Hey guys! Here's the next chapter.
Thank you so much for reading and taking your time to comment and review. It's super motivating!
Happy reading & Have a great day!
Xoxo,
Nina
It was Friday night already. Adam was lying on his couch playing with a silver chain bracelet with a little heart that Grace had left him, and Hailey's words hadn't left Adam's head since the moment he said them.
Was he sure about this? Not at all. Did he care about not being sure? nope. He still wanted to try and he knew the best way to do that was to see her. He really wanted to, and waiting until Wednesday was going to kill him. He immediately took out his phone and made a few calls before taking a shower, getting changed and splashing his cologne on.
She had just gotten home, and considering that Sylvie had a date tonight her plans weren't too wild, movie, food and a beer sounded great for her. Kim was about to change into her pjs, although the ripped jeans and blue sweater she was wearing were comfortable, pjs were the perfect attire for her Friday night. She was tying a knot high right in the middle of her head when the knock on her front door distracted her. As Kim looked through the peephole, she couldn't believe her eyes.
"How on earth did you get my address?" She asked without even saying hello.
"I have a few contacts here and there." He said with a charming voice.
"Isn't this a violation of my privacy or something?" She tried her best to hide a smile.
"If you wanna look at it like that, yes. I was hoping that you would rather think of it as a surprise." She chuckled. "But, you are welcome to call my desk Sergeant and file a complaint about me, I'll give you my badge number."
"Maybe I will."
"She will be thrilled to get that call. Before you report me, you should know I'm here on a mission."
"Oh, really?"
"Miss Grace Ruzek was devastated when she realized that she forgot to give this back to you." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and showed her the chain bracelet he was holding earlier. "She made me promise I would find you and give it back."
"Awww, my lucky bracelet. She was feeling a little blue today, so I gave her this and kind of told her it was magical."
"It worked."
"Good. Can I have it?"
"Wait. There's more." He dug into his back pocket and took out a handmade card. "We don't have much art supplies at home, so this was the best she could do. You can blame me for this." Kim let out a small chuckle as she took the folded piece of construction paper out of his hands.
It was an adorable thank you note that read 'Thank you for helping me be brave' with a picture of Grace wearing the bracelet.
"Did you read this?"
"Yeah, I helped her spell brave. Isn't she the sweetest?"
"My heart is melting." She looked at the card and the. Looked at him again. "I might hold that call for a little while." Adam smiled. "So, you came all the way here and risked a complaint against you to give me back my bracelet, yet you still have it in your hand." She was surprised when he took her left hand and clasped the bracelet around her wrist.
"To be honest, I'm here because I really wanted to see you and I didn't want to wait until Wednesday." Kim was beginning to blush. "I know we never considered the weekend because Gracie's grandparents are in town and she was going to be with them, but I was kind of hoping that you were free tonight and maybe you could hang out for a bit." Kim didn't say anything which made him nervous and got him to speak even faster. "If you can't it's fine, but I would really appreciate a selfie of you with the bracelet so I can show Grace. That would totally get me the coolest uncle award."
"Give me your phone." He handed it over and she took the selfie he asked for. "Make sure you thank me in your award acceptance speech." They both chuckled. "So, what do you want to do?" She asked with a flirty smile making him widen his eyes.
"How about a beer?"
"Sounds good. Give me a second, I'll get my things."
Their informal date was what they both needed, they hadn't seen each other yet but they texted everyday and Adam even managed to call her one night that wasn't so busy.
Intelligence was up to its head with a particularly tough case, it was the first one this difficult since Gracie was under Adam's care and he was struggling to keep everything under control. He asked Bob to help who would have done so gladly but his own schedule was an impediment for him to look after his granddaughter, that was one of the reasons why Kit had insisted that Gracie should stay with his brother and not his dad.
Speaking with Kim calmed him down, she tried to reassure him that his niece was doing alright and that he was doing his absolute best.
It was Tuesday and everything was about to shift under Adam's feet once more.
"Ruzek, my office." Voight's voice was loud and clear in the bullpen, Adam stood up and followed his boss' words. "Close the door and take a seat.
"Did anything happen with the case?"
"Yes. But that's not why I called you."
"What's up boss?"
"Ludwin, your lawyer called, there's been an issue with DCFS."
Adam felt all his muscles contract and his face showed all the worry and fear he was feeling. "We will take care of everything, but you need to know what's going on."
"What is going on?"
"Apparently they just realized the complexity of you and Bob being custodians for Grace. I guess the latest events haven't helped much."
"What does that mean? Are they taking Grace away from me?" His face was losing color and he felt a huge knot in his stomach.
