This is it, the final chapter, birth of the Dixon twins! Please note that I have absolutely no experience with the birth of human babies. Never done it myself and have never even been in a delivery room. Everything written here is for dramatic effect and may not be correct in a true medical setting. Enjoy!

The Walking Dead does not belong to me but I love those who it does belong to.

Chapter 13

Carol sat straight up in bed, her hands flying to her abdomen as the cramping pain moved through her. There was a hint of light peaking through the window, indicating it was very early morning. She bit her lip, trying not to make any sound and holding her body as still as possible so as not to wake Daryl next to her.

Didn't matter because he seemed to sense her distress, sitting up next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice.

"I think I'm having a contraction," she answered in a tight voice.

"I'm getting Alex," he said as he started to climb out of bed.

"No." She grabbed his wrist to stop him. "It's only the first one and this could be a while. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"You gotta be kiddin'," he said, his voice sounding tense.

"Then just lay here with me. It's passed now," she said as she laid back down. He laid back down beside her then nudged her a little for her to lay on her side. He wrapped his body around hers. Both of their hands were on her abdomen.

They laid together like that for a while. The sun came up and shone brightly through the window. Every time she had a contraction, which were not too close together yet, he could feel her whole body tense and her breathing quicken. He didn't know what else to do for her so he would hold her hand and kiss her neck reassuringly.

After a couple hours, Carol stirred. "I really have to go to the bathroom," she stated.

For the past week, Carol had basically been restricted to her bed. It had gotten difficult for her to move and she got tired so easily. As much as she hated everyone waiting on her, she had accepted it gracefully. She did still have to get to the bathroom and the problem was that she could not get herself off the bed alone. Someone had to come pull her up. That's the part she hated the most because she felt like a total invalid. Even worse was that the babies were sitting right on her bladder so it made her have to go more often than normal.

Daryl easily pulled her off the bed and then walked behind her to the bathroom out in the hallway. He had his hands on her hips, as if waiting for her to fall, which she had not done yet. It was useless to argue with him over that when she needed to argue with him for permission to go to the bathroom alone.

"Please Daryl, I can do this myself. I promise to yell if anything happens," gently prodding him out the door.

He didn't look happy. "I hear anything I don't like and I'm comin' in. Do NOT lock this door!" he said roughly as he pulled it closed.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad," she muttered.

Once she was finished, she stood at the sink washing her hands. Looking at her reflection, she felt like she looked a little pale and old. How was she going to bring twins into this world? This dangerous, ruthless world? Then she thought of Daryl and everyone else living in the house with them. They were all so dedicated and ready to help. She smiled a little and it made her look younger, made her look like someone who could handle twins.

All of the sudden, something gushed below her. She yelped, thinking something was overflowing before she realized that her water broke. Daryl must have heard her because he came rushing through the door.

"What happened?" he asked, seeing her standing there with a puddle under her, her legs soaked.

"My water broke," she said simply and grabbed a towel, throwing it over the liquid. Not able to bend down, she used her foot to swipe the towel across the floor.

"Stop that! Yur not cleaning up now!" he said as he bodily moved her out to their bedroom. He got her back in the bed.

"This feels weird. I feel like I should be packing up to go the hospital," she pondered.

"Well, there ain't anymore of those," he muttered, wiping the excess fluid off her legs.

"Too bad," she said wistfully, staring off at the window. Then she looked right at him as he was adjusting the blanket over her body. "Hey, I need to know that you're going to be okay if I don't get through this."

He froze then seemed to relax a little. "Yur gonna be just fine. Nothing's gonna happen." He said it as if just that would make it true.

"I know," she answered. After a pause, she said, "But if I'm not, I need you to promise that you're going to be okay."

He stood up suddenly, his face angry and his fists clenching. She knew that he wanted to hit something but he'd gotten so much better at controlling his rage. The words just flooded out of him. "Stop talkin' like that! Yur gonna be fine! You have to be! I won't be okay if you die. I'll go crazy like Rick did with Lori. No, I'll die with you!"

"Hey!" she shouted at him, grabbing his forearm to bring him down to her level. She then wrapped her hands around his red face, making him look directly at her. "You listen to me, Daryl Dixon! You are not going to die with me. When I first met you back at the Atlanta camp, you were the scariest, most bad-ass redneck I'd ever seen. You may have softened up a little but you are still that man. You will survive. You have to survive. Promise me!"

He swallowed, his face looking miserable as he accepted what she was saying. "I promise," his voice cracked. She kissed him on the lips then let him go.

A knock at the door got their attention. Merle stuck his head in, a big smile on his face.

"Today the day?" he asked, excitement evident in his voice.

"Yep," Carol smiled at him and then he face twisted in pain. "In fact, I'm having a contraction right now," she gasped out. "Honey, can you go get Alex."

Daryl nodded and headed out of the room. Merle turned to follow him when he heard Carol behind him. "Merle, wait!"

He walked into the room, watching her features ease as the pain ebbed. She panted a little as she spoke.

"I need you to do something for me. If I don't make it through this, if I die or the babies die, I want you to put us down. I don't want Daryl doing it. I know it is a lot to ask of you but I don't want it on Daryl. Will you?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him.

Merle sat down on the edge of the bed. He picked up one of her hands and placed a soft kiss on it. "Anything for you darlin'. Daryl won't be in a good place if that happens but you know ol' Merle will have you covered."

Carol breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

Merle squeezed her hand and then let go, stepping away as Daryl and Alex came into the room. Carol could see they weren't alone as Maggie and Beth crowded in the doorway, Glenn and Rick evident behind them.

