Family - Chapter Two

Seven Months Later

Judith Grimes had not initially taken to having her position as the baby of the family usurped by the arrival of her baby brother. She’d greeted Russell with curiosity, looking down at the cute little boy with the head full of curly black hair with a mixture of curiosity and unease. Michonne could read Judith and she was pretty sure the little girl was confused as to why Beth and Daryl didn’t take the baby with them when they left on the first day.

She immediately cried whenever Michonne, Rick, or Carl would hold him, and would attempt to pull the baby from their arms to be held in his stead. When she didn’t get her way she would become furious, cry, and stomp her feet. A few times she attempted to point Beth or Maggie toward the door when they held Russell, trying to get them to leave the house with him. It wasn’t until she was made to feel needed that Judith began to warm up to and accept that this baby was a member of the family and he was there to stay.

Now, at two years of age, Judith rarely let her baby brother out of her sight. She insisted she help feed, bathe, clothe, or change him. There were times when Michonne and Rick were convinced that Judith thought Russell was her baby, not theirs. It was a welcome change.

Carl also took to the task of being a big brother to both his siblings. He took them on walks in the double stroller, took them to the park, and read them bedtime stories. As much as Rick loved seeing Carl step up to the plate he also felt he’d started to neglect his eldest. It wasn’t easy working, being a lover to Michonne, and a father to two very young children.

“I need to spend more time with Carl,” Rick said, watching his eldest pass ball with two of his friends in the back yard while he added the fish to the oil so they could fry.

“I think that’s a good idea, Honey,” Michonne agreed.

Soon she looked up from the case she was working. Attempted rape. Banishment was the penalty and oddly enough she wasn’t convinced of the man’s guilt.

“What are you frowning at?”

“The Marla Benson case. The evidence doesn’t line up with the alleged victim’s story.”

“Oh yeah. I agree. Something weird there. I mean, she was raped, no doubt about it, but I’m not convinced the man she’s accusing is guilty,” he said.

“Me too. She had severe head trauma. She could be pointing the finger at the wrong man…”

Michonne looked up from her papers.

“Do you hear Judith?”

Rick listened. “No.”

Michonne sighed and got up. “She better not be swishing around in the toilet again.”

“I wonder what’s up with that?” Rick said aloud, and started seasoning the fish Carl had brought home fresh from Fisherman’s Pond.

Michonne returned a minute later with Judith screaming angrily in her arms. She was soaking wet and fought Michonne putting her in the time-out chair near the refrigerator.

“Mean!” Judith wailed.

“I’m not mean,” Michonne replied, a little amused by the scrunched up face her daughter was making at her. “You can’t play in the toilet, Judy. It’s dirty. Time out.”

“No!”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. You stop playing in the toilet you won’t get time outs.”

“No! Mommy!”

Michonne refused to pick her up and returned to the table, allowing Judy to cry and kick her feet in the high chair.

“Crying won’t get you out of punishment,” Rick told her.

“So, what did you have in mind?” Michonne asked.

“Whoopin’ that ass if she does it again.”

“I was talking about Carl. You’re not hitting Judith.”

“I wouldn’t actually spank her. Sometimes I want to, though. She damn near killed me two days ago. Snuck up on me while I was napping and hit me on the head with her rattler.”

Michonne puckered her lips, trying not to grin.

“You think that’s funny?” Rick asked. “I had a knot on my head for two days.”

“No, Baby, it’s not funny.”

She dissolved into laughter so Rick came over to her, his flour covered hands reaching for her.

“Don’t you dare! Rick!”

She tried to dodge away but he grabbed her and rubbed his hands down the side of her blouse.

“Oh, gross! You’ve been handling raw fish. You’ve got flour all over me!”

He started kissing her neck. Judith stilled in her crying to watch them, trying to decide if they were fighting or not.

Rick’s hand came to cup her right breast while his lips worked their way to her ear, making her feel warm in her belly.

“Not in front of Judy.”

“She’s two, she doesn’t know what we’re doing,” he said, feeling himself get a lot more excited than he should while he was cooking. He turned her to face him and pressed her against the counter, claiming her mouth with his and slipping his tongue inside. He moaned and Michonne had to literally push him back.

“Carl and his friends are outside. Judith is right there and you’re going to burn the food,” she told him.

“Let it burn,” he said, and moved in again.

