Authors Note: Hey all! Thank you all for the reviews from last chapter. I appreciate all of them and I'm going to start replying to them! :D Since I haven't posted in so long I decided to give you another chapter today! This one is probably a fluff overload so prepare yourselves.

As you can see this chapter is also quite larger than all of the others - I wanted to split it into two but decided against it~ This way we can get back to the actual story in the following chapter. :P

Please forgive any grammar / spelling / other errors. They are mine and mine alone...

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own this wonderful show! ...Not yet.

Last time:

I chuckled and parked the car. "Don't grow up just yet. How about I teach you how to surf first, huh?"

He nodded. "Yes please! I has always wanted to surf!"

"Alright then. Let's get going!"

Chapter 12

Deeks' P.O.V.

I opened the car door and jumped out just as the surveillance car parked a few parking spaces away from me. Two muscular guys climbed out and nodded in my direction. I waved hesitantly before turning back to Jared.

I unbuckled him and helped him to the ground before moving to get our surf gear. He trailed me to the back of the car.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

He focused his eyes on mine and timidly motioned to the unknown men. "Who are they?"

I crouched down to make myself level with him. "It's alright buddy, they're here to keep an eye on us – make sure we're safe."

"How come?"

I reached over and ruffled his golden locks, "Remember how I told you about mommy having to keep me being alive a secret from you?" I asked.

He nodded and shoved an index finger into his mouth for reassurance.

"Well, because I'm back now, we need to make sure that no bad guys find you and mommy. Those guys over there are going to keep us safe and let us know when bad guys might be close." I added and pulled the boy into my arms.

He nodded skeptically, threw both men another look over his shoulder and turned his gaze back to me. "You sure? They look scary… They look scarier than uncle Sam."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his remark. "You're scared of uncle Sam?" I questioned while picking the child up, studying him.

"No, he's jus' intimi- intimda-ting."

I continued to watch the focused boy, my mouth hanging slightly agape, "Intimidating? Jeez, how old are you Jare? Where did you even learn that word?"

"Uncle Eric."

"No comment buddy, I don't even want to know. Let's go have some fun instead!"

Jared threw his arms up as I settled him back onto the ground, "Yay!" He cheered. I handed him some of the smaller things to carry to the beach and he was more than willing to help out.

We settled our things down on top of some towels that I spread out. Jared studied the view and approached me as I called him closer. I grabbed a bottle of sun lotion and helped him get out of his shirt before applying some of the lotion all over his shoulders, back, stomach and face.

"Let's try to avoid getting burned by the sun, okay?" I smiled and watched him nod in return.

"Are you ready to begin your first official surfing lesson or do you want to play in the water for a bit first?" I asked and Jared seemed to contemplate the whole decision.

"Swim for five minutes. Then surf." He stated and took of running towards the water without me registering what was happening properly.

I removed everything from my pockets, threw them with the rest if the things on the towels and chased after the energetic boy, "Jare-bear! Hold up lil' man!" I called but the boy ended up bursting into giggles instead. He had the ocean locked in sight.

I shook my head as a smile managed to crawl onto my face. I continued to chase after him and laughed as I gently caught him by the waist.

He wiggled in my grasp and swung his arms all around the place, "Daddyyyy …swim!" He whined playfully. I picked him up and gradually threw him up into the air only to catch him moments later. I held him above my head and grinned as his blonde locks fell into his face. He studied me with innocent eyes and planted both of his hands onto my cheeks. "Don' drop me daddy."

"Never."

This caused the boy's smile to return. "Put me down, I wanna run!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"You little wise guy! You think running away from me is funny, huh?" I asked settling him down on the sand again.

"Yes!" He whooped and tried to make a run for it again but I managed to stop him just in time. I gently pulled him towards me, "I guess I'll just have to tickle you then!" I announced and the boy squealed as I did exactly that.

He dropped into the sand powerlessly and swung his arms, kicked his legs and continued to laugh uncontrollably, "Stop!" He shrieked, getting red in the face from all the laughing.

"Nope!"

He rolled around and held his stomach, "Daddy! You're killing me!" He called choking on his own laughter.

I stopped and pulled him into a light hug while ruffling his hair. "You're so dramatic."

"Nah-ah!" He giggled and returned the hug. "No tickling… No tickling ever again." He said and met my eyes with his serious ones. "Pwomise?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Nope, I can't make promises I won't keep!"

