Happy Wednesday everyone!

I truly hope today's episode brings some joy to our Burzek hearts, but I highly doubt it.

So here's a little something to help us go through it.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

"Hey! I was worried about you, didn't hear anything from you." Sylvie said as she opened her apartment door letting her friend, who handed her a bottle of wine, come in.

"I'm sorry. I had a busy weekend." Kim answered as her cheeks blushed.

"You are gonna sit down on that couch and tell me everything." Sylvie almost pushed her friend into the living room where the empty glasses and snacks were waiting before both girls.

"Ok, so, on Friday I had dinner with your aunt and uncle. They're moving."

"Yeah, they called me yesterday. How do you feel about that?"

"I think it's going to be good for them, you know, to move on. Living there with all those memories must be so tough for them." Sylvie just looked attentively and nodded. "We had a long, deep conversation, we all cried, but it was nice. We needed that."

"I'm glad."

"Me too. I got the chance to open up and tell them how I'm feeling, and they were so understanding and supportive." The blonde reached in to hug her friend.

"I can only imagine how hard that must have been, but I'm really happy all three of you could talk about it. That's what Andrew would have wanted, to see you all happy and trying to make the best out of your lives."

"Yes, I know. It really felt good to get all of that out." Kim paused a little and poured some wine in both of their glasses, taking a hold of one for herself. "And once home I got to sort something else out."

"Please tell me you called Adam."

"I didn't." The disappointment in Sylvie's face was impossible to miss. "He showed up in case I needed a shoulder to lean on." The cutest smile was beginning to curl up in Kim's lips.

"Awwww. I'm melting right now."

"He's adorable." Kim said without thinking about it. "I'm done hiding it, I'm so in love with him." Sylvie was bouncing up and down on the couch and clapping her hands, she totally looked like one of her students and she didn't care at all.

"Yes! Finally! Did you tell him that?"

"I did."

"And?!?" The blonde couldn't wait any longer she needed Kim to spill the beans right now.

"And, he spent the whole weekend at my place. He left a couple hours ago to pick up Grace from his dad's house." She took a sip of her wine under her friend's attentive watch. "I guess you can say we're officially together now."

"Oh my god, Kim! Really?"

Kim chuckled at her friend's reaction and nodded. "Yes, really. We want to tell Gracie but I need to talk to Cathleen first."

"When will you do that?"

"Tomorrow probably. I don't want to risk not being the one who talks to her first."

"I totally agree. I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you, I'm happy too." The smile on her face was brighter than ever.

"And now, for the smutty section of the night. Did you get laid?" The mischievous look Sylvie was sporting was amazing and it made Kim laugh.

"Of course you were going to ask that, and to answer your question I did get laid. More than once, and before you go any further I will tell you that it was mind blowing. I mean the first time was great, but this, wow. I have no words."

"Touch down for Ruzek." Kim laughed at her friend's comment, but Sylvie was right; Ruzek had the ability to rock Kim's world.

Both women spent the rest of their afternoon chatting, drinking and having fun.

Adam on the other hand, spent the rest of his Sunday over at his pops' place.

"You are in an exceptionally good mood today." Bob pointed out to his son as both men were setting the table for dinner and Gracie was playing with dough.

"That's because I had an exceptionally good weekend."

"Care to share with your old man?" The older one asked with a kind smile, while Adam looked over to the living room to make sure Grace was doing her thing and wouldn't interrupt them.

"Kim and I…" He said softly and trailing off a bit. "We are dating, officially now ."

"I know." Adam seemed surprised at his father's reply.

"How? I mean, we only got together this weekend."

"You two might have figured it out this weekend, but it was evident from before, especially the day I told her that you were in the hospital. The worry in her face and the way she instantly offered to take care of you, that totally gave her away." He listened carefully and a shy smile was beginning to plaster on his face. "Can't believe you missed that detective."

"Well, let's just say that wasn't our best moment."

"I'm glad you were able to sort that out then. She seems like a great girl and you sure look happy."

"She is and I am."

"That's all I need, well and your brother back."

"We're working on it, pops."

"I know." He took a deep breath and moved the subject back to Adam and Kim. Talking about Kit's absence was still too painful. "Anyway, when do you think we can invite her over for dinner?" Adam's smile returned, it was nice to focus on the positive for a change. Kit's case was a constant thought in his head, but thinking about Kim or being with her helped him through it. He felt relaxed and strong enough to face whatever he needed to in order to get his brother and sister-in-law back.

"We need to tell Gracie first, but once that's taken care of we can have her over."

