AN: Slightly shorter chapter…there are others in the works.
Remember, feed the author's and review if you like what you read!
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Daryl was holding Hope while Carol wrapped her to Michonne's back.
"Your child is slippery," Carol said, brushing Hope's leg with her hand.
"That's what happens when you tell Daryl to put sunscreen on her," Michonne said.
"You said to make sure she was good an' covered, and she's good an' covered," Daryl said.
"You did well, Daryl, no one is criticizing you," Michonne said.
"How does that feel?" Carol asked. "You can let go of Hope now, Daryl."
"You sure?" He asked.
"I'm certain, Daryl, she's not going anywhere," Carol said.
Daryl slowly let go of Hope and she settled into her place.
"Comfortable?" Carol asked. Michonne shifted around.
"Not quite, there's something over here that's not good," she said, motioning at her left side. Carol walked around and looked at it.
"Oh, it's just a little twisted," she said, fixing the place. "Better?"
"Much," Michonne responded.
Daryl handed Michonne the knife to buckle around her waist. She huffed a little when she took it, never really feeling comfortable leaving her katana behind, no matter how safe the situation was.
"It's just for a lil' bit, 'Chonne, and I'm keepin' y'all in the middle of everyone, ain't nothin' gon' happen no way," He said. He kissed her forehead while she buckled on the knife.
They were just going to get the planting done, it was unlikely that anything would happen, and even if it did, Michonne was more than capable of defending herself with a knife, it was just that she preferred her katana. She knew, however, that it would be more comfortable to have Hope strapped to her back during the planting if she was going to spend the whole day bending over and stooping down.
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Michonne, Daryl, and Carol joined everyone else down at the "fields" to start planting. Everything was ready, but Rick and Tyreese were making a few more laps, turning over the dirt and making sure that all the designated areas were clearly marked and ready for planting. Carol had organized everything down to the finest detail, giving everyone their instructions and their locations. There wasn't anyone who wouldn't be involved in the planting and watering process today.
Maggie and Glenn were responsible for handing out seed bags. Michonne already knew where she was working, so she took her bag from them and started toward her area, Hope enjoying the ride, though she couldn't understand what they were doing.
Judith would not succumb to being restrained to a wrap, so Carl had accepted the job of entertaining her a little off from the fields, playing with her and a bright colored ball that he'd found.
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Michonne didn't know how many hours they'd all been working, some planting, some making rows for others, some going back and forth for water, filling watering cans, and lightly watering the already planted seeds, but her back was killing her and Hope was starting to demand something to eat. The rest of them had pretty much unanimously decided to work through lunch to make sure that everything got planted and watered before the end of the day, with the exception of Carol who had to stop to feed Judith, and would stop early to start getting dinner ready for everyone to close out the day.
Michonne wandered over to where Daryl was, Hope whimpering on her back.
"Daryl, she's hungry, I need help," Michonne said, coming up. She turned around and stood in front of him, waiting patiently while Daryl freed Hope from her constraints. He kissed the little girl, who was in no mood to deal with anyone that wasn't offering her something to eat the moment, and passed her quickly to Michonne, who was already freeing her breasts.
"You gettin' tired, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. Michonne realized she was panting, and pouring sweat. The added body heat of Hope, coupled with the heat of the day, the heat of the sun, and the exertion from the work had made her almost soaking wet.
"Yeah, Daryl, I'm getting tired," she replied.
"Maybe you oughta take a break, or take a different job for a while," he said.
"I think I'm going to, Daryl, when Hope gets done. I think I'll see if I can get on water run duty," she responded.
"Just tell Carol you wanna do it and she'll put someone else to plantin', I bet some of them wanna different job too," he said.
When Hope finished eating, Michonne called Carol over to help her get Hope strapped to Daryl's back. She'd decided that it was safer for her to be inside the community with him than it would be for her to go outside the gates with Michonne.
"Can you pull someone from water duty and let me trade off with them?" Michonne asked.
"Yeah, I'll put Chelsea to work in your place," Carol said.
When Hope was secured to Daryl's back, apparently considering the possibility of a nap, Michonne kissed her and then gave Daryl a quick kiss.
"I'll be back later," she announced, heading off to get her katana from the house before joining up with Sasha and Beth to go out for water.
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Sasha and Michonne were flanking Beth on the water run.
Beth and Sasha had been becoming quite the bosom buddies, drawn together because of their semi-romances with Junior and Jimmy. Michonne didn't know how far those romances went, but she didn't imagine that they were blazing out of control. Sasha and Jimmy seemed a lot more sure of themselves than Beth and Junior, and it made Michonne wonder if the two of them were even really sure what to do with themselves. Both Beth and Junior seemed fairly innocent.
