The best word that anyone could have used to describe everyone was fidgety. Michonne was fidgety because the baby would be coming any time now and she was uncomfortable almost all of the time. Nearly everyone else was fidgety because Michonne was fidgety.

Michonne felt like everyone watched her constantly. There were always eyes on her at all times. It was a little annoying to feel like people were staring at you nonstop, waiting for you to do something.

"Uncomfortable?" Carol asked Michonne. They were sitting at the table sorting through canned goods to figure out what would be for dinner. Michonne was constantly shifting in her chair and sighing.

"Yeah." Michonne said.

"It'll be soon." Carol said.

"I know." Michonne replied. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Part of her thought that soon sounded great because she was hot all the time, nearly always sweating, she could never get comfortable, and she hadn't slept well for a while. The other part of her, the part that was dreading the transition process between being pregnant and not being pregnant, did not like the sound of soon.

"Hershel asked me to be in there in case he needed any help. If you don't want me to be there, though, I can tell him just to get me if there's any complications." Carol said. "Which there won't be." She added.

"No, I actually do want you to be in there." Michonne said. She couldn't really explain it, but there was something about Carol that was calming, and she thought that calm might be a good thing. She wasn't sure how Daryl was going to handle the situation and she might need someone like Carol to help her out with things.

"Then I'll be there." Carol said.

They continued sorting cans in silence for a while. Then Maggie and Beth scuttled past the kitchen door dragging a mattress.

"That's the third time, I think…" Carol said. "I think Maggie and Beth are up to something."

"I think you're right." Michonne said. Maggie was pretty notorious in the prison for some of her antics. She had more than enough energy for two or three people and she had too much creativity for her own good sometimes. Beth was the perfect toady for Maggie since she went right along with anything her sister told her to do, never questioning if it was a good idea or a bad idea.

"Feel up to checking it out?" Carol asked.

Michonne was tired of the monotony of Peas…carrots…corn…peas…corn…lima beans… running through her mind, so she was curious to see what the two of them were doing with the stash of mattresses that they were so busy hauling around.

"Yeah." She said. Carol got up and came around, taking Michonne's hand and helping her heave up to her feet. It had been a while since Michonne had been able to stand up unassisted, and everyone had pretty much accepted that the person closest to her should be ready to pull her up whenever the need arose.

The started down the hall, following what looked like snail trails on the floor.

"This floor is filthy." Carol said.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad." Michonne said. She'd never thought about how dirty the prison was, but the contrast of the snail trail made it pretty obvious.

As the trail ended, they found themselves outside one of the unused cells. Maggie and Beth were in the process of heaving this mattress on top of the stack of mattresses that they already had in front of them. They had taken all the other things out of the cell, except for the nightstand.

"What are you doing?" Carol asked.

"We're building a birthing pen for Michonne." Beth said, panting as they slid the mattress into place. "We used to do it on the farm all the time."

"Birthing cell, Beth. She's not livestock." Maggie corrected. "I just thought she might like to have a comfortable place to have the baby. We could bring in some stuff to make it more comfortable or something."

"That's nice of you." Michonne said. She hadn't actually thought of that yet. She didn't know where she was going to have the baby, but the stack of mattresses did look a little more inviting than the idea of Hershel's table.

"No problem. We needed something to do anyway." Maggie said.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111

"What you pacin' for?" Daryl asked. He was lying in bed and Michonne was pacing around the cell.

"I don't know. It feels good." Michonne said. When she lied down or sat she was uncomfortable. When she stood up she was uncomfortable. She didn't really know why shuffling back and forth around the cell was more comfortable, but it was right now.

"What we gon name the baby?" Daryl asked. They hadn't talked about names.

"Whatever you want." Michonne said. She hadn't really thought about naming the baby, but it would have to have a name. When her girls were born it had been pretty easy to name them. She'd picked one name and her husband had picked the other. Michonne was open to pretty much anything, but she didn't really feel like trying to think about the name.

"Do you think it's a girl or a boy?" Daryl asked.

