"Wow! That's great!" Michonne said, hugging Enid. "I can't believe I'm gonna be a grandma!". Enid looked just as shocked. "And a new mom too! We didn't know! Did Carl know? I didn't know!"

Rick who was obviously shocked hugged Enid as well. "Congratulations" he said, "I'm so happy for you and Carl. We didn't tell Carl about ours. We wanted to tell him in person, and I know you guys have been busy and we have been too, and... well here we are".

Enid kept staring at Michonne's belly. "How many months are you?".

"Eight" Michonne said happily. "The last time we came here to visit, I didnt realize I was pregnant... what about you?"

"Five" Enid said. She then realized everyone was still standing on the porch. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Come in, have a seat. Hey Judy bug, hey Joyjoy" Enid said, giving the girls a hug as they entered the small house. Michonne carefully lowered herself onto the couch in the living room and Enid did the same. Joy and Judy happily plopped themselves on to the floor, and Rick took a chair from the kitchen to sit on.

"Where's Carl?" Rick asked.

"He's working most of the day today, but he said he'd come back for lunch and when he has a break. He should be here soon" she said. As if on cue there was a knock on the door.

"Umm... I'll get it" Enid said nervously, getting off the couch to open the door.

When Enid opened the door, Carl grinned broadly. He had seen the car and knew his family was there. He kissed her and then whispered "what did they say?", smiling.

Enid smiled and looked at him strangely, "they were happy, but maybe you should come in".
Confused by Enid's hesitation, Carl stepped into his house and saw his little sisters on the floor. They both hopped up and ran to him.

"Carl!" Judy said happily as she hugged his waist. Joy attached herself to his leg. Carl picked up both his sisters and blew raspberries on their cheeks until they giggled. He then moved on to give Michonne a kiss.

"Hey m-..." Carl stopped speaking mid word. He was staring at her very swollen belly. "No way" he said shocked "you're pregnant too?"

Michonne nodded. "I guess it's just going around" she said with a smile. Carl looked at his father in disbelief.

"You're having another baby and you didn't tell me?" he asked.

Rick ran his hands through his hair "I should say the same. You didn't tell me I'm gonna be a grandpa".

Carl looked around. "This is crazy. I mean this is definitely not how I thought this would go. I mean... it's great... just... surprising".

Rick walked over to Carl and patted his back. "We're happy about your baby, and we're happy about ours, and that's that".

Michonne who had been quiet for most of the conversation said to Carl "hey I still didn't get my hug and kiss". Carl bent down to hug her and she said "congratulations dad", causing Carl to smile.

Carl grabbed another chair from the kitchen and put it next to where Enid was sitting on the couch, he then gently stroked her hand as he sat next to her. Rick's heart was warmed by the love and affection his son showed his wife.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl?" Rick asked.

"Carl wanted to know but I want it to be a surprise" Enid said.

"I really don't mind either way" Carl said, "I just want to be prepared".

Rick nodded his head. "Same with your mom and I, we don't know what the baby is either".

"But this is cool though" Enid said "I'm actually happy. If anyone knows what I'm going through right now Michonne does. We can be preggie buddies. And boy do I have questions for you. It seems there's something new going on with my body every day."

"I'm no expert, but I can certainly help you out" Michonne chuckled holding Enid's hand.

Carl looked down at Joy and Judy. "You guys are gonna be aunties" he said to them, "like auntie Maggie and auntie Carol. And you're gonna be big sisters. Are you happy?"

Judy looked at Carl thoughtfully. "As long as I don't have to change diapers because they stink!".

Joy giggled in response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Carl had to leave the house early to train three new members of the road patrol team. He was going to assess how well they handled themselves around walkers, and how thoroughly they did sweeps, before they were allowed to patrol unsupervised.

He woke up just as the sun was rising, got dressed, and kissed a sleeping Enid on the head, waking her up.

"Hey baby, I'm leaving now."

Enid groaned, obviously not happy about the early start to her day.

"When will you be back?" She mumbled, her face buried in the pillows.

"Late afternoon" Carl replied, moving some strands of hair from her face. She rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, putting both hands on Carl's face.

"Love you, stay safe" she said, kissing his lips. Carl then moved down to her bare pregnant belly.

"Bye Carl Jr." He said to her belly while still looking up at her "daddy will be right back".

Enid chuckled, "it's probably a girl anyway". "You think?" Carl asked. "Well, bye Carla" Carl said, winking at a laughing Enid as he left.

He walked into the living room where his family was sleeping. Rick, who was a light sleeper, immediately opened his eyes from his spot on the floor directly under Michonne who was sleeping curled up on the couch. Joy and Judy laid curled up next to Rick on the floor, Judy's arm laying across his neck, and Joy's leg resting on his belly. Both of his sisters were wild sleepers.

Rick gave Carl a nod, untangled himself from his sleeping daughters, and got up to walk Carl outside. When they got outside on the porch Rick turned to Carl and smiled.

"So, you ready for this?" Rick asked. Carl smiled and ran his hands through his hair just like Rick usually did. "Yea. I want this, but..." Carl paused and sighed. "Dad. Can I ask you something?"

"Yea son, what is it?"

"When mom was pregnant with me, were you scared? Like really really scared?"

Rick laughed. "Yes son, I was so scared. After your mama told me, I went to the bathroom and threw up. And that was before all of... this..."

