A/N: I make no excuses for this, I was forced into writing fluff :P
The shrill cry came exactly when Kensi expected it, practically to the second. The thought filled her with irrational pride, even as her mind was still thick with sleep. She rolled over and kicked her bedmate's shin.
"Ow! God, Kensi! What the hell?"
"Your daughter is crying," she mumbled.
"My daughter?"
"Yes. And the next kick won't be to the shin."
With a groan, Deeks stretched his legs over the side of the bed. Blearily, he rubbed at his eyes and shakily stood. As he made his way over to the door, hearing the cries gain volume, he looked back at Kensi.
"You know, I seem to remember two of us making her. Could be wrong, of course. But to my recollection…."
"No, you're right, Deeks. Equal partnership, right? We take equal turns?"
He allowed himself to think he just might be able to go back to bed as he nodded.
"Let's compare, then. How long were you puking your guts out while still forcing food down so she could grow? Oh, and I'd really like to hear about your stretch marks. And I always forget this one…when did you shove a seven pound human out of you?"
There was a long pause.
"I'm getting the baby, aren't I?"
Kensi flopped over. "You're getting the baby."
(break)
Deeks loved his daughter's nursery. He had planned it painstakingly. The color (green, not that disgusting bright green, but a nice, soft green), the patterning on the walls (elephants), the bedding (also elephants), and even the little toy that his impossibly tiny daughter slept with. An impossibly soft lamb was clutched in her tiny, tiny fist.
Or it normally was, except now, those little fists were flailing madly in the air, and her little face was tear-stained. Some impressively loud screams were coming from his daughter, and that, for some reason, filled Deeks with a sense of pride.
His baby had guts.
Like her mother.
"Hey, hey, baby girl," he soothed, carefully scooping her out of her cradle and arranging her tiny body in his arms. "It's alright, Daddy's here. Are you hungry, angel, or did you just need a cuddle? 'Cause I gotta be honest, if it's the first one, I'm…how do I phrase this in an age appropriate way…there are people better equipped to take care of that."
He swore she gave him exactly the same glare as Kensi would. He could practically hear the really, Deeks?
He grinned. His baby was just like her mother. And he couldn't be prouder if he tried (although the amount of baby pictures in his wallet was starting to become vaguely frightening).
Deeks passed a finger over his little Annabelle Rose's cheeks as she calmed against his chest. He still could not believe how small she was. The doctors had told him she was a perfectly normal weight, she was perfectly healthy, nothing to worry about, but that never stopped Deeks from sneaking into her room when he knew Kensi was asleep and standing there until his legs were ready to give out on him, just watching his baby breathe. Just to make sure she still was.
He couldn't see himself ever stopping.
The baby's cries had softened into hiccups now, as her head lay against his shoulder. For the millionth time, Deeks wondered what he could have done to deserve this. To deserve Kensi, who he'd wanted for so long but never actually counted on it happening, and his amazing daughter.
Five days old and already wrapped around her finger. She was definitely her mother's daughter.
"Do you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, or are you going to hog the baby forever?"
Deeks barely managed to control his racing heart as his head snapped up and his eyes focused on Kensi, leaning against the doorjamb.
"Whoa, Mommy scared Daddy," he whispered to his daughter. "Didn't we tell her it's just Daddy time? Mommy gets you the whole day tomorrow"
Kensi came into the warm nursery with a small smile.
"So does Daddy. I don't think she'd have any objection to Mommy, Daddy and Annabelle time."
"I could be persuaded into that," Deeks grinned. Kensi laced her fingers through his without another word, while her other arm gently lifted the baby towards herself.
Deeks found himself being led to the soft chair in the corner of the room, sitting without complaint. Kensi lowered herself onto his lap and arranged Annabelle so she was lying in between them.
Deeks reached for a blanket lying on the floor and covered all three of them, one hand slowly stroking Kensi's shoulder as she fell asleep again, and one hand in Annabelle's tiny fist.
He watched as Annabelle's mismatched eyes, exactly like her mother's, and wondered how he possibly got so lucky.
