"Burgess!" Kevin greeted her with a big smile and an even bigger hug, "Thanks for coming over."
"Thanks for the invite." Kim smiled, "Any night I don't have to cook dinner is a win in my book." She followed him through the small living room and into the kitchen, "it smells amazing Kev."
"Thank you. Thank you" He smirked as he brushed his shoulders off, humility wasn't a trait that Kevin possessed but he had every right to his in ego when it came to cooking, "Nothing fancy tonight, just a roast chicken and some garlic mashed potatoes." He knew this could blow up in his face but he had to try.
"I was kind of hoping for your amazing salmon" Kim pouted a bit, "I'm sure your chicken is just as wonderful"
Kevin laughed, "Don't sound so enthused Burgess." He checked on the chicken once more before going to the fridge and grabbing two beers, "I had to go simple, one of the guests tonight won't eat fish. She's got a delicate palate."
Kim eyed him suspiciously, "Who else is coming?"
"You'll see." Kevin teased her. He knew if he told her who was coming she'd grow anxious and come up with an excuse to leave early.
Kim and Adam had a pretty solid work relationship, they still worked really well together but were rarely partnered up. They didn't see much of each other outside of work but weren't against having a few drinks together after a case, or just hanging out together as a unit.
Kevin couldn't help but think a little nudge from him might be beneficial for both of them, he knew neither one of them had been truly happy in a long time. Cassie adored Kim, they didn't see each other all that frequently but the kid was drawn to Kim. She'd hang off Kim's every word and it was obvious that Kim enjoyed her company as well.
Adam hated Saturday nights when he had Cassie, he had to bring Cassie home on Sunday mornings. The first day or two after Cassie left were always the hardest for him, he missed her something awful. Once he got back to work he was fine, it helped to keep him distracted and before he knew it, it would be time to pick Cassie up.
Cassie moved at a snail's pace when it came to Saturday nights, she hated it just as much as Adam did, though the second she laid eyes on her mother she was fine.
Transition was hard for all of them and it was a serious downside to their custody arrangement but it was the best option for all of them. Adam wanted no part of being an every other weekend dad and none of the other suggested arrangements appealed to either him or Hailey.
They would make the week on, week off arrangement work.
Adam poked his head in her room, "Cass...c'mon we need to get moving. Uncle Kevin said dinner is at 6. We need to leave in fifteen minutes." He was no longer shocked by how messy Cassandra's bedroom could get, she was a tiny tornado who left nothing untouched. His pops was constantly reminding him that he was the exact same way as a kid. She had all of her tiny plastic ponies spread out around her, "Clean up, Kiddo."
"I will." Cassie grabbed her backpack off her desk chair, "Can I take some toys to Uncle Kevin's house?"
"Of course. Just hurry up." Adam grabbed her coat from the closet, "pack your bag and then put on your coat and shoes. I just need to grab a clean shirt and my shoes and then we roll out."
"I can't believe Vinessa is graduating from nursing school, it feels like just yesterday she was a preteen." Kim remarked, she had always been found of Kevin's siblings and she was pleased to see them both fulfilling their potential. Their move to live with their aunt had been the right decision, hard as hell for Kevin but the right move.
"Right? It's insane. Jordan is doing really well too, he's loving the Air Force." Kevin didn't see that one coming but just like Vinessa, Jordan was thriving.
The incessant ringing of the doorbell disrupted their conversation, "Ah, they're here." There was only one person who rang the doorbell like that, Cassie.
"Cass, once is enough." Adam pulled her hand away from the button, "Just once."
"Nun-huh. Uncle Kevin said I could push it lots of times if I wanted to." She had her uncle wrapped around her little finger. He spoiled the shit out of her and catered to her every whim, they were thick as thieves and had been since day one.
"Uncle Kevin doesn't know how to say no to you, that's why." Adam had noticed a familiar car in the drive way as they stood on the porch and he suddenly felt a bit anxious he couldn't help but think Kevin was up to something.
Kim scrolled through her messages while she waited for Kevin to return, she heard faint voices and then a very familiar squeal followed by a giggle.
She knew then who had shown up, and it wasn't long before she came running into the room and practically threw herself at Kim.
"I didn't know you were eating with us!" Cassie hugged her, "I'm happy you came."
Kim welcomed the hug, "Oh, sweet girl. I'm so happy I came." She kissed her cheek, she could see Adam over Cassie's shoulder, "Are you having fun with daddy?"
"Yeah. We had lots of fun this week, I have to back to my Mommy and Donnie tomorrow. That's why we are here, we always hang out with Uncle Kevin on Saturday nights." Cassie rambled, "I got to see everyone at daddy's work, but you weren't there. Jay was, but not Antonio. I saw Hank and Trudy too!"
