27th January

Michonne and Rick headed for the huge obstetrics clinic just as they had a few weeks ago, only this time they arrived together, this time they walked hand in hand through the doors. Sat in the waiting room Michonne draped her hand across Rick's knee as they made idle small talk about the paintings on the walls, and - mainly Rick - what they were planning to get from the vending machine after the scan.

"Michonne Hawthorne?" The sonographer appeared at the door and the pair stood up and looked at one another. They both felt the tiniest of knots in their stomachs, but neither had articulated it. Rick smiled at Michonne, she returned the smile and nodded.

"Let's go." She said.

"Ok Ms. Hawthorne, if you just hop onto that bed for me and roll your shirt up." The sonographer worked efficiently, giving them a polite smile and nod as she tucked a paper towel into the top of Michonne's skirt. "The gels gonna be a little cold."

The room was eerily silent as she moved the wand across Michonne's abdomen, easily zeroing in on the little wriggling embryo. Rick squeezed Michonne's hand as it filled the screen.

"Everything looks good. Little heartbeat there look. I just need to take a few measurements and I'll print you out some pictures too."

"Would you look at that?" Michonne beamed at Rick. "Little jellybean."

"Looks more like a jellyfish!" He observed, their baby was practically doing back flips in the womb.

"He's perfect." Michonne said through her smile.

"He is." Rick humoured her even though he was now convinced there was a little girl in there. "Little Rick Junior." He smirked.

"Nope! No way."

"Come on! I'll let you name her Michonne Junior if it's a girl."

"Measurements all look great. You're at 12 weeks gestation, and your bloods all came back normal from the tests last week. Just the chromosomal abnormality test to complete but you'll be notified by letter in the next two days. I don't think there's anything to worry about there though based on today's measurements." The sonographer placed her wand back next to the machine.

"Great, thank you." Michonne nodded.

"Oh and here's your photographs." She handed them a long strip of black and white images.

"Wow! So we're really having a baby, huh?" Michonne smiled up at Rick as they left the clinic, the photos still clutched in her hand.

"Looks that way don't it?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Suppose you better let me take you on a date tonight."

"Oh really?" She teased. It felt like forever since their Hamilton date, but in reality it was just two weeks ago.

"I'll pick you up at 8?" He gave her shoulder w squeeze as they parted to get into the car.

"It's a date."


"This is kind of a bog standard location for a date with Rick Grimes isn't it?" Michonne teased as she cast her eyes around the restaurant.

"Yeah I know. My standards are slipping!" He said, observing her over the menu he'd been perusing for a little too long for Michonne's hunger.

"I like it." She looked around, in truth it was anything but bog standard. He'd taken her to a French restaurant in West Village, the kind of place Jesus would scope out for them to attend and spend the evening pretending he knew about wine.

"It's nice isn't it." Rick said, his five o clock shadow and slightly tousled fresh-from-work hair looking handsome in the low chandelier lighting. "I gotta admit I normally just go for pizza or somethin' but Glenn, my friend you met, he tells me about all these places."

"I remember him! Such a shame nothing ended up happening with him and Maggie!"

"Yeah! I woulda said he'd fit in with your fashionable crowd." Rick laughed. "He's not really like me and Daryl."

"Rick?!" A woman's voice startled them from their little bubble. Michonne looked up to see a basic-looking white girl stood very close to Rick's chair.

"Jessie!" He stood up to hug her. "How're you doin'?"

"Good, yeah, really good. I'm just here on a date actually." She said pointedly, pointing to an average looking mousey haired man at the bar. "It's going well. How about you?" Her eyes lingered on Michonne.

"I'm good, yeah. This is Michonne." He introduced the two to each other, not really knowing why.

"Nice to meet you!" Jessie said through a toothy smile. Michonne nodded politely. "I'll leave you guys to it." She stroked at Rick's arm.

"Good to see you." Rick said as he sat down, but not before Jessie had planted a kiss on his cheek.

"She seemed nice." Michonne said as Jessie made her way back towards her date.

"I guess." Rick said, pouring them both some water.

"How do you know her?" She asked innocently, knowing the probable answer.

"We dated, kinda.'

"Kinda?" Michonne smirked.

"Well we never went anywhere." He joked with a glint of something in his eye, Michonne couldn't figure out if he was trying to make her jealous. She also couldn't figure out if it was working. She flashed a smile at him, suddenly eager for them to be alone.

She noticed Jessie looking over as they ate their dinner, Rick eventually choosing a steak sandwich while she had her eyes set on the squid ink linguini from the moment they were handed the menus.

"You hungry for dessert?" Rick asked innocently as Michonne returned from the restroom, genuinely interested in a chocolate mousse.

"Oh I'm hungry, but not for dessert." She surveyed him from under her eyelashes.

It took the naïve Southern boy a few moments to catch on.

"I'll...uh...pay the check." He stumbled on his words as soon as he realised what she was getting at.

"I paid it already. On the way back from the restroom."

Rick stood up so fast he almost knocked the table flying, he grabbed her hand and practically dragged her from the restaurant.

"Your place or mine?" He said as they got into the car.

"Yours is closer." She said, with a look in her eye that he hadn't seen before. Not that he remembered anyway.

