May 10th
"Wow!" Rick said as Michonne stepped into the lounge, a dark green floor length dress falling flawlessly over her bump and down to the floor. His mouth hung open. "You look amazing." He bit at his lip as his eyes roamed her body from head to toe.
"I feel like a whale!" She pouted as she finished off her make up in the mirror.
"A whale?" Rick came up behind her, pulling her braids to the side so he could kiss her neck. He pressed his body against hers so she could tell just how amazing she looked. "You're so sexy." He murmured into her shoulder, still kissing her. His hands making their way along her curves.
"Hmmmmm...we don't have time." She warned, reaching back a hand to stroke at his hair. "Plus the effort it took to get into this dress. No way am I doing that again."
"Later then." He moved his hands to her waist hugging her close as he looked at the pair of them in the mirror. "We look good together."
"We do." She agreed. Rick wasn't very tall, but his broad shoulders and chest still dwarfed her petite frame. She never felt like she needed a man's protection, but she loved how safe she felt in his strong arms. "We should get going." She reluctantly extracted herself from him.
"So I guess this is our first public engagement then?" Rick joked as they drove out of the city to the venue in New Rochelle.
"I guess so." Her hands found their way to her bump as they usually did. "Seems kind of a formality at this point though."
"So...uh...what exactly would you say we're formalising?" Rick stole a glance in her direction as he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean. Is this a thing? Us?" He stuttered as he asked. "Are you my girlfriend?"
"I'd say so. Wouldn't you?"
"I'd say so too." He grinned and looked at her again. She smiled back. He put his hand on her knee as they headed to the coast, the smile refusing to leave his face.
The wedding venue was amazing. Huge white arches and miles of green land as far as the eye can see. A long footpath lined with solar lights stretched all the way along to a private beach.
"Looks good, huh?" Rick whispered as they took a seat in front of the ornate alter that was covered in pink and white carnations.
"It does."
"This'll be us someday."
"One thing at a time!" She gestured to her growing baby bump.
"I'm just kidding." Rick laughed and covered the bump with his palm. "I know we only just started going steady."
"Going steady?" Michonne chuckled. "Are we in high school?"
"Luckily not, young lady, or you'd be in trouble." He cast his eyes down to her belly.
"I'm 36 and I think I'm still in trouble!"
"Rick?" A high pitched voice came from beside them. He didn't even need to turn around. He knew who it was.
"Lori?" He stood up. "Shane! What are you guys doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing!" Shane drawled, his accent much thicker than Rick's, Michonne noticed. He was also a lot less handsome than Rick, and a lot more rough around the edges. For the purpose of her own happiness she was glad that Lori left Rick for Shane, but my god she did not understand it.
"Michonne went to college with Andrea." Rick tried to smile at the pair, but it felt more like a grimace. "Michonne, this is Lori and Shane." He introduced them as the trio shook hands.
"Nice to meet you." Lori's voice sounded strained, Michonne wondered if it always sounded like that or if it was just when she was around Rick because every time she heard her on the phone it sounded the same way too. Perhaps it was because her face was set in a constantly pained expression.
"Pleased to meet you." Shane was turning on the charm, Rick rolled his eyes as he noticed the trademark Walsh smile and lowered voice.
"Shane used to work with Phillip." Lori explained their presence as a way to distract Shane from Michonne's cleavage.
"Yeah, he was the governor of that jail on Riker's Island. We used to wind up there near enough every day. Wound up going for some beers one night and became friends." Shane shrugged. "Anyway I don't know how he managed to snag someone like Andrea."
"I think we're all a bit confused about that." Michonne said under her breath. There was something she didn't trust about Philip, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Andrea seemed so captivated by him that it was impossible to even broach the subject. Their relationship and engagement had seemed to happen very fast, and Andrea had moved to Ohio with him, away from her friends and away from her family.
"Anyway, we're on this side." Lori took Shane's hand to lead him to the groom's side. "We'll see you later though."
"What a fucking day ruiner." Rick growled and shook his head.
