A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S7Pt5 - Spaghetti Dinner

It's been a few days since Negan first arrived, and he wasn't going to be back for another week still. Eugene and I made it back later that day, once Negan's men were gone, and I got my bullet. Since then, I've kept it hidden away, along with my spare gun, and I was just waiting for the right moment.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rick and Aaron left this morning to try and find some supplies for Negan. I stayed back and checked on the kids, but noticed that Carl was gone.
"He's probably just with Enid." I thought, knowing that they've been hanging out together recently.
I went about my business that morning, and in the afternoon I put Judith and Lee down for a nap. After Lee finally fell asleep, I heard the sound of trucks and the front gates behind pulled open.
"Back already?" I thought.
I didn't think that Rick and Aaron would find something that quickly, but who knew. Maybe they got lucky.
I quietly left the nursery, shutting the door behind me, and walked down the stairs. Then I heard the doorbell ring, making me stop in my tracks.
"Kelllll..." Negan's voice hummed. "Knock knock."
He then knocked on the door and I just bowed my head. I didn't know why he was here, and I was suspicious of it, and I didn't even have any weapons on me. I had my pretty prosthetic on, the one with the hand, so I didn't even have a knife.
Negan knocked again, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I walked down the rest of the stairs. I opened the front door, expecting to only see Negan, but then I saw Carl next to him. He had his bandaged taken off and his eye socket exposed, and Negan just smiled when he saw me.
"Kell. Wow." He said and looked me up and down. "Looking great today. Love the arm."
He then walked in and whistled to himself, and I moved to the side. Carl followed behind him. Carl then stopped next to me and I just looked at him confused.
"Where the hell have you been?" I asked.
"I thought I could do it." Carl whispered. "I was gonna kill him..."
I just closed the door and wrapped my arm around his shoudlers and kissed the side of his head.
"Don't... ever... do that again." I said in a quiet voice. "Not without help."
Carl slowly nodded and we heard Negan start laughing.
"Great. Great. Great, great, great!" He said. "Kell, this is one beautiful house you got here."
Negan then walked over to the living room and grabbed a picture frame off the mantle of the fireplace. It was the Polaroid picture Glenn took for me a month ago, and it was of Daryl, Lee, and me.
"Nice family you got here." Negan said and then showed it to me. "You guys looked so happy... wonder what happened."
He shrugged and put the picture back, and I just crossed my arms.
"Where's Daryl?" I asked.
"Fighting walkers with a pipe." Carl said.
"He's working." Negan then raised his voice. "He's earning his keep."
I just looked at Carl and knew he wouldn't lie to me. I just sighed and touched my wedding ring and anxiously twisted it.
"Where's Rick?" Negan then asked me.
"He's out getting stuff for you." I said.
"Cool." Negan said. "I'll wait."
"They went pretty far, they might not be back today." I said.
"Well," Negan said and walked closer to me. "You got a bed, don't you?"
I just swallowed my words, and nodded. I knew that everything was Negan's, even my own bed, and my husband at this point. Then, Olivia walked in and I knew it was because she was going to watch the kids for me like normal.
"Oh, I didn't know.. I'll go.." She said.
"No. Stay. What were you doing here anyways?" Negan then asked.
"I-- uh, I'm--" She said, clearly anxious, but I just nodded at her. "I watch the kids in the afternoon."
Negan smiled and looked at me, then pointed. "Yours?" He said and then laughed. "Well, while we wait for the old Rick man, let's play with some babies, shall we?"
He began walking up the stairs, but I ran in front of him. I crossed my arms and shook my head.
"They're sleeping. Give them another hour." I said.
"How about... No." Negan said.
Negan then pushed me aside and I caught myself with the wall. I just grunted in annoyance and cursed under my breath, then followed him upstairs with Carl behind us.
He walked over to the only door that was closed, to the nursery, and gently opened it.
"Holy shit." He said and smiled, then looked back at me. "Real babies."
He walked in and first saw Judith, and she slowly opened her eyes from her nap. He gently picked her up and Judith yawned and wiped her eyes.
"How old is she?" Negan asked, bouncing her in his arms.
"Almost two." I said.
"She yours?" He asked.
"Yes." I said, then tilted my head. "Not by blood, but she's mine."
"Ah, adoption! I get it now." Negan said, and then looked at Lee's crib. "Ohhhooo." He said and smiled evilly at me. "He's yours though, isn't he?"
I tensed up as I saw Negan walked over to Lee, who was now awake, and he picked him up after putting Judith down.
"Lee, right?" Negan said and rocked him slowly. "I see. Kell. Lee. Kelley. Cute. Is his middle name Daryl?" Negan joked.
I just crossed my arms and watched my son carefully, and Judith walked over to my leg and hugged me. I patted her back and she tugged on my shirt.
"Yes honey." I said, and Negan watched us.
"Man?" She asked and pointed at Negan.
Negan smiled and waved. "Hi there Judith. I'm Negan."
Judith slowly waved back, and I gently pulled her closer to me. Negan kept on holding Lee and walked out of the nursery. He then walked into the kitchen and sighed.
"I want spaghetti. That sounds... fantastic." Negan said.
He handed me Lee, and began grabbing pots, spoons, and food for spaghetti. I just sighed and rocked Lee when Olivia came up behind me.
"You should go home." I said. "I can handle this."
"No. I promised to watch Judith and Lee for you and Rick. I'm not gonna quit now." She said, and I saw her holding back her tears.
I just slightly smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Olivia."
I handed her Lee, and she sat at the table with him. I grabbed Judith and sat her in her highchair and gave her some toys to play with.
"Kell. Come taste this." Negan said from the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, and saw Carl rolling out some dough for biscuits on the table. Negan turned around from facing the stove and held a wooden spoon with some sauce on it up to my mouth.
"Try it." He said and smiled.
I hesitantly opened my mouth and took a small taste of the sauce.
"Damn... that's actually good." I thought.
There was some sauce left on my lip, and Negan cupped my cheek and removed it from my lip with his thumb. I instantly pulled away and just stared at him.
"How'd it taste?" Negan asked, and sucked the sauce off his thumb.
I just scoffed at him and turned around, and began cleaning up the mess they made. I cleaned the dishes we were using and threw garbage in the trash, and by now the food was almost done.
"Carl, go set the table please." I said, and handed him a stack of plates.
Carl nodded, took them, and began setting the table. Negan sat down at the head of the table, where Daryl normally sits, and put his bat down where I normally sit. I just sighed and started making some lemonade for us, and Carl finished placing the silverware.
Then I heard Negan click his tongue at Carl. "We're gonna need another setting." He said.
Carl just walked away and grabbed one more plate and some silverware, and finished setting the table.
I walked over with the lemonade and poured some in everyone's glasses. I made a small salad enough for a couple servings and brought that to the table first. I finished bringing over the pasta, sauce, rolls, and then just stood there.
"Kell." Negan said, and I slowly looked at him. "Sit right here."
Negan pointed at the chair to his left, and I unwillingly sat down. Carl sat next to me, and Olivia sat on the other side with Judith next to her in the highchair and Lee still in her arms.
Negan then grabbed my chair and pulled me closer to him. He reached his hand over, trying to grab my thigh, when I grabbed his wrist.
"I'm taken." I said through gritted teeth.
I tossed Negan's hand away from me, scooted my chair away from him, and sat there silently. Negan put both of his hands on the table and tapped his fingers, just waiting, and whistling his dreaded tune.

~~~~~~~~~~

We continued waiting, for Rick I was guessing, and it's been almost half an hour. Negan stopped tapping his fingers and grabbed his napkin, tucking in into his shirt.
"I'm not waiting for your dad anymore." Negan said to Carl. "I don't know where the hell he is, but Lucille... is hungry."
He then looked at me and stared at me with a blank face. "Kell. Pass me the rolls."
I hesitantly did and Negan made his plate. I refused to make mine, and so did Carl. I made Olivia a plate and thanked her for feeding Judith some noodles.
Negan was still eating, enjoying himself, and I saw Carl was thinking about eat. I handed him the bowl of noodles and he nodded, thanking me quietly. I quickly gave in too and started eating. I saw Negan smile at us, and God only knows what he was thinking.

