AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for reading, the follows and comments.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters

Apologies in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors. Thoughts in Italics


Touched by an Angel

Chapter 3


As Rick steps out the shower, Lori walks in with Judith attached to her hip and hands their toddler over before climbing into the shower herself and closing the door behind her. When he hears the water spraying down and Lori letting out a deep and satisfied moan, he looks back wishing he was back in there with her. Morning showers with Lori used to be his favourite part of his morning routine and the bubble baths he used to gate-crash when she was having a soak before bedtime was another. He inhales and exhales deeply, reminiscing the days when they just couldn't get enough of each other, had plenty of time or made time for one another. He wondered where those days had gone.

And then he remembered, they had Carl and then Judith.

Since Judith came along which wasn't planned, they hadn't really had time to share showers in the mornings or have sex if he was being completely honest. They were always busy or in a rush. Evening times was just as crazy; helping Carl with his homework, getting them both fed, bathed, teeth's brushed and put to bed with a story read to each. It was time consuming.

When they got a little peace in the evenings after tidying up, they collapsed on the couch. He needed to unwind with the remote and sometimes a cold beer on the rougher days. Lori was always tired and dozed off on the couch when the theme tune to the nine o'clock news came on or as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out for the whole night. Taking care of the house and running around after a demanding twelve-year-old and a mischievous two-year-old all day would do that, and that's why he felt guilty whenever he'd wake Lori up for some action between the sheets. No matter how tired he was, he always had a little energy for sex but Lori didn't.

The times when he got in from a late night shift and craved a quickie or just to love on his wife because he missed her, it wasn't worth the hassle because they'd argue about him working too late and missing family time. She'd give him the brush off it was too late and they'd turn their backs angry and upset at one another. But if by miracle he put the moves on and was successful, they'd have to be really quiet because usually Judith's sixth sense sprang to life and her cries would boom out the baby monitor making Lori wiggle and push him off of her half way through chasing his release, leaving him hanging and having to finish the job off himself. They went weeks without doing it and it's coming up to three agonising months now and relieving himself in the shower alone, wasn't fun or healthy. The tension growing between himself and Lori was starting to escalate and the main reason now being Daryl. He was still there and this was putting more strain on their already troubled and turbulent relationship which needed addressing fast. He knew what he needed to do but couldn't bring himself around to doing it. Daryl wasn't just his friend - he was his brother too.

"Urghhh!"

"Dad-ddyyyyy!" Judith screams to finally get his attention.

Rick winces. He sticks his finger into his ear as it rings out. Judith had put her mouth right up into his ear and screamed when he ignored her the first time. She was a demanding little toddler and always got her way just like her mamma.

"What is it princess?" He asks wiggling his finger in his ear, pulling it out with a loud pop.

Distracted and tickled by the noise, Judith forgets what she wanted, starts giggling and makes popping noises with her mouth "Daddy Pop! Daddy Pop! Pop! Pop!"

"Daddy's gonna drop one of these days!" He says, but seeing Judith's eyes sparkling bright and her open mouthed smile revealing a few little gapped teeth - he melts and smacks wet kisses all over her chubby cheeks and neck "But you missy, are worth dropping for…muah…muah!"

"Top it daddy!" She squeals shaking her head and suddenly head-butting him.

"HOLY FUCCCDGEEE!" He yells stepping back and sitting down on the closed lidded toilet when he sees stars and feels the tiled floor moving beneath his feet. The last time he felt a head smash like that against his head was when a convict head-butted him when resisting arrest back in his rookie days – it knocked him for six, he threw up and this didn't feel any different.

"Holy Fuccccdgeee! Holy Fucccdgeee!" Little Judith repeats when Rick comes back around "Holy Fuckadododooooooooooo!" comes out.

Rick's eyes pop out of his sockets as he jumps and covers her little mouth with his hand, muffling the curses when the water pipes groan and rumble notifying him Lori was turning the water off.

Shit! Fuck! Shitty Shit! Fuck! Is all he can think not knowing how to explain this new cuss word coming out of their toddler when Lori hears it.

He doesn't often swear in front of Carl or Judith, sometimes it comes out accidently but rarely, and to top it - that was pure Daryl Dixon coming out of Judith's mouth just then. Everything was Fuckadododoooo when things didn't go Daryl's way. He wouldn't need to explain to Lori, Lori will instantly know who Judith's learnt that word from.

"Shushhhh!" He shakes his head "Your mamma's gonna eff me and Daryl up if you continue to repeat everythang you hear!" He whispers.

"Rick!" Lori calls and he shakes his head at Judith who copies him.

Judith was going through the troublesome two's stage and he swears Carl wasn't this bad at this age. If anything, he was well behaved and a non-cussing toddler who sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star morning, noon and night.

"Yeah?" He answers when the squeak of the door slides open, Lori pops her head out.

"What time are you off tonight?" She asks with wet hair sticking to her face.

"…around seven." He finally answers having to think about it and had to make sure he actually did leave the station on time and not get dragged into helping out and doing overtime. There were other senior deputies around but everyone was guaranteed to turn to him for help and advice because he was too nice to say no.

