Liz is laying on her belly in the bed and has to smile as she feels a pair of lips trailing up her spine to wake her. In the past she hated it when her partners did so, especially when they had a stubbly beard, but with Adam it feels different, it feels right. She sighs and starts to shift a little.

Adam is looking up with a frown to see if brown eyes are open already and smirks as he sees the smile on her lips. "Hey," he whispers against her skin.

Her smile grows even bigger and but she still doesn't open her eyes, she is enjoying the contact too much to do so. The only response from her is a content hum.

He lets an hand trail over her back as well. "God." He mumbles.

"What's wrong," she asks and is a little bit panicking, cracking her eyes open.

Adam finds them and shakes his head. "Nothing, it's just … you are beautiful."

"You are not so bad yourself."

He chuckles and starts to kiss her shoulders. "But I am awesome in bed."

She snickers into the pillow and perks her eyebrows. "You're all right."

Adam is placing an hand on her hip so she is turning on her back. "That sounded differently last nigh."

Liz is holding his gaze and shrugs with a smirk. "What do I know? I am only twenty-six." She turns serious again and runs her fingers thought his hair.

He furls his eyebrows now. "What?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Liz."

She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. "I love you and I don't want to be with someone else than you, ever."

Adam can see the truth in her eyes and he feels like he can take a look into her exposed soul for the very first time since they are a couple. He can see the vulnerability and the fear of being hurt in them, and that she isn't as though as she pretends to be on the outside.

And he starts to understand why she always tries to push him away when it comes to really emotional things, that she is doing so because she doesn't know how to cope with every single feeling or express them. He knows that Jane and Maura are great parent and that they have taught their daughter to do many things they would never do in the presence of others, but he also knows that children are also adopting bad habits of the parents, even though they try to avoid to do so. And that is something parents can be blamed for.

"I am not going to hurt you purposely, Elizabeth." He whispers and frowns deeply. "I am not going to leave you alone as long as I don't have to, and that means that you won't get rid of me as long as I am breathing."

"And if we don't work out as a married couple?"

"It will take some time, but I will be there if you need me."

Liz inhales shakily and let her hands roam over his bare back. "You have a heart of gold."

"Only when it comes to those I care for." He replies with a smile.

She is about to reply something but doesn't say a word, arching an brow with a smile

Adam groans and buries his face in the crook of her neck. "But I am also an adult man who is hovering over a beautiful, naked woman," he mumbles and shakes his head.

Liz is chuckling now but then she turns serious again as he looks at her, because she knows what his eyes are asking for. She nods approvingly and is gasping in the next moment."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz is slowing her strides and laughs heartily. "You are getting old, Leslie."

The redhead is huffing and puffing and braces herself on her thighs, blinking against the blinding sun. "I am sorry, but I barely get the chance to go for a run since I am a mother, which should keep me in shape because it's a fulltime job. You really should try it."

Liz smiles and starts her warming down. "We're working on it."

Leslie makes a face and shudders. "Oh, please."

The brunette snickers and wiggles her eyebrows. "What happened? In the past you seemed to be extremely interested in my sex life."

"I start to regret it." Leslie says and rolls her eyes.

"You are jealous because I do have a sex life."

"God, yes." Leslie admits and smirks.

Leslie smiles and starts to shake out her arms. "How is it going with Chaz?"

"We take one step at a time." Leslie answers and raises her brows. "We listen to the advice of our therapist."

"To take one step at a time?" Liz asks with a smile.

The redhead gives her a shove and rolls her eyes. "Yes, jerk." She laughs and is studying her friend. "So, Adam and you are good … once again?"

"Yes, I think. I mean, we do have a argument every now and then."

"About the meaning of life?"

"About dish washing."

"Seriously," the redhead asks delighted.

Liz' shoulders are slumping. "Yeah."

"So you are not the perfect little couple that everyone wants to be anymore?"

The brunette snorts and starts to walk now. "We hardly have been a perfect couple."

"You never disagreed at work, you never fought at home, you never -"

"All right, all right." Liz interrupts her laughingly. "Adam and I had been caught up in our little bubble in which most things have been perfect."

"Until reality set it." Leslie adds and raises her eyebrows high.

The other woman sighs and nods approvingly. "Yes. Yes, you are right, until reality did set in. But I have to thank you as well, Leslie."

