"There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk."
― Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana
I spent five hours at Mommy and Me Salon with three girls and Carl. My son, like his father, wasn't thrilled with waiting and waiting. There was just no way I was going to take Abigail and Jasmine home to their mother with their hair in disarray. I had to bribe them with ice cream to keep it a secret. It didn't work out too well because Michonne called my phone threatening to do a drive by if I didn't put the phone on speaker where she could be heard by Lori.
"I am not sure what it would take to get Abigail and Jasmine from talking so much but it's going to take more than ice cream Rick!"
"Lori will more than likely call the cops on you, Chonne."
"Call the cops for what? All I want is to have a civil conversation about the dos and don'ts."
"I have already had words with Lori about it."
"Now it is my turn. I would've never done that to Judith."
"I know, Chonne."
"Put her on the phone."
"Chonne."
"If you don't put that wife of yours on the phone, I promise you it will be a very long time, Rick."
I gave Lori my phone and escorted Carl and Judith to another part of the house.
Abigail and Jasmine were over at the house. I had fallen asleep with all of my children on the floor of Carl's bedroom. I didn't want to wake them. I left them all on the floor of our impromptu, "Let's sleep on the floor party". I had been doing it a lot. Not going to my marital bed. I began to prefer sleeping on the couch or in the guest bedroom after Lori had found out about Abigail and Jasmine.
I had checked the time on the glow in the dark mickey mouse clock mounted on the far wall. It was after 4am. I had a missed call on my phone from the twin's mom that I hadn't noticed. Once I was inside the guest bedroom, I dialed. She was to call me once her flight landed no matter the time. I needed to know she made it safely to the home I purchased for her.
"What are you doing?"
"Talking to you."
"How was your trip?"
"Business."
"How was your business trip?"
"Successful."
"We need to plan a personal one."
"What do you have in mind?"
My attention was taken by the sound coming from the garage. A motor revving by the time I had made it to the window for a better view. There was nothing but a cloud of smoke from the exhaust pipe. Lori was gone.
This wasn't the turning point I needed to move forward with Michonne. I needed to hear her say she loved me and wanted to be with me. Being with me included Carl and Judith now that Lori took off.
"Hello? Rick, are you there?"
"Yeah."
"What would you like to plan? I need advance notice to have a sitter on standby, or I can check to see if my parents are available. Plus with school and-"
"This will include the kids."
"Okay...Abigail and Jasmine would really like that. They still mention the Cabin in Colorado. They were just saying the other day how skiing and sledding are still the best!"
"Carl and Judith, too."
"What?"
"From now on when I use the word kids, it includes them."
"Is Lori okay with this?"
"My concern is if you are okay with this?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. I waited. It was important to me. I needed to know. I was a package deal, and I was offering myself over to a woman I was in love with the moment I confronted her in her office almost five years ago.
"I know what you are thinking. I want you to know, I am not asking for anything more than to keep them. I lost my son who was only five-years-old. Please don't ask me to..."
"Ask you to do what, exactly?"
"I want to keep them."
"It's your decision. I'm not here to influence it or try to change your mind about it. I'm sorry you lost a child. Am I right to think you are carrying mine. Is it my baby?"
She nodded. .
"Twins."
"Twins?"
I couldn't just stand there and watch her fall apart.
She was torn up about it, and it ripped me to shreds to see her that way. The magnitude hit me like a ton of bricks. I would have never asked her to have an abortion. It wasn't something that crossed my mind, and she thought it was my reason for being there unexpectedly. I would have never asked her to do that. What we did while in Spain was reckless and irresponsible, yes, but when we connected the way that we did we knew what was up and we wasted a lot of time pretending. There was a tug of war, me being the man in the middle once her husband was officially out of the picture, that Michonne kept winning hands down and Lori was bound to find out. When Abigail and Jasmine saw me at the store, while I was there with Carl and Judith, there was no way I was going to deny them. I was their Dad too.
Dr. Deanna sat alone in her office pondering over how accurate her assertions were regarding the man in the middle of the whole sordid affair who readily accepted one pregnancy versus the two. From Dr. Deanna's vantage point there was only one planned pregnancy. She was surprised when she finally got her confirmation.
"Where would you like for us all to go?" Michonne was beaming from ear to ear. She felt like the winner after all.
"I was thinking Camping." Rick grinned.
"When?"
"Soon as they wake up."
"Oh my God, Rick! Really?"
"They will all claim intense hunger and only Abigail and Jasmine will have their minds set on something which must be done a certain way. Not sure what way it is until I've messed it up royally." Rick informed as he began to pull out a few empty suitcases stored inside the guestroom closet.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, I'm bringing hungry mouths to feed including mine. We will be on your door step within the next two hours."
"Really?"
"Is that okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay, what?"
"Okay, I love you."
"How much?"
"More than you can comprehend."
"Try me."
"I fell for you the moment you said you would never ask me to do that."
"Because I desperately wanted you to not do that."
"You have given me the greatest gift, Rick, and I will always love you for it."
"I love you, Michonne."
"I would love to have you, Carl and Judith in my home." Michonne emphasized for good measure.
"Our home." Rick corrected.
"Major improvement."
A/N: I am deliriously tired and I will come back to this in the morning. This is the final chapter. Thank you Every Single One of You who enjoyed the ride that contained no smut.