Maybe I won't finish this in three chapters. Lol. If you can believe it, I planned more for this chapter, but it just got way too long, which is what happened with the last chapter. So now I've added another chapter to this story. SMH. Let's just say I'll be wrapping this up soon.

Thanks everyone for the continued support! It's much appreciated.

Neecee81 – Welcome to the story. I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

courtgirl26 – Welcome!

Chapter Twenty-nine

For Rick gift wrapping had always been tedious, much like a chore, but somehow Michonne had made it engaging. He knew because her creative mind was in its element with colorful paper and bows and gifts that needed to be cloaked in surprise. She'd wrapped most of the gifts he'd purchased for Carl in a traditional manner, occasionally demanding his finger or two to assist her with taping the decorative paper down. However, she had ventured outside of the norm and wrapped a couple of his gifts in a way that was unique to Carl.

One gift was wrapped to look like a stick of peppermint candy, which was a favorite of Carl's, with red and white striped paper covered in clear soft plastic that was tied with red bows on each end. Another gift was wrapped in the traditional holiday paper with a red background. However, Michonne had added a strip of black paper with white dashes down the middle, made to look like a road, extended around the present, then mounted (8) Hot Wheels cars on top of the box as if each were being driven down the makeshift highway. While completing what Michonne always found was a fun task, she and Rick talked past Christmases again, revisiting a subject they'd touched on months ago. Rick had told her about his best Christmases, which all sounded like what Christmas should be – great food and desserts, nice gifts and most importantly a joyful time with family.

Michonne had listened in awe and a hint of sadness at what she'd never had, due the holidays with her family that consisted of various outrageous incidents from accusations of infidelity to vexation over a "cheap" gift received. She did mention how she was excited about seeing the family members she hadn't seen in a while. However, she wasn't looking forward to the inevitable drama that would ensue. Rick had been encouraging, saying that maybe things would be different, better this year than in years past. "I hope so." Michonne had genuinely replied. After she finished wrapping Carl's gifts, she'd neatly gathered up all the things she'd used and began putting it away in the hall closet when she felt strong arms around her, pulling her against him, before he then hotly kissed her neck.

"Thank you." Rick sexily asserted.

"I don't mind." She uneasily stated, her body fighting with her mind, the former heated by his closeness, but her mind unable to fully engage giving herself to him again. "I enjoy wrapping gifts. Speaking of, I think I'm ready for that cheesecake we brought home. How about you?" She said as she gently extracted herself from his embrace and turned to face him.

"I can wait." He whispered, his eyes smoldering with fervor, bound to her gaze, before he moved to caress her lips with his.

"Rick." She sighed, dropping her eyes and head, blocking his kiss.

"What's wrong?" He gently asked, then waited patiently for her to respond.

"I'm not ready." She softly replied, her eyes still down.

"It's too soon, after?" He realized, kicking himself within for not putting it together sooner.

"Yeah." She quietly confirmed. "I'm sorry…" She tried to apologize.

"Don't." Rick interjected in the same quiet tone as he lifted her chin, drawing her somber gaze back to his. "It's okay." He assured, then pulled her to him, and kissed her forehead, easing the tension she felt, filling her with calm.

"I still want you." Michonne voiced with impassion, after she reluctantly pulled away to recapture his stare. "More than you know, but…I need time."

"I know." He softly uttered as he gently stroked her cheek. "And I'm here. As long as it takes." He vowed, then chastely brushed her mouth with his, then took her in his arms again.

Rick lay in bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above, holding Michonne close, as his mind replayed the events of the night before. After their talk about her reluctance to make love, he'd mentioned that it was getting late and suggested he leave to try and find a hotel. He'd let her know that he was more than capable of keeping himself under control. Nonetheless, he didn't want him staying the night to make her uncomfortable. However, she'd rejected this, telling him that despite her hang up, she wanted him to stay, and not in the guest room, but in her room, in her bed, if he felt comfortable doing so. He'd been relieved at her insistence and was pleased that she'd asked him to stay. So he had.

