Alexandria
Since the turn, RickyJo had a lot of people try to do a lot a strange things to her. Inviting her to a party was a definately new one. It seemed a little surreal, like it was too close to normal life. Was this the dream or were they finally waking up from a nightmare. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but these people seemed like they were actually nice. A little naive, but nice. The area the safe zone was in had been totally evacuated, so the residents had not seen any other people except for the few stragglers they had brought in for the last two years. The people here were not tough. They were not good at shooting or fighting. They didn't know how to find wild mushrooms or set up a trap to catch a rabbit. Their walls had gone up just in time. If they had to go out on the road, every single one of them would be dead in a month. When she looked at the people here, RickyJo thought they were the real walking dead. Not the biters or her friends. These people. Just waiting for some minor castastrophe to kill them all. Like they were all transparent, walking around on borrowed time.
Well she didn't care she was going to party with them anyway. Jessie from across the street was going to the party, and RickyJo liked her. The woman was nice and sweet and pretty. She had brought over her hair straightener and fixed RickyJo's hair for her and then she had done her makeup too, so her scars didn't show. RickyJo was so happy with her appearance she grabbed Jessie, giving her a tight hug. Jessie winced.
"Sorry," RickyJo told her, "you hurt your shoulder?" RickyJo didn't think much of it until she saw the shame in the other woman's eyes. She knew that look, she had seen it on her mother's face more than she cared to remember.
"I hurt it trying to pick up something that was too heavy for me," Jessie lied.
"Next time come get me and I will help you," RickyJo told her. Or I will bash your asshole husband's face in, she thought. Jessie nodded and started picking her things up. She had to go home and get herself ready. RickyJo waited until she left and then got dressed. She had on a black tank top and a long flowy colorful skirt. It was very Mother Earth which she felt suited her now that she was a mommy. And she liked the look with her hair, which hung almost to her waist now that it was straightened out. She even had some jewelery on, but had to take the earings back off as soon as she tried to pick up MJ. He went right for them and almost yanked her earlobe off. Well, she still had a necklace and her nails and toenails were painted.
Beth knocked on the door. She had been getting ready in her own room and they were going to walk over together. All the guys had been driving her nuts, so RickyJo had already sent them ahead with the food. Rick had taken Judith with him. She noticed Beth had a big hickey on her neck that she was trying to cover up with her hair. RickyJo poked at it.
"I see you and Rick made up?," she asked. Beth nodded.
"Yeah I think I better wear my bikini top from now on when we are laying out," Beth said with a grin. RickyJo smiled too. Personally, she thought Rick was being a real prude. Merle had only been mad about it because he hadn't been around to see it. Then again, he was used to everyone seeing her breasts while she was feeding the baby to maybe his threshold for acceptable social nudity was set a lot higher than Rick's.
"Ready to go," she asked. Beth nodded, everyone else was already there. RickyJo picked MJ up and the girls headed downstairs. When the got out on the street, RickyJo let him down to walk with each of them holding onto one of his hands. He had his first pair of shoes on, and he was delighted with them. He was walking in a funny little way, trying to pick his feet way up in the air with each step so he could see his shoes. Jessie had cut his hair, so he looked like a little man now, instead of a baby. RickyJo had waited until Jessie left and then cried about how grown up he looked. He looked a lot like Daryl when he was a baby, but now the resemblance was even more indisputable. He was a cute little thing, but RickyJo often wished he had gotten his Uncle's temperament instead of his looks. MJ was all stubborness and bad attitude. And while she liked to blame Merle, she had a feeling he had gotten at least a portion of that attitude from her.
They walked up to the porch and one of Deanna's sons, RickyJo thought this one was Spencer, opened the door for them. He gave the two girls a very appreciative look over. They were both very pretty, and even better all clean and dressed up. He was especially curious about Beth, who he knew was dating a man much older than her. Spencer wondered if maybe that was something she had to do so the man would keep her safe. Now that she was here, maybe she would be looking to date someone more her own age. Either way she was nice to talk to and he would like to get to know her better.
