It was half past midnight and Rick Grimes was bone weary and mentally exhausted.

To say it had been a long day would have been an understatement. Hours spent under the hot Virginia sun, negotiating a course forward on the development plans for the community trading bridge. The tentative alliance between Alexandria, the Kingdom, the Hilltop, Oceanside, and the Sanctuary survivors was tedious enough as is without adding the sweltering summer heat to the mix.

The only thing Rick had looked forward to all day was coming back home to his favorite girls, a nice meal followed by a cold shower and some rest.

Yet, as he laid on his stomach in between cool sheets with his face buried into his pillow, sleep evaded him. He knew it was because of the woman draped over his back, awake and alert.

"This isn't working," Michonne whispered with a heavy sigh into the darkness of their bedroom.

"It won't it if you don't let it," he mumbled in reply into his pillow.

"It's too much, too soon," she continued, ignoring him, "maybe we should try again in another month or so."

Rick sighed as he turned his head to look over his shoulder at her lovely face that was pressed against him, creased with worry. Then, he followed her line of vision to the baby monitor where their daughter was sitting up, clutching her stuffed bunny, just as vigilant as her mother in the late hour.

As her wide doe eyes scanned the room for threats unseen Rick had to give his baby girl credit, at least she hadn't made a run for it yet.

"It's been two days," he reasoned, tiredly, "give her some time to adjust."

Michonne huffed at his response and Rick grinned inwardly, knowing she was pouting.

This was the second night of Judith sleeping in her new toddler bed. On more than one occasion either he or Michonne had caught the youngest Grimes making her grand escape from her baby crib. Rick had nearly had a heart attack the first time he caught the trapeze act himself. So, it was decided that the two and a half year old had outgrown her crib, and it had become a family priority to find a replacement.

A couple days ago on a supply run, Rick had managed to come across the perfect thing in the display window of an abandoned children's boutique shop. It was even Judith's favorite color; purple to Rick, but Michonne and Judith had insisted it was lavender.

Initially, Judith seemed to have liked her new bed. She had even bossed her father around like a seasoned foreman as he rearranged her bedroom to accommodate it.

But, when bedtime rolled around and the toddler realized for the first time that she was without the familiar security of her crib she became an instant insomniac.

The previous night, Michonne had stayed with her to appease her quiet whimpering. Although she assures him she only meant to stay until Judith fell asleep, Rick awoke the next morning alone in their bed only to find Michonne and Judith curled around each other on a makeshift pile on the floor of Judith's bedroom.

Truth be told, Rick would have gotten to Judith first if she weren't such a restless sleeper. Every single time she had slept in her parents' bedroom Rick had woken up with a hand or foot over his face and pains in his back he knew he did not have the night before.

Just then a loud crackling of thunder resounded outside of their home, followed by an instantaneous and blinding burst of lightning.

Judith immediately cried out in panic, "Mommy!"

Rick groaned into his pillow knowing that had sealed his fate as Michonne quickly pushed off his back and hopped off the bed.

"Hold on," he began, but Michonne tersely shook her head before he could say anything further.

"I'm getting my baby," she said resolutely, as she secured her robe around her body. "She's scared and now it's a storm outside. We can try this again tomorrow night."

Rick exhaled as he rolled onto his back, "I wasn't going to disagree with you," he assured her.

Michonne flipped her hair over her shoulder as she eyed him skeptically. "No?"

"Nope," he muttered as he moved into a sitting position, planting both of his feet on the floor.

Michonne narrowed her eyes at him but didn't comment further as she started for the door, she paused when he pushed himself to his feet and started making his way into their en suite bathroom.

"Where are you going then?" she asked, perplexed.

"To get some aspirin for the back ache I'm sure I'll be waking up with," he replied as he disappeared from her view.

Michonne smiled at the back of his head before leaving once more.

Rick popped two small white pain relief capsules and chased them with a handful of water. He swiped a cleaned t-shirt from his bureau as he returned to the bedroom and pulled it over his head just as Michonne led Judith inside.

Judith immediately took off for her father as soon as her eyes landed on him. "Daddy," she whimpered, scampering across the room on her tiptoes.

Rick caught her before she could run into his legs and picked her up easily. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Is the storm too loud for you?"

Judith buried her face into his shoulder and nodded against him. Rick patted her back soothingly as he ambled back over to the bed, gently placing Judith in the middle just as Michonne eased down on her usual side. Rick joined them, lying on his back with his arm propped behind his head. Judith returned to his side as soon as he was comfortable just as he had expected her to, and Michonne settled in further, curling an arm around Judith's middle and snuggled against her. To her parents' amusement, Judith patted her father's chest reassuringly as another bolt of thunder rang out into the night.

"S'okay, Daddy," Judith murmured in a soft voice.

Rick exchanged an amused glance with Michonne before responding. "Thank you, sweetheart. I was worried for a minute there."

Judith nodded her head and snuggled closer against his chest, within minutes she was asleep. Rick watched her for a moment, amazed at her ability to go out like that before lifting his gaze back up to Michonne's whose eyes were still on him.

"Think you can sleep now?" he asked her in a low voice.

Her response was a smile as she snuggled closer as well, her eyes fell closed soon after. Rick watched them for a moment before shifting to wrap his arm around them, holding his girls close and finally drifting off as well.

And the next time thunder struck and lightning flashed the family, content, safe and together were not disturbed.

/

A/N: Something short and sweet to insert this right before the season 9 premiere. I actually posted it to my tumblr years ago, but I revised it a little to be more accurate to the storyline.

And my apologies for the delay, I know it's been a while. These last couple of months have been hectic in a good way. Unfortunately, it hasn't left me with a lot of time for writing. I am getting back to the swing of things, so thank you for your patience.

More to come!

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