Chapter 12 – Proposal

Adam Ruzek was not a fan of fancy coffee shops. Although he enjoyed a good cup of coffee as much as the next person, hanging out in a coffee shop just wasn't his style. Then again, what he was about to do required some secrecy and the coffee shop was the best place to meet. Adam glanced down at his cell phone as it buzzed. It was a message from Kim.

'Heading home?' she wrote.

'Sorry. Stuck at work.' he replied.

'Work?'

'Long story. See you later tonight?'

Just as Adam sent his message, he heard his name being called. He looked up and saw Kevin Atwater walking towards him.

"Hey, thanks for coming," Adam said, motioning for Kevin to join him in the little corner booth.

"Yeah, no problem." Kevin looked around the café. "Isn't this place a little too…hipster for your taste? Wouldn't Molly's be better?"

"I needed somewhere to meet where we wouldn't be overheard."

"What's going on?" Kevin asked.

"I need your help with something."
"Anything, man."

"I'm going to ask Kim to marry me," Adam said.

Kevin smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. I know it seems kind of fast, but she's it for me, you know."

"Congratulations, man," Kevin said, shaking Adam's hand.

"Hold off on the congratulations. First she's gotta say yes."

"She will."

"You think?" Adam wondered. All he had been thinking about for days was whether Kim would say yes if he asked her to marry him. They hadn't ever talked about marriage before, but he had a good feeling.

"Come on, man, you and Burgess were made for each other. Everybody knows that. So, how are you going to pop the question?"

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out. I want it to be…low key, you know. That's just how Burgess and I are. I did the whole big proposal thing with Wendy and look how that turned out."

"Yeah, Burgess doesn't seem like the type of girl who wants all the pomp and circumstance. You buy a ring yet?"

Adam shook his head. "I was hoping you could help me with that. When I bought Wendy's ring, she made me take it back and get a different one."

"That should have been you first hint that she wasn't the one."

"Yeah."

"Look, whatever you need, I'm in, man."

"Thanks."

"Where does she think you are tonight?" Kevin asked.

"Working."

"She's going to be pissed, dude."

"About what?"

"All of a sudden she gets a chance at Intelligence and you two start working together and you start blowing her off. She's going to start thinking there's someone else or something."

"She won't think that. She'll be fine."

As he said it, Adam glanced down at his phone. She hadn't replied to the last message he had sent her. He brushed it off, telling himself that she was just too busy to reply. Trying not to worry about it, he and Kevin walked out of the coffee shop. Adam had only one thing on his mind – figuring out how to ask the woman he loved to marry him.

It was late when Adam trudged into Kim's apartment. He walked through the rooms in the dark, making his way to her bedroom. He stopped just outside her bedroom, making sure the ring he had just purchased was buried deep in his pocket. He didn't need her seeing it and asking what it was. As Adam opened the bedroom door, he was surprised when he saw a lamp still on and Kim sitting up in bed, flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," he said. "I didn't think you'd be up."

"I was waiting for you."

"Sorry. I got hung up."

"At work?"

"Yeah. Voight needed me to…ah…help him out."

"He didn't need me?"

"Guess not." Adam pulled his shirt off and threw it on the floor. "Don't take it personally. Sometimes Voight just knows who and what he wants."

"Yeah." Kim put the magazine on the nightstand. "I just…I thought we were going to do something tonight. You know, together."

"I know. I'm sorry. You got my text though, right?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Maybe we can find some time this weekend," Adam suggested. "See a movie or something." He was about to take off his pants when he remembered the ring in his pocket. He didn't want to let it out of his sight. "I'm going to take a quick shower. You should go to sleep." He began walking towards the bathroom, keeping his hand on the box in his pocket.

"Is it because we're working together?"

"What?"

"We haven't spent so much as ten minutes together alone since I was brought into Intelligence."

"We've spent practically every night together."

"Yeah…every night sleeping," she mumbled.

"What was that?" He asked, not really hearing her.

"It's just…it's like…" she trailed off.

"It's like what?

"It's like you don't want me in Intelligence or something."

"Of course I want you there," he assured her.

"Then maybe you don't like that we're working together. You know, Voight has those rules about not dating in the department for a reason."

"Voight's rules are archaic."

"Maybe not. Maybe working together and seeing each other at home is too much."

"It's not too much, Kim. I've just been…busy."

