THE RUN

When Carl accepted her invitation to go running with her the night before, Michonne thought he was joking. She'd even made him repeat his answer to her twice before she actually believed him. She was well versed in the deep, passionate love Carl had for his bed on Sundays. The teenager could easily sleep until 1pm, only showing his face to squirrel food from the fridge then retreat back into his room.

She'd only been in Carl's life for about 3 years, meeting him right after she and Rick first started dating. Michonne and Rick had instantly bonded over the deaths of their spouses and their single parent status. With Carl, though, it was a different story. He was still grieving the death of his mother and had a hard time accepting Michonne. She spent months trying to win him over before Carl realized that he had more in common with his dad's new girlfriend than he'd originally thought. Pretty quickly, their tumultuous relationship blossomed into a beautiful friendship, and it wasn't long after their blended family became official that he began calling her 'mom.'

By 9am Michonne was already about an hour behind her regular Sunday morning schedule. She was incredibly close to giving up and leaving without Carl, when he finally graced her with his presence, dragging his exhausted body towards the front door.

She smiled. "Good morning, my little sunshine. I'm happy you finally decided to join me."

Carl cringed at her bright cheerfulness. He just couldn't understand how someone could be so joyful so early in the morning. Michonne did have a tendency to be positive no matter the circumstances, though.

"Can we just run around the house and go back inside?" his tiredness rang heavy in his changing voice, "Please?"

Michonne giggled, "And miss all the fun of enjoying a good workout? Come on!"

To Carl's regret, she was running as soon as she was out the door. He could do nothing but sigh heavily and try to catch up to her.

They ran for about 10 minutes when Carl decided he'd had enough. His breaths were short and he requested that they 'take a break' every 3 seconds because of the pain in his legs and sides. After trying to encourage him to push through, Michonne gave up, slowing their pace down to a walk.

The longer their outing continued, the more concerned Michonne became. Carl was a talker and he'd never had any issue opening up to express exactly how he felt and why. But he was being unusually quiet, alerting her mommy instincts to the fact that something was definitely bothering her son.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, cursing herself for not knowing something was off the second Carl agreed to go on a jog with her.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His long auburn locks - which he refused to cut- covered his reddened face. Michonne resisted the urge to shift the brown strands from his face so she could see him fully. After a few moments of silence, Carl finally found his words. "I wanted to talk to you about something. " He ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. "So there's this new girl at school…"

Michonne nodded her head. She'd been waiting for the famous 'I like a girl' conversation to happen. She just assumed he'd go to Rick first. Sensing that this was something he had to get out on his own, she stayed quiet, encouraging him with her soothing gaze.

Carl appreciated it. Michonne was a great listener, it was one of his favorite things about her. No matter what he had to say, he always felt safe to say it with her. She never treated him like the fragile, breakable boy who everyone had been expecting to fall apart every minute since his mom died.

"Her name is Enid," he continued, a starry-eyed smile on his face, "She's pretty dope."

"And you want to know how to ask her out?" Michonne guessed.

"Yeah… I mean…," he sighed struggling to find his words. "I want to know how to get her attention. I don't really know anything about girls. And I couldn't ask Dad, he might try to talk to me about sex again." The thought made him shiver with disgust.

Michonne laughed. "Sounds like your dad. He means well but he's such an old fashioned guy. "

Carl laughed along with her. They loved the man but he always managed to entertain them with his ignorance of the modern world. He couldn't comprehend half of the discussions Carl and Michonne had, feeling left out of their amazing friendship. They knew Rick was endlessly thankful Andre was still too young to make fun of him.

"My best advice is to just be yourself. You're an amazing kid and she should like you for who you really are."

Carl nodded his head, listening carefully to Michonne's wise words.

"Second, always respect her wishes. Never force a woman to do something she doesn't want to do. Let her be her own person but cherish and respect her too. "

Her words were the perfect description of how his Dad treated her. He was proud to have Rick as his role model. But he looked up to Michonne just as much. She was the smartest person he'd ever met. She could recite facts about a historical subject and seconds later debate with him on why Batman was her least favorite superhero. Her arrival in his life filled the void his mother's death created but Michonne never tried to replace her. Carl knew he could do a lot worse than finding a girl like his step mom.

"You should talk to her first," Michonne offered. "Be her friend. Ask her what she likes. That way, when you're finally ready to ask her out, it will be easier to do something you can be sure she loves. But if she wants to stay your friend, please–"

"Respect that," he cut her off. "Don't worry, I know. There's no such thing as the friend zone," he replied, reciting the words his father told him every single time he brought up the subject of girls.

"That's my boy," Michonne said proudly, tears building in her eyes as she stroked his cheek. "You're growing up so fast. Next thing you know, we'll be sending you off to college."

Carl rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm only 14. And even when I'm gone Andre will still be here. Can you imagine how dad's gonna react when Andre finally leaves the house?" He could already picture his father's red, terrified face.

Michonne rolled her eyes. "Andre didn't even cry his first day of school, but your dad did. He's going to be a mess when that day comes. "

While she and Carl made fun, she couldn't help but admire Rick. He was an incredible father, and Carl proved that every day. She'd met plenty of teenagers before, but her step son's maturity always stood out. Michonne never got tired of watching his transformation from the sad, angry 11-year-old he once was turn into the kind hearted, brave young man he was now.

Carl interrupted her thoughts with genuine gratitude. "Thank you, mom," he said, smiling like the cheshire cat.

Carl found himself thankful that he'd woken up for the morning jog, even if he had no intentions of ever doing it again.

"You're welcome, baby. You can always come and talk to me, you know that. " He nodded his head. Michonne grinned. "So now that you've gotten your rest, how about a race?"

"What does the winner get? " His interest was piqued immediately. They'd walked far enough that they were close to the house again. While Carl had never been known for his athletic prowess, he couldn't help but want to take the chance to win against his impossible-to-beat mom.

"If I win you have to make breakfast for your dad and your brother when we get home." Michonne laughed when Carl let out a sigh. Making breakfast for that duo was always an ordeal. Mainly because of a picky-eating Andre and a Rick who wanted everything to be perfect for his youngest son. "Plus, you have to lend me your copy of Black Panther The Young Prince. "

"But I haven't finished reading it yet," he whined quietly, more determined than ever to beat her. "Alright," he conceded finally. "If I win, I want your box of Big Kats and the location of your secret candy stash."

"I don't have a–" Carl gave her a look that stopped her in her tracks. Everyone knew about her secret stash, even Andre.

"No lies, mom," he scolded her adorably.

Michonne pouted, "Alright, deal."

They put themselves in position, ready for their impromptu race, both determined to win.

"Ready." Michonne looked at Carl with a wicked smile, her love for him evident in her eyes. "Set." Carl smiled back then shoved his hair out of his face. "Go."