(no subject)
Title: James' Doublewide Dreamhouse.
Author: bitchandjerk
Characters: Sam/Dean,John/Mary/OFC OMCs OFCs Jared/Jensen
Rating :R
Words10,000/3,708,900
Warnings: Wincest
Summary: Sam and Dean return to Connecticut to deal with some big changes in their lives.
Notes:: AU, rest are here.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
Feedback: Makes me hard
Though it was very, very, very, rare, Dean occasionally made mistakes. He had made plenty as a son, a couple as a brother, like maybe two as a father, and then some as a husband, including one he was sure would haunt him for the rest of his life. When he screwed up as a son he didn't care much because John had always and would always screw up more. As a brother he just tried to make things right and usually that was good enough. With the kids, Dean was practically perfect, but when he messed up he made sure to make a note of what he had done wrong to make sure he didn't repeat it. When he screwed up with Sam though, Dean knew he was fucked and also that he wouldn't be getting fucked for quite a while.
The great big steaming pile of shit hit the fan and exploded all over the place when Dean returned to Connecticut with Sam and the kids. They had all had a great time in Vermont and New York, but it was a new year and time to get back home. Sam looked positively giddy about seeing his big white house and getting back to his huge kitchen where he could cook and bake until he passed out. Dean was excited too until he got to the house and looked across the street, at something that hadn't been there when they left.
Between the house and Michael house, directly across the street was a rather large slab of cement. The stark cement pad was bad enough, but there had obviously been a lot of trucks down the street because the road was a little muddy and the fresh white snow was all gray and dirty looking. Dean tried his best to distract Sam, but then Ethan noticed the slab and asked what the hell was going on.
Sam got out of the car and went to inspect it, but he didn't really have much of freak out at first. After all the plan had always been for Ann and James to build their perfect house and move in right across the street so they could be close. They were also going to build another park like garden for Sam and the kids and James wanted his own swimming pool. Apparently he had been tired of waiting and taken matters in his own hands, which was why the next day Sam had a complete nervous breakdown, kidnapped Milo, and abandoned the rest of the family the second all the commotion started outside.
Sam bolted out of the house like his life depended on it, but not before he yelled at Dean for five minutes straight for not keeping James in check, and for giving him permission to do whatever he wanted with a section of the land. To be fair when Dean said that and signed over the land to James he meant that he could build whatever kind of house he wanted as long as Sam had final approval. He was very particular about how he wanted the street to look and James and Ann had decided to do the most unacceptable thing possible.
After Sam bolted with Milo, Dean got the rest of the kids in their coats and went and stood on the porch to watch as James' house was being delivered. The kids were all incredibly interested, but Dean was sort of horrified. When Sam said he'd get them a house he of course meant one would be custom built, but James thought that was silly, especially when he could order a house off the internet and pay for it with his black card. That was how Sam's perfect Connecticut existence had been invaded by a prefab home.
"Boys! Boys!" James said as he ran over. "My house is here!"
"Oh, God, James." Dean said as he shook his head. "Why? Why would you do this?"
"Do what?"
"Your house is coming down the street in sections on the back of a truck. You don't see why Sam wouldn't like that?"
"It's a very good house!"
"This is so weird." Ethan whispered. "Daddy, what's wrong with that house?"
"It's prefabricated!" James said as he squatted down. "They made it in a factory and now they'll put the pieces together here."
"But it's so ugly."
Dean cringed and then watched as James stood up straight with a frown on his face. He was so proud of having his own house so close to everyone else, but Ethan was right. The house was just hideous, the pieces at least. It was all kind of just gray like it was stucco or something and the windows were very plain. Worst of all it was very modular, which didn't fit in with any of the other houses on the street. Sam was just going to die when he saw it all put together and Dean felt awful for him and James.
"It's a lovely house."
"Did you..." Dean sighed. "Were you trying to save money or something?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's just so...gray and...cheap looking."
"It's not done yet!"
"I get that it's in pieces, but..."
"No, no, it's not finished yet!"
James took out his phone and after a couple of minutes of hitting the screen and scrolling he handed it off to Dean. The picture Dean was looking at in no way matched what was rolling down the street on the back of two dozen trucks. The house in the picture was raised off the ground just slightly, with a large wrap around porch, beautiful black shutters, and white siding. There was a chimney, a proper traditional roof, and even a garage on the side. Dean was so incredibly confused, but James still seemed pretty happy with what was on the trucks.
"These are rooms." Mikey said as he looked at the trucks. "There's a kitchen room and a living room, and bathrooms, and bedrooms. They're going to stick them all together."
"Exactly! Then they'll come and do the siding and the shutters and woodwork inside. It'll take about a week and there won't be any noise to disturb Buster."
Dean squinted at the picture and then again at the trucks, but he just didn't understand, though he did appreciate no one trying to kill Buster. It took the better part of twenty minutes, and a closer inspection for Dean to get what the hell was going on with the house. Mikey was right, all the rooms were individually made and they'd be stacked together like blocks which was pretty cool.
The even cooler part was that James had gone as custom as he could. Once the whole house was stacked and bolted together there'd be a week of finishing touches to make sure no one could tell it had come down the street in sections. It really was a genius idea and when Dean got a look at the kitchen, at least half of the kitchen he was very impressed. The look was a little too shaker for Dean, but it was really nice. The cabinets were all white with glass inserts on top and counters were all butcher block. James seemed particularly proud of it, especially the giant stove, which he was no longer afraid of.
"What do you think!"
"It looks like you." Dean smiled. "I like it. You did a good job."
"Do you think Sam will help me landscape?"
"I think if he ever talks to you again he'd be happy to...as soon as the ground thaws."
"Was he very upset?"
"I think he was expecting a double wide. Don't worry about it. Come on inside and get some coffee."
"Oh, yes." James said. "Worker men, please continue assembling my home for me and my Henry."
"And Ann."
"Who? Oh, yes, my baby mamma."
Dean was amazed that the such a small number of guys were going to get the house put together but apparently they did it all the time. They looked a little confused by James, but the guy in charge nodded and promised it would be done by the end of the day. Dean thought that was pretty neat, but he was a little nervous about the giant crane that was coming down the street. That thing looked noisy as hell, but if it was too loud or annoying everyone could just hunker down in the basement for a while.
Once Dean was back inside where it was toasty and warm, he got himself and James a cup of coffee while the kids went to watch a movie. Buster had gone back to bed right after he had a little breakfast and Dean was missing him, but it was nice to have some alone time with another adult besides Sam, mostly because he had been tasked with the less than enviable job of breaking the breakup news to everyone in the family.
Dean had barely talked to Aaron and he hadn't talked to Jeremy at all. Before people started to get suspicious they had to know what was going on. At first Dean refused to have any part in it, but then Sam opted out because he was "too emotional" and Carol refused because she "didn't want to do it." That left Dean to be the bearer of bad news, which Carol and Sam both agreed was his job because he was the oldest. He was fine with telling James, but he was going to set himself on fire before he told John. Anyone who thought that was happening could go and fuck themselves as far as he was concerned.
"So..." Dean said. "Gosh, you're handsome."
"I know!"
"You know I...wait a minute. Where's Henry?"
"I can't have my son around all this noise and construction! The house could fall on him. He's with his birth mother."
"Ann?"
"Yes, she lured him away from me with her supple and nourishing breasts."
"Interesting...anyway, Jeremy and Aaron broke up and we don't know where Jeremy is and..."
"Oh, he's moved to New Haven."
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, he found a in New Haven so he can be close for school."
"How...how do you know that?"
"I saw him this morning and he told me."
"Where?"
"Outside?" James pointed. "I'm sure this is just temporary. I had to break up with Ann several times when she insisted that I let her tend to Henry. We got better after some light testicular punching."
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose as hard as he could and then sighed trying to push his sudden excruciating headache out of his mouth. He was glad he didn't have to tell James anything and that he wasn't all freaked out or upset, but Dean was pissed that Jeremy had been at the house and not even bothered to say anything or to see the kids. He was extra pissed and borderline furious that his new place was all the way in New Haven, which wasn't that far, but Dean assumed he was still going to be living in Westport.
"I'm having a stroke."
"I don't know what that is." James said. "Do you think Aaron would give Max to me?"
"What?"
"I could take Max and raise him as my own, then Ann would stop bothering me and Henry all the time when we're playing."
"How does that have anything to do with Aaron and Jeremy?"
"Well...Jeremy doesn't like Max, correct?"
"No! He...everybody likes babies!"
"Why are you yelling at me?"
"I'm sorry." Dean said as he held up his hands. "I just don't want Max getting blamed for this."
"Then who is to blame?"
Dean didn't know the answer to that, but it sure as shit wasn't a seven month old baby. There was a fuckload of luggage between Aaron and Jeremy and there wasn't an easy answer to why they weren't together. Perhaps Max being around had made things more difficult, but he wasn't to blame. If Jeremy was blaming him his ex demon ass was going to get beat down, because that was just ridiculous. The obvious problem was Aaron just bringing Max home and expecting Jeremy to play along, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. After all a dying mother's last wish, trumped Jeremy's need to have Aaron all to himself.
"They both are."
"How do you break up?"
"What do you mean?"
"If Ann and I were to break up, we'd go our separate ways. Perhaps seeing each other only for holidays and when it was necessary for Henry. Maybe we could stay friends, but...Dean, I've done things to her."
"Such as?"
"Put my mouth..." James said before he whispered. "Down there."
"You sick rail splitting bastard."
"My point is when you've been with someone how do you go back to being friends or...just brothers."
"I don't...I have no idea."
"What would you and Sam do?"
"Never break up."
"But if you did."
Dean threw his hands up in the air in frustration and briefly considered slapping James right in the face. It felt like the right thing to do, but James was just staring with his big blue eyes looking like a lost little boy. He wasn't exactly new anymore, but sometimes Dean forgot that he wasn't like everyone else. James had always been and would hopefully remain very innocent regardless of where he put his filthy pioneer mouth. He was just asking a question without any ulterior motive or malice and unfortunately it was one Dean had been thinking about since the wedding.
A few years ago Sam did confess that if for whatever reason they ever broke up, he'd move out and get a place in the city and leave Dean with all the kids. He wasn't going to separate them and he wasn't going to bounce them back and forth. He'd still see them constantly, but he wanted them to stay in the home they had grown up in. That conversation happened a while ago, Dean wasn't really sure when, but he was pretty sure that Sam wouldn't just walk away and leave all the kids with Dean. There was no way he was going anywhere without Milo and there was no way Evan was going to let him go anywhere without him.
Dean didn't know what the hell they would have done with the kids, and he had absolutely no fucking clue what breaking up with Sam would mean for his love life. In all honesty, if there wasn't Sam, Dean didn't think there would be anyone else, at least not when the kids were so young and once they got older he was going to have to worry about introducing someone new to grandkids. Dean couldn't see himself doing that and he really couldn't see Sam doing it either. So even if they did break up they'd have to live together for the kids and guys needed to fuck so they'd still probably sleep together three or four times a day, which pretty much meant they weren't broken up at all.
"It just wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen. We could both be miserable and we'd get through it for the kids."
"Dean, can I ask you something shameful?"
