A/N: Oh boy, I'm so sorry I left this one hanging. I toyed around with a few different endings for them in this universe but settled on this one. I hope it hasn't been so long that you all have forgotten what happened. But if so, feel free to go back and read :). But really, thank you all for your support and enthusiasm about this story. As I stated before, some parts of this were autobiographical so reading the support and feedback you had for the characters/situations was awesome. Hope you enjoy. Until next time!

Epilogue

Five Years Later

Rick sat soundless in a stare off with his opponent. It had been touch and go, but he was sure he would get the upper hand. Just to be safe, he reached for back up. With the target so close, he knew any sudden move would kill the entire mission so he prayed that his cellphone wouldn't go off. Any distraction would ruin his or his opponent's concentration. This was a battle of pure wills and he was determined to win.

Just as he thought he was about to claim victory when he saw the strain on his opponent's face, he heard the key in the door and Michonne entering.

"Hi honey, I'm hooooome," she sang, and Rick knew then all was lost.

On cue, his opponent started crying.

"Dammit," he cursed.

"Rick." Michonne approached him in the kitchen. "What are you doing? And why are you using that language in front of Hershel?"

She sat down her purse and briefcase and instantly picked up her godson whose sobs had gotten significantly louder.

"And where are his pants?" she asked feeling the baby's bare bottom on her arm.

"On the couch. I'm going to get him potty trained if it kills me. And it's definitely going to kill me."

Michonne laughed, heading to the living area with Hershel who miraculously had no more tears and was making a grab for her necklace. She found his Power Ranger underwear and slipped them back on, along with his shorts. "You're a good boy aren't you?" she cooed bouncing him up and down.

"Oh you got saved this time but not next time," Rick said to him in a fake stern voice.

"Why are you taking this so seriously?"

"You try and tell me not to take it seriously after you have to pick up his turds out of the bathtub."

Michonne scrunched up her face.

"Exactly. Also, Maggie gave strict instructions that we need to stick to him being on the potty and to try and avoid accidents as much as possible. I'm not in the mood to fight with her."

Michonne laid back on the sofa and cuddled Hershel close to her chest as she watched Rick in his typical loungewear of t-shirt and sweatpants, walk through the living room picking up all of Hershel's toys and packing his bag.

"What time is she coming to get him?"

He checked his watch. "In about 20 minutes. I wanted to have him all pooped out, literally, and sleep by the time she got here but oh well."

She smiled at him when he finally fell on to the couch next to her. As soon as Hershel started babbling and pulling Rick's hair, all remnants of stern uncle Rick disappeared. He loved his godson and Michonne loved watching them together. They went to the park, swimming, watched football, or rather Rick watched football while Hershel threw toys everywhere, and the two were close. Although Rick wouldn't admit it right away, it was clear he was ready to have children. Michonne on the other hand, as a second-year intern, was worried about starting a family so early in her career. She thought they needed more time, but she was torn during these moments watching her fiancé and godson interact. Yes, they had a great support system and Rick was getting more and more leeway at work as he rose up the ranks, but she wanted to be a present mother. One who didn't work 70 hours a week. And not one who relied on other people to raise her child.

Michonne's phone chimed and it was a text from her colleague Yumiko.

Alpha on the warpath again. Try and send the brief first thing in the morning even though it's not due for another two days.

She blew out a breath and sent a response back, Thanks.

Yumiko was also in the running for one of the three available Associate positions. They met on the first day at their firm and instantly bonded. It was nice to have an ally especially when one of the partners seemed to have it out for her and any female that seemed to have any type of backbone. That's why they nicknamed her Alpha. Some days were worse than others but now that they were in the home stretch of a decision, Alpha had become much worse.

Rick set Hershel down between them. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the change in her demeanor.

"The same ole same ole. Alpha, I mean Samantha, is at it again. Yumiko was giving me a heads up. Speaking of, what do you think about inviting her and Magna over for dinner one day soon?"

"Sounds great. We should invite Maggie and Glenn too. Make a night of it."

"Ok I'll set something up." She tossed the phone on the couch and stood up. "You want to take him so I can make dinner?"

"No need little lady, I already Thai food in there. I tried to cook but somebody," he said ruffling Hershel's thick black hair, "kind of derailed the plans."

