Kim tapped her foot anxiously. She looked at the clock on the wall of the small ante room and sighed. It had been more than two hours already and there wasn't even a mutter of something happening.

Finally the door opened and the lawyer shook his head. "Sorry Kim, the Judge has granted the Defense request for an adjournment for the rest of today and tomorrow."

"Again?"

"Frustrating I know but the wheels of justice don't always grind the way we want."

She swallowed the snippy reply. The lawyer's habit of using flowery language in and out of the court was amusing three days ago but now it was just annoying. "So what does that mean?"

"I'm afraid you'll need to stay for another couple of days. Sorry…" He shrugged. "…I tried, but unfortunately the Judge is the boss."

Kim sighed heavily. This was supposed to be a two day trip.

"Maybe we can go out for dinner and go over your evidence in chief again? Make sure you've got it all squared away? I know a nice place." He smiled and sat down in a chair opposite Kim and leant forward a little. "Can't have you sitting all alone in your hotel room for another night."

"I'm actually enjoying the peace and quiet." Kim hadn't given away much about her personal life, she didn't think it was important for the lawyer to know anything about her other than her work and evidence.

"Where is the fun in that?" He flashed her his slightly creepy grin. "I'll make sure you are back in your hotel safely before midnight and you turn into a pumpkin."

"Thank you, but I really enjoy the peace and quiet, a bath, a glass of wine and a movie." Kim shook her head. "It's a good time to catch up."

Sean Laskans was a good looking man, and he knew it. His reputation as a Ladies man aside he was a very accomplished prosecuting lawyer. Kim wasn't impressed though. She'd met enough Lawyers in her time to know a lot of them were cut from the same cloth.

"Wine and Bath sounds divine."

"So I can go now?" Kim asked when Sean made no attempt to move. "I'll call an Uber."

"I can drop you off." He suddenly jumped up and tried to usher her towards the door and reached for the bag that she had slung over her shoulder. Kim reached for the strap and pushed it back onto her shoulder.

"No, Thank you. I am sure you've got plenty of work to do as well." Kim stepped around him confidently, she'd dealt with many men like him. "Do you need to see me tomorrow?" Kim stopped and before Sean could respond she made it very clear it was purely case related, he shook his head. "I will wait for notification of my amended time then."

"What do you mean it's been adjourned? What sort of Muppets are these guys?" Adam whined when Kim informed him that she had to stay another couple of days. He leant back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. The bullpen was almost empty and only Kevin remained. They had some arrest reports to finish before they went home. "Mack is going to be livid."

"Mack?"

"Okay, I'm livid." He lowered his voice. "I had plans."

"I know. Anyway, what time will you be home so I can talk to Mack?" Whenever either of them were working late or overnight they always chatted to Makayla. Kim and Adam wanted, more than anything, for Makayla to feel safe and loved.

"Give me an hour."

Kim snorted and reminded him playfully that... "Nothing takes you an hour."

"Ha, ha you are hilarious." He promised to call as soon as he was home and she could talk to Mack. "Unless you are out yucking it up with a hot prosecutor type. It's not Matt Miller is it?"

"Stop being ridiculous."

The tone of her voice caught Adam's attention. "Darlin'?"

"I'll talk to you later." Kim hung up abruptly and tossed her phone on the bed. She decided to get changed into her gym gear and go for a run on the treadmill. She could pop her headphones on and zone out for a while.

She talked to Makayla and then Adam promised to call her back once she was in bed. It was a little hectic, like always when they were flying solo. It meant cooking dinner, doing the dishes, wrangling Makayla into the shower and sitting down to do some reading before bed. They were currently reading James and the Giant Peach from the Roald Dahl collection which were Adam's from when he was young. They'd found them in a box under the stairs when they were clearing out the house.

"Hey Darlin'." Adam called her after he'd poured himself a drink. "You thinkin' about me, I'm thinkin' about you."

"I am." Kim sighed. "It wasn't supposed to be this long."

"How much longer?"

"Two days apparently before I can start giving evidence and they reckon it will take a day for that and then if I need to be cross-examined."

"How about Mack and I drive up later in the week if you are still there, spend the weekend and drive back together?" Adam offered. "She can miss Friday."

"She's got her first soccer game this weekend and a birthday party on Sunday. She won't want to miss those. Sorry Baby, maybe I can fly home on the weekend if this drags into next week?"

"I don't want to wait to the weekend to see you. I mean Atwater is on call this week, I'm free mostly and you are not here for me to enjoy."

"Nope, I'm stuck here with the sleazy prosecutor, Sean Laskans."

"Sleazy?"

"He's been…" She paused and chose her words a little more carefully than she had originally planned knowing that Adam would not be happy. "…He's just icky." Kim shuddered a little.

"Why is every fucking Sean a dick biscuit?"

"Well that's a lovely turn of phrase. Is that new?"

Adam had overheard it being yelled at a job they were at and it had made him laugh. It had felt perfect for this moment. "It is, do you like it?" She could tell he was proud of himself just by his voice. "Tell me I am wrong?"

"Makayla's going to Sean's birthday party on Sunday. Are you going to call him a dick biscuit too?"

"Depends if he hits on her."

Kim gasped at his ridiculousness. "He's ten."

He was very aware that he was sounding ridiculous so changed the subject. The last thing he wanted to do was get into that minefield. He never missed an opportunity to make sure Kim knew exactly what he thought, as if she didn't know. Kim wasn't averse to hitting back either with his own history of bad decisions. "I'd like to be hitting on you right now."

