Better Days

Chapter 295

Author's Note: Yes the party is still going in my little world. You all know that I'm big on character building and that has always been part of this story. Thank you for everyone whose finding and reading this. And all those who have been with me for a long time. I loved Reg, he just did not get enough screen time! Review or PM me!

Carl and Lexi's POV:

Lexi leaned against the wall holding Judith as she was watching everyone. Sasha hadn't made an appearance yet, which didn't surprise her. It felt like every time she thought Sasha was coming out of her darkness, she'd retreat right back to it. She felt Judy's hand pulling at her lip. "Oh, I kind of need those lips," Lexi told her as she gently removed her fingers from her lip. "You know why I need my lips Judy? So I can do this," she said as she smothered her with kisses causing her to giggle.

Carl smiled as he came over. "Lexi rescued you from everyone, huh Judy?" he asked as he placed a light kiss on Judy's head.

"She didn't show up," Lexi said as he handed Judith over to Carl.

"Sasha's got a lot going on in her head, I mean with Bob then Ty…not that you aren't mourning Ty, I mean…" Carl stammered.

"I wasn't talking about Sasha, I was talking about Enid. Sasha not coming, that's not really a major surprise," Lexi answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Why would I care if Enid showed up?" Carl asked.

Lexi rolled her eyes. "Because you like her? Don't try to deny it," she told him.

"Lex," Carl said as he sighed. "Listen, alright? You were the one I kissed, back before we all found each other. Nothing is ever going to change that, no one else is ever going to be my FIRST kiss. No one else is ever going to be my first crush," he told her as he walked closer to her and squeezed her hand. "You don't have anything to be jealous about, you know?"

"Who says I'm jealous, Carl? We're friends, that's never going to change. At least I hope it won't," Lexi told him.

"Never," Carl answered as he squeezed her hand leaning a little closer pulling back when he heard Ron's voice.

"Hey you two.." Ron said as he looked between the two of them. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you two were dating."

"We're not," Lexi said quickly.

Carl looked at her then at Ron. "We are, kind of, can't be out there without a bond that'll never change. A bond that no one else gets. It's more then friendship," he told Ron as he took the bold move to kiss Lexi.

Lexi blinked as she looked at him. "I…yeah, I think I heard Sasha's voice, I'll see you later…" she said as she turned and took off.

"I don't think she was expecting that," Ron said as he laughed.

Jewel and Rick's POV:

Jewel nudged Rick's side with her elbow and nodded toward Carl and Lexi. Jewel covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the look on Rick's face.

"I'm going to have to give him the talk huh?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, you're going to have to give him the talk," Jewel answered with a smirk.

"See that's normal, they get a chance to be teenagers," Jessie said with a smile as she walked up. "Hello sweetie," she said softly to Hope who was in Jewel's arms.

"She's about ready to go home and be put down. She's doing real well with the someone not holding me all the time," Jewel told her.

"Until two am, then she demands to be held," Rick said with a small smile as he kissed the top of her head. "I don't need to worry about you dating for a while," he said.

"Like we're not awake at two? Or sleeping with one eye open," Jewel told Rick.

"Mom!" Jessie's younger son said as he came around the corner. "Mom there's no more cookies."

Rick looked at him. "Sam right?" he asked as the boy nodded. "I happen to know the cookie maker, she's a good friend of ours, and I bet we can get her to make a whole batch of cookies just for you," he told him.

"Carol loves to bake, but you'd have to be quick, Mika and Mitch likes to snatch cookies right out of the oven," Jewel said with a smile.

Sam looked at them. "Mom they don't have a stamp," he told them.

"Oh," Jessie said.

"Do you want a stamp?" Sam asked Rick.

Rick looked at Jewel then nodded at Sam. "Sure," he said.

Sam pulled out his stamp and pressed it against Rick's hand and stepped back leaving an A on his hand.

"See you're officially one of us now," Jessie told Rick.

