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Breaking Free

Chapter 66


“You are my drug
My miracle
You are my cure
In this infected world
And I can’t do this without you
I’m dying here without you.”

In This Moment “Bones”


Although the snow was piled up in layers upon layers of fluffy white drifts, the outdoor work crew had thankfully cleared most of the walkways with hours of shoveling over the majority of the day, so the walk from the stables was long, but a fairly easy trek for the most part. While Blake had offered to take the kids for her, no doubt planning on using the classroom field trip as a way to spend an extra moment during the day with his boyfriend, Mia had declined in hopes that the walk and visiting the baby goat would provide a much needed distraction from Daryl's sudden reappearance. Unfortunately, while the walk had given her a chance to stretch her legs and get fresh air, watching the baby goat wobble around had not kept her attention the way she had hoped.

Blake had ended up meandering down to the stables on his own anyway and when he had offered to walk the children back for her, Mia had eagerly accepted in hopes of escaping to her bedroom and hunkering down beneath a mountain of blankets for her afternoon nap; something she had never needed before, but five months pregnant with what seemed to be an energy draining baby meant there was rarely a day that went by without at least a small nap. She figured the afternoon animal adventure had cut into at least half of her usual slumber time, but if she was lucky and could fall asleep quickly, she could get just shy of two hours before dinner. Dinner, another thing she eagerly anticipated each day, along with every other meal. At the rate she was going with her food intake, Mia figured she would closely resemble a beluga whale by the time she gave birth. At her current state, her stomach was measuring larger than she should be at five months, but not by much, more like closer to the far end of six months, which is what really stuck in her craw about Daryl clearly not putting two and two together about her pregnancy. Hell, the man had only been gone three months and had to know without a doubt that she had not been with anyone else during the months before he left, so she had no idea why he was being obtuse about her current state of roundness. All Mia could chalk his behavior up to was either being stupid by thinking she had been with someone else, or that he just did not care that she was carrying his baby, and honestly, either option just pissed her off even more.

Pushing the aggravating thoughts momentarily to the side, Mia stomped her boots on the mat outside the front entrance and did her best to get the majority of the snow off before doing the awkward dance that came with trying to toe off the rubber shoes without bending over to take them off by hand. With both hands on the railing, she used the toe of one boot to nudge the heel of the other one off, but only succeeding in moving the boot a fraction of an inch before it refused to move any further. Cursing, she straightened, instantly putting pressure on her lower back, and stared up at the sky in frustration. With all the snow and muck that was brought along with it, the lodge dwellers took off their dirty shoes as often as possible to keep down the mess that would otherwise be tracked through the hotel, but damned if it looked like stomping them off as much as possible was going to be her only option until after the baby was born.

“Here, let me help,” a twangy southern voice said from behind her. Mia glanced over her shoulder and found Rick coming up the stairs, a guardian angel she had not wished for, but would not turn down. Freshly scrubbed and decked out in clean clothes, only the excessive growth of hair on his face gave away any indication of being on the road for the past three months. “Looks like you're having a bit of trouble.”

“Belly doesn't let me lean over too easy anymore,” Mia explained as she patted the round protrusion that looked bulkier than usual thanks to the thick, cherry red winter coat zipped up over it. When Rick squatted down and held out his hands, she graciously added, “Thank you. I didn't think of needing to take them off when I sent Blake ahead with the kids.”

“Not a problem,” Rick replied with a charming smile, one that lit up the glacial blue of his eyes. Standing one rubber boot up against the railing, he motioned for the other and said, “Had to do this for my wife back when she was pregnant with Carl. I think it rained for a solid six months before he was born and Lori couldn't lean over to take off her rain boots most days.”

“Lucky woman,” Mia murmured, instantly jealous of a woman she had never met, simply because her husband had doted on her when she was pregnant with their baby. When the second boot was off and placed beside its match, Mia stood in her sock feet on the cold, yet surprisingly dry front landing and said, “Again, thank you for that. If you hadn't come along I'd likely have had to take my nap with my boots on.”

