My goodness, I can't believe I only have one chapter left. Chapter 20 is just about done and hopefully I will post the final chapter on Monday morning. I want to end this story on the same day I started it. OK, Remember when I told you about time jumps? They started off slower in the last chapter and there are several bigger jumps in this one, BUT, if you focus only on Carl's age with each jump, it hopefully should not be too confusing.
Let's Carry On, shall we?
Chapter 19- Fine Yesterday and Fine Tomorrow Too!
"All right, who has the best Oh My God moment today?" Michonne inquired after taking a bite of her spicy, Cajun inspired pasta dish while closely inspecting each of her friends faces as they sat around the café table.
Six months had passed, and Andre Grimes was already six months old and rocking his little body aggressively back and forth in an attempt to start crawling. Michonne did not look forward to a mobile Andre. That kid was already feisty, always standing in his crib rattling the slats and screaming to be picked up and placed in the center of all the action. Andre was definitely going to be a social butterfly just like his newly minted ten-year-old brother Carl.
"Someone else start with something light please, because I have a doozy," Andrea uttered with enough annoyance to raise some eyebrows.
All of the ladies except Andrea eagerly raised their hands ready to share the latest antics in their lives. It was a nice, breezy first Saturday afternoon in June, and the friends were having their monthly lady's luncheon.
"I will start," Rosita offered after she took a sip of wine, "Oh My God, I can't do another minute under Dr. Clifford Moore. Nada, the man has lost it."
"You only started four months ago after you had the baby Rosita. How bad could it be!" Sasha laughed and shook her head at her friend that she was sure was overexaggerating.
"HE CAN'T HEAR SASHA! AND HIS OJOS ARE STARTING TO GET ALL MILKY!" Rosita exclaimed and grimaced as if she was picturing the man's eyes in her head.
"Well, you only have less than a year to endure, then you work under him as the Assistant Medical Examiner for what? Six months? Then you take over for a few months while Dr. Moore supervises, and then he can retire, and you will be the official King County Medical Examiner Rosita. It can't be that bad!" Sasha exclaimed with a giggle.
"I just saw Dr. Moore three days ago, his eyes are not milky Rosita," Tara laughed, "Allergies are kicking his old ass, and I saw him put some drops in his eyes when I was there to check on the cause of death for old Mrs. Curdy. It was natural by the way on account of her being ninety-one years old. Shocker. The Doc said he has allergic conjunctivitis, and the drops clear that white discharge that forms when the pollen is really bad."
"TARA! We are eating!" Michonne hollered knowing damn well that information would not ruin her appetite in the least, "And quit exaggerating Rosita. You work with that old man every day and I am sure you knew about his milky allergies."
"Whatever. The man is smart as hell though. I will give the old hombre that. I think I learned more about forensic examinations under him than with the culo in Atlanta," Rosita admitted and took another sip of wine, "Who's next?"
"Oh My God, I can't believe your husband," Maggie pointed to Michonne, "And your husband," Maggie pointed to Sasha, "are at my ranch at least twice a week trying to tell me what to do. Don't put the corral there Maggie! Why are you using this material for the ranch house Maggie?" Maggie grunted mimicking Darryl, "It's not the right kind of grass to grow Maggie!" Maggie went back and forth imitating both Rick and Darryl causing a good laugh around the table, "And everything they say is W.R.O.N.G," Maggie spelled out and crossed her arms over her chest, "Neither of those dipshits know a thing about farming or ranching. They just like to hear themselves talk and strut around like some damn dumb peacocks!"
The whole table hollered in hilarity at Maggie's on-point description of the two men.
"Well, you got Rick back pretty good when you drew devil horns all over Rick's election posters last month. That could have cost him the election Maggie!" Michonne insinuated pointing her fork at her cousin-in-law.
"Rick deserved it, and it would not have cost him the election Michonne. He was running unopposed, and everybody loves The Famous Rick Neck Biting Grimes. It seems like everybody in King County voted for him, although I don't know why," Maggie spat and gulped down the rest of her wine and held up her glass looking around for the waiter.
"Because your cousin is a great law enforcer Maggie. And stop calling Rick that name when you get mad at him! My poor husband is still sensitive about it," Michonne requested and giggled when Maggie shrugged her shoulders with no intent on ever stopping.
"And quit going down to Dixon Motors and heckling my husband while he is trying to fix cars, Maggie. It's weird!" Sasha added, shaking her head, "Darryl came home the other day with motor oil all over his face, hair, and clothes because of you!"
"How is that different than any other day Sasha?" Maggie teased and Sasha bit her tongue because she wanted to keep ladies' lunch civil, "My husband just wants to make sure our $40,000 investment is being put to good use!"
"And Rick just wants to rub it in your face that you have the ranch because of him. Oh, and he is also checking on our $50,000 investment to boot. Seems selling downtown Atlanta Condo's is a moneymaker," Michonne grinned and high-fived Sasha, "Not as lucrative as selling land to developers though," Michonne added and raised her glass to the Grimes family's newfound riches.
"Well, next time they set foot on my property, I'm gonna send my meanest bull after them both!" Maggie exclaimed and sat back in her seat annoyingly eyeing her still empty wine glass.
"You don't have the cattle yet Maggie? Or do you?" Rosita inquired since the ranch was not yet operational as far as she knew.
"I think the mean bull she is talking about is herself," Tara pointed out which got the table to laughing.
"Damn right it is!" Maggie uttered and whistled for the waiter who was moving far too slowly for her taste.
"Speaking of bulls, how is that cute boyfriend of yours?" Andrea asked with a grin.
"I am not speaking to Glenn right now. He kicked me out of his restaurant kitchen after I messed up his precious pizzas. It was only like seven! He wouldn't even give me a chance to make it right!" Maggie exclaimed.
