Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
A/N: I want to say thank you to everyone who left reviews on the last chapter and want to welcome anyone who found this story. Chaotic world means for chaotic updating habits so thanks for everyone's patience as well.
The weeks following their big breakthrough in the house were chaotic in Intelligence but that was putting it mildly. Their days started at the crack of dawn only to finish well into the night and their bodies could do nothing more than crash as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Kim was dreaming of the day when they'd have a day off to be able to shop for the missing furniture for their room. She also had a special project that was mulling over in her mind about what to do with Adam's dad's office, wanting to turn it into an office for himself, a space where he could also be reminded of his father. If she was being honest with herself, she was starting to be excited about moving into the house with Adam, making them that much closer to a new life together. Adam's grief lessened with every passing day and with each extra day they worked in the house, the ghost of his father weighed less on his heart and he was able to be inside the house without his emotions taking him over. Their master bath was completely done, fresh with paint and the room was simply waiting to be furnished. As for the kitchen, all the cabinet doors were already removed from their hinges and the cabinets painted white, the doors meant to be painted a light grey. The only new aspect in there would be the counter tops, sink and faucet. They finally managed to wake up at the end of the week with a day off, the whole week end theirs to enjoy.
"I hate this job." Adam grumbled as his body rose from its slumber.
"No, you don't." Kim turned and snuggled into his side, not really wanting to get up either. "What do we have planned today?" She mumbled into his chest.
"I need to paint the kitchen cabinet doors, what are you up to?" He kissed the top of her hair, pulling her closer into him.
"Hailey and Nicole offered to come shopping with me later."
"That sounds like trouble." He was fully awake now and turning on his side to be closer to her.
"I won't be using your money." She chuckled, finally looking up at him. "Promise." She pushed herself higher and kissed him soundly.
"Even better." He guided her on her back and kissed her again, his hands roaming the skin on her legs.
"Adam." A moan escaped her lips as his found her pulse point.
"We don't need to be up so early." His lips moved to her shoulder. "Let's just enjoy, each, other's, company." He pushed his left hand under her shirt.
"If you insist." She moaned again, running her fingers through his hair.
"I do insist." He grinned. And that's how they spent their morning, Adam making sure Kim was thoroughly loved. He let her slip out of bed once they had caught their breaths, slipping a hand behind his head. He was content to just watch her get ready, the domesticity of it all a calming presence. The more they moved forward with their plans, the more he felt at peace with the hollow space his dad left in his heart. "So, when are the girls supposed to come by?"
"They should be here around ten." She called from behind the bathroom door in their room. "Is Kevin coming to help you?" She poked her head through the door.
"Not today, he's spending it with Jordan and Vinessa, it'll be just me."
"Are you sure that you don't want any help?" She questioned before disappearing behind the door again. Adam slipped his boxers on and slipped inside the bathroom
"I'm sure that I want you to enjoy some time with the girls." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the junction between her neck and shoulder.
"I can stay with you, I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind." She turned in his arms.
"Absolutely not." He leaned down and kissed her, Kim wrapping her arms around his neck. "You've been working like crazy at the station and when we're not there, we're at the house."
"So, have you." She countered, pecking his lips.
"I know but you deserve some girl time and it's been a while since you've seen your sister so just go have some fun."
"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." She pulled herself out of Adam's reach as he huffed.
"Kim darling, that's not what I'm saying." He scrambled out of bed and went after Kim, reaching her just as she slipped into the bathroom, pulling her to him. "I want you very much." He kissed her. "But you need something more than my hot body to be able to survive." His lips found her neck.
"You are so full of yourself Adam Ruzek." She laughed.
"And that's why you love me."
"Who said anything about love?" She pushed him playfully, trying to get out of his grip but he only held onto her tighter.
"I did." He quickly flipped her over his shoulder, Kim emitting a squeal and a giggle before he brought her back to bed with him, dropping her gently on the mattress. "I love you more than anything in this world and we are getting so close to living the rest of our lives together."
"Don't show that side of you outside of this house otherwise the bad guys might not believe your tough guy rep anymore." She pulled him down to her and kissed him.
"We wouldn't that to happen now, would we?"
"Oh no because I happen to be able to survive on your hot body only so I can't have anything happen to it." She playfully added as Adam traced her shoulder with kisses.
"But I need to learn to share your hot body so I'm going to take all the self-restraint I have left and let you get ready to go shopping with the girls." He kissed her one last time on the lips before he released her from his grip so she could go shower.
"How very generous of you." She kissed him again and got up to shower and get ready while she could feel Adam's eyes watching her every move. Kim was finishing getting ready when the doorbell rang. "I'm coming." She yelled but Adam was already there, letting both Hailey and Nicole inside.
"She's all yours ladies."
"Are you ready to go spend his money?" Nicole teased.
"Absolutely." She winked at Adam. "Good luck with the paint baby." She kissed him quickly before the three were out of the door.
"So, what are we looking for exactly?" Hailey asked as they drove to the mall.
"Well, I still need to buy linens for our bedroom, and I was thinking about doing something for Adam with his dad's office but I need to be able to get Adam out of the house for a few days so I can make it a surprise."
"I'm sure that the guys could help you out with that." Hailey pressed.
"What are you thinking?" Nicole questioned as they walked into a Bed, Bath and Beyond.
"Well, he had, has, this nice, old industrial like cabinet with glass doors where he kept most of his things in and Adam hasn't been able to go through them so I figured that I'd keep that and the desk that's in there is in good shape but could use some loving. Give that room a new coat of paint and I found some pictures of him and his dad that I could hang in there too."
"I think he'll like that sis."
"Let's hope so." She mused as they continued to shop.
