Chapter Text
“Dad!”
Rick dropped the diaper in his hand on the floor, surprised by Carl yelling, “Shit,” Judith let out a giggle as she kicked her legs up on the table, knocking over the pile that had been sitting next to her, “Oh you think that’s funny?”
“DAD!"
“Carl! I’m a little busy at the moment! Can you give me a minute please?” Rick yelled back before bending over to pick the diapers up. He turned his head slightly, surprised that Carl had gone quiet, but grateful that his son was letting him finish the task at hand, “Alright, let’s go see what your brother is up to.” Judith lifted her arms, and Rick pulled her toward him before walking out of her room.
The house seemed quiet, which wasn’t all that different. Carl had been subdued since their recent move. They’d only been in the house for a few weeks, and with school not starting for two more weeks, he hadn’t had that many opportunities to make friends yet.
The move wasn’t substantial, just 67 miles from door to door, but he knew he needed help, and it made sense to move closer to family. Richardson wasn’t all that different than King County. Just another small town where everyone knew everybody, but for Rick the most important thing was that Richardson didn’t have the same ghosts that King County did.
“Carl?” Rick had barely gotten it out before he noticed the back door was open and he could hear the rhythmic beeping of a truck backing up, “Carl!” He moved quickly to the door and saw Carl, his arms up in the air, directing a flatbed truck through their backyard, “Carl, what the hell are you doing?” Rick stepped into the grass before backtracking when he remembered he wasn’t wearing shoes, and slipped into the work boots he’d left outside when he mowed the grass last week.
“I called you!” Carl yelled out as he took a few more steps back, the truck following him.
“You said “Dad” that doesn’t mean “Dad, the delivery truck is here and we need to tell them where to put the shed”.” Rick finally caught up and watched Carl not as he considered what his father had told him. It was clear he was barely listening, his eyes not moving from the shed that was moving closer to the cement pad that had been put down for it. He pointed his hands eagerly and Rick pulled at his sweatshirt when he realized that he wouldn’t be stepping back to give the truck room.
“It’s huge!” Carl said, his eyes wide as he smiled up at it.
“It’s not that big…” Rick scanned it, realizing that it did seem larger than he had imagined, but it would hold everything he needed and this was the one that he and Carl had agreed on. They watched as the truck lowered the shed and stood back as they secured it.
“Daryl is gonna come over this weekend, right?” Carl asked, looking between Rick and the structure.
“Yeah,” Rick looked past the truck when he saw movement behind it and saw his neighbor’s back door open. While they’d driven past each other, they hadn’t interacted yet and with how much property sat between their homes, they were unlikely to run into each other without some effort. Rick raised his hand in greeting while adjusting Judith on his hip and was surprised to see his neighbor give him a quick wave and then close the door.
“When is he coming?”
“What?” Rick looked back over at his son who was trying to open the shed door.
“When is Daryl coming this weekend?”
“I don’t know. I’ll check. He has to work, so it would be after that.” Rick watched Carl circle the shed and while his excitement was tiring after everything they’d been through in preparation for the move the last couple of months, it was nice to see him like this. He found himself smiling as he watched him pull at the door that was still locked.
The delivery men gave them a brief rundown of the shed and then they completed a walk-through to make sure that it was in the appropriate condition. After Rick signed off on the delivery they were gone as quickly as they had arrived.
“Can we work on the ladder?” Carl motioned over to the wood pile that had been delivered at the same time and moved toward it.
“No, it’s getting late, you two need to eat dinner and then it’s bedtime. Daryl and I will do the ladder this weekend when we work on the loft. Now, go get me that tarp so that we can cover up all this wood.” He watched Carl barely cover his pout as he ran over to the side of the house and returned with the tarp.
“But he’s for sure coming this weekend, right?”
“Yes, Carl. He’s coming this weekend.” Rick took a deep breath, reminding himself to be patient as he adjusted the tarp with the free hand he had available, “Go on in and get washed up for dinner.”
“I’m still full from lunch.”
“That was hours ago.”
“I'm still full.”