"Why the hell not? You're on a roll."
"If Ann and I did break up...like once we're married..."
"Yes?"
"Well...you wouldn't let her take my Henry, would you?"
"Is there any reason you think you'd break up besides the fact that you constantly act like she's just some stranger who feeds him?"
"I didn't, but I never thought Jeremy and Aaron would and now I'm scared."
"First of all, you're adorable."
"I know." James said as he played with his hands. "I am."
"Secondly, Ann would never take Henry away from you."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. You be the best man you can be, share the baby occasionally, and keep slipping her the thick nine."
"In her butt."
"Uh...Maybe not...too often?"
"Excellent! Just three times a week."
"Honestly, how does she walk?"
James shrugged and took a long sip of his coffee while Dean stared and pondered getting backdoor action from the colossus three times a week. Dean got it more than that from Sam, but he was a rough and tough son of a bitch, practically a cowboy. Ann was a petite little thing, but James was sort of scrumptious and he had really good lips for kissing so she was probably okay with it. In fact Dean was sure she was okay with it since James routinely went down on her for hours at a time as was the Winchester tradition.
Talking to James had actually made Dean feel a little better. He was still pissed off, angry, and worried, but Jeremy and Aaron were adults and he couldn't control them anymore than he could control Ethan. All he had to do was keep to himself and not worry about them. They were either going to work things out on their own or really just move on with their lives, however that was going to happen. Not worrying seemed like a pretty good plan until Dean heard the backdoor open and Carol rushed into the kitchen red faced and out of breath.
"Oh, fuck me." Dean sighed. "What?"
"Jeremy called your father."
"I believe I'll check on the children and make sure they're..."
"You keep that firm Ingles ass right where it is!" Dean said as he snapped his fingers. "You know what, you're the oldest, you should have to deal with this."
"Oh, no." James said as he shook his head. "I'm far too naive in the ways of the world. Siri, where can I buy fancy shoes for a baby?"
"Put down your phone!"
"He's going to come over here." Carol said calmly. "Let's all deal with this. Where's Sam?"
"He ran off with Milo when James's double wide was being delivered."
"Yeah, what the hell is that?"
"It's my home Mary/Carol, and I won't have you insulting it. You're very jealous of my baby."
"My babies are worth a billion dollars and some change and the rest are doctors."
"Okay, I'll have to look into that and see what the truth is. Siri, is Mary/Carol a no good liar?"
While James and Carol argued over who had the most successful baby, which was a title that belonged to Mary, Dean freshened up his mug of coffee and sat down to wait for the storm. He had about three pretty peaceful minutes before John came in the backdoor and walked into the kitchen. He didn't look so great, he didn't look mad or upset, he just didn't look quite like himself. Instead of saying anything to anyone he poured himself a cup of coffee and then left the kitchen to join the kids in the basement to watch their movie.
Dean was really hoping for some kind of tantrum or outburst or some genius way he was going to blame himself, but the silence was so much worse. If John wasn't talking that meant he didn't want to talk, which meant he'd be bottling everything up inside, which was the best possible thing to do if you wanted to fucking explode at any given moment.
Sam wasn't entirely sure why people did things to infuriate him, but it just kept on happening. The whole house thing with James was the last straw. Sam had to get the hell out of there and spend some time alone. He hadn't intended on taking Milo with him, but he was so sweet and such a good boy that when he held his arms up in the air, Sam just scooped him up instead of saying no. It's not like he was going to be a problem anyway because he was the best little boy in the world.
"Ow! Sam! Do something!"
"Will you grow a pair, Sally!"
"I resent you calling me that and...Ow! Stop pinching me!"
"You stay away!" Milo said as he narrowed his eyes. "You basic."
"Me!"
"Baby, can you go sit in your special big boy chair and drink your special big boy drink while you read your special big boy book?"
"I don't like your face." Milo said as he hopped off Sam's lap. "Watching you, suckah."
"Are you going to let him call me basic?"
"You're daddy's perfect little pudding pop!"
Milo stuck out his tongue and walked backwards away from Billy so he could keep his eyes on him. He didn't look away until he was seated with his book and a sippy cup full of very fancy fresh squeezed juice. Billy looked vaguely threatened and he should have been, he had no right getting all up in Milo's business, even if he was attempting to figure out just what the hell they were going to do about Sam's hair. Billy usually had time to prepare but since Sam had to flee from his homeland to avoid killing anyone, he had just shown up and started snapping his fingers at people.
"Same old, same old!" Billy said as he studied Sam's hair. "The old reliable Sam special."
"What's with that tone?"
"Let me bleach it platinum for fashion week!"
"Next!"
"Okay." Billy whispered. "Ombro."
"What the hell is that?"
"Ombre for bros. No homo."
"My mermaid friend has ombre hair...no, no, she's already almost prettier than me. You know what. Do whatever you want."
"Se...seriously?"
"Yeah, cereal?" Milo asked. "I dunno, daddy."
"We trust Billy completely!"
"But daddy love the hair."
"Well, he should have thought about that before allowing your grandpa uncle to turn my estate into a trailer park."
"Who?" Milo asked. "Boppa did it?"
"James."
"Oh! A troublemaker!"
"Exactly!"
Sam was turned sideways in his chair having a nice little conversation with Milo and not paying any attention to Billy at all. He saw the clippers out of the corner of his eyes, but he wasn't concerned about them at all until Billy had taken them and buzzed off a six inch section on the side of Sam's head. Milo's eyes went wide in shock and he dropped his book to the floor before covering his mouth to hide his horror. Sam had to look away from him, but he made the mistake of looking down at several inches of his beautiful daddy colored hair just laying on the floor in one lustrous clump.
"Oh, my God!" Sam said as he spun to face the mirror. "Dean's going to kill me! What did you do!"
"I accidentally shaved a big section on the side of your head."
"Accident my ass!"
"Well, either way it's too late to turn back now. Guess I'll just have to do whatever I can to fix it."
Normally Sam would have just killed a bitch, but he was too shocked to do anything, even once Billy resumed shaving. Milo was about ten seconds away from having a total meltdown and Sam wasn't far behind. Billy however was just fine. He shaved all around Sam's hand, pulled out a generous amount of hair right on top and kept on shaving. He wasn't shaving him bald, but it was pretty close. When he was done all Sam had was the top of his head which Billy proceeded to snip, and trim and razor until there was hair all over the place.
Sam hadn't hair his hair cut so short since he was a kid and his ears were already freezing. Dean was going to kill him dead and Ethan and Evan were sure to have an identity crisis that would require intense psychotherapy. Sam was sort of horrified, but the more Billy cut and trimmed, the better the haircut looked. The front was still pretty long and there was a lot of texture in the back, which Sam liked, but shaved sides and back were really throwing him off.
After about fifteen minutes of complete silence, Billy disappeared for a second and came back stirring a little bowl with a brush in it. Again, Sam probably should have said something, but he couldn't stop staring at himself and the hair all over the floor. Billy carefully painted the dye just at the roots of Sam's hair and only let it sit for about ten more silent minutes before he washed him out, sat him down and went to work with the blow dryer. He had three separate brushes and he was alternating between all of them. When he was finally done Sam didn't even recognize himself, but his hair looked fantastic.
"Wow."
"I know." Billy grinned. "I know you have forehead dysphoria, so I left some length in the front, but for events we can style if back and it's very sleek."
"What's going on with the color."
"Just added a little smudge root. Give you some dimension."
"Me, daddy!" Milo said as he climbed back on Sam's lap. "Do me gay Billy!"
"Milo!"
"Do it!"
"You want a haircut?" Sam asked. "Really?"
"Like daddy!" Milo said as he shook his finger at Billy. "Don't play with me!"
When Billy looked over Sam just shrugged. Milo's haircut took about two minutes because all Billy did was shave the sides and the back leaving a bright red tuft on top of his head. It was the cutest thing Sam had ever seen and judging by the amount of preening Milo was doing he was quite happy as well, at least until they got outside and the cold wind hit their cute matching ears. That was a problem, but there was an even bigger problem waiting around the car.
Because Sam hadn't made an appointment with Billy, when he arrived there wasn't a photographer in sight. That was about an hour ago and an hour was plenty enough time for a dozen of the vultures to show up. They were all crowded around the car waiting and Sam immediately regretted bringing Milo with him. It wasn't fair that he couldn't spend a day doing something with any of the kids in the city without being bothered and after the whole house debacle, Sam was in no mood to deal with photographers.
"Oh, no!" Milo said as he covered his face. "I can't believe it."
"You're telling me, kid."
"Everyone want to see my new hair! Such a big shot!"
"Are...are you posing?"
Milo had his hands over his face, but he was still lowering them every few flashes to pose for the cameras. Sam was still annoyed, but it was awfully cute that Milo thought the photographers had shown up to get a sneak peek at his chic new do. He was flirting and being coy and the photographers loved it, but they also took it as a sign that they weren't doing anything wrong and could move in a little closer.
"I want twenty feet between all of you and my son." Sam said. "And if I find even a thumbprint on my car I'm calling the police. Hey! Back up!"
Most of the photographers knew better than to not listen, but one of them was particularly stubborn. He got a little too close, and Sam had to glare the fear of God into him. It probably wasn't going to make for the best picture and it was definitely going to be on the cover of at least six magazines by the end of the week, but Sam didn't care. He just wanted to get Milo in the car and get the hell out of there.
One of the other photographers actually pulled the troublemaker out of the way and cleared a path for Sam to get to the car, which was very considerate. He got Milo in without a problem and then just to appease everyone, he stood outside the car and let the photographers snap as many pictures as they could in thirty seconds. So many freaking flashes had gone off that Sam was slightly dazed, but he still managed to get back on the road without further incident.
While Milo was chatting from the backseat about how incredibly famous he was Sam half listened and tried to pay attention to the GPS. He knew how to get around the city, but he hadn't really driven there much because he had a guy for that. Since he was there to get his hair cut anyway, Sam decided to kill two birds with one stone and meet up with Melody He had just seen her for the wedding, but she had requested that he let her know whenever they were in the city and Sam was hoping for a nice visit and maybe some lunch.
Sam expected the address she gave him to bring him to her office, but instead he ended up at what had clearly once been a factory or a warehouse. Sam wasn't even entirely sure what part of the city he was in, but there were a lot of people wandering around and a couple of cops, and most importantly, Melody was standing out in the cold waving. The building was pretty nondescript with just a few evergreens in pots for decorations, but Sam did notice a very large rainbow flag whipping around in the wind which was when he realized where he was.
"Hey!" Melody said as she rushed over. "Hi, Milo!"
"Mermaid lady! A big shot superstar!"
"What!"
"Taking pictures, asking for names. Saying I don't need frilly dress to be handsome!"
"Wow!" Melody smiled. "Look at that haircut!"
"You like it, mermaid lady?"
"Love it. Sam, you look...like..."
"What?" Sam asked as he touched his head. "A penis?"
"Like...super hot. Ridiculously super hot. You doing anything later, big boy?"
"Aw, come on!"
