"Where's Ruzek?" Jay bought his drinks over having arrived a little later than everyone else.
"He picked up Oliver and Daisy after school."
"Really?" Atwater was drumming his fingers on the side of his glass. He really wished these two would stop all this bullshit and sort themselves out. He needed to have a chat to him again, this had gone on long enough.
"He hasn't seen Oliver all week and sorry Kev, he'd rather spend time with Ollie than have beers with you." Kim shrugged.
"And?"
Kim laughed him off. "And nothing, we will probably grab pizza for dinner. You and Adam should organise to take the boys out on the weekend. I don't think he's got much planned."
"You got nothing planned?"
"I've got plans with Daisy this weekend, we've got some shopping to do. She needs new shoes and has grown like a weed lately so most of her clothes are getting too small. I have no idea what Adam's plans are with Oliver." Kim finished off her beer and called it a night. As much as she enjoyed a drink at the end of a long week with the Unit, it wasn't the same without Adam and knowing that he was at home waiting for her was too good to pass up.
Kim picked up the pizza's on the way home from their favourite place. "Hey." Adam jumped up from his seat on the floor where they were playing a game of animal snap when she came in. Daisy was razor sharp, although it also helped that she cheated by looking at her card before she placed it down and Adam and Oliver let her get away with it. Oliver was constantly trying to tell her that she wasn't playing fair and Daisy continued to do it so they just gave up and let her win. He squeezed her hand as he took the pizzas. "How you doin?"
"I'm tired."
"You should get more sleep then." He winked, making her blush a little just as Daisy flung herself at Kim.
"Well hello." She crouched down to talk to Daisy. "How was your day?"
"Good. Adam let us have ice-cream after school and now we play cards." One look at how she was dancing around told Kim that she was a little hyped. A combination of sugar, Adam and being tired made Daisy a little buzzed.
"Did he?" At least she knew that Adam couldn't get away with anything, Daisy had the loosest lips in town. If you wanted someone to know something all you had to do was tell Daisy.
"And I won, like heaps and heaps." Daisy continued happily. "Adam owes me twenty hundred thousand dollars."
Adam rolled his eyes and leant in closer to Kim. "She cheats."
"Oh I know."
They had a picnic on the floor, eating pizza and sharing a highlight of the day. Daisy's obviously was the ice cream and Oliver's was being picked up by Adam while Kim's was clearly pizza night. Adam had to think about his. He had two. This was his PG rated highlight. Sitting on the floor having a picnic with the "my three favourite people in the whole world."
"My other highlight." He followed Kim into the kitchen when they were finished with dinner and grabbed her from behind as she was throwing the scraps in the trash. "Was being woken up by an incredibly hot naked woman who jumped my bones in the middle of the night."
"Well there's a surprise?" She rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away as he inched it lower.
"Do I get an encore?"
"I'd like to say no, but I really, really like having sex with you." She kissed him hard and fast, ran her hand over his groin and left the kitchen. He had to suck in a deep breath, grit his teeth and focus on anything but that. This woman was killing him.
As well as pizza night, it was movie night and when Adam declared it was his choice Kim just laughed. They were about to get nostalgic because he loved old movies. Now they were watching 'The Lion King.' Daisy was curled up on the couch with her mother and Oliver was stretched out on the floor next to Adam. Daisy made it about half way through before falling asleep and Adam carried her up to bed and when he came back Kim had stolen his spot on the floor next to Ollie so he took the couch. He would have preferred to lie down on the floor next to Kim but he wouldn't have been able to keep his hands to himself, he really wished they would hurry up and tell the kids. He was ready but just had to convince Kim it was time. He did manage to rest his hand on the back of her neck and Kim tilted her head back initially to let him know she liked it.
He was still on the couch when she came back from taking Ollie to bed and checking on Daisy. "Hey." Kim stretched out on top of him. "Thanks for today."
"What did I do?"
"Helping with the kids, they seemed to love it. It felt nice coming home to you. I can't wait until we get more of this."
