hi, all! thank you all for the kind words! this chapter is the drama. i hope you all like it!
(oh! and to the guest that asked, Judith is Rick and Michonne's biological daughter. She is the Judith from the companion CarlxOC story, "(she is) love." She most likely won't end up showing up in this set of stories.)
title chapter from "no more drama" by mary j. blige.
Chapter Three
(no more) drama
"Rick, baby," Rick turned from the stove to see his girlfriend walk into the kitchen with his cell phone in hand. The generic ringtone played over and over indicating the reason for her presence. "Your phone's ringing."
Rick furrowed his brows, not expecting a phone call but accepted the phone from Michonne's outstretched hand. He looked down to see the number was unknown, causing his apprehension to raise even higher. He usually ignores unknown numbers but something told him to answer this one.
He thanked his love with a quick kiss before turning back to the sausage he was cooking behind him, flipping open the cellular device and accepting the call as he did so.
"Hello?" Rick hurriedly flipped the beginning-to-burn meat and mumbled a curse to himself. He heard Michonne giggle to herself as she walked away, having heard him.
"Hi, Rick," the voice on the other end of the phone made him pause. He must've been hallucinating because there was no way the voice was actually-
"Lori?" Rick called out in disbelief. He turned off the burner before going to sit at his dining table.
"Yeah," his ex-fiancee responded weakly. "How are you?"
"I-I'm fine," Rick stammered. "Why're you calling me?"
He didn't want to sound rude but the two hadn't talked since she left.
"I'm back in town," Lori replied. Rick waited as he could tell she wasn't done with her thought. She sighed nervously, "And-and I'd like to see Carl."
Rick didn't reply right away, "I'm sorry?"
She sighed again, "I said-"
"No, I know what you said," Rick interrupted. "Why now?"
"Because I want to get to know my son, Rick!"
Rick let out a scoff.
"What?" Lori asked.
Rick shook his head and pinched his nose between two fingers, "Now you do, huh?"
"Better late than never, right?" Lori bargained harshly.
I don't know if that applies to children, Rick thought to himself.
Once upon a time, Rick and Lori were high school sweethearts. They met when she moved to Kings County just before the start of freshman year and began dating just a few short months into that time. They were together for almost nine years, engaged for almost two of them, and they were happy. Or Rick thought that they were.
Turns out Lori was dissatisfied with the life she was beginning to see herself live. She was 22 years old, the mother of an eight month old, and engaged to be married. It was too much too soon, something Rick would have understood if she just talked to him. But instead, she ran off, leaving Rick with an infant and a broken heart.
And now she was back in town, and ready to come back into Carl's life after being gone for pretty much its entirety thus far. And she wants to tell him this over the phone? Can't even have this conversation face-to-face?
Rick almost wanted to deny her a chance but he couldn't do that to Carl. He couldn't deny his son this chance of a connection that he lost so early on in his life. A child needs their mother. So Rick swallowed his pride.
"We meet up and I get to see how serious you are about this in person," Rick declared. "I'm not putting Carl through this if you aren't for real."
"Okay, that's fair," Lori conceded. "When do you want to meet?"
"Let's do Wednesday at the coffee shop during my lunch at 1."
"Alright, see you then," Lori agreed. Rick ended the call and heaved a sigh, his hand dragging down his face. He sat for just a moment longer before standing and resuming his task of fixing breakfast for his family.
"Hey, you alright?" Michonne sat next to him on his couch, coming back from cleaning the mess from lunch. Rick placed his arm around his love and pulled her closer to his side.
The boys lay on a palette on the ground, knocked out from their meal with The Backyardigans playing on the television.
"Didn't want to say anything in front of the boys," Michonne continued. "You've been off since your phone call earlier."
"Lori's back," Rick stated.
Michonne nodded slowly, processing the information, "... and she wants to meet Carl?"
He nodded as well. "You're going to let her?" It was phrased as a question but her tone held expectation.
"After we meet with her Wednesday," Rick affirmed. "If we decide she can."
