A Life Interrupted, Carry On

by Richonnelover05

A malicious lie interrupted the lives of a young Rick and Michonne and split them apart for eight years. Although they each were forced carry on the best way they could, there was always something missing. When an unexpected person pays Rick a visit at work, truths will spill and hopefully reconnections and love can form again.

20. Chapter 20--We Made It

I am so grateful that you all took this twenty-chapter journey with me, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Ok, Let's Carry On one final time!

Chapter 20-We Made It

"CARL!" Michonne awoke with a start in the middle of the night and turned on her bedside lamp with a trembling hand.

Michonne had been having nightmares and worried near death over the last few months since her oldest son's sixteenth birthday party and it was because of the shenanigans of one Carl Ian Hawthorne-Grimes and his new girlfriend. Rick turned over and reached to turn off her side light and uttered for Michonne to go back to sleep because for the last four months, when she was up, he was up, and Rick liked his rest. When Michonne began tossing and turning again before finally flicking on the lamp for a second time, Rick huffed and tried to console his overprotective wife yet again.

"I talked with him already Chonne, several times!" Rick uttered opening and quickly shutting his eyes that had not yet adjusted to the bright light, "turn the lamp off!"

"Did your parents talk to you Rick?" Michonne asked and Rick blew out an irritated breath, annoyed that another good night's sleep was fading fast.

At this rate, he was going to have to start bunking with one of the kids.

"Of course they did Michonne, why?" Rick yawned in frustration trying to keep a deep slumber firmly in the realm of possibility by pulling the covers over his head to keep out the light.

"How did that work out for you Rick?" Michonne inquired with snippiness and now Rick was wide awake too.

"Well Shit. Do you notice how Carl looks at her? Never used to be like that," Rick asked worriedly peeking his head from underneath the covers.

Rick's mind was racing as he compared how he used to look at Michonne back when they were both sixteen.

"You notice how SHE looks at Carl? That is how I used to look at you Rick, remember. We need to be very worried. I will not be a grandmother at thirty-three-years-old Rick!" Michonne exclaimed ready to get out of bed and confront her oldest son, but Rick pulled her back.

"Michonne, it's 2:30 in the morning. We have got to trust Carl, and the fact that, between ours and our friends, we have a thousand kids running around this house at any given time, that had to have deterred Carl from making the same mistake we did!" Rick tried to rationalize, "Hell if I had been around all these kids like Carl is, I might have used a condom with you one hundred percent of the time!"

Rick gave Michonne a chaste peck on the lips and chuckled.

"Is that right?" Michonne giggled and looked her husband in the eye.

"Probably not, but I might have used them a little more often," Rick answered and laughed when Michonne smirked.

All this concern started at Carl's birthday party and Rick had to admit, he was a little apprehensive too. Carl could not officially date until he was sixteen, and at his sixteenth birthday party, Carl had his choice of girls. They all were gaga over the extremely handsome, blue-eyed Carl Grimes. He was already a superstar on the baseball team, the best Chess player in the surrounding counties, which Rick attributed to his son's devious mind and always thinking multiple steps ahead of everyone else, along with being a straight A honors student. Carl was the cutest, smartest, and most popular boy in his tenth-grade class. Rick could not believe that the adorable kid who walked into the Sheriff's station eight years ago was already at the end of his sophomore year in high school.

"Rick, let me go so I can have a chat with my son!" Michonne ordered trying to remove Rick's arm from around her waist.

"Carl is sleeping baby," Rick tried to justify but Michonne was not having it.

Rick took a deep, tired breath in through in nose and out though his mouth coming to terms with the fact that sleep might just be out of his reach.

"I don't care Rick! I want to talk to Carl about it now! And stop breathing your morning breath on my neck like that!" Michonne demanded and Rick pulled her tighter into his arms and cuddled with his wife.

Rick took another hard, deep breath and grinned at Michonne's early morning craziness.

"You love it when I blow my hot breath all over you, now hush," Rick giggled and snuggled his nose into her neck then adding a few licks and kisses.

"Rick," Michonne cooed softly as her husband licked and kissed his way up her neck, to her jawline, across it, up her chin, and finally landing on her succulent lips, "you like that? Hmmm?" Rick teased as he used his tongue to slip open her pursed lips and began to comingle his with hers.

Michonne gave in for just a few seconds before she refocused on why she was up in the first place.

"NO! Now let me go Rick!" Michonne hollered and Rick huffed in frustration that he would not be getting any sleep or ass.

"We will talk to him again tomorrow. But I am going to need you to keep calm this time Michonne. No shouting about teenaged pregnancies and being an old grandma, ok?" Rick pled and was relieved when Michonne thought better of waking up her son and relaxed slightly in her husband's arms.

"That damn birthday party!" Michonne breathed out knowing it was not the party itself, but the unexpected guest that arrived and caused her oldest son to have the same heart eyes she had when she first saw Rick.

Carl had his party on the farm, a more grown-up version than the farm life celebration he had there when he turned nine. Everyone he invited came out to celebrate, including many of his old junior high friends who were zoned to King County High instead of new King Ranch High School where Carl attended. Carl was relieved when Enid finally walked into the party. Out of all the girls in his high school, Enid was his number one choice for a girlfriend, and he was going to make it official at the party.

"Hey Enid! I'm glad you could make it," Carl uttered and smiled when Enid grinned.

Enid was excited. All of her friends had been buzzing the rumor in her ears for days about Carl's birthday intentions, and now it seemed like her crush on Carl was about to pay off.

"Of course I was coming, I would not miss your birthday for the world Carl!" Enid grinned and Carl smiled even wider.

Carl was right in the middle of stuttering his way through asking Enid to be his girlfriend, which was even more stressful with her friends giggling and watching him stammer through his speech from the sidelines. About hallway in, Carl was distracted by someone walking around to the back of the farmhouse where the party was located. He was quiet as the somewhat familiar girl slowly moved into view and Carl stared awkwardly for a few seconds. His brain was not quite registering who the very pretty, halfway recognizable girl was that he was so obviously gawking at. Enid looked between Carl and the girl, and desperately tried to refocus his attention back to her, but to no avail. It did not yet register to Carl that his old best friend had arrived at the party looking much different than when she left at the beginning of seventh grade.

"Um, Carl?" Enid called out still grabbing hold of his hands.

"Is that Cyndee?" An excited Mika questioned with the biggest smile on her face.

Carl watched Mika run over and give her old friend a hug, and then observed as several more jogged over to welcome their old friend back to King County. But even with the crowd of people who were now bombarding Cyndee and moving about between the view her and Carl, the two best friends never lost eye contact with each other for more than a few seconds. When Carl finally made the connection in his brain, he was stunned. If someone after the party was done would have asked Carl to explain what happened in the next few minutes, he would swear everything was occurring in slow motion.

"Cyndee?" Carl whispered as he pulled free of Enid's tight grip and took a step towards his old best friend.

"It's Enid!" The jilted almost girlfriend announced and tried to pull Carl back, but Carl had blocked out every person and every sound and every obstacle that kept him from getting to Cyndee.

Carl was laser focused as he elevator gazed Cyndee up and down from head-to-toe marveling at how beautiful she was. Carl was really confused about why parts of him were stimulating, tingling even. Those parts had yet to even begin to stir when he was with Enid.

"Cyndee? Are you here for a visit?" Carl almost whispered watching her nervously wave at him as they both approached each other.

Cyndee was not sure what to except of a sixteen-year-old Carl, but she was positive that the extremely attractive boy who was walking towards her was not on her bingo card. For some strange reason, Cyndee pictured twelve-year-old Carl in her mind as her Aunt drove her to the party, but what she was seeing was so far away from what she pictured she openly ogled the lean, muscled young man who had her old best friend's features, but more chiseled. More defined. More striking. More everything. Carl was gorgeous and Cyndee all of a sudden became very shy as she subtly perused the handsome Carl Ian Grimes from head-to-toe and back up again. Carl and Cyndee were almost full on recklessly eyeballing each other and Michonne wondered if she needed to step and tell both lovestruck kids to fix their inappropriate gazing. Rick held Michonne back and told her to let the old friends get reacquainted on their own terms. Darryl gave her a sympathetic pat on the back and Rosita and Sasha were exchanging "oh shits."

