Two weeks ave passed. The Pharoahs thanks to the leadership and cooperation of stoic but approachable Bigelow, the surprisingly affable Achilles, the charismatic and pragmatic Jagadamba and the duplicitous pleasantries of Priyanka had fallen in and gotten along famously with Alexandrians. Of, course there were those who did not trust them such as Daryl, Sasha, Rosita. Also, Carol to certain extent.
She and Jagadamba had an exchange on the latter's second day there. She recognized her and remembered how much Sophia used to love that show and how they would watch it together.
"You haven't changed that much. My Sophia had always wanted to meet you. I am so dreadfully sorry about your son," Carol whispered.
The girl let stray tears fall. Something about Carol touched her.
She heard the past tense about Carol's daughter.
"I am so sorry, too," she looked down and wiped her eyes out smearing her mascara.
"Oh, come here," she hugged the girl who proceeded to weep uncontrollably. She couldn't help it. Carol cried, too.
"You smell like my Momma and feel like her, too," she sniffled with her eyes closed for a minute there pretended she was in fact hugging her mother.
They separated after a minute or two.
"Oh, look at her. She is precious. My name is Carol. What is your name?"
"Carly-Jayne. I like your hair," she said.
"Thank you. What a nice name. I like your hair, too. You are so very blonde. She is downright towheaded. My Sophia was a dirty blonde."
"Her being so damn blonde means she is going to get away with murder. But, on the same token, it also increases her chances of being murdered. So many people have a hate on for blondes," she with her hands in her daughter's curls and waves.
"I got to give you credit. You sure know how to throw a dead cat in a party room," Carol said.
"I am half Indian, it is what we do. Always realistic."
Carol turned her attention back to the toddler, "What's in your hand?"
"My dolphin Joey. . ."
And Carol could relate to her being an abused wife and a mourning mother. She also knew being abused at such a young age and for so long either made her sympathetic to the plight of others or raging sociopathic bully. She had not decided which yet.
Back to now.
As for Rick, he had his misgivings but largely ignored them because one- he helped raise Jagadamba, so he knew if there was a problem in her group it wouldn't be from her or Achilles for that matter.
His radar gun pinged at Priyanka. Particularly for the way she disregarded Michonne and especially for her poor behavior at Mohinder's funeral.
It took place their tenth day there. It was close to dusk. It took Michonne, Carol, Bigelow and Rick to talk her finally into laying her son to rest.
Boyardee kept the portable kennel covered with a blanket. She had cut a hole in it to put the handle through. She laid it down in front of Jagadamba who was standing near the open grave. She was trying very hard not to be emotional about it because she knew her little boy had been dead a better part of a year. It was not going so well.
Boyardee had the foresight to put him in the kennel backwards so when she pulled him out, he would not bite her. And it would be easier to put him down if she did not see his face.
The weapon of choice was a nail file Tomeka had sharpened to a fine point. Her little brother was an infant and it would not take much to dispatch him in addition to the fact his mother would not want to use a big cumbersome blade on her baby. She knew Jagadamba could not, would not be able to go through with it with that. Nor would she be able to witness it.
She looked down at the reanimated shell of her son. She had the nail file in hand and had the weapon poised to do it.
She pierced him a little and dark green ooze that used to be blood seeped out.
She gasped loudly and she dropped the weapon.
She put her hand over her own mouth to try and mask her lamentations. It was no go. She turned to clearly be comforted by someone. Achilles and Carl were standing side by side. Both had their arms open to her. She chose Carl of course.
Her selection smarted Achilles' ego but it only did for moment. Especially once he heard her ask Carl this, "Will you do it? I don't think I can."
He took a deep breath and whispered, "I don't want you hating me forever. This is something only you can do. You love him, you should be the one to do it."
She looked up at him frowning and pouting.
"I won't be mad at you. You'd be my hero, really. Aegis, remember?"
"The first time you get angry with me," he widened his eye and gave her a come on now look.
"I hate the fact you know me. Okay. I will try again. Will you hold my other hand though? It will help, I think."
"Okay," he took her by the right hand. She was left handed.
She knelt down beside her son who was struggling to turn himself around.
As she readied herself, Tomeka exclaimed, "Wait."
"Why?" Carl asked.
"He is my brother. I just want to touch him one last time " she pouted.
Jagadamba motioned for her to come near.
She touched his desiccated skin. There was still some hair attached.
"I love you, Mo," she kissed the back of his head. Carl just looked at her. He did not know Tomeka had emotions.
"You okay?" Carl asked.
"You ask stupid questions. If this was Judith, would you be okay? Asshat," she grumbled.
