Authors note: I'm making you sit through Jessie drama this chapter, so I made sure to sandwich it between lots and lots of Richonne for you.
I really hope you guys like this one! Your reviews are making my day.
Once the two had finished, Rick rolled over next to her on his back, both of them sweating and satisfied. He looked over toward Michonne, and watched as her torso stretched up and collapsed as her lungs filled and deflated with her heavy breaths. Her eyes were shut, relaxing along with the rest of her body, after what she'd just experienced. Total bliss.
He watched as beads of sweat danced down her head and body. He too was tired, and still just catching his breath. And yet the sight of her was so pleasant, he couldn't resist taking her arm into his hands, and bringing it toward his lips so that he could lay multiple kisses on her damp skin. She smiled, but kept her eyes closed. At that, he had no choice but to work up the energy to roll over onto his stomach, giving him better access to her, and he once again kissed her, all over her neck and chest. She opened her eyes and looked down at him, feeling nothing but love and joy. In this moment, nothing was wrong.
He moved down to her stomach, spending a lot of time placing kisses too it. It felt, to both of them, like he was kissing away the last of the fear and anxiety that had once taken over her stomach. She knew it would never feel the same, after he blessed it with his lips. He made sure not to miss a single scar on her tummy, making sure she knew he loved all of her.
It was getting very late, and all of their loved ones were sleeping peacefully. In the moment, the whole world seemed to have stopped, and nothing existed or moved outside their walls. Rick ran his finger tips over Michonne's belly as his lips hugged her skin. She had never liked the feeling of being tickled, until now.
"Rick." She whispered to him. His face was still clearly visible in the dark room, so she watched him take his eyes from her stomach and back up to her face. It was silent for a moment. Once again she felt breathless. Nothing mattered to her but this moment, and it felt like her whole life had strategically lead up to this.
She could barley speak, so with a scratchy, but somehow pleasant voice, she whispered to him. "I love you."
His eyes widened, not expecting what was just said to him. He knew he loved Michonne, and he knew she loved him back, yet he never thought about her saying it to him. If anything, he thought he'd say it first, if ever, and he wasn't sure if she'd say it back. She didn't need to. Everything they said or did was an indirect screaming declaration of their love for each other. He knew and she knew. It wasn't necessary. It wasn't. But he loved it. Suddenly he realized, Michonne's laugh was no longer his favorite sound. His favorite was hearing her say the words she had only just spoken to him for the first time. He pushed his body up so that he was leaning above her.
His lips inches from hers, and their eyes met in a gaze, he spoke back. "And I love you." Michonne's heart felt warm hearing this. Her stomach knotted just slightly. How did he do this to her? No one ever had before. He buried his face into her neck, pressing deep kisses in it. "I love you." He repeated into her skin. Michonne played with his hair between her fingertips. "I love you too." She whispered.
They fell asleep there, his head rested on her shoulder, her hand in his hair. At some point they had pulled the blanket up, keeping them warm for the remaining hours of the night.
Michonne stepped up the porch to the Anderson home, and knocked hard three times. A teenage boy, Ron, answered the door. "What?" he asked bluntly, looking her up and down slightly.
"I'm here to see your mom." The woman let out smoothly, looking directly into the boy's eyes, intimidating him slightly.
Without another word, Ron turned his head back and shouted "Mom! Police are here!" And then turned around and shut the door, leaving Michonne alone to wait for Jessie herself. Rick had wanted to go, fearing Jessie would only anger Michonne, but she wouldn't accept that. She wanted to keep the nosey blonde as far away from her boyfriend as possible.
"Hi Ri-" Jessie let out before the door was even entirely open. "Oh. Hi Michelle." Not knowing Michonne's name was only an act, of course. Jessie never forgot something after she heard Rick Grimes say it.
"Michonne." She interrupted coldly.
"R-right, sorry." She lied.
"Wheres-"
"Busy. He's got more important things to do."
"Sure, sure." Her voice would be considered sweet to anyone who didn't know her, but Michonne could hear the spite in her tone.
