The organisers of Winterfest had more than outdone themselves this year, Kim couldn't help but think as she paused in the entrance of the festival long enough to smile at Adam over the top of Makayla's head. The eight year old was wriggling with excitement between them but given the size of the fast-moving crowd swarming around them, Kim and Adam were holding tight to her hands. Makayla kicked her feet out, swinging back and forth a little before practically dragging them forward.
"Let's go, please," she begged.
Kim and Adam chuckled indulgently, allowing themselves to be pulled forward into the crowd. It was Christmas Eve and Voight had specially arranged for the unit to have the night off, telling them to get out of the district and turn their phones off. So Kim and Adam had figured what better way to celebrate their time off than go to the festival that Makayla had been begging to go to for a week now but having been neck deep in a case they hadn't had time to take her to.
"What should we do first, Mak?" Adam asked, dropping her hand briefly to ruffle her curls.
But she was too busy gazing around at the stalls lining both sides of the walkway, her face lit up with both awe and golden light as she took in each stalls' wares, some laden down with tray after tray of sweet treats, while others were strung with glittering ornaments in deep reds and bright greens.
"Well," Kim said, squeezing Makayla's hand gently to draw her attention back to them. "I might have an idea."
Makayla glanced up at her and even Adam was looking at her curiously, unsure what his partner was planning. Kim just grinned and winked at him before leading them through the people. Ignoring how his heart stuttered at her smile, Adam followed her, keeping Makayla between them.
Kim clearly had a plan because she didn't hesitate as she navigated through the lanes of stalls, slipping through the crowd as they headed for their destination.
And then they saw it.
Strung with thousands of gold lights, the outdoor skating rink looked like a picture-perfect winter wonderland. Dotted with rugged up Chicagoans, their laughter and squeals of joy could just be heard over the sound of the carolers who were performing nearby.
"We're going ice-skating?!" Makayla asked excitedly, and Kim smiled knowing she had never been.
"We certainly are."
She led them over to rent some skates and the second Makayla was strapped in, she was off. One wouldn't know that she'd never skated before just from looking at her, and her days of shyness were clearly long gone with the way she quickly joined a group of kids who were also skating.
Adam smiled watching her, pride swelling in his chest, before offering his hand to Kim so they could step out onto the ice together. Having played ice hockey all through his youth, and still part of a CPD league, Adam was much smoother than she was, but Kim held her own as they slowly circled the rink, the carolers song washing over them.
'There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve?
When you believe, somehow you will
You will, when you believe.'
Adam was uncharacteristically quiet as they listened to their beautiful voices singing in harmony, his eyes never leaving Makayla on the other side of the rink. Then he squeezed Kim's hand and slid to a stop, slowing her with him.
"You're my miracle," he said to her earnestly, looking deep into her eyes. "You and Mak, you're my miracle, my forever. All I need is my two girls."
Kim reached up and touched his face tenderly. "And you're our forever."
Adam leaned down and touched his forehead gently to hers and Kim had to close her eyes against the sudden wave of emotion that took hold of her. She remembered that first year that she had Makayla without Adam, how hard it was, and even before Makyla, how lonely her life was. She never wanted to go back there. She never wanted to walk through life without the both of them by her side again.
"I love you, Adam Ruzek," she whispered into the space between them.
"I love you, Kim Burgess."
"Hey, what about me?"
Both their eyes fluttered open to see that Makayla was standing before them, hands planted on her hips with the kind of sass that promised an interesting teenagehood for Adam and Kim. Nevertheless they wasted no time in swooping down and smacking kisses on her cheeks loudly.
"Of course we love you, Makayla Ward Burgess," they sung, laughing at her shrieks of laughter mixed with exasperation.
"Good, now come on!"
She held out her hands impatiently and Adam and Kim gladly took them. One day, sooner than either of them would like, Makayla would probably decide that she was too old to hold their hands like this, so they were going to savour every moment that she let them now.
