Chapter 1:

"...I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed in both of you. You both already had kids so young so I don't understand why you think you needed to have another while you're still young. You just got your degree! You were meant to go and get yourself a job working in a lawyers office but now you've got to put that on the back burner because you'll have two kids to worry about"

Michonne stood in front of her mother as she listened to her vent her worries and frustrations. She threw one arm one way and the other and asked Michonne questions that she didn't actually want the answer to.

"What makes it worse is that my poor grandchild has been rattling around in there while you've been running around the city, chasing bad guys and shooting guns!"

Michonne narrowed her eyes at her, "Rattling around?"

"You know what I mean", Her mother gave her a pointed look as she placed her hands on her round hips, "I had my doubts about you and Rick at first but I was honestly starting to believe that maybe you two might work out great¬"

"We still will, mom", Michonne insisted lightly, "Rick's not like Mike and you know that"

"I know he's not like Mike and I never thought that he was, but having three kids to take care of can put a strain on any relationship", Her mother clarified, "He's going to have to support four people now and put a bigger roof over your heads - I had a hard enough time doing that when I just had your big head to worry about"

Michonne's mouth fell agape. She crossed her arms over her chest as she gave her mother an unimpressed look, "Well, I am offended"

"Oh stop it. I mean it out of love", Her mother shook her head as she gazed around the parking lot, "To think I almost took you and Andre off my insurance. I'm gonna' have to keep you both on there until Rick finds a different job"

"He can keep the job he has now, mom"

Her mother's head swung back around to look at her, "Yeah? And what if he gets hurt when he's out one night? Seriously hurt, Michonne?"

Michonne shifted from one foot to another as she thought about it, "That can happen at any point in time, mom. Any of us can get seriously hurt whether we purposely put ourselves in harming way or not, but we don't let that stop us from leaving the house, do we?"

Her mother rolled her eyes at her, "Now she thinks she's a philosopher"

Michonne pursed her lips together tightly when she felt herself begin to smile, "I get what you mean, mom. And it's one of the many things that we will discuss together before the baby gets here"

Her mother sighed deeply as her pupils rolled down to Michonne's stomach, "Have you ever been to a doctor?"

She nodded and smoothed her hands over her red and white polka-dot dress. You couldn't really see much but she could feel the change taking place in her body, "Yeah. She thinks I'm about four months along¬"

"Four months!", Her mother yelled. Her warm brown eyes widened to dramatically, "The two of you have only been together for, what? A couple months?! And you're four months- you're four months already?!"

Michonne groaned as she slapped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, "God, mom, please stop yelling, your voice is so shrill!"

Her mother squinted at her as she raised her pointer finger, "So when I asked you if you were pregnant that one time¬"

"No, I wasn't pregnant then, mom", Michonne deadpanned as she dropped her hands to her side.

"Oh, so I put the idea in your head!", Her mother threw her hands up in the air as she chuckled with disbelief, "I must have planted the seed, right? Well, clearly Rick was the one that planted something¬"

Michonne recoiled in horror as she hissed at her, "Mom! Why are you the grossest person ever?!"

"Oh, now it's gross!", Her mother raised her eyebrows at her, "Now you decide to act like a nun when you should have been acting like a nun four months ago!"

"Well, I'm sorry but you're grandmother again!", Michonne countered, "So congratulations!"

Her mother waved her hand dismissively at her, "Oh stop it! You know I'd love any grandchild of mine, even if I don't like how they got here"

Michonne exhaled tiredly, "Well that's all I needed to know. So can we just accept it and move on?"

Her mother rolled her shoulders back as she turned to face the park, "I already accepted it. I just needed to get all that out the way"

"Fine.", Michonne huffed as she stood at her side, "And be nice to Rick, mom. He didn't know. You can't hit him."

"I was trying to hit him", Her mother explained dryly as she stared ahead of them, "I was just trying to get a good hold of him"

A moment of silence passed by before the two women cackled together. Michonne naked on her arms around her mothers and sat her head on her shoulder, "I still need you, mom"

Her mother kissed her on her forehead, "I know."

