[FIC] Half-Truths (SPN)
Continued from here.
It was kind of small, two stories and a light powder blue color, which made it kind of heartwarming in a way. It had a small front yard and one of those little mail boxes on the lawn. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, looking it over as they parked.
Sam pushed over to her side and climbed out of the car, leaning against it without bothering to shut the door. “Huh, it’s kind of cute.” She closed the car door and started across the lawn to the fenced backyard, peeking around the house to get a good look. The back yard was much bigger than the front, and the simple fact that it was fenced meant that they could get a dog and when the baby was big enough, he could play out back without Sam worrying that he’d wander off.
“Hey, Dean? Bobby say where the key was?” Sam asked as she made her way to the front door, leaning in to peer through the window. There was a white gauzy curtain up, which obscured the view, though. “I wanna look inside. Should we pick it?”
Dean looked around at the houses that surrounded this one and it looked nice here. It was like some place a family would settle and their outward appearance would certainly seem to fit that idea. He closed his door and nodded. "He said it’s taped under the left corner of the welcome mat," he answered.
Looking at the back yard and then the outside of the house, Dean had to admit that liked it so far. He hadn't ever really pictured what a house for them would look like. He came up behind her and wondered if the place had beds and all that crap. He thought that might be asking too much but it would be great if they didn't have to buy a lot of crap and then move it all in.
Sam knelt and found the key, then eagerly unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was much cooler than she thought it would be, since the house was closed up and it was a billion degrees outside. The walls in the living room were a patented generic white, but the carpet was a cheery blue that accented the sparse furniture. The couch and loveseat were framed in heavy, solid wood, but cushioned in light colors that would go with just about any décor. There wasn’t a television stand or a TV, but she supposed that they could fix that easily enough.
“Come on, let’s look around,” Sam said as she grabbed Dean’s hand and led him through the short hallway and into the kitchen. It was bright and sunny, set off by a pair of glass doors which led into the back yard. The pale lemon-colored paint made the room appear brighter. There was a dining room table set up across from the doors, heavy wood just like the living room furniture. All of the kitchen appliances were standard; stove, fridge, and dishwasher, which Sam was glad to see since she couldn’t imagine having the time to wash them by hand with an infant in the house, or Dean.
There was a laundry room off from the kitchen, complete with a washer and dryer, and a sink and toilet, which Sam assumed was meant as a guest bathroom, since there was a little partition blocking the washer and dryer. “Wanna go look up stairs?”
Okay, there was a God because this house had freaking everything. "Damn," he commented, surprise filling his features. He didn't really know what he had been expecting; really there wasn't anything he had been expecting. They were used to cheap hotels and staying with Jim and Bobby but this was different. This would actually be theirs which he couldn't really wrap his mind around.
He took in each room they walked through and looked towards the step heading towards the second floor. Once upstairs he found two bedrooms. One was fairly small and the other a little bigger but across the hall from one another. There was also another bathroom with a shower with a glass door and everything else.
"Guess we can just tell them that you and the baby share a room and I’ll have the other one," Dean said as he opened the second bedroom door; bed, a dresser and a mirror. "No reason why anyone needs to be in our bedrooms, anyway." Besides, if John needed to stay he could have the couch or something or they could let him have the second bedroom and let him assume they were just being good kids at the time.
The small bedroom was empty Sam found when she peeked in, which was good because it would need to be set up for the baby. “Yeah, and it’s not far from Bobby’s so if dad needs to crash, he can go there.” Sam beamed at Dean, getting more excited about their house. Their house. Oh God. “Oh God, this is gonna be our house, Dean! Our house!”
Dean grinned, happy that Sam was so excited and that she seemed to really like the place. "I guess that means we can tell Bobby that he doesn't have to keep looking, then?" he asked with a soft laugh as he looked around. "This is so great. I never even imaged this, you know?" he said and moved off to the wall, looking out the window.
“It’s perfect, isn’t it? We’ve got the basics here, and we can buy things that we want to add as time goes by. Fuck, I’m gonna owe Bobby an entire meal for this. Jesus.” Sam walked over to Dean and slipped her arms around his waist, leaning against his back. “Can we live here, Dean?”
Dean kissed his sister's temple and ran a hand around her waist. "If you like it that much, sure we can," he answered, and, honestly, he liked it, too. He liked the whole idea of settling down with Sam and making sure she was taken care of, doing some of the things they were good at besides hunting.
Sam tipped her head up, a smile breaking over her face. “Do you like it? Can you see us living here?”
"I do like it," Dean told her as he returned the smile. "And, yeah, I could. I mean, I never really thought about what a house would be like for us but I think we can make anything work if we want to, you know?"
“Yeah. You and me, Dean; we can make anything work. And, this? This will work for us.” Sam snuggled into his arms, squeezing him tightly. “Let’s go pick up some steaks at the grocery and head home. I’m gonna cook dinner, and I’ll even try to make nice with dad, since he is helping us with paperwork and money to get us started here.”
He hugged her a moment and couldn't really see John and Sam getting along but would love it if they did. They really owed a lot to their father and to Bobby; Dean guessed it was normal for a parent to help out and all, but still. He felt, he didn't know, but grateful didn't even begin to cover it. "Alright, sounds good," he said kissing her neck before laughing. "I'll try to make him behave himself, too," he promised. "Come on," he said, pulling her towards the door.
Sam followed Dean out of the room and down the stairs, holding his hand as they walked. After they’d locked the front door and gone back out into the heat, Sam leaned against Dean’s side and laughed quietly. “We’ll have to ward it like Fort Knox; scratch devil’s traps into the floors, paint salt under the windows and above the doors, runes and all, but it’ll be ours and safe enough to please even dad.”
