A/N: Written for The Richonne Exchange Domestic Gift Giving Exchange. I wrote this fic for the lovely birdnmouse.

"God, you're so beautiful."

Their skin was dotted with goose bumps from the cool air blowing through the half-opened window. Nothing covered their naked bodies as they laid on their sides facing each other. Legs were intertwined; chest heaved up and down in unison. Their breaths were slowly returning to normal.

Rick's index finger made a trail down the middle of her chest, stopping at her bellybutton and back up again. A kiss on the collarbone made him take a moment to revel in the salty taste of her slick skin. His hand cupped her breast, thumb flicking her nipple, before moving down to grip her backside and finally resting on her thigh.

Michonne emitted a sound that was a mix between a moan and a sleepy laugh as she massaged his calf muscle with her foot. "You're beautiful too," she said.

Rick stopped kissing his favorite spot - the hollow of her neck - and lifted his head. He took a moment to drink in how relaxed she looked with her eyes closed and a serene smile on her face.

"That's one thang I don't think I ever been called." He brushed his lips against hers. The smile on her face grew bigger.

Michonne grabbed a handful of his curls. "With all of this luscious hair? I'm surprised."

Rick's smile matched hers as he placed a soft peck on her lips. Then again. And again. "No, you're definitely the beauty of this relationship."

Michonne's fingertips ran down the soft hair of his beard. "As much as I would love to debate you the rest of the night about who's prettier we probably should get some sleep. Tomorrow is busy for both of us."

Rick groaned and flopped over on his back. "Don't remind me. I'll be spending most of the day at Hilltop renegotiating our partnership with Gregory."

Michonne yawned and rubbed at her eyes. "It shouldn't be so bad. We all want the same things."

He pulled her closer to him. Her hair brushed against his chin as she snuggled into his chest. His fingers lazily rubbed circles on her back.

"We may all want the same things, but he's gotta be an asshole even when we all agree," he said.

"Just don't stab him. I have too much to do tomorrow. I don't have time to help you dispose of a body." She could feel the rumble in his chest as he laughed.

"I promise to be on my best behavior. Besides I'm taking Carl. Jesus, Glenn and Maggie gonna be there too. It should be alright." He paused to crane his head for a look at the baby monitor. Judith was still sound asleep. "What all are you up to tomorrow?"

Michonne sighed. "I have to finalize the construction plans with the crew. The first of the new houses are going up at the end of the week. Meet with Eugene to check on his progress with the bullet making. Then I'm finishing up drafting the official laws and guidelines of Alexandria so we can present them at the next community meeting. Finally, I have to onboard Dr. Gomez and have her take a look at Judith. She's a couple months past due for her one-year-old check-up."

"I'm exhausted just listening to all of that."

"Right?"

Rick kissed her on the forehead. "One of these days we need to take a vacation."

"A weekend trip to the coast sounds good."

"As soon as the world is walker free it's gonna be the first thang we do. Just you, me, and the ocean."

"Sounds wonderful." She kissed his chest. "Goodnight, Rick."

"'Night, baby." Rick wrapped the sheet around their bodies and the two fell into a content drowsiness, well on their way to a deep sleep, until a low growl cut into the silence. He opened one eye and looked down at the woman in his arms. "Michonne?"

"It was just my stomach. Had a light dinner." She didn't move a muscle or open her eyes.

Rick looked over at the nightstand. "We don't have any more apples up here?" He could feel the shake of her head against his chest.

"We ate the last one this morning. It's okay. I'm too tired to eat anyway. I can wait until morning."

Rick ran a hand down her arm and closed his eyes again. "Okay. If you're sure."

The only sound in the room was the tick of the baby monitor and their slowed down breathing until the growl cut through the air again. Even louder than the first. Rick untangled himself from Michonne and turned on the lamp. "You need to eat somethin'."

Michonne shielded her eyes from the light and rolled over to the other side of the bed. She clutched at her stomach as it growled again. "Looks like my stomach isn't going to let me rest until I do." She pushed the sheet aside and slid her naked body out of bed.

Rick followed suit; wiping at his still sleepy eyes. He walked to the bedroom door waiting for Michonne to join him. His brow creased in confusion when he saw her pulling a t-shirt over her head. "Why are you getting dressed? We're just goin' downstairs."

Michonne paused with one leg in a pair of leggings and looked over at a still naked Rick. "We can't go downstairs without any clothes on and my robe's in the laundry. So I'm putting on my lounging clothes."

Rick shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands in the air. "Why not? It's only us living here now. Everybody else moved out."

Michonne finished pulling on the leggings and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "The kids," she emphasized, "are still here."

