Adapting (A Daryl Dixon/ The Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 66

Gemma's P.O.V
I stand by the gate with my arms folded over my chest, the sleeves of Daryl's shirt covering my fingers. Aaron walks to the car behind Daryl's new motorcycle and gets in. Daryl walks over and places a hand on my hip, turning me to face him.

"It's going to be okay." He says.

I nod my head unsurely and he lifts my chin up with his fingers, "Hey, I promise I'll be back."

I look into my Georgian blues, feeling him run his thumb over my belly. I sigh and place my hands either side of his face, pulling his lips to mine. The kiss changes from gentle to passionate and I pull away, catching my breath.

"I love you." I whisper.

He nods, "You too."

I kiss him one more time and he gets on his bike, starting it up. One of the Alexandria people open the gate and soon they speed off out of the compound. The gate closes behind them and I stare off at it, a sadness filling my heart. I turn and make my way back to the house where Glenn, Tara, Eugene and Noah are heading out.

"Where you guys off to?" I ask.

"Supply run with Aidan and Nicholas, shouldn't take too long." Noah says.

I sigh, "Seems like everyone is leaving."

He walks over and puts an arm around my shoulders, "He'll be fine Gem, he's the toughest guy I know."

I nod and turn to him, "Well you be safe okay, don't want anything happening to you, all of you." I address the group.

"Don't worry Gemma, I'll keep little Noah safe." Tara says, pinching his cheeks.

The group laughs and Noah rolls his eyes, "Whatever."

They begin to walk away and I turn to walk back to the house. I walk past Pete's street and see a woman building something in the shed. She looks up and smiles brightly at me, "Hello."

"Hello." I say.

"I don't think we've officially met, I'm Jessie." She says, walking out and holding her hand out.

I take it and smile, "I'm Gemma." I say, noticing that there's a large bruise on her upper arm.

She nods in recognition, "Yes, I've heard a lot about you from Rick and Pete, I'm his wife."

"Ah yes, he mentioned you and your boys." I say, seeing another bruise on her other arm.

She nods and smiles, "So how are you feeling?" She asks.

"Pardon?" I ask, bringing myself back to reality.

She shakes her head, gesturing her hand, "The baby, Pete told me. That must be exciting."

I look down at my stomach before looking back at her, "Yeah it is. A little nerve racking I guess."

"Well at least you're in a safe place to have it." She says, looking around.

I look around and bite my lip, "Yeah, I guess so."

She looks back at me, "Have you been checked out?"

I run my fingers through my hair, "Uh, not yet. Haven't really had the time."

"You should, Pete's in the clinic right now if you're free." She states.

I nod my head, "Yeah I might go do that. It was nice to meet you."

"You too." She smiles, returning to her garage.

I turn and make my way to the clinic, saying hello to various different people as I go. Soon enough I reach the clinic and open the door, slipping inside.

"Pete?" I call out.

I don't hear a response and I cross my arms over my chest and walk through the house.

"Pete?" I call out again.

I go to walk around a corner and I bump into something, the wind knocked out of me.

"Oh." I breathe.

"Gemma, I'm so sorry!" Pete says, his hands gripping my elbows.

I shake my head out of my daze, "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"That's okay Gemma, what can I do for you?" He asks, crossing his hands over his chest.

I look at his hands and see some deep scratch marks on his hand, "Wow, are you okay?" I ask, gesturing to his hand.

He looks down and chuckles, "Oh this? I scratched my hand while gardening the other day."

I look at him a moment before deciding to let it go, "Um, I ran into your wife Jessie and she suggested that I come to you for a check up for the baby."

He nods his head, "Yes, of course. I'd be happy to, follow me."

He leads me down the hallway into a bedroom that has been converted into an examination room.

"If you want to lay down, I'll just go get everything." He says.

I nod and walk over to the bed, sinking into the softness of the mattress. I look around the room and again am in awe of how well stocked this place is. I hear the sound of cart down the hallway and soon Pete wheels in an ultrasound machine.

"I can't get over the fact that you guys have this much equiptment." I say, shaking my head in awe.

He lets out a sigh, "Yeah, it was here before we came here. Apparently a few people raided the hospital early on and grabbed this stuff. I was pretty amazed myself when I came here."

He wheels the cart beside the bed and plugs it into the wall and turns it on.

"It'll take a second to get ready, but if you want to pull up your shirt and I'll put the gel on you." He says, pulling chair over to the bed.

I pull Daryl's shirt up to uncover my belly and lay back on the soft pillows. Pete grabs the bottle of gel and squeezes it onto my stomach, it being cold. I jump in surprise and he chuckles, "Sorry, should have told toy it was cold."

He reaches over and grabs the imaging stick and blows on it, making it warmer. He turns in his chair and reaches over, the smooth metal pressing against my stomach. He moves it around and I stare at the screen in anticipation. The picture is slightly blurry to begin with and I grow impatient. The screen flickers and soon there is a picture on the screen as well as a steady beat. I lean forward and focus my eyes in on the picture.

Pete reaches up and points to a small circle on the screen, "That right there is your baby."

I feel the tears prick in my eyes as I stare at it, my heart beating wildly in my chest, "Oh my God." I whisper.

Though it is only small, and not really a shape I smile brightly and look at Pete, "Is there any way I can get a picture?" I ask, thinking of Daryl.

"Well, I'm not sure if we can but I'll see what I can do." He says, getting up from his seat.

I pull the machine closer to me and smile at the sight of my baby, joy coursing throughout my body. Pete walks back in with a Polaroid camera. He sits down and turns the machine to face him, aiming the camera at the screen. He snaps a picture and the Polaroid comes out, waiting to be developed. He waves it back and forth and soon a picture begins to develop on the paper. He looks at it and smiles before handing it to me, "Here you go."

I take the picture out of his hand and look at it, seeing a near perfect image of the screen. Tears slide down my cheeks and I look at Pete, "Thank you." I say, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around him. After a moment he hugs me back and then I pull away, wiping my eyes.

"Well, by the looks of things everything's been good. I suggest that with the morning sickness if things are getting to much I can look through the supplies and see if we have any anti-acids." He suggests.

"It's pretty bad but I'll see how things go. Thank you Pete." I smile at him.

"You're welcome."