The romance between Sasha and Jimmy also had a lot more opportunity to grow these days since Tyreese had begun to occupy Carol's bed much more frequently than he did his own. Michonne hadn't missed him bringing a bag of his stuff to the house one night. She suspected he was slowly moving in, bringing a few items at a time so as to not alarm Carol, and then one day she would sort of realize that he had very little need to return to his house, all of his belongings having made the pilgrimage to Carol's room in installments.
"So, Sasha, how are things with Jimmy now that Carol has your brother occupied?" Michonne asked.
"Things are a lot better. We don't have him always breathing down our necks," Sasha said.
"They're over at our house most of the time until late, and then they both go home, but I think they're both going to the same home because Junior says Jimmy isn't in their room very often," Beth said.
"You wouldn't rat someone out, would you, Beth?" Sasha said.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Michonne said, "I certainly am in no position to judge anyone."
"I know, and I know Tyreese knows, it's just that he doesn't care right now. He's always been overprotective, and at least right now he's occupied with someone else to be protective of," Sasha said. "I've told Beth she should move in with us, then maybe she'd get a little alone time with Junior, but she hasn't done it yet."
"You haven't had any alone time with Junior?" Michonne asked.
They reached the water and filled their buckets. There weren't many Walkers out there, most of them were drawn to the fences surrounding the community, interested in all the noise and commotion going on inside. That left the woods surrounding the area fairly clear.
"No," Beth said meekly as they turned back, "we haven't had any time with each other. Maggie and Glenn watch us like hawks. You'd think they were my parents. I mean it's not like I don't know what they're doing all the time."
Michonne snickered.
"Do you want me to have a little talk with them about letting you move in with Sasha? I'm pretty sure Tyreese is just going to end up living at our house. You two would have the house to yourselves," Michonne said. "You could have whatever guests you wanted."
"Are you setting up a hook up for Beth?" Sasha asked with a laugh.
"I'm simply putting an offer on the table," Michonne said. "Beth and Junior are both adults, I suppose they can make their own decisions. Besides, who do you think was behind setting your brother and Carol up, and consequently getting him out of your hair?"
"You did that?" Sasha asked.
"Well, your brother did most of the work, but I suggested he take a chance," Michonne responded.
"Well, then I guess it would be alright if you talked to Maggie and Glenn," Beth said. Michonne smiled. Beth's face was a bright red. Michonne didn't know if they'd know what to do or have the guts to proceed when they were alone, but given enough time she was confident that they'd work up to things.
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It was dark when they finally finished watering all that they'd put down, and everyone headed back to headquarters, starving and exhausted, but somewhat exhilarated at the thought of the food that they were going to be growing soon.
Carol had everything ready when they got there, setting the kitchen up like an assembly line so that they could pass through, fill their plates, and file into the dining room, where most of them sank into their seats like stones in water.
"Good job out there, everyone, we hustled and we got it done," Carol said, finally allowing herself the luxury of taking a seat.
"Hear, hear!" Said Maggie, mustering up the last bit of enthusiasm she had for the evening.
It looked as though everyone in the room would likely go directly back to their houses and collapse into bed. There would be sweet dreams tonight because if everything went well they'd just secured themselves a good deal more time in the community.
Michonne, for one, was exhausted. She had managed to circulate through the various jobs available to them throughout the day, spending half the time with Hope either sleeping or squirming against her back. She could tell that Daryl was exhausted too, since he'd also done his fair share of the work, carrying their child around the other half of the time.
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"I'm gettin' too old for this shit," Daryl said, taking off his clothes and going in the bathroom to start washing. Michonne followed suit, thankful that the day's excitement had exhausted Hope as well.
"Yeah, you are pretty old," she said, smirking at him. She knew that Daryl had been joking, and his facial expression right now told her that he was trying to decide if she was joking. "I'm pretty old, too, you know," she said, reassuring him that she was joking.
He grinned at her.
"Nah, you ain't old, 'Chonne, you still a spring chicken," he said.
"Well, tonight there's not a lot of strut left in this chicken, Daryl," she said.
"I know what'cha mean, 'Chonne, but we got everythin' ready to go. We gon' grow us a whole messa food out there," Daryl responded, quietly helping her wash her back. She responded in kind.
When they finally got in bed, Michonne felt herself engulfed in sleep almost immediately. She was so exhausted that it felt like the bed was moving around with her on it. The very last thing she felt was Daryl putting his arm around her. She was gone before he ever started snoring.