I hope everyone had a great week and to all of those that celebrated Thanksgiving, a great holiday! Thank you so much for all of the feedback. Without further ado, here is chapter 3. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

1 month after

He visited her in her dreams again.

He had been doing that since the night in the garden, showing up when she needed him the most. It just so happened that she needed him the most at nighttime, when she would sit and reflect on all of the time they had together Sometimes it was brief, sometimes it was for the whole night. He would be right there beside her in bed, laughing and telling her stories on some occasions. On other occasions, he would listen to her cry, wiping away her tears as sorrow filled his eyes. He never said anything; he just listened. Later, she would wake up with tears stains on her cheeks and an empty spot next to her in bed, cold and unharmed as if no one had actually been there.

He only stayed for a brief minute on this particular night. He was beside her just like always, but he was sleeping soundly on his side. He looked so peaceful, so real that she felt tempted to reach out to touch him to make sure he wasn't. But she couldn't move. Before she could react, her gaze fell on his hand placement and it nearly took her breath away.

His hand was placed gently on the swell of her stomach, her belly more noticeably bigger than it was in reality. She could practically feel the life inside of her move.

She woke up sweating and nauseated, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of it all.

Clearly, Rick was trying to tell her what she had already suspected. She just didn't have the guts to take the test to find out if they were both right.

Now, she sat on the edge of the bed, his denim shirt clutched tightly in his hands as she tried to figure out when her last period was. She went over each symptom in her head for the millionth time, finally forcing herself to face the reality of it all.

She was pregnant with Rick's child.

The pregnancy test confirmed it when she finally decided to check it thirty minutes later and once she was able to tear her heartbroken gaze away from it, the tears began to spill like a waterfall. She sat on the bathroom floor, her knees to her chest as her body shook violently with each sob that was emptied out of her.

She felt her soul crush and all of her hopes and dreams- their plan for the future- vanish. This was supposed to be their joy. He wanted this just as much as she did and now he wasn't even there to enjoy it with her.

She couldn't do this. Not without him.

"Mommy?" A small voice on the other side of the door brought her back into the harsh reality and led her to the light on the other end of the dark tunnel.

"Judith?" She quickly stood and wiped her tears away before opening the door.

A pair of worried brown eyes looked up at Michonne, the young girl's hair disheveled from a good night's rest. She held a stuffed rabbit in her hand. Michonne recognized it from a run Rick went out on months ago and brought back for their daughter.

"Yes, baby?" She tried to keep her voice as normal as possible. She had finally broken the news to Judith that Rick wasn't coming home. The young girl didn't fully understand or grasp the concept yet as she still asked questions about Rick's whereabouts every now and then, but Michonne was determined to keep her protected.

"You can have my rabbit," Judith held up her favorite companion, hoping that it would provide her mother some comfort. "He helps me when I'm sad."

The kind gesture nearly brought more tears to form, her eyes already red and raw. She sniffed them back, squatting down so she was at Judith's eye level.

"Thank you, baby girl," she pulled Judith close to her and smiled when her small hands rubbed her back. "But I don't want to take him away from you. You need him too."

"It's okay," Judith said in her ear. "Daddy will bring me a new one."

Michonne pulled away, her tone gentle and her eyebrows knitted together in concern as she glanced at her daughter. Her heart broke into a thousand more pieces. "Sweetheart, daddy isn't coming back. He's with Carl now. They're in heaven."

"He visits me at night."

Judith's words made Michonne pause in shock as she tried to process them. "He visits you..at night? While you're asleep?"

She nodded, failing to see the impact her statement had on her mother. Instead, she pressed the rabbit to Michonne's chest, urging her gently to take it. She needed it. "He'll keep you safe."

"What does daddy say to you in your dreams?" Michonne took the rabbit in her hands, her gaze still steady on her daughter as she awaited her answer.

"That he loves me," she answered calmly. "He said to look over you and all of our friends." Her face broke out into a grin, beaming at the fact that her father really wasn't gone as her mother had said.