The journey only took ten minutes, but it felt a lot longer. Especially to Rick trying to drive while Michonne ran her hand up and down his thigh. He couldn't wait to get her inside, as soon as they got in the elevator he pulled her to him. Their lips crashed together in a way they were becoming used to, Rick's hands finding their way under her shirt and gripping at her warm skin.

The elevator doors opened right into Rick's penthouse and the two of them fell out into the lounge and onto the couch. They quickly found their favourite spots; Michonne's fingers in his hair, Rick's mouth on her neck while he ran his hand up her thigh. He was already rock hard, and by the sound of her soft moans as he kissed down to her collarbone, Michonne was just as ready for him too.

"Hold on." He said, gently getting off from his position on top of her. "Let me just jump in the shower. I came straight from work." He said apologetically.

"Ok stinky." She pecked his lips before shuffling back on the couch and laying back on the cushions.

"Make yourself comfortable, TV remote is there...help yourself to food, drink...I'll be back."

Rick took what must have been the shortest shower ever taken by mankind, the water was barely warm when he stepped under it. He squeezed the shower gel out in a slap-dash fashion letting it run down his torso and double up as shampoo. He also brushed his teeth and sprayed some cologne on his neck before heading out to greet Michonne once again.

"Sorry about that!" He shouted across the apartment, pausing at his bedside drawers to take out the novelty Christmas boxer shorts that he'd got in the work secret Santa, figuring Michonne would get a laugh out of them. "I'm all yours now." He walked back towards the couch, to an unusually quiet Michonne.

His suspicions were confirmed when he rounded the bend to find her fast asleep, remote in hand watching CNN. He smiled. She must be exhausted, he realised, even without the sickness that had plagued her for the last three months it must be tiring being pregnant. And it was late, they hadn't even eaten until 9.

He grabbed a pillow from his bed, and a blanket. The couch folded into a sofa bed for when Carl stayed over, so he gingerly pulled out the extender, lifting her legs as he did so. He felt creepy removing her shoes, but figured she'd be grateful in the morning that he had.

"Night beautiful." He whispered as he turned off the floor lamp next to her and retreated to his own bed, the jingle of the bells from his novelty boxer shorts echoing through his penthouse as he walked.


Rick was confused at first to smell freshly brewed coffee before he was even fully awake, until he remembered his house guest.

"Sorry." Michonne whispered from the kitchen. "I didn't mean to wake you, it's still early." A glance at the clock confirmed it was only 6am still. "I've got to shoot off to work, but your Nespresso machine is different to mine and I really wanted to try it." She reasoned. Rick smiled, he'd been just as excited to try out the new machine, it was a perfectly valid reason to wake him up.

"I'm glad you woke me, I didn't want you to slip away." He said as he turned his bedside light on and propped himself up on his pillows. "You sleep ok? I felt bad for leaving you on the couch but I didn't want to disturb you."

"Perfectly, thanks. It was very comfortable. Do you want sugar?" She was pouring two mugs of coffee.

"No sugar, just milk please." He yawned, he could get used to this, being brought coffee in bed by a woman so beautiful that somehow she looked the same as when she went to sleep whereas he was certain he just looked like a disheveled mess.

Michonne brought the mugs over, setting Rick's down on the bedside table before perching on the edge of the bed. "I'm so sorry I crashed on you last night. I was exhausted!"

"It's ok. I had my special underwear on for you though!" He teased.

"No way!" She gasped and tugged at the duvet. "Let me see!"

"You gotta earn it."

"You tease. How about carrying your baby is that not enough?"

Rick relented, he pulled off the duvet cover to reveal his green and red elf boxer shorts with the perfectly positioned bells. "That's what you missed."

It was worth it for Michonne's reaction. She threw her head back with uncontrollable laughter. "That would have been worth staying awake for!"

"Maybe next time." He grinned.

"I hope there will be a next time."

"I hope so too."

She leaned in to kiss him, letting her lips linger on his before pulling away.

"What are you up to today?" She changed the subject which Rick was glad about, as he felt the jingle bells would be unforgiving as soon as things started to move near them. "You working?"

"I'm seeing that lawyer, with Lori and Carl. The adoption guy."

"Oooh yeah let me know how it goes!"

"I will. I'm kinda nervous."

"Don't be. It's unusual but if you're the best man for the job and his birth father is nowhere to be found it'll be straightforward." She shrugged, family law wasn't really her forte but she remembered enough from law school to know Rick probably had nothing to worry about.

"Yeah...I hope so." He bit his lip. "Lori asked me to pick her and Carl up from her parents house."

"Oh? You think she's left Shane?"

"I hope so. But I doubt it, she does this from time to time but she'll be back. Apparently Shane has an irresistible quality." He shook his head.

"I don't know how you talk about it so calmly." Michonne marvelled.

"I don't know either." He chuckled. "I guess cos they deserve each other. Shane's an ass, and Lori ain't exactly easy to live with."

"I don't even know them but I hate them for what they did to you." Michonne said quietly as she stared down at her cup of coffee

Rick shrugged. "The hardest part was giving up the fact I thought I was about to have a baby, but...life works in funny ways."

Michonne nodded. "Maybe this is the baby you were meant to have all along." She shifted her position to lie horizontal on the bed, resting on her elbow.

"That's what I figure." He rested his head back on the headboard, enjoying the comfortable silence they found themselves in, feeling grateful for everything that happened to lead him to this moment.