"What?" Adam shrieked. Atwater leant back in his chair and chuckled at the horrified look on Ruzek's face. "What?" he repeated. "Why?"

Kim wasn't surprised by his reaction and she could only imagine the look on his face right now. She so wished she could have video called him. "I'm sorry Adam."

"When?"

"She's here now and seeing that I am on Nightshift tonight is it okay if you stay here with Zoe?"

"Sure, but Kim…" he whined sounding like a petulant child.

"Adam I know" she did have some sympathy for him, actually quite a lot. "But what could I do. I couldn't say no."

He dropped his head onto his desk and banged it lightly as he exhaled slowly. "Okay."

"What's going on?" Atwater swung around as soon as he hung up, having been more than mildly amused by the dramatics going on behind him.

"Kim's sister had to go away at the last minute with her husband so Kim is looking after her niece all weekend."

"Sound like fun. Zoe's a cool kid right?"

"Yeah she is." He tossed his phone on the desk, leant back in his chair and roughly ran his hands back and forth over his head and face in frustration. "It's just. This weekend…." He lowered his voice. "It's been two months. We had plans."

"Oh." Atwater couldn't hide his amusement when it clicked what he was talking about and started laughing hysterically.

"You are not fucking helping."

"I can't believe you've made it two months. I gave you two weeks tops."

"Ye of little faith." He turned towards his computer and started trying to distract himself reading through his ridiculous amount of emails. "The last week has been absolute torture though. I'm a little on edge, so to speak."

Zoe was a little shy to begin with, it had been a while since she had seen him but it was hard not to warm up to Adam because of the ice-cream, chocolate and DVD's he bought with him and the fact he was just a big kid himself. Kim had checked with her sister if it was okay that Zoe stayed with Adam. She didn't have much leave left and didn't want to take the night off. "Of course. Now if it was the other one, not so much." Amanda added.

"Thanks for the reminder." Amanda certainly didn't miss the sharpness of her tone.

Adam was watching a game on TV when Kim came back from helping Zoe into her bed. He had agreed to sleep on the couch for the night so Zoe could have her room. He felt more comfortable that way. "Thank you for doing this. I know it's not what we were hoping for."

"Nope." He watched Kim from the corner of his eye as she sat in the corner of the couch about as far away from him as she could.

"You are pissed off?"

"No I'm not." Adam tried to sound convincing. However I am sexually frustrated but not pissed off."

"You've had that date circled on the calendar for two months haven't you?"

"One month, three weeks and six days to be precise." He tapped her leg lightly. "Or do you want it in hours and minutes?"

"One thousand four hundred and forty hours."

The number rolled off Kim's tongue and Adam laughed. "Guess who's also been counting?" Kim popped her feet up on his lap. "What time is your sister coming back on Sunday?"

"Why?"

"I need to figure out how many more hours I've got to keep the knot tied. I was kinda banking on about 8am tomorrow. I've been tapering just for that."

Adam was quick off the blocks and she couldn't count the times he had her in stitches. She could never stay angry with him for long because of his responses to her gripes and it was never long until her cheeks hurt from laughing. Well until when she started acting stupid anyway. "How does one taper for something like that?"

"It's a secret. Do you know what would happen to me if I divulged those secrets?"

Kim could hear them even before she opened her front door. Zoe was laughing hysterically at Adam who was busy trying to flip pancakes, somewhat unsuccessfully and Zoe was loving every minute of his show. Her kitchen was trashed, there were dishes everywhere and both Adam and Zoe were covered in flour and god knows what else. "What's going on?"

"We are making you breakfast." Zoe jumped down from the stool and ran to hug her Aunt. "Pancakes are you favourite right?"

She returned her hug happily. Adam had assured her late last night and this morning in her predictable 'checking in' phone calls that they were doing just fine without her. "That they are. Did you sleep well? Have you taken your meds?"

"Whoa, back up mama bear." Adam leant across the counter, grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him for a kiss. "How was your night?"

"Long and tiring."

"Well grab a shower and then come and have some breakfast." He pushed her lightly in the direction of the bathroom while Zoe started to make a coffee like Adam had been teaching her. She had it waiting for her Aunt when she came back out.

"We are going to the Aquarium today." Zoe declared excitedly and she shot a quick look at Adam who just shrugged apologetically. "Are you going to come?"

"Of course. A day with my two favourite people, I wouldn't pass that up for anything."

