Chapter 7:

A Few Days Later

Michonne walked into her home at around 7 at night on a Thursday. She was relieved to be back home as she slipped out of her heels and began walking upstairs to her room. As she entered her room she heard the low buzz of her phone. She sat on her bed and answered the call from an unknown number, assuming it could have been work related. "Hello?" She asked.

"Michonne." The voice replied back and she knew who it was immediately. The father of her child, Mike was calling her. In the month after her child died their relationship quickly unraveled with Michonne placing the weight of the child's death on her shoulder and him confirming that that weight belonged to her. Once Michonne had made up her mind to go back home she took the opportunity to pack her things and leave when he was at a friend's house for a week. She left a note and was gone by the time he was home. She told her mother to not tell him where she was going or any of her new contact information because she knew eventually he would want to be with her again. And now it was painfully clear that her mother had told Mike where she was and how to contact her.

"Michonne." Mike repeated, he sighed, "I know you're there."

"What do you want?" Michonne spat out, feeling anger rise in her.

He sighed again, "Do you know what day it was last Friday?" He asked, referring to their child's 5 month birthday. The reasoning behind his call now becoming obvious.

"Of course I remember. What do you want?" She asked again.

"To talk to you."

"I tried talking to you do you remember what happened? Our kid died when I was home. You were at work. So therefore it must have been my fault."

Another sigh, "I was...I'm sorry I was grieving." Mike responded.

"Go fuck yourself." She bitterly responded.

There was a tense silence between the both of them, "I'll be down there tomorrow."

"You're a piece of shit Mike."

"My flight gets in late so probably around 7" He continued, ignoring her anger.

"Fuck you."

"...Your mom thinks we should at least try to talk."

Now it was Michonne's turn to sigh and roll her eyes, "Don't bring my mother into our bullshit. I told her the bare minimum about what happened to us."

"...I'll see you tomorrow night."

"You're a son of a bitch." Michonne responded, as if it was a fact.

Mike sighed, "I'll be there tomorrow." He said again, before hanging up.

Michonne sighed and threw her phone back on her bed. She stayed on her bed for several minutes before getting up and putting on some shoes. She walked downstairs and exited her home and walked towards Rick's. She smiled a bit when she saw him on his porch and walked up to him, "Hey."

Rick smiled up at her, "Hey, I missed you." He said, as she sat down next to him.

"It hasn't been that long."

"It has. A couple days since I last saw you. Can't you take a vacation from work?" He asked, smilingly at her.

Michonne chuckled a bit, "No Rocky, I just started I can't." She said a soft smile.

"Carl is going with his mother tomorrow…"

"What are you trying to say? Michonne asked with a smirk.

"You can come over…" Rick said as he leaned into her and gave her gentle kisses on her jaw.

Michonne smiled a bit but lightly pushed him away, "Alright calm down. Maybe I'll come over."

Rick grinned widely, "I'll take a maybe."

"Good cause that's all you're gonna get." Michonne said with a smirk, glancing at him as there was a pause between them. "The father of my kid called…"

Rick turned to her, his brow furrowing, "What happened?"

"He's coming here. Tomorrow night. He said wants to talk."

"About what?"

Michonne sighed, "About….our kid...about what happened to our relationship...about me. I don't know." She said with a shrug.

"And what happened...to your relationship?"

"Didn't end so great."

"Do you think he wants to get back together with you?"

"Maybe." She responded.

"...Would you?" Rick asked as he looked at her closely, while he believed everything was going well with them there was still a slight doubt within him. She was distant at times and open at others and he was still getting to know this new version of her. And this other man already knew her better than he did.

Michonne turned to him, her face softening, "No. I want to be here Rick. With you. I'm not going back to New York with him."

Rick nodded a bit as he looked at her, his doubt subsiding as she told him exactly what he needed to hear from her. "Do you want me there when he comes?"

