Chuck and Maddie stay in the infirmary for a couple of days recuperating after the birth. With guards outside the door, of course. Negan stays right there with them, too, in their little curtained off room. When Harlan says that mother and baby are good to go upstairs, they get ready to move back home. Harlan and Arat help get Chuck into the wheelchair as Negan holds Maddie.
"You ready to see your room?" he coos to his tiny daughter.
"She awake?" Chuck asks from the chair.
"Nah. She's fast asleep." He places the baby gently in Chuck arms so they can leave.
Before they can head out, though, there's a knock on the door.
"You up for some visitors?" Simon's voice comes through the door. "Tonya, Sherry, and Frankie are out here, too."
Chuck nods her approval at Negan and he opens the door. The small group files into the room, all eyes on Chuck and baby Maddie.
"She's a ginger!" Tonya says with a laugh.
"How the fuck I got a red headed kid, I don't even know," Negan responds as he moves back into the room.
"She's just precious," Sherry coos as she lightly touches the baby's head. "She's sleeping good."
"Yeah. She's out for now." Chuck looks down at her daughter. "Give it an hour or so until she gets hungry."
"Shit. You're in full on mom mode, huh," Tonya jokes.
"I have to be." Chuck giggles. "If I don't feed her, my boobs hurt."
Frankie grimaces. "Really? That's how that all works?"
"Yup," Chuck answers simply.
"How are you feeling?" Sherry asks Chuck.
"Okay," she answers. "A little tired. Kinda sore."
Simon comes forward and crouches down to see the baby better. "She looks like you," he says to Chuck with a big smile on his face.
"Poor girl," Chuck jokes.
"Stop." Negan bends down to kiss his daughter's head. "She shares the title of most beautiful girl in the fuckin' world with her mama."
Sherry looks at Negan. "I never thought I'd see you with a baby and a ring on your finger."
"You and me both," Negan replies then looks down at Chuck. "But I wouldn't have it any other fuckin' way."
Tonya groans dramatically. "You guys are so domestic it's disgusting."
Everyone laughs at Tonya's joke. After a few more minutes of visiting, Negan and Arat get Chuck and Maddie out of the infirmary on their way upstairs. As Arat pushes Chuck's wheelchair with Negan walking beside them, they pass several residents in the hallway. Everyone kneels in respect for Negan, but it feels a little different to Chuck for some reason. She looks up at Negan beside her with a questioning look on her face. He says nothing, but smiles down at her warmly.
When they all get in the elevator and close the doors, Negan bends down to whisper in Chuck's ear. "They were kneeling for you."
Chuck looks over to Negan as he stands straight. "Why?"
Negan doesn't answer, but leans down to kiss Chuck's head as he places his hand on Maddie gently. Even though her question isn't addressed, she realizes on her own why the residents are showing her respect, too. She's Negan's family, so the respect he's garnered has passed on to her. It makes Chuck feel like she doesn't really deserve it, since all she did was have a baby. Because of that, she promises herself that she will do more to earn the respect the residents have given her.
When they get upstairs, Chuck and Negan put the still sleeping baby in the crib. Negan reaches over to turn on a baby monitor sitting on an end table beside the crib.
"You got a baby monitor for us?" Chuck asks.
Negan puts his arm around her as they stand in front of the crib. "Laura did. She said we'd probably fuckin' need it."
"That was thoughtful of her."
"I'll take care of her while you take a shower," Negan suddenly says.
Chuck laughs. "You telling me I stink?"
Negan chuckles. "I would never," he jokes.
"I do need one," Chuck admits, considering her hair is still matted together with dirt and sweat. She lets out a heavy breath as she looks at her daughter. She has spent almost every minute with the girl since she was born, so leaving her even for the short time to take a much needed shower is a little hard.
Negan leans down to kiss Chuck sweetly. "We'll be fine," he whispers, apparently reading Chuck's mind. "I got some paperwork to look over. I'll just be in the fuckin' bedroom with the baby monitor so I can hear if she needs me."