Adam drove to the house and went right to work after Kim had left with her sister and Hailey. The cabinet doors were all lined up on the table and he proceeded in putting the first coat of paint. He was glad that Kim was actually doing something fun outside of the house, so he was happy to spend some quiet time by himself. His eyes trailed towards his dad's office every now and again. He knew he had to go through it at some point, but the ghost of his dad was always keeping him from doing it. His mind kept drifting to it as he painted the first coat on the last door but after putting the brush down, he made his way towards the room. It was as is since he had been in it last with Kim, so he decided to go through his dad's cabinet to begin with. He opened the glass windows and started from the top. It was a long process and some of what was in there was meant for the trash but when Adam's eyes fell on a stack of newspaper clippings. They were the times that Intelligence made it to the news. He also found some pictures between the clippings. One was of him with his father at a CPD function during his first year and a few were of him as a kid wearing his dad's uniform. Tears filled his eyes, but a small smile curled on his lips. He put it aside and found some medals from his father's time on the force. It became a little bit too much for him, so he set the things aside and closed the doors again, returning to the kitchen to apply the second coat of paint on the doors. Kim returned later while he was cleaning up all the supplies.
"Hey babe, how did it go?" She walked in alone.
"Wow, that's a lot of things." He eyed all the bags she was holding.
"Well, if we want to move soon, we need stuff to furnish our bedroom."
"I didn't know we were missing so much." He chuckled.
"New start new stuff." She shrugged. She had been thinking of changing it up at her place a while now before she and Adam became a thing again, so this was the perfect opportunity.
"I'm okay with that." He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her. "Did you have fun?"
"I did." She kissed him back. "How about you? You look like you've got a lot done."
"Just cleaning it up. I'll be able to put those back up in a couple of days." He released her and returned to what he was doing but Kim could see it written on his face.
"Is everything okay?" She set the bags on the side of the wall.
"I did a bit of sorting in my dad's office, threw a few things out, found some more." He looked at her with a smile.
"How did you feel about that?"
"Found some nice memories in there, made me smile."
"That's good." She leaned against the countertop.
"Yeah." He sighed. "Listen, I was thinking, maybe we could go to Molly's tonight, spend some time with the gang, grab a few drinks."
"Yeah, that sounds good. Jay and Hailey are going to be there for sure."
"Those two." He chuckled.
"Yeah." She laughed. "Hailey was all blushing when I tried bringing it up."
"Jay still hasn't said a word about it out loud either."
"Well, the two of them deserve to be happy."
"They do." Adam agreed. "How about we go put all of those bags in our room upstairs and then we can get some diner and get ready to go to Molly's?"
"Sounds like a plan." So, they cleared out the house in comfortable silence and went back home together so they could relax a bit together before heading out.
They ended their day at Molly's and quickly enough, Kevin was packing down the shots with Adam while Kim was chatting it up with Jay and Hailey.
"You know that those two will have trouble standing straight in the morning, right?" Jay chuckled, sipping his beer.
"I'm not the boss of them and Adam's on his own this time." She emptied her own beer and headed towards the bar with a chuckle.
"Hey, Burgess." Kevin wrapped an arm around her shoulder with a laugh.
"Hey, Atwater." She grinned. "How are you?"
"I'm definitely drunk, Ruzek's been buying so I'm good, I'm really good." His booking laugh made her smile.
"And he says I'll be spending all of his money." She chuckled.
"Oh, I wouldn't be saying he ain't spending a fair share of money too."
"Is he now?"
"Oh yeah. He's got something pretty sweet planned for you Burgess."
"I think you should stop talking Kev." She patted his cheek playfully.
"I'm telling you Burgess, that boy is head over heels in love with you and when you see them, you'll know it's true."
"If you don't want Adam to kill you for ruining whatever surprise he has up his sleeve, I'd stop talking Kevin."
"Copy you."
"Come on, let's call you a cab." Kim flagged Herrmann and asked him if he could call a cab for Kev and they returned to their friends so Kevin could say good night to everyone, getting escorted out by Kim and Jay. When Kim returned to the table chuckling about something Jay said, Adam was clearly done.
"Alright big man, this is our cue to leave." She wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Ah come on darling, the fun is just getting started."
"And I'd like for us to leave here with our reputations intact before you ruin it for us and get us kicked out on a permanent basis." Jay and Hailey were snickering in their corner. "You two better stop it before I reveal your little secret to the rest of the world." That easily shut their teasing up and Kim pulled Adam to his feet.
"Good luck with him, he'll probably be a snoring, dead weight by the time you get back home." Jay was having entirely too much fun with all of this.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Halstead." She rolled his eyes at him. "Men, why do I put up with them again?"
"Because you love us darling." He kissed her, stumbling as they made it to the front door of Molly's.
"Thank god that I do." She giggled as they walked to her car. Adam was extra chatty as they drove the distance and Kim couldn't stop laughing at his slurred speech and lame attempts at making jokes three sheets gone. He wasn't snoring when they made it to the apartment, but he was definitely dead weight and Kim had some difficulty getting him up the stairs. She gave up trying to change him, so she decided to strip him down to his boxers and with little help from him, managed to slide him under the covers.
"Thank you for putting up with me darling." She slipped in next to him.
"I'll put up with you for the rest of our lives, I promise." She whispered against his lips as she snuggled closer into his side. "I love you."
"I love you too." Adam's drunk body fell asleep before Kim could even close her eyes but being wrapped up into his arms lulled her to sleep minutes later.
A/N: So Adam finally cleared up some stuff in his dad's office and Kim can go on with her plan knowing he is getting better but Atwater'S lose lips almost crushed Adam's ring surprise for Kim, yikes. I really hope you liked this chapter and take a few seconds to review before you go, your words mean the world to me. - Sarra