"Nick, wake up. The baby's crying."
There was a tired groan from the man on the bed. "If you get her I'll do absolutely anything you want me to."
"Even clean the bathroom?" Ashley sounded hopeful, even half-asleep.
"Maybe…" Nick was near going back to sleep.
His girlfriend yanked the blanket off him to spur him on. "I absolutely want you to get the baby."
"You're a bitch." he grumbled fondly, reluctantly pushing himself up and off the inviting mattress. The shrill sound of his daughter crying through the baby monitor finally registered.
"Love you, too." muttered Ashley, fading into a gentle snore.
Truly Nick didn't mind getting up to get the baby as much as he made it seem like he did. He flipped on the hall light and pushed open the door to her room, which was just about two feet away from their room. The sound of her wails made him flinch, more out of concern for her than the sound itself. The yellow nightlight next to her crib wasn't really enough, so Nick fumbled around until he located the switch to the lamp.
"Hey, hey, hey." said Nick in the gentle voice reserved for his daughter. "What's a matter, Bug?"
Peering over the bars of the crib Nick found the face that had become very familiar in the two weeks she'd been home with them. Small and currently scrunched in frustration, fists shaking with the power of her cries. Nick shushed her softly and reached in to grab her, easily pressing the tiny warm body to his chest. As soon as her hot cheek hit his neck she started to calm down, comforted by her father's large hands under her diapered butt to hold her and rubbing her back soothingly.
"Did ya have a nightmare, Bug?" he asked as he eased himself into the rocking chair that was a little too effeminate for his taste. Even before they knew the sex Ashley had picked out the grossly frilly thing. He'd accused her of trying to turn their unborn son gay, but now the point was kind of moot.
The calming infant made a soft whimper by his ear, and Nick patted her butt comfortingly. "Yeah, I have those sometimes. You're okay, Bug. I'm here."
There was little likelihood that the baby understood him, but Nick smirked nonetheless when she nuzzled her face into his shoulder and her breathing settled. From what Nick had learned about babies before fatherhood he thought they were supposed to be fussy and hard to satisfy, but in his daughter's case when she was being held she was more often than not content.
"Thanks for not pooping, Bug." chuckled Nick quietly, genuinely happy he didn't have to deal with a diaper change. He'd been covered in puke and blood and pieces of rotten flesh, but somehow her dirty diapers were up there on the list of most disgusting things he'd ever seen.
"You really should call her by her name sometimes." said a yawning voice, and Nick jerked his eyes over to find Ashley grinning from the doorway. Her hair in a messy ponytail and her pajamas rumpled. "She's gonna grow up thinking her name is Bug."
"I like the nickname." Nick defended as his bare feet slowly rocked them in the chair.
"Me, too. But unfortunately it doesn't say Bug on her birth certificate."
Ashley came into the room and went behind the chair to drape an arm over Nick's unoccupied shoulder and gaze at their daughter. Nick snorted quietly, careful not to disturb the nearly sleeping baby. "You call her Bug, too."
"Only because your bad habits rub off on me." she peered around him to smile at her daughter. "Don't be like your dad okay, Emma?"
Emma turned her head and made a high-pitched noise of displeasure at being spoken to. Nick shook with suppressed laughter as Ashley bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Too late. She's already just like me."
"She's only sixteen days old, Nick. She's like a mute old person."
Nick rolled his eyes at the comparison. "I'm telling her you said that when she's older."
"Go ahead." Ashley pressed her cheek to Nick's, grinning a little at the sting of his morning stubble on her own smooth face. She watched as Emma's gray eyes started to shut reluctantly, trying to watch her parents curiously a bit longer before sleep took hold again. Nick kissed Ashley's arm when it moved in front of his face so she could stroke the dark wisps on top of Emma's head.
Ashley laid her hand on Nick's chest and felt his heartbeat, kissing his cheek affectionately. She thought of zombies and knives and fear, and for the first time it was really in the past. Now was the time to move on, and her ticket to a bright future was right there in Nick and Emma.
"We might be the luckiest assholes on the planet." Nick voiced her thoughts, making her laugh.
"Yeah, probably." she thought for a moment. "We're sort of pioneers if you think about it."
Nick nodded, knowing what she meant. "I bet there's a big-ass baby boom in the next ten years."
"I hope Francis and Ro have a baby soon." Ashley beamed against Nick's shoulder. "Francis will look even more out of place holding a tiny baby than you did."
Feeling a little offended, Nick gestured at their sleeping daughter. "Does she look out of place to you?"
"Nope. She looks right at home." Ashley smiled gently when she saw Emma snoozing so peacefully. "I love you, Nick."
