Deeper than the Holler*

A/N: I took a Sunday drive with my father this past weekend, and we always listen to music in the car. He doesn't like heavy metal (or 'earbashing' music, as he calls it) like I do, so it was country music or nothin'; even though he was in my car! He inspired me to write a story about a good man who loves his wife and kids…and listens to country music.

Richonne AU in which there are no zombies, Rick and Michonne are married and on their way home with their family. Fluffy instalment because, well, I can! Hehehe.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, nor do I have the right to lyrics by Don Schlitz

Well I've heard those city singers singin' 'bout how they can love,

Deeper than the oceans, higher than the stars above.

Well, I come from the country, and I know I ain't seen it all.

But I heard that ocean's salty, and the stars, they sometimes fall.

And that would not do justice to the way I feel for you.

So I had to sing this song about all the things I knew…

The minivan was packed, ready and parked at the front of the hospital in the designated patient pick-up area. Carl lifted Judith into the back of the vehicle, placed her into the car seat and fastened the buckle of the seatbelt. He tickled her tummy until she giggled and handed her the juice box that she was reaching for; a small smile gracing his face. He then helped André into his booster seat and fastened the clasp tightly. After his young siblings were secured to their respective seats, the teenager leaned against the driver's door with his arms folded and waited. He had been in Atlanta now for 2 weeks; he had brought André with him on a Greyhound bus. Their father, who made the commute each and every weekend, had driven up early that morning; and Michonne had, for obvious reasons, been there the longest with Judith. They were all happy that the ordeal was behind them and they could finally get back home to King County. With Judith talking away to herself in the back of the minivan and André eating what was left of his fries, Carl shoved a piece of gum into his mouth, and straightened up as he saw two familiar figures approaching through the glass of the automatic doors. He smiled when he was certain it was them.

"Look Judy-poody, look Dre-Dre," he said cheerfully to his three year old sister and five year old brother, whose faces both lit up now. "It's mama and daddy."

André smiled and clapped his hands and Judith became excited and tried to worm her way out of her seat as Michonne got closer and placed a tender kiss to her little girl's head and whispered, "Hey baby girl." Then she kissed her own index finger, reached over and placed it to her son's forehead, smiling brightly at them both.

Rick Grimes wore a relieved expression; he actually seemed at peace right now, considering the previous weeks had taken a toll on him. After a stressful couple of months, they were finally all together and ready to go home. After his wife had stepped away from their son and daughter, he held the baby capsule down so that Judith and André could see their new baby sister, Serenity.

"Guess what kids?" he started, in his southern drawl. "We can finally bring your sister home."

Each member of the Grimes family, with the exception of its newest addition, were smiling as they piled into the vehicle and hit the road back home.

"Carl, I know I asked you to change the music, but don't even try it! I ain't listenin' to that earbashin' music," said Rick to his son who was seated in the front passenger seat while his father drove. Carl sighed, rolled his eyes and unplugged his iPod from the car stereo system before he even had the chance to play the intro riff to Cowboys from Hell by Pantera.

"Gees dad, why do we always have to listen to what you want to? It's not fair. If I have to hear one more sad ol' country song again, I'm gonna throw up!" exclaimed Carl, mimicking and exaggerating his father's southern accent as he said sad ol' country song.

"Don't be melodramatic, Carl," Michonne laughed from where she was seated in the back; André, Judith and Serenity were all fast asleep and not too worried about what they listened to on their trip. They had already been on the road for almost 2 hours, and Carl was certain that if he heard George Jones sing about his woman who left him one more time, he was going to be sick.

"How can I stop being somethin' if I don't know what it means?" he replied, sulky that he was not going to get his way, and that Michonne was agreeing with Rick.

"And you always take dad's side!" groaned Carl.

"Carl…" Rick warned, not liking the tone the boy was taking with Michonne.

"Carl, that is so not true; when do I ever take your dad's side? Name one time! You know I like you better anyways. Only married him 'cause you kids came with the deal," she teased, and winked at Rick as he looked at her in the rear-view mirror, entertained by her knack at turning things around and making Carl feel better.

"And anyways, if you throw up, it won't be because of the music, it'll be from the three packets of Cheetos you just inhaled," Michonne added. Rick threw her another amused glance in the rear-view mirror and chuckled.

"Besides, son," Rick said, as he looked fleetingly sideways toward the teenager. "You know the rules."

