A/N: Hey y'all. Thanks everyone for reading! So this chapter is all Michonne and her family. It's also wicked long, which sorry (not sorry). Hope you all enjoy it. Really thank you for the feedback and thoughts, it's really inspiring!
November
The crunch of leaves and the crisp Autumn air brought Michonne to her surroundings. She was late, again, for her family's Thanksgiving. Her leather boots hitting the pavement as she sauntered up the steps of her childhood home. Her black pea coat hanging open to reveal a simple sienna top and black slacks. Sasha had said she looked nice before she rushed out of their apartment to visit her family. Andra had decided to spend her Thanksgiving with her family and Maggie had a standing obligation with the Greenes that she was not allowed to break. Ok, it'll be fine. She thought reminding herself this would be the first in four years that she was not spending Thanksgiving as Mike's sweetheart and that her entire, and she did mean entire family would be there with questions about this new and mysterious Rich Rimes guy.
Her cousin Noah had repeated that her Uncle Jesse was hell bent on talking about this Rich guy since her parents seemed to bring him up over the last two months. Who could replace the Mike 'always golden Pony Boy' Morgan in their little Meesh's life? What kind of man was actually worth to break this perfect union. It irked her to no end, even after she had explained what had happened to her parents finally, after they had assumed for the past six months that Michonne had been the one to break their plans for Ponyboy to marry into the Anthony clan. Now her parents had to deal with the awkward truth that Mike had broken their baby's heart and had the nerve to come to Thanksgiving. The Morgan's hadn't even known, leaving an almost soap opera like few hours ahead for all parties involved in Michonne's mind. Her hesitation and fears making her contemplate what would happen, resulting in her running late, again.
"I know Noah! I know." Michonne said, watching her cousin frown at her in the threshold of the front door.
"You're fucking late" he whisper yelled.
"Watch your damn mouth! You're not too old for me to definitely show you how to clean a dirty mouth." she said through clenched teeth.
Noah scoffed at her taking the opportunity to throw her three fingers and offering her to 'read between the lines'. Michonne laughed a little at the banter because she knew he was frustrated to have to wait to eat. Michonne looked at her cousin and handed him the bundle in her hands.
"Give this to Mom. The next time you put your fingers in my face, you're gonna wish you weren't born. Got it kid?" she said, resting her hand on her hips and scowling at Noah.
Walking into the foyer the sound of family playing in the living room and aunts milling about in the kitchen brought a tug to her heart. "I'm sorry" she said loudly, taking her jacket off and tossing it in the corner and wrapping her arms around her Aunt Lydia.
"Traffic. Am I right?" she said to no one in particular.
"Girl, you've live across town, not in another state. How the hell are you always late to family functions?" her Uncle Jesse asked.
Lydia and Jesse were both the spitting image of Florida and James Evans from Good Times, modest Dorchesterites who had lived a working class life and loved their family. There was also her Aunt Laural and Uncle Tom, who were quiet stoic types, who were like the Winslows from Family Matters. They had two kids, who were both missing from Thanksgiving this year opting to spend it with their significant others. Her family were Boston through and through, but wouldn't fit into any version of Good Will Hunting, no accents to speak of, just generic news anchor sounding black people. Her cousins however had their moments, Noah who was a surefire and proud Masshole in every way possible would throw on the accent to show off or just to be a jerk, and their little cousins Lisa and Demi who were all big afro poofs, rich sandalwood and cinnamon skin. Although they weren't twins they were so close in age that everyone called them Lemi, of one mind, the siblings ran to Aunty Michonne and threw themselves at her.
"Are you a lawyer yet?" they asked in unison.
"Not yet ladies, but when I get that big job, you're invited to my fancy office." she replied.
"You mean your cubicle." a familiar and playful voice came from the threshold of the kitchen. A chuckle left Michonne lips before she replied.
"At least I'll have a job. Student doesn't count as a job, even if you're getting paid for it Mr. Morgan." Michonne looked into Mike's kind eyes and smiled slightly.
"It'll be Doctor Morgan soon enough." he said
"We've already got one of those. You're just overcompensating at this point" she quipped. To which he shook his head and smikred.
"Ok Counselor. You win." "Good." she said.