"I love you too, Ash." mumbled the man, leaning his head back so he could kiss her jaw. "D'you wanna take her? She's gonna need feeding in like ten minutes."
"Yeah." Ashley replied eagerly. "I need you to make coffee anyway."
Nick scoffed as they switched positions gingerly. "You're very demanding this morning."
"Who makes coffee every other morning?"
Nick rolled his eyes as he walked for the doorway, Ashley now rocking Emma. "Point taken."
"Remember to make me decaf!"
"I don't see the point of drinking it without caffeine." Nick called over his shoulder as he descended the stairs.
Ashley chuckled. "It's the illusion of coffee that counts. Besides, you don't want our child to have stunted growth do you?"
It sounded like Nick muttered something about 'I'll stunt your growth', making Ashley laugh. In the next few minutes the alarm did go off that meant they were supposed to feed Emma, so Ashley lifted her shirt and shifted around until Emma was attached to her properly and suckling. She watched with a slight smile, still kind of unsettled by the sight and sensation, but also it was good bonding with her daughter.
"Doesn't that get cold?" Nick had reappeared in the doorway with two steaming cups of coffee.
She shrugged. "Emma's really warm. I'm used to it, I guess."
"I can't say I'm used to your boobs hanging out all the time." he snickered as he placed her cup on the changing table, which was close enough for her to reach. "Our house is like some kind of National Geographic special."
"You're exaggerating." Ashley pursed her lips so she wouldn't laugh and disturb Emma. "I don't remember any complaints before about my 'boobs' as you so maturely put it. Do they gross you out now or something?" she sounded like she was joking, but really she was a bit self-conscious about all the weird stuff that was happening to her body.
"Not at all. I've never thought about it before, but it's kind of neat that you can feed her that way." Nick studied his daughter enjoying her breakfast and then smirked.
Ashley shook her head and grinned at him. "You're gross, Nick."
"Come on, I didn't mean anything sexual." the con man rolled his eyes at the thought. "I was thinking I'm glad she does that to you and not me."
That nearly sent his girlfriend into a fit of giggles. "We can try and get her to attach to your nipple. See what happens."
"She'll get a mouth full of chest hair and disappointment."
They shared a subdued laugh, at the end of which Emma decided she was finished, detaching herself and relaxing in her mother's arms, kicking her purple fleece-covered feet. Ashley covered herself and yawned, frowning.
"What time is it?"
Nick squinted at the clock on the wall. "Three-thirty. Fuck."
"You need to get back to bed, babe."
"What about you?" Nick resisted a yawn.
Ashley did the same thing, blinking rapidly. "I don't have to be at work in five hours. My appointment isn't until noon."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Get some more sleep, I might come in in a bit." she smiled as Nick kissed her briefly on the lips, then bent down a bit farther to peck Emma on her tiny forehead.
When she was alone with the baby Ashley sighed, knowing she'd be exhausted all morning and Emma was at her most wide-awake in the morning. At least there was a very good possibility she could talk her parents into coming over to baby-sit Emma so she could take a nap.
Then again she valued her quiet time at home with her daughter. She looked out the window at the still-dark sky, just a hint of pink and orange signaling the sunrise. The city would begin to come to life soon, the house across the street would light up and Mr. Tall Neighbor would say goodbye to Mrs. Tall Neighbor and head off to wherever he worked. Ashley made a note to actually get to know their neighbors. Maybe some of them had kids Emma could play with.
So many new things to think about, all of them concerning Emma. Ashley breathed in deeply in relief when she thought that none of those things would be zombies. Emma would grow up safe, blissfully unaware of the carnage the world had been reduced to just a little while before she was born. And that was the way she wanted it, and she was sure Nick did as well.
When she'd been running for her life from a jockey that just wouldn't give up, eyes focused on the safe room that was a hundred feet away, perspiring and sobbing because she knew she was going to die, Ashley had never pictured his life for herself. She'd seen herself dying alone and afraid at the hands of some damn zombie, not managing to live. That was the biggest surprise, and occasionally she would wonder if this was her heaven. Maybe she was dead and she just didn't know it. Well, if she got this that was fine.
"You ever heard the expression too good to be true, Bug?" whispered Ashley, then she shook her head and sunk deeper into the chair. "I really hope I don't wake up in a safe room. I would be pissed."
But Emma turned her head into her mother's chest and sighed, and her breath was too real to be a dream. Ashley started to rock them slowly, thanking whoever was listening for letting her have this. She'd been convinced God couldn't be real with what she'd seen, but seeing this made her wonder. In any case, this was enough divinity for her.
And in the next room Nick thought the same thing before he shut his eyes and slept more deeply than he could remember sleeping since before Z-day.