January 1st

Michonne woke up to the smell of fresh coffee, and Rick stood at the foot of the bed with two Starbucks cups in his hand.

"It's decaf." He said sheepishly. "I wasn't sure what the advice was, and there was a queue forming behind me and I panicked."

"Decaf's fine." Michonne smiled as she propped herself up, Rick adjusted the pillows behind her and handed her the steaming hot cup.

"Mine's decaf too." He admitted. "I felt bad, so I thought we'd both get the same."

"That's sweet." She smiled.

"But just so we're clear, I'm not drinking decaf for the whole nine months."

"Oh me neither." She shook her head sternly.

"Morning." The nurse popped her head round the door. "Just need to do your obs." She wheeled the trolley round to the side of the bed. "And most importantly, we need to get you some breakfast."

"I'm gonna head home and get a shower." Rick stood up. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Ok." Michonne nodded as he kissed her forehead.

"You need me to bring you anything?" He asked as he made his exit.

She shook her head. "I'm good. I'm just gonna make a few work calls."

Rick rolled his eyes and waved his final goodbye.

"You guys are cute." The nurse said as she took Michonne's blood pressure.

"Thanks." She smiled. She didn't feel the need to explain their relationship to the stranger, Michonne realised that over the coming months she'd probably have to explain the situation to several people and she didn't fancy delving into it today.

"I think they'll discharge you this afternoon." The nurse said as she moved to take Michonne's temperature. "Then you two can get some rest at least. I don't think your boyfriend slept all that much."

"Yeah I feel kinda bad he just had that chair."

"And he kept coming to get the nurse, he was watching out for any beeps coming from the drips. Kept asking us to check them. Then whenever the temperature dropped he got more blankets. He basically did our job for us." She took the thermometer from under Michonne's arm. "All perfect, I'll to speak to the doctor."

A few hours later Rick had returned, freshly showered and with an array of treats to say thank you to the nurses.

"Good news!" Michonne announced as he walked into the room. "They're letting me go."

She was finally rid of the IV's and had changed into her sweats and tied back her braids in an effort to look as fresh as she knew he'd look.

"Oh, good. Let me get a wheelchair."

"Rick I don't need a chair!" She practically squeaked with indignation.

"I know, but you don't wanna walk any more than you have to..." He walked out the room and returned a short while later with a wheelchair that he made her sit down in. He piled her bags on her lap and made their way round the ward saying goodbye to everyone.


"Urgh I need a shower so bad!" Michonne said as she entered her apartment and relished the smell of home. It had been just over 24 hours since she'd left but it felt like a lifetime away from her comfortable couch and memory foam mattress.

"I'll make us some lunch." Rick made his way into the kitchen, opening the fridge to inspect the contents.

"You're gonna want to order in." Michonne called from the bedroom. "I didn't get any groceries in."

Michonne headed straight for the en suite, stripping off her clothes and stepping under the warm waterfall shower. It felt so good to get clean. Her arms still felt tender from where she had the IV's and she still felt shaky from the infection. She wanted to ask Rick to stay a while, but she was already worried about what it would mean if he did and if she started to rely on him.

She turned off the shower and headed to her bedroom to change into a fresh pair of pyjamas, her most comfortable pair, a dark red 'Game of Thrones' set. She knew she was revealing her nerdy side to Rick, but she figured they were in too deep now for it to put him off.

"Something smells good!" She said as she returned to the room looking effortlessly sexy in her pyjamas with her braids piled on top of her head.

"I found some soup!" He announced proudly, bringing over a tray for her with the bowl of tomato soup and glass of iced water alongside a Hershey's cookies and cream bar that they hadn't finished from their vending machine haul last night. "Ha! Lannister pyjamas! Nice."

"You watch 'Game of Thrones'?!" She could hardly contain her excitement.

"Mmmhmm." He sat down next to her with his own bowl of soup. "Carl made me watch it. He's all into those books and he stays with me on a Sunday night usually, so I wound up getting roped into it."

"He likes the books? I don't meet many people who have read them! I wish I knew, he'd have warmed to me then maybe."

"He warmed to you just fine. I'm pretty sure he likes you. He's just a teenager, you'll find out in a few years."

"Well maybe next time I'll strike up a nerdy conversation."

"He'd like that."

Rick smiled at the thought of Michonne getting to know Carl. He tried not to let his head run away with fantasies of them living as a blended family. As worrying as the last day had been, it was nice to spend the time with Michonne, he enjoyed looking after her. He enjoyed just being with her if he was honest with himself.

"Do you still have the doctor's appointment tomorrow?" He asked, suddenly remembering the date.

"No, they pushed it back to next week as they checked everything yesterday."

Rick nodded. "Ok...well if you're ok here then I'll head home and come back tomorrow?" He collected the bowls and headed to the kitchen to wash up.

Michonne nodded. "I think I'm just gonna sleep anyway."

"Do you want me to make you something for dinner now?"

"I'll be fine."

"Make sure you eat though. Order something in."

"I will."

"Ok." He went to retrieve his coat. "Oh, before I forget, merry Christmas." He took a card envelope from his inside pocket and handed it to her.

"You didn't?" She stared dumbstruck at the two tickets poking out of the top.

"I did." He nodded. "I hope it's not too weird, but I asked Jesus what you'd want and..."

"How the hell did you get Hamilton tickets?" Her and Jesus had tried for months to get tickets, but they were a small fortune and quite literally always sold out.

"I know a guy." Rick shrugged as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"You know a guy? Is that guy Lin-Manuel Miranda?!" She turned over the tickets in her hands several times as if they'd suddenly disappear in front of her.

"Look, do you wanna come or not? I can ask Daryl..." Rick smirked, pleased that she clearly liked the present.

"No I'm coming!"

"Good." He smiled. "It's next Saturday, it doesn't have to be a date. You can take Jesus if you want, or Sasha..." He could sense he was over-talking as usual. Luckily Michonne was smiling, he hoped it was because she found it endearing and not because she thought he was an idiot.

"I wanna go with you." She rubbed his arm to reassure him.

"Awesome." He nodded, pulling on his jacket and pulling his beanie hat down over his ears preempting the snow storm he was about to encounter. "I'll come by tomorrow ok? I'll bring some lunch."

"Ok." He bent down to kiss her cheek, she let her hand linger on the back of his neck. "See you tomorrow."

"Feel better." He said with a smile, and then he was out the door.