"Hey. You look well." Mike said, watching her walk over to the threshold of the kitchen. They stood facing each other, her doe eyes taking in his large and warm brown eyes that framed a hansom sepia toned face, his jawline projecting a quiet confidence that always made Michonne glad he was her friend first and even more grateful that they had been lovers. Mike had settled on a crisp white button down and mahogany slacks, no tie; he looked regal and relaxed as always.
"So do you." she said crossing the invisible barrier and embracing him for the first time in almost a year. Stepping back and giving her space Michonne looked up at Mike and watched as her searched her face for something, his eyes resting back into hers. The past 15 years rushing into her mind left Michonne feeling so many things, hurt, joy, frustration, and finally relief. They had been friends, confidents at one point, and even if she had loved him, he didn't feel the same. She resigned herself to just move on- closure wasn't something you waited for, it was something you did and she was going to walk through that threshold and let Mike live his own life, she was going to try to have a nice time with her family. Shit, how awkward would it actually get?
"I should… say hello to my mom." she said breaking the eye contact and moving towards the kitchen. Mike watched her glide up to her mother apologizing profusely and embracing his mother who was busy working on the green bean casserole.
"I'm sorry Ma, but I bought pie." she smiled at her mother, walking to the sink to begin washing dishes without her behest as a kind of apology.
"You did not make that pie did you? I don't want a Jonestown on our hands Michonne. We all know you cannot bake worth a damn." Margaret chuckled, glancing at Mrs. Morgan, knowing that a one Rick Grimes had followed through on his end of the bargain. Patricia Morgan laughed at her long time friend, watching the two women who were a part of her family in every way but vows. She felt a sense of relief at the fact that Michonne had not seemed even remotely upset by her interaction with Mike. He hadn't told her what happened, but she had assumed they had their reasons. She was just glad that their break up didn't ruin her favorite holiday. Hell she had planned Michael's life, she'd given up when he decided to continue his PhD program in Performance Studies of all things. He was an adult, and everyone just had to get over it even if it would take her years to come to terms with the fact that her kid had decided to hang out with weirdos who wore a lot a black and talked about 'context' and 'praxis'.
"Michonne, remember when you tried to make Mike cookies and you added a tablespoon of salt. My child called me asking if he could get a stroke from too many cookie." Michonne laughed at the memory
"It's not my fault. He provided me a recipe in the Metric system, my conversions were off." she said with a slight pout.
"And no, Mrs. Morgan, I did not make the pie and don't intend to poison everyone this Thanksgiving. That, I'm saving for Christmas." she said, rubbing her wet hands together and smirking her famous 'evil genius' smile. Mike watched from the threshold as his mother, Michonne, and her mother chatted and prepared the meal.
"Michael, go get that lazy ass Noah and start bringing the meal out." his mother said.
"Ma, where's Dad?" Michonne said looking around for her father and Mr. Morgan, feigning a way to not discuss the pie maker or any other details about her current love life with her ex's mother.
"Oh he's out back with David drinking cognac and talking about work. You know those two can't go a single holiday without comparing students from the past having..."
"an astute understanding of the classics that these young ones can't seem to comprehend. God, he is so pretentious!" Michonne finished and laughed.
"Go get the two of them before they start pulling out their syllabus and comparing the benefits of having everyone read Plato."
"God, I wish he'd actually include more female scholars in his 'classics' but who am I?" Michonne said, wiping her hands and walking through the kitchen to the back porch.
She greeted her father and David before requesting their presence because dinner was about to start.
Dinner, which at that point was actually a late lunch, went by with mostly light hearted banter. The table settling into mostly topics ranging from the god awful political climate to some celebrity gossip. The Morgans and Anthony clan engaged like old times and for many moments Michonne and Mike enjoyed quiet smiles across the table from one another. It felt like a normal holiday, a tradition they had engaged in for the past 15 plus years, they were family after all.
Noah and Mike were charged with helping clear the table with the help of Lemi. Michonne had excused herself to make a phone call before starting dessert.
"Hey Officer" she started
"Hey 'Chonne. How's your family?" he asked.
"They're good. I think you'd have had a great time here." she said, twirling her hands in her locs and pacing on the back steps.
"Well, maybe next year. The guys and I are enjoying fried turkey and a few of the guys from the station stopped by."
"We still on for next week?"
"Yes Ma'am, I'm looking forward to some time with you darlin'"
"I'm looking forward to it. Remember, you can always back out. I'm pretty much Kristi Yamaguchi in the rink."
"As long as I don't break my ankles, I'm down for an adventure."
