Chapter 7

Michonne touched Rick's shoulder to wake him. It didn't take much to wake him even after things had settled down a bit in Alexandria.

"You okay?" He said with his usual gravelly morning voice.

"Yeah, wake up. We need to finish the dream today."

He looked over at the clock and noticed it was 4 a.m.

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Early. I just finished the dream."

He looked at her and sat up. She looked concerned and a bit agitated.

"Okay, but you're not okay. What's wrong?"

"The dream."

"If you don't feel like telling me about it, it's alright."

"You should hear it. All of it."

"Michonne." He said turning her face toward him.

"It's a good dream, really it is." She said looking into his eyes and smiling sadly. "We fought in several wars and lost a few more friends, but we now have all the surrounding settlements aligned, Alexandria is a growing, thriving community with everything Deanna put in her plans. There are schools, we're farming, making our own ammunition. We have livestock. Judith is 5 years old and in school. You have a lot less to do now because you have delegated some of your responsibilities to others. Babies are being born again."

He smiled now understanding the sadness of her smile. It was a beautiful dream, so beautiful it was heartbreaking.

Michonne came home after her shift on post. Rick was in the kitchen cooking dinner and talking to Judith.

"Hi Mom!" Judith called out and then quickly went back to practicing writing the letter A.

"Hey sweetheart. You too sweetheart." She said to Rick and kissed him on the cheek.

"How'd it go today?" He asked laying plates on the table.

"It was okay." She said dropping everything on the floor near the coat rack.

"You look tired."

"I am. I'm going to lay down for quick cat nap."

"Okay. Should we wait for you?"

"No, go ahead."

She lay down and was out within a matter of seconds.

"Michonne." Rick said shaking her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and looked around to notice the room was practically dark.

"How long was I out?"

"Two hours. Are you okay?"

"I just feel run down. Maybe I'm catching something."

Rick frowned remembering the last time someone caught something.

"Why don't you go see Lisa tomorrow, just to make sure it's nothing serious."

"Okay. Where's Judith?"

"Waiting for you to read to her."

"Oh!" Michonne jumped up. She never missed a reading session with their daughter.

The next morning she went to see the person Dr. Carson trained to take care of the people in Alexandria. After listening to Rick's concern about catching a cold, or the flu, it was her concern as well. The appointment was quick, there was no sign of flu, but the pregnancy test was positive. She was numb for an instance, and then quickly elated. She didn't think it was possible, but it was true, finally. A baby of their own.

After her appointment, she went to her shift on the wall. All shifts had been cut down to 4 hours, and even though they had expanded the wall, and there were more communities and no immediate threats, Rick still felt it prudent to have a watch on post.

She stood up there and thought about the baby growing inside her. She wanted to tell Rick right away and stay home with him, but it was just a 4 hour shift.

After her shift she nearly ran home. She paused at the door to take a deep breath, then she opened the door and walked in. Even though it was her turn to cook, Rick was in the kitchen again, but this time Judith was helping.

"Hey Mom!"

"Hey!"

"Did you see the doctor today?" Rick asked stirring something in a pot that smelled particularly good.

"Yes." She said grabbing a carrot. "I'm not sick."

"Good. I was thinking about that sickness at the prison."

"I know." She said leaning on the wall watching him at the stove. "Rick."

"We lost a lot of people." He said lifting a spoon to taste what he was cooking.

"Rick."

"Yeah." He said finally looking up at her.

"I'm pregnant." She said looking directly into his eyes.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, not sure if he should smile or not.

"You're pregnant?" He started walking toward her when she nodded with a slight smile. "You want to?" He asked putting his hands on top of her shoulders.

"Well it's too late if I don't." She said smiling. "This is the right time."

He let out the breath he was holding and hugged her.

"Congratulations." He said smiling.

"Same to you. I'll need to go to Hilltop and let Dr. Carson have a look."

"When?"

"Lisa thinks as soon as possible."

"Anything wrong?"

"No. Just to verify how far along I am. Where I think I am doesn't match the measurements of my abdomen."

Rick squinted putting his hand on her stomach.

