NATE
After all the hugging had finished, Carol took Judith. While the girls grabbed a hand each, leading me to their cabin. Chattering away with excitement.
Ty drove the Jeep around to the little gravel track. While he did, I tried to get Carol to tell me how they all got here. But she just shushed and then herded me into one of the cabin bedrooms.
Gently pushed me down onto the bed.
"Rest now....talk later" She ordered.
Easing my boots off before tenderly lifting each leg onto the mattress.
She handed me a couple of painkillers with a glass of water and waited until I swallowed them. After covering me with a quilt, she gently kissed the top of my head.
"Sleep, my sweety" Carol whispered, closing the door behind her.
*
The sun is setting when I groggily open my eyes.
The first thing I spy is the plate of grapes and pecans on a bedside table.
Starving as always, I gobble them greedily. Until I feel a pain-filled crunch that's not in any way....nut-related.
Sticking fingers in my mouth, I eventually pry out a wisdom tooth. Probe around gingerly, but it appears to be the only one that's come loose.
Like a little kid, I tuck it under my pillow for the Tooth Fairy to find.
"Should be worth a couple of dollars, at least?" I tell myself.
I'm wearing just a tee now. Carol must've taken the rest of my clothes off while I slept?
Wow, I really must've zonked out.
So I wrap a throw blanket around me like a sarong.
When I limped into the little living room area, everyone had settled themselves in. The girls were helping Carol with dinner....they'd obviously found the food stash in the car.
Ty bounced bubby on his lap while singing to her softly.
"Nice threads, Juju" My fingers gently tickled her cheeks as I admired her pretty purple dress.
When she smiled up at me? I spotted a tiny flash of white.
I lost a tooth, and she'd finally gained her first one. Quid pro quo from the Tooth Fairy, I'm guessing 🧚
Sitting on the arm of the lounge chair, I draped my arms around Tyreese. Lay my head on his shoulder while we both cooed over her.
"Found them in a closet along with a whole heap of other baby things" Carol peeped at me sheepishly.
"It's cool....I know my limitations. And my dressmaking skills are just that. Hope you threw her other wardrobe out?"
"Went one better. You're certainly a dab hand when it comes to making....firestarters" She teased.
The conversation was kept light for the benefit of the girls. We all ate before Carol ushered them into another bedroom.
"Can Muttley please come too, Nate?" Mica begged.
"Of course, cutie-pie. But not on your beds, though. And leave the door open a little bit so he can get out if he needs to."
They coaxed him in with his water dish.
Juju settled down in a cot, and soon the cabin became quiet. Bar the crackling of a small fire in the hearth.
Ty squeezed himself back into the armchair. So I went and perched on a floor cushion next to him.
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Home Is Your Heartbeat ('Home Is' Book Two - Daryl Dixon)
FanfictionSemi-mature. Completed. Book Two picks up immediately from the last chapter of Home is You. Nate is an Aussie girl who was stranded in Georgia during the outbreak. She and fellow traveler Leo joined a group of survivors in Atlanta. Nate got her firs...
