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Mary Winchester visited Milton after he arrived back home from his drunken drive to see Ari. Once he was in the shower, she started her work. Being an earth bound spirit had its benefits. She was stuck until her death was revenged. She did her writing on the mirror and stood back to see how Milton would take her creativity. After the room cleared of steam, he looked at himself in the mirror and saw her as she stood behind him. He turned around with fear in his eyes but saw no one. When he checked his reflection, again he noticed the words. Leave Ari alone. Milton thought he might faint as he wiped away the writing with his hand only to see Mary in the mirror one last time before she faded away. My first haunting, not too bad, hope he gets the hint,she thought.
****
After Jo came back to the house, she and Sam started over. This time they moved slowly because they began as friends. Ari could tell they enjoyed one another’s company from the start but now she noticed the subtle differences this time around. Friendship with a progressive goal was notoriously interesting to see. It was almost like two price fighters circling, sizing up one another and while the attempted to read the other person; Ari watched them both like a mother hen. Sam seemed to always have his eyes on Jo when she wasn’t looking and the same with Jo. She still worried for Sam he seemed like such a sensitive soul. She was lost in thought and didn’t hear Amber and Dean when they walked up behind her.
“Boo,” they both said before she jumped and turn to look at them both with a grin.
They smiled up at her before they broke out in to laughter.
“What are you two, up to?”
“Just getting ready to take Sammy Doo for a walk, want to go?” Dean asked as he brushed the hair out of her eyes while she shook her head at them.
“Yeah, give me a minute to grab my sneakers,” she said.
Dean nodded as he motioned for Amber to sit at the kitchen table so he could tie her shoes.
“So when do I get my new brother and when do you get yours?” Amber asked as she watched Dean.
“Well, they are both your little brothers and it will be in a few months,” he said as he finished the tying with a flourish of the hand.
“Oh, Mom said you got one too,” she said as she scrunched her nose up.
“Munchkin, I will be dad to them both.”
“Oh, so you are married?”
“Almost,” Dean said as Ari came in the room.
Amber was smart beyond her years. He had hoped that Ari had already talked to her daughter about that situation but the way Ari’s eyebrows shot up when she heard the last part of the conversation he knew that had not happened. They would need to discuss the marriage very soon. He and Ari hoped to get the ceremony done on a weekend before their babies were born. However, for all purposes they were already married.
Sam came in before they walked out the back door.
“Taking a walk?”
“Yeah,” Ari said with a smile.
Jo came in the door next with her hair disheveled around her head.
“Looks like it might rain, do you want us to take her?” she asked.
“No, we won’t go far just stretch our legs, we should be fine,” Dean answered.
Ari grabbed an umbrella, before they went outside with the hope they wouldn’t need it.
Jo and Sam stood in the kitchen alone a second later. The tension was thick as Jo went to the sink to grab a plate to microwave popcorn on. She wasn’t sure how long they could go slow, and how slow was the plan anyway, she wondered. They had decided to watch an afternoon movie because of the impending weather situation. Sam grabbed the box from the cabinet to open it for her and she took it without a word. He watched as she readied it for the microwave oven just before the sound of thunder could be heard.
“I hope they don’t get stuck in a down pour,” Jo said absently.
“Me too, it wouldn’t do for Ari to get sick in her condition,” Sam replied as he went to the window and saw that it had gotten darker in the few minutes they had been inside. To keep his worry in check he left the kitchen to get the DVD player prepared and find the movie. For some reason, Jo wanted to watch Aliens but he didn’t mind, mostly he needed something to keep his mind focused away from kissing her.
They had only left the driveway when the rain began, just a slight drizzle. Ari immediately wished she had brought a raincoat for Amber who seemed to take the wetness in stride. They were all healthy and figured a bit of rain shouldn’t deter them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t them that was in danger. They had just hit the paving on the road when a lightning bolt hit a large tree near the barn. They all watched as the tree fell onto the barn splitting it in half, nothing else was damaged. Dean sighed at least the Impala was fine and they were good. Luckily, the little fire that came from the incident was limited to the tree trunk and the rain put it out easily. They walked only around a half mile before they decided they were wet enough. Amber enjoyed the chance to play with her puppy in the rain. Sammy Doo kept shaking himself, which drove Amber into fits of laughter. Dean and Ari could only smile at the small child and her pet; they had so much fun.