"Yeah he trained us well, I guess. We can even setup some hex bags and shit just to make sure. I know once the kid is born, dad will be flipping out that something is going to try and get to us through the baby," he answered, but they both knew how to keep themselves and one another safe. "But, we'll get it locked up nice and tight." He looked around as he headed for the car. "Man, after all the places we've been and we settle for a small town." He smirked.
“Small towns are easier to fit into, less dangerous. Big cities mean more people, which means you don’t notice when one person starts acting strange or goes missing, and you could miss a hunt,” Sam said as she followed Dean to the car.
"Oh God, could you imagine if someone comes over and brings a pie to the new people?" Dean asked as he opened his door. "You're right though, we should be safe here and if something starts up we'll be able to handle it. Besides, honestly I doubt that Bobby and dad will ever be far away." Which was reassuring though would be annoying at some point he was sure.
“Now I know you’ve been watching too much TV; this isn’t Leave it to Beaver where people get welcomed into the community with pies and cookies and block parties.” Sam laughed softly and shook her head. It was kind of adorable that Dean’s idea of a ‘normal life’ was based on what he’d seen on old re-runs on Nick at Nite.
The idea of small town life…. He didn't know how he felt about it but he guessed it wouldn't be that bad. He got into the car and started it back up waiting for Sam to get inside. After that he would get them to the store and back to Bobby's. "Yeah, well, normal life was never a part of the plan before now," he answered with grin as he pulled out onto the road.
Sam was silent for awhile, watching the passing houses while she thought over what Dean had said about settling down. At first, he’d said that maybe he didn’t want to hunt anymore, and now he was saying that it was only part of the plan because she’d ended up pregnant. She leaned against her door, letting the warm breeze ruffle her hair.
On one hand, Sam couldn’t really blame Dean for being reluctant to settle down. They’d grown up on the road and settling was pretty much a foreign concept. But, on the other hand, she didn’t like that she’d forced anyone to do anything. “You really don’t have to stay, Dean. I’ll be fine on my own if you want to go back to hunting. Don’t change your plans for me, okay?” she said quietly, staring out the window.
Dean looked over at Sam, confused for a second. He wasn't sure where that had come from but he wanted her to understand that he didn't care how he was with her as long as he was with her. "What, because I said it wasn't a part of the plan?" he asked with a confused look still on his face for a second.
"It wasn't, Sammie. I mean, think about it; we were raised in this life and I always knew you would get out but I never thought I would have anything else. I figured you would go to college, find someone who was hopefully good enough for you and just settle down. I never bothered to dream about something that I didn’t think was possible for me." After Sam left he had assumed she wouldn't look back and he would just have his dad, the only family that would be left.
There was no real way to answer that without sounding like a spoiled little girl, so Sam just nodded. Bringing up the fact that they loved each other far more than they should would sound petty, and pointing out Dean’s self-sacrificing thought process would just piss Dean off. “I could never have settled down with anyone who wasn’t you,” she admitted, feeling a bit off-kilter. “And I was going to college to get into the medical department so that if something happened while we were on a hunt I could fix you and dad up without having to worry about going to a hospital. Yeah, the medical training we had is fine but I would’ve learned how to set bones and do transfusions and all kinds of stuff that would be useful in a family of hunters. I was always going to come back to you, Dean. I wasn’t leaving forever.”
"You don't think you could have just gotten lost in normal though, Sammie? Said fuck traveling across the country like a bump and scamming credit cards?" Dean shook his head. "I mean, I know what your plan was but I just always knew you could do better and I didn't ever want you to feel like you had to stay with us if you were unhappy." And he also didn't want to tag along after her because he didn't want to make her do anything or miss out on anything.
Sam snorted and slid over on the seat to lean limply against Dean’s side. “I’m happy wherever you are, idiot. Of course I would come back. I mean, I’m-” she choked back the confession; telling Dean now that it was his kid she was carrying would only make him panic. “I’m stupidly in love with you,” she corrected swiftly, but not too fast as to make it sound like a lie. “Even if we went back to hunting, us and a kid on the road, I’d be happy because you’d be with me.”
Dean made a face. "No way in hell. We are not raising a kid on the road," he said shaking his head as he put his hand on Sam's knee. Okay, so maybe he wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of some little person crashing in on their lives but seriously even he couldn't do that to a kid. It wasn't right and God knew that Dean loved his father but that wasn't what he would do. Getting payback for those who were dead was all great but not when you were selling short the ones who were still alive.
“We don’t have to. I was just saying that I’d do it because I want to be with you. Hell, Dean, I’m changing my last name so I can marry you. You’ve got to know I’ll follow you anywhere.” Sam tipped her head up and bit Dean’s neck, hard. “But, the whole point is that I don’t want you to do this if you don’t want it. You give up too much for me as it is.”
Dean moved some to give Sam more access to his neck. "We'll just be honest with one another, you know?" he asked. "I mean, if we try it and we don't like something or it doesn't work out we'll find a way to make it work." He didn't think he ever did or gave up much for Sam, nothing he wasn't willing to give up, anyway. "You give me a reason to get up in the morning, Sammie. I know you may not agree with me but you give me a lot in return," he said honestly as he made a right and pulled into the parking lot of the store, stopping the car.
Sam didn’t quite see it the same way. In her opinion, all she ever seemed to give Dean was a headache and a hard time, especially if John was around. She moved back to her side of the car as he parked and slid out, closing the door behind her. “Do you want to come in with me, or should I just grab some good looking steaks and come back?”
"I'll come with you," Dean said as he got out of the car. "I mean, do you even know a good steak from a bad one?" he joked as he came around the other side of the car to head into the store.
“Oh, haha,” Sam grumbled as she came around the car and slid her arm around Dean’s waist. It was kind of weird to be in public and touching Dean like this, but she wanted to test it out a bit to see how it felt. That and it would be strange if she acted a bit distant when people would soon find out that they were together. The only people that would really be fooled in this situation would be Bobby and John. Hiding in plain sight was a good plan.