It didn't matter how old he was or how rich he was or how many times he had Dean lodged down his throat, Sam couldn't help but blush all over when a pretty girl complimented him. Milo apparently felt the same way because when Melody kissed him on the cheek he turned bright red and tried to hide in Sam's coat. Sam had long suspected that he was in fact ridiculously super hot and it was very nice for someone to finally acknowledge it.
"You guys come inside. Milo you want a doughnut?"
"Uh, yeah, like that idea."
Once they were inside and Milo had a doughnut as big as his head, Sam slipped off his coat and got a proper hug from Melody before she showed off her pride a joy. The inside of the building was a lot nicer than the outside, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. It was all cosmetic stuff, which Sam knew wasn't as important as making sure a bunch of teenagers had a place to sleep and three meals a day.
When Melody talked about the kids she was helping out, Sam never imagined they'd be so young. There was a whole group of kids sitting together watching television and some of them looked younger than Nathan. There were more than Sam was expecting too, which was hard to see because as a parent he couldn't imagine anyone not wanting their child. He knew it happened, it happened all the time, but seeing it first hand made him feel awful.
As Melody gave the grand tour, Sam paid extra close attention to everything she was saying. There was a big cafeteria that actually looked like it served some pretty decent food. There were two more rec rooms with televisions and games and a pretty big assortment of books as well as a gym area, a super cool meditation room, and three rather large locker rooms that had no labels on the doors. Sam was particularly interested in the bathroom and bathing situation because he didn't think that many of the kids there would be comfortable using public facilities.
"There are stalls for the toilets and in the first bathroom we've got private showers. We're working on making the other two private as well. Some of the kids don't care, but we try to...uh..."
"I get it." Sam nodded. "You want boys with boys and girls with girls, but..."
"Yes." Melody laughed. "It's something we're still working on, the private showers just makes things easier."
Sam knew dealing with a bunch of transgender teenagers wasn't an easy task considering how difficult dealing with teenagers in general was, but he hadn't considered all the special accommodations. Melody couldn't even articulate what she was trying to say and she was incredibly intelligent, which must have meant explaining the locker situation to the kids was damned near impossible. Clearly the boys and girls weren't meant to shower together, but when you had boys and girls who were assigned a specific gender at birth and later come to realize that gender didn't fit, things like where to take a shower got a little more complicated. There were also a bunch of kids who didn't view themselves as male or female and countless variations in between.
"Let's get this done." Sam said. "If you need more money let us know."
"We have plenty of money now, it's just a time issue, it takes time."
"Then we'll hire more people. I know you want to keep the money we raised to get more beds in here, but this is really important, yes?"
"Of course."
"Then call Carol if you need more money." Sam smiled. "Come on, Milo."
Melody looked a little confused, but Sam had so much money and it wasn't doing anyone any good sitting in the bank. He absolutely understood that getting kids off the street and getting them a hot meal was more important than where they took a shower, but for kids that weren't comfortable in their own bodies, Sam couldn't imagine how terrible not having privacy would be. It was pretty much all he could think about until Melody brought him to one of the dorms where there were six beds and one angry looking girl scribbling in a notebook.
"Shit." Melody whispered under her breath. "Hi, Ali."
"Hey."
"This is my friend Sam, I was telling everyone about. Sam, this is Ali."
"It's so nice to meet you."
Melody looked extremely uncomfortable and even before he shook her hand Sam sort of felt the same way. Some people just put off a bad vibe and Ali was one of them. She looked angry and she felt so furious. She shook Sam's hand, but she looked at him like he was just about the worst person in the world. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at Sam that was and the fact that a sixteen year old kid was doing it really made him sort of nervous. Milo, who gave absolutely zero fucked climbed right up on the bed and Melody immediately removed him, which didn't make Sam any less nervous.
"I was showing Sam around."
"Like a tour guide at the zoo?"
"No, he's raised a lot of money for us. I wanted to show him where it was going."
"Do you write?" Sam asked. "Or journal?"
"I'm not allowed in the rec rooms right now."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm surrounded by a bunch of assholes."
"Watch your language around my son."
Sam had never really been one to back down from any kind of confrontation and he wasn't going to let some sixteen year old punk kid curse in front of Milo or be so disrespectful to Melody. According to Zora, Melody worked her ass off for the kids and while most of them were appreciative, Ali clearly wasn't. She just kept staring at Melody like she was some horrible monster who had done something terrible to her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Winchester. I haven't had a great life."
"I understand that, but..."
"I mean it wasn't so bad, it's not like I let someone cheating on me destroy me, I mean I didn't have my entire self worth wrapped up in another person."
"Ali, that's enough." Melody said. "You..."
"I just had parents who loved me until they decided to stop. I just had to sleep in the street eat out of trashcans and every single day I have to look in the mirror and see a boy staring back at me."
"Ali..."
"And when I'm just minding my own business, I have to look over and see her, everyday. You think any of us like looking at you in your expensive clothes and your perfect face and body that you bought? You're not one of us. Stop pretending you're one of us."
Sam honestly couldn't remember the last time he was so horrified by anything anyone had said. Melody was still holding Milo and she had tears in her eyes as she rushed out of the room with him. It was so incredibly unfair to judge her based on how she looked and Sam knew, just from talking to her and to Zora that it was something she struggled with everyday.
Melody had invested an incredible sum of money into making sure her insides and outsides matched so she could be comfortable in her own skin. She had her breast done and Sam knew she had surgery on her face but he wasn't sure how many or what she had done. She had her gender confirmation surgery last and then she was finally happy with what she saw in the mirror. Aside the money she spent she had been in tremendous physical and emotional pain throughout all of it and to marginalize her because she could walk down the street and no one would know what she went through was unfair and ignorant even coming from a kid. Sam wasn't even going to get into what she said to him, because he was a grown ass man and he wasn't about to verbally annihilate a sixteen year old.
"That was uncalled for."
"I don't care."
"Clearly."
"She doesn't know what it's like for us."
"You think she was never a sixteen year old boy?" Sam asked. "You think she woke up one day and put on a dress and looked like that?"
"I don't expect you to understand."
"I don't have to understand to not be a little asshole. You're in pain, you don't like what you see when you look in the mirror, but at one point she didn't either. And maybe she had advantages you won't have and maybe you'll never "pass" like she does but that doesn't give you the right to be cruel to someone who would do anything for you."
"What is your deal anyway?"
"You upset my friend." Sam said. "And more importantly, regardless of what you think about me or how I dealt with my own problems, I am well versed in what pain looks like. I encourage you to use it instead of sitting here and lashing out because that's not going to get you anywhere."
"Yeah, it must be real painful to be rich and handsome."
"It was nice to meet you Ali." Sam said as he turned to walk away. "And for the record when I look at you, I don't see boy."
"What do you see then?"
"A child. Grow up."
When Sam exited the room he found Melody in the hallway still quietly crying to herself while Milo stroked her ponytail to comfort her. Sam didn't care if Ali was a boy or a girl or sixteen or sixty, that kid was an asshole. Melody couldn't say anything to her because she was part of the support system and the kids had to trust her, but Sam honestly didn't care what anyone thought about him, especially some little punk ass kid.
"Look at me." Sam said. "More than anyone I know what a burden being beautiful is."
"Yeah?" Melody laughed. "I bet you do."
"Don't let anyone make you feel bad because you're..."
"Passable?"
"I'm new at this, I don't know how to be politically correct, but yeah, I guess so. Does it really matter if they can walk down the street and just blend in?"
"It does to Ali. Some of the kids don't care if they can pass. She does."
"Why?"
"I hate to say it Sam, but I don't think you'd understand."
"Try me."
"I can't. You don't know what it's like to be a little boy and all you want when you grow up is to be the most beautiful girl in the world."
Sam sighed and nodded because he really did have no idea what that would feel like and how it would make someone lash out. He wasn't regretting anything he said to Ali, but Melody absolutely was right. He couldn't understand because it wasn't his experience and it never would be. All Sam could do was help and try to understand what the kids were going through. He was going to do his best and while Ali might have tried her best to keep him away, all she did was make him want to help her the most.
Dean was so confused that he gave himself a headache. He had been thinking way too much even though Alex had warned him it was going to give him wrinkles. Dean couldn't help it though, he still didn't understand how James' house had been assembled in just about five hours, he had no idea what had possessed Sam to cut off all his hair, and someone not liking his mermaid friend made no sense at all.
Out of everything the house was really the most perplexing. Dean had spent most of the day either sitting on the porch, or standing in the yard, or looking at the living room window and watching the house come together, but he honestly still had no idea how they had done it. He watched all the pieces going together and he did a little research online, but he was almost positive there was dark magic involved because houses didn't just suddenly spring up as quickly as James' had. Just a few hours ago it was on the back of a truck and now James was moving shit in. It boggled the mind and Dean would have spent more time asking Mikey to explain it to him, but then Sam came home.
Dean was all excited when he saw his car pull up because he was pretty sure Sam was going to hug him and give him hugs, but then he got out the car and Ethan and Evan proceeded to completely lose their shit. Dean was close to losing his own shit, but he didn't freak out until Milo emerged from the backseat and all his glorious red devil hair was shaved exactly like Sam's. The haircut was pretty sexy, but it was the shortest Sam's hair had ever been and Dean had no idea what the hell he was going to grab onto when they did lovemaking.
After Ethan and Evan were subdued with cookies, Sam filled Dean in on the home for the kids in the city. Dean really wanted to go check it out, but Sam had forbid it because he didn't want him to bring home another kid. Dean was still going to go of course, he probably wasn't going to adopt anyone, but he couldn't be sure. It sounded like a great place for the kids who needed it and Sam was pretty enthusiastic, until he started talking about Ali and Melody. Dean followed the conversation and understood what had happened, but he didn't understand what the problem was, or rather what Ali's problem was.
"So..." Dean said as he scratched his chin. "She's a boy."
"She's a girl."
"With a penis? For now? I'm not being stupid, I just...okay like, she identifies as a girl, but not like Melody?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Is she like on hormones? Does she look like a girl?"
"Uh..."
"Melody transitioned and this kid is in process?"
Sam paused for a very long time and Dean just stood in the kitchen and waited. For someone who had such a way with words Sam was really struggling answering a simple question. They were alone in the kitchen so it wasn't like he had to worry about offending anyone, Dean wasn't going to be offended because he still had no idea what the hell was going on. He just really wanted to know what the issue was because over the past few weeks they had all gotten really close with Zora and Melody.
"Melody says they can't start hormone treatment until they're over 18 without parental permission."
"Oh."
"And she looks..."
"Sammy, boy or girl, that's all I want to know."
"Butch...girl? Masculine girl."
"Ellen?"
"Dean." Sam sighed. "The point is Melody didn't always look like she does now. This girl resents her because she's so...real?"
"Sammy, how much work has she had done? I mean besides the obvious?"
"I don't know. I thought it was rude to ask. It's like private, right?"
"She had her hairline lowered, her jaw contoured, a nose job, a chin implant, a brow lift, and her forehead shaved."
Dean spun around when he heard Zora's voice and just for a second he wanted to run. Zora was little, but she was kinda scary, which Dean liked, but he didn't want her to think they were talking about her main squeeze. She didn't look offended, but she did look upset. Dean wasn't even sure where she came from, but he assumed John had let her in, which was fine, but a little warning would have been nice.