Michonne was impressed. Since they moved into their condo in the heart of Atlanta about 8 months ago shortly after their engagement, Rick had the whole soon to be husband routine down pat. They had been used to staying at each other's apartment and following a brief long distance relationship after he graduated college, he had stepped up in every way. Initially she was worried about them moving in together and it would cause strain on their relationship but it was the exact opposite. They respected each other's space, split the chores including making dinner and cleaning. It was perfect.

Michonne rolled her neck around, the stress of the day starting to catch up with her. Her feet were sore from running around the office in heels and she was tired. "I'm going to go and start a bath."

"Maggie just texted me that she's on the way up. Give me about 5 minutes and Ill join you."

"That's okay, Ill wait," she said laying back and tickling Hershel's feet. "I want to catch up with Maggie anyway."

On cue there was a knock at the door.

"And there she is," she sing-songed as Rick walked barefoot to the door. Hershel watched the door in anticipation.

"Sorry we're late," Maggie apologized. "Someone took forever to park."

Glenn immediately began to explain. "Hey, you're the one who insisted on parking in front of the building which means I had to parallel park. It takes time to do it efficiently."

"Da-da!" Hershel babbled, with his arms up.

Glenn ran over to pick him up. "How's daddy's big boy?"

"Da-da, Da-da." Glenn whirled the little boy around and he giggled relentlessly.

Maggie rolled her eyes, smiling. "It's like I don't even exist. Everything is daddy this and daddy that. Helloooo," she waved. "Remember me? The person who carried you for 9 months."

Glenn put Hershel in her arms, and she kissed all over the toddler to his obvious delight. Michonne and Rick watched the little family remembering the college days and how much things had changed.

"Can I get the two of you a beer?" Rick offered.

Glenn gathered Hershel's bag and a few of his toys. "Nahh. We need to get this one in the bed before he gets all worked up again."

Maggie turned to Michonne and whispered, "Thanks again for doing this. I know it's a weekday, but we haven't had a date night in forever."

Michonne waved her off. "Don't mention it."

Doing this favor was a no brainer. Hershel had been a surprise, but Maggie and Glenn couldn't have been happier. For the past two years she'd seen Maggie try and balance parenthood with keeping the fire in her marriage and her career. It hadn't always been easy, but she admired her ability to be superwoman.

"I owe you big time."

Rick spoke up, sipping from the beer he'd just opened. "You can bring him over anytime." He put his hand around Michonne's waist. "We are always up for babysitting."

Maggie gave her a knowing look. They'd talked in length about Rick's apparent biological clock ticking and how she wanted to wait a little longer.

"Sounds like you guys will be starting a family of your own pretty soon," Glenn said, and you could hear a penny drop. Michonne's eyes widened, Maggie glared at her husband and Rick took a long drink from his beer.

Glenn looked between them and finally figured out he'd stepped into something he shouldn't have. "O—k, I think it's time for us to go."

"Yeah," Maggie agreed and gave Michonne an apologetic look as they walked out the door mouthing, "Sorry."

Thirty minutes later, her and Rick were soaking in a hot bubble bath. Rick rubbed her back, smoothing out all the stress enduced knots in her back.

"You need to take some time off," he whispered in her each and gave her a kiss.

"Don't start this conversation again. I can't take off Rick, you know they are narrowing down the people they are going to keep and move up to staff attorneys. I need to give it my all right now."

He took the towel, lathered it in her favorite body wash and began to wash her.

"Mmmm, that feels nice," she purred.

"You always give it your all. They would be crazy not to pick you."

"I think you're a little biased Mr. Grimes."

She arched her back and felt him harden behind her. "Damn right."

"Easy for you to say, they love you at your firm and they are already offering a promotion to the famous Rick Grimes."

He chuckled. "Oh god dammit not you too." He'd earned the nickname by excelling at everything at his firm. The rookies who started were in awe of him and the senior managers were impressed.

"Speaking of, did you make a decision?"

Rick had been offered a management position, but the job was in Los Angeles. He interviewed about a month ago and hadn't talked much about it since. Whenver she tried to bring it up, he changed the subject.

"I did make a decision."

She turned around startled at the sudden admission.

"I did. I'm not going to take the job."

Her eyes widened. "Why not? You would be good at it."

