𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 [ 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 ] ✘

Pregnant [Pt. 1]

I wrung my hands together nervously and paced back and forth inside the house I shared with my mom, Carol. I was only 16. How could something like this be happening to me? I wasn't ready...and neither was Carl. Pressing a hand to my still-flat stomach, I sighed. I was pregnant and I wasn't ready at all.

I stepped over to the window above the sink in our kitchen and gazed outside to where Carl stood, bouncing Judith on his hip. A small smile lit up my face. He was so good with kids. Maybe he wouldn't hate me for this. At least, I hoped he wouldn't. I'd fallen for Carl so long ago when we were just kids at the old Greene farm.

And don't you dare tell me that kids that young can't fall in love because we did. Love can happen at any age and it just so happened to strike when we were quite young. So maybe it really would be okay. Maybe we could be able to raise a child together. Although in some ways - a lot of ways - it still felt like we were kids. I still remember clearly the day we'd met all those years ago.

~ Flashback ~

Cars honked and people yelled in frustration at each other but I blocked it all out as I sat on the tailgate of my parents' vehicle. Some kind of outbreak had just occurred in Atlanta and it was spreading like wildfire. As soon as you were bit by one of the infected, the fever set in. But I wasn't that worried. Outbreaks had happened before. How bad could it really be?

My mom, Carol, pressed a light kiss to the top of my head as she passed by me. I smiled and moved a checker on the checkerboard.

"That's not how you play checkers!" my older sister, Sophia, whined.

"Is too!" I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Is not!" she retorted.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Girls!" our mother yelled exasperatedly, "Quit arguing! Now is not the time!"

We both fell silent then and Sophia jumped down from the tailgate, grumbling to herself. I shrugged my shoulders and kept on playing by my self. But I felt someone watching me so I glanced up and saw a boy about my age. He had short brown hair, freckles splashed across his nose, and ice-blue eyes that even at 9 years old, gave me butterflies. Slowly, he walked over to me and shot me a smile.

"Hi!" he said simply and I smiled back at him.

"Hello," I greeted him shyly.

"Do you have any pudding?"

~ End of Flashback ~

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and pushed open the front door of the tiny house. Stepping outside, the cool winter breeze hit me and I pulled my sweater closer to my body. Carl spotted me and grinned before waving me over. Rick walked over to him then and he passed Judith to him.

"Morning." Rick greeted me as he passed by, Judith also gurgling her version of "Morning".

I nodded to him and gestured for Carl to follow me back to the house. He shot me a quizzical expression but did as I bid him. Once we stepped back into the house, I felt my heart start to beat rapidly in my chest. How could I tell him this?! Pacing across the floor nervously, I wrung my hands together. Carl brushed a strand of brown hair off of his bandage and then looked over at me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly alert to my change of mood.

He walked over to me and put his arms around me, forcing me to meet that startling blue eye of his.

"You can tell me," he said, his voice soft and sweet.

I let out a shuddering breath and gazed into his eye.

"Carl, I...I'm pregnant," I told him, trying to stay calm.

A thousand emotions flitted through his eyes - shock, fear, panic, denial. He dropped his arms, releasing me. Trudging over to the window away from me, he let out a sigh. Tears pricked my eyes. He was mad at me! I stepped up behind him and gently put my hand on his back.

"C-Carl, please. Please, say something! I know you're mad and I'm sorry-"I started, my voice cracking.

He whipped around then, his shaggy brown hair flipping over his shoulder as he did. But he wasn't angry - his eyes were soft and full of warmth. An emotion I hadn't expected to see there. He enveloped my shaking form. Those strong arms held me tightly and I immediately felt a sense of comfort.

"I'm not mad at all," he whispered into my hair before pulling back to look into my eyes.

"This is the happiest day of my life. I...I'm gonna be a father. We're having a baby!" he said, the excitement rising in his voice.

"Really?" I asked him, "You're not mad?"

He grinned and shook his head.

"I could never be mad." he told me honestly and pressed his lips to mine.

I melted into the kiss, those soft velvet lips intoxicating me. We would be alright, I just knew it. Carl broke away from me then and grinned. He kneeled down to where he was eye-level with my stomach and gently lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing my flat abdomen.

"Hi, I'm your daddy," he cooed and I bit my lip.

"And I'm gonna take care of you, okay?" he continued before glancing back up at me, "You and mommy. Everything will be alright from now on."

His warm lips went to my stomach then and I smiled, brushing my fingers through his soft brown hair. It was in that moment that I knew just how much I'd fallen in love with Carl Grimes.