Valentine’s Day Fan Fic: Love Story Redux

Love Story Redux

By Psyched

Deeks watched as the doors that read, “Authorized Personnel Only Do Not Enter” continued to swing, losing momentum with each pass until they finally stilled. Kensi was on the other side now, having just been rushed through on a gurney. He knew where the OR waiting area was; the nurse who’d stopped him from striding through the doors alongside Kensi and the medical team that was urgently working on her had pointed it out to him and recommended he go there to wait to hear from the surgeon. But Deeks couldn’t stand to be that far away. Couldn’t bear the thought of delaying the news of Kensi’s condition any longer than necessary. His entire world was just beyond those doors and Deeks irrationally thought that if he didn’t remain close by his world would end.

He tried to distract himself from the fear that was making his heart race. A small smile appeared when Deeks recalled how beautiful Kensi looked earlier tonight. If they hadn’t had reservations he probably would have suggested heading back to their bedroom when he saw her in that dress.

Deeks shook his head when he thought of all the car chases they’d been in and near-accidents they’d had through the years only to have disaster literally strike them, T-boning Kensi’s side of the car as they cruised through an intersection at the speed limit on their way to Valentine’s Day dinner. He couldn’t shake the belief that this was his fault. Anger pierced Deeks’ heart as he considered the timing of it all. It was two days after Valentine’s Day, and if not for his stupid tradition of celebrating holidays after the fact to save money, they would have been home tonight and not on the road. Considering their impending big event, though, Kensi was happy to continue to cut costs where they could.

Deeks thought of the genesis of not celebrating holidays on their actual dates: his mother, his first Valentine. As a child, he’d always spent part of the day secretly and carefully making a card for her, and she gushed over it every year. But when he was twelve, on their first Valentine’s Day without Gordon Brandel, Deeks wanted his mother to know how appreciated and loved she was now that it was just the two of them.

The tears were evident in her eyes when he presented her with a box of chocolates, a dozen red roses, a card, and a necklace he’d bought at the card store. “Oh, Martin, you didn’t have to do all of this. It must have cost a fortune!”

“I got money, Mama,” Deeks insisted. In fact, he didn’t anymore. He’d done extra yard work for their neighbors to save up for the expense and it still wiped him out. He’d even had to borrow a few bucks from Ray to afford the card.

After a long hug, his mother sat him down on the couch next to her and said, “Martin, I can’t tell you what this means to me. It’s the sweetest thing anyone’s done for me in a long time. But do me a favor if you plan to do this again next year?” He nodded his head eagerly. “Wait until a few days after Valentine’s Day to buy anything. They raise the prices of all this stuff before the holiday because they know most customers have no choice but to buy then, especially the flowers and candy. But you and me, we’re smarter than that. We know they all go on clearance afterward, so you can buy twice as much for a quarter of the price.”

“But then it’s not Valentine’s Day anymore,” he pointed out.

“What’s Valentine’s Day but a time to show people that you love them? You’ll still love me in a few days, right?”

“Yeah!” Deeks said, as if he’d never been asked anything more ridiculous in his life.

“Then save the money and show me a couple days later next time, okay?”

“Okay, Mama. But can I still tell you that I love you on Valentine’s Day?”

Hugging him again, his mother assured Deeks, “My sweet boy, you can tell me that every day. Just like I love you every day. And I promise you, when you meet the woman you’re going to marry and have a family with, you’ll know she’s the one because she won’t care when you celebrate Valentine’s Day either.”

Unfortunately, he figured out the hard way that his second Valentine wouldn’t be his last. She was a girl he’d been friends with since elementary school. It wasn’t until Deeks was thirteen and in junior high that he’d realized she was very pretty and that all the punching she’d subjected him to in the past was because she liked him too. Her name was Catherine, but she preferred to be called Kitty and she had no problem with Deeks’ desire to postpone their Valentine’s Day date. In fact, she was thrilled with the idea. He should have realized that was a big red flag.

Nearing Kitty and her gaggle of close friends by her locker not long before dismissal on Valentine’s Day, Deeks could see she was upset. As he got closer, the nasty glares from the other girls made it clear he was the object of their ire. He figured her friends just didn’t understand that he and his girlfriend had an arrangement and would be celebrating in a few days.

Deeks bravely approached the group to help his girl out, and wasn’t surprised when her best friend spoke up first, “What kind of lousy boyfriend are you, Marty?”

