The day had turned brutally hot, even for LA, and Don tugged uselessly at his t-shirt on the walk up to Kensi’s apartment building. Bad enough that he’d had a run-in with a suspect and had had to change his bloody shirt at the office where he had nothing but the tee, it had happened on a night when they were supposed to have dinner with everyone.

Perfect timing, as always, he thought, irritated as sweat dripped down his neck.

He unlocked the front door and jogged up the stairs to Kensi’s floor. The key still made him feel odd. It was further along than most of his relationships went and yet, Don didn’t find it quite far enough along for his peace of mind. There was something about Kensi that made him want to be with her as often as she could stand him being around.

Unlocking the door to her apartment, he stepped in and called, “Kensi? Sorry I’m late.”

“Be out in a sec!” she called back, probably from the bathroom.

For a woman who could kick his ass, she took an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom ‘getting ready.’ He was used to women who could kick his ass, Liz and Megan came instantly to mind, but none of them had ever really been…girly.

A young blond man with glasses stepped out of the kitchen and gave Don a smile. “Hey. I’m Eric.”

Don mentally put the name to the Kensi descriptors of, ‘insanely smart nerd team mascot,’ and ‘nothing to worry about, you caveman, he’s totally gone over G,’ and gave the younger man a smile. “Hey. Good to meet you, I’m Don.”

“I sure hope so, or Kensi’s giving out way too many keys,” Eric replied as they shook hands.

Don chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I’ll just go see what’s keeping her.”

Eric snorted and said, “Braver man than I,” before settling on the sofa and pulling out a handheld game of some kind.

Don wandered down the hall and tapped on the door before opening it and saying, “We’re going to be late.”

And then he stopped short and just gaped at the sight of her. She was wearing a slinky halter top that shimmered and had no back. Her jeans were skin tight and her heels tall enough that she towered over him. Not that he cared, considering the rest of the package. His hands immediately reached for her ass, but she spun incredibly fast and slapped them away.

Glaring at him, she said firmly, “No. This time, we’re making it out the door. That’s why Eric’s here. You are exactly his type and if we have sex, he’s going to be listening to every noise you make.”

Don’s libido took a dive and he groaned in pure frustration, lightly thumping his head against the doorjamb. “You’re killing me here, Kensi.”

She smirked and loftily said, “Good. Now get out of here so I can finish.”

“Finish what?” Don asked. “You’re already perfect.”

Her gaze went soft and she leaned in as if to kiss him, but then shut the door in his face. A muffled, “Five minutes! Go put on a real shirt,” came through the door.

Don adjusted his jeans, which now wore him as opposed to the other way around, and walked to the bedroom. He had a few good shirts and a few work shirts in the closet. They hadn’t quite gotten around to the stage where he spent more time here than at his own place, but he was hopeful it would happen soon enough. He grinned when he found the light weight, black cotton shirt already waiting on the bed. First time he’d ever been in a relationship where a woman liked to dress him. They generally just liked to undress him.

He pulled off the t-shirt and used it to wipe down before pulling on the new shirt. Walking out to the living room, he found Eric in the same place, thumbs moving furiously, and grinned as he asked, “Winning?”

“Always,” Eric answered, not taking his eyes from the tiny screen.

Don chuckled and peered briefly over the young man’s shoulder. He snorted at what he saw and then went to trade his shoes for black sneakers, sighing at the comfort and then lacing them up. He headed into the kitchen and got a glass of water, thirsty as hell. He finished one off and then poured another before returning to the living room and plopping down on the sofa. He’d just relaxed into the cushions when Kensi strode down the short hall to the living room.

Relaxation went out the windows, desire instantly slamming into him as he took in her perfect curves and smooth, lightly tanned skin. He couldn’t help but breathe out, “God, you’re gorgeous.”

Kensi smiled at him so happily that his chest tightened in response. Don hopped to his feet and reached for her and, thank God, she allowed him a slow, hungry kiss. He’d forgotten all about their guest until Eric cleared his throat pointedly.

Drawing back, Kensi winked and said, “Hold that thought for later tonight. You did say your Dad and Charlie were coming, right?”

“And Colby, Larry, and Megan,” Don confirmed, wincing mentally. It was going to be a very strange dinner.

Kensi bounced a little on her toes, as if she wasn’t already four inches in the air, and said, “Excellent! I can’t wait for everyone to meet!”

Eric’s snickering from the sofa sounded suspiciously like Colby’s when the other agent knew Don was heading for disaster.

