AN: I'd like to apologize to the little piece missing from Carol's story in the previous chapter. My World Processor has a delightful way of randomly selecting pieces of the text while I'm writing and editing. (Probably owing to the very sensitive touchpad?) If I don't catch it, it deletes the text. I normally notice that this has happened and can fix it, but I must have missed that section.

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Sadie had been down doing demolition work with some of the others. She finally excused herself, feeling disgusting. She had already brought down some water for a bath earlier and she knew it was waiting for her in her bedroom. Hopefully it was cool because she was burning up.

As she was walking down the street she felt a hand clamp onto her shoulder and she swung around, surprised to find Beau standing there, staring at her.

"Sorry I scared ya," Beau said. "Didn't mean ta do that."

Sadie smiled at him.

"It's OK," she said. "Do you need something?"

Beau smiled at her.

"Nah, I just figured I'd walk with ya, where ya headed?" He asked.

Sadie couldn't understand Beau all the time. She was dripping sweat, sick of her own scent, and she felt cruddy with the caked on dirt, sawdust, and dust in general that got stirred up while they were working on demolition. She couldn't imagine where she'd be going besides in search of a bath. Still, she realized that Beau was probably just trying to make conversation, and he was sometimes awkward at that when it came to starting one with her.

"Home," she said. "I need a bath. I smell terrible."

Beau shifted uncomfortably for a moment, looking Sadie over.

"Yeah, I hear ya," Beau said. "You want me to go down an' get Carol to warm ya up some bath water?"

Sadie shook her head.

"No, it's too hot. I've got water, it'll be fine," she said. He was a sweet boy, and she appreciated that he always wanted to do something for her, but the last thing she wanted in this heat was hot water to bathe with. She would have preferred ice water if that were possible.

"Oh," Beau said. He stood there a moment longer and then dropped his head, turning away. Sadie realized that she had hurt his feelings, which had not been her intention at all.

"Beau," Sadie called. The boy stopped and turned back.

"Yeah?" He asked.

Sadie smiled at him, trying to let him know that she hadn't meant to hurt his feelings in any way.

"Thank you anyway," she said.

Beau smiled back at her.

"No problem, you wanna walk with me?" He asked. Sadie smiled, nodded, and trotted forward to catch up with him.

They walked in silence until they got to Sadie's porch. Sadie mounted the steps and turned back to Beau.

"Um…thank you for walking with me," Sadie said. "I'm going to take a bath now."

Beau lingered at the bottom a moment, holding to the post and looking at Sadie. She wasn't sure what he was waiting for or what he was going to do. She smiled again, shrugging a little, and turned toward her door, anxious to wash off.

"Wait," Beau said. "I got somethin' for ya." The boy bounded up the steps and was suddenly just in front of her. "Hold out yer hand."

Sadie wondered what Beau was up to. This wasn't exactly the kind of society any longer where people gave each other gifts. There wasn't much use in that. If they wanted anything from one of the other houses, the simply took it. Still, she held her hand out. Beau dug awkwardly in his pocket for a moment and came out with something that he put into her palm.

Sadie turned the figure over, examining it. It was a small wooden giraffe, polished and smooth. She turned it over and over in her hand for a moment, not entirely understanding why he had given it to her.

"It's a giraffe," Beau said when she looked at him. "At least it's the best I could make. It's a lot better than the other two were. I sanded it down fer ya, so it ain't got no rough sides ner nothin'. You won't get no splinters."

Sadie examined the wooden figure, turning it over in her hands again. She realized now that he had made the little giraffe, and had apparently put a great deal of effort into it. She wasn't sure how to react. She thought it was a precious gift, but she worried a little about what Beau had intended the animal to mean.

"It's beautiful," Sadie said. "You did very good." She smiled at him. She started to hand him the giraffe back, wondering if maybe she'd misunderstood. Maybe he was just showing her the little animal instead of actually giving it to her. Maybe he just wanted to prove that he could make a tiny giraffe if he wanted.

"No! I made it for you," Beau said. "It's yours."

"Oh…thank you," Sadie said. She realized now that it was a gift. She looked down at it again, considering it and considering what she wanted to say to the boy. When she looked back at Beau, she was surprised when his lips came crashing roughly into hers, his hand suddenly tangled in her hair, pulling her mouth to him. She felt him probing her lips with his tongue, and his teeth scratched at her lips. Sadie struggled away from him, finally succeeding in separating them.