“Fine.” Rick gave up and watched Carl walk inside. This had been their routine for months now. There would be small glimmers of excitement or happiness, but almost as if a switch had been flipped, he’d retreat again. He couldn’t complain, his son had been through a lot in the past year and if the worst thing was that he was a bit withdrawn and would prefer to read his comics instead of sit at the dinner table with him, he would let that happen.
“How long is the Little Asskicker gonna be out?” Daryl took a sip of his beer as Rick lowered into the open chair next to him, placing the baby monitor on the table. He turned it to face him, making sure he could still get a good picture with service from the yard, and then leaned back in his seat.
“Should be a couple of hours at least. Carl will be here soon. Mom said they were on their way.” Rick took a breath and looked over at the shed, happy with the progress they’d made so far, getting it cleaned up and moving all of his tools inside. They’d completed the ladder first, knowing that would be the first thing Carl would ask about when he returned home and they were prepared to extend the loft area to give him more space.
“How’s he doing?”
“I mean, as good as can be expected I guess.” Rick shrugged, never really sure how to answer that question when he was asked. He didn’t even know how he was doing most days, so it was a challenge to begin to guess how his son was dealing with all of this.
“You still thinking moving was the right idea?” Daryl kicked one leg up on the table between them, taking another sip.
“Yeah, I do. It’s hard, you know, being in a different place, but I couldn’t go to the damn grocery store without someone giving me condolences. Felt like Judith’s first words were going to be “Sorry for your loss”. Then Carl asked me why I was still sleeping on the couch even though she was gone.” Rick paused and shook his head, remembering the conversation, “It was time to get out of there.”
They let the silence fall over them, relaxing after their morning of manual labor, but also just recalling their own memories. Rick saw Daryl lift his chin and looked behind him, seeing his neighbor’s door open again, “Friend of yours?” Daryl asked with a laugh.
“Not sure yet, but he does seem interested in the back of my house.” Rick felt his eyes narrow as he watched. Based on where their table was and the new location of the shed, it was hard to tell if their neighbor could see them and after the lukewarm interaction last time he was in no rush to greet them again, but after a few minutes, the door closed.
“Dad?”
Rick and Daryl looked over as Carl walked toward them in the yard, having walked around the side of the house when he saw the motorcycle in the driveway, “Where’s your grandmother?” Rick asked, looking around.
“She’s coming. Can I see inside?” Carl walked past them, and Daryl laughed as Rick rolled his eyes.
“I’ll show you what we’ve done so far. You’re here just in time to help.” Daryl finished his beer and then gave Carl a hard elbow before racing him to the shed. Rick stood and walked toward the house, smiling as he saw his mother walking toward him holding a backpack.
“I don’t even know if he let the car come to a full stop before he jumped out.” She laughed and leaned in, kissing her son on the cheek, “I’m not taking it personally.”
“Sorry.” Rick took the bag from her and they both walked back to the table.
“Don’t apologize, it was nice to see him so excited. The last time he was at the house he barely said a word, this time he went on and on about how he was going to have the whole loft to himself. Reminded me of you when you were little. You had the most beautiful bedroom, but the only place you found impressive was that treehouse your father built for you.”
“That was a long time ago.” Rick smiled to himself and pulled the chair out for his Mom, “Feels like it’s been a hundred years since then.”
“At first, it drove me crazy that I couldn’t get you to come inside, but then I realized, I never had to wonder where you were. All hours of the day and night you and Shan-“ She paused and looked at Rick who had tensed, “Sorry sweetie, I –“
“You don’t need to apologize,” He gave her a tight smile and sat down, “You staying for dinner? I was just going to order some pizza, but I can order something more interesting if it will entice you to stick around.”
“You know I’m not leaving until I see Judith. But, I brought a casserole for us to have, and one for the freezer. While I know Carl may enjoy pizza, five times a week is not appropriate.”
“We didn’t have pizza five times last week – it was four.” He put his hand up when he saw her start a lecture, “You’re right. I know. I just never did any of that stuff.”
“I keep telling you I have my cooking class once a week over at the rec center. You come over, you’ll learn how to make a few things. Might even meet some people. There are a lot of single women who come to my class.”
“I’m not trying to meet any single women.”
