Hi all – This is the last "chapter". However, I have one more post which will be the Epilogue. I hope to have it posted by next Wednesday (May 31), at the latest.
Thank you all so much for sticking with this story through the happiness and the heartache. I appreciate your support.
P.S. - Someone asked last chapter how long Michonne and Rick had been dating. As of LAST chapter it had been nearly a year, if you start with when they got back together right before Thanksgiving 2016.
Chapter Thirty-four
Washington D.C. (Suburbs) – November 2018
Light, beautiful and bright streamed through the large windows framing every wall and corner of the room, providing a wonderful view of the Mitchell estate. The property was unlike anything Rick and Carl had seen, land as far as the eye could see, with perfect landscaping of trees and flowers. There was even a small barn on the property that housed Michonne's Thoroughbred horse as well as others, and with the expanse of acreage there was plenty of space for riding. The house was also immaculate. It was four stories, had six bedrooms and 6.5 baths, with a huge gourmet kitchen, dining and great rooms and a large entertainment space on the lower floor. Carl had been in awe at the mini mansion and had asked if there were servants keeping the place in order.
Michonne had confirmed that there were, a stable hand to manage the horses, a cook to oversee all the meals and two maids to keep the place well organized and cleaned. It was the property of her parents who lived there on holidays and weekends, and the place to which they planned to retire in a few years. It was where Michonne and her brother had grown up, and despite it being a little overwhelming with its grand ambience and the fact that servants worked there, in the few hours that Rick had been in the home, he'd come to enjoy the place because it had been a significant part of Michonne's childhood.
They'd arrived in D.C. the previous night, two days before Thanksgiving, rejecting Mr. Mitchell's offer of a limo service. Instead they'd rented a car and drove to the posh property, where they'd be having their first holiday in D.C. with the Mitchell family. Over the past two years, since Michonne and Rick had been dating, there had been only a few occasions they'd spent time with their families. The first family outing had been at a Grimes Thanksgiving celebration in Eastman. Rick and Michonne had harbored no delusions about how the introduction would go, considering how Lori had attempted to paint the divorce to Rick's family, and their staunch conservative nature. However, the holiday had gone better than expected. No one was ready to throw a party in honor of their courtship, but everyone was respectful. Rick's uncle Larry and brother Gary had been the most courteous of them all. With the former privately telling Michonne that she was a welcomed improvement over Lori. His parents had been quite different, a little more uptight and obviously not approving of their relationship.
Nonetheless, though Michonne didn't think she'd ever be trading recipes with Rick's mother or calling his father to discover secrets about his childhood, both seemed genuinely interested in who she was and her relationship with their son, which had been better than the reaming Rick received from her mother during their first meeting.
Her family had converged on her for Christmas, coming to Atlanta for a visit. They'd all been hearing about the upheaval in her life – the change in jobs, the broken engagement from Mike, the sudden and serious relationship with Rick Grimes, and wanted to make sure she was okay. Michonne appreciated the concern, most especially from her father and brother, but she knew her mother driving such a visit meant trouble. They'd eaten Christmas dinner at the condo and her mother had used the opportunity to grill Rick on everything from his career ambitions, money he had (or didn't have), his divorce from Lori and his experience with dating women of color. Rick had been a "good" sport, but Michonne and her father had stopped the questioning when it became interrogative. It had been clear that her inquest was more about exposing Rick's flaws than wanting to get to know him and thus why her daughter loved him. The remainder of the evening had generally gone well with Rick building a strong rapport with her father and a tolerable relationship with her brother. The latter, like her mother, wasn't particularly thrilled with Michonne being seriously involved with a divorcee who had a child and whose income was meager in comparison to their family, but he didn't give Rick much shit about it, save for to warn him not to hurt his sister.
Rick sat comfortably on the plush couch, watching Michonne, who was dressed in paint splashed overalls with her hair pinned up, while using the radiance of the early morning sun to create a lovely work of art. She had missed the hobby, being as their lives had been so busy with work and spending time with each other, and had mentioned to Rick how this was one of the few great things about coming home, having the time and space to revisit the craft.