As soon as they were back inside Ari took Amber to be dried off while Dean took care of the puppy’s wet paws before he brought him in door. The house was quiet except for the sounds of the water running in the hall bath. Dean put Sammy Doo in Amber’s room before he went in search of Jo and Sam. He found them in the den in front of the television.
“Is that wise in a thunderstorm?” he teased.
“You tell me, you were walking in it,” Sam said with a smile as he sat near Jo on the sofa.
Dean thought they looked comfortable so he left them alone.
Later that evening, Sam called Dean into the study to talk. Dean sat down in front of the desk with his legs crossed.
“What’s up?”
“I found some relatives,” Sam said.
“Yeah, who?”
Sam looked down at his notes for a few minutes without saying anything.
“Sam?”
“Dean looks like Mom had another kid before she had me.”
“What?”
“Did it die? Was it a girl or boy? What? Come on Francis quicker with the info.”
Dean got up and went around the computer to see what Sam was reading.
“Um, I don’t know. It gives a birth date two years before me in 1981 but there is no death certificate in that name.”
“You checked neighboring states? Maybe she died when we were out of town or something.”
“I did.”
Dean sighed.
“Anything else?”
“Well Dean…”
“We have relatives all over the place; I mean ones I can trace to our parents.”
“But why didn’t they come for us? Dad said we stayed around a few weeks.”
“It looks like Mom was a runaway.”
“So they didn’t know where she was or that we existed?”
Sam nodded sadly. He watched Dean’s face drop. All those years they had no connections, but what about their father’s family?”
“Dean I … think Dad’s plan for revenge just didn’t include family. I mean he has a brother and two sisters.”
Dean got up and left the room. He wanted to hit something, he felt more alone then he ever had. Sam watched Dean leave with a heavy heart, how could their father do this to them?
He walked into the bedroom to see it was full again. Amber was in the bed with Ari and Sammy Doo lie on the end as he kept watch.
“Can I join in?”
“Of course, just scuch in,” Ari said with a smile.
Amber had her head on Ari stomach as she stroked the material of her mother’s nightgown. Dean lay fully clothed on top of the covers as he watched the mother and daughter. Amber grinned as she watched Ari’s stomach move. She would touch the spot where the babies moved them move her hand to her mouth with awe in her face. Maybe this is all the family I need,he thought. But was it too late to locate all their missing relatives? Would they understand about the life they had led? Maybe their Dad had kept them away because of what happened. But what if someone in the family had a lead on the demon? That was a reason to talk to them; they could get a feel from them about how open they were to the supernatural stuff. He wanted to try, maybe because he had begun to realize how important it was to know your kin. All the time he had been led to believe he had only his father and Sam in the world had been a lie. Not that he would give up the time they had together for anything.
***
Cassie watched Megan sleep as she thought of her mother’s words. You need to tell Dean, he deserves to know. Cassie watched Megan sleep as she considered how she would tell Dean about his daughter. When he had come to her aid after her father died. She and her mother had sent Megan away because of all the mystery that concerned the death. While Dean investigated her father’s murder Cassie had decided to not tell Dean about his child. At that time, she could still feel the restlessness in him and it frightened her. She now knew that had been a mistake to put off telling him. After hearing how happy he was about Ari having twins she realized she had underestimated the only man she had every loved, wholeheartedly. She sighed as Megan moved her head in her lap. She needed to get her little girl to bed. She had only wanted to hold her baby one last time before she took the step to do what she should have done more than four years before.
A week later, Ari was surprised that Dean received a letter in the mail. She looked at it curiously, as she noted the Missouri stamp. There also wasn't a surname beside Dean’s first name on the envelope. She shook her head as she grabbed the advertisement from the box before she waved at the mail carrier who seemed to be staring at her as he put mail in the box down the road. She smiled to herself as she noticed it was Sam who the mailman was looking at as Sam got into the truck with Jo.
