Chapter 11

Michonne drove around aimlessly for hours until she practically ran out of gas. She had stopped crying miles back. Her cell phone rang several times but she ignored it. She told him she had stop running, but she hadn't. That was what she was doing now. Being alone in the world was not her choice, but choosing Rick was. She wasn't out right leaving him, but she couldn't be in the same house with him right now. Her anger and hurt was such that it would have only made things worse, not better. Her phone rang again and this time she picked it up and looked at who was calling. It was Rick.

"Hello." She said.

"Michonne, I've been trying to call you."

"I know."

"Where are you?"

"I really don't know."

"Sweetheart I'm sorry."

"Rick, I can't talk to you now."

She heard the tremor in his breath when he exhaled and she knew he had been crying. He tried to hide it but she knew.

"Rick please." She said starting to cry herself. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, I promise."

"Where are you going?"

"To your mom and dad's. I was planning to go there anyway to get ready for the wedding."

He breathed easier knowing she had not called it off.

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She hung up the phone.

If it wasn't for his parents, she would have nowhere to go, and it made her angry. If she and Rick didn't make it, she knew she could always look to his parents as friends. She knocked on the door in front of her.

"Michonne?" Mr. Grimes said as he opened the door. When he looked at her, even though she smiled, he knew something was wrong.

"You by yourself?"

"Yeah." She said sounding exhausted.

"Who is it Bob?"

"It's Michonne."

She came out of the bedroom and took one look at Michonne and went to her.

"We weren't expecting you until tomorrow. What happened?"

"Rick and I need to get some things straight."

"Come with me."

Mrs. Grimes took Michonne to a bedroom that obviously had been Rick's. There were pictures of him in various sports, a prom picture of him and Lori along with various trophies.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Michonne sat down on the bed and shook her head.

"I'm glad you came here. He's our son, but he's going to be your husband and what goes on between you two is your business. Get some rest and hopefully things will look better in the morning."

Mrs. Grimes turned to leave the room.

"Elaine, I love Rick very much, but I think my independence and dependence on no one could hurt what he stands for."

She walked back to Michonne and sat down on the bed next to her.

"We raised our sons to be respectful, especially of women, and you may be right about what your independence, but my son has already accepted it, so if he gets hurt by it, he knew going in. He asked you to marry him, which is not something he did without thinking about it. He knows how independent you are. He is probably grateful for that. He wants a wife, a partner to share in his life. He doesn't want someone who he can't be sure if he gets his head bit off or a hug when he gets home. The two of you are alphas, and in your marriage compromise is the key."

"I guess I got scared and forgot that. I know he knows me and has already accepted me the way I am."

"Love is love my dear. When you open your heart to it, the possibilities are endless, but know this, in marriage, you can't always be on top."

Michonne looked at Mrs. Grimes sideways and laughed.

"Things were not so different when I was your age. Bob and I spent two days before our wedding in Atlanta and almost missed the wedding all together."

Michonne looked at her with wide eyes.

"Rick is his father's son; a beautiful man with a big heart, but his main goal is always to take care of his family. Let him."

Michonne smiled at her with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you."

She blew Michonne a kiss and left the room.

Michonne stood and started looking around Rick's room. She liked his room with the tiny single bed. It was masculine and strong just like he was. Then she saw something that was out of place there. It was a napkin. She picked up the napkin and looked at it. Her name and phone number were written on it. She gave it to him when they met and were having breakfast. She lay down on the bed and went to sleep.

Rick called his parents shortly after Michonne arrived.

"Hello." Mr. Grimes answered.

"Dad."

"Rick what's wrong?"

"She's gone Dad."

"She left you?"

"Yes. She said she was coming there, is she there yet?"

"She's here son. What happened?"

"I wasn't completely honest with her."

"What?"

"I didn't tell her the nature of a call I went on. It was dangerous and I led her to believe it was routine and I ended up in the hospital with some minor cuts."

Rick sounded stressed on the phone.

"Rick, she's not Lori."

"I know dad. It didn't dawn on me that I had treated her that way until just now. I guess I'm just used to filtering what I say about what I do."

"You can't do that with her, she knows the job son."

"I know."

"Why don't you come by tomorrow. I think the two of you should get this taken care of as soon as possible."

"I agree. Good night Dad, and thank you."

