Rick returned home to find his mother awake in the living room, and he heard the Friends episode that he'd left Michonne's in the middle of.
"Hey, Rick," she greeted him, patting the couch next to her. He walked into the living room, kicked off his shoes and sat down next to her. She muted the TV and asked, "What took you so long, getting back?"
"I hung out with Michonne waiting for her mom to come home. Said she didn't want to be alone."
"That was nice of you. She's a very wonderful girl. Pretty baby too."
Rick decided to cut to the chase. "Dad's going to hate her."
"That doesn't matter. Keep being her friend."
"Of course."
"Bring her into your circle of friends."
"I'll need luck with that."
"Why?"
"None of my friends like her. Shane just thinks she's hot, Maggie thinks she's a bad person for having a baby, and Glenn thinks whatever Maggie thinks. Andrea doesn't trust her, and Daryl hates new people in general."
"They need to get used to it. Let her sit with you at lunch, or something."

Michonne's mother knocked at her door about fifteen minutes after Rick left. Michonne had just finished tying back her dreads. She glanced over at André as she said, "Come in."
"How was your night with Rick?"
"It was really nice. We came back here after school and picked up André from Lizzie. We went to his house and his mom was making dinner. She liked André a lot. She was so nice, she brought out a play pen from when Rick was a baby so that I didn't have to hold him all night."
"That's so thoughtful."
"That's what I said."
"Did you meet his father?"
"No. From what I hear, he's not the nicest."
"There's something imperfect about the perfect guy."
"What are you talking about Mom?"
"Rick seems lovely-"
"I'm going to stop you right there. There's nothing going on with me and Rick, Mom. Nothing, at all."

"If you say so, my love. Does he like André?"
"Of course. He let me drive since André was in the car."
"Please don't crash."
"Of course not Mom."
"Alright, I'll let you get to sleep, since you have work in the morning."
She kissed Michonne's cheek and looked at the baby in the crib.
"Night Mama," Michonne said, crawling under the covers as her mom turned out the lights.

On Monday morning, Rick picked up Michonne and she glanced at the car seat, still in his back seat and shot him a questioning look.
He answered evenly, "I think it's a nice touch, don't you?"
Michonne shrugged apathetically, though internally, the permanence of his seemingly warm gesture made him smile.
As they drove, they listened to the radio. They pulled into the parking lot and Michonne moved to get out after Rick parked. He reached out to her wrist, which she snatched away, but settled back into her seat to look at him. She looked, waiting.
He drew in a breath and tried to calmly explain, "Instead of eating lunch in the library, I want for you to sit with me and my friends today."
"Why?" Michonne asked, on the defensive. The warm trusting eyes he'd seen on Friday were gone, replaced by stone-cold, emotionless ones. She stared him down, unblinking until he answered.

"I don't want you to be lonely."
"You think I'm lonely? You think you're saving me? I don't need to be saved. I just need to keep my head down, and not get pregnant again, not get involved with a crack head again, and get myself through high school, without more drama."
"I'm not trying to save you," Rick answered, indignantly.
"Good. I don't need that. Ass," she muttered. "I'll see you at lunch, you dick."
Then she climbed out of the car. Rick sat there, dumbfounded, yet somehow still smiling, despite the fact that she had just insulted him twice within 15 seconds.

At lunch, Rick found himself sitting at the table with his friends. Andrea hung off of Shane, which surprised Rick; the two had been together for almost two months, which was a record for him. Maggie rested her head on Glenn's shoulder while he joked around with Tara. Amy and Beth spoke in hushed tones at the end of the table, and Abraham stared at Sasha across the cafeteria. Abraham didn't look too different from Rick, who was scanning for Michonne rather than staring at Sasha. Rosita punched Abraham in the shoulder.
"I know you dumped me for her, so why don't you get a piece of that already."
Abraham shoved her and muttered for her to shush. Rosita huffed, as though she weren't really annoyed, but she absolutely was.

Finally, after scanning the lunchroom for ten minutes, Rick spotted Michonne sitting outside the cafeteria in the quad. He excused himself, not that anyone cared. He walked right outside and found her. He looked down at her and she stared up at him, eyes as cold as they were this morning.
"Are you going to come sit with us?" he asked.
"There aren't any more chairs," she answered logically.
"We'll find one for you. Come on now."
"Your friends don't want me there," she replied.

