Hi my dear readers. This is a story that I've talked about wanting to write for a very long time but held off because I wanted to have the time and forethought to do it right. I've written shorter fics that involve this scenario in the past.
This takes place around season 13, but is AU in that Kensi and Deeks never met or adopted Rosa. Not because I dislike Rosa, just that adopting her would complicate this story. So, for the purposes of this story, Rosa is still with her parents.
Everything had started to settle down in the last couple of years. They'd captured Kessler, with enough evidence to put him away for several decades. Their finances were finally in order as well and they'd built up a good savings again. They'd even been able to upgrade to a slightly larger house.
Maybe it wasn't quite the life they'd imagined for themselves, but they were happy. It was a good life.
Outside of work, they both volunteered with a local homeless shelter. Deeks provided legal advice, Kensi taught self-defense classes, and together they ran several activities for kids.
To kick off the weekend, they started with a run around the neighborhood, making the requisite stop for donuts at a local shop before returning home. The entire way back, they ribbed each other about who would reach the front door first. Last week, Kensi had beat him by milliseconds, and he was determined to even the score.
Deeks lengthened his stride, concentrating on the concrete passing under his feet rather than the burn in his thighs. Kensi ran beside him, just a half pace behind, her breath heavy but even as they finished the last leg of their run. They reached the front door at nearly the same time, Kensi lunging forward so just her fingertips met the painted surface.
"I win," she announced breathlessly.
"It's clearly a tie," Deeks argued, glancing at his palm, which was planted firmly on the door.
"My fingers touched first."
"Just like "gryxl" is a word?"
"I can't help if I'm a competitive person," Kensi said with a shrug as she unlocked the door and he followed her in.
"Aah, don't you feel refreshed, invigorated, like you want to keel over and die?" he asked, earning a tired snort from Kensi.
"It's all worth it for the adrenaline rush and health benefits." She smiled between short breaths, wiping away beads of sweat from her forehead.
"Ok, you convinced me. Let's do it again."
"Oh no, I'm taking a shower, getting some cake, and then taking a nap."
"You think there might be room for two in that shower?" he inquired innocently.
"There might be," she said slyly, slowly walking backwards. Deeks started after her, but was interrupted by his phone buzzing in his back pocket.
"If that's Callen or Sam, tell them they'll have to wait an hour or so," she informed him as he pulled his cell out.
He answered the call halfway through a chuckle. "Hi, this is Marty Deeks."
"Hello Mr. Deeks, this is Anita Gonzales. I'm a social worker from the Helping Hands fostering agency," the woman on the other end of the line introduced herself.
Deeks straightened in surprise, his mind blanking for a moment. "Um hi, how are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you. I'm calling because you and your wife are on our roster as potential foster parents. Are you still open for foster placements? I have you on record as being willing to accept children of any age."
"Uh—" Deeks paused, trying to wrap his mind around where the conversation seemed to be headed. Across the room, Kensi had picked up on his shift in tone, and gave him a curious look. He waved her over, switching on speaker phone. "Uh, yeah, yeah, we are. Do you-do you have a placement for us?"
Kensi's eye widened, and she leaned closer to the phone as Ms. Gonzales responded.
"Yes, we have an emergency placement for siblings. Two boys, one girl."
"Siblings," Kensi repeated softly.
"My wife, Kensi, is here too," Deeks explained, switching the phone to speaker. He inhaled shortly, forcing himself to focus on the right questions to ask. "How old are the children?"
"10, 8, and 3. The youngest being the girl."
"And why were they removed from their current home?" Kensi asked softly, mirroring where Deeks' thoughts had gone.
"Repeated and ongoing neglect, intermittent abandonment, and potential criminal activity in the home most recently," Anita answered. "To be fully honest with you, this will not be their first foster placement."
"Oh my god," Kensi murmured, almost to herself.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"There aren't any extreme behaviors or disabilities if that's what you're concerned about."
Deeks hadn't been, but now it occurred to him that it would be good information to have.
"I think we're more concerned about whether or not we'd have the appropriate resources for these kids," Deeks explained, and Kensi nodded, resting her hand on his shoulder as she lowered her head to listen.
"I'm afraid I can't go into more detail than what I've already provided," Anita apologized. "Not unless you agree to the placement." There was a pause that felt weighted and important. "I don't want to rush you, but I really need to find a placement for these children otherwise they'll spend another night in a group home."
Deeks held Kensi's gaze, asking a question without saying a word. She tilted her head, and he nodded. He was in if she was.
"When should we come?"
Anita Gonzales turned out to be a petite woman with curly brown hair and bluish-grey eyes that were slightly bloodshot. Her small desk was covered in stacks of papers and binders, but it seemed she had an organized mess since it didn't take her long to locate three separate files and stack them in the middle of the desk.
"Thank you for coming," she said gratefully, indicating two chairs in front of the desk and taking a seat opposite them.