The other woman was better looking, but Spencer found her more than a little intimidating. His father had told him she was some kind of famous biologist. And she had all those tattoos, someone like that would probably not be interested in anything he had to say. Her baby sure was cute though. And holding him made her seem a little more approachable. Spencer stammered a little and then finally spit out what he wanted to say.
"Would you like anything to drink?," he asked the girls.
"Is there wine?," RickyJo asked. He nodded. "What kind?," she asked. He didn't know that so he led her into the kitchen and showed her where it was. She started poking through the bottles, looking at the labels. "This one," she said, holding up a particular bottle, "And a glass for Beth too." Beth usually didn't drink wine, but RickyJo leaned down and whispered to her. Four hunded dollars a bottle. Beth guessed if it was that expensive it must be good. Spencer handed the girls each a glass and Beth watched RickyJo to see what she was going to do. She swirled the wine around a little and then stuck her nose in the glass. Then she took a sip and closed her eyes. Beth did the same. The wine was not that great, but much better after the first sip. Maybe thats what people meant when they said you had to get a taste for it. Spencer's father saw the girls sipping the wine and walked over.
"What have you got?," Reg asked her.
"The Stryker Cabernet," she told him, "you know its the good stuff because it has the all black label." Reg laughed.
"I would have pegged you as more of a straight tequilla shooter," he told the woman. She smiled, people always thought that because of all the tattoos.
"I have been known to sip on that too," she told the man, she winked and added, "I have even been known to smoke a little marijuana, only medicinally of course." Spencer started laughing and he saw his dad was smiling too. Of all the terrible things these people had talked about having to do out on the road, admitting to smoking a little pot seemed funny.
"You know," Reg told her, "I have two whole cases of that wine in the basement."
"Are you fucking serious?," RickyJo blurted out. Then she opened her mouth wide, shocked at herself. That was some bad language to be using in the middle of these people's fancy party. She had been hanging around Merle too much. "Sorry," she said, "I just got really excited." Reg was not offended, in fact he found her excitement rather endearing.
"I will have Spencer bring some over for you," he told her. RickyJo thanked him profusely, making Beth laugh. She had never heard someone get so excited about some dirty old grape juice. Beth wanted to go find Rick, so she took off into the other room and RickyJo was feeling a little crowded, so she went out on the back porch for a little air. She saw someone sitting on the back steps and almost turned back around until she noticed it was Daryl. He heard the door, but didn't look up to see who it was until he felt a hand on his shoulder. RickyJo lowered herself down and shifted MJ around in her lap until they were both comfortable. He must be tired because he was happy just to be held for once. Then she took another sip of her wine.
She looked so different than Daryl was used to seeing her. If she didn't have MJ in her lap he would have sworn it was back before the outbreak. Even the scars on her face were gone. She still had that quiet haunted look in her eyes, but that had always been there. It was the look she used humor to cover up when there were other people around. With her hair down and soft like that it reminded him of the way she looked when they went to Mexico together. He had not thought about that in such a long time, it felt like memories that happened to someone else. Or something he saw in a movie.
She finished the last of her wine and set the glass behind her on the porch. When she looked down, MJ was asleep. Since he was out cold, RickyJo handed him gently to Daryl. She didn't know why MJ would never go to him when he was awake, but it always made her a little sad. She moved closer to them and rested her head on Daryl's shoulder.
"I should take him home and put him to bed," Daryl said quietly, "I'm not really into being here anyway."
"I will go with you but do you think I should look for Merle first?," she asked.
"He is inside getting drunk and telling war stories with Abraham," Daryl told her. She smiled. In that case, he would never even know if she was here or not.
"Lets go then," she said, "do you want me to carry Emmie?"
"No I got him," Daryl said. Since the only time he could come near the kid was when he was asleep he might as well take advantage. Everyone said the baby looked like him, but he thought he looked like RickyJo when he was sleeping. He held the baby with one arm and put the other arm around RickyJo. They walked between the houses and then down the street towards home. It was funny how she was thinking of it as home already, and had not thought of any of the other places they had lived like that, even the prison, and they had lived there much longer.
