"So. You knocked up my baby sister? When am I finally gonna get your excuse for that?" Maggie questioned suddenly, a smirk sliding across her lips as she observed Daryl from the couch on the opposite side of the living room. "If I even want to know the reasons."
Beth had been upstairs with Ella for 23 minutes and counting, according to the clock in the kitchen; Daryl's blood pressure raised with each passing tick. He and Maggie had waited in almost complete silence the entire time, barring a few offers from Maggie to grab water or something to eat. Daryl valued the silence. He had never been one for unnecessary small talk. But now Maggie seemed determined to break that quiet and continued to watch him curiously until he finally opened his mouth.
"Nothin to tell." He responded sullenly, figuring the relationship wasn't anyone else's business. Sometimes he wasn't even sure how everything started with him and Beth. It had just seemed natural after they were reunited. Like they couldn't waste any more time being apart.
Instead of looking back at Maggie, Daryl shifted his gaze over to the mantel, which displayed a few pictures of Maggie with her small niece. Sometimes, just looking at Maggie, Daryl could help but feel a twinge of jealousy rise in his chest. Maggie had been there at Ella's birth. Seen her first steps. Held her when she cried. Held Beth when she cried. Maggie, Glenn, Rick, Carl, Michonne, all knew Daryl's daughter far better than he did, potentially than he ever could if he couldn't salvage their relationship now.
Maggie's smirk dissipated as her face softened and she tilted her head slightly, "How are you? Adjusting here... slowing down… I know it can be a lot. I was on edge for weeks after getting here. Jumped every time someone knocked on the door or tried to befriend me on the street. Add Ella into the mix… Some would be tempted to walk back out that gate."
"I ain't my dad." Daryl said defensively, tightening his hand into a fist. "I ain't Merle. They would do that shit. I won't." Daryl knew his anger wasn't at Maggie, but at himself. At the part of himself he knew was predisposed to being an unfit parent. But he had repeated that mantra to himself since meeting his daughter. Trying to convince himself he could be in her life, that he was worthy of being in her life.
"I know that Daryl. I never thought you would be." Maggie insisted sincerely, holding her hands up in a peace offering, "Once I made the connections of who the father was, why Beth was so devastated when we lost you… I always knew you would have stepped up if given the chance. I'm just sayin it's a lot of change. It came so suddenly for everyone."
Daryl watched Maggie for a moment. Often he didn't see the clear connection between the looks of Beth and her sister, physically they seemed so different, but the patient eyes Maggie wore reminded him of both Beth and their father. He felt the heat in his chest subside as he reminded himself that if he were to be a father, one like Hershel or Rick, he had to trust the people Ella already trusted, the ones she already loved.
"I'm fine. Not used to staying around in one place- been movin consistently for almost 6 years. But it's nice havin a bed. Bein able to sleep without havin to set up traps or have a look out, though I haven't quite gotten the hang of sleepin all night yet. Now just gotta figure all this out…" Daryl said, motioning up the stairs toward Ella's room.
"You'll get a hang of bein a dad Daryl. She already adores you. She just needs time to adjust her thinking. She doesn't know the world out there. This place is her world. It's so simple. Easy. So even if she were older, it would be hard for her to understand why you couldn't just follow us here. You have to expect her to be confused, hurt. Just show her how much you want to be here now; she'll understand eventually."
Daryl couldn't respond. He just looked down at his hands. Letting people know he needed them had never been a strength of his. Even admitting he needed someone in his life was difficult.
"Sometimes I think about how our dad would react." Maggie changed the subject with a reminiscent smile. "Not just to Bethie being pregnant at barely 19, but to who got her pregnant."
"He woulda killed me." Daryl said definitively, raising his eyes to Maggie once again, "He was a badass son o' a bitch. Even after he lost that leg. Woulda beat me over the head with that crutch."
Maggie smiled, leaning back on the couch and pulling a pillow into her lap. "My dad respected you, Daryl. It took a while, especially since you were a little volatile when we first met. But he thought highly of you before… before we lost the prison… and everything... He would have known you'd protect them. I'm sure he woulda given you a hell of a time for sleepin with her, but I think he'd be happy seein you together. Seein how content y'all are with each other. All he ever wanted was for us to be happy. And safe."
Daryl was silent. He didn't feel worthy of Hershel's approval, even if it was only through a proxy.
"Now he'd just be buggin you to marry her already." Maggie continued, looking down at her own wedding ring.
Daryl felt pressure rise in his chest again. He and Beth, before everything had happened, had joked about becoming an old married couple like her sister and brother-in-law. But the possibility, when they hadn't even revealed their relationship to the group, had seemed so far off, so unlikely. Now, sitting in a living room, talking to Beth's sister while Beth and their daughter sat upstairs, the notion of marriage seemed so much more inevitable than unrealistic.
"Didn't mean to make you panic." Maggie lowered her head to meet Daryl's eyes. "I was just kiddin. He mighta gotten his shotgun out, but I think the notion of shotgun weddings went out the window when the dead started comin back to life. People have higher priorities these days, the world's different."
"Yeah, guess so… Woulda been an interesting conversation to ask his permission though." He admitted with a smirk, trying to imagine asking Hershel to let him take his youngest daughter.
"What're you two talking about?" Beth asked, quietly descending the stairs. Daryl couldn't help but notice she was alone.
"Conversations aren't always about you." Maggie teased quickly, casting a knowing glance to Daryl. "How's the kid doin?"
"Okay. She's calmed down a bit. Got her to smile. I think she needs a break though." Beth turned apologetically to Daryl. "Maybe we can all meet up tomorrow instead? Take some time together? Family time? We could go swimmin in the pond?"
Daryl just nodded, moving his hands into his pockets as he stood up. "Yeah, I get it. It's fine."
Maggie jumped in, standing up as well. "The kid's bound to fall asleep early. I'm sure today was long. How 'bout you two get some time in? Have dinner or go hunting or whatever it is you want to do?"
Daryl caught Beth's eye as a smirk spread across her lips. "Thanks, Maggie, that'd be great."
"Yeah… thanks." Daryl said, knowing his appreciation was for more than a babysitting proposal.
"I'll shower and meet you at your place?" Beth offered quickly, her face already alight in anticipation.
"Oh come on! At least pretend that's not right where this is going!" Maggie exclaimed with a laugh, pretending to cover her eyes in embarrassment.
"Nah. I'll pick you up." Daryl offered, ignoring Maggie's comment, "'bout time you got a real date."
A/N- I'm super excited for the upcoming chapters! I got a little off course post Coda, but I'm finally heading back toward where the fic was supposed to go! Please let me know what you think!
