Chapter 3

Exhausted. That was the only word running through Michonne's head. She walked up the short set of steps to her house, and collapsed into one of the porch chairs. She hadn't felt so drained since after the prison fell. The talk with Deanna didn't go well. She knew it would be a hard sell to plead Rick's case, but she hadn't expected the woman to be so vehement that Rick was a bigger threat than everything that's outside of those walls.

Rick was right. She wanted to work with the people of Alexandria, but they just didn't get it. She knew Rick wouldn't go quietly. She knew she and the rest of the group wouldn't let Deanna exile their leader. Michonne rubbed her eyes, and sat back in the chair. She needed a few more minutes of peace before she had to warn the others that another battle was in their future.

"Michonne?" She heard a tentative voice call her. She opened her eyes and saw Carl standing at the foot of the steps. His hat was slightly crooked and he had a look of determination on his face.

"Carl," She stood up, and walked across the porch and met him at the top of the steps, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Carol's?"

"I snuck out when she was changing Judith. I want to see my Dad."

Michonne reached up and straightened his hat. "I don't think that's a good idea right now, kid."

"I need to know he's okay."

"He's not in a great head space right now. Give him a few more hours to himself."

Carl looked down at his feet. When he looked back up all of the determination had drained from his face, and he looked his age again. "Is he like he was at the prison? You know, how he lost it after mom died?"

Michonne sighed and gestured for Carl to sit in one of the porch chairs. She sat back in the chair she'd vacated earlier. "Your dad is a complicated man," She paused trying to think of the right words, "It's hard to be a leader. It's hard to be responsible for keeping so many lives safe. Sometimes the weight of that gets to be too much, and the stress of it all comes out in strange ways."

Carl was silent as he took in all of what Michonne said. "So what's up with him and Ron and Sam's mom?" He finally asked.

Michonne leaned back in her chair. She had almost forgotten how perceptive the young man could be. "What do you think is up with them?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've seen the way he looks at her. It's weird. I think he likes her or something. But," He paused and shook his head, "Never mind."

"No, tell me. You know you can tell me everything. We're buds right." Michonne smiled at him.

"At first, I never thought he would ever like anyone like that again after Mom. But I was just a kid then. I didn't know any better."

Michonne smile a little bigger at that. "But what do you think now?" She asked.

"I think I want him to be happy, and I know he needs more than me and Judith to be happy."

"That's not true, Carl. You and your sister are his world."

"He loves us. He loves us more than anything, but we can't be everything to him. I'm growing up and Judith will too. He needs some other form of companionship. He should have some type of adult companionship." Suddenly embarrassed, Carl stood up and walked to the porch railing and looked out at the mini lake in the courtyard. Michonne watched him in silence allowing him to take the time he needed to get his thoughts together. He turned back to her after a few minutes.

"Jessie seems like a good person. She's always really nice to me when I go over to see Ron, but she's married. Carol told me Pete beats her, and I understand why Dad tried to save her. It's what he does. But I don't think she's the right person for him."

"Why not?"

Carl avoided the question. "I know what happened between Mom, Dad, and Shane. He doesn't think I know, but people like to gossip. I've heard things over the years. I hated my Mom for awhile. After she died I felt guilty for so long. I just wish I would have loved her more the last few months of her life."

Michonne marveled at how father and son were so much alike. "She knew you loved her." She told him.

"Yeah. I know. Anyway it's just that I thought me and Dad wouldn't ever get to love someone else like we loved Mom again. Maybe we didn't even deserve to love someone like that again." He looked Michonne in the eye. "But then you came along."

"Carl..." Michonne started.

"You changed our lives. You made us better. You gave us the strength to try to heal and move on. We wouldn't have made it this far without you. I love you, Michonne."

She couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes. "Oh, kid you know I love you too." She pulled him into a tight hug.

"Andre was lucky to have you as a mom." He said.

Michonne pulled away from their hug, smoothed down the hair sticking out from his hat. "And Lori was lucky to have you as a son. You're becoming such a good man. I'm proud of you."

Carl smiled and looked like he was on the verge of tears himself. "I think you're the right person for Dad." He said quietly.

"Carl, I care about your dad, but we're just friends." She said.

"It was just you, me, and him on the road together for so long. I saw the way he looked at you and the way you looked at him. That's why I said the thing with Jessie is weird. He looks at her in this strange, animal like way. He looks at you with adoration."

Michonne was left speechless for a moment. She had always pushed away thoughts of her and Rick being more than friends. She didn't want to think about how Rick adored her, or how she might adore him back. She needed to keep focus on the problems at hand. They didn't have time for anything else right now.

"What your father and I may or may not feel for each other is not important right now. Coming up with a plan to keep Deanna from exiling him should be our focus." She told him.

"Okay. You're right. Besides I think you're too good for him at the moment anyway. He needs to work on earning you." He said with a laugh.

She was happy he was still able to laugh. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked with a laugh of her own. She put an arm around his shoulders and led him to their front door. "Come on. I need to get changed then we're going to Glen and Maggie's to start planning."

He nodded and his game face was back on. He knew his family would take Alexandra before they let anything happen to his father.

A/N: Again think you all for the feedback. I appreciated it so much. This was only supposed to be a two part story, but the muse in me wanted more.