A/N: Hello Again, this was supposed to be a Christmas One Shot for the Inherited: One Baby universe, but it's a bit late. I hope you can still enjoy it as we are technically still celebrating the holidays.

I've also decided to visit this family again, under holiday themes. It was nice checking in with this version of Rick and Michonne, I didn't realize how much I missed them.

I would love to hear what you guys think ;)

Enjoy!

Sophia

"Well I didn't see this coming! Did you?" Andrea blew out a frustrated breath as she and Michonne inched to the least populated corner in the dingy, musty, smelling pad.

"No Drea! I didn't!" Michonne responded, sounding just as frustrated as her partner in crime.

"Do you think they'll follow due process and give us a call?" There was a shyness to Andrea's voice, the reality of the situation hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"I don't know!"

"How angry do you think The Husbands are gonna be when they find out?" Andrea asked again, apparently when she was under pressure she turned into a rambling mess. The stench of sweat attacked Michonne's nostrils and she tried to hold in a breath, fighting off any nausea in the process. "I don't know!" She couldn't help the annoyance in her voice. Andrea watched her silently, trying to ignore the full suited Santa singing 'Silent Night' to no one in particular.

"Are you really blaming this on me!?" The blonde's voice raised and octave and so did Michonne's eyebrow.

"Well, I don't know An-dre-a! One minute we were supposed to be shopping for Madi's and Lindsey's Christmas presents and the next we're in a peaceful protest outside the Mall." It had been a peaceable assembly until it wasn't. Until the protesters turned into an angry mob and words transformed into weapons. Andrea, never one to take the road less travelled returned the verbal swing with a few expletives of her own and in less time than it took to realize what was happening, they were being arrested.

"So! You are blaming me! We grew up in that park! You really wanna see them knock it down? You want these westerners to take over Fatefield!? If I didn't say something who knew if that woman would've gotten violent with you!" Andrea couldn't believe Michonne was isolating herself from the incident they were both involved in. "The guy who arrested us has to be new. He can't possibly know who we are." She continued her rant as they moved around the cell that was lined with grey bars. The sat on the dirty, gray bench next to another fake Santa. Michonne looked down at the empty spot beside her and prayed the greying, sticky substance was old gum and nothing else.

This wasn't the way she planned to spend Christmas Eve.

"Michonne, where are you? If you get this message please call me back as soon as you can." Rick's voice was laced with worry. It was the ninth phone call he made to his wife's cell phone that went unanswered in the past three hours. It wasn't like her. He wasn't agreeable to the idea of her and Andrea going out to shop on Christmas Eve by themselves but she insisted on getting yet another gift for Madi. Even though they spent all night wrapping the kids' many gifts.

He decided to call Maggie to see if she heard from Bonnie and Clyde at all.

"Daddy where's Mommy?" Madison asked as she climbed Rick's lap, her long hair cascading over her shoulders despite Rick's attempt at taming it with a scrunchie over an hour ago.

"Mommy said she's gonna get my light up sword!" Little Carl said not to be left out of any Rick attention. He situated his small frame on Rick's other knee, making sure he kept an eye on his sister.

"You really want that sword huh buddy!?" Carl smiled up at him, his blue eyes matching his father's. He tried to neaten the messy hair on Carl's head.

"Mommy said if I stop peeing on the kids at preschool I'll get my sword!" Carl had a bit of a problem understanding when and where to direct his bodily fluids but they were working on it.

"I'm going to law school to become a lawyer like Mommy!" Madison teased Carl, they were both Mommy struck and he couldn't blame them. The Christmas tree had been decorated with purple and gold this year and stood tall in the picturesque living room. The decorated area could easily be the front of a Christmas card, if only his wife was here to enjoy it with their two children. Michonne plus Andrea equalled a bad idea when it came to shopping. The two gave the word carried away a new meaning.

"Madi you have years and years and years of school before you get to law school kiddo." He didn't want his daughter setting herself up for disappointment.

Madison, forever the dramatist in the family clutched her chest and gasped, "Daddy! I'm shook!"

"You're what?!" He asked incredulously. Madison wasn't going to be spending anymore one on one time with Aunty Andrea, she was being corrupted.

"Listen you guys, go up to your room and play with your toys okay. Daddy will bring some snacks up for you in a bit." He watched the beats of his heart race up the stairs and quickly dialed his Mom to come over to babysit.

