Negan awoke with a groggy head and parched mouth, a sudden weight shifting beneath his chin.

Jesus, he felt like shit, and downing half a bottle of whiskey last night certainly hadn't helped with that.

He lifted a hand, rubbing it down his tired face, before his fingers drifted slowly down to a little body still curled into his chest.

The little figure gave an audible yawn, stretching out her teeny form against him, a knee digging him suddenly in the side of the ribs.

"Oof, careful, kid," he reprimanded. "Watch where that damn leg's goin'."

Negan with a small frown, opened his eyes, wincing against the small shaft of sunlight that seemed to drift in from the window across from them, filling the room with a hazy glow.

It seemed as though the storm had subsided overnight, leaving only a warm, pale morning, free of rain or the humidity of that last few days.

Negan of course remembered Mia coming to find him last night, wanting to be close to him when her Mom was nowhere to be found. And his feelings on the use of words exchanged between the two of them, hadn't changed this morning.

Negan grunted as Mia clambered over him with difficulty, coming to crawl across to the empty expanse of bed to their right.

"Wai Mommy noht 'ere for bwekfast?" she asked now, pulling herself to her feet beside him, using his shoulder for support as he turned to face her, sighing.

He knew the kid wasn't going to let it go anytime soon.

An', shit, what was he supposed to say? That he didn't know where the fuck she was, or when, or even if, she was ever coming back.

But Negan knew that lingering on the subject while he was nursing one hell of a hangover wasn't going to help anyone.

And so he gave a brief sigh, reaching out for Mia's chubby, bandy little legs, grasping ahold of them playfully.

"Why? Is bein' with your Daddy for breakfast not good enough for you, pipsqueak, huh?" he said with a grin, the little girl squealing out in delight, as his hand moved up to tickled at her sides.

The sound of her laughter filled the bright and airy room.

"Noh, Daddy, don' do dat!" she said in a bossy tone, pushing his large paw away from her, causing Negan's grin to widen, stretching from ear to ear.

Damn, he so wished Blake was here right now, to share in this moment with him.

And here, sober, it hurt him to think of how far away she truly was.

He fucking regretted everything that had happened between them in the cold light of a fresh new day. Leaving things the way they were.

If he could turn back time and change the fucking things he had said and done then he fucking would in a heartbeat. But what was done was done now.

Blake needed time, and maybe if he gave her time, and a little space, then she would come back to him.

But how long could he wait?

Weeks? Months? Years?

Right now Negan couldn't think of anyone else he wanted to be with. Although he knew that would likely change over time, just like it had with Lucille.

But in this world it was hard enough to feel anything at all. And for a moment Negan had with Blake.

She had turned his life around. Changed him for the better. And he couldn't imagine his life without her in it.

Thats why not having her here...well, it fucking killed him now.

He glanced up at Mia, who was now bending over him, using both her sticky little paws to squeeze his stubbly cheeks together, letting out another delighted squeal of laughter.

And not about to let her get her own way entirely, Negan suddenly grasped the tiny toddler around the middle and lifted her up into the air above his head, rolling himself onto his back once more.

She let out a scream of giggles as he swooshed her through the air, before bringing her back down again and dumping her on the bed beside him with a 'whump'.

"'Gain, again, Eggy!" she said reverting back to her old nickname for him. Not that he minded too much. The bond between them already having been solidified.

But Negan let out a huff, easing himself up into a sitting position and giving a stern yet playful shake of his head.

"Well maybe after your Papa's got some damn food in him to get rid of this fuckin' hangover, we can play all the games you want, kid," he groaned.

But Mia was no longer listening, instead getting to her feet once more and squeezing her little legs together, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

"Eggyyyyy," she said now with a sudden pout, lip jutted out peering slowly up at him. "I need potty. Wher' Bwakey? She need take me potty naw."

Negan gave an internal groan. Closing his eyes for a long couple of seconds.

Shit. Part of him was tempted to call on Frankie or one of the girls to come and help out with this. But no. Negan needed to prove he could fucking do this. To Blake. AND to his goddamn self.

And so, with an ominous sense of foreboding, Negan ran a hand over his eyes, squeezing them shut again before hissing out.

"Alright, Beansprout, come on. Bathroom it is," he said heaving the little girl into his arms once more and shifting himself off on the bed. "But hell, kid, you're gonna have to take the lead of this one, because I am so far out of my fuckin' depth, I am flouderin'."

But with a wriggle, Mia pushed against his arms and caused Negan to drop her to the ground once more, her paws testing the carpeted floor carefully before she turned to look up at him.

