I owe all of you a huge apology for taking so long to update. The last few weeks have been incredibly difficult for me. I lost one of my dogs, but she was more than just a dog, she was my best friend. She helped me so much over the last few years with my depression and other issues in my life. I've been very lost without her, but I'm starting to get better. I really wanted to get this chapter out much sooner, but it was horrible, so I did a massive rewrite. This chapter has a lot of humor, mixed in with some serious moments. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter Twenty One
"Look, Beth already spilled on Daryl, now, tell us how Glenn is in bed," Rosita smiled devilishly at Maggie.
Maggie, Rosita, and Beth were all sitting in Maggie's living room, talking about the guys. Rick, Daryl, Abraham, Carol, Michonne, and Tara had all gone on a run. Noah and Carl had been left behind, to help keep an eye on things at home. The latter was not happy about not getting to join in on the run, but he got over it once he got to start working with Noah on a new wall defense idea. Tyreese and Sasha were working on teaching Eugene how to fight, and Gabriel was doing whatever he does all day. Judith was napping in the other room, so the girls were left to talk, mainly trying to distract themselves from worrying thoughts.
"I am not going to dignify that with a response," Maggie smirked back at Rosita.
However, Beth was not going to let Maggie get away with that answer. She'd already had to answer Rosita's ridiculous questions, so why shouldn't Maggie answer them too?
"How about you tell Rosita where you and Glenn first hooked up?" Beth wiggled her eyebrows in victory at Maggie.
Maggie's jaw went slack at that, and Rosita was all over it,
"Oh please tell me it was in a barn! Or better yet on a tractor!"
Beth almost fell off the couch with laughter, while Maggie couldn't seem to get her mouth to function.
"Ya know what, that is such a southern stereotype!" Maggie finally got out.
"But is it true? Did y'all seriously do it on a tractor?" Rosita was far from letting this conversation end, it was just getting started.
"Hell no!" Maggie practically screamed back at her.
Rosita smirked,
"But y'all did do it in your dad's barn," Maggie blushed furiously, "ah ha! Y'all did!"
Rosita and Beth were both enjoying Maggie's discomfort,
"Oh, but that's not where they first did it," Beth smirked.
Maggie gave Beth a warning glare, but Beth knew there was no real fire behind it, Maggie wouldn't touch her. Well, not for another few months, after the baby comes that could change.
Rosita was hanging on the edge of her seat, waiting for Beth to spill on Maggie and Glenn's first encounter.
"They went on a run into town, and decided that the middle of the drugstore would be a good place to get it on," Beth shot Maggie a winning smile.
Rosita actually fell off out of her chair laughing,
"I am going to kill you," Maggie ground out.
Beth simply rubbed her stomach a little,
"You won't touch me while your niece or nephew is in me."
Maggie narrowed her eyes at Beth, before smirking at her,
"I'm sure Daryl will be thrilled to know that you are using his child as a shield."
That got Beth to stop laughing some, Daryl probably wouldn't be too pleased with his child being used as a bargaining tool.
Rosita however, was getting far too much pleasure out of the Greene sisters little argument.
"So, Rosita, has Abraham changed his mind about having a child," Beth asked her.
Beth's question sobered Rosita up some. It had been a week since the whole blow up, and he had slowly been coming around to the idea of a child. When they'd talked about it the day before, she swore she saw a glimmer of happiness and hope in his eyes, about the possibility of a child.
"I think he's warming up to it," Rosita finally replied, "have you and Daryl picked out names yet?" she asked, quickly shifting focus from her to Beth.
Beth could tell Rosita didn't feel like discussing her and Abraham at the moment, so she let it go,
"We actually have one picked for a girl, and one for a boy."
Maggie perked up at that, this was news to her,
"Well, what are they?"
"Lyla Parker and Colt Arrow."
Maggie and Rosita both smiled in approval at the names,
"Alright, who picked Arrow?" Rosita asked.
"I did, but Daryl inspired it. He started calling the baby Arrow, and I kinda liked it. And I always liked the name Colt. Though, he came up with the name Lyla Parker all on his own."
"Seriously?" Maggie asked in disbelief.
"Yup, he vetoed all names I had for a girl, so I told him to come up with one."
"Way to go Legolas," Rosita laughed.
"Well, I don't think it's a girl," Maggie said with a smirk.
"Oh really now?" Beth asked back.
