A/N: Thanks so much for all your comments and continued interest in this story!

As principal, Sam Hanna made the call home about Caleb's behavior, which meant Kensi didn't get the opportunity to glean any details from the conversation. She also didn't see Deeks during car rider pick up since she was on bus duty.

The whole time, her mind kept drifting back to Caleb. He'd remained emotional the rest of the day once he returned from his chat with Sam, nearly breaking into tears a few more times, and mostly keeping to himself. It hurt to see him so off-kilter and upset

For the first time since the day she met Deeks, she found herself angry with him. He should have warned her about this; they talked nearly every day. He'd certainly had the opportunity, so it seemed an intentional oversight. As much as she tried to separate her responsibilities as a concerned teacher from her personal feelings, she couldn't. It hurt that he'd hadn't said anything. After everything they'd discussed and shared, he'd kept something this important to himself.

She tried not to be jealous of Monica, an unknown she'd never fully considered a threat. Maybe she should have.

Her phone buzzed while she was putting in some of the fourth quarter grades. A banner with Deeks' name popped up with a message that disappeared too quickly for her to read. She briefly considered ignoring it to spite him, but then picked the phone up, reminding herself she was a mature adult. Playing games would solve nothing.

Deeks: Hey, can you come over tonight?

Kensi felt a wave of relief, and started typing, then erased, repeating that process several times before she settled on a very eloquent, "Ok".

When Deeks got the call from St. Bridget's he immediately thought something terrible must have happened. Though it was a relief, he was almost more shocked that Caleb was in trouble. He rarely got into disagreements with other kids, let alone acting aggressively.

Kids made mistakes though, even "good" kids. He didn't want to come down too hard, but also couldn't just ignore it.

He spent the drive to the school and in the car line, debating how to handle the situation. Caleb made the decision for him when he walked out, head down, and got into the truck very obviously doing his best not to look at Deeks.

"Hey kiddo, how was your day?" Deeks asked, deciding to forgo mentioning the incident for now.

"I got in trouble," Caleb muttered into his knees.

"Yeah, I know. You want to talk about that?"

Caleb looked up for just a second, barely making eye contact, and shook his head before folding in on himself again. He stayed quiet the whole ride home, refusing to tell Deeks what was wrong or answer any questions beyond the fact that he'd thrown a toy at a classmate.

"Ok, go get started on your homework," Deeks told Caleb when they got home, dropping a kiss on his head. "We're going to talk about this throwing thing more later, ok?"

"Ok." Caleb gave another nod, gently bumping him head against Deeks' chest.

"Love you, kiddo."

Deeks watched Caleb shuffle down the hallway to his room, then closed his eyes, blowing out a long, slow breath. Frustration mixed with a heavy dose of anger burbled up inside him.

He could hazard a guess that Monica's surprise visit played a part in Caleb's unusual behavior. Deeks had spent the entire hour she'd stayed trying to conceal his feelings like he always had in the past when Caleb was involved. He'd always told himself that he wouldn't say or do anything to tarnish Caleb's opinion of his mother, but maybe he'd been wrong.

Twisting his head side to side to try to alleviate the growing ache at the base of his skull, he settled his hands on his hips. He still needed to make dinner and finish some work. He also really needed to talk to Kensi. He didn't quite know why he'd put it off, but the longer he waited, the harder it seemed to tell her about the latest development.

Deeks raked a hand through his hair, sending a text to Kensi, asking her to come over, then headed into the kitchen to figure out what he could throw together.

Kensi arrived at Deeks' house shortly after five. He answered her knock with a spatula in one hand, and a smile that seemed less genuine than usual.

"Hey."

"Hey, come in. I'm just finishing dinner," he said, gesturing her in. Kensi followed him back into the kitchen, where a covered pot sat on one burner on the stove and a pan of what looked like mixed vegetables sizzles in a skillet. Deeks stirred the contents a few times, giving the pan a few shakes instead of using the spatula.

