The rumbling in his stomach woke him up to the thunderous sounds and flashing lights the storm was making. Carl just laid there on his bed watching the intermittent lightning dance the night storm was making, trying to decide if he wanted to go find something to eat to try to at least quiet the sounds his stomach was making. He looked over to see a sleeping Judith in her crib oblivious to it all.
Carl folded his hands behind his head while he continued to watch the storm. He listened to the rain drops hitting the roof. He figured he would just wait a little while longer. He managed to doze off for a moment. The storm had moved on but the noise from his empty stomach soon woke him again.
Carl sat up, swung his legs out of the bed then began to wipe the sleep from his eye. He stretched his arms, let out a wide yawn and got up. He didn't want to wake the whole house, so he tip-toed from his room headed downstairs towards the kitchen to get something to eat.
His dad had been under a lot of stress lately, with being the leader, coordinating the repair, training, seeing to it that everyone in Alexandria was fed and safe. He had put in long hours doing a lot of the physical work as well. Sure he had people sharing the burden, but overall, for better or worse it was his dad that would shoulder the responsibility of any failure.
There had been nights when Carl found himself hungry and got up for a midnight snack run. He would pass his dad's room and hear his dad having a bad dream. He felt bad, not knowing what to do, or if there was really anything he could do or say to comfort his dad. Tonight was no exception. As he passed his dad's room, he could here that his dad was having another rough night.
He thought about waking Michonne to let her know. She usually had a calming effect on his dad, sometimes with just a look or a few words even. He felt that if anyone could help, it would be her. But he decided against waking Michonne. He would be a man and try himself. Maybe just waking him from his nightmare would help. Carl moved to his father's door and placed his hand on the doorknob. He gently turned the knob, to enter his dad's room, hoping if he woke him from this dream, he could eventually get back to a more peaceful sleep.
Oh my god.. Oh my god.. Oh my god.. Oh my god..
Carl's breath caught in his throat. His heartbeat quickened and it seemed as if his heart would burst out of his chest. His hands began to shake. He closed his one good eye and backed out of the room quietly closing the door behind himself. He scurried back to his room, jumped into the bed. Shaking, he took the sheet and covered himself from head to toe.
Oh my god.. Oh my god.. Oh my god!... Michonne and Rick! Rick and Michonne! Seeing them like that. All this time, he had thought the moans and groans were coming from a bad dream that his dad was having. In fact, a bad dream that his dad had been having EVERY night lately. Oh my god..oh my god… he felt stupid right now..
Shit! Why didn't they tell him? Why did he have to find out like that? How long had this been going on? Questions. He had so many of them. Most importantly, how did he feel about this? He was glad and he was mad. All at the same time. Glad they were finally together and mad they did not feel the need to tell him. Somehow, he was no longer hungry.
It wounded him to know that they kept secrets from him. He was not a real kid like the kids of Alexandria. Sure he was in a kid's body but all that he had been through made him a man. His dad even said so once. And he actually felt like a man but still in a kid's body.
He lay there contemplating what his next move should be. Trying to unsee what he saw earlier was proving to be difficult.
Carl dozed off again thinking that he would give them an opportunity to come clean.
It was eerily quiet in the house when Carl woke up again. Judith was awake in her crib quietly playing with her toes.
Carl was really hungry now. He grabbed Judith from her crib and headed to the kitchen.
With Judith in his arms, Carl quickly scooted past Rick's room. He took note that there were no sounds coming from his dad's room now.
Once downstairs in the kitchen, Carl placed Judith in her highchair while he rummaged through the cabinets gathering supplies to fix breakfast. He settled on oatmeal for today.
The smell of apple cinnamon oatmeal cooking on the stove trickled up the stairs waking Michonne and Rick from their very satisfying sleep. That meant only one thing. Carl was up for sure and possibly Judith as well. Rick looked over to the baby monitor on his nightstand to see if Judith was still in her crib. Shock registered on their faces. They didn't mean to sleep this long. They took great care to each be in their respective rooms when the kids normally woke up. But last night was different. They both jumped out of bed frantically reaching for their clothing. Michonne ran into the bathroom to get cleaned up.
Michonne came downstairs first. She entered the kitchen to see Carl standing at the stove with his head in a comic book while slowly stirring the pot of oatmeal. Judith was sitting in the highchair chewing on her fingers and cooing.
"Here, let me take over"
Carl moved over and handed the spoon to Michonne. He went over to the table, sat down and continued to read.
Rick smiling, entered the kitchen not even three minutes after Michonne. "Hmmmm… something smells good in here." He walked over towards the stove, folded his arms across his chest and leaned on the counter watching Michonne as she stirred the oatmeal.
Carl looked up from his comic book and glanced at them both. They were acting like nothing had happened. He saw the secret look and smile they gave each other. He put his head back down and pretended not to notice. He made up his mind that today was the day there would be no more secrets. He would make them, somehow, come clean. Carl felt like their keeping this secret from him was like keeping a bandage over a wound. You can either slowly peel it off or just go for broke and rip it off. Carl decided he would slowly peel the bandage back. After all, he was actually glad they were together. It made sense. They were and had been co-parenting him and Judith since the prison.
Michonne started scooping the oatmeal into four bowls. Rick moved aside as she opened and grabbed spoons from the drawer.
Carl looked up from his comics, "Hey Michonne, don't you still go running in the mornings?"
"Yes I do, however, I wasn't up for it today. So I took off. Why so curious?" She asked.
"Well, there is this new guy, Jerome, I noticed he runs too. Maybe you and Jerome can run together. Then you wouldn't have to be out there all alone. He seems nice enough, besides, you're single and he's single….." Carl secretly glanced at his dad to guage his reaction. He could see Rick's morning smile fade a little. Good! He saw Rick's lip part if as if he was about to say something.
