hey guys! here is the next chapter! there's going to be a lot of line jumps in this chapter, i hope you guys don't mind! i hope you guys enjoy it!

Don't own. Yeah yeah.

Chapter 32

"That house was horrible." Kensi announced as she and Deeks walked out of a listed house and towards their car.

"I agree." Deeks nodded.

"No one would want to live there!" Kensi exclaimed.

"Absolutely."
"This search is hopeless." Kensi moaned, leaning against her car door.

Deeks smirked at that; he couldn't help it, her pouting was adorable. "Kensi, we've only looked at one house. Don't quit on me now." He chuckled.

The woman sighed. "I know that." She replied, running a hand through her hair. "I just… I want us to find the perfect house." She admitted.

Deeks smiled at her and tugged her into his arms. "We will, don't worry." He assured her.

Suddenly both of their phones started ringing at the same time, interrupting their moment; when they both went off at the same times, neither could deny what that meant.

"Ain't no rest for the wicked." Deeks joked as they pulled the ringing nuisances out.

"Whatca got for me, Nell?" Deeks answered.
"Yeah, Eric?" Kensi asked.

"Hey guys! We've got a lead we need you to check out." Nell explained.

"Yeah, and sorry to interrupt the house hunting." Eric apologized.
"We could use a break anyway." Kensi replied before hanging up.

"We've only looked at one house!" Deeks laughed, walking to the passenger side of the car and getting in.

"Oh shut up." Kensi laughed back.

The break lasted for three days.

Deeks finally got Kensi motivated again to look for a house, but after three more failed options the motivation vanished quickly.

"These rooms aren't big enough." Kensi objected.
"We're too far from the beach." Deeks insisted.
"These paint colors are ugly." She wrinkled her nose.
"Still too far from the beach." Deeks shrugged.
"What is with this kitchen?" Kensi exclaimed.

The complaints and objections were endless, but the last one stopped Deeks. "Kensi, why are you worried about the kitchen when you're never actually in there?" He teased.

Kensi slapped him in the chest for that. "Hey! I am in there on occasion! And if we are going to be buying a house I want to like the entire house." She explained indignantly.

Needless to say, their realtor was not thrilled with her latest clients.

"So, how's the house hunting going?" Sam asked, almost two weeks into the search.

The team was sitting in the bullpen, mindlessly doing paperwork. It'd been too quiet for too long, and Sam needed a break.

"Don't ask, Sam! Don't open that up for them to gripe about!" Callen quipped, tossing his pen down on his desk.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Kensi rolled her eyes at him, rubbing her face.

"We're on another search break." Deeks replied to Sam.
"Wait, how many does that make now?" The former SEAL inquired.

"Four." Deeks smirked.

"You're not gonna get a house if you're not looking." Sam chuckled.

"How hard is it to find a decent house?" Callen inquired.

"Said the man with no furniture. And Hetty demanded you live in the house you've got now, so you didn't actually put any effort into it." Sam grinned.

Kensi and Deeks sighed, both exhausted with searching, working, and coming up with nothing.

"It can't be that bad." Callen insisted.

"G, you don't understand. You lived in hotel after hotel until you were made to get a house. You put zero effort in to finding a house. It's actually a very difficult task." Sam replied.

"Well he's the one that is obsessed with how close the house is to the beach!" Kensi complained, throwing her hands in the air.

"Hey! The first rule of real estate is location, location, location!" Deeks countered.

"I have heard that." Callen shrugged at Kensi.

"Well that last house was perfectly fine but Kensi didn't like it." The shaggy man announced, tossing a paper ball at the trashcan.

"The kitchen was horrible!" Kensi objected.

"The kitchen? What are you worried about that for? You don't cook." Sam laughed.

"That's exactly what I said my man!" Deeks grinned, high fiving the older man.

"Oh ha ha ha. You guys are hilarious." Kensi narrowed her eyes.

"I thought so." Sam grinned, making the other two laugh.

"I still say we bring Leo; he's a very picky person and has great taste." Deeks said.

Kensi snorted. "Did you see what he wanted to wear yesterday? I could argue about that great taste."

"That may be true, Fern, but he does love you. And what better taste could a man have than choosing Kensi Blye?" Deeks smiled softly, making Kensi blush.

"Aww." Callen and Sam cooed.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Deeks grinned, looking down at his desk.

"You gonna let that slide, Sam?" The senior agent in charge inquired.

Sam shrugged. "Game recognizes game." The team burst into laughter.

"Dis not our house." Leo commented as he, Kensi, and Deeks walked into another prospective house.

"No, but it could be." Deeks told him, lifting the boy up and onto his shoulders.