"I did not mean to offend you. I can relate. I thought my sister was dead for months. It feels like shit because you feel like you let them down. You are the oldest it is your job to protect them. It hurts like hell when you don't."
"He did not mean anything by it. Don't be so mean about it," Jagadamba added.
"You know nothing, Carl. You got your baby back. I helped pull him out. Seeing him like this," she began to cry.
"So did I. I cut my mom open and pulled her out. Had to shoot my mom afterwards because she was not going to make it. I took care of when my sister when my dad was too distraught to. So, I know," he refrained from being angry. He was honest.
Tomeka softened and just continued to weep.
"I am so sorry," she sniffled.
"No, I am sorry. You did not let him down. Your father did. That goes for you, too, Jag. This is not your fault."
"Trust me. Once you become a parent, and you love that child. Everything that goes wrong with your child feels like your fault. It just does," she sighed.
"I can imagine," he said.
"No, you can't," she said quietly.
"I finally see what you see in him," Tomeka looked at Carl like she had just met him. She developed a new respect for him.
Tomeka got up.
She turned her back to the action but remained in the area. The only space available was the one near Rick. She blushed a little whenever she saw him. She had a crush.
He is such a good man and handsome, too, she thought.
"I am sorry. Anything we can do let us know," Rick said sympathetically to the awkward, skinny tween putting his hand on her shoulder.
She said nothing but nodded.
Michonne was of course on Rick's other side while Achilles and Priyanka were near her. Priyanka let out a loud sigh as if annoyed by her sister's hesitation. Rick and Michonne both made a note of it.
"You can do this. He is already gone. This is not him. You are doing his memory a favor," Carl whispered holding her hand tightly.
"I know. But, he is moving. After I do this, he won't be anymore. Then it will really be real. He is dead. My son is dead," she bawled.
Carl wanted to do it for her but he knew he couldn't.
Holding Carl's hand, Jagadamba picked up the blade and aimed.
She held it there for a couple minutes trembling.
Priyanka grunted and stomped her foot.
"Jagadamba, do the thing like we discussed. This is not healthy for anyone especially you," Priyanka groaned.
Carl turned and rolled his eye at Priyanka. Hell, everyone did.
"She doesn't need you hollering at her. What is your problem?" Carl scoffed at her.
"Carl, she is right. We did talk about it," Jagadamba was such a little sister when it came to her older siblings. This remained true despite her suspicions about Priyanka. They were literally stand-ins for her absentee parents.
She would do whatever they asked most of the time. She loved them and the were all she had left of her life before everything. That is until she came upon Michonne, Rick and Carl. The trio still had not won her complete loyalty yet.
She closed her eyes and drove the blade in wincing as she heard the squelching. When she opened her eyes and realized he was no longer moving, she broke away from Carl and ran to the edge of the cemetery, vomiting, gasping and weeping.
Carl and Achilles both went over to her with the instinct to comfort her. Bigelow, Tomeka and Boyardee knew to let her have her space.
"Don't touch me right now. You do not want me taking this out on either of you," she warned.
They both backed away.
Seizing the opportunity, Priyanka grabbed the white linen blanket her sister had washed and perfumed especially for the burial. She wrapped him up.
Achilles grabbed her arm and asked, "What are you doing?"
She snatched away.
"Getting this over with. There is no need to drag this out any longer than we already have," she said coldly.
Rick interjected, "He is not yours to bury. Stop." Her pregnancy was the only reason he did not pull his weapon. Only why reason any of them did not.
She ignored them and proceeded to place him in the grave. She was about to throw dirt on him when Tomeka not caring about her pregnant status turned around and pushed her down and yelled, "Jagadamba, get your ass over here. Your bitch made sister has lost her fucking mind."
Jagadamba wiped her mouth and stood up.
She immediately saw what her sister had done and became incensed. As was Achilles but not for the same reasons.
He pulled Tomeka by the arm and slammed her to the ground.
Michonne and Carl reacted before anyone else could, "Get your goddamned hands off her." They said in unison to Achilles as they helping her off the ground. They gave her to Boyardee.
Achilles declared, "You do not touch the mother of my child. Ever. I don't care how crazy she is acting."
He cradled his step-sister slash girlfriend slash babymama who was fuming.
Angrier than she had been in awhile, Jagadamba reached into the grave and retrieved her child's corpse. She put him up to her chest one last time.
"You have no right! Don't you ever come near either one my children without my permission. Who the fuck do you think you are, you heartless bitch?"
"I am not heartless. I am always the one who does what no else can."
"Do not flatter yourself. That mantle is mine. Leave," she said.
