Just Keep Walking

Seventy three

That night Mary was restless and worried, and went to sleep in Carl's bed, but crept into Rick and Michonne's room in the early hours of the morning, curled up on the floor with Bertie; he wasn't allowed on Rick's bed, only her own.
She stayed motionless as Michonne grabbed an apple from her bedside table, and as she bit into it, then passed it to Rick, letting him eat some.
"This is good." Rick nodded, kissing Michonne's shoulder.
"Hmm, it is. Jesus came through."
"They all did. And they're all gonna keep coming through."
"Maggie asked me and Glenn to help put up more bins and watch points." Michonne pointed out, ready to get up, then she saw Mary on the floor. She kissed her own hand, then reached down and pressed it to Mary's cheek, stroking her hair out of her face lovingly. Mary looked up at her groggily and smiled, clinging onto Michonne's fingers.
"Stick, stick around Judith - Judith isn't even up yet." Rick whispered pursuadingly, a hint of seduction in his voice. He kissed her collarbone, then her stomach.
"No, stop, no." Michonne laughed awkwardly yet urgently, and Rick's face met hers.
"Why not?"
"Number two is half asleep down here." Michonne pointed out with a laugh, and Rick flopped over Michonne's stomach, his head leaning over the edge of the bed, to see Mary.
"Hello. Are you even awake?" He chuckled, feeling slightly awkward, and Mary shook her head groggily. Rick lifted Mary up effortlessly, and laid her in between him and Michonne. "Come on up here."
"Daddy." Mary whined groggily.
"What?" He whispered lovingly, and Mary held on to his shirt sleepily.
"Bertie."
"He's fine. He likes the floor. Go back to sleep. I've got you. Or are you going to give Mishy a snuggle?"
"Hmm." Mary replied, nuzzling into his chest. Rick loved quiet mornings with Mary; she was always cuddly and sweet, and he loved that she was always so loving and warm (both physically and metaphorically - Carl often joked she was like sleeping with a mini radiator).
"Okay. I gotta go. Maggie has us on a schedule and I'm not pissing off... Annoying. Sorry Mary. Annoying a pregnant lady."
"Come on. Chill with us. Lazy morning. You know it's gonna be a busy day. Let's savour this. It's not going to be a good one." Rick said softly.
"If you think every day's gonna be a bad one, it will be. I'm going to make some breakfast. You can heat it up later." Michonne smiled softly, kissing Rick's forehead, then Mary's, then leaving. Rick chuckled, then laid his head next to Mary's, eating the apple quickly.
They laid like that for a few minutes, then Rick blowed some hair away from her eyes, the feeling making her eye lids flutter open. "Hmm?"
"Is it wake up time? What are we doing today?" Rick asked Mary lovingly.
"Where's mom? Let's go play with her." Mary mumbled groggily.
"M-mom?" Rick stuttered unsurely, looking at Mary in interest of what she meant- had she been dreaming of Lori, or had she referred to Michonne as her mom?
"Yeah. My Mishy." Mary whispered with a sigh, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, her voice still thick with sleep.
"Okay. You can play with your Mishy."
"Mishy needs to help Maggie. Got lots of errands. But she can help." Michonne announced, walking into the bedroom. Mary got up, and hugged her tightly, hanging off her neck, her fleece pyjamas and hot skin radiating warmth.
"Hey honey. Did you have a good sleep?" Michonne asked softly, and Mary nodded.
"Can I help?" Mary asked in a whisper.
"That's up to daddy."
"She can be with you. Of course she can. I trust her with you more than anyone. Even Carl."
"I'm going on a short run with Glenn later. Can she come with us?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, as long as she's with you. Mary, you have to stay with Mishy the whole time, okay?
"Okay. I will."
"Good girl." Rick smiled.
"I'm going on ten minutes. Can you get dressed that quick?" Michonne asked her with a smile, and Mary nodded with a grin, suddenly wide awake. She got off Michonne, and ran down the hall to her own room to get dressed.
"She's worried about an attack. Maggie. And that one's worried too." Michonne pointed out, and Rick nodded.
"When they come for us, we'll end it, the whole thing. This won't be like before. We're putting everything in place, and these people know what to do now. The world's ours, and we know how to take it. Everything we need is right here in these walls. We're not losing any of it again. I'm not."
"No, you're not. I'm not." Michonne said firmly.
"You know, we have at least a few minutes before she's dressed. Can't I have a kiss goodbye?"
"No." Michonne teased, before sitting next to him and kissing him slowly and passionately.
"Hey. Stop, that's gross. I'm ready." Mary announced a minute later, stood in the doorway, wearing her dungarees and cowgirl boots.
