Chapter Text
Rick pulled over the entrance of Shane's house, then. hopping off of the car and walking towards the big and mostly-wooden place. The garden was big and the lawn was recently mowed, which was strange because Walsh wasn't very caring about the way the house looked; he only cared about fucking, eating and sleeping... And maybe the boy he was taking care of. Yes, Rick was invited to visit them so he was introduced to the little boy Shane was sheltering in his home. Glenn, Maggie, Michonne and Carol had already met him and they always talked sweetly about him.
It was a very cold night, as Thanksgiving had just passed by and Christmas was getting closer and closer, so Rick almost ran to the house because of the freezing wind that threatened to turn him into a giant ice cube. He knocked on the door and waited the few minutes it took Shane to open the door, and then he was invited to come in. As he did, he heard the TV was on and it was obviously on some children channel, which he noticed because he heard the tiny voices of the characters.
He had expected Shane to look more like an adult and less like an adolescent, but nothing seemed to have changed. Rick expected his friend to grow up a little more since he was taking care of a child, but as soon as he saw the goofy grin on his face, he knew that he wasn't going to change. Ever.
"It's been what, four months? Man, I haven't seen you for a long time!" Shane complained, furrowing his brow and patting Rick's shoulder. Yeah... Rick knew that Shane remembered why they hadn't seen each other for that long. Well... Let's say that he had watched hell of a spectacle, starring Shane and Lori and taking place on their own bed. Of course they divorced and then Shane left Lori because that's what he always did: he always got sick of people and dumped them, or ruined their relationship. And it was a pity.
Silence.
Rick knows that it should've taken him more time to forgive the other man.
"I'm gonna tell Daryl to come here. He's watching TV all day, he's a bore" Shane told Rick, rolling his eyes and pointing his finger towards the living room, where the sound of the device was coming from. Rick nodded. "Boy, come here. Right now" Shane yelled, and Grimes immediately thought that it was unnecessary. Really? Yelling at a little boy? Then he knew that if he treated him like this when he had done nothing wrong, the punishments were kind of a hell. What a pity.
When the boy appeared, Rick could have spat all the water in his mouth if he'd had any. That wasn't what he had expected. At all. Daryl was a man, almost as tall as him and as thin as spaghetti! He had fair hair and hell of a pair of beautiful blue eyes. His clothes were just some jeans and a T-shirt, and his feet were bare.
"Introduce yourself" Shane ordered, causing the boy to flinch and look down at the floor.
Daryl mumbled something, but none Shane and Rick could hear. They guessed he had said his name, but Shane snapped at him anyways.
"Do you think we can hear that?" Walsh was glaring at the boy, obviously making him nervous. Rick felt sorry for the blonde, taking for granted that he was not having a great time there in the house.
"Sowy" Daryl spoke, his baby lisp causing Shane to giggle. Rick turned his head to the right, sending a glare to the man. "My name is Dawyl" The boy bit into his bottom lip as he pronounced the part where the 'r' should be. He obviously couldn't say it well. Rick smiled sweetly at him, nodding and staring at him with care.
"Hi Daryl, nice to meet you. I'm Rick, Shane's friend" He smiled even wider, feeling moved by how sweet and tender the pup was. He dug into his pocket until he found a red lollipop, then holding it out for the boy to take it. Daryl looked at Shane, asking for permission, and the man nodded.
"Thank you, Wick" Daryl smiled shyly and took the candy, unwrapping it and bringing it into his mouth. He seemed happy now.
"Yeah, he kinda has some oral fixation" Shane grinned, causing Rick to wrinkle his nose.
"Gross, man. How'd you know?"
"Not what'cha think, officer" Shane laughed. Daryl stared at them, obviously not knowing what they were talking about.
Rick couldn't stop staring at Daryl during the whole night, wondering how hard it had to be for him to live with a man like Shane. He was sure the boy had some problems and that it wasn't a kink or anything like that, and that made him feel bad for the little one. Shane had made fun about his lisp! Like Daryl could help it!
