"Hey," Rick cautiously called out to his girlfriend. He walked into their bedroom, finding her sitting at the edge of their bed, in tears, surrounded by paper and tape. He knew why she was crying, so he didn't want to make an issue out of it; he simply walked towards her and crouched to the floor in front of her. "You ready?"
Michonne took a deep, quivering breath and nodded, beginning to push the extraneous paper out of the way so that it wouldn't fall when she stood. "Yeah."
"You sure?" he pressed, gazing down at her leg shaking against the floor. "It doesn't have to be now."
"No, I want it to be today." She slowly stood from the bed and held her hand out to him, confirming that she wanted to do this, and she wanted to do this with him. "Carl and Judith are ready?"
"Downstairs waiting," he answered, standing again and taking her hand. "We finished decorating a little while ago."
"I'm scared to see what that looks like," she smiled, using her free hand to wipe at the tears on her cheeks and chin. "I was planning to do that myself."
He nodded at her teasing, and handed over the three unsealed envelopes she had left on the bed. "I think you're gonna need these."
"Yes." She sighed again, accepting them from him with a grateful smile. She wasn't sure how Rick would react to her suggestion, considering she had managed to involve his dearly departed wife in her shenanigans, but he had been supportive every step of the way. Even when she initially refused to tell him what she'd been writing, he trusted her, and he let it go. Everything about him that past week just reminded her why she had fallen in love with him. "Let's do this."
I just kept hoping
I just kept hoping the way would become clear
Together, the couple continued downstairs, where Michonne was pleasantly surprised to find that the boys had actually decorated their home quite beautifully. Pink and white balloons and streamers adorned the walls, mostly in corners of the room, so that it wasn't overbearing. And they'd collected these gorgeous pink lilies from outside the Alexandria gates to accent their decor. It was so unexpectedly elegant, she couldn't help but smile. "Nice job, boys."
Carl had been sitting on the couch with his baby sister, waiting for their parents to appear, and he stood to take in the view of their work. "It's super girly, but Dad said that's what you wanted."
"I wanted Judith to have something pretty," Michonne confirmed. She squeezed Rick's hand before letting him go, moving across the living room to investigate the mantle. Framed pictures were sitting on the ledge that hadn't been there before. One with Rick and Carl, another with Judith and Carol, and the frame in the middle was the photo of her with Rick that they'd gotten from Aaron and Eric. She smiled again, loving that it was the new focal point of their home. She stared at them for much too long, as if she'd never seen the image before. She just loved that candid, happy moment between the two of them. They probably had a million of those, before then and after, but she simply loved knowing that that was her life now.
I spent all this time trying play nice, and fight my way here
See I've been having me a real hard time
But it feels so nice to know I'm gonna be all right
"We should go," she declared, turning from the mantle to face her family. "I still have to come back and decorate the cake before the party starts."