"It sounds like he gave you six chances to make it right and you blew them all," Tara noted, and the table erupted in laughter and Maggie cut her eyes harshly at the deputy, "Ok, I'm next."
"Go ahead Tara. Ignore Maggie's evil glares. We do," Laughed Sasha and nodded for Tara to continue.
"Oh My God! Just kidding. I'm riding pretty darn high right now. I just wanted to say Oh My God for once. Oh wait, I do have one! Oh My God, they are building a Target here in King County! We are getting a Target people!" Tara chuckled as she took a gulp of iced cold water then a bite of her turkey sandwich.
Tara could not drink due to her deputy shift starting in thirty minutes.
"Oh I love Target!" Michonne expressed with glee.
"That was going to be a surprise!" Andrea uttered, "How did you know about it? We just finalized the deal yesterday!"
"Julie told me. She works at City Hall. We are going on our first date next weekend! OH MY GOD! I have a date!" Tara exclaimed excitedly, "And leave her alone Andrea. We were just having a nervous conversation and she started rambling. Don't ruin this for me!"
"Oh My God," Andrea began after rolling her eyes at Tara, "Shane is driving me crazy. I absolutely have no idea how helping him out with Vivian turned into a damn relationship? One day I was there fixing his daughter a grilled cheese sandwich and the next minute I got my legs across his shoulders screaming his name," Andrea stated with much fluster, "Now he wants to live together!"
"Really? Isn't it still too soon? I mean, how long have you and Shane been pretend dating again?" Rosita asked trying to keep a straight face but burst out laughing when she could no longer hold it in.
"Andrea, you ran to my office two weeks ago screaming you made a mistake and accidentally slept with Shane. You claimed that was the first time. So, in the last two weeks since you slept with him, you two have already progressed to dating and now talking about moving in together? After two damn weeks?" Michonne asked for clarification because she was confused.
"EXACTLY! And I didn't even know we were dating! I thought the sex was a one-off thing! And now, how in the hell do I PRETEND to move in with him? Answer that question for me!" Andrea blanched and took a gulp of wine.
"If you do move in, then what's next? A pretend marriage? A pretend baby?" Sasha threw up her hands in mock conjecture then laughed at Andrea's predicament.
"You need to set some boundaries Andrea. That is crazy," Rosita muttered and took a bite of her chicken Caesar salad.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not so cut and dry Rosita. Andrea, how many times have you and Shane went out to dinner and a movie?" Michonne asked curiously, "I know of at least once, and you said it was just two friends hanging out."
Andrea sat back and thought about how many times she and Shane "hung out" over the last few months and did some calculations in her head.
"A lot," Andrea answered after losing count several times.
"How many times has Shane hung out at your house or you at his?" Sasha asked in amusement then took a bite of her garlic alfredo flatbread with cheese, mushrooms, and Italian sausage.
"At least two or three times a week for the last three months, I suppose," Andrea answered with a perplexed frown then offered Rosita half of her club sandwich in exchange for some Caesar salad.
"How many other men have you dated in the last three months?" Maggie asked cutting into her steak and fries with a huge grin, "And has Shane been on dates with other women?"
"I haven't and Shane didn't mention going on any dates when we talk on the phone almost every night," Andrea reflected as she crunched on the salad greens.
Andrea was bewildered where all this was headed.
"Andrea, it sounds like you and Shane might have been dating each other for the last three months. How in the hell did you not know this?" Michonne asked in total shock.
"THAT'S DATING? But there was no sex. Just talking and eating and more talking and watching movies! A few picnics here and there, but DATING IS SEX! A LOT OF SEX! Right?" Andrea inquired trying to understand what the fuck was happening.
"No, what you were doing previously was having random, unattached sex with crazies Andrea. What you are doing with Shane is called dating sweetie," Sasha explained and patted her confused friend on the back.
Andrea grabbed Michonne's untouched wine and downed the whole glass then asked Maggie to whistle for the waiter again.
"Who's next?" Andera uttered with a stunned look across her face and waved her glass at Michonne and Sasha who had yet to share.
Jenny usually joined, but she was traveling with Morgan.
"Wait, what happened to that guy you were dating again? Phillip? Tell Tara the story, she has not heard it yet," Michonne lied because she wanted to hear the hilarious story again and Andrea rolled her eyes but liked telling it, so she did.
It started when Phillip requested that Andrea call him The Governor while they were having sex. Andrea was kinky so she went with it. She thought it strange when Phillip requested that she call him by that name during non-sexy times too. Then The Governor wanted to run for Mayor of Manville, which Andrea found amusing and inquired if he wanted to be called Mayor Governor Blake if elected. Phillip did not find the moniker amusing and informed her that Governor Blake would be just fine. Andrea shrugged the insanity off by choosing to call his behavior eccentric. She did like that Philip was ambitious. It checked another box off her dream man list, which only had Good Sex and Ambitious on it. It was when the citizens of Manville rejected Phillip that things started to get overly weird. Phillip kept uttering it was Woodbury all over again. Andrea got curious and googled the little Georgia town along with the name Phillip Blake. She was startled at what she found. Evidently, Phillip lost the Woodbury mayoral race and went crazy all over the town demanding a recount and yelling he was THE GOVERNER. It got really odd when she read that a lady knocked him in his eye when he got a little confrontational. Phillip started wearing an eyepatch to cover up the black eye, which was also a very peculiar decision. Phillip caused such a commotion that he was eventually arrested, and his wealthy father had to pull some strings to get the charges dropped yet again.
