Epilogue
I Was Served Lemons, But I Made Lemonade

My grandma said, 'Nothing real can be threatened
True love brought salvation back into me
With every tear came redemption and my torturer became my remedy'

6 months later.

Michonne watched in a quiet daze as the ocean waves crashed against the shore, the cloudy azure hue reminding her of her husband's eyes. She looked over to him, seemingly equally as lost in the scene in front of them, and she smiled to herself, wondering, for probably the hundredth time, whether their baby would have those eyes. She hoped so, knowing how much she adored looking into them. Would he have her nose? Her lips? An equal mixture of their dark and light complexions? It was so hard to envision what their features would look like combined, but it had become Michonne's favorite pastime to try, as they counted down the days to their baby's birth day.

"I'm so ready to meet him," she commented out loud.

Rick smiled contemplatively as he glanced back at his wife, the two of them having expressed some version of the same sentiment for months now. With just six weeks to go until their August 10 due date, and way out of the danger zone they'd most feared, the sense of excitement about finally getting to meet their little one was strong. "Just a little over a month now," he noted, gazing at her gloriously round belly. The brightness of her orange Givenchy dress against her dark skin made her look like summer personified. She looked content, carefree, even young, with her high ponytail showing off her cherubic face. He especially enjoyed the way she swung her legs like a little kid as they sat along the side of the pier.

The pier in question was at the site of their new vacation home, out on Virginia Beach. Because when Dr. Carson said Michonne would have to take it easy, Rick immediately began looking into ways for her to do exactly that. Eventually, they decided on a home away from home, where she would have no choice but to do nothing. It was turning into a long, quiet summer, the two of them, along with Judith, mostly hanging out on the beach. Rick doing all the cooking, while Michonne read books and binge-watched 90s TV shows, Judith riding her bike up and down the shoreline. Rick would go back to Alexandria on a weekly basis, and Carl and Enid would come visit on weekends, but other than that, it had been just them and the ocean.

"You want me to get you anything?" Rick asked, noticing she was resting most of her weight on one arm, which had to be uncomfortable. He quietly hoped she didn't, though, not wanting to go back into their full house just yet.

"Don't move," she shook her head, feeling exactly the same way. In reality, they both should've been inside, enjoying their Fourth of July baby shower with their guests, but for the moment, Michonne just wanted to bask in her husband and the horizon. It was hot out, but the sun was low in the sky, and the ocean breeze made it comfortable enough. She rested her hand on his thigh, making a face at how swollen her fingers had gotten, to the point where she had to wear her wedding ring on a necklace.

"How much longer do you think we can stay out here?" he wondered out loud, taking hold of her extended hand.

"Well we were gone from our wedding reception for at least an hour," she smirked, fondly recalling that wonderful day. She was realizing they had a penchant for leaving parties just to be alone with one another. "That leaves us another thirty minutes?"

"About," he nodded, calculating minutes in his head. He got a twinkle in his eye as he squinted at his wife again. "Enough time to sneak upstairs for a quickie."

Michonne smiled brightly at the suggestion, as that idea wasn't particularly far from her own mind. "As tempting as that sounds, you know nothing is exactly quick with me these days."

"Well you were pretty quick last night…"

She playfully dug her thumb into his thigh as she giggled in response. "That's because I really wanted to go to sleep."

"Oh, so now you can control it?" he grinned at her, utterly amused by their conversation.

"Maybe you just did your job well."

"Well I'm not gonna argue with that." He squeezed her hand a bit tighter, the smile refusing to leave his lips as he gazed out to the gorgeous scenery in front of him. It still blew his mind that he got to look at all of this, every single day. Michonne, especially. "Hey," he turned back to her, his voice soft as he requested her attention.

