I don't own NCIS Los Angeles! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so sorry for any mistakes. Thank you for the reviews, alerts and favorites!

I hope everyone is still alive after the season finale and recovered a bit from it all. I hope you all can enjoy this chapter! I think it's something nice to read after last night's episode ^^

Chapter 38

Narah stared at her wall. The red wall of her new room. And she couldn't help but smile. It was like little rose peddles were glued to the wall. She really like how it looked. She loved her entire new room. Her very own room with her very own furniture. All picked out by herself. She looked at the book in her hand. Placing the book would make the room officially finished and maybe somewhere inside she didn't want it to be finished. She glanced at the photo collage and she smiled. The pictures on it were the best moments of the three of them. Seeing the pictures, Narah realized she hated being so far away from her friends, while they all still lived close to each other and saw each other every day. She was stuck at some rich kids' school. So Narah dropped the book on the nightstand, not even caring about it anymore. It was just a room. When she heard voices downstairs she went to see who were in the house. Callen and Sam came inside carrying two boxes and they smiled at her as a greeting.

'Study room?' they asked.

'Upstairs on the left immediately next to the stairs,' Narah answered and she moved away from the stairs to let them pass. She looked through the cabinets to find a glass. Eric and Nell followed through the door with more boxes. Narah sat on the counter, drinking her water, watching all the people carry boxes inside. It had taken her only two hours to unpack her stuff.

'Narah, please get off the counter and grab another box,' Deeks said while he walked inside. 'There are only a few left. Also we now have chairs to sit on.' Narah smiled at him and jumped of the counter, following him to the moving truck. She waited for Deeks to hand her one of the boxes when a woman walked towards them.

'Hay there, welcome to the neighborhood,' she greeted smiling. 'I'm Sally. I live two houses down the road.' She pointed at the house. 'I saw y'all carrying boxes inside. Are ya'll going to be our new neighbors?' Deeks smiled at her. Narah simply raised her eyebrows. The box was getting a little heaving in her arms.

'Thank you,' he said. 'I'm Marty and this is Narah,' he put his arm around Narah. 'And no, it's just me, Narah and my girlfriend Kensi, who is buying lunch. The others are our friends helping out with the move.' Sally nodded with a bright smile.

'Oh you are a lovely family,' she said. 'If you ever need any help or need to know something, just come over. I'm happy to help ya'll in any way.'

'Thank you very much,' Deeks said. 'But if you do not mind, we would like to get inside.' He nodded at the boxes in their hands and Sally started to laugh.

'Oh yeah, of course!' she said. 'Silly me! Well I'll be seeing ya'll around. There actually is a New Years barbecue next week…we would love if you could be there.' Narah sighed and walked away. She wasn't really up to listening to neighborly talks. Not yet.

Kensi was setting the pile of plates on the kitchen counter as Deeks came walking inside with several boxes with pizza. It had been a long day of unpacking for everyone and they were starving. At the end of the day only they, Narah, and Julia were left at the house. The rest of the team had gone home.

'Oh, it smells good,' Narah said and she sat down at their brand new table. She immediately went for one of the boxes and Deeks tapped her hand playfully.

'You might be starving but first everyone has to get the chance to sit down,' he told her with a grin. 'Besides, we're missing some glasses. Can you get some?' Narah sighed and went to the kitchen for the glasses. At the same time Julia put down a filled water can on the table.

'Do we have a water can?' Deeks asked surprised.

'It was in one of the boxes,' Julia said. 'So I guess you do.' Everyone sat down.

'Can I grab a piece of pizza now?' Narah asked impatiently and Kensi nodded. Narah smiled and grabbed the pizza she wanted. But before she could take a bit, a phone started to ring.

'Who brought their phone to dinner?' Julia asked with a warning tone. Kensi smiled cautiously. But the smile soon disappeared when she saw the caller-ID and she almost dropped the phone.

'It's Miss Rooney,' she stumbled.

'Answer it,' Julia said. Kensi took a deep breath and answered the phone. Deeks gestured her to put it on speaker phone and Kensi placed the phone in the middle of the table.

'Good evening Kensi, I hope I am not interrupting anything.'

'No, no, you didn't interrupt at all. We were just about to start dinner…oh you are on speaker phone so we can all hear you.' All four of them were nervously staring at the phone as the seconds went by, wondering why Miss Rooney was calling them.

'I'm calling you because I have some news concerning the adoption.' A little gasp escaped from Narah and both Deeks and Kensi grabbed her hands, squeezing it softly. 'And normally I would come over in person, which I will still do, but the news just arrived and it's already late…It's good news: we approve you as adoption parents for Narah.' Narah let out a scream as she stared in shock at Deeks and Kensi, who were glancing at each other.

'Congratulations!' Julia exclaimed. She was the only one who could find words. They could hear a little laugh from Miss Rooney.

'Congratulations indeed, Deeks, Kensi and Narah. Only thing that needs to be done now is the legalization of the adoption by a judge. This might take awhile and during this time I will come and visit you every thirty days…but getting it legalized is just a formality in most cases. I personally do not expect much trouble there.'

'Oh my God…thank you,' Deeks managed to speak and he looked at Kensi and Narah. It was real now.

'The house is beautiful,' Nell said to Deeks and Kensi a couple of days later. 'You guys really made it a home.' Kensi smiled at Deeks. They had indeed. Their very own place. They had unpacked most of the stuff and it had really become a home.

'It's a great painting,' Sam said, looking into the direction of the painting that was hanging above one of the couches.

