The next morning while Kim slept Adam got up to check his messages. He had texted his Aunt after Kim fell asleep to see if she could get someone to the house the next day to appraise it and inspect it. He knew it was short notice but he hoped she had contacts that would hook her up. He also offered to pay more for a quick turn around. He was happy to see that people would be at the house by noon to check it out. He returned to bed before she woke pulling her body back against his. He loved the feeling of her body pressed against his, even if it was fully clothed. He held her long after she fell asleep from crying. Sobbing that her dreams were falling apart before her very eyes. His heart broke for her, for himself. He never wanted to see or hear he cry like that again. Hence why he texted his Aunt looking for help.

As his thoughts drifted in and out of the last night he heard a phone ringing but he wasn't his. He reached over to grab her phone looking to see who was calling and if it was important to wake her. "Darling. Kim your phone is ringing." He shook her trying to wake her. "Who is it?" Kim moaned though not opening her eyes. "It's Brain Johnston?" Adam wasn't sure who that was. "My manager? Hand me the phone." Kim took the phone realizing she missed the call. She called back right away. "Morning Brian what's going on?" Kim asked as she curled into Adams side. "Sounds like I woke you. Sorry." He replied sheepishly. "It's cool. We went away for the weekend so I was sleeping in. You're on speaker phone by the way." Kim answered as she waited to hear why he called.

"Oh okay. Well sorry to interrupt your weekend away but I have an offer that couldn't wait. And it's right up your alley. I knew you would jump at it." He was winding Kim up. "Oh I'm definitely interested now." Kim looked over at Adam with wide eyes. "I knew you would. So I won't keep you waiting then. Danskin, your favorite dance company wants you to the face of their upcoming campaign. You will photographed for print Ads, you will have runway shows to be at and you need to wear their clothes as you go to and from work and when you run errands. They will provide some clothes for you to wear but you will probably need to purchase more based on how often you work. And the best part is you get paid 5 million a year. What do you think?" Brain asked knowing she would be jazzed about it.

Kim was stunned to say the least. She looked over at Adam who was speechless and honestly his face showed no emotion. It was actually funny to watch. "I'm shocked that anyone wants me to sponsor them but also honored. It's crazy to think I could get paid to live my life and wear clothes that I already wear. It's insane but yeah I want to do it. I think this is a great opportunity for me, for us. So yeah I will sign the papers." Kim was excited beyond belief the more it sank in, Adam was still stunned. "Great! Now I know they are going to want photos in a studio of you dancing wearing their clothes so those I convinced them can be done at your home studio. The rest will be in and around the Opera House and at the Chicago Ballet. It should not interfere with your work life at all but this does need to remain on the down low till the campaign is released to the public. Not that I need to remind you but the morality clause is written in to this as well so please behave yourself. I know you are good about it but I just need to remind you." He heard Kim sigh.

"Yeah I know. Trust me I do. I have no intention on back sliding in my life. No intention on drawing drama and bad press. I love my life right now and I'm not interested in ruining it. With that being said. Adam and I are getting married in November. And I already know you are gonna freak out. Think it's too soon and beg for a prenup. But I know what I'm doing and my gut has always been right before. So please just trust me on this." She could only imagine his face right now. Shock, stunned maybe even angry. Adams face had softened. He was now smiling looking full of pride and full of love. "Kim I'm happy for you but you are right. I think it's too soon. And I think you should have a prenup but I trust you. Just don't make me regret it. Anyway. I will let you go for now. Tomorrow we need to catch up and sign the paperwork. So for now go enjoy your time off. Bye Kim." She literally attacked Adam as soon as the phone call ended. Laughing with excitement over the recent turn of event in her life. It was crazy but she could have been more excited.