“Single men then, it’s a big class.” She smiled.
“You know what I mean. I’ve got Carl, I’ve got Judith, I’ve got my hands full.” He looked over and saw Daryl tightening the toolbelt they bought around Carl’s waist.
“It’s just been a long time since I saw you happy. Figure we may want to find out what will get you jumping out of a moving vehicle.” She smiled at him and he laughed before standing.
“I should probably get over there before my kid convinces Daryl to lift the roof on this thing.”
“I’ll listen out for Judith.” She turned the monitor toward her and sat back, smiling at the screen as Rick returned to the project.
“Dad, what’s a Homeowners Association?” Carl looked up at his father, who had just placed Judith in her highchair and was unloading groceries.
“What?” Rick asked, holding two cans of soup and pausing to look over at Carl who had been flipping through the mail. Carl placed a pile of mail on the table and then held up a bright blue envelope.
“A homeowner’s association. What’s that?” Rick could see bold letters on the envelope and reached out, pulling the envelope from Carl’s hand before ripping it open.
“Son of a bitch…” Rick flipped the letter over, seeing a blank side, and then read it again, “Son of a bitch!”
“Dad?”
“Um, homeowners association, it’s like, you know how I was a Sheriff?” Rick looked over and saw Carl nod in understanding, “They’re like sheriffs of the neighborhood.”
“Oh, and we’re getting a warning about something?” Carl asked, reading from the envelope that had been discarded on the table.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rick put the letter back on the table and then started to unpack groceries again as Judith started to get fussy in her chair. He put the eggs off to the side before ripping quickly opening a box of Cheerios and pouring a pile in front of her.
“But this says that they’re going to make us get rid of the shed. Can they do that?” Carl was anxious as he held the letter up and doing her best to support her brother, Judith let out a cry and slammed her little fists down on the table, making the cheerios go flying.
“Carl I said don’t worry about it.” Rick knew he was losing patience as he lowered to pick up the cheerios that had rolled in all different directions and gave himself the normal reminder to be patient as he tossed them in the trashcan.
It had been a long day. They’d gone to the store to try to get Carl new clothes and shoes for school, only to have Carl not show any interest in anything that they picked out. He’d forgotten to pack extra diapers so when Judith had a blowout in the fitting room, he had to send Carl to the store next door to buy extras and the sales associates barely hid their judgment as he apologized for the mess and the smell that had filled the space.
Remembering how he’d forgotten the school supply list in the car and that they’d had to come all the way home to get it before they could go back to the store, he moved too quickly, shifting the cereal box, that pushed against the milk and caused the dozen eggs to fall off the counter.
“But this says that we broke a rule and that if we don’t – “
“Carl that’s enough!” He turned to see Carl lower the letter to the table, “I’ll figure it out, ok? I’ll figure it out.” Carl shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Rick pulled out a towel to start to clean up the mess with the eggs. Judith, having forgotten she was upset had started to happily enjoy her cheerios and looked between her brother and her father before holding one up to offer it to Carl who shook his head.
“I’m not hungry.” Carl slid from his seat and started to climb the stairs and Rick dropped the towel on the floor before sitting in his abandoned seat and reading the letter again.
“Da-Da…” Judith held out her hand again, wanting him to have her cheerio and Rick gave her an exhausted smile as he took it from her and put it in his mouth.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
“Sorry, excuse us – Sorry. Oh, sorry.” Rick and Carl were sliding between the chairs in the small assembly hall at the rec center in town. They were running late to the homeowner’s association meeting and Rick was surprised as he walked in to see how official it was. There was what appeared to be a council up on the stage, complete with a podium that an older man seemed to be holding court at. The seating was divided by an aisle that had a microphone available to the crowd. Trying his best to blend in, Rick had tried to sit close to his new neighbors.
“Now, let’s bring that to a vote. In favor of?” The man at the podium looked out at the crowd and Rick’s eyes scanned the room, seeing most people had raised their hands, he put his hand in the air just before he gripped Carl’s wrist to lower it when he did the same. In the next 30 minutes, they voted on 12 different items. Rick tried to listen, and generally just voted the way the majority of his neighbors did, but he was focused on the task at hand and was hoping he'd get to speak soon. It was clear this was a mistake that just needed to be resolved.
