The journey back the Sanctuary took no time at all, in the warm, hazy, late afternoon sun.

But by the time the truck had made it back through the high fences leading into the looming, abandoned factory, the tiny girl in Blake's lap had fallen soundly asleep in her arms.

Blake had sat there, resting her chin ontop of her teeny head, rubbing gentle circles on her back, soothing her the entire journey home.

Negan beside her, had been silent for the entire trip back too. Which Blake wasn't particularly worried about…as his hand, that had been positioned over the back of her seat haphazardly, had long-since drifted down over her shoulders instead.

She liked him. There was no doubt about that anymore. But his actions worried her….as the obviously did the rest of the Saviours too. It was his anger, his outbursts, his need for violence and his unpredictability that made them all uneasy. Always unsure about what he was going to do next. And with Lucille barely ever leaving his hand, that, sometimes was a frightening prospect as well…

The truck pulled up close to the building, and Arat turned off the engine, giving a brief sigh, eyeing Blake as she did so. But she too, didn't say a word.

It was then and only then, did the tiny toddler in Blake arms begin to stir.

"Hey, sweetie," whispered Blake in a kindly voice, as the little girl smacked at her lips quietly and rubbed her eyes, looking up at the caramel-blonde woman holding her. "You ok?"

The tiny girl gave a pout, but nodded, grasping at Blake's shirt once again with sticky little fingers and snuggling back into her as she caught sight of Negan, sitting beside them.

But Negan tutted.

"Looks like I'm as fuckin' popular with her, as I was with you, Doll-face," he said in a mock-voice of irritation, shoving open the door beside him, before grasping up Lucille and hopping out.

At this Blake smirked, eyeing him.

She hadn't forgotten how it had felt to have him pressed up against her…touching her…hips lips brushing hers….

But that had been earlier. And right now Blake's had other things to worry about.

Other things that now sat in her lap….

"You hungry?" she asked the little girl in a gentle tone, as the toddler peered up at her once more, making sure Negan had gone.

She nodded shyly, pressing her little fingers to her mouth, as Blake smiled.

"Come on then," she said heaving her up once more and jumping down from the cab. "Let's get you some food then shall we?"

Negan and the other Saviours, including Simon now, were lingering nearby, but Blake knew where she wanted to go.

"I'm gonna take her down to the canteen," she explained, walking towards them, as the little girl in her arms looked about curiously. "But she'll be needing some new clothes. These ones are wet through."

She ran her hand underneath the toddler's soggy butt. The teeny girl had obviously been in that shaft for so long that she had wet herself. But Blake knew she could not blame her for that.

But at her words, Negan rolled his eyes in her direction, almost immediately.

He took a deep breath in, looking slightly irritable.

"Fiiiine," he huffed, suddenly turning to Dwight who had appeared nearby and was helping to unload various weapons from the back of one of the trucks. "D, you wanna go fetch the kid somethin' to wear."

Dwight stopped in what he was doing, giving a slight frown.

"Uhhh, like what?" he replied, his eyes looking this way and that a little uncertainly.

But Negan just arched his back, his voice heated.

"I don't give a shit," he said in a loud voice, raising both his eyebrows towards the blonde man. "Just fuckin get somthin', alright. Go."

Dwight nodded, his eyes flickering to Blake and the girl momentarily, before sloping off, as Negan gave a sigh, turning back to the pair.

"Any other fucking demands, Peaches?" he said in a simpering voice, eyeing her darkly.

But Blake merely pursed her lips, smirking.

"I'll let you know," she uttered back, as she shoved past him, wrinkling her nose as she did so.

She knew that would rile him up, feeling his eyes and his body follow her as she strutted neatly away, the toddler held tightly in her arms.

Twenty long minutes later and Blake was sat in the canteen, on one end of a long table, with the teeny mousy-haired toddler, sat up on a cushion next to her.

In about ten minutes, the little girl, much to Blake's surprise, had managed to devour several dry crackers and cheese, a sliced up apple, a muffin half, and a large piece of chocolate, which she now clutched the remainder of in her sticky little fingers, most of it having melted around her mouth.

"That good, sweetie?" Blake asked in a caring voice, peering down.

But at her voice the tiny girl looked up at Blake with wide blue eyes.

She gave small nod and spoke with a tired sounding croaky voice.

"Fank you, 'Ake."

Blake pressed her lips together, giving a gulp and instantly melting at the teeny girl's words.

"That's ok, you're very welcome," she said smiling sweetly. "So you know my name. But I still haven't found out what yours is yet."

Blake titled her face to the side, as the little girl blinked up at her, shaking her head, causing the tuft of brown hair atop her head to wobbly slightly.

"Well…uhhh….what did your Mommy and Daddy call you?" the caramel-blonde woman asked her quietly after a brief moment.

And at this, the tiny toddler thought for a second, before finally answering.

"Mee-yah," she replied gesturing up towards Blake's face with her melted piece of chocolate. "I Mee-yah."

Blake gave a small laugh.

"Mia?" she said brightly. "Well that's a pretty name."

And with that, Mia manged to smile back cheerily for a long second before a shadow suddenly fell across their table….and the light soon disappeared from the toddlers tiny face.

She gave a pout, inching closer to Blake as a figure loomed over them.

Blake, of course, knew who it was.

"Awww…there's no need to be scared," said Blake, rubbing at her tiny back. "That's just Negan."

In fact Negan was probably the one person here that Mia would certainly have a right to be scared of, if his reputation was anything to go by.

Yes, he was tall and intimidating, and his bearded features were perhaps a little frightening for someone so small.

But Blake glanced up at him as he placed a large pile of tiny clothes down onto the table in front of them.

