A place to call home
Chapter 3: Alvin Junior
And here's chapter 3, folks. Wow, I've updated three chapters in one day. One for a Rio story, one for my other Walking Dead story, and now this chapter here. I wish all of my days I could do this, but unfortunately, everyone gets busy. Anyway, here's chapter 3, happy reading, folks.
Luke and Nick ran into Rebecca's room and handed the doctor his supplies before joining the others downstairs. All they could do now was wait until the baby was born. Who knows how long it was going to be?
The group members decided to do different activates whilst they waited. Clementine sat in the armchair with her hands placed together, Kenny paced up and down the room slowly, Luke and Nick sat at the table, Sarah sat on the sofa reading her book, and Walter Sarita cleaned the dishes.
Every once in a while, though, Rebecca's screams would distract them. Kenny looked at the stairs while tapping his foot impatiently. Clementine frowned, why did Kenny seem so worried?
Walter and Sarita got done with the dishes in a short amount of time, and joined the group shortly thereafter.
An hour had passed and nothing had changed. Rebecca could be heard screaming in agony and Carlos and Alvin could be heard encouraging her. Quite often, Luke or Kenny would check outside the ski lodge to make sure her screams did not attract walkers, but surely she was not that loud.
And she wasn't, because not a walker was in sight. But soon, all of Rebecca's screaming stopped. But there wasn't the sound of a baby crying, or even anything else.
"Oh, no..." Luke feared the worst.
But a noise pulled the group out of their temporary sorrow. The sounds of a baby shrieking filled the room, and sighs of relief could be heard everywhere. The baby seemed to be okay, but what about Rebecca?
They wanted to go up and check on Rebecca, but for now, that was none of their business. All they could do was wait for either Rebecca, Alvin or Carlos to appear any minute now. Hopefully everyone was going to be okay.
Before long, Carlos had emerged from the top of the stairs and everyone below looked up towards him, anxious to hear what he had to say. After they expected the worse, they instead saw and heard something quite shocking yet relieving.
"It's a boy." Carlos declared with a smile across his face. "And Rebecca is going to be just fine." before long, he had to turn around and head back towards the bedroom to check up on her.
Conversations among the group were then at hand. Everyone was curious about both Rebecca and the baby, knowing that both were okay.
"Thank God," Luke muttered in relief.
"That's wonderful," Walter said with a smile. "It's good to know that they're both healthy."
"I wonder what they'll name him!" Sarah chirped.
("I can't wait to meet him.")
("We should let Rebecca rest.")
("Should we go up?")
("...")
"We should let Rebecca rest for now before we meet the baby." Clementine suggested, watching as all eyes met her.
Everyone agreed to her suggestion but nevertheless, they were still happy that there was a new life born into this world.
"I'm gonna go keep watch for a while," Luke announced, standing up and heading outside.
"I'll go and put the rest of the decorations away." Sarita said, picking up the box and making her way towards the storage room.
As she walked by, Clementine looked towards Kenny and nodded her head to the side. Now was the perfect opportunity to talk to Sarita and finally open up to her about his past.
Kenny gave her a look of obvious discomfort, but knew that she was right. It was important that Sarita knew about his life before meeting her. He waited for her to return from the storage room before calling out to her.
"Hey, Sarita? I need to talk to you."
"Of course." Sarita agreed, proceeding over towards her boyfriend. Kenny decided to escort her into the kitchen where they could speak in private. They didn't want to go to their room and disturb Alvin and Rebecca.
Sarita sat down in one of the chairs, Kenny sitting next to her. He placed his head in his hands, desperately wanting to reconsider. But he couldn't, Sarita deserved to know. The woman looked at him with kind, concerned eyes.
"I think it's time you learned what happened to me, Sarita."
"Oh." Sarita nodded in agreement and understanding. She had been trying for weeks to get him to open up. Why would he open up now? "Take your time, Kenny."
"Before all this...I was a married man," Kenny began, barely able to look Sarita in the eye. "My wife...her name was Katjaa. And we had a son named Kenny Junior, but we nicknamed him Duck. That boy was dumb as a bag of hammers, but dammit, I loved him. I loved them both." He glanced at Sarita, wondering if she had anything to say.
Sarita remained silent and beckoned for him to continue.
"We were comin' back from visiting Kat's sister in Memphis," Kenny went on. "Stopped at a gas station and saw someone grabbin' my boy. Now, I thought he was kidnapping him, but it turned out to be one of them things. First time I ever saw one." Kenny gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as he recalled the next painful memory.
