Trophy

Chapter 1

"Ugh," Lori groaned and sat her glass of wine down on the kitchen table. "It's disgusting."

Andrea raised an eyebrow and took a careful sip of her own glass.

"It tastes good to me," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Lori leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and placing her head in her hands.

"I didn't mean the wine."

"What did you mean?"

"Have you seen her?" Lori asked with another groan.

"Ah," Andrea took another sip and then sat her glass down. "Have you met her?"

"Not officially but have you seen her? She's so much younger than him."

"Lori," Andrea reached over and placed a hand in her friends arm. "It doesn't matter how much younger she is, she is an adult and has been for several years."

"That still doesn't make it right and I'm not comfortable with my children being around her."

"Is that because she's so young or because you..."

"Don't you dare say it," Lori growled.

Andrea raised her hands in surrender. "I wasn't going to say it but that doesn't mean I can't see it on your face."

"Shut up," Lori laughed as she raised her wine glass to her lips.

"Mom!" Carl shouted as he threw the front door open. "Mom!"

Lori and Andrea jumped up from their seats, rushing in to the living room.

"What's the matter?" Lori asked quickly. "What happened? Are you all right? Where's Judith?"

Carl smiled. "Shane her asked her to marry him!"

Lori's face paled and she gasped, covering her mouth with one hand while the other sought out Andrea to steady her.

"Mom, you should have seen it. Dad and Michonne were there, too. She said yes and me and Judy get to be in the wedding!"

"Where's your sister?" Andrea asked, holding tightly to Lori so the other woman didn't crumple to the floor.

"Oh," Carl looked around. "I guess she's still in the car with Shane."

"Is she with him?" Lori asked, finally releasing her hold on Andrea's arm.

Carl furrowed his brow and shook his head in confusion. "I just told you she's outside with him."

She smiled and reached for Shane's hand as they walked towards the door, Judith running ahead of them.

He took her hand, stopped and pulled her close. "Don't worry so much," he whispered in her ear.

"I can't help it, Shane. She's your ex-wife, she's Judith's mother, and she's Carl's mother. I just want her to know that I love you and both of those kids and when they're with us I will treat them as my own but I don't want her to feel like I'm tryin' to push her out of the way or take her place in their lives."

He smiled and reached up to cup her face in both hands. "Don't worry," he said again. "Besides, Rick and Michonne both like you and so do Carl and Judith. And hell, I love you. Those are the only opinions I care about, not hers."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll try not to worry but I still want her to..."

"No," Shane shook his head. "Don't worry about that either. If she thinks you're tryin' to push her out of the way or take her place somehow, that's her problem. Not yours."

"Okay. Fine," she replied with a nod. "Can we hurry and go inside so we can meet and get it over with."

Shane bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before removing his hands from her face and taking her hand in his as they walked towards the house.

Lori let the blinds pop back into place as she turned towards Andrea.

"She's pretty," Andrea said with a shrug.

"Being pretty isn't everything," Lori replied.

"Never said it was," Andrea grumbled.

"Mommy," Judith squealed as she bounced through the door. "Mommy! Guess what?! Daddy's gettin' married!"

Lori nodded at her daughter. "I know, sweetheart, Carl told me."

"I love her, mommy. She's fun and she's teachin' me how to play the piano and she said she'll take me to ballet classes if that's all right with you," Judith said excitedly without pausing for a breath.

All Lori could do was nod her head and plaster on a fake smile, praying her daughter couldn't tell the difference.

Judith rushed to her room to put her things away just as a heavy knock sounded on the door.

Lori took a deep breath, glanced towards Andrea and with a shake of her head she said, "I guess it's time to meet Shane's new trophy."

A/N: So, what do y'all think? Is this worth continuing? My plan was for this to be a one-shot but when I started writing I realized I could make it several chapters. Of course I'll only do so if y'all think I should because I know I already have so many ongoing stories that I need to work on.

Anyway, let me know what y'all think!

-A