...

"You did great tonight. You think you can make it tomorrow?"

Michonne immediately shook her head as she shoved the sizeable roll of bills in her backpack, "Can't-do weekends, remember?"

Carol pouted as she pushed off the desk, "Alright, fine. Let me know if you change your mind"

"Yeah. Will do", Michonne flashed her a smile as she backed away, "See you"

"Bye, get home safe"

Michonne glanced at her watch as she marched to the exit. It was the early hours of the morning and she had to get home as soon as she could. Her breasts felt rock hard and uncomfortable. She was exhausted, but she only had a twenty-minute walk home so she put her backpack on properly and began to sprint. It was a little chilly at this time of day so the movement quickly warmed her up.

By the time she arrived at her apartment she felt as if she was drenched in sweat, but she soon learned that it definitely wasn't sweat. She ran up the staircase and swung her bag in front of her to retrieve her keys; then moved at a snail's pace to open the door.

"Hey, I just put her down", Beth spoke in a whisper, even though the bedrooms were at the end of the hall. The blonde's large blue eyes fell to Michonne's grey t-shirt when she saw her take off her jacket, "Oh… What happened?"

Michonne looked down at herself and growled, "I ran here"

Beth seemed clueless like she couldn't understand what that meant.

Michonne waved it off, "It's nothing, uh… Let me pay you"

"Okay."

"Andre wasn't any trouble was he?", Michonne carried her bag over to the kitchen counter, "He ate all his dinner so he should have slept straight through the night"

"Yeah, he did. Not a peep from him", Beth replied while packing away her books off the coffee table.

"Good", Michonne plucked several bills from the cash she'd only just received, "Are you going to be okay driving home?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine".

Michonne paid her friend's younger sister and watched her make her way to her vehicle from her window when she left. It was part of their routine. As soon as she saw Beth take off, she headed to the bathroom to change her clothes and have a quick shower.

Chances of her getting any more than five hours of sleep were slim, so as soon as she had finished changing, she quickly checked on both children so she could get some rest. Trying to find Andre under in his dozens of blankets wasn't easy, but she saw one blanket in particular raising and falling in the corner of his toddler bed so she left him alone. She couldn't understand why he had started to demand to sleep with so many sheets and comforters around him but she wasn't going to question him if it kept him in his own bed at night.

She crossed the hall to find her little girl, making sure to tiptoe into the room and not get too close to her crib. Judith was curled up on her front like a tiny mocha egg, sucking away on her pacifier as she slept. Her trademark snarl was nowhere to be seen when she slept. Michonne backed out of the room before she breathed too loud and woke her infant.

She climbed into her own bed and laid face down on the pillow as she moaned with delight. She kicked her legs one way and the other, basking in the fact that she didn't have to restrict herself to a slither of the mattress. She had it all to herself, and she fell asleep in seconds.

"Mommy, Judy's butt-butt stinks"

Michonne pried one bloodshot eye open when she heard her son's voice nearby. She couldn't believe it; the sun was already beaming through her window. She felt as if she'd only just closed her eyes. She looked at Andre, who was standing with both hands on his hips like Rick did. His little angry expression let her know that he wasn't happy. He pointed at the door as he repeated himself, "Her butt-butt stinks really bad, mommy"

Michonne groaned as she lifted her head from the pillow, "Be nice to Judy, baby"

"Buh' she's stinky", Andre protested, putting his hand back on his waist.

"I already changed her so she's not stinky anymore, okay?", Rick's voice came from the doorway as he made an appearance. He held Judith on his chest as he rubbed her back as he took the tiniest steps forward, "And I hate to break it to you but you haven't always smelt too good either"

Andre shook his head adamantly, "Mommy said I smell like chocolate!"

Rick frowned and gave Michonne a questioning look, "...Are you allowed to say that?"

