Alyssa Chávez has felt alone for most of her life. She was never good at making friends. She always felt a distance between her and her family. So when the apocalypse happened, her social life didn't take much of a hit. After losing her family, Alys...
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Chapter Thirty-Nine Fingerpaint
"Are you sure you're okay taking over for today?" Denise asked as she packed her bag with some things she might need on the run. "Because Rosita's coming with me, so you're gonna be by yourself."
Alyssa rolled her eyes, her head moving along with the motion. "For the hundredth time; I don't mind," she insisted. "I've handled this place by myself before. But if you feel guilty, you can bring me back some citronella oil. I have been devoured by mosquitos for two nights straight and that is plenty."
"Gotcha," Denise said and chuckled. She slung the bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. "I left the study books in the cabinet above the sink if you need them."
Alyssa nodded absent-mindedly. "Thanks. We've got it," she replied as she picked up Judith. She had promised to babysit so Carl got some free time while Rick and Michonne went about their work around the community. Plus, she needed some baby quality time to cheer her up and prepare her for Maggie and Glenn's baby.
She'd always been good with babies, having been around them for most of her life. Her little brother, her cousins, the kids of her parents' friends (which she usually considered cousins). And now Judith and her soon-to-be brother. But she wanted to be sure she was prepared for it again. She liked to remember the fun parts, but she had to be ready for the other stuff too. The non-stop crying, changing diapers, not sleeping, fears of messing up with them.
She noticed the last one starting to get to Maggie. Day in, day out she ran around camp like a mad woman, trying to make camp as safe as possible, which meant even more watch and patrol shifts, weapons stored all over the camp, and daily evaluations of potential weak spots that had to be fixed. People seemed exhausted, but no one dared to speak against the pregnant woman simply trying to make the world safe for her child.
Alyssa held Judith on her hip and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "We've got everything we need right here. Peace and quiet, comfy chairs, and, of course, plastic cups to create towers with," she elaborated.
Denise nodded. "Alright. I trust you. I'll see you in a bit," she said before she went to leave.
"Not if I see you first," Alyssa replied while making Judith wave her hand. She put her down in the baby seat for a moment while she grabbed some stuff from her bag. "Alright, what do you say we do first: building blocks or painting?"
She held the two options out in front Judith, who started reaching for the sketchbook and paints. A smile grew on Alyssa's face as she put the blocks back in her bag. "You know me so well," she expressed with a grin. She ripped a piece of paper from her sketchbook and put some paints on it before placing it in a ziplock bag. "My abuela showed me this trick. Completely mess-free fingerpainting because if I get paint on this floor, Denise will tell Tara, who will tell Rosita, who will then kill me. And that would be a bummer."
Alyssa picked Judith up out of her chair and put her down on a play mat with the ziplock bag in front of her. She sat down on the mat next to Judith with her sketchbook in her lap and a charcoal pencil in her hand.
She spent about five minutes staring at the blank sheet of paper. The longer she stared, the more she could see. The bumps in the paper she could trace with her finger appeared like snow falling down one second and would melt into clouds another. If she stared enough to unfocus her gaze, they would appear like static on a TV screen, or the noise in her brain whenever someone asked her to talk about what happened with the Saviors.
