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Chapter Text

5/6/2034

Wind whistles through the broken glass of the window and into the second story bathroom. Ellie jitters, squirming where she kneels on the bathroom counter. Her knees are white from how long she's been here. They sting a little, but she's set in her plan, and a little bit of discomfort won't deter her now.

Ellie has used knifes thousands of times before, and in more precarious medical situations at that. But for some reason she's still struggling to find the right angle, only managing to make small nicks against her skin which hopefully blend in well enough to not be noticeable against the rest of her cuts and bruises.

Her hands are shaking, fuck.

The flashlight she fixed onto the light above the mirror swings back and forth haphazardly. It threatens to slip out of the rope and knock her square on the head.

Ellie can't help but laugh at the absurd vision of Joel finding her that way. Conked out by a flashlight, curled over in her panties with a knife next to her.

Even though she knows she's lucky to even have a working flashlight to do this with, instead of a candle or the fucking moon or something. Ellie wishes the actual overhead lamp worked. Because everytime she moves, even slightly, the flashlight jostles, and she looses her focus.

Then she has to start over again. It's infuriating.

Goosebumps creep up Ellie's limbs as another breeze tickles up her body. At least she's not outside. There's some insulation in here. Still, she probably should have slipped back into her pants before coming in here.

Ellie itches at the dry cum on her inner thigh while she looks out the window, taking a momentary break from her mission before her damn head explodes.

Joel would definitely be more confused if her explodes.

It's late, probably around 2am if she had to guess. And Ellie's guess is as good as fact because Joel's old watch is broken, and the batteries in every clock in the world have run out. According to the one above the toilet, it's noon. And while it feels like she's been sitting here for a day, she doubts it's actually been that long.

It's getting to an unholy hour and Ellie debates in her head the pros and cons of just giving up for the night and trying again some other time. But this is probably her best chance to do this unnoticed, at least in the foreseeable future.

She had tried to remove the damned thing a few weeks ago when they where shacked up in a barn. That had ended up as a royal mess. Bood fucking everywhere, and she didn't even end up hitting the right spot!

Explaining that to Joel had been a shit show, she heavily doubted he'd believe another story about her falling onto some broken glass. If he had even bought the first time; they both knew even she wasn't that clumsy.

Making an incision on your upper arm is a lot harder than Ellie first thought. Especially because everytime she thinks she's got the right placement, something moves or she gets distracted.

And like clockwork, the moment she thinks shes got it- the flashlight loosens slightly from its knot and conks her right-smack in the forehead. Ellie rubs her face and groans, "fucking asshole peice of shit flashlight..." Apparently the flashlight had heard her insults, and wasn't too happy about it. Because when she goes to slip of the counter, it rounds back around and smacks the back of her noggin as well.

Ellie shivers as her bare feet hit the cold tile under her, then flips the bird back at the stupid flashlight, ducking before it can retaliate again.

Tiptoeing on the creeky floor is definitely a challenge, especially mixed with the possibility of just falling right through the wood. But still, surprisingly, Joel doesn't stir as she scurries like a rat into the bedroom and around his sleeping form.

Her heartbeat rises into her throat as Ellie slowly unzips her backpack. The sounds of her rifling through her bag for a sharpie make her cringe and grind her jaw. She feels like she's going to jump straight out of her body as Joel snores and turns onto his opposite side.

After what feels like a bazillion years; Ellie gets her grubby hand on the coveted black marker. She doesn't bother attempting to rezip the backpack, not wanting to poke her sleeping bear anymore then necessary. Ellie holds the marker between her teeth and crawls out of the bedroom, shuffling (almost) silently back into the tiny bathroom.

She places the Sharpie carefully on the small strip of flat countertop the sink is situated in after a few moments of fighting with it rolling down into the basin. Then she untagles the light from the rope hanging above her, and shoves it into her mouth.

Ellie plops down onto the lid of the old toilet seat. After squirming around for a moment to get as comfortable as possible in this situation- she feels around her arm, poking and rubbing until she finds the small, long, lump inside. Keeping her fingers on the spot so as not to loose it, she grabs the Sharpie from the counter.

As she's marking the devices location with the marker she's suddenly thankful that she decided to do this on a night Joel decided to sharpen their knives. Ellies hand is shaking as she drops the marker and flicks out her pocket knife. The mark makes cutting the small slit into her arm far easier; but the pain still makes her eyes water and her teeth bite down viciously onto the flashlight until it makes an indent in the cheap plastic.

Ellie tries her best to stop her now downright violently shaking hand as she grabs the tweezers from the counter. And after preparing herself mentally, she digs the instrument into her arm and digs. Her scream would have woken Joel up, but instead the plastic between her teeth is taking the brunt of her pain. Hopefully he won't notice.

After a long minute Ellie finally gets the tweezer prongs around the birth control implant. She pulls, and it slides out, putting up little fuss in contrast to before.

Ellie places a bandaid over her wound, and presses down on it, hoping silently that the cut won't be noticeable along the other nicks and bruises on her skin. After shes sure the bleeding has stopped, Ellie drops the implant into the trash, then burries it under a layer of two-decaded-old trash.

Yeah, that's totally hidden.

The bed is warm and soothing as Ellie slips under the unzipped sleeping back. Joel's chest is even more so as she presses her body against him, burrying her face into his neck.

She falls asleep quickly, and with a sly smile painted on her lips.

Chapter Text

5/7/2034

Ellie wakes up groggy and tired, which she supposes is her own fault. Still, it takes a few good blinks before she can get her eyes fully adjusted to the dull lighting of the abandoned bedroom.

Rolling over further into Joel's side of the bed, she feels that it's gone cold. Ellie groans and stretches herself out like a cat. He's probably been awake for hours judging by the daylight peaking in.

At least he didn't wake her up. Though, it's not like they've been in very much of a rush to get to any specific place these days.

After popping her back and staring into space for a few more moments, Ellie drags her sleep ass out of the bed. Then immediately regrets it as the chilly air smacks her bare legs.

The rotting old staircase creeks below her feet as she bounces down; Joel had warned her yesterday to be careful on them yesterday. But like almost everything he says that she doesn't want to hear, it goes in one ear and out the other.

But his reminder is quickly replanted in her brain when a panel snaps as her foot collides with it. Ellie squeaks and makes the rest of the trip downstairs less enthusiastically.

Upon finishing her grand trip down the grand staircase, Ellie quickly finds Joel sitting at the kitchen island. "Watcha doin'?" She asks as she bounds over to him, "Watcha got?" She asks while climbing up onto the countertop.

She grins stupidly at him and pushes the ammo collected on the table aside slightly so she's front and center in his view.

Joel seems to ignore her blatant attempt at attention. Which she thinks is really rude, especially when she's flashing one of her pussy lips at him where her underwear has twisted.

He just pulls the ammo back infront of him and starts to collect them back into their respective boxes. "Our supplies are runnin' real low," he scratches his eyebrow, "goin' to have to be stingy for a while."

Ellie huffs inwardly, being stingy with bullets doesn't equate being stingy with her. She contorts back slightly, presending herself even more obviously, if that's even possible at this point-

But she's only rewarded with more ramblings about their low supplies. Ellie pokes at his crotch with her foot, only to be, once again, ignored, much to her displeasure.

He's not even half hard!

What the fuck man?

---

The chill of the morning has slowly started to turn into a warm breeze, especially as the sun reveals itself from between the clouds. Ellie spins, arms out, collecting the wind as she follows Joel down another gravel road in the middle of fucking nowhere.

All these roads seem to be blending together these days. The days seem to be blending together too, an endless path from nothing to nowhere that's probably going to end with them both being eaten alive by clickers.

Or shot by hunters, Ellie's not quite sure what's better in that situation.

She groans as the vertigo finally hits her. "When will we stop walking?" Ellie draws out her w's for added emphasis, though, it probably will be for naught knowing her audience.

Joel sighs in response, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her, "When we get to Jackson." Ellie rolls her eyes and hikes her backpack back up her back, "You know what I mean."

"I'm sure I don't," Joel responds, no longer looking at her. Ellie sighs inwardly and kicks a particularly pretty pebble; he's being a dick today, and she's not getting the necessary dick she needs to ignore that.

She continues kicking the pebble down the rocky road, following behind her old man who has yet to try and humor any of her conversation attempts.

"How are you even keepin' up with rock you're kicking?" Joel asks after a while. Ellie laughs lightly, "I'm going off my heart." He let's out a small chuckle in response, and she thinks he says something under his breath, but he's to far away to be sure.

"Have you been to every state?" Ellie asks while speed-walking to stand beside him. She exaggerates her steps to match him as she gets to his side.

"Naw, before the virus me n' Tommy stuck mostly to the south." He pauses for a moment and sighs, "Afterwards? Well afterwards no one was exactly in the mood for tourism."

Ellie nods half-consciously and wraps her arm around his, exhausted. "I'm tired," she complains with the voice of a petulant child. Joel sighs in response, "I guess we can stop for the night, keep an eye out for any stable structures."

He brings his free hand up to his beard, "I can smell a storm comin'." Ellie huffs at that,

"How do you smell a storm?

---

Luck must be on their side today, and Ellie's glad for that. Especially as raindrops start to fall the moment they step inside of the old RV. It's definitely not a five-star hotel, but it's not as bad inside as it looks from the outside.

The vehicle is nestled in-between two trees, where it must have taken a headdive off the road. It must be a miracle that only the front window is cracked, and even then, the canopy of the trees above sheld them from the rain.

Well, mostly.

Ellie picks at a vine that's growing through the shattered window and hums a tune from a song she can't remember the name of. She swings the passenger seat side to side as she watches Joel set up their sleeping backs and mess kits.

After a moment Joel presents her with two cans, "Ladies choice." Ellie giggles and points to the canned ravioli. Then she slips off of the chair and moves next to him while he empties the contents of the can into a pan.

Ellie watches in awe, as always, as the stovetop turns bright red with a turn of the knob.

But her awe is outweighed by her childlike attention span. Fidgety, and always one for directness, Ellie cuddles closer up to Joel. She leans her head into his neck and tries again with her tactics from this morning, grabbing at his crotch with her grubby hands.

Joel ignores her for a few moments, before responding in a tired tone, "After dinner." Then he continues stirring the pot as Ellie leans away from him, crossing her arms and huffing dramatic sighs for a minute before realizing that's getting her no where.

She crawls away from him, shuffling on her knees over to her backpack. Then rifles through it for the ziplock bag of her comics to find an issue of savage starlight to re-read.

Joel was right about the storm. Maybe it's an old person thing to be able to smell them? Like when his knees hurt when it rains. She'll have to ask him about old people powers later.

Lightning strikes and causes Ellie to jump, its close. Ellie's buzzing, the storm only fueling her nervous energy from the knowledge that tonight could end in her getting pregnant.

It shouldn't take that long to get pregnant right? She'd always been told that she would get pregnant if she had sex, even if the man pulls out you'd definitely get pregnant. So she'll probably get pregnant on the first or second time.

She takes another bite of her ravioli and stares Joel down with what she hopes is a seductive look.

As soon as she's finished with her plate; Ellie lays back on her back, lifting her ass to yank her pants and underwear down before rolling over to crawl onto her sleeping bag.

Ellie stays on her hands and knees, ass in the air like she'd seen stray dogs to on the QZ. She almost jumps when she feels Joel climb on top of her, still clothed. Sometimes she forgets how fucking quiet he can be.

Joel kisses against her neck and she groans, grinding against the air. "Jesus you're riled up today," he murmurs against her ear before pressing her forward slightly. Ellie holds herself up by her elbows, being caged in by his weight on top of her.

He snakes a hand between her thighs. She moans, high-pitched and squeaky as his fingers slide easily into her through the wetness she's worked up.

Ellie moans and grinds and lets her mouth hang open for a few minutes. Until the sensation becomes more teasing than pleasurable.

"In," she demands, trying to sound stern but it comes out whiney and begging. Ellie grinds back against him, now regretting the helpless position she chose.

"Calm down kiddo we ain't in a rush," Joel says, voice thick as he continues to pump his fingers inside of her. Ellie whines in protest, dropping her head down onto the sleeping bag.

"Please, please put it in," she begs, no longer feeling like the seductress she played an hour ago. Joel shushes her and slips a third finger inside, working her open slowly.

His fingers are big, and rough, and amazing, but it's not enough.

"We'll get there girl," he soothes her, and with a slightly patronizing tone Ellie's choosing to ignore due to the situation.

She mewls as his thumb catches her clit and starts rubbing impossibly slow. Her arms slip forward more, hands next to her face, elbows sticking out. Joel leans down further against her, and she can feel his bulge pressing against her ass. Just a few more inches down dude.

His non-working arm slips under her, elbow against the floor. Ellie can't move, if he falls onto her she's screwed. And not in the way she wants.

Tears of frustration and moans of desperation fall out of her as he finally picks up the fucking pace.

It seems like he's finally taking pity on her because he quickly tips her over the edge. Ellie moans against the floor and bucks against his hand as she rides out her climax.

Then Joel uncages her, settling back on his knees. For a minute Ellie thinks he's about to leave her like this, and she turns her head to try and look at him.

"Settle down I'm not going anywhere," Joel reassures, feeling her worry, like he always does. She feels his hands against her waist as he pulls her shirt down. His fingers streak her own wetness down her waist. Ellie stretches her arms out to help him drag it down before returning to her original position, now fully exposed.

He's still not inside of her. Ellie slips her hands under her, spreading her lower lips to put her cunt fully on display. Her cheek presses against the floor, it's cold which is a stark contrast from the rest of her body which feels like she's on fire.

If you'd asked her in any other situation, she'd tell you that she's is above begging, she's a strong woman; but not right now.

"Please, Joel, fuck, please inside," she rambles. Ellie can feel her clit throbbing and cunt clenching against nothing as she waits for what feels like an eternity.

Then she feels a belt unclasp, and her mouth waters. She arches her back more, still presenting herself to him. Then he swats her hand away and she can feel his cock pressing slightly against her hole.

She squeaks and tries to push against it but he presses a hand against her back, holding her still. His other hand guides his cock around her hole, never quite dipping inside.

"In, in, inside, please God inside," Ellie begs more, even though its gotten her no where so far. Joel hums, "I could get used to being called God," his tone is teasing and heavy and it makes her want to scream.

Then she does scream, as he thrusts into her, hard, filling her up completely. She cums, moaning so loud they can probably hear her from a mile away.

His hands grab her waist as he pounds into her like his life depends on it. Ellie's moans quickly devolve into whimpers and more ramblings of "please", "Joel," "fuck."

She's not sure how long the bliss lasts until he cums inside of her. Ellie sighs happily as the warmth fills her. And she wonders, is she pregnant yet?

Chapter Text

3/26/2034

"Here we are," Joel says, the sun shining on him through the overgrown trees as he motions her to look at the sign. 'South Arkansas Regional Hospital' the sign is crumbling, bricks fallen off onto the ground and ivy climbing over it. Ellie thinks it's pretty, in a weird way.

She squints her eyes, trying to get a good look through the windows while simultaneously keeping up with Joel and his stupidly long legs.

Arkansas, or apparently Arkansaw, according to Joel. A stupid pronunciation in her opinion. Is one of the least touched states they've been in, haven't crossed paths with anyone other than infected.

Nature has started to reclaim everything.

The windows have also been taken by time and neglect, shattered glass and vines. But there's something missing from this scene, and it fills Ellie with disappointment as it dawns on her. She can't see anything, or anyone for that matter.

The sun is beating down on them, hot and blinding as they approach the building. It's ungodly hot, and it's not even summer yet.

Ellie fans her shirt, "Where the hell is everyone dude?" She grumbles, turning her head to look back over at Joel. His tone sounds slightly concerned as he responds, "I don't know." His eyebrows furrow as he pulls his rifle off of his back, "Keep an eye out now."

For a firefly base, this place looks completely abandoned. In fact, there aren't any signs of life other than birds chirping and the occasional squirrel making its presence known.

No sighs of infected either.

"I don't understand," Ellie says after a few minutes of silence wandering, "Isn't this the spot?" Joel nods, pulling out his map from the Boston base to double-check. "Supposedly, map says it's here."

Ellie touches a directional sign, "They were definitely here," she brushes over the firefly symbol graffitied onto it, "At one point." She hears Joel grunt in response, "We should follow the arrow, right?" He stands beside her and scratches his beard, "Yeah."

Ellie swipes her palm over a directional sign, wiping off years of dust to see the campus layout. "They were definitely," she comments as her fingers brush over a firefly symbol graffitied in the top corner? "At one point."

She hears Joel grunt behind her in response. "We should follow the arrow, right? To the research part?" Joel walks up beside her and scratches his beard, "Probably."

They survey the area carefully, hoping to come across a watchman or anyone really. But the courtyard is completely empty. Not even a military vehicle remains. It's eerie here. The air feels heavy.

~~~

Ellies hand grasps tightly around her drawn pistol as the pair enter through the doorframe, shattered glass crunching under them as they walk. She matches Joel's movements, aims her gun where he aims his. As always.

She can feel her heartbeat in her ears, unsteady and fast. It's way too creepy in here. There isn't even any blood, or bodies, it would be less creepy if there were bodies.

"No one's here," she hisses, "why the fuck isn't anyone here?"

Joel shushes her, "just because no fireflies waiting for us don't mean there ain't anyone else in here." Ellie rolls her eyes, stomping down the hallway behind him.

Every room they search is empty and smells dankly of mildew. And Ellie's pretty sure there's black mold growing on the ceiling. There's various items scarring around as if whoever was here was in a rush to leave.

A peice of paper crunches under Ellie's weight and she jumps. Joel's head snaps back at her, a warning look on his face. "Sorry," she says meekly, watching her feet as they exit to the next room.

They wander around the hospital for what feels like eternity before coming across a labroom on god knows what floor.

Some of the lights above have shattered, leaving glass along the floor and desks. So much fucking glass. A few open cages are lined up in the corner, and Ellie shivers as she thinks about what was in them, and isn't anymore.

"What do you think happened?" Ellie asks in a sad tone. This is more then disappointing. "I don't know," Joel says, adjusting his watch and looking around the room as confused as she is.

"But I don't like the look of this place kiddo," he comments as he pushes a rolling chair out of the way, "we shouldn't hang around too long."

Ellie nods absently in agreement, pulling open a desk drawer to rifle for some sort of explanation.

There's nothing intriguing here, nothing useful, not even anything mildly entertaining. Ellie pulls out a drawer from the desk and pours it onto the floor, tossing the drawer when she's done.

Joel pauses, turning to raise an eyebrow at her from across the room. Ellie raises hers back, "what? I'm working more efficiently."

He snorts as she gets onto her knees infront of the pile. "You're killing me kid," he says and she rolls her eyes.

After spreading the files and folders around her in a halfassed semi-circle Ellie starts shuffling through any that pique her interest. But she only finds medical records talking about things she doesn’t understand. It's like the documents are in a completely different language.

She probably should have paid better attention in science class. But it's not like they would have taught her this shit anyway

Ellie jumps as a tape starts playing behind her, she whirls around so fast it makes her head spin. A recorder is grasped in Joel's hand, his finger still pressed on the play button.

Listening closely, Ellie wakes up behind Joel as if her steps can spook away the sound.

"Today is December fifteen, two-thousand-and-thirty-three." A scratchy voice sounds from the tape, it sounds a twinge melancholic through the layers of static.

A nervous bubble starts to build in the pit of Ellie's stomach.

"This is the seventh, and last tape in the documentation of experiment and subject number five."

"Upon administering the stabilizer, subject five became distressed. Five was harnessed down to the surgery table, where he continued to be uncooperative."

Her heart skips a beat as the voice pauses, then lets out a heavy sigh before continuing.

"Sedative drugs where administered to the subject, but as stated on the pervious tape this experiment required the consciousness of the subject."

"Even with the sedatives subject five became panicked once the procedure began. This made taking precise samples quite difficult."

"Subject five passed during sample taking of his brain, unfortunately, this means that we where not able to take as many quality samples."

Ellie's heart is in her stomach as she stares blankly at Joel's hand holding the record.

"We gained no new knowledge of the virus, the patents immunity, or the vaccine. It only reinforced what we already know to be true... which is little."

"I am starting to believe that our relentless search is pointless, subject five was a child, and we gained nothing from his death."

"Even after all these experiments we are no more closer to conceiving a vaccine then the US heath department was twenty years ago."

Static fills the void of his voice for a long moment.

"Marlene has located another subject who is being sent to us, I hope this one is more useful then the last few."

That's her, he's talking about her.

They're going to fucking kill her.

Ellie looks blankly at the old thing in Joel's hand as it comes to a stop, then she snatches it. She throws it across the room where it impacts with a row of test tubes, shattering them and letting unknown liquids pool onto the floor.

Her breathing is shallow as she balls her hands into fists, her nails digging into her flesh.

Ellie screams.

Rage bubble over as her converse clad foot makes contact with a box of lab equipment. Glass shatters as it falls onto it's side.

Her eyes lock with a framed diploma hanging tenderly on the wall.

Then the world goes black.

~~~

"ELLIE!"

Her ears buzz with static.

"WAKE UP!"

It feels like her brain is being pounded in by tiny hammers.

"ELLIE!"

She's not awake but she's not asleep.

"COME ON NOW WAKE UP!"

She's falling into an abyss, whirling down into nothing.

"ELLIE!"

She hits the bottom, yanking up and pushing wildly against what's infront of her. It's too bright, the world is spinning around her.

"Clam down baby it's me," a voice says. Hands grap her wrists, "it's me baby" Ellie's eyes snap to his face and she takes a deep breath.

"What's going on?" She asks, voice laced with panick. Joel kneels infront of her, he releases her wrists and moves his hands to her face, cupping her.

"You passed out, but you're ok," his voice is shakey, not completely convinced of what he's saying. Heavy breathing echos the empty room as Joel looks over her face, his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Let's get you somewhere safe alright? Alright baby?" He says, voice only slightly more assured. Ellie nods, shakey, "alright."

~~~

They set up for the night in a "suite" patient room. The air here still feels front, but the omonus nature of the place is better then sleeping on the grass.

"How come there are fancier rooms and shittier rooms?" Ellie asks, spreading out her sleeping bag on the hospital bed.

"Ritcher people get better rooms," Joel responds, nonchalant. Ellie looks at him with a confused expression.

"Isn't that like super unfair? I thought it was better in your time?" She punches the stale hospital pillow, trying to bring it back to life.

"You're tellin' me kid," he laughs, running his fingers through his hair lazily. "It was hell, jus' a different kind of hell.

She nods absently, the more she talks with Joel about life before the worse it sounds. It's starting to ruin her fantasy of being with him, in a house that isn't curroded and smelly.

Ellie frowns, the sudden silence putting the anxiety back on her shoulders. A bunch of people have probably died here, it's like she's standing on a mass grave.

She wonders if anyone has died here, in this bed.

"How many people do you think died here?" Ellie asks, kicking her legs back and forth while sitting on the bed. Her sniffles from crying are starting to fade.

"Thousands probably," Joel responds, sitting on the bed next to her. He pauses, taking off one of his boots, "Depends on how old the hospital is." He sounds so unbothered by it all. He probably is unbothered.

Ellies not quite past caring yet.

"No, I mean like- how many people do you think died in this room," she drops her head onto his shoulder, "in this bed?"

It's morbid, but she can't help but feel like there are hundreds of ghosts surrounding her, watching them with spiteful energy.

"I don't know," Joel responds, trying to sound soothing but the concern cracks through his facade.

Ellie decides to let it go.

"So," she kicks her legs back and forth over the bed edge, "what do we do know?" Joel runs his fingers through her loose air. She sniffles, waving off tears that threaten to fall.

And she realizes she hadn't thought about what she wanted to do after this."

"How bout' we head to Jackson? Check on my brother," he says, grabbing onto her hand, "you two'd get along I bet."

"Then we could find a place nearby; somewhere safe but away from people," Joel tacks on. Altogeth his voice is reassuring she can't help but feel like he's trying to get rid of her.

Drop her off with his brother and ride away to fuck some older woman who knows how to do stuff. Maybe that was his plan all along. Maybe he didn't expect to have her longer than the trip.

Ellie shakes her head, no, Joel wouldn't do thar, right? Joel loves her, he's said it himself plenty of times.

"Ok," she responds, meekly, digging her head back into his shoulder. She feels like she's going to loose him. She has to keep him.

She can't loose him.

~~~

Rain beats down outside of the cold hospital room. Ellie can't sleep, her feet are sore, and she has a pit in the bottom of her stomach that is making her nauseous.

Even though she's cuddled up next to him, face pressed aginst his chest; she can't help but be flooded with worry. It's bubbling anxiety that threatens to explode and kill her at any second.

Every moment she's spent since the tape has been filled with dread.

Joel holds her tight against his chest. He's pretending to sleep, but he's not very good at it. Ellie however, has mastered the art, ever since she was in the orphanage and had to pretend she wasn't reading instead of sleeping.

His breathing is irregular, and so is the pressure on her stomach. He also talks in his sleep, and snores, so he's definitely awake

"You're not going to leave me, are you?" She asks into the crisp air, voice a bit raspy from crying. Joel breaks his fake sleeping almost immitately.

His thumb hooks under her chin, lifting her up to look at her. "Why do you think I'm goin' to leave you?" He asks, his voice is soft, reassuring, but concerned as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

It makes her feel a bit better, the hint of disbelief in his tone.

But the pit in her stomach remains; twisting and cruel.

Ellie sniffles, "I don't know- I feel- I feel like you've had to have gotten sick of me by now." Joel shushes her gently, and runs his knuckles down her spine.

"I'm never going to get sick of you," he hums, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "it's you and me kid."

Ellie smiles softly, pressing her forehead against his and finally letting out the pressure that's been building in her with a long sigh.

"I love you"

Chapter Text

5/11/2034

Ellie adjusts her pants. Her thighs are sticking together, fucking first thing in the morning has it's downsides. But she's determined to get this to stick.

Their trip has been slowed due to the weather. It seems like God was helping her out for the first time in her life. Hopefully, he'll help her get pregnant, too. Ellie isn't sure how long she'll have to wait until she's sure she's pregnant, or even how long it will take to get pregnant.

FEDRA didn't exactly have the best sex education, and it isn't like she can ask Joel.

They're walking, again. It feels like all they ever do is walk. She just wants to sit still, if only for a few days. Ellie looks up and starts to observe the sky, "Hey Joel!" She says, "Hm?" Ellie points at the sky, "That cloud looks like a dick!" Joel groans and shakes his head. She giggles hysterically for a few more seconds.

"Look, it's a mermaid!"

"Look, it's a bird!"

"Do you see it, Joel? Do you?"

"That's definitely a cat. You can't tell me otherwise."

"Come on, dude! You're no fun." Joel finally acknowledges her after a few minutes of rambling by turning around, walking backward to look at her while he talks. "I don't see what you mean." He says, mouth corners perking up slightly. Ellie sighs dramatically before picking up the pace until she's standing next to him.

Ellie grabs onto his chin and angles it up. She points at a cloud. "It's a baby," she says, looking at it then to him. He hums, "I guess that could pass as a kid." He states before flipping back around and ushering her to keep up.

She continues to observe the clouds, and before too long, they start to turn gray. "We should find somewhere to stay for the night." Ellie says, Joel hums in response.

They're on a backroad somewhere, Ellie's not sure which state they're in. She can't bare to look at the welcome signs anymore. Everytime she does she's filled with dread. She needs to find a way to slow this trip down.

They occasionally pass a house, and Ellie bugs Joel at every one, asking to just settle down for the night before it starts storming. When they finally do stop its at the 7th house passed.

---

The rain has started, Ellie can hear it hitting the roof as she undresses. She wonders if Joel knows why it rains. She wonders if he'll tell her. He loves teaching her things.

Ellie looks at herself in the dirty bathroom mirror. She pulls her hair tie out, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. She tilts her head up and fixes her posture to try and look taller. Ellie grabs at her breasts and frowns; Hopefully, they'll get bigger once she's pregnant.

Joel's sitting in a recliner that's somehow still in good condition. He looks half asleep, peaceful. Ellie sinks to her knees in front of him. She reaches for his belt and starts to unbukle it. His eyes pop open, and he grabs her head, pushing her head back slightly to look at her. "Jesus Christ girl," he says, she keeps her hands on his belt, fumbling to undo it while he's making her look at him.

Joel slides his hand down the back of her head, collecting her hair and holding it into a ponytail. "Go on then," he says, nodding to his crotch. Ellie quickly unbuttons his pants and unzips his fly. She pulls him out, his cock is half-hard already from the interaction, she presses a kiss to the tip.

He keeps his hand in her hair. It's not forceful, more comforting, encouraging, as she licks up the bottom of his shaft. Joel carasses her cheek with his free hand, and she leans into the touch. Ellie wraps her lips around the tip, wrapping her hand around the bottom of his cock as she slowly starts bobbing up and down.

"Atta' girl," Joel says in a breathy tone. He starts guiding her with her hair, keeping his other hand on her chin, lightly rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

"Yer getting so good at this baby," his accent thickens as his breathing gets more shakey. He encourages Ellie to go faster, deeper. Joel's grip on her hair is starting to hurt a little, but it's fine. This is nice.

When she feels his dick start to twitch, she pulls off. Joel raises an eyebrow at her as she stands up. He quickly releases her hair when he realizes what she's doing. Ellie climbs on top of him. She grips onto his shoulders and tucks her knees in next to him.

Her cunt was already achey from this morning, and it fucking burns when he enters her. It's worth it, though. She wraps her arms around his neck. He grabs onto her hips firmly and starts to move her. Joel sucks on her shoulder, leaving hickes and love bites. He's quickening his pace, and Ellie knows he's working out frustration from a long day.

As she gets close to climaxing, she starts letting out moans and the occasional "ugh" when he hits a bit too deep. Ellie can tell he's close now. His thrusts are becoming increasingly sporadic. He's giving her encouragements, praise, and it feels good even though she can barely understand his rambles; And when Joel paints her insides, she feels warm, safe, happy, she never wants this feeling to end.

Ellie turns, tucking her legs together over Joel's lap, trying to keep as much spend in her as she can. She leans her head into his neck and he grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together, and lets out a satisfied sigh.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asks, tucking her hair behind her ear. He sounds relaxed, and he kisses her forehead. Ellie smiles up at him, "Fuck me a few more times," she says. He laughs, "Little pervert."

Chapter Text

5/17/2034

Ellies insides are burning as she lay in bed, wrapped around a pillow staring outside. God had answered her prayer. It has been storming for a week, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Joel's asleep next to her, passing out right after what felt like the millionth round since they got here. Even though Ellie initiated the majority of the sex, it was starting to hurt. But the constant feeling of being full soothes her enough that she continues despite the throbbing from her cunt. Honestly, she's amazed Joel can get it back up so quickly. She had heard old dudes had an issue with that.

The windows cracked slightly, and Ellie relaxes as the cool air blows on her. She hears Joel grunt in his sleep before he wraps an arm around her and pulls her onto his chest. He says something incoherent that sounds vaguely sexual in his sleep. She smirks, closing her eyes and letting herself join him in sleep.

5/18/2034

Ellie wakes to rain still hitting the roof, though there's still soft light peaking through the window. Every morning the rain continues, she sighs in relief that she gets another day. Ellie hopes the rain will never end; at least, not until she's positive she's pregnant. Joel won't make her walk all day if she's pregnant, of course.

She smiles at the thought of him doating on her, kissing her stomach and hours of cuddles. This house is in pretty good condition. Ellie can totally imagine them settling down here, starting a homestead in the middle of nowhere. Just them and their babies. Joel could build a crib, and Ellie could learn how to knit and use the yarn the past resident left behind to make baby clothes. What else could it need? Just it's mommy and daddy, in a cozy, warm house.

It's all she wants.

Ellie sits up, her legs don't quite reach the floor as she dangles them. She stretches and yawns, lifting her arms over her head. A hand rubs down her back, and she can feel the bed dipping as Joel sits up.

He rubs her shoulder and then tugs on her waist, pulling her onto his lap. He must be starting to get comfortable here. Joel's shirtless, wearing pajama pants he'd found in a dresser when they raided the place.

Joel kisses her. He rubs her hip, dipping his fingers under the shirt she stole from him. She's foregone underwear, wearing only his shirts, partly for easy access, partly because she likes how the cool air feels on her vagina after a long round.

"Mornin' baby," he hums into her ear. "Morning," Ellie responds. "I'm goin' hunting today. I want you to stay here." She whips around to face him, "No way!" She protests. "It's still rainin,' Ellie, it's dangerous." Joel says, running his fingers through her hair. She pushes his chest like a child throwing a tantrum, "If it's dangerous, why are you going?"

Joel sighs, "We're out of food, Kiddo. You don't want us to starve, right?" Ellie pouts, huffing into his shoulder, "Fineee"

---

"I'll be back soon," Joel says, his rifle slung over his back and there's a hunting knife attached to his belt. Ellie stands on her tiptoes and kisses him, "Promise?" He smiles and nods before leaving. Ellie shuts the door behind him and feels tears welling in her eyes.

Well, she guesses she's alone now, for a while at least. Ellie walks around the house for a few minutes, imagining how it will look in a few years. She can vividly see children's toys thrown about and giggles of a child or two.

The house is a bit small, three beds and two baths. But Ellie is sure Joel will be able to convert the attached garage into another bedroom. And the kids can share. She's had to share a bedroom her entire life.

The past owners had quite the book collection. Joel has been encouraging her to look through the shelves to try and find something to entertain herself when she gets bored of rereading her comics.

She scans the shelf, occasionally picking up a book to inspect the back. Nothing really catches her eye until she finds something that piques her interest.

In the corner of the shelf is a little pink book titled "What to expect when you're expecting." Ellie picks up the book, on the front there is a woman with a pregnant belly.

Above the title is a quote that claims its "The no.1 best selling pregnancy book," and on the bottom is a quote about how good the book is. Apparently it's a "New York Times best selling book." She knows what New York is, but why does the states opinion matter? Maybe there where a lot of pregnant women in New York before the outbreak?

Ellie plops down onto the couch with the book. She curls her toes into the carpet and yawns. The book opens explaining how to tell how you're pregnant. Perfect!

It lists off some signs.

"Bloating in hands and feet," Ellie looks at her hands and feet. She looks normal and upsettingly flat.

"Headaches and Nausea," Maybe? She'll have to watch out for that.

"Late period," Ellie blinks at the page. Her period is a few days late. She reads the blurb, giving more information.

"One of the first signs you'll notice is the loss of your period. Of course, a late period doesn't always mean you're with child, but if you're a few weeks late, it's time to take a test."

Ellie feels stupid. She had no idea that you didn't get your period when you're pregnant. She feels a rush of joy when she realizes being late could mean she's finally pregnant. But she doesn't know exactly what test the book is referring to, and it doesn't elaborate.

She smiles and runs over to the bathroom mirror. Ellie turns, looking at her stomach, and it does look like it has the smallest of bulges. She giggles and rushes back to the book, desperate for more information.

Chapter Text

5/18/2034

Ellie re-reads the pregnancy signs chapter over and over again, rolling over every word in her mind to secure it there.

"Breast tenderness," She grabs at her boob. It does feel a little sore. Ellie continues squeezing her breast as she reads on.

"As the weeks go on, you may notice your breasts becoming sore and enlarged. Your nipples will also grow and darken later on."

"Fatigue," Ellie always feels tired. Though, maybe her still being sleepy after a week or rest is a sign?

"An early sign of pregnancy is fatigue. It's likely that you will feel more tired than usual and have a harder time completing complex tasks."

"Frequent urination," Joel makes her pee after every time they have sex. She wonders if it's related.

"Frequent urination is common in every trimester. Your growing uterus will put pressure onto your blatter, causing you to need to urinate more often."

"Food Cravings and Adversions," She could really go for some canned peaches right now....

Ellie sets the book down and wanders over to the kitchen to scour through the cabinets where Joel had unpacked their food supplies. He was right. It is empty, and the only thing left is 3 cans of mixed vegetables. Ellie groans, she hates vegetables. Plus, she's probably pregnant right now, and no child should be subjected to mushy broccoli.

She shuts the cabinet and rubs her stomach, she has to be pregnant, she's sure of it. Ellie wonders if the couple who used to live here left over any baby supplies. There is an attic, there's bound to be something up there, right?

---

Ellie stands on her tiptoes as she tries to grab for the string that pulls down the attic. "Goddamnit!" She exclaims as she misses the rope again. Ellie flips off the stupid string and stomps down the hall to the guest bedroom. There's a stool in there she can use to reach it.

She drags the stool back down the hallway and places it under the rope. Ellie climbs onto the stool and grabs the rope, "Gotcha Bitch!" She says as she tugs it down.

The attic is dusty, Ellie hadn't been up here before. Joel had cleared it on the first night, and since then, no one has touched it. She's short enough to be able to stand in the small space.

Ellie walks to the back of the tiny area. There's a small, round window there. She wipes the condensation off with her sleeve and looks outside. It's pouring, she hopes Joel is ok.

She stares out the window for a few more minutes, hoping to see Joel reappear from the woods, animal in hand. But he doesn't. Ellie sighs and stands up, returning to her initial mission.

Furniture is sprawled around the space, bedframes, dressers, rugs. Ellie moves some things around until she finds what she's looking for.

Parts of a crib are stacked in a corner against the back wall. It's white and blue and covered in yellow cartoon stars. Ellie spins the tiny carousel attached to the headboard. The thing has cartoony planets dangling from it. Ellie scoffs, the planet order is all wrong. She's going to need to fix that. No child of hers is going to sleep under an unaccurare sky.

As she spins the carousel, it starts to play a faded song. Ellie knows this song, the caretakers at the orphanage she lived at before she went to FEDRA boarding school used to sing it to the kids.

It's one of her only good memories pre-Joel. Ellie remembers an older woman. She was pretty, with an amazing voice. Ellie supposes she could have been a singer before the outbreak.

The caretaker would sing to the little kids, including Ellie. She'd do it before bedtime. It was the best sleeping medicine. Ellie hopes her baby will enjoy it as much as she did.

Ellie holds onto her stomach and sings along. "Twinkle Twinkle little star," she imagines herself singing to her son. He's going to be adorable. He'll have Joel's hair, of course, and her eyes and freckles. She bets he's going to be smart as a whip. His parents are smart, so he has to be too.

---

Ellie starts unpacking boxes around the crib. She finds clothes and bottles. Eventually, she unboxes a tub of toys.

Jackpot!

Puzzles, stuffed animals, blocks, everything a growing boy could need! Ellie grins and picks up a teddy bear adorned with a pastel yellow ribbon. She gives him a sniff, and he smells good somehow. Like vanilla.

Ellie turns around to climb downstairs now that she's secured her prize. But as she steps towards the latter, it creaks and rolls up. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Ellie runs over to the hole and pulls on the wood around the opening.

It won't open. She falls onto her knees as the reality sets in. She's stuck here. Ellie picks the bear back up and walks back over to the end wall. She pulls an old chair over to the window and sits down, leaning her forehead on the glass.

Ellie squeezes onto the bear, and tears start to well in her eyes. God, she hopes Joel comes home soon.

5/19/2034

When Ellie wakes, it's in the middle of the night. The only light visible from her nook in the attic is that of the moon. It's full tonight. Pretty, at least she has a good view.

The rain has started to lighten, but it's still drizzling as she looks outside. Ellie hopes Joel found shelter for the night. The trees rustle, leaves dancing as the harsh wind. The wind is a pretty song and the trees are great dancers.

Suddenly, Ellie groans as a sharp pain shoots up through her abdomen. No, no, no, no, no. She reaches down, touching her privates, and when she pulls her hand back up, it's covered in blood.

She's so sore, and she's so heartbroken. Ellie curls into a ball in the chair, chewing on the ear of her teddybear while she sobs.

Chapter Text

5/19/2034

"Ellie!" A deep voice calls faintly from below her. She shoots up from where she's lying on the floor. Did she hallucinate that voice?

"Ellie?" The voice sounds off again, this time twinged with concern. Definitely not hallucinating. Ellie crawls across the attic over to the trapdoor.

"Where are you, girl?" Ellie slams on the floor and screams. She's starving, and she hurts. She slams until she can hear Joel's footsteps and calls approaching underneath her.

He pulls the string down, and the latter falls onto the floor, revealing the sobbing girl. "Jesus christ," Joel mutters, climbing up the latter.

Ellie climbs onto him, wrapping around him like a baby monkey. Once he gets back onto the floor, he starts rubbing her back, running his fingers through her hair.