Then very poorly conveying remorse, she said, "I loved Mo. I did. I miss his beautiful, little face. I-"
"You loved him. Past tense. As in you don't anymore. Well, I do and I always will. And I hope and pray you never, ever know what it feels like to lose your child. If the tables were turned I would not be callous towards you. Leave before I have Bigelow drag you out."
"Are you threatening me? Huh? Are you threatening my baby," Priyanka pushed Achilles away and wobbled up on her own. Her cheese has fallen off its cracker.
"She is not threatening us, Priya. Stop it," Achilles said.
"Yes, she was. You can't be on my side and Jagadamba's side, too. You have to choose, Chill," she said forcing his hand on her stomach as a reminder of she was to him.
Achilles looked genuinely confused like a puppy trying to decide which person he should go home with.
"I will make it easy for you, Achilles," Jagadamba reached into the band of Carl's jeans and snatched his gun. She pointed the weapon at her sister and brother. The gun looked natural in her hands.
"Do you want me to tell you what Cort told me about your involvement in my son's death, Pri-yan-ka? Do you want Achilles to know? Let's see how he drinks your bathwater then," All of her righteous indignation came out.
"Cort was a liar. He couldn't be trusted."
"Oh and you can? You sold me to him. You think he did not bust his ass telling me that first chance he got? What stopped him? His undying love and devotion? I remember overhearing you say to someone, 'It is not like she is a virgin anyway. Like it was my fault I wasn't."
To totally deflect any truth Jagadamba had about her, she decided to break her little sister's confidence.
"It was your fault to a certain extent and you know it. You chose to runaway. You are the one who hitchhiked. Unbecoming for somebody whose supposed to have a one hundred and seventy-five I.Q. A fact that you boast about at least once a week. You told me why as if I had not already figured it. You wanted to return to Georgia. To Atlanta. To that goddamned camp I told you about. You wanted to be with the boy next door," Priyanka pointed at Carl with a snarl and a smirk- snirk.
Jagadamba lowered her weapon as shame and heartbreak fell upon her face for a moment. She then busted out laughing. Taking her sister and almost everyone else by surprise.
"I always suspected that you regarded what happened to me as my fault. How very old world of you. Always blame the female survivor and not the male perpetrator.
Anyway, so what if I did to leave to catch up with him? Not just him though. His mom and Shane, too. They liked me. Hell, loved me even. I wanted to go somewhere I was wanted. You were a total bitch to me. Chill was so busy smelling your farts, he couldn't be bothered with me. Chill has been in love with you since we were children.
And you will never admit it but you intentionally got on the turnpike because you wanted to hurt me. You could not think of better way. Thinking I could trust my sister I told you everything about me and him. You used it against me. Fairly certain in someway I have yet to discover you probably still are because that is who you are. You don't know if you want to control or destroy me or some combo of. I guess the Nazi blood you could got from your dad and all that stuck up Indian caste system bullshit you get from our mom's side has you torn. You spent way more time with the Chowdhurys than I did. Apparently, being fair and half white German is far more acceptable than being dusky and half black American. Think Grammy called me an uppity nigger in Punjabi once. What's so pathetic I look just like that old bitch from the nose down. My eyes are my dad's though. His dad's. Michonne's eyes, Achilles', Carly-Jayne's, Mohinder's, probably your baby's, too."
Annoyed, Priyanka said, "I will give you credit. You give good speech. You probably would probably have an Oscar by now. Our Amma was a racist old cunt and you Anthonys have big, black, beautiful starry skies for eyes. What does this have to do with anything?"
"So, what you said was no great revelation. You did not hurt me. Anybody who heard my story, knows he and I have a history and anyone with half a brain figured out that one. Hell, he came to that conclusion. When?" She turned to ask him.
"About five nights ago when we were in bed," Carl was a completely a matter of fact.
"Dude, really? Your dad and my aunt are standing right there and we are at my son's funeral. They know we are, you know. If they didn't, they do now. That is so embarrassing. Way more than what my cunt of a sister just tried to do. It is called decorum. Speaking of which, Priyanka, I have spent enough time on you. Not everything is about you. Leave or I swear I will shoot you in the shoulder. Pregnant or not, " she raised the gun again.
Priyanka had nothing else to say. She threw her hands up out of disgust as she headed out the cemetery. Achilles remained at least for a minute.
He took up for his woman. Kinda, "I know it was not your fault. It has been a while for her in many respects but she forgets how young twelve was. How young thirteen was. How young sixteen is. How young nineteen really is. We are children compared to her. Stupid ass children. That is how she regards us and knows how to treat us. She-"
Michonne chimed, "Except when she is fucking you of course. I bet she treats you like a man then."
He looked over at his aunt and grimaced.
