A/N: I apologize for the delay, but inspiration now comes and goes so fast... I'm missing my Richonne Muse. Thanks for the holiday wishes. Wishing y'all the very best for 2019.

2:30 a.m. Christmas morning...

After speaking with his father, Aaron got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater. His partner, Daryl did the same thing.

"You can get Andre together while I gather his things. Oh and yeah you might wanna call her," Daryl added as he pulled on his jeans and a sweater.

Aaron was deep in thought, he hadn't heard a word that was said, since his father said he needs to come back to Fort Benning, though they actually lived in Columbus, Georgia more like six miles away from the actual base itself. His father's reference point for some reason was always whichever base he lived closest to.

In the case of Fort Benning, his father actually lived there when he was a child as he was a military brat, but Leon Marquand didn't want that kind of life for his family. Instead, he settled for a life where his family was settled, but he moved around. It was the reason he jumped at the chance when a recruiter proposed Quantico as an option. A choice his father never respected. Nevertheless, Leon and his young wife, Catherine relocated to Virginia shortly after college and remained there until his folks got sick. At that point, they were retired, so they moved back to Columbus to be closer to them. Their only regret, however, was that the move cost them precious time with their only grandchild, but they made up for it with short visits.

"Ground control to Marquand. Come in Marquand," Daryl called as he busied himself pulling on a pair of socks.

"Huh? What?"

"You got out of bed and got dressed after hearing from your father, so I presumed we were heading to your ex's and then to Columbus... Calls in the middle of the night are never a good sign, so it means somethang's wrong."

"Umm… yeah, it's mom… she had a stroke." Aaron answered trying to prioritize an imaginary list as to what next. Eventually, he started texting, stopped and called instead, but the call went directly to voicemail. He didn't leave a message. Instead, he sent a text.

Aaron: Michonne, dad called… mom suffered a major stroke. I'm dropping Andre off and heading out as soon as I can. I' ll see you in about thirty minutes weather permitting. Call me!

…

Forty minutes later, as Aaron pulls up at their lake house. He sees his wife's car in the driveway, but there was also a black Mercedes SUV too. The car wasn't familiar and her family was out of town, it was also the wee hours of Christmas morning, so he wondered who it could be?

Aaron parked the car and got out. As he did so he noticed the car must have been there quite some time because the tire tracks, as well as some rather large footprints, were covered with snow, but the indentations in the snow remained. He also noticed Michonne's smaller prints and the trail she made dragging the tree inside. They too were covered for some time.

After unbuckling his son and removing him from his booster seat, he said, "D, this isn't how she was supposed to meet you, so no drama, please."

"Oh, hon there will be drama, but not from me. I promise." Daryl retorted knowing had he not given Aaron an ultimatum at their one-year anniversary, he would still be in the shadows.

As Aaron approached the door he saw the tracks leading halfway out, but then they doubled back to the house again.

Daryl too noticed the same footprints and the way Aaron was studying them and from the way, his jaw was set it was not going to be a pretty sight inside.

It was obvious the person who made them was still inside, so Daryl bit his tongue. Aaron had yet to come fully to terms with his new reality. He often referred to Michonne as his wife although technically they were, it still irked Daryl to hear it. He realized, however, he would have to be patient given he pursued Aaron and made him realize that something was missing in his life. He knew he couldn't eradicate what she once meant to Aaron, but at the same time, he needed that page turned and luckily it seems she has moved on, so for that he was happy. It was now up to him to help Aaron a long the way.

Aaron unlocked the door, but it didn't trigger the alarm. He shook his head, things will never change he thought. He installed a state of art security system to give him peace of mind while he was travelling, but his wife constantly forgets to engage it while she was at home, as a result, he was constantly reminding her to do so. He closed the door behind him and toed off his unzipped boots while holding his sleeping son and bracing himself on the wall.

He then noticed a pair of men's boots next to Michonne's winter boots, so he squared his shoulders and prepared himself for what he was about to discover.

...

After carefully undressing his son and tucking him into bed, he kissed Andre's forehead, turned off the overhead lights, leaving only the night light on and left the room.

Aaron walked down the hallway towards the master bedroom, but the door had been left wide open they were not inside.

...

"Michonne."

"Michonne. Wake up!" He whispers.

Michonne felt his fingers poking at her, but her head felt twice its usual size. What the hell was she thinking? She had to cook and entertain a four-year-old in a matter of hours.

