Alexandria
To say that the house they were staying in was nice would be the understatement of the century. It would have been nice even by before the outbreak standards. But now that she had a prison cell, the back of a van, on the ground outside and that horrible concrete room at terminus to compare it to, this house looked like an freaking palace. Of course MJ was already down and trashing the place. Since trying to teach him any manners sounded like a thankless task, RickyJo guessed she was going to have start putting things up out of his reach. That would work for few months until he figured out how to climb. And nevermind, he was already on top of the table, kicking all the chairs over backwards. RickyJo picked him up, setting him down on the floor and picking the chairs up. By the time she got done with that, she heard a loud crash from the kitchen and walked in there to find he had pulled out a drawer of silverwear and dumped the whole thing on the floor. He was looking very pleased with himself and the mess he had made.
"No more mess," she told him, taking his hand and giving it a gentle smack. He looked at her and then at his hand like he wasn't sure what had just happened. Then he really started letting go. He was screaming so loud he soon had everyone rushing into the kitchen, thinking he was being murdered. Beth picked him up and hugged him. He stopped yelling and then started trying to reach down her shirt and grab at her breasts. He preferred his mother but in a pinch any boobs would suit him fine.
"I think hes hungry," Beth said, holding his hands to keep from being molested further, "I can clean that up." RickyJo smiled gratefully and took her son into the living room, sitting down with him on the couch and pulling her shirt down to feed him. Abraham was watching the kid. His wife had breastfed both their children but neither of them had been quite so ferocious. He sat down on the couch next to them.
"Got assigned to the construction crew," he said to RickyJo, "whats your job?"
"Head milking cow," she quipped. He laughed. He liked RickyJo, she was always nice to everyone and she was funny too. He also knew she had known the truth about Eugene from the moment she met him, and had been kind enough no to call him out on it. "How 'bout you Rosita?," she asked. Rosita leaned against the doorframe striking an overly sexy pose.
"I'm the new Victoria's Secret cover model," she announced. Beth came in from cleaning up the kitchen mess and saw Rosita blowing kisses and acting silly.
"What job did you get?," Abraham asked Beth.
"Helping RickyJo with the gardens," she said.
"But there aren't any gardens," Rosita said.
"Thats why I need help," RickyJo told her. This set them all off laughing again. There were a few gardens out towards the back of the place, but no one was offically assigned to take care of them. Mostly Olivia worked on them when she got a chance. And from the sorry state of them, RickyJo guessed that wasn't very often. She had gotten a blank card from Deanna to dig up as much grass as she wanted and her idea was to put a small garden in everyone's yard that they would be responsible for and then expand the larger garden in the back. It was going to be a shit ton of work, but she actually found herself looking forward to it. Anything to take her mind off everything that had happened was a welcome task.
The front door banged shut and Rick came in with Glen and Merle. They had been out with Daryl, walking the perimeter to make sure the wall was sturdy and everyone would be safe. RickyJo wanted to know where Daryl had gone, but she didn't want to ask in front of Merle so she leaned back and took a peek out the window. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. First she pounded on the window and then she got up and headed for the front door, hauling MJ with her.
"Get down off the porch with that nasty thing," she yelled at Daryl, "you are getting possum guts everywhere." Daryl turned and started arguing with her but she was having none of it. This place was nice and she didn't want her new front porch smelling like dirty dead possum. "Go down in the fucking grass and do that! What the hell Daryl!" Daryl mumbled a few curses under his breath and went down in the grass, while RickyJo charged into the kitchen to fill a large glass with water. She took it back on the porch and rinsed away the nasty bloody mess with it. Deanna already said she was sending someone over with dinner for them tonight, so what was he doing with that nasty thing anyway. Sometimes he really acted like he had no manners at all.
Merle was watching the scene with more than a little satisfaction. Anytime RickyJo got mad at Daryl was a good time for him. And she had really been giving him the business this time too. MJ decided he had enough for now, and detached himself from his mother, reaching for Merle. She handed him over and adjusted her shirt.
"Pick out a room yet?," he asked her. RickyJo smiled. He had pulled her close and whispered in her ear before they left to go check the wall. Go pick out a room, get the one with the biggest bed.
