A Very Merry Grimes Christmas Extravaganza! Chapter 9, a walking dead fanfic

A/N: So this was what was supposed to happen with this story… I was going to write short chapters (under 1,000 words each) and post them every three days with the last chapter being posted on Christmas Eve.

What ended up happening was… I can't write short chapters, and the last chapter is being posted on Valentine's Day. lol.

Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas/Happy Valentine's Day!

The Christmas Lights Contest

Team Sasha and Shane

"Shane, let Santa go!" Sasha shouted.

"I got him! I got him!"

"You don't got him! Let go!" Sasha shouted.

"Let go! Let go!" Michonne shouted with others in the crowd.

The crowd was sizable, made up of Christmas Extravaganza competitors, judges and townsfolk who wanted to see how all the homes were decorated for the Christmas Lights Contest.

"Daddy!" Sasha and Shane's seven- and five-year-old daughters, Shayna and Shanaya, shouted.

"Dada!" Sasha and Shane's two-year-old, Ashanti, squealed from Sasha's arms.

Shane was clinging to one of the boots of the 20-foot inflatable Santa in the front yard and was dangling almost two feet above the ground. He hadn't properly secured the inflatable. Santa was threatening to take flight after a strong gust of wind had blown through the front yard.

"Daddy's got this!" Shane shouted, kicking his legs and trying to yank Santa back down.

The crowd gasped after another gust of wind carried Santa and Shane a few feet across the yard and left Shane dangling more than three feet above the ground.

"Make a choice, Shane… Float across town with Santa or let go," Sasha demanded.

Shane thought about it while he floated up another few inches and then let go of the boot. He landed on his behind on the soft, fluffy sheets of artificial snow he and Sasha put down.

"God speed, Santa," he murmured, watching the inflatable—and his hopes of winning the Christmas Lights Contest—float away.

"Shane?" Sasha called out.

He got up, faced the crowd, held his arms out and smiled. "I'm okay!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" Shayna and Shanaya shouted as they ran to him.

Shane dramatically fell back into the artificial snow when his girls jumped into his arms.

"My husband is a Christmas idiot," Sasha murmured to Michonne and Rick before walking over to Shane to make sure he truly was okay.

Michonne giggled and looked up at Santa float farther and farther away and rise higher and higher in the night sky. "Santa is going to cause quite a stir tonight," she said to Rick. "How far do you think he'll get?"

"Sugarplum," he whispered in her ear, "it's Christmas Eve. You can tell me now."

Michonne pulled her head away from him and looked into his eager blue eyes. "I can't tell you right now," she whispered.

"Why not?" Rick asked, putting his hands on his hips and pouting.

"Because we're here… in front of everyone."

"We live two streets over. We can leave."

"We can't leave."

"Why not?"

"Because the Christmas Lights Contest just started..."

Rick's pout grew poutier.

"And because we're competing tonight."

Rick's poutier pout grew even poutier.

"Sweetface, this is the last competition of the Christmas Extravaganza. You have to be patient a little bit longer. I'll tell you tonight. I promise."

Rick responded with a quiet, dissatisfied grunt followed by a nod.

"Thank you," Michonne whispered. She gave him a peck on those pouty lips and pulled him to the Walshes to check on Shane.

Otis, Jacqui and Edwin huddled together in the street, away from the crowd, to fill out their score sheets. They were individually rating the creativity, theme, design, spectator reaction and overall display of Sasha and Shane's decorations. They would take the average of the individual totals to get Sasha and Shane's final Christmas Lights Contest score.

"Now that the investigation is closed, Mayor Douglas says we should move past the shenanigans," Otis whispered as he rated creativity. "But it's still hard to believe what Deanna was doing. She was one of us."

"I can believe it," Jacqui whispered while rating design. "She never got over losing to T in last year's election."

