Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 61

Author's note: Love all the reviews and advice. Please continue to read and review! It's a long, hopefully good ride and that I will be able to keep us entertained til The Walking Dead returns!

Group POV:

Rick and Jewel walked down and rejoined the group. "Everyone better turn in, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow," Rick said as he bent down by the fire.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked as he looked at the other man.

"Look I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win, but we got to push a little bit more. Most of the walker's are dressed as guards and prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early," Rick told them.

"It could mean that supplies are intact, food and medical supplies," Jewel said as she stirred the fire.

"Armory?" Daryl asked as he stood behind them.

"They wouldn't keep that inside the prison, it wouldn't be far away though," Mariah answered as everyone turned and looked at her.

"She grew up in a prison," Daryl answered with a small smirk on his face.

Mariah rolled her eyes. "I did not grow up in a prison. My father worked at one for twenty years. I went and had lunch with him when I was in nursing school."

Rick nodded. "The warden's office would have all that information," he told them.

Jewel smiled as she rested her hand on Rick's shoulder. "This place could be what we've been looking for."

"A goldmine. Medicine, food, weapons," Rick told them as he kissed her hand.

"We're low on ammo, awfully low. We'll run out before we make a dent," Hershel told them.

"That's why we have to go in there. We'll use hand to hand. After what we've been through we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance," Rick told them.

Summer gave a small smile. "I'll take the heads, Mitch can take out knee caps. He's getting good with the knives," she told them as she glanced at the sleeping child.

"We keep close, we work as a team, by tomorrow night we'll be inside," Jewel assured them.

"I got a good feelin' about this," Beth said as she grinned. "Real good place to have the baby, safe," she told Lori.

Rick stood. "I'm going to go patrol," he told the group.

Lori glanced at him and watched him walk away. She got up and followed him. "Rick, can I talk to you?"

Rick turned and looked at her, then past her to Jewel. He saw her give that slow approving nod. The nod he had learned to know and look to when things got hard. The nod that got him through the winter. He turned his attention to Lori. "It's about the baby?"

Lori looked at him then at Jewel over her shoulder then back at him. "I should have known she knew."

Rick nodded. "She knows a lot," he told her.

"Can't we wait a couple days to do this? Enjoy how far we come? It's been a death march, and we're exhausted. Carl, Mitch, Carol…my God she's still grieving for Sophia. Even Summer, she's pulling back. We all need to regroup. Enjoy this win," Lori told him.

Rick looked at his ex wife. "The baby will be here in a few days, Lori. There's no need to panic. Mar, Carol, Hershel, and Jewel, they'll all be there for you. I'm here for you. I'm trying to get a safe place for all of us, Lori. Somewhere where you can have this baby, somewhere I can curl up with my wife at night without her brother and my ex wife looking at me. I'm trying to give Mitch, Summer, Beth and Carl a safe place where they can relax. I want to be able to hear Beth and Summer laugh without having to worry about bringing out walkers," he said as he let out an exhausted sigh. "I want Carol to be able to grieve over Sophia. I want to grieve over everyone we lost. I'm here Lori, I'm still here. I've been as supportive as I possibly can Lori. I am telling you that if something happens to you, that I will be there for this baby as it's my own. All I can do is assure you Lori, I can't show you. I'm not that person anymore, Lori. You are the mother of my child, even a friend, but I know you want more, even though you don't say it anymore. But this," he held up his wedding band that had a small matching stone that matched Jewel's sapphire ring, "it's a promise. A promise that I made even before I put this ring on. I love her Lori…and I'm sorry but I haven't….I don't think I ever felt that way for you. Not like this. You want to talk, Lori, talk to Hershel and Carol, but I'm doing things. I'm doing things for my wife, my son, my daughter and everyone else in this group. But please, don't make me say this again. I'm tired, Lori. Trying to prove that I will always be there for you," he said as he stepped back. "Jewel, want to come help me patrol?" he called out as he looked at Lori.

Jewel stood up and nodded. "Thought you'd never ask," she said as she squeezed Mariah's shoulder and went and joined him.

Jewel and Mariah's POV:

Mariah watched as Lori got up and followed Rick, she then saw Jewel give a nod. She also noticed that she fiddled with her ring, twisting it around. She moved over and sat down beside her. "You're doing it again."

Jewel glanced at the other woman. "Doing what?" she asked.

"You're tell," Mariah told her. "You're twisting your ring. You do it every time that Lori talks with Rick."

Jewel glanced down at her ring and stopped herself. "I told him he should. I'm not worried."

Maggie got up and joined them. "She doing the tell again?" she asked Mariah.