"You gonna let me in or…?"
Jessie grimaced. "Right." She opened her door wider and stepped aside, allowing Michonne to step in. They proceeded to the kitchen where they would speak about the broken owl sculpture.
"What makes you think this wasn't just one of your kids?"
"They would never…"
"Didn't say it was on purpose. Accidents happen."
"They would be honest with me…"
"Nine year olds, and angst-y teens aren't known for being the most reliable."
"Whatever." She shook her head. "It wasn't them."
"And your husband?" She asked, zeroing in on Mrs. Anderson's eyes, letting her know she's fully aware of her marital status, despite her obvious attempted-flirtation with Rick.
"He- he…" Jessie began to ramble on, with pointless excuses on why it couldn't have been him. Instead of listening, Michonne looked around their room. It was nice at first glance, but she started to notice things.
A fist-shaped hole marked their yellow kitchen walls by the stove. Beer cans toppled over each other in their blue recycling bin. Their oven had a large dent in the door, and some of the titles on the kitchen floor had broken corners.
"Mrs. Anderson…"
"He would never do anything to upset me…" She said, frantically waving her hands around as she spoke, tearing up a bit. Her sleeve moved down her arm with her movements, revealing bruises cuffing her wrists.
"Mrs. Anderson."
"Huh?" Jessie let out, snapping back into reality.
"Is everything okay here?"
"W-what do you mean? Everything's perfect. E-except my-"
"You're owl sculpture, I know. Where'd you get those bruises?"
"Wh-" She looked down at her wrists, and eagerly pulled her sleeves up. "I-I fell... That's all…"
Michonne tilted her head to the right. "You fell and got fist shaped bruises around your arm?"
"Y-yeah…" She looked down at her lap, terrified and emotional. At this moment, Pete slammed through the front door, and began approaching the kitchen. "Michonne- you should go."
She was surprised the woman had called her by her name. "Jessie?"
"Go! Just go!" She urged. "Please."
"What the hell is the police doing here?" The man said entering the room.
"She's just-"
"Just what? Explain what the hell is going on, right now!"
"Pete I.."
"Mr. Anderson." Michonne said bluntly with volume. At this, the man's eyes overlooked Michonne's slim body, and lingered a little too long.
With a smirk, he stuck his hand out to her for her to shake. "Nice to meet you, I'm Pete."
"I'm sure you're aware of the broken sculpture in the garage?" She said, ignoring the gesture.
"Why- why would I be?" He retracted his rejected arm.
"She didn't tell you?"
"Of course she did… I don't know anything."
"Right." Michonne turned her head, discretely rolling her eyes.
"Jessie, did you invite her for dinner?"
"N-no…Michonne would you like-"
"I'm good." She interrupted, pulling out of her chair and standing up. "I've got everything I need. Thank you Jessie. I'll follow up and let you know."
She nodded and headed out the door. She was frustrated and upset as she walked through Alexandria. She didn't like Jessie, at all. Yet, she really felt bad for her. It was clear now that she was being abused. It made sense that she would cling to Rick. In comparison he must have seemed like Jesus Christ himself coming to save her. She still pissed Michonne off, but domestic abuse pissed her off more. By this point, she was almost home. She felt like she might have a panic attack, so she wanted to calm down and take a break.
She jumped as she walked right into someone. "Sorry." She urged before her eyes jumped up to reveal Rick, who was instantly concerned.
"Michonne…whats goin' on? Hey.."
"Rick." She breathed, teary eyed.
"What is it, whats happening?"
"Can we go inside?"
"Of course." He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to show her that it would be okay, that whatever it was they'd figure it out.
Michonne explained the entire abuse situation to Rick. It bothered him every bit as much as it bothered her. They decided they'd talk to Deanna the next day, and do anything and everything in their power to stop what was happening.
"In the mean time…." Rick started. "Lets appreciate how good we have it tonight." Michonne nodded, and they waited for Carl to return.