She shook her head, "No, I don't need a bodyguard Rocky." She said with a bit of a smile. There was a silence between them. "You can...stick around though. At your house. But you know, come over if you hear me yelling."

Rick nodded again, "I will."

"Thanks." She said quietly.

"Is he an asshole?" Rick asked.

Michonne smirked a bit, "Yeah...he is. But it'll be fine." She laced her fingers through his and Rick rose his eyebrow at her. She glanced at him, "What? You're not only one who can initiate hold handing Rocky."

Rick grinned widely at her, "You wanna come inside?"

Michonne rolled her eyes, "You already know the answer to that." She stood up from him and lightly kissed him. "I guess I can come over for the weekend though…" She said with a small smile.

Rick smiled back at her, "I'll see you then...Let me know if you need me tomorrow."

Michonne nodded and smiled a bit, "I will." She then turned and walked off of his porch and back home.

000000000000000000

The Following Night

It was eight at night and Michonne was sat on her couch. Painfully aware of whenever a car passed by, wondering if it was Mike. A large part of her wanted to believe he had changed his mind after their phone call, decided to stay in New York and leave her alone. But she knew him well enough to know that once he had an idea he went through with it no matter what. Another car passed by and after several minutes her doorbell rang. She sighed and walked to her door, opening it. They both stared at each other for a moment before Mike decided to speak.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"No." Michonne responded before stepping out of her home and closing the door behind her.

Mike sighed, "Really?" He looked tired and disheveled especially compared to Michonne who look well composed. The last time they had saw each other it was her that looked tired, as if life had been sucked at out of her.

"I don't expect this conversation to last long Mike." She responded dryly.

Mike sighed again and looked around her porch, spotting a small bench. "Can I sit at least?"

Michonne shrugged, "Do whatever you want."

Mike practically dragged his feet as he sat down on her bench with Michonne leaning against the railing in front of him so they were facing each other. "I want you to come back to New York Michonne." He said, after a few minutes of silence as he looked up at her.

"No." She deadpanned.

"'Dre just had his 5 month birthday don't you think he would-"

"Do not come here and use my son to guilt trip me into coming back to New York Mike. You don't get to be in New York and then use my son against me there and then come here and do that. Fuck you, Mike. If this is your fucking strategy you can go fuck yourself." Her voice, was no longer a void of emotion but now laced with animosity as she spoke to him.

Mike sighed and looked away from her for a moment and then back, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said that….There's a lot of things I shouldn't have said. I miss him too you know. And then you left and I was...alone."

"Tell me Mike how do you think I felt when I cried myself to sleep every night? Don't you think I wanted the man who I had my child with to be there for me? To tell me it was okay, we were going to be okay, I was going to be okay? You left me the day my kid did so don't pull this woe is me bullshit."

Mike sighed again, his eyes moved around the street before him, noticing how quiet the whole town was. "Why did you even come back here? You could've gone anywhere."

Silence.

"I wanted to come home." Michonne said after several minutes.

Mike looked up at her, "Your home is in New York."

"No it isn't."

"You're parents are in New York now. You're friends. 'Dre's buried there-"

"Stop." Michonne responded forcefully.

Mike sighed and looked away from her again, "You're just gonna get bored here Michonne and then what? You're gonna move all over the fucking country to avoid me? To avoid us?"

"You have no idea what my life like is here so don't act like you do. I have no intention of leaving again. Not for anyone. And especially not for you."

"What am I supposed to tell your mother when I come back home without you?"

"Tell her to call me so I can attempt to figure out why she gave you not only my phone number but my address too." She countered.

"Why are you acting like you don't miss us Michonne? We were fucking good together you know that. Clearly your mom knows that or she wouldn't have told me where you were."

"It was good with us. And then you know what happened? My kid died. He fucking died Mike and when I needed you the most, when I felt the worst you took all your fucking anger about him being dead and you threw it at me. I will never miss us because missing us means that I miss the bullshit I went through. We could have had the best fucking relationship but you shitted on that not me." She sighed and pulled her eyes off of him as she folded her arms across her chest.

