Hey guys, happy Wednesday!

Hope all of you are doing great!

Here's a little update of this story; I really hope you like it, since it was a bit struggling to write...

Looking forward to reading your thoughts about it.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

"Um, it's ok. Listen, I've got news." She could hear him tap a pen on his desk and take a deep breath. "We're starting the operation first thing tomorrow. So, I have to leave at midnight to an undercover apartment that is already settled for me."

"Ok." That was all she could manage to say. There were a million thoughts running through her head, but she needed to organize them before she could blurt them out. "How can I help? Do you want me to take Gracie to your place after school so you can get anything you need ready? I…" She stopped to run her hand over her face and take a deep breath. She could feel the anxiety around the corner and didn't want to spin out when he needed her the most. "I'm sorry, I have no idea how this works. Just tell me how I can help you and I'll do it."

"Hey, relax." He said with a soothing voice as he stood up and walked over to the staff room. He needed some privacy for the rest of the call. "You're doing great and you are already helping." He sighed before he continued. "If you can take Gracie, that would be great. I'll be there for dinner and we can tell her what's gonna happen the next couple of days. Does that's sound good?"

"Yes. I'll see you later then."

"I'll take dinner, ok? Don't worry about that."

"Are you sure? I don't mind cooking."

"Yeah, I am. You just relax and try to take this easy. I'll see you later babe."

"Ok."

"Kim?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Adam."

The rest of the day felt like an eternity to Kim. She wasn't at ease and was desperate to find a way out of that feeling. She needed to convince herself that this time things would be different, and that there was a happy ending for her after all.

Her kids didn't really help, or maybe it was her the one who had no patience; dismissal wasn't coming anytime soon and all she wanted was to take Grace home and see Adam.

When the bell finally rang she was relieved, she told Gracie that her uncle wasn't picking her up today and that they were leaving school together. After a few minutes, when all the kids had left and Kim was cleared to leave the school, both her and Grace were in Kim's car ready to go home.

"Aunt Kim?" The older brunette couldn't help but smile every time she heard Gracie call her that way.

"What honey?"

"Are we going to your house or to my house?"

"We're going to your house, bear. Uncle Adam is bringing dinner for us so we can eat together."

"Great!" Seeing her innocence and excitement was making Kim feel bad. She knew it would be a low blow when Adam told her that he was leaving, but all she could do was be there for her niece and try to make this time the best possible for the little girl.

Kim turned on the music and Grace started singing cheerfully, it was hard not to join her enthusiasm. In just a matter of seconds she was smiling and singing along with her niece.

The drive to Adam's was much better than what she expected, there was no doubt that having Gracie by her side made everything lighter and better. As soon as they stepped inside, Grace ran to her room to leave her backpack and look for something to play with. She would always do that every time her aunt was home with her. "Can we work on the scrapbook while we wait for uncle Adam?"

"Definitely! However, I think it would be best if you go and take a shower now. That way when uncle Adam comes we can snuggle with him for a little while before we eat. How does that sound?" Gracie was quick to agree to Kim's plan, and Kim just wanted to spend as much time as possible with all three of them.

Adam didn't take too long to arrive with two bags of takeout.

"Hey baby." She said sweetly as soon as she saw him step inside. "That smells great."

"Glad you like it. I grabbed some lasagna from that Italian place you love."

"Thanks."

"Grace?" He asked as he walked closer to her and left the bags on the kitchen counter before wrapping her into a tight hug.

"She's taking a shower." Kim lifted her head up and pressed her lips against his.

"How did you get her to do that so early?"

"I told her that if she took a shower now, then we would have more time to spend together." She shrugged her shoulders and Adam smiled.

"I was thinking maybe we can do a picnic style dinner in the living room tonight, and tell her that I'll be away for a couple of days."

"Love it." She smiled and kissed him again. She didn't feel like walking away from him right now and she wasn't going to do it. "Love you."

"Love you too. I'm sorry I'm putting you through this."

"Hey no. Don't say that. I'm happy I get to be with both of you during this time." She sighed. "I'm the one who needs to apologize, this is a bit overwhelming at times and I struggle a little because I'm not sure if I'm actually helping out or getting in the way."

"You'll never be in the way of anything, you're doing everything right and I couldn't be doing any of this without you." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "I promise I'll do my best to get this over with soon, and everything will be back to normal." Kim nodded and buried her face on his chest.

"Uncle Adam!" Her chirpy voice and the sound of footsteps running towards the kitchen popped their little bubble.

"There she is!" He let go of Kim only to crouch down and pick his niece up. He perched her on his hip and hugged his girlfriend one more time. "Let's make a Gracie sandwich." He shouted and squeezed the girl between the two of them, making their niece giggle. It was moments like this that made everything worth it.

"Aunt Kim said we could snuggle together before dinner. Can we?"

"If Aunt Kim said so, then we will do it. What movie should we watch, Aunt Kim?"

"Hmmm." Kim pretended to put a lot of thought into it but she already knew what she was going to say. "How about Moana?"

"Yeeeeeeeiii!!" Gracie cheered. They had watched it like fifty times, but she loved it and today was all about giving the little girl a treat.

