Confide in You | DARYL DIXON •3 (NO MORE UPDATES)

7. Ours

(so sorry for the late update! my school semester is finally over, needed a few days to relax and recoup. I'm off for an entire month, hopefully I can write and update a few chapters during this time! enjoy this short, sweet chapter and take care of yourselves🤍)

It was rough for the next few weeks. Alex's stomach got bigger. As she started pushing almost six months pregnant and as much as she enjoyed feeling the kicks of her baby inside her, she wanted it nothing more than to hold what was inside her in her arms. Soon she'd be giving birth and that was such a scary thought not just because it would be her first time but simply because she was scared. As her nerves and anxiety grew like her stomach, the more she became frightened.

It had taken a few days, even weeks for Daryl to get comfortable with the completely slow transition with being in Alexandria again. But he was trying and Alex was trying, and they both saw that as they sought after a life that they were beginning to realize they deserve to live. 

What really made them both realize this was happening, this was their life now, was the day Alex sat alone behind their home outside in the snow. 

Although it was coldest it's been in years and there was a foot or two of snow, the sun wasn't hiding. It was beaming out on the world, but it wasn't enough to warm anyone up, not even for a second. Alex sat on the very last of the wooden steps that led down to the backyard. Everything was completely covered in snow, and Alex's booted feet settled in the white icy block. 

She didn't hear the door open from behind her, her mind too focused on her stomach and the fact that she was due in just three months or less. She wasn't sure if being a godmother and babysitting kids was enough experience for when she becomes a mom. But then again, was experience what she needed? 

"You know, you should really come inside." Daryl stood on the step behind her, as she sat on the last one looking out at their covered tiny backyard. "I've got a fire on for us. You coming?" 

She didn't answer, but she grinned to herself that he was here. Most days, it felt like it was getting better, while other days it felt like a dream. She notices his thigh comes in contact with hers as he sits down next to her, his arm wrapping around her shoulder. 

"I thought there's a fire on for us?" She asks as she nudges his hand on her shoulder lovingly, before placing a light kiss on the back of his hand. 

He stares at her intently with gentle blue eyes and smirks at her gesture. Alex's face is pale except for her rosy cheeks and nose from the cold. She swears her nose was starting to run, but she'd handle that once she gets inside. 

"What?" 

"Nothin'," He answers. "You just look...really pretty." 

She chuckles, "Even like this? Cold, pregnant and possibly a little sick?" 

"Even like this." He nods, his smile disappearing. "But seriously I need to get you inside, alright?  I don't want you getting sick." 

He stands up and takes a step backwards, reaching his arm out for her to take his hand. She turns her head slightly to stare up at him. He tilts his head backwards, silently telling her to come with him. Taking his hand for help to stand up, they slowly walk up the stairs together and walk inside their home. 

Since the day she came back from Hilltop after speaking with Maggie for more supplies in Alexandria for the gate, Daryl hasn't left her side. He was slowly becoming more protective of not only the baby, but of Alex too. And although he knew she could hold her own, it was the thought of becoming a father of a life he created with her. Even though the baby wouldn't be here for months, he wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly for them. 

As they walked inside, Daryl shut and locked the back door as Alex began to take her coat and scarf off, letting it hang on the backside of a chair. Daryl leans down on the ground, carefully helping her out of her boots as she leans on the wall behind her. Once he's finished, Alex lets out a soft gasp as she feels a movement in her stomach. Daryl's head snaps up as his eyebrows furrow in and held onto her leg tighter, getting ready to catch her before and if she fell. 

"Lex?" 

She looks down, but not at him, and brings her hand to the side of her stomach, feeling little pushes and thumps against her. Blinking a few times, she wasn't sure why she had begin to tear up. Perhaps it was because she wasn't here alone experiencing this, or because it was him that was here with her. Not Rosita, not Michonne... but Daryl. This is what it needed to be like, this is what she wanted. 

"I...give me your hand."

Daryl slowly gives it to her, watching her every move as she grabs his wrist and places it right at her stomach. 

"It's the baby." Alex pulls him up from the ground, his body leaning into hers as his hand stays on her stomach, feeling the soft kicking against it. "Ours..."

He was speechless, and it was hitting them both at the same time. Just inside her, there was something they made together. Whether it's a boy or a girl, or whoever the baby wanted to be, it was theirs. Theirs. His eyes stay fixed on her stomach, trying to catch the movement of the baby through her tight sweater. Once he feels another kick, he notices a tiny bump pop out from her stomach and his breath hitches in his throat. He stares into her eyes as she watches his reaction, how his face falters between wanting to cry and wanting to smile as big as he can. 

Her hand stays wrapped around his wrist, the hand that stays on her. Her other finally raises to the side of his face, softly letting her thumb glide over his stubble cheek. He leans into her hand as his other arm wraps around her back that was leaning against the wall. They stare at each other with admiration in silence as the fire crackles and illuminates her face from behind where they're standing.  

"Ours." He nods his head, his voice low and just below a whisper. 

Things haven't been easy, not for a while and maybe not ever. But things are meant to change, except for the love they have for each other. Alex didn't want Daryl in Alexandria and by her side if he was only in it for the baby. She wants him there for her, for them, for their future and to find peace with the way things are now. And with time, he was slowly beginning to get back to her and to everything they shared and were about to share. 

-- PLEASE READ BELOW--

also, let me remind you, Alex is still pretty upset with Daryl, I just needed to write them being sweet and okay with each other bc times are rough, dark right now and we all need some light.  

again, sorry for such a short chapter. The next three chapters I plan on being longer and concluding PART ONE of this story. The second part will be during season 9, I'm just trying to figure out some things.

see ya soon xo