Kensi sat reclined back some in her desk chair with her right hand casually flipping through past reports that she was meant to be sorting and her left hand lightly caressing a modest bump at her waist line. She knew she was smiling like an idiot, but she couldn't bring herself to care because their baby was currently practicing their ninja moves in utero on just about any organ that could be reached. Admittedly it was sometimes uncomfortable, but mostly she just marveled at how strong and yet uncoordinated this baby was. Clearly they were their father's child. A much wider grin spread across her face as she remembered when Deeks found out.
They had been shopping for kids' clothing now that the three kids they already had were quickly growing out of their current wardrobe. The cart they had was already half filled with a variety of clothing for each child and they were in the toddler section eyeing bathing suits for Isla. Kensi couldn't help herself when she saw the tiniest pair of bright blue board shorts she'd ever seen and she took them off the rack to get a closer look. Moisture built in her eyes at the thought of their baby wearing something this small and cute and she bit down hard on her lower lip to curb the urge to begin openly crying.
"Kens, those are too small," Deeks commented at the shorts she was holding up. "And we already got new trunks for Elijah and Will."
Kensi nodded mutely, but put the shorts in the cart anyway. "We'll need them in the next nine months or so though."
"Kensi, didn't you – " He stopped talking midsentence and froze. "What'd you say?"
"We're gonna have a baby that will need these shorts," Kensi's grin was contagious as her eyes welled up further with tears that threatened to spill.
Deeks choked on a laugh before he closed the short distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up and twirling while he laughed.
"Please tell me this isn't a joke," Deeks asked almost breathlessly as he set her down but kept her close.
"I must have peed on five tests to be sure," Kensi smiled. "They were all positive so I think it's safe to say we're gonna have a baby."
"How – that's – " Deeks laughed some more and butterflies overwhelmed Kensi's stomach. She'd never seen him so happy before. "How far along?"
"Maybe six weeks?" Kensi offered. "I don't think we'll know for sure until we make an appointment with the doctor."
"Wow…" Deeks' face transformed from happiest man in the world to awed as he looked her up and down.
"I know," Kensi sighed with a grin.
"You know this means we have to get married as soon as possible now," Deeks pointed out as he slowly released her.
Kensi frowned and angled her head in confusion. "Why? Just because we're having a baby together doesn't make us any more or less a committed couple."
"I know, but I want to do this part right and I know how much you loved that dress you've picked out. In a few months you probably won't fit into it," Deeks said, trying to sound as persuasive as possible. Heaven knows they had done just about everything else backwards, but he really wanted to welcome this baby into the world as his partner's husband and ideally they will have already adopted the three children they already took care of and loved.
Kensi couldn't deny his logic and watching his face as he spoke, she couldn't help but admit that it would be nice to have the wedding so they could focus more on the adoption of Will, Elijah, and Isla and the impending birth of the sixth member of their family.
"Okay," Kensi nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Okay? Really? No arguing?" Deeks questioned cautiously.
"If you keep that up there will be," Kensi gave him a bright smile that put him on edge.
"Right, well when would we like to have the wedding?" Deeks rushed, not wanting to test the mood swing waters just yet.
"How about we shoot for a month from now?" Kensi offered. "Neither of us wanted anything big anyway."
"Sounds perfect," Deeks grinned before stealing a chaste kiss. "If we hurry we can beat the kids home by an hour and have our own celebration…"
Kensi laughed before nodding and together they quickly wrapped up their shopping trip so they could rush home and enjoy an hour of fun and celebration before Eric and Nell dropped the kids back off.
A couple weeks later an appointment was made amidst the wedding plans and though they wouldn't see an ultrasound of their baby just then, Kensi went through all the blood tests and they answered a million and one questions about their family history and genetics. Both of them had wanted to wait until after their first ultrasound at the twelve week mark to tell the others, but of course Hetty must have somehow known because she had been seriously curbing Kensi's time in the field. Of course a frustrated and grounded Kensi meant a much moodier version of the woman he loved both on and off the job.
"I'm not an invalid!" Kensi fumed over lunch one day, having finally reached her breaking point. "Do you think this is because of that time I threw up on the suspect? Because that was not my fault. He really needed a shower."
"I don't think it's because of that," Deeks assured her before bracing himself for the storm that was his partner. "But I don't disagree with her keeping you out of the field more and more."