"Don't be stupid, Chill. You know how vindictive she is. You will never see your baby. Go. I have people to look after me," Jagadamba encouraged.
Achilles grimaced. Before leaving, he told Mohinder bye and patted Mohinder's corpse then ran after Priyanka.
Michonne proudly looked at her niece. Carl was giving her the same glare. Their eyes caught one another's. They both smiled wider in agreement. They understood why all those people followed her so willingly. She was not afraid to stand up to bullies.
They kept on staring even after that moment passed. They were leering now. His hands were in his pockets bringing attention to his lankiness. Her arms were folded making her cleavage spill over a little more than it would naturally. As they looked at one another in a flurry of inappropriate thoughts, Tomeka being at the age where one noticed and was fascinated by everything the older kids and adults were doing and picked up on the duo.
"Hmmph," she said aloud.
This caught Michonne's attention.
"You say something, Tommie?" She asked.
"Nope. Just thinking."
An hour passed.
They buried the boy and followed her aunt and Rick back to her place. Enid was there with Judith, Carly-Jayne, Marco and Ana. She managed to make dinner.
"They had a screaming contest. C.J. won by a mile," Enid said refraining from kissing Carl in front of Jagadamba. It was her night and not Jag's. Jagadamba was truly there to be with Michonne who could relate.
"I bet," Carl said giving his hat to the child.
Drollly, Jagadamba said, "Tell Carl thank you. Don't say mister. Carl is fine. Right, Carl?"
"Yeah. It is fine, Carly-Jayne," he said.
"Okay. Thanks, Carl," she said smiling and hugging his leg.
"Welcome," he leaned down and patted her back.
Jagadamba turned to Enid and said, "Thank you for watching my eldest. And making Mo's tombstone. It is nice as tombstone's . . . go."
"It was no problem," Enid said. She thought welcome would have sounded trite and insensitive.
Jagadamba nodded.
Enid offered her hug and she accepted it.
"I made some saffron rice with peas and onions and some Dinty Moore. It is good," Enid offered her frenemy as they separated.
Clearly, she was not herself. She looked tired and her eyes swollen. Her nose was red. She looked lost.
"I am not hungry. I just wanna lie down and hold C.J. Aunt Michonne, is it okay if she eats in your room, more than likely your bed?" Jagadamba was going to stay in Michonne's old room.
"Sure," she replied hunching.
Carly-Jayne following the conversation declared, "Momma, I don't want to bed. I want to stay down here with Carl and Judy."
That was the first time Jagadamba ever looked at Carl with something close to hatred in her eyes. After all, her daughter chose a basically a stranger over her.
Seeing this, Carl made the three year old and his sister a plate of food apiece. He was not hungry.
He picked up Judith and said, "Come on. Let's all go."
Jagadamba's eyes filled with love again. She smiled as she clutched her daughter's hand.
As they ascended up the steps, a hush went over the kitchen among the adults and they all looked at Enid.
"I don't control him or her," Enid said with her face feeling red.
Ten minutes passed. She undressed into her night clothes in front of him. Jagadamba kissed his cheek and said about her sister's outburst at the funeral, "Thank you for pretending out there."
"No big deal. Bitch had to be put in her place."
"Ooh. You said a bad word," Carly-Jayne interjected with a mouth full of food.
"Do not talk with your mouthful,Ceej. Be an example for Judy," she said.
The almost four year said okay.
Jagadamba turned back to Carl and asked frowning, "Did you have to add the part about us being in bed? Makes me sound whore-y."
"I was claiming you. You see how the other men look at you. We belong to each other," he sunnily said.
"Well, anyway. I am surprised she stooped so low. Today of all days," she plopped herself down on the bed fussingly adjusting the pillow.
"Selfish."
"It is more than that. She hates me. I have known to some extent my whole life, I guess. I just hoped I could convince her otherwise. But, she never made it so apparent and undeniable. She has never spoken to me like that in front of an audience before. I have to embrace the fact. I do not know what hurts more. Her or burying my son. I love them both so much. I don't know what to do," she began to cry again into the pillow.
Carl attempted to comfort her but she shook him off. She did not like being touched when she was angry and hurt. It hurt his feelings.
However, C.J. hugged her Momma and even Judith patted her leg and said, "It is okay. Shh." She didn't reject them. She was adamant about not being unnecessarily mean to children.
Another ten minutes later, ego already bruised, he gathered up enough gumption to ask her in a low, pitiful voice, "Is what she said true? Did you really runaway to find me? Is what happened to you my fault?"
Jagadamba sighed and said, "Do not make this about you, Carl." She lied down and covered her head.
He left her alone and entertained the children while they are eating.