Ever the gentleman, Rick waved off the gratitude with a shrug and said, “We're all family here. I've helped Maggie out more times than I can remember.” Moving past Mia towards the front entrance, he pushed open the massive wood door and held it open so that she could walk through first and followed behind her into the warmth of the lobby. After closing the door, he scrubbed a hand over his gnarly beard and asked, “If you don't mind me asking, how far along are you?”

“Right around five months. Give or take a week, I guess,” Mia replied with a chuckle when Rick's line of sight dropped back to her belly with a confused expression. If her mental calculations were correct, she was actually about two weeks shy of the five month mark, but without having a calendar handy since the first night she and Daryl had hooked up, she could not be certain. “I know, I know. I look farther along than I actually am. I'd lost a lot of weight when I first got here, then with all the sickness I lost some more, and now it seems that everything I eat goes straight to my belly. So, I look massive.”

“I figured you were closer to giving birth,” Rick replied honestly, with only a touch of chagrin showing in the blush of his cheeks, or well, what part of his cheeks that were not covered in hair. “Sorry, it's just that you look a lot like Lori did when she was about to give birth to Judith, all arms and legs and belly.”

“No need to apologize, it's an accurate description,” Mia agreed with a smile as she patted her hands against her belly. “My luck, I've got a litter in here. Twins run rampant in my family, but with the way things go in my life I've probably got four babies baking away in my belly.”

“Well, no matter how many there are, I hope you know that you've got help around here. You're family,” Rick reminded her. He paused and rubbed his palm over his beard once more, a nervous habit that Mia doubted he even knew he did when he was mulling over a situation. Curiosity shone in his eyes, but ingrained manners were doing their best at trying to get him to not ask the question that was obviously on his mind, although his curious nature won out in the end. “Have you told him yet?”

Mia shook her head in response, not surprised in the least that Rick was aware of the relationship between herself and Daryl, although she did wonder how much he actually knew. Instead of asking, she rubbed a hand over her belly, her own nervous habit that was oddly comforting, and said, “I didn't get a chance. He disappeared before I could muster up the nerve, which is kind of silly since he has to know it's his. I mean, it's not rocket science.” Mia took a shaky breath and willed back the tears that were welling in her eyes, partly due to the hormonal overload her body was suffering from with the pregnancy, but also because the thought that Daryl would even entertain the idea of the baby in her belly belonging to anyone but him upset her thoroughly. Glancing up at Rick with the persistent tears clinging to her lower lashes, she asked in a soft voice, “It's not going to make him leave again, is it?”

“Finding out he's going to be a father?” Rick asked. When Mia shook her head in response, he answered honestly and damned if Mia did not want him to lie to her just to make the nerves in her stomach ease up a bit. “I want to say that he'll stay. There was once a time I thought I knew Daryl well enough to know what he'd do, but lately? He changed a few years back and I'm not sure I know him well enough to answer that question for you. I do know he's a good man and I'd like to say he'll do what's right, but I can't. But, you have us, I know it's not the same, but you're not alone here.” Rick paused at the sound of Mia's sniffles and waited for her to get her emotions at least halfway under control, before saying, “I should let you go get that nap now, otherwise you won't have time before dinner.”

“Thank you, Rick, for everything,” Mia replied, hoping he understood that she was thanking him for more than helping her out of her boots. Turning to go, she added, “It's good to have you back safe. I'll see you at dinner.”

Waddling towards the stairs, Mia veered off and headed towards the storage rooms for another blanket, as per her promise to Blake, before making the trip up the stairs towards the third floor; a trek that was growing more and more exhausting with each passing week of pregnancy. Once she made it to her bedroom, Mia pulled off her clothes and left them on the floor where they fell in her wake, and located the sweats and flannel button up shirt she slept in since it was so cold out. After adding a pair of thick socks to the ensemble, she crawled into bed and situated the army of blankets on top of her and snuggled beneath the mound of warmth; falling asleep almost instantly.

Out cold, Mia woke with a startled snort when the sharp sound of knuckles cracking against the door rousted her from what turned out to be a fantastic nap. Momentarily confused, her sleep addled brain not quite ready to leave the dream world where the reality of her daily life never existed, where the dead stayed dead and love never left her side, Mia struggled against the comfy pile of blankets as she clumsily tried to untangle herself from their grasp. Damned if she had wanted to tell Blake that he was right, but she had to admit that the extra blankets had been necessary, as her room was turning out to be quite chilly fairly early in the evening. On a whim, she had ended up grabbing two blankets, not really thinking she would need them, but had ended up adding them both to the mountain of blankets at some point during her nap. However, the abundance of blankets and clothing had kept her warm and toasty during the much needed nap, but were working against her and the belly she had yet to grow accustomed to, making getting out of the bed harder than usual.