"Maybe," she said. He bobbed his head towards the stairs. She shook hers. No way was anyone doing anything in that nice clean bed until they had a proper shower. It had clean sheets on it and everything.
"At least show me the room," he told her.
"Okay, but then I am giving this dirty baby a bath, not playing around with you," she told him firmly. As they headed the stairs together, Beth could hear Merle suggesting to her friend that maybe he was the one that needed to be bathed. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Rick. He had been saying that they should all stay down in the living room together tonight, in case anything happened, but Beth had other plans. She knew he was worried, but they hadn't had any privacy in such a long time. And she wasn't really a big fan of getting it on where everyone could see her. She pulled him down to kiss him.
"I picked out a room too," she whispered into his ear. He meant to respond, but was interupted by the rest of the group coming back. Sammie, Carol, Eugene, Carl, Noah, Sasha, Bob and Michonne had been next door looking at the other house. Rick noticed right away that Glen and Maggie were missing. The preacher guy was missing too, but someone had taken him over to the chapel they were setting up for him. Sammie and Carl were holding hands. They had been doing that a lot lately. Rick guessed now that everyone had more room and a lot more privacy, they were going to be doing more than hand hold soon enough. Maybe he ought to have some kind of talk with them.
"Glen and Maggie?," he asked.
"They stayed at the other house," Eugene said.
"Yeah to try out the shower I think," Tara said. She smiled. If she had anyone willing to shower with her, she would be doing the same. Too bad the shower buddy she had in mind was already spoken for. As soon as they met she had been interested in RickyJo, and she had a feeling the attraction was mutual. However, she also knew the woman already had a complicated mess to deal with when it came to her personal life and Tara had didn't want to make things worse for her. For now they were just friends.
Rick heard crying coming from upstairs and went up to make sure everything was okay. RickyJo had both the babies in the bathtub and Judith was crying. RickyJo was washing her hair. And not doing a very good job at it either, from what he could see. The water and soap were running down all over her face. Rick smiled. It reminded him of Lori when Carl had been first born. There was a learning curve to bathing a baby.
"Here, like this," he told her. Then he picked up Judith and held her in a towel, supporting her neck and suspending her over the tub. Now RickyJo could get a good scrub on the baby's dirty head without getting her face wet. Once she was clean and rinsed, Rick set her on the floor in her towel and picked up MJ so she could do the same to him. While he was holding the baby, Rick noticed his whole side started feeling suspiciously warm and wet.
"I think he just peed on me," he said. Rick could swear that kid knew what he was doing too. RickyJo apologized through her laughter.
"You can have the shower next," she told him. She took both of the now squeaky clean babies back to her room to dress them. Rick shut the door and turned on the shower. Before he got in he took a look at himself in the mirror. He had never seen himself with a full beard. And this beard was much more grey than he had expected. It was a wonder Beth still liked him, he looked so old like this. In the bathroom cabinet he found some electric clippers and a razor and he went to work on himself.
RickyJo got the babies to sleep and put them carefully in the playpen she had set up for them when she heard the shower turn off. The room she was in had its own bathroom, but it only had a standing shower, not a bathtub. She shut the door to the bedroom and opened the bathroom door. A wave of steam came out, making her step back.
"You leave me any hot water," she asked. She couldn't remember the last time she had a proper shower. Even back at the prison they had not had a water heater. So she guessed it was back at Hershel's farm. She had still been pregnant with MJ then, which meant it had been more than a year ago. Merle came out in a towel.
"It was still hot when I got out," he told her. She reached up and touched his hair. When it got long it got crazy curly. She would cut it if she had too, but that meant a real hack job. Maybe Rosita could do it, she did a good job on Abraham's hair. Or who knows, maybe this place had a barber shop.
RickyJo went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. First, she took her braids out and combed her hair. It had been in the braids so long it was coming out in handfuls. She tried to get most of it into the trash can. Then she took a deep breath before undressing as quickly as possible. Sometimes taking her clothes off still made her hands shake a little, but it was getting better. She turned on the water and stepped into the shower. So much dirt was coming off her, it was turning the water at her feet muddy brown. She had to soap and rinse her hair three times before it lathered. Then she got a razor and shaved. It was going to feel so good to finally be clean after all this time. When she had enough of the water, she turned it off and got out. Then she brushed her teeth and then brushed them again because it felt so good. Finding a pair of nail clippers in the cabinet, she sat down wrapped in her towel and cut all her nails. Most of them were dirty underneath so it was nice to get rid of them. Then she stood up and looked at herself in the mirror.
