This Night

Chapter 244

Author's Note: I'm not ready to kill Tyreese just yet, so we're going to do some of there journey. Not that any of you are complaining, are you? According to the Walking dead time line it took them 16 days to get from Atlanta to Richmond Virginia. With a newborn, I suspect they'd be clearing out some places and stopping at night once in a while. And this turned into a total Rick and Jewel chapter, but we can never have enough of those, can we? Reviews please.

Day 6: Rick and Jewel POV:

Rick reached over Hope's car seat as he was driving and took Jewel's hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm. "You doing alright?" he asked.

Jewel looked over at him. "Yeah, I'm doing alright. You?" she asked.

Rick nodded. "I'm alright," he answered. "We're halfway to Charlotte, should take a few more days. Thinking we should stop today, search for more food, rest a couple days," he said.

"Sounds like a good idea. We're away from any major cities, should be able to clear somewhere to spend the night or two. It's getting colder, so somewhere inside would be nice, if possible," Jewel said. "If not, I'll just have to curl up against you, and put Hope against my chest wrapped in your jacket again," she told him. She smiled as she noticed he glanced in the rear view mirror. "They're fine," she told him referring to Carl and Judith, who had transferred to Daryl's van at an earlier stop. "Can't blame Carl for not wanting to be stuck in a car with his dad, step mom and infant baby sister, when there's a van where he can stretch his legs and be with the other cool kids," she said as she grinned.

Rick laughed as he kissed her knuckles. "Hey, I'm cool," he insisted. "Isn't that right Hope? Daddy's cool, isn't he?" he asked the sleeping infant. "That's ok, you don't have to answer. At least she didn't abandon us to be with the cool kids," he said.

"She's smart, she knows where the food comes from," Jewel said with a grin.

"Maybe we can find a house, and we can have a room to ourselves. Well, Hope can stay with us too," Rick said with a grin.

Jewel laughed as she ran her hand through his hair. "Mr. Grimes, from my calculations, Hope is barley three weeks old, and that means, you have to wait three more weeks. I know, I miss you too," she said.

"Maybe by then, Mrs. Grimes, we'll have found a place," Rick said. "Maybe Noah's home will be standing, and we'll be settled."

"I'm betting on it," Jewel answered with a smile.

Rick gave a small laugh. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually miss hearing Merle call me Officer Friendly," he told her.

Jewel gave a small smile. "I know what you're trying to do."

Rick arched an eyebrow. "Exactly what am I tryin' to do Mrs. Grimes?"

"You're trying to get me to talk about how I miss Merle. You're trying to get me to talk so I don't try and pull away, in typical Dixon fashion," Jewel told him.

"I'm just a husband concerned about his wife," Rick told her. "You just lost a brother, not long after giving birth in a horrible place."

Jewel looked at him. "We've all lost something, Rick, lost someone," she told him as she rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm no different then anyone else in this family."

Rick glanced down at Hope then at her. "I think she makes you different then anyone else in this family. No one else has given birth lately," he told her as he squeezed her knee.

"You've been talking with Daryl," Jewel said with a sigh.

"Ronnie too. She was asking Daryl if you suffered from post partum with Summer," Rick told her.

"I didn't," Jewel answered.

"I know, he told me. He said you were to damn determined after having Summer. But things are different now," Rick told her.

"And each pregnancy and birth affects a body differently. I'm a nurse remember?" Jewel asked with a smile. "I know you're going to be worried and no matter what I say, how many times I tell you I'm fine, you're still going to worry. I also know that the kids and I are always going to be your biggest concern, no matter how big our group is. I love you for that," she told him as she took his hand. "I also get that this is a whole new ball game, and that you're all treating me with kid gloves because of it. That's something I have to get used too. You and I have a deal remember? We always tell each other everything, no matter how bad or if one of us is being a complete jerk. That's how we work, and nothing's changed in that matter. Yes, I'm sad about Merle, I was just getting used to the relationship of how it is now. But, I'm also sad about Hershel, and Bob. I'm overjoyed we got Beth back, but I'm also worried that Maggie isn't going to be able to see the fact that she isn't the girl that she was at the prison. She's more then a glorified babysitter. I'm worried about you, that you've got so much weight on your shoulders, that you blame yourself for everything that's happened, and that's made you lose some of your humanity."