"Hey you're a girl what do you know about red meat?" Dean joked. He wasn't really uncomfortable with the public affection idea. He was used to people being all over him when he went out, though this was very different. He wrapped his arm around her and led her inside the store looking around. "What else do we need?" he asked. "Anything?" He walked over for a cart just in case.
“I don’t know what Bobby’s got in his fridge since I haven’t eaten since I got here, so I’ll have to suggest things and you either shoot me down or put it in the cart.” Sam disengaged from Dean so that he could push the cart easier, and settled for walking at his side. “I know better than to thin k Bobby has anything to make a salad with, so let’s go through produce and see what’s available. And we should pick up some French bread; I’ll make cheesy garlic bread to go with the steaks.”
The grocery store wasn’t that crowded for a Wednesday afternoon, but there were still a good few people wandering the store as Sam and Dean strolled through. The music playing over the speakers was something from the fifties, kinda of jazzy and all about falling in love.
"It's Bobby so I doubt that he has that much and your right I can't see there being much healthy shit there." He said as they headed down the first lane towards the back. Normally Dean shopped at some place like Seven 11, so shopping for actually meals… this was something he assumed Sam would know more about. Maybe it was bred into her from being chick, he didn't know.
Coming down the produce section Dean looked around, lost. "I wonder if you're going to be one of those girls that craves fruits and all that. You know one who doesn't even take advantage of eating all you want and anything you want."
Sam scoffed and started picking over the different types of lettuce, looking for arugula but only finding the standard romaine and iceburg. “I’m sure I’ll get creepy cravings, just like other women. Let’s hope that this store is open twenty-four/seven, because I’ve heard that cravings happen mostly in the middle of the night.” She grabbed the romaine lettuce and put it in the cart, figuring on a Caesar salad since the men in her life weren’t that big on vegetables. Lettuce, dressing, parmesan cheese and croutons would probably be their limit for ‘green food’.
"Yeah, Bobby was wondering if it would be me or dad going out for your two am pudding cravings or something." He rolled his eyes as he pushed the cart and clear his throat. "Please promise me I will get some sleep every once in a while, huh?" he asked. It wasn't like Dean ever slept that much but being able to have the chance was something he sort of was looking forward to.
“Still, I plan on having a pretty healthy diet the entire time I’m pregnant so that I don’t end up with twenty extra pounds hanging around my belly after the baby is born. Cravings notwithstanding, of course.” Sam grinned over at Dean and then tugged him along to the bakery, looking for French bread. “Dean, I am able to walk and get things on my own, you know? If I want something that damn bad, I can go get it myself. You’ll get plenty of sleep.” Sam had seen the same stereotypical things on TV about pregnant women that Dean had, so she was determined to be the exact opposite unless she had no other choice.
"Healthy it so boring," Dean commented as he looked up and around. Finding the junk food, he smirked. He moved down the bakery section and cleared his throat. "I swear to God you would think dad would have more of an idea how to handle this. I mean mom did go through this twice, you know?" Like not yelling at Sam every five seconds might be a good place to start.
“Healthy isn’t boring, it’s ‘healthy’, which is good for me since I’m kind of growing another person in my body; I’ll need all of the vitamins and proteins I can get since the baby will get the majority of what I take in.” Sam shook her head at her brother and sighed.
"Hey, I'm fine with going for you and all that I'm just making a simple request," Dean answered. "I mean, the last thing I want is for you to be doing something you shouldn't be and getting hurt or something." He didn't know too much about this kind of thing but he knew that at some point Sam was going to be bigger and just shouldn't be stressing herself out doing little things or bigger things. "Hm, maybe we should slow down on the sex, then," he joked.
“Dad isn’t going to treat me like he treated mom, Dean. I’m his baby and I’m pregnant far before he’s ready for me to be, so he’s going to stay angry and pissy and… well, it’s not like I make things any easier on him. If he wasn’t so damn domineering all the time, I might be able to hold a conversation with him that didn’t end in us screaming at each other.” Sam frowned as she looked over the different types of fresh bread offered, determined to try and keep her temper in check with dad so that she’d be able to give at least a little bit of relief. She couldn’t promise much, but it would be better than normal, which would probably make John wary.
Sam and John were both to blame with shit, they were both hot headed and stubborn. Dean wasn't any different but he never fought with those two like they did with each other so he was normally the one trying to get them to chill out and shut the fuck up every once in a while. Or he used to, anymore he just stopped trying. "Yeah, well, it'll be better once we aren't all living in the same house. I mean, he can't bitch and you can't either if you hardly see one another."
“I’ll try harder to get along with him, okay? I know you hate being caught in the middle of us, and if he’s going out hunting and we’re not going to see much of him, it’ll be easier and better if I make an effort to keep myself in check.” And it wasn’t just that; John could, if he wanted to, drag Dean back out on the road and leave her in Bobby’s care if he decided to be an asshole and Sam didn’t want to chance it. “Go get some junk food before you start drooling. And, just so you know, there’s no way in hell I’ll agree with slowing down on the sex; I want you, you want me-we’re christening every single room in that house.”
"Yeah, but if that kid gets a part of everything you get…" Dean said making a bit of a face because that really was kind of gross. Sam made a face at that, too. He moved over to the junk food the second that she gave the okay because there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to eat whatever healthy food she would buy. "I'll try to talk to him, too; remind him that the last thing you need is stress and maybe he'll back off a little." He shrugged, knowing it may or may not work. He looked over at his sister for a second before adding. "You know, I hear that women get really horny when they are getting ready to drop a kid."
“Dude, I’m always this way. So, if I’m supposed to get worse the further along I get then you might need to take out an insurance policy or start taking some stamina enhancers because I’ll probably end up eating you alive.” Sam grinned smugly and put two short loaves of French bread in the cart before pushing it over to where Dean was greedily ogling the junk food. “I think I’m jealous of Twinkies; you stare at them with that much fascination and I’ll start wondering about you and your junk food fetish.”