"We weren't gossiping." Sam said quickly. "I just went to the..."
"It's fine Sam. What happened? Melody called me all upset."
While Sam explained everything one more time, Dean picked up the tea kettle from the stove and stared at himself. Normally when he was staring at himself it was just because he was so goddamned good looking, but when he looked at his distorted reflection in the tea kettle, he tried to imagine what he would look like if he was a woman, and clearly he'd be gorgeous, but he also wondered what Melody had looked like as a man, and how much pain she must have been in to willingly put herself in even more pain, with what sounded like a lot of very painful surgery.
"What are you doing?" Zora asked. "You're like a bird always looking in mirrors to entertain yourself."
"I am gorgeous." Dean whispered to himself. "Absolutely stunning."
"Dean."
"And...I feel bad."
"About what?" Sam asked. "Melody or Ali?"
"Both?" Dean shrugged. "I'm not taking up for this kid because she sounds like a jerk, but...wanting something more than anything...seeing it everyday, knowing you probably won't get to have it. I can understand how hard that is."
"What do you mean?"
"I just uh..." Dean laughed. "I understand where this kid is coming from."
Dean looked away from Zora to stare at Sam, who was frowning. Dean knew his once unrequited feelings for Sam wasn't the same as feeling like you were never going to be the person you wanted to be, but it was all he had to compare it to. The only other thing he could think of was how badly he had wanted his beautiful daughter. He wanted Mary so bad and for so long and when he thought about not having her, or not being with Sam, that was too much to handle. Ali was wrong, there was no doubt about that, but at the same time, Melody was very, very fortunate.
"Zora, she was fine when I left."
"I know she's fine, or she will be, she's stronger than anyone I've ever known, but she cares so much about these kids. I hate that they don't know that."
"They do." Sam said. "I talked to a dozen other kids, boys and girl and they love her. Ali...she's got issues and her gender is only one of them. She's going to see her therapist more often and hopefully she'll realize that Melody really does care about her."
"What else can we do?" Dean asked. "For all of them?"
"I called Larry on the way home, he's going to get some gift cards donated so the kids can get some new clothes. Maybe make them feel more comfortable."
"That's a good idea, Sammy."
"That is a good idea, Sam." Zora smiled. "Thank you."
"Not a problem. Everything's going to be fine. We're going to help these kids and the people at the center, and whoever else needs it because that's what we do."
"Sounds like a plan. I just wanted to stop over and hear what happened from you."
"That's fine. Go hang out with the kids. We're going to order pizza for dinner. Tell Melody to stop over after work."
"Okay, thanks."
Once Zora left the kitchen, Dean was ready to figure out where he was going to grab Sam's hair, but apparently other things were more important. Sam held out his hand and then dragged Dean out of the house and across the street. James' weird devil magic house was the last place Dean wanted to be, but Sam wasn't going to be okay until he checked it out for himself. He looked okay after giving the outside a cursory inspection, but he still seemed a little cautious and he stopped before the walked up the stairs to knock on the door.
"You can compare not being with me to not being who you really are?"
"Sammy, without you I'm not who I really am."
"Ali said that I let my life fall apart because my identity was wrapped up in you. Like what I went through after I left wasn't that bad."
"It wasn't."
"Excuse me?"
"It wasn't." Dean said again. "Not for her, not for Anthony, certainly not for Michael, but that was what happened to you. Just like what happened to them happened to them. You can't compare your experience to anyone else's."
"How'd you get so smart?"
"Just trying to keep up with you."
"And you are really, really, good looking."
"Tell me something I don't know!"
"I think..." Sam said before a dramatic pause. "This house might not be a total disaster."
"Wow! I was not expecting that."
"Boys!"
James flung open the front doors and practically exploded onto the porch. If Sam had any reservations about the house they had all been extinguished by the look on James' face. He looked like a kid on Twinmas morning and his excitement was infectious. Family, above all else, was the only thing that matter to him and he was finally right across the street where he belonged. It was going to be perfect because at the end of a long day Ann and Sam could get sloshed on a four thousand dollar bottle of wine and all she'd have to do was walk across the street to get home and James was going to be able to come over with Henry whenever he wanted.
"I put this plant here on my porch." James said proudly. "It's mint for my tea."
"James, it's January in Connecticut, maybe you need to keep it inside for a few more weeks."
"Oh, okay. Come! Come! See the house."
"It ain't gonna fall apart, is it?" Dean asked. "I am so scared of it."
"Don't be such a bottom."
"Hey!"
"Sam, whatever did you do to your lustrous daddy colored hair?"
While Sam told his story about going to the city, leaving out his interaction with Ali, Dean very tentatively stepped into the house and the jumped up and down three times to make sure it wouldn't fall apart. It seemed sturdy enough but Dean was still very suspicious. It really was sort of amazing because it looked like such a normal place and for the most part it was. There were still some signs that the rooms had come in pieces but that's only because there was a little cosmetic work left to be done inside. In a week it was going to look like someone had spent a year constructing it instead of half a day.
James was so happy with himself and Dean was pretty happy for him. He did a really great job and having him so close was going to be awesome. There were plenty of times Dean needed to run an errand and John and Sam were already off somewhere. He'd always have to call James and then wait for him to come over. Now he could just yell across the street, or maybe get some soup can and strings to rig up an old school communication device.
"Hey guys!" Ann said as she walked into the kitchen. "What do you...Sam, what the hell did you do to your hair?"
"I got it cut."
"I like it."
"Fantastic." James sighed. "You got her moister than an oyster."
"I told you to stop saying that!"
"What are you doing with James' baby?" Dean asked. "Did you even ask if you could hold him?"
"I don't have to. My boobs are a half inch lower than they used to be. Listen, shut up for a minute."
"Me!"
"Yeah, you." Ann told Dean. "Jeremy told James that he's starting at Yale soon."
"Apparently?"
"That's cool and all, I fully support higher education, but he did something to get in."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "Like he blew a guy?"
"No, I mean that Yale doesn't just let anyone in. It's not Stanford."
"Hey! You are too sassy today!"
"Anyway, I thought he was going to Norwalk, but I checked and he's signed up for classes at Yale."
"What are you telling me?" Sam asked. "I'm all confused. I think that baby is throwing me off."
"Your brother." Ann said very slowly. "Used his devil powers to get into Yale. He's not a cutie pie like Michael..."
"Michael is really cute." Dean whispered. "Really cute."
"And I'm not sure if it was okay for him to just enroll."
Dean was so over talking, and thinking, and worrying about Jeremy, and he honestly just wanted to forget about him for a little while. Since Sam had been gone all day, Dean let him deal with Ann, but he clearly had no idea what to say and James just sort of shrugged. It probably wasn't totally kosher to use his powers to get into Yale, but he wasn't exactly bringing people back from the dead or curing cancer without letting anyone know. It wasn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but Ann was pretty serious about her school and more importantly her job.
"Does it matter?" Sam asked. "He could have easily gotten in on his own. He's almost as smart as Oinkers."
"I know that."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He was supposed to go to Norwalk, which is five minutes away, now he's enrolled an hour away and he's apparently living there."
"You tell anyone else?" Dean asked James. "You tell dad?"
"No, but how much longer do you think you can hide this from him?"
"Forever, that's what we agreed on. Right, Sammy? We agreed we wait until dad dies."
Sam had such strong opinions about a fucking house, but he sure as shit seemed to be having a little trouble with everything else. Dean assumed cutting off all his hair was contributing to some kind of brain freezing and that was why Sam was either staying quiet or shrugging or doing both. When Dean's ears, which were totally cute and proportionate to his head, got cold, he sometimes had a little trouble thinking and he couldn't get anything done until Ollie rubbed them for him. Dean was considering loving laying his ball sack across Sam's forehead to help him think, but that didn't seem like the greatest idea in mixed company. Never telling John about Jeremy however was a wonderful "frantabulous" idea if Dean had ever heard one.
"Okay." Ann smiled. "I'll stay here with this kid I'm babysitting, and James will go talk to John."
"Oh, no! He'll hit me and you expressly forbid using my devil magic on muggles."
"You did?" Sam asked. "Why?"
"Uh...don't wanna be a jerk about this, but I don't want Henry getting any ideas. God forbid he turn out like Milo."
"Hey!"
"Oh, Sam come on, he's a devil monster!"
"Sammy, she's right. He's a devil monster."
"He has a sharp new haircut and also I'm pretty sure he's going to be on the cover of People on Friday. Have you ever been on the cover of a magazine?"
"Literally every time I go out in public with you."
"Oh, you're right." Sam frowned. "Well, we're all in agreement, Milo is a perfect angel and James has to tell dad that Jeremy's a selfish jerk."
"Perfect, he just found out they broke up and now he's gotta hear Jeremy's AWOL."
James did a damned good job of putting up a pretty decent fuss, but in the end, he was overpowered and basically thrown out the front door. Dean probably should have gone with him to watch the kids so James could talk to John in private, but Mikey could handle things for a minute. Dean wanted to sort of hang out with Ann for at least a half hour or so until John's inevitable shit fit subsided. Forty-five minutes might have been a better approximation, but Dean was sort of hoping having the kids in the house might keep him in check a little bit.
The problem was that Dean knew exactly what was going to happen when John found out about Jeremy and Aaron. He'd blame himself, remind everyone that he had been opposed to the idea of them together, and then he'd start to worry. That was just the beginning though. Having Aaron and Jeremy break up was bad enough, but Jeremy, as was the family tradition, had pulled the old abandonment trick out of his hat. Not only had he left Aaron and Max, but that bitch had moved out of town which John wasn't going to be okay with. Nick, who was only his step-son, lived about five minutes away and John had been campaigning for months to get him a house on the street so the whole family could be together.
"Anyway." Dean sighed. "What's going on with that baby? You better let me hold him before you kill him."
"He came out of my vagina! Why does no one remember that!"
"Ann, calm down." Sam said. "We appreciate that you were a surrogate for James, but you're a little too involved in Henry's life."
"You're both my least favorites."
"We can call Nick." Dean suggested. "Maybe you can put on your cheerleader uniform and suc..."
"Hey!" Ann said as she raised a finger. "Not in front of James' baby!"
"No, seriously, you've been holding him for like...ten minutes. What's going on?"
"Well...When James decided to order this house...on the internet. I decided to go along with it if I got to hold my child whenever I wanted to."
"Damn, that's a sweet deal." Sam said. "Dean says one day, when I'm a big boy, I'll get to hold Buster."
"I said I'd think about it, Sammy."
"Let's go show everyone your room!" Ann said to Henry. "Yes, I am your birth mother!"
Dean rolled his eyes and lightly elbowed Sam before rolling them again. Ann may have thought she compromised her way into being Henry's mom, but that shit was going to last about five more hours before James freaked out a banished her from touching his son. She'd probably just ignore him and maybe hit him with a shoe, but there wasn't anything they could do about that. There wasn't anything they could do about John either, so Dean decided to enjoy the rest of the house tour once certain it wouldn't fall apart at the seams. He was hoping the same would be true about John, but he certainly wasn't as sturdy as James' fancy new house.