"Counselor, you were right. I regret the Tequila, but I really can't, my head's pounding," she said in a raspy voice. He was insatiable even without a headache she couldn't… she was exhausted something he ought to have been after the night they had. It's the reason for which she would be going straight to bed the moment he leaves. The only good thing about cooking dinner for a four-year-old was that chicken fingers or KD and a little bit of something green would be an acceptable Christmas dinner and she'd still be considered an awesome mommy because Andre's only goal today, was getting at what Santa left under the tree.

"Michonne!" The voice became more forceful… it sounded strained and annoyed, she knew that tone because she's heard it before usually after she spent time with her sister. Instantly, it cut through the fog and the drumming inside of her head.

Her eyes popped open to see Aaron's face inches away from hers. Michonne blinked several times, but the image was static. Aaron was still there the only change was the colour in his cheeks and the expression on his face. He was pissed.

"Shit!" She said under her breath. Feeling self-conscious, Michonne began wrapping herself in the blanket, but then realized the more she pulled on it the more she was revealing Rick's nakedness to the man who was soon to be her ex-husband. She immediately stopped what she was doing, sat up and reached for the Santa jacket which was discarded on the floor nearby and put it on.

Meanwhile, Rick's comatose figure lay next to her snoring gently completely oblivious to the storm brewing next to him.

…

Michonne followed Aaron towards the kitchen. He immediate retrieves a glass from the cupboard filling it with tap water, then he retrieves a bottle of Advil pouring two gelcaps into the bottle cap turns to her and placed them into her outstretched palm. He looked at her with silent judgement in his eyes.

In response, Michonne plopped the pills into her mouth and swallowed them. She ignored him because she was not in the mood for his hypocrisy.

"Here you go," he said passing her the glass of water to chase the pills.

"Thanks," she said begrudgingly. Michonne then turned off the overhead lights because the glare of them was hurting her eyes, she opted only for the light which filtered in from the hallway as she rubs her temples and used the archway to hold herself upright.

"What are you doing here, Aaron?" She asks. She heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, she figured Rick had left only to look up to see his bed head curls, piercing blue eyes, and days old stubble. He was shirtless and dressed only in his Santa bottoms on his way to check on her, but unaware of Aaron's presence in the kitchen.

He yawned and stretched lazily, "Everythang all right?" he asks, when he suddenly stops to give some grungy looking man who happened to walk through the front door carrying bags of gifts a head tilt with squinted eyes.

"Oh shit!" Michonne said to herself having the knowledge and vantage point none of the others had.

Michonne's brain was hurting, but she knew this wasn't a good situation to be in. She heard about his famous head tilts from some of their colleagues. It was one of his tells announcing his displeasure especially when an articling student fucked up, another tell of his was the pinching of the bridge of his nose. That one, she had witnessed countless times before.

"What am I doing here? I'm still your husband and we have a child together, one who is currently upstairs in his bed."

"That's a technicality for now and you know it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be entertaining so soon, Michonne, but this isn't the kinda thing I want Andre to see."

"It's friggin three o'clock in the morning Aaron, you were supposed to drop him off at four o'clock in the afternoon." She argued in a loud whisper.

"Can't say that I'm surprised though... it was bound to happen sooner or later. Does his wife know he's sleeping with another man's wife?"

"Fuck you, Aaron! Michonne replied angrily at what was implied, but she didn't feel guilty about what happened that night because it was obvious to her that their marriage had been over long before she got the memo. Who was this person before her? She didn't recognize him anymore. When did he change? How did she not see it before?

"What are you doing here and who the fuck is that in my house?" Michonne then looked to her right and noticed the standoff was still in progress.

The mystery man was dressed in a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and boots. He had dark greasy stringy long hair that fell into his face which was covered in facial hair. The man's appearance looked as though it had been a while since he was acquainted with soap and water something which struck her funny due to Aaron's fastidious nature again another contradiction to the man she knew.

The man looked from Rick towards her with the same judgement she saw in Aaron's eyes and that was it, Michonne snapped. She walked over to the front entrance and stood beside Rick.

"You can leave them just there," she instructed rather tersely pointing her finger to indicate just inside the doorway. As such, there was no need for him to remove his boots or to be in her home. His presence was clearly not welcome.

The man said nothing but continued to stand in place holding the bags and staring at them.