"Hey this conversation is supposed to be about you, Mrs. Grimes," Rick teased her as he kissed her hand.

"You are part of me, Mr. Grimes. If you're hurting, I'm hurting. You know why I stopped you back at the church with Gareth right?" Jewel questioned.

Rick nodded. "I was losing myself to the anger," he answered.

"I lost myself to the anger too, back at Terminus. You brought me out of it, back to reality. I had to do the same for you, and I always will."

"I'll always bring you back," Rick told her as he kissed her knuckles again.

"And, I'll always bring you back. That's what we do," Jewel told him. "So, now I have a real serious question. Why the hell are we keeping Eugene and Gabriel around?" she asked as Hope fussed a little in her car seat. "See, Hope agrees," Jewel said as she rubbed the baby's face. "I want to rip off that collar of Gabriel's shirt and cram it down his throat every time he opens his mouth and starts saying this isn't what God would want. And, Eugene….I have no words," she said.

Rick smirked. "Abraham told me that you punched Gabriel. To bad I wasn't around for that, you know how turns me on."

Jewel laughed. "Hey, baby ears," she teased.

Rick laughed. "Usually, I'd agree with you, but she's going to be growing up around cussing," he said. "She likes car rides," he said as he looked down at Hope. "I don't know why we are keeping Eugene and Gabriel around. I guess that's the kind of people we are, keeping our humanity. Right?" he asked as he kissed her knuckles again.

"Please tell me that you've thought about leaving them on the side of the road, so I don't feel bad about being a bad person," Jewel told him.

Rick laughed. "The thought did cross my mind," he assured her.

"Oh thank goodness. But, we haven't," Jewel told him.

"But we haven't," Rick repeated. "You remember what you told me on the first night I was at the quarry? When you came to check my wound?"

"That I was trying to teach Summer that common decency still exists in this world," Jewel answered.

Rick nodded. "You could have let the wound get infected, you didn't have to care, after what I had done, leaving Merle on the roof like that. But, you didn't," he told her.

"We aren't the same people that we were back then. We've been through to much, seen to much," Jewel told him.

"But?" Rick asked as he rubbed his thumb over her hand.

"But I don't ever want us to get so hardened that trying to help people just stops being alright. I don't want us to become like the Governor, or the people at Terminus," Jewel said.

"Hey, we are never going to become like that. We aren't going to let each other be like that, or this family. We may have to remind each other of that. I think you're going to have to remind me of that. But I think that's why we haven't kicked Eugene and Gabriel out. Tempting as it may be," Rick said.

Jewel smiled. "It's very tempting," she said as she looked back as the radio crackled.

"Dad," Summer's voice said through the radio.

Jewel picked up the radio. "Go ahead, Summer," she said.

"You're not dad," Summer answered.

"Glad that you can tell the difference, what's going on?" Jewel asked.

"Glenn saw a small town on the map, thinks it may be good to check out. It's about thirty five minutes more," Summer said.

"We were thinking we'd stop tonight too," Rick said. "Abraham," he called.

Abraham's voice came through the radio. "Sounds good. We gonna send a scouting party out to check it out?" he asked.

"Let's find a place to stop, then we'll talk about it," Rick said as he glanced over at Jewel. "I think I'm going to hang back this time, let some of you handle the clearing out."

"Understood," both Summer and Abraham answered.

"I'll start looking for somewhere to pull over," Rick told them as he nodded to Jewel.

Jewel tilted her head and looked at him. "Why are you hanging back?"

"Someone once told me that I don't have to do all the heavy lifting," Rick informed her.

"That person sounds pretty damn smart," Jewel answered with a grin.

"I married her, so yeah, I think she is," Rick answered as he kissed her knuckles.

TBC