Alex turned back to the door. "I can't have all of you here while we're doing this. Only Daryl, Merle and Maggie can stay. And Carol, of course. Everyone else make yourself scarce and we'll find you if we need you." He motioned Maggie in and then shut the door. Everyone smiled a little when they heard Glenn mutter "Rude" behind the door.

"First off, let's see how far along we are." Alex laid Carol back and checked her cervix dilation. "Yep, 10 centimeters. We're ready. Carol, do you feel like pushing?" Carol, who was in the midst of another contraction, nodded vigorously. Alex turned to Daryl. "You don't really have a good headboard for her to push off of. Would it be cool if you got behind her?"

"Okay, how do you want me?" They sat Carol up and Daryl climbed in behind her so that when she sat back, she was between his legs, positioned against his body. He took both her hands in his as Alex positioned her legs correctly.

"Maggie, bring me those towels and get some clamps and scissors ready from my bag there. Okay, Carol, I want you to start pushing as hard as you can when you feel he next contraction hit," Alex told her. He was kind of nervous with this being his first delivery alone and no support staff but he was keeping it out of his voice. Daryl already looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.

They did not have to wait long and Carol groaned loudly with both the effort of pushing and the pain. Through her panting, she mumbled, "God, I had an epidural last time. I could really use one of those right now."

"I see the head! You're doing great Carol. Keep pushing," Alex encouraged her, helping to ease the baby along.

Carol's cries got louder and more high-pitched as the pain hit her hard.

"Almost there. Just got to get the shoulders out," Alex said. Carol screamed then fell back against Daryl as the rest of the baby slid out of her. A wail filled the room, coming from the new little mouth.

"It's a boy!" Alex declared, wrapping him in a towel and passing him to Maggie who was standing beside him.

"A boy," Daryl said excitedly, turning to Carol. She looked so pale and tired but she still had a little smile on her face.

Alex made quick work of clamping the cord then handed Daryl the scissors. "Cut right here." Daryl looked unsure of himself but cut right between the clamps where Alex pointed.

A huge grin was on Daryl's face as he watched Maggie take the now quiet baby over to the dresser to clean him up. Merle was right beside her, completely fawning over his new nephew.

"Okay, Carol. That was easy, right? Just one more time," Alex said with a smile, trying to make her feel a little better.

"Easy for you maybe," Carol muttered, adjusting herself against Daryl again in anticipation of the next contraction. She looked over at the baby in Maggie's arms and smiled. Then the pain came again. She pushed.

"Here comes the head. Just keep pushing Carol."

Carol was whimpering from the pain and effort. Tears were running down her face.

"Wait! Stop pushing," Alex called out to her, a note of concern in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked anxiously. Merle came over and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Something's wrong. He's not progressing through. He might be caught on something." Alex looked up at Carol. "I'm sorry Carol but I've got to check. This is going to hurt."

"Do whatever you have to," she said through gritted teeth.

Alex eased his fingers around the baby's head, slipping his hand in further to try to determine why he wasn't moving forward. Carol screamed out in pain as the added strain from his hand caused her tissue to tear. Then her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out, slumping backwards against Daryl.

"Carol? Carol?" Daryl called out to her frantically. She was so pale.

"Merle, check her pulse," Alex told him, his attention not wavering from the baby. He could see that Carol was still breathing.

Merle pressed his fingers against her throat. "Strong and steady, Doc."

Alex nodded. He was more concerned about getting this kid out alive. The thought of him turning made him work faster. "The cord is slung over his shoulder, trapping him. I have to get it off." He worked carefully, knowing that if he tore the umbilical cord without clamping it, Carol could lose a lot of blood quickly. Finally he was able to slip it off the shoulder and the baby practically popped out.

Carol was coming around. "Is he okay?" she whispered.

The baby seemed dazed and Alex gave a little smack across the back. The mouth opened and a loud cry came out. "It's actually a girl."

"Damn, you made yourself a set, didn't you little brother!" Merle cooed at his little niece.

Carol was starting to get a little color back in her face. She was smiling brighter at her newborns. "Daryl, go get one and give me one."

Daryl complied, tenderly laying her back on the pillows as he got up from behind her. He took his son from Maggie and brought him over to Carol. "Your second-born," he said as he handed the baby to her. It was sweet how he acknowledged Sophia that way. Then he took his daughter from Alex and cradled her next to Carol. "Your third-born."

"What are you going to name them?" Maggie asked.

Carol spoke. "We decided to name them after Herschel and Andrea. After what they did for us, sacrificing themselves to save us, they deserve to be remembered." Nodding down to the little boy, she said, "This is Hunter. And his sister is Amelia."

Maggie's eyes welled up with tears about their decision to honor her father this way. In a voice choked with emotion, she told them, "I know it won't be easy but we will give these children the best life. We're all in this together."

The End

What did everyone think? This was my very first multi-chapter fan fiction and I want to thank everyone who followed and/or favored this story. I especially want to thank crystal2817, vulgar shudder, laura, TWDlover, dixonrocks, bspooky3, Lisa876, LaurenEmilyxx, LampPostinWinter (is that a Narnia reference?), Jessie 33, Team-Sooric-Delena, Tigerlily xoxo, spygrrl99, FinntheHuman1697, crazstiz, iQueenOfTheZombies and guests for all the wonderful comments. They really kept me going!

I also love reading fan fiction so some really good one I recommend include "Echoes", "Graveyard Dirt and Salt", "Come What May", "A Heavy Cross", "Lady in Red", and "Something Else". There are many others that are awesome too.

I was actually toying around with an idea for another fan fiction. What would happen if Daryl ends up in a fever-induced coma and starts hallucinating about meeting Carol without the zombie apocalypse? The story would jump back and forth between reality at the prison and Daryl's hallucination. Sound any good? Anyone interested?