AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you for reading and thank you to kathymoonstone, Guest and Celeste Belle for taking a moment to review. This chapter is for you guys who have patiently waited - lots of drama and bad language - enjoy!

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

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

You, Me, We are Family

Chapter 14

Gloria hovers by the door wishing they could have gone to the nice little restaurant down by the pretty gardens instead of Jim's busy diner. The last time she stepped foot into the diner, Carl had disregarded her authority and Rick had turned the tables on her and humiliated her in front of not only the regulars and waiting staff but The Mayor. She could still feel the humiliation and embarrassment coursing through her body, the heat rising to her face thinking about the incident. From behind her shades, her eyes scan the room and as soon as she caught sight of The Mayor sitting with her husband, she grabs Lori by the elbow and pulls her away.

"Mom?!" Lori complains as she's being dragged back and shoved behind the large pot plant "What on earth is wrong with you?" she asks peeling Gloria's manicured fingers off of her arm and massaging the wounded area "Seriously!" She frowns seeing the beginning of the red marks.

"Deanna Monroe and her husband!" Gloria snaps glaring at Lori "I cannot face Deanna, I absolutely cannot – the humiliation!" She throws her hands up into the air and takes off towards the bar needing something strong to calm her nerves, a cup of tea wasn't going to do it.

Lori oblivious to the reason why her mom was behaving so oddly and running away from the woman who she's been trying to impress for years, follows her to the bar with no objection. She could do with a glass of wine, the vodka she snuck into her coffee this morning was just about wearing off. She practically had to pull Carl out of bed, get him dressed and drive him to school which had been a mammoth task, she needed the pick-me-up because to top it all, she was pulled aside by the Vice Principle and received a lecture that the school prides their students to be punctual and looking smart. Carl's hair was too long and shaggy and his blazer had a big tear up one side - he was letting his fellow peers down and more importantly the school. So now she has to try and get him to the hairdressers and get him to the uniform shop to be measured up for a new blazer - the list just went on and on. Carl was really testing her patience and when she tries to be cool and understanding like Beth and go with the zen-like flow - all she gets in return is Carl giving her a tiresome and fatal look that matches Rick's.

"Grrrrrrrrrr!" Lori growls as she walks thinking the afternoon couldn't get any worse than the morning she's already had.

She slows her pace when she hears a singing voice "enjoy your romantic lunch!" and sees Amy waving off a patrol car which she recognised to be Rick's. She narrows her eyes and when she hears "Give my love to Beth!" and sees Rick's smiling face.

Her insides twist to the point she wanted to scream not believing he was going home to spend his lunch hour with Beth! In all the years they were married, Rick never took lunch home for her, he always ate lunch with Shane either in the diner or in their patrol car. She looks around for Shane, he was always attached to Rick's ass and now, he's nowhere to be seen and that just pisses her off to the max. She storms into the bar and snaps to the bartender for a vodka double and a bottle of their most expensive bottle of wine.

Gloria was already wallowing in her glass of sherry when Lori slips into the seat opposite her in a foul temper at Rick's deliberate betrayal. She couldn't walk around town without hearing the banter between men of how Rick had hit the jackpot catching a gorgeous girl like Beth but what stung her the most was the whispers between the women of how Rick had moved on, how he had found true happiness and that they'd never seen him so happy and smitten. All she could think about was the past - they had happiness, they were the sweetheart couple that everyone admired and talked about, she didn't want Rick to move on from her and forget her.

Beth lays on her back like a starfish, staring up at the cracked ceiling.

She had decided to finally put on the Yoga DVD she purchased at one of her antenatal classes the women had raved about. As well as doing her everyday exercises, she was told she should include a little bit of yoga to help relax and control her body, get it strong, flexible and toned in preparation for labour, birth and the "aftermath" as one of the veteran mom's had put it. She wished she hadn't shoved the DVD into the drawer as soon as she got home and forgotten about it until this morning when she stumbled across it whilst rooting around for paper. She couldn't really do any of the advanced poses and positions for her stage in pregnancy apart from the easy ones. She hadn't practiced and sculptured her body to automatically slip into the positions, her belly just got in the way, she didn't know how the lady on the screen was doing it. She realised just how unprepared she was. Frustrated with herself and not knowing what else to do now that she was on the floor and unable to get up, she flaps her arms and legs up and down making angel wing imprints on the hairy rug – it was actually rather therapeutic. Snowbell perched on top of her chest meows spurring her on.

