The next morning came earlier than anyone would have liked but they had been able to get a solid 5 hours of sleep before the kids starting moving again. "Leave Emma for now. She could use a bit more sleep." Kim whisperers as she starts to get of bed. Adam nods and follows behind her trying to stay quiet. Not wanting to wake Emma suddenly. Adam got Lily ready and Kim got Jackson moving and they headed downstairs. "Emma had a very bad dream last night so we need to stay quiet okay?" Kim states to Jackson who was confused by sisters absence. "Okay. Is she okay though?" He asked concerned for her. "She will be. She's going to need extra love today." Kim was hoping that it was just a one time thing but wasn't sure. She thought about calling Dr. Charles to talk with her later. Maybe he would have some insight.
Adam got breakfast going while Kim and Jackson took Champ outside to run around for a bit. He was still a little shocked by Emma's behavior last night and knew they needed to talk more about it but now was not the time. Maybe later while the kids were napping. But for now he decided to make pancakes for the kids as a treat, normally they got oatmeal and fruit. As he prepared the batter he heard foot steps on the stairs knowing it could only be Emma. "Good morning Em. How did you sleep? Are you feeling better?" Adam asked noticing she was still acting shy. He really hoped all the progress hadn't been lost by one bad dream. "I'm okay. Thank you. Can I have a drink please?" Emma asked so shyly. But Adam knew they just needed to show her some love and remind her that she's okay here. "Of course baby girl. What would you like? Juice, Milk, water?" Adam offered while picking up and setting her on the counter top. She was surprised by this. "Emma remember we love you. What happened last night was a bad dream. You don't have to be scared here." Adam turned to the fridge when he heard she softly say milk.
He got the milk and poured her a cup before handing her the cup and kissing her forehead before placing her on the ground. "If you hurry you can play with Champ outside for a bit Okay?" He watched her nod and took a small sip before heading outside. Adam took a long deep breath before he continued making breakfast. Kim heard the door opening and was surprised yet happy to see Emma coming out to join them. "Good morning Em! Glad you came out to join us!" Kim gave her a hug and let her run into the yard. "Emma!" Jackson yelled as he ran over to hug her. Even he could tell she wasn't herself today. "Come on let's kick the ball around while dad makes breakfast." Jackson was happy to include her. They were close, he loved his sister so he wanted to make her happy.
"Breakfast is ready guys!" Adam yells out as the family starts running for food. "Pancakes? Yay!" Jackson was super happy for anything other than oatmeal. "Yup. Champ your foods in the bowl already bud. Emma your milk is on the table too hunny." Adam made sure everything was perfect and each person had fruit they liked to go with their pancakes. "Adam this is amazing. Thank you so much for all of this. It's all so yummy!" Kim was so happy this morning. After last night this was a great way to start the day. "Jackson so would you like to go to the fire house today? I thought you and daddy could go see the trucks while Emma and I talk to Dr Charles." Kim offered without talking to Adam first but didn't think he would mind. "Really? That's sounds awesome. I'm going to get ready now!" Jackson ran for the stairs forgetting to put his dishes in the kitchen. But no one could blame him.
"So Em I spoke with Dr Charles earlier and he would like to talk to you about your nightmare last night. I know talking about them sounds scary but it really helps. He really helped me a long time ago and he has help Aunt Erin and Uncle Jay. Can you try for me please?" Kim asked while holding her little hands. "Yes I can try. If you think it will help I will try. I don't like those bad dreams." Emma states. "We know Baby. We don't like them either. So we will try anything we can to help you get better Okay?" Adam was trying to speak softly to her. Still being fazed by last night.
As they got ready they could tell Emma was nervous, Kim was as well. But they hoped to get answers. Maybe more insight into her life before her family was murdered. "Darling! It's going to be okay. Why don't I take Lily with me that way you can focus more on Emma?" Adam offered knowing the hospital probably wasn't the best place for such a young baby. "Thank you. I would appreciate that. Plus I'm sure the firehouse staff would love to meet her." Kim laughed knowing how crazy her friends would go over the new baby. "Okay let me go get her dressed in something super cute." Adam laughed as he walked off. He could only imagine how crazy it will get from all the ladies in the fire house.