"You know you're welcome to come anytime, son."

"I know. Thanks for always being in my corner."

Bob didn't speak, he just walked over to his si and hugged him in a tight embrace.

The rest of the day was very quiet for the both of them, come to think of it, not so much for Adam who was listening to all the stories Gracie was sharing with him excitedly. The little girl loved to spend time with her family and playing with her cousins who she doesn't get to see that often. Lucky for him all that excitement also meant that she was going to crash as soon as her head hit the pillow.

It was nine thirty at night, Grace was in bed and he was getting everything ready for Monday. He was walking around the kitchen and he just couldn't hide that goofy look on his face because all he could think about was Kim. Her smile, her smell, her soft skin and how perfectly she adjusted to his body. He looked over at the counter where he once sat her on and he couldn't help imagining her right there with him. He missed her, he wanted her. He got his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number.

"Detective, what a lovely surprise."

"Glad you find it lovely."

"How's Grace?"

"She's asleep right now, I just put her to bed. She was incredibly excited."

"Can't wait to hear all about her weekend tomorrow."

"Oh, she has a lot to tell. Believe me." He heard her chuckle from the other side of the line making him smile as well. "I was thinking about you." He completely changed the subject.

"I hope whatever it was, it was good."

"Oh yeah. I was thinking of you here with me. I miss kissing you good night."

"Me too. The call helps though."

"Yeah, but it's not the same."

"Not at all." He chuckled softly when he heard the frustration coming out of her voice.

"Listen, apart from talking and hearing your voice I also wanted to tell you something."

"I'm all ears."

"I forgot to give you Jay and Hailey's wedding invitation."

"Oh wow, there's one specially for me?" She didn't know how to take that. It was nice of them to invite her, but she kind of thought it was going to be a package deal with Adam's invite.

"It's a good thing. It means that Hailey really wants you there and that she has no faith whatsoever in me to actually get you to come with me." Kim laughed.

"Ok. I'll text her and thank them."

"You don't have to, I just told you because I saw the card on my table and remembered that it never came up during the weekend."

"Well we had some pretty important issues to deal with."

"Totally."

"I'll still text Hailey. It's really nice of them to invite me. They don't even know me that much."

"They like you. They all do. I mean why wouldn't they? Plus you're my girl, so you're part of the gang now."

"What an honor."

"It is actually." They both laughed. "Maybe we could all hang out someday, Sylvie included."

"Sure. I'm in."

"Great, I'll arrange it."

"Hey, Adam?"

"Yes."

"It's stupid, but I had a really nice weekend and I wanted to thank you for that."

"You don't need to thank me because I did too. It was the best one I had in a while actually and I really want to experience that again." Both of them smiled and even though they didn't see it, they could feel it.

"Me too detective." She was playing with the buttons of the remote control and spoke again. "So, do you and Gracie want to come over for dinner on Tuesday?"

"We'd love to."

"Great. Anything special you want to eat?" Although it was an innocent question she knew he would take it the wrong way.

"Hmmm, I think I want Burgess with whipped cream and a cherry on top; but considering my sweet and loving niece will be there, anything else will work." She giggled a little because she wanted the same as he did.

"Ok, I'll think of something."

"How about we cook together? Gracie kicks ass in her sous-chef position."

"Yeah, that can be fun! I like it."

"Great, we'll talk tomorrow so we can arrange the details."

"Talk to you tomorrow then. Good night babe." He absolutely loved it when Kim called him that.

"Good night, darlin'. I'll see you tomorrow when I pick up Grace."

"Can't wait."

All through her night routine she couldn't wipe off the smile plastered on her face even if she wanted to. She was happy, she felt safe and loved and she had missed that feeling so much. It was still hard for her to believe that all of this was real, but it was and it was her time to enjoy and be happy, to live her life again. She didn't want to hide it and she knew exactly what she needed to do first thing in the morning.

The classroom was silent and she looked at the clock hanging on the wall. The kids were in gym class and this was the perfect moment to talk to Cathleen.

Kim probably stood up from her chair and walked to the door and then back at least four times. She was sure she wanted to talk about this, but what was she supposed to say?

The more she practiced her speech in her head, the more she doubted. There was no easy way to do this, but she had to, she wanted to.

Finally, she took a deep breath and stood up rubbing the palms of her hands against her jeans and started to walk towards the principal's office.

Three very soft knocks on the door, after telling Dora that she needed to speak to Mrs. Quinn, was all it took for Kim to get a reply from the office.