Chuck giggles at Negan's continued bad language. "Maddie's first word is gonna be 'fuck' if you keep swearing around her."
Negan laughs. "Probably."
Chuck begrudgingly leaves her new family in the nursery and heads out to the bedroom to gather some clean clothes for after her shower. Her belly still has a bump, so she's not going to get into her old jean any time soon. Gathering up a pair of comfy sweatpants and a T-shirt that will fit, as well as some not exactly fashionable maternity underwear and a nursing bra, she goes into the bathroom to wash up.
She's still sore from the birth, so she washes herself carefully and slowly. But it does the trick in making her feel at least a little bit like she's getting back to normal. When she's clean from head to toe, she dries herself and gets out of the shower to dress. As soon as she leaves the bathroom, she notices that Negan isn't in the room.
"Negan?" she calls out, but hears nothing in response.
She turns into the doorway in the room to head to the nursery. She finds Negan standing in front of the crib looking at the newborn. Right where she left him.
"Get your work done?" Chuck asks as she strides up beside him.
"I didn't even leave this spot," he answers. "I couldn't stop watching her."
Chuck looks down at her daughter, who is no longer asleep, but looking up at her father with wide eyes. "She probably needs fed."
Negan bends down to pick Maddie up and pulls her to his chest. "You hungry, princess?" He bobs the girl up and down as Chuck takes her shirt off and situates herself on the rocking chair. After she pulls the cup off of her nursing bra, Negan sets the baby in Chuck's arms.
As the baby feeds, Negan watches over them with a look of awe on his face.
Chuck giggles at him. "What?"
"You're just fuckin' amazing. You made a baby for me and you're keeping her fed just with your body. All without acting like it's no big fuckin' deal."
"I'm glad you are so amazed by motherhood," she responds with a smile. "It shows that you don't take women for granted in society, which happens too often.
"I have no fuckin' idea how anyone could see a woman give birth and care for a goddamn baby and not think it's fuckin' awesome. We men think we're hot shit, but none of us can do anything as amazing as that."
Chuck giggles. "Well, thank you. I never really thought about everything that goes into being pregnant and feeding a baby. It is kind of amazing." She laughs again.
"It really fuckin' is. All I did was jizz someplace wet and warm and you took that and made a fuckin' human being."
"Such a romantic," Chuck jokes and switches the baby to the other side.
He chuckles. "You're welcome."
She clears her throat a little, wanting to get more serious. "I guess I've never really told you how much I appreciate this society you've created for us. Women can do anything here. Not just cook and clean. You have women as your soldiers. One of your lieutenants is a woman. And you don't talk down to us. If we earn our keep, we get your respect and the respect of everyone else. We've seen how dangerous this world can be for women now. But not here." She looks up to Negan with a smile.
"You're damn right you're safe here." He gently caresses Maddie's head as she continues to feed.
"I hate that Maddie isn't going to know the way the world was before, but I'm so glad she's going to grow up here, under your rules. She'll be safe and healthy here. We can't say the same for any other place, really."
"I'm gonna fuckin' try to make sure other places are as good to their people as we are here. If some group mistreats their citizens, especially women, they'll be paid a visit by Lucille."
Chuck giggles. "Hopefully that won't happen too often."
Negan keeps his eyes on his daughter as he speaks. "We actually got a pretty good corner of the fuckin' world right here. Rick's people are pretty good. And I think Ezekiel's are, too."
Maddie finally pushes away and Negan grabs a towel from the changing table. He flips it over his shoulder and comes back over to take Maddie from Chuck.
"You gonna burp for me?" he says as he holds the baby to his shoulder. Even though he's only had a couple days practice with a new baby, he seems like a pro.
As Negan walks around with Maddie, gently rubbing her back and bouncing slightly, Chuck can't help but think about how much she loves her husband. And how lucky she is to have him as the father of her baby.
Later on that day, Aaron and Eric make a visit. Negan had made sure to keep them informed through the radio about Chuck's pregnancy, so they knew she had the baby. And Negan told them when Chuck would have been well enough to get visitors.
