December 25th
"Merry Christmas Uncle Rick!" Gracie stood at the foot of his bed already fully dressed and ready to start the day. A stylish looking santa hat set atop a headband adorned her head.
"Merry Christmas Gracie." Rick rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. "Did Santa come?" He yawned.
"I think I'm a little too old for that?" She rolled her eyes in the same way he was accustomed to Carl doing.
"Too old for Santa? Don't let him hear you." Rick couldn't drop the annoying dad act for a second, he loved it too much.
"I literally heard my dads talking about my stocking presents as we were packing to come here." She said, one eyebrow raised. "Anyway, grandma says breakfast is in ten minutes."
"Thank you." Rick yawned again, trying to rouse himself from what had been the most peaceful nights sleep he'd had in a long time, probably due to the amount of alcohol they'd consumed the previous night. His childhood bedroom hadn't changed much since he left home 20 years ago, there was still cowboy wallpaper on the walls although now it was faded and peeling. He was pretty sure his old comic book collection was in there somewhere. He enjoyed his little slice of childhood, and was glad that his mom never seemed to change anything around the house.
He made his way across the landing to shower and get dressed. Sherry always liked them to dress up nice on Christmas day so he took his shirt and dress pants off the hanger and went for a quick shower so he didn't miss the breakfast deadline.
"Merry Christmas everyone!" He said as he walked down the stairs. "Wow mom what a spread." He bent down to kiss the top of her head as she laid out the finishing touches.
Every inch of the table was filled with food; pancakes, bacon, eggs, french toast, smoked salmon, b cream cheese, biscuits, sausage, gravy and a platter of any kind of fruit you could imagine. Gracie's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head as they sat down at the table.
"What times Carl coming?" Gracie asked through a mouthful of pancakes, getting a little bored of being the only kid in the household.
"About 3 I think." Rick heaped fruit onto his plate to warm up his stomach for the rest of the feast.
"Have some fruit too, sweetie." Aaron said to Gracie who was pouring more syrup on her pancakes. "I can't wait to see his face when he sees that car!"
Rick had spent the last three days searching for a car for Carl, with absolutely no expertise whatsoever he relied on Aaron to pick a good one and Gracie to tell them if it was 'cool' enough. They'd settled on a black Ford Mustang that was currently parked on Sherry's neighbours drive so Carl wouldn't see it as he got dropped off. The plan was for Aaron to sneak out the door after Carl arrived and retrieve the car, parking it outside the house.
Rick handed Carl the small gift box as they sat digesting Sherry's apple pie, completely stuffed after another incredible meal. He opened it carefully, realising Rick hadn't actually asked him what he wanted for Christmas as he usually did, but not daring to believe he'd got him what he suddenly suspected. Taking the lid off, he gasped as the car key came into view.
"No way?" He looked from Rick to Aaron to Sherry, all of whom wore identical smiles. Gracie was bouncing up and down with barely contained excitement.
"Yes way Carl!" She squealed. "Come and see!"
The pair exploded out of the door, looking and acting more like the younger versions of themselves than the 'cool', eye rolling adolescents they'd turned into in recent years.
"Rick this is SO COOL!" Carl hugged Rick before bounding up to the car. "Thank you! Oh my god!" He pushed the long hair from his face to get a better look.
"It comes with conditions." Rick warned sternly. "You have to keep your GPA up, or I'm taking it back."
"Uh huh." Carl said dismissively, already sat in the drivers seat. "Can I go for a drive?"
"I'll have to come with you." Rick said, the statement met with a sigh and an eye roll. Carl was already taking selfies and posting them to a social media site that Rick didn't even know the name of. Gracie had climbed into the back seat and was doing the same. Rick and Aaron shared a confused glance and shrug.
"How are we getting it home?" Carl asked Rick as he slipped into the passenger side.
"I thought we could have a little road trip, you and me. Your mom said it's fine. Should take a couple of days."
"Awesome." He nodded, the most animated Rick had seen him for months. "You ready to go?" He called out to Gracie.
"Yep." She beamed from the back seat, still taking videos as Carl pulled away. "Uncle Rick can you duck down? It makes Carl look cooler if his dad isn't in the front seat."
Carl nodded his agreement at Rick as he obliged, folding himself uncomfortably in two so Gracie and Carl could get their shot.
