"What the hell is this?"
Marty is startled at the abrupt booming voice that fills his office, followed by a slamming door. "What are you talking about?"
"This ancestry kit I did a few weeks ago… I finally got the results."
The principal's fingers find the frame of his glasses as he pulls them off before sitting them on his desk. Standing up from his chair, his hands brush back his locks as he tries to gather the right words to say. "Look, I can explain."
"Please do, Dad." The young teacher says, emphasizing the word dad, giving the principal a scathing look of anger.
"There's a conversation that needs to be had."
"You bet your ass it does."
As if this moment isn't enough already, before Marty can say anything else, his office door is once again open.
"Hey, baby, are you ready for—" The rest of Kensi's question dies at her lips when she sees Luke seething on the other side of her fiancé's desk. "What's going on?"
"Luke got his results back from his ancestry kit."
Kensi's eyes go wide. "The same kind you did last year?"
"One and the same." Marty nods as his eyes stay on Kensi's, and they have a silent conversation.
Almost immediately Kensi steps towards the brunette, extending her hand without thought before quickly retracting it. "Please don't blame him. He had no idea. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me."
Luke's brow furrows in confusion. "You? Why would I be mad at you?"
At the question Marty walks out from behind his desk and comes to stand next to Kensi, whose hand immediately latches on to his. "Well, you see—"
"We dated for 2 years in college." Marty says, ripping off the bandaid.
"So you're…"
Kensi takes a deep breath. "Yes. I'm—I'm your mother."
The look that crosses Luke's face can be compared to that of a deer in headlights. Then almost immediately he's looking around the room in search of something before finding a free spot on an open chair. He leans forward, cradling his head in his hands. "What the fuck is going on?"
"Did you not know you were adopted?" Kensi hesitantly asks, not daring to move any closer.
He looks up, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I did. My parents…they died in a plane crash when I was 16. While I was going through their papers, I found my adoption records. Long story short, my aunt told me how they adopted me in Washington from a young woman who couldn't give me the life they could."
"I can't imagine how hard that was for you." Kensi finally sits down next to him.
Luke's incandescent brown eyes meet Kensi's. "I searched for you for 4 years before finally giving up."
"Look, we know this is messed up." Marty takes a seat in the chair next to the young teacher.
Luke huffs a laugh. "That's a bit of an understatement."
"We were going to tell you, but we didn't know how to approach you about it." Marty says.
"I really didn't want to show up to school one day and just say, 'Hey, Luke, I'm pretty sure you're the baby I put up for adoption.'"
"Yeah, that would've been…interesting to say the least." Luke sighs and leans back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. His eyes move back and forth as if he's looking at a list of pros and cons on the white foam panels.
"What are you thinking?" Kensi asks before she can help herself.
"I honestly don't know."
"Yeah. That's understandable."
Luke turns to Marty with an unreadable expression. "What are you thinking?"
A small smile curls at the principal's lip. "Honestly. I've always wanted a kid who was half me and half her. Now that I know I do, there's this contentment inside me. From my experience, you're a wonderful human, and I'm hoping to get to know you even more so. I mean, we both want what you want, and we're hoping you'd want to get to know us and meet your sisters officially as their brother."
"Look, we both ultimately want what you do, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hopeful that includes you getting to know us and your sisters better. That's only if you'd like to." Kensi assures him, trying her best not to overwhelm the situation anymore.
"Do the girls…do they know?"
"Not yet, but seeing as though Harper gets emails about new matches, it's only a matter of time." Marty says, meeting Kensi's eyes, both knowing that there's a strong possibility the tweens already know.
"So you didn't tell them already?"
"No, I just told Marty at Christmas, and we decided to wait until we told you just in case you didn't want them to know."
"So I have two sisters."
Kensi nods with a smile as the words slip from his lips. "You do."
"I've only ever been an only child. What if I'm not good at being a big brother?"
"Are you kidding? The girls already love you, and they just think you're their teacher." Marty huffs, patting the younger man on the knee.
Luke watches as the older version of himself pulls back his hand and feels the need to put some distance between the trio, so he stands up and makes his way to the corner of the room towards the door. "This is a lot to process."
"It is, and we understand if you don't want anything to do with us." Kensi says, pinching her brow as if she got pierced by a bullet.
Luke's hands find his hips as he looks past the pair and out the window towards the Chicago skyline. "I've always wondered what my birth parents were like, where I came from. Did I get this shaggy brown hair from my dad or my mom?"
"Oh, that's all him."
"Don't…" Marty flips his hair, "Be jealous." He then partitions his mouth with his left hand to 'prevent' Kensi from hearing what he's saying. "The secret's pomade."
Kensi gasps as she playfully swats at the blonde. "You dirty little liar. I saw you use my mouse the other morning."
"So you two just got back together?"
"Last year." Marty meets Kensi's eyes with the smile that's only reserved for her.
"You weren't together when I was born?"
"No, we had broken up a few weeks before I found out I was pregnant."
No words are spoken for a few minutes after that. The trio sit in silence for a beat, taking everything in, and just as Kensi begins to open her mouth to speak, the bell rings and is followed by the loud murmur of prepubescent kids filling the hall just a few feet away.
"Would you want to join us for lunch, and we could talk more?" Marty breaks the otherwise silence in the room.
"I can't. I'm covering the cafeteria this week."
Kensi's shoulders deflate. "Oh, okay. You just tell us what works for you."
"Coffee tomorrow morning. Will that work with the girls?" Luke asks hesitantly.
Marty takes Kensi's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Actually, it's perfect because they have a birthday party."
"Okay, well, I'll see you both then." Luke confirms, opening the door.
Kensi sees the 20-year-old's retreating form and can't help herself. "You have Marty's number in case something comes up?"
Luke turns around with a smile on his face. "I've been waiting for this moment for 24 years. Nothing could drag me away. But, yes, I have it."
And just like that, he's out the door, leaving the pair bathed in anticipation for tomorrow morning.
"Did that just happen?" Kensi looks at her fiancé, both baffled and in awe.
"I'm not sure. Kiss me to see if it's real."
She can't fight the grin that spreads to her lips as she closes the distance between them, and just before their lips touch, she turns and walks out of the office with a parting glance.
"Do you still want to go eat?"
She abruptly stops in her tracks and spins back around, giving him a look as if that's really even a question.
"Right. Look who I'm talking to." He smiles, shaking his head before grabbing his jacket off the coatrack and following his love out the office door.
"Maybe he overslept."
"Maybe." Kensi bites her bottom lip, willing herself not to say what they both already know. This was supposed to be a chance at a new start.
"Or he could've gotten caught up on the bus?"
Kensi's shoulders deflate as her thumb nervously taps on her coffee cup.
"Baby, I love your optimism, but he's not coming."
"He could. I mean, he didn't call me to say anything."
"Exactly."
They both look at the front door as the bell dings and are yet again met with disappointment.
"Ugh. This sucks."
"Yeah, but we prepared ourselves for this. He's allowed to feel how he wants; we just need to be patient." Kensi stands up from her chair, throwing on her coat as Marty does the same before they walk out of the coffee shop hand in hand.
"You're right."
"I know." She turns to him with a sad smile.
"Want to go people-watching at the park?"
"If you're there, I'm there." She meets his eyes as they wait for the crosswalk and can't help but press her lips to his.