The Start Of Something New

Chapter 7 - Glenn's POV

    It had now been several weeks since Glenn had first found out that Maggie was pregnant, and it was just beginning to show.  Her belly was growing little by little, but barely noticably.  She was also becoming a bit moody and having more small pains and aches, but thankfully there was little to no morning sickness.  She wasn't participating in a lot of chores or going on any supply runs, but of course, being her usual stubborn self, she always found something to do.  But overall, the whole ordeal was going pretty great so far.

    Today was the day he decided he would tell Rick about it all.  After avoiding Rick for the past couple of weeks in hope that he wouldn't remember Glenn's promise to tell him, Glenn guessed that he had probably forgotten about it by now.  Now he figured it would be a good time to tell him since everything seemed to be going well so far.  And tthe only other people that knew were Hershel and Beth.  Maggie had told Beth about two weeks ago, and Beth was thrilled to hear the news. 

    Glenn wasn't sure where exactly Rick was, so when he spotted Daryl wandering through the halls, he jogged up and asked.  Daryl informed him that Rick was upstairs with Judith.  Glenn nodded gratefully, then made his way up the cold, metal staircase.

    As he neared the top of the stairs, he heard a soft humming sound and the gargled coos of baby Judith.  When he reached the top of the staircase, he saw Rick gently rocking his young daughter; who was now just over a year old, in his arms and singing a quiet tune to her.  She was ironically wrapped in the small, patterned baby blanket that Glenn had found in the grocery store and given to Rick.

    Rick soon spotted Glenn and looked up to greet him.  "Hey, Glenn," he said casually.

    "Rick, remember that, uh, thing I was going to tell you a few weeks ago?"  Glenn asked carefully.

    Rick continued to rock Judith, but he slowed the slightest bit to focus his attention on Glenn.  "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.  What is it?"  His gray-blue gaze hardened.

    Glenn took in a long, deep breath of air.  He was worried at how Rick would react.  There was already one baby in the prison, and could they really afford more mouths to feed?  Also, Rick's own wife had died horribly in child-birth, so the topic would hit home for him.  "Maggie's pregnant," he blurted.

    Rick stopped rocking his daughter.  His expression went solid like a block of ice.  "You're sure about this?" was his first question.

    "Yes," Glenn replied, looking down at the ground nervously.  "We've known for a couple weeks now."

    "We?" Rick inquired.  "Who's 'we'?"

    "Well," Glenn sighed.  "Maggie and I, of course.  And Heshel and Beth.  But that's all.  We didn't really want to tell you or anybody else until we knew for sure..."

    Glenn's lingering sentence was cut off by Rick.  "I see," he interupted.  There was a long pause.  The only sounds were the occasional gurgles and babbles from Judith.  Then, Rick spoke softly, "Congradulations."

    Glenn looked back up at Rick.  Rick was staring down at Judith thoughtfully.  Then, Rick gently unwrapped the baby blanket from around the baby girl in his arms.  She didn't fuss.  Rick approached Glenn, and reached out his arm to him, ushering the blanket in his direction.  "Here," Rick offered.  "You can have this back."

    Glenn shook his head.  "No, it's fine.  You can keep it.  Judith needs it." 

    "No," Rick replied.  "She doesn't need it.  She has plenty of other blankets.  I'd like you to have this one; for your child."

    Glenn smiled.  "Thank you."  As he was about to go back down the stairwell, he quickly informed, "Oh, and you can tell the rest of the group about it when you have time, if you'd like.  Or if you don't, Maggie and I probably will break the news together." 

    "Ok," Rick answered slowly just as Glenn stepped onto the first step of the staircase back down to the lower floor of the prison.