Michonne nodded, returning her smile as she blinked back more tears. "He visits me, too," she admitted softly. She reached out to smooth Judith's hair down, glad that she was more happy about this than alarmed. Such a strong girl she was.

"Read me a story?" Judith quickly changed the subject and was on her way out of the room before Michonne could even answer, the pitter patter of her footsteps across the old, squeaky hardwood floors.

She was back in no time, a recognizable book in her hand that Michonne would know anywhere. The cover was slightly worn from being both an older edition and from being read so many times by each member of the Grimes family. Michonne was sure that it had been used more now than it had before the world had ended.

"Wizard of Oz," Judith announced as if Michonne didn't already know. She noticed the exasperated look on her face. "Pleaseeee!" She pleaded.

Michonne couldn't resist. She kept thinking back on her promise and goal to keep Judith's life normal, so if this is what she had to do.

"Come on," Michonne stood and reached for her hand. She had to stop wasting time on tears; their community, her daughter and her unborn child needed her. "We can go outside and sit on the porch to read."

The heavy door opened slowly and the harsh light crept in, causing Rick to squint as he tried to focus on the person in the doorway. He shifted slightly from where he lay in the hospital bed, letting out a soft groan as a sharp pain shot through his side. He was hooked up to an IV and the clothes that he was wearing the day of the bridge were replaced with a hospital gown. He still wondered who had switched them out.

"Good. You're awake." He recognized the familiar voice before he could even see her and a scowl appeared across his face.

"Where am I?" he questioned her, his voice firm yet tight. He took a glance around. The room was small but set up like a hospital room. The curtains were drawn and there was no clock or calendar on the wall to even wonder what time or what day it was. How long had he been here?

"You're someplace safe," Anne said assuringly, nodding as she pulled a chair to his bedside. She sat down. "Don't worry. We're taking very good care of you here."

"But where is here?" he asked again, glaring at her. He tried to take a glance out of the window to see if he could maybe pinpoint the location but she immediately stopped him.

"Your vitals are well," she stated, ignoring his questions. He had asked the question daily for the last month and quite frankly, she was sick of it. He got the same answer each time. "Pretty soon, you'll be up and ready to move around outside of this room." She raised an eyebrow. "With supervision. We wouldn't want you to try and escape."

The frown on Rick's face deepened. "We?"

He had known there were other people outside of the walls. He could hear them throughout the day, talking as they worked outside and walked down the hallways of the building. But no one else ever came to visit him- Anne was the only one. There was another person one time, someone he assumed was a doctor as he inspected his womb and issued medication. Rick had been out of it then but had gotten a quick glance at him.

His vision had been blurry but he saw that the man was black, his hair braided and pulled back away from his face. Rick couldn't make out his facial features very well but noticed the glasses that framed his eyes. He was in and out of the room within minutes, gone as if he had been a figment of his imagination.

He wondered if he was a figment and not a real person. Maybe it was another one of his dreams and the strange man just represented his want for escape.

Rick needed to get out of there. He wasn't sure where this place was but he would figure it out and get home. He couldn't take the pain, the distance between him and his home. His family needed him, Michonne needed him. He hoped that they believed he was still out there, but chances were slim. They had seen the explosion, how big it was, and probably assumed he was gone down the river with the walkers.

The thought only caused more determination to build inside of him.

"Don't worry about it," Anne continued, waving his question away. She glanced at her watch. "Why don't I bring in something to eat?"

She waited for his answer but was only met with a hard glare. She returned it before standing.

"You'll appreciate everything I have given you one day," she said coldly, obviously not pleased with his treatment towards her. Her face softened suddenly. "I wish you could understand… I did this for you. To save you. You'll work out much better here, in this community."

She turned to walk away, but Rick called after her. "Let me go, Jadis!"

She stopped, her back still to him, but he noticed that her body stiffened at the mention of her old name, her old persona. She turned her head slightly. "Do not ever call me that again." And with that, she was gone, the door slamming behind her.

