He walked in the house and looked around for Adalind, who was often sitting on the couch watching TV when he got home, but she wasn't there. He gently closed the door behind him. Then, he heard something. Singing? Yes, it was singing. He walked through the house and found Adalind in the nursery, which was still fairly sparse – there were virtually no decorations, but the basics – a crib, dresser and rocking chair. She was folding a load of clothes she had washed and was putting them away in the dresser. She was alternating between humming to herself and singing the words to "Rock-a-bye baby." Nick's breath caught in his throat. It was such a simple scene, but his heart pounded harder than usual. "Hi," he said startling her. She jumped a bit and then laughed. "Hi," she responded. "I was just putting a few things away. It feels so empty in here," she said a bit sadly, which Nick took note of. "I was also practicing my lullabies, very badly I might add. I'm not sure my mom sang them to me. I can't seem to remember all the words." Nick took note of that as well. She wasn't saying it in a way that was intended to make him pity her; she was just stating a fact. Still, he felt both sorry for and connected to her. Adalind and Nick had quite a bit in a common – a childhood filled with abandonment and/or loneliness for one. "We'll have to brush up together," Nick finally said. "I not so familiar with those tunes either." She smiled. "I'll finish this, then we can figure out dinner," she said smiling sweetly and went back to her work. Nick moved to leave her to it, just about to lose his nerve, then thought – well, it's now or never. Just get it over with.

"Adalind?" "Hmmm," she replied not even bothering to look at him as she continued her project. "Do you want to go out to dinner?" "Sure," she responded evenly and kept folding the clothes, not recognizing the invitation as anything more than grabbing food. No that wouldn't do – he realized quickly. Just going out to eat when it was time to eat would not indicate it was a date. They mostly ate at home, but they had grabbed lunch out a few times going to or from her doctor's appointments, so she didn't realize he was actually asking for more than that. Not just grabbing food. "Then, maybe we could go see a movie after?" he added, and his voice sounded a bit nervous. That got her attention. Dinner and a movie, she thought to herself. That's date territory. The thought make her heart skip a beat. She had been feeling more than friendly about Nick lately, but she honestly wasn't sure if it was just the hormones, and certainly not sure if he felt the same way. Nick was a good man, and the acts of kindness he had shown her thus far could simply be that. But now, she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him cocking her head slightly when she looked at him trying to figure it out. He smiled at her a bit expectantly, and now looked nervous in addition to having sounded nervous. She found the courage to just ask considering the question was silly compared to what they had been through. If she were misreading the situation, they would just laugh it off and move on. "Like on a date?" she finally said slowly. Nick smiled widely at her question. "Yes, like on a date," he answered. Adalind couldn't help but grin. Regardless of where they landed relationship-wise, she was so appreciative that Nick was trying, and it felt great to know he might be interested in her. She was hugely pregnant and not exactly feeling the most attractive these days, so being asked on date made her feel like a giggling teenager. "I would love that," she finally said and could visibly see the relief in Nick's face. "Great," he said. "I'm going to go freshen up." "Okay," she said. "I'll finish this and do the same."

Well, Nick thought to himself as he walked back to his room to shower and change. No going back now. It was out in the open. He and Adalind were going on a date. This was either a great idea – or the worst one ever.

Nick finished getting ready, changing into a button-up shirt and khakis, and sat on the couch in the living room checking movie options and times on his phone waiting for Adalind to get ready. He looked up when he heard her come in about 10 minutes later. She typically dressed pretty nicely, so he wasn't shocked to see her, but she was beautiful all the same. She was wearing a light blue sweater dress that clung to her swollen belly with tall black boots. Her blonde hair was super curly, and her blue eyes were highlighted by smoky make-up. Nick stood to his feet automatically. "You look beautiful," he said before he could stop himself. He meant it, so why not say it. "Thanks," she said smiling and blushed a bit. Nick ran through a few of the movie options and times. They decided on a comedy that was playing at 8:30, which gave them a little more than an hour to eat dinner. For that, they agreed on Thai food. Nick knew a great place right next to the theatre. They walked out the door into the night and towards Nick's car together. He held the door open for her, and then they were off. Dinner was delicious, and they were at ease. Though they had certainly skipped a number of steps along the way, it really did feel like a first date. Nick and Adalind were realizing how little they knew about each other. Nick learned that Adalind had practiced all types of law – from family to real estate to first amendment, and she learned that he and Hank had been friends since they had gone through academy together. They talked and laughed as if the horrors that lurked in the past were non-existent. When they finished up with dinner and made their way to theatre, Nick reached out and took Adalind's hand. She accepted the gesture warmly. He took her hand again once they were settled into their seats in the theatre, and she laid her head on his shoulder snuggling closer. Despite a red flag waving for both of them somewhere in the back of their brains, their hearts were allowing all this to happen – and it felt good and right. Driving home they talked about the movie – both of them had enjoyed it. It was a short ride home, and suddenly, they were back at their house.

They walked inside and both lingered in the hallway that led to both their bedrooms. "I had a really good time," Adalind started. "Thank you, Nick." "I had a good time, too," Nick responded smiling. Then the awkward silence. What to do next? This was not a normal situation. Usually on a first date, you parted ways, but their situation was far from usual. "Well," Adalind finally said not being able to stand the silence any longer, "Good night." She didn't know what else to do or say, so she went with simple and made a move towards her room. "Adalind, wait," Nick said quickly and reached out and grabbed her arm gently turning her back toward him. They both stared at each other for about thirty seconds, and then Nick just let his head follow his heart. He gently grabbed either side of Adalind's face and pulled her toward him for a kiss. She shut her eyes and let him, smiling inside and out as his warm lips touched hers. Thought it wasn't the first time they had kissed, it was a new start. Nick had kissed Adalind several years ago as a way of getting her to bite him and ingest his blood to rob her of her hexenbiest abilities. That certainly didn't count. Then, of course, they had kissed many times while making love when she was pretending to be Juliette – the act resulting in their baby. That didn't count either since Nick didn't know it was her – though looking back, he had to admit to himself that something had seemed different – maybe in a good way – during that tryst. This kiss was the true first – the first kiss where they were both fully aware that the other person was exactly who they were, and more importantly, that they were kissing each other on purpose for the right reasons – just because they wanted to with no ulterior motives.

At first, the kiss was fairly chaste, but it quickly grew more passionate and hungry as Adalind wrapped her hands around Nick's neck and stood on her tiptoes to get as close as she could to him – not the easiest thing with a big pregnant belly, but they were making it work. Nick allowed his hands to wrap about Adalind's back. He didn't consider her pregnancy awkward – truth be told, it turned him on to know his child was inside of her. They kissed for a few minutes before both finally pulling away for air breathing heavily. They looked at each other for a moment then both burst out laughing. "Can't say I could have seen that coming?" She admitted. "Me either," Nick agreed smiling, "But here we are." "Yes, here we are," she said as Nick leaned forward and planted another soft kiss on her lips, then on her nose and then on her forehead as she giggled. "Good night, Adalind." He said. "Good night, Nick," she responded giving him a hug, and then they parted ways to go to their own rooms.

That's all I have so far, but I'm working on a next chapter - let me know if I should continue and/or write a prequel leading up to them living together.