Carl closed the bedroom door and looked at the three scared children in there with him. His emotions were all over the place. He thought he'd be able to handle being in the kitchen during the surgery, and he wanted to support his parents and his wife, but now, he was grateful Michonne had asked him not to be there. She knew him too well. His mind kept going back to Lori and how she bled out in front of him, and what he had to do to her after.

Joy watched her older brother as he stared off into space. Although she didn't fully understand what was going on, she knew that her mom was in trouble and her brother was concerned. She came over and held Carl's hand, startling him a little. When he looked down and saw her he smiled and lifted her up into his arms.

Suddenly a scream pierced the house, a cry of pure agony. It was Michonne. Carl turned towards the door and saw Judy sitting on the bed, her eyes wide in terror. "What are they doing to Mommy?" Joy cried, tears rolling down her face. "They're trying to get the baby out" Carl said, his voice shaking.

A louder scream caused Judy and Omega to run over to Carl, both of them wrapping their arms around his waist. Carl hugged his siblings as tears streamed down his face. "She'll be ok" he said, more to himself than anyone else, "She'll be ok".

There was a third scream followed by silence.

"Are they done? Is… is the baby out now?" Judy asked.

"I don't know" Carl said. He looked down at the three children who were holding on to him for dear life.

"I know you guys are scared. I'm scared too. But while we wait, let's play a game"

Three little heads popped up to look at Carl when he mentioned a game. Carl, still carrying Joy, sat down on the bed and reached underneath to pull out a board game. Candy Land.

Judy clapped her hands together. "I love this game!"

"C'mon Judy" Carl said, "lets teach Joy and Tommy how to play."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick had tears streaming down his face and he was shaking from adrenaline and terror as he watched his wife go unconscious. Lydia was also shaking. Enid had tears running down her face too, but she was focused in on her mission. Get the baby out, save Michonne.

"Rick, put a sheet over Michonne" Enid commanded. Rick went to grab a sheet, and draped it over the top half of her body. "Ok, I need you to watch her closely. If she stops breathing or she starts changing colors, or if she starts waking up, you need to tell me. Can you do that?"

"Y-yeah" Rick stuttered, moving over to where Michonne's head was and gently stroking her face.

Enid had used some instruments to hold the incision open, and was now cutting into the uterus to get the baby. Lydia looked on almost mystified as Enid reached inside and could feel the baby.

"I'm there" she said, "I can feel the head. The baby is head down, so maybe it didn't get too injured by the knife".

Rick sighed with relief.

"Lydia, I need you to hold the flashlight up so I can see better".

Lydia held the flashlight up over Enid's head and shined it into the incision. Enid reached in and maneuvered the baby's head so that she could pull it from its mother. She then yanked the tiny baby out, followed by a gush of water.

Rick stood up so he could see what was going on on the other side of the sheet. He could tell Enid was pulling on something because Michonne's body was rocking back and forth. Suddenly he saw a tiny body in her hands. His mouth dropped open and he froze in horror. The baby was small. So small. The room was silent as Enid turned the baby in her hands to gently tap it's back. It wasn't breathing.

"Pass the aspirator and the towel" Enid ordered Lydia, and Lydia ran to get it. Enid stuck the aspirator into the baby's tiny mouth and she could hear liquid being sucked out. She then tried the nose which also had liquid. She then continued tapping on the baby's back. Nothing.

Tears slid down Rick's face as he watched the scene, terrified.

Enid startled both Rick and Lydia when she leaned down and placed her mouth over the baby's mouth and breathed into its lungs. Its tiny chest filled with air. Enid then took a finger and pushed down on the baby's chest. She alternated breathing and pushing for a few seconds and Rick watched in wonder as the baby gave a tiny cough.

Enid smiled and looked up at Rick. The baby's cough led to a tiny cry as it made its noisy entrance into the world. "It's a little boy" Enid said, smiling for a moment.

Enid quickly checked over the baby and her face fell. "There's a gash on his thigh. It must've been from the knife. This cut needs stitches."

Rick was so scared he couldn't speak. Stitches on a baby this small? "Will… will the baby be ok? I mean stitches, is there a risk?"

Enid looked overwhelmed. "I can do the stitches now and close the wound, but Michonne is laying open on this table and she's losing blood. And the longer she's open the more risk of infection. I can't do both at once."

Enid was looking at Rick, waiting for him to make the decision. Who do I work on first?

