A/N: This one-shot revolves around the family from After Hours. I won't be leaving them alone and hope to keep giving you guys updates on them. Hope you enjoy!

- Bae

Game Time:

"We made it", Rick blew out a breath of relief when he saw people still making their way into the gymnasium. He peeked at his wristwatch and grinned, "Right on time"

"I told you we'd make it", Carl piped up from beside him, "You made me run for nothing, dad. You know that I hate running for no reason"

"Be glad that I didn't make you carry your sister", Rick smirked as he adjusted his hold on Judith. She had clung to him quietly as he carried her and looked like a doll in her pink and white striped summer dress, frilly white socks and white tennis shoes. He smiled at the little girl, "Should we make your brother carry you next time?"

Judith shook her head furiously and her dark, wavy hair swished from side to side, "No."

"No? Why not?"

Judith's face crumbled as she answered in her sweet voice, "He drops me"

Rick tilted his head slightly, "Alright. That's fair."

"I dropped you once, Judith", Carl appeared shocked at his sister's reason, "And I said sorry"

Judith frowned at him as she replied, "Mommy said once is enough"

Rick sniggered at her response. He could easily imagine his ex-wife saying such a thing.

They could hear a thunderous bass from the music being blasted in the hall before they even stepped into the sports hall. Cheerleaders performed in the center of the court while the teams prepared themselves. Rick cast his attention to the bustling bleachers and scanned the sea of faces until he saw the one he was looking for.

Michonne was perched on the second row of benches with her legs crossed and back straight as she spoke to her assistant beside her, who was tapping away at her phone screen as she nodded her head. They both stood out like sore thumbs; while everyone else was dressed rather casually in jeans and t-shirt, including Rick, his girlfriend wore a figure-hugging black dress and Rosita had on a white blouse and blue tight legged pants. They'd obviously just came from one of her stores.

When Michonne saw them approaching the bench her eyes lit up and she hopped up on her high heels, "Hey!"

"Hey", Carl gave her a little wave as he took a seat.

Rick took her by the waist and gave her a quick little kiss on her cheek. Her floral scented perfume didn't go unnoticed, "You alright?"

"Yeah, fine", Michonne's eyes didn't leave Judith, "Hey there, sweetie"

Judith flashed a small smile, "Hi"

"How are you, Rosita?", Rick asked her assistant politely.

"Great.", Rosita jumped up and gave him the usual blank stare, "Don't worry, I won't be intruding on your family outing, but I will be nearby."

She strutted past him and Michonne gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry. I'm just trying to make sure everything's running fine"

"I know, it's alright", Rick motioned for her to take a seat, then placed himself between her and Carl. Judith refused to leave his lap. He looked towards the court when the audience began to cheer, and he saw why; The school's mascot, a giant bumble-bee, ran near the cheerleaders. He grinned, "Is that Elodie in there?"

"Yep!", Michonne clapped proudly, "She's doing great!"

Elodie waved her hands, then jumped up and down a little too vigorously, so she slipped and landed on her side. The audience gasped, but no louder than her mother did. Rick put his hand on her leg, "It's alright, she'll get up"

It took her a moment and several attempts, but she finally stood up again and threw her hands in the air to show she was okay and the crowd cheered. Rick tapped Michonne's knee and she exhaled, "She's still getting used to the suit"

"She's doing great though", He insisted, "It seems like everyone likes her… Where's Colette?"

"Right there", Michonne pointed to her older daughter and he saw that she was standing far away from her teammates with her hands at her sides. Her uniform was black with gold piping and the number twenty-three on the back. She paced like a tiger, walking back and forth as she leered at the other team.

Rick scoffed, "Well, she certainly looks ready"

"She is. She takes her games very seriously and she refused to talk on the way here so she could get 'in the zone'. She also made sure that Elodie and I didn't speak, either", Michonne ran her hand over Judith's hair as she spoke, then leaned forward to see his son, "Are you alright, Carl?"

"Yeah", Carl was too busy laughing at Elodie to look anywhere else.

"Do you remember Elodie, Judith?", Rick asked the little girl and waited for her to nod her head before he said, "Well, she's the bumble-bee. She's inside there"

Judith's little eyebrows furrowed as she asked, "She's in the bee?"

"She is."

"...Did it eat her?"

Rick tried to hide his amusement because he knew she was being serious, "No. It's that's a costume she's wearing… Like your princess costume, you got at home"

Judith's face smoothed, "Oh, okay"

"You didn't have a problem getting here did you?", Michonne set her hand on his forearm.