They'd retrieved the cheesecake from the fridge, then ventured to the living room, where they'd snuggled on the couch while watching Sharnado: The 4th Awakens, getting a good laugh at the ridiculous storyline, the bad dialogue, and horrendous CGI, before each, tired from the long day, showered and then gone to bed. Deciding to call it a night could've been extremely awkward, but somehow they'd known how to handle it. He'd finished his shower after her and when he climbed into bed and moved close to her, gently nestling her in his arms. He'd quietly asked. "Is this too much?" "No" She'd whispered into the darkness. Not long after, the weight of sleep was pushing at the fringes of his mind, wanting to take hold and before he'd realized he'd fallen into a peaceful slumber.

Even though things had not gone as expected – his encounter with Angela, their discussion about the future, and Michonne not being ready to make love, it had been a good first date, after the time they'd been apart, but he wanted today to be better…

"Any thoughts on what we can do today?" He whispered into the quiet. He had his ideas, but he first wanted to see where her head was.

"Maybe sleep in?" She quietly suggested, then snuggled closer to him.

"How about we make this a Christmas to remember?" He posed.

"Thanks, but I think I've had enough of those, and I'm sure I'm going to have one more in a couple weeks when I go to D.C." She responded in a light tone. "Besides it's not even Christmas ye…wait, what do you have in mind?" She asked, sitting up to look him in the eyes.

"A Christmas tree, some lights, maybe a stocking or two by the fireplace."

"A Christmas tree?" Michonne smiled in spite of herself. "You know I don't do Christmas. And even if I did, I would not want one of those plastic atrocities in my house."

"I'm not suggesting a fake tree for a Christmas virgin like you..."

"What?! A Christmas virgin." She laughed. "What does that mean?"

"That you've never experienced the true beauty of the Christmas holiday." He explained with a smile as he caressed a lock of her hair.

"I've experienced the beauty of Christmas." She lightly countered. "When we were shopping yesterday, I…saw the Christmas spirit. I felt it, and it was… beautiful." She claimed, causing Rick to laugh.

"That was only the tip of the iceberg." He huskily whispered, then kissed her lips. "You haven't felt nothing yet." He said, the implication in his tone, stirring an intense warmth within her. "To start, I'm thinking we go out this morning to a Christmas tree farm, there's got to be a few locally." He thought aloud. "And find you a real tree."

"I haven't agreed to a tree." Michonne quipped. "And even if I did, it's 8 in the morning and cold outside…."

Rick briefly moved away, retrieving his phone from the dresser on his side of the bed, then turned back to her and replied. "It's 35 degrees outside."

"Um, that's cold. I want to stay in bed, under the covers, at least for a little while." She groaned as she cuddled up to him again.

"Ok." He conceded with a sigh, for the first time since Michonne had told him she wasn't ready to make love, struggling with her closeness, to keep his extremities cool. "But only because snuggling with you is more intriguing than looking for a Christmas tree." He added, making her laugh, which inspired him to tentatively take her mouth, slowly lovingly, planning only to just get a taste, when the kiss quickly turned passionate, driving Michonne to suddenly pull away, shyly casting her eyes down. "I'm sorry." He unevenly voiced as his body trembled with fire when her phone dinged with a text, making for a welcomed distraction from the awkward moment. Michonne grabbed her phone from where it lay on the nightstand and read the message.

"It's Sasha. She and Bob are inviting us to brunch." She revealed. "What do you think? You want to go?" She said, shifting her attention back to him.

"I don't know if I'm ready to meet more of your friends after my…encounter with Angela last night."

"Angela is not representative of all my friends. I assure you, Sasha and Bob are nothing like her."

"So brunch with them should be a cakewalk." Rick jokingly declared.

"I didn't say that."

"So I WILL be on the hot seat?" He sighed, feigning exasperation.

"No. But if things do get out of hand I'll step in."

"Alright." Rick agreed. "But if things do go bad, you'll have to return the favor."

"Meaning?"

"I'll tell you when the time comes."