Kensi whirled on him and jabbed a finger in Eric’s direction. “Spill it! What are they up to?”

Eric gave her an innocent look and answered, “No one’s up to anything. You’re being paranoid.”

Don saw the suspicion plain as day on Kensi’s face, but didn’t comment. He’d first met Callen during that damned case and the man had frankly given him the creeps. He was too nondescript, too generic, like someone who could work for the CIA and never be remembered. Hanna had been a stand up kinda guy; the kind of guy Don wouldn’t have any problem with having on his team. It was a strange partnership, but he wasn’t about to comment on it.

Kensi’s suspicion didn’t abate, but she took Don’s hand and said, “Let’s go before we’re late.”

“At least you’re making it this time,” Eric observed, smirking.

Kensi slapped Eric upside the back of the head hard enough that Don winced. Four older brothers. Man, that was insane. He suddenly had the thought that she and Colby were going to get along just fine, both coming from big families.

Shaking his head, Don squeezed her hand and leaned in to murmur against her ear, “Relax, Kensi, everything’s going to be fine. I won’t even bust Eric for having a bootleg copy of a game that isn’t supposed to be out for another two weeks.”

Kensi laughed and let go of his hand only to slide her arm along his waist, leaning against him as they walked to the elevator. Resting her head on his shoulder, she said, “Thanks, Don, I needed that.”

Don kissed her temple and gave her a quick squeeze as he said honestly, “Anything you need, I will give to you.”

Kensi gazed into his eyes and then kissed him again.

Eric sighed loudly. “This is going to take forever if you two keep stopping to make out.”

Don grinned against her mouth when Kensi reached out without looking and again cuffed Eric upside the head; accurately from the muffled curse the young man uttered.

* * * *

Seven months was a long time in the dating life of Don and Charlie knew it. It was a milestone for his brother to get past month six and an important one. An even more important milestone was having an official ‘family dinner’ so everyone could meet each other. And while technically Kensi’s family wouldn’t be there, her team would and that was pretty much close enough. At least until the wedding, which Charlie had predicted would take place with an eighty-seven percent certainty.

He set an alarm to make sure he left CalSci on time. He set another one to make sure he left the house on time. He used the GPS to make sure he could get to the restaurant without getting lost, especially with Alan giving him contrary directions from the passenger’s seat. His father was getting louder as the route went on, but Charlie didn’t take it personally; he knew his dad was nervous about meeting Kensi for the first time. This could be The One, after all, that he got grandchildren from.

Charlie liked what he’d seen of Kensi during the reluctantly joint FBI/NCIS investigation eight months ago and the few times they’d met up since, generally in passing at the FBI when she’d come looking for Don. The rest of the team was a little scary, though. There’d been a good looking, if fairly dangerous seeming white man with blue eyes and buzz-cut light brown hair and a large, bald, black ex-Navy SEAL working with Kensi on the investigation.

He hadn’t met any of the other team members, they’d all been hidden away at some secret location, but Charlie was definitely looking forward to meeting their technical advisor. Whoever it was, that person had an intriguing way of collecting and collating data, and it had been highly efficient.

“Charlie! You missed the turn off!” Alan exclaimed suddenly. “Are you even paying attention?”

Charlie gritted his teeth and waited patiently until the GPS voice said, “Turn left in .10 miles,” before correcting his father, “No, I didn’t.”

Alan grumbled, “I don’t see how you can trust that computer over me. I’ve been planning this city for over thirty years. I know it better than any GPS.”

Charlie bit back his ‘streets and neighborhoods change, Dad,’ speech, knowing it would get him nowhere. Now wasn’t the time for a lecture anyhow. Colby would be proud of him for recognizing that and he made a mental note to tell him later, wishing he was in the car now.

“It is your house, you know,” Alan said randomly.

Charlie frowned in confusion as he pulled into the side street and then agreed warily, “It is. Why are you bringing that up?”

“There’s no reason Colby can’t move in. It’s not as if I have any sensibilities left to be shocked.”

Charlie wanted desperately to jump out of the moving car and get away from this conversation.

“I don’t care if the two of you have sex in my old room, it’s not as if I don’t know you have it over at Colby’s apartment,” Alan continued firmly. “And it’s your house now, not mine.”

“Oh my God, Dad, stop!” Charlie groaned, hitting the brakes to park. “Please, just, stop!”

He scrabbled at the door handle and shoved the door open, almost falling out of the car in his haste to get away. Charlie spotted Colby’s sedan a few spots over and said hurriedly, “I’m going to go find Colby.”

