five things daryl and andrea don't name their kid... [the walking dead. daryl/andrea. k+.]
Title: Five Things Daryl and Andrea Don't Name Their Kid (and One They Do)
Author: gagewhitney
Rating: K+
Pairing: Daryl/Andrea
Disclaimer: Very much not mine.
Summary: It's almost six months after they've started sleeping together that he gets her pregnant.
Note: This is a really weird fic for me, and I kind of just want it off my computer at this point. I also haven't contributed to the D/A fic world in quite a while (eesh!) so… here's it is. It's set at some point in the future. Sorry if it's overly fluffy (and, oddly, that Ralph Macchio factored so heavily into it).
*
It's almost six months after they've started sleeping together that he gets her pregnant. It's even longer than that before Daryl and Andrea decide to start thinking of names.
For a long time, even the concept of her pregnancy isn't something they let themselves linger on very often. With the reality of the world they live in and the specter of Lori's fate hanging over them, they spend a lot of time not talking about it at all, actually.
The idea of making a list of names, then, allowing themselves to think of this as a thing they're actually doing, is unthinkable, bound to jinx it all and screw up the little family they've started carving out for themselves.
Names are attached to dreams. They can't afford to be dreamers in this world.
By the time she's big enough to start slowing them down, though, and the group is forced to find somewhere more permanent to stay, to start preparing for the inevitable, something changes, and one day Daryl refers to the life growing in her womb as "he" instead of just "it" or "the kid."
Andrea smiles and quirks an eyebrow. "He?"
Daryl ducks his head, embarrassed and bewildered at himself. He toes at the ground. "Well. You know."
1.
There's a very obvious list of names they have to confront first.
"I don't know," she says. She wrinkles her nose. "Is it really bad if I don't want to name her after Amy or Sophia? Or… God, any of them?"
He shrugs and says, "No law that says we have to."
"But don't you think they're going to kind of expect it?" she asks. "The group?"
"No. And since when do you care what they think?"
"I don't know. I guess I don't. It's just… I just don't want to call our child's name and be sad every time I do it." She bites down on her bottom lip. "Is that selfish?"
"Nah," he reasons, waving her off. "Anyway, you think any of them would want that? You feeling that way?"
Andrea nods slowly, taking in his words. "Amy would've hated sharing," she finally says, a small grin creeping across her face.
"Gonna be a boy, anyway," he says.
2.
She hates to bring it up, knows there's a reason he's never shared much of his past, but they're talking about her parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles anyway, and she thinks it's important.
"What about your family?" she asks. "Is there anyone you -"
He cuts her off sharply. "No."
A beat, and then she asks, "What about your mom?"
"My family wasn't like yours," he mumbles. "They weren't good people. None of them. I don't want that near my kid."
She feels her heart break a little for him, and bites the inside of her cheek to keep the tears at bay. "Okay," she says softly. She reaches over and squeezes his hand. "That's okay."
3.
Before he even knows what's happening, she narrows her eyes at him and crosses her arms over her chest.
"You don't know my last name."
"No," he protests, sounding anything but confident. "I do."
Andrea purses her lips and looks at him expectantly. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish.
"Oh my God, seriously?"
He mimics her and crosses his arms. "Whatever. Does it matter?"
"Doesn't it?"
"The kid's going to be a Dixon, right? And you… you know."
"What?"
"If this was before… you and me." He grunts and waves his hand at her. "You know."
"Oh, you're so sure I'd just marry you and take your name, huh?"
"What? You wouldn't?"
"I don't know. Maybe." He stares at her, and she huffs at him, "I'm not property, Daryl!"
He rolls his eyes. "Jesus."
4.
"I'll tell you one thing, though," he says as they're eating lunch one day, "no way my kid's going to walk around with one of those weirdo yuppie names people like so much."
Andrea holds up a hand to stop him. "First of all, no one's used the term 'yuppie' in at least twenty years, gramps."
"Whatever. You know what I mean. Like Todd or Chad or something. Rich people names."
She sighs and resists the urge to rub her temples. "Our child will not have a stupid yuppie name. I promise."
He nods and chews his food. "Good."
"And what's that supposed to mean? 'Rich people names.'"
"You were a lawyer. Always going on about that Benz you had."
Andrea arches an eyebrow. "So that means I am - was - rich."
"What, I'm wrong?" She sighs. "Come on. What'd you think I picked you as my baby mama for?" He leans over and places both palms on her stomach. "This here is my meal ticket."
She laughs loudly and slaps at his arm. "You're an idiot."
5.
Daryl drums his fingers on his knee. "Okay, how about… Daniel?"
Andrea immediately pulls a face.
"What?"
Instead of answering him, she asks, "Where'd you get that from?"
"Just thinking of stuff. Movies."
"What movie?"
