Chapter 2

The case went on normally and Kensi and Deeks acted like they didn't know each other.

When Deeks got the offer to liaise for NCIS, things got weird.

"Kensi, when can I see little nugget?" Deeks asked after his first official day at NCIS.

"Little nugget? I haven't called her that since I was 6 months pregnant." Kensi said, slightly avoiding Deeks' question.

"Well, I don't know her name. So, I called her by the only name of her's I've ever known."

"Her name is Daniela. Dani for short."

"That's beautiful."

"It was my mom's, sister's name."

"I remember. It was one of the names we had first considered. You brought it up only a week after we found out you were pregnant."

"Well, I decided to stick with it. Her middle name is Andrea. The female version of Andrew."

"Why did you give her the female version of my middle name?"

"I had hoped that you would come back, so we could fix things. And no matter how much I hate you, I can't deny the fact that you are her father."

"I don't know how many times you want me to say I'm sorry. If I could go back and do it again, I would. I would've never cheated and then lied. I would've stayed with you and not away like a coward."

"I don't want your apologies. I just want you to make up for it now."

"But you said that she might not even want to meet me."

"I have a feeling she will. She's been asking about her father more and more lately. I guess she's doing a genetics unit in school and she wants to know who her father is."

"What does she look like?" Deeks blurted out.

"She had dirty blonde hair with red undertones. Hazel eyes that often look blue. Tan skin. My lips and eye shape. Your jawline and face shape. She's smart; extremely smart. She likes swimming and surfing. She has beach waves that go down to her lower back."

"She seems like a perfect mix of both of us."

"Yeah."

"Can I please see her?"

"It's 8 o'clock. She should be up still but going to bed soon. You can come over but don't be surprised if she's not awake."

"Ok." Deeks said, his smile growing increasingly brighter.

"I have something to confess." Kensi said, as the two were about half way to Kensi house.

"Ok?" Deeks said, questioningly.

"Dani isn't the only kid I have."

"What?"

"I also have a 5 year old."

"You do?"

"Yeah. She's fathered by an ex of mine. We coparent her. He helps me with Dani sometimes."

"Oh." Deeks said as his demeanor slumped.

"I just thought it would be important for you to know."

"Yeah."

"Her name is Carter."

"That's pretty."

"Like I said, she's 5. She has green eyes, light brown, reddish hair. Tan skin like Dani."

"Your kids sound very beautiful."

"They are."

Kensi and Deeks spent the rest of the car ride in silence. About 10 minutes, Kensi pulled up in front of a decent sized house with a car parked in the driveway and one close by near the curb. The porch lights were on, and the front curtains were slightly drawn open. Deeks could see the back of someone that looked to be about 18. He figured it was the babysitter.

"This is my home." Kensi said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned off the car.

"It's nice."

"Yeah. I just started renting it a few months ago."

"Cool." Deeks unblocked his seatbelt and waited for Kensi to open the car door before he did.

Kensi grabbed her bag from the back seat and then started walking to the door. Deeks followed slowly behind, as if he were scared of what was on the other side of the door.

Kensi pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.

"You can come in. Just wait in the entryway while I tell everyone what's going on." Kensi said as she lead Deeks in.

Deeks did as he was told. He waited for Kensi. He could hear some voices coming from the living room. He was pretty sure she was talking to her daughters in Portuguese.

"Ok, I told them. Now it's time to meet them." Kensi said as she came back, after about 15 minutes.

"Are you sure about this?" Deeks said, some anxiety creeping up.

"Do you want to do this or not?" Kensi said, getting slightly impatient.

"Yes. Let's go."

Kensi lead Deeks over to the living room where 2 young girls were sitting on the smaller portion of a sectional. A man that looked to be about Deeks' age and the lady he had seen in the window were sitting on the bigger part of the couch.

"Everyone, this is Marty Deeks. Daniela's biological father." Kensi said.

"You're my dad?" The older of the children asked as she stood up in front of Deeks.

"Uh, yeah. I am."

"Mom said my dad left a long time ago."

"I did, and for that, I'm so sorry. I should have stayed with you." He said, kneeling in front of her.

"It's ok." Dani said as she patted his shoulder.

"Will you let me be your dad?"

"Yes. I want a dad."

"And I want to be your dad."

"Are you gonna live here?"

"No, but I will see you a lot."

"Ok."

"Oliver, I think you should go." Kensi said, as she looked up to her younger daughter's father.

"Can I have Carter tonight?"

"Um, can you take her tomorrow night? I want her to meet Marty."

"Yeah, that's fine." Oliver soon left, and the babysitter, Lainie, left shortly after.

"Come on girls, it's time for bed." Kensi said, looking at her daughters.

She lead her daughters to their shared bedroom, and tucked them in. Once she was done, she walked back out to the living room. Marty was now sitting on the couch, starting at the wall to his right that was filled with pictures.

"You looked happy in this picture with Oliver." He said, pointing to a picture of Kensi and Oliver, smiling down at Carter who looked to be a few months old.

"I was happy. He's a great guy. He wasn't willing to wait for me to trust him. He wanted a family and a life with me, and I wasn't willing to give him that. It was a mutual agreement. We decided to stay civil for our daughter."

"That's good, I guess."

"It was hard at first. We fought a lot. But as Carter got older, we realized she would see us fight, and think of us differently. We had to stay calm in front of her. And for Dani too."

"Yeah."

"I just want you to know that me letting you see Dani doesn't change things between us. I'm still mad at you. I'm still hurt."

"I know." He sighed.

"And I just want to make it clear that we are not gonna start a relationship again. We ate strictly coparents, and maybe friends. I'll respect and support you and you're parenting decisions, and I expect you to respect and support me and my parent decisions. Together, we'll raise our daughter."

"It's weird to think I'll only be raising her for the half of her childhood."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's already 9 years old. She only needs another 9 years of raising."

"Marty, we'll be raising her for the rest of our lives. There will plenty of valuable lessons she'll need to learn."

"But, I missed her easy years. I've always been told that from birth to about 8, they're easy. From 8 to 18, they become monsters."

"You could've...never mind." Kensi said, cutting herself off.

"You were gonna say I could've been there, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for the both of you, but I'm here now, and as long as you allow me to, I'm staying here. I'm not going anywhere ever again."

"Ok."

A/N: For the reviewer who asked, their daughter is 9 years old.