Carl, rolling his eyes yet again, sarcastically mouthed the one rule that Rick had about their family road trips.

"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole," said Rick, as Michonne laughed and Carl inwardly forced back what he was sure was vomit.

From the back roads to the Broadway shows with a million miles between,

There's at least a million love songs that people love to sing.

And every one is different, and every one's the same.

And this is just another way of sayin' the same thing.

The Grimes family was stopped at a roadside café; Carl came back with two cups of coffee in a cardboard holder for his parents, and a bag full of candy, chips and soda for him and his younger siblings. Michonne sat in the backseat where she had just finished feeding Serenity and talking to Judith, while Rick and André walked hand-in-hand from the restroom. André excitedly let go of his father's hand when he saw that his big brother had snacks for them; he ran over to Carl and impatiently and repeatedly asked what was in the bag. Rick shook his head as he knew there were going to be some upset tummies that night at bedtime; all the same, he could not help but smile at his boys.

Michonne had been spending some extra time and energy on Judith the past few weeks, as she knew that, with the arrival of Serenity, Judith might be feeling a little left out; Carl teasingly saying "You're not the baby anymore!" was not going to help the situation either. After using a wet wipe to clean up Judith's sticky face, Michonne checked the baby again to see if she was secure in her capsule and went to get her coffee from Carl.

"What's all of this?" Michonne asked, as she raised an eyebrow in the direction of the bag that the teenager was holding.

"I hope you plan on sharing with me," she said smiling.

"Of course," was the boy's muffled reply, between chewing a bite of his candy bar. "We always share."

Rick took a cautious drink from his hot coffee before placing it in the cup holder of the vehicle. He stepped around to where his wife and son were standing. He stood behind Michonne and fondly wrapped his arms around her waist before placing a gentle kiss to her cheek and whispering how beautiful she looked and how much he loved her into her ear. This caused Michonne to smile brightly as she handed her cup to Carl and turned to face her husband, who still held her in his embrace. She draped her arms over his shoulders then used her right hand to brush a stray curl away from his face, before kissing Rick chastely on the lips and saying: "I was thinking the same about you."

Carl swapped seats with Michonne back at the roadside café and was now feeling tired since they had resumed their trip. He listened to his father singing along to one of the songs that was playing, while his right hand rested on Michonne's knee. Yep, thought Carl about his father, he's such a dork. He's singin' to her. Although he found their outright displays of affection to be a little embarrassing, especially in public and especially for old people, he knew one thing for certain; they truly loved each other. Carl then smiled at both of them and closed his eyes. He continued to listen to the song that was playing, and Rick's singing, which, although he would never admit it, was not too bad at all.

"My love is deeper than the holler.

Stronger than the river.

Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill…"

By the time Carl had woken up, the afternoon was gradually yielding to the evening. Michonne had taken over the driving duties and there were no songs playing; just the sound of his parents talking and laughing. He decided he would log some time on some of his favourite games to make the trip go faster. Some distance up the road, Carl took a little break from killing the undead on the game that he was currently addicted to on his smartphone: Stupid Zombies 2. He smiled as he looked at the capsule to where his baby sister Serenity was sleeping. She was still so tiny, which was understandable being born two months premature; but she was a fighter, she was strong. He thought back to the night that Michonne had gone into labor; how scared he was because his dad was on the night shift and Michonne kept saying over and over how it was too soon for the baby to come. He shook the bad memory from his mind, lifted the top his seatbelt over his head so that he could move more freely, leaned in and softly kissed his little sister. She looked a lot like Michonne, he thought, although her skin was lighter and she had the same blue eyes as him, Judy and Rick; she was definitely pretty, like her mother.

Michonne, aware of the movement coming from the back of the vehicle, noticed that Carl was awake; she smiled at the tender moment she had witnessed between the boy and his baby sister.

"Isn't she lovely?" she asked the very proud and protective older brother.

"Yeah," answered Carl. "She's perfect."

Both Rick and Michonne grinned widely before Michonne asked: "Hey, Carl, toss your iPod over; what song do you want?"

"Come on now," interjected Rick, looking at Michonne in disbelief knowing that she was not too keen on the teenager's taste in music; then again, she wasn't that keen on Rick's either.

"Honey?" she asked Rick. "What's your rule again, about shotgun?"

