The night before the battle…

Rick groaned. "I miss our bed."

Michonne chuckled as she nestled snuggly in his arms. "Those romantic words really keep the afterglow burning bright, Rick," she quipped, kissing his chest. "I've actually grown fond of our love pallet. And as long as we're together, I don't care where or what we sleep on."

"You always say the right thing." Rick kissed her forehead. The closer they got to having their lives back, the more he thought of the future. And the future was very close. The women from Oceanside were on board, Heath had made it back to Alexandria with the aid of a large group of young fighters who were willing to join the battle, and Jesus Rovia with his stealth ways had slipped into the Saviors' compound and filled Eugene in on the plan. Everything for the war was in place, and now was the time to do the same for his life. From that moment on the couch when their fingers locked, eyes met, and the lightning bolt struck, Rick knew what he needed, and it had been right in front of him for so long. Michonne. His beautiful Michonne. "But when you get pregnant, you'll have to be comfortable." He held his breath as he waited for her response to his words.

Michonne shot up. "When I what?" she said.

He released the breath with a smile. He'd never seen her eyes so big. "Things are going to change tomorrow. We're going to get back the life that Negan and the Saviors stole, but it's going to be life even better than what we had before. I've seen it in my dreams, and I want to make it a reality for you and me. To make that happen, there's a couple of things I have to do first."

"Like get me pregnant?"

"I might've taken care of that just now, but I'm more than willing to keep working at it," he said, gingerly sliding his hand up and down her side. "I know we haven't talked about this, but…"

"You want a baby?"

"I want to live, and you are my life, Michonne." Sitting up, Rick swallowed audibly as he took her hands in his. A swarm of butterflies invaded his stomach and floated northward to his heart. His chest expanded with adoration. He loved her so much. "From that moment on the couch, our moment, you've been my wife."

"Rick." A tear slid down her cheek.

"No one has ever gotten me like you do." He smoothed away her tears. "Nobody supports me and checks me like you do. Even things I don't want to hear, you put it out there because you know what I need. When I was drowning in the pool of darkness that Negan had tossed us into, you threw me a lifeline and brought me back into the light. No one has ever loved me like you love me, unconditionally and unapologetically, and I have never nor will I ever love anyone the way I love you." He drew a deep breath and slowly let it go. "It feels a little strange to be asking the woman who already feels like my wife to marry me, and, yes, I'm feeling a bit nervous, but that's what I'm doing and asking." He moved to a kneeling position. "Michonne Perrault, will you marry me?"

She shrugged. "Hmm, I don't know." Rick smirked. She was so saying yes, but he would let her have her fun. "You like to make love with the lights on."

"Guilty." Rick laughed. "You're beautiful." He combed his fingers through her lovey locs. "I like to look at you when I'm loving you," he said, playing along with her little game.

"You squeeze toothpaste from the middle of the tube. Carl does the same thing. Poor Judith will probably do it, too." She bounced her hand off her forehead and scoffed dramatically. "To live with that forever and have it be the fate of our future children. Tsk, tsk. You ask a lot, Rick Grimes."

"Uh-huh. And I'm the lucky guy you give it all to." He pecked her lips. "Can I have my 'yes' now?"

"I guess I'm willing to spare sixty years or so on conversion techniques." Michonne brought him into her arms, hugging him tight. "Yes, of course I will marry you." She kissed his nose. "You've felt like my husband since that night, too," she said, combing her fingers through his hair.

"So, we'll make it official." Rick lowered her onto the pallet. "And then we'll start putting some buns in the oven," he said, trailing kisses from her neck to her stomach. His heart swelled at the idea of Michonne being pregnant with his child. He couldn't wait.

"Rick." She tapped his shoulder. "Just how much bread are you planning to bake?"

He looked up at her with a smile. "Remember the show Eight is Enough?"

The clearing…

Rick stared at Negan's bleeding, bruised, and disassembled body. He'd seen rotting walkers he'd felt more sympathy for. This man had earned every kick, cut, punch, and burn he'd received. He'd earned more. Rick knew he would get even more pleasure killing him again once he turned.

"Don't…don't," Negan mumbled.

"Stop!" Rick pointed his Colt. "You can't see how bad you look, but these wounds are going to kill you. I'm taking you out of your misery, bringing peace to this world, and keeping the promise I made after you killed Glenn and Abraham. Look at the people around you." Rick motioned to crowd surrounding them. "There are over a hundred people out here, and you have hurt every single one of them. You didn't have to. You could've been decent, but you were deadly. Deadly and cruel and it made you smile. You are a sick bastard, inhuman, and that's why I don't feel bad for you or about anything that was done here tonight. No one is going to miss you. No one is going to mourn you. We're all going to celebrate the freedom being rid of you will bring and we're going to live." His eyes met Michonne's and they shared a smile. "We're going to live. And life is going to start for us right now." Rick fired his gun, and Negan gurgled his last breath.

Two months later…

Rick and Michonne sat at the foot of their bed, staring at the alarm clock. Dwight, his wife, and several other helpful Saviors had been killed in battle, but the remaining workers that had been under Negan's thumb were more than willing to part with the surplus of goods the tyrannical dictator had been storing. The main base had a warehouse that was like a shopper's paradise. Weapons, medicine, mattresses, furniture, jewelry, clothes, food and everything in between was stocked six and seven pallets high. Finding their burned out mattresses on the side of the road had shown Michonne how malicious the Saviors could be, but now she and Rick had a brand new king-size bed to go along with their six-week-old marriage, a very tasteful platinum wedding set, and maybe, just maybe, one more brand new thing.

"How much longer?" Rick asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Ninety seconds."

"Still?" He groaned.

"It takes three minutes."

He raked his fingers through his hair and frantically tapped his foot. Michonne touched his knee, battling a wave a nausea his constant motion exacerbated. "Rick, please. "

"I'm sorry, sweetie." He kissed her cheek. "I'm just anxious."

The alarm sounded and they leapt from the bed, racing to the bathroom. Michonne squealed. "It's a plus!"

Rick swooped her into his arms. "We're pregnant?"

"We're pregnant!"

~The End~

A/N: Thank you all for taking this ride with me. Happy Valentine's Day, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!