I think I liked you better when you didn't have a knife in your hand, Peaches

Potty training

Negan awoke with a groggy head and parched mouth, a sudden weight shifting beneath his chin.

Jesus, he felt like shit, and downing half a bottle of whiskey last night certainly hadn't helped with that.

He lifted a hand, rubbing it down his tired face, before his fingers drifted slowly down to a little body still curled into his chest.

The little figure gave an audible yawn, stretching out her teeny form against him, a knee digging him suddenly in the side of the ribs.

"Oof, careful, kid," he reprimanded. "Watch where that damn leg's goin'."

Negan with a small frown, opened his eyes, wincing against the small shaft of sunlight that seemed to drift in from the window across from them, filling the room with a hazy glow.

It seemed as though the storm had subsided overnight, leaving only a warm, pale morning, free of rain or the humidity of that last few days.

Negan of course remembered Mia coming to find him last night, wanting to be close to him when her Mom was nowhere to be found. And his feelings on the use of words exchanged between the two of them, hadn't changed this morning.

Negan grunted as Mia clambered over him with difficulty, coming to crawl across to the empty expanse of bed to their right.

"Wai Mommy noht 'ere for bwekfast?" she asked now, pulling herself to her feet beside him, using his shoulder for support as he turned to face her, sighing.

He knew the kid wasn't going to let it go anytime soon.

An', shit, what was he supposed to say? That he didn't know where the fuck she was, or when, or even if, she was ever coming back.

But Negan knew that lingering on the subject while he was nursing one hell of a hangover wasn't going to help anyone.

And so he gave a brief sigh, reaching out for Mia's chubby, bandy little legs, grasping ahold of them playfully.

"Why? Is bein' with your Daddy for breakfast not good enough for you, pipsqueak, huh?" he said with a grin, the little girl squealing out in delight, as his hand moved up to tickle at her sides.

The sound of her laughter filled the bright and airy room.

"Noh, Daddy, don' do dat!" she said in a bossy tone, pushing his large paw away from her, causing Negan's grin to widen, stretching from ear to ear.

Damn, he so wished Blake was here right now, to share in this moment with him.

And here, sober, it hurt him to think of how far away she truly was.

He fucking regretted everything that had happened between them in the cold light of a fresh new day. Leaving things the way they were.

If he could turn back time and change the fucking things he had said and done then he fucking would in a heartbeat. But what was done was done now.

Blake needed time, and maybe if he gave her time, and a little space, then she would come back to him.

But how long could he wait?

Weeks? Months? Years?

Right now Negan couldn't think of anyone else he wanted to be with. Although he knew that would likely change over time, just like it had with Lucille.

But in this world it was hard enough to feel anything at all. And for a moment Negan had with Blake.

She had turned his life around. Changed him for the better. And he couldn't imagine his life without her in it.