"Hey, I'm young enough to keep up with you, I think," Dean said making a bit of a face as he looked over all the different snacks and grabbed a few things, putting them into the cart. "You should be jealous though, because you have no idea how many different uses for chocolate sauce that I've had," he answered with a leer on his lips.
All humor slid from Sam’s face and she started off down the aisle at a calm walk, shoulders tight. “I don’t want to know about your women, if you don’t mind.” She quickly grabbed parmesan cheese, cheddar, fresh garlic, and croutons further down, and then marched to the back of the store in search of steaks. As long as she didn’t think about it, then Dean never had other women before and he could be just hers. It was stupid, maybe, but Sam had grown up with Dean at the center of her universe and she was a little possessive of him. She knew it, but that didn’t take away the boil in her veins when he mentioned having been with other people.
"I didn't mean…" he started but she stalked off and he just rolled his eyes. Well, at least one of them could pretend. As far as Dean knew, or, rather, as far as she was letting him believe, in about eight months he would have a daily loud reminder of the fact that she had been with someone else. He had been with other women, of course; he was fucking around years before Sam had crawled into bed with him and all this had started. He followed her down towards the back and stopped behind her. "Do we need to stop at the drug store or something before we go home?"
“No, we don’t need anything as far as I know,” Sam replied and tried to ignore the burn of jealousy that curled in her gut, but she had to comment one more time. She just couldn’t help herself. “Dean,” she said tiredly. “I’m seriously possessive of you, so unless you want me to go on a rampage around the country killing any women that have touched you, you won’t mention them to me, okay?”
Dean really was trying to ignore the annoyance of where this part of the conversation was going. He sighed in annoyance because did she seriously think she had the right? Like really? "Sam, I haven't been fucking anyone else but you in the last two years, so are we done with this crap now?" he asked, grabbing the cart.
Sam opened her mouth to reply and then snapped it shut and folded her arms over her stomach. She couldn’t exactly come clean and tell Dean that she’d never been with anyone else without him realizing that the baby was his. Sure, he might be willing to marry her, fuck her, and keep her, but literally being a father… well, he was going to do that, maybe, but… no. Just, just no.
He was already skittish about the baby to begin with, telling him it was his would make him run and Sam just couldn’t handle that. “Pick out some steaks, please, and I’ll go find some… I’m going to look at a few things. I’ll be back.” She walked off without giving him a chance to speak, too upset with the tangle her lie had become to stand there and keep her mouth shut.
Dean picked out something at random and just threw it into the cart; he didn't much give a damn for anything at the moment. He was pissed off at her now. He wasn't looking to fight with her but she couldn't stand there and get mad at him for a stupid joke. One he might add had nothing to do with any of the other women he had been with after she had…. She loved him, okay, but she had wanted normality too and college was more likely to give her that than he was.
He pressed his lips together and picked up a second package, putting it in before heading up towards the front. To find out the kid was his would freak him out, at some point the reality of this would set in. It may be after the kid was born that Dean realized that he was going to be playing daddy but right now… she wasn't even showing for God’s sake!
Sam was standing at the front of the store with her back to Dean, picking over novels with a little package of baby rattles and what looked like a windchime dangling from her hand. Her shoulders were tight and she was more pawing than neatly shifting the books around. She shifted from foot to foot and glanced around briefly before carding her fingers through her hair in distress. She fisted her hand and smacked it hard against her thigh, then hung her head, shaking it side to side.
Dean came up behind Sam and watched her sort of flip out. He had no idea what she was doing or what she was looking at that seemed to upset her so much. He moved behind her putting the cart off to the side before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sam?" he asked, his own anger forgotten for the time being. Sam always seemed to drown out everything else, even when she was part of the issue to begin with.
She jumped and spun, eyes huge and guilty as she looked up at him, and then Sam sighed in relief when she recognized him and relaxed. “Um, sorry about that. I… it’s bad luck to move into a house without buying something pretty for it, and… well, I saw these and figured if I buy things here and there up until I have the baby, then I won’t have to go out and buy everything at once, you know?”
Dean leaned against the cart and pulled his hand back as he looked down at what Sam had in her hand. "Building a nest?" he joked and as he looked over at the other things she had been looking at. "Yeah, I guess there's a lot to get before the house is ready and all that. Better to do everything here and there rather than, like, four weeks before you're due."
“Speaking of due, we need to go back to Bobby’s. Doc Carver said she’d call with test results, right? I kinda have to be there since it’s illegal to give medical information out to anyone other than the patient.” Which Sam decided was a good thing since the last thing she needed was for Bobby or dad to find out she was a little over two months along. And Dean definitely didn’t need to know that, not right now. “So, are we ready to go?”
"That's a good thing because I doubt you want dad in your business about it," Dean muttered because at this point what John and Sam would fight about… He didn't even want to know. John was all for finding the baby's father, Dean didn't want to fucking know for the same reason Sam didn't want to hear about anyone he had been with. Honestly though Sam was his so he would easily kill the fucker. "I'm ready, though." Dean turned the cart and headed towards the closest cashier.
Sam followed him and stood beside him in line, staring at the magazine racks thoughtfully. She tried to picture scenarios in which she told Dean the truth, but in every one of them all she could picture him doing was running. He’d never wanted kids, had been adamant about it since he learned where babies had come from, and steered clear of pregnant women like they carried the plague. The only reason he was even sticking around at the moment was because she was his sister. Sam sighed heavily and looked over at Dean. “I’m sorry I lost my temper earlier. I’ve got no room getting an attitude about that.”
Dean put the stuff on the counter and pulled his wallet out, looking back at Sam as she spoke. He nodded his head but really didn't know what to say at first. He had some shit he wanted to say but he wasn't going to be an asshole. "It's okay," he said and thought for a second; cash or credit cards? He was going to have to get rid of pretty much all of his credit cards. "Why were you freaking out over there?" he asked, still concerned but less willing to show it, it tended to annoy her and he knew it.
