A/N: For today's prompt. Some lightly angsty and fluffy Kensi and Deeks with future kids.
Deeks hummed under his breath, adding a can of chicken broth into the roaster set out in front of him. It sizzled when it hit the hot metal, and sent up a waft of half-cooked turkey.
The rest of the family was supposed to be wrapping gifts, far away from his prying eyes.
As he turned to grab another hot pad, he noticed Caleb lingering hesitantly in the doorway. He seemed like he was trying to hide in the shadows.
Deeks had noticed a lot of that in the two months since Caleb and his siblings came to live at the Deeks-Blye household. Jessie and Izzy were less reserved, less cautious, while Caleb tended to hang back, watching but not participating.
"Hey Kiddo, what's up?" Deeks asked, grabbing a handful of clean vegetables from the sink. Caleb shrugged, edging a little closer.
"I just wondered what you were doing," he answered quietly.
"Well, currently, I'm attempting to cook Christmas Eve dinner. I say attempting because my experience with cooking whole birds is highly limited." Caleb allowed a tiny smile when Deeks grimaced theatrically. "So, we might be having Chinese takeout tonight."
"I like Chinese." For the most part, the kids weren't too picky about food. In this case he wasn't sure if Caleb was just trying to be nice or actually liked the idea of having orange chicken.
"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that," Deeks said. "Cause I think your sister is counting on turkey and mashed potatoes."
Coming to lean against the counter, Caleb watched him peel a potato, his eyes following the fast movement avidly.
"You wanna help?"
Caleb looked surprised for a moment, then nodded quickly, reaching into the gadget drawer. In a couple minutes, Deeks had him set up in front of the other sink with a bowl of carrots and a peeler.
It took him a minute to get the hang of sliding the peeler against the carrot in smooth and even movements. His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on the task.
They worked side-by-side in companionable silence for several minutes. Eventually, Caleb held up eight meticulously peeled carrots for Deeks' inspection.
"How's that?" he asked seriously. Deeks looked them over and nodded.
"Perfect."
Caleb ducked his head, the hint of a proud smile just visible.
"Ok, now we got to boil these babies." He held up a potato. "And sauté your carrots."
As Deeks got out more pots and pans, Caleb started asking questions, seemingly interested in every aspect of the process.
"This is fun," he said, again a little shy. "I never cooked anything before. Not like this."
"I'm glad." Deeks eyed him for a second. "So do you have any Christmas traditions you want to celebrate?"
Caleb considered the question seriously, pausing with a half-chopped carrot in his hand.
"I don't know. I don't really remember what my mom did before things got…before things changed." He furrowed his eyebrows. "All the foster families did different things. Sometimes we'd get to participate if they liked us."
Deeks' heart clenched at that and he hastily, rubbed his eyes before Caleb could see the sudden shininess in them. He hated the thought of Caleb, Jessie, and Izzy feeling unwanted or like they didn't belong.
"Well." Deeks swallowed heavily, reaching out to lightly squeeze Caleb's shoulder. "We can make our own traditions."
"One time we all went for ice cream after dinner on Christmas," Caleb said with a hopeful expression. "That was fun."
"I think we can manage that."
"Hey, how's it going in here?" Kensi asked, walking in with Jessie and Izzy trailing behind her. "Caleb said he was going to check in on you and never came back."
She ruffled his hair and Caleb accepted it with a vaguely embarrassed smile.
"I'm helping Da-Deeks with dinner," he replied proudly.
"Ooh, good." Kensi hissed through her teeth. "Cause he can use all the help he can get."
"Right. Miss oatmeal burner," Deeks teased, plucking a bit of sparkly ribbon out of her hair.
"That was one time," she protested. "And Monty distracted me."
"Uh-huh." Grabbing her around the waist, Deeks tugged her against his chest and kissed her quickly.
Izzy hopped up on stool beside them, giggling. She also has ribbon in her hair, along with bits of what looked like marker stained tape on her arms.
"Can we help too?" Jessie asked. He already had a garlic press in one hand, though Deeks wasn't entirely sure what he intended to use it for.
"Of course." Deeks waved his hand invitingly. "We're making the stuffing now."
"That's my favorite!" Izzy shouted. "And the massed potatoes."
"How's the wrapping going?" Deeks asked Kensi in an undertone as she grabbed a bowl to put the stuffing mix in.
"We used an entire roll of tape and Izzy may or may not have say on your gift, but otherwise, good," Kensi replied.
She glanced at Caleb, who had taken over directing the meal planning. Izzy was mostly ignoring him in favor of snatching pieces of carrot and whatever else she could find.
"It looks like you guys are having fun."
"Yeah, we are." Deeks allowed himself to smile. He had no doubt that there was still many barriers to break down and pain to heal, but it felt like they were a little closer. "Ooh, and we're having ice cream after dinner."
"Ok, no complaints from me," Kensi agreed easily. "But I thought you were planning some kind of pie thing."
"A tart," Deeks corrected her. "And we're having ice cream because it's now a Deeks family tradition." He raised his voice on the last part, swooping down to scoop Izzy into one arm while he hugged Kensi with the other.
Izzy giggled, begging for more when he started to set her down again. As he looked around the room, now quickly deteriorating from his perfectly orchestrated dinner, he felt a sense of complete happiness.
"To Christmas traditions," Kensi murmured.