King ☞ r. grimes

78

Point

When Katie woke up the next morning, her pain was virtually gone.

Her strength was back.

She was feeling a lot better. Both physically and emotionally.

The emotional pain was still there, but she was dealing with it. It was getting better.

She sat up in the bed and looked down at Rick.

He was still sound asleep.

He was such a deep sleeper nowadays.

He hadn't always been like this.

Back at the prison, he slept pretty deeply, but would wake up if he heard any kind of noise.

While they were on the road, he slept so lightly that if Katie breathed too loud, he would jolt awake, gun at the ready.

When they first got to Alexandria, Rick slept lightly.

He wanted to be ready to get up and protect his family because he didn't trust anyone there.

Katie could tell that he was feeling safe in Alexandria now.

He wouldn't let himself fall into a deep sleep if he didn't feel safe.

Katie watched him sleep for a while before getting up out of the bed and walking into Judith's nursery.

Judith was standing up in her crib, waiting, just like she always did.

"Mama," Judith cooed, reaching out to Katie.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Katie said gently, lifting Judith out of the crib.

Katie's mind wandered for a moment.

She thought about what Judith would be like as a big sister.

Katie snapped back to reality quickly.

She couldn't think like that.

Katie carried Judith back into her bedroom and placed her in the bed with Rick, who was slowly waking up.

He smiled when he saw Judith laying next to him.

He rolled over slightly, looking for Katie, who was standing by the dresser, pulling on a black tank top.

"Morning," Rick said with a smile.

"Good morning, sunshine," Katie said, leaving her jeans on the dresser and walking back over towards Rick and Judith in her thong.

"I like this look. It works," Rick said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Katie said sarcastically, kissing him quickly on the lips before walking back towards the dresser.