She had purposely avoided looking at herself since her face had been cut up. Now she could see the scars were not as bad as she had imagined. The last time she had seen them they had been fresh and bloody. That was what she had been picturing in her mind all this time, thinking of her face as some kind of scary joker mask. But these were not bad at all. Just two faint pink lines across each cheek. She could hardly even feel anything there. She looked a little older and thinner than she remembered, but mostly the girl in the mirror looked like her.
A wave of dizzyness passed through her and she sat down on th toilet lid, hugging her towel around her. So much had happened that she had been trying to avoid thinking about. Everyone finding out that Eugene was lying about the cure, even though she had known that all along. Finally making it back home and finding the place destroyed and everyone dead. Then trying for Noah's home and finding it in the same condition. Losing Tyreese. Then Hershel dying of a stroke while everyone slept by the fire. Plus terminus, it made her sick to think about that place. Really sick.
Merle was lying on the bed when her heard RickyJo crying in the bathroom. She had her head in her hands when she felt herself lifted into the air and carried into the bedroom. Merle sat back down on the bed, holding her in his lap. He wasn't sure why she was crying but he could guess. When they had finally gotten to her grandmother's farm, the place had been destroyed. The buildings had been burnt down, the wall had been blasted in and everyone was either long gone or dead. She had taken it hard. He had not realized until then how much hope she had been holding onto. How she could have believed that her family was still home safe after everything they had seen, he had no idea.
They had stayed the night in her grandfather's old hunting cabin out in the woods. In the morning she had refused to leave. Daryl had to go upstairs to talk to her. They stayed up there a while and then come down together and she had been ready to leave. They had been acting funny with each other ever since. RickyJo felt herself pulled hard against Merle's chest, so tight she almost couldn't breathe. Then he loosened his grip and rubbed her back. She was actually feeling a lot better now. Maybe she had just needed to get that out of her. She climbed up out of Merle's lap and hung her wet towel up on the hook that was on the bathroom door.
He let his eyes roam over her naked body for a moment, and then Merle was up and pulling her into his arms. She smelled like soap and tasted like mint from the toothpaste. RickyJo closed her eyes and kissed him back, letting him pull her back towards the bed. He was feeling her legs, which were soft and smooth from being freshly shaved. Then he was on top of her, parting her lips with his tounge as he pushed inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to his shoulders. As long as it had been since they had been together and as hard and fast as he was moving, she guessed he wasn't going to be in her for long. Then he was moaning into her mouth and she knew it was over.
"Fucking hell, sorry," he was mumbling to her. She leaned over to kiss him. He didn't have anything he needed to be sorry for. She was glad he still found her that attractive, it made her feel good. And she had no problem finishing herself off. Rolling away from him onto her back, she let her legs fall open and moved her hand between them. It didn't take her long before she felt her orgasm washing over her. When you were on the road with a dozen other people, you learned to get your private business done fast.
"That was hot," Merle told her, "since when did you start doing that."
"Since forever I just usually wait until you're asleep," she said. Now he was laughing at her. If he knew he was missing the show he would have stayed awake.
Everyone had gone to do some more exploring, except Beth, who stayed behind to wait for Rick. She had already washed up and was wearing new clean clothes. When she saw him come down the stairs she had to blink her eyes a few times to make sure it was really him. She hadn't really liked it, but she had gotten used to to seeing him with his big beard. Beth had forgotten how handsome he was under all that hair.
Beth's eyes had flown open when she saw him and now she was standing there staring. He was enjoying her reaction. While she hadn't thought much about it, Rick had noticed there were quite a few single men here that were a lot closer to her age than he was. He was happy to see she still found him attractive. He had figured out which room she picked upstairs since her stuff had been sitting on the bed. It was the room right next to RickyJo and he guessed that Beth had closen it so she could be close in case the other woman wanted help with the babies. It was like Beth to always be thinking of others. When she recovered from the shock of his appearance, she rushed into Rick's arms so she could feel his face with the tips of her fingers and rub her cheeks against his. Then she took his hand and pulled him back up the stairs.