The floorboards groaned beneath your feet as you continued to pace aimlessly back and forth across them. Their protests not lost as they echoed within the bedroom walls that surrounded you. Each creak and crack sounded louder than the last, as if they were begging for you to take a seat on the bed.

You had long since taken off your socks--that you had paced holes into-- and the bare padding of your feet against the wooden floors sounded like a light heartbeat of their own. A calmer beat surprsingly, than the one that tremors inside of your constricting chest.

You had picked up a habit from being with Daryl Dixon for so long, and it was clear now as you chewed nervously on your thumbnail. You were close to biting completely through the skin, but you couldn't stop. It was as if you had no control over your actions right now, your mind completly paralyzed.

Fear and anxiety consumed every inch of your body and your conscious was hidden in some crevice where you couldn't find it. Right now, the nerves were taking over.

The heavy closing of the front door downstairs sounds and rattles the house gently. Bringing your heart to a skidding stop and your mind to suddenly clear like the door had triggered a delete button. Boots could be heard walking slowly through the foyer, and closing your eyes, you willed yourself to take a breath.

Daryl. He was home... you couldn't hide any longer. The time had come to tell him the truth.

You felt foolish to be afraid of the man who was your husband--just without the legal papers to prove it-- but you couldn't halt the fear from rising. His reaction to this news would tell you if he would stick around or leave you on your own, and already anticipating his answer, fear was the only emotion to be felt.

"Babe?" His deep voice rings through the first floor of the small Alexandrian home, and floats up the staircase to you. "Where ya at?"

Swallowing the lump growing thickly in the back of your throat, you call out to him. "Up--Upstairs."

Closing your eyes, you curse yourself for letting your nerves seep into your voice. Your stuttering was sure to tip Daryl off that something was going on. That something was troubling you. And he wouldn't rest until he lifted the weight from your shoulders with his bare hands.

Loud thuds of the man's heavy footsteps echo within the house as he tracks up the flight of stairs, and the closer he gets the harder you work to breathe slow and even breaths. And just as you hear his hand turn the doorknob, you take one last deep breath.

Opening the door slowly, with a small creak from the hinges that need oiling, Daryl's head peers inside. Spotting you standing feet away from the bed, he enters the bedroom and closes the door softly behind him.

Instantly, the scent of Daryl Dixon captures the air in the room. And the soft tones of the wind and the woods swirl around you, all mixing with the rich scent of cigarette smoke and sweat that clings to his flesh like tight fabric. But there was something about Daryl's district scent that could bring only you a calming sense of comfort. For the scent that followed him engulfed you before his arms could, and held you close and safely until he reached you.

"What's goin on?" Daryl asks you with a soft gruff breath. His eyebrows knit with a tension you'd seen before, and you question if your anxiety is truly that obvious.

"Hm?" You hum softly, chewing on your thumbnail as your eyes gaze up at him through your dark lashes.

"You're pale like ye saw a ghost or somethin." Daryl informs you and instinctively, your hand presses against your cheek. As if it were possible for you to feel the color your skin was right now.

Daryl takes a few short strides forward, and you can feel his warm breath fan against your skin as he breathes out. The proximity in which the two of you stand threatens to break you.

"What's goin on?" Daryl asks you again, and rubs his hand over the back of his neck. "Tell me."

Swallowing the lump that had grown into a boulder in the back of your throat, you breathe in slowly. You could do this... and you didn't really have a choice.

"I--" The walls feel like they are caving in. Squeezing you and your lungs till the words right there on the tip of your tongue dissipate.

"Ain't hurt are ya?" Daryl asks, and you shake your head.

Daryl rakes a hand through his messy tangles and let's out a low breath. "Ain't leavin are ya?"

His question is so preposterous that you can't even respond, but sadly Daryl takes it as a sign. Without even giving you a chance to stop his swirling thoughts.

"Look," He lets out what seems like a shaky breath before continuing. "I know I been out more lately, and not here as much and that ye keep telling and askin me to--"

"Daryl," Your voice cuts him off as your eyes shut tightly. You couldn't let him think this was about him, because you knew it would kill him if he thought you were leaving him. If he drove you away like he always feared he might. "I'm pregnant."

Bravely, you open your eyes and peer up at him with trepidation. But as your eyes land on the dirt splattered and sweaty redneck before you, you don't see disgust or anger. But relief.

