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Dean went outside to phone Ari before Cassie and Vince took off for the night. He was going to stay at the hospital with Megan because Cassie had to work the next day. For a moment, he stood in the cool night air as he readjusted his jacket after he took out his cell phone. He dialed the number with a smile on his face because he needed to get the right tone in his voice before he spoke to his wife. His wife, he hadn’t thought of that too much the entire day. He was a married man and it settled on him like a warm breeze. All of his life he had avoided relationships because of his job; now he was an old married man. He sighed as he pushed in the number to his house. He knew Ari would be glad to hear that Megan felt better but his mind was full of all the reasons why he should be in a panic at that moment. He had a child that lived across the country was the main reason that jumped to his brain. When did I become such a softie, he wondered as he delayed the pushing of the send button. Sam would laugh if he knew how much he sometimes wished that he had been the one to fall in love. With all that Ari offered him emotionally he was still uncertain as to how he was going to handle the upcoming changes in his life. Am I even equipped? He had always thought his brother would be the one lucky enough to have warm women in his bed and a boat load of children at his feet. It wasn’t that he regretted any of his good fortune he just hoped he would do a good job at parenting as well as being a husband.
“Hey,” he said when Ari picked up.
“Hey yourself, I hoped you would call before we went to bed,” Ari said softly as she ran her fingers through Amber’s hair as she looked up at her.
The little girl had been stroking her stomach for what seemed like ages as she watched the babies move. Ari found it comforting that Amber was fascinated and excited about her upcoming siblings as she was to have a new sister.
“So what’s up?”
“Amber wants to say hi,” she said as she handed over the phone to her daughter as she moved so sit beside her mother and receive the phone.
“Daddy,” she said with a grin.
“Yes Munchkin,” he said with a smile on his face as he sat down on the nearest bench.
“I’m playing with the boys,” she proclaimed.
“Ah, taking my place aye?”
“No Daddy, but its fun I wish you was here,” she said with a smile in her little voice.
“I do too, but your sister is getting better and in a couple of days you will see her when you come with Uncle Sam.”
“Goody, I going to come see Meg, Yeah.”
“Yes, you be good for your mother, okay.”
“I will Daddy, night,” she said before she passed the phone back to Ari.
“So Megan is good you said earlier?”
Dean told her all about what had happened with Cassie and Ari understood both positions.
“Yeah, Dean, you kind of have to give Cassie a break. I’m sure she is doing her best.”
“I know, though I am beginning to feel a bit useless with Megan. With the little time we will be able to see one another I am afraid she might forget me like a visiting uncle,” he said sadly.
“Oh no, that won’t happen, you are her Dad and she will always be happy to see you when you are there. Don’t worry just enjoy what time you have, Sweetie.”
Dean sighed, he knew she was right he had to stop worrying and enjoy his life. He also knew they needed to find the damn demon after he got back home. At least he and Sam needed to get some new leads. Just because they thought they had time until Sam’s vision of the boys facing off with the damn thing didn’t mean they could slack off until then.
“I should get back inside so they can leave. I love you two, talk to you tomorrow….”
“Oh wait.”
“What?”
“I saw Sam shooting some people out back,” she said with a laugh.
“What?” he said as he sat up on the bench with a frown on his face.
Then she explained what Jo had told her about his relatives after Sam had taken them downstairs.
“Oh, okay, I will call him in the morning, I am sure it will be an interesting tale. Talk soon,” Dean rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone, Sam is suppose to be the sensible one.
Sam, Alec and Ben sat around the kitchen table. They had three brews in front of them despite the fact that it was after midnight and two of them seemed to have had already had a bit to drink.
“So Sam, you say your mother was killed when you were six months old? Boy that had to suck,” Alec said with a frown on his handsome face before he took a sip.
His dirty blonde hair and blue/green eyes reminded Sam that this was his family, it soothed him for a moment as he felt a kinship that was foreign to him. Generally, other hunters were the ones that allowed him that measure of familiarity that he craved. It was one of the reasons he had suggested the hunters roadhouse idea to begin with.
“And my brother, John, died almost a year and half ago?”
Sam nodded before he told them the entire story as it began with the night of the fire. He did preface by telling them that it was an unfathomable story. He still had a hard time with it himself at odd moments.
Sam watched their mouths drop open as he emphasized that their Dad took up the research of the supernatural after the incident at their home. Ben shook his head and Sam wondered if he should have waited until they had a good night’s sleep. Then he realized that his uncle was in tears. Alec looked at his father with concern on this face.
“Dad? You okay?”
“I uh? I wish I had known. I mean John was always so damn stubborn and proud.”
“You know maybe this will be easier to follow after you rest,” Sam suggested.
Alec looked from his father to his cousin.