Author: bitchandjerk
Characters: Sam/Dean,John/Mary/OFC OMCs OFCs Jared/Jensen
Rating :R
Words10,000/3,708,900
Warnings: Wincest
Summary: Sam and Dean return to Connecticut to deal with some big changes in their lives.
Notes:: AU, rest are here.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
Feedback: Makes me hard
Though it was very, very, very, rare, Dean occasionally made mistakes. He had made plenty as a son, a couple as a brother, like maybe two as a father, and then some as a husband, including one he was sure would haunt him for the rest of his life. When he screwed up as a son he didn't care much because John had always and would always screw up more. As a brother he just tried to make things right and usually that was good enough. With the kids, Dean was practically perfect, but when he messed up he made sure to make a note of what he had done wrong to make sure he didn't repeat it. When he screwed up with Sam though, Dean knew he was fucked and also that he wouldn't be getting fucked for quite a while.
The great big steaming pile of shit hit the fan and exploded all over the place when Dean returned to Connecticut with Sam and the kids. They had all had a great time in Vermont and New York, but it was a new year and time to get back home. Sam looked positively giddy about seeing his big white house and getting back to his huge kitchen where he could cook and bake until he passed out. Dean was excited too until he got to the house and looked across the street, at something that hadn't been there when they left.
Between the house and Michael house, directly across the street was a rather large slab of cement. The stark cement pad was bad enough, but there had obviously been a lot of trucks down the street because the road was a little muddy and the fresh white snow was all gray and dirty looking. Dean tried his best to distract Sam, but then Ethan noticed the slab and asked what the hell was going on.
Sam got out of the car and went to inspect it, but he didn't really have much of freak out at first. After all the plan had always been for Ann and James to build their perfect house and move in right across the street so they could be close. They were also going to build another park like garden for Sam and the kids and James wanted his own swimming pool. Apparently he had been tired of waiting and taken matters in his own hands, which was why the next day Sam had a complete nervous breakdown, kidnapped Milo, and abandoned the rest of the family the second all the commotion started outside.
Sam bolted out of the house like his life depended on it, but not before he yelled at Dean for five minutes straight for not keeping James in check, and for giving him permission to do whatever he wanted with a section of the land. To be fair when Dean said that and signed over the land to James he meant that he could build whatever kind of house he wanted as long as Sam had final approval. He was very particular about how he wanted the street to look and James and Ann had decided to do the most unacceptable thing possible.
After Sam bolted with Milo, Dean got the rest of the kids in their coats and went and stood on the porch to watch as James' house was being delivered. The kids were all incredibly interested, but Dean was sort of horrified. When Sam said he'd get them a house he of course meant one would be custom built, but James thought that was silly, especially when he could order a house off the internet and pay for it with his black card. That was how Sam's perfect Connecticut existence had been invaded by a prefab home.
"Boys! Boys!" James said as he ran over. "My house is here!"
"Oh, God, James." Dean said as he shook his head. "Why? Why would you do this?"
"Do what?"
"Your house is coming down the street in sections on the back of a truck. You don't see why Sam wouldn't like that?"
"It's a very good house!"
"This is so weird." Ethan whispered. "Daddy, what's wrong with that house?"
"It's prefabricated!" James said as he squatted down. "They made it in a factory and now they'll put the pieces together here."
"But it's so ugly."
Dean cringed and then watched as James stood up straight with a frown on his face. He was so proud of having his own house so close to everyone else, but Ethan was right. The house was just hideous, the pieces at least. It was all kind of just gray like it was stucco or something and the windows were very plain. Worst of all it was very modular, which didn't fit in with any of the other houses on the street. Sam was just going to die when he saw it all put together and Dean felt awful for him and James.
"It's a lovely house."
"Did you..." Dean sighed. "Were you trying to save money or something?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's just so...gray and...cheap looking."
"It's not done yet!"
"I get that it's in pieces, but..."
"No, no, it's not finished yet!"
James took out his phone and after a couple of minutes of hitting the screen and scrolling he handed it off to Dean. The picture Dean was looking at in no way matched what was rolling down the street on the back of two dozen trucks. The house in the picture was raised off the ground just slightly, with a large wrap around porch, beautiful black shutters, and white siding. There was a chimney, a proper traditional roof, and even a garage on the side. Dean was so incredibly confused, but James still seemed pretty happy with what was on the trucks.
"These are rooms." Mikey said as he looked at the trucks. "There's a kitchen room and a living room, and bathrooms, and bedrooms. They're going to stick them all together."
"Exactly! Then they'll come and do the siding and the shutters and woodwork inside. It'll take about a week and there won't be any noise to disturb Buster."
Dean squinted at the picture and then again at the trucks, but he just didn't understand, though he did appreciate no one trying to kill Buster. It took the better part of twenty minutes, and a closer inspection for Dean to get what the hell was going on with the house. Mikey was right, all the rooms were individually made and they'd be stacked together like blocks which was pretty cool.
The even cooler part was that James had gone as custom as he could. Once the whole house was stacked and bolted together there'd be a week of finishing touches to make sure no one could tell it had come down the street in sections. It really was a genius idea and when Dean got a look at the kitchen, at least half of the kitchen he was very impressed. The look was a little too shaker for Dean, but it was really nice. The cabinets were all white with glass inserts on top and counters were all butcher block. James seemed particularly proud of it, especially the giant stove, which he was no longer afraid of.
"What do you think!"
"It looks like you." Dean smiled. "I like it. You did a good job."
"Do you think Sam will help me landscape?"
"I think if he ever talks to you again he'd be happy to...as soon as the ground thaws."
"Was he very upset?"
"I think he was expecting a double wide. Don't worry about it. Come on inside and get some coffee."
"Oh, yes." James said. "Worker men, please continue assembling my home for me and my Henry."
"And Ann."
"Who? Oh, yes, my baby mamma."
Dean was amazed that the such a small number of guys were going to get the house put together but apparently they did it all the time. They looked a little confused by James, but the guy in charge nodded and promised it would be done by the end of the day. Dean thought that was pretty neat, but he was a little nervous about the giant crane that was coming down the street. That thing looked noisy as hell, but if it was too loud or annoying everyone could just hunker down in the basement for a while.
Once Dean was back inside where it was toasty and warm, he got himself and James a cup of coffee while the kids went to watch a movie. Buster had gone back to bed right after he had a little breakfast and Dean was missing him, but it was nice to have some alone time with another adult besides Sam, mostly because he had been tasked with the less than enviable job of breaking the breakup news to everyone in the family.
Dean had barely talked to Aaron and he hadn't talked to Jeremy at all. Before people started to get suspicious they had to know what was going on. At first Dean refused to have any part in it, but then Sam opted out because he was "too emotional" and Carol refused because she "didn't want to do it." That left Dean to be the bearer of bad news, which Carol and Sam both agreed was his job because he was the oldest. He was fine with telling James, but he was going to set himself on fire before he told John. Anyone who thought that was happening could go and fuck themselves as far as he was concerned.
"So..." Dean said. "Gosh, you're handsome."
"I know!"
"You know I...wait a minute. Where's Henry?"
"I can't have my son around all this noise and construction! The house could fall on him. He's with his birth mother."
"Ann?"
"Yes, she lured him away from me with her supple and nourishing breasts."
"Interesting...anyway, Jeremy and Aaron broke up and we don't know where Jeremy is and..."
"Oh, he's moved to New Haven."
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, he found a in New Haven so he can be close for school."
"How...how do you know that?"
"I saw him this morning and he told me."
"Where?"
"Outside?" James pointed. "I'm sure this is just temporary. I had to break up with Ann several times when she insisted that I let her tend to Henry. We got better after some light testicular punching."
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose as hard as he could and then sighed trying to push his sudden excruciating headache out of his mouth. He was glad he didn't have to tell James anything and that he wasn't all freaked out or upset, but Dean was pissed that Jeremy had been at the house and not even bothered to say anything or to see the kids. He was extra pissed and borderline furious that his new place was all the way in New Haven, which wasn't that far, but Dean assumed he was still going to be living in Westport.
"I'm having a stroke."
"I don't know what that is." James said. "Do you think Aaron would give Max to me?"
"What?"
"I could take Max and raise him as my own, then Ann would stop bothering me and Henry all the time when we're playing."
"How does that have anything to do with Aaron and Jeremy?"
"Well...Jeremy doesn't like Max, correct?"
"No! He...everybody likes babies!"
"Why are you yelling at me?"
"I'm sorry." Dean said as he held up his hands. "I just don't want Max getting blamed for this."
"Then who is to blame?"
Dean didn't know the answer to that, but it sure as shit wasn't a seven month old baby. There was a fuckload of luggage between Aaron and Jeremy and there wasn't an easy answer to why they weren't together. Perhaps Max being around had made things more difficult, but he wasn't to blame. If Jeremy was blaming him his ex demon ass was going to get beat down, because that was just ridiculous. The obvious problem was Aaron just bringing Max home and expecting Jeremy to play along, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. After all a dying mother's last wish, trumped Jeremy's need to have Aaron all to himself.
"They both are."
"How do you break up?"
"What do you mean?"
"If Ann and I were to break up, we'd go our separate ways. Perhaps seeing each other only for holidays and when it was necessary for Henry. Maybe we could stay friends, but...Dean, I've done things to her."
"Such as?"
"Put my mouth..." James said before he whispered. "Down there."
"You sick rail splitting bastard."
"My point is when you've been with someone how do you go back to being friends or...just brothers."
"I don't...I have no idea."
"What would you and Sam do?"
"Never break up."
"But if you did."
Dean threw his hands up in the air in frustration and briefly considered slapping James right in the face. It felt like the right thing to do, but James was just staring with his big blue eyes looking like a lost little boy. He wasn't exactly new anymore, but sometimes Dean forgot that he wasn't like everyone else. James had always been and would hopefully remain very innocent regardless of where he put his filthy pioneer mouth. He was just asking a question without any ulterior motive or malice and unfortunately it was one Dean had been thinking about since the wedding.
A few years ago Sam did confess that if for whatever reason they ever broke up, he'd move out and get a place in the city and leave Dean with all the kids. He wasn't going to separate them and he wasn't going to bounce them back and forth. He'd still see them constantly, but he wanted them to stay in the home they had grown up in. That conversation happened a while ago, Dean wasn't really sure when, but he was pretty sure that Sam wouldn't just walk away and leave all the kids with Dean. There was no way he was going anywhere without Milo and there was no way Evan was going to let him go anywhere without him.
Dean didn't know what the hell they would have done with the kids, and he had absolutely no fucking clue what breaking up with Sam would mean for his love life. In all honesty, if there wasn't Sam, Dean didn't think there would be anyone else, at least not when the kids were so young and once they got older he was going to have to worry about introducing someone new to grandkids. Dean couldn't see himself doing that and he really couldn't see Sam doing it either. So even if they did break up they'd have to live together for the kids and guys needed to fuck so they'd still probably sleep together three or four times a day, which pretty much meant they weren't broken up at all.
"It just wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen. We could both be miserable and we'd get through it for the kids."
"Dean, can I ask you something shameful?"
"Why the hell not? You're on a roll."
