Work Text:
Adam: Where are you?
Kim huffed and rolled her eyes as she read the fifth text message from Adam in the past thirty minutes. If she’d thought he had been protective during their first pregnancy, or let’s face it, literally all the time, she had gotten a wake up call the minute she’d started showing. The arrival of her baby bump had brought with it a new level of protectiveness in Adam. Now he called her every five minutes when they were apart to ask her how she was doing.
Kim: I’m still at the store, Adam. My answer isn’t going to change since you last asked me 10 mins ago
She could already see the dots moving. She rolled her eyes once more and then rolled her cart into the next aisle, looking for anything else she could decorate the nursery with. So far she’d put all the stuff she didn’t truly need but would look very cute. They’d decided to let the baby’s sex be a surprise and were keeping the nursey in neutral pastel shades, but she had a sneaky feeling it was going to be a boy. She felt another flutter in her belly and her hand automatically went to cradle her bump. Humming to herself, she wound through the aisles, her cart filling up. She’d already gotten a ton of big stuff from her friends and family at the baby shower last week, including the stroller of her dreams that her mom had bagged and gifted her. She’d felt her phone ding like, three times since her last text to Adam, and she couldn’t help but want to smile a bit at the thought of him constantly checking his phone to see if she’d replied.
Once she’d checked out her items and was walking to her car in the parking lot, she heard her phone buzz and chuckled. She pulled her phone from her pocket and answered.
“Adam. You don’t need to call me when you know exactly where I am and what I’m doing. I promise if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know,” she said.
“Of course I’ll be the first to know! But why were you at the store for so long? You really shouldn’t be on your feet for this long,” he said.
“I was shopping! And I was walking very slowly because I literally cannot walk fast anymore. Mak can walk faster than me. You need to calm down, or you’re going to drive me crazy,” she replied.
“Wait, does that mean I don’t already drive you crazy? Hmm, I’m gonna have to up my game,” he said.
“Oh you up your game all you want, Ruzek. Then you can have fun sleeping on the couch staring at that rug you find so ugly,” she threatened. She laughed when he groaned.
“Don’t think just because you won the bet and got to keep that ugly ass rug that I won’t throw it away, woman,” he said.
“Throw it away and you’ll no longer have any reason to sleep in the same bed as me, Ruzek. Choose your next words carefully,” she warned playfully.
“Hey hey, let’s not be so rash. I’m shutting up now. So… when are you coming home?”
“Just loading the trunk and then I’ll be on my way,” she replied.
“Oh,” is all he said. Kim sighed deeply. Oh, for god’s sake, she thought.
“What is it now?” she asked, exasperated.
“Well… Did you buy anything too big? You shouldn’t be lifting heavy bags. Why don’t you ask someone to help you out? You know what, I don’t trust anyone else. Why don’t Mak and I come–”
“Adam, if you come anywhere near here just to load the damn trunk I’m gonna use a taser on you. And it’ll definitely be in a place where the sun don’t shine,” she warned. There was a long pause over the line.
“Okay okay! Fine. You’re fully capable of loading the trunk of your own. I can’t wait for you to get home. I’ll have dinner ready. I love you so much. Have I told you today how beautiful you are? Because you are beautiful. Stunning. A work of art. Michelangelo can’t compete with your beauty. As–”
“Nice try, but I’m twenty-seven weeks pregnant, Adam. I can’t even see my own feet anymore,” she interrupted him dryly.
“And? You’re still the most beautiful,” he replied. He actually sounded sincere, and Kim softened at that.
“I’ll see you in about twenty minutes, crazy guy. Love you,” she said before hanging up. Shaking her head fondly, she loaded the trunk, stowed the cart in its rightful place, and then got in her car and drove towards home.
~~~~~
As promised, Adam had had dinner ready on the table. Fettuccine alfredo. Kim had smiled when she’d seen that, and then they’d shared a smile over it, too. Remembering those early days always made her happy. As did listening to Mak chatter about her day. She was opening up so much more than before, and watching her come into herself always made her heart soar. She’d long since finished eating, and was waiting for Adam to bring dessert out. She’d always had a very healthy sweet tooth, but lately with the pregnancy cravings it had become especially stronger. Mak was just finishing a story about the butterfly she’d seen at school when Adam presented her with a giant ice-cream sundae, and Mak with a slightly smaller one in her special bowl, and his somewhere in the middle.
“Unbelievable. How do you always know exactly what sweets I’m craving?” she demanded in awe. Adam just smiled and shrugged.
“What can I say, babe? The baby and I have a special connection. I just know what he wants,” he said. Kim shook her head, but she was smiling wide as she did it. Clearly both of them thought she was having a baby boy. It was more special because she hadn’t ever discussed it with him.