The family left shortly after that. Half the family excited and the other half nervous. The tension in Kim's car could be cut with a knife. It hadn't been this bad in months, she prayed for a miracle. She held out hope and thanked god that she wasn't working right now. When they arrived at Med Kim actually had to carry Emma into the hospital. She was shaking from fear. Not that Kim could blame her but still carrying an 5 year old was not fun. They got inside and started walking towards the offices when Kim heard her name being called. She kind of recognize the voice so she stopped to see who was calling for her.
"Peter? Peter Mills? Wow what are you doing here?" Kim asked as she half hugged him. Kind of hard to hug while holding a child. "Hey I'm trying to get cleared to be a fire fighter again. What about you? This your daughter?" Peter asked shocked to see the small child. "Yeah this is my foster daughter Emma, we have an appointment with Dr Charles today. She had a nasty nightmare and some flash backs so we wanted to have her talk to some one. Can you say hi Emma? This is Peter he used to work with Matt and Kelly and Gabby." Kim encourages her to speak. "Hi." Emma softly speaks but does make eye contact and waves a bit. "Hi sweetie. You are very cute!" Peter offers. "Yeah she's a hand full with my other two and their dad is a big kid too so it's constant craziness." Kim laughed as she adjusted Emma. "Three kids? Who's their dad?" Peter was shocked. When he left she was single. "Yup. So Jackson is 4 his sperm donor is Roman who wanted nothing to do with a kid, he's in jail by the way, then I met Adam when Jackson was three. We hit it off and got together. He raises Jackson as his own. Then we got pregnant and engaged between October and December and then my team found Emma here on a case. She's 5 and our youngest Lily is 5 weeks. And with Adams travel schedule it's nuts but the seasons almost over so we will have some normalcy soon." Kim noticed Peter was shocked. "Do I know Adam? I don't remember a cop named Adam. Wait season? You can't be serious?" Peter's jaw was dropping. "Oh you didn't know. I'm sorry yeah I'm marrying Adam Ruzek of the Cubs in October of this year." Kim laughed hard at his reaction. "He's at 51 if you hurry up." Kim joked before excusing herself with a promise of a longer catch up.
The arrived at the office and knocked Emma was still shaking and so was Kim at this point, her arms needed a break. "Good afternoon ladies. Come in." Dr Charles opened the door wide for them to enter. His soothing voice seemed to help Emma a little. As Kim sat she adjusted Emma to a seat next to hers so her own body could relax a bit. "Hello Emma. Do you remember? I met you the last time you were here." He watched as she shook her head no. "That's okay. I'm Dr Charles but you can call me Daniel. I know you are scared, I can see you shaking. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you, just to talk and to listen Okay." He watched again as she shook her yes. "Okay so your mommy here said you had very bad dream last night. Can you tell me about it?" He asked hoping she would open up some. She looked at him and then Kim. "It's okay, you are safe here. Remember I told you how he helped me and Erin and Jay. It's okay." Kim tried encouraging her.
"It was the bad man who hurt my family. But in my dream he found me hiding under the bed and hurt me. I was screaming for help but no one was there to help me." Emma cried trying to explain her dream. Kim hugged her close and gave her tissues to wipe her tears. "Had you seen the bad man before that day?" Dr Charles asked softly. "He and other bad men came over a lot. The had adult candy and drinks that smelled bad. And there was always smoke. It made me dizzy and I couldn't breathe right." Emma answered while Kim tried not to look to shocked. This was new information. "Did you see one of these bad men lately?" Dr Charles asks. Emma only nodded. Kim was trying not to go into cop mode but it was truly difficult for her. "Did you see him near your home?" He asks. She nods no. "Where did you see him then?" He asks leading her to answer. "At the store I was scared he would hurt me but I hid behind mommy." Emma cried again. Letting out all her fears. "Emma I'm going to ask a really important question. In your old home did anyone ever hurt you on purpose?" He asked knowing the answer already. She never spoke just burst into tears again and buried her face in Kim's embrace.
