scoobydoo0811 - Thanks for the review, glad you liked the chapter :)
Sorry-I-Wasn't-Listening - Yeah I thought about offering some cold water for that burn but figured that would be a little too crass ;). I'm glad you liked the Daryl and Ethan parts too, they are a lot of fun to write. Like I said earlier, its fun to try and find that balance between awesome badass and total sweetheart and its easier to do that with Ethan for some reason, probably because a love for your child is supposed to be unconditional. I also feel bad for Lori too but in order for this story to go where I need it to go, there's gotta be a little friction between Tessa and Lori :)
Okay, just warning you, there is enough fluff in the beginning of this chapter to make a damn bear factory! For those of you who hate reading fluff, proceed to skip down to the middle! But for those of you who like reading hopeless Tessa and Daryl fluff, then please, proceed :)
I also know my timeline's gone slightly out of wack but this is the only real giant jump in time that this story takes. So yeah, it is three months later but nothing really has changed except the months and Lori and Tessa's growing pregnancies lol
Okay, enough of me blabbing! Onwards with the story!
- Nagiana
Favorite Line(s):
"Have ya done her yet?"
"Deddy, don't be crass."
"It's jus' a simple question!"
"Yeah, a simple question that ya should already know the answer to!"
Three Months Later . . .
"Hey Daryl – wait up a minute, would you?"
Daryl sighed in slight irritation as he turned around and waited for Tessa to close the distance between them. It had been three months since she and Lori had come back from their car accident – three months since Rick, Glenn and Hershel had come back with the kid in the back of their car and while things had certainly calmed down, they had become no less hectic. Everyone was working hard to get ready for the winter, including Daryl and Ethan, who found themselves out hunting much of the day, every day. They were afraid that the game would quickly become scarce but so far, they found it in abundance, making them confident that they would have enough meat for the winter, at least. They were also constantly on alert for the kid's group to come find him but after three months of nothing, they doubted they were out looking for him, as Rick had said. Tessa's leg had also healed up nicely, as had Daryl side, but he had been right – they had both found themselves carrying nasty scars as well as two near death experiences that only bonded them together even more and made them take nothing about their current life with each other for granted.
It didn't mean that Daryl had changed his attitude in any way, though.
"Dammit, Tess, we've got huntin' to do -!"
"Daryl, shut the Hell up for a minute, will ya?" She interrupted him, her eyes twinkling when she finally reached them. She took his hand and he immediately tensed. She smiled nonetheless as he quickly relaxed in her grip. He then freely allowed her to move his hand where she wanted and she knew instantly that he would like this. He hadn't been around for her pregnancy with Ethan so he didn't know what it felt like to feel a baby move . . . he was about to experience the surprise of his life.
When he realized that she was placing his hand under the hem of her shirt to her newly protruding stomach, his heart sped up and he glanced behind at Ethan who was waiting patiently for him, a small smile of amusement on his face. He had already felt his baby brother or sister move and he had to admit . . . it was amusing watching his thirty-six-year-old father overreact to such a small thing as feeling his own child move in the womb. "Relax, baby – you guys ain't burning that much daylight!" She gently admonished him as she pressed her hand against the back of his and then pressed his palm against the side of the small bump that Tessa woke up every day feeling his hand covering in turn – moving it just to the right and slightly underneath her belly button.
Daryl's brow immediately knitted together in slight confusion and interest. "Tess, what the fuck are you -?"
And then he felt it. His eyes shot up to her face – to her broad grin and her wide, sparkling brown eyes and for a moment, it was like her entire face had lit up. He felt it again . . . and again and again and he let out a breathless little laugh. It was like a light tickle under his palm. "Is tha' . . . is tha' -?"
The beam never leaving her eyes, Tessa bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah, it's been pretty active since breakfast. Ethan's already felt it, as well as Glenn and Maggie and then Dale and whoever else wanted to feel too!" She gave a good-natured laugh and a flippant shrug. "I mean, I tried telling them that maybe this should wait until another time 'cause I wanted you to feel it for the first time, but ya know everyone when it comes to a pregnant woman feeling her baby's first stirrings! Everyone absolutely loses their shit in excitement!"
