A/N : Hey guys, how is everyone doing after that whammy of a MSF? I'm still wrapping my head around it. I hope y'all are ok.
Thanks for the suggestions to my unofficial question at the end of the last chapter. You guys really are the sweetest. I hope I did it justice. Can't wait to hear your
thoughts
P.S. Grimes 2.0 will forever be alive in ALL my stories.
Enjoy
Sophia
"So Rick and Daryl just left?" Michonne asked for the third time in vain. Most of the women had gathered in her room once the news had broken that she and Rick were tying the knot, trying to see how quickly they could pull things together. Right now she just wanted to know where Rick and Daryl were headed.
"Yeah, I think they probably went to get a suit or something for your impromptu wedding." Sasha shrugged trying to provide a reasonable explanation to mitigate Michonne's obvious worry.
"Daryl is the grumbling man-child who was stationed at the door right?" Rosita asked, adjusting her red blazer jacket as she spoke.
Andrea whipped around to face her, pleased with Michonne's half sister's obvious wit.
With Rick's sudden disappearance momentarily forgotten Michonne observed her friend and her new sister bond over Daryl's immaturity. She could sea Rosita becoming an easy addition to their group.
"Girrll, we can hang! Are you on Instagram? Lemme follow you!" Andrea had finally found someone who had the same view as she did about Daryl, she wondered if maybe she had found her long lost petty twin.
Rosita laughed raucously and hi-fived the box-dyed blonde.
"Hey! He's my man-child and I love him okay!" Michonne was slightly offended but knew Daryl's neanderthal mannerisms preceded him.
Sasha threw her hands in the air in exasperation, leaving them to join Eden and Dina in the corner of the room as they discussed the semantics of pulling off the ceremony in just a few short hours.
Dina told Michonne to sit back and relax, she and Eden would handle everything. She planned to do just that. She had no energy to lift a finger. Her head was wracked with pain in the area where she got hit in her head but she wanted to be a part of the joy in the room so she tried her best to ignore it.
Maggie was the only one missing from the estrogen enhanced room. She was speaking to the doctor to find out some more details of Michonne's recovery in lieu of Rick.
"Rosita, I'm loving your curly look." Andrea perused the younger girl's profile on the picture based platform before she requested a follow back. "But what does your hashtag NMN mean?" She was trying to decipher if it was some social media code she had missed entirely.
"Oh! That's my No Man November selfie." Rosita reached over Andrea's shoulder taking in the month old picture. There was a story there considering the smirk on the brunette's face.
Michonne laughed cautiously, her sister was a clever one it seemed and maybe she was having a bit of man trouble like a few of her girls. Yeah, she'd fit in nicely.
"Where have you been all my life?" Andrea had found her spirit animal. "It's like we're twins."
"You had a man in November Andi!" Michonne reminded.
"Not on Instagram."
"You didn't give Shane a fair chance." Maggie said only picking up the tail end of the conversation as she returned to the cool room. Only a glint of afternoon sun shared their space, adding some glare to the enclosed area. Soon enough it would be nightfall and Michonne hoped she and Rick would be husband and wife before dark.
"He would've made a good boyfriend if you gave him a fighting chance to get to know you." Maggie brought her voice to a whisper, although the precise manner she pronounced her words let Andrea know she was being chided.
"Shane wanted to know my underwear size! Nothin' else. Google would make a better boyfriend than Shane because it certainly knows more about me than he ever did!" It took only a second for Andrea's steel walls of defense to go up. Michonne saw through her facade; trying to come across as though she didn't care when deep down inside she did. Especially given the fact that she had hurt Shane.
"Hey. Now isn't the time for a group therapy session. Could we discuss wedding wear? Or are you walking down the aisle in this backless hospital gown." Rosita's face contorted in distaste. She hoped Michonne had a contingency plan for an emergency wedding dress.
"Oh God No!" Maggie was the one to share in Rosita's repulsion.
"So we're going on a wedding dress hunt without the bride?"
