A/N: This was written prior to the season 14 premiere.
"Hey, we'll see you in a couple hours," Kensi called out. Deeks took a step back from his current home improvement project—staining the woodwork—to kiss her cheek as she rushed by towards the front door, car keys in one hand. Rosa followed, moving more slowly than usual, shoulders hunched.
Kensi shot him a look that was the visual version of "yikes" and ushered Rosa out the door to take her to her art class.
Once they were gone, Deeks sighed, raising his stain sponge again. In the last few weeks, Rosa had expressed interest in striking out on her own more frequently. She reasoned that she knew the area around their home and school well enough to navigate on her own. None of her friends had nearly as much parental supervision as she did.
That was all true, but Kensi and Deeks had remained firm. They or one of the moms would provide all rides and stay for any extracurriculars.
Rosa did not take it well. Instead of yelling or slamming doors, she went almost completely quiet, a deep sense of disappointment settling around her, and that was far more effective than anger.
He hated that Rosa was unhappy, but he didn't see another way of doing things. Not without putting her in potential danger.
Glancing down at his work, Deeks examined the latest piece of trim he'd just finished, frowning at the slightly uneven tone. Damn it. He grabbed a jug of varnish remover and a sanding block.
The front door opened behind him as he started in on removing the stain, and he turned, glancing over his shoulder.
"Mama, hey. Kensi already took Rosa to her class," he said, unsurprised by her unannounced visits these days.
"Oh, I know," she answered. "Just though I'd come over and see how things are going." She looked around at the dismantled pieces of woodwork with a nod. "Not too shabby, kiddo."
"Thanks. You were here yesterday. And this morning. I'm pretty sure you're caught up on all the news."
Deeks dropped a hand to his knee, regarding Roberta with a raised eyebrow while she dropped her pocket book on the couch and made herself comfortable.
"Well, maybe there's something I missed," Roberta suggested with a overly innocent shrug.
"Mom, what do you know?"
"Nothing!"
"Mama…" he fixed her with a warning look, and she sighed, giving in easily as usual.
"Oh, alright. The last month or so, Rosa has been talking about how she wants to maybe joint the theater club at her high school or get a part time job," she explained. "I told her it was a good idea, but she says you and Kensi won't let her."
Deeks sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could just imagine how those conversations had gone down.
"Ok, that is not what we said at all," he said with more patient than he felt. "Kens and I fully support Rosa interests, but we can't leave her unsupervised. And you know why."
"Oh come on! Martin, she's a responsible kid. Give her a little space. What's she going to do?" With a roll of her eyes, Roberta waved off his concerns with a single sweep of her hand as she stood.
"I'm not worried about what she does, mom. I'm concerned about all the criminals who could attack her to get back at us. There's real danger out there and it doesn't matter how responsible or smart Rosa is."
"So, what are you going to do? Bubble wrap her until she's 50?" Roberta asked sarcastically. "You two need to calm down for once in your life."
Deeks stared at her in disbelief.
"Seriously? Mom, don't you think that's pretty hypocritical after the way you hovered over me when I was growing up? You wouldn't let me go to day camp when I was 10 and didn't want me to take driving lessons."
He felt just a tiny bit bad when Roberta's expression fell and she tugged on the hem of her jacket.
"You were a different situation," she insisted. "With everything that happened with your dad, and hanging out with Ray, I thought I needed to make up the difference. Besides, you know you got into 10 times as much trouble as Rosa ever will." She shook her head, muttering, "Stealing a car."
"Again, I don't think that Rosa is planning on taking a car for a joyride, petty theft, or any of the other things I was unfairly accused of as a teen." He gave Roberta a pointed and she sighed.
"What I'm trying to tell you kiddo, is not to make the same mistakes I did." She smiled grimly when Deeks gave her a confused look, her voice softening. "Even though I had the best of intentions, I clung too hard sometimes. I didn't let you breathe or take risks, and in the end that pushed you away. Which I regret to this day."
"Mom, you didn't…" Deeks trailed off, surprised by unexpected dismay in her voice. He'd never imagined that she'd feel that way about her parenting choices post Gordon.
"I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad," she continued quickly, reaching to squeeze his hand. "It's the trust. And I don't want the same thing to happen to you two and Rosa. Cause you guys are an amazing family and nothing should come destroy that."
"Wow, that's, uh, thanks mom," he murmured, dangerously close to tears. "We can try, but I still don't see how we're going to get around the safety issues."
"Oh, just get her some of those gadgets you got in your office and Fatima to screen her friends with that fancy computer she has," Roberta said with a shrug. "Get her a whistle, some pepper spray, and teach her some judo."
"Oh my god, mom. First of all, you're not supposed to know about how we operate. Secondly minors can't carry pepper spray—"
"Like I said, you take things too seriously," she interrupted loudly. She gave Deeks an affectionate look. "My point is, you'll figure this out, and in the meantime, give Rose a little space. Ok?"
"Ok," Deeks agreed softly. "We'll try to work something out. In the meantime, can you please try to be a neutral party in all this?"
"Then I suppose you'll want me to hide the job applications I picked up this afternoon, huh?" Roberta asked, earning a groan from Deeks.
A/N: This turned out a little more angsty than I intended. I don't want Kensi and Deeks to be too overbearing, since I think they both come from backgrounds where they experienced that at times, but I can understand if they're overly cautious with all the bad guys running around.