Ellie Dixon

Mother Goose

I was watering my crops. We were going through a little bit of a dry spell with the weather so I took it upon myself to make sure my crops got the water they needed. In the corner of my eye, I noticed someone coming down the track from the road. I reached for my gun which was on my belt, before my radio went off. "No need for the gun, Ellie." None other than Rick Grimes.

I laughed to myself. "Ricky Dicky Doo Da Grimes."

"Will the nicknames every stop?" Rick questioned.

"Not even when you're past your sell by date." I grinned as he approached.

I walked over to my porch and put down the watering can as Rick jumped off his horse. "Hi, kid." He smiled, coming over to me.

Rick wrapped me in a big hug as soon as he reached me. "You're acting like you didn't sleepover last week." I laughed as he pulled back.

"Am I not allowed to miss you?" Rick raised his eyebrows.

I scoffed. "Just know it's one sided. I enjoy the peace."

"Ah, you want to pretend you don't miss me. I see." Rick grinned.

I rolled my eyes, not being able to fight the smile off my lips. "What you doing here, Mama Rick?"

He took in a breath. "You fancy going for a walk?"

"A walk?" I laughed.

"You got plenty of land to walk across." Rick took a couple steps back and spread his arms out.

I nodded, looking around at my fields filled with different coloured flowers. "Sure, Mother Goose."

We'd been walking for two minutes, so we'd been in silence for two minutes. It wasn't awkward though. It was comfortable, enjoyable. "You like it here?" Rick asked.

"Very much so." I replied, watching as birds flew in the air.

"I see why." Rick acknowledged. "When I'm old, maybe I'll come live with you. You can take care of me." Rick nudged me gently.

I laughed with him. "Sure, you can retire here, captain."

Rick smiled to himself. "I like that idea. You running around and taking care of me for a change."

"For a change?" I scoffed playfully. "How many times have I saved your ass?"

Rick hummed, a warm smile on his face. "I think it was vice versa more often than not."

"If you're talking about the sex shop incident-" I started.

"I'm talking about the sex shop incident." Rick interrupted with a laugh.

"Okay, well for multiple reasons it's not my fault. One, I didn't know what sex was or anything that went with it. Two... How the hell was I supposed to know that it would make a noise that loud?" I questioned.

"That was only two points. And it making a noise that loud attracted the entire street's worth of walkers." Rick pointed out.

I laughed at the memory. "I'd never seen T-dog laugh so much. Especially while running for his life."

"The best part was you pestering Daryl to tell you what it was. I've never seen him so flustered." Rick reminded me. "What did he tell you it was again?"

"He said it was used in medical school to show the students that if their patient sounds like that, they're doing something wrong." I responded.

Rick chuckled. "That's right."

We got to the lake and sat on its edge, just watching as the sun reflected on its shiny surface. "I like how things are. With the communities, and overall quality of life, but... I kinda miss those days. Back on Hershel's farm, the prison, even the guys in Atlanta. We were a family, we could do anything. Is that wrong?"