"You didn't get that did you?" Michonne said tilting her head to the side.

He shook his head smiling.

"Big baby?" He said guessing.

The smile slowly disappeared from his face.

"I'm extremely happy about this. This is the right time."

Rick could hardly sleep that night. He stood in front of the window looking out, but he did not see the view. He was like that before Carl was born. There are many things that could go wrong, but the main problem in Rick's eyes was that there is still the issue of everyone being infected.

"Come to bed Rick."

He lay back down and took her in his arms.

"What's wrong?" She said turning to look at him.

"The normal stuff."

"Care to elaborate?"

He didn't answer.

"Rick. Having a child has never been easy, especially before modern medicine. I know what you're worried about. I'm not worried."

"But it could happen."

"And the earth could open up right beneath us and swallow Alexandria. Low probability in both cases."

He nodded his head.

"Did you always want to be a father?" She said feeling the need to change the subject.

He nodded and touched her stomach with his hand.

"Yes, always. When I was about 12, I told my father I wanted 2 sons just like he had. He told me to at least wait until I was married."

"I think I would have liked your father."

"I think you would have. He would have liked you too."

Michonne gave him a curious look.

"I know what you're thinking, but that man raised me to see the person inside, and not the color of a person's skin, and if he would have balked at my relationship with you, I would have called him on it."

Michonne nodded and smiled. She knew he would not have buckled under pressure from anyone.

"Were you and Lori planning on having another child?"

"We talked about it, but I don't think she was too anxious. You women are kinda particular about your figures."

She smiled.

"I think it was you men who set the standards for that. So how are you going to feel about me when I weigh 3 tons?"

He looked at her with a frowning smile.

"I have a strong feeling that I'll feel the same way I do right now. How are you going to feel about me? I might be the co-dependent type and gain weight just to make you feel better."

They both laughed.

"Did you want to be a mother before you had your son?"

"No. I wanted to be a Supreme Court judge. My career was my priority. Andre was…a pleasant surprise. I was miserable at first, but the first time I felt him move inside me, I was in love."

"I was the same way the first time I felt Carl move. They can make such a difference in your life."

"Yes they can. That's what you focus on, not on what could go wrong because plenty goes wrong all the time."

He nodded again and slid down in the bed.

"As usual you've succeeded in making me feel better. We'd better get some sleep for the trip to Hilltop."

"I was getting sleep. I should make you stay awake with me."

Before she finished the sentence he was quietly snoring.

She smiled to herself and went ahead and got up to get ready.

Dr. Carson did another blood test to confirm the pregnancy and estimated that Michonne was roughly 3 months pregnant. He got her ready for the ultrasound exam. Rick was nervous and Michonne took his hand. He was shaking and she tried soothing words to calm him down.

"Are you okay?" Dr. Carson asked. "You look a little pale."

"I-I'm fine." Rick said nodding.

Dr. Carson turned the machine on and applied the jelly to Michonne's abdomen.

"Oh my." Dr. Carson said.

"Is there something wrong?" Rick said.

"No, not at all. If you look here and here."

"I don't get it." Rick said. "What are you seeing?"

"Twins." Dr. Carson said smiling.

Rick let go of Michonne's hand and fainted.

She hopped off the table and helped Dr. Carson get Rick into a chair. He used smelling salts on him and he came to. Rick looked around the room as if he didn't know where he was.

"Are you okay?" He said looking up at Michonne.

"I'm fine, but you fainted."

He put his hand to his head and shook his head.

"Twins!" He said again looking at Dr. Carson. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, yes." He motioned for Michonne to get back on the table.

"I'll want to look again and get a picture for you,"

"Okay." Michonne said looking at Rick still sitting in the chair.

When the doctor pulled up the picture again, Rick stood and took Michonne's hand again. She watched as a smile formed on Rick's face.

"Twins." He said again, but this time not out of shock. He bent down and whispered in Michonne's ear. "Good job Mom."

She laughed and he kissed her.

"You'll need to take extra care since you're having twins. If you feel anything unusual, come in right away, and the last 3 months I'd like you to stay here at the Hilltop so you're close by. Twins have a habit of coming early."