When Negan walks in with Aaron and Eric behind him, Chuck gets up from the couch to greet them with a hug.
"She's over here," Chuck leads them to the other side of the bed where Maddie is laying in a bassinet.
Aaron leans over to see his newborn great niece. "She looks exactly like how you looked when you were born," he says to Chuck without looking up.
Chuck giggles. "I think I see a hint of some dimples there." She looks over to Negan who smiles back.
"Oh, so I did get some genes in there," Negan teases as he walks closer to the bassinet.
Eric laughs. "Imagine what she would look like with those adorable dimples!" he exclaims.
"You calling my dimples adorable, Eric? You know I'm a married man, right?" Negan jokes.
Eric looks from Aaron to Chuck. "That's not- I just-" He laughs nervously. "I mean-"
Negan claps him on the back. "I'm just fucking with you."
Chuck and Aaron both shake their heads as Eric continues to nervously giggle.
"I've already had to fuckin' brush off your husband's advances, so it's no big deal. I'm fuckin' used to it," Negan says to Eric, still joking.
Eric whips his head to Aaron. "What?"
"Stop teasing," Chuck chides Negan, who is now laughing outright.
"He's just being a jerk," Aaron says to Eric as he lifts the baby from her bassinet to hold her.
Negan puts his hand on his chest to feign offense at the jibe.
Aaron starts to walk around the room with his great niece in his arms. "It's just like the first time I held you," he comments to Chuck.
She follows after her uncle. "Really?"
"Yeah," Aaron answers softly. "I was waiting in the hospital when you were being born." He laughs a little. "I was just eighteen. Never held a baby before and when I got into your mom's room, she just shoved you into my arms. You were so small, but you were looking around so alert." He stares down at Maddie with a loving expression on his face. "We were all a mess. Me, your dad, your grandparents... all of us crying. But not your mom. She had a huge smile on her face, ordering all the nurses around like it was her job." He chuckles.
"Negan cried," Chuck throws out casually.
"Jesus Christ, Chuck," Negan mutters. "Don't tell them that shit."
She giggles then shrugs. "Sorry."
Aaron looks over to Negan. "I know these girls have you wrapped around their fingers. It's not news."
Negan walks over to Aaron, still holding Maddie, and bends down to kiss her on the head. "Yeah, yeah. Don't go spearing that shit around."
Chuck comes over to stand next to Negan. As she looks at her daughter being held by her uncle, a sudden sadness hits her. "I wish Mom was here," she whispers. "And Dad, too."
Negan lifts his hand to place it on Chuck's back in reassurance. "I know, baby girl."
Aaron clears his throat, apparently feeling the emotion, too. "They would've been so proud of you, Chucky," he chokes out. "And they would've loved this girl so much."
Chuck nods then moves to run her hand over her daughter's head. "I wish she could've met them." A tear falls from her eye and flows down her cheek.
Negan pulls Chuck into his side and she wraps her arms around him. "I know, sweetheart."
Eric comes up behind Aaron to put his arm around his shoulder. "They can see her," he says to Chuck. "And she'll know them through you."
"Do I look okay?" Chuck holds her hands out as she models the flowy floral dress she had put on the next day.
Negan walks over to kiss her. "You look fuckin' beautiful."
"I just want to make a good impression on everyone. Especially since some of them saw me looking haggard as I left the infirmary yesterday."
Today is the day that the whole Sanctuary will see Maddie for the first time. In just an hour's time, the residents will be waiting on the factory floor to be addressed by Negan and his newly expanded family. Chuck thinks it's kind of silly. It's almost like when the royal babies were born, which means Chuck is like the queen. And that's a little hard to swallow for her. Of course there's that little part of her left over from her girlhood that's squealing in delight about being a princess, but she's honestly never really felt very "royal". Especially "waving at the masses" royal.
"They're gonna flip their shit when they see you, baby girl. Don't fuckin' worry."
