December 21st
It was already evening by the time Rick's flight touched down in Atlanta. It wasn't as cold as it had been when he left New York, but the southern winter was well underway. A stark difference from the humid sweltering days he normally associated with Georgia. He followed the crowd through the terminal, Christmas visitors excited to spend the holidays with their families. He spotted his brother a mile off, Aaron's smile was infectious even from afar and Rick found himself returning the grin as he approached him.
"Hey bro, what's up?" Rick greeted his younger brother with a hug.
"What's up man, we've missed you!" Aaron relieved Rick of one of his two huge suitcases full of presents.
"I've missed you guys too! How's Canada?" Aaron and his husband Eric had recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of moving north, both keen snowboarders they were determined to raise their daughter there and had moved to British Columbia a couple of months ago.
"It's awesome, man. Best move we could have made. Eric is loving the school he's teaching at and Gracie has made so many new friends. It's a good thing we all love snow though, the winters are COLD."
"I'll bet!" Rick said. "I need to book a trip up before ski season is over."
"You do, or Gracie is in danger of being better than you."
They made their way towards the car that was in drop-off zone, their mothers minivan. Rick shook his head.
"I don't know how she still drives this thing." He said. He'd tried to buy his mom a new car several times over the last few years, to no avail. She always swore she preferred the van she used to drive when they were teenagers, and somehow, against all odds, it kept on going.
"I don't know how its still working!" Aaron added as they loaded it up with the bags and climbed in.
Rick felt himself relax as they drove out of the city, the landscape turned to the green fields and dust roads of his childhood. He loved Georgia, but the lure of New York city and a job working construction on some of the tallest buildings in the country had been too much to resist as a 22 year old man. Now, as he got older, he found himself becoming more nostalgic for his home state.
"So what's new with you?" His brother turned to him from the driver seat.
"Umm...ah...kinda of lot, actually."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah." He let out a slight chuckle as he tried to figure out the best way to explain. "Well, uh, I guess the short version is I'm going to be having a baby."
"What?! No way, dude that's huge. Congratulations man!" Aaron slapped Rick on the shoulder. "Who with though? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone?"
"Well that's the complicated part, we're not exactly seeing each other. Not at all, actually. It was kinda unexpected."
"Oh ok I got you. That's awesome though!" Aaron nodded his head and smiled, Rick loved his easy-going accepting nature. He'd been the same even as a child, there was barely two years between them but they'd never fought that much as kids. Now as adults they had a close supportive bond that most siblings would kill for. "I get to be an uncle again, which is great timing as Carl is ignoring my calls."
"He ignores mine too." Rick sighed.
"He'll come back. Remember how uncool we used to think mom was? Even Gracie hides in her room most of the time now and she's only twelve." Aaron chuckled lightly.
"College will be good for him, I think, if he can keep his grades up." Rick bit his lip, it had been such a struggle this year to keep Carl on the right path. He wanted to go to Florida State, and Rick wanted it for him too, but recently it seemed like he just didn't care.
"College, man. I remember when you first met Lori. He was that shy little three year old. And now he's off to college and you're doing it all over again!"
"I must be crazy." Rick shook his head. "But I'm so excited."
"So the mom, what's she like?"
"She's... unreal. She's so beautiful and smart and funny. She's 35, about to make partner at her law firm."
"And you're not together because..."
"It was a one-night thing. She's not in the right frame of mind for it right now."
"And you...?"
"I dunno, it's all happened so fast it's hard to know how to feel. I don't really do relationships anyway."
"You gotta take a chance sometime. Lori was a long time ago, they won't all be like her. Not that I know anything about women."
"You're lucky."
They laughed, it felt nice to be around family again. Rick loved his life in New York, but his family was the one thing he missed. Since the divorce the city seemed anonymous and lonely sometimes. He loved the feeling he got when he pulled into his mom's cul-de-sac.
"Something smells good!" He bellowed through the house as soon as he opened the front door. Everything was exactly as he always remembered it, the hardwood floors and magnolia walls covered with pictures of Rick, Aaron, Eric and Gracie and Carl.
"Richard!" His mom Sherry dusted off her hands on her apron as she came through from the kitchen.
"Hey, ma! I've missed you!" He hugged her, she barely came up to his chest but he felt safe in her embrace. She held his face in both her hands, peering into his eyes and studying his features.
"You look tired." She patted his cheek. "And too skinny now."
"Not skinny mom, I've been working out! I'm nearly forty now I need to stay healthy."
"We'll see to that. I'm making stew."
"Mmmm...and dumplings?
"Of course." She headed back into the kitchen. "Can you boys set the table? It's almost ready."
As they sat down to eat with Eric and Gracie, Rick cleared his throat.
"So next Christmas our table may look a little different." He grinned. "Because there is gonna be a new addition to our family." They all stared at him wide eyed, apart from Aaron who wore an identical smile. "I'm going to become a father." Sherry covered her mouth with her hands.