"Alright Harlan, thank you." Rick said seriously. "I have a question. Does she need to take it easy?"

"That depends on you Michonne. Since this is not your first child, and you are in excellent shape, how much you do is your call."

She nodded and looked at Rick who looked away shaking his head. They were not going to agree on this.

Michonne's pregnancy went smoothly. Once a month she would go see Dr. Carson, and took care of herself as she usually did. She was being closely watched by Rick and Judith, who Rick coerced into being on his side where Michonne's health was concerned.

Exactly 3 months prior to her due date, Rick was up early and brought a bag up to their room. He opened the dresser drawers and started packing some of Michonne's things in it.

"Good morning." She said sitting up with some effort.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the Hilltop."

"It's that time already?" She said smiling.

"This may be a piece of cake for you, but I'm nervous."

"I know. We'll be fine. They're moving around well, you've felt them, but they're running out of room."

"Take it easy on your mom babies." Rick said to Michonne's stomach and kissed it twice. One for each child.

When they arrived at the Hilltop, Dr. Carson performed another ultrasound. Rick was there beside her as usual, and looked at the babies and could now see heads, arms and legs and…

"What's that?" Rick said pointing at the screen.

"A penis." Dr. Carson said moving the wand around Michonne's abdomen. "There's the other one." He said smiling.

"Both of them are males?" Rick said smiling as well.

"Poor Judith." Michonne said smiling.

Michonne's smile disappeared and turned into a frown.

"You okay?" Rick asked.

"I'm pretty sure I just had a contraction."

Dr. Carson sent Michonne to Barrington House with orders to get to bed right away. The time between contractions was long, but it was constant. Rick made sure she was comfortable, but actually was becoming a nuisance. The knock that came at the door was a welcome relief, no matter who it was. Rick went to the door and opened it.

"Hey Carl." He said hugging his son.

"I heard you two were here. How are you?" He asked walking over to Michonne. "I'm fine. It won't be long now."

"She's having twins." Rick said seriously. He was past the excitement, and now his concern was for Michonne's well-being.

"Of course. Neither one of you does anything half way."

"How's Enid?" Michonne asked.

"She's good. She'll be by later."

Michonne had another contraction. This one was harder than the others had been.

"Michonne?" Carl said taking her hand.

"That was a good one. It won't be long now." She said again.

"Carl, go get Dr. Carson please." Rick said looking closely at Michonne.

Carl left just as Maggie walked through the door. She took one look at Michonne and went to the bed.

"We need Dr. Carson." She said moving the pillows from behind Michonne's back.

"Carl went to get him."

The contractions came quicker and harder. Rick went to her side and took her hand.

"Leave Rick." Michonne managed to say to Rick.

He looked at her with his jaw set.

"You fainted looking at the ultrasound. I don't want you passed out on the floor. I won't be able to concentrate on what I need to do."

He swallowed hard and kissed her.

"Okay. If that's what you want."

"I do." She said grimacing.

"I think that'll be best." Maggie said, timing the contractions.

Rick nodded feeling totally useless, and walked toward the door. He looked back at Michonne very close to tears.

"You'll thank me later." Michonne said to him.

He stepped out on the second floor foyer and closed the door behind him. Dr. Carson and Carl were just coming up the stairs.

"How is she?" Dr. Carson asked.

"The contractions are coming harder and faster. She kicked me out."

"Good." Dr. Carson said going into the room.

Rick scoffed and walked over to the window overlooking courtyard and entrance to the Hilltop.

"Is she going to be alright Dad?"

"Yeah, but having twins is a little tedious."

Dr. Carson's assistant came running upstairs carrying 2 cases like Dr. Carson had.

"Dad, you wanna go for a walk?"

"No, but I think I should anyway."

He and Carl walked the grounds and Carl showed him various improvements that had been made since he was there last, but finally stopped talking when he saw his father wasn't listening.

"You know how Michonne is Dad. She's got this handled."

"I know, but…"

"Let's go back inside." Carl said taking note of his father's anxiety.