"As fuckin' ordered, Doll-face," he sighed, Lucille cocked up over his shoulder, as he stood opposite them. He looked as haphazard as ever and ran a hand easily over his scrubby beard, as he gazed down at the duo, the toddler included, with dark chocolate-coloured eyes.

"She said anythin' yet?" he asked Blake, raising an eyebrow, as the little girl hid her face shyly from the tall Saviour. "Like where the rest of her fuckin' people might be?"

Blake frowned.

"She's practically a baby, Negan," she reprimanded, tutting and pulling apart a small piece of uneaten muffin and taking a bite. "How would she even know that."

But Negan gave an immediate huff, shrugging his slumped shoulders.

"Well, ex-fuckin'-scuse me," he scoffed, pressing a hand to his taut chest and gritting his line pf perfect white teeth together. "I was just fuckin' askin' if shemight fuckin' know where the rest of her asshole people are-"

But Blake cut across him suddenly before he could finish.

"What so you can kill them too?" sighed Blake in an airy yet half- scolding voice, popping the rest of the muffin into her mouth, before turning back to Mia. "You all done with your chocolate, Sweetie?"

The tiny girl slowly pulled her face away from Blake's side and glanced up at Negan, who admittedly did look a little scary. Standing there holding the baseball bat he had just used to bludgeon one of her people to death with.

"Fuck me, she gets chocolate now?!" uttered the dark-haired Saviour in an incredulous voice. "Hell, I don' even get chocolate!"

But this outburst caused Blake's lips to twitch up into a smile, as the toddler eyed him shyly.

"Mia," Blake said, leaning into the little girl and speaking in a quiet voce. "You wanna give grumpy-old Negan the rest of your chocolate? I think he'd like that. It might cheer him up a little bit."

Negan parted his lips and rolled his eyes.

But the pair watched, as the tiny girl just blinked up at Blake for a long moment, before turning and holding out her soggy piece of chocolate up towards Negan, looking a little nervous as she did so.

And Blake knew that, even Negan….as tough as old boots-Negan….would not be able to resist how sweet that gesture was….

It was a long few seconds before he finally tilted his head and spoke.

"Well, thank you, Beansprout," he said in a low growl of a voice, suddenly looking down at her and plucking the sticky piece of chocolate from her grasp. "I mean, you've been here, what….less than thirty minutes, and, well, shit, you still shown me more fuckin' gratitude than Peaches here, ever has…"

"…peechiz," repeated Mia suddenly, peering up at Negan, her little mouth hanging open, as she watched him intently, as if mesmerized by his tall stature.

Negan stood up straight once more, melted candy clutched in his free hand and gave a sigh.

"So what's the plan now," he said his eyes drifting back up towards Blake finally. "You know she can't fuckin' stay here, right, Doll?"

But Blake pursed her lips together.

She, of course, knew that, but there was nothing they could do tonight…..right?

And, as if on cue, beside her, Mia let out a tiny yawn.

Blake shrugged, glancing back up to the tall, bearded Saviour.

"Maybe someone can go and scout out that area tomorrow," she said with a small sigh. "See if they can find someone from her group…"

But Blake, thinking of the teeny girl's soaked butt and her ever increasing tiredness, swung slowly around on the bench, suddenly hauling up Mia into her arms once again.

"But tonight," she began, grabbing the tiny toddler's giraffe-covered foot, causing her to smile shyly. "Me and Mia have some business to attend to…"

Negan frowned as Blake got to her feet, shifting Mia onto her hip as she did so, and made to move around the table.

"And where do you two fuckin' think you're off to?" he asked with a smirk across his features, staring back at the determined look on Blake's face.

But he certainly was not going to appreciate the response she was about to give him.

Blake, knowing exactly what she was doing, just shrugged once more and smiled back at him brightly.

"Your room," she uttered bluntly, her green eyes suddenly catching his.

And it wasn't even a split second later that Negan blinked…gaping….mouth at the air….

But before he could say another word Blake had already turned back to the little girl.

"Yep, me and Mia are gonna go take a bath…..get changed….. have our hot milk…..and then go to bed…" she said in a gentle tone, booping the toddler on the tiny nose. "Isn't that right, Sweetie?"

Mia stared up at Blake, clutching onto her shirt tightly with her sticky, chocolate covered paw.

"Ca' I av' stowy?" she asked in a small , nervous little voice, that caused Blake's smile to widen.

She titled her head, looking up at the dark-haired Saviour beside them.

"Of course you can," she said in a kindly tone. "And maybe, if you're a good girl, like I am….maybe grumpy-old Negan can read it to you…..wouldn't that be nice?"

Blake immediately saw Negan about to protest this, shifting his weight from foot to foot…

…but the caramel-haired woman didn't linger long enough to hear his response, merely strutting past him, heading straight through the large hall and over towards the door that led up to Negan's quarters, smiling to herself as she went.

Oh, he was definitely going to kill her after all this was over, Blake was certain of it…..

Thanks for all of your support and I'm really grateful for how kind you're all being at this time. I'm quite worried about some health stuff at the moment, and all of your lovely reviews are helping to take my mind off it. So thank you. I appreciate it more than you can imagine! You're all the best.

Thanks to purplemonkey36, Dollfacex94, Booboo, srosal1, MisfitCarter, rawbsten, Hmc09, Keward2592, melissawtf, angelvoice15, Kosongbird, Shan1994, Xmidniteangel15X, bookworm125, LJH, Brit, JudithMosalii, Guest, whereshadowplays and Croxs101 for reviewing the last chapter.

Was that ok? You liking baby Mia? More to come soon…if you're up for it?

Hope you all have a really lovely weekend. :)

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