Grimm

A Grimm Comes to Town

Chapter 1

Bud Wurstner stepped into the Portland Police Department stopping just over the threshold. A portly man, wearing the uniform of the refrigerator repair shop he owns, his name patch sewn onto the chest by his wife. Ever so briefly, it appeared as though Bud was going to turn around and walk back out the exit, but he steeled himself and went to find Nick Burkhardt.

It didn't take Bud long to find Nick as he was exactly where he was expected to be, sitting at his desk busily working at his police computer.

Bud approached but stopped several feet short, as though there were a line representing an imaginary office wall surrounding Nick's desk. He leaned his head awkwardly towards Nick, lifting one foot off the ground to lean in even further, and very gently called, "Hey, Nick."

Nick looked up from his monitor and smiled as his eyes met Bud's, but his smile quickly faded. The context of his position as a Detective for the Portland, PD can often bring about very serious things and his mind began going to those dark places that only a Detective and a Grimm can go.

He stood from his chair and walked towards Bud, "Hey, Bud, is everything ok?"

Bud stopped leaning, put his foot back on the ground and gave Nick an apologetic look, "What? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry to bother you in your office, I thought about calling but I was driving past anyways and figured I could stop in and talk in person, if that's okay." Bud often spoke with a lot of apologies. He, like a lot of Eisbibers, were always a bit nervous and afraid of offending those they were speaking with.

Nick sat down on the edge of his desk, "Well, it's unusual, but it's a slow night here. I was just working on paperwork. What's going on? You need Grimm help? Detective Help?"

Bud waved his hands in front of himself a couple times, "Oh no, nothing like that. I don't know if you know this...well, how could you know, I certainly didn't tell you. Not that it was a big secret or anything. I just hadn't gotten around to it."

"Bud...?"

"What? Oh yeah. So the wife and I bought a new house..."

As soon as Bud said 'new house' Nick immediately began making up excuses in his mind as to why he'd be unable to help Bud move, even though he knew he'd relent and help anyway.

"... and coincidentally the kids will be staying with their grandparents, my in-laws, this weekend so my wife insisted we have a kind of housewarming party, you know?"

Nick nodded, "So, you've already moved in?"

"Yeah, last weekend."

Nick breathed a mental sigh of relief. He liked Bud, but no matter how much you like someone, helping them move isn't on a list of fun things to do.

Bud continued on, "It'll be Saturday at eight. Do you think you and Adalind will be able to make it?"

Nick smiled, "Well, we'll have to find someone to watch the kids, but yeah, it's been in a while since we've had a night out like that. Besides, in all the time I've known you, Bud, I've never met your wife."

Bud smirked, "Yeah, I think that's why Phoebe, that's my wife, wanted to have this party. She's never met a lot of my," Bud gestured finger quotes, "friends."

It was that gesture that made Nick aware that, actually, this kind of was Grimm business. Nick had a circle of Friends that all knew of Nick's special abilities, abilities that very few people in the world shared. That he could see the not-so-metaphorical monsters that were inside of people. Wesen. A kind of animalistic people. There are some that aren't so animal like, but all are invisible to the human eye, except to Nick and other Grimms. When a Wesen becomes emotional their hidden nature can be seen by Grimms, whether the Wesen want to be seen or not. Some are better at controlling this impulse than others. Wesen refer to this exposure as a Woge. When Wesen choose to, their hidden nature can be seen by anyone, Grimm or not, sometimes referred to as a 'Full Woge.' Most Wesen know to go 'Full Woge' under only the most extreme circumstances. Those who don't practice discretion become targets from their own kind to protect the secret that Wesen are living among humans around the world. Bud is an Eisbiber and when he Woges his face takes on an appearance one could describe as resembling a beaver. Nick discovered Bud was an Eisbiber when he Woged out of frustration when attempting to fix Nick's refrigerator.

It was a generational responsibility for Grimms to seek out and kill Wesen. Though Nick had taken a different approach and did his best to enforce the law and put Wesen who broke the law in jail, only killing them when no other option was available. Unlike a lot of Nick's ancestors, he left alone the Wesen that weren't hurting anyone or anything. Nick's mother and aunt, both deceased, had been Grimms. Nick only knew one other living Grimm, Theresa Rubel, otherwise known as Trubel. Nick had taught her what it was to be a Grimm when he barely understood it himself. He wasn't sure he'd ever fully understand it.