Hours later…

There would be no favor to return, because brunch had gone well, better than Rick could've ever imagined. They met Sasha and Bob at the One Eared Stag in the Old Fourth Ward of downtown and had a lively discussion while devouring a generous serving of Shrimp and Grits. Upon first meeting the couple, Rick was more nervous than he'd realized, but the initial introductions had gone well, with Sasha and Bob requesting details about where he was from and how he got into law enforcement, with them sharing the same details about themselves, before they naturally eased into talking various topics of common interest. They, Rick and Bob, because Michonne and Sasha could care less, debated whether the Falcons had the momentum to make it to the Super Bowl and win. Rick thought they could go all the way and win it all and so did Bob, to a point. He thought they could make it to the Super Bowl but he didn't think they had enough to win it all. Football had morphed into a discussion about the sports they'd played as teens, which had brought Sasha and Michonne back into the conversation.

Michonne had mentioned what they all knew, how she was forced into Tennis and horseback riding, the former she hated, the latter she loved. "I always wanted to do track and basketball, but my parents wouldn't have it." She'd said. Sasha had disclosed what only Rick didn't know, which was that she'd done cheerleading and track. Rick had talked of his "successful" high school football career and spending most games on the bench when he was on the basketball team, while Bob had only run track saying he just wasn't mentally build for football even though he loved the game. The conversation had then moved to their kids and the activities in which they were involved which somehow landed on their holiday shopping for them. Sasha and Bob talked about scaling back on their purchases for their two little ones, who were four and six, this year. "We bought entirely too much last year." Bob had said, with Rick stating that he'd done the same when Carl was younger. However, he was now less eager to go overboard, considering his son oftentimes didn't need so many toys and hardly played with them all, which Sasha and Bob concurred, saying that was the situation with their kids now. "We never planned it that way. We always planned to be more conservative when buying toys for the kids, but it just didn't work out like that." Sasha had voiced. "There's a lot of things about us that didn't go as intended." Bob said.

"You're telling me." Michonne lightly scoffed.

"Argh here she goes." Sasha rolled her eyes, making Rick curious and Michonne and Bob laugh.

"Why? What happened?" Rick asked.

"Sasha here, wouldn't have given Bob the time of day if it weren't for me." Michonne revealed in a near boast.

"He just didn't seem like my type." Sasha defended with no qualms.

"I had to convince her to go out with him, now here they are." Michonne added with admiration.

"You played matchmaker?" Rick asked with surprise, looking her way.

"It wasn't matchmaker." Michonne played it down as her hand faintly moved over his thigh, warming him. "I saw two people that were right for each other and nudged them in the right direction."

"I can't see it."

"Can't see what?" Michonne faked a retort.

"You being this hopeless romantic, "nudging" people together."

"What? I'm a romantic." Michonne declared, feigning being offended. "Sometimes." She then tacked on.

"Um hm, that's what I thought." Rick deduced with a smile, gazing at her with love, wanting to kiss her so much, but knowing it would make her terribly uncomfortable with her friends sitting across the table; thus, he refrained.

"Well that "sometimes" got me to give Bob a chance." Sasha said, rejoining the conversation.

"How long have you been together?" Rick inquired.

"Ten years." Sasha answered. "We dated for two and been married for eight. We've been together almost as long as I've known Michonne."

"Now how did you two meet?" Rick had then asked, referring to her and Michonne.

"By chance." Sasha replied.

"I'd just moved here and a "friend" invited me to a party that ended up being a complete bust. I was leaving when I ran into Sasha and Maggie who were planning to walk from Boulevard and Woodward to the King Memorial MARTA station at 1 in the morning."

"It was stupid." Sasha chimed. "At the time that wasn't the best neighborhood. Even now it still has its issues, but we were determined to go. The MARTA buses had stopped running, and Maggie was devastated cause her Glenn had broken up for the um teenth time and Rob was being an ass, my guy at the time. So, we thought we'd be defiant and walk to the station." Sasha said to a completely enthralled Rick who loved learning more about Michonne's past. "Mind you that's at least a twenty-minute walk and we wouldn't have made it to the station before the trains stopped running anyway."

"So what happened? You saw them and picked them up?" He asked, turning his attention to Michonne.

"Michonne to the rescue." Sasha exclaimed.

