Hey, happy Friday!

Well here is a little update before I head back home from my holidays and get to write more!

Hope you enjoy this little update!

Thanks for all your comments, I love reading them! Totally keeps me motivated.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

"This was fun for a change." Gracie stated as she jumped up and down the couch. Instead of taking her to his place, last night they decided to have a sleepover in Gracie's house. They were working really hard to get her acquainted with her new reality and everyone was willing to do anything it took to help her. This time, it took Adam sleeping over his brother's house watching Encanto for the twentieth time and eating popcorn.

"It was."

"We should do it again."

"Anytime, muffin. But maybe we could watch another movie."

Kit was walking into the living room and laughed at his brother's comment.

"Gracie, how about you go with mom and get changed. Then you can come and have breakfast with your uncle and I."

"Yes, daddy." She ran to her room leaving the two a Ruzek men getting breakfast ready.

"Thanks for doing this for her. You have no idea how important you are for Grace, for all of us."

"You have nothing to thank me, Kit. I love spending time with you guys. Gracie is such an important part of my life. She's what's keeping me afloat."

"She's a special little thing, isn't she?"

"Totally." Adam smiled at that. "That's exactly what Kim used to say about her."

"I can't wait until everything is back to normal and I can meet her. I still can't believe there's a woman on the surface of this earth that was capable of making a decent man out of you."

"Two. Kim and Grace." They both laughed. "You'd like her and Anne would adore her. I'm sure about that."

"Any updates on her situation?"

"Not really. I mean she's ok, but hasn't remembered much. Although she did mention my balcony to her friend so I guess that's positive."

"That's great."

"It's nothing really, but I'm holding on to that." Kit was staring at his brother. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm proud of you, that's all." He wrapped his brother into a big hug. "I love you bro."

"Awww, aren't you two adorable." Anne's voice was sweet. "Did you sleep good, Adam?"

"I did, thank you."

"Gracie is ecstatic that you're here. Thank you for doing this."

"You guys, you really need to stop thanking me. I enjoy every second with her. In fact I miss having her around all the time."

"She misses you too." Kit answered.

"And her Aunt Kim. I feel like she's my friend already from all the stories Gracie's told us."

"Yeah, they had a pretty special bond."

"Have you seen her?" Anne asked, taking a seat on the kitchen's stool as she watched both men preparing breakfast.

"Yeah." Adam said smiling. "She was last night at Molly's and I ran into her after dropping Gracie off at school a few days ago. It's weird to be close to her and not be able to hug her."

"You'll get there, and when that day comes you're bringing her over so we can all celebrate together and so I can thank her for everything she did." Anne's sweet words were interrupted by her daughter's enthusiasm.

"Uncle Adam! Look what I made." Gracie went running to him with a piece of paper in her hands. "It's me and Aunt Kim."

"You both look beautiful, muffin."

"I miss her."

"I know you do. I miss her too."

"Can you take me to give this to her?"

"Muffin, we've talked about this. You have to wait just a little bit longer." Adam explained sweetly as Gracie's parents watched them interact. Their connection was undeniable.

"I don't want to wait any longer!"

"I understand kiddo, because I don't want to wait either. We just have to be a little more patient for Aunt Kim."

"But you don't have to wait, you just said you saw her. Why can you see her and I can't?"

"Gracie, it's not like that." He tried to calm her down but it wasn't really working.

"You don't want me to see her!" This was probably the first time Gracie had an attitude like this one. She was having a rough time, and acting out like this was the only way she could find to cope with the situation.

"You don't want me to see her, you don't care what I want, you don't love me anymore now that mommy and daddy are here and you want Aunt Kim all to yourself." Her face was red with anger and her eyes were tearing up, making Adam feel like shit. "I hate you!" There it was, the death wound. He had no words to say.

"Grace Ruzek, apologize to your uncle right now." Kit's voice was firm, but the little girl did nothing.

"Grace, you heard your father. That's no way of speaking to anyone, especially your uncle Adam." Anne backed up her husband only causing Grace to burst into tears and walk to her room.

"Leave her guys, this is her way of dealing with all this crap. It's way too much for her and it's healthy that she can let out all those feelings and worries." He scratched the back of his head. "It's not that I don't want her to see Kim, I'm just trying to keep her from feeling that hole in her chest. That hole I'm left with everytime I see her and she has no fucking idea who I am. It hurts a lot and I don't want to put Gracie through that."