Over the years, as a Grimm and as a Detective for the Portland, PD, he'd had to seek assistance from a select group of people who knew he was a Grimm and what it meant to be one. People who he had grown close to and was proud to call his friends. He had requested Bud's help more than once and Bud had given it without hesitation. It appeared Bud's wife finally wanted to meet the circle of friends that had put Bud's life in danger on more than one occasion.

"Bud, I think I understand. So, the other people you're inviting, they'll know I'm a Grimm? I don't want to cause any problems." Wesen often didn't react well to knowing Nick is a Grimm. His ancestors have brutally killed Wesen around the world for centuries, sometimes entire families including the children. Bud had initially been terrified of Nick when it was discovered that he's a Grimm. But with time, Bud got over his fear and now considers Nick to be one of his friends.

Bud looked behind himself to make sure no one was in ear shot and said, "Oh yeah, yeah, Nick. I know you don't want me to broadcast to the world you're a Grimm, so I'm only inviting friends and family who already know. Though, some you haven't met... yet. So I can tell the wife you'll be there?"

"Sure thing. I'll call Adalind here in a couple minutes."

Bud rocked on his feet a little and decided he'd accomplished his mission and was about to turn to leave but stopped and said, "Oh, I know I said it's a housewarming party, but we're not expecting anyone to bring gifts or anything. We have everything we need already. I guess if you wanted to bring beer or wine that could work. I'll see you Saturday"

As Bud turned to leave, Nick called out, "Bud! Which one do you prefer?"

Even though Bud had just spoken the words, 'beer or wine,' it took him a moment to realize what Nick was referring to, "What? Oh! Um, well, I know I prefer beer but I'm pretty sure if I said beer my wife would kill me. So, I guess I better say wine. Though it doesn't have to be the fancy expensive kind. Not to suggest that you can't afford the expensive kind. Though I guess I don't know what kind of salary a Detect-"

"Bud! It's fine." Nick grinned. Bud could go on for a while like that if you let him. It was best to head it off when you could get a word in. "I'll pick up a couple bottles. You're inviting Rosalee and Monroe?"

"I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet, but of course. I'm sure they'll have the same problem as you though. Getting someone to watch the kids"

Nick smirked and said, "Actually Bud, I think I have someone that can help us out with all that. So, I'll talk to Monroe and Rosalee for you."

Bud looked thoughtful for a moment, "What about Hank and Wu?"

Hank was Nick's partner at the Portland PD, he was neither Grimm nor Wesen, but after working together for a long while, Nick was forced to finally tell Hank about the Wesen world. Sergeant Wu was the last to be told.

Nick looked over his calendar and said, "Wu has to work Saturday night. Hank is out of town. A family thing. I assume that you don't want me to invite the captain." Nick pointed towards Captain Renard's office which sat empty at the moment. Sean Renard is a Zauberbiest, the son of a Hexenbiest, and technically, a prince, his father having been a king, now deceased. Renard had fought side by side with Nick, but also against him, leaving their very complicated relationship strained to say the least.

Bud nodded his head, "You assume correctly. I'll text you the address and see you Saturday night." He turned and walked out.

Nick picked up his cell phone and made a call. When the person answered, Nick attempted to sound as serious as he could, "Trubel, I need your help." He strategized that if his tone made it sound initially worse than it actually was, he might get what he wanted with very little opposition.

"Yeah, Nick. What do you need? Do you need Grimm help?" Trubel owed a lot to Nick, when they first met she had been homeless and wandering the country thinking she was crazy for seeing the things she was seeing. Nick took her in, gave her a room and a bed, but more importantly a home and a family. There wasn't much that Trubel wouldn't do for Nick, except maybe what he was about to ask for.

Nick replied, "Well, it's kinda Grimm related. I need you to watch the kids this Saturday night."

He had never asked her to watch the kids before, so she was confused, "You want me to watch Kelly and Diana?"

Nick grimaced and was glad that Trubel couldn't see his facial expressions as he added, "Well...yeah, them and the triplets..."

The word, 'triplets' had barely left his mouth when he heard Trubel moan, "Ahhh, all five kids? Nick, come on! You know I have a hard time saying no to you, but five kids?"

"Trubel, I can't tell you about it yet, but if all goes to plan, Saturday night will be a pretty big night and you know that Adalind and I rarely get to go out, and Rosalee and Monroe haven't been out since the triplets were born. Think about it, they'll owe you one and I'll owe you one, too"

"Fine! But make sure there's some food. Pizza maybe? Or Chinese?"