"I can come along." Michonne answered faintly, willing the stabbing pain in her head away.
"No sweetheart, you're in no condition to go anywhere." Rick's mom said as she and Dina migrated to their conversation.
"You need to rest. You'll need your energy to walk down the aisle." Her mother said fixing her blanket and fluffing her already fluffed pillow.
She huffed in surrender, not wanting to admit she had no zeal and they were right.
"Well we don't have a lot of time. So let's go. I'll drive." Sasha was leading the way out the door.
The eruption of conversation between the women was quick and detailed as they listed out their plan. Michonne felt as though she wasn't right in front of them as they discussed her dress.
"Maggie!" She shouted before the buzz of the chatting drowned out her weak voice.
Maggie hung back looking at Dina and Eden around Michonne's bed.
She knew what Michonne wanted and she spoke before any words were shared.
"I know. I'll handle it." She said, touching her hand as she left the room.
"Sweetie, get some rest. Eden and I are going to finalize everything with Father Gabriel." Her Mother too was about to leave the room. Eden touched her cheek with her soft comforting hands in a silent promise that they'd be back.
"Mama!" Michonne said her voice raised, as Dina's head disappeared out the door.
The door flung open with Dina's hazel eyes expressing curiosity at her raised voice.
"Find Rick!"
"Your mother said you wanted to see me." Morgan entered Michonne's room and approached her bed unusually cautious. He gazed briefly at her new accessories and looked pleased at the additions, happy that things didn't seem as dull as they were the day before. The dreariness was gone, Andrea had sourced a desk size Christmas tree in the hospital gift shop, it even came with blinking lights and tiny decorative bows. Rick had purchased some pretty pharmacy flowers for her which helped brighten up the room and her spirits. She was able to sit upright fully now, the pain having subsided into a dull ache as opposed to the heavy pulsating she had been feeling the day before. The intensity of the pain was coming and going, right now she was glad she had been granted a reprieve.
"Yeah I wanted -" She began to cough incessantly, her voice crowded from misuse as she had been asleep for a few hours. She watched Morgan instinctively walk around her bed and pour her a glass of water from the pink mug on the wheeled table. He handed it to her and soothed her back as she drank it, the soft touch giving some measure of comfort.
"Don't try to do too much okay. You were stabbed Michonne, you didn't bust your knee." His words and actions came from a place of caring and she made herself culpable for taking their relationship for granted.
She felt like a blind man granted sight for the first time.
"Okay." She said and relaxed back into the pillow he had fluffed for her. The coughing fit had certainly amped up her dull ache to a persistent throbbing and she needed a minute to catch her breath while she digested this new wave of pain. Morgan handed her the two pain killers waiting for her next to the mug and she threw them back as she sent them further down with another sip of the room temperature water. She was grateful he was there, she wanted a drink of water but the table had been wheeled too far from her when the doctor came to check her vitals. It hurt to move, far less to extend her arm and stretch for something she considered a need.
Everything was clear to her now, Morgan had been there for her all along without having to say so.
"Michonne, before you say anything, I never meant to come between you and Dina in all this. I just wanted to help out. Your mother and I were always good friends…..until we were more. The...more….happened long after Eli left." Morgan thought that now may be the best time to clear the polluted air that he assumed was between them. Michonne and Dina had gone from being silent on the things that hurt them to talking openly about it. Facing death and potentially losing someone who was a walking manifestation of your whole life often gave someone an entirely different view on the things they placed emphasis on.
"I get it Morgan. I see things for what they are now, not just what I perceived them to be. Eli and Mama have stuff to work out. I hope you won't stand in the way of that." She knew Morgan was understanding if nothing else. He certainly would give Dina the space and freedom to do what should've been done all those years ago.
"I'll do whatever Dina wants. I think a conversation with Eli and your mom is long overdue. I'm sorry it had to take you getting hurt for them to see that." He adjusted his stance as he crossed his arms and set his hickory brown eyes more intently on her.