"It's okay, baby," he kisses her cheek, "You're okay." Ellie's humiliated as he walks her to the bathroom. She's dripping blood down the hallway, the sight of which only triggers her to cry more.

Joel sets her on the bathroom floor and kisses her forehead. "I'll be right back," Ellie squeaks and holds onto his arm, attempting to drag him down to her.

He wraps his hand around her chin and rubs her cheek, "I'm just goin' to get water for a bath," he says, "Don't you trust me?" Ellie nods, but she still feels a deep sense of dread as he exits the bathroom.

Ellie picks at the skin around her nails as Joel carries bucket after bucket of rain water into the bathroom along with their portable stove top. He places a metal bucket on top of the stove and sets it to high.

Joel turns to Ellie and helps her out of the oversized shirt she's wearing. She's freezing, her arms shaking as the cold air hits her like a truck. He picks her up, then places her into the tub gently.

Ellie curls into a ball. Joel sticks his hand into the bucket. After he's sure it's the right temperature, he turns and adjusts her to be lying down in the bathtub. Then he pours the warm water over her. The water splashes onto her teddy bear, which is proped against the tub, and she groans. Ellie rubs its head.

It feels nice on her achey body, and she relaxes a bit when Joel holds onto her hand, rubbing slow circles into her palm as he waits for the next bucket to warm up. "I'm sorry I wasn't back sooner, Kiddo," he says, making his voice as soothing as he can manage. Ellie nods in response. Her throat hurts from hours of crying.

Once the tub has been filled, Joel rolls up his sleeves and starts washing Ellie off with a bar of soap and washcloth. Ellie tugs on his shirt and, with a raspy voice, says, "Get in with me."

Joel obeys, stripping down and climbing into the opposite side of the tub. Thankfully, it's big enough to accommodate both of them.

Ellie curls back into a ball as Joel rubs shampoo into her hair. She hums softly as he scratches her scalp. After the shampoo is rinsed from her hair, she crawls over to his side of the tub and leans her head on his shoulder. Ellie sits on his leg and reaches down to grab at his cock, disappointed when she finds it soft.

She desperately wants that comfort.

She looks up at him with tears in her eyes, "Do you think I'm disgusting?" Ellie asks. He shakes his head and grabs onto her chin, pulling her in for a kiss. "Of course not," he responds. She sniffles, "Then why don't you want me?"

Joel pulls her closer to him, supporting her back with his arm. "I always want you baby," he says into her hair, "But you don't need that right now." Ellie sniffles again, "ok."

---

A blanket is draped over Ellie as she sits at the kitchen island. Her feet don't quite reach the floor yet. She swings her socked feet back and forth while she waits for Joel to finish cooking the deer meat he had procured. Her teddy bear sits in her lap, she squeezes onto its arm as she waits.

The meat smells heavenly after a day of hunger. Ellies socks are fluffy and thick, and so are her pants. And she still sports one of Joel's t-shirts.

Joel's standing on the other side of the island, flipping the meat over on the portable stove top. He looks so handsome in this light, illuminated by the oil lamp on the counter next to him.

It's dark outside, and the rain has picked back up. Ellie can faintly hear thunder. "Storms coming," she says, putting her elbows on the counter and holding her face in her hands. Her voice is still raspy, but her tears have stopped flowing and she feels a little better.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to put your elbows on the table?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her. Ellie snorts, "FEDRA didn't even teach me non-US history. Do you really think they had a course on manners?"

Joel shakes his head, "I swear you were raised in a barn girl," he responds, his tone teasing. She knows he's trying to cheer her up. "Hey Joel," she says, "hm?"

"What do you call a well-balanced horse?" Ellie asks. Joel hums like he's thinking really hard about it before finally saying, "I don't know." Ellie grins and smacks her hands on the counter, "Stable!"

He smiles as well, "Jesus, that was corny kid, don't you have any better ones?" Joel teases. Ellie gasps in mock offense, "Ok Mr Joke police," she crosses her arms. "What did the triangle say to the circle?"

"You're pointless," he responds, taking the meat off the burner and placing it on two plates. Ellie groans. "You're going to have to try harder than that," he smiles and dumps half a can of vegetables on her plate.

"What do you call an angry carot?" She says through a mouth of food. "What did I say about manners, Ellie?" Joel asks. Ellie chooses to ignore him, "A steamed vegetable!"

Ellie was right, the meat was fucking heavenly. It even had seasoning on it. They rarely cooked with seasoning since it was so scarce. Joel must have been saving it for something like this.

She picks at her vegetables, sorting out the peas from the carrots and broccoli. Ellie dumps her pea pile onto his plate, "Trade," she says. Joel pushes some carrots onto her plate.

They hold hands across the bar as they eat. Joel's hand engulfs hers as their fingers intertwine.

---

Ellie looks around the burning building. She can hear David's taunting voice all around her, echoing. In the middle of the restaurant is a bassinet.

The baby inside cries and she feels her heart ache as she tries to run over to him. But she can barely move, she's stuck in place. Unable to move as she watches the roof of the building collapse on her baby.

---

5/20/2034

Ellie screams and shoots up in the bed. She curls up, placing her chin onto her knees and cries.

She feels as the bed moves and Joel wraps his arms around her. "You're okay, I'm right here." He says, rubbing her shoulder as she sobs. Ellie looks up at him with glassy eyes, "Please touch me?" She asks, grabbing onto his shirt.

If he sighs, she doesn't notice. She relaxes with her back against his chest as he dips his fingers into her pants.

Ellie gasps softly, her mouth hanging open as he works his fingers onto her clit. Her head leans forward, and Joel uses his free arm to pull her back against his chest.

Her pad is scratchy against her. Ellie tugs on his arm, "Please," she wines. As always, Joel knows what to do and pushes a finger inside of her. She ruts against his hand, mouth still hanging open.

Joel keeps a soft pace, easy to not press too hard on her already swollen walls. She's thankful he doesn't seem to care about the blood.

Ellie's body relaxes, then tightens, then relaxes as the pleasure builds up, and the ache in her tummy fades. She bites into Joel's neck, one arm around his bicep one around her teddy bear.

It doesn't take to long for the sleepy girl to cum, moaning and convulsing slightly as she does.

Joel wipes his hand on the bed and then hugs onto Ellie as her eyes slowly blink. She looks up at him in a half-asleep gaze and mumbles, "I want a baby."

Chapter Text

5/21/2034

Ellie scratches her stomach. She realizes her pants have been changed, she opens her eyes. The daylight coming through the window blinds her. She puts her hand over her eyes and groans. Events of last night are coming back to her, and she can't believe she told Joel about her plan.

She sits up, holding onto the arm of her bear. There are different sheets on the bed. Ellie wonders how long she was asleep for. Judging by the window, she'd estimate it's at least noon. And she frowns when she realizes it's no longer raining. In fact, it's sunny outside, and she can hear birds chirping.

It would be a pretty sight if she was pregnant. But she's not, and now that Joel knows she may never be.

Ellie patters over to the bathroom to pee. She sees him out of the corner of her eye as she passes the stairwell. He's sitting on the couch, reading something. Ellie rubs her eyes and yawns.

They have to pee in a bucket, which is uncomfortable, to say the least. She brushes her teeth and hair, then debates going back to bed to avoid the conversation she knows is coming.

But she looses the choice when she hears "We need to talk," being shouted up from the bottom of the staircase.

Ellie walks meekly down the stairs to where Joel's sitting. He pats next to him. Ellie sighs and sits down next to him. She realizes the book he was reading, now face down on the coffee table, is the copy of "What to expect when you're expecting." She had forgotten she left that out.

His face is soft but laced with concern. "You were asleep for a day," Joel starts, "I was worried about you." Ellie kicks at the carpet, staring at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm sorry," she says, holding back tears. Her eyes are still puffy. Joel grabs one of her hands, trying to sooth her. "You know I love you, right?" He asks.

Ellie nods, "Yeah." He sighs and kisses the top of her head. "We can't have a baby right now, Ellie," her eyes lock with his, and she cuts him off, "But why? Do you think I'd be a bad mom?" Tears fall from her eyes, "I'd be a great mom, I promise!" She whines.

Before she can continue rambling on, Joel cuts her off, "Eleanor." He sounds stern, but still somehow comforting. He wipes her eyes with his sleeve.

"I know you'll be a good mom," he holds onto both her hands, looking her in the eyes. "But we can't have a baby here," he clarifies, "It's not safe." Ellie purses her eyebrows, "Why?"

Joel scratches his eyebrow, "There's a hord," he starts, "A few miles out. I ran into it when I was hunting," Joel tucks her red hair behind her ear, "I didn't want to say anything because of how upset you where, but we can't stay here Kiddo, and we definitely can't have a baby here."

"I know it seems remote, baby," he continues, "but it's not. What happens if a hunter group comes through here and I'm not here to defend you?" He asks.

"I can take care of myself," she says, crossing her arms. Joel sighs, "I know you can, but not against a horde of infected or a group of hunters." He pauses, "And especially not while pregnant."

Ellie sighs, then asks, "What now then." A little hope builds in her at the possibility of having a baby with Joel, even if it's not here. "We get back on the road," he says, "And we'll find a more remote area, somewhere safe."

Ellie nods, "ok." Joel rubs down her leg, "You could have at least warned me before taking your implant out." He comments, brushing over the small scar on her arm.

---

Ellie stands at the bottom of the latter as Joel holds up baby items for her approval. She's too afraid to go up there again.

The first onsie she approves is blue with a rainbow pattern. It will be good for summer she thinks.

The second is light orange and covered in fruits, some of which Joel has to explain what they are. Ellie hopes she can try a mango one day.

The third onesie is pink and had faries, princesses, and unicorns on it. She's never been a fan of faries, but these ones were decently cute.

The last onesie is brown, it's a little bear costume, Ellie adores it.

After Joel tosses the onsies to her she puts them on her bear for safe keeping.

He also finds a few reusable diapers and a little star blanket. Ellie is thankful Joel retrieved them for her. He is insistent on only bringing a few things, though. "We can't take up all our bag space," he says when she complains about being cutoff. Ellie is a bit sad she couldn't take the toys, but they would have made noise anyway.

---

Ellie pokes at the fireplace where she's helping Joel turn the rest of the deer meat into jerky for the trip. She takes a bite of an already prepared piece and looks over at Joel, who's packing their bags on the kitchen table.

"What are we taking?" She asks. "Bar soap, taking a few towels to, n' the toothpaste." Ellie grins, "I'm so glad not to have to use baking soda anymore." She pokes again at the meat, flipping it over with a spatula. "Diddo kid," Joel responds.

Joel packs the baby items in his larger pack, stacking hygiene products over them. Ellie had also convinced him to bring a few seasonings. It was a great leap for elliekind as she would no longer need to suffer through unseasoned meat.

Ellie brushes the meat with syrup and then pushes it back over the fire. "We're going to raid the neighboring houses after we've packed up, so make sure to leave some space in your bag, Kiddo." Joel says, he's stacking his clothes up in his backpack.

She had mostly packed her bag already. Ellie just had a few last-minute things to toss in after she finished with the jerky.

---

It was sad to know this is their last night in this house. But Joel is right. The more she takes off her rose colored glasses, the more issues she sees.

Joel lays pillows down next to the fireplace, and then he tosses a blanket over the pile. Ellie jumps onto the pile and giggles. Joel lays down next to her. The fire was blazing as Joel read a western novel, and Ellie read issue no.2 of savage starlight once again.

She would have liked to have sex here one more time, especially next to a fireplace. It would be romantic. But she was still cramping somewhat, and Joel was worried it would have hurt her more, not to mention the blood.

But when they're done reading, and the moonlight peaks in through the windows, they still kiss and cuddle each other until they fall asleep.

Chapter Text

5/22/2034

Ellie tosses her copy of "What to expect when you're expecting" into the bag next to her bear while Joel packs the rest of the jerky from last night. She never got to finish it, and she's sure she'll need it later. "Ready to go, Kiddo?" He asks, putting on his backpack. "Yeah," she says, nodding.

It's a bittersweet exit as they leave the house for the last time. But Ellie can smell the future. She turns to look at the house one last time. The paint is green and peeling. The roof dips in slightly, and a few windows are broken. The fence is half fallen, and the other half looks like what Joel called a "tetanus trap," whatever that means.

As nice as the idea was, this definitely isn't the place to raise their baby. They can find much better.

"Should we walk back down to the start of the street?" She asks, swinging her arms back and forth, "Look through those houses?"

Joel shakes his head, "No, they've all got water damage," he says, "That's why I didn't want to stay in them to begin with. Anything valuable there is lost."

"Oh," she kicks at the grass, "So what are we going to raid?" Joel sheilds his eyes from the morning sun and points across the street where a small outline of a house can be seen. "I saw some decent houses down there," he says as he walks, "Just got to be careful now, in case the horde has moved around here."

Ellie makes long steps to try and keep up with him and his damn long legs. And it isn't too long before they come across a house.

Joel walks up the stairs carefully and waves her up, "Come'on then, girl." Ellie climbs the stairs behind him, trying her best to recreate his steps just in case.

The inside of the house makes her cough. There's a thick layer of dust covering everything inside, dustier than anything Ellie has seen so far. She swipes at it with her feet as they walk around.

The building is mostly empty, save a few cans, and a bar of soap that smells particularly nice. "Hey Joel! What scent is this?" Ellie asks as she walks up to him and places it under his nose. He sniffs, "Lavender."

---

Ellie walks through the hallways of yet another house they're raiding. Joel is digging through the kitchen, and she's been assigned upstairs.

Ellie walks into the bathroom and starts to dig through the cabinets for medication. Painkillers, migraine meds, antibiotics. None of which she finds. However, she does find a box of pads under the sink, which she promptly shoves into her backpack.

Next to them, she sees a few boxes of what is titled "Pregnancy test," Ellie reads the back of the box, "Urinate onto the test," She scrunches her face, "ew."

"One line for not pregnant, two lines for pregnant." Ellie smiles. This will be useful. She unpacks the 4 boxes and zips the sticks in the gallon ziplock bag with her pads. Underneath the pregnancy tests is something called an ovulation test. What the fuck does that mean?

Ellie walks to the staircase and hollers, "Joel! What does ovulation mean?" He appears at the bottom of the staircase, and Ellie holds up the box. Joel scratches his beard, "It's uh, the time of the month you can get pregnant."

Ellie looks at the test and then back at him again, "I thought you could always get pregnant?" She says. Joel rubs his watch, "Hell, I dunno kid, look in that damn book of yours." The ovulation test goes in the zip lock bag as well.

The next few rooms aren't particularly exciting. There's a teenage boys room covered in sports posters and trophies. Ellie makes a mental note to ask Joel about it later.

The room next to it looks like the parents' room. It's in beige. Everything in it looks depressing, so she passes after a quick glance.

But the room at the end of the hallway leaves Ellie in awe. The walls are pink with an accent wall in cheetah print. The bed has a canopy over it, which has tiny lights dangling over it.

Ellie runs her hand over the doorknob, which is covered in tiny gems. She always thought of herself as a tomboy, but she wouldn't mind some girly stuff, if only to show off to Joel.

She opens the dresser drawer to expose a bunch of pretty underwear. She picks up a red pair, it's see-through. Ellie knows it isn't practical, but she can't help but blush at the thought of wearing it for Joel. She puts it in her bag, and she needs new underwear anyway. Along with the red one, she picks up a pink set adorned with tiny roses. The bra on this one is a little small, but hopefully, it will fit once she's pregnant.

Ellie holds the pink bra up on herself in the mirror, grins, and places it in the bag next to the other set. She also tries on a few pairs of jeans to replace her warn out ones. A few have crystals on the pockets! She's never seen jeans so fancy before.

The closet is also full of treasures. Ellies eyes immediately lock on a tracksuit. It's pink and says "Juicy" on the back. She tosses the set into her bag to replace her ripped sweater. "We had a good run," she says to the torn brown sweater before tossing it on the floor.

On the bottom of the closet where racks of shoes. High heels, she can't believe women actually wore these back in the day. Ellie imagines girls stumbling down the streets like the penguins in her old animal books.

She grabs a few long-sleeved shirts and tanks to replace worn ones. Thank God this stuff is in good condition. Most of the things they cone across are full of moth-holes or stained to oblivion.

Ellie opens the jewelry chest on the dresser. She's never had any jewelry before. Ellie rubs her ear, she wishes they were pierced, she sees girls with pretty earrings in magazines and posters all the time. She wants to look pretty. She wants to look pretty for him.

She drops a pair of heart-shaped earrings and small gemstone ones into her bag. As well as a small necklace that opens, it won't take up much space. She's sure it's fine.

Chapter Text

5/25/2034

Ellie wipes the sweat off of her face. It's fucking hot, the rain has officially ceased, and Ellie is on fire as they walk on a gravel road. They're on the edge of Missouri. "What was interesting about Missouri before the virus?" Ellie asks, skipping slightly to pass Joel. "Absolutely nothing," he responds.

She walks backwards in front of him. "Have you ever been here before?" Ellie asks, putting her hands behind her head to tighten her ponytail. "Once or twice," he says, "Never to stay, it's a passing state." She flips around, looking out for any signs to tell her where the hell they are.

"What does that mean?" Ellie asks. Joel shrugs next to her, "It means' There's nothing special about it. You pass over it to get to somethin' more interesting."

"I've never heard of that," she responds. Joel snorts, "You also never heard about ovulation, so if I was you, I wouldn't go arguing about who knows more, kiddo." Ellie crosses her arms and huffs, she hates that he's right.

Ellie freezes, there's a rustling in the bushes. She pulls her pistol out of her pocket and looks over at Joel as he grabs his rifle off his back.

She can hear shuffling and a low groaning noise that sends a shiver up her spine. A rotting hand emerges from the shrubbery. Ellie steps back as the stalker approaches.

At one point, it was a woman. The stalkers hair is half-ripped out. Her clothes are ripped, and she looks like she's in immense pain as she gurgles. Ellie feels bad for her, and guilty that she survived this fate and this girl didn't. What made her so special?

Ellie is ripped from her thoughts when Joel's gun goes off, blowing a hole through the stalkers head. She falls to the ground, and Ellie wants to cry when she sees the small gold ring in the woman's hand.

Joel grabs onto her arm and starts dragging her away at a quick pace. "Come on' girl," he says, "There may be more not far behind."

He was right. Another stalker jumps at Ellie. This time, a male, he seems more enraged than the usual infected. Ellie screams as it pins her down. She pushes at its grotesque face. The stalker bites at her, she kicks it between the legs like Riley had thought her to.

The stalker hisses and rolls off of her, where Joel promptly places a bullet in its chest. He yanks Ellie off the ground and starts dragging her down the road. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see a glimmer of gold on the male stalkers hand.

Ellie's eyes water, that could be her and Joel one day. She scratches at the bite under her sleeve while they run down the road.

After a mile or two, Ellie starts panting. She puts her hands on her knees to breathe and then wipes her eyes with her sleeves. Joel sits on a fallen tree, taking a sip of his water flask. "You ok, baby?" He asks as she sniffles slightly.

Ellie turns to him and forces a smile, "I'm good."

---

The sun is slowly setting over the treetops. Golden light shines through the leaves as they approach a sign saying, "Blackstone Park."

"Do you think there are bears here?" Ellie asks. "Probably," Joel responds, patting her on the back, "Let's hope they don't smell you." Ellie rolls her eyes, "If they're going to smell anyone, it's you."

The pair come to a stop at a shelter. Ellie jumps on top of one of the picnic tables and starts hopping from one to the next. "Ellie, stop, you're going to break them," Joel says, dropping his backpack onto the floor. She rolls her eyes, "It's not like anyone is going to care."

There's a small room locked off in the back. "What's in there?" Ellie asks, pointing at the door. "Probably a kitchenette or storage," he responds, pulling out a pin, "Let's find out."

Joel picks at the door with the bobbypin while Ellie hovers over him. "You know, it's harder to do this with you helicoptering?" He asks. She nods, "Yeah."

He sighs and pushes in the door when a small click sounds. "Looks like a good spot to spend the night," Joel says, wiping off a counter with his sleeve. It was a kitchenette, something he had described to her months ago as just a small kitchen. Ellie is not sure why they needed a whole new word instead of just "small kitchen," though.

Joel picks up his bag and tosses it onto the counter. "So what is this place?" Ellie asks, kicking up dust on the floor. "Campsite," he responds, "People would come here to eat together, or during a storm, it's just a shelter."

Ellie nods, then climbs onto the metal counter. She unbukles her belt and scoots her jeans down, spreading her legs open. "Really?" Joel asks, walking over to where Ellie is now lying on the counter, holding her legs up open spread eagle.

"You said we could do it when we found shelter," She says, "This is literally a shelter." Ellie wants him close to her, especially after the stalker attack. Her heart tightens whenever she thinks of Joel like that.

Joel stands between her legs, and she sqirms. He pushes her legs open further, exposing her even more. Ellie wiggles, the metal suddenly cold on her bare ass, "It's fucking cold dude," she complains. He shushes her, and unzips his fly.

He brushes his cock cover her cunt, dipping it in slightly only to pull it out the moment she tried to buck into it. "Come' on," Ellie groans, trying to push onto him.

Joel tsks, "Impatient." He steps back, causing her to whine. He presses a thumb to her clit and starts rubbing it in a non-pattern. Ellie tries to rut onto his hand. He pulls it back and tsks at her again.

"Manners girl," he says, and rubs his cock over her clit a few more times. "Please," she finally asks in a high-pitched whine. Joel obliges, pushing into her in a single movement.

Ellie grunts at the pain of the initial stretch, but knows he needs this too, it must have been scary for him to see her be attacked like that. She rubs her hands over his chest and then pulls him down so their hearts are linked.

She can hear him grunting in her ear with every thrust. "Good girl," he says, kissing her cheek. Ellie scratches his back, digging her head into his shoulder. She squeaks when she feels his hand back on her clit, this time aiming for a specific goal other than making her squirm.

Her eyes roll back as she comes around him. The sudden grip throws Joel over with her, and he cums inside of her.

They lay like this for a moment, panting. Then Joel pulls off, and Ellie whines at the loss of contact. She looks down and watches him rub his middle and index fingers over her vagina, collecting the cum that's dripping out before shoving it back inside.

"Let's go get you cleaned up, baby," he says, lifting her off the counter in a bridal hold.

---

Joel lavishes her with aftercare. Ellie's sitting on his lap on the pullout couch situated in the corner of the room. Her shirt had been plucked off of her and left God knows where.

She had pulled off his shirt too because fair was fair.

Joel softly rubs over her underwear, holding everything inside of her. Ellie gets the impression he wants this baby as well. She lays the back of her head against his chest.

He grabs at her boobs, his hands warming her even in the freezing room. "When do you think we'll find a place to settle down?" Ellie asks, "I dunno Kiddo," he says, "We'll know when we find it."

"Are we still going to find your brother?" Ellie questions, turning over to strattle him. "I'd like to see him," Joel responds, scratching his eyebrow, "But I, I don't know how happy he would be to see you with me."

Ellie frowns, "Why not?" Joel sighs, "You know why, sweetheart." She groans, flopping over to lay across his lap. "It's the end of the world, I don't see why my age matters." Joel just runs his fingers through her hair, lost in thought.

"Tommy's never been real particular about not fucking around with young girls, but I dunno how his morals have changed after his temper tantrum." Joel finally says. "When you split up?" Ellie asks. He nods in response.

"What do you mean by 'fucking around with young girls?'" Ellie closes her eyes. "Tommy messed around with a few teenagers when we were on the road, not many younger than 16. But it ain't like he really asked any of em' though." He says, "Not many options nowadays."

She hums in response, "Well, he'll have to get used to it if we do find him." Joel snorts, "I guess he will."

Chapter Text

6/0/2034

The change in pace was a welcome development in their journey. Without an exact time frame, the pair was able to travel at their own whim.

They walk past a sign, it's half-fallen and rotting, depicting a sun rising over a field. "The people of Iowa welcome you," it says, "Feilds of opportunities." The sign is a liar. No one is here to welcome them, but she guesses that's a good thing.

"Woo! Iowa!" Ellie says, pointing at the fallen sign. Joel snorts, "Never heard someone be this happy about Iowa." She brushes her hand through the tall grass bordering both sides of the cracked road, "Are you going to be this pessimistic about every state?" She asks.

"Careful girl, there are ticks in that." Joel says, "And yes, I am." He smirks at her. Ellie imitates his accent, "No state is better than Texas! We should just go back to Texas where everything is big!"

Joel shakes his head, "I do not sound like that." Ellie laughs, "Come'on dude, you totally do," she lowers her voice, looking at him from the corner of her eye, "And for the record, I'm glad some things are bigger in Texas." He laughs, "Fuckin' pervert."

"Why didn't we just go straight to Nabraska again?" Ellie asks, looking at her map. "No main roads, kiddo, to dangerous." She nods, makes sense, she's enjoying their time together anyway.

Without the building sense of dread, she finds the journey much nicer. Ellie marks the map with a small dot when they come across a city sign. They've gone through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and now Iowa since the hospital.

Joel's insistence on staying on the backroads is costing them some time, but it's not like they're in too big of a rush. Ellie just hopes they find a place to settle soon.

It's cooler today. Wind brushes past Ellies face and waves the grass. She smiles, reaching into her backpack. She knows there are some appropriate jokes in here.

"What farm animal keeps the best time?" Ellie asks, looking down at her book. "Which one?" Joel responds, the corners of his mouth perking slightly. "A watch dog!"

"Did you ever live on a farm?" She asks. Joel shakes his head, "My grandparents had a homestead, stayed with them over the summers, but it wasn't exactly a farm." He scratches his neck, "smelled like one, though."

Ellie hums, "What animals did they have?" She looks at him expectantly. "Chickens and pigs," he says. Ellie nods, "So no cows?"

"Naw, they said it was too much to manage, especially as they got older." Ellie fiddles with her thumbs. Sometimes, she forgets Joel had a life before she was even born.

"Do you think we can get some chickens?" Ellie asks. She'd love a fried egg right now. She'd only had one once, with marline during her quartine with the fireflies. God, she would kill for one.

"Maybe," Joel responds, "We'd have to trade for one. Wild chickens aren't exactly around anymore."

"There were wild chickens when you were a kid?" Ellie tilts her head at him, "Naw, they where domesticated way before I was born," he answers, "Fuckers are as dumb as rocks, there was one that survived a year after getting it's head cut off."

Ellie snorts, "You're fucking with me!" She accuses, "I'm not that gullible dude." Joel puts one hand on his chest and one in the air, "Swear to God, saw it on the history channel."

"How did it survive without a head?" Ellie asks. Joel shrugs, "Hell if I know, do I look like a scientist to you, kid?"

"I think it was something to do with the nerves not being completely severed or somethin' not positive about the exact details." He clarifies.

---

All they've seen for three fucking hours is corn, Ellies feet are starting to swell and hurt. She doesn't understand how Joel can stand to walk anymore.

The view is nice, though. Ellie looks up at the setting sun. Stars are just starting to peak through. Every night, the sky looks more beautiful. She can't believe she missed out on this for thirteen years before she met Joel.

Ellie turns to look at Joel. He seems peaceful, hands tucked behind his head. She crawls over to him, laying her head against his arm. He hums and kisses her nose. "Hungry?" He asks, Ellie grins and nods, "Starving."

Joel sits up and rubs his eyes. "Grab the dried stalks for me?" He asks. Ellie stands up, popping her back, then grabs a few dried corn husks to give to Joel.

He tosses them onto the small firepit they'd constructed a few hours ago. Their portable stove was running out of gas. They needed to preserve what was left.

Joel flicks a match and then throws it onto the stack. Ellie sits down next to the fire, putting her hands up to warm herself. Joel throws the dressed rabbit onto the fire. Ellie hated when they had to kill cute things, but it was better than starving.

It doesn't take too long for the smell to wipe away her guilt. Ellie is damn near feral when Joel finally pulls the meat off the fire.

They eat next to each other. Ellie picks at Joel's portion. "Theif," he says, taking a swig of his waterbottle. "Hey, if I'm going to have your baby, I need to be well fed," she argues.

Joel laughs, "I suppose so."

Ellie goes quiet, lost in thought. She'd been thinking a lot recently about what his life must have been like before her. She can barely remember her life before him. His childhood must feel like an eternity ago.

"Hey Joel?" She asks. "Hm?" He looks at her. "You were married before, right?" He scratches his beard, uncomfortable.

She knows he hates being pressured, but it seems like the perfect time to talk. Stars above them, fire reflecting on their skin. It's romantic.

"Yeah," he confirms. Ellie works up her nerve. She wants to know more about how he was before, about the people he loved. And a little peice of her wants to know how she can be more, better than his old partner. "What was she like?"

"Uhh," he pauses, "I don't really remember," he grabs onto her hand, "It was a long time ago, baby." Ellie tilts her head. There's something he's not saying. "What happened?"

"She left me, after uhh," he rubs his temple, considering, "After our daughter was born, that was the only reason we got married in the first place, shotgun wedding." Whiplash hits Ellie at 500mph.

How couldn't she have known he didn't have a daughter? "Oh," she says, looking down at her feet. Ellie feels like she's just uncovered something she was never supposed to have known about.

"You had a daughter?" The moment it comes out of her mouth, she knows she's likely gone too far. "Yeah," he rubs his watch.

"Sarah," Joel says unexpectedly, "I probably should have told you about her by now." His voice sounds distant. "Do you want to?" Ellie asks, "Tell me about her?"

He nods, "I do it's just-" Joel wipes his eyes, then turns to look at her, "What do you want to know?"

"Did you raise her alone?" Ellie asks. Joel shakes his head, "Not exactly, Tommy helped out when he could, same with my parents." He sighs, "I was 18, plannin' on going to college but dropped out to take care of her."

Ellie scoots closer to him, Joel grabs onto her hand and squeezes. "What was she like?" Ellie asks. The fire reflects in his eyes while he looks deep into it. "Smart," he laughs lightly, "kind, could kick ass on a soccer field," he trails off and wraps an arm around her, "You two would have been friends I think."

Ellie smiles at him. She knows it's difficult for Joel to talk about his old life. But she's glad she gets to be his new one. "I think so too."

"I'm sorry I hadn't told you about this before, especially with," Joel says after a moment of silence. Ellie leans her head against his shoulder. "Take your time," she says and smiles slightly, "We've got all of it."

Joel puts his arm over her shoulder and presses a kiss to her head. "I love you."

Chapter Text

6/5/2034

Ellie dangles her legs over the pier. Her feet kick the water, leaving ripples. It's a nice day in Nebraska. The wind breezes through her loose hair. It's a breakday they had decided.

"Do you think my legs are going to tan?" Ellie asks. She puts her journal town and lies back on the dock to look at Joel, who's standing behind her. "They're going to burn if anything." He responds.

Ellie groans, tugging at her jean shorts. It was remote enough here. She wore her tiniest shorts, a bit too small, but she could still squeeze in. And a brown striped tank top.

She smiles as Joel sits down next to her. He picks up her journal and looks at the sketch of the lake she had just finished. "Pretty," he says, then he picks up her pencil and starts to draw something next to it.

"Hey!" Ellie says, attempting to grab the journal from him. Joel grabs her wrists with one hand, using the other to finish his doodle, "Gimmie a moment," he laughs.

Usually, she loves their size difference. Ellie loves how he can hold the entire back of her head in one palm. But sometimes, it's very inconvenient.

Joel finishes his drawing and gives it back to Ellie. It's a little stick figure of her with a banana wrapped around its head. She laughs. "I'm just as good of an artist as you are," Joel says, "Got about three and a half decades on ya."

Ellie snorts, "I bet you took up all the room on the fridge." She had seen mom's do that in her childhood books, she smiles at the thought of hanging up her own babies' finger paintings.

"You're damn right I did!" Joel smirks, "Was a damn' child prodigy." Ellie laughs, "I have no idea what that means." Joel raises an eyebrow, "What? Prodigy?"

She nods, reaching for his hand. "Means' you're naturally good at something," Ellie snorts, "So you're a prodigy at being a dick?" He wraps his hand around hers. It's almost double the size, she shutters internally. "Could say that," he says, "You do seem to love my dick." Ellie groans, "Dork."

Joel lays back and tugs at her short bands. "There are other things I'm good at, too," he says with a smile that she would find irritating if she wasn't so riled up.

Ellie knows what he's getting at, so she pulls her shorts and underwear off and climbs on top of him. Joel pulls her over his face and presses his mouth to her folds.

She moans, pressing her hands onto his chest. He engulfs her as she grinds down into him. Joel's beard scratches at her clit and she shutters.

The sun reflects in the lakewater as Ellie starts moaning louder. She should probably be quiet so as not to attract anything or anyone. But God, if she died right now, she'd die happy.

If it wasn't for his hands on her hips, she probably would be crushing him. Ellie's legs start to go weak. She lifts up her shirt, grabbing at her boobs, which are surprisingly tender.

That sends her over the edge. Birds go flying from the trees as she screams out, "Fuck!" Joel keeps lapping at her cunt until her moans quiet down and she stills.

Ellie climbs off of him, rolling onto the spot next to him. Joel grabs her chin, pulling her in for a kiss, and then he squeezes her ass.

Joel climbs on top of her, spreading her legs with his knees as he squeezes her breasts, pinching and twisting. Ellie mews, pressing into his hands.

She knees at his bulge and pushes up his t-shirt. Joel tugs it off, then he lifts up her head to kiss her while he unbukles his belt.

Before he can slip it in, she presses her hand against his chest, "Wait, wait." Joel sets back, a slight look of concern on his face as he does so.

Ellie grins at him, "I want to be on top." He laughs as she tries to roll him over. Joel lies on his back. Ellie climbs over him and settles her hands on his chest.

Joel holds onto her hips and pulls her down slowly. Ellie groans, pushing herself down. "Hold your horses girl," Joel says, rubbing her hips and waist.

"I don't have any horses," Ellie responds, "Other than you." Joel chuckles and eaises his grip on her.

Ellie sighs as she gets fully seated on top of him. Joel raises his hands to start groaning her tits. Ellie pulls her tank the rest of the way off before starting to grind.

Joel returns his hands to her hips to guide her up and down. "That's it," he encourages as she moans out. She's still sensitive from coming before, so she almost screams when Joel places a thumb onto her clit.

"Come'on baby, you can do it," Joel says softly, Ellie yelps as he tightens his grasp on her and starts thrusting into her at a brutal pace. "Doing so well," he purrs.

The scene was downright obscene, and the thought of anyone being able to walk in on them somehow turned Ellie on even more.

Ellies head starts to go fuzzy, and she contracts, throwing her head back and moaning for all the wildlife to hear. Her eyes flutter shut as Joel speeds up. She can hear him moaning through muttered praises.

She sighs when she feels him cum inside of her, panting. Ellie lays her head against his chest while they recover. Joel rubs her back and plants soft kisses on her forehead.

---

"I'm guessing you've never gone fishing before?" Joel asks, carrying the fishing rods and bait. Ellie walks beside him, shirt long forgotten, "Nope."

"It's just like hunting but fish instead of animals, right?" She asks. Joel laughs, "Fish are animals, Ellie." Ellie looks at him like he's gone insane, "No, they're fish, right?"

Joel smirks, "Fish are a type of animal." Ellie crosses her arms and huffs, "Soon you're going to tell me birds are animals too." He sighs, Ellie shushes him, "Don't you dare."

"I want the red one," She says to Joel as he props the rods against the plastic chairs they had moved to the dock. Ellie plops into one of the chairs, it's dark blue. She leans her head back and feels the wind brush over her.

The lake is expansive, hidden by trees, and four small cabins line it. It would be a great place to live, but the cabins are too deteriorated. "Did people used to live here?" Ellie asks while Joel sorts through the supply box.

"No," he says, "People'd come here over the summer, called it campin." Ellie covers her eyes to shade them from the mid-day sun. She looks at him, "Isn't camping with a tent, though?" He nods, "That's right, if you're going to camp, camp, this is just a vacation."

"We need to find you some sunglasses girl," Joel says, smiling. He kisses her before sitting in the chair next to her.

"I used to go fishing with Sarah," he says while tying a hook to his line. "Did she like it?" Ellie asks, always excited when he mentions his before. Joel laughs and shakes his head, "Hated it, was too impatient."

Ellie smiles, she could like it. "Watch," Joel says, tying the hook slowly so she can learn. She's noticed he loves teaching her things, even when he seems annoyed about it.

He hands her one of the worms they'd collected yesterday in preparation. By the time they had finished hunting, it was already too dark to fish.

"Sorry, little guy," Ellie says to the worm as she copies Joel's movements of stabbing it onto the hook. "Don't worry, Kiddo, it don't feel anything," he reassures. "Really?" She asks. He nods, "Yeah, no nerves or somethin' like that." Joel stands, and Ellie follows. She watches as he shows her how to throw the line.

---

Sarah was correct. Fishing is painfully boring. Ellie yawns, rod pressed between her knees. She scratches her stomach, and it's warm. She could definitely fall asleep right now. She's so exhausted this week.

Joel rolls in his line, "Not fair," Ellie complains. This is his 3rd catch. "Why haven't I caught anything?" She asks. Joel shrugs, "Unlucky I guess."

Ellie stands up, and walks over to where he's sitting. Before he can bait his hook she climbs onto his lap and shoves her rod into his hand. "Since you're so lucky," she grins.

It doesn't take long until Ellie can feel his cock poking against her. She smiles, loving that she has this effect on him.

She stands up, dropping her shorts. "Little feind," Joel says as he unbuttons his pants with his free hand. Ellie sinks on top of him. The warmth of his chest pressed against her chest and his cock in her is intoxicating.

Ellie wonders what the fish must be thinking. Joel kisses her cheek. She lays her head back on his shoulder. Yeah, this is a good time for a nap.

Chapter Text

6/6/2034

"Wake up, sweetheart, want to get some swimming practice in before we leave," Joel says. Ellie yawns, light peaks in through the cracks in the cabin roof, leaving stripes on her skin.

Ellie sits up and rubs her eyes. It's a bit chilly in the old building. She notices Joel has already packed, save for a pair of clothes for both of them.

Joel is shirtless, leaning against the door frame, waiting. The cabin door had been ripped off long ago. But it was remote enough that they didn't have to worry about anyone just waltzing in.

Ellie was still shirtless from yesterday. By the time she had found her shirt, it was covered in dirt and splinters. The air leaves goodbumps on her bare legs.

"Take your socks off," Joel reminds her. She pulls them off and throws them onto the pile clothes he'd set out. "Ready?" Ellie asks. He nods to the door, "Come'on, Kiddo."

Ellie runs through the door, trying not to slip on the morning dew as she heads to the dock. She slows to a stop right before the wood ends. The water is high today. Ellie plops down, sticking her legs into the water.

Joel follows her to the dock, albeit painfully slowly. Even though Ellie is getting better at swimming, she's still too scared to try alone.

"Hurry up, dude!" She calls, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Lakes not going anywhere girl," Joel responds when he reaches the start of the dock.

"The day is though," Ellie kicks the water, "What happened to wanting to leave before noon?" She asks, "I mean, I'm more than willing to stay a few more days, fish a few more times." She grins.

Joel sits down at the edge of the dock with her. "Remember how to float?" He asks, stepping into the water. He holds onto the side of the dock and extends his other to hold onto her.

Ellie nods and slips in after him. She holds onto his arm as she adjusts to the water temperature. Joel moves his other arm from the dock to her hip, then down to her ass which he gives a squeeze before pushing her off.

She sways her arms and legs like he had taught her. "Doing good baby," Joel compliments. Ellie smiles at him and starts attempting to doggy paddle around. He stays behind her, hellecoptering. It makes her feel more secure.

"Try extending your arms like I showed you last time," He says, doing the movements so she can copy. Ellie follows him, pushing the underlying panic out of her brain. It doesn't take long for Ellie to get the rhythm down.

But suddenly Joel is gone. Ellie looks around the lake, "Joel!?" She shouts. She spins around, wading the best she can. Then she feels someone grab her from behind.

Ellie screams but quickly realizes who it is. She smacks his bicep as Joel wraps his arms around her waist. "Asshole!" She says with a short laugh.

He presses his mouth to her neck and starts pressing deep kisses into her skin, biting occasionally. Ellie lays her head back, now being fully kept up by Joel.

She feels one of his hands caress down her tummy, dipping into the rim of her underwear. He plays with the elastic, tugging it and letting it snap back against her skin.

