It had been a few days since the parade, since the kids met her team. Since the kids had more formally met Adam. He had been spending more time over at Kim's when not at work hoping to bond with the kids some. But work had been crazy with a tough case. The last 24 hours had been insane and everyone was on edge. No one had slept and Kim hadn't seen her kids except for on FaceTime. Everyone was wound up and ready to explode. "I'm going to get drinks for everyone. I need a break!" Kim grabbed her keys and left before anyone could argue. She needed fresh air and a mental break. She drove to the local coffee shop to get everyone a coffee and a tea for her. She realized she didn't have her phone but wasn't concerned too much about it.
As she drove back with drinks for everyone she ate a snack she purchased for herself. It helped calm her nerves and bring her back down to reality. When she returned everyone took a cup and headed back to work. "Hey Kim your phone rang while you were out. I didn't answer it. It wasn't the daycare so I let it be." Adam mentioned as he handed her the phone. "Thanks." She took the phone and looked at her missed calls. It wasn't a saved number but she knew that number. "Yeah I'm not answering that. But thank you for letting me know." Kim put the phone face down and returned to work. Adam didn't push it. He had an idea of who it was but he wasn't gonna push her to talk about it.
The case dragged on and phone rang several more times. Each time she ignored the calls. The team was starting to notice the calls and her mood. No one wanted to stress her out more since the case had to be the main focus but they were starting to be concerned. The team traded looks silently trying to figure out who was going to ask about the calls. None wanting to take the possible wrath of upsetting her but it needed to be done. Jay finally bit the bullet and moved to her desk. He leaned in close before he spoke. "Um we all noticed all the calls you have been ignoring. Are you okay?" He asked quietly just in case. It had startled Kim as she was in the zone. "Um yeah. Nothing to worry about. Just don't want to talk to that person." Kim answered with a tone that read loud and clear that she wasn't talking about it anymore. Jay retreated to he desk feeling pretty battered from the brief conversation.
Everyone went back to work hoping to close out this case soon before tensions boiled over. It was probably another hour before Mouse ran in the room with the address of the suspect they had been looking for all day. The group gets ready to head out to the address. "Kim? You sure you are clear enough to do this?" Adam asked not sure where her head was at. "Yeah I'm good. I'm not distracted. I'm focused. Just ignoring my phone. I promise I'm good." Kim assured him as she put her vest on. "Okay. Just be safe. For the kids and for me." Adam asked securing his vest at the same time. "I will. You too!" Kim winked as they headed out. Kim got in the car with Kevin since they were partners and Adam headed out with Al.
"Okay girl! We're alone now. What's going on?" Kevin asked as he started to drive towards the address. "It's nothing. I promise I'm fine. If I wasn't I would let you know. I promise." Kim stated watching the roads pass by. "Okay. We are just worried about you." Kevin admitted as they got closer to the address. "Once this case is over I will deal with it. But for now I'm not concerned about it." Kim smiled over at Kevin hoping he would believe her and drop the topic. "Okay girl. I trust you." Kevin agreed with her. They pulled up to the address in silence. They exited the car as they waited for instructions. "Erin, Jay, Myself and Al will go through the front door. Antonio and Adam watch the side door in case. Kim and Kevin on the back door. Everyone in position." Voight gave the orders and everyone got in place.
Kim and Kevin waited with guns aimed and ready just in case the suspect ran. And suspects liked to run. It's unfortunate but that is what normally happened. Luckily Kim was a fast runner. "Breaching the door now! Everyone ready!" Voight was entering the house as they braced. Kim heard the commotion inside the house. The door breaking, voices yelling and lots of foot steps. "Coming your way Kev and Kim." Jay yelled. "We gotcha!" Kim called back as Antonio and Adam run towards the backyard for back up. As the suspect ran towards them they wet braced and ready. "Stop right there!" Kevin yelled stopping the suspect in his tracks for a millisecond as he threw a potted plant at Kevin and took off. Kim gave chase the quickest with Adam and Antonio close behind.
