A/N: Thanks for all your lovely responses to this story so far. Let the ridiculousness continue.
***
In Miss Blye’s Class, Part 4
“Kensi, thank you for staying so late to help out,” Principal Hanna said as they finished closing down the body paint tent. “You didn’t have to.”
“Well, I know other people had to get their kids home,” Kensi replied, looking around with a shrug. “It’s not a big deal.” Her aching feet and back told a different story, but she planned on taking a long back while she finished off the rest of whatever ice cream was in the freezer as soon as she got home. That was usually the perfect remedy to any aches and pains in her experience.
“Well, I still appreciate it. I’ll have Mr. Callen put you down for a class break next week.”
“Thanks Sam.”
There were ten or so people who has stuck around until the very end to close down the fair, including Marty Deeks and Caleb. She saw them heading in her general direction and met them in the middle of the parking lot.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Caleb said, head tilted back so far Kensi felt sympathetic pain in her spine.
“Sorry, kiddo, we’ll have to grab something when we get home.”
“There’s a diner just a few minutes from here. Main Street Cafe,” Kensi spoke up. “They’re open til 2 and have all day breakfast.”
“That sounds amazing,” Deeks said, glancing down at Caleb for his approval.
“Do they have chocolate chip pancakes?” he asked a little suspiciously.
“They make amazing pancakes. Chocolate chip, blueberry, banana. Any kind you want,” Kensi told him, smiling when his eyes widened at the prospect of so many choices.
“Ok, we can go,” he decided, earning a tired chuckle from Deeks. He ran a hand through his slightly ruffled hair, only making it more tousled, and reached for Caleb’s hand as they started walking towards the parking lot where vehicles were parked.
“Kensi, do you want to join us? You know, since we never got you your cotton candy.”
Kensi hadn’t expected an invitation and didn’t respond immediately. Fortunately, Caleb spoke up again before the silence could grow too awkward.
“I didn’t get any cotton candy either.”
“But now we’re going to have pancakes, with syrup which is so much better, and arguably stickier,” Deeks said quickly, subverting any potential disappointment over the forgotten treat. “So, what do you say, Ms. Blye? You want eat too much sugar, way too late with us?”
“I’d like that,” Kensi said. It was only a meal, nothing to freak out about. She was sure that Deeks would have asked Sam Hanna to come with if he’d be nearby.
Sure, Kensi, keep telling yourself that, that exceedingly annoying voice in her head muttered. “I’m pretty sure all I have left in my fridge is plain spaghetti, condiments, and maybe some very old creamer. I’m not really into cooking.”
“I could see that,” Deeks commented as they started across the parking flashing her a teasing grin.
“Hey, I am extremely busy. Don’t make me regret telling you about my favorite late night diner.” She attempted to give Deeks a severe look and he immediately held up his free hand, backtracking.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m sure you’re a wonderful cook. I would love whatever you could concoct with ketchup, creamer, and spaghetti.”
Kensi tried to hold her expression for a few more seconds, but it was difficult when his eyes twinkling under the floodlights with suppressed amusement. And damn it, he knew it too.
“Good. But you better watch yourself, because you’re in the yellow zone right now,” she informed him with as much seriousness as she could muster. Caleb made a little gasp, tugging on his dad’s hand.
“Oh, dad, you don’t want to get in the orange or red zone,” he said in a hushed tone. “That’s bad.”
“I promise I will be on my best behavior,” he said, lifting his hand in a gesture reminiscent of a boy scout salute as his upper twitched suspiciously.
***
True to his word, Caleb ordered a chocolate chip pancake with bacon and orange juice. He also attempted to order a waffle, but Deeks put his foot down. Now he was happily consuming a syrup-soaked pancake bigger than his head.
She’d Deeks had ordered some kind of skillet that contained several kinds of vegetables and meat, which Kensi stared at disapprovingly over her stack of red velvet pancakes with cream cheese frosting.
“Don’t tell me you’re some kind of health nut,” she said, waving her fork at his food. “Because food ordered at 11 at night is not supposed to be healthy at all.”
Deeks chuckled, shifting a mouthful of eggs to one cheek to speak.
“Good to no where you stand on the food debate,” he joked. “Usually I’d be all over one of those giant cinnamon rolls at the counter, but I have a meeting tomorrow and if I eat that much sugar tonight, I’ll have a massive headache in the morning.”
“Amateur.” Kensi shook her head, cutting off a particularly large bite of pancakes. Deeks just chuckled again, looking over as Caleb dropped his fork onto his plate with a sigh. He yawned hugely, swaying a little to the right. Deeks put his arm around him and kissed the top of his head, matting down a patch of unruly curls.
“You tired, Buddy?”
“Nope,” Caleb insisted stubbornly even as his eyes dropped half shut.