“Take it easy, Kitty’s fine with us doing Valentine’s Day a little late. We already talked about it.”

“Yeah, and I agreed because I thought you wanted to celebrate my birthday separate from Valentine’s Day!” Kitty fumed.

Deeks swallowed hard. “When is your birthday?”

“Today, you insensitive jerk! We’ve been friends for years. How did you not know that?” With that, pretty Kitty and her entourage stormed away.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Deeks turned and found Ray with a supportive smile on his face. “I’m impressed that lasted as long as it did, Marty. That girl is too much of a spitfire for you.”

“How was I supposed to know her birthday is on Valentine’s Day?!”

“The fact that she was okay with you postponing the most romantic holiday on the calendar should have been your first clue, man.”

Deeks learned two important things from that experience. First, always find out a woman’s birthday as soon as you start dating. Second, beware beautiful brunettes because most of them are spitfires. Ray probably came to that realization too, as Kitty was the look-alike his friend almost told Kensi about that day at the airport.

In college Deeks discovered his mother was spot-on about the right woman not minding delaying the holiday for the cost savings. Or at least he confirmed the inverse.

He presented the box of chocolates and bouquet of flowers to his sophomore-year girlfriend when he picked her up at her dorm on February sixteenth.

Maggie gushed, “Oh my goodness, these flowers are so beautiful! Are there two dozen here?” She was ecstatic that she rated twice the roses her friends got from their boyfriends. “How’d you keep them so fresh?”

“By buying them today. Same as the candy – I could get you more of everything because they’re on sale,” he said proudly.

“What the hell, Marty? I thought you had to study. Or work or something. I didn’t know you wanted to delay our date so you could cheap-out.”

“I never said I was working or studying, Maggie. You know I’m on scholarship and can’t afford to spend that kind of money. This is a win-win. More bang for the buck, so to speak.”

“You’re not getting any more bang from me, pal. I want a man who doesn’t mind spending a little more to make me happy.”

“That’s fine, because I want to be with someone who doesn’t put so much significance into a ‘holiday’ that was created to sell greeting cards.” This time it was Deeks who walked away.

For the next few years he carefully avoided being in a romantic relationship in February. Instead, Deeks found that the ladies were much more generous when he danced on Valentine’s Day, so it was another win-win as far as he was concerned. After law school, when he was starting out as a public defender, Deeks still wasn’t making much money and was too busy to do more than grab the occasional drink with his fellow overworked and underpaid lawyers. If he happened to fall into bed with a female colleague who didn’t want to be alone on the holiday of love, so much the better, as long as she understood there was no commitment implied.

Becoming a cop improved Deeks’ success with the ladies, if not the longevity of the relationships, which continued to be fine with him. He’d learned not to mention his Valentine’s Day tradition unless he was ready to break up with a woman. Otherwise he’d come up with an excuse to avoid making plans for the fourteenth (“Sorry, I tried trading shifts, but no one wanted to. How about a raincheck?”). Deeks missed the holiday altogether the first time he was under cover as Artie, and only realized it a few days later when he noticed all the empty heart-shaped candy boxes (and one still sealed in cellophane, which made for quite a treat) in the dumpsters he frequently foraged.

Once he started working with NCIS, the whole tenor of the holiday changed for Deeks. Having a female partner with whom he spent as much time as he did Kensi gave him a different perspective on the women he dated. The week before Valentine’s Day that first year he’d decided to break it off with his then-girlfriend rather than live the next month in the doghouse just for politely agreeing to have drinks with her friend.

Deeks smiled now when he recalled how they’d begun that Valentine’s Day proper: complaining to each other, and then Hetty, about their personal shortcomings. He shook his head slightly, thinking how incredibly brave or stupid he’d been to call Kensi Blye “tightly wound” and tell her how exhausting it was being her partner while they were in a room full of weapons. He was lucky she didn’t shoot him.

He’d spent most of that February sixteenth sleeping off the previous days’ worth of chasing down a stolen nuclear bomb. But before heading home that morning, they had unknowingly taken the first real step toward their “thing” when Deeks offered to try to take things more seriously for the sake of their partnership and Kensi agreed to try to lighten up a little.

