* Please Review! So I have two children of my own. ( and one of them is named Shane! It was not done on purpose, he is 6) I am taking my experience with pregnancy, sickness, when I felt the baby move and when I became to big for my clothes and making it Layla's. I am drawing from my past. I know they say a woman doesn't feel the baby until 13 weeks, about. But I am very petite and felt my daughter at 12 and my son at 11. By 13 weeks I was out of my clothes with my first and at 12 I was out with my son. So I actually know what Im talking about with pregnancy.*

Layla pick up a onesie and held it against her stomach. Her stomach was a mess of butterflies. She smoothed the little onesie down as she stared and smiled to herself. She closed her eyes and tried to image what was happening inside her. She tried to image what she was going to look like when she was showing. She tried to image how it was going to feel when the baby started to move inside her.

" Are you okay?" Dale's voice made her smile more. She opened her eyes to see him coming towards her.

" Yeah." She said with a nod. She folded the onesie up and set it down. " A part of me wants to be really excited." Daryl heard. He was standing at the bottom of the steps. " But I know this isn't the perfect time to bring a baby into the world."

" Is that the only reason you aren't letting yourself get excited?" Dale asked. Layla sighed as she sat on one of the old chairs.

" I almost feel like I don't have the right to be happy. Carol's daughter is dead, there were walkers in the world, Daryl..." He frowned as he placed his hand on the railing and listened closely. " I don't know what he's thinking. I mean, he's not a talker and I don't know how to ask him what's going on. I don't know if he is upset because we are now tied together or what."

" Are you?" Dale asked. Layla shook her head.

" No. Daryl is a good man and I know he will take care of the baby once it's born. Honestly, I completely trust him. He has done a lot for our group. If I had to choose someone in this group to be my baby's father, it would be Daryl." He stared down at the steps, her words touching him in some way he was unsure of.

" Do you think he cares about you?" Dale asked.

" I don't know. We weren't doing it to care about each other. He gave me what I needed, I gave him what he needed. I mean, I do...care about him. I want him around me, even before the baby came. I mean, I like him. I care about him, alot, and that is something I haven't felt since Mitch." Daryl frowned.

' Who the hell is Mitch?' He wondered. He shook his head and stood up straight. He started up the stairs, noting how they stopped talking. They were both facing him as he appeared at the top of the steps.

" Hey." Layla said. Dale nodded his head to Daryl then looked back at Layla.

" We'll talk later." He said. They kissed cheeks before Dale faced Daryl again. He smiled slightly as he started to walk towards him. Daryl returned the nod before Dale started down the steps. Layla noticed he had a book in his hand.

" What's that?" She asked. Daryl looked down at the book and cleared his throat. His face was red when he looked at her again.

" Got this for you. Thought you might need it." He said, holding the book out to her. Layla tilted her head and started towards him.

" What is that?" She asked again.

" A book." Layla took it from him and looked down at the title.

' What to expect when you are expecting.' She started to smile as she stared at it. Daryl was taking in her face. He watched as she ran her hand over the cover. He was surprised to see her struggling with herself. Her hand shook as she touched the woman on the cover with the pregnant belly. She exhaled and looked up at him.

" Thank you." She said, softly.

" It's just a book." Daryl said.

Layla bit into her bottom lip and nodded. A second went by before she moved to him quickly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged in him with her head against his chest. Daryl's arms stayed at his sides as panic started to flow through him. But as quickly as she hugged him, she pulled away and gave him his space back.

" It's not just a book." She said. She brought the book to her chest as she hugged it to her. " So I'm going to finish going through everything. I want to put sort everything into groups."

" I'm headed out to the farmhouse with Rick and Shane." Daryl said. " We gonna take a look at it and the wells." She nodded.

" Then I guess I will see you later." She said.

XXXXXX

The next month was spend cleaning out the farmhouse. The men and Andrea worked on the wells, making sure the water was working and the grounds were walker safe. They were cleaning out the bad food from the fridge and freezer. The house was going to need some work to make it safe for some of them to move into. Layla wanted to help but no one wanted her there, for her own safety. Hershel was checking Layla over every week. Daryl would stand in the back of the room while Hershel checked her blood pressure and pressed against her stomach. He still wasn't sure how to deal with the pregnancy or what to say to her. They barely talked together.

