For those who want Deeks...
Kensi couldn't help the large smile that had blossomed across her face the moment that the children had entered the house and started looking around in awe. The social worker had informed her the night before that he would be bringing them over so that they could see their new house before they moved in and that way the social worker could make sure that she had gotten everything needed. Though she had yet to paint the rooms or assemble the furniture, the social worker was more than pleased with what he saw.
"Everything looks great." Jeffry beamed. "Just get their rooms painted and put together and they should be able to move in shortly."
"That's great." Kensi let out a sigh of relief and looked down at Isla who had tugged on her pants.
"Up," The little girl demanded her arms up in the air in expectation.
Kensi expertly lifted the child and placed her on her hip and felt the girl lean into her side in content.
Jeffry smiled at the sight and held up his clipboard. "I'm going to put this in my car and give you some time alone with the kids before I bring them back."
Kensi nodded and watched Will and Elijah walk into the room, both smiling. Will was talking a mile a minute to his little brother while the 3 year old tried to keep up and kept mimicking what Will was doing. Her smile grew larger but then suddenly dropped when she heard a very familiar voice coming from the front door.
Deeks didn't seem to have noticed the social worker's car out front as he walked through the door, a potted plant in his hands and his eyes focused on the plant in question.
"Hey fern, I figured I'd get you an actual fern to help liven the place up and…" Deeks trailed off when he finally looked up to see his partner snuggling a tiny girl while two young boys stood next to her, all of them staring at him as if he were a foreign species.
Kensi could see the questions forming in his eyes and his brow creasing in confusion as he looked between her and the children.
"Deeks these are Isla, Elijah and William." Kensi gestured to each as she introduced them. "Kids, this is my friend Marty Deeks."
"Hi," Deeks weakly responded.
"Deeks, um…"Kensi trailed off and took a deep breath. "The kids were Maria and Thomas's." She added and saw understanding dawn on him. "I'm going to be taking them in."
"You are taking in three kids." Deeks said very slowly. "You Kensi Blye, killer of cactus's is taking in three kids."
"Deeks," Kensi scolded when she saw Will's eyes widen at the word 'killer'.
"Sorry," Deeks mumbled.
"Ken-I, what a catus?" Elijah asked in the broken speech only a 3 year old could manage.
"It's a plant sweetie." Kensi ruffled his blond hair affectionately.
Deeks couldn't help but feel a tug at his heart at seeing his partner fall into the maternal role she had apparently taken on. It made him wonder, not for the first time, what she would be like with a biological child of her own, preferably one that shared half his genes.
"What did he mean that you are a killer of cactus's?" Will asked while moving closer to Kensi with a protective look on his face that almost made Deeks laugh.
"He just meant that plants don't like me much." Kensi tried to smooth over with a glare at Deeks who shrugged sheepishly.
"Oh." Will said, seemingly happy with that.
"You know what Will?" Deeks asked, drawing the little boy's attention to him. "Kensi is a really great person and though she doesn't have much luck with plants, I'm sure she'll take very good care of you."
"I know." Will declared and surprised both adults by walking over to Deeks and leaning against his leg where Deeks placed a hand on his shoulder.
Kensi smiled at the two of them and then turned to the social worker when he made his way back into the house. Introductions were made and then goodbyes before the social worker and kids headed out to the car with the promise of everyone seeing each other again very soon. Kensi waved at them until they were out of site and then turned to Deeks, knowing she had some explaining to do.
"The night that I found out my friends had died, I was told that they had requested that the kids come and live with me." She stared. "I was told that I didn't have to take them in, but if I didn't then they would go into foster care where they might be separated and I can't let what happened to Callen happen to them as well. It's going to be hard, but I think coming to live with me is the best thing that I can do for them."
Deeks looked at her for many minutes before a smile spread across his face and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You are an amazing person, you know that right?" He stated and got a broad smile from her in return.
"Yeah well…"Kensi half shrugged and walked over to one of the full boxes that had yet to be opened.
"Do you need some help with anything?" Deeks asked.
"Actually, there is something that you can do to help. I have to get their rooms done so that they can move in. I still have to paint and put together their furniture." Kensi explained.
"I'm good with painting and I've been known for putting together a few things before." Deeks stated and gestured for her to lead the way.
Kensi started painting the walls while Deeks busied himself with assembling the furniture that she had bought. They worked mostly in silence with Deeks swearing at the furniture from time to time for not fitting correctly or not wanting to be put together. It wasn't until he had fully put together the new crib for Isla that he spoke up again.
"How are you going to do this Kens?" He slowly asked and leaned against the wall to watch her paint.
She put down her roller and looked at him a bit confused before she answered. "I don't know Deeks. I'm all that they have so I couldn't just leave them in the system to potentially be split up and never adopted. Their parents trusted them with me and wanted me to care for them."
"What about work?"
"William is six so he'll be enrolled in school fulltime while Elijah and Isla who are three and two will be put into daycare while I'm working. It will mean no late nights, limiting my undercover operations and being mindful that I have three kids to go home to." Kensi explained.
"You're going to do it all on your own? You're going to change your whole life to take in three kids, which by the way I think is amazing, but you plan on just what, jumping into this and hoping for the best?" Deeks stood up and walked over to her.
"What do you expect me to do, reach out and drag someone else into this?" Kensi almost snapped.
"You're going to need help Kens!" Deeks snapped back.
"And what, are you volunteering?" Kensi asked and saw a look settle onto his face which made her heart nearly stop. "Deeks…"
"You're my partner Kensi. Partners help each other out in any way that they can, even when it comes to taking care of three orphaned children" Deeks slowly stated. "They are going to need more than just one person taking care of them, and what happens when one gets sick and you have to take care of them and their siblings? There is a lot to handle with one kid, not to mention three."
Kensi felt a smile stretch across her face just seconds before she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug that threatened to crush his ribcage.
"You're an amazing guy Deeks." Kensi said when she pulled away from him. "But are you sure that you want to do this?"
"It's better than making you do this all on your own." Deeks shrugged. "What type of friend would I be if I left this all on your shoulders when I could help?"
Kensi smiled and picked up her roller again. "You might regret this."
"Yeah well, I have worse regrets in my life." Deeks claimed and pulled the next box over to him.
They worked for hours before deeming the rooms complete and put the furniture into their new places. When Kensi was satisfied with how each room looked, she turned back to Deeks.
"They move in soon." She announced.
"I'll be here with you each step of the way, as much or as little as you want. I'm not going to lie and say that it doesn't completely freak me out, but I know you and know that if you don't have help you'll drive yourself into the ground trying to do the best that you can." Deeks explained.
"Thank you." Kensi said and placed a kiss on his stubbled check.
"You're welcome." Deeks said and started to clean up with her.
It was a bit hard to believe that soon the house was going to be full of children running around. Pretty soon Kensi was going to have a family of her own and he wanted nothing more than to be a part of that.
Thoughts?