Jared stomped his foot. "No tickles!"

"Fine, no tickles… For now."

"Pinkie-pwomise?" He asked and held out his pinkie finger.

I united my pinkie with his, "Pinkie-promise."

The boy threw me a cunning smile before taking off towards the water again. I smiled and effortlessly chased after him. I haven't had this much fun in years, I loved being a dad… I loved being able to spend time with this wonderful little guy that shared so much traits with both me and Kensi. I only wished that she could have been here too.

Jared was the first one to reach the water. He wasted no time to dive into the shallow – slightly cold –ocean. I watched him attentively as I too entered the calm waters.

The boy giggled as he swam around in a circle then turned towards me. He stood up and focused his icy eyes on mine.

I watched him motionlessly, eyebrows furrowed. He was definitely planning something… His head tilted slightly to the side before streams of water suddenly and continuously began splashing into my general direction.

I put my hands out in front of my eyes to protect them from the salty water and slowly began moving into Jared line. He shrieked as I came closer and closer.

"Stay back, daddy!" He called and took of running to the shore again. I guess that meant that swimming time was over then. I followed the little guy back to the towels and laughed as I saw him curl up into one.

"You cold?"

"No!" He responded quickly and threw the towel away. Stubborn, just like his mother. "Can you teach me howta surf now, daddy?"

I grinned, "Uh-huh… You don't want to rest first?"

"No! Surf!" Ahem

I nodded, "Okay, but we're going to start from the very beginning."

"O'kay"

I crouched back down and drew a surfboard in the sand, Jared threw me a questioning look. I gave him a reassuring smile and waved him closer, "Come here."

He stood up and walked over to me, eyes focused on the drawing. "What's that?"

"That – Jared-O'-mine is your trainee surfboard. It's how you're going to start today." I simply stated and watched him.

"O'kay?"

"I want you to lay flat on your stomach on your new trainee surfboard." I motioned and drew another one for myself. Maybe it was better to keep things simple for today.

He dropped down onto the sand-drawing and I did the same. "Now, buddy… this might sound silly but I want you to pop up."

"Pop up?" He asked with the most confused expression I've ever seen.

I smiled, "Yep… Like this." I said and motioned for him to watch. I settled both of my hands on top of the fake-trainee-sand-drawing-surfboard, "Place your hands onto your board like this."

He mimicked my position and watched me attentively. "Now, we are going to do a quick push-up. You know what a push-up is right?" I asked and the boy nodded. "Great, we're going to do something just like a push-up, just a bit faster. This will help you to learn how to get up on the board while surfing and to keep your balance while standing up as well." I told him, "Now watch this and do it after me, okay?"

Jared nodded once more.

I positioned myself flat on the board again, laid my hands onto it and slowly started pushing my body up with both my arms, when they reached full extension I began pulling my knees towards my stomach and finally hopped onto my feet.

I lay back down and did it again, much faster this time. "Your turn buddy, you got that?"

Jared smiled and laid on his stomach, he began doing what I just showed him but went up with his knees first, and not his arms.

"That was good Jare' but if you go up with your knees first you'll lose balance and fall off of the board. Do a push up with your arms first." I said and guided him through it.

Ten minutes later he seemed to completely have the entire move mastered. "You're a natural buddy. Let's see how many times you can pop up while I count to twenty, okay?"

He nodded and settled himself onto the board again. "Ready, set, go… One, two, three-" I continued till I finally reached twenty and Jared managed to pop up about twelve times. "Nicely done, Sparky. How about I take you out with my board now? I think you're awesome enough to get off the sand."

Jared beamed and jumped up from the ground in a pop-up-motion.

I smiled and grabbed the life preserver Kensi had bought along with the board and helped Jared into it. "Safety first." I repeated for the second time that day and laughed as Jared rolled his blue mismatched eyes. "Alright, let's go." I grabbed my surfboard and Jared's hand and calmly began strolling towards the ocean. The closer we got the more restless Jared seemed.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh."

"You scared?"

The boy sighed and stopped dead in his tracks, "Uh-huh." He confessed looking down.

I tilted his chin up. "It's alright to be scared, but I'll be with you every step of the way. I won't let anything happen to you – ever." I whispered and planted a kiss onto the top of his head.