Jewel took a breath as she looked at the A on Rick's hand, glancing at Rick.

"Do you want one Jewel?" Sam asked.

Rick glanced at Jewel and gave a small smile to Sam. "We've got to go change Hope and Judith. Maybe later?" Rick questioned Sam.

Sam was about ready to say something before Ron called him over and he ran off.

"Sam, wait, walk don't run," Jessie said. "I'll see you later," she said.

"Yeah," Rick answered as she walked off. "Hey, Jewel look at me," he said. "You're here, you're not there. We're not there, alright?" he assured her as he ran a finger down her face. "Where are we?"

"Alexandria," Jewel said with a smile.

"I know, I felt the same panic in the pit of my stomach when I saw the A. But it is just a letter, a letter that means nothing," Rick assured her keeping his voice down near her ear. "We made it here, we got out of there. I need you to be here with me. You're the only one keeping me sane."

Jewel kissed him. "Same for you," she whispered in his ear. "We are one…"

"Yes we are," Rick told her. "Together."

Jewel laid her forehead on his taking a couple deep breaths.

"Dad? Is everything alright?" Summer asked as she came over.

Jewel smiled at her oldest daughter. "Everything's fine, baby."

"Why don't you and your mom go get some fresh air, I'll start saying our goodbyes," Rick told Summer as he kissed her forehead.

"Come on mom," Summer told her mother as she put an arm around her.

Jes and Rosita's POV:

Jes took the beer from Rosita and nodded. "You look as bored as I am," Jes told her.

Rosita laughed. "This isn't what I'm used too, I guess it isn't what you are used to either."

"Far from it. What do you think of these people?" Jes asked.

"Some are alright, they're naïve," Rosita answered.

"They're naivety could put us in danger, and without guns…." Jes told her. "At least they aren't trying to eat us."

"There is that," Rosita answered.

"We've got incoming," Jes told the other woman as she watched the older man approach.

The older man smiled. "You're Rosita and Jes, right? I'm Reg Monroe, Deanna's husband."

"It's nice to meet you. We owe you a lot," Rosita responded as she shook his hand. "Don't we Jes?"

Jes sipped on her beer and nodded. "Yeah, we do."

Reg laughed. "You aren't one to give praise, are you?"

"Let me guess, you watched our tapes?" Jes questioned.

"Every last one of them," Reg answered. "The way you've all bonded, taking all your differences aside, surviving together, that's something that no one can take away from you. I'm probably guessing here, but Rosita probably finds it easier to blend into you. You've got the look of a trapped animal," he told Jes with a small smile.

Rosita watched them and took a breath. "Jes's mind never turns off, she's always on alert. So is Abraham, it must be an Army thing."

Jes took another sip of her beer and watched Reg wearily. "I'm just trying to keep my family together, safe. We've lost to many people lately, that's what life is like out there. First time you drop your guard, or you let yourself relax, then something bad happens. So, I'm sorry Reg, if I can't just relax because everything seems safe and sound."

"You don't think we're safe?" Reg asked.

"Jes," Rosita warned gently.

"It's alright, Rosita. I want to here what she has to say, other wise I wouldn't have asked," Reg assured the other woman.

"I think you've got extremely lucky up to now," Jes told him. "You all brought us in because we know what we're doing, we know how to survive. But, nothing is changing. So far since we got here, one of ours have been hurt on a supply run, led by your son. Jewel had a PTSD flashback due to her overhearing one of the women here saying that they should take the children and turn the rest of us out. And, this is the one that bugs me to all end is that Deanna seems to think that if walkers' or humans break in here, that they'll be nice enough to wait until we get our guns. They won't."

Rosita gave Michonne a pleading look as they met each other's eyes. Michonne walked over and looked between the two of them. "I'm Michonne," she introduced as she extended her hand.

"Reg, Deanna's husband," he introduced himself as he shook her hand.