He and Kensi did a decent job of being more and less serious, respectively, and they were in a pretty good place in their partnership by the next Valentine’s Day. Deeks didn’t read too much into the fact that it was on that morning Kensi nearly caused him to choke to death on a smoothie called The Woody. But he almost started to believe in St. Valentine, the patron saint of love, later that night when he first got a look at Kensi in that just-short-enough zebra-print halter dress and all those tattoos. In fact, he sent a little prayer of thanks to the saint after Kensi’s unwitting gift to him when she insisted, on coms, that she was too his type.

There was no denying their growing mutual attraction or the existence of the still-nebulous thing between them by their third Valentine’s Day as partners. He and Kensi had become masters at talking without actually saying anything, or more accurately, what they said was ambiguous enough to be misunderstood or deliberately misinterpreted. A perfect example was the conversation they had a week or so before Valentine’s Day about the box that had arrived on Kensi’s desk. Deeks remembered it like it was yesterday.

Watching from a distance as a suspect tried to comfort a new widow, Deeks passed the binoculars off to Kensi for a look-see and decided a change of subject was in order. As a detective who couldn’t help but detect, he tossed out a quick, “What’s in the box?”

She chuckled, “This again?”

“Fine. You don’t want me to ask, I’ll stop asking. I don’t care. I don’t need to know,” he said, as if his partner would ever believe it could be that easy.

“No, I just think you’re very curious, that’s all.”

Deeks knew he should have called her on that comment. Of course he was curious, so why state the obvious? Because they weren’t really talking about what they were talking about. The all-too-frequent subtext of so many of their conversations, their thing, had reared its confusing head again. Hadn’t it? Was Kensi trying to voice a concern that Deeks’ apparent interest in her was born purely out of curiosity? That as soon as the novelty wore off, he’d move on to his next conquest? Or was she really complaining because he kept asking about the box?

His answer was just as enigmatic as hers, “Because you keep building it up so much.”

“Exactly. What’s to say it won’t be a big disappointment?”

Wow, that was a fast comeback, Deeks thought. He wondered if Kensi was afraid they wouldn’t live up to…what, her own fantasies? All his big talk? She could be right, but there was only one way to find out. “Well, at least then we’ll know,” he reasoned.

She held his eyes for a moment before looking away and saying nothing. Deeks worried that he’d misread Kensi’s intent, that there was no subtext and would never be any thing between them, so he fell back on humor. He said her name to get her attention and then whispered maniacally, “What’s in the box?”

“No. The stakes are too high,” Kensi said assuredly.

Finally Deeks was confident she was talking about them and not some stupid box, so he decided to set her mind at ease and be a little more direct. “You know it’s not going to change anything, right?”

“We’re still talking about the box, right?” Kensi asked, making it clear she was not willing to be more candid just then.

Deeks thought his head would explode and accused Kensi of sending the box to herself just to prompt this ridiculous discussion that she wouldn’t follow through with. Naturally, work chose that moment to intrude.

Deeks let out a sigh of frustration and turned on his heel to stalk back toward the OR doors for possibly the hundred time. No matter how much he stared at them, they didn’t open. Glancing at his watch, Deeks noted that almost an hour had passed. He should be relieved no one had come out yet, shouldn’t he? It took time to save lives. Maybe he should call someone to keep him company and help distract him from his obsessive pacing, but who? Definitely not Julia or his own mother, at least not until he had some hopefully good news to share. Anyone from NCIS would be more than willing to be here and worry with him, but Deeks didn’t think he could handle their looks of sympathy. So alone he would remain for now.

Alone. Ever since his partnership with Special Agent Kensi Marie Blye had developed into the most important and meaningful relationship of his adult life, Deeks knew he’d never have to be alone again as long as Kensi was all right. He sent up a prayer now to whoever was listening that the doctors would save her, and along with her, their future.

Deeks considered, not for the first time, how far he and Kensi had come in their communication skills. They no longer spoke in riddles and implications, and if one of them slipped back into the habit, the other would ask a direct question and demand a direct answer.