"I think this is what is going on. She was triggered seeing someone from the past. And now knowing this new information can lead us all to helping her more. You guys have done a great job making her feel safe but this is a set back for sure. I'm confident you will be able to work through this as a family. You have done the hard work already. Now this is just a bump in the road." Dr Charles ends the session there knowing Emma has been pushed too far already and would probably just shut down now. "Thank you. How about we head home, have some lunch and then take a nap before swimming?" Kim asks Emma who seemed excited. They left the office and started to head home.
A few blocks away Adam and Jackson had arrived at the firehouse happy to have a distraction from last night. "Come on bud let's go see the trucks." Adam helped Jackson out of the car before taking his hand and walking towards the doors. The garage doors were open and it looked as though the trucks had just been washed. "Hey guys!" Adam calls out when they entered seeing a few familiar faces. "Adam Hey. Jackson! Hey bud! Are you jumping to the dark side already?" Kelly asks as Jackson giggled. "No! We wanted to see the trucks since Em had to go to the doctor today. She's sad." Jackson looked almost heart broken that his sister was sad. "That's right buddy but she will be better soon. We will make sure of it." Adam comments as Kelly looks almost shocked, maybe confused. "She had a night mare about before last night. So Kim decided to take her to Dr Charles to talk it out." Adam informed him trying not to give too much away.
"Well alright. Let's go say hi to everyone Okay. And maybe you can go for a ride around the block in the truck." Kelly offered knowing that would get him smiling again. "Yes please!" Jackson beamed in happiness. "Only if dad says it's okay." Kelly didn't want to get in trouble by stepping over the line. "It's all good. I'm sure he would love that." Adam confirmed as they walked into the firehouse. It was the first time Adam had been there but he knew a few people from Molly's and the gym. He trained some of them during the strike. But even at his age seeing the trucks up close was cool for him and made him feel 5 again. "Hey guys look who I found." Kelly comments coming into the dining area. Everyone stops to stare before getting up to do hellos and shake hands with Adam. A few even ask for photos which he normally wouldn't do with his kids here but he felt okay about it today since they were Kim's extended family. So technically they were his as well.
"So I hope you didn't forget Adam that your holding a baby! Are you going to introduce us?" Gabby laughed as Adam looked shocked that he forgotten to introduce the littlest Ruzek. "Sorry she was sound asleep and I got a little excited to see the trucks too. So anyway this is Lily, she's 5 weeks old. The whole family loves her even our German shepherd." Adam laughed as the whole fire house came over to see the little one. "OMG she is beautiful. Congratulations. She looks so much like Kim, though she has your eyes. I think you need to learn how to shoot for when she's old enough to date." Matt offers up as Gabby takes the baby for a short walk. Showing her off so everyone can see how adorable she is. "Thanks we love her. She's so easy too. Not overly fussy, eats good, sleeps well. It's a dream really. We are so happy it almost sickening." Adam laughed watching his daughter get passed around.
"Well since Lily is being well taken care of how about we get you boys in a truck for a ride around the block now?" Kelly offers. "Yes please!" Both boys almost yell. The whole station busts into laughter. "Come on now. Stella will drive y'all around." Kelly shoes them to the truck and takes pictures to send to Kim. The smiles couldn't get much wider. This was a dream come true for any 4 year old but even for the biggest kid ever, Adam. By the time they got back the sirens were going and the boys were laughing like little kids. "I don't know who enjoyed this more." Stella states as she walks them back in.
Adam walked in holding Jackson to see Lily being fed. "Sorry Gabby. I should have known it would be feeding time soon." Adam felt so bad. "Don't worry about it Adam. Gabby lives for this stuff. She misses it actually. Oh and she even changed Lily's diaper so she will be set for a bit." Matt says while staring at his wife holding the small child. "Come to think of it we should get the kids together. Louie is just about Emma's age. I'm sure they would get along great." Matt thought out loud. "That sounds great. We spend most days in the pool. So we will invite y'all over at some point soon." Adam was happy to expand Emma's friend group. She needed more people around her and a kid her age was perfect.
