« We have to tell her… I mean, don't you think we should tell her?"

Lori looked over her shoulder at Andrea who was standing watch for her as she lowered her pants.

She looked down and thought her eyes were deceiving her. She ran a hand between her thighs, and almost cried as she saw slight traces of blood on the tip of her fingers. Praised be the Lord, and the Holy Spirit and all the fucking apostles. Her period had come.

"Are you listening to me?" Andrea asked, and the brunette had to get back in that zone.

"Are you sure you're not overreacting?" she shot back, while taking care of her own business.

The blonde sighed, then started kicking a stone as she kept her back to her.

"I am not."

"What happened then?"

"Well, I was talking to Shane…"

"Which we have established a thousand times over you never should…" Lori chimed, still praising the angels, and everyone else in the heavenly realm. She had her period! If she ever was to be pregnant, at least that time, she never would have to wonder who the father could be. What hell had she thrown herself in? Fucking Shane…

She shook her head, thinking that it sadly working both figuratively and literarily, as it had been such a mistake.

"Anyway, I was talking to Shane, and when I left the RV, he was waiting for me."

Andrea stressed the word "he", as if resenting him for whatever.

Maybe she did, she was grieving after all, and Lori sure as hell wasn't one to throw stones given the relief she was experiencing.

"He said that I did not need to hang around this 'fucker', his word, not mine, and then put his hand on my shoulder, and squeezed it. You know that guy, he doesn't touch people unless they're Sophia and his wife."

The brunette had to agree with a head gesture, as the Dixons sure kept to themselves. You could sense the love they radiated at all times, and when she had been afraid she might have been punished for having listened to Shane, their vibes used to make her want to slap someone. There were such things as happiness or complete and full happiness she supposed, with the walked pandemic, but they sure looked like they were as close as one could get.

Lori pushed her pants back up, and buried the evidence of her presence, before going to join Andrea.

"I heard you, but what do you want to tell her? I mean, she's pregnant too, and I would hate it if we caused her such a shock, she lost her baby…."

It happened to be the truth. In the past, way before the world went to crap, the Grimes had gone through three miscarriages, and Lori would not wish that to her worst enemy.

"I just truly feel like we should tell her. She would want to know. She was there for us, when you thought Rick was dead, then came back, and when I had to bid farewell to Amy…."

Andrea trailed off then, as she often did when thinking about her sister.

The wound was raw and would be for a long time. However, things were going so fast, people barely had time to stop and think, reflect, and decide what to do.

"Which is my point, essentially," Lori said, standing as close to the blonde as she could to convey her sorrow. "I am not questioning the event you describe; I am just wondering if maybe he has an ulterior motive for doing it, something we're not seeing."

She hid a wince when she realized that in trying to manage this situation, her speech had helped her friend to come to a decision.

"It is because we just don't know if he is being real or there is an explanation that we should tell her. If it's nothing, she'll say it is. If it means something, she will not be surprised, and she deserves it, for her and her little girl."

"Little girl little girl," the brunette couldn't help but repeat as she shook her head. "I mean no offense, I love Sophia to bits, and Carl adores her… He called for her when he woke up from his operation, right after he mentioned the deer… But you gotta admit… For a ten-years old, she is deadly."

Andrea conceded that she was right with a look.

Sophia Dixon was a teenage lethal hunter and tracker under her cute look. No wonder Carl was crushing hard on her, even though he was too young to realize that was what he was doing.

They exchanged a glance, and Lori was defeated. They went back to their makeshift camp, asking Dale if he had seen Carol around. The old man told them to look by the river where she was doing the laundry.

"On her own?" Lori couldn't help to ask, shivering at the thought.

"I can see her from here, and she has her bow, a knife, and a gun, though we all know she won't use it. Sophia is a couple of feet from her, she'll look out for her mother, alright…"

They thanked him and went to look for the woman.

They found her where Dale had said she would be. She was folding her husband's clothes which she had just cleaned. She was having a moment to herself, with a hand on her belly, and it was pretty easy to guess what was on her mind.

She had popped just recently, coming clean to the group about the fact that she was over four months pregnant. With her thin silhouette, she had been able to hide it behind men shirts.

It felt almost unholy to bother her at such a moment, but Andrea was on a mission.

Lori wondered not for the first time if perhaps the blonde coveted the head of the Dixon family. That would be uncomfortable, but she wouldn't judge, People in glasshouses and all that…

"Hey Carol!"

"How are you?" The woman asked smiling, not even flinching when Andrea spoke up.

Of course, she had heard them coming… It was a good thing the Dixons were on their side, or the three of them could just decide to murder them all in their sleep.

"Well, we're sorry to bother you, but we need to talk to you."

The brunette sent the blonde a dirty look, as she did not feel such an urgent need to clear up what could have been perfectly innocent.

Sure the man sometimes called other women 'sweethearts' or so and so, but Lori had never felt objectified under his gaze.

"I'm all ears, but Sophia, you are not!" Carol exclaimed.

The sandy haired girl appeared atop the side and waved at her mother.

"Go and see if you can help Maggie with dinner, will you? We should be gracious guests for our hosts."

The two Dixon women exchanged a look, and an entire dialogue seemed to take place as though through telepathy.

"I'll tell Pop where I'm going," the pre-teen said, before running to wherever the man was.

"So, what can I help you with? If it's about the barn and the walkers, I don't want to talk about it. I wish it was not there, but if suffering their presence means I get to deliver my child safely, then I will grind my teeth, and bear it."

Oh yeah, that detail… Lori hoped Rick's day had been productive in trying to get to Hershel to see the walkers for what they were.

"Well, since there's not pleasant way to start this convo, I'll shoot it straight. I think Merle might be flirting with me."

The brunette wanted to hide her face behind her hands, to avoid witnessing this car crash. To think the blonde was a lawyer… Where was the finesse you saw on TV with such people?

"Yeah, he is. Hard too," Carol said without skipping a beat.

Wait what?

"Wait what?" Andrea said.

"You have to have noticed it… The way he looks at you, the way you are the only woman he considers to be a worthy opponent, apart from me of course, but that's 'cause he knows better… I'm sure he once called you darling instead of his patented sweetheart when he's trying to be smooth."

Maybe this was a parallel universe. Maybe she was asleep. Maybe they were all asleep. Maybe there was no zombie reckoning? Lori closed her eyes but knew she didn't believe what she was peddling.

"I can't believe how relaxed you are about all this, because I am not!" Andrea said. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but I won't be your sister wife or whatever!"

At which point Carol threw her head back and laughed, carelessly about any undead who might be nearby. She composed herself quickly, but when she looked at them, there was a glint in her eyes. She grabbed her wet laundry and got up, before saying:

"If you feel like flirting back, you have my complete blessing. Merle sure as hell ain't my husband…."

"But but…. He's Sophia's "Pop"!"

"As in "Merle Poppins", you get the drift," Carol said with a southern drawl. "This was how my husband called him when she was born and Merle would fuss… Anyway, I mean it. But if you don't fancy him at all, let him know. He has a great heart behind that mean façade," She finished, before leaving them standing by the side of the river.

Lori turned to Andrea, looking for any explanation that would make any sense.

"What the actual fuck?" was all the blonde could utter, and well, Lori reciprocated the feeling.

Please read and review, it's been a long time since I wrote any TWD...