Better Days

Chapter 332

Author's Note: As promised a Rick and Jewel chapter. Or a mostly Rick and Jewel chapter, not sure how it'll play out. Review please.

Jewel and Rick's POV:

Jewel grimaced as she tried to pull her shirt off, trying not to make a sound as Rick was sleeping.

Rick turned his head and sat up. "Let me help, Mrs. Grimes," he told her as he kissed her shoulder.

"You're supposed to be sleeping, Mr. Grimes," Jewel told him.

"I was waiting for my beautiful wife to come to bed. It's going to be a long night for both of us," Rick told her as he traced his fingers down her back lightly. "Have you seen Ronnie about this? It's bruised," Rick told her as he kissed down her neck and back.

"It's not like we have ice or anything, it's just bruising. Trust me, I've had worse, Rick," Jewel told him as she turned and kissed him.

"That doesn't make it alright, Jewel. It doesn't make it any easier to look at. It doesn't make me any less angry," Rick told her as he kissed her. "I want to protect you, I don't want you to be hurt. I made you a promise on the day I put this ring on your finger, even before. It was my job to make sure no one ever hurt you like your father did, and I let you walk in and confront Pete. I knew what he was capable of, but I still put you in danger."

Jewel cupped his face and pressed her forehead against his. "Rick, we are a team. We do what needs to be done for our family. I went over there because I was the best choice. I knew the danger if Pete came home, I took the chance. In this life, there are no guarantees, the only thing we can guarantee is our love for each other. You can't always protect me, I can't always protect you. We do our best, and we survive. You were not the one who slammed me against a wall, you were not the one who slammed my face into the floor. I gave as good as I got," she assured him. "You got the worst of the two of us," Jewel told him as she kissed him. "Don't blame yourself, Rick. We did what we needed to do, to try and help Jessie and her sons. We brought attention to the problem. I made it clear to Deanna that this was her fault. Just one person can make a difference in another person's life. Jane was that person to Summer and me. We were those people to a lot of our family. I just wanted to make sure Jessie knew what danger she was putting her sons' in. I don't even know if it worked. Deanna isn't going let us kill Pete, she's ready to kick you out instead."

Rick kissed her and looked at her. "We aren't going to let that happen. If we can convince them by talking, we will, but otherwise, we use the weapons. I'm not going outside those gates, if anyone goes it's going to be Deanna," Rick told her as he ran his hand up her side. "We deserve this place, we went through hell and back out there."

Jewel looked at him as she laid down on the bed. "Like the Governor deserved the prison? We've always tried to be better then the people we've run into, we've always wanted to show Carl and Summer that there are ways to do things that can keep our humanity. Now, we're becoming the people we hate the most. When you were beating Pete, then you went into the whole rant, Summer said you went "Crazy Shane." I thought back to what he said at the barn, then what you said yesterday, and it was very similar. Carol said that maybe Shane saw how it had to be back then," she told him as she ran her hand up his chest. "I don't know what the right thing is anymore, Rick."

Rick kissed her. "This isn't like the Governor, it's not. We want to teach these people, we want to live among them and teach them how to survive. We don't want to take over, we want to live with them. I want to make them understand, I do. But, we've talked and talked and Deanna doesn't understand. I want to make them see what needs to be done. I don't want to turn into the Governor or the people at Terminus. I thought I lost you, and Hope, Summer and Judy…I couldn't live with it if I never found any of you. Being here, the danger is still there, because Deanna isn't facing the truth."

"I'm right here Rick. I'm looking up at you, this is my hand touching your chest where your heart beats. Hope is asleep over in that basinet, and Judy is sleeping, Summer and Mika are probably reading, Carl is out on the porch. We're safe, and you're going to survive, Mr. Grimes," Jewel assured him. "We should take advantage of two sleeping babies," she said as she kissed him and went to remove his belt. "I mean if you aren't hurt so bad," she told him.

"I'm never to hurt for that," Rick assured her as he kissed down her neck and helped her remove his jeans.

*After*

Jewel had fell asleep after and Rick managed to get Hope when she started to fuss with a dirty diaper. "Let's not wake mommy up right now? Are you going to let me feed you a bottle later? Just you and me bonding? You can do that for me, can't you sweet girl?"

Jewel tried to keep a laugh from escaping her mouth. "Yeah, you may get away with that, since it's not 2AM," she said as she sat up.

"I didn't want her to wake you up," Rick told her.

"I heard her at first little nose that came out of her cute little lips. I don't sleep that soundly anymore, I don't think any of us do," Jewel told him as she kissed his shoulder. "I always find you extremely handsome when you are being dad to one of the kids."

