Michonne swallowed hard as the buzzer rang through her hallway.
"It's Rick." Came the Southern drawl over the intercom. Where was he even from? She hadn't even remembered him having an accent.
"Come right up." She buzzed him in. Her heartbeat was quickening already.
In what felt like no time at all there was a knock at the door. She fixed her face into a smile and opened the door.
"Hey, good to see you." She stood back to let him across the threshold of her apartment before closing the door. Rick looked bewildered, stood in her hallway casting his eye over her plush carpets and ornate mirror.
"You too." He said. He was looking very well put together, Michonne noticed. He must have come straight from work as he was wearing a tailored suit. She struggled to recall what he wore the night they met, for some reason cowboy boots stood out in her mind. He took off his coat and scarf and held them awkwardly.
"Oh you can put them right here." She pointed to the closet wondering why she was acting so awkward, it wasn't like she never had visitors. "Shall we head to the lounge?" She took the lead, wishing it was over with already as her sickness was swelling in her stomach.
Wordlessly he followed her, still looking sightly confused as he surveyed her apartment.
"Nice place!" He remarked. "Did you decorate it yourself?"
"I did! I fancied myself as an interior designer before I decided on law."
A flash of recognition appeared on his face. "That's it! A lawyer! I was trying to remember what you said you did for a living."
Michonne laughed. "Glad I'm not the only one who can't remember anything from that night."
Rick shook his head. "I know, I was so drunk! You're lucky you didn't stay, I was a mess in the morning."
"Me too!" She remembered the hangover being particularly bad, at least it would be her last one for a while. "I'm still a mess now..." She's decided to broach what was now becoming the elephant in the room.
"Why..."
She took a few deep breaths to control the nausea. "I'm pregnant." She said it as plainly as humanly possible.
Rick didn't look as shocked as she imagined he would. More pleasantly surprised.
"I kind of figured." Were the first words out of his mouth. "I mean, it's been over a month since we...uh...you know?...and I didn't exactly rock your world did I?" He smiled. "I didn't think you were inviting me over for another hook up."
He was different than she had remembered him. When he was drunk he seemed cocky, almost arrogant. Now he seemed softer, confident for sure, but less douche-y than the initially assumed.
"Yep. Here we are."
"I'm in." Rick said quickly, his tone taking a serious turn. "Whatever you want from me. I'm in. I'll give you money, we can get to know each other...you can move in...if that's what you want?"
Michonne opened her mouth and closed it again. She wasn't sure what response she was anticipating, but that wasn't it.
"I just wanted you to know." She barely met his eye. "I haven't made a decision yet, on how I plan to handle it. But I wanted you to know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."
They both let the words hang there for a moment.
"Ok." Rick swallowed. He nodded a few too many times. "That's ok. That's fine. Of course."
"My parents divorced when I was little. When I was a baby, actually. I don't want to repeat that cycle." She over-explained. "And I've got a lot on with work and my career is taking off. I'm about to make partner at my law firm. And I don't even know your last name..."
Rick allowed himself the smallest of laughs. "Grimes." He said. "Richard Steven Grimes Junior."
"Well now I know that." She shrugged. "I just...I don't know if want kids. And I don't know if I want it to be like this."
"Look. It's fine, it's ok. Whatever you want to do is fine by me. It was just a stupid mistake. A one night stand."
"Yeah."
"I'll come with you? If you want? To the doctor. Or...wherever." He offered.
"I need some time to digest it all, I think."
"I don't know the right way to do this." He laughed lightly, biting the inside of his cheek.
"I don't think there is a right way. Is there?" She shrugged at him, this near stranger stood in front of her, in her home. A stranger she now had the most intimate connection to. A stranger who's baby was growing inside her.
"Do you want me to go?" He said as she sat down on the couch, her head in her hands. The room felt like it was swimming before her eyes. As sick as she felt in the mornings, she didn't know why they actually called it morning sickness. It was ten times as bad in the evenings. "I can make you some food? Something plain?"
"I'll be fine. Thank you." She swallowed the familiar sick feeling that was building in her throat. She wanted to tell him to leave so she could lay down with her best friend the sick bowl, and eat dry crackers. But she had invited him there and dropped a bombshell on him, she felt like she should at least try and entertain him. "Do you want a drink?" She offered from beneath her fingers.
"No. I'm fine." He half-turned to leave, but still fixed his gaze on her looking concerned.
Michonne nodded. "Excuse me." She croaked out, before sprinting to the bathroom and kneeling on the marble floor to once again hurl into the toilet basin. The effort made her weak as she waited for her body to stop heaving. She raised the back of her hand to her clammy forehead to wipe the sweat.
Rick cleared his throat from the doorway.
"You alright?" He asked softly as he hesitantly made his way into the bathroom. He didn't want to intrude, but he felt somewhat responsible for her current predicament. He crouched down next to her as she went for round two. He gently held back her hair, holding it up and away from her face and neck. With his other hand he rubbed slow circles on her back.
"It's ok." He soothed when she'd finished once again. He helped her sit down on the floor. Michonne didn't know if it was because she felt vulnerable, or because they were inextricably bound together, but she felt safe with Rick. She didn't really let people into her life that easily.