"No. We are moving back," Cyndee smiled as they slowly, and tentatively neared each other.

Cyndee was not back for just a visit. She was back for good. After her grandmother died a few months before Carl's birthday party, Cyndee's Aunt Rachel needed a change, especially from her dead-end job that did not leave room for growth. Cyndee suggested going back to King County and after her aunt researched the town, she was both surprised and impressed at all the remarkable changes. Rachel was even more flabbergasted when the perfect job became available where she could put her Master's Degree in Public Administration to good use and quickly applied for the King County City Manager position. After the sudden and heartbreaking death of Dale back in March, Andrea ran for Mayor and was newly elected and needed to fill her old position immediately. Rachel snagged an interview at the end of April and was hired for the position.

"Seriously? For good?" Carl grinned and pulled Cyndee into a hug.

"Yup! My Aunt Rachel is going to be the new City Manager," Cyndee explained and chuckled when Carl hugged her even tighter.

"How did you know I was having a birthday party?" Carl wondered after finally letting Cyndee go, but still standing firmly in her personal space.

As Rachel was leaving City Hall after her interview, she bumped into an old acquaintance she barely recognized from her high school days. Rachel was curious about Cyndee's old best friend, whom her niece used to talk incessantly about at first, then less and less as the years passed. Rachel wondered if he and his family even still lived in King County. Natanya Park, her mother, Cyndee's grandmother, did not move to King County until Rachel's junior year in high school. Rachel was not a happy camper living in that dead end town. Rachel was five years older than Rick and Michonne, and by the time those two entered High School, Rachel was long gone to college. Rachel's sister, Cyndee's mother, was two years older than Rachel and was already in college on the west coast when Natanya moved. Rachel had no clue who anyone in the Grime's family even was when she lived in King County, much less about the drama with Rick and Michonne.

"My aunt found out about it when she was down here two weeks ago," Cyndee responded, "I wanted to surprised you!"

"Well, consider me surprised," Carl smiled still in complete disbelief Cyndee was standing in front of him.

The acquaintance excitedly informed Rachel that the current talk of the town was the Sheriff's son's upcoming sixteenth birthday party. Everyone knew and loved Carl just as much as they admired Rick, so it was natural that the citizens would talk about the two. When Rachel returned to South Carolina and informed Cyndee, her niece begged her to drive up for the party as a surprise. Rachel agreed, figuring she needed to talk to a local real estate agent and look for a new home anyway. While Cyndee was at the party, Rachel was out property hunting with Aaron.

"I never stopped thinking that you were my best friend Cyndee. Never," Carl uttered in a serious tone pulling her in another tight embrace, "I have really good friends, but I only ever considered you as my best friend, even after all these years."

"I feel the same way Carl," Cyndee whispered though a few happy tears.

Carl was feeling stuff and thangs and Cyndee, although still his best friend, was all of a sudden something different. Something more complex than just two buddies sitting on the couch watching movies or playing video games. Carl instinctively knew he wanted Cyndee to be more. Much more. Enid was confused as she watched Carl hugging the new girl and was immediately corrected by a few people that Cyndee was not new and Carl and her used to be thick as thieves. Enid was offput by the beauty who was acting much too familiar with her almost boyfriend. Enid was uneasy because now it seemed that status was in doubt. Enid observed the faces of her sympathetic friends who realized the same thing Enid was still refusing to come to terms with. Enid could do nothing but fold her arms across her chest and watch the reunion that singlehandedly caused her chances with Carl Ian Hawthorne-Grimes to flutter about and blow away like the light May breeze whipping around Cyndee's cute summer dress.

"Good. You want to hang out at my house after the party?" Carl asked and Cyndee chuckled.

Carl wanted the party to be over, and it had only just started.

"Well for sure next time Carl. My aunt is looking for a place for us to live right now, and if she finds something, she wants me to check it out. Then we are leaving tomorrow morning. We will be back in a month for good," Cyndee informed as she smiled brightly at Carl's enthusiasm.

"Ok, give me your number right now," Carl requested pulling his phone from his back pocket, "we can talk every day until you get back."

"Until I get back," Cyndee giggled as she pulled her phone from her bag, "Do we stop talking every day once I officially move here?" Cyndee teased at Carl's phrasing.

Carl grinned and looked Cyndee in the eye and both of their knees almost buckled as she stared into his baby blues and Carl into her rich pecan ones.

"Nope. Once you move here, then we see each other AND talk every day," Carl explained which got Cyndee to laughing at Carl's silliness.

When Carl heard Cyndee laugh and saw how her beautiful face lit up when she did, he grinned so wide that Michonne and Rick could tell their son was a goner from a distance away. There was no stress. No stuttering or stammering. Carl was perfectly comfortable making plans involving the two being more than just friends. Everything felt right for them both. Rick cut his eyes at Darryl who was laughing at the parents' predicament, then refocused on his son and his new love interest. Enid noticed Carl's reaction too and she knew the chances of making Carl her boyfriend was zip, zero, none. Cyndee's return was all she wrote for that little relationship.

"Did you see Carl's face when she strutted into the backyard?" Michonne asked Rick to see if he noticed.

"At first I didn't recognize who she was, then when I did, I smiled and looked at Carl who was damn near drooling," Rick recollected anxiously, "Drooling at Cyndee while holding another girl's hand mind you!"

"I think that girl was holding on to Carl," Michonne laughed, "I cackled when she tried to pull Carl back by his shirt after he broke free from her!"

"I saw," Rick uttered shaking his head at his son's shenanigans.

"Cyndee was drooling too. They have been inseparable all summer Rick. At first it was awkward, but now they are really comfortable holding hands," Michonne uttered thinking handholding was how it started with she and Rick then soon came….

"Kissing. I caught them kissing a few weeks ago. And it wasn't no peck neither. I mean full-blown kissing Michonne. I almost broke em up. It was strange because I remember them as little kids. Best friends," Rick answered now flipping back the covers and sitting up at the edge of the bed.

"I remember when he didn't think Cyndee was even a girl!" Michonne muttered and got up to pace the room.

Rick and Michonne looked at each other and remembered their own path and how it led to the creation of Carl.

"Well, now he KNOWS she is a girl. Ain't no mistaking that. And they have been going strong ever since Michonne, inseparable all summer and now they are at the same high school," Rick uttered and walked over to his wife and gave her a hug for support, "But she is a sweetheart though. She is different from what I remember, but then again so is Carl. It's called growing up, I guess."

"She is a sweetheart! I remember a little smartass, but now, she is such a cute young lady. She is still assertive, but also kind and respectful. Amazing change!" Michonne agreed with a smile.

"I think she and Carl went through something similar. Cyndee lost both her parents in an accident when she was what? Eight years old? Then coming to a strange town to live with her grandmother. And I think she was just a little hardened by it. She thought she had to be an adult and she acted how she thought a grown person would. And although not nearly as traumatic, Carl did not have me for the first eight years of his life, and with you being so young and us being apart, he kinda had those adult traits at first too. He grew out of those shenanigans, Thank God, and I guess Cyndee did too," Rick explained and Michonne nodded in agreement.

"I didn't know her Aunt or her parents. Did you?" Michonne asked curiously.

"No, Cyndee's mother was much older than we were. She graduated from high school before Natania even moved here according to Rachel. And Rachel graduated when we were freshman I think, maybe before," Rick explained and Michonne nodded, clicked off the lamp and crawled back in bed and underneath the covers.