She took that as an obvious cue for a kiss, mostly because she wanted one too, leaning in to touch her lips to his. She smiled into his mouth as he was quick to deepen their liplock, his tongue wasting no time sneaking out to meet hers, the way he often did. He sucked at her luscious lips, their noses smashing against each other's faces, his hand cupping her cheek as she rested her weight on him. Their side-by side positions forced him to crane his neck to get deeper still, and he did, not even noticing the discomfort. All that mattered to either of them was the heavenly feel of one another's lips, their tongues lashing passionately. Lovingly. Somehow, every kiss between them was like a new one. Time stopping, allowing them to indulge in one another for a few precious seconds. Or in this case, minutes, only breaking apart in brief spurts for gasps of air.

Eventually, though, Michonne pulled back, licking her tingling lips as she realized she was going to need that quickie if they didn't stop. Her eyes stayed on Rick, though, his peachy skin glistening under the sun, his curls flittering in the breeze, and she used her thumb to wipe his mouth. "You're beautiful," she whispered.

"You talkin' to yourself?" he grinned. He kissed her thumb before retaking her hand into his, the two of them turning back toward the beautiful view. They could hear the faint sound of laughter from inside their open house, and he was glad that they obviously weren't being missed. He would've stayed out there all night if they could've. It was all so simple, but he lived for these quiet moments with her.

"Guess what," Michonne announced, unknowingly shaking Rick from his happy daze. She was wincing, already anticipating how silly she would sound when the words came out of her mouth.

"What is it?" Rick frowned, feeling his stomach drop when he saw the look on her face. He was already examining her, looking for signs that perhaps her water had broken while they were sitting there. He knew it would be just like Michonne to announce such a thing as calmly as a human possibly could.

"I'm not in labor," she chuckled, recognizing the panic forming in his eyes. "It's about the name..."

"You can't change your mind again," he was shaking his head back, attempting to end that conversation before it could start. "We already painted it on a wall."

"We have a month to repaint it," she defended, affectionately leaning into him in a feeble attempt to sway him. "You didn't even like it that much when I first suggested it."

"Yeah, and then you went all 'Michonne Grimes, Attorney at Law' on me, and convinced me otherwise." Of course, Michonne offered up her most charming smile, complete with those eyes begging him to concede, and his conviction on the matter immediately crumbled. It was the same effect Judith had on him, and it was clear where she'd learned it. Between them and their soon-to-be baby boy, he was never going to be able to say no to anything. "What name are you thinkin' of now?" he sighed.

"I'm back to Ryan again," she revealed cautiously, clutching his arm as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "That one was yours."

"I remember," he nodded. "It was the only one of mine you liked."

"At least I'm consistent."

"Yeah, that's one word for it." He quietly laughed to himself as he felt her lips on the side of his bearded face. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna wait a while before I go back and redo his whole room on a whim."

"It's not a whim, Rick. I've been thinking about this for a week now."

"I'm sure you have."

She laughed again, discreetly poking him in his side for his dismissive tone. "I'm just trying to imagine calling my kid Liam for the rest of my life, and I can't."

Rick smirked again, fascinated by the fact that she was just repeating everything he'd already argued. "Is that not what I said in the first place?"

"I'm admitting you were right."

"All right," he relented, although he knew they would probably end up having this conversation at least one more time before the baby arrived. "Whatever you want, 'Chonne."

"Are you just saying that?" she pressed him.

"No, we can change it if you wanna change it."

She grinned happily at his compromise. He always did with her, even from the day they met. And while she was never one to exploit his soft spot for her, she couldn't pretend she didn't know he had it. That she didn't appreciate it. He truly loved her like no other. It was why a roll of mints turned into a marriage. "…So Ryan, it is," she announced before her own rampant musings could made her cry.

"It is," Rick agreed. "For now."

"I'm not gonna change my mind," she promised, still holding onto him. "Ryan Micah Grimes."

He smiled at the sound of their baby's full name in her voice. Since March, they'd been going back and forth, from biblical names, to Haitian and Irish ones, researching all of their meanings as they narrowed their list from forty to five. She had successfully talked him into Liam because it meant 'strong-willed warrior,' which he liked as a tribute to her. But Ryan worked just as well, and maybe even better, paired with the middle name.

