Lesson 1: They really do suck at communication

Month 1

Today's the day that Deeks learns that he has to watch what he says in front of Kensi from now on.

The lesson of the day is given when his partner freaks out in the back of the van as they're on their way to catch a suspect, demands that they stop, sprints down the block, and vomits all over the ground. The best response that a man can do, especially a man that slept with his partner a month ago can give is, "Are you ok?"

Not what he actually says which is, "Whoa, too many hot tamales? Or is it nerves?"

A punch to the gut and the arm and a crying fit after Callen and Sam have arrested the subject passes before Deeks puts two and two together and gets that his partner is pregnant. It's shocking news that leads him to the second stupid thing he says in front of Kensi,

"Nah, you can't be pregnant. We've only had sex once."

They're standing in a back alley two blocks away from the suspect's home when he says it. Callen and Sam are at the scene and have no idea that Kensi's one month pregnant and five seconds away from murdering Deeks.

"What do you mean I can't be pregnant?" Kensi growls at him. Deeks' eyes widen and he takes a step back. "You think I can't tell if I'm pregnant?"

"It's been only a month since we slept together, Kens. I mean- you can't-"

Kensi throws up her hand in the air and exclaims, "You know what? I can do this on my own." She turns around to walk away and Deeks grabs her hand to stop her. He glances over her shoulder to see if anyone has overheard the argument.

"What part of ninja assassins did you think that I was joking about?" Deeks says next and it comes out much harsher than intended. "You seriously think that I would leave you to raise our baby by yourself? Especially since I….."

"You what?"

It's about the kiss. It's about the undying love he has for her and the need to see her, breathe her, and exist only with her. It's about the fact that he can't live without his sunshine and gunpowder. Deeks exhales deeply and stammers, "I'm-I-"

"Poor communication skills."

"NO- no!" Deeks pulls her over to the side of the alley to where there's no possible way anyone could see them. Unfortunately, it's right by the dumpster that smells like a mix of Chinese food and dead bodies. Deeks states, "You want me to stop with the poor communication skills? Fine- I love you. I can't function without you, Kens. The only thing that pushed me from giving up and letting Sidarov kill me was the thought of you. The reason that we didn't talk about the kiss or why it's taken me three years to say this is because I'm so scared of us. I'm so scared. So to answer your question- yes, I'm going to be involved for every single step of the way."

And then he walks off back to the crime scene.

Four hours later, he's walking with a case file in hand down the top floor hallway. Ever since the Sidarov incident from almost five months ago and his return to work a month ago, Deeks has been restricted off of any major field work. Getting out of the office to go with his teammates to the suspect's house had been from a mix of luck and Hetty being over 2000 miles away on a business trip in Washington D.C. He's more than sure that Hetty already knows of his field tip off base and that Kensi's pregnant.

Speaking of….

Deeks looks over the railing and at the bullpen. Callen and Kensi are nowhere to be seen, but Sam is sitting alone at his desk. Both men catch each other's eyes and it makes Deeks feel incredibly awkward. Sam had given some super elaborate speech in the hospital in the form of an apology after they had been rescued. Deeks' response had been clear- he said nothing to Sam and hasn't since. Over four months without a word to Sam is a stark reminder that he definitely has poor communication skills.

"We need to talk," he suddenly hears in his ear before he's whisked down the hallway by Kensi and into Conference Room 2A, also known as the place that everyone runs to for a semisecret team meeting. Today, it's the place where they'll have the much needed talk or where Kensi will finally shoot him in the ass like she's been promising for years.

"You don't get to walk off and leave me by the dumpster, Deeks," Kensi exclaims. There are tears forming in her eyes. "The last time we ended things abruptly, you almost died. I mean you had every right to be angry since I was being wrong and irrational. It's just that-"

"I'm damaged?" It's the first time Deeks has admitted it aloud that the effects of Sidarov have destroyed him. His partner has every right to be scared- until a month ago, Deeks was barely functioning during the day by running on less than four hours asleep a night.

"You still wake up screaming from nightmares, Marty. I'm so scared that whatever demons that you're fighting are going to take away the one person that I think about all the time. I'm scared about opening up to another person ever since Jack, but there's one thing that I know. I love you and we're having a baby."

Deeks grins from ear to ear. "We're having a baby…..ninja assassin is the better term that I'd use, but we're having a baby."

"Yeah- and to answer your question, I did wait exactly one month before checking. I'm going to be a little anal with this kid."

"And moody as hell," Deeks chuckles. It's exactly what it takes for him to remember the lesson of the day- watch what you say.

And when he's punched in the arm again before he watches his partner march off pissed does he finally make a mental note to put in the effort to do so.