"We had a good afternoon." Adam ran his hand up and down her back. "You just say the word."
"I think Daisy thinks any afternoon with ice-cream is a good afternoon." His hands were now under her shirt sliding up and un-doing her bra.
"She has a habit." Kim started kissing his neck. "So do I."
"For ice-cream?"
"No I am more a Gummy Bear type of girl." When his hands slid down the back of her pants and he pulled her closer like there was ever any doubt where this was going. They couldn't get enough of each other.
"Do you want to play with my Gummy Bear?"
"Yes." Kim sat up, grabbed his hand and hauled him off the couch and upstairs.
They had replaced late night phone calls for after sex bedroom talks whenever they got the chance. Kim wrapped a sheet around herself and crossed her legs. Adam was stretched out across the bed propped up on one elbow. "Can we talk about the CFD thing now?" He had pulled on his jeans and ran downstairs and grabbed them a couple of beers.
"I was talking to Severide a few weeks ago at Molly's and he suggested that I look into CFD."
He hadn't really caught up with Severide much since he'd been back. Apparently he had finally settled down and now had a kid of his own, Ebony who was about the same age as Daisy. Surprisingly he preferred to spend time at home with her than drinking at Molly's. They had a few quick chats but it was usually with a crowd and kept it pretty casual. He had come in while Adam was drinking with a few mates from his job so Adam made his way over and pulled up a stool.
"How's the building game?" Severide ordered him a beer.
"It pays the bills." He responded flatly.
"You don't like it."
Adam touched his glass to Severide's "I don't love it, no." It also reminded him of the years he had lost, it was like he couldn't completely let all that go while he was still doing a job that tied him to that time in his life. He had to pay the bills though and right now, this was it. They were still negotiating the terms of his compensation pay out and that wasn't a quick process.
Their first offer had been way too low. It was almost on insult. Adam's ambit claim was more than they knew they'd get but his lawyer assured him going for a higher amount would work out the best for him. It was always going to be a drawn out process even if they had agreed within a day that he was entitled to be compensated.
"You should come over, look into CFD." Severide had been an instructor at the Academy for a couple of years now, he had broken too many body bits to continue on Squad and for him it was Squad or nothing. "I think you'd do okay? You look fit enough."
"Had plenty of time to keep in shape when you don't really have a life. I also haven't spent nine years being beat up chasing bad guys."
"Do you miss it?"
"Yeah, that part I do, I loved that job, it's all I ever wanted to do. Until you get fucked in the ass, then..." Adam stared at the bottom of his glass and knocked back the remainder. "…Anyway, it's too fucking late, I can't go back."
"So, come try out. Maybe we can put those Detective skills to good use in OFI or something."
"Perhaps. I'll think about it."
"Talk it over with Burgess?" It was half a question, half a statement. Everyone knew it, they were just waiting for them to admit it and do something about it.
"Ha, I'm not touching that one." They spent the next few minutes talking about their kids before Severide took off, not before telling him once again to check out CFD.
He stewed over if for a few days before calling Severide and dropping in to pick up and information pack and to get a bit of an idea what it would involve before he talked to Kim about it. The training would be intense and six months was a long time and he may not have as much time as he usually did for them.
Adam was searching Kim's face for some kind of reaction. "He knows how much I hate the building game and that I miss being a cop. I thought perhaps maybe I could do it and then look at OFI and maybe use my detective skills." He sounded nervous. "What do you think?"
"I think you would make a very hot fireman."
Adam looked at her wryly; he was trying to have a serious conversation. "Would you hate it?"
"Would I hate you being happy?" Kim cocked her head to the side, looking at him like he'd just declared that he'd had a conversation with aliens. "Adam come on, of course not. If this is something you want to do I will support you. I want you to be happy."
He nodded slightly and chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, a habit he had always done when he was thinking. "I need to make a decision, applications close soon. Would you be ok with me doing this?"
"What do you want to do? Is this what you want?"