"Yup. It's a boy. You've heard Hawkeye, Dixons don't have girls."
"I say we should make a bet out of it," Rosita suggested, "take a pole of who thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, losers have to do everyone's' laundry and do walker clean up duty for a month."
Maggie and Beth exchanged glances, silently communicating that they both liked the bet.
Slowly a sly smirk began to form on Maggie's face,
"Just wait till Daryl finds out were gonna be making bets about his child."
The colour drained from Beth's face, but before Maggie and Rosita could bust out laughing, Judith started crying from the other room.
Beth quickly got up to go check on Judith, while Maggie and Rosita continued to laugh at her discomfort. A few minutes later, Beth walked back into the room, holding a very wide awake Judith.
"Somebody woke up and wanted some attention," Beth cooed at Judith.
"More like she wants Rick. For the last two weeks she has been very clingy to him," Maggie told her.
Beth sighed,
"Yeah, I've noticed. The other day she wouldn't settle down at all, so I had to send Daryl out to track Rick down. As soon as she was in his arms, it was like the world was perfect again."
Rosita chuckled,
"She is definitely daddy's little girl."
Beth sighed again,
"I'm about 99.9% sure my child is already a daddy's baby. Normally the baby kicks some periodically throughout the day, but when Daryl is around oh my lord, the baby goes crazy. When he talks, the kid starts doing flips."
Rosita busted out laughing at that,
"The kid is already telling you that they're going to be difficult for you, and an angel for him."
"Uh huh," Beth mumbled, "how much longer do y'all think they will be gone for?"
Maggie glanced out the window, noticing the sun was getting ready to set,
"Not too much longer."
"I just know she's going to get really fussy soon, if Rick isn't back."
"Here, let me take her," Rosita said looking to Beth.
Beth gently passed Judith over to Rosita, and watched as Rosita began to play with the little girl they all loved.
Almost an hour after Judith woke up, Glenn and Daryl came walking through the door. Maggie and Beth breathed out sighs of relief at the sight of the men, but Rosita began to look worried when Abraham didn't seem to be behind the guys.
"Rosita, Abraham said he wanted to see you. He's back at y'all's house," Daryl told her.
Rosita visibly relaxed at that,
"Well, I'll see y'all later."
As soon as Rosita was out the door, Maggie asked the question that had been on both her and Beth's minds,
"What was that all about?"
"Nothing," Daryl mumbled.
He quickly moved to Beth's side, needing to be close to her.
"So how'd the run go?" Beth asked.
"It went good. There weren't too many walkers, got everything we needed, and Daryl managed not to get pissed when Tara told him he should name his child Hawkeye the Second," Glenn replied.
Maggie and Beth were in hysterics, while Daryl shot Glenn a warning glance.
"So, um, how were things here?" Glenn asked, while subtly moving himself behind Maggie.
"Good, except Judith here is really starting to get fussy. She seems to only want Rick now."
Daryl sighed, looking over at Judith in Maggie's lap,
"He'll be over in a few minutes, he had to go put some stuff away first."
"You want Daddy big girl?" Maggie asked Judith.
"Dada dada," Judith happily replied.
"He'll be here soon baby girl," Beth told Judith.
Maggie and Glenn began to play with Judith, trying to distract her until Rick got there.
"How are you and bubba," Daryl whispered into Beth's ear.
Beth smiled lightly before replying,
"We're good, but if he or she is kicking me this much at 18 weeks, I'm going to kill you at 30 weeks."
Daryl smirked,
"Sorry blondie, wish I could feel them."
Beth knew how bad Daryl wished he could feel their child kicking, but it wouldn't be too long until he could.
"Soon Daryl, soon. Bubba only kicks this much with you around. Already trying to prove that they like you more."
Daryl snorted at that,
"Doubt that."
Before Beth could reply, Rick walked in.
Judith exploded with happiness at the sight of her daddy.
"Dada dada!" She called out at the sight of him, immediately reaching for him.
"Hey baby," Rick said as he picked up the happy girl.
Judith threw her little arms around his neck and squealed in delight.
"If that's not pure love and happiness, then I don't know what is," Beth smiled.
Rick laughed while hugging Judith close,
"Was she good?"
"She was until she woke up and realized you weren't here," Maggie replied.
Rick sighed,
"I don't know what I'm going to do about her being so attached."
"She'll outgrow it," Beth tried to assure him.
