Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing great.

I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing. I love to hear your thoughts and ideas. I usually have some chapters written in advance, but I worked on editing some of the things I had so as to include some of the things that you mentioned. So in a few chapters you'll see more interaction with Sylvie.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!! Let me know what you think.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my imagination.

One full week had gone by since the last time he saw her at Molly's. He heard a million stories about her told by his niece and he was still patiently waiting to get a text from her, but he was slowly losing hope. The people around him could see that, especially Kevin and he didn't like it a bit, he liked seeing Adam all overly excited even if it was only because of a random chick he picked up in a bar.

It was Saturday, he finally had a whole weekend off and Grace was so looking forward to a day in the park and ice cream. That wasn't Adam's preferred choice of activity, but seeing his niece so damn excited got him all worked up too.

"Ta-da!" He said opening up his arm revealing his attempt at French braids, that looked like anything except that. "What do you think?"

"Thanks uncle Adam, but I think I want pigtails today." Grace was a super sweet kid, Adam still wasn't sure how that had come out of his brother.

Despite the fact that she was having a hard time opening up and that she was probably the one who was feeling the worst, she still managed to look out for her uncle's feelings. Somehow her six year old self knew for a fact how hard he was trying.

"Sorry muffin, I promise I'll keep practicing."

"That's ok." She turned around to hug him and he instantly felt he was crumbling inside.

"Go get your coat and let's hit the park!"

"Yei!" The little girl ran to her room, which was Adam's ex spare room, to get her things.

The way to the park was nice and quiet, Grace stopped talking for a bit and just looked out the window observing every single detail of her surroundings. Although she and her parents lived in the same neighborhood, moving to her uncle's apartment was quite a change for her, and she often did this, absorbing what's going on and using it in her favor to adapt herself to the situation.

This was a big change for Adam too, the big tough cop had a soft spot for Grace and watching her smile as she looked around the park to see what she wanted to do first melted his heart.

"Uncle Adam?"

"Yes, muffin?"

"Can we have a puppy?" Adam just laughed.

"Oh, no. You are not going to go there. We know what you parents think about that. If I get you a puppy they will kill me."

"Then you can get a puppy for yourself and I can play with it, and feed it, and take it for a walk."

"You have it all figured out, huh?"

"Pleeeease." The little girl begged.

"Not right now, hun. We can think about it later, ok?" Grace seemed bummed for about 30 seconds until something snapped her out of it and made her run away from her uncle. "Gracie, wait! Where are you going?" Just when he was about to curse under his breath he heard the little girl's voice.

"Ms. B!" As soon as she spotted Kim, she forgot all about the puppy and ran towards her teacher jumping in her arms.

"Hi, sweetheart. What a nice surprise." Both of them were smiling, Kim still holding Grace.

"Did you also come here to have ice cream?"

"Hmmm, not really. But that sounds like a great plan you have going on."

"Yes!" She said with excitement. "Uncle Adam and I are going to spend the whole day together." Her smile reached both her ears.

"This is a nice turn of events." Adam walked over to them with his hands in his pockets, and looked at Kim as he spoke. "But you Miss Ruzek, don't run away like that again. No matter who you see, you let me know first. Is that ok?" She nodded her face and seemed embarrassed.

"Sorry."

"It's ok." He ran the back of his index finger through the little girl's cheek.

"Uncle Adam, can we invite Ms. B to have lunch and ice cream with us?"

"Sure we can, but maybe she has other plans already. I really hope she doesn't." He said the last part, turning his face to look at Kim.

"Do you Ms. B?"

"Um…" She wasn't sure as to what to do. Originally she thought about going somewhere else instead of the park, but something told her to come here. Maybe that something was also telling her to spend some time

with the Ruzeks. "I don't, really." She looked at Grace with a big smile on her face, while Gracie just cheered and hugged her by the neck.

"That settles it then."

Kim put Grace down after she asked for permission to go to the swings leaving both adults on their own.

"Grace was super excited to see you. I'm starting to get a little jealous." He joked.

"I was excited to see her too, it's nice to run into the little ones outside of school."

"Ouch." He took his hand to his chest. "That's too bad you're not excito see me."

"Who said I wasn't?" She smiled and looked down.

"Yeah? That works out then, because I'm really happy to see you."

"How was your week?" Kim tried to change the subject before stepping into a field she didn't know how to get out of without completely falling.

"It was pretty quiet. Which I'm thankful for, since I have a lot to take care of outside of work now." Although he was carrying on the conversation, his attention was on Gracie watching her every move.

"She had a great week in school, I'm guessing that means that you two are doing great. I think you can relax now and give yourself a little credit. You're on the right track, detective."

"Why, thank you. It's nice to have a professional opinion and it's even better to know that she's been good. Although, I would really like to be on the right track with you, too."

"What do you mean? You think we are not?"

"I'm not really sure on what track I'm standing at all. Considering I may or may not have been expecting a text from an adorable brunette the whole week." There, out with it. He was interested in her and there was no use in denying it or going around in circles. If she wasn't on the same page, then he was better off knowing it now instead of building expectations on something that was never going to happen.

She blushed almost instantly. That was the thing about Adam Ruzek, he had a way with words, he could make anything sound charming, cool and fresh. That's probably why he was one of the best in the interrogation room.