Returning his mind to the Valentine’s Day with the specter of the box looming over it, Deeks remembered with a smirk that there was nothing direct about how their third February sixteenth as partners went down. He hadn’t mentioned the significance of the date when he offhandedly suggested a partner bonding night to Kensi. When he presented a box of candy to her (not heart-shaped, because Deeks might have been brave and stupid but he was no fool), he played it off as an impulse purchase; something he’d come across on a clearance rack when he was out picking up beer and snacks earlier in the day. He completed his smooth lie by telling Kensi they were meant to be saved for her next lady phase. She blinked and smiled when she thanked him, and may have studied him a beat longer than necessary before turning her attention back to whatever trash-TV marathon she’d made him record on his DVR. They spent the evening on the couch eating take-out, drinking beer, and alternating between making fun of and defending the people who chose to live their lives in the fishbowl of “reality” television. It had been the best Valentine’s Day he’d had in too long.

The following one was by far the worst. They had finally taken a definitive step toward a relationship when Kensi was shipped off to Afghanistan indefinitely. She had already been there for about three months and they’d had only sporadic contact when Valentine’s Day rolled around. For the first time since he was twelve, Marty Deeks had purchased a box of candy at full price, prior to the holiday. Just as he had at Christmastime, Deeks wanted to be prepared on the slim chance that Kensi completed her mission and unexpectedly walked into the mission on Valentine’s Day proper. She hadn’t. Nor did she miraculously appear on February sixteenth. He kept the candy (heart-shaped this time) and gave it to her shortly after she returned, along with the small Christmas present he had tucked away. Deeks knew Kensi had no Christmas, birthday, or Valentine’s gifts for him, and he assured her that her presence and well-being was all he needed. Truer words had never passed his lips, before or since.

The next Valentine’s Day was their first after officially becoming a couple. They had just parked in front of Deeks’ apartment after work when Kensi mentioned it.

Kensi unfastened her seatbelt but made no move to exit the car. “So, uh, next week is Valentine’s Day. Do we want to do something? Maybe you can try your hand at meticulously sourcing and preparing a meal, for real this time?” she asked with a grin.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” At Kensi’s look, he decided to move on. “As for Valentine’s Day, I already took care of it, my little cupid…or whatever the female version of cupid is. We have dinner reservations for Monday night, but I’m not telling you where, so don’t ask.”

“Valentine’s Day is Saturday, Deeks.”

“Yeah, about that. How about if we celebrate it Monday?”

“Why?” she drew out the word in suspicion, waiting for the punchline.

“It’s kind of been a longstanding rule of mine to celebrate Valentine’s Day…well, most holidays, really, a few days after the fact.” For the first time Deeks was worried about how a woman would respond to that announcement. His intent this time wasn’t to end a relationship. Quite the opposite. He suspected this would corroborate what he already believed in his heart, that Kensi would be his last Valentine. His mother’s long-ago words echoed in his mind, “When you meet the woman you’re going to marry and have a family with, you’ll know she’s the one because she won’t care when you celebrate Valentine’s Day either.”

“Again, why?” Now Kensi sounded curious, as if she couldn’t wait to hear about this latest eccentricity of his.

“The truth?” At her nod, Deeks rushed on, “Because I hate the idea of spending all that money on flowers, candy, and gifts when the prices are at their highest. So I prefer to wait until after, when I can get more for less.”

“You do remember I don’t like flowers, right?”

“Yup. Wasn’t planning to give you any.”

“And I’d much rather exchange personal favors than gifts, if you catch my meaning,” Kensi looked him up and down to make sure he got the message.

“Oh, I’m catching like Kip, our favorite power forward, Kensalina,” Deeks said with a lecherous smirk.

“But the candy…I have to admit I was looking forward to the candy,” she said wistfully.

“A little delayed gratification, that’s all I’m asking for. If you wait just two days, you’ll get even more.”

“For which you’ll pay less?” He nodded cautiously and Kensi pointed a finger warningly, “It better be one big-ass box of candy, Deeks.”

“The biggest I can find, I promise. Or multiple smaller ones.” She continued to study him, seemingly weighing her options. Deeks finally ventured, “So, Valentine’s Day on February sixteenth? Do we have a deal?”

“Every year?”

Deeks really liked the sound of that. “Every year,” he confirmed, thrilled to see it made Kensi’s smile bloom into the one he loved.

“Deal,” she agreed.

“Great,” he said, a goofy grin on his face. “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, assuming we’re not on a case. Oh, and dress up.”

“Pick me up? Won’t you be with me? We usually go to one of our places straight from work.” She nodded toward his apartment as if to prove her point.

“Yeah, but I’m kind of thinking of this as our first real date, so I’d like to do it right.”