She pulled the covers over her head as she snickered, "He was actually eating chocolate when I said that, Rick"

"Oh.", She heard his footsteps move closer to the bed, "I see that you didn't put away those toys of yours?"

Andre dropped his gaze to the ground, "...I fa-got…"

"I'll make a deal with you; put away all those toys right now and I'll give you whatever you want for a snack.", Rick offered, and Andre bolted out the room within seconds. He smirked to himself as he looked out the door, "One of these days, he's just gonna' run right through that wall"

"I'd rather he didn't", She replied flatly as she peaked at from behind the sheets, "What time did you get in?"

"Seven", He took a seat on the edge of the bed, allowing her to see her daughters face. Judith's sparkling tawny eyes peered around the room curiously as she tried to eat her father's t-shirt. He kissed her jet-black curls, "I'm gonna' try and get in earlier next week"

Michonne overcompensated on her response, "Oh? Really? You… you don't have to? I mean you should make sure you get your rest…"

He peered back at her, "It's fine. I need to… You're doing all the work over here"

She hummed a response as she averted her gaze to the ceiling, "Okay… Um, what time's Carl getting here?"

"He should be here for lunch", Rick hadn't stopped pecking little kisses on his daughter's puffy cheek, causing her to turn her head towards him and latch onto his nose with her mouth. He chuckled, "You got me!"

Michonne watched them with adoring eyes until she heard Andre yell, "All done!"

"I'll take her", Michonne outstretched her arms, "She's probably hungry now",

"How much do you wanna' bet that he just shoved all those toys into the corner of the room?", Rick joked as he handed the infant over, "Or under the coffee table"

"Coffee table. That's his new favorite spot", Michonne laid Judith on her chest and sighed with delight as the little girl tried her best to lift her head and see her. She expected Rick to leave the room immediately but he leaned over and gave her a sweet, tender kiss on the lips.

"I missed you", He whispered in his husky voice, "I wanted to snuggle with you this morning but they both woke up when I got in. I think they sensed that I wanted to have you to myself for a little while"

She beamed at him, "I missed you, too. And no, they don't want either of us having any alone time¬"

"I said all done!", Andre repeated in a whiny voice.

Rick sighed, "He's like the king of the castle around here"

Michonne scoffed as she rolled her hand up and down Judith's back, "You're telling me."

With Andre's fourth birthday around the corner, she was happy to have another baby around to distract her from the obvious yearning she felt. Her son was getting older, a little more independent, and less interested in her. He only cared about doing what he liked to call, 'boy stuff' with Carl and Rick. She felt shunned by her own boy most of the time, unless he needed a referee or to lodge a complaint about his sister. She was initially worried about he'd take to having a younger sibling since he was so used to having all eyes on him, but he proved to her that she was wrong to worry because he simply ignored her too.

She attached Judith to her breast and ventured back into the living room just as Andre strolled by with a spoon in his mouth. She frowned at him, "Why does he have a spoon?"

"He wanted to eat the whole jar of jam", Rick replied from the kitchen as he stood at the stove, "So we compromised"

Michonne felt the need to say something about the amount of sugar Andre ate, but she choose to roll her eyes instead, "Of course"

Rick smirked as he looked back over his shoulder at her. Then he frowned, "Aren't you meant to be sitting down when you do that?"

"I'm hungry", She replied dryly as she started for the fridge.

"I'm making pancakes. Go on, sit down", He insisted tenderly, "Let me do somethan' besides bribe Andre"

"I'll have you know that he looks forward to that all week", She took a seat on the stool so she could watch him prepare her breakfast, "Now I can't ask him to do anything for free"

"That may seem like a problem now but I'm telling you, he's gonna' be a great businessman when he's older", He took a step back as he held the pan away from him, "Watch this"

"If it lands on the floor then that one's yours", She witnessed him toss the pancake up in the air and catch it with ease.

He gave her smug look, "You were saying?"