Nick finally released the grimace he'd been holding for too long and said, I'll make sure there's food. I promise."

Nick hung up and called Adalind.

"Adalind, guess what. You and I have plans Saturday night."

Chapter 2

When Saturday evening arrived, Nick paced through his loft that Adalind had in the past, half-jokingly, referred to as a fortress. He had all the time he needed, and then some, to prepare Diana and his son Kelly for the night with Trubel and the triplets, but he still felt rushed. He'd picked up the wine, changed his shirt a few times, finally deciding on the shirt he was currently wearing, packed up the diaper bag and toys, all while Adalind showered and prepared herself for the night out. Nick checked the bathroom mirror several times. He wanted to look nice, but not too nice. He knew Bud's housewarming wouldn't be overly formal, but knew more was at stake tonight than a simple party.

Diana, who wasn't quite five years old, yet looked nearly twice her age due to the magical nature of her mother's pregnancy, looked remarkably like her mother with the same straight blonde hair. She stood in the bathroom doorway looking at Nick's reflection in the mirror and very plainly stated, "You look nice."

Nick tilted his head to look at Diana in the mirror and said, "Thank you. I want to look nice for your mom tonight."

Diana smiled, "Why can't I go to the party with you and mommy?" Diana had a habit of asking the simplest of questions that still had to be answered with the utmost care. Magically speaking, Diana was more powerful than nearly anyone Nick had ever met, but still had the mind of a child. She could be very dangerous.

Nick turned around to meet her eyes and replied, "Well, as much as mommy and I love you and Kelly and as much as Monroe and Rosalee love their triplets, sometimes adults just want some time with other adults, to talk and laugh and maybe have a drink or two. Or three."

"Will daddy be there?" Nick had fathered Kelly, who was a little over a year old, but Adalind had conceived Diana with Captain Sean Renard who had shared custody of their daughter, though this was not his week with her.

"No, he won't. Your mom and I are going to see a friend of mine. Your dad doesn't know my friend all that well. Your dad has different friends." He gave Diana a smile and hoped that was a satisfactory answer for her.

It seemed as though she was about to ask another question when Adalind stepped down from the raised bedroom in their loft. Nick could hear her heels clacking on the concrete floor.

Diana's face lit up in a smile that reflected so much joy and innocence that it could make one easily forget how powerful she is. She said, "You look very pretty, mommy!"

Nick looked up and when his eyes met Adalind's, he put his hand gently to his heart and said, "She's right, you are very pretty. Lovely in fact."

Adalind bowed her head to each of them, "Thank you very much" She had tied her hair back in a tight bun and was wearing a tight fitting gray dress that came down to her knees.

Nick began to wonder if he was underdressed with just his jeans and button up shirt, "Should I change? I feel like we don't look like we're going to the same place." He began looking at himself in the mirror again.

Adalind began folding more clothes to put into Diana's overnight bag and looked at Nick, "Are you Okay? I don't think I've seen you preen and primp yourself like this before. It'll be fine, we're going to Bud's, not the mayor's."

Nick was about to reply but noticed Adalind wasn't really listening anymore. She was looking around the room pointing in different directions and Nick knew she was making a mental tally of all the things the kids might need and determining to herself if those items had already been moved into the bags they were about to put in Nick's SUV.

"Okay, I think we have everything. We have everything, right? Anything we've forgotten?" She began pointing around the room again.

Nick came up behind her, put his arms around her waist and reminded her, "It's for one night, they'll be with Trubel and they'll be at Monroe's and Rosalee's. They'll be fine."

Nick helped Adalind and Diana put their coats on and while he put his own coat on, Adalind put Kelly into his baby carrier, a dance they'd done hundreds of times. Nick picked up the bags, Adalind picked up the baby carrier and they all got into the freight elevator that would carry them down to the garage. Just as the doors closed, Nick patted his coat pocket to feel for an item he'd been carrying around for days. When he gripped it in his palm he took a deep breath and sighed as they descended.

Chapter 3

When they arrived at Monroe's and Rosalee's, they were already running late to Bud's party. Trubel was already there and was already eating a slice of pizza. Even though Trubel had a reputation for indulging in the least healthiest of meals, she always remained in fighting shape. Nick noticed that Trubel had cut her jet black hair down even shorter than the previous time he'd seen her. Nick assumed she cut it short because long hair can become a liability in hand-to-hand-combat or she just liked it that way.