Calling out for the person on the other side of the door to hold their horses when they knocked again, Mia finally managed to get out of bed and shuffled towards the door. Fully expecting it to be one of her friends fetching her for dinner, which her stomach was eager for judging by the rumble as she walked across the room, she pulled open the door and felt her jaw fall open in shock upon discovering who had woken her up.

While her mouth refused to cooperate due to the surprise visitor, her brain quickly made sure to remind her that her afternoon nap had no doubt left her hair resembling a rats nest, her breath smelling like a bucket of rotten milk and, she could only assume, that there was crusty gunk in the corner of her eyes and a trail of dried drool somewhere on her cheek. She started to raise her hand to her hair in a lame attempt to tame the mess, but barely got it raised from her side when Daryl's stepped forward and gently placed his hands on either side of her face, before not so gently kissing her. Surprised, to say the least, Mia choked out a muffled squeak against his lips, before her knees melted into the embrace; a traitor to the feelings that were still hurt from his abrupt departure so many months before.

Weak kneed in his arms, warmth spread through Mia's body at his touch, at the feel of Daryl's body pressed against hers, and as much as she wanted to fight against the emotion coursing through her veins at the moment, she hated to admit even to herself that this was what she had been hoping for since the last time she had seen him. Raising her arms with the intent to wrap them around him and never let him go again, she barely had a chance to move them from her sides before he pulled back from the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. Daryl's breath was warm against her lips when he spoke, mumbling an apology that struck her straight in the heart with the feels.

Tears sprang to life in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, a bittersweet mix of happiness and sadness, when Daryl continued on in expressing his sincere apology. His lips pressed to hers and murmured the words once more, before his trailed his kisses down to her chin, the curve of her neck and the hollow of her throat, murmuring his apology after each feather light kiss to her skin. Mia clung to him, as though if she let go he would disappear once more, as he sank to his knees in front of her and pressed a kiss just above her belly button and whispered the words yet again, before turning his head to rest his cheek against the swell of her belly.

As the final rays of light gave way to the dark of night outside, Mia stood frozen in place as Daryl sobbed openly in her arms; the moisture from his tears soaking the worn fabric of her flannel shirt. Afraid that the slightest movement would break up the moment she had hoped and prayed for since the day he had left, Mia held onto Daryl and forgave him.

Notes

Thank you bunches for the comments on the last chapter. I've figured out that Wednesday's are going to be the easiest to post, due to internet connected at work, so look for my posts to be on that day from here on out. I will be going to visit family this weekend and while I have every intention of writing my chapter, just in case it doesn't get posted, I thought I'd put an advanced warning. My baby sister and her daughters are coming to visit from Florida and I plan on spending lots of time with them in the few days I will get to visit.

Again, thank you so much and I'd love to hear what you think about what's going on!

Comments

@Serenity
I look forward to it....always was one of my favourite stories on Fan fiction.

Lewis Lewis
6/5/18

@lewis7


Glad to see you under any name! Thanks so much for all the comments! I am hoping that my muse shows back up, so I can write some more. I have had some ideas about writing short, one shot stories with Sam and Daryl from Need You Now. There were several scenes I had sketched out that didn't make it into the actual story, so I would like to write them out and post them if muse cooperates.

Serenity Serenity
4/25/18

Back to signing in as Lewis 7 as mel2a has stopped working!!
Love this story and really going to miss it and your brilliant Daryl story telling.
Will keep an eye out for you for future stories.
Thank you for your stories and writing talent.
xx

lewis7 lewis7
4/22/18

@Arubaredx


I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for commenting and good luck with the move!

Serenity Serenity
4/19/18

In the middle of packing to move so everything is crazy, but managed to finally catch up on your final chapter:) A very joyful ending, and very deserved for them too. Very much enjoyed this journey.

Arubaredx Arubaredx
4/18/18