"I think we all got some perspective tonight. I just wanted to say thank you for being there for me and my mom where it counted. You didn't have to do any of the things you did for us. For me. Especially with my misguided teenage angst and then with my misplaced anger at the whole situation. You filled some of the holes Eli dug out and I'm sorry it took so long for me to see that. For me to tell you thanks." Saying thanks was in no way supposed to be a compensation for Morgan, she knew it wasn't even suffice for her. Sometimes showing was better than telling and she had some work to do.
She felt imprisoned, laying up in a hospital bed on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day. It definitely wasn't her idea of enjoying the holidays. Even on a day usually spent in the warmth and comfort of one's home, her family and friends had gathered around the old hospital to be with her. They still refused to go home.
She was so fortunate to be loved by these people, it made her feel warm and snuggly inside and not just because it was the holidays.
"Why did you do it? Be there all this time?" Perhaps having him verbalize his reasons for volunteering to teach her to drive, attending both her graduations and helping her pick out an apartment would help her understand how one man would surrender his time and money to someone so easily without thought of recompense.
"I'd like to think everything gets a return I guess. I saw what Eli did to Dina when he left. And you. And while I didn't agree with why he left, I didn't agree with Dina either with the way she handled the aftermath. If I could've been a help in any way I was glad to."
"I was so serious with you. Plenty times I never let you in unless I absolutely needed to. I'm sorry Morgan. You deserved better from me." Half of the times she was agonized that another man was so giving of himself when she wasn't a second thought to her father. It certainly made her project her bitterness and disappointment on someone who wasn't deserving of it. She was glad that with age came wisdom. She wasn't that angry girl anymore, hadn't been like that for a while now.
"I love you like...like you're my own daughter Michonne. I'm very proud of the woman you've become. There were things I could've said too. We were all silent in a bad situation, the pain was loud enough for all of us I guess. " The admission shook her. He loved her despite everything, the gravitas of his words caused an awareness of Morgan she hadn't felt or seen before.
A mother's love could be easily taken for granted at times. It often came with purchase and could be blinded by a bond that started from before the womb. A mother's love began in the heart. She knew despite their tumultuous at times relationship Dina loved and cared for her. She gave her the best of what she had to give.
Hindsight showed her the cognitive need from as young as her teenage years for her father's presence and approval was stronger within her because he simply wasn't there. She may not have had the approval of her father but she certainly had Morgan's. Somehow it bore more weight with her, encouraging her to ask for what she so rightly desired on her wedding day.
"I know that now, which is why I want to ask you to do something for me."
"Name it."
"Will you walk me down the aisle?" She knew he was her right choice.
He paused momentarily and she saw him swallow before responding, contemplating her unexpected question. She prayed her hopeful expression teased the right response from him.
"Yes. I would love to walk you down the aisle. I would love that very much" He fought a smile through his answer, eventually the smile won.
For the first time Michonne saw the pride bursting on his face and she felt like a daughter.
"Thank you Morgan." They were going a smiling competition it seemed.
He nodded his head before a comfortable silence settled between them.
She watched the time on her phone and grew slightly concerned.
"Have you seen Rick? He isn't answering his phone and we're supposed to do this thing in a few hours." They were lucky enough Father Gabriel who visited the hospitals on Christmas Day had happily agreed to marry them.
The friendly Father was giving out cups of cheer with his humble disposition and she took to him right away.
However, she had a minor case of a missing groom. Rick wouldn't just ups and leave without saying something, certainly not on a night like this.
Morgan shrugged his shoulder and her eyes shifted with unwarranted disappointment.
"Tell you what, let me go outside and check with his folks and see what I can see." He reassured her with a tug of her foot.
She picked up her phone and hit the redial square with determination. Rick's handsome face brightened up her screen, she longed for his presence, needing him in the room with her, even if it was just to wring his neck for vanishing on her.
