* Please Review! So I know I'm making Daryl seem a little non-reactive towards the pregnancy and I am doing that on purpose right now. I think Daryl would be that way in front of people. Inside he would be a mess though, IMO. *
She stayed sick for another two weeks but the sac of herbs Daryl had made for her had been helping. He hadn't been lying when he said the herbs were in their tent. He had stashed them all over place. In fact, he had gone a little over board with it but she didn't say anything. He had it under the cot, under her pillow, hanging above the cot and some tied to the sides of it. He had even stashed it in her clothes so when she opened her bags it was the scent that hit her first.
But by her fourteenth of pregnancy, a month after he had given her the herbs, they were still hardly talking and he hadn't touched her. She was showing and even feeling the baby move. She was barely fitting in her pants. She was folding them down because she wasn't ready to move into the maternity clothes he had brought her from the town.
Daryl was sitting at the fire pit, sharpening some sticks for homemade arrows one day. He kept glancing up at Layla. She was standing not far away from him with Lori, Andrea, Maggie, Beth and Patrica. She was smiling and holding her shirt up so her stomach was bare. It was no longer flat. She had a baby bump and he was having a hard time looking away from it. He still wasn't sure how to feel or what to do about the baby but that didn't mean seeing the changes in her body didn't amaze him.
" Can I touch you?" Beth asked gently.
" Sure." Layla said with a smile. Carefully Beth placed her hand on Layla's stomach. " Let me see if I can get the baby to move." Daryl's hands still on the stick as he watched her. They had paused in their movements. Beth kept her hand on Layla's stomach while Layla took a hold of the sides of it. She shook it slightly. " Now, just wait. Sometimes that seems to wake the baby up." Beth's mouth dropped open suddenly and Layla's face completely brighten up as she laughed.
" Wow! Was that it?" Beth asked. The other women were smiling.
" Yeah. It's that cool!" Layla explained. Carol sank down into the seat beside Daryl, making him reposition himself so he could lean forward. He put his forearms on his knees and went back to his work. He could still hear the women cooing and ahhing over Layla and the baby.
" Have you felt it?" Carol asked in her soft voice.
" What?" Daryl snapped.
" The baby. Have you felt it?" She asked.
" No." He asked. He kept his head down but started stealing looks at Layla who was smiling and laughing down at her stomach.
" You should. Ed never touched my stomach when I was pregnant with Sophia." Carol said.
" Daryl, you ready?" Shane called out from the edge of the woods. Daryl looked over at him and nodded. When he looked up towards Layla, seeing that she was looking at him. She was pulling her shirt down.
" Do you think she'd let me feel the baby?" Carol asked. Daryl frowned and looked at her. He looked back at Layla then pushed himself to stand.
" How the hell would I know? Ask her that shit." Daryl said. " I gotta head out." He spared another look to Layla then started towards Shane.
" How are things going between you two?" Andrea asked. Patricia, sensing the conversation was moving towards a direction she didn't think Beth should hear, she directed the young girl, and herself, towards the house.
" I don't know. He barely talks to me." Layla said as she finished adjusting her shirt down. The women started walking towards the make shift sink and clothes line.
" Has he asked about the baby or tried to feel it move?" Lori asked.
" No. He hasn't done anything. He hasn't even touched me. I sleep on the cot, he sleeps on the ground. I mean, he keeps me in full supplies of those herbs and they help but he doesn't say anything. I go into the tent, and there will be new ones up." Daryl heard her say. He had been so distracted by her, he hadn't grabbed any arrows to go hunting with so he had had to come back to camp. As it was, he was standing by Lori and Rick's tent, hidden from the women. " Can I ask you something, Lori?"
" Sure." He frowned as he leaned in to listen.
" When you were pregnant with Carl, did your sex drive go up? You don't have to tell me if you don't want too." Layla rushed ahead to say. " But I am going crazy. I want him so bad." The women had started laughing. " It's not funny! I want sex so bad and I have tried everything to get him to cave." Layla whined.