"I think I would let you."

"Seriously though, are you okay? This dick biscuit isn't touching you or whatever?" The little alpha male in Adam made an appearance. It was a mix of marking his territory and being protective. He had little time for sleazy men or sexual harassment. "I can come out?"

"No you can't. I am quite capable of putting this guy back in his box."

"I wish I could put my guy in your box."

"Ewww." Kim grimaced. "That's just wrong Adam."

"The words sound wrong but the intent, you love it." He liked that she giggled. "How does facetime dinner sound tomorrow night? I should be finished early and Makayla will be sick of me by then."

Kim couldn't wait and it was a long boring day waiting around hoping that it would only be a one day break. She was disappointed with Sean called to tell her it was going to be another day. "You've been holed up in the hotel all day, how about dinner tonight?"

"I managed to get out and be a bit of a tourist today." Kim ignored his invitation.

"I wish I'd known, I could've been your tour guide. So dinner?"

"Room service for me tonight."

He was quick and persistent and not even subtle. "I can do Room service with you."

Kim was just as persistent and if she wasn't desperate to make sure this trial ran smoothly she would make more of a deal of it but for now she needed to keep her powder dry. "No, thank you. I hope we get better news tomorrow." She said goodbye and hung up quickly.

She ordered her dinner, set up the phone and called home. Adam had set the iPad up at the end of the dinner table and they enjoyed the slightly unconventional family dinner. Makayla filled her in on school and how soccer training went. She was excited about the first game on the weekend and really hoped that her Mom would be home, but if she wasn't that was "…okay, Dad is coming, and Uncle Kev and even Aunt Trudy and Uncle Mooch said they'd come. She said she needs to come to make sure Dad doesn't go off his nut."

"She didn't say that?" Adam sighed. "She wants to make sure I celebrate appropriately."

"I so want to be there. I will be begging the Judge when I see him."

Adam called Kim back once Mack was in bed and asleep and he'd finished doing the dishes. He sat down with a beer and decided to facetime her.

"So… tell me about your day?" He started.

"Not much to tell." Kim sighed. She really was completely bored. "I went out and had a look around. I sent you the photos of the stuff I bought for Mack and that was it. I read a bit, I ran a bit, I went over my brief of evidence again for the hundredth time. Sean called and tried to get me to go out for dinner with him again and that was it."

"So the dick biscuit is still being a dick?"

"Yes. I said I was doing room service tonight and he offered to do it with me."

"Do what with you exactly?" It was like flicking a switch and he became over-protective and alpha-male. It annoyed Kim at times because he didn't know when to stop but on the other hand it was nice to have someone look out for you and also see other men calling out shitty behaviour when a generation ago they would just laugh it off.

"Room Service."

"Not loving this Kim."

Kim couldn't argue with that, she wasn't loving it either and Adam wanted her to report him but in the end they both decided to at least wait until after the trial was over. The other issue was that he never sent her messages with any suggestive behaviour, it was all verbal. Everything he sent to her phone was completely related to the case.

"I must say though, your Alpha male, macho chest beating is quite the turn on."

"Really?" Adam was surprised at the sharp change of subject and his voice rose a little. "Usually you get pissy."

"I must be missing you."

"What do you want to do about that? I'm game for anything?"

"Oh I know you are." They got very flirty, or dirty flirty as Adam called it and it was a nice hour. Part long-range foreplay, part pressure release to get her through the next couple of days.

Sean Laskans was disappointed the following day when Kim told him that she did have a lovely room service dinner with her husband and daughter. "You're married?"

"Yep." Kim lied smoothly. She had discussed this with Adam last night and he suggested she pull that card if she thought it would help. Sometimes it was easier to slip that in than explain exactly what they had going on.

"You didn't tell me?"

Kim gave him a fair serve. The case was done, her evidence in chief was over, she was cross-examined and the Judge dismissed her. "Why would I? It had nothing to do with this case and it shouldn't take me being married to make you less of a sleaze. Maybe try being less of a try-hard with women, I wouldn't want you to be dragged down with the MeToo movement. It would be a pity, you are a good prosecutor and as a cop we like to know that the criminals we catch don't get away."

Adam and Makayla were waiting at the airport to pick her up and Makayla bolted into her mother's arms the moment she came through the gate.

She'd been at Adam from the moment he picked her up from school about what time Mom was getting home. He'd even given her an iPad with the flight tracker app so she wouldn't ask him every five minutes if her plane had taken off yet. The squeal when it actually was in the air scared the crap out of him. Then she started on how long it would take to get to the airport and she was paranoid they were going to be late and every time he stopped at a red light the dramatic sighing was amusing.

"Don't answer it." Adam groaned when his phone rang on the way home. Kim grabbed it out of his pocket and checked out the caller.

"It's Voight. You need to answer it."

Kim held it up to his ear. 'Sure, sure. Yep, I'll just drop Kim and Mack at home.'

"What is it?" As if she didn't know.

"Sorry. Kev apparently twisted his ankle chasing some dude and he's laid up at home so I've been tapped and a body has dropped."

"Doesn't he know that we had plans?" Kim sounded defeated, all she wanted to do was get home and spend some time with Makayla and then once she was in bed she had plans for Adam. Plans they had discussed at length.

"Well I don't often discuss my self-care routine with our Boss."