Rick pretended to be hurt. "What you don't find me attractive the rest of the time? I'm appalled Mrs. Grimes."

"Oh don't you even try that, Mr. Grimes. You know exactly what I meant," Jewel told him as he laid Hope down on the bed. "You're a wonderful, handsome, very capable man. But, seeing you with your children, makes me fall in love with you every time."

Rick smiled as he kissed her. "Thank you," he told her. "I think that's one of the things I found attractive about you."

"What?" Jewel asked as she laid back down, bringing Hope with her so she'd be in the middle of her and Rick.

"The way that you always interacted with Summer. You were tough when you needed to be, but you still made sure she knew you loved her, even when you were being tough. You always knew what she needed without even asking. That was the kind of woman that I knew that I wanted in my life," Rick told her.

"Somebody the opposite as Lori?" Jewel asked curiously.

Rick nodded. "Lori tried, I knew she did. At least you don't try to make me lumpy pancakes," he teased as he kissed her.

"I'd wind up burning down the whole house trying to make you those lumpy pancakes," Jewel told him.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Rick asked as he looked at her.

"Gotta be, right?" Jewel told him. "We'll be alright. Michonne has a right to know, about the armory. I don't feel like we should lie to her anymore. She's in this with us. If anything happened to both of us, she'd step up and be mother to the kids, she'd protect them as her own. We owe her honesty," she told him.

"I know we do," Rick told her as he agreed.

"We need to tell her before the meeting. This whole group deserves to know what we were planning," Jewel informed him.

"You weren't planning it. You and Daryl wanted to do it right, you both wanted to try without the guns," Rick told her. "I should have listened, made Carol listen. I should have dropped it as soon as Summer caught Carol threatening Sam. I should have made Jes and Carol try to do it the right way. Summer was right when she said I was channeling Shane. I didn't like it when he did it, and I sure didn't like it when I did it," he told her as he kissed her. "It shouldn't have went down that way."

"It went the way it had to go," Jewel told him. "We can't change what has happened, we have to move forward, and we have to deal with it. I haven't given up on you this whole time, you haven't given up on me, and we haven't given up on this family. I'm going to make them listen to me. I do have that way about me," she teased.

Rick laughed. "Yeah you do," he said as he heard a knock on the door.

"Rick? It's Michonne," she called out.

"Hold on a second," Rick said as Jewel got up and finished dressing. He saw his wife nod at him and opened the door.

"You ready?" Michonne questioned.

Jewel looked at Rick then Michonne. "We have something to tell you Michonne. Something we should have told you from the beginning."

Michonne looked at both of them. "Go on," she said.

"Jewel did keep a gun, but we didn't tell anyone else. It was to protect the kids. Jewel needed, I needed, to know that they weren't placed in danger again. Jes, Carol, Daryl, and me... we worked it out together," Rick told her.

" I was part of it too," Jewel interjected.

"Carol took guns from the armory. I still have one, she still has one, Jes still has one. Daryl and Jewel wanted to try without the guns. They didn't take them. Jewel had kept that gun she kept upstairs until just a few days ago, when she felt like the kids may be in danger. We lied to you because I wasn't sure how you'd take it, what you'd do," Rick explained as he held out the gun.

Michonne looked at them. "You thought I'd try and stop you?"

"Well, you did hit me over the head," Rick told her.

"She did it, so I didn't have to. I was close. I didn't want you to shoot anyone, I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I didn't want to get to the point we are now, the risk of us being thrown out. I nodded to Michonne," Jewel informed him.

"I was going to do it anyway," Michonne told Rick. "That was for you, not for them," she told him.

"I was afraid you'd talk me out of it. You could've," Rick told her.

"What about you?" Michonne asked Jewel.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. I was hoping that we could incorporate ourselves into this place, and that they'd listen. That Deanna was truthful with what she said about needing us," Jewel answered.

"We don't need them here. I don't need my sword," Michonne told them. "I think you can find a way, we, all three of us, can find a way. And if we don't, I'm still with the both of you. I'd die before I let anyone harm one hair on these kids heads. I wanted to kill Pete myself, but I stopped myself," Michonne told them. "Something's going to happen, just don't make something happen."

"Summer and Carl told us we have to make them understand," Jewel told her.

"And you do, we do," Michonne said as she pushed the gun Rick was holding back into his hand. "Now, I'm going to take this munchkin down to Lexi. Summer's already headed for the meeting," she said as she picked up Hope.

Jewel looked at Rick. "You coming?" she asked as she grabbed a sweater.

"I'll be there in a few, I'm going to talk with Carl for a minute," Rick told her as he kissed her.

"Well don't be late to your own trial," Jewel teased as she went downstairs with Michonne.