"It's not just your kid…" Mike mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Michonne asked, whipping her eyes back to him.

Mike sighed, "Why do you keep talking like he was your kid? Like he wasn't mine too? I know I fucked up but shit he was just as much mine as he was yours."

"Fuck you." She responded bitterly.

"What?" Mike asked, unsure of he heard her right.

"Fuck. You. He's your kid? You tell me in New York that I'm this terrible fucking person, a terrible mother, and when I'm home crying over my baby you're coming home drunk falling all over my fucking house. He was my kid." She said pointing to herself and then him. "Not yours. I cried for my baby you got fucked up and expected me to soothe your hangover."

Mike sucked his teeth and stood up, "You wallowed in your shit so much you were blind to anyone else who was grieving Michonne." He angrily responded.

"My kid is fucking dead!" She shouted at him, her voice echoing on her empty street. "What did you expect me to do huh? Care for you? Clean up after your late night binge fest as I cried? No. I carried him for 9 months. I was in labor for 6 hours. I quit my job to be a stay at home mom. And what did I get in return? A dead kid 3 months later and his fucking father who wanted me to take care of him but also made sure to tell me I was the reason his child was dead. Go fuck yourself Mike. I love my kid so much it hurts, but you….you are the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

They stood in silence for several minutes as Michonne glared at him and Mike looked through her.

"I'm gonna go." He said, finally.

"Good." Michonne responded.

A pause.

"Let me just get his things."

Michonne's brow furrowed, confusion sweeping over her face. "What?"

Mike sighed, "You took his things. Did you think I wouldn't notice? He's buried in New York I want his things there."

Michonne can feel her heartbeat rising, that familiar choking feeling right around the corner, "What?" She asked again, hoping maybe somehow this was all some cruel joke.

Mike sighed again, "Michonne you heard me."

"Fuck you! Fuck you Mike!" She managed to yell out, louder than before, as she felt her eyes begin to burn as tears pushed through.

"Michonne-"

"I'm not giving you shit!" She yelled again.

"You're gonna cause a scene…" Mike responded calmly, seemingly unbothered by her crying as if after seeing her cry so many times it no longer affected him.

"I don't give a fuck! You are not taking his stuff from me!" She shouted in between her sobs that were just as loud.

"Boss." Rick called out to her as he walked up to her home, he could hear her yelling and pained sobs from his home and he took as his cue to come over.

Mike turned to Rick, unaware of who he was, "Hey man, this is a private conversation."

Rick ignored him as he made his way up her porch steps to stop in front of her. He watched her attentively as her sobs continued. He couldn't place a time, even from before they dated, he had seen her cry so harder. He could feel himself breaking for her while simultaneously feeling an intensity of anger towards the person who made her like this. He glanced over at Mike, whose annoyance seemed to be growing, and then back at Michonne. "Do you want him to go?" He asked her in a low voice.

Michonne couldn't seem to stop her sobs as Rick stood in front of her and now she couldn't manage to say anything. She nodded in response to his question, "I have…..to go inside…" She said between sobs as her chest fell up and down.

Rick nodded, as she attempted to regain some composure to go back into her home. He lightly grabbed her wrist as she grabbed her doorknob. "...Wait for me, okay? "He asked her quietly. She nodded slightly and he let go of her. He watched her as she continued to sob and she was now back in her home.

"Hey look man that conversation was priva-" Mike's words were cut off by a hard punch to the jaw from Rick that caused him to stumble back and before he had time to fully comprehend what was happening Rick punched him again, causing him to stumble backwards off of Michonne's steps.

