Bright and early Saturday morning, with Mary asleep between them, Callen and Katy pulled themselves out of bed and woke Reggie. Together, the three got the kids dressed and into the minivan they'd rented, all without their morning cup of coffee. Callen did stop at the Seven-Eleven around the corner for coffee before hitting the five towards Anaheim. They pulled up to the park's hotel at eight, with the kids still asleep in the back seat, Callen and Katy ran in to check in. When they came back out, they carried the three kids up to the room to let them sleep for another hour or so before changing the girls into their princess costumes and heading down to have breakfast with the Disney characters.
Sam, Michelle, their kids, Kensi, Deeks, Nell and Eric all waited for them outside the restaurant. Sam admitted he was disappointed so see that Katy and Callen weren't dressed up. They went in and waited to be seated. The mouse himself seated them and took their drink orders. All of the kids ordered chocolate milk while the adults ordered coffee. When the drinks were delivered, the chocolate milk came if souvenir cups with the trademark ears. The kids had a blast everywhere they looked there was a princess or mouse or duck or cowboy or space ranger. Disappointed as they got up to leave, the kids thought they were only there for breakfast until they walked over to the Monorail and rode it over to the park.
From that moment on, the day was a blur. They tried to circle around the park, but the kids wound up pulling them in one direction and then the other, zigzagging their way through the park. Finally around two, the kids lost steam and the adults were allowed a few minutes to rest. Callen and Katy were sitting on the grass together when Mary walked over and sat between them. Next thing they knew, she was passed out, her head on Callen and her legs on Katy.
Sam nudged Michelle, calling her attention to Katy and Callen who stared adoringly down at the little girl and knew it wouldn't be long before they announced that they were pregnant. Reggie and the rest of the adults stood together; watching and agreed with Sam and Michelle's estimation. Callen and Katy laid back in the shade and pulled Mary between them and smiled at one another when they weren't watching her sleep, oblivious to the others.
When Mary and the others woke up an hour later, they were all raring to go again and drug the adults through another part of the park before they stopped for dinner and waited for the fireworks show. They were seated in a cute little courtyard, the adults sitting around while the kids ran around and played. Michelle started the conversation.
"So we all saw you two looking at Mary while she slept, when can we expect an announcement from you about Katy being pregnant?" she asked innocently.
Callen had his arm around Katy, "Well, after the rest of Katy's brothers and sisters found out we got married, no one's really interested in coming to the wedding and we really haven't been able to do too much of the wedding planning, so we've decided to only have the reception somewhere down here. With the money that we're saving by not having a wedding, we're looking for contractors to do some renovations to the house. Add a bedroom or two and make the kitchen a little larger."
"I'm sorry." Michelle said sympathetically.
"It's alright; they've all agreed to fly to LA for the reception." Katy told them.
"So how many rooms are you looking to add?" Sam asked. "You've already got three bedrooms."
"No, it's only a two bedroom." Katy said, confused.
"Actually honey it's a three bedroom house. You know the door between the kitchen and our bedroom, that's the third bedroom. It's not a very big room, but it's a room. Where do you think we're planning on getting the extra room for the kitchen and the master bath?"
Katy laughed, "This whole time I thought it was a closet."
Callen patted her leg. "No honey it's a bedroom."
"So what did you want to do to the kitchen?" Michelle asked.
"Make it big enough for the two of us to be in at the same time." Katy laughed.
"Yeah, I noticed New Years Eve that it's a little cramped in there." Michelle laughed.
"I would like to open up one of the walls, make it wider, and add an island." Katy said.
"How long do you think the work will take?" Kensi asked.
"I'm hoping to have it done by December if not shortly thereafter." Callen said. "We'd like to start trying to get pregnant shortly after the reception."
Mary wandered over and crawled up into Katy's lap, with her thumb in her mouth and playing with her ear. Callen looked down at her and pulled her thumb out of her mouth, causing her to squeal. Immediately, Mary put her thumb back in her mouth. Katy pushed his hand away when he tried it again. "Are you going to let Uncle Callen take your thumb away?" Katy asked.
The little girl shook her head and pulled Callen's elbow off of his knee. He acted like he fell forward and Mary giggled uncontrollably. She went from Katy's lap to Callen's and gave him a hug. Callen looked at peace with Mary in his arms.
"I honestly don't think you guys are going to make it that long." Michelle said. "Looking at the two of you with Mary, you both want a baby so badly."
Katy was nearly brought to tears, she knew they did, but seeing him with Mary made the want to give him a child even worse. "It will happen when it happens." She said choking back the tears.
"I didn't mean to make you cry, Katy." Michelle said.
"It's not you. I do want a baby so bad, but I know now's not the right time." She said leaning into Callen. He whispered something in Mary's ear and she immediately hopped into Katy's arms and gave her a huge five-year-old squeeze. "Thank you Mary, how did you know I needed that?"