Michonne and rick sat next to each other, across from Carl and Judith, who sat happily in a highchair. Rick had made dinner, while Michonne tended to Judith and waited for Carl to return from seeing the other kids in Alexandria. A warm fire burned in the fireplace in the next room over, heating the entire home. They laughed and talked, and ate in peace.
"What're the other kids like, Corl?" Rick asked, curious of what he'd been up to every day.
"We aren't kids, dad."
"What are you?"
"I don't know…uh…"
"Young adults." Michonne declared with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, that!" Carl laughed. "They're pretty cool. There's Jay, who is really funny. Ron- whose a little…harsh…He's Mrs. Anderson's kid actually."
Michonne coughed. "Yeah. I've met him. He certainly is that." This inspired a laugh from Carl, which inspired a smile from Michonne. Rick watched the two exchange, as Judith played with the food on her tray. Never could he ever love anyone more than he loved these three. "Anyone else?"
"Well, yeah…There's this girl…Enid." Michonne's eyebrows raised as a smile grew on her face.
"A girl? Tell me everything when this guy leaves, okay?" She pointed to Rick with her thumb. They all laughed, including Judith, who had no idea what she was laughing about.
"Got it." Carl nodded, laughter still echoing through his voice. "Hey, can you pass the salt?".
"I don't have it." Rick replied, smiling at his boy.
"Not you, I was talking to Mom-" Everyone stopped what they were doing, and the adults looked to the 'young adult' before them. "-chonne. Momchonne." He fake-coughed. "Michonne."
She just stared at the boy in disbelief. Judith noticed sudden tension in the room, and began crying. Rick pulled out of his seat, but Michonne stopped him. "I got it." She pledged, not wanting to be left alone in an awkward situation. She walked around the table and picked up a messy Judith, and rocked her in her arms, beginning to step out of the room. "Sshh. Its okay Judy. Everything's okay."
The baby's blue eyes looked up at her as the cries came to a stop. "M-m-" At first it just sounded like baby noise, but Michonne realized she was trying to communicate something.
'No way she already knows my name' she thought. But on the off chance the baby was about to speak, she rushed back into the dining room, to share the moment with her family.
She clearly walked in on an important conversation, as they both stopped speaking at once when they saw her. She was too caught up in Judith to notice, though. "Listen." She whispered.
"M-M-Mama." let out the baby, who was reaching up for Michonne's dreads, playing with them in her tiny hands. Immediately a tear streamed down the woman's face. She lifted Judith up, and pressed her tiny forehead against her own, holding her close.
Rick shot up, to join the embrace. Carl watched, a small smile forming on his lips.
Rich and Michonne lay in their bed in loose pajamas. Her head rested on his chest, as he ran his fingers through her hair. They whispered about everything and nothing for around an hour and a half before hearing a knock on their door. They knew by the sound of it, that it was Carl.
"Come in, son." Rick approved. The boy came in and awkwardly stood by the foot of their bed.
"We're not gonna bite, you know." Michonne teased. "Come here, kid." She smiled at him warmly. So he did. He sad criss-cross on the end of the bed, his eyes on Michonne and his father.
"What's goin' on?" his father asked.
"I thought it was really cute when Judith called you Mom." The son admitted.
"Me too." Michonne replied softly, with a laugh in her throat. The three sat in silence with subtle smiles on their faces for a moment.
"I just…" he started. "I wanna do that too." He had built up so much anxiety over admitting that, but he felt so much better after blurting it out.
"You don't have to…"
"I- I know, Michonne. But I want to." He nodded to her, similar to how Rick does. "You have been here for me and my dad since you became one of us….and just because you're my mom, doesn't mean my mom wasn't..." he paused "does that make sense?" After he finished, Michonne sat up and nodded.
"It does. Come here." And once again, he did. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "You can call me whatever you like. Michonne, Mom…just not Michelle." Carl snorted, but quickly returned to seriousness, resting his mouth on her shoulder in the embrace.
"I love you guys." He let out.
"I love you too." The couple said back, in sync.