"Well done! Now put it in my mouth", She reacted dryly, but immediately began to smile when she saw him raise his eyebrows at her suggestively. She shook her head, "Stop it"

"I just wish you'd talk like that to me when we're alone", He took a plate from the counter and slid the pancake on to it, "I don't think that's a ridiculous request"

"Let's pretend like we can't hear daddy", She whispered to Judith, who was fighting to stay awake but kept rolling her eyes shut. Michonne snickered at her, "Looks like she's not pretending"

"Yeah, yeah", Hr droned. He poured some more batter into the pan, "So uh, we had a deputy Director come down to the academy during the week… He was talking to about positions the got going in the FBI…"

Michonne's eyebrows slowly rose as she stared at the side of his face, "The FBI?"

He tilted his head to look at her, and she wished that he hadn't. Not being able to see him during the week made her miss him in more ways than one, and he didn't have to do much to make her pulse race. He peered at her with his bright blue eyes as he answered in a raspy tone, "Yeah. Apparently, it ain't unusual for them to recruit people from the academy to join the Atlanta field office… He caught up with me after and said he'd heard about my background and asked if I was interested…"

Michonne began to frown at him, "Is that something you're interested in?"

He shrugged as he looked back down at the frying pan, "To be honest, It's not somethan' I've thought about but…It could be a good move. I could be earning a good wage doing what I did before but with better perks. I'd get paid more during training than I am now so¬"

"But wouldn't you have to train for longer?", She tried to keep any indication of the anxiety she felt out of her tone, "If it's the FBI then I'm sure they have a more extensive program than the police department"

He nodded his head as he flipped over the pancake, "Yeah, I would… But it's just somethan' we're thinking about. I haven't signed up to anythan' just yet but we can think about it…"

Michonne averted her gaze elsewhere, "Yeah."

He must have noticed her change in tone, because he looked at her, "Hey, I mean that. Don't worry about it, it's just an idea. I'll let you know if I hear anythan' else about it"

She slowly nodded as she forced a smile on her face, "Alright."

He smiled back, "How many pancakes do you want?"

"Twelve."

"Four pancakes coming right up"

She snorted at him as she stood up to put Judith in her swing, "Then why even bother to ask me how many I want?"

"Because I thought you'd give me a reasonable answer", He abandoned the stove to fetch something in the fridge, "Is your mother coming over today?"

"She said she would. Apparently, Ezekiel has a gift for us, which means he has something for the kids…", She used her foot to turn the swing around, then gently lowered Judith in, "I just wish he would stop buying the loudest toys he can find"

No sooner had the words left her mouth did Andre wander back into the living room making a clunking noise, and when Michonne looked up she saw that he was banging a pair of her highest stripper heels together as he hummed and swayed from side to side. Her heart began to race in panic while her boyfriend was too busy complaining to notice, "You know I don't mind the guy but it's too soon for him to be making jokes about the time I caught them together. I still don't like looking either of them directly in the eye…"

"Haha, yeah I know", Michonne pretended she was listening as she scurried across the room and right in front of her son. She plucked the shows from his hands and made a beeline to his room, while Andre protested behind her.

"I was playing wit' those, mommy!", He grabbed the back of her sweatpants, "That's not fair!"

"You can play with something else, baby", Michonne skidded into his room and saw that he'd found her bag that contained all of her workwear. She shoved all the things away at lightning speed, then took the bag to his closet and stuffed it behind a box of his old clothing.

"I want them!", Andre clenched his little fists at his side as his face began to crumble.

"How about I get you another spoon of jam instead?", She offered a little breathlessly as she closed the closet door, "Come on, let's get some jam"

Andre's face smoothed as he reached for his mother's hand, "Okay. I like jam"

"I know you do."

...

A/N: This was more of an introduction into where this version of Richonne are. I was going to start off at a point where Michonne was pregnant but due to the fact that she's dancing again (and in secret this time) - Judith had to be born already. Hope you enjoyed! Don't snatch me please and thank you!

- Bae xoco