He met my eyes with his. His childlike innocence were still clear in them. "Pinkie-Pwomise?"

"Double pinkie-promise."

He smiled and took my hand in his again, "Let's goooo!"

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and continued moving towards the water again…

We swam in a bit deeper this time, not too deep, just somewhere the waves were good enough. Jared sat on the front of the board and watched me hesitantly as I too climbed onto it.

"Let's catch some gnarly waves Jare' … "I called and stuck out my tongue, the boy burst into endless giggles. I've never heard so much laughing in one day – I must be doing something right.

We drifted around on the board, waiting for an exceptional wave… Moments later we got that opportunity. I 'popped up' and surfed the wave back to the shore but Jared remained seated as arranged. He threw his arms up in delight as we reached the shore.

"Again?" He begged with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Once more and then we go back home, okay?"

Jared cheered. "Okay!"

Kensi's P.O.V.

"You getting this, Ms Blye?" One of the muscular surveillance guys asked over COMS.

I grinned, "Yes, thank you so much for doing this Marcus." I uttered and watched the live streaming footage from the surveillance camera, hidden somewhere on their car.

A clear image of Deeks and Jared could be made out on the screen in ops. Deeks was such a good father; he was amazing with the boy. I felt a chill run down my back at seeing them play on the sand – the way Deeks made him laugh, tickled- and chased him around was adorable. I've never quite seen Jared so happy before.

"You've got a wonderful family going here, Ms. Blye… I really hope to start one of my own one day." Marcus sighed.

I smiled genuinely, "Thank you, and thank you for keeping an eye on them."

"No issue here, my partner and I are happy to help."

I brought my focus back to the large screen and laughed when Deeks started giving Jared his first lesson. The boys' confused expression was one of a kind…

My paperwork could wait a little longer.

Deeks' P.O.V.

When we arrived back at ops Jared was sound asleep in his booster seat. I opened his car door and soundlessly unfastened him. The surveillance guys approached me. I whispered an honest thanks, shook their hands and turned to pick up my son.

He rested his chin on my shoulder and unconsciously clung to my shirt. I slowly carried him back inside and laid him down on the couch in ops. Nell threw the boy an adoring smile.

"I take it things went well?" She asked while brushing a lock of hair from the sleeping child's face.

I nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

She grinned, "Well, Kensi's still in the bullpen. I think she's nearly done with her work."

"Thanks, Nell… Would you mind keeping an eye on him for me?"

She nodded, "Gladly."

Kensi grinned as I entered the bullpen.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "You just happy to see me or-"

"I am indeed."

"Uh-huh…Who are you and what have you done to my partner?"

She rolled her eyes teasingly, "You did well today."

I smirked and tilted my head to the side. "I have to do paperwork my ass, Blye."

"Bite me."

"Oh – be careful what you wish for Princess."

Kensi sighed, "I'm almost done here… Where's Jared?"

"Asleep on the couch. How many pages do you have left?" I asked unable to stop grinning.

She scanned the stack, "About nine, maybe ten… Give me twenty-minutes?"

"Sure… I'll be right back. I need to make a call."

She threw me a worried, questioning look, "Okay?"

"It's nothing serious, I just found Ray's number while going through one of those boxes in the locker room earlier… I haven't spoken to him in years. I owe it to him." I announced and met her understanding gaze.

She nodded and I turned to leave. "Good luck with those pages."

"Good luck with that call."

I walked into one of the buildings many vacant rooms, the green slip of paper containing Ray's number held between my fingers. I shut the door and took a seat on top of the steal table in the middle of the room.

I removed the phone Eric had given me earlier from my pocket and slowly began entering the number into the phone. I paused slightly – what was I going to tell him? I haven't called him in years after usually doing every few months. I pressed the green call button and waited for it to start ringing. He deserved to know the truth – I doubt anyone even told him about my disappearance.

The phone rung four times before someone answered, "Hello?" Ray's familiar low-toned voice asked.

I stayed silent and just listened for a moment longer, I found myself unable to speak.

"Uh – anyone there?" He asked.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Yeah, um- hey Ray." I replied quickly and rubbed the crook of my neck, "It Mart-"

"Marty! Well… Look who finally decided to call! It's been years man – what the hell –"

"Uh, yeah - sor-"

"If this is that phone call you owe me about finally working things out with Wikipedia I'm going to- "

I laughed awkwardly, "No – no, it's not-"I interrupted.

