired blondie," Daryl said before pulling her underneath him.

Needless to say, it was awhile before they went back to sleep. Daryl came walking into the kitchen, where Beth was making lunch. He smiled at the sight of her buzzing around the kitchen, every so often placing her hand on her stomach. Daryl hated to admit it, but he a little jealous that she could already feel the baby, and he couldn't. He knew he'd be able to feel the baby soon enough, but it still didn't make the jealousy go away.

Though, he wasn't jealous of everything else Beth was experiencing, and going to experience, he felt immense guilt about it all. She was going through so much, and he couldn't do much about it. He quietly snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck,

"Well hello to you too," Beth smiled up at him.

He didn't say anything, just pulled her closer,

"The next couple of months are going to be interesting, because of this child is moving this much already, then I have a feeling they are going to be a very active baby."

Daryl chuckled softly at her,

"Well….hate to make it worse, but my mom used to say I tried to punch out her insides."

Beth sighed heavily at that,

"Great, you can carry bubba for the next 24 weeks then."

"I ain't a doctor or nothin', but I don't think that's possible blondie."

Beth didn't reply just huffed in defeat, and handed Daryl his plate.

They ate in silence, and once they finished Daryl washed all of the plates, while Beth went into the den and started reading. When Daryl finished and came back into the den, Beth was completely absorbed into the book she was reading. Daryl didn't recognize it, but he had never really read all that much.

"Whatcha readin'?"

It took Beth a moment to register that Daryl had asked her a question,

"Oh, it's The Giver. It's always been one of my favorites."

Daryl nodded his head before asking another question,

"What's it about?"

"Well, it's a dystopian novel that revolves around a young boy named Jonas…well, it's hard to summarize. Ya kinda have to read it, ya know?"

Daryl simply hummed in response, and began to rub her feet. Beth went back to reading for a while before a sudden thought came to mind.

"Have you thought of any names?"

Daryl gave her a confused look, not getting what she meant.

"For bubba? We can't call them bubba forever."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders,

"Why can't we just use bubba?"

She fixed him with a look that said they were not naming their child bubba,

"I was thinkin' for a girl maybe Grace or Georgia."

"Not Georgia, but Grace ain't bad."

"Why don't you like Georgia?"

He just shrugged his shoulders,

"Just don't."

Beth let it go,

"Well, what names do you like?"

Daryl didn't answer at first, taking a minute to think it over,

"Lyla Parker."

Beth began to smile brightly at his suggestion,

"I love it! Daryl, that's a great name!"

Daryl blushed slightly, he had always liked the name Lyla, and Parker was a different then most girls middle names. He knew far too many girls with the name Elizabeth or Caroline.

"Well now we have a name for a girl, we gotta pick one for a boy."

Daryl simply groaned in response,

"If it's a boy, I don't see why we can't just call him bubba."

Beth huffed in annoyance at him,

"Because our child needs a proper name Daryl."

Daryl sighed, not wanting to piss her off,

"Fine. What about Hershel?"

It took Beth a minute to reply, tears forming in her eyes,

"As sweet as that is Daryl, I don't think I'd be able to call our child that without crying all the time. But I love the sentiment."

Daryl nodded in understanding, he didn't want her to constantly look at their child and see her father being killed. Hell, he probably wouldn't be able to call them that either without getting upset.

"What about Harley?"

Beth snorted at that,

"I know how much you love motorcycles Daryl, but that is so not happening."

"Fine. What names you got in mind?"

"Charles, Gabriel, Nicholas."

"No, no, and no."

"What's wrong with those names?"

"Don't like them, and you'd try and give them a nickname. I don't want them having five different names."

"Fine. I have one I think you'll like, Colt Arrow."

A small smile began to spread across Daryl's face at that,

"I like it…I like Arrow, but I really like Colt too."

Beth leaned over and kissed him softly at first, but it quickly grew more passionate. However, before things could get too heated, Daryl pulled away.

"As much as I'd like to take ya upstairs and stay there for the rest of the day, I gotta go relieve Abraham from guard soon."

Beth pouted at him having to leave, but nodded her head in understanding,

"At least bubba won't go around nameless for a month now."

Daryl chuckled slightly at that, glad that he had made her happy.

"Imma go get ready to head out."

Beth nodded her head and watched him head up the stairs.

A few minutes later he came back down, wearing a flannel, with a hoodie over it, and lastly his angel wing vest. Damn if he didn't look sexy was all Beth could think.

