Chapter 4

Deeks finished the song and let the last notes fade away before opening his eyes. Catching Meaghan looking at him like he was an alien species made him feel self-conscious. He cleared his throat "Well, like I said, I'm pretty rusty."

Meaghan opened and closed her mouth a couple times, not sure how to tell him how beautiful the music had been or how beautiful he had looked while playing it. Can you even call a guy beautiful? she wondered. This brought her back to earth. She smiled at him and quietly said "That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Maybe there's more to this classical music than I thought." He smiled back at her, delighted that she hadn't immediately turned her nose up at what he had played.

Turning, he noticed his entire team, plus the Admiral and Mrs. Shelton, standing in the doorway. His team looked blown away. He blushed and handed the violin back to Meaghan to be put away. Callen seemed to sense his discomfort and, instead of teasing the detective for what they had just witnessed, said "We've gone over what needs to be done prior to the event tonight. You and Kensi need to accompany Mrs. Shelton and Meaghan to the hair and nail salons for their appointments. We'll be staying here with the Admiral." The rest of the team followed Callen's lead and didn't make any snarky comments. Deeks looked at his team leader in appreciation but when Callen smirked back at him, he knew he would be teased unmercifully once away from the Shelton household. They were closing ranks around him while here but he would be fair game back at OSP.

He sighed and then registered what Callen had said. "Wait, what? Hair salon? Nail salon?" he whined. Callen nodded and grinned at him.

"Let's go partner. If we don't leave now, they're going to be late for their hair appointments." said Kensi. His shoulders slumped and he started to shuffle out of the room.

Meaghan reached out and touched his arm. She leaned up and whispered in his ear "Don't worry Marty! I'll protect you from my mom." Deeks looked down at her, saw the twinkle in her eye and laughed. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. He and Meaghan could make fun of the whole enterprise behind her mom's back. He caught Kensi frowning at him. She couldn't be jealous of a sixteen year old, could she? He gave her a big smile and thumbs up.

Leaving the music room, the Admiral, along with Sam and Callen headed to his home office. He had work to do but didn't need to go into the office to do so. Mrs. Shelton gathered her hand bag and turned to Kensi and Deeks. "Do we take the car or do you drive us?"

Kensi answered "We'll take my car, Mrs. Shelton. I'm trained in evasive driving and would prefer to be in a car I'm very familiar with, should we need it." Mrs. Shelton sniffed and nodded, turning for the front door. Deeks and Meaghan exchanged a look and Deeks looked over at Kensi, including her in the conspiracy. She hesitated a moment and then smiled hugely at them, winking at Meaghan who winked back. Kensi was suddenly feeling better about this assignment. While she had originally failed at getting Meaghan to trust her, her partner had broken through and had also revealed a huge part of himself to her and the team. She couldn't wait until they got back to OSP. She would tease him but, mostly, she just wanted hear him play again.

They left the house, Kensi going first and scanning the surrounding area. The butler went with them and opened the door for both Shelton women to get into the back seats. Deeks came out last, also scanning the area and then got into the front passenger seat. As they drove away, Mrs. Shelton began giving them directions to the hair salon, Deeks not really paying attention, instead watching for any tails. When they pulled into the parking lot, he noticed where they were and said "Oh, this is a great place!"

Kensi snorted and looked at him "And just how would you know that Shaggy?" she said snarkily.

He smiled back at her "I have my sources, Fern." knowing this non-answer would get his partner riled up. He swung out of the car and, once again, scanned the area. Kensi paused for a moment and then followed suit.

In the backseat, mother and daughter exchanged a look. This partnership was obviously more than that. Meaghan felt a little sting of jealousy but pushed it back. She knew Marty was too old for her and she was just crushing on him a little. Still, she'd keep an eye on Kensi to make sure the federal agent treated her police detective right. She hadn't been pleased with the tone in the agent's voice.

Once they had the all clear from their protectors, they got out and headed into the hair salon. Laura went once a week to have her perfectly coiffed hair neatened up but Meaghan hadn't had anyone touch her hair in months. She just let it grow out and put it up in a ponytail or left it down. Of course, neither of these hair styles met with her mother's approval for tonight's party so she was forced to come along.

Moving into the building, Kensi and Marty quickly scanned the employees and clients. Nothing looked out of place. Marty looked around once more and was disappointed when he didn't see the familiar face he was looking for. Turning back to the women, he indicated that all was well. He didn't notice Meaghan looking over his shoulder in confusion as she watched a blonde woman with purple streaks in her hair advance on Marty with her hands up in the air like claws. She was about to say something when the woman drove her hands into his hair, dug in and started to shake his head back and forth. "When are you going to let me get my hands on this mop?!" she said loudly.

