The sky was bright blue, he rubbed his forehead as the sweat was gathering above his eyebrow. The sun was shining, the white boards of the freshly painted homes were sparkling in a way it made Alexandria look more idyllic than ever. He supposed it was beautiful, if you took a moment to shut out the noises from outside.
He would make the same jog every morning. Make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. Of course he was trying not to obsess over every little detail and let his mind go there. This dark world had took its toll, so for Rick Grimes a mornin jog was more of a perimeter check. He nodded towards Father Gabriel who was outside his church enjoying the quiet morning.
He grunted as he pushed himself to maintain his pace, even as he felt his leg muscles tighten in discomfort. Running and fighting every other day had clearly impacted his body physically and mentally.
He looked up and saw his home come into view.
He expelled a loud breath and ran faster, as if he could run away from the images that had suddenly popped into his head. Disturbing, painful images.
The house in close distance served as a reminder.
Reminder of something good and peaceful. He felt an overwhelming joy every time he returned there. Memories of painful days had been tucked away somewhere deep and he had allowed himself to forgive himself for all the failures he had experienced. This was his life now and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Quickly, he stretched out his muscles before he climbed the steps of the landing and let himself in through the door. Stripping off his sweaty shirt, he was heading for the bedroom, still breathing relatively hard from his run, but stopped when he heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen. Out of habit he lunged into the room ready to hurt whatever it was in there. Rick breathed out in relief as he took in the sight of his daughter with a innocent smile and a bag of flour on the floor.
"Judy?" Michonne rushed into the kitchen, holding a eggwhisk, stopping right next to him, "I guess you two decided to start without me."
Judith laughed excited by the mess, "Mama look.'"
"She is getting too damn' fast for us." Rick chuckled as he mopped the sweat from his head with his shirt, "What were ya'll planning to do anyway?"
His better half went to pick up the 3 year old from the floor and brushed some flour off of her dark golden hair "We were trying to actually bake something, but Carl distracted me as you can see."
"CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!" Judith was clapping her tiny hands.
"I don' think she needs anymore sugar in her system," He laughed and walked up them, dipping his head down to kiss her lightly. "Oh and Morning."
"Morning to you too," Michonne smiled back leaning into him a little at first then pushing him away, "If you want some more sugar yourself you better move towards the shower Grimes."
"Oh come on baby," he teased trying to grab her. She quickly jerked her arm back before he could grab it. "What's a little sweat between family huh?"
"Watch it." She turned, pointing a finger at his smirking, teasing face, "Don't go starting something you know you can't finish." She winked at him and looked at the little girl in her arms, "Right Judy?"
"Mama right!"
He shook his head as Carl walked into the room holding a bowl and various other items in it.
"Well shit!" He looked at the mess.
Rick and Michonne both grunted in response, "Carl, language!"
"Carl!" Judith bounced in Michonne's arms.
"Sorry," He sighed frustrated, slamming all of the stuff on the kitchen isle, "I really wanted to do this for Enid's birthday."
"We could always borrow a little flour from Carol," Michonne shrugged, "If you don't mind asking- meanwhile I'll clean this up."
Rick looked at his son pointedly, having heard every word of it. "So this is for Enid?"
Carl sighed, not wanting to deal with him, "She is my friend. Everyone deserves a cake on their birthday."
"Yeah yeah," He was smirking hugely at him, he remembered exactly how a nice gesture sometimes was all it took, "You know Mich was once my friend like that too."
"Oh God stop dad," Carl rolled his eyes, "Besides It's not like that."
"Rick let him be." Michonne shot him a serious look.
"Just sayin' " His ego swelling to the size of the moon, "I know a thang or two about… stuff."
"I'm going to go get the flour now before you say anything more embarrassing," His teenage son announced stomping out of the kitchen, but turning around before leaving, "And dad- please put a shirt on. I dont want Enid or anybody else to see you flexing in our kitchen."
"Carl!" Judith waved at her brother, "Bye bye!"
Soon as Carl had walked out Michonne exclaimed, playfully nudging his arm, "You're the worse!"
He paused, still smiling, "Just teasin'"
She glanced towards the flour disaster, "I better start cleaning. People are coming over later."
"I can give you a hand, if you need it."
Michonne smiled at Rick who was still sweaty and shirtless, "I'm fine. You just stand there and look nice."
"Y'know I think its time for Judys nap." He took the girl out of her hands, "So we have what? a couple of hours?"
She cracked up," I can't with you today."
"What?" He asked innocently.
"You know, you really need to get in that shower and put your shirt back on, because it is seriously not going to get you anything now, anyway."
"Don't worry, I won't hold you to that." Rick promised her, winking as lasciviously as he could through the laughing.
"Rick Grimes you better start acting normal in front of our daughter."
Content in her fathers arms Judith watched them curiously. Not understanding any of it.
"Is any of this normal?" he asked slyly, reaching out for her. He kissed her, while his free hand roamed up and down her body. "Well, this? Is normal. But the rest of it, isn't normal. We're better than normal. We're real."
Michonne looked at him in awe, and kissed his stubbled cheek, "Maybe you do know couple of thangs afterall."
It wasn't all sunshine, but a lot of it was so, so good.
In dedication of RICHONNE being canon ill be doing fluffy one shots because why not. Grimes 2.0 family is amazing *heart eyes*