Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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Two people were murdered yesterday. Karen and David. Stabbed in the head and burnt alive. They were sick. Tyrese got angry at Rick and punched him because of something he said. Rick beat the shit out of him. Someone's been feeding the walkers at the fences. The virus just keeps spreading. Everything seems to be going downhill all at once.

Myself and all the others who are vulnerable were moved to a different cell block to keep us from getting sick. Our safe haven isn't very safe anymore. Daryl, Michonne and a few others are going one run. They're going to a veterinary college to find medicine. It's really far so it might take a day or two.

"Daryl," I called, approaching the car he stood by. "Thought you were gonna leave without saying goodbye?"

He chuckled. "Nah, you'd just chase me down anyways."

I smiled softly. "I'd kiss you, but I'm not allowed."

Daryl nodded. "Don't have that baby while I'm gone."

I smirked. "No promises, this baby does what it wants."

~*~

As it turns out, this baby did in fact, have plans of its own. Around an hour after Daryl left, I started having contractions, then my water broke. I was currently laying in my bed, my own bed. There was no way I was giving birth in a bed that wasn't mine, despite Rick's protests. Beth had me lift my hips and laid towels down, tapping my leg so I could lay back down. I groaned as another contraction rolled through my body.

"How long did it take with Luke?" She asked as she pulled my pants down.

I was panting. "Uh, 15 hours. The longest 15 hours of my life. I am not having this baby without Daryl. He has to be here. I promised him he would be."

Beth nodded, putting on rubber gloves. "I need to check how dilated you are, open your legs."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked, hesitating.

"Daddy taught Maggie and I all he could about this. What he didn't know, we learned from books. Now, let me check you, and then I'll go tell the others."

I opened my legs, trying not to move. "You're nowhere near ready. I'll be right back. Don't you dare move."

~*~

It's been at least ten hours. Ten hours of waiting. Rick was finished with a run before my contractions even got bad. More people had died from the virus by then. Glenn almost died. I made Beth keep me informed. A while after it got dark and my contractions were ten minutes apart, I heard gunfire. One of the fences had fallen, Carl and Rick had to take out the walkers that got in.

"Hey," I gasped at the sight of Daryl. He crouched beside me, grabbing one of my hands and picking up a damp washcloth, dabbing my sweaty forehead with it.

"Did you get the meds?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, we did. Don't worry about that right now."

I nodded, squeezing his hand. "Oh, here we go again. Sorry if I break your hand." Another contraction, worse than the last, tore through me and I squeezed Daryl's hand as tight as I could, trying not to scream.

When it passed, I had to catch my breath before speaking. "Find any rings while you were out there?

"I did, hang on." Daryl dug into his pocket, pulling out two rings, he slipped one onto my finger and the other onto his. His was plain black with a jewel in it. Mine was black and silver with one big diamond in the middle and smaller diamonds all around it. "I don't ever wear this this shit, but I know you woulda lost it if I only got one."

"Where did you find these?" I gasped.

"Jewelry store near the college, made a quick stop before we went in."

I gripped Daryl's hand again, feeling another contraction coming. I screamed this time, the pain intense. "Beth!" Daryl called.

She came in. "That was only five minutes from the last one, almost ready." I groaned as the contraction ended.

"Dear god, get this thing out of me!"

Beth chuckled. "Better to be safe than sorry, honey. Especially after Lori."

I nodded in understanding, breathing deeply. "Yeah, you're right. I...shouldn't yell. Sorry."

"I'm here, I'm here!" Elizabeth rushed into the cell, followed by Luke. "We just found out. Luke, wait outside." Luke left the cell and Liz crouched beside Daryl.

"Liz, it's been hours since I went into labor. How did you...ugh...just find out."

"Jamie trapped me into a-" I interrupted her mid sentence with another contraction, this time it wasn't ending.

"I think she's ready!" Beth yelled.

Maggie came rushing in, both her and Beth putting on gloves. "Put your legs in the loops, honey." We had tied pillowcases around the frame of the bed above. I did as I was told, letting my head fall back and breathing deeply.

"Okay, Lottie, push!"

~*~

I had almost forgotten what it was like to hold a new baby in my arms. She was so small, a lot smaller than Luke ever was. That might have to do with the fact that she was a few weeks earlier than expected. "What's her name?" Luke asked as I handed her to him carefully.

"Faith Maggie Dixon."

Luke panicked when she started crying, quickly handing her back to me. I chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

I handed her to Daryl so I could tie the wrap one of the people from Woodbury gave me around my waist, making it easier to carry her. I held it open and he set her in it gently. She opened her eyes as I got her settled. "She's got Daryl's eyes." Everyone chuckled.

"You better get some rest honey." Maggie urged me, nudging me back upstairs.

Daryl held my arm as we walked back upstairs. "You shoulda just stayed in bed." I agreed.

As Daryl and I were about to enter our cell, Rick stopped him. "Sorry to interrupt, I need him for a minute."

"Go lay down, I'll be back." He nodded in reassurance.

"Don't be long."

I hobbled into the cell and sat on the bed, smiling when she opened her mouth and smacked her lips, letting me know she was hungry.

I pulled my shirt and bra out of the way and she latched on immediately. I sat quietly as she ate, fixing my shirt when she finished.

I stood up, about to burp her when a sudden explosion rocked the whole prison and Faith started wailing. I calmed her down and rushed outside, gasping when I saw a tank with a man standing on top, surrounded by cars and people with guns. I walked closer, squinting. I felt my heart lurch in my chest when I saw the eyepatch. The Governor.