"Baby! I'm so excited! This is crazy but I'm so so excited about this. What are you thinking?" Kim pulled away slightly so they could talk. "I'm happy for you but stunned. This is huge. Your face will be everywhere. It's insane I have to admit that. But I'm very happy for you." He tried to sound upbeat but he was kind of put off by the fact that her manager did want them to have a prenup. He had never really thought about it. And the fact that Kim flat out said she didn't want one made him happy but he was still worried about it. "I know it's crazy. And I know it's a lot but this is a good thing for us. We will extra money for a second home, extra money for the wedding, college funds if our babies want to go to college." She watched him smile wider when mentioning their future children. "Maybe you are right. Our kids are going to need college funds. And we will eventually need a bigger home for all these kids you are planning." He was teasing but he was excited to think about their future kids.

"Oh I'm planning? You were on board yesterday. Guess we don't need to practice then do we?" Kim sassed back as she started to get out of the bed. "Oh no you don't!" Adam grabbed her waist pulling her back on top of him. They both laughed enjoying the game they were playing. "On a serious note though. I don't want to cause issues. So if me signing a prenup would make your manager feel better about things I will sign it. I have no intentions on leaving you ever but if it makes things easier I will sign it." He held his hand up letting know he wasn't finished speaking just yet. "We also have an inspection and appraisal happening later today on the house to see what it's actually worth. And to get the low down on how much work needs to be done." He allowed her a moment to process the information.

"Firstly thank you for the offer but I'm really not concerned about that. I know in my heart that you won't steal from me or sell our secrets to the tabloids. Hence why you never had to sign a non disclosure agreement. Everyone in the past that I slept with had to sign one. To protect myself and my future. But I always knew you were different. I trusted you from the start. I still do." Kim moved so she was sitting right in front of him. Holding his gaze and his hands. "I love you completely with all my heart. Only one! And I know this is forever." She leaned in to kiss him slowly but passionately. She felt on fire under his touch. "Do we have time before we have to be at the house?" Kim whispered as she kissed down his neck. "God yeah!" He moaned in return.

"Here or in the shower?" She asked stripping him of his shirt before heading for his boxers. "Shower. Kill two birds with one stone." They both jumped out of bed running towards the shower stripping clothes as they went. Adam turned the shower on before he turned back to Kim. He walked over to her slowly caressing her upper body lovingly. Kim leaned up connecting their lips again. Her arms went around his neck pulling him closer to her. His hand drifted down her back to cup her butt before picking her and carrying her into the now hot shower. Pressing her body against the shower wall hearing her gasp at the cold tile against her skin.

"Adam." Kim moaned feeling his lips moving down her neck. "I got you darling!" Adam whisper as he kissed further down her body. He stopped moving further south when he reached her breasts. She moaned loudly loving the feeling of his lips on her skin. "I know. I hear ya. I'm not gonna torture you right now." He knew neither wanted to wait and just wanted to enjoy each other. He adjusted his grip on her body right before he entered her body. Their moans echoing in the bathroom. Kim wrapped her legs around his waist tighter than before needing to feel him deeper. He thrusted hard and fast. Placing his head on her shoulder as he thrusted with reckless abandonment. Kims moans were louder by the second she wouldn't last much longer and neither would he.

"Baby! Please!" Kim needed her release and needed it now. "I got you!" Sliding his fingers down to her core playing with her clit. "Oh God baby!" Kim groaned loudly as she trembled under his touch. "Come on Kim! You have to come! I need you to finish first!" His words pushing her over the edge. Adam finished right behind her. Pumping till her body stopped shaking. As she relaxed he slowed thrusting. Kim lessened her hold on his waist dropping her legs. Adam helped her down making sure she was solid before pulling out of her body. "Oh and thank you for other thing well. You know the house thing. Maybe it's not a lost cause just yet." Kim kissed him again slowly walking them back till they were under the water. "You are very welcome. Now let's get you washed." Adam took over washing her body carefully.