Michonne looked a bit taken aback, "You want me to go with you? To help you decide?"
"There's no helping me," Rick amended. "We're doing this together."
Michonne's face held the question why. "Well, we've been together a year, and I don't know about you, but I don't plan on letting you go," Rick grinned gently.
"I'm not letting you go either," she smiled a soft smile. "Does she know I'm coming?"
"No," Rick stated. "And, frankly, it doesn't matter if she does. She hasn't been here."
Michonne nodded. She guessed that was a fair point. "Alright, well," she turned her attention back to the television, grabbing the remote from the side table. "As much as I love Tyrone and the gang, I want a break from kids' television as long as I can get it."
She settled back into Rick's arms and started flipping through the cable box's guide. "Wanna watch Teen Mom?" She clicked on the show without waiting for a reply.
Rick kept his eyes on her, "I meant it, you know?" Michonne's head turned towards his. "You're Carl's mother more than she ever was. I want this decision about Lori to be an us thing. This is our son."
Michonne had tears in her eyes as she placed a gentle hand on Rick's cheek, "I know. Our son won't be a casualty in this. Not if I have anything to say about it."
The two kissed before facing their attention to the television screen.
"Michonne?"
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Why has Michael been calling me?"
"To talk to you about Andre," Michonne mumbled as she scanned her eyes on the book in her hands. She sat on the ground in between her best friend, Sasha's, legs getting her locs retwisted. With Rick at work, Carl at school, Andre at preschool, and this being one of Michonne's few days off, she is taking the opportunity to get her hair fixed, which is in perfect timing for her graduation in two weeks' time.
"Put that book down and look at me when I am talking to you," Nicole calmly remarked. Michonne dog eared the page-something Rick playfully condemns her about, with him being a fan of bookmarks-before closing and setting it down next to her. "Now, why would he be doing this for that reason?"
"He finally got accepted to his dream job after a long interviewing and hiring process but it's in Detroit," Michonne explained.
"Oh. Well, that's no problem, we can just talk to the courts again before he moves. Get them to make a deal about visitation," Nicole replied. "He doesn't need to call me for that."
"Yeah, that's the thing," Michonne stated. "He wants Andre to move with him." She started to get irritated just thinking about it.
"I told him no, we can do visitations. I have no problem with Andre going over there to see him during the summers and some holidays, but he's being super persistent on moving Andre with him."
"He didn't tell you why?"
"Something about my work schedule, and you and Dad not being able to watch Andre all the time, completely ignoring that I'm about to be done with the diner in two weeks because of my internship with that law firm and the fact that I have Rick."
"Michonne, baby, why didn't you tell me?"
"Honestly, Mom, it's not that bad. It's just a disagreement," Michonne placated. "We just have to talk some more and hash some things out. It should be fine."
The piece of mail that Michonne's received after her internship shift says she and Mike are anything but fine.
Custody papers. He was trying to take her to court over this.
"Mike," Michonne interrupted his standard greeting. "What is this? Papers, really?"
The cell phone in her ear did nothing to hide the bite in her tone.
"Yes," Mike stated matter-of-factly. "It's the only way to get you to listen, it seems."
"Mike, I told you Andre can visit you. I'm not taking that away," Michonne exasperated.
"That's fine when we live in the same city, Mitchie-"
"Don't call me that."
"... Michonne. But that's not going to be okay when I'm states away. I'm his father."
"And I'm his mother! You don't want that life but you'll do it to me? How's that work?"
The man on the other side of the line sighed but offered no other form of response.
"You know what? I have to go fix something for dinner. Rick and the kids'll be home soon. Goodbye."
She hastily ended the call, interrupting her son's father as he fixed his mouth to reply. Just as she did so, the front door opened, little feet making their way to the location they knew to find her in: the kitchen. She quickly set down the upsetting mail as the boys made their way to her.
"Mommy!"
"Chonnie!"