Michonne woke the next morning achy and still tired. She looked out the window at the perfect view of the lake. She took a shower and changed, and put on a jacket to go outside. Mrs. Grimes was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

"Good morning Michonne."

"Good morning."

"How did you sleep?"

"Not too bad."

"Rick called after you went to sleep. He's coming by today. The two of you need to fix this"

"I know. He smiled and told me Tanner needed him on a routine call. It turned out to be more serious than that, and the only way I found out was when Shane came to tell me. I thought he had gotten killed. He could have been honest with me. I'm sure he was just being himself."

"Well you let him know that. He has to realize you're not Lori. He couldn't tell her very much about work. She would have made him quit."

"We'll get it ironed out. I'm going to go out for a walk."

"Be careful, it's a little foggy this morning."

Mrs. Grimes watched her go out the door. She worried about the two of them. She knew they both were headed in the same direction, just taking different paths to get there.

Michonne liked it there on the farm, and really enjoyed the peace and quiet. She wiped at tears that fell without much prompting. She wanted that man in her life, but he must understand what she needs from him.

Rick walked into his parent's house and to where his mother was.

"Is she out there?"

"Yes. She's making a decision."

Rick didn't comment, but saw her in the fog leaning her side against the gate. Every now and then she would turn her head to look out at the lake.

"Do you want breakfast?"

"No thank you Mom."

"Son, that's your woman out there. She's going to fuss at you some over this, but she loves you more than this disagreement. Personally, I think you need a good fussing at. She's not Lori son."

"Dad told me that last night. I was so used to being careful about everything around Lori."

He opened the back door and walked out to where Michonne was standing. He stopped within ten feet from her when she turned to look at him.

"Can we talk now?" He said not knowing where to begin.

She nodded as she watched him move in closer. He walked up to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. They had decided between them that no matter what was going on in their lives, they would always greet each other and say goodbye with a kiss.

"I should explain to you why I left. I was very angry with you last night and I didn't want to make a scene with Carl in the house. He didn't need to see his dad's girlfriend going off on him."

"Thank you for that."

He also leaned on the gate facing her.

"I've been standing here looking at this lake and thinking about you and me and it makes me smile. I love you Rick and I'm sure I want to marry you tomorrow as scheduled, but you can't leave me out of anything that will affect me or our marriage. I'm sure you had to sugar coat the truth for Lori's sake, but…"

"You're not Lori. I guess I reacted out of habit."

"Do you understand why I reacted the way I did? Rick I've never been this close to any one person before. When you were late coming home and Shane was standing at the door, before he said a word I felt like I had been kicked in my face. I thought I had lost you. It feels the same when you can't trust someone you love to be truthful and honest. You're all I have in this world. I have to trust you. But what if you're not trustworthy? Do I marry you anyway and hope for the best?"

She saw the tears well in his eyes. She wasn't trying to make him feel bad, she just wanted him to know.

"I'm the one you talk to when you can't talk to anyone else. I'm the one who understands. I'm the last one who should be in the dark where you're concerned. You don't have to tell me everything. I understand men talk like women talk, but if it's going to affect me, I need to know."

He looked into her eyes and nodded.

"Where do we go from here?" He could barely look in her eyes. He had failed her.

"Rick, I love you, but I need to know that you'll be honest with me?"

They stood there at the gate quietly for a long time; both of them aching to get past this.

"Michonne, I've had a long time to think about it. I called and talked to my dad last night to make sure you got here okay. My dad told me that I was behaving the way I did when I was married to Lori. I really couldn't tell her anything without getting interrogated. I had to pick and choose what I told her just to keep the peace. After Carl was born she got worse. What she wanted was for me to take a desk job. I see what you mean about honesty, real honesty. I'm sorry I failed to give you credit for being who you are. I know that you're honest with me, and I will be honest with you."

He reached out and touched her face with his fingers. Her eyes were tired and sad. He had done that to her. It was at that moment he understood how really alone she was in the world without him.

"I'm sorry Michonne."

"Do you think we moved too fast?" She asked him.

"I told you before I proposed that I wanted a wife, not a girlfriend, and why prolong the inevitable? Living together is not enough for me. It shows a lack of faith in the relationship. Some people do it in order to get to know the other person, share living expenses, convenient sex. Why would you move someone in that you're just getting to know? That's what dating is for. Just living together makes it too easy to leave if things get difficult. To me marriage is more than a piece of paper."

