A/N: Wow some strong feelings about the last chapter. I love it, I love the feedback and I love the fact that so many of you are invested in these characters. I apologise for the events of last time. I wanted to write a realistic Richonne story. And the reality is for someone like Michonne, trying to become a partner in her law firm, that involves a heck of a lot of work. Her career is very important to her, and the sad fact is for women that juggling a career and parenthood comes with an unfair and at times unrealistic expectation. For me her putting her 'relationship' with Rick on hold was an act of self care, and I have a feeling that she was able to do so because he made her feel secure enough that she didn't have to worry about him running off with someone else. Michonne isn't perfect, and we'll come to discover Rick isn't perfect either. To write them as such would be a disservice to two amazing, layered and complex characters that Andy and Danai created. Thank you for feeling so involved with this story, it means everything to me :-)

March 3rd

She didn't like going through her pregnancy without Rick. It had only been two weeks, but two weeks without his daily phonecall and without him checking she was eating alright and sleeping ok seemed like a long time. A long time without a good morning and good night text. The Alexandria merger had finally all gone through, and without a hitch. She felt like she could breathe again.

Stepping out the subway she began her ascent up the narrow stone steps that led to her office. She figured she should take the shortcut while she still could, imagining that once she was heavily pregnant she would have to go the long way around avoiding the huge flight of stairs. She pulled out her phone, sending a quick text to Rick:

"Hey you. Fancy dinner tonight? Or any time this week. My treat to say sorry for being so crappy."

She smiled, hoping he could easily let her off being so busy the last month. She was almost at the top when she heard heavy footsteps behind her. She didn't have time to turn around, there was a hand around her mouth and an arm across her chest. She tried to remember her next move from the self defense classes that Colette had made her take as a teenager. Her heart was pounding so fast she felt the blood pumping through her body.

"Don't move." A voice growled in her ear. She felt something press at the base of her back, feeling the cool metal through her shirt. Her eyes frantically searched for an out, finding none she nodded her head.

"Your purse." The voice grated against her skin. "And your phone."

She nodded again and threw her phone to the ground watching the screen shatter as it hit the concrete. She felt a sharp tug at her shoulder as her purse was ripped from her. The next thing she knew the man shoved her to the wall, she felt her ankle twist as she sunk to the ground.

Then he was gone, leaving her slumped trying to regain control of her breathing.

"Michonne!" Jesus rushed to her side as soon as she limped inside the safety of her office. "What happened?"

He dragged a chair over, gently setting her down and kneeling in front of her. He was quickly joined by Morgan.

"I was mugged. In the alleyway." She didn't even realise she'd hit her head until Morgan placed a cold compress against her forehead and she winced. "He took my phone and my purse..."

"I'll call the police." Morgan absented himself to his office while his assistant got her a bottle of water.

"Do you want me to call Rick?" Jesus asked softly as he found another chair to prop her swollen ankle on.

"Yeah...please." She nodded. "My phone..." Her phone was gone, the one she'd been holding and the work phone that was in her bag. She didn't have his number, she didn't know it by heart.

"It's fine I'll call Daryl to tell him." He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"We need to get you to the hospital." Jesus rested a hand on her stomach, putting his phone back in his pocket. "We need to check everything's alright. I couldn't get hold of Daryl, but he's probably busy." He'll call back. Michonne nodded.

"The police are on their way." Morgan came out of his office. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion around her, even though people were frantically tending to her. She didn't want any of them, she just wanted Rick to make her feel safe in the warm way he always did.

It was a blur. The police coming to question her, the officers giving her and Jesus a ride to the hospital in their squad car. The pounding pain in her head, her hands still shaking from adrenaline. It felt like a bad dream, like the kind of story someone else tells.

"Rick wasn't at work today." Jesus said as he held her hand in the back of the car. "Daryl said he doesn't know where he is, but I've got his number we'll keep trying him. You know wherever he is he'll come running as soon as he realises."

She nodded. Where the hell was he? It wasn't like Rick to not check his phone. Morgan had given her a new phone to replace her work phone, Jesus punched in Rick's number and sent another text message.

The smells and sights of the hospital waiting room were beginning to feel commonplace for Michonne, only this time it wasn't an exciting appointment. She couldn't explain the feeling of dread in her chest. She'd only felt the baby move a handful of times so far, normally once or twice a day. She longed for another little flutter now, just so she knew it was alright. Jesus placed his hand over hers as they sat waiting.

"We don't like to do X-Rays on pregnant women." The doctor said as she checked the mobility in her ankle. "I'm happy enough with the range of movement, it's very very unlikely to be broken. I'll strap it up and you make sure you come back if you're really struggling to walk or the pain gets a lot worse."

"Ok." She said quietly.

"That's a nasty bump on your head." She peered into her eyes with her torch. "Any nausea? Loss of vision or memory loss?"

Michonne shook her head. "Just a headache."

The doctor nodded. "You've been through quite the ordeal today. From what it looks like it's just some bruises. But I'll need you to go for a scan to check everything is alright with the baby. Do you have someone to stay with you overnight?"

"I will." Jesus said before Michonne even had the chance to respond.

"Great." The doctor smiled as she finished strapping up Michonne's ankle. "Dr. Carson is expecting you down in gynecology, then you can head home."

"Thank you."

"And make sure you take it easy! For a few days at least."

