Daryl sat on the bed watching Beth look at herself in the mirror. She had her shirt up above her belly which now had an obvious baby bump. She was at thirteen weeks and obviously pregnant now. At first it could have passed for bloating but now it was too obvious and she had started wearing hoodies to hide it. It gave him a strange feeling. He'd known she was pregnant now for awhile but with her stomach getting bigger the evidence was plainly in front of them now. It was a reality they had to face; it was his child growing inside of her. She turned her back to him again, cupping her stomach, a small smile on her face.

"Boy or girl?" she said, smiling at him in the mirror. He shrugged and said

"Doesn't matter to me." She walked up to him and sat down in his lap. He couldn't help but wrap his arms around her and put his hand on her stomach. "Whatever's in there darlin'." They sat like that for awhile. He tried to imagine what their child would look like. Blonde or brunette? It was no question the baby would have blue eyes. They both did. Would it be a sweet little girl with Beth's beauty? Or a bull-headed boy with his harsh features?

"I should get ready to go over to Brenna's." She stood up and turned to face him. "What are you doing today?"

"Huntin' with Damian again." She leaned down and kissed him.

"Be safe."

"I always come back," he said, pulling her closer to him. "I ain't gonna leave you 'n the baby I promise." He leaned in and kissed the curve of her belly. He couldn't believe he was feeling the way he was, caring, loving and in complete awe. He had given into his feelings for her and now the result of that night and their love was actually physically growing right before their eyes. "How'd I get someone like you? Why would you choose an old guy like me?" He couldn't help but think that he was the dirty redneck who'd taken the innocence from this sweet southern belle standing in front of him. He didn't deserve her. Her deep blue eyes looked into his.

"I love you, nothing else matters." She smirked and said "And you aren't that old."

"I'm forty."

"So? My mom and dad were twenty years apart. He was in his sixties and she was in her forties." He couldn't argue with her there and instead just kissed her and pulled her back onto his lap, burying his face into her soft hair.

Beth has been extremely suspicious around Carol for awhile now. She acted like she knew what was going on. Not only had she repeatedly offered Beth alcohol at dinners only to know she'd turn it down but she also found her visiting more often and asking weird questions. That night was no different. They had been back from dinner for about an hour. She was sitting on the couch reading one of the baby books while Daryl was showering. They tried to take quick showers to conserve water considering everyone used it. She heard a knock on the door and knew who it was instantly. Sighing in frustration, she got up and slipped her sweater on to mask her belly. Then she pulled open the door. There was Carol, as she had expected.

"Hey Beth," she said, walking in, "Where's Daryl?"

"Showering," she said, closing the door.

"And what are you up too?" Then she remembered the baby book still on the coffee table. She'd forgot to hide it.

"Uh, just relaxing." She quickly came up with a way to keep Carol away from the living room. "In fact, I was getting a bit lonely, come sit in the kitchen and talk." They went to the table. Beth kept an eye on the book, making sure Carol didn't spot it. "So how's Lizzie?"

"She's doing good," said Carol, "Starting to fit in with the other kids. I'm excited to get her started in the town's school."

"There's a school here?"

"Oh ya," said Carol, "They teach basic math and science but mostly they learn about how to survive, how to properly use weapons, things like that. Algebra and writing skills don't seem to be of much use in this world anymore." She smiled and said

"And to think I could have skipped all those hard classes in high school if I had known this was coming." Beth had managed to lighten the mood as the two joked around. It came to a crashing halt when she heard Daryl's voice from the bedroom. He didn't know Carol was there and called out

"Hey how's the readin' comin'? Learn anythin' new?" He walked in the room with nothing but a towel around his waist. When he saw Carol there his eyes went as wide as saucers, his wet hair still plastered to his head. Beth saw Carol look at him hungrily, like a predator. He awkwardly said "Oh sorry." He backed into the bedroom and shut the door. Carol turned her attention back to Beth and said

"How do you keep your hands off of him living together like this." Beth didn't do anything but shrug, not wanting to completely disclaim their relationship but not wanting to come out and say it. Carol smirked and said "If I lived here I'd get on him in a heartbeat. But I mean you two have got to be so far apart in age, you're like a little sister to him." Beth held her tongue as Carol kept talking. "And with all the sweaters you've been wearing lately you sure can't be tempting him." Beth wanted to lash out at here but held back and with a sarcastic edge said

"Oh ya, sleeping in the same bed has really kept him away from knowing me at a more intimate level." She saw Carol's face turn to stone.

"I thought he was sleeping on the couch?" Beth couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

"Well he was for awhile, but with it getting colder out I need someone to keep me warm at night." Before Carol could answer Daryl came out of the bedroom fully dressed. She could see the annoyance in his eyes as he saw that Carol was still there.

"Hey," he said, "Whatcha up too?"

"Just talking," said Beth, "How was your shower?"

