Author's Note: I'm really happy to finally be able to get an update out.
Long story short, I ended up going through a major burnout because of too much schoolwork to do and I have not had the motivation, energy or time to write anything for fun.
I have recovered from it now and I finally managed to start writing again and I hope that I won't take too long to get another update together.

Thanks for all the favourite/follow and positive comments I've gotten during my little unvoluntary hiatus, it's really what motivated me to start writing as soon as I could.
I really appreciate every single notification I get.

CHAPTER 27

Neal decided to take Peter's advice and draw a portrait of Kate in order to impress her and when Peter returned home from work he was told all about it.
Neal had given Kate his portrait and she had absolutely loved it and had asked him to draw more drawings for him, drawing everything from her dog to the necklace she was wearing.
Over the next couple of days he returned from school with stories of how every single one of his classmates had been impressed by his art skills and had asked for a personal drawing, something that Neal had been more than happy to do.
There had been some worry about Neal not fitting in after the troubles with bullying in his last school but now he had suddenly become friends with every single classmates.
Of course, Elizabeth worried that he was being used by the other kids for his art skills but that was not the case, it just worked as a way to break the ice between Neal and the other kid.
After giving them a drawing, Neal felt confident enough to play with them and his confidence had become apparent at home as well.
He appeared more confident and charismatic, which made both Peter and Elizabeth happy even if his new found confidence sometimes made him a little defiant.
The boy sometimes talked back and even refused to listen to them, his confidence making him more brave, but in the end the adults were grateful that Neal no longer displayed the same level of uncertainty that he used to.

A couple of weeks passed by and the three of them were becoming more and more of a family, with even Mozzie becoming more and more of an unofficial part of the family.
Elizabeth had started to get over her kidnapping and felt more and more confident and safe which led to her wanting to go out for more dates, which they could easily do since Mozzie were always happy to spend an evening with Neal.
Everything was going great and it felt like their relationship was developing to something very serious, which is why Peter felt a mix of both excited and terrified when Elizabeth one Friday night, after putting Neal to bed, told him that she had talked to her landlord.
Her landlord had been very kind and understanding and had held her apartment for her, as a favour after Elizabeth had helped him out more than once, while they lived at Peter's but now the landlord was demanding a decision.

"I have to either move back within a week or say goodbye to the apartment for good."

Elizabeth told him.
Peter nodded, not knowing what to say since he was very bias in the matter.
Not only did he want the two of them to stay with him, but he did not want them to return to that apartment.
They had been discussing for them to move in here on a permanent basis before Neal's whole incident with the gun, but then they hadn't brought it up again.

"What are you thinking?"

Peter finally asked when Elizabeth stayed quiet.

"I'm still feeling that I can never feel safe in that apartment again, not after what happened…and to be fair that neighbourhood is not where I want my child to live."
"So you're saying you want to move in here, permanently?"

Peter asked, feeling the need to hear her say it to be sure it wasn't a dream since it was something he had wanted for so long.

"Yes, I want us to move in here…if you'll have us."

Elizabeth confirmed with a smile and Peter couldn't contain his joy, he walked over to her and embraced her before kissing her.

"Of course, I will."
They hugged each other for what felt like hours, just feeling happy over their new situation and excited for their little family to feel even more official.

The next day they decided to go grocery shopping and buy some extra nice dinner for the evening so they could both tell Neal about their big life decision and celebrate it.
Elizabeth were in charge of their grocery list while Peter were in control of the cart.
Neal, like most children, were full of energy despite having played with Satchmo all morning and ran around the grocery store.
Elizabeth decided to use his energy and read him an item from the list that he immediately ran off to get.
It was a way for him to get an outlet for his energy and for the adults to get at least some peace and quiet.
Peter stopped by the cereal while Elizabeth picked up both a pack of cereal for them and another more suited for Neal.
The kid came running, a bottle of ketchup in his small hands, and stopped with a halt by the cart and placed the ketchup in the cart.

"Wasn't that fast, Peter?"

Neal, who had previously stated that he could run and get the ketchup faster than Satchmo could run, asked.

"Wow, that was superfast, way faster than Satchmo."

Peter said and Neal beamed with pride before he looked at his mom.

"What's next mommy?"
"You can get some chocolate chip cookies."
"Okay!"

Neal took off as fast as he had come and the adults shook their heads.

"Hope this will make him less energetic at home, at least."

Elizabeth said while they left the cereals and turned into the aisle where they had pasta.

"What pasta did we need?"

Peter asked but when he didn't receive any answer he turned around and saw that Elizabeth had completely frozen in place.
He looked at her in confusion and was about to ask what was wrong when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello there, Elizabeth."

Peter turned back around to see a man standing there, with a big grin on his face.
He looked at the man, getting a vague feeling that he had seen the man before but at the same time feeling sure that he actually hadn't.
He wondered if it was someone he had met through his job, someone he had once arrested or someone he had helped, or if he had just briefly met the man somewhere else.
It took him over a minute and a mumbled "hello" from Elizabeth before a sudden realization hit him.
There was certainly a reason for why he recognized the stranger, it was his blue sparkling eyes, his hair and his wide smile.
He couldn't believe what he assumed and he looked back to Elizabeth again but when he noticed her apprehension, he believed that he was indeed correct.

"How you've been?"

The man asked casually, as if they were just old friends and not a man that had broken Elizabeth's heart so badly.
Elizabeth didn't have the time to answer him before Neal came running.

"Mommy, mommy, can I pleeeeeeeeaaasee get these?"

Neal begged, and held up a pack of brownies he had found while getting the cookies.

"Uhm…yeah sure, honey."

She answered, not taking her eyes of the man, and Neal let out a little 'yay' before butting both the cookies and the brownies in their shopping cart.
The boy then noticed the man standing there, clearly having had a conversation with the adults, which caused Elizabeth to instinctively grab Neal's hand and pull him closer to her.
The man walked closer to them and casually reached out his hand and ruffled Neal's hair, while Peter saw how Elizabeth tightened her grip of her son.

"Hey there, champ."

The man said and Peter would have lied if he said that he didn't feel an instinct to protect the kid as well.

"I'm your dad."