"Carl and Cyndee remind me of us when we were young, and that scares me. God, it was like the moment they saw each other at the party, something clicked. They knew they were meant to be with each other. Even after what happened with us Rick, the whole time I was away from you, I always knew deep down that you were the only man for me," Michonne admitted and turned to her side to face her husband.

"Me too," Rick agreed and kissed his wife on her forehead and was just about to doze off when he made a fatal error, "What did you dream about?"

"SAME THING RICK!" Michonne whispered hollered and turned the light right back on, "Cyndee gets pregnant, and my locs immediately turn full gray, and you start using a cane! Thirty-three years old and we look like ma and pa kettle! Two old grandparents chasing after our sixteen-year old's child. It keeps me up at night!"

"Can you imagine? My sweet two-year-old little princess an Aunt?" Rick thought about their one and only daughter Elodie who just recently officially turned two.

Rick thought Elodie was growing up way too fast.

"THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR PRINCESS RICK! STOP MAKING EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. YOU ARE OBESESSED," Michonne hollered marveling how Rick could make every single thing about their little girl.

When RJ had the runs, Rick ran to separate Elodie from him but left Andre and Wyatt playing in the same room. Michonne was livid when she ran upstairs to shoo the boys out because they still wanted to play with their brother who they later found out had a rather contagious stomach bug. When Carl wanted some boots like his father, Rick grabbed Elodie's feet and tickled them telling everyone within ear shot how some little pink cowgirl boots would be adorable for his little princess. Rick was halfway to the register to checkout when Carl cleared his throat reminding his father that they were at the boot store for him. Rick laughed uncomfortably and headed back down the aisle so Carl could find a pair of his own. When Darryl and Sasha threw a party for their two-year-old son Axel in July, Rick pulled out a little pink cake so Elodie could celebrate too even though her birthday was still a month away. Rick was all about his little princess.

"I am not obsessed Michonne. I was just thinking about her is all. It took four boys before we got to our little girl, and you wanted to keep trying too! I was ready to stop after Wyatt!" Rick muttered.

"LIES RICK!" Michonne laughed at her storytelling husband.

"I was set to get a vasectomy Michonne! Had an appointment and everythang! And you told me, and I quote, No Rick, there is too much testosterone in this house. I want a girl!" Rick reminded, "And I am glad you did."

"I plead temporary insanity. But I am glad I did too. And you did not have an appointment Rick, admit it!" Michonne argued always wondering if Rick was fibbing about his supposed upcoming snip.

"Prove it," Rick laughed and Michonne rolled her eyes, "So how should we play this Michonne, because for the last four months, I have gotten no sleep because of you and your craziness!" Rick spat with tiredness in his tone.

"Because of me Rick?" Michonne asked sitting up in the bed, "MY craziness?"

"I meant because of Carl. Because of Carl and Cyndee's craziness!" Rick quickly corrected, "Let's go wake him up and make him pay Michonne!"

"Pay for what Rick," Michonne giggled at her husband who was desperate to cover up his faux pas.

"For making us worry about being grandparents too soon!" Rick yelped and headed to the bedroom door.

Watching Rick act a fool made Michonne realize she was acting a fool too. They have already done what they could. They talked to Carl about sex and what comes with it. They are both very active in Carl's life and monitor him as best they can. All of Carl's aunts and uncles look out for him and even DEM STREETS still keep in touch and have even come to a few of Carl's baseball games. There was nothing else they could do but hope Carl listened. And he did. The fact that Rachel was very involved with Cyndee and had the same sex talks with her niece was a great help too.

Carl and Cyndee were definitely headed towards sex eventually, but both fully admitted to each other that they were not ready, and they probably would not reach that point until way, way into the distant future. They loved kissing though. A LOT! Both promised each other that when they felt they were ready, they would take the necessary precautions, starting with talking to each of their parents. But for now, they were both content with keeping their clothes on at all times. Carl was remarkably mature for his age due to the very person that was panicking about his new relationship, his mother. Just like when he was little, Carl listened, and Carl learned. And Carl knew he and Cyndee were just too young for the responsibility of it all. Especially having kids. Besides, with four siblings under the age of seven, including a very spoiled two-year-old sister, Carl figured that was enough for him. His siblings drove him crazy.

"Let's go back to bed Rick," Michonne yawned, turned off the lamp, and crawled back under the covers.

"Nah, you got me up. We getting back in the bed, but we ain't sleeping," Rick chuckled and turned the lamp back on before pulling the covers off his wife as he crawled on top of her.

"I thought my craziness was keeping you up Sheriff?" Michonne cooed as Rick raised up and pulled his shirt off his body.

"Hell yeah it is, and I love it!" Rick agreed pulling Michonne's shirt up and taking a nibble on her exposed nipple causing Michonne to holler in pleasure, "Now don't get too loud or you will wake up Wyatt and Elodie across the hall."

A three-and-a-half-year-old Wyatt and two-year-old Elodie shared a nursery across from their downstairs master bedroom while the rest of the kids had rooms upstairs, so when they fooled around, they had to at least be a little bit quiet. Rick teased Michonne's nipples a few seconds longer, until he could not resist going to his new favorite spot on Michonne's body since Elodie was born. Her hips, where he stayed for several minutes before moving to his newly second place spot. Her ass. Rick had grown accustomed to licking and sucking her entire ass from the sides of her hips to the sides of her ass cheeks, to putting his whole face right in the crack and licking her from her ass to clit and back again. The hip and side cheeks focus were relatively new within the last year and a half and Michonne figured Rick's ass fetish was evolving. After eating Michonne out until she screamed for mercy after cumming in his mouth, Rick gave both her hips another deep sucking before sliding his hardened erection into her tight wet pussy. Michonne screamed in pleasure and Rick prayed the babies did not wake up.

The next morning, someone was at his door much too early ringing the doorbell. A twice-sated Rick looked at his equally sated wife who was knocked the fuck out and dead to the world. Rick tiredly rose from the bed and pulled on his boxer briefs and pajama pants and walked out the bedroom determined to curse out whomever was at the door at the ungodly hour. When he strolled past his daughter's and youngest son's shared room, he paused when he heard Elodie babbling, and stopped to pick her up from her crib. On his way out, he smiled at Wyatt laying half off and half on his little toddler bed. After positioning him correctly, Rick quickly headed to the front door before whoever was on the other side of it could ring the bell again.

"Who woke up my little princess," Rick asked his cute little curly haired, blue-eyed daughter as she rested her head on his chest.

Rick looked out the window along the side of the front door and furrowed his brows when the visitor gave him a wave.

"Hershel, what are you doing here this early? Something wrong?" Rick asked anxiously and his Uncle smiled.

"Rick, I need a favor. You and Darryl were the closest and that damn Darryl Dixon said no and shut the door in my face," Hershel spat and sucked his teeth.

"Of course, what do you need?" Rick asked, wondering what got Darryl to be so rude to Hershel before the day could even get started.

"I just need you to watch something for me for a few hours. I'm heading over to Maggie's to help with a calf who is breaching during birth, but I got this box of puppies that I was on my way to drop off at the pound but it's clear on the other side of the county. They are healthy and I gave them all their shots already. I can't take them with me to Maggie's because I don't know how long I will be. I'll be back for em soon Rick," Hershel begged with ulterior motives.

"How many?" Rick asked skeptically as he stepped onto the porch to look for the pups.

"Only six Rick and they are all in a cage. I have food for em. I promise on my way back, I will pick them up," Hershel begged and almost smiled when he noticed Rick was about to take him up on his offer.

Rick huffed and understood exactly why Darryl shut the door in his uncle's face and said no. Hershel was setting them up for failure. If his kids saw those puppies, they would want to keep one and the last thing they needed was a pet, especially one that was not potty trained. Rick looked down at Elodie whose eyes were closed and had fallen back to sleep. She had not seen them yet. His idea might work.

"Fine, but they stay hidden in the garage. It's September and cool enough for em in there until you get back. Don't be long Hershel!" Rick demanded while bouncing his daughter to keep her in her slumber.