"Adam, we know that, you don't have to explain anything." Anne tried to comfort him.

"If there's something I'm totally sure about, is that you have our daughter's best interest and that everything you do is to protect her, and you do one hell of a job at it." Kit added.

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about it." Adam replied.

"Adam, welcome to parenthood. They say some pretty horrible things sometimes, but that doesn't mean that we aren't doing the best we can." Anne squeezed his arm. "I'm gonna go check on her."

"Yeah. I'm going home. Maybe being here is not the best thing for her right now."

"Nonsense, stay."

"Thank you Anne, but I'd rather be at my place right now."

He went to get his things and left his brother's house with his head down.

"I'm going to talk to her." Anne told her husband who nodded before watching her walk to their daughter's room.

She opened the door and found Gracie crying on her bed, with the scrapbook her and Kim were putting together on her lap.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" She asked as she sat closer to her daughter.

"I miss aunt Kim."

"We know you do, honey."

"I also miss living with Uncle Adam." Gracie confessed,

a little embarrassed. She didn't want her parents to feel bad, but the truth was that adjusting to everything was really difficult for her. "I'm sorry mommy."

"Hey, you don't have to apologize for the way you feel. Daddy and I know you love us so much, and we also know that you love your Uncle Adam."

"And Aunt Kim." Gracie added.

"And Aunt Kim, of course." Anne agreed while softly striking her daughter's soft curls. "We understand that you miss living with him, because your uncle did a great job looking out for you when we weren't able to do it. Can I ask you something, though?" Grace nodded shyly. "Do you think it was fair to say all those things to your Uncle Adam?"

"Yes." She was still angry and her answer was living proof of that.

"So you really hate him?"

"Well, he doesn't love me anymore, so…"

"Hmm, and why do you think that?"

"Because."

"Sounds to me that you don't have many reasons. Let me tell you something." Anne grabbed Gracie and sat her on her lap, wrapping her arms around the little girl. "You make your uncle so happy, since the day we found out about you and told him about it, he was thrilled. And when you were born Gracie, you were the cutest little baby ever." Gracie began to smile as she heard stories from when she was younger. "But you did cry a whole lot, and for some reason you'd only stop when you were in Uncle Adam's arms and he loved the fact that he was the only one who could get you to calm down so quickly. I can't still remember the look in his eyes every time he saw you, they were like glitter." Both girls were smiling now. "He always wanted to protect you, both daddy and him practically bubble wrapped the whole house just to make sure you wouldn't get hurt, ever. And now, sweet pea, I think Uncle Adam is trying to bubble wrap your heart. Aunt Kim is not exactly the same right now, and he doesn't want you to feel bad."

"How does he know I'm going to feel bad?" Gracie was loosening up, having her mother's understanding, and the reassurance that she was loved made her feel much better.

Grace never had that type of insecurities before, but after everything that happened with the adults she loved, she couldn't help to think that they were running away from her.

"Probably because that is the way he feels after he sees her."

"So, he doesn't love her any more?"

"No, sweet pea, he does. Just like he loves you. And I think that's exactly why it hurts him so much." Gracie didn't really understand what her mom was saying, but for now she was satisfied.

"I love you mommy."

"I love you too, sweety. So much." They hugged and Gracie snuggled on Anne's chest.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"I think I need to apologize to Uncle Adam."

"I think that is a very good idea."

"I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Grace, Uncle Adam went to his house." Her upper lip started to quiver and her nose scrunched up a little, she was about to burst into tears. "I tell you what, how about we bake him some cookies and drop them off at his house and apologize there? How does that sound?"

"Yes!" Gracie nodded enthusiastically. "Chocolate chip, he loves chocolate chip cookies!"

"Perfect! Let's go tell daddy our plan."

Adam dropped his keys on the kitchen counter before opening the fridge and getting something to eat.

The last events were bittersweet. He was happy about his interaction with Kim, apparently she wasn't into Ian and seemed comfortable around him. Kevin was right, he couldn't give up on them, he had to be strong and keep fighting.

And then there was what had just happened. Gracie's words pierced his heart. He knew that she didn't mean it, but it still sucked to hear it, but probably the worst part was knowing that she was hurting too, no matter how hard they tried to protect her.

