Notes:
Actual notes at the end of chapter so as not to sway people's opinion of this chapter.
*/*/*
I love you…I hope it's not too late….
The air around her became a whirlwind.
Did Nicholas Burkhardt just say those words, to her of all people? Firstly, she never expected to fall in love with a Grimm and truth be told, she never expected that same Grimm, one she'd hurt over the years to reciprocate those feelings. She couldn't believe her ears. Yes, she waited months for those words and now she was at a loss as to how to react, now that he'd said them.
Had her impossible dream become a reality? Or perhaps she'd imagined it because it was all simply too good to be true….
"Say that again."
"I love you and I—"
"Not that last bit, only the first part," she corrected him.
He flashed his million-dollar smile and Adalind positively melted under its guileless glow, goodness the man was just so beautiful to behold.
"I love you." He repeated.
"Again…I think I may be a little deaf on this ear, try the other side…." She said but her face was all aglow, gleaming, even in the dim light of their former bedroom.
Instead, Nick knelt before her, taking both her hands to his lips, kissing them with each syllable, "I-LOVE-YOU." He breathed with emphasis.
She knew she was milking it but those three little words in her ear was like drinking a glass of water after traversing the vast wilderness for what had felt like an eternity with no relief. It was either that or break into happy tears, and she didn't do that, at least not willingly.
"I love you Adalind Schade and it was past due I said it because…" he said as he tilted up her chin so their eyes were level, on his knees and he still managed to tower over her. Adalind trembled under his touch.
"I thought I knew what absolute happiness was before you but the truth is I didn't, not until we moved into this loft together, here in these barren walls. At first, I was like '…impossible! (that) it couldn't be,' but you surprised me and in the best kind of way."
Her chest swelled with emotions as her eyes began to sting and her vision blurred from tears she couldn't blink away despite her concerted efforts.
"You are everything I didn't know I wanted…and needed until you stood in front of me and told me you loved me. I had held my breath that night, listening to you pour out your heart to me. I didn't know it until I heard those three little words, like I had been waiting to hear them all along but was afraid at the same time. You deserved to hear those words from me, it was crass of me to leave you hanging like that."
Nick kissed each one of her tears away, all the while whispering to her, "trust me…believe me" as if he knew how fantastical she found the whole scene playing out before her to be.
Trust was never her strong suit. She may have said something to him about this very, she couldn't remember precisely. Most of her life had been marred with great disappointment that had shaped the trajectory of her life, that lead to men like Renard and his ilk, men too quick to use her body or her abilities, sometimes both without blinking or a thought to what she wanted.
But not Nick, never Nick….
The night they'd made love, she'd given herself completely to him because she wanted to, expecting nothing in return, it never dawned her he would ever use her. She knew he wasn't the type.
It's what had ultimately drawn her to him; His protective nature, kindness, the respect he showed her even under the strangest of circumstances, like weeks of sleeping by her side and not once crossing the line. Although, she'd caught him looking at her a several times which made her inside churn in a delicious sort of way, a new experience for her and once, she openly strut in front of him in nothing but his shirt over her undies, although she never saw his reaction, hoping he'd notice.
Unfortunately, shame quickly enveloped that moment as she hastily hid herself in the bathroom, scolding herself for daring to desire a Grimm in such a carnal manner. It's what her Catherine would have been done had she been alive to witness it, no doubt her voice dripping with infinite disappointment.
Adalind never repeated her little stunt, at least not intentionally.
Back to the present, "Not to sound like a Hallmark card and honestly I am not great at expressing myself so bear with me," said Nick.
"Don't worry; I won't be beating down the door any time soon to try and stop you." She gave him a sly smile, which only made her self-conscious so she stopped herself, in case he did actually stop.
"At this stage, not even a call from Hank or Wu would stop me from saying everything I need to say, what you need to hear.
"Ms Schade, I've only ever known reckless and unbridled joy during our short time together. I can't explain it but it's the truth; It sort of caught me by surprise how deeply I felt, regretfully taking me three months too long to figure it all out, and I'm sorry about that.
"You brought up Juliette earlier and I'm not going to lie and feed you something that is false, that I never loved her, or that we were never happy. For a time, we were but when I got my Grimm sight, something deep between us shifted. A fault line appeared suddenly that we couldn't repair and the pressure from underlying issues from years of sweeping them finally caught up to us and everything just blew…well, you know."
She did and to a degree, she felt terrible about it, for how much it hurt Nick, but a selfish part of her was glad too, because what was Juliette's loss was her gain and no amount of guilt was ever going to make her wish differently.
"We tried, holding on to everything but that proved much more destructive than I imagined or even expected. My aunt had warned me once against remaining with Juliette at the beginning."