"You hard of hearing or somethang?" Rick finally spoke and took a step forward in front of Michonne. "The lady said you to place the bags just inside the doorway, it ain't that fucking complicated."

But the man did not react one way on or the other.

Rick's tone, however, prompted Aaron to join them at the front entrance.

"D, just leave 'em there and wait for me in the car... I got this."

The man named 'D' replied with a grunt, sat the bags down, and left leaving the front door wide open allowing the snow and cold air to filter indoors.

"What the fuck, Aaron, couldn't you have at least chosen a partner who's house trained?" Michonne asked as she closed the door in the stranger's wake.

Aaron then turned to Rick and said, "Do you mind if I speak to my wife in private? This is about family... and you are not," he added as a parting shot as he walked away towards the family room.

Rick looked at Michonne to see whether she wanted to be alone with the man who somehow seemed to have forgotten he no longer wanted a wife but constantly claimed her as such.

"You, okay?"

"I'm sorry, this shouldn't take long. I need to find out about Andre."

…

"Is Andre okay?"

"He's fine. Dad called… mom had a stroke. I have to go back to Columbus."

"Oh my God, Aaron, I'm so sorry. How bad is it?" She asked immediately feeling sorry for him.

"We don't know as yet, but I thought I"d go on ahead and you and Andre can come down after he has had Christmas, there's no reason to ruin It for him. I'm going to go straight to the hospital… here take this…" he said passing her his parent's keys, "The code is Andre's birthday."

Michonne made no effort one way or the other to retrieve the keys.

Aaron looked at her puzzled as to why her hands remained at her side.

"We're not going to Columbus with you, Aaron. This is something you need to do on your own."

"You're going to deny his sick grandmother the chance at what might be last time to see her only grandchild?"

"No, Aaron. But right now your father needs to lean on you. There's no room for Andre at this time. You have a partner to support you… I'm not needed there. Should things change, Andre and I will fly down later."

"Michonne, I wouldn't have asked if it was that simple. Things are a little complicated right now."

His last remark took some time to process, but eventually, the fog lifted and when the realization set in Michonne was finally able to see… his parents didn't know about the status of their marriage. The emails from Catherine looking forward to her being in better health and a holiday filled with glad tidings meant his parents thought she was expecting. The realization caused Michonne to shake her head.

"You bastard, you never told them, did you? Get out of my house, Aaron. Just leave and don't forget to leave your keys on the kitchen counter… you'll need to ring the doorbell like everyone else. You don't live here anymore."

It had been two weeks since Michonne last spoke with Aaron. She didn't mind that, but what annoyed her most was the fact that he hadn't called his son. It was unacceptable, to punish their son because she refused to be apart of his deception towards his folks was never going to be okay. She had just left him a message stating that she understood he was in mourning, but their son also needed his attention. He was a father and he didn't just get to check out.

Today was her first day back to work after the holidays. Presently, she was sitting in her office absentmindedly playing with her Christmas gift, waiting for the meeting that was about to happen, the one that would place her and Rick in the very same room since Christmas. It was not something she was looking forward to because she had yet to come to terms with her feelings about him. She couldn't understand it herself, nothing about that night was expected.

Michonne was running late for her meeting, Mrs. Miller had been monitoring the light on her phone line. Her father had called looking for her, so she gently knocked on the door, but Michonne didn't respond.

"Michonne. Michonne?" Mrs. Miller called as she opened the door to Michonne's office to find her looking at what seemed to be a multicoloured paper-mache cat which appears to have been captured ready to pounce. The cat bore a striking resemblance to the framed piece of artwork her son gave to her for mother's day. She recalled how excited Andre was when his grandfather picked him up from the onsite daycare a few floors down and brought him to his mama's office that day. Ever since it had been framed and hung in her office and she often found her boss staring at the painting, now she was playing with a 3D paper-mache version of it while staring at the artwork. It was obvious she was preoccupied.

After their weekend celebrating Christmas with her parents, her mother suggested she took some time off work because they saw a huge difference in their grandson's behaviour. He wasn't his usual energetic self, so her mom made some calls and Michonne now had appointments set up for counselling for Andre.

Her father also proposed scaling back her hours and moving toward the corporate side of things, possibly in HR so that she could have a better work-life balance. Michonne offered a compromise, she'd take time off to concentrate on her son and would reevaluate thing's after a month because she was a litigator, not a paper pusher.

…

Rick was summoned to Ezekiel's office, so he knocked on the door. He was a little surprised to being summoned on the boss' first day back to work.