“Anything interesting?” Sam asked as he backed out of the driveway before he stopped beside her.
Jo waved at Ari with a grin from the passenger seat.
“Hey.” She said.
She smiled at them both.
“Um, a letter for Dean.”
“Oh,” Sam said with a slight frown.
“Well he is up in the office,” Jo volunteered before they smiled before they drove away.
Ari waved as she went inside the house.
Amber was at a neighbors playing so they were alone in the house. She found Dean at the desk and he smiled at her before looking back at the computer as she came into the room with the mail in her hand.
“Dean.”
“Yeah?” he said as he looked up again.
“You got mail.”
She told him that the letter had no return address but had a Missouri postmark.
He shrugged.
“Probably a congratulations note from Cassie,” he said unconcerned, though he wondered how she had gotten his address.
“Oh.”
He looked up, “But I didn’t give her the address maybe Sam did it seems they talked a while back.”
“Could be,” Ari said as she set the envelope on the desk.
Dean handed it back to her.
“You can open it,” he grinned.
They were both excited about their impending parenthood but had few to share the news with he figured he would let Ari have the thrill.
“Okay,” she said with a smile before she did as she asked.
A picture fell out as she opened the card. It landed on the desk but Dean was not paying attention as he continued his research to find a local hunt for himself.
“Um, Dean,” Ari said as she noticed the picture.
Her heart clenched tight in her chest as she rested her hand on her stomach. She had a feeling, an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She took a deep breath. The babies kicked and she relaxed.
“Yeah?” he said as he looked at her again.
“The note says the picture is of your daughter, Megan,” she informed him as she arched her eyebrow and pursed her lips.
“What?”
Ari handed him the note card, after he glanced at the picture.
Dear Dean,
I know you will be angry with me and you have every reason to be. The little girl in the picture is our little girl. I had her nine months after you left Ohio. She is sweet, smart and as you can see the spitting image of you. I am so sorry I never told you. I tried when you called about your news but chickened out. Please try not to hate me; I didn’t know what to do. You were on the road and had your mission. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to be something I felt you really had no desire to be. I am not blaming you; it’s my fault you didn’t know. I sincerely regret that I allowed our baby no access to her father. I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with us. Again, I know I was foolish. I hope someday you will find it in you heart to meet her and forgive me. It was signed: Sincerely, Cassie
Dean read the note twice before he looked at the picture again. The little girl in the photo had his eyes, a sprinkling of freckles across her tan nose, which was all Cassie, and dark blonde wavy hair. In the picture, she had no front teeth and had a huge grin on her slightly pudgy cheeks. Dean fell in love right away.
Ari watched him quietly as he took in the sight of his child he had not known about until ten minutes before. There was nothing but love in his face, Ari noted. She felt sorry for Cassie because Dean was going to be pissed off with her for withholding his child from him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah I’m fine,” he said as he closed himself off from the woman who loved him.
“Hey, I’ll give you some time alone,” Ari said as she turned to leave.
“I’m fine,” he said as he stopped her with his voice
“I can tell this is a shock to you its okay to get emotional,” she said as she turned to him half way to the door.
“Not emo, hungry, I feel like a couple of hot dogs would satisfy me,” he said as he looked solemnly at her.
Ari frowned; she knew he would need time to consider more change in his life.
“Coming right up,” she said as she finally left the study.
As soon as she shut the door Dean, sat the picture on the computer keypad. Megan, huh? Megan Denise Robinson. He sighed as he held back the tears that threatened to fall.
Sam was restless as he waited for Jo in the truck. He had come outside when Jo decided she needed female items. He fiddled with his cell a moment before he dialed Cassie.
“Hey,” he said.
“Did he get it?” she asked.
“I think so, I was leaving when the mail came and Ari mentioned there was letter for him.”
Sam looked up to see Jo as she walked toward the car.
“He is going to kill us both,” Cassie said.
“I know,” Sam said as he frowned.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
“Don’t worry he can’t undo the fact that I am his brother, I have to go, Cassie, talk soon,” Sam said as he put the phone away as Jo got in the truck.
TBC