"You ready for your present now?" Carl asked Rick as they stood in Sherry's hallway ready for Rick to escort Carl home. Carl insisted that he didn't need it, but Rick knew Lori would not be pleased if she saw him pull up by himself after only having the car a few hours and only having driven a little bit since getting his license a couple of months ago.
"Sure."
"It's not as cool as a car, but...here you go." He produced a brown, slightly scruffy envelope from his rucksack and handed it to Rick.
Rick opened the envelope, read the first line and felt the tears prick behind his eyes.
"Carl?" He whispered. The teenagers face was fixed in a smile.
"Merry Christmas dad." His whole face was alight.
"What is it?" Aaron was midway from the lounge to the kitchen to get more food.
Rick pulled out the pages of paper. "Adoption papers." He said quietly, handing it to Aaron.
"Wow Carl!" Aaron stared at them astounded as Rick pulled Carl in for a hug.
"I turn 18 in June." He shrugged, blushing slightly at all the attention. "I know it's never mattered, but I wanted to make it all official before I'm an adult."
"I don't even know what to say." Rick sniffed hard. His hand still resting on Carl's shoulder.
"Me and mom have found a lawyer, he's gonna help us cos it's a slightly unusual circumstance. But he thinks it'll all go through no problem, if you're in?"
Rick nodded fervently. "I'm in! God, of course I'm in." Aaron handed Rick back the envelope, squeezing his shoulder as he did so. He knew how much this meant to Rick. He and Eric had been on their own adoption journey with Gracie and he remembered the emotions as if it were yesterday.
"You're gonna officially be my dad!" He smiled.
"I can't believe it." Rick said quietly, shaking his head.
The drive to Shane's parents was a short one, he'd done it pretty much daily as a teenager. It felt odd doing it now after so much had happened, he hadn't seen the Walsh's since everything happened with Shane and Lori. As far as he could gather from Sherry there had been a falling out around the same time and they'd only just started speaking to their son again.
"Hold on." Rick said as Carl made a move to leave the car once they'd pulled up.
"What..." Carl immediately assumed he was about to get a lecture.
"I wanted to talk to you about something." He began. "You know Michonne? Who you met the other week?"
"Uh huh? She is your girlfriend isn't she? I knew it! I saw how she was looking at you." Carl nodded his head, pleased that his suspicions had been confirmed.
"No she's not my girlfriend...wait...what do you mean? How was she looking at me?...Doesn't matter. Anyway, the point is, she's pregnant."
"Oooook."
"It's mine. It's my baby, I'm having a baby with her." He stumbled over the phrasing even though as a 17 year old boy he was sure that Carl could work out the gist of it.
"No way! I thought you were too old!"
"Too old!? Get out of here!" He shoved Carl playfully.
"I'm just kidding. That's cool, Rick." He nodded. "So you'll have two kids by the end of next year."
"I guess I will, yeah." Rick exhaled, the weight of the day dawning on him. Carl would finally be his son, he didn't realise how much it would matter until today, that the little boy he'd raised would actually be his. He smiled to himself at the direction his life was taking after years of feeling stuck.
They exited the car onto the Walsh's driveway. Lori and Shane were stood on the porch excitedly awaiting Carl's arrival home.
"Do you like it?" Carl yelled gesturing to his new car.
"It looks great buddy." Shane was leaning on his walking stick, giving his trademark sideways smile. Rick hated that smile, and everything about Shane. But it was Christmas so he returned the smile.
"Merry Christmas guys." Rick waved as he approached the porch. "Is Judith still up? I've got her present." He waved the package he had in his hand, some weird doll set that Carl had told him she was obsessed with.
"She's asleep, my folks wanna see you though." Shane said awkwardly. "If you don't mind."
"Course." Rick said through gritted teeth. The Walsh's had been his second home as a teenager, one of the sad things about the fallout of the divorce was that he hadn't seen them in years. He walked up the steps and past Lori and Shane who went to inspect the car in more detail.
"Well if it isn't Rick Grimes." Mr Walsh said with a belly laugh as he walked into the kitchen. "We've missed you round here."
"Hey Dale! How you holding up?" Rick shook his hand. He'd missed them too. Knowing that Rick and Aaron had grown up without a father, Dale had always made sure he was on hand to help them with anything Sherry couldn't. Dale had taught him to shave, he'd taken him out to learn to drive and picked him and Shane up from anywhere at any time they'd ask.
"I'm doing great son. It's nice having family all around. You'll be pleased to know your boy has been a credit to you." Dale smiled.
"That's good to hear."
