A/N: Written for New Year's 2024.
"Are they asleep?" Deeks whispered, creeping into the living room. Kensi nodded, speaking equally quiet.
"Yeah, the went just a minute ago."
Peering over the couch, Deeks smiled down at the twins cradled on Kensi's lap. At three days old, Caleb and Sophia were remarkably calm and settled into the family. Deeks wasn't sure if it was just a honeymoon period, but he intended to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
"Come here," Kensi said, patting the spare cushion. Deeks slid in next to her, carefully transferring Caleb into his arms. Caleb twitched slightly, one of his hands clenching and unclenching, but then settled again, turning his little face into Deeks' chest.
"How was your meeting?"
"Good. I think we made some headway on the case. Sorry about skipping out on you," Deeks apologized. Technically, he was supposed to be on paternity leave right now, but one of his clients had called in a state.
"It's ok. I'm glad you were able to help." She leaned up to kiss him. "But now I get you all to myself for the rest of the holiday."
"All yours," he promised. Then reached out to tweak Sophia's bare foot. "And these guys."
"Not exactly a wild celebration," Kensi observed wryly. "I think if I have anything to drink, I'll pass out in two seconds."
Deeks chuckled, feeling pretty much the same. Even with the twins sleeping well, they still were fairly exhausted.
"It may be a sedate night, but it's certainly been a wild year," Deeks said, caressing Kensi's cheek in a soothing rhythm. "We started out the year with one kid, working for NCIS, to food poisoning turning into a surprise pregnancy—"
"Oh my god, you're never going to let me live down the food poisoning thing, are you?" Kensi groaned, pressing her forehead into his chest.
"Oh, that story's going to come up every time we talk about these two." He chuckled, remembering Kensi's ire aimed in his direction, followed by her immediate giddy apology when they found out she was pregnant. "You yelled at me for like a week straight and threw away my chicken parmigiana the day after I got it. And all the time it was our little Pastry Babies causing all the trouble."
Kensi's lips twisted in a grimace, then she allowed a sheepish smile. "It is kind of ridiculous that I thought I had food poisoning for two weeks and never once thought I could be pregnant."
"But it made the surprise that much better," Deeks said.
"Would you change anything?" Kensi asked unexpectedly. Deeks sensed there was more to the question, so he stayed silent, waiting for her to gather her thoughts
"This year is completely different that from what we expected. Obviously not the job part, because we were both pretty burnt out on fieldwork. Clearly." She made a noise that perfectly encapsulated Deeks' feelings on the matter. "But it probably would have been easier if we had more time to plan for these guys or to buy a bigger house." Finishing, Kensi titled her head up towards Deeks.
"Would I change having the most beautiful twins in the world with the love of my life?" He said, shaking his head. "No. Not in a million years, Kens. This life we built with Rosa, we're continuing to build with the twins, is everything, and I couldn't think of anything that would make it better."
Kensi wiped a tear away from her eye, laughing wetly. "Ok, you need to stop making such amazing speeches while I'm still coming down from pregnancy hormones," she joked. She leaned forward until their lips met. "I love you, Marty Deeks, and I wouldn't want to live this life with anyone but you."
"I love you, Kensi Blye. Until the end of time," Deeks whispered back.