Chapter 36:
The following morning, it was Carl's turn to be the victim to the saltlick prank and the inestigators were one Clark and Clementine. The result was the couple falling down, laughing as poor shy Carl blushed and stormed off. Maggie and Glen were also doing their own things, taking care of the animals.
After the prank, Clark went to sit on the porch, a content smile on his face as he tried his best to keep using the breathing method. The parameter of the farm was almost done being surrounded by the golems, and while they weren't the sturdiest thing on the planet, they could easily hold back a horde of normal ghouls and special ones. Heck, they could also take care of any groups of humans that would be interested in raiding the farm.
A sigh left Clark's lips as he looked at the peaceful view in front of him. With his friends and… family being in a safe enough place that they could let the tension bleed from their bodies. He had so much things to do, from teaching everyone the breathing method, the ninja skills, and even the Intermediate medical skill. On top of that, Clark was thinking of writing it all down on a notebook or something so they could read the theory themselves without Clark being there in every step of the way.
Mostly because he didn't have time and the other reason was because he didn't want to spent all of it on them. Instead, he wanted to improve the farming situation with capturing deers and dedicating a section of the farm into deer meat farm. Other plans included talking with Maggie and Glenn and see if they could go to their farm to scavenge the place and the neighbor farms.
But the most important thing was that he wanted to spend his whole day being cuddled with Clementine, or spent time caring for Carley and the baby bump that was slowly getting bigger every single day or even just being with Lee.
Another issue that he had on his mind was that he needed to have a talk with Rosita and destroy whatever she was feeling for him. The thought of having another woman did interest that instinctive part of him, but everything else was just disgusted by it. What he had with Clementine was perfect in every sense of the word.
She loved him and he loved her. There were still some parts of the relationship being discovered, such as in the bedroom and their preference. I mean, who could guess that he craved human touch and caress and cuddles. Certainly not Clark himself. But what was surprising was where Clementine's kinks went, which was the opposite of his.
He was still being uncomfortable with hurting her, but Clementine seemed to be understanding and both were taking their time. They just needed to be alone together to fully explore it instead of being surrounded by close friends in a house that everyone could hear it.
His eyes set on the barn and Clark thought of running it by her and see what she thought.
"What you thinking about?" Clark knew it was Rick before the man had even opened his mouth. His instincts and smell and everything had already told him it was Rick. The baby Judith loudly blabling was just the chery on top.
"Nothing." Clark turned to him, before glancing back at his people, which felt weird to say, hard at work. The veggie farm seemed to be already giving some result and those who worked on it were excited by seeing sprouts on the dirt.
"Thank you." Rick sat next to him, watching the same scene, before turning his attention to his daughter, who was holding onto his pinky finger and about to bring it to her mouth, which Rick chuckled and made some baby noise at her.
The playful scene wasn't missed by Clark as he smiled at the father and daughter duo and for a moment, he imaged himself- he shook his head, his smile disappearing.
"Uhaa!"
The baby cry brought him back to present and Clark was stunned to find Judith trying to escape her dad's arms and gesturing for him to hold her.
Rick chuckled, his smile softening at seeing the boy's face. "Wanna hold her?" He asked, leaning towards him, but Clark shook his head, eyes wide, and walking away from them. His previous look gone, his hands turned into fist as he walked inside the house.
Rick's smile froze for a moment, but didn't say anything, instead, he kissed the top of Judith's head, rocking her in comfort. But his eyes held a trace of worry for their young leader.
That same evening, everyone had gathered in the living room as they talked and tried their best to pass time with card games and other things with Clark in the kitchen sink, washing his hands and scrubbing away at it with some soap.
"I think you got it all." Carol intervened.
"No, I haven't." Clark shot back, only seeing dark red on his hands that refused to be wiped away. The bodies that he burried and the blood that he had spilled had come to haunt him ever since his talk with Rick and it was the first time that Clark felt like this.
Carol, instead of saying anything else, simply joined him in the kitchen sink and took away the stainless steel sponge from his hand and Clark let her. She watched the red foams on Clark's hands and sighed.
In a moment, all the blood and soap was washed away with water, leaving his fleshless bloody hands in the sink.
"What are you doing?" Carol finally asked, her eyes not leaving his injured hands. Worry had taken over her chest. If Clark was a normal person, his hands would have taken weeks to heal, but Clark wasn't.