"Thanks Snowy!" Beth puffs quickening her speed "I can always rely on you!" she says blowing him a kiss.

Beth heard the front door open, she pauses confused but Snowbell jumps down and runs into the hallway before she can catch him to investigate. When she hears Rick's familiar greeting to Snowbell and the little purrs in reply, she relaxes back into the hairy rug. She listens to Rick telling Snowbell he was doing a great job keeping an eye on the everything whilst he wasn't there. She smiles. Rick and Snowbell didn't have the best relationship when the kitten ventured into Rick's kitchen that evening ruining the romantic meal Rick had cooked to woo her. How things had changed she thought - she knew Rick loved Snowbell more than he ever let on and she thought that was really endearing.

She hears Rick's footsteps approaching above her head and before she can grab the DVD case and hide it, Rick had already swiped it off the couch.

"Damn it!" She whispers staring up at Rick in his uniform wondering what he was doing home at this time of the day, maybe he forgot something. She looks at his wrist watch which tells her it had just gone noon.

"Yoga Bellies," Rick reads as his eyes take in the pregnant model crouched down, propped up on one foot in a Buddha pose whilst her other leg is resting across over her thigh with her foot pointing up into the air. That had to be painful he thought or photo-shopped.

She watches Rick's face and it was a blank-canvas, it was the trick of his trade face and she wanted to throttle him but she couldn't move.

"It's meant to calm your mind and body and soul," She burst out impatiently as Rick continues to stare at the case in his hand and not voice a word of his opinion.

Rick's eyes move down to look at Beth, she watches him do so and throws him a questioning look.

"…Sequences for both Beginners and Advanced Yogi's," his lips curl up at one side "Yogi's?"

Beth swings a cushion up, aiming it at Rick's amused face before it broke into a laugh. She changed her mind, she didn't want to know what he was thinking, he was making fun out of her.

"Aww, c'mon now Beth, I didn't mean to upset you!" He says dropping the case as he catches the cushion and tosses it back onto the floor, Snowbell was on the tassels and dragging it off under the armchair.

When Beth just scowls up at Rick, he holds his hips and cocks his head staring back at her. Unlike Beth's severe look, his was apologetic and seeking forgiveness for the insensitivity on his part that upset her. When Beth sees the softness of Rick's features, she flops back with a sigh. He wasn't poking fun at her – he was just trying to make her smile and laugh at being referred to as a Yogi. She had thought the play of word to the title of the DVD was funny, and remembered she had said she felt like a Yogi Bear a couple of nights back and Rick had notably remembered - she was being such a hormonal nightmare and Rick was getting the brunt of it. She wouldn't blame him this time if he turned around and thundered out the driveway in his car.

"I'm sorry!" She mumbles into her hands.

"Beth, what's wrong?"

Hearing Rick's concerned voice, that was all it took for her floodgates to burst open.

"My bodies malfunctioning! if I can't do five minutes of this stupid Yoga DVD without hurtin' – how on earth am I goin' to push out a baby which is goin' to hurt so much more!" Beth blubbers "What if I can't do it! what if the baby gets stuck or hurt in the process because of me, because I'm not prepared – there's so much to think about, so many risks and complications and it all depends on ME to be prepared when the time comes, I've had months to prepare and I'm just a massive big lump of a marshmallow!"

Rick steps forward seeing Beth struggling with her emotions, her eyes breaming with tears when she uncovers them. She's been having a fair amount of emotional outbursts in the past few weeks and rightly so, it had all been building up and it was only a matter of time until it all came out - she was entitled to let off steam and she was entitled to vent them out on him because he hadn't been the supportive partner like he should have been. He wished he could exchange places with her at that precise moment but before he says so, he holds back knowing Beth wouldn't appreciate the sentiment – he'd seen many men say such things to their wives during pregnancy and labour and it wasn't what they wanted to hear because it would never happen. The wrong word, he could make matters so much worse and a hormonal pregnant woman was the last person to piss off especially the sweetest ones he'd learnt.

"I'm not prepared! I thought I was on top of it all but this proves I'm not!" She cries grabbing the DVD case and flinging it across the room, Rick ducks avoiding it smashing into his face - it hits the wall and crashes down onto the ground taking down a big clunk of crumbling plaster with it. Beth sees the mess and cries so more.

Snowbell meows watching from the safety of under the armchair behind the cushion, watching Beth on the floor and looking over to Rick to do something, his mama was uncharacteristically out of character – he begins to whine and Rick shushes him.

