THE EMPRESS…Write about a pregnant woman.

"I hate this," Kensi muttered, sulking in her seat and glaring at her desk.

The team had had to go on without her today. It was definitely not going to be a simple interview and Kensi was not allowed to participate in anything that might lead to an active shooting situation. Hell, anything that wasn't straight up talking had been banned.

"No, you don't," Nell scolded her, not even looking up from her laptop that she had perched on Deeks' desk to keep Kensi company. "You're just impatient."

Kensi just huffed her annoyance.

"You know it's not safe. Don't be stupid."

Kensi instinctively curled her hand around her now visible bump as if she wanted to protect it. Which she did.

"I should be out there. I feel useless," she moaned.

Nell just gave her an unimpressed look. The complaint would have carried more weight if the analyst hadn't heard the same refrain since Hetty and Callen benched the female agent. Eight weeks ago.

A heavy sigh was released as Kensi reluctantly turned back to running through previous cases that they suspected their guy may have also been involved in. She supposed it wasn't that pointless.

Kensi didn't hate her baby or even her pregnancy. Everything had been going surprisingly well, only a little morning sickness in the first trimester and minimal aches. It was just, Kensi was an incredibly active person and she really missed her workout, her run. Simple walking and swimming just didn't do it for her. She needed some form of training to stay sane.

That and she hated the idea of Deeks being out there without her. OK, he had been temporarily partnered with Nell and the guys did more things in threes so he wasn't alone but it wasn't the same as her having his back. It just wasn't. She refused to admit that she was worried, Deeks was an amazing investigator and had excellent instincts. Always had been but he was out there without her. She knew how important it was for her to take it easy. Hell, her and Deeks had sat down together when they had found out about her pregnancy and created a list of what she could safely do as her pregnancy progressed. They had both veered on the side of caution, not wanting to be stupid about it (ignoring the argument they had over her carrying things - Deeks' heart was in the right place, that's all that mattered). Well, they had thought they had been overly cautious bit when they had approached Hetty with their list she had promptly slashed though a good portion of it herself. Apparently even practicing her shooting skills was too dangerous.

None of that helped the feelings of uselessness she had.

Nell watched Kensi shift impatiently out of the corner of her eye. Pregnancy really looked well on her. She was glowing and she had the most adorable little bump. It looked like she'd swallowed a beach ball.

Surprisingly, her best friend hadn't had too many mood swings. Though, Nell suspected Deeks bore the brunt of those. In general, she was snapping and irritable but Nell was betting that was down to her being inactive rather than the hormones. Kensi was like that when she had an injury too. It helped that Hetty had scolded her about her knives, there was no longer any threat to bodily harm.

She was about to suggest that Kensi help with the background checks when the boys burst in through the door. Uh oh, none of them looked particularly happy.

"Did you not get the guy?" Kensi asked sharply, frowning at them and scanning them up and down to check for any injuries.

Nell gave them a confused look which slipped into a smile as she noticed Deeks make a beeline for his wife.

As soon as the desks came into view, Deeks immediately focused on Kensi. His partner, his wife, mother of his child. Mother of his child. Who would have thought that ten years ago the two of them would be working together, married and about to be parents? He would have laughed at them and have been more than slightly terrified.

His nerves settled as soon as she returned his brief kiss. He settled himself behind her, rubbing her shoulders. She had been way more tense recently. It wasn't good for her or the baby. Callen and Sam had been more permissive of them due to the pregnancy and the fact that Kensi's affectionate on had turned into full on clinginess. That and Deeks couldn't keep his hands off her more so than usual. Hey, there were different parts to his partner to figure out now! He was only maintaining his partnership. That comment had gotten him identical eye rolls when he tried it on Callen and Sam last week, though Sam had smiled knowingly at him. Deeks bet he had been even worse when Michelle had been pregnant.

"I hate politics," Callen swore in explanation for their early return and then muttered a few choice words under his breath that were definitely not in English or permissible in polite society.

"Not where the baby can hear!" Deeks yelped, quickly wrapping his arms around his partner so her could cover her bump with his hands.

Both hands covered a good two thirds of it. It was adorable.

Kensi batted his hands away with a protesting "Deeks!"

"The baby can hear noises now, Kensalina!" He told her, giving Callen an indignant look.

"It can't understand the noises," Sam pointed out.

"It's all in the tone! Baby Deeks doesn't need to hear that type of negative language!"

"I'm sure it's heard a lot worse than Russian curses from its own mother," said Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"And look at it this way," Callen said, smirking. "It will be familiar with a different language before it's even born."

"That's why we have headphones and Spanish baby music in our phones," Deeks sniffed at them.

Kensi just sighed heavily and gave Callen and Sam a long-suffering look in response to their incredulous looks.

"All for the baby, guys! "