Ellie groans, he's such a fucking tease. She grabs onto the arm, still supporting her and squeezes. She lets out a yelp as he bites a into her neck while simultaneously cupping his hand around her cunt.

Joel slips a finger inside of her, curling and uncurling as she purrs. "Since you've been such a good student today," he says, and she can feel him smiling against her shoulder.

She moans in response, eyes flickering shut when he introduces a second, then third finger. Ellie grinds her clit against his palm, she covers her mouth to stifle herself.

Ellie makes a cry of protest when his hand leaves her. He pulls her hand away from her mouth. "Wanna hear you, kiddo," he says before getting back to work.

So she lets him hear her. "So sensitive," Joel praises when she lets out a particularly loud moan. He works fast enough, and well enough, that her eyes feel heavy. She doubts she could open them if she wanted to.

"Cum for me, princess," he demands, sucking a deep bruise onto her neck. Ellie obeys, her legs tense and spread wider, her hands clamp onto his hand.

Joel holds her close to his chest while she recovers. "Can we swim for a little longer?" She asks, turning her head to look at him. Joel kisses the side of her mouth, "Course'."

Ellie paddles around happily until her arms start to hurt. But she doesn't want to leave the water quite yet, so she lays on her back, basking in the sun.

Then, a splash rudely interrupts her peace. She flips to see Joel behind her, shit eating grin on his face. Ellie pulls her arm back, collecting as much water as she can, and smacks him with it. "Boom!" She giggles as he shakes his head.

Epic splash battle commence! Joel splashes her back. Ellie's glad he's not putting his full force into it. She picks her hand up and smacks the water full force. It hits them both.

Ellie continues giggling as Joel starts to chase her. "Gonna get ya'," he says, following behind her. He lets her win for a while, probably wanting her to strengthen her skills. But eventually he catches her, holding her against his chest.

Joel sighs, rubbing her palm. "You're getting pruney," he comments, "Probably time to get out." Ellie groans.

"I know, I know," he soothes, "You shouldn't be swimming too long in case you're pregnant anyway." Ellie looks at him, "That's a thing?"

Joel scratches his beard, "I coulda' sworn I saw somethin' like that in a newspaper one time," he starts ushering her to the shore, "Better safe than sorry," he concludes.

Ellie patters onto land and shakes like a cat, her loose hair sticks to her face as she does so. She watches Joel as he shakes water out of his ears. "Better get it all out. You barely had any hearing to begin with, don't want to lose all of it," she says, grinning. "Brat," he responds.

Ellie picks up a rock and chucks it at the river like she'd seen in a comic once. It sinks, she frowns. "Why didn't it skip?" She asks, looking at Joel like she'd been lied to.

"Cause' you did it wrong," he says, walking up behind her. He picks up a smoother rock and places it into her hand.

"Throw like this," he instructs, placing his hand over hers, showing her the movements. The stone flies and skips across the lake. Ellie grins at him and picks up another stone to try again.

By her tenth toss, she is really getting the hang of it until Joel grabs onto her hand to stop her. Ellie looks up at him, confused, until he whispers, "Listen."

She can hear it, a faint buzzing noise that's immediately recognizable as a helicopter. Joel grabs her shoulder and rushes them back over to the cabin.

Ellie pouts, upset that her rock tossing had been cut short. "Where do you think they're going?" She asks as the sound gets closer. "Not sure," Joel says, "going to have to keep an eye out for more, though."

Chapter Text

6/13/2034

As soon as Ellie opens her eyes, it feels like a thousand tiny men are pounding on her skull. She groans, curling up and shoving her face into her hands.

"Dizzy again?" Joel says somewhere behind her. And fuck he's right, the world seems to be spinning around her. Ellie tries to sit up, but as soon as she does, she immediately flops back over.

She opens her mouth to talk, but the only thing that comes out is a squeak. Joel appears beside her, water bottle in hand. He pulls her to sit against his chest and presses the bottle to her mouth.

"Thanks," Ellie croaks. She grabs onto the flask, taking slow sips. When she's done, she wipes her mouth, eyes still closed while Joel rubs her back. "Do you think it could be?" She asks, "I'm only getting worse."

"I don't know, Kiddo," Joel says softly, "I don't want you to get your hopes up again." He kisses her shoulder. Ellie was no stranger to the common cold, but this seemed much worse. And unlike the flu, it didn't last all day. She'd feel better after a meal or some fresh air.

"Let's get you some food," Joel says, helping her slowly exit the tent. He guides her to lean against a tree. The fresh air helps soothe her nausea, but every time she opens her eyes, she feels like she's spinning in circles.

"I have some tests," Ellie says weakly. "What do you mean?" He responds, she can hear him restarting last night's fire. "Pregnancy tests," she clarifies, "I found them in a house we raided." Joel hums, "Those are definitely expired, baby."

"God damn it," Ellie rubs her temple, "I didn't know that could expire." She sounds pitiful and must look that way too. "I don't expect you to know the mechanics of a pregnancy test," he says. She can tell he's trying to help her feel not completely ignorant.

"When you feel a bit better, we can go over symptoms in that book of yours again," his voice is comforting. It makes her feel better. Ellie creaks open her eyes, and she runs her fingers through the grass. It's a beautiful morning, if only she didn't feel like her head is going to explode.

The wet grass tickles her bare legs as she watches Joel heat a can of vegetables. "I really hope it's real this time," she says, laying a hand over her stomach. He looks at her softly, "Me too, baby."

"Hey Joel," Ellie says, a small smile on her face. "Hmm?" He flips the can over. "Should someone have a baby after 35?" She asks, Joel starts to answer, confused when she giggles and says, "No! 35 children is enough!"

Joel shakes his head and smiles, "What am I going to do with you."

"If a stork is a bird that brings babies, what is the bird that prevents them?" Joel raises an eyebrow, "The Swollow!" Ellie awnsers herself and laughs. "I know you didn't make that one up yourself," he comments. Ellie mocks a frown, "Don't call me out like that, man."

"What do a pregnancy test and hummus have in common?" Her headache has almost dissipated, "They both require chickpea!" Joel snorts, "Do you even know what hummus is?" Ellie scratches her neck, "No."

Joel puts half the vegetables on Ellies plate and hands it to her. She downs the entire plate in a minute and steals part of Joel's when she's done.

---

"Cool! Traintracks," Ellie says, hopping onto one of the tracks. "Do you think there's a train nearby?" Joel shrugs, "I guess we'll find out."

Ellie walks through the middle of the tracks, jumping over the rails as she goes. Joel stands across from her on the grass. They're sheltered by the canopy of leaves. The trees are gigantic here.

Ellie picks flowers that are blooming around the rails. She puts a yellow one in her hair, then a blue one, then a pink one. Once she runs out of room on her head, she walks over to Joel and tucks one behind his ear.

"Pretty," she says, grinning. Joel sighs, "Don't think anyone has ever called me pretty before." Ellie gasps dramatically, "How rude." She picks another flower, "I, for one, think you are very pretty." He snorts in response.

He is pretty, well, she guesses pretty wouldn't exactly be the best way to put it. But he definitely isn't lacking in the looks department. Ellie looks at him, observing him for the billionth time, and she can't help but blush.

It isn't too long until the pair come across an abandoned train. Graffiti covered it head to toe, and vines covered that. The metal doors had all been popped open long ago.

Ellie runs her hand across the cold surface while she waits for Joel to hoist himself up. Then she grabs onto his hand, and he pulls her into the train. "I've never seen one of these in real life," Ellie says in wonder.

"Did you ride on them a lot?" She asks. Joel sets down on a crate and takes a sip from his bottle. "Naw' I had a car, trains where inconvenient," He says.

Ellie sits down next to him, "I wish I could ride on one of these. It must have been so cool." She swings her legs and leans against his shoulder.

Now that they've stopped moving, her head is starting to hurt again. "Nauseous baby?" Joel asks, rubbing her shoulder. She nods, wiping her eyes.

She's so exhausted. It can't hurt to close her eyes for just a few seconds.

---

Ellie wakes up and finds herself lying on the crate, head resting on Joel's jacket. "How long was I asleep?" She asks, sitting up. "About 40 minutes," Joel responds, sitting across from her.

She rubs her eyes and yawns. "Feel any better?" He asks, Ellie nods and stretches, "Yeah."

Joel helps her off the train. The entire thing had been looted a long time ago. Ellie looks at the visible graffiti lining the cars as they pass by.

"Chloe Was Here," one says above, "Rachel Was Here." They're in different handwritings, Ellie hopes that whoever they were, they're ok.

They soon find themselves on a gravel backroad, Ellie marks on her map when they come to a sign.

"Welcome to South Dakota," it says on top of an image of a rock with faces on it. "Great Places • Great Faces," Ellie points at the sign, "What is that?"

Joel smirks, "A sign." She groans, "You know what I mean." She pushes at his arm, "That, is Mount Rushmore." He explains, "They carved presidents' faces into the mountain." He scratches his beard, "People'd come from all over to look at it"

"That's fucking creepy," Ellie says, Joel laughs, "You said it kid."

Chapter Text

6/19/2034

Ellie marks the date in her journal as she finishes her sketch of the ducks that are playing in front of them. Her period is officially late, she notes. She grins at the paper, feeling hopeful. "My periods late," she says exitedly to Joel while dropping the journal into her backpack.

Joel hums in response, "Don't get your hopes up too much, baby," he says softly, rubbing his broken watch. Ellie keeps smiling anyway. She knows he just doesn't want her to get hurt again, but she's sure of it this time. She's going to have a baby.

Ellie rests a hand on her lower stomach while she finishes her lunch. One bite for her, one bite for baby, and so on. She can hear the stream softly splashing in front of her while she eats.

The stream is pretty, crystal blue water swirls around the bank where they're sitting on a bench. There's a stone path underneath them. Not gravel like Ellie's used to painstakingly walking on. But polished rocks that lead all around the small park.

The town is tiny and quiet from what they've seen so far. The only sound Ellie can hear as she takes the last bite of her squirrel are the sounds of birds chirping and water watering. "Do you think it's completely abandoned?" She asks with a full mouth.

"Maybe," Joel responds. They haven't gone into town yet. They had just finished surveying the park and exterior when they sat down for a break.

It looked abandoned from the outside. Only the occasional car litters the street. Not a body in sight. Which, now that she thinks of it, doesn't seem like a good sign. Joel had told her before that a town without bodies means that someone is around to remove said bodies. A shiver goes up her spine.

"You doing ok, Kiddo?" Joel asks, observing her face. This morning had been particularly bad. Every time she took a bite of food, she immediately vomited. But Ellie knew they needed to find a place to settle. She was taking too many sick days. It was slowing them down.

She does still have a stomachache, but it's worth it.

"Yeah," Ellie smiles at him,l she can't wait to have his baby. Joel rubs her shoulder. "Ready to go?" He asks. She nods, "Yup."

---

The town is silent, eerily so. You could probably hear a mouse shit a mile away. The only sound Ellie can hear as they wander down the main street is wind whistling.

Ellie can feel a looming sense of dread fall over the pair, but they're running out of food. They need to find supplies.

There's buildings on either side of the road, signs proclaiming the buildings content. It must have been such a cool place when Joel was a kid.

The pavement under them is cracked but not littered in potholes like the main roads. In fact, most of the buildings look in pretty good condition as well.

At least until they got to the midpoint of town. "Woah," Ellie says, walking up to the hellecopter that's nestled into the ground in an alleyway. Joel grabs onto her arm and yanks her back.

"Don't put your guard down, girl," Joel reminds her, pulling out his pistol and approaching the fallen chopper.

"Is that the one we saw before?" Ellie whispers exitedly. Sure enough, there's a FEDRA logo adorning the door. "I think so, kiddo," Joel says, kicking rubble out of the way as he approaches.

The windows are shattered, with bullet marks covering the outer shell. "What do you think happened?" Ellie asks, looking over Joel's shoulders as he clears the interior. "Someone shot at it," Joel awnsers.

Ellie groans, interlacing her fingers over her stomach. "No shit Sherlock, but who?" She sits down in the command seat and watches Joel scrub the inside.

"How am I supposed to know?" He asks, looking over his shoulder at her. Ellie shrugs. Joel sighs, "I don't know what the hell happened," he says, stepping out of the hellecopter, "But I sure don't want us to stick around long enough to find out."

Ellie rubs her stomach idly, he's right, they should get what they need and leave. But God, she'd love to explore this place all day. She wishes she could have a day to explore before the world went to shit. She could eat ice cream, she's never had ice cream before. Maybe even get Joel to buy her a record at the record store. They could see a movie. Go on a dinner date.

"Find anything?" Ellie asks, following him down the street. "A few bullets," he sighs and rubs his temple, "No food though."

---

Ellie watches in awe as Joel kicks another door in. It's incredible how he can just fucking do that! And how his leg hasn't dislocated by now.

She shadows him inside the newest building, a salon. "What are we looking for in here?" Ellie asks, tucking her pistol back in her belt after they swept the room.

"We're out of shampoo," Joel says, "Runnin' low on soap, need razors too." He concludes. Ellie nods and goes in her own direction.

She sorts through the hairdressing tables and gets a look at herself in the mirror for the first time in a few days. Ellie shudders, she looks like a mess, hair sticks to her face and flies around like it has its own mind.

Ellie undoes her ponytail and grabs a hair comb off the table. She brushes her hair back then ties it up again, much better. She smiles at herself.

She turns sideways and looks in the mirror at her stomach. Ellie lifts her shirt, grabbing at her belly, trying to find a bump. She is disappointed when she finds herself flat as a board. "You're not going to have a bump yet, sweetheart," Joel reassures her. Ellie blushes. She didn't know he was watching her.

Back to work! She digs through the drawers, finding the occasional small bottle of shampoo she can pour into their larger shares bottle. Ellie stacks them into a pile near the bag. She even finds conditioner, and it smells so good! Ellie shoves that into her own bag. Boys don't need that kind of stuff anyway.

Once she's done with her own sections, Ellie enters the second half of the salon. It's a jewelry store, attached to the salon with two giant glass doors that somehow remained intact over the decades.

A faded sign leaned against the door proclaims, "Free ear piercings with any purchase above $50." Ellie looks around for any supplies. She's been holding out for this.

She finds a room in the back, it has a little chair and rolly table. On the table, there are gause pads, sanitizing wipes, and volia! Piercing needles! Ellie shoves two of each into her backpack. Joel doesn't need to know about this one.

The main room has a giant circular table. It's made of glass and inside, is a shit ton of jewelry. Ellie grins, putting her hands to the glass to look over everything. Everything's so expensive, good thing there's no currency anymore.

The table isn't the only thing with jewelry in it. There's dozens of little spinning stands chalked full off the shiny stuff. Ellie reaches into one that's been pre-smashed and grabs a bracelet. It's got little gemstone fruits on it. It'll match the onesie!Ellie slips it into her pocket.

Ellie wonders back over to the ring section. She's read books where the characters get married. She knows what wedding rings are, and she fucking wants one. Ellie is going to have Joel's baby after all. She should be his wife.

She looks at one set, two rings stacked on top of one another. The lower ring is silver, with a pretty green gemstone in the middle. There's vines surrounding it, with smaller green gems in them. The top one is plainer, a silver band shaped like a vine.

Ellie wants them, wants them bad, but she wants Joel to be the one to get them for her. She wants a proposal, a wedding.

She almost jumps out of her skin when a hand lands on her back. Ellie spins around to find Joel looking at her. His face looks concerned, then soft. Ellie touches her face and realizes she's crying. Must be the pregnancy hormones.

Joel cups her chin and kisses her. "Which one?" He asks as if he had read her mind. Ellie grins and points at the one she'd been fawning over. "That one! The green viney one!" She says exitedly, bouncing on her heels.

"Yes ma'am," He grabs the small hammer off his backpack and shatters the glass case. Joel reaches his hand in and grabs the box with the rings.

Joel closes the box and turns to her, holding it behind his back. Ellie clasps her hands over her stomach and watches gleefully as he gets onto one knee.

He pulls the ring box out from behind his back, and Ellie makes a dramatic gasp and grins. Joel laughs softly and smiles at her. He pops open the box, and Ellie holds back tears as she sways back and forth.

"Eleanor Willia-" Joel's speech is cut off by Ellie jumping on top of him. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She says, punctuating each 'yes' with a kiss. When she finally releases him, she only does so to grab the box.

She puts the rings on, they're tight, she frowns. Joel grabs her hand, "You've got them on the wrong finger, baby," he explains. He gently pulls off the rings and places them onto her ring finger.

Ellie smiles at him. They fit perfectly. It must be the universe giving them a sign. Joel sits with his back against the table, Ellie sits in his lap, fiddling with her rings.

"Why are there two?" She asks. Joel holds her hand, "The top one, the plainer one, is a wedding ring," he explains, "The fancier one is the engagement ring."

"Oh," Ellie says, "So you get one in the proposal and one at the wedding?" She asks. Joel nods, "That's right." Ellie grins, "So does that mean we're married?" Joel laughs and kisses her hand, "I guess so."

"Wait!," Ellie says, stammering to her feet, "You need one too." Joel smiles as she drags him to look at the men's bands.

Chapter Text

6/19/2034

The deeper into town the pair dwelve the more military paraphernalia appears. Ellie kicks bullet shells out of their way. Militarized jeeps are left scattered around the road, every one of them empty.

Ellie yawns, it's getting late. "Are we going to stay here tonight?" She asks. "I'd rather not," Joel says, wary, "You gettin' real tired?" He asks. Ellies has been a lot more tired recently. It doesn't take much to wear her out. So Joel has thankfully been taking the brunt of the labor.

"I'll live," she awnsers, holding her stomach with the hand not on her pistol. Even with all of the battle rubble, they still haven't come across a single body. It's weird.

Ellie manages to walk for a few more minutes until her head starts spinning. "I think I need to sit down," she says in a daze. Ellie plops down on the curb, putting her head on her hands as she tries not to vomit.

She feels Joel sit next to her, and she hears the unzipping of her own backpack. He hands Ellie her bottle. The water is mixed with an electrolyte power they had found in a corner store a few days ago. Ellies is not too sure if it still works, though.

The moment the bottle hits her mouth, she vomits. There goes lunch. Joel rubs her back comfortingly as she coughs of bile. Her head is pounding when she hears Joel mutter, "I guess we know where the bodies went."

Ellie looks up to see a mass grave, bodies upon bodies stacked in a hole, all burnt beyond recognition. She vomits again. Tears are running down her face as well as snot. This isn't the best first day to have as a married couple. Ellie laughs pitifully as she looks at her wedding band.

She'd secured her fancy ring inside her backpack, away from dirt, chipping, and vomit, apparently. Joel massages her shoulders as she cries, her heads on fire.

"Let's get you inside somewhere," Joel says soothingly. He picks her up, and tears are still running down her face as he kisses her temple.

The closest shop is ironically a baby and maternity store. Ellie laughs at the cartoon of a happy woman holding her stomach, bullshit. The door is already unlocked, which sends alarm bells off in both their heads.

Joel sets Ellie down on a couch in the corner and wanders off somewhere, probably making sure no one is going to kill them. The wallpaper in the shop was blue, with storks carrying baby shaped bundles into houses. She tried to look at the baby items, but her eyes burned. So she shut them and lays her head on the couch cushion.

The couch is surprisingly soft, Ellie lazily runs her fingers over the velvety fabric. She hears something rustle, and suddenly, the room is covered in darkness.

Something enters her arms, her teddy bear. Ellie smiles into the curly fabric of the pushie. Joel had somehow found a blanket as well. He bundles her up in it.

And it doesn't take long for the exhaustion to set in, and for Ellie to slip into unconsciousness.

6/20/2034

Ellie's head still aches, but her nausea has worn down. She cracks her eye open, the the room is dark still, and quiet. Wonderfully quiet.

It takes a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She reaches her hand out and finds Joel's hair. He's sitting proped against the couch. Ellie can hear Joel's steady breathing next to her. She doesn't want to wake him up.

So she so she crawls to the other side of the couch. Ellie steps over Joel's legs and walks to the window. She peaks outside, still night-time, but the moon illuminates a strip of light on her face.

Ellie takes 'What to expect when you're expecting' and a flashlight out of her backpack. She hadn't gotten a good chance to finish reading it yet.

She lays down on a gigantic teddy bear in one of the corners. She shoves the flashlight between her head and shoulder to see the paper clearly and flips to the chapter on morning sickness.

"Morning sickness is a common pregnancy symptom, and even though the name suggests otherwise, it can occur at any point in the day." Ellie rolls her eyes. She already knew that much.

"It usually begins within the first month and tends to conclude around the fifteen week mark," fifteen more weeks of this shit? She groans then continues reading, "However, in some cases, it can last throughout the entire pregnancy." Ellie groans, she didn't know pregnancy was this much of a bitch.

Ellie rubs her stomach, "You better be worth it, asshole," she mumbles.

"A way to treat it is adding protein to your diet, dairy and nuts are a great way to help elevate symptoms," Ellie can't remember the last time she had milk, it has to have been years ago.

By the time Ellie has finished reading the chapter on morning sickness, there's light bleeding in through the blinds. She clicks off her flashlight and yawns.

Joel's still asleep, he looks peaceful.
There's no reason to wake him yet. Ellie pulls up the blinds furthest on the room slightly, just enough to see her way around.

Ellie walks around the store in awe. The isles are shaped like clouds, and there are racks and racks of baby and toddler clothes and toys.

She starts in the section with an indicator saying 'necessities.' The grabs a bag that's labeled a 'diaper bag.' Why do you need an entire bag just for diapers? Ellie is sure she can fit a lot more in here.

The bag she picks is yellow, and covered in little teddybear heads that remind her of her teddy. The swings it over her shoulder and continues down the isle.

Next she comes to bottles, she's going to breastfeed so she doesn't need one of those. She does grab a few bibs, however. And some babysized nailtrimmers since she probably can't chew those off without taking tiny toes with them.

Ellie puts two baby blankets into the bag, a thinner one and a thicker. She drops a mutipack of colorful pacifiers in behind them. She also grabs something called a 'baby wrap' with an image of a woman with a baby wrapped to her chest. A baby hair comb and toothbrush also enter the bag.

The next section is the clothing section. Ellie grins at the massive selection of clothes. She drops a few bodysuits and onsies for different age groups into the bag. She can reuse the baby ones for this little ones siblings.

Ellie gets three packs of socks, one for newborns, one for infants, and one for toddlers. They're all patterned. She can't wait for her babies to wear them. And ohh, the tiny hats she adores them, it's impossible to choose.

"You planning on carrying that?" Joel says behind her. Ellie jumps, then turns to him, "I figured we would swap," she says, "I take it one day you take it the other." She smiles, he laughs half-heartedly and rubs his temple.

Chapter Text

6/20/2034

Ellie pinches her nose shut as they walk over bodies of infected and uninfected. She's smelled some bad smells in her life, but this has to be in the top three. She hopes the baby can't smell this. They'll never want to come out!

She wouldn't blame them, though.

Ellie taps the bloated leg of a dead runner. It oozes out puss, and she gags. Nope! Nope! Cannot be good for fetal development.

She learned that "Fetus" was the fancy medical term for her baby while reading last night. Ellie also learned that her baby is about the size of a poppy seed. She's never actually seen a poppy seed, but she assumes it's really small.

Joel doesn't seem too bothered about the smell. But then again, he's wearing a mask to avoid spores. Maybe she should find a mask too, if only for stink.

They're walking through some sort of military base. It's sectioned off from the rest of the town with a large concrete wall. The gate of which was already open before they got there.

The brick walls of the buildings inside of the base are covered in blood and bullet holes. And the occasional body hanging from the window. The closer they got to the town the more bodies appeared, now they're in a mass grave.

"What do you think happened?" She asks Joel, who's a few paces ahead of her, scanning the area for anything with a pulse. "Someone got bit," he says, "hid it and turned, caused mass hysteria."

"Why do you think that?" Ellie questions, stepping over the rotting arm of an officer. She really doesn't like it here. It feels like all the bodies are watching them, eyes permanently forced open.

"I've seen it happen before," Joel responds.

"Oh," Ellie says, following him into an alleyway. "Then why are some bodies burnt and the others aren't?"

Joel sighs, "Maybe they thought they had eradicated the problem, but a second wave hit." He shrugs, "Hell I dunno' girl. Im just guessing, seems like the only plausible reason why only half the dead are cleaned up."

"Can we leave now?" She asks, rubbing her stomach. "That's the plan, this place is fuckin' creepy."

---

They where walking for what felt like eternity until they where far enough from town for Joel to feel comfortable sleeping. And it's just their luck that a small motel was near, miles away from town. Only a gas station and diner sit next to the worn building. Ellie doubts it was in the best condition even before the apocalypse. But it's better than grass.

Ellie stands by the entrance while Joel smashes the glass door with a rock. He steps inside the room, and Ellie follows behind him.

Striped blue wallpaper is peeling off the wall, exposing a dull yellow wall behind it. The wooden floors are coming up, and they creak as the pair walk over them. The front room furniture is covered in a thick layer of dust, and Ellie spots some mold growing on the ceiling. Must be water damage.

The air is heavy here. Joel pops the door to a backroom while Ellie rifles through the desk drawers. Ahah! A key, she pockets it, then follows Joel into the backroom.

"I found a key," she says, wandering over to where Joel is crouched. "What room?" He asks. Ellie looks at the number attached to the Keychain, "16." Joel nods, "There's a few water jugs in here. We can check out the room and then come back."

"Ok," Ellie hands off the key to him and laces her fingers over her stomach.

---

Ellie lies back on the bed while Joel fills the tub. She hopes they settle near a lake so she can bathe more often. She hates being grimey like this. Her nails have a layer of dirt caked under them, she picks at them.

"Come on' girl," Joel calls. Ellie groans and pulls herself off the bed. He's already cleaned off but left the majority of the water so she could take an actual bath.

The warm water soothes her achey body and relieves her headache slightly. Ellie closes her eyes while Joel washes her hair and body. She hums a tune to a song she can't remember the name of and lets herself rest for a while.

They sit in silence, and she wonders how the baby feels right now. Do they feel emotions yet? Can they read her thoughts? She hopes not.

Her pregnancy book told her to avoid stress in the first trimester. Which she hasn't done a great job of so far. But maybe this will make up for it.

Joel scratches Ellie's scalp and she purrs. She loves being doted on. She had never gotten affection before Joel, and she hopes this attention will only increase with her bump.

She can imagine it now, relaxing on their couch, in their home. With a baby bump, she'd be able to walk around in only his shirt because none of her clothes would fit anymore. Ellie grins while Joel cleans under her nails.

He'd take care of her, rub and kiss her belly, tell her and the baby how much he loves them.

Joel rinses her hair a final time and kisses her cheek before draining the tub. Ellie wishes the pampering had lasted longer. She steps out of the bath and wraps herself in the towel Joel is holding up for her.

Ellie eyes her backpack in the corner of the room. "Go on to bed," she smiles, "I'll be out in a minute." Joel looks slightly confused but still nods, "Alright."

She dries off quickly, scrunching her hair in the towel. When Ellie decides she's thoroughly dry, she peaks her head out of the bathroom. He's still awake, perfect.

Ellie pulls the red lingerie out of her backpack. She slips on the panties and top. It's loose, and it dangles over her waist in an upside down V shape. Exposing her stomach. She sways back and forth.

The underwear is tiny and unpractical. She loves it. Both items are sheer and lacey. A rose pattern embedded in the lace. Ellie brushes her hair. It's below her shoulders now. And she smiles at herself in the mirror before marching into the main room.

Joel is sitting on the bed in his underwear. He's reading the map. Ellie climbs onto the bottom of the bed, causing him to look up. He puts down the map and raises his eyebrows, the edges of his mouth perking up.

"Where did you get that?" He says lightly. Ellie grins, "Somewhere." She crawls across the bed until she's right in front of him. She sits back on her kalves.

Joel grabs onto her waist and pulls her forward. He kisses her, and works his hands down to her ass. "Pretty," he says. "So fuckin' pretty," he spreads the words out between kisses.

He guides her onto her back. Joel starts kissing down her, starting with her forehead, to nose. He breaks at her chest, covering her tits with love bites and hickes.

Joel kisses her stomach, then her thighs, and finally, he reaches her panties. He pulls the fabric down, out of his way, and presses his lips to her swollen clit.

Ellie groans, spreading her legs as far apart as she can manage. The lacy underwear stays attached to one of her ankles, dangling there while she moans.

He focuses his energies on her clit, sucking and licking it in a pattern that makes her eyes roll and legs twitch. It doesn't take long for her eyes to snap shut and her mouth to hang open.

Ellie cums, wrapping her thighs around Joel's head. She puts her hands in his hair while her back arches.

Joel's hands are warm as he snakes them up her waist. He pulls off her top and kisses her neck. Ellie reaches her hand down and cups his bulge. She squeezes slightly, hoping he'll take the hint.

And as always, he does. Joel pulls down his boxer briefs as Ellie spreads her legs. He's slow to enter her. She lifts her head, pressing their lips together as he starts to pump in and out.

He makes love to her slowly, gently. Ellie hooks her legs around his hips, reaching her hands up to tangle in his hair as he starts to go deeper. She hums against his lips.

Joel starts to thrust faster. He pulls away from her mouth and presses his forehead to hers. "Such a good girl for me," he says breathaly. Ellie's mouth falls ajar, and she moans.

He kisses her nose, grunting with every thrust. Ellie grinds against him, her inner walls contracting every time he hits a good spot. "Atta' girl," Joel praises as her moans pick up and her legs squeeze around him.

"Go on then, kiddo," he encourages, Ellie's head falls back as she comes. Her eyes fall shut while Joel's thrusts become more and more sporadic. She runs her fingers through his hair.

Ellie smiles lazily as she feels a sudden warmth inside of her. They stay intertwined until he completely goes soft and flops over next to her. Joel pulls her onto his chest and kisses her forehead.

"Is it any better now that I'm your wife?" Ellie laughs. Joel presses his lips against her head, "Gets better every time."

Chapter Text

7/6/2034

She could be imagining it, but Ellie swears she can see a tiny bump. She looks at her reflection in the puddle situated in a pothole. Ellie turns, lifts up her shirt, and observes her stomach carefully. She turns to look at herself in mutiple angles.

There's definitely a bump there. She rubs her lower tummy gently, hoping to feel even the tiniest of flutters. Although she knows it's too early for that. "You better grow fast," Ellie whispers to her stomach, "I want to meet you soon."

When Ellie looks back up, she sees that Joel hadn't stopped for her. She groans, he's barely in sight. She runs down the road after him, worn out converse, smacking the damp pavement loudly.

"Wait up!" She shouts. They're in the middle of nowhere somewhere in rural Wyoming. Ellie is starting to get annoyed, Joel kept passing by perfectly good houses. She doesn't want to spend her birthday on the road, and she definitely doesn't want to give birth on the road.

"When are we going to settle down? We've passed so many good houses," Ellie complains, sluggishly walking behind him. "Want somewhere remote," he says, "houses bordering mainroads are not remote," Joel clarifies, looking over his shoulder at her.

Ellie rolls her eyes, they hadn't seen another person in weeks. Hell, they've barely come across any infected. The occasional runner cut off from a horde sure, but nothing insurmountable.

Joel is just being paranoid. Even the QZs had some infected. She rubs her scar, case and point.

"Which road?" Ellie asks as they come up to a forested thoroughfare. "You got the map, Kiddo," Joel responds, stopping to look at her while she pulls the paper out of her bag.

"First path on the left," She says, looking down at the map of the area. They had picked up the map at a visitors center a few days ago, along with a blue trucker cap. The hat said "Wyoming" in large print over "Forever West." There was the outline of a cowboy on it.

Ellie adjusts the cap. Her ponytail swings through the hole on the back as they approach the turn. She tucks the map back into the diaper bag swung across her chest and tries to win her one-sided race with Joel.

The pair crosses an overgrown bridge. It's momemts away from collapsing under them, the supports are rusted over, and the concrete is cracking. A shallow stream splashes under them as their shoes crunch on vines. And warm light pours in through the trees surrounding them.

Ellie whistles back to the birds as they walk. She's getting better at it. "Should have never taught you to do that," Joel grumbles behind her. Ellie whistles in response.

She keeps up a conversation with the birds for a few miles. Ellie likes to imagine it's the same bird following them. Maybe it will follow them all the way to their new home.

A butterfly lands on Ellies arm. It licks her and flutters its wings. "Sorry, I don't have any pollen, little guy."

Another fun thing Ellie had picked up in the visitors center was a native bug identification manual. She pulls the book out of her backpack and puts a check mark next to 'anise swallowtail' as it flutters away from her.

Some may say that it moved away too quickly to be sure of it's identity. But it isn't like anyone is checking.

Ellie sighs in relief as they finally come across a gas station. Her feet desperately need a break.

---

Joel opens the shattered doorframe. Ellie grabs her pistol as the door creeks open. The glass crunches beneath Joel's boots as they enter the building. Ellie cringes, she hates that sound.

Ellie jumps as a stalker runs at her from across the room. She puts two bullets in its head. The monster collapses, making a low gurgling noise until Joel puts a third round in it, putting it out of its misery.

Joel stays in front of her, scanning through the isles of the small shop. A second stalker is lying in the back isle. It's missing a leg. Unable to move quickly, it's easily killed by Joel.

The pair finish clearing the building quickly. It's routine at this point.

Ellie spots something shiny on a shelf. She wonders over to the object. It's a tiny car, and it has friends. She squats to get a better look at them. There's so many, she grins picking up a yellow one with a VW logo. It's shaped like a bus, but it's very round rather than a square schoolbus. She can kinda see why people used to obsess over these things. It's pretty.

She flicks the wheels, and they move with a mechanical noise. Ellie grins before putting the toy on the floor and pulling back. The car zooms across the store.

Ellie picks up as many as she can carry and tip toes around the store looking for Joel. She finds him looking through the medication aisle. She pulls back one of the cars and aims it at his feet.

It hits his boot. He looks at it than the end of the aisle she's standing at. Ellie whips around the corner before he can spot her. Then, she picks up another car and blindly shoots it down the aisle.

One of the cars comes zooming back over to her. She giggles and aims another one at him. Joel pushes the second one back at her, and the cars collide. "Boom!" Ellie laughs, shooting another one.

She's definitely taking one of these, or two.

"I see why you guys were so obsessed with these things," Ellie says, aiming another car. "These are retro cars, way more personality than most cars people had."

Ellie laughs, "You mean 'Back in my day everyone drove grey blocks'," she imitates his voice. Joel sighs, "I do not sound like that."

"Yes you do," Ellie responds in a sing-song voice as another pair of cars crash into each other.

Chapter Text

7/13/2034

"Joel, look!" Ellie shouts, pointing at figures moving in the distance. Joel hums, "I see em." She turns to look at him, then back at them again. "What are those things?" She asks, walking a little faster through the knee-high grass.

Joel scratches his beard, walking alongside her. "That there kid' is the American Buffalo." Ellie wishes she had a camera. They're so awesome.

"Where almost extinct," Joel comments, holding onto her arm to stop her from getting too close to the heard. There are at least 50 of them, of all different sizes are shapes. So cool. "Then why are there so many?" Ellie asks. Her sneakers dig into the dirt as she stands on her toptoes to watch. She swats at a mosquito that lands on her arm.

"I guess with most of the humans gone, they had time to repopulate without the danger of poachers," He awnsers, loosening his grip on her arm now that the Buffalo have mostly crossed. "Alright," Ellie responds, that makes sense.

She guesses that is a good thing about the pandemic. Nature had time to breathe.

"How many animals do you think have repopulated?" Ellie asks, Joel shrugs, "No idea, kiddo, hope a lot of em' did." She nods in response.

"Do you think the mammoth will come back?" She asks. Joel laughs, "I doubt it." Ellie frowns. She was really hoping to see one. She had read about them in a few dinosaur books she'd found back in school.

"Hey Joel?" Ellie says. "Yes?" He responds, lost in thought.

She spins around to face him and walks backwards while she talks. "What do you a dinosaur wearing a cowboy hat?" Joel laughs, "What do you call a dinosaur with a cowboy hat?" He raises his eyebrows at her while she grins.

"A Tyrannosaurus Tex!" She giggles, mimicking his Texas accent. "Who makes the beat reptile clothes?" Ellie questions. "Who?" Joel responds in a sarcastic tone. "A dino-sewer!" She exclaims. "Get it? Because dino and sewer? Like what you do with thread?"

Joel sighs dramatically, "Yeah, I got it."

"Do you know how long dinosaurs lived?" Ellie asks in a serious tone. "Nope," Joel says as they step onto a gravel road out of the grass. "The same as the short ones!"

---

The sound of water splashing onto shore can be heard as the pair exit the woods onto a grassy plane. Ellie looks at her map, "This river is giant!" She says, pointing into the distance where the map says it's at. "Can we take a bath? I'm so grimey," she complains, shoving the map back into her pocket as they trudge up a short hill.

"Holy shit Joel!" Ellie exclaims, pulling on his arm. It's a beautiful sight, crystal clear river surrounded by grass, nestled inside of a forest.

Ellie runs down the hill over to the shore. "God damnit," Joel grumbles, "I'm too damn old to be chasin' after you, girl." He follows behind her at a slower rate as she sprints through the grass.

She sets down on a rock next to the bank and chugs down the rest of her water. Then she ducks the bottle into the river and refills it. "You still gotta purify that," Joel warns.

Ellie looks over at him, shielding her eyes from the setting sun. "I thought river water was pure," she says. Joel shakes his head and sits down next to her. "Don't drink that unless you want a brain eating amoba," he says.

"What the hell is a brain eating amoeba?" She asks, pursing her brows. "An amoeba that eats your brains," Joel responds with a laugh. "Sounds make up," Ellie concludes.

She doesn't drink it anyway, just in case.

Ellie stands up on the rock, balancing haphazardly. "Hey Joel?" She says, "I think there's a house over there." Joel turns to look in the direction she's facing, "I think you're right, kiddo."

---

"What's that on top of the cabin?" Ellie asks as they approach the building. "Those are solar-panels, they make electricity," Joel awnsers, hand placed on the pistol in his pocket. "How do they do that?" She asks, looking between him and the house as they slowly approach.

"Something about sunrays, hell kid I donno," he sighs. Ellie huffs, "Ya'know you could have just made something up, and I would have believed you, right?" Joel laughs, "I'm sure."

The house is made of logs. It's about two stories high with a chimney on either end. And there looks to be a teeny tiny barn next to it. Along with a fenced off area with something inside that Ellie can't quite make out what it is.

There's a few planters lining the house, growing various different plants. And as they get closer, it's obvious no one has tended to the harvest in a while. It's overgrown, but God, those vegetables look good.

"What is this place?" Ellie asks as they are feet away from the back of the house. "This kid is a homestead," Joel responds, "A small one but one none the less."

Joel pulls the pistol out of his pocket as they round the building to the front porch. But instead of an angry homeowner, they find an old couple.

The pair are dead, have been for at least a few days as flies are surrounding them, and there's a chicken pecking at the woman's foot. The couple are sitting in matching rocking chairs, holding hands with their eyes closed.

Ellie could almost believe they were sleeping if not for the obvious smell of decay surrounding them.

Chapter Text

7/13/2034

"Holy shit Joel it turns on!" Ellie says, flicking the light switch on and off. Joel grabs onto her hand, "It won't for long if you burn it out." She huffs and walks to the middle of the room.

"Woah." The interior is made of logs, too. The furniture seems to be in good condition, Ellie runs her hand over the soft couch to make sure. Yup! Soft. There's a fireplace against the wall, a mounted deer head hangs above it. "Hey dude," Ellie says to it, saluting.

She wanders over to the kitchen while Joel checks the rest of the house for people. Ellie doubts there is anyone else here. Why would the couple be decaying out there? Wouldn't they have cleaned them up by now?

The stove has a drawer with wood inside. Maybe it's like a fancy campfire? When Ellie opens the fridge, she's shocked to feel cold air hit her face. It fucking works! She bounces on her heels in excitement. It's smaller than most fridges she's seen, and she's disappointed to find that most of the food inside has gone bad.

Ellie opens the cabinet. Jackpot! They're full of canned goods, and by the fact they're in glass jars, she assumes they're homecanned. Ellie wonders if it'll taste any different from the mass-produced stuff.

She looks up to see Joel on the second story landing. "All clear?" Ellie asks. Joel nods, "Yeah."

