To All of You- Richonne AU
Note: Sorry if this is OOC; I wrote a good portion of this at 4 am. Also, sorry if this is just word slop. I did NOT proofread this. ALSO, SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!
Chapter 4: Once More to See You
The next morning, Michonne woke up early and decided to get ready for the day, even though all she wanted was to sleep it away. She got up with a groan and an achy back, probably from all the lifting she'd been doing for almost three weeks.
Michonne began looking through her messy bed for her phone, which she'd haphazardly thrown in last night. Once she found it, she hoped to see a message from Mike, at least one asking to speak to Andre, but there was nothing. Instead, she saw an inbox message from Maggie.
"Hey, did you want to meet for breakfast before we go to my dad's? Lord knows you ain't gone grocery shopping yet."
Michonne couldn't help but smile at the phone. Maggie knew her so well. Michonne had not gone grocery shopping; she was too distracted by her welcome wagon.
"Of course, King County Café?"
Within a second, Maggie replied, "9:30."
Michonne looked at the time on her phone. It was 8:45. "Ugh! Maggie!" She quickly threw her phone back on the bed, then went downstairs to search her boxes for something she and Andre could wear.
Michonne found a pair of black jeans and a purple quarter-sleeve shirt for herself, and a Spider-Man shirt and a pair of jean shorts for Andre.
She quickly went back upstairs to change in her room. After she put on her clothes, she practically sprinted to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She knew getting Andre dressed wouldn't be half as easy.
She went into Andre's room, well, Andre's room now, to wake him up. "Peanut," she said, shaking him softly. "It's time to wake up." He groaned and pulled the blanket over his face. Michonne rolled her eyes. He's impossible, she thought. "Do you want breakfast?" She was smirking now. "Breakfast." Andre popped the top half of his head out from under the blanket. All she had to do was say his favorite word, and he was ready for the day.
There was no fussing and fighting like there usually was, which was a pleasant surprise, Michonne thought. Maybe the rest of her day would be just as good.
Michonne walked through the doors of King County Café at 9:31. Maggie was already smiling at her. "Yer late," she said, tapping her watch with faux offense.
Michonne made her way to the booth where Maggie was sitting. Two cups of coffee and an apple juice already sat on the table, along with a booster seat for Andre. Maggie had thought of everything. "Sorry, Andre was talking forever." "Nah uh, mama," Andre said, scrunching his face up at Michonne. "Okay, I may or may not have left my phone in the house... and my car keys... my coat, but I was just trying to get here on time," Michonne rambled.
"It's okay, Chonne, I was jus jokin," Maggie said with a faint snort. Andre joined her, though he didn't get the joke, and Michonne gave him a soft push on his shoulder, then let out a small laugh.
The waitress quickly came by and took their orders. They all got a pastry: Maggie a blueberry muffin, Michonne a banana nut muffin, and Andre a chocolate croissant. Michonne knew he only got it because she read the word chocolate to him. The boy loved sweets, just like his mom.
"So, how's the farm, Hershel and Beth?"
"Fine, Beth is sixteen now, homeschooling, and she can't stand the high school." Maggie looked into her coffee cup and spun the spoon in circles.
"Mm-hm." Awkward silence fell. "Thanks for the inbox. I'm really glad it was you and not some local creep."
"I'm surprised you didn't reach out yerself. I can't believe I found out you were coming back through a goddamn Facebook post of all places."
"Bad word." Andre looks at Michonne. "Everyone keep saying bad words."
"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Andre. I didn't mean to say that—" She spoke frantically, looking between Michonne and Andre. Michonne couldn't help but bite her bottom lip to hold in her laugh. Maggie began to turn beet red before Michonne intervened.
"You're fine, Maggie, really. He met Daryl last night." The brunette felt relieved; she was a saint compared to the younger Dixon.
A beat of silence passed. "But seriously, why didn't you tell me you were coming back? Daddy told me he saw your post on the Facebook board."
Michonne was hoping she had forgotten that she had asked. She felt nothing but guilt and shame. Why didn't she message Maggie directly? She couldn't even say it was because of her pride; if anything, it would be because of shame. Shame at being in a failed relationship with Mike after everyone said it was a bad idea. Shame because she left for years without contacting her best friends because of Mike. Shame that she couldn't keep her relationship together, not even for her child.
"I didn't know how. We left things pretty messy before I left, and I haven't been able to come to terms with the fact that I was wrong about everything." Michonne said it so fast she could barely process it; she just needed it out.
"I'm sorry about before." Michonne didn't want to go into too much detail, considering Andre is still very much tuned into the adult conversation happening in front of him.
"I knew you were right, but you know my parents. I needed someone, and they liked him a lot. They wanted him to be my high school sweetheart, even if we were on-and-off for four years. I wanted something different, but I couldn't have it, so I settled, but we see how that ended up." Maggie hadn't heard this much emotion in Michonne's voice since the last time they spoke face to face. She felt bad for Michonne.
