Clothes Shopping

Noticing how reluctant Adalind seemed to get herself some clothes using his credit card, Nick planned an outing for a day he had off of work.

The night previous he made sure to do some laundry so that Adalind would have some clean clothes to go shopping in.

In the morning he fixed breakfast and got Kelly's things ready so that Adalind could focus on getting herself ready.

"I'm still not sure about this." Adalind said with trepidation. "I feel like I've taken too much from you already."

"No excuses" Nick asserted. "You need clothes. And we're starting over, remember. No more dwelling on the past. No more hate. You're not taking anything from me. We're taking care of our son and each other."

Adalind couldn't help but smile at his little speech. She had asked him to stop hating her and he had done just that.

"You better pick the store." Nick advised. "I wouldn't know where to begin to look at women's clothing."

"Considering you primarily wear jeans and henlys, you really don't know much about men's fashion either." Adalind remarked with a grin.

"Hey, I wear what's practical and comfortable for my line of work." Nick defended. But he was smiling too, so Adalind knew he wasn't offended.

They parked their car near a large shopping area, got Kelly out and made their way to a store Adalind knew would have what she needed.

"With a baby, I need clothes that are practical and comfortable." She said with a shrug.

Nick grinned and wrapped his arm around her as they pushed Kelly in his stroller.

Though neither voiced it, they both had the thought that anyone looking at them would think they were together.

The cop and grimm in Nick couldn't help but notice the other people in the store. Of course it was mostly women. But there were a few men and some children.

Some of those waiting for their significant women in their lives to make their choices were on their phones.

There was one man who kept looking at the other women in the store when he thought his wife or girlfriend wouldn't notice.

Whenever that man would look toward Adalind, Nick always made an effort to block his view.

If Adalind noticed Nick's possessive behavior, she said nothing about it, or attributed it to being protective over his son.

That is until they were looking at the sweaters.

Mr. wandering eyes and his girlfriend were in the same section as Nick and Adalind. He was far too close for Nick to be able to block his view.

And it seemed Mr. wandering eyes was not going to be deterred from gazing too long at a woman by the presence of a baby or a man by her side.

To keep himself from punching the guy, Nick kept a white knuckle grip on Kelly's stroller with one hand and had the other on the small of Adalind's back as she looked at shirts.

And then the girlfriend of Mr. wandering eyes looked up and saw Nick glaring at her boyfriend. When she looked at him and realized he was checking out the pretty woman with her man and a baby, she became instantly furious and started to yell at him right there.

"Are you kidding me?! Are you that big of a dog?! Her man is right there! She has a baby for god's sake!"

The woman then grabbed her purse and stormed out.

Mr. wandering eyes stood there for a moment dumbfounded. Then seemed to realize something, actually saying out loud, "Shit, she has the keys." And then he took off at a run.

Adalind, who had looked up when the woman had started yelling, looked to Nick to explain what had happened.

But instead Nick said, "You should get that white sweater. You would look angelic in it."

She knew what he was trying to do and let him change the subject anyway.

"Alright, I'll go try these on, make sure they fit. I'm not sure how much weight I gained from having two babies."

As she walked to the changing room, Nick couldn't help his eyes from gazing at her frame. He honestly couldn't tell if her body had changed. Everything about her still looked perfect.

Nick sat on a bench in front of the curtained off room Adalind chose to try the clothes in. He picked up Kelly and held him so the baby boy wouldn't get fussy and cause Adalind to think she had to hurry or stop what she was doing to tend to the baby.

Nick knew Adalind was putting her needs last, focusing all of her time on her son. It was why they were out shopping. Nick worried that if it had been left up to Adalind, she would have never gotten herself anything.

It was amazing to Nick. Knowing the woman Adalind used to be. The one he had seen walking out of that coffee shop.

He had called her high maintenance. Wore armani. Drove a BMW. Her hair and makeup had always been immaculate.

His life had not been the only one to change so drastically.

Nick wanted to make Adalind feel beautiful and special in her new life. Since they were still really getting to know each other, he wasn't completely certain how to do it. So he felt asking questions was still very necessary.

"Where would you like to go for lunch?"

"Wherever you want is fine."

"Uh uh, not what I asked." Nick laughed. "Your day, today. Your choice."

And that's when Nick looked toward the curtained off room.

Only the curtain seemed to have gotten shifted at some point because he could see into the room. And more importantly, see Adalind.

Thankfully, she wasn't naked. But she was in her bra and underwear. So there was more than enough skin on display to remind Nick she was still a very sexy woman.

"Oh Kelly, now your father is an ass and a pervert." Nick said softly, ashamed of himself.

"You say something?" Adalind called out.

"Just keeping Kelly occupied." Nick replied, looking away from the curtain and the beautiful woman behind it.

He took several deep breaths so by the time Adalind walked out there was no obvious evidence of his attraction to her.

They purchased the items she liked then continued on with their day.

When they passed a flower shop, Nick ran in quickly and got a single white rose.

"Since you look so beautiful in white." He said with tenderness.

Adalind blushed as she accepted the flower. "Thank you."

Other men might have used fancier words, maybe quoting some poem or sonnet. But Nick's gesture was more sincere and that made it so much better than any others' in Adalind eyes.

They didn't just go shopping, they also went to a few public art exhibits and museums.

Adalind needed a special day out and Nick was determined to make sure she got it.

By the time they got home, they were both tired, but smiling.

They had both enjoyed the day out. It had been nice to pretend for a while that they were a normal little family.

And then it was time to go to bed.

Nick couldn't help but think about how the woman laying beside him had looked, and hoping one day he would get to have his arms around her while they laid together.