"Cam' on, Eggy, I show yoo," she said suddenly in a reprimanding voice that made him smirk, as her tiny hand slipped into his, tugging him towards the large tiled bathroom in the corner of the room.

And Negan obediently followed, shaking his head as he went.

Their morning was a pretty eventful one.

With Negan standing in just a pair of black boxers, freezing his ass off, waiting for Mia to finish her business in the bathroom. The tiny girl had been more than content with sitting on the toilet for a good ten minutes at least, singing a tuneless song, which Negan was convinced she was only doing to spite him in some way.

And when they'd finished up there, Mia had then declared that she needed a "bath naw".

So that's what they had done, with Negan rolling his eyes and running a little warm water into the tub, he had plonked Mia down into the water while he had grabbed a towel and made for the shower across the large tiled room.

But his hot and much needed shower had barely lasted two minutes when he heard his name being called loudly through the sound of running water.

"Eggy I neyd to go potty," came Mia's whining voice, as he poked his head out of the shower door.

He ran a hand down his exhausted features, rubbing droplets of water from his bearded face.

"Shit, kid, again? Really?" he said in an incredulous voice.

But Mia merely nodded. "Potty," she declared.

But it was only when Negan had hastily finished up, dragged a towel around his waist, making sure it was secure, and padded over to the baby girl, ready to haul her from the bath and back over to the toilet, that she peered up at him with large round eyes, placing a finger to her mouth….

...Negan noticing that the bathwater had now turned a light yellow colour.

"I don' neyd potty anay mor, Daddy," she said in a sorry sounding voice.

And so Negan had huffed, run the damn kid another bath and watched her splash about for five minutes before hauling her out again and placing her into a large oversized fluffy towel and plopping her down onto the leather couch that sat on the far side of his living room.

Then, Negan had hastily gotten himself dressed inside his bathroom in yesterday's clothes, before padding back into the bedroom… only to find Mia gone from where he had left her.

In that second his heart dropped from his stomach and all the air seemed to disappear from his lungs.

He had only been gone a fucking minute or two.

Shit.

She was nowhere to be found and he looked up with dread to see that the door to their room was now slightly ajar.

Fuck.

Launching himself out into the corridor, Negan's head twisted this way and that, only to hear a commotion from the next room down, Mia's room….

And luckily the dark-haired Saviour had, to his relief, found her pretty quickly, naked, on the floor, having pulled out what seemed like every item of clothing that she owned from the small white closet in her room, rifling through them, as though searching for something.

"Jesus, pipsqueak, the fuck is all this?" he said marching over to her.

But she gave a whine.

"Noh, Eggy, I neyd mai swocks wif tha beyz on!" she cried as Negan hauled her up from the floor.

But Mia wriggled her chubby form out of is grasp, giving a faux-tearful cry out.

Shit, why the fuck did no one tell him how much fucking hard work this shit was?

Negan gave heavy sigh.

"Alright, alright, let's fuckin' look for them then," he said in a resigned voice, imagining what Rick the Prick would say if he saw him now, rifling through laundry on the goddamn floor like some damn thin-dicked stay-at-home husband with no balls.

He picked up a pair of green socks with frogs on.

"These fuckin' do?" he asked, but with a loud wail from Mia, Negan took that as a no, scowling as he continued his search, finally finding the small bee-covered socks and holding them out to her.

"Here, see. You can quit your damn whinin' now," he huffed.

But Mia just folded her arms over herself moodily.

"No, Daddy put them on fow mei…" she said firmly, lifting her tiny foot and placing it in front of him.

He rolled his eyes, but as did as he was told, grumbling the entire time. And the moment he was done, Mia got to work finding the rest of the clothes she wanted to wear today from the pile.

Picking out a top, leggings, and a pair of underwear with giraffes on them, Negan was so fuckin' exhausted already he could have given up and gone back to bed.

But judging how demanding Mia was being it was unlikely that was ever going to happen anytime soon.

But at last, a good hour and a half after they had woken up, Mia and Negan were finally on their way down to pick up some breakfast.

And holy fuck was it a messy fucking affair.

Negan had made the mistake of asking the kid what she wanted to eat and after spending five entire minutes with her finger in her mouth, saying the word "ummmmmmmm" in elongated syllables, Negan had settled on getting her every fucking thing off the damn menu.

After all, if he couldn't do that, then who could in this damn fucking place?

And so settling both of them down onto one of the long, empty benches, he had then proceeded to watch her eat like a damn hawk. Patting her back as she had choked on a blueberry, stuffing it too quickly into her overfull mouth, not once but twice.