Suddenly from where they stood, they heard a blood curdling scream from Michonne. Rick and Carl took off at a run. When they got to the top of the stairs, Maggie was waiting for them.

"She's alright. That was the first baby."

"I'm going in Maggie."

She knew she wouldn't be able to stop him. She opened the door for him and he went in and walked right over to Michonne. He heard his son crying, but his main concern was Michonne.

"I asked you to leave." She said frowning.

"Actually, you told me to leave, but I'm not leaving your side again."

"You stay on your feet then Grimes." She said gripping his hand tightly.

Dr. Carson and his assistant worked quickly. The second baby was apparently a breech and they had to get him turned around.

Michonne screamed again as the baby came and Rick heard him cry. He smiled at Michonne but she had passed out.

"Harlan, she's out cold." Rick said concerned.

Dr. Carson quickly checked her pulse and listened to her heart.

"She's okay. I need to finish here and then I'll check further."

Rick was nervous and stayed by her side. He would not move, not even to look at the babies.

Maggie came and stood next to him.

"The boys are beautiful."

Rick nodded.

"I'll look on them later. I need to make sure she's okay."

When Dr. Carson finished, he went over to check Michonne's vital signs again. Rick had to bite his tongue in order not to ask questions while the doctor examined her. Dr. Carson looked up at Rick and saw how Rick was boring holes into him.

"She's okay Rick. She did pass out, but I can't tell you when she'll wake up."

"Could she die?" He asked bluntly.

"No Rick. Her blood pressure is good. I know this was childbirth, but it's also a form of trauma to the body. The body will do certain things to protect itself. This appears to be one of them."

Maggie pulled up a chair for Rick and he sat down. He sat with her for hours in the quiet room. The babies were with Maggie and Dr. Carson's assistant.

"I knew you and I would always be together, but I didn't know that there would ever be the right time for us to have children. I heard both of them cry. Maggie says they're beautiful. I had no doubt they would be. You're the most beautiful person I've ever met. I'll gladly say it again, you make me feel like I've always wanted to feel…"

"Like a man capable of satisfying a woman beyond anything she's ever known before?"

He looked down into her eyes and smiled brightly, grateful she woke up.

"Hey you." He said and kissed her forehead. "You feel okay?"

"Pretty good. How are our sons?"

"I don't know. They're with Maggie. I wanted to wait for you. You were out for about 6 hours."

She sat up and put her arms around him.

Dr. Carson peeked in and saw Michonne was awake.

"Knock, knock." He said walking in. How do you feel?"

"Pretty good." She said yielding to his examination.

"Can we bring them up now?" Maggie said poking her head in the door.

"Yeah, go ahead." Rick said.

"Everything looks good Michonne. You'll need to take it easy for a couple days, but you can get out of bed whenever you feel like it."

She smiled brightly getting real tired of that bed.

"Here we are Mom and Dad." Maggie said coming in with one baby and Carl with the other, and trailing behind them was Judith.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad." Judith said following instructions, to the letter, from Maggie to keep her voice down.

"Hey baby." Rick said bending down to kiss Judith. He then sat down on the bed next to Michonne and reached up to take a baby from Maggie, and Carl gave the other one to Michonne.

"Hello boys." Rick said smiling. They both fought back tears and kissed their babies.

"What are their names?" Judith said sitting on the floor in front of them next to Carl.

"Which one is the oldest?" Michonne asked the assistant.

"The one you're holding."

"This is Richard Jr. and you're holding Andrew James." She said to the baby Rick was holding.

Maggie stood back watching them and started to break down. She quickly left the room. Michonne looked at Rick and he motioned to Carl to hold Andrew.

"Here's your big brother Andy." Rick said handing the baby to Carl. He then stood up and went after Maggie.

He heard her crying down in the hall. He went into the room where she stood in front of the window sobbing almost uncontrollably. Rick went to her and put his arms around her.

"I miss him so much." Maggie said with her head on Rick's chest.

"I know."

She cried for a while and then stopped, but there were clearly more tears needing to come out.

"I'm alright, you go back to your family."

"Maggie, you're my family too. You need me more right now."