"After he lost the Manville election, he put on that eyepatch again and started screaming all over town that he was, and I quote, "their governor now," Andrea retold and continued the story over all the laughs, snorts, and cackles, "Evidently, this was the fourth town that Phillip and his eyepatch harassed, and his father did not bail him out this time. The lunatic has been in the state mental hospital ever since."
The whole table was bursting in laughter at Andrea's poor choices. First a married man, then a two-week fling with weirdo that wanted her to move to Utah and be his fourth sister wife, then finally, a full-blown screwball, fake eyepatch wearing maniac and all within an eight-month time period.
"Andrea, only you girl. You might want to keep Shane because you normally attract sociopaths. What Oh My God moment can follow that?" Rosita questioned, still laughing at her friend.
"Oh My God," Sasha spat, "Darryl had to fire that new mechanic he hired a month ago. After she tried to flirt with my man, which Darryl did not tell me about until he fired her by the way. I was so mad at him! Anyway, after Darryl shut her down, she got involved with Merle of all people," Sasha winced and the whole table gave a collective yuck, "Right! Well, when that floozy was supposed to have been working on an engine rebuild, she was instead giving Merle oil changes in Darryl's office."
"Gross!" Tara yelped.
"I had to hire a cleaning company to deep clean Darryl's office. And after they finished cleaning, I told them to clean it again!" Sasha shared with a sickened shake of her head.
"Not twice!" Rosita exclaimed almost spitting out her bite of turkey club.
"It's Merle. Was twice even enough?" Probed Michonne sticking out her tongue in disgust.
"Anyway, Darryl fired them both on the spot. Have not seen either since. Darryl and I think they ran off together to live out their trailer park dreams!" Sasha laughed, "Good riddance I say. I could not stand Merle. Darryl was tired of his one-handed ass too. He went from coming to work once a week to maybe once a month then all of a sudden, the last two weeks until he was fired, he was coming every day."
"Literally," Maggie giggled and the whole table scrunched their noses at the inuendo.
"Darryl is looking for a new mechanic in case you know anybody. A good one," Sasha clarified, "Darryl wants to focus only on the motorcycle aspect of his business and let the other mechanics take care of the cars. Who's next?"
Michonne took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She eyed her wine glass that Andrea had just drained, wishing she could have taken a little sip. Before Michonne could get started, Sasha abruptly stood up and ardently shook her finger back and forth in a NO motion with a deep scowl across her face, then sat back down with a bit of attitude. They all gazed at Sasha, then out the window, then at Sasha again confused.
"Go ahead," Sasha waved at Michonne to take her turn as if nothing happened.
Michonne took one more look out the window before shrugging and taking her turn.
"OH MY GOD," Michonne exclaimed a little more forcibly and laced with a bit more irritation than she meant to, "Rick got me pregnant again. AGAIN! I just had Andre six months ago! I'm due in January."
"Oh shit!" Sasha laughed as she looked at Michonne who was sticking out her lower lip in a pout.
"He works fast," Rosita chuckled, "he really wants a daughter."
"Or maybe Michonne's ass is just fast," Andrea pointed out and Michonne narrowed her eyes at all the nods.
"I mean, she did get pregnant at seventeen," Sasha informed to prove the point and they all looked at Michonne.
"Sixteen," Rosita corrected taking a small sip of wine and eyeing Michonne over her glass with a smirk.
It was quiet for a second.
"Rick makes me act fast," Michonne admitted and burst out laughing.
"Well congratulations!" The whole table shouted and Michonne grinned.
"I hope it's a girl this time!" Michonne requested and reached for the wine longingly, then settled on the glass of iced tea, "because this is it! Three kids are enough!"
"To babies! Both real and pretend!" Andrea shouted and raised her glass in a toast and everyone cheered and clanked glasses.
"Are we still on for the spa tomorrow?" Rosita asked and everyone nodded, "Good, I love how intense Jesus's yoga sessions can be. I feel all limber afterwards."
"Look at them over there staring at us," Sasha chuckled, and all the ladies peered out the window over at the men.
"What do you think they are laughing about over there?" Rick asked the group of friends who were sitting outside on the patio of Franklin's B-B-Que joint.
"Is this why y'all chose to eat here instead of my pizza place, so you can spy on the women?" Glenn asked and looked around the table.
They had a clear view of the ladies sitting inside the café near a window across the street.
"Nah, it was because you let your girlfriend make us them nasty ass pizzas three days ago," Darryl grunted in distaste.
"She is mad at me. Giving me the silent treatment cuz I banned her from the kitchen after that. I'm trying to get back on her good side," Glenn sulked and looked longingly over at Maggie who was looking back at him with an evil eye.
Glenn cut eye contact quickly.
"Maggie doesn't have a good side," Rick snarked cutting his eyes over at Maggie wondering who was overseeing the ranch renovations while she was leisurely drinking wine.
"They are probably laughing about how they stuck us with the kids while they get to have wine parties," Abe uttered and narrowed his eyes towards his wife.
"Michonne better not be having no wine party," Rick muttered and squinted his eyes to see what she was drinking.
A memory flashed in Rick's head of Michonne belting back glasses of wine when she forgot she was pregnant with Andre.
"Mom can't drink wine because I'm going to have a new baby brother soon!" Carl exclaimed and reached for another rib.
Rick cut his eyes at Carl. Rick did not want to put having another boy into the atmosphere and his stubborn son was refusing to get on board with the program.
"WHAT? You just got a new baby brother? What the…" Abe exclaimed looking incredulously at Carl and then Rick.
"Or a sister," Rick stated hoping for a little princess and sucked his teeth when Carl laughed and shook his head no.
"How old is he?" Shane asked pointing at Andre.
"Six months," Rick uttered, narrowing his eyes because he knew where they were going with this.