Te be honest, she wasn't sure where she was standing either, but regarding herself, not him. She was smart enough to read through his signals and it was pretty clear that at least he wanted to get to know her. Maybe he wanted only sex, who knows? But that was alright for her because she wasn't looking for anything more right now, her head was elsewhere. It had been elsewhere for quite a while now.

Kim was about to make up some lame excuse about being too busy with work stuff, which was partially true, but everyone knows that if you really want to you can take two minutes off a busy day to text someone. Plus, she really didn't feel like lying to him. It was strange, but for some reason she felt like she could be herself around him, that she could be spontaneous and that he would be ok with that.

She was surprised when she replied, it's like something took over her and the words just blurted out of her mouth.

"That's interesting, considering that I may or may not have written and erased a bunch of text for this very cool and charming detective." He smiled and she blushed again. Did she really say that?

"Why didn't you send it?" It would have made my week for sure." They started to walk closer to where Grace was, but far enough to have some privacy.

"I guess I needed to work out some stuff in my head first."

"Stuff like me being related to one of your students?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, among other things."

"Well, if I have competition then you can go ahead and tell the guy that I'm willing to duel him." They both laughed. "I'm serious, I have friends with guns."

"Shut up." She said as she chuckled.

"So, were you able to work them out?"

"A little."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Well, I'm here and I just agreed to have lunch with you. Can we keep it there for now?" She asked with the sweetest smile and the warmest eyes he had ever seen. How could he say no to that?

"Sure, that works for now."

"Good."

"Good. How about your week? Anything exciting to share?"

"Uuuhhh, everything is exciting when you spend most of your day with a bunch of six year olds. We have a class pet now."

"Yeah, Grace told me all about Bugs the bunny, killed it with the name." He said in complete irony causing her to roll her eyes, action to which he had to chuckle at. "Do you think that's why Grace has been asking for a puppy?"

"It might be. Sorry about that."

"No problem. But if she asks again, I'm gonna tell her to go to you."

"Poor girl, she is not gonna have any luck there."

He was about to say something when his phone started to buzz.

"Give me a second, I need to take this."

"Yeah, sure."

"Ruzek. Yes boss." He sighed. "I'm with Gracie right now, I'd need to take her with me. Ok. Yeah, I know. I'll be there in like…" He paused for a second to look at his watch. "Twenty minutes." He hung up the call and looked at Kim with puppy eyes. "I can't believe that the one time you agree to a sort of date with me I have to reschedule."

"That's ok."

"No, it's not." She was a bit glad that he was bummed not to spend time with her.

"Everything alright at work?"

"Something big popped up with this case we're working on. We've been kind of stuck for a while so this is a big deal right now."

"Your job sounds thrilling."

"It is." He smiled. "I'm gonna break the news to Grace." He stood up to get his niece, they talked for a while and then Kim saw him taking Grace in his arms, perching her against his hip while he held her with his left arm. That was such a sexy sight, Kim felt like her insides were a total puddle of mush right now. "I'm so sorry muffin, I know how much you wanted to stay. But sometimes we have to do what we have to do."

Her little eyes were tearing up, she was not one to have tantrums or make scenes, so when she cried everyone knew she really meant it.

"I know. I just wish mommy and daddy were here, and that they could take me for ice cream." Her voice was full of sorrow and that broke both Adam's and Kim's hearts, but Adam, he was shattered.

"I know you do, Gracie. I miss them too and I wish they were here too. But right now I need you to be a brave girl and come with me. You can stay with Trudy down stairs, or you can go up with me and Uncle Kev, or stay in Hank's office. I'm sure we can even arrange for a ride in one of the patrol cars."

"With sirens and everything?" She asked, trying to steady her breathing.

"With sirens and everything." Her uncle nodded as he brushed the tears rolling down her little cheeks with his thumb.

"Or…" Kim was completely moved by the whole situation and finally had the guts to speak up. "You can stay with me. We can have lunch, ice cream and look for more fun things to do together and when your uncle is ready I can drop you off, or he can pick you up or whatever works best." She said that last part looking at him and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Gracie's eyes were shining again.

"Uncle Adam, can I please stay with Ms. B?"

"Um…" He was still doubtful, he looked at the adult in front of him before asking. "Are you sure this is ok?"

"Totally!" Kim answered.

"Ok. Yes." He nodded and his niece cheered. "Call me if anything happens. I always have my phone on me."

"It'll be fine. I do this for a living, you know?" Adam was a bit embarrassed, but it was the first time he left his niece under someone else's care, outside of the family, and he needed to feel that he wasn't screwing up, or letting his brother down. "Listen, we'll be alright. But I'll keep you updated just so you can relax and do your job." Her hand instinctively went to his arm and ran it up and down those built muscles that she was getting a bit more familiar with.

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver. I'm gonna need your number though, for real now."

"Sure." As she took her phone out of her back pocket Adam put Grace down as he kissed and hugged her.

"You be a good girl now, ok? I'll miss you and I promise I will be back as fast as possible."

"I'll miss you too."

"I just texted you my number." Kim interrupted their little conversation.

"Great. I owe you big time, just let me know how I can pay you back."

"Hmmm. You can volunteer to take Bugs home next weekend."

"I was hoping for something else, but sure, that works." He smiled nervously. "Bye muffin."

"Bye, uncle Adam."

"Bye Kim." He went close enough so he could hug her and leave a kiss on her cheek."

"Bye detective."