"I had to go a training, Antonio came with me."
"Training? What did they teach you?" She asked.
Adam cleared his throat, "Cass, that's enough with the questions. Go easy on Burgess."
"It's okay." Kim assured him, "They make all the police officers attend trainings, they want us to be the best we can be."
Cassie had moved on and paid no attention to Kim's response, "Daddy, she's Kim, not Burgess. Last names are just for work." Cassie scolded him, "Uncle Kevin did you make chicken?" She tilted her head upwards trying to sniff out the scent coming from the kitchen.
"I did." Kevin laughed at the sudden subject change, Cassie could jump from topic to topic in just a single sentence, she was a lot like her dad in that respect, "With garlic mashed potatoes."
"Yummy, those are my favorite." Cassie jumped up and down, "Can I get the the art stuff?"
"Yes, of course." Kevin told her. He had kept a rather large supply of crayons, markers, construction paper and various other art supplies in his spare bedroom for whenever Cassie came over.
"Hey" Adam finally greeted Kim, "I didn't know you'd be here."
Kim laughed lightly, "Same." She twisted the bracelet on her wrist, "Cassie is getting so big, she's beautiful."
"Thanks, I think so too." Adam replied, "I wish time would slow down just a bit."
"I bet you do." Kim smiled at him, fatherhood looked good on him. His eyes twinkled when he talked about Cassie and his mouth curved into a perfect smile. She could remember the pang of jealously she had felt when she learned Hailey was pregnant with his child. She had gone home after work that day and cried, she felt ridiculous for reacting the way she did. She had been against rekindling their relationship and it was only natural that he had moved on but she always wondered why it had to be with Hailey, her ending up pregnant was akin to rubbing salt in the wound. It didn't last long the first time she had met Cassie she was hooked, and while her relationship with Cassie wasn't anything close to what Kevin had with the little girl, she loved the rare times she got to see her.
It didn't make sense to her back then and it still didn't to this day, she just chalked it up to Adam feeling a bit lost after Olinsky's death.
"Grub is ready!" Kevin finally returned to the living room, "I'll get Miss Priss, you two go on in and get you a plate." He was going to do whatever it took to get those two talking, he knew they just needed a nudge in the right direction.
They'd been engaged for nearly a week now and Hailey had thrown herself into wedding planning, they wanted to get married soon and were determined to keep it on the small side. She wasn't a 'girlie girl' by any means but she was going to go all out on her dress, she already interviewed a handful of make up artists and had narrowed it down to a few girls. They had decided to go with a simple civil service at the justice of peace. A simple reception would follow, Donovan had reached out to a friend who owned a catering hall and he was happy to offer up his place at a discounted rate. It had all fallen into place without much effort on their part, she took it as a sign from the universe that it was meant to be.
She had been to the doctor and they had learned that their little one was developing as it should and it was amazing to hear it's heartbeat, they had a sonogram but their baby looked nothing like a baby at this stage but they still had the photo stuck to the fridge.
Donovan grabbed ahold of her engagement ring, "When are you telling Adam? Do you want me to come?" He had no use for Adam, the guy had a chip on his shoulder and he had little patience for cops like him, the cops who thought they were better than the FEDS.
"Tomorrow I guess. It'll be hard to miss this..." she held her hand up, the diamond on her finger was huge, "if the light hits it just right it's a bit blinding." She laughed, "I do love it though, you did good babe."
"Only the best for my girl." Donovan kissed her quickly, "You think Cassie will be happy?"
"I do. She loves you." Hailey told him, "I think us getting married will be good for her, she'll that traditional family unit, you know? A mom and dad living together and married, a new baby sibling. It's perfect."
"My perfect little family." Donovan grinned from ear to ear, "We need to get serious on house hunting as well, I don't want you to have to deal with moving when you're further along. I'd like to move in the next month or two, if possible."
"Agreed. We need to stay in this area though, the school district here is solid. I want Cassie in school here, the elementary school is one of the best."
"Private school is always an option, we can afford it. I think we should look for the best house, let's not limit ourselves to just this area." Donovan reasoned, he wasn't going to let Adam dictate where he'd live or the choices he'd make for his family.
"We can't go far, Adam will lose his shit." Hailey knew Adam would put up a fight if they tried to take Cassie out of Chicago.
"Babe, I'm not letting Adam dictate where we live. We aren't moving across the country, so what if he's got to drive a bit further than he would like, if a house works for us, we will buy it. Adam will have to suck it up."
Hailey massaged her temples a bit, "You're right I know, but I don't want to take Cassandra to far from every thing and everyone she knows and loves."
"Neither do I. I'm just throwing it at there that's all."
Dinner had gone well, Cassie had monopolized most of the conversation and they had a few laughs over her rundown of her adventures over the last week with Adam. She had fallen hard and fast asleep on the couch just before Kim had left.