Daryl hardly heard her. He was still in amazement over the movements going on underneath his palms. "Holy . . . fuckin' shit . . .!" He murmured in breathless amazement as he hastily shoved his crossbow into Ethan's hands before allowing his other hand to come up and rest on her stomach as well, just above her belly button. "Wow . . ." His grin, which Tessa couldn't remember seeing quite so wide before this moment, spread through his voice. "Does - does it hurt?" He asked, suddenly concerned as the movements shifted slightly, Tessa quickly moving their hands to follow it and she shrugged.
"No, it feels like . . . like butterflies?" She laughed at the curious look he shot her and gave another shrug. "They'll grow stronger and more prevalent as the pregnancy progresses but right now, they feel like butterflies."
Tessa let go of his hands then when he was successfully following the movements on his own, and moved to place hers on the small of her back. She arched her back, eyes closing in bliss as it popped slightly. She loved this time of the year. The late summer heat was finally subsiding, leaving the cooler breezes and the warm sunshine - a combination that she had loved since she was very little. It reminded her of the other Indian summers of her childhood. That and Daryl's warm, gentle hands on her stomach feeling his baby move within her, made her heart flutter with love in her chest.
Daryl watched with a soft, loving eye as Tessa stood there and lazily enjoyed the sunlight. He had heard of women glowing when they were pregnant, but he always thought it was a bullshit pregnancy myth. But dammit all if Tessa wasn't standing there in front of him just sparkling like a damn diamond! He knew he could blame it on the sun's rays, but he also knew that was the baby - their baby - that made her look like that.
Her face turned upwards into the sun and the ebony black strands of her hair hung loosely around her face – the thick locks free of their customary clip for once. The tips just brushed her jaw and her shoulders and the tops of her breasts on their way down to the small of her back. The unique natural blue highlights found themselves shifting to the surface, causing her hair to shimmer in the bright sunlight. A small, content smile played across her features and his heart twisted in his chest for a moment.
At that moment, he was damn sure that he had never seen a woman look more beautiful than Tessa right at that moment, standing right there in front of him with his hands on her pregnant stomach – where their child slumbered beneath her heart.
"Babydoll, I gotta . . . I gotta go . . ."
Daryl's voice when he spoke after a moment of complete and utter blissful silence was one of skillfully hidden sorrow, for he hated to leave her at a moment like that. However, Tessa didn't seem to mind. Her smile was bright and cheery as she nodded and moved closer to him, where she pressed a loving kiss to his lips, one that he readily reciprocated for a moment until she broke apart. With another smile that he could swear to God warmed his very soul - she turned around and set off back down the hill towards the camp. They could see Maggie and Lori watching them and waiting for her and Daryl nodded to them in greeting. They nodded back, Lori's a bit more hesitant compared to Maggie's and when Daryl turned around to rejoin his son, he scowled at the look of grinning amusement on Ethan's face.
"Watch out or ya face might freeze tha' way!" He told him, his voice gruff, however, Ethan ignored him and continued to grin as he turned and followed his father towards the woods, shouldering his bow as he did so.
"Deddy, do ya love momma?" His voice, not in the inquiring tone that Carl often took when he asked Rick or Lori that question, was one of playful teasing instead, and Daryl shot him another gruff look. Ethan could see the look of shining amusement echoing in his eyes, though, and that alone seemed to make Ethan's grin just a bit bigger.
"Well no shit, Captain Obvious!" Daryl retorted and Ethan shook his head, the grin remaining on his face as they ducked into the cool interior of the forest.
"Well shit, you're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm!"
The corners of Daryl's lips twitched in a smile as he pretended to divert all his attentions onto the surrounding environment. "How 'bout ya watch ya language, huh?" He muttered good-naturedly, and Ethan snorted.
"Like ya really care about how and what I speak! No offense, deddy, but ya ain't got the best English in the world either!" Daryl shook his head.
"Can I be completely honest?" Ethan nodded and immediately Daryl shared his grin.
"Tha' whole watchin' ya language thing is all ya momma. Me? I couldn' give a rat's ass! Hell, tha way I sees it . . .!" He pointed a finger at him. "Don' be correctin' ma Engish – ya can understand me, can' ya?" Ethan grinned and shook his head again as he let out a little laugh.
"I love ya deddy!" He laughed and Daryl gave a half-shrug.
"Yeah, ya better, 'cause this redneck hick's tha only one ya got now!" Ethan shrugged.
"Well, if it's any consolation . . . ya much better than Sam ever was." Daryl slowed down for a minute and turned to glance at him.
"Is that so?" Ethan nodded.