As they ate dessert, Daryl got his face very dirty, having ice cream all over his face. It was an adorable sight for Grimes, who smiled widely and offered to clean him up with a wet rag. As soon as he got close to Daryl, the pup started to cry and try to squirm away from him and Shane.
"One more scream and.." He couldn't finish talking, when Daryl accidentally dropped the small bowl with ice cream, causing it to fall onto the floor.
"Sowy, sowy... Accident", Daryl cried, knowing what was coming next. Shane scooped him up and then walked the boy to the living room. "P'ease... I'm sowy", He continued whining, and then some noises were heard by Rick, who had stayed at the dining room.
And then he heard the loud swat and the scream that escaped Daryl's mouth. Rick didn't even wanted to think about what was happening there, but he knew. Shane was caning the innocent pup, who was crying as loud as possible. Some minutes later, Walsh carried a sobbing Daryl back to the room Rick had stayed in.
"Sorry, but he has to learn how things are done in this house" Shane said, thinking that it was enough to excuse himself. Then, he sat the boy down onto his chair, causing him to whimper as his clothed butt touched the wooden surface.
Daryl was staring down at his chubby hands as tears ran down his cheeks and tiny sobs and hiccups escaped his mouth. He knew that Rick was staring at him, curiosity burning on his skin, but he couldn't even turn his head and look at him. He was very embarrassed, having been laughed at and now caned for something that had accidentally happened. It wasn't fair, not at all! He was sure Rick was laughing at him, inside. But he got to like the man, seeing him smile and be nice.
"I think I should get going, if you don't mind" Rick spoke, standing up from the table. "I'm glad we met, Daryl. See you soon" He kissed the boy's forehead, feeling surprised as Daryl's skinny arms were snaking around his neck in a hug. "Aww, baby.. You're so sweet! I promise I'll bring you more treats next time I visit you" He petted his fair hair, smiling widely as he stared at him and hoped Shane to tell him that he could take the boy with him if he wanted to. He would be glad to have the pup at home. He'd do anything to help that sweet little boy get out of the house he shared with Shane. Yeah, Walsh could be his friend, but he wasn't a good man and he didn't deserve to even have the chance of having Daryl's love.
"Bye bye, Wick. See you soon!" The baby giggled, forgetting about the burning pain in his buttcheeks and focusing on Rick's comforting smile. He had liked Grimes a lot and hoped to see him as soon as possible !
As he left the house and got into his car, Rick thought about how good he would feel if he was the one to take care of the little boy. Yes, he had his own children, but he knew that there was space for one more, that one who not only needed his help but also his love and care. Shane was too harsh and careless, to say the truth, and Rick was sure that the poor boy needed someone different than him, someone who could support him. He was that someone. And yes, he might have just known the child, but he didn't care at all. Rick could see pureness in the boy's blue eyes, and that's all he needed to know.
It was a Friday night, so Rick knew he had to get up early to go pick his son and his daughter up from his ex wife. He tried to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking and feeling guilty for not interrupting and keeping Shane from caning the boy. It was so cruel and heartless! He was sure that Daryl was a well-behaved child, or at least he tried really hard, so he thought that Shane was never going to know how to take care of him.
When Rick woke up, he was tired as hell and his mood wasn't exactly nice, but he got up anyways and went to Lori's house. When he got there, he saw Shane's car parked on the street. That caused him to roll his eyes with annoyance. It had happened before; Shane took Rick's kids somewhere else, the same day he was supposed to take them to his house.
Trying to ignore the thought of Shane being let by Lori to take his children away from him, Rick walked towards the house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, he heard Lori yell 'go open up!', which he hoped wasn't directed to Carl or Judith, or they'd have to talk very seriously. Great was his surprise when he saw Daryl's face peeking out the side of the door, causing Rick to laugh at how funny the boy looked. As the pup saw him, he smiled widely, opened the door and hugged him.
