Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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Michonne breathed through her labor pains like she had when she struggled to bring her son, Andre, into the world. Next to her, June held her hand and whispered words of encouragement in her ear, reminding her that she was never alone. Daryl awkwardly stood by the door, chewing on his thumbnail and averting his eyes in every direction to avoid catching a glimpse of the female anatomy stretching to ungodly lengths to deliver the baby or babies. After helping June deliver Melody, he had vowed never to be that close up to a woman giving birth again and still had flashes of the head starting to come out. He shivered in disgust and swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Siddiq finished his examination of Michonne's dilating cervix and smiled up at her, giving her the smallest nod. Selena rushed over with the water basin and a few blankets, assisting Siddiq as best she could. Michonne propped herself on her elbows and struggled to catch her breath, her brow littered with sweat. Daryl ran out of the room as quickly as he could, his stomach turning. He felt horrible for leaving Michonne, but he would feel even worse if he stayed and threw up while she was in the middle of giving birth.

He hastily entered the living room, made eye contact with Carol—who had come down with Jerry and Ezekiel to see Melody and bring the food Alexandria so desperately needed—and pointed to the room, signaling her to take his place. Carol jumped up and sped off, leaving Daryl alone with Ezekiel, Jerry, and the kids. Ezekiel chuckled lowly at Daryl's slightly green complexion and lowered his gaze to the sleeping baby in his arms.

Melody nestled into Ezekiel, unknowingly making his heart stutter a few beats. Ezekiel never had children of his own, and seeing the baby comfortably sleep in his arms made him wish he had jumped on the whole parenthood bandwagon. Melody fussed at the sound of her older brother's sharp squeal of delight as Jerry tossed him in the air, making Ezekiel cringe. Everyone knows you should never wake a sleeping baby, but the memo has yet to reach Thaddeus Daryl Grimes.

After hours of laboring, Michonne safely delivered two healthy babies, whom she named Jacob Jr (JJ) and Ember. They were two screaming bundles of joy for the single mother, forcing tears to spring to her eyes with both delight and grief. The twins held Jacob's once lively green eyes, making Michonne purse her lips tightly to prevent the sob that threatened to shake her body.

"What'd you say, 'Chonne?" June whispered after a few minutes, brushing back a single dreadlock from Michonne's sweaty face, "The new place has enough room for all of us, and we'll both have each other to lean on."

"Three babies and two toddlers," Carol gave a low whistle and smiled down at the two babies held against Michonne's bare chest, "Sounds like you two will need all the help you can get." Michonne swallowed roughly, trying to force her emotions down.

"Good thing we'll have Selena and Kurt to rely on, too," Michonne answered, trying her hardest to smile at her best friend.

"With these two in here and the three outside," Carol murmured, "You can expect me to make frequent visits."

"We'd love that." June nodded, her smile widening.

~*~

June rocked a four-month-old Melody as she rested in her sling, her eyes soft and adoring as she peered down at her little girl who nursed. Her bright blue eyes were open, slowly drooping closed as June continued to pace around the completed meeting hall that replaced the church. June adjusted the sling's strap once more before looking up at the people who talked among themselves. Gabriel, Michonne, Marcus, Laura, Aaron, Selena, Kurt, Siddiq, Eugene, and Rosita sat around the massive table. Michonne had deep bags under her eyes, exhaustion weighing heavy on her. Despite having moved into the new house just above the jail cells and having more help than she knew what to do with, she still felt the crushing weight of raising four-week-old twins by herself.