Ashes (Clementine X Male Reader Book 2)

Home-Ten Years

Clementine takes control of the community shortly after marrying Y/N. There is nothing but peace. Sure, there's the occasional problem, but they're always quickly dealt with. Morale is high. Carlos finishes a wall around the community, everyone has their own house, Marian establishes farms, Ericson's is renovated, a network of communities forms...

-

Two years after Anarchy...

You sit in the hallway with Clementine and Cas on your sides. Cas bounces his leg uncontrollably.

"I don't like this," Clementine says, leaning her head against the wall. "Is this what it was like with me?" She asks Cas.

"Yes." He says shortly. "Exactly."

"This is good, though, no?" Brooklyn asks, leaning against the wall across from you. "Sure, we're all anxious, but this is a good thing."

"It can be the best day and the most heartbreaking day of my life," Cas says as he stares at the floor.

"Just the best day of your life." You tell him. "There'll be no heartbreak."

"God, I hope so."

"This isn't like it was with Clementine," Louis says. "She's in a better position here with Don. Don knows what he's doing, and we have good equipment."

The door opens, and Cas shoots to his feet. Don closes the door behind him and takes his blood-covered gloves off to wipe sweat from his forehead. You look at him. There's blood everywhere, not just his hands. "Is she..." Cas doesn't finish his sentence.

"It's a boy. And she'll be fine." Don smiles. "She's asking for you."

Cas follows Don into the room in a hurry, and the rest of you relax.

"Man, I want another one." Clementine sighs.

"What?" You ask.

"Don't worry about it," she chuckles.

"Did they have names prepared?" Violet asks, stealing Cas' chair next to you.

No one knows.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Brooklyn says. "But I doubt they would have told anyone until they knew what it was."

Don steps back out of the room. "I wanted to let you all know that I think you should give Emma some space. Wait, at least, until tomorrow to see her and the baby."

You didn't expect you'd see them. You just wanted to be around for support.

"The name?" Violet asks.

"Sam."

-

Clementine loops her fingers between yours and strokes the back of your hand with her thumb. You're lying in bed, unwinding from the day you had, preparing to go to sleep. "Sam was a great choice." She says.

"Mhm." You smile at the thought of your old friend, now long dead and buried under the Tower. "I wish he was still here."

"Things would be different." Clementine drops your tangled hands onto the bed. "Would you want to have another one?"

"Hmm... I don't know." You say. "Two is a lot."

"Yeah," she agrees. "Two is a lot."

"You said you wanted another one earlier," you say.

"I did. Just thinking about it, I really liked it when Aj and Diana were really tiny. They were so cute."

"Too bad you can't have another." You wonder what it would be like with another.

"Actually..." Clementine starts. You look at her quickly. "I talked to Don and Emma. Don thinks I probably can have another. Especially with him here."

"Is this your way of asking me?"

"Two is a lot," she repeats.

-

Emma is still pale when you and Clementine visit the next day. Don assures you that she is fine. Clementine gently takes Sam from Emma. "He's cute," Clementine says.

"Isn't he?" Emma smiles. "He looks more like me than Cas."

"It's the same with Diana. She looks more like Clem, than me."

"She looked more like you when she was a baby," Emma tells you.

"It's true," Clementine backs her. "You wanna hold him?" Clementine asks you.

"No," you quickly answer.

"Come on," Clementine says. "It's not that scary."

"I don't know how to hold a baby."

"I'll show you," she starts handing you Sam, and you have to take him. You try to mimic the way Clementine was holding him. She adjusts your arms a little and then leaves you to do the rest.

Sam is cute, wrapped in his blanket, eyes big and curious. He looks nothing like the Sam you knew. You look forward to seeing this one grow up.

-

Emma and Cas have Sam two years after Anarchy's fall. Clementine gets baby fever after his birth...

-

Four years after Anarchy...

You rock the baby boy in your arms. You watch him sleep peacefully and unworried. Your son, Darrow. You'll call him Dare for short. You'll watch him grow. You'll be here to teach him things. You'll love him until you die.

-

Ten years pass after Anarchy...

Ten years...

Before the next threat...