"This kid, Shawn Greene, noticed us and offered us a shelter for the night if we gave 'im a ride home. So we went, and the night went well. Met Clementine and Lee the next morning. Things were okay for a while, but then...I killed Shawn. His death was my fault. Fuck." Kenny face palmed. He decided to skip the part with the drugstore and the St. Johns. "People in our group died along the way, and then..." Here came the most painful memory out of them all. "Fuckin' walker bit Duck while bandits attacked our shelter." A look of anger contorted his features as he remembered the cause of it all. Ben.
It was getting harder now for Kenny to tell his story. "My wife...she couldn't take it..." He squeezed his eyes shut. The last thing he wanted to do was break down in front of his girlfriend. Kenny's voice became much lower. "She shot herself. She loved Duck too much to see him go off by himself..." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lee took care of Duck for me; he shot him so that I didn't have to."
Sarita gasped softly, and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Kenny had truly gone through some awful times. No doubt she couldn't blame him for his short temper.
"Later on, I found out that this kid, Ben, was givin' these fucking bandits our supplies," Kenny decided to continue; no matter how hard it was at this point. "They didn't seem to get their last package, so they attacked. It was HIS fault." He slammed a fist onto the table so hard that Sarita jumped.
"Lee got bit, day after I found out. Clementine went missing, turns out some fucker told her that he had her parents, and she believed 'im. Ben fell off the roof of our shelter and got impaled in the stomach. I had only one bullet in my gun, and I used it to shoot that asshole." Kenny sighed lowly and looked away. "That's when I got separated from Lee and the others. I was on my own for a hell of a long time, but then I met you."
Kenny looked towards Sarita, his story finally told, and wanted to see if she had anything to say.
Sarita was left speechless after hearing her boyfriend's story before he met her. Now she understood why he didn't want to talk about his past, but nevertheless, she appreciated him telling her.
Slowly, Sarita moved her arms around Kenny and embraced him in a hug. "I'm so sorry, Kenny, but thank you for telling me. I know it was hard for you to do."
"It's alright, hon," Ken replied, returning her hug. "Nothin' you could do." He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears that were in his eyes from escaping. Luckily, Sarita didn't see this.
With that said, Kenny and Sarita could now continue their relationship without anything to hide from each other. They loved each other very much and would not let one another go. During the time they were hugging, Clementine could not help but smile at the scene. She was proud of Kenny for opening up to her like that, even despite the fact it was one of the hardest things he had to do.
"Hey, Clem!" the young girl felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Clementine turned around to face an excited Sarah. "Dad said we're allowed to go see the baby now. Rebecca's ready now."
"He also said only two people can go up at a time." Walter joined in as he placed his hands upon his hips. "You and Sarah can come up first."
(Go and see baby)
(Stay downstairs)
Clementine nodded in agreement and followed the enthusiastic Sarah up the stairs and towards the bedrooms area. They stood outside of Alvin and Rebecca's room and decided to knock rather than just barge in. It would be rude of course. Clementine was the one to knock and only a second later they heard someone.
"Come in." Carlos could be heard inside.
Twisting the door handle slowly, Clementine stepped inside and a beaming smile rose across her face. Carlos stood with his back against the wall with his arms crossed together, Alvin sat on a chair beside the bed, and Rebecca sat in the bed with her legs under a blanket, and lying in her arms was a newborn baby boy.
"Hi," Sarah greeted quietly, yet shyly.
Rebecca looked at the girls and smiled lightly in return. She was gently rocking the sleeping baby in her arms. Alvin was looking extremely proud.
Rebecca beckoned for the duo to approach and when they did; she revealed her sleeping baby wrapped up in a blanket. "Clem, Sarah, we would like to introduce you both to Alvin Junior."
Clementine smiled widely as she eyed the baby sleeping beautifully in her mother's arms. "Wow, he's beautiful."
"Would you like to hold him, Clem?" Rebecca offered with a smile across her face.
("Can I?")
("Are you sure?")
("No thanks.")
("...")
"Can I?" Clementine requested, taking a seat onto the same bed as Rebecca. The older woman did not need to reply when she handed the young baby into Clementine's arms. The young girl smiled and held the baby close. "Alvin Junior. That's nice. You should call him AJ for short."
(?) Alvin and Rebecca will remember that.
"Sounds good to me." Alvin agreed whilst he and his wife watched Clementine hold their baby.
Sarah looked at the baby, AJ, in admiration. "Oh, he's so cute!" she cooed softly. "It's been forever since I've seen a baby."
AJ then began to cry, making both of the girls jump. But Clementine gave Alvin and Rebecca the reassurance that she knew what to do, and began to rock the baby gently, whispering comforting words. At that, AJ immediately stopped crying and went back to sleep.