He loved watching her. He mused with contentment and pride. He loved these quiet moments with just them and the lively ones with his son. He loved their intersecting lives, but desired more. Though they were not married, they had gone through a lot to get to the point where most of the bullshit was behind them, and the past several months had not been no exception. He'd started his new job with MARTA, which just as he'd expected had been much different from anything he'd done with the King County Sheriff Department. The work was very busy and thrilling, good in that it was confined to what could be deemed as its own private city, the various train stations and buses, but more dangerous than anything he'd dealt with in Palmer. For with the trains and buses operating in a major city, came with it every crime imaginable and then some that were not fathomable. It was a bit of a culture shock, but a great challenge, providing him with extensive experience with varying situations, giving him a renewed enjoyment for his work.
His schedule hadn't been bad, so he and Michonne had been able to establish a routine of date nights alone and outings with Carl. Yet in the beginning, his new life in Atlanta had been terribly isolating. Although Morgan/Jenny and Darryl had frequently come up for visits, and he had Michonne, who'd been amazing, as had been her friends – Sasha/Bob, Maggie/Glenn, who were very welcoming, Rick felt like his world revolved too much around Michonne and she believed the same. Nonetheless, it had been difficult for him to expand his circle. Besides the demands of his job, spending time with Michonne and working to get Carl acclimated to living in Atlanta, Shane's case had finally gone to trial, which had taken up what little extra time he might've had to meet new people. For a time, he and Michonne's, schedules consisted of nothing but work and the trial, due to them both being key witnesses/victims to the crime. The proceedings had reopened old wounds, reminded them of the baby they'd lost, and the other difficult things that had been happening at that time. Thus, they'd become weighed down with the strain of it all and had occasionally argued when the stress grew to be too much, but they'd worked through it, not letting the pressure damage or destroy their relationship.
Once the trial was over, with Shane being convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to seven years in prison, things had gotten better on many fronts. Rick had been able to settle fully into his new place, - a nice rental home in the Druid Hills area, which had great schools and was only 10 minutes from Michonne. Carl, who'd missed his old friends and thus struggled with adapting to a new school, finally started to develop friendships and take to Atlanta as his home, which had been further helped by Rick getting him enrolled in the local adolescent soccer and baseball leagues. Lori, whom Carl stayed the weekend every other week, had become less of a nuisance, due in part to the boy expressing his desire not to see her if she was going to continually stir trouble, but mostly because she had a new man in her life, which left little time for her vengeful schemes. Moreover, Rick had come upon more opportunities to participate in after-hours activities with his colleagues – drinks after work, a family barbecue or a gathering at the gym, where he'd met more people, commenced new friendships, during a weekly game of basketball.
Through all the transition and challenges, he and Michonne had grown closer than they'd ever been. They made a point to meet daily for lunch, or have dinner at the home of one or the other, and always spent the weekends overnight together. They'd taken day trips as a family - to Amicalola Falls and Chattanooga, attended sporting events – Falcons and Braves games, which further bonded Michonne and Carl, who'd been getting along well since he'd confessed to her his fondness for their friendship. Additionally, they done some travel alone – a weekend in New York and most recently a trip to Cabo San Lucas. Though they weren't legally bound, weren't even residing in the same home, they had formed a family. They were making decisions together, working through the conflict in their lives and planning for the future. Withal, there were more discussions and decisions to come, inconsequential and life altering, and he was looking forward to all of it with his son and Michonne.
"So what do you think?" Michonne questioned as she glanced back at him, drawing Rick from his thoughts.
"What?" He distractedly asked.
"Of the painting." She replied with gentle scorn.
"It's interesting." He commented his focus now turning from her to the canvas that looked to be close to completion.
"You're bored." She sighed.
"I could never be bored watching you." He softly said.
"Now you're just being nice." She lightly jibed. "You don't have to stay and watch. You still have time to go riding if you'd like." She said, reminding him of Carl going horse riding with her brother and his wife, and one of her cousin's children.
"I'd rather be here with you."
"Suit yourself. I think a ride would be more fun, than literally watching paint dry." She smiled, briefly turning her attention to him again. "What?" She asked at the emotion she saw in his eyes, fastening her gaze to his, filling her heart.
"We dealt with so much for so long, Lori, Shane, Mike, my son, two years ago did you ever think we'd be here? Sitting in your parent's home talking about horseback riding and painting? Just, being happy?" He seriously asked as he stood from the couch and slowly walked towards her.
"Honestly, no." She quietly answered. "It was hard to see past the situation at the time. I didn't even know if we were meant to get here."
"But you kept believing?" Rick said more as a statement than a query, as he came to stand before her.