"Uncle Callen told me to." She said in a timid, playful voice. Callen wrapped his arm around Katy and kissed her temple. She said silent the rest of the time that they waited until the fireworks started, holding tight to Mary.
Forty-five minutes later they were herded to the front of the park and directed to their various destinations. Kensi, Deeks, Nell and Eric headed home while Sam, Michelle and their kids joined them at the hotel. Once the kids were in bed, Callen and Katy went to their room to change.
"Hey, are you okay?" Callen asked noticing she'd been withdrawn the last hour or so.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's the whole baby thing."
"Like you said it will happen when it happens." He told her.
"What if it doesn't and we make all the renovations to the house for nothing?" she said with tears in her eyes.
"Honey, you've got to have faith that it will happen. Relax, enjoy the time we have together before we put kids in the middle of it. You've seen how hard it was for Reggie to travel and you've heard Sam's horror stories. We can travel without worrying whether or not we have everything we need for the kids. We can go away for work without worrying about who is going to look after the baby while we're gone." He said, pulling her to the bed next to him. "Look, I really want a baby too. I want him or her to have your eyes and blonde hair and your nose."
Katy smiled. "I'd rather the baby has your eyes, they're prettier than mine."
"Let's take things one day at a time. I love you." He said.
"I love you too Honey." She said and kissed him.
Reggie knocked on the door. "Come on in." Callen said.
"Hey, why don't you two go out for a while, get a drink or something? I'm fine here with the kids." He suggested.
"No, I'm actually pretty tired. Thank you for the offer, though." Katy smiled.
"Callen?" he asked.
"No, but if you'd like to go out, by all means." Callen offered.
"Nope, I'm good. I'm actually waiting for a phone call." He smiled. "Katy, it will happen when you least expect it."
Katy smiled. "Phone call, from whom?"
"No one in particular, just your sister." He smiled.
"Ah, you and Ana getting pretty close?" She asked.
"Maybe." He said and left it at that.
The following day was more of the same, instead of Kensi, Deeks, Nell and Eric to help with the kids; it was just Sam, Michelle, Callen, Katy and Reggie. They headed over to California Adventure after breakfast and had an absolute blast. The kids in particular loved the Cars area and insisted on riding the speedway ride over and over and over. By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and moody. They stopped for one last round of photos at the main entrance and headed out to their cars. Reggie, Callen and Katy were so thankful for the complete silence in the van on the way home. After standing in the sun for hours upon hours, they all had raging headaches. They brought the three kids into the house and laid them down in the guest room and went to bed themselves.
Monday morning came all too quick, with sunburns and dehydration headaches, Callen, Katy and Sam still managed to smile when they walked into the office. Right after they got a cup of coffee, they pounded gallon after gallon of water and handful after handful of pain killers. Fortunately it was a quiet day, where they sat around and finished their reports. By five, their headaches had faded. Callen and Katy were going home to an empty house, but promised the kids a phone call that evening.
They lamented about how much they were going to miss the kids, especially Mary on the way home from work. It was quiet when they walked in the house, too quiet. Callen immediately turned on the TV for background noise. Neither of them had the energy to make dinner, so they exerted as little energy as possible and ordered in while they lounged on the couch. When it arrived, they pulled one another off the couch to answer the door instead of having to play rock, paper, scissors. With dinner in hand, along with plastic flatware, they sat on the couch eating. By ten o'clock, they pulled one another off the couch once again and went to bed.
Within three weeks, Callen and Katy had contacted a contractor, architect and designer. With the filing for permits, the renovation was due to begin in mid-July. When it did, everything in the house was covered in a fine layer of dust, no matter how long something had been sitting on the counter, a shelf or in a bookcase, within minutes it was covered in dust. Katy began having respiratory problems and other problems with her allergies, so they set out to rent a one bedroom apartment until the bulk of the demolition, framing and drywall was done. Whenever they visited the warzone as they so affectionately called it, Katy had been ordered by her doctor to wear a mask with built-in respirator.
By mid-August, the extra rooms were framed and in the process of having the outer layer of stucco put on, inside the house, the kitchen was finally beginning to look like just that. Since they had torn down a wall to make the kitchen larger and more open to the living room and dining room, a new bulkhead beam had to be installed. Since the sink was now going to be against the outside wall, the plumbing had to be moved, which meant the sub-floor had to be pulled up. It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, when the subfloor was pulled; the contractors found evidence of water damage and highly suggested reinforcing the planks under the floor. In turn, it would also make it easier to level the floor for the ceramic tile they'd chosen.