"And how far along is Michonne?" Darryl asked and Rick pursed his lips wondering if he should even answer.
"Three months," Rick almost whispered and tried to explain over all the chuckles, "We thought the odds of getting pregnant was low while she was nursing."
The whole table burst out laughing as did the table of people who were sitting around them who overheard.
"You know how crazy you sound boy?" Shane guffawed and shook his head.
"I sound crazy? You have been having a pretend relationship with the City Manager for three months!" Rick accused and Shane smacked his lips and rolled his eyes.
Rick hoped the comment would take the heat off him and they would instead make fun of Shane, but the group decided to circle back to Shane later.
"You sound like you are sixteen Rick? What else do you think? That Michonne jumping up and down afterwards is effective birth control?" Darryl laughed, and Rick rolled his eyes and jutted his chin at his ten-year-old son who was paying close attention.
"After what?" Carl asked with sauce all over his chin and cheeks.
"Nothing, eat," Rick stuttered and sucked his teeth at Darryl, "It's not like I ever had a baby before."
Carl froze mid-bite and gave his father some major side-eye.
"I mean, raised a baby Carl. The do's and don'ts. You know what I mean, right?" Rick tried to cover and gave Carl a shoulder pat, and his son growled.
"Did you just grunt?" Rick asked with a chuckle as he watched Carl trying hard not to roll his eyes.
"I think it was more of a growl Rick," T-Dog laughed, "You are twenty-seven years old and gonna have three kids. Damn. Michonne got you on lock."
"Technically I will be twenty-eight by the time the new baby is born, now Michonne will only be twenty-seven with three kids," Rick giggled, "And Theodore, you better pray you find a woman that you can lock down who can understand the whistle sounds coming from that gap in between your teeth. What do four whistles and two words mean again?" Rick insulted which got the table to guffawing.
"That was harsh Rick. But the ladies love my gap. They all say it gives me character," T-Dog replied with a grin.
"You are a character all right, and shouldn't you and Tara over there be at work?" Rick questioned and looked over at Tara who was pointing her finger at Andrea.
"Yeah, Yeah, we are headed over to the station soon Sheriff, but I got a whole nother twenty-six minutes to sit here, eat some brisket and make fun of the fact you don't know how babies get made," T-Dog chortled, and Rick took a deep breath and looked at his watch as he bounced little Andre.
"You better watch out T-Dog, or the new Sheriff is gonna put you on the late shift!" Abe laughed and looked down at his son whom he was trying to rock to sleep.
Abe's little boy, or rather big giant of a baby, began to cry and Abe reached for the little tyke's bottle.
"That is almost a grown ass man Abe. Give that boy a rib," Shane suggested, and the table snorted with laughter.
Arlo Ford was born well over nine pounds and had been growing just as big like his daddy ever since. Arlo had slightly muted reddish-brown hair, with tan skin. He was the perfect mix of Rosita and Abe.
"Leave my little Arlo alone," Abe cooed to his little oversized five-month-old bundle of joy, "And worry about catching that so-called girlfriend of yours that keeps trying to run from you."
Shane huffed when the question about his relationship with Andrea was indeed brought back around. Shane was still grieving over the son he had lost, and he looked over at Andrea hoping for another chance. Andrea was different than Lori, more spunky. Although Shane mourned the loss of his wife, he knew he needed to move forward, and he was sure Andrea was the one for him.
"She just likes the chase," Shane uttered and looked over at Andrea who seemed very animated swinging her wine glass around, "she likes to pretend, but she loves all of this."
Darryl chuckled because he was aware of Andrea's viewpoints, but he had to side with Shane on this one. Andrea talked like she was caught-up, but Darryl noticed she never once tried to leave. Darryl looked down at Fletcher when he smelled something a little off.
"Fletcher, did you take a poop?" Darryl sniffed with revulsion and grabbed the diaper bag and walked towards the patio exit gate.
Darryl stopped when Sasha jumped up from her seat at the table daring him to keep walking in her direction, and he quickly turned on his heels and headed towards the family restroom inside the BBQ restaurant to change his stinky eleven-month-old son.
"So, Carl, The big One O! Are you excited about your birthday trip next weekend?" T-Dog asked with a grin because he was excited too.
Rick and Michonne held off Carl's birthday present until after school was out for the summer.
"Yes! I can't wait! I have been wanting to go back to the Chattahoochee Nature Center since the last time!" Carl replied with a wide smile.
"I got me a date for it. She is adventurous in other places, so she must be adventurous outdoors too, right?" T-Dog asked the group and Rick glanced at his watch again.
"Your mama still good with keeping all the kids?" Abe asked skeptically.
"You kidding me? Have you been to the farm lately? She and Mrs. Letty have the whole day planned. I think they recruited Beth to help out since she won't be leaving for college till August," Rick chuckled thinking about the playground the ladies built for the kids along with a small kiddie pool and splash pad.
"Hershel left yet?" Glenn asked as he sadly looked across the street at his girlfriend, "Maggie won't answer me when I ask on account she is giving me the silent treatment."
"Yes, a few days ago. He got an apartment and is taking some summer courses," Rick answered still amazed that Hershel was a year or so from being the new town veterinarian after being in law enforcement for so long.
"Morgan and Jenny coming?" Abe asked, still bouncing a wide-awake Arlo.
"Yup. They will be back home middle of next week," Rick answered after giving Andre a kiss on the nose which caused the cutie to giggle.
"Tell your mother thanks for nothing by the way for that kiddie pool she built. Now Rosita wants a regular sized pool for our back yard," Abe uttered and shook his head at all money it was going to cost him.
"They are starting our pool Monday," Rick enlightened and that got everyone's brows to rising.