Aaron was out on his porch when he saw them walk by. He thought about just letting them pass, but he had been waiting for his chance to talk to Daryl.
"Had enough of the party already?," he asked.
"You didn't go?," RickyJo asked him. He shook his head. Deanna's fancy parties really were not his scene.
"We are about to have dinner if you want to come in," he offered. RickyJo looked at Daryl to see what he wanted to do. She was actually starving, since she had not eaten because they were going to the party and then not had anything to eat there.
"That would be nice," Daryl told him. Aaron led them up the steps and took the cushions off the couch to make a little spot for them to lay the baby down. Then he covered the little guy with a blanket. RickyJo leaned down and gave him a soft kiss, stroking his hair back away from his face. She had a special kind of love she reserved only for her son. And it was all consuming. She stood up and felt Daryl's arms around her. She hugged him back and rubbed her cheek against his. Seeing they were having a special moment, Aaron stepped back and headed into the kitchen. He had been under the impression that this girl was married to Daryl's brother, but maybe he had gotten something confused, because the two people in his living room clearly had feelings for each other.
They walked into the kitchen, holding hands, and sat down at the table opposite each other. Aaron was serving up spaghetti for everyone, and more wine. RickyJo only took half a glass this time, she might need to nurse her son or Judith later and she didn't want to make them sick. Daryl was shoveling the pasta into his mouth like he forgot every table manner he knew. RickyJo smiled at little at him, but she used her fork and spoon, curling the noodles up properly so she wouldn't make a mess. Eric was making random conversation about pasta makers, and then he said something about when Daryl was on the road. Aaron hushed him up. RickyJo was wondering what the big secret was but she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She had not liked the sound of it.
When everyone was done eating, Aaron took Daryl out to the garage to show him some motorcycle he was working on. RickyJo put the dishes in the sink and talked a little with Eric. He was a very sweet person and he made her feel comfortable. They were chatting back and forth a little, talking about what schools they went to back before the outbreak. Then RickyJo thought about what he had said during dinner.
"What did you mean," she asked, "about Daryl being out on the road?"
"Oh," Eric answered, "Aaron asked Deanna not to give him a job because he wants him to be Alexandria's new recruiter." RickyJo was on her feet so quick she almost knocked into the table. Then she was storming out to the garage. First she pointed at Aaron.
"No," she told him. Then she took Daryl's hand and practically dragged him out of the garage. Aaron was a little taken aback. He had not expected this woman to get so upset. She was mumbling curses under her breath and she went into the living room and scooped up her baby. Then she walked out of the house with Daryl trailing after her. They walked back down to their house without speaking and then up the stairs to her room so she could put MJ in the playpen where he slept. Daryl was in the doorway watching her. She turned and took his hand again, heading for his room which was at the end of the hall.
Once they were inside, she kicked the door closed and pulled him close to her, kissing him hard on the mouth. They had just gotten there, finally safe and now these people wanted Daryl to go back out. Nope, she was not having it. She wanted him right here, with her where nothing was going to happen to him. Just look at what Rick had almost done to Aaron, and they were nice people. What was going to happen if the people they met out there were crazy like the ones from terminus or woodbury. These people could go right out and do their own goddamn recruiting. Or better yet, stop doing it altogether.
They were kissing now, her hands were around his neck, fingers twisting into his hair and he had one hand on either side of her waist. The last time they had been together was at her grandfather's cabin, after she found out her family was dead. And that had been months ago. He was pulling at her dress, gathering it up until he could feel her legs and then lifting her up so she could wrap them around him. She pulled her shirt up over her head, dropping it on the floor and then felt his hands behind her back, unsnapping her bra so he could push it down and get her breasts in his face. They smelled like heaven and tasted like french vanilla ice cream.