The only room on the bottom floor is a half bathroom. Ellie turns the faucet and wants to scream when water comes pouring out. She pokes her head out of the room and yells, "There's running water!"

Ellie stomps up the stairs, observing photos hanging on the walls as she goes. They are dated all the way back to the 1960s. Photos of children, weddings, happy families gathered around a couch or tree, smiling.

The couple must be ancient. She hopes they won't mind her taking over the house. Maybe even putting a few of her own photos up if she can find a camera.

---

The first room on the second floor is a bedroom. It's small, with a twinsize bed in the middle. A large wardrobe sits on the opposite side of the room. And a tall mirror leans next to it. There's a rug under the bed. It's pretty but faded. A flower shaped lamp sits on the nightstand.

Ellie shuts the door. This will make a good room for her kids.

The second room is another small bathroom. Ellie stands in awe at the tub-shower combo before leaving to explore the rest of the final rooms. The water in that thing better work.

The third room is another bedroom. This one is even smaller than the last. Perfect for a nursery, Ellie notes. Unlike the last bedroom, it is completely empty other than a rocking chair matching the ones on the porch. And a matching faded floral rug.

Ellie takes a minute to imagine what the room will look like once she's finished making it into a nursery. She bounces on her heels as she imagines the crib. Joel would make it, of course, and she'd sew the bedding. Once she figured out how to sew....

The fourth and final room is a medium-sized one. This is going to be her room, she decides. Joel can stay too, since she's nice like that.

Ellie jumps onto the queen bed as she surveys the room. There's a skirt on the bed, and the quilt is thick, and she bets it's soooo comfortable.

A rug is under this bed, too. However, it's a different design and even more faded than the others. There is a nightstand on either side, each with a different lamp. On the outer side, a small clock ticks on the table. On the inner, a book sits with reading glasses on top.

A similar wardrobe is against the wall in here, but with an armchair next to it instead of a mirror. Which is hanging on another wall.

Ellie lies back on the bed and sighs happily as Joel enters the room. "I don't care what you say!" Ellie proclaims, "We're staying here! I'm vetoing." Joel laughs and scratches his beard, "I guess we can hang around for awhile, see how it works."

---

Ellie shovels the last bit of dirt out of the grave. It's late, the last bit of sun is peaking through the trees. It's been an exhausting day. She grabs the quilt, and Joel helps her spread it out inside the hole. It's what Joel called a memory quilt. It's covered in photos of them and their family, award ribbons and uniforms.

They carry the woman to the grave and place her in gently, and then they do the same with the man. Ellie puts their hands together, and the pair wrap the old couple in the quilt.

"Thank you for letting us have your house," Ellie says, holding a lone flower. "I hope you two are together and happy wherever you are." She drops the flower on the wrapped up bodies and looks at Joel, who's leaning on the shovel and nods.

Joel starts sholving the dirt onto them. Ellie had picked the burial spot to be under an apple tree. It's a bit of a ways from the house, but it seemed right.

Ellie hums a song while she etches into the tree with her hunting knife. "In memory of Marlon and Florence, they loved each other." She writes the date of their wedding under the tree. She figured it out by a photo of their wedding in an album she snooped through.

Ellie wishes she knew their birthdays, or even how old they were. But she's thankful that they built this house, with all of its amenities.

And she hopes they don't haunt her.

Chapter Text

7/13/2034

Ellie shivers as she leaves the shower. Cold air smacks her in the face. Joel scrunches her hair in a towel before wrapping it around her.

"I've never had a hot shower before," she says, sitting down on the toilet. Joel spits the baking soda mixture into the sink, "Watcha think?" He asks, then rinses his toothbrush under the water stream.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" She grins, "Because this is all too good to be real." She scratches her thigh where the shadow of cum still remains even after being washed off.

"I hope you're not kiddo," Joel responds. He towels off his hair, exposing himself. Ellie stares. She wishes she wasn't so tired so they could go again. "You better enjoy them now, soon you won't be able to take em' anymore."

Ellie snaps out of her daze and frowns, "Why not?" Joel pulls on his underwear and pants while talking, "Can't take hot showers or baths after the second trimester."

She crosses her arms and huffs, "That's not fair!" Ellie complains. This baby better be fucking worth it man. Joel hands her toothbrush to her, "I don't make the rules kid."

---

Ellie helps Joel spread the blanket on the bed they've stripped. It felt creepy sleeping on the same sheets as a now dead couple. No, they needed a fresh start, fresh sheets.

She climbs into the freshly made bed and sighs happily when her head hits the cool pillow. Ellie watches as Joel flicks off the overhead light. She can suddenly see light haloing onto her from the lamp on her nightstand.

Ellie had taken the far side of the bed, just in case someone broke in, Joel could pop up and defend her. In fact, there was a rifle placed under his side of the bed for that exact situation.

The cabin seems remote, hell, the couple managed to live here for decades without being raided. Hopefully they'll have the same luck.

"Turn your lamp off baby," Joel says, climbing in next to her. Ellie turns and pulls the string. The light clicks off and the room is basked in darkness.

Joel pulls her back against his chest and kisses her hair. "Goodnight," he says, but she's too asleep to awnser.

---

7/14/2034

Light has already creeped up through the window and onto the floor when Ellie wakes up. Her eyes slowly peak open to see the lacey curtains shaping the sunrays into floral patterns on the wood.

She can see the woods from this view and a tiny sliver of the lake. Ellie yawns and rubs Joel's hand that's wrapped protectively around her stomach. He mumbles something in his sleep.

Ellie decides to let him sleep in. It's been a long week, and they can use the rest.

When Ellie opens her eyes again, the sun has moved. And Joel's hand is no longer around her. She flips in the bed and sees him sitting at the edge, sorting through his backpack.

Ellie sits up and crawls to sit next to him. "Watcha doin'?" She asks, tapping his foot with hers. Joel scratches his beard, "Figuring out if we should wash our clothes before putting them away."

"There's stuff to wash our clothes?" Ellie questions, looking at the stuff he's piled on the floor. Joel nods, "Saw a washing tub and clothes line outside."

"We should wash them," Ellie decides and stands up. She stretches and scratches her exposed belly. "I'm hungry."

---

Joel unscrews a can of peaches and adds a few slices to their plates. Ellie flips the thin slices of deer placed on the stove top. Improvised bacon Joel had called it. She's never had bacon, so she guesses there's nothing to compare it to.

The dish set is pretty. The plates have fruit designs on them, and the bowls and cups match. Ellie carries her peach plate and glass over to the dining table, and Joel follows with his orange ones.

Wind blows through the open kitchen window as the pair eat their breakfast. Ellie sips down her iced water quickly. The ice adds such a good flavor to it. She kicks her legs back and forth while she finishes her deer.

Ellie sticks her fork into a slice of peach, syrup drips off of it, and onto the plate. She takes a bite and it is the best thing she's ever eaten.

She attempts to savor the precious fruit for as long as she can. And when Ellie takes her last bite Joel pushes one of his slices onto her plate.

---

Ellie marches onto the back porch with a basket of laundry. But what she finds causes her to drop it, laundry falling into the wooden deck.

"What is that?" She asks Joel, squinting her eyes while she looks over the strange animal. It turns its head and looks at her, it's pupils are square, and Ellie swears its looking into her soul.

"That is a goat, Joel says. Ellie steps back against Joel's chest as the thing walks up to her and brushes its horns and face against her leg. "I thought goats lived on mountains?" She asks, confused.

"They're a common farm animal," Joel explains, "And by the looks of it, we have a few new animals to take care of." He points to a fenced off area.

Sure enough, chickens peck around at the grass a few feet away. Two additional goats stand on the roof of their shed, watching Ellie and Joel from a distance.

Joel scoots around her and walks over to the pin, Ellie follows close behind, leaving their clothes abandoned on the porch.

He steps over the short fence, and she follows. Chickens flock over to them, yelling obscenities in their bird language. "They're hungry," Joel says, "Stay here. I'm going to look for chicken feed."

Ellie sits down on the ground and lets the chickens inspect her. It's smelly, and she has to avoid poop as she settles. She counts seven living chickens and a rooster who's being kept in a different section. They all peck lightly at her shoes and legs, flaping their wings in confusion at the new person in front of them.

They need names she decides, and pets the head of a particularly cute one and tries to think of a name for it. This will be good practice for naming her own babies.

"You're Janice," she points to it. "And you're Jane, and Lily, and George, and Kevin, and Bob, and Barbra." Ellie points to the rooster who's giving her a death glare, "You're nugget."

Joel returns with a bag of seeds. He tosses it over the fence before crossing it himself. Ellie stands up and brushes dirt off the back of her jeans. He pulls out his pocket knife and opens a hole in the giant bag.

Joel takes a handful of seeds and throws it on the ground, then repeats it once per chicken. "Don't get near that fella'," he says, nodding to the rooster who's circling its pin.

"Why not?" Ellie asks, looking at the strange bird. "Roosters tend to be violent," he awnsers, throwing a handful of seed into the roosters enclosure. It pecks angerly at the pile, stopping occasionally to size up Ellie and Joel.

"How are we going to get to the goats?" She asks, looking at the animals still standing on top of the building. Joel scratches his beard.

"We'll uh, figure it out."

Chapter Text

7/17/2034

Ellie stands in front of the full-length wooden mirror in their bedroom. She holds up her tanktop and relaxes her stomach. A small bump has appeared on her tummy. And she's definitely not imagining it this time. "Do you see a bump?" She asks, looking at Joel's reflection in the mirror.

"A little one," he says, "Probably more apparent since you're small." He sits in a chair across the room, reading a western book. The bedroom window is open, and the cool morning wind blows the lace curtains back and forth.

She can hear birds outside chirping their morning tune, overrun by nugget screaming his beek off. Ellie hopes he won't wake the baby when they're born. She knows babies need a lot of sleep.

The baby should be around the size of a raspberry, which she only knows the size of since there are some canned in the pantry. Ellie can't imagine a baby being that tiny. She wishes she could look inside and see for herself.

Ellie drops her shirt and goes to mark the date. "Three days until my birthday," she says, smiling. She puts a check on the dry-erase calendar and turns to Joel. "What are you going to get me?" She asks playfully.

"You'll see," Joel responds, eyes remaining on his novel. "Better be good," she comments, "I am making your baby after all."

"And who gave you the baby?" He asks sarcasticly. Ellie throws a pillow at his head in response, knocking his book to the ground.

---

"Are you sure it's not going to close by itself?" Ellie asks nervously. She rubs her belly as she watches Joel lean a metal milk jug on the open cellar door to keep it open. "It ain't going to close, baby," he says, then grabs onto the interior handle and shakes, "And even if it does, you can open it from the inside."

Joel softens his face and looks at her worried expression, "You don't have to come down if you don't want to." Ellie shakes her head, "I do," she says, "Let's just go."

She takes a step to the staircase and then moves back slightly. Ellie ushers to the hole, "Elders first." Joel snorts then takes a step down the short staircase. There's a door at the end. Ellie can make out some objects through the glass panels.

Joel grabs a set of keys hanging on the concrete wall and unlocks the door. When he turns the knob and pulls it open, some of the already cracked white paint falls off onto the ground.

The door creeks loudly as he opens it, letting light pool onto the basement floor. Ellie follows him down the stairs only after he clicks the lights on, fully illuminating the cluttered room.

A light blulb dangles in the middle of the room. Ellie heads over to a large stack of newspapers, dated all the way back to the early 70s. They're crumbling, and one of the older ones breaks in half when she picks it up.

Ellie turns to see Joel looking through stacks and stacks of canned food. Some stores bought some homemade. Along with them are tubs of pasta and various other foods that don't tend to expire.

"I thought the infection started through wheat?" she says, looking at a tub of spaghetti. "Not all of it was compromised. It mostly came from lower quality ingredients." Joel explains, flipping the can over. "This seems to be homemade anyway."

Ellie remembers the tubs of seeds in the upstairs pantry. There are a few different types of wheat and corn among them.

Furniture is stacked on the opposite side of the room. Some in boxes, some just lying on the ground or proped against the wall.

Ellie starts going through the pile of stuff. She finds deconstructed dressers, bedframes, and desks. There's a few small mattresses piled in a corner, boxes labeled "sheets" stacked on top of them.

The best find they come across in the pile is a crib. Ellie can not get a good idea of what it looks like in this position. It's stacked planely in a blank box labeled "Jane's Crib."

When Ellie goes to start pulling pieces out, Joel stops her, "It's getting late. We can go through the rest another day." And sure enough, when she looks to the door, the light peaking in has dimmed dramatically. She suddenly feels a little chilly.

"Sure," she nods, a little disappointed. But he's right. It's going to be months before the baby is born. There's no need to rush. Even though she really wants to.

---

Ellie opens the movie book and flips through the pages filled with DVDs. There's a lot of Western and romance movies. They haven't had the chance to actually watch one of these yet, been too busy cleaning up the garden and taking care of the animals.

Running the homestead was exhausting. But now that everything was mostly in order, they can hopefully watch movies more often. Ellie has made it her mission to watch every movie in the big DVD book. Even if it takes her years.

She hasn't seen a real movie in years since she was in the orphanage. And even then, the movies were all educational. The only 'movie' FEDRA played was propaganda they'd play in an assembly every month.

Ellie pushes the chosen disc into the DVD player. She settles down on the carpet and leans against Joel's leg, where he's sitting on the couch. The small box TV powers onto the movie menu page.

The menu is of what looks to be a museum entrance. A big dinosaur fossil sits in the middle. And wrapped around it are the movie options. Ellie presses play, and the Jurrasic Park theme plays.

Ellie pushes her fork into a pile of scrabled eggs on her plate. Her body has been begging her for protein recently. She bets her baby is going to come out like a wrestler.

The movie starts, and she's enamored. Ellie lifts her biscuit and takes a bite. She doesn't take her eyes off the screen as apple jelly drips off her chin and onto her shirt.

Fire roars in the fireplace, and Ellie wraps a blanket around her shoulders. It gets chilly here at night, even during days when she thinks the sun is going to set her ablaze. Thankfully, they have the house to shield them now. She's not sure how she even survived all that walking.

Ellie watches intently as the Tyrannosaurus stops around the cars. She laughs at the jokes and is nervous during the intense scenes. So cool. She's on the edge of her seat the entire movie. Joel was right. This movie is amazing.

They're going to be watching this movie every night forever.

When the movie ends and the screen goes back to the menu, Ellie yawns. "Did they have the sequels too?" Joel asks. Ellie turns to look at him slowly, "There are more of these?"

Chapter Text

7/20/2034

A warm sensation builds in Ellie's stomach. She breathes a soft moan and rubs her eyes lazily. Something wet hits her clit and her breath hitches. Rough hands press onto her thighs, pushing them further apart.

Ellie presses her head back against the pillow as her back arches. Her toes flex, and she squeezes onto her teddy bear. She reaches down and presses onto Joel's head with her free hand, nuging rapidly.

Fingers enter her, and she squeaks. Ellie's moans increase, she palms at her sensitive breasts, eyes squeezed shut. Joel must have been working on her for a while in her sleep because it doesn't take long for her to start screaming.

She comes hard, eyes rolling into the back of her head as she grasps onto the bed sheets. Ellie's eyes flutter slowly as she basks in the afterglow. Joel crawls up the bed and rests next to her.

He kisses up her neck, jawline, cheek, then reaches her mouth. Joel pulls her in, slipping his hand up his shirt that she's stolen to sleep in. He grabs at her ass and rubs down the back of her thigh.

Ellie can taste herself as they kiss. She wraps her arms around him and slings her leg over his hip. They make out sloppily and slowly, savoring each other.

When Joel pulls away momentarily, Ellie lets out a needy huff. "Happy birthday, baby," he says and palms her butt. She shoves her mouth against his again and grabs at his bulge.

She pushes him onto his back, not breaking contact as she climbs onto his chest. Ellie reaches into his underwear and pulls his cock out and gives it a tug. She pulls away from his lips and aligns herself over him.

The initial stretch causes her to moan, mouth open as she starts to grind down onto him. Ellie plants her hands onto his chest and starts bouncing. Joel aids her, grabbing onto her hips and guiding her up and down.

Ellie yelps as Joel hits a spot, he places a thumb onto her clit and she practically screams. She's been so sensitive since she got pregnant. The normal pain she feels from going overboard on sex is still there, but it's overwhelmed by her hormones constantly begging for more and more.

Joel grunts as he starts thrusting faster, deeper. Ellies hands move up her chest, pulling off his shirt. She grabs onto her breasts and her head falls back as he fucks all sense out of her brain.

Her vision goes white as she climaxes, going limp only held up by Joel's grasp on her hips. It doesn't take long for him to join her. He spurts inside of her and loosens his grip.

Ellie leans forward and places her head in between his shoulder and neck. Joel rubs her back gently as they recover. "That better not be the only gift you got me," Ellie jokes, voice raspy.

Joel laughs softly and pats her butt, "Naw' just wanted to start the day off right." Ellie rolls off him and sits up. She notices he looks rather put together. Glancing at the clock she realizes it's noon, he must have let her sleep in.

"How long have you been awake?" She asks. He shrugs and kisses her stomach before sitting up. "A few hours," Joel kisses her cheek, "Wanted to finish your present before you woke up."

---

Ellie watches over Joel's shoulder as he flips the batter disk. The top is crispy and golden brown. The goat butter they had made the day before sizzles in the pan. "Stop hovering and grab the syrup," he says.

She grumbles and heads to the pantry. The syurp is on the top shelf. She grabs the step stool and balances on her tiptoes. Ellie grabs the pecan syrup and heads back over to the stove.

Joel stacks another pancake on the pile and then snuffs out the fire heating the stove top. Ellie grabs at the plate, and Joel bats her hand away.

He places the pancake plate in the middle of the dining table and pushes one onto each of their plates.

Ellie turns the syrup over onto her pancakes and lets a large blob form before passing the bottle to Joel. She spreads the syrup all over the disc and takes a bite, and it's incredible.

"I can't believe we haven't eaten these before!" She says, taking another large bite. "Didn't have any butter to make it," Joel responds. Ellie grins, "We're making them every morning from now on."

"I don't know about all that," Joel says, scratching his beard.

Once they finish their breakfast Joel stands up, "I'll be right back," he says. He takes their plates to the kitchen, placing them in the sink before heading up the stairs.

When he comes back down he's holding a plane box. Joel places the cardboard box on the table in front of her. Ellie grins and moves onto her knees so she can get a better angle.

She tears the tape off of it and yanks open the flaps. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" She repeats, bouncing onto her feet. Ellie pulls out the copies of Savage Starlight and the stack of trading cards. "How long have you been holding onto these?" She asks.

"Been collecting them for a few months," Joel responds. She grins and hugs him, "Thank you!" Ellie sorts through the issues. She doesn't have any of these yet! This is amazing.

"I got you something else," He says. Ellie turns to him again? "Hm?"

---

They stand in front of the bedroom door, Ellie turns the knob and opens it. She steps into the now furnished room. Joel's put together the nursery furniture from the basement.

Ellie brushes her fingers over the wooden crib. A mobile hangs above it, with ferns, monkeys, and giraffes. She spins it, and it starts singing a nursery rhyme she doesn't know.

It's a dark wood shade, with curved head and foot boards. An older style, and even has a bedskirt. Ellie turns to see a matching rocking chair, with a giraffe head pillow sitting on it. There's a matching changing table and a little bookshelf next to the wardrobe.

"It's perfect," she says, smiling. She thinks she's going to cry as Joel wraps his arms around her and rubs her stomach gently. A happy tear falls from her eye as they start swaying softly in the nursery.

"Happy birthday, baby," Joel says and kisses her cheek.

---

Ellie slides the disc into the DVD player. They're watching Jurrasic Park again. She wants the movie to be fresh in her mind before they watch the second.

They sit on the floor in a pile of pillows and blankets. Joel wraps his arm around her neck while they recline against the couch.

Ellie pulls down her sweat pants and climbs on top of him. She grabs onto his half-hard cock and slides it inside of her before pulling the covers up. She relaxes onto Joel's chest. He puts his hand on her stomach and starts rubbing it gently, then presses play on the movie.

The fire warms the chilly room, and his cock warms her from the inside. She loves doing this, it's comforting. Ellie shoves her hand into the popcorn bucket as the Jurrasic Park theme starts up. She hums along and takes a sip of her apple juice.

Ellie had heard that fifteen was a milestone birthday before the pandemic. They must have been right because this is the best birthday she's ever had.

Chapter Text

7/21/2034

Ellie stands on the step-latter and picks another peach from the tree. She drops it into her basket onto the pile of various fruits she's harvested from the fruit crop.

They've been out here for what feels like an eternity. Ellie wipes the sweat from her forehead and pops a cherry into her mouth. Florence had been a fan of fruits, Ellie knew this from her cookbook, which had an infinite amount of recipes involving it.

She couldn't wait to try making some of them. But in order to make recipes with fruit, you actually need to retrieve the fruit. So Ellie continues down the line of fruit trees in their home garden.

"What are we going to plant after this season is over?" She asks while stepping off of the latter. Janice hangs around Ellie's feet, pecking at the ground wherever she drops food.

Ellie drops the basket by the backdoor and grabs another one from the pile. Even the baskets are homemade, with Marlons name etched on the bottom signaling it's his work. Joel is picking through the vegetables. "Not sure," he responds and drops a stalk of corn into his own basket.

"You're going to have to lay off the popcorn girl," Joel grumbles as he counts what's left of their corn harvest, "You've damn' near driven through all of it." Ellie bounces on the balls of her feet, "Can you blame me, though?" She laughs and heads back over to the fruit.

Ellie plops down in front of the blueberries in the line of fruit bushes that borner the back porch. "It isn't like we don't have a tub of corn inside," she jokes. Her bare knees collect dirt and grass as she digs through the bush. "We need that to make cornstarch, Ellie, ya'know, for babypowder," Joel responds sarcasticly.

She picks off all the ripe ones she sees, "I guess I can slow my popcorn production," Ellie says with a dramatic sigh. "But you're going to have to give me something to make up for it." Once she's done with the blueberries, she scoots over to the strawberry bush and repeats the process until her basket is full.

Janice grabs onto a berry from her basket and takes off across the yard. "Theif!" Ellie shouts, "You could have just asked!"

The midday sun beats onto them until Ellie feels like she's going to have a heatstroke. "Can we take a break?" She asks in a whiney tone, "I'm hot." Joel turns to the sun as if to confirm that it is, in fact, burning hot before begrudgingly standing up.

"Come on," he says and grabs the full baskets to take inside. "Not you," he says, nuging Janice off the staircase.

---

Ellie sprays the freshly collected fruit off in the kitchen sink. She spins them around in the bowl and occasionally picks off a stray piece of dirt. Then she sections them off into two piles, one for the refrigerator and one for canning.

"I want to work on the nursery some today," she says while tightening her ponytail. Joel had put the furniture together but had knowingly left her room to decorate. They both know she's the creative one in this relationship.

She has even started drawing art to hang on the walls. It's coming along very nicely if she says so herself. Ellie is enjoying painting, Florence even had a recipe for homemade paint she could try out one day.

"Need my help any?" Joel asks while chopping up the cleaned fruit to can. "We'll see," Ellie says cheerfully and turns off the water. She piles up the remaining fruit into their respective sections.

Ellie tosses a blueberry on the floor for Janice to eat while she wanders around the kitchen. She drops the blueberries into a pretty square glass bowl and then sorts the rest of the harvest. The squareness makes it easy for her to organize them in the small refrigerator.

"I'm going upstairs," Ellie calls while she skips up the staircase, leaving Joel to finish the canning process on his own.

She acquires the stuffed diaper bag she's yet to sort out from their bedroom floor, then heads to the nursery.

---

Ellie opens the tall wardrobe in the nursery. She puts away baby clothes on hangers she had dropped off the day before. The baby clothes are sorted in size order, and Ellie smiles at each onsie she places inside. She can't wait to try them on her baby.

Ellie rubs her belly and observes her fine work in clothing organization. She runs her hands through the row of baby clothes. A fine selection she had found on their trip and the ones kindly left behind by the previous inhabitants.

Although, she has to say, her baby fashion sense is better. Handmade wicker baskets sit at the bottom of the wardrobe. Ellie puts hats, socks, and mittens in them, respectively. They're so tiny and cute that she wants to scream.

She stacks the patterned reusable diapers in the changing table shelf, along with the itty bitty baby nail trimmers she had picked up in the shop.

Ellie makes the executive decision that the bibs can go in the kitchen. She doesn't know where she'd put them in here anyway.

The nursery is small, but at the same time, it's the perfect size. Ellie sits down in the rocking chair and places the pacifiers onto a pile on the side table.

Ellie rocks back and forth in the chair, looking out the open window at the trees and river outside. She places a hand onto her stomach and imagines her life here.

She's holding her newborn, breastfeeding the happy baby boy who smiles at her between suckles. He looks like Joel, even has his eyes, and he's so cute she wants to cry looking at him.

Joel's sitting on the faded rug in front of them. He's teaching flashcards to their toddler who sits in a wobbly position. She blurts out incorrect awnsers and explodes into a fit of giggles whenever she gets one right. This baby is a girl. She looks like Ellie but has her dad's hair, and she's smart like her mom.

There's only room for one crib in the nursery, but that's fine because Joel has been making a toddler bed for the other bedroom. And their son has been sleeping with them.

It's a perfect life, and she wants it so badly.

Ellie closes her eyes and lets herself doze off in the warm room. She's making an entire awesome person. If she wants a nap, she'll have one.

---

Ellie wakes to a soft knocking noise. She opens her eyes to see Joel leaning against the doorframe. The light from outside has dimmed, and she realizes she may have slept for longer than intended.

"You need to shower," Joel says, approaching her, "You stink." Ellie yawns and grabs onto his hand so he can help pull her up. "No, you stink," she points at him and makes a waving motion over her face.

They enter the bathroom where Joel has already set out their pajamas. Ellie covers her mouth as she yawns again.

Ellie strips down and enters the hot water. It's immediately soothing on her sore muscles. Since settling down, her harsh morning-sickness has gotten a bit better. But all the extra labor has been wearing on her.

Joel stands behind her in the shower. He runs his fingers through her hair, lathering it with shampoo. She sighs happily as he kisses her neck and rubs her slowly-growing tummy.

They sway together under the water, and Ellie can feel his cock nuging at her butt. "How do you even have enough energy for that?" She says breathaly. But she still smiles herself and grinds against him.

"Always have energy for you, baby," he responds. Ellie turns to face him and lets the water splash on her face, washing off the shampoo in her hair.

Ellie stands on her tiptoes and kisses him. They kiss lazily under the hot stream, swaping spit and grabbing onto each other in a daze. She turns around and grabs onto the shower bar.

Ellie spreads her legs for him and places her head onto the shower wall. Joel grabs onto her ass and rubs up her hips. He places a firm grisp onto her waist. She shutters when he enters her, still slightly sore from two rounds yesterday.

Joel seems to understand, pumping in and out slowly. He sets a loving pace, kissing up her neck as their hips meet. Ellie snakes one of her hands down to her clit, she rubs vigorously.

She moans into the shower wall and cums. Joel joins her soon after, cumming deep inside. He presses his hand over her head and leans against her.

Ellie sighs happily and moves Joel's other hand onto her stomach. They stay like this for a while. Until the water starts to cool, and they inevitably have to finish cleaning off and go to bed.

Chapter Text

8/1/2034

Ellie lifts her trusty no.2 pencil from the paper and glances back up at the fireflies dancing together in their front yard. She has her knees pulled up on the rocking chair. Her sketchbook balances against them as she takes her time drawing.

She watches the pretty glowing bugs fly around in the yard in. They go up and down and all around in the grass. The gibbous moon is nice tonight. It reflects light onto the river and the trees, illuminating them. It's as if their swaying leaves are glowing in the night.

It's a gorgeous sight, and Ellie wants to persevere it on her baby's bedroom wall. She's still sketching when she hears the old screen door creek open and then click shut. When she turns her head, she sees Joel standing there with a plate and two full cups.

He places the grape themed plate on the wooden side table that separates the two rocking chairs. He rubs her knee softly to pull her attention. "Thought you could use a snack, been out here for hours." He says, putting his hands into his jacket pockets.

Joel settles down into the chair next to her and takes a sip from his own apple cup while watching her work. "Thank you," she says and sits down her pencil to take a bite. It's a deer and lettuce sandwich, with the lettuce harvest they've been making a lot of sandwiches.

The bread is sourdough. She made it herself the moment after her sourdough stater had finished. And it's pretty good for a first try. Ellie sips softly from her orange glass of apple juice and continues to sketch quietly.

The night breeze plays a song on their colorful windcatcher, Ellie's glad that she didn't let Joel take it down. Various moths cling to the ceiling where the overhead light drowns out the creeping darkness.

Ellie makes the last careful dot on her page and smiles at her work. She drops her feet onto the porch floor and places the sketchbook onto her lap.

They sit in silence and finish their glasses while enjoying their respective views. Ellie watches the fireflies continue their night dance, and Joel watches Ellie.

Ellie takes the last sip from her drink and places it into the table next to her plate. She stands from her chair calmly and walks to the edge of the porch. The woods of the railing and floor are mismatched. Joel has been spending his days pulling rotten peices and replacing them. It's not the prettiest sight, but it's functional. Ellie thinks it has character, a personality. Not everything has to be pretty.

She leans against the railing and looks up at the glittery sky. There are no clouds tonight. The window to the stars is perfect. Ellie closes her eyes and lets the cool night wind blow over her face. She bounces her weight from foot to foot. They've been quite swollen recently.

Joel joins her, leaning against the railing next to her. He's hasn't been shaving as much. He looks scruffy, and Ellie loves it. She even loves the gray hairs that pepper in his beard and hair. She smiles at him and holds onto his hand.

"Want to go star gazing?" Ellie asks and squeezes his hand. "We can make up constellations," she says and starts walking backward down the stairs. Ellie raises her eyebrows and grins as she walks through the yard.

Joel follows her down into the middle of the yard, where she stays with her hands on her hips, waiting for him. Once he catches up to her, she grabs onto his hand and pulls him down onto the grass with her.

They lay down next to each other, Ellie lies with her neck on his arm, head leaning against his shoulder. "What do you see?" He asks. "A baby," she responds and points at a set of stars that resembles a swaddled baby.

She should have been born an astronomer. She could have made so many new constellations. "What do you see?" Ellie asks back. "A bunch of stars," he laughs.

Ellie swats him playfully, "Come on' at least try to invision something." Joel scratches his beard with his free hand, "I don' know kid," he sighs dramatically, "I ain't creative like you, why don't you tell me what you see." Ellie rolls her eye, but still points at the sky and rambles about this and that star.

"You see that?" She asks, pointing at a constellation. "That's sagittarius, the archer," Ellie explains. "Like the horoscope?" Joel asks. "What the hell is a horoscope?" Ellie responds.

"I'm not even sure myself, kiddo," Joel laughs. Ellie rolls her eyes and continues on her explanation, "It's a man holding a bow, see?" She outlines the man and his bow. But when she turns to look at Joel's reaction, she realizes he isn't even looking at the sky. He's looking at her.

"Come on' dude," she groans, "I'm putting on full profeser Ellie here." Joel smiles at her, "You're prettier than any star." She rolls her eyes, "Ok, mister cheese," she laughs, then continues her rambleling.

She talks into the air until she's interrupted by her own yawn. Ellie pauses and realizes how tired she is. They let the chatter fade out, sitting in silence aided by the chirping of crickets.

They fall asleep there, on the cool ground, in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

8/14/2034

Ellie pops opens her trusty new cookbook and flips to chapter on pies. It's one of the first pages, after apple and pumpkin. Florence loved her pastries.

Crust is first, and for that, it calls for flour, sugar, butter, and water. Easy enough, she turns and matches determinatly to the pantry. She pulls the large tub or flour into the kitchen, followed by the much more manageable tub of sugar.

Joel stands next to a large glass bowl on the bar. This is Ellie's operation. He's just here to assist. "What first chef?" He asks with a sly grin as she pulls the bowl of goat butter out of the fridge.

"We section the ingredients," she says. With her confidence, you can hardly tell she only started baking a month ago.

Ellie grabs onto the one cup measuring cup. She looks between the four and the recipe to double check before pouring one and a fourth cup into the glass bowl.

Joel hovers behind her and squeezes her hips, "You sure that's enough." Ellie turns her head and looks up at him with a dramatic scowl. She pops him on the arm with her mixing spoon, "I'm the baker here, thank you very much."

He kisses her before she can turn back, and Ellie reciprocates but pulls away quicker than usual. "Can you get me the teaspoon?" She asks in an overly sweet tone. He gives her growing stomach a rub before walking to the utensil drawer.

Ellie's stomach has definitely popped, albeit still small. She's not even three months, but Joel says it's bigger than usual because of her being small. Maybe they're just a big baby. Her pregnancy book says every woman carries differently, so it's probably fine. She just hopes her belly isn't as big as she is by nine months.

She measures out the precious sugar into two teaspoons and gently pours it into the bowl over the flour. Ellie gives it a turn with her Joel-smacking spoon for good measure. Half a teaspoon of salt gets dumped on top of that.

Ellie sticks her finger into the butter. "Why?" Joel asks, raising his eyebrows in confusion. "Recipe says it needs to be cold," she says and puts her finger in her mouth to suck the butter off. "Why didn't you just keep it in the fridge then?" He questions. "I didn't want to forget," she mumbles, finger still in her mouth.

"Half a cup, diced," Ellie reads the page. "How do you dice butter?" She asks, looking at the bowl. "Butter used to come in sticks." Ellie raises her eyebrows, "You lived in a weird time," she says as if he's just told her the strangest thing in the world.

"Just scoop it in," he says. Ellie scoops the spoon into the measuring cup full of butter and drops the globs into the mixing bowl. "Now to mix!" She proclaims and shoves her hands into the bowl.

Ellie squashes the butter into the dry mix vigorously. "Are you sure you're supposed to mix it like that?" Joel asks sarcasticly, leaning against the counter next to her. "Who's the chef here?" She asks and tightens her heart patterned apron dramatically with sticky hands.

She punches at the batter until it forms a ball. Ellie sighs and looks at her hard work. She wanders to the sink and pumps some soap onto her hands. "Get me one fourth a cup of water," Ellie tells her assistant. "Yes ma'am," Joel responds. She rinses off her hands and shakes them out.

Joel has the measuring cup sat out. Ellie approaches and picks up the water. With her other hand, she starts to sprinkle the water onto the batter. "Spatula," she says and holds her hand out. He places the object in her hand. "Thank you, sir," Ellie says and starts to mix the water in with the Spatula.

Once it starts to clump together, she sticks her hands back in, forming it into a large ball. "It says to leave it for an hour," Ugh, that's such a long time. She wants pie now.

---

Ellie watches the kitchen clock intensity, counting down the time left in her head. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! She jumps up at light speed, "Joel, it's ready!"

She grins and pulls the hastily prepared filling she had made the night before. Cravings really seem to hit at 4am. But Joel had pulled her to bed before she could finish her pie.

Ellie returns to her recipe book. "We need four again!" She yells as she reads about how to set the dough. Joel lugs the flour back into the kitchen. Ellie sticks her hand in and grabs a small handful. She drops the flour onto the bar. Joel lets out an exasperated sigh.

She has to admit she's been a bit of a pain in the ass recently, but she's baking his baby, so it's even. Ellie laughs to herself as she drops the dough onto the counter.

The recipe says to roll it into twelve inches in diameter. She guesstimates and rolls it in a vaguely circular shape. Joel lays the pie pan out for her. Its glass and shaped similarly to a flower, with floral ingravings all around. On the bottom, it says Marlon & Florence in gold, then their wedding date.

Ellie wants to make something nice like this with her and Joel's anniversary date, but she doesn't know what she'd even pick.

She drapes the dough over the pan, making sure to get it to hug the wavey shape. "Start the oven!" She demands loudly and laughs. Ellie loves being demanding, especially when he listens. She cuts the large amount of excess away from the pan and piles it onto the floury bar.

The cherry filling has gotten to room temperature, Ellie pulls it over and starts spooning in the filling. Once it's stuffed, she grabs the uneven excess strips and starts layering them on top. It's not very pretty, but it's the insides that count.

Ellie pinches the edges of the pie together. Then she grabs her mitts, they match her apron, it's adorable. Ellie rushes the pie over to the oven and places it inside.

"Forty minutes," she says, exasperated. Ellie taps the floor with her foot and puts her hands on her hips, and sighs dramatically.

---

Ellie exitedly pulls the pie out of the oven. She was right. It's not pretty, but it smells heavenly. "Do we have to wait for it to cool?" She says with her best puppy dog eyes. "If you don't want a rosted tongue, yeah," Joel responds, crossing his arms and leaning against the bar.

She rolls her eyes and places the pan onto the cooling mat.

"There's something I can do to keep you entertained," Joel says and narrows his eyes. She grins and makes a show out of raising her arms.

Joel scoops her up gently and walks over to the bar. He sits her down softly and rubs his knuckles down her waist. He kisses her slowly, deeply. Ellie opens her legs wide and tugs on his ear, pulling him down.

He falls to his knees slowly, aided by her insistent pushing on his head. Joel rubs her outer thighs, pressing long kisses on the inside. He leaves a trail of kisses, taking his time to reach her core. Ellie moans as he uses his hand to pull her lips apart, exposing her already drenched pussy.

Joel sticks two fingers inside of her, trusting shallowly as she shoves her fist inside her mouth. The lazy thrusts last a few moments before he retracts his fingers, moving them to his mouth to clean.

Ellie's eyes roll back as he presses his lips to her cunt. He penetrates her with his tongue, eating her out like a starved man. She moans loudly through her fist as Joel puts a thumb on her clit. It seems he's determined to get her off, and she doesn't have a problem with that.

"Oh my god," she gasps and her hands fall onto the counter, gripping on so tight she thinks she may leave scratch marks. Joel enters two fingers inside of her, alongside his tongue.

Ellie lets long moans and short gasps. Her noncoherent pleads seem to encourage him. Her head falls back and her eyes flutter shut. She moves one hand onto his head and shoves him further against her.

God she's glad she didn't wear clothes today.

Her legs freeze up and she cums, moaning loudly. Ellie squeezes her fist into his hair roughly, continuing to hold him there until her orgasm fades.

Once she relinquishes her grip Joel rises to his feet. Ellie wraps her arms around his shoulder and kisses him. Joel pulls her closer, arms around her waist as they press against each other.

They sway gently, kissing, until Ellie looks up at the clock. "Pies cool!" She announces against his lips.

---

Ellie takes the first bite of the pie. She makes sure to get the biggest amount on her fork that she can. Ellie tastes its and grins, "It's amazing!" She rocks on the rocking chair, facing the river. She watches intensely as Joel takes a bite, observing his every moment. He nods, "You did good, baby."

"I did incredible!" She corrects and takes another bite. Ellie had chosen the cherry themed plate set for tonight. It seemed appropriate for the occasion.

The evening wind blows softly against them while they enjoy their cherry flavored dinner. "It's fixin' to be fall," Joel says. "Does that mean we can get the pumpkin?" She asks through a mouthful of filling. Only one of the pumpkins in their yard has started to turn colors. She can't say she's not surprised. There's only three others, all still itty bitty.

"Later this month, yeah," Joel pauses to take a bite, "But we're going to have to plant some more crops too, I've noticed a few wiltin' recently." He wipes his mouth with his sleeve and looks at her.

Ellie sips on her lemonade, "I'm sure our crops will be even better," she smiles with a red tongue. She can't be negative around pie. That's illegal round' here.

She already knows what pie she wants to make next.

Chapter Text

8/20/2034

Ellie balances clumsily on a fallen log, following beside Joel. She sticks her arms straight out to try and balance better. The fraying sleeves of her tarred flannel blow in the wind. "I feel soooo much better," she says cheerfully. Her morning sickness has finally started to calm down as she enters her second trimester. "I can see," he responds, eyes scanning the path.

She can't wait to go out more and do more things without the insistent nausea. Altogeth, she does appreciate her newly found baking skills from when she couldn't do any heavy labor without vomiting.

Joel has his gaze down, surveying the area for tracks. "Do you think we'll catch any today?" Ellie asks, determined to engage in the pre-apocalypse tradition of autumn turkey. "Maybe," he scratches his beard, "They're smart birds," he says in a whisper. Ellie takes the hint and lowers her voice to match.

