12. Love in the time of Cadere
"From the way you been swaggering around the halls you musta got your happy ending."
It was another quiet night on patrol and Rick and Shane sat in their car eating the lunches that Michonne had packed for the both of them. Actually she started packing lunch for Carl when he started to complain about how awful the school lunches were, but he and Shane had whimpered and pouted comically like puppies until Michonne took pity on them and started packing them lunches too.
"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, but if I were to die today I would without a doubt die the happiest man in the entire universe."
"So she makes you happy on all fronts. Good to know I was worried for awhile that your guilt would keep you from finding someone."
"The current situation of the world put things into perspective. It's made me realize what's important in my life, and that's why I've asked Michonne to adopt Carl and Jude."
Shane nodded. "I can dig it. She's their momma in every other sense but lawfully"
"God forbid if anything happens to Michonne, but if it does I want you to take care of them."
"I know man. You know I got your back."
"So what about you and Carley?" Rick asked. "You've been seeing a lot of her lately."
"She's way too classy for me. I think I'm just her roll in the dirt."
"Don't sell yourself short." Rick told Shane.
"I'm not I'm just being honest."
"No, you're just feeling sorry for yourself." Rick replied.
"I guess maybe I am, I'm kind of envious of what you got. I mean I got plenty of ladies to love me, but none of them are in love with me."
"Well who's fault is that?" Rick asked.
"I just can't believe you're gonna be married twice 'fore I'm even gonna get married once." Shane said.
Rick laughed. "So what are you saying you want to fall in love and get married?"
"I'm sayin I want someone to be ride or die for me like Michonne is for ya."
"I would have never guess the greatest player of all times would want a ride or die chick. "
Shane burst out laughing until tears ran from his eyes.
"What?" Rick wanted to know.
"You saying ride or die chick." Shane said. "You even knowing what that means."
"Hey I'm the father of a teenaged son I know stuff. I hear things."
"You still ain't told Carl about the biters have you?"
"We're not talking about that." Rick said through clenched teeth.
Shane shook his head. "You know sometimes you're stubborn just for the sake of being stubborn."
Rick said nothing. Shane didn't have children so he didn't know the eternal struggle between wanting to protect your children from the world while teaching them to be thick skinned enough to survive it. He wanted Carl to grow up, but no faster than he had to. Carl had already faced tragedies people twice his age had not had to face. It was his job as a parent to face down the things that his son and daughter were not old enough or strong enough to face themselves, and it was a job he took very seriously.
Michonne did not have children of her own, but understood this. She understood it so much that she had risked her life to save children that were not her own. She had learned to kill biters ,even though she was scared, for his children whom she loved as if they were her own, and that was only one of the reasons he loved her so much. He'd never seen anyone love so selflessly before. When he first met her all he had to offer her was his broken down self and his dysfunctional family. Still she had not written him off, the pain she was going through allowed her to be sympathetic to the pain he was going through.
"Don't bring this up again." Rick told Shane.
Shane let out a long dramatic sigh and the awkward silence between them lasted until the end of their shift.
"See you later, man." Shane called out.
"Yeah." Rick called back. He knew that Shane would probably be over tomorrow despite their lukewarm farewells.
Michonne was awake when Rick came home. She always woke up when he came through the door. It was like her body had set some internal alarm clock for him and Rick was glad of it. She would pour him a cup of coffee and he would tell her about his night then he'd pour her a cup of coffee and listen as she told him about her plans for the day. Judith was usually at the kitchen table drawing another picture. Her art work was quicly filling up the walls of her room. As he wound down he would watch TV and give Michonne his own report of what was going on with the world while she got ready for work.
"Do you want me to turn the sound up?" Rick asked knowing the answer.
"No, you know I like the sound of your voice better than that reporter's."
He did know that, but he like hearing Michonne say it.
Michonne poked her head out of the bathroom. "Oh, did Carl tell you?"
"You know he never tells me anything. I'm not cool enough."
"I'm going to be tutoring Sarah since she's no longer going to school."
"I'm glad to know she'll still be able to get an education while she's here."
"It was all Carl's idea."
