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Marty was two months old before Dean saw Jason again; it happened on a breezy laid back family Saturday afternoon.
Dean had worked a few hours in the morning then returned home; hoping to just hang out with his family when they heard a car pull into the drive. Dean was holding Marty while Cassie entertained Dee Dee in the floor. She went to the front door then returned to get the baby from Dean.
Dean just looked at her not understanding what was happening. “Cas?”
“It’s Courtney you may want to get the door.”
“What?” he asked as he got up to look out the peephole. As he looked through the peephole he saw Cassie was right. Courtney was parked in the driveway but didn’t seem to be getting out of the car. Then the phone rang.
“Hello,” Dean answered.
“Is this a good time?” Courtney asked.
“Not the best time, No, but since you are here come in,” Dean said as he hung up the phone before heading into the living room to see Cassie’s reaction. He knew she heard the phone conversation. “Unless you want her to leave I should open the door,” he said as he looked in her eyes for a reaction.
----
She shook her head looked at him and tried not to appear stressed. “I am not totally unreasonable, but Dean, why didn’t she call first?”
“I don’t know, Baby, I am as much in the dark here as you are. We will ask and get an agreement about that okay,” he said as he went to answer the door.
Courtney came in apologizing and carrying Jason who smelled of dirty diaper.
“Um, do you want to change him?” Dean asked as he scrunched up his nose.
“Oh sure, I’m sorry it was a bit of a drive. But I wanted to stop here because we are moving to California.?
“What? Why?” Dean asked thinking that would just be more work and expense to try to do the right thing by spending time with his son.
----
“I got a job offer in Los Angeles as a paralegal, not far from UCLA, actually,” she said with a smile.
Dean just looked at her, he knew she had mentioned taking classes for some new career but he didn’t remember what the career was. He was kind of shocked. He may not have known about Jason for very long, but he wanted to be there for his son. Giving himself a mental shake he heard Cassie speaking to Courtney.
“Congrats Courtney, that sounds like a good job,” Cassie said trying hard to be positive.
He sighed, Dean wanted Courtney to be happy, and maybe now that she was moving she’d find someone new. The only thing he would regret with Courtney is not being able to be there more for Jason as he grew.
“Yes, congrats,” Dean forced himself to say in an upbeat tone. “Why don’t you let me change him,” he asked as he took Jason to the nursery after Courtney gave him the diaper bag, leaving her and Cassie alone.
Courtney sat down beside Cassie on the sofa to get a closer look at Marty as Dee Dee came up to stare at her.
“Hey cutie,” Courtney said with a forced smile to the little girl. Damn it! Why can’t Dean be happy with me? We’re more alike than him and this…Cassie.
“Row Row,” Dee Dee said as she pointed at the baby while Cassie just watched the two of them.
“He is beautiful,” Courtney said to Cassie.
“We have been blessed,” Cassie said, smiling as she tried to think positive thoughts because she did feel that she and Dean had been given a second chance together. Dee Dee just stared at Courtney until Cassie asked her to go check on Daddy.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said as she apologized to Courtney for her daughter’s behavior.
“Oh that’s fine the hair and eyes can draw a bit of attention,” Courtney replied, brushing off Dee Dee’s reaction to her.
Cassie hesitated only a moment to let Courtney in on how she felt about there little situation. “Courtney, I need you to know that Dean and I love one another. I hope you don’t have any hidden desires to lure him in to be a full time father to Jason, because it will not happen. We have been through a lot to get to where we are; more than most people would ever want to endure to be together,” Cassie insisted firmly as she looked into Courtney’s face. Courtney wet her lips. How the hell did she figure that out! Damn it! If she knows, then Dean probably knows as well, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try.
“I only want Dean to have a chance to spend time with Jason; that’s all I promise,” she said not quite holding Cassie’s gaze.