"Even when things were at their worst, when we were still so new and I thought maybe I should give up, some part of me still believed that somehow we'd be able to work through it all." Michonne confessed.
"So did I." He voiced as he gently touched her cheek, teasing a heat within her. "And we did."
"Yeah, we did." She murmured then took his mouth with slow passion, her paintbrush still in hand.
"When I met you that day on that deserted highway in Palmer, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd even seen." Rick disclosed as his head came to rest against hers, his breath deep and fervent, reflecting the power of the kiss they'd shared.
"I thought you were pretty hot too." She breathlessly laughed.
"I knew that you were going to change my life. You are still changing my life." He stated, having now slightly pulled back so that he could gaze into her eyes. "And we, you, me and Carl, are the better for it, which is why I can't help but imagine how wonderful it would be to spend every day in the same house, waking in the same bed, not trying to figure out whose turn is it to host dinner because we have a home together." He said causing Michonne to suddenly feel faint, her breath and heart to rush at the shock she was feeling in the implication of his words. "Baby this is not a hypothetical." He emotionally uttered, then dropped down on one knee and lifted his gaze to Michonne who was teary eyed and stunned, looking more beautiful than he'd ever seen her. "I have loved you since I met you. I know its cliché, but it's the truth." He declared as he took her left hand in his and tenderness welled in her heart. "And I can't imagine my life without you. So…Will you do me the honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?"
"Yes." Michonne tearfully sighed, prompting Rick to instantly jump to his feet and take her in his arms screaming "Yes" himself when she uttered "I love you" as he spun her around in uncontrollable joy, causing her to drop her paintbrush which she hardly noticed, before he stopped the spin to fervidly kiss her lips.
"Yes!" He sighed against her mouth, after reluctantly suspending their kiss.
"Did you think I was gone say no?" A weepy Michonne teased at his enthusiastic response, thinking how they'd touched on the subject of moving in together, ran hypotheticals in the past but had shelved the subject, planning to revisit it in a few months, but had yet to pick it back up.
"No." Rick confidently replied. "I'm just happy." He said then quickly pecked her lips. "We need one more thing to make it official." He proclaimed as he pulled the jewel from his front pocket, grasped her left hand in his, drew it to him then slipped the unique ring on her finger. It was white gold ring with a matted design of Black Rhodium leaves swirling about the band and a 3/4 size Asscher cut diamond at its center that was accented with two 0.25 round diamonds.
"It's perfect." Michonne expressed with joy, then captured his lips once more. "I have to call Sasha and Bob!" She excitedly exclaimed after suddenly pulling away. "But first Carl." She declared then grabbed his hand and moved to rush from the room.
"Carl already knows." He happily revealed, thinking how he'd told his son of his plans weeks before and the boy had fully supported his decision. "And Sasha and Bob kind of got a heads up before we left Atlanta."
"What?!" She stopped in her tracks, turning to face him. "I'll give you Carl because he's your son, but Sasha and Bob?"
"I needed some advice on when best to do it, before we left Atlanta, or here."
"No wonder Sasha was dodging my calls and barely answering my texts." Michonne realized aloud, giving him an amusing side eye.
"I guess she didn't think she could keep it secret if she talked to you." He sexily smiled as he pulled her to him, then kissed her mouth with longing and heat.
"Who else knows?" Michonne delightfully breathed.
"Your father. I asked him for your hand last month." He passionately whispered, before again taunting her lips. "And before you ask, he gave his blessing."
"How long did you have to twist his arm?" She lightly quipped.
"No more than Carl, Sasha and Bob. You know we've always gotten along."
"You're pretty dam wonderful. You know that?" She beamed with love.
"I am aren't I?" He smirked.
"Whatever." She playfully scoffed which was followed by their mouths eagerly meeting once more. "I can't wait to tell the rest of the family." Michonne giddily declared upon ending their kiss prematurely, frustrating Rick. "We may be able to catch Jason, Pam and the kids before they go out on their rid…"
"No." Rick huskily rejected, stopping her before she could escape his arms, holding her tightly gently against him, inciting her to gasp from the heat it stirred. "Your brother and the others can wait. We can tell them at lunch."
"Is that so?" She whispered with desire, when he answered with a kiss, hotly taking her lips, then sweeping her up in his arms, devouring her mouth as he carried her to the couch on the far side of the room.