Rick steps cautiously, there was a glass bowl on the floor filled with strawberries and cream within Beth's reach. He only had one clean uniform, he was wearing it - the rest were at the drycleaners.

"…what if he or she doesn't make it?" Beth asks Rick in a serious tone and he freezes on the spot.

Beth's sudden silence, her eyes searching his with her question up in the air sends a cold shiver down the back of his spine, the thought of that happening would paralyse Beth and him along with her. With tears spilling out of her eyes, Beth covers her face with her arm and turns onto her side and lets out little whimpering cries.

Rick unclips his gun belt and drops it onto the couch. He lowers himself down behind Beth watching her body curling up into a ball. He rubs her back, her shoulders and her arm trying to give her some comfort but it only makes matters worse. He pulls her hair out of her face and when he can no longer stand anymore and not bothered if Beth punches and pushes him away, he slips right down behind her and wraps his body around hers. He holds her close against his chest and just locks her up within his arms pressing his lips to her face, whispering loving words into her ears and wishing all the negativities and worries away.

Between Lori and Gloria, they'd drunk an entire bottle, Lori majority of it and she'd now moved onto little shots and whiskey.

"Darling, maybe you should call it a day?" Gloria wrinkles her nose watching Lori accepting another whiskey, she never liked the stronger stuff whereas her husband and Lori enjoyed a glass or two when they went out to dinner "Please can you bring me a glass of water and the bill." She tells the bartender.

When he returns, he places the glass of water in front of Gloria and the bill beside it. As Gloria pulls out her purse, Lori stops her and waves her card to the bartender looking at her mom "This is on Rick!" She announces handing her card over "The courts said so!" she smirks punching her pin-number into the machine "If Beth can have romantic lunches with my husband, then I can have these expensive liquid lunches with my mom!" She says slumping back and taking a generous sip from her glass.

The bartender just gives Lori a pitying smile handing her the receipt and moving onto the next table. He hears the regulars discussing every topic under the sun. The men didn't hold back in graphics and opinions and the women weren't any better. Rick was idolised, the golden boy who got handed a crappy hand to begin with, stroke it lucky the second time around. And the former Mrs Grimes who had it all, lost it all - her self-made misfortunes were still hot topics to this day and not just in the bar.

Gloria closes her eyes and drops her head forward into her hands, she massages her forehead feeling a headache coming on, she wasn't used to drinking more than a glass in the afternoon and she was ready to go home and sleep it off "Let me call your father's driver, I can't have people seeing me in this state and the same goes for you, Rick has Carl tonight right?" Gloria asks.

Lori doesn't answer, she sits there thinking what day it is. She completely forgot the schedule and remembers she changed the day Rick had Carl which meant today - she had Carl. She sighs heavily having forgotten and not believing she'd forgotten again. She couldn't call Jenny or Morgan, she called them a couple of days ago and they helped her out. Her mom's sitting in front of her nursing a hangover and her dad was a busy man who had told her to hire a nanny but she couldn't afford one and Rick would never allow one.

She didn't know who else to turn to, she didn't really know any of Carl's new friend's parents to ask them. She couldn't call Rick - since her incident with Beth, she's avoided him as much as possible, plus Shane had warned her it was in her best interest to give Rick breathing space. Rick would never refuse taking Carl but if she calls and asks him to collect Carl and keep him for the night that would be ammunition for him to strike against her that she was incapable of taking care of their son and she needs to win Rick back and it couldn't be like this she tells herself, especially with Beth whispering shit into Rick's ear.

She lets out a puff of air knowing she was stuck. She needed to go get groceries, cook dinner, tidy the house as it was a mess and then pick Carl up from baseball practice, feed him and get him into bed before 8pm without another fight of trying to drag him away from his computer games. Maybe she shouldn't have drunk so much so early she groans staring into the glass not wanting to leave it. Just one more sip and no more, she tells herself as she knocks the rest of the whiskey back and closes her eyes letting it hit the right spot.

"Lori Grimes?

"Yes, I'm Lori Grimes!" Lori answers opening her eyes, looking up from her glass to see young and handsome Spencer Monroe towering over her.

