#and mothers

[flameskissedsoul]

[densi-mber]

Bring out the Holly

“Hey, how are we doing on snacks?” Kensi asked, turning to Deeks as he popped in the kitchen with a load of empty bowls. She was currently wrist deep in a bowl of cheese dip. Her stomach turned slightly at the squelching sound as it mixed, but so far, she’d done pretty well by sipping on 7UP.

“Uh, we need more chips. And if Arkady keep going at his current rate, way more vodka,” Deeks responded. He dumped the rest of a bag of potato chips and then tortilla strips into bowls.

“Well, it’s a good thing we stocked up.”

Deeks grinned, making a detour to kiss her firmly while they had a moment. They’d been going pretty much non-stop since this morning, and the pace had only picked up once guests started arriving.

Kensi heard a loud cheer, which she assumed had something to do with Arkady, and possibly Roberta. She could only imagine what they were getting up to.

Deeks dragged in a deep breath. “Ok, I’m headed back into the wild. Keep me in your prayers. Kensi snorted, watching him balance the bowls of snacks before she turned back to the dip.

Deciding it was as mixed as it would get, she transferred it to a cut glass dish Roberta had insisted giving them during her recent move, washed up, and fortified herself with another sip of fizzy pop.

When she made it out to the living room and few minutes later, she found everyone spread out in little groups. Fatima and Rountree were talking with Rosa by the Christmas tree. Sam, Callen, and Anna appeared to be in a lively conversation with Arkady. Meanwhile, Nell and Eric were sandwiched between Julia and Roberta on the couch. Deeks was circling the room making sure everyone had enough to drink and eat.

When Nell caught sight of her, she hurried over, enveloping Kensi in a massive hug.

“Hey you!”

“Hey. You know, we did see each other less than 20 minutes ago,” Kensi reminded her teasingly.

“I know, but I really missed you,” Nell said, reaching up to straighten her Christmas inspired headband. Miniature ornaments hung from her earlobes and she wore a piece of sparkly garland as a necklace. Looking over her shoulder, she added, “Plus, I needed a minute. Your moms are grilling us about out relationship.”

“Oh, do tell?”

“Uh, you know everything thing there is to know, and I am not delving into that very complicated can of worms on Christmas.”

“Fair enough,” Kensi agreed. “But, once the holidays are over, be prepared to be grilled.”

A pair of arms wrapped around Kensi’s waist, followed by the familiar and reassuring presence of Deeks’ chest.

“Just so you know, Fatima and Rountree are trying to convince our daughter to move out of state for college,” he murmured.

“How dare they.”

“Ooh, I didn’t get a Shaggy hug yet,” Nell realized, reaching around Kensi to give Deeks a very big hug.

“I missed you too, Velma,” Deeks said, grinning as he pulled a couple pieces of tinsel from Nell’s outfit out of his mouth. “Maybe we should go rescue your partner in crime, he’s looking a little suffocated.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need at least one more drink before that happens.”

“Fair enough.”

Sam, Callen, and Anna wandered over then, making a pit stop for snacks on the way.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve been here since you two completed all the renovations. It looks good,” Sam commented. Kensi had no doubt that he’d been discreetly examining the drywall and flooring.

“Thanks. We had a lot of help from good friends,” Deeks said.

“Mostly thanks to Deeks’ surfing connections.”

“So, your first Christmas as parents in your new home. How’s that feel?” Sam asked, grinning when Deeks groaned.

“Terrifying,” Kensi answered. “Amazing, but terrifying.” Anna reached out to squeeze her hand.

“Alright, time for a new topic before we stress out our hosts,” Nell decided. Kensi sent her a grateful look.

“Ok, how about Arkady’s taken command of your kitchen?” Callen suggested. “His words, not mine.”

“Do I want to know what he’s doing in there?”

“According to him, making a famous Russian drink that only our family know,” Anna answered with a raised brow for emphasis. “I would not go in there right now.”

“Fantastic,” Deeks said, shaking his head. “But, It’s Christmas, so we’re not going to worry about it.”

“What are we not worrying about?” Eric asked, positioning himself between Nell and Deeks.

Kensi noticed that he automatically wrapped his arm around Nell’s waist. She pressed her lips together, holding back a litany of pointed comments. That could wait for later.