For a moment she stood there, unsure of what to say. Beau looked embarrassed, but he didn't move.

"What was that?" Sadie asked, trying not to look angry. She didn't want to frighten the boy, but she knew now that she was going to have to set him straight about the situation.

"I was…" Beau started. "I was just kissin' ya, but ya didn't let me finish."

Sadie took a deep breath and then sighed. Beau looked like he was getting ready to move in for another kiss, and she put her hands up, catching him on the shoulders.

"No," she said. "I like you, Beau."

Beau smiled a little awkwardly.

"I like you too!" He said.

Sadie shook her head and his face fell a little.

"I mean I like you as a friend," Sadie said. "I like you like I like Mark. I like you like I like Michonne. I like to be friends with you, Beau, and I want us to be friends, but I don't want to be your girlfriend. I don't want you to kiss me."

Beau looked a little crushed and Sadie felt sorry for it.

"But I like you," Beau protested.

"Why?" Sadie asked Beau. "Why do you like me? What do you like about me?"

Beau shrugged and shifted his feet. Sadie reached out, putting her hand under his chin and tipping his face toward her again.

"I don't know. You're nice, and you're pretty," Beau said.

Sadie smiled.

"And you're a handsome young man, with a great personality. That's why we should be friends, but there's so much more, Beau, so much you haven't thought about. I have a baby now. Mark is a big part of my life. There's so much you don't know about me. I care about you, but not the way that you want me to. You'll find someone though, your own age, and you'll be happy with her," Sadie said.

"Them girls don't even pay me no attention," Beau said.

Sadie smiled at him again.

"Maybe it's because you haven't paid them any attention," Sadie said. "If you show them who you are, how wonderful you are, I bet you that they'd like you, and they would want to kiss you."

Beau nodded, but he still didn't look happy. Sadie hoped that he'd get over that, but she understood that he'd need a few minutes from being let down.

"Yeah, fine," Beau said finally. "I gotta go."

Sadie smiled. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. She kissed him gently on the cheek. He looked at her a minute and smiled a crooked little smile. She held her hand up, offering him back the giraffe.

"No, ya gotta keep that. I made it fer ya, ain't for nobody else," he said.

"Thank you, Beau," Sadie said. "Are we still friends?" She asked.

Beau stood there for a moment, staring at her. Finally he nodded.

"Yeah, Sadie, we're still friends," Beau said.

Sadie smiled.

"Good. See you later?"

Beau smiled back.

"See ya at dinner," he said. He turned and bounded off the steps. Sadie watched him start down the street before she opened her hand and looked at the giraffe again. She smiled and ducked into the house for the bath that she'd been planning, hoping that Beau wasn't too upset.

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"Da Da!" Tyreese was walking toward headquarters in hopes of dinner soon when he was attacked by Judith. "Da Da, come here," she said. She came running toward him, almost stumbling, and grabbed his leg.

"Where are we going?" He asked, reaching a finger down for her to grab. He shot a look at Carol who was finishing up dinner. She looked up at him momentarily, shrugged, and went back to stirring whatever was in the pot.

"Come on," Judith whined.

"Ok, fine Jude, I'm coming," Tyreese said. He let her pull him to their yard. She went directly to their little pool in the shade, emptied of water for the time being. Tyreese stood there and watched as she reached into the pool and fished out one of the toys they had piled there.

"Look, boat!" Judith said, holding up a plastic boat.

"I see, Jude, you have a boat," Tyreese said.

Suddenly the little girl started tugging at her clothes. She was out of her shirt before Tyreese realized what she was doing and she pushed her shorts down quickly. She would have been out of them if it hadn't been for the fact that getting them over her shoes was a puzzle she hadn't solved yet.

"Judith!" Tyreese said loudly. "Don't take your clothes off!"

From a few feet away he could hear Carol laughing. He realized she had set him up for this, whatever it was.

"No clothes, I swim," Judith protested.

"We're going to put your clothes back on, Judith," Tyreese said, coming over and pulling her shorts back up and reaching around her to find her shirt.

Judith stood there, her fingers in her mouth, looking crushed.