Kim stepped out to dry off and get her hair wrapped as Adam washed himself. She was fully dressed by the time he stepped out of the shower. Kim dried her while Adam dressed. "I'm gonna start breakfast. Take your time." He kissed her forehead and left the bathroom leaving her to finish the task at hand. It wasn't too long before she was joining him in the kitchen. "How's your ankle after yesterday?" He asked watching her sit at a bar stool. "It's okay. A scratch but it never bled. And it doesn't hurt. So I'm good." Kim smiled letting him know she meant it. "Good I'm glad. I was concerned yesterday. Seeing you go down like that considering your career really freaked me out." He admitted cooking as they spoke. "Oh I get it. I was scared for a minute too. I'm not sure your Aunt really understood what was happening there. I can tell you she didn't know who I was." Kim smiled wide knowing it didn't happen often but she was grateful when it did.

"Agree with you 100%. Kind of refreshing though." He placed the food in front of her and took a seat next to her. "Yeah it was nice. I like being unknown sometimes. Just being a normal person sometimes. I'm surprised she didn't question it though. But I guess who I am doesn't matter when cash is involved." She shrugged as she dug in to her food. "I was surprised by the cash offer but I get it. It's easier for sure. I guess I just didn't realize you had that much cash laying around." He shrugged in return. "Um yeah most of my money is in the bank. And yes there is a lot in the bank. But I keep cash in my safe in case of emergencies. This house purchase while a cash offer will be a certified check from the bank." Kim kind of knew they needed to talk money but she hated talking about money. It was vulgar to her.

"Do you want to see my bank account? Or is that too much?" Kim wanted to be upfront with him. "I don't know if I need to. And I'm not sure I want to. I didn't come from much growing up. We lived paycheck to paycheck. And even now as an adult I do Okay for myself. I'm comfortable. But I always worry about not being enough for you because I'm just a cop." He finally admitted his big fear. "You May be just a cop. But you are my cop. And money means nothing to me. You are the most amazing person in my world. You are so kind, caring, strong, funny, smart, handsome, you are everything to me. Money or not, it changes nothing between us. I love you! My only one! My husband for life!" Kim held his face as she spoke making sure he heard every word. "I love you too! Only you! Thank you!" He didn't need to say more. She knew what he meant.

She pulled out her phone and pulled up her banking app. She placed the phone on the counter top. "You are more than welcome to look if you want. I'm leaving it up to you." He look at her and glanced at the phone before turning it over. "I don't need to see it. I trust you. I trust your words, I trust your integrity and your heart. So we are good." He took the plates to the kitchen to clean up the mess. "I trust you too. Completely. But I think that was made clear earlier." She smiled knowing moved past a hiccup. She was happy they talked it through. It was nice to be able to communicate their fears. But working through them together made her unbelievably happy. "When do we need to be at the other place?" Kim asked grabbing some coffee. "Um noon. So like an hour and a half from now. You want to go for a walk?" He replied. Kim nodded walking over to her sneakers to head out.

The couple walked hand in hand around the lake. They enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was a comfortable silence between them. It was also lost on them that they had walked to the other house. So they were both surprised to see they ended up there. "Well I guess we can look at the grounds more while we wait." Kim shrugged. "Yeah that would be good." Adam look at the back of the house trying to get ideas together for improvements. Kim walked towards the beach before turning back to look at the house. It wasn't a huge plot of land but it really did have a great view of the water. The trees on the lot provided some shade but some might need to go eventually. They might want a yard some day. But for now this worked.

Adam found Kim staring out over the water again. Even in the cold winter air she was glowing. This really was the place she needed to be. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tight against him. "No matter what happens with this house, we will get one. I promise you. This is where you were meant to be. Relaxed, happy, glowing in the sunshine." He felt her relax in his arms. Leaning her head back to rest on his strong chest. "The water is one of the few happy childhood memories that I have. It was the only place I didn't have pressure to be a perfect dancer. I could just be a kid. I never wanted to leave. I'm going to make you a promise right now. Our kids will never be pressured to follow in our footsteps. And I will never force them into anything they don't want to do. They will have happy, normal childhoods." She never took her eyes off the water as she spoke. It gave her strength to relive part of her childhood.