Rick feared a decision like this would come. He looked down at Michonne's still body and kissed her forehead. He knew what she'd say.

If it comes down to one of us… please pick the baby Rick.

"Stitch the baby" Rick said.

Enid cut the umbilical cord with the scissors that Carl had sterilized, and then carried the tiny infant to a kitchen counter that had been cleaned, and laid it on a towel. She got out her suture kit and immediately began to close the wound, the little baby crying the whole time.

"Lydia, can you keep an eye on Michonne?" Rick asked, as he made his way over to the counter to his crying son.

The boy's leg was so tiny Rick didn't know how Enid could even see well enough to stitch him, but she was getting it done as quickly as she could.

"It's ok" Rick whispered, leaning over the baby. "It's ok. Daddy's here. I know it hurts son, but just for a little while. Just for a little while ok?" Rick stroked the baby's head of bushy brown hair, and looked into his big brown eyes. He looked just like Michonne. A tear ran down Rick's face as he looked into his son's eyes.

"Oh your mommy will be so happy to see you when she wakes up. It's almost over. Almost over." Rick cooed to him, as Enid finished the stitches. "Ok" Enid said. "I'm gonna have to give him a full check-up when I'm done with Michonne, but for now you can take him".

Rick wrapped the baby up in another clean towel, and carried him out of the kitchen to the bedroom where his children were.

When Rick opened the door, everyone froze. Carl could see he was carrying a towel, and then he realized there was something inside. Carl stared at Rick's face, begging for confirmation that Michonne was still alive.

"She's alive" Rick said, specifically to Carl. "She's still in surgery, I have to go back in, but I just wanted to show him to you"

"Him?" Judy squealed, "I knew it!"

"Me too!" Joy chimed in.

Rick passed the tiny baby to Carl and then turned to the children. "He's very fragile, and we don't want to get him sick, so keep your distance. But this is your baby brother."

Carl moved the towel over to reveal the tiny baby. "He's so small" Carl said in amazement.

"Yea, but he's alive, and that's what's important. I gotta get back to Michonne." Rick said

"I'll keep him safe dad" Carl said, and Rick smiled. As Rick closed the bedroom door he saw all the children crowding around to get a glimpse of the newest member of the Grimes family.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Rick got back to the kitchen he was immediately alarmed by the amount of blood coming out of the C-section wound.

"What's going on?" he asked in a panic.

"I'm trying to control the bleeding, she's losing a lot of blood and I haven't even gotten to the knife wound yet."

Lydia was helping Enid stuff gauze into the hole to soak up some of the blood so Enid could find out where the blood was coming from. Rick moved to Michonne's head and immediately noticed her skin had changed color. "She looks pale" Rick said.

As Enid worked, she said to Rick "check under her eyelids, what color are they?"

Rick pulled up one of Michonne's eyelids. "They're white! What does that mean?"

"Shit!" Enid yelled. "It means she's losing too much blood, and I don't have blood to give her".

"She has the same blood type as me and Carl, I asked her just in case, when Joy was born. If you have the means, I can give her some right now".

Enid looked up. "We have some tubing in the infirmary. If I get the tubing I can figure it out…"

"I can get it" Lydia said, "let me do it. Just tell me where the infirmary is"

While Lydia left to make another trip to the infirmary, Rick helped Enid find where the blood was coming from. She patched up the bleeder and finally closed the wound in Michonne's abdomen. Enid then went to check Michonne's vitals. She pressed the stethoscope against Michonne's chest to listen to her heart. Rick stared with a look of desperation on his face.

"Her heart rate is very fast, she was in shock from before, but it's getting worse"

Rick rolled up his sleeves. "I'm ready, and Carl will give too. Tell me what I need to do"

"For now, we need to wait. I'm not gonna start on the knife wound until Lydia gets back"

Enid looked exhausted. Rick quickly got one of the dining chairs and brought it back for Enid to sit. Enid nodded at him thankfully and sat down with a sigh. She was covered in Michonne's blood and he knew her feet had to be hurting.

While Enid rested, Rick moved back over to Michonne. He leaned down and whispered in her ear "You're doing great honey, just hang in there. We have a baby boy Michonne, and he's so beautiful. He looks just like you. You gotta stick with us to see him. He needs his mama. I need you too." He stroked her hair and spoke to her until Lydia came back carrying the supplies.

"The infirmary is full of walking ones" she panted, out of breath. "I had to fight my way through the walking ones to get this. And my people seem to have left. I guess they noticed Alpha, Beta, and Gamma disappeared..."

