Prompt from friend. Carick Tuesday.
Carol and Rick walked down the empty sidewalk together, Carol pushing the stroller their daughter Kylie was in. Kylie was babbling in the stroller, but neither parent were paying attention to what she was saying, they could barely understand her anyway. Rick had his arm wrapped around Carol's waist loosely as they walked, in his hand he was holding a few shopping bags from a local baby store that they'd stopped in earlier. They'd bought Kylie some looser shirts for the summer heat, a lot of her shirts made her too hot.
Rick's cell phone rang, which he answered only because his cell phone only rang when he was being called into work. As a deputy for their towns sheriff, he got called into work often. Carol watched as Rick answered the phone and he waved her forward, mouthing that he would catch up with her. She nodded and continued down the street, pushing Kylie forward while her daughter babbled. Carol smiled as she listened to her, frowning when she heard meowing coming from the alley.
She turned around and walked down the alley, stopping when she saw a box with several kittens roaming around and meowing. "Oh, no. Someone left you guys out here." Carol said and knelt down to pick up one of the small orange kittens. "Where's your Mama, kitten?" She asked as she held the kitten. The kitten must only be a few weeks old, its eyes were opened but it wasn't moving around very well. Carol set the kitten down and picked up one of its siblings, inspecting it. "Who just left these precious little kittens in a box like this?" Carol asked aloud, looking back at her daughter. She held the kitten out to her daughter, watching as Kylie reached her hand up and pet the kitten. "Gently." She cautioned.
"Kitty!" Kylie exclaimed, watching her mother as she inspected the kitten in her hand.
Carol looked up as she heard male footsteps coming towards her and looked up at her husband, lifting the kitten up in her hand. "Someone just left four kittens in a box out here to D I E." Carol said, spelling out 'die' even though Kylie couldn't understand her and what she said. Carol stood to her feet and held the kitten in her hands. "Gotta leave me?" She asked.
"No, just Shane calling to check up on some information from a case we're working on." He said, resting his hands on his hips.
"You sure?" Carol asked, holding the kitten against her chest as she stroked the meowing orange creature.
"M'sure. Someone just left these things here?" Rick asked, coming around the stroller to inspect the box of kittens. As a police officer, crimes like this pissed him off. Abandoning animals, especially infant animals, always angered Rick Grimes.
"Yeah and I don't see any signs of a Mama Cat either." Carol said. "We should take them down to Dr. Greene, see if he can help them."
"Alright, we will. Gotta get these guys some help." He said, picking the box up as best as he could right now. Carol leaned forward and set the kitten in the box, walking around the stroller to turn her around and push her down the alley. Rick followed her down the alley, cradling the box of meowing kittens in his arms. It was a little difficult with them trying to move around and get out of the box, it reminded him a lot of when Kylie first learned how to crawl.
It was a fifteen minute walk to the animal hospital that Dr. Hershel Greene owned and worked at with his daughter and son. They handed off the kittens to the doctor and waited out in the air conditioned waiting room. After Hershel looked over the four orange kittens, he came out to talk to them, holding the biggest of the kittens in his hands. "Well, they're going to live, thanks to you guys bringing them in." Hershel said. Carol stood to her feet and walked over to Hershel, taking the kitten from him and cradling it in her hands. "The other three I'm going to keep here, they're severely dehydrated and have fleas, but this little guy is good to go to a good home."
Carol turned back to look at her husband and child, holding the kitten in her hands. "Can we keep him, Rick?" She asked, batting her eyelashes. Rick looked at her and looked down at the kitten in her hands.
"Daddy, kitty!" Kylie exclaimed, looking up at her father and grasping his beard in her small hands.
"Ow ow ow ow." Rick said as her small hands pulled on his facial hair. "If I say we can keep the cat, do you think she'll let go?" He asked Carol.
Carol laughed softly and lifted the kitten up to Rick's face. "Come on, Rick, say yes. You know you want to."
Rick looked at his wife and groaned, giving in. The kitten was cute. "Alright, fine. We can keep th cat." And just like that, Kylie released her fathers beard.