Soon after, he made a quick trip downstairs and made them some Kool-Aid spiked with Benadryl to get the girls to sleep quicker. Carol had taught him that trick.
"They will be out like lights in twenty minutes flat," she said.
As soon as they were sound asleep, he woke up Jagadamba long enough to put her daughter in her arms.
He had Judith in his when she asked in the sweetest timbre of her voice, "Please stay. Enid can have my Monday. I need you."
Smiling from ear to ear, he said, "All right. I just got to give Judy to Dad and change."
"Hurry," she said.
He did just that.
And soon he laid down behind her and put his arm around hours passed before Enid was ready to retire for the evening. She got permission from Rick and Michonne to stay the night with Rick giving the proviso, "For the love of all that is Holy, do not be loud like last time. I know the two of you are active. I get it. I wanted to shoot my gun near my head to bust my eardrums out."
Carl respected Enid enough to tell her what was going on.
"I figured as much, Carl. She buried her baby today. I would be a raging bitch if I objected. It is okay. Tell her she can keep her Monday," Enid felt like she could be a little generous.
Carl had no idea but she and Bigelow had started making out three nights before. Unlike Carl and Jagadamba, they knew discretion was the better part of valor. Plus, it being secret made it more fun.
Still, Enid could not resist the urge to hurt her own feelings and look in on them.
The door was open. Now they were sleeping face to face breathing the same air. Carly-Jayne was in between them on her back and their fingers were laced together on top her tiny belly. Her hands were in top of theirs.
They looked every bit like a family. Enid fought back tears as she turned around and was surprised to see Michonne behind her doing the same.
Compelled by self-pity, Enid said, "She has taken him from us."
"Most definitely," Michonne replied feeling a little resentful against her niece. She did not realize until right then how much she missed having his undivided.
Four hours passed.
Carly-Jayne woke up. She had to pee but was confused as to who she wanted to take her to the bathroom.
She looked at her Momma then she looked at Carl. She did this for two minutes before deciding to shake Carl awake.
"Stop,Ceej," he said softly mostly still sleep.
She shook his shoulder again harder.
"Stop playing, Carly-Jayne. Go back to sleep," he said.
Jagadamba was starting to stir when Carly-Jayne stood up and jumped on Carl's stomach before slamming her thirty pound frame down on him and screeched, "Wake up, Papa, I got to go tinkle."
Both he and Jagadamba sat up. They looked at each other dimly lit darkness.
"Carly-Jayne, what did you just say?" He asked gently as he held her little hands.
"I don't know," she lied hunching her shoulders. She felt embarrassed.
"Carly-Jayne, sweetheart, what did I tell you about fibbing?" Jagadamba asked.
"Only bad people tell lies," she pouted still sitting on Carl.
"Are you a bad person?"
She shook her head no.
"So, what did you say?" Her mother finished.
"I said, I said I had to go tinkle. And I wanted him to take me," like most children being evasive came natural.
"What did you call him, sweetheart? Don't be ashamed. It is okay."
"Papa," she then jumped off him and hid her face in her mother's bosom.
He sat there speechless letting in soak in for a second.
He just called me papa, he thought. And I don't mind. I don't mind it at all. Hell, I kind of like it.
"Why?" Jagadamba inquired.
"Because."
"Carly-Jayne Dalton, because is not an answer."
"It is okay," he finally spoke up.
"Shh. I want to know why. Did someone tell you to say it?" Jagadamba pressed her child gently.
"No one told me. I said it because he is nice to me and he teaches me things and he protects me and he loves you and you love him. Tommie read to me that is what papas do. It made her cry. She said she wishes her papa was like that. I thought about it and I said Carl is like that. She told me I was blesseded then she's told me to go play with Marco and Ana. That is all."
Just as Jagadamba was about to suggest he do it, his intuition told him to scoop her up into his arms, sit her in his lap and say, "I do love your mommy. And because of that I love you, too."
"You do?" She half smiled, half frowned.
"I do. You can call me anything you want. If you want to call me Carl, that is fine. Or if you want to call me Papa or dad or whatever, I am fine with that, too."
Carly-Jayne nodded and hugged his neck ad tightly as she could. She grunted with effort.
Jagadamba looked at them. She was complete awe of Carl. She felt her ovaries bloom like a flower. She began to cry but this time it was happy tears. For the first time in what seemed like forever in her life and by extension the life of daughter everything was going to be something very close to resembling okay. Good, even.
Carl continued ,"Let's get you to the bathroom before you have an accident."
He threw her over his shoulder went for the door.
She listened as their whispered voices trailed off.
She was elated about his relationship with her daughter for a couple seconds anyway.
