Rick stretched his legs as best he could in the cramped space and let himself indulge in a lazy yawn. His eyes blinked open slowly to see Michonne smiling over at him as she knelt down to take Judith from Carl's arms. His son stirred, but when he saw who it was, he quickly settled back to sleep. Michonne put one finger to her mouth and then nodded her head toward the kitchen. Rick smiled back and gave her a nod of his own.
He took his time getting up after she left. Just enjoyed the sight of his family sprawled all over each other and tucked in tightly in the living room of the house. Only a few of them were blood, but they were all family. Some had been family since Atlanta and some since just before they left Georgia. But family all the same. His brothers and sisters, sons and daughters.
As Rick stood, he turned to glance at the man on watch. He stood leaning against the door, one finger in the blinds to tip them toward him just enough that he could see out. Paranoia from a difficult life on the road for the last two years made it hard to trust the safety of Alexandria too easily, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. It was just difficult to break habits. The man realized he was being looked to and glanced Rick's way. He smirked and shook his head before returning his attention where it needed to be. Rick was nodding even as he turned to head to the kitchen. Merle was their best watchman. His sniper training in the army combined with Daryl's influence had made sure of that.
He had to step over several people, but he got there. Tired. Mind fuzzy. But there. Enough to smile at his daughter's happy burble as Michonne held the bottle to her mouth. Rick watched the two in comfortable silence for a while until something needled the back of his mind enough for him to sigh.
"I know that look," she murmured, one eyebrow raised. "What's on your mind?"
Rick shook his head, then straightened up with another stretch before leaning himself against a wall. His eyes went over the people crowded in the living room. The events of the last two years were fuzzy in his mind for some reason and he felt like he was fighting to see through a fog. It was probably exhaustion. He shrugged, "Just trying to remember how we got here."
Michonne laughed, a sound that accidentally disturbed a few sleepers. Lori was one of them. She went from asleep to alert within moments of realizing her daughter wasn't with her son. Rick caught her eye before she could panic and wake Shane, pointing to the side. Michonne took the hint and moved herself into view, Judith on her hip with the bottle planted firmly in the girl's mouth. Rick saw Lori relax, then she smiled and shifted so she could cuddle up to Shane more comfortably.
The sight no longer caused Rick pain. Hadn't for a long time and while he used to be able to pinpoint why, for some reason his head was feeling hazy that morning and he couldn't quite think of the moment anymore. There had been one, though.
"Guess it doesn't matter," he muttered to himself, fighting another yawn.
"It does," Michonne murmured, keeping her voice low. She tilted her head as his eyes met hers. "It does matter how we got here." She paused as she realized his mind was elsewhere, just to give him time to get back on the same page. "We got here together."
AN: The end.
I like this story and am planning to do a squeal (of sorts) that goes into the changes to their lives after they made it back to camp with Morgan and Duane and use their knowledge of what's to come to make things go their way. But for now, this is finished.
Thank you for reading.