It looked as though he was going Michonne hunting. His gut feeling was telling him something was wrong, he couldn't sit home and be idle. He called Daryl to inform him of his plans in case he heard anything.

…..

"All we need right now is to have two of the lawyers who represent half this town's degenerates, faces' planted on the front of Fatefield's newspaper!" If someone didn't come talk to them soon she was gonna blow her top, starting with the singing Santa.

"I can see the headline now - Grimes and Walsh gets arrested on Christmas Eve!"

"Rick and Shane are gonna kill us when they find out." Rick had been adamant about her leaving the house in the first place but the Louise to her Thelma insisted the infamous Doll their daughters' wanted for Christmas was going on sale at the mall on Christmas Eve. She promised Rick she'd be back in two hours. That was six hours ago. She knew he was going crazy with worry. Carl and Madison were probably inundating him with questions about when their Mommy was coming home.

"Yeah, you're probably right. We're safer in here." Shane didn't exactly major on being rational. Especially when it came to his wife and daughter. Singing Santa who was easily six feet tall and built like a tank approached the duo. She leaned into Andrea's face and said, "You wanna sit on Santa's lap Blondie?" Andrea looked terrified and intimidated by the giant of a woman. If the circumstances were different Michonne would be laughing her head off. "You aren't afraid of Santa are you Blondie?"

"No but I'm a little Claus-tro-phobic! If you catch my drift. Get outta my face will ya! And it wouldn't kill you to grab a tic tac!" She said easing the large woman out of her personal space.

"Andrea! Could you shut-up for once! You know better! Don't speak to anyone! It's the first thing we tell our clients when they're thrown in jail!"

"We're in a holding cell, that's different." She thought it was necessary to differentiate.

"You really wanna discuss semantics now! We're in jail on Christmas Eve!" Michonne knew her voice was loud, the longer she remained in the stuffy box, her vexation escalated.

"Can we ask they transfer us to the corrupt businessman cell? You know they get the whole five star hotel treatment." Andrea was half joking but the moment of levity was needed.

"You're really making jokes right now?" Michonne wanted a time out from her best friend.

"Well hell! You're angry enough for the both of us Chonne!" She stood and grabbed onto the bars that trapped them, gazing through the torturous opening for a sign of a familiar face. It was just their luck all the regulars were off on Christmas Eve.

"I need a time out from you." Michonne was tight lipped.

"Take all the time you need. I wanna see how far away you get in this small space." Arms folded, the two best friends separated from each other before tempers flared and words were regretted. Two minutes later a mocha skin woman with a bright pink mohawk approached Michonne, cornering her in the grimy cell. "It's ok Ebony, forget Ivory. I can rock your world if you're looking for a change." She was a woman with a man's voice and she scared the bejesus out of Michonne with her unwanted advances.

"Hey! Back off! She's with me! Come ere' babe!" Andrea held Michonne's hand and pulled her away from pink mohawk. They promised they would always have each other's backs. Andrea stepped in and saved her like they had done countless times over their twenty year friendship.

"Thanks Drea. I'm sorry. I really want to be home with Rick and Madison and Carl. Rick was right. We should've never ventured out today." It was her fear she would miss Christmas with her family.

"I know Chonne. Me too. I'm sorry. Look you and I aren't criminals. We did nothing wrong today. It was simply a case of viewing the entire group as a whole. Somebody's not doing their job right. We haven't even gotten our phone call! That's rudimentary!" Andrea had reached her max for bullshit tolerance.

"You know, you're right!" She was struck with righteous indignation and stepped to the bars again. She shouted to the rookie that had booked them. Her voice was loud, it echoed throughout the station. Said rookie sauntered up to her with the slowest walk he could meander and the dumbest smirk she had ever seen on anyone.

"Do yourself a favor and listen very carefully to what I have to say, because I'm not repeating myself!." Her speech was inchoate as she ensured Andrea was at her side for backup if needed. "My name is Michonne Grimes and I'd like you to get Chief Monroe on the phone. Wake him up if you have to, I really don't care. Tell him you have two of Fatefield's finest lawyers in a holding cell for a bogus charge for the past four hours. Let him know we've been denied due process; not even a phone call has been offered to us. Nobody took statements. No legal representation has been offered and these are things even a rookie like yourself should know. Then get Judge Mc Lean on the line and let him know you've got his daughter and her best friend behind bars despite the fact were innocent. And I swear to God if you don't provide me with a personal call in the next five minutes I'll tie your name up in so much litigation, when I'm done with you, you won't know your last name. Got it?"