He stepped towards the bed, his legs knocking into to side of the mattress and sending her flying onto the top of the covers with a bounce. RickyJo got up on her knees by the side of the bed and pulled her bra the rest of the way off, untangling it from her hair. She had forgotten how good her hair felt against her bare skin when it was soft and smooth like this. The she pulled Daryl close to her, kissing his mouth and unbuttoning his shirt before she started on his pants. Slipping out of his shirt he held her close, feeling her warm skin and the silky texture of her hair and the hard little points of her nipples where they were pressing against his chest. And he was kissing her and kissing her, the more he kissed her the more he wanted to keep doing it.
She pulled him onto the bed with her, pushing him down onto the pillows and sitting up to pull his pants the rest of the way off so they weren't scrunched up around his ankles. She leaned over him, her hair falling on either side of their faces like curtains. Moving slowly she touched the tip of her nose to his, moving it back and forth. Then she kissed his lips as softly as she could, just a whisper of a kiss, moving back when he tried to press in harder. He reached up, gripping her arms and rolling her onto her back so he could press her against the pillows and kiss her hard, forcing his tounge inside her mouth. She moaned into his mouth and then she spread her legs, wrapping them around his waist and rocking her hips back. He could feel the heat radiating through the thin material of the little bikini underpants she had on. He sat back and slid his thumbs under the strappy parts on the sides of her panties, whisking then down and off, tossing them behind him.
Then she felt his weight on her again, heavy for a moment before he used his elbows to hold himself up. She could feel the throbbing between her legs, like she would do anything in the world for him if she could just have him inside her now. He was kissing her and he felt her hands go between them, caressing him and then guiding him inisde of her. As soon as he pushed all the way inside her she felt her orgasm rip through her and she had to bite down on her lips to keep from crying out. And then he was moving, slowly at first and then faster. All she could do was hang on and close her eyes, the sensations passing over her in waves, making her forget where she was and who she was. There was only this moment. He was rubbing his face into her hair, kissing and sucking her neck and telling her I love you I love you I love you. When he came she came with him, the spasms so hard and deep inside her they almost hurt.
He groaned softly when he pulled out of her and just let his body topple onto the bed next to her. Every muscle in his body felt like the overcooked spaghetti noodles they had for dinner. RickyJo caught her breath and then rolled onto her side so she could snuggle in next to him, feeling blissfully satisfied and still a little buzzed from the wine. She tilted her head back, kissing along his jawline before her turned so he could kiss her back. Then he pulled her against his chest, rubbing her back softly with one hand. She could feel her eyelids getting heavy and she rubbed her face a little to wake herself back up. It would not be a good scene if she fell asleep in here.
"I don't want you to take that job," she told him.
"I know," he said plainly. She had made that more than obvious back at Aaron's house.
"Well you are going to stay here with me aren't you?," she asked, rubbing his chest and then moving down to rub his stomach. He thought about it. It had meant a lot to him when Aaron offered him that job. And he thought he would be good at it. And being on the road would mean not having to be here, watching RickyJo sleep in bed every night with his brother. If she was sleeping with him every night, he would have a reason to stay here.
"I want you," he told her, "Tell Merle its over and be with me and I will stay." RickyJo sat up a little to look at him. She wasn't sure if he was really serious. After all, he had never said anything like that to her before. And it made her a little bit angry. If he wanted her so bad, why couldn't he have told her that back at the prison when he had been avoiding her. Then she never would have started things back up with Merle in the first place. And While Merle was a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, she knew that would crush him. And he had done nothing to deserve it. Now Daryl was puting this all on her, like if she said no and something terrible happened to him out there it would be her fault.
"Ultimatums don't sit too well with me Daryl," she told him.
"Yeah well sneaking around my brother's back to fuck my own girlfriend doesn't sit too fucking well with me," he hissed at her. She wasn't even going to stay the night in here with him. As soon as she got done she probably couldn't wait to go back to her own bed and wait for Merle. It was just making him angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. Just because she had something bad happened to her, didn't give her the right to act like a big whore.