'Ah, it's made by Matt Gordons,' Deeks told them. 'Paul Maltino, the owner of the youth center, donated it to Narah because he is closing the center and moving. He thought she would like it…' Deeks remembered how surprised he was when Narah announced that she needed to go to the youth center and even more when she came back with the big painting. But she wanted to keep it and it deserved a spot in their home. It had been Matt who had brought them together, unfortunately in a horrible way for him. He was the one who had brought their family together so he deserved to be remembered.

'To Marty, Kensi and Narah,' Julia toasted when she had finished giving everyone their first glass of champagne and she raised her glass. Everyone joined in with a smile and toasted to the new family. Kensi smiled at Deeks and he gave her a kiss.

Narah let herself fall on the bed and she stared at the ceiling. The music filled her head and when she closed her eyes, memories flooded her mind. Happy memories she was not used to seeing. A hand reaching out for her. A warm touch. A mother's touch trying to soothe her child. Two strong arms holding her up in the sky, letting her smile. A father's strength to make her feel safe, like nothing could ever harm her. They were all the memories that had let her cry herself to sleep each night for years. It were all the memories she had tried so hard to forget. But this time the tears didn't come. This time it was a warmth that came over her. A feeling of safety. Now it was okay to remember those moments. Now it was okay to be happy once again. So Narah kept her eyes close and let the memories come to her.

Kensi had walked upstairs to check up on Narah, who had been upstairs ever since she came back from therapy. When she opened the door to her room she saw Narah lying on the bed, appearing to asleep. It was the smile on her face that made Kensi just stand there and watch her sleep, just for a little while longer. She seemed more peaceful than she had ever been before. It was a look Kensi wanted to see on the girl every day. And that thought scared her. How were she and Deeks going to be able to give her that? The safety and the peace she needed? They weren't the ones who could offer her the stable family life she longed for, were they? Two arms slipped around her waist and Kensi jumped a little before sinking into Deeks' embrace. He rested his chin on her shoulder.

'She looks so peaceful,' he whispered and Kensi nodded.

'I wish she could look like this every day,' she whispered back and Kensi kissed him on the cheek.

'Well, that had become our job now,' he whispered. 'And we will do whatever it needs to keep her happy…do you think we should put a blanket over her?'

'What if it wakes her up?' Kensi asked slightly worried and Deeks released her, stepping into the room. He grabbed the blanket that was lying at the foot of the bed. He gently covered Narah with the blanket and he placed a kiss on the top of her head. Kensi's heart melted right that moment. This was her family now.

Narah woke up by the vibrating of her phone and she sat up, confused by the blanket that was covering her. She did not have much time to think about it and she grabbed her phone. It was a text of Ivan, telling that he was standing in front of the door. She smiled and got off the bed, running down the stairs towards the front door. Ivan was standing in front of the door with a silly smile on his face. Narah threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

'Let the boy come inside,' Deeks laughed and Narah released him, a little embarrassed by her actions.

'Do you want something to drink?' Kensi asked and Ivan nodded. The rest of the team was looking at them and Narah pulled Ivan into the living room.

'Ivan…this are Sam, Callen, Nell, Hetty, Eric…and you know Julia,' Narah quickly introduced him to everyone in the room. Ivan shyly gave everyone a little wave. Narah turned to Kensi, who came walking in with a glass of coca cola. 'Is it okay if we go to my room?'

'Sure,' Kensi said, handing Ivan the glass. 'Just be back a little before midnight.' Narah nodded and she dragged Ivan upstairs. He took some time glancing around in her room with a little smile on his face. He took in every inch of the room.

'It's a really nice room,' he said.

'Thanks for coming,' she replied shyly and she sat down on the bed, a little confused why she suddenly felt a bit ashamed. She had never been ashamed about something when it came to Ivan. She always felt equal when it came to him. But now she had this room, filled with her own stuff, in a nice home with great parents. It turned out good for her.

'You deserve this, Narah,' Ivan told her as he said down next to her on the bed. Narah rested her head on his shoulder. 'Being you has never been easy…so now it's time that it is easy being you…You're the proof that things can improve for us kids.' He placed a kiss on the top of her head.

They all sat in the living room with the TV on. There was a clock on the screen, slowly counting down to twelve o'clock. Deeks was holding Kensi in his arms as they were sitting silently. Music was playing softly.

'Where are Narah and Ivan?' Kensi asked as the clock closed in and the teenagers still weren't downstairs. She sat up straight. 'Should I go upstairs and get them?'

'Going in to surprise them?' Sam asked. 'When they are two teenagers? A boy and a girl? Who have known each other really long? We saw how Narah hugged Ivan.' Deeks immediately got up, with a shocked expression on his face, and he headed towards the stairs. The others started to laugh.

'You should not tease him about that,' Julia noted. 'Deeks is a rather protective father.' They heard footsteps from upstairs and soon Narah, Ivan and a red Deeks joined them in the living room.

'Guys, ten seconds left!' Eric exclaimed and he pointed at the TV-screen. Kensi stood next to Deeks and Narah, putting her arms around both of them. All of them counted down the seconds and when the clock hit twelve o'clock the fireworks started.

'Happy New Year!' everyone said. Hugs, kisses and New Year wishes were exchanged.

'Can we go outside to see the firework?' Narah asked and Deeks nodded. All of them walked outside. Outside Ivan put his arms around Narah as they looked up at the sky where the firework lit up the sky. Deeks and Kensi were standing to her side, also in an embrace and looking at each other with love. Callen, Sam, Eric, Nell, Hetty and Julia were smiling and pointed out the beautiful firework. And Narah took a deep satisfied breath. This was the way it was supposed to be. This was her family and it was all good.