Author's note: Hi everyone, today is Fan Fiction Writer's Appreciation Day! Which is basically a day to show your favorite fanfiction writers how grateful you are for their work! : If you've read and liked any of my fics please let me know what you liked about them and how it made you feel. I will be doing the same for my favorite fan fiction writers and stories too. For writers, reviews are like money to us since we don't get paid for our time and ideas, and leaving a review is the least we can do to say thank you.

Also, I wanted to give a special shoutout to those readers who have left reviews for multiple chapters. Thank you to flacagonzales, courtgirl26, gdyoung25, Firefly-class, meanprincess, Trista3, cocoamoonstone, zeepsagirl, atm0000, mtownrichonner, StaticStanatic, RBGzmom, and trdos (If I didn't mention you and you have left multiple reviews also, I am so sorry but I'm talking to you too!). I appreciate the time you take out of your day to encourage me and to comment on my stories. Everytime I get multiple reviews for a chapter it makes me want to continue writing the next one, and I appreciate your readership and reviews so very much!

Ok, thank you, and now on with the story.

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"Arrest him! He's a murderer. Arrest him right now!" the woman yelled at the Hilltop defense team, but they just stood there and stared.

"That kid just confessed to murdering Gregory!" the man said, getting in one of their faces, "Now if we don't have justice around here, the whole society falls apart. You tellin' me its ok to go around killing folks now?"

Carl stood there staring at the man and woman. One of the defense team members said "We don't have a jail."

"So that makes it all ok?" the woman screamed. "We just let Carl go free because there's no jail?"

There was silence for a few moments. "If you're not arresting me right now, I'm gonna finish doing my job, which is to make sure everyone is ok. If you want to be helpful, you'd help do that too." Carl said, and he turned around and continued walking to the infirmary.

Gregory's followers looked on in shock. "Look, after things get settled, we'll handle this. But right now, we need all hands on deck" Benny said to the Gregory followers with a shrug, and the five defense team members followed Carl to the infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick stayed up all night, watching Michonne sleep with his son curled up on her chest. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He almost could forget that she wasn't just sleeping, she was unconscious, and the baby was defying all odds just by breathing.

We need to name him.

Rick was no good with baby names. Lori had named Carl, and Carl had named Judith. Michonne had named Joy. He had never named any of his children. He didn't know where to start. He wanted to wait for her to wake up, but if the unthinkable happened, if the baby died, he wanted his son to have a name first.

Rick looked around the kitchen. The children had asked to sleep in there, and Rick suspected it was to be closer to Michonne, as well as because they felt safer sleeping in there with their parents. He had made beds for them out of towels and blankets after thoroughly mopping the floor which had puddles of Michonne's blood.

He looked back at his beautiful son. His miracle baby. His little warrior.

Michonne had told him once that her family was from Zimbabwe and she spoke the Shona language. She had taught him some words here and there, but one word stuck out. Mhare. It meant warrior. Michonne would call him that sometimes to tease him, but this baby really was a warrior. He was born with his battle scars. He had survived so much in his few hours of being born. He was a Mhare.

Rick wrapped the towel around the baby and slowly lifted him, pressing him against his own chest. "Your name is Mhare" he said kissing the baby's little cheek, "I hope your mama likes it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took hours for Carl and the team to clear every house and prevent every corpse from reanimating. The job was horrifying, and the sheer number of bodies was depressing. The worst part was having to put down the three children who had been killed. Staring into their empty eyes as they reached for him. Carl was physically and mentally exhausted, and he was at his breaking point. He hadn't slept more than two hours in two days and it was taking a toll. He had a headache and his eye was blurry from straining it for too long.

"Hey man" one of the team members said, "You ok?"

"Yea" Carl lied.

"We're gonna have to talk about what happened back there. About what happened to Gregory."

"So talk" Carl said.

"We're going to have to have a trial" another one said.

Carl didn't answer. He rubbed his eye in frustration and exhaustion.

"Look, have whatever you want. You know I'm not a flight risk, and like you said we don't have a jail, so I'll be in my home, with my family. You know where to find me if you need me."

And with that, Carl walked home.

Carl was too through. Gregory deserved what he got and more, and he'd say that in front of any jury. He wasn't sorry for what he did, and he'd do it again, happily. He would accept the consequences of his actions, but he'd never regret them.

As he walked up to his trailer he noticed Lydia curled up on the front porch, sleeping. As he approached, her eyes popped open and he noticed her hand on her knife. "Hey, it's just me" Carl said. She sat up and looked at him.

"You don't have to sleep out here, you can sleep on the couch in the living room."

"I haven't slept in a house in years. It will take me some time to get used to it. I'm ok out here" she said. Carl nodded, remembering how strange it was for him when he came to Alexandria. It took a while to get used to things like running water, refrigerators, and beds.

