Ellie Dixon

Babysitting

Maggie and Glenn had left earlier in the day. I was sitting on my swinging chair on the porch, Hershel on my lap as I was feeding him some paste that Glenn had given me. They were trying to wean him "off the boob" as they put it. I gave Hershel another small spoonful. His lips slapped together as he ate it. I brought the next spoonful up to my nose as I sniffed it. "Strawberry?" I asked the kid.

"Str- heh!" He smiled.

"You're a walker magnet." I shook my head, offering him the next spoonful which he practically guzzled. "And a food magnet. A kid after my own heart, I respect that." I told him, giving him another spoonful of the paste.

"Bleh- bleh!" He giggled.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Bleh- bleh?" I looked around to see if he was trying to point out walkers or something. "There's no walkers. You just dumb or something?"

He put his hands on his cheeks which made his baby fat more prominent. I laughed at him. "Geh yay!" Hershel laughed.

"Geh yay? If that's your way of saying you're gay, just know that I support you. When you're old enough to remember people, I'll show you Chris Evans. I have all his movies on DVD's. I was gonna watch them with this woman named Sasha, but..." I trailed off, giving him another spoonful of the paste. "You know, she was real excited to meet you and your sister? She couldn't wait to be an aunt." I spoke softly as I gave him the last spoonful which he barely ate, I knew he was full. "You wanna see some photos? I got a scrap book inside." I offered him.

"Hoe!" He yelled.

"What you just call me?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "You know, I'ma let that slide, but next time you say it I'm gonna force you to eat beetroot. That shit sucks-"

"Shit!" Hershel grinned.

"Oh, crap." I let out as I carried him inside. I locked the door as I went to sit down on the sofa.

"Shit! Shit!" Hershel sang like a song.

"Well, your parents are going to kill me." I told him, grabbing the scrap book and sitting down on my sofa. I let out a sigh as I turned on the lamp next to me since it was getting dark out. I opened the first page and I was faced with a photo of me, Sophia, Carl, Rick, mum, dad, Michonne, Hershel, Beth, Maggie and Glenn back in the prison. I smiled. The polaroid was surrounded by light blue glitter as Sophia claimed it needed to be jazzed up. "That's your grandpa." I said, pointing to the polaroid. "He's who you're named after. He was a doctor. Saved all our asses more times than I can count." I laughed.

"Pa." Hershel muttered.

I hummed. "That's your aunt Beth. She's who your sister was named after. She had such a kind heart. In fact, the only lie she ever told was the last time I saw her." I told him, turning the pages until I found the photo of me and Beth on the catwalk the last time I saw her, it was surrounded by light pink glitter. "I won't go anywhere, Ellie." I whispered, remembering her words. "Then I never saw her again. Well... I never saw her alive again." I took a deep breath to make sure I didn't cry. "There were other people, but I don't have photos of them. T-dog, Lori, Jacob, Jacqui, Jim, Dale... Your mum will have stories about people named Patricia, Otis and Jimmy. I didn't know them well, and Otis died before I even got to the farm. He died saving getting equipment to save your uncle Carl."

"Boo bap." Hershel murmured. 

I let out a breath. "I think that's enough for tonight, little man." I said, closing the scrap book and putting it on the coffee table. I turned off the lamp before carrying him upstairs. I set him down in the Moses basket in my bedroom. As I watched him fall asleep in it, all I could think about what that night when I found him and his twin. "Goodnight, kiddo." I whispered, pushing the thoughts to the back of my brain as I started to get ready for bed.