Rookie was speechless and unprepared for the onslaught of a pissed off Michonne Grimes.

"Yes ma'am." It was the only response the timid cop could summon.

"And get me a damn latte!" Andrea added out of momentum.

"I've had enough of this. I need to get home to my kids." If her Father knew where she was, he would shake this place and heads would roll. If Rick knew she had been arrested for alleged disorderly conduct, he would bring a whole war to this precinct.

"You're where!?" Now that he knew she wasn't physically harmed or dying in a drain somewhere he tried to ease the anger out of his voice.

"We got arrested at the protest for the Park they're going to knock down." She could feel his anger oozing over the phone. She knew it was out of concern and worry, for more than one reason.

"Michonne." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Baby, I'm tryna understand how you ended up in a protest when you left home to go to the mall."

"Rick, it's a long story, can you and Shane come down to get us. Our cars are locked in the mall car park." She would do all the necessary explaining when she got home. All she wanted were her two babies and her husband.

"You're ok? No one touched you?"

"Rick I'm fine. I just...I just want to get home. It's Christmas…" He heard the crack in her voice and he yearned to touch her and take her in his arms.

"Gimme twenty minutes. Tell Andrea to be prepared, Shane isn't gonna take this one as easily as me." She curled her lips and stared at the ceiling, as if he was going to make this easy on her.

"Trust me. She knows." The blonde shared a knowing look with Michonne. Andrea's hair was a hot mess and Michonne's clothes looked as though she hadn't changed it in days.

"Friends come to bail you out of jail but a best friend will be right next to you in the cell saying 'Damn! We screwed up!' She knew Andrea was trying to make her laugh. Now that they were released a small smile escaped her lips.

"At least we can take this off our bucket list." She grinned and Michonne appreciated her girl was the glass half full kind of woman she loved dearly.

"Wait until Maggie and Sasha hears this one." She could imagine the reactions the other two members of their squad would have.

"Miss goody two shoes Maggie would be appalled at our behavior and Sash would be pissed we did this without her." Andrea's summation of their responses were about accurate.

"Well if I had to end up in jail just one time, I'm glad I ended up with you." She held her hand and Andrea winked at her. The tension between them fell away as they were no longer frustrated with each other

"Stick with me doll! Our adventures are just warming up."

Michonne hoped her best friend was dead wrong on that front.

"Mommy is sorry she took so long to come home okay." Carl was all tucked in but she couldn't pull herself away from her baby boy. He was growing right before her eyes. She remembered the day he was born, how she held him and stared at his sweet face for hours and hours. She couldn't believe she and Rick created something so perfect.

"That's ok Mommy. Did you kill the bad guys with your sword?" She never understood why Carl thought she fought bad guys with a sword but she went along with it to appease him.

"I did."

"You kept the monsters away for me Mommy." His small arms reached out to hug her, Michonne's heart felt stretched. Her eyes filled with tears, the love she had for Carl and Madison was unparalleled with anything she ever experienced. She would give her life to protect them from any hurt or pain.

"Yeah baby. Mommy will always keep the monsters away from you. And guess what?" She kissed his nose and he giggled loudly. "Soon you'll have your own sword to fight with." It was the one present he knew he was guaranteed.

"When I wake up it will be Christmas!" He cheered happily as Michonne fidgeted with the Mickey Mouse covers around him.

"Goodnight sweetheart." She kissed his soft baby cheeks a few times, for her comfort and his giggles.

"Goodnight Mommy."

….

"Ok Missy, it's already way past your bedtime. C'mon time to sleep." Rick leaned against Madi's bedroom door, observing the exchange with his wife and their five year old.

"Daddy said you should've been home a long time ago. Where didya' go?" Madison was talkative and curious and very smart. This conversation could go either way, so she decided to nip it in the bud.

"I um….I went to get Christmas cookies for Santa. We were all out."

"We're feeding the guy who practically breaks into our house every year?" Michonne side eyed Rick as he laughed out loudly at the door. Their daughter's mouth had no cover sometimes. Rick blamed it on Andrea and Michonne blamed it on him.

"Madi! Be nice or you won't get your gift from Santa Claus. He knows if you're a good girl. Remember that." Madison wasn't buying the whole Santa bit. Michonne tried her best to preserve her innocence a little longer before the truth about Old Saint Nick was revealed.

"Yeah he knows everything. Lindsey said Santa needs to get a life." she said it with a certain type of annoyance that Michonne thought she was too young to have, but her daughter was intelligent and wasn't fooled very easily.

