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Mia reached her hand out but there was nothing there. When she opened her eyes, Carl was gone. The sun shined through her window replacing the moon. Her hand was tingling. When she walked downstairs, she saw Rick and Carl sitting in the floor by the couch. "Morning, Mia." Rick said to her. His voice was still scratch but it was seemingly getting better.
She smiled briefly. "Morning."
Carl looked her way and his lips curled into a shy smile. She smiled back. He looked down at his hands. She came and sat on the other side of his father.
"Thank you, Mia. For last night." Said Rick, his eyes full of kindness.
She looked up at him and smiled again. "It's no problem."
He looked to his son. "You shouldn't have risked it, going out there. It was dangerous."
Carl nodded. "I was careful." He responded, not arguing like before.
"Well, it's good that you found more food." Rick mentioned.
He nodded again. "Yeah. I found more, but. . . I ate it."
"What was it?"
Carl smiled again. "A hundred and twelve ounces of pudding."
A laugh slipped past Mia's lips. "And you ate all of it?" She asked.
"I was hungry!" He laughed back.
Rick chuckled to himself and he looked down at his lap. "I know that we'll never get things back to the way they used to be." He stated, heartfelt.
Carl looked to his father. "What?"
"I only clunged to that for you. For Judith. Now she's gone," Rick continued. His voice lightened at the mention of Judith. Mia kept quiet, letting them have their moment. "And you. . . you're a man now, Carl. You're a man. I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be."
The quiet girl smiled briefly. It was a long awaited conversation. They only had each other. Mia was glad they were able to overcome everything.
"And you," Rick added and nudged her arm. "You're just as important."
She went red and laughed. "Not really."
"Yeah, you are." Carl butted in. "And I'm sorry again for how I treated you. It won't happen again. I promise."
She glanced at him and smiled. Her brown eyes gleamed.
Rick smiled to himself.
A sudden knock on the door and all three of them jumped. Mia's eyes widened. Rick took out of gun and got up from the ground with a grunt.