“Rick, get control of yourself.”

He sighed, then groaned, and decided he’d better turn the fish before it did indeed burn. Michonne went back to the table.

“Now, about Carl?”

“Oh yeah. He’s coming up on sixteen. He should learn to drive.”

“Well, we’re all using real cars again,” she said. “The kids drive the old carts. We could give him my old cart. It’s just collecting dust in the garage.”

Rick nodded. “That sounds good. I’ll give him lessons on how to drive both a car and the cart. I know  he said he wanted to get his learning permit so I’ll talk to him about it tonight at dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan. He’s a responsible boy. He’ll be a good driver. What do you have planned for dessert?”

“Me,” he said, winking.

Michonne shook her head and laughed.

…

While Rick spent the week teaching Carl the ins and outs of driving Michonne spent the time getting the final preparations for the wedding complete. The catering was settled, the flowers ordered, the old hotel ball room in town had been renovated and she’d scheduled it for the reception. The guest list wasn’t extensive. She didn’t want a lot of people she didn’t know attending her wedding. She and Rick had made new friends during their time in the Sanctuaries and they, along with the people from what she still called the Family, were going to attend. There would be roughly thirty-five people in all.

Carol and Tyreese were due to arrive from Sanctuary Two the next evening, Friday night, and would be staying with Daryl and Beth. Bob and Sasha were going to stay with Glenn and Maggie. Abraham and Rosita were coming in from Sanctuary One to stay with Rick and Michonne. Eugene and Tara were going to travel from Sanctuary Two with Carol and Tyreese but they would stay at the hotel in town since no one else had room in their houses.

Now Rick stood rocking his son to sleep. He could see so much of himself in Russell that it amazed him. Carl and Judith both looked so much like Lori but Russell was his spitting image. He moved the long mop of curly black hair from his son’s forehead. He had the most beautiful dark bronze skin, really the only sign Rick could see of Michonne in him. The boy looked damn near like a clone of Rick and he got a secret kick out of seeing himself in his little boy’s face.

“The others will be here tomorrow,” Michonne said excitedly. “Then, on Sunday we will become Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Grimes.”

“I can’t wait,” he said, genuinely enthusiastic. He’d crawled into bed behind her, and turned out the light, casting the room into darkness while he waited for Michonne to turn on the fan to circulate the air in the stuffy room. She put the fan in the window and it drew the cooler night air in.

“Come here,” he said, pulling her bottom against his front and playing his fingers over her belly. At first she thought he wanted to fool around but he was clearly tired, as was she. It had been a long day for both of them and it felt good to lie down and feel the cool air circulate around the room.

“Rick?” she said.

“We can fool around if you want. I got enough left in me for a romp,” he said.

“No, that’s not what I was going to ask,” she said.

“Oh, okay. Shoot.”

“You’re not having second thoughts are you?”

This made him open his eyes. He looked down at her with a frown. “Of course not, Baby. Why would you think that?”

“You just don’t seem really into this. The planning.”

“I thought you wanted to handle it. I thought that best seeing as I’m likely to fuck everything up.”

“You’re an excellent strategist,” she said, turning on to her back so she could clearly see him. “I thought maybe…”

“What? You can tell me anything.”

“Maybe you were worried about giving marriage another try.”

He gazed down at her and didn’t fight the smile that came to his lips. “If I’ve seemed distant I’m sorry. I’m not scared to be married again, especially to you. Lori and I had a rocky marriage but I don’t think marriage is bad. I can’t wait to introduce you as Mrs. Grimes. I can’t wait to say ‘my wife’ when I refer to you, or have people call you such. I love you.”

She seemed more at ease by that. “What would you say if I told you we may be expecting another baby?”

His mouth dropped open. “What?”

She kind of grimaced. “I’m not a hundred percent sure. I’ve just been getting symptoms and…It’s so soon after Russell--”

He pressed his lips to hers, silencing her nervous chatter. “I want to have ten babies with you.”

“Whoa there, devil,” she said, laughing.

“We can find a bigger house or add on to this one. We could even convert the downstairs den to a bedroom for Carl and use the other one for--what?”

She’d started laughing. “Nothing. I just love you too damn much.”

“Impossible.”

He stroked her belly and felt her quiver under his touch. “So, you sure about that fooling around?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a romp left in me,” she said, and pushed him onto his back to climb atop him.