Rick squinted at the clock. "It's after midnight. Judith's sleeping. I'm sure Carl is too. We're just making a quick dash to the kitchen."

"I'm not willing to take that chance. And neither will you." She threw his boxers to him. "I swear you never want me to wear clothes anymore."

Rick slipped on the boxers and smiled mischievously. "Can't blame a man for trying."

"Uh huh." Michonne grabbed his hand and led him out of the bedroom.

"Looks like we're pretty low of food," Rick said as he rummaged through the cabinets. He raised up a jar of strawberry jam. "We have this and not much else."

"Shit," Michonne cursed under her breath. She closed the refrigerator that was pretty much empty. "I forgot to pick up our rations from the pantry today. Lost track of time." She looked at their empty fruit basket on the table. "The fruit trees we planted are finally producing. An apple would hit the spot right now." She held her stomach as it yelled at her again. "Apples and honey would be so good."

Rick's turned from the cabinet and looked over at Michonne. "Honey and apples together?"

"Mmmhmm," Michonne closed her eyes and licked her lips imaging the taste. "My college roommate was Jewish and she got me hooked on it when I was invited to her family's Rosh Hashanah celebration freshman year. So good."

Rick's eyes focused on her lips and then roamed down her body as he imagined what she would look like covered with honey. He sauntered over to where she stood leaning against the refrigerator and placed his hands above her head - on either side of her - then planted a deep kiss on her lips.

Michonne broke away from the kiss after a few seconds, put her hands on his chest to push him away a little. She tilted her head to the side and studied the lust that filled his eyes. "Me talking about apples and honey turned you on?" she asked with amusement.

"Thinkin' 'bout licking honey off you is turning me on." He ran his hand under her shirt and felt her shiver. He grabbed the jar of jam. "But in a pinch this will do." He scooped some up with his finger and smeared it on her cheek. His tongue followed as he licked it off. "Mmmm," he breathed into her ear, "it tastes so good on you."

Michonne dug her fingernails into his lower back and bit her bottom lip. "Who knew jam could be so sexy."

"You can make anything sexy." He spread more of the jam on her lips and sucked the sweetness off before slipping his tongue into her mouth. He pulled her against his body as the kiss intensified. She moaned into his mouth as he hooked her leg around his waist and started to grind his hips against hers.

"Rick…" Michonne was breathless as she ran her hands up his back. His lips found her neck. "Maybe...mmm...we shouldn't...mmm...do this here…"

Rick's hands trailed up her shirt to grab her breasts. "We're the only ones awake. Nothin' to worry about, ba - "

The kitchen flooding with light cut Rick off mid-sentence. A disgusted groan from a teenager made Rick and Michonne jump quickly away from each other.

Carl rolled his eye and put his hands on his hips giving them a stern look. "Seriously guys. This is a common area. Do you have to do that here?"

Rick looked over at Michonne who had moved to the corner of the kitchen where she was adjusting her clothes. He tried to make eye contact but suddenly a spot of the ceiling became very interesting to her.

He sighed and looked back towards his son. "Umm...hey son. Look...umm...me and Michonne were just...just...well see when two people love each other…"

Carl scrunched up his face and took a step back. "Oh gross, Dad. Please don't tell me you're about to have the birds and bees talk. You already explained all that to me years ago. I don't need to hear it again."

Rick looked to Michonne again. This time she was looking back at him. She just shook her head and mouthed I told you so.

Rick scratched the top of his head. "No, it's just that men and women have these...these...urges that sometimes…"

Carl cringed and covered his ears with his hands. "Please stop, Dad. I'm begging you."

Michonne walked up to Rick and put a hand on his arm to stop him from digging a deeper hole for them. "I think he gets it, Rick." She finally looked at Carl. "We're sorry. It won't happen again."

Carl just shook his head and walked over to the cabinet. He took out a mug and filled it with water from the faucet. He leaned against the counter and looked back and forth between the two of them as he sipped from the cup.

"No kid wants to see their parents that way. I mean Judith's already walking. Before we know it she'll be running all over the house. You don't want her to walk in and see anything. Could you just please keep it in your bedroom?"

"Yes, we can," said Michonne.

"Sorry, son," said Rick.

"Okay, good. I'm going back to bed now." He paused at the entrance of the kitchen and looked at them over his shoulder. "Umm and if you could keep it down in the bedroom sometimes that would be great too." His face turned bright red as he dashed up the stairs with his footsteps echoing through the house.

Michonne put on hands over her face in embarrassment. "I told you we were being too loud," she muttered through her hands.