"Well now, that changes things! With me living five minutes from you, we can just come to your house," Abe laughed, "Save me an asston of money!"
"Vivian loves the water! Don't you Vivvy," Shane asked his five-year-old daughter who was nodding aggressively, "Count us there too!"
"Where?" Darryl asked as he walked back to the table with a freshly diapered Fletcher.
"Rick is building a swimming pool!" Glenn exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh Yeah, Sasha is thrilled. We can just walk right on over and swim anytime we want!" Darryl grinned happily when he found out he was about to save a shit-ton of money.
Sasha wanted a pool also, but with them being neighbors with the Grimes' just a few acres over, it did not make sense to build their own pool. They could literally walk to the Grimes' house, more specifically, to their backyard swimming pool.
"Glad I can save you cheapskates some money," "Rick muttered rolling his eyes.
"We are glad too!" Abe replied, raising his glass in jest, "make sure you add a slide and diving board."
"Dad, can Cyndee come over after we leave here?" Carl inquired and Rick looked at his son like he had two heads.
"Are you being serious?" Rick scoffed thinking about the audacity of his son's request then held his hand up to stop his son before he could protest, "You are lucky we are letting Cyndee come to the Chattahoochee Nature Center with us next weekend for your birthday. You are really lucky me your mama didn't cancel the whole trip in the first place! Be grateful."
Carl and Cyndee were separated from their class in January at the beginning of the spring semester of their fourth-grade year. It did not go well with the two best friends, especially after realizing the full implications of the decision. They would be separated in their fifth-grade year too. They protested the decision, but their parents would not relent. Carl angrily went to his new class, but it was not the same without his best friend, and neither he nor Cyndee could help feeling just how unfair their split was. They lasted an honorable two full months before the duo began to plot their upheaval. In early March, Carl and Cyndee began their elementary school, fourth grade revolution.
It started with signs. Principal Scott noticed the first one in the kindergarten hall that read Best Friends Till the End! He thought it was cute. Then, while in the fifth-grade hall he noticed several more signs, Best Friends Forever and We Will Not Be Separated! Scott narrowed his eyes at the latter message and took it down.
A few days later, Principal Scott returned from his morning meeting and the signs were everywhere, including on his office door.
"CARL! CYNDEE!" Scott hollered in frustration as he made his way to the fourth-grade hall, then turned around when he realized they were in the cafeteria at lunch.
As he moved towards the dastardly duo's location, several students saw Principal Scott ripping down the signs and sent whispers to Carl and Cyndee.
"He knows!" A few kids acknowledged and the two best friends signaled it was time for phase two.
Best friend pairs all over the school held hands and walked out of class with a clear message.
"BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!" The students chanted in solidarity and all the adults in the school were flabbergasted.
The kindergarten teachers thought their little students were adorable with their little fists in the air. At least until they saw the look on the principal's face then hurriedly tried to usher the five-year-olds back to class. It did not go well, and instead, the adorable kindergarteners were not so cute anymore when they darted down the hallway hand-in-hand screaming Best Friends Forever. As Principal Scott made his way back to the office, there were pairs of students everywhere chanting all over the building. It was a full-on rebellion, and they were all demanding Principal Scott let Carl and Cyndee finish the year in the same class. Scott was amazed, and a little impressed, at how the two best friends managed to convince an entire school to fight for their cause. Principal Scott shook his head and remembered Rick's warning at the wedding. He should have taken it more seriously, Scott thought to himself as he entered the front office.
"Call Carl and Cyndee's parents and get them down here please," Scott ordered his secretary before getting on the intercom to make an announcement all over the school, "Everybody back in class right now or all of your parents will be called, and you will serve detention. Carl Grimes and Cyndee Park to the Principal's office right NOW!"
That stopped the kids in their tracks. It was all fun and games until parents and detention were involved.
"Sir, Deputy Grimes is on the line, and he says he would only talk to you if it's about something good. What should I tell him?" Asked the confused secretary.
"Transfer the call to my office Stephanie," Scott breathed out in frustration and walked tiredly to his office.
By the end, all adults involved agreed that the two best friends had a valid point. Carl and Cyndee were not a behavior issue, at least not up until then, and never during class time. Outside of class, they could be a handful on the playground, but never anything serious and Carl and Cyndee were simply ready to call all the adults on their bullshit. But at the end of the day, they caused a major disruption to the learning environment. First graders were marching down the hallways holding a picket sign in one hand and their best friends' hand in the other. The third graders were crying thinking they would be split up next. Fifth graders were demanding to move on to junior high school early so they could be free. Carl and Cyndee needed a harsh consequence, and they were each suspended from school for three days.
"Scott, listen. Let me make you a deal," Rick tried to use Carl and Michonne's tactics, but it did not work.
What the hell was Rick going to do with Carl for three damn days. He was doing double duty starting his Sheriff campaign while still doing his deputy job. Ella was busy with Serenity Woods. The Ford's and Dixon's were just as busy. When Michonne walked into the building, she was horrified at what her son had done and yanked Carl out of the principal's office to start his second three-day suspension in as many school years. Just like last time, the group took turns watching the little deviant and put Carl's ass to work.
When Cyndee and Carl returned to school, they were delighted to find that Carl's teacher proposed he teach both rebels in the same class for the rest of the year. Michonne and Rick hollered HELL NO, and so did Cyndee's grandmother. Although the three parents understood WHY the two best friends did what they did, they were not going to reward Carl and Cyndee due to HOW they went about trying to accomplish their goal. Both Carl and Cyndee learned a valuable lesson, and promised the next time they had a problem, to let an adult know before they took matters into their own disruptive hands. The kids were grounded until Carl's party, which was the second weekend of June, and they stayed in separate classes for the rest of the year. Rick thought Carl had some nerve asking if Cyndee could come over before their punishment was over.