The rest of the night passed in a perfect blend of lights, fun, and laughter. They met up with Jay and Hailey who delighted in buying Makayla every sweet treat she could possibly want, ran into Trudy and Mouch who insisted on buying her a bauble with her name written on it in glittering letters, and even managed to talk Kevin into getting his face painted with her. Kim wouldn't soon forget the sight of her friend with a waving snowman on his cheek.
As it was, they were having so much fun that it was almost midnight before they left. Usually Makayla had a pretty strict bedtime, but Kim and Adam figured that it was one of the few nights of the year where it wouldn't hurt for her to stay up longer. Never mind that she was so full of sugar that she was barely tired when they bundled her up in the car and headed home.
"Kim," Makayla ventured cautiously when they were halfway there. "Adam."
"Yeah, Mak?"
"Do we get to open a present tonight?"
Kim and Adam chuckled and exchanged a glance. "We usually save that for tomorrow morning."
"Oh," Makayla said in such a small voice, that Kim bit her lip and looked in the rearview mirror at Makyla.
"What is it, bud?"
"Well… it's just that… before…"
Makayla trailed off, but neither Adam or Kim interrupted. It was unusual that Makayla mentioned her life before she came to live with Kim and they wanted to give her the space to talk about it.
"...before I came to live with you, we always used to open one present early before Santa delivered all the others. And I was wondering…"
"You want to do that?" Kim asked gently, and she just caught Makayla's little nod in the rear view mirror. She and Adam looked at one another again.
"That sounds like a great idea to me," Adam said enthusiastically, and Makayla's blinding grin told them he'd said exactly the right thing.
"Would we get to pick our own presents? Or does one person pick for everyone?" Kim ventured cautiously, before continuing when Makayla didn't answer, "Because I think I have the perfect present for you and Adam to open." She thought about the two presents she'd wrapped earlier that very day, hidden at the back of her wardrobe.
Makayla perked up in the backseat, excited by the prospect. "You can pick," she said immediately.
Kim laughed at her excitement, smile widening at Adam's clear confusion. This was one present he didn't know about yet.
Once they got home, Kim waited until she'd opened the beaded necklace Makayla had made for her and gushed over it an appropriate amount before settling both the eight year old and Adam on the lounge in preparation for their own present.
"Okay," she said, once she'd retrieved the twin presents. "You have to open them together, alright?"
She waited for both of them to agree before handing them over, practically bouncing with excitement. In unison, the pair tore into the wrapping paper, and as she expected both of them pulled aside the top layer of cloth to uncover the photo frame with the black and white picture she'd placed within.
She saw the realisation cross Adam's face first, the way he went completely still, before his head snapped up to look at her with tears already in his eyes. Makayla was more confused, frowning down at the picture for a moment, before looking at the shirt Kim had wrapped it in.
Adam surged off the lounge and pulled her towards him, spinning them both round and round as he said, "Are you serious?" over and over.
"Yes," she breathed, taking his face in her hands and kissing him breathlessly. "I'm serious."
He kissed her again and squeezed her even tighter to him, before they both looked over at Makayla.
"Can you read what it says?"
"'I'm going to be a big sister'," Makayla read slowly before her mouth fell open in surprise and she looked up at Kim. "You're going to have a baby?"
"Yeah, I am." Kim came over to crouch in front of Makayla so she could take her hands in her own.
"And the baby will be my little sister?"
"Or brother, but yeah. Is that okay?"
A smile, perhaps the biggest they'd ever seen from Makayla, lit up her face, and she launched forward to wrap her arms around Kim. Adam made a soft noise above them, and sunk down to wrap his arms around both of them. Kim rested her cheek against the top of Makayla's head so she could look at Adam, who she could see was openly crying now.
"Our forever?" she whispered, and he leant forward to rest his forehead against hers.
"Our forever."
lady-rhaesnow on tumblr requested burzek + forever + lights + midnight for her secret santa fic which gave me the chance to finally write for my favourite one chicago couple. I haven't spent a lot of time around kids plus this is my first time writing for burzek so apologies if I didn't totally nail all their voices. Thanks for reading!