A/N: This is my first time writing for this show, so please be nice. This is co-authored with Oranfly who, being the amazing friend she is, got my addicted to this show (thanks!). Oranfly and I have alternated chapters so you'll see both our styles of writing throughout this.

Rain in Los Angeles was like snow; it was rare to see and threw everyone into a state of panic. Or at least that was what if felt like while stuck in the worlds slowest moving traffic jam. Kensi swore loudly into the empty cab of her car when the vehicle in front of her crawled forward an inch and then slammed their breaks on.

By all means, she should be home and in her bed sleeping, but as luck would have it, she had hit the highway just in time for the sky to open up and dump torrential rain onto the city making it hard to see and even harder to drive.

"Come on move!" She yelled angrily and was rewarded with a few more inches of covered road. It was close to another hour later when she pulled off the highway and into easy flowing traffic that would lead her to the store and then to her apartment.

Once Kensi got home, she dropped her shopping bags and keys onto the counter and flipped on the kitchen light before putting everything away. It had been a stressful day of chasing suspects, protecting the whole country from a terrorist threat, and filing pile after pile of mind numbing paperwork. It was a relief to be home and in the comfort of her own space.

She grabbed a box of Oreos from the cupboard and a jar of peanut butter before heading over to the couch and sinking down into its comfort with a sigh of joy. Kensi turned the TV on and flipped through the channels until she found a life time movie that looked semi promising and started in on her not so healthy dinner.

Before she knew it, the low rumbling of thunder and the constant tapping of rain against the roof and windows had lulled her to sleep. She didn't get to stay that way for long though as the shrill ringing of her phone caused her eyes to pop back open and a heavy sigh to break free from her lips.

"Blye," she answered drowsily and sat up.

"Ms. Blye, this is Heather Rice, I work for Child Protective Services." A woman on the other end of the line stated.

Kensi rubbed the sleep from her eyes and focused a bit more before responding again. "What can I help you with?"

"Ms. Blye, I have it listed here that you were friends with Maria and Thomas Andrews." Heather Rice said.

Kensi scrunched up her brow for a second before remembering exactly who the woman was referring to. She had been roommates with Maria all through college and had been friends with her and her boyfriend Thomas whom she later married. She hadn't talked to either Maria or Thomas in more than 5 years. Honestly after so many cases and faces, it was hard to keep track of people and she hadn't really made much of an effort to keep in touch with them.

"Yes." She finally answered and heard a sympathetic sigh from the other woman.

"I'm sorry to inform you of this, but both Mr. and Mrs. Andrews were killed earlier today in an automobile accident." Heather Rice rattled off in a way that made Kensi wonder how many times she had broken this type of news.

"Oh." Kensi said, feeling a small pang in the bottom of her stomach.

"Ms. Blye, I need you to come down to the police station so that I can meet up with you." The other woman stated.

"Why?" Kensi asked confused, as she shifted on the couch for a more comfortable position.

"There are some details that we need to go over and that would be best discussed in person." Heather explained. "Do you think you could come to the station tonight? These matters need to be addressed in a timely manner."

"Okay." Kensi slowly answered and stood up, completely at a loss for why she was needed and what had to be talked about. "Um, I can be there in a little bit."

"Great." The other woman audibly sighed in relief. "I will be waiting for you."

"Yeah," Kensi said and hung up without a goodbye.

She then dropped her phone onto the couch and stretched before picking up the remains of her meal and grabbed up her car keys again. Kensi then headed back to her car and started to drive.

One thing that some would consider a perk and others blight, was that her place was located only a few miles from the police station. Kensi liked it on most days when she had nothing to do with the place, but disliked it when she had to deal with any of the inmates. Everyone there knew her, making it impossible for her to go in and out without fuss. It was one thing she hated about living in the suburbs.

"Good evening Ms. Blye." An older officer, Frank Hurst, greeted her.

He was about the same age her father would have been and always liked to make sure she was taken care of during the times she worked with them.

"Good evening Frank." She politely responded.

A few other officers greeted her on her way through the building until she reached the main office and was told where to find Heather Rice. Kensi knocked on the door and was greeted by a middle aged black woman with a buzz cut head of bleached hair. She smiled at Kensi and gestured of her to take a seat at the table located in the middle of the small room.

"What is this about?" Kensi asked once the other woman had sat down across from her and glanced at her watch.

"Well we're actually just waiting on a judge who should be here soon to explain everything and to bring you up to speed." Heather said and let out an agreeable noise when the door opened and the judge in question walked into the room.

He was an older gentleman with a rounded belly and a balding head. He looked at them grimly and then took a seat and flopped a heavy looking briefcase on the surface in front of him.

"My name is judge Ernest Markel." He introduced himself and pulled a thick package of papers out and flipped through them. "I was the testator for the will composed by Maria and Thomas Andrews. It is my job now to read the will as pertains to Ms. Kensi Marie Blye. You are Ms. Blye correct?" He turned and looked at Kensi who nodded. "Good, now let's continue."