Rick was happy to know that his son was willing to look out for the interest of others. Perhaps he'd let go of some of the anger and numbness that he was holding on to so strongly when they first got to the quarantine. Rick knew where those type of feelings could lead to because when Lori had died that was exactly how he felt. He could remember coming home and self medicating with bourbon every night. One night when he was in the kitchen drinking and wallowing in self pity Carl had walked in on him. He'd been holding a bottle of bourbon crying, cussing, and swaying on his feet.
Carl had stared at him bug eyed unsure of what to do.
Rick's bourbon soaked mind tried to sober up as quickly as possible, but it was too late he'd gone crashing to the floor in an alcohol blackout. Carl had somehow gotten him up off the floor, into his bed, and took off his sock and shoes and tucked him in. It had been the lowest point in his life as a father and one he swore never to repeat again. Carl never said anything about it the next morning but Rick would bet money the memory was as seared on Carl's brain as it was his.
"Annalise invited us over for a dinner tonight. I told Carl he could have a couple of friends over while he watches Judith." Michonne told Rick. She came out their bedroom fully dressed and was slipping on a pair of shoes.
"I think I may actually pull off wearing a tuxedo to our wedding."
"Really, how?"
"Piece by piece actually. I've been given a cummerbund, a bow tie and a jacket from Carl's friend, Ben."
"That really tall kid?" She asked putting her earrings in.
"Yeah, turns out he was here in Atlanta for a show choir competition and the jacket and accessories were for one of his skits."
"Does the jacket fit?"
"It does actually, that kid has got some really long arms."
"I can't believe how quickly this is all coming together."
"I know. The adoption is coming together quickly too. The state of Georgia has been expediting a lot of adoptions since so many children have been orphaned because of the virus. As soon as we're married they're going to go ahead and start the adoption process."
"I can't believe it. Rick that's wonderful."
"I know. There's nothing in this world more important to me than us staying together right now."
"We need to make plans then. We need to plan on how to get back together in case we ever get separated. We need to have a place where we could all meet up in case we do get separated. We need to think of a safety word for Judith and then teach her what it means and how to use it."
"You've really been preparing for this haven't you?"
"Of course I want to be proactive not reactive." Michonne said. She looked at the clock on the wall in the kitchen. "Speaking of proactive I'd better get going."
Judith climbed down from the kitchen chair. "I ready!" she announced as she toddled into the living room.
"You two look beautiful. Have a wonderful day." Rick said and got up to kiss both of them.
"Bye Rick."
"Bye daddy." Judith called as Michonne scooped her up and headed out the door for work.
"Bye Michonne. Bye Jude be a good girl."
After Michonne and Jude left Rick washed up the few dishes in the sink, took a shower, and then crawled into bed. When he woke up again Carl was home from school.
"Where's Michonne?" Rick asked.
"Up at Amy's for a dress fitting."
"Oh, how was school?"
Carl shoved his hands in a bag of chips and ate a fist full before answering. "There are like twice as many rabbits in the rabbit run. It must be like bow chicka wow wow non stop in that cage. "
Rick stared at his son and wondered if it was time to have "the talk" again. The last time he'd talk to Carl about sex was when he was seven and he'd asked where babies had come from. He must have more questions by now, but he never came to him for answers which meant he was probably going to his friends who were no doubt misinformed.
"Shawn says he's going to have to do something because now we have more rabbits than we can take care of. Maybe he'll let people take them home as pets."
Rick sighed and sat down beside his son on the couch. There was so much he wanted to teach Carl. So much he needed to teach Carl while he still had the chance to teach him, but how did you condense a lifetime of lessons into one father son talk?
"So what are you and your friends going to do?" Rick asked as casually as he could.
Carl shrugged. "I don't know watch movies or listen to music. What else is there to do?"
Have an orgy. Rick thought. "Well I want you guys to stay in the apartel, no riding the elevators up and down or throwing things off of the roof."
Carl gave his father a look as if he were the most gauche person in the world. "We don't even do that anymore, dad."
"Duly noted."
"What if I want to go to someone else's apartel?"
"That's fine as long as you take your sister with you and stay there. I mean it no roaming around."
