A Tumblr prompt pushed me to reenter this world for just a little longer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. They're still not mine though.

She wasn't their first.

Half a dozen wards of the state had passed through their doors in the last two years: surly teenagers waiting for their foster care sentence to time out; precious infants placed in their arms for fleeting moments until responsible relatives could be found. The last had been a brother and sister, after a custody dispute turned violent. They weren't miracle workers, but that's not what they were trying to be. They were however, a stable port in a stormy sea and were whatever these poor lost souls needed them to be - for the short time they passed through their lives - a ride home when a party got out of hand, provider of bottle of formula and a lullaby at 2AM or an expert monster-under-the-bed checker.

But she was different.

She came to their door, a scrawny 4 year old, clutching her far-too-empty garbage bag with no one on the horizon who would want to take her back. Her light brown hair was scraggly and in a haphazard pony tail, her clothes ill-fitting. She didn't say a word as the social worker bent down to tell her she'd be staying at the Deeks' house for a while.

She didn't say a word at breakfast the next morning when Deeks served her Mickey Mouse pancakes and Kensi cajoled her to use as much syrup as she wanted. She didn't say a word when they took her to the beach to build sandcastles. She didn't say a word for many months.

But they weren't deterred. They both knew what it was to build up walls. It pained them to think of the life they'd read about in her file that caused a four year old to build hers so high. Working with professional therapists and establishing a routine, Kensi and Deeks made their home and their life the safe, stable place she needed.

Then, one day at the beach, Deeks had taken her little hand and led her a few cautious steps into the ocean, letting the surf lap at her feet when he felt a gentle tug. He looked down at his small charge.

"What is it Penny?" He asked softly, not expecting a reply. But she motioned for him to come closer. Squatting down to her level, he glanced back at his wife before turning to the child and nodding yes, having been rendered speechless.

She placed a quick kiss on his cheek before running back to their towels to pet Monty Jr.

"What'd she ask you?" Kensi looked over her shoulder at her husband before she returned to moat-digging./

"That's our secret, isn't it Penny?" The little girl lifted her head from her canine companion's fur and nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, ok then." Kensi smiled softly, a warm feeling in her stomach as she looked at her fledgling family, the love of her life finally getting what he wanted most, to be a dad.

And a family they became. She held both their hands before she boarded the bus for her first day of school, sat them down at 8 years old to tell them that she knew Santa wasn't real, cried on Kensi's shoulder when her first crush broke her heart and held Deeks' hand as they walked through the surf every Father's Day.

The fall after her 18th birthday she packed up all her things into her car, prepared to drive up the coast.

"You got everything you need sweetie?" Kensi's voice cracked.

"Yeah, I think so. If not, I'll be back at Thanksgiving." She casually responded while giving her younger sister a hug and then stood on her tiptoes to tossle her 'little' brother's hair.

Deeks shut the trunk and walked back towards the front stoop. She took a few steps out to meet him before leaning in to whisper in his ear.

Just as it was fourteen years ago, he was too choked up to speak and so he nodded once again. He closed his eyes and saw the little four year old she was as he felt the brush of a kiss on his cheek from the woman she'd become.

That night as they crawled into bed, Kensi turned to him and before turning off the light asked, "You gonna tell me what she asked you this time?"

"Same this she did at the beach when she was little: Can I kiss you, Dad?"