AN: I had a thought the other day of "What if I finish this is July?" I guess my brain was in the mindset of being all cute and calling it a CHRISTMAS IN JULY sort of affair, but hopefully this will be all done WAY BEFORE then. Until then, I will work on getting into more of a routine of posting and submitting chapters to this. This is the last of the pre-made chapters that I created one night when I was feeling super cute and in the Christmas spirit. Thank you all who are still following and as always I do not own any of the characters, etc.! :)

Carl lifted Judith onto his shoulders as they finished the third tree in their little alcove.

"So Gabe," Carl left Judith to rumage through a few boxes that Carol and Daryl had brought back, "what did you do around the holidays?"

He looked up from his tangle of tinsel and smiled, "Well on Christmas Day, I would see my family – as I'm sure most people did - Christmas Eve was always really busy for me…because of my occupation."

"We ususally spent it with our family – we didn't have a very big one, but they were still nice to be around." Carl replied. He was surprised that nothing like this had come up between the two of them in the past, though it was to be expected that Carl was doing little reminiscing as of late.

"Yeah," Gabriel sighed and wiped his forehead, he placed his hand on his growling stomach and looked around the store, "think they have any holiday chocolates around here?"

"That aren't a million years old?" Carl laughed, "I think your chances are pretty slim, here."

"What about candy canes? Oh those were delicious." Gabriel looked through the skylight, daydreaming.

"Candy?" Judith looked at her brother and Gabe with bright eyes. She put down what she was doing and tugged at her brothers shirt.

"Can we find some of those? Please? I've never had one!" She smiled up at him sweetly and he patted her head gently.

"Okay," he said and he could feel her buzz with excitement, "but Gabe has to go get them."

Gabriel set down the angel ornament he had been examining and gave Carl a forlorn look.

"You were the one who got her all excited!" Carl teased as Gabriel's shoulders tensed. He rose to his feet and went into the office to grab a gun. Carl grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

"Easy," he warned, "if you get all jumpy again, it will be easier to sew up a cut than to extract a bullet from someone." He let him go and Gabriel gave him an understanding nod. Carl and Judith watched as Gabriel dragged his feet, walking through a pair of sparkly trees in the direction of the gift wrap, his knife bouncing against his leg.

"Not gonna find much food there!" Carl corrected, and Gabe turned around, lifting his shoulders in a shrug.

"Okay," Carl scanned the store rapidly, "what about in that direction?" He pointed to the front of the building where the group had first made their entrance. He had noticed several food items near the registers when they began clearing out the enormous store a few days ago.

The impulse items had made him nostalgic for the fights he would have in line at the grocery store with his mother, with Judith's mother, when she wouldn't buy him chocolate at the checkout. Of course, it wasn't until he snuck a few candy bars into Lori's basket that she refused to shop with him until he had learned how to ask for something. She didn't take him out shopping again until he was about Judith's age.

The thought made him look to Judith, who was standing right next to him, carefully handling a box of ornaments shaped like different woodland creatures. She thought the squirrel one's were especially cute, and she named them all after the people in their group.

She was pretty, like Lori, but this world had made her beauty a thing to be hidden. After a run-in with some men on the road, Rick paid close attention to the way he let his daughter carry herself. He kept her hair short and out of her face. He dressed her in practical clothes, and always kept her tucked slightly behind him and Carl when they were faced with strangers.

She brushed a piece of hair out of her face, and continued to help Carl with the tree. She was standing on her tip-toes to reach some of the higher tree branches, until Carl scooped her up so she could decorate the top of their fourth tree.

Carl wondered what she would look like in a Christmas dress, with her hair up in bows. He thought she would have liked to have a long, red one with white cuffs that could be rolled up so she could play. He wanted her to have friends her age, that she could run down the street and play with. Everyone in the group was getting older, and he knew she found this tiresome, but she never complained. She was a good kid like that.

"A good person." Carl mumbled and Judith turned her head to smile at him. He set her down and they admired their work so far. Carl knelt down to Judith's level and grabbed a water bottle out of his pack. He offered her a sip, and she gulped it down heartily. He laughed at the face she made after she had quenched her thirst, and polished off the rest of his drink while Judith went to fetch another box of ornaments from nearby. He hadn't noticed, but Daryl and Carol had been making frequent trips to and from their camp as their baskets became full. He would have to tell them to pick something with a little more variety soon, but, until then, Judith didn't seem to mind her squirrel trees.

"Have they made a trip back here recently?" Carl asked as Judith piled more boxes at his feet.

"Mmm…no." Judith stood next to Carl, who was still stooped to her level, "Do you think everything is okay?"

Oh I'm sure everything is more than okay. Carl thought, looking away from Judith and scanning the store.

Carl reasured her, innocently, "I'm sure they just had to go deeper into the store to find other kinds." He wasn't sure there was much truth in his words, but they seemed to be enough for Jude. She looked at him, again.

"Hey, brother?" She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Carl's neck.

"Yes, Jude?" He smiled. He thought he had seen this coming.

"Thank you." She said, and Carl scooped her up, hugging her tightly to his chest.

Father Gabriel quietly tiptoed into their camp, smiling at the picture before him.

He quietly mouthed Jackpot as he set down three 120-count packages of candy canes inside the office.