"Alright, here we are!" Deeks announced, pulling into Julia's driveway. Roberta's car was already parked to the right. He looked over the driver's seat into the back where Caleb and Sofia were facing backwards, holding hands in the small space between their seats.
"You ready to see Gradma Deeks and Grandma Julia?" Kensi asked.
"Duwi!" Caleb shouted, his little legs kicking excitedly as Sohpia more quietly exclaimed, "Dama!"
In their mysterious twin toddler ways, Caleb and Sophia had simultaneously christened the grandmas with their own unique versions of their names. It wasn't clear if the choices were merely based on convenience and ease of pronunciation, or some other reason adults would never be able to fathom.
"Tayeb out!" Caleb requested when Kensi opened his door, reaching for her. Sophia patiently waited while Deeks unbuckled her seat belt, helpfully lifting her arms so he could pick her up.
He didn't set her down once she was out thought, having learned that she was a little escape artist, and would likely take off as soon as he let go.
"See doddy pease?" she asked, pointing towards the fenced in back yard.
"Yep, I bet Grandma Julia has Ginger outside," Deeks replied. He tucked a light brown curl behind Sophia's ear. "Remember, no sitting on the dog. Ok?"
"Tay."
Following the sound of Roberta's distinctive laugh, Kensi and Deeks walked to the backyard, free hands linked while they each held a kiddo in the other arm.
When they walked through the side gate, Julia and Roberta were sitting at the glass topped table with what looked like cocktails.
"Dama!" Sophia shouted excitedly, scrambling down from Deeks' arms, and running as fast as her little legs could take her to Julia and Roberta. Caleb was a few steps behind, dragging Kensi along with him. In order to keep up, Kensi had to run at an awkward crouched jog.
"Oh, my babies!" Julia said, clasping her hands to her chest as the twins slammed into her and Roberta's legs. Caleb hugged her legs, leaving a wet attempt at a kiss on her knee before moving.
"Get up here, kiddo," Roberta said. Caleb bounced on his tiny sneakered feet until she picked him up.
"Me up?" Sophia asked, tugging at the hem of Julia's cardigan.
"Of course, my beautiful Sophia. I missed you." Sophia didn't respond verbally, but seemed to get the gist of Julia's words, hugging her around the neck.
Deeks watched them, heart nearly bursting at the sight of their moms so content. He saw Kensi with a similar gleam in her eyes.
"I remember when Kensi was this age," Julia reminisced once they were all settled, fondness lighting every feature as she balanced Sophia on her thighs. "She would sneak into the kitchen where we kept little candies and treats in a drawer. I would catch her with a sucker or chocolate in her little hand and she'd put the whole thing, wrapper and all, in her mouth. Whenever it got quiet, I knew where I could find my Kensi.
"So-ee tandy!" Sophia announced, attention caught by one of her favorite things. When she didn't see any evidence of candy or other sweets, she turned back to Julia with a little huff and started patting her cheeks.
"Ah, so not much has changed in 40 years," Deeks teased, chin tipped up as he grinned at Kensi.
"Thanks so much, mom," Kensk said wryly. "Alright, give me a baby Deeks story, Roberta. It's only fair."
Deeks made a noise of objection. "Oh, I think there are more than enough stories about me during my tender childhood years floating around."
"Marty was a happy little baby. He loved to talk," Roberta shared gladly. She nodded to Caleb, who was standing beside Julia's chair now, speaking to Sophia in a mixture of English, Spanish, and baby jargon.
"You were saying," Kensi drawled at Deeks.
"Fine, fine. I concede, we made mini-mes."
"When he was about a year and a half, I got a phone call that took longer than I expected. By the time I finished, I hear all this wailing coming from the bathroom," Roberta continued, clearly relishing the story. Deeks bore it with a resigned sigh, having heard this one before.
"I think he was trying to sing. Anyway, I get in there and what do you think my little Martin's doing? Washing the bath towels in the toilet."
Kensi snorted and narrowly avoided spraying the table with a mouthful of seltzer. Sophia reached over to helpfully pat her on the back.
"Thanks, sweetie," Kensi choked.
"Really, mama? You had to pick that story? You could have told about the time I made you a bouquet of dandelions or attempted to eat an entire carton of ice cream."
"Aw, I think it was cute." Kensi grinned up at him, rubbing his shoulder. "Now I know where your neat freak tendencies come from. Started when you were just a little baby. Though fortunately now you use the washing machine.
"You're hilarious."
"I love hearing all these stories," Julia said. "It makes me feel closer to you all."
"Amen to that," Julia agreed.
A/N: That story about Kensi may or may not have been borrowed from my own life. Apparently I ate a lot of candy wrappers when I was a toddler.
I added a little bit to the version that was originally published on Tumblr, because I think there was part that I accidentally deleted it when I first posted the story.