"Our little king," she whispered, echoing his own thoughts on the subject.

He started to reply, curious as to whether her nerves had begun to surface about the impending delivery, but before either of them knew it, it was their other kids that were interrupting their quiet conversation. The two of them turned to find Judith barreling down the pier toward them, while Carl followed slowly behind with a drink in his hand and a grin on his face.

"Daddy! Mommy!" she shouted, excited to already have their attention before she even reached them.

"Hey, Cutie," Michonne called back to her, hesitantly separating from Rick so that Judith could fit in the space between them. "Come sit with us," she offered, the two of them helping her down while keeping her big tulle skirt in place.

"What are you guys doing out here?" she questioned, squinting up at her mother.

"Just talking," she smiled at her. She wiped the remnants of ketchup from her daughter's face as she added, "And no, we were not talking about you."

Judith reached out to touch her mother's stomach, as she often did, fascinated when she could feel her little brother moving inside it. "He's sleeping," she commented to her dad, in case he was interested.

"Thank you for the update," he chuckled. He turned to his approaching son, still unused to being able to see so much of his face since he'd cut his hair for his wedding. "You gonna sit?" he asked, already making room for him.

With a shrug, Carl accepted the invitation and sat in the open spot to his dad's left. "You guys are making a bad habit of inviting people to your house and then abandoning them."

"They're not 'people,'" Rick countered. "They're family."

"And that means you get to disappear whenever you want to?" he joked.

"It means we're always together," Michonne chimed in as she looked to Judith, teasingly poking her knee. "Even when we're not."

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, baby?" she was quick to answer her daughter. Something about her tone made her think the question would be a serious one.

"Can you keep the baby inside there until after my birthday?"

As Carl quietly chuckled in response, and Rick looked on a bit worried, Michonne only smiled, understanding how strange it must feel for her daughter to know that things in their home would be changing soon, and in a very different way than their temporary 'vacation' at Hilltop. And the baby being due just a few days before Judith's birthday likely didn't help. "I'll do my best, sweetie," she promised quite genuinely as she took her daughter's hand. "But he's supposed to come before then. And if he does, I can't stop him."

"Okay," she sighed, already showing signs of being sick of her little brother.

"Carl was very good to you when you were born," Rick reminded her, his mind automatically flashing back to that complicated time in all of their lives. "It's your turn to pay it forward."

She scrunched up her nose in reply, unsure how she was supposed to do such a thing. "But I don't have any money, Daddy."

"Then you should probably be nice," he teased, mimicking Michonne's action of nudging her knee.

"I'm always nice!" She grinned up at him brightly, showing off her missing front tooth as she took her father's arm, leaning into him in the same way her mother had been. "I'm gonna be the best big sister in the world."

"In the whole world?" Michonne questioned, even though she already knew it was true.

"The whole world," Judith confidently nodded.

The three of them smiled at the current littlest member of their family, their light conversation dissolving into a comfortable silence as they took in that world that surrounded them. Even Judith, in all her adorable chattiness, seemed contemplative in the moment as she stared at the endless ocean ahead of them. Quietly wondering if her mom or Aunt Maggie would take her swimming with Hershel before the weekend was over. Carl was thinking of his own two-month-new marriage, knowing he and Enid were nowhere near ready for kids, but at the same time, couldn't wait to follow in his parents' footsteps. He laughed to himself, thinking of Judith as an aunt, which was equally as terrifying as the thought of him being a father. What a strange, perfect family he had.

Meanwhile, Rick was daydreaming about a time when it would be five of them sitting on that pier. Six, when he included Enid. How he'd been longing for this for a year and a half now, waiting for the day when he could meet the person he and Michonne created. To have some little person running around with his name and her heart, another person added to the list of loves of his life. To think that it was just a few short weeks away. He was bursting with happiness.