With the pizza slice gripped in her teeth, the crust flopping up and down as she walked, she went to Nick and hugged him for a brief moment and when she let go Nick couldn't help himself but double check that there wasn't any pizza on his shirt. Trubel looked down at Diana and, without saying a word, she wiggled her eyebrows and bobbed her head towards the kitchen and Diana knew immediately there was pizza and soda to be had. Diana didn't need anything said as she wandered off to help herself.

Nick saw the whole thing and decided tonight was a night to ignore Trubel's brand of mischievousness. "I'm sure you'll refrain from giving the infants soda tonight, right?"

Trubel, as deadpan as she could manage replied, "What? You mean those baby bottles I filled up with root beer are gonna go to waste now?"

Nick cocked his head from side to side looking around and asked, "Where's Rosalee and Monroe?"

At that moment Monroe came shuffling down the stairs, "We're up here, just finishing up. All the triplets are asleep if you can believe it." Monroe was slightly above average height, his hair a mess of half combed curls and a face full of facial hair. His beard cut short, but still longer and scruffier than the stubble that Nick normally sported day-to-day. A professional clocksmith, Monroe is a Wesen known as a Blutbad. Translated, it means 'blood bath,' due to the reputation of how ferocious a Blutbad can be. One could easily compare his kind to that of a wolf man, the kind often depicted in television and movies. Monroe, however, referred to himself as a reformed Blutbad. Adhering to a strict vegan diet and a Pilates regimen. Like Nick, he would only take a life as a last resort, to protect himself or others.

For the occasion, Monroe was wearing jeans and boots and had put on a button up shirt over top of a t-shirt. Neither of the shirts, he was fairly certain, had any baby spit-up on them. In his mind, having two clean shirts to wear out was a minor miracle. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he turned to Nick and said, "Dude, you gotta check this thing out before I put it in back in the box."

He turned the corner as Nick followed him. "So, I found this clock in storage, right? Been there for who knows how long." Nick saw on Monroe's mantel a cuckoo clock with carved wooden tree leaves lining the sides of the housing and a carved two-dimensional wooden beaver standing on its hind legs on the roof.

Monroe often got enthusiastic when talking about clocks and time pieces in general. He said, "This was made somewhere between ninety to a hundred years ago. You see the beaver on the top? That's what makes this clock unique. It's a Herbert Herr cuckoo clock, right out of The Black Forest. By 1870 beavers were hunted to extinction in Germany. I guess they're making a comeback now. But in the 1920's? There wasn't a beaver anywhere to be seen. So to find a cuckoo clock out of Germany with a beaver on top, let alone the original beaver on top? That's a rare find.

"Now I know you said that Bud said he wasn't expecting gifts for his housewarming, but when I saw this, I couldn't think of a better place for it than with Bud's family. What do you think?"

Nick, who knew next to nothing about clocks and antiques nodded along to everything Monroe had been telling him, said, "Knowing Bud, he'll love it. And his wife... well... she'll go cuckoo over it."

Monroe raised an eyebrow, "Dad jokes? That's where we're going tonight?" He lifted the clock from the mantel, " Here, help me get this in the box and load it into the back of your SUV."

As Monroe and Nick began cleaning up, Rosalee made her way carefully down the stairs with her hands busy hooking one last earring into her ear lobe. Wearing a black satin dress that went down to her ankles. Her hair parted down the middle and brushed neatly to each side. Rosalee is a Wesen called a Fuchsbau. Best compared to a fox when she Woges. She had met Nick when he was investigating the murder of her brother. She inherited a spice shop from him which she now shares with her husband of over two years, Monroe, whom she met through Nick.

Rosalee saw Adalind standing in the foyer and Trubel not far off jiggling plastic toy keys above Kelly making him giggle. She smiled at Adalind and said to her, " You're looking nice."

Adalind smiled back and did a mock curtsy, "Thank you. You're looking good too." Adalind always felt a certain amount of unease around Monroe and Rosalee, not because they'd ever been rude or unkind, but just the opposite. Monroe and Rosalee know about Adalind's past and how terrible she had been to Nick in the first few years they'd known each other. That she had tried to murder Nick's Aunt Marie, later tried to murder Nick, and then nearly killed his partner, Hank, in an extortion scheme to acquire an ancient key from Nick. Lastly, she used an ancient spell to make herself temporarily appear as Nick's former live in girlfriend, Juliette. Appearing in that way, she was able to fool him into sleeping with her as part of the spell to strip Nick of his abilities as a Grimm and, as a result, she accidentally impregnated herself with his child, Kelly.