"The chickens are stupid. How can these chickens be smarter?" She asks back, tone only loud enough for Joel to hear. He shrugs, "I didn't make em kid." Ellie rolls her eyes and jumps off the end of the tree.

"Well, if you can't shoot one, I can," she says confidently and adjusts her bow. "I'm sure you can," he teases. Ellie huffs, "It isn't like I haven't done it before. Remember when I shot that deer when you were dying?"

She can feel the tone drop in their little bubble. Ellie bounces from foot to foot nervously and tries to remember some fall jokes to lighten the mood back up.

"What do you call a pumpkin that works at the beach?" She asks in a dramatic whispers. Joel raises his eyebrows, "A life gourd." Ellie smacks his shoulder playfully, "Hey that was my line!"

"Erm," she rubs her neck, "What's the pumpkins favorite Western?" Joel scratches his beard, "I don't know, what?" Ellie grins and says in a loud whisper, "The good, the bad, and the gourdy." He smiles in response.

"Don't overexert yourself, kiddo," Joel warns as Ellie bounces along beside him. "Just because you feel good today doesn't mean it won't come back to you tomorrow." Ellie heeds his warning and slows her pace.

She rubs her stomach. Her baby is now the size of a lime. Which is much more invisionable than a raspberry or a seed. Ellie can imagine it when she looks down at her stomach, a tiny baby floating around in there. She hopes they're having fun in there.

Joel holds his arm up in front of her to stop her in her tracks. She looks at him, confused, until he puts a finger over his lips and points to the rafter of turkeys. Joel had thought her the word for a group of turkeys, and she's very proud of herself for remembering.

Ellie pulls out her bow slowly, grabbing an arrow and aiming, trying her best not to poke her belly. She aims carefully, lining the arrow up with the turkey's head, determined to make a clean shot.

She breathes out slowly and releases the arrow. It shoots into the flock, squabbles erupt as the birds split up into every direction. Once the path clears, she can see her reward.

"Hell yeah!" Ellie celebrities. She rushes up to the bird and picks it up by the arrow, "Right in the eye!" She grabs onto its neck and pulls the arrow out. "Good job, baby," Joel praises and rubs her back. "Can we eat it tonight?" She asks and bounces on the heels of her feet.

---

Ellie watches as Joel fires up the grill on the back porch. They never use this thing, but it was a special occasion. She leans against the railing and places a hand on her bump. It's so large now that she can barely see her feet.

She's glad Joel took her hunting with him. He's been so nervous about her doing anything more labor intensive than baking or drawing.

"How much longer?" Ellie asks the moment he lays the first slabs of turkey on the grill. "A few days at least," he looks at her and flips the chunks of meat. Joel sprinkles some seasonings on them. Ellie can feel her stomach grumbling at the smell.

"The baby wants food now," she complains, tapping the railing with the hand not on her stomach. "We're starving," she rolls out the 'g' for a few moments like it proves her point.

"You two can wait a minute," Joel smiles and flips the slabs again. Ellie takes a sip of her lemonade and purses her lips dramatically. "In a minute, I'm going to die," she puts the back of her hand on her forehead and fakes passing out onto the fence.

Fluffy, the goat, walks up the porch stairs slowly. He wanders over to her and starts gently poking at her leg with his head. Ellie smiles at him, "Hey buddy!" She scratches behind his ear.

He makes a "baa" sound and looks up at her. She grabs a strawberry from her plate and hands it to him. He slurps it down and plops down next to her.

Joel places four slices of meat onto Ellie's plate next to the strawberries and lettuce. She grins and walks to the porch table, followed by fluffy. Ellie places her plate in front of her and takes her first bite of turkey. Better than deer!

She eats through her meal before Joel can even sit down to eat himself. Ellie pulls out her puppy dog eyes and holds up her plate at him, "More?" She smiles, "I'm eating for two."

Fuffyy baas at Joel, backing her up in her quest for more meat. Joel places a few more slices on her plate before heading back to the grill, "We do need to save some of this meat for later."

"The baby wants it now."

Chapter Text

8/24/2034

Joel presses another long kiss to Ellie's exposed stomach. She feels warm butterflies bubble up in her chest. Every day, it gets a little bigger. And Joel's affection for her grows.

Ellie loves the attention. He lathered her with love before, but now It's as if he can't bare take his eyes off her.

He mumbles something into her stomach and presses his forehead against it. "What?" Ellie asks sleepily. Joel hums, "We're having a private conversation." She laughs in response.

"He's in my stomach, so shouldn't I be involved?" Ellie asks and runs her fingers through his hair. "Oh, so he's a he now?" Joel questions and presses another kiss to her tummy. "Call it mothers institution," Ellie smiles.

Ellie swings her leg over his hip, then drags the blanket back over it. Joel looks up at her, "Well, I think she's a girl," his tone is playful. Ellie hums, "Well, he is in me, so if anyone knows it's me," she laughs.

"I guess we'll find out in six months," he responds and wraps his hand around her hip. God, he's huge compared to her. She can't help but feel a tingle looking at how his hand engulfs her.

"Come'on, tell me what he's saying," She says with a pout. "She wants to watch a movie other than Jurrasic Park tonight," Joel responds. Ellie scoffs, "No way, my child would never say such a thing."

He whispers into her stomach and nods, "She says she wants to watch a western movie." Ellie rolls her eyes, "He wants to watch Jurrasic Park three again and eat all the jerky."

"I really want some jerky," Ellie murmurs.

Joel rubs over her bare hip to her ass then back again, occasionally squeezing her butt. Ellie looks at the open window across the room. The sun is setting, golden rays peak in and onto the floor. It illuminates the otherwise dark room in a hazey light.

The lacey curtains leave a swaying pattern on the floor as the wind creeps in and waves them gently. Joel's stolen flannel shirt bunches up at her breasts. Pulled up to expose her stomach.

She has noticed her boobs slowly-growing, unfortunately less so than her stomach. Still, she wonders if he's noticed.

Ellie wobbly rolls over and pushes herself into a sitting position. She leans against the wooden headboard and huffs as if it's a great effort to even move.

She unbuttons the first few buttons on the flannel and pushes her breasts up. "Do you think my boobs are any bigger?" Ellie smiles at him dazely. Joel hums and sits up in front of her.

Joel cups her breasts in his hands. He looks over them and gives them a good squeeze before leaning forward. He presses a kiss to Ellie's lips. "A bit bigger," he squeezes again, causing her to breathe out a sharp squeak. They may not have grown too much, but they've definitely grown in sensitivity.

"Do you wish they where bigger?" She asks, a bit solemnly. Joel kisses her neck, "They're perfect, now and then." He kisses down her chest, "Every bit of you," he rubs his hand down her thigh.

"Perfect."

Ellie laughs, "Yeah I am." Joel huffs and squeezes her thigh, "Well," he smirks, "some of your puns could use some work." She swats him playfully, "Take that back!"

"My jokes are the best part about me," she crosses her arms to block his pathway to her boobs.

Joel climbs over her feet. He grabs onto her waist and gently pulls her down until her head is resting on her pillow. Ellie twiddles her thumbs over her stomach, fidgety with anticipation.

Joel quickly unhooks the rest of the buttons on her- his, shirt, and pulls it open. Cold air hits her chest, and Ellie grabs onto her boob. She groans, still sensitive. She bites onto her lower lip as Joel tugs down his pajama pants.

"Open up, baby," Joel hums and taps gently on her inner thigh. Ellie's legs spread automatically, knees lifting into the air. He kisses her cheek, "Atta' girl."

He presses a hand to her cunt, and she starts to grind onto it. Ellie's slick spreads over his palm as she roughly ruts onto him.

Joel moves his hand from her cunt. Ellie scrunches up her face, upset at the loss in contact. He kisses her forehead and places his hand on the mattress next to her head. She wiggles down into the pillow, keeping her legs open as he takes his cock in hand.

He gives it a few sharp pumps. Ellie groans at the sight of precum dripping out the tip. She bucks up, trying to make contact only for him to pull away. She huffs, grabbing at his bare chest.

He lines the tip against her entrance and holds it there. Ellie squirms, but every time she makes contact, he pulls away. "Patience Kiddo," he hums and teases her clit with his tip. Ellie moans, sensitive and worked up.

"Please," she wines as he enters the tip of his cock inside of her at last. Joel raises an eyebrow, not moving despite her insistent grinding. "Please, what?" He smirks down at her.

"I want it in," she huffs like a perturbed child begging their mother for candy.

Joel slips it in painfully slowly, inch by inch, pulling out every time she attempts to push him deeper. Once they're hips finally meet she sighs contenly. Ellie glances out the window, it's pitch black outside. She turns back to look at his face, he kisses her, and pulls out.

He slams back in, her initial squeak of pain muffled by his lips. The pain fades quickly, replaced by a building warm that threatens to spill over with every thrust. Ellie grabs onto his shoulders and presses her forehead against his.

Ellie lets out whiney moans, which are only amplified by a finger on her clit. She yelps in surprise before her eyes quickly roll to the back of her head. He slams into her at a quick pace, not giving her much time to catch up.

It's been over a week since they last fucked, they've been so busy prepairing for the incoming cold. So she guesses he's making up for lost time.

Ellie moans and feels her back twist upwards and her toes flex. She digs her fingernails into his back. That's going to leave a mark. Her eyes shut as she moans loudly for all the wildlife to hear ouside their window.

Joel's thrusts become quicker and less oriented as he starts to pant on top of her. Once she's come back down, he's painting her insides, hands planted on either side of her holding him upright.

He rolls over onto his side, pulling Ellie to tuck under his arm. She curls into him and pulls her ponytail the rest of the way out. She looks up at him with her best puppydog eyes, "I want jerky."

Chapter Text

9/13/2034

Ellie angerly tugs at the fly of her jeans. She puts all of her might into getting these to zip. "Come'on man," she groans and lets the zipper go to unzip dramatically. "Stupid baby growing stupid fast," Ellie sighs and shakes her head, rubbing her stomach gently, "Sorry baby, you're not stupid, but why do you have to grow so fast." Pants fall to the floor as she shucks them down and kicks them into the corner of the room.

She peeks out the open window again; Hoping to see Joel reappear from where she had watched him walk into the woods an hour ago. Disappointed with the lack of Joel, Ellie crosses her arms and flops onto her back in the bed.

Can't sleep on her stomach anymore, ugh.

Her clothes don't fit, and her husband is gone hunting without her. "It's too dangerous for you to go," she mocks in his voice, "What if you get hurt." Ellie rolls her eyes at the ceiling. The fan twirls around in a circle that makes her a little nauseous to look at. She's gone hunting dozens of times before with him. Why does it have to change now.

She swings her feet back and forth off the side of the bed, tapping at her stomach, hoping to feel a tap back. Ellie knows it's a bit early for movement. But it's a bit early to be this large, so it's only fair that she gets the benefits along with the occasional help with getting out of the tub.

"Kick me back, dude," She says and pokes her lower stomach. "I know you're in there," she smiles and laughs to herself.

She groans and pulls herself out of bed. Thank juicy couture for a stretchy waistband. These track pants are her new best friend.

---

Wobbling on her tiptoes, Ellie pulls the box out from the top of the cellar shelf. It falls onto the ground and breaks open, releasing clothing onto the floor. The box, labeled with Florence's name, was among many lined up in the shelf.

Thank God Florence was sentimental.

Ellie wobbly gets on her knees and starts sorting through the lump of clothing for anything stretchy or maternal. She sighs at every pair of jeans and every tight tanktop that she messily tosses back into the box.

When she's done with tossing everything that isn't flexible, Ellie finds she's only left with dresses and sweat pants. She can't remember the last time she wore a dress, or if she ever has.

If she has, she must have really little. Although, she often finds herself blocking out memories from her childhood. So maybe it isn't that unlikely that she had worn a few dresses before.

She imagines dresses would be difficult to fight or hunt in. But who knows, maybe it gives more space to kick a rude someone in the nuts. "Or in the face," she snickers, flashing is worth it if you knock a few teeth out.

Ellie gathers the pile of loose clothing in her arms and marches out of the cellar. She kicks the door closed on her way out. Much to the annoyance of Fluffy, who loudly baas at her.

---

"Stupid dress," Ellie mumbles as she smoothes down the dress. She looks like a girl, actually a girl. The tracksuit and jewelry is one thing, but this is way out of her regular comfort zone.

But she has to admit, it feels a lot better around her bump, less constricting. It's kind of like Joel's flannels. Ellie sways back and forth, letting the fabric move. Then she kicks the air and almost cracks the mirror. It does give more flexibility to kick someone in the nuts! Joel better watch his attitude with her now!

The dress she's wearing is beige and silky. It has a faded rose pattern and falls right above her knees. Ellie looks at herself in the mirror and pulls her messy ponytail out. She smoothes down her hair and ties it back up again.

She can live with this for a few months, at least until she's recovered from having the baby. No one wants to wear jeans after birth.

---

Rain patters off the roof as Ellie stares out of the window. She's pulled a chair up to the window and sits with her head in her palms, waiting. What is taking him so long, it isn't cold enough for all the animals to be hiding.

Her stomach grumbles. "I'm hungry too, man," Ellie says and pats her stomach, "Daddy will be home soon with dinner." Her tone is reassuring as she rubs her bump.

The pregnancy book had said to talk to the baby. Apparently, it helps with their bond. But Ellie thinks that maybe he can't hear her because if he could, he'd be responding. She pokes her stomach again, "Talk," she demands, no response. Ellie sighs and goes back to staring out the window.

It's pitch black outside save for the porch light flickering, waving in various bugs for her to watch. Ellie starts to doze off after an hour. Maybe she should go to bed, Joel will be home in the morning. She hopes.

Ellie yawns and covers her mouth. She walks up the too-long staircase, aided by the railing. This dress seems good enough to sleep in. She'll just lay down in it, she's too sleepy to change anyway.

---

Ellie's eyes pop open the moment she feels the bed dip beside. But her momentary panic is erased when she feels a rough hand sliding up her thigh. "Where did you get this get-up?" Joel asks in a raspy voice.

The lamp light burns her eyes while she sits up in bed. "I went through the clothes in the basement," Ellie responds, rubbing her tired eyes. "Pretty," Joel responds and tugs at the spaghetti strap of her dress.

She looks down and notices the apparent tent in his pants. How long he's been in here? "You look good, kiddo," he reiterates and tugs up the skirt around her hips. She flinches at the sudden contact when he shoves a finger inside of her.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asks, thick accent laced with a hint of concern. Ellie pushes his hand away, "I'm still sore from this morning," she fiddles with her thumbs, "Sorry." Joel pulls her dress back down and smooths it over her hip gently.

He kisses her cheek, "Nothin' to be sorry about baby." Ellie wonders if it's the exhaustion or if he's gotten into the liquor on the top shelf of the pantry; But his slurred voice strikes something in her stomach that she wishes she wasn't to sore to indulge.

Joel nudges her onto her back and leans over her. He presses his lips onto her, and they make out sloppily. She wonders if this is a dream. She's tired enough to just be hallucinating this. Ellie wraps her around his neck to ground herself. Then, she pulls him in to cuddle with her.

"Baby monkey," He smiles against her lips and rubs her hip softly. In her sleepy haze, Ellie isn't completely sure what he means by that. And she's too focused on his still hard cock to try.

Ellie reaches her hand into his pants and pulls him out. She rubs the tip of his cock, collecting precum to spread down the rest of his shaft. Joel moans against her lips as she jacks him off. It's hard for either of them to keep up a good rhythm like this.

But judging by Joel's dazed grunts and moans, it isn't going to take much work for either of them.

She pushes against him, aiming his cock between her thighs as she moves her arm as quickly as she can. "Fuck," he pants and shoves his forehead against hers. When Ellie opens her eyes, she sees glimpses of golden light hitting the back of his head. His eyes are closed, and he does look exhausted.

It only takes a few more pumps and kisses before he cums on her thighs. "That's my good girl," he praises and squeezes her ass lightly. Ellie smiles against his lips as they both pass out in eachothers arms.

Chapter Text

9/25/2034

A sunbeam hits Ellie's bare chest as she places another shirt in the kitchen sink. The light warms her, although it's freezing outside. The sun has started to peak over the trees and onto the cabin, slowly illuminating their home.

She can hear the crackle of the fireplace over the water slowly pooling in the sink. And the sound of Fluffy headbutting the screen door, demanding to be included in wash day. "That goat is getting too damn' comfortable in here," Joel sighs. But he opens the door anyway, allowing Fluffy to enter.

The calf baas loudly at Joel for taking so long to let him in. He wanders around the living room for a minute before bounding over to sit at Ellies feet. "Why's that animal so obsessed with you?" Joel asks lightly as he approaches her, basket balanced on his hip.

Joel places the second wicker laundry basket on the counter next to her. They're sitting next to each other. Ellie grabs a pair of jeans from the first and dunks it into the sink. It's hard to imagine them on the road, barely any clothes between them. Most of their clothes are handmade or borderline ancient, taken from the dresser drawers. Not everything left fit them, but it was a comfortable amount.

Ellie grabs onto a bar of laundry soap from the sink edge. Cold wind blows through the screen door, and she shivers. The clothes would probably freeze if they were left outside to dry. "Hey Joel!" She shouts to him even though he's right behind her.

"Tie up the clothes line inside. They'll turn to ice outside," Ellie grabs her washboard and lays out Joel's jeans on it. "Already working on it, kiddo," Joel responds. Ellie wipes a little bit of laundry soap over the jeans, then places the pink bar back. It smells like flowers, it's nice.

She puts all her weight into scrubbing the jeans, determined to knock out all the stink from Joel's last hunting drip. Water from the sink flies out, dripping off her baby bump and onto the floor.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Joel jokes as he re-enters the kitchen with a string of clothes line. "Just making sure everything is extra clean," Ellie responds and wipes her forehead.

She turns around to watch Joel hang up the line, hanging from the refrigerator to the pantry door. "You're going to have to clean up my blood when I slip and die," He says sarcasticly as he pins the door, giving it a pat.

Ellie throws the jeans at him, soaking his t-shirt. Joel hangs the jeans onto the line while grumbling something inaudible. "Take off your shirt and give it to me," Ellie grins, "Want to make sure everything is clean."

"Is that right," Joel raises an eyebrow and pulls off his wet shirt. He tosses it into the second basket and then leans his back against the kitchen island, waiting for another command.

Joel had said she needed more exercise now that she can't hunt or do nay heavy labor. But she thinks now maybe he had just tricked her into washing all the clothes.

She hopes she'll still be strong enough to hold the baby after he's born. She hopes she'll know what to do after he's born.

Ellie picks up a pair of her underwear, blue with a little bow. Although it's girly, she can't help but like the bow that adorns most of her panties. She rubs it on the rose soap and starts scrubbing.

"Hey Joel?" She says, smiling to herself. "Yes?" He asks, taking the underwear from her to hang. "What types of jokes do clothes like?" Ellie questions while grabbing a t-shirt from the pile.

"What?" Joel responds, pinning the panties to the line. "Dry humor," She smiles and scrubs. He shakes his head, "So dumb, he mumbles under his breath.

"Your face is dumb," Ellie mocks in his accent and giggles. She throws the shirt at him to hang.

---

Ellie shakes out her sore arms as she reaches the half point of the second basket. "My arms hurt," she complains and holds her hands out to demonstrate.

Joel pats her on the back and sighs, "Alright, alright, I'll finish it." Ellie smiles and walks across the kitchen to give him room to scrub. She brushes her hand over the drying clothing and eyes the record player across the room.

Ellie flips through the small, heart-shaped wooden record box until she finds one they haven't listened to yet. She may have a small problem about relistening to the same three albums until Joel's ears bleed. '1950s/1960s classics' she holds it up, "Hey Joel!" She shouts. He turns to look at her, "This make you all nostalgic?"

He huffs and shakes his head, "That's actually before my time," Joel squeezes the water out of a sock, "Thank you very much." Ellie smiles before placeing the record onto the vinal player.

She presses play, and a song starts with a tapping noise. Then a woman starts singing, beautifully. Ellie wishes she had that singing voice, she would have won Joel over even quicker!

{The night we met, I knew that I need you so}

Ellie taps her feet offbeat to the rhythm.
Fluffy watches her strange foot dance suspiciously from behind the counter as she places a hand on her stomach.

{And if I had the chance, I'd never let you go-}

Ellie hears Joel humming quietly as he finishes up the laundry.

{So won't you say you love me}

He dangles the socks over the clothesline.

{I'll make you so proud of me}

"You know this song?" Ellie asks over the lyrics. She scratches her lower stomach and watches him. She hopes the baby is doing ok in there, still no movement from her co-pilot.

{We'll make em' turn their heads every place we go}

Joel nods, "It's always been a popular song." He pulls a shirt out of the sink.

{So won't you, please?}

"Even when you were a kid?" She asks, "I thought this was before your time?"

{Be my, be my baby}

Joel pins up the last shirt and wipes up his arms with a kitchen towel. The water holding onto his bare chest makes her stomach flip.

{I'll make you happy baby, just wait and see}

Joel tosses the towel onto the counter and approaches Ellie. He stops walking once he's right in front of her and kisses her on the forehead.

{For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three}

Joel wraps his arms around her waist, the action made difficult by her growing baby bump. But if he finds it annoying, he doesn't say, only rubs her waist gently.

{Since the day I saw you}

Ellie returns the gesture by wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

{I have been waiting for you}

Joel leans his face down to press a soft kiss against her forehead.

{You know I will adore you for 'til eternity}

They sway together. Ellie doesn't know how to actually dance, and with this baby bump, it probably wouldn't be pretty.

{So won't you please!}

She can imagine herself just flopping over onto the ground. Maybe Joel will teach her how to dance once she's had their son.

{Be my, be my baby}

Joel presses his rough lips to hers and rubs his knuckles up her back soothingly.

{Say you'll be my darlin'}

"Do you'll think I'll be a good mom?" Ellie whispers nervously into his lips. The question has been on her mind more and more recently, but the sudden silence has given it time to surface.

{Be my baby now}

Joel hums against her and moves one hand to hold the side of her stomach, "You're going to be the best mom."

{My one and only baby}
{Whoa-oh-oh-oh}

The music clicks off, and she frowns. "Are you sure?" She presses her head into his shoulder. "Why wouldn't you be?" He asks, eyebrows raised. Joel pulls her shoulders back so she has to to look at him. "I don't know anything about babies," Ellie says under her breath, avoiding eye contact, "I don't think I've ever actually seen one before."

Joel kisses the top of her head, "I've told you this before; You're a quick learner, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it" he assures. "And I'm here you help you," his face seems comforting. It's a stark difference from when she first met him. She imagines his grumpy face saying this and laughs, which causes a sting in her spine. Ellie rubs the small of her back and groans.

"Want me to help with that?" Joel asks and rubs her lower back. Ellie nods so he flips her around to stand in front of him. "How long until the laundry is done?" She asks, interlocking her hands over her stomach.

"A few hours," Joel says and wraps his hands under her bump. He gently lifts it to take the pressure off her back and she sighs in relief. Ellie didn't even know it weighed that much.

Ellie leans back against him and closes her eyes. "Can we stay like this until then?" She hums. Joel kisses above her ponytail, "We can stay like this until my arms give out."

Chapter Text

10/6/2034

The only maturned pumpkin of the season sits in the kitchen window cill. It's curing, and Joel says it should be ready to carve around Halloween. Ellie isn't sure what she wants to carve it into yet, a cat? A smilely face? There is so much to choose from.

It's not that pretty, it's stem is twisted funny, and it's discolored. But Ellie is sure she can make it into something nice.

Her only knowledge of Halloween comes from old books she had found in the QZs or from Joel. Ellie has managed to peel some of his past experiences with the spooky holiday from him. But she knows this season is a sore spot for him, and she doesn't want to pry too much.

"Put your jacket on, kiddo," Joel interrupts her thoughts. She looks to him as he pulls his coat over his shoulders. "It's not that cold," Ellie protests and rolls her eyes, but she slips on her jacket anyway. Almost five months, and she can no longer zip it up fully.

"You'll think 'not that cold' when your butt is frostbitten," Joel retorts sarcasticly and grabs onto her zipper. "You can warm be back up," she grins up at him. He laughs and shakes his head, "Pervert."

Even with Joel's attempts, her jacket still doesn't zip up fully. "It's ok, I can steal yours if I get too cold," she sways her arms while looking up at him with an innocent expression.

Joel holds open the front door with his extended arm for Ellie to run out. "Ladies first," he says while she walks past him. Ellie snorts, "Is there another person here I've missed or?"

A wicker picnic basket hands precariously over her shoulder as she lifts her hand to cover a yawn. "Don't fall asleep yet," Joel comments and takes the first step into the stairs, then turns to watch her take hers.

"Careful now," Joel warns as he holds onto her arm. Ellie grasps onto the railing, "I've got it. I've got it," she assures. But he only removes his grip on her once she's safely hit the grass.

"I'm not a baby," Ellie grumbles as they start the track from the house to the river. "You have the coordination of one though," Joel laughs and follows alongside her down the hill.

Fallen orange and yellow leaves crunch under their boots as they walk down the hill. Ellie aims for the more crunchy looking ones to smash, stomping on any piles she sees.

She kicks up a pile of them as best she can, letting leaves go flying into the air. Joel sighs behind her. She flips around and sees him scratching his eyebrow. "What?" Ellie asks and kicks a pile at him.

"Nothin' just tired," he says and adjusts his watch. "Ok weirdo," Ellie responds and turns around, but when she goes to kick another pile, she slips on something wet.

She screams but falls back onto strong arms, "I've gottcha," Joel reassures her and sits her onto the grass. Ellie sniffles and rubs her stomach. That could have gone bad.

"You ok?" He asks, crouching down to look at her. She rubs her eyes, "Yeah, I think so." Joel extends his hand and helps her stand back up. "Thanks," she responds and starts walking normally in front of him.

The lake soon comes into view, and Ellie only starts to walk faster once they're on flatter land. Joel hovers behind her still, watching to make sure she doesn't flop over like a beetle.

They park under a tree that's stationed a few feet away from the lake. She sits the basket against a rock and pulls out the picnic blanket.

Ellie bunches the blanket into a ball and then throws it full force at Joel. "Catch!" She says as it makes contact with his chest. Joel scratches his eyebrow, she notices some tired lines around his eyes. What's keeping him up?

He unravels the flannel blanket and lays it over the grass. Joel shakes it a few times at the end so it sits flat against the ground. "Your blanket ma'am," He says and motions to the ground.

Ellie starts to get onto the ground wobbly, only for Joel to practically teleport behind her to assist her in sitting. Maybe picnicking isn't the best activity for today. She feels so helpless needing his help to do everything.

But it's getting cold, and they won't have much room to do this when it's winter. Ellie wonders if the baby will come this winter. She counts her fingers. If it's October right now, and she's almost five months, then the baby should be here November, December, January, February.

Ugh, that's such a long time from now. Right at the tailend of winter. She hopes the baby won't freeze halfway through birth.

"Ellie?" Joel asks, eyebrow raised, looking at her while she counts her fingers. "Huh?" She looks up at him and brushes her jacket down. "Do you want the apple now or later?" He repeats, tapping her with her wrapped turkey sandwich.

"Now," she says and pulls the apple from the basket.

"How fat do you think the baby is going to be?" Ellie asks while taking a bite of her apple. "Hopefully not too big," Joel responds as he sips on his drink. "Why? Do you not like chunky babies?" She scratches her lower abdomen.

Joel pokes her stomach gently, "I don't want you to have to push out a chunky baby." Ellie cringes, "Right, that part."

She only learned how painful birth was after she was already pregnant. Of course, Ellie knew that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but after Joel had truly explained to her what it was... maybe a skinner baby would be better after all. He can gain weight after he's born.

Ellie leans against the tree and balances her sandwich on her bump. "Do you think anyone is near us?" She asks, "Like normal people?" Joel shrugs, "If there is, they don't know about us, or if they do, they don't seem to care."

"So it doesn't bother you? Someone living close to us?" She takes the last bite of her sandwich. "As long as they don't bother us, not particularly." Joel scratches his beard, "Why?" She rubs along the seam of her stomach, "I don't know, just thinking."

A small kick hits her inner stomach.

Ellie pauses and pokes her stomach again, making sure she just felt what she thinks she did. "Holyshitjoelcomehere!" She says and places her hand over where she just felt a flutter.

"What?" He says as she grabs onto his hand, causing him to spill his water. She places his hand over the spot where the slight flutter is. "Is that?" He asks, hand locked with hers over her stomach.

"I think it is!" Ellie grins, "He's kicking!"

Joel lifts her shirt to press a kiss to her stomach. He turns his face against her stomach, and she feels the baby kick lightly against his cheek.

Chapter Text

10/31/2034

The record clicks onto the track as Ellie bounces exitedly on the balls of her feet. She holds the steak knife in her hand, tapping it against her leg. Joel places down another newspaper onto the dining room table. "Careful with that," he says over the first lyric of the song.

{When I look out my window}

{Many sights to see}

Ellie looks down at the knife and then places it onto the edge table. "Yeah," she says and pokes the handle to push it further onto the table. She fiddles with her fingers, bouncing along to the rhythm.

{And when I look in my window}

{So many different people to be}

"How many times are you going to listen to this damn' song?" Joel asks as he smooths down the newspaper, making sure all the edges overlap.

{They're strange, so strange}

{It's very strange to me}

Ellie scratches her chin as if she's contemplating the question. "Mmm," she taps her fingers along the table while grinning, "Just a few more times."

{You've got to pick up every stitch}

Joel sighs and scratches his eyebrow. "What?" Ellie asks, "It matches the theme." He pulls out a chair from the table, "That it does."

{Oh no, must be the season of the witch}

Ellie climbs onto the chair and swings her legs playfully. She holds her hands out in a grabbing motion, "Pumpkin me!"

{When I look over my shoulder}

Joel walks around the bar to the pumpkin and wraps his hands around it.

{What do you think I see?}

He places the pumpkin into the table with a thud, then turns it so the pretty side is facing her. "Your pumpkin ma'am," He remarks while pulling out a chair next to her.

{Some other cat looking over}

"Thank you, servant," she says playfully and turns the pumpkin back to the uglier side.

{Over his shoulder at me}

"I'm going to stop doing stuff for you, girl," Joel says and takes a sip from his water glass. Ellie hums and crawls onto her knees in the chair.

{And he's strange, so strange}

Her bump hits the table and holds her back slightly from the pumpkin.

{He's very strange to me}

The baby kicks in protest of her movement, and she shushes at her stomach. Ellie stabs the knife into the top of the pumpkin and starts carving a circle.

{You've got to pick up every stitch}

"Remember to make a pattern so it will sit easier," Joel reminds while watching her hands work carefully. "Yeah, yeah," Ellie says, "I remember." She had not remembered, but she's thankful to her carving assistant for reminding her.

{Beatniks are out to make it rich}

She carves the outline in a spikey pattern. Ellie can feel Joel's nerves spiking every time she plunges the knife into the pumpkin. "You sprouting a few more gray hairs over there?" She grins.

{Said it must be the season, must be the season, must be the season}

Joel rolls his eyes without entertaining her. To be honest, Ellie wouldn't mind him having a few more of those. They're oddly hot. She better get lucky tonight.

The music fades out, then licks back on. Joel grumbles something and stands, "I'm turning that shit off." Ellie fakes offense at him, "Nooo! It's good ambiance!"

"How do you even know what that word means?" He asks after removing the record from the player. "I read, ever tried it?" She sticks out her tongue at him and shoves a hand into the pumpkin.

"It's so slimy," Ellie says and pulls a handful of guts out and into the bowl. "Can I eat that?" She asks and sticks a finger into her mouth to taste it. "I guess," Joel says while returning to their seat.

Ellie takes a bite from the bowl, "This is good!" He grimes at her, "I ain't never tried it." She holds her hand out to his mouth, "Here! Try!" He moves his head away from her hand, "No thank you."

She shrugs, more for her then.

Once the pumpkin has been fully deboweled, Ellie pushes the bowl of guts away from her. "Can we eat those seeds?" She asks. "Yeah, just gotta roast em' first," Joel responds, "You're the one who's going to be picking them out of the guts, though."

"I'm fine with that," Ellie says while pulling out a string of pumpkin to eat. "Now, now, what am I going to turn you into?" She shoves the knife into the face of the pumpkin; And sees Joel nervously scratch his neck out of the corner of her eye.

She carves out an oval for the first eye, then repeats the process on the other side. "What are you carving?" Joel asks while trying to get a peak of her masterpiece. "No peaking!" She says and turns it away from his view.

Ellie makes a medium-sized triangle for its nose and then leads it down into a line to make a smile. She painfully cuts little whiskers next to its nose and mouth. And when she's done, she wipes her hands on her pants, then slowly turns the pumpkin to reveal her artwork.

"It's a cat!" She says and outlines its face with her finger. Joel nods approvingly, "That's pretty good for your first time." Ellie grins at him, "I am pretty good at first times."

---

Ellie watches over Joel's shoulder as he flicks his zippo lighter and lights the tea candle inside of her pumpkin. There's no one around to admire it outside, so pumpthew will live on the floor next to the TV until he starts to rot.

"You picked out the movie yet, kiddo?" Joel asks as he puts the stem lid back on the pumpkin. "Yup," she says, bouncing onto the couch with the remote.

The movie opens to a screen of a woman covered in red. She's standing with her arms extended in a room of fire. "Carrie?" Joel asks as he sits down next to Ellie on the couch.

Joel drags the ottoman over to them with his foot then leans back, Ellie climbs onto his lap. She secretly hopes her new baby weight won't crush him. The movie starts, and she leans against his chest, wiggling to get comfortable. He moves his hand to cup her lower stomach. She smiles to herself when she feels little flutters around where his hand is settled.

They're only halfway through the movie when Ellie starts to feel something poking against her back. She nudges against it playfully. "Jus' ignore that," Joel whispers into her ear, accent thick and hoarse. He rubs his fingers up her bump in a soothing pattern. It stirs something in her.

"What if I don't wanna?" Ellie asks back, mimicking his whisper. He hums against her hair then grasps onto her hips gently. Joel lays her on her back across the couch. Ellie grabs the throw pillow and adjusts it under her head.

Joel pulls up her dress over her stomach and presses a kiss to the middle of her bump. She can see the outline of his cock pressing against his pants. Biting her lower lip, Ellie pulls down the waistband of his pants, letting him pop out against her hand.

Enamored, as always, she rubs the tip and spreads the precum down to the base. Just like he taught her to do. It was a bit embarrassing at first, having to learn everything sexual from scratch. But as she hears him moan above her, hand digging into the couch, she's pretty sure she's getting the hang of this.

She pumps up and down a few times, watching the muscles in his bare chest tense and relax. It's only after a few strokes that he pulls her hand away. Joel lifts her legs around his waist, leaning above her.

He presses a kiss to her forehead, "Gonna fuck you now baby," he says against her skin. Ellie closes her eyes as she feels the tip of his cock slowly enter her. Hands are pressed on either side next to her head. He pumps in and out slowly, mindful of her heightened sensitivity.

Moans and occasional ughs of pain flow from Ellie's mouth as her husband quickens his pace. Everytime they fuck he feels a little bigger than before.

"That's my good girl," Joel moans against her forehead after one particularly deep thrust that shoots pain through her. But any pain is quickly washed away by the growing warmth that fills her.

Ellie wraps her arms around his neck, trying to get as close to him as she can with the watermelon sized roadblock between them. "Atta' girl," he says as she starts grinding against him, her clit rubbing against his pubic hair with every trust.

"Please," she squeaks, holding onto him for dear life as he pounds into her, Ellie can't keep up the pace. "Please what?" He asks, accent thick with lust while he teases her.

"Please," Ellie says quietly, then repeats the word over and over again dumbly. "Can't give you what you want if you don't tell me what it is, kiddo." he taps her thigh, and her eyes roll to the back of her head.

The more she progresses into her pregnancy, the more jawdroppingly sensitive she gets. Ellie's mind is hazy as he fucks her, she can hear the movie in the background, playing under the sounds of their mixed moaning. But she can't quite make out what it's saying. She can't even remember her own name.

"Wanna cum," She mumbles. Even though her eyes are closed, she can still clearly see the grin on Joel's face as he responds, "What was that?" Ellie groans and quickens her uneven rutting.

"I wanna cum," Ellie declares, louder this time, eyes opening to look him in the eyes as she says it. Joel presses a kiss against her forehead and hums, "Why didn't you say that before then?"

She can't think up a response before he places a finger on her clit and starts rubbing. Ellies vision goes white, and her mouth hangs open slightly, letting out loud moans into the room. Joel thrusts into her roughly, matching the pattern he's set on her clit.

Ellie's head is suddenly drained of all thoughts, and her body tenses up, holding onto him. Then she relaxes, removing her grip completely and moving her hands to cup her stomach.

A warmth soon fills her, and she opens her eyes to see Joel panting above her. He kisses the tip of her nose then sits back, leaning against couch cushion.

Once her awareness has been fully restored she smacks Joel on the head with the throw pillow. "You're a dick you know that?" She asks between hits. "You love it," he responds, voice lighter. He's not completely wrong.

Ellies face turns a brighter shade of red, she does enjoy the teasing, a lot actually. "Get any more red and your freckles will fly off," Joel jokes and grabs onto the remote.

"You want to restart this?" He asks and directs the TV to the main menu. "Yeah," she says and curls up under his arm. Joel clicks the movie to play. His unused hand lays across her stomach. The movie starts and he presses a soft kiss to her forehead.

Ellies pumpkin flickers next to the TV, candle starting to dim. But the low light is just perfect for a horror movie.

Chapter Text

11/3/2034

Ellie takes another sip of her hot peppermint tea, she cradles it to her chest, knitted blanket tucked over her shoulders. Her foot taps a rhythm of a song that she's trying to remember the name of into the wooden step below her. The floor of the back deck isn't the most comfortable, but the chrisp air that blows on her face is soothing.

She listens to the sounds of hammering and watches Joel as he lifts another wooden board to cover the one below. The tea is starting to cool, and as it does so it loses its nice taste. Tea is a scarce resource here, in the middle of no were. Especially now that her son has been demanding the peppermint flavor constantly.

Drafts for an herb garden on the porch have already been planned. But it's too late in the year to attempt to grow anything new, although the herbal seeds laying in the basement are quite tempting.

Joel hits another nail into the board loudly, which causes Baaya to jump and scurry away. She ushers Fluffy further out of the yard, trying to keep her baby away from the danger. The calf is defiant, however, jumping around his mother and rushing over to Ellie.

Ellie places her tea down next to her and scratches around Fluffy's ears. "Who's a good boy?" She says and kisses his dirty forehead between his horns. He baas at her then bounces back to his mother.

The chickens have taken shelter in their coop, not approving of the cold. All but Janice, who pecks at Joel's feet as he works. He kicks some dirt at her with the side of his foot, trying to dissuade her from interrupting him.

Ellie looks past him and into the sky in the distance. It's only around 4 p.m., but its turning dark, dulling golden light beats down on them from above. And while it's so cold that Ellie has wrapped herself in a blanket, Joel works away in a short sleeved shirt.

A loud groan of pain rings out, her eyes snap back onto Joel. He's cradling his hand. Hammer has fallen onto the ground next to him. She can see he's starting to get dizzy.

Her tea falls as she quickly stands up to rush over to him. Ellie reaches him in record time, feet smacking the ground with urgency. "What happened?" She asks, worried, and ushers him to lean against the shed.

Woosy, his eyes are snapped close, but he seems aware enough to listen to her. "Let me see," she says and tries to pry his hand off to see the other. When he does release his hold, she winces. He must have missed the nail, as his extremely swollen hand has turned a bright shade of red and is already bruising.

"Ok, ok, ok," Ellie repeats, she's nursed worse injuries on him. She wraps his arm around her neck and starts correlling him back inside. And she notices, sadly, that her tea has seeped into her blanket, she hopes that the stain will come out.

Janice squaks angerly at Ellie as she shuts the door behind them, leaving the clingy bird outside.

---

Ellie grabs onto a throw pillow from the sofa. She fluffs the flannel thing and tosses it on the floor in front of Joel. His inflamed hand rests on the arm of the chair. An ice pack that's wrapped in a dish towel balanced on it.

The TV chatters in the background, a random 90s comedy put on to fill the silence. She grabs onto his knees to help her kneel down on the pillow. Joel pets her hair gently as she slowly sits onto the pillow. She squirms around uncomfortablely while she tries to get comfortable, her bump making it difficult to get close enough to his crotch.

