Chapter 24: Ends and Beginnings

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I promise I'll finish all of these! Also, if you're a fan of other shows/ships, let me know. I'll need a show to write for after I finish my multi-chapters for TWD up.

Michonne's leg bounced up and down underneath her desk. With the sun beaming in through her office window, stamping the hour of noon upon her back, she couldn't wait for the minute hand of her clock to record that time as well.

'Come on, come on,' she thought impatiently.

She had only been back at work at her father's law firm for a few months, and she was already regretting her decision to give in. But she needed a steady paycheck for her daughter.

Her daughter.

A smile formed on her face every time she thought of the bundle of joy that was waiting for her back at home.

It had been exactly two years ago that she had found out she was pregnant. It had come as a shock and a new beginning. She figured it was heaven's way of giving her another chance. So she had named her daughter Ngirozi – the Shona word for angel – while the child had still been growing inside her womb.

She had wanted to tell so many people about what was happening, but she realized she didn't really have anyone to tell. After having been so consumed with her previous family life and work, she had no other friends that she talked to regularly. Besides Andrea. Whom she told the news a couple of weeks after her revelation. They had celebrated with sparkling grape juice and Netlix. And then Andrea had asked her the question she had both been trying not to think about but also the question that had been nesting in the back of her mind since should found out.

"Are you going to tell Rick?"

Michonne had stayed thoughtfully quiet for a moment while she pondered it. She was torn between thinking he should know and thinking it best that he didn't. She had sent him away with the expectation that he would go back to his family and get his life back together after she had come through like a whirlwind for his life. A destructive whirlwind. It had been the first action since meeting him that she had been proud of herself for doing. She thought she had made the right decision for both him and her. If she now came to him with news that she was having his child, that would just complicate his life more than she already had. And she didn't know if that was right.

"I don't know," she had replied to Andrea. "What do you think I should do?"

"I think..." Andrea had replied with a sigh. "That you've both managed to get untangled from each other for the time being. And that's probably for the best."

Michonne had nodded once, taken another sip of her sparkling grape juice, and then lost herself in the episode of The Twilight Zone that was flashing across her television screen. And she pushed the thought to the back of her mind for future consideration.

Now, back in her office, Michonne pushed the slightly more faint consideration back for the millionth time. 'Later', she thought. 'I'll think about it later'. It was always later.

The second the minute hand touched noon on her wall clock, her hand flew to the cell phone lying face down on her desk and she turned it on. She immediately speed dialed the first contact.

"Hello?" the voice on the other side of the phone answered. They answered almost immediately as if they had been expecting her call. And they probably had been.

"Yes, Aaron, how is she?" Michonne asked anxiously.

Aaron was a friend Andrea had linked Michonne to when Michonne had been looking for someone to take care of Rozi while she was at work. When she saw Michonne looking through daycares that charged about $1,000 a week, Andrea had decided that it was time she say something. She told Michonne that she knew of a semi-famous journalistic blogger and his husband who were both very good with kids. When Michonne asked her how she knew, she told her that she often was tasked with watching her nephew, but she didn't have the time or patience, so she would take the kid over to the two men instead. And they were wonderful. Michonne had been hesitant at first, but she allowed Andrea to set up a meeting and during it, she had been won over by Aaron and his devoted husband. So she allowed them to be her official nannies. And they didn't mind it because they liked the business and noise that a kid brought into their quiet home. And since Aaron was his own boss, he could avoid the nannying interfering with his work.

But even though Michonne was won over by them, that didn't stop her from worrying and stressing about how her daughter was doing the whole day. Not after what happened to Andre when she left him in someone else's care.

Aaron's voice came through the phone, slightly wary. "Okay, Michonne...Don't panic."

Those words immediately caused Michonne to panic. She stood up from her desk and drew the strap of her purse over her shoulder, already ready to make her way to her baby. "What's wrong?" she asked, her heart beating fast.

"She's fine," Aaron said. "But I think she might be developing a slight fever. She has diarrhea and she can't keep anything down."

That caused Michonne's anxiety to rise even more. "That doesn't sound fine," she said. "I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone. And on her way out of the office, she sent a text to her father, telling him that she was leaving for the day.

00000000000000000000000000000000000

Rick held two glasses of bourbon in each hand and stared at Lori's back. She was sitting on the front porch of what used to be their house together, and she was wearing a ponytail again. Like she had worn the day before. He was surprised that she was starting to don the hairstyle more lately. It reminded him of how she used to wear her hair when they went to college.

He sighed wistfully and stepped out onto the porch, letting her know he was there. The moon was full and the night was dark. She looked over her shoulder.

"Oh, hey, you're back," she said softly with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm back," he said.

He held out a glass of alcohol, but she shook her head. "I'm not drinking," she said. "I get sleepy when I drink and I want to stay up on a beautiful night like this."

Rick accepted her answer and sat down next to her on the top step. He sat the glass of alcohol next to him. He would drink it later.

For a while, they were quiet. It was easy to fall into silence on a night that offered such calming visuals and to feel completely comforted in that quiet.