"What if something bad happens to him? She would be devastated. I would be devastated. Oh, no," she knew Carl was a bit of a thrill seeker. She however actually was not. She rather be safe than reckless.
What she didn't realize as his very thrill seeking nature is what made her so appealing to him. She was very beautiful, not white, had a kid, killed a bunch of people and as far he was concerned out of his league. And of course, she was Michonne's niece.
She was now officially waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Five minutes later, Achilles came to the Grimes' house door hysterically.
Rick heard it. He thought about calling out for Carl to answer but decided against it. So mark his surprise when he saw Carl in the hall standing beside the bathroom door with a huge smile on his face.
"I know you hear that," Rick said.
"Of course. My hearing is better than ever actually," Carl said coolly with his arms crossed.
"Then answer the door."
"I can't. Carly-Jayne is in there. She told me to wait for her. The moment I leave then boom here she comes out terrified. Which makes her mom mad at me. Which means she is not going to want to have s-e-x with me for awhile. See, there is too much at stake here."
"Rick grunted then said, "I can't even get mad at that. Damnit, I understand. There is no agony greater than when a woman you want cutting you off. You never get more hard or horny than when that happens. It is torture."
"You stay awake at night thinking of different ways you can over share, don't you?" Carl smirked.
He chuckled as he ruffled Carl's thick, shoulder length dark chocolate brown hair and went to answer the door.
He ran down the gun in hand, he looked out the window and saw a visibly upset Achilles.
When he opened the door, he blurted something intelligible at Rick.
"Achilles, slow down. What?" He asked feeling very groggy.
"I need Jag. Priya is in labor."
"What do you need Jag for?" Rick sneered.
"Oh, gee. I do not know. She has been studying midwifing for months. Plus, she has had two of them. I need her. I know what Priyanka did earlier was foul. My baby, my baby has not done anything to anybody. Please," Achilles begged.
"It is up to her. I will go get her," Rick sniffed.
During their exchange, Michonne came out the bedroom in time to see Carly-Jayne and hear her say, "Papa, I need you help me up to the sink so I can wash my hands."
Michonne stopped in her tracks long enough for her and Carl to make eye contact. He gave her an awkward but kind of also proud grin.
"It is a long, short story," he said picking her up again.
"Hi, auntie Chonne," Carly-Jayne smiled.
"Hey, baby. Carl, you'll be sure to tell it to me later, right?"
He wanted to be petulant and insulted but decided against it. He had to be a good example. She did call him papa after all.
Regardless, he still managed to roll his eye and said, " I do not think is necessary or your business really but okay. We will talk."
"You will always be my business. Same goes for Jag."
He shook his head and held Carly-Jayne up so she could wash her hands.
Michonne was met with Rick on the middle step.
"What is going on?" Michonne asked.
"Evil-Lyn is labor and needs her sister's help."
"Doesn't just happens that way? You treat someone like shit and naturally you need their help. You stay here. I will get her," Michonne softly kissed his cheek before adding, "Oh and later we need to talk about Carl and Jagadamba. It is getting too serious too fast."
"I think she and he were past that point when they were twelve and I don't think it is our business but okay."
"Carly-Jayne just called him papa," Michonne said.
"Okay. We do need to have a conversation," Rick said.
Michonne gave him a told you so face and made her way to her old bedroom.
There Carl had Carly-Jayne against this chest and he was rocking her asleep while whispering something to her mother.
The teens felt her presence and looked up. They were both frowning.
Jagadamba stood up and asked, "May I speak to you out in the hall?"
"Actually, I need to talk to you."
They went out into the hall.
"Jagadamba, y-"
Before Michonne could get a word out, Jagadamba interrupted, "I am sorry for interrupting you but I know what you are thinking. I put C.J. up to it but I did not. She is an Anthony, we make up our own minds. She decided she wants him to be her papa. She just blurted it out. And if you saw it happen. It literally just happened. Oh, my goodness. He handled so well. He handled it with grace. I feel so much love for him. I know if the day comes and we have one of our own, he is going to love it just as much. So, I am unsad. So, is he and most of all so is my C.J. She was such a sullen little thing until two weeks ago. She actually smiles and giggles. And she is not as rude anymore. Like I said, she is a daddy's girl. She has got one now. So, do not knock it. Please. And don't bring up our ages. It is a moot point."
Michonne sighed. She knew they were all happy and in love. And unrealistic.
So, she asked, "Have you had your first fight? Not some petty argument. I mean you kinda want to straight murder his ass to point where have come up with different scenarios and ways to dispose of his body afterwards. Then you make up and do sexy things to each other neither one of have ever heard of before. You are not really a couple until that happens."
"No. Have you and Rick?"
"No. But, we are beyond that point."
