soo i totally couldn't just leave you guys with that last chapter for too long, and i was up until about 3 a.m. working on this! haha i was on Twitter like "yea i'm a boss i just updated this fanfic real late i'm just that cool" i really hope you guys like this! thank you SO much for your lovely reviews, you guys are so fantastic and i just had to give you guys the next chapter! i love you all!

so that episode last night made me switch back to Neric, and i'm SO EXCITED for next week's episode! Anyone else? Oh! And another big shout out to my awesome brother N7sdr93, because he stayed up late last night with me helping me make sure this chapter was as awesome as it can be for you guys!

don't own. blah blah blah.

Chapter 6

Deeks shifted on his feet nervously, five minutes having gone by and her still not having said a word.

"Kens, for the love of God please say something..." Deeks sighed.

Kensi blinked slowly and looked at him. "You wanna run that by me again?" She asked.
"I've got...I've got a three year old son." Deeks told her again.

"A son. You? You are a father? Of a child?" Kensi said slowly.

"Well that is typically what one is the father of, Kens." Deeks chuckled lightly, attempting at easing the tension in the room.

Needless to say it didn't work.

"So we've been partners for several years...and you haven't thought to tell me this before?" Kensi asked, her voice firm; her attempt to hide the hurt she was feeling from him not telling her.

Deeks sighed deeply. "Well, up until three days ago I haven't even had partial custody. I've been lucky to see him more than three times a year." He told her.

Kensi shook her head at him, anger coming off of her in waves. She opened and closed her mouth several times before she threw her hands up, grabbed her bag, and stormed out of the mission.

"Kens! Kensi!" He yelled, running after her.

Unfortunately for Kensi, her keys had somehow managed to end up at the bottom of her bag; forcing her to stop in front of her car door to dig them out. And giving Deeks the chance to catch up to her.

"Kensi, please, let me explain!" Deeks begged her, grabbing her arm gently to stop her from opening her door.

Kensi glared at him, her eyes filled with hurt. Deeks sighed, hating himself for not telling her sooner like he knew he should have.

"Kensi...Fern, please. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Deeks said sincerely.

"How could you not tell me Deeks? Me! Your partner! I get not telling Sam and Callen, I do! But not telling me, Deeks..." Kensi snapped angrily.

"I know I should've told you but I knew you would react like this!" Deeks retorted.

"Well maybe if you had just told me in the first place I wouldn't have!" She rolled her eyes, ripping her arm from his hold and opening her car door.

"Kensi, will you please just listen?" Deeks begged.
"Deeks, I gotta go." Kensi shook her head, shutting her door and revving up her engine.

Deeks leaned against his car and watched her drive off; feeling like a spike had been driven through his chest. He knew she would blow up like this.

The question was would she ever forgive him?

Kensi wasn't sure how long she ended up driving around the city that night. But it was several hours before she ended up home. Her cell phone had gone quiet finally after at least a dozen phone calls from Deeks.

She didn't answer.
She couldn't.

It wasn't the easiest thing to wrap her mind around; but then again it wasn't the hardest either. Deeks was amazing with kids. The case today with the little red headed girl was just one of the many examples of that.

But the fact that he didn't tell her is what bothered her the most.

Ok. And, if she were being honest with herself, the fact that some other woman had had a child with Deeks. That wasn't setting well with her either.

When Kensi opened her door and crashed on the couch, she was once again met with deafening silence. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to what it was like to come home to a child playing happily.

Then her mind reminded her of the fact that Deeks knew what that was like, and she was angry once again. She jumped off the couch and started pacing, no longer able to merely sit still.

Kensi didn't understand why Deeks didn't tell her; they'd been partners for so long and he hadn't bothered to even mention his son. Did he feel like she wasn't important enough to know? Did he not want her to know?

Her mind was swimming with thoughts like these and she let out a deep breath, tugging on the ends of her hair.

Finally, Kensi decided to go to bed; where she spent a long night tossing and turning, and imagining little boys with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The moment Deeks entered the bullpen the next morning, Kensi shot out of her desk; with a mere "need a workout" she was gone, racing off towards the gym. The detective sighed, his head dropping as he crossed over to his chair and slumped down into it; ignoring the stares of the two senior agents.

