A/N: I was going to leave you hanging for a few more days but felt generous. Hope you enjoy it ;)

Al did not even know how to start this conversation. Over his years as a cop he'd had plenty of difficult conversations, more than he could count but nothing came close to this. He also thought that these days were behind him. Retirement had so many benefits and he was enjoying stopping and smelling the roses after spending too many years smelling rotting corpses. One of those benefits was also no longer having to deliver messages that were designed to break hearts.

"Hey Hey Daisy Boo." He swung the little girl up in the air and onto his shoulders. The past few months had been rough on this little one. She didn't really understand what was going on with her parents. Eventually they couldn't hide the facts from her; that her Daddy wasn't living with them. She still saw him, and even that had been a big decision for Kim. He loved his daughter, she had always been the apple of his eye and that's when a lot of the problems started. He would do anything for Daisy and Oliver was the one that suffered. He loved his wife and knew that he had let them down but he wanted her to recognise that it wasn't all his fault and she wasn't making things easy for him either.

That day, the blow up with Oliver he thought that had been his rock bottom. It had been days before Kim had even spoken to him again. When she finally let him back in the house neither of the kids were there and they had an all out argument and she told him that she would never forgive him for abusing her son. Once was more than enough and as far as Kim was concerned their marriage was over. While it hadn't been an easy decision to make, it was the only option available to her. How many times had she heard someone say 'it was only once' or 'he's never done this before'?

Gradually though she had calmed down and realised that while Oliver didn't care that he didn't see him, it was hurting Daisy and they were both adult enough to work out a plan for her sake. He was staying with his parents for now and Kim felt a little better that they were around when he had Daisy. It still wasn't easy for Daisy and they had some rough times with her but Kim had no other choice to ride it out.

Al had been a steady influence for Oliver when he needed a strong guiding hand and probably played a big part in stopping Ollie slipping off the tracks. All the times that he had been let down he would spend time with Al and he had never let him down. Al knew that Ollie had a birthday party today and was having a sleepover so he called Kim and asked her to come and meet him in the park. "I haven't seen my girls in weeks and it's a beautiful day." Surprising himself with how calm the words sounded because he felt anything but.

Daisy was off the instant Al lifted her down off his shoulders. She tried to get Al to come with her and he promised he would as soon as he talked to her Mom for a minute.

"How are things at home?"

"As good as they can be. Daisy seems to have settled right down and Oliver is just being his usual self. Nothing seems to bother him too much."

"I wouldn't say that. He's worried about you." Kim knew that he was, he'd stuck close by her lately and that was some comfort. While she tried to hold it all together for their sake it was taking its toll, physically and emotionally. Al didn't like how tired she looked lately.

"I know, he's such a sweet boy."

Al turned his head away quickly, suddenly losing his courage and watched Daisy climb up the slide quick as a flash. She had all the get up and go of her mother and no fear, with the strongest will he had ever seen. That was all Kim, thankfully and her mother was going to need it. He'd seen her pick herself up plenty of times over the years he just hoped she had the strength to do it again.

"Something's on your mind Al. Has Oliver said something to you?" While he watched Daisy, Kim watched him. It was a look she hadn't seen for so many years and it worried her. The last time Al was like this he announced, out of the blue that he was retiring. He'd picked up too many pieces and blown apart too many families over the years and he was tired and he was done and he'd pulled the pin. He had that look about him again.

"There is and Kim I don't even know what to say or how to start. So I am just going to rip the band-aid off." Kim felt her heart beating a little faster. Life lately had been one hit after another and some days just getting out of bed was a struggle, she didn't know how much more she could take. She was considering a vacation; just her and the kids to get away from life for a while, perhaps that would help her re-set and start figuring out how to put her life back together again. Having done it before she was sure she could do it again she just needed to find the energy.

"What is it?"

"I got a phone call about a week ago." He turned to face her and reached out for both her hands, holding onto them tightly. He wanted to be able to hang on to her. "From Adam."

"What?" She did not even blink.

"It was from Adam. I've seen him."

"He's dead Al."

"Kim, Adam's alive." He held on tighter as she tried to pull her hands away.

"Adam Ruzek?" How foreign that name sounded on her tongue. It had been a long time since she needed to say it.

"Yes."

"No." She shook her head. "He died Al, I know he died. I buried him."