Michonne knelt down to her boys and gave them each a big hug and kiss, instantly feeling better at the sight of them "Hey, Bubbas!" The boys laughed at the nickname, as they do every time. Andre is Peanut. Carl is Boo, And both boys are Bubbas. Her Bubbas, that no one is taking away.
"How was school?" She stood to greet her man with a soft kiss, Rick whispering a greeting into her ear as the boys simultaneously launched into their stories.
"Uh, uh, boys, what's the rule?" Rick stated, separating from Michonne.
"Calm and one at a time," The boys said. Per standard, Carl let Andre begin his story first, the two boys sitting at the dining table. Michonne began to gather the ingredients for a quick Hamburger Helper dinner, actively listening to Andre's story. Rick stood at the counter holding the contents from the manila envelope, having read the papers.
The couple met eyes, silently communicating that they would talk about it later.
After cleaning the kitchen and getting the boys to bed in their shared bedroom, the couple got themselves into bed and currently lay cuddled together..
"He's really doing this?" Rick asked.
Michonne took a deep inhale, "Seems so."
"Don't worry," Rick rubbed up and down her arm. "We're keeping him."
"We're keeping him?"
"What? Did you think it was a one way street?"
Michonne giggled and squeezed his waist tighter, "No. It's just nice to hear."
Rick kissed her temple. The two sat in silence for some time. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" Michonne asked in reference to their impending meeting with Lori.
"Having you with me has me ready for any and everything."
Rick and Michonne sit in a booth at the coffee shop, sitting on the side facing the door so they can see Lori enter.
Michonne reached for Rick's cup, taking another sip of his Black coffee, completely ignoring her full cup of a Vanilla Bean Latte. Rick shakes his head in amusement.
"You know for someone who claims to hate Black coffee, you sure are drinking mine a lot."
"It's different when it's yours," Michonne grabbed her latte. "Here, take a sip of mine."
Rick does so and grimaces, "Too sweet."
Michonne takes a gulp and smacks her tongue a little, "Hm… not sweet enough, actually."
Rick laughed, "You're insane."
Michonne laughed in return, stopping as her eyes caught movement at the shop entrance as the door opened. In walks a tall, slender brunette with a pretty face and an eye shape that she recognizes from Carl's. "Is that her?"
Rick drew his eyes to where his girlfriend was looking and nodded, "Yep. Lori." Rick plastered on a fake smile and raised a hand. Lori makes her way over to the couple, a nervous expression on her face.
Rick stands to greet his son's birth mother, offering out a hand as she goes for a hug. She stopped midway before letting out an awkward laugh and shaking Rick's hand.
"Lori," Rick let go of her hand and reached out a hand for Michonne to hold as she stood to greet their son's birth mother. "This is Michonne. My girlfriend. She's very special to Carl."
"Hi., Lori," Michonne smiled. "Nice to meet you."
Lori was shocked, mouth slightly agape as she chanced a glance at Rick before meeting Michonne's eyes and shaking her hand as well. "Nice to meet you as well."
The three sat, Rick and Michonne on one side while Lori sat on the other. "Do you want to order some coffee before we start?" Rick asked.
"No, let's just get this done," Lori glanced at Michonne once more before meeting Rick's eyes.
"Where's Carl?"
"At school," Rick responded.
"Kindergarten, right?"
Rick had to hold back a sigh. "Yeah, Kindergarten."
"How is he doing?"
"So well, he's very smart," Michonne smiled.
Lori quickly moved her eyes to Michonne before moving them back to Rick. Michonne slipped her hand into his underneath the table.
"I want to meet him," Lori directed to the man.
"Like I said, we need to have this meeting first and then Michonne and I will decide."
"Decide what? What does she have to decide?"
Michonne snickered, "Um, she is right here. And Rick wants me to help."
Rick squeezed her hand gently, sensing her getting a bit tense. "Exactly like I said, Lori. Michonne and I are deciding if our son will get to meet you so I suggest you start pleading your case before you dig yourself into a bigger hole and start respecting the woman that has had a hand in raising him for over a year."