"Stop." Michonne gave her friend a modest scold and smile. "Yeah." She continued. "I was headed home cause Jeff and I had a big fight. My guy at the time. He wanted to stay at the party and I didn't. We were all having guy trouble that night." She shook her head at the memory and Sasha agreed with a nod. "I recognized them from the party, walking in the dark and asked if they wanted a ride."

"We jumped at the chance." Sasha stated. "Started talking on the ride to the train station and realized we didn't live that far from each other, had a lot in common, the most being at the time, our men acting like asses. So, we decided we weren't ready to go home and hung out instead."

"We ended up going clubbing and closed the night at IHOP on Ponce. We've been friends ever since."

"Those were fun times." Sasha sighed with nostalgia.

"They were." Michonne agreed.

"Don't tell me you miss it?" Bob commented.

"A little." Sasha answered. "There was a freedom to that life, being young untouched by the world, and free of responsibility."

"Ok." Michonne concurred as Rick aimlessly, affectionately caressed her back.

"So you would go back to being 21-22 if you could?" Bob asked.

"No, but surely you can relate to the freedom of being 21?" Sasha asked.

"Maybe too much freedom." Rick piped in.

"Oh really." Michonne looked his way with a surprising smile. "What mischief were you up to at that age?"

"You don't want to know." He smirked.

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy." Sasha jumped in. "You've got to share at least a little bit of dirt."

"Man I should've warned you, my wife is like the Dirt Devil Dash, if there is dirt, she will seek it out and expose it." Bob said.

"If she's a Dirt Devil Dash shouldn't she be cleaning it up, not exposing it?" Michonne teased her friend and from there they'd got into a long discussion about their twenties, what they would keep as is and what they would change knowing what they know now, with Rick mentioning he had a few drunken weekends of his own at that age that didn't go over that well with him being new to the force and married, but he matured past that phase quickly with the responsibilities he had at the time. They'd continued to reminisce about when they were very young and deciding on life, careers, loves, when the conversation eventually drifted to the music and movies of the 1990s before they'd eventually wrapped up breakfast, with Sasha and Bob telling them they promised Tyrese and Sheila they'd pick up the kids by 1:30pm.

"And we still have to pick up a tree." Rick voiced as they all prepared to leave.

"A tree?" Sasha questioned with confusion. "Oh, a tree." She exclaimed with realization.

"Rick, you're kidding." Michonne sighed in exasperation, even though she knew he'd have no problem convincing her.

"Not kidding." He differed.

"You're getting her to do Christmas." Bob smiled.

"I'm trying." Rick stated, with a laugh.

"Well good luck." Bob said. "Sasha and I have been trying to get her to at least do a tree for years, with no luck."

"Maybe this year that'll change." Rick said, as he gave Michonne tender eyes and brought her hand to his lips, kissing it lovingly.

Thirty minutes later…

Rick had finished a difficult call with Carl, who was still making it very clear that he wasn't happy with him being in Atlanta with Michonne, before they were driving to some Christmas Tree Farm, south of the city, which Rick had found when he'd googled it on his phone. The drive was traffic free, quiet and companionable, allowing them both to get lost in their thoughts. Michonne didn't want a tree. She mused as unreasonable anxiety made her nervous at the idea. It would require work and watering, something she didn't have the time to do. Plus, she wasn't into Christmas like that. She never was. So why are you doing this. She asked herself the pointless question, that wasn't the dilemma her nerves were attempting to make it. She was doing it for Rick. He wanted to do this for her, to show her how great Christmas could be, drama free and joyful, and she was more than willing to allow him to try. She thought as she gazed his way, the love elevating in her heart at his attentiveness to her in every way.

"So lunch was nice." Rick said, glancing her way with a smile. "I'm glad we went. I like Sasha and Bob."

"Yeah, they're good people, great friends, and they like you too." She replied, still smiling his way.

"You think so?" He seriously asked, briefly catching her eyes in surprise.

"Pretty sure of it." She declared, amused at the smile that broadened on his face, as she recalled the text she'd received from Sasha before they were good and settled in the cars and headed their separate ways. 'He's a keeper. Better keep him. We'll talk later ' The message had said. "Sasha thinks you're a keeper." She confessed.