“Alright, if that’s all we have, I think we can wrap things up. Mrs. Delaney was kind enough to provide cookies and lemonade for us, so I'll invite all of you to enjoy that now."
“Dad!” Carl pulled at Rick’s sleeve as he saw people start to move and Rick jumped to his feet.
“Wait, Sorry, I have something.” Rick scooted out and felt Carl following him as he moved to the microphone that had been placed in the crowd. He wasn’t sure but he saw the man at the podium roll his eyes, “I have something.” Rick held up the letter with his warning, “I got this in the mail and it said that if I wanted to appeal, I could come to this meeting.”
“Yes, young man, what is it?” Rick was sure this time that the man seemed annoyed with him and he wasn’t quite sure why.
“Well, it seems that my shed is 16 feet, high, but that the limit is 12 feet.” Rick paused and looked at the man who was staring back at him.
“Is your shed still 16 feet tall?”
“Yes, but –“
“Then I’m not sure what there is to appeal, you’ll need to have it removed.” He gave a dismissive shrug and Rick felt another tug at his sleeve and looked down at Carl.
“Can I see that?”
Turning to face the stage again, Rick took in the HOA council for the first time. At first, he was unsure who had spoken, there were three women with microphones in front of them, but when he saw a hand extend, he knew where the question had come from. She was wearing a suit, giving the impression that she had just come from work, and her locs were up in a bun, showing off every inch of her stunning face. Just as he realized he was staring; he felt the letter pulled from his hand and snapped out of the trance as he saw Carl run up the stairs and hand it to her. He wiped his mouth, almost sure that he’d been drooling, and watched as she opened the envelope.
“He received the same warning as everyone else. That’s all that’s in the letter.”
“Then you won’t mind me reading it. My babysitter is $30 an hour and this young man seems very upset by you wanting to get rid of this shed, so I’d like to move things along.” She looked up at Carl, “Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Carl.”
“Welcome to the neighborhood Carl. Is that shed yours by any chance?”
“Half of it.” Carl said confidently and Michonne looked at him confused, “My Dad said that the bottom needs to be for his tools and the lawn mower and stuff like that, but the top is mine. I’m gonna put my comics up there.”
Rick felt his forehead wrinkle as he listened to his son. It was rare that he was quick to warm to people, but the way he easily spoke with her was nice to see and a welcome distraction to keep him from gawking at his neighbor.
“Hershel Greene, you should be ashamed.”
“Michonne, this is nothing for you to worry about.” There was a plea in his voice as he put his hand up, clearly trying to calm her as she shook her head.
“You’re Rick?” She leaned forward to speak into the microphone in front of her and Rick nodded, “Well, you made a very bold decision to buy the property next to your HOA President. I’m going to take a wild guess that you put that shed on the back right corner of the plot?”
Rick paused to think, and heard Carl respond, “Yes ma’am.”
“I see.” She smiled over at Hershel who leaned into the podium and rolled his eyes, before she folded the letter and put it back into the envelope to address Carl, “You’ve moved into a small county Mr. Grimes,” she handed him the letter and he smiled at the way she addressed him, “Most of the people who live here have always been here and are very set in their ways. Mr. Greene, your new neighbor, for example, likes to enjoy a cup of coffee every morning on his back patio and take in the sunrise. A view that I would imagine has changed with the addition of your shed.”
“Oh,” Carl let his chin lower and bit his bottom lip, considering what she’d just told him.
“Now, while I understand his frustration - it was a beautiful view, warnings cannot be issued without at least three votes of approval from the council and since I haven’t seen this, I am going to assume that the rest of the council has not either?” Michonne leaned forward and saw each of them shake their heads.
“Very odd, I was sure that I had sent each of you a message,” Hershel said with a shrug and Michonne smiled.