She lets out a sigh, hoping that Negan is right. "Okay."
They get Maddie all bundled up and start their trek down to the furnace room. As soon as everyone gets a glimpse of Negan on the catwalk above them, they get down on one knee.
Negan leans down to whisper in Chuck's ear. "You ready, baby girl?"
She nods as she holds her daughter in her arms. "We're ready."
The small family walks up to the railing as the crowd below them remains on their knees. Negan gestures for everyone to stand and they all obey the order.
"I want to apologize for not appearing at my own goddamn birthday party the other day. I hear it was a fuckin' good ass time. But I was busy introducing my beautiful little girl to the world!" He puts his arm around Chuck and pushes her a little closer to the railing so everyone can see the baby in her arms. "My Madeline Rose!" he calls out and everyone cheers.
Chuck can't help but giggle at the warm reception. Even though most of these people are technically strangers to her, she almost feels like they're her extended family. That everyone here is like a family.
Negan continues. "I'm sure you guys are sick of seeing Simon's ugly ass mug around this place filling in for me, but I'm still gonna be needed upstairs to take care of my two girls for a little bit." He looks over to Chuck with a grin on his face. "But I don't want you guys to think I'm not fuckin' working! From now on, I will be conducting business from my office. If you guys have any concerns, my office will be open to fuckin' hear them."
Everyone applauds in understanding.
"But I just wanna make something clear," he calls out and everyone quiets. "I will have plenty of guards stationed upstairs to protect my family. Not that I think that any of you fine people would do anything, but if there's a bad apple that wants to start shit, he will be dealt with fuckin' swiftly! By 'dealt with' I mean 'taking Lucille to the fuckin' brain'!"
Everyone starts to murmur in response.
"No one's gonna hurt Chuck and Madeline!"
"We'll protect her!"
"We love you Madeline!"
The residents' overwhelming support has Chuck tearing up. She's still so used to nobody really caring about her, but that's just not the case anymore. Everyone has really opened up their hearts to her in a way she never would have expected.
She takes a deep breath to settle herself and looks up at Negan. "Can I say something?" she asks quietly.
Negan look over to her, surprised. "Sure, sweetheart." He holds his hand up to quiet everyone.
As Chuck looks over the large crowd, her nerves start to get the best of her. Public speaking has never been her strong suit, but she pushes through her nerves to address everyone.
"I-I..." she starts quietly. Clearing her throat, she steels her nerves and starts again in a stronger voice. "I wanted to say that your support means so much to me. I'm not used to this kind of attention, so, uh... I'm sorry if I'm not good at this, but I am going to try my best to be worthy of the support you're giving me and my baby. We are all a community here and I feel so much safer knowing that all of you are looking out for me. But I want you to know that I'm gonna look out for you guys, too. I will do whatever I can to make everyone feel as safe and loved as I do right now."
When everyone starts to cheer, Chuck can't hold back her tears any longer and starts to cry. Negan wraps his arm around her and pulls her into his side. He kisses Chuck's temple then turns back to the crowd.
"Alright, everyone! Get back to fuckin' work!" he calls out and everyone starts to disperse. Negan steps in front of Chuck and wipes her cheeks of tears. "You good?"
Chuck nods. "Yeah. I'm good."
— Negan's POV —
Durning the next week, I gotta get the fuck back to work. But instead of me walking my ass around The Sanctuary doing my shit, I got people coming to me, so I can stay close to my girls. I made "business hours" for myself, meaning that from 8 - 5, I'm on the fuckin' clock and anyone who needs me can find me in my office. Outside of that, I'm on call for emergencies only. Simon can handle anything else.
Since I got people constantly coming in and out, I put more guards on my floor, just in fuckin' case. I usually got Sam on my office door during the day, José at night. And Arat and Laura alternate being posted by the doorway to my living quarters, where Chuck and the baby are. I set a few other of my trusted Saviors in the hallway, too.