Kim was yelling for the suspect to stop but kept running as fast as possible watching his every move. She heard Adam giving directions as to where they were headed. Kim lost sight for a brief second as she rounded the corner to be met with the suspect slamming her into the wall of the house behind her. Kim pushed back and started running after him again. She was in pain but she didn't care. Next thing she knew she was hit with a piece of lumber knocking her on her ass. But she didn't stop. She fired her weapon hitting the suspect in the knee dropping him fast. "Kim!" Adam screamed. "50-21 Eddie. Shots fired, suspect down. Need an ambo, maybe two to my current location." Kim kept her gun aimed till Adam and Antonio appeared. "Kim! Are you okay?" Adam yelled as Antonio cuffed the suspect and put pressure on his wound.
"I'm good. He threw me into the wall about 1/2 mile back. Took me down here with that piece of wood still in his hands. He's not running anymore." Kim collapsed against Adam. "Good job. Just rest now." Adam held her up till the team showed up. "Burgess. Your arm looks broken. Your going to the hospital. I especially want your head checked out. I see blood on the back of your head. No arguments! You can do your paperwork later. I need your weapon in the meantime though." Voight asked knowing it was the rules. "Okay. I understand. I won't fight you on any of it. Well maybe on one thing. I'm not running next time." Kim joked as Adam helped her up. He was careful of her arm knowing she was in pain.
As Kim walked towards the Ambo Jay walked towards her. "Good shot! That was a hard shot to take. You should be proud." Jay patted her shoulder as she smiled sadly before walking further. Adam jumped in behind her. "I'm not letting you go alone." Adam stated taking a seat while the paramedics worked. Kim closed her eyes trying to settle her heart rate and let the adrenaline drop again. Adam held her hand the whole ride but could see she was crashing. The tears started to fall. "It's okay Kim. You are alright now. You are safe." Adam would have held her if he could but she wasn't in the right place for that.
When they arrived at Med Adam was forced to separate from her. He paced the waiting room not knowing what was happening. He decided to text her best friend to give her the heads up. After the call he started to pace again as the team showed up to wait together. "Detective Burgess. I'm Doctor Halstead. Can you tell me what happened?" Will asked knowing exactly who she was. He saw Adam come in with her. "Um I was chasing a suspect and got thrown into a wall and then a bit later he hit me with a piece of wood. My head hurts it was bleeding a bit and my left arm is broken. I already know it. And please call me Kim." Kim explained as she tried to stay calm. "Sounds like a crazy day Kim. Let's get you checked out and make sure there is nothing underlying. We need to do a CT scan for your head and some X-rays of your arm. I'm gonna run some tests now and then we can get the x-rays." Will started to check her vision and her hearing. Before he moved on.
"Any chance you are pregnant? Just need to know before we give you something for the pain and before we expose you to the X-ray machine." Will asked noticing she flinched. "No absolutely not. I know it's your job to ask but no." Kim answered sighing deeply. "Okay let's get the X-ray done now and then we can get you up for the scan." Will stated. They got the lead apron her just in case and got a better look at her arm. "Okay so it's definitely broken. But you are lucky it didn't shatter so surgery is not needed." Will was typing the info into her chart. "Um can you please let the team know what's going on. I know Adams freaking out." Kim asked with a sad smile. "Of course. That's not a problem. But I want to look at your head wound first and see if it needs stitches. It probably won't since it's not bleeding but I want to be sure. My brother and your whole team will kill me if I don't double check everything." Will joked as she sat forward to show the back of her head.
"Okay it looks good. Just a quick clean up. How about I have Maggie clean it while I talk to your team." Will watched her nod and then headed out to see the team. Adam was still watching the doors waiting for someone anyone to let them know how Kim is. "Will what's going on! Is she okay?" Adam asked not even allowing Will to fully enter the room. "So far she's okay. It doesn't look like a concussion. We are cleaning her head wound now before taking her up for the CT. Her left arm is broken but luckily it just needs a cast, no surgery required. She's doing good, just tired. We gave her some pain meds so I think that's slowing her down some too. But it's a good result." Will saw the team relax slowly. "Thank god! But the kids are going to be so upset that she can't carry them now." Adam sighed. The kids had been through enough already. "Wait she has kids? Damn she's in good shape!" Will commented getting a glare from Adam. "Yeah. My girls got abs. I know. And yes they kids are almost 2 1/2." Adam huffed as he took a seat.