"Refreshing." He went into the cabinet, took out some jerky and sat down at the table with them. Beth eyed it hungrily. She had been craving jerky and ice cream and since there was no ice cream to be had she ate double the jerky. Knowing what she wanted, Daryl slid her some. Apparently Carol hadn't forgotten what Beth had said about sleeping together.

"Beth was just telling me that you two have gotten a lot closer? Sleeping together?" He nearly choked on the jerky and looked over at her with wide eyes, thinking she'd told Carol about what was going on between them. She gave the slightest of nods, letting him know that she hadn't said anything revealing.

"Oh ya," he said, "It's getting' cold out, might as well share body heat. Don't wanna freeze to death in the middle of the night." Carol turned to Beth and said

"I'm sure you must hate sharing a bed."

"I actually enjoy it," she said, taking a bite of the jerky.

"When I was a teenage girl I never liked sharing my space." She put emphasis on the word girl.

"Well that was a long time ago," she said, not able to keep the insulting words down. With a look of shock she said

"Did you guys decorate the room? I'm sure it wasn't that hard to find a Justin Bieber poster somewhere to hang up. If I recall that's who all the girls had a crush on before the walkers."

"Oh absolutely not," she said, feeling confident. "I don't go for boys." Looking over at Daryl with lust in her eyes she said "I go for men." Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones making her so snappy but she was on a fucking roll. She wasn't going to let Carol have the upper hand. Daryl just sat there between them, a look of disbelief, horror and a hint of amusement on his face as they went at it. "With the world going to shit, there aren't any more laws to keep me from indulging in what I want." The anger was clear in Carol's face. She saw her look around the room and spot Daryl's bottle of whiskey on the counter. She got up and grabbed it.

"Oh ya? If there aren't anymore rules to hold you back then why not have a drink?" She held it out to her with a challenging look on her face.

"I don't want to drink," she said, "I saw what it did to my dad and I have no interest in it."

"Is that all your worried about?" She had a malicious look in her eyes. "Or is something else holding you back?" Beth didn't speak, she couldn't tell her about the baby now, not yet. She and Daryl had agreed to do it at a calm moment where they could sit down and talk to everybody. She put the bottle on the table and slid it across towards her in a challenging way. Then she turned and headed out the door. "I'll see you two tomorrow, have fun playing house." When she had shut the door the room went silent again. Daryl was the first to speak. He let out a laugh and said

"Holy shit, that was awesome." He leaned back in his chair and said "She's really pushin' your buttons now ain't she?" Red in the face she turned to him and said

"She's a nosey bitch." He continued to laugh as she got up and went over to the couch. "Thank god she didn't see this." She picked up the baby book.

"We need to tell her and Tyreese," he said, "I have a feeling she's already suspicious with the way she keeps offerin' you alcohol." She ripped the sweater off, feeling hot from anger.

"Tomorrow night," she said, leaning over and putting her head in her hands. "After dinner." She closed her eyes, trying to plan out how they were going to come out with it. She felt Daryl's strong hands massaging her shoulders. Not only did it feel incredibly good, but it reminded her she wasn't alone in this. She felt his hands slowly move from her shoulders and to her stomach. She was surprised he had been giving it so much attention. It was clear he was on board with her about the baby but she almost expected him to be supportive in a caring but non-attached way. Too protect her and gather supplies for she and the baby but not do more then was required of him. She knew it was a terrible way to think, but she had been trying to be realistic. Instead she found that he couldn't keep his hands off of her, he'd ask her how she and the baby were and had even kissed her belly yesterday morning before leaving. Smiling she said

"I wanna show you something." She grabbed the book and flipped open to the page she had been on. At the top it read Week Thirteen in bold letters. He swung himself over the back of the couch and onto the cushion next to her.

"Is that what our kid looks like?" The picture taking up half that page was an example of what the baby looked like this far along. "It looks like an alien," Beth laughed and said

"It's about the size of a peach," She looked at the text on the page and started to read it out loud. "Bones are beginning to form along with vocal cords."

"To scream with," said Daryl with a smirk. He slid the book from her lap into his and started to read it to himself. She was pretty tired from the day and tried to stifle a yawn. But Daryl saw it and put the book down. "Time for bed." He got up, blew out the candles and gently lifted her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him bring her into the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and she worked on unbuttoning her shirt while he gently pulled her jeans off. Once she was undressed she pulled the covers over herself and watched him undress. She could see the scars and bruises that marred his back in the dark. He had such a tough exterior. Every scar had a horrible story; every bruise was a sign of his determination and labor to survive in such a tough world. The one scar that caught her eyes was the one above his left shoulder blade. It was an X.

