Just Keep Walking

Thirty two

Rick, Daryl, and Carol all woke up early the next morning, wanting to go outside of the walls. Before he left, Rick woke Mary up, knowing she'd be awake soon from a nightmare anyway, and no one else would be able to comfort her properly.
"Hey, baby girl." He whispered, picking the half asleep girl up, her body hot and sweaty - for some reason Mary was always hot when she slept.
"Daddy?" She mumbled, her eyes still shut, her body limp.
"Baby, I'm going out with Uncle Daryl and Carol, okay? So you're gonna stay with Carl and Michonne and Maggie and Glenn and everyone else, yeah?"
"With you?"
"No, I gotta go, and you have to stay here. I won't be long." Rick assured.
Mary opened her eyes fully, rubbing them childishly. "Okay. Where's Mishy?"
"Mishy's here." Michonne sighed, coming downstairs from having a shower.
"Do you mind taking her?" Rick asked, and she nodded. "Okay, I'll see you soon, yeah? You gonna get dressed and ready? And you should have a shower. You're supposed to have one every other night, but I forgot yesterday. And there's a party tonight."
"Okay," Mary nodded, "but a bath."
"Hey, Mishy's the boss, not me." Rick teased. "Okay. Bye bye, see you soon."
"Bye bye." Mary smiled groggily, as Rick passed her into Michonne's arms. The three adults left, and Michonne went to the kitchen with Mary.
"What do you want for breakfast? How about a pop tart?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded. Michonne day her on the kitchen counter and passed her a pop tart, the child sat there eating it, her hair a mess, her face tired and groggy, wearing one of Carl's shirts, the clothing massively big on her.
"Here." Michonne smiled, passing her some juice. Mary grinned back at her and finished her breakfast, then they went upstairs, Michonne turning the bath taps on. "Do you like it hot or cold?"
"Swimming pools." Mary replied seriously.
"I'll take that as lukewarm." Michonne sighed with a roll of her eyes. Once the bath was an appropriate temperature, Mary got undressed at climbed in, grinning at the bubble mixture that Michonne had poured in; she found it amongst the other toiletries.
"Will your daddy want your hair washing?" Michonne asked, and Mary shrugged, then nodded. "Okay, lemmie do your hair, then you can play for a little bit." Michonne ordered. Mary sank into the bath, immersing herself into the warm, bubbly water, wetting her hair. When she came back up, Michonne gently massaged shampoo into her hair, then grabbed a cup to help rinse it off.
"Here, just lean your head back and close your eyes." Michonne said, Mary doing as she said with her eyes open, as Michonne tipped the water onto her hair, shampoo running out of it.
"Why?"
"'Cos the shampoo'll get in your eyes and hurt." The woman explained, and immediately Mary clamped her eyes shut. Michonne did her conditioner, then brushed her own teeth and washed her face while Mary played in the soapy water, afraid to leave her alone.
"Hey, do you know this trick?" Michonne asked, getting a bar of soap and rubbing it between her hands with a little water, then bringing her hands apart a little and blowing through the gap, creating bubbles.
"Wow! How do you do it?" Mary asked in awe, and Michonne laughed, showing her again, but Mary simply couldn't do it. After a few more minutes, Michonne pulled Mary out of the tub, wrapping her in a fluffy towel, then combed through her wet hair, rubbing some of the water off, but letting most of it air dry.
"Okay, do you want to go get an outfit while I get dressed? One that you've not worn yet, but not your blue dress, because your daddy said you're wearing that tonight."
"Okay." Mary nodded, running down the stairs, stumbling on the last few, but jumping straight back up. She ran back upstairs with her Tinkerbell outfit, and Michonne chuckled, but let her wear it. "You and daddy are twins." Mary smiled, looking at Michonne's sheriff uniform.
"Yeah." The woman chuckled.
"Shall we go see Bob and Naty today?" Mary asked, sitting down on the bed next to Michonne.
"The Millers? I'm sure they'll be at the party. Everyone will."
"It sounds scary." Mary mumbled.
"No, it'll be super fun." Michonne promised, not even believing her own words.
