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"Dee, we're going to be late!" Grisha rolled his eyes at his father as he tugged the cuffs of his shirt out of the sleeves of his jacket. "Do you remember Mom being late for things like this?"

Garrison looked up from the paper he was reading. "Your mother had not many occasions that she could dress up for," he said. "But when she did, yes, she could be less punctual."

Their conversation from three days earlier had been intense. Grisha had had trouble to get his feelings across, and they'd been at the point of giving up more than once, but eventually, after a lot of yelling and shouting, they had reached a truce. They were nowhere near fine, but the understanding meant that they could at least move forward.

Grisha sighed as he looked at his watch again. Then he heard sound by the stairs and Dee stepped into view; the long skirt of her dress gathered in her hands so she wouldn't trip over it. He gulped and blinked. She was gorgeous. So much so, that she was bound to give Kensi a run for her money, and she wasn't even trying.

She let go of the fabric and stuck her tongue out. "Much as I realize Kensi is the only one allowed to be late today, it takes time to look like this."

Grisha opened his mouth to complement her, but his father beat him to it. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Deja smiled. "Are you going to be okay staying here today?"

"Do not worry about me. I have a key, Grisha has told me to look in the fridge if I get hungry. Go, have fun. Tell them congratulations from me."

Grisha handed Deja her wrap and five minutes later they were on their way. "He was right, you know."

"Mmm? About what?"

"You look gorgeous. When did you have time to shop?"

She shifted in her seat, tugging at a strand of hair. "I didn't. I ran into Nordstrom the other day for your tie and it was there in all its floral perfection and I bought it on a whim. You really like it?"

"I really do." He squeezed her thigh. "Are you excited?"

"I am. It's good to have a day to celebrate."

"It is."

She smiled. "Maybe we'll get some ideas, too."

Turning a corner, it dawned on him that since they'd come back from Spain, things had been about the house, and his father, and her café, rather than about them and what they wanted for their wedding. He sighed. "I'm sorry, babe."

She was studying her appearance in a small mirror, but from the corner of his eye he could see her brows furrow. "Sorry? For what?"

"For this week being about me. We haven't even discussed the house. Or our wedding. Not since we've been back."

"You don't have to apologize. Your father showing up out of nowhere was guaranteed to throw you for a loop. I wouldn't have expected anything else. As we're waiting for approval on the house, there's little to discuss and as for our wedding… We'll set a date when we find a venue and I'm not going to look until the café has a new place to go."

Still, he felt bad. "Well, maybe, but I should've shown more interest."

Shaking her head, she squeezed his hand. "You're showing interest now. Let's watch Marty and Kensi get married, have a great day, and we'll find time tomorrow to discuss the house and the café. Over lunch, somewhere. That a good idea?"

"Just us?" He found himself in the mood for 'them'-time. Strolling through the vintage market, lunch in the sun and easy conversation.

"Just us. Much as I like your father, it'll be nice to have an afternoon for ourselves."

"It will be." That was it. He'd missed her, somehow. His father arriving seemed to mean that the last week had been about him and Garrison. An afternoon for them would be heaven.

Arriving at the beach, Grisha helped her out of the car. "It's gorgeous."

Deja nodded. "A very Marty and Kensi place to have a wedding."

"Not for us?"

"No." It was out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Unless, of course, you're completely set on the idea."

"You just vetoed it."

"Well, yeah…" She bit her lip. "Sort of. But if you want to have a beach wedding, we'll find a way to make it work."

He laughed, pulling her arm through his. "I don't want a beach wedding. I want whatever you want. Long as I get to marry you."

"Count on it."

Three hours later Marty and Kensi were officially Mr. and Mrs. Deeks and were having their first dance. As Grisha was waiting at the bar for drinks, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. "Julia." He kissed her on both cheeks. "Congratulations, they are a gorgeous pair."

"Thank you." She smiled. "Speaking of gorgeous, rumour has it she's your fiancée now?"

"She is."

"Congratulations. Introduce us?"

"Absolutely." He took the offered drinks and walked over to where Deja was standing talking to Hetty and Nell. "Dee?"

Laughing, she lifted her head. "Yes?"

"Dee, this is Julia, Kensi's mom. Julia, this is Deja."

"So nice to meet you."

"They tell me you're the girl he's been in love with since Christmas," Julia said.

"Only since Christmas?"

Grisha rolled his eyes. "Fishing for compliments, are we?"

"Maybe."

"Yes, yes, longer than just Christmas. You know that."

Looking up at him, she grinned. "I know that. It's really great to hear you say it, though." She winked at Julia. "All true. That's me."

"You're also the one who was giving him cooking lessons."

"I still am, on occasion. He's at the point I can leave him alone in the kitchen now and something edible will come out of it."

He pulled her close. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Her eyes danced as she looked up at him. "Considering you couldn't boil an egg when we first met, it really is."

The music changed to an up-tempo song and she took his drink from him. "It's nice meeting you, Julia, but I need to dance with him."

Dragging him over to the dance floor, the three women looked after them. Julia turned to Hetty. "She is good for him."

"She is," Hetty agreed.

"You expect them to get married soon?"

"I have no idea. Probably not, since they're buying a new house and his father showed up last week and Dee is in the middle of replacing her café… They have their hands full."

"Maybe they'll elope." Julia nodded to her daughter and son-in-law. "I expected them to elope, to be honest. I hadn't really thought that they'd have a… more elaborate wedding."

Hetty shrugged. "I don't know. Dee's been married before, so maybe they'll do something small, or just the two of them. I find it hard to predict."

"Long as they do something that fits them, right?"

"Of course."

Eric came to whisk Nell away and the two women were left alone again. Julia watched the group gathered on the dance floor. Then something dawned on her. "You put all of them together on purpose, didn't you?"

Hetty looked at her over the rim of her glass. "Why do you say that?"

"Kensi met Marty because she needed a partner and you picked him, and didn't Eric meet Nell because you wanted a team doing the tech stuff?"

"Maybe," Hetty answered, but Julia knew she had hit the nail on its head.

Julia laughed. "Good for you, Hetty. Well done. And thank you, because my daughter hasn't been as happy as she is now."

Hetty nodded, her eyes drifting to the one couple she hadn't had anything to do with. Deep down, maybe that was the one she was most proud of, too. Because he had managed to figure out he needed a life outside the office all by himself.