Okay, so this fic is extremely AU now! While I was editing this chapter, I realised that almost everyone in it is either missing or dead (or in the case of poor little Georgia, non-existent).
Chapter 21.
Andrea had just managed to get Georgia situated and suckling happily when someone knocked at the door.
Rick hesitated, giving her time to cover herself, but with everyone living in such close quarters, she decided that there was no point trying to be modest. Whoever it was was going to see her nursing the baby eventually. They might as well get used to it.
"Come in," she called.
The door opened and Carol walked in. "Good, you're awake," she said when she saw Andrea sitting up in bed with Georgia. "I hope I'm not interrupting. I just came to tell you that dinner's almost ready."
"Thanks, Carol," Rick said. "And thanks for taking care of Judy for us."
"It was my pleasure as usual." She shifted her gaze from Rick, back to Andrea, frowning in concern. "You both look exhausted. I can bring some up for you'd rather be alone."
Andrea could feel the baby's mouth beginning to slacken. "I think we're almost done here," she assured Carol, glancing down at her daughter in time to watch her tiny fist droop to her side.
She waited for Georgia to detach herself, balancing her in the crook of one arm while she clumsily refastened the buttons of her shirt.
"I also wanted to pass along my congratulations," Carol told them. "It's been so long since something good happened to this group."
She moved closer to the bed, craning her neck to get a clearer view of the child. "She really is an angel."
"I know," Andrea agreed, smiling at her daughter, drowsing contentedly in her arms now that her stomach was full. "I still can't believe she's mine. Ours," she added, grinning at Rick.
"Wait until she starts screaming at three a.m.," Carol teased her. "Then you'll wish she wasn't."
"As long as she doesn't attract any more walkers, we'll be fine," Rick said, the palm of his hand finding the space between Andrea's shoulder blades.
"I heard about that," Carol said, wincing sympathetically. "Good thing you brought Carl along."
"I have a pretty great kid," Rick agreed.
"Let's hope this one turns out as well," Andrea said, glancing back down at Georgia.
This world needed more people like the Grimeses.
"I should probably leave you to it," Carol told them. "I left Daryl in charge of the kitchen."
"You better get back down then before he burns the whole place down," Rick agreed and all three of them laughed.
"Don't worry about sending anything up," Andrea told Carol as she made her way back to the door. "We'll come down."
She was looking forward to seeing everyone. Carol was right: it was a long time since they'd had anything to celebrate.
"Suit yourselves. Dinner will be about fifteen minutes."
As Carol was leaving, Judith's grinning face appeared in the space between Carol's legs and the doorframe as she wriggled her way into the room.
"Andie!" she squealed gleefully.
"She must've followed me when I came up," Carol said apologetically, catching the toddler by the shoulders before she could leap onto the bed. "Want me to take her back down?"
"It's fine," Andrea assured her. "She can stay."
The last thing any of them wanted was for Judith to feel shunted aside by her new sister.
To the little girl, she said: "Hey, Jude. Whatcha doing?"
"I see baby?" Judith asked, approaching them curiously when Carol released her.
"Sure," Andrea told her. "I bet she would love to see you."
Rick moved to pick his daughter up, but she was already on the bed, scrambling across the comforter.
She knelt in front of Andrea, peering at her younger sister. "Pretty baby," she announced, tenderly stroking Georgia's thin wisps of hair. "I like it."
Her frank deliberation caused both parents to burst into laughter.
"At least she's not jealous," Rick snorted.
"Probably because she thinks she's an 'it'," Andrea pointed out.
She wondered what Judith would make of her sister once she realised that Georgia was a little girl like her, and not some kind of shiny new toy that they would soon grow tired of playing with.
"She is pretty, isn't she?" she agreed once she'd had time to recover her composure. "Would you like to hold her?"
Judith nodded.
Andrea sat her on the bed between her and Rick, laying the baby across her lap. She helped Judith arrange her arms so that Georgia's neck and backside were supported, keeping her own hand cupped around the newborn's fragile head just in case.
Watching the two girls interact, Andrea felt a familiar pang of longing as her mind drifted back to the day she met her own baby sister. Moments like this were when it hurt the most. The pain of missing her and their parents had faded to a dull ache by now, though, drowned out by the joy of her new life with Rick.
"God, I wish I had a camera right now," she told him, hating the idea of letting such a precious moment in their children's lives go by without capturing it.
When he didn't respond, she glanced over at him, surprised to find him looking so melancholy himself.
"What's wrong?" she asked him. He should be thrilled that his girls were getting along so nicely.
"The first time I held Judy, all I could think was how much she looked like Carl when he was a baby," he explained. "When I look at Georgia, I see traces of him, but not her. It's like they're not even related."
She could tell that this thought had been weighing heavily on his mind ever since his second daughter was born. She knew how desperately he wanted to believe that he was Judith's father, even if all of the evidence seemed to contradict this.
"Rick," she said softly, touching his stubbled cheek. "That doesn't mean anything. They're just babies. Who knows what they'll look like when they grow up?"
Every day, Judith's resemblance to Lori grew stronger. If Georgia took after Andrea like Rick seemed to think she would, then they might never look alike. All that proved was that they came from different mothers.
She mustered a goofy grin. "You saw my sister. Harrison women are like the Children of the Corn. The Grimes genes don't stand a chance."
In all honestly, there was a part of her that hoped Georgia would grow to look more like her than Rick, just so that he wouldn't always be trying to find Judith in her.
Rick managed a weak chuckle at Andrea's feeble joke, pressing a light kiss to the crown of her head.
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay up here and rest a little longer?" he asked her. "No one would blame you if you don't feel up to having company just yet."
All Andrea had done that day was rest. It made her feel indolent, despite only giving birth the night before. What she wanted to do was to get up and move around, stretch her legs. Even if she was still tired. Even if it hurt.
"I'm not pregnant anymore, so you can stop worrying about me, Rick. If I was going to suffer any complications I'd be showing signs of it by now. We got away with it," she teased him, her lips twisting into a wry smile.
Judith had grown bored of holding the baby and was starting to fidget; Andrea rescued Georgia from her sister and handed her off to her father instead.
Getting out of bed, Andrea looked down at herself. Whoever carried her inside – Rick, she guessed – had stripped her of the bulkier items like her jacket, boots, and gun belt, but left her in the rest of her clothes. All of a sudden, she felt in desperate need of a shower, and a pair of jeans that weren't stained with blood and gore.
"Would you mind watching the girls for a few minutes?" she asked him. "I want to wash up before dinner."
I have the rest of this story mapped out and we're getting close to the end, so I've created a poll to see what you guys would like me to work on next. Basically, the choices are A New Era, Untitled (one of these days I will get around to naming it), or a new season four AU where Andrea is still alive (this could either be set at or after the prison). You can vote by going to my profile, or just letting me know your preference in a PM or review.