Lori's eyes lit in anger at Rick referring to Carl as his and Michonne's but she wisely kept her thoughts to herself. "I just want to meet him. I've missed five years."
"That was a choice, Lori," Rick reminded.
"I know. I know. I wasn't ready then but I'm ready now."
"How so?" Michonne asked.
Lori's eyes cut to her, "How what?"
"How are you ready? What have you done to prove it?"
"Well, I initiated this whole thing,"
"Not enough," Rick said.
"I have a job that I am starting next week," Lori said.
Already? How long has she been back? Michonne thought.
"And, I'm looking for somewhere to stay. I'm with my mom for right now but hopefully that won't be long. I got some toys for him…"
Rick sat and processed for a moment before looking at his love. She gave a nod that would've been imperceptible to anyone else.
"Lori, I'm going to be honest and say none of those are good enough reasons," she started to open her mouth. "However, looking into your eyes Michonne and I can see that you truly do believe that you are ready and for that, we will allow you to meet Carl."
Lori began to smile widely, "Oh, thank you! I-"
"But," Michonne interrupted. "We won't tell Carl that you are his biological mother yet. Not until we're sure you won't walk away again."
Lori swallowed, "That's fair."
"Yeah," Rick said. "Uh, we're going to have y'all meet with the both of us there. We can go to the park this weekend, if that works for you. Our other son, Andre, will be there, too. And we'll just say you're a friend from work or something for now, okay?"
Lori's eyes widened at the mention of Andre, "Okay. Thank you."
"Don't thank us. Just don't let Carl down."
"Mr. Anthony, what is the basis of your custody overturn?"
"Judge Powell, I am requesting a change of custody because I would like to take Andre to Detroit with me." Mike replied.
"And how do you feel about this, Miss Hawthorne?" the judge directed to the woman.
"Your Honor, I do not want this change of custody. However, I am perfectly fine with Andre visiting his father for holidays and summers," Michonne stated.
"Mr. Anthony here says you have improper funds and time to care for your child as you should."
"Oh, did he?" Michonne glared at her ex boyfriend. Mike kept his eyes locked on the Judge before him. "Your Honor, I am in a committed relationship. Both of us have solid, consistent schedules and make enough money to care not only for Andre but for another child as well."
Michonne gestures for the Bailiff and hands him documents of hers and Rick's finances, which he, in turn, hands to the judge. "In fact, I made less money and had less time before, but had the help of my parents back when I was working in a diner with unpredictable hours, whilst also going to school at Spelman."
"Hm," Judge Powell hummed. She locked eyes with Michonne, "Miss Hawthorne, you are currently in law school, correct?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Michonne confirmed.
"It could be argued that you have even less time to care for your child now. I am sure you have work from this paid internship that you take home and law school is no easy feat."
Michonne took a deep breath, "Yes, but over the years I have learned to juggle work, school and being a mother in a healthy way. A way that continues to work, especially with the help of my family and my partner."
Judge Powell nodded, keeping her face stoic, "Mr. Anthony, why do you want your son to move with you?"
"A child needs his father."
Judge Powell hummed again before stating she will take a recess to look over everything she has in front of her before coming to a decision. She dismisses the court for the time being, leaving to her chambers, and Mike and Michonne walk out to the lobby, Rick holding onto Michonne's hand.
"Insufficient funds, Mike?" Michonne turned to him and whispered harshly. "You know that's bullshit."
"Do I?" Mike replied. "I don't know your life like that no more."
"I'm sure you could've pieced it together when you look at my life then versus now," Michonne stated. "What is your problem? Why are we here?"
"Because I want Andre!"
"No. No, it's more than that." Michonne said. "Worried he'll forget you? Is it about child support money? What is it?"
"Don't you dare say I only want Andre for money!" Mike growled. He got a little too close to Michonne for comfort, resulting in Rick stepping between the two. Mike looked him up and down and scoffed. "That's why."
"What is? Rick?" Michonne was confused. "Andre loves him. And you two have never had problems."
