"Monica, what are you doing here?" Deeks asked, his surprise giving way to unease.
"I'm not allowed to see my son now?" she responded, as though she hadn't been gone and out of touch for months. Deeks bristled at what sounded like judgment in her voice; he'd never denied her access to Caleb. He'd been the one pleading for her to come in the early days.
"Usually you call."
"Well, it was kind of a last-minute decision. I figured you wouldn't mind." Monica's eyes ran over him pointedly. "Are you gonna let me in?"
"Uh." Deeks glanced over his shoulder, thinking of Caleb inside, blissfully unaware that his little world was about to be jostled yet again. "Listen, Monica, tonight's really not a good time."
"I haven't seen Caleb in months. You can't spare 30 minutes?" she asked, somehow managing to make him feel like the unreasonable one.
"Ok," he relented, but didn't move to the side yet. "It's a school night though, so it really needs to be quick."
"Message received," Monica said, mimicking his drawl. She waited for him to finally move aside, her shoulder brushing his as she stepped over the threshold. She wasted no time walking around the living room, checking out the furnishings and pictures.
Deeks remembered when he found her brashness attractive, but now it just felt invasive.
"Wow, you fixed this place up nice." Her finger ran over a picture of Caleb grinning next to a massive pumpkin. "You look good," she commented, turning, eyes lingering on him. He couldn't tell if she meant it to sound flirtatious, or if that was just her default for any of their interactions. It felt odd not to recall anymore. "Better than last time I saw you."
"Thanks. I think," Deeks said, adding. "You look like you're doing well, too."
"Could be worse. Could be better," she said evasively. "I heard you're writing contracts for celebrities now."
Deeks inclined his head. "I'm a legal advisor for a firm that works with actors and musicians. How'd you hear?"
"My Aunt Patricia. That's quite a change from before."
"Yeah, well—"
The thunder of Caleb running down the hallway interrupted him.
"Kensi, is that you?" he shouted, a second before he appeared, skidding into the room with a giant smile. His expression fell a moment later when he spotted Monica. "Mommy," he whispered.
Similar to the few weeks before Christmas, the last month of school always seemed a little surreal. Time moved both far too fast and too slow. Kensi spent much of the day reviewing concepts from the whole year, and as always, was amazed at how much her little students had grown.
Today, they'd been assigned a small writing project: Write about what you want to do this summer and draw a picture. When they were finished, they were free to play until lunch time.
Kensi was in the middle of reviewing the day's math activity with her classroom aide when she heard two voices rise above the usual mundane chatter. Kensi turned in time to see Caleb Deeks chuck a wooden block towards another student standing in front of him.
"Caleb, we do not throw toys," Kensi reprimanded him, hurrying towards them before the other boy could retaliate. Caleb startled, taking a few steps back, a hint of fear crossing his face.
Crouching down in front of them, she turned to the other boy, who seemed surprised, and a little angry, but overall unharmed.
"Matthew, are you ok?"
Matthew nodded, his round face serious, eyes swiveling between her and Caleb.
"Caleb, why did you throw that block? You know better than that."
Caleb scowled, shrugging his shoulders. "Matt took all the superhero toys."
That came as a surprise; Kensi had never seen him have any serious problems with other student, especially when it came to playing and sharing.
"And nothing else happened?" Kensi checked, and Caleb gave a quick shake of his head. "Ok, Matthew, you can go back and play." She patted the other student on the shoulder.
Standing, she caught her classroom aide's eye before taking Caleb out to the hallway.
"Ok, Caleb, why did you throw that block at Matthew?"
"I told you. He took all the toys and when I asked him to share, he said 'no'," he explained petulantly.
"It would have been nice if he had shared, but you can come tell me or Miss K if you have a problem. And I know you know better than that," she said. Caleb just shrugged again, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the floor." This isn't like you, what's going on?"
His face crumpled suddenly, and a few tears leaked onto his cheeks. "Mommy came back."
"What?" Kensi asked dumbly before she could stop herself.
"The other night, somebody rang the doorbell and I thought it was you, but it wasn't, it was mom instead," he explained, words tumbling out so fast, Kensi had to strain to keep up. "She smiled at me and said she missed me, and was sorry she didn't come sooner."
A spike of concern and anger flashed through her. Deeks hadn't mentioned anything about Monica in the last two days. She pushed those feelings to the side, reminding herself that Caleb needed her now.
"Oh, Sweetie. That must have been a surprise."
"Yeah. I think dad was mad, even though he kept smiling too." He sniffled, wiping under his nose, and sat down against the wall. Kensi was suddenly reminded just how young he was. "Mommy's supposed to come back tonight for dinner, but I don't know if I want her to." He picked at one of his nails, shrugging angrily. "She's just gonna leave again."
His lower lip trembled then, and Kensi couldn't stop from enveloping him in a hug. His hands fisted in her shirt as he cried in earnest.
"It's going to be ok," she repeated several times, holding him until he calmed a little. He pulled back, scrubbing at his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"We all make mistakes. Especially when we're upset. I still need to tell Mr. Hanna and call your dad though, because it's not ok to throw things or hurt other people."
Caleb nodded, looking completely miserable now.
Kensi just hoped she could get through the next couple conversations without her own feelings seeping through.
A/N: I promise that this isn't all solely for the sake of creating drama.