The silence that followed was deafening. Glenn looked at her wide eyed, and Carl quietly reached his hand out to his sister's shoulder. They were all waiting for the tears, and Rick stared at Carol, the corners of his mouth slowly turning up. Judith stood in the center of them all, tilting her head.

"Well, damn," Rick laughed, running his hands over his beard, "when Carl found out he wouldn't talk to me for a week. Wouldn't look me in the eye for at least two." He nudged his boy, and Carl rolled his eyes.

"When I found out," Glenn piped up from behind Carol, "I told my parents I didn't want my presents anymore."

"You really think Santa would put all of your toys in that garbage they used to come in?" Rick was still eyeing Judith in disbelief, "All of that packaging! And don't even get me started on the batteries. Gosh." He shook his head and looked at Carl, who was laughing with him.

"I would have known a whole lot later, had you and mom not gotten sloppy!" Carl accused his father, holding back a fit of giggles, "That wrapping paper couldn't have been so popular that a man at the top of the world used it, too."

"Ooh, bad call, Rick!" Carol smiled at the man over top Judith's head.

By now, everyone noticed the look of utter bewilderment on Judith's face.

"Maybe we should get Jude up to speed on some things," Glenn said, walking over to face Judith, "So, whatcha' wanna know kiddo?"

"So," Judith was letting her foot gently nudge an ornament at her feet, "my dad is Santa Claus? But so is your dad?" she pointed to Glenn, her brow furrowed.

"Yep, Jude," Glenn said, "Santa was something that parents had been keeping a secret from their kids for centuries."

"There are all these crazy traditions from around the world," Carol knelt to Judith's level, "why, I remember hearing that some children wou—"

"Why don't we have Christmas?" Judith asked quietly to her shoes. Silence fell over the group once again. Sure there had been times where they were safe enough, but they never knew when the time would be right. They had attempted a Thanksgiving the last time they found a house at the beginning of last winter, but the absence of a turkey made it feel like just any other night they ate together. Rick looked to the skylights where the warm sun shone into the store. It was well into the summer.

Daryl walked over and sat near where Judith was standing, "You know, I never had one, even before all of this." He said, trying to comfort her. Judith looked up sadly, but then something changed in her eyes.

She quickly walked over to her dad's feet, and said, "We should have a Christmas," she gestured to the spot where Daryl was sitting, "for Uncle Daryl."

HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

Glenn and Carl both erupted into laughter as Daryl cast his eyes down to hide his reddening cheeks, but Rick quickly quieted them with a sharp stare. He hoisted her up onto the display he was sitting on.

"Okay," he tucked her short brown hair behind one of her ears, "this winter, we will have Christmas…for Uncle Daryl." He chuckled and looked at his friend, who was hiding his embarrassment pretty poorly.

Judith was not so easily satisfied, so she pressed on, "But why not now?"

"'Cause it ain't time for it yet, sweetie." Maggie chimed in.

"But you all just said it was a lie, so why can't we have it whenever we want?" Judith was getting desperate now, looking to everyone in the group to help support her cause.

"J-Judith," Father Gabriel attempted to reason with the girl, "the birth of Jesus Christ was not a lie."

"Ain't nobody attackin' him, get your panties out of a bunch," Daryl got up from the floor, "Jude here just wants to give me a Christmas. And I say we should have it whenever the hell we want." He patted her on the head, and she smiled at her father.

Rick quickly glared at Daryl, "Is it really the time for this right now?"

"Stumbling onto this place must have been fate," Carol winked at Daryl, "Come on, Rick. Let's have Christmas!"

"I don't know where we are gonna find the presents…" Rick looked at his boots, and then to his group.

"That was never what Christmas was about," Glenn said, "it was always about being together with the people you love!" He grabbed Maggie's hand and they looked at Rick expectantly.

"Heh, tell that to me when I was Judith's age!" Carl looked to his father, who threw back a quick smile. He tried to remember the last time the group had ever totally agreed with eachother on anything.

"Okay," Rick put his hand up to silence the group's laughter, "WE are having a Christmas…tonight."

"Yes!" Glenn pumped his fist into the air and Maggie laughed.

"You're more excited than Judith!" She smiled and pecked him on the cheek

"First things first," Glenn was already prioritizing their shopping list, "I'm finding all of the mistletoe this place has to offer!" He winked at Daryl and mouthed 'You're welcome' to which Daryl responded with a polite whisper of 'Fuck you'.

Carl looked around and said, "Hey, where are Michonne and the others? I thought they would be back from their sweep by now."