"You ok?" Joel asks as she awkwardly moves onto her knees. "Mhm," she mumbles and reaches out to unzip his pants. He's already half-hard when she grabs onto his cock and pulls it out. It twitches when she grabs ahold of the base. Ellie hears him groan as she wraps her soft lips around to tip.

Joel grabs onto her ponytail with his non-injured hand and starts moving her head back and forth. Moving slowly at first, pulling her gently in and out. Ellie closes her eyes and let's him use her, she removes her hand from the base of his cock and moves it to cup his balls.

She can hear him moan and curse under his breath as he increases his thrusts. Ellie grabs onto her boob, her pussy throbs, leaking some wetness onto her skirt. When she opens her eyes again she sees him looking down on her, staring into her watering eyes.

His eyes are dark and lustfilled as he pulls her off of him. Joel's grip looses on her hair and brushes his fingers over her cheek. "Pretty little thing," he says softly to her as he takes his cock inhand. He rubs it over her cheek slowly, mimicking the motions of his fingers. Then presses it back onto her lips. "Give it a kiss," he says while rubbing it against her mouth, all with a perverted grin on his face. Ellie sticks her tongue and blows a raspberry at him. Then presses a long kiss to the tip, slathering precum over her lips.

Ellie doesn't give him the gratification of verbally calling him out on his teasing. And she has to admit, at least to herself, that she likes it.

"Good girl," Joel says and runs his fingers back through her hair. Then suddenly, he pulls the hair tie out of her hair, flicking it God knows where behind them. Ellie pulls away slightly, "Those are a scarce resource, ya'know," she mumbles, pulling away momentarily.

"I'm always here to hold it for you," he hums as he wraps his fist around her hair, holding it in a makeshift ponytail. "Go on," he nods back down to his crotch and pushes her face against his cock.

She makes out with his tip the best she can, pressing long wet kisses to it and occasionally suckling gently. How has he not cum yet? He's probably holding out to tease her more- "Look at me, kiddo," he demands, snaping her out of her thoughts.

Ellie snaps her eyes up at him through her eyelashes, continuing to lick and suck on the tip of his cock. Wanting to evoke louder moans from his sealed mouth she wraps her hands around his base, squeezing gently and moving up and down.

And she's successful in her attempts, as she pulls a sharp moan out of his mouth. Joel pulls her away from his dick. Then he releases her hair, and rudely snaps the elastic strap of her dress. He hooks his fingers around it and pulls her up by the strap. Her hands grip onto his thighs to help pull her off the ground.

Joel flips her around so she faces the TV. Ellie feels him rub his fingers over the wet spot on her dress. Her face immediately flushes red, knowing that he knows she gets off to this. "Someone's eager," he hums, then pulls up her dress around her waist. "Hold this up for me baby," he says and she obeys, holding her dress up while he cups her pussy with his good hand.

Her panties are drenched and slick coats her inner thighs. Her legs were pressed together on the floor as she squirmed and rubbed, causing her thighs to become glazed and sticky with eagerness. The pregnancy is upping her libido, and she'd be embarrassed about that if she didn't know he loved it too.

His fingers wrap around the elastic trim of her panties, he pulls his fingers back, then snaps it against her skin. Ellie huffs and presses her thighs together irritated. Joel tsks at her, "Open," he says while he snakes his hand between her thighs.

She hears the melted ice pack fall to the floor and a cold hand helping to push apart her thighs. Ellie squeaks at the cold and instinctually opens her legs. "Thats' my girl," Joel praises and runs his hands down her thighs.

Ellie moans softly when he presses the palm of his hand over her clothed cunt. "Doesn't your hand hurt?" She mumbles as she feels the harmed hand rub her outer thigh, her head is titled at the floor, eyes heavy. "Feels better," he says under his breath, then he hooks his finger around her panties and pulls them down.

Cold air hit her hot cunt and she hisses. Joel drags the fabric down around her knees. She hears him lean forward, then feels him kiss the dimple on her right buttcheek. He palms her ass and takes his sweet time gawking at it.

"You horny princess?" he asks abruptly, kissing her lower back. Ellie nods aggressively, "mhm." Joel tsks at her again, stern, "Use your words." Her face goes ever redder as she meekly responds, "Yes."

"Yes, what?" She can practically see the smirk on his face as he says it. "Yes I am," she whispers into the air, head going empty with every press of his hand against her but not the spot where it counts.

"Are what?" Joel asks in a patronizing tone. He moves his hand further away from her clit and she huffs, annoyed. "Yes I'm horny," she mutters then let's out a relived sigh when she feels his fingers press on her clit. "That wasn't that hard, was it?" He hums as she grinds against his fingers.

"Somethings hard," she giggles softly. "Little pervert," Joel comments and removes his hand from her. Ellie turns her head to look at him, angry at the sudden loss of contact.

Joel grabs ahold of her hips and angles her over his cock. Ellies nails dig into the armrests as she sinks onto him. Her teeth dig into her lower lip. "Bounce," he says, and pats her outer thigh. She does as she's told, nails continuing to mark up the chair as she bounces up and down on his cock.

Winey moans leave her mouth as the warm pressure builds in her stomach. His hands tightly hold onto her lower waist, helping move her with the extra baby weight. Ellie appreciates it. She doubts she'd be able to do this for long without assistance.

Joel starts thrusting into her, matching her movements. He moans and grunts behind her, and she makes a loud squeak when he hits her spot. And it doesn't take many more calculated thrusts for her legs to start to contract, toes curling inward.

Her hold on the couch looses as she cums, inner walls tightening into a vice grip onto his cock. Joel follows immediately after, cumming into her. Ellie falls back against his chest, and leans her head against his chest. After taking a moment to recover, she turns herself to curl up onto his lap.

Joel wraps his arms around her, then presses a long kiss to her. "Feel better?" Ellie asks, smiling against his lips. "Much better," he mumbles back, rubbing down her back soothingly.

Ellie lays her head against his shoulder, and they turn their attention back to the TV. "We should start this over, right?" She asks, grabbing for the remote. They rewind the show back onto episode two and cuddle together. Joel presses a kiss onto her forehead, resting his hurt hand inside of hers.

Chapter Text

11/15/2034

Grapefruit, and while Ellie has never actually seen or eaten a grapefruit, she can tell by the imagine in her pregnancy book that it's quite a large fruit. But the baby feels much larger than that. As Ellie scans through the pages, she can feel her baby kicking wildly against Joel's hand.

It's chilly outside, and she can see the very beginnings of frost gathering on their bedroom window from where she lays. Her lamp illuminates the page about six month development. She's not quite there, but close enough.

Perhaps it's the winter slowly creeping in, or maybe it's that their bedroom clock has gone off-kilter, but its still dark outside. Only a sliver of light has started to shine through the trees, and it's supposedly 6:20am.

Nugget has yet to announce the morning from his comfortable apartment next to the ladies. He's probably bundled in with the fluffy blankets Ellie had given to him so he could keep warm.

He'd probably be happier with the ladies, but they can't take care of any chicks this winter.

Joel has yet to rouse, and Ellie has no intention of waking him early. The hunting trip he's been going on about worries her. She knows they're low on food and completely out of meat, but the idea of him getting lost in the snow terrifies her.

Especially with the baby coming, what if she gives birth early? And he's not here? She could die without his help. She would die if he never came back.

He's like a human radiator as Ellie presses further against him. Joel unconsciously rubs against her bump, and she sighs. Looking out the window once more, she snaps the book closed and places it onto her nightstand.

Warm, steady breathing hits the back of her head while she observes the light inch closer to them. It's pretty, and the frost coating their window evaporates as the sun slowly treads towards its daily peak. Hopefully, the sun will be bright enough and warm enough for him to catch something, then get home safely tonight.

Please get home safely.

---

Silver utensils click against their plates as they eat breakfast, eggs, peas, and roasted broccoli. They really do need meat soon. Ellie eats off of the strawberry set, Joel the orange. Silence fills the air as she continues to go over every possible bad scenario.

"I'm going to be fine," Joel says suddenly and holds onto her hand. The swelling has gone down drastically. But Ellie still circles around the yellow and purple bruise that remains. She frowns down at it, "You don't know that."

"You don't either," he says soothingly and rubs the side of her finger with this thumb. "We can't starve, not with you eating us out of house and home," he smiles and moves back to his plate.

Ellie pouts the rest of their meal, trying to drag it out long enough to where he won't leave her today. He can go tomorrow! Or next year. Anytime but now.

But despite her best efforts, Ellie still finds herself adjusting his jacket collar, zipping it up tight. The door is swung open behind him as she checks to make sure he won't freeze to death. The breeze from outside hits her skin, and it is cold. She pulls him into a hug, getting a wet spot on his jacket from tears.

Joel runs his gloved hand over her back soothingly. He kisses her forehead, "I'll be back soon." His face is reassuring, but it does nothing to soothe the anxiety that bubbles in her.

And, she feels guilty because she knows the baby can feel what she feels, but something is wrong. Ellie wipes her eyes, "Something is out there," she says and grabs onto his hand, hoping that she can hold him back out of sheer force of will.

"Something is going to find you," she sniffles, "I just know it." Joel lifts her chin and presses a soft kiss to her lips, "It's going to be ok, kiddo." He cups her chin and wipes her tears with his thumbs, "The hormones are making you more sensitive; nothing bad is going to happen."

"It's not the hormones," she mumbles. Joel drops her face and smooths down her dress over the baby bump, "Then it's the hunger. You need those extra nutrients right now."

Arms crossed over her stomach, Ellie shivers from the outside air. "You're cold," Joel observes as he grabs the shotgun from beside the door. "Go lay down, I promise, I will be back." He presses a final kiss to her lips, then walks out the door, closing it behind him.

Ellie turns away from the door and tries to push away the building dread she feels. What can she do to distract herself? Movie! This book must have at least one movie that will cheer her up.

She picks out a move called "Matilda" and inserts inside the DVD player. Ellie grabs some canned strawberries and presses play. Joel can at least forgive her for eating this after abandoning her and all.

The further in the movie gets, the more she starts thinking about the names of the characters and what names she wants to give to her baby. She could go classic, like Joyce or Dorothy. Ooh, like the movie, but it seems a little too theatrical.

Odette is nice but also a bit old for her tastes. Altogeth, she can't really judge being Eleanor and all. Emma is more modern, but it doesn't ring right for her. Same with Olivia, she doesn't want to think about olives when she looks at her baby.

Wait, why is she thinking about girls' names? Ugh, Joel has bleed into her head about it being a girl.

Jake is decent, but she had a bully named Jake in school, and Jace and Jack are too similar, so that rules that out. Joel Jr. Isn't too bad, but Ellie just can't invision a baby named Joel.

Old-school names are definitely out for boys. No Jeckle or Hide will be born in her house. Jeez, there really are no good options here.

Ellie huffs and fluffs up the throw behind her head. She's sure she'll figure something out in time. Her attention is drawn away soon as the movie gets interesting. She watches a woman shove chocolate cake in some kids' faces.

It's a fun movie, she should re-watch it once she's fully awake, and with Joel. Maybe he's even seen it before. They can cuddle and eat popcorn. It'll be nice watching movies once the baby is born. They can all bundle up and watch it together.

By the time the credits roll, she's already starting to doze off. Ellie runs her fingers over the couch cushion nervously. She hopes Joel's found shelter for tonight. She hopes he's safe.

Chapter Text

11/15/2034

Joel tightens the gunstrap over his shoulder as he walks down the creeky old porch staircase. It'll have to be fixed next summer; He can't have a rugrat falling through the wood.

The windchime that Ellie had convinced him to keep picks at his nerves even as he gets further and further away from the house. Annoying thing. He doesn't know why she likes it so much.

Every time he asks her, she flips her ponytail at him and says, "It's pretty." Joel guesses he knows a thing or two about keeping annoying pretty things.

He sighs to himself as cold air blows past him. It nips cold bites into his skin as he walks the path towards the woods. The cold reminds him of why he hates winter. But he hates the idea of a starving Ellie and baby more so.

Although he is exceedingly aware of their growing need for food, especially now that Ellie is getting close to birth. He just can't seem to shake the image of her teary green eyes staring up at him, begging him not to leave her. There's still a wet spot on his jacket, goddamnit.

He's gone hunting dozens of times before, probably hundreds. Even before the outbreak, Joel can vividly remember his father taking him hunting. And him teaching Tommy how to hunt, that boy was always one hell of a shot. Sarah never went. She would cry over a dead butterfly, not built for it.

Leaves crunch under Joel's boots, snapping him out of his own head. Fuckin' distracted, focus. He can't come home empty handed.

Squirrels and other small animals scurry around him, trying to beef up their nests before winter fully sets in. They're safe for now though, not only would it be a bit pathetic to bring home a bunny after all that fuss, it probably wouldn't even last them til' the weekend.

No, he needs something bigger.

Joel walks as quietly as he can manage with his heavy boots and the fallen leaves. Bordering the trees, he attempts to stay out of sight of any larger animals that might come his way.

---

A snowflake hits Joel's nose as he passes another clearing. The sun is setting early, and quickly. He's walked at least three miles, It's been hours. There's no sign of life anywhere, looks like he's camping tonight.

Won't be the first time or the last he will sleep in a bed of snow. It's a' good thing he's never been particularly irked to snow. Ellie had patched his jacket a few days ago, now little floral patterns adorn his otherwise brown and unremarkable coat.

"Maybe the animals will see your pretty coat and not think you're a threat," she had said while giggling. He can't say that any animals have offered themselves up for slaughter, but it does do a good job of insulating.

Joel knows a lot of men would be upset if they were made to wear something like this. But he loves the effort she put into it. While they were sitting by the fire watching old shows. Ellie there sat there, sewing needle in hand, basket of scraped clothes next to her. N' he was worried about her stabbing herself every time she laughed about something on the show. She had ended up poking herself, several times at that.

Lifting the inner lining of his coat sleeve, he smiles at the tiny yellow smiley face she'd embroidered for him. The message warms him enough to continue on.

There's no point in searching any further tonight, but he still needs to eat. Joel pulls his gun off his back and squints his eyes, trying to make out whats infront of him.

Trecking forward, he tries to locate some sort of clearing. Hopefully, some animal late for winter will appear. If not, he supposes' he'll be eating canned broccoli, again.

---

"Goddamnit," Joel whispers under his breath, exasperated. His silver zippo lighter, is engraved with the date of an unknown anniversary, most likely gifted to someone he'll never know.

Another thing about his silver zippo is that it's out of fuel. Joel curses to himself and leans over with his hands on his knees. He sighs and grumbles obscenities to whatever deity or animal is listening.

Joel sits back on the grass and stares at the pile of drywood and a sliver of dryer lint. Must have taken at least an hour to gather that stack. Everything is damp from snow. Even under the canopy of a large evergreen, he can still feel an occasional crystal fall on his face.

A sharp rock pokes his ass as he scratches his left eyebrow and tries to think. He can probably brute force a fire with some rocks. It's not like he hasn't done that before. He lifts his coat hood as he stands, should have just brought some matches.

With two seemingly dry rocks, Joel starts attempting to make a spark over the lint. After about a dozen flicks, and somehow even more cuts on his exposed fingers, the lint finally catches, and he lets out a sigh of relief.

Joel pulls off his fingerless gloves and raises his hands to the fire. His fingers have gone a purplish hue. It must be colder than he thought.

He retrieves the can of broccoli and rolls it over by the fire. At least he can eat something warm. Joel wonders what Ellie is doing right now. Hopefully, she's not too worried about him.

Once the inside of the glass can has gotten steamy, he rolls the can back over to him. He picks it up with his gloves, then untwists it and gets hit in the face with hot steam.

The moment he puts the lid to the ground a crunch sounds out somewhere infront of him. Joel lifts his gun off the ground next to him and slowly rises from the ground.

A tall, shadowed human figure emerges from the trees. Joel aims his gun at them and puts on his most intimidating voice.

"The fuck do you want?"

Chapter Text

11/17/2034

Ellie grumbles into the air as she shoves a third finger inside herself. She's at an odd angle, one hand against her nightstand, the other wriggling around her cunt. Her foot is proped against the bed, messing up the bedding she had made up that morning.

A stack of books falls off her nightstand as she leans further back to get a good angle. "Fuck!" Ellie curses and crawls naked onto the bed. With her ass in the air, she tries to maneuver around her bump.

She finally manages to get in herself it's still incredibly frustrating. Even if she did manage to find a good angle, her fingers aren't as long and thick as Joel's.

Ellie hasn't had to do this herself in a year. She's been spoiled, and now she has to fend for herself in the pleasure wasteland. "Ugh," she shouts, frustrated. Her hair bunches up under her back and gets yanked as she rolls onto her back like an inverse turtle.

She lifts her back up slightly and pulls her hair out from under her. Even while spread eagle, Ellie can't get a good angle. Scrapping her idea of getting a few fingers in, she aims for her clit.

But it only adds to her growing annoyance when she realizes this, too, is not as good as when he does it.

Going in small circles, she tries to mimic the way Joel does it. Ellie imagines the pad of her thumb is thicker and more calloused. She feels a twinkle of pleasure shoot up her spine when she hits it just right. However in her excitement, she breaks the pattern starting her right at the beginning.

She balls her fist up and punches the bed. "Fuck you and your camping trip," Ellie grumbles at Joel's side of the bed. The baby kicks at her blatter and she groans. "Can't you see I'm busy dude?" She asks to her stomach, then rubs over it.

Fuck she's gotta pee now, damned baby pushing on her insides. Doesn't he know she can barely walk? "Might as well live in the bathroom," she grunts and pulls herself up and onto her feet.

The moment her feet hit the floor a shot of pain spikes up her abdomen. Ellie touches her stomach and it's gone rock hard, "What the fuck?" Her baby has stopped kicking. Another cramp hits her, and she sits back onto the bed.

No

No

No

No

No

It's way too early for the baby to be coming. Ellie attempts to stand once again but falls to her knees when a trickle of pain goes up her abdomen once more. She lands on her knees, hands on the floor.

She reaches her hand down and rubs over her vagina. When she lifts her hand back up, she lets out a small sigh of relief, no blood.

Ellie crawls on all fours to the bedroom door, unable to stand up with such a front weight. She cursies obscenities everytime she bumps her knees into a raised peice if wood.

Pausing to take a breath, Ellie realizes that the uncomfort has stopped. And, the baby has returned to kicking on her blatter. She runs her hand over her stomach, it's soft again, and she can feel him pushing against her hand. It stopped as quickly as it started.

She sighs and grabs onto the door handle to help pull herself off the ground. The golden doorknob suddenly pops out of its socket and hits the floor, ringing out.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Ellie says exasperated, then continues on crawling down the hallway.

Baby is also perturbed with this situation, punching and kicking against Ellie's stomach like he's in a fight with her uterus. And he's winning. She cringes when she hears the other side of the doorknob go bouncing off the overhang and onto the first floor.

Seems like a Joel problem to her.
She peeks over the fence and sees a small dent in the floor, definitely a Joel problem.

When Ellie finally reaches the bathroom she lets out a sigh of relief. If he kicks one more on her blatter shes going to piss herself. She reaches up and pulls the knob down. "When did this knob get so high?" She complains as the door comes swinging open.

"Are all the doors conspiring against me?" Ellie grumbles as she crawls onto the bathroom tile. She reaches the sink and sits up onto her knees. Hands gripping onto the counter edge, she drags herself onto her feet.

She's sore, her back and legs ache from the pregnancy, only made worse from the fall. And when she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she doesn't look like herself.

Her hair is messy and knotted, skin is dry and cracking around her lips and eyebrows.

She uses the bathroom and struggles with the toilet paper. She watches her hands and tries to fix her appearance up. Joel's only been gone for two, bordering on three days, and she's already a mess.

Ellie lifts her dress and smells it, "Gotta shower." She wobbles over to the toilet and drops down. The bathroom window is frosty too, she reaches up and grabs onto the curtain, pulling it shut.

Joel better be alive, or she's going to kill him.

Once she's done peeing, aided by the baby pushing on her, she grasps onto the counter again and pulls herself back up. Not bothering to pull her underwear back up, she kicks it across the room. It lands against the hamper, "Close enough."

She ignores her reflection while she washes her hands, then proceeds to shakily pull her dirty dress off. Ellie hasn't changed since Joel left, just wallowed away waiting for him.

Not being able to take hot baths is a bitch when she feels so achey. Ellie turns the temperature knob to warm then turns the shower knob. "Eeek!" She screams as the cold water hits her skin. Standing under the freezing water she curses whatever God is controlling it at this moment.

It takes a few minutes for the shower to warm up. Ellie lathers shampoo in her hair and watches as dandruff falls to the bottom of the tub. She should probably be ashamed of getting this dirty so quickly. But no one is here to judge her. Even the baby can't see her.

She does feel better, though, as she throughly scrubs her hair and upper body. But frustratingly, she can't reach under her bump, Joel usually helps her with that.

Ellie grabs onto the shower nozzle and aims it down at her legs and vuva. She drizzles soap over her legs and underbelly, then she contorts herself around so that the water can clean her. Or at least get her more clean than she was before.

Another cramp hits, and she groans, grabbing onto the shower bar. This one only lasts about 10 seconds then dissipates. What the fuck is going on? This can't be labor. It doesn't hurt enough. It feels like a mild period cramp.

Ellie holds onto the shower bar and leans against the wall for a few minutes until she's sure the cramping has stopped.

She steps out of the shower and shivers as the chilly air rams into her. After grabbing a towel from the rack, Ellie covers herself and ties the edges of the towel around over her bump.

And upon looking at herself in the mirror once again, she's happy to find she looks a lot better.

After brushing her teeth and generously applying lotion, Ellie gets dressed. She picks a silky nightgown as opposed to a regular dress. It almost hits her ankles, has long flowly sleeves, and is lined with a warm layer inside.

Perfect for dramatically wandering around the house. She forgoes underwear, probably couldn't put them on herself anyway.

---

It's dark outside, hitting close to midnight. Ellie sits at the top of the staircase, chin in her hands. She yawns, tired after her shower. The effort put into the shower has increased her hunger. How difficult will it be to walk down the stairs?

Wow. That's something she'd never thought she'd think. She wonders what herself two years ago would think of her now. Probably wouldn't believe it.

She taps her foot on the floor. "Fuck it," Ellie groans and pulls herself to her feet. Every step down the staircase feels like a risk. She grabs tightly onto the railing, leaving scratch marks at some points.

The first thing Ellie does when she reaches the floor is walk over to the front door. She flicks the porch light on like she does every time he goes hunting. Upon peaking out the door's window, she sees that the outside thermometer reads 5°.

Jesus, she hopes he's sitting by the fire, safe in a cave somewhere. Ellie frowns and turns to the countertop. She cuts a healthy slice of bread from the bread box. Opening the fridge, she grabs the bowl of goat butter.

It slides over the bread nicely as she spreads it with a butter knife. She drops the knife in the sink, too tired to deal with dishes at the moment. Ellie yawns once again, then takes a bite of her buttered bread.

She places a hand on her stomach to rub when she hears a creaking from the porch. Followed by heavy footsteps approaching the front door.

Chapter Text

11/16/2034

"What the fuck do you want?" Joel repeats, his rifle remains pointing at the figure. The other man raises his arms to the air slowly. His hands are empty, palms spread out to indicate helplessness.

"I ain't looking for trouble, jus' got lost from my group," he says, voice slightly shakey, intensifying a Texan accent. Joel narrows his eyes at the shadow, rolling the voice over in his mind. It sounds familiar, but he can't quite put his finger on it.

Joel's breath is heavy in his scarf, wrapped around his mouth to insinuate himself while he waited for his food to cook. He pulls the scarf down over his chin. "Come out here," he says, looking to affirm his suspicion.

He steps out of the shadow cast by the trees. The man is facing the ground, dirty blonde hair clings around his face. His coat and jeans are ripped and bloody. Joel can see wounds through the gashes littering his clothes.

But the most surprising thing about the man is that he has the same face as someone who Joel knows. Someone who he misses.

"Tommy?" He asks, surprised, ane he immediately lowers his gun to rest against his hip. The man looks up at the name and narrows his eyes at Joel, attempting to look at him through the fire.

The pair stare at each other through the warping of the tall flame smoke. Until Joel rounds the fire so that they can look at each other face to face.

"Joel?" He responds, arms falling to his hips as he staggers forwards. He's limping, left leg seemingly sprained or broken. Once Tommy reaches Joel, he throws his arms around his brother while Joel remains stunned.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Tommy asks and laughs nervously. Joel snorts and pats him on the back, "What are you doing out here?"

---

Joel stares at his brother, who's sitting in front of him eating the other half of his broccoli. He scratches his eyebrow and sighs, "didn't expect this tonight." Tommy nods in response, "I thought I was going to die, then you show up outta nowhere."

He finishes the can and sits it down next to him. The air around them is tense, and Joel isn't sure if he should note their last conversation or leave it be.

Tommy makes the decision for him. "Got separated from my group a day or so ago," he says and wipes down his pants, "We got attacked by fucking wolves, have you ever seen wolves around here before?"

He laughs awkwardly and stares at Joel, as if he's trying to figure something out. "Can't say I have," he responds, picking at his sleeve cuff where the smiley face stays tucked next to his hand.

"Are you passin' through or?" Tommy asks, Joel shakes his head, "No I, uh, live a few miles from here." The fire crackles loudly behind them. "Oh," he scratches his neck, "My group lives about three hours from here," he points in the opposite direction from the cabin.

"Nice jacket," Tommy comments, "You frill it up yourself?" Joel can tell he's just trying to cut the tension, so he chuckles along. "No, my wife fixed it up for me."

"You're married?" He asks, voice teinged with confusion. "Yeah," Joel rubs his neck, "Ain't like there's any legality in it anymore, but," he trails off.

"That's good for you," Tommy starts, tapping his fingers on the grass, "Good, congratulations, I uh, got myself a woman too, Maria, she didn't come on the trip with us." Joel nods and takes a sip from his flask, "Congrats."

"Came out here to stock something up for the winter," he shakes his flask and listens to the icey water slosh around inside, "No luck so far." And as if his words were a jinx, the wind picks up, and another round of snow begins to decend on the pair.

"I can help you with hunting, probably going to blizzard soon, I can hang around with you through the snow, meet your wife n' all."

Joel has to keep himself from snorting at his brother once again, inviting himself to stay at his home. Some things don't change, Tommy being a mooch seems to he one of them. Although, it may be a good thing to have another person around for when Ellie goes into labor.

"I'll consider it," He laughs lightly and rolls the can through the growing layer of snow with his boot, leaving an indent on the ground.

---

11/17/2034

Joel leads them on path through the woods while Tommy stumbles around behind him, pistol in hand. Not having any clothes to offer to his brother, Tommy remains in tattered wear, but the gun seems to have given him back some confidence.

Rifle in hand, they survey the area for any signs of life. The imminent decent of the sun is heavy on Joel's mind as they trudge through the now ankle length snow. They're slowly turning in a wide circle back to the house.

Yesterday's hunt was a long day of awkward silence, and today was turning up to be the same. In fact, Joel doubts they've spoken a full sentence to each other since yesterday. Tommy seems to be content following him around like a lost puppy.

"So, Married, huh?" He says abruptly. Joel hums in response, keeping his eyes peeled and attention on the path in front of him. "Me and Marina did our own ceremony in an old church, y'all do anything special?"

Joel wants to fuss at him for talking so loudly, scaring off any prey that comes near them. But that seems fruitless. There's nothing around. "Not particularly no," he responds and shivers as a breeze blows past them.

The steps behind him cease, Joel sighs to himself then turns to see Tommy staring. "I know you're probably still angry about what happened," he starts, "but, I think that us bumping into each other is more than a damn' coincidence."

"I'm sorry, I, I'm glad to see your stupid fucking face," he apologizes for their last interaction and Joel feels a bit of guilt settle in his stomach. "I'm sorry too, jus' focused on bringing home food for El," he mutters and turns on his feet, going back to the path.

"El? That her name?" Tommy laughs lightly behind him as they pick back up on their trek. "Ellie," Joel corrects while narrowing his eyes to see through the falling snow.

"What she like?" He asks, and Joel can hear him kicking up snow behind him. "I don't know how to describe her," he responds, hungry brain vocused in on food. "I guess I'll get to know when I meet her," Tommy chuckles behind him.

A sudden and loud noise sounds out in the near distance. A high-pitched, angry, nasally scream. The scream continues, getting closer rapidly. Joel lifts his rifle at aims it at the location of the noise.

And when the livid boar appears from behind the tree, he shoots, causing a bullet to lodge into the animals forehead. Joel shoots again, killing it. He rolls his shoulders and approaches it carefully, "Looks like we found your meat."

---

The men trudge out on the woods and onto the planes next to the river. "There," Joel points at the cabin with his free hand. His other hand is supporting a branch, Tommy holds the other end, and the boar hangs in the middle.

"This thing is fuckin' fat," Tommy comments. Joel can feel the weight shift as Tommy stretches his shoulder. "Since when are hogs even in Wyoming?" He asks.

Joel shrugs, "Guess' that without humans fuckin' with them they migrated from lower states, seen a lot of misplaced animals recently."

"Sounds about right," Tommy grunts. The porch light of the distant house switches on. "Must still be awake," Joel says absently as he stares into the distance. Tommy laughs behind him, though he's not sure what's so funny.

With the guiding light of the porch, the pair make it to the house quickly.

The porch steps are indeed in need of repair, and the snow coats them. Joel shoves his boots onto the ice to get a good grip on the wood. He's right about to twist the knob when the door goes flying open, Ellie stands behind it, looking at him with wide eyes. "You're back!" She announces, but the excitement on her face quickly devolves into confusion as she registers the man behind him.

"Who's that?"

Chapter Text

11/17/2034

Ellie watches in bewilderment as Joel walks quickly past her, followed by the second, unknown man. "Who is that?" She repeats and rests her hands over her bump protectively. The room's air is suddenly tense; Joel looks uneasy. So much so that he doesn't immediately greet her.

Due to the situation, she'll forgive him this sin once.

Upon a second glance, she realizes that in her shock, she almost didn't register the pig the pair are carrying. "Holy shit that thing is huge!" She says.

The strange man smiles, nods, and hits the hog on the ass as they lower it onto the living room floor. Joel finally seems to remember Ellie in that moment. His tense face lifts into a more content one as he looks over her again.

And as much to jump him and give him a hug, she's more concerned about, again, who the hell this man is. Ellie points her arm in his direction and asks once more, "Who is that?"

She shivers from the newly introduced cold from the open door. Ellie rubs her hands together, warming them up as she continues to watch the pair.

"Sorry," Joel finally says, then rushes across the room to her. He smells like death and sweat as he wraps his arms around her. Another sin the gracious Ellie forgives him for. She just took a shower, eugh.

It's going to be a bitch to get the pig smell off her now. He kisses her on the forehead, then turns to look back over at the mystery man. "That," Joel starts, pointing his middle and index fingers at the man, "Is my little brother."

"Holy shit!" Ellie says, eyes going wide as she looks between the pair. There does seem to be some family resemblance. But as she looks at him, she's secretly content that she got the more attractive brother.

"Tommy," he says while extending a hand for her to shake. "Heard a lot about you," adds on, but the sentiment doesn't quite meet his eyes. Ellie watches attentively as Joel repeats all of his nervous ticks on a cycle.

She tries to break the tension. "Ellie," she says and shakes his hand wildly. For some reason, she can't seem to remember how to shake someone's hand. Ellie smiles, but the nervousness has started to leech onto her as well.

"So you two just bumped into each other?" Ellie asks, trying to keep her voice upbeat to prevent whatever is starting to bubble over. "I saved his ass again," Joel laughs and wanders over to the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of filtered water.

"Can't we have saved eachother?" Tommy says while standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "I summoned that thing, got you the food you wanted," he laughs anxiously.

"Who's to say I didn't summon the boar?" Joel asks as he pours water from the pitcher into a grape glass. "Probably could have already been home if you didn't come trudgin' out of no were," he snorts and takes a sip of his water.

"Oh please," Tommy says and crosses his arms. Ellie doesn't want to be in this situation anymore, and Joel seems to pick up on that. He puts his glass down on the counter loudly.

"I'm taking Ellie upstairs, she don't need to hear this," Joel says and wraps his arm around the small of her back. She watches as Tommy looks her over again; She sees a hint if surprise on his face when he reaches her stomach.

Joel walks her up the stairs. It's much easier to traverse them with assistance. They reach the second floor landing in half the time it took her to get downstairs. As they approach the bedroom he laughs abruptly. "What?" She asks, surveying his face. He wraps his fingers through the hole where the doorknob was, "You get into a fight with the door?"

She laughs and nods, "Took its dick right off." Joel raises his eyebrows as he pulls the door open, "So the knob is the dick?" Ellie shrugs and enters the bedroom in front of him, "What else would it be?"

"You got me there," he concedes and lifts up the blankets on her side of the bed. Joel fluffs up her pillow and guides her into bed. "I need to talk with my brother," he says and kisses her on the forehead, "Go to sleep."

Ellie stares at the cracked door where Joel stands. He flicks off the switch to the overhead light. It crackles and buzzes before dying off. She's not even sure if they have replacement bulbs for it. "I'll be right back," he assures as he leaves the room.

She looks up at the popcorn ceiling, listening to the pair talk downstairs. Ellie can't make out much, but she does understand the occasional sentence.

"I have never seen a damn wild boar in all my time living here and your telling me thats a fucking coincidence Joel? And not the universe throwing us a bone?" Tommy shouts below her. She cringes. It does seem like a rather odd coincidence.

Ellie hears Joel shushing her before saying something that she can barely make out.

"So you believe in God now? Or are you just afraid to go back to your little group? Why else aren't you eager to get back to your wife?"

The bedroom clock ticks above her. It feels intrusive, like it's budging in on her space. But she guesses that's what she's doing right now, invading a private conversation.

No, this is her house. She can listen to whatever she wants.

"It's a bullizard out there Joel! You cannot expect me to just leave!" She peaks out the window, only guiding light the porch light she had turned on. He's right, it is a blizzard out there.

Ellie wants to tell them to stop yelling, but she's too tired to shout, to tired to move. She closes her eyes, hoping that their hostility will be sorted out before she wakes up.

---

11/18/2034

Ellie stirs from her sleep as the bed caves from Joel's side. Drool pools on the pillow under her, she layes on her side, the only position she can at this stage.

Joel settles in behind her, wiggling around for a few moments before he settles with his arm around her waist. He rubs over her stomach and she hums in a daze. Ellie can smell the shower on him, stink from the trip washed down their bathroom drain. He smells good.

Heavy wind smacks against their bedroom window, which they need to insulate soon. Hale beats down onto the roof, and Ellie counts each the pounding of the larger crystals.

When she was a kid and suffering from horrible insomnia after she witnessed another kid die in the dorms. Her teacher told her to try and count sheep to help her sleep. That didn't really help, since Ellie had never even seen a sheep at that point in her life.

So, instead of counting a mystical animal she'd only heard of in books, she listened to the sound of the giant clock ticking. She can still remember that dorm vividly, even now. Ellie was only around seven or eight at the time before anyone was allowed to have more private dorms with a roommate.

She slept in a giant room twenty-something other girls, beds lined in rows across an open plane. A large clock sat on the wall between two double doors. She could have probably climbed inside that clock.

The smell in that room was awful, and even after they cleaned up that girls body, Ellie could still smell the coppery smell of blood. The girl was her bed neighbor, she wasn't a particularly nice person, often tormenting Ellie during the night.

But she didn't deserve to be stabbed to death with an oversharpend pencil by another girl, angry over the taking of some hairclip. Ellie shutters as she remembers her body, cold and pale with a pool of blood that leaked onto the floor and over to Ellies bed. She remembers how her socks got stained in it, how they wouldn't give her new socks after.

Joel's grunting as he adjusts his pillow breaks her from the rabbit hole she was diving down. He's been frustratedly squirming for half an hour now. It's keeping her awake.

So, she decides to assign him a task. If he's going to be awake, he might as well be useful. Ellie pulls herself up to sit, then leans her back against the headboard. She awkwardly reaches over and pulls the string for her lamp.

Joel looks up at her, eyes tired, with heavy bags under them. "Am I keeping you up?" He asks, she nods. "Sorry, kiddo," he rubs his eye with his palm and yawns.

"Can you get me some water?" She asks, voice raspy after spending an hour drooling on her pillow. "Yeah," he rubs down her thigh, then struggles to pull himself up to his feet. Joel stretches his back while walking out of the bedroom door.

Ellie fiddles with the banket, rubbing her hand against the soft underlining.

Joel returns swiftly, cherry cup filled with ice water in hand. He rounds the bed, offering the water to her which she gladly receives. Ellie holds the glass with two hands and chugs it down in one go.

He settles down on his side of the bed and sighs. They're sitting next to each other, staring at the opposite wall. That is, until Ellie grabs his hand. "I missed you," she hums softly. Joel kisses the top of her head, "I missed you too, baby."

"No, I really missed you," she cheekaly grins at him and starts snaking his hand down to her thigh. Her damned dress is too long, Ellie grunts and struggles to pull it up as Joel absent mindedly runs his fingers over her thigh.

It's only when she's pulling her panties down that Joel seems to fully comprehend the situation. He shakes his head to wake himself up then and scoots closer to her, helping her lay down in a good position. Ellie fluffs a pillow behind her head and spreads her legs open.

One knee is in the air, her other leg gets swung over Joel's shoulder as he lays at an awkward angle to get to her. Ellie closes her eyes as she feels his rough tounge lick over her cunt. The sigh of relief that exits her mouth is loud and long.

She remembers that his brother is still downstairs, then frowns, disappointed that she can't scream out like normal. Joel wraps one hand under her leg, rubbing up and down. His tongue thrusts inside of her, and her eyes roll back.

God, she missed this.

Joel rubs on her insides for a few moments before moving to a different area. He kisses her lips and clit, teasing her while she squirms. Ellie covers her mouth to stop from screaming as he starts sucking on her clit. Her legs automatically spread apart as wide as they can, causing a small cramp to shoot up her spine.

The pain is quickly shushed as Joel moves the hand on her leg to her cunt. He spits on his middle and index fingers before slipping them inside of her. The thrusts are and deep and fast, he continues to work on her clit as her knees shake.

Ellie's climax comes quickly due to being pent up for what feels like years. Her whole body shutters and curls into him. "Good job," Joel praises her as he climbs on top of her. A tent stands prominent in his pajama pants.

She pulls his cock out of his pants. It happily pops out of his confinement and leaks precum as she rubs her thumb up and down the vein. Joel groans above her. She figures he's pent up too, so she lines him up with her core.

As soon as the beginning of her cunt touches his cock Joel automatically presses in. He scoots up, pressing his hands to either side of her head.

He pounds into Ellie at a harsh rate, seemingly vocusing on himself after just getting her off. That doesn't stop the sounds of rough thrusts from making her eyes roll back in her head. She comes again, shoving her thumb in her mouth to suck and bite down on the hush her moans.

Joel's mouth stays wired shut as he pounds into her, even as he shoots spurts of cum inside of her, his lips never part. Huh, he must have had some practice at that.

A spike of jealously shoots up Ellie as she imagines Joel fucking someone else. She grabs onto him, tugging him against her. The sensation of touch is validating, especially as he squeezes her ass while they cuddle.

He's hers now, forever.

The aftermath is unusually quiet. They bask together, both exhausted. Ellie's just about to finally drift off as she feels his finger catch her asshole. She squeaks loudly. That's something they have not attempted yet.

Her eyes pop open to see him looking at her with a smirk. Rolling her eyes, Ellie laughs, "I'm trying to sleep here asshole."

"And I'm trying to touch one," Joel responds softly. She smacks him playfully on the side of the head, "Go to sleep pervert." Joel hums at her stern voice, "Pervert?" he pauses to laugh, "that's a lot coming from you."

Ellie snorts, "I am a child of God. Thank you very much." That pulls a loud laugh out of him. Joel pats her ass, "Sure you are kiddo."

Chapter Text

11/18/2034

Ellie wakes before Joel, her eyes flutter open slowly. Light has started to pour in through the bedroom window. It reflects in frost that coats the corners of the glass

After her eyes adjust to the morning, Ellie decides to get out of bed before Joel. She gently lifts his hand off her stomach and peels herself out of bed. The bedroom floor is cold, so she patters across it quickly to get to the closet.