"Really?" Rick grinned, turning his eyes to her once more. "What do you think?"

"I'm still deciding." She uttered in jest, then slipped her hand over his knee and gentle squeezed it, heating him and heightening his bliss.

They arrived at the Christmas Tree farm 10 minutes later. It was a place that was 30 miles outside of Atlanta in Hampton, Georgia. It was quaint little town with endless subdivisions of beautiful homes, but not much else. It was a nice area, but a little too country for her taste. However, Rick kind of liked it, the country feel of it all, the beautiful homes, but he did have to admit that not having the convenience of restaurants and shopping was particularly unappealing, especially when compared to the accessibility Atlanta provided to such things.

"A real tree." Michonne stated aloud after Rick helped her from the car. "I don't know about this." She let her nerves speak again. "Aren't real trees a lot of maintenance?"

"Everything you need to know, I'll show you." Rick quietly vowed as held her eyes, his gaze rousing tenderness within her, while he slipped his hand in hers, then kissed her lips, further easing her frivolous concern.

"So how does this work? We pick out a tree and they cut it for us?" She then asked as they begin walking towards the main lot.

"No. We pick out a tree, and I'll cut it down."

"What? No." Michonne rejected and instantly stopped their trek.

"Michonne…"

"Your hand may be better, but it's not fully healed and you have to drive back to Palmer tonight." She voiced with concern. "You can't be chopping down trees like some kind of lumberjack. You'll be too exhausted to drive back home." She seriously stated, inciting Rick to die of laughter at her lumberjack comment, which in turn inspired mirth within her. "This isn't funny." She then added as she struggled to keep a straight face.

"I know. And you may have a point." Rick admitted, after he got his amusement under control.

"I do have a point." She contended, again serious. "You need to be fully alert driving home tonight. I don't want you falling asleep on the road."

Just so happens her fear of Rick turning into a lumberjack wasn't an issue at all, for the Christmas tree farm didn't allow patrons to cut their own trees due to the risk of liability. Plus, for all his bravado about chopping down the tree Rick had not brought one tool to assist him with that task. The experience had been fun. They'd walked the lot hand in hand, battling the strong chill that had not left the air with the lateness of the day and assessed the inventory of trees. They were all beautiful trees and thus, they at one point had difficulty narrowing the selection down to what they wanted. What, "they" wanted, Michonne had realized halfway through the process, that Rick had somehow managed to get her engaged in this. She was beginning to get excited at the prospect of a tree in her home, which made her feel, contented, happy. They'd run into other couples who were having the same dilemma and briefly conversed with them about the beauty of the trees and the difficulty in choosing from such a great selection. Nonetheless they'd eventually narrowed their search to the Cedar and a Fraser Fir. They'd ultimately gone with the 6' foot Cedar. Both didn't know why, except that they just liked it a little more than the Fir. In no time, the workers at the farm had the tree, chopped, shaken, tapered, tied atop the car and was sending them on their way.

With their next stop being decorations for the tree. They'd spotted a great shopping area in McDonough, a town north of Hampton, with several stores and restaurants on their way back to Interstate 75 and had stopped in at a Hobby Lobby that was amongst the choices. Neither had ever been to the store, but Michonne figured it would be similar to a Michaels or Home Goods, which wasn't too far off. They had lots of craft items and general knickknacks for the house, but a wonderful Christmas section with tons of décor. They had a nice variety of the standard glass and cloth balls often seen on Christmas trees, but also some themed ornaments for those who desired something slightly different from the norm.

"I don't even know where to start." Michonne said, looking at the vast selection of ornaments and various types of décor, thinking she should be right in her element due to her love of anything decorative and artsy, but right then was feeling a bit overwhelmed by how much there was to see. Rick had then made things simple by suggesting they start with picking lights for the tree. So, that's where they'd gone to the light section, easily making a choice to go with the color mini lights, which had at first surprised Rick. For most people seemed to select the clear or white lights, maybe because of the sleekness and sophistication of the look, but Michonne had gone with color, which he quickly came to realize was due to her artist mind, that was drawn to color.