"I just want to thank you again Lydia, for all of your help. You went above and beyond the deal that we made. You saved me, you helped me get back in the gates, you helped saved my mom and brother's life. I know you might feel like you don't have anyone here, but you're one of us too. You're family."

Lydia smiled for the first time since Carl knew her, and he realized she had a beautiful smile.

"Thank you" she said.

Carl patted her shoulder. "I'm gonna go inside, just know, when you're ready, you can too."

Lydia nodded her head, and as Carl made his way into the house, she leaned back against the wall and smiled again.

Carl opened his front door. Not seeing anyone in the living room he made his way to the kitchen where he took in the beautiful scene of his family. Judy, Joy and Tommy sleeping on pillows and blankets like a sleepover, while Rick paced up and down rocking his little brother. Michonne was still unconscious on the table, but her color looked much better than it had when he'd left, and he hoped she'd wake up soon.

"Dad?" Carl whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up.

Rick turned around quickly and took in Carl's face. He immediately knew something was wrong. He walked to Carl and met him in the hallway.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"I… I killed Gregory" Carl said. Rick searched Carl's face, trying to read him. Carl had killed people before, it had always been to protect his family, but Rick couldn't understand the expression that Carl was making. Regret? Anger? Fear?

"It's ok" Rick said. If you didn't do it, I would have.

"People know. His followers. They want me arrested." Carl said. "They want to have a trial."

Rick knew that was what Carl was worried about. How a trial might affect Enid and the rest of the family.

"It's ok Carl" Rick said. "It'll be ok, once we explain everything that happened, it'll be fine. I don't want you to worry about it. Just go get some rest, Enid is in your room sleeping too."

Carl nodded. "He deserved much worse. He was lucky" he said, and he turned and walked into his bedroom. It was dark inside due to the curtains being pulled, but he could make out Enid's outline, fast asleep.

Carl quickly stripped off his dirty clothes and crawled into bed next to his wife in his boxers, wrapping his arms around her body, his hands resting on her belly. Enid shifted in her sleep and mumbled "welcome home".

Carl smiled and pressed a kiss against her ear.

"How is it out there?" Enid asked, her eyes still closed.

"Let's talk about that later" Carl answered. "For now, let's go to sleep."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Michonne had laid unconscious since 10 pm the night before. It was now 8 a.m and Rick was very concerned. He wanted to wake up Enid and ask her to check her, but he knew Enid needed her rest, so Rick would periodically check her eyelids and her pulse. She seemed to be fine to Rick's untrained eyes, but she needed to drink and eat, and she couldn't do that while unconscious.

Rick also noticed a sheen of sweat starting to form on her skin, and as much as he hated to think about it, he knew what that meant. She was getting a fever. An infection was brewing.

Just when he was about to knock on the bedroom door, Enid came out.

Seeing the worried look on Rick's face, Enid asked "How's she doing?"

"I think she has a fever"

Enid quickly walked to Michonne and put a hand on her forehead.

"Yea, she's a little warm"

Enid asked the kids who were sitting on the kitchen floor eating waffles that Rick had made for them to move into the living room. Once they were gone she moved the sheet covering Michonne so she could inspect the wounds. The C-section scar was closed nicely, and although it was still bleeding a little, it looked healthy.

Enid then checked the knife wound. The area around it was red and inflamed, and a small amount of pus was leaking from the drain that Enid had put in.

"Dammit" Enid sighed. "That stupid knife."

"So what do we do?" Rick asked.

"We do have stronger antibiotics in the infirmary, but…" Enid trailed off.

"But?" Rick asked.

"They're not safe for nursing moms. If we give it to her she won't be able to nurse the baby. And more than anything he needs her milk for these first few days. Her milk has tons of nutrients and antibodies that he needs so he won't get an infection."

Rick rubbed his eyes. Why does it always come down to this?

"So you're saying, if I give her the antibiotics, Mhare can't nurse and he can get an infection or have other problems. What will happen if she doesn't get the antibiotics?" Rick asked.

Enid smiled a little when Rick said Mhare.

"Well, she may fight the infection off on her own, or… she could go into septic shock if it gets too bad."

"So, she could die?" Rick asked.

Enid wanted to tell him better news, after all his family had been through, but she had to be honest.

"If it gets bad enough, yes, she could die."

"Do you have other antibiotics you could give her that could be safe for Mhare?" Rick asked.

"No. But I could try just cleaning the wound every few hours, trying to keep it dry and keeping the drain in. We could try that for a while, and he can continue to nurse. If her fever starts getting bad, then we can move him to cow's milk and give her the antibiotics."

Rick nodded. That seemed like the most logical course of action. "Ok, we'll try that for now" he said. "Can I just get a moment with her?" he asked. "Of course" Enid nodded, and Rick passed her the baby. As she turned to leave she said to Rick, "And Mhare is a beautiful name". He nodded and she left.