"They don't mind," Rick lied.
"Bullshit, but fine," she agreed. He extended a hand to her, which she ignored, while she stood. She walked beside him back into the cafeteria. Rick snagged a chair from a neighboring table. He pulled it up, next to him. Michonne sat down gently, and pulled a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from bag, which she proceeded to drop on the floor. She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed while everyone at the table turned their attention to her. She swallowed and asked, "What?"
Tara averted her eyes, intimidated by Michonne. Rosita, Maggie and Glenn looked intrigued. Abraham looked over at her, gave her a nod that she returned and resumed gazing at Sasha. Ultimately, everyone looked at Rick for an explanation.
He offered, "This is Michonne. She'll be eating lunch with us. I hope that won't be a problem for any of you."

Shane turned his attention away from Andrea and looked at Michonne, "Hello, Michonne. How are you doing today? Might I say that you look lovely."
"No," Michonne answered, unimpressed by Shane's antics.
Maggie, Amy, and Beth smiled at her, approving her immediate shutting down of Shane. Shane looked mildly miffed and turned his attention back to Andrea who was waiting for him to meet her eyes again. When he did she clung to him, totally, utterly shameless.

Michonne shook her head and ate her sandwich. She said nothing the rest of the meal, merely observing the antics. Watching Glenn and Maggie tease Abraham over Sasha, while Rosita made jabs at him. She quickly put together that they were ex-lovers. Carol and Daryl ambled over after Beth and Amy left. Carol seemed a lot more affectionate with Daryl than he returned to her. She seemed to want to touch at him, but he seemed uneasy, especially when she, jokingly, called him 'Pookie.' She let it go, after a couple of minutes, pulling her lunch out of her back pack and handing a second sandwich to him. He took it, thanking her gruffly. Michonne could tell he had demons, shitty parents too. He and Carol had something in common. Shitty people, she thought as she recalled Carol's ex that Rick told her about.

Glenn kissed Maggie frequently, almost as though he was making sure she was still there, still real. It was clear that he adored her, and it somewhat reminded Michonne of Mike.

"Michonne, baby," he murmured. "That was probably the best sex we've ever had."
Michonne agreed, with a heavy sigh, placing her head on his chest. He was panting, she seemed content, and they were both glistening with sweat. Michonne placed a kiss on his chest, relishing the feeling of his arms around her. He looked down at her, pure adoration in his eyes. She took a deep breath and blurted, "I'm pregnant."
"No, you're not," Mike scoffed.
"Yes, I am. I took the test. It's positive."
"No, it's not."
Michonne was suddenly furious, "Jesus Mike! I am pregnant! You want me to show you the damn test?"
She threw back the covers from her bed and stood. She crossed the room in three naked strides, pulled open the drawer of her dresser, and dug into a sock, to rip out a test, which she hurled at her disbelieving boyfriend. He stared down at the stick in his hands and said, "No, no, no, no. I-I g-got-"
"You have to what?"
"I need something." He moved towards his bag, fumbling through it, until he found his stash.
"NO!" Michonne snapped. "Not in my room! You do that shit in your house, your car! Not here! Get the fuck out, I don't want to see you right now."
Mike put his pants on and moved to kiss her but Michonne shoved him away, growling, "Don't fucking try."
"Baby, I'll go with you, when you get it done."
"Fuck off, Mike. I'm not aborting it. You're going to be a dad."
"The hell I am."
"You got me pregnant, you better deal."
"Fuck you, Michonne."
"You obviously did, you piece of shit."

Despite all of the harsh words, the next day, Mike showed up at her house while her parents were out. He came in and hugged her, rubbed her back, as he apologized and told her she could do this however she wanted and he would do whatever she wanted. He always agreed to what she wanted in the end; whether it be a movie, a restaurant, studying or fucking, he always gave in to her want.

They stood in the foyer, he stroked her hair with one hand, while his other rested on the small of her back. He kissed the side of her head, while she clung to him crying into his chest.
"Do your parents know?" he asked, quietly.
"Yeah," Michonne answered. "My mom wants me to give him up and my dad told me he wants me to do whatever I feel is right."
"And what is that?"
"I need this baby."
"I'm going to get sober."
Michonne pulled away, surprised, and not believing his words.
"Baby, I wanna do this for you, and for the baby. The kid doesn't deserve a strung out father."
Michonne grabbed Mike again and held him closer, and more lovingly than she ever had.
"Thank you," she whispered.

Rick nudged Michonne, pulling her away from her memory. When she looked at him impatiently, he answered, "It's end of the period. You seemed in a daze. Figured I'd say something."
"Thanks."
"See you after school?"
"Yeah, of course. Thank you again."
"Any time."