And Michonne was having similar thoughts, pondering all the transformation she'd endured throughout the years. How much her family had changed; how much her definition of family had changed. It'd been over ten years since she had Andre, since he and Mike were that definition. And she lost everything when she lost them. Or so she thought. A decade later, she had extended the branches on her tree considerably – a husband, and what would soon be three kids, sisters and brothers she never would've met under different circumstances. Now, she had a house full of people that loved her just as much as she loved them. She had a husband who, eight months ago, hurt her so badly, she didn't think they could recover; her life felt as though it was crumbling before her eyes. But fast forward to the present, and against all odds, or perhaps with them ever in her favor, Rick proved her wrong. She proved herself wrong. She did recover. She'd learned, long after she thought the world was done teaching her lessons, about the power of love, trust, communication, forgiveness. She chose to move forward, because this, right here, was the life she wanted. These were the moments she didn't want to throw away. And somehow, for some reason, the universe was rewarding her, giving her exactly what she'd wished for.

"We should go back in," Michonne eventually announced, inhaling her thoughts. She wasn't particularly ready to leave this serene scene behind, but hunger had set in, and that was as good a reason as any to rejoin her own party. She patted Judith's thigh, coaxing her out of her seat first. "You can open all the baby's gifts for us."

"Okay!" she agreed, already shooting up from her cozy spot between her parents.

Rick was quick to follow, knowing Michonne would need his assistance, and Carl was right behind him; both of them offering their hands, watching intently as she rose from her seat, still graceful as ever bearing an extra 25 pounds. She joined hands with her husband, their fingers interlocking as they strolled casually down the long pier, their son looking on happily. Proudly. Understanding that everything was back where it was supposed to be.

An hour later, Judith was perched on the couch, in a sea of baby presents and wrapping paper, while Maggie sat beside her, recording every name and gift for the purpose of sending out Thank You cards later. Rick and Michonne sat in the loveseat beside them, guiding their daughter through the process as they shared a plate of grilled lobster and corn on the cob. Surrounded by all their closest friends and family, the vibe in the room was lighthearted - especially with the addition of Sasha and Abraham's four-month-old to the celebration. Kids were so much more prevalent than they used to be, which was such a welcome reminder of why they fought so hard to stay alive all those years ago.

"Mommy, can I do the next one now?" Judith asked, already ripping the attached card from the box she was asking to open. They'd paused for Aaron to take pictures, but she'd grown impatient with waiting.

"Go ahead, sweetie," Michonne nodded, setting their most recent gift on the coffee table. "Read the card first."

"Okay," she said, already knowing the drill by then. She carefully pulled from its envelope a square-shaped yellow and green card with a baby carriage pictured on the front. "'There is wonder in the waiting,'" she read out loud, her cadence slow but self-assured. She rescanned the words to make sure she'd read them correctly before opening the card to view the rest of the message. "'Wishing you happiness as you wait and dream and hope for the tiny miracle who's on the way.'" Judith then studied the cursive writing beneath the printed message, unable to make out most of it. "I don't know what this says, Mommy," she said, passing it over to her parents.

Michonne took the suddenly mysterious card, wondering what it was that Judith couldn't read. But as she noted the signature at the bottom, she was glad the sender happened to write in a script that their 7-year-old couldn't decipher.

Heard through the grapevine that you two were expecting. I hope it's okay to send this, because I really am happy for you. Maybe it's not even my place to say it, but you guys deserve this. And in all sincerity, I wish the best for you and your family.

Congratulations,
Magna

Michonne only chuckled, gently passing the card to Rick, as she knew that the message was for him, even if she was addressing both of them. "It's from Magna," she revealed to Maggie, her smile not faltering even though only a few people in the room would even give pause to the information. But Michonne actually appreciated the gesture, even if it was unnecessary, and she would be sure to send her a thank you. "Go ahead and open it," she told her daughter.

While Judith was happy to tear through another wrapped box for her baby brother, Rick picked up his glass full of iced tea and moved toward the center of the room. He had given speeches to most of the people in this group more times than he could count, his words propelling them through actual battlefields of wars. But somehow, speaking to them in this very quiet, joyful moment was what made him nervous. Standing up to speak about his wife, expressing what she meant to him, especially in a way that didn't overstep any boundaries, had him anxiously spinning his wedding ring around his finger.