"So is that a yes or a no, Dad?" Carl inquired for clarification.
"Nope," Rick answered with ease taking a bite of his hot sausage link.
"Fine," Carl pouted with a little too much force then shoveled a spoonful of BBQ beans in his mouth with equal vigor.
Rick looked at his son with a raised brow and thought Carl had a little too much aggression in that FINE and a little too much irritation in that spoonful of beans and returned the sentiment.
"I know it's FINE Carl. Fine yesterday and Fine tomorrow too!" Rick spat at his sassy son and Darryl snorted at the hilarious pair.
The birthday trip went well, although they all agreed the Nature Center was best visited in October when the weather was cooler. Morgan and Jenny suggested they make the trip annually every October starting later that year, and everybody agreed. Jenny made Morgan promise to clear his calendar for the annual event. Morgan still traveled quite a bit and Jenny would travel with him on occasion, but mostly, she stayed behind with their son and managed a small local business where deliveries of their cheese products for the spa, B&B, and various other restaurants in and around King County. Jenny was currently working with Aaron looking at downtown properties for a cheese shop she wanted to open in the near future.
Three months later, Rick and Michonne were back in Dr. Carson's office after finally deciding to check the sex of their baby. At first, they wanted it to be a surprise, but the anticipation was killing them both and the thought of waiting four more months was no longer an option. Rick and Michonne were anxious to know the gender of baby number three. Rick was excited and knew deep in his gut it was going to be a girl.
"Where is Carl?" Dr. Carson asked, thinking back to when the tyke was there for the last gender confirmation.
"We left him at school," Rick muttered thinking Carl gave off negative vibes last time with his Girls Are Turds comment and his constant mutterings hoping for another brother.
"He is just starting fifth grade, right? Junior High is just around the corner!" Dr. Carson chatted, and Rick blew out an impatient breath.
"Look Doc, I would love to chat about Carl, but afterwards please," Rick begged as he stared at the gray blob on the sonogram screen.
Dr. Carson cleared his throat and eyed the two anxious parents before taking a deep breath.
"Well, I really hate to tell you this but…," Dr. Carson reluctantly muttered, and Rick bowed his head in frustration.
"Another boy?" Rick asked, hoping he was wrong, and Dr. Carson was just playing a mean prank.
"Another boy. Congratulations!" Dr. Carson tried to sound excited as he looked at the crestfallen parents.
Rick and Michonne were happy to have a nice healthy baby. They just would have been happier with a nice healthy baby girl.
"Another boy," Michonne huffed, "I am so outnumbered in the house."
Michonne really wanted a girl. She had visions of hair bows, and frilly dresses, and tea parties, but it was not meant to be. She and Rick would need to talk about long term birth control like tubes being tied or a vasectomy, all options were on the table, but it was weird thinking about that permanence when both were only twenty-seven years old. Michonne recounted the time and wondered how in the hell she was going to have three kids at the age of twenty-seven!
"DON'T TELL US MICHONNE!" Sasha yelled when Michonne returned to work after the doctor's appointment, "You two should have a gender reveal party! Like put pink or blue confetti inside a balloon or make the inside of a cake blue or pink. It will be fun!"
When Michonne walked in, Sasha was sitting in the conference room eating lunch along with Yumiko, Aaron, Zachary, and the new addition to their firm, Tyler Lewis an attorney that specialized in Financial Law and Accounting. Tyler worked closely with the retail developers and was often there more than he was in the office so Michonne was pleasantly surprised to see him. Michonne put her lunch down and walked over to the supply closet, pulled out a pad of blue post-it notes, and tossed them at Sasha.
"Surprise bitch. It's another boy," Michonne uttered, sat down, and took an angry bite of her lunch.
Michonne tried to take another bite but instead threw down her plastic fork and closed the container with a bit of force. She had no appetite, as usual. This baby did not like to eat as much as Andre did. Michonne thought about Rick's reaction to the birth control conversation on the ride back to work. He did not comment at all and Michonne knew that meant Rick was not ready to give up on having a daughter. She lost her appetite even more and pushed her food from in front of her. It smelled off anyway.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Sasha pouted as she stared at the blue office supply that lay next to her foot, "you think gender reveal parties are stupid?"
"Yup," Michonne answered and watched as Sasha glared at everyone in the room nodding in agreement.
"Kinda, yeah," Yumiko agreed.
Sasha rolled her eyes and picked up the post-it notes from the floor.
"Surprise Bitch. I'm pregnant too," Sasha spat and threw the post-it notes back at Michonne, "Darryl said it was dumb too. I wanted to do an I'M PREGNANT reveal party."
Michonne giggled and stopped being a Debbie Downer and decided to perk up.
"Congratulations Sasha! I'm Sorry. I'm just a little grumpy because Rick is already planning baby number four. I haven't even had this one yet!"
"Congratulations!" Everyone yelled at both ladies.
"How far along are you, Sasha?" Aaron asked.
"Thirteen weeks. I'm due in April," Sasha uttered also hoping for a girl because this was absolutely going to be her last pregnancy.
Sasha: I told Michonne. She said reveal parties are dumb too. I know you are happy about that. You can spread the word to your little friends now.
Darryl: I never said dumb. I said unnecessary. I told the guys yesterday.
Sasha rolled her eyes at her uncooperative and overzealous husband.
Three months after having Rick Jr., RJ for short, Sasha delivered Gwendaline Danielle Dixon, or Gwenni as they called her. Sasha rejoiced that she had her boy and her girl because two Dixon children were quite enough in her opinion, and she had one of each. Rick managed to wait a full year after RJ was born before Michonne was pregnant again. Sasha prayed Rick and Michonne had a girl because she and Darryl loved having a daughter and she wanted her friends to experience the joy of it too.