When one of the puppies barked, Elodie popped her eyes wide-awake and immediately twisted and turned her little curly head to find the source of the yelps.

"Puppy!" Elodie hollered and struggled to break free of her father once she laid her eyes on the cute little furry balls of joy.

Rick blew out a breath of irritation and held his daughter tightly as she tried to get loose from him, but Rick refused to put her down.

"Shit Hershel," Rick spat and rolled his eyes at his uncle once Elodie got her wish and ran to sit by the cage full of puppies.

"Dis one!" Elodie pointed at the chocolate puppy who was stretching his little brown paw through the cage to reach for his new owner.

Hershel walked away grinning. Dr. Greene did not have the heart to take those cute, abandoned puppies to the dog pound and all he needed was one of the many kids in the family to see them and BAM!, new homes for them all. Rick knew he could not say no to his daughter, and if he was getting a puppy, everybody was getting a puppy starting with Darryl Dixon. By the time Hershel drove off, Wyatt had joined his little sister on the porch begging his father to open the cage.

"Peas, daddy!" Wyatt begged and Rick pulled out the one Elodie initially chose.

"Come on, let's put the puppy up and go visit Uncle Darryl. Go put your shoes on. You can keep your pajamas on," Rick commanded as he placed the puppy in the laundry room and shut the door.

"YAY!" The two little ones shouted and ran to their room.

Rick hurriedly, but quietly, put his boots on, careful not to wake up his wife who was still snoring. Rick grinned remembering the workout he gave her just a few hours before. Rick put his two youngest kids in their car seats, and the rest of the puppies in the bed of his truck and began his rounds.

"Why are you here before 7am in your pajamas Rick? Hey Lil Ass kicker, come here to your Uncle Darryl," Darryl grinned and pulled the giggling little girl into his arms.

Wyatt ran straight passed Darryl to find his cousin Axel as per the plan. Rick grinned that his son followed instructions well.

"I have a special delivery for you Darryl!" Rick grinned especially when Axel came running out to see if Elodie was there too.

"Lodie!" Axel exclaimed and Darryl put her down to hug her cousin.

"What delivery?" Darryl asked and rolled his eyes in annoyance when Rick picked up the cage full of puppies that was hidden just to the side of the front door.

"PUPPIES!" Elodie shouted and Darryl sucked his teeth.

"Damn Hershel. Don't tell me he got you! I thought you were smarter than that Rick. I don't want no damn dog Rick, take them…," Before Darryl could finish his sentence, Axel was already hugging the cage.

"PUPPIES!" All three kids shouted, and Darryl huffed and looked up at the sky in irritation.

"Which one you want Axel?" Rick asked and laughed when Darryl almost threw a tantrum and stomped his foot.

"Why man?" Darryl asked with frustration, "Why?"

"You could have avoided all of this if you would have just taken the puppies Darryl. You could have hidden them in your backyard behind all of them thick ass trees and none of the kids would have been the wiser! But no, you had to say no and now Elodie saw em and wants one and if I get a puppy, YOU get a puppy!" Rick barked and Darryl was confused.

"So you are blaming me because you can't say no to your daughter?" Darryl laughed and breathed out an exasperated breath when Axel picked the one he wanted.

Darryl picked up Elodie and asked her why her daddy was so gullible, and his cute little niece giggled at her silly uncle.

"Yup," Rick stated as he pulled the chosen all black puppy from the cage and handed it to Axel, "And I don't see you saying no to your son?"

"You play dirty man," Darryl uttered and smiled watching his son love on the cute little dog.

"Yes, I do!" Rick grinned taking back his daughter from Darryl, "Here is some food until you can get to the pet store."

"Well take one to Abe, he is the one that called Hershel about them last night. They were left at the fire station. He got both of us into this this mess!" Darryl snapped then guided his son and new puppy inside the house.

Sasha was going to kill him.

Rick drove to Abe and Rosita's house next, and their little eighteen-month-old Lilly was buckled into the swing alone on the front porch. Rick looked for her parents wondering why she was unattended. Elodie jumped out of Rick arms and ran to swing with her cousin, followed by Wyatt. Rick helped both Wyatt and Elodie up on the porch swing and strapped each into the clever device that Abe custom built, then took Lilly out and sat her near the cage.

"Doggie!" Lilly yelped and tried to open the cage.

"Don't open it Lilly. Pick the one you want," Rick directed and was about to call out for one of her parents.

"Oh no you don't Rick!" Abe yelled coming from around the corner in a hurry when he heard his daughter say doggie.

"You leave your poor helpless daughter on the porch alone?" Rick grinned knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth.

"I heard you pull up, saw you get out the truck, and heard Elodie ask to get on the swing. What I didn't see was that cage full of dogs I called Hershel about yesterday. Everything was fine until I heard Doggie Rick! What the hell!" Abe exclaimed in aggravation.

"What are you doing over there?" Rick wondered as he watched Lilly decide which puppy she wanted.

Abe side-eyed Rick as he walked up the porch steps.

"Trying to get this rain barrel system set-up. Rosita wants natural rainwater only on her flowers. At first, we were just dunking the watering can inside of it, but then when that rabbit jumped inside, well, after Rosita screamed and I buried the rabbit and threw out all the water, I bought this new one with a lid and this little pumping system so the water can flow in through this here hose and that there lid keeps the furry critters from crawling inside and drowning."

"Yeah, I got the same one last week. Rosita told Michonne the rabbit story," Rick rolled his eyes thinking giving Lilly a puppy was even sweeter revenge for all that damn extra work.

"Doggie!" Lilly hollered again and Rick pulled the black puppy with the white ears out for her to hold.

After the puppy yelped, Wyatt unbuckled himself from the swing and jumped down to try and show Lilly how to hold the dog correctly, but his technique was worse than hers and the dog wailed even louder. Rick showed both how to handle the dog properly.

"Soft touches like this," Rick instructed as he pet the puppy and lightly scratched the comforted puppy underneath its chin.

"Shit Rick!" Abe yelled, "Take em back? I thought Hershel was taking those to the pound!"

"Lilly, you can keep that one!" Rick smiled and Abe sucked his teeth.

"Thanks Uncle Rick!" Abe spat sardonically.

"No problem, Abe!" Rick replied with a grin, "Left you some puppy chow until you can get to the pet store!"

Rick's last two stops were to a disgruntled Morgan who blamed Jenny for convincing him to leave for his trip later in the day, which allowed them to be at home to open the door with his one-year-old son Henry in his arms and therefore having to take the puppy and the food. Jenny raised her brow and Morgan quickly changed his tune. The fifth puppy was a pleasure to deliver. Since Andrea had become Mayor, the former city manager had been a thorn in Rick's side, even worse than when she was city manager. Rick understood that policing had its political side, but Andrea was the damn worst.

"What is this, Rick?" Andrea asked pointing to the gray puppy on the porch of her King County Mayoral home.

"What does it look like Andrea, and by the way, I am not posing for another photo shoot. I will get one of the other deputies to do it. T-Dog has the face and grin for it!" Rick informed and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Although I agree, T-Dog is indeed very photogenic, but Theodore is not the Sheriff Rick! You are! Which makes you the face of a safe and secure King County! Your weird looking mugshot brings in new business, so I will see you at the end of next week at city hall! NOW WHAT IS THAT!" Andrea yelled, which brought a ten-year-old Vivian to the door holding the hands of her three-year-old twin brothers Alexander and Joshua.

The boys all but snatched the puppy from Rick's hands and ran back inside the house followed by a hollering Wyatt and Elodie. Rick chuckled thinking those boys were just like their daddy.

"I will watch them," Vivian breathed tired of all the kids that surrounded her just like Carl was.

"Bring em back for me Vivian please. The kids, not the puppy," Rick clarified, "I ain't staying long," Rick requested then gave a big, toothy grin to Andrea.

Andrea looked incredulously at Rick before stepping on the front porch and shutting the front door.