"Sorry man. You can go back and see her if you want. I'm sure she would love to see you and I think you need it too." Will offered looking at Adam stewing. "Yeah I need to see her. I need to update her sitter. I'm sure the kids will be worried." Adam waited for Will to show him the way. "Okay you stay. We are headed out. Keep me in the loop and tell Kim she's off till Monday." Voight stated as the team headed back out and Adam headed to Kim. Will pointed to her room and Adam headed in trying to stay quiet Incase she had fallen asleep. "Hey." Kim whispered as she reached out for Adam. Adam moved with a mission to get to Kim's side as quick as possible. "My god you scared me! How are you doing?" Adam asked before leaning down to kiss her. "I'm good. Sore but good. And I'm sorry it wasn't my intention to scare or to get hurt for that matter but it happens. The good news is I never lost my eyes on the suspect for more than a second or two. And we got him." Kim sighed waiting for Adam to explode.
"I know you didn't mean it. I was just scared. Seeing you like that was killing me. And I know we can't make promises about it not happening again but please try for it to not happen again. Please!" Adam sat on the bed holding her right hand. Running his thumb over her knuckles. "I will try my best. But I know it will happen again to at least one of us." Kim sighed again looking towards the door as her transport person came in. "Ms Burgess. I'm here to take you for CT Scan. Sir if like you can follow us up to the room." Adam stood to walk with Kim. He didn't want to leave her side at the moment. "Alright let's get going." They were on the move and Kim closed her eyes. Feeling Adams hand in hers the entire time was calming. She allowed it to relax her. She was going to be fine
After she was set up for the scan Adam sent out texts letting everyone know the update. He wished he was in there with her but he knew she was safe. When she returned his hand was back with hers. They returned to the room to see Will ready to cast Kim's arm. "Alright what color are we doing?" Will asked hoping to see her smile a little knowing it wasn't a boring white. "Um I kind of like the teal color." Kim shrugged she didn't really care. She just wanted it done. "Sounds good. Let's get this started. I'm sure you want to go home and rest properly." Will offered as he started to wrap her arm making sure the bones were properly aligned. Kim thankfully was able to stay still during the process and the scan came back clear. After another hour they were headed home.
"Okay I'm gonna bring you home. Get you settled then I have to head back to work for a bit. Now that we aren't at work, do you want to talk about who's been blowing up your phone all day?" Adam asked hoping she would finally talk about it. "Um it's the line from inside the prison my ex husband is in. I have the restraining order against him so he's not supposed to be calling me. I already text my lawyer about it and the calls have stopped. I don't intend on answering him." Kim answered with a sigh. She just wanted a break and not her arm. "God Kim. That sucks! I'm sorry he's not leaving you alone. You deserve better. I wish I could fix this for you." Adam replied groaning at what she was goin* through. "Nothing anyone can do except the lawyers and the prison system. Just time will tell how this is handled. I think it's a violation of the restraining order so that means more jail time. I'm good with that." Kim shrugged holding her arm close as Adam drove.
They arrived outside Kim's home. Adam jogged around to help her get out of the car. Even though she was essentially fine he still wanted to take care of her. "I will bring your car back later. You shouldn't be driving but I'm not gonna stop you. Let's get you in. I'm sure the kids are dying to see you." Adam held her close as they walked. Kim smiling weakly. "Yeah I can't wait to see my babies." Kim tried to smile wider hoping the kids wouldn't see how tired she was. "Hi my babies!" Kim announced as she entered the house. "Mommy!" Both kids yelled and ran towards her. Kim squared down to hug them both. "So mommy got a little hurt on the job today. But I'm okay so no need to worry okay. Adam made sure the doctors fixed me up good. I'm really tired though so how about we watch a movie in bed together." Kim explained as the kids looked at her arm. "Okay!" The kids took off towards Kim's room with Adam and Kim trailing behind.
April gave them some space for a bit knowing they needed it. They entered Kim's room and the kids headed right to her bed. Adam picked them up so they could lay on the bed. He moved over to Kim he bent down to whisper in her ear. "Do you need help changing?" He asked watching her shiver. "I don't think the kids need to see that. Can you grab the gray blanket from the hall closet? It's gray on one side, Sherpa on the other?" Kim asked as she moved to the bathroom to change. Adam nodded and headed to the closet. He found it right away and grabbed an extra pillow as well to prop Kim's arm up. When he returned he found Kim coming out of the bathroom in a tank and sleep shorts. Adam whistled looking at the women in front of him.
"Wow! Who knew pjs could look so hot!" Adam winked holding up the blanket motioning to the bed. "I know, resting. I won't argue with you. I would like a nap anyway." Kim climbed onto the bed settling in between the kids. Adam propped her arm on the pillow then covered the three with the blanket. Putting the softer side against their skin. "Alright let's get a movie on then I will head out." Adam turned the tv on finding a movie the kids could agree on before he headed out. He kissed Kim before leaving the home. He got a cab heading back to the district to finish the day before returning with Kim's car.
Adam headed through the back of the district so he could avoid getting stopped on his way in. The team saw him enter the room jumping up as they he entered the bullpen area. "How's Kim?" Erin asked rushing towards him. "She's good. At home sleeping in between the kids. Head CT was clear. A few scrapes on the back of her head and the broken arm. But overall she's doing good. I'm headed over later with her car." Adam explained dropping in his chair. "That's great! I'm glad she's doing well. When is she coming back?" Jay asked watching Adam relax some. "Next week. Voight gave her some days off to rest up some." Adam answered feeling exhausted after the long day. "Well please send her our best. We will all call her tomorrow to check in so let her know." Antonio stated hoping she didn't ignore the calls. "She will answer the phone don't worry. She only ignores the ex asshole. You guys she will answer." Adam answers the unspoken question.
"What the hell does he want?" Kevin asked with almost a growl. "Don't know. She's not answering. The restraining order is supposed to prevent him from calling but it apparently hasn't stopped him. Hence her ignoring the calls all day. She's already contacted her lawyer and is just waiting for the fallout on his end. Legally she's done nothing wrong so nothing can blow back against her. So she waits." Adam explained best he could. "So we obviously know there is more to the story with her ex besides he beat her. How long was it bad before the beating?" Al asked concerned about Kim. He knew she was tough but everyone had their breaking point. "Um not to give too much personal information away. But since she got pregnant basically. He would tell her she was a bad wife for not having dinner on the table when he walked in. He would tell her she was a bad mom for working still. He would call her fat as her got further in the pregnancy. And probably the worst of it was he wouldn't even touch her. He was basically repulsed by his wife carrying their children. So yeah total piece of shit!" Adam completely hated the guy and never met him. He didn't need to to know he wasn't a real man.
"That's rough. When my wife was pregnant I wanted to touch the belly all the time. It was fascinating knowing someone was growing in there. And not to get to personal but with pregnancy hormones let's just say I'm surprised she didn't kill him for not touching her." Voight grimaced as he headed back into his office. "Yeah seriously that a big thing when your pregnant." Antonio agreed and shook his head. "Yeah I know. She mentioned that. That's where it gets too personal but let's just say what she did to take care of herself during pregnancy led to a whole new list of insults. Ones that were completely unnecessary and if he was a real man it would never had happened." Adam left it at that. They all got the hint loud and clear.
Adam was doing his paperwork and hers when his phone rang. "Hey Kim! What's up? Are you okay?" Adam asked hurriedly. "I'm good. The kids needed to pee so they woke me. And I realized I was missing you and wondered when you were coming back." Kim answered shyly. "Well I'm glad you doing well and that the kids woke you to pee. I'm just finishing up the paperwork now and should be headed towards you in maybe an hour. Everyone here sends their thoughts to you and will be calling you tomorrow." Adam got up and headed to the break room as he spoke. "Most importantly I miss you too! I didn't want to leave you but I had to. I can't wait to get back to you and the kids. You want me to bring some dinner to you?" Adam asked as he made coffee. "That would be lovely! Thank you so much baby!" Kim smiled wide.