Michonne thought about her children as she got dressed for the evening. They currently had an eleven and a half-year-old Carl, two-year-old Andre, and one year old RJ, and in about nine months, a new little bundle of joy will join the Grimes household. Michonne told Rick she was getting her tubes after the delivery regardless of how old or young she was.
"Not if it's another boy!" Rick uttered to himself a tad too loudly.
"Rick, I am going to pretend that I did not hear that. I will see you in a few hours. I am heading to happy hour for Rosita," Michonne replied then walked out of the nursery and towards the stairs.
"Don't accidentally drink wine! I think that's why Andre is so active! Always running everywhere!" Rick shouted from his son's bedroom and chuckled at his two-year-old son running in circles and trying to escape his bedroom to run upstairs with his big brother Carl.
Rick was trying to catch him to give him a bath and put him to bed. It was difficult and a one-year-old giggling RJ, who Michonne already managed to bathe, put pajamas on, and lay him in his crib, made it no better by being a giggling audience for Andre's antics.
"Bye Carl," Michonne addressed after walking upstairs to kiss her son goodbye for the evening, "Bye Cyndee. You two be good!"
Michonne eyed the duo sitting next to each other on the couch in the upstairs game room. Michonne could not believe that Carl was eleven and a half years old and had just completed his first full semester of junior high school. Her little sixth-grade cutie pie was growing up so fast and Michonne did not like it one bit. She rubbed her newly pregnant, but still flat belly and thought maybe she spoke too soon about getting her tubes tied. Then she heard Rick curse as a naked Andre tried to make a run for it and making into the living room before Rick caught him and Michonne jumped back to her senses.
"God, I hope this one is a girl!" Michonne uttered out loud and Carl laughed.
"Girls are turds mom, remember?" Carl chuckled, "It's going to be another boy!"
"HEY!" Cyndee shouted and Carl furrowed his brow, "Girl's are not turds!"
"You are not a girl!" Carl declared and Cyndee looked confused at Michonne then back at Carl.
"Then what am I Carl?" Cyndee asked amusedly observing Carl who turned to face her.
"My best friend," Carl replied as if the question was obvious, and then grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoveled it into his mouth.
Michonne was tickled as she left to celebrate Rosita becoming the official King County Medical Examiner. And she had a lot of business. When Michonne first left King County at seventeen, the population was only about eight thousand. When Carl popped up looking for his father eight years later, there was barely a rise with the town sitting at close to ten thousand. Now, Michonne was headed out to a nice happy hour spot in King County and the surrounding area where nearly forty-eight thousand people lived. Serenity Woods started the ball rolling, and not only did it expand the town well beyond its original boundaries, but it also expanded Ella's and Letty's bank accounts allowing them to promote Carol to General Manager where she effectively ran both the spa and the B&B. That left Ella and Letty time to socialize with the guests and oversee the business without doing all the work. Carol promoted Jesus to manage the Spa and a local woman with a smart head for business to manage the Bed and Breakfast. The change also gave Ella and Letty time to spend with their grandchildren and significant others. Ella and Franklin were close to making their little union official with a small farm wedding of their own. Rick finally came around and was happy for the couple. With the extra time on her hands, and a whole new population of men to choose from, Letty also found a boyfriend, one of the owners of the retail business near Manville and now it was Morgan's turn to give his mother's new man the evil eye.
Things were looking up and it was not until the beginning of Carl's seventh grade year that caused some upheaval in the young twelve-year-olds life. Cyndee's grandmother fell ill, and Cyndee and her grandmother moved to South Carolina to live with her Aunt Rachel who moved away from King County back when it was nothing more than a dead-end town. Carl and Cyndee kept in touch, but as time and distance so often does, their communication became less and less and when a twelve-year-old Carl got a holiday call from his best friend three months later, he considered that a win.
"Who was that, Carl?" Michonne asked as she bounced the newest five-week-old addition to their family born a week before Thanksgiving.
Rick and Michonne decided to wait until the baby was born to find out the gender, figuring it would be good luck. Just like with Carl and Andre, Michonne went into early labor and had their fourth son, Wyatt James Grimes. When Dr. Carson declared it was another boy, Rick fainted in the delivery room.
"Cyndee," Carl muttered and shuffled to the refrigerator to look for a snack after kissing his new baby brother on the forehead.
Michonne could tell Carl missed his best friend of almost three years and was saddened that she could do nothing to fix her son's melancholy. Michonne supposed time was the only true cure.
"How is she?" Michonne asked curiously as she bounced little Wyatt.
"She is good. She misses King County and me. She told me to tell you Merry Christmas. She was going to call yesterday, but she said her cellphone died, but I think she just forgot," Carl answered a little despondent after finally pulling his head from the refrigerator deciding on some leftover turkey and dressing from the day before.
"Well, Sasha is on her way, and she is bringing Fletcher and Gwenni, so that should cheer you up a little right?" Michonne asked with hope.
"Are all the kids coming over?" Carl asked with raised brows because he knew how loud the house would get with kids running everywhere.
Michonne tightened her lips and nodded apologetically to Carl. Carl was twelve and a half and already over all the young kids that surrounded him every day. Fletcher, being the oldest, was the ringleader of the group of terrors at four years old. Andre and Arlo, who were three years old, were not much better. Almost two-year-olds RJ and Gwenni were much more sedate and would rather watch the chaos around them than participate in it. At seven years old, Vivian was the mother of the group and tried to keep everyone calm, but her methods had the opposite effect. She had the temper of her father when the younger kids refused to listen, and she often riled them all up instead of calming them all down. A newly pregnant Andrea Walsh was often overwhelmed with all the shenanigans and prayed her child was a quiet, shy one, or rather ones she later found out.
