This is it guys - the end! Sorry it took so long.
Kate curled up on Rick's couch, leaning her head on his chest.
"So, honey, how was your first day?"
Kate grinned. "It was amazing. My training officer, he's so smart, and he knows so much. And I'm already working in homicide – I feel like I'm already on the way to really making a difference. On the other hand, I feel so green, so naïve – but I'm ready, ready to learn everything."
"Seems like a good attitude."
Kate smiled again. There was something about Rick's approval – it meant more than approval from anyone else. If he supported her, she just knew she would be fine; she didn't need anything else.
"How was your day?" she asked him, twisting his hair in her fingers and loving that she could do this.
"It was good. I got some writing done."
He smiled down at her. And she looked so happy – she had started a job she loved, she was in a safe relationship, and had friends all around her who would watch her back, even if her family life wasn't perfect.
Kate looked back at him, and for the first time, the knot of pain that had been in her stomach for so many months was gone. She still missed her mother, but she felt like a whole person again. And she knew that whatever challenges were thrown at her, she would get past them, with Rick by her side.
I decided to end it without the drama. I'm planning to start on something else, right now, but the main bit of this fic was done and there's no point drawing it out with more angst. Thanks, I hope you liked it, I'm sorry I took so long to write the ending. Xox Zanna – and please read my next story, hopefully I will publish the first chapter later tonight.