“Hey no fair! How is mom’s ice-cream so big while mine’s so little?” asked Mak, interrupting their conversation, pouting at Adam. He immediately felt Kim’s subtle glare from across the table. No more sugar, her eyes said.
“That’s because mommy is growing your little brother in her. Or little sister,” he added, not wanting to bias Mak since they didn’t know for sure themselves, but Adam had a feeling Kim had their son growing in there.
“She’s eating for two people, so she gets to eat ice-cream for two,” he explained to his daughter, not wanting to tell her that if Kim didn’t get what she craved she became grumpy and he couldn’t have that. Mak thought about that for a few seconds.
“So… Can I also have lots and lots of ice-cream if I have a baby in my tummy like mommy does?” Mak asked innocently. Adam grew very, very still all of a sudden. Kim had to fight a laugh at the look on his face. It seemed like he was about two seconds away from having a brain aneurysm, so she decided to be nice and help him out.
“Uh, how about this, bear. If you finish the rest of your vegetables, you can have one extra bite from mommy’s bowl, okay?” Mak thought about that, and Kim glanced at Adam to see he was still having trouble breathing. She almost snorted but held it in, and then looked back at her daughter’s calculative expression.
“Two extra bites, and we have a deal,” she replied, as if this was a very important meeting and they’d signed off on a multi-million dollar deal and not the amount of extra ice-cream her eight year old was allowed to eat. A master negotiator, this one, thought Kim, smiling a little. Normally she would’ve argued but she could tell Adam would have a hard time handling himself if this line of conversation went any further so she quickly agreed, and Mak went back to her veggies.
~~~~~
Adam breathed a sigh of relief now that any possibility of talking about Mak…. he shuddered, stopping that train of thought immediately. He sat back and barely listened to the rest of the conversation. He only looked up when he heard the clink of a spoon and saw that Kim was done eating. He could tell she was exhausted from her shopping trip. As the pregnancy had progressed, he noticed she grew tired after small bouts of activity. He stood up, collecting all the dishes in one pile.
“Alright, Mak. Why don’t we let Mommy rest? You can help me clean up,” he said. Kim smiled gratefully at him, getting up from the table and waddling over to him. He bent down to give her a small kiss, and then she waddled upstairs to bed. He and Mak started cleaning up, working in silence until she interrupted with a question.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked in a soft voice. With how sassy she usually was , he sometimes forgot that she was just an eight year old kid. And the voice she’d used just then reminded him of those days when they’d first found her, vulnerable and terrified, and his heart squeezed in his chest. He knew whatever was going on in that little head of hers had her scared, and he wanted to make it all okay for her again.
“Of course, kiddo. You can ask me anything. You know that,” he reassured her in a soft voice. He was terrified himself that she’d remembered something from the kidnapping, and while the child psychologist had advised both him and Kim to be as honest as possible, he still didn’t understand how to do it without hurting her. Bracing himself, he waited as she thought about her question.
“When…when the baby gets here, is the baby going to call you… dad?” she asked, looking up at him with her big eyes, her voice still the same soft one, the one that caused his heart to squeeze in his chest every time. The question was so different from what he’d been expecting that he was stumped. He had to get it together before she thought something she shouldn’t be thinking.
“Well. I mean, technically, when the baby gets here, at first he or she won’t be able to talk…,” he began tentatively, not knowing for sure which direction this conversation would go in, but he hoped it was what he thought.
“I know that, I’m eight, not stupid,” she sassed, and Adam sagged in relief, thinking if she was being her usual sassy self, she wasn’t too scared or worried about this.
“Right. Well. Once the baby can talk… yeah, he or she will probably call me dad, I guess,” he replied. His heart was beating very fast, and for a second he feared it was loud enough for her to hear it. He wanted to say many things, but he waited for her to process this.
“I… I was wondering…,” she began slowly, stopping to look at him. The vulnerability in her eyes nearly did him in. He wished Kim were here to help out, but he also felt good that Mak had felt comfortable enough with him to broach a subject which was clearly not easy for her to talk about. And for that, he was so proud of her.
“WoulditbeokayifIcalledyoudad?” she asked in a rush, her words all jumbled together. But he still had understood what she’d said, because he’d been hoping she’d ask this. He knew how much it had taken out of her to ask this, and his heart melted. He already thought of her as his kid, and himself as her dad. But he’d never voiced his wish to anyone, not even Kim. He did hope Mak would one day look at him as her father, but he’d never wanted to take that choice away from her. That this day had come now and so unexpectedly made him more emotional than he cared to admit. He cleared his throat when he realized how choked up he’d gotten.