He walked into the room and stepped lightly not wanting to disturb Michonne in the event she was taking a nap. His heart beat came into an even toned pattern as he sighted the bedrock of his existence turned to the side facing the cream colored blinds that marked the long wall, contemplating her thoughts he was certain.
"Michonne." He said quietly, her name whispered with a bit of a drawl.
She turned slowly to face him, her expression neutral but he knew she was aware of his whereabouts or at least had put two and two together. In this case put Daryl and Rick together. He stuck his hands in his jeans as he bent to kiss her on her lips.
"I got your purse back." His tone was triumphant. Her face lit up for a moment at the thought of not having to wade through any red tape to get new credentials, then graduated to a curious gaze and she adjusted herself again on the bed before she spoke.
"You found the guy?" She was hopeful the man who had threatened her life would be penalized heavily for his crimes. She wondered why Rick didn't say he was headed down to the station.
"Yeah. We did. Confessed and everything." He couldn't help it as his hand found the softness of her cheek, needing so desperately to touch her and remind himself she was still very much with him.
That's when she noticed the red, bruise of his knuckles.
"Rick!" She took both his hands into hers and inspected them closely. He needed to make an example out of the man that caused her pain. He didn't just steal her purse, he stole her fearlessness, even if it was just for a moment. "Is this why you snuck outta here?" She wasn't mad and her tone let him know that. However her eyes easily penetrated his thoughts summoning a response.
"I didn't know what you'd think, what you'd do." He knew that he had a valid reason for doing what he did and it was to show he would always take care of her in any shape or form.
"You think I'd try to stop you?" She asked coolly, waiting to see how he was getting himself out of this one.
"I knew you would talk me out of it, you could've." His face was set defiant with a small dose of guilt as his eyes met her understanding yet tired ones.
"You beat him?" Given that his hands were so obviously discolored she knew his interrogation had turned physical. She hoped he wasn't hurt severely during this questioning. She inspected his body from his curly top to his booted feet for any signs of harm.
"I did." He was most proud. "I got him to confess and cough up your stuff."
"Your hands are so bruised. Was it even worth it?"
"Hey. You've got pics of all the Rick Jr's in that wallet. Not to mention your driver's license, credit cards…..so…." He smugly felt justified in his vengeance and she shook her head unbelievingly. It wasn't too much of a surprise; Rick would go through fire for her.
"So you decided to take the law into your own hands?" She meant her statement to be both literal and figurative.
"Michonne…..I am the law." Complete with a head tilt, he was so damn cocky when he spoke. She couldn't help but fold her arms and bite her bottom lip. The opulent blue of his eyes charged her with a piercing gaze and she knew there was no way she could be mad at him over this.
"I'm going to always defend you. You know that right?" The fact that he wasn't there to help her initially would always rest on his conscience.
When Shane brought him to the interrogation room and he studied her perpetrator, his anger and rage blinded him. He heard Michonne screaming out in fear in his head like a bad nightmare. The nuclear level destruction he wanted to unleash on the criminal who hurt the woman he loved more than his own life wouldn't have sufficed in bringing the ill advised attack to justice.
The man was an arrogant bastard who only spoke the language of aggression and violence. Rick showed him he was bi-lingual. He was sure he broke his nose by the time the third punch was thrown under the watchful eye of Daryl and Shane. In no time the assailant was crying out his confession and informed them where he hid her bag.
Rick left to retrieve Michonne's purse and then Daryl had a few words of his own to express.
He was behind bars and Rick would ensure it stayed that way so Michonne would never have to feel that kind of dread again.
"So we could've easily been having this wedding at the jail down at the station as opposed to the hospital?" She intended her tone to be sarcastic.
"Why'd you think that?"
"I thought you were looking for something to wear." She teased him as he observed his denim getup. A change of clothes was the last thing on his mind.
"You wanted me to dress up?" She thought about it briefly and realized he was exactly how he was supposed to be. Had been from the day she met him. He defended her honor. He was going to be her husband. A change of clothes wasn't going to make a difference.