Rick sat up, his mind racing as he strategized a way to get out of there. His gaze immediately fell on the window. The curtains were pulled together but a sliver of light snuck through and fell on the cold, tiled floor.

He pulled the IV off and threw it to the side, then quickly made his way out of the bed. His body still ached and his legs were shaky, but he pushed through, his adrenaline pumping as he walked to the window.

What he saw on the other side was more than he had ever imagined.

"Mommy, where are we going?" Judith questioned, holding tightly onto her mother's hand as she glanced up at her.

Michonne smiled down at her. "We're going to visit Dr. Siddiq but not for you," she assured her quickly, noticing the frown that had started to form on the little girl's face. "I'm going to get a checkup."

The frown disappeared from Judith's face but her eyebrows knitted together. "You sick?"

"Not really. I just want to make sure I'm healthy and strong."

It had been three hours since Michonne had taken the pregnancy test. Now that she was positive, she wanted to make sure that everything was okay for both her and the baby. Her pregnancy with Andre had been easy, but that was back when she was younger with modern medicine. Now, after the end of the world, she didn't want to take any chances, not when there was a lot more at stake.

As they made their way to the infirmary, she was well aware of the curious gazes from their fellow neighbors. They were not sure of how to express their condolences verbally so they did it in ways that worked for them- some offered help when she needed, others kept their distance to give her time to grieve. They all knew what it was like to lose a loved one, a significant other, a spouse. But with this loss of their leader, it felt like a dark, gray cloud hung over their community, reminding them of the great man that had sacrificed so much for them but didn't make it in the end.

"Michonne," Siddiq said surprisingly as she and Judith stepped into the infirmary. He was standing by a patient's bedside, a chart in his hand. "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" His eyes swept over the both of them as he searched for something that could be wrong.

"I was wondering if you had time for a quick check-up," Michonne said, trying to keep her voice low. She glanced at the patient and then back at Siddiq, hoping that he would understand what she couldn't say out loud.

He caught on. "Uh, yes. Actually, I do. Why don't you follow me to the back? And you," he turned his attention to Judith. "why don't you go play in the waiting room with Miss Rosita? Aaron found a playhouse on his run that I think you will like."

After Judith had happily run into the waiting room, Siddiq led Michonne to a small room in the back, away from any nosy or prying eyes. He instructed her to lie down and he placed a cold, clear gel on her stomach, causing her to flinch. She waited with bated breath as he looked at the ultrasound screen, her heart beating wildly as she silently called out to Rick.

"I'm right here."

She imagined him right beside her, holding her hand tightly as he also waited with bated breath for the first glance at their child, their future. She could see the pride in his eyes, the nervous lines etched in his forehead. He looked over at her and smiled, the smile reaching his eyes.

He looked happy.

"There you go," Siddiq said, pointing to the screen. They could hear the baby's heart beating fast, the sound like music to Michonne's ears. Tears began to spill out of her eyes and fall down the side of her face.

"Look at what we made," Rick said thickly. She could hear the lump that was in his throat.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Look at what we did."

An hour later, Michonne and Judith were back home making dinner in the kitchen. It wasn't the most complete meal but it would hold them over until the morning- tomatoes, spinach and eggs. Judith had taken a liking to tomatoes recently so Michonne was thankful that she wouldn't have to convince her to eat tonight.

Judith was sitting on the counter and in the middle of telling Michonne about her adventures with the dollhouse when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Scott and Nora walked in, their faces unsure and skeptical. This was never a common occurrence and they had kept all issues within the community away from Michonne during the last month and instead went to Aaron, attempting to keep her stress free as possible. Whatever this was about, it was serious.

"What's wrong?" she asked immediately after sending Judith into the living room to play.

Scott and Nora glanced at each other, hesitant about whether they should actually be bringing her this issue. Michonne raised her eyebrows impatiently.

"Negan wants to see you," Scott finally said.