A/n: Hey! So, housekeeping. So only about one more chapter of undercover, and then we'll be back to actual life. More Max, more Densi, more motherly Kensi, Densi's first grandkid...EEEP! Sorry I can't update as much as I used to, but like I said. We all have lives.
He was pressed against me again.
Except I didn't tense this time. I soaked up his warmth. I became more and more comfortable with our living situation and our cover as the days went on. And we both woke up like this.
"Hey," he whispered warily. "Good morning."
"Good morning," I replied, trying to stifle my smile.
He stretched his arms out. "Sorry," he declared. "I'm a restless sleeper."
"You're just fine," I said.
He rolled out of bed. I got up, grabbed the leashes to take the dogs out. When we came back in, MJ was back in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready. I could get used to that.
I found myself on the couch, combing my fingers through Noel's fur. Jake was barking at MJ in the kitchen, hoping for food. I held Noel closer. This was bliss.
I had learned about Jack when I was 15. It absolutely terrified me. Mom only brought him up because he somehow got involved in a case at NCIS, and she wanted me to understand the emotions around the house. I loved the way Dad held her and the way her few tears would end the moment her head hit that sweet spot in his chest. That place where there are no troubles in the world. I found after that day, I wanted little to do with the boys I'd previously been interested in. Like I wanted to wait… skip over my own personal Jack. Wait for someone like Dad.
I was the same way with MJ when we first met, up until about the day I almost got shot. I'm still on edge around him sometimes, but usually, it's all just fine.
It was the way he had stood behind me in the firing range, when I was still getting used to the kick after pulling the trigger. Even though I've been able to fire since I was 12 (and I had perfect aim with a Nerf gun before that), it was hard for me sometimes. I'm softer than my parents. I was raised better than they were.
It was also the way he consoled me after my first kill. The way his arms encircled me when I was resisting tears. Insisting I was fine, when I was a mess of guilt, not comprehending the good that that terrible action ensured. Not comprehending my partner would have died had I not taken the shot, only focusing on the life lost at my hands.
He became someone I wanted to open up to.
And usually, we're on the same page. I may be softer than my parents, but I am still hard and tough. He is too. When you put those types together, it can be rough. But when I make leaps, he does too. He grins when I accomplish things. He teaches me how to be a better agent. But I don't know where all of this leads us. As friends.. as partners.
I mean, he calls me Dollface.
After breakfast, it felt right. Comfortable, there with my partner.
We had neighbor plans. I had a little sundress to change into. I started to get up and clear my plate off so I could start getting ready. MJ began to tease me about my 'wifely' actions, and I was giggling as I padded across the living room.
Suddenly, MJ's voice got real deep and husky as he teased, "Pull up the fluffy pants, Dollface. I see lacy."
Immediately, I turned and looked down behind me at my ass, and you could in fact see a majority of the lace on the high-waisted blue panties I was wearing.
"Wow, that was real classy."
Readjusting my pajama pants on my hips, I said, "Don't stare at my ass."
"I wasn't staring, I was appreciating..."
"You were appreciating my ass?"
"I was appreciating the lace!" he corrected.
"Yeah, uh huh. Whatever."
"Come on, Dollface, don't get mad at me."
"Don't call me Dollface!" I shouted, almost squealed, up the stairs. I had to know that his nice would wear off as soon as I became comfortable in our cover. The teasing would come back soon, and by the looks of it, it was already beginning.
There's only a few more days of this. I just have to hold on.
My heart was pounding as I pulled myself in to start doing my hair and makeup and getting dressed. The lace incident had me literally burning. How much of that was him being a tease and how much of it was reflecting on the fact that he wanted me to stay at his place? The fact that we can't keep distance from each other in bed?
I kept me make up real light, added a few extra waves into my hair, and began to pull the sundress out. The bra holster was back again, and that pissed me off. Damn, that thing makes me uncomfortable. If MJ is back to picking on me, I bet that'll come up.
The dress in place, I cleaned up the bathroom area and I began to descend down the staircase again. MJ was running surveillance stuff on his laptop. He was wearing khaki shorts and a red polo. He looked up from his laptop. His eyes widened, and he smiled.
"What?"
"You know when you thought I was staring at your ass? This is me staring at you."
Oh jeez. The blush that broke out across my cheeks did not need to happen.
"I've never seen you in a dress before."
"Well, in our job, dresses aren't really the most practical."
"Who cares about practical? Damn. Anyway, 'bout ready to go?"
What the hell did he think he was doing? "Yep, just need shoes."
"Your ankles are sexy just the way they are."
My eyes widened at that one. Um, Mom and Dad alert? Seriously what the hell! I have never told him anything about that!
"What?" he asked. I shook my head. I was immensely frustrated.
"Let's go." He shrugged his shoulders as I slipped my sandal like heels over my ankles.