"Yup," He shrugged again. "After all, you're the one I'm callin' deddy, ain't I?" He shook his head. "Remember, I told you: I couldn't call him deddy – it didn't sound right." Daryl grinned, secretly cheering inside as they continued on their way. They stayed in silence for a while before Daryl broke it.
"So . . . what's goin' on with ya and Hershel's daughter lately?"
"You mean Beth?" Ethan offered cautiously and Daryl nodded and glanced back at him.
"Yeah . . . what's goin' on with ya two?" Ethan shrugged.
"It's . . . nothing much, I don't suspect," His eyes narrowed slightly. "This ain't . . ." He shook his head. "Deddy, I already know where babies come from!" Daryl rolled his eyes in slight irritation and sarcasm both.
"Yeah I know tha', and no, it's not! We already had tha' whole . . . birds and tha bees conversation, remember?" Ethan nodded, remembering the awkward conversation they had the first time around regarding him and Beth. Tessa had been right – they had been awkward together and from that moment on, Daryl and Ethan's conversations regarding Beth had been Daryl starting out by asking what the latest news was between them. They found it was a lot less awkward when it started out as a simple light conversation.
"Have ya done her yet?"
"Deddy, don't be crass."
"It's jus' a simple question!"
"Yeah, a simple question that ya should already know the answer to!"
Daryl glanced back at him, saw the slight irritation in his son's eyes and immediately knew the answer. He shook his head. "It's for tha best . . . ya too young." He muttered and Ethan nodded.
"I know . . . momma's already said the same thing and I . . . I happen to agree." Daryl glanced back at him, a note of interest in his tone.
"Ya do . . .?" Ethan nodded and glanced into the woods in order not to meet his father's piercing, searching blue gaze.
"Yeah . . . not-to-mention she has Jimmy to do all that shit with . . ." Daryl sensed the slight hurt in Ethan's voice and he gave a half-shrug of indifference. He suspected it wasn't so much that Ethan agreed with them, probably as much as it was Beth didn't want to cheat on Jimmy . . . or that Ethan was a little young despite his looks and temperament and she knew it and wanted to wait. But then again, Beth had been different since the barnyard massacre those three months ago. She had been reclusive and suicidal afterwards and then, after her botched suicide attempt in which case she had tried to slice her wrists with a broken piece of mirror, she had changed. She had adopted a new outlook on life, yes, but she was no longer the carefree young woman that had originally found herself gravitating towards Ethan. Daryl found that he didn't have the heart to tell him that maybe Beth just wasn't the girl he was looking for – that maybe Ethan wasn't the guy that she was looking for - not anymore, anyway.
"Well, don' take it too hard. I was a late bloomer so, Hell – it might be in ya genes if ya take after me and not ya uncle Merle!" Ethan cast a look of interest his direction.
"Well . . . when did ya start?" The question came out hesitant and Daryl was suddenly hit with the realization that what Tessa had said about Ethan looking up to him was not a complete load of bullshit. He could be having this conversation with Glenn, but instead, was having it with him. He felt . . . damn near honored.
He gave yet another half shrug. "I think I was . . . seventeen? Ya momma was sixteen," He shook his head. "Not to say . . . too much, 'cause I know how icky tha'll be, but tha first time me and ya momma slept together was both of our first times. So don' feel bad – late bloomin' is in ya genes," He scoffed then. "Unless, of course, ya do take after ya uncle Merle, and then Hell . . ." He chuckled then. "Then ya ain' gonna be nothin' like a late bloomer!" Ethan nodded, immediately realizing that he didn't want to know what his father meant by that because he had a vague feeling that he didn't want to lose his lunch.
"Tessa, you've probably heard me say this before, but Daryl is so adorable!"
Tessa let out a slightly surprised laugh and her eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion at Maggie's words. Her, Maggie and Lori were standing in the kitchen getting lunch prepared when Maggie chose that time to speak, a grin appearing on her face then. She glanced up at her and cocked her head slightly to the side.
"What do ya mean?" She asked and Maggie shook her head as she continued chopping up tomatoes into little triangle slices to be later placed in the big salad bowl sitting on the island counter beside her.
"It's nothing really, he just . . ." She shook her head and shot her a grin. "He looked like a kid in a damn candy store out there when you showed him his baby moving. It was . . . the look on his face was just adorable!" Tessa chuckled then, her eyes softening as she nodded.
"I wake up every morning with his hand on my belly but for some reason, feeling that movement at that moment was different," She shook her head and gave a slight laugh. "I swear to God, he's more excited about this baby than I am!" Lori shook her head and gave an amused laugh too.