“Nothing, nothing, just general ‘oh shit, I’m gonna be someone’s mom’ kind of thing,” Sam said with a nervous laugh. While that was true, it wasn’t all of it. “And, it’s not okay that I turned into a jealous little bitch, but I will work on not freaking out when you make jokes about… about your past.” And that was about as politely as Sam could find to put it. Because it was, it was the past. Dean was hers now, and she was going to marry him and have this baby with him and they’d live happily ever after, goddamn it.
Dean really wasn't making a joke about the past. He had just meant things he thought of to do with Sam and chocolate sauce but there was no use in bringing that up now because seriously that would be a turn off now, for Sam at least. He smiled sort of sadly; Sam was going to be a mom and that would completely change his Sammie, but that was just being self-centered and he pushed the thought from his mind. "I'll try to be more careful," he said honestly. "I'm sorry I upset you to begin with." He paid the woman and moved to the end of the counter to pick their bags up so they could head outside and finally get home.
“I can carry some of that. I mean, I’ve been going to class with heavier books than those bags for awhile now, even despite being pregnant. Granted, I didn’t know at the time, but it didn’t bother me.” Sam moved over to him, pushed the cart out of the way, and grabbed one of the bags.
"You know, you may want to try and enjoy being babied while it lasts," Dean said as they headed out the door. He held it open for her and walked to the car.
Sam snorted and opened the backdoor on her side, set the bag in the floorboard, and then closed it up before crawling in the front seat. “Well, yeah, I probably should because I know dad is going to have me running PT as soon as I can while he sits and plays with the baby.”
Dean made a face. "Sam, you’re going to have a kid I think I can honestly say you can tell dad to shove it." That was a bit odd coming from Dean, though, because he was normally the one that followed orders to perfect detail. Then the blow up with Sam happened and Dean sort of blamed their dad and a lot changed after that. Yeah, he followed orders but as far as dad was concerned, with his attitude, he wasn't the perfect son anymore. He pulled out onto the road and headed for home.
“Yeah, well, it’s dad. Besides, I’ll need to get back in shape after the baby and it’ll be kind of cute to see him all moon-eyed over his grandson or granddaughter, you know? I can lord it over him for the rest of his life.” Sam grinned wickedly at the thought. She knew that there was a soft spot somewhere deep down under John Winchester’s cold and aloof façade and she just hoped that a baby would find it.
Dean smirked and leaned back as he drove. "Maybe. I remember how he was when you were first born, well I sort of remember anyway." John had been a mess with a new baby girl around so it was kind of funny. Of course back then their dad wasn't so much of a hardass, close, but nowhere near how he was now.
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t hit the roof when we suggest playing a couple for now. We’ll worry about him turning into a big softy after the baby gets here. We’ve got months and months to wait for that. He’d better damn well show up for the birth, though. After all the birthdays and holidays he missed when we were growing up, he’d better show for this kid or I’m going to shoot him in the ass with a shotgun. It won’t kill him, but it’ll hurt like hell.” Sam slid down in her seat, legs sprawled wide against the dashboard, and her hands laced over her flat stomach. The skirt was only barely hiding the fact that she was without panties in that position, but no one was there to bitch about it so she might as well cool off.
"Don't people normally seem to be nicer to their grandkids than they are to their actual kids, anyway?" he asked. "I mean, I can really see dad being all over the idea of an infant around. Between him and Bobby I think you're going to be hearing all the advice that you can take and then some." Bobby was already on the wagon and now there was just John to work on but he had faith it would come at some point. Sam was his baby girl, Dean knew that, now they just had to make him show it.
"Well, he'll get use to it, just like everything else… I hope." He looked out of the corner of his eyes and smirked, turning back to the road as they made it out of town and back to Bobby's. Parking the car he looked back to where Sam had thrown her shorts. Now, normally he would assume she would change back. "Are you staying in the skirt or are you going to try and play nice before diner?" he joked.
“I’ll play nice, if only because when I get you to our room I’m going to ride you like a pony and I don’t want to waste time getting undressed.” Sam grinned brightly at Dean and slid gracefully out of the car. She grabbed a bag and her shorts, and sashayed across the yard toward the door.
Reaching in the back seat he grabbed the second bag and laughed, shaking his head. Man and the horny part of this whole thing was just starting. Maybe babies weren't so bad after all, you know, as long as they were still in there anyway. He headed towards the house behind his sister and stopped a second to look at where Sam had broken part of the house. He sighed and shook his head, he'd fix that tomorrow. Last thing they needed to do was tear the man's house down after everything that he'd been doing for them.
John and Bobby were at the kitchen table when Sam and Dean stepped in, and Sam hurried to put her bag down on the counter before crawling up in Bobby’s lap and planting a hard, smacking kiss right on his mouth. “The house is awesome, Bobby!” she squealed as she hugged his neck, ignoring the nervous and uncomfortable sputtering Bobby was doing.
Then, without warning, Sam crawled up in John’s lap and kissed him the same way before flinging her arms around his neck. “It’s just gorgeous! I’ve got all kinds of things I want to do with it, and maybe we can get a dog,” she babbled, straddling John’s knees like she was five again. “And, it’s only got the two bedrooms, but the baby and I will have one and Dean will have the other one. The couch looks comfortable so if you want to stay with us you can sleep there. It’s… it’s perfect, daddy! Can we have it?”
John pulled back and looked at Sam like she was insane or maybe a shapeshifter or something. She was never this happy, ever, no matter what was going on. He raised an eyebrow and put his hand to her back to keep her from falling off his lap or something and just looked at Dean as he came in. His son merely shrugged and set his bag down before laughing softly.