"What'd you mess up this time, rookie?" Sam chuckled.

Deeks rolled his eyes and glared at the man. "I didn't mess anything up. I just didn't handle a situation quite as well as I could've..." Deeks sighed.

"So you messed up." Callen smirked.

"Ok, fine, whatever. Yes, I messed up. Story of my life. Everybody happy now?" Deeks snapped.

Callen and Sam exchanged surprised glances; not expecting the outburst from the shaggy man.

Sam leaned closer to Deeks and smirked. "Is it that time of the month again, Shaggy?" He grinned, and Callen chuckled.

"You know what? Screw you two." Deeks rolled his eyes, standing up and walking out of the bullpen.

"Where you going?" Callen called.

The senior agent in charge received no answer.

Kensi knew she wasn't being very mature about the situation; she should've answered one of his calls last night; she shouldn't have ignored him this morning and practically ran away from him.

But she didn't, and she did.

Hitting the punching bag over and over, Kensi tried to beat her frustration out. But, to her dismay, it wasn't working.

Kensi was shocked when she heard a door open and shut and looked up to see her partner walking straight to her. She knew she couldn't run this time.

Well, a voice in her head told her, she could. But she shouldn't.

"Kensi..." Deeks started, testing to see if she would run. When she didn't, he smiled appreciatively and continued. "Look I know that it wasn't fair that I kept that from you. And I know I probably hurt you and that was absolutely not my intention...but, I can't change the fact that I waited so long to tell you. And, if you give me the chance, I'll tell you anything you wanna know." Deeks said, looking her straight in the eye.

She stared into his baby blues for a moment and saw nothing but sincerity; and maybe even something more, something a lot more that Kensi wasn't ready to name yet.

"Can I meet him? Leo, can I meet him?" Kensi asked after several moments of silence.

A grin broke out across his face. "Yea, yea I'd like that. And he would too. He's heard me talk about you several times already." Deeks rambled before he could stop himself.

Kensi grinned teasingly. "You told your son about me?" She asked.
"Yea, well not a whole lot but...I umm...yea." He sighed, blushing a bit.

"I'm still mad at you." She narrowed her eyes at him, not wanting him to think he was off the hook.

Deeks nodded understandingly. "Ok." He replied.
"And I fully expect that explanation." She said firmly.

"Anything you want, Fern." Deeks smiled.

"I'll meet you two at the beach. Say, six o'clock?" Kensi said.
"We'll be there." He replied.

Kensi arrived at the beach before Deeks did, and she sat in her car nervously for a while as she waited. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel before she couldn't take sitting still anymore and got out; pacing back and forth in front of her car.

Her anger had dissolved and into the much bigger problem; the hurt she felt from him keeping it from her. The voice of reasoning in her head-the one that told her to at least give him the chance to explain himself-told her that she didn't willingly offer up information about her father and about Jack.

Those had both been thrust into the light without her permission.

And here Deeks was, willingly telling her what was no doubt the most important piece of his life. Something precious to him and in all honesty, the fact that he had a son was Deeks' information. Kensi had no right to it. Deeks wasn't her man and she wasn't his girl so he didn't have to tell her.

But he did.

That's got to count for something, right? Kensi mused silently.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up near hers. Kensi looked up to see his car and smiled involuntarily. She couldn't help that she wanted to smile around him.

Her nerves kicked into overdrive as she watched him move around the car-but not before throwing a wink in her direction- and towards the backseat; no doubt going to unbuckle Leo from his car seat.

And then, Kensi watched as Deeks pulled the little boy into his arms and nudged the door shut. The man whispered something to the boy, who in turn giggled, and pointed over towards Kensi.

Suddenly all her nerves strangely washed away.

They were replaced by awe, and a fluttering in her chest as she watched them walk towards her, both smiling. Deeks seemed completely in his element; he was a total natural, Kensi mused.