Leslie is blinking a couple of times and stops to walk. "For what?"

Liz smiles broadly and bumps her shoulder into Leslie's. "For being my friend, for being there for me when I need you most."

The redhead smiles back at her and nods. "Likewise." She sobers and looks long at Liz. "Speaking of being there for each other, could you babysit Damian for the weekend?"

Liz let the words sink in and then she's furling her brows. "Didn't you just say that Chaz and you are taking it slow?"

"We do." Leslie replies and shrugs. "But it doesn't mean that we can't have a good time during our … healing progress."

Liz is wrinkling amused her nose. "You miss him."

"I do miss him a lot." Leslie admits and sighs. "I still love him, that's why I didn't file divorce papers."

The brunette is taking a deep breath and blinks against the sun. She is glad that Leslie is giving Chaz a new chance, but it doesn't mean that everything is all right again between him and Liz. He really had the nerve to ask her to not tell Leslie about his affair and she made him understand that she is telling her best friend if he don't do so. "I am happy for you, Leslie. I am happy that you don't give up on Chaz."

Leslie is looking long at her friend and is looking for the signs of a lie, but she can't find them. "Thank you, Liz."

Liz is smiling again and starts to rub her hands like she is having cold hands. "So, when are dropping Damian off at my place?"

"Would be after lunch okay for you?"

"Yeah, sure."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jane is sitting down at the kitchen island and is pouring herself a glass of iced tea with a groan. She stops dead in her tracks as soon as she sees the amused look of her wife. "Why are you smiling?"

Maura is still grinning and shakes her head without answering the question, and put the carafe back into the fridge.

"We are old, Maura. We are allowed to sit down noisily." The Italian states and shrugs as Maura is turning back to her. She frowns as the other woman still isn't saying a word. "Come on, agree with me."

Maura wiggles her eyebrows and still isn't saying a word.

Jane purses her lips and leans back in her chair, listening to the silence of the house.

Maura is sitting down next to Jane and scrutinizes her face for a moment. "What are you thinking right now?"

"I just remembered how it sounded when our daughter ran down the stairs when she smelled pancakes." The Italian admits and takes a deep breath. "Well, I barely remember a time when Liz didn't run around."

Maura chuckles now and takes a deep breath. "Me neither."

Jane is about to say something else and turns her head as she hears the front door opening. She furls her eyebrows when Adam is entering the house and does have Damian on his arms. She looks back at her wife and has a confused expression. "Did I … miss something?"

The ME is rolling her eyes and gets up to her feet, walking to them. "You are early."

Adam is nods approvingly and shrugs as soon as Maura takes Damian off his hands. "Liz wanted to be here before it's too hot."

"She wanted to be here earlier so she can hop into the pool before everyone else is here." Jane replies and arches an eyebrow.

"Probably," he says laughingly and stretches his back.

Maura makes her way to the living room and frowns. "And where is Liz right now?"

"Still in the car and talking to David Peters."

Jane groans and then she huffs. She isn't really sure why, but she never liked that guy who also is working in BPD. "What is that idiot waiting from her?"

He shrugs again and turns the corners of his mouth downward.

"God, the next time I am about to pick up Peters' call, stop me from doing so." Liz says with a sigh as she enters the house of her parents. "Or shoot me, I don't care."

Jane is the one who is rolling her eyes now and takes a swig from her iced tea. "What did he want this time?"

"The usual." The younger woman answers and is kissing Jane's cheek.

"Really," the lieutenant asks with an high-pitched voice and makes a face. "He still don't get that you are not interested in him?"

"No."

Maura frowns deeply and shakes her head. "I didn't know that you would babysit Damian for the weekend."

"It was a last-minute decision." Liz answers and greets the blonde as well. "Leslie and Chaz need a little time for themselves."

"Uh-huh," the older woman says skeptically and Adam drops chuckling his chin to his chest.

"Don't be like that, Jane." Maura is admonishing the Italian with a smile. "You know how it is when you have to take care of a small child."

Jane is glancing directly at her daughter and smiles a little. "Oh, I sure do."

Liz rolls her eyes now and points at herself. "I did not keep you from your … nocturnal activities."

Maura is looking at her wife now and the two women starts to laugh heartily.