"You don't need to promise me anything. Because I already know that. I know you want them to have the life you never had. And they will." He never tried to move her. He just let her stay watching the water, taking in the peace it gave her. He only dropped his hold when he got a message from his Aunt that she was there and entering the home. "Do you want to head in or stay here? Either way is fine." He would let her stay forever if he could but he wanted to be present for the inspection. He wanted to hear it first hand. As he walked back towards the house he looked over his shoulder several times to see her still in the same spot. He had never seen her this relaxed before or maybe it was truly at peace. He wasn't sure.

"Adam you're here. Where is Kim?" Amy asked confused. Adam just pointed towards the yard where you could see here still looking at the water. "She's in her happy place by the water. Honestly I think she's remembering her childhood before things got out of hand and she lost control of her life. Spending 5 years of your life as the child bread winner of your family really changes things. That's why this is so important to her, to us. She needs this to unwind and heal." As he spoke he watched her. She hadn't moved but she was just so beautiful glowing under the suns warm rays. "I have to ask. What does she do for a living? The way you freaked over her yesterday had my concerned but also confused for sure." She watched her nephew who never took his eyes off his girl.

"Kim is the lead dancer with the Chicago Ballet. She has been dancing since she was 5. And still under contract till she 28, then hopefully 30. Then retirement. Her feet, her body are literally her livelihood." He smiled thinking of how they met and the instant connection between them. "Wow I had no idea. I have seen her preform but never put two and two together. I just thought you were being over protective of her. Well I guess that explains a lot. Let's get this started." She knew he needed to focus on the house now and not his girl that was mentally somewhere else. Adam and Amy followed the inspector and the appraiser as they checked the house. He watched as they both hummed and shook their heads. Adam knew right then and there that Kim was right. This needed a lot of work.

As they returned to the kitchen Adam was shocked to see Kim standing inside again. Still watching the water but inside the warmish home. He wrapped her in his arms again trying to warm her up. "Do you want to hear the results?" He asked trying to pull her from her thoughts. "Yeah I'm ready to hear it." Little did Adam know she was trying the entire time to brace herself for her dreams falling apart. "Okay let's go." He guided her to the kitchen where everyone was waiting for her. "I will go first." The inspector offered. "As suspected the roof needs to be replaced. As well as the windows, French doors, the deck, the HVAC system and hot water heater. The appliances are fairly old as well so they should be replaced soon as well but that's not really covered under the inspection process. The structure is good and it doesn't seem to have any mold or mildew issues which is good considering where the house is located. I will send my report to the sellers as well so they can see my findings." He concluded leaving Kim and Adam not surprised at all.

"Alright as far as pricing. This is where it gets tricky. You want to pay cash, they want a conventional loan. Under conventional loans an appraisal is needed to verify the selling price to make sure the loan is justified. With cash one isn't needed but since the counter offers are still on the table this definitely makes sense. After reviewing other homes in the area and all the work this one needs. And not just physical and safety but how the home shows I am confident that they price should be between 190,000 and 200,000. Especially if they are now saying as is. I can also tell you they are well aware of this already because there is another appraisal on file for this home. It was filed 6 months ago and the sellers wouldn't budge on the price. They cant see what it's worth because they love the home as it is. This is going to be a tough battle if you choose to continue in this process. But I will send this over to their agent and try my best to convey the message." He watched as the couple looked crushed knowing this may never happen for them in this home.

"So what do we do now? How can we fight back?" Adam wasn't ready to back down just yet. "Well we go back to the agent and try to work with them. It's obvious they don't see things how others do. With the last appraisal an inspection wasn't done so maybe this will help. I also want to invite their agent over to meet you guys and see the current condition of the house. It's been on the market a year now. Let me call and see what I can do." Amy stated watching the couple breaking. She stepped out to her car to make the call leaving the couple to wait. "We will figure it out. Maybe there is another home available. One that doesn't need so much work." Adam tried to think positive. "I was willing to do the work because of the view. I don't know let's just look." Kim shrugged feeling dejected.