She laughed without meaning to. He looked a little shocked she was laughing.

"I'm sorry, but you are extremely old fashioned, and I really love that about you."

"I've looked at my parents my whole life. They're like one person, and they enjoy each other's company. My mom told me they took their time and talked a lot, and when they wanted more, they got married."

She smiled thinking about the girl talk she had with his mother and her prenuptial weekend with his father.

"That's what we want." Michonne said looking in his eyes. "We want more."

He smiled at her and leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"So six months is long enough. I knew what I wanted with you when I invited you to run the obstacle course with me. You are the other half that makes us one."

She looked out at the lake and nodded.

"Did you think I was leaving you for good?"

"No, but I thought it might be for a while. You were angry with me, but I didn't think you were finished."

She climbed up on the wooden gate and sat on it.

"Let me ask you a question. For you and me, what is the bottom line of our relationship?" He asked her.

She looked down at him as he stood between her knees looking up at her while she played with the curls at the back of his head.

"We're in love."

They looked in each other's eyes and smiled.

"We will have challenges, not very many I don't think, but we will. We must always remember that bottom line."

She looked at him seriously and nodded.

"I'm going to go in now. I'll see you inside."

Instead of leaving, he stood looking in her eyes some more.

"I love you more than I love my own life Michonne. I didn't know I was going to fall in love and have it be like this, and I know down deep in my heart this is right. A better answer to your question is we didn't move fast enough for me."

He kissed her hand and turned to walk back to the house.

"Hey Grimes." She called to him. "Help me down from this gate."

He knew she was more than capable of getting down herself, but any excuse to touch her, he was all for. He walked up to her and put his hands on her waist and she put her hands on his shoulders and he lifted her from the gate lowering her to the ground.

She moved her arms around his neck and he drew her into him by her waist.

"Will you marry me?" She said smiling.

"That's the plan." He said kissing her.

Mrs. Grimes had been watching them through the kitchen window. She smiled brightly and sat down to finish her breakfast.

Rick and Michonne walked back to the house together.

"Well?" Mr. Grimes asked when he looked up to see them walking into the house together.

"Well we can't call the wedding off now, I already bought the dress." Michonne said standing close to Rick.

Mr. Grimes reached out and shook Rick's hand while Mrs. Grimes giggled.

"Mom, the question of us moving too fast came up. Dad and I are going into the other room so you and Michonne can talk about that."

Mrs. Grimes looked at Michonne who was a little shocked by his statement.

"I know you said you're sure," He said turning to Michonne. "But the question was yours, not mine and I think you should talk to someone other than me about that. I don't want any doubt."

Mr. Grimes stood and left the kitchen taking his coffee with him. Rick kissed Michonne on the cheek and followed his father.

"Sit down dear."

Michonne reluctantly pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I know you're alone in this world, but you have us now. You and Rick have known each other long enough because even though it was a short time, the two of you took the time to get to know one another. You've seen each other in different situations, listened to what each other had to say. You've had a different life than most so I understand you having to be careful of who you let into your life. Rick wants you to be sure, not only for his sake, but for yours as well. If you have any doubts at all, you have a safe place here to talk about them."

"I know." Michonne smiled sadly. "It's just that what I feel for Rick can be overwhelming at times. I have been watching him, most of the time when he doesn't know I am; at work, how he is with Carl, Shane, even how he was with Lori. He's genuine, but you know that. He loves me totally as I love him, but I wasn't counting on him keeping things from me."

"I hope you two cleared that up." Mrs. Grimes said concerned. "Lori had his self-esteem and his confidence all screwed up."

"He told me. I'm glad he's a fast learner."

"I am. What did I learn today?" Rick said walking into the kitchen for coffee.

"Certainly not that eavesdropping is rude." Mrs. Grimes said tossing a dish towel at him.

"Rick, your mother and I are going out today, doing some shopping and maybe visit for a while. Give the two of you to finalize some things. I expect to see you gone by the time we get back. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us, especially Michonne, and I want her to get some rest. She didn't sleep so good last night, and yes, I heard you walking the floor all night, and I don't want you embarrassing us tomorrow yawning in front of the preacher young lady."

Rick and Michonne both looked at each other trying not to laugh.

"Okay Dad." She said smiling appreciating how much he cared about her.

"I mean what I said Rick."

"Yes sir."