She chooses a long shelved dress, aware enough to cover her bite from the man downstairs. The dress should hit around her ankles, but due to her bump, it only reaches a bit lower than her knees.

Their baby is supposedly the size of a zucchini, another vegetable she hasn't seen. They have seeds for them, but by the time they're grown, the baby will already be here.

Ellies is not a huge fan of this dress. It's a bit too frilly for her taste, but it's the only one with sleeves long enough to cover her injury. The dress is blue with a rose pattern. There's lace that lines the sleeve cuffs and bottom. Although the dress is loose enough to sway with her movements, which is a plus.

She also grabs some socks and her house slippers. It's probably freezing downstairs. Ellie waves goodbye to her teddybear who's sitting on the chair by the door as she leaves.

---

At six months, Ellie can no longer walk normally; It's more of a wobble than a stride as she walks down the stairs. It reminds her of that one movie about penguins she had watched with Joel.

Her grip on the staircase railing could probably break an arm, but if she falls, it would be much worse than that. When she finally reaches the floor, she lets out a quiet sigh of relief. No pancake Ellie today.

Rounding the corner, she finds Tommy sitting at the kitchen bar, hands pressed together, fingers intertwined. His head rests on top of his fists.

Joel must have given him new clothes, as he's no longer in the tattered clothes she saw him in last night. It takes him a moment to register her presence, only lifting his head when she walks past him and onto the kitchen tile.

The tile creaks under her growing weight as she patters along. "Good morning," he says, acknowledging her presence. His voice is hourse; must have not gotten much sleep.

"Morning," Ellie responds. The air in the room is awkward. She doesn't know what to say without Joel here. Maybe she
should have waited for him to wake up.

Tommy clears his throat as she grabs some goat milk from the fridge. "Ellie, right?" He asks. He's obviously making an effort to seem casual. Well, as casual as you can be in this situation.

"Yup," she says, turning to look at him. Ellie pours the milk into an orange glass carefully, but even with her attempted precision, she ends up spilling it on the counter and floor. "Goddamnit," she whispers and grabs the kitchen towel to start wiping it up.

"Let me help you with that," Tommy says quickly and stumbles out of his chair. He takes the towel from her and wipes the counter and floor while she stands a few feet away. "Thanks," Ellie responds and takes a sip from her up. Tommy nods, "Course' shouldn't be bending down in your, uh, condition."

He smiles at her, she returns it, although a bit awkwardly. Tommy motions at her stomach and then scratches his neck, "How far along are you?"

Ellie can't tell if that's a normal thing to ask or not. "I'm not pregnant, just fat," she responds with a grin. He snorts then covers his mouth. "Six months," she clarifies while swaying her dress back and forth.

"How old are you?" The tone in the room drops again. Ellie leans back on the island counter while Tommy leans against the counter next to the stove. They stare at each other in silence for a moment before she awnsers quietly, "fifteen."

Tommy taps his fingers against the counter, "almost sixteen or?" Ellie doesn't like where this conversation is heading, but she awnsers anyway. "I turned fifteen this July."

He's quiet for a moment. She knows he's doing some math in his head, counting the months. "So you were fourteen when?" Tommy scratches his neck again. Ellie nods. She feels like clarifying that this wasn't an accident, to defend herself from an unknown judgment.

"He was planned," she laughs nervously, "We were already trying for a baby for a few months." She can tell when his fake smile drops even further that it wasn't the correct thing to say.

She isn't used to this kind of interaction.

Tommy clears his throat, "How old were you when you met?" Now Ellie really doesn't like where this is headed. "Thirteen."

"How old were you when-" Ellie cuts off the question she knows will be invasive, "I don't think that's any of your business, is it? Her tone is snippy, and it must have been effective since he has stopped in his tracks. "Sorry," he responds awkwardly, "Jus' a little concerned."

"Why?" Ellie snaps at him. She walks over to the fridge, Joel will be up soon. She should make breakfast. He's probably so tired. He never sleeps in like this.

"It's just not usual, a fifty-someting year old man and a child," Tommy digs further into his hole. Ellie glares into the refrigerator, Joel had told her people may think like this about them. "I'm not a child," she responds, trying to keep her tone flat.

"I know you may not think-" he stops himself, "I just want to make sure Joel didn't do anything that you didn't want," Tommy almost whispers.

A voice rings out from the top of the stairwell, "Make sure I didn't what?" Unlike Ellie, Joel's voice is outwardly furious. His steps are heavy as he quickly decends the staircase and heads towards them. "Rape her?" He asks, and tucks Ellie behind him protectively.

"Do you actually think I'd do that?" His tone has hurt laced under the anger, Ellie wants to comfort him, but that would only make it worse. "I didn't think you'd fuck a thirteen year old either but you did didn't you?" He makes a motion to Ellie and she cringes.

Joel lifts his finger in the air, "Don't you dare talk about her like that." He continues talking before Tommy can get a word in, "You aren't the gift from God either Tommy," he snaps, "Like you didn't screw all those teenagers when we where traveling."

Tommy rolls his eyes, "Sixteen and seventeen! That's a lot fucking different from planning a baby with a fourteen year old!"

"Sorry," Ellie whispers behind him, "I didn't know how to respond." Joel squeezes her hand, he's not mad at her, but he's even more livid at Tommy.

Ellie swears she can see smoke coming out of his ears as he responds, "There's is in fact a difference between having sex with my wife, and fucking a random, probably trafficked, teenager in a shitty shanty town without even a bit of protection."

"How many bastards have you fathered, Tommy?"

Tommy shakes his head and tries to defuse the situation somewhat. Ellie can't blame him, Joel looks like he's about to kill him. "I'm just concerned. You can't admit that it doesn't look good!"

"So you take your 'concerns' out by harassing my heavily pregnant wife?" Joel says and takes a step forward. Tommy pressed against the bar further, shrinking back. "I let you stay here, instead of kicking your sorry ass out into the snow, and all I get is you accusing me of raping her?"

"Well you're acting fucking perverted Joel! You can't expect me to not be fuckin' worried when there's a girl right here that you where screwin' when she was barely a teenager!"

Joel shakes his head, but gets cut of before he can respond. "I heard her fucking yelping in pain last night! That ain't a normal thing to come from that situation!" Tommy says, voice activity rising.

"You were listening to us have sex?" Joel asks and lets out a pissed off laugh, "Get the fuck out of my house."

"It's a blizzard outside Joel," Tommy says, voice suddenly timid as he realizes that hea gone to far. "I don't give a shit. Get out!"

Ellie is beet red from embarrassment and anger as she watches Joel grab onto Tommy's collar and start to drag him to the door. When he opens the front door, snow blows onto the wooden floor. It's almost entirely white out there. Heavy winds invade their house.

Joel shoves Tommy outside, in his t-shirt and jeans, then lams the door shut, locking it behind him. "I'm sorry," Ellie says again, fidgeting with her fingers. "Ain't your fault," he says and kisses her on the forehead.

She presses her lips to his, then says something she wasn't expecting to say.

"We can't let him freeze to death.

Chapter Text

11/18/2034

The chill from outside seeps through the floorboards and into the living room. Cold pinches it's way up her legs, nipping at her knees and thighs as she sways to try and warm herself. Her arms aren't exactly crossed while she taps her feet against the floor, waiting for a response. The baby has grown far too big for that. Instead, her hands rest on top of her enlarged belly.

Ellie rubs up and down the hidden seam of her stomach, trying to soothe her infant. He kicks harder in response, feeling her stressed emotions and responding accordingly. Every kick and punch is painful, hitting her organs and spine. The pain is starting to slip onto her face, although she tries to suppress it, vocusing on the more important issue in the room.

Joel stands in front of Ellie, arms crossed as he leans slouched against the back of the couch. The stance seems a bit ridiculous at his age, her old man mimicking the attitude of a perturbed toddler. It's almost funny, and if it weren't for the inappropriate situation, she'd laugh.

Ellie can see red flush on his cheeks, peaking in through the salt and pepper hair of his beard. Probably from a mix of the freezing cold and his blistering anger that's yet to be cooled off with the rest of him.

"We can't let him freeze," Ellie repeats as she steps towards him, "He's your brother even if he is a dick." She cups his chin and runs her fingers through his beard up to his ears, then back again. Joel ducks his head to the floor and sighs, arms falling to his sides.

This seems like it will be good practice for when her baby is old enough to throw a tantrum. If she can calm down her raging husband, she can probably calm down a three year old. At least she hopes so.

Joel sighs in relinquishment and walks over to the door. He unlocks it and opens it. Ellie stares out the open door and sees tommy lying face down on the snowy porch; a puddle of blood has painted the once white snow around his face. Ellie glimpses over Joel's shoulder as he bends down at the outside thermometer, 7°, Jesus.

Ellie isn't much help with dragging him back inside, letting Joel pull the unconscious man through the door by his foot. His head bangs on the doorframe, and Ellie cringes at the cracking sound.

"He's out cold," she states the obvious as Joel hooks his foot under Tommy's ribcage and pushes him onto his side. "Just roll him over," Ellie says, exasperated with the commotion and her building pain. He grunts in response and continues to nudge the man over onto his back. That's definitely going to bruise. Once his head is facing the air, Ellie grimises. It's obvious his nose is broken, very broken. Even if it hadn't been completely knocked out of place in the fall, the smack of the doorway was definitely enough to solidify it.

Ellie sighs and rubs her forehead with the back of her hand. She reruns everything she can remember from her limited medical training. Snapping it back into place seems like the correct course of action; at least the hopes so.

"Uhh, lift him onto the table?" Ellie asks, twiddling her thumbs while she watches nervously. Joel sighs but immediately goes to aggressively push the chairs out of the way. He grabs onto them by the backs and drags them across the wood panels, leaving even more scratches on the aged flooring.

Standing behind Tommy's head, Joel scratches his beard. "Does it matter how I move him?" He raises an eyebrow at her. Ellie shakes her head, "Just try not to cause any more serious damage."

He shrugs and bends down, grabbing the man by his under arms and lifting him like a ragdoll. Something flutters in Ellie as she watches Joel lift Tommy like he weighs nothing. She tries to suppress the sudden wave of desire that's flooded over her, even though she bets he can lift her easier than that, he probably could carry her up the stairs with the baby weight and all and-

An unconscious Tommy groans in pain as his head smacks against the hard table. The yelp rudely snaps Ellie out of her daydream and reminds her of the, sadly, very unsexy reality in front of her.

"What now?" Joel asks, his hands planted on the edge of the table. He looks at Ellie expectedly while she tries to remember the steps to reset a broken nose. "Ok, ok, ok," she repeats as she steps up to the table. "I need you to hold him down in case he wakes up," Joel nods at this and presses one hand on his forehead and his arm over his chest. It's an awkward angle, and she prays it works.

Ellie shakes her hand out, replaying the steps she had been told years ago. Pressing her fingers lightly over his nose, she feels to find the break spot. Rubbing over the crooked spot, she manages to find what she believes is the main break.

She presses her thumb and pointer fingers onto either side of his nose and tries to feel for a good angle. Unable to find it, she groans and walks across the room, grabs a chair, and pulls it back to the table. Once the chair is placed backside to the dining table, she climbs onto her knees.

The baby continues to kick violently. Even through her spiked adrenaline, she can feel him adamantly protesting to being pressed against the chair. Ellie ignores it, pressing her fingers back onto Tommy's nose.

Then she pulls, gentle but firm, and starts to tug the nose back into its proper position. Ellie feels her heart drop when his eyes pop open, staring into hers as he starts to scream in pain.

"Calm down. I'm fixing it," she explains, voice tense as she continues pressing down even with him struggling. Joel presses firmer against his head and chest, "Stop it," Unlike Ellie, he's outwardly angry, voice stern. She doesn't blame him for not hiding his anger because with every kick and head jerk, she's starting to feel the anger bubble up inside of her, too.

Suddenly, Ellie feels something hard hit on the side of her stomach. Joel slams his head back onto the table, firmly holding him still as she snaps, yanking his nose back into place with an audible pop. She vaguely registers him passing back out as she turns away from him and starts walking quickly up the stairs.

It feels like the world is in slow motion while she moves. The only thing she can hear is ringing in her ears and her own muffled footsteps as she hurries up the stairs as quickly as she can. Ellie reaches the top and turns on her heels to head to the bedroom. The door flies open as she barges through and heads to the full-length mirror.

Her dress hits the floor and pools at her feet as she turns to check the side of her waist, where a small bruise is already forming. To her relief, the baby kicks against her as she brushes her fingers over it. Ellie's face contorts as her adrenaline starts to fade, and she can feel the pain starting to move in.

Ellie bends over, placing her hands on the mirror, and vomits. Tears fall from her eyes. She watches it fall onto the pile of bile, the sight causing her to vomit once more. There's nothing in her stomach, making the acidic burn shooting up her throat even worse.

Hands wrap around her stomach protectively, moving her away from mess. She quickly realizes Joel is behind her, and lets herself go limp in his arms. "Motherfucker," he practically growls as he cups her stomach, "Im going to kill him."

"He wasn't really aware," Ellie says meekly, trying to prevent more unnecessary violence from happening under her roof. But she can't help but let out a loud cry of pain when a contraction hits her. It's the same as last time, similar to a period cramp, but that doesn't make it less worrying.

"What is it?" Joel asks urgently, pushing hair out of her face as Ellie leans back against him for support. "Contraction," she pants, "Happend yesterday too." He rubs her stomach and tries to guide her to move.

"What are you doing?" She asks, confused. "They're braxton hicks baby you gotta' move," Joel tries to explain as he ushers her to the bed. "Braxton whatthefuck?" She sits down on the bed and lets him lay her down. "False contractions," he says, then whispers to himself, "Probably triggered by that fucking jackass."

He presses a kiss to her stomach, talking quickly and worriedly, "You should stay in bed for today, you dont need to exhaust yourself." Joel pulls the covers over her and frowns deeply as he covers over the bruised spot. He takes his discarded pajama shirt and wipes the vomit off of her face, "A rest day." His eyes are laced with worry and anger, she can tell he's trying to remain calm so she doesn't panic along with him.

The last thing she registers before falling unconscious is a soft kiss on her forehead, and a hand on her cheek. And right before her brain's lights flick off, the sound of angry footsteps slamming down the stairs.

Chapter Text

11/21/2034

At first, she thinks it's night. The room is dark as she lays on her side, eyes staring open into the void of Joel's side of the bed. But there's no Joel next to her, only a bundle of pillows. What the hell?

Ellie flips onto her other side like an overweight beetle. It jostles the baby awake, who seems to be very upset at being awoken. He kicks against her stomach to protest her executive decision of moving.

Can't even roll over without him fussing. She puts her hand over her stomach and tries to soothe the half-baked human inside. He continues to kick against her hand as her eyes start to adjust to the boarded window.

Slivers of white light peak out of cracks in the wood and sparkle into the bedroom. A bit of light hits her face. It's sprinkled over the floor, leaving glowing stripes in the otherwise pitch black room.

It must not be night after all, judging by the brightness through the cracks. It's probably midday. She yawns, must have slept through all of yesterday in a mini-coma.

The baby kicks her blatter violently, and she pees a little, which makes her finally realize she's about to burst. Ellie places her palms on the bed and pulls herself up, but the moment her head leaves her pillow, she feels a wave of nausea hit her in the face.

Ugh, she thought this morning sickness bullshit was over. She pulls herself to stands and feels vomit bubble up in her throat. Ellie almost didn't make it to the trash can, stumbling over her own feet and then grabbing onto the rim of the bin.

Bile falls from her throat, hair sticking to her face. There was nothing in her stomach, but now there's somehow even less. Ellie brushes the hair off her sweaty face and presses her hand to the wall. Leaning her weight into the wall, she starts to slowly walk out of the bedroom.

There's hot fire behind her eyes, and she squeezes them closed even though the room is dark. When she reaches the door, it takes her a moment to feel around for the now-fixed knob. And as soon as the door opens, a flood of light smacks into her.

She smacks her hand over her eyes and leans her weight against the wall as she slowly wobbles to the bathroom. Ellie's ears are ringing so much that she almost didn't hear Joel appearing next to her.

"Slow down there, kiddo," He whispers to her and guides her to lean against him. "Hungry?" He asks as they enter the bathroom. "Leave the light off," Ellie croaks and stumbles over to the toilet.

At one point in her rest, Joel had dressed her in one of his long sleeve shirts. Joel lifts the toilet lid and helps her sit down. He pulls down her underwear and stands in front, holding onto her while she pees. It's embarrassing, but the fact she'd probably fall over onto her face without him supporting her outweighs the embarrassment.

Once she's done, he wipes for her. Ellie groans as he lifts her shirt-nightgown off of her and drops it onto the floor. "Let's get you washed off some hm?" He keeps his voice calm, steady, slipping back into the guiding role she knows all to well.

Joel sits her down in the bathtub. The cool of the bathroom faux-porcelain tickets her toes as she rubs her feet against it. Ellie hears Joel shuffle around the bathroom, sitting next to her, then hears the tub faucet turn on.

Warm water hits her legs, warming her despite the cold air around them. Ellie peaks her eyes open to see Joel reaching over the bathtub edge and wetting a washcloth. He rubs the soap bar on it and wipes it over her clammy skin. Finally letting her tenseness, Ellie lays back in the tub, relaxing into his touch.

"Surprised the water isn't freezing," Joel comments as he suds up a handful of shampoo in her hair. "How cold is it outside?" She whispers back, voice still patchy and raw. He covers her eyes with one of his hands and uses the other to pour water over her hair, "Negative 11°."

With the shampoo thoroughly rinsed out of her hair, Joel moves on to the conditioner. He rubs it into the tips of her hair gently, brushing his fingers through to make sure every hair is coated. Ellie sighs, "How long was I out?" She's still exhausted. It feels like everything has been drained out of her.

Joel presses the back of his palm against her forehead, "Three days," he rubs his thumb down her cheek. Her eyes pop open, "Why didn't you wake me up?" She asks perturbed. He shrugs and scrubs up her back,"You needed the rest."

---

Joel helps her slip into her 'Juicy Couture' tracksuit pants. Not feeling like having her legs exposed in the cold, the tracksuit pants are the only ones stretchy enough to fit under her stomach. Ellie lifts her arms and lets him slip one of his shirts onto her. "Hungry?" He asks again. This time, she yawns and nods lightly in response. "Starving."

Rubbing down the small of her back, Joel helps her walk down the hallway back to their bedroom. "Let me get you something to eat then, hm?" He says as they cross into the bedroom.

She'd think his tone was condescending if she didn't know him well enough that he just as an asshole voice and is trying to actually be nice.

Ellie hits the bed and hums, suddenly feeling a lot better, minus the still splitting headache from hunger. "I'll be right back," Joel says as he smooths out the blanket over her.

And he is back, quickly. "Wasn't sure what you could stomach, so I brought a verity," Joel says as he re-enters the room. Ellie scoots back, sitting slightly elevated against the headboard. The plate includes eggs, toast and strawberry jam, canned peaches, and pig jerky.

She picks up some jerky and bites into it, "Did yall sort yourselves out?" Ellie asks while chewing. Joel scratches his beard, "We had a talk, a long talk," he pats her thigh. "Snow so tall it's almost completely blocked the door, and without you up, we had to," Ellie interrupts him, "Stop bickering like kids?" She licks the salt off her fingers and reaches for the toast.

"Stop bickering like kids," Joel confirms while laughing lightly. Taking a big bite of bread, Ellie says, "Well, I'm glad I won't get punched again, hopefully."

He scratches his eyebrow, "Yeah, Tommy may have a bit of a dent in his head now," he huffs, "Not like there's anything in there to damage." Ellie laughs and takes a sip of water. God, she's thirsty.

"I think you should stay in bed for a few more days," he says after a moment of silence. Joel rubs his broken watch, "Just in case, I don' want you gettin' dizzy and falling."

Ellie frowns as she takes the first bite of egg, "So I'm just going to be bored up here for three more months?" Joel taps his fingers on the nightstand, "We'll bring the TV up here for you to watch. N' I didn't say for three months."

He pats the bed lightly, "You can have your own personal theater." She knows he's trying to make laying in bed for weeks to be more bareable, so she smiles, "As long as I get to pick all the movies."

"Don't eat too fast baby you'll hurl again."

---

Ellie sits in bed cross-legged with her hands on her stomach. She takes a bite of jerky that Joel had fetched for her when she started whining about being out. Peaking out the doorframe, she can hear Joel cussing at Tommy while they bring up the TV.

"You're going to break it," Joel says after a banging sound. "I'm not going to break it," Tommy responds, and Ellie can practically hear him rolling his eyes. The men appear in the doorframe quickly before dropping the TV in front of her bed.

Tommy looks embarrassed as he stands awkwardly in the bedroom. And even though Joel said they had sorted out the issue, Ellie can still sense some tension release into the air with both of them in front of her.

Scratching his neck, Tommy starts to apologize, "I'm sorry for being a dick and-" Joel taps his foot expectingly. He clears his throat, "Hitting you when you were tryin' to help me."

Tommy stares at the floor but jumps slightly when the TV static starts up behind him. "It's fine," Ellie says meekly. She doesn't care anymore, just wants this tension gone and away from her baby.

Joel hands her the remote and disc book while Tommy shuffles out of the room like a little kid. "What do you want to watch?" Ellie flips through the pages. She should probably pick a series; they haven't watched many shows yet.

Settling on a cartoon, she hands the disc to Joel, who snorts and shakes his head, "Really?" But he still slips it in the player. Ellie leans back against a pillow and takes a sip of her juice. Maybe it will be fun to have Joel as a personal servant.

Heh, he already was.

Ellie presses play on season one, episode one of 'South Park'. She yawns and scratches her stomach, the baby presses against her hand lightly in response. He must like her show pick, too, he's no longer trying to beat her up from the inside.

"Surprised an old couple even had this show," Joel says as he sits down on the bed next to her. "Why?" She asks while the show loads in. "It's stupid, not really something old people would own."

"Well, you're watching it, aren't you?" Ellie snorts then covers his mouth with her palm before he can respond, "Sush it's starting."

Chapter Text

11/28/2034

High-pitched voices of the South Park characters chatter on the TV screen. Ellie laughs at a joke and nuzzles further into her old man's shoulder. The sound of oil bubbing and popping crackles under the noise from the TV.

Ellie rubs her naked legs together under the quilt. The portable radiator has been keeping her warm during the ongoing blizzard. She's been going pantsless, no point in wearing pants or a dress if she's stuck upstairs.

Speaking of upstairs, she's still forbidden from going downstairs. Only being allowed to traverse to the bathroom on her own. To her credit, she only vomits sometimes. Due to her princess like confinement, she's been making Joel spend a lot of time with her in the bedroom.

But sadly, he keeps leaving to talk to Tommy or help him with some menial task like feeding the animals. Ellie guesses it's a little more difficult when they're hip deep in snow, but Tommy could definitely do that on his own.

Ellie wishes she could see the animals, especially Fluffy, she misses the little guy. Even though she knows they're all safely tucked away in well insulated mini-barns that she supervised Joel building in the fall. It's probably better, though, farm animals would not be food for her de-stressing time.

She has no idea what Tommy has been up to while they've been shaking up upstairs. Joel has told her little of what they've been up to when she's asleep. Ellie knows he's been eliminating some specific details so as not to stress her out. Even though she hates being seen as fragile, and, she has to admit, she isn't in the best state.

According to Joel, Tommy has been helping around the house. They've been up to all kinds of stuff while she's been bedbound; babyproofing, feeding animals, fixing the broken appliances that she shoved in the closet.

They should be thankful she practiced her shoving skills and piled them all up, giving them free entertainment. God, she's good at this maternal thing already. The radiator was one of these projects, and Ellie's pretty sure Joel tried to explain to her how it worked when she asked, but hell is she remembers what he said.

"You hungry, kiddo?" Joel asks as he rubs his thumb up and down her waist. He must have heard her stomach growling before she did. Of course he knew she was fucking hungry before she did. He's always reading her mind, it gets, annoying at times.

Not this time though. Ellie grins at him and rubs her stomach dramatically, "He's starving," she rolls out her voice, layering it on thick. "Actually, he wants the rest of the jerky," she continues to rub her stomach over his t-shirt.

Joel snorts in response, "I think you mean she's hungry," his voice is smug, "and she probably wants some canned vegetables." Ellie puffs her cheeks out, "I know what gender my son is," she insist, "he's growing inside of me and he wants jerky!"

And as if to demonstrate her point her stomach stretches out and when she lifts it they can both plainly see a tiny hand imprint under her skin. Ellie smiles and mutters "so cool," under her breath before lifting her head back to Joel, "Case and point," she points to the mark.

With the recent development of being able to see him moving around in there everything has started to feel more real. There actually is a whole ass person inside of her, and she's actually going to have to push him out.

It kinds freaks her out, the idea of someone living inside of her, and the fact that in a few months she's going to have to forcibly vacate them. But everytime she sees a little hand or foot, sometimes even a butt indenting into her belly, it feels worth it.

"Yup," Ellie exhales dramatically and leans further into the headboard, "definitely a boy." Joel snorts in response while rolling out of the bed like an old man. He puts his hands on his lower back and stretches, causing his back to pop. "I swear girl every episode of this damn' show you make me watch takes a year off my lifespan," he grumbles.

Rolling her eyes Ellie responds, "I've added years onto your lifespan I can take away a few too." He laughs and leans against the doorway, "Ya'know, there used to be a way to tell the gender of the baby before it was born."

Joel scratches his beard, "That would be useful bout' now." Ellie stares at him, "How the hell did they know that?" Everytime he says something about life before the virus she has to guess whither or not he's fucking with her. It's so outlandish most of the time.

"Uhh," he says while making that expression he wears when he's thinking super hard, "They'd take a wand thingy, and cover it in some sort of cold gel." Joel rubs his watch, "N' then they'd rub it on your stomach and you could see the baby on a little screen connected to the wand."

Ellie imagines a fairy waving a sparkly wand above her bump and a magical portal appearing next to her with an image of the baby. Joel's explanation has left her even more confused, how can a wand look into your stomach? "How did the baby get into the screen, though?"

He shrugs, "Hell it I know kid," his voice is playful. Then he nods and points to her pregnancy book. "Before ultrasounds people would use old wives tales to tell the gender, maybe there are some in that book of yours." Ellie glances at the book, it's still partly unread, due to her bad habit of skipping to the good part and ignoring everything else.

"I doubt any of em' actually work, but I'll keep you entertained til' I'm done with dinner," Joel says as he slinks out the bedroom door. He's been a good servant, getting her what she wants, when she wants.

Ellie reaches for the remote so she can pause her show, but in the process she ends up knocking it into the floor. Groaning, Ellie sticks her foot off the bed and clicks the pause button with her toe. "Gotcha," she laughs as she tries to pull the remote up with her toes, she fails, deciding to command Joel to get it when he's back. It's not like she can bend over right now.

She finds it kinda funny how much Joel grumbles over South Park. Commenting on every stupid thing, getting annoyed when she replays an episode she likes over and over again. But Ellie knows he likes spending time with her, he just needs to upkeep his reputation as a grouch.

Slamming the book on the bed between her legs Ellie starts scanning the chapters for 'old wife tails' or whatever Joel had said. She's not sure why wives would have tales or why them being old is relevant. Probably just another weird pre-apocalypse thing.

"I need to actually read this one day," She mumbles to herself as she passes a few chapters titles that seem interesting. Ellie's freezing without her human heating pad, so rude. Opening the chapter called, "Myths & Guesses: Old wives tales," Ellie starts reading.

"1. Pregnancy cravings."

"Sugar, spice and everything nice! That's what little girls are made of. And that's why in the past, girls were associated with sweet cravings during pregnancy. If you've got a sudden sweet tooth, or your tooth has gotten sweeter, you may be expecting a little girl!"

"Unlike what this author believes, our ancestors decided that boys are not in fact, sweet. That's why savory and salty cravings are associated with boys. So if you're craving chips and jerky, you may be in for a little boy."

Ellie hums to herself, she's had both cravings, though, maybe it leans a little to salty. Speaking of satly, where is Joel with her jerky? He should be here by now.

"2. Heartburn."

"You know that icky feeling you get in your chest sometimes? Almost like it's burning?.... Well that could very well indicate you're having a little girl! We'll just hope that our ancestors decided this because girls tug on our heartstrings, not because of anything else."

"Boys however, are said to induce little to no heartburn. How polite of them! If you're lucky enough to have not experienced heartburn, maybe there's a blue covered bun in your oven!"

Ellie groans, she's had pretty bad heartburn lately. Joel better not be right. She'd hate to lose their bet, especially since she's known the baby much longer!

"3. Morning sickness."

"According to a few unreliable sources, girls are harder to raise than boys. And apparently that also extends to their time in utero. Girls are associated with heavy morning sickness, so if you're nauseated, it might just be a little lady."

"No one likes morning sickness, apparently boys less. If you're one of the lucky few to not experience heavy morning sickness, or even luckier few to not experience it at all! You may be expecting a bouncing baby boy!"

"Motherfucker," Ellie grumbles. Maybe her baby is just an asshole! She means, she doesn't care what the baby is as long as he's healthy. But she absolutely hates losing bets, especially about her own baby.

"4. Hair and Nail health."

"We all know the stereotype that girls have the best hair and nails. Little ladies with thick heads of hairs from birth are often desired by expecting parents. But this seems to come at a cost, as girls are said to "suck out the beauty" of the mother, leaving brittle hair and thin nails in their past. Of course this is only a myth, don't take it to heart mamas."

"Boys obviously don't "suck out" your beauty. Apparently, they give you more. Luscious and flowing hair and associated with boys, I mean what boy needs a full head of hair anyway? So if your nails are healthy and your hair is flowing, a boy may be in your future."

How come all the bad ones are about girls? Ellie frowns and rubs her stomach. Girls can't possibly be that bad, she's a girl and she's great! Amazing actually. But that's one point for boy. Joel says she's gotten even prettier now that she's pregnant.

"5. Bump position"

"Size doesn't matter, but position does. Girls are associated with a higher bump position. Maybe it's assumed due to a higher voice, or maybe little girls just want to sit on top of the world."

"Boys are associated with lower bumps, again. Maybe this is due to voices, or maybe we're all just guessing. But either way, if you're carrying low, it may just be a boy."

Is she carring low? Well, it shouldn't be that hard to find out. Ellie huffs and rolls herself out of the bed like how she imagines a turtle gets off its shell. Her feet hit the floor and she wobbles over to the mirror. Pulling her, Joel's, t-shirt taut over her stomach, her bump definitely sits low.

They had thought at first that maybe he was just a fast grower, but the bump is really starting to overtake her now. The baby is supposedly the size of an ear of a pomegranate, but he seems a lot larger than that. Maybe it just looks bigger since she's small?

Footsteps aproch and when Ellie turns around she sees Joel leaning against the doorframe, stupid grin on his face and a plate in his hand.

"That's not jerky," Ellie says and crosses hee arms over her stomach. Joel snorts, "No, no it is not," he laughs and walks across the room, all with the grin still plastered on his face.

"This is food thats good for you, and our daughter," his face gets a smug look about it and she rolls her eyes, "I think you mean our son?" Ellie wobbles back over to the bed and plops down. Joel puts the plate down on her lap and laughs, "What was the result of your test?"

Ellie takes a bite of her canned corn, "Inconclusive."

Chapter Text

12/14/2034

Ellie scratches at her lower belly unconsciously. This is taking too long. Her frustration is starting to show on her face. Little nose squished up, eyebrows furrowed, and a tight frown on her face all akin to an upset child. Her cunt throbs, swollen and red, clit sticking out of its cave, pleading for touch. She kicks at his legs, agitated.

"Alright, Alright girl, hold your horses," Joel says impishly as he runs his cool hands down her blazing thighs. Ellie's legs dangle over the edge of the bed, swinging against his legs, prodding for attention. Pillows are proped under her neck, back, and ass to keep her comfortable. But she's not comfortable. She feels like she's about to explode.

It's been weeks since they've fucked, and she's gotten increasingly needy in that time. Joel uses his fingers on her, eats her out and all, but it's not enough, not nearly enough. She's been so swollen and achey, so much so that he's been refuing to make love to her, even when she begs.

But her sobs of sexual frustration and her constant needy grinding against his cock seems to have lowered his inhibitons. At least partially.

"I wanna hold your horse," she grumbles in a raspy tone, repeating the same joke she makes every time he tells her to 'hold her horses'. Ellies, not even sure how you hold a horse, aren't they too big to get your arms around yet alone lift? Another weird Texas sayin' she guesses.

Ellie pulls at his jeans with her feet, attempting to pull them down with the power of a wish and a prayer. "Someone's eager," Joel smirks at her and takes a step back, moving so she can't tug his pants down. She huffs, and instead of tugging at his pants, she presses the palm of her foot against his growing bulge. Ellie growls while pressing lightly, just enough to be seen as a threat, "Put it, the fuck, in me."

"Yes ma'am," He laughs and shucks down his jeans to his feet. Finally, Ellie sighs in relief and lays her head back against the pillow. Her eyes twitch and roll into the back of her head the moment his tip catches her entrance. There's no need for foreplay, she's already soaked the sheets under her.

A breathy moan falls from her lips as he slides inside her. She's so pent that she doesn't even care about the likely possibility of Tommy hearing her scream. Joel claims he's keeping the goats company, but for some reason, she doubts that.

All thoughts and considerations are knocked straight out of her head when he gets about halfway through. "Harder!" She demands, breathless, grabbing at her tender breasts. "Don't want to hurt you, baby," he coos at her, continuing to go at a painfully slowly pace. Her cunt clinches desperately around him, burning hot and needing something thick and wet to soothe it.

Joel takes shallow, gentle strides, rubbing along the spots that he knows makes her toes curl. But it's just not fast enough, not deep enough. She's so fucking wet there isn't enough traction, not enough movement. It's not fucking enough.

"I know, I know," Joel says, trying to soothe her through the frustration that's no doubt showing over her face. "You want it rough now, but it will hurt way worse in a few hours," he pauses to explain himself to a moot point, the sudden lact of movement only adds to the tension in her. Ellie knows he's trying to be comforting, but he just comes off as patronizing, or it would, if she hasn't already lost all sense of pride and dignity.

She scratches mindlessly at his bare chest and begs. "Please, please," she repeats the word dumbly until it's lost all meaning. Ellie tries to push against him to get him deeper inside but fails, feeling like a beached whale. Joel presses a finger to her clit, her 'pleases' start to merge together, needy.

"Please please- fuck, please- Joel please," she's desperate, barely even remembering what she's begging for. He's upped his pace, griping his hands into the sheets of the bed, wadding them up. It's still not enough, though, not nearly.

"More, please-" she pinches and scratches at her nipples, trying desperately to give herself something more. "Can't kiddo," Joel grunts as he thrusts slowly, "It'll hurt you." Why can't he understand that she doesn't care? That's a problem for future Ellie, not present, exceedingly horny Ellie.

Joel pinches her clit, hard, and she comes, screaming. "Pleasepleasepleaseplease oh my God Joel please-" her ramblings have gone almost completely incoherent. Coming didn't make it better, if anything it's made her feel even more needy than before.

Joel continues to work on her clit, tugging and rubbing until she's sore and almost sobbing from desperation. Ellie comes again, clenching around his cock to the point where it almost feels like enough. Her fingers dig into the fitted sheet, pulling it off the mattress corners and curling towards her.

She can feel her tits bouncing as he finally speeds up the pace. It's not the normal fast pace he sets, but it's relieving enough that her eyes roll back in her head, and she loosens her vice grip on his cock.

Ellie shuts her eyes, mouth dropping open as his fingers return once again to her clit, coaxing out a third orgasm from her. When she comes so does he, her body clinches and squeezes around his cock, milking out his cum deeper into her.

Once her grip on him loosens he pulls out, floping down onto the bed next to her. Ellie huffs, wiping her hair off her forehead where it's been glued down by sweat. She feels better, some of the nagging need still remains, but it's better than before. She'll probably have Joel eat her out later.

Ellie closes her eyes and suddenly a thought enters her mind. Head turning to the side she observes Joel's face where he's relaxing next to her.

"Are you ever worried the baby is going to grab your dick?" She asks, genuinely curious. Joel chokes on his own saliva and sits up, he laughs so hard he curls over with his hands on his knees. By his reaction Ellie can tell she's miscalculated something again.

Once his laughing has calmed down Joel wipes his forehead and looks at her, "That ain't physically possible kid." He snorts again, smiling as he scratches his beard.

"Why not? Aren't you both kinda in the same room?" She asks. "Not the same room," Joel shakes his head, "Baby's in your uterus, dick doesn't go into the uterus."

"How come?" Ellie has the feeling that this is common knowledge, and she's been cursed by FEDRA sex-ed once again. "There's like a little peice of muscle? I think, that blocks it off. Only opens during labor."

"Then how did the baby get in there? If the door was shut?" Joel hums like he's thinking about how he got into this situation. "There's a tiny hole in it so the sperm gets through," he makes a hand gesture while explaining, and while Ellie isn't sure if that's completely correct, Joel looks confident enough for her to believe him.

"So like a doggy door?"

"Yeah like a doggy door."

Chapter Text

12/24/2034

A miniature foot collides harshly with Ellie's swollen blatter. Her eyes pop open, still sore from sleep, and she immediately has to hold in the urge to piss the bed. When she tries to move, she registers Joel's grip around her waist and groans. This is usually comforting, cuddling during sleep, but right now, it's just adding pressure onto her blatter. Especially when he squeezes to try and bring her back against his chest.

Her son has definitely inherited his father's brute fighting skills and his father's size. Seven months pregnant now, he's supposed to be the size of a head of cabbage. But by the size of her stomach, she might as well have two or three heads in there. Ellie shudders, remembering that in a month or two, she'll have to push this behemoth of a baby out of her.

The fear is short-lived, immediately being kicked out of her as he slams into her blatter again. Ellie groans and moves her half-read comic book onto the side table. An issue of savage starlight shes read probably a hundred times by now, can't risk it getting trampled on her way back from the bathroom. Every kick has increasingly started to feel like he's trying to break free, escape from inside of her.

Its gotten to the point where she's been having nightmares about it, where the baby eats through her stomach and pops out like in the alien movie they watched a week ago. But instead of an alien, it's a tiny clicker, knawing through her organs, the cordyceps inside of her finally catching up.

Ellie can tell Joel feels guilty for letting her watch it, not realizing it may have that effect until after her first nightmare. It's far from the worst nightmare she's ever had, but it's been keeping her awake at night, and with the baby, she's completely exhausted.

Getting out of bed in general now is hard, but removing Joel's deathgrip around her waist might as well be fucking impossible. Ellie knows it's soothing to him, even if he won't admit it. Why else would he be making distressed noises in his sleep every time she moves slightly?

Joel yanks her back against his chest the moment she begins to wriggle away. Ellie groans, annoyed. She places her hand over his, running her thumb over his knuckles for a moment before starting to slowly peel his fingers off of her nightgown.

Moving carefully, Ellie plants one of her hands onto the bed to push herself up. Simultaneously running her thumb up and down Joel's hand to soothe him as she places his arm around her pillow.

She thinks it must be some sort of miracle that he doesn't wake up, instead grabbing ahold of her pillow and pulling it against him. He grumbles something under his breath, and Ellie pauses in her tracks. After a moment, his breathing steadies once more, and she lets out a silent sigh of relief.

Ellie hates waking him up on her bathroom breaks, the old man needs his beauty sleep after all. An image pops into her head and she snorts as he'd feet hit the cold floor, imagining Joel Joel in the place of aurora. It's been what feels like decades since she read that kid's book that she can't even remember the full name anymore.

He'd look pretty in a tiara, she thinks, then snorts again as another image of her old man in a sparkly crown pops into her head. Containing her sleepy laugher, Ellie shuffles, or more like wobbles, into the hallway.

A faded, long rug lines partway down the hallway. It muffles her heavy footsteps as she moves on the creeky wood. Tommy doesn't notice her as she penguin wobbles past. He's pacing in circles around the living room and kitchen. Ellie knows she should probably greet him, but another kick makes her pee a little, and she makes the executive dissension to small talk on the way back.

By the time she reaches the bathroom, she's doing a combined pee walk and pregnancy wobble. Ellie slams the door behind her, not bothering to lock it. At this point, she doesn't care if someone walks in on her.