"Rick, I still don't know how I ended up married to Shane and bearing him two babies," Andrea shook her head still spouting about her pretend relationship all these years later, "but I draw the line at pets Rick. Do you know how expensive my rugs are?"

"Yup," Rick smiled and grinned wider when Shane came out hollering about Rick disrupting his homelife.

Shane scowled and walked Rick back to his truck hollering that his friend was causing chaos and confusion the whole way there. Shane looked over at Andrea and nodded, putting on his best mean face before turning back to Rick.

"Thank you, man. Me and the kids have been wanting a dog for a while now, but Andrea was against it. Appreciate you, but I have to pretend to be mad at you. Andrea is looking over here," Shane chuckled, and Rick played along.

"Be mad all you want Shane, I aint taking it back! NOW BRING ME MY KIDS!" Rick hollered and winked at his friend, "hey don't bring lunch Monday. We are going for birria tacos again."

"Nah man wait until Wednesday. I work the 3pm shift Monday and Tuesday remember?" Shane pleaded and Rick nodded and handed Shane a baggie full of puppy food.

"Wednesday it is, wait. I'm off Wednesday. Michonne and I are helping RJ's kindergarten teacher and the rest of the kinder classes set up the stage for the parent night performance. RJ is going to be a little piglet. His costume is so cute. I can't believe RJ is in Kindergarten already. Darryl and Sasha are helping too, for Gwenni. She is a fluffy little lamb. Can you believe both of them are in school already?" Rick gushed, "They grow so fast."

"You and Darryl have been talking about those two starting kindergarten all damn summer, so yes, I can believe it. Thursday then?" Shane asked and once Rick nodded, Shane put back on his mad face and walked back towards Andrea, "Sorry baby, Rick is being stubborn. We gotta keep that damn puppy."

"Rick! I am going to get you back good for this!" Andrea shouted and Rick was just about to shoot the finger at her but was prevented when his kids came rushing out of the house.

The last puppy Rick took to the Sheriff station and Tara quickly claimed it. She and her wife Julie were thinking about starting a family and she figured a puppy would give them practice for the real thing. Rick laughed at her and took his son and daughter and made a final stop at the pet store before going home. The trio got some amused looks as Rick walked the aisles in his PJs along with his two pajama clad children. Rick completely forgot he was not properly dressed, but his kids were having a blast as they picked out all the supplies that came with having a puppy, and he just pretended like wearing pajamas and cowboy boots to the pet store was a perfectly normal thing to do even though he was highly embarrassed.

On the way home, Rick thought about just how big RJ was getting and how Andre was already in the first grade. Rick looked back at Wyatt who would be starting school the following school year and Elodie was not going to be too far behind him. Rick wondered about the odds of him and Michonne having another girl. They had four boys in a row before Elodie, surely the law of averages was in his favor for another girl. Rick decided to research reversed vasectomies and if it could be done, he would broach the subject with his wife. Rick figured it would be a hard sell even if he could reverse the procedure because in Michonne's mind, five kids were already way too many, but Rick figured there was no harm in asking.

"Rick why was there a puppy in the laundry room and where did you and the kids get off to? And why are you all out in your pajamas?" Michonne asked with her hand on her hip.

Michonne raised her brow when Elodie informed her mother the puppy was hers.

"Have to share Elodie!" Wyatt hollered and ran outside to the backyard where Andre was already playing with their new pet.

"You spoil her Rick. One day, never saying NO to her will backfire on you, and today is that day! You are taking care of that puppy Rick! You hear me? I will not so much as feed it!" Michonne proclaimed walking back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.

"Not saying no to YOU has worked out good for me," Rick uttered to himself as he watched Michonne's nice round ass shimmy out of the room picturing her with another baby in her belly.

It was not technically her ass that he was looking at, and Rick had to remember his kids were outside playing with the puppy, so he needed to keep his libido in check. When RJ heard the commotion, and heard there was a puppy, he ran so fast from upstairs to the backyard that Rick thought he teleported himself there. Carl was still snoozing in his room.

"Can you believe RJ has been in Kindergarten for almost a whole month?" Rick asked as he sauntered up behind his wife while she was cracking eggs into a bowl, "They grow so fast. Next thing you know Elodie is going to be in middle school."

"No Rick. We are NOT having any more children. Five is more than enough. You got your princess!" Michonne argued and refused to look back at Rick and that seductive mouth of his.

"You mean WE got our princess. You keep forgetting that trying for a daughter was mostly your idea! And you spoil her more than I do!" Rick reminded when Michonne acted like she did not give into Elodie's every whim.

"Whatever Rick, but nobody is worse than your mother. She spoils them all. Do you know she took Carl shopping last weekend for more school clothes? Carl tried to be sneaky and hide them so that we would buy him more! The nerve. That boy has not changed one bit," Michonne chuckled remembering her rambunctious and devious little Carl as she placed the bacon on the sheet tray and then into the preheated oven.

"And you will. Next weekend. As planned. In Atlanta so he can have, what did he call it? Original gear from all the rest of the kids. He needs to be fresh! Be unique Michonne! Didn't you know?" Rick laughed at Carl's silly request before kissing Michonne down her neck and rubbing his favorite spot.

"You used to just squeeze my ass Rick. Why do you love my hips so much?" Michonne inquired.

"You know what my favorite part of your body is from the neck down?" Rick asked to see if Michonne was as observant as she claimed she was.

"Rick, everybody knows what your favorite part of my body is. You stare at my ass constantly! You have no shame!" Michonne laughed as Rick ran his hand around her ass then inside her pajama pants to fondle her hips and side ass cheeks.

"Nope. Wrong. Your ass has slipped to number two!" Rick answered and Michonne cackled and almost called her husband a liar.

"Just a month ago Rick, you called my office and asked me to come home for lunch and as soon as I walked in the door, did I get lunch? No. What I got was my husband pulling my dress pants and panties down, turning me around on that wall right over there, and kissing all over my ass. Remember that?" Michonne reminded her husband who grinned widely and nodded.

"Was I kissing your ass Michonne? Was I?" Rick asked seductively and lightly scratched his nails over her the area he was just stroking.

"Yes, Rick, You were kissing my…," Michonne looked down and abruptly stopped talking when she realized Rick was not kneading her ass, but rather, after placing his hands inside her pajama bottoms, was caressing a very specific part of her lower body.

Michonne thought back over the last year, and her eyes immediately shot up to meet her husband's naughty baby blues. Rick was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"After Andre and RJ you didn't have many. Then I noticed a few more pronounced ones after you had Wyatt. But Elodie put so many stretch marks on you that I almost felt faint when I saw em. I was so turned on. Shit. I especially love these here," Rick lightly scratched along Michonne's flesh, "the ones that you can feel. The texture of them drives me wild. I love to run my tongue over em too. And this side, the pattern right here," Rick rubbed the side of her left hip and ass cheek while still gazing at her seductively eye to eye, "it looks like one of them fourth of July sparklers, and this side," Rick patted her right side, "looks like tiger strips. That day I called you home for lunch, I could not stop thinking about em while sitting at my desk. I tried, but they stayed on my mind, and I had touch em. You haven't noticed I spend a lot of time licking em, kissing em?"

"I mean, I did, but it's my ass Rick. You have always been obsessed with it. Why didn't you tell me. You know I hate those things. I still can't believe the cocoa butter stopped working after RJ," Michonne blew out a breath of irritation, "And your little Princess just ruined my skin!"

"Nah, she made it better. Sexy. I told you I loved them several times, but you were so busy hating them that you never listened. But let me tell you, after Elodie, shit, that's when you got the textured ones, and I nearly lost my mind. Just thinking about em gets me hard sometimes," Rick admitted with heavy lids trying to fight his baser urge to carry her to their bedroom and give her stretchmarks some proper loving.

"I thought you were just saying you liked them to make me feel better," Michonne marveled, and Rick shook his head.