Deeks stopped in front of her, smiling nervously now. "Leo, this is Kens. We talked about her a couple times remember?" He said to the boy.

"Hi lady." Leo giggled.
Kensi couldn't help but smile. "Hi there." She replied.
"Daddy was wight!" Leo announced.

Kensi arched an eyebrow at the boy. "Oh? About what?" She asked.

"He said you is vewy bootie-full. He was wight." The little boy smiled shyly.

"Ok, that just happened..." Deeks sighed, embarrassed, putting his hand gently over the boy's mouth.

Kensi burst into laughter and Deeks couldn't help but smile. "Ok, so when you said I was 'bootie-full' did you mean I was beautiful or..." Kensi trailed off teasingly.

Deeks grinned. "Yea, well I guess you could take that either way."

Leo looked confused and furrowed his eyes at his dad. "Nuh-uh Daddy. You said- you said she was bootie-full like a pwincess!" Leo said very seriously.

Kensi blushed and looked at Deeks, who was also blushing. "Anyway!" Deeks said, eager to change the subject.

"Who's this?" Kensi asked softly, pointing to Leo's lion he was holding.

"This my lion. My daddy got-ed it for me when I was a baby." Leo said proudly.
Kensi smiled. "Really? Wow, that was really nice of him." She replied.

"Uh-huh!" Leo nodded.
"So do you like living here in LA with Daddy?" Kensi asked.

"Oh yea! He make yummy foods, and we goes simmin' and play wif doggie and have lots of fun!" Leo said enthusiastically.

Kensi chuckled and Deeks watched the two most important people in his life interact with each other. He couldn't deny the warmth in his heart he felt by seeing Kensi with Leo.

"Do you wanna come play wif me, Kens?" Leo inquired suddenly.

Kensi glanced back up at Deeks, remembering why they agreed to meet here in the first place. Deeks nodded at her and turned to look at the boy now squirming around in his arms; eager to get down.

"Well bud, I need to talk to Kensi for a minute. How about you play in the sand where we can see you?" Deeks told the boy.

"Otay, Daddy!" Leo nodded as his dad put him on his feet; immediately running around in the sand.

Deeks leaned against the hood of Kensi's car, looking at her. Kensi blushed under the intensity of his gaze, shifting on her feet.

"What, Deeks?" She asked finally.

The detective just shook his head, but a smile grew on his lips. "You like him." He stated.

"He's a cutie." Kensi nodded.
"That he is." Deeks agreed.

They stood in silence for a moment, before Kensi finally broke the silence. "So...was he planned or did it just happen?" She asked.

Deeks let out a slow breath. "Well...not by me." He said.
"What does that mean?" Kensi asked, confused.

"It means that his mother is a very sneaky woman, and is willing to go to extreme lengths to get what she wants. She wasn't always like that though..." He told her.

"What happened between you two?" Kensi asked nervously.

"Me and his mother, Rachel...we dated while I was in law school...but her dad decided he didn't like me, even though I was working on being a lawyer. He was a very wealthy man, her father, and Rachel had a lifestyle she was used to. He cut her off and she looked to me to replace those funds." Deeks started.

"She couldn't get a job?" Kensi inquired.

Deeks snorted. "She'd mess up her manicure. At the time she'd tell you she was completely dedicated to her classes and a job would distract her. In all reality she just wanted someone to take care of her. And me being a lawyer, well that looked really good to her."

"Bet she didn't like when you decided to become a cop." Kensi commented.

"Yea, well that's where this whole thing started. She hated the thought of me being a cop. Wasn't glamorous enough, didn't make enough money. But I was done being a lawyer, I knew being a cop was what I was supposed to do next. So I did it. We argued like crazy for weeks...she tried everything to get me to change my mind..." Deeks trailed off.

Kensi waited patiently for him to finish his story; she knew he deserved to tell it. She didn't have to wait long either.

"Rachel figured out her nagging wasn't enough to get me to go back to being a lawyer. So, without her telling me, she stops taking her birth control. Few weeks later she ends up pregnant. Tells me we're gonna need more money and that being a cop wasn't gonna cut it." Deeks explained.