Rick moved in close to Michonne's ear. "Michonne, it's me…" Rick's voice cracked and tears trickled down his cheeks. "Michonne, I need you pull through. You have to. I'm not giving you an option. Our baby boy Mhare, he needs you. He's a little warrior, but only you can give him what he needs right now. You have always been a fighter, you've been through so much. More than any person should ever have to go through, but I'll be damned if you get killed by an infection. That's not happening, you hear me? It's gonna be painful when you wake up, and you'll hurt really badly, but I'll be there for you and I'll help you through it. And I know if you just see Mhare, Michonne, if you just see him, you'll know it was worth it." Rick cupped her cheek and pressed his face against hers. "Please Michonne, sweetheart, I'm so scared. Please wake up."

It was silent in the room, and Rick continued stroking Michonne's hair and pressing his cheek against hers when Michonne let out a low groan. It was soft, but Rick heard it because he was standing so close to her.

"Michonne!" Rick called. Her face scrunched up and she let out a louder groan of pain. "Enid!" Rick called, and she came back into the kitchen, quickly passing Mhare to Rick. Michonne wasn't fully conscious, but she was groaning and it was clear she was in pain.

"Well it's a good sign that she's waking up" Enid said, "but it's going to be hard for her. She won't be able to move around for a while. C-sections are very painful, even with pain meds. I can't imagine without them."

As if to answer what Enid said, Michonne let out another groan, and her hands twitched, moving towards her belly. Rick grabbed her hand so she wouldn't touch the bandage, and that seemed to wake her up.

She opened her eyes, bewildered. "Hey baby! Just relax, relax, you're ok. It's ok. Welcome back."

She still looked confused as she stared at Rick. She opened her mouth to talk, but her mouth was so dry she just ended up coughing. The coughing caused her abdomen so much pain, tears came to her eyes. Rick quickly filled up a glass of water and brought it to her lips. She thirstily took a few sips before groaning again.

She tried to speak again. "Baby?" she rasped out.

Rick smiled and held Mhare up to her face. Her eyes got wide and she seemed to immediately forget about the pain. Rick placed Mhare's face right next to hers and she leaned over and gave the baby a kiss, tears trickling down her face.

"It's a little boy Michonne"

"Mhare" she whispered.

A grin spread across Rick's face. "You heard me?".

She smiled.

"Do you like the name?" he asked, a little nervous that she might not.

"Come" she said, and Rick moved in closer.

"it's perfect" she whispered, kissing Rick's cheek.

Rick laid the little boy on Michonne's upper chest, with his face up against Michonne's. To everyone's delight he grabbed her face with his little hands and began to suckle her nose causing her to giggle.

"Someone's hungry" Rick said.

"I want to feed him" Michonne said.

"Ok" Enid said, "but you won't be able to hold him in the normal way, we've just been putting him on your chest and letting him suckle that way. You won't be able to sit up yet with your wounds."

Michonne nodded, ignoring the searing pain in her abdomen.

Rick picked Mhare up again and laid him further down on Michonne's chest. The hungry baby automatically latched on to the nearest nipple and began to nurse.

"He's so tiny" Michonne said in awe, watching him while placing a hand on his back.

"But he's a fighter, just like his mom" Rick said, stroking Michonne's hair. "The knife cut him in the thigh, Enid had to give him stitches."

Michonne's eyes widened. "Is he ok?"

"Yes, he's fine. That's why I named him Mhare. But Michonne, your knife wound is starting to get infected. You're getting a little fever. Enid said that we have antibiotics but they're not for nursing moms. If you take them, you won't be able to feed him."

Michonne nodded. "Then I won't take them. He needs to eat."

"We'll just take it one step at a time. We'll see if the fever keeps rising, or if it goes down on its own, ok?" Enid said.

Michonne nodded and reached for Enid's hand. "Thank you, for saving my son, and my life. I had faith in you Enid and you came through."

Enid smiled. "I'll let you two have some time to yourselves with Mhare, and then I'll call the kids in in a few minutes ok? They will be thrilled to hear you're awake."

"Thanks Enid" Rick said, and she left.

They both looked down at their son in silence. "He looks just like you Michonne, look at those beautiful brown eyes."

She smiled and patted the baby's bottom. "He does, but I think he has your nose."

"Yea, maybe" Rick said.

The smile suddenly faded from Michonne's face, and Rick immediately knew what she was thinking. "He looks like Andre, doesn't he?" Rick asked.

Michonne's eyes glazed over with tears and she nodded. "I thought I've gotten to the point where I can think about him, and remember him, without crying. But seeing Mhare… he reminds me of Andre so much… I'm sorry."

"Don't ever be sorry Michonne" Rick said, wiping a tear away. "And we'll tell him about his big brother, and that he has a guardian angel named Andre."

She nodded. "He's so beautiful. He is worth everything."

