Rick made his way over to the Rhee household, taking the scenic route to avoid being seen from the main tower. Although Daryl had agreed to pick up some of the slack for him tonight, Rick still had a lot of things to take care of before Michonne would be home from watch duty, and Judith wasn't making it any easier for him. She had forgone her usual nap earlier in the day, opting instead to take advantage of Carl's weakness for his sister's laughter, and was obviously reaching her limit. Between her constant squirming and the subsequent odor emanating from her diaper, Rick questioned whether he was the victim of a toddler sabotage plot, but he kept going, determined for things to go as planned without a hitch.
When Maggie opened the door, he greeted her smiling face with a peck on the cheek, happy to see her relaxed and rested. He then glanced down the hall, relieved to see Carl and Enid sitting on opposite ends of the couch in the living room, reading their comic books, apparently oblivious to his presence.
"I come bearing foul-smelling gifts, " joked Rick as he handed his stinky, cranky daughter over to Maggie, who nevertheless, wrapped the little girl in her arms with zeal. "Are you guys sure you're still up for this?"
Maggie stared then rolled her eyes at Rick, pretending to take offense to the question. "Would you stop it already?" she said, taking the overnight bag from his shoulder, then setting Judith down on the soft ottoman in the foyer for a diaper change. "We've got this. No worries. We love watching her, and besides, it's good practice," she smiled, subconsciously placing one hand on her ever-so-slightly rounded belly.
Rick handed her some wash cloths and nodded in appreciation, knowing he was leaving his daughter in capable hands. "Oh, I'm not worried about Judes," he smirked, turning his gaze towards the living room.
Maggie followed his glare with her own, knowingly looked back at Rick, then stood up to pull him away from view of the teens. "Trust us. Glenn and I have the whole evening planned out." She then held up her three fingers, mimicking the Girl Scout pledge, and said, "Tonight, in this house, I promise that there will only be good, clean, wholesome fun."
Rick laughed, shook his head, and momentarily looked down at his shuffling feet. Before he could respond, Maggie put her hand on his shoulder, leaned in to his ear , and whispered surreptitiously, "I'm guessing you won't be making the same promise later tonight."
Caught off guard but highly amused, Rick smiled, his face flush with both embarrassment and the thoughts of his own evening plans. Without making direct eye contact, he walked passed her, tilted his head, and mumbled rather confidently, "Nope," more to himself than her. As he began to make his way down the hallway, Carl and Enid emerged from the other room happy to see him and the freshly clean toddler. Enid scooped her up and planted a kiss on her forehead, visibly excited to help babysit for the evening.
"Hey Dad," said Carlg, eagerly showing Rick his progress with his comic. "Guess what? You know how it's been getting easier for me to read every day? Well today it didn't even hurt to focus." Rick was grateful for Denise's insistence that Carl work on his physical therapy multiples times everyday, and for the progress he had made with her. Seeing him enjoy comics , or frankly anything, calmed his anxiety, somewhat, but he knew his son was still dealing with the traumatic events that resulted in his injury, and he would never stop worrying about him.
Rick put his hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed, pleased to hear the sense of hope return to Carl's voice. "Good. Michonne will be happy to hear it. You two can finally finish that debate about who's more powerful, Spiderman or the werewolf."
