Maggie's gaze slowly lifted towards Rick, her face scrunching slightly with confusion; the silence that was now enveloping the group was tense, as if everyone was not on the same page. "We're gonna go?" Maggie questioned, half-hoping for the answer to be yes, but Rick's expression didn't do anything to raise her hopes.
Rick's head slowly shook back and forth, which caused a few loose curls to fall and hang in front of his forehead. "I… I dunno," he mumbled, his voice low and emotionless.
The man seated on the pavement, Aaron, sighed heavily, as if he had already put every last effort into convincing Rick to go, and was beginning to grow agitated with the man for not agreeing to. "It's safe, I swear," he remarked with desperation in his voice, his eyes pleading for someone to listen. "You've already seen that I haven't lied about anything yet. You all saw that I was telling the truth about listening to you, watching you… about only having one other person out here with me. Why can't you just trust me? Alexandria is safe. And the community could use people like you to help strengthen us. Please… I'm begging you."
"Shouldn't we at least give it a shot?" Tara questioned, clearly having given Aaron the benefit of the doubt; believing that this place could be a real sanctuary. He seemed so genuine, and he had a point. "This place could be our second chance… I mean, if it's safe, shouldn't we at least go? Even if we don't stay… Carl and Judith would be much safer there than they are out here. And when Maggie has the baby… shouldn't she have a safe place to give birth? A safe place to raise the baby in? It's worth it, Rick. We need to give it a shot."
Rick's eyes were fixated intently on Tara, and he remained silent for a long moment after she had finished speaking; either he was giving her a chance to convince him a little more, or he was simply rethinking the decision. "Yeah… yeah, you're right," he admitted with clear hesitance, his bottom lip getting drawn in between his teeth. "We'll give it a shot."
A light smile brushed across Maggie's lips as she slipped her hand into her girlfriend's, her fingers lacing through Tara's before she squeezed them gently in an affectionate manner. She was proud that Tara had actually managed to change Rick's mind about a decision that affected them so deeply: something that someone was rarely able to do. "Thank you…" Maggie whispered softly before she pressed her lips gently against Tara's jawline, her unoccupied hand lifting to rest against her stomach. The thought of her unborn baby having a safe place to live gave her peace of mind. Maybe everything would be okay, now.
"I love you…" was Tara's simple response as she lifted she and Maggie's entwined hands up to her lips, placing a gentle kiss against the smooth surface of her girlfriend's hand. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you and the baby are safe, you know… This place could be our only shot at being able to raise the baby safely. We can't just waste that."
"Yer' gonna be the best mom in the world…" Maggie whispered with certainty, her eyes darting back and forth between her girlfriend's eyes and her lips before she gripped lightly onto Tara's jawline, pulling their mouths together with a heavy and passionate collision.
"Second best," Tara corrected Maggie as their lips parted, her index finger lifting to lightly poke Maggie's nose in a teasing manner.
Maggie pushed her bare arms through the sleeves of Tara's flannel before she leaned her back against the leather bus seat, her face turning towards Tara for a brief second as she offered the woman a smile of appreciation.
Tara returned the gesture before she wrapped an arm securely around her girlfriend's shoulders, tugging Maggie into her side and placing a lingering kiss against her cheek. "You're lucky you look so cute wearing that, or I'd take it back," she teased her girlfriend lightly before clearing her throat awkwardly as she noticed that Aaron and his boyfriend, Eric, were staring at them from the seat across from theirs.
"I'm sorry," Aaron apologized as he chuckled softly, shaking his head back and forth slowly. "We didn't mean to stare, it's just that we haven't seen another same-sex couple in such a long time… It's nice, you know? And you two are just perfect together."
Tara couldn't hold back the immediate smile that spread across her lips at Aaron's comments, feeling her cheeks blush. "Thank you," she replied, scooting closer to Maggie as she fixated her vision on Aaron; her eyebrows lifting with curiosity. "So, Alexandria… how do you think we'll fit in there? I mean, Maggie and I…"
Aaron flashed Maggie and Tara a genuine smile as he leaned closer to edge of his seat to speak with the two women. "I think the two of you will fit in great," he replied honestly. "With the things Eric and I have seen the two of you do out there; I have full confidence that you'll both be top picks for new members of the run group. Right now, we only have two people in the group, Aiden and Nicholas, and I'm sure they'd love to have two more people join them. Especially when the two of you have had so much experience out in this world…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea for Maggie? I mean, with the pregnancy wouldn't she be better off doing something simpler and less physical?" Tara questioned, her hand absentmindedly falling against Maggie's stomach.
"I think she'll be okay for at least a couple months," Aaron replied after taking a moment to consider Tara's concern. "The two of you can just try it out a few times and if you don't think that Maggie can handle it, you can get new jobs, I promise."
"I dunno… you wanna give it a try, Maggie?" Tara questioned, placing a gentle kiss against her girlfriend's temple.
Maggie's head bobbed up and down vigorously as she placed her hand on top of Tara's. "I wanna give it a try."