“I’ve thought of you as my daughter for a long, long time, Makayla. So yes, it’ll make me very, very happy if you decide to start calling me dad,” he replied, his voice still a bit rough from emotion. A slow smile lit up her face, and in a brief moment of shyness, she looked down. God, she was making his heart squeeze a lot tonight. Once again it struck him that underneath all that smart-assery and sassiness was just a little girl who wanted to be loved and had an abundance of it to give out. He opened his arms, and she almost flew into him, knocking her tiny body into his legs. He bent down so she could wrap her tiny little arms around him, and he squeezed tight.
“Goodnight, Dad,” she whispered, and his heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t anticipated how it would sound when she said it. His heart was overful, bursting with happiness.
“Goodnight, kiddo,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her head. “Now go on, off to bed. I’ll be upstairs in a bit to tuck you in,” he said, watching with a smile as she bounded up the stairs. He turned toward the counter, the smile never leaving his face as he finished the last of the dishes before locking up and going upstairs to tuck his daughter into bed.
~~~~~
The next morning, Adam came downstairs to find Kim already up and bustling around in the kitchen. She had her back turned towards him, and the speaker was playing soft music. She was moving around to the beat, and she hummed along with the tune, stirring the eggs on the stove. He could smell coffee and syrup, and combined with the happiness from the night before, Adam was in the best mood possible. He rounded the island to circle his arms around Kim, her body immediately melting into his. He pressed a kiss to her neck, and kept his arms wrapped around her. This was the best start to a Sunday he’d had in a long time.
“You seem to be in a good mood this morning,” he said, his voice gravelly from sleep. Kim hummed in response, smiling before turning her head sideways to look at him.
“I think last night was the first time I slept with no interruption for like, eight hours since I got pregnant. So yes, I’m in a great mood. Plus–and I will never admit this again–you’re a good snuggler,” she said.
“Oh yeah? What else am I good at?” he asked, pressing another kiss to her neck. He then stuck his nose there, inhaling deeply.
“Stop getting cocky. Also… did you just sniff me?”
“Damn right, I did. You smell so good,” he replied. Laughing, she shrugged his arms away so she could put the eggs in their plates and then started the griddle so she could start the pancakes.
“What’s with the elaborate breakfast spread?” he asked, noticing the cut up strawberries and the strips of bacon, while getting himself a cup of coffee.
“No reason, really. I just slept really well and woke up feeling good and wanted to make a big breakfast,” she replied. Kim started to tell him about her plans for the nursery, and Adam half listened, his mind working overtime thinking about everything.
“Adam! Are you listening to me?” Adam startled and looked at Kim, her face half angry, half exasperated.
“What? Yes, of course I’m listening. I’ve been listening to every word you’ve been saying,” he replied. Kim just stared at him for a few seconds, completely deadpan.
“Uh-huh. What’s the last thing I said?” she demanded. Shit. He racked his brain, and blurted the first thing he remembered about the last thing he’d heard.
“Something about… the nursery. The… crib! The crib. Yes. The crib,” he finished. For a second, she didn’t say anything, and he was sure he was screwed.
“Hm. Fine. But this cannot be like the plumber, okay Adam? You can’t just say you’ll do it and not do it for weeks. Because I swear to god, if you leave this till the last minute and the baby gets here… I’m gonna–”
“No, I promise I’ll get it done today. I only have to go to the station for some minor paperwork that Trudy has asked for, and then I’ll be home for the rest of the day. And then I’m gonna work on the crib, I promise,” he said.
“You better, Adam Ruzek,” she replied. As she made the pancakes, Adam brought out plates and silverware, getting the juice and milk out for Mak, and made himself another coffee. Just as Kim turned the stove off and carried the giant stack of pancakes out, Mak bounded into the kitchen, bringing a fresh burst of energy.
“Wow, looks like everyone slept really well last night,” Adam said.
“Good morning, mom and dad!” Mak exclaimed.
“Good mo–” Kim stopped halfway through her greeting, her face frozen with shock for a few seconds. She recovered quickly enough, and it didn’t look like Mak had even noticed. She was too busy counting the chocolate chips on her pancakes. Kim turned to look at him, her eyes shining with tears. Granted a lot of things that usually didn’t make her cry did make her cry because of the insane hormones, Adam knew she would’ve reacted this way no matter what. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. He placed his coffee on the table before walking over to her, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He held her to him, soaking up the feeling.
“When did this happen?” she asked, still wrapped around him. He looked down at her.