"We'll probably just stay here." Carl said and started flipping through the channels. "There's never anything on but the stupid news. The virus is killing everyone, we're all going to die, we know."
Where to start, what to say, and how to say it. Rick was at a loss. Sometimes Shane reminded him of Carl in his thinking. He thought that he could just show Carl how to kill biters and that would be the end of it, but it wouldn't. You couldn't just show your children things, couldn't just teach them you had to explain to them. You had to make them understand why they had to do things sometimes that they might not want to do. The gray areas of morality were getting bigger and bigger he knew at some point Carl was going to have to do some morally ambiguous things.
"Carl."
"Yeah dad?" Carl asked turning away from the TV show he managed to find.
Rick looked at Carl and he looked so young so innocent. "Nothing." Rick said and cupped the back of his son's head. He couldn't say the things he needed to say to him, not today. He'd give Carl one more day of being a young and relatively happy teenager before he went over the horrors of the adult world with him.
Michonne came home while Rick and Carl were in the middle of a Fresh Prince of Bel Air marathon.
"Dad owes me like a billion dollars." Carl informed Michonne.
"Oh really?" Michonne asked "How's that?"
"We've been betting on who can guess which episode is on in the least amount of scenes. I'm winning because dad totally sucks at it."
"I haven't seen every episode ever made unlike some people." Rick said in his defense.
"Well I have, I want in on this action." Michonne said as she kicked off her heels.
"Me too!' Jude cried even though she couldn't possibly have known what it was she was agreeing too.
In the end Michonne won and Carl was impressed. "I can't believe how much of this show you remember."
"It's probably because I used to have the biggest crush on Will Smith, actually I still do."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Rick said and Michonne laughed.
"I'm going to get Judith washed and changed before we go." Michonne told Rick. "Why don't you go pick out something nice to wear."
"Something nice? We're only having dinner at Ty and Anna's."
"No they cooked the dinner, but our party is being held at La pêche , so dress nicely."
Grumbling Rick headed to his room to find something nice to wear. As he shut his door he swore he heard Carl making a noise like a whip. Rick flung open his door. "Did you just make a whip noise? Are you calling me whipped?"
"No. I think you must be hearing things." Carl said, but when Rick closed his door he heard the whip sound again.
Oh well he'd certainly been accused of things worse than being whipped, and if Michonne was the whipper he didn't mind being the whippee. He looked in the closet trying to find something nice. Rick was always a careful dresser. Lori always like to tease that he was one of the few men in Possum Holler who didn't think camo was an all occasion material or didn't walk around looking like he got dressed at a rummage sale in the dark. When he wanted to, he could look like he'd just stepped off of the cover of GQ, but he much preferred to wear well broken into jeans and flannel shirts. In the end he chose a pair of charcoal pants, and a cobalt blue oxford shirt, and his black dress shoes. He put on some acqua di gio because he knew Michonne loved it when he wore that sent. After Rick styled his hair he sat down and waited for her to get ready. She took her sweet time, but when he saw her he knew it was well worth the wait. .
Red lipstick. Red dress. Red shoes. If Michonne had wanted to get Rick's attention she had found the perfect combination to get it. Her bright red low cut dress fit her like it had been poured onto her. It accentuated her curves and her dark brown skin perfectly.
"You like?" Michonne asked.
"Me likey a lot." Rick said still staring at her. "I don't know if that dress was easy to put on, but I sure as hell hope it's easy to take off."
"Oh no, after all the trouble I went though you're not taking this dress off until after the party."
"Why don't you and me have a party right here?" Rick asked. "Just me, you, and that dress." He slid his hands down the small of her back and squeezed her ass.
"Hands Mr. Grimes, Michonne teased, now come on before you make us late to our own party." Michonne said.
Reluctantly Rick removed his hands and followed Michonne out into the living room.
"You're dad and I are getting ready to leave."
Carl looked up from the TV and did a double take when he saw Michonne. "Wow, you look really, really pretty." He told her.
"You mean I don't usually?" Michonne teased.
A slow blush crept across his son's face. "I didn't mean that. I-"
"It's OK, I know what you meant and thank you Carl."
