The Manny (The Walking Dead Richonne)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was a beautiful spring day and the Grimes family backyard had a festive atmosphere. Rick's preteen son Carl and his friends were skateboarding in the driveway. A mix of neighbors and Rick's friends lounged about on folding chairs while a surly looking man in a leather vest stood over the grill, turning out perfectly cooked burgers and hot dogs...and a plate of something that may or may not be squirrel.

Andre and Rick's daughter Judith became instant friends. Judith grabbed the younger boy's hand and took him to play in the sand box, where the two stayed the whole time, digging and building little sand castles only to knock them down with toy cars and plastic dinosaurs and build them again.

Michonne picked a beer out of a cooler and helped herself to a plate of food. She made small talk with the other guests until Rick made his way over to her.

"This is real nice. Thanks for inviting us," Michonne said.

"Oh course," Rick smiled.

He looked over at the kids playing together, "You know, I worked so hard building that swing set, but the only thing Judith ever wants to do is play in that sand box."

It was nice to see Rick so relaxed, Michonne thought as she discretely admired the way his brown t-shirt clung to his body.

They found a pair of lounge chairs in the shade. Before long Rick was telling her about a rival nanny network from up north that was trying to expand into Georgia, aggressively advertising everywhere and signing workers away from smaller companies, only to pay them a fraction of what they made before.

"They call themselves 'the saviors of childcare'! It's so..." Rick paused, searching for the right word.

"Pretentious?" Michonne supplied.

"Yes, exactly! Everything I've heard, the way they do things is very heavy handed, going out of their way to crush small companies that aren't even a threat to them. And now they're targeting King County," Rick went on.

"They have the manpower and the money to do whatever they please. I just don't see how we can compete with that," Rick said, shaking his head in frustration.

"Think about it this way," Michonne shifted so she could face him directly, "You don't have to beat them. All you have to do is make it too much trouble for them to get to you. Make things difficult enough and eventually they'll give up and move on to an easier target."

"But how do we do that?" Rick asked.

"There's plenty of things you can try. If their ads are too similar to yours, you can talk about copyright infringement. Or if the workers they lure away had non-compete clauses in their contracts, you can go after them that way. And sometimes a simple cease and desist letter from a lawyer can be enough discouragement," Michonne listed ideas.

"Here," she said, digging in her purse and handing him her card, "Tell your boss to call my office, set up a meeting."

Rick looked at the card thoughtfully, "I'll do that. At the very least, it can't hurt to get some advice."

The conversation turned to lighter topics as Rick told Michonne about all the good local places to visit. Story time at the library for Andre, outdoor movie nights by the lake during summer, a ranked list of the best barbecue places around, and Hershel's Farm and Petting Zoo, to name a few.

That day, and as their friendship grew, Michonne realized that there was a genuine quality about Rick that she found quite refreshing. While so many men tended to boast and pretend that their lives were perfect, Rick had the humility of a man who knew what it was like to suffer but to get back up and live the best life he could.

That summer Rick and Michonne and the kids spent nearly every weekend together, planning outings or simply setting up lounge chairs in the back yard and sipping lemonade while the children played.

..........................

TBC!

Preview: There will be a time jump and...some romance! Finally! Who will make the first move?