"I think so, I can't keep doing what I am doing. It's killing me and it's not letting me move on and let all that shit go. I'm doing Paul's job, if that makes sense?" He closed his eyes for a moment. "And I do care about what you think, you are part of this decision. I am making this decision for my family."
Kim placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed it lightly. "I want you to be happy. Oliver wants you to be happy too, all he wants is for you to be here with him."
"I want to be here with you and Oliver and Daisy too. I love her so much Kim, you know that right?"
Kim ran her hand over his leg. "I do. I love how much you care about her too."
"So this is for all of us. I want to do this for all of us."
"You know you were a great cop, I think you'll be a great fire-fighter and if you end up in OFI you'll be good at that too. Although I do have one concern?"
'What's that?"
"What happens if you are out on a call and we get called in? I am not sure I will be able to keep my hands to myself." Kim tugged at the zip on his jeans, which were barely done up. "How easy do you think it would be to have sex with all that gear on?"
He grabbed her hand and slid it down inside his jeans, directing it towards his groin and Kim was more than happy to wrap her hand around it. "How about I bring it home and we can find out?"
"Deal." Kim edged closer, almost climbing on top of him.
"Kim, you know what? I am really happy. I feel really good and steady."
"Hmmmm." She mumbled as she started kissing her way down his chest. He knew where this was going and was in no rush to stop her.
"I love you Kim. This is not going to end, we don't end."
They both hated the thought that he had to leave. It was getting later and later that he got dressed and crept out of the house. Luckily her kids slept in and were rarely up before 7am. It was painful on weekdays trying to get them moving for school but much appreciated on the weekends and now even more so that Adam was often in her bed.
So he did it, he applied to CFD and they jumped at the chance to have someone like Adam Ruzek in their ranks. He had his cards marked for OFI from the start.
Kim hit the ground with such a thud she could actually hear all the air escape her body. She groaned loudly as she tried to move. The offender didn't get far because Atwater pounced just as Jay barrelled around the corner seconds later and saw Jen crouched over Kim's body. "What the hell?" he screeched coming to a stop beside Kim's prone body while keeping one eye on Atwater, who seemed to have everything under control.
"She's okay." Jen reassured him. "Need to call a bus though." Kim had a nasty gash to her head, which was bleeding far more than it should, blood trickled down her forehead and into her eyes. Gingerly she tried to move her hand to wipe away the blood but the pain was incredible. "Don't move Kim." Jen held her down.
By the time she got to the Chicago Med not only her head hurt but also her whole body was aching. It had been a while since she'd ended up all battered and bruised or needing stitches. Jay had jumped in the back with her while Atwater finished off the arrest. "Want me to call Ruzek?"
"No don't worry him, it will freak him out. It's just a bump on the head." Kim waved her hand but her eyes remained closed. Jay just smiled and as soon as they got out of the Ambo he was going to do precisely that. He didn't want to deal with Ruzek's wrath if he found out that Kim had been taken to hospital and he wasn't told.
They were concerned that Kim had fractured her skull; she'd hit the pavement pretty hard and that could be catastrophic. By the time Atwater arrived Kim was just waiting for an x-ray and was pretty sure that this was all an over-reaction. "You want me to give Nicole a call?" he asked as he hovered over the side of her bed. Once she had separated from Steve they did have a discussion about her Next-of-Kin when Kim had been injured at work just after the split and Kim told him that she had changed it to her sister.
"No. I'm fine Kev. Please don't bother Nicole, she will freak out."
"What about the kids? I can call Ruze?"
"Janet is picking them up from school already today so no need to freak him out either."
Maggie came in with Kim's chart just to ask a couple more questions before she even had the chance to talk about Adam and for that she was grateful.. "Any chance you could be pregnant?" She asked before she noticed Kevin standing there. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Kim waved her hand weakly. "No, I don't think so."
"You don't think so, or know so?"
"I guess there is a chance." she looked at Kevin sheepishly, his eyes widened and then it finally clicked. Even in her dazed state she realised that their secret was out now. Of course there was a chance, they hadn't exactly been fastidious about things, sometimes the moments got away from them.