Marty grinned and went to turn but was still held in place by the hands in his hair. "Cynthia Anne Peterson, you let go of me right now!" he mock yelped. Cindy complied and he turned to grab her in a huge hug. He hadn't seen her in forever and had been hoping she was working today when he realized where they were. This way he could combine business with a nice visit. The two grinned at each other until interrupted by Mrs. Shelton clearing her throat.

Cindy turned to her and smiled. "It's so nice to see you again, Mrs. Shelton. Susie should be done with her current client in just a moment and will be ready for you. I'll be doing Meaghan today."

Laura Shelton did not return her smile. She wanted to know why the hairdresser knew the scruffy detective protecting her daughter and she didn't want Meaghan to get any ideas about odd colors in her hair for tonight. "Just how do you know Detective Deeks, Ms. Peterson?" she said stiffly.

Cindy looked at the woman who was currently looking down her nose at her and stifled her iniital response to smack the woman. They had plenty of customers like this who thought they were so much better than everyone else and she usually ignored them. This time, however, it was Marty the woman was talking down about and she was not ready to let this go. "Marty saved my life." she said simply.

"How is that? Did he save you from some criminal?" asked Laura. Kensi looked interested as well. She wanted to know exactly how well her partner knew this attractive woman in front of them.

"No. He wasn't a cop at the time. He was my Public Defender. I was seventeen and broke. I needed money to eat so I stole some jewelry from a local store. I got caught and the owner pressed charges. Marty was my lawyer and got the owner to drop the charges if I agreed to come in and help out at the store to pay him back. He was the only one who asked me what I wanted to do with my future. I was embarrassed at first but he finally got me to admit what I wanted. When I told him it was to go to beauty school, he got a friend who owned one to allow me to attend for free if I cleaned up after hours each day. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." she pointed around at the upscale hair salon.

Marty snorted. "You're here because you married the boss's son."

"Who also wouldn't be here if not for you! " she retorted, refusing to let him deflect what she and Chris owed him.

"Wait, Detective Deeks was your Public Defender?" asked Laura, clearly confused.

"Yes, Mrs. Shelton. I am fully licensed to practice law in the state of California." Marty replied.

"Hhmmpf. And Nevada. And New York!" Cindy interjected.

"Nevada, Deeks?" asked Kensi, not having ever heard him say that he was licensed anywhere but here.

"Sure! Vegas baby!" he quipped back.

"New York?" she asked, waiting to see what he could come up with for that.

"Well, Ray got into some trouble there and I couldn't represent him if I weren't licensed in New York so I filed the paperwork, sat the bar, passed and that was that." was his quieter reply.

"So you were licensed in both New York and Nevada, as well as California." stated Laura, wanting to be sure she had the information correct.

"Still am, ma'am." he said.

"Apparently, there's more to you than meets the eye, Detective Deeks." Laura stated.

He looked her in the eye. "That's often true of everyone, ma'am." She looked at him open mouthed, not sure if she had just been insulted, rebuked or he was just stating a fact.

Turning away, he asked Cindy "Speaking of Chris, how is he doing? "

"He's doing well. Which you would know if we saw you more often than every few months." she responded, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You planning on being around for your nephew's birth?"

He grinned. "You know I am!"

Kensi looked at the woman's stomach. It was hard to tell she was pregnant under the smock but, now that she knew what to look for, she could see the gentle swell of her belly. Her relief that came from knowing the woman was married and expecting a child with her husband, was all out of proportion for the feelings she would admit to for her partner.

"When are you due Cindy? Sounds like you know it's a boy?" she asked.

"Three more months and Martin Christopher Peterson will be making his debut!" Cindy replied, gently running her hand over her stomach.

"Uh, Martin? I don't think so. The three of us need to have a chat about what name you plan on hanging on any nephew of mine!" Deeks said.

Cindy just stuck out her tongue at him. Then she grinned "Oh! The band's playing tonight! Why don't you come by and see everyone? We can catch up and then talk about names."

"I'd love to but I have to work tonight. " Deeks started. "Why don't I…"

Suddenly he was interrupted by Meaghan. "Wait, wait, wait! Are you talking about Chris Peterson, lead singer and guitar for Vivid Dreams?" she named another popular local band.

"Yup! That's my Chris!" Cindy replied proudly.

Meaghan obviously wanted to talk more but just then Susie came out to claim Mrs. Shelton for her appointment. The rest of the afternoon went quickly and peacefully, if you didn't count the nail salon employee's talking about how hot Deeks was in Russian and Kensi responding in the same language, almost coming to blows with the three women. He still had no idea what had transpired and Kensi wasn't talking.

Arriving back at the Shelton home, no one was sure who was happiest that that was over with.