“I doubt there is a good time to talk of things like this,” Alec said as he tried to lighten the mood.
Sam noticed the same smirk that Dean usually wore on his cousin’s face along with the Winchester dimples. He held in a smile. Dean wouldn’t be happy to know it was a family trait when he tried so hard to be different.
---
“Sorry it took so long,” Dean apologized when he returned to the room.
“Oh no problem,” Cassie said before she leaned over to kiss Megan who smiled up at her.
“I’m going to stay with you,” Dean said as Megan watched Cassie walk toward the door.
“Good Daddy, bye Mommy.”
“See you tomorrow,” Cassie said as she turned for a moment to wave at her child before she and Vince left the room.
Deans sat down beside the bed again but within a few minutes he was on top of the covers with a smiling Megan. She put her head on his shoulder before she dozed off to sleep. Little girls, so sweet, he thought. But something about Megan reminded him of another little girl. A girl he used to have dreams about. He hadn’t thought of her in years. She was a little blonde girl with curls and some nights he dreamed that she had lived at their house when he was small. Why hadn’t it ever occurred to him that maybe the little girl was real? Mary smiled from across the room as she watched her son and her granddaughter drift off to sleep.
***
Erin Melody Winchester strode into the main post office not far from her job in downtown Dallas. She was almost five feet nine inches in her stocking feet and sported long blonde locks that touched her shoulders. She was the image of her mother Mary as she rolled her blue green eyes as the two men at the copier looked in her direction though she was flattered. She sighed as she got into the line to pick up the letter that waited for her. She had no idea who had sent it; she had only received a notice in her mailbox to come down and get it. She looked at her Rolex watch as she contemplated if she had time to do the errand and still have her lunch before she went back to work.
She looked down at the notice in her hand to see there was no address to tell who had sent her the envelope she was to pick up and for a moment, she thought it might not have been worth her trip. She tapped her heels on the concrete floor as she waited a moment longer to see that she was next in line. She smiled at the man at the counter as he handed her a brown envelope before she signed her name. Then she was out the door as she headed to lunch before she had to get back to her job as a fashion editor.
Once she was seated at the deli, had her sandwich and drink at her fingertips at the ready for her to eat she reached to open the envelope as it sat on the empty stool beside her at the window. She sighed before she carefully opened the clasp and pulled out two photos and a letter. The photos were of a tall dark blonde with short hair and green hazel eyes that seemed familiar while the other photograph was also of a taller man though his hair was more Brunette and his eyes more brown than green. Erin gasped when she realized these could be her brothers. She hadn’t seen Dean since the night she left to visit her aunt when she was two years old. The other guy might be Sam, her little brother. She wiped her eyes as the tears threatened to over flow. She bit her lip as she read the note.
Erin,
I found your information on the internet and I believe you could be our sister. I am the taller Brunette man in the photographs while the other picture is of Dean. I am writing because our father has died and we hoped to find relatives to let them know. We also would love to have contact because we never have had that chance. If you are the person, born on February 3, 1981 who we believe to be our sister and have a desire to meet Dean and myself, let me know at the email address I have enclosed.
Sincerely, Samuel Francis Winchester
The dreadful night of the fire at her home had occurred while she was out of town with her aunt Jenny. He father had insisted afterward that she was safer far away from him and her brothers. He had visited her a few times over the years and she could tell he never mentioned her to her brothers. He seemed distracted and cold most often when he wasn’t apologizing. It was as though she was not a real part of them. She had never blamed them since they were so young when the tragedy happened. Actually, her life had turned out well. She had gotten over the death of her mother by holding close to her aunt and their family. She was more a part of them then she had ever been a part of her real family because things had changed for her early in life.
Mary watched her daughter with tears in her eyes. What had John been thinking?
However, Mary knew her husband had done his best in most areas of his life, the best for him, anyways. There would have been no way for John to raise a girl the way he had the boys, she had been relieved that his sister had taken Erin in as her own. John believed that boys should be strong, independent, ready to defend themselves and not emotional. That is why he had such a hard time with Sam. Mary had often wished that John had reminded the boys they had a sister instead of pretending she never existed. It was a something she had held against her husband all those years but she was happy to see Erin had done well with her lot in life. She had actually excelled. Mary had been almost grateful that Erin had grown up away from the hunting life, though through John, Erin knew exactly what her father had been up to and the only promise she had made him when she was eighteen was that she would find her brother’s someday. Now with John gone Mary had whispered a hint to Sam about how nice it might be to have relatives in their lives. Mary smiled to herself. This might work out nicely, she thought as she faded away.
***
Sam and Amber arrived at Mrs. Robinson’s home three days after Dean showed up in Cape Girardeau. Amber was excited to be on a trip with her uncle but more happy to get to see Megan and her daddy. She got out of the car almost before it stopped and Sam frowned.
