‘Cause I’m Okay, Too

To take responsibility for any newborn that isn’t yours in an apocalypse is already a sign of a selfless heart. And then to know that the baby was conceived by your own wife and best friend, who moved on suspiciously quickly...to me, one of the things that would really affirm to Michonne is how much Rick loved Carl. Since I do think Rick claiming Judith had a lot to do with Carl initially. 

I thought about how when Judith is born, she and Rick have one thing in common - they both have one blood relative left alive, and it’s the same blood relative: Carl. And in the beginning, that was a strong enough link for Rick to raise her, so Carl and his sister could be raised together, and Carl’s family wouldn’t have to be even more broken up than it had already become. And I believe from there, Rick came to view Judith no longer as just Carl’s sister, but his daughter, and the little individual she is. 

The timing of Rick's sharing this with Michonne is telling. He knows Michonne is having trouble accepting being under Negan’s rule, and so, as he and she so often do, he levels with her through vulnerability to share something that, understandably, was difficult for him to accept at first. His journey of claiming Judith wasn’t as immediate as it was with Carl and RJ, but I believe Rick absolutely did come to genuinely love and accept Judith.

I personally feel he told Michonne this at this time because he was expressing that, at first, the origins and circumstances surrounding Judith were tough and even burdensome, but they didn’t feel that way forever. And at this point, he’s trying to have some hope that their situation with Negan won’t permanently feel that way either. 

Michonne might’ve heard some little murmurings about Lori and Shane’s affair from the group, prior to Rick telling her. But I think it moved Michonne to learn that for Rick, it wasn’t just a possibility that Judith wasn’t his biological daughter, but rather he was certain she wasn’t, and yet he didn’t fight for her any less or treat her as less valid than a biological daughter.