"I'll be back later blondie," he told her while bending over to kiss her.

"Be careful Daryl," she told him, with a slightly worried expression.

"Always am. Bye bubba, bye Beth," he said with a small smirk.

Beth smiled as he walked away, wishing like hell that the baby was a boy. She noticed the twinkle in his eyes when she told him the name she liked, she could tell he wanted a boy. It'd be easier for him to connect with a boy, but she had no doubt that he'd be a great father, whether the baby is a girl or boy.

When Daryl got to the guard tower, Abraham was pacing around, while looking out the windows. They had built the tower shortly after they discovered the place, deciding it would be a good idea to have, and they were in the process of building a second one on the backside of their wall. The scars from the Governors attack were still fresh in all their minds, and they weren't risking an attack from anyone else.

"Anythin' out there?" Daryl asked Abraham.

Abraham turned around quickly, slightly startled by Daryl's arrival, not even he could hear Daryl's footsteps.

"Damn Hawkeye, do you think you could make a little noise?"

Daryl smirked, it took a lot to sneak up on Abraham,

"Nah, can't do that Red."

"Uh huh, how's Beth?"

"She's good. Says the baby is starting to move."

"Psht, she ain't felt nothin' yet. Those are just the little flutters, give it a few more weeks and she'll feel like a punching bag."

"Joyful. How is Rosita?"

Abraham didn't reply, just kind of stared out the window. Normally Daryl wasn't one to ask others what was wrong with them, but he was trying to be more understanding. It seemed like there was something wrong with Abraham, Daryl wasn't sure Abraham would even talk to him.

"What's up? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"It's nothin'," Abraham replied, still not meeting Daryl's eyes.

"Bull shit," Daryl scoffed, "Look, I ain't one to sit around talkin' bout feelins' and shit, neither are you. But somethin' is botherin' you, so spit it out."

Abraham sighed heavily, and looked down,

"She wants one."

Daryl was confused who wanted what?

"Huh?"

"Rosita wants one," he mumbled.

"Rosita wants what?"

"A kid dammit," Abraham replied harshly.

Daryl sat there stunned for a while, still not quite understanding what all was going on. Abraham glanced at Daryl, realizing he didn't fully grasp what the problem was,

"She thinks it's safe enough, and that it'd be perfectly fine…but she doesn't get it…she doesn't know what I've been through…"

Daryl sighed, he knew exactly what Abraham was feelin', he'd already been through it too,

"Look man, I get it."

"No! No you don't! None of you know what I've been through."

"I know you've seen shit, here and when you served, but that don't mean you can't have a kid…do I think it's the smartest idea for any of us to be having kids right now? Hell no, but shit happens."

"Ya still don't get it…I already lost one family…I can't do it again…"

Daryl froze, he knew that Abraham had probably been married at some point, but he didn't realize he'd already lost kids in this world. He knew Abraham had a temper, hell him and Rick had one too.

"I…I had to kill a lot of walker and bad people…they saw me do it…they got scared…one night, they tried to leave when I was asleep…I woke up, and they were gone. I went looking for them…I only found what was left of them…walkers got to them…"

Daryl sighed heavily, that was hard blow for anyone to take.

"You protected them…you can't control that they ran."

"They ran because they though I would hurt them! I can't live through that again!"

Abraham was shaking with emotion at this point, and Daryl didn't know what to tell him. Daryl wasn't good with emotions and comforting people.

"Look man, Rosita ain't gonna run from you…if she was, she'd have done it by now…she's already seen you almost kill you Eugene, hell she's seen your temper plenty of times, and she ain't ever run away. If anythin' she runs to you. She ain't afraid to put you in your place. But you guys need to have a serious talk about it."

Abraham didn't respond for a while, but simply took in Daryl's word. After a few minutes Abraham nodded his head,

"Um, thank you…I guess I'll talk to her tonight."

"No problem."

Abraham hung around for a while longer, they sat in silence, keeping their eyes focused out the window. After an hour, Abraham slipped out, leaving Daryl to his own thoughts. Would Beth ever fear Daryl so much that she would run? If she was scared of him, surly she would tell him? For the rest of the night all Daryl could think about was would Beth run from him, would she take their child away from him? Daryl always said he wasn't afraid of nothin', but that was one thing that terrified him.

I hope you guys liked it, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon.