Hey everyone, happy Friday!!

Here I am, keeping my promise and updating this week.

I'm doing my best to keep up with everything and I keep writing every time I have the chance to.

Hope you like this chapter. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

There will be another update soon!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

To say that their week was hectic and tiring was an understatement. On Tuesday, Adam was called in during the middle of the night because the unit had caught a case and they had been working on it ever since. The long hours were killing him, and not being able to see Kim or Grace as much as he liked wasn't helping either. The only good thing out of it was that Kim was staying with Gracie, so at least he got to see her some of the nights he did manage to go home and sleep.

He opened the door and found her in the living room, cross legged on the couch, concentrating on her laptop that was propped on a cushion over her legs. Her hair was tied up on the middle of her head in a messy bun and she was wearing glasses that he had never seen before. It was the most domestic and simple way in which he had seen her, yet he felt his heart skip a beat to that sight. Coming home and finding her there was great.

"You're up." Her head turned to the direction of his voice and a huge smile appeared on her face as soon as she laid eyes on him.

"You're home." He smiled unconsciously. Hearing her refer to his place as home made him incredibly happy for some reason.

"You know you don't have to do that, right? You can go to bed and rest."

"We'll detective, turns out I can't really rest if I don't have you next to me, so I decided to make good use of the time and work a little. Why don't you come and kiss me instead of scolding me, anyway?" He smirked and walked towards her. He loved how natural she was, he loved what they were becoming. When he was close enough, he grabbed her face with both his hands and pressed his lips against hers. "That's more like it. How was your day?"

"Very long, but successful." He smiled faintly. "How about yours? How was Grace?"

"Our day was good." She took the computer off her legs and put it on his coffee table, just before extending one hand and silently inviting him to sit with her. "Grace was great, like always. She missed you, though. We both did."

"I missed my girls too." She smiled and leant her head on his shoulder.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat?"

"Nah, we ordered some food with the guys while we were working at the district." His hand was comfortably resting on her leg, gently moving his thumb over the fabric of her pants. "I'm going to kiss Gracie good night and then I'm taking a shower."

"Ok."

"Wanna join me? Or is it too soon to hop together in the shower with a sleeping child in the house?" The mischievous look on his face was everything.

"It's not too soon, it's just too risky."

"Fine." He sounded disappointed. "Be advised that this weekend I'm jumping at every opportunity I find to be with you."

"I was expecting just that." She closed her eyes proudly. "Go kiss Gracie and take a shower, I'll wait for you in bed."

"That sounds nice." He wiggled his eyebrows as he stood from the couch.

"When you stop by Gracie's room, make sure you check her bedside table. There's something for you there." He started to walk towards his niece's room and made a quick stop to leave his things in his bedroom. Walking into Gracie's space filled his heart and mind with peace. Knowing that she was there and that she was safe, was all he could ask for. He sat on the edge of the bed and lightly scuffed the top of her head, making sure he didn't wake her up.

"Sleep tight, muffin." He whispered before reaching down to leave a soft kiss on her forehead. He rearranged the covers over little Ms. Ruzek, and then looked towards the night table to find a Polaroid of Gracie and Kim with the biggest grins, and the words 'we love you!' written by his niece. Under the picture of course there was a drawing of him and Gracie in some kind of park. He loved it, just like he had loved every single one she had even given him. Adam placed another kiss on her little chubby cheek and walked out.

After some minutes he stepped into his room in his sleeping shorts and wet hair.

"Damn detective." Kim declared from his bed, where she was still working, the sight of her man was the only thing able to make her take her eyes off the screen. Kim got comfortable around his place pretty quickly, and both of them liked that because it was a consequence of how comfortable they felt around each other. "I really regret declining your shower invitation now." Adam chuckled as he made his way to bed.

"I know you don't like hearing me say this, but I told you so darlin'." He grabbed his phone to set the alarm before speaking again. "Do you ever stop working?"

"I do when I have a hot guy next to me in bed." She closed her computer and left it on the floor shifting her focus to him. "Did you find the surprise?"

"I did, and I loved it. I love you, both of you." She placed her hand on his forearm and reached closer to kiss him lightly. "You know? When my brother and Anne come back, I'm going to miss having this little munchkin around." The uncertain future was playing games with his head, and she understood that completely. Kim never left her hand from where it was, and she gently moved her thumb trying to comfort him.

"Adam." He turned his head to find her eyes. "She loves you."

"I know."

"Of course she loves her parents too, and the relationship between them and her is irreplaceable and impossible to duplicate, but the bond you two created, that amazing relationship you built, baby that's forever. You're her rock, she knows you have her back always. You're her superhero and that will never change." Kim saw a shy tear creeping in his eye and she felt like she was about to crumble. She moved closer to him and rubbed his back as she left a kiss on his cheek. "You're incredible, you know that? Because Gracie and I do."

"I think I'm just gonna end up getting a puppy when she's not here, to fill the void." They both laughed.

"That will keep her around for sure." She nudged him. "Not that she needs an excuse for that."

"And you?" He asked, meeting his eyes with hers.

"What about me?"