"WHAT?!" Kensi screeched and food almost fell from her mouth before she could swallow it. "You're supposed to be on my side! You're my partner!"
"I am on your side, but I'm also on our baby's side and I know you are too," Deeks tried to use a calm voice to ease her down. "If anything happened to you while we were in the field – a misplaced punch in the stomach, a tumble down some stairs, a shootout – are any of those worth the life of our child?"
Kensi immediately deflated and tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to lose this baby and she didn't know how she would cope if something did happen to it. "Okay…" she mumbled as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Kens…" It broke Deeks' heart to see her crying, knowing he'd brought on the tears inadvertently. He reached out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear before brushing away some of the tears. "I just don't want either of us to live with regrets in regards to our baby. You can go back to being kick-ass Kensi after this baby is born, but this baby needs you to take a little more caution for now. I need you to take a little more caution for now."
Kensi nodded but the tears continued to fall and Deeks was out of ideas as to why she was crying and how to get her to stop.
"Princess, what's wrong?" Deeks asked, hoping the nickname would snap her out of the crying funk.
"N-nothing," Kensi choked on the word and tried to shovel a bite of her food into her mouth.
"You're starting to scare me here," Deeks said, worry evident in his voice.
"I-I'm sorry," Kensi half sobbed. "I do want this baby to be healthy and in one piece, but it's s-so hard to always be left out. I'm useless! I'm gonna be a hor-horrible mom!"
"You're already an amazing mom to three kids," Deeks reasoned before he closed the gap between them where they sat on the grass and wrapped his arms around her so that she was in his lap with her face buried into his neck and shoulder. "And I know you're gonna be an amazing mom to this one too. Also, you aren't useless at all. While on the job you can still do a lot of the forensics and linguistics that you are awesome at and off the job, Will, Elijah, and Isla still need you to feed, love, and take care of them. You're going to be so busy you won't even have time to blink before this baby is here."
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Kensi murmured, her crying reducing to sniffles as she snuggled closer to him.
"Maybe once or twice, but I definitely don't mind hearing it again," Deeks said softly, playing with the waves of hair spilling down her back as she returned to the normal Kensi he knew and loved.
"I love you so much, Marty Deeks," Kensi murmured as she pulled back to lock her glassy gaze with his blue eyes. She placed a sweet and lingering kiss on his lips before pulling back. "I'm not sure what I'd do without you."
"Probably still be awesome and amazing," Deeks grinned playfully.
Kensi shook her head 'no' before resting her head on his shoulder again. "I'd only have a fraction of the life I have now and I'd missing out on so much."
Deeks stomach flipped and twisted at her words. It wasn't often she spoke of her feelings, but when she did he knew she meant every word.
"I love you too," Deeks said in earnest, willing her to hear the emotion in his voice. Her arms tightened around him and he knew she understood.
Kensi forced her mind back to the present as commotion at main OSP entrance broke her wavering attention span.
"I won! You owe me a burrito!" Deeks' voice was triumphant with a fist in the air.
"It doesn't count as a win if you talk a suspect to death," Sam countered with a heavy eye roll. "Callen?"
"He did get the info we needed…" Callen said grudgingly.
"BOOYAH!" Deeks nearly skipped in his excitement and the other two men rubbed their temples as they made it over to their desks. "Is Marty Jr kicking?!" Deeks was immediately side railed when he noticed Kensi's hand cradling her stomach.
Kensi nodded and smiled as Deeks raced to her desk and placed his hands on either side of her stomach. He didn't have to wait long for the baby to swiftly kick or punch the left side a few times and Deeks' eyes went wide with surprise.
"That was the strongest kick yet!" He exclaimed in awe.
"Trust me, it feels stronger when you're the one being kicked," Kensi grimaced a little through her smile.
"He's gonna be strong just like his momma," Deeks grinned as he caressed her belly to soothe where the baby kicked.
"It's a she," Kensi countered. "She's gonna be a ninja-assassin."
"You know we could find out at the next ultrasound… you're 24 weeks along now and they could easily tell us," Deeks tried to sound persuasive but Kensi was adamant.
"Where's the fun in that? I want the surprise," Kensi smiled fondly down at her belly.
Deeks sighed dramatically, but honestly didn't mind losing that argument. He was just happy that she was happy.