Carl laughed at that. "Gross... But I'm really scared too. I want this baby, that's not what I'm scared about. It's just... things can change so fast. What if we're attacked? What if there's another herd, or something worse? And..." Carl looked away for a moment to gather himself. "I'm worried about Enid and Michonne giving birth. I always think back to mom... It's dangerous and I can't lose either of them. Or both of them... Even with Joy being born face up, it could have been worse, it could've been something we can't fix."

Rick nodded his head. "When Michonne was pregnant with Joy I thought the same thing, felt the same thing. She was pregnant when Negan was holding her prisoner, and we didn't even know. I thought about what could have happened to her, to Joy, when that guard attacked her. I thought about your mom and how her death almost destroyed me. I was terrified Carl, but I loved Michonne, and I loved the baby, and that was all I could cling to. Things are good now, but we're always a target, there's always a threat. And I realized you have to live life in spite of all that or life isn't worth living."

Carl nodded as he looked at the rapidly rising sun. "Thanks dad".

"No problem Carl. And it will be ok, you have Enid, you have Maggie and Glenn, and you have us." Rick said, patting him on the shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Carl and the three recruits had been out all morning, patrolling the roads for walkers and clearing houses and buildings that hadn't been cleared yet.

Carl excused himself from the group to relieve himself in the woods. As he walked past a house he thought he heard shuffling, as if someone was moving quickly inside. Carl froze for a moment, thinking it may be a walker, but what he heard sounded too quick to be a walking corpse. He immediately pulled his gun and snuck around to the front of the house. He listened again for any sounds but heard nothing.

Maybe I imagined it. Or it's an animal.

Carl was still doubting that he'd heard anything when he heard a sniffling sound as if someone was crying. The sound was high pitched, almost as if a child were crying.

He knocked on the front door of the house and the sound immediately stopped. Carl, not one to let his guard down for a moment, quickly called to the rest of the group and they came over.

"I heard someone crying in here, we have to check it out" he said. They nodded and pulled out their weapons ready to give him backup.

Carl knocked on the door again to see if anyone would answer, but there was silence. He cautiously turned the knob and opened the door with a loud creak. The dilapidated living room was full of dust and debris and seemed pretty much uninhabited. Carl entered the room with his gun up and did a quick sweep with his eyes seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He walked down the hallway into the kitchen and saw that it had obviously been ransacked long ago. All of the cabinets were empty and hanging open. He turned to go back towards the living room when he spotted a closet that he hadn't noticed before. He slowly slid the closet door back, not knowing what to expect, when he saw a walker crouched in the corner of the closet.

Carl leaped backwards in surprise, seconds away from shooting the walker in the head when he realized the walker wasn't coming after him. It was small, child sized, and it's skin had large chunks of various skin colors as if it's skin had been sewn together. It smelled horribly as any walker would, but Carl froze when he saw its eyes. It's eyes were human, almost as if it were still alive. The eyes were wide and staring at Carl in fear and it unnerved him. He took two more steps back and called the rest of the crew over. They seemed confused about why Carl had called them over to see a walker, but as they looked at the small hunched figure in the closet they all realized it was alive.

"Shit! Is that a kid?" One of them asked.

"No way, it looks creepy. Is it wearing... Skin? That's some horror movie shit."

Carl couldn't take his eyes off of the terrified eyes in front of him. He lowered his gun and reached out a hand to the small figure before him. It was obvious it was a child covered in some sort of walker skinned mask.

"My name is Carl. What's yours?" He asked.

The figure didn't move, but it's eyes flicked from his hand to his face and back again.

"We won't hurt you" Carl said. "Are you alone?"

Once again there was no response. Carl moved a little closer and the figure shrank back into the closet shaking. Carl turned his head to tell the rest of his group to step back when a quick movement made him turn his attention back to the child who had quickly pulled a knife and had it pointed at Carl's face.
"Whoa, whoa" Carl said, withdrawing his hand. "I won't hurt you, we're trying to help. Are you hungry?" He asked.

The child's eyes looked at Carl and then at the people behind him.

"Take a step back" Carl ordered, and his crew reluctantly moved. "I have food in my bag" Carl explained. "I'm going to reach in and give you an apple ok?". The child didn't answer but watched Carl's bag closely, the hand holding the knife lowered slightly.

Carl reached in the bag and pulled out a red apple, offering it to the child. The child watched the apple for a few seconds and then quickly snatched it from Carl, but it didn't eat.

"We have a place where you'll be safe. Do you want to come with us?" Carl asked.

The child still didn't speak, but lowered its knife a little more. "C'mon, it's ok". Carl said, offering his hand again.

The child still held its knife but lowered it completely and looked at the apple longingly. It then took a bite, and Carl got the message that the child hadn't eaten in a while. It quickly devoured the apple and then looked back to Carl.

"C'mon, I have more at home" Carl said, and finally the child reached out its hand and held Carl's. Carl led the child out of the closet and was shocked by how much the child looked like a walker.

It was wearing tattered clothing dotted with walker blood stains and covered in holes. The child seemed extremely thin and weak, and it's face was covered by a creepy mask of walker skin with holes cut out for the eyes, mouth, and nose.

The other members of Carl's group gasped at the sight as Carl led the child out of the house. "Can I take your mask off?" Carl asked. The child didn't speak but its grip on Carl's hand tightened and Carl figured that was a no. "Ok" Carl said. He led the child to the group's pickup truck and said "here you go, just climb in". Carl looked down at the child and caught it's eyes rolling up in its head before it crashed to the ground with a thud.