As Rick walked toward his house after breakfast, he noticed Sadie step out onto her porch. She hadn't come to breakfast. Instead Mark had been there with the baby. Now he realized that Sadie must have been sleeping in because she stepped out on the porch wearing nothing but a very oversized button down shirt and carrying a cup of coffee, despite the heat. She walked out on the porch, apparently oblivious to him passing in the street, and put the cup on the porch railing, stretching and moving her rocking chair to a different position before settling down in it. Rick realized that was the moment that she first noticed his presence.

Rick steered his steps toward her porch, stopping right before the steps.

"Good sleep?" Rick asked.

Sadie smiled at him.

"Good morning," she said. "You want some coffee?"

Rick decided she probably hadn't understood what he had said, but he took her invitation to coffee as an invitation to join her on the porch. He mounted the steps and walked around, sliding the second rocker close to her. He tried not to let his eyes trail too much to her bare legs or to her cleavage, which was visible because she hadn't bothered to button the shirt she was wearing very high.

"No, thank you," Rick said as he sat. "Where'd you get the hot water?"

"It's not too hot," Sadie said. "I put drinking water in the windowsill at night. It warms it enough," she explained.

Rick smiled at her.

"I saw that Mark has the baby," Rick said.

Sadie nodded.

"I was sleepy, but Paul wasn't. Mark offered to watch him for a while after I fed him this morning. Was he OK?" She asked.

"He looked fine," Rick said.

Rick realized that he had no idea what to say to Sadie right now. He had a million things going on in his mind, but nothing that he could use as a conversation topic. He really hadn't been much of a "ladies' man" in his youth. That position had always really belonged to Shane. Lori had been the first woman that he was really, truly interested in that had he had ever dated. They'd seemed to work together so well in the beginning. It was hard to figure out exactly why their marriage had begun to go sour. He'd thought about it, like he'd thought about so many things during the past few days, and all he could come up with was that it had been a lack of communication, a lack of time together. In the end that had really been the problem.

When the group had returned from Woodbury, bringing with them the survivors that would become part of their group, his connection with Rachel had been purely physical. He didn't remember any sort of courtship with her. It had simply been an animalistic connection, one that had taken place randomly in the watch tower. He'd suspected she was flirting with him and he'd leaned in close to her. He wasn't sure if he'd kissed her or she'd kissed him, they'd just connected. From there the relationship had blossomed into something that was based entirely on sex. There wasn't a need for communication or conversation. He couldn't think of one meaningful conversation they'd had since they'd been together.

But Sadie was going to be different. If he was going to try to connect with her, he was going to have to do more than just lean in to kiss her, and she wasn't flirting with him. She was gorgeous, and she was driving him crazy by sitting so nonchalantly in front of him dressed the way that she was, seemingly unaware of his attraction to her, but she wasn't intentionally doing anything to draw his attention.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said, "about the conversation that we had the other day."

Sadie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh? What did you want to talk about?" Sadie asked.

"I really just wanted to say thank you," Rick said. "I've been spending a little time with Judith, and I'm glad that you put me in a situation where I had to."

"You didn't have to," Sadie said, "you wanted to. I didn't do anything but push you in the right direction."

"Well, thank you anyway," Rick said.

"So, how are things with Judith?" Sadie asked.

Rick leaned back in the rocker that he was sitting in, looking out at the street for a moment. Finally he turned back, facing Sadie again, who apparently had not broken her line of sight with him.

"They're good, I guess," Rick said. "She seems fine with me, but I don't know what I expected to happen. I don't feel like her father, I feel like an outsider."

"Things will get better. She will understand when she's older, you'll just have to explain it to her. At least you found good parents for her," Sadie said.

Rick nodded. He'd already decided that at best he could hope to be some kind of uncle figure for Judith, but he hoped that he could at least have that kind of relationship with her. Carol and Tyreese were her parents, Judith had made that much clear, and he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize the security that Judith found with them. He did wonder, though, if Judith would ever understand the situation, no matter how they explained it, when he wasn't sure that any of them understood it entirely.

They sat there a moment longer, in silence. Rick had no idea what to say, and apparently Sadie either had nothing to say, or had no desire to chat. She sat quietly, sipping her coffee, and staring out at the people who passed by.

Daryl and Tyreese passed by a few minutes later. Daryl stopped just in front of Sadie's house and Tyreese paused a second later, stopping only inches behind Daryl.

"We goin' ta get a bed for Judith that Carol seen in Beth and Josh's house. We gotta take it back down to our house. Give us a hand?" Daryl called to Rick.

"Uh, sure," Rick said. He turned and noticed that Sadie was already looking at him, perhaps expecting an explanation about what was taking place.

"I'm going to go," Rick said. "They need help moving a bed for Judith," he explained.

Sadie smiled and nodded at him.

Rick got up and circled around behind her chair, starting toward the steps. He heard Sadie call "goodbye" to him as he dismounted the steps and he stopped to wave at her before joining up with Daryl and Tyreese.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Nooo!" Judith wailed. "My crib!" She pointed at her crib.