"Why would I do that? Those stretchmarks are a symbol of what your body did to grow our family. How could I not love each and every one of em? I want another daughter yes, but I want more of them sexy ass stretchmarks that come along with her too! Maybe a few right here, and some here," Rick grinned and gave his wife a passionate kiss before pulling away, "Oh. But my vasectomy. Damn."

Rick eyed Michonne to see where her thoughts were concerning his little snip after their last child.

"You can reverse it. Elodie is already getting so big," Michonne uttered thinking she would not mind another daughter in her highly aroused state.

It helped that Rick was rubbing his hands all over her stretchmarks again.

"I can?" Rick asked pretending to be clueless.

"Yes, I MEAN NO RICK! Oh, you almost had me Rick. You almost had me for a second!" Michonne declared shaking her finger at Rick with an incredulous grin on her face.

Michonne was not going to push out another Grimes. But when she heard Elodie giggle as she ran inside the house with the puppy and being chased by her older brothers, she got sentimental remembering when her only daughter was just a tiny, little baby.

"I could have four more daughters, wouldn't mind a few more sons too," Rick grinned and Michonne raised her brow at his ridiculous statement.

"With whom?" Michonne asked incredulously but the thought of another daughter was already lodged in the back of her mind.

It was behind cobwebs and hidden underneath some old, dusty boxes full of imaginary old onesies, but the thought was still there. Michonne supposed she was just in the middle of a sex frenzy that Rick has always been an expert at putting her in, and also wrapped in a love haze after finding out what her stretchmarks did to her husband's neither region. Not to mention the sentimentality of listening to her little girl who was no longer a baby, but rather a rapidly growing toddler. All that combined succeeded in ripping a small tear into an alternate universe where she and Rick had a sixth child.

"With you!" Rick smirked and chuckled when Michonne started stuttering.

Michonne quickly closed that rip in the cosmos of her mind because she was positive there was zero chance she would be having another baby. The ding of the timer stopped their shenanigans and Michonne quickly turned and bent over to pull the bacon from the oven. Rick heard the puppy yelp and gave Michonne a wink and final squeeze of her ass and Michonne shivered. Rick eyed his wife and grabbed a slice of bacon before heading out of the kitchen to stop their children from running around the house with their new pet.

"Where are you going Rick?" Michonne whispered already missing Rick's hands massaging all over her ass and Rick kept walking towards his kids without responding.

"Yeah, I'm getting another daughter and some more stretchmarks too," Rick uttered to himself as he ushered the kids and the puppy back outside with a wide grin across his face then frowned when he heard the puppy yelp again, "HEY, SOFT TOUCHES WYATT!"

Rick researched the reversal and found out the procedure was not only relatively common, but also safe, and he could even get another vasectomy and still be perfectly healthy. Rick was unsure if he wanted to do the latter, that was a lot of tinkering with his little Rick. Rick leaned back in his office chair at the Sheriff station and deliberated for a while. Rick was open to having as many kids as Michonne would allow, but he wanted the decision to be his wife's and hers alone. Rick closed out of the internet and made a final judgment on the matter. Rick was going to keep his mouth shut on the topic and instead, be grateful and enjoy the wonderful, fulfilling life that Michonne already made possible for him. Rick looked at the picture of his family that sat on his desk and felt good about his decision to leave well enough alone.

Two years later, Michonne was sitting in the front row at Carl's graduation in disbelief that her eighteen-year-old son was about to officially graduate from high school. She had butterflies in her stomach at the thought that her baby boy would soon be moving out of the house and headed to college. Rick squeezed his wife's hand as she nervously bounced their five-month-old daughter, Collette, that was cradled in her arms while Sasha bounced their four-month-old daughter Isabeau, or Beau for short, on her lap. Darryl was turned around warning the rest of the kids to stop their restless antics and Abe was trying to quiet his nine-month-old son Eli.

Rick was true to his word, and it was Michonne that got baby fever and discussed the possibly with Rick several times before he was sure that is what his wife wanted. Rick and Darryl both got their vasectomies reversed but refused to get another after their daughters were born. Instead, Sasha and Michonne agreed to get their tubes tied, but when Rick and Darryl found out there was a greater risk of complications with a tubal ligation than a vasectomy, both men squashed the plan and got vasectomy, again. Rick and Darryl were adamant that there was no going back this time. There were not going to be any more reversals. Abe got his first vasectomy when Rosita was tired of taking the pill every day. The baby boom was officially over.

"Y'all should have been like me and Shane and stopped with a normal number of kids!" Andrea uttered observing all the restless children sitting behind her.

"I am going to have to agree with my wife. Vivian, Josh, and Alex are more than enough!" Shane cosigned giving his wife a high five, "I still can't believe you two had that shit reversed then reversed again."

"It was worth it," Rick smiled and rubbed his youngest daughter's back.

Four-year-old Elodie was sitting in Rick's lap, as usual, but he was saddened when she wanted to leave his lap preferring to sit with the rest of the kids. Rick stood and lifted his daughter over the back of the chair to the row behind to share a seat with her partner in crime, Axel. Rick looked longingly at Michonne who rolled her eyes and handed over Collette to her husband. Darryl and Sasha sat right next to Rick just as proud of Carl. Rosita and Abe sat next to Michonne, and every time Abe looked on that stage and saw his valedictorian nephew, he could not help but to shed a tear. Ella was already crying, and they had only just started the ceremony, and Andrea handed her a tissue and gave Shane a sentimental look. Principal Scott, who had since been promoted to high school principal a few years back, was proud to see off the boy that started a rebellion in his first year on the job. Scott just knew he was going to get fired after that fiasco. He could laugh about it now, but Scott was scared shitless about that rebellion back when it happened. Now, Carl was the valedictorian of his class and Scott was impressed, but not surprised.

When Carl got up to give his valediction speech, there was not a dry eye in the house, and certainly not one in his family.

"Character is something very important in my family. And although all of my family, both immediate and extended, have many traits that I am going to talk about in this speech within them, there are a few that stand out for each that have guided me on my journey which led me to standing here today. Perseverance. It is a trait that I learned early in life from my mother. Later in life, from my father who was determined to have some daughters after having four boys," Carl giggled and so did many in attendance, "My mother though, she is who I see perseverance in the most. She had me when she was seventeen, and through some unfortunate circumstances that neither my father nor my mother could control, my dad was not in my life for the first eight years of my life. My mom, however, persevered after she had me. She got her GED, got accepted into college, managed to graduate college in three years, finish law school in another three and passed the bar. My mother never gave up despite any of the obstacles that landed in her path. She held her head up with confidence and created a life for me that I will always be grateful for. For me," Carl paused getting a little sentimental, "All for me. I think my mother is the very definition of perseverance, and she instilled that character trait in me, although at times I used it for evil when I was younger, much to her chagrin."

"Sure did," Principal Scott muttered and Michonne laughed as she wiped away her tears.

"My Uncle Darryl taught me loyalty. When my mother ran away six months pregnant with me, leaving everything she knew, and with just a few dollars to her name, my Uncle Darryl left with her. He never left her side or mine, even when things were tough, even when I was being a little rascal, he was always there for me and for my mother. Through good and bad, My uncle Darryl loved us, no matter what, and he, along with my mother, made sure I had a good life. I could never repay my Uncle Darryl for what he did for me and my mother, but I try to at least put a dent in my debt every day. It's why I rarely say no when he asks me to babysit my cousins, but after that last time I think I might be all caught up. Getting pooped on has to at least put us at even."

"Nope, it don't!" Darryl shouted to the amusement of everyone.

"My Aunt Sasha is compassion personified. She befriended my mother and immediately became a sister to her and an Aunt to me. Family. She helped my mother in any way she could. She was my first babysitter outside of Darryl and she offered her home to us when my mother could not afford one of her own. At least not with all the odd jobs my mother worked. I vaguely remember my mother dressed as a clown."

"Oh my God. I forgot about circus town!" Michonne hollered and Carl and the audience laughed.