"That's what I love about you…" ugg, god, she felt so melty and fluffy it made her want to roll her eyes at herself. When did she become such a sap. Her contemplations on her sappiness left her distracted as the back door opened and Mike stood watching her quietly.
"What else do you love about me."
"You'd really like to know, wouldn't you Officer" she said suggestively raising an eyebrow, even though he couldn't see her.
"Yes I would, but I'll save it for next week. Send my regards to your family. Daryl and Shane are trying to convince Glenn to do something called 'Edward 40 hands' and I gotta stop this." he chuckled watching his friends try to convince Glenn that taping two 40 oz of malt liquor would result in a good time for all.
"I'm sure Glenn's bladder and self-esteem will thank you later. Ok, tell the guys I say hello."
"Bye 'Chonne, be good."
"Bye Rick" she sighed hanging up and turning to make direct eye contact with Mike 'Pony Boy' Morgan himself.
"The baker of the pie I assume." he said, watching her blush slightly. She wondered how long he had been there watching her.
"Yep." she replied.
"So... Rick, the Officer" he said, raising an eyebrow at her "You're dating a cop Meesh?" he asked.
"Weirder things have happened"
"Yeah, like that one time you got your septum pierced but freaked out when you tried to blow your nose and thought you had metal buggers"
"My crowning glory for sure. What do you want Mike?" she asked, watching him. They had been good, civil all evening.
"Wanted to know if you were ok?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.
"I'm good Mike. Things are fine, school is still exciting and I'm living with my best friends."
"And you've got yourself a beau" he followed.
"And my ex is standing in my family's backyard asking about said new beau after he dumped me a year ago." she said, looking at him, and tilting her head to the side, waiting for him to respond.
"Welp. I deserved that."
"If I was any less of a human, I'd be angry at you Mike, but I'm almost grateful at this point." she looked up at the surprise that registered across his forehead.
"Grateful?"
"Yeah, because you're living the life you want, not the one our parents decided for us. You may have broken my heart ya damn bastard, but you also helped rewrite the path for us. So I'm grateful." she said, taking his hand for the first time in over a year, watching him squeeze hers and sign.
"I really am sorry Meesh. We had some good times." he said
"We'll have more good times Mike, just as friends. Maybe now we can both live the lives we've been hoping for, with the people we want to. Let's Buffy our futures Mike, let's make choices!"
"Meesh, you are a weirdo, but I love you. And I'm hopeful someday I can be Shaun to your Corey again."
Michonne laughed and replied "When did our lives become a really bad 90's teen drama?"
"When our stuck up parents basically created a marriage pact at our births. God, they are terrible!"
Michonne threw her head back laughing, tears forming in her eyes at her friend turned lover turned nothing turned something someday chucked with her.
"You know, I'm still here for you Meesh. I'm still your guy." he offered a pause after their laughter died down.
"I know... It'll just take some time. But you stay gold, Pony Boy." she smirked, watching the sides of his lips curl upward in a knowing smile.
He couldn't believe that she still believed he was perfect even after all the stupid mistakes he made, but he loved her for her forgiveness, and he hoped that maybe, they'd be M&M again in whatever iteration their new life would take. He at least owed it to her to be something, because she always made him feel like he could fly. Even after he left her standing on the Mass Ave bridge last November with their takeout lunch, after he went through all the reasons he couldn't make the next step with her, after he pulled the 'don't you just want to write your own damn destiny Michonne?' and walked back to his South End apartment that was a shoe box denying her calls all along the way home.
"And you remember to Invictus this next year." he said. With Mike and Michonne's fathers being academics they'd make them do recitation of 'the classics'. It drove them both crazy when they were kids, but as they grew up they found something comical, and calming about the act of reciting poems in front of family and strangers alike. They had both loved the William Ernest Henley poem Invictus, and from high school to college it was their mantra to each other. A hope that maybe they'd decide to be their own people someday, at one point together. Now as they actually made it through the worst part of their post-break up, it resonated even more.
"Ok, well now that I'm the master of my fate, captain of my soul- let's go eat pie" Michonne said,
"Do I get to meet him?" Mike asked right before Michonne walked through the threshold of her family home.
"Someday, maybe. But the pie's a good introduction as any." she said. Reaching her hand as a peace offering, she watched him gingerly take her hand, giving it a light squeeze before heading back into the house.