I'm not fuckin' around with the safety of my family. Eldritch had Chuck fuckin' kidnapped from our bedroom right under my goddamn nose not even six months ago. Shit like that will not happen again. Fuckin' ever.
I get word that Rick is on his way here with Michonne and Daryl. They say they got something for me, so I wait in my office for them to get here. Chuck is sitting on the couch reading with Maddie in the little fuckin' bassinet beside her. Even though we got that baby monitor, we never fuckin' use it. We just move the bassinet to wherever we fuckin' are and set Maddie in it. Neither of us wants to be too far away from her for too long.
Simon radioes and says he's on his way up with Rick and his crew.
"I guess that's our cue, little one." Chuck stands and bends over the bassinet to pick Maddie up.
"You don't have to run away," I say to her and stand up myself. I walk over to her and take Maddie in my arms.
"I thought you didn't want me here for business," she states.
"I wouldn't say that exactly. It's just mostly boring shit you wouldn't want to be here for anyway." I look down at Maddie. "Huh, sweet pea."
"You want to show her off to Rick."
I raise my head to see a fuckin' smirk on Chuck's face. She knows she's fuckin' right.
"Shit yes, I wanna show her off," I admit. "I made her and she's amazing."
Chuck giggles. "I think I might've had a hand in making her, too."
"Then you should want to show her the fuck off as much as me."
Simon comes into the office with Rick, Michonne, and Daryl trailing behind him. Rick has what looks like a book in his hands.
"Well, hey there, Rick," I call out as I continue to bounce Maddie gently.
"Who's this?" Michonne asks in a baby voice as she walks to me with a smile on her face. It's a little fuckin' weird seeing her like this since she's usually in badass mode.
"This is Maddie," I answer.
"Hi, Maddie," Michonne says to my little girl. "Look at those beautiful eyes." She looks over to Chuck. "She looks like you."
Chuck laughs a little. "Everyone says that."
Rick comes over to me to look at Maddie, too. "She really does look like you, Chuck. Probably for the best," he jokes under his breath.
"Very fuckin' funny, Rick," I deadpan. His dumbass joke makes Chuck laugh, though, so I can't help but smile.
Maddie starts to cry in my arms, so I look over to Chuck.
"She needs fed," Chuck confirms and comes to me to take Maddie. "It was nice to see you guys," she says to everyone before she heads off into our bedroom.
"So, Rick." I go behind my desk and sit down. "You got something for me?"
"Yeah." He sets the book down on my desk and sits in one of the chairs in front of it. Michonne takes the other seat and Daryl lurks behind them.
I look at the book that Rick had just fuckin' set down. "The Key to the Future" is written on the front of it. I flip through the pages and see fuckin' diagrams and pictures of tools and buildings. Fuckin' aqueducts and windmills and shit. Real useful shit in this age, if I'm being fuckin' honest.
"Where the fuck did you get this?" I ask.
"A woman gave it to us," Rick answers without elaborating.
I just stare at him for a minute. "A woman? She just gave this to you?"
"She wanted records," Daryl clarifies.
"She gave you this shit in exchange for fuckin' records?" That sounds fuckin' insane. The shit in this book is life saving and this woman practically gave it away.
Rick shrugs a little. "That's all she wanted. She said she knew our group was good, so she wanted us to have this." He points to the book. "She said she just wants people to thrive again."
"That's very fuckin' noble of her."
"Yeah." Rick nods. "This book is a game changer."
"And you're just giving it to me?" I ask.
Rick nods again. "We're allies. And we're only as strong as our weakest link. If we're all doing the best we can, it'll make us all stronger."
I nod once. He's not fuckin' wrong. "This is fuckin' great. I'm gonna get this shit copied and sent off to Hilltop, too."
"There is..." Rick slides the book over to him and opens a page and taps his finger on it. "This is how to make fuel. Ethanol."
I look it over. "From corn," I glean from the words on the page.
"Yeah," Michonne answers.
"Corn that I fuckin' grow..." I put together.
"Yes," Rick competes the thought. "With Hilltop and your farming outpost, you grow more corn than anyone around. Including The Kingdom."