He wetted a washcloth and held it against her forehead. "Feeling better?" His voice was low, calming.
"Mmmmhmm...a little." She rested her head on her knees. "The nausea builds up all day, and then it reaches its peak right around dinner time." She sighed.
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
They sat in silence on the cold floor for a little while, neither of them making any attempt to acknowledge the weird situation they had both found themselves in.
"My parents divorced too." He said suddenly, as if he'd been musing on it for a while. "I was five. Apart from a couple of token weekend visits, that was the last time I saw my dad."
"Rick Grimes Senior?" Michonne moved her head to the side so she was able to look at him.
"Yeah." He smiled. "By all accounts he found himself a new wife, started a new family. Age old story, I guess. My mom never found anyone else. I guess she thought all guys would be like him. So...I get it...I get why you don't wanna rush into a decision."
"I assumed you wouldn't want a baby. A guy your age without kids, there's always a reason."
Michonne wasn't sure how old Rick was exactly, but flecks of grey peppered his hair and beard, and his eyes wrinkled a little in the corner. She'd assumed he was in his late 30s, a little older than her.
"No. I have a stepson, Carl. I still see him a lot. My ex wife Lori never wanted any more children and I loved her that much that it didn't matter, and Carl was enough for both of us so..." He stopped, it wasn't the time to burden Michonne with the breakdown of his marriage. "You feeling any better?" He asked to change the subject.
"Mmmhmm. Sorry this is such a crap second date." Michonne chuckled weakly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Lucky I don't have anywhere else to be on a Friday night." Rick grunted as he stood up.
"I lost track of the days." Michonne offered her hands to Rick to help her up.
"I should probably head off." Rick didn't want to intrude any more than he already had. "Unless you fancy grabbing a bite to eat? I don't know how hungry you are after..." He gestured to the toilet.
"I'd like that." Michonne nodded. "But can we order in? I don't feel like facing the world."
"Of course, whatever you want." Rick smiled.
"Also, since you saw me yak I feel like I'm already comfortable enough to get into my sweats?" She nudged him playfully.
"Go ahead." Rick laughed genuinely for the first time that evening.
"So..." Michonne began as she devoured the last of the kung pao chicken. "What happened?"
"What do you mean?" Rick was horizontal on the couch, stuffed full of Chinese food.
"Your marriage. You loved her, you had a family with her, but you're not together?"
"Hmm." Rick gave her a wry smile. "Well...I was happy. I thought I was at least. Until she slept with my best friend."
Michonne's mouth fell open. "Noooo waaaaay?"
"Yep." He confirmed.
"Rick I'm so sorry, that sucks!"
"It's uh...it's actually ok, you know. It's fine now. The cracks were showing for a while now I look back, and it was a fair few years ago now."
"My boyfriend cheated on me too." She offered. "I was working, he thought I was working late, but I came home to surprise him and...there he was..."
"You saw it!"
"Oh yeah. I saw it ALL!"
"Jesus..." He shook his head. "Why do they do it?"
"I don't even know." She sighed. "That's when I threw myself into work, vowed never to go near another man again..."
"Obviously that changed!" Rick raised his eyebrows, if she didn't know better she'd swear he was flirting.
"It was those fucking shots! Tell Daryl he has a lot to answer for! I swear they messed with my birth control as well!"
"Oh I will, don't worry." Rick turned his head to face Michonne, his head still resting on the cushion. "Is that what you think happened? The shots?"
Michonne shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it was just one of those things, nothings ever 100% effective."
"I'm sorry. I should have used protection." He sighed. "I normally do."
"I didn't think you needed to. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't my fault. It just...happened." Michonne shrugged.
"We were so drunk." He laughed.
"Yep!" Michonne nodded, it was nice to let her hair down the evening she met Rick, she felt like she didn't do it enough. Though she figured she might not get the chance for the next few months.
"I meant it when I said I'd like to come with you." He stared into the empty soda can that he'd been absent-mindedly thumbing while they'd been chatting. "If you'll let me."
Michonne thought for a moment. In her head Rick wasn't going to stick around this long. She thought she'd ask Sasha or Jesus to go with her to wherever she decided it would end up, or Maggie. But Rick seemed reliable and he was in this mess as much as she was. They might as well jump headfirst together.
"Sure." She nodded. "I guess I'm kinda on a time limit, huh?"
"I guess so." Rick allowed himself to feel the twinge of excitement as he considered the end result. "Well I gotta make a move. Do you need me to get anything for you before I go?" He stood up and cleared away the trash from their Chinese takeout.
"No thanks. You can see yourself out? I'm kinda rooted to the couch." She shouted as he returned from the kitchen.
"Course." Rick bent over the backrest to plant a kiss on Michonne's forehead. "Call me as soon as you've spoken to the doctor."
"I will." She smiled and settled herself further down on the couch. "Rick!" She called his name before her brain had the chance to process the thought.
"Yeah?" He turned to face her as he pulled his jacket on, looping his scarf around his neck.
"If it was down to you...what would you do?" She tilted her head back, but she couldn't see him as he considered his response.
"If it was down to me?" He allowed the excitement to creep back in momentarily. He couldn't help but smile a little as he answered. "We'd have this baby."