"No, not at all", He met her gaze with his own, "Lori let me pick her up from school, so I just got 'em home and fed 'em… then we came up here"

"Oh, good"

Rick's eyes flickered all over her face, "You heard from their father?"

She shook her head, "No. He's too busy enjoying his honeymoon"

He rolled his eyes, "Of course."

The cheerleaders cleared the court so that the teams could take their places. Colette adjusted her ponytail and moved forward, while Elodie danced her way across the sideline. Rick watched them with as much amusement as his son did; Colette appeared ready to do some serious damage, while Elodie pranced up and down like a newborn gazelle. Even though he tried his best to reassure Michonne that she would do just fine, he feared for the younger sister. The chances of her being hurt were high.

"We should have brought snacks", Carl declared sourly as he unzipped his sweatshirt.

Rick looked at him with disbelief, "You can't seriously be hungry? I just fed you?"

Carl gave him an unimpressed look, "It's not cool to make people feel bad for being hungry, dad"

Rick slowly inhaled as he looked the other way, "I can't believe this¬"

The referee blew the whistle and the game began. To Rick's surprise Judith climbed off of his lap and placed herself on Michonne's, and his girlfriend looked as though she wanted to squeal with delight.

"Hey guys", Elodie appeared at the end of the bench with her bumble-bee head in her hands, "How'd I do?"

Everyone took their time to answer, but not because they thought she was underperforming as a mascot, but because her hair resembled a lion's mane. Michonne spoke first, "You didn't tie your hair up, honey?"

Elodie froze, then began touching her hair, "Oh… My… God"

"It's fine, she looks great¬ You look great", Rick insisted, which he thought was true because he'd never seen someone's hair have so much volume, "Doesn't she look great, Carl?"

His son nodded a little, "Yeah, like that fluffy dog we saw at the park"

Elodie looked more distressed.

"But like, cooler. Way cooler", Carl quickly added.

Elodie whimpered, "Mom?"

"It's fine, it's okay¬ It's probably just because you were sweating and we only just straightened it¬ but you look fine", Michonne gave her daughter a reassuring smile.

Elodie's eyes darted back and forth between their faces, and it seemed as though none of their words has helped. She shoved the head back on and said something else, but nobody understood her because she sounded muffled. They all nodded in agreement anyway. As soon as she started making her way back to the court, Rick asked Michonne, "What happened there?"

"She wanted to straighten her hair", She sighed, "To try something different"

Rick began to frown as he tried to understand her answer, "...Straightened it?"

"Yeah.", Michonne rolled her eyes, "I don't think she'll be doing that again for a while"

"I don't think she should. Her hair's fine the way it was before", Rick continued to frown as he looked back towards the game, "I don't understand why they need to start fussing with their hair and... stuff"

Michonne sighed, "It's a passage we all take. We start to mess around and see what works"

"...I didn't. I think I've always looked the same…"

"And I'm grateful for that.", She purred sweetly as she eyed the side of his face. Rick felt heat rise to his cheeks when he blushed, while Michonne giggled at him.

Parts of the crowd cheered when one of the girls on Colette's team scored, and the family joined in. Colette seemed pleased for only second, but then she went right back into the game.

Rick noticed Judith looking around in a slight panic so he was about to ask her what was wrong, but she chose to lean over to Michonne and whispered something in her ear. Michonne nodded in response to her, "Okay, let's go find you a little girls room"

Rick figured that the little girl needed the bathroom, and he really shouldn't have been surprised that she wanted to go with Michonne instead of him. He had introduced Judith to Michonne and the girls when Lori was dropping Carl off at his home one evening. Everyone got along so well that Lori and Judith stayed for dinner, and Rick believed when Judith witnessed her brother and mother bond with Michonne, it made it easier for her to do the same. It definitely made things easier when it came to visiting her, so even though Shane was reluctant to let his daughter spend time with Rick, Lori wasn't, and she'd grant him the right to take Judith with him when he asked.

He watched his girlfriend take her by the hand and lead her to the steps and his attention locked on Michonne's sensational figure. He had to force himself to look elsewhere before his mind started to wander.

"Are we going to the Diner after this?", Carl probed, "We should celebrate. At the Diner. I think Colette would like that."

Rick took his time looking at his son, "Yes, Carl. We can go out to eat when we're done."

The boy grinned, "Great."