The moment her ass hits the toilet is the moment her baby gives his final blow. Her cunt aches, still sore from Joel working on her clit until they both thought she was going to pass out, and she did, blissfully so, until someone decided to wake her up. Her hands are on her knees which she can barely even see anymore. Ellie groans, feeling as the baby punches her blatter, cervix, and outter stomach somehow. Little fists make barely visible indents in her tummy as she finishes peeing after what feels like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes.

It feels like she needs to go every five minutes recently. Maybe it's the extra pee from the baby? He has to be peeing for too. She's not sure exactly how the pee would be getting to her blatter, but then again, the holes are really close. Maybe there's a pathway? She'll have to ask Joel when he wakes up.

With her blatter shrunk considerably, the baby seems to have lost interest in it, instead going to kick her stomach some more. Ellie watches, amused and slightly pained as his tiny foot presses against her skin. Then the other foot, and he's got both feet pressed against her, sticking out. And she swears she can feel his noggin pressing against her damn spine as the little shit starts to kneed into her.

She smiles down at him, poking at his feet everytime one appears against her skin. This seems to perturb the little guy as he stops after a few minutes, and stills. Probably going to sleep in his comfortable little pool, meanwhile he wakes her up every five minutes. Rude.

Otta start waking him up from his naps, it's only fair.

Ellie yawns, exhausted with a cramping back. She rolls her shoulders and attempts to stretch her back the best she can. Popping noises fill the air of the silent bathroom, she groans, feeling some of the pressure dissipate.

The baby weight makes it too hard to stand up on her own, and Joel isn't here to help her. But thankfully, the past owners had added some accommodations for this. Ellie grips her hand around the small metal bar next to her, other hand reaching for the counter, which is harder to grasp onto.

She presses down, lifting herself up ever so slowly. For a moment she thinks that the bar may just have had enough, ready to just fall off the wall. Maybe she should have woken Joel up, it would be easier.

It puts a lot of strain on her back, and she groans once her feet are planted flat on the floor. Once the fear of falling is gone, Ellie immediately moves her hands to her lower back to try and rub the ache away.

The water is cold as she scrubs her hands, it raises goosebumps up her arms. She wonders if he's also cold or if he's warm. Ellie bets it's the latter. Her skin must be a great insulator for the little guy.

After all, Joel says her cunt is as warm as a oven half the time. Why should her be womb be any different? That must be why they call it 'bun in the oven.' she's literally baking him!

---

Creaking open the old bathroom door Ellie notices that Tommy is still nervously pacing. At this rate, there will be track marks scuffed on the floor. And she's sure not planning on scrubbing them out.

They still haven't talked, not really, since that first incident. Sure they greet eachother when their paths cross, but nothing really substantial has occurred between the pair.

All communication has been heavily minced due to Joel's insistent hovering. Ellie loves her husband, she really, really does. And she loves his protectiveness over her, but sometimes, it's just overbearing.

She needs a way to break the ice, so she relys on the tride and true: Will Livingston.

"Hey" Ellie mock-whispers down to him, her hands clasped firmly on the railing. Tommy pauses in his tracks and turns around in an almost comical manner. The man stares up at her, confused, and she can see bags under his eyes even from her distance.

She twists her face into a thoughtful expression, which only seems to further confuse him. "What's a trees favorite drink?" Ellie asks, voice overdramatic as if she's about to divulge the secrets of the universe or the awnser to why we need to sleep.

His heavy eyebrows furrow further, and in this light she can see the family resemblance more clearly. Especially in the way his eyebrows furrow, leaving an almost melancholy shadow over his eyes.

Ellie knows that look, her husband has that look.

Tommy takes a moment to manually relax his facial muscles into a friendlier expression. The man shrugs in response and Ellie grins, he's taken the bait "Root beer!" She announces, no longer trying to contain her naturally loud tone. But she still smacks her hand over her mouth as she starts giggling at her own hilarious joke.

"Why don't scientists trust atoms?" He asks with a mischievous tone. Tommy really had been sorry for what happened. She could tell in the way he apologized, can still tell.

"Because they make up everything?" Ellie quips back, she'd heard this one before, from an old teacher that she didn't completely despise. She laughs as she watches him make a show of defeat before the air in the room stills once more.

Starting to get uncomfortable with the pressing weight of the baby on her spine, she sways, bouncing from one foot to another. Joel had told her that swaying like this was a material instinct to soothe the baby.

Ellie knew he was bullshitting though. She did this way before the baby was made. But she knew he was trying to pacify her worry about being a below-average mother. That fear was always nagging below her skin. She has nothing to go off of.

Ellie's never even held a baby before, let alone raised one.

Instinctually, her hands go to her stomach to rub over, occasionally scratching at the tiger striped stretch marks that paint her stomach. That, was definitely a maternal instinct.

The air goes still again, they stare at each other awkwardly before it's Tommy's turn to break the silence. "Can I ask you a question?" He asks, voice serious as he fidgets with his thumbs.

"Okay..." Ellie responds, slightly anxious as to where this is heading. The man scratches his eyebrow and Ellie can practically see the wheels and cogs turning in his head as he works out how to ask hid question.

Tommy once again makes an effort to wipe the worried emotion off his face. But his eyebrows remain furrowed as he waves to her, "How did, erm," to their bedroom, where Joel remains sleeping, "Start, exactly?"

Ellie sighs silently to herself as she sways gently, hands still resting over her stomach. Thumbs rub back and forth to comfort the baby because she knows he can feel her building stress as well.

"We met in the quarantine zone," she starts, only to be immediately interpreted. "The Boston QZ?" Timmy asks but retreats as he sees a warning expression flash across her face.

She's too sore and tired to deal with nagging tonight.

Yeah, in Boston. Joel was supposed to smuggle me to the capital building, but when we got there, no one was left. So we decided to stay together." Ellie sounds confident as she recites the story Joel told her Tommy knew. It was true, just lacking in several key details.

"But when did your uh, relationship start?" he motions to her stomach, "and your....condition?" he clarifies his question like she wasn't obviously blowing him off.

Ellie rolls her eyes and decides to address the latter first. "Well, when a mommy and a daddy love eachother very much-" she teases in a sarcastic tone then smoothes her voice out slightly. "Yaknow when two people are stuck together for months a relationship tends to form."

Tommy scratches his neck, looking awkward even though he has no right to do when he's the one who put them in this situation. She tries to sound more sincere, "He didn't rape me, or groom me, I wanted this too. Hell the baby was my idea."

"It's just concerning to see a barely-teenage girl pregnant with the baby of a man who could be her grandfather," Tommy begins his lecture and Ellie rolls her eyes. "There's no need to be concerned Tommy. I'm not a child, I'm fine, we're fine, we're happy," she's ashamed to admit her voice cracked on that last note, which doesn't really help her case.

"I guess kids to mature much quicker nowadays," Tommy says, extending an olive branch. She sighs, "I was raised by FEDRA, I was never a kid, not really," Ellie places infasis on her words, hammering in her final point even though they sting her.

She never did get a childhood, a real childhood. With ice-cream trucks and and hanging out in a non-infected mall. But her baby will have one, she's sure of that.

Even if she can't offer what was around before her, she can do the most with what she does have. Even if that means making Joel build a ice cream truck from scratch.

Ellie debates taking her turn to pry into Tommy's private life. But then she yawns and decideds that it can wait til' the morning.

Chapter Text

12/25/2034

Ellie's tired eyes peel open as soft music bleeds into the bedroom through the crack under the door. She's not exactly sure what time it is due to the still boarded up window. It must have been weeks since she's seen actual outside, Ellie's surprised she hasn't gone stir crazy at the thought alone.

But what she is able to discern is the harsh sound of wind whiping against the rooftop. She tries not to be too concerned about that- afterall, this house has survived longer than Joel's been alive, and that's practically since the beginning of time itself.

Ellie snickers quietly at her own joke, and her laughter quickly evolves into a deep yawn. It takes a moment for her to sit up properly, which is expected at this point. Apparently, only two-to-four pounds heavy, the baby weighs on her body nowadays.

Her nightgown is smooth and warm as she smoothes it down over her stomach, feeling a sharp kick in return. It takes her even longer to get on her feet, but with one hand on her nightstand, the other on the mattress, she manages to get her feet under her.

The first few steps towards the door are more like a penguin toddle than a walk. Ellie grips onto the doorframe for stability as she reaches for the knob.

"And so this is Christmas,"
"And what have you done?"

Ellie is immediately illuminated by mutiple strings of light. She rubs her eyes, making sure she's actually seeing what she thinks she is. Twinkling lights have been wrapped around the fence railing and somehow attached to the walls using the doorframe. It seems like a runway of sorts, beckoning her towards it.

And once she is able to pull her focus off the bulbs sparkling in more shades of colors she's probably ever seen; The sound of two men talking loudly, and slightly slurred- can be heard under the loud music.

"Another year over,"
"And a new one just begun."

She smirks, they're drunk; must have finally reconnected during her unwanted bed rest.

Though, it does make her sad to know that she is the common factor tearing them apart.

"And so this is Christmas,"
"I hope you had fun."

Ellie patters out of the bedroom slowly. Being short with her movements so she doesn't disturb the pair before she can get a good mental picture of the scene.

The further on she gets down the path, the brighter everything becomes, and she has to rub her eyes to force them to adjust.

"The near and the dear ones,"
"The old and the young."

A fucking spruce tree; which is far larger than should be able to fit into the small space, sits between the living room and dining table. It's been adorned lovingly, but clumsy, with dried oranges. And as she gets closer, she fan even make out small homemade ordiments. Although definitely not handmade by this pair of hooligans.

And the cherry on top, or the star on the top, twinkles at her from its seat at the top of the tree.

"A very merry Christmas,"
"And a happy New Year,"

Fuckers' must have gotten into the Christmas stash in the basement, and by the looks of it- the whiskey stash there too.

"Let's hope it's a good one,"
"Without any fear."

"No you don't you cheatin' little shit," Joel's voice echos bellow, loud and slightly slurred. Ellie can hear slight clammering below her, the sound of a finger tapping on wood, "I saw that- put it back."

"And so this is Christmas (war is over)"
"For weak and for strong (if you want it)"

"Fine, fine!" Tommy responds in relinquishment, and she recognizes the faint sound of wood tapping against wood. They're playing checkers! Ellie realizes as she reaches the point that overseas the dining room table.

"For rich and for poor ones (war is over)"
"The road is so long (now)"

Those assholes are having fun without her! Ellie! The life or the godamn party! Well, she would be, if she had ever actually been to a party.

Tommy even had a demo Santa hat on. Or, he did, because as soon as it registers to her Joel throws one of Tommys own prices at the top of his head, knocking the hat off kilter.

"And so happy Christmas (war is over)" "For black and for white (if you want it)

Ellie snorts before she can stop herself, which immediately turns their attention to her. Tommy's smile drops ever-so-slightly, turning into the look of a child who's pretending they aren't the one who tipped over the vase. Then the edges of his mouth tweak up again, but not returning to the full, genuine happiness of before.

"For yellow and red ones (war is over)"
"Let's stop all the fight (now)"

Joel turns in his chair to face her, and unlike his brother, his smile doesn't cease. If anything? It seems to extend further into his eyes then before. He seems happy, like years of stress immediately faded away the moment he laid eyes on her.

Ellie loves when he looks at her like that.

"A very merry Christmas,"
"And a happy New Year."

Joel stands from his chair and starts walking to the staircase, and he only almost trips once. Maybe he isn't as wasted as she thought because he's surprisingly agile in his movements.

"Let's hope it's a good one,"
"Without any fear."

"Yall's tune has changed," Ellie jokes, feeling the slightest twang that's starting infiltrating her voice.

Joel laughs slightly as he continues rapidly approaching the staircase. "We had a, long, talk," Tommy comments from where he's peeled himself from the table.

"A very merry Christmas,"
"And a happy New Year."

"I thought about what you said, and we talked while decorating," he scratches his neck awkwardly.

"Let's hope it's a good one,"
"Without any fear."

"He's stopped being an ass," Joel finishes for him, with a slight sharp edge in it that Ellie barely catches as he starts up the staircase.

"And so this is Christmas (war is over)"
"And what have we done? (If you want it)"

"I get it, I'm sorry," Tommy says like a small child, "We're probably going to be stuck together for another month with this blizzard, so,"

"Another year over (war is over)"
"And a new one just begun (now)"

"We're a family, not a goddamn war zone," Joel finishes for him once again, and Tommy nods in response as Joel reaches Ellie and pulls her into a hug.

"And so happy Christmas (war is over)"
"We hope you have fun (if you want it)"

"Merry Christmas, kiddo," he whispers into her neck, just loud enough for her to hear.

---

Ellie takes another long sip of her hot chocolate, drinking quickly so it doesn't become lukewarm chocolate before it's gone. She points at another box next to the TV, it probably should be under the tree, but there's no way they could shove anything under that thing.

Apparently, the boys had gotten her gifts. Maybe Tommy is actually trying to get it. Doesn't mean she wants him close to her 24/7 though.

Hell if she knows how exactly the gifts where acquired. But she's too excited to interrogate, bouncing her legs up and down slightly on the footrest.

Joel's smile is real as he gently tosses her the small gift. He'd taken another shot or two of whiskey since she got down here, becoming less and less coordinate by the hour.

The present is badly wrapped in what seems to be century old gift wrapping paper. Despite its disheveled appearance, Ellie smiles at it, and peels the paper apart gently so it can be reused later.

Inside, she finds a small wooden toy, shaped like a drumstick with stripes of red and yellow. And when she picks it up, it rattles softly.

"It's a baby toy," Tommy says from his perch next to the fireplace. His smile appears genuine as he continues, "Carved it in my abundance of spare time." Ellie smiles at the man who takes another sip of his drink. She shakes the toy a bit more, "thanks."

Ellie really is enjoying the less hostile environment. It's nice for her living room to no longer be a war zone. But still, she wishes her and Joel where alone again. They'd probably be having sex by the fireplace before she becomes too large to walk. There isn't that much more time before the baby is here, and then they really won't have anymore privacy.

It's the last gift, and instead of following the regular routine of just throwing it at her; Joel takes a stand and carries the box over to her. He places the heavy box between her legs in the recliner, causing the foot rest to bear down slightly.

He unwraps it himself, knowing she can't sit up easily these days. Then he pulls the gift our, revealing a floral patchwork blanket, with frills around the edges.

"It's weighted," he says then laughs slightly, "Found it in the basement, so technically it's the basements gift you you but I ran out of stuff."

Ellie giggles as he lays the blanket over her, it is weighted and warm, and very comfortable. Ellie yawns as Joel turns on the TV he'd dragged back downstairs an hour ago for this reason. Then he slides in a random Christmas movie she had talked about wanting to watch.

It's probably half-way through the movie when Ellie falls asleep.

Chapter Text

12/29/2034

It must be a Christmas miracle. A miracle a few days late, ahem, Santa. But Ellie's gracious enough not to complain, she's getting what she wants after all. A Tommy-free house.

Ellie's never actually had a family outside of Joel. So she guesses it's been nice to have some sort of family unit the past few days. But it's been too much drama leading up to this point. And she is not in the condition to handle that much stress.

Maybe it'll be different if he visits again. More like Christmas and less broken noses and screaming.

She can barely contain her excitement to have her house back to herself again, and her Joel back to herself. Ellie had almost jumped of joy when Joel told her this morning. But with this stomach, she isn't jumping anywhere.

The blizzard has finally subsided, and the snow has melted enough for Tommy to finally fuck off.

Now he can go back to his wife or friends or whatever. All Ellie really cares about is that she can get back to fucking Joel without having to worry about Tommy seeing or hearing.

In two months they won't be able to do that anymore. Hell, maybe one month; Because Ellie doubts the baby could possibly grow anymore without ripping her apart.

Iceberg lettuce sized her ass.

Ellie is determined to savor all the time she has left having Joel to herself. So she can't be that distraught as she sits at the dining room table, snacking on canned strawberries. The brothers are saying their goodbyes to eachother.

Ellie fiddles with her ringless finger as she watches them. She can practically feel it's ghost on her skin as she runs her fingers over it. Her fingers are too swollen to wear it, her everything is swollen.

"I'll visit in the spring," Tommy says above her thoughts, "Make sure everything's good with the baby and yall." Things have gotten less awkward since Christmas. Since he decided to stop being a fucking prude, and it seems genuine.

Joel seems happy to have his brother back in his life. And Ellie's happy that he's happy. And also happy to possibly have a new line of trade with Tommy's 'group.'

Ellie continues to half-watch the pair from her seat. But the only thing on her mind is Joel. She stares blatantly at her husband as he laughs along with his brother.

She brings her fingers up to her mouth, eating another strawberry while her eyes flicker up and down him.

Toned muscle is apparent on him even though the fabric of his flannel shirt. His hair has grown slightly longer over the winter, and is salted in grey hairs.

She's still zoned out when they hug, Tommy nodding at her saying his goodbyes. Then he's gone, and they're finally alone.

---

The fireplace is warming; shining golden into her skin as she lays on her back next to it. Pillows of various sizes and patterns are stacked under her, keeping her comfortable above the hard floors. With extra layers under her ass, proping her up.

Her knees stick out as she spreads her legs open. She doesn't want to talk about how long it took to actually get her onto the floor. Or how long it's going to take to get her back up after this.

On her back like this is practically the only position she can do nowadays. Her baby belly is unnecessarily large in her opinion, and it limits her mobility to a frustrating degree. But she can't complain, especially with her shirtless husband hovering over her.

Even though her son is insisting on kicking at her blatter. Doesn't he know this is a private matter?

Ellie peaks over her bump as Joel disappears between her thighs. She can barely see him from this angle. Thanks giant baby. But even though she can't see him, she can definitely feel him.

Ellie lets out a sharp yelp as she feels his mouth land on her. Her elbows are shakey as she tries to lift herself to watch him. Loose red hair shifts around under her, that's probably going to be a bitch to untangle later.

An upset huff leaves her lips as her attempts to watch fail; leaving her to plop back down onto her pillow with a "hmph." Which she swears she feels Joel chuckle at.

After a moment of maneuvering her arms around her bump, Ellie gets her fingers laced into Joel's hair. She pulls him closer to her, grinding haphazardly against his face.

Warm hands slide up and down her inner thighs. Ellie whimpers, ever-so sensitive lately.

Joel pumps his tounge in and out of her, his nose grinding against her swollen clit. Her moans fall out high-pitched and desperate, in tandem with her fingers gripping harder and harder on his scalp.

Hair from his beard tickles at her skin, and it leaves her on the edge of overestimulation. And she knows it's going to be itchy in the morning, but it's worth it.

"Joel," she squeaks, so close so close so- he stops. Ellie groans in protest as he moves away slightly, moving his lips up and down her inner thighs.

He presses soft kisses everywhere but where she wants. Slowing down like he always does, because he's a fucking dick.

Ellie tightens her grip on his hair, a pinch away from pulling some out as she tries to force him back to her core. But he's stronger than her, and in, probably retaliation, he moves further away.

She groans, not giving into begging yet, because she knows that's what he wants.

Joel kisses her thighs, smoothing over them with his palms as he goes. Ellie scrunches up her face as she feels him bite and suck. That's definitely going to leave a mark tomorrow.

Then his kisses start to move down, down, down. He presses long kisses around her cunt, occasionally tugging on her lips with is teeth.

Ellie grinds against his face, inpatient and horny. And she tries, god she tries to wrap her thighs around his neck to pull him close but she can't move that smoothly anymore.

Can barely move at all, especially on her back like a flipped beetle.

"Patience sweetheart," Joel hums aginst her thigh, still hovering. She whines at him, heated and pouting. Thankfully, he shows her mercy, diving back in with a mission.

Ellie squeaks loud enough for the sleeping bears to hear as Joel quickly moves his hands under her ass to lift her further into the air.

He makes long tounge strokes on her cunt, teasing and occasionally dipping in before settling at her clit. Joel stops there, sucking and nibbling on her bud.

Ellie's head falls back against the pillow as her moans pick up, her shut eyes rolling back into her head.

Her thighs crush against his head, holding him in place as she grinds through her climax. She breathes heavy as the air returns to her lungs. Her grip on his head finally relaxes after a few moments, but he stays put.

Then she feels his hands slowly sliding across her ass. Then, one of his thumbs is pressing lightly against her asshole. She squeaks, "Hey!" Joel snorts softly under her before pressing a final kiss to her clit.

He places her ass back onto the ground before crawling over her. "Hi," he says in response, voice twinged with a teasing tone.

Ellie feels nervous now. This isn't the first time he's done that. "I don't think I want to do that right now-" she mumbles out, and Joel's face turns to soothing. "Don' worry, I'm not going to try and do that right now," he assures and presses a long kiss to her forehead.

"Takes a lot of preparation to do anyway," he kisses her cheek. Ellie's heard of people doing tht, in there, before. When you live with a bunch of teenage girls, you hear some things.

She always thought it sounded painful, but if it's something Joel wants to do to her, it can't be that bad. Right?

Her racing thoughts and nervousness are quickly put to bed, though. As she hears Joel finally unbuckling his belt, then him shuffling out of his jeans.

Ellie can't get a good view of him undressing, trying to strain to watch over her bump. But she doesn't have to wait very long to get an eyeful because he quickly moves back over to her, directing her legs around his waist.

They squirm around for a moment. Ellie pulls her hair out from under her, and Joel gets a good grip on her before he lines himself up. Ellie lays her head back, getting prepared to take because that's all she can do at the mome-

Then he's in her, thrusting shallowly, on his elbows above her. He groans, and Ellie watches his face relax, eyes screwed shut. She can tell he's been waiting for this, too.

Joel drops his head, pressing his forehead to hers, and they breathe in eachothers moans. Ellie tips her chin up, pressing her mouth to his. Then her arms wrap around his neck to get a grip as he speeds up, pounding into her desperately.

It's a lot for Ellie, the warmth, the taste of Joel in her mouth, the way his pubes rub at her clit with every deep thrust. But her tipping point is Joels short moans aginst her lips. She cums, her cunt squeezing impossibly tight around him.

That does him in too, he grunts, pushing as far into her as possible as he cums. Then he quickly pulls out of her and rolls over onto his back. Probably so he doesn't crush her while recovering himself; If his heavy breathing is anything to go off of. But that doesn't mean she doesn't let out an angry huff at the sudden emptiness she feels.

That was too short of a session to really make up for lost time. So Ellie elbows him in the ribs, "Again."

Chapter Text

2/14/2035

Austin, get it? since Joel's from Texas? Cheesy, sure, but whatever. Ellie's like 90% sure Austin is in Texas. She jots down the name below the last.

One downside of having a son, which he is a boy, Joel, is that there aren't that many creative or pretty ones. And she's definitely not naming her baby after a vegetable or herb like she read in the baby book burb.

Who names their kid sage or berry? Might as well call it potato or bean.

A girl can have Evangeline, Charlotte, Dolores, and boys have...Todd. Still, she puts down Todd below Austin, lack of options, yaknow?

Liam sounds like a good option, and so does James. She likes the name Oliver, but a boy named Oliver stole her chips once, so that's a no-go. Also, it conflicts with the whole no vegetable rule.

Willam sounds like the type of guy who'd try to trade you his shitty CD for your stuffed bunny then fucking steal it when you say no. That may also be biased. Ellie rolls her eyes at the memory and smiles at her teddy bear across from her.

Elijah is ok, so she marks it down. Sébastien sounds like some sort of crab or lobster thing, and that may not be a vegetable but its close enough.

Levi, Daniel, and Jack also make the list. Alexander gives her bad vibes, but Alexandra she likes. So she adds that to the other side of the notebook for the unlikely chance she has a girl.

Per Joel's request, of course. "What if you're wrong and we do have a girl, she just not goin' to have a name then?" Ellie rolls her lips, rubbing her stomach where a small foot presses her skin out slightly.

No to Owen, Asher, and Samuel. She likes Luca, and Jacob. But not Hudson, Ezra, or Logan.

The book had said she should try to find her "baby naming style," but she doesn't get what it means by that. Isn't style like fashion? Did names used to have a specific clothing style assigned to them? Doesn't seem too out of reason considering some things she's heard about pre-apocalyptic America.

She wonders what fashion she would be assigned to.

Ellie sighs and puts the notebook to the side. And just on cue Joel opens the bedroom door, a food offering in hand. "Any progress on naming?" He asks as he places the lemon themed plate down on her lap.

"Take a look," she responds, downing a bite of her sandwich. Joel plucks the notebook up and starts studying it.

Their baby is now the size of a cabbage or coconut. Which Ellie disagrees with like how she disagreed with the past months' size comparisons. Her bump is more along the size of one and a half pumpkins at this point.

Ellie can't even get out of bed by herself anymore! She has to get Joel's help to even stand up. And she's not even sure how she's going to manage to get through another month of this shit. Her skin will probably rip open before February.

Hell, it already has. Her stomach is covered in stretch marks. Which she doesn't mind the look of. They're kinda cool looking, actually. Its not like she doesn't have more notice scars.. And she wouldn't care at all if they didn't itch like a bitch.

Joel rubs lotion on them every night, so they're not as angry. And he says they're going to be less red and noticeable once the baby is out and she heals. But it's not like she can even see far enough down to notice them anyway.

"I'm vetoing Todd," Joel says from his seat on the edge of the bed, taking her pencil and scratching out the name. "Eh, I didn't like that one much either."

"Do I get to write the baby girl name list? Since you have a grand total of...." he pauses dramatically, "three whole choices for our daughter."

"Keep rollin' those eyes, and they'll get stuck," Joel says in response to her theatrical eye roll. "That's not a thing," Ellie says through a bite of her sandwich. He laughs lightly and adds another line to her notebook.

"Sure is, kiddo I knew back in school rolled his eyes too much and they got stuck back there," Joel taps his forehead for effect.

"It's hard to imagine you as a kid. How was life back in the 50s?" Ellie says, a teasing grin on her face as Joel huffs and places the notebook down. He leans close to her and kisses her on the tip of her nose, "I am not 85 years old girl."

"I'd say you are based on the way your knees crack when you stand up, or move or anything...." she starts, pulling a laugh out of him. "But..... you fuck like a 20 year old so I guess it evens out," Ellie giggles and takes the last bite of her food.

"How do you know what a 20 year old fucks like?" He snorts. "Intuition," Ellie responds as she swipes up the notebook from beside her.

"You're like 60, right?" She teases. Ellie tries not to think of how much older he is than her most of the time. How much time she has that he doesn't.

"I am 52, you little shit," Ellie giggles. "Half a century," she whistles and flicks him on the hip as he lays back over her legs. "Means you've got another half left," she says, reassuring herself as Joel grabs her non-notebook occupied hand.

He rubs her hand in soft circles with his thumb as she looks over his recommended names. Trying not to think about the almost 40-year gap between them. Must be the pregnancy hormones getting her all worked up.

"Joyce," Ellie rolls the name from the list in her mouth. "Joy for short," Joel adds, rubbing his free hand over her bump. The baby kicks back at him, happy to hear his dad's voice.

She starts crossing off some of Joel's name picks in both categories. There some she surprisingly likes, Francesca, Chloe, Florence, Violet.

Picking names off is easy. But it would be easier if Joel didn't make a dramatized sigh every time she knocked off one of his picks though.

"You're bein' awful harsh there darlin'," he finally says, fingers still rubbing up and down her belly.

Ellie huffs in response, "You're bein' an awful pain in my ass."

"How about this," she offers, "if it's a girl you can pick the name, if it's a boy, and he is, I get to pick." Joel laughs lightly at the suggestion, "Deal."

Chapter Text

2/17/2035

It's somewhere between late at night and early in the morning. Either way, it's pitch black outside, but still, Ellie can't sleep. It's like an electrical jitter is flowing through her bones. An unresting, nervous energy twisting inside of her.

It's worse because her back has been fucking cramping all day. Which sucks even more because she can't sleep it off like she normally can.

It started as an uncomfortable pinch in her back yesterday, and has now evolved onto something like period cramps. Probably just the baby kickin' at her spine. It's not like cramps are uncommon at this point in her pregnancy; She bets he's just excited to get out.

He's so fucking big he's probably claustrophobic on there. Ellie knows she would hate being in such a tiny space all the time. But maybe he's actually tiny and just living in a mega mansion right now.

Eh, time will tell.

She wants to wake up Joel and bully him into rubbing her back. But he needs the rest too. That's why Ellie is sitting here alone, on the edge of her rocking chair in the nursery.

The constant back and forth motion of her hips as she sways is helping relieve the cramps, at least slightly. And the repetitive movement of clothes in her hands keeps her head settled.

She'd already folded and put away the babies clothes a few months ago. But when she sniffed them a few hours ago they smelled kinda dusty. So she naturally dumped them in the bathroom sink and scrubbed them until her hands started to hurt.

They're all squeaky clean now, well not squeaky, whatever. Ready for when her baby arrives in a few weeks.

After she hung the clothes to dry she scrubbed the changing table. And she's glad she did, soooo much dust man. Then she cleaned the crib, which is surprisingly hard at nine-ish months pregnant. Fitted some light yellow sheets on the crib mattress too.

All while her precious little one was kickin' up a storm on her cervix and spine. Rude little fucker. Doesn't he know not to kick a pregnant women?

Ellie finishes folding the faded rainbow onsie in her hands and places it neatly on the growing stack next to her. Then she grabs one from the basket of unfolded and gives it a good sniff. Upon inspection she finds that the garment is up to standards, smelling clean linin and soap.

Ellie had been on laundry duty more than a few times in her old school, and this is a lot more enjoyable. Probably since the clothes are smaller and cute. Also because soon there will be a baby in them. A baby she made.

Joel says that babies have a new baby smell to them, she can't wait to sniff him when he's born.

She's gotten the motions of folding down to autopilot by now. Smiling into the air thinking about her baby. Tuck, flip, put on the stack, repeat.

---

Ellie's leg bounces up and down nervously, making a muted tapping noise on the carpet. The pain isn't getting better like normal it's getting worse. It feels like she's been sitting here for days, more realistically hours but she doesn't really care about accuracy right now.

To be completely honest she doubts she can stand up to actually go get Joel. So she's going to stay here for a little longer, try and focus on her book and wait for Joel to wake up in a few hours.

He was awake for two days straight fixing the porch and baby proofing. Ellie can wait a little longer. Its probably just gas and the baby being a dick, she's not supposed yo have the baby for another week or two.

And even if it is labor, her book says it can take hours for active labor to start, so she fan let Joel rest for a little longer.

It's fine

She's fine.

---

"JOEEELLLLLL!" Ellie screams as she rocks herself haphazardly in the chair. She hopes no infected are around to hear this, because thats definitely not going to be her last scream.

Her breathing is erratic and she feels like she's being slowly ripped apart from the inside out. Maybe this is labor.

Fuck shit fuck oh my god.

"JOEL! HELP ME!" She screams again, this time loud enough for the deers grazing at the forest edge to turn their heads. Joel's not a light sleeper, so why is this taking so long?

This time she just screams into the universe as another contraction hits her like a tank. Usually she braves through pain but the panic is starting to settle in her gut. And that's almost worse

Contractions are supposed to be close together when the baby's almost out right? Ellie remembers hearing that somewhere before. They're a couple of minutes apart, but the dull ache she feels in-between is enough to keep her on edge.

Ellie's not sure if she's ever screamed so loud in her life. Everything seems to be happening so quickly that she can't keep up, but it's also so excruciatingly slow.

What if the baby comes out and Joel's not here? What if he had a heart attack in his sleep and died? That's something that can happen right? Fuck fuck fuck.

Tears start to stream down her face, bluring her vision to the point where she almost jumps out of her skin when warm hands cup her face.

"It's ok baby you're gonna' be ok," Joel says, tone soothing but panicked. And it seems his words are more for him than her. "I'M NOT FUCKING OK HES CRAWLING OUT OF ME," she shouts inches away from his face before her voice cracks into a broken wheeze.

Ellie hears Joel take a deep breath, "How long have you been like this baby?" He asks, voice carefully un-accusatory, but shakey nonetheless.

"A few hours-" she says as another contraction causes her expression to twist. "It only hurt a little when I set down, but it's..." Ellie trails off, too exhausted to describe this feeling as she rubs her tired eyes.

"I'm going to get everything set up, ok?" Joel says soothingly, "Can you wait here until I'm done?" Ellie nods sharply as her face contorts as another contraction slices her open.

Joel cups her cheeks with his hands softly as her fingernails dig dents into the wood of the rocking chair.

He presses a kiss to her forehead, "I'll be back as quick as I can."

---

Ellie digs her fingernails into Joel's wrist as another contraction hits her like a truck. It must sting like a bitch he doesn't complain.

This is happening, really happening. And it's happening so fast. Her thoughts are all melting together into a sluge of uncomprehensible half-sentences.

She feels light-headed, and the stacked towels shift under her on the mattress protector. Ellie knows it was probably a maddash to get the room ready, but he could have tried to make it a little more comfortable.

It fucking hurts, she knew it was supposed to hurt but Jesus Christ. It's like her bones are all all breaking simultaneously. She's being ripped open from the inside, organs forcibly removed with a rusty fork.

She's on her back legs spread wide open. It's funny how the baby is coming out the same way he went in. Ellie wheezes out a laugh at her own shitty joke. Causing Joel to give her a worried glance from where he sits next to her, monitoring the situation that shes to afrid to see.

She's probably going crazy, definitely going crazy.

"Can you see the head?" She slurs out as she grasps onto the bedframe. "A little of it yeah," Joel responds, "Got some hair on them." His calm demeanor is slowly starting to fade, but he's still trying to appear collected.

Joel sighs under his breath as Ellie braces through another contraction. "You should have woken me up earlier baby, you really could have gotten-"

"This isnt the time for a fucking lecture Joel," she shrieks in his face, still pushing down with her contraction. The sensation feels eerily similar to taking a big shit, just way more painful, and bloody.

She was apparently already deep into active labor when she called Joel in. Honestly she thought it would take longer. Ellie had overheard women talking about it before in the QZ, how they'd been in labor for days.

Maybe they where trying to scare other girls into not getting knocked up. Or maybe she's just lucky.

"You gotta push baby, push," Joel urges her. He's been through this before, probably just trying to help, "I AM FUCKING PUSHING! JACKASS!" She responds, rage and pain overtaking any semblance of reason.

She needs to move, this position isn't fucking working. Gravities a thing right? Yeah she learned about that in school. So, she just needs to get into a better position so gravity can evict this tenet. Like when that apple fell on the guys head.

Ellie pushes herself up slightly, trying to get her feet under her. "Help me up," she breathes with a cracked voice, "I need to squat." Joel seems to take onto her request quickly, slowly helping her onto her feet to lean against the headboard.

She squeezes the top of the board as hard as she can, knuckles going white as she pushes with all her might. "GET, THE FUCK, OUT OF ME!" She screams, bones aching. If he doesn't come out soon she'll reach up in there and pull him out herself.

"His heads coming through," Joel says under the ringing in her ears. She can feel him ready his hands under her to catch him. Can feel his head coming out too. Like a giant shit.

Ellie bears down again, and she feels something come loose. Then she hears it, possibly the most wonderful noise she's ever heard. Crying.

"Is he out? Is that him? Is he ok?" She rambles, trying to steady her blury eyesight to see. "Yes, everything's ok," Joel confirms, and she hears the snip of scissors. Was that the cord? There's a cord right?

Why doesn't this feel over yet?

"Joel, Joel there's something else," she croaks. "It's probably the placenta- shit," he says. Her eyes immediately snap back into focus and she looks at him, eyes going wide.

"THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SHIT?"

Her baby is still crying and she just wants to hold him but another contraction shoots through her. She thought it was over? Why isn't it over?

"There's another one, just keep pushing," Joel says, returning to her. "What do you mean there's another one?!" Ellie asks, then realizes, panicked, that Joel is no longer holding the baby.

"Where's my baby?" She demands, voice high pitched and afraid.

"He's fine, honey, just push." So Ellie does, trusting Joel to take over as her primal instincts start to set in. Then it comes out, and more cries fill the room. An uncoordinated orchestra of screaming.

Of them and of, apparently, her too.

Then her strength is gone and she slides down onto the bed. Legs going slack as she half lays down, half reclines aginst the headboard. Her eyes glaze around the room, searching.

"Where's my baby? Where?" She asks Joel, eyes landing on a blob that shes pretty sure is him. Joel slips an arm behind her back, guiding her down to lay, head proped on a bloody pillow.

"They're right here," Joel soothes, laying a baby on her chest. "Everything's ok," he reiterates as Ellie snaps her hand onto the baby's back immediately.

Then Joel lays the second baby next to the first. And it finally hits her.

"There's two?

---

Ellie feels the babies wiggle aginst her skin, little noses pressed against her chest. The crying has ceased, and her afterbirth has been delivered and propty removed from the roof before she barfed at the sight of it.

Joel wipes a warm washcloth over her thighs, then very gently around her vuvla. But she's more focused on the cargo in her arms than what's between her legs.

It's hard to actually get a good look at them from this angle, all scrunched up with a towel thrown over the majority of their bodies and hers.

She can see little patches of hair scattered around their heads. But can't quite make out if it's red or brown.

"What are they?" Ellie asks dazley, exhausted. "Uh, didn't really inspect closely, everythin' was going pretty fast," Joel awnsers as he continues cleaning up the bloody mess.

"Well fucking check Joel," Ellie responds, slightly annoyed, the gender seems like a pretty hard thing to miss.

Joel huffs lightly in response before lifting up the towel. He lifts one of the right baby's legs up slightly, bending his head down. "This one's a boy," he confirms, setting down the leg.

Ellie smiles and rubs her thumb in soft circles on the infants back. She was right, he's a boy.

Then Joel moves to the left baby, lifting their leg gently. The baby responds with a dramatic wail as he inspects. "This one's a girl," Ellie can hear the grin in his voice as he says it.

And she's smiling too, even though she's covered in blood and baby goo.

"How are you feeling?" Joel asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her. "How do you think I'm feeling?" She responds, snark apparent over her exhaustion. He huffs, "Fair enough, do you want me to clean them off now or do you want to wait a little longer?"

Ellie snorts in response and takes a long, dramatic sniff. "Please do they stinkkkk," they do stink, and so does she. "Clean me off too I feel more disgusting than after swimming in the Boston sewage system.

Joel laughs and picks up baby boy, placing him on his back on a clean towel. Ellie watches as Joel scrubs the little man off with a warm washcloth. The little guy scrunching up his face and wiggling around.

"I wasn't expecting them to look like this," Ellie says as Joel lifts up his butt to wash his back. "You callin' our kids ugly Ellie?" He responds jokingly. "Well I mean they are cute but also a little...."

"Ugly?" He snorts. "No, no, alien-like? They look like old people just smaller," Joel shakes his head and chuckles at that. "Yeah they'll get cuter in a few weeks."

Thank God, no offense to the babies but they are a little..... Alienesque.

"So, what's his name?" Joel finally asks which prompts Ellie to remember their agreement. "Shit I thought I had more time to decide uhhh," she wipes her forehead with her free hand, which just adds baby goo onto sweat. God she could really use a bath right now.

"Austin?" She responds, word coming out more like a question than a statement. "Is it because-" he starts and she already knows what he's going to say. "Because you're from Texas yeah I know it's cheesy but boys names are hard ok."

"Eh I like it," he says but his voice is teasing. "I can pick something else if-" she's interjected. "No, no, I like it," he states again, more certain this time.

"What's this one's name then?" Ellie asks, nodding to the girl as Joel places Austin back on her chest. He smiles as he picks up the little girl and kisses her softly on the forehead.

"Dolores," he says as he places the girl on a fresh towel. Joel seems more certain than she did. "Call er' Dolly for short." Ellie wonders if he already had the name in mind before they even had that conversation.

Dolly doesn't seem to like her bath as much as Austin did. Kicking her little feet like she's trying to win a fight. "I think I've figured out who was doing all that kicking," Ellie grins as Joel is punched on the side of the head after trying to kiss her cheek.

"I'd expect them to be smaller," He comments as he places Dolly back on her chest, where she promptly wiggles in. "Really?" Ellie asks, they seem so impossibly small. "They're pretty big for twins, say about' six pounds each."

"But thats so small!" She protests. Joel laughs softly, "Twins are usually around four or five pounds." Ellie finds that hard to imagine, that's so tiny, how would they not shatter apart?

"Sarah, was uh, seven and a half pounds and they look a little smaller than she was."

Ellie suddenly wants to hold his hands but both her hands are occupied. But she gets some contact as he lays down next to her, kissing her on the cheek and staring down at them with her.

"You're supposed to be cleaning me off ya'know."