Rick

I smiled at Michonne's camera as she took a selfie of her, Andre, Carl, and I. When she was finished, I went to the grill to check the food, Andre ran back over to his little pool and Carl went back over to his spot under a tree, surrounded by a bunch of new comics Michonne got him for his birthday. The backyard was full of decorations, gifts, activities, and tons of food, since Michonne and I were both manning the grill.

I closed the lid to the grill and approached Michonne. She was sitting in her pink lawn chair with her legs crossed, watching Andre swim around. I grabbed my chair and placed it next to hers, sitting down in it.

"He's never really had a real birthday party before," she started, "he was always with his father for his birthday. In the court agreement, he got years 2 through 4, and Dre always hated to go. Mike never invited any of his friends. It was strictly family. Just his side of the family. He'd even be standoffish about inviting me to my own son's parties.. And Andre would always look to me for help, but I could never give it to him, and I felt so useless. I felt helpless. And I can't even imagine how he felt. Hell, I don't even want to imagine it."

She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Thank you for this," she opened her eyes and looked into mine.

I nodded and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry that Mike's an asshole. That he could treat you and Andre the way that he did.. But you won't have to worry about him anymore because if he wants problems with you guys, well, that means he wants them with me, too. And I'm not quite sure that'd turn out well."

She chuckled and turned back to Andre, who was now playing tag with Carl. I smiled at them.

Moments later, I heard a car pull up. Michonne and I looked over toward the gate, standing up to let the guest in. But when I saw who it was I sighed.

Lori popped out of the car -- it had to be new or something -- and smiled at me.

"Hey, Ricky!" She opened the gate, letting herself in.

"Hi, Lori. Good to see you. Thanks for coming," I forced a smile; I wouldn't allow myself to ruin my son's birthday party.

"You know I would never miss my baby boy's seventeenth! Come here, Carl," she approached him, her arms stretched wide. He slowly trudged over to her.

"Hey, mom," he muttered, "Thanks for coming. I, uh.. Yeah," he trailed off and looked down.

She sighed and turned her attention back toward me. She got a little closer to me, and lowered her voice.

"He hates me doesn't he?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "You'd have to take that up with him," I said, "But not today. He doesn't need any negativity in his life, especially not today. It isn't fair."

She nodded slowly, then continued to speak.

"You screwing her?" She made a small motion toward Michonne.

I scoffed at her. "If I am, how is it any of your business, or concern, at all?"

I paused briefly but spoke again when she opened her mouth to do so.

"It isn't, in case that wasn't the answer you were about to give."

She rolled her eyes, then looked up at me again; this time her eyes were soft.

"The baby is healthy.. It's a girl. I didn't know how far along I really was until this month. I started getting really big," she said, "And the cravings like when I was pregnant with Carl. I laugh everytime I eat a peanut butter pickle."

She chuckled at herself, and although the memories were nice to reminisce about, I didn't want to.

"Shane says that he's really, really sorry about everything. I guess I should be saying that too, huh? I'm sure you don't believe me, but if I could take it back I would. I'm sorry, Rick."

I just nodded at her in acknowledgement.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Noah, Sophia, and Patrick entering the gate, with Daryl and Carol following behind them.

"Happy birthday, Carl!" Sophia smiled at him, gift in hand.

He smiled and hugged her. "Thanks, Sophia," he said. He hugged everyone that entered and then went back to Andre's side. He grabbed Andre's hand and smiled at him.

"Come on, bud," he walked Andre over to his friends, "any friend of mine should be a friend of yours."

Andre instantly recognized his cousin and smiled. He ran to him and hugged his legs. Noah picked him up and smiled.

"Hey, Dre. Happy birthday," he pulled out a wrapped box from the bag that he'd carried in. "It's from my mom and I. We hope you like it."

Michonne came over and greeted Noah and he gave the gift to her, which she proceeded to place on the gift table.

Carl introduced Andre to his other friends, and soon they were all enjoying each other's company. They ran around the yard playing tag and even played hide and seek with each other.

I went over to Michonne and smiled.

"You wanna meet a few of my friends? They don't bite, I promise."

She giggled at my joke and nodded. She stood up and I took her hand, leading her over to Daryl and Carol.

"What's up, brother?"

Daryl and I shook hands and I nodded at him. I pulled Carol in for a hug and she smiled softly at me. "Hi, Rick."

"Hey, Carol. I wanted to introduce you two to my girlfriend, Michonne. Michonne, this is Daryl and Carol."

Michonne smiled at them and extended her hand. They each shook it and smiled back at her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I've heard good things."

I noticed a familiar truck pull up beside the house and a car pull up afterward.

"Hey, I'm gonna let you guys talk for a minute. I'll be back."

I didn't even get to hear their responses; I just sped off to the gate.

Shane hopped out of the truck and Glenn and a very pregnant Maggie got out of their car, followed by Beth and Enid.

I opened the gate to let them in.

"Hey, Glenn, Maggie. Thanks for coming," I smiled at them as they entered.

"No problem, Rick," Glenn smiled and so did Maggie, but she didn't speak. Beth and Enid entered and smiled at me, saying nothing as they approached Carl and the others. I chuckled and brushed it off since they were probably just excited to see Carl.

The last person to enter was Shane. He sighed.

"Seems like he grew up real fast, you know? It feels like it was just yesterday when we were all --"

"Yeah, I don't think I really wanna do this with you right now. We're cordial, not best friends. That's it."

I closed the gate and sighed, walking back to Michonne and the others.

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okay so lets clear some things up.

· this takes place about three and a half weeks after the last chapter.
· Lori is around 5 months pregnant.

· Beth is actually around Carl's age in this AU.

part two will be out soon!! i hope you all enjoyed.

also, despite the season 8 finale being tonight, i will still be writing this book (even if i have to watch old episodes for inspiration to do so 😂)

-lolfanfiics💓
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