"Hey, princess." Rick smiled from the doorway, and Mary rushed over to him, snuggling into his chest. "Hey. Listen, I took bunny with me today, and guess what?"
"What?"
"He smells a bit again." Rick smiled softly, passing her the teddy. Mary inhaled the familiar scent of the forest and smiled, nuzzling into the matted fabric.
"Thank you." Mary smiled, and Rick nodded, kissing the top of her head.
"I don't know if this is some kind of play, handing authority to strangers."
"The authority to break up fist fights." Michonne pointed out.
"If it was just that she should have given one of these to Daryl."
"I don't know if it's for us or for them. Or maybe Deanna's trying to get rid of us and them. You put these jackets on me and you, have the people see it, if that's the play, that'd be smart. And she seems smart."
"Smart for then or smart for now?"
"This is now." Michonne replied firmly.
"I'm smart." Mary nodded, no hesitation in her comment.
"You're definitely smart for this world."
"What's the other world?" Mary asked innocently.
"Before the Walkers. You don't remember, do you?"
"No. I remember swimming in the pool. At my lessons. And I remember when I did dance class but I didn't like it."
"Yeah." Rick nodded, holding her even closer. He sighed, then smiled. "Okay, Tinkerbell, me and Maggie and Mishy need to go talk to Deanna, so you're gonna stay with Maggie and Glenn. Yes?"
"Okay." Mary sighed.
"Good girl. We won't be long."
"Okay."
"Why don't you draw some pictures while we're gone? Decorate the house?"
"On walls or paper?" Mary asked quietly.
"Paper." Michonne said quickly, and Rick laughed.
"When we sort out bedrooms you can draw on that wall, but not the others."
"Is this Mishy's room?" Mary asked, essentially asking Michonne to move in.
"Sure." The woman smiled, and Rick smiled back at her.
"Okay. I've gotta go." Rick insisted, walking down the stairs with Mary, Michonne following him.
"Deanna has given me and Glenn a house. We can stay here with her though."
"You can take her to yours if you want," Rick shrugged, "I don't mind."
"Okay." Glenn nodded, as Maggie took Mary onto her hip.
"Okay, say bye to daddy."
"Bye." Mary whispered sadly, and Rick kissed her cheek, then left, Michonne following suit.
"Do you want to bring anything?" Maggie asked Mary, but the girl shook her head.
"Okay. Let's go then." Glenn smiled, walking to the door, the trio walking to the Rhee's new house.
"I like it." Mary smiled as they walked inside.
"Me too." Maggie grinned back. "Are you hungry?"
"No."
"What do you want to do?"
"Make more cake. But a nice one this time."
"Well, we can try." Maggie laughed, heading over to the kitchen. "Let's try making flapjack. It needs butter, but I guess we could use peanut butter. Here, you can have a bit." Maggie explained, passing Mary an unopened jar of peanut butter which she opened and ate a large tablespoon full of, her eyes going wide with delight. Maggie measured out the peanut butter, oats, raisins, and golden syrup, then let Mary mix it together until she made flapjack, and they put it into the oven.
"What do we do now?" Mary asked with a sigh.
"Do some drawing. Look, I have a notebook, and I found some pens in the office upstairs."
Mary took the pens and notebook off Maggie, receiving inks of black, blue, red, green, and purple. She began to draw pictures, doing dozens, ripping them out of the book as she did so.
"What are you drawing, Mary?" Glenn asked, walking over to her, only in a pair of jeans, and his hair wet from just getting out of the shower.
"Pictures. But my name is Tinkerbell today, not Mary."
"Oh, sorry, Tinkerbell." Glenn chuckled, sitting opposite her on the table.
"That's okay. You can be... I don't know."
"Thanks." Glen laughed, ruffling her hair.
"This one's for you." Mary smiled proudly, handing him a picture. She had drawn a man with black hair, a woman with (for reasons unknown) blue hair, and a little girl with (also for an unknown reason) purple hair. The people were messy and cute, just as any small child would draw, and surrounded by flowers and hearts, a line of blue sky at the top.
"It's us, isn't it?" Glenn grinned, hugging Mary to his side. Mary grinned back up at him and nodded. "I love it."