Rick smirked it was probably the first time Carl actually acquainted Michonne with being a woman separate from his teach or parent. He seem to be struggling with the idea that she could actually be all those things and sexy too.
"Would you like me to heat up the leftovers for your dinner?" Michonne asked.
"Er, I'm just going to make some frozen pizzas."
"Don't burn the hotel down." Rick warned.
"I know how to use an oven."
"Don't let Judith stay up too late." Michonne added.
"I know." Carl said and blew air through his hair.
Rick smiled. Michonne and Carl acted more like mother and son now. Michonne wasn't afraid to yell at Carl when he'd done something wrong or assign chores for him, and Carl didn't try and act so perfect around Michonne any more. He whined, pouted, and when he was feeling particular unafraid of dying by her hands, smart mouthed.
"All right then." Rick said. "I don't know when we'll be back, but I expect you to be on your best behavior while we're gone."
"OK, bye." Carl said in a voice that sounded as if he wished that the two of them had left a long time ago.
Rick stared at Michonne the whole elevator ride up to La pêche. He couldn't help himself that dress was like something out of his wildest dreams. Plus the bright red lipstick she wore was making him want to kiss her full lips.
As soon as Rick and Michonne stepped into La pêche everyone stood up and started clapping.
Shane let out a wolf whistle. "Did I ever tell you that red is my favorite color?"
"I wish we wore the same size shoes. because those are some serious fuck me pumps." Amy said.
"Slay girl slay!" Annalise cheered.
Michonne hid her face in Rick's chest embarrassed by all the attention. "Thank you for all of that." Michonne said grinning broadly . She looked around the restaurant. "This place looks and smells amazing, thank you for going through all the trouble for the two of us."
The restaurant did look amazing. The table in the center of the room had been laid out for them. There was a white table cloth on the table and fancy linen napkins. The plates where fine china with a fancy gold trim and the flatware was gold also. The wineglasses had gold around their rims. The lighting had been lowered to the same level as candlelight and Luther Vandross was serenading them in the background. Annalise made fancy looking hors-d'oeuvre and petits fours that she served on saucers that had the same fancy gold trim around them. It was the kind of set up his grandmother had used when she used to have high noon tea with her historical society friends. Rick picked up a few of the devils on horseback and popped them in his mouth. The bacon wrapped oysters tasted even better than they looked.
"It was no trouble at all, beside this momentous occasion deserves to be celebrated." Annalise said. She picked up a tray of champagne flutes off of the table and began handing them out.
"Now that the guest of honor are here let's sit down and eat." Tyreese said and rubbed his hands together.
Rick pulled out Michonne's chair for her and then he sat down himself. She smiled at him in thanks and he squeezed her thigh under the table.
"I'd like to make a toast." Shane said as he stood up and clinked his fork against his Champagne flute. "To Rick and Michonne who found love in the time of Cadere. Your love and your marriage truly proves that love can be found if only we keep our eyes, mind, and hearts open." He finished the toast by tipping his glass. "To Rick and Michonne."
"To Rick and Michonne." Everyone called back.
"Thank you Shane that was a beautiful toast." Michonne said getting up and kissing him on the cheek.
"So how did the two of you meet, Carley, who came as Shane's date asked.
"Michonne came to my house to check up on me after I kept ditching the parent teacher conferences she'd been setting up."
"Oh so your a teacher." Carley said.
"Yes, but actually I think we really have Carl to thank for getting us together."
"Who's Carl?" Carley wanted to know.
"Rick's son." Shane told her.
"That's so cute." Amy said.
"He was only speeding along the inevitable." Rick said. "As soon as Michonne walked into my house and started yelling at me I knew she was someone I wanted to see again."
"Really?" Michonne said. "You never told me that."
"I guess I thought it was evident. I was drowning when we first met, and you were the only one to offer me a life vest. I lived in a town where everyone was afraid to tell me what I needed to hear because of who I was, but Michonne knew who I was even then and knocked some sense into me."
"So what about you Michonne, what made you think Rick was the one?" Carley wanted to know.
"His kindness." She replied. "It was exactly what I needed. He's such a gentleman and it had been such a long time since someone put my feelings first, even after everything he's been through."