Their room and in suite bath was coming along nicely. Callen had insisted on a very large tub with a stand-alone shower. Knowing how much Katy enjoyed her baths, even offered up some of the closet space to make sure a tub that was installed was big enough for the both of them. She loved the idea and made sure that his old room was left intact and would become his office or man cave, whichever he chose. It was exhausting running from the apartment to the house and to the office constantly. Something would come up at the house and one or the both of them would have to go over at lunch to solve whatever problem had been created.
By September, they were dragging and if they'd been asked if they'd do it again, both of them would've said no. Fortunately, the cases that they took at work weren't demanding on them physically. They were more a matter of figuring out who did what, when, where and why; it was more brain power than brawn. The team was headed down stair from a final briefing when Katy missed a step and fell down six or more steps. Callen immediately ran her to the Emergency room. It wasn't a long wait and she was being seen by the triage nurse within ten minutes of their arrival. Fortunately, she complained of no aches or pains.
Thirty minutes after she'd been taken in the back, the doctor walked in. "Good afternoon Mrs. Callen, Mr. Callen." He said. "Well, it seems like you're okay physically. I wouldn't be surprised if you are sore tomorrow. Things like this are usually worse the second day. I do want to check your ears, have you been sick recently?" he asked.
"No not really, we're having some renovations done to our house and my regular physician suggested I wear a mask and respirator to the job site." She told him.
"Alright, are you having allergy symptoms or just the breathing problems?" he asked, reaching over to the wall for the ear scope.
"I feel like my nose is always congested, it doesn't matter what kind of allergy medication I take or how frequently I take it, I'm still stuffed up." She told him.
"Let's check your ears. Can you remember losing your balance?" he asked looking into her left ear first, then the right. "Alright, it looks like you've got an ear infection. That very well could explain how you fell."
"Wow, okay. My ears don't even hurt." She said shrugging and looking over at Callen.
"We probably caught it just in time. Now, I'm going to give you an antibiotic, and give you a day or two off work. With a spill like the one you took, I can guarantee you're going to need it." He told her.
With the prescription written and Katy's discharge papers in hand, they walked out of the ER headed over to the drug store before going back to the Mission and then to the apartment. Katy walked into the Mission with Callen; everyone had already gone home for the day. Hetty was sitting at her desk on the phone; she looked up and waved for them to sit down. Setting the receiver in the cradle, she looked up at them.
"How are you feeling?" she asked with a slight smile.
"I have an ear infection; the doctor that combined with fatigue caused me to fall." Katy told her as Callen handed her the discharge papers.
Hetty read them over and looked up at her. "Alright, I don't want to see you in the office until Monday. You rest up; stay away from the other house. Come back well rested."
"You're really making me stay home?" Katy asked with a laugh.
"Doctors orders." She smiled and waved the aftercare orders at her. "Have you already picked up your prescription?"
"We dropped off the written prescription at the pharmacy and will pick it up on the way home." Callen told her.
"Very well, home with you both. Mr. Callen I will see you in the morning. Mrs. Callen, I'll see you Monday. I'll call you tomorrow to see how you're feeling." Hetty said and stood collecting her things to leave.
"Alright Hetty, have a good night." Katy said as they walked out of her office.
On the way home, they picked up Katy's prescription and dinner. Once they got home, Callen sat her on the couch and didn't let her get up until they went to bed. When he woke up the next morning to get ready for work, Katy was nearly in tears and could barely move, not to mention her ears had started hurting. He truly hated to leave her feeling like this and knew she wasn't going to stay in bed, but he had to go to work. So he gave her one of the pain killers the doctor prescribed, an antibiotic with a cup of coffee. He handed her the remote, set a loaf of bread and the jar of peanut butter on the nightstand and told her he'd be back at lunch to check on her.
When he walked into the bullpen a few minutes later than normal; Sam, Kensi and Deeks were already there. "How's Katy?" Kensi asked.
"She woke up so sore this morning. The ear infection finally got bad enough that her ears were hurting too. I gave her a pain pill and her antibiotic before I left. Hopefully she doesn't try to get up and move around."
"She's got an ear infection?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, the doctor thinks it may have been from the dust and the mold we found at the house when they opened up the walls and pulled up the floor." Callen told them.
"Damn, I didn't know she had allergy problems." Sam said shaking his head.
"Neither did she." Callen said sitting down. "I'm going to go check on her at lunch."
The morning passed slowly, Katy watched the morning news and Good Morning America before the pain pill kicked in and she passed out, only waking when Callen kissed her when he came home to check on her at lunch. She clearly hadn't gotten out of bed and he was thankful. He helped her out of bed and into the bathroom since she felt as if her bladder was going to explode. When she came out of the bathroom, she went right back to bed. Callen had stopped by their favorite Chinese food restaurant and gotten lunch, so they sat on the bed eating. Before he got ready to leave, he gave her another pain pill.