They could hear the children squeal all of a sudden, and Judy say loudly "Can I go see her?". Enid must have told them Michonne was awake.

"Here comes the cavalry" Rick joked, as Joy, Judy and Tommy all thundered into the kitchen.

"Wait wait wait!" Rick said, halting their charge. "No hugs yet, ok? Mommy's still in pain. You can touch her arms."

Michonne shot a look of thanks to Rick, and then said to the children, "Hi guys, let me give you a kiss". Each of the children came over and she gave each of them a kiss on the forehead.

"Mommy we were so scared" Judy said. "We heard you screaming!"

"And Carl was scared too" Joy said.

"And the baby is so little, he's smaller than Joy's baby doll." Judy added.

Michonne looked at her girls and smiled. "I'm sorry I scared you. I was screaming because it hurt very badly. I'm still hurting, but I'm ok, and the baby is ok. And I'm proud of all of you for being so brave."

Rick said to the kids, "your brother's name is Mhare. It means warrior."

"Mhare?" Joy asked.

"Yes, do you like it?" Michonne asked her.

"Yea… it's alright I guess" Joy said unenthusiastically, causing Rick and Michonne to laugh, but the pain quickly forced Michonne to stop.

"What did you want to name him?" Michonne asked.

"Prince Eric" Joy said.

Judy laughed. "That's the prince from the little mermaid book I read to her"

"Hmmm… Prince Eric is nice, but I think we'll stick with Mhare" Rick said.

"I like it" Judy said.

"Me too" Tommy added.

Carl, awoken by all the noise coming from the kitchen, made his way into the room.

"Mom!" he said.

"Hi Carl" Michonne smiled, reaching up an arm to wrap around his neck as he kissed her cheek.

"How long have you been up?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes"

"How do you feel?" he asked, but just looking at her face he could tell she was in a world of pain.

"I'll feel better in a few days, I'm just happy to be alive."

He nodded and looked down at his brother who was still nursing. "His name is Mhare" Rick said

"That means warrior, right?" Carl asked Michonne. Rick was surprised that Carl knew that, but he should have known that if Michonne was teaching Rick some words in Shona, she definitely was teaching Carl.

"Yes" Michonne confirmed "you have a good memory".

"That name suits him" Carl said, rubbing Mhare's hair.

There was a knock on the front door, and Carl could hear Lydia yelling "Get off of me!" from the porch. Rick and Carl ran to the door and threw it open to face three members of the defense team and 5 of Gregory's followers, who were holding on to Lydia.

"Get your hands off of her" Rick demanded.

"Who is she? She definitely doesn't live at Hilltop, is this one of the Walker People?" the same man who had confronted Carl earlier asked.

Carl pushed past Rick and stood face to face with the man. "She's our guest, and if you don't take your hands off her, you'll end up with a stump."

The man opened his mouth to say something back to Carl, when Lydia slammed her elbow into his stomach and stomped on his foot to make him let go. He yelled out in pain as Lydia backed away, drawing her knife.

"Everyone just calm down" James, a member of the defense team said. "We didn't come here to start anything. Carl knows why we're here. We just came to take him in for questioning, that's all."

"What about that girl? Look how dirty she is, she's definitely one of the Walker People. She needs to be questioned too. For all we know she's a spy!" someone shouted.

"And that little Walker People boy too! It's his fault they even came here!" someone else yelled.

"You're not taking any of them" Rick said calmly.

"Look, I said I'd cooperate" Carl said "I'll go with you, but leave the rest of them out of this. They have nothing to do with this."

"Sorry Carl, but we need to talk to all witnesses, and they are witnesses. The rest of your family is too. We need to find out the whole story of what happened with Gregory and how these people got in the gates."

"Are you going to be questioning them too?" Rick asked, pointing towards Gregory's followers. "They fucking poisoned my son! They should be arrested."

"Rick, we will question everyone. I know you guys have a lot going on, I know your family was attacked" James said, pointedly looking at the missing door knob on the trailer, "and I know tensions are running high right now, but we are doing the best we can, and the investigation will be fair."

Enid suddenly came to the door, taking in all the people. "What the hell is going on?" she asked.

Carl, knowing that Enid was about to lose her cool, walked up to her and said "honey, they need to talk to me about… something. My dad will fill you in. I'm just gonna go with them and talk and then I'll be back. I love you, ok?".

Enid looked bewildered, and eyed Gregory's followers. "James, don't let those people near my husband. The last time they wanted to talk they drugged him and took him to the enemy." James nodded, and she turned to look at him. "And where exactly are you taking him?"

"We cleaned up the first floor of the big house, so we're doing questioning there" James said.

Enid nodded. "I'm gonna go check on Michonne and Mhare, and then I'll meet you there, Carl", and with that, she spun on her heel and reentered the house, leaving everyone outside staring after her.