"I shudder to think what she would have thought of me," She grimaced
"Don't be too quick to judge, my aunt had a relationship with a wesen, Farley Kolt. He was a Steinadler and her fiancé."
"Shut the front door!"
This made him chuckle.
She loved making him laugh. The first time it happened, it had affected her more than she'd expected, quickly after, she obsessed with finding things to make him laugh out loud.
"Anyway, Aunt Marie was right but stubbornly, I ignored her words. I thought I knew better and that we'd weather whatever storm came our way, and before you chime in with your mea culpa, hear me out now, once and for all. The problems between Juliette and me were not all your fault. You are not to blame for every horrible decision I made, for which I suffered consequences." He said, almost as though reading minds was yet another Grimm ability, so Adalind kept her peace.
"Things between us were like mixing oil with water or rather, dosing a house on fire with kerosene but we didn't see it until it was too late. You mentioned being a Hexenbiest and me being a Grimm and implied how our ancestors' history somehow dictated how things should be between us, but why shouldn't we choose for ourselves what makes us happy? There's never been anything like you and me together and I am tired of fighting it because it goes against history, our own as much as those that came before us.
"We made a baby together you and me. Our beautiful son and who says what we have…can have together can't be as just beautiful and good? Being with you has brought me a peace I've never felt in years, contentment in a way I have never known it but also the worst kind of agony any man can experience when you left me."
The last portion of his statement made her wince, like a dark, foreboding cloud had settled once again in her heart.
"It wasn't any easier for me either, leaving this place, leaving you. I didn't want but I was afraid, Nick afraid of being in love by myself. Nick, apart from my children, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I don't think you will ever know how much you mean to me. I don't deserve you. In a million years, I still wouldn't deserve you. This thing inside me, it's like playing a six-gun game of Russian roulette, forget six barrels. There's greater chance of me destroying everything around me, it's in my nature and the very last thing I ever want is to hurt you again, I did that plenty of times before and it guts me just thinking about it. I couldn't forgive myself if I did somethi—oh—"
Before she could finish she felt his lips press firmly against her own and every thought she had, or ever had fled her once. She sighed as her lips parted to let him in, YES…and more, want…need more!
By the time they pulled apart, they were both frenzied, gasping for air and somehow ended up entangled on the bed, Nick's weight solid over her tiny body. Adalind could feel it aching already, coming alive just for him after three very long months with no relief and from the way his chest heaved, heavy and expectant, it tickled her some to see her effect on her Grimm.
"Adalind…" he groaned softly against her skin, calling out her name over and over, causing the small, rekindled embers deep inside her to fan into a roaring fiery flame.
A Grimm! Unexpectedly, she heard her mother's reproachful voice ringing in her head, the last person she wanted intruding on that moment, but she quickly shoved it down, refusing to let her mother rob her one good thing in her life. Why concern herself about what her mother would have thought of her love for Nick when she never cared about her own daughter in the first place?
Adalind drew her focus back to the man in front of her, Catherine Schade already a forgotten memory.
"What is it?" asked Nick suddenly concerned.
"It's nothing, not any more. Kiss me Nick," she said'
He obliged, to the point of leaving her delirious with intense want.
"Woman, you drive me crazy, I can't get enough of you." He said, mirroring her thoughts.
"Love me Nick, make love to me, right here, right now," commanded Adalind, enraptured by this man. "I love you so much!"
He groaned deeply when the lips met once more fervency, Adalind, pulling him down towards her.
"I love you too…too, too much Ms Schade, please…don't…don't ever leave me again…." He shook with feverish feeling as Adalind's fingers fumbled with his belt buckle, "I'm not going anywhere," she said with equal heat.
Impatiently, he gently brushed her hands aside, which made her giggled like a school girl but she was as hungry for him as he was for her.
Nick and Adalind sealed their union with a passionate and loving kiss.
*/*/*
After their third, languid round, Adalind became convinced she'd never be able to walk again, with how thoroughly Nick loved her.
"That was…"
"Spectacular…breath-taking…out of this world…" he finished off her sentence with a satisfied grin across his face. "Well Ms Schade I didn't know you could do that with your tongue and everything else. It's criminal! I should have you arrested."
"…On what charge?" she said indignantly, feigning offence.
"…Disorderly conduct for disturbing the peace, exhibiting reckless behaviour in front of our minor." He teased her.
"Argh, how dare you? I would have you know I was as quiet as a church mouse."
"As the material witness in this case, I beg to differ or should I say, you begged to differ, I seem to recall you cry out my name a several times between our—"
"Nick!" she yelped, so mortified she hid her heated face in his chest.