"Good!" She smiles, sticking her head back into the steam and sliding the door shut.

Rick grabs the door and asks why.

"You're gonna tell Daryl he has to find somewhere to live for the week when my parents arrive, I'm not sendin' them to a hotel for New Years, and especially since you were the one who invited them! And you're the one who let Daryl stay and it's now been six months, so you're the one whose gonna fix this mess especially if you ever want Sheriff Grimes to take a stroll in my garden," She says nodding towards his crotchal region "be here by seven not eleven, entender mi amigo?"

"Lori, don't make me kick a man when he's down, especially when he's a friend!" Rick implores to his wife's heart, it was still in there somewhere he had to believe "He's still heartbroken from losing the love of his life!"

"Huh!" She huffs "that hussy wasn't the love of his life, she was the mistake of his life and I say it was the best thing to have happened to Daryl to be left standin' alone at that altar no matter how hurt and humiliating it must have been. She did him a favour, we're doin' him a favour and you've got to make him realise! He's had enough time to brood and mope but I want my space back, I want our home back, I want us back!?"

Rick stares deep into Lori's unwavering eyes, she was serious and not just about Daryl but about them too.

He sighs nodding his head.

"Alright," he said knowing she wasn't going to back down and she was right. In the process of helping Daryl, he and Lori were becoming distant and if he wasn't careful, they'd be the next to drift apart with Lori being the one walking out on him. "I'll see if he can crash at Shane's and once your folks leave, I'll help Daryl find a place to rent."

Relieved, Lori smiles and cups the side of Rick's cheek and presses a sweet kiss to his lips.

"If Shane gets too much, then he can come back once my parents go home BUT on the understanding he needs to clean himself up and find some place to live!" She asserts "Besides, I think I've found the right girl for him who I reckon could be the one to help him out of this funk he's fallen into!" She grins "Never saw him so smitten over a girl before, not even the woman who shall not be named!"

Rick chuckles thinking of Lord Voldemore from Carl's Harry Potter books. He thinks back and remembering his and Lori's date night, it all comes flooding back to him. He choked on his popcorn watching what had been unfolding before their eyes. Daryl's unpredictable reaction and his behaviour the whole two and half hours they sat in that dimmed out movie theatre. He had concentrated more on Daryl than the actual movie he had been waiting so long to see. Lori had classed Daryl cute and adorable and he wasn't sure cute and adorable fitted the profile of foul mouthed and grumpy Daryl Dixon. But he guessed it only took one special someone to pull away the thick layers and bring out the best from the unlikely.

"The girl that dropped into Daryl's lap?" He asks, his lips creep up at the corners just as Lori's does unable to believe that had happened.

"God works in mysterious ways!" Lori agrees.

"Eya eya o, fuckadododooooooo!"

Rick's smile drops off his face just as quickly as Lori's does. They look down at Judith shaking her hands above her head whilst swaying her body on Rick's hip.

"Fuckadododoooo eya eya ooooo!" She continues singing clapping her hands.

One look at Lori and he knew he was dead man walking.

"I'm onnit!" Rick promises bundling Judith into the crook of his arm and marching into the bedroom asking why, why she wants to get them into trouble the way she does.

"Need to find out who this angel girl is, where she lives and whether she has a boyfriend, Rick can then check to make sure she's not a lunatic!" Lori decides determinedly, making it her mission to get Daryl back into living a life so she and Rick could return to theirs and stop Judith cussing. Ass-kicker was one of Judith's first words that came out of her little innocent mouth when she started talking and Lori knows it's the name Daryl calls Judith since birth when nobody's around.

She sighs pushing the door shut when she can hear Rick saying no sternly to Judith and Judith saying no back.


Rick settles Judith down in her high chair as she sucks on her pacifier. Whilst buckling her in, his eyes move towards the table. He stands to attention looking around the room. He hasn't seen the place so tidy and for a minute he believes Lori's been up all night working. But then he remembers he slipped into bed an hour after she had, she was snoring and only stopped when he cuddled into her back. When he woke this morning, they were in the same position. He runs his finger over the table, not a single speck of dust or crumbs. His attention is diverted when he hears drawers being opened and closed.

He lifts Judith's chair and puts her into the coat-closet, grabs his gun and takes off the safety. Carl had slept over Duane's, Lori was still in the shower and Daryl didn't ever venture into the kitchen in the mornings, he was up and out of the house at the crack of dawn whilst everyone was asleep no matter what the weather was like. He moves slowly missing the creaky floorboard, gun aimed ready as his eyes concentrate heavily towards the kitchen door where the noise was coming from. As his eyes quickly scan around the kitchen, he sees movement coming from the open pantry. When he rounds the corner, he moves in quick.

"The fuck Rick!" Daryl snaps feeling the cold end of Rick's gun pressed into the back of his head.

"Jesus Christ Daryl!" Rick snaps back relieved, pulling the gun away, safety back on and holstering it into his belt. "What are you doin'?"

