CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN,
elliot glenn dixon.

Aiden laid on the bed in the medical trailer with Sasha, Maggie, Enid, Jesus, and Doctor Carson in there with her.

Sweat beaded on face, she had her eyes shut. All she could think about was Lori. She felt someone squeeze her hand, she opened her eyes and her eyes locked with Jesus. She gripped his hand back, "you can do this."

"Fuck!" Aiden grit out when another contraction pushed through.

"Don't worry, you're fully dilated, Aiden. You can start to push."

Aiden panicked.

Lori.

All the blood, her screams.

"I can't- I can't." She heaved.

"Hey, hey. Look at me, Aiden." Maggie grabbed her other hand, "you can, okay? You can. Don't think about Lori or what happened to her. Think about you and your kid. All you gotta do is push. Your body knows what to do."

Aiden let out a grunt. Tears rolled down her cheeks, "okay, okay. I got this. I'm a Walsh and a Dixon."

"That's right, Aiden." Jesus encouraged her. "You got it."

Aiden let out a sharp yell when she pushed. She could hear the encouragement of everyone in the room.

Aiden was in labor for a whole of eight hours and twelve minutes.

That's how long it took for Elliot Glenn Dixon to make his grand entrance.

"You did it!" Enid cheered. Aiden relaxed before looking at Harlan who held the bloody baby. He tapped his back before he let out a cry.

Aiden gasped and smiled. "He's okay." Aiden, Sasha, and Maggie all had tears rolling down their faces. The two women had been with Aiden throughout her entire pregnancy. Maggie had been the one to go with Aiden to get her pregnancy test back at the prison.

Aiden didn't expect they would be two of the few people with her when she had the baby but they were. And Aiden would forever be grateful for the five people in the room with her at the moment.

She watched Harlan clean the baby off before wrapping him up and handing him to Aiden. She stared down at the baby.

Everyone watched as a wide smile broke out on her face. The first genuine smiled they'd seen from her in a very long time.

He was beautiful.

"He's beautiful, Aid." Sasha said to her.

"He really is." Jesus said with a grin.

Aiden looked at them, her lips pursed together and tears in her eyes again, "thank you."

»

Aiden laid on the bed facing the small bed her baby boy laid asleep in. "You know, baby, you're not my first kid. Your older sibling, well, let's just say their father wasn't happy about them being created and kicked the shit outta me. But you're gonna meet your daddy eventually. Oh, he's gonna love you." Aiden smiled at the baby, "Elliot, you're a miracle, darling. My miracle. Dare's miracle."

Aiden looked down at the positive pregnancy test in her hands. She was only eighteen, she couldn't have a kid this young. She covered her mouth and felt a small sob ripple through her body.

She regained her composure after several minutes of crying. "I need to tell Shane." Aiden left her bedroom and walked into the living room and saw Rick and Shane sitting on the couch watching a John Wayne movie.

"Uh, guys." The two looked at her simultaneously.

"What?" Shane asked her. She showed them the test and both the men's jaws dropped.

"Shit, Aiden! Are you sure?" Rick asked her. Shane stared at the test.

"You're eighteen. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't, Shane! It was a heat of the moment thing. Dalton and I were both drunk and we didn't use protection. I-I'm sorry." She lied.

"Hey, hey, hey." Rick said to her. "We're all gonna be with you through the pregnancy, kid. Don't worry."

-

Aiden walked into Dalton Simons house with the test in her back pocket. His parents weren't home but she knew he was.

"Hey, babe!" She called into the house. She heard him walk into the living room.

"Hi, baby." He smiled at her.

"I have to tell you something. You might wanna sit down for it, too." Aiden said. Dalton gave her a look and sat on the couch.

"What is it?"

She pulled the pregnancy test out and handed it to him. He stared at the positive sign. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah." She whispered.

"What the hell, Aiden?" He said in a low, dangerous tone. She looked at him in shock. "You realize we're not gonna keep it right?"

"What? I am gonna keep 'em." Aiden said and Dalton stood up. He towered over her. She didn't expect the punch. She hit the ground and she felt a foot connect with her stomach extremely hard.

She looked over at Sasha who slept on the couch in the trailer.

"You see, you have so, so many people who are gonna be happy to meet you. Your Uncle Payton, Uncle Nathaniel, Aunt Carol, Aunt Rosita and Aunt Tara. Eugene, Aaron, maybe even Macy, if I let her psychotic ass near you. Rick and Carl Grimes are gonna fall in love with you, baby. They've loved you from day one."

"And you can't forget the people that are protecting you from up above. Hershel, your Aunt Beth, Aunt Lori, Hershel, Tyreese, Bob, Uncle Noah. Your blood uncle, Shane, he would've adored you. Glenn and Abe. They protected you this whole time, Elliot. And I know they're gonna keep protecting you."

»

Aiden woke up to the sound of her baby crying. Harlan stood a few feet away, "well, good afternoon."

"It's already the afternoon?" Aiden asked him and he nodded.

"Yeah. It sounds like Mr. Elliott's hungry. I'll leave but I'll be back in around fifteen minutes to talk to you." He said and left. Aiden moved and gasped at the pain that shot through her lower body and stomach.

"Oh, shit." She breathed out. She looked at her son, "let's do this, big man." She grabbed the baby and looked at him. She noticed his eyes. She hadn't seen his eyes yesterday but they were a bright Georgiana blue.

Just like his fathers.

»

After feeding Elliot, Harlan came back, this time Maggie, Sasha, and Enid were all with him.

"Hey, guys." Aiden smiled. The four smiled at her.

"How you feeling?" Sasha asked her and sat on the chair beside her bed.

"I want to get out of this God forsaken bed. But uh, it hurts but I'll be fine. I can finally move normally!" She smiled widely at the last part, "I can finally get my hands dirty."

"Not yet," Doctor Carson said. "You need to take it easy a couple days."

Aiden gaped at him. "Come on, man. I need my body back."

"Once you start to feel fine you can work out."

"I feel fine now!" Aiden argued.

"It's only been a day since you had him. You don't want to overexert yourself. Okay, so, he was born seven pounds and three ounces. He has quite the head of hair on him. He's got blue eyes. Overall, Aiden, you have a perfectly healthy baby. Congratulations." Harlan smiled and Aiden grinned.

"Thanks, man." Aiden looked down at the baby they slept on her chest. "I wish Daryl was here."

Maggie and Sasha shared a look, "you know he would've been here."

"I know that. He's gonna be devastated he wasn't here." Aiden mumbled.

"I know that, but, Elliot's alive and healthy and that's all that matters."

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word count: 1,260
episode: not an episode

aw 🥺. i loved editing this chapter. i'm so happy little elliot is here.

ELLIOT IS FUCKING HERE EVEYONE!!!! I REPEAT THE DIXON-WALSH BABY IS HERE!!!!

y'all seen aiden's lil flashback? it breaks my heart that she lied to rick & shane about how her first baby was conceived. remember it being mentioned in an earlier book? her first child was a product of rape ☹️.

i'm so excited to see this baby boy grow into a mini daryl.