And he knew she wasn't kidding. She had been strolling around their tent in her tank tops and boyfriend cut panties. He had been trying his best to ignore her but it was hard when his body knew just how she fit against it. His dick knew just how good she could make him feel and he wanted inside her bad. He'd be jerking off to take care of his need but it didn't compare to being with her.
" Listen, Rick was scared to touch me at first too. They think they are going to hurt the baby or the baby knows what's happening and that's not it at all." Lori said. " He'll come around. Daryl has a hard time adjusting to change."
" I fucking hope so. I feel so dirty getting myself off in Hershel's shower." Daryl stood up straight, in shock, but the women were laughing.
" You're aren't the only one in there doing it." Andrea admitted. The women laughed hard. After a few minutes they calmed down.
" I don't know what's going with him. Maybe he's turned off by the pregnancy. Maybe he doesn't like that my stomach isn't as flat as it used to be." Layla said. That wasn't it. He liked it. He couldn't wait until she got completely swollen up. He was surprised that seeing her stomach grow, knowing it was his baby inside her, was turning him on more. " I don't know. Maybe he's upset with me. I mean, it's not like him and I were a couple or anything. Maybe I don't have the right to want something with him now when we had made it clear before that we were nothing. I mean, if I wasn't pregnant, him and I wouldn't have become a couple, I'm sure. Daryl's not really the couple type, you know?"
" But what do you want?" Maggie asked. He heard Layla sigh.
" I want...I want to be something with him. I want to be something other than just a girl he knocked up. I want him to want me around, for me, not because I'm pregnant. I...I'm into him, I always have been. I started sleeping with him because I liked him but I knew I couldn't start anything with him. I mean, he's the first man that has stirred anything in me since my husband died a couple of years ago. And won't it just figure that I'd have to go for an emotionally unavailable man?" Layla's comment stunned him. She never failed to stun him. This girl continued to surprise him.
" Daryl! Get your shit and come on!" Shane called out, making the women fall silent.
Daryl's jaw started working back and forth as he blushed. When he started forward, all eyes were on him. He was breathing hard as he refused to meet their eyes. He snatched up his arrows then stormed back towards the woods. He wanted to kill Shane. He knew there was no way they didn't know he had been listening in on them. He was busted and he knew it.
XXXXXX
At dinner that night, Layla sat beside him like she always did. The women were exchanging glances at each other and Daryl but he refused to look up from his plate. He was glad it was dark because he knew he was blushing and he hated it. When they both finished eating, he walked with her to their tent in complete silence. He didn't like her walking around by herself and at night it was worst. They were going to be alone for the rest of the night and he was nervous. He was unsure of what she would say to him about what he had heard. He was prepared to deny hearing anything. He gripped the straps of his cross bow as his eyes narrowed.
Usually, when they went to bed, Daryl would build a small fire in his own fire pit and sit outside until he was sure she was sleeping. He would kick dirt on the fire to put it out the climb into the tent. He spent a lot of nights reading from her book or staring at her while she slept. He wanted to know what was going on inside her as much as she did.
She was right about him, he was emotional unavaible and he knew it. He didn't know what to say to her about the baby. He still wasn't sure how he felt. He was nervous, he was scared. How the hell was he going to keep a small, helplessly baby safe? Before the world took a shit he wasn't sure he could have kept one safe. He had never thought much about kids before and now he was around Carl who stared at him. Daryl had went looking for Sophia and lost her. Now, there was this girl who kept crawling into his bed and would have his kid in a few months. How the hell did his world change so much?
Daryl expected their night to go the same as it always did. Daryl crouched down by his fire pit while she disappeared inside the tent. He heard her moving around and figured she was getting ready for bed. Maybe she was as embarrassed as he was about what he had heard. Daryl was gathering sticks and getting ready to lit the fire when she suddenly stormed back out and over to him.
