The Last One | Negan

When the gates opened and we drove in, the first thing that I saw was Judith running towards us. So I made sure to exit my car as quickly as possible and kneeled down with open arms so she could crash with force into my embrace.

"Hi, baby." I smoothed her hair and smacked a loud kiss on her cheek. "How have you been?"

Rick was also approaching us and stopped a few feet away to watch us with a small smile. Judith pulled away and pushed her hat back a bit to look at me.

"Well, I have been good." She said and quickly glanced at her father over her shoulder. "And Cherry and Carl were good." She leaned in to whisper the next part. "But daddy hasn't been listening to me, not all the time at least."

I looked up at Rick, who most definitely heard Judith's complaint, and shook his head with a smirk.

"Really?" I asked her. "Why? What was daddy up to?"

"Well, he scolded Eugene, when Eugene wasn't even the one to blame because the sun thing made a loud noise and then Justin came to help and tried to lift it up, but it fell on its own on his arm and daddy said it was Eugene's fault and I told daddy he shouldn't yell at him, but he..."

"Wait, wait, wait." I stopped her and stood up. "I'll talk to daddy, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, looking up at me. "Oh, and also, Cherry tried to eat a dead bird, but I stopped her."

"Oh, my god." I laughed. "Alright. Thank you for reporting back to me, Officer Asskicker."

I walked over to Rick and hugged him tightly. He kissed the side of my head.
"You good?" He asked.

"Kinda," I replied, stepping away to look at him. "We have some good news and some bad news."

"Let's get inside, Carol made apple pie." He patted my shoulder and motioned for Daryl to follow, who was just crouching down so Judith could jump on his back.

"Oh," I exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "So she hasn't left already?"

"No, she wanted to wait for you guys to come back."

When I opened the door to our house, Carol was just cutting the apple pie into pieces. The spicy and absolutely delicious smell immediately made my mouth water. Michonne was sitting on the couch, meticulously sharpening her sword, and didn't even bother to look at us, instead just popped a brow, still looking at the blade.

"You need to go sleep." She stated.

"Me?" I pointed towards my chest with a confused expression. "Why?"

"Your steps sound like you've been running a marathon."

"Wow, thank you." I went over to her to hug her from behind and she patted my arm. "Didn't run a marathon, but the mental exhaustion is just as bad."

"Tell me about it." She huffed.

"What happened with Eugene and Justin?" I turned to Rick, going over to Carol's wide-opened arms.

"Uh..." Rick scratched his forehead just above his eyebrow with a strained expression. "One of the solar panels short-circuited and we had to take it off so that Eugene can fix it. All he had to do was hold onto it while me and Justin held the other side, but he dropped it and it fell onto Justin's arm. Kid's okay, but I did yell at Eugene, just like Judy said." He turned to her with a raised brow. "You little snitch."

"I'm not a snitch!" She protested angrily.

"Snitches get stitches," Daryl commented nonchalantly, adding fuel to the fire.

"I'm not a snitch!" Judy raised her voice in agitation. "I'm just telling her what happened! She told me to keep you all in line!"

"I did." I intervened with a laugh. "And Judith's been doing great with keeping you in line." I looked at Rick. "You know you shouldn't yell at Eugene, he has the emotional capacity of a five-year-old. He gets upset easily."