Soon enough, skin started to reappear on his hands, as if the previous sight was nothing but a lie. But there was the evidence on the metallic sponge that still had his blood and skin. Carol took it and threw it in the trash without question.
"Nothing." Clark answered, his empty gaze on his hands.
"Clark, what's wrong?" Carol insisted and Clark finally tore his eyes from his hands, and looked at the older and fragile looking woman.
"I don't know." He admitted and Carol frowned. "I… truly don't know."
…
…
…
That night, Clark had his ear on Clementine's chest, listening to her heartbeat while she ran her fingers through his hair. It was one of his most favorite thing about sleeping with her. But tonight, that wasn't what was on his mind, it was the fact that Clementine's smell had changed slightly.
It wasn't by much, but Clark noticed it.
He tilted his head, his nose practically glued to her naked torso, before it was glued to her collarbone and he took a big wiff of her scent, his eyes opening widely as his brain and instinct connected two and two together.
"You're pregnant!"
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AU: Hello! Ignore this section and continue to scroll for chapter 37
First of all, thank you very much for all your support and kind words. I really appreciate it.
Second of all, as you know, I've decided to end this story sooner rather than later. Based on my original plans, for volume 3 of this story, I had about another 10 chapters remaining, each around 3k to 4k words. And then a volume 4 that would have been the finale one with maybe 10 chapters max. Unfortuantely, I am growing very tired lately and am not finding that spark to write much. I do have ideas, but I'm just burned out with this story due to what happened in real life.
So, I've decided to end this chapter at chapter 40. Meaning, I have to cut and shorten a lot of the contents that I wanted to touch upon. For that, I'm sorry.
Hopefully, you all enjoyed this story and hopefully, you'll stick around for the future ones.
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Chapter 37: Im' abkc
There was a bit of shock on Clementine's face at the news, but it wasn't something big. An expression that conveyed 'I thought so.' And that's what she told him. That during the day, she wasn't feeling 'well.' Not in the sick way, but more of a feeling that something was happening to her. And when she had sneaked away to confirm the gut feeling, the test had come back positive.
To say that Clementine was freaked out would be an overestimate. But she was dreading and nervous about a baby growing inside her. But Clark… Clark felt like he woke up and was having a heart attack. His heart sank after hearing Clementine's words, and then images of his killing came back to him.
He couldn't help but look at his own hands and found himself feeling disgusted.
"Hey, you okay?" Clementine cupped his face and kissed his forehead. Her presence calmed his worries, but it also made them more present in his head.
"I… Yeah… I'm okay." He lied, a chast kiss to seal her words of worry, and Clark left her on the bed to go to the bathroom.
That's when overthinking fully came in: the body count. The images of his hands piercing through bodies as if they were wet paper. And the real doubt. Whether someone like him had any right to something this clean. Clementine let him have about four minutes alone before she followed him to the bathroom, hugging his back and kissing wherever she reached. And then, she turned him her way.
Her fingers danced through his hair for a full minute, and Clark melted in her hands.
"I can't go through this alone, Clark." She began, her hand going to the back of the neck, massaging what she could, before returning to his hair. "And I need my husband next to me." She kissed his forehead, eyes still closed in bliss.
"You're going to be a good father. That's not a question. So, please. Don't doubt yourself. Whatever you're feeling, know that I'm here."
He exhaled.
She pulled him back down to her bare chest and kissed the top of his head.
…
The morning sickness started two days later. Clark was already awake when it hit, moving before she'd finished sitting up, holding her hair back and making quiet, useless sounds of comfort while she puked and dry-heaved for a couple of minutes.
He brought her water. Grapes and strawberries from the horn. Sat beside her on the bed as he hand-fed her.
That same morning, he decided to tell Lee and Carley, with a little swollen belly, about Clementine being pregnant. Thankfully, the older woman was more than happy to help Clementine as long as she was needed. The less said about how proud and happy the two older couples were for them, the better.
Of course, news like that wasn't kept quiet for long, and even before midday, everyone knew of Clementine being pregnant. The rest of the day was spent in celebration, and everyone offered their help to the young expecting parents.
But just as there were good things happening, Clark couldn't enjoy any of it due to his own misplaced guilt, which Lee noticed.
"Hey." The man came to him the next day while Clark was doubling the number of golems around the perimeter.