"Busy doing what?"

"Look, it's been a long day. All I want to do is take a shower and get some sleep. We'll spend some time together this weekend, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed, even though she wasn't convinced. Something was wrong and it was beginning to scare her.

The next morning Kim woke up alone. She sat up in bed, looking around. The bathroom was empty. She slid out of bed and made her way through her apartment.

"Adam?" She called out. There was no response. Kim knew she was alone. He had left. Even though they were going to the same place, he had left her. Annoyed, she went back to her room to get ready for the day.

She didn't understand what was going on. How had she and Adam gone from being so happy and feeling so connected to being so opposite? She knew he was happy on some level that she was working upstairs in Intelligence. But she also could sense that there was something wrong. He was pulling away from her and the only reason she could think of was that he didn't want to work together.

Kim was starting to wonder if it was worth it. Was working in Intelligence worth losing Adam?

24 hours later, Kim felt like her whole world was turning upside down. First her relationship with Adam was going haywire and then Voight told her that Atwater was taking his spot back in Intelligence, which meant she was out. Kim knew her stay in Intelligence was only temporary, but it didn't make the news hurt less. All she wanted to do was go home, have a beer, and start new the next day. The only problem was, she didn't know if she would be going home alone or not.

After giving her congratulations to Atwater for making it back up into Intelligence, Kim headed to her locker to gather her things. As she began rummaging through her bag, she heard Adam walk in. It was hearing the excitement in Adam's voice as he welcomed Atwater back into the unit that really strung. Adam clearly wasn't in her corner and that hurt.

"Well, you should be happy, I'm back on patrol."

Kim opened her locker, partially annoyed that he didn't even have a response for her. As she looked inside the locker, she saw something that didn't belong. It was a small, wooden box. She pulled it out of the locker.

"I wanted to keep this informal so I thought, what's more informal than the locker room?"

She opened the book box and nearly gasped. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring. She glanced over at Adam, unsure of what to do or say.

"Right?" He continued.

"Ok. Yeah," she stuttered. She didn't know what to think. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"So listen, I know I've been a little weird lately. It's got nothing to do with you and I working together. I just ah…been trying to figure out how to tell you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You and I are freaking awesome together. I know this is quick, but I don't care because I love you."

"Yes."

"Yeah?"

Kim smiled. She practically launched herself into his arms, kissing him hard. He brought his hand into her hair, holding her head still so he could kiss her the way he wanted to kiss her.

"You didn't let me finish," Adam said when they pulled apart. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "I had this whole thing planned and you didn't let me finish."

Kim smiled. "Ok, go ahead. Finish." She stepped away from him, still holding the ring box in her hand.

Adam cleared his throat. "We're freaking awesome…"

"You said that part already," Kim said with a light-heartedness to her voice.

"Fine. I love you and I promise to love you for the rest of my life. You complete me, Kim." He took the jewelry box from her hand and got down on one knee. Holding the box out, he looked into her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

"Hm…I think I'll have to think about it," she said with a smirk. She paused for a moment.

"Oh, come on."

"Yes!" She finally exclaimed.

Adam scrambled to his feet and took the ring out of the box. He slipped it on her finger. It was a perfect fit.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, capturing her lips again. After a few seconds of frantic kissing, they broke apart to breathe.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand.

"Where are we going?"

"To celebrate."

Hand in hand, they walked through the department. Adam couldn't keep the smile off his face. They walked out the front door and made their way down the block. Kim immediately knew where they were going, but she led Adam lead the way. He turned the corner and Molly's bar came into view.

"The whole department knows, don't they?" Kim asked as they stopped outside the bar.

"Well, they don't know you said yes, but I told them I was proposing. Kevin even helped me pick out the ring."

"Kevin did?" She questioned, surprised.

"The man knows his way around jewelry," Adam added. "You ready?"

She took a deep breath. "Let's celebrate."

Still with their hands entwined, Adam pulled the door open and they walked in together.

"She said yes!" Adam announced.

Everyone in the bar turned around and began cheering and clapping. Kevin immediately walked over to them and clapped Adam on the back before enveloping Kim in a bear hug.

"I always said you two would make a good couple," Kevin said.

Kim playfully slugged him. "No you didn't. You didn't want us to be together at all."

"No, I just didn't want him jerking you around."

