Hi, this is my first time writing fanfic, and I love to hear critiques! Thanks for reading. xo

-yagirlL

Chapter 1

The First Day

7:10 am

"Carl, Judith," Rick called to his children. "Your mother will be here soon," he said, buttoning the last button on his blue suit. The first day of school has always been the busiest morning for them, and this is Rick's first time on his own.

"Daddy, I can't find my purple socks!" Judith came running into her father's room.

Rick sighed deeply knowing exactly where they are; in the washing machine; he forgot to put the load in the dryer the night before. "Judy, I'm so sorry I forgot to do the laundry. Can you please wear your pink socks today?

"No!" Judith whined, crossing her arms. "I have to wear my lucky purple socks for my first day of kindergarten, Daddy." She began her usual fit when things didn't go her way.

"Judith Nicole Grimes," Rick said, sternly. "Go put on your pink socks with your pink Converse shoes. The pink socks look better with your outfit." He turned his five-year-old daughter around to face his mirror. " You got your pink rockstar shirt on with your white shorts, and look, even your belt is pink. You'll be the cutest kindergartner there."

Judith looked at herself in the mirror and gave a little smile. "Okay, Daddy."

"That's my girl." Rick kissed the top of her head and ran his hand over her sandy curls. "Now go!" Judith playfully skipped back to her room as Carl appeared in his father's doorway; he is looking down at his phone still in his nightwear.

"Carl, what the hell are you doing? I woke you up thirty minutes ago."

"Yeah, but Enid keeps texting me. She wants to be sure we have the same lunch period since we don't have any classes together this semester."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Give me your phone."

"But, Dad-" Carl immediately stopped talking when he saw the look on his dad's face. He reluctantly handed over his phone and made a beeline for the bathroom. Rick put the phone in his pocket. After he finished getting ready, he and Judith go downstairs to make breakfast.

7:30 am

The Grimes are sitting at the table eating oatmeal when the doorbell rings.

"That's probably your mom. Go get your bookbags." Judith runs to get her things, but Carl continued eating.

Rick answers the door and sees his ex-wife Lori standing there. She is wearing a red lace dress with a pair of black heels; her long brown hair is curly, and her lips are a shade of red, close to the color of her dress. "Good morning, Rick," she said with a happy smile, making her way inside.

"Morning. Why are you dressed up to drive the kids to school?" Rick asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"Oh, shoot," Lori closed her eyes and smacked her forehead. "I can't take them; I have an interview in fifteen minutes. I wanted to stop by before and snap a few pictures of them on their first day."

Rick is boiling. "Why wouldn't you tell me last night? I have several meetings this morning, and we're already running late. How am I supposed to drive them to two different schools and make my eight o'clock meeting?"

"I know, I forgot to call; Shane took me out to dinner to celebrate and it just completely slipped my mind."

Rick cringed at the mention of Shane's name.

"When I got the call for this interview, I was in shock; I didn't think they'd call me. This job will provide so many new opportunities for me, Rick; it's important."

"Look, I'm happy you're getting a job," Rick said sincerely, "But I can't do everything, Lori. I'm exhausted as it is."

"You're the one who wanted to take them full-time during the week, Rick," Lori said, her attitude shifting.

"Mommy!" Judith ran to her mother and hugged her.

"Hi, Judy-bean!" Lori makes eye contact with Carl before he quickly averted his eyes to his backpack. She wanted him to run up and hug her like Judith, but that is wishful thinking; she knows it won't happen any time soon. She thought about the beautiful relationship they once had; she feared she could never get it back. It is all her fault.

"Look, Mommy! Daddy got me a Moana backpack, and it came with a matching pencil box." She tries to hold it up, but it's almost as big as she is.

"Wow, I see," Lori looked at the orange and red backpack. "That's great, sweetie. Go stand beside your brother so I can take your picture."

Lori loves the kids' outfits. Carl has on a nice pair of jeans with a green polo shirt and white sneakers, while Judith's outfit is sassy and perfect for her. She is surprised to see Judith isn't wearing her favorite color. However, she's not surprised Rick did well picking them out; he is quite stylish himself. Judith wrapped her arms around her brother's waist and gave a big smile; she loved taking pictures. Carl, on the other hand, hated it and stood there with a blank stare at the camera.