"I don't want another man raising my child, Michonne!" Mike shouted. Michonne flinched and Mike softened his stance, "I don't want that."
"That's what this is?" Michonne sighed. "Mike-"
Rick placed a hand on her arm, "I got it, baby. You just go get a snack. I'll talk to him."
Michonne looked up at her love before nodding and doing as he suggested. Rick sat next to Mike on a bench.
"Look, I don't know what you're going through but know this, I am not trying to take your place."
Mike scoffed, "Oh, please. I've heard you call him your son."
"That's me acknowledging the way I see Andre, not trying to take your spot. We can both be his father. He doesn't have to choose and we shouldn't make him. He loves the both of us, and we love him."
The other man nodded, "He does love your White ass."
Rick laughed, "And that's the other thing too. There's a lot of things I won't be able to understand, no matter how much I try and he'll need you for that."
Mike met his eyes, "You know you alright, Rick. I'm glad he got you. And I'm sorry."
Rick smiled, "It's not me you need to apologize to." He looked up as his girlfriend walked up to the pair of them, handing Rick beef jerky, giving Mike a Honey Bun, and keeping an Airhead for herself. Mike stood and pulled Michonne into a hug.
"I'm sorry, Mitchie," Mike apologized. She squeezed him back, "It's okay."
Michonne got full custody with Mike receiving visitations for every other Christmas and Thanksgiving, as well as summers.
Lori had been doing well with Carl. The two got along well enough, albeit a bit awkward at the start with Lori not knowing how to approach and interact with him. But, with Carl being his outgoing, talkative self, progress was quickly made.
The two have been in contact with one another for about 4 months now. She knows his favorite candy (Sour Patch Kids), his favorite food (spaghetti), and his favorite person (Andre). She has been very enthusiastic about learning everything she can about her son, not letting the child down once.
Because of this, Rick and Michonne agree that it's time to let Carl know about Lori's connection to him. With Andre spending the night at Mike's for the last time before he moves to Detroit, Rick and Michonne decide to have Lori over for dinner so the trio can break the news to the child together.
They have decided to make spaghetti, corn and garlic bread as a means to make the child as happy and comfortable as possible before sharing the news with him. They have run the conversation through their heads multiple times, but are still unsure of how the child will react. He's 5 so it could go either very well or very badly.
But, they are due to find out soon. With Lori scheduled to show up in about 5 minutes, they call down the hallway to tell Carl to come help set up the table.
As he helped put forks on the table, he asked, "What time is Miss Lori coming?"
"She should be here soon," Michonne smiled. "You excited to see her?"
"Yes!" Carl smiled. "I want to show her my new rocks!"
The child has recently started a collection of rocks and is going about 10 strong. Rick and Michonne are betting to see how long the interest will last. Rick says two weeks. Michonne says a month.
Rick shook his head fondly at his child, "Alright, go wash your hands."
The child goes to do so, loudly singing his ABCs as he does lather soap across his hands. Rick walked up to his love and pulled her to him, "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Michonne placed a kiss on his chin before moving to grab plates from the pantry, Rick playfully hitting her butt as she did. He looks down at his watch as Carl enters the room and sits at his designated spot at the dining table. "She's a little late."
Michonne looked at the time on the oven, "Just by five minutes, it's fine."
Except it wasn't because they waited and waited and waited before eventually just giving Carl a plate to eat at little after 7:15. After the family eats, still with no Lori in sight, Carl goes to sit in the living room to watch tv while Rick and Michonne clean the kitchen. By the time they are done, it is 8:30 and Rick gets a text. He reads it and shows it to Michonne who says nothing in return.
By 10:30, Carl is fast asleep, his head in Michonne's lap, the woman's hand stroking his hair, visibly upset, "I can't believe she did this. And tonight of all nights."
"Maybe it made it too real," Rick sneered.
Michonne shook her head, "It's her loss."
"Yeah," Rick laid his arm across Michonne's shoulders and kissed her hair when her head landed on his shoulder, "it is."
8:30PM
Text Message from
Lori: I'm sorry