"But den we would habe two houses-es." Leo replied, confused.

Kensi laughed. "No silly, this would be our house, and then we would move out of the old one." She explained.

"How come?" Leo inquired.

"Well, Mommy and I were thinking that we could use a fresh start; somewhere that has more room to play. Then people could come over more, and we could have big dinners. And maybe even a birthday party." Deeks grinned.

"I like parties. Could my Nelly come?" Leo asked, leaning over Deeks's head to look at him.

The shaggy man scrunched his face up and laughed. "Of course your Nelly could come. You just have to ask her really nicely."

"And say pwease? Mommy said you is 'posed to say pwease." The boy added.

Deeks shot Kensi a wink, and she smiled back. "Yeah, buddy. Your mommy is full of great ideas." He replied.

"We could also have a yard to play in." Kensi announced.

"Wif gwass?" Leo asked, excitedly.

When Kensi shot Deeks an odd look, the man elaborated. "He's lived in apartments or hotels his whole life. Never had a real yard."

Kensi's face fell a little as her heart clenched; little boys needed yards to play in.

"Yeah, baby boy, with grass." Kensi told the boy.
"Cool!" Leo exclaimed.

"Alright! House Hunting, Deeks party of three!" Deeks announced.

"No." Kensi shook her head.
"Wait, no? Why not? What's wrong with it?" Deeks asked incredulously.

"I'm not sure, it just… it smells really weird." Kensi shrugged.
Leo nodded. "Yeah."

"Sweetheart you do realize that's something we can easily fix, right?" Deeks snorted.

"This isn't it, Deeks." Kensi said firmly.

Deeks looked at their realtor. "Can we see the next one?" He asked.
The woman blew a slow breath out, trying to keep her patience. "Sure."

"This isn't so bad." Kensi commented at the next house.

Deeks glared at her. "Kens, we have more room in the apartment. We have more room at the Bullpen!" He exclaimed.

"It's too small." Leo agreed.

"I think it's plenty of room!" Kensi objected.

"Yeah! It's weal big!" Leo exclaimed.

"For you, yeah. You'll take all the room and I'll be left with nothing!" He laughed. "Yeah, no. This isn't it." Deeks shook his head.

Kensi sighed and looked at the woman. "We'll need to look at the next one."
"The next won!" Leo echoed.

The realtor fake smile had lost it subtlety.

"Well, it's not bad." Deeks told the realtor as they stood in the living room of yet another house.

The realtor grinned sincerely. "It's a very nice neighborhood, with great neighbors! I think you'll really be happy here, Mr. Deeks-"

"I don't like neighbors." Kensi said.

The realtor's grin faded.

Deeks sighed. "You don't have to talk to them."

"You say that now, but down the road it'll happen. And then we'll be roped in and miserable." Kensi protested.

"Daddy…" Leo whined, tugging on Deeks's hand at the next house.

"What's up, little man?" The shaggy man inquired.

"I not like this house." He pouted.

"Well how come?" Deeks asked, dropping down to the boy's eye level.

"It smells weird." Leo wrinkled his nose.

"Oh good Lord." Deeks shook his head, fighting a grin. He mock glared at Kensi, who did nothing to hide her wide smile. "Sometimes I think he's more yours than mine." He teased.

Kensi grinned while they walked away from the unhappy realtor.

Leo went to work with his parents that day; they'd been searching for so long he couldn't even remember how long they'd been looking for a house! But, Leo knew he was getting tired of all the fuss about it. Mommy and Daddy would argue, and then they'd kiss and makeup.

His daddy was apparently not afraid of catching the cooties.

Or maybe his mommy didn't have any, the boy thought to himself as he played with his toys near the bullpen. He also wondered why they called it a bullpen. His mommy didn't seem to have the cooties. No, he decided. His mommy was too pretty and too nice to have the cooties.

Nelly probably didn't have them either.

A whistle sounded through OPS, and Uncle Ewic told the team there was a new case.

"Leo, you stay here and be good for me, alright?" Daddy told him.
"Otay!" He replied.

Daddy smiled before walking upstairs with Mommy and his uncles.

After they were gone, Leo sighed. He wanted a new house with the yard and the grass. The endless wait was making him very upset. His lower lip jutted out as he crossed his arms in a pout.

"Something the matter, Young Mr. Deeks?" A voice suddenly broke through his pout.

The boy turned his head to see Ms. Hetty standing there, looking concerned. "Ms. Het-tee we needs a house." Leo explained.

"Is something the matter with the house your family has now?" The small lady inquired.

"Not weally, but Mommy and Daddy said dat it will be mow better-er if we had a bigger-er house. Wit a yawd and gwass to pway in." Leo told her.

