I own nothing. Slash. Enjoy.
"Welcome to your new house, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said when I climbed out of the car.
"Wow," I said looking around the house.
The house was two stories with a small front yard and looked over the beach. It wasn't a big house, but I could see that it was going to be a nice place to live. I was just glad to have a place that I knew Alice would love.
Going to the back of the car I took Alice out of her seat and faced the house again. So far I was having a little trouble not turning to Hetty and saying that I couldn't afford this house, but it was Hetty and I wouldn't win.
"Go inside, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said calmly, "Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna have already unpacked a few boxes."
"Not the boxes from the bathroom, right?" I said my eyes wide.
"No, not those boxes."
Blushing slightly I cleared my throat before making my way into the house. I froze when I saw the furniture. My mind told me that it would take a year to earn the money it took to pay for half of the things in just the living room.
"Hetty," I said turning to her.
"Don't look at me, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said calmly, "I'm not the one that furnished this house nor am I the one that set the price so low for this house."
"How much is the house completely furnished?"
"Five thousand dollars."
"I don't have that kind of money."
"They're willing to take smaller amounts of money until you pay the whole thing."
Nodding my head I started to make my way through the house. Downstairs had a small bathroom, kitchen, living room, and dining room. Upstairs were three bedrooms, and two bathrooms.
It didn't take long for me to find the room that would be Alice's. There wasn't much there. A small bed in the corner, a toy chest under the window and a dresser near the closet.
The walls weren't painted and there was no curtains or sheets. If I didn't know better I would have thought that this was a brand new house. In truth I didn't know what Hetty had done.
I started to make my way downstairs when I felt Alice starting to squirm in my arms. Sitting on the bed I ran my hand through her hair a few times while muttering what I hoped were comforting words.
Looking down I saw that Alice's eyes were shut tightly while tears were streaming down her face. With a sigh I kissed her forehead making sure to never stop talking quietly to her.
"I want Daddy," Alice said through the tear.
My heart clenched painfully when I heard her words. I knew that she didn't know that I was her Dad, but I couldn't help but hope she would be calling me that at some point.
"I know, Sweetheart," I said rocking her gently.
"Are you going to leave again?" Alice asked her stutter becoming heavier.
As soon as I heard Alice say that I realized that I couldn't go undercover again. Alice needed me to be there for her and going undercover few weeks at a time would kill her.
Standing up I kissed her forehead gently and started to walk around the room. The sound of her cries were making me feel like my heart was being ripped out. Alice had never cried so much even when she was a baby.
"Alice," I said softly, "I want you to listen to me. Do you like Hetty, Callen, Sam, Kensi, and Eric?"
"Yeah," Alice said nodding slightly.
"Okay, they're part of NCIS, Navy cops. I'm LAPD. Both Hetty and Callen have offered me a job with them. I'll still be doing the same thing, but not nearly as often. I'll be here for you. I'll be here."
Alice looked at me sadly before wiping her tears away and resting her head back on my shoulder. Smiling slightly when I realized that she wasn't crying anymore I made my away back downstairs and saw everyone was standing around in the living room.
"Is there anything else you need, Deeks?" Kensi asked looking around the living room.
"No," I said shaking my head, "I think we're just going to go shopping for some things for Alice."
"Alright," Callen said clapping his hands, "Come on, Kensi, Sam, let's go get something to eat."
Kensi and Sam nodded their heads in agreement before making their way out of the house. Hetty smiled slightly at me and followed them calmly leaving Eric, Alice, and I alone.
"Alice," I said bouncing her slightly, "Are you ready to go shopping?"
"Eric come too?" Alice said looking between us.
"Of course," Eric said smiling, "I'd love to come."
Alice smiled tiredly at Eric and reached her arms toward him. With a smile Eric took her into his arms and held her tightly. Once I was sure that everything was fine I made my way to my car with Eric following me quietly.
When Eric was finished putting Alice in her seat and got in himself I started to drive us to the mall. For the most part the only thing that I needed was some things for Alice's bed, this one was a little bigger then her old one, and things for the bathroom.
We got to the mall quickly, but the whole place was packed. Sighing I looked at Eric as he got Alice out of her seat. I could tell that she was tired and I knew that we should do this as quickly as we could so Alice could go back to sleep.
"Alright," I said walking into a store, "All we're going to get is some bedding and things for the bathroom, okay?"
"Yeah," Alice said nodding gently.
Eric smiled at me calmly as we went to the bedding section. I watched as Alice's eyes sleepily looked over the bedspreads before stopping at the Doctor Who bedding with a smile.