That was when all the guilt came back, crushing his shoulders and pushing him down. Everything started because of him. Kit's case, Gracie not knowing where the hell her parents were and now Kim.

He'd been here already, and he knew he couldn't let those feelings take control of him, especially because he couldn't go back in time and change anything. The only choice he had was to try to make things right now.

He was tired, exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally, so he just went to bed hoping that time would go by faster.

He woke up two hours later to the ringing of his phone.

"Ruzek."

"Adam, I know you're off today but I need a guy to go under and I remember you asked me to keep you in mind if anything popped up."

Voight's voice was a call from the heavens. Maybe being away for a while was the best for everyone.

"Um, yes boss. When do you need me?"

"Tomorrow. This should be short and simple. We're meeting tomorrow in the district at six and I'll brief the whole team."

"Great. Thanks boss."

"See you tomorrow."

This was probably the best thing for him. His mind needed a break, and nothing better than going undercover to achieve that.

He spent the rest of his day getting ready, packing some essentials just in case, because he didn't know what he was going to need or what he was going to be allowed to take.

He texted Phill to let him know he was going to be away for a couple of days and then decided to call Sylvie to let her know too.

"Hey, Adam. Is everything okay?" Sylvie answered her phone immediately.

"Yeah, all is good. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going away for a couple of days. Not sure when I'm going to be back, because I don't have any information about the case, but if you need me for anything, if anything happens, if Kim needs anything just contact Platt and they will get to me. Ok?"

"Yes, don't worry about it."

"Thanks Sylvie." He heard her sigh from the other side of the line and got him a bit worried. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I doubt she'll tell me if she needs something considering she left my place kind of pissed last night and is currently not answering my texts or phone calls." The blonde was stressed and since Casey had to leave because he was in call, she appreciated having Adam to talk to. By now he was much more than Kim's boyfriend, he had become a real friend to her as well.

"What happened? You were fine last night."

"You're probably going to be mad too."

"It can't be that bad, just tell me what happened."

"I kind of told her she was dating and when I realized I said that and refused to answer any more questions, she got really upset and left."

"Brett, I know how hard it is to stop ourselves from telling her things, but we're not supposed to do that. This is exactly what Dr. Walker was trying to avoid."

"Don't you think I know that?"

Oh great, just what he needed. Another woman yelling at him. Sylvie took a deep breath and spoke again. This time her voice was softer. "I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm a little stressed out."

"It's fine."

"I know you're right Adam, but had no other choice or at least I wasn't able to find an alternative on time."

"Ok, now you're scaring me. What do you mean you had no other choice?"

"Promise me you'll be civil about it, as much as I don't want you to be."

"What happened?" Adam asked, feeling how his blood temperature was raising.

"Kim went out for dinner with Ian last week, which I only found out about last night."

"Yeah, I knew that. I was out with some friends and we ended up at the same restaurant. Watching her leaving the place with him wasn't exactly the highlight of the night. It destroyed me." His stomach turned into a knot when he heard Ian's name come out of Sylvie's mouth, he had the feeling that this had to do with him and now he was scared to hear what else the blonde had to say. What if she had to tell Kim she was dating because Kim wanted to take things further with Ian and Sylvie felt bad for Adam and was trying to stop her friend? If that was the case then he was going to summon all the gods and just ask to be struck by a lightning bolt or something.

"Oh my God, Adam. That must've sucked."

"It did." Adam didn't give her much more details because he knew she was stalling and he desperately needed to know what had happened.

"Anyway, it turns out Ian kissed her and told her that they were dating."

"He did what?" This was the first time Sylvie heard Adam's angry growl and she was truly scared by it.

"He's a piece of shit, I know. The thing is that Kim was upset, she refused to think that what he told her was true and I couldn't let her believe that. So I told her she in fact was dating someone but that it wasn't Ian and when I didn't tell her anything else she just left."

Adam was trying his best to absorb all this information. It was hard for him to believe that someone could take advantage of this situation and try to manipulate someone, just to get his way. He'd seen it a million times at work, but when it hit close to home it was totally different.

"I gotta go, Sylvie."

"Adam, wait."

"What?"

"Don't be stupid, ok?"

"Yeah." He answered quickly and ended the call.