"Well, whatever job Deanna thought she was getting wasn't going to be cushy," Edwin whispered while rating theme. "Mrs. Niedermeyer's son's girlfriend's best friend's mother's second cousin lives in Commonwealth. From what she says, Deanna's job was nothing but a glorified babysitter to the Milton boys to keep them out of trouble…"

Team Lydia and Elijah

"Are we ready to continue?" Otis asked the crowd.

They cheered that they were, but he waited for Jacqui and Edwin to give the thumbs up that both buses being used to take the crowd to the competitors' homes throughout the night were empty and that everyone was present.

"Are we all staying warm tonight?" he asked while Jacqui and Edwin checked the buses.

The crowd cheered again. It was a chilly night, but everyone seemed to be staying warm in their winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves. There were extras on one of the buses if anyone needed something warmer.

Jacqui and Edwin both gave Otis a thumbs up, and he smiled at Lydia and Elijah and beckoned them forward. "Take it away, you two!"

"Um… so…this is our first apartment and our first time decorating for Christmas," Lydia said shyly to the crowd, "so, um…"

Elijah took her hand and grinned at her. "So we did our best."

"The balcony on the third floor is yours?" Otis asked.

"No, that balcony's mine and Beth's," Noah called out.

"That's your balcony on the fourth floor?" Otis asked Lydia and Elijah.

"No, that's me and Mercer," Juanita called out.

"One of the balconies on the fifth floor must be yours then," Otis concluded.

"Not the one on the left. That's mine. The one above it on the sixth is Connie's," Daryl mumbled. He signed what was being said so that Connie understood.

"Our balcony's the one on the far right," Elijah told Otis. "We didn't have a lot to spend on decorations, so we could only get the standard Christmas lights. They don't sing or flash. They're just lights. The snowman, the penguins and the icicles are papier-mache. We hand-painted them."

"Very creative," Otis remarked. "Everyone, turn to the right to check out the fifth-floor balcony! This is the second entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!"

The crowd enthusiastically applauded Lydia and Elijah's efforts.

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear.

Michonne giggled. "We're staying," she said, clapping for Lydia and Elijah.

The judges huddled together when they were ready to score the balcony.

"Deanna and Andrea's punishment for their Christmas Extravaganza crimes was certainly fitting," Edwin whispered while rating spectator reaction.

"Mmmhmm," Jacqui hummed while rating creativity. "I wasn't expecting those lifetime bans."

"It was fair," Otis agreed while rating the overall display. "Personally, if I could never participate in a Christmas Extravaganza or serve on a Christmas Committee in any state orUS territory for the rest of my life, I'd leave the country…"

Team Connie and Daryl

Connie walked to the front of the crowd with Daryl trailing behind her. They silently stared at the crowd until Connie nudged Daryl, encouraging him to speak.

Daryl, who still very much hated public speaking, mumbled, "I just did what Connie wanted. She thought it would be funny to have Santa hanging from her balcony and to put Rudolph and a bunch of presents on mine." Daryl shrugged. "We put red lights on her balcony cuz it's supposed to be a chimney. We put colorful lights on mine cuz it's supposed to be the roof." He shrugged again.

Connie, who'd been reading Daryl's lips, touched his arm to let him know she had something to say.

Daryl watched her hands and said, "Connie says, 'Daryl did more than put a Rudolph and presents on his balcony. He carved Rudolph from wood, and he stayed up with me all night last night to wrap boxes when I came up with the idea to add presents to his balcony. I couldn't have asked for a better partner.'"

Connie gave Daryl a kiss on his cheek, and Daryl turned as red as Rudolph's nose. The crowd let out an awwwwwww!

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear.

Michonne smiled and shook her head. "We're not leaving," she whispered.

"Everyone, turn to the left and check out the balconies on the fifth and six floors!" Otis instructed the crowd. "This is the third entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!"

The crowd applauded enthusiastically.

The judges huddled together.