Cassie didn’t buy it for a minute; she felt Courtney thought if Dean would fool around with her once he might eventually be drawn in to do it again. One more time to make it so that Cassie would no longer trust him; but what Courtney did not know was that Cassie knew things about Dean that Courtney would never know, namely the fact that he had been a demon hunter and he had no plans to go any where.
“I don’t want your husband I’m glad Dean is happy.”
“I really hope so for your sake.”
Cassie nodded as the baby began to be fussy. “I need to go feed him, Dean will be back in a second,” she said as she excused herself.
----
Courtney sat on the sofa uncomfortable and unsure as to why she had shown up at Dean’s. She could have called him about the move though she did want him to see Jason, he seemed fond of the kid, or maybe she just wanted to believe he was. She got up to look at the pictures around the room, feeling only vaguely sorry that Cassie didn’t trust her. There was the wedding photo, one with Dean, Sam and their father that had to have been in the not to distant past, also one of Cassie and Dean’s little family. Courtney was horrified to realize that she was crying, just as Dean came back in carrying Jason, with Dee Dee following close behind them. Luckily, she had her back to him so he had no idea and she had been able to wipe her eye discreetly.
As soon as he was set on the floor, Jason went straight to Dee Dee’s favorite toy, a stuffed animal, when Dean put him down. Dee Dee followed him and tried to grab it from him. “Mine,” she said with a pout as she looked toward her Daddy for help.
“Be nice, share Little Miss Dee Dee,” he scolded. However, she didn’t listen and pulled again, this time Jason let go then fell on his freshly diapered bottom and began to cry.
Courtney picked him up as Dean apologized for Dee Dee’s attitude.
“Say sorry, sweet girl,” he said in her little ear as he picked her up. She shook her head, acting stubborn like her mother.
“Daddy, mine,” she replied as she held the teddy under her arm and looked sadly into his eyes where she hoped to find that he was on her side. Daddy, why are you letting him play with MY toys? Why do you treat him like Row Row? The little girl wondered silently.
----
“But you know how to share,” he said as he kissed he forehead. She looked at him again this time with trembling lips and tears in her eyes.
“It’s okay Dean she doesn’t know him, it’s only natural,” Courtney insisted.
Dee Dee snuggled close to Dean’s neck as she sniffled while Jason wiped his eyes and held tight to Courtney, stalemate.
“So you are on the way to California today?” Courtney nodded and as she was about to respond, Dean continued, “Well thanks for stopping by to let me see Jason; I am sure you want to get on the road and find a nice place to stay the night before it gets too late,” he e said before he heard Cassie call him from the other room. “I’ll be right back.”
----
Once in the nursery Cassie expressed a desire to have Courtney spend the night since it could be a while before he saw Jason again. “Are you sure?’
“No I’m not but I think we should do that for your son.”
“If you don’t want to fine, it’s up to you now.”
Dean was torn as he looked at Cassie feeding Marty; he wanted to spend time with all his children it just seemed like such a bad idea to have them stay. Dean stared at Cassie for a moment as she breastfed Marty.
“Dean?”
Dean shook his head and looked at Cassie. “Yea, they should stay it’s only right,” he said as he went to ask Courtney who declined the offer saying she actually wanted to drive a bit more since it was cool out.
“I appreciate that you asked, but hopefully when you and the family come out toward California to visit Sam you can stop by to see Jason.”
“We will make a plan to do that,” Dean said as he reached over to kiss Jason’s cheek as the little boy looked at him. Poor Jason has no idea what kind of weird situation he had been born into. Dee Dee looked strangely at Jason as Dean kissed him.
----
It was getting closer to the holidays and even though he never would admit it, Dean was looking forward to having an old fashioned “Family Christmas”. Sam had made plans to up for the holidays with his new girlfriend, Jackie. He and Cassie looked forward to meeting the first girl he had dated since Jess had died However, Sam had deliberately left his and Jackie’s arrival time vague so he could surprise them, besides not wanting them to wait at the airport since he had a traveling companion. All they knew for sure was that they were arriving the Monday before Christmas.