"Wow, you're a natural, Clementine." Rebecca complemented as Clementine handed AJ back into her arms. She looked over towards Clementine's shoulder towards the teenaged girl. "Sarah, would you like to hold him, too?"
Sarah wanted to hold him, but first, she turned towards her father for approval. Carlos gave her a smile and nodded once to tell her he could. She raised a smile and sat down where Clementine was sitting and waited patiently for Rebecca to hand AJ into her arms.
Rebecca handed AJ to Sarah, who took him and began to rock him gently.
"He's so little!" she breathed, a beaming smile crossing her lips. She turned to Alvin. "I think he looks like you."
"A perfect match." Alvin smiled.
"He's more handsome than you, Alvin." Rebecca teased her husband with a smile across her face.
"No argument here." the bigger man agreed. He took his glasses off for a moment and cleaned the lenses.
Carlos, Sarah, and Clementine all laughed softly. Rebecca and Alvin were always teasing each other.
Soon, it was time for the girls to leave, and Sarah handed AJ back to Rebecca before getting up quietly. The two girls bade the three adults good-bye before heading back downstairs.
"The baby's name is Alvin Junior, but it's AJ for short, and he's the cutest thing!" Sarah announced, but not too loudly. "Wait until you see him!"
"Luke and Nick are going to head up next." Sarita informed the girls as the mentioned men began to make their way upstairs to visit the baby.
Clementine decided to go and sit with Kenny and Sarita in the living room, but there was something on her mind that she was unsure if anyone here else thought the same. She decided to speak up to the adults sitting before her. "Kenny, Sarita, do you guys know that AJ is going to need baby supplies? Like bottles, clothes, and other things baby needs?"
"I asked, the doc said that they stocked up on baby formula a while ago," Kenny replied. He seemed to actually feel a little better now that he'd gotten his story off his chest. "And we've got some extra blankets. As for clothes, well...I don't know."
"Oh. Looks like we got nothing to worry about then." Clementine sighed in relief, but she then realized yet another problem at hand. She knew her group was planning this for a while now, but she never actually got the chance to ask. Now was a better time than any. "Kenny, Sarita...?"
("I need to ask you something.")
("Can my friends stay?")
("Nevermind.")
("...")
"Do you guys mind if they stay just for a few weeks?" Clementine requested, not wanting her friends to go out there in the cold, especially with a baby. "It's getting cold outside, Rebecca's in no condition to move and they barely have any food left."
"I don't see any problem with that." Sarita agreed with her usual smile, but she turned towards her boyfriend to see his answer.
For just a moment, Kenny looked reluctant. There were a couple of them that he had a problem with, Luke and Nick for instance, but he seemed to tolerate the others. It didn't take too long to come up with his decision.
"I reckon they can stay," he decided. "Might be nice to have some extra help preparin' for the blizzard coming in a few days. Gonna be damn cold."
Clementine smiled towards Kenny's answer. At first, she could have sworn he was going to refuse, especially after the previous night when he did not want the group to stay during dinner. "Thank you, Kenny, thank you, Sarita. I'm glad I have you both."
(?) Kenny and Sarita will remember that.
Sarita held Kenny's hand and gave him a look to say, "I'm proud of you.". She was beginning to like the new Kenny.
Sarah looked somewhat worried when she heard the mention of a blizzard. She could just about tolerate the cold as it was, and she would be no match for a blizzard.
"I hope this place is warm for when that blizzard comes," Sarah announced. "I don't like the cold."
"Not a fan of it either, kid, but that's Mother Nature for ya," Kenny shrugged as he glanced her way. Being from Florida, he likely wasn't used to such weather either, but moving along in the apocalypse could have possibly changed that.
At that moment, Luke and Nick had returned from Rebecca's room and proceeded down towards the stairs with the others. By the looks on their faces, they had met AJ and meeting the young baby had gave them quite some hope, especially Nick who was a complete mess after the death of his uncle.
("Will this place hold?")
("I'm worried.")
("We'll be okay.")
("...")
"We'll be okay." Clementine reassured with a smile to tell them everything would be fine. She was not about to give up hope yet. "This place is pretty big and strong and if we finish boarding up those windows, we can be safe here."
"That's great, that's just perfect," Nick replied with a light smile. Albeit he was still a broken man, he seemed to finally start to recover. It would be awhile before he was back to his old self, but he would get there in time.
Luke looked relieved at Clementine's statement, and he turned to Sarita and Kenny. "You two can go up and meet the baby. I mean, if you want to."
Sarita took her boyfriend's hand and both of them proceeded upstairs. Luke and Nick took their places on the couch and decided to wait until they had something to do for a while. They already did some work today and dinner was not until later. There was the wind turbine that was still switched off and the weather was not windy today. But the place was bright as it is and did not need to waste power.