"Okay darling! I will grab Italian food on the way over. So let me get going so I can back to you quicker." Adam was beaming wide. "Okay bye baby!" Kim smiled right before she hung up. "Bye darling!" Adam hung up feeling over the moon. He headed back to his desk beaming. Feeling over the moon. The team smirking as he walked by noticing the change in his mood by just one phone call. No one teased him about it knowing it was good for him and good for them. He finished up the work quickly before heading out to the car heading towards Kim's home. He stopped at a place close to her home where he picked up a bunch of different things. He had no idea what the kids would eat or what April would eat. Hell he wasn't sure what Kim really liked. They hadn't been out to dinner yet and they were still getting to know each other. This is where the snails pace was a huge pain in the ass.
He loaded the food into the trunk making sure it wouldn't slide around and make a mess in her car. He arrived shortly after gently carrying the food to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited. April let him and he moved to the kitchen with the food. "I got enough food for you as well. Please help yourself. I'm gonna head up to grab Kim and the kids." Adam started to head towards the stairs. "How about I grab the kids and you can wake Kim. And thank you for the food that was very nice of you." April followed him to Kim's room. "Hey guys! We have dinner downstairs. Are you guys hungry?" Adam asked kneeling if front of the bed where they lay. "Yes pease! Mommy seeping!" Milo jumped up hugging Adam before running towards April. Mia followed suit hugging Adam before leaving the room quietly.
Adam looked at Kim who was sleeping comfortably. He hated to wake her but she needed to eat and she needed real food. "Darling. Kim wake up. Dinner is here." Adam nudged her softly. He watched as she buried her face further into the pillow. "Hey I know you are hungry. And I know you are tired but I really need you to eat something. And then you can snuggle up again." Adam tired again. With no further movement he moved to sit next to her. Moving to kiss her softly all over her face. He watched her move her body slowly. He smiled before kissing her lips repeatedly. He could see her waking up by the smile coming across her face. "I know you are awake. And this is helping so I think I will leave the room now." Adam whispered watching her reach out and grab his body so he couldn't leave her.
"Oh you did hear me!" Adam laughed watching her buried herself against him. "I'm comfy!" Kim whined. "I know but you need to come down and eat something while it's still hot. I promise you after you eat we can snuggle again. I need it too. But I also need you to put a shirt on that covers more because this view is driving me insane right now." Adam urged her to cover up more. "Okay I will cover the breasts. I think you are the only person who asked me to cover up before." Kim smirked as she got up to cover her chest. "Baby! I don't want you to cover up but I need that if we are going to continue this snail pace thing." Adam groaned as he pointed towards his pants. Kim laughed loudly. "Sorry baby! I'm not used to having that effect on men anymore." Kim shrugged. "He's an idiot. You are gorgeous, stunning, sexy! He's the dumbest man on the planet for not seeing that. Now let's go eat." Adam stood to follow her out of the room.
They found the kids eating happily chatting with April about the movies they watched with their mom. It was adorable. "Are you guys enjoying your dinner?" Kim asked as she made herself a plate of food. "Yes mommy it's yummy!" Mia stated before taking another bite. "I'm glad to hear that!" Kim replied as she sat down with her food. Adam was right behind her with his own plate. "Did you Thank Adam for buying food for you guys?" Kim asked looking at the two kids. They both shook their heads before they both said thank you. "They did give me a hug earlier so that was a pretty good thank you." Adam smiled at the kids who looked happy and messy with tomato sauce all over their faces. "You two are adorable messes!" Kim laughed looking at their faces. "Definitely baths tonight!" April laughed knowing it would probably fall on her tonight since Kim's arm was broken.
"Yes they definitely need baths! Should be interesting with this broken wing but I will make sure they get cleaned up." Kim wanted April to know she wasn't about to slack off even being injured. "How about I help you? It will be good practice for the future." Adam offered knowing it may be too soon but he needed to learn how to do these things. Especially if he wanted a future with Kim and even more if he wanted that future to involve more kids. "Sounds like a plan. Be prepared to get drenched!" Kim laughed. "Good thing I have my go bag in my Jeep." Adam winked at her. "Well looks like you two have this handled. I'm gonna get some work done. Let me know if you guys need anything." April cleaned up her plate and headed to her room to work some.