"Its not that easy. Merle is Emmie's father. We got married," she told Daryl. Now Daryl was really pissed. He was sick of Merle throwing this stupid being married in his face. She didn't even have a goddman ring.
"A fake fucking wedding performed by a bunch of cannibals doesn't fucking count," he yelled at her. Now RickyJo was upset. She didn't like people bringing up the cannibal stuff. Every night she had nightmares that someone was coming to cut her breasts off and butcher up her son. She got up and started looking for her clothes, feeling tears threatening to well up in her eyes. It crossed Daryl's mind that yelling at RickyJo and insulting her might not be the best way to win her back from his brother. He got up and tried to gather her into his arms to hold her. She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face.
"You keep your fucking hands off me," she told him, her voice shaking. Now she could feel the tears bubbling up and spilling out, wetting her cheeks. She turned and flung the door open. Then she ran down the hall with her arm over her breasts and her skirt and hair flying out behind her. She got to her room and shut the door, locking it. She shoved her skirt down and threw it in the clothes hamper, then poked through her drawer of the dresser until she found the soft cotton shorts and big mens tshirt with the neck cut out that she liked to sleep in. Then she reached into the playpen to check on her son. He was still sleeping soundly. RickyJo crawled under her covers and held her pillow against her, crying into it.
A few minutes later she heard someone yanking at the doorknob and then a soft knocking on the door.
"Go away," she said. She had guessed it was Daryl. But then she heard Merle's drunken slurring outside the door.
"Whata I do," he said, "Come on lemee in." Then she heard Abraham out there.
"Open up the door I can't hold him up much longer," he called to her. She couldn't help but laugh. RickyJo got up and flung the door open. Then she helped Abraham get Merle onto the bed. She pulled his shoes off and then unhooked the straps on his arm sleeve, pulling that off and chunking it onto the floor.
"Thats almost worse than seeing him naked," Abraham remarked. RickyJo got up and shooed him back out into the hall before he could start trying to kiss the baby, his mini ginger, as he liked to call him.
"Thank you Abraham," she told him, "goodnight." Then she shut the door.
"Night Night," he told her thought the door. When she turned back to Merle she could already hear him snoring. Well at least someone had a good time at the party, she thought. Then she got back into bed and snuggled down next to him, finding his body heat comforting. Within a few minutes she was fast asleep. That night instead of the horrible dreams that usually came she had a new dream. She was on a beach with MJ, watching him run in and out of the water. The sand was white and the water was clear and blue as far as she could see. It looked like the water in a swimming pool. And then her cousin Jessica was there. She was watching MJ. He has my hair. She reached down and touched RickyJo's stomach. When RickyJo looked down she saw her belly was big and swollen. When she touched it she felt blissfully happy.
When she looked up again, her grandfather was there. Ricky Roo kangaroo. Congratulations baby. Name this one after me. He looked out at MJ. Then he was there, lifting the small boy up and tossing him into the air. Then he set him down so he could run back to his momma on his little chubby baby legs. It was hard to hoist him up with her stomach so big. He hugged onto her neck. Then Jessica was back, with her girls and RickyJo's Nana. But Nana looked young again, like the old black and white pictures RickyJo had seen of her from when her grandparents got married. Her grandfather was kissing her and then he was young again too. Her little nieces came up and she bent down to kiss each one on their cheeks. Then they ran back to Jessica and they all turned and walked into the water. MJ was struggling to get down, he wanted to go with them. But RickyJo held tight to him. You belong here with me. He started to cry and cry.
And then she woke to hear him crying in his playpen. She picked her son up, laying him down on the bed with her and pulling her shirt down to feed him. She ran her hand across her stomach, almost expecting it to be big a swollen like in the dream, but feeling relieved to find it was still flat. RickyJo stroked her son's hair and thought about her dream. Jessica's eyes had been the same color as the water. Sometimes she missed her family so much that it hurt inside. But she was glad to have her son. And two men that cared for her even if they didn't always show it in ways she could understand.