DISCLAIMER: The Walking Dead belongs to AMC.
~ If ~
"Carl is my boyfriend now," Sophia announced to Carol and Lori. "And we're going to get married if we grow up!"
The child then ran off to join her playmate for a game of tic-tac-toe played with sticks in the dry dirt, without waiting to see their mothers' reactions to her pronouncement.
"How adorable," Lori gushed, smiling as she watched the children. She almost missed the other woman's distressed murmur.
"If..."
"What was that, Carol?"
"If," Carol repeated with more emphasis. "She said 'if', not when."
Lori looked at her blankly for a moment before the full implication of Sophia's choice of phrasing hit her.
"She said, 'if we grow up'."
Of course, with the world the way it was, there was no chance for the children to remain ignorant of the reality that death exists, but to hear one's own child speak so casually of the possibility that they would not live to see adulthood...
Lori didn't know what to say. She doubted the fact that their children seemed to have a crush on each other would be of much comfort to Carol at this moment.
She decided to try anyway, putting forth hesitantly, "Well, at least they seem happy."
"For now," Carol answered speculatively.
Neither of them wanted to think about what kind of drama it might cause if their children's little romance ended in a breakup.
~end~