Adalind is a witch-like Wesen, one of the kind that don't have animal attributes, called a Hexenbiest. When her kind Woge, their appearance could best be described as a living, dried up corpse.

Hexenbiests are often thought of in the Wesen community as the antithesis to Grimms. For a Grimm to be in the same room with a Hexenbiest in years past would usually only end one of two ways, with the death of one of them or the death of both of them.

But knowing all the terrible things Adalind was guilty of, Rosalee and Monroe had been kind and supportive when she came back to Portland pregnant with Nick's baby. Their kindness made her feel even more guilty about the things she'd done and it increased her unease around Nick. She loved Nick. But a past as ugly as theirs was tough to overcome, and she often wondered when Nick would realize what a mistake he'd made taking her in when she had no where else to turn. Not that she had ever said any of this to them. Instead, she smiled and did her best to fit in.

Rosalee couldn't quite read Adalind's facial expression, but saw she was lost deep in thought, "Adalind? Are you okay?"

Adalind lied and made a comment about their attire for the housewarming.

Rosalee accepted Adalind's answer. She then turned to Trubel and pleaded, "Please tell me you're okay with this. I love you, Trubel, and I know how incredibly capable you are, but it's five kids!"

Trubel turned to her and in faux outrage said, "I know! Five kids! Are you all insane?" She changed her demeanor back to normal and said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. They'll sleep most of the night anyway, right?"

Every adult in the room cringed at Trubel's comment, and Rosalee whispered to her, "Trubel! Don't jinx it!"

Nick reached out to the front door to open it for Monroe, who was carrying the box containing the antique clock. No sooner had Monroe's foot crossed the threshold when began the sound of a baby's cries coming from upstairs. A moment passed, and then the sound of two babies' cries. Finally, all three babies crying could be heard. Trubel looked to all of them with panic on her face as they all filed out the front door towards the SUV. "Guys... Guys... You're not gonna leave me like this are you? Guys!?"

Rosalee called back, "See you in a few hours, Trubel."

Chapter 4

When they arrived at the address Bud had given Nick, the street, along with all the available space in Bud's driveway, was filled with parked cars. "This is what we get for arriving late. I'll have to park down the street." Nick found the first available space and they all got out and walked to Bud's front door. Nick with his two bottles of wine and Monroe with his boxed up clock.

Rosalee pushed the doorbell and a moment later Bud opened his front door with a big smile and welcomed them into his home. Behind him, the house was filled with several people talking among themselves with quiet music being played in the background. Bud collected their coats and hung them on hooks on the wall that were clearly meant for his kids who were currently staying with their grandparents.

Nick leaned in towards Bud, and, while handing him the two bottles of wine he brought, spoke softly, "Now, Bud, you're absolutely certain about this right? I can go get my sunglasses out of the car if you think anyone here night react badly to me being here." The way Wesen identified Nick as a Grimm was if they Woged and Nick saw it, his eyes would become pitch black to Wesen. As Monroe once put it, 'It's more like infinite darkness.' It only lasts a few seconds, but long enough for a Wesen to panic. If Nick donned his sunglasses the infinite darkness would be more difficult to notice and less likely to cause an incident.

Bud replied, "No, no, you're fine, Nick. Everyone here knows you're here, though not everyone here knows what you look like so not everyone knows you're you. Well... you know what I mean."

Before Nick could reply, Monroe came out from behind him carrying the box with the clock in it, "Bud, I know you told Nick you didn't want gifts, but I saw this and thought of you immediately. It's straight out of the Black Forest." Monroe led Bud further into his home to explain the rarity of the clock.

Rosalee smiled at the wonder that Monroe still felt and exuded when it came to timepieces from around the world. She turned to Nick and Adalind and commented on Bud's new home, "Pretty nice place."

Nick looked around and saw this home was somewhat larger than the previous one Bud lived in, but what was more noticeable was the backyard. In the rear of the house was a pair of glass patio doors and, beyond those, a set of patio furniture and tables. Beyond the patio, Nick could see the backyard extended for quite a distance before it connected with what looked like pretty dense forest.

A woman walked up to them and said, "You must be Nick." She smiled and extended her hand and Nick took it into his. At first, Nick was expecting a handshake but instead she held on and stood close to Nick, "I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Phoebe. Bud's wife. I am very happy to finally be able to meet you."