She didn't stir when Kim kissed the top of her head before leaving, Adam was a bit taken aback by the way it made his heart race just a bit. He smiled warmly at Kim and told her to drive safely, he watched as Kevin hugged her and walked her out to her car.
"I know what you're up to Kevin." Adam announced the second Kevin walked back inside, "You're a sneaky son of a bitch."
"Who me?" Kevin shrugged, "I just had my best and oldest friends over for dinner, nothing sneaky or shady about that."
"Bullshit." Adam chirped back, "I'm not interested in a relationship. Not with Kim, not with anyone ok?"
"Bro..I saw the way you were looking at her, why are you denying it?" Kevin asked him, "it's as obvious as the nose on your face, you've still got feelings for her. Stop fighting it and see what happens."
"Nope." Adam shook his head, "My priority is Cassie. That's it. I don't want to have this conversation with you." He was clearly frustrated if not a bit pissed off.
"Chill." Kevin held his hands up, "Adam, I'm sorry..okay?" He was surprised at Adam's reaction, "I didn't mean to piss you off, it wasn't my intention. I'll back off."
Adam felt like shit, "Nah, I'm sorry." He blew out a long slow breath and looked over at Cassie who was sleeping soundly on the couch he pointed to her, "She's about to have her world rocked, she just doesn't know it yet, I found out last week when I picked her up and seems I'm the first to know. Hailey is pregnant."
Kevin leaned back on the couch, "Really?"
"Yep." Adam sighed, "I'm worried about how it will affect her. If she'll be happy about it, I guess it's got me on edge a bit."
"I get it. I'm sure it'll be fine though." Kevin kicked his feet up on the coffee table, "Miss Priss likes babies, I'm sure she'll be excited."
"I hope so." Adam stood up, "I should get her home, it's late and I need to drop her off at Hailey's by nine."
They had just enough time to stop at Cassie's favorite donut shop, the donuts were bigger than her face and she was currently covered in pink frosting and sprinkles, "Can we go back to the museum next time I come see you?"
"Of course" Adam dumped another packet of sugar in his cup, "Maybe Poppy and Aunt Trisha would like to tag along, that sound like fun?" When Adam was a little boy he spent a lot of time with his Aunt Trisha, his dad's older sister and he loved that Cassie had Aunt Trisha in her life. The world would be a better place if everyone had an Aunt Trisha in their life. "I know you were bummed you didn't get to see her this week."
"Poppy said she's on a cruise with other old ladies, that doesn't sound fun." Cassie shrugged as she slurped the last bit of her strawberry milk, "I think she will like the museum, she can watch me play. That's her favorite thing. Watching me. She says I'm her favorite person in the whole entire world."
"I used to be her favorite." Adam chuckled, his Aunt was his favorite person growing up and to be honest she still was. She was always dropping by his place with a home cooked meal for him, she was constantly buying things for him and Cassie. She was one of the kindest people he knew and he was grateful for her presence in not only his life but in Cassie's.
"I know. She's told me that before, she said I'm like you." Cassie wiped her face on her sleeve, ignoring the napkin Adam had handed her when he gave her the donut. "I'm done. Can we go see my mommy now?"
Adam grabbed a few bills from his wallet for a tip and left it in on the table, "Let's go."
Hailey was out the door the minute Adam's car pulled to a stop in front of her house, "Hey baby!"
"Hi mommy! I had a donut for breakfast!" She smiled as she wrapped her arms around her waist, "Is Donnie here?"
"He's inside. Why don't you give your dad a hug and kiss and then go inside and say hi," Hailey knew she needed to tell Adam her latest news and there was no time like the present.
"Bye daddy. I love you!"
"I love you too, Cass my lass." Adam crouched down for a hug, "Be good and I will call you in a few days."
Hailey waited until Cassie was inside, "Donuts for breakfast? Really?"
"It was a treat Hailey, it won't kill her." He had noticed the ring almost immediately, "when's the wedding?"
Hailey touched her ring, "Six weeks. It'll be a simple service. We want to do it soon, for obvious reasons. I'd like Cassie to be a part of it, so we may need to adjust her visitation schedule."
"That's fine," Adam replied.
"Also, we have discussed moving. We haven't started looking yet, we've got a meeting next week with the realtors."
"I'm assuming you'll stay in Chicago, yes?" Adam felt a surge of panic fill his gut.
"We haven't really discussed any of that." Hailey leaned against the railing, "I will know more next week."
"Yeah. Okay." Adam kicked a pebble across the porch, "Tell Cassie I'll call her."
He got back in the car and rested his forehead against the steering wheel, he exhaled slowly feeling as if his daughter was slipping between his fingers.
Drama is coming. I promise.