Kensi’s smile turned almost shy as she considered his words. “That sounds nice.”

It was. He took her back to the French-Southwestern fusion restaurant where they’d almost had their first real date, had Deeks actually told Kensi he’d intended it to be a date. And had they actually stayed and eaten.

“You think you’re going to get lucky again, bringing me here?” Kensi teased after the hostess handed off their menus and promised a server would be by soon.

“I wake up next to you most mornings, Kens. I’m already luckier than I deserve,” Deeks said sincerely.

She laid her hand on his across the table and smiled sweetly, still not entirely used to this aspect of their relationship.

“And later,” he whispered, “I’ll show you another benefit to delaying gratification, since I know how much you like it when I do that.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “No matter how much you demand and threaten and beg at the time.”

“I do not beg,” Kensi insisted. “But I do have to admit the size of your…box of chocolates made putting off Valentine’s Day worth the wait.”

“So will tonight, sugar bear,” he promised enticingly. “So. Will. Tonight.”

The next year’s celebration was subdued, as they were both uneasy remaining behind while Callen and Sam were with Anna trying to break Arkady out of a Russian prison. They’d cancelled their plans, knowing they could be called to leave the country at a moment’s notice, and ended up spending a quiet evening at home. They ordered dinner in and finished unpacking Kensi’s recently-moved-in belongings while she made her way through her industrial sized box of chocolates. That was the night Deeks was introduced to the delights of a champagne-tipsy and sugar-high Kensi in the bedroom.

Despite Kensi’s reluctance, Deeks wanted to make a big deal of their belated Valentine’s Day the following year. After Kensi’s coma, paralysis, and recovery followed by her escape from a psycho CIA agent with a grudge, Deeks wanted to celebrate. Kensi, who was anxiously waiting for Nate to come to town and hopefully clear her for field work, was less than enthusiastic. When he applied a little guilt by reminding his ladybird that they’d played it low-key at her request for all the recent holidays, and that he was really looking forward to doing something special for just the two of them, Kensi relented. But not before she confessed that the reason she wanted to defer was because she still wasn’t feeling amorous and she didn’t want to disappoint Deeks.

The truth was, of course he was disappointed. Deeks had been hoping he could coax Kensi into resuming the sexual aspect of their relationship with a fun, romantic night out. He’d missed the intimate physical contact between them, understandably absent while Kensi was in the hospital, and subsequently avoided even after she returned home. But an equal truth was that Deeks didn’t think he would ever forget how close he’d come to losing Kensi in Syria, or how terrifying it was to spend most of the next month unsure she would wake up or what life would be like if she did. If they never made love again he would still be content to grow old by her side. So while they didn’t have sex that February sixteenth, they spent an evening reconnecting in other ways, and for that Deeks was grateful.

At the sound of a door swinging open behind him, Deeks almost gave himself whiplash with the speed his head turned around. He recognized one of the surgeons who had been working on Kensi earlier, and quickly strode toward the woman.

“Tell me some good news, Doc.”

The doctor, whose name Deeks didn’t think he heard earlier, remained straight-faced. Deeks panicked for a moment, unable to read her expression. “Your wife suffered significant blood loss. We were initially concerned about internal injuries, but fortunately found none. She has a mild concussion but has been conscious the entire time and there is no other apparent brain trauma. Her right shoulder was dislocated and has been reset and there were some substantial lacerations, one on her arm and one on her leg, that we stitched up while she was in surgery. She’ll be sore for a while, but she’s expected to make a full recovery.”

“Thank God,” Deeks released a sigh as he leaned against the nearest wall and ran a hand through his hair. He took a quick breath before asking the next question. “And the baby?”

She put a hand on his arm in support. “The obstetrician will be out soon with more information, but I can tell you your little girl’s lungs sounded healthy if the strength of her cry was any indication.”

“Girl? It’s a girl? Kensi gave birth? But she’s only thirty-six weeks along.”

“The excessive bleeding was from a ruptured placenta, so an emergency C-section was performed. Someone should be able to take you to see your daughter in a little while,” she gave his arm a gentle squeeze before releasing him and stepping back. “Congratulations, Mr. Deeks.”