Kensi watched him settle into the chair a bit more and clear his throat before he found the place he was looking for and looked more grim than before, causing her curiosity to go into overload.

"Only part of this pertains to you, though it is a rather large part. Are you ready to hear it?" Judge Markel asked. Kensi nodded again. "Alright, in the event that both of us, Maria and Thomas Andrews die, we wish to see the guardianship of our three children, William, Elijah and Isla, to go to William's godmother Kensi Marie Blye. We believe that Ms. Blye is the most suited individual for this task and that she will care for our children in the way that they need."

Kensi stared at the judge open mouthed and glanced over at Heather who nodded slowly.

"They, they want me…They want me to raise their, their kids?" Kensi stammered.

"That is the desire, though I want you to be aware that you do not have to take on this responsibility." Judge Markel announced.

Kensi rubbed her hands over her tired eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "What will happen to them if I don't take them?"

"Well they'll go into foster care." Heather stated. "We would try to keep them together and to find them a good home, but there are no promises of that."

"What about their family can't someone they are biologically related to take them in?" Kensi asked.

"The only other person suitable for caring for the children is their aunt who is considerably younger than their father was. She's currently 19 years old and going to college." Heather explained.

"So it's either me or foster care?"

"Yes, however you don't need to make this decision now. You have two weeks to decide what to do." Judge Markel claimed.

"Two weeks," She mumbled to herself and leaned back in her chair.

She had two weeks to decide the fate of three innocent children. To decide whether she would take on the role of parent to them, or if she would let the state take over and place them into foster care where they would more than likely end up separated in the end and in different families; assuming that they all got adopted and went to loving parents. It was a lot to take in.

"Would I meet them first and how would I go about preparing to take them if I do decide to become their guardian?" Kensi slowly questioned.

"You would be assigned a social worker who would do a walkthrough of your place to see if it is suitable for children. If the place you have is not child friendly or big enough to house more than yourself and possibly one child, then you would be required to find a new place that is big enough and that has a safe environment. You would be able to set up visitation with the children so that you could meet them first and so that they can get used to the idea of having you in their lives. They are still very young and they are confused. The eldest, William, is old enough to know what is going on but his younger brother Elijah and younger sister Isla are too young to grasp the concept of death." Heather explained.

"So it wouldn't be like they would just show up at my place one day and that would be it?" Kensi sighed in relief. "What about after? If I do take them in would there be any follow up or anything that I would have to do to ensure they continue to stay with me?"

"You would become their guardian, or in other terms, their foster mother. You would be treated like other foster parents where you would have monthly checkups with the social worker and the children would have checkups as well to make sure that everything is going well. After a while, if you wanted, you could adopt the children." Heather said.

"I'm definitely going to have to think about this." Kensi almost whispered.

"Of course, however after the two weeks by law they would have to go into foster care, so you'd need to decide before then. If not and you decide after the two weeks, then it could be very hard to extract them from the homes that they were placed in. We tend to keep siblings together if possible, but sometimes it doesn't work and they get split up against our wishes. Kids get shuffled around a lot from house to house and family to family." Heather sadly remarked.

"I'll…I'll try to decide before the two week mark." Kensi promised.

"Okay, now do you have any further questions?"

"Not at the moment." Kensi shook her head.

"Alright, well I will call you again in a few days' time so touch base and see if you have made a decision. If you want to contact me, feel free." Heather handed her a business card.

"Okay." Kensi pocketed the card and shook hands with Heather and then Judge Markel.

The three of them said their goodbyes, and Kensi headed back to her apartment, exhausted and wanting nothing more than to sleep.

She once again tossed her phone onto the couch and her keys on the counter, before she headed into her room and changed into some pajamas. Kensi crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin in hopes of getting at least a few hours of sleep before work, but quickly found that her brain was too busy going over everything that she had just found out and been told, to let sleep in.

It was so much to take in, too much even. To go from being a single person living the life of someone who only had to care about herself and on occasion, her partner, to having three kids almost thrown on her. She wasn't mother material that she had known for years. While other women she knew dreamed about the perfect husband and a great house with a white picket fence and 2.3 kids, she dreamed about the cases that they had worked and the weapons she had used. She wasn't what these kids deserved. But was she what they needed?

Could she really decide against taking them in and leave them in the foster care system? She knew that Callen had gone through over thirty families, not all of them good. The poor guy didn't even know what his first name was. Could she subject innocent children to that?

She reached over and grabbed the pillow next to her and pressed her face into it while letting out a deep groan of frustration before letting it flop back onto the bed, her eyes closed.

"What am I going to do?" She asked into the silent room hoping for an answer, but knowing she wouldn't get one. Ultimately it would be her decision to make, no one else's and it terrified her like nothing else ever had.

She could take on terrorist threats, shootouts and being shot, but when it came to three little kids, it felt like she was preparing to face a firing squad hell bent on making her life more difficult.

Giving up on sleep, she got back out of bed and dressed into running gear in hopes that the fresh air and run would help clear her mind and make this decision easier. Kensi left her apartment and stretched before taking a deep breath and running off into the early morning light.

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