"We lived with Aunt Sasha in her apartment, well her parents' apartment technically," Carl chuckled, "And she neglected to ask permission first. Aunt Sasha also saw a dirty biker with a GED and treated him like family too, by offering him a place to stay also. If that is not compassion, I don't know what is. It worked out great for my Uncle Darryl. Aunt Sasha ended up marrying him. She picked the very best of men he got the most wonderful of women."

Sasha leaned on Darryl's shoulder and Andrea offered her a tissue which she immediately soaked through. Andrea handed her another.

Now, my Aunt Rosita. She was confident and smart and taught me Vigilance and Boldness. She saw through most of my shenanigans and there were a lot of curse words with the name Carlito following them. She took no sh…," Carl giggled when he heard Principal Scott gasp behind him, "Aunt Rosita took no mess and I learned from her how to do the same. How to always pay close attention to things and to never be scared to try for what I want out of life. Her husband, my Uncle Abe came along and from him l learned honesty and optimism. Sometimes he was too honest, and Aunt Rosita would start cursing in Spanish, but those times with his name at the end of the curse word instead of mine. But my Uncle Abe showed me how to look at the bright side of things and how to laugh and have fun.

"Damn Skippy!" Abe shouted chuckles followed.

And I know, with all these great people in my life, I should have been satisfied. But I was missing something, and I decided to use some of my mother's perseverance and my Aunts boldness and figure out who and where my father was. I decided at eight years old to jump on a bus in search of him. After I found him, my father immediately taught me dependability and responsibility. My dad loved me, and claimed me as his son with no hesitation, well, once he woke up from fainting after meeting me for the first time after eight years, at least," Carl paused at his father's protests.

"I blacked out! I didn't faint!" Rick shouted and everyone laughed.

"Grams said there was no difference dad," And the audience laughed harder until Carl resumed his speech, and quieted once Carl continued, "But from that time until now and I am sure for the rest of my life, My father was there and will continue to be there for me every step of the way. ALWAYS. I spent weekends and holidays with him until one day, his own perseverance paid off and he finally married my mom and had us moved to King County to be with him full time. My grandmother Ella represents love to me. She loved me unconditionally from the very start and spoils me rotten to this day, which I greatly appreciate!

"Always!" Ella shouted still crying at the eloquent speech.

"Good! "I have a list of stuff I need for college," Carl snickered and so did the rest of the folks listening, "Even though my parents keep having more children that Grams could be focusing on, including my little five-month-old sister Collette, she never stopped spoiling me. Dad let me name my youngest sibling by the way. I think they ran out of names after having five kids before her."

"True!" Rick hollered out and by now the audience was tickled pink with all the back and forth.

"I also had a group of Atlanta business owners who represented kindness and bravery. Mr. Mohan, Mr. Andrews, and Mr. O'Malley looked out for me every day when I lived in Atlanta, and my mother and I didn't realize it until I was kidnapped for half a day back when I was almost nine. They shut their businesses down in Atlanta to come and save me without hesitation.

"DEM STREETS!" Jerry shouted and Carl and the rest laughed.

"Aunt Andrea became my courageous Aunt that day. She saw was what was happening and instead of running the other way, she ran straight into danger and started fighting those men with all her might. It didn't work, they got us both!"

"I tried though!" Andrea shouted.

"You did," Carl smiled "Aunt Andrea protected me the entire time until we were rescued by everybody that I mentioned, plus my funny and confident Uncle Shane."

But if I had to pick one person that encompassed all these traits perfectly, it would have to be my mother, Michonne Hawthorne Grimes, who set the foundation for who I am today, and who I will become tomorrow. My mother are all those character traits personified. Perseverance, Loyalty, Dependability, Intelligence, Confident, Brave, Compassionate, Empathetic, Courageous, Funny, Optimistic, Loving, Trustworthy, Kind and so much more. I think my mother had those traits inside of her and so she naturally attracted people who were like her. My extended family is a testament to who my mother is, and once I met my father, I learned he was all those things too. And fierce. I know most of you heard the story of the infamous bite. My father would do anything for his family. And both of my parents passed those traits to me and to my brothers Andre, RJ, and Wyatt, and my sisters Elodie and Collette.

"YAY!" Elodie cheered when she heard her name called.

"So I hope this graduating class will be a class of character and leave here today spreading all the optimism, love, and compassion that you can. I know I will. And I want each of you to go forth and make this world a better place. My mother did that for me. My mother had her life interrupted, but she carried on. So I say, to each of you, keep your character honorable and if any of you sitting in those seats has A Life Interrupted, Carry On and stay strong. Thank you and congratulations to the graduating class of King Ranch High School!"

Carl had his choice of academic and athletic scholarships to choose from, but ultimately, he chose his mother's alma mater, the University of Virginia, on a full Division I baseball scholarship. Carl was excited to go back to where he spent the first six years of his life.

Cyndee followed him, both deciding that they never wanted to be separated like they were when she moved away to live with her Aunt Rachel. Carl often heard his father refer to his mother as his soulmate and was lucky to have found her early in life and was even luckier that Michonne returned to him. Carl felt the same about Cyndee.

"Rick, we can't leave our baby here alone!" Michonne wept as they finished moving Carl into his dorm room.

"Well, we kinda have to Michonne. We have other kids back home that would miss us. Carl is going to be fine," Rick assured and pulled his wife close.

Rick wondered if his five children, and their dog Bonkers, were driving Ella and Frank crazy by now. Franklin had become a terrific grandfather and spoiled the kids rotten even more than Ella did. Rick was sure Letty, and her husband added their grandkids to the mix, and they were all playing in the backyard of the farm's grand playland having a blast.

"Did you finish moving in yet?" Cyndee hollered as she entered Carl's dorm room, "I can't believe you have your own room."

"Since I got a full ride, my parents splurged and paid extra for me to have it," Carl grinned and pulled Cyndee in for a hug.

Michonne watched the pair closely and whispered to her husband.

"I can't believe those two waited to have sex," Michonne grinned impressed with the virtuous pair, "You think they will wait until marriage?"

"Nope. I do not," Rick looked at his wife apologetically, "Be calm and don't make a scene ok. But it happened already, a few weeks ago. Carl was at her house, Rachel was at work, and one thing led to another. He talked to me about it a few days after it happened."

"WHAT!" Michonne shouted and Carl turned to look at his mother to see if everything was alright.

Rick assured his son that his mother was fine and pulled his wife into Carl's private bathroom, another upgrade they paid for.

"Rick, we got him this room by himself. Cyndee is gonna," Michonne uttered and immediately regretting upgrading to the private room.

"Carl said Rachel put Cyndee on birth control a while ago as a precaution, and he used a condom. He didn't want you to know because you worried so much about Cyndee getting pregnant and he did not want to stress you. Carl asked me to keep his confidence and I promised him that I would, but only after I made him promise to tell you about himself. He is gonna tell you before we leave here I think," Rick informed and Michonne started to tear up and walked out of the bathroom.

"Carl, come here," Michonne requested and pulled her son inside the bathroom and pushed Rick out.

"Mom?" Carl uttered worriedly and Michonne gave her oldest son a hug.

"Carl, I am so sorry that I projected my past issues onto you, so much so that you felt like could not talk to me about anything, ANYTHING that is going on in your life without stressing me out. I love you so much, I just want the best for you, but it was wrong of me to not trust you because of my own past decisions," Michonne cried, and Carl pulled her into a hug.

"I assume Dad told you about me and Cyndee," Carl smiled, "I love you so much mom and I just don't want to do anything that might disappoint you.

"Well, I am glad that you had your father," Michonne uttered, "and you could never disappoint me."

"I have you too mom. Always. I will make you a deal. Next big thing that happens you will be the first to know. In fact," Carl breathed anxiously and Michonne furrowed her brow in worry.

"What Carl?" Michonne asked with wide eyes and Carl hesitated then looked his mother in the eye.