"And you think us young and dumb," she scoffed.
"Anyway, Priyanka's in labor," Michonne hunched.
"Why didn't you lead with that?"
"You took over the conversation."
"Damnit, I knew there was something wrong with her to go off like that. Let him know I am on my way," she was eager to excuse her sister. She did not want to lose her. Michonne followed her niece. She wanted to help no matter how much she disliked Priyanka.
Four hours passed. Achilles had carried her to the infirmary. Priyanka was punking out when it came to pushing.
At one point, Michonne shouted at her, "You are a thirty year old woman. Three times ten. Jag was thirteen the first time she gave birth. That is ten plus three. I was in my early twenties. So, do you mean to tell us we are more woman than you or you going bare down and to do this thing?"
"I am more woman than you two gits put together," Priyanka panted.
"Then prove it and push. What do you want an embossed invitation?" Michonne asked.
An hour later, the baby was born.
Jagadamba looked despondent when she saw what was otherwise a beautiful baby.
"It is a boy," she said in a low whisper.
"A boy?" Priyanka's voice squeaked.
"There is still a fifty/fifty chance he will be fine," she wiped him off and gave him to her sister. She folded her arms and turned her head.
"I wanted a girl," Priyanka puled.
Michonne could not believe what she heard.
"This is your son, woman. He is beautiful. Hold him," she said looking at him.
"No. I wanted a girl. There is something wrong with him. I know it," she said. Priyanka was letting her guilt about her nephew manifest itself into rejection of her child.
"We'll protect him if he is. He has ten fingers and ten toes. Look at his eyes. He has your light green eyes. Maybe only I have the trait. You ever thought of that, sister?" Jagadamba implored.
She turned her back to them.
Denise had been there the whole time in an auxiliary capacity. Babies were not her forte.
"I will get her cleaned up. You guys go," Denise said refraining from looking at or treating Priyanka with the disdain she felt for her.
Both Michonne and Jagadamba were disquieted. Michonne carried her great nephew to her nephew.
"He is beautiful. I prayed he would have her eyes and be able to hear. I know in my heart he is not deaf. I just know it. How is Priyanka? He asked gushing.
Jagadamba was going to tell the truth but Michonne gently grabbed her shoulder and told Achilles, "She is resting. Come back with us."
"I should go to her."
"Let her rest."
He knew something was wrong but let it go. He was too happy about his toffee colored, sandy-haired son to let his temperamental girlfriend bring him down.
Two hours floated by. Most everybody heard about the new baby by now and was making their way over to see him. Achilles had not named him yet.
Jagadamba was wet nursing him while his father held his little hand when Denise swung by.
"He is hungry. Little greedy boy. He is so big. He is going to be tall. I am your aunt Jagadamba. Your cousin, my daughter, Carly-Jayne is still asleep. She is going to love you. I do. It is so nice to be holding a baby," Jagadamba cooed.
"Thank you for doing this. This means the world to me. You are already a better mother to him than his real Momma. You are best kid sister, no fuck that, you are a good woman. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Achilles kissed his sister's forehead.
"She will come around. Just needs rest is all," she said.
Michonne interjected, "He is right. She makes no sense. She should be celebrating this baby. We just buried one no more than twelve hours ago. She needs help. Something is wrong with her wiring."
Overhearing them, Denise said, "I am a psychiatrist by trade. Sounds like basic post partum. I gave her something to knock her out. Maybe I can talk to her. Give her something."
"Really? I would be grateful," he said.
"No problem. You know he is the first baby born in the Alexandrian Safe-Zone," Denise said.
That gave Achilles an idea.
"Dare as in Virginia Dare. She was the first person born in the new world. Dare Anthony, what do you think, auntie?"
"I like it. It is original and easy to spell. It implies I wish a motherfucker would," Michonne laughed.
Achilles laughed with her.
"Dare Mohinder Andre Anthony," he said.
Michonne was touched.
She hugged her nephew.
As they embraced, he said, "She doesn't want him. I know her. She wanted a girl. I told her I did not care what we had as long as it was healthy. Why is she like this?"
"Just focus on him for now," Michonne said.
Dare went to sleep. Jagadamba was grateful. She was hella nauseous.
"I got to go lie down. You know how to burp him, right?" She asked passing her brother his child.
Achilles nodded.
"I am used to babies. I used to watch yours all the time. Go rest. You have been a supertrooper."
Jagadamba dragged herself upstairs. There she saw Carl standing outside her bedroom door.
"Carly-Jayne is getting dressed. I told her I would wait. How you holding up?"