"What I just can't understand is why Andrea wanted those crowns so badly," Edwin whispered while rating theme. "They cost five dollars at the party supply shop."

"Sometimes there's no explanation other than stupid is as stupid does, honey. And that girl is stupid," Jacqui whispered while rating the overall display.

"She's not hiding away like Deanna either," Otis whispered while rating design. "Me and Patricia passed her on our morning walk today. She jogged right past us with no shame at all..."

Team Juanita and Mercer

"Hey, everyone," Juanita said to the crowd. "Me and my man wanted to make Christmas spicy, and that's what we did. Our Christmas lights are set to red and white to complement the gingerbread men and gingerbread women pole dancing on candy canes. Christmas doesn't have to be naughty or nice. It can be both."

Mercer looked out at the crowd with his arms crossed. "Yeah," he drawled in his deep voice.

"Oh, my… well," a slightly flustered Otis murmured. "Everyone, cover the eyes of your little ones and check out the balcony on the fourth floor! This is our fourth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!"

The crowd cheered very enthusiastically.

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear.

"We're staying, sweetface. Enjoy the spicy, pole dancing gingerbread men and women," she told him, giving him a wink.

The judges huddled together.

"That's the kind of spice I like to see," Jacqui whispered while rating theme.

Edwin grinned at his wife's comment while also rating theme.

Otis cleared his throat and whispered, "That Philip fellow got off easier than I thought he would, but a yearlong ban from all Christmas Extravaganzas in the state of Virginia is still plenty harsh."

"It was fair enough," Edwin whispered. "The senior investigators didn't think he was fully aware of the shenanigans. Rumor has it that his eyes were always glued to his phone because he was texting his wife."

"Juggling a wife and a side piece is not something most men can successfully master," Jacqui whispered. "That's probably why he yodeled 'Blue Christmas' in the Christmas Talent show."

"The yodeling alone should've gotten him a ban of five years," Otis joked.

Team Beth and Noah

"Hello, everyone!" Beth chirped. "And hello, Maggie," she said, less chirpy, cutting her eyes to her sister.

Maggie, still annoyed that Beth placed third in the Christmas Fashion Show, stuck her tongue out at Beth.

Beth stuck her tongue out at Maggie and then smiled brightly at the crowd. "Noah and I used blue lights to honor healthcare workers. Our Santa also has on scrubs and a face mask in honor of Noah getting into med school!"

"It's also in honor of Beth acing her first year of vet school!" Noah added.

The crowd, including Maggie, hooted and hollered for the couple's accomplishments. Maggie may have been annoyed, but she loved her sister and Noah very much.

"Everyone, check out the balcony on the third floor! It is our fifth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered.

Michonne laughed at his persistence. "Uh uh, sweetface."

The judges huddled together.

"Me and Jacqui weren't surprised to find out it was Hershel who filed the Christmas Cookie Contest appeal with the state. Were you, Otis?" Edwin whispered while rating creativity.

"I wasn't," Otis whispered while rating design. "You know how much Hershel loves Rick and Michonne…"

Team Rosita and Siddiq

"Welcome!" Rosita said to the crowd. "Siddiq and I are renting out the basement of our house to Yumiko and Magna, so we decided we'd split the house in half to decorate. On our half, we added red, green and white lights, a wreath the size of the state of Texas and a lighted Feliz Navidad sign."

"I also wanted to spread a message of love and peace, so we added flashing love and peace signs in the yard," Siddiq said.

"Everyone, check out the left half of the house! This is our sixth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

As Michonne clapped with the crowd, Rick whispered in her ear. "Sugarplum…"

Michonne shook her head no and continued clapping.

The judges huddled together.

"Me and Edwin were very surprised to find out Hershel wasn't the one to call in that anonymous tip to the state," Jacqui whispered while rating creativity.