She dropped the tubing on the counter and Enid got up to put the tubing together for the transfusion.

"Thank you Lydia. For risking your life. For everything." Rick said.

Lydia nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Ok. I'm ready." Enid called.

She attached a needle to both ends of the tubing. One side would go into Michonne's arm, the other into Rick's.

"I have never done this before. I figure, with the rate that the blood goes through, if you're attached to her for 8 minutes that should be about a pint. If you start getting dizzy or light headed let me know immediately. I don't have much of a system to determine how much blood you're losing, I'm just winging this." Rick nodded his head and stuck out his arm.

Enid leaned over to rub alcohol on Rick's arm before she inserted the needle when Michonne's body suddenly jerked on the table. She started making grunting noises, thrashing around, and shaking. Rick leaped out the chair and went to hold her still so she didn't fall off the table and hurt herself. Rick could see her eyes rolled up in her head.

"It's a seizure! Shit!" Enid yelled as Lydia held on to Michonne's legs. "Just let her go through it" Enid instructed, "just keep her on the table". The seizure lasted a minute and finally her muscles relaxed again. Rick's eyes were wide open and he shook in terror.

"Is she… is she ok? ..." He stammered. Enid checked Michonne's heart rate again.

"She needs the transfusion now. C'mon Rick."

Rick stuck his arm out again and Enid attached the two of them. Rick watched as the blood flowed out of his arm and into Michonne's. While they waited, he held her hand and rested his head against her shoulder.

"Lydia… can you… can you get Carl?" Rick asked. She nodded and left the room. In a few seconds she came back with Carl. Carl stood in the doorway looking terrified.

"What is it?" he asked, on the verge of tears. "Did she…"

"No, she's still alive Carl" Rick said. "She needs a transfusion. I'm giving her blood now but she'll need more."

"Yea ok, I'll do anything" he said, rolling up his sleeve. He glanced over at Enid and took in the sheer amount of blood covering her smock.

"Enid…" he started.

"I'm ok" she cut him off. "I'm ok… we're just waiting for the transfusions and then I'll start on the knife".

He knew she didn't want to talk now, and he didn't want her to lose her focus, so he didn't say anything more. After Rick gave a pint, Carl sat down and gave another pint. Enid periodically checked Michonne's eyelids.

"It's working" she said, "her eyelids are definitely turning pink, and her heart rate has slowed down a little. I think we're ready to get this knife out of her."

"How's the baby doing?" Rick asked Carl, as Enid prepared Michonne for the next part of the surgery.

"He's breathing ok and he turned pinker. Judy is holding him right now so I'd better get back, but he looks so much like Michonne." Carl said with a smile.

"Yea, I know" Rick said, patting Carl on the back and then turning to go back to his spot beside Michonne's head as Carl left the room again.

"Ok" Enid said, taking a breath "Here we go. Lydia, flashlight please."

Lydia shined the flashlight on the knife as Enid checked out the wound. "It seems pretty deep, but I don't think it's in an area with any major arteries which is why she didn't bleed to death. I'm just gonna pull on it and see what happens." Enid said simply.

Enid pulled on the knife and it slowly moved from Michonne's body. Michonne let out a low groan and Enid froze. "Is she waking up?" she asked Rick. Rick looked down at his wife. She wasn't moving and seemed to still be unconscious.

"No, I don't think so" Rick said, "just hurry if you can."

Enid checked the wound now that the knife was out. There was blood coming out of the wound, but Enid quickly stopped the bleeding. Her major concern was infection. She washed the wound out with simple antiseptic, and using tubing, she left a drain for fluids to run out of the wound. She then partially stitched it.

When she was done she let out a loud sigh. "Ok. I… I think I'm done…" she said, taking off her smock, and removing her mask and gloves. As soon as she removed it she burst into tears. Rick quickly removed his mask and gloves and wrapped his arms around Enid.

"Thank you" he said, also crying. "Thank you so much Enid. You were great. You saved their lives."

Enid squeezed Rick tightly. "Go on, go to Carl. I know you need to" he whispered. She nodded and left the room.

"And thank you again Lydia" Rick said. Lydia nodded and also left the room.

Rick pulled the chair up to the table again and sat next to his unconscious wife. "You're done Michonne. You made it. I know you're a fighter and you fought. All I need is for you to wake up when you're ready. Your babies are waiting for you", he kissed her lips, "and so am I".