"Hi, Daryl" He said, wanting to call him 'baby boy' and stopping himself from doing that. Maybe he'd scare the boy off, and that's not what he wanted, not at all.
"Hi Wick" Daryl giggled, happy to see him again, then pulling away.
"How are you?" Rick asked, entering the house and sitting down on the living couch. Daryl sat down next to him, staring at him as if he was asking if it was okay to follow him everywhere. Rick smiled.
"Boied" Rick giggled as he heard the boy's answer. "Why aie you heie?" He blushed and stared down at his hands while he spoke, thinking that his baby lisp was annoying. He couldn't pronounce the stupid 'r' and the stupid 'l', but he replaced them with an "i" or a "w"! He was the one annoyed by his lisp and by everyone who laughed at him. But Rick didn't laugh or seem annoyed not like Shane or Lori.
"I came here to pick my children up and take them to my house" Rick said. "Did you see them? They're here" He looked around him, hoping to see his kids appear anytime soon.
"Juwith and Caiw aie youi kids?" Daryl felt his eyes fill with tears as his lisp was more and more obvious. He hoped Rick didn't notice; maybe he didn't mind the lisp, but he did mind him being 'such a pussy' for crying.
Rick nodded, smiling widely. He was starting to love the boy, that was obvious. He wished he could help him out of Shane's house, but he knew that the other man's pride wouldn't let him take Daryl away from him, not even caring if he really wanted to take care of the boy or not.
"Shane's piaying with them" Daryl pouted and sighed, causing Rick to feel sorry for him. Walsh had brought Daryl to Lori's house and wasn't even paying attention to him! How could that be possible?
"And why aren't you playing with them, little boy?" Rick asked curiously, very intrigued about the baby and his neglectful caregiver, now that he noticed how upset the boy was.
"They didn't invite me" Daryl shrugged, still pouting. Rick hugged him, then helping him sit on his lap. He started tickling him, soon finding out that he was extremely ticklish, making him giggle and laugh. "Stop, stop!" The boy pleaded, trying to grab Rick's wrists with his clumsy hands. The man complied, not even thinking about it.
"What's up? Are you okay?" Grimes scanned Daryl, trying to see if he had caused him any bruise or if he was hurt because of something else.
"I aimost peed myseif" Daryl blushed and looked away, trying not to be so obvious. He was afraid Rick would notice how embarrassed he was about his lack of control on his bladder.
"Well, if that happens often, your Daddy will have to put you on some diapers. Or do you already wear them?" Rick said, smiling at the blushing baby and wanting to pinch his pink cheeks but keeping himself from doing it only because he was afraid he could scare him off with all those sudden overfamiliar actions. He was looking forward to having some more time to spend with Daryl, to know him better and get to have part of his sweet, little heart.
When Shane walked over to them, with Carl and Judith clung to him, both Rick and Daryl felt jealous. The fair-haired boy started whimpering, glaring at the other kids and hugging Rick tightly, cuddling into his strong arms. Rick stroked his back, sighing deeply as he thought of Shane and his lack of common sense. And he also felt bad for himself, for feeling jealous of a man like that being his children's favourite person in the world. He knew they didn't love Shane more than they loved him.
"Boy, please don't hate my children. They're just having a little fun, that's all" Rick bit into his bottom lip, feeling Daryl sob against his now soaked up shirt. He didn't care about the clothes, not one bit.
"Shane's the only thing I have, Wick" Daryl whispered, also whimpering, causing Shane to turn his head to look at them. Walsh shook his head with disapproval, watching Daryl 'misbehave'. The boy will get what he deserves once they get home, he thought.
Rich wanted to tell Daryl that he would always be there for him, to support him whenever it was needed, but he didn't feel brave enough to say it. And it was a shame, because it would have made the boy feel better.
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