Sorry (as usual) for not updating sooner. Depression is a MoFo but I'm working on it. Thank you for everyone who has supported not just me but every fanfiction author who puts themselves out there. I say it a lot but it bares repeating: The Richonne Fandom is full of incredibly talented and kindhearted people who support each other and go out of their the way to lift others up.

We have well-known Richonne authors who eagerly take newer writers under their wings, encouraging them and hyping their stories. It makes my heart full when I see how beautiful this group of people are. Richonners are the best. Period. That being said, here goes nothing...

As Jessie walked home after their talk, Rick had one consistent thought going through his head.

What the fuck did I just do!?

Rick was mentally kicking himself. He had every opportunity to talk to Jessie about the kiss, to right the wrong and what did he do? He invited her to hang out at his house.

Guiltily, he came inside to find Michonne on the floor with Judy.

She smiled at first but the look on Rick's face wiped it away.

"..What did you do?" She knew him all too well.

He looked at the fireplace, over at the refrigerator, everywhere except Michonne's face.

"Um.'

"RICK."

"IinvitedJessietocomeovertonight." The confession came out in a jumble of words as he tentatively looked at Michonne.

Her face would have appeared expressionless to anyone else who didn't know her that well.

But Rick knew better. She was confused, disappointed..pissed.

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"…Why?"

That…was a damn good question. One that Rick had no reasonable answer for.

"I honestly don't know…I tried to talk to her about…stuff and she started crying. I freaked out, it just happened," Rick tried to explain.

He stopped short of telling Michonne about kissing Jessie. He didn't know why exactly. He and Michonne weren't in a relationship and chances are she wouldn't care either way. But still, he was worried that she'd find out what he'd done.

Michonne shrugged her shoulders. "It's your house, too. You can hang out with whoever you want to." Rick felt Michonne's mask building back up as she started to close herself off again.

He reached out to her. His hand lightly touched her arm but he wanted to grasp her. He was afraid if he didn't, she'd run away from him.

"I'm really sorry. Today was supposed to be about u…our household." He'd" almost told her it was about "us"...Saying that outload was scary but he wanted it. At this rate, though, it was doubtful that she ever would. Who could blame her?

"I shouldn't have asked her over. It's not fair to you or the kids. Please…please don't be mad."

Swallowing some choice words, Michonne held Judy on her hip and headed towards the stairs.

"Michonne?"

No response.

"Where are you goin'?" He knew he sounded weak, desperate. Rick had a ridiculous vision of Michonne taking the kids and leaving him. It made no sense but the look on her face had him worried.

"Judy needs a nap. And I need…some space." The two went upstairs as Michonne went to put the baby down.

Fuck, he thought. He had to fix this somehow. He continually screwed up and had no one to blame but himself. Rick didn't have much time for self-pity as the front door opened and Carl walked in.

"I'm home."

"Yeah, I can see that…" Rick snarked, looking miserable.

Carl's face screwed up at his dad's sour mood. He had been so happy earlier today.

"What's going on? I thought you were the new happy go lucky super dad."

"I am. I was. Me, Michonne and your sister had a nice morning. Went for a walk, played by the water."

His gut churned as he remembered how nice it was, sitting quietly with his family. Holding Michonne in his arms as she finally opened up to him. She trusted him but it seemed to be gone now.

"And?" Carl interjected.

"And then Jessie showed up. She got upset, I started feeling guilty and ended up inviting her and her kids over tonight."

Carl dropped his bag, obviously irritated.

"Dad. What is it with this lady? You're at her house all the time and when you finally decide to come home, you invite her over here? Are...are you guys dating or something?"

Rick emphatically shook his head. "No, it's not like that, Carl."

"Then what IS it? 'Cause that's sure as hell what it looks like."

"Hey…calm down," Rick said, surprised at Carl's outburst.

"We get here and you start chasing this woman. This married woman. Then you kill her husband. And now you're with her every single day? I'm not stupid, Dad."

Rick had no defense. "Carl...It's complicated."

With that, Carl rolled his eyes and muttered "Whatever."

He grabbed his stuff and went up stairs, shutting himself in his room. Rick wanted to go after him but decided against it. His whole family was mad at him. Anything he said at this point was only liable to make it worse.

Dinner that night ended up a non-event. Everyone just fended for themselves, except Judy, of course. Michonne sat at the table with her, pulling silly faces to get her to take a bite. It became more and more obvious that she'd been a mother. He didn't know how he'd missed it all this time. Hell, she still was a mother. That's how she treated the kids and how they treated her. DNA had no bearing on the situation.

Rick's heart felt heavy as he longed to be in the kitchen with them. He didn't want to spoil the good time they were having by bringing a dark cloud in the room. Besides…he had company coming over soon. He sighed and decided to brave the kitchen anyway. Michonne, however, was finished and they bumped into each other roughly.