Kensi gaped at him. "Wait, so she got pregnant just so you would go back to your higher paying job?" She asked.

"Yup." Deeks nodded, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "It didn't work though; I was determined to be a cop. But I did what I thought was the right thing. Started saving up, moved her into my apartment, took care of her...the works. She nagged nonstop about my job. Even after Leo was born.

"I was over the moon about being a dad, but I was really disappointed that it was gonna be with her kid. I never intended for it to go that far. But I felt too guilty to break up with her before the pregnancy because her father practically disowned her because of me." Deeks sighed.

"I'm sorry she used you like that, Deeks. You don't deserve that." Kensi frowned.

"No, maybe not. But that little boy is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I remember holding him for hours after he was born...my son." Deeks said proudly.

Fatherhood looked good on him, Kensi thought. He smiled even more so than he normally did, and that was saying something.

"So how long did you and Rachel last?" She inquired.

Deeks frowned as memories washed over him. "We uh...we had a really big fight not too long after he turned one. Our relationship had been over long before she told me she was pregnant, we knew that. But I would've never turned my back on them.

"She told me that I was a selfish bastard, and that I wasn't giving our son everything he deserved. Told her if she thought so she could get a job and actually do something productive for a change." Deeks said, crossing his arms.

"And how well did that go over?" Kensi asked carefully.

Deeks turned to look at her, and Kensi almost gasped at the sorrow, and pain that filled his eyes. "They were gone the next morning."

Kensi's heart filled with sadness as she imagined Deeks waking up to a completely empty house; his son and the mother of that son gone.

She could relate to how it felt.

"Deeks, I'm so sorry." Kensi whispered.

Deeks forced a smile. "She moved up and down the coast. Never stayed in one place very long. I could never keep track of her long enough to get to her so I could see Leo. But she kept her bank account and I've been putting money in it every month since. She'd call me, a few times a year when she was between boyfriends. She'd let me come stay for a few days, I'd get to see Leo...but then Rachel would start batting those eyelashes and trying to rope me back into a relationship with her."

"Did it ever work?" She asked.

"Not once. I couldn't stand the person she became. Still is to this day I might add. I just wanted Leo in my life." Deeks finished, going quiet as he watched Leo piling sand up; no doubt thinking it was a castle.

Kensi sat in the silence, her mind running over everything she'd just heard. She wanted to hug Deeks and Leo, and find this Rachel girl and kick her ass. It wasn't fair what they'd been put through.

"Well, you've got him now." Kensi smiled, desperate to bring that sparkle back into Deeks' eyes; they'd been so sorrowful for a while now.

It worked; a smile immediately grew on his face. "Hell yea I do. I'm kinda just wingin' it though, I've never kept him by myself." Deeks admitted.

"Well, seems to me you're doing a pretty good job so far." Kensi told him.

Deeks smiled at her. "Thank you, Kensi. For listening, for believing in my parenting abilities...everything."

"You're welcome. And Deeks, if you ever need anything...I'm not good with kids, but I'm your partner and if you need something I'll be there." Kensi told him.

Deeks tugged on her arm, surprising her as he drew her into a hug. She melted into him, reveling in the feel of his strong arms holding her.

Deeks didn't want to let her go; if he could just hold her in his arms forever, he'd be happy. She fit perfectly in his arms and her hair smelled amazing.

She smelled like sunshine and gunpowder.

Suddenly, the two felt small arms wrapped around their legs. Looking down, Deeks grinned as he saw Leo looking up at them, hugging them both.

"Feelin left out there, Peanut?" Deeks chuckled.

"Yea..." The boy nodded shyly.

"Aw, well, come here then!" Deeks smiled, picking the boy up and tickling him.

Kensi and Deeks laughed along with the little boy, and Kensi couldn't help but think how perfect this was.

So there we go! Kensi has now met Leo! And there's the back story with Rachel and Deeks. I would absolutely love to know what you guys are thinking about this so far, and if you would be so kind as to leave me a review, i would be so happy :]

later gators!

xox