"Relax, we won't let that happen. Your lawyer is working on it, he's confident about it considering the circumstances of Kit and Anne's absence. In the meantime I suggest you get in touch with them and think of someone to take Bob's place."
"How on earth am I supposed to reach them?"
"Call Ludwin, he's arranged everything. Take the afternoon off, we can manage to solve the case without. You just fix that."
How the hell was he supposed to fix that? They didn't have any other family in town they could count on, even less someone who Gracie would trust. Having her leave with her grandparents wasn't an option, but having her taken away was by far the worst option of all.
Talking with his lawyer wasn't of much help, he was already designing a plan but Adam wasn't sure about it, he really needed to talk to his brother and sister-in-law. Lucky for him since Travis Ludwin was part of his brother's firm, he was able to arrange a last minute call.
That night he cooked Gracie's favorite dinner and watched a movie on the couch. He held on to her until she fell asleep in his arms. He loved his niece, but living with her and taking care of her as if she was his daughter just made that feeling flourish. He was going to go above and beyond and not going to let her down. Not now, not ever.
Falling asleep was probably one of the hardest things to accomplish. The thoughts in his head were running thousand miles per hour, playing all the different scenarios and possible solutions, analyzing all the options and evaluating the possible outcomes. His mind was forced to take a break when his phone buzzed, he picked it up and was grateful to see what it was.
Out of nowhere I had this sudden rush to talk to you. Hope everything's alright and sorry if I interrupted anything.
Tough day, but hearing from you made it a lot better. Are we still good for dinner tomorrow?
Of course, I wouldn't miss it. Would a big virtual hug improve your bad day?
He smiled at that message and instantly replies.
How about a real one? That would make it better.
Tomorrow. Consider it done.
I'll be expecting it. Good night Belle
Hahah, good night detective
He put his phone back on his night stand and took a deep breath before trying his best to fall asleep. Eventually he achieved it.
Kim was running up and down her kitchen. Although Adam told her she didn't need to take anything, she wanted to take dessert and knowing that Gracie's favorite is cheesecake, Kim decided to make her special recipe.
Everything was ready, the last thing was to decide what to wear. She wanted to look nice but didn't want to over do it, so a nice pair of jeans and a sweater did the trick. Just a few minutes after the time agreed upon she was standing in front of his door knocking on it. She smiled when she heard Gracie's voice on the other side.
"She's here! She's here! I'll open the door."
"How about you ask who it is first? Her smile became
"Who is it?" The cutest little voice asked from the other side.
"It's Ms. B."
"Can I open it now?"
"Yes, muffin."
"Hi!" The little girl ran towards her and hugged Kim's legs while she tried her best to reach down to Grace and rub her back with her free hand.
"Hey sweetheart. How are you?"
"I'm happy you're here."
"I'm happy you're here too." The much manlier voice echoed through the room and Kim barely lifted her head to look at him, and he was looking so damn good. "Let me help you with that." He took the tray out of her hand and spoke again. "I thought I told you not to bring anything."
"You did, but I figured the least I could do was bring dessert. Plus, I think it's your favorite." She lowered to Grace's height and playfully touched the tip of her nose.
"Cheesecake?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Yup. Cheesecake." Kim enjoyed it so much when any of her kids were happy and excited. "Aaand… your uncle might have told me that you were running low on art supplies, so I brought a bunch of things I found for you." Kim opened her bag and took out construction paper, crayons, markers, glitter and some other things she had in her apartment that never used.
"Thank you!" Her hazel eyes were shimmering and her short little arms did her best to squeeze Kim into a tight hug.
"You really didn't have to do that." Adam spoke again.
"It was nothing."
"Maybe for you, but not for me." He looked straight into her eyes, at this point neither of them could deny the attraction they felt towards one another, he just wanted to kiss her right now, but things were just getting harder. When he realized neither of them had said a word and that Grace was looking at them he spoke again. "Gracie, why don't you take that to your room and you can also show Kim the apartment while I finish dinner?"
Gracie nodded and took Kim's hand guiding her through the apartment after her teacher had left her things on the couch
Dinner was great, they talked, laughed and everyone got to share stories. Adam had made fettuccine Alfredo and both girls were delighted by it.
"You need to make this again! It's super yummy."
"Glad you liked it, muffin. Help me clear the table so we can have dessert."
"Can we have dessert on the couch and watch Moana?"
"Again?"
"Please! It's my favorite." Grace pleaded with puppy eyes and Adam was about to fall for it. Kim was just observing as both of them interacted, finding their relationship more adorable by the second.
Adam looked at his watch before he spoke to Grace again.
"Fine, but we won't watch the whole thing because it's a bit late." It wasn't really that late, but he really wanted to put Grace to bed early to get a few minutes alone with Kim. "We can finish it tomorrow."