"Ummm… I'm ok, besides, I like the solitude. It helps me clear my mind" Michonne said before Rick could make his comment. Michonne placed a spoon into the warm oatmeal bowls and placed the bowls in front of each of them. She took a chair next to Judith and began to feed her. Rick moved over to his spot at the table and sat down to eat.
They were all quite for a moment. Each absorbed in their own thoughts. Michonne was feeding an active Judith. Occasionally, Judith would purse her lips together and the spoon would make contact with her closed lips instead of her open mouth causing a slight mess of oatmeal spreading across her face. Michonne giggled and wiped the spill up.
Carl broke the silence, "So, what do you guys have planned to do today? "
"Daryl and I are going out on a run today" Rick began.
"You gonna be gone long?"
"Nah, we should be back late tonight. Don't wait up" hoping Carl didn't notice, Rick winked at Michonne. Rick secretly had plans for Michonne when he got back.
"So, what about you Michonne. You got anything planned?"
"Well, actually no. I am going to take Judith over to Maggie and Glenn's. They wanted to spend some time with her. After that, I guess I will catch up on my reading".
Rick listening to their conversation, hoped she would also find time to take a nap while he was gone. He chuckled to himself, while thinking about his plans for Michonne.
They were quietly eating again when Carl added, "I was hoping, Michonne, could you please make your famous spaghetti today? Please? I would like to invite someone over for lunch."
Michonne looked at Carl, then Rick. "That sounds like a great idea. Yes, I can do that".
She glanced again over at Rick. Both knew he was sweet on Enid. Michonne didn't mind entertaining Carl and Enid. In fact, she was looking forward to finding out more about their relationship. They were spending a lot of time together lately and she wanted to see where it was going. She was sure Rick felt the same way.
"Ok, cool"
Carl looked from Michonne to Rick then back. He didn't know which one of them was responsible for keeping this secret from him and frankly right now, he couldn't care less.
Carl stood up to take his dishes to the sink to rinse them out. He placed the clean bowl and spoon in the dish rack. He took the dish towel and wiped his hands.
Time to rip the bandage of this secret and now.
Carl turned around facing Rick and Michonne. He walked over to the table, grabbed his green tennis ball. He began to toss it up in the air, catch it then repeated his motions as he walked out of the kitchen.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Carl smirking, turned towards Rick "I am going to go over to Jerome's house and invite him over here for lunch with me and Michonne."
Michonne's eyes got wide. He saw her glance at Rick. Carl looked over at Rick too. Bingo!
If smoke could actually come out of someone's ears and nose, it would be coming out of Rick's right now. Rick's nostrils flared.
"NO!" the sound came out of Rick's mouth before he could actually part his lips. "Carl, we have to talk."
Rick got up and moved over to Michonne. He took her hand in his. She looked up at Rick and gave him a slight nod. United, they faced Carl.
"Carl . . . son . . . Michonne and I are together. We have been for some time now"
Carl hung his head down. They couldn't read his emotions. Rick and Michonne looked at each other. They were afraid that they had messed everything up.
Michonne quickly dropped Rick's hand got up and ran over to Carl. Michonne inhaled deeply. She placed her hand on Carl's shoulder, "Carl, I'm sorry. We should have told you sooner, but we didn't know how you would take it. So we waited for the right moment. I… I guess we waited too long. Please forgive us"
Carl didn't have it in himself to keep on torturing them. Carl lifted his head up and let out a big grin "I know. I guess I have always known. It's cool"
Michonne exhaled. She smiled widely in relief. She ruffled his hair then kissed the top of his head. She then extended her hand to Rick inviting him to come over. The grin on Rick's face was wider than hers if that were possible. Rick walked over to his son and gave him a big bear hug. He grabbed Michonne and all three shared their embrace.
Rick stepped back and looked lovingly at his son, "Thanks for understanding son".
They stood there embracing and laughing at themselves. They were glad that everything was out in the open now. It felt good to be free. Judith started cooing and making noise, she wanted to join in the fun as well. Michonne went over to grab Judith from her highchair.
"Well, if it is ok with you guys, me and Judes are going upstairs to freshen up."
Both Grimes men gave her an affirmative nod as Michonne and Judith headed upstairs, leaving them alone.
"You ok son?"
"Yeah dad. I am now"
"Good. Again, I'm sorry son. We should have said something sooner."
Rick paused for a moment. Curiosity got the better of him, "Exactly how long have you known?"
Carl smiled and looked at Rick. Blue eyes looking into blue eyes, man to man.
"I had hoped from time to time that you two would get together. It made sense. But, I found out early this morning for sure. I thought you were having a bad dream. I . . . I'm sorry dad, I should have knocked before entering your room this morning."
At that moment, realization of what Carl may have witnessed earlier that morning dawned on Rick. His face became flushed with embarrassment. Actually both men were slightly embarrassed. Rick at being caught and Carl at seeing his parents in a vulnerable positon, an unfortunate revelation neither men wanted to repeat.
Rick placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "Son, let's not tell Michonne about that. We will just keep that a secret between us. OK? " Rick gave Carl a tender pat on the back.
"Ok dad" a very relieved Carl said.
Rick rubbed his greying stubble, "Well, I guess it is about time I go meet Daryl so we can go out on that run" Rick turned and headed towards the front door.
Carl thought about it, then chimed in "Hey dad, could you pick up something for me too?"
"Sure son. What do you need?"
Carl let out a big grin, "If you can find it, pick up a lock for your bedroom door. From now on, I will knock before entering but just in case I forget, the lock will help me to remember."
"That I will do. That I will do, son" a smiling and slightly embarrassed Rick said.