“Whatever weird and wonderful things Arkady is currently doing in our kitchen. How’d you escape the terrifying duo that are our mothers?” Deeks glanced over to the couch, but Julia and Roberta had moved on to join Rosa’s little group.

“Uh, with my extremely agile way with words,” Eric answered. “I learned from the master after all.” He bowed to Deeks and then casually added, “By the way, we’re having a June wedding.”

“Great, we can make it a double wedding.” Callen grinned and raised his glass of egg nog in a mock toast, ignoring Nell and Anna’s twin glares.

“It’s been nice knowing you, brother,” Sam said, slapping Callen on the back,

Fortunately, Rosa, Fatima, and Rountree came over before things could get too out of control.

Kensi noticed Rosa wore the birthstone necklace they’d given her that morning. She’d worried it was a little too personal, or Rosa might find it cheesy, so seeing her with it now warmed Kensi’s heart.

She took a quick sip of ginger ale before her hormones got completely out of control and she started crying.

“So there’s this Christmas game going around. I thought it would be fun to play,” Rosa said, more animated than usual. Kensi wondered just what she’d been talking about with Rountree and Fatima. “Basically, you put a bunch of gift bows on the table, and each person takes a turn trying to scoop them into a basket while blindfolded.”

“You want to blindfold a bunch of highly competitive people, at least half of whom know multiple fighting styles,” Deeks summed up, pulling a face. “I see absolutely nothing going wrong here.”

“Hush, we can behave ourselves,” Sam protested with a smirk.

“We’re also going to need a lot of dollar bills,” Fatima added. “It’s part of the game.”

“Well, I don’t have any ones, but I got a stack of 20s,” Eric offered.

“Why the hell do you have a bunch of 20s, Eric?”

“He likes to be prepared.” Nell patted his shoulder, looking up at her not-fiancé with a happy smile.

“Oh, this is a going to be a massive disaster,” Deeks commented with a chuckle as everyone headed off to gather bows and spatulas. Callen was making side bets on who would collect the most bows.

“Definitely,” Kensi agreed. She took advantage of the relative privacy to pull Deeks in for a deep kiss. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

***

A/N: I would describe this as the happy chaos that develops when you gather a bunch of different people together for the holidays. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was at a ren faire with my mom and I saw a belt with cool leather pouches on it for $3759 and I whispered to her, “You know, if it weren’t for the price tag I’d totally get that,” and she was like “Go for it! It’s only $3000! That’s nothing!” And I was like *surprised pikachu face*.

[starrysharks]

ghanaian miku

[taviamoth]

art by the.gauntlets

Dr. Huda Abu Khater's Instagram

gofundme to help them

[thatpinkkwitch]

i just heard the phrase “if you wouldn’t trust their advice, don’t trust their criticism” for the first time and i don’t think i’ve ever needed to hear anything more

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Mariaelena Mariotti, Mother of the Dinosaurs, sculptress specializing in Paleoart and creatures. Walking her velociraptor mongoliensis.

instagram @motherofthedinosaurs

[90-ghost]

First of all, Al hamduliallah for everything. I would like to tell you that my mother needs to have an eye surgery. We went to two doctors and they told us that it needs to be done. The cost is high, reaching 3 thousand dollars. Check my pinned post if you would like to help us. My sister paypal🙏

[marypsue]

Keep seeing that post where OP starts like 'Thinking about...grieving the undead' and then adds on about like. Real life situations where people have not died but have left your life and you would have reason to grieve them.

All respect, that's an important concept, but that is not what I am thinking about when I read 'grieving the undead'.

[henk-heijmans]

Broad-snouted caiman baby in mother mouth being carried from the nest, Sante Fe, Argentina, 2013 - by Mark MacEwen, English

[puppyeared]

made this while watching ep 1 of dunmeshi

[wildbasil]

things haven't been great but i think they will be. eventually 🌻🌼🩷

[meowsfeed]

Source: piebub_

[midiport]

she’s like an alternate universe jerma985

[thatrandomblogsays]

Annabeth: I, a child, had to earn Thalia’s love, that’s how the world works! I have to earn my moms love. Love is transactional, you gotta be worthy of it first silly :)

Percy, listening to this on the train