Hello wonderful readers! Here is another chapter for your reading pleasure, and for those who have expressed that you want more Deeks, have no fear he will become a part of this very soon. :)
When Kensi got back to OSP after meeting the kids it was like she was experiencing some kind of adrenaline high. She fidgeted and nearly bounced in her seat as she worked away on reports. Deeks continued to "secretly" eye her warily from his own desk, but for once, she didn't really care. All she could think about Will's determined strength and desire to help, Elijah's sweet smile and easy manner, and Isla's steady dark gaze and soft dark chocolate curls. She already couldn't wait to see them tomorrow, but she knew she should really focus on the long list of things she needed to complete before they could move in. A post-it note beside her laptop currently listed the tasks out and read: pack, clean, move, unpack, shop for furniture, assemble furniture, prepare house. For two and a half days, she would have her hands full.
"What do you say I come over and help you pack tonight?" Deeks offered, noting her edginess.
"Actually, that would be great," Kensi perked up. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that she could manage her list completely alone. "With the time line being what it is and my landlord wanting me out in the next few days, I might have to hire a moving company."
"A moving company?" Callen asked as he and Sam entered the desk area and within ear shot. Deeks gave her a raised eyebrow, leaving it to her to tell her news.
"I bought a house yesterday," Kensi smiled, genuinely excited over this development.
"Our girl is really growing up," Sam ribbed lightly, but his smile wasn't teasing but very happy for her. "You know we'd love to help you pack and move if you need some help."
"We?" Callen paused in his ruffling of paperwork at his desk.
"Yeah, we," Sam gave Callen a grin.
"You've seen her place, right?" Callen said, avoiding Kensi's glare. "No way are we coming out alive if we go in."
"Hey!" Kensi finally spoke up. "For your information, Deeks and I have it all under control."
Deeks noticeably paled at her words since he had been hoping for some additional help. It was a pretty daunting task.
"A little extra help wouldn't hurt," Deeks hedged, hoping his partner would come around.
"Nah, we're all good," Kensi said with her chin a little higher. "I bet we can get it all done by tomorrow."
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"What made you think we could finish this by tomorrow?" Deeks whined from the kitchen, where his pace of packing up pots and pans was steadily slowing. They had managed to pack up her living room, half the kitchen, and half the bedroom. The bathroom and various closets have yet to be even started and stacked boxes filled every nook and cranny, making navigation around her place as impossible as it had been before. When he'd first arrived, several boxes had been started and finished but it looked like she had hardly dented the apartment as a whole. He'd asked her what all she had done since they'd parted ways at OSP so that he could go grab Monty and dinner, which took a couple hours, and she had vaguely answered about packing away all her books. Of course he had to spend the next hour teasing her over smutty romance novels and how she just didn't want him to see them and she remained silent on the matter as they devoured their dinner. Now it was closing in on midnight and even Kensi's previously excited and anxious attitude was starting to drag toward exhaustion.
"You can go if you're tired but I'm determined to at least finish everything but the bathroom," Kensi said before yawning.
"Sure you are," Deeks rolled his eyes and tried to pick up the pace of packing the kitchen. He couldn't abandon her to this task with no help. Besides, he gave it ten more minutes before she passed out from exhaustion right where she sat in front of a closet.
To her credit, she made it another forty-five minutes before was snoozing with her back to the wall. Monty had decided to keep her company as well because he had spread himself across her straightened legs and was snoring in concert with his partner. The sight of them together nearly melted his heart, but he knew that position couldn't be very comfortable for her. Crossing the distance he got Monty to move off her and then he scooped her up into his arms with one arm under her knees and the other under her back. She only mumbled and curled into his chest before continuing her steady breathing of sleep. With a sigh of relief, Deeks carried her to her room and tucked her into bed. He couldn't help but watch her for a minute since she looked so peaceful and almost childlike, but he knew if she woke to him having this one way staring contest, she'd probably hurt him somewhere. Dragging himself away from his bedside and back into the living he found Monty already passed out beside the sofa and he managed to stumble over just in time to crash on top of the cushions and his eyes shut all on their own.
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Kensi groggily woke up to see her clock blinking the time of 9:16 AM and she flew out of bed. She needed to get ready and head over to the station to meet with the kids again. Excitement bubbled up in her again at the impending meeting and she dashed for the shower, stripping out of her day clothes as she went.
"Uhhh…" A man's voice came from behind her and Kensi whirled around, clutching her shirt to her front since she now wore little more than a bra and panties.
"DEEKS?!" She shrieked and turned beat red. "Cover your eyes!"
It took a few seconds for him to comply, but he did, also turning visibly red.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kensi asked, voice high with panic and embarrassment.
"I – I was too tired to drive last night and didn't think you'd mind if I took the sofa," Deeks mumbled, fighting the urge to drop his hand from over his eyes to stare openly at his half naked partner.
Kensi's mouth opened and closed a few times before she just decided that she needed to get moving if she was going to be on time for the visitation. Once she got the shower going she hopped in and then heard her partner talking through the door.
"I'll meet you at OSP, k?" He called over the sound of the shower.
"K!" She half shouted back through the noise and door. She returned her attention to getting ready as fast as possible and sped through her normal routine.