"Yeah and she says she's not worried," Mariah answered.

"She isn't worried 'bout Rick, she's worried that she isn't good enough for Rick or anyone else, and that he'll figure it out," Maggie said as she talked with Mariah and Jewel being in the center.

"Which of course is stupid," Mariah said as she pulled the poncho Daryl had let her use around her.

"Did she ever tell you she tried to give Rick back to Lori, before she admitted she was in love with him? You should have seen her trying to fight it," Maggie said with a grin.

Jewel looked at the two women. "Excuse me, she is sitting right here. I now remember why I hated cliques in school and gossip," she groused.

"Just admit it that you think you aren't good enough for love, still wonder why anyone would care about you and we'll stop," Mariah assured the other woman.

"Or we can keep talking about you right over your shoulder until you do, which is more fun," Maggie said with a grin.

Jewel gave Daryl a pleading look over the fire. "Help me," she mouthed.

"Sorry, nope, I'm going to go check on Mitch," Daryl said with a slight grin as he got up.

"Traitor," Jewel hissed at him as he left. "Alright, I guess that subconsciously I do wonder. If you haven't noticed Mar, it's a Dixon trait," she told the other woman with a small grin.

Mariah looked at the two women and kept a straight face. "I don't know what you're talking about Jewel."

Maggie laughed. "Oh please," she said. "I'm surprised that you two haven't snuck out in the woods somewhere. I've got condoms, be sure to tell me if you find some alone time in the prison."

"There's nothing going on with Daryl and me, just friends," Mariah told the younger woman.

"Friends who get drunk on New Years Eve and kiss," Jewel told her as she looked at the other woman. She laughed at the woman's face, knowing that she was turning a beet red. "Oh you don't think I knew? Please! First of all, Daryl got all weird around you for weeks after that and second of all, your son told me. Asked me if Daryl was going to be his daddy."

"Peter knew?" she asked obviously shocked.

"He got up to get a drink of water, saw it. Told me, I told him it was our secret. Kept waiting for one of you to make the next damn move. I even thought about telling' you I knew, but never got around to it," Jewel told her. "Maybe that's why I was pushin' so hard for him and Carol. Carol liked him…but I knew that moment he saw you at the clinic, he was head over heels for you. But us Dixon's….we don't think we deserve love. He aint ever gonna tell you that he cares more about you then a friend….unless you make the first move," Jewel told her friend. "And Maggie's right, I fought it with Rick. I was fighting it for a long time…which in this day and time is an eternity," she told her friend as she hugged her. "And believe me I think Maggie and Glenn own stock in some damn defect Condom factory somewhere," she said with a laugh.

Maggie started to say something as the three women looked up at the sound of Rick's voice. "Jewel, want to help me with patrol?"

Jewel stood up. "I thought you'd never ask," she said as she squeezed her friends shoulder.

Maggie smiled and looked at Mariah. "If you ever want to talk about Peter…I'll listen."

Mariah smiled as she patted the other woman's knee. "Thank you…it still hurts. But I'm doing better…or I'm trying."

Maggie nodded and hugged her. "You aren't alone," she assured the other woman.

"I know," she told her.

Jewel's POV:

Jewel passed Lori the both women giving each other a glance as she went to join Rick. "Hey…everything alright?"

Rick nodded as he kissed her. "Got some things off my chest," he told her. "So, did you twist your ring?" he asked as they started walking.

Jewel gave him the Dixon stare. "You noticed too?"

Rick squeezed her hand as they walked. "Haven't you noticed that I notice everything about you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah…you do," Jewel said with a small smile. "Yeah Mariah and Maggie caught me. I didn't even notice I did it. Never did," she said. "I know how much you love me Rick. I don't doubt it, and I know how much I love you. But…well you've seen the marks on my back. Merle Daryl and I…we didn't feel like we deserved love. I think it was easier for Daryl and I because we were closer in age. Had each other. But the three of us, it was an unspoken bond that we'd never let Summer know what it was to not know she was loved. But we also learned to put walls higher then this prison up around us so no one else could touch us. You were able to break mine down….slowly but surly," she said as she kissed him. "But I guess, there's a little bit of a wall left, and when you and Lori are alone, I guess that part of me wants to run and hide afraid she's going to get hurt again."

Rick stopped and looked at her as he kissed her and clasped her face in his hands. "What can I do?" he asked.

Jewel smiled. "Keep loving me," she told him as she kissed him.

"You know I will," he told her as he kissed her again.

"Let's go," Jewel said as she kissed him again. "Got to keep the troops safe," she told him as they started to walk again and do patrol.

TBC (The whole finding the prisoner thing is to long for this. I've got ideas people!)