Rick rolled his eyes. Carl tried desperately to stifle a laugh, but to no avail, before he replied: "It's okay, just play that song that dad was singing before; the one about the whippoorwill. It's not too bad."

They had finally made it back home to their quaint four bedroom house in King County; Michonne left the headlights on momentarily while Rick went to the front door, unlocked it and turned the porch light on. Carl folded the seat forward and unbuckled his brother and sister, then he carried a sleepy Judith inside; Rick scooped up André, sat him on his shoulders, grabbed one of the bags and headed for the house. Michonne, after detaching Serenity's baby capsule and flinging the baby bag over her body, made her way inside to the rest of her family. Later, Carl and Rick busied themselves unpacking their stuff while Michonne, happy to be back in her kitchen, threw something together for their dinner. After the children were fed, Michonne let them stay up a little while to watch some TV considering they were stuck in the minivan for a long while staring at the back of their family member's heads. Carl swallowed his second helping of chocolate pudding and then began to help Michonne clear the table and pack the dishwasher.

"Where's dad?" he asked.

"In the nursery doting on the baby; he hasn't put her down since we got home," Michonne responded, a smile gracing her face as she thought of how Rick had been her rock and her foundation in the previous weeks while Serenity was in hospital.

She was born early, and on top of that, had a heart condition with complications. The local hospital was not equipped to deal with premature babies, and in particular, very sick ones. Michonne and Serenity had to be transferred to Atlanta, where Michonne stayed, with Judith, while their baby was being monitored in hospital. Rick made the trip every weekend with the boys in tow for almost two months straight. When he could not be there, because of work and the kids' school commitments, he called Michonne each night and listened to her fears and worries; sometimes talking to her until she fell asleep. She knew he was just as scared as she was, but he had to be strong for her, Carl, André and Judy. He and Carl had really stepped up and taken care of their family at that tough time; Michonne was so proud of her boys.

After watching cartoons with the kids, helping them with their sore tummies, then putting them to bed, Michonne went to say goodnight to Carl who had already went upstairs to his bedroom. As she approached his door, she found it slightly ajar, the bedside lamp still on and Carl sprawled out on his bed snoring soundly. She walked toward his bed, moved his hair from his forehead and kissed him lightly, so as not to wake him. She turned off his light, crept to the door and smiled once more at her good boy as she watched him sleeping peacefully.

Michonne then walked barefooted up the hallway toward the nursery where Rick was with Serenity. He was seated in the nursing chair holding their tiny daughter. Rick looked up at his wife as soon as he noticed she had entered the dimly lit room; they exchanged smiles and Michonne squatted down next to the proud father and sleepy baby.

"She's still awake?" Michonne asked, reaching to move a corner of the soft white blanket their baby was wrapped in.

"Yeah," sas Rick's reply. "She's stubborn, like her mama."

Michonne chortled softly and said: "Well then she's not that much different to her daddy too."

It became quiet as they both stared at their miracle baby, then Michonne spoke.

"I never did thank you."

"For what?" asked Rick.

"For everything; for being you. For lookin' after us."

"Hey," he offered gently, "You don't have to thank me, you're all my family and I love you. It's my job."

At that Michonne stood, smiled, kissed her daughter's head and then her husband's.

"We love you too," she said. "I'm just gonna get changed, I'll be back in a minute."

Rick looked at his wife and nodded; then looked back to Serenity who gazed up at her father with bright blue eyes.

"Take your time," he replied.

When Michonne returned to the nursery, dressed in her comfortable nightgown, she stopped at the door and felt her heart swell at what she witnessed; Rick Grimes rocking their daughter and softly singing:

"Well I've heard those city singers singin' 'bout how they can love,

Deeper than the oceans, higher than the stars above.

Well, I come from the country, and I know I ain't seen it all.

But I heard that ocean's salty, and the stars, they sometimes fall.

And that would not do justice to the way I feel for you.

So I had to sing this song about all the things I knew.

My love is deeper than the holler.

Stronger than the river.

Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill.

My love is purer than the snowflakes,

That fall in late December.

And honest as a Robin on a springtime window sill.

And longer than the song of a whippoorwill."

A/N: Can you tell I love country music too?

Lastly, did anyone catch the homages to Firefly and Supernatural?

Thanks for reading!

*Deeper than the Holler by Randy Travis