Jesus christ, this parenting shit was not fucking easy and Negan had a newfound appreciation for all the work Blake had put in.

This was a full time fucking job, and taking care of Mia on top of everything that had gone on this past couple of weeks...well, he could see exactly why Blake's goddamn head hadn't been straight.

For with the two year old here, it was hard to find even a moment to yourself.

Not that Negan minded all that much if he was honest.

For it was as though having Mia around was like keeping a small part of Blake close to him and he needed that shit right now.

So fucking much.

The large factory dining hall was slowly beginning to get crowded now with Saviours up and ready for their working day by the time Negan and Mia were almost done eating. Each one offering Negan a reverent look of respect as they noticed him sitting there with the kid. And in return Negan giving each one of them a stern look, not wanting anyone to think he'd gone fucking soft.

But despite this fact, Negan couldn't help but grin as he peered down at Mia who was sat on his lap, her face stained purple from the blueberries she had been jamming into her mouth at a rate of knots.

"Shit kid, slow down will ya," he said prising one of the round squishy fruits from her sticky paws.

But Mia gave a grumbling wine.

"Noh, Eggy, dat mine!" she said making grabby hands up at him.

But Negan had already popped the blueberry into his mouth, causing the toddler to scowl up at him huffily.

But their small moment was suddenly disturbed somewhat by Frankie running into the large room looking flustered, her fingers brought up to her mouth in worry.

Negan noticed her searching for something in desperation for a few short moments, that was until her eyes landed on him, quickly crossing the room over towards him.

"T-Thank god. She's with you," said the red-head breathlessly, coming stop in front of the pair. "I went to her room and she wasn't-"

But Negan cut over the woman with an easy wave of his hand, jiggling Mia on his knee and causing her tiny frown to emerge into a giggle instead.

"Damn kid's fine," he mused, barely even looking at Frankie now, his attention on Mia who squirmed into her seat on his knee, reaching both sticky hands up for his chin. "She's with her fuckin' Daddy, givin' him the damn runaround. Aint' ya, kiddo?"

But Mia merely gave a delighted squeal, as he pulled his bearded chin out of her reach, grasping her sides hard and giving her an affectionate tickle.

"Well, I can take her for you," said the redhead quickly, arms clutched around her slender form, staring down at the pair of them concerned.

But Negan cocked an eye up at her.

"Don' think I can fuckin' handle it, Darlin'?" he asked her in a besmused voice.

And almost at once Frankie reddened.

"No...I-I just thought you-"

But Negan gave a scoff.

"Look, Frank," he said arrogantly. "If I can run this fuckin' place, and make sure thse assoles are whipped into fuckin' shape day in day out, I can take care of a kid by myself. It ain't goddamn rocket science."

He knew of course that Frankie's concern was down to him practically fucking disowning Mia just a few short fucking hours ago.

But everything had changed now.

He could see now that the world wasn't against him and that the kid fucking needed him as much as he needed her.

And so Frankie gave a nod, still looking a little uneasy but backing away and leaving him and Mia to it. Just as it fucking should be.

Because Negan was right. If he was man enough to fucking take over this goddamn place and rule it like a badass. He could surely fucking look after a kid without much trouble.

Maybe he would take Mia out a few errands with him around the place this afternoon, make sure his empire was ticking over with his little sidekick by his side.

But things, unbeknownst to Negan, were not always that easy with a baby in tow.

And with a tug on his leather-clad sleeve, he turned now to see a pouting Mia.

"Eggy, I neyd potty," she whispered, causing Ngan to roll his eyes.

"Jesus Christ kid, you can't be fucking serious?"

But Mia gave a sharp frown staring up at him looking remarkably similar to how Blake looked when she was pissed at him.

And an irritable Negan took this as his cue to haul her up off his lap and drop her to the floor taking her hand in his own once again, knowing how very deadly serious she actually was.

But they were barely halfway across the large open-plan room, when he felt Mia stop in her tracks behind him.

Negan turned to look at her now in annoyance, concerned as to why she had stopped, just as she lifted a tiny paw to her mouth, her big round eyes meeting with his.

And in a voice as innocent as anything, Mia uttered the three words that filled him with more dread than this entire damn apocalypse had given him.

"Oopsh" Mia said simply, giving a small giggle.. "Too layt."

Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter: stacey40, Elizabeth, angelvoice15, calh, LJH, CLTex and BlueBloodsSVUOrder.

I hope you have a really nice weekend! :)