AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"Are you really going to stay with us forever?" Judith asked.
"Judith," Michonne said. It was the only word of warning that she offered, and it was half-hearted at best.
Judith still looked at Carol expectantly, with her lips almost pursed. Carol swallowed back her amusement at the little girl's expression.
Daryl was playing in the floor with RJ. RJ had brought him a large box full of trains, village pieces, and railroad track pieces. Together, the two of them were constructing a track that ran around the chair where Michonne was sitting. RJ thought it was hilarious that his mother gave him a false stern expression every time he placed another fake tree or boulder around her feet.
Daryl seemed to be enjoying himself as much as the little boy, and Carol thought that, maybe, it was good for the both of them that they had time to build train tracks that they could push the little trains along.
Carol sat on the couch with her feet curled up under her. Judith sat next to her with her hand resting on Carol's belly. She had, earlier, been reclining with her head resting on Carol's belly, and she'd insisted that she could hear the baby—which was only the sound of a nice dinner digesting, really, in Carol's stomach—but Michonne had made her stop when her imagination had taken over a bit and, in an attempt to stir people up, she'd declared loudly that the baby was growling and, therefore, was very likely a Walker.
It had only been a joke, and Carol hadn't been disturbed by Judith's game, but Michonne had really not cared for it and she'd threatened to banish the little girl to her bedroom if she continued.
So, now, Judith settled for petting Carol's belly and trying to extract more promises from her beyond the original one she'd given that she'd stay until the baby was born.
Daryl had told her that he'd invited Henry to come and stay at Alexandria if he wanted. He told her, too, that he'd turned her into a bit of a medical lesson by inviting Enid to study with Siddiq and work closely with learning how to handle prenatal care and, eventually, delivery. Carol knew that the promise would require her to gladly submit herself to a great deal of poking, prodding, study, and exploration, but it would be worth it if it inspired Henry to stay close by.
Carol let herself daydream a little, but she could even imagine Henry taking up residence in Alexandria and, with any luck, perhaps pursuing a relationship with Enid beyond the shy little crush stage that they'd explored so far.
She would gladly turn herself into a science experiment if it helped bring Enid and Henry closer together and helped to move their puppy love along.
"I don't know about forever," Carol said, "but—at least for a while. At least until she comes and she's big and strong and ready to travel back to our house."
"What's wrong with our house?" Judith asked.
"There's nothing wrong with your house," Carol assured the little girl. "And we're glad you're letting us stay here."
"You could stay longer, then," Judith offered.
"Judith," Michonne offered, "it's about time for someone to get a bath."
"Just a little bit longer," Judith pleaded. "RJ hasn't even gotten to play with his trains yet. They're still putting up the village."
"The trains don't have to come down tonight," Michonne said.
"Please?" Judith begged.
"Only if you stop pestering your Aunt Carol about how long they're going to stay," Michonne said. "They'll stay until she's ready to go."
"OK," Judith said, somewhat reluctantly. With no forced bath time on the horizon, though, she turned her attention back to Carol. Carol accepted that she was more of a novelty than anyone else for Judith and, as such, she was going to be the center of the girl's attention until she got her fill.
It had been a while since she'd been so interesting to a child.
There were times, in the past, that she knew it would have made her uncomfortable. At the moment, however, it just made her feel warm. She enjoyed, too, the feeling of the little girl's hand stroking her belly—reminding her that she would be a mother again, soon, to a baby girl.
And that thought, whenever it crossed Carol's mind, made her heart flutter a little in her chest.
"I'm not asking if you'll stay," Judith said. "I'm only saying that if you wanted to stay, I could be a really good babysitter. I've practically helped raise RJ."
"Judith," Michonne warned.
"I wasn't asking her to stay," Judith said.
"Close enough," Michonne said.
Judith frowned to herself.
"You've done a wonderful job being RJ's big sister," Carol said. Judith perked up a little at the compliment. "And—I'm sure you'll help me a lot when the baby comes."
"You can help her out before, too," Michonne offered. "You can—bring her things and help her with things like putting on her shoes."
Judith laughed.
"You can't put your shoes on?" Judith asked Carol. Carol laughed to herself.
"She'll struggle with it as that baby grows," Michonne said. "You don't remember that well when RJ was born, but she'll struggle with picking things up and putting on her shoes. Everything."
"And I'll appreciate the help then, too," Carol promised Judith. "I know you're going to be so good at helping me with everything."
Judith beamed at the praise.
"Mom said you're real good at cooking," Judith said.
"I'm not any better than your mom," Carol assured her. "That dinner was the best I've had in a long time."
Judith looked over her shoulder at Michonne like she was disappointed in Michonne's potential dishonesty. Carol wished she'd just accepted the compliment.
"Your Aunt Carol is being modest," Michonne offered.
"What does that mean?" Judith asked.
"It's when—someone pretends that something you say about them isn't true because they don't want to sound proud," Michonne said.
"That's exactly what Carol's bein'," Daryl tossed out from the floor, where he was arranging some small houses that RJ had given him to place out around the legs of Michonne's chair. "She's the best cook I've ever known—sorry 'Chonne."
"You're forgiven," Michonne said, changing her position so that she could pick her feet up. She hung her legs over the arm of the chair to allow RJ and Daryl to have more room for their toys and accessories. "It's true. And your Aunt Carol can bake—but really well. Better than my cookies."
"You can make cookies?" Judith asked Carol.
"I can make cookies," Carol ceded.