"If I wanted to I would. But when I was out in LA and met the guys at that office, did some driving around. I don't know. Just wasn't me. It wasn't us. You like Atlanta and so do I."

He felt her start to interrupt him and he stopped. "Don't tell me that you shouldn't have been a factor in the decision."

"But if it's what you wanted."

"The two of us, you and me, building our lives here surrounded by our family and friends. I want that. If that's something you want."

"Yeah. Of course I do," she said and leaned back to kiss him.

"Then it's settled. Maybe in 20 years or so when our kids are grown, we can retire to the beach or something. Right now, this is home. This is us. Ok?"

"Ok," she said simply. When he had his mind made up she knew that there was no changing it. Truthfully, she wasn't overly thrilled about moving to LA because they had just brought the condo but there were a lot of good firms in LA. If she didn't get the position in Atlanta, a move would give her another chance somewhere else. But he was right. Atlanta was home. Since they had moved to the city, they had found their groove and their lives flowed together effortlessly. This was the right decision.

"The bigger question that needs to be answered is when we are going to set a wedding date."

"Oh yeah."

"Oh yeah," he mocked her. "I'm not rushing you."

"Sure seems like it," she teased.

He chuckled and kissed the back of her neck. "Whenever you're ready. Just let me know. I'll be here. Always."

She took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers together. Their relationship was still a marvel to her in a lot of ways. They were young, but their experiences had made them wise beyond their years. There would never be anyone else for her. The life they managed to build together was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. They'd been through it all together and apart.

It had taken some time for their families to get on board, convinced they were both too young to be ready to make such a big committment. Her parents were a bit cool to him in the beginning, but a relationship of indifference had given way to one of respect and eventual love. Her dad grilled Rick thanks to Sasha spilling the beans about Rick's past and the good ole small town rumor mill, but thankfully time was the greatest gift. He proved himself to be worthy. Their families spent Thanksgiving together and they split time on Christmas between both homes.

Michonne knew his parents were not keen on their possible move to LA but was trying their best to be supportive. Their friends and family had been instrumental in not who they had become but everything they had the potential to be. One day their child would play with Hershel, pick apples in the backyard with his grandfather and be spoiled by his grandmothers.

Michonne sighed, leaning back into him as thoughts of the future danced in her head. "Ok," she said. "I'm letting you know."

He looked down at her confused and when he realized what she was saying, he grinned. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." Michonne turned around and straddled him, taking his face in her hands. "I'm ready. Ready to start our lives as one. Ready to be your wife. "

As she grinded along his hard cock, Rick tried to keep his wits about him before things went further. He needed to make sure she knew that he would be beside her no matter what.

"Hey," he said trying to get her attention as she peppered kisses all over his neck and chest. "I appreciate all that you are saying."

"But…"

"I don't want you to rush into anything."

"So you want to wait to get married?"

"Hell no. I want to marry you right now but I want you to know that with kids, we can wait. They don't have to be right now. They shouldn't be right now. I know everything you're trying to do and will do. It's the reason I fell in love with you. You go kick ass as a lawyer, get settled at work and me and my semen," he said while playfully pushing his cock closer to her entrace, "will be right here waiting for you."

Michonne splashed him and he laughed pulling her closer. "Seriously. Are you sure it's ok?"

"Of course it is. The world can wait a little longer for another Rick Grimes."

Rick slipped inside of her and she bit her lip, still affected by the delicious friction of his initial entry. His laugh caught in his throat when she sank down, pushing him even deeper. The temperature of the water mixed with his touch heated her from the inside out. Michonne rode him with reckless abandon, each stroke sending chills up her spine. The water lapped at the edge, threatening to escape. The seductive sound mixed with his growls spurred her on. She climbed higher and higher, thoughts of everything they had gone through together, their past, present and future, flashed before her eyes. "I love you," she whispered as he reached his crest taking her along with him.

Rick settled, letting his heart rate return to normal. He splashed water on her back as she laid across him and kissed her forehead. "I love you too."

Hearing the words never ceased to get old.

Her days of being afraid to love again and concerned with the whispers of the outside world were over. Because they made their own little world. Their own home. Their own family. There would always be those that had something to say about who and what they were, but none of it mattered.

Only this.

Only them.