"I wasn't," Otis whispered while rating overall display. "I knew it had to be Aaron. He was always convinced Rick would win Christmas Trivia Night. He told me Rick once spent twenty minutes telling him about the origin of 'Jingle Bells.' Aaron kept adding more trivia questions to the list just to see how many of them Rick could answer. He was suspicious when Andrea was able to keep up…"

Team Yumiko and Magna

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear.

"Shhhhhh. Yumiko's about to speak," Michonne whispered, "and we're still not leaving."

"Magna and I appreciate the Espinosas for allowing us to use half the house to decorate. We decided to go with a very classic and timeless look," Yumiko said to the crowd.

"White lights, white lights, white lights, and more white lights," Magna said, side-eying Yumiko. "Next year, when I'm in charge of the decorations, we're adding more color. This year, it's all white lights."

"Everyone, check out the right half of the house!" Otis instructed the crowd. "This is our seventh entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!"

The crowd politely applauded.

The judges huddled together.

"The senior investigators said they've only seen one Christmas Extravaganza more corrupt than this one," Otis whispered while rating spectator reaction. "That particular Christmas Extravaganza was declared null and void."

"Do you think our Christmas Extravaganza will be declared null and void?" Edwin whispered while rating design.

"That would be excessive," Jacqui whispered while rating creativity. "Only Andrea and Philip's points should be what's null and void."

"We'll know soon enough," Otis whispered. "The rest of the Christmas Committee is still on that emergency call with the senior investigators' manager…"

Team Jesus and Alden

"Jesus… Alden… where exactly do you two live?" Otis asked after Jesus and Alden led the crowd past the trailer home park.

"It's just a little farther, bro," Jesus answered.

"A little farther is in the woods, son. Do you and Alden live in the woods?" Otis asked.

"We do this week, bro."

Twenty minutes later, after making two wrong turns in the woods, Jesus and Alden guided the crowd to their campsite. They had two tents set up—one red and one green; the Christmas star piñata from the banquet hall was hanging from a tree; a fire was burning in a fire pit.

"Merry Christmas, bros!" Jesus shouted as Alden went into the red tent.

"Jesus… has this fire been burning unattended?" Otis asked.

Jesus looked at the fire pit and blinked. "Bro, I thought I put that out."

Alden crawled out of his tent and held up packages of marshmallows. "Christmas mellows, bros!"

"Sweetface," Michonne whispered as Otis lectured Jesus and Alden on campfire safety.

Rick's eyebrows shot up. "We're leaving?"

"No, we're not leaving. But let's make s'mores this weekend," she whispered.

Michonne looked so adorable thinking about s'mores that Rick couldn't be disappointed that she didn't want to leave. He planted one kiss, two kisses, three kisses on her lips. "We'll make s'mores this weekend," he promised.

"Everyone, check out the campsite! This is the eighth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced. "Roast marshmallows at your own risk."

Half the children in the crowd ran to Alden for the marshmallows and the other half ran to the piñata.

The judges huddled together.

"If Jesus and Alden don't remember to do it, I'll stay back and put the fire out when we head to the buses," Otis whispered while rating theme.

"They won't remember," Edwin whispered while rating creativity.

"It's a miracle they remembered recording Deanna and Andrea," Jacqui whispered while rating design.

"A true Christmas miracle," Otis whispered. "And it was very honorable what the other competitors did for Jesus and Alden. Agreeing to award those two the first, second and third place points from the Snowman Building Contest shows the true spirit of Christmas and Alexandrians…"

Team Nabila and Jerry

"We present to you all… for the third year in a row… a Sesame Street Christmas!" Jerry said to the crowd with forced enthusiasm. "The kids still can't get enough of Sesame Street."

"I love Big Bird!" Jerry and Nabila's five-year-old son Ezra shouted.

"I love Cookie Monster!" Jerry and Nabila's four-year-old daughter Aliyah shouted.

"I wuv Emmo!" Jerry and Nabila's three-year-old daughter Mariam shouted.