"Shit."

"Sorry, you guys okay?"

Judith was back on her hip, and was covered in her dinner.

"We're fine. its bath time…obviously," Michonne quipped, motioning towards the messy baby.

They both laughed a bit, the uncomfortable situation almost forgotten. It was then that Michonne realized how near they were to each other. After they collided, neither had actually moved back. She could feel his breath on her, noticing how it seemed to be coming faster.

They continued to stand way too close, watching each other. Both waited for the other to break the silence but no one did.

The doorbell rang and scared them both. Glancing at the clock, Michonne muttered, "It's probably for you."

Michonne re-situated Judy and headed upstairs for bath time.

Steeling himself for whatever was coming, Rick opened the door.

There was Jessie, smiling, giddy…and alone?

He looked past her to see if her kids were somewhere just out of sight.

"Where are the kids? I mean, at least Sam. Figured Ron wouldn't really want to."

The blonde woman shrugged. "Yeah, Ron wasn't ...you know. Sam didn't want to leave either. He's been staying in his room since it happened. I can't even get him down to eat most nights." Her eyes were downcast and Rick felt awful.

"I know it's too little, too late, but I'm sorry that the kids are going through this. That you're going through this."

"It's hard, yes…but the alternative was way worse. Who knows what else Pete could've done if you hadn't.."

Jessie stopped mid-sentence, waving her hand as if she could clear the room of the late Dr. Anderson's essence.

"Let's not dwell on it. I'm really glad you asked me over, Rick. It gave me something to look forward to, you know?"

She gave him a small smile as he led her inside. Looking around the normally bostusous house, Jessie couldn't help notice how still everything was.

"Pretty quiet around here tonight. Looks like maybe it's just you and me…" She trailed off as she noticed Michonne coming down the stairs carrying Judith, in a fresh pair of pajamas.

"Oh…" Jessie tried to hide her disappointment.

"Hi..Michonne. How's it going?"

Jessie's sad attempt at small talk made an already weird situation that much worse.

"We're good. Right, Jude?" The little girl snuggled closer to Michonne and let out an adorable yawn.

"We won't bother you guys. Just getting a sippy for her while we read a bedtime story."

Rick met Michonne in the kitchen, leaning to give Judith a kiss on the top of her head.

"You comming back down? We were going to watch a kids movie but Sam didn't come so..."

Michonne responded with the slightest of eye rolls. "So just you two tonight? How…intimate."

"Stop that," Rick responded, exasperated. "Seriously, just watch the movie with us. Wine...popcorn...Tarantino...together. Come on, it's all your favorite things."

Tempted as she was, Michonne put up a hand to silence him.

"Look, you are not going to use me to make your bad date bearable. I am not your wing man, Rick." She started to brush past him but he stopped her.

"Come on, you're going on a run tomorrow for who knows how long. I know I don't deserve it but...just give me tonight." Michonne raised an eyebrow at his words and instantly Rick realized how it sounded. "You…you know what I mean." Michonne threw her hands up in defeat.

"Fine. Whatever. You guys okay to be alone for a few while I put the baby to bed or do you need a chaperone?"

Rick let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you."

"Tell Daddy goodnight." Rick took Judith from Michonne for a quick snuggle before returning her.

As much as Michonne wanted to be irritated with him, it was always harder when she saw him with the baby. Rick turned into a such a teddy bear with Judith in his arms.

Rick returned to the living room where Jessie sat on the couch, taking in her surroundings.

"Sorry 'bout that. Judith was going to sleep."

"No big deal. So…it's great that you've got so much help with her." She motioned toward the stairs where Michonne had carried off the baby.

"Yeah," Rick agreed. "She's kind of become a communal baby. Since she was born everyone has stepped in to take care of her. That 'whole it takes a village thing'…"

"Well.." Jessie started, sounding unsure. "If you ever need outside help, I'd be happy to step in. You know, if you were okay with that.."

She looked up at him through her lashes, demurely.

"I uh..appreciate that. We've got it under control at the moment though."

"It's just that, well…I noticed your group has mostly scattered to other houses. Michonne will probably do that too, at some point. Chances are she'll meet someone and you know, move on. People are pairing up left and right around here."

Jessie was so busy chuckling at her cleverness that she missed Rick tightening up his jaw at her words. He didn't respond, hoping Jessie would stop spouting her bullshit on her own.

"I can understand if you aren't excited about that. Having a live-in babysitter is pretty convenient, am I right?" She looked toward him and was surprised at the flash of anger she saw in his eyes.

"Jessie..." he started slowly, getting control of himself. "Michonne is not a baby sitter. She's part of my family."

