Hey guys!

Sorry for taking so long, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!

Like always, thanks for reading and reviewing. I really take all your comments into account.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

"Where's my favorite Ruzek?" Halstead's voice was loud and clear.

"Here I am."

"No, not you. The cute little one." Jay spoke again with that charming smile he always sported.

"What did you do with the kid Ruzek? Is she downstairs with Platt." Hailey was dying to go hug the little girl.

"Grace is an independent little girl today." Adam was giving them nothing and they were all going nuts. For some reason they didn't quite believe he was fully suited to take care of his niece.

"Adam, where is she?" Upton's tone of voice was way more serious now.

"Relax, she's fine. She's with Kim."

"Kim, the teacher Kim?" Jay spoke again.

"Uh huh." That was all that came out of Adam's mouth as he got himself settled behind his desk.

"No wonder you've been smiling like a moron since you stepped into the bullpen." Atwater said without looking up from the files on his desk.

"You, give the guy a break." The blonde darted a killer look over to Atwater and he just shook his head. "And you, tell us everything. How the hell did that happen?" She asked as she rolled her chair over to Adam's desk.

"There's nothing much to tell. We ran into each other at the park. Gracie invited her to have lunch with us. Voight called, Grace was disappointed and Kim offered to stay with her."

"Aw, that's nice." Hailey commented but she still wasn't very sure about this.

"Let me get this straight." Jay got up and walked closer to his friend and his fiancée. "Your six year old niece got you a date with this girl you've been all depressed about?"

"Yeah. We're a team." He said playfully.

"Does that mean that the Ruzek charm is back?" Now it was Atwater the one who was standing next to his friend's desk, completely interested in the topic at hand.

"Yeah. Gracie's." The ginger detective joked and fist bumped Atwater who was also laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. The bottom line is that we asked her, she agreed and I was really looking forward to it. Now I'm here working and she's babysitting my niece."

"That's really nice of her." The blonde seemed to be getting more comfortable with the situation and her comment was genuine.

"Yeah." Adam smiled.

"When do we get to meet her?" Adam furrowed his brows at her.

"I didn't even get a date with the girl and you want to meet her?"

"Of course."

"That's not gonna happen anytime soon."

"Why not?" Hailey whined.

"Because. I don't even know if she likes me, I'm not gonna put her through meeting you guys."

"Of course she likes you. Why wouldn't she?" Jay raised an eyebrow at his fiancée's comment, but both Hailey and Adam were completely oblivious to his expression.

"It's complicated." Adam appreciated he had someone to talk about this, but he really didn't have much to say and even if he did Voight's interruption wasn't going to allow it.

"Gear up everyone. I just got the location we need to hit." His raspy voice instructed the unit as he stepped out of his office. Everyone went to get ready immediately and Adam stayed behind reaching for his phone.

Hey, it's Adam.

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of reach for a while. But if you need anything at all you can text this number.

Contact sent

Her name is Trudy, she's my desk sergeant. I'll let her know you might contact her.

I'm sorry about this.

Hey you! No worries, thanks for letting me know. I'll call her if we need something but we're doing great!

Picture file sent

Adam couldn't help but smile as he saw the picture of Grace and Kim each with an ice cream cone in their hands.

Looks like you're having a blast. I'll text you as soon as I'm back to pick up Grace.

Ok. Be safe.

Those words gave a warm feeling to Adam's chest. Maybe he was totally off, but he was feeling like some

of the pieces to the puzzle of his life were falling into place. He needed to read that, to know that he could be important for someone else outside of his family.

She stared at her phone for a few seconds waiting for a reply that never came. Instead all she saw was the message had been delivered.

Those two last words just slipped out of her fingers. They were so familiar to her, that they were already part of her predictive text and so heartfelt that she didn't even have to think about it to type it.

She had used it so many times before that now she was a bit reluctant to use it again, now she went with things like 'take care' just to avoid the bitter after taste of those first two words. But once again, with Adam it just happened, it felt right and there was nothing bitter about saying that to him.

"Was that Uncle Adam?" Her cute little voice snapped Kim out of it.

"Yes, it was."

"Is he ok?" Grace was a bit worried, she wasn't fully aware of everything her grandpa and her uncle were exposed to in the jobs, but she did know that sometimes it could get dangerous and the last thing she needed right now was to think that another family member could possibly be taken away from.

"He is fine. He just wanted to say hi and give me Trudy's number in case I couldn't get through to him." Kim told the partial truth, there was no need to have the child worry anymore than she already was. "Do you know Trudy?"

"Yeah, she's really fun! She lets me sit on her chair and gives me lollipops when Uncle Adam is not watching."

"She sounds amazing. I think I like Trudy already."

"All of them are really fun." She kept talking as she licked her chocolate ice cream before it melted. "But I think my favorite is uncle Kev. He's funny and he always plays with me."

"I have to agree with you there. Kevin is very funny."

"You know Uncle Kev?" The little girl asked in amazement, her little hazel eyes glowing making Kim chuckle.

"I do."

"He's Uncle Adam's best friend, he goes home a lot. My new home with my uncle." Grace was speaking non stop, that was without a doubt one of her characteristics, but lately she wasn't opening up as much, especially about her personal life and all the changes she was going through. Kim knew that if she was doing it now, it was because she needed an outlet, because she was finally sharing her feelings with others. "I like living with Uncle Adam, he takes care of me but sometimes he can't read me bedtime stories like daddy did."

"I'm sure he's trying his best to do all the things your mommy and daddy did with you." Kim added.

