Michonne

The next few weeks after Rick and I had our moment were great. Andre takes to him and Carl so naturally, as if he's known them his entire life. I just hope that if Rick and I do decide to take things any further, nothing would ruin it. I cringed at the thought as I laid in bed, silently waiting for Andre to wake up.

He came into my room in the middle of the night with a tear stained face and tired eyes. He had a nightmare, he told me, so I just grabbed him and laid him next to me. We talked for a minute before he finally fell asleep. And I fell asleep soon after him. I looked at the clock that was perched up on the wall opposite the bed. 8:57.

He'll be up soon, I thought to myself, sitting up. I was careful not to wake him as I stood up and exited the room, heading straight downstairs to the kitchen. I took out a pan any some eggs, then some sausages.

I started with the sausages, and when those were finished I moved to the eggs. I began to scramble them around before I heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Mommy!" I turned to see Andre coming into the kitchen. I turned the fire down and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Dre! How did you sleep?"

He sat down at the table, turning his chair to face me. "Better after I came inthe room with you," he looked down, "Daddy was mean to me in my nightmare."

By now, the eggs were finished, so I turned the fire off and went into the dining room with him. I crouched down so that we were face to face and grabbed his hand.

"He can't get you in real life, okay? And if he even tries to, you tell me immediately, you understand me?"

He nodded. I pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek before I went back into the kitchen to make our plates.

"And you always remember that Mommy loves you." I went back into the dining room and set his plate on the table in front of him.

He looked at me and smiled. "How could I ever forget?"

I couldn't help but smile at him as I sat with him at the table. Being with his father may be a regret, but what came from the relationship itself could never be regretted. Andre is the love of my life and I would never change a thing knowing he'd be the end result of it all. 

The next time I looked up at Andre's plate, everything was gone.

"I'm all done, mommy." He showed me his clean plate.

I just laughed and shook my head. "Go throw it away," I said, "But you gotta slow down while you're eating, buddy. It's unhealthy to eat so fast."

He nodded as he ran to the kitchen to throw his plate away. When he came back, he stood in front of me with his puppy dog eyes. I knew exactly what it meant.

"Mommy, can I ask you an important question?" He smiled at me.

"Yes, Dre?"

"Can Carl come over today? Pretty please?" He kept the smile plastered on his face.

"Well," I started with a playful hesitance, "I don't know.."

I let my sentence trail off as if I was going to say no, but Andre was smart enough to know that it'd turn out to be the latter.

"Pleaaaaaaasee?" He played along with me, with his tiny hands trying to wrap around mine.

"Sure, Dre. Go get my phone for me so I can call them."

He jumped up and down. "Yay, yay, yay!"

His smile only got wider as he ran up the stairs to retrieve my phone. When he came back downstairs, I noticed that he already had my phone unlocked and ready to dial. This boy is too smart.

I dialed Rick's number, realizing that I was actually very excited to see him, and Carl for that matter.

The phone rang a few times before I finally got an answer.

"Hello?"

I smiled as I responded, "Hey, Rick. Andre was wondering if Carl could come over for a while.. And I was wondering if you could come, too?"

I heard rustling on his end, then nothing. It felt like days before he finally spoke.

"Carl can come over, but I won't be able to make it. I have to go to work, then handle stuff with Lori and the divorce. I'm sorry, Michonne... I can come later, if that's okay with you."

I felt my smile slowly turned into an involuntary frown, and nodded, knowing he couldn't see me.

"It's fine. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?" I added a disgenuine chuckle in, hoping that it would hide my now somber mood. "You can come over if you get time, but there's no pressure."

"Thank you for understanding. I'll bring Carl in a few."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan. See you soon."

I hung up ans sighed as I set my phone on the table.

"Carl's coming, Dre," I put on a smile so he could feel good.

He smiled for a second, then got serious. "What's the matter, mommy?"

"Nothing," I lied, "Mommy just isn't feeling too well right now."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded at him with a smile still on my face. "Yes, bud. I promise." I stuck my pinkie out, as an invitation for his to connect with mine.

He wrapped his little pinkie around mine, then hugged me. "Great. We're gonna have so much fun!"

He ran upstairs and returned seconds later with a bunch of his toys in his hand. He went to the den to set them down, and like clockwork, the doorbell rang.

"He's here, he's here!!" Andre ran to the door, and hesitantly put his hand on the knob. He looked at me and took it off.

I approached the door to look through the peephole. When I saw Rick and Carl, I gave Andre my okay open the door.

He hurriedly unlocked and opened it, allowing Carl to engulf him in a big hug.

"Hey, Andre," he said, entering the house, "I missed you!"

Andre smiled at him. "I missed you, too, Carl. I can't wait for you to see all my toys!" He grabbed Carl's hand and took him to the den.

Rick entered slowly. He had his uniform on and might I add, he looked great in it. "I'm sorry I can't stay," he said, pulling me in for a hug, "But I promise I'll be back later."

I nodded, and he pecked my cheek before calling out to Carl. "Be good. I'll be back a little bit after work." Carl nodded. I chuckled at the fact that Andre didn't even notice Rick because he was so caught up on Carl to pay any attention to anything else in the world.

"I'll call you before I get here. It won't be long now." He smiled me and I smiled back as he returned back to his truck.

He waved as he pulled off. I waved back, and watched until he was completely out of my sight. I closed and locked the door, and went into the living room to sit on the couch. I just sat there and listened to Andre and Carl playing.

I looked over to see Andre explaining the backstory and origin of all of his toys to Carl, and either Carl was doing a good job of pretending like he cared, or he actually did. Either way, it kept Dre happy, and that's all that mattered.

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okay I know this is long overdue, and that this is honestly just a filler, but school has been kicking my ass lately so im just trying to keep it together lmao. this book's reads went up a lot and I appreciate it so much guys ❤ honestly. Ill try to keep updates consistent, though sadly, I can promise nothing. I still love you all & hope you're still enjoying this book. (don't mind errors, please. Im going back for them later.)

-lolfanfiics 💘
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