Rick watched as the man fell to the grass and groaned, rolling over onto his stomach and then attempting to get up on all fours. Rick approached him and forcefully pulled him back down to the ground by his shirt so now he was on his back. Rick stood over the man, pulling him by his collar with one hand, and punching him with the other. He was sure he heard a crack as he hit his nose but continued until his hand was bloody from his own blood and Mikes. He continued to hold the man up by his collar as he bent down to talk in a low, rough voice in his ear. "If you come back here again, I won't stop next time. Leave Michonne alone. She left New York for a reason." He dropped his collar causing Mike to groan as he hit the ground again. "I could've killed you." Rick said as he squinted down at Mike with a tilt of his head.

He turned away and walked back towards Michonne's home. He opened the door to her sitting on the floor of her entrance way, her knees up and her head buried in her arm as her sobs were now soft cries. He sat down next to her and gently slid her into his lap as his arms wrapped around her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest, damping his shirt. "What happened?" Rick asked quietly as if anything above a whisper may cause her to cry more.

She pulled away from his shirt as her cries finally came to a stop and her eyes were now bloodshot as if she hadn't slept in days. "I didn't cry at all Rick….we argued and I didn't cry. He saw me cry every day when my baby died I didn't want to do it anymore." She let out a large sigh, "And then he said that he wanted me to give him my kid's things…"

Rick's brows furrowed a bit and she continued noting his confusion. "I have a box of my kid's things in my closet...and he wanted them back because he's buried in New York." She bit down on her lip and looked down in order to stop herself from crying again. After a moment she looked up at him, "I want to go to bed."

Rick nodded as he looked at her intently, "Okay…Um you've got some blood on you though…" Noting how she had a few blood stains on her from wrapping herself around him.

"I don't care." She said with a sigh.

"But you will tomorrow. I know you're tired but you'll hate me if you don't shower tonight." He responded, knowing all too well how neat she liked everything to be and how difficult blood stains could be.

"No." Michonne responded.

"Michonne…"

"No." She said again as she turned away from him.

"Hey, look at me." Rick said in a quiet voice. She sighed and turned to him. "Let me do this for you, okay? You give me ice and Advil after a fight this is my giving you ice and Advil, okay? Take it."

Michonne stared at him for a moment, she was silent but nodded as she slipped off his lap and stood. She held out a hand for him and he grasped it as he got up. He gently squeezed her hand and a faint smile flashed on her face that was so fast that if he would've blinked he would have missed it. They made their way to her room and then her shower. He let go of her hand for a moment in order to turn on the water and turned to her, "Do you want me to stay?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She responded quietly, her face still wearing a somber expression.

Rick nodded a bit and moved to her and began to lightly pull off her shirt that had a few blood stains on it as Michonne raised her arms up for him. He wrapped one arm around her, bringing it to her midback as to unhook her bra as she stood still for him.

He pulled away from a moment, resisting the urge to stare at her as he usually did. He glanced down at her pants and then back at up are her and she silently nodded allowing him to continue undressing her. She placed her hands on his shoulders as she stepped out of her pants and then her underwear. She stepped into the shower and closed her eyes, directly standing underneath it. She can hear Rick leaving and with her eyes still closed she called to him, "Rick. Come in." She said quietly.

He paused for a moment, "are you sure?"

"Come." She said quietly. She could hear his clothes dropping to the floor and she could feel relief wash over her when he entered the shower and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest.

"Rick." She said in a low voice after a few minutes.

"Hm?" He quietly responded.

"...I miss my baby." She said her voice just above a whisper.

Rick squeezed her tightly and gently kissed the top of her head, "I know." He said softly.

Once the water had turned cold they both exited the shower. Michonne slipped into bed wearing an oversized shirt as her pajamas and Rick in his boxers. They both laid on their back facing the ceiling. There was a stillness between them and after several minutes of this Michonne moved toward him, wrapping her arm around his waist and laying her head on his chest as she closed her eyes. Rick smiled a bit down at her and wrapped one arm around her. "Goodnight boss." He said quietly after he gave her head a light kiss.

"Goodnight Rick." Michonne quietly said