Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Sixty-Two

Charlie

I ran my hand over my stomach, feeling the tiny, swollen bump that was now just barely noticeable underneath the loose flannel shirt I wore to hide it. I was still having a hard time grasping the fact that there was an actual, real human life slowly growing inside me. A tiny, small life…probably the size of a jelly bean. It was almost funny how something so small could mean something so huge. So life changing.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly through pursed lips. It would only be another couple of months before it'd be impossible to hide. Sooner or later, the tiny bump underneath my shirt would swell to the size of a beach ball. I could remember Lori, waddling around the prison with one hand on her lower back and the other constantly rubbing her stomach in a loving, almost protective manner. I was always curious about the bond a mother had with an unborn child. I was quickly learning, though. Maybe it was just the size of a jelly bean, but it was my jelly bean. Mine and Daryl’s. 

I tied my hair back into a low pony tail as I sat on the end of the mattress. The bed had already been empty when I’d woken up, but it had still felt warm from when Daryl had been lying next to me. He was an early riser, like always. I found myself gradually sleeping in later and later, like my body knew my days of sleeping well were numbered.

“Hey, you eat breakfast yet?”

I jumped up, tugging down the hem of my shirt, even though I knew Gabe wouldn’t even come close to being able to guess what I was trying so desperately to hide. “Jesus, Gabe! You scared the shit out of me!” I huffed. I grabbed my hunting blade off the desk pushed up against the wall and slid it into the sheath on my hip. I brushed past him out into the corridor and out of the dimly lit cell.

“Good morning to you too…” He grumbled. “Who pissed in your cheerios?”

I let out a sigh and slowed to let him catch up with me. My gaze softened as I looked over at him. “Sorry…I didn’t mean to snap. Guess I haven’t been sleeping that well or something.” I lied. I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t just say that it was the hormones behind my constant fluctuation in mood, that I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea that in just a few months, I was going to be a mother. As if that wasn’t enough, there was still the fact that we were all living in the midst of the zombie apocalypse.

My little brother gave me a small smile. “Is that why I could hear you snoring from all the way down the hall last night?” He teased.

  

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him playfully. “Shut up. That was probably Daryl.”

“Charlie, my bedroom was right next to yours for like ten years. I know what your snoring sounds like.” I watched as his smile slowly grew into a wide grin.

I snorted. “Well, I don’t snore. So you must just have a horrible memory.” I shot back, but couldn’t fight the smile that was beginning to tug at the corners of my own lips.

Gabe raised his dark eyebrows, but kept his mouth shut as I pushed open the cellblock door and we stepped out into the brightness of the yellow morning sun. I shielded my eyes as I looked out over the prison yard. I could see Carl and Rick working in the garden, while Tyreese, Karen, and a few others stood out by the fences, taking out the walkers that had pressed themselves up against the chain link metal. It had been almost three months since we brought the people of Woodbury to the prison and it still felt like I might never get used to seeing so much activity in one place. So much life and…normalcy.  It was about as close to a normal life as any of us had had since the beginning of the end of the world, which now felt like a lifetime ago.