"You doing alright?" Dale was holding onto his shoulder. "I gotta say, son, I wasn't best pleased with what Shane did. And I told him as much." His gentle face turned stern as Rick had only seen it do a handful of times. "I just hope you're alright."
"I'm getting there." Rick said simply, sparing Dale the information that he actually wanted to punch his son in the face again every time he saw him and that he didn't imagine that would ever change.
"Good." Dale nodded.
Lori, Shane and Carl had rejoined the room along with Shane's mother Irma. "Had a nice Christmas surprise from Carl."
"We heard about that!" Irma smiled at Rick.
"It was all Carl's idea." Lori held their son by the shoulders. "I don't know why we didn't do it sooner."
"Yeah." Rick said looking at Carl.
"We have to meet with a lawyer and attend a court hearing." She continued. "But you've more than earned it, you're the only father he's ever known.
"And he's about to become a father again." Carl piped up. Rick felt his cheeks flush as he became aware of all the eyes in the room on him.
"What?" Shane chuckled. "With who?!"
"Uh...a friend..." He stuttered.
"Sounds like she's more than a friend!" Shane limped over and slapped Rick on the back. "Congratulations, man!"
Rick was saved from further questions by Aaron coming to collect him, he excused himself from the Walsh's with a promise that he would head over for lunch before he and Carl drove their way back up the East coast to New York and headed out to climb into his mom's mini van once again.
"What a day." Rick shook his head.
"Shane looks like he's got fat?" Aaron said through the fixed smile he waved at Lori and Shane with.
"Stop." Rick laughed as he waved too.
"Let's get home and get drunk, celebrate all your good news." Aaron gave him a cheeky smile as if they were teenagers again.
"Amen." Rick nodded as they sped off and left the Walsh's behind.
Back in New Jersey, Michonne lay back on her bed, the same double bed she had when she still lived at home albeit in a more updated bedroom. Colette was an interior designer so nothing stayed looking the same for long, Michonne loved coming home to see all the changes she'd made to the house. The new dark blue and blush pink bedroom was a welcome surprise as previously she'd experimented with a green and gold combo that hadn't worked.
She was exhausted from a day of questions from her aunties, all of whom knew the news of her pregnancy before they even entered the door that morning, and eating and endless board games. It was a good day and it was nice to leave her phone upstairs and switch off from the outside world for a while.
She finally unlocked her phone to see text messages from the usual suspects, Sasha, Jesus and Maggie making plans in the group chat to get together next week. The standard "happy Christmas" messages from casual acquaintances, and a string of messages from what looked like an increasingly drunker Rick Grimes along with a missed call and a voicemail message.
"Heyyyy beautiful..." The voicemail began.
Michonne laughed, a week back home coupled with alcohol had made Rick's accent so thick his voice was almost unrecognisable.
"...you didn't answer me. Guess you're enjoyin' your Christmas. I hope you got some nice presents, our best one is still to come in summer. Oof..."
There was the sound of a scramble before Rick's voice reappeared.
"...sorry...dropped my phone...did you have a nice day? Hah! I keep waitin' for you to respond. I forgot it's a voicemail. I hope you had a nice day."
He was laughing to himself which made Michonne laugh too, glad he seemed to be having a good time.
"Anyway I hope I'll see you when I get back to the city. We can go watch a movie, go for a walk, we can do whatever you want I don't care...I just like like seein' you. People keep askin' if you're my girlfriend. I say no, obviously. But I keep havin' this... fantasy...I guess...you...me...our little girl...or boy. A big house by the ocean, I'll teach her to surf. I'll teach you too if you want."
Michinne smiled listening to him, his words getting more and more slurred as he spoke.
"...I'm talkin' too much aren't I? I got you a gift, it's not a gift really...well you'll see..."
His voice trailed off for so long she thought he might have fallen asleep.
"...I'm gettin' tired now. It's been a long day hasn't it...? Well I guess it's been long for you too. I'll let you go now, if you're still listenin' even. Take care of yourself and that little baby. Merry Christmas Michonne."
She held the phone to her ear even after she knew he'd hung up, she was smiling. She imagined he was asleep by now, or she wouldn't be able to get any sense from him. She found the string of messages he'd sent her, mostly detailing funny stories from his evening.
Because it was Christmas, and because she figured she might as well see where the hell this thing could go she typed a message and pressed send before her logical brain could take over:
"Merry Christmas handsome xxx"