"I hope so," Rick said while looking at the baby slowly starting to fall back asleep in his arms.
"She has us all wrapped around her little fingers," Maggie told Rick.
"Don't I know it. She hasn't slept in her crib in two weeks. She's slept on my chest every night."
"Sometimes you just gotta let them cry it out," Beth told Rick.
"Easier said than done," Rick told her with a small smile.
They all sat in silence for a while, enjoying the sight of Judith sound asleep in Rick's arms. However, the silence was broken when Beth's stomach grumbled loudly. All eyes went to Beth as she spoke,
"Guess the baby is hungry" she told them with a small laugh.
Everyone erupted into laughter after that, except Judith who continued to sleep in her father's arms.
"Time to start dinner then," Maggie said while still laughing at Beth.
The house was oddly quiet when Rosita walked through the door. She called out Abraham's name, but did not get a reply. She quickly searched the downstairs portion of the house, but he was nowhere to be found. Slowly she made her way upstairs to their bedroom, hesitating a moment before opening the door. Rosita was not prepared for the sight before her; on the bed was a small onsie that read "Daddy's little solider." She was not one to be very emotional, but in that moment, she could not help the small tears that began to make their way down her face. Suddenly, there were strong arms wrapping around her middle, pulling her into a hard chest.
"I can't promise you that everything is gonna be perfect. I can't tell you that I'll be the perfect dad. What I can tell you, is that I'm willing to try, if this is what you want. I'll be here, and I'll protect you until my last breath leaves my body. I love you, and I want you to be happy."
More tears began to fall down Rosita's face as she turned to face Abraham,
"I only want this, if you want it too."
Abraham pulled her close, before whispering in her ear,
"I do want this. I want a child with you."
Rosita pulled back slowly, before standing on her tiptoes and kissing him softly. She wrapped her legs around his waist, as he hoisted her up into his arms. Slowly he walked them towards the bed, before gently laying her down on it. Abraham was fully intending on starting their own little family right then, but Rosita had other things in mind. Carefully she unraveled herself from around Abraham's taut form, while he gave her a look of confusion.
"Why did you change your mind?" she asked him.
Abraham sighed, he had been hoping to avoid this conversation, but knew it would happen at some point.
"Daryl," was his one word reply.
"Daryl?" Rosita questioned.
"Yes."
"Okay, well I'm gonna need more of an explanation, then just Hawkeye's name."
"It's hard to explain, okay? I just…seeing him, seeing how he's changed. He's happier now. Is it always noticeable? No, but it's there in his eyes when he looks at Beth. I am beyond happy being with you, but I know I could be happier with you and a child."
Rosita smiled softly at him, before pulling him back down onto the bed with her,
"Ya know, sometimes you are more than just a soldier. I think there might be a poet somewhere in that thick skull of yours."
Abraham snorted at her,
"Sure. So, are you ready for this, or not?"
Rosita laughed at his eagerness,
"I've been ready cowboy, just been waiting on you."
With that said, Abraham trapped her underneath him, and began to slowly make love to the woman he'd do anything for.
Maggie, Glenn, Rick, Carl, Judith, Michonne, Beth, and Daryl were all gathered around Maggie and Glenn's dining room table. About halfway through dinner, Beth asked the question that had been on her and Maggie's mind since the boys got back,
"So, are y'all gonna tell us what was going on with Abraham?"
Glenn, Daryl, and Rick all shared a look, before Daryl spoke up,
"Let's just say we probably won't be seeing much of them for the next couple of days."
"He finally said yes?" Beth and Maggie both practically shouted.
Everyone seemed to cringe at the excitement in their voices, except Carl who looked confused.
"What are y'all talking about?"
Everyone looked to Rick for him to explain it to Carl,
"Let me put it this way, Beth is not going to be the only one having a child soon."
It took Carl a second to work through what his father was saying, but very quickly there was a look of understanding on his face.
"Oh," was all he could say in response.
Glenn looked at Judith,
"Looks like you're gonna have lots of friends Judy."
"Len len," was Judith's response to him.
Everyone laughed at Judith's name for Glenn. In response to all the laughter, Judith began to clap her little hands and smile at everyone. In moments like these, they were all able to feel a sense of comfort and peace, if only for a little while. As if the world had not gone to ruins in a matter of weeks.
Once again, I am so sorry for the delay. I hope everyone liked the chapter, please leave a review if you have time, they really do help me.