Mending Fences – Chapter 18: "Mistake"
Rick has never seen Michonne so happy or cried this much with joy since the birth of their own children. For the past three days since the arrival of Maggie's and Glen's son, she has been in their bedroom, glued to the laptop on the webcam with Maggie and her new yet to be named bundle of joy.
Michonne have gone through a box of tissues as she cried with Maggie. Glen have been organising with the hospital to take all his vacation leave so he can spend time with his wife and son. While he, Carl, Sophia and Andre understood the meaning of Michonne's tears, Judith and Logan were confused by it.
Logan was especially distressed by Michonne's crying despite her telling him that she was in fact happy. Maggie messaged her lots of pictures of the newborn which she shared with Rick and the others. It was a happy time for the Grimes family, especially Michonne, who prayed that her friend was finally a mother.
It was also a happy time for the Rhee's as after so many miscarriages, they finally have their miracle baby who weighed a healthy 8 lbs 5 oz at birth. He has ten fingers and ten toes….he was perfect.
"Did you guys come up with a name yet?" Michonne asked between sniffles.
"No…not yet."
Maggie nuzzled her nose against the sleeping baby soft pink cheeks.
"Honestly, I don't care about a name right now. I just want to enjoy my son finally being here."
"I am so happy for you Maggie! You and Glen deserve this!"
"Thank you Michonne."
Suddenly the baby let out a small yawn. It was too much for the ladies especially Michonne.
"Oh God! He's so cute!" Michonne cries before overflowing into more tears.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michonne and Maggie conversed for two more hours and when Glen came home, Michonne decided to give them their privacy. They signed off. Michonne closed the laptop and when she turned around Rick was there at the bedroom door smiling at her.
"What?" She dabbed at her eyes with tissue.
Rick closed the door, walked over and sat down on the bed next to her. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying she had been doing. He kissed her eyes and then her lips.
"Are you ok?"
Michonne nodded as she put her head on his shoulders and he pulled her close.
"We are so blessed Rick. We have a solid marriage, a good home life and five beautiful, healthy children. I have everything a woman could ever want and now Maggie gets to have the same. She will finally get to experience the joy of motherhood. I wanted that so badly for her."
"And now she has it."
"Yes she does."
Raising her head from Rick shoulders, Michonne got up and straddled him. She cupped his face.
"I want you to promise me that whatever happens when we find the people who are targeting you…our family…our kids, that we will stick together no matter what. We are stronger together. We always were. I will not lose you for another three years Rick. I refuse to. It will kill me."
"I promise Michonne that I will heed your advice and warnings. I will trust your gut…your instincts. I promise to protect you and the children."
"Correction. I will protect you and you will protect me and we will protect our kids."
Rick smiled and leaning back on the bed, pulled Michonne down with him. They shared a passionate kiss and Michonne laid there on top of him as he gently massages her back.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Five years ago…..
It has been two weeks since the discovery and identification of the bodies of their only source inside of the Murray-Jarrett drug operation informant Marcus Jacobson and high ranking lieutenant Nathan Reese.
When their bodies were first identified, Captain Fletcher immediately sent Rick and Detectives Bruce and Amoroso to find and pick up Nathan's wife and children. When they reached to the house, the front door was wide open.
Quickly pulling out their guns, they cautiously stepped inside of the house. The house was completely vandalized and their worst nightmare was realized. Although there were no bodies there was blood in the living room and in the hallway….three distinct pools of blood.
They immediately called the CSI team and within twenty minutes they arrived and took blood samples. When they returned to the station, their hearts sank when it was proven that the blood belonged to Nathan's wife Gina and their two sons Cullen and Elijah.
Captain Fletcher was called into strategy meetings all week with his superiors as soon as the news broke of Marcus and Nathan's death as well as the possible deaths of another family all because of Murray and Jarrett. They needed to plan strategy on their next move.
So far all the evidence given by Nathan only managed to net the 'small fries' in the larger wheel. Nathan kept the only worthy card he had as insurance for the safety and immunity of his family from prosecution and now he is dead and his family is possibly dead also.
At this point they cannot touch Murray or Jarrett. Captain Fletcher call Rick, Bruce and Amoroso into his office.
"One PP wants to move in and arrest Murray and Jarrett."
"But we don't have enough evidence to bring them in as yet and everyone we caught so far is willing to go to jail than to talk. We're screwed!"
"Not really."
"What do you mean Cap?"
"We could get the evidence but we would have to get it ourselves."
Rick, Bruce and Amoroso looked at each other and then at the Captain.
"Are you saying what I think you are saying?!" Amoroso asked.