Adam snickers and groans a little as soon as Liz elbow finds its way to the pit of his stomach.

"There has been a reason why you stayed every second weekend at grandma's place." Jane says and starts to smirk as her daughter is blushing. She furls her brows as soon as Liz is starting to walk. "Where are you going now?"

"Cooling off," the younger woman grumbles before she is out of view.

"I knew." Jane says laughingly and follows Liz hot on her heels.

Adam is chuckling and shakes his head with a frown.

Maura smiles broadly but then she recognizes something in his face that is worrying her. "Adam, is everything all right?"

He turns his head and is blinking a couple of times. "Huh? Oh yeah, everything is fine."

"But your face is saying something else."

Adam shakes his head again and is sitting down on a armchair. "I am just waiting for the moment Liz chicken out again."

Maura is holding his gaze and nods slowly. She can understand his statement in this moment and somehow she is feeling sorry for him. "I can see what you mean."

"You do," he asks and sounds a little surprised.

She smiles again and looks down at the boy in her lap. "I do, yes. You have to understand that Jane and I haven't been the best role models for Liz when it came to our deeper feelings and that we rather closed ourselves up before we said out loud what the problem has been."

"Well, you obviously did make it."

"Oh, Jane and I also had moments in which we thought a separation would be the best for all of us."

"Seriously," he asks and can't hide his surprise anymore.

Maura nods again and takes a deep breath. "Yes, Liz was ten when we had thought about it for the first time."

Adam sighs loudly and leans back in the armchair. "And what was the reason that the two of you thought about a divorce? If you don't mind asking."

Maura licks her lips and wiggles her eyebrows. "We have been stretched thin. We had Liz, our work and Jane started to become the head of the family step by step, and we didn't communicate with each other about how much everything put a strain on us. Jane started to bury herself in work and I … let her. If you have to blame someone for sometimes emotional not being available, blame us."

Adam let the words sink in and he props his elbows up on his knees. "I don't blame anyone, Maura, but I start to understand many things."

The doctor nods slowly and finally smiles again. "I don't think that Liz will get cold feet again."

"I hope so."

"We never got so closed to the rehearsal dinner."

"It's still not tomorrow." Adam replies and wiggles his eyebrows.

"Good point." The ME laughs amused and he chuckles."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz furls her eyebrows and isn't sure what is happening in this moment when a pair of arms are wrapped around her middle. She has been standing alone in the backyard of her parents house and has enjoyed the cooling air of the night and the view. "Well, hello there." She says a turns her head to the left so she can look into Adam's eyes.

"Hi." He says and inhales the fresh air deeply. "How are you?"

The question is confusing her even more and she shrugs. "I am fine, and how are you?"

Adam is only nodding and a deep frown finds its way up on his forehead. "Are you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous? It is just a rehearsal dinner, Adam."

"We get one step closer than the two times before."

Liz isn't moving for a second before she relaxes against his body. She knows what he is implying and she knows that she got one last shot or he is leaving, she can see it in his eyes. "We are also gonna take the last step this time. I am tired of running from you, I am tired of running from the feelings I have for you."

Adam nods approvingly and has to smile as she is looking up at him. "Okay, then."

"That's it?" She asks scandalized but is smiling. "That's all you have to say? Okay, then."

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Maybe that you feel the same way like I do and that everything is going to be fine."

"I love you like I love my mother." Adam gasps as her elbow finds its way back into his belly. "And I love it when you ram your elbow into my stomach. That's something no other woman ever did before."

Liz is turning around and furrows her brows. "Really? You love me like you love your mother?"

He chuckles and takes her face in between his hands. "I love her very much." His eyebrows are shooting up high as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other and he knows what she is about to do. "Uh-uh, don't you dare."

"Just a little bit."

He stares over her head into the darkness and furls his eyebrows. "How can you kick someone's balls just a little bit?"

"Practice." Liz answers laughingly and he snorts amused. She sobers again and trails her fingers over his collar. "I love you, Adam."

Adam is holding her gaze and is looking for the hint of panic in brown eyes, but he can't find it and something deep down in his heart stirring. A smile is tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I love you too, that's why I'm still here."

Liz is nodding slowly and takes a deep breath before she closes the last gap of their lips.