AN: To those of you who have been so kind and positive, I'm more appreciative than you know. Here is another chapter to keep things moving. I thank you for reading.
I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!
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Michonne stepped back into the bedroom from putting Zeb down, her muscles sore from the day, and picked up the conversation she'd been having with Daryl when she'd stepped out to keep either of them from inadvertently waking the sleeping baby.
She was amused…more at the images that her mind offered her than at the actual words that Daryl was saying...but she tried to hide the smirk, afraid that he might misinterpret it for criticism of the situation that he was presenting to her.
Jackson and Jeremiah had suggested, at least in some fashion, the use of wagons to move their group from here to wherever it was that they would eventually end up. Apparently Tyreese and Daryl had discussed it at some length throughout the day, and now they were both sold on the idea.
But in true Daryl fashion, it was nothing that he wanted to present to the group until he felt that he'd worked out enough of the details to handle the questions that everyone would likely ask. And for the moment, the obvious question was one of "how."
Daryl's answer to the question, in short, was that they were going to have to cut their own lumber…and that's where Michonne couldn't help but have a somewhat amusing image of several of them working with the dramatic two-handled saws she'd seen on television.
"You don't think," Michonne offered, sliding into bed and pausing her speaking to moan involuntarily at the comfort of the mattress against her tired muscles that were slowly adapting to the training schedule she was putting them through, "that it might be a good idea to take the lumber from somewhere? I mean before you turn into Paul Bunyan?"
Daryl groaned out something like a growl of consideration.
"Tyreese an' me talked about takin' it from them houses…the ones we ain't tore down yet. He figures we ain't likely ta fill 'em up before we head out…but…" Daryl let his voice trail out, obviously revisiting the earlier conversation in his head.
"But?" Michonne asked. The suggestion of taking the lumber from the houses seemed like an obvious choice. From the ones they'd torn down they'd gotten enough wood to build any of the other structures, or to modify them, that they'd needed or desired so far.
"Hell of a lotta work," Daryl said.
Michonne snickered and raised her eyebrows at him.
"And sawing planks by hand isn't?" She asked.
Daryl made a face and shrugged slightly.
"Hell of a lotta work for shit we ain't gonna use," Daryl said. "Sawin' the planks is planks for the wagons without the extra…"
Michonne nodded, ceding him the point.
"And lumber yards?" She asked. "Can they really be all that picked through?"
Daryl shook his head slightly, nipping now at his cuticle with the consideration of her suggestion.
"No…but the last time Glenn went out ta find one, damn thing only offered up some of what he was lookin' for. Wood's rottin' away…" Daryl said.
Michonne nodded. Exposure and time would rot wood…and it wasn't as though all the lumber yards had taken time when the world had gone insane to make sure that everything they had would be protected well from the elements.
"So…what? We tell everyone we're starting our own lumber business? By hand?" Michonne asked.
Daryl chuckled and Michonne was almost confident that the earlier image she'd had of them all sawing endlessly at tree trunks had just entered his mind. He nodded slightly, offering the same half shrug as he had before.
"Yeah…I reckon so," he said.
Michonne shrugged herself. It wouldn't be the most outlandish thing they'd done so far, and she was almost certain that it wouldn't be the most outlandish thing that they'd ever have to do.
"Sounds like a plan to me, then," she said. She smiled at him. "I'm game…"
Daryl smiled.
"Hell…ya ass is prob'ly lookin' forward to it," Daryl said. "Gonna try ta show us all up."
"Wouldn't be any fun if I didn't try," Michonne responded.
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Michonne held the little bundle in her arms that had just been offered to her…really it was more out of the request that she "take it" that had led her to accept the baby from Glenn and now he stood silently beside her, watching her.
He'd insisted that the baby wasn't going to stop crying. He'd told her that Maggie was sleeping…and if she didn't sleep soon they'd both go insane. His face reflected that maybe he was in as desperate a need of sleep as Maggie was.