"If Ann and I did break up...like once we're married..."
"Yes?"
"Well...you wouldn't let her take my Henry, would you?"
"Is there any reason you think you'd break up besides the fact that you constantly act like she's just some stranger who feeds him?"
"I didn't, but I never thought Jeremy and Aaron would and now I'm scared."
"First of all, you're adorable."
"I know." James said as he played with his hands. "I am."
"Secondly, Ann would never take Henry away from you."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. You be the best man you can be, share the baby occasionally, and keep slipping her the thick nine."
"In her butt."
"Uh...Maybe not...too often?"
"Excellent! Just three times a week."
"Honestly, how does she walk?"
James shrugged and took a long sip of his coffee while Dean stared and pondered getting backdoor action from the colossus three times a week. Dean got it more than that from Sam, but he was a rough and tough son of a bitch, practically a cowboy. Ann was a petite little thing, but James was sort of scrumptious and he had really good lips for kissing so she was probably okay with it. In fact Dean was sure she was okay with it since James routinely went down on her for hours at a time as was the Winchester tradition.
Talking to James had actually made Dean feel a little better. He was still pissed off, angry, and worried, but Jeremy and Aaron were adults and he couldn't control them anymore than he could control Ethan. All he had to do was keep to himself and not worry about them. They were either going to work things out on their own or really just move on with their lives, however that was going to happen. Not worrying seemed like a pretty good plan until Dean heard the backdoor open and Carol rushed into the kitchen red faced and out of breath.
"Oh, fuck me." Dean sighed. "What?"
"Jeremy called your father."
"I believe I'll check on the children and make sure they're..."
"You keep that firm Ingles ass right where it is!" Dean said as he snapped his fingers. "You know what, you're the oldest, you should have to deal with this."
"Oh, no." James said as he shook his head. "I'm far too naive in the ways of the world. Siri, where can I buy fancy shoes for a baby?"
"Put down your phone!"
"He's going to come over here." Carol said calmly. "Let's all deal with this. Where's Sam?"
"He ran off with Milo when James's double wide was being delivered."
"Yeah, what the hell is that?"
"It's my home Mary/Carol, and I won't have you insulting it. You're very jealous of my baby."
"My babies are worth a billion dollars and some change and the rest are doctors."
"Okay, I'll have to look into that and see what the truth is. Siri, is Mary/Carol a no good liar?"
While James and Carol argued over who had the most successful baby, which was a title that belonged to Mary, Dean freshened up his mug of coffee and sat down to wait for the storm. He had about three pretty peaceful minutes before John came in the backdoor and walked into the kitchen. He didn't look so great, he didn't look mad or upset, he just didn't look quite like himself. Instead of saying anything to anyone he poured himself a cup of coffee and then left the kitchen to join the kids in the basement to watch their movie.
Dean was really hoping for some kind of tantrum or outburst or some genius way he was going to blame himself, but the silence was so much worse. If John wasn't talking that meant he didn't want to talk, which meant he'd be bottling everything up inside, which was the best possible thing to do if you wanted to fucking explode at any given moment.
Sam wasn't entirely sure why people did things to infuriate him, but it just kept on happening. The whole house thing with James was the last straw. Sam had to get the hell out of there and spend some time alone. He hadn't intended on taking Milo with him, but he was so sweet and such a good boy that when he held his arms up in the air, Sam just scooped him up instead of saying no. It's not like he was going to be a problem anyway because he was the best little boy in the world.
"Ow! Sam! Do something!"
"Will you grow a pair, Sally!"
"I resent you calling me that and...Ow! Stop pinching me!"
"You stay away!" Milo said as he narrowed his eyes. "You basic."
"Me!"
"Baby, can you go sit in your special big boy chair and drink your special big boy drink while you read your special big boy book?"
"I don't like your face." Milo said as he hopped off Sam's lap. "Watching you, suckah."
"Are you going to let him call me basic?"
"You're daddy's perfect little pudding pop!"
Milo stuck out his tongue and walked backwards away from Billy so he could keep his eyes on him. He didn't look away until he was seated with his book and a sippy cup full of very fancy fresh squeezed juice. Billy looked vaguely threatened and he should have been, he had no right getting all up in Milo's business, even if he was attempting to figure out just what the hell they were going to do about Sam's hair. Billy usually had time to prepare but since Sam had to flee from his homeland to avoid killing anyone, he had just shown up and started snapping his fingers at people.
"Same old, same old!" Billy said as he studied Sam's hair. "The old reliable Sam special."
"What's with that tone?"
"Let me bleach it platinum for fashion week!"
"Next!"
"Okay." Billy whispered. "Ombro."
"What the hell is that?"
"Ombre for bros. No homo."
"My mermaid friend has ombre hair...no, no, she's already almost prettier than me. You know what. Do whatever you want."
"Se...seriously?"
"Yeah, cereal?" Milo asked. "I dunno, daddy."
"We trust Billy completely!"
"But daddy love the hair."
"Well, he should have thought about that before allowing your grandpa uncle to turn my estate into a trailer park."
"Who?" Milo asked. "Boppa did it?"
"James."
"Oh! A troublemaker!"
"Exactly!"
Sam was turned sideways in his chair having a nice little conversation with Milo and not paying any attention to Billy at all. He saw the clippers out of the corner of his eyes, but he wasn't concerned about them at all until Billy had taken them and buzzed off a six inch section on the side of Sam's head. Milo's eyes went wide in shock and he dropped his book to the floor before covering his mouth to hide his horror. Sam had to look away from him, but he made the mistake of looking down at several inches of his beautiful daddy colored hair just laying on the floor in one lustrous clump.
"Oh, my God!" Sam said as he spun to face the mirror. "Dean's going to kill me! What did you do!"
"I accidentally shaved a big section on the side of your head."
"Accident my ass!"
"Well, either way it's too late to turn back now. Guess I'll just have to do whatever I can to fix it."
Normally Sam would have just killed a bitch, but he was too shocked to do anything, even once Billy resumed shaving. Milo was about ten seconds away from having a total meltdown and Sam wasn't far behind. Billy however was just fine. He shaved all around Sam's hand, pulled out a generous amount of hair right on top and kept on shaving. He wasn't shaving him bald, but it was pretty close. When he was done all Sam had was the top of his head which Billy proceeded to snip, and trim and razor until there was hair all over the place.
Sam hadn't hair his hair cut so short since he was a kid and his ears were already freezing. Dean was going to kill him dead and Ethan and Evan were sure to have an identity crisis that would require intense psychotherapy. Sam was sort of horrified, but the more Billy cut and trimmed, the better the haircut looked. The front was still pretty long and there was a lot of texture in the back, which Sam liked, but shaved sides and back were really throwing him off.
After about fifteen minutes of complete silence, Billy disappeared for a second and came back stirring a little bowl with a brush in it. Again, Sam probably should have said something, but he couldn't stop staring at himself and the hair all over the floor. Billy carefully painted the dye just at the roots of Sam's hair and only let it sit for about ten more silent minutes before he washed him out, sat him down and went to work with the blow dryer. He had three separate brushes and he was alternating between all of them. When he was finally done Sam didn't even recognize himself, but his hair looked fantastic.
"Wow."
"I know." Billy grinned. "I know you have forehead dysphoria, so I left some length in the front, but for events we can style if back and it's very sleek."
"What's going on with the color."
"Just added a little smudge root. Give you some dimension."
"Me, daddy!" Milo said as he climbed back on Sam's lap. "Do me gay Billy!"
"Milo!"
"Do it!"
"You want a haircut?" Sam asked. "Really?"
"Like daddy!" Milo said as he shook his finger at Billy. "Don't play with me!"
When Billy looked over Sam just shrugged. Milo's haircut took about two minutes because all Billy did was shave the sides and the back leaving a bright red tuft on top of his head. It was the cutest thing Sam had ever seen and judging by the amount of preening Milo was doing he was quite happy as well, at least until they got outside and the cold wind hit their cute matching ears. That was a problem, but there was an even bigger problem waiting around the car.
Because Sam hadn't made an appointment with Billy, when he arrived there wasn't a photographer in sight. That was about an hour ago and an hour was plenty enough time for a dozen of the vultures to show up. They were all crowded around the car waiting and Sam immediately regretted bringing Milo with him. It wasn't fair that he couldn't spend a day doing something with any of the kids in the city without being bothered and after the whole house debacle, Sam was in no mood to deal with photographers.
"Oh, no!" Milo said as he covered his face. "I can't believe it."
"You're telling me, kid."
"Everyone want to see my new hair! Such a big shot!"
"Are...are you posing?"
Milo had his hands over his face, but he was still lowering them every few flashes to pose for the cameras. Sam was still annoyed, but it was awfully cute that Milo thought the photographers had shown up to get a sneak peek at his chic new do. He was flirting and being coy and the photographers loved it, but they also took it as a sign that they weren't doing anything wrong and could move in a little closer.
"I want twenty feet between all of you and my son." Sam said. "And if I find even a thumbprint on my car I'm calling the police. Hey! Back up!"
Most of the photographers knew better than to not listen, but one of them was particularly stubborn. He got a little too close, and Sam had to glare the fear of God into him. It probably wasn't going to make for the best picture and it was definitely going to be on the cover of at least six magazines by the end of the week, but Sam didn't care. He just wanted to get Milo in the car and get the hell out of there.
One of the other photographers actually pulled the troublemaker out of the way and cleared a path for Sam to get to the car, which was very considerate. He got Milo in without a problem and then just to appease everyone, he stood outside the car and let the photographers snap as many pictures as they could in thirty seconds. So many freaking flashes had gone off that Sam was slightly dazed, but he still managed to get back on the road without further incident.
While Milo was chatting from the backseat about how incredibly famous he was Sam half listened and tried to pay attention to the GPS. He knew how to get around the city, but he hadn't really driven there much because he had a guy for that. Since he was there to get his hair cut anyway, Sam decided to kill two birds with one stone and meet up with Melody He had just seen her for the wedding, but she had requested that he let her know whenever they were in the city and Sam was hoping for a nice visit and maybe some lunch.
Sam expected the address she gave him to bring him to her office, but instead he ended up at what had clearly once been a factory or a warehouse. Sam wasn't even entirely sure what part of the city he was in, but there were a lot of people wandering around and a couple of cops, and most importantly, Melody was standing out in the cold waving. The building was pretty nondescript with just a few evergreens in pots for decorations, but Sam did notice a very large rainbow flag whipping around in the wind which was when he realized where he was.
"Hey!" Melody said as she rushed over. "Hi, Milo!"
"Mermaid lady! A big shot superstar!"
"What!"
"Taking pictures, asking for names. Saying I don't need frilly dress to be handsome!"
"Wow!" Melody smiled. "Look at that haircut!"
"You like it, mermaid lady?"
"Love it. Sam, you look...like..."
"What?" Sam asked as he touched his head. "A penis?"
"Like...super hot. Ridiculously super hot. You doing anything later, big boy?"
"Aw, come on!"