With a half-smile, half-cringe, Nabila said to crowd, "Once again, we turned our front porch into the Sesame Street porch and the lights are synced to 'Sunny Days' on a loop. The yard is filled with Big Birds, Cookie Monsters and Elmos."

"Everyone, check out the Sesame Street Christmas! This is our ninth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear, clapping with the rest of the crowd, "Big Bird, Cookie Monster or Elmo?"

Michonne grinned. "Cookie Monster, of course."

"Of course," he whispered, also grinning.

The judges huddled around the 8-foot LED Cookie Monster.

"It's too bad the senior investigators couldn't stay longer," Otis whispered while rating theme.

"It would've been nice to show them who we are without the shenanigans," Edwin whispered while rating spectator reaction.

"They have three kids and it's Christmas," Jacqui whispered while rating design. "They wanted to get back home…"

Team Maggie and Glenn

"We just bought this plot of land to build our first house, so we don't exactly have a house to decorate," Glenn said to the crowd.

"What we do have are drones to decorate the sky," Maggie said, pointing up.

"Everyone, look up at the sky! This is the tenth entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

The crowd gasped in delight when the drones created a snowman and gasped again when they created Rudolph. For the first time that night, Michonne felt like she and Rick had serious competition.

Rick looked down when he felt a little tug on his hand and smiled when he saw Shanaya at his side.

"Uncle Rick, Daddy said can I sit on your shoulders to watch the sky?"

"That's what your daddy said?" Rick asked, reaching down to pick Shanaya up.

She nodded and giggled as she was lifted into the air. She waved to her big sister when she was sitting on her uncle's shoulders. Shayna, sitting on their daddy's shoulders, excitedly waved back.

The judges huddled together as they watched the drone show.

"You think Alexandria will ever see Christmas Extravaganza shenanigans again?" Edwin whispered.

"I hope not. But if we do, we know who to call," Jacqui whispered.

"Because the State of Virginia Christmas Extravaganza Council does not tolerate Christmas Extravaganza shenanigans," the three judges whispered together.

Team Jenny and Morgan

"We may have gone a little overboard this year," Morgan said to the crowd. "70,000 lights throughout the farm… horse-drawn carriage rides… an Elf Town for the little ones… a Christmas corn maze… a photo opportunity with Santa's sleigh and reindeer…"

"But this is a tough Christmas for us. As you all know, Duane's spending the holidays in California with his bride Nora and her people. This is our first Christmas without him," Jenny said. "We went a lot overboard with the decorations, and we hope you enjoy them all!"

"Everyone, check out the Jones farm! This is our eleventh entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

The crowd excitedly took off in different directions to explore the farm. Michonne and Rick did not. Michonne made a 360-degree turn to take in the biggest competition of the night. Rick watched her with one thing on his mind.

"Sugarplum," he whispered in her ear, "let's take a carriage ride."

"Yeah?" Michonne asked suspiciously, looking into Rick's eyes.

"Yeah," he replied, taking her hand. "We can snuggle… look at the stars… and you can tell finally me what I've been waiting to hear."

Michonne giggled, wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "Yes to the carriage ride, yes to the snuggling, yes to the star gazing."

"And…" Rick said hopefully.

"And there's one more house to go in the Christmas Lights Contest… Ours. You have to wait just a little bit longer, sweetface."

Rick pouted when she pulled him in the direction of the carriage rides.

The judges huddled together in the corn maze.

"I'm blown away by Morgan and Jenny's decorations," Edwin whispered while rating creativity.

"It's impressive, but I'm excited to see what Rick and Michonne do. They never disappoint," Jacqui whispered while rating theme.

"The margin of victory could very well be as thin as a strand of tinsel this year," Otis whispered while rating overall display. "Let's just hope the State of Virginia Christmas Extravaganza Council allows the results to stand…"

Team Michonne and Rick

"Happy Christmas Eve, everyone," Rick said to the crowd. "Can you give me and Michonne a second?"

