Life Isn't Fair

33

I'm the first one up, I can tell that Bella hasn't gotten a lot of sleep since she's been by herself. This is probably the best rest she has gotten for a while. This is how I lost her: my husband, Zach, was out with Bella when the whole thing began. They were out at the grocery store, and I was going to cook some Shepard's pie when they got back. But it never happened. I was depressed for a long time but I ended up with my parents and my younger sister whom I loved with all of my heart. They died and I just shut it all off. I was so afraid that I didn't have time to look for them, I just had time to run. By the time I remembered all of this, Bella had woke up and was now stretching. "Hey, Girlie. I have a couple of questions to ask. And I know you probably won't remember, but I'm your real mom. And I didn't remember until now." I finish, and she looks at me funny. I sit on the bed, and explain everything that had been running through my mind, even though she probably didn't understand any of it. "Yeah, I remember. I was out with Daddy, and we were getting things so you could cook us a very nice dinner." I was surprised she remembered, especially because she was 6 when it all happened. "So....you are my real mommy?" I nod, and she throws her arms around me. "I can't even believe I found you." I say to my daughter. "I knew you looked familiar. Just like your dad but with my green eyes." I laugh. "So, we're going to have to go back to Alexandria, today. And it'll probably take another day or so to get home. Only because I wasn't aware of the area, and I do now, so it'll be faster." I explain, handing her a pair of new clothes that are a little too big, but they'll do. I change into my own clothes that I had on before, and I grab everything to leave. I take her small hand in mine and guide her back outside, letting go and placing the cargo on the horse. I pull out two snack bars for breakfast, one being chocolate and the other being full of precious peanuts. I have her the chocolate one, of course, because when she was younger she loved Chocolate. "Thanks, Mama." She comments. "No problem, Honey." I reply back with a smile. I climb onto the horse, lean down and pick her up by her arms to place her on the horse as well, and I pull the reins to go. The horse turns, whinnies, and begins to walk down the street. Soon we go into a full on sprint, I wanted to get home fast, just so I could turn around and save Dallas. Even though I'm sure Rick won't let me do that now. I pass a lot of small shops, an apothecary, a school, and soon from two hours of riding, we're back at the store. "See, I've already cleared this out." I say to Bella. She sighs, and look up at me. "Then where is all of the stuff?" She asks. "It's under a bridge where a troll is guarding it." I joke. "Okay." She giggles. I continue riding home, and about halfway there, I hear a motorcycle engine running. My eyes widen, and I pull the reins back, putting the horse into a trot. I guide the beautiful animal over to the side of the road, and the roar of the engine gets closer. When the bike gets into view, I notice Daryl and Rick riding the vehicle together, and I lean back to stop the horse from going on any further. I let go of the horses reins, put the two of my hands on Bella's ears, because I know I'm going to get cussed out. When Rick sees me and Bella, his eyebrows furrow. Daryl puts the stand on the bottom of the bike to help it stay up, and starts to march over to me. "What the hell is your problem? We thought you were dead! And this ain't no child daycare." Daryl blurts out. "This is my daughter, dipshit." I chuckle at the name and at Daryl's face, but he gives me a look of disgust. "How'd that happen?" Rick asks. "Long story, no time to explain. We need to get back to Alexandria, Now." Rick nods and waves Daryl over to him. "No time for this bullshit." Daryl grunts and starts up the motorcycle. The horse snorts, and I uncover Bella's ears, wrap my fingers back around the black halter and squeeze my legs and the horse goes into a walk, then a trot. The closer we got to Alexandria, the faster we went. I counted the minutes in my head, it was about 30-45 minutes before when we got to the road that led to the gates. I made the horse go faster, ahead of Rick and Daryl, and Bella was enjoying it the entire time. We got to the gates 1 minute before they did. I stare up at the guard post, the exact one I climbed down off of, and I notice Maggie's eyes squinting at me. "Michonne, pull the gates open." She comments in her southern accent. The gates slowly slide open, and Michonne looks at me and Bella with a puzzled look. "My daughter." I say, her face literally telling me that she was confused. She steps aside and I trot into Alexandria, Glenn immediately noticing Bella as I came closer to the barn that was built at the back of the community, and he smiled and waved to me. I hopped off of the horse first, and grabbed Bella to put her on the ground. "How about we name him Raven?" I ask Bella, and she instantly nods her head. I lead him into one of the stalls and undo all of the stowed cargo, swinging it onto my back and grabbing Bella's hand. I walk to my house, which is in the far right side of the community, it takes a while to get there. "This is my-our house, Bella." I say as she goes ahead of me to open the front door. "It's a big house." She stares in awe. "Well, you can have whatever you want in an apocalypse." I comment. When I walk in without interruptions, Aiden comes rushing down the stairs and stops at the very last one. "Is it really you? I though you were dead! Don't do that again." Aiden walks over to me, wrapping his arms around me and breathing out. Bella stands idly by, just smiling. "And who are you?" Aiden asks, leaning down as he was too tall for Bella. "I'm her daughter." She says shyly. "Aiden, she's been through a lot, the child needs some rest." I comment. "Alrighty then. But we have no more rooms?" Aiden tilts his head, and when I tell him what I wanted to do he agreed. "We will keep Bella and Dallas together in one room, just so Dallas sees her as his sister and not a stranger." Aiden completely agrees, and goes into the kitchen for something. "Welcome home." I say to myself.