She smirks seeing Spencer smartly dressed in an Armani suit. She loved a man in a suit and seeing the twenty-something-year old staring down at her with that sexy little smile of his sends a strong flutter throughout of her body. The last time she'd been with anyone was Rick and until she got him back, Spencer would do nicely to keep her bed warm. A much younger man in comparison to Rick felt thrilling. If Rick could be a cradle-snatcher and have fun, so could she. With alcohol coursing through her body, she felt brave and confident and she would rather spend some fun time between sheets with Spencer than rushing around like a lunatic for her son who would be ungrateful for her troubles - she could always order takeout for dinner – Carl preferred it anyway.

"Spencer, what can I do for you?" She asks leaning back in her chair confidently allowing him to check her out. She hitches the hem of her dress up slightly so he could take a better look at her legs.

Spencer leans one hand on the table with that sexy little smile allowing his eyes to drift over Lori's body, linger down on her legs for a bit longer than he should and when he looks back up to meet her eyes, he produces a brown envelope "You've been served!" he whispers and lets go, allowing the envelope to drop and hit the table making Lori jump out of the fantasy bubble she was in.

"Enjoy the rest of your day ladies!" He looks between Lori and Gloria, giving them an apologetic smile as he backs away and exits the bar.

Lori and Gloria watch Spencer walking over to the diner meeting Deanna and Reg. They looked so proud of him as he twirls around in his slick new suit - Deanna just pulls her son into a tight hug with Reg joining in.

"Lori?" Gloria calls feeling her whole body tremble remembering Spencer had joined one of the top law firms in the county "What's in the envelope?"

"A Restraining Order!" Lori stutters once she had torn open the envelope and ran her eyes over the official papers.

Gloria takes the papers out of Lori's hands, eyes widening in disbelief as they race across the lines of legal jargon. She looks at Lori and covers her mouth.

Lori snatches the Restraining Order, grabs her purse and thunders out making her way across the street towards her car not caring that the cars on the road have to screech their tyres to stop or swerve to avoid hitting her. She smacks her purse onto the bonnet of a car which blocked her path. "Hey you jerk!" The woman yells out from her car window but Lori ignores her and the beeping of the cars behind her. She gets into her Mercedes- Benz, swings out of her space and puts her foot down on the accelerator towards Rick's house, cursing for people to get out of her way as she goes.

Rick returns to the lounge with a glass of water and stops by the doorway. Beth was still where he had left her, laying on her side on the couch with the pillows he arranged around her. She had tucked a pillow between her legs and one cuddled to her chest. She looked tired and miserable. Snowbell was curled up on top of the headrest watching her.

"We need to keep you hydrated," Rick says making his way over, taking a seat next to Beth's belly and helping her sit up so she can drink.

As Beth sips from the straw from the glass Rick was holding, she watches him wondering whether he thought she was a raving lunatic. He looked miserable and deflated as she felt and it was because of her emotional breakdown. She wasn't sure how much more he would put up with her outbursts and she wasn't sure when these outbursts would stop – they came out of nowhere and she knew she would drive Rick away like Lori had.

Oh my God! She gasps making the comparison, she was on the road of turning into a nutcase like Lori, everyone had said what a horrible tyrant she was to Rick.

"Rick, I'm so sorry!" She says swiftly when she releases the straw "I don't know what came over me, I didn't mean to blow up like that on you, I feel so terrible!" She says sincerely peering up at Rick to see him looking at her "I'm such an emotional mess, you must think I'm a total nutcase and I'm so embarrassed, I'm not normally like this!" She says quietly looking down at the cushion she was hugging, what if she was and she never knew it until now.

Rick places the glass down, leans forward on his elbows shaking his head.

"I was thinkin' I was goin' to have to call Father Gabriel to perform one of those Exorcisms," Rick says dryly looking at her over his shoulder.

Beth slowly looks up at Rick as he continues "your head was spinning around at 100mph," He twirls his finger around in circles "I thought it was goin' to lift off, off of your shoulders!" He says sighing with relief at Beth, all the time she sat there with her mouth falling open, his lips twitch into a smirk giving him the effect he wanted.

"You're…" Beth stammers trying to think of something witty and equally offensive to say back but pouts as nothing comes to her - she chucks her pillow at Rick for teasing her "You're an idiot!"

"It's an improvement from asshole!" Rick replies dodging the pillow and smiling when he uncovers his face to see Beth trying hard not to smile but failing miserably, she was finally laughing.

"You don't need to kiss up!" She sighs taking a deep breath and catching Rick watching her the way he was, he seemed happy and satisfied to see her laughing and not crying she guessed so lets out a puff of air.