When the pair first split ways, Maggie was resentful and didn't even want to hear Michonne's name mentioned. Why would she? She dropped her best friend for a complete asshole.
But little did Maggie know that she would miss her best friend every day for the next 12 or so years. She'd miss staying up late at Michonne's house and waking her parents up with their laughing fits, their late-night car rides to pick up other friends. Everything felt wrong when Michonne left, but Maggie couldn't swallow her pride long enough to contact her.
Maggie sighed, closing her eyes. "Michonne…I'm also sorry. I could've contacted you, too." She opened her eyes again. "We were so young, but I missed you, Chonne. It was so hard to see you go with him. But I stalked yer Facebook often, ya know, to keep up."
"Me too," Michonne replied in a quiet voice before they both let out obnoxious laughs.
With the previous conversation breaking the ice, the two women began to catch up. Michonne knew Maggie and Glenn were still together because of Maggie's never-changing relationship status on Facebook. But Michonne didn't know that Maggie and Glenn had recently moved off the farm into a rental together until their house was ready. Maggie said Hershel had let her stay at home for so long because he was basically getting free farm labor from her and free pizza from Glenn.
"How's Andrea since I've been gone?'
"She's been good. She's like a big-time lawyer now." Michonne was only half listening, not really caring.
Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Grimes? He's a sheriff's deputy for King County now. And he has a kid now, too. I don't know how old; we don't really talk anymore, just mainly him and Glenn."
"Hm. Married?" She sipped her lukewarm coffee, trying to seem nonchalant. Maggie shrugged and started talking about other classmates from the past.
After the women had chatted for nearly two hours, the coffee was cold, the food had been eaten, and the bill had been paid 30 minutes ago. Then Maggie got a text from Beth, who was now wondering where they were. "Oh, we gotta go, Beth is wondering where we are." The brunette began to scoot out of the booth, and Michonne followed, bringing Andre with her.
Michonne rolled her eyes. She knew where Hershel lived, for God's sake; she had learned how to ride horses on that very same farm. "I know where the farm is, Maggie."
"I wasn't sure. You were gone for so long; God knows what you remember." Sarcasm dripped from her tongue.
The two women drove in their separate cars to the Greene farm, and when they arrived, an excited Beth was waiting for them with Hershel beside her.
Michonne parked where she always used to park in high school. The big tree in front of the Greene house provided great shade and kept her car from overheating, which she loved.
"Some things never change," Hershel said with a chuckle to Beth, even though she had no clue what he was talking about.
Michonne got out of her car and unbuckled Andre, who was basically dead from boredom. His mother felt bad that he hadn't actually made any friends yet, as she had promised him, only her old ones, who were far too old to have playdates with him.
She carried her son to the front porch, where she let him stand on his own because she was excited to see Hershel and Beth again. It was like they were completely different people now. Hershel had aged since the last time she'd seen him, and Beth was basically a new person; she hadn't even said her first words when Michonne left.
"I'm getting so old," Michonne joked while looking at Beth. She couldn't believe she'd been gone for that long. "You probably don't even remember me."
"No, but I hear stories from Maggie and Daddy. I have pictures of you, too."
Michonne smiled and started to speak, but was only pulled into a hug by Hershel. "I've missed you, Michonne. Can't use a phone these days?"
"I'm so sorry, Hershel. It's been a crazy time since I left." She looked at Andre, who was now talking to Beth, and Maggie, who'd finally made it to the front porch.
Over the years, Michonne debated messaging Hershel, but in the end, she always went against it; she was too embarrassed by how her life had turned out. She wasn't ashamed of Andre, just his no-good father. Michonne let Mike take her sparkle and her confidence after all those secluded years; she didn't even make new friends in Atlanta, had no social life outside of work, and even then, she mainly spoke to children.
"Maggie told us about your little bug; she found out through Facebook. Seems like we were both getting information that way."
"I'm sorry, Hershel, I've been trying to find a way to reconnect with everyone back here, but I left on such a sour note, I didn't know how to fix it. I still don't, sorry, it seems so blah." She was rambling like she used to in high school, and Hershel still found it entertaining. But he was also concerned about the woman standing before him; she was small and unsure, and that wasn't the Michonne he knew.
Hawthorne household, Senior year of high school
Michonne is sitting at the dinner table with her parents, trying to figure out what she should do with her life. It's not like she didn't know what she wanted to do after high school; she wanted to do elementary education. She didn't know what to do with Mike.
Michonne told her parents that she didn't want to stay with him, but they weren't hearing it. She's broken up with him multiple times throughout high school, but he kept coming back, and she let him. They wanted her to marry him. Michonne always envisioned someone else as her groom.
"I just don't understand, sweetie. Why don't you want to stay with Mike? He's been such a good boy to you. His mother and I have been talking about a perfect venue for the wedding," Michonne's mother says while cutting into her food.