"Alright, let's just run a quick test then to make sure before we send you up for x-ray. Just in case." She grabbed a cup for Kim to try and pee in. Kevin backed out of the room rather rapidly and spotted Jay still leaning on the counter talking to his brother.
"Ah, Bro. Kim's just taking a pregnancy test. I hope to god that's because of her and Ruzek?" Jay just smiled and pointed as Ruzek came racing through the door with a look of panic on his face and that told Kevin everything he needed to know. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
As soon as Adam saw Jay's number flash up on his phone he knew it was bad. "Is Kim okay?" he didn't even say hello.
"She is, she's at Med, took a bump to the head and needs a few stitches. She didn't want to worry you but I thought…"
"I'm on my way." Adam interrupted him. "Are you sure she's okay? I can't…"
"Ruze, she's gonna be fine. I just thought you'd like to be here." Jay assured him.
He had barely parked his car properly. For some reason that he couldn't quite grasp, this was overwhelming him. He was panicking.
Jay put a steadying hand on his arm.
"Through there, they are just running a test. She's about to go up for an x-ray." Will reassured him, Jay had told him he was good to talk to Adam about her. "Kim's okay, just a concussion hopefully. We just want to make sure she has no skull fractures. We've popped in about eight stitches."
"Can I go see her?"
As soon as Adam disappeared with Will Atwater raised an eyebrow questionably at Halstead. "So? Anything you want to share?"
"Not long after your birthday party. They've kept it quiet just while they figure some stuff out. Don't think the kids know yet either or Steve."
Will slid open the door just as Kim finished and placed her cup of pee on the table and let Adam in. "Hey. I forgot about all this shit." Adam kissed her softly and Kim could feel his terror. "You okay?"
"Yep. Just a headache. Hey.." she made Adam look at her. "I'm okay."
"Yeah, are you sure?"
"I'm fine. Jay called you?" Adam helped her back onto the bed and her smile was more like a grimace as she settled back against the pillows. While she was a little annoyed that Jay had ignored her request not to call Adam she was glad he was here. Sometimes other people knew just what you needed. Kim was more concerned about stressing out Adam than her own well-being.
"He did." Maggie came and grabbed the cup while Adam stayed beside her; he'd been here before, standing beside her bed out of his mind with worry. He chuckled a little to himself at the irony of the moment. Everyone had found out about them officially the first time when she had been shot and now here they were again, in hospital. "I think our secret is out, a little bit like last time. Kev looked a little confused."
"He's always confused. He's male. Unless you belt him over the head with it he knows nothing. You should have seen the look on his face when Maggie asked if I could be pregnant."
"What?" He was pretty sure all the colour drained from his face. He clutched Kim's hand tightly.
"Relax Adam, I am pretty sure I am not but it's a possibility right? The only sure way to prevent pregnancy is to abstain and abstinence hasn't really been our thing lately has it?"
"Well no, but…"
"And it's not like your sperm suffers from any lack of endeavour."
"Okay, this is a weird conversation. Perhaps that bump to your head is worse than we thought."
Kim closed her eyes. "I feel like I am going to vomit." She started sucking in deep breaths and Adam started to panic. He was not good with this and he was torn. He didn't want to leave her side but watching her vomit was not high on his list of things to do either. Calling in a nurse they got orders to give her some anti-emetics and they assured him that concussions sometimes did this.
"Is it the bump on your head or the thought of being pregnant that's making you feel sick?"
"A little of both."
He couldn't sound any more freaked out if he tried. "It would be kinda funny if you were, like last time. The first bang is always the biggest, must be where all the good stuff is."
"Not really funny and rather revolting when you put it like that."
Her test was negative and the X-rays came back clear but because she was so nauseous they decided to keep her in overnight. Kim complained only briefly as when she tried to get out of bed it seriously made her head spin. Erin came in and sat with her while Adam went and picked up the kids and bought them in to see their Mom because they were both a little freaked out. All three of them were feeding off each other with their panic. It wasn't a good mix.
