Bethyl Week Day 7 – Something I Need, part two

Daryl gave in then, because this was the woman he loved and he would never be able to love another, because this woman was the one thing he needed in his life and he had lost her completely, and let her pull him down to her, his arms wrapping around her cold body tightly as she lowered her teeth to his skin….

"Daryl!" A scream tore through the night and the hunter shot off his bed, his heart racing in his chest and sweat covering his skin as his eyes searched frantically around the room for the blonde or a walker. His heart thudded heavily against his ribs and he grabbed his crossbow and threw the door to his room open, the crossbow up and ready as he walked briskly through the small hallway.

A small cry rose in volume and Daryl's heart stopped when his ears registered the cries of his young daughter. The man ran the rest of the way down the hallway and turned at the top of the stairs, his eyes registering the shapes of his daughter and wife at the bottom of the steps. His four-year-old daughter looked up at him, tears rolling down her face and she sobbed out a "Daddy" as she cradled her right arm against her. Beth looked up from where she was squatted beside the small brunette child, her eyes brimming with tears and heartache for their child. Daryl took the stairs down two at a time before stopping and kneeling in front of the small child.

"What happened, Princess?" he gently wiped her tears off her cheeks as he inspected what he could see of the girl's arm and wrist. "Can you move it?" he asked, having a sense of déjà vu at asking the question. His daughter cried out as she tried to rotate her wrist and he instantly stopped her.

"I think it's broken," Beth whispered softly beside him and he nodded, agreeing with his wife's assessment. "I'll go get the doc." The blonde moved to stand, her hand resting on her swelling stomach and Daryl moved to help her.

"I'll go, you stay here," he told her as he bent down to pick up their daughter to move her to the couch. "I'll be right back, okay, Princess?" He wiped more of her tears off her cheeks before kissing her forehead and walking the short distance to Beth and his crossbow. Beth gently grabbed his arm, her eyes searching his in concern.

"When Skyla's better, I want you to explain why you were yelling a few minutes ago," the blonde ordered and Daryl nodded, his lips meeting Beth's chastely, his hand going to her baby bump before he picked up his crossbow and left.

Beth heaved a sigh as her eyes took in the sight of Daryl gently placing their daughter in her bed and tucking her in, being extra careful around the new, bright green cast that was now wrapped around the sleeping child's wrist.

"I think tonight has been the most terrifying night of my life," the blonde told the hunter when he approached her after kissing their sleeping daughter goodnight. He made sure the curtains were pulled tightly closed against the early morning sunlight before guiding Beth back to their room.

"What happened?" he asked as he toed off his boots and hung his leather vest on the back of a chair in the corner of their room. Beth let out a huff of breath as she sat on the bed and kicked off her own shoes. Her eyes moved to the window where streams of sunlight could be seen through the crack of their curtains, her hand absently rubbing her stomach.

"Our son wouldn't let me sleep, wanted some beef jerky apparently," she started and Daryl smirked, taking the few steps to stand in front of Beth before kneeling in front of her and pressing a kiss to her covered belly. "While I was down in the kitchen feeding our son, Skyla called down saying you were mumbling in your sleep and that nothing she did could wake you. I guess she had come in to join us here in our bed after I went downstairs…anyways, as I was rounding the corner of the kitchen to come and check on you and get her back to bed and she just…tripped…" Beth's eyes watered and she let out a soft sob. "I couldn't stop my own baby from getting hurt, Daryl…"

"Accidents happen, Babe," he told her softly, even though guilt ate away at him too. The image of his injured and crying daughter lying at the bottom of the stairs would forever be burned into his brain. The couple sat there for a while, Beth's tears slowly fading away as she laid her head on Daryl's shoulder.

"Our son is making me so hormonal," she mumbled into his shirt and Daryl couldn't stop the grin from forming on his lips as he gently pushed Beth back enough for him to kiss her lips. "Were you having a nightmare?" she asked after a moment and he sighed, nodding slightly. "Wanna tell me about it?" Daryl stared at Beth's expanding stomach and shrugged.

"You died," he told her simply. When she tilted her head at him he continued, scrubbing his hands through his hair and down his face, "was my fault. You got shot and died…I realized I couldn't live without you and let you turn and bite me…" Beth's hand squeezed his bicep almost painfully and he met her eyes.

"I won't ever leave you," she told him and he nodded. "You gotta promise me something, though, Daryl. If that should ever happen, you don't give up. You don't leave our babies without a parent. You understand me?" her voice was tight and Daryl shook his head, making her grip tighten more. "You don't leave them orphans, Daryl. Not if it's something you can control."

"Beth, I…"

"No, Daryl Dixon, swear it."

"Beth, I swear but, babe, you can't ever leave me."

"I won't. I will never leave you again." She had said those words to him so many times over the past five or six years they had been together after she had found her way back to him and Daryl knew she would have to say it many more times in their remaining years together.

"You're something I need," he told her softly before kissing her and moving to lay with her on their bed.

"If we only live once," she said, continuing part of their wedding vows and he smiled before kissing her again.

"I wanna live with you."