~~~~~~~~~~

We all finished eating already and Negan pushed his plate away from us when he finished last.
"Man. That hit the spot." Negan said. "Where the hell is Rick? He should be back already."
"He's still out there, risking his life to get your ass some supplies." I said, clearly annoyed.
I then got up from my chair and began slowly cleaning up, first taking the food back to the kitchen and putting in into some tupperware. I came back to the dishes when Negan chuckled out loud, to himself.
"What's funny now?" I said outloud, still cleaning up the plates, stacking them on top of each other.
"I was just thinking... it sucks Daryl isn't here to help, huh?" Negan said.
I froze in place and my switch turned on. I instanly slammed the plates down on the table, making a lot of noise and making the kids jump. I then looked at Negan and nodded.
"Yeah... yeah it does suck." I said, and pushed the plates towards him. "Clean up your own damn mess."
I began to walk away when Negan tightly grabbed my arm, and I stopped. He pulled me down towards his face and spoke loud and clear into my ear.
"That is... unacceptable. Try that again, and do it nicely, or watch me kill your kids. One.. by.. one." 
I shook my arm out of his grasp and we just stared at each other. I then slowly nodded, and began to clean up the plates again and grabbed the silverware. I then quietly walked back into the kitchen and put the dishes in the sink.
"Thank you." Negan called out, and I just shook my head. "Good job."

~~~~~~~~~~

Negan was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, and made Carl sit next to him. I walked outside after I put Lee down for a nap, and stood with Olivia against the wall.
Negan was holding Judith in his lap, and bounced her on his knee.
"Oh, this little girl is precious." Negan said, looking at Judy, and then hummed. "Oh, yeah... I like it here. Mh-hmm, I might just have to stay here."
Negan then smiled and looked up and down the streets, and we saw the front gates open. We saw a couple of Negan's trucks and people walk in, and he just smiled to himself.
"You know Carl." Negan said. "I was thinking about what you said earlier... Maybe it is stupid keeping you and your dad alive." He said and then held Judith in front of him, smiling at her. "I mean, why am I trying so hard? Maybe I should just bury you both, down in one of those flower beds."
Negan chuckled and nodded at Judith, bouncing her playfully. "Huh?" He asked Judith in a baby voice. "And then I could just settle into the suburbs... What do you think about that?"