After breakfast Kim had a couple of hours sleep while Zoe and Adam headed out to the shops. They were cooking dinner tonight and she had no idea what they had planned but it was cute. Seeing them conspiring together warmed her heart, he was so good with kids. They often saw it at work, his connection with young children and his willingness to work with them and the lengths he would go to protect them. She knew one day he'd make a great father.

It surprised her when that thought jumped into her head. They hadn't talked about children in a long time, since before they were engaged and even then it was a lighthearted conversation. He had talked about it briefly just after his father died but that was more about what he hoped he could bring from his childhood. They both knew that they wanted children at some point but that was as far as the conversation went.

If it wasn't so damn cute Kim would have got jealous as Adam and Zoe spent most of the afternoon bouncing from one exhibit to the other, whispering and laughing together. She didn't get a look in. When they got home she was made to put her feet up while they buzzed about in the kitchen making tacos. "Can I do something?" she begged at one point.

Adam and Zoe looked at each other, whispering to each other before they finally agreed that she could set the table. When Zoe disappeared to wash up for dinner Kim finally got a minute alone with Adam. "If this is supposed to make me forget about what we hoped to be doing it's not. I do believe I love you even more after today. You are seriously rocking my world mister."

"That's the plan." He winked and pushed her out of the kitchen. "Now get out."

Dinner was just one laugh after the other before they settled in to watch a 'Finding Nemo and Dory' double header. Adam's annoying impersonation of Dory had them both cringing. He could sing; he had a beautiful voice he was just choosing not to use it right now. Kim was again pushed aside as Zoe cuddled up to Adam and she barely made it through the first movie before crashing out on the couch.

"Now what do we do?" Adam threw himself on the bed. "Perhaps I should go and leave you and Zoe to have some time together."

Kim crawled over the top of him and pinned him to the bed. "Don't you dare leave."

"Just before you go any further I want to let you know that I am not having sex with you with your 12 year old niece asleep on the couch barely a few feet away."

Kim groaned and rolled off to the side. "This seriously sucks."

"Yep." He grabbed her hand and bought it to his lips. "And another little bit of information I am at a critical level of DSB, so don't touch me. I have a hair trigger."

"Okay." She moved away a little and sat up. "Can we change the subject?" she was wringing her hands nervously. Adam rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand. He looked so relaxed and comfortable. Rarely did he unhappy lately about being here, even when he was at peak sexual frustration. This weekend so far hadn't panned out the way he had hoped but surprisingly he had enjoyed himself.

"Thank you for today. You were amazing with Zoe and she loves you, I think more than me."

"What can I say, I am irresistible even to ten year olds."

"You love kids don't you? Probably helps that you are a big kid yourself." She looked at her hands and laid them in her lap, not really knowing what to do with them. Well, she knew what she wanted to do with them; she wanted to touch him, every single part of him. "I know we talked about them once, ages ago and it wasn't really a serious conversation."

"I want to have kids." He blurted out, putting her at ease instantly. He could see let out the breath she probably wasn't even aware she was holding. "With you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I think we'd make beautiful babies." Then he added quickly. "Not right now of course, but one day absolutely. Until then I think I could do some very diligent baby making practice given half the chance. I am a good student, particularly if it's one of my favourite subjects and trust me it is."

"Hmm, good to know. I think our babies would be beautiful too." A huge smile lit up her face and she leant forward and suddenly kissed him hard and knocking him backwards. "I'm sorry." She murmured between kisses. "I need to do this."

They lost themselves in each other for a few passionate minutes before Kim pulled away breathlessly. "I think I need a cold shower."

"No way. Me first." He jumped up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. This was seriously killing him. He leant his head against the cool tiles and gritted his teeth when the cold water hit his back. Perhaps if they were quiet they could do this? But then the thought of having Zoe so close made him feel weird and the last thing he wanted was for them to feel weird or to rush this. He wanted them both to enjoy every moment of it. He didn't want to waste the opportunity however much a 'Wham bam thank you mam' was appealing right now.

He didn't even open his eyes as he hunted for his phone when it started ringing and it was extremely annoying and loud. He only prised one eye open to look at the name once he'd found it. Antonio's name was flashing brightly and he looked at the clock and groaned when he saw it was 430am. "Antonio." He growled followed by a series of mumbles and grunts. "Yep, sure."

Kim stirred next to him, her warm body pressed into his side. "You have to go to work don't you?"

"Yep."

He jumped up and got dressed before coming to sit on the edge of the bed while he pulled on his boots. "Do you think this is the universe trying to tell us something?" Kim had pulled away from him a little.

"No." Adam silenced her with a kiss and was gone.

Kim wasn't so sure.