Eventually, Lori spoke. "Carl seems to be doing well, doesn't he?"

"He does," Rick responded. "I was worried about him for a little while, but...he's adjusting well."

Lori nodded. There was silence again.

"Yesterday..." she started. "You asked me what was wrong." This was their second time sitting and watching the stars. They had done so the previous night as well. "I couldn't really answer then," Lori continued. "But I think we're both at the point where we should start considering...contacting a lawyer, you know. Having papers drawn up."

She didn't really meet his eyes and her voice was dense and hard to hear in the night, but Rick heard her clearly. He wasn't surprised. He wasn't even angry or upset. There was just a quiet finality that hung in the air between them. It was both relieving and scary. Relieving because if it wasn't brought up, it was all too easy to just fall back into the same patterns, the same routine of life together. But scary because together is what they had been for so long. Now there was a decision being made for them to forever be apart.

"I can't keep living with Mrs. Niedermeyer," Lori continued quietly. "I have to start working toward getting a place of my own and...being independent. I can't do that if I'm still holding onto past things."

Rick nodded. She didn't have to explain. He understood.

"Do you have someone in mind?" Rick asked. The strange, silly thought that they should have gotten a personal family lawyer long ago flitted through his mind.

"My mom is recommending someone to me," Lori said.

Rick was quiet. He wasn't surprised that his mother-in-law was jumping on the chance to take him out of the family. She had never liked the fact that he was a cop. Afraid it might end up hurting her daughter in the long run.

"I'm sure you can find someone as well with your connections in Atlanta now," Lori said.

Rick nodded. "Yeah," he said.

He wasn't worried about getting a lawyer. He wasn't thinking about much of anything really. Just the end.

0000000000000000000000

Michonne sat in the doctor's office, holding her sleeping child close to her breast. "She's okay now, Doctor?" she asked, still anxious and worried.

"Yes," the bookish Asian doctor with a balding spot replied. "She'll be fine once she sleeps it off. She had a pretty severe reaction to what was probably a food that she consumed. Are you aware of her being allergic to anything?"

Michonne shook her head, immediately blaming herself for not being more aware of what she put into her baby's diet or even considering allergies at all. "Not that I know of," she said. "She started on solids about eight months ago and she's been okay."

The doctor nodded. "It's not uncommon for this to happen as babies are introduced to new foods. What you have to do now is just identify what could have caused the reaction and then take it out of her diet."

Michonne nodded, taking in the doctor's recommendation. "But what if I can't find what's causing it?"

"You will," the doctor said. "Read through the ingredients of everything you feed her, check her for rashes or discomfort after she eats. If she has a severe reaction to something, call me immediately. Here is my personal number," he said, handing her a card. "And remember, be aware of what you eat as well. Or what she comes into contact with. A baby doesn't always have to eat something to have an allergic reaction to it."

Michonne's head swam. There were so many possibilities of what could be harming her child.

"Here," the doctor said, probably noticing her continued expression of distress. He handed her a pamphlet. "This explains how you can possibly weed out allergy activators. And I am going to give you..." he scribbled something onto a piece of paper. "A prescription for injectable epinephrine that you can administer if she has a severe allergic reaction. It should help."

"When should I use this?" Michonne asked, taking the paper. "What's severe?"

"If she starts to swell up or can't breathe..."

"Oh, my God," Michonne muttered.

"It's okay," the doctor said. "It's more common than you think. Just keep calm and follow my instructions, okay?"

"Okay," Michonne said, nodding. Her mind was still filled with the horrific image of her daughter's throat becoming swelled closed just because of something she might accidentally feed her.

"Also, if you need to," the doctor continued, keeping calm in the face of the mom of his patient's stress. "Find out about your daughter's medical history. What kind of medical issues presented themselves in your family, in her father's family. It can sometimes help in knowing what to be careful of or take precautions for in regards to your child."

Michonne left the doctor's office that evening disappointed in herself. How could she have been so careless about so many things? She wasn't aware of there being anything serious in her family; she would have to ask her dad tomorrow. And she had no idea about Rick's family. She barely had any clue about Rick's health, let alone his mom's, dad's, uncle's, cousins'.

She shook her head and sighed, holding her daughter close. Well, she would have to find out some way. She may just have to ask him as well. Even if it revealed that she had his daughter.

A/N No. 2: I know it was short, but I hope you enjoyed! I'll be working on my fanfictions every weekend! It usually only takes me a few hours to write them once I actually sit down to do so, but it's the just sitting down and focusing that is usually my problem. Lol. So updates should be coming every weekend. Even if it's at ridiculous hours like this (3:00 AM). I know I've said that before, but really this time. :D

I'm trying to win you guys' favor so that you will trust me enough to donate to me again so that I can fund the creation of my webcomic. Right now, besides friends and family, you're my only audience since the webcomic is brand new. So come see what it's all about and donate to the comic cause. All proceeds will go towards paying artists, keeping the website running, and all of that. Even $1 would be appreciated. You can donate by searching DuoKomics on (P) atreon - without the parentheses and space - and finding me there or by going to my website www . duokomics . com

Thanks and thanks again!