Straight-faced, he tells her, "Karate Kid." She snorts a laugh, and he rolls his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," she says. She smiles at him. "I loved that when I was a kid."
"It was the best," he nods. "So? What's with the face?"
She grimaces. "It's just… I kind of used to date a guy named Danny," she says evenly.
He raises an eyebrow. "Kind of?"
She sighs. "We were engaged in college. Or engaged to be engaged, I guess." She shrugs. "I broke it off after we graduated."
Daryl stares at her. A wave of jealousy washes over his face, and he blinks. "All right. Not Daniel, then."
&
1.
After, they all gather in the little bedroom where Andrea had propped herself up on the mattress, her newborn in her arms and Daryl hovering at her side.
"I was right!" Daryl says. The grin on his face is wider than any of them have ever seen it before. "I knew he'd be a boy."
There's a chorus of laughter, and Maggie asks, "So what's his name?"
"John," Daryl says, sounding like a proud father already. "Johnny."
"After anyone special?" asks Rick.
Andrea grins up at Daryl, and says, "The Outsiders, actually."
"How'd that happen?"
"We were having a tough time coming up with a good name," she sighs. "One day we started talking about movies and books that we liked, and as it turns out… we share an affection for S.E. Hinton."
"Huh," Glenn says. He shrugs. "You know, I get that. You guys kind of have a Ponyboy and Cherry Valance thing going on."
"He won't let me call him Darry," she says with a giggle.
Daryl grumbles. "Don't even think about it."
The group laughs again, and Johnny chooses that moment to start to cry.
"Okay," Hershel says. "Let's let them get some rest, hmm?"
When everyone's filed out and they're alone again, Daryl slides further onto the bed and slips his arm around her shoulders. He pokes at the quieting bundle in Andrea's arms.
"He's crying because he doesn't want his old man stuck with some dumbass name like Darry," he says. Andrea rolls her eyes. "Johnny's good, though. You like that, kid? Huh?"
Andrea watches him play with their son, and her eyes turn glassy before a flood of tears make their way down her cheeks.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
She shrugs and wipes at her face. "Hormones, I guess." She kind of laughs and sniffles at the same time. "It's just… nothing gold can stay, right?"
He looks down at her, and he gets it. He nods. "Never could. Gotta try, though."
"Yeah."
He pokes at his son again. "We'll do it for Johnny!"
Andrea snorts a laugh and fists the fabric of his shirt in her hand, pulling him in for a kiss. She smiles against his lips. "You're an idiot."
Author: gagewhitney
Rating: K+
Pairing: Daryl/Andrea
Disclaimer: Very much not mine.
Summary: It's almost six months after they've started sleeping together that he gets her pregnant.
Note: This is a really weird fic for me, and I kind of just want it off my computer at this point. I also haven't contributed to the D/A fic world in quite a while (eesh!) so… here's it is. It's set at some point in the future. Sorry if it's overly fluffy (and, oddly, that Ralph Macchio factored so heavily into it).
*
It's almost six months after they've started sleeping together that he gets her pregnant. It's even longer than that before Daryl and Andrea decide to start thinking of names.
For a long time, even the concept of her pregnancy isn't something they let themselves linger on very often. With the reality of the world they live in and the specter of Lori's fate hanging over them, they spend a lot of time not talking about it at all, actually.
The idea of making a list of names, then, allowing themselves to think of this as a thing they're actually doing, is unthinkable, bound to jinx it all and screw up the little family they've started carving out for themselves.
Names are attached to dreams. They can't afford to be dreamers in this world.
By the time she's big enough to start slowing them down, though, and the group is forced to find somewhere more permanent to stay, to start preparing for the inevitable, something changes, and one day Daryl refers to the life growing in her womb as "he" instead of just "it" or "the kid."
Andrea smiles and quirks an eyebrow. "He?"
Daryl ducks his head, embarrassed and bewildered at himself. He toes at the ground. "Well. You know."
1.
There's a very obvious list of names they have to confront first.
"I don't know," she says. She wrinkles her nose. "Is it really bad if I don't want to name her after Amy or Sophia? Or… God, any of them?"
He shrugs and says, "No law that says we have to."
"But don't you think they're going to kind of expect it?" she asks. "The group?"
"No. And since when do you care what they think?"
"I don't know. I guess I don't. It's just… I just don't want to call our child's name and be sad every time I do it." She bites down on her bottom lip. "Is that selfish?"
"Nah," he reasons, waving her off. "Anyway, you think any of them would want that? You feeling that way?"
Andrea nods slowly, taking in his words. "Amy would've hated sharing," she finally says, a small grin creeping across her face.
"Gonna be a boy, anyway," he says.
2.
She hates to bring it up, knows there's a reason he's never shared much of his past, but they're talking about her parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles anyway, and she thinks it's important.
