amorous // richonne au

two- bomb dropper

Rick

"So Sophia, Noah, and -" Carl cut me off before I could finish. "That's it. Just Sophia and Noah. Well possibly Beth." I looked at him through my peripheral. "No Ron?" He shook his head. "What happened?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"Ron enjoys spreading rumors about Sophia ever since they broke up. And it isn't fair to Sophia because a lot of those kids believe it and feed into it. So until he learns how to keep his mouth shut unless there's something positive and true coming out of it, Sophia and I refuse to associate with him." I nodded. "And you think that that's the best way to handle the situation?" He gave me a nod as well. "Alright." We looked at each other for a second at a red light, but it turned green, leaving both of us to turn back towards the road.

"So you and Lori," he started but I cut him off. "Mom. She is still your mother and you will still respect her." He sighed. "She didn't respect you," I heard him mutter under his breath. I just brushed it off, not having enough energy to retaliate. "You and mom," he continued, "Is there gonna be like split custody or something? Or are you gonna give me to her? Or fight for me to stay with you?" He looked at me, and even though I had to focus on the road, I could feel the desperation in his eyes. He despised her since the fall of our relationship, and how could I even blame him? One if the two people he should be able to count on the most let him down. "I'm gonna get full custody of you if that's what you want, Carl. I wouldn't make you suffer like that."

He nodded. "Thanks, dad." I just flashed a small, but genuine smile in his direction. As we pulled up to his school, Carl looked around at the few people that were already there. "Hey look, there's Noah," he said, pointing in the direction of his friend. I noticed that he was in a different car than usual, it wasn't the one his mother drove. Noah approached our car, but my attention was still too fixed on who was in the car he came out of to focus all of my attention on him. Just enough.

"Hey, Mr. Grimes. How you doing?" He smiled at me through the opened window. "I'm fine. How's it going, Noah?" I glanced from him to the car and back. He kept his same cheeky grin as he spoke. "I've been alright. Been spending time with my cousins since they moved to King County. That's them over in the car, actually." He put up his index finger at me, motioning for us to wait, before he jogged over to the car that he got out of. He leaned over the window, spoke for almost less than a split second before his head popped out of the window. He made his way to the backseat, and I couldn't make out exactly what he was doing until after I saw the small child in his arms. The little boy looked oddly familiar; I just couldn't put my finger on it. But when the woman got out of the car I knew exactly who they were.

From the gas station!, I thought to myself, slightly excited that her and I actually crossed paths again, especially so soon. The woman approached the car followed by Noah with the little boy in his arms. She flashed a smile at me, this time exposing her beautiful teeth. They were so radiant, much like her skin. She extended her hand out to me. "Michonne." she said. I nodded at her. "Rick Grimes, Sheriff's Deputy." When we let go of each other's hands, Noah came back with the boy in his arms.

"This," she grabbed the boy from Noah, "is Andre." I smiled at him. He was so adorable, and he looked just like her. "Hey, fella," I said, holding my hand out to him. He giggled and gave me a high five before turning away back to Michonne.

"Your son?" I asked, already half-way knowing the answer. She nodded. "He's a handsome little guy." She smiled at me. "Thank you." Carl pointed at the time and unlocked the car door. "Its almost time," he said. I glanced at the time. 7:31. "You gonna leave right now?" I asked, and he looked at Noah. They nodded at each other before Carl held his hand out to me to give me a handshake. "Yup," he hopped out of the car and made his way to Noah. "Bye dad!" he yelled, him and Noah almost all the way to the door by now. I waved and looked up at Michonne. "You new around here?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Moved in a few houses down from Noah and his mom a few weeks ago. His mom is my sister," she smiled. "Well, I gotta get to work soon, but Noah is supposed to be coming over to my house for a few later. Care to join him?" She looked at me and chuckled. "I'll think about it," she said. "Here, take my number." I said, and waited for her to get her phone out.

I gave her the number, and she repeated it to me before locking it in. "So I'll see you later?" I asked her again, wondering if I'd get a different response. Her eyes found mine before she gave me a small smile. "Maybe," she said, before turning to walk away. I just chuckled at her response, because I could tell she was teasing on purpose. She put Andre in the car and got in afterwards. When they left, I just sat for a minute, taking in all of what happened. Maybe this won't be so bad, I thought to myself. I missed Lori, but I could not and would not let that get in the way of me being happy again.

I left Carl's school maybe ten minutes after I sat in the parking lot, and I would still be on time to work.

I entered the building only to be greeted by Shane, as if everything was okay between us again. As if everything he did had been wiped from his slate. "Hey, partner!" He tried giving me a handshake but I just kept walking. He followed me to the desk area I'd be at today. "What's the matter? You alright?" He sounded genuinely concerned, but knowing him, I knew he wasn't. I just ignored him. I knew that if I spoke, it wouldn't end pretty for either one of us.

But he just kept picking at it.

"Man, I hope there aren't any hard feelings...Nothing that happened was intentional. It just...happened." He tried pleading his case, but I honestly didn't want to hear it.

"The baby's healthy..I thought you might wanna know that."

If looks could kill, he would've been dead right that second. "The what?" I asked, my eyes still angrily fixed on him. "The ba..Man, she didn't tell you?" And then it clicked:

"Please don't make this any harder on us than it already is."

Us. This child that her and Shane created. "Shane, I think its best if you just get out of my face, man." My stomach churned at the mere thought of a child of theirs being made and brought into this world.

"But no hard feelings, right, brother?" I stood up. "No hard feelings? You come into my life, screw my wife, knock her up, and you're asking me about hard feelings?! Don't ever utter the word 'brother' to me again in your entire life, Shane. You don't even know what brotherhood is about!" He chuckled. "I gave her what you couldn't, man. What you didn't. Can't fault me for it." Before I knew what was even happening, Shane was on the ground, and I hovered over him. "You're a sick son of a bitch, you know that?" I couldn't do anything but cringe at the sight of him. He stood up, and now we were face to face. "One of these days, you're gonna be out of the picture, and Carl's gonna live with me and Lori, and our baby and we're gonna be a family. And there's nothing you can do about it."

When I realized he brought Carl into the equation, I couldn't contain my anger. I punched him right across his left jaw, knocking him back to the ground again. By now, the sheriff was watching the whole incident unfold, and I immediately regretted my actions.

"Grimes, Walsh, my office. Now."

**

"I don't know what the hell is going on between you two, but I won't tolerate it here. Its childish so until you figure how to compose yourselves in your workplace, you will both be on a temporary leave without pay. I will call you when you're welcomed back. Dismissed." I sighed. "Mr -" He cut his eyes at me before I could finish. "I said dismissed, Mr. Grimes." Shane and I just got up and left, and I don't know if he stayed behind or left out right after me, but I really couldn't even bring myself to care too much. It was half past eight in the morning and I was being sent home from work.

Unbelievable.

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xo, lolfanfiics 💕