Rick and Michonne sat quietly in the family room which had a large picture window and a perfect view of the lake.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked holding her hand.

"About what I'm going to say tomorrow."

"Besides 'I do'?" He said looking at her questionably.

"Yeah, I want to say something to everyone about my new family."

Rick smiled to himself.

"Don't think about it, just say what's in your heart."

"If I do that we may be here all day tomorrow."

"I'll stop you. We have a honeymoon to get to."

"Where are we going by the way?"

"Dad and I were talking and he said he and Mom want us to go to the cabin."

"Where is it?"

"About ten miles up the road. Almost at the top of the lake. It's really nice with a better view than this."

"I've never been camping."

"Make no mistake, we're not going camping. We're celebrating our marriage and spending time alone as husband and wife."

"Is there a difference than us being alone right now?"

"Of course there is. For one thing we won't be in my parent's house, and in a much bigger bed than the one in my old bedroom."

She threw a leg over him and sat on his lap facing him. "Have you ever fooled around on that tiny bed of yours?"

He shook his head smiling.

"No."

"Interested?"

"Why do you think I mentioned it, and besides, you're looking at a man who had to sleep alone last night. What do you think?"

He grabbed her hips and moved her off his lap and followed her to his old room.

They fell asleep on the tiny bed which actually fit them perfectly. It pleasantly forced them to rest peacefully in each other's arms.

"Richard!"

Rick and Michonne sat bolt upright in the bed and when they did, Michonne who was on the edge of the bed fell onto the floor.

"Oh crap!" Rick said jumping up from the bed and helping Michonne off the floor.

He started putting on his clothes, but couldn't find one of his boots.

"Rick Grimes!"

"Be right there Dad!"

Michonne covered her mouth with her hand to quiet her laughter because she had his boot hidden behind her foot as she sat on the bed.

"Michonne where's my other boot?"

"Rick don't make me come in there! I told you I wanted you gone."

Michonne moved her foot and slid his boot forward. He looked at her with a grimace and snatched his boot up from the floor and put it on. He walked back over to her and kissed her lips.

"You're going to pay for that." He said faking seriousness.

"Promises, promises Grimes." She said pulling his head down to hers for another kiss.

Mr. and Mrs. Grimes stood just outside of the bedroom door waiting for Rick. He came out of the room quietly closing the door behind him and tucking in his shirttail, just then he looked up to see his parents.

"Good night son. I'll see you and Carl tomorrow."

"Good night Dad, good night Mom." He said clearly disgruntled.

His parents could barely contain their enjoyment at harassing their son. They could see how happy he was, finally.

It was still early so Rick went to his ex-in-laws to pick up Carl. Thankfully Bud wasn't home.

"Hey Dad." Carl said opening the door.

"Hey, you ready?"

"Yeah, grandma wants to talk to you."

Rick walked into the house and Betty handed him a big, giftwrapped box.

"I wanted to give you and Michonne a wedding present."

"Thank you Betty." Rick said. "Are you coming to the wedding?"

"I want to, but I'm not too sure about Bud."

"You both are welcomed to come."

"Thanks Rick, and if we don't make it, congratulations son."

"Thank you."

Rick had picked up their suits earlier as well as the two of them getting haircuts. Both of them had chosen personal gifts for Michonne. Rick chose a piece of jewelry, and Carl got her a pair of earrings in her birthstone.

"Dad, what happens when you get married?"

"Well for us, we're going to move into our new house and we'll be living there together."

"Like when you lived with me and Mom." He said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Rick had to smile at how candid children can be.

Should I call her mom?"

"Only if you want to, but always know that your mom will always be your mom even if you want to call Michonne Mom. Okay?"

Carl nodded thoughtfully lookin out the window.

"Do you think Mom would mind if I did call Michonne Mom?"

That was a tough one for Rick to answer, but he wanted to give Carl some assurance of his place in their new family.

"Your Mom would want you to be happy. If calling Michonne Mom makes you happy, I don't think she would mind."

"Dad, please don't fight like you and Mom did."

Rick really hadn't realized Carl witnessed his fights with Lori.

"I don't plan to Carl, but a husband and wife have arguments sometimes, but I promise you, it will be different when we do."

"Good. I like Michonne Dad, and I always want her to be with us."

Rick smiled at his son and messed up his newly cut hair.

"Me too buddy, me too."