When he got back into work, Hetty stopped him and asked how Katy was feeling. He told her how poorly she was feeling and she told him to go home and that she'd see him on Monday when Katy came back in. He let the others know and headed home. Katy was asleep again when he walked in, so he changed into a pair of shorts and crawled into bed next to her. She woke up when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, wrenching her back. He felt horrible as she yelled out in pain.
"I'm sorry; I just wanted to cuddle with you. I didn't think I'd hurt you." He said.
"It's alright. What are you doing home so early?" She asked still in a medication induced haze.
"Hetty stopped me when I went back in to the office and asked how you were feeling. When I told her you couldn't even walk to the bathroom on your own, she told me to come home to take care of you." He said with a smile.
Katy smiled with her eyes at half-mast nearly asleep again. "Ok, that was nice of her."
He got up at five thirty to make dinner and woke her when it was ready, helped her sit up and sat the plate on her lap. She laughed when she looked at what he'd made.
"Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese?" she said.
"Hey, it was one of my favorite meals when I was a kid." He laughed back.
"It was one of mine too. I never made it because I didn't know if you'd scoff at it." She said taking a bite and smiling.
"You can make it anytime you want. I could eat it every night. Add some tuna, bacon or ground beef and we're in business. Not all at once, though." He smiled.
"I will remember that." She said.
After dinner, Callen gave Katy another antibiotic and they cuddled while watching TV. The next morning, Katy didn't hurt quite as bad. She could at least get herself out of bed and walk around. They sat in the living room going over the plans for the house after the designer called asking for their paint colors. They chose the same coffee colored paint that they'd had in the bedroom for their room and the master bath. For the kitchen, they sat looking at the paint chips and the tile for the floor and back splash and the granite sample for the counters for an hour. They still couldn't agree on a color. Frustrated, they sat it aside and watched a movie. By the end of the movie, they'd picked a color similar to the color in the bedroom, only a few shades lighter. For the back two bedrooms, they opted to leave them white so they could decide on a color at a later time.
Later that afternoon, they called around to various venues for the reception there in the LA area and found a few that they would go look at that weekend depending on how Katy was feeling. The rest of the night, they spent cuddled in bed watching movie after movie. They'd gotten three quarters of the way through the fourth Star Wars movie before Callen looked over at Katy and found her sound asleep, so he crept out of bed, turned off the blue ray player, the lights and locked the door.
Katy was up and out of bed before Callen woke the next morning. Still sore, but manageable with over Tylenol or Ibuprofen, she was in the kitchen making breakfast when he walked in. She poured him a cup of coffee, added cream and sugar to his liking and handed it to him. He smiled and kissed her, happy to see her up and around again. He walked over to the plate on the counter with a healthy pile of bacon on it and stole a few sliced before running out of the kitchen. She yelled at him, of course and told him that was coming out of his half of the bacon she was making. After she'd finished the eggs, they sat at the bar eating breakfast talking about their plans for the day.
No sooner had they sat down to eat and there was a knock at the door. Katy ran to the bedroom for her robe while Callen answered the door. "Hey Kensi, Deeks what are you guys up to?"
"Oh we just wanted to check up on Katy, to see how she's feeling." Kensi said as she stepped into the apartment.
"She's up and around more today, actually made breakfast for us this morning." He said. "Hey Katy, its Kensi and Deeks."
Katy walked out of the bedroom with a thin satin floral printed robe tied around her waist. "Good morning you guys, how are you?"
"We're good, happy to see you up and around. From what Callen said on Thursday morning, it sounded like you felt pretty bad." Deeks told her.
"Yeah, I really felt like I got run over by an eighteen wheeler." She laughed and poured them a cup of coffee.
"So what are you two up to today?" Kensi asked taking the cup of coffee.
"We were actually going to start looking at venues for the reception. We've got a couple appointments to go look at a few of the places, you guys want to join us?" Callen asked.
"Sure, we've got nothing else to do. We'll take you guys out to lunch or dinner afterwards too." Deeks said.
"Well, thank you Marty but you don't need to do that." Katy smiled handing him a cup of coffee.
"We want to." He smiled taking a sip.
A couple hours later, the four walked into the grand ball room at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. While it was nice and ornately decorated, it didn't compare to the Fairmont. After visiting three more hotels in the area, they still hadn't found anything they liked. At dinner, they talked about the placed they'd been to.
"They're all nice, but none of them offered the views the Crown Room at the Fairmont." Callen said.
"I know I don't know what we're going to do. Maybe we should try for one of the hotels in San Diego or one down by the coast." Katy suggested.
"It sounds to me like you two have your hearts set on the Fairmont in San Francisco." Kensi pointed out.
"Yeah, but we wanted to stay around here just in case the house wasn't finished." Katy said.