"Ah," I lean back in my chair. "So giving me this book wasn't out of the kindness of your fuckin' heart. You want me to make fuckin' fuel for you."
"No," Michonne quickly jumps in. "We want you to provide corn and we will make the fuel and give it to you. Division of labor."
"We also have Eugene working on how to make cars run on it," Rick adds. "It's not as good as gasoline, but we can at least make ethanol. Gas is getting harder and harder to find."
"I'm aware," I comment. We've already shrunk our fuckin' fleet of cars to ration the gas we have. And I've been talking with The Kingdom to eventually get some horses from them. We're gonna need some form of transportation after cars become fuckin' useless, and horses were used for hundreds of fuckin' years. I got some plans in the mix when spring comes to make some goddamn stables nearby for when we get them.
Us and The Kingdom have been working together pretty fuckin' well since we met. While it was still cold out, we cleared a few roads and blocked them off on the sides so they remain clear from the fuckin' biters once they thaw the fuck out and get back on the move. Eventually, we'll expand that area to push the dead even further back. But this is a start. If we're gonna have to get on these roads with horses in the future, I don't want them to be taken down by the dead. I've seen those biters take down fuckin' deer and shit, so I know they'll go after fuckin' horses, too.
If the Alexandrians can work out how to get cars to run on that corn fuel, that'll be fuckin' great. Especially if we want to keep trading up between these fuckin' groups. Cars'll be the much safer option.
"I'm sure we can work out a deal," Michonne says in that calm voice of hers.
I nod. "Yeah. We can make a deal when it comes time to fuckin' harvest. We got a few months."
"Good." Michonne looks to Rick and her expression is fuckin' weird.
Then Rick looks at me and his expression is just as fuckin' weird. Like he doesn't want to tell me something.
"What?" I ask, already not fuckin' liking this.
"There's something..." Rick scratches at his beard.
"What?" I say more forcefully.
Rick clears his throat. "When we took you to The Kingdom... When you met your brother..."
Okay. I'm liking this a whole fuckin' lot less. I haven't talked to my fuckin' half brother since I met him. I have talked to Chuck about it, though. About my fuckin' father. Even though I fuckin' hate taking about that shit, it's fuckin' helped me to talk to her about it. She's just so fuckin' understanding and sweet. And she makes me feel better.
Rick continues. "I never told you about how we really got here. We started in Georgia. We picked some people up." He looks away from me. "We found a prison. West Georgia Correctional Facility."
No. Not there.
"We stayed there. We cleared the dead ones. But some of the inmates were still alive."
No. No fuckin' way.
"You said your father's name was Nathan McRae. And that he was in prison. I- I think... we knew him. He was there."
I stand up from my chair so fast that Laura and Sam fuckin' stand at attention on opposite sides of the room. I start to pace, just tying to fuckin' keep calm. But it's no fuckin' use.
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?!" I scream. I keep pacing until I hear Chuck's voice.
"What's going on?" she calls out from the doorway, Maddie in her arms.
Before I can even think, my mouth opens up. "These fuckers lived with my father!"
"What?!" Chuck passes Maddie to Laura and stomps into the room. "What do you mean they lived with your father?!"
The three Alexandrians are fuckin' looking around all guilty and shit.
"Rick said they lived in his fucking prison with him!" I answer.
Chuck looks around confused. "How did you know it was Negan's father?" she asks Rick.
"I heard Negan say his father's name at The Kingdom," Rick answers quietly. "And... Martin looks like him."
"And you waited this long to tell Negan?!" Chuck shrieks. "You should've told him immediately!"
"Is he still alive?" I growl out.
"No," Daryl answers right away. "I watched 'im get shot by The Governor's snipers."
I pinch at the bridge of my fuckin' nose to try to calm the fuck down. "Tell me everything," I command more fuckin' calmly without looking up.
"We lived with him for a while," Rick starts. "He told us he was in prison for a bar fight that got out of hand. He was trying to defend his buddy."