Charlie almost stumbled as he jogged towards the large BBQ restaurant that Kensi claimed to be the best in the state. He didn’t know if that claim had been made on perceptual or objective markers, but Don had given him a threatening look so he’d quickly agreed to the location.

Thankfully, Colby was in the front waiting area. Charlie grabbed his hand and said desperately, “Make him stop! He’s talking about us having sex in his bedroom again!”

The chatter that had been going around stopped abruptly at his words and Charlie flushed hotly when he realized that everyone had heard his too-loud words.

Colby bit his cheek the way he did when he was trying not to burst out laughing. It annoyed Charlie to no end that nothing fazed his lover. Colby cleared his throat and then clarified, “I assume you’re talking about Alan?”

“Who else?” Charlie hissed.

Alan approached them just then and Colby deadpanned, “Alan, stop talking to Charlie about sex, please, you’re embarrassing him.”

Charlie hid his face in his hands and then groaned, “That’s it. I give up. I’m going to go wander into traffic now like all geniuses should at least once in their life.”

Colby caught him in a light headlock, tugging him back against his chest as he laughed, a low, comfortable sound that relaxed Charlie against his will.

“I don’t understand how I raised two sons who are such prudes about sex,” Alan announced, sounding honestly miffed.

Charlie buried his face in Colby’s shoulder. “Kill me.”

Colby’s body jostled pleasantly as he laughed and the bigger man slid an arm around Charlie’s waist. “Now that would be a waste of a perfectly good mathematician. Oh hey, there’s Amita.”

Charlie’s head whipped up so fast that it connected with Colby’s chin. They broke apart, each gasping in pain, Charlie clasping his head and Colby holding his chin. As soon as Colby started laughing, loudly, Charlie understood that he’d been had again, the victim of Colby’s determination to teach him to have a sense of humor.

The problem was, of course, that Colby had no tells even to Charlie’s constant visual inspection. Charlie honestly could not tell when his lover was teasing or making a joke unless the other man wanted him to know. He hadn’t been a triple agent for no reason, after all.

“You are sleeping in your own bed tonight!” Charlie exclaimed, rubbing his head.

From behind, Don’s voice announced, “Looks like we got here in time for the night’s entertainment.”

Charlie glared at Colby for a moment longer and then turned to find Don, Kensi, and a young blond man standing in the doorway. Don was grinning broadly, an arm around Kensi’s waist, and she was chuckling, though trying to not be obvious about it.

Colby chuckled and said, “He started it. Barged in here talking about our sex life.”

“Don, you’re his boss, can’t you stop him?” Charlie honest-to-God whined. It was a noise he hadn’t made since just before his last swirly in high school, but if ever a situation had called for it…

Don chuckled and instead introduced, “Agent Kensi Blye this is my father, Alan Eppes.”

Kensi smiled and shook both of their hands, saying, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Eppes.”

“Oh please, the pleasure is all mine,” Alan replied, taking her hand.

She shook his hand and then turned to Charlie with, “Good to see you again, Charlie.”

Charlie gave her a weak smile and replied, “It’s good to see you, too, Kensi.”

Colby’s blue eyes twinkled as he shook Kensi’s hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

Kensi grinned at him and then motioned to the blond man, saying, “This is Eric Beal, a good friend and coworker of mine. And those two shadows over there are G Callen and Sam Hanna, also good friends and coworkers.”

Charlie felt Colby startle slightly when two men emerged from apparently nowhere, off to their side. He saw Colby’s gaze narrow at them and remembered that Colby and Sam had butted heads a couple of times during the investigation. It didn’t help that they’d essentially just snuck up on him. Colby really hated that.

The doors opened as handshakes were going around again and this time, it was Larry and Megan. Charlie introduced them as the doors opened one more time to reveal an exceptionally tall man and an unusually short woman.

Don announced, “Okay, folks, our table’s ready, so let’s finish this up somewhere we aren’t blocking the exit.”

There was a mass exodus towards the back of the restaurant where two tables had been pushed together to make one long one. They took up half of the back wall, what with twelve of them, and Charlie watched as Don and Kensi arranged everyone into what seemed the least threatening arrangement to the couple of the evening. Charlie hid a grin as he took in the seating arrangements. Colby on his left and Eric on his right; then G on Eric’s other side and then Kensi and rounding out their side with Dad. On the other side of the table, Hetty was opposite Dad, while Don was on her right, next came Megan, Larry, Nate, and finally Sam.