"So while I have you all here," he started to declare, attempting to clear his throat of its gruffness, "I just wanna take a minute to say somethin'. About the wonder that is my wife." He looked over at her with a smile, hoping she was still okay with him doing this, especially after this little surprise from Magna. Her bashful grin told him to go ahead. "When I think back to the silent warrior that showed up at my doorstep toting baby formula, with this sword on her back… it's almost unfathomable that she's the same person. That I'm the same person, for that matter. Because it was at a time when I could barely see straight. Things were so dire, living this life where you don't even know how long it's gonna be, but you know it's probably got a bad ending. And then out of nowhere, this… this vision appears. She was like a mirage. I didn't quite know what I was looking at when she walked up to that prison fence… but I knew I saw her." Rick couldn't stop smiling as he recalled their life-altering first meeting, and neither could anyone else.

"Few hours later," he went on, "she still didn't say much, but I remember her very earnestly telling me that I needed her." He noticed her timidly cover her face, and he knew she was likely on the verge of tears. "I certainly didn't know the true weight of that statement at the time, or how accurate it would turn out to be, but as usual, Michonne was right. I've needed her every day since then, and god knows I will every day after this." He chuckled, realizing he would stand there and recount their entire history together if they let him. "It's been… a profound privilege to witness her evolution. I've learned so much in watching her strength, her grace, her astounding composure as she's been tested time after time after time. Mostly by me." The other guests laughed, but the two of them knew the true meaning of his purposely vague admission.

"I'm inspired every day that I get to watch her wake up and do it all over again. To see her love so ceaselessly, and lead so confidently. She is every bit the warrior I met seven years ago, but in that time, she also became my best friend. My partner in crime, in charge, and in life." A tear snuck down his cheek unexpectedly, and he shook his head as if that would somehow get rid of it. But thinking of everything they'd been through in the past year, let alone, the past seven, was overwhelming. "And I think, most of all, the fact that my children get the glory of having her as a mother, it's probably the best thing I ever did for them. It's... it's an honor to do this with you, Michonne," he said directly to her, his voice breaking in its honesty. "As much as I do understand why you chose me, I will never stop thanking you, or the universe, or god, if he or she exists, that you did." He raised his glass to his wife and waited for everyone else to do the same. "You're a lioness. Here's to you, my love and my light. And to our next adventure."

A round of applause and 'Cheers' followed, punctuated with a few sniffles from the tears Rick's toast had elicited. Michonne was at the top of the list, her hormones leaving her something of a blubbery mess as she stood to meet her husband. Enid helped her past Judith's collection of wrapping paper scraps, and from there, she took Rick's hand, thanking him with a not-so-quick kiss in front of the group. She shook her head at the hoops and hollers as they parted, and she turned to face her friends. Her family. Wiping the remnants of her tears on her dress, she grinned gleefully at them all. "That was much too kind," she declared, licking her lips as she glanced back at her husband. "Thank you, Rick. Especially for the reminder that I was half out of my mind and stunk to the high heavens the day we met," she chuckled along with everyone else. "But more than that, you did remind me to be proud of how far I've come, as a woman, a wife, a mother." She paused for a moment, attempting to rein in her emotions once more, as she rewound to a time before she knew any of these people.

"In the old world, I never even wanted to be somebody's wife," she confessed. "It sounded so… final." She laughed again at how silly a stance it was to take, but back then, she'd been afforded the luxury of taking certain things for granted. "I had people that I loved more than anything, but… in losing them, I think I was a lot quicker to recognize when I'd found something. In you," she nodded to Rick. She pointed to Carl, her head tilting as she noticed her buddy sitting across from her, beaming at her. "You, especially," she smiled at him. She flicked away another tear when she gazed at her little jellybean, completely oblivious to all the grown-up words being uttered; much more interested in the gifts for her new sibling.

