Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

69

It's been two months. Carl was recovering. So was Luke. He's mad, though. Barely speaks to anyone. Stays in his room all day. We repaired the walls, got rid of all the bodies. Cleaned up the pond. Maggie's pregnant. Daryl and I even have our own house now. I'm happy that we do...but, it's only because so many people died.

I walked out of the bathroom with my lips pressed tight together to hide my smile. I twirled the stick in my hand behind my back. Daryl had his back to me, buttoning up his shirt. "Hey, D..."

"Hmm?" He sat down on the bed, putting his boots on.

I rolled my eyes. "Babe, look at me."

He stood up once his boots were tied, grabbing my waist and kissing me. "Yeah?"

I couldn't hold back the smile anymore as I revealed my hand and gave him the test. His mouth fell open some and he took it from me. "You...are you?" He pointed at my stomach.

I giggled and nodded. "Yes, D, I'm pregnant!"

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me again, pulling me in for a rough kiss. When he pulled away he shook his head and smiled. Something that rarely happened. "Hey," He was suddenly serious. "You ain't going on any more runs."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "I know, you said that last time." I poured my lip. "I was so excited to go out with you and Rick today, though."

Daryl scoffed. "Begging don't work no more." He kissed me one more time and I sighed, following him out of our room.

"Daryl, look." I whispered, pointing to Luke's room. The door was wide open. I peaked inside and smiled. He wasn't in there, and his crutches were gone. "Yes, finally!"

"About damn time. Hey, I gotta go. Rick wanted to leave as soon as possible."

I nodded and pecked his lips. "Love you. Be careful." He went downstairs and left, slamming the door as he did. I rolled my eyes. How many times did I have to tell him not to do that?

I walked downstairs and into the kitchen to make breakfast, freezing when I saw Luke sitting on the front porch.

I walked out there slowly, sitting next to him on the swing. His face was contorted in pain. "Luke, what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "It hurts so bad." A tear slid down his cheek. "Mom, it hurts so bad."

"Luke, what hurts? Is it infected?"

He shook his head. "My...my foot. It hurts so bad and I can't do anything...because it's not there!"

People walking down the street stopped when he yelled. "Ok, ok...let's go see Denise. I don't know what she knows about phantom limb pain, but we'll see what she can do." I helped him into the wheelchair he had used before the crutches and ran him to Denise's.

She opened the door when she saw me helping him up the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"His foot hurts."

Denise sighed. "I thought this would happen." I brought him inside and helped him lay down on a bed.

"Leave, please." Luke groaned through the pain.

"What?"

"Mom, leave!"

I jumped at his raised voice and left, shocked at how angry he was. Although I would be angry too if my leg was cut off. I was leaning against the side of the house, holding a hand to my abdomen as I tried to catch my breath. "Lottie? Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes and saw Maggie. She walked up to me and put her hands on my shoulders. "It's Luke. He's having phantom limb pain. He just yelled at me to get out and..." I felt tears prick my eyes. "He sounded just like Zach. It brought up a lot of...I can't breathe, Mags, I can't breathe." I rushed.

"Oh, hon, come here." She brought me in for a hug and I held onto her for dear life, my whole body shaking.

"I thought-I thought I was done with this shit. I thought I was over him. Oh, god, Maggie. What if he ends up just like him. What if he finds someone and treats her just like Zach treated me?"

Maggie pulled me back, holding my shoulders tightly. "Hey, Lottie, he will not end up like him. He took care of you, you taught him right from wrong."

I nodded. "Yeah...you're probably right."

She smiled. "Besides, I'm sure he knows you'd kill him if he ever treated a woman like that." I laughed and smacked her shoulder. "You know I'm right."

I nodded. "Yeah, I would. So would Daryl."

We both laughed again and she sighed. "You okay now?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and we walked down the street. I gasped suddenly, remembering that I wanted to tell her first. "What is it?" She asked.

I smiled. "Daryl and I have been trying for a while now..." She looked confused. I rolled my eyes. "Maggie, I'm pregnant."

She gasped and smiled. "Oh, my god!"

"Shhhh! We just found out this morning."

She nodded. "My lips are sealed. But aren't you excited? I mean, the Wolves are gone, the walkers are gone, we cleaned up Alexandria. Things are looking up for us."

I nodded, smiling again. "Yeah, I am. Daryl is, too. He'll just never show that in front of anyone but me. Maybe Rick, but that's a long shot. He might tell him today. I hope he does. Last time I had to tell Rick and that was...hard. It was right after...him." I don't think I'll ever be able to say his name.

She nodded. "Let's not talk about that. Instead let's make a list of baby stuff for them to get next time."