Michonne sighed. She and Carol had gotten their laughter this afternoon by watching the men trying to get the bed in the room and set up, making room somehow for the furniture that was already in the nursery. The plan was to introduce Judith to her new toddler bed, leaving her crib available in the future for the baby. They'd decided that it didn't matter that the room was crowded, since the children didn't use the room except for sleep, and the kids might as well be as used to living in tight quarters as the rest of them had been at times since this whole thing started.

Judith wasn't fond of the idea of her new bed now that it was bedtime, though. Carol was sitting in the floor, crowded in, next to the toddler bed. Judith was standing in front of her. At intervals she paced back and forth between the unwanted bed and her crib. Other times she clung to Carol trying to climb into her lap.

"Judith, you'll like your bed better," Carol argued. "It's comfortable and it's just like my bed."

She'd put Judith on the bed once, but the girl had almost acted like it was made of hot lava, scrambling off it as quickly as possible.

"My crib!" Judith protested, pointing back at her crib. To make her situation even more unbearable, Carol had put her duck on the bed, closest to the wall, and Judith kept eyeing it as though it were suffering some horrible fate.

Michonne watched them, leaning against Hope's crib. Hope was supposed to be sleeping, but instead she was standing in her crib, grasping the bars, and watching the brutal torture that Judith was obviously being subjected to.

"I'm getting too old for this," Carol said. Michonne snickered.

"Maybe she's just not ready for it," Michonne said. "We've got a good while before the baby comes, she could stay in her crib a little longer."

"No," Carol argued, "she's got to get used to the fact that things change, Michonne. This isn't a world where we can hide that from them. Better she learn that trauma over something as simple as a bed instead of something like losing me or Tyreese."

Michonne grunted her understanding. It was a hard truth, but it was the truth nonetheless. Michonne thought it was interesting to watch the children growing up now. Sometimes they seemed so different than children had before, but in other ways they remained pretty much the same.

"That's not your crib anymore, Jude, that's for babies. Cribs are for babies and beds are for big girls," Carol argued. "And you're a big girl, aren't you? Just like when you go potty, right? You're a big girl."

Judith eyed her, still obviously not wholly convinced.

"It's my crib," Judith argued back.

"Jude," Carol said, "this is your bed now. You're going to like it. That crib we're going to give to the baby. Can you be a big girl and give your crib to the baby?"

Judith's fingers went to her mouth immediately. Michonne knew that was a habit that they were going to have to break her of, but with working with potty training and now having a new bed, she noticed that Carol was making no move to address her compulsive finger sucking tonight.

"Baby?" Judith asked. "Baby Paul?"

"No, not Paul," Carol said. "Michonne's baby. Michonne has a baby in her belly, and when that baby gets here, it's going to need the crib. Can you let the baby have your crib?"

Judith's attention turned to Michonne then and Michonne snickered. She knew well and good that Judith had lost all interest whatsoever in the crib at this moment. Now her interest was entirely on the baby.

"I think you just blew her mind," Michonne said. Carol snickered.

"Come here, Michonne, sit down here with us," Carol said.

Michonne sighed.

"I might sit down there, but I'm not so sure how gracefully I'm going to get up," she said.

"I won't laugh, I remember how awkward it can be," Carol said.

Michonne eased herself down, finally making it all the way to the floor in the tight space and moving as close to Carol and Judith as she could.

"Is the baby kicking, by chance?" Carol asked.

"Actually, yes, the baby is kicking," Michonne responded. "I'm guessing that little bout of activity stirred it up."

"Come here, Jude, do you want to feel the baby?" Carol asked.

Judith sucked her fingers and considered it a second. Finally she nodded, choosing to remain silent about the situation.

"Here, do this," Carol said, reaching out and putting her hand on Michonne's belly. Judith copied her, leaning around Michonne's legs. Michonne took the little girl's hand and pressed her hand against where the baby was kicking. Judith immediately snatched her hand away and rushed back to Carol, wrapping her arms around her and eyeing Michonne suspiciously.

Carol laughed.

"Congratulations, Carol, I think she's terrified of me now," Michonne said.

"No she's not!" Carol said. "You're not scared of the baby, are you Jude?" She asked, brushing the girl's hair back from her face.

Judith shook her head but didn't look away from Michonne.

"That's the baby moving in there. It's saying hello," Carol said. "Can you be a really big girl and give the baby your crib so that it's ready for the baby when it gets here?"

Judith considered it for a minute. Then slowly she'd let go of Carol, still regarding Michonne, but still not speaking. She moved forward, then, toward Michonne, reaching her hand out like she wanted to touch her belly again.

"The baby went to sleep," Michonne said. "It's not moving around right now," Michonne tried to explain when Judith had stepped in front of her legs, putting both her hands on her belly. "It's really sleepy. Are you sleepy too, Jude?"