And the baby that absolutely, positively, was never going to stop crying had stopped crying almost the moment that Glenn had put it in her arms.
And now the little girl, calm and wide eyed, was looking at Michonne like they were sharing some kind of inside joke…some kind of secret. She had her parents at their wits end, and she knew exactly what she was doing.
Michonne sat down on the couch in her living room, resting the little girl in the valley between her legs, and she glanced at Glenn.
"Well?" She asked.
Glenn frowned at her, his eyes dark with want of sleep.
"What are we doing wrong?" He asked, somewhat defeated.
Michonne glanced back at the little girl who was pursing her lips in a silent whistle and sighed.
"You're not doing anything wrong," Michonne said. "You're just learning your little girl…that's all. And it looks like she's training you well."
"She doesn't sleep at night," Glenn said, his voice almost coming out in a whine. "She eats, she sleeps, she cries…and she will actually wait for me to change her diaper just so she can go in a clean one."
Michonne chuckled.
"Welcome to being a parent," she said. "It gets better…she'll sleep more as she gets a little bit bigger. The important thing is keeping her on some sort of a routine. Zeb is already sleeping a little more than he used to."
Glenn looked like she'd given him the worst news he could receive. There was no "quick fix" in parenting. There was no instant, just add water solution that was going to make him have a baby that was there, and simultaneously not making her presence announced.
But Michonne also understood the frustration that could build up if you were constantly with the baby. She'd always considered herself a good mother, but that didn't mean that she wasn't glad to see Carol take Hope or Daryl go off with Zeb for a bit.
It wasn't bad parenting to need a break from your child…and usually the break made you that much happier to see them return. Michonne also realized that with Zeb around, and with the fact that Glenn and Maggie had almost become shut ins with their daughter, whom they were now calling "Lela", not too many of them had been offering to step in and give them even the short breaks that new parents need not to feel overwhelmed.
"Why don't you go and take a nap with Maggie?" Michonne offered. "I'll watch Lela…she can tag along with me for a little while."
Glenn's face brightened at the prospect and then dimmed again slightly.
"Are you sure?" He asked, wrinkling his face in concern. "I don't want to put you out…"
Michonne shook her head, gathering up the girl that she'd probably feed and change before she set out to locate her own offspring that were wandering around the community in the care of other wards.
"You're not putting me out…" Michonne offered. "You need a break, and I've got it covered."
Glenn didn't waste any more time arguing with her. It was clear on his face that he desired the nap she'd suggested probably more than he'd wanted any of the things that they'd all sat around at one time or another and dreamed of having in the new world. He thanked her enthusiastically and disappeared out the house, leaving her with the little girl.
Michonne took Lela up to the nursery and changed her quickly, making sure that she was clean and had as little to fuss about as possible. She was quiet, other than a few coos and howls that were really more about her making satisfied noises than anything else.
And then Michonne sat with her a moment, finally convincing the little thing to latch and feed from her. She could have bothered to mix a bottle, but at least this would save her from having to pump any extra that she was producing, and by now it was common for any of the children who needed milk to get it from any source available.
Lela was, as far as Michonne could tell, a lovely baby…and although that spoke volumes, perhaps, for the character she'd been born with, it also said a lot about what Glenn and Maggie had done with her in the short time that they'd had her.
She was obviously loved and comfortable with physical contact. She was easy going and not afraid, even though she was now alone in Michonne's care and away from her parents, and she was, it seemed, a happy baby.
In fact, Michonne suspected that Glenn's distress, and the distress that he reported Maggie to be in, was probably exactly the same as some she'd suffered when Anjelica was just a tiny baby. It was nothing more than the sleep deprived, new parent jitters making everything worse than it really was…and making even the most angelic child seem momentarily like the most out of control.
Michonne smiled to herself, running her finger over the cheek of the pretty little girl who looked at her while she fed, with large eyes, dark enough that her pupils almost didn't seem to exist. Michonne didn't like to think that far in the future…because life had taught her that the future was wholly unpredictable…but she wondered if one day the little girl that she held right now might not be something of a sweetheart for Zeb…if maybe she would even be the mother of Michonne's grandchildren.