"What about your family?" she asks. "Is there anyone you -"
He cuts her off sharply. "No."
A beat, and then she asks, "What about your mom?"
"My family wasn't like yours," he mumbles. "They weren't good people. None of them. I don't want that near my kid."
She feels her heart break a little for him, and bites the inside of her cheek to keep the tears at bay. "Okay," she says softly. She reaches over and squeezes his hand. "That's okay."
3.
Before he even knows what's happening, she narrows her eyes at him and crosses her arms over her chest.
"You don't know my last name."
"No," he protests, sounding anything but confident. "I do."
Andrea purses her lips and looks at him expectantly. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish.
"Oh my God, seriously?"
He mimics her and crosses his arms. "Whatever. Does it matter?"
"Doesn't it?"
"The kid's going to be a Dixon, right? And you… you know."
"What?"
"If this was before… you and me." He grunts and waves his hand at her. "You know."
"Oh, you're so sure I'd just marry you and take your name, huh?"
"What? You wouldn't?"
"I don't know. Maybe." He stares at her, and she huffs at him, "I'm not property, Daryl!"
He rolls his eyes. "Jesus."
4.
"I'll tell you one thing, though," he says as they're eating lunch one day, "no way my kid's going to walk around with one of those weirdo yuppie names people like so much."
Andrea holds up a hand to stop him. "First of all, no one's used the term 'yuppie' in at least twenty years, gramps."
"Whatever. You know what I mean. Like Todd or Chad or something. Rich people names."
She sighs and resists the urge to rub her temples. "Our child will not have a stupid yuppie name. I promise."
He nods and chews his food. "Good."
"And what's that supposed to mean? 'Rich people names.'"
"You were a lawyer. Always going on about that Benz you had."
Andrea arches an eyebrow. "So that means I am - was - rich."
"What, I'm wrong?" She sighs. "Come on. What'd you think I picked you as my baby mama for?" He leans over and places both palms on her stomach. "This here is my meal ticket."
She laughs loudly and slaps at his arm. "You're an idiot."
5.
Daryl drums his fingers on his knee. "Okay, how about… Daniel?"
Andrea immediately pulls a face.
"What?"
Instead of answering him, she asks, "Where'd you get that from?"
"Just thinking of stuff. Movies."
"What movie?"
Straight-faced, he tells her, "Karate Kid." She snorts a laugh, and he rolls his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," she says. She smiles at him. "I loved that when I was a kid."
"It was the best," he nods. "So? What's with the face?"
She grimaces. "It's just… I kind of used to date a guy named Danny," she says evenly.
He raises an eyebrow. "Kind of?"
She sighs. "We were engaged in college. Or engaged to be engaged, I guess." She shrugs. "I broke it off after we graduated."
Daryl stares at her. A wave of jealousy washes over his face, and he blinks. "All right. Not Daniel, then."
&
1.
After, they all gather in the little bedroom where Andrea had propped herself up on the mattress, her newborn in her arms and Daryl hovering at her side.
"I was right!" Daryl says. The grin on his face is wider than any of them have ever seen it before. "I knew he'd be a boy."
There's a chorus of laughter, and Maggie asks, "So what's his name?"
"John," Daryl says, sounding like a proud father already. "Johnny."
"After anyone special?" asks Rick.
Andrea grins up at Daryl, and says, "The Outsiders, actually."
"How'd that happen?"
"We were having a tough time coming up with a good name," she sighs. "One day we started talking about movies and books that we liked, and as it turns out… we share an affection for S.E. Hinton."
"Huh," Glenn says. He shrugs. "You know, I get that. You guys kind of have a Ponyboy and Cherry Valance thing going on."
"He won't let me call him Darry," she says with a giggle.
Daryl grumbles. "Don't even think about it."
The group laughs again, and Johnny chooses that moment to start to cry.
"Okay," Hershel says. "Let's let them get some rest, hmm?"
When everyone's filed out and they're alone again, Daryl slides further onto the bed and slips his arm around her shoulders. He pokes at the quieting bundle in Andrea's arms.
"He's crying because he doesn't want his old man stuck with some dumbass name like Darry," he says. Andrea rolls her eyes. "Johnny's good, though. You like that, kid? Huh?"
Andrea watches him play with their son, and her eyes turn glassy before a flood of tears make their way down her cheeks.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
She shrugs and wipes at her face. "Hormones, I guess." She kind of laughs and sniffles at the same time. "It's just… nothing gold can stay, right?"
He looks down at her, and he gets it. He nods. "Never could. Gotta try, though."
"Yeah."
He pokes at his son again. "We'll do it for Johnny!"
Andrea snorts a laugh and fists the fabric of his shirt in her hand, pulling him in for a kiss. She smiles against his lips. "You're an idiot."