-
Christmas week arrived quickly. That night, after the kids were in bed, as Dean and Cassie sat in front of the fireplace kissing they heard the knocking on the front door. Dean tore himself away from Cassie’s willing lips as she grinned up at him. Jackie, who knocked while Sam got the bags out of the rental car, waited nervously. A few moments later, a handsome man, who could only be Sam’s older brother, opened the door. Dean was pleased to find the smiling face of a fairly short female wearing a light blue cold weather rain coat and glasses. Dean thought she looked friendly and attractive. He let her inside out of the wind.
“Hi, come on in, I’m Dean,” he said before directing her toward Cassie in the kitchen.
“Hey Sammy,” he said as Sam squeezed in the door with the two suitcases, Dean figured most of the stuff was Jackie’s since the Winchesters had always traveled light.
Sam put down the bags then hugged Dean with a smile.
“Hey, Dude you look like you finally filled out.”
“Bitch,” Dean teased him under his breath with a teasing grin.
“Jerk, and it’s Sam.”
----
Jackie heard them and laughed. Sam had told her all about him and Dean’s strange non-emotional, affectionate non-chick-flick moments. Cassie grinned at her as she arrived in the kitchen while Sam took the things to the room.
“Hi, you must be Jackie,” Cassie said as she came over to hug the young lady who smelled of lavender and vanilla. Nice, cozy fragrance, the kind a man could get used to coming home too.
“Have a seat we were going to wait another hour to eat; then you two would have had to heat up the leftovers,” Cassie teased.
Jackie liked Cassie right away she seemed friendly, honest but beautiful. She was petite and fashionable but in a homespun kind of way that made it hard for her to describe after only knowing her about a minute.
----
Sam and Dean set the table out of habit so the girls could bring in the meal of steak, potatoes, and green beans with a slice of peach cobbler.
“Oh my I’m going to gain ten pounds tonight,” Jackie said with a laugh.
“Don’t worry we will chase around the kids tomorrow so you can lose it all again,” Cassie said as Dean smiled at her.
“So that is how you keep fit?”
She nodded as Sam squeezed Jackie’s leg under the table.
“So Sam said you met at the library; what love a first sight or did he have to stalk you to get you to go out with him,” Dean teased as Sam glared at him.
Jackie laughed, “No we talked the same day we meet because we crashed into one another as we were both leaving.”
----
“The Crash Sammy, very original. Uh that was one of my moves way back when.”
Sam shook his head he knew Dean would take the credit for him having a girl he would just let him have his fun.
“So what do you two have in common?” Cassie asked the obvious question.
“We both love to learn, eat, laugh all the things most couples enjoy together,” Sam said as he slid he large hand over Jackie’s knee.
“That’s good because having things in common is a great place to start,” Dean said before he reached for the potatoes again.
“Sounds like a good beginning.” Cassie replied as she smiled at Jackie.
“So have you been on any digs yet?” Cassie asked Jackie while they ate dessert in front of the fireplace.
“Actually two in my sophomore year; one in Cairo and one in Israel. We were more observers but we, the new apprentices did get to dig a bit. Mostly we observed and took notes about the era the ages of the finds that type thing.”
----
“Have you always wanted to do that?” Dean asked.
“Well as a Christian I felt the desire to know more about the past of mankind. I think it’s important to the future,” Jackie explained as she sipped her drink. “I find that understanding the past can help us make a better future.”
Sam listened to Jackie’s response and had to agree with her. Knowing what he knew about the supernatural he now realized it would have been a good idea knowing information about ancient religions and cultures. It would have helped them in the long run. After another hour of just sitting around and talking, they decided it was time to go to bed so that they could get everything ready for the big day tomorrow.
A little while later, as he lay in bed with Jackie, Sam ran his hands over her face. She bit her lips as she looked down at him.
“What is it?” he asked, his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and desire.