Kensi only breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived at the station five minutes early and then she remembered that she'd get to see the children again and a large smile spread across her face.
"Ken-i!" Elijah squealed when he saw her through the viewing window and she rushed into the room just in time for the boy to wrap his arms around her legs. She must have made a pretty good impression on him then.
"Hi Elijah!" Kensi was equally delighted to see the lighter haired boy. She looked up at the other two, Will who was sitting at the table quietly and staring at her with a semi-blank expression and then Isla who was stumbling her way toward her. "Hey Will, Isla."
She rescued the teetering toddler from falling and scooped her up to sit on her hip.
"I'm so happy to see all of you," Kensi smiled, giving Isla an extra bounce and ruffling her fingers through Elijah's curls.
"You still want us then?" Will asked, clearly trying to hide the bit of hope in his voice.
"Definitely!" Kensi, taking a seat across from Will after loosening Elijah from around her knees. "I want to know more about each of you so we can become very good friends."
Will still looked a little suspicious but nodded. Elijah tugged at her sleeve to get her attention and rewarded her with a big smile when she looked down at him.
"I like cars!" He gushed with a happy smile.
"Oh yeah? What kind of cars?" Kensi asked.
"ALL cars!" He squealed as if the answer were obvious. "Wiw likes soccer."
"What position do you play, Will?" Kensi asked, shifting the attention to a quiet Will.
"Forward," Will answered, looking as if he wanted to continue, but was too nervous to.
"Why forward?" Kensi pushed a little in hopes of getting him to open up.
"Cos then I can score goals and win points," Will answered, starting to smile some as if reliving a past game.
"Do you play on a team then?" Kensi asked.
Will nodded, starting to relax some. "We're called the Tigers."
"Very cool," Kensi grinned. "Does either of you have a favorite color?"
"BLUE!"
"Green," Both boys stated at the same time.
Kensi chuckled at them when they stuck their tongues out at each other.
"Are Wiw and I gonna shae a room like we did at home?" Elijah asked, taking on a more serious tone.
"If that's what you want, then definitely," Kensi said, matching his tone.
"Can we have like bunk beds too?" Elijah perked up a bit more at his own idea and Kensi nodded her agreement.
"Of course," She said, already thinking that she was going to be wrapped around each of their pinkies before the week was up.
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Deeks couldn't figure it out. He knew Kensi would tell him what was up eventually, but it turns out when it comes to secrets, he is not a very patient man. She breezed in just after one, dropping of a container of Chinese on his desk and then planted herself at her own desk, inhaling her own food while she began checking emails and getting herself sorted.
"How is packing going, Ms. Blye?" Hetty asked, causing Kensi to jump in her seat and quickly turn to see Hetty heading her way.
"It's, uh, going," Kensi said, trying to sound optimistic.
"Good," Hetty nodded and then smiled. "I took the privilege of hiring a moving company on your behalf. They will be by your place tomorrow at 1 PM."
Kensi's eyes went wide as she realized just how much she had to finish yet. "Uh, do you need me here for the rest of today? I think I have some packing to do."
"Go right on ahead," Hetty smiled knowingly.
Kensi finished scarfing her food and grabbed her bag before making her way to the exit.
"Need any help tonight?" Deeks called after her.
"Yeah, if you want to," she called back, already rushing out into the fresh air.
Deeks knew he'd be stopping by to help tonight, because each extra minute he spent with her was a minute she might spill her secret and he couldn't let that go to waste.
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Kensi watched as the moving truck pulled away from her place and with one last look at her place, grabbed her keys and headed for her car. The moving guys would take care of unloading her boxes and furniture into each room and so she would have time to go check out some furniture and some paint colors for some of the rooms. She was very excited about getting the kids' rooms just perfect for them so they could feel like it was a home. A lot of their clothing and some toys had already been delivered to the house and sat in closets, waiting to be unpacked, but the furniture would be up to her to provide.
It took more than a few furniture stores and a Home Depot for her to purchase a plain white bunk bed for the boys that she bought a bright blue set of sheets and comforter for Elijah and green set of the same for Will. Luckily there were quite a few matching white dressers and she even got a little extra blue and green paint so that she could paint the fronts of each drawer to coordinate who it belonged to. Her fun splurges for the boys were a monster pack of hot wheels and a floor mat that had streets and building colored onto it for Elijah and a decent stack of DC and Marvel comic books and a backyard goalie net complete with a soccer ball for Will.
Isla was a little harder to shop for because according to the social worker, she was at the stage between a crib and a toddler bed. She was only able to decide on a cheerful lighter wood colored crib that converted to a toddler bed with minimal effort. Maybe by then Deeks will have found her out and he'd figure it out for her. Bright yellow and purple colored sheets made it into the cart with a few stuffed animals that couldn't be helped and a cover for the changing table slash dresser that matched the crib. After a careful debate, Kensi decided on a pale yellow for the walls that could stick with her until she was a teenager and wanted something else. The thought made her heart skip a beat. She was going to raise these children for the next 16 years. It was an exhilarating idea but so terrifying at the same time. So much to screw up in a lot of time.
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