John had to assume she was really Sam and not some demon or something. "You got any holy water on you by any chance, Bobby?" he asked with a smirk, no matter his surprise. "Yeah… you know, if you’re sure you want it," he joked. He couldn't help it actually; he hadn't seen Sam this happy in a very long time, he was fairly sure the last time she had smiled like that she was only seven. He assumed everything went okay at the doctor or she wouldn't be so happy so his first series of questions took a backseat for now.
Bobby snorted at the holy water comment and shared a fondly exasperated look with Dean before scrubbing a hand over his mouth. It was… weird to know what Sam’s mouth felt like against his own. Creepy, even. She’d never kissed him, not even when she’d been a kid. He expected that the house was right up her alley, in a really big way for her to have crossed that line.
“I’m not possessed, dad,” Sam grinned. “But, I am sure about the house. And, um, there’s something I want to ask you and Bobby about.” She shifted a bit, realizing how freaky it was to sit on her dad’s lap without anything on under her skirt, but she couldn’t get up without making John suspicious all of a sudden. “The receptionist at the doctor’s office called me and Dean ‘Mr. and Mrs. Winchester’ and I got to thinking that maybe if we just pose as a couple in public, it would give Dean a reason to fly to my rescue if someone gets out of line, and Dean would be able to go to the doctor with me. Besides, it would be kind of creepy to the locals if a brother and sister were moving in and I’m pregnant. It would… it would look like something it isn’t.” Even if it was the truth, Sam thought privately.
Dean looked from Bobby to John and just rolled his eyes. Seriously Sam had gone from sort of bitchy to all over them so yeah he could understand where the weird looks were coming from. Bobby tended to be a little… less affectionate, anyway.
He leaned against the counter and turned to see Sam still sitting on John's lap and clenched his teeth against the swell of jealousy that rose in his gut because that was getting really fucking stupid so he just ignored it and sat down only to look up and have John glare at him. "What? I thought it was a good idea. I mean, men gape at her as it is. If she has a husband that is known to fly off the handle, well, I won't need to pay people off to watch her back," he said honestly.
"That's kind of… odd, isn't it?" John asked, unsure how his children would be able to pull that one off. Brothers and sisters acted differently towards one another than a husband and wife did for fuck’s sake. Though he did understand Dean's point of view and God knew the last thing that Sam or any of them needed was someone coming in trying to play boyfriend or daddy.
“Which would be odder, dad; Dean pretending to be my husband to keep me safe, or Dean being my big brother and the neighbors talking about us and getting noticed?” Sam asked, tipping her head to the side. “Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s not like Dean and I haven’t played couples on hunts before. Dean and I are cool with being in each other’s space, and it’s safer for me. I’m going to end up with a huge belly, and I won’t be able to defend myself as well, and some people, even in small towns like this, would take advantage of a single pregnant woman where they’d leave a married pregnant woman alone.”
“She’s got a point, John. It’s a smart idea, and the people in this town talk; if it came out that they were siblings, there would be talk of incest and they’d speculate over whether the baby is Dean’s or not. Can’t draw that kind of attention to ‘em,” Bobby muttered, agreeing, but not comfortable with the idea.
John didn't like the idea but he couldn't really argue with it because it did make sense. Besides as protective as Dean was of Sam it would look normal for them to be a couple rather than just a brother and a sister. He sighed and looked from his daughter to Bobby, not at all comfortable with this because… they were siblings, and to have his kids playing house twenty-four/seven was more not-normal than even he was used to. "Alright, fine."
Dean saw the look on his father's face when Bobby said the word ‘incest’ and he was very much reminded why they were very careful when it came to Sam and his relationship with her.
Sam’s smile went nuclear and she flung her arms around John’s neck, squeezing him tight. “Thanks, daddy. I was kind of worried about living away from Bobby if people knew Dean was my brother, you know? I got some… looks, while we were in the store. Oh! Speaking of which, we’re having steak for dinner. I’m cooking.”
“Well, what the hell are you sittin’ around for, girl! Get your skinny ass up and start cookin’,” Bobby said, sounding horrified that there was steak in his house and it wasn’t already cooking. Bobby was a sucker for a good steak.
John made a bit of a face but managed to remove it by the time Sam pulled back again and was face to face with him. "What kind of looks?" he asked but soon moved onto the fact that they were having steak because Christ knew it was one of John's favorites, if not his favorite. "Yeah, you better start now or we'll start eating it before you even get it into the pan."
Dean was more relaxed now that John and Bobby weren't freaked about the idea, not at all pleased about it but not going through the roof. He laughed and looked over at Sam. "Told you it would go over well," he commented at Bobby's reaction. "Of course she wants a salad for herself but that's a battle I'm not bothering with."
“Hey, I’m having a steak, too. Just… a balanced meal needs vegetables. It’s only a Caesar salad, and I’ll even make them small. You guys need some vegetables in your diets or you’re going to keel over from a heart attack.” Sam slid off of John’s lap, twitching when a fold in his jeans scrubbed over sensitive skin, and made her way to the bags to start dinner.
“Are you sure that’s your kid, John? Only hunter I’ve ever seen that worries about ‘balanced meals’.” Bobby wrinkled his nose but privately admitted that a small salad wouldn’t kill him. Maybe.
“Nope, I’m a pod-person, Bobby,” Sam replied, tipping his hat forward on his head and scruffing her hand through John’s hair as she passed to get the steaks prepped for the grill. “Dean, can you start up the grill for me?”
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Next
It was kind of small, two stories and a light powder blue color, which made it kind of heartwarming in a way. It had a small front yard and one of those little mail boxes on the lawn. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, looking it over as they parked.
Sam pushed over to her side and climbed out of the car, leaning against it without bothering to shut the door. “Huh, it’s kind of cute.” She closed the car door and started across the lawn to the fenced backyard, peeking around the house to get a good look. The back yard was much bigger than the front, and the simple fact that it was fenced meant that they could get a dog and when the baby was big enough, he could play out back without Sam worrying that he’d wander off.
