AN: This is the follow-up to Chapter 10, "A Little Woman-to-Woman Talk" and takes place that same day. It too was previously posted to Tumblr's Densi-mber blog. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to stop by and experience all the other Densi goodness there (the fanfic force has been strong the last few days!). Next installment should hopefully be up in a week and will feature Deeks doing something special (and December-specific) for his ladybird.

Kensi vacuumed the house while she waited for Deeks to return, feeling the need to expend some nervous energy. Now that she'd had her little talk with Whiting it was time to have one with Deeks. Kensi was damned if after her self-imposed delays getting engaged that she would let him drag his feet to the alter.

He came in through the back door having put his surfboard away. As Deeks approached, Kensi got a whiff of the ocean. She knew he'd be heading for the shower next, and not for the first time couldn't decide whether she preferred the scent of saltwater or soap on him.

"Good time with the vets this morning?" Kensi asked after she turned off the noisy machine.

"Yeah. Why are you vacuuming?" he said slowly.

"You complain when I don't clean, you get weird when I do. I can't win," she joked as she kissed him hello.

Deeks wrapped his arms around Kensi's lower back and pulled her in tighter. "Not weird, just slightly concerned. You only voluntarily clean when there's something on your mind. Everything okay?"

"We'll talk after you clean up," she gave him a smile and pecked his cheek before shooing him toward the bathroom.

When Deeks returned ten minutes later Kensi was waiting on the couch. "What's up?" he asked, sitting beside her.

"I've been thinking…" Kensi said as she stretched her legs out and draped them across Deeks' lap.

"That's never a good thing," he teased, resting a hand on her knee.

"You've been avoiding setting a date or making nay plans for our wedding."

"Correction: I've been trying to align things with Monty's calendar, but you know how busy he is. Besides, we talked about having a wedding on the beach, so we have made a plan."

"Deeks, that was before we even got engaged. Since then you've been very hard to pin down whenever anyone asks you about it."

"Wasn't it me who suggested leap day? How was I supposed to know that's more than two years from now?"

"Because everyone knows leap years always coincide with U.S. presidential election years."

"That's not entirely true. They skip years that are evenly divisible by one hundred. Unless of course that year is also equally divisible by four hundred, in which case it is a leap year."

"HA!" Kensi pointed an accusatory finger. "I knew you knew when the next leap year was."

Deeks also knew he was busted. He released a slow breath before explaining, "I haven't been avoiding –" he stopped short at Kensi's look. "Okay, I wouldn't say avoiding, maybe just not quite ready to commit to anything yet." He scratched the back of his head. "Which sounds an awful lot like avoidance, I'll agree." Deeks' voice took on a mildly panicked edge when he continued, "Baby I know it looks bad, but I promise this has nothing to do with us. All I want is to marry you."

"I know," Kensi assured him. "And I took care of it."

"Wait, what does that mean? Took care of what?"

"What's been holding you back."

"How do you know what's holding me back?"

"Because I know you. And I know that once we're married we're going to seriously start talking about having kids. But we can't do that until we figure out our next steps career-wise. And every time you think of quitting your job, you remember the noose Whiting has around your neck, and wonder if she'll let you go that easily. That's why you're reluctant to make any wedding plans."

Deeks stared at Kensi before admitting, "Yeah, I don't exactly know what to do about that. I'm worried that if I leave LAPD she'll arrest me for anything from manslaughter to murder."

"Then it's a good thing you're engaged to such a bold and brilliant woman," she bragged.

Deeks' eyes narrowed, "What did you do, Kens?"

"I had a nice little chat with Whiting this morning."

"Oh, no. Did she end up in the hospital afterward?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I found out when she would be at her son's ice hockey practice, and I popped by for a visit."

"What!" The concern was clear in Deeks' voice. "Kensi, she can accuse you of harassing or stalking her. You can't just show up when she's off duty and with her family."

"The whole point was for her to be with her kid when we talked, babe. I wanted her to have a visual reminder of her son when I told her that you and I want to leave LAPD and NCIS to have children someday."

Deeks' expression changed from one of alarm to admiration. "Wow, that was ingenious, Kens."

"You don't have to sound so surprised, you know," she poked a toe into his thigh.

He squeezed her foot gently. "So what happened?"

"She didn't respond for a while, but then all of a sudden it was like fate intervened when her son scored a goal and Whiting videoed it for her husband. I mentioned it was great that he'd still be able to watch the video, you know, to really send the message home in case she missed it."

"Oh, you mean that they're both alive and not in prison?" he said with a smirk. "And all we want is the same opportunity?"

"Exactly," Kensi met Deeks' eyes when she said, "Which is why she promised she wouldn't go after you when you leave LAPD."

"You believe her?" he asked, afraid to hope.

"I do," Kensi nodded confidently. "But just in case, I also recorded our chat. It's already downloaded to a flash drive and in the safe." She smiled, "So what do you say, ready to set a wedding date now?"

Deeks beamed. "Almost, my bold and brilliant Kensalina. Since you know me so well, I bet you know what I want to do first."

She did, and was unsurprised when Deeks took her hand and led her toward their bedroom.