Serendipitous

19.

When Otis walks away I am left feeling better about meeting him but still anxious to tell Shane that I'm pregnant. How is he going to take this? Maybe I should tell him in a couple of days... But the longer I wait the more time goes by which means the baby is going to keep growing. I turn around to see Shane looking down at me lovingly, how much longer am I going to be able to keep this from him?

"Hey." I breathe out. My lips force a quick smile as he pulls me in for a hug. I really don't think he cares who sees us.

"I've been worried about you." He murmurs against my hair before I look back up at him. "Do you want to talk about what's been bothering you now that I'm back?"

I can actually feel my heart thudding against my chest right now.

"No..." Maybe I said that too quietly. Shane cups my face in his hands while peering into my eyes.

"When you're ready, we can talk. How are you feeling? Still sick?"

"I'm feeling a little better. My mom gave me some medicine so..." I tell him and he nods.

"Molly!" I turn my head to see my mom calling me, I turn my head back to Shane and smile apologetically at him before going toward my mom. When I walk over to her she is at her tent with another pill in her hand and a bottle of water.

"Here, take this one, too" She hands me the pill which I take before she smiles softly at me. "Feeling any better?"

"A little."

"Well those will help. I'll be in the Greene house if you need me, Carol and I are cooking dinner tonight for everyone" Lori primes. I nod.

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go find dad..."

"He's over at the RV." She points out.

I turn to go over to the rv with Shane and my dad. I walk over to Shane and my eyes can't help but travel to his torso, his shirt is unbuttoned completely exposing his toned body. How in the world am I supposed to go about my day when he looks like that? It's not fair, how can he look so flawless.

"Take another pill?" He probes quizzically.

"Yes, but I think they're working. I haven't had much of a headache lately" I tell him. Shane places a kiss on my forehead.

"Walker. Walker!" I suddenly hear Andrea scream from on top of the RV. Her words make me feel uneasy and afraid; even if it is just one of those monsters.

"Just the one?" My dad questions her worriedly as he comes over to the rv. Shane wraps a arm around my waist tightly.

"I bet I can nail it from here..." She mumbles before aiming her gun.

"No no, Andrea. Put the gun down" My dad warns, she doesn't listen. Of course.

"You'd best let us handle this." Shane replies sternly. He grabs a large pick axe while keeping his arm around me.

"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers." Rick speaks up.

"What for, man? We got it covered." He remarks.

"Well, maybe we should listen to H—" I begin but I am interrupted by the clicking of the rifle, Shane groans in annoyance.

"Andrea, don't." Dale begs her frantically.

"Back off, Dale." Andrea mutters. Oh you've got to be kidding me.

Shane runs out with my dad and T-Dog to the walker as I stand back hoping Andrea will actually listen to one of them. If we get kicked off of Hershel's land I will personally give her a tongue lashing. The loud gunshot fills my ears causing me to jump slightly from the sound.

"No!" My dad screams.
I can hear him from the field, but that can only mean one thing... Realization hits me, Daryl hasn't come back yet from the search. Oh my God.

"What have you done?!" I shout at her before running for the field. She actually shot Daryl! How could I have expected her to listen though? She just had to have it her way.

"No, Molly! Stay there!" Rick shouts, I instantly stop.

"Rick!" I turn to hear my mom screaming as they all run out of the house in fear.

"What on earth's going on out here?" Hershel shouts, oh no.

I watch in worry as the three of them he'll Daryl up and begin walking him back to the house. Andrea, Dale, and myself run for the field as my heart thuds quickly in my chest.

"Oh my God. Oh my God, is he dead?" Andrea cries out and for a moment I feel bad for snapping at her.

"Unconscious. You just grazed him." My dad informs her as we all begin walking toward the house.

"But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears!" Glenn exclaims as I walk hurriedly beside him. Daryl really is indeed wearing ears...

"Let's keep that to ourselves." My dad enlightens. He quickly takes the necklace before stuffing it in the pocket of his shirt.

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" We all turn around to see T-Dog holding a doll, it is in fact Sophia's doll. My eyes travel to Shane who doesn't look happy or hopeful, he looks saddened and I know he doesn't believe Sophia is alive anymore or maybe he never did. A little bit of hope dies in me too.

I've been right beside Shane since he came out of the room with Daryl and my dad. He told me the bullet grazed his head but that Daryl will be making a good recovery, I should probably go find Andrea and apologize to her at some point. But I also really need to find a way to tell Shane I am pregnant, but now I think I'm having second thoughts on this. If he's given up so quickly to find Sophia then— What if it was our child? Would he give up to finding him or her?

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" I ask him quietly.

"What about?"

"My dad said you think we should call of the search... What if that was me out there missing?" I tell him and Shane hesitates for a moment.

"He's just got to start making the tough calls. You know I'm right" He tells me, maybe he is right but a little girl is missing. If it were me out there I would hope they wouldn't give up.

"Maybe so but if that was I had a child and they went missing I would never give up. Imagine how Carol feels, her only child is missing... If I did have a child and it went missing? I would never give up looking." Maybe I sound annoyed but I wish he would sympathize with me on this. I'm pregnant and I just keep thinking about if that was our baby out there, would Shane act this way?

"The only thing I care about now in this world is you. So I apologize if I appear to be insensitive to the needs of others, but you see I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe." He tells me sternly but his eyes aren't hard.

"Even abandoning a lost child?"

"Yeah"

My lips slightly part at his words.

I avert my gaze from his and look down at the ground before I feel him bring his hand under my chin making me look up at him. How am I supposed to feel with those words? Part of me feels so in love and thankful that he loves me so much but my mind keeps going back to if that was our baby missing. Tonight I was supposed to tell him that I'm pregnant but now I don't think that's a good idea. But how much longer can I hide this, it's not like I can go buy large t-shirts and wear them around to hide my stomach when it starts to grow. How am I going to tell him... And how is he going to take this?