It washes over him like a wave, and you can see the way his shoulders visibly relax. His blue eyes shut for a moment and he releases a breath that almost turns into a nervous laugh. And the edges of his lips twitch as though they want to curl upward into a semblance of a smile. And that takes you by surprise.

But the faint smile is only the first surprise, for his hands reach out to grab hold of your own. The warmth of his palms oozing straight into your shaking nervous fingers.

"I thought you were leavin." Daryl confesses lowly with a hint of embarrassment and he stares downward at your intertwined hands.

"I'm not," You whisper breathlessly. "Are you going to leave me?"

Daryl's eyes snap upward and lock with yours instantly, and his beautiful blues are wide yet looking to you with a deep sense of confusion.

"Why would I be leaving?"

Taking a deep breath, you answer him honestly. "Because I'm pregnant, and we talked about kids before and how now was the worst possible time to raise them in this kind of world and that--"

"Hey," Daryl stops your emotional rambling and refocuses your eyes onto his aged yet still beautiful face. "I ain't goin no where."

This was not how you saw this moment going. When was the part when he yelled at you and cursed at himself? When was the part when he stormed out of the house, leaving you crying alone on the bedroom floor?

"We're gonna raise this baby to be brave and strong. They gonna know hardships but they gonna know what it means to be a family more than ever. They gonna know how to work hard for things, and how not to take tomorrow for granted. They gonna learn about reality and how dangerous it can be, but we're gonna raise them to be dreamers anyway."

Daryl's breathtaking and shocking words cause tears to collect in your eyes, and looking at this man who is more than a little rough around the edges, you see the softest father coming to life.

"I ain't scared," Daryl shakes his head. "We got somethin good here. Even with all the shit goin down. And Rick, he's gonna lead us--"

"Wait," You stop him mid sentance as confusion washes over you. "What does Rick have to do with any of this Daryl?"

His eyebrows bend slightly, "He's gonna lead us and our baby to a better future. I got faith in him. I ain't letting nothin happen to you or this baby and neither is he."

"Daryl," You breathe out softly and you shift slightly to tighten your grip on his hands. "Rick has done plenty for this group, that I can't debate. But honey,  when it comes to this... to us... to our own family... you're the person I look to. Not him."

"You're a leader Daryl, and just because you don't like to flaunt your leadership around, doesn't mean you didn't play an immense part in getting us here."

Daryl's eyes look softly into your own, and for his benefit, you continue telling him all the things he didn't know he needed to hear.

"This baby's future," You begin again softly. "and our future as a family, you're going to lead us there. Not Rick Grimes. But you. Daryl Dixon."

"I have faith in you."

Daryl stares intensely into your eyes as he begins to nervously chew on his bottom lip, but looking just as deeply back at him, you know your words are slowly sinking in.

"Don't wanna mess this up." Daryl murmurs softly, as his blue eyes soften.

Sending your suddenly uneasy husband a warm and gentle smile, you squeeze his calloused hands. "I know. I don't either."

Daryl put so much pressure on himself to be the best he could for you. And he still never believed he was enough. He didn't like letting people down, he fought hard until he couldn't fight anymore. And with you, the fight was always deeper.

"But it's impossible to be perfect," You tell him honestly. "We're going to make mistakes. We're going to make choices that are the wrong ones. We're going to struggle, that's just what life is. But we're going to make those mistakes together Daryl."

Slowly, Daryl takes his hands from your warm embrace. And for a moment, your heart pounds harder as the image of him leaving enters your mind once again. But its soon pushed away as the broad man before you falls slowly to his knees. And places his palms flat against your stomach.

Your baby was safe inside you, although no proof was shown yet in your physical features. Yet it didn't matter to him. He felt your stomach as though your belly was wide and he kissed your flat stomach as though he could feel the kicks of your strong baby.

"You're going to be one hell of a father Daryl Dixon." You whisper softly to your husband who rests his forehead against your body. And as your hands press softly against his shoulders, you feel the faintest of a smile spread against his lips.

As night began to descend and take away the heat of afternoom, the day ended in what turned out to be the complete opposite of what you had envisioned. For you were not alone in your bedroom on the floor crying for the man who had left. Instead, that man was right there beside you on the bedroom floor. And you were crying softly together for the life that you had miraculously created.

A/N: This very sweet one shot was a request from kenkaneku I hope you liked what I wrote and that it met what you were looking for!❤ My hope is that you all enjoyed it!