Adam took out his phone starting the search for a different place. They both looked at over the few options available. Nothing had the view they wanted but they did find one where they could remove trees to make a better view. Maybe it could work neither were sure though. They were so engrossed in his phone they didn't hear Amy return. "Okay so the agent listened to everything I said and said they would call the clients. Now we wait." Amy explained. "Nope let's check out this one while we can. Maybe its better." Adam wanted to check it out he wasn't giving hope on anything at this point. "Yeah okay we can do that." Amy made a call and the three were off to view the next home. It was only a few houses away so it was a quick walk for the couple.

"Okay so this place has 4 bedrooms and two baths. It's a bit bigger than the other place. It's even a bit more updated. I can imagine you will still want to renovate the place but some has been done already." Amy stated as they entered the home. Kim hadn't spoken much but wasn't shut down like he thought she would be. "The view isn't bad. We could take out some trees on either side of the walkway and get more of a view." Adam tried to make it sound great but he was sold yet. They walked each room taking in all the details and all the work that would need to be done. "Darling what do you think?" Adam asked shyly. "Well it does need less work. But it still needs to be brought into this century. I think it's possible that this could work I'm just not feeling it like the last one. It's not a no but I'm not sure." Kim walked around still looking around the house.

"Well it's listed for 250,000. Why don't you go stand by the water and think about it." Amy offered thinking it might help. Adam led her out the back of the house down the pathway to the water. "Well the roof is new, so is the hot water heater and the HVAC is only a year old. The deck can be expanded later since it's only a couple years old. Oh and it has the gutter guards you wanted. The rest we can fix." They walked with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "That's true. Maybe I'm just feeling bad because things aren't working out the way I want them to. It is nice. And it's bigger than the other one. I wonder if we could negotiate the price a bit?" She watched the water again as she spoke. "Only one way to find out. Let's go see." Adam kissed the side of her head as they started to walk back.

"Alright what are the chances of getting it for less?" Adam asked smiling a bit. "Well I contacted the sellers agent while you were talking. He gave me the bottom line. It's not a massive reduction but considering the updates it has I think it's worth spending a bit more." Amy answers them knowing it was a bit more than the offer on the previous house but this needed less work. "So what's the bottom line?" Kim was very curious. "220,000. Which covers the cost of the HVAC, roof and water heater." She watched Kim and Adam process what she said. "Okay let's do it. 220,000 cash, 10 day close. I want nothing from the house as far as the furniture goes so it needs to be emptied. Hopefully that works for the seller." Kim explained the details of her offer.

"Let me call them and see what they say." She left again for the car leaving the couple think. "Which one for your studio?" Adam asked knowing she had thought about it. "The front bedroom. The guest rooms should have the views. I still don't understand why people use carpet so close to the water. It makes no sense! And it's just gross!" Kim shuddered thinking about how nasty the carpet had to be. "I agree! Carpet here is nasty! Never again if we get this place." He completely agreed with her about it. "Maybe one of those indoor/outdoor area rugs in the living room? Since they are meant to get wet. Not gonna get my hopes up yet." Kim mused looking around the space. "That could work. Maybe we could have a play room for us?" Adam winked trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe!" She winked back laughing a bit at his shocked face.