“We shouldn’t sleep in the same bed its too tempting,” she said before kissing him again then snuggling by his side. br
“Then I should go sleep on the sofa.” br
“I don’t know how I feel about us sleeping together yet, its not right for me I hope you understand.”
“I do and I never meant to pressure you. I will see you in the morning,” he said as he kissed before he grabbed a pillow to go to the living room to sleep.
----
Hopefully God would forgive her for wanting Sam so bad and not giving in. Though she knew her one sin had led to the greatest of all. Jackie had been intimate with her previous boyfriend but that had gone horribly wrong she knew better than to take that chance again. Part of her still wanted Evan but having an abortion had changed her life it wasn’t something she had ever believed in then she had allowed herself to be pulled into the ways of the world. She tried to stop the tears as she pulled the remaining pillow over her head to muffle her cries. She really hoped Sam didn’t think she was a prude but if she ever got pregnant again she would keep her baby no matter what.
----
A moment after he lay his head down on the sofa, he could see Sara in his mind. What the? he thought. Oh, this wasn’t good he was thinking of another woman while in the same house as his current girlfriend. Great he was turning into Dean. Though he thought of Sara often and they talked frequently she knew he was seeing someone, Sara with the green eyes and beautiful smile. He was doing it again, why did he have such an unfaithful heart? It hadn’t been long ago since he swore he wouldn’t love anyone but Jessica Moore, his girlfriend who had died because of the Demon that had killed his mother. But Jessica was gone and Jackie was the one he should be thinking of, but what of Sara?
----
Christmas Eve morning was beautiful with layers of snow everywhere, truly a winter wonderland; Cassie dressed the kids warmly so they could all go on a sleigh ride at the church where she attended. Dean gave in this once to go with her since they had company and it was Christmas. Dee Dee was excited to see all the snow as they headed to the car but she wanted very badly to walk in it Dean wouldn’t let her for fear of her hurting her self.
“Oooooooohhhh, Daddy, down,” she said as she wriggled dangerously in his arms.
“You need to be still so I don’t drop you,” he said as he kissed her round cheeks.
----
He tried to resist her but those sad eyes broke him; he gave in to her as he did most times by letting her walk slowly with him down the drive way. Everyone laughed when they saw how the little girl had him wrapped around her little finger. Her grin was so big Dean was glad he let her talk him into the short walk with her; she was in heaven he felt happier now than he ever did in his life. He had his gorgeous wife and their two beautiful kids, his little brother was healthy and happy…life was good.
----
Priceless, Cassie thought as she got two pictures of them playing in the snow, after putting Marty into the car seat, of course. A few minutes later, Dean walked up, Dee Dee on his shoulders, and kissed her cheek before he handed the little girl over to be put in her seat also.
“Tough ghost hunter verses Mini Diva, who wins?” Sam teased Dean before he hit him on the back of the head.
Jackie laughed she was glad Sam could relax with his family the way they did; Stanford was stressful and both appreciated the time away. The adults then piled into the cars and made their way to where the town was holding its annual sleigh ride.
Getting out of the car, Cassie gave Dean a loving kiss and teased him by telling him to have fun and not let Dee Dee bully him into doing everything. Dean rolled his eyes and swung Dee Dee up onto his shoulders, telling her to have fun herself in the auditorium, where the other ladies that had infants waited while the rest of them took the ride.
----
As soon as she took her seat, a couple of the women walked over and sat down.
“So who is that handsome young man with your husband?” one of the women asked.
“Oh, my brother in law, Sam, why?” Cassie replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Is he single?” the short blonde asked.
“No, he is seeing someone.”
“But not married, right?” the first woman pressed.
Cassie shook her head hating to lie even to these women; but she would much rather Sam date Jackie then some of the gossipy singles at her church. There was the one thing she hated and that was gossip. She shook her head as she held Marty on her shoulder and hoped that the ride would be over soon.
TBC