"Could be either." Michonne responded. She hadn't really thought about that either. It was just "baby" around the prison. No one had really talked about it like it would have a gender. It was just some genderless being that was with them but wasn't with them. It was someone they all talked about constantly, but couldn't see.

"Well I know that, 'Chonne, but what do you think it is?" Daryl asked. Daryl thought it was a boy. He didn't have any reason to think it was a boy, but he kind of thought it was.

"I really don't know." Michonne said.

"What'cha want the baby to be?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know." Michonne responded.

"Boy ain't you great at conversation, 'Chonne." Daryl said. She snickered at him, still pacing. "I think it's gonna be a boy."

"Why do you think that?" Michonne asked.

"I don't know." Daryl said. "Just seems like the right thing to think."

"Do you want a boy?" Michonne asked. Daryl thought about it a few minutes before he responded.

"I don't think so. I mean I don't really care." He said. "See, in my mind I was always gonna have four kids, and they was always gonna be two boys and two girls…all equal. So it don't matter what I get, 'cause they are both important to me."

"I sincerely hope you don't think we're having four children." Michonne said. Daryl laughed at her.

"Nah, I don't think we're having four kids." He said. "I think we're havin' this kid and then we'll see what kinda life we have. Maybe we'll have another, you know…just to get whatever we don't get this time."

"You know, Daryl, it's not like that with babies. You don't always get the other gender next." Michonne said.

"Not me." Daryl responded. "I told ya, mine always come out even." Michonne laughed at him. "So what we gon name it?" He asked again.

"Whatever you want." She responded.

"I ain't no good at namin' things. Only thing I ever had that was mine and needin' namin' was a dog." Daryl said.

Michonne was getting tired, so she came back to bed, trying to get comfortable, which really meant trying to get as comfortable as possible.

"Well what did you name the dog?" She asked.

"Dog." Daryl said matter-of-factly. Michonne giggled.

"That's not a very good name." She said.

"Eh, didn't matter no way." Daryl said, nuzzling the back of her neck. "My dad got pissy and the dog disappeared after 'bout two days. I don't reckon it minded bein' named Dog for two days. I never had nothin' I got to keep." He paused for a minute. "Until now." He added, nuzzling her more.

Michonne felt sorry for Daryl. She didn't know all the details of his life before all of this, but she knew that it hadn't been a particularly good life. She knew he had a lot of scars, both physically and emotionally. She knew he hadn't been loved a whole lot in his life, and it was important to her to try to love him enough to make up for that. He was the best kind of man that she could imagine, and he was certainly the best kind of man that she'd ever known. She had never felt loved the way that Daryl made her feel loved. She hoped she wouldn't let him down and that he never again had to feel like he didn't have anything that was truly his. She was happy to be completely his, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that nothing happened to their baby, whether it was a boy or a girl, and whether or not she allowed Daryl to name it Baby. She didn't say anything, but she did reach around and gently pull his arm over her.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111

Michonne had been trying to deal with the pain for as long as she could. They had started slow, dull, and very far apart, just as she was really trying to go to sleep. At first she had barely recognized it. She had thought she'd wait it out as long as she could. It was the middle of the night and she hated to have to wake everyone, because surely if one person woke up, everyone was going to be up.

Michonne didn't sleep well at all these nights, and Daryl forgave her for that. He didn't know what it felt like to have a whole human being inside your stomach, but he didn't think it would be very comfortable. He kept trying to sleep, ignoring her squirming, until she made a strange noise.

"'Chonne, you OK?" Daryl asked, not fully waking up. She didn't respond to him at first.

"I don't think so, Daryl." Michonne said. "I think it's time to go get Hershel."

Daryl sat up quickly. He was still half asleep, but he'd been waiting to hear those words and had tried to program himself to respond to them. He got out of bed. Suddenly he realized he had no idea what to do. None at all. He needed to go get Hershel, and he knew that Michonne was moving to another cell, so he needed to help her get there, but he wasn't sure which was supposed to come first. Luckily Michonne solved his problem a minute later when she started making demands.