It didn't matter how old he was or how rich he was or how many times he had Dean lodged down his throat, Sam couldn't help but blush all over when a pretty girl complimented him. Milo apparently felt the same way because when Melody kissed him on the cheek he turned bright red and tried to hide in Sam's coat. Sam had long suspected that he was in fact ridiculously super hot and it was very nice for someone to finally acknowledge it.
"You guys come inside. Milo you want a doughnut?"
"Uh, yeah, like that idea."
Once they were inside and Milo had a doughnut as big as his head, Sam slipped off his coat and got a proper hug from Melody before she showed off her pride a joy. The inside of the building was a lot nicer than the outside, but there was still plenty of room for improvement. It was all cosmetic stuff, which Sam knew wasn't as important as making sure a bunch of teenagers had a place to sleep and three meals a day.
When Melody talked about the kids she was helping out, Sam never imagined they'd be so young. There was a whole group of kids sitting together watching television and some of them looked younger than Nathan. There were more than Sam was expecting too, which was hard to see because as a parent he couldn't imagine anyone not wanting their child. He knew it happened, it happened all the time, but seeing it first hand made him feel awful.
As Melody gave the grand tour, Sam paid extra close attention to everything she was saying. There was a big cafeteria that actually looked like it served some pretty decent food. There were two more rec rooms with televisions and games and a pretty big assortment of books as well as a gym area, a super cool meditation room, and three rather large locker rooms that had no labels on the doors. Sam was particularly interested in the bathroom and bathing situation because he didn't think that many of the kids there would be comfortable using public facilities.
"There are stalls for the toilets and in the first bathroom we've got private showers. We're working on making the other two private as well. Some of the kids don't care, but we try to...uh..."
"I get it." Sam nodded. "You want boys with boys and girls with girls, but..."
"Yes." Melody laughed. "It's something we're still working on, the private showers just makes things easier."
Sam knew dealing with a bunch of transgender teenagers wasn't an easy task considering how difficult dealing with teenagers in general was, but he hadn't considered all the special accommodations. Melody couldn't even articulate what she was trying to say and she was incredibly intelligent, which must have meant explaining the locker situation to the kids was damned near impossible. Clearly the boys and girls weren't meant to shower together, but when you had boys and girls who were assigned a specific gender at birth and later come to realize that gender didn't fit, things like where to take a shower got a little more complicated. There were also a bunch of kids who didn't view themselves as male or female and countless variations in between.
"Let's get this done." Sam said. "If you need more money let us know."
"We have plenty of money now, it's just a time issue, it takes time."
"Then we'll hire more people. I know you want to keep the money we raised to get more beds in here, but this is really important, yes?"
"Of course."
"Then call Carol if you need more money." Sam smiled. "Come on, Milo."
Melody looked a little confused, but Sam had so much money and it wasn't doing anyone any good sitting in the bank. He absolutely understood that getting kids off the street and getting them a hot meal was more important than where they took a shower, but for kids that weren't comfortable in their own bodies, Sam couldn't imagine how terrible not having privacy would be. It was pretty much all he could think about until Melody brought him to one of the dorms where there were six beds and one angry looking girl scribbling in a notebook.
"Shit." Melody whispered under her breath. "Hi, Ali."
"Hey."
"This is my friend Sam, I was telling everyone about. Sam, this is Ali."
"It's so nice to meet you."
Melody looked extremely uncomfortable and even before he shook her hand Sam sort of felt the same way. Some people just put off a bad vibe and Ali was one of them. She looked angry and she felt so furious. She shook Sam's hand, but she looked at him like he was just about the worst person in the world. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at Sam that was and the fact that a sixteen year old kid was doing it really made him sort of nervous. Milo, who gave absolutely zero fucked climbed right up on the bed and Melody immediately removed him, which didn't make Sam any less nervous.
"I was showing Sam around."
"Like a tour guide at the zoo?"
"No, he's raised a lot of money for us. I wanted to show him where it was going."
"Do you write?" Sam asked. "Or journal?"
"I'm not allowed in the rec rooms right now."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm surrounded by a bunch of assholes."
"Watch your language around my son."
Sam had never really been one to back down from any kind of confrontation and he wasn't going to let some sixteen year old punk kid curse in front of Milo or be so disrespectful to Melody. According to Zora, Melody worked her ass off for the kids and while most of them were appreciative, Ali clearly wasn't. She just kept staring at Melody like she was some horrible monster who had done something terrible to her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Winchester. I haven't had a great life."
"I understand that, but..."
"I mean it wasn't so bad, it's not like I let someone cheating on me destroy me, I mean I didn't have my entire self worth wrapped up in another person."
"Ali, that's enough." Melody said. "You..."
"I just had parents who loved me until they decided to stop. I just had to sleep in the street eat out of trashcans and every single day I have to look in the mirror and see a boy staring back at me."
"Ali..."
"And when I'm just minding my own business, I have to look over and see her, everyday. You think any of us like looking at you in your expensive clothes and your perfect face and body that you bought? You're not one of us. Stop pretending you're one of us."
Sam honestly couldn't remember the last time he was so horrified by anything anyone had said. Melody was still holding Milo and she had tears in her eyes as she rushed out of the room with him. It was so incredibly unfair to judge her based on how she looked and Sam knew, just from talking to her and to Zora that it was something she struggled with everyday.
Melody had invested an incredible sum of money into making sure her insides and outsides matched so she could be comfortable in her own skin. She had her breast done and Sam knew she had surgery on her face but he wasn't sure how many or what she had done. She had her gender confirmation surgery last and then she was finally happy with what she saw in the mirror. Aside the money she spent she had been in tremendous physical and emotional pain throughout all of it and to marginalize her because she could walk down the street and no one would know what she went through was unfair and ignorant even coming from a kid. Sam wasn't even going to get into what she said to him, because he was a grown ass man and he wasn't about to verbally annihilate a sixteen year old.
"That was uncalled for."
"I don't care."
"Clearly."
"She doesn't know what it's like for us."
"You think she was never a sixteen year old boy?" Sam asked. "You think she woke up one day and put on a dress and looked like that?"
"I don't expect you to understand."
"I don't have to understand to not be a little asshole. You're in pain, you don't like what you see when you look in the mirror, but at one point she didn't either. And maybe she had advantages you won't have and maybe you'll never "pass" like she does but that doesn't give you the right to be cruel to someone who would do anything for you."
"What is your deal anyway?"
"You upset my friend." Sam said. "And more importantly, regardless of what you think about me or how I dealt with my own problems, I am well versed in what pain looks like. I encourage you to use it instead of sitting here and lashing out because that's not going to get you anywhere."
"Yeah, it must be real painful to be rich and handsome."
"It was nice to meet you Ali." Sam said as he turned to walk away. "And for the record when I look at you, I don't see boy."
"What do you see then?"
"A child. Grow up."
When Sam exited the room he found Melody in the hallway still quietly crying to herself while Milo stroked her ponytail to comfort her. Sam didn't care if Ali was a boy or a girl or sixteen or sixty, that kid was an asshole. Melody couldn't say anything to her because she was part of the support system and the kids had to trust her, but Sam honestly didn't care what anyone thought about him, especially some little punk ass kid.
"Look at me." Sam said. "More than anyone I know what a burden being beautiful is."
"Yeah?" Melody laughed. "I bet you do."
"Don't let anyone make you feel bad because you're..."
"Passable?"
"I'm new at this, I don't know how to be politically correct, but yeah, I guess so. Does it really matter if they can walk down the street and just blend in?"
"It does to Ali. Some of the kids don't care if they can pass. She does."
"Why?"
"I hate to say it Sam, but I don't think you'd understand."
"Try me."
"I can't. You don't know what it's like to be a little boy and all you want when you grow up is to be the most beautiful girl in the world."
Sam sighed and nodded because he really did have no idea what that would feel like and how it would make someone lash out. He wasn't regretting anything he said to Ali, but Melody absolutely was right. He couldn't understand because it wasn't his experience and it never would be. All Sam could do was help and try to understand what the kids were going through. He was going to do his best and while Ali might have tried her best to keep him away, all she did was make him want to help her the most.
Dean was so confused that he gave himself a headache. He had been thinking way too much even though Alex had warned him it was going to give him wrinkles. Dean couldn't help it though, he still didn't understand how James' house had been assembled in just about five hours, he had no idea what had possessed Sam to cut off all his hair, and someone not liking his mermaid friend made no sense at all.
Out of everything the house was really the most perplexing. Dean had spent most of the day either sitting on the porch, or standing in the yard, or looking at the living room window and watching the house come together, but he honestly still had no idea how they had done it. He watched all the pieces going together and he did a little research online, but he was almost positive there was dark magic involved because houses didn't just suddenly spring up as quickly as James' had. Just a few hours ago it was on the back of a truck and now James was moving shit in. It boggled the mind and Dean would have spent more time asking Mikey to explain it to him, but then Sam came home.
Dean was all excited when he saw his car pull up because he was pretty sure Sam was going to hug him and give him hugs, but then he got out the car and Ethan and Evan proceeded to completely lose their shit. Dean was close to losing his own shit, but he didn't freak out until Milo emerged from the backseat and all his glorious red devil hair was shaved exactly like Sam's. The haircut was pretty sexy, but it was the shortest Sam's hair had ever been and Dean had no idea what the hell he was going to grab onto when they did lovemaking.
After Ethan and Evan were subdued with cookies, Sam filled Dean in on the home for the kids in the city. Dean really wanted to go check it out, but Sam had forbid it because he didn't want him to bring home another kid. Dean was still going to go of course, he probably wasn't going to adopt anyone, but he couldn't be sure. It sounded like a great place for the kids who needed it and Sam was pretty enthusiastic, until he started talking about Ali and Melody. Dean followed the conversation and understood what had happened, but he didn't understand what the problem was, or rather what Ali's problem was.
"So..." Dean said as he scratched his chin. "She's a boy."
"She's a girl."
"With a penis? For now? I'm not being stupid, I just...okay like, she identifies as a girl, but not like Melody?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Is she like on hormones? Does she look like a girl?"
"Uh..."
"Melody transitioned and this kid is in process?"
Sam paused for a very long time and Dean just stood in the kitchen and waited. For someone who had such a way with words Sam was really struggling answering a simple question. They were alone in the kitchen so it wasn't like he had to worry about offending anyone, Dean wasn't going to be offended because he still had no idea what the hell was going on. He just really wanted to know what the issue was because over the past few weeks they had all gotten really close with Zora and Melody.
"Melody says they can't start hormone treatment until they're over 18 without parental permission."
"Oh."
"And she looks..."
"Sammy, boy or girl, that's all I want to know."
"Butch...girl? Masculine girl."
"Ellen?"
"Dean." Sam sighed. "The point is Melody didn't always look like she does now. This girl resents her because she's so...real?"
"Sammy, how much work has she had done? I mean besides the obvious?"
"I don't know. I thought it was rude to ask. It's like private, right?"
"She had her hairline lowered, her jaw contoured, a nose job, a chin implant, a brow lift, and her forehead shaved."
Dean spun around when he heard Zora's voice and just for a second he wanted to run. Zora was little, but she was kinda scary, which Dean liked, but he didn't want her to think they were talking about her main squeeze. She didn't look offended, but she did look upset. Dean wasn't even sure where she came from, but he assumed John had let her in, which was fine, but a little warning would have been nice.