"Sorry about what happened with Caleb at school today. We're going to talk about it a later when he has a chance to settle down a little. He's been a little…off the last couple days. Though I know that's no excuse," Deeks explained, focusing on the food.

Kensi studied him as he worked, noticing the tight set of his shoulders and slightly stilted movements.

"Yeah, I noticed," Kensi responded, hesitating briefly before she forged ahead. "He mentioned that his mom is back in town."

Deeks stilled, his head falling forward for a moment, and she heard him swear under his breath.

"I was going to tell you," he said.

"So, why didn't you?" She kept her voice perfectly even, though the confirmation that he was keeping this from her made her chest tighten with a strange kind of pain. "If for no other reason than Caleb's sake. He was kind of a mess today."

Flipping off the front burner with a sharp twist of his wrist, he turned to face her. "To be honest, I'm still trying to process all of this. Monica just showed up without warning, like not even a call, and asked to see Caleb. I don't know how to feel about any of it."

"Oh." Her dismay at this revelation obviously showed, and Deeks' head snapped up.

"Not like that," he clarified adamantly. "I'm not in love with Monica at all."

Kensi studied his expression, searching for any lie in his statement, even if he didn't realize it. She saw confusion, frustration, maybe even anger, but nothing that suggested he was concealing feelings for his ex-wife.

"I believe you. I'm sorry—"

"No, it's ok," Deeks interrupted quickly. He chuckled softly, tiredly. "These have been a weird few days."

Moving towards the table, she pulled out a chair, and motioned for Deeks to sit down. The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, and he sat with a heavy sigh while she took the seat next to him.

"Tell me what happened," she prompted.

He brushed at his hair a few times before settling his chin on his folded hands.

"Two nights ago, Monica showed up, and asked to see Caleb. It's not the first time she's done that, but usually she gives some kind of warning. Or asks if she can come beforehand." He rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip, his eyes distant.

"It's been so long since we've seen her, I think I assumed she just wasn't ever coming back. Once I got over the shock, I realized I really didn't want her in the house, but she convinced me to let her in." He shook his head. "She tried to act like nothing had changed, flirting, asking about my job, and the more she did, the more…" he trailed off.

"What happened with Caleb?" Kensi asked gently.

"Oh, the poor kid was so confused," he said bitterly. "You know, he used to talk about her, even a few months ago, but he hasn't recently. I think he finally came to terms with the fact that his mom is not a consistent part of his life, and then she just rocks in her wanting to do play games and read him a bedtime story. I don't blame him for being upset."

"It's a lot for a little kid." Kensi reached over and tapped one of his hands with her fingertip. "And how does the elder Deeks feel about it?"

Deeks smiled more genuinely at her question, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He looked tired in a way that went beyond the physical. The last of her irritation faded away as she cupped her hand around his.

He tipped his chin up, pursing his lips against his teeth. "Oh, I am…worried about my kid, frustrated, and beyond angry. I'm so sick of Monica disrupting our lives." He gave Kensi an abashed look. "That probably sounds incredibly selfish."

"No, it doesn't," Kensi assured him, sliding her hand up to curl around the back of his neck. "None of this is fair, and it makes perfect sense that you want stability in your life. I'm not judging you."

Deeks leaned into her touch, and she gently brushed her thumb along his skin.

"Speaking of guilt, I never meant to keep this from you. I'm—"

Kensi pressed her finger against his lips, gently silencing him.

"No apologies, Deeks. I understand." Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around him as much as she could at such an odd angle. His head fell onto her shoulder, his breath warm on his skin, and she just held him tighter.

"You're way too good to me," he murmured.

"No, I'm not. I just love you," she told him, running her fingers through his hair several times. She felt him relaxing in her arms after a few seconds.

"Ugh, I need to finish dinner," he said without making a move to get up.

"How about I order pizza?" Kensi suggested. "Then maybe you can have that talk with Caleb."

A/N: Drama. That's it. Oh, and maybe a little bit of emotional whump.