I shoot my head up to Rick. "He fuckin' lied."
"We know that now," Michonne continues calmly. "He earned his keep with us, so we had no reason to think that he lied. Then a man called The Governor attacked the prison, our home. Nathan was killed along with others and we all scattered. That's what started us on our way to Alexandria."
I huff out breaths as I look over to Chuck. She looks calmer now. I'm a little shocked my sweet Chuck went off on Rick like that, but my mind is still fuckin' reeling too much to even think about it.
Chuck takes in a deep breath. "Why did you tell him now?"
Rick turns his head from me to look at her. "I didn't want this coming between us. Between our communities. I know I should've said something earlier, but... I didn't know how."
I shake my head. "So you're telling me that motherfucker was living life all hunky fuckin' dory, then he got a quick death?"
Rick looks down. "I guess."
I run my hand down my face as I push down the urge to grab Lucille from the side of my desk and pummel everything in my eyeline. "Maybe you guys should just get the fuck out," I growl out.
"Wait," Chuck cuts in before the Alexandrians do anything. "You guys should've let Negan know about his father as soon as you realized that you knew him," she says to them. Then she turns to me. "But they had no idea of who that man was to you. So this isn't on them. This whole situation is... not great, but we still need to work together for the sakes of everyone. So... no flying off the handle." She turns away from me and back to Rick. "And no keeping secrets. We're all in this together."
Rick nods. "You're right." He turns his head to me. "I'm sorry, Negan."
"Yeah. Okay," I say quietly. "It's shitty, but..." I shrug. "I guess it's the fuckin' past. We just gotta keep moving fuckin' forward. We just got outta winter, so we're all gonna be fuckin' busy with shit now."
"Especially with that book." Michonne points to the gift they gave me. "We're all doing pretty good right now, but the stuff in that book will make everything easier. We can build more. Expand more. Really build a future for all of us." Her gaze flicks over to Chuck and her fuckin' meaning doesn't escape me.
I scratch at my chin. "I can't argue with that. I guess."
Rick stands up and walks over to me with his hand outstretched. "This won't happen again, Negan."
I take his hand to shake it. "I know it won't."
After the Alexandrians leave, I turn to Sam at the door. "Office hours are fuckin' over for the day."
He nods then turns to leave. Laura hands Maddie back to Chuck and she leaves, too.
"You okay?" Chuck asks quietly when we're alone.
"Yeah." I take Maddie from her and smile at my little girl. "Daddy's fuckin' fine, sweet pea," I say to my daughter like she asked.
"I just don't want this to be a setback for you."
I turn to look at Chuck. "Setback?"
"You've been doing so good and I just don't want you to go to a dark place because of this."
I can see how fuckin' worried she is for me and it simultaneously breaks my heart and makes it fuckin' swell. It feels so goddamn good that she cares about me that fuckin' much, but I never want to be the cause of pain for her.
I walk over to her and kiss her forehead. "I'm fine, baby girl," I whisper then pull back to look at her. "I am. It fuckin' sucks knowing that that motherfucker didn't starve slowly and fuckin' turn, but he's dead all the same, now."
She reaches up to run her hand over my cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Negan. But... you should talk to Martin at some point."
I turn my head to kiss Chuck's palm. "I will. Eventually. I just wanna be here with my girls right now."
She smiles up at me and I can't fuckin' resist bending down to kiss her. "Everything's just really good right now and I wanna keep things that way," she says as she looks up at me with those big green eyes I can never fuckin' resist.
"Don't worry, sweetheart." I kiss her again. "You got nothing to worry about, okay?"
She nods up at me, completely convinced. Shit, I'm convinced, too. Sure, learning about my father pissed me off, but really, it wasn't as much as I thought it would. I guess it's cuz I'm truly fuckin' happy, for once.
So, yeah. Everything's really good right now. Fuckin' perfect, even. And I'm not gonna let the specter of my fuckin' father, or anything else, ruin this shit. Not now. Not ever.