Kim was a little bemused that Adam was insisting he was going to take them home and stay with them. It was his first time alone with both of them all night. Daisy wanted to stay with Oliver and she had got upset when Kim asked if she wanted to go stay with her grandparents. She didn't understand why she wasn't allowed to stay with Adam when Oliver did it all the time. Kim didn't have the energy to protest as she drifted off to sleep so Adam, despite not wanting to leave her took both the kids home.
It was an interesting experience for Adam, he suddenly found himself being a parent; like proper parenting. He had to make sure they were clean, Daisy decided that she wanted a shower like Ollie did so that was weird because she needed Adam's help and he'd never done that before although Daisy was full of good advice for him. They also needed to get their school uniforms out so that he could iron them apparently. Ironing wasn't one of his best skills, he barely managed a work shirt if he needed to wear a suit, and he had to make them lunch to take to school. The only thing he knew how to do was organise dinner although Kim wouldn't be overly impressed with their burger and fries on the way home. Super Dad he wasn't, but he actually loved being with them for the night.
Oliver certainly helped get their lunches organised because Daisy's description of what she wanted to take for lunch did not really seem like something that Kim would allow. Chocolate Pop Tarts were not lunch food; even he knew that.
Once he got them into bed he called the hospital and Kim was sleeping and they weren't worried about her so he returned the seemingly endless messages and phone calls. Apparently Kim wasn't the only one who had doubts about his ability to handle this. Grabbing a drink he finally had a chance to think once he satisfied Erin, Trudy, his mother, Joelle and Nicole that the kids were still alive and well.
It had played on his mind all day, well since he arrived at the hospital anyway. It had never crossed his mind that she may get pregnant because he was too busy living in the moment. They were reasonably careful but then that wasn't always a guarantee was it? And there were times when they certainly got a little carried away by the moment, they enjoyed shower sex and that wasn't really the time or place for protection. Did he want a baby? Did she want another one? It was way to early to contemplate anything that major and it hadn't even been a topic of conversation. They were barely back together, although last time they weren't even together so there was that, but then it took almost ten years to get back to this. He still had a lot of shit to deal with and felt that he was only just getting on top of it so another child was the last thing on his mind.
He did know, without a doubt that he loved her, with every inch of himself but he was nowhere near ready to face that.
Lucky she wasn't pregnant.
Without too much drama Adam got the kids to school the next day before heading into the hospital to pick up Kim. He made sure he took a photo of each of them dressed properly, with their lunch bags and heading up the path to school with a time stamp on it so he could prove that he wasn't a complete idiot. Kim laughed at him. "I had no doubts."
"Liar. You have doubts, you had every man and his dog checking up on me."
"True." Kim watched as he fussed about packing up the few things he had bought her in last night and checking over the care plan they had given him. Kim was off work for the rest of the week at least and that was going to drive her insane, probably not as much as Adam's fussing but at least he was here and that's all that mattered.
They only briefly touched on the pregnancy issue. Kim admitted that it would have freaked her out and that she wasn't sure if that would ever be on the cards. Adam just nodded and agreed with her. They needed to establish themselves; that was their priority, he was joining CFD and they had Oliver and Daisy to worry about and Adam needed to overcome his own demons. That was more than enough and that's what they focussed on and that was working well for them.
"But it wouldn't have been completely horrible would it?" He asked out of the blue later that night once the kids were asleep. All three of them had fussed over Kim all evening, she wasn't allowed to lift a finger and Adam had them buzzing around making sure their mother didn't have to worry about a thing.
"No, not at all." Kim smiled and patted his cheek as they lay on the couch. "It wouldn't have been horrible, I think it would've been a little sweet."
They were both relieved and a little disappointed and it was soon forgotten when life just marched on.
The waitress did a double take. She thought the booth was empty and had gone to clear the table, finally. It was way in the back and often got forgotten. It had probably been a good half hour since she had been back here. "Hi Sweetie."
The little girl looked up at her with a few tears in her eyes. "My Mom says I should only talk to the Police."