"Your allowed to blow up," Rick says scooting up close and propping the pillow behind Beth's head and fluffing it up for her. Unable to resist, he tucks a lose strand of hair behind her ear and lets the curl of his finger gently glide against her earlobe "If you hadn't, I'd have been seriously worried!" he says softly hovering inches away from her face.

Beth nods as she leans into Rick's touch. She missed the way he traced lazy patterns over her face, over her body and the thoughts of what he was actually capable of doing to her sets off nostalgic feelings she had tried to forget but couldn't. He had awakened those feelings without even having to try hard to. It was taking everything she had not to just lean forward and press her lips to his and let him take care of her like she knew he could.

"You're under so much stress and I've contributed hugely to it!" Rick reminds Beth, sorrow evident in his voice admitting one of the major factors of her fragile state of mind was his lack of involvement and enthusiasm. "You've a right to be angry and frustrated but not at yourself!" He asserts cupping her right cheek in his hand.

"Rick, please!" Beth says above a whisper when his thumb grazes the delicate part of her neck, she doesn't know what she's asking him to do or not do.

"You've coped with pregnancy on your own and you've got to be pretty strong to be able to do that. I know you can cope with anything that's thrown your way, you've proved it so many times so don't doubt yourself now, your body will know what to do when the time comes, think positive and positive things will happen!" He smiles giving Beth her own words of advice.

Before Beth was pregnant, she was the most positive and happy person he had ever met in his life and wanted to remind her of that fact.

"Yoga, Pilates, Lamaze and Antenatal classes, we'll get advice from the experts, discuss the type of birth suitable for you and the baby, there are far more options nowadays than when Carl was born and if you want a homebirth at the farm, we can discuss that with Rosita and with your folks- their medical experts and Patricia - you said she's delivered more babies than you've met?"

Beth nods, Rick had been listening to her and he wasn't opposing any of it.

Rick places his free hand onto her left cheek, her face now fully cupped into his palms "I promise you Beth, I'll look after you and our baby and whatever you decide, I'll always be there for you both." He promises and all Beth could do was nod, Rick was telling her everything she wanted to hear but this time, she felt he really meant every single word.

Slowly and gradually he kisses Beth on the corner of her lips, her nose, her forehead and pulls her closer until her face was resting against his shirt and she could feel his heart beating against her, his warmth and the familiarity that had been lost, she found it again in Rick's arms and she clings onto him.

Once they'd eaten lunch and Beth had fallen asleep shortly after, Rick slips out of the house and gets into his cruiser realising he was more than a little late. Shane was going to bust his balls the remainder of their shift knowing Beth was the reason why he was late - he had always warned Shane he couldn't use 'comforting a woman' an excuse for being late for shift and here he was with no other excuse but that excuse. He looks at Shane's messages and shakes his head – Shane had already begun by sending him kissy-face emoji's and coded messages he had no clue what Shane was trying to say.

As he backs out his drive, he hears screeching of tyres from a near distance. This was a residential neighbourhood and from his calculations, the vehicle has to be exceeding far greater than the recommended speed limit. The screeching of tyres had now turned into his street, he was about to flip on his lights and siren before backing out to block the driver's path until he sees the familiar white Mercedes-Benz in his wing mirror.

"The hell!" He whispers unbuckling his belt and then he jumps out the car when it strikes him something must have happened to Carl for Lori to be driving so erratically and then stops as Lori gets out her car, leaving the door hanging open and waving papers in the air, yelling and cursing at him.

"Where is that stupid little bitch!" Lori shouts.

"Lori!" Rick hisses between gritted teeth blocking her way now knowing the reason for this unexpected visit, Shane must have got things pushed through quickly - he was glad he stuck around longer than he should have.

"Come out you lying little bitch! How dare you, who do you think you are tryin' to intimidate me!" Lori yells up towards the house and waving the papers "First she steals you, then my son and now my freedom!" she screeches.

"Turn around the way you came Lori!" Rick orders pinching the bridge of his nose, Lori was talking a load of rubbish.

"Isn't it bad enough I have to see her walkin' around broadcastin' that baby-bump tellin' everyone that you're fuckin' her and now I have to catch you sneakin' out your love shack at lunch-time havin' been at it, you tryin' to get her pregnant a second time?!"

"Shut the fuck up Lori!" Rick grabs Lori by the arm and pulls her away from the house, hoping Beth didn't wake up to hear the commotion Lori was making.