"Oh…oh! I'm…I'm sorry, Rick. I didn't mean to… Of course she is." She tore her eyes away, wringing her hands.

It was painfully clear to the young woman that her course of action was having the opposite effect of what she wanted. She wanted to figure out where Rick stood with this other woman. And all she'd done was piss him off.

Rick waved it off, not wishing to keep talking about the possibility of Michonne moving out. That was something he worried about enough on his own. Couples were popping up left and right in Alexandria and more than one man had noticed his partner. How could they not? She was exquisite...

"It's fine…don't worry about it."

Michonne came back just in time. She'd changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Rick glanced back had to put his tongue back in his mouth. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to sit here for two hours and not stare at every gorgeous inch of flesh Michonne was putting on display.

"So, what are we watching?" Michonne sat down on the other side of Rick, leaving him awkwardly in the middle of the two women.

"Kill Bill?" he suggested. "Again?" Michonne tried to play off her disinterest.

Rick laughed, giving Michonne a shoulder bump. "Don't even act like you don't want to watch it again." Michonne playfully bumped him back. The flirty behavior did not go unnoticed by the third wheel on Rick's left.

"I've never even heard of it" Jessie interjected, feeling left out. She came over alone, hoping to spend some one on one time with Rick but that plan seemed shot to hell now.

The movie started, Rick and Michonne fell into a comfortable silence broken by bits of commentary. It was obvious that they did this often; watching movies after the kids were in bed. Jessie felt her stomach tighten with jealousy. She wanted to do that with Rick. She wanted him to look at her the way he always looked at Michonne. She wondered if he even realized he did it…

Deep into the film and Jessie was beyond finished. Rick invited her over but then acted like she wasn't even there.

"Why would you even want to watch something like this?" Both Rick and Michonne looked at Jessie, surprised. Whether it was confusion at her statement or remembering that she was indeed still in the room, wasn't clear.

"What's wrong with it?" Rick asked.

"It's just that...with all that's outside that gate, all the violence that you've seen..why would you choose to watch…this."

Jessie motioned to the screen, her face full of disgust. Michonne bit her lip, keeping her words to herself."Tarantino isn't for everyone, I guess," she shrugged.

"Maybe you can pick the next one, Jessie..ow!"

He looked at Michonne who had shoved her elbow into his ribs.

Her expression was clear to him.

Next time?!

"Sorry," Michonne said sweetly. "I was stretching."

"It's late..I'm gonna head on home," Jessie said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. She'd dressed up a bit hoping it would help move things along. Unfortunately, Rick's eyes kept roving elsewhere.

Rick stood as well, offering to walk her out. Jessie was happy she'd get to be alone with him, at least for a minute. Out on the porch, she started to shiver a little. The outfit she'd worn for Rick wasn't exactly appropriate for the current weather.

"Thanks, Rick...for tonight. It was nice." She rubbed her shoulders, waiting for an offer of a jacket or a walk home. None came.

"No problem..Uh, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," she responded.

With a nod of his head, Rick headed back inside, shutting the door behind him.

Jessie stood there, dumbfounded. Sure, this wasn't exactly a date but….

No kiss? No hug? Nothing?

It's not like they hadn't done it before. He certainly seemed to like it then.

Feeling sad, Jessie Anderson walked herself home.

Michonne was cleaning up when Rick returned.

"I just realized, you got stuck on baby duty all night," Rick acknowledged.

"It's fine. Talking about Andre today...taking care of Judith helped some."

Rick nodded, understanding.

"Don't worry, if she wakes up wet and crying tonight, she's all yours, Grimes."

She flashed him a quick smile that he didn't deserve but still treasured.

"And now, I have to go out on a run in the morning short on sleep because of you," she teased.

Rick had been having such a good time, he'd almost forgot Michonne was leaving in the morning.

"I still wish you weren't going" he admitted, hands in his pocket.

"I can handle myself. And Abe. And Spencer."

"I bet Spencer would like that" Rick muttered.

Michonne threw her head back, exasperated. She'd had enough of Rick's unwarranted irritation with Deanna's youngest son.

"It's late and I am going to bed. You should do the same."

She headed to her room but stopped and turned back.

"Tonight, all things considered…was fun."

Rick gave her a weak smile.

"It was. Thank you. For everything."

Michonne gave him a quick nod before heading to bed.

Rick went to his own room, falling, still dressed, into bed. As his head hit the pillow, his mind was full of thoughts of Michonne feeding Judith, giving her a bath, snuggling next to him on the couch. As usual, he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

It just occurred to me that Michonne spent most of this chapter walking up and down the dad-gum stairs...but I'm too tired and dumb to fix it so I beg your indulgence on this and I will do better next time. - Penny