Daryl lay in bed listening to the screaming coming from the living room. He was rolled over and facing the wall, his eyes tight shut as he tried to pretend he was asleep and couldn't hear what was going on. He wasn't sure what they were fighting about anymore. He heard his father call his mother a 'dumb cunt' as she continued to scream at him. Then there was a loud smack. He heard his mother let out a shriek of pain. There was another smack. He brought his hands up to his ears, not wanting to listen anymore. He was all alone that night. Merle had gone to a friend's house and he was stuck here by himself. He couldn't block out the screams and sobs of pain coming from his mother no matter how tight he pressed his palms to his ears. There was a crash of something breaking then he could no longer hear his father's angry voice. He felt a hand grip onto his arm and rip him upward. He came face to face with his dad. He was red in the face, his eyes bloodshot. He could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"You little shit!" Get the fuck up!" He threw him to the ground, continuing to shout out obscenities in slurred, drunken sentences. He got up and ran out the bedroom and into the living room. His mother was passed out on the couch, her cheeks and eyes bruised. Broken glass littered the floor along with a huge puddle of whiskey. He could smell it as he slipped and fell onto his back. The glass cut him up, mixing the whiskey with the red taint of blood. He was quickly picked back up by his father and turned over onto his stomach so now the glass was cutting into his chest. He struggled to get up but his father had a painful grip on his back. He heard his father reaching for something on the kitchen counter. When he heard the sound of a knife being pulled out of the drawer he screamed and struggled even more. He felt the familiar intense pain of the knife cutting into his back. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, wishing he was far away. When he was done his father lumbered away and went into the bedroom, shutting the door. He could hear him knocking things over and continuing to yell. He knew he better get out of there before he decided to come back for him. He grabbed a shirt from his bedroom, but before he pulled it on he looked at his back in the mirror. There was a new bloody X up above his shoulder blade and a few other fresh slashes in the middle. He quickly pulled the shirt on, feeling it stick to the cuts. He pulled on his coat, grabbed his pistol from underneath his bed and quickly hurried out the door. The cool night air soothed him as he ran towards the woods. He knew exactly where he was going.

Beth pulled on her usual sweater and jeans. She couldn't wait to be able to go back to wearing her usual shirts after tonight. She also couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. She tried to push the thoughts out of her head, knowing that worrying about it now would do now good as it wasn't happening for another several hours. She went into her normal routine and headed over to Brenna's. Gwen was her usual bubbly self as she sat on the living room floor and played with her toys. Brenna quickly got her things together and left to go work. It was a beautiful day out so Beth decided to take Gwen down to the pond again. She strapped her into her little stroller and off they went.

About halfway there she spotted Lizzie walking towards her from across the street.

"Hey Beth," she said, "You taking Gwen to the pond again?"

"Ya."

"Well that's good," said Lizzie, "I was just down there with Carol doing laundry, but I'll come back with you." Beth felt herself deflate when she heard that Carol was there. But she couldn't be afraid of her, especially with what she was going to reveal tonight.

When the pond came in sight she could see Carol and a few other women sitting around the pond. When Carol spotted her all she did was smirk and follow her with her eyes as she took a seat on the opposite side with Gwen and Lizzie. Beth was taking Gwen out of her stroller when she heard Carol's voice call out.

"Lizzie come here!" Lizzie obeyed and ran over to Carol. Not caring what they were talking about, Beth set Gwen down on the grass and started to take out a few of her toys. She saw Lizzie running back over to her.

"What'd Carol want?"

"Nothing." Beth eyed the girl suspiciously. "Will you play tag with me?" It was an odd request but Beth said

"Sure hold on." She took out the playpen for Gwen and opened it up so she was sitting inside of it. Didn't want her wandering off.

"You're it!" said Lizzie, taking off. She knew she shouldn't be running very hard. She'd take it easy. She chased Lizzie around the yard and eventually managed to tag her on the shoulder. She ran off back towards the pond as Lizzie followed close behind. She turned and ran along the edge of the pond. She felt hands on her back give her a hard push. She hit the water hard and she quickly made her way back to the surface. Breathing heavily she saw Carol and Lizzie standing at the shore as she made her way out.

"What was that for?" she said, approaching Lizzie. Carol looked at Lizzie with a scowl and said

"You should be more careful Lizzie! Beth could have gotten hurt!"

"But you told me to-" Carol cut her off with a loud gasp. Beth looked down at herself. The sweater had been plastered to her body with water. Her baby bump was clearly visible. She felt her face burning up with anger.

"You're-you're-" Finishing her sentence Beth said

"Yes I'm pregnant." She walked out of the pond and hurried towards Gwen who was still on the grass. She quickly picked up her things and strapped her back into the stroller. She looked back to see Carol's shocked face. "Oh don't act like you didn't have your suspicions! You've known there's been something between Daryl and I for weeks now." With that she turned and pushed Gwen back onto the sidewalk and hurried back up the street, tears streaming down her face.

Thanks DarylDixon'sLover, Fanficreader427, FiveFiveGenie, stateofgrace-xo and Caitiann for reviewing :) Sorry for the slow updates I'm on spring break and been going out a lot with friends and family. So now Carol knows! Next chapter with Beth and Daryl will reveal her reaction.

Thanks for reading!