At the end of the first month, she was getting sick. She would often bolt from their tent and into the woods to throw up in the morning. Daryl had snuck a look at her book and knew it was normal. There were some days that she looked pale and was tired. During that time, she would lay in the RV so she could be with the group. Other days she spent throwing up. Dale would hold her hair and rub her back while Daryl stood back. He wanted to be there for her and that surprised him. He wanted to sooth her but didn't know how. It was one of her sicker mornings that Daryl surprised her. He walked into the RV and to the back where she was laying down. He was holding a small sac in his hand.

" Here." He said, coming towards her. Layla sat up and took the sac from him.

" What is it?" She asked.

" It's some cloth I got from Hershel. Been out, collectin things for you, to help settle your stomach." He admitted softly. " Ain't nothin big or special. Inside the cloth is sum thyme and lavender I got. I wrapped them up. Should help, you know, with your throwin up." Layla smiled and brought the sac up to her face.

" It smells good. Thank you." She said. Daryl nodded.

" When you think you might throw up, just hold it up and take a deep breath." He said. " I can make you a couple since I found where it's all growin."

" Will you take me to see it?" Layla asked. Daryl frowned and looked alittle surprise by her request.

" Ah, yeah, if you're feelin up to it." He said. She nodded.

" I think I'd like the fresh air." Layla said.

They walked through the RV with her behind him. She was holding the sac to her face, breathing in the scent deep. She was touched by his gift. He hadn't said much to her about the baby but she did catch him staring at her stomach a lot. It was still flat but she did notice that when she pressed on her stomach, it was getting firmer. Hershel had told her it was her womb growing with the baby.

Layla came up to Daryl's side while they walked through the woods. He felt pleased for with himself every time she brought the sac up to her face. He wanted to say something to her, anything, but he couldn't bring himself to talk. They hadn't had sex since two days before she told him she was pregnant. It wasn't that he didn't want her, because he did. He wanted her bad. Once they started having sex, it became all he could think about. But now that she was pregnant, he was nervous. What if he hurt the baby? What if he hurt her? What if it made her sick? Everything seemed to make her sick so he kept his distance.

" Here's the thyme." Daryl when they reached the patch of thyme herbs he had come across. She nodded as she looked around.

" How did you know it would sooth my stomach?" Layla asked.

" My Mama used to make Merle and me tea with thyme and lavender in it when we were sick as kids." He said.

" It is helping. I don't feel as sick as I was." She said while they walked together.

" Should be about only two more weeks of that. Book said at 12 weeks the sickness should taper off and Hershel thinks you're about 10 weeks now." He said, completely surprising her and making her look at him.

" You're read the book?" She asked. Daryl stopped walking as he blushed deeply.

" I..ah.." He started stuttering, making her smile. She looped her arm around his and started pulling him to make him walk.

" Come on, let's walk." She said. They were quiet for a few minutes. His face was flushed and she couldn't keep the smile off hers.

" Sumtimes I can't sleep at night. Saw it on the floor. Figured it won't hurt for me to read it." He admitted. Layla let her head come to rest against his arm.

" It's a good book." She said. " I'm learning a lot from it."

" Yeah." Was all he said.

Layla sighed and relaxed against him. She didn't have to worry when she was out with Daryl. He was on top of everything. She knew he knew what was around them at all times. She brought the sac up and rubbed it against her face as she inhaled sharply. He was right. The scent was helping her but part of her wondered if it was the scent or because it was a gift from him.

" Took me a while to find this shit. Been lookin since you 'fore you started gettin sick. But once I did, I went to Hershel, got that cloth and sum ribbon. When the shit gets too dry for you to smell it, I'll make you sum more. I went and put sum round our tent too. Got it under the cot, under your pillow and hung some over the cot so you gonna smell it a lot." Layla bit the inside her lip. He hadn't shown an interest in the baby, or in her for that matter, so she had thought. But he had been out, searching for something to make her feel better. He called his tent, ' Our' tent. Her heart was slamming in her chest.