They washed up the kids faces and then cleaned up the plates before putting the leftovers in the fridge. They got the kids upstairs and got them in the bath. Kim was right. It was messy, wet and a lot of laughter but Adam enjoyed it. He felt like part of a family for the first time in forever. After bath time the kids were dried off and dressed in their pjs and brought into their room. They played games as a family till the kids started to doze off. Adam put the kids to bed with Kim's help before he took her to her room to snuggle up again as promised.
"Ready to snuggle up?" Adam asked as they entered the room. "Yeah I am." Kim laid down and waited for Adam to lay next to her. She curled into his arms resting her cast on his belly. Neither spoke for the longest time. They just enjoyed the time together. "My mom emailed me. I have no idea how to respond. The entire time I was dealing with the fallout of my failed marriage to Paul I was dealing with my relationship with my family falling apart. My mom and sister are narcissists and it's so toxic. I cut them out completely. I needed that. But now she says she doesn't understand what she did that was so bad to be blocked. I'm just stunned some." Kim looked up to see a shocked expression on his face. "I never heard you use his name. I'm shocked." Adam shook his head. "Yeah my sisters been divorced for over 10 years and she still won't say his name. I feel like it gives him more power over her. I don't want that for myself or my kids." Kim watched Adam nod.
"Why are they narcissists?" Adam asked not really knowing why her family feel apart. "Lord its a lot. My sister is over 10 years older than me. She had kids young. She never really grew up. Her kids one won't talk to her at all and the other uses her for money. But she refuses to see it because her kids have kids now too. The oldest is 6, then 4 and then 18 months. She thinks we need to support her son and his family any way they need. It became financially draining and emotionally draining. I felt used all the time. She constantly wanted bigger and better. And she would flip on anyone who didn't agree or go along with her way. Like she refused to stay at the vacation house I rented a few years ago. It wasn't good enough for her and it wasn't big enough. She wanted her son and his family to come but she didn't ask. She just assumed. They wouldn't be able to pay to come and we would have to watch the kid because the mother never did when people were around." Kim stated at the ceiling for a moment before continuing.
"That week she came over to the house daily to use our pool and she ate dinner with us. She would complain about how much food was in the fridge all week. But yet she wouldn't eat it because she needed to eat out to support local businesses. Then when she found out her sons girlfriend was pregnant again she could stop beaming and talking about it. I was pissed off! How could they have a second one when they couldn't afford the first one. My sister bought all the formula for the baby. Paid for the cable and internet and even helped pay the mortgage. I freaked out and bluntly stated I wasn't support them again. Later that night we went on a tour and went to get ice cream afterwards. The music was loud and the place was packed. I waited outside since I had a headache coming on. She came out bitching the about the place. Yelling about the wait, the loud music, how she can't believe she wanted to go there. That she would never go there again. That she was going to give them a bad review online. People heard her as they walked by. It was so embarrassing." Kim stopped talking again.
"I blew up the last day of vacation. Walked out. My parents and sister didn't speak to me after that. Paul and I were together still at that time and he supported me through it. We didn't speak again till almost thanksgiving. When we did it was her asking what we wanted for Christmas. Paul started world peace. Basically because we didn't need anything. We wanted for nothing. My sister responded with ridiculous over priced ideas, that to her were a joke but it didn't come across that way. 2 chairs for 550 each, 2 roombas at 1100 each and a fridge for 2500. My mother jumps in with 7000 to pay off her Jeep. That is whole other story. I replied by commenting how materialistic that all was. Then went on a rant about what I really wanted. It truly was all about helping other people not myself. My sister responded by telling me I was destroying our family. I was crushed by that. Wanting for others should be the standard." Kim paused again staring at the walls. Adam held her closer.