Picking up the bedding I arranged it in my arms and made my way to the bathroom supplies. Alice once again looked over everything before picking a green tooth brush and vanilla tooth paste.
With a shake of my head I grabbed some floss before turning towards the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion section. This time Alice moved around until Eric put her on the ground.
"Apple," Alice said pointing at the bottles.
"You want everything to be apple scented?" I asked as Eric picked the bottles up.
"Yeah."
Both Eric and my hands were full as we made our way to the front registers. Alice had kept one of her hands gripping my shirt as we walked just like I had taught her to do when I couldn't hold her hand.
After we paid for everything we made our way back to the car with Alice letting out a yawn every few seconds. Laughing to myself I put the bags in the backseat and buckled Alice in.
"She's already asleep," Eric said after a few minutes.
"After everything today I'm surprised it took this long," I said calmly.
"How long is it going to take before you pass out?"
"Probably after I pick some things for Alice. She needs some clothes to change into after her bath."
"Alright, after all of that what are you going to do?"
"I don't know."
"I do."
Smiling slightly at Eric I realized just how much he took care of me. It wasn't that he forced me to talk or anything like that, but every time I started to feel like I couldn't handle what was going on around me I got a little reminder from him that he cared.
It was never anything big though. A cup of coffee when I was undercover as a homeless man or something like that. Eric was the first person that really made me feel like they cared.
I had been with a lot of people in my life, more then I really like to think about, but something was different with Eric. It wasn't just physical with him, at least it wasn't the best part of being with him.
He was the only person that I could say I loved and be completely serious about that. I loved him more then I thought I could. He loved me too, at least that's what he told me everyday.
Pulling up to Alice's old house I made sure that she was sleeping before nodding slightly to Eric. He nodded back and made himself comfortable in the car while I made my way into the house.
As I made my way through the house I sighed slightly. I had never seen the house so quiet. The Singer's weren't a rich family, but they did everything to make sure that Alice had everything that she wanted.
Alice wasn't a typical kid though. She loved any form or art and the ocean. As long as she had those things she was completely happy. It's one of the reasons I made sure to buy her a surfboard for her birthday.
With a shake of my head I made my way to Alice's room and picked out not only her favorite pajama's but her favorite outfit. I started to make my way out of the room when I caught site of a teddy bear.
Smiling softly I picked up the bear and ran my hand over it. I had given this bear to Alice when she was born. Justin said that Alice had stopped carrying it around, but she still slept with it every night.
I made my way out of the house and back to the car only to stop. Eric was kneeling with the backdoor of the car opened. Alice's arms were wrapped around Eric's neck and from what I could see she was shaking.
"Hey Alice," I said walking up to them, "Look what I have."
"Rain," Alice said reaching for the bear.
"Yeah, Rain. Do you remember the story behind her name?"
"No."
"When you were born it was a really bad thunderstorm. The doctors were actually afraid that the power would go out before you were born. I bought you this bear while we were waiting. You latched onto it like it's all you had in the world. You never went anywhere without it. I can't remember how old you were when you said your first word, but I do remember that we were having a horrible thunderstorm. You kept saying rain so I handed you your bear. From then on you called her Rain. Come on, let's go get you ready for bed."
Alice nodded her head and let me put her back in the car seat. Watching her closely I made sure that Alice wasn't going to drop Rain before getting back in the drivers' seat.
The drive to the house was quiet for the most part. I kept my eyes on the road for the most part, but periodically I would look over at Eric. I could see the sadness in his eyes and I wondered what they were talking about before I came out.
Once we got to the house and brought everything in I helped Alice take her bath. I tried to go as quickly as I could seeing that Alice was about to fall asleep again at any moment.
"Come on," I said helping Alice into her pajama's, "Time for you to go to sleep."
It wasn't long after I placed Alice into bed that she was fast asleep. Smiling I kissed her forehead before leaving her room. As I closed the door slightly I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair.
Feeling a hand rest on my neck I looked up and saw Eric watching me. I let him pull me up and into my new bedroom. Looking around I saw that Eric had already made my bed while I was with Alice.
Eric closed the door gently and pressed his lips to mine. Sighing into the kiss I closed my eyes hoping to fall into it. Eric always had a way of making me forget everything that was going on in my mind.
As he pushed me backwards onto the bed I felt him undo my pants and pull them down before moving to my shirt. Once I was only in my boxers Eric broke the kiss and pulled the blankets over me.
Wrapping my arms around his waist I tugged him down so he was laying next to me. Eric smiled happily and undressed quickly. Laughing to myself I pulled the blankets over him.
"Sleep," Eric said kissing me gently.
"I love you," I said when he cuddled into my chest.
"I love you too."