Gracie was propped on Adam's lap and Kim sat next to him leaning against his shoulder, finding his hand and entwining their fingers together. They watched the whole movie like that, nobody said a word, they were just enjoying the moment.

When the film ended, Adam insisted on bringing the food over to them.

"You girls chill. I'll be back with the food shortly." He said before disappearing into the kitchen to heat up the food and serve them.

A few bites into their dinner, he looked at Kim and she nodded. They needed to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Gracie." He started doubtfully. "I need to tell you something."

"What?" She asked with big sparkly eyes.

"For a few days you'll be staying with Aunt Kim."

"Okay."

"She's going to stay here with you."

"Where will you be?" The shine that was once in her eyes was now disappearing. Kim was looking at the whole situation and noticed how hard it was for Adam to keep going.

"Come here bear." Kim extended her arms out and Grace didn't blink before going and sitting on her aunt's lap. "You know that Uncle Adam has to catch a lot of bad guys to keep all of us safe, right?" Gracie nodded as Kim kissed the top of her head and lightly brushed her soft and thin hair with her fingers. "Well, he has this very very important mission to complete right now. And for him to do that he needs to go away for a few days. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She said softly, both adults knew that Grace was fighting to hold her tears in place and it was breaking both their hearts. "When do you leave?"

"Tonight muffin." Adam answered leaning closer to his girls.

"Are you sure you're coming back? You're not leaving me, right?" So much for holding the tears back. Adam was now facing two crying girls.

"Of course I'm coming back! How could I live without my muffin?"

Kim loosened up the grip around Grace, and she practically darted into her uncle's arms.

"And Aunt Kim too?"

"And Aunt Kim too. I couldn't live without you both." He hugged her tight and left a kiss on her chubby cheek. "I'll be back before you know it, and the three of us are gonna have the most epic day at the park ever. What do you say?"

"I love you uncle Adam." Those were the only words her sweet little voice pronounced before she did her best to cling her arms around his neck.

"I love you too, muffin." He said rubbing her back with one hand and wiping the tears off his face with the other one.

None of them finished dinner, all of a sudden they were not hungry anymore. All they wanted was for this shit to be over.

Both of them tucked Grace in bed and Adam read her favorite book to help her fall asleep.

They were now in the living room, making the best out of the last minutes they had before he left.

"Tomorrow Voight will create a group chat with you and the guys from the unit to keep you updated, but most importantly, should you need something or notice something weird you let them know, ok?" Kim had no idea what he was talking about, she just nodded and agreed to what he said. "You have Trudy's number too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, she's aware of everything, so you can also contact her or Pops."

"Adam, is everything alright?"

"Yes. It's just… I need to make sure you'll be okay."

"I will be."

"I have to go." He stepped in, grabbing her neck and giving her a bruising kiss. "I love you, Belle."

"I love you too, detective. Be safe. I'll be right here waiting for you."

"I can't wait to be back." He hugged her and kissed her once more before leaving for his new undercover apartment.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned her back against it and started to cry in silence.

She stayed like that for some minutes, she didn't judge what she was feeling, she just let her emotions flow.

She went to get some of the clothes she had in his place and took a shower in an attempt to relax a bit, and to be honest it did help up to a certain extent.

Kim was exhausted, there was nothing she wanted to do now but sleep. She put on her pajamas and walked over to Gracie's room to check on her and kiss her good night.

The room was exactly the way Adam and her had left it and when she lowered herself to kiss her niece's head, she felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

Desperately, she turned on the lamp and confirmed that Grace was not in her bed.

"Gracie!" Kim's voice was loud and desperate. "Grace, where are you?"

She looked everywhere, under the bed, in her closet, in the living room and the kitchen and there was no sight of Grace anywhere.

"Don't panic Kim, don't panic." She said to herself. "She has to be here somewhere. Fuck! This can't be happening." Kim looked around the place again, she was ready to call Voight, but wanted to give another look.

She stepped into Adam's room and that was when she heard it. The soft sobbing coming from his closet was tearing her soul apart. "Grace?" The girl didn't speak, she just cried. Kim opened the closet door and tried to get Gracie to look at her. "Bear, let's come out of there."

The child was still, so Kim did the only thing she thought of, go into the closet with her and wrap her tight in her arms. "It's ok, bear. I'm right here."

"Nobody wants to stay with me." She said choked by her own sobbing.

"No, honey. Please don't think that."

"He's not coming back. Is he?"

"Of course he's coming back. Grace, your uncle loves you, I can guarantee that to you and I know he will do his best to be back soon."

"I didn't want him to go. I miss him." It was hard for her to speak.

"Do you want me to tell you a secret?" She said with a softer voice making Gracie nod and slowly calm her crying. "I miss him too. And it makes me sad that he left."

"Really?"

"Yes, bear. But do you know what keeps me in a good mood?" Gracie shook her head waiting for Kim to continue. "That we get to wait for him together." Gracie smiled and Kim took that as cue to pull her closer and tickle her sides. "I have a crazy idea."

"What?"

"How about we sleep over in Uncle Adam's bedroom tonight so we can feel him a little closer?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah?" Kim smiled to see the glitter slowly appear in her little green eyes again.

"Yes!"

"Ok then. Let's go to bed miss." Kim scooped her out of the closet and they both did their best to rest that night.

They were in this together.