"Grandma, Grandmother, Grannie? Which do you prefer to be called?" Carl grinned repeating the words he said to his grandmother when he was eight years old on the playground in front of his old Condo.

Michonne nearly fainted.

"CARL! NO!" Michonne hollered, "NO, NO, NO! RICK! RICK! MY NIGHTMARES! GET YOUR CANE READY RICK!" Michonne cried grabbing hold of towel holder and ripping it from the wall.

"MOM, I'M JUST KIDDING! Stop tearing up my bathroom!" Carl laughed and immediately stopped when his mother looked at him like she was two seconds from stopping his beating heart.

"What the hell is happening in here!" Rick yelled opening the door and seeing the towel bar on the floor and a hole where one of the brackets once hung.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOUR SON RICK! YOU BETTER GET HIM BEFORE I DO!" Michonne hollered and Rick quickly pulled Carl out of the restroom, "NOT FUNNY CARL!"

It was too much, and Michonne walked out of the restroom and ignored her son, ready to change the subject.

"Cyndee, where is your Aunt? Is she ready to go get checked in at the hotel?" Michonne asked about Rachel who rode down with Michonne and Cyndee while Rick and Carl drove the U-Haul.

"She is downstairs sampling all the food carts in the quad, let me call her," Cyndee informed and pulled out her phone.

"WAIT," Michonne yelped, "It's better if you took me to her."

Michonne was already licking her greedy lips on the way out of the door, rolling her eyes at Carl for good measure.

"Mom, come on! It was a joke!" Carl tried to appease as he ran and strolled next to his mother with his arm around her shoulders.

"Not a funny one Carl!" Cyndee argued upset with her boyfriend for the embarrassing prank.

Cyndee was red-faced and anxious that his mother knew what Carl and she had been up to over the summer and would continue in college.

"Sorry," Carl muttered looking for support from his father who only shrugged and was of no help at all.

"Come on Mrs. Grimes, they have shaved ice!" Cyndee exclaimed trying to lighten the atmosphere and Michonne's eyes grew huge as she followed Cyndee out the dorm ready for her sweet treat.

By the time they made it to the food carts, all was good again for the most part. Rick and Carl walked to the car to make sure there was nothing left behind. As payback for the prank, but mostly to make sure his son understood that teenage pregnancy was no laughing matter, Rick talked to Carl again about the sex and baby making, especially with all the free, unsupervised time the pair will now have. Carl lowered his head and took his penance quietly.

"I promise to be safe dad. I'm sorry I upset mom with that joke," Carl apologized again looking over at his mother.

"You do know she is not gonna let you live that down, starting this talk she made me give you again and ending with a stop over to Father Gabriel's and your mother's charity before we all have dinner," Rick informed, and Carl nodded.

Gabriel and Michonne founded Child Promise, a program to give shelter to pregnant teen runaways and provide them with educational opportunities. Michonne used some of her newfound riches to purchase a large house that would accommodate up to ten pregnant runaways in search of shelter and safety. The Charity also partners with the University of Virginia for those that want to pursue higher education. Father Gabriel was instrumental in getting several local businesses to partner with the charity to provide resources on a monthly basis.

"Cyndee and I planned on volunteering there a few times a month," Carl enlightened, and a proud Rick gave his son a hug.

"Your mom would like that," Rick replied and chuckled as he watched Carl run over to his mother.

Rick laughed when his greedy wife tried to move her mango frozen treat out of Carl's reach. Carl grabbed the spoon from his mother and rapidly scooped out a huge spoonful of the treat and shoved it in his mouth. Michonne laughed harder when Carl got a brain freeze and Michonne pointed and teased Carl who was holding his head. Rick snickered when Cyndee gave her boyfriend a kiss on his forehead and Michonne narrowed her eyes at her.

As Rick watched his family's antics, he thought back to the part of Carl's speech about naming his little sister and supposed it must have meant a lot to Carl for his son to even mention it. Rick thanked God, for the sentimental side of his wife for keeping that picture of him, Rick Grimes, 2013, King County, Ga, in her keepsakes. And for that science lesson Carl learned about heredity in the third grade. He grinned when remembered how that whole scenario led to his oldest son naming his youngest daughter. Rick closed his eyes and reflected on the conversation he and Carl had just a few days before Michonne went into labor.

"Dad, remember if it had not been for me getting on that bus, you would not have this wonderful life with all these unnecessary extra kids?" Carl asked and Rick pursed his lips.

"What do you want Carl," Rick asked knowing Carl was up to something.

"Dad, I want to go on our Senior Trip to Disney Land in California. The teacher has some last-minute spots," Carl breathed out in one breath.

"Ok, you earned it. What changed your mind. Let me guess. Cyndee is going now," Rick deduced correctly when Carl grinned.

"Her Aunt changed her mind, and she is waiting for me to see if there are more seats available. If I can't get a spot, then Cyndee won't go, but we really want to go!" Carl exclaimed and Rick nodded.

"Ok, call your teacher now and let him know to save you and Cyndee a spot. I will come up and pay for everythang tomorrow. But hey, be good. You AND Cyndee be good and remember this is a school trip. You hear me?" Rick commanded and watched his son blush.

"Dad. Cyndee and I haven't had sex. Can I call the teacher now?" An embarrassed Carl asked an obviously relieved Rick.

"Sure. Oh Carl, speaking of teachers, do you happen to remember the name of your teacher that taught you that heredity lesson that ended up bringing you back to me?"

"Yeah, I think so. Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Collette Johnson," Carl grinned then texted the sponsor of the school trip.

Rick had been trying to come up with a name for his second daughter and he thought Collette had a nice sound to it. Rick thought it was perfect as she was the one that peaked Carl's curiosity and made him realize that his father was white, which made him remember that picture, which brought them all together.

"Collette. Collette Grimes. Collette Anne Grimes." Rick thought out loud then had an idea.

Rick and Michonne gave Elodie his mother's middle name, Ella. So why not do the same for Michonne's mother.

"Collette Alma Grimes," Rick smiled and called for the love of his life to tell her the good news.

"MICHONNE!" Rick yelled as he jogged to their bedroom.

By the time Rick opened his eyes, he was blessed with the beautiful sight of his wife slowly sauntering towards him with mischief in her eyes and a mango shaved ice in her hands.

"What are you thinking about over here," Michonne asked Rick as she leaned beside him.

"We did good," Rick smiled and placed his arm around his wife pulling her close.

"Yeah, we did good Rick. We made it," Michonne agreed and offered her husband a spoonful of mango shaved ice which he gladly accepted.

Rick hugged his wife closer, and Michonne leaned her head on her husband's chest, both smiling as they watched Carl try to tussle with Cyndee to take her strawberry shaved ice. Rick and Michonne took a deep breath and looked each other in the eyes and instinctively knew Carl was going to be all right.

"You owe me when we get to the hotel room and I know exactly what I want," Rick grinned lasciviously and licked the mango syrup from his lips.

"Why do I owe you Rick?" Michonne grinned at her silly husband.

"Because now I gotta go to the hardware store and get supplies to fix that towel bar you broke She Hulk," Rick replied and gave his wife a chaste kiss excited to save the rest of the good, naughty stuff for later, "You save some of that aggression for tonight."

"She Hulk Rick? That bar was flimsy!" Michonne countered in pretend shock.

"It was bolted to the wall. And there is a hole in the sheetrock," Rick laughed and Michonne rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Carl should stop playing," Michonne uttered and took another spoonful of her treat.

Rick pulled Michonne flush against him.

"I am so happy you came back to me Michonne and for giving me all this," Rick breathed and gave his wife more than a chaste kiss.

"I am so happy I came back to you Rick and for giving me all of this," Michonne mirrored and deepened the already risqué smooch.

Carl turned and saw his parents making out by the U-Haul and grinned, then shook his head.

"And they wonder where I get it from," Carl laughed to himself thankful that his parents found each other again and gave him all of this.

End