Nick nodded, "I'm glad to finally meet you at as well, I'm sorry it took this long. Bud talks about you a lot." He used his free hand to introduce Adalind and Rosalee.

When Phoebe saw Rosalee, she released Nick's hand and said, "Rosalee, I believe we've met before. You have the spice shop, right?"

Nick took Adalind's hand and led her further into the house, leaving Rosalee and Phoebe to get better acquainted. He looked down at Adalind, "I recognize a couple people here, but I wouldn't say I know them. What about you?"

When Adalind turned to look around to see who she might know, someone called out her name. She turned in the direction of the voice to see a client of the law firm she worked for. She hadn't represented him directly, but had assisted from time to time. Adalind turned on her charm with a smile, "Mr. Hobbes, how are you?"

"Please, Adalind, call me Kevin. We're not working right now. Have some wine." He picked up two glasses of wine from a nearby tray and handed one to Adalind and Nick. He gestured to the woman standing next to him, "This is my wife Rebecca."

Adalind used an open palm to gesture to her client, "Nick, this is Mr. Kevin Hobbes. He owns a chain of florist shops in Oregon. Mr. Hobbes... sorry... Kevin... this is Nick Burkhardt."

Nick and Kevin shook hands, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kevin." Nick couldn't quite turn up the charm the way Adalind could, but he did his best.

Kevin looked to Adalind and asked, "So, how do you two know each other?"

Adalind stopped for a moment. Her mouth slightly agape as she looked up at Nick and back to Kevin. Clearly unsure how exactly to answer this question.

Nick made the decision for her, "Actually Kevin," he sat down the glass of wine he was holding and took the glass Adalind was holding and sat it next to his, "there's something really important I have to talk to Adalind about. We'll be back shortly."

He took Adalind by the hand again and steered her back to the hooks their coats were hanging on. He grabbed his and put it on and then helped Adalind with hers.

She asked, "Um, where are we going?"

Nick looked at her and said, "Like I said, there's something I need to talk to you about." then calmly led her out the back patio doors. The air was cool, but not cold. Nick was grateful for the fair weather. He guessed that it was just cool enough outside that everyone else at the party was remaining indoors. He and Adalind had the patio to themselves. He looked up into the sky and was struck by the clear night. He gestured at it, "Check out that sky."

Adalind walked ahead of Nick a few steps and peered at the quarter moon, "It's beautiful. Bud picked a great location to live. She saw a seat in front of her and wiped it off with her hand before turning around and sitting down to face Nick.

As she was distracted by wiping off the seat of the chair, Nick reached into his coat pocket, pulled something out and held it behind his back. When Adalind had finally gotten comfortable she looked up at Nick and raised her eyebrows, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

Nick sighed and did his best to hold his gaze with Adalind's eyes. "I haven't done a very good job of communicating with you how I actually feel."

Adalind broke eye contact with Nick, "Oh."

If Nick's hearing hadn't been exceptional due to him being a Grimm, he likely wouldn't have heard her say anything at all. But he had heard, and wasn't sure her intent, so he asked, "What?"

"It's okay, Nick. I've been kinda waiting for this conversation for a pretty long time. I've always known that things were too good to last and given our history it was a miracle it lasted this long." She wiped a hand across her cheek, "But I don't need to hear the, 'It's not you it's me,' speech. I get it."

Nick was a bit stunned and confused, "What? Adalind, I'm not saying that at all. This isn't really going how I planned. Can I start over?"

Adalind wiped her cheek again. She looked up at Nick and nodded.

Inside Bud's home, Monroe and Rosalee had managed to find one another and each were holding a glass of wine. Rosalee was the one to notice Nick and Adalind going out the back door and asked Monroe, "Where are those two going?"

Monroe had just finished putting a cracker in his mouth so that when he said, "I don't know" it came out as a stream of vowels. However, it piqued his curiosity and he kept his eyes on Nick and Adalind. Rosalee had bent over to get a cracker herself when Monroe swallowed and, without looking away from Nick, he gently grabbed her arm to stand her upright again as he said to her, "Nick just grabbed something out of his pocket and he's holding it... there, do you see it? Is that... Is that a..."

Rosalee finished the sentence for him, "Ring box?! Did Nick say any-"

Monroe didn't let her finish her question, "Not a word."