The younger lets a puff of air escape her lungs before answering. "Because he's so immature, and he's not ready to grow up. Why are you talking about a wedding anyway? It's too early for all of that."
Michonne's mother put down her silverware. "Is there someone else you'd rather marry than your long-time boyfriend?" Great, her mom is playing stupid, yet again.
"Technically, he's not my 'long-time boyfriend'; we've taken breaks."
Michonnes father decided to step in, feeling suspicious after that statement," And in those breaks, did you see anyone else?"
"What! No!" Michonne Hawthorne was a big fat liar.
After the mini-reunion on the porch, Hershel ushered everyone inside to get more comfortable. In the house, Annette was preparing sweet tea for everyone.
"Finally, I thought I was gon' have to drag y'all in by your ears." She says with a wide grin.
"Sorry, dear, we got caught up in conversation."
Everyone settles around the dining table, and Michonne decides it's time to talk about what she's mainly here for: introducing Andre and Beth. But one look across the table and Michonne can see they're already pretty comfortable with each other. Andre is sitting on Beth's lap, pretending to be reading whatever book she has open.
Michonne smiles, "Hey Beth, I want to tell you a few things about Andre before I leave him with you tomorrow. He's not really an early bird, so he will probably go back to sleep when he gets here in the morning. But once he's up, he'll be bouncing off the walls…"
The darker-skinned woman went on about Andres' likes and dislikes, trying not to forget anything detrimental.
By the time everyone's done talking, it's lunchtime, and Michonne wants to get back home to continue unpacking her necessities before her busy week.
Michonne begins saying her goodbyes to the older members of the Greene family, hugging Hershel extra tightly and promising to keep him in the loop. When it was time to say bye to Maggie, Michonne didn't hesitate to hug her; she missed Maggie more than anyone would know. They exchanged short goodbyes before Michonne went to pry Andre from Beth.
"Come on, Andre, we have a busy day tomorrow." The smaller boy pretended he couldn't hear his mother, continuing to play with the toys Beth brought out of her closet.
"Andre, I'll bring you back tomorrow, and you can play with Beth all day while I'm at work. Sounds like a plan?" That seemed to catch the boys' attention.
Michonne nodded. "Yes, but we would have to leave now so you can pack the toys you want to bring and take a bath so you won't be stinky." She's holding her nose to dramatize her words.
And with that, Andre is up and by Michonne's side in an instant, waving bye to all the Greene family members.
Once Michonne and Andre get home, Michonne is in pure focus mode. She puts on classical music not because she likes it, but because it's the least distracting genre, in her opinion.
She gave Andre the task of putting his favorite toys into a go bag for Beth's house, knowing he would get distracted and stay out of her hair for at least an hour. While Andre was distracted, Michonne unpacked clothes, her favorite kitchen towels, and bathroom essentials. It's only Sunday, but she couldn't wait for the weekend to come so she could finally rearrange the house properly; she could only hope her parents wouldn't mind.
Andre got bored with his toys around the hour mark, just as Michonne predicted.
Michonne groaned at the sound of a fussy toddler. "We don't have any snacks, Peanut. We haven't been to the store."
In the end, Andre won the argument, and within 20 minutes, they were done with the grocery store's snack aisle and headed to the refrigerated section.
With the basket half-filled with random snacks for Andre to take to the Greene farm and food for Michonne to pack for lunch, she began to wander the store for ideas for tonight's dinner.
"Frozen food?" She whispers to herself as she turns her cart into the aisle.
Andre looks, turns his head back and forth in the cart, trying to see his surroundings. "Pizza?"
"Okay, we can do that." As Michonne opens the freezer to pull out a frozen pizza, she hears a small voice a small distance away.
"See, Mom, they're getting pizza, why can't we get any pizza?" He was whining now.
Michonne grabs her pizza and puts it in the cart, looking toward the source of the voice, and sees a little boy about four years older than Andre, give or take. He was grabbing onto his mother's cardigan. His mother looked so familiar to Michonne, a slender woman, pale, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. But Michonne just couldn't put a name to the face.
The little boy looks Michonnes' way, and the first thing she notices is his eyes, piercing blue, familiar.
"No, Carl, your dad wants spaghetti tonight, so spaghetti it is." The woman seemed annoyed by the situation, which made Michonne feel as if she were interrupting a private conversation between a mother and her son.
"But mom-" Was the last thing Michonne heard before she left the aisle, not wanting to cause more tension with her dinner decisions.
Michonne calls it quits and checks out, deciding to go back to the grocery store after work tomorrow.
Once the Hawthornes are back in their home, the rest of the day is filled with preparation. They have a busy day ahead of them tomorrow.
Note: Spider-Man mentions yippee!! I feel like I was skimping out on the transitions. Sorry that the flashback is in an awkward part. I'm just trying to answer questions. UGH, and my scene transitions are SO ASS I cannot get over this, I'm sorry!!! Also, why haven't Rick and Michonne met yet, like bello?!??!