"Yes." The little girl was still concentrating on her ice cream. "Some days I really miss mommy and daddy. But I don't tell Uncle Adam because I don't want him to get upset and think that I don't love him."

"Come here, bear." She extended her arms inviting Grace to move closer to her. "It's ok to miss people. I miss people that I haven't seen for a while too and even your uncle told you today that he also missed your parents. He's going to understand if you tell him how you feel and maybe he can help you miss them a little less. Don't you think so?"

"Uh huh. I just don't want him to be sad."

"Well, maybe he gets a little sad, but because he doesn't like it when you're feeling blue. But you what?"

"What?"

"He loves you so much and he knows that you love him too. I think he will be super happy if you can talk to him about this."

"Ok. Can I still talk to you?"

"Of course you can! You can tell me anything you want, always." The little girl's smile grew bigger and bigger. "How about we finish these ice creams and find something fun to do."

"Yes!"

The rest of the afternoon was great for both girls, they found plenty of things to do and Kim did her best to keep Gracie entertained so that she could keep her mind off missing her parents just for a little bit.

Adam's afternoon was intense but successful, he had just gotten back to the district and immediately went to Platt to see if she had any news.

"Nothing boy wonder, so I'm guessing everything is ok."

"Thanks Trudy." He smiled at her and went to the locker room to get changed and call Kim.

"Hey. How's Grace treating you?"

"Hi. She's great. We did a bunch of things but she wants to tell you herself, so it's a mystery for now."

"Glad to hear you guys had fun."

"How about you? Everything alright?

"Yes, everything turned out fine. The case is closed now." He didn't like to give much details about the cases they were working on. "I'm getting changed right now, but I'll be out in 5 minutes. Tell me where you are and I'll pick Gracie up."

"Ok. I'll send you the pin." The girls were having chocolate milk and muffins at Kim's favorite bakery. Grace was completely tired and Kim wasn't really sure if she was going to be able to stand yet another outdoor activity.

A couple minutes later Adam was standing right next to their table.

"Uncle Adam!" Grace cheered and jumped out of her chair into her uncle's arms. "We went rollerblading and I didn't fall."

"You are a champion! I can't believe I missed that."

"Lucky for you I have everything recorded." Kim said. "I'll send you the video."

"Thanks." He winked at her and she found it hard to reason like a normal human being. "Are you ready to go home?" The little girl yawned and nodded at the same time. "I think you're ready for a shower, dinner and bedtime."

"Can we invite Ms. B for dinner?"

"Hmmm." Adam looked at Kim, who was blushing one more time. "I think you'll be falling asleep as soon as we get home. I promise we can have her over some day this week." He stopped talking and looked back at Kim. "If she wants to, of course."

"It sounds like a plan. Now you go and rest, you had a packed day." She ruffled the top of her head and stood up to get the check.

"Where are you going?"

"Umm.. to pay."

"No, you're not. It's already taken care of."

"What? You didn't have to."

"Actually, it was you who didn't have to do everything you did today. It's the least I could do. Now, would you mind walking to the car with us?" He said as soon as he noticed his niece's hand clasped to Kim's.

"Sure."

The three of them walked out of the bakery, Grace only let go of her teacher's hand when Adam got her in the car and on her booster chair. He could see the tiredness in her eyes and doubted that she would make it home awake. He closed the door and walked around his jeep standing next to Kim.

"I really don't know how to thank you for today."

"Don't worry. I had a great time, and I did it for Gracie. I think it was a better plan for a kid to have a Saturday out than to spend it in a police station."

"Hey!" He acted as if he were offended. "I spent most of my childhood in a police station and I turned out just fine." They both chuckled.

"Or that's what you think, anyway."

"Touché."

"Listen, Grace talked about her parents today." Adam opened his eyes wide. "I'm glad she did, too. I think she needed that outlet."

"I totally agree. What did she say?"

"That she missed them, and that she was afraid you would get upset if she told you."

"Why? Do you think she's afraid of me or something?"

"What? No! If she made something clear today is how much she loves you and likes living with you. She's just worried that you'll think she doesn't love you because she misses them. I told her to talk to you about it, that you would understand."

He ran his hand through his face in total frustration and worry, he knew at some point this was going to happen.

"Hey…" Her voice was soft and her hand found a place on his left bicep, squeezing it lightly. She was getting into the habit of doing that and apparently he seemed to enjoy it. "This is a good thing. She's talking about it."

"I know. It's just that times like these make me feel like I'm letting my brother down, you know?"

"Hmmm, I highly doubt that. But if you want we can discuss that over a beer some time." To the hell with overthinking, now she didn't think at all. She just opened her mouth and let it all out. Adam moved his head back surprised and opened his eyes wide.

"Are you asking me out?"

"No. This is official business, it's a teacher talking to her student's guardian about how he's doing, therefore impacting on my students performance. It's all standard procedure." She closed her eyes as she explained acting serious and professional.

"Oh, should I call the school and schedule or should I just choose where I wanna take you?"

"You can choose. The school takes forever to schedule those." They both chuckled and Adam took that as cue to take a step closer to her.

"I'll get thinking then." He smiled and moved a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'll be expecting your text with the video and a night off to come and have dinner with us. Grace will be delighted to have a dinner date with you to look forward to." Kim looked at him with a mischievous smile. "Maybe not only Grace."

"I'll send you everything as soon as I get home."

"Ok. Do you need me to drive you?"

"No, thanks. I have my car around the corner. Drive safe."

"You too." He leaned in even closer to her and kissed her cheek, actually his lips landed on the corner of her mouth, leaving both of them with the need for more.