"Of course," Deeks murmured, brushing at his hair. He and Kensi had spent the last two hours discussing this decision. He still couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. "So you, uh, you said you could tell us more in person."
"Yes." Anita folded her hands in front of her. "As I said, this is a group of three siblings. Caleb, Jessie, and Maria Padilla. Caleb is ten years old. He's sweet, somewhat shy, and reserved. Very protective of his siblings. Jessie is eight and more outspoken. He tends to say whatever comes to mind. Maria is three. She's a darling as you'd expect, but very confused right now."
Deeks pursed his lips together to stop himself from spitting out the jumble of thoughts whirring around his mind. It felt so odd to be sitting at a desk, discussing little kids in terms of attributes when they were probably all scared and confused.
"Can we look at the—?" Deeks pointed to the files and Anita hurried to hand them over.
"Of course."
Settling the stack between them, Deeks flipped open the first file. There wasn't a picture, but Caleb's physical features and biographical information were listed along with a few personal facts such as his favorite activities. The rest of paper included financial, legal, and medical documentation. It was fairly impersonal, yet Deeks could easily read between the lines to the little boy beneath.
His eyes tripped over the word "malnutrition" in one of the CPS records, and he glanced up to see Kensi reading, her lips pressed tightly together. Silently, they turned to the next folder.
"And where are they now?" Kensi asked in a hoarse whisper as they reached for Maria's file.
"At a group home. It's comfortable enough, but not ideal for long term stays."
Deeks wondered at the word comfortable. He'd seen enough group homes and facilities for "unhoused juveniles" and the quality varied considerably.
"Will kinship be an option?" he asked.
Anita shook her head. "We tried kinship previously. There's one sibling who lives a few states away and has a family of her own. They don't have the financial means. The children's grandmother had kinship, but after about six months, she just couldn't manage caring for all three anymore," she said. "It's quite common and I can't fault family when this happens. It's as you'd imagine, quite devastating for the children though."
"Where would they go if you don't have a home for them?"
"Either in the group home or with emergency caregivers until a more suitable solution is found," Anita answered, then explained. "An emergency caregiver might take them for a few days at a time before moving onto another short-term placement. Unlike your preference, some caregivers only want to keep children for a short period of time."
He'd spent a few days with an emergency foster carer after he shot his dad while Roberta recovered from her injuries. Even though the couple who took him in were kind, he'd been terrified the entire time. Especially when he overheard his social worker talking about where to send him if his mom stayed in the hospital longer or lost custody. The memory made his stomach clench sickeningly.
Kensi stiffened beside him, her hand fumbling for his and squeezing tightly. He imagined her thoughts had gone a similar route. She'd never made it into foster care, maybe thankfully from her point of view, but she'd still experienced the absolute uncertainty that came with homelessness.
"If we do this, I need to know that this, living with us, will be better for them," she said, her voice hoarse and on the edge of tears. "I don't want to make their lives worse by forcing them somewhere they don't want to be or, or…" she looked to Deeks, and gave him a pleading look. He squeezed her hand back, understanding in this moment she needed him to take over.
"These kids have already been through so much. We don't want to put them through more unnecessary trauma. Both of us have some experience with difficult, for lack of a better word, childhoods, so we know what it can be like. We'd love nothing more than to provide a home for however long for these kids, but we need to know it's actually benefitting them." He swallowed, his heart aching at the thought of what might have been. "So, please be honest with us. Do you think foster placement will more helpful than letting them stay in a long-term facility?"
Anita regarded them seriously and leaned forward. "I can't tell you for certain, but I have been doing this for nearly twenty years," she began. "And in those twenty years, I've seen many cases like the Padilla children. We always strive for reunification, however, with this many incidents and lack of genuine reform on behalf of the parent, that begins to look less certain. I could recommend the children stay in their current placement, with the hope they go home soon, but if that doesn't happen, they're likely in for a very difficult time. Foster care won't be easy either, but with caring, loving foster parents who want only what's best for them, I anticipate a better outcome. I believe you, Mr. Deeks and Mrs. Blye, have the ability to offer that type of care to these children. I believe you can make a difference for them."
This had the potential to change their lives irrevocably. They'd be responsible for three little humans, for an indefinite amount of time and could only hope they didn't screw them up worse than they already were. Any excitement was quelled by that very real and terrifying reality. It was a massive decision.
He turned to Kensi, gripping both of her hands. Here eyes were wet and he saw the same questions he had there. Inhaling deeply, he nodded once, and she let out a small, desperate sound.
Kensi brushed a few tears away, and asked, "What do we need to sign?"
"You're sure?" Anita confirmed, keeping an even face.
"Absolutely," Deeks said.
A/N: I decided to go with a fabricated fostering agency in case there are any irregularities with my representation.
Yes, there is a Caleb in this story as well.