"Alright, let's not dig up the past," Adam replied.

"Really man, congratulations," Kevin said, giving Adam a hug.

As they made their way through the bar, various people hugged them and congratulated them. Adam got pulled away to talk to a group of friends. Roman approached Kim and handed her a beer.

"You're going to be a married woman now, huh?" Roman asked Kim.

"Guess that means you'll have to stop flirting with me," Kim joked.

He embraced her.

"I'm happy for you."

"Thank you."

Adam eyed Kim across the bar. He watched as Roman hugged her and continued to watch her as she showed off her ring. He couldn't stop smiling. He had never felt so happy.

"You better not break her heart," Platt stated coming up to stand next to Adam.

"I don't plan on it, Sarg," Adam replied.

"I better be invited to the wedding."

"You'll be first on the list."

As Platt walked away, Kim caught Adam's eye. He winked at her and she began to make her way over to him. As Kim approached him, Adam pulled her in for a quick kiss. He looped his arm around her and raised his beer in the air.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" He yelled out. The hum of the bar quieted and everyone turned their attention to Adam and Kim. "I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for coming out tonight. I am the luckiest man alive that the woman I love agreed to marry me today." He looked at Kim. "I love you."

A tear rolled down Kim's cheek.

"Just kiss her already!" Kevin yelled from a table at the back of the bar.

Adam didn't need to be told twice. He leaned down and kissed her. Everyone began to hoot and cheer. They both pulled away, smiling at each other.

After an hour of mingling with their friends and coworkers and Kim showing off her ring dozens of times, Adam found her in the crowd.

"Hey beautiful," he said. "You want to get out of here?"

"I'm an engaged woman. I can't just go home with anyone," she joked.

"You're fiancé won't mind."

"I don't know, he's a big, brawny cop. He carries a gun."

"I'll take my chances."

"You're a brave man," she said.

They both smiled and Adam snaked his hand around her waist. They decided to sneak out without telling anyone. As they made their way outside, Adam put out his hand to hail a cab.

"Did you have fun tonight?" He asked.

She nodded. "I can't believe you pulled this off."

"I kept trying to tell you I had no problems with us working together."

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now that I'm not in Intelligence."

"You'll get back upstairs and you know it."

A taxi stopped in front of them. Adam opened the door and Kim slid inside. Once Adam was beside her and had closed the door, he gave the taxi driver his address. He scooted in closer to her and put his arm around her.

"The secretary from homicide seems to think the minute I say I do, my only plan in life is to become barefoot and pregnant. She kept asking me how many kids we wanted to have and reminding me that my ovaries aren't getting any younger," Kim said.

"She was always a little odd. What did you tell her?"

"I told her we weren't planning on having any kids any time soon and she didn't need to worry about my ovaries."

Adam laughed. "Well, we won't be waiting that long."

"What do you mean?"

"For kids. I don't want to be the oldest dad at the baseball field."

"Baseball field?"

"Yeah, you know, when I coach our son's little league games," Adam stated.

"Oh, so now we have a son?

"I'm just saying I don't want to wait too long."

"Adam, my career is what's important right now," Kim explained. "I don't plan on having kids any time soon."

"Well, it's something we can talk about."

"We're talking about it now."

"Maybe this conversation can wait for when we're not in the back of a taxi after celebrating our engagement."

"Maybe this is exactly when we should be having this conversation. I mean, we haven't talked about any of those important things you're supposed to talk about before we get married."

"Ok, but it's not like we're getting married tomorrow. We have time to figure this all out."

"And what if we disagree? What if we can't decide how many kids we want or whether or not we want to combine our finances or whether we buy a house or continue to rent or move into the suburbs or…" Adam silenced her by kissing her. "Sorry."

"It's ok. You're cute when you get all analytical." He kissed her quickly once more. "There may be a lot for us to figure out, but I know that I love you. And I know that I don't want to live without you. That's enough for me."

"Me too." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "What if we have a girl?"

Adam smiled. "Then I hope she's beautiful like her mother."

"I love you," Kim whispered.

Closing her eyes, she brushed her lips against his.

Author's Note: I know everyone waited a long time for this chapter – I hope it didn't disappoint! Thank you to everyone for reading this story – I had a blast writing it! Although right now this is the end of the story, I may continue it as I watch the new season. I'm sure there will be plenty more missing moments!