"Is everything alright?" Michonne asked.

"Reg asked Jes if she thought if we were safe or not, and you know Jes," Rosita answered.

"I'm standing right here," Jes answered.

Michonne put a hand on Jes's shoulder. "Jes is our watchdog, doesn't know how to turn it off," she explained.

"It's an admiral trait," Reg answered as he made his way from the three women.

"Jes, I know you don't have a filter, but tact is needed. We need to stay," Michonne told her. "We were almost out there to long. I've been to that point before, your sanity begins to go slowly, then your humanity. I don't want that for me, for any of us."

"We know better then to ask you not to say your mind," Rosita told her. "All of us need to be on the our best behavior."

"That doesn't mean for us to let our guard down, but observe quietly," Michonne answered.

"I'm trying to keep them alive, I think that's me being on my best behavior. Otherwise, I could let all of there sorry asses die, and just take care of our people," Jes told them as she walked off.

"Should we tell Rick?" Rosita asked.

Michonne nodded. "If we have to ask if we should tell Rick, the answer is always yes."

Jewel and Summer's POV:

Summer looked out at Alexandria as Jewel nursed Hope. "Mom?" she asked.

"Yes sweetheart?" Jewel questioned.

Summer turned around and looked at her. "I need to know if you and dad have a plan if things go south. I don't care what the plan is, I just need to know that there is one in place."

"Come sit down with me," Jewel instructed. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" she asked as she stroked Summer's hair as she sat down.

"Just this place…like it's just waiting for something to happen. Bad things follow us around," Summer told her.

"Hey, it's just not us, it's the whole world," Jewel told her eldest child.

Summer nodded. "I just can't see this place surviving. I feel dead inside, like there's no more room for anything, no hurt, no giving these people a chance."

"Is that why you're pushing Joey away?" Jewel asked.

Summer looked at her. "I'm not pushing him away."

"Yes you are. It's a Dixon trait, one that I hoped you'd never have to deal with, but it seems that you are. It's alright if you're not sure if Joey is the one, or you want to cool it off with him for a while, that's your right. But if you're doing it because you don't want to hurt if something happens to him, well you're hurting yourself and him," Jewel told her. "Because, it doesn't work that way. We are going to feel every single loss of our group because we are family," she told her.

"Except for Father Gabriel," Summer said.

"Well I think we'd be sad if him or Eugene died, but it wouldn't be the same," Jewel responded. "If I could change this world for you, Beth, Carl, Lexi, Mika, Mitch, Judith, Hope and all the kids here, I would. If I could take away all the pain that you are suffering from because this world sucks, I would. I see the kids in here, and I know that they are being sheltered from what's out there, and in a way I am glad," Jewel told her.

"But in a way, you feel like they need to know, to understand, to learn to fight, to not to be scared of the monsters under there bed because the monsters are always there, night or day," Summer told her. "I think Lexi's said it the best, that we are living a real life video game, one that doesn't reset."

"Well, I hope if something happens, that I can count on you to fight for not only the kids in our group but the others too. Just like I would expect any of us to protect the adults here," Jewel told her.

Summer sighed. "Otherwise we lose our humanity," she answered. "I just need to know that you and dad have a plan. I need to know that if something goes down, we have something set."

Jewel pulled her chin up to her so they could look at each other. "You never have to worry about us not having a plan. We would never take that chance with any of our children's' lives, with anyone in this group. I'll talk to your dad, I think you should know."

"It's alright, I just needed to know we are safe," Summer told her. "Do you mind if I go up to the guard tower?"

"You've got your knife?" Jewel asked.

"Always. I'd walk around with my cross bow if I think they would let me do it," Summer answered.

"I think Axel may be up there with him. He checked out a weapon right before the armory closed, told David he didn't want Joey up there alone," Jewel told her daughter. "Be careful,," she told her daughter as she stood up to go back inside.

"Always," Summer answered as she turned away.