"But we can't stay out too late because I have to get Judith back to your mother"

"Can't she stay over? Mom wouldn't mind"

His son was right, Lori wouldn't mind at all but the same couldn't be said for Shane. Rick tried to reply in his usual tone, "Yeah, but we didn't arrange that so I have to get her home as planned"

Carl huffed, "I know."

They both looked back at the court just as Colette had the ball. She moved effortlessly past the other players, shot the ball through the air, and landed it the net perfectly. Rick and Carl almost jumped out of the bench as they cheered, while the teen flicked her fluffy ponytail proudly. Elodie appeared on the sidelines dancing again, and it was then that Carl asked, "What is she doing?"

"If I'm not mistaken, she's doing 'The Charleston'...", Rick answered dryly, "Look it up when we get home"

Even though Rick was looking at the young girl, he still saw something soaring towards her at the corner of his eye. It was a full bottle of soda, and it knocked her right on the head of her costume. Elodie dropped to the floor like ton of bricks.

Rick bolted up and looked behind him; a group of boys were sat on the top row and trying not to laugh. The boys were obviously responsible for the attack, and his suspicions were proved to be correct by disapproving looks being sent in the teen's directions. Rick checked on Elodie and saw that a few people were helping her up, so he set his focus on the boys, "Don't move, Carl"

"Okay", His son split his attention between the boys and Elodie, looking back and forth between them.

Rick marched up the steps with thunder in his eyes as he tried to figure out who threw it. They all tried to sit up straight and act as though nothing had happened, but they were unable to compose themselves. Rick looked down at all of them when he reached their bench, "You're all here alone? No parents?"

They stopped laughing and started looking at each other. A seemingly pleasant looking dark-skinned boy in a red sweatshirt sat forward as though he was nominated to handle the adult, "We're old enough to be here by our¬"

"So which one of you threw the bottle?"

The boy paused, then shrugged as he replied smugly, "We don't know what you're talking¬"

"So I can take you all in for questioning?", Rick made his badge visible on his belt, "Because that was assault, and if she's injured then you're all responsible"

The boy immediately looked confused, "What? Y-you can't take us anywhere¬"

"Wanna' bet?", Rick cocked his head to the side, "One phone call and I'm marching you all out of here in front of everybody. You can call your parents at the station. What's your pleasure?"

The boy sat back a little as he lowered his gaze. The others continued to look between each other as if they were trying to decide what to do, when finally a blonde haired teen that was sat closer to Rick sat up straight, "It was me, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hurt her¬"

"Then what the hell do you think you were doing?", Rick narrowed his eyes at him.

The boy shrank a little, "I just thought it would be funny¬"

"You better hope she's not hurt", Rick warned, "Get the hell up, get down there and apologize, right now"

He stood up straight and gave the boy room to trudge past him and make his way down the steps. Rick had to calm himself down on way to Elodie, otherwise, he'd reenact what the boy did but from a closer range.

Elodie was standing up when they reached the court. She'd removed her costume head and was allowing one of the cheerleaders tend to her. She looked in Rick's direction and did a double take while the cheerleader made herself scarce. Elodie appeared doubtful, "...Uh?"

"Sorry", The boy offered rather quickly, "I thought it would be funny"

"Her name is Elodie, and I'm gonna' give you one more chance to apologize properly", Rick almost hissed the words, "Now do it"

The teen stood up a little straighter, "I'm sorry, Elodie. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just being an idiot."

Elodie peered up at Rick, then back at the boy, "...It wasn't funny."

"No. It wasn't. Sorry...Again."

She exhaled, "Okay."

The boy looked at Rick timidly from the corner of his eye, "...Um, can I¬"

"I better not have to come back up there", Rick warned again, "Go. Now."

Elodie watched the culprit sprint back up the steps, then huffed as she looked back at Rick, "Thanks"

"Are you alright? It didn't hurt, did it?", Rick placed his hand on her shoulder and looked her over.

"No. The head and my hair kind of made a barrier…", She examined her costume head, "There's no dent though, so that's good"

Rick sighed as he gave her a little reassuring squeeze, "You're doing great, alright? So don't you worry. We're all rooting for you and those boys won't be a problem again. I'm watching them."

She gave him one of her nervous smiles, "Thank you"

"Go on. Keep it up."

He took his time returning to his seat. Luckily she went back to performing to a cheering crowd, while Colette took a break on the bench. The older sister caught his attention and mouthed to him, 'How am I doing?!'

He mouthed back, 'Perfect!'

