Quill, Parchment, & Ink

Title: Family Snuggles
Characters: Marty Deeks/Kensi Blye, Lara Blye
Fandom: NCIS: Los Angeles
Series: An Unlikely Family
Written For: smallfandomfest , fringedweller ’s prompt
Prompt: naptime
Summary: It’s the little things in life that make him the happiest now.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Just for my story Nine Month Bug.
Warnings: None really, everyone pretty much behaved this time.
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, but Lara does.
Author's Note: This is my first fill for smallfandomfest  *hides* I hope y’all like it. It’s a follow-up to my story, Nine Month Bug, and will fall somewhere in the middle of the vignettes I’m planning for a second part. Thanks to irishjeeper  and illfindmyway  for their help with this one. irishjeeper  for giving me some ideas that led to the title and illfindmyway  who even from another country managed to answer a question so I could end this :-)


“Mommy!” Lara called as she burst into the house, her dad following behind her, carefully catching the screen door so it didn’t bang shut.

“Lara,” Deeks tried to hush her and juggle the bags from the shopping they’d done. Kensi had gone to all green grocery sacks when Lara was a baby, but he didn’t always remember to bring them. Lara was pretty good at reminding him and they’d taken them today, but they’d bought more things than the bags held. “Mommy might be sleeping,” he reminded her. “Here can you take this bag?”

“How come Mommy’s sleeping?” she asked.

Deeks dropped the bags on the table, then scooped her up and set her on the counter. “Well, sometimes mommies just need extra rest. That’s why we went shopping without her today.”

“Is she okay, Daddy?” Lara asked with concern.

He turned from where he had been putting milk in the fridge, to find Lara watching him; her brown eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Hey. Hey. Whoa. What’s with the waterworks? There is absolutely no reason for waterworks, Buttercup. I promise.”

“But mommy’s sick!” Her lower lip quivered and she rubbed at her eyes.

“Okay. Yeah. This is so not my job. Kensi and I talked about this.” Deeks picked her up, settling her against my shoulder. “This was so much easier when you were a baby.” He swayed from side to side, humming to her. “I knew what to do with you then.”

Lara snuffled against his shirt, digging her fingers into the cotton. “I want Mommy.”

“Oh, baby, I know.” For a moment, he considered his options. “How about this? Mommy needs to rest, but she’s been sleeping the whole time we’ve been gone or watching really shhhh-bad TV. So why don’t we make a tray up and we can go snuggle with her and take a nap, too?” He shifted her so he could look her in the eye. “What do you think?”

“I’m not tired,” she told him.

“Well, neither am I exactly, but it’s nice to spend time with Mommy. We can watch movies and just veg. Sound good?” He lowered her to the ground, giving her a chance to let go on her own and not prying her loose. She stuck her fingers in her mouth for a moment, but at a look from him, she pulled them out. “All right, Buttercup, what should we put on the tray?”

Lara tilted her head to the side, looking so much like her mother for a moment that Deeks thought Kensi had been miniaturized. “Carrots, celery and peanut butter,” she decided.

“And I think crackers and spray cheese,” Deeks told her. “And Twinkies.” Lara giggled at his words. “Okay, gigglepuss. This is what we’re gonna do. I will get out the snacks. I want you to go get a movie or two and put on your PJs. And then come back in here. Be very, very quiet and don’t disturb Mommy, okay?”

“I can do that,” she told him. She stretched her arms up and he leaned down, her arms going around his neck as she kissed his cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”

“Love you, too, Buttercup. Go do your jobs.” He waited until she skipped out of the room before pulling the tray down from the high shelf where it was kept. By the time she returned, he had the tray set up and was snapping a top on one of her juice cups. “What movies did you find?” he asked.

Holding the DVD cases out, she showed him. “Princess Bride and Incredibles and Spy Kids and Mulan.”

“I think that might be a few more than Mommy can handle right now. How about you pick two of them? All right?”

“Just two?” she asked. “Not three?”

“This isn’t something you can negotiate on.” Deeks held up two fingers. “Just two.” When Lara looked up at him with wide eyes, he waved the fingers at her. “Two movies. The eyes are not gonna work on me. They aren’t, I mean it.”

“But, Daddy…”

“Lara, I will make you go get the bad Star Wars, if you don’t pick just two movies.”

Lara’s eyes lit up. “Can I get one of the good Star Wars?”

“If you pick just one of these movies, then yes you can get one of the good Star Wars movies.”

She grinned, handing over the Princess Bride and then running from the room. A moment later, she was back with a new case clutched tightly in her hand. “Okay?” she asked, flipping the case around so he could see the cover.

“Return of the Jedi is the best of the good Star Wars movies.” Deeks looked around before clapping his hands. “I think we’re ready. You grab the movies. I’ve got the tray. And you think you can carry your juice glass?”

“I can!” She took the glass from him, holding it tightly with one hand while she held the movies in the other. “I’m ready.”

“Okay, very quietly upstairs just in case Mommy’s sleeping.” Deeks put a finger to his lips before motioning for her to proceed him up the stairs.

Kensi opened her eyes as a giggle caught her attention to see Lara peering around the doorway; Deeks standing above her. “Hi,” she whispered.

Lara tilted her head up. “She’s awake, Daddy.”

“Yeah, she is. Go ahead.” Deeks nudged her forward. “Gently.”

Lara ran over to the bed, stopping at the edge, and waiting until Kensi slid over to make room for her. Scrambling over, she lay down so she was facing Kensi, touching noses with her. “Are you feeling better, Mommy?”

“I am. Especially with you and Daddy back. What do you have here?” Kensi looked up at Deeks.

“Well, we thought since you were taking a nap that we’d come up and join you,” Deeks explained. He set the tray down on the bed as Kensi struggled into a sitting position, clearly loathe to disturb Lara. Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips. “Hi,” he added.

Kensi grinned in response. “Hi. I like that idea.” Glancing down at the tray, she snorted. “Twinkies, really?”

“Hey, my girls are junk food junkies, what can I say?” He held his hand out. “Movie, Buttercup?”

Lara looked from one case to the other, obviously very seriously considering it, then handed over The Princess Bride. “This one first,” she informed him.

“As you wish,” he intoned, with a half-bow. Lara giggled in response and he made his way over to the DVD player. “I’m going to put this in and change and then I’ll be back to snuggle with you both.”

Emerging from the bathroom a moment later with a stick in his hand, he held it up so Kensi could see it. “Um, Kensi? What does the little plus sign mean?”