"Shhh, you really don't want to disturb the peace, we don't want our son to know just much his Mama and Dada love each other." He laughed but less at her expense as he wrapped his strong arms around her naked body to ward off the cold snap attracted by the rigorous activities.
"You started it," she whined.
"And I certainly know how to finish it," he said smugly, to which Adalind couldn't dispute. "I'm sorry," he said, a little more serious.
"No you're not."
"No I'm not," he brazenly admitted and kissed her, devouring her lips.
They kissed for what seemed like forever, drinking each other in and almost afraid to let the other go…making up for lost time.
After, Adalind looked at the time, 2:37AM. "It's late."
"Technically, it's early, there's still time." He lightly played his fingers over her scarred tummy.
"Seriously?" she gasped when his hand slipped between their bodies making her squirm as heat ruched over every part of her flesh. "Aren't…you…tire, I mean t-tired…"
"Tell me to stop." He challenged her.
"No…yesssss…I mean no…." She was putty in his hands and no, she definitely didn't want him to stop.
"It's obvious you're not tired but then again, I actually had something else in mind for you…." he said before diving head first under the bed sheet to her flaming core.
"Ooohh Nick, YES!" She cried out.
*/*/*
The late morning sun broke through the steel-framed windows but Adalind refused to open her eyes, not wanting to wake from the soft bed. Then a waft of bacon and French toast snapped her out of her lethargic state and she remembered she'd spent the night at Nick's loft, a night of love and passion, her cheeks grew warm at the memory.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Nick entered the bedroom with a tray between his and red rose between his teeth.
What cheesy, romantic Hallmark movie was this? It was as if she'd entered the twilight zone, she thought but deep down she loved it. No one had ever brought her breakfast in bed, let alone spouting a rose between his teeth with nothing but a towel on.
"You do know Sleeping Beauty was originally a blood sucker preying on young, unsuspecting village boys who wanted to play the gallant hero and rescue her from an alleged sleeping curse but it was a ruse to lure them into her trap to feed off their blood to prolong her life?"
"I did not know that," he said with awkward surprise. He laid the tray on the bed beside her.
"Sorry…sometimes I just say the first thing that comes to my mind and now I have ruined the moment."
"Never, but no more talk of weird deadly folklore tales over breakfast, not unless it involves this." He walked over to the open wooden chest and lifted a heavy looking, age-stained book with a massive "G" for Grimm plastered on the front cover for her to see."
The book!
In the drama and excitement of the night before, she'd forgotten all about the book.
"Is he in it?" She meant Kelly.
Now that she had it in front of her, she wasn't so sure she wanted to know. Bonaparte had gotten into such a frenzy, was it possible she over reacted?
"See for yourself," he handed her the book.
With reverence and shaky hands, Adalind began to page through the book, skipping through the first three quarters of the page to the very last few documented. There were hundreds of names but she was looking for one in particular. She found it, "Kessler." She came across Walter Kessler, the name of Nick's maternal grandfather and at the end of his line, was Kelly Burkhardt, born to a Nicholas Burkhardt on 10/30/15.
"So doesn't mean he's…"
"A Grimm? Maybe. My uncle George, he never got the sight and he's name is not there."
"I guess that answers it." She said with little emotion.
"Are you okay with that?" he asked, suddenly. "We never really talked about it, I mean seriously that is. It's okay, to not be okay about it, you know you can tell me. I know these past few months weren't exactly what you'd hoped because I screwed up so royally, making you feel like you were lesser somehow, that I could never love you because you are a Hexenbiest. I need you to know that it would not have matter to me one bit if his name wasn't in that book and he was half-Zauberbiest. All this time, I kept thinking, he is my son and I love him…." He said soberly.
"…And that is all that matters, not which side of his DNA lottery he falls under."
"Exactly, he is a beautiful part of both of us, you and me together, that we managed to get right, against all odds."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
*/*/*
Notes:
This is short and maybe sweet, It was supposed to be the latter half of the previous chapter but them I kind of got carried away with the length of that chapter so I made it into a new Chapter instead. I'm not 100% sure about some things in this chapter. I'm two ways about it, like it had to be said but then again maybe not because the show didn't address it. Many of us write fanfiction as a means to "correct" some shows' mistakes and I feel like the show kind of robbed us so much of Nick's POV when it came to his feelings for Adalind and how he came to the place where he loved her and couldn't pretend otherwise anymore. It took him all of two seasons to tell her finally and while I loved it, I wish we had that moment much earlier! I wanted to get inside his head and they didn't let us, I'm filling in the blanks but sometimes it second guess myself and go, but no he wouldn't (didn't) say/do that. Ugh, such a conundrum! Please share your thoughts, don't be shy (like show!Nick, lol).