Clementine took her hat her hat off for a moment and scratched her hair. Luke, Nick, Walter and Sarah all turned towards her. They had never seen her without her hat off before.
("What?")
("Stop looking at me.")
("This is awkward.")
("...")
"What?" Clementine asked when all eyes met her.
"Didn't know your hair was that curly, Clem," Luke teased in a lighthearted tone.
With a frown, Clementine began patting all around her hair. For some odd reason, this gesture made her think of Lee, but she wasn't about to let that show, so she just smiled in return.
"Can I try it on?" Sarah inquired, moving over from the armchair to the couch to sit next to Clementine. She took off her red glasses. "I'll let you try on my glasses!"
Clementine was surprised to see how different Sarah looked without her glasses. She cherished her hat very closely for two reasons: it was her dad's hat and it had Lee's blood on it. But she trusted Sarah since they were best friends and it's not like she was going to run off with it.
(Give Sarah hat)
(Don't give Sarah hat)
"Uh, sure, but you can keep your glasses on." Clementine replied, offering her hat over towards the teenaged girl.
"Okay!" Sarah chirped. Clementine handed her the hat, and she placed it atop her head. It was a little small on her, but she still enjoyed wearing it. A wide smile crossed her lips.
"I guess it's important to keep your mementos. They help remember the ones we love." Clementine explained, turning towards each of the members here, certain that they had something to remember their loved ones.
(?) They will remember that.
Walter held up a picture frame of him and Matthew together, Nick held his Uncle Pete's watch in his hand that Clementine had returned to him, Luke held his machete in his hand that was given to him by his father. Sarah had nothing to remember any of the people she knew, but she had her father and he was all she needed. But she cared for all of her friends.
Sarah took off the hat and placed it back on Clementine's head, and Clem gave her a light and grateful smile after adjusting it.
"So...what now?" Nick called out.
("We could relax.")
("We could work.")
("I don't know.")
("...")
"We could try to get some work done when Kenny returns, I guess." Clementine suggested with a slight shrug. She turned towards Luke who was sitting beside her and moved closely towards him so only he could hear him. She beckoned for him to come closer and when he did, she whispered into his ear. "Do you think Kenny and Nick look alike?"
Luke frowned. "Uhh..." he coughed a little, and whether or not he was trying to hide laughter was unknown. "Why do you say that, Clementine?"
"They both have similar hair and both were a hat." Clementine pointed out the obvious. Was she the only one who noticed they shared some resemblance.
"I guess." Clementine agreed.
Before long, Kenny and Sarita had returned downstairs and joined the others in the living room after meeting little AJ. Both of them looked happy to see a new life in this world.
"He's going to be just like his dad when he grows up." Sarita said as she and Kenny stood together since they had nowhere to sit.
"A tough man," Kenny nodded in agreement. "Alvin's tougher than he looks."
"Any work that needs to be done?" Luke inquired.
"Well, I guess we could continue boarding up those windows." Sarita suggested.
Kenny, however, had another idea. He remembered Walter and Matthew informing him that there was a small shopping/pharmacy store not too far from the ski lodge that could possibly be filled with supplies. He remembered Walter mentioning walkers were roaming round the area, but that was a month ago and surely they would have moved by now.
"I was thinking about heading to that little store Matthew and Walter were tellin' us about," Kenny spoke up. "There should still be supplies. Anybody wanna come with me? Clem?"
("I'll go.")
("I'll stay.")
("...")
"I'll go." Clementine agreed, willing to help out and get out of this ski lodge for a while.
Luke stepped forward and gave Kenny a nod to tell him that he would come too.
"Hold on a minute!" Sarita called out to them and caused the trio to stop just by the ski lodge exit. Without explaining why she stopped them, she ran to the back of the ski lodge. She returned a moment later, holding a small cerulean ski jacket with a rainbow strip around the middle that looked like it would fit Clementine.
"Here, take this Clem." Sarita said, handing the small jacket over towards the young girl. "I know it's getting cold lately and I found this in the storage room. I figured it would keep you warm."
Clementine accepted the jacket and put it on and zipped it up.
("I like it.")
("It's ugly.")
("Thank you.")
("...")
She smiled when the jacket perfectly fitted her size and was grateful for it. "Thank you, Sarita."
"Of course." the woman smiled.
Now it was time for the group to leave. Without saying anything, Kenny picked up his Winchester Model 17 and led Clementine and Luke outside. Hopefully everyone would come back safe and sound.
And that brings us to the end of chapter 3, folks. Rebecca has given birth to her baby and now she, Alvin and their baby Alvin Juniour are together as a family. Let us hope Clementine, Kenny and Luke are able to find supplies soon.