"Sorry. You can invite some of your friends over and play your new video games you got for Christmas, and I promise to keep the little ones out of the game room," Michonne offered, and Carl nodded his head and added some leftover mac and cheese and cranberry sauce to his plate.
Time did heal Carl some, and although he still thought of Cyndee from time to time, three and a half years and over four hundred miles between them had the former best friends eventually losing touch all together. By the time Carl was a fifteen-year-old sophomore at King Ranch High school, the newly built second high school that was already almost at capacity, Carl and Cyndee had not spoken for over two and a half years.
The growth of King County was finally slowing a bit after the population peaked at the fifty-five-thousand mark, but it seemed there were children everywhere. Multiple elementary schools and several additional Junior High Schools had to be built to accommodate all the kids. Plans for a possible third High School were in the works for the north side of King County, but Andrea decided to wait since the population seemed to be stabilizing. Amazingly, most residents did not see a real difference and were astonished how Andrea kept her promise to keep the old small-town feel, just on a grander scale with more choice in shopping, food, and entertainment.
During those three and a half years, Carl grew to be just as attractive as his mother and even more handsome than his father and the teenager had all the girls hanging on his every word. Rick and Michonne were adamant that Carl could not date until he was sixteen, and the girls were standing in line anxiously waiting for his sixteenth birthday which was fast approaching in three very short months.
"Mom, Elodie stinks!" A six-year-old Andre announced running out of his sibling's bedroom after being tasked with waking Wyatt up, "Poop is everywhere!"
Rick got his wish and finally got his baby girl, Elodie Ella Grimes, and then immediately went in for a vasectomy. Michonne was not having another baby and informed her husband she was keeping her legs closed until he did. Michonne was pleasantly surprised when Rick informed her that he already had an appointment for the procedure.
"I just changed her!" Michonne exclaimed and blew out a frustrated breath.
"I got her," Rick smiled and ran to the nursery across the hall from his master bedroom to take care of their twenty-one-month-old daughter, "I DON'T GOT HER MICHONNE. THIS IS A CODE RED IN HERE! I REPEAT A CODE RED! BRING CLEANING SUPPLIES AND A TRASH BAG! OH GOD! IT GOT ON MY UNIFORM SHIRT!"
"Gross," Carl muttered as he jogged down the steps scrunching his nose his little sister's mess, "I told you girls are turds mom, literally, but you and dad didn't listen."
Michonne eyed Carl and picked up her cell phone and called Darryl and placed him on the speaker phone.
"What's up? I got a crying two-year-old Michonne, and Gwenni, who used to be nice and quiet is now deciding that she likes running around the house screaming at the top of her lungs with no clothes on, so make it quick," Darryl demanded and Michonne thought it sounded like all hell was breaking loose in the Dixon home.
"Where is Sasha?" Michonne asked because Sasha would have shut all that shit down if she were home.
"Had to be in court early and left me here with these three maniacs. Gwenni, get dressed! You are going to be late for preschool! Fletcher are you ready?" Darryl yelled and gave his unplanned son Axel a kiss on the nose, "Fletcher, help your sister for me please until I get off the phone!"
Darryl immediately went for his vasectomy two days after his third child was born.
"Do you remember when Carl was still in diapers and…," Michonne started and Darryl took over, his voice more animated than it normally was.
"Hell, you mean shitty Carl whose poop used to drip down his leg because of those cheap ass diapers you used to buy. Even with the more expensive ones, that super shit would still leak from time-to-time. Whooo damn, that mess stank something awful! Why you asking," Darryl inquired with a laugh and Carl rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, Darryl. I have made my point," Michonne chuckled at a red-faced Carl.
"Thanks a lot Uncle Darryl, very helpful," Carl uttered.
"And you would be welcome," Darryl replied then hung up the phone.
Michonne laughed as she gathered the cleaning supplies and marched down the hallway to help her husband with the code red before making sure the boys were up and dressed for school.
"Are you and Dad coming to my baseball game tonight?" Carl asked as he gathered his equipment and backpack once his ride texted that they were almost to his house.
"MICHONNE! I DROPPED THE DAMN DIAPER!" Rick yelled in a panic for his wife to hurry and Michonne stopped before entering the hallway to the nursery.
"Carl, we have not missed one of your games! Why do you keep asking? Yes, we will be there. Your siblings will be there. Your grandmother and her husband will be there. Letty and her husband will be there. Darryl and Sasha and their kids will be there. Rosita, Abe, Arlo, and sweet little one and a half year old Lilly will be there. Andrea, Shane, Vivvy, and their boys will be there. Same as every game. I think Morgan and Jenny and Duane might be there too!" Michonne answered with a huff.
"I just like to make sure Mom," Carl replied before heading out the front door after hearing the car horn, "and it's not every game! Sometimes the rest miss a few!"
"MICHONNE, PLEASE!" Rick hollered again for his wife to hurry, "IT SMELLS!"
"But me and your father do not! Neither does your grandmother. Now go to school, we will see you tonight!" Michonne replied and took a deep breath before entering the nursery.
Carl laughed when he heard his mother yell that they were going to have to burn down the whole nursery and start fresh after seeing the horrible mess her cute little daughter made. Wyatt was sitting in his toddler bed grinning like a little crazy person.
"ANDRE! COME GET WYATT FOR ME!" Michonne yelled and cursing Carl for leaving so soon, "RICK, WHY IS THE DIAPER STILL FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR!
Three months later, Carl was two days away from his sixteenth birthday party, which meant girls were now officially about to enter the equation, and Michonne was shaking in her Louboutin's.