“Hey, Dean? Bobby say where the key was?” Sam asked as she made her way to the front door, leaning in to peer through the window. There was a white gauzy curtain up, which obscured the view, though. “I wanna look inside. Should we pick it?”
Dean looked around at the houses that surrounded this one and it looked nice here. It was like some place a family would settle and their outward appearance would certainly seem to fit that idea. He closed his door and nodded. "He said it’s taped under the left corner of the welcome mat," he answered.
Looking at the back yard and then the outside of the house, Dean had to admit that liked it so far. He hadn't ever really pictured what a house for them would look like. He came up behind her and wondered if the place had beds and all that crap. He thought that might be asking too much but it would be great if they didn't have to buy a lot of crap and then move it all in.
Sam knelt and found the key, then eagerly unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was much cooler than she thought it would be, since the house was closed up and it was a billion degrees outside. The walls in the living room were a patented generic white, but the carpet was a cheery blue that accented the sparse furniture. The couch and loveseat were framed in heavy, solid wood, but cushioned in light colors that would go with just about any décor. There wasn’t a television stand or a TV, but she supposed that they could fix that easily enough.
“Come on, let’s look around,” Sam said as she grabbed Dean’s hand and led him through the short hallway and into the kitchen. It was bright and sunny, set off by a pair of glass doors which led into the back yard. The pale lemon-colored paint made the room appear brighter. There was a dining room table set up across from the doors, heavy wood just like the living room furniture. All of the kitchen appliances were standard; stove, fridge, and dishwasher, which Sam was glad to see since she couldn’t imagine having the time to wash them by hand with an infant in the house, or Dean.
There was a laundry room off from the kitchen, complete with a washer and dryer, and a sink and toilet, which Sam assumed was meant as a guest bathroom, since there was a little partition blocking the washer and dryer. “Wanna go look up stairs?”
Okay, there was a God because this house had freaking everything. "Damn," he commented, surprise filling his features. He didn't really know what he had been expecting; really there wasn't anything he had been expecting. They were used to cheap hotels and staying with Jim and Bobby but this was different. This would actually be theirs which he couldn't really wrap his mind around.
He took in each room they walked through and looked towards the step heading towards the second floor. Once upstairs he found two bedrooms. One was fairly small and the other a little bigger but across the hall from one another. There was also another bathroom with a shower with a glass door and everything else.
"Guess we can just tell them that you and the baby share a room and I’ll have the other one," Dean said as he opened the second bedroom door; bed, a dresser and a mirror. "No reason why anyone needs to be in our bedrooms, anyway." Besides, if John needed to stay he could have the couch or something or they could let him have the second bedroom and let him assume they were just being good kids at the time.
The small bedroom was empty Sam found when she peeked in, which was good because it would need to be set up for the baby. “Yeah, and it’s not far from Bobby’s so if dad needs to crash, he can go there.” Sam beamed at Dean, getting more excited about their house. Their house. Oh God. “Oh God, this is gonna be our house, Dean! Our house!”
Dean grinned, happy that Sam was so excited and that she seemed to really like the place. "I guess that means we can tell Bobby that he doesn't have to keep looking, then?" he asked with a soft laugh as he looked around. "This is so great. I never even imaged this, you know?" he said and moved off to the wall, looking out the window.
“It’s perfect, isn’t it? We’ve got the basics here, and we can buy things that we want to add as time goes by. Fuck, I’m gonna owe Bobby an entire meal for this. Jesus.” Sam walked over to Dean and slipped her arms around his waist, leaning against his back. “Can we live here, Dean?”
Dean kissed his sister's temple and ran a hand around her waist. "If you like it that much, sure we can," he answered, and, honestly, he liked it, too. He liked the whole idea of settling down with Sam and making sure she was taken care of, doing some of the things they were good at besides hunting.
Sam tipped her head up, a smile breaking over her face. “Do you like it? Can you see us living here?”
"I do like it," Dean told her as he returned the smile. "And, yeah, I could. I mean, I never really thought about what a house would be like for us but I think we can make anything work if we want to, you know?"
“Yeah. You and me, Dean; we can make anything work. And, this? This will work for us.” Sam snuggled into his arms, squeezing him tightly. “Let’s go pick up some steaks at the grocery and head home. I’m gonna cook dinner, and I’ll even try to make nice with dad, since he is helping us with paperwork and money to get us started here.”
He hugged her a moment and couldn't really see John and Sam getting along but would love it if they did. They really owed a lot to their father and to Bobby; Dean guessed it was normal for a parent to help out and all, but still. He felt, he didn't know, but grateful didn't even begin to cover it. "Alright, sounds good," he said kissing her neck before laughing. "I'll try to make him behave himself, too," he promised. "Come on," he said, pulling her towards the door.
Sam followed Dean out of the room and down the stairs, holding his hand as they walked. After they’d locked the front door and gone back out into the heat, Sam leaned against Dean’s side and laughed quietly. “We’ll have to ward it like Fort Knox; scratch devil’s traps into the floors, paint salt under the windows and above the doors, runes and all, but it’ll be ours and safe enough to please even dad.”
"Yeah he trained us well, I guess. We can even setup some hex bags and shit just to make sure. I know once the kid is born, dad will be flipping out that something is going to try and get to us through the baby," he answered, but they both knew how to keep themselves and one another safe. "But, we'll get it locked up nice and tight." He looked around as he headed for the car. "Man, after all the places we've been and we settle for a small town." He smirked.
“Small towns are easier to fit into, less dangerous. Big cities mean more people, which means you don’t notice when one person starts acting strange or goes missing, and you could miss a hunt,” Sam said as she followed Dean to the car.