"Hey." Clark greeted back with a small smile, feeling exhausted from summoning the extra golems.
"How you feeling?"
"Exhausted." Clark puffed, sitting down on the grass under the sun. A moment later, Lee sat down next to him, looking at his work and the giant earth status, walking to their designated positions, which had become a normal sight on the farm.
"Clementine and Carol told me some things that you need help with." Lee decided to bluntly tell him and saw their young leader sigh in defeat and fatigue before nodding.
"I just need some time," Clark admitted.
"About?"
"To come to terms with what kind of man I am and what I will become." Clark glanced at Lee, seeing him frown in worry.
"I killed more people than everyone here combined." Clark continued, nodding off to everyone doing work on the farm. "And I will continue to do so."
"You killed because you had to." Lee looked down at him. "To survive. To make sure we survive."
Clark nodded. "I know."
"Then-"
"Nonetheless, I am a killer and a murderer. Not all of my killings were done for survival." He reminded Lee. "I killed in revenge, and I've killed based on my views with my own hands."
Clark finally looked Lee right in the eyes. "I have no problems with that… But what I fear is me dirtying the children with my hands."
"I know it's a useless worry. But I just need time to come to terms with it." He told Lee, and the older man sighed, nodding.
"If you need anything-"
"I'll come to you." Clark finished for him.
Lee smiled at that. "Yeah," he said. "That sounds right."
They sat until the afternoon light shifted, and Lee told him about his own father, a brief, careful summary of a man who had been present and imperfect and loved. And Clark told him stories of his own parents to pass the time.
Before they knew it, Lilly, Mark, Carley, and Clementine joined them, the original group members who remained alive, all of them sharing stories and jokes, until the sun disappeared behind the horizon.
Clark Rogers had buried the plan due to circumstances outside his control. The university, the quiet life, the version of himself that expected the world to stay recognizable and safe.
What he had instead was a farm with earth giants standing watch at its edges, a group of people who had decided to stay and became family, and a girl with dark eyes whose hand found his in the fading light.
He was going to be a father.
He didn't know if he deserved it. It just happened.
But he was going to try anyway.
That was enough.
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AN: Hello everyone!
How's everyone? Hope all of you are doing good. As the title and the last few lines suggests, I am ending this story because life seems to really like throwing me curve balls.
I have some things to handle and while I really enjoyed writing this story, I am in a slump and very burned out in almost everything.
SKIP THE FOLLOWING 2 PARAGRAPH. IT'S ME RANTING!
Idk how to un-burnout myself since I've tried anything that I could think off. Didn't write anything for a few days, relaxed, went on a pointless drive that ate up almost all of my money due to high petrol costs. Game-d for a few days. Heck, even went fully bald- i.e buzzcut.
But as soon as I decide to sit on my desk and want to write, I feel like I wanna kick myself in the balls and then sleep on my desk. I have so many new ideas and stories that I want to try writing. But it's just, as soon as I open my writing app, it just- white noises in my head. It might be just that I'm starting to hate my room, so I might just try writing in library or some other place. Heck, I think im gonna take my laptop and write on the edge of a highway. Cause I need me some wind in my face and sun on my body.
STORY TALK HERE:
So, i ended the story pretty quickly, sorry for that. I had planned 2 other chapters.
One included a gathering of EVERYONE in the living room where they were playing card games and Clark just screwing with everyone (i.e going full in every single time without checking his card cause he can't understand the rules of poker) and then getting kicked out of the game (cause he keeps winning anyway due to luck), which Rick would give him Judith. This would be the conclusion to Clark's problem that was introduced and went in "depth" this chapter. Clementine having a "talk" with Rosali about Clark and she backs off- kinda.
The chapter following that would be one about Daryl and Clark hunting deer and bringing them back alive to the farm and have a section for the deers. They'd farm deer meat from then on. Also, in this chapter, they would go to Meggie's old house, run into Beth, save Beth from trouble, bring her back, and Clementine going deadpan due to worrying about another woman wanting her man (Meant as comedy). Then a big timeskip, maybe 2-3 years, from a survivor's perspective. They hear of a farm that's a safe place for suvivors with weird rumors. The survivors' about to reach the farm, hears gunshots and stuff. And then, a moment later, they see dozens of men being sent flying team rocket style to the sky (the golems, they did it.)