"Nah….you've got this Knight In Cowboy Boots look down to a science." Rick made her feel loved and protected with his gallantry. She knew he would always have her back. She understood his need to defend her just as much as he understood her need to feel protected.
He gave flight to the butterflies in her belly as his goofy grin triggered one of her own. He took ownership of her lips, he wanted to kiss her deeply since he entered the dim hospital room and saw her lying there waiting for him, but he had settled for a peck. He loved when they kissed and he could feel her smiling. It made him feel like the luckiest man in the world knowing she belonged to him.
Rick was always proving to her that love was a pattern of devotion. She had a man who made her feel adored and desired everyday without excuse or exception.
"So.. detective….." She began in a girlish tone. "For future reference you're not allowed to sneak out on your wife. This is going down in my book." She winked at him as he tasted her honey drenched lips again.
"You're not supposed to be keeping score babe."
"Even though I'm totally winning?" They could be two goofs at times and she genuinely cherished the playful aspect of their relationship.
She opted to not view a potential relationship with Rick as a risk and now she was reaping the rewards of being truly vulnerable with someone without threat or fear of being used or taken for granted. Her past had been a gamble with the men she had allowed close but the blue eyed detective with a giant size heart was an investment that kept on giving to her life.
"See the thang' is you're always winning." He was being gentle as his lips pecked at her jawline and then her neck, if only to hear her laughter again. There was so much growth between them since they met. If love could be viewed as a branch on your life's journey he had found a tree in the dark skin goddess he held between his arms.
She play pushed him, mindful of the bandage around her torso. Somehow with Rick in her purview the jarring pain had subsided.
There was a quick burst of a bright light in the room as Andrea peeked her blonde head inside.
"I would tell you two to get a room but it's an unnecessary pun. So Father baldy is here and everybody wants to know if you two are still going through with this wedding." Her voice was calm and unhurried as she watched them gather themselves.
"You ready?" her eyebrows perked up at him as he looked down at her.
"For you? Always." He kissed her again and they didn't hear when Andrea closed the door.
Michonne made eye contact with Eli as she clutched Morgan's hand securely as they walked down the short, carpeted chapel aisle.
She gave him a brief smile as they exchanged glances. She wasn't sad anymore, she felt free from the very thing she thought would haunt her all of her life and it was the best feeling.
Eli's presence was a present enough for her this Christmas and on her wedding day, but the man who was clutching her by her waist as he held her up to walk was the man she wanted to give her away to Rick. It was a fitting handover that bought a huge grin to her face.
Her wedding plans happened quickly, there wasn't any time to stress on the details or the aesthetics of the venue or any of the mundane things that turned the experience into a hectic rush for completion.
Her girls had stepped in for her and gotten her a loose fitting cream dress as a substitute for the real deal as there was no time for a wedding dress purchase on Christmas Day. Her wound wouldn't allow for any close fitting clothes so the find had been perfect.
The small crowd of her family filling up the two rows of the old wooden cedar brown benches was decoration enough for her.
Chester was beaming at her and she was reminded she was gaining another father today. She was such a lucky woman. Daryl nodded soberly towards her as he chewed on his cheek, she knew he would be concerned about their closeness now but she was going to remind him that they were still family. That was never going to change.
She eyed Abraham chatting up Rosita in the corner of her eye and she stored to her memory to tell the orange ginger to stay away from her sister.
She had a sister now.
There was no music for them to walk down the aisle to, so she stepped to the symphony that played in her heart knowing she was marrying someone who had changed her life.
Rick loved her so much she forgot what it felt like to be hurt.
"Andrea are you crying?" Sasha's voice was a whisper. More often times than not Andrea was like an Android, devoid of all emotions but as they watched Michonne walked down the aisle to take her rightful place next to Rick, Andrea's tears just kept coming.
"This is crying?" She asked, wanting so badly to deny the wetness on her cheeks.