"It's ok, there's a bunch of people here. We don't have to see them." Michonne grabbed his hand, and gently pushed her fingers between his to uncurl the fist he was making.
"Hey lovebirds!" Sasha sat down next to them with a tall robust looking ginger man with a moustache and a huge smile. "Nice to see you again Rick!"
"And you Sasha." He turned to what he assumed was her fiance. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rick."
"Abraham!" His deep voice reverberated Rick's hand as he shook it. "Look at this fancy venue!"
"Nice, huh?" Sasha agreed. "Hey is Maggie coming?"
"She said she was on her way when we were." Michonne shrugged. "But you know what she's like, she probably stopped a dozen times for coffee or snacks."
True to form, Maggie was jogging down the aisle just a few moments before Andrea and her bridesmaids followed. She whispered her hello's and managed to re-apply her lip gloss in her compact mirror before they had to stand up.
The day went well, Rick and Michonne had managed to avoid Shane and Lori for the most part. Shane and his cop buddies got steadily louder in the corner as Lori and their wives sat with matching pinched expressions. Abraham challenged anyone who was listening to a dance-off, Sasha and Maggie gleefully clapping along. Rick sat on the sidelines with his beautiful girlfriend, enjoying the atmosphere, but enjoying being close to Michonne more.
Michonne yawned as the evening was winding down.
"You tired?" Rick put his arm around her and stroked her shoulder gently. She nodded. "Hopefully not too tired though? I got plans for you and that dress."
"Oh yeah?" She lifted her head up to kiss him. "Well they'll have to be pretty spectacular plans to stop me from falling asleep the second I get in bed."
"Spectacular?" He kissed her again. "We'll have to see."
"You ready to make a move?" She arched her back to compensate for the strain the bump was already putting on her pelvis. Rick held her hand to help her to stand before taking off his tuxedo jacket and draping it around her shoulders. "Just let me go and say goodbye to Andrea and Sasha and Maggie."
Rick smiled watching her head towards her friends on the dancefloor.
"You gonna marry her?" Shane's voice brought him back to earth. He was slurring and swaying slightly, using his cane to steady himself.
"I don't know." Rick replied curtly. "It's early days yet."
"You knocked her up you gotta marry her." He chuckled.
"Is that so?" Rick decided to humour Shane for a few moments.
"That's what I did with Lori anyway." He slapped Rick hard on the back. Rick let out a hollow laugh to pacify Shane. He knew Shane, unfortunately. He knew when Shane was in the mood for a fight and he knew the tactics he used to bait people. He wasn't going to rise to it.
"At least it worked out for all of us." Rick said through a clenched jaw.
"Yeeeeeah." Shane slurred slowly. "Some days I wish I'd just left her to you though, man Lori was fun when she was your wife but now she's mine...she fuckin' MOANS!"
Rick didn't say anything, he did remember that Lori used to nag a lot when they were together.
"That's why...between me and you I got a little bit of something else going on the side." He said through a chuckle.
"Shane..." Rick warned, casting a look towards Lori who was sat at the table. He felt a rush of emotion towards her that he couldn't quite place...pity, perhaps. Or empathy knowing that she was in the exact position he was in all those years ago. Clueless, being made a fool of.
"C'mon brother, you can't have any loyalty towards her." Shane said out of the corner of his mouth.
"I'm not your brother. I was. You were my family. Until you fucked my wife. Now you're nothing." Rick worked hard to keep his voice low.
"Nothing!? Wow!"
"Nothing." Rick's temper rarely flared these days, but when the red mist descended he barely recognised himself. He could feel it building in his chest.
"You ready to go?" Michonne's hand on his arm brought him back to the room. Her eyes darted from Shane to Rick, sensing the tension.
"Yeah." Rick's gaze didn't leave Shane as he nodded his answer to Michonne's question.
"It was nice meeting you, Shane." She smiled and dragged Rick away.
"I fucking hate that guy." Rick muttered when they were barely out of earshot.
"Me too." Michonne said, her grip on his arm still firm as he let the tension escape his chest.