"You can say that again!" She spoke with a wink and Tessa grinned. She could tell that ever since their wreck together, Lori's movements around her had become slightly more mechanical. She didn't know if it was because Lori still couldn't bring herself to forgive herself for causing the wreck that had wounded her friend or because she was jealous of her and Daryl's relationship – the relationship that seemed to grow stronger with every second their baby remained alive and moving within her womb and with every breath she took and every bite of food she ate that strengthened their child.
"Oh come on, Lori, I'm sure Rick is just as excited for your baby as Daryl is for ours!" She told her good-naturedly, the grin remaining on her face as a laugh left her lips and for a moment, Tessa thought she saw Lori's movements falter slightly and a certain hardness to appear in her eyes. Of course, Tessa didn't know that Rick and Lori were no longer as affectionate with each other behind closed doors as they once were – that Rick no longer treated her as the woman he loved and lived for anymore - not like he used to. And yeah, he still held her at night and he still kissed her good night and good morning, but they were nothing like the kisses Daryl and Tessa shared in the morning and evening – indeed, every minute of the day where they figured they could spare each other a soft look, a gentle touch and/or a loving kiss. Hell, they no longer made love like they used to since Rick found out that she was pregnant – not at all like the way Daryl and Tessa still did. In fact, if anything, Daryl knowing Tessa was pregnant only made him want her more! In fact, nothing was like it used to be because Lori chose not to tell her much anymore, although many times she was tempted to simply because she knew that Tessa would listen with absolutely no judgment.
And then there was the hate – the hate that seemed to be wrapping up Lori the longer she stood by and allowed it to. She hated seeing Tessa and Maggie's friendship grow by the day while theirs waned and she knew that their friendship would no longer be on the rocks if only she chose to confide in her friend the same way that Tessa continued to confide in her and was starting to confide in Maggie. However, she found it difficult, if not outright impossible and suddenly understood why Tessa had such a hard time telling Daryl she was pregnant.
But more than anything, she hated the way that Rick was starting to look towards Tessa for advice and input in everything ranging from the mundane (matters that he had once looked to her for) to the important, in which case he would also start to look towards Daryl quicker than he would Shane or anyone else. In fact, when Tessa had first announced that she felt her baby's first movements early that morning, Rick had been one of the first in line to feel it, a grin on his face as they grouped around her - her hand on his, guiding it to best feel the movement. However, when she had first felt her baby's first movements, he had simply nodded and smiled.
The sight broke her heart but she knew it was just her being hopelessly paranoid. Rick just considered her, Daryl and Ethan as close family friends and was just being his usual good-hearted and kind self. And Tessa would rather kill herself than ever think about cheating on Daryl.
Then why could she not get the sight of a grinning Rick with his hands on another grinning woman's pregnant belly, out of her mind.
She felt Tessa and Maggie's eyes on her and it took her a moment to realize that she had stood there for a while, not speaking a word. Eventually, she smiled tightly and nodded. "Y-yeah – of course he's excited! Not as excited as Daryl is, of course, but yeah, he's pretty excited!" Maggie nodded in reply, content with the older woman's answer but Tessa continued to gaze at her friend for a moment, her face becoming expressionless. Eventually, after a moment of further silence, she hooked her hand around her friend's elbow and after excusing themselves, pulled her into the nearby dining room. She dragged her around the large table to the front door and when the door opened and closed, Lori found her and Tessa standing out on the front porch alone, Tessa gazing at her expectantly with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her foot tapping impatiently.
"Okay, honey, what's wrong?" She asked and Lori gave a laugh.
"What do you mean -?"
"Don't hand me that bullshit, Lori!" Tessa interrupted her sternly. "You've been acting strange for the last few days and if I dare to go further back, it's probably been for these last three months. Now tell me, what the Hell has been going on?"
Lori stood there, gazing at her dumbly for a moment before her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She crossed her arms helplessly in front of her chest and gave a weak, pitiful shrug. "What hasn't gone on, Tess?"
Tessa still found herself feeling numb when Rick and Shane returned later with the kid, much to the confusion of everyone else. She had stood there for all of possibly half an hour to a full hour and allowed Lori to pour her heart and soul out onto Tessa on the front porch, tears and all, and when she was done, Tessa felt as emotionally drained as Lori surely had been feeling for the last three months of her life! After hugging her tightly afterwards and telling her that everything would be alright, they returned to preparing lunch, however, this time, it was damn near in silence - a silence that even Maggie herself felt. She had then returned to camp claiming her need to rest and instead, had taken a seat outside her and Daryl's tent where she begin mulling over everything Lori had poured onto her.