"Ah, I see now. How about you come with me to my office, and you can tell me all about it." Hetty nodded, motioning for him to follow.

Leo grabbed his Batman and Green Arrow action figures and walked over to Hetty's office, crawling up into one of her chairs.

"So, your parents have decided to move." She said, pouring herself a cup of tea.
"Yea." He replied.

Hetty pursed her lips and looked at the boy. After a moment of silence, Leo turned his attention back to his toys. A small smile appeared on the old woman's face; she turned to a filing cabinet, and after searching for a moment she pulled out a piece of paper.

"Would you like to be an agent for me, Young Mr. Deeks? Just this once?" Hetty grinned.
"Oh yea!" Leo nodded excitedly.

"Well, here's what I want you to do. Go over to your father's file on his desk, there's only one there, and carefully put this paper in it." She explained.

"And then we'll habe a house?" Leo inquired, slightly confused.

Hetty smiled as she slid the paper to him. "Oh, I believe so, Young Mr. Deeks."

"Yay!" Leo grinned.

Unfortunately, it took another few days before the family could look at any more houses; the new case had demanded the attention of the agents.

"Today's definitely the day! We are going to find something today." Deeks declared as the three walked towards the car early that Saturday morning.

"Maybe…" Kensi sighed.
"Hey, hey, hey! C'mon Fern, be positive!" The shaggy man smiled at her.

"I'm just so exhausted from this search, Deeks. We've looked at so many houses and have still come up with nothing." Kensi told him.

"It's otay, Mommy! We bind someting today!" Leo exclaimed, making the adults smile.

Deeks opened the door for the boy, allowing him into the car so he could have a moment with Kensi. He carefully tugged her into his arms and wrapped them around her. "I promise you that today is the day. We are going to find us a home. And it will be fantastic." He said with a gentle confidence.

Kensi searched his eyes for any shred of doubt, but found none. So she smiled. "Okay." She nodded.

"Okay." Deeks smiled back, and they got in the car, where Leo was singing happily to himself.

"We gonna bind a house, we gonna bind a house!"

They looked at three houses but still couldn't find a home. Deeks was beyond frustrated as they walked out of the third and final one for the day.

"That's all of them… I can't believe this." He sighed.

Kensi caught up to him and grabbed his hand, pausing his stride. "Hey, it's okay! Maybe now just isn't the right time. We've still got your apartment and we've been happy there. We can keep an eye out and when we find something we find something!" She told him, being positive for him now.

"But Kens you're ready, and I'm ready. Hell, even Leo's ready." Deeks told her, and glanced over to where his son was rolling around in the yard of another failed house. "I want us to move forward, and when you told me you were ready I felt like we were really doing that." He admitted.

Kensi cupped his face in her hands. "Hey. We're still moving forward. We're just not moving right this second. We can still enjoy our lives with each other. Our family." She smiled at him.

Deeks couldn't help but grin when she said that. "Fern, I'm not sure what I'd do without you." He told her.

"Let's not find out." She laughed lightly.

He nodded. "Leo! Let's roll, Little Man!" Deeks called.

"Otay!" The boy replied, running over to the car.

As they got in and Deeks drove off, Kensi glanced through their file. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at a new piece of paper she hadn't seen. "Hey Deeks, what's this address for?" She inquired.

Deeks glanced at her and frowned. "Uh, I'm not sure. It's not one I'm familiar with." He replied.

"But if it's in here one of us had to have put it here." Kensi objected.

The man shrugged, taking the paper from her. "Maybe one of us wrote it down as a listing? Maybe there wasn't a picture up or something." He suggested.

"It's not for a case lead, is it?" Kensi inquired nervously, glancing back at Leo.

"No, we're not that sloppy." Deeks replied adamantly.

"You wanna check it out?" She asked.

"The detective in me won't be satisfied unless we do." Deeks grinned at her.

"Okay then." Kensi laughed, plugging the address into the car's GPS.

Deeks took a glance at the monitor of the GPS. "Doesn't look like it's far from OSP." He commented.

"Huh, it's not." Kensi noticed.

"Hey bud," Deeks said, and Leo's head popped up immediately, "You up for one more house?" He inquired.

"Oh yeah!" Leo grinned.

"One more and then we're gonna go get something to eat, okay? You getting hungry?" Kensi inquired, turning to look at him.

"Umm, yeah! A little." He nodded.

Kensi smiled at him, and he smiled back. She talked to him a little more through the short car ride, before she heard Deeks's sharp inhale. Kensi immediately turned and her eyebrows rose. "Is this it?" She asked quietly.