"There are tears coming out of your eyes and your face is full of emotion...yeah I'll say you're crying." The elaboration was just for the drama of it all. Sasha elbowed Maggie not wanting her to miss this rare opportunity where Andrea showed some heart.
"Then I've been crying ever since Morgan walked Michonne down the aisle in that ugly ass dress we found."
Rosita laughed out, "The dress really is ugly."
"Yeah it's an ugly dress but look at how happy they are." Maggie finally said. The four of them looking on as Father Gabriel waited patiently to begin the ceremony.
Michonne couldn't take her eyes off Rick, the man in a dark denim wranglers jeans and blue denim shirt waiting at the altar to make her his wife was the love of her life and his unique attire did not make him any less of a groom.
Morgan slipped her hand into Rick's and stood to the side. Father Gabriel's smile was like a light beam for them all.
"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" He asked steadily waiting on a favorable response.
"I do." Michonne turned around as quickly as her stitches would allow having heard the echo from Morgan, Daryl and Chester.
The men in her life were giving her to Rick. She was rich in love without pretense. These guys considered her to be theirs just as much as they belonged to her.
The rightness of it all made the day more perfect.
Everything happened for a reason, she believed that. Her life's events lead her straight to Rick.
She heard the introduction of the ceremony, the words floated around her as Rick held her hands in his and caught her eyes in a cloud of love and commitment.
Rick was ready to say his vows and she opened her heart to receive them surrendering a big grin to him.
He loved her smile, it excited him more than anything his heart ever desired and he felt encouraged to share the words he had thought so seriously about.
"Michonne if I were the last man on Earth and I was granted the company of one person, I would always choose you, because I know even at the end of the world when we've been stripped of everything, you and I would still be best friends. That's what you are to me and I look forward to this next adventure with you." His words were enough to have her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes felt cloudy with the tears that threatened to spill over. He spoke with a sincerity and a conviction that could not be easily masked.
Father Gabriel nodded at her to say her piece.
"Rick, being with you has taught me that life is not so much what you do, but who you do it with. Your arms held me at my weakest, your heart has loved me at my worst. You never left even when my demands were heavy. In return I promise that my love for you will always be intense and unfailing. I can't wait to be your wife." Rick was smiling back at her and she knew someone above was smiling down on her.
With the rings exchanged Father Gabriel proudly spoke over them.
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Rick you may kiss your bride."
Their lips met in a fiery kiss, both unable to hold back. His tongue slipped into hers in a tease before he smacked her on her lips.
They were broken apart briefly with hugs from Chester and Eden followed by Morgan and Dina who couldn't hide their pride at their children.
"Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you Mr. And Mrs. Grimes!" Chester couldn't wait on Gabriel to say his declaration so he jumped the gun and did it for him.
The joy from her friends and family that filled the small church could not be compared to the joy she was experiencing on the inside knowing that she was forever tied to Rick.
She was lost in her thoughts as she sat on the bench while their witnesses signed the register.
"I wanna know what my wife is thinking about?" He slipped in beside her and brought her closer in his arms. She leaned on his strong, capable shoulders, feeling just a bit tired.
"I was thinking that all the pain I've had in my life seems so insignificant in this moment." She watched Dina and Eli speaking quietly with each other, Morgan and Chester were having a heated debate on auto mechanics, Andrea and Sasha and Rosita were sharing a laugh. She had gone from loneliness to love and liberty because one man helped her see the courage she was so desperately trying to find to face all of her fears was inside of her all along. She didn't trust her heart for a long time, relegating it to function as a blood pumper only. Rick's impact on her life helped to combat the combustion of a dark heart and she was able to unmask the things that kept her from being the strong woman she was destined to be.
Wounds heal, things that are broken can be mended. More importantly, she wasn't damaged goods anymore.
He held her cheeks in both his hands and her world was at peace. "I wanna give you the world Michonne" She had never heard a more sincere tone.
She watched the room carefully and listened to the chatter and laughter of everyone that meant everything to her fill the chapel.
"Rick…...you already have."