Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

33

Rachel

I was parked outside of Jess's house. Waiting for Daryl to come out. He could hear my car approaching so I'd usually wait for him. A part of me hoped he wouldn't come out. I actually dreaded seeing him. Things were going so good for us; we were supposed to be moving in a month..

Not even an hour ago things were okay. Things were normal. Yeah I was worried and anxious but nothing was real. And now everything was gonna change.

Eight days. I was eight days late. My cycle was like clockwork, and yeah sometimes I'd be maybe 3 days late.. but eight? After the first four, I started to feel uneasy, like something wasn't right. My body hadn't really felt any different, but I for sure didn't feel myself. I kept telling myself it was just me overthinking, that stressing was only prolonging it, so I waited. I gave myself a week to wait. And that week ended yesterday.

When the two pink lines showed up on the test, I puked. I cried for maybe ten minutes, then raced over to Daryl's. It felt like I was in shock, I just kept telling myself that I needed to tell Daryl before thinking or doing anything else. I ended up pulling over half way and puked again. I had no clue what Daryl was going to think or how he'd react. What was he gonna think? What will my parents say?

How could I let this happen?

He came jogging out of the house with a smile on his face, but stopped in his tracks when he reached the steps from his porch. His face grew serious when he saw my tear stained face. His steps down were hesitant and he grew tense. I reached over and unlocked the passenger door when he neared the car.

He sat down and closed the door, carefully keeping his eyes on me. His hands started fidgeting instantly, but the rest of him was very still. His mind must've been racing, "What's wrong?" He rasped out, his voice was full of uncertainty and it made me feel nauseous. I looked him dead in the eyes and mine started to water. I was scared. I was so fucking scared. I tore my eyes away from his and stared out the window, not wanting to cry. "Rache.. Rache what's-" I grabbed the white stick from under my leg and handed it to him, not moving my eyes from the window. I felt him take it with hesitation, his fingers were so cautiously gentle. My breath caught in my throat as I waited for him to say anything.

After seconds of silence passed over I couldn't keep it in, tears fell down my face and a cry escaped me. I brought my hands to my face, wanting to hide and be rid of this situation. I heard Daryl take in a deep breath and next thing I knew, he was moving my hands away from my face. I stared down at my lap, not wanting to see him, but he motioned my chin up to look at him.

I must've looked like a child. A scared child. That's exactly what I was, we shouldn't even be in this situation. He scooted closer and wrapped him arms around me, bringing me in. I sobbed and I clung onto his shirt, burying my face into his chest. He let me cry for a good while, his arms never easing up. He held me close until I couldn't cry anymore.

Once my breathing began to calm, he brought his hands to my face and pulled away to be able to look at me. His eyes studied my face and he took another deep breath; his eyes were soft, and while he looked scared, he looked very sure of himself, "We're okay Rachel.... We're okay. We're gonna be fine."

I shook my head, and my eyes started watering again, "What're we gonna do? We, our plans- What're we gonna do Daryl?"

"Our, our plans are fine." Daryl ran his hands through his hair; his mind must've been racing, "We'll move like planned and you, you'll get a start on school and we'll adapt and, and work things out when we gotta."