Their surprisingly chipper waitress stopped by to refill their drinks, clearing away Kensi’s empty plate. Deeks was still working at his, and Caleb had abandoned his completely in favor of cuddling into Deeks’ arm. No one had the right to be so adorable.
“So, you never mentioned exactly what you do for work,” Kensi prompted once the waitress was out of ear shot. “Caleb mentioned that you work in a court. He also said that you carry a gun. She folded her arms and watched Marty expectantly.
When Caleb had brought it up last week in front of the other students, it had caused quiet a stir. Personally, she found it hard to imagine him involved in anything of a violent nature, even if it was police work. Still, she’d been wrong before.
“I’m definitely a lawyer,” Marty responded, ruffling his hair again, and side-eyeing Caleb with a look that clearly said they’d be talking later. “I used to work in the legal department, for an entity that shall remain unnamed, in Iowa. They required me to have a service weapon just in case things ever got out of hand. But I don’t carry a weapon anymore and never had a reason to use it.”
“Never?” Kensi raised her eyebrows, not completely buying it. It would be just her luck that the seemingly nice, attentive dad had a checkered past.
“I pulled it a couple times, never fired it though. Now I prepare contracts for one of the media companies here.”
“Moving from Iowa to California is a big change. What made you decide to move?” she asked, resting her chin on her cupped hands.
“Well I suppose the initiating event was when, uh, my wife left us,” he said evenly.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Kensi said, horrified at the result of her annoyance. “I had no idea—Caleb never—” Fortunately Deeks cut in before she could dig herself into a deeper hole.
“No, it’s ok. You had no way of knowing and honestly, Caleb doesn’t know the whole story.”
“You don’t have to tell me anymore.” Though she was dying to know the full story.
“Heh, I wish I knew myself,” he said, sparing a glance for Caleb, who was fully asleep now. His smile was a little sad as he brushed his fingers through Caleb’s hair. Facing her again, he steepled his fingers, fixing his eyes slightly above her head. “Two and a half years ago, I came home from work. Caleb was all alone, watching TV in the den and eating snacks. Monica wasn’t anywhere, her car was gone. At first, I figured that there was some kind of emergency and she just didn’t have a change to text or call.” He pursed his lips, exhaling slowly.
“I think I knew pretty quickly that I was just trying to convince myself because she always made sure to leave a note or something before that. All Caleb could tell me was that Nicole said she was going to the store and she’d be back soon.”
“Deeks…that’s awful,” Kensi murmured, reaching across the table to cover his hand with hers. She could hear the lingering distress in his voice at recounting what was likely a very painful event. “No one deserves that.”
“It is what it is.” He shrugged, forcing a smile. “Anyway, last year I decided that we needed to start over completely fresh so we packed up and moved to LA. My old position was getting too stressful.
“Because working for a media company is so low stress,” Kensi teased. She sensed he was holding back at least a portion of the story, but decided not to push any harder. He’d already told her way more than he had to.
“Touché,” he said, cracking a more authentic grin. “Besides that, it allows me a little more time to be at home and it’s a little less dangerous. If I can, I want to spend as much time with Caleb as possible. I want to make his plays, games, whatever he has going on, if I can.” The love in his eyes was obvious as he shifted Caleb closer.
An unexpected wave of affection rolled through her and Kensi had to fight to keep her expression neutral. This was so not the man to get involved with. He had baggage, a kid, a runaway ex.
“Well, whatever reason she left you for, your wife is an idiot in my opinion,” she found herself saying. “Because you seem like a pretty good guy.”
“She ran off with a yoga instructor,” Deeks shared an ironic chuckle. “And did you just give me a compliment?”
“Nope, definitely not,” Kensi said firmly. She took a quick swallow of her look warm water to hide her light blush.
Thankfully, the waitress brought over their check, preventing Kensi from saying anything else ridiculous. Deeks insisted on paying, waving off her protests by claiming it was repayment for the day he was late picking up Caleb.
He signed the receipt with a flourish and gathered Caleb in his arms. The little boy barely even budged, dead to the world.
“Thanks for suggesting this place, I had a nice time,” he said as Kensi held the door open for him. “It’s surprisingly hard to meet people here.”
Kensi wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or not, but based on his seemingly natural tendency to chat with just about anyone, he observation was likely genuine.
“I did too.”
“And thanks for listening. Most people don’t.” The appreciation in his voice caught Kensi off-guard again, and this time a frisson of desire ran through her.
“Anytime.” She pointed over her shoulder in the general direction of her car, needing to leave before she did something even more idiotic. “You know, I should get home. Night, Deeks.”
“Night, Kensi,” he called back, turning towards his truck.
Once she was safely enclosed inside her car, she let her head fall back, emitting a low sigh. This was bad. Really bad.
***
A/N: And part of Deeks’ mysterious past is revealed! Ta-da. Hope you all enjoyed this addition.