She grinned as she looked away. He was about to join Carl that Michonne snuck up behind him, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, you okay?", He looked down at Judith and saw that she had a small, content smile on her face.

"Fine. She said she didn't need help but it turns out she could use a little help", Michonne explained briefly. She then let Judith walk in front of her, "Come on, sweetie. Let's go back to our seats"

Rick glowered at the teen boys until he sat back down. He hoped that no one else would try and ruin Elodie's moment. He knew that taking part in something as adventurous as the team's mascot would be nerve-wracking for her, and he was so proud of her that he was going to do his best to make sure the evening went smoothly for her.

"Is she okay?", There was concern in Carl's voice, "Did he apologize?"

Rick was hoping to keep the incident quiet from Michonne, at least until they had left, but she heard his son and looked towards the court with alert eyes, "What happened? Did something happen? What? Tell me?"

Rick took a deep breath, "Some idiots threw a bottle of soda at Elodie while she was dancing and she fell¬"

"What?!", Michonne squawked, causing everyone within earshot to look at her in shock and Judith to jump out of fright.

He raised a hand to the people in front of him as sign of apology, then explained quietly, "I dealt with it. I threatened to put them in a cell for the night and that made one of them come clean and apologize to her. She said she's fine"

Michonne began looking around the bleachers, "You better tell me who it was, Rick¬"

"No, no, it's fine. I promise. I'm keeping an eye on 'em", He insisted calmly, "She's been doing so well and I don't want anythan' else to ruin this for her"

Michonne huffed and puffed as she began cursing under her breath, "Rick, I swear to God I will¬"

"I know. I know. We'll talk about it later, but for now, let's focus on the game¬ Colette scored while you were gone", He motioned towards the court, "She's doing great also"

"You scared me", Judith said as she turned back to look at the adults.

Michonne immediately softened and wrapped her lean arms around her, "I'm so sorry Judith, I didn't mean to"

"It's okay", Judith mumbled while accepting the affection.

"I promise you, after this, I'll point the boy out and you can go to town on him", Rick offered truthfully.

Michonne still looked a little sour but she seemed to take his word, "You better. I don't want anyone thinking they can get away with that¬"

"I know and I'll arrest him when you're done.", He managed to make her smile just as the crowd erupted in cheers because Colette had scored again.

The teen celebrated by running around the court screaming, "You better ask about me! Winning is a habit!"

Rick's eyebrows were high up in his forehead when he looked at Michonne, who simply said, "She's passionate."

"I can see that", He smirked at her as he watched Elodie shimmy her way across the sidelines, "Who taught her to dance, by the way?"

Michonne squirmed as she started stroking Judith's hair again, "I tried a little, but then I told her to just do what came naturally"

"...She dances how I think I might dance", Rick admitted, making Michonne burst into a fit of giggles and his eyes gaze didn't leave her face. He loved the way her eyes' glittered and her nose wrinkled when she laughed. He sighed, "You are beautiful"

She appeared bashful, "Rick…"

"I mean it", He insisted as he snaked his arm around her waist, "Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am"

"Well you aren't the only one", She insisted tenderly and put her hand on his knee, "I love when we get the kids together and just let them do whatever they want to do while we sit back and hope that Carl doesn't get hungry or Colette doesn't get bored, or Elodie doesn't hurt herself…"

Rick had to stifle a chuckle as he let his gaze fall between them, "That's exactly how it goes…"

"And on the special occasion that we get this little gem", Michonne indicate Judith, "Then we just have to hope that we can get to a bathroom in time"

"That's also true."

"I love it all, I love them…", Her gaze flickered all over his face, "And I love you"

The smile on Rick's face faded away out of surprise. They hadn't said such a thing to each other yet so it caught him off guard. He opened his mouth to speak but Carl leaped out of his seat on the other side of him when the audience roared with cheers once again, "Did you guys see that?!"

Michonne's oldest daughter started screaming obscenities again while Elodie tried her best to do a cartwheel to celebrate her sister's performance.

"We're gonna' have to get more than just burgers after this dad", Carl gave his father a knowing look, "We should probably get cake, too. And ice-cream."

Rick shot his son a breath side-eye before turning back to Michonne, who was encouraging Judith to clap along with everyone else. He gave her waist a little squeeze as whispered in her ear, "I love you, too"

Michonne sent him one of her contagious smiles in return, so he leaned in and captured her lips with his in sweet, tender kiss.

"Wait, dad, Can we get pizza instead¬"

"Yes, Carl".

END.