Ruins

44

I snuggled further into Daryl on the couch as we waited for Noah to come back home. It was almost sunset and I was warming up a stew.

"Noah's getting so big." I twisted my head to look at Daryl from his chest.

"Hm." He let out a short laugh. "I know. He was askin' about Lydia the other day... If she was his sister..." He shook his head. "I didn't know what to say."

I smiled, feeling like I couldn't hold onto my secret any longer.

"You tell him that she's family." I said. "Because she is."

He nodded, gnawing at his lip.

"You think he wants siblings?" I asked.

"Well, I don't think he's lonely..." He shrugged.

"Well...I wonder how he's gonna react when we tell him he's gonna be a big brother..." I lifted my eyebrows and bit back my smile, seeing Daryl snap his head towards me.

He glanced down at my stomach. "Shut up." He peered down at me through his bangs. I let out my smile. "Are you serious?" He questioned, sitting up, holding me in his lap. "Sam! Are you serious?" He questioned again.

A wave of emotion flooded over me as I nodded, and my lip began to twitch.

"You're pregnant?" He breathed.

"Yeah." I whimpered, letting myself nod. He popped up from the couch, holding me in the air. I shrieked, feeling us spin.

"Oh my God." He gushed, setting me down. He let out a huge breath and fell to his knees, hugging me to him. "I love you so much." He muffled into my hip.

"I love you too." I giggled.

"I thought somethin' was wrong with me." He peered up at me, setting his chin on my stomach. I smiled down at him and held his cheeks.

"You're perfect, Daryl." I assured. "There's nothing wrong with you."

He stood up and pressed a long kiss to my lips.

"How long have you known?" He asked.

"I got sick after my watch shift." I shook my head, still not believing it. "I went and saw Siddiq and he told me to take a test."

"You got sick?" His voiced softened. "Ya' didn't ever get sick with Noah." He said, rubbing my sides.

"Well all pregnancies are different." I shrugged.

"How are we gonna tell Noah?" He smiled, making me grin up at him.

When Michonne brought Noah home, I had finished the stew and poured bowls for everyone and brought them to the living room. Daryl was sat on the floor with his back against the couch and Lydia and Noah we're on opposite sides of the coffee table. I sat Indian style with them and glanced at Daryl, motioning for him to eat.

"Mm, s'good." Daryl nodded, making me chuckle. Anything edible was good to him. He was so easy to please.

"Me and RJ was fightin' in the snow all day." Noah spoke.

"Really?" I asked, silently cheering, knowing he'd sleep good tonight.

"Lydia..." I tilted my head. "Would you be interested in coming to the infirmary with me sometimes?" I asked, arching my back to hear it crack, relieving some of the ache. This caught Daryl's attention.

"Um... I don't know. I'm not really handy with that sort of stuff." She shrugged.

"That's okay." I shook my head. "Do you know what your good at?" I asked, gently. "I'm not trying to push I just..." I closed my eyes for a moment. "I just hate that you're alone all day."

"I'll think about it." She nodded, although I think it was more to appease me than her actually wanting to do it.

Once I noticed our conversation had picked up and we were finished eating I cleared my throat, catching Daryl's eye. Lydia could tell it was intentional and watched us closely

"So..." I smiled. "Noah... And Lydia, me and Dad have something to tell you." I watched Noah, watch me, then turned to Daryl. Daryl looked at me and then to turned to face Noah.

"Mommy..." He spoke. "Has a baby in her belly."

His head snapped to me, and I watched Lydia's smile grow.

"Congratulations." She nodded, shortly, turning her attention back to Noah.

"Do you know what that means?" I asked, leaning forward to grab his hand.

"That I'm gonna be a big brother?" He asked, making me grin.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it means." I nodded, smiling up at Daryl.

"I'm gonna have a brother?" He asked, tilting his head with a smile.

"I don't know... You might have a sister. We won't know until I have the baby." I shrugged.

"I don't wann'another sister!" He grumbled, looking at Lydia. I gasped and scolded him.

"You be nice! You need to be grateful. Having a sibling is a very beautiful thing. They're gonna be your very best friend, someone you can trust when you have no one else." I glanced at Lydia, making sure he didn't hurt her feelings, but surprisingly she had a smirk over her face.

He crossed his arms, obviously upset that I'd reprimanded him.

"Did you know that a very, very long time ago... Before you were born Daddy had a brother. He had a big brother... Just like you're gonna be." I told him. "And his big brother Merle..." I listen to Noah gasp.

"That's my name!"

"S'why we named you that." Daryl chuckled, running his large hand over Noah's hair, then looked back up at me.

"I met your uncle Merle, before I met Daddy." I told him. "And then Daddy found us and... Well I didn't like Daddy too much when we first met, he was a-" I cut myself off and glanced between my two boys. "A poo poo head." I decided, getting Noah to giggle. "But I got to know him and he became a really good friend, then your Uncle Merle... Died. And Mommy was so sad that she couldn't even..." I shook my head.

"She couldn't even take care of herself and she just wanted to be alone. So I left Daddy and all our friends. But somehow they found me again, after a really long time. Then I fell in love with Daddy, and then you came." I chuckled.

I looked over at Lydia, listening to me and sent her a smile.

"What was he like?" Noah asked, peering up at his dad.

I listened to Daryl tell Noah about Merle and how brave and smart he was, and I found myself sad, that he wasn't here. And I wondered what he'd be like now, with Noah and with us.

Noah unfortunately didn't sleep good as I had expected, instead he wanted us to tell him stories, all night. When we finally did fall asleep I was stuck between Daryl and Noah on the couch, so I knew my back would be sore tomorrow.

I woke up to the feeling of Daryl's large hands roaming over my body.

I smirked before I opened my eyes. I could hardly see him because it was so dark but I could feel him leaned in over my and his scruff scratch over my neck.

"Daryl." I smiled, sliding my hand sideways to feel that Noah wasn't there.

"I took 'im to bed." He answered my thoughts. "Now I'm 'gon take you to bed." He breathed, pushing his his hands under me and picking me up. I giggled into his neck, pressing warm, lazy kisses to it. "Mm, lay back Momma." He spoke as he sat me down. I crawled back onto the bed, watching him lock the door.

He joined me and slid his arms around me, tugging me over him.

"I just wanna hold you." He breathed. "I'm so happy baby."

"I'm happy too." I smiled, nuzzling into his chest. "I know how much this means to you... And I'm so happy that I could give you this."

"You're perfect Sammy. And I appreciate every damn thing you done for me and given me. S'why I made you my wife." He turned us to our sides, cupping my face.

"You're too good to me, Mr. Dixon."

"Ain't nothin' you don't deserve Mrs. Dixon."