Judith looked at her a minute like she was a little frightened.

"Carol, do you think she thinks I A-T-E the baby?" Michonne asked, spelling the word in order to not put any ideas in the mind of the girl that she hadn't established on her own.

"I don't know, who knows what she's thinking. I never had to explain that to Sophia," Carol said.

"I never had to explain it to my girls. They were too close together. I'm just afraid we've just scarred her," Michonne said.

She waited a minute. Judith had moved her hands off of her belly now, but she was still staring at her.

"Hey, Jude, you're not scared of me and the baby, are you?" Michonne asked.

Judith slowly shook her head.

"Can I have a hug, then?" Michonne asked. She held her arms out to Judith, wondering if the girl would respond as positively to her as she normally did. She was relieved when Judith reached her arms out to her. Michonne pulled her close to her, hugging her, and then letting her sit on her leg. "That's my girl. Can you give your big girl bed a try? I bet it's really comfy and your Daddy and your uncle Daryl and Rick, they all went through a lot of work just to get your special bed ready. Can you try to sleep in it?"

Michonne felt Judith snuggling against her. One of her hands had found one of Michonne's dreadlocks and she was twisting it.

"She's trying to go to sleep," Carol said. "Should I just let her go to sleep on you and then put her to bed?"

"It could work," Michonne replied.

They waited, together in the lamplight, until Judith had fallen asleep. Once she was out, Carol carefully got up and moved Judith into her bed, tucking her in with her duck. The girl was a good sleeper, and once she was out, she normally wasn't easily awakened.

"Finally," Carol whispered. She reached down and Michonne accepted her help, struggling to her feet. She checked on Hope, who had finally decided to go to sleep when things quieted down with Judith. "Hopefully she'll sleep fine in there, it really is more comfortable than the crib," Carol whispered as they were going out the door.

"Well, we won the battle," Michonne said, "let's just hope we haven't lost the war."

They bid each other goodnight in the hallway and Michonne slipped through the darkness into her own bedroom while Carol took the lamp, heading in the direction of her own.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Michonne slipped into bed, the lamp on the bedside table was still burning and she leaned up and blew it out before sinking into her pillow. Daryl wrapped his arm protectively around her, like he did most nights, and his hand instinctively went for her belly.

"Y'all sure did have some rounds with Jude tonight," Daryl said.

"I thought you were asleep," Michonne said.

"Nah, 'Chonne, you know I don't like to sleep without ya, I knew you was comin' ta bed as soon as Jude gave up the fight," Daryl said. "You reckon she's gon' learn to like her new bed?"

"She'll learn to like it, Daryl, it's just something new for her," Michonne said.

"She ain't gon' like it none if we have to go on the road again," Daryl said. "Then all she gets for a bed is a hay pallet in some old barn if she's lucky."

Michonne thought about how matter-of-factly Daryl had made the statement. Life on the road was something that was a stark reality and a harsh memory for most of them, but it almost seemed distant at the same time.

Michonne didn't want to think about going back to life on the road right now. It was something that loomed over their heads, in the distance, and it made her uncomfortable. She curled herself up a little.

"What's wrong, 'Chonne? You feelin' OK?" Daryl asked.

She realized that she was tense and he must be responding to it. She tried to will herself to relax, but she doubted she'd been very successful.

"I was just thinking about going back on the road, Daryl," Michonne said. "I was just thinking that I wasn't ready to do it."

"You ain't gotta worry 'bout that right now, 'Chonne," Daryl said, squeezing her gently to him. "We ain't goin' no time soon. Carol said she done put up a lotta food an' she said she bets she'll get a year's worth of food easy. That don't even count what we got put up an' what we can still find. We stayin' put for a while."

"I know, Daryl, but it still worries me sometimes," Michonne admitted.

"I didn't mean to get ya stirred up, 'Chonne," Daryl said. "I was just talkin'. Forget I said it."

Michonne tried to relax. She felt Daryl pull away from her and minute later she felt his hands kneading into her back and squeezing at her shoulders. He was no masseuse, but he tried, and it felt good. She felt herself growing calmer and more relaxed.

"We may have scared Judith," Michonne said.

"How'dya do that?" Daryl asked, still kneading.

"We told her about the baby," Michonne said. She yawned.

"Why would she be scared of the baby?" Daryl asked.

"That's a lot for a little kid," Michonne said. "It can be hard for them to understand."

"She'll be fine, 'Chonne," Daryl said after a second. "Jude's a smart kid. We'll straighten her out if'n she thinks it's somethin' to be scared of."

Daryl continued kneading for a bit and Michonne felt herself drifting off. Finally, when he stopped and snuggled next to her again, his arm going around her, she felt him kiss her gently on the back of the neck.

"Speakin' of the baby, 'Chonne," he whispered. "Need ta get'cha some sleep so the baby can get some too. I love you, 'Chonne."

"I love you too," Michonne whispered back, just before she drifted off.