"What? Richard?" She was half laughing, half confused. "What have you been hiding from us? You have a girlfriend?" She looked from Rick to Aaron hoping that someone would give her the answer.
"Not exactly, ma. It's complicated but we're both really happy and excited."
"That's so cool!" Gracie exclaimed from beside Eric. "A baby cousin!"
"A baby cousin how about that." Eric chuckled as he stroked his daughters hair. "Congratulations Rick, do we get to meet this new lady in your life?"
"I'm sure you will, but I wouldn't exactly call her mine." He said as Eric and Aaron shared a knowing look in the way that smug happy couples often do when single people explain their love life. Rick was glad his brother was happy, and he'd got used to his seemingly perfect relationship with Eric where they never seemed to argue and were still genuinely in love with one another even after 14 years together. But their constant smugness over his relationship history wore a little thin sometimes.
"I'm going to need a lot more details." Sherry raised her eyebrows as she served herself green beans. Aaron nudged Rick and they both laughed, knowing that Rick was in for a long night of questioning.
Christmas Eve
Michonne pulled up to her mom's house in a cab, the front yard was adorned with lights. Colette Hawthorne always made such an effort for Christmas time. Right down to the mistletoe above the front door and the "Santa stop here" sign that she still put out for no one in particular. The door was open as soon as Colette heard the car stop outside and she was waiting on the porch with her boxer dog, Negan.
"Mommy!" Michonne sang as she walked along the icy path. She dropped her bags and ran to embrace her mother. It had been less than a month since they'd seen each other, but Michonne felt guilty still for not making the short trip to Jersey City more often to see her. Negan barked excitedly as he circled the pair of them. "And hello to you, mister!" Michonne paid him some attention, scratching behind his ears as he panted excitedly.
"Baby I missed you!" Colette said as she tucked a few of Michonne's lose braids behind her ears.
"I know mom, I'm so sorry. It's just work..."
"I was gonna say, you look tired."
"I'm fine." Michonne retrieved her bags and lay on the couch, Negan already taking up residence by her feet and resting his head on her thigh. Colette had fixed her a plate of steak and mashed potato which she sat up to devour.
She practically inhaled the plate of food and sat back on the couch, feeling the familiar gagging at the back of her throat. She bolted upstairs hoping her mom hadn't heard and took up her usual position in front of the toilet bowl. The sickness had lessened in the last week, she didn't feel as nauseous all the time, but it relied on her making sure she ate small meals throughout the day. Today she had been so busy that she'd neglected herself and now she was reaping the repercussions.
No sooner had she finished, she heard a knock on the bathroom door. Followed by frantic barking from the worried dog.
"Michonne...?"
"Yeah mom." She tried to keep her tone light and conversational although she was almost certain that her mother will have guessed her predicament.
"Are you alright in there?"
"I'm fine." She lied as her eyes were still watering.
"You're not fine."
Michonne paused for a moment, resting her head on the back of the bright pink bathroom door. Her mom enjoyed a bold colour palette which Michonne usually loved, but tonight it was making her feel a little dizzy.
"I'm... pregnant." She relented and closed her eyes bracing herself for the response. She heard a sharp intake of breath.
"Pregnant? You're gonna have a baby?"
Michonne opened the door to her mother's shocked face. She stood in front of her for a moment, smiling and nodding her head shyly. Colette put her hands up to her head as she wore an identical huge grin.
"Due in August."
"But you didn't say anything about a boyfriend, or...?"
Michonne shook her head. "It's not like that. It was an accident."
"Well I hope he's prepared to step up..." Her tone turned firm.
"...he is, mom, he's a good one." Michonne said as she hugged her weeping mother.
"I'll need to know aaaallll about him." She grinned, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"I bet you will."
"You go and lay down on the couch, sweetie. I'll make you some warm milk?"
"And cookies?"
"Of course." Colette followed Michonne down the stairs. "A grandbaby, sweetie I can't even believe it! What are you doing about work?"
"I'm still carrying on, I have the big Alexandria merger at the moment. I've spoken to Morgan and Zeke and they still want me to become partner, but they're happy to wait until the baby is born if that's what I want to do. Then it'll be business as normal but with a baby at home."
"You'll have to find a good nanny." Colette warned, worried her daughter hadn't thought the practicalities through of a demanding career and a baby.
"We will." Michonne promised.
"And don't forget I'm just 40 minutes away."
Michonne smiled at her, she knew her mom would be happy and hands-on. She was more and more excited the more people that she told especially now she was feeling less sick. She thought for a moment about Rick, they hadn't been texting as much since he'd been in Georgia. She imagined he was just enjoying the time with his family, and she had been so busy with work that she'd been less forthcoming too, but she missed him.
As Colette speculated about the gender of her grandchild and began to suggest a string of names, Michonne pulled out her phone and opened up Rick's name.
"Just told my mom, she's excited."
"Thats good. You think she'll like me?"
"She'll love you."
"And what about you?"
She smiled, she guessed he'd been drinking, he wasn't usually so bold.
"We'll see."