Michonne let out a small, unsteady exhale before going on, grappling with what exactly to reveal within this monologue. "I know most of you don't know this, but around this time last year, Rick and I went through the very harrowing experience of a miscarriage. And… in all honesty, it turned our marriage on its head, to the point where I didn't know if we'd make it. I didn't know if I was strong enough; I didn't wanna have to be strong enough to push through yet another thing. But Rick is right. I am strong. I've had to be all my life, from growing up a dark-skinned Black girl in this country, to surviving the actual end of the world. Everything I've lived has led me to this place, and I don't say this arrogantly but truthfully. I'm strong as hell," she grinned. Laughter and applause accompanied her, and her gaze found Maggie's, smiling back at her gleefully. They were all so impossibly fierce, it was almost sad. But it was true. "And I'm so glad I never gave up. I've been to hell a few times, and made it back every time, which is why it makes me so proud to stand here before you, eight months pregnant and feeling lighter than ever.

I never imagined this was the life waiting for me at the end of the world. That there was a whole new one on the other side of all that pain." Her tears were falling in endless streams, but she didn't care, continuing to speak her truth in a way she never really had out loud before. Through those tears, she smiled back at Rick, the man responsible for a large part of that life. He'd given her a home, and along with it came his friendship, his family, his love. She was so thankful for all of it. "So I guess what I'm trying to say, as terribly cliché as it sounds… life gave me lemons, but with the help of you all – Rick, Carl, and Judith, especially, I made the most exquisite lemonade." Wiping her cheeks, she, too, raised her half-full glass, her head swimming with the thought that sooner than later, she was going to have a new little person to love; someone that was equal parts Michonne and Rick Grimes. Finally.

After the first miscarriage, Michonne wasn't sure that happiness like this was attainable again. Even in forgiving Rick for what he'd done, forgiving herself for what she didn't do, she just wasn't sure things would ever be the same again. Could she ever look at him and feel the same things she did six years ago? Three years ago? The answer was no. And that was okay. She'd seen too much; done even more. She'd spun gold out of an excruciatingly hard life and conjured beauty from the things left behind. She shouldn't have felt the same, because she was different. And so was he. They were better.

So we're gonna heal, we're gonna start again
You've brought the orchestra, synchronized swimmers
You're the magician
Pull me back together again, the way you cut me in half
Make the woman in doubt disappear
Pull the sorrow from between my legs like silk, knot after knot after knot
The audience applauds
But we can't hear them

-END-

A/N: And that's all she wrote! I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than posting the ending to this on The Queen's birthday. 👑 All praise be to Bey for creating the masterpiece that is Lemonade, which obviously inspired me to do this in the first place. And the rest of the glory goes to Mad Men, which has its footprint in pretty much everything I do, lol. I'm gonna try not to go on too long, because I'm already crying, like the immense dork that I am, but let me just say that I am so, so grateful to you all for going on this journey with me. When I started this, as I've said a few times before, I really didn't expect many people to want to read this. I didn't know what it was going to be, but I knew it wouldn't be pretty. So the fact that so many of you trusted me and jumped in head first right along with me, it means so much. That this is, by far, my most popular story, to the point where it became overwhelming at times, but so many of you willed me through with your kind words and encouragement, it means the world. I went back and read all the reviews from the beginning, which took literal hours, but it was such a treat to retread our journey together. I can't even... y'all are amazing. Even those that talked shit about my story (here and in other corners of the internet), you taught me valuable lessons in trying not to take things personally, and so I thank you, too. Thank you guys for allowing me to write through my sickness, finding joy in something as simple as a thoughtful review when I was doubled over in pain. In that way, writing Michonne's story was quite cathartic. But I'm rambling. All this to say, you guys are wonderful. I almost want to just quit, or at least go write under some other pseudonym, because nothing else I do will be better than this, haha. But seriously, thank you for allowing me the platform to share this with you. It's been an honor. 💛

Until next time.✌ ️ -Ash