Michonne rocked gently, waiting out Lela's meal, and allowed herself to daydream…much like Daryl had done with his family before, of the possibility of what her family might look like in the years to come.
"A Dixon and a Rhee," Michonne said softly to the little girl who wouldn't understand, for a very long time, what she was thinking about. "Stranger things have happened…"
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Sadie wasn't surprised when Rick volunteered to go with her to get water, but she was surprised when he insisted that they go alone instead of taking the customary third person. He had argued, though, that with the chilling temperatures and general lackadaisical nature of the Walkers because of it, there shouldn't be too much effort involved in bringing back three buckets with two of them.
She had picked up, immediately, though that he was nervous about something or contemplating something. She was good at reading people, and Rick was becoming easier and easier to read as he let his emotions flow naturally and put less effort into trying to hide them, at least from her.
She didn't press him as they made their way toward the water…she couldn't have even if she'd wanted to since he remained largely out of her field of vision as they walked, only occasionally stepping into it, covering her from lazy attempts of the two Walkers they encountered in the short trip.
The creek that they got water from never froze, at least not entirely, but the very edges of it would ice slightly where the water was stopped by straw and rocks from running as smoothly as it did in the middle.
While Rick kept watch for any possible Walker threat, Sadie carefully filled the buckets with water, setting them to the side, mindful not to fall in.
The buckets filled, though, she paused before gathering them back up and stepped in front of Rick, putting a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention toward her and away from the Walkers that were nowhere in sight.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She asked, lowering her eyebrows to show him that she was concerned with whatever it was that had come over him since they'd left the community behind.
Rick furrowed his brow and craned his neck a little, looking away from her. He tried to cover the action with a glance around, as though he were making some final check, but Sadie saw through it.
"Rick…spit it out," Sadie urged.
Rick looked at her, his face twisted in concern for a moment, and then the concern gave way to a smile. He shook his head lightly.
"There you go…reading my mind again," he said.
Sadie smiled but raised her eyebrows to ask him with a gesture to further explain himself.
Rick made a gesture of contemplation or consideration with his mouth before setting his face just a little less serious than before.
"I wanted to talk to you…" Rick said.
Sadie smiled again and shrugged.
"About what?" She asked.
Rick took a breath, tipping his head slightly to side.
"About whether or not you'd be interested in…" he hesitated, the last word hanging on his lips…the sentence unfinished.
Sadie shrugged again, trying to urge him to go on.
"Would you be interested in spending the evening with me?" Rick asked.
He immediately looked unsure of himself. Sadie saw the flash of regret on his face as she studied him.
"I could send Carl to visit with Beau and Libby…" Rick said, talking almost too quickly for Sadie to follow. He turned his head then, looking toward the ground, trying to break the communication between them.
Sadie reached, catching his face with her hand. She studied him for a second and considered it.
It was something that she would never give into…not at this point in her life…unless she was sure of it…sure of Rick.
And looking at his face this moment, she was sure of it.
Sadie offered Rick the broadest and most sincere smile that she could manage. She nodded her head, feeling her own cheeks grow slightly warm with the blush of what she was agreeing to…even unnamed…and what she knew that he was suggesting.
"I would like that," she said. "Very much."
Rick smiled, obviously relieved and with a hint of disbelief on his face. He nodded his head, his smile not fading, and looked at her a moment before moving his lips again to speak.
"OK," he said. He nodded his head again and Sadie laughed at his expression,
"OK!" She responded, trying to match the enthusiasm she saw in his face and hide the nerves that somehow crept up inside her despite the fact that she was no blushing virgin and neither was he.
The stress of the moment out of the way, and the air between them lighter, both of them turned and collected up the buckets, Sadie carrying two while Rick carried the one, his knife in his hand, ready to defend them on their way back.
And Sadie walked along behind him, feeling confident that this was something that she was ready for…and it was something that Rick was ready for.