“Last night, after you’d gone to bed. She just came right out and asked me,” he said. He gave the detailed version to her, and Kim’s smile was so wide it almost split her face. Her heart was completely full.
“I’m so happy for you, babe. I know you’ve thought about this before,” she said.
“You did?” he asked, surprised.
“Of course. But I didn’t want to say anything because it was between you and her. I knew she’d get there eventually.”
“Yeah… I mean, I hoped. I just never thought she’d ask me now,” he said.
“Well. I mean, it does make sense, what with the baby coming. I guess she feels like things might change and is making sure in her own way that the three of us are still going to be the same,” Kim mused. That worried Adam.
“Well, we should tell her, then, shouldn’t we? I don’t want her to doubt how much we love her,” Adam said.
“I don’t either, but I think just randomly telling her might cause some alarms to go off? Maybe we should wait for her to ask us,” she said. Just then Makayla suddenly shot to her feet, raised her arms up in the air and declared that her favorite song was playing. Adam recognized the faint tune to be some pop song he’d caught on the radio one day but didn’t care for much, and obliged his daughter by turning the volume up, chuckling as she started jumping up and down, singing along off-key to the lyrics, his worries dissipating as she danced, happy and carefree.
A couple minutes of dancing–or more accurately, jumping all over the place, Mak announced she was “the most tired anyone in the whole world has ever been” and collapsed dramatically on the floor, panting. The song came to an end, and a slow song came on, the soft tones filling the kitchen. Mak sprang up, rushing towards him and Kim.
“Mom! Dad! You have to dance! This song is all about love and you’re always saying I love you to each other! So you have to dance! Come on, quick! He’s going to say love again, you gotta dance!” Adam truly had no argument, so he turned and pulled Kim to him, holding her close and swaying them from side to side. Mak, having found energy again, bounded circles around them, singing along to this song too, but he focused on Kim, thinking about how their life would be changing completely for the second time very shortly. Since Mak had entered their lives and made him a father, he didn’t really think of himself as a “new dad”, but he still would be new to everything that would come with having a newborn, and that terrified him to no end. His main issue was that he couldn’t always protect his family the way he wanted to. With his job and seeing the worst of humanity everyday, he knew just how things could turn around quickly, but he also knew it was a slippery slope from here, and if he drowned himself in the negativity then he truly wouldn’t be able to be there for his family, and that was worse than any harm he could think of, so he banished those thoughts from his head and focused on all the good things. He had a healthy family, and that was more than many people had, so he needed to always remember that.
He felt something weird near his tummy, and looked down in confusion, not knowing what that was. Kim looked up at him in excitement, but he was still confused.
“Um. What was that?” he asked.
“That was your son! Or daughter. It’s our baby!”
“WHAT? Do it again! I wanna feel it again!”
“Do it again? It doesn’t work like that, Adam!”
“Well, when can I feel it again?”
“Oh, sure, let me check the schedule for when our unborn baby decides to kick inside my womb again, and I’ll let you know,” Kim replied dryly. But Adam was oblivious, both his palms stuck to her tummy and murmuring softly, saying random stuff. Makayla had joined them now, standing there with her dad, small palms on her tummy, and despite all of it, Kim was very content. Eventually, the baby did kick again, twice, and Adam celebrated by twirling her around, and then Mak too when she requested she wanted to be twirled, and then they all sat down to eat breakfast together. Mak ended it by declaring they should dance in the kitchen every Sunday morning, making both her parents laugh.
~~~~~
It was several hours later now, and Adam was in the nursery, working on building the crib, and Kim was decorating the room, filling it up with the knickknacks she’d picked up yesterday, Adam going over to help her if it was too high up like with some picture frames and the fairy lights. They were working in silence, which was occasionally broken when Adam got stuck on a particular piece and said “son of a bitch!” which in turn always made Kim laugh, except the one time when Mak happened to be in the room and then Kimmy had glared at him so hard he’d genuinely feared his life for a split second.
Once everything was done, Adam stood by the doorway to take it all in, and Kim put the last of the stuffies on their shelf and then walked to him, leaning with her back to his chest, tired from the day and needing his support but also wanting to be close to him as they looked at the room their baby would soon be in. The thought brought tears to her eyes, and she sniffled, which made Adam squeeze her, pressing a kiss to the back of her head, knowing without asking why she was emotional. They stood that way for a moment, soaking it all up, and Mak ran it at some point, ooh-ing and aah-ing at everything.
“I think I’m really going to like being a big sister,” Mak said, and at this point, Adam was on the verge of breaking down too, so he herded a teary-eyed Kim and an excited Mak downstairs, who declared she wanted to watch a movie, and that’s how their Sunday continued.