The next several minutes were spent giving drink and food orders. Conversation was stilted at first, people remaining in their own comfort zone until Nate and Larry started talking philosophy. That caught on until the appetizers arrived and Eric started talking to Charlie about his cognitive emergence theory, something he’d been following avidly since Charlie had first proposed it. He was somewhat gratified to find Eric knew of his work and understood it. That, of course, led to him dragging Larry into a quantum physics conversation which Hetty stood up from her seat to walk over and participate in.

By the time dinner arrived, the table had resettled itself into more natural conversational lines. G, Sam, Don, Colby, and Kensi talked sports. Hetty and Alan chatted about where they’d been during various important, historical events with Megan listening in abject fascination. Nate and Larry returned to a philosophical discussion while Charlie and Eric brainstormed mathematical ways to winning the lottery back and forth. It was something Hetty had specifically banned Eric from rigging, but he still had a several very interesting proposals in how to accomplish it. Theoretical, of course.

All in all, it turned out to be a much more fun evening than Charlie had anticipated from his scant conversations with the other agents months before. Charlie caught his father watching Don and Kensi a few times with a wistful expression in place and knew what he saw; a very attractive couple in love. The age difference between them was obvious, but the way Don’s gaze lingered on Kensi reminded Charlie of the looks Colby gave to him. And Kensi seemed equally as loving, for which Charlie was very, very grateful. Don deserved to be happy.

Charlie suddenly realized that there were substantial age differences between most of the couples at the table. Larry and Megan had a good fifteen years between them. G and Eric had around ten. Even he and Colby had almost seven. He wasn’t sure what that said and idly began to mentally construct an equation to find out.

“Okay. I know that glazed expression on my partner’s face and it means that he needs to go home,” Colby announced to the table at large, “before he rewrites Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or something.”

Charlie made a face at him, but the resulting laughter was kind.

It took a while for everyone to get their things together to leave; leftovers, sweaters against the chilly LA night for the women, and trips to the restroom. The incipient battle over the check never happened, because the check had been prepaid by a mysterious benefactor. Kensi’s team all looked at Hetty, who smiled and said serenely, “I have no knowledge of this matter,” in a way that said she’d taken care of the situation before they’d even sat down.

Tucking alongside Colby, Charlie leaned on him on the walk outside, yawning as he said, “Your place or mine?”

Chuckling, Colby said, “Since you looked too tired for hot monkey sex, we’ll head back to your place.”

Charlie made a face at him, but didn’t argue. It had been a very long day and he had to be up even earlier tomorrow for his trip to Sacramento. He kissed Colby gently and then wandered over to where Don waited by the door for Kensi.

Don smiled and greeted, “Hey, Chuck. Did you have fun?”

“I did, yes,” Charlie replied, smiling back. He didn’t even really hate that nickname anymore, since Don only used it when he was really relaxed and content. “I’m glad she makes you happy, Don.”

Don rubbed the back of his neck, that familiar, abashed expression in place as he admitted, “She really does.”

Charlie gave him a quick hug and then stepped back. “Good. I’m heading out to that conference tomorrow, so keep an eye on Colby for me?”

“You got it, Chuck,” Don agreed, squeezing his shoulder. “Be careful.”

Charlie waved and walked over to his car. As he was unlocking it, he glanced back to find Kensi and Don entwined, wandering slowly to his car a short distance away. They looked fully as comfortable together as he and Colby felt and that, more than anything, told Charlie that they were meant to be.

“Charlie, come on. It’s getting late,” Alan called from inside the car.

Rolling his eyes, Charlie got inside and started the engine.

* * * *

Don groaned as he climbed into bed with Kensi, spooning up behind her, tangling their legs together and holding her tight. Nuzzling at the back of her neck, he said, “That went much better than I thought it would.”

Kensi sighed deeply and relaxed back, against him. “It really did. Thank goodness Hetty grabbed the bill before Sam and you came to blows.”

“Hey, it wouldn’t have been that bad,” Don protested, chuckling.

Kensi made a rude noise and said, “Sure it wouldn’t have…I like your family, Don. Your dad’s something else, really sweet. So is Charlie.”

Don squeezed her briefly as he murmured, “You’re something else, Kensi. I am the luckiest son of a bitch in the world right now.”

She brought up his hand and kissed the palm of it before whispering, “Me too.”

Smiling, Don closed his eyes and happily drifted. It was the jackpot he’d never thought he’d win and he’d do whatever he could to keep her as happy as she was right now.