“I’m sure, but the other issue that we have here is that our Charter clearly states that we can only enforce these rules equally, which means that if we have Mr. Grimes here remove his shed, we will need to have any shed higher than 12 feet removed.” She paused and looked out at the audience before looking back at Carl, “Do you have a measuring tape at home, Mr. Grimes?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“So do most of the people in this room, so they’ll all have a good idea if their sheds are taller than 12 feet. I guess what I would ask everyone, is if we’re ready to equally enforce this rule?” Michonne looked to the audience and saw most of them shaking their heads.
“Michonne.”
“Honestly Hershel I don’t have any skin in the game, I checked the charter before I had my shed put in. But I will admit, I may have added the extra feet if I’d considered comic book storage. I’m just looking out for our neighbors; I’d hate to have half of them have to remove their sheds.” The voices in the crowd started to get louder and Michonne winked at Carl who smiled.
“Fine, we’ll let it go for now.” He raised his arms in defeat and slammed a gavel down dismissing the meeting. Michonne started to pack up her things and watched as Carl approached Hershel.
“Mr. Greene? I’m sorry, about your view. I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have picked that spot if I’d known.” It was clear that Hershel wanted to be upset as he let out a frustrated groan, but Carl’s apology was genuine and he saw Michonne make a face behind him.
“Make sure you get a cookie on the way out.” Hershel closed his folder and put it in his bag before walking down the steps to join the group at the back of the room. He barely acknowledged Rick as they passed on the stairs but Rick didn’t have a chance to think about it because as soon as he had stepped onto the stage, he felt his son slam against him and he couldn’t remember the last time they’d hugged.
“We get to keep it!” Carl said into his chest. Rick smiled to himself and rested his hand on his son’s head, nodding. Michonne had paused to watch the interaction and only started packing up her things again when Rick made eye contact with her.
“Um, I have to thank you, Michonne was it?”
“Yes, Michonne, Hawthorne. I’m over on Windsor, I picked the farthest property away from Mr. Greene.” She smiled as she moved to her feet, “And you don’t need to thank me, I’m a lawyer so it’s my job to make sure laws are followed. I think that when they added me to the council, they thought I’d be on their side, but where’s the fun in that?”
“Thank you though, honestly.” Rick lowered his eyes to Carl who hadn’t stopped hugging him and Michonne smiled.
“Well, don’t thank me yet. I do think the loss of his view is an issue.” She took a step closer and saw Carl’s lip’s part, nervously as he looked at her.
“I promise – I will remain pro-shed.” She couldn’t help but chuckle as she saw his shoulders relax, “But, the man did lose what was a really beautiful view that he’s enjoyed for close to 50 years. My recommendation is that you build him a raised deck in restitution.”
“I thought restitution was only if I was found guilty?” Rick said and Michonne lifted her chin.
“You a cop?”
“Sheriff.” Carl provided.
“Figures.” She smiled and started to walk toward the stairs.
“What does that mean?” Rick asked, turning to follow her.
“Nothing, I’m just not surprised. You give off a bit of an "act first, think later" vibe, and then there’s the walk.”
“My walk?” Rick asked as they moved to the back of the room.
“I mean, who shows up late to a meeting where they’re trying to submit an appeal?” Michonne picked up a napkin and put two cookies on top of it, handing them to Carl before looking at Rick, “It makes you seem a bit, overconfident.”
“I had to drop my daughter off and then find parking,” Rick said, barely understanding why he felt the need to defend himself, but he couldn’t seem to help it.
“I’m just saying. Next time you get that blue envelope, you’ll want to be on time.”
“Next time?”
“Act first, think later, remember? There’ll be a next time.” She smiled and nodded and Rick was prepared to respond before she cut him off, “I should be going. It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Grimes.” She extended her hand to Carl who smiled up at her before shaking it, “Other Mr. Grimes.” She shook Rick’s hand and all he could do was shake his head, feeling a bit dizzy after their interaction. Before he could gather his thoughts, she walked out of the room and Carl was handing him a cup of lemonade.
“I’ll help you with the deck, Dad. I bet Daryl would too.”
“What?” Rick looked down, taking the cup from his son who was chewing on one of the cookies that Michonne had given him.
“The deck, for Mr. Greene, we have to make sure he can watch the sunrise again.”
“Right.” Rick glanced at Carl before looking back at the door and surprising himself as he smiled again.