"What about the red and gold balls?" Rick suggested, when they moved on to find a few ornaments for the tree.

"I don't want any plastic balls." Michonne nixed, her eyes catching what looked like a glass blown ornament which had been decorated with a beautifully hand painted scene. Rick had then moved to place an ornament that had caught his eye, a white ball with a hand painted picture of a football player catching a ball and surrounded with green leaves and holly, into their shopping cart. However, Michonne stopped him asking what it was. She'd immediately rejected the décor citing it was about football and it was a plastic ball which was not something she wanted on the tree, but he'd managed to argue his fondness for the ornament and its uniqueness which should meet her criteria of an "artistic" ornament. Michonne had grudgingly relented before returning her attention to the glass blown adornments which she was still debating whether to purchase.

"For you not to be into Christmas, you sure do have a strong opinion about what type of ornaments you want on the tree." Rick noted with smile, drawing her eyes back to him.

"Just because I'm not into Christmas, doesn't mean I don't have an opinion about its décor." She lightly countered. "Besides this is going to be a tree that's in my house. At the very least it needs to be appealing to me." She said, which made Rick laugh. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? Turning me on to the... 'Christmas spirit."

"I can't say I'm displeased." Rick admitted without hesitance, then kissed her lips, making her smile more. "So you don't like any of these ornaments for the tree." He said pointing out the variety of balls around them that came in different, colors shapes and sizes.

"They're all beautiful, but if we do a tree next year I want it to be decorated with ornaments that are unique, original." She stated without thought as she finally decided on the glass blown ornaments putting four in their cart. "I don't want it to look like every other tree out there."

"You just said we." He softly uttered as watching her with love as some other decorative item caught her eye.

"Huh?" She distracted stated and looked his way again.

"You said if we do a tree next year." He repeated, his heart full at what he knew but she hadn't voiced before that she wanted a future with him.

"This is happening now, but I'm still not completely sold on this." She said, completely missing what he was saying, not realizing the inference in what she'd said moments before. "Next ye …" Before she could finish her thought, Rick surprised her by pressing his lips to hers, first tentatively, tenderly, the gradually going deeper, taking her mouth with passion and love, wanting in that moment for her to know how much he loved her.

"What was that for?" She shyly breathed when he pulled away, his mouth just inches from hers, his hand caressing her cheek, making her feverish, the yearning it stirred within, scaring her.

"Nothing." He uttered, then reassured her with a kiss, gently brushing his lips against her forehead, letting her know that he still expected nothing from her, he just loved her so much. Michonne pulled back to look in him the eyes, to wordlessly convey that he didn't scare her, but the act of making love to him again did.

"Let's finish this and get out of here." She stated, then chastely pecked his lips before they found a simple, but beautiful tree skirt and headed for the register.

Two hours later, they were home having eaten dinner – baked salmon and salad, which she'd prepared, erected the tree and decorated it. It was strange seeing a Christmas tree, adorned with the few ornaments they'd bought and shining beautifully with colorful lights, in the middle of her living room with a blaze burning in the fire place nearby. The only time she'd ever seen a tree in her home was back in D.C. when she was a child. After the fiasco of so many Christmases there, she'd vowed to never "celebrate" Christmas again. However, this experience felt surreal, and strangely exhilarating, while yet stirring some not so pleasant memories. This was good though. She decided, now thinking how she and Rick spent the hour decorating the tree watching Christmas movies that were airing on network TV, none of which she'd ever scene – How the Grinch Stole Christmas and a Charlie Brown Christmas. She'd cherished the experience and found both movies wonderful. This was already turning into a great Christmas. She could not deny.

"What do you think?" Rick asserted as he returned to the room, coming to stand at her side, slipping his arm around her then kissing her temple.

"It's nice." She sighed, at the feel of his loving caress.

"Just nice?" He questioned, capturing her eyes.

"No. It's beautiful." She acknowledged, no longer able to keep the joy off her face, expressing how much she loved it.

"Happy I convinced you?" He beamed.

"I'm happy."

"That's all I wanted." He whispered, then gently took her lips.