Chapter Text
It was barely dawn when the sound of an infant’s cries echoed throughout my bedroom. The light was barely breaking free from in between the curtains hanging from the window, causing a thin line of sunlight to shine down upon my closed eyes. My fingertips slid across the matress, looking for the warmth of my husband until I realized he was not there. His spot on the bed had been cold and empty for months, yet I still could not get it in my mind that he would never wake up next to me again.
Normally, I would have turned to cuddle into my lover’s side where he would gently loop his arms around my waist; but now, I slowly pushed myself out of bed and into the cold air that tickled my arms.
No warmth.
No comfort.
My hair was ruffled up into a tangly mess while my eyes remained barely open as I trudged over to the crib across the room. Inside, my son laid on his back with his arms and legs flailing around. The crying child searched for any form of comfort until I leaned down to pull his up into my arms.
His cries softened slightly when I held him close to my chest, so I proceeded in swaying the two of us back and forth in front of the window.
“It’s okay, Hershey,” I whispered, calling the child by his nickname. The sound of my voice soon calmed him down, and I sat back down on the bed with my son leaning against my chest.
My gaze drifted down towards baby Hershel who looked up at me with curious eyes. The infant had only been in the world for less than four months, but he already resembled his father down to the last detail. Most mothers complain about their children not looking like them, but it seemed as if my prayers had been answered, for Hershel looked much like my husband. Even the wonder in the infant’s brown eyes reminded me of the hope I had always seen in Glenn’s.
Glenn had always been the one who grasped onto hope and humanity. He was the man who never gave up on anyone, even if there was no other choice. If people fell down, Glenn always picked them up brought them hope for the future. To him, our son was the hope for the future. It was clear to me as soon as Hershel was born that he would soon follow in his father’s footsteps.
The thought of my husband was soon interrupted by Hershey grabbing onto my shirt. The child somehow knew that I was stuck in a depressed state and leaned his head against my chest in an attempt to comfort me. I brought my hand to the back of Hershel’s head and gently stroked the soft skin that was covered in a somewhat thin layer of hair.
“I love you, baby boy.” My voice came out as a whimper as I held my child close. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” The feeling of Hershel gripping onto my finger with his small hand brought comfort to me, and a smile finally made its way across my tired face.
For those next few minutes, I held the infant to my chest. Simply having my son in my arms gave me the strength to power through the day, so I finally stood up in order to get the two of us dressed. I placed Hershel down onto the bed where he quietly played with a toy phone as I opened up the clothing dresser. It only took me a few moments to pull out a blue onesie and a small pair of jeans for Hershel, but there were no diapers left in his drawer. Not wanting to go downstairs to find one, I opened up another drawer in hopes that there would be a spare diaper in it.
My hand fumbled through the contents of the drawer until it came across something that caused me to freeze in an instant. I knew exactly what the small object in my hand was as soon as I came in contact with the cold metal. The clothes in my hands dropped to the floor when I saw the video camera in my hand. When my eyes saw the device, my mind took me back.
{Flashback}
Ever since our arrival at Alexandria, Deanna, the leader, had wanted me to assist her in running the community. With great honor, I had accepted the offer that required me to spend lots of time in Deanna’s house.
It was late in the afternoon when I rummaged through a basket of future plans for Alexandria. Deanna had asked me to sort through them and to decide which ones would have the best results. Behind me, my husband sat sprawled out on the couch. Glenn occupied himself by drawing little pictures on scrap pieces of paper.
My eyes glanced over a packet of farm plans when a light weighted object hit the back of my head. I narrowed my eyes while turning to face Glenn who had a smirk on his face.
“Wipe that smirk off of your face, Rhee,” I said while sending a playful grin towards my husband. In return to his actions, I threw the crumpled up paper ball towards Glenn who quickly threw it back towards my face. “I’m trying to work.”
“Look at it,” Glenn told me. I shook my head and informed him that I needed to finish my work first. “Please, Mags?” The sad look spread across Glenn’s face caused me to give in. He reached out his hand, and pulled me onto the couch. I cuddled into my lover’s side as he put an arm around my shoulder and breathed in his familiar and comforting scent.