Ten minutes later the OB herself came out and escorted Deeks to the neonatal intensive care unit while she filled him in on his daughter’s condition. The doctor explained that as a late preterm delivery, the baby was at risk for some immediate health complications, but she wasn’t currently exhibiting any worrisome symptoms. Her lungs appeared to be fully developed, but she would be monitored for the next day or so by the NICU as a precaution. Even her weight, at five pounds, seven ounces, was good, Deeks was assured.

The walk seemed interminable to Deeks, anxious to see for himself that his daughter was here and all right. After he asked everything he could think to about Kensi and their baby girl, they continued through the maze-like corridors in silence. Deeks’ mind took him back to exactly a year ago, when he and Kensi were out for their Valentine’s dinner.

“The Wonder Twins were here on Valentine’s Day proper,” Kensi said. “They weren’t terribly impressed by the service. Apparently, it was over-booked for the holiday.”

“Yet another benefit to celebrating a few days late,” Deeks said.

Kensi nodded her agreement and raised her glass of wine to her husband, “Got to hand it to you, babe, it’s been a pretty good idea.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be the ton of chocolate you ate before we left the house talking, would it?”

“Well chocolate does help release those feel-good hormones, so…” she shrugged.

Deeks leaned closer and lowered his voice, “Speaking of, what do you say we skip dessert, since you did have all that candy earlier, and get to the real feel-good portion of the evening a little sooner?”

Kensi held his gaze for a few beats before she spoke, “About that. I’ve been thinking.”

His eyebrows arched in surprise, “Oh? Should I be worried? Or do you just want me to dust off our handcuffs?”

“We’ve been doing pretty well growing the business, haven’t we?”

“Definitely. Considering we’ve only been out of NCIS and LAPD for a little over a year, we’re doing great. Because we’re awesome business partners who know our niche markets and do excellent work. But what’s this got to do with tonight?”

“What do you think about taking the next step?”

“In our business plan?”

“No, Deeks. In our family plan. I want to stop taking the Pill, start trying to get pregnant. If you’re ready.”

Now it was Deeks’ turn to lock eyes with his wife. After a moment or two of silent communion, he smiled broadly and quickly signaled the waiter for the check.

A few months later, they were pregnant. And the perfect, precious, miraculous result was now being carefully transferred into Deeks’ waiting arms.

“Hey, baby girl,” he whispered once he was confident he was holding her correctly. “If my voice sounds familiar it’s because I’m your dad. You’re here a little earlier than we expected, but that’s okay. Like your mom, I guess you want to keep me on my toes.”

The infant sneezed and Deeks laughed delightedly as he continued to gently sway and bounce his daughter the way he’d watched Kensi handle a newborn several years ago. “Speaking of your mom, she had a rough day but can’t wait to meet you.” The obstetrician had told Deeks that Kensi was asking after him and their little girl, and would be in a room and ready to see them shortly.

When the baby started crying, Deeks redoubled his soothing motions and fell back on what he did best, talking. “You’ve had a pretty busy day too, haven’t you? I bet you’re hungry. Hell—oops, heck—you’re probably starving if you’re anything like your mom. Well, she has the food, and we’re going to go see her in a few minutes, so do you think you can hold on just a little while longer?” The doctor had also informed him that the hospital’s lactation consultant would meet them in Kensi’s room to teach her to breastfeed, and that Deeks’ might need to assist since she’d just had surgery.

The baby’s crying growing louder, Deeks frantically looked around for a pacifier but didn’t see one, and the nurses were busy with other infants. A little desperate, he gently placed the tip of his pinky against his daughter’s bottom lip. Deeks was blown away when she almost immediately latched on and started sucking.

Once confident he’d be able to form words again, Deeks said, “Listen, that finger’s not going to do anything for your hunger, and as soon as you figure that out, you’ll probably start making your displeasure known again, which will make me feel just horrible. And I’m sure all that crying can’t feel good to you either. So how about we make a deal? You keep trying to get milk from my finger with that mutant-ninja-strong suction action you’ve got going on, and I’ll wave down the very first nurse who becomes available to bring us to Mama, okay? And since you’re looking at me like you know I’m saying something you want to hear, let me be the first to wish you a happy birthday. Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day. Technically, that was two days ago, but your mom and I have this agreement. You want to hear about it? It’s quite a love story, really. You see, it began when I was a kid…”

His mother had been his first Valentine. And for years, Deeks believed Kensi would be his last. He realized now how wrong he was. This little girl had made room in his heart for one more.