Advice (The Walking Dead Rick and Michonne)

Chapter 2 - How Do You Know?

Rick Grimes woke up late. By the time he got up and dressed, everyone else had already started their days, leaving the house nearly empty.

Unnerved by the quiet, Rick quickly went downstairs and was relieved to find Carol in the kitchen with Carl and Judith.

"Morning," Rick greeted them.

He bent over to kiss Judith. She gurgled happily in her high chair.

"She's already had a bottle," Carol said.

"Thank you," Rick told her.

"Another late watch?" Carol asked and Rick nodded an affirmative.

"Dad, you know I can help, right? Why don't you let me take a shift too?" Carl spoke up from his place at the kitchen table, his school notebook spread out in front of him.

Rick looked at his son, who had grown so much over the past year.

"No," he decided, "I want you to focus on stuff here. School and things."

"Really?" Carl looked a little incredulous but he didn't protest too strongly.

"Yeah. For now. I know you'll be ready when I need you," Rick said and that seemed to satisfy Carl.

It'd be a mistake to think that he could shield Carl indefinitely from the violence that always happens, but Rick wanted to shield him for a little longer, if possible.

"I have to bring this over to the community kitchen," Carol indicated the pan of casserole sitting on the stove.

She added, "Michonne already left for the wall. Rosita is next door, watching over Tara. She said it's okay if you want to bring the little one over during the day."

"Okay," Rick said.

He felt a pang of guilt at being away from Judith so often, leaving her with Carol or Rosita as babysitter while he donned his constable's jacket. After being on the road so long, he'd gotten used to always having Judith within arm's reach.

Actually, he'd gotten used to having a lot of people always within arm's reach.

Now Daryl was often gone days at a time searching for recruits. Michonne was as busy as he was, coming up with ideas to improve their defenses. Some days he barely saw her.

Rick checked the refrigerator and the cabinets before deciding to make himself a sandwich. Carol put a sheet of aluminum foil over her pan and left to go to work.

Rick sat down across from his son. The Grimes family spent several minutes in companionable silence, Rick enjoying his late breakfast, Carl half-heartedly solving his assigned math problems, and Judith watching them happily.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Carl looked up.

"Mhmm," Rick answered, caught with his mouth full.

Carl hesitated before speaking, which he tended to do when he was about to say something serious. Rick began to worry.

"How do you know when you're in love with someone?" Carl finally asked.

Rick swallowed his mouthful of sandwich.

"What makes you ask something like that?" Rick questioned, stalling.

Rick's paternal instincts kicked in and he quickly added, "Carl, is this about a girl?"

Carl eyed him warily before answering, "Yeah...There's this girl, Enid. She's like us, only got here a few months ago. Anyway, I think I kinda like her but I don't know if she likes me back or anything..."