not a big deal~carl grimes

<thirty-five>

we had been on the road for 13 months now and we had gone all over the country but we still hadn't found a community to live in. at least i was still alive and both me and the baby were healthy.

carl and i had a beautiful baby girl, who we names lori, after his mom. lori had my dark, nearly black hair and carls amazingly blue eyes. she was perfect. she was still tiny and we had found anything we needed for her. she was in a blue onesie with pink roses on it as she slept in carls arms and i drove. over the past 4 months she had become a huge daddies girl.

'do you think we'll find somewhere soon?' i asked.

'i'm sure we will.' he rested a hand on my thigh to calm me down as he.

i looked over to him, looking at lori 'i just want her to be safe.'

'i know. i do to. we'll find somewhere soon, i promise.' he assured me.

i brought the car to a stop when I saw a familiar sight. a large metal wall, with an open gate, and houses set up like a village inside. 'carl.' i gestured.

another car drove in as we got out, following them in. we got in before the gates closed. a girl with long, dark hair and appeared to be maybe 9 years old ran up to a tall, muscular guy with long, greasy hair. 'daryl!' she called out as she ran into his arms.

as he hugged her back, he greeted her 'hey Judith.' and i could hear the smile in his voice.

i turned back to see carl just getting out the car. I ran through the gate, screaming 'daryl!'

he turned round as his jaw dropped at the sight of me. i had grown taller and had more curves after lori but i still looked practically the same as when i was 16. 'taylor.' he ran towards me, pulling me into a hug. he whispered 'i thought you were dead.'

'i'm not, don't worry.' i looked him up and down 'you look good.'

'thanks.' he smiled. 'so do you.'

'so tell me what i missed while i was gone.' i smiled as we stood there, talking.

'well the war with negan is finally over. rick and michonne had another kid, rick junior or rj.' he filled me in. 'what about you? what's happened?'

'well,' i turned around just as carl came in with lori in his arms 'carl and i went to atlanta, we stayed in his childhood home, and 4 months ago, we had a baby.' carl came up to us, handing me lori 'daryl, this is lori. lori, this is uncle daryl.'

he seemed so happy, he nearly cried. he took lori from my arms 'hey, sweet girl.'

'carl!' we heard a young girls voice shout. judith ran up, wrapping her arms around him tightly 'i thought i lost you.' she cried.

'you didn't.' he kneeled down to her 'i'm always here okay?'

she nodded. as she looked up at daryl, she asked 'who's the baby?'

he looked over to me, waiting for me to answer 'lori, our daughter.'

'you had a kid?' she asked. carl nodded. 'and you named her after mom?' he nodded again. she took carls hand. 'you need to come see dad and michonne, and you need to meet rj.'

i took lori back from daryl, following them to one of the houses. inside, michonne and rick were in the living room with a baby. 'michonne, dad look who's here.'

they both turned around, jaws dropping when they saw me and carl. they rushed to us 'oh my god, we thought you were dead.' rick said, pulling his son into a hug 'your hair looks good.' he commented. 'and you have a kid?'

'dad, michonne,' carl introduced them to their granddaughter 'this is lori sophia grimes. we named her after mom. and taylor wanted a name for carol.'

'rick took her from my arms 'she's beautiful. really looks like you carl.' he smiled, holding his first ever grandkid.

'she does.' i commented, joking 'only she has two eyes.'

carl ,put his arm over my shoulder, kissing the side of my head as michonne asked 'where have you two been?'

'atlanta.' i answered 'carl took me to their old house. we stayed there till just over a year ago, when we found out i was pregnant.'

'how old is she?' rick asked.

i answered '4 months. 5 in a week.'

a young, 5 year old kid came round the corner. he ran to michonne as he picked him up 'hey baby. this is taylor and carl. do you remember daddy told you about carl. he's your brother.'

carl greeted him with a big smile on his face as i whispered 'i'm going to go find daryl.'

i left the house, finding him in the middle of town, talking to some people 'hey.' i approached him.

'hey, you not staying back with the grimes family?' he asked.

'no.' i shook my head 'thought i'd give them some family time.'

'you're the mother of their first grandchild. you are their family now.' he looked over me 'carls hair looks good. who did it?'

'me.'

'well you shoulda done that as a living.' he joked 'if carol were here she'd be so proud of you.'

i looked at him confused 'please don't tell me she' dead.'

'no.' i let out a sigh of relief when he said that. 'she's just at the kingdom. we should go see her at some point though. she can meet lori.'

'i convinced carl to make her middle name sophia. just for carol.' i smiled.

'not your moms name?' he asked 'i would've though you did that.'

'she wasn't the greatest mom. even though carol wasn't even my mom, she was better. and you were better than my dad. i'm thinking if we ever have a boy matthew daryl grimes.'

'no, daryl matthew grimes.' he joked.

i nodded 'does actually sound better.'