"Carl, move your hair out of your face; I'm gonna have to take you to cut it soon," Lori scoffed.

"I'm sixteen; if I don't want to cut my hair, I don't have to," Carl snapped back at her.

"Carl," Rick spoke up. "You need to apologize to your mother."

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Lori loves this about Rick; he is always a gentleman. After all the things she has done to him and their family, he still showed her respect and made it known to the children that disrespecting their mother will never be tolerated. "I should get going. I'll see you two on Friday."

"I thought you were taking us to school, Mommy?" Judith asked with a frown.

"Not today, Judy-bean; something has come up. But you be good at school, okay? I love you both."

"Love you too, Mommy," Judith replied before giving her mother another hug goodbye. "Bye, Carl." Carl only nodded.

"I'll walk you out," Rick said, holding the door open for her.

"Look, we had an agreement," Rick said when they made it to her car out front. He tried to keep his voice low, not wanting the children to hear his anger and frustration. He rubbed his brow with his thumb; it is something he always does when he's upset.

"I know," Lori said with her head down. "If I get this job, a lot of things will be changing."

"I hope so. Good luck, Lori."

"Thank you, Rick. I'll call or text you on Thursday evening."

Rick nodded as she got into her white Honda Civic and drove off.

Rick dropped Carl off to start his Junior year and is now sitting in front of Judith's new school. Rick's phone is buzzing off the charts; he has missed calls from Tara, Daryl, and Bob. He sends a group text to all of them that he is running late, and will be there soon. "Are ya ready?"

"Yes," Judith said, nervously.

"You're gonna make some new friends."

"And I get to see Aunt Maggie," Judith smiled.

"You sure do, but remember you have to call her Miss Greene here at school."

"Oh, yeah; I forgot."

"Alright, let's get you to class." Rick got out of the car and opened the door for Judith. After getting her backpack on, Rick takes her by the hand, and the two of them start walking toward the building. Rick soon notices a woman struggling to carry a big box; his immediate response is to help. He and Judith jog over to her. "Let me help you with that," Rick said, reaching for the box.

"Thank you so much!" She allowed him to take it.

Rick is amazed to see her pretty face; her mocha skin is glowing in the morning sun. She has dreadlocks flowing down her back, and the orange sundress she is wearing hugged her in all the right places. She flashed him the most beautiful smile, and he became weak in the knees, and he almost dropped the box himself. The woman held opened the door as they entered the school.

She led them to her classroom, which is the first room on the left. She unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. "You can put the box right there," she said, pointing to a little desk in the corner.

Rick put the box down and looked around the room. He figured she is a music teacher with all the music posters decorated on the wall. "It was no problem at all..." He stuck his hand out for her to shake.

"Michonne Peterson," she said with a smile as she placed her hand in his.

"Rick Grimes." He held onto her soft hand for what felt like forever. Bolts of electricity engulfed his entire body. The air is thick. He released her hand, but he didn't break their eye contact.

Ding, ding, ding.* The first warning bell rang.

"Well, you certainly don't want to be late on your first day," Michonne said, looking down at Judith. "The kindergarten hall is on the other side of the school."

Judith gasped. "How did you know I was in kindergarten?"

"It's on your nametag," Michonne giggles, and Judith and Rick join in.

"I guess I'll see you later for class, Judith." Michonne flashed another smile.

Rick is beyond captivated by her. He hasn't even thought about looking at another woman for seven months; not after what happened. But he can't stop looking at Michonne; she is too gorgeous. And her name- Michonne; it's so unique. He's never heard a name like that before. He repeated it over and over again in his head, never wanting to forget it. Michonne, Michonne, Michonne.

Judith notices her father is in somewhat of a trance looking at her teacher and feels it's up to her to intervene. She quickly sees that Michonne is in the same zoned out state looking at her father. "Come on, Daddy! See ya, Miss Pete."

"Miss Peterson," Michonne giggles, "Don't worry, you'll get it."

Judith smiled and grabbed Rick's hand, practically pulling him out of the room.

Rick looks over his shoulder, "Bye, Michonne."

Michonne waves goodbye, "Bye, Mr. Grimes."