"Can you make cookies with me?" Judith asked. She changed her position, putting her weight on the hand she rested on Carol's belly to push herself into a new position. Carol gasped at the sharp gouging of a tiny palm pressed hard into her abdomen.
"Judith!" Michonne barked.
Judith jumped and Carol grabbed at the little girl, pulling her into her.
"It's OK," Carol said.
"You can't be rough with your Aunt Carol!" Michonne said. "And you can't poke her constantly. You're going to hurt her. You've got to take your hands off her! You'll make her sore!"
"It's OK," Carol repeated.
"I'm sorry," Judith told her mother. "It was an accident."
Michonne sighed.
"I understand it was an accident," Michonne said. "But even accidents hurt sometimes. Tell her you're sorry and go take your bath."
Judith's bottom lip rolled out far enough that it broke Carol's heart. She wanted to tell Judith that she had to be tougher than that—she couldn't be so upset over something so small—but everything in her body tugged at her to be gentle with the girl. Maybe she was already letting down her walls in the way that Michonne had asked her to do. Or, more than likely, her body was already pumping hormones through her system that would prepare her to be tender and to answer to the needs of a little one that would be making demands that sometimes seemed unreasonable or impossible.
Carol reached her hand and stroked Judith's head. She offered the girl a sympathetic smile.
"I'm sorry," Judith said with all the sincerity that her limited years could allow her to muster.
"It's OK," Carol promised her. "You didn't hurt her, and you didn't really hurt me. You just surprised me. I know it was an accident."
Judith turned her head and looked over her shoulder at Michonne. Michonne's expression had softened, but only just a little. Carol understood exactly what Michonne had to do. She was tired. It was time for her children—at least one of them—to start winding down. Judith had had a big day, and she'd been very wound up by visitors, the prospect of a brand-new baby to play with, Daryl's attempt to gather everything Carol might want to burrow through to furnish a home, the fact that they were going to stay there for some time, and the fact that Henry and Enid might be coming to visit.
It was a lot for a little child.
Judith was wired and probably close to being overly tired, and Michonne needed her to get a bath and get into bed before Michonne was forced into being overly tired as well.
She needed to soften a little—because it wasn't the serious offense that it had seemed to be, since Carol realized that her accidental gasp had likely alerted something primal and protective in Michonne, but she didn't want to soften enough that Judith might suspect that her command was any less final than it had been.
Judith looked back at Carol.
She patted Carol's belly affectionately.
"I won't do it again," Judith offered.
"It's OK," Carol repeated. "You didn't do anything. Go take your bath and—if you want? Maybe your mom will let me come up and read you a bedtime story."
Judith perked up a little and looked over her shoulder at Michonne again.
"If you want her to read you a story," Michonne said. She didn't finish the statement, but she didn't have to finish it. Everyone involved knew what she was saying. Judith beamed at Michonne and at Carol. Carol glanced in Daryl's direction. She could see that he was pretending to be focused on setting up the little scene for RJ who was already pushing his train along the track, but he was really watching the whole scene out of the corner of his eye. He looked pleased, and Carol wasn't certain what, exactly, was making that hint of a smile linger on his lips, but she was certain that she'd find out. "Go take your bath," Michonne said. "And you can call down when you've got your pajamas on and you've picked out a story. We'll come tuck you in, and Carol can read to you."
"I know the best book!" Judith declared, leaving the couch at a much higher velocity than her mother—who was clearly hoping she would be going to sleep soon—probably wanted to see at that hour.
"What about you, little man?" Michonne asked, dropping a leg to nudge RJ with her foot. He looked at her and grinned. "You ready for a bath?"
"No! We're playin' with my trains!" RJ declared.
"And your trains will be there tomorrow," Michonne said. "But it's almost bedtime."
"Maybe Daryl wants to help RJ get a bath?" Carol offered.
Daryl looked at her. He looked, perhaps, a little panicked by the suggestion. Carol smiled at him to try to reassure him.
"You could," Michonne said. "If you want to. I can do it, though."
"It could be good practice," Carol said. "Getting started. Warming up. A baby's going to be a lot more complicated than RJ."
"Yeah," Daryl said quickly. "Yeah—I mean…I could do that. You wanna take a bath? You want me to help you?"
RJ considered Daryl very carefully. He was still clutching his train and Carol could tell that the true answer he wanted to give was that he had no interest in bathing at all.
Michonne nudged him with her toe again.
"You can leave your train just like that," Michonne said. "It'll be right there when you get up in the morning."
At that, RJ seemed a little more interested in hearing what could be negotiated.
"I have boats," he said to Daryl like he was sharing a special secret with him.
Daryl smiled.
"I like boats, too," Daryl offered.
RJ grinned and got to his feet. Daryl followed suit, though with a little more struggle to get off the floor, and he scooped RJ up.
"You can use his bathroom," Michonne said. "Judith will be in my bathroom."
"What are you two gonna do?" Daryl asked.
Michonne hummed and winked at Carol.
"All the children upstairs—and Uncle Daryl upstairs?" Michonne said, sinking back into her chair. "It's time to open that bottle of wine I've been saving. We can have a couple of glasses gone before they're ready for bed. It'll make story time a lot more interesting."
Daryl furrowed his brow and shook his head. He shifted RJ to redistribute his weight on his hip.
"Carol can't…"
"Don't worry, Daryl," Michonne said, interrupting him before he could finish. "I'm not really going to intoxicate your offspring. Get RJ started. We'll be up in a couple of minutes to say goodnight. And—Daryl? Thanks."