Rick shrugged. "I didn't think we were. But I can't help myself. You know what you do to me." He reached out to try to grab her hips.

Michonne dodged his hands. "Uh uh. No more touching tonight. Those hands have done enough." She looked up the stairs where Carl had disappeared into his room. "You know seeing us in here is probably imprinted on the poor kid's brain now. Your trip to Hilltop is going to be awkward tomorrow." Her stomach let out the loudest growl yet. "Ugh, I wish it would stop doing that."

"We wouldn't be down here for Carl to walk in on us if your stomach wasn't wakin' up the whole neighborhood." He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at her.

Michonne quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're just going to blame me, huh. Instead of that insatiable libido of yours."

Rick grinned at her. "Just stating facts. Look you still need to eat somethin'. Lets just go to the pantry and get our rations. I have the key."

"We really shouldn't abuse power like that, Rick." Michonne opened the refrigerator again and sighed at the lack of options

He picked up the jar of jam. "Unless you want to go back to this it's the only choice we have. We're not going to take anything that wasn't allotted to our family."

"I guess you're right."

Rick kissed her quickly on the cheek. His grin widened at the warning look she gave him. "Let me go upstairs and throw some clothes on and tell Carl to keep an eye on Judith."

The streets of Alexandria were quiet. Most houses were dark with a light visible in the bedroom or living room windows here and there. Sasha stood on top of the gate keeping watch; her rifle pointed downward. Michonne had thrown Rick's denim shirt over her t-shirt and leggings to combat the cool air. Rick's boots clicked on the concrete sidewalk sounding louder than usual in the midnight hour. She admired how good he looked with his hair still messy and in his white t-shirt under the moonlight. His Colt shined bright in its usual spot against his hip. The admiration left when her eyes traveled down to his lower body.

"I think it's time to put those jeans out to pasture," she said to him.

Rick looked down at his jeans and then over at her with a crease in his brow. "What's wrong with my jeans?"

"Rick, they're barely holding on. The elastic is falling apart and that bullet hole in the thigh is getting bigger every day. I'm finding you new jeans the next time I go on a run." She slipped her hand into the back pocket. "Look how they sag. Just falling apart."

Rick smirked at her. "I thought we weren't touching any more tonight?"

Michonne jerked her hand out of his pocket. "I wasn't touching. Just making a point. Lets just get our food so we can go home, eat, and finally get to bed."

"Yes, dear." He gave her a little pat on the rear before taking off ahead of her.

Michonne stopped in the street and let out a little chuckle at his retreating back before catching up to him. She surveyed the street as Rick unlocked the pantry. He flipped on the light and opened the door wider so Michonne could enter first. She picked up one of the empty boxes and started walking through the aisles, inspecting each shelf.

"I used to hate grocery shopping. It would always take me so long to get everything I needed," she said as she picked up a couple of cans of carrots for Judith.

"What took you so long?" Rick asked as he started down another aisle.

"Reading labels, expiration dates, making sure the butcher gave me the best pieces of meat. I was very particular about what I ate. It's strange to think about a time where you could be discriminating about your food." She added four ears of corn to the box and some Pop Tarts for Carl.

"I used to dread grocery shopping. Too many choices. I never knew what to get. Now I'm just happy we have all this food here for the community." He picked up a can from the shelf. "Do you like condensed milk?"

"Not really, but the kids can use it in their cereal."

He met her at the end of the aisle holding a couple cans of milk in one hand and an apple in the other. He put the cans in the box and brought the apple to her lips. She took a bite and sighed in contentment.

"Now that tastes like heaven," she said.

Rick took the box from her and held it in one hand and smiled; her happiness always made him happy. He wiped at the corner of her mouth where some juice from the apple had dripped and gave her cheek a caress. "How much more do we need to get?"

"Just a few more things." She took another bite out of the apple, and walked over to where the cereal and oatmeal were kept. "Judith loves that Brown Sugar Oatmeal. I hope there's more here."

"I think she loves to wear more than eat it. Me and her both are always a mess after I feed her."

Michonne laughed. "That is true. I washed her little PJs more times than I can count this week."

"Yeah, I know," came Rick's distracted reply.

Michonne looked over to where he stood in the refrigerated section. "What are you doing over there?"

He sat the box on the floor. "Looking for something sticky and sweet."

She threw the apple core in the trash and walked up behind him. Only deer and rabbit meat could be seen through the glass door of the freezer. "Looks like you're out of luck. Why do you want sticky and sweet things?"

"So I can lick it off of you."

Michonne rolled her eyes. "Is that all you think about these days? Things to do to me while naked?"

