I've decided to do a series of Holiday Themed Richonne One-Shots. Some will take place during the ZA and others will be AU. I hope that you enjoy reading them.
This first one-shot takes place at the Alexandria Safe Zone.
~First Christmas~
"Damn, it's freezing out there," Carl shivered as he entered his home, immediately followed by his father and baby sister.
"Language," Rick reminded his son. Judith was talking now and Rick didn't want his daughter's next word to be Damn.
"Sorry," Carl replied quickly as they all took off their heavy coats. He would never hear the end of it if Judith started cursing. "Winter here is no joke."
Rick agreed with his son, "No, its not. At least it stopped snowing this morning."
Carl shrugged, "I actually kind of like the snow. Too bad it didn't snow in Georgia."
"No, thank god it didn't snow in Georgia," Rick chuckled. "I don't think I could have handled that, especially driving in this stuff."
"Good thing you don't have a car anymore," Carl smirked at his father.
Rick rolled his eyes, "You mind watching your sister for a little bit? I'm going to get dinner started."
"It's Friday, it's Michonne's night for dinner," Carl reminded his father. His father wasn't necessarily a bad cook but Michonne was just so much better.
"She's still out on that run."
"She said she would be back today."
"I'm thinking that the snow probably slowed them down."
"You think she's ok out there?"
Rick nodded, "She's with Glenn, Daryl and Aaron. And Aaron is used to all this weather; I'm sure that they're all fine. So Let's not get down."
"I just worry and I know you worry too, so don't even pretend that you don't."
Rick was about to respond when they heard a loud bang upstairs. "What the hell was that?"
"Language, Dad," Carl chastised his father.
"Be quiet and stay here with your sister," Rick told the teenage boy before he made his way to investigate up the stairs. He double-checked his holster to make sure his colt was still there, just in case the situation called for it. He couldn't imagine who the hell would be inside his house.
Rick was shocked when he made it to the second floor of his house to see the stairs to the attic were down. He could hear more commotion as he neared the stairs. Rick quickly grabbed his gun from the holster and ascended the ladder as fast as he could, ready to face whomever had dared to enter his home.
"Hi baby," Michonne's smiling face greeted him.
"Jesus, Mich," Rick breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the love of his life, surrounded by a stack of boxes. "I thought you were a burglar or something."
Michonne raised her brow, "Really? A burglar in Alexandria? Come on."
"I know we've gone a while without an incident but we can't put our guard down." Michonne nodded, not wanting to start another argument over their family's safety. "Now, what the hell are you doing up here?"
"Looking for Christmas decorations," Michonne explained. "Look, I found a fake tree!"
Rick eyed Michonne suspiciously; "I didn't know that you were so into Christmas."
"It's always been my favorite holiday. On our run, we came across the cutest little Christmas store. It hadn't been touched at all and we pretty much cleared them out,"
"No food or weapons. You can't really use tinsel or stockings to take out a walker so makes sense why the store hadn't been touched yet," Rick added his two cents.
Michonne nodded before continuing, "We thought everyone could use a little Christmas cheer around here. I grabbed a lot of stuff for us but Aaron said I should check the attic too. I can't believe we never thought to look in the attic before. This place is a gold mine, whoever lived here before was really into the holidays. We've got decorations for every holiday. I found some really adorable hearts for Valentines Day and there are these cute little individual cornucopias. Too bad we didn't come up here before Thanksgiving."
"I'm not decorating for Arbor Day."
"Very funny," Michonne rolled her eyes. "Look, I just want Christmas to be special for the kids. We're in our own home and they deserve this. We deserve this too."
Rick nodded, "We do deserve this." His family had been through a lot, more than most and all he ever wanted was for them to be happy.
"Glad you agree with me," Michonne grinned. "Now help me bring this tree downstairs."
"I didn't sign up for manual labor."
"Come on, I'll make it worth your while later," Michonne wriggled her eyebrows at him. "I've got lots of fake mistletoe."
"Well, how can I say no to that? Can I have a little something to tide me over? I haven't seen you in three days."
Michonne smiled bright, making her way towards Rick, "I missed you."
"Missed you more," Rick grabbed her waist, bringing her closer before capturing her sweet lips.
"Dad!" Carl called out. "Dad! You up there?"
Rick sighed in frustration; Carl always did have the worst timing. Rick reluctantly pulled away from Michonne. "Didn't I tell you to wait downstairs?"
"No, you told me to be quiet and watch my sister," Carl replied.
Rick rolled his eyes, "Smartass."
"Language," Michonne and Carl said simultaneously.
"Michonne?" Carl questioned after he heard her voice. "You're back?"
"Yeah, I'm back. We'll be down in a sec, ok?" Michonne responded.
"I'll just meet you guys downstairs, Judy's hungry," Carl told them.
"Ok." Michonne turned to Rick and motioned to the tree, "Ready?"
It didn't take long for Rick and Michonne to get the huge box that housed the Christmas tree down the stairs. They noted Carl's look of confusion before they went back to the attic to get a few boxes of decorations.
"What's all this?" Carl asked as he came out of the kitchen, Judith toddling after him, a cracker in her chubby hands.
"Christmas decorations," Michonne replied with a smile.
At the sound of Michonne's voice, Judith made a beeline straight for her. Her little legs moving as fast they could. "Mama!"
"Seriously?" Carl questioned, not believing his eyes.
"Yep, apparently the attic is a goldmine," Rick responded and Michonne rolled her eyes before picking up Judith.
"Awesome!" Carl exclaimed.
"Hi baby girl! I missed you so much, " Michonne kissed her forehead and both of her cheeks before holding her close. "Think you boys could put up the tree?" Michonne asked.
"Yeah, no problem!" Carl didn't even try to hide his excitement. He never thought he would see another Christmas tree again.
"And what are you going to be doing? This was your idea," Rick looked to Michonne who was already retreating towards the kitchen.
"I'm going to make hot chocolate and then Judy and I will supervise!"