Hey guys, how are you all doing?

First of all thanks for your kind wishes, I am feeling better and I used that time in bed to get ahead on my writing, so I decided to update again today.

Also I have a pretty hectic couple of weeks ahead at work, but I promise I'll do my best to upload during the week.

Like always, I'm supper grateful for your love and support!

Hope you like this chapter, I enjoyed writing it.

Let me know what you think!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

The few short days leading up to Friday we're starting to weigh on Kim's shoulders. Every time his birthday was approaching a million feelings overwhelmed her and hit her right in the middle of the face. This year was no different and if that wasn't enough a couple new extra things were sprinkled on top. So, to say that Kim had a couple of pretty rough days was an understatement.

Adam was on the same page, he was lost and had no idea what to do. For the meantime he was planning on spending some time with his family and seeing if that could ease him a bit.

He kept his promise though, they did talk and that brought both of them some comfort. The need they had for each other was undeniable and their attempt at taking things slow and staying away was just pathetic, but they needed to go through it and sort these things out.

Dinner with George and Susan was good. Everything was good with Andrew's parents, so good, Kim actually considered them as second parents to her and they definitely saw her as the daughter they never had and they didn't intend to lose that, especially since losing their only son.

They ate great food, shared memories, laughed and cried, ultimately doing their best to reassemble themselves.

"Dear, George and I would like to share something with you." Susan sounded calm as she reached for Kim's hand. "We've decided to sell the house."

The news came as a shock to Kim. Both of them had always said that it would be extremely hard for them to leave this place where Andrew grew because it was just packed with memories. Her face was probably saying all that her silence wasn't. "I know what you're thinking. I know we both said we didn't know if we were ever going to be able to leave this place and to be honest we're still not sure we can." Susan opened up. The older woman was one of the most caring and sweet people Kim knew. Of course she'd make mistakes, but she always had the best intentions, just like her son and her niece.

"But we have to." George chipped in. "Apart from the fact that this house is too big for the two of us, I guess we both realized that holding on so fiercely just caused us more pain." Kim saw the tears building up in George's eyes and couldn't help crying herself.

"I don't know if we're ready. Part of me thinks we might, another part thinks we'll never be able to. But we know that our Andrew is with us regardless where we're living, the immense love we feel for him will never change and the memories we have will never leave our minds or our hearts. A house won't change any of that." Susan was trying her best to sound calm as her tears rolled down her cheeks. "What we do know is that we can't expect to try to walk towards happiness, or its similar, if we don't let go a little."

"All of us know that Andrew would want us to be happy, he always did." George said and Kim was taking all of that in. Before continuing speaking George looked at his wife and they both nodded and finally grabbed Susan's free hand. "Kim, you're like a daughter to us and the reason we're telling you this is because we care so deeply about you. We truly hope that you can begin to let go as well." Kim felt Susan's thumb rub her knuckles and she thought she was going to lose all her cool.

"Thank you. I guess I needed this. George, both of you are like a mother and father to me and I promise that's never going to change. The place you have in my heart is way too big and totally yours, I hope both of you know that." She looked down at her feet for a second and after straightening up her thoughts she looked at them again. "You know this girl I'm helping out in school? The one who's living with her uncle?" Of course they knew, they've talked about it. As soon as the both nodded Kim continued. "Well, I've gotten to know her uncle, Adam and…" she had to stop. She couldn't do it, she didn't know how to. "Gosh I'm so embarrassed to tell you this, but I've gotten to know him and he's a wonderful guy and I'm falling in love with him." Her tears poured down her cheeks now.

"Don't cry honey." Susan's sweet words went along with her tight hug as her and George sat closer to Kim. "It's ok."

"I feel like I'm letting everyone down. You, Andrew."

"Kim, dear, please don't think that." George began. "None of us wanted Andrew gone, but sadly he's not here anymore and as devastating as that is, we need to continue, you need to continue. Kim, we love you and we understand."

"We never expected for you to be in a relationship with Andrew's memory forever. Please don't think that." Susan added.

"To be honest, we were a bit worried about you. We want you to be happy and you can't, none of us can, if we stay locked in the past."

Kim's watery eyes looked from Susan to George as she took in his lovely words.

"What I felt for Andrew was so good, pure and real. It was the first time I felt real love and it was amazing." Kim didn't know how to continue.

"Is that how Adam makes you feel too?" Susan asked and Kim nodded.

