Black Sheep - Rick Grimes x Male

Infected

"They're pretty butterflies. Huh?" Moon grinned at Judith who pointed to the painted butterflies on the wall. "Da." She kept pointing while staring at him. "No, I'm Moon. Daddy's right there." Moon turned so she could see Rick who sat on the bed, folding their now clean clothes. Watching them with a subtle smile on his face.

"Da." She repeated, slapping his cheek with her tiny hands. Moon wasn't sure how she picked up on calling him that, he's only ever called himself Uncle Moon or Moon. "Silly girl." He kissed her head, planning on letting it go for now.

Rick turned his head away from the two, thinking hard to himself. "You know... I wouldn't mind her calling you that." He continued to stare down at the shirt he was folding. His voice was almost as quiet as a mumble, a part of him praying Moon hadn't heard him.

"What?" Moon looked over at him with surprise. He shouldn't have been, everything about their relationship was fast. But this was much different. "Yeah, I mean. You're around her all the time, you treat her like your daughter. You even got a tattoo for her. And we're going to be together for a long time, why not?"

Rick glanced at Moon to see his reaction. He was disappointed to find Moon's smile long gone. "I love the thought of her being my daughter, trust me, I do." Moon walked over, taking a seat next to his boyfriend on the bed with Judith in his lap.

Rick kept quiet, setting the clothes to the side. "I just don't want you to regret it. What if years from now, she's calling me dad and you realize you don't like it or something? It would be unfair to her." They were adults, they understood what the word meant, but she didn't. If they allowed her to continue calling him that, it would be permanent.

"I wouldn't. Aren't you the one who always says, family isn't all blood? You go out there and get her and Carl, even me, whatever we need, not giving it a single thought. She needs someone like that, all of us do." The kids needed stability, they needed unconditional love, something Moon could provide.

Rick placed a hand on Moon's knee. The Rhee loved the Grimes kids but he didn't want to replace their mom. It felt like he was disrespecting Lori. But Rick knew she would want this. Knowing someone will always be there for their kids, even if he was gone.

"What about Carl, we should talk to him about it first. If he says no, then no. But if he's comfortable with it, I'd love to be her dad." Rick's smile grew upon hearing how considerate Moon was of his son.

"We'll talk to him later." The sheriff tried to give Moon a kiss, but the man pulled back. Rick automatically frowned, his face relaxing as Moon explained. "The baby's watching." They both glanced down at Judith, her big innocent eyes stared right up at them.

~

"Wait a minute, so you stole the principal's car and drove it into a lake?" Sasha raised an eyebrow at Moon. He nodded, confirming the story Glenn told was true.

"Why? What did he do?" Carol smirked, one hundred percent believing it. Moon, Glenn, Carol, and Sasha stood near each other, chatting in their free time. They somehow got to the topic of their teenage years.

Moon shrugged, remembering the old man who hated him. "He had it out for me. I know he did. The fucker suspended me like five times, for no reason. I was innocent." He never knew why the principal hated him so much.

He really didn't do anything, sometimes he would act up. But it wasn't any worse than any other kid in high school. It got to the point where he just dropped out. The seventeen year old couldn't handle the stress that came with school and raising a kid alone.

Their chat was stopped by gunshots going off inside the prison. They paused, looking around. Terrified screams brought them to their senses. They immediately ran to the sound, drawing their weapons. Moon made it to the prison first, Glenn and the others right after him.