"I will. Thank you." She nodded as she let Jesus usher her into a wheelchair.

It took a lot of convincing for Jesus to leave once they'd eventually got back to her apartment. She promised to call her mom to pick her up and take her home, she swore to text him to check in every two hours. She eventually had to shove him out the door. She just wanted peace. She just wanted Rick.

She tried one more time. It was dark now, and she was getting a little concerned. She picked up the phone and pressed the only outgoing number on the call list.

"Come on Rick." She whispered to the dailing tone. She was becoming increasingly frustrated the more he didn't answer. It was getting dark, he must have over a dozen missed calls and text messages.

"Hello?" It wasn't Rick's voice. She pulled the phone away from her ear to check she had the right number. She must do, it was the only number in her phone. Jesus was meticulous copying it in, she saw him check it again and again. Like he did everything.

"Hello?" Michonne tried to sound neutral, tried not to jump to conclusions, tried to tell herself that he was free to do as he pleased with who he wished. So why did it feel like a punch to the chest to hear a woman's voice on the other end of the phone. "It's...Michonne..."

"Rick's just in the bathroom." The voice said lightly, Michonne was trying to place the voice on the other end of the line. It wasn't Lori, but it was still weirdly familiar. "Here he is." She giggled.

She heard muffled voices before he cleared his throat into the receiver.

"Michonne?" He said cheerfully.


"Are you ok? What did the doctor say?" Rick ran his hands through his hair. It was less than 30 minutes from when she hung up the phone to him appearing at her door.

"She had no concerns. She said it was fine, apparently you naturally fall to protect your tummy and the baby anyway and that the moms normally end up more hurt."

"But you're ok?"

"I'm fine. Just need to take it easy for the weekend."

"Ok. I'm sorry, Michonne."

"Where were you?"

"I was helping a friend move house."

"A friend?" Michonne remembered the voice that answered Rick's phone. She tried not to sound accusatory, but after the day she'd had she knew her voice came out more terse than she'd intended.

"Remember Jessie? She needed help, got let down at the last minute apparently." He was using such a nonchalant voice that it rubbed her up entirely the wrong way. Surely he wasn't that naïve. Surely Jessie had more friends.

"Oh ok so slightly more than a friend then?" She scoffed, she didn't even care how her tone sounded any more.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said friend, but I'd say if you've slept with her then she's more than a friend." Michonne knew it was mainly the tiredness talking, but also it was beginning to feel like he was being deliberately cagey.

"It's not really like that." He tried to brush it off again.

"Tell me Rick. What is it like then? Do you just call up whichever girl you fancy on whichever day? See what she's up to?" She let out a hollow laugh as she said it.

"No! She needed help moving so I helped her." His voice was beginning to match her level of irritation.

"Oh ok so you were spending the day with her? Having a nice time while I was sat in the doctor's office and filing police reports!"

"Look, I didn't know that's where you were! I'm sorry!"

"At least you had fun." She said sarcastically.

"Why does it matter to you?" It was Rick's turn to be angry now.

"What?"

"Why does it matter? You've made it perfectly clear you don't want anything romantic from me. I didn't realise I had to run my every move past you. I'm watching the game on Monday with Daryl, was I supposed to tell you that too? Oh and next Sunday my Aunt is coming to town so I'm having lunch with her..."

"You're being dumb." She shook her head. The lawyer in her furious that she wasn't able to put up a stronger argument. The pregnant lady in her who'd just had the most traumatic day of her pregnancy so far was just too tired. "And I never even said I don't want anything romantic with you!"

"What do you actually want from me, Michonne?"

"What do you mean?" She tried to stall, not in the mood for the conversation.

"Because it seems like you want all the benefits of a relationship but without actually committing to me? Without giving me a chance."

"I'm carrying your baby, Rick! I'm not just some girl! At the very least I expect you to answer your cellphone when I call!"

"I do answer when I can! And when I miss a call I call straight back."

"It was HOURS!"

"And I've said I'm sorry! I feel horrible that I couldn't be there for you today, but it was an accident!"

"An accident?! So you accidentally spent the day with your ex?"

"Look...I lost track of time. We were moving stuff and she asked me to stay for a drink, that's it! That's as far as it went! And she's not my ex!"

"Oh so it was a drink too now? A drink and a quick fuck?"

Rick was stunned, he had never heard Michonne talk like this. He guessed there was a lot they still had to learn about each other.

"I already told you, it's not like that!"

"I could have been in labor!"

"Well you haven't even told me you want me there when you're in labor anyway!"

"Why would I when you're acting like such an ass?"

"Fine." He threw his hands up. "I'm acting like an ass. How about you call me when you've decided what it is you want." He turned on his heel and walked out of her apartment, slamming the door on his way out.

Michonne wasn't sure if she was being unreasonable, maybe it was the pregnancy hormones taking over. But Rick didn't need to storm out. She sat there quietly seething for a while, still reeling from seeing a side of Rick she didn't even know he possessed. At a loss of what else to do, she dialled the only number she knew off by heart.

Colette arrived almost as fast as Rick, having seemingly teleported from New Jersey. For the first time that day Michonne let herself dissolve into tears, she let her mom hold her and hug her like she used to do when she was young.

She packed a bag and messaged Jesus a picture of Colette giving a thumbs up letting him know he didn't have to worry about her. Then she switched her phone off, got in the car and let Colette drive her home.