Ray sighed, "Oh, come on man - it's been like a good four years last time we spoke, you guys can't possibly still be running around your thing."

This was not how I expected this call to go. "There have been a lot of obstacles in my way…" I replied seriously.

Ray remained silent, "What do you mean?"

I chuckled humorously, "Look man, I don't really want to go into this right now… I don't want to make you worry about anything."

"If you put it like that, it worries me… What happened?" Ray responded without hesitation.

"Man, I don't even know where to start…"

"Marty," He mumbled in a worried tone. "Tell me what happened – is Kensi okay?"

I looked up to the ceiling and sighed, "Kensi's fine."

"Then what? Are you okay?"

I nodded and then remembered that he can't see me. "I am now that I'm back." I said under my breath.

"What exactly does that mean? Where have you been? Marty, work with me here…" Ray sighed while rapidly throwing questions.

I dragged my free hand though my hair and exhaled slowly. There was no easier way to say this, "I've been missing for the past four years, Ray." I stated bluntly.

Ray took a while to reply, "Missing – as in?"

"As in – kidnapped and held prisoner – missing." I replied.

He cleared his throat, his voice turning much more serious now. "Marty, if you are joking- "

"I'm not joking! Why would I joke about this?" I threw back and let out a frustrated sigh, "Trust me, there is no punch line to this."

There was another long pause, "I have no idea what to say Marty… Why didn't anyone think about informing me? You're like a brother to me, I deserved to know…"

"I guess Hetty didn't want to get you involved."

"What about the person who took you?"

"You'll never believe who it was…" I said grimly. "My one and only – dead-not-so-dead father of the century – Gordon John Brandel!" I announced and chuckled dryly. "And the best part is that he's still out there Ray… Still terrorizing me. After all these years the man continues to make my life a living hell."

Ray took in a heavy breath. "He's ali- what? How can that bastard still be alive?"

"Your guess is as good as mine – but you want to know the worst part of this entire situation?"

"It gets worse?"

"Oh – life has this annoying tendency to bite me in the ass every time I think differently. Turns out that in my four years of absence-" I paused slightly as I heard the room's door open.

"Daddy?" Jared asked in a sleepy voice as he entered. His cheeks were stained with tears. "I had a nightmware …" The boy added while walking closer, his lip was wobbling and he seemed ready to burst out crying.

I watched him, "Ray, would you just give me a minute? I'll be right back- "

"Hold up, who's that in the background?" He asked sounding awestuck.

I didn't respond but put the phone down on the table instead, "Hey, it's okay. Come here tough guy." I murmured and held my arms open for the boy. He leaped into them. "I dreamed that you leaved again and mommy leaved too!" He whispered with a shaky voice.

I hugged him close, "Jare-bear, mommy and I will never leave you, okay? It was just a bad dream." I reassured him while rocking back and forth. "We're going to be with you for a very, very long time." I added and watched as the boy nodded with his thumb in his mouth.

I smiled and kissed him on the forehead while wiping away some of his remaining tears with my index finger. "Do you understand?"

Jared hiccupped and continued to nod with his head pressed against my shoulder. "Can I sit hewe?" He asked.

I nodded, "I have an even better idea, do you want to say hi to one of daddy's old friends?"

This made him smile. "Yes, please."

"Alright, hold on." I grabbed the phone again; Ray probably over heard the entire conversation anyways… This just spared me a lot of explanation time.

"You still there, Ray?" I asked and heard a faint 'Uh-huh' a while later. "I'm putting my phone on speaker. Someone wants to have a serious discussion with you." I chuckled and turned loud-speaker on.

"Marty – did I miss something?"

Jared giggled at Ray's confused tone, "Hellow."

Ray paused, "Uh – hello there… Who am I speaking to?"

"Jared Donal' Deeks, silly!" The boy announced while chewing his finger.

Ray chuckled taken aback, "I see, how old are you sir?" He asked in a playful tone.

"I'm five."

"No, you're four." I chimed in and corrected the boy.

"I'm almost five!"

"Therefore, you're still four."

Ray's laugh erupted from over the phone's speaker. "If you don't mind me asking, who is your mom?" He asked, even though the answer was already clear.