"You two are going the distance." Annalise said. "Trust me I'm never wrong about these things."
"I already know." Rick said taking Michonne's hand. He did not do things by half measures. He wasn't marrying Michonne with the mind set that if things didn't work out they could just get divorced, no he took his vows seriously. He wanted to be with Michonne until death and whatever came after that.
After they polished off the hors-d'oeuvres and washed them down with champagne, Amy and Shawn cleared away the dishes, and Tyreese brought in the main course. Rick wasn't sure of what it was, but whatever it was made him drool and his stomach growl.
"It's my specialty. The rest of the guys on the team used to beg me to cook it." Tyreese said. His eyes were shining like two newly minted pennies as he set the dish on the table and pulled off the lid with a flourish. "Voilà, herb and beer braised rabbit." There was also a kale salad and hot buttered rolls to go along with the rabbit.
"Where'd you get the rabbit from?" Carley wanted to know.
Rick thought that she asked a lot of questions, but she was an investigative reporter and was probably curious by nature.
Tyreese didn't say anything he just looked helplessly to Shawn, who'd come as Amy's date, for help.
"Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies." Shawn answered.
"You got it from the rabbit run didn't you?" Rick pressed. "Carl told me the rabbits have been getting it on like there's no tomorrow, and that you have more rabbits then you can handle."
"Oh my god." Amy cried. "I held those bunnies. I petted those bunnies. Now I just ate one of those bunnies."
"Don't worry I've got something in my pocket that will make you feel better."
"You'd better keep it in your pocket too." Amy replied.
"What? No not that I meant I have a couple of joints."
"Oh." Amy said and laughed. "Why didn't you just say so?"
"I didn't want announce it in front of everyone in case some people don't puff."
"We're all cool right?" Carley asked
"Well I don't, but I don't care who does." Tyreese said.
"Anyone else object?" Carley asked. "No, well then light em up." Carley said slamming her fist on the table.
"This brings back memories." Shane said.
Shawn lit one of the joints. After taking a few hits he passed it to Amy who passed it to Michonne.
"I don't know , should I be doing this?" Michonne asked while holding the joint.
"Don't fuck up the rotation, eat , drink, and get stoned, for tomorrow we die." Shane shouted.
"Yeah come on Michonne it's what all the cool kids are doing." Amy said.
"You know this could literally be the last joint you smoke. You can't pass this up." Annalise reasoned.
"Hard to argue with logic like that." Michonne said and took a hit.
As Michonne sucked on the end of the joint with her bright red lips Rick felt his cock twitch. In that tight red dress she made every thing look sexy. Michonne smiled slowly and passed him the joint. He could hardly believe he was sitting here getting high, it seemed a stupid and pointless waste of time, but it felt like exactly the right thing to do. They all needed one night to escape who and what they were running from. Tonight they would celebrate without thought.
"This shit is the ooh wee, where did you get this weed from?" Annalise asked Shawn.
"I grew it, I'm growing it here."
Tyreese's eyes bugged. "You're growing weed here? Man, you're lucky your ass is white."
"Actually it was the army's idea, they wanted me to grow the marijuana for medicinal purposes. Or so I was told."
"Medicinal purposes my ass, they just wanted to get high." Tyreese said.
"Who cares, let's dance." Annalise said. "Come on Ty baby dance with me." Tyreese jumped out of his seat and grabbed his wife's hand. Like moths to the flame everyone headed out onto the dance floor.
"I'll turn on the stereo." Amy said. A few moments later Boogie Wonderland began playing from the huge speakers mounted on the wall.
Rick and Michonne started disco dancing. He pulled out all the moves he remembered from Saturday Night Fever. He hip bumped, dipped, and twirled Michonne around the dance floor. He love the sound of her laughter that trailed around her as she danced so much that he danced her across the floor, down a hallway, and into a pantry. The pantry must have been behind one of the huge stereo speakers because the music was so loud it rattled the cups.
"We're alone and no one would hear us." Rick whispered in Michonne's ear. He cupped her breast through the thin fabric of her dress and twirled his thumb around her nipple. Rick grinned wickedly when she bit her lip and moaned his name.