" Just what the hell is your problem?" Layla snapped. Daryl looked at her with a frown.
" I ain't got a problem." He said, wiping his hands on his pants before standing up.
" Then why won't you touch me?" She asked. Daryl had no expression as he looked at her. His mouth was hard line as he shrugged. He put most of his weight on his right leg as his arms went across his chest. Layla burst into tears, stunning him. Daryl looked towards the camp, wishing like hell someone would come up and save him. Where the hell was Dale and his calming words? " Is it my stomach?" She cried.
" What?" Daryl asked, looking back at her.
" Is it because you can tell I'm pregnant now? Is that why you don't want me anymore?" She cried with big tears moving down her cheeks.
" No." Was his only answer.
" Then what is it?" She yelled. Her mood changing quickly. " What is wrong with me now that you won't touch me? It has to be the baby because the second you found out I was pregnant you didn't touch me anymore! Well you need to get over it because this if your fault too! I didn't get myself pregnant! News flash, buddy! You came inside me! You could have pulled out!" Layla's face fell and she shook her head as she brought her hand to her mouth. They were staring at each other for a few moments before she said, " I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I was crying and now I'm yelling." Usually Daryl would be in some one's face for yelling at him but he didn't move.
" It's alright. That book says you gonna be emotional." He said.
" Oh great!" She exploded. " So you'll read the book about the baby but you won't have anything else to do with it! You won't even try and feel it move well you know what! Fuck you, Daryl Dixon!" She spun around and stalked back into the tent. Daryl groaned as his shoulders dropped. What the hell was he going to do? He could barely contain and hold onto his own emotions let alone hers.
Layla was wiping her cheeks when he came into the tent behind her. He zipped it close while she took off her shoes. She knew he was staring at her but she wouldn't look at him. She was angry and sad. Her emotions were all over the place and she wasn't sure how to rein them in. She was embarrassed for her outburst and angry at him. But really, she told herself, what did she expect from him?
Daryl came over to her and grabbed her shirt. Layla looked up at him but he was staring at her stomach as he pulled her shirt up. His hands went to either side of her tummy. They were rough and warm against her skin. Layla held her breath as his fingers spread out. She started to pray that the baby would move for him. She just wanted him to feel it move. Daryl was frowning as he stared. Then, the baby pushed against his right hand, making Daryl exhaled slowly. Layla bit into her bottom lip. He glanced up at her then back at her stomach.
" Make her do it again." He said. Layla wanted to smile. He had called the baby a her, not an it or a thing, not even a baby. Her.
" I can't make her do anything. I don't control her but if you shake it she might move again." Layla said softly.
" Won't hurt her?" Daryl asked.
" No." He applied more pressure to her stomach then shook it slightly. The baby responded right away and kicked. Daryl's hard expression changed. She couldn't say he was smiling, or even what the expression was, but there was something soft about him as he stared at his hands. " Do you want a girl?" Daryl's eyes flicked to her face then back to her stomach.
" Hadn't really thought about it." He lied.
He guessed he should want a boy because all men wanted sons but he hadn't be able to get the little pink dress out of his mind. Or the image of a little girl, with Layla's face, running up to him, arms spread wide while she called him Daddy. She'd have his blue eyes and Layla's wavy hair trailing behind her. It would be dark brown because that was the color of both Daryl's and Layla's hair.
" Well, if it's a girl I'd like her middle name to be Sophia." Daryl looked up at Layla again. " I haven't asked Carol yet. I wanted to ask you first." He nodded.
" Think that'll be alright." Daryl said, quietly. Layla offered him a small smile then covered his hands with hers. He cleared his throat. " I think," He paused and shook his head. She could see he was wrestling with himself. He cleared his throat again. " I think you look good pregnant."
" You do?" She asked. Daryl nodded.
" You look real..." Dale's pained screamed ripped through the night.