They both squinted as best they could out the backdoor patio glass and then they began to look conspiratorially around them. They both turned their heads to look behind them to see if anyone was paying any attention to them, but the other people in attendance were all lost in their own conversations. So, together, in one fluid movement, they both took one giant stride towards the back patio door. If anyone had been paying attention they'd have thought the two were preparing to tango. But they stopped and began angling their heads in an attempt to get a better look at what Nick was holding behind his back.

Rosalee turned her attention to Adalind, whose face she could see pretty clearly in the light. She noted, "Well, Adalind's facial expression isn't giving anything away. Should we dare to take another step closer?"

Monroe bobbed his head up and down in uncertainty and then said, "A small one, but that's it."

They clasped both their hands with one another and took one last step forward.

Monroe had been eyeing what he believed to be a ring box but Rosalee had been watching Adalind's face for any kind of sign of what their conversation could be about. When she saw Adalind wipe her cheek with her hand, she asked to no one in particular, "Is she crying?"

Outside on the patio, Nick attempted to salvage his apology, "Adalind, I've noticed a lot of times how you aren't comfortable around me. Even just now, inside, I saw how you struggled to tell that guy how you know me and that is entirely my fault. I haven't communicated to you how I feel. Or at least, not as well as I should have. Like, about a month ago, you were cooking and I saw you reach for some kind of seasoning and the shaker slid across the table into your hand. It was obvious you didn't mean to do it, but I saw you glance over at me to see if I noticed. You looked so afraid."

"You saw that? Your back was to me."

Nick smirked, "Remember, I was playing with Kelly and that playset he has. I saw you in the mirror on the playset. Just dumb luck. But I pretended not to notice because I didn't want you to feel you have to walk on eggshells around me. You shouldn't have to be afraid of how I'll react."

Adalind stood up, "Nick, I appreciate your apology and I forgive you," She wasn't mad, but Nick was right, she didn't like to be a Hexenbiest around Nick. The topic was making her uncomfortable. Often, she wished could shed herself of being a Hexenbiest because she knew from experience that kind of power can corrupt. She simply did her best to use it and display it as seldom as she could, "Can we go back inside?

"No, actually we're not quite done yet." He smiled, took one hand out from behind his back and motioned for her to sit back down again.

Inside, Monroe and Rosalee were staring transfixed at what was unfolding outside. When one of Nick's hands directed Adalind to sit, Monroe finally got a clear view of what was in Nick's other hand, "Ohmygod, it is a ring box."

Monroe and Rosalee had already been standing very close to one another, but when Monroe confirmed it was a ring box they somehow found a way to step even closer to each other.

On the patio, Nick had been quiet for a couple moments, trying to gather his thoughts. He felt he had screwed up pretty badly. Making Adalind think he was about to break up with her and then apologizing about egg shells. His mind was racing. Adalind, tired of waiting, got his attention, "Nick?"

Nick looked up into the night sky and then back down at Adalind, "Okay Adalind, I haven't really been saying exactly what it was I was trying to say so I'm just gonna go for it."

In one fluid motion, Nick pulled the ring box out from behind his back while dropping down to one knee. As his knee touched the wood of the patio, the ring box popped open to display a diamond ring.

Adalind had been immeasurably confused about the entire conversation. At one point, she had been mentally packing up her things in Nick's loft and wondering where she could move to. The next moment, Nick was giving her a fairly tender apology. The moment after that, however, she couldn't have been more unprepared for. At no point in her time with Nick had Adalind ever allowed herself the fantasy that one day he would want to marry her. To believe such a thing would fly in the face of everything she had ever known about Grimms and Hexenbiests, in addition to their own personal history of hostility towards each other. So, when she saw Nick crouching down to one knee her first inclination was denial. When she saw the ring box coming from behind his back, time seemed to slow down to a crawl, allowing her mind to fully and firmly articulate that it was completely and absolutely impossible. The notion by itself was patently absurd. That, strictly speaking, there's no feasible way this could be happening. Every fiber of her being was telling her, shouting at her, that she can't be seeing what she thinks she's seeing. So, she involuntarily vocalized the mountains of denial she was feeling at that precise moment.

"No!"

"No?!" Monroe and Rosalee said in near unison.

Rosalee finished the thought by saying a little too loudly, "Is she insane!" grabbing the attention of other people in attendance. Those who had overheard her outcry looked at her, saw that both she and Monroe were staring out at the patio and followed their shared gaze to see Nick, down on one knee, facing Adalind in what was, without a doubt, a marriage proposal. Within moments, everyone had stopped talking and began watching.