He put his arm around Michonne's waist and guided her around so that they were facing their house and their backs were to the crowd.

"Sugarplum," he whispered in her ear, "let's tell everyone we lost electricity and kick them off the property. I'm ready for you to tell me now."

Michonne gave Rick a look, and he nodded in understanding with a smile on his face.

"Everyone," he said after they turned back around, "we lost elec—"

"Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!" Michonne interrupted, stepping in front of Rick. "We're very excited to show you our gingerbread house tonight! Rick's going to lead you all in a countdown, so make sure you shout the numbers really loud. I'll be in the house listening, and I'll flip the switch to light everything up when you get to 'one'! Got it?"

"Got it!" the crowd very merrily shouted.

Michonne turned around to face Rick. "Sweetface," she whispered, "that wasn't a 'tell everyone to go home' look. It was a 'wait just a little longer' look."

"It looked like a 'tell everyone to go home' look to me," Rick whispered with a sly smile on his face.

She playfully rolled her eyes, gave him a quick kiss and hurried up the porch steps and into the house. "You can start the countdown!" she shouted once she had her hand on the light switch at the end of the entrance hallway.

Rick began the countdown with "Five!" and the crowd joined in, shouting, "Four!... Three!... Two!... One!"

Michonne flipped the switch to bring the house and the decorations in the yard to life and hurried back outside, grinning from all the oooooohhhhs and ahhhhhhhhhs coming from the crowd. Rick put an arm around her shoulders as they looked at their house together.

"Sweetface, it's perfect!"

She thought their home looked exactly like a gingerbread house. The lights on the roof looked like gumdrops. The spray foam they painted white looked like frosting. Their handmade candy decorations looked like gumballs, peppermints, lollypops and sprinkles stuck to the house. The shutters on the windows looked like graham crackers. The colorful lights running up the sides of the house added warmth and sparkle. The gingerbread man wreath hanging on the front door, the lighted candy cane archway around the front door, and the LED candy canes and lollypops lining the porch made everything more fun.

An assortment of gingerbread men and oversized candy decorations filled the yard.

"Everyone, check out the gingerbread house! This is our final entrant in the Christmas Lights Contest!" Otis announced.

The crowd cheered for Rick and Michonne, and kids ran around the yard, mesmerized by the supersized candy decorations.

"Fantastic job, kiddos! Your house looks good enough to eat," Earl joked.

"Thanks, Mr. Sutton," Rick and Michonne replied in unison.

"Grampy, look! The gingerbread mans are dancing!" Earl's grandson Adam shouted, standing next to the group of hip-shaking gingerbread men decorations in the yard.

Earl laughed at the way Tammy Rose was shaking her hips like the gingerbread men and excused himself to join in on the dancing fun.

"Sugarplum," Rick whispered in Michonne's ear, "we did the contest. Can we tell everyone to go home now?"

Michonne looked into Rick's eyes and slowly shook her head. "You stay out here and chit chat, and I'll go get the gingerbread cookies. We can't beat Jenny and Morgan, but we still have a shot at second place. And don't send anyone home while you're chit chatting!"

Rick pouted and watched Michonne walk up the porch steps. He started to follow her, but a 180-pound Saint Bernard jumped up on him and stopped him.

"Hey there, Buddy!" Rick said as the dog happily panted in his face.

"Down, boy!" Eric commanded.

Buddy obeyed and looked up at Rick with his tail wagging wildly.

"Sorry about that, Rick. You know Buddy's always happy to see you."

"And I'm always happy to see him," Rick said, kneeling on one knee to give the pooch a good scratch behind his ears.

"Buddy has pretty poop!" Gracie told Rick from Eric's arms.

"Buddy got into Gracie's glitter yesterday," Eric explained. "It was a lot of glitter. He's had pretty poop all day," he deadpanned.

"The same glitter as last time?" Rick asked.