Mary's smile grew, and she kissed Glenn's jawbone, then giggled. "Your hair is getting me wet!"
"Like this?" Glenn teased, shaking his hair like a dog would, tiny droplets of water falling onto Mary.
"Glenn!" Mary squealed, but the man just laughed. "Glenn, stop being silly!" She giggled, and he stopped. "Look at all my pictures!"
Glenn examined each and every picture, as Mary described which one belonged to which person, her voice serious yet gentle. Later on, Glenn framed that picture, and hung it on the wall. It was never taken down.

Rick held back a laugh as he saw Mary staring at herself in the mirror later that day, looking at all of her facial features. She hadn't properly looked in a mirror in a long time.
"You okay, Moo?" Rick half laughed.
"I wish I had blue eyes. Like you and Carl." Mary sighed.
"No, you have gorgeous eyes. And you're eyes are dark brown, just like... Like mommy's."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really. And brown eyes are so beautiful. And guess what?"
"What?"
"Your hair is getting wavy, now it's being washed and brushed and cut. Just like mine." Rick explained, and Mary grinned happily. "Okay, go get into your dress, yeah? Carol will help. I need to get changed too."
"Okay." Mary smiled, getting up and going into the bathroom where she knew Carol was. The older woman helped Mary brush her teeth and wash her face, then brushed Mary's face into loose waves, and pinned a small grip into it, a little plait holding her hair away from her face. Then Mary put on her dress; a sweet party dress in powder blue, with thick sleeves and a tight top, then a flared skirt.
"Are you excited?" Carol asked Mary with a smile.
"Yeah. I've got presents for our new friends." Mary announced proudly.
"Wow. What is it?"
"I drew them pictures."
"They'll love it. Go on, go downstairs. Show Carl and your daddy."
Mary did as Carol said, and skipped down the stairs. "Daddy look at me!" The girl grinned, spinning around the room, giddy with excitement.
"Oh, you look like a princess." Rick smiled softly.
"Cinderella!" Mary giggled.
"Ah, best be home by midnight then." Rick teased.
"Why?" Carl asked, jumping down the stairs from behind Mary, a spark in his step that hadn't been there a few days ago.
"'Cos Mary is most definitely princess Cinderella."
"Does that make me the ugly step sister?"
"No, that's a girl's job." Mary laughed.
"That's Daryl." Rick teased, and Carl sniggered.
"Daryl's a big boy!" Mary laughed, perfect giggles coming from her mouth.
"Carl, what do big boys do?" Rick asked teasingly.
"I dunno?" Carl shrugged, slightly confused by the question.
"They wash. What does Daryl not do?"
"Talk much?" Mary suggested.
"Daryl still hadn't had a shower." Rick corrected teasingly.
"At least he's still here." Carol shrugged, walking over to them.
"Is everyone else meeting us there?" Carl asked, and Rick nodded. He went and got Judith from her crib, giving the smaller of his two daughters to Carl as he carried Mary to Deanna's house, knowing she needed support. She was excited now, but Rick knew as soon as they got there, she would be overwhelmed by all of the new people, noise, and the attention. She needed him more than Judith, more than any of his children.
"Got your bunny? And your pictures?" Rick asked, even though he could see them in her hands. Mary nodded, and Carl opened the door to Deanna's house. As she saw all of the new people, Mary's stomach twisted, her heart rate increasing.
"Welcome!" Deanna smiled loudly, walking over to them. Mary hid her face into Rick's pristinely white shirt, her fingers clutching the fabric.
"Hi!" Carol replied, her smile just as big.
"Oh, it's so good to see you! Hi Carl! And hello Mary! Thank you for coming." The woman grinned. She reached over and stroked the back of Mary's hand, then turned to Carl and Judith. "You know, I didn't get a chance to interview your little sisters. I envy them.
"Why?" Carl asked with a curious smile.
"She'll get to see what this place will become. Come. Come on in." Deanna said gently, the small family coming further into her house. Mary's head nestled even further into Rick's shirt, the noises disorienting her, her hand having an iron grip. It took her a while to let go.