Glenn placed the crumpled sheet of paper in my hand, and I slowly opened it up to find five drawings. The first one showed two stick figure people sitting in a tree. One was a boy in a boy in a baseball cap, and the other was a girl with shoulder length hair. Below it showed the same two people kissing, and a drawing of a heart between the two below the second picture. The third was the girl and the boy with a diamond ring between them. Finally, the last drawing depicted the two people holding a baby in their arms. Above each picture, small letters were scribbled. My eyes read through the words.
“Glenn and Maggie sitting in a tree.”
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
“First comes love.”
“Then comes marriage.”
“Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.”
I looked up at Glenn who had a smirk on his face once again. “Very cute,” I said in a flat voice while smiling. His thumb rubbed at the skin at my waist where my jeans started as he looked down at me. I shook my head at him. “Don’t think that you’re getting anything for this five minute drawing you did,” I chuckled, pushing his hands off of my waistline.
“I don’t need anything, babe,” he replied, bringing his face closer to mine. “Besides, there’s already a baby in there.” His hand pressed against my stomach gently as our lips connected in a kiss. At that point, I couldn’t resist him. My hands trailed up to his cheeks where I pulled his face closer to mine. Our lips moved together in sync, pressed together perfectly. Simply from the touch of his soft lips, I could feel the love between the two of us spinning throughout the air.
“I’ve got to-” My words were quickly cut off my my husband pressing another kiss against my lips. “I’ve got to get back to work,” I finally breathed out. Glenn nodded, pressing our foreheads together. My fingers brushed through the hair on the back of his head as I stared at him, love in our eyes. “Now, stop distracting me, and behave.” A chuckle escaped my lips as I spoke, and I sat back down in front of the basket of papers.
The room was mostly silent for those next few minutes, making me suspicious; however, I did not the much of it until I heard Glenn laughing from behind me.
“And here we have my beautiful wife,” He said, making me pause for a moments. I turned my head in order to face my husband who had somehow found a camera. When I took a closer look, I realized that it was the video camera Deanna used for interviews. “Mags, do something.” I narrowed my eyes in slight annoyance at him.
“What are you doing?” My voice quickly turned into an embarrassed chuckle as Glenn made his way closer to me with the camera.
“Say something to the camera.” Glenn pushed the camera towards my face, and I pressed my hand against the lense in response. “Babe, look at the camera.” Small laughs escaped his lips, for he had always loved annoying me.
When he backed away slightly, I covered my face with my arms. “Glenn, stop,” I yelled out in a laugh.
Glenn sat back down on the couch, still holding the camera up. “Mags, how about we take this up to our bedroom for a night or two?” My husband sent me a wink, and my jaw dropped in shock of his words. However, I couldn’t help but laugh once again. The korean man in front of me bit down on his lip for a moment until I scolded him for his words.
He turned the camera around so that it was filming his for a moment before saying, “She hates me.” The spotlight went back on me soon after, so I tilted my head out of annoyance. Glenn dropped down to the floor next to me. He turned the camera around once again, filming the two of us side by side.
Finally, I smiled at the lense, and Glenn leaned over to connect our lips with another gentle kiss. “I love you, honey,” I whispered to him, my lisp grazing against his.
Glenn pressed his forehead against mine before gently kissing my nose. “You’re the love of my life, Maggie.” A smile tugged at the ends of my lips at his words. “Don’t ever forget that.”
{Flashback over}
As the video slowly came to a close, I let the camera fall into my lap. At some point during the process of watching it, I had sat down on the edge of the bed. My mouth was hanging open slightly from a lack of words, and I brushed the back of my hand against my cheek to find that I had been crying.
Next to me, my son finally began to fuss and kicked his arms around. I pulled the baby into my arms once again, holding his small head onto my shoulder for comfort. Hershel’s fists gripped onto my shirt, and I kissed the side of his head.
As I sat there, those few words played through my mind over and over again, Glenn’s voice soothing my broken heart. Those few, comforting words followed me wherever I went throughout the remainder of my life. Those few words were embedded into my heart by Glenn Rhee.
“You’re the love of my life, Maggie. Don’t ever forget that.”