"The same brand, different color. Pink this time."

"Then he'll be just fine. He'll just have pretty poop for the next few days," Rick said in amusement, standing.

Eric sighed and nodded. "That's what Hershel said. Aaron asked him about it when he got to that emergency Christmas Committee thingy earlier."

"The Christmas Committee's still talking with the state?" Rick asked.

"They're still talking."

Rick didn't know if it was good or bad that the call was taking so long.

"Your house looks amazing! Truly, truly amazing!" Eric gushed, loving how much the house looked like a gingerbread house. "We were driving by when it lit up, and I had to stop."

"Thank you! Michonne'll be real happy to hear that. She's coming out with some homemade cookies if you were sticking around." Rick still wanted to send everyone home, but he could wait just a little bit longer for Michonne to tell him what he desperately wanted to hear.

"I really should get home to put together more gifts from S-A-N-T-A, but we're not turning down Michonne's homemade cookies. Me and Gracie are sticking around."

"Rick, you didn't say your parents would be here tonight. Or Michonne's," Sasha said, interrupting Rick's conversation with Mercer about where he and Juanita found their naughty gingerbread men and women.

Rick looked around. "Our parents are here?"

"They're on the porch with Michonne," Sasha said over her shoulder as she chased Ashanti.

Rick saw their parents on the porch and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He hadn't heard from any of them in weeks. He had no idea they were back home.

"He's on the move," Rick's mom warned Michonne, watching her only child, her sweetest boy, make his way through the crowd to get to the porch.

"Are you ready?" Michonne asked the four people who were quite possibly more excited about her pregnancy than she was.

"Ready!" they replied with giddy smiles.

"You know you didn't have to cut your vacations short for this," Michonne said.

"Nonsense," Rick's dad retorted. "There's always another vacation. We wouldn't miss this for anything."

He gave Michonne the dimpled smile that Rick inherited, and she wondered if the newest Grimes would also inherit that smile.

"Are you ready?" Michonne's mom asked.

Michonne gave her mom, her dad and Rick's parents her own giddy smile. "I am."

She picked up the stack of posterboards she'd brought from the house, walked closer to the porch steps and watched Rick approach. She held the posterboards up to her chest when he was just a few feet away.

Rick abruptly stopped walking.

That's what the posterboard Michonne was holding said to do: STOP!

Michonne glanced over her shoulder at their parents standing to her left. "Now!" she whispered before Rick could start asking questions.

The four of them started singing the song that was playing when Rick proposed to Michonne many Christmases ago.

"Hang all the mistletoe
I'm gonna get to know you better
This Christmas…"

The crowd stopped their chatter and gathered closer to the porch.

"And as we trim the tree
How much fun it's gonna be together
This Christmas…

The fireside is blazing briiiiiight…"

Michonne looked back at her dad. He was starting to get a little loud and a little carried away with his singing.

"We're CAROLING through the NIIIIIIIGHT…

THIS CHRISTMAAAAAS will be

A very special CHRISTMAAAAAS FOR MEEEEEEEE…"

"Dad!"

"Sorry, babygirl," he whispered, shooting his giddy smile at her.

He started humming the next verse of the song with the other parents, and they all started doing the light choreography that they insisted on including. Michonne turned her attention back to Rick and tossed the "STOP!" posterboard to the right side of the porch.

Rick read the next posterboard.

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE…

Michonne tossed the posterboard aside.

AND I MADE YOU A CHRISTMAS EVE PROMISE...

Rick's eyes widened and flew to Michonne, who grinned and nodded to let him know his wait was over. Rick pumped his right fist and then left fist in the air in exhilaration. He started to run up the steps to the porch but was stopped by Michonne's next posterboard.

STOP!

She quickly tossed it aside.

THERE'S MORE FOR YOU TO READ!

His chest heaved in excitement when she tossed that posterboard aside.

THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN STAGE FRIGHT...