Rick spun around and pulled her close to his body. "Not all. I'm always thinkin' about how much I love you and how you coming into our lives made me and the kids - our kids - the luckiest people in this new world."

"Oh, Rick." Michonne was constantly surprised at how sweet her hardened warrior could be. She blinked her eyes rapidly to keep the happy tears that were threatening to fall at bay. "You and the kids mean everything to me." She grabbed his cheeks to pull him down for a kiss. "I love you too."

Rick closed his eyes, always taking joy in the feel of her lips on his, then turned back to the refrigerator. "Now back to my mission."

She laughed and leaned against the counter. "I don't think you'll find any of that here. Chocolate sauce and whipped cream have long since expired."

"Maybe we can melt some of those chocolate bars Carol used for cookies."

"We ran out of those awhile ago. You're really determined to do this, huh?"

Rick looked up and winked at her. "Can't blame a man for trying to fulfill a fantasy with the woman he loves."

Michonne pushed off the counter to go finish collecting their items. "Well, good luck with that."

Rick looked over to the shelf behind them. "Wait, here we go." He took down a white and yellow can. "It's not sweet but I think it will do."

Michonne saw what he was holding and wagged a finger at him. "No, Rick," she said adamantly.

"Why, not?" he asked and started shaking the can.

Michonne gave him a look as if he'd gone insane. "Really? Crazy Cheese?"

"I think it'll work," he insisted.

"That is not sexy at all."

"Like I said you can make anything sexy."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her onto the counter. After a quick kiss on the lips he lifted her t-shirt to spray the cheese in a heart shape on her stomach.

Michonne couldn't help the giggles that escaped her mouth. "This is decidedly unsexy."

Rick looked up with his eyes sparkling with humor and happiness. "Give it a chance."

As he bent down to lick the cheese the front door of the pantry slammed open. Hard footsteps thundered through the house until Abraham and Olivia appeared in the doorway carrying guns. All four people froze as they stared at each other. Rick was standing between Michonne's legs with his hands gripping her thighs. Her stomach was still exposed with the dark yellow cheese plastered on her skin.

Olivia let out a nervous cough and averted her eyes. A devious grin spread across Abraham's face.

"Now that's one food kink I never had the pleasure of hearing about. And I spent most of my twenties deployed with a bunch of soldiers hornier than two pigs in slop," His deep voice bellowed through the silence.

"Oh, my," Olivia said as he put a hand over her mouth and turned away.

"Of all the people in Alexandria it had to be Abraham," Michonne said under her breath.

"What the hell are y'all doing here?" Rick asked. His frustration at getting caught in a compromising position again was evident.

Abraham tried to keep the amusement out of his voice, but a full on laugh was threatening to erupt under each word. "Liv saw the lights on in here. So came got me to help investigate. Would have stayed away if I'd known it was just you and Mrs. in here taking artificial cheese where it's never been before."

Michonne grabbed a towel to wipe the sticky substance from her stomach. She jumped down from the counter, shot a glare at Abraham and then turned her attention back to Rick."Next time just let me be hungry until morning."

Rick wiped a hand across his face and looked at his watch. It was now after 1:00 am and both had to be up in less than four hours. They could have been in bed, snug in each other's arms, if it wasn't for all of his bright ideas. "I just wanted you to be comfortable while you slept," he said.

"I know." Her face softened as she pushed some of his messy hair back from his forehead. "I appreciate you for caring."

"I always will." Just a few words of affection and a tender touch never failed to leave him completely undone. He was intoxicated on her love. Forever drawn to those plush lips, he bent down to capture them with his.

Olivia cleared her throat. "We're still here," she said timidly.

Michonne stepped away from him and palmed her forehead in her hand. "Keep it in the bedroom, Rick. We need to learn to just keep it in the bedroom before all of Alexandria walks in on us."

Rick nodded. "Yeah...yeah. I'm gonna try." He looked from Abraham and Olivia. "What you saw here doesn't leave these four walls. Am I clear?" His voice held no room for arguments.

"Of course," Olivia said.

"You got it, boss," said Abraham

Rick gave a single nod, picked up their box of food and grabbed Michonne's hand.

"Although," Abraham started.

Rick and Michonne paused in the doorway and looked at each other; both knowing their red-headed friend wouldn't just let them leave without futhur comment.

"I'll have to tell Sasha," he continued. "She needs to know the Crazy Cheese is off limits next time we pick up our rations. Those all go to the Mr. and Mrs. for playing cat and mouse in the boudoir."

Michonne just shook her head while Rick sighed. They treaded off into the night with the sound of Abraham's loud guffaws.