"Come in." Kim opened the door slowly and stepped in closing it behind her. "Oh, Kim good morning. I wanted to see you." The brunette looked surprised, she wasn't expecting that.

"Good morning. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, more than alright. I got your students' performance rates and they're amazing. You and Sylvie are doing an amazing job. Keep that up and I see a great future for both of you." Kim smiled, it was rewarding enough to love your job, but having positive results was the cherry on top, especially when that meant the successful development of her kids.

"Thank you!"

"Please. I'm so proud to have you both in my team." Cathleen paid close attention to the glittering in Kim's eyes. "But you came here looking for me, so how can I help you?" Kim sat down opposite her boss.

"Um, I'm not sure if there is a correct way to put this out there, so I'm just going to be honest with you."

"Honesty always works."

"Detective Ruzek and I, um, we've recently…" she started to nervously move a post it pad that was resting on Mrs. Quinn's desk before she looked up again to meet her principal's blue eyes. "We're in a relationship." Cathleen looked at Kim with kind eyes and just let her speak. "It's pretty recent but we're serious about it and we'd like to tell Grace; but I also wanted to tell you first and Adam backed me up, so here I am."

"Well, I really appreciate you coming to me first." The older woman took a deep breath as she rearranged some papers on her desk. "This is the thing, as a woman and someone who cares about you, I can only tell you that I'm genuinely glad for you. I think you're a wonderful woman who's been through a lot at your short age and you deserve happiness."

"Thank you." Kim said quietly.

"Now, as a faculty member of this school I have to tell you that although you're technically not going against the rules since detective Ruzek is not a parent here, we might need an extra pair of eyes to go over Grace's grading and report cards when the time comes. We're too close to the end of the academic year, so I don't think it would be necessary to take any other measures."

"That's ok, I have no problem in showing you all my grading process regarding Grace Ruzek. I'm professional and ethical and I promise I'm not making nor will make any differences among my students."

"I know that Kim."

"So, technically I'm not breaking any rules."

"You're not. But Kim, as I told you before, be careful. Gossip will start, here and among parents so be ready to hear that and do your best to ignore it. You'll be fine and I'm here, standing right beside you."

"Thank you so much, it really means a lot to hear that. I promise we'll be careful, but we really think it is better not to hide this from Grace any longer."

"Yes, I agree. Especially if you're both serious about it. There's enough uncertainty in Gracie's life, adding this mystery won't be beneficial in her overall process." Cathleen placed one of her hands over Kim's. "Thank you for your honesty and for coming to me first. I know this must have been hard for you, and I know the bravery it takes to follow your heart. Now go get your students, gym class is almost over." The older woman changed the subject at the end because she didn't want to get tangled into a deep conversation. It wasn't the right moment or the right place.

Although their stories weren't quite the same, in more than one occasion Cathleen saw her younger self in Kim; not only because of the type of teacher she was, but because of the type of person she is. That's why being empathetic with her and showing Kim all her support came natural to Mrs. Quinn. Was this a tough situation for both woman? Yes. Even though no rules were being broken, both of them knew they were skating on thin ice, but Cathleen was determined to have Burgess' back because she deserved it and because Cathleen herself knew what it was like to fall in love with someone from the school community and she sure would have loved to have someone on her corner, back in the day.

Kim could only smile at her principal's kind words, she thanked her and told her how important it was for her to hear all of that and after a quick, respectful but meaningful hug Kim went back to her classroom to wait for her kids to come back from gym class.

She was ecstatic and couldn't wait to talk to Adam and let him know what had gone on.

Waiting until her lunch time was a challenge, Sylvie literally laughed at her when she saw how her friend desperately took her phone out of her pocket.

"For crying out loud. Get a room!" The blonde played with Kim when she saw her friend's goofy look.

"Shut up. Although I would if I could." Kim shot back laughing and put her phone down to look at her friend. "I talked to Cathleen."

"Judging by your face I'm assuming it's good news."

"Yes." She confirmed with a smile and then the expression on her face changed a little. "I mean, she did tell me again to be carefull and to expect gossip and that probably they will be double checking Gracie's grading. But other than that it was a pretty positive talk."

"So, when are you both going to celebrate?"

"We're having dinner tomorrow with Gracie. Hopefully we'll tell her then. And as for the celebrating part, I don't know when we'll have another chance to spend some time together."

"If you two were able to make all of this work, I'm sure you can figure the rest of it out."

Kim loved the way her friend believed in her relationship, but most of all she loved the way she herself believed in what they had, in how much it meant to them and the certainty that they were capable of overcoming any obstacle.