"In a way, yes. I'll never be able to reproduce what I had with Andrew, never. He was one of a kind. But yes, Adam is a great guy and he's always there for me, and it's probably the first time I've felt good and happy since Andrew's passing." Her sobbing increased when George kissed the top of her head. "But I also feel so guilty. Like I'm cheating or something." She confesses pressing the top of her nose trying to relief some stress.

"Do you have any idea how happy you made Andrew?The spark in his face after he met you was something I had never seen before in my son." Susan took over, while her husband listened and hugged Kim by the shoulders. "He was a new man. I remember one day, after you guys were already an official item, he came over to the kitchen while I was cooking and started talking about everything, nothing deep, just a superfluous conversation. I knew there had to be more than that so I let him talk until he finally shared his one true worry with me. Andrew was afraid he wouldn't be able to make you as happy as you made him."

"But he did. Every single day." Kim answered.

"I know. But honey, imagine how devastated he'd be right now knowing that he's interfering with your happiness. He always had your best interest Kim, always. Remember that. Remember he loved you and wanted you to have a happy life and remember that we love you and we want the same."

"As I heard Susan speak, both your and Andrew's sparkly smiles popped in my brain, and right now Kim, when you were telling us about Adam I saw that smile again. Maybe it's time we all genuinely try to feel better as a family and support each other, like we always have." Kim nodded and both of them hugged her simultaneously.

"I'm sorry, you have a lot on your plate already and yet here you are comforting me. I hope you understand, I needed to be honest with you about what was going on."

"Of course we understand and we truly appreciate it." Susan said as she lightly stroked her hair. "And if the time comes and you think it wouldn't be weird, George and I would love to meet him."

"That would require getting everything back in order. We took some steps back when I realized I wasn't coping with my issues too well, but I'll get there, hopefully."

"Of course. We all will because we still have each other." George said as he hugged Kim and reached to kiss his wife's forehead.

The conversation was tough but necessary, all three of them needed that moment and all three of them needed to know that they would still be there supporting each other's processes.

When she finally left their house, she promised them that she'd help them out with the moving and she was very serious about letting them know that she supported her decision one hundred percent, making them both smile and getting a hug in return.

Kim was now in the comfort of her own place, sitting on her couch and hugging her knees, letting her thoughts run wild through her mind.

She knew what she wanted, she knew what she had to do, she just wished she knew for a fact that she wasn't disappointing him, because she knew she was hurting Adam and she couldn't live with that.

His dog tag was tightly wrapped around her right hand. She took it close to her mouth and started to talk, trying to communicate with him, trying to be as honest as she was with his parents.

"You know how much I loved you and always will. You're so important to me Andy, and I don't think that'll ever change." She wiped her tears with the cuff of her shirt. "As much as I would have liked to stay with you forever, that's not what destiny had in store for us, and I am grateful for the time we spent together. You'll always be in my heart but I need to live forward. I just wish you'd be here to hug me like you always did and tell me that you understood and that everything was going to be ok. Please, tell me something."

Her sobbing was out of control, but she needed to let all of that go. She needed to cleanse herself from the inside and start to take full control of her life and her feelings once and for all.

Her doorbell rang and she got up from her couch wiping her face with the back of her hands. Sylvie was likely to stop by on a day like this, she always would and to be honest Kim really needed her friend right now. She opened the door without looking through the peephole.

"Hey. Thought it would be useful to have a shoulder to lean on."

Was this Andrew talking to her? Was this his way of saying he loved her and cared for her, that he wasn't at all disappointed and that he needed her to move on and live a happy life? Kim had no idea, but that's exactly what it felt like. She didn't even wait for him to step inside, she threw herself into his arms and when she felt his tight hug again a wave of peace and calmness invaded her body. She was still crying and sobbing, but it felt different now. "Shhh." He said softly with his lips against her hair and gently rubbing her back. "It's ok, baby. I'm here." There was something about the way he said it, his tone of voice, choice of words. She was sure now. Adam showing up to her doorstep was Andrew talking to her.

"I'm sorry." She apologized with her face pressed to his chest, the words were hard to hear but he understood her immediately.

"There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes there is. I wasn't fair with you and…" He stopped her, he wasn't going to let her plunge into that, not now and especially because they were both in it, so that meant it wasn't only her who had to take the blame.

"Why don't we get inside? I brought wine, you know alcohol tends to ease things up a little." He said calmly and she chuckled realizing they were still standing in the hallway. She took his hand and led him in.