"Yes." Captain Fletcher said solemnly. "We will have to conduct an undercover operation."
No-one said anything for a couple of minutes as the suggestion soak into their brains. It was Bruce who broke the silence.
"Do you have someone in mind?"
Fletcher gave a nervous chuckle.
"I was hoping one of you will volunteer. You three are the most intimate with the case." The Captain turned to Rick. "You were the closet to Marcus and the one with the most experience out of the three of you."
Everyone looked at Rick and he swallowed hard. A couple minutes of deafening silence passed between the men.
"Even if one of us is supposed to do this, how will it work?" Amoroso asked.
"Well Murray and Jarrett operated primarily out of Philadelphia so whatever concrete evidence we need will be strongest there."
"And how long are we expected to be under?"
"Could be a year."
"A whole year?!"
"If after a year nothing concrete is found we will just have to pull whoever decides to do this out and try to get these people another way. But for now…this is the fastest and most direct route in achieving our goals."
Everyone remained silent.
"Look…I know what I'm asking you guys to do so I am not expecting an answer now. Take some time to think about it but if none of you volunteer, its ok."~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rick drove home slowly thinking about all that had transpired. When he arrived home, it was past 8pm. When he drove up, the house was quiet so he knew that the kids and probably Michonne, herself was asleep as well. He opened the door quietly and entered the house.
He went upstairs and saw Michonne detaching Logan from her breast. He was fast asleep. She slipped slowly off the bed and took him to the crib in the nursery to join Judith who was sleeping as well.
When she came back, Rick was already in the shower. She slipped into the bed exhausted. Rick came out of the shower and Michonne watched his naked body as he dried himself. She felt herself tingling between her legs.
However' she didn't think that she would have the strength at this moment to keep up with Rick's stamina. Rick pulled on his boxers and slipped into bed behind her.
"I need to talk to you."
Michonne's eyes were closed.
"Ok."
"Remember that case I am working on…the one where our informant and the other guy was killed."
"Yeah."
"Well, his wife and kids are missing and we found blood, so most likely they are dead."
Michonne turned to face him now.
"Just because they are missing and you found blood doesn't mean that they are dead Rick."
"Trust me Michonne, they are dead."
"Ok. So what is the next move? Are you guys going and try to find another informant to go in?"
Rick cleared his throat.
"No. One of us will have to go in undercover."
Michonne's eyes widen.
"NO!" She said firmly. "NO!"
Michonne rose up from the bed in protest but Rick pulled her back down.
"Michonne!"
"No!"
She pushed him off and scrambled to her feet…turning to face him. Rick sat at the edge of the bed.
"I am not saying that it will be me but it could be. I am the most senior person knowledgeable about this case."
"I don't care Rick! Let someone else do it!"
"Please! Just listen to me!"
"No! You listen to me!" Michonne had tears in her eyes. "Did you not see what I had in my arms when you walked in? Well let me remind you! That is our one year old son! I just put him down next to our two year old daughter! In the next room is our five year old son and eight year old daughter!"
Rick got to his feet and took a step towards Michonne who stepped back away from him. She continued.
"In the next room is our eldest! He is only ten years old."
"I know all this!"
Rick saw the fear in Michonne face and it gutted him. A single tear rolled down her cheek. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. She tried to pull away but Rick refused to let go.
"Well think about them! Think about how this will affect them if you die!"
"I am thinking about them!"
He cupped Michonne's face in his hands. She was crying now.
"These people have to be stopped! If not, their poison will spread right here in Atlanta because pretty soon Philly wouldn't be enough and they will branch out. They have already done it in other cities. It will be only a matter of time before those drugs find their way into schools…into our children's' school. What if Carl or Sophia or Andre get their hands on these drugs?"
Michonne angrily pushed Rick away.
"They would never do that!"
"I know that but do you want to even take the chance Michonne?!"
Rick and Michonne stared at each other. Rick looked down and saw that the front of her silk blouse was soaked through with milk. Michonne followed Rick's eyes and seeing what caught his attention, Michonne ripped off her blouse, exposing her full, heavy breast. She walked past him to their closet and in seconds she was wearing a new one that was specially designed for lactating mothers. She sat on the bed and Rick kneeled down infront of her.
"They can find someone else!" She said defiantly.
"I am the most qualified."
"Why does it have to be you?!" she screamed at him.
"Because I don't trust anyone else to protect my kids Michonne!"
Michonne gasped…taken aback by Rick's words. She didn't know what to say. Suddenly and without warning, she burst into tears.
"Please don't do this! I'm scared!"
Rick grabbed his distressed wife into his arms.
"I am scared too!"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~