No Ordinary Love - G.Callen NCIS L.A

Chapter 9

"Who's got plans for Christmas?" Deeks dumped his bag on his desk, turning around to look from Callen to Sam. "Come on, guys, this is the one holiday we're off, how come you don't have plans?" he added, when it stayed silent.

Sam raised an eyebrow at Deeks. "Have I said that I don't have plans?"

"No, but no response from you usually means no plans." Deeks grinned. "We're having a family gathering, for the first time in... ever, aren't we, Kensalina?"

Kensi looked up from her laptop. "If we can convince the moms to split cooking duties, yes." She smiled. "But it's really great to have them together, in our house. First time we get to host Christmas."

Callen was happy for them. It had been years since Kensi had enjoyed Christmas, and if there was someone who deserved it, it was her.

"What about you, Sam?"

"Michelle's mom is coming, as usual, and we have the kids, of course. A simple family celebration." He leaned back in his chair. "Can I tell Kamran that Uncle Callen is joining us again, this year?"

Callen hesitated long enough for the rest of the team to notice. "I might actually have plans..." he murmured.

Kensi smiled encouragingly at him. "Might have plans? You're not sure yet?"

He shook his head. "Not yet." Christmas hadn't come up between the two of them yet, but with it only three weeks away, it needed to. First Christmas they were dating. That had to count for something, but for all he knew, Deja had made plans to visit her parents in London, so she might not even be here.

"Well, if you find yourself alone on Christmas morning, know that you're welcome to join us," she said.

Callen nodded. "Thank you."

Sam frowned. "Christmas at the Hanna household suddenly not good enough anymore?"

"Got nothing to do with that. I might have plans. I might not. If anything changes, I'll let you know." He went back to his screen, signaling that this conversation was over.

Kensi and Deeks eyed each other, shrugging. Deeks could sense there was something he wasn't telling them, but he left it, knowing that Callen had given them the same treatment when he and Kensi had first become an item. Whatever it was, he wasn't ready to share yet. If only Sam got the same vibe from him. Sam was not going to let it go as easily. Deeks had caught him staring at and trying to get information out of Callen for a while now. Callen wasn't budging an inch, and Deeks wondered if Sam was going to know when to stop. Probably not.

Callen broached the subject with Deja that night, during his cooking lesson. "Have you made plans for Christmas?"

Deja raised her eyes from chopping up basil for their pasta sauce. She pursed her lips. "Christmas is the one week of the year we close Indulge," she started, "to spend time with family and do nothing, really. Usually, I go to London, or my parents try and visit here. I've actually got a plane ticket booked for Barcelona this time. We're meeting Abuela and my uncles there."

Callen nodded, stirring in the onion, garlic and celery combination. "Am I adding tomatoes now?"

"You are." Deja handed him the can. "Don't let Nanna know that I've let you use canned tomatoes, if it ever comes up. She'll kill me." For a moment, she eyed him. "Are you disappointed that we're not going to have Christmas together?"

Part of him was. The other part of him knew it was probably too soon for them to spend Christmas with each other. "Sort of, I guess, but I don't think either of us thought we'd be dating, right?"

"Right." She smiled and nodded to his pan. "Turn the heat down, please, or our sauce will be burnt."

He did as he was told and was silent for a while, except for asking about the things to go in their dinner. Maybe he was more disappointed than he thought. Of course, Deja caught on. "Grisha..." She added the basil and oregano to the pot, put the lid on and took the spoon out of his hand. Then, she made him look at her. "Talk to me, please."

He hesitated, swallowed. "I don't know..." Embarrassed, he looked down at his shoes. "Maybe I was hoping that you'd be here," he admitted. "More so than I realized. But it's three weeks to Christmas, and we've been only dating for that same amount, so I guess that it makes sense that we're not doing anything together. I'm just more disappointed than I thought I'd be."

She nodded. "I know. Between you and me, I'd rather be home, here with you, than in Barcelona with the rest of the family, somehow." Her forehead touched his. "And I'm tempted to invite you over, and introduce you to them, but it's way too early for that. If we're going to make this work, we'll have to take our time."

"I hate you for being sensible, sometimes," he murmured. "But I know you're right." He squeezed her hands. "And what's a week? Last time I had to go I was gone almost a month and we survived that."

"Yeah, we did." She pressed a kiss to his lips. "Don't worry, I'll still like you when I get back."

He snorted. "God, I hope so." Hearing the hissing in the pan, he turned back to the stove and took a deep breath. "We boil pasta?"

Deja grinned. "If you want to eat pasta, I do suggest you boil it first, yes." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I took some out of the pantry downstairs, I'll teach you how to make your own another time. Do you have any idea how long it has to cook?"

Callen thought about it for a moment. "A few minutes?"

"Fresh pasta like this needs around three to four to cook. Dried pasta takes double that."

She added the pasta to a pot of boiling water she had put on earlier, and took the lid of the pan that held their sauce. "At this point, knowing that it'll only take a few minutes to boil the pasta, you add salt and pepper to taste. The herbs have already given off flavor, so you don't want to overdo it. Little pinches at a time."

Ten minutes later, they were sitting at the table. Callen took a bite and was pleasantly surprised. "This is good."

Deja smiled. "Well, that was the plan, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but this... Wow."

She was continually awed by his responds to flavors. It was a good thing he was still discovering, because she was used to her food being the way it was, which usually meant she took it for granted. This journey with him made her see and experience things differently as well.

They ate making small talk, chatting about this and that. "Do you have anyone to drop you of at the airport?" Callen asked, getting back to her trip.

"I'm going to take a cab," Deja said, stirring in her tea. "Why?"

"I can take you."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course."

"That would be wonderful."

Hours later, he pressed soft kisses to her lips in goodbye. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"I'm counting on it. Jess will have breakfast ready."

"Looking forward to it already." One last kiss and he let her go. It wouldn't be a Christmas together, yet, but at least she was coming back to him.