"Mommy's name is Kensi Blue."

Both Ray and I burst out laughing… "It's Blye buddy…" For the time being.

"Oh – thatsa a weird surname."

"Weirder than Blue?"

"Yes." Jared replied and rubbed his tired eyes.

I grinned, "Tired?"

"Nah-ah."

"Okay, but if you want to sleep, you can."

"O'kay."

I grinned and picked the phone back up, taking it off of loud-speaker. "Uh- well… I was just about to tell you about him before he came in and decided to introduce himself - worst part about this entire situation is that I missed four years of his life."

Ray sighed,"I'm sorry about that Marty, at least you're there now."

"Thankfully."

"How exactly did he come to exist?" Ray chuckled.

"Well," I grinned and looked down at the now sleeping boy on my lap, "When a man and a woman lo-"

"No, Marty – You know what I mean." He interrupted while sighing.

I smiled, "Before all of this, Kensi and I finally started working things out – then Gordon happened. I didn't even know about his existence Ray…" I replied just above a whisper.

"How long ago did you get back?"

"About a week ago…"

"You're a real good father Marty. Look at the effect you already have on him… I'm happy for you. I know how long you've wanted this."

I nodded absentmindedly, "I guess something good did come out of this."

"Yeah – Look, it was great talking to you Marty… We should definitely meet up soon - I don't care about the whole everybody-thinks-I'm-dead story. I need to see you – make sure you're alright and all." Ray replied after a moment of silence.

I chuckled, "You just want to meet my awesome kid."

"That too… You still haven't even met my daughter. You're a good father but a terrible uncle. " He threw back. I could almost hear the smug that was obviously plastered on his face.

"Sorry – I was out of range for a while, how is she?"

"Turning six soon… It's scary how time flies."

I laughed, "Yeah… No."

"I have to get going Marty… Duty calls. Keep me updated on the things with Gordon?" Ray asked seriously.

"Will do – I'll see you when I see you."

"You too… Wish Wikipedia good luck for me."

I smiled and ended the call just as Kensi entered, her gaze landed on the sleeping boy.

I gave her a smile, "He had a bad dream and came looking for me. Then he introduced himself to Ray…"

Kensi grinned, "How are things with Ray?"

"He's fine… I told him about everything that's going on and he seemed quite upset afterwards."

"Who wouldn't be?" She sighed and walked over. She took a seat next to me on the table and leaned into my side. "You have a lot of people who care about you Deeks, even if it never seemed like it." She whispered and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

My mouth quirked up into a small smile, "Watch out Princess… You're letting your soft side show."

She gently bumped her shoulder into mine, "Let's go home before you end up carrying both Jared and me to the car."

When we got home I carried Jared to his bed and tugged him in. Kensi came in moment's later and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Sleep tight Jare, you have a long day tomorrow." She whispered into his ear while putting his favourite teddy bear next to him.

We left his room's door open on a crack and moved to the living room. "What's happening tomorrow?" I asked softly while falling to the couch.

"Hetty arranged a private tutor for him. It's a trusted friend of hers… He's going to stay here and have school so he doesn't fall behind. It's a great idea…" She replied. "She also arranged for the same surveillance team as earlier to stay here during the day to keep an eye on him and the tutor." She added and took in a deep breath.

I nodded, "Where will I be?"

"At work, I'm not sure what she has planned for you yet." Kensi answered, "I don't know about you… but I for one am exhausted."

"Ditto." I sighed and let my head fall back into the back rest. "It's been a busy, energy consuming day."

"Jared has that affect on people."

I laughed silently, "Which reminds me – Ray told me to wish you good luck. So Kensalina, good luck."

"I'm sure as hell going to need it with the two of you running around."

"No arguments there."

Wheeeeew - Congratulations you made it to the end! *hands you an award* I hope you enjoyed this chapter... I had quite a lot of fun writing it.(I think I had a little too much fun and ended it writing a lot more than necessary...Haha oops.)

I'm not quite sure if Ray even had I daughter... But I know that his girlfriend person was pregnant - so I made the child a girl~ I hope that i'm correct - The internet didn't really help me out.

Please review / follow / favorite - You could even leave me a review on what you'd like to see happen in this story and I'll try my best including it! :D

Thank you for reading!

-Tc