Kensi shook her head. "Marty and I can put out any fires at the house while you guys are away on your honeymoon."
"Honeymoon, we haven't even planned a honeymoon." Callen said.
"What, you guys aren't going to take a honeymoon?" Deeks asked.
"At this point, I don't see the need." Katy said sipping her glass of wine.
"No, you guys need to take a honeymoon." Kensi insisted. "Even if we have to book a room for you at a hotel somewhere, you guys are getting away for a few days."
"We've got so much going on with the house right now; we're at least a month behind schedule and ten thousand dollars over budget. We don't have the money. We're pushing it with the reception as it is. Honey, maybe we should cancel the reception." Katy said.
"No, you're not cancelling the reception." Deeks said. "Didn't Hetty say she'd help you pay for everything?"
"She did, but that was before we ran off and got married." Katy told them.
"I'm sure the offer is still out there." Kensi said.
"Katy and I will talk about it more and talk to Hetty if we decide on the reception." Callen said, ending the discussion.
After dinner, Kensi and Deeks headed back to his place while Callen and Katy stopped by the house. It had been almost a week since they'd been by and were shocked by the progress. All of the rooms had been painted, the fixtures in the bathroom were installed and waiting for the final tile work. The floors and cabinets were installed in the kitchen and the only things that needed to be done was the countertops installed, the backsplash put up and the lighting fixtures installed. It looked like for once, something was going their way. Since they'd moved the entrance to the master bedroom to the back of the house and took down the wall between the living room and the hallway, it added another four or five feet to the living room.
They walked through the kitchen into the new hallway for the back bedrooms. Callen opened to door to the first of the new rooms and stepped in. They smiled, the room was completed. Trim work was up and painted, the closet doors had been installed. It was the same with the other two bedrooms. They walked back through the kitchen to Callen's old room and found it untouched like promised. It was dusty and needed a good cleaning, but it was like they'd left it.
The following morning, they got a call from the contractor letting them know that the countertops and the remaining tile work in the house would be completed within the next week. Once that was done and the house given a thorough cleaning, it would be ready for them to move back in. That day, they went from one furniture store to the other looking for couches, a new dining room table, barstools for the island, furniture for the guest room and furniture for Callen's office. It took them a few hours, but by the time they got back to the apartment, they had everything they needed.
They excitedly returned to the Mission Monday morning and announced that Thanksgiving would be at their house and everyone was invited. Sam, Kensi and Deeks offered to help move their stuff form storage back into the house. Callen and Katy gladly accepted the help. They would donate the old couch to make room for the new ones that were scheduled to be delivered that weekend. The house was ready Thursday afternoon, Callen and Katy went over right after work for the final walk through. Elated, they went to the apartment with a rental truck and cleared it out, having already given their notice to vacate. Kensi and Deeks helped them bring everything into the house and set it up in the master bedroom.
"I can't believe we're back in the house already. The last time we talked to the contractor, we were a month behind." Katy said as they were getting in bed.
"I know I hope they didn't cut any corners finishing everything." Callen said getting into the bed next to her.
"Well, everything passed the inspections we have the copies if the inspectors notes and the approvals. We can call them to make sure." She said.
"Later, I'm just going to enjoy our first night back in the house." He said pulling her down in the bed, kissing her.
"So we're going to christen the room?" Katy laughed.
"This room tonight and the rest of the rooms later." He said with a sexy grin.
"I like the way you think. Finally we can see how far over budget we are and figure out if we can still have the reception." Katy said.
"One thing at a time." Callen said training kissed down her neck.
At eight the next morning, Kensi, Deeks, Sam and Michelle; along with their kids; showed up. While the Michelle, Kensi, Katy and the kids stayed at the house, the guys headed out to get the rental truck and the stuff from storage. The girls unpacked the boxes that were stored in Callen's office and stacked everything for the kitchen on the island. The kids were out back playing when the new furniture arrived. Katy and Callen hadn't planned on how they were going to get the furniture into the back rooms, so what wouldn't fit through the front door had to be brought in through the back door and maneuvered carefully into the rooms.
By five that night, the house was completely unpacked and everything was in its place. They all sat around the living room relaxing when Hetty came over. Callen and Katy showed her through the house, she smiled and nodded her approval and took the group out for pizza. While out to dinner, the subject of the reception came up again. They told Hetty that they had yet to find a place that they liked as much as the Crown Room at the Fairmont and that they needed to revise the budget after the renovations. Once again, Hetty offered her assistance. They told her that they would look things over and let her know.
