Rick stood in a corner of his kitchen, his daughter in his arms, absentmindedly watching Jessie attempt to make dinner for her family and his. It was such a strange sight, having her in there. Not Carol, not Michonne. But Jessie.
It was also funny, because he didn't think much of it when he was at her house. Even though her older son was clearly not a fan of his; even though it was the home she shared with a man he killed in cold blood, none of that entered his mind when he was next door. But having Jessie in his home felt foreign, and even jarring, to his senses. Perhaps because it was a glaring reminder that things were different; that something was wrong. Michonne was gone, and there was a hole in the wall that protected them, and they'd just been attacked for reasons he still hadn't figured out. Everything was out of place, and he didn't know what to do with it.
"So after dinner," Jessie began, turning from the sink to look at Rick, "I dunno if you're up for it, but I was thinking that we could sit down with the boys and talk about the fight they had earlier."
He stared back at her as he took a sip of water, puzzled by whatever she was referring to. "Fight?"
"Ron and Carl," she nodded, her face furrowed in concern. "I mean, with everything else that's happened today, it kind of got pushed to the wayside, but that's why we were over here in the first place."
"I had no idea," Rick shook his head in surprise. He set his glass down and started to rub softly at Judith's back. "What were they fighting about?"
"Ron said some things to Carl that he absolutely shouldn't have," she winced. "I don't know what's gotten into him, but when I told him to apologize, he just dug in."
Rick found that surprising, considering the two of them, along with Sam, were in the living room watching a movie at the moment. "Well they seem to be doin' all right now," he said, glancing their way to see if he could detect any hint of tension. "Maybe cooler heads prevailed after being stuck in a room together for so long."
"Maybe," she nodded, though it was clear she was still worried. "I just… It feels like I don't know my kid all of a sudden. Ron's always been such a sweet boy, and now he's just… I dunno."
"He just lost his father," he reminded her softly. "It was the same with Carl, after Lori…" He couldn't bring himself to say she died, for some reason. "He just went down this spiral of anger. I did too, to be honest. I think it's probably a natural reaction."
"Well Carl seems to have moved past it then," she considered. "Did you do something, or did you just let him go through it?"
"I had us both take a step back from the violent lifestyle we were living," he nodded. "I don't even know if it helped, in the end. I think he might've just needed to go through it. But… I can say that he's turning into exactly the person I hoped he would be."
"That's sweet," she grinned back at him. "He was so brave today," she added, still awed when she thought about it. "I don't think he even flinched when Michonne said she was leaving."
"He's been through much worse than what we saw today," Rick chuckled.
"God," Jessie sighed. "I can't even imagine."
There was a knock at the front door, and Rick looked down at his baby as she looked back up at him, running her little hands over his clean-shaven face. "Who could that be?" he whispered, nuzzling her fingers with his mouth. Together, they went to answer, finding Rick's self-proclaimed archenemy, Ethan Carter, standing in the doorway. Rick sighed heavily at the sight, resisting the urge to completely scowl at the visitor. "What can I do for you, Ethan?"