Before he could respond the front door opened and his Aunt was walking through the door. "Well I guess I need to call the other agent to cancel our offer because you got this one. They were thrilled with the cash offer and will have it emptied before the 10 day close. Congratulations!" Kim squealed in happiness. Adam picked her up twirling her around with pure happiness. "You did it Darling! I'm so proud of her!" Adam kissed her hard as he placed her down on her feet again. "No we did this baby! We need to sign the paperwork then we need to celebrate." Kim smiled but giggled uncontrollably. "Let's do this!" Adam reaches for the pen to sign the papers before him. "Alright you two. Sign here. Tomorrow you will need to bring me a check for 2500 to hold the property and I will get the closing on the books. With no mortgage it will be much more simple of a process. So till tomorrow. Enjoy your night." Amy shook their hands and closed up the house leaving the couple to walk back to their rental.

"Should we just pack up and head home so we can celebrate with all our stuff?" Kim asked with a sultry smile. "Oh yeah! Let's get home to celebrate our new ventures. Quick question though. Were you serious about the playroom?" He was seriously curious about that. "Sure why not. It's what we do. Am I concerned someone would see it, yes. But not enough to not do it. Do we need it probably not but if you want it we can do it." Kim shrugged either way it was fine with her. "We don't need to decide today. We have plenty of time to figure that out. But it would be fun." He was running his fingers up and down her arms thinking about the fun they could have. "We should plan the house then worry about that room." Kim smiled as she entered the rental and started to pack their things. It didn't take long before they were back on the road and headed home.

"Tomorrow we can start planning the new place after work. And I will drop off the check on my way to work. 10 days means we will be closing during your first week of shows. Will that be too much for you?" He asked as he drove. "No it's fine. Once we close then we need to hire contractors, pick paint colors, pick flooring. Or really just order that stuff. I doubt we will move in before April. And actually some of stuff you saved from your old place we can use at the house so that will save us some money." Kim pulled out her phone and started to look at flooring for the new house. "Are you still thinking cord flooring?" He asked seeing her phone. "Yeah. I want a lighter tan color so it matches the studio floor but also the sand won't stand out against it. But really easy to clean." She didn't use it in her apartment because heels aren't great on it.

"Sounds good to me. I want it to be light and bright. Airy. I think that would be best." Adam was agreeing with her. It was nice being on the same page. "Oh definitely light and airy is perfect. Blueish walls with white furniture. Rope accents, lake decor. We need new lighting too. Ceiling fans are gonna be very necessary come summer." She started to take notes of things they needed to buy. Things that were simple to buy. "We can handle the painting, ripping out the carpets and even changing the lights. That will be helpful for the budget. Do we have a budget?" He asked realizing they never talked about it. "Um not really. I would like to keep it under 75,000 for everything. But can go more if we need to." Kim knew she could afford to spend more but didn't feel the need to go over the top. "I think that's a healthy budget. Hopefully we won't need more than that." He knew it was a ton of money but he couldn't wait to start working on the new house.

The ride home didn't last long. It was the nice thing about the lake location. Super close to home and close to both their jobs. Kim checked the mail as they entered the building and they proceeded up to the apartment. She loved her apartment but also loved being out of the city center. It was loud and busy and she just loved the peace and quiet. Adam took their bags right to the bedroom to unpack their things while Kim put the leftover food away. She then went through the mail seeing a letter from the prison. She had interest in opening it. She headed to their room ready to celebrate the life they were building together.

"You ready to celebrate darling?" He asked seeing she had joined him in their room. "Oh absolutely! You want to play?" She asked smirking at him. "Sure You want to grab the toys while I grab some drinks?" Kim nodded and headed to the closet while Adam headed to the kitchen. He grabbed two beers and placed them on the counter to open them before heading back. He saw the mail pile and rifled through it before noticing the letter from the prison. He held it up looking at it before heading back to the bedroom beers in hand. "Darling? Letter from the prison? Were you not gonna mention it?" He wasn't upset more confused. "I didn't open it and don't intend to so I'm not worried about it." Kim shrugged it off as she threw the cuffs on the bed. "Okay but I think I should read it just in case it's a stalker thing." He watched it dawn on her that she never thought about that. She nodded letting him know that was fine but held up the blind fold to let him it could wait til later, much later.

"You ready now?" She asked.