With two months left before the occasion, they honestly didn't think they would get the room they wanted. Not to mention they hadn't sent any announcements or invitations out. It looked like the best thing to do was cancel the entire thing. Hetty however had other plans. She'd been in contact with her friend in San Francisco months ago and retained the Crown Room at the Fairmont. Before Callen and Katy went to Vegas, they'd picked a menu and she passed that to her friend as well. The only thing left to do was make arrangements for Katy's brothers and sisters. The entire team had a task to do in the planning of the reception. Reggie and Ana had been asked to play a role in it as well.
With things calm at home, work picked up. It seemed they were out of town dealing with cases more than they were home. No sooner would they finish one case and start the after action reports and they'd get another. It felt like they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. As Thanksgiving approached, things calmed down to one or two cases a week. The week of Thanksgiving, they were able to finish up their reports and cook. Everyone planned on bringing a dish while Katy and Callen made the turkey and some of the desserts.
Everyone arrived and they sat down to eat at four. The kids ran around playing while the adult talked after dinner. It was a very nice, relaxing day. At their leisure, dessert was set out and a pot of coffee was made. Katy got a slice of pie topped with whipped cream for each of the kids and they sat at the bar eating it before they ran off to play in the back rooms again. The adults stood or sat between the kitchen and dining room talking and sipping on coffee, getting dessert when they wanted. Hetty dropped by around seven with a bottle of liquor and the adults poured a little in their coffee as they sat and talked at the table.
Katy wandered back to check on the kids at nine when they didn't hear any noise and found them lying on the bed asleep. Not wanting to wake them, she turned down the TV, dimmed the light and pulled the door. By ten o'clock, everyone was heading out the door. Callen and Katy offered for Michelle and Sam to stay since they had the guest rooms set up and the kids were already asleep. The four of them talked in the kitchen as they cleaned up after dinner, then headed to bed.
Friday afternoon, Callen dug out the Christmas decorations and; like a child; begged to go get a tree. Without arguments from Katy, they headed out to get a tree and look for more decorations for the house. After running from this store to that and back again, they exhausted by the time they returned home, so they put the decorating off for the weekend. Callen ordered in Chinese food and sat on the couch watching a Christmas movie. When the movie was over at eight, neither could contain their excitement. Callen drug the tree in the house while Katy set up the holder and they stayed up all night decorating the tree.
Katy woke the next morning with Callen wrapped around her and smiled. She was truly happy, everything was right with them and there were no storm clouds in sight. Life together, while it would be challenging with the demands of their work, would be so good. They had nothing but good things to look forward to in the future. They were just shy of a month from actively trying to add to the family and the thought of bringing a child into their lives excited her. So many times while they were waiting for the house to be finished did they sit and talk about what life would be like with a baby and or toddler wandering around. Neither could wait.
Katy rolled over and looked at Callen peacefully asleep and leaned in to kiss him. Once her lips touched his, he pressed his body to hers and kissed her deeply. His hands were already working at getting her pajamas off, while she worked to get his. Within minutes, they were deep in the throes of passion, making love. It was utter perfection, leaving both of them trembling afterwards. Once their hearts slowed and their breaths were caught, they laid there in one another's arms until the mood struck them again. By early afternoon, they'd fallen asleep, woke and only dressed long enough to run out to get something for dinner. With food in hand, they undressed and got back into bed, watched a movie while they ate. Tossing the food containers on their nightstands, they had sex again that night.
"What are you two so happy about?" Sam asked as they walked into the office fashionable late.
"Nothing," Katy smiled. "We just had a really nice weekend."
Callen looked around and pulled Katy too him; still frisky from their early morning encounter. "Yes, we had a very good weekend." He said kissing her.
"I don't think you need to share anymore than that with us." Deeks laughed and looked at Kensi.
"Couldn't you guys get that out of your systems before you come to work?" Kensi laughed.
"Oh believe me." Callen said looking up from Katy's eyes. "We tried."
Sam shook his head and smiled. "Alright you two break it up before I have to go home to see Michelle at lunch."
"Sorry." Katy said biting her lip, wanting to kiss Callen and carry-on more.
"It's alright." Sam said laughing.
"So aside from the obvious, what did you guys do this weekend?" Kensi asked.
"We decorated the house for Christmas." Callen smiled.
"Wow, already? Thanksgiving was a few days ago." Deeks said.
"We want to enjoy it as long as possible." Katy said walking to the kitchenette to get a cup of coffee.
By ten, Eric was calling them up to Ops. Nell began as soon as they were all present. "This is NCIS Agent Jacqueline Rogers from one of our offices in Europe. She missed a meeting with her handler and it's suspected that her cover was blown, Director Vance wants our assistance in getting her back."
"What was she working?" Callen asked.
"She had gone undercover as the daughter of a French arms dealer. The daughter was sent to a boarding school at a very young age, Jacques Balesterie hadn't seen his daughter in nearly twenty years, so he had no clue what she looked like, making it easy for Agent Rogers to go in and assume her identity." Nell said.