"I didn't go to thanksgiving that year. I couldn't deal with it. As it got closer to Christmas my mother asked what we wanted for Christmas dinner. I responded by saying I didn't want seafood. It's expensive and it doesn't get eaten. My sister replied by saying I buy too much. I again replied that Paul did the shopping and he was busy and I didn't want him stressed out over all that. Trying to be respectful to his job and his life. I was told whatever. Again I shut down. I uh went to Christmas that year armed with lots of gifts. My marriage was falling apart. My kids were young but I made sure everything was ready for the holidays. My face broken out with Eczema. My sister looked shocked and stared at my skin. I made no comment about her weight gain, I wouldn't hurt her like that. But I shut down even further. Later that night I heard my mother and sister talking about my face. Literally saying 'what the fuck is wrong with her face' I cried that night." Kim broke down at that moment. Adam turned his body so he could hold her better as she cried. He rubbed her back trying to calm her.
"February rolled around as my marriage was over. I was fragile but I still got my shit together to move on. I was at the store and got all the makings for Easter baskets for my sisters grandkids. I let her know that I shipped out baskets for the kids. She flipped out. Yelling about me not going to Easter again and how I was being a drama queen. It was down right crazy. I haven't talked to her since. Flat out blocked her from my life. Though I did mail her a Christmas gift this year." Kim got really quiet again. Almost like she was sorting through the memories. Trying to find the ones to share. "My mom. God she's a mess. Her house is dirty, she's delusional, lost in the past. She likes to bring up past wrongs to throw them back in your face years later. She and my sister bought the same Jeep as me. My mom has my same hair style, specifically asking for my hair style. She tries to copy my fashion sense. She's lazy, unhealthy, unmotivated, depressed. Has no clue about healthy boundaries. She actually told me once she was thinking about divorcing my dad and asked how I felt about that. Like I'm the kid! I shouldn't be asked that! I sat down with her in August. I laid it all out there. And she just never apologized. She never validated anything I said. Literally said I'm sorry you felt that way, instead of saying I'm sorry I made you feel that way." Kim stopped again thinking.
"I needed to be heard and comforted not reminded that I'm never going to get that. I don't need to be reminded of past presents that she thought were horrible especially when I wouldn't do that to her. I don't need to be reminded of when I crashed my car at 17 when I took it on the highway with out my parents knowing where I was going. I don't need to be reminded of the times I came home drunk at 3am. I know my mistakes and I take full responsibility for them. But they are the past I can move past that. She can't. And she refuses to see where she's wrong. Even going so far as to tell people she wasn't getting me anything for Christmas this past year because I wasn't speaking to her. I got them gifts, nice gifts. Not the after thought gloves she sent me. I really don't need to rehash it with her. I'm happy with the peace I've created. The space I've given myself to grieve and heal. The space I've made in my heart for you. I don't want to go backwards. I want to keep making progress in my life." Kim got silent again but he was sure she was done this time. Her eyes were closed and her face buried in his neck. He could feel her heavy breathing and tears on his skin.
"Kim I literally have no words to make it better. All I can say is I'm proud of you for moving on past that. You are absolutely right to be staying away from that environment. It is toxic and unhealthy for you. You will have to respond to her at some point but you have made the best decision for you and your family. That's all you can do. The past is the past, rehashing it does nothing but some people don't know how to move on. Because they truly can't see that they didn't something wrong. But they did. Especially making you cry on Christmas over something that is out of your control. It's just unreasonable to think you could go back to how things were. Because your heart and trust has been broken by the people you love. But I can tell you that I'm thrilled with the space you made in your heart for me. I feel like I will never deserve it or you but I'm so damn happy to be here with you." He held her tight as she cried.
When the tears dried and her breathing had evened out he decided he should leave. He didn't want to but they hadn't talk about it before hand and he didn't know if it was the right thing to do or not. As he started to slid out of bed he felt her grip on his shirt get stronger. "Stay." She whispered. "Please." She whispered again. He couldn't deny her but he did need to leave for just a quick minute. "Okay just let me pee first and then back into bed." Kim let him go and on his way back he striped down to his boxers before getting in next to her. He felt her snuggle closer burying her face into his neck before falling asleep again. As he himself fell asleep he realized this is what he's been missing. A girl who's strong, passionate and fierce but sweet, loving and compassionate. She was his equal, his match, his perfect partner. He knew that for sure. And he could wait as long as it took to make it forever.