"Ah, Richard, do come on in." Ezekiel beckoned with a smile which did not reach his eyes.

Ordinarily, his boss was chill, sometimes a little dramatic, but someone who was always happy. Today, however, there was something different about him, he was still Ezekiel, but more reserved.

Walking into the office It took him a split second to pick up her perfume. It had been fourteen days of hell without seeing her and with no contact whatsoever. He had hoped she was a little affected by the night they spent together, but obviously, he was wrong. A meeting with the boss and Michonne wasn't something he had envisioned so soon.

The men greeted each other with the typical handshake and everyone exchanged greetings for the new year. "Please." Ezekiel extends his hand indicating the empty chair to Rick. He sat down in the empty seat next to Michonne in front of Ezekiel's desk.

"Richard, I will get straight to the point as matters are pressing. As you may or may not know, Mrs. Marquand will be scaling back her workload to deal with some personal matters and in that vein, I'm transferring some of her workload to you. I trust you will be up for the challenge."

The use of her formal name irked Rick, even more so now, especially after the night they spent together, but moreover, given the fact that they all knew she was practically divorced. He hated that name. He never understood why Ezekiel called her that, especially when Michonne called him Dad or Sir in the workplace, Tyrese was just Tyrese, why couldn't she be just Michonne?

He didn't like the way they left things between them. She had been upset because of Aaron's visit and she didn't feel like talking, so he left it at that and gave her the space she needed.

Today, however, she looked and act the part of having it together, but something wasn't right. She was preoccupied. He hated not being able to console her publicly or otherwise.

Rick stole a glance at Michonne to gauge whether she was okay with her father's proposal. Michonne gave him a quick look, she seemed to be, so he replied, "I am, but I would appreciate it if I would be able to consult freely with Mrs. Marquand whenever the need arise."

He held his breath waiting for an objection, but none came, so he knew he had won; their agreement had just been dealt a major setback.

"Absolutely, Richard, Mrs. Marquand and I discussed the matter at length. She assures me she would be available to assist you though she assures me that would hardly be necessary given that her files are all in good order.

Michonne saw the small victory reflected in Rick's contentment. Thanks to her father, he was now able to contact her outside of work hours and she had no doubt he would use it to his advantage, but she needed him to be smart about it. Accessibility was a deal breaker for her father, he was willing to accommodate her time off to be with her son, his grandson, but he still had a business to run, so if Rick felt the need to contact her, he had her father's blessing to do so. It wasn't as if she could say strictly business only because that would be a whole different lecture altogether.

Christmas Eve…

"How the hell did we get here?" Michonne asked as she passed him another Tequila shot.

"I don't know about you, but I got here when I walked in on my buddy and my wife in the sixty-nine position in our bed two days before our anniversary."

"Oh my God, that must have been hard to witness."

"I suspected she was having an affair… even had her followed for a time too, but nothing turned up. The private dick I had on her told me he felt sorry taking money from me, but he still had to account for his time. I was right though, I just never would have guessed it was with someone I considered family."

"That sucks."

"Got to love the irony of it all though, I convinced Andrea to let him stay with us. I mean… we had plenty of room, so we took him in... gave him a place to stay because his wife, Lori threw him out when she found out he was servicing Doc Anderson's wife too. Apparently, Jessie videotaped them and sent it to Lori when he tried to break things off.

"Is this the friend who got shot while on duty?"

"Yeah, that's Shane."

"Wait… Shane? Is he the same one who washed out in the first year of law school?"

"One in the very same. He was too fucking busy banging coeds to go to class."

"What exactly were you thinking when you knowingly invited a fox to guard your henhouse? You already knew he didn't respect the sanctity of marriage. He was cheating on his wife with a married woman. He was safe as long as his wife didn't find out, it was the perfect scenario which gave him a get out of jail card if things got out of hand with his lover."

"Call me stupid, but I thought Andrea would be off limits," He said, licked the salt from his hand, he tilted his head back and took the shot, and sucked on the lime.

"We sheltered him, fed him, and never expected a penny in return."

"Money wasn't necessary obviously."

"Who knew? She always wanted the best of everythang and like a fool, I made sure she got it."

"Do you have any regrets?"

Rick thought for a minute, he did regret not having listened to his mother when he announced they were getting married. She told him he was making a mistake because he could still be a father without marrying Andrea because she wasn't the marrying kind.