"I am not. My sister is an ungrateful, selfish bitch who loves no one. Not even her new baby. She wouldn't even look at him or hold him. I just breastfeed him. Poor Achilles. He is hiding it but his heart is broken. Mine, too. I would give anything to have my son back. Her rejecting him is adding insult to injury. Oh, God," she put her hand over her mouth and ran to the bathroom.
Carl followed her.
She was bent over the bowl puking her guts out.
He grabbed her hair and comforted her.
He waited five minutes and asked her, "It is okay. What is wrong?"
"Nerves. She rejected her live baby boy. Who the fuck does she think she is? He is alive. His name is Dare Mohinder Andre Anthony," she panted.
"Dare?"
"Like Virginia Dare. He is the first baby born here in the Safe Zone like she was first baby in the new world."
"Oh. Social studies."
She laid her head in his lap and caressed hair.
"Well, I'll be. The floor is heated," she noticed before leaping to vomit again.
"Momma, Momma. Carl. Carl! Where are you guys?" Carly-Jayne screeched.
"Damn, that girl can belt. In the bathroom," he said.
"Good morning. Momma, what is wrong?"
"Momma's a little sick that is all," Jagadamba said resting her head on there toilet.
"Like Miss Maggie?" Jagadamba and Maggie had been spending a lot of time in the garden together.
Carly-Jayne had been around almost every time Maggie got morning sickness. Maggie told her it was because she had a baby in her.
"No. Not like Maggie. Maggie is having a baby. I am not," Jagadamba said.
"Are you sure? I would like a little sister with blue eyes and another little brother like Mo except he can hear so nobody would take him away," she said as if she were at a drive thru.
Jagadamba looked up at Carl and he down at her.
"Your cousin is downstairs," they said in unison.
"The baby. Is it a girl?" She asked excitedly.
"No. Dare is a boy."
"Oh," Carly-Jayne paused, "Can I pretend he is a girl?"
"Sweetie, no," Jagadamba said.
Carly-Jayne harrumphed.
"You can go downstairs on your own?" Carl asked.
Carly-Jayne nodded.
"I am a big girl. I am an older cousin now," with her nose in the air she turned away from them and walked with her hands on her hips.
"Fast ass little girl. She has a waist line. So did I at that age. She is going to develop early like me. I don't want her anything like me."
"You are wonderful. I was always amazed someone like you liked me especially after you became famous. I was a nobody."
"Never to me. To me, you-" she vomited again.
He held her hair as she puked. Then a thought occurred.
It was her fifteenth day there. He did the math. He read every baby book he could get his hands on when Judith was born.
If she got pregnant the first day they had sex, morning sickness was plausible. Yes, they wore condoms every time but those were not foolproof, they had a seven percent fail rate. And knew they both had buzzard luck.
He was around her twenty-four seven even on his days with Enid. So he knew she was not banging anybody but him.
To top things off, everything Carly-Jayne said haunted him. Did this tyke sense something they didn't? Her sibling request was real specific.
"A little sister with blue eyes and another little brother like Mo except he can hear so nobody would take him away," she said.
Clearly, she understood enough about babies and where they came from because she looked right at Carl when she said she wanted a blue eyed sister.
Seeing his girlfriend was weak, he picked her up and carried her back to Michonne's room.
He lied her down and got behind her. He put his arm around her, her stomach in particular. It was so flat. It was hard to imagine it being full to the brim twice let alone a potential third time.
He wondered out loud, "Am I alive in there?"
As he pondered, her hand suddenly clutched his.
"Cort told me before he died , well, before I murdered him. He told me Priyanka was secretly his lover. That she told him she was going to give him a proper son and to murder my defective one. He is one who told me she was pregnant and that it was his. I did not want to believe it. I wrote it off as his last ditch effort to gaslight me.
Maybe he was not lying. Maybe she is that evil. If it is true. She deserves to die. I don't want to kill my sister. I know my mother and Achilles would never forgive me. Hell, I wouldn't forgive myself either. But, that bitch is a threat to everything and everyone I hold dear. You and I are going to watch her. We will clue in Rick, Michonne, Carol and Daryl, too. We'll decide together if she is fit to live," she said resolutely.
"I hope he was lying," he said clutching her stomach.
"Me, too. In the meantime, close the door and take off your clothes. An orgasm or two and nap will make me feel a lot better."
He smiled at her before kissing her and did as she asked. His back was turned and he was about to take off his drawers when he heard her retching in the trashcan. She was butt naked.
"I don't know what's wrong," she said moments later.
"I think I might," he said rubbing her back
She looked at him and shook her head no.
"I think I should take that nap first. We'll come later. Stay with me," she hugged him.
"What else would I do?"
They rubbed their noses together. He picked her up and they went to sleep.