As they continued to pass Lily around they heard the doors open and the sound of foot steps. They turned to see a very familiar face. "Hey guys! I'm back!" Peter announces as he walks into the room. Lots of hugs happened and lots of questions fired off. "I just passed my physical to become a firefighter again. Now to see where I can get placed." Peter answers the most commonly asked question before he noticed the three faces he didn't know. "You're Adam Ruzek right? I saw Kim at the hospital and she said you would be here. I'm a huge fan!" Peter comes towards Adam who offers a hand shake. "Yeah I am. This is my son Jackson and over there is my daughter Lily." Adam wasn't sure about this guy. Kim had never mentioned him before. "Hey buddy." Peter waves at him. "Hi. How do you know my mom?" Jackson asks also confused by this new person. "I used to work here at the fire house so I saw your mom on cases we worked together and we saw each other at Molly's." Peter commented. Jackson nodded and started to yawn.
"That is our cue to leave. Let's get you home for a nap little man. Make your rounds to say bye to everyone okay. And thanks for today guys we had so much fun. He will never forget this day." Adam picked up Lily to get her in the carrier and get her diaper bag situated again. "Bye everyone. Thanks for the ride it was so cool!" Jackson smiled so hard as he waved bye to everyone. "Come back anytime okay." Boden was walking through as he saw them and knew they were always welcome in his house. "Thank you Chief. We will be back for sure." Adam leads the kids back to the car. As soon as he got Jackson in his seat he fell asleep. Adam laughed quietly but was thankful he was sleeping. The excitement caused him to crash hard which was helpful. Sometimes he would fight nap time if he was too excited so this was a blessing.
Adam arrives home holding both kids in his arms. He didn't have much choice as he didn't want to leave either in the car for even a minute and he hoped Kim was napping with Emma. He walked in quietly only to notice Kim was sitting on the couch staring at her iPad. "Hey Darling. What are you watching?" Adam asked quietly trying not to wake Jackson or Lily. "Hey. Just watching dance practice. Two new hires were added while I've been off so I need to get caught up. Both are off by a beat but let's get him upstairs and Lily in her swing and then we can talk. "Perfect. I will be right back." He kissed her quickly before heading upstairs with a sleeping boy in his arms. Adam loved being a dad. This was his whole world.
"Okay let's talk." Adam states as he reentered the room. Kim was still watching the video. "Give me a minute to text Becca about the new girls and then I'm all yours." Kim commented while typing into her phone really quickly like her fingers were on fire. Adam grabbed some waters from the fridge and sat next to her. "Sorry was trying to stay productive while you were out. Did you boys have fun? You definitely looked like you enjoyed it." Kim laughed as Adam looked confused. "Severide sent me a photo of you two in the truck." Now Adam laughed along with Kim. "Yeah it was great. I felt like I was 5 again. Totally cool. Our daughter was a big hit. And some guy named Peter came in." Adam commented still not sure about the guy. "Yeah I ran into him at the hospital. We worked together on some cases awhile back. He also went into the police academy but stuck to fire fighting before moving to South Carolina I think. Anyway he's back. No big deal. Just a person we all know." Kim liked Peter enough as a friend but he was friends with Roman too so no big deal either way for her really.
"Gotcha. So Em? How did that go?" Adam asked cautiously. Kim sighed really hard and slumped her shoulders. "Well it's not great. Apparently bad men used to come over all the time to have 'adult candy and bad smelling drinks' and she saw one of those bad men at Target yesterday and was scared he would see her. And apparently she used to be abused there too. She didn't say it out loud but when asked she sobbed so hard and buried herself in my arms. Dr Charles thinks it's only a set back and that she will be fine with some continued hard work. He said we have done a great job we just need to keep it up." Kim was so heart broken for her little girl. She couldn't imagine growing up like that.
"Adult candy and bad stalling drinks? So drugs and alcohol?" Adam asked shaking his head. "Yeah probably either coke, crystal meth or heroin. Also smoke that made her dizzy and couldn't breathe right so weed as well. This poor kid can't catch a break." Kim leaned into Adam just needing to be held. "Well she's got us and we fixed it before and we can fix it again. It's what we do." Adam hugged Kim tighter. The anger building inside him, who would hurt a kid? It was beyond him. "I promised her some pool time before you head to work today. It cheered her up some." Kim tried to sound enthusiastic but she was crushed for Emma. "Sounds fun. Speaking of, Matt suggested we get the kids together sometime soon. So we should set that up." Adam adds knowing he would forget if he didn't mention it now. Kim only nodded. It wasn't where her mind was now.