"Help me up." She said. Daryl did help her up. He also helped her to the cell, supporting her as much as he could and he helped her get onto the pallet that Maggie and Beth had made for her. Quickly Daryl jogged down to Hershel's cell.

"Hershel! Hershel, get up! Man, the baby's comin'!" Daryl said. Hershel stirred.

"I'm coming, Daryl." Hershel said.

"Come on, Hershel! It's coming now!" Daryl said. He couldn't understand why Hershel was being so nonchalant and slowly getting out of bed.

"Calm down, Daryl. I think this is going to take a little longer than you think it is. I'll be there in a minute." Hershel said.

Daryl wanted Hershel to move faster than he was. Around him the prison was coming to life. Everyone was shuffling around with the same general nature of the Walkers. No one was talking, but everyone seemed to be shuffling in different directions, rubbing their eyes and yawning. Daryl went back to the cell with Michonne. He didn't know what to do. In all the movies that he'd seen where women had babies it had been pretty much the same thing. Their broke, usually in a restaurant or somewhere like that, then they'd started having contractions and started screaming at their husbands. Then the doctor came and five or ten minutes later they had a baby. Michonne wasn't screaming right now, right now she had her head buried in some of the pillows that Maggie had put on the mattresses and was clutching the mattress…and Hershel was taking his sweet time.

Carol brushed past Daryl into the cell. She was obviously still half asleep because she had the same Walker quality to her movements as everyone else. She got on the mattress with Michonne, and pulled her up to lean against her. He couldn't make out anything she was saying, but she was mumbling into Michonne's ear.

Hershel finally came into the room, followed by Brenda who brought lamps in and Josh who brought Hershel his bag. No one was saying anything.

When Michonne made another noise, it wasn't the screaming that Daryl expected. It almost sounded like some kind of animal noise. She wasn't screaming at him at all.

"It's OK, breathe through it." Hershel said. "Then we'll see where we are."

Where we are? The baby is coming! Daryl thought. The noise continued.

"Are you alright, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked. He approached her and tried to pull her face around for him to see it.

"Don't get in her face." Carol said. "She's fine. She's having a baby. It's a little uncomfortable."

Daryl backed up a little. He watched Hershel do whatever it was that Hershel was doing.

"We have a ways to go." Hershel said finally. "It's gonna be a long night."

"What you mean we have a ways to go?" Daryl asked. "The baby is comin'."

Hershel got up, pulling his crutches under his arms, and balancing he put a hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"Babies take however much time they want. They don't go by anyone's clock but their own." He said. "Michonne's got a lot of work ahead of her, but it's something that none of us can help her with, all we can do is comfort her. It's going to be a while before anything important happens. You could even take a walk if you want to and I'll get someone to get you if we need you for anything."

"I think that's a good idea, Daryl." Carol said. "Why don't you take a walk?"

"Daryl…" Michonne said. Daryl came over and sat on the mattresses beside her.

"You alright?" He asked.

Michonne smiled at him. His face was so worried and confused. She wanted him to be here when the baby was born, but having him in here until then would drive everyone insane. The problem was no one had thought to explain to Daryl beforehand how this was going to be. Michonne reached up and rubbed his cheek. He leaned down and kissed her gently.

"I'm fine." She said, still smiling at him. "I think they're right. You need to take a walk. Carol will take care of me and Hershel will let you know when there's anything going on."

Daryl didn't want to leave, but if Michonne thought he should, then he would. At least she was smiling at him and talking to him instead of screaming at him that this was all his fault.

"Ok." He said after a minute. He leaned in to Michonne, "I love you, 'Chonne." He said. "Please be OK."

Michonne smiled again and pulled his face to her. She kissed him. "I am. No worries."

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111111

The whole prison was awake and everyone was shuffling around doing things. It looked to Daryl like everyone had a purpose or something, but no one was really talking to anyone else and no one was talking to him. He'd been on a walk. He'd been on two or three walks. He felt like every time he passed by Michonne's cell, she was making those animal sounds and it looked like she was wrestling with Carol. Sometimes it looked like she was winning, and sometimes it looked like Carol was winning.