Deeks, in a trance, nodded slightly.

The house looked almost exactly like the house they'd had when the partners were undercover as a married couple; it was beautiful, and looked plenty big enough for the family.

"Pretty!" Leo clapped from his car seat.

"It's perfect." Kensi let out a breath.

"Well let's go look at it." Deeks announced, getting out and helping Leo out of his seat.

"Deeks it's probably locked." Kensi said as her boys rushed to the front door, paying no attention to the for sale sign in the yard.

The man turned and grinned at her as she caught up with them. "Oh no, a locked door. The archenemy to every federal agent."

Kensi snorted at his antics. "Whatever." She laughed.

"Hey Leo, what's that?" Deeks asked the boy, pointing across the street. Leo immediately turned and Kensi crouched by the door, swiftly picking the lock.

"What's what Daddy?" Leo inquired.

Kensi opened the door and shot Deeks a grin. "Uh, I thought I saw something. Maybe not." He shrugged, turning and guiding Leo in the door.

The three stepped in and looked around the first level of the house. The kitchen and living room were exactly what they wanted.

"Kens, this house…." He shook his head.

"It's perfect." She finished.

Suddenly, the heard footsteps echoing through the house. Deeks's eyes bugged out and Kensi grabbed Leo, and the agents hid.

"Leo, I need you to stay quiet, okay?" The man whispered, trying not to panic.
"How come?" Leo whispered, not so quietly.

"We're hiding, okay? We can't let them find us!" Kensi told him, recalling one of the games she and Leo used to play. There never was anything actually looking for them, but the boy loved the imagination of the game.

"Ohhh!" Leo nodded.

The agents looked at each other, and Deeks silently drew his gun and crept towards the edge of their hiding spot. Kensi turned Leo's head into her neck so the boy wouldn't see his father with the gun. Her breath stopped as they waited for a few moments.

"I would strongly discourage that, Mr. Deeks." A familiar voice announced.

Deeks dropped his head and released the breath he was holding; likewise, Kensi allowed herself to breath and put Leo down. The boy immediately ran into the living room.

"Ms. Het-tee! You bind-ed us!" Leo exclaimed.

Deeks holstered his gun and shot Kensi a relieved look. "Hetty. What are you doing here?" He asked, never taking his eyes off Kensi.

Kensi let out another breath and went to face Hetty. The small woman was smiling pleasantly, her hands linked behind her.

"I was in the neighborhood." Hetty replied noncommittally.

"We were… did you put this address in the file?" Deeks inquired.
"No." Hetty smiled at him.

"I did!" Leo grinned, jumping in the air.

"This house came up for sale some time ago. Due to its location to OSP I immediately looked at it. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths, three miles from OSP, two miles from a brilliant ocean spot, excellent neighborhood with quiet neighbors, superb school district, and wonderful for a growing family." Hetty told them.

Deeks looked at Kensi before looking back at their boss. "You mean everything we could possibly want rolled into one house." He said.

"Something like that." Hetty chuckled.

"And, what? You bought this house?" Kensi inquired.

"Indeed, Ms. Blye. Just as I bought the house Mr. Callen now resides at. Just as I bought the house that Mr. Hanna's family lives in." Hetty replied.

"But Sam said that they searched for a house, that they found it." Deeks said, confused.

"Yes, Mr. Hanna and his wife did search for a house, for quite a while if I recall correctly. I've always kept an eye on the homes around OSP for my agents. I do try very hard to take care of the agents under my care to the best of my ability." Hetty told them.

The agents were silent, stunned at her words. Leo broke the silence. "So are we gonna libe here?" He asked.

"You'll just need to sign the paperwork. No payment necessary. Just as Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna." Hetty informed them.

"You mean Callen and Sam just let you buy them houses? And they didn't pay you for them at all? That doesn't sound like them." Kensi objected.

"You'll find that they didn't have much of a choice, Ms. Blye. I offered them their homes, but would accept no payment. They could take it or leave, to use the vernacular." Hetty chuckled again.

"Deeks?" Kensi asked, turning to her partner.

"We're not gonna find a better home than this, Kens." He told her.

"No, we're not." She smiled at him.

"Is this what you want?" Deeks asked her.
"Absolutely. Is this what you want?" Kensi asked him.

Deeks smiled and tugged her to his side. "One hundred percent yes, Fern." He told her.

Kensi smiled and looked at Hetty. "Then we'll take it."

Hetty smiled, and Leo cheered.

so just imagine the Neighborhood Watch house as their house, because i really loved it haha. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! i'd love to hear what you guys are thinking, comments, concerns, suggestions, etc. i love reading your reviews!

xox