"I gotta fix your hair first." Rick reminded. He pulled it into a ponytail, tying her bandana into it, then kissed her cheek. "Okay. Be a good girl for Mishy. You got bunny?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Be super good, and do as she says when you're on the run. And here too. But especially on the run, yeah?"
"Yeah. I love you."
"Love you too, Miss Maria Moo." Rick smiled, kissing her swiftly.
"Tell Carl I said bye bye!" Mary called, and they left, grabbing cold pancakes on the way out.
"Are you gonna be good today?" Michonne asked Mary with a smile, and she nodded.
"I'm always a good girl."
"You are." Michonne chuckled.
"Can I find more toys?"
"Yep. Eat your breakfast."
"Lego?" Mary quizzed, her voice muffled by a pancake in her mouth.
"If we find them."
"How about a jigsaw?"
"Maybe."
"I used to have a jigsaw of the world. Me and daddy used to test each other on countries." Mary explained with a smile, and Michonne nodded.
"I remember that."
"It was super good."
"Yep."
"I miss it. I miss lots and lots of things. I miss... I miss playing soccer at Hershel's farm."
"Yeah? I didn't even know you then."
"I'm sad about that. I wish we knew you from forever ago." Mary pouted, and Michonne laughed softly.
"Yeah, me too. Me too."
"But you're gonna stay with us forever, right? Until you die?"
"That's right," Michonne nodded, ruffling Mary's hair, "that's what I'll try and make happen."
"Are you and daddy going to get married?" Mary asked Michonne with a grin, and Michonne rolled her eyes, then spotted Maggie and Glenn.
"Look, there's your Glenny! Go run to him." Michonne smiled, changing the subject, and Mary did as she said, charging towards the man.
"Hello." Glenn chuckled, picking her up and swinging her around.
"I missed you!" Mary giggled.
"I missed you too," Glenn laughed, even though he'd only seen her the day before, "did you have a good sleep?"
"I got a bit scared, so I slept on daddy's floor. And Mishy's floor. They share it now. But I slept on Mishy's side of the floor, so really it was Mishy's floor." Mary explained.
"We didn't make her do that," Michonne laughed, catching up with the girl, "she snuck in in the middle of the night and slept on the floor so she could sleep with Bertie, because Bertie isn't allowed up on beds."
"He can sleep on my bed." Mary insisted.
"Yeah, but not anyone else's. Not daddy's."
"Why?"
"Because Daddy is grumpy."
"True." Mary nodded, and Glenn laughed.
Maggie coughed to get their attention, and Glenn whispered in Mary's ear, "Be nice, okay? Maggie is stressed because of the Saviours, and Grape makes her super duper stressed. Okay?"
"Okay." Mary stage-whispered seriously, and Glenn kissed her forehead.
"We'll have these but we should hide a few. That way we can find them but strangers can't. In case anyone gets in." Maggie explained, motioning to the guns in massive bins beside them.
"They won't." Glenn assured, but was cut off by Daryl driving to the gate, his motorbike revving as he sped up.
"Oh no." Michonne sighed in panic, as Daryl opened the gate.
"What the hell is he doing?" Glenn hissed.
"Going on a run?" Mary suggested.
"Something he shouldn't."
"We gotta stop him." Glenn nodded, grabbing his gun and bag, him and Michonne running to a car.
"Hey! You're taking her?!" Maggie shouted in shock, and Michonne nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, she's coming on the run anyways," Michonne nodded, pulling Mary onto her lap so that Glenn could drive, "she's fine with me. Don't worry. Rick knows."
Maggie didn't say anything further; ever since Rick and Michonne got together Michonne has been seen as the step mother, the mother, and Maggie knew that Rick trusted her more than anyone else with Mary. She knew that she was no longer Mary's mother figure - that was definitely Michonne. So she let them go, she let them drive away with Mary in the front seat.
They got to the gate, but stopped suddenly, as Abraham jumped in front of the car, Rosita by his side.
"Woah! Make room for my freckled ass!"
"No! Cover my watch. You stay." Rosita argued.
"Hey, we should keep numbers here." Glenn pointed out, and Rosita rolled her eyes.
"I know where Daryl's going." She argued, before getting in the car. Glenn sighed, but drove away to follow Daryl, Mary sat on Michonne's lap, holding her bunny, excited for an adventure with some of her favourite people. If only she knew what that day would actually bring.
Maybe she'd have stayed at home with her father. Maybe she'd have woken Carl up and kissed him goodbye. Maybe she'd have asked Michonne to drive, and spent more time with Glenn on their drive. Maybe she'd have eaten all of her breakfast, and stroked Bertie and her chicken before leaving.
But she didn't do any of those things.
It was like a normal day. But that evening, everyone's lives changed forever.