A/N~ MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES to everyone who has been following my story! I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post this chapter, as short as it may be. Things are pretty crazy. But enough about that, here's an adorable chapter to keep my romantic readers happy, and a "fun" little plot twist at the end :)

Callen had barely taken a step through the front door when he felt a small body run into his legs and latch onto the back of his thighs, and just like that, all the stress vanished from his body. Ruffling Seth's hair, he waddled with the boy still attached to his legs into the living room to find his two favorite girls.

Looking up from the pile of baby toys in front of her, Evelyn's smile grew even wider when she met Callen's eyes. Natalie followed her foster mother's gaze, and let out a delighted squeal and clapped her hands together when he caught sight of him.

"I just put dinner in the oven, so we've got a little while until we eat. How was your day?" she inquired sweetly.

"Better, now," Callen said with a small smile, simultaneously untangling Seth from his legs to lift him onto his hip while bending down to kiss Evelyn's lips.

"Hmm," she hummed against his lips, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment. "He's been clingy all day, and not too talkative. He might open up to you about his school day a bit more than me," she said, tilting her head towards Seth, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout Callen's arrival home. Callen nodded before pressing another quick kiss to her lips and proceeded to carry Seth to the back door, slipping out with practiced ease.

Wordlessly handing a small baseball mitt to Seth and picking up his own larger one, Callen gently tossed the ball to Seth, who reflexively caught it. Evelyn had insisted that the boys try to take up baseball as a father and son activity just two weeks prior.

"What's going on, bud?" Callen asked casually after a few minutes of throwing the ball around. "Come on, little man, you can me, you know that, right?"

Seth nodded. "I told Carrie I was going to marry her and she said no," he pouted, throwing his glove down and stomping his foot angrily. Crossing his arms across his body, he stuck his bottom lip out in a way that took all of Callen's self control and undercover training not to laugh at how adorable he was acting.

"Is Carrie a girl in your class?" he asked instead. Seth nodded. "And you really like her?" He nodded again. Callen sighed.

"You know, Seth, you have to really, really like someone to marry them. It takes a long time to like someone that way. And guess what?"

"What?" Seth asked, intrigued about what his faux father was about to say.

"When you get married, you have to kiss the girl, and you get cooties," he said, acting as if it were the grossest thing in the world. Seth's face contorted in horror as his six year old mind contemplated kissing a girl.

"That's so GROSS!" he yelled. "I am NEVER going to get married." Callen watched on, chuckling under his breath as Seth continued to shake his head, disgusted. "But you and mommy kiss, right? Does that mean that she gave you cooties?"

Callen laughed at Seth's legitimate reasoning. "Mommies don't have cooties, so I'm in the clear," he assured him with a smile.

"Are you and mommy married? Because Tony in my class told me that mommies and daddies are supposed to be married."

Callen cleared his throat. He really wasn't expecting that question.

"Um, yeah, usually mommies and daddies are married, but they don't have to be. You do though - you need to be married before you become a daddy, okay?" Seth nodded. "Your mommy and I aren't married, but um," he trailed off, not sure if he should finish.

"Your mommy and I aren't married, but would you be okay if we were?" he asked tentatively.

Seth's eyes lit up. "Yeah! That would be awesome!" he said. "As long as you are SURE you won't get any cooties," he added, suddenly serious.

"Grab your mitt," Callen said, laughing.

/

"Seth opened up to you earlier?" Evelyn said as they got ready for bed together in the bathroom.

"Yep. Girl in his class rejected his marriage proposal," he said around his tooth brush. Evelyn's soft laughter filled the room as she shook her hair loose from its band.

"Poor baby! What'd you tell him?" she asked, walking into the bedroom, Callen right behind her after a quick spit and rinse.

"I wish I had a camera to capture the look on his face when I told him you had to kiss the girl when you get married, and that she would give you cooties," he told her, mirth in this eyes as he thought back on their soon-to-be legal son. Evelyn erupted into laughter as she pulled back the covers to the bed and crawled in.

"He was pretty worried about me, too. I might not know if you have cooties," he went on, running his hands along her sides to tickle her. Watching her squirm beneath him, Callen only stopped when she laughed so hard her beautiful face flushed completely and adorably pink.

"But um, he did ask something I wanted to talk with you about," Callen said, not entirely sure on where he was going with this. He waited a moment after she nodded to continue.

"He asked if we were married." Callen carefully watched Evelyn's face for any kind of sign to interpret, but she remained neutral. He was still trying to figure out whether that was a good or bad thing when she replied, "what did you tell him?"

He took a deep breath before answering, "I told him we weren't but it was something I would like, sometime in the future." Callen held his breath as he waited on her to say something. A moment later, he was met with a radiant smile.

"I would like that sometime in the future, too," she said softly, running her fingers across his slightly scruffy cheek.

"Good."

/

"What?" Deeks had been staring at him like he had grown a second head for the past ten minutes. And while ignoring Deeks had become something he prided himself at being quite accomplished at, he man's staring was perplexing.

"You're...I don't know, chipper?" he man said, half as a question, half in disbelief.

"I can't be chipper?" Callen deadpanned, turning on his perfected stare, fully aware of the 180 in his tone and behavior since he walked into the OPS center.

"No, no! It's just that, you know, you are normally not...chipper...given the work we do, and well, you know, you um, uh," he stammered.

"Stop talking, Deeks," Sam ordered from his desk, his eyes not lifting from the morning's paper. Kensi chucked across the room as Deeks' mouth clamped shut.

Eric's shrill whistle cut through the OPS center, and the four agents filed upstairs to begin their next case, Kensi and Deeks bantering about something irrelevant.

"Nice night?" Sam asked in a disinterested tone (a total facade, Callen knew), as they followed the other partners. Callen couldn't help but smile.

"Nice night," he confirmed.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Hetty said upon their immediate entrance to the tech room.

"The Chameleon has returned."

A/N~ I know, that was a horrible way to end the chapter; giving you all a major cliff hanger after such a long wait! You may bash me all you'd like to in your reviews. The good news though is that I have most of the next chapter already written, so that will be up shortly (I don't want to put up an exact date on that, since I'm usually late)! I am going to try to fit the next few chapters into the actual season finale with my own twists and interpretations on what I think might happen next season.

And I know I shouldn't be asking this after it took me FOUR MONTHS (! I am SO sorry!) to put this chapter up, but your reviews are much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

~fanatic218