"Jerkin' myself off!" Daryl turns around holding a bowl with batter mixture and a hand whisk in the other mixing it. "What d'ya think I's doin' dumbass!?" He asks brushing passed Rick and dumping the bowl down on to the counter as he flips over the bacon.

Rick's follows slowly behind and runs his eyes over the breakfast Daryl was making. It was the first time Daryl had taken the initiative to do something like this and it had to be at a time he was going to be kicking him out, why couldn't he have done this before to butter up Lori.

"I'm makin' ya fuckin' waffles and bacon, ya gonna shoot me for makin' ya waffles and bacon, yeah back in the sticks you'd get shot for touchin' another man's bacon - didn't know ya rich people jus' the same!" Daryl shakes his head.

"Alright!" Rick sighs turning around to get Judith out the coat-closet. When he opens the door, Judith uncovers her eyes and yells "Fuckadododoooo…Daraaaaaa!" She squeals seeing Daryl hovering in the background, he throws her a wink as she waves.

"Imma shoot you for that!" Rick frowns over his shoulder at Daryl.

He picks Judith up and carries her and the high chair back to the table. He puts her back in, crouches down to her level so they're eye to eye as he snaps her in and places his arms around her little table so they can talk one on one or more like, I talk and you listen.

"We do not say bad words and we do not repeat anythang that comes out of Daryl's mouth!" He tells Judith sternly "Is that clear young lady?!"

Judith's lips wobble at Rick's severe tone. She hated that. Daddy's severe tone. Her big round blue eyes well up and before Rick can stop them, big fat tears drop out each of her eyes and splash onto her little table followed by sobbing cries up into the ceiling which no doubt, would reach Lori's ears.

"Judy, baby, daddy's sorry!" He cuddles her, rocking her side to side kissing her face.

"Hey, why'd ya make Ass-kicker cry!" Daryl snatches Judith into his arms and shoves Rick out the way.

"The big bad wolf scare ya Juju?" He coos as he pats Judith's back shushing her whilst he bops her up and down.

"Bad Daddy!" Daryl scolds Rick with the spatula covered in bacon grease. "C'mon half-pint, let's go fry some of daddy's cuckadododoooos!"

Lori makes it down the stairs to stand beside Rick to see the place looking the cleanest it's been in, she can't even remember, turns to Rick overwhelmed with emotions and covering her mouth.

"Rick, when did you do all this?" She asks.

Rick shakes his head gesturing towards the kitchen "It was-"

"He was attit when I got in passed midnight!" Daryl cuts in appearing with a mug of coffee and Judith following closely behind chewing on a tiny waffle "Cheers for the waffle and bacon!" He smirks biting into Rick's bacon.

"Num, num, num!" Judith mumbles sucking her waffle.

"Rick!" Lori gushes, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She kisses him hard on the lips.

"I'm sorry!" She says sincerely, "I know I can be a bitch sometimes,"

Rick raises his brow at the sometimes.

"Ok, most times!" She swats Rick's back trying not to smile but fails. "Baby, thank you for puttin' up with me, I'm gonna try harder." She promises.

From the corner of Rick's eyes, he sees Daryl grabbing his backpack and opening the front door. When he meets Daryl eyes hidden beneath his shaggy bangs, he nods a thanks and Daryl throws him a crooked smile in reply.

"I'm gonna try harder too!" Rick says embracing Lori, running a hand up and down her back.

Not only was he going to make more of an effort at home and be a better husband to Lori, he was going to help Lori find the girl from the Movie Theatre. Daryl deserved a nice girl and The Angel as they were referring to girl as, was who Daryl needed in his life. Daryl didn't smile or get flushed face at anybody unless he really meant it.

Daryl looks back at The Grimes' house and knows he needs to get his shit together. Rick and Lori have been good to him and he was starting to get under their feet, he could sense the strain in their relationship and it was time to move on. He knew this was his only way of trying to get them back to how they once were. Rick's the closest thing to family he's got and Lori too plus the kids who he wasn't ashamed to admit, he loved them unconditionally. He had a soft spot for Little Ass-kicker. Shane had agreed to let out one of his spare rooms and didn't care how long he needed it. The rent was fair and he had plans to save as much money as he could so one day, he can look up at a house like this and be proud of it.

Rosita was gone, she's in the past and he was determined to start afresh with his future.

He pulls out the empty foiled wrapper and thinks about the girl who he shared his Beef Jerky with. He didn't mind that she stamped on his feet, fell into his lap, rubbed shoulders with him and hogged the elbow space on the armrest between them. He liked that when she laughed, she laughed into his arm and hide behind it when she got scared. He doesn't mind the Movies, he'd go again so long as she was there.

Kick starting his engine, he puts his helmet on and tucks the wrapper securely into his chest pocket and sets off towards town. He wondered where she came from and whether he'd see her again. The thought makes his heat beat just that little bit faster and when the bitter cold air hits his face, he doesn't frown or cuss – he just smiles.


A/N – The fun begins J