"We'd better not get caught." Michonne warned.
Rick backed Michonne up against the clear spot on the wall right behind the stereo speakers. He pulled her body into his and kissed her. He started off slowly with soft separated kisses and then his kisses grew longer, deeper, harder. He grabbed her hips and pressed his thick cock in between her legs spreading them apart, As he kissed the space in between her neck and shoulder he slowly pushed up her red dress watching as his large hands trailed the delicate red fabric along her toned thighs. Rick could feel the speaker's vibrations pulsating it's hedonistic beat through her body. The feeling made him feel insatiable for Michonne, like he couldn't get enough of her body under his hands fast enough.
Like a goddess in red Michonne tossed her locs out of her face her hair swung back in a graceful fall before swinging around her shoulders. She reached out and grabbed his hips and began to undulate against him . He could still feel their skin pulsing where the speakers vibrated, and with Michonne's warm firm body moving in time to the music Rick felt like he was in heaven. He lowered himself to her lips kissing her slowly and deeply.
"Oh god Rick this is so bad." Michonne panted as her eyelids flutter then her eyes closed.
"I know, don't you love it?" He asked and then kissed her neck.
"Yes." She hissed.
"Then tell me how you want me to do you?" He whispered into her ear.
"Hard and fast." Michonne said running her hand up under his shirt and then raking her nails down his chest.
Rick shuddered. So Michonne liked a bit of kink.
"We won't even take these off then." Rick said sliding her wet red panties aside. He yanked down his pants and let them fall down around his ankles. Michonne lifted one of her legs and hooked it over his forearm and Rick slid himself inside of Michonne causing her to moan out loud. She was wet, soft and warm and fit around him as if she were made for him. Rick closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against her's before moving inside of her. He stared at her nipples that had hardened through her dress and moved the fabric aside to lave one with his tongue.
"Move your hips." Michonne grunted and squeezed his ass to get him moving.
Rick did as he was obliged. Pulling out and then stroking back into her. He held on to her ass enjoying how it's warm roundness jiggled in his hands.
Michonne threw her head back and hit the wall behind her with a loud thud, but she didn't even seem to notice. She wrapped her arms around his neck and took the full lenght of him in. Rick began to stroke her.
"Oh Rick, fuck, fuck." She shouted.
"It's how you wanted it right?" Rick panted into her ear. "Hard and fast."
"Yes, yes, yes!" She cried over their skin clapping rhythmically together.
Rick groaned Michonne was so tight around him so damn tight. He gave her ass a squeeze in response to the feeling that was building inside of him. When she looked into his eyes that feeling only intensified. Those deep dark brown eyes had him hypnotized he reached out to touch her cheek wanting every part of him to be touching every part of her.
Michonne leaned forward and drew his lips into her full red painted mouth. Her lips were so full so luscious it almost felt like a sin kissing her. Surely he would have to pay for pleasure this exquisite. He could feel himself climaxing growing towards a state of pure ecstasy he'd never felt before in his life. His hands dug into her hips. He looked down and watched his cock gliding in and out of her, and then looked up at her face twisted beautifully with desire, he felt her nails digging into him as her body let go and she became helpless in the throws of her climax. It was like a shock wave he could see it starting in her and felt it flowing into him. As the orgasm washed over him Rick felt his arms shake and then his legs. The force of the orgasm seem to tear her name from him. He shouted her name and then collapsed onto her, and felt her own trembling arms sliding around him.
They didn't speak but this was a moment that didn't require words. Words had no proper weight to explain what had just transpired between them, besides they had grown past the need to fill up every silence with meaningless chatter. He was just enjoying this moment alone with her. He and Michonne didn't get much time together where it was just the two of them. He couldn't wait for her to become his wife so that they could create a million more memories like this.
"We didn't use protection. We'll have to be more careful." Michonne said.
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Would it be such a bad thing?" Rick asked.
"It wouldn't be a bad thing just a bad time."
Perhaps it wasn't the right time to be thinking about expanding their family, but the thought of the two them having a child together, a brother or sister for Carl and Judith made Rick smile.