Glenn found Daryl outside, leaning against the wall, smoking one of the cigarettes that he had taken on a run.

"Cliché father." Glenn said, walking up.

"Huh?" Daryl asked.

"Cliché father. Smoking cigarettes and waiting for the baby." Glenn said.

"Man, I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm goin' fuckin' crazy. I feel like I should be doin' somethin', but I don't know what the fuck to do." Daryl said. It was pretty obvious that he was very unsure about what to do right now.

"You're doing your job." Glenn said. "We all had a job, and you're doing yours."

"What you mean?" Daryl asked.

"Carol's been planning for this for months." Glenn said. "We all had a job, except Rick, maybe. Maggie, Beth, and Rachel were responsible for getting and boiling water and for making coffee for anyone who wanted it. Brenda was in charge of making sure that she collected enough of our lamps and stuff that Hershel had however much light he needed, Josh was in charge of getting the bag that Hershel had pointed out to him. Even I had a job."

"What was your job?" Daryl asked.

"My job was to make sure the pocket watch was wound up at all times, in case Carol needed it to time things."

"I didn't get no job." Daryl said. "I didn't know nothin' 'bout no jobs."

"Well, Michonne's job is pretty obvious, and it looks like you're doing yours. You're waiting for your baby."

"Well, I don't like this job." Daryl said.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111

Michonne wished Hershel would realize that telling her every now and again how much longer he thought it would be wasn't helping her very much. It felt like it had already been a few days and it felt like every minute was an eternity. She was missing very much what they had known before and missed the fact that she had not had to suffer through this with either of her girls.

She was also acutely aware, at times, of the people who passed by the cell or in the cell. She felt like the most entertaining exhibit at the zoo.

As time passed she'd become more and more thankful for Carol, who occasionally gave offered words of encouragement, but for the most part had just silently been there, reading her mind almost and succumbing to her will.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111111111

When Maggie found Daryl outside and told him to come inside, he didn't know what to say. He just followed her to the cell. He felt like he'd been walking laps around the prison for a few days.

"Come on, Daryl." Hershel said. "It's time to make you a father."

"Come here." Carol said. "Take my place."

Daryl came and sat where she was sitting. Carol looked exhausted. Michonne just looked like she was in pain. Daryl held her, and soon he understood why Carol looked exhausted because he felt her wrestling with him. Her nails had dug into his arms in several places. Still, he made sure not to protest. At least he finally felt like he had some sort of purpose.

Finally there were cries in the cell that didn't belong to Michonne. When Carol brought the baby around, wrapped in one of the blankets that Maggie had brought them, Daryl didn't know what to do. She had placed the baby gently in Michonne's arms.

Daryl had a daughter. A little, and right now very angry looking, daughter. The baby calmed down after a few minutes, and Daryl forgot everything that was going on around him.

"Daryl…" Hershel said. "We've still got a few things to take care of here. Why don't you take your daughter and show everyone else how pretty she is?"

Daryl carefully accepted the baby. She was so tiny, and apparently already trying to sleep. The minute she was in his arms he was terrified. When going out to show everyone he walked very slowly, being sure to take it easy and to make sure that he was holding her just like Carol said.

"It's my daughter." He said coming out into the living room where most everyone had gathered to talk nervously while they waited. "We got a daughter."

Everyone had admired the baby, but Daryl hadn't offered to let anyone hold it, and no one had asked. It was obvious from the look on Daryl's face that he wasn't ready to let anyone hold it. This was his time with the baby and admiring it was fine, as was touching a tiny hand or a cheek, but he wasn't letting go of her.

"What are you going to name it?" Rachel had finally asked.

"I don't know." Daryl said. "Michonne said I could name her what I want, but I don't know what to name her."

People tossed out a few names. Daryl looked at her. She was so amazing, so beautiful, and she didn't look like any of those names.

"What about Hope?" Beth offered.

Daryl looked at Beth and smiled.

"Yeah…Hope." He said. He looked at the baby again, who he was pretty sure was soundly asleep. Hope. Daryl had a daughter, and her name was Hope. He thought that Michonne would like that name.