He laced his fingers though mine as he locked up the house, and we began the decent down the beach, Noel and Jake at our heels.
"Noel! Jake!" A little voice shouted. A girl appeared in front of us, attacking the pups. Noel jumped up and the girl giggled. I smiled and laughed, releasing the dogs off of their leashes.
"Hello!" A voice called from the house. The girl's mother appeared. We waved, and she depended off the back deck. Her name... Fiona. Fiona Parker. Husband: Liam Parker. Got it.
"This is my daughter, Emily. And my son, Liam, where's Cameron?"
"I'm right here!" Cameron said quietly, holding out his ball. "The doggies are here."
MJ's smile was wide. As Jake ran over to little Cameron, he through the ball. Jake chased it and quickly returned.
"We're excited to really get to know you guys. Mr. Conners always says such great things about you, Ethan," Mr. Parker said.
"And your dress is lovely," Mrs. Parker added. I smiled and began to thank her, but I was interrupted.
"I think so, too," MJ added. Amelia kicked Callie out, and my head hit his shoulder as I smiled like a lovesick idiot.
The Parkers laughed, and MJ kept talking. "Call her Mrs. Conners," he whispered. "She still reacts to it, it's still new."
I scowled at him, but it wasn't threatening. Everyone saw through that.
We settled in to the table on the back deck and patio and relaxed. The kids and the dogs running around, a yummy lunch, it was fabulous. Except the case and stuff, yeah. We had work to do.
Emily ran up and curled up next to her mother, and MJ decided this was a good place to start. "Emily, how old are you?"
"I'm 7!" she exclaimed, smiling.
"Are you having a great day?" he asked. She smiled wildly.
"Yes, the dogs are here!" then, she took off running again, catching up to her younger brother.
"Wow, she's a firecracker, you must be exhausted," I said.
"You'll understand when you start having babies. You're exhausted... but it's a perfect kind of exhaustion."
With that, MJ started getting closer to me. I tried not to let my personal reaction be noticeable... Callie isn't here now.
"We're kind of taking it slow." he said.
"Oh, you guys are fine. So early on in your marriage... that's a good thing." Mrs. Parker said.
"My brother, his wife's pregnant. They've been married for so long. I expected it a lot sooner," I said, throwing that out there. That worked for cover, yeah?
"It's not about anyone else's pace. It's about your own. When you guys are ready, that's when it happens."
It's about your own.
MJ traced a pattern along my arm as she spoke. The words floated through my head.
Was this more than advice about kids?
Elijah diverted the conversation to a mysterious white Charger, and the Parkers threw out all of the information they had easily, about how it was scary but they hadn't seen it in a while. They shared about LAPD coming out, all kinds of that fun. Mental note all of that.
We took a walk out to where the kids were playing, and there was a lot of laughter. Suddenly, I felt his hot breath on my neck. "I'm going to kiss you, okay? Don't freak out, I've got you."
My heart began to pound. This shit was about to get real.
I didn't freak out. Not in a panic way. But when he did lean in, placing a sweet kiss to my lips when the Parkers could totally see it, I could respond. I wasn't relaxed, but I could play it cool.
Damn his lips. And the way his hands rested on my hip, the way he traced his fingers across the fabric right above the skin he'd seen covered in lace earlier.
It was in the way his eyes drifted to my lips when breaking eye contact. The way he seemed eager for more, although there wasn't anything else. The way his cheeks grew rosy behind his usually 'I am in control we will be okay' composure. Behind his flawless jaw…
Enough of that. He bent down, grabbed the ball near Jake, tossed it back to little Cameron, and it was just on. And I watched them play in awe, seeing myself and my father… it kind of made my ovaries hurt.
Mom always told me about Dad doing silly things like that. Jumping on the trampoline with a victim's daughter, showing cartoons to a scared little boy…
I was looking for someone like my Dad.
MJ was someone like my dad. This wasn't a cover. This was actually the real thing. This is the man my partner is. This was what I've been looking for. Right in front of me.
And I can't take it anymore.
I've got to talk to Mom. I've got to talk to him. Partners first.
As we said our goodbyes, made our way 'home' to do a quick check in, we got ready to settle into the couch to catch some reruns, I had to say something. Something to get us somewhere. Amelia be damned. Callie had to get some of what she wanted tonight.
He sprawled out on his back, having traded his polo and khaki shorts for a big tee and sweats. I'd retired the fluffy pants for shorts and tight-ish blue tank top.
"That's a familiar look on you," he added. "The shorts are better than the skinny jeans though." Oh, yeah sir. Great time to bring that picture up, that night he called me beautiful, multiple times.
Can he stop doing that? I'm going to become a Callie shaped puddle.
I settled next to him on the empty end of the couch and sighed. "We need to talk."