"We weren't gossiping." Sam said quickly. "I just went to the..."
"It's fine Sam. What happened? Melody called me all upset."
While Sam explained everything one more time, Dean picked up the tea kettle from the stove and stared at himself. Normally when he was staring at himself it was just because he was so goddamned good looking, but when he looked at his distorted reflection in the tea kettle, he tried to imagine what he would look like if he was a woman, and clearly he'd be gorgeous, but he also wondered what Melody had looked like as a man, and how much pain she must have been in to willingly put herself in even more pain, with what sounded like a lot of very painful surgery.
"What are you doing?" Zora asked. "You're like a bird always looking in mirrors to entertain yourself."
"I am gorgeous." Dean whispered to himself. "Absolutely stunning."
"Dean."
"And...I feel bad."
"About what?" Sam asked. "Melody or Ali?"
"Both?" Dean shrugged. "I'm not taking up for this kid because she sounds like a jerk, but...wanting something more than anything...seeing it everyday, knowing you probably won't get to have it. I can understand how hard that is."
"What do you mean?"
"I just uh..." Dean laughed. "I understand where this kid is coming from."
Dean looked away from Zora to stare at Sam, who was frowning. Dean knew his once unrequited feelings for Sam wasn't the same as feeling like you were never going to be the person you wanted to be, but it was all he had to compare it to. The only other thing he could think of was how badly he had wanted his beautiful daughter. He wanted Mary so bad and for so long and when he thought about not having her, or not being with Sam, that was too much to handle. Ali was wrong, there was no doubt about that, but at the same time, Melody was very, very fortunate.
"Zora, she was fine when I left."
"I know she's fine, or she will be, she's stronger than anyone I've ever known, but she cares so much about these kids. I hate that they don't know that."
"They do." Sam said. "I talked to a dozen other kids, boys and girl and they love her. Ali...she's got issues and her gender is only one of them. She's going to see her therapist more often and hopefully she'll realize that Melody really does care about her."
"What else can we do?" Dean asked. "For all of them?"
"I called Larry on the way home, he's going to get some gift cards donated so the kids can get some new clothes. Maybe make them feel more comfortable."
"That's a good idea, Sammy."
"That is a good idea, Sam." Zora smiled. "Thank you."
"Not a problem. Everything's going to be fine. We're going to help these kids and the people at the center, and whoever else needs it because that's what we do."
"Sounds like a plan. I just wanted to stop over and hear what happened from you."
"That's fine. Go hang out with the kids. We're going to order pizza for dinner. Tell Melody to stop over after work."
"Okay, thanks."
Once Zora left the kitchen, Dean was ready to figure out where he was going to grab Sam's hair, but apparently other things were more important. Sam held out his hand and then dragged Dean out of the house and across the street. James' weird devil magic house was the last place Dean wanted to be, but Sam wasn't going to be okay until he checked it out for himself. He looked okay after giving the outside a cursory inspection, but he still seemed a little cautious and he stopped before the walked up the stairs to knock on the door.
"You can compare not being with me to not being who you really are?"
"Sammy, without you I'm not who I really am."
"Ali said that I let my life fall apart because my identity was wrapped up in you. Like what I went through after I left wasn't that bad."
"It wasn't."
"Excuse me?"
"It wasn't." Dean said again. "Not for her, not for Anthony, certainly not for Michael, but that was what happened to you. Just like what happened to them happened to them. You can't compare your experience to anyone else's."
"How'd you get so smart?"
"Just trying to keep up with you."
"And you are really, really, good looking."
"Tell me something I don't know!"
"I think..." Sam said before a dramatic pause. "This house might not be a total disaster."
"Wow! I was not expecting that."
"Boys!"
James flung open the front doors and practically exploded onto the porch. If Sam had any reservations about the house they had all been extinguished by the look on James' face. He looked like a kid on Twinmas morning and his excitement was infectious. Family, above all else, was the only thing that matter to him and he was finally right across the street where he belonged. It was going to be perfect because at the end of a long day Ann and Sam could get sloshed on a four thousand dollar bottle of wine and all she'd have to do was walk across the street to get home and James was going to be able to come over with Henry whenever he wanted.
"I put this plant here on my porch." James said proudly. "It's mint for my tea."
"James, it's January in Connecticut, maybe you need to keep it inside for a few more weeks."
"Oh, okay. Come! Come! See the house."
"It ain't gonna fall apart, is it?" Dean asked. "I am so scared of it."
"Don't be such a bottom."
"Hey!"
"Sam, whatever did you do to your lustrous daddy colored hair?"
While Sam told his story about going to the city, leaving out his interaction with Ali, Dean very tentatively stepped into the house and the jumped up and down three times to make sure it wouldn't fall apart. It seemed sturdy enough but Dean was still very suspicious. It really was sort of amazing because it looked like such a normal place and for the most part it was. There were still some signs that the rooms had come in pieces but that's only because there was a little cosmetic work left to be done inside. In a week it was going to look like someone had spent a year constructing it instead of half a day.
James was so happy with himself and Dean was pretty happy for him. He did a really great job and having him so close was going to be awesome. There were plenty of times Dean needed to run an errand and John and Sam were already off somewhere. He'd always have to call James and then wait for him to come over. Now he could just yell across the street, or maybe get some soup can and strings to rig up an old school communication device.
"Hey guys!" Ann said as she walked into the kitchen. "What do you...Sam, what the hell did you do to your hair?"
"I got it cut."
"I like it."
"Fantastic." James sighed. "You got her moister than an oyster."
"I told you to stop saying that!"
"What are you doing with James' baby?" Dean asked. "Did you even ask if you could hold him?"
"I don't have to. My boobs are a half inch lower than they used to be. Listen, shut up for a minute."
"Me!"
"Yeah, you." Ann told Dean. "Jeremy told James that he's starting at Yale soon."
"Apparently?"
"That's cool and all, I fully support higher education, but he did something to get in."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "Like he blew a guy?"
"No, I mean that Yale doesn't just let anyone in. It's not Stanford."
"Hey! You are too sassy today!"
"Anyway, I thought he was going to Norwalk, but I checked and he's signed up for classes at Yale."
"What are you telling me?" Sam asked. "I'm all confused. I think that baby is throwing me off."
"Your brother." Ann said very slowly. "Used his devil powers to get into Yale. He's not a cutie pie like Michael..."
"Michael is really cute." Dean whispered. "Really cute."
"And I'm not sure if it was okay for him to just enroll."
Dean was so over talking, and thinking, and worrying about Jeremy, and he honestly just wanted to forget about him for a little while. Since Sam had been gone all day, Dean let him deal with Ann, but he clearly had no idea what to say and James just sort of shrugged. It probably wasn't totally kosher to use his powers to get into Yale, but he wasn't exactly bringing people back from the dead or curing cancer without letting anyone know. It wasn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but Ann was pretty serious about her school and more importantly her job.
"Does it matter?" Sam asked. "He could have easily gotten in on his own. He's almost as smart as Oinkers."
"I know that."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He was supposed to go to Norwalk, which is five minutes away, now he's enrolled an hour away and he's apparently living there."
"You tell anyone else?" Dean asked James. "You tell dad?"
"No, but how much longer do you think you can hide this from him?"
"Forever, that's what we agreed on. Right, Sammy? We agreed we wait until dad dies."
Sam had such strong opinions about a fucking house, but he sure as shit seemed to be having a little trouble with everything else. Dean assumed cutting off all his hair was contributing to some kind of brain freezing and that was why Sam was either staying quiet or shrugging or doing both. When Dean's ears, which were totally cute and proportionate to his head, got cold, he sometimes had a little trouble thinking and he couldn't get anything done until Ollie rubbed them for him. Dean was considering loving laying his ball sack across Sam's forehead to help him think, but that didn't seem like the greatest idea in mixed company. Never telling John about Jeremy however was a wonderful "frantabulous" idea if Dean had ever heard one.
"Okay." Ann smiled. "I'll stay here with this kid I'm babysitting, and James will go talk to John."
"Oh, no! He'll hit me and you expressly forbid using my devil magic on muggles."
"You did?" Sam asked. "Why?"
"Uh...don't wanna be a jerk about this, but I don't want Henry getting any ideas. God forbid he turn out like Milo."
"Hey!"
"Oh, Sam come on, he's a devil monster!"
"Sammy, she's right. He's a devil monster."
"He has a sharp new haircut and also I'm pretty sure he's going to be on the cover of People on Friday. Have you ever been on the cover of a magazine?"
"Literally every time I go out in public with you."
"Oh, you're right." Sam frowned. "Well, we're all in agreement, Milo is a perfect angel and James has to tell dad that Jeremy's a selfish jerk."
"Perfect, he just found out they broke up and now he's gotta hear Jeremy's AWOL."
James did a damned good job of putting up a pretty decent fuss, but in the end, he was overpowered and basically thrown out the front door. Dean probably should have gone with him to watch the kids so James could talk to John in private, but Mikey could handle things for a minute. Dean wanted to sort of hang out with Ann for at least a half hour or so until John's inevitable shit fit subsided. Forty-five minutes might have been a better approximation, but Dean was sort of hoping having the kids in the house might keep him in check a little bit.
The problem was that Dean knew exactly what was going to happen when John found out about Jeremy and Aaron. He'd blame himself, remind everyone that he had been opposed to the idea of them together, and then he'd start to worry. That was just the beginning though. Having Aaron and Jeremy break up was bad enough, but Jeremy, as was the family tradition, had pulled the old abandonment trick out of his hat. Not only had he left Aaron and Max, but that bitch had moved out of town which John wasn't going to be okay with. Nick, who was only his step-son, lived about five minutes away and John had been campaigning for months to get him a house on the street so the whole family could be together.
"Anyway." Dean sighed. "What's going on with that baby? You better let me hold him before you kill him."
"He came out of my vagina! Why does no one remember that!"
"Ann, calm down." Sam said. "We appreciate that you were a surrogate for James, but you're a little too involved in Henry's life."
"You're both my least favorites."
"We can call Nick." Dean suggested. "Maybe you can put on your cheerleader uniform and suc..."
"Hey!" Ann said as she raised a finger. "Not in front of James' baby!"
"No, seriously, you've been holding him for like...ten minutes. What's going on?"
"Well...When James decided to order this house...on the internet. I decided to go along with it if I got to hold my child whenever I wanted to."
"Damn, that's a sweet deal." Sam said. "Dean says one day, when I'm a big boy, I'll get to hold Buster."
"I said I'd think about it, Sammy."
"Let's go show everyone your room!" Ann said to Henry. "Yes, I am your birth mother!"
Dean rolled his eyes and lightly elbowed Sam before rolling them again. Ann may have thought she compromised her way into being Henry's mom, but that shit was going to last about five more hours before James freaked out a banished her from touching his son. She'd probably just ignore him and maybe hit him with a shoe, but there wasn't anything they could do about that. There wasn't anything they could do about John either, so Dean decided to enjoy the rest of the house tour once certain it wouldn't fall apart at the seams. He was hoping the same would be true about John, but he certainly wasn't as sturdy as James' fancy new house.