"How long had she been undercover and where's the real Balesterie girl?" Katy asked.
"Raquel Balesterie was arrested entering the US on drug possession charges." She told them.
"Seriously, or was it made to look that way?" Kensi asked.
"No, she was arrested with over a pound of Opium in her suitcase when she flew in to LAX three months ago. That is when Deputy Director Granger sent Special Agent Rogers in to pose as the Balesterie daughter." She told them.
"Wonderful, Granger's her handler." Sam whispered under his breath.
"Yes Special Agent Hanna, is there a problem with that?" Granger said from behind them.
All of the agents muttered an explanative under their breaths and turned to face him. "No Sir that isn't a problem." Sam said, forcing a smile.
"Good, Ms. Jones may I?" Granger asked with a stern look about him.
"Yes Sir." Nell said and backed away.
"Special Agent Rogers was due to meet with me a week ago. This isn't the first time she's failed to contact me. Jacques Balesterie has a tight rein on everything that happens in his life, almost to the point of being neurotic or obsessive compulsive. When I spoke to Rogers last, she told me that Balesterie had her locked on the compound for a week while he was out of the country on a business trip. During that period of time, her movements and phone privileges were closely monitored. Raquel is being brought to the boatshed, Special Agents Blye and Levin; I want you two to talk to her. You two will go in after Special Agent Rogers as two of Raquel's friends from school." He told them.
The rest of the conversation went swiftly as he told the rest of the team how he wanted the Op to go. An hour later, Kensi and Katy were headed to the boatshed to talk to Raquel Balesterie. Callen, Deeks and Sam were left in Ops to hash out the fine details with Granger and Hetty.
When the girls walked into the boatshed, the two agents that accompanied Raquel from the safe house stepped out. "Good morning Raquel, I'm Special Agent Blye; this is Special Agent Callen we'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Not a problem, whatever you need. As long as Jackie gets out safely." The brunette said.
"How do you know Jackie?" Katy asked.
"Jackie spent a month with me learning my mannerisms, speech pattern and accent; or what's left of it." She told them.
"You're willingly working with Deputy Director Granger on this matter?" Kensi asked.
"Yes as part of my plea bargain for the trafficking charge, I agreed to give up my dealer and help take down my father." She said.
Kensi smiled. "Alright, when was the last time you saw your father?"
"I was five. My mother had left France for the US to visit with her family. I was supposed to start school that month, so instead of sending me to one of the French schools, he sent me to the boarding school in New Hampshire. Mother was furious with him and would visit me any chance he would allow her to." She said.
"And how often was that?" Katy asked.
"At least once a month, Mother would stay for a couple weeks. Take me out of school with a tutor and we'd travel to New York or here to LA. That lasted about twelve years, until Mother passed away." She told them, looking at the table.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you mother die?" Kensi asked.
"Cancer, breast cancer to be exact, by the time they caught it, it was too advanced for treatment. She had a radical mastectomy done, but it was too late. She was gone within six months. Father never once came to see her." She said with bitterness to her voice.
"Your mother was with you here in the US when she died?" Katy asked.
"Yes, Father would send money for her care, but he was too involved with his weapons deals and the liaisons with his whores to come see her." She said.
"Deputy Granger mentioned something about your friends from school. What can you tell us about them?" Kensi asked.
The girls scowl quickly turned to a bright smile at the thought of her friends. "That would be Sophie and Marcia. We were definitely the three musketeers in school. We all met at the boarding school when we were five, we were roommates until we graduated, then went to the same university afterwards." She said.
Kensi smiled. "It must have been nice to have someone like that when you were growing up. I can only imagine how lonely you must've been."
"Yes, very lonely, but the girls made it so much easier. Their parents made sure that they always sent something extra for me when they sent care packages. They truly were more of a family to me than my father. Sophie's parents are both surgeons, had her late in life after they were established in their careers. Not wanting to be bogged down my raising a child, they sent her to the boarding school. They visited her on a fairly regular basis when their schedules would allow. They retired in the early nineties and died within a year of one another in two thousand one and two thousand two. Sophie married a lawyer and lives in Atlanta." She said.
"What about Marcia?" Kensi asked.
"Marcia's parent's were filthy rich and flaunted every bit of it. It was old money from Europe. They were killed in an auto accident when we were ten. No one else in her family wanted to take her in, so she became a ward of the school's head mistress. When she graduated, she inherited millions of dollars. She's the only millionaire I know who spends more of her money on charities than on herself. She still drives her old piece of junk car that she bought in college. Shops at the cheapest of stores." She laughed.
"Sounds like a very down to earth couple of girls." Kensi said with a smile.
"They were. Mr. Granger was dead on with the two of you. You remind me so much of them. Are you two good friends?" she asked.