He walked her over to the sofa in the room and they sat down together. She leaned on his chest and continued to cry. Rick will always regret what happened to Glenn, but the guilt and blame he felt before was no longer there.

"I'm sorry." Maggie said sitting up finally.

"Why?"

"Because I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself, blubbering and getting snot and tears all over your shirt."

"I've had worse on my shirt."

They both laughed recalling all the blood and walker guts they had on them over the years.

"I miss your dad Maggie. He was the only man who wasn't afraid of me. He considered me and Glenn his sons. I loved them both."

"I know. Dad really liked you. He trusted you which says a lot about you. He trusted you before I did."

"Thank God you finally came around."

She laughed again and it made him smile.

"Are you okay here by yourself, you and the baby?"

"Yeah, I like it here. The people are really nice, and we're not alone, Carl and Enid are here."

Rick nodded and kissed her forehead.

"How have you been doing?"

"Really good. I'm happy."

"Good. You've earned that. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you."

He looked at her confused. As far as he was concerned, they all deserved to be happy.

"You took on what you didn't have to. You made yourself responsible for all of us. I believe you did that because you understand what love really means, and we followed you."

He hugged Maggie again.

"Thank you." He said with tears in his eyes.

"Everything okay?" Michonne said standing in the doorway.

"The better question is how you are?" Rick said getting up and walking over to her.

"I managed to feed the boys and their asleep now. Dr. Carson said we can go home tomorrow."

"So soon?"

She raised her eyebrows and smiled.

At 2 a.m. that morning, the boys were up impatient to be fed. Rick held one and walked around the room while Michonne fed the other.

"How long does breastfeeding last?"

"As long as I feel like doing it."

"How long will that be?"

She looked at him and laughed.

"Do you miss something?"

"Ah yeah." He said laughing too.

"Down tiger. At least 6 weeks."

"I'm sorry for sounding impatient. I'm not, it's just that I can't wait to spend some quality time with you again."

"As soon as they start sleeping through the night."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that we'll be doing this for a while. The only plus is that we don't have those old world 9 to 5 jobs."

"That's a great thing."

"I want our children to be close Michonne. They're going to be leaders in this next world, and have a hand in building this country."

"I agree, and Rick is going to have big shoes to fill."

"No pressure there. Thank your mom Rick."

"You're their father, and books are going to be written about you. We need to make sure we tell our children the whole story. We tell them everything, the good and the bad."

"I agree. I would want them to have the facts, before they run into the fiction."

He sat down on the bed beside her, and leaned in and kissed her.

"I love you Michonne."

"I love you too."

Michonne stopped talking and shyly looked at Rick.

"What are you thinking?"

"How beautiful that was."

"You see why I woke you up?"

"Yeah."

He looked into her eyes and seriously considered what he had to say.

"Do you think we could do that, I mean raise a family? I want that Michonne. I know in this world it will take a long time to establish a solid functioning system, and I think our children should have a hand in shaping it. You and I won't be here to see it, but we can plant seeds."

"I miss Hershel's farming metaphors. I miss seeing you digging in dirt."

She noticed that he was still serious.

"What's wrong?"

"Your dream. It all makes so much sense. From beginning to end, none of it is unobtainable. It's just that our immediate future is causing me to worry a bit."

"But you feel like fighting for it don't you?"

"Yes I do, to the death if that's what I have to do."

He looked down at his hand covering hers on the bed, then he looked into her eyes.

"I would have fallen in love with you before the outbreak. Your dream went right down into my soul and comforted me there. I have to have you in my life Michonne, no matter what."

He pulled her to him and held her.

"I'll always be with you." She said quietly.

"Out of all of this, what have I done for you? I can see where I've frustrated you, angered you, and even at times, provided humor for you, but sometimes I feel that I take from you more than I give back."

"Rick, you are the one man capable of satisfying me beyond anything I've ever known before. That's all I've ever wanted. You've covered all the bases with me Rick Grimes. I knew that the first time I looked into your eyes through that fence at the prison."

He was speechless. Again, she had disarmed him without firing a shot.

{fin}