"No?" Nick asked, but Adalind was staring at the ring and didn't seem to have heard his query.

A moment passed. She looked up from the ring to Nick's face, her eyes wide with shock. Unsure of what just happened, she muttered, "What?"

The terrible realization dawned on her and her mind raced to correct herself. She attempted to deny that she had meant to say 'no' at all. More loudly than she had intended, all that would come out was, "No!"

She shook her head because she knew she was saying all the wrong things, but then her words began to run together as she waved her hands in front of her, crisscrossing them back forth trying to communicate even more emphatically, "Nonononono... I mean...ummmm."

She took a breath to calm herself. She stopped waiving her hands around to instead clasp her fingers together in her lap in an attempt to gather her wits, and with as much dignity as she could gather together she said, "What I mean to say is, please... continue."

Nick, not wanting to waste his opportunity, continued on, "Adalind, I know we didn't come together in the best of ways. To say it wasn't conventional would be too much of an understatement for me to bear. But nothing about our lives is conventional. Not how we met. Not how we got together. Not how we live our day to day lives. But I love our lives. I love our son. I love Diana." He paused for emphasis, "I love you."

Adalind whispered, "Oh, Nick." Her eyes welled up with tears and she began wiping at her cheeks again.

Nick paused and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he said, "Adalind Schade, will you..."

"YES! Oh my god, yes!" Adalind got off her seat and brought her face to Nick's and began kissing him in quickfire succession. She kissed his cheeks and his forehead, with no regard at all for the lipstick she was wearing or at Nick nearly losing his balance in the barrage. After a few more emphatic 'Yeses,' Nick stood up and he placed the ring on her finger. She looked at it and looked at him and they kissed one more time, this time, properly, on the lips.

When they separated, she asked, "So... I can tell people?"

At the word, 'people' they both instinctively turned to look inside Bud's home through the patio doors and saw that everyone at the party had stopped what they were doing and were staring at them. Everyone was smiling. Everyone except Monroe and Rosalee. The look of shock that they were wearing made Nick and Adalind grin.

Nick leaned towards Adalind and replied to her question, "You can shout it from rooftops."

Nick opened the patio door and allowed Adalind to step through first. As soon as she was inside, she raised her hand so everyone could see her new ring and shouted through her smile, "I'M ENGAGED!"

Everyone at the party applauded their engagement. Nick took a bow and with Adalind at his side he stepped over to Rosalee and Monroe and said to them, "Surprise!"

Monroe, still wearing a look of shock, was the first to reply, "You dog! Why didn't you tell me? How long have you been planning this?"

Rosalee punched Nick lightly in his arm, smiled up at him and said, "I can't believe you did this without telling anyone! Did Trubel know? Did anyone?"

Nick put his hands up, palms out, as if to say, 'don't hit me anymore, I give up.'

"The only person who knew was the guy at the jewelry store. I bought the ring a few weeks back and I kept trying to decide how exactly I wanted to do the whole proposal thing and then Bud dropped this opportunity in my lap."

Monroe stepped forward and gave Adalind a hug and then turned to Nick and gave him a hug too, "I am so happy for you, brother. Really, I am." Monroe released his hug, "I doubt it has to be said, but I'm gonna say it anyway. This is probably the first time in history this has happened. A Hexenbiest and a Grimm engaged to be married? We're gonna be telling our grandkids about this one day."

At that moment Bud approached Nick and Adalind, "Is what I heard true? I stepped out to get some ice and I come back to hear you two just got engaged? At my party? This is great!"

Adalind gave Bud a hug, "Thank you Bud." when she let go she turned to Nick, "Let's celebrate."

"Hey, we had glasses of wine didn't we?" He grabbed Adalind's hand and led her back towards Kevin and Rebecca Hobbes. Nick picked up the glasses of wine he had left there several minutes ago and he looked at Kevin.

"So, Kevin, earlier you asked how Adalind and I know each other. Well, she's my fiancé."

Kevin chuckled a bit but then saw the cocksure grin on Nick's face, that's when he realized Nick had been planning this retort possibly since the moment, maybe even before, Kevin asked the question. As Kevin let out a belly laugh his face became distorted as he Woged and took on a badger like appearance that Nick knew as a Drang-Zorn. Kevin slapped Nick heartily on the shoulder and laughed some more. Kevin's face returned to his human appearance. He wiped a little at his eyes and said, "Well played, sir. Well. Played."