AN: Wow! It's been 6 1/2 years since I've written and published a story! But my friend PrintDust has encouraged me to put this little piece out. It is a gift to her. Thank you so much Robyn, firstly for your lovely work that I have the privilege of reading and secondly for the beta and encouragement!

A note about the content: PrintDust requested a canon divergence from the episode "Triggerfinger" where Rick finds Lori on the road instead of Shane. I have used lines from the episode but switched things around a bit to fit this story. "The Walking Dead" tv series belongs to AMC.

/

Rick cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders as he drove the car back towards Hershel's farm. He, Glenn & Hershel were exhausted from their encounter at the bar. Not to mention unsure about what to do with their new acquaintance, who was currently taking the spot behind him in the backseat next to Glenn. His mind was focused on that new problem when he saw a figure limping in the middle of the road, about a mile ahead. He quickly dismissed walker as he could tell the movements were not jerky and dragging, as typical of the walking dead. Getting closer, he steadily slowed the car down, he just started to identify the figure as female when she suddenly sprinted toward them and he realized she was the last person he expected or wanted to see wandering the roads in the dark.

"Lori!" Rick quickly slowed the car to a stop, threw it into park and jumped out to attend to his clearly injured and possibly delirious wife.

"Rick!" she cried as she half embraced, half collapsed into him. "Oh, thank God," she murmured into his shoulder. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but what happened to you?! What are you doing out here alone?!" His hands fluttered around her face and torso, checking for other injuries as much as he could in the dark. Her lip was busted and she had a cut on her forehead, but he couldn't find any bite marks or other serious wounds.

"I was in a car accident…I went looking for you," Lori replied guiltily.

"Accident! How?! Did you get attacked?"

"There was a walker in the middle of the road; I hit it and flipped the car. I blacked out and when I came to I had to fight two of them off."

"And yet you were just now going in the opposite direction of the farm. Away from safety…"

"I told you, I was looking for you..."

"Are you crazy?! You could'a been…" Rick interjected.

"I wasn't gonna go back without you," Lori ground out, her eyes showing a stubborn resolve that he'd been on the receiving end of many times.

Rick sighed, "I appreciate the sentiment, but I can't have you putting yourself in danger, without a vehicle or back-up…in fact, we need to get back in the car and keep moving before we attract more walkers."

He put his arm around her waist to lead her back to the parked vehicle. Sometimes, it was still hard to get used to the fact that they could have a five-minute conversation in the middle of the street without other drivers coming by. The only people that were likely to interrupt now were the dead.

Hershel took the wheel the remainder of the drive home. Rick took the passenger seat with Lori sitting half on top of his lap. She wondered about the seating arrangement until she spotted a strange boy blindfolded and presumably passed out in the back seat with Glenn.

"Who is that?" she asked, alarmed.

"That's Randall," Glenn offered.

"Who is Randall?! And why is he blindfolded? Rick?" She looked to her weary husband who again sighed. He gave her the short version of the story that he was going to have to tell the entire group, whilst simultaneously defending himself to Shane no doubt, it seems his old friend had gotten to a point where he no longer cared about anyone except those in his own group….and even that was questionable now.

As soon as they pulled up to the farmhouse, Hershel had to take Randall in to perform an emergency surgery. Maggie volunteered to help Lori get cleaned up, Rick and Carl on their heels as they headed inside; the boy relieved to have both his parents back safe.

"Hey boys, can I have a little bit of space to work please?" Maggie scolded them, but her face softened with a smirk—she found it cute that Lori's boys were so concerned about her.

Rick ignored her and addressed his wife, "You said the car flipped, Hershel should check you for internal injuries. And he'll need to make sure the baby is okay…"

"You're having a baby?" Carl interjected, shocked and insulted that he wasn't informed of this before. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Lori's eyes widened and she shot Rick a reprimanding look.

He cringed at his slip up. "Oh man, sorry buddy. We were going to tell you soon."

"We were just trying to find the right time, love," Lori attempted to appease her son, patting his knee.

Maggie was clearly also surprised by this news; her raised eyebrows indicated that she was paying attention to the conversation while she worked. She lifted her eyes to meet Lori's and gave the older woman's hand a light squeeze. Smiling, she showed her support that Lori decided to keep the baby—she had been unsure after the emergency contraception incident.

"Well, I'm all done with the scratches we can see. I'll let you know when my dad is done with the boy so he can check you over too."

"Thank you, Maggie," Lori smiled back and returned the hand squeeze, indicating she appreciated more than just the medical help.

The family of three—soon to be four—was left alone and Carl immediately started in again.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" he asked, excitement building in his voice as he started to warm up to the idea of being a big brother.

"Well, we won't know that until it's born," Lori replied. She turned to face her son, pulling one leg up underneath herself.

Stretching his arm out, Carl placed his hand on his mother's stomach, "Will I be able to feel it?"

She smiled, her heart filling with joy and love as she looked at her son who she could see was completely okay with the idea of having a little brother or sister. "Not for awhile."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?" he asked, looking to both of his parents hopefully.

Lori glanced up to Rick, who lowered his head sadly. His guilt over Sophia was still very fresh. "Maybe," she answered softly.

Carl grinned and pushed up his hat. "Big brother Carl, pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah, bud, you'll be a great big brother," Lori encouraged him.

Finally back in their tent again, Lori stretched her sore muscles for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Hershel had given her the all clear, diagnosing her with only external bumps and bruises that would give her discomfort, but just needed time to heal.

She was just getting ready to undress for bed when a grunt and muffled ah, man behind her made Lori shift her focus to her husband, who seemed to be having trouble getting his own shirt off. Apparently she wasn't the only one who was feeling sore.

"Here", she walked over to him to pull the offending garment off one arm and then the other, smirking and patting him on the back before she turned back around to attend to her own clothing.

"Thank you," he laughed.

As soon as she reached for the first button on her shirt, pain throbbed through her arms and torso. She groaned, and chuckled at the fact that neither of them could manage to complete a task as simple as changing clothes.

"I need your help," she mumbled while still making a small effort to get out of the shirt on her own.

Rick had already started to move towards his wife, he noticed that she was having trouble too.

He smiled, "Come here." Rick carefully lifted her shirt up and over her head then tossed it aside as he had done with his own.

"We're like a couple of old people," he laughed but then his face became serious again as his eyes scanned down her body and he brushed his fingers against her left side, just below her ribcage. Lori winced. Though his touch was extremely light and gentle she felt the huge, ugly bruise without even making contact with it. He kneeled down and brushed his lips ever-so-lightly over the same spot. Gently, he took hold of her hips to guide her body around to face him. Lori watched as he pressed a kiss to the spot just below her navel and left his hand there to rest over where their baby was growing. Her heart swelled for the second time that night. Of course, it was far too early for even her to feel the baby move, but she imagined him or her responding to their daddy's presence.

After a moment, Rick broke the comfortable silence. "You can't do anything like that again. I need both of you safe. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, but the stakes are so much higher now."

Lori nodded. "I meant what I said earlier: Carl…and this baby…they need their father around and alive. You're right, the stakes are higher, and that applies to you too." She took a thoughtful breath, her fingers finding his curls. "Can we make a compromise?" she tilted her head to meet his eyes better. "How about you don't go on as many dangerous missions, and I won't follow you?"

He grunted, getting to his feet. "Touché. We'll work something out." He kissed her head and took her hand to lead her toward their makeshift bed.

As they laid down for the night, Lori took comfort in her husband's solid body beside hers, his hand running through her hair and his heartbeat under her ear. Her body was still incredibly sore, and she had no idea what the future would bring them, but for now her family was safe and that was all that mattered.