"Stupid, damn switch. Son of a…"

Michonne knit her brow in amusement. The grumbles and soft curses were coming from behind a half-deflated Santa Clause. She looked down at her obedient companion awaiting a judgement call. Jackson cautiously sniffed a plastic snowman on the edge of the lawn, poking at it with his snout.

Good enough. She cleared her throat. "You need any help there?"

A reddened face popped out behind the saggy Santa. He stared at her out of breath, blinking in uncertainty.

She offered him a smile, raising her eyebrows when he didn't respond.

He shut his open mouth, scrambling to stand. "Sorry about that. I was just fixing this uh…," he pointed his thumb at the completely deflated Santa, struggling to find the word, "the uh…"

"Santa?"

"Yeah. That." He grinned, the tips of his ears glowed redder than before.

They nervously laughed, staring at each other for a moment.

He closed his eyes at his awkwardness, introducing himself. "I'm Rick, Rick Grimes. And this," he looked around his decorated yard, "is me trying my hand at Christmas decorating."

She hummed. "Not bad. Though it looks like Santa's given up on you."

He chuckled at the mess at his feet and nodded in agreement. He peeked up at her, hoping she'd tell him what to call the Christmas angel in front of him.

"I'm Michonne. This is Jackson." They looked down at the golden Lab who was trotting around a plastic candy cane sticking up from the ground. "We were just taking a walk."

He nodded, resting his hands on his hips. He did his best not to let her stunning beauty prevent him from holding a civil conversation. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of seeing you or Jackson around the neighborhood before," he casually commented, hoping he didn't sound like an overzealous neighborhood watch person.

"We just moved here last week, trying to find our bearings. So far, he's doing a better job than I am."

He walked over the Santa pancake, curious to know more about the stunning woman before him. "Yeah? Where'd you two move from?"

She knew better than to spill her guts to a complete stranger but she couldn't help but trust his warm gaze. She let out a long-suffering sigh, recalling all the recent moves she made. "Originally New York, then Dallas, and now King County."

He raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like a big change. Big cities to a small town like this." He wondered what had brought her to a small town like this but he was still a stranger to her. He didn't want to pry too much and end up scaring her off. He'd let her reveal as much as she wanted. He could be patient.

"Yes, it is," she nodded her, watching Jackson cautiously approach Rick and sniff his shoes. She gently smiled at her best friend's fearlessness. "But I'm trying to get used to it. I think we'll be here for a while."

He mirrored her smile, reaching down to scratch behind the friendly dog's ears. Before he could ask her more, she grinned brightly at him, rendering his tongue useless.

"So your family must really go all out for Christmas then. You've got quite a winter wonderland going on here."

He scoffed lightly, disbelieving of her compliment. "Yeah, it's actually my first time. I get the kids this Christmas so I wanted to try something different."

He had no idea what he was doing but his kids were still at an age that a few Christmas decorations would impress them long enough to bring that bright sparkle in their eyes. If all he had to do was stick a few decorations around the lawn to get that look, he'd spend all weekend sparring with deflated Santas and tangled Christmas lights.

Michonne nodded in understanding. He was divorced. With kids. Shared custody. Possibly single. Not that it matters, she dismissed. She had too much on her plate to include an adorable man who stumbled through putting together a Christmas display just to watch his kids' eyes light up.

And yet…

"Do you need any help? Jackson and I have the afternoon free," she tempted him, further adding, "We've never had a lawn to decorate before. Maybe you could give us some tips?"

His bashful smile made her stomach flip-flop.

This morning when he'd woken up alone, he resigned himself to accept that Christmas wonder only existed in his kids' eyes; it couldn't exist anywhere else. But with a simple request, the beautiful stranger's excited gaze and gorgeous soul penetrated his wall of doubts and warmly settled in his chest. He had no idea why but it felt as if he'd been searching for something all his life and had finally found it. He couldn't let this pass him by.

He softly replied, "Yeah, I'd like that."

The fast friends spent the rest of the day attempting to revive a flat Santa and rekindling the Christmas wonder in their souls.