"I don't regret my son, but knowing what I do now, yes. How about you, counselor, do you have any regrets?"

"Like you, I don't regret my son. However, I regret not realizing the moment when we became roommates instead of being a couple, it would have saved me the hurt and betrayal I felt at the time. I guess I'm angry at myself for not knowing."

"You can't blame yourself, it's not your fault Michonne."

"Tequila?"

"Do you think it's wise to continue drinking?"

"Maybe not, but just one more and then Santa can give me my present since you're being so stingy with yours."

Six weeks later...

It was Friday evening and Michonne knew she had to see him alone, but it couldn't be done at her place due to the fact his estranged wife now had someone staking out her place and it wasn't a conversation they could have during regular business hours either. The safest place to do so, however, was still the workplace, plus, there were always bodies around even on the weekends, so she wouldn't be completely alone with him in light of their new circumstances. So, she composed a text and edited it several times just in case before hitting send.

Michonne: Hey. Are you working tomorrow?

Rick: I am. Everythang okay with you?

Michonne: Yes. We need to talk. Is 11:00 a.m. okay with you?

Rick: That works for me.

Michonne: Thanks.

...

Michonne sat staring at the computer screen without seeing it. In her hands was the paper-mache multi-coloured cat which had become like a teddy bear even though it was a very hard object.

Rick knocked lightly at the door of her office not wanting to startle her. It was quieter than a usual workday, so he wasn't competing with the usual workday din, but there was no answer, so he knocked a little louder.

"Come in," Michonne said after being pulled from her contemplation. She placed the cat to the side next to the photo of Andre she took on their recent vacation.

Rick opened the door with one hand, in his other he held a tray with two coffees.

"Mornin' counselor." He smiled when he saw her gift next to Andre's photo.

"Beautiful shot. You have a knack for that," he said as he motioned his head to indicate the newest photo of her son.

"Mornin'. Oh… thank you!" Michonne answered still somewhat distracted as she thought of the best way to tell him the news.

"A penny for your thoughts," he said offering her a coffee.

"Thanks, but I can't. Please sit down."

Her reaction had him perplexed. They usually brought the other coffee. "Michonne, what's the matter? Is it because of my meeting with Ezekiel yesterday?"

"You met with him yesterday?"

"Yes, I don't know how far you've gotten with your inbox, but we settled the Hastings case a few days ago. Once Ezekiel read me in on what was going on with you, I tried to respect your time off, so I didn't contact you. Plus, I knew your files wouldn't be a problem, I was looking for an ace in my pocket and won it fair and square."He added with his signature crooked smile.

His eyes sparkled showing that he was truly proud of himself for getting around their agreement.

"Congratulations counselor!"

"Well, I can't take credit for it because you laid the groundwork for me. I was just babysitting it. I didn't have to lift a finger actually when the defense changed players the impasse was unlocked. It was never in their best interest to go to trial anyway."

"I truly appreciate all your help, Rick and thank you for giving me some space."

Rick offered a small smile, still uncomfortable with the way things were left between them.

"Well, about last night, your father and I had an informal chat about becoming a partner."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we were having drinks when I got your text." He added a little uncomfortable knowing how she felt about her brother's promotion. "Look, Michonne, I didn't say yes. I know this position was yours. I told him I was interested, but I had to think about it, the present situation considered. He said he understood, but he wants me to know that my hard work is appreciated."

"You should accept it, Rick. You deserve it. You have consistently pitched in and taken on more than your fair share… it's more than I can say for Ty, but that's not really why I wanted to see you."

"No? Does that mean the cat's worn you down?"

"I really like it, the likeness is uncanny. Thanks again."

"I had nothang to do with that… Mrs. Miller says your father found it for you just like he framed that painting." He winked at her and bit his bottom lip.

"Oh yeah, I forgot… we have nothing more to talk about then. I got the wrong guy."

"Huh?"

"Well, a guy in a red suit gave me that cat."

"Oh yeah?" He asked intrigued. "Well, I guess you must have been on his good list then. All I got was a bottle of very expensive Tequila that night."

"That not all… he also delivered something else too… I'm six weeks pregnant." As the words left Michonne's lips she watched his reaction. He didn't disappoint her. After the initial shock wore off his eyes grew large.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. The doctor confirmed it yesterday."

THE END!

Note: due to the fact this was a themed story, I will continue their story in another short fic. The current working title "Starting Over".