They sat in silence for what seemed like hours while was probably only 30 minutes before they heard Lily fussing and light foot steps. Kim got up to feed Lily and change her diaper and Adam watched as Emma entered the room. Still looking half asleep. "Sweet heart. Come sit with me. Are you feeling better now?" Adam asked as he hugged his little girl. "Yeah a little. I'm a little hungry though." Emma hadn't eaten when they got home as planned. Too tired from her session so she needed to eat something. "How about I make you a sandwich and you can ask me anything. Okay?" Adam offered knowing the kids love asking questions. Emma nodded and followed him into the kitchen. Kim watched as they wandered off hoping the set back was only a moment on time and not a prolonged moment.
As Adam started making lunch Emma get herself seated on a bar stool watching him work. "Okay so what questions do you have for me?"Adam asked as he stayed busy making sandwiches. "Were my parents bad people?" Emma asked shyly almost like she was afraid of the answer. "No sweetheart. They weren't bad people. They were just sick and this type of sickness it very hard to get better from. And because of this sickness it led them to meet some very bad people who unfortunately killed them." Adam tried to answer in a way that made sense to a child. It was hard for adults to understand let alone a child.
"What kind of sickness? Do I have it too?" Now Emma's voice was more curious than anything. "Well the sickness is called addiction and it happens in your mind. Making you believe that you need those adult candies to feel better when it really just makes you feel worse and forget. As for if you have it? We hope not and will do everything we can to prevent it from happening to you. You know your mommy Kim used to be an addict with the smelly drinks and she got better. So even if it does happen to you we will never stop trying to make you better again." After Adam finished he thought maybe he said too much but it seemed to work.
"Can they see me still?" Emma asked again sounding curious about the subject. "Oh course they can baby. They are looking down on you smiling because you are happy and healthy and learning all kinds of new things. They can see how amazing you are as a big sister. But most importantly they are so proud of you sweetheart. And I know this because Kim and I are proud of you too! We love you so much!" Adam leans in to hug his little girl and kiss her forehead. Kim walks in on the moment but doesn't interrupt. It's important for both parents to make all their kids feel safe. That was something that was drilled into them during the initial home interviews so they both took time for each kids every day. "How about while I'm at work tonight you draw me a picture for my locker?" Adam asks as Emma nodded eagerly and smiled wider than possible. "Okay here is your lunch. Eat up so we can go swimming." Adam finished plating their lunches before heading up to get Jackson for lunch.
After lunch the kids got to swim for a couple of hours before Adam had to leave for work. Pool time was always full of laughter, splashing and just down right fun for the whole family. This is what family time was all about and they loved every minute. Adam kissed all the kids goodbye as he headed out to work leaving Kim last. He always made sure she got a long passionate kiss before leaving for the ballpark. It was their thing. She did the same when she left for work or when she left to run errands. A silent reminder of the love they share for one another. After a wink and a lop sided grin he left for work.
"Okay kids bath time and fresh clothes. Let's go." Kim took Lily as the older kids ran up to their rooms to get cleaned up from the pool. They finished getting showered and dressed before heading downstairs for dinner. The kids ate and they sat to watch a movie before heading to bed. Kim had worked during the movie since the kids were zoned into it and Lily was asleep in her swing. She knew the season started already and they only had one month to get the new dancers up speed. She was taking notes on the rehearsal as she watched it happen live. Kim also had ideas for new routines and new songs popping into her head. So those were taken too. This would be the best season ever for the Chicago Bulls dancers.
The kids were taken bed after they fell asleep on the couch and tucked in soundly. Kim returned to the couch to put ideas down on paper. No mattered what happened when she was a dancer before she still loved to dance. So this was the next best thing in her mind. She got to dance her way and choreograph while not having to preform in public while being judged. And this brought her so much happiness. She was so caught in her own thoughts she almost didn't hear her phone ringing.
"Hey Kevin. What's wrong?" Kim knew he would never call her without a good reason. "Hey Kim. Adam was hurt during the game. He's being taken to Chicago med." Kevin states. He sounded scared and a little freaked out. "Okay let me get a sitter I will be right there. Tell him we love him." Kim hung up and ran to go get ready.