"Goodnight Madi. I love you okay."

"Goodnight Mama. Goodnight Daddy." She shouted as though Rick wasn't three feet away.

"Goodnight pumpkin. Sweet dreams."

Michonne took the light off, leaving her Peppa pig night light on. The gigantic letter M hanging on the wall over her canopy bed glowing in the dark.

Rick took her hand and lead her to their bedroom.

"Lemme hear exactly how this action went down." He sat on the bed as she came out the shower. He handed her a steaming cup of her favorite tea in her favorite mug. She pulled her pajamas out of the draw looking for something warm to wear. She felt like a brand new person after her bath, the ills of the day had been washed away. She mentally prepared herself for Rick's interrogation, she was pretty sure Andrea was being drilled by Shane too.

"Do you want the long version or the abridged version?" She asked in hope they didn't linger too long on this topic.

"I want the version where I don't have to break anyone's neck for touching you. So don't leave anythang out." He was cool and calm now but when he got the call that she had been arrested and why, he wanted to bring the police officer who arrested her to his knees. He knew how these crowded events got out of hand quickly. Some cowardly police officers felt they had no alternative but to use excessive force. Michonne reminded him it was a peaceful assembly, although a few of them had forgotten the peaceful in assembly. Things got rowdy but no one was physically hurt. For that she was grateful.

She guided herself to his lap, clad only in her underwear set. "Look at me. I'm ok." She held his face in her hands and kissed his lips.

"If something happened to you or the baby, I don't know what I'd do Michonne." It was still their little secret but they were gonna tell Carl and Madison on Christmas morning, they were going to have a baby brother or sister soon. He rubbed her still flat stomach, the gesture comforting him inside.

"I'm okay and the baby's ok. I just want to put today behind me." She held him closer seeing how serious his expression became.

"I was going out of my mind. And Carl and Madison were asking a million questions. I didn't know where you were. You know you're never leaving the house again right?" It was a light tease but knowing Rick he would lock her inside the house if necessary.

"I'm sorry babe. Blame Andrea." Her friend wasn't here to counter argue.

"Monroe said expect a formal apology in the papers. He said the Rookie, I think his name is Jared got suspended and they have to write a full report to your dad." She beamed at the news, justice had worn it's beautiful head. "The chief said you really gave it to Jared good. Said you left him speechless." He was proud of his wife and wished he was a fly on the wall to witness this Jared being served his head on a silver platter by Michonne Grimes.

"Yeah I dealt with him sweetly." An innocent smile spanned her beautiful face.

"Liar! You went full Pregosauraus Rex on him!" The laugh came from his belly and she mimicked him easily.

"Yeah. I really did. Blame it on my hormones."

"Come here." Her drew her lips apart with his tongue, sucking on hers until they needed air. He held her tightly, his hand reaching to her backside.

"What time is it?" She asked feeling a fiery hot desire to be had by this man she was still so in love with after five blissful years of marriage.

"What do you know it's 12:10, Merry Christmas Mrs. Grimes." Rick said, a smack to her lips given.

"Merry Christmas my love. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow." It was Maggie's turn to host Christmas dinner but she promised she would help her prep.

"You know the family are gonna want a play by play of this one." It would be a good laugh to hear Andrea and Michonne's version of their Christmas Eve arrest.

"Trust me. I know." She wished this family wasn't so damn nosey.

"Ok. Let's get some rest. I know you're tired from today." He rose off the bed with her in his lap, her smooth legs comfortably adjusted around his lean body.

"I'm not tired Rick. How about you give me my Christmas present now." She glided herself down his manhood and kissed him. He understood perfectly which present she was alluding to. She kissed him again, it was hot and demanding, passionate and powerful enough to render him senseless.

"Michonne?" her name was always drawn out when he was turned on by her.

"Mmmm?" She was no longer coherent but she tried to sound that way. He placed her on the bed and pulled her red panty off.

Christmas day was already off to a great start. This was one holiday he was never going to forget, now that his sanity had returned intact.

"Out of curiosity…." There was a mischievous glint in his eye, "Did you by chance bring home any handcuffs?"

"You're incorrigible!" She said as she swiped over her arms, a chill settled in the room. The cold weather was a staple this time of year.

"You cold?" He asked sweetly. She nodded as his hand dipped to her core.

"Don't worry, I've got my love to keep you warm."

Her smile in turn, warmed his life.