Take my hand -(GLEGGIE)- ONHOLD

Pantomime

Today was the day. No crying baby. No excitable kids. No distractions.

Maggie lay still, relishing the morning air drifting through the window, spreading her legs and arms across the mattress in an attempt at taking advantage of the rare space blessed upon her this morning. This was a rarity, usually by now the bed would be full, at least one of her body parts dangling off the bed as two small children creeped their way in between her and Glenn. The term 'creeped', used as an understatement to the actual morning routine of Children flying into the bedding, burying themselves under mountains of blankets and wriggling up to smirk at their parents. 6:00 am every morning. Hershel and Beth would be first, the sound of children scattering down the hall, heard from the next house. Hershel always being the one to peep his head around the door first and muffle a giggle before running to the bed, Beth closely following. Then the baby would wake, little Annie would scream from her cot across the room until one of her parents finally extracted themselves from the heaped mass of blankets and children.

Hershel was the oldest, being six, he considered himself the leader, always bossing his sister, Beth around. His Raven black hair identical to his fathers and he prided himself on the fact that he was practically the spitting image of Glenn. His attitude was stubborn and bossy, (not always being a bad thing), however he definitely acquired these traits from his mother.

Beth, the middle child, a four year old with her mothers looks, her vibrant green eyes told everyone that Maggie was her mother but her soft and gentle personality had been an attribute Glenn had seemed to gift her with, a follower of her brother but still a strong leader, often referring to herself as "Hershey's assistant in saving the world."

Then there was Annie, at six months old, she was the newest member of the family and everyone dotted on her, including Daryl from time to time, finding the time to bottle feed her or bounce her around. Annie loved the attention of her family, smiling gleefully at all the faces admiring her, however at night the faces changed. The once happy laughter of the child would shift to screams of attention, resulting in zero sleep for anyone in the house.

But not that night, the screams were gone and the excited children were not bombarding them. At first Maggie was reluctant into letting Carl and Enid take them for the night, not only because she didn't want to be away from them but also because she knew how little sleep the young couple would get. However Hershel was jumping on the spot and Beth was close to tears at the thought of her parents saying no, because she had never had a sleep over before and it was easy to say that she looked up to Enid, always following her around Alexandria. So Maggie and Glenn said yes and after handing Carl the formula for the baby and packing up their children's clothes, they were gone. Although, now Maggie couldn't say she minded her children being away from her, she knew they were safe and cared for and she definitely loved this space, and this rare lie in.

She slipped on her boots, quietly tying the laces and making her way through the morning lit room, the rays of sunlight, slipped through the thin curtains, bathing the room in a warm orange glow. Her eyes shifted to Glenn, smiling sweetly in his sleep, arms and legs tightly curled into himself as if waiting for the impact of children flying into the bed. She smiled to herself, watching her husband sleep for a minute before walking over to him and kissing his forehead. She scrawled a note quickly, leaving it on her side of the bed before leaving the house into the fresh morning air.

Morning, just out for a walk, hope you slept well xx -Maggie

The air was freezing and in her hast she forgot to put on her thick coat, so instead, she pulled her cardigan tightly around her pjs and continued walking. She liked going for morning walks, she did it all the time on the farm, watching as life slowly woke from slumber was something that fascinated her then and continued to now.