“Amber, stop.”
She turned to look at him with a sad face. He knew she was elated at seeing everyone but she still needed to be safe.
“I Sorry Uncle Sammy,” she said.
The words softened his heart. He walked around to pick her up to hug.
“Don’t be sorry be careful, Munchkin, I don’t want you to get hurt like Meg did.”
“No, I will be good,” she said as he put her back on the ground before he took her hand.
Dean heard them drive up so he answered the door while Mrs. Robinson gathered some drinks in the kitchen.
“Hey Sammy.”
“Dean, it’s Sam, you would think after almost twenty five years you could get it right,” Sam said with a smile.
“Yeah, whatever,” Dean said as Amber grabbed his hand.
“Hi Daddy.”
“Hey Munchkin he said as he ran his hand over her hair.”
“So where is Megan?”
“Upstairs asleep but she is doing better. She is staying here with her grandmother since Cassie works during the day.”
Mrs. Robinson came in with a tray of cookies, coffee and a drink for Amber. The all sat down as they began to chat.
A half hour later, Cassie arrived dressed in her work clothes. She wore a matching navy short skirt and jacket with a off- white top and high heels that drew attention to her legs. Cassie smiled at the sight of Dean, Amber and Sam in the living room with her mother. It wasn’t something she had anticipated to ever see again after her confession to Dean about Megan.
“So you are here to pick up Dean?” Cassie asked as she took off her jacket before she had a seat on the opposite end of the sofa from Dean and Amber.
“Yep but we will stay a couple of days to visit with Megan also,” Sam answered.
“Yea,” Amber said as she looked guardedly up at her daddy.
Dean smiled, “It’s okay to be happy Munchkin,” he said as he ruffled her pig tails.
Amber grinned at him, she thought he was good guy. Dean on the other hand was flying by the seat of his pants lately. He didn’t want to be too lenient with either of his girls but he also did not want to be harsh. He sighed as he tried to relax again in his new role.
***
Ari stood in the living room with her hands on her hips as she watched the news. She was torn between cleaning the kitchen and having a seat to rest. She sighed it was weird to not have Amber around, she missed the kid. She was past missing Dean to being a bit teary eyed that he wouldn’t be back for a few days still. She decided to have a seat. She put her feet up as she remembered what Sam had told her about their relatives.
{Flashback-two nights before}
After Sam had explained the type of business he and Dean were involved in he sat back and waited for the accusations. Though Alec and Ben had both seemed to believe what he told them he still figured they would be skeptical if nothing else.
“So you really kill spirits like poltergeist stuff?” Alec asked.
Sam nodded slowly as he tried to take in the fact that they had not gone running away from the moment he tried to shoot them with the rock salt. If he had been thinking and not half asleep, he would have certainly used another way to verified who they claimed to be. As he eyed his uncle who seemed more sad than anything he whispered under his breath.
“Christo.”
“What did you say?” Alec asked as he leaned closer to Sam who had dipped his head to do the quick test.
“Um, its nothing.”
“It’s another test,” Ben said as he smiled at his nephew.
“You knew about this Uncle Ben?” Sam asked with astonishment in his voice.
“I thought John was nuts when he told me what he was up to, but over the years he… well attempted to get me to see the light.”
“And?” Alec said.
“I though it was grief in the beginning I really wanted him to get help. I loved my brother, Sam, you have to know that. To be honest he scared the sh*t out of me with some of the stories he told me. Over time, I guess I turned my back on him mostly out of fear. He wouldn’t let me take you boys in, he said that you and Dean needed to be in the fight.”
“It’s not your fault our dad was stubborn. I guess all us, Winchesters are in our own way,” Sam consoled the older man.
Alec looked at his father with determination in his face. He wanted to help his father to feel better in anyway possible though he had to consider his own wife and children.
“Sam, I’m glad we had a chance to finally meet you. Wow, I must have been a year old the last time I saw your brother Dean. He was about three I think and your sister was trying to walk,” Alec said.
“What? So we do have a sister?”
Alec looked curiously at Sam.
“Yeah, Sam, her name is Erin. I’m sorry I forgot you are only know looking for relatives. I think it sucked ….”
“It’s not your place son, John did what he thought was right for his daughter.
Sam felt like he might faint, for moment he thought he wasn’t getting enough oxygen in his lungs.
“You okay?” Ben asked.
“Um, yeah I’m fine. I wrote her after I found your information but I was only hoping it was true. Why would my father keep her away from Dean and I?”
Ben shook his head, he expressed that he assumed that they had known but felt the way John did that a girl was safer not being a hunter.
{End Flashback}
Then Ari heard it, a noise outside. It sounded like a thud only a lot louder. A second later the screen door slammed.
TBC