"Ok." Gracie answered with a triumphant smile. The little girl got off her chair and began to reach for the things that were on the table.
"Let me help you with that." Kim imitated the little girl's movements and followed her into the kitchen to leave the dirty dishes there, although Adam was begging her to stop and she completely ignored him.
All three of them sat in front of the tv with a slice of cheesecake each, Gracie sitting between completely perplexed by what was going on on the screen. Kim and Adam were throwing shy glances at each other and when their eyes occasionally met, both of them
smiled.
"Well little miss sunshine, it's time for you to get ready for bed." He stood up and took everyone's plates out of their hands before the girl beat him to it.
"Now? But it's the best part!"
"It is and it's also way past your bedtime."
"Can I just wait until 'you're welcome' ends?" Adam looked at her with a straight face, Kim was carefully analyzing the whole situation. She knew he was going to cave, but she wasn't expecting what happened next.
Yeah, he was fully aware that Kim was there, but in that precise moment he only wanted to see his niece smile and have fun. He wanted to keep it that way until he could. He waited a few seconds until the right part of the song and started to sing and dance along to Maui. Gracie's face was glowing, the smile on her face reached her ears and Adam was totally lost on that toothless smile.
"Kid, honestly I could go on and on
I could explain every natural phenomenon
The tide, the grass, the ground
Oh, that was Maui just messing around
I killed an eel
I buried its guts
Sprouted a tree, now you got coconuts
What's the lesson?
What is the take-away?
Don't mess with Maui when he's on a break-away
And the tapestry here on my skin
Is a map of the victories I win
Look where I've been
I make everything happen
Look at that mean mini-Maui just tickety-tappin'
Ha ha ha ha ha ha, hey"
Adam was singing at the top of his lungs while Gracie jumped off the couch and started singing and dancing around her uncle. What was it about guys showing their paternal side that made women just melt inside?
Kim was grinning hopelessly, quietly she pulled her phone out of her pocket to capture the moment.
When the song ended Adam scooped his niece from the floor and threw her over his shoulder.
"Ok, kiddo. Pjs. Teeth. Good night kiss to uncle Adam and Kim. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." She said with the cutest giggle as he walked her over to her bedroom and she followed every single step of the list. Once Grace was in bed. Adam went to tuck her and waited a few minutes to make sure she was sound asleep.
"That was incredible." Kim's voice caught him off guard.
"You think?" He walked into the kitchen again to get them both a glass of wine.
"Definitely."
"We'll, my nights have changed a lot in the last couple of weeks." He walked Rover to her and handed her the glass. "Wanna go out?" She looked confused at his question, which made him smile and nudge his head signaling the balcony.
"Sure, let's go." The place was amazing. There was a small outdoor table and two chairs, there were a couple of plants here and there, and a little grill, but what stole the show was the view. The skyline of Chicago in all its glory was shining to their eyes. "This is spectacular."
"Probably my favorite thing about this place." Kim was carefully looking at him, something was weighing on him, and she desperately wanted to help him through that. Maybe due to her own pain, knowing what it felt like and knowing that having someone to help you transition was important, or maybe it was just she she was truly beginning to care about him.
"So? Was today tough, too?" She looked down at her glass as the words slipped out of her mouth.
"Let's just say that the hug you offered would really come in handy." He let it out, he wasn't going to go around ien circles anymore. It wasn't worth it. She walked towards him and left her glass on the table right before she wrapped her arms around him. He tucked her head under his chin and his arms did the same as hers. Feeling his body against her and his strong arms surrounding her made everything else fade away, had she been aware of that, she would have felt the fear of the intensity she was going through right now. But that didn't happen, because the contact with him caused her brain to disconnect for a bit and forget all about her problems and issues. It was just the light breeze, his strong arms, the steady beating of his heart against her chest and that intoxicating smell that was so much more than his cologne. She knew this was real and not just a move to hit on her. They were lost in each other for a few minutes before they slowly pulled away. Their faces were barely inches apart, their eyes in full contact and that was when Kim couldn't hold herself anymore. She closed and leant in to kiss him. The last thing she was expecting were his hands holding her face in place and preventing their lips from touching.
Her eye opened up and looked at him, she was embarrassed, she couldn't believe that she had misread the signs so terribly.
"Wait…" he voice came out as a whisper and his thumbs were running up and down her cheeks. Her eyes softened a bit and waited for him to continue talking. "I haven't been completely honest with you, and I can let this go on as if nothing was happening. I need you to know the truth before we take what's going on between us any further." He looked down and then back at her. "Why don't you take a seat?"