"Will you stay around once Gracie is back with her parents?"

"Is this a real question?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I can't be a badass cop right now, I'm more like a sissy."

"You're a badass, the fact that you can put out your feelings like that shows how brave you are and I think that's amazing." She took a deep breath and spoke again. "Adam, I'm not here because of Grace. You know that. I could be helping you take care of her from a completely different place and I'm not, because every day I choose to be with you. I'm not gonna say that I choose to love you, because I don't feel like loving you was a ever a choice, it just happened and I'm so fucking glad it did. So yes, I'm definitely sticking around Adam Ruzek, for as long as you stand me."

"That would be forever Ms. B." He hugged her waist and buried his head on her neck. "I love you."

"Me too."

They just slept and cuddled that night, they were too tired to do anything else, and all the emotional turmoil Adam just let out, also left him exhausted. He found comfort, energy and reassurance in his girl's arms. That was the only night they managed to make their schedules meet that week, until their weekend together.

Gracie was doing great. She missed her uncle, but Adam was literally giving his all to make this work and to spend as much time with her as he could.

It was finally Friday. Gracie's grandparents were picking her up from school and staying with her for the weekend. Adam and Kim decided that they were going to head out that same night, just to get the most of their time alone.

"Do you have everything ready?" Sylvie asked as she was heating up her food in the staff room.

"Yup. I left everything packed last night." They weren't sharing many specific details, because today the staff room was quite a hot spot and many other teachers were there. "I'm going home to leave my things and take a shower and then he's picking me up." But their plan to be as discreet as possible was going to be crushed soon.

"Who's picking you up? That's a secret you kept very well from us." Ian jumped in. It wasn't news to anyone in school that Ian was interested in Kim ever since he met her, even Kim knew that and everyone also knew that she didn't feel the same. Ian always thought that the reason why she never fell for him was Andrew, and it was partially true. What Ian didn't want to admit was that Kim wasn't interested in him, because it was a low blow to his ego. He heard the rumors, everyone was talking about the teacher who was hooking up with a student's uncle, and while Kim just tried to ignore that and just go on with her life, Ian wanted her to confess that she was that person whose affair was in everyone's mouth.

"Well it's my private life, I don't see why I should be sharing that with everyone else." She answered calmly and shrugged.

"Is it really that? Or is it maybe that you're ashamed of your actions?" He said defiantly. Sylvie was about to jump into the conversation, but Kim anticipated that and lifted her hand up and prevented the situation from going any further. She wasn't going to drag her friend into this.

"And according to you, what actions should I be ashamed about? Because it seems to me that you know more about my private life than I do myself."

"Come on Kim, we all know the cop finally got you to jump in his bed and both of you are having an affair now. I never thought you would do something like that."

"Listen Ian, I'm not even going to explain the nature of my relationship with Adam with you because I owe you, or anyone for that matter, nothing. I will tell you one thing, though. You have no right to talk to me like that, it's totally disrespectful."

"I didn't mean it like that." He was backing off because he was beginning to realize how much he had screwed up. "I'm just saying that it's so obvious what he's doing. He's banging you and then he'll do the same with Gracie's second grade teacher and it'll go on forever." Kim shook her head, she was feeling nauseous and was torn between leaving the room or sending him to hell. "He was hitting on Sylvie during field day, for crying out loud!"

"That's not true." Brett was totally pissed, and her tone of voice did nothing to hide that. Ian looked at the blonde and then back at the brunette who was left speechless.

"See? You don't even know what to say Kim, because you know I'm right."

"I feel bad for you, what you're doing is pathetic. You have no idea what you're talking about and I think what pisses you off is that I chose to jump in his bed and not yours." She grabbed her things and stood up. "Whatever I do outside of these walls, is my business and my life. If I ever need your opinion I will ask for it." She stated firmly looking at everyone in the room. "Syl I'm having lunch outside if you want to join me."

She was confident about her words, but the whole confrontation made her feel like crap. How many other people thought the same way Ian did? Was that really important?

"Don't let that asswhole get to you, Kim. It's obvious that he's speaking out of jealousy." Sylvie finally spoke once they were sitting on the grass.

"I don't give a crap about Ian."

"What's bothering you, then?"

"People thinking that, saying that. What do they care? I guess I knew what I had coming my way, so I can't really complain about any of it, can I?"

"You can be upset about it. That's totally normal."

"I don't want to talk about it now." Kim was in a bad mood, and she didn't want that to set the tone for the rest of her weekend, so she knew she had to stop thinking about it asap.

"Ok. One last thing?"

"Sure."

"You were fierce in there. The way you held your own, stood up for yourself and in a way, without even mentioning him, you also stood up for your man. Damn sister. You nailed it!" Sylvie lifted her hand up and Kim hi-fived her friend.

"Thanks girl!"

"Now that I said that, let's focus on what's important. Did you pack all the hot underwear?" Sylvie asked with mischievous eyes.

"That was the first thing I put in my bag. I really want to enjoy this time with him. We don't get the chance to be alone all that often, so I think we're both really looking forward to this weekend." Kim smiled with her whole face. This weekend was going to be incredible.