There were her fears over Rick knowing the baby wasn't his and then judging her because of it . . .
Her completely irrational fears that he harbored a secret love for her . . .
Fears that he no longer found her attractive because there was the possibility the baby inside her wasn't his . . .
Tessa shook her head in slight exasperation as she looked up and saw Daryl and Ethan returning to camp, a good amount of squirrels and rabbits swinging from their belts. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the grins on their faces and the laughter in their voices. She was glad they were getting along so well, especially after the little spat that had occurred between them months ago.
"You want a penny for your thoughts?"
Tessa jumped slightly and glanced up when she heard Rick's soft voice. She smiled a small smile as he joined her, although she couldn't help the way her heart kicked into overtime when she saw him approach her. Did he really . . . look at her in that way – the way that Lori was convinced he looked at her? She had never noticed it before but then again, Daryl had always been who she thought about in that way – who she would ever think about in that way.
She was convinced that it was just Rick being his normal good-hearted self and she was sure that it was only that.
She shrugged and gave a small smile. "Nothing much, just needed some time to myself I guess - to think." She turned her eyes onto Daryl and Ethan making their way to the camp then and she knew he followed her eyes. He smiled and nodded.
"It seems like they brought in a good load today!" Tessa nodded and glanced up at him again, pride in her eyes.
"Don't they always, though?" Rick smiled and nodded.
"Ethan's a good kid, Tess, and Daryl has certainly grown in maturity since you two arrived. You're lucky, Hell – Daryl's a lucky guy himself!" Tessa smiled and glanced up at him again. She nodded and told him she knew but underneath it all, she still couldn't help her heart calm down any. It was just him being his normal good-hearted self, right?
Right?
He heaved a sigh then, his hands moving to his hips. "What's Daryl doing after he gets done with those squirrels and rabbits, do ya know?" Tessa shrugged.
"I don't have any idea," She turned an interested gaze onto him. "Why?"
Rick shrugged then but he had a look in his eyes that Tessa didn't rightly like. "Nothing much, I just . . . I need him to do something."
"Is it something that the rest of you don't wanna do?" Tessa asked him, her worries and her anger deepening slightly and Rick's gaze snapped onto hers. He shook his head.
"No, Tess, it's nothing like that, I promise! It's just . . . it's more physical than any of us are used to and Daryl knows more about physical matters than the rest of us." Tessa shook her head as she got to her feet, her eyes flitting to the shed that held the kid. Shane and Andrea loitered around the front and she shook her head again, immediately knowing what they needed Daryl to do.
"That's a very nice way of saying you need Daryl to beat the shit out of someone!" She snapped and Rick immediately shook his head and stepped towards her, where his hands gently grasped her upper arms.
"Oh no, Tess, it's nothing like that! We simply need to know more about his group and we need Daryl in case the kid gets violent!" Tessa shook her head, her eyes darting back towards the shed where Shane's pacing was getting more and more predatory. She pulled herself out of his grasp with a yank and Rick allowed her to go.
"The kid's tied up and weighs a buck fifty wet! Why the Hell would he choose to get violent with you guys?" Rick heaved a sigh. His eyes were sad when he gazed at her.
"Tessa, we need Daryl."
"Why are you asking my permission? He's his own man – he can do what he wants!" She snapped out and Rick shook his head.
"Yes, but he won't do anything without your say-so, though. For the sake of the group, we need him to do this!" Tessa shook her head, her gaze one of subdued shock.
"How can you condone this? How can you condone him doing this? That kid's no older than Ethan – how could he possibly do that on good conscious!" Rick gave a weak shrug.
"We can't. Not one of this doing this, can we condone this. But if it will take us one step closer to protecting the group – to protecting Ethan and Carl and the babies that you and Lori will eventually have, then we will gladly do it!" Tessa's teeth gritted.
"And Daryl's just the mean kind of son-of-a-bitch to do it right? Forget the fact that he has a son who looks up to him and who he's trying to change for," She shook her head and blinked back furious tears. "Maybe you should start looking towards your own family, Rick, before you try to destroy another. After all, isn't the road to Hell paved with good intentions?"