"No…" she whined. "I swim, no clothes!"

"Now isn't swimming time, it's eating time," Tyreese said, pulling her shirt on, momentarily dislodging her fingers from her mouth. He almost laughed at how crushed she looked. He put her arm through the other sleeve boat and all. "Can you put your boat back in the pool?"

Judith eyed him with the same expression she gave him whenever he scolded her for something. It was something between betrayal and dislike. Her bottom lip curled out now that she'd removed her fingers.

"I want to swim," she protested again. Tyreese raised his eyebrows at her and she edged slowly toward the pool, dropping the boat reluctantly over the side and standing there, looking betrayed. He wondered for a moment if Carol had told her that he would take her swimming, but he thought he would have been warned if such an activity had been promised. "Please?" Judith asked after a minute. Tyreese sighed.

"No, Jude, it's not swimming time. You have to eat," he said, scooping her up. She turned her face away from him. He started back toward headquarters. "I tell you what," he said, "if you eat good, I'll bring you out here to swim a little before bed. Would you like that? You and Hope can swim a little? You can take your bath in the pool?"

Judith seemed to be considering it a minute and then she grinned at him.

"You like that?" He asked.

"OK!" Judith said, still grinning.

Tyreese was coming up near Carol who was wrestling up one of the pots.

"Trade with me," Tyreese said. Carol sat the pot down and took Judith. Tyreese heaved up the pot. "You set me up," he said.

Carol laughed. "I did not set you up. I don't know what happened with you and Judith, but she did that all on her own. I did hear enough though that I want to thank you for volunteering to bathe the girls. I'll get Michonne to bring the soap and towels down to you after dinner. Now if she can just convince Daryl to read the stories tonight, we may get a night off."

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"Did Judith go to sleep?" Carol asked when Tyreese came in the room. She dog eared the page of the book she was reading and put it on the bedside table.

"Yeah, she's out. I think she was really tired," Tyreese said. "Hope didn't put up much of a fight for Daryl either."

Carol flipped back the cover and Tyreese shucked off his clothes, climbing in beside her.

"She had a busy day," Carol said, resting her head on Tyreese's chest.

"Rick came by earlier, while I was washing the girls outside," Tyreese said. "I asked him if he wanted to help, but he said no. He just watched a few minutes and then went on home."

Carol ran her finger around Tyreese's chest and leaned up on her elbow to look at him.

"So?" She asked.

"I don't know," Tyreese said. "Sometimes I just feel bad for Rick. I feel guilty, I guess."

"What do you have to feel guilty about?" Carol asked. Tyreese looked at her face. She looked thoroughly confused.

"I just try to think how I'd feel if I were Rick and some strange man was masquerading as the father of my child and I was just on the outside, you know? I was trying to be some kind of uncle to my kid while this complete stranger was taking my place," Tyreese said.

Carol smiled at him and kissed him.

"You've got nothing to feel guilty about. Rick's told you that he appreciates the role you play in Judith's life," she said.

"I just feel bad because I think I'd feel terrible if I were him," Tyreese argued.

"Maybe you would, but you're not Rick. You've already been a single dad once, right?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Tyreese said.

"And let's just say that you and I were to have a baby and I didn't live through it, what would you do?" Carol asked.

"I'd be devastated," Tyreese said. He hugged Carol to him. "I don't want to lose you."

"And I don't want to have a baby," Carol responded, "but for the sake of argument let's say it happened. What would you do?"

"I don't know, Carol, I guess I'd have a baby," Tyreese said.

"Exactly," Carol said. "You'd have a baby, and you wouldn't just hand it over to someone else and ignore it for…what, how long has it been? Two years?"

Tyreese sighed. "No, I wouldn't do that," he said.

"That's the difference," Carol said. "I hate to sound heartless, but if Rick is dealing with some guilt right now, or some hurt, he's brought it on himself. It's not your fault and it's not mine. It's great that he's working his way into Judith's life however he can right now, but it's nobody's fault but his own that he's not the one that Judith thinks of as her Daddy."

"I guess you're right," Tyreese said.

"I'm always right," Carol said, kissing him again and returning her head to his chest.

Tyreese snickered.

"Yes you are, Carol, even though I forget that sometimes," Tyreese said.