"You're not even ashamed are you? What sort of example are you settin' for Carl! She's young enough to be your daughter and your fuckin' her with him in the next room!" Lori looks him up and down in disgust making Rick stop.

"I'm ashamed that I was once married to you!" He answers back with hurt and regret "The only good thing that came out of that shamble of a marriage was Carl, now go before you make matters worse not only for yourself but Carl too!" He says seeing his elderly neighbour stepping out onto the porch with her phone.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, that little whore of yours has got a judge to sign off on a Restraining Order!" Lori spits trying to wriggle out of Rick's hold upset with Rick's hurtful words "Spencer Monroe just handed it to me, your Beth is tryin' to ruin my reputation!"

"You're doin' a damn good job of that yourself, you need to get out of here now!" He orders sternly.

"Rick?" Lori cries trying to wriggle out of his hold "Did you know?"

"Yes Lori I knew and if you read the order - you need to be 400ft away from Beth, so if you don't want to be thrown in jail, I suggest you GO!" Rick warns marching Lori off of his lawn and towards her car.

"Get off of me!" Lori growls shrugging Rick off.

"You knew and you didn't stop her, you didn't stop this!" Lori hits Rick in the chest with the battered papers.

Rick grabs Lori's wrist and steps into her face and glares down into her eyes "You hurt Beth and nearly killed my baby! You think I was goin' to save you?"

Lori stiffens, she's never heard or seen Rick so cold and angry and when she feels his grip tightening around her wrist, she almost lets out a cry.

"Take your Restraining Order and restrain yourself from comin' around here or anywhere near my family otherwise I'm not gonna be able to restrain myself!" Rick warns tightening his grip and scrunches his nose "Have you been drinkin'?" He asks when he finally gets a whiff of the foul scent.

"Ouch, Rick you're hurtin' me!"

Rick pulls her close, his eyes widen in horror for just noticing the odour.

"No!" Lori stutters when she sees Rick's mind going into overdrive and then he looks over at her Mercedes.

"YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING AND DRIVING AND YOU WERE GOING TO PICK UP CARL?!"

"No!" Lori wrenches her hand back and backs away and rushes to her car.

"Lori, switch off the engine and step out of the car!" Rick orders stopping by her door.

Just as he was about to radio in for assistance, Deputies Bassett and Lambert pull up.

Lori was fumbling with her keys as Deputy Lambert stops behind her car crossing his arms and Leon comes to stand next Rick rather twitchingly knowing who was behind the wheel and who was standing right beside him. He looks at Rick hesitantly and when Rick steps back not standing in his way, Leon steps forward with a lurching feeling in his stomach, this was never going to be good - he wished Lambert was running this call and he shouldn't have asked for more responsibility, he was fine being in the shadows.

"We've received multiple complaints of reckless driving matching your description and your vehicle, we've also had reports that you were recently at the bar in town...drinking!" Leon finally looks up at Lori watching her trying to put her car into gear.

"Mrs Gri...Ms Lori, I'm sorry - please step out the car to carry out The Standardized Field Sobriety Test."

Lori argues that she has to go pick Carl up, she doesn't have time for their bullying tactics, this was all Rick's trick to get her into trouble. Leon repeats for her to get out before he has to assist her out and that's when Rick opens the door and grabs Lori out kicking and screaming for him to let go, she wasn't going to do their stupid tests.

"If you won't adhere and do the Sobriety Test, turn around and place your hands behind your back – you're under arrest Ms Lori!" Leon states grabbing his cuffs.

Beth opens the front door to see what the commotion was but Rick's elderly neighbour who looks after Snowbell is already over at the door and taking Beth inside. She had heard everything she needed to hear to know Beth was being harassed by Rick's ex-wife and knew Beth didn't need any more stress than she was already under.

Lori had been cuffed and placed into the back of Leon and Lambert's cruiser.

Rick crouches down beside Lori and looks at her not knowing what had happened to her to become so cruel, bitter and twisted, he had tried to make things work but it was never good enough and it had made him doubt himself and nearly ruined him.

Lori looks at him with a frosty glare, he shakes his head. He can see she blames him even after everything she's put them through, herself through and he didn't want that for Carl. Carl would get no stability from Lori and today just proved it.

"Carl's comin' to live with me, you'll be hearin' from my attorneys, I'm filing for full custody and you just made it possible."

Before Lori could find her voice, Rick gets up and shuts the door. He walks away feeling heartbroken and solace at the same time. He looks over at his house and finally feels he and Beth could make a go of it.