Katy and Kensi looked at one another. "We are. Kensi was supposed to be my maid of honor when I got married, but my fiancé and I ran off to Vegas."
"Oh, that sounds so much like something Sophie would do." She laughed.
"What are these women doing now?" Kensi asked.
"Both of them have been contacted. Sophie is a housewife. Jason makes more than enough money for her to stay at home or shop to her heart's content. Marcia works for one of the publishing houses in New York. She's a brunette just like you, Special agent Blye." She said pulling a picture of the three of them from Sophie's wedding.
"My goodness, we are dead ringers for these girls, aren't we?" Katy asked. "Your father has never met either of them?"
"No, I've written about them on many occasions, but I've never sent photos of them. He wouldn't ever know the difference." She told them.
Just then, Granger and the rest of the team arrived. Granger introduced Raquel to the rest of the team. "This is Special Agent Callen, Special Agent Hanna and Detective Deeks; LAPD." He said.
"Callen, but wait, I thought you were Special Agent Callen." Raquel said a little confused. "Oh, he's your husband?"
Granger gave both Katy and Callen a hard look. Katy smiled and gave a quick nod. They sat and discussed the plan that Granger and the other had come up with and the girls shared the information Raquel had shared with them. Granger pulled Katy and Callen off to one side.
"You two got married?" he asked.
"Yes sir, we did." Callen told him.
"Does Henrietta know?" He asked.
"Yes she does." Katy told him.
"I'm sorry for calling you by Levin instead of Callen. I didn't know. Does Director Vance know?" he asked almost embarrassed.
Katy smiled. "I believe he does, Sir."
"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me? How long ago?"
"In June." Katy answered.
"Alright well, congratulations. Since Sophie is married, I want you to go in with Special Agent Blye and Special Agent Callen." They walked back to the group sitting around the table. "Alright, a slight change in plans, Special Agent Callen going in with Special Agents Blye and Levin-Callen posing as Sophie's husband."
They all nodded. "So Deeks and I will provide back up and assistance when it comes time for the extraction?" Sam asked.
"Yes Special Agent Hanna." Granger said. "Raquel, where do you think your father is the house in France or the house here in LA?"
"I don't know have you tried calling Jackie again?" She asked.
Granger scrolled through the contacts and handed the phone to Katy. "You're Sophie. Find out where they are let her know we're headed in."
Katy walked away from the group and held the phone to her ear. After three rings, Special Agent Rogers picked it up. "Hi Raquel, its Sophie. How are you?"
"Oh Sophie, it's so good to hear from you. I'm doing well. Father and I were just sitting here looking out over the city; you know I love it here in LA." She said.
"Well Jason, Marcia and I are going to be in town and we were wondering if it would be alright if we stopped by for a visit. It's been a few month since we've seen you." Katy said.
"Of course, I'd love to see you guys. Let me give you the address." She said and quickly gave her the address. "I've got to get going, when do you think you'll be here so I can have a couple rooms made up for you?"
Katy looked at Granger; he mouthed tomorrow. "Tomorrow, we'll fly in from Atlanta tomorrow."
"Very well, I can't wait to see you." She said and hung up.
"Do you think she didn't meet you because they were traveling to the house here in LA?" Raquel asked.
"Quite possibly." Granger said. "Is there anything else we should know before I send my agents in there?"
"I can't think of anything, like I said before I haven't seen my father since I was five." She said.
"Do you know if your mother ever sent pictures back to your father?" Katy asked. "I'm worried that if he knows Special Agent Rogers isn't you that we'll be made as soon as we set foot in the door."
"I doubt Mother showed him any pictures. I think you'll be safe." She said with a warm smile, trying to ease Katy's apprehension.
"Alright, back to the office. When you get there tomorrow, I want eyes in that house. I want to know everything that's going on in there. I want you all wearing button cams and your earwigs at all times." Granger said before walking out of the boat shed with his phone to his ear.
"Raquel, thank you. If you think of anything, call the office and they'll get word to us." Callen said before he followed Katy and Kensi out of the building. "You two think you've got enough on the two women?"
"When we get to the office, I want Nell to run backgrounds on both of them, there's something about Raquel I just don't trust." Katy said as they got in the car.
"You got that feeling too?" Kensi asked.
"That just means we can't let our guards down for a second while we're in there." Callen said as the turned over the engine and pulled out of the parking space.
"How long are we going in for? Is this a quick in, grab Rogers and back out, or are we going to have to sit and play nice with her Daddy for a while?" Katy asked Callen.
"We're going to have to play it by ear." He said shaking his head. "This doesn't feel right. We either don't have all information or it's a set up."
"It's Granger." Kensi and Katy said at the same time and then laughed.
"You've got that right." Callen laughed. "Nothing ever feels right when he's involved."