"Oh God, could you imagine if someone comes over and brings a pie to the new people?" Dean asked as he opened his door. "You're right though, we should be safe here and if something starts up we'll be able to handle it. Besides, honestly I doubt that Bobby and dad will ever be far away." Which was reassuring though would be annoying at some point he was sure.
“Now I know you’ve been watching too much TV; this isn’t Leave it to Beaver where people get welcomed into the community with pies and cookies and block parties.” Sam laughed softly and shook her head. It was kind of adorable that Dean’s idea of a ‘normal life’ was based on what he’d seen on old re-runs on Nick at Nite.
The idea of small town life…. He didn't know how he felt about it but he guessed it wouldn't be that bad. He got into the car and started it back up waiting for Sam to get inside. After that he would get them to the store and back to Bobby's. "Yeah, well, normal life was never a part of the plan before now," he answered with grin as he pulled out onto the road.
Sam was silent for awhile, watching the passing houses while she thought over what Dean had said about settling down. At first, he’d said that maybe he didn’t want to hunt anymore, and now he was saying that it was only part of the plan because she’d ended up pregnant. She leaned against her door, letting the warm breeze ruffle her hair.
On one hand, Sam couldn’t really blame Dean for being reluctant to settle down. They’d grown up on the road and settling was pretty much a foreign concept. But, on the other hand, she didn’t like that she’d forced anyone to do anything. “You really don’t have to stay, Dean. I’ll be fine on my own if you want to go back to hunting. Don’t change your plans for me, okay?” she said quietly, staring out the window.
Dean looked over at Sam, confused for a second. He wasn't sure where that had come from but he wanted her to understand that he didn't care how he was with her as long as he was with her. "What, because I said it wasn't a part of the plan?" he asked with a confused look still on his face for a second.
"It wasn't, Sammie. I mean, think about it; we were raised in this life and I always knew you would get out but I never thought I would have anything else. I figured you would go to college, find someone who was hopefully good enough for you and just settle down. I never bothered to dream about something that I didn’t think was possible for me." After Sam left he had assumed she wouldn't look back and he would just have his dad, the only family that would be left.
There was no real way to answer that without sounding like a spoiled little girl, so Sam just nodded. Bringing up the fact that they loved each other far more than they should would sound petty, and pointing out Dean’s self-sacrificing thought process would just piss Dean off. “I could never have settled down with anyone who wasn’t you,” she admitted, feeling a bit off-kilter. “And I was going to college to get into the medical department so that if something happened while we were on a hunt I could fix you and dad up without having to worry about going to a hospital. Yeah, the medical training we had is fine but I would’ve learned how to set bones and do transfusions and all kinds of stuff that would be useful in a family of hunters. I was always going to come back to you, Dean. I wasn’t leaving forever.”
"You don't think you could have just gotten lost in normal though, Sammie? Said fuck traveling across the country like a bump and scamming credit cards?" Dean shook his head. "I mean, I know what your plan was but I just always knew you could do better and I didn't ever want you to feel like you had to stay with us if you were unhappy." And he also didn't want to tag along after her because he didn't want to make her do anything or miss out on anything.
Sam snorted and slid over on the seat to lean limply against Dean’s side. “I’m happy wherever you are, idiot. Of course I would come back. I mean, I’m-” she choked back the confession; telling Dean now that it was his kid she was carrying would only make him panic. “I’m stupidly in love with you,” she corrected swiftly, but not too fast as to make it sound like a lie. “Even if we went back to hunting, us and a kid on the road, I’d be happy because you’d be with me.”
Dean made a face. "No way in hell. We are not raising a kid on the road," he said shaking his head as he put his hand on Sam's knee. Okay, so maybe he wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of some little person crashing in on their lives but seriously even he couldn't do that to a kid. It wasn't right and God knew that Dean loved his father but that wasn't what he would do. Getting payback for those who were dead was all great but not when you were selling short the ones who were still alive.
“We don’t have to. I was just saying that I’d do it because I want to be with you. Hell, Dean, I’m changing my last name so I can marry you. You’ve got to know I’ll follow you anywhere.” Sam tipped her head up and bit Dean’s neck, hard. “But, the whole point is that I don’t want you to do this if you don’t want it. You give up too much for me as it is.”
Dean moved some to give Sam more access to his neck. "We'll just be honest with one another, you know?" he asked. "I mean, if we try it and we don't like something or it doesn't work out we'll find a way to make it work." He didn't think he ever did or gave up much for Sam, nothing he wasn't willing to give up, anyway. "You give me a reason to get up in the morning, Sammie. I know you may not agree with me but you give me a lot in return," he said honestly as he made a right and pulled into the parking lot of the store, stopping the car.
Sam didn’t quite see it the same way. In her opinion, all she ever seemed to give Dean was a headache and a hard time, especially if John was around. She moved back to her side of the car as he parked and slid out, closing the door behind her. “Do you want to come in with me, or should I just grab some good looking steaks and come back?”
"I'll come with you," Dean said as he got out of the car. "I mean, do you even know a good steak from a bad one?" he joked as he came around the other side of the car to head into the store.
“Oh, haha,” Sam grumbled as she came around the car and slid her arm around Dean’s waist. It was kind of weird to be in public and touching Dean like this, but she wanted to test it out a bit to see how it felt. That and it would be strange if she acted a bit distant when people would soon find out that they were together. The only people that would really be fooled in this situation would be Bobby and John. Hiding in plain sight was a good plan.
"Hey you're a girl what do you know about red meat?" Dean joked. He wasn't really uncomfortable with the public affection idea. He was used to people being all over him when he went out, though this was very different. He wrapped his arm around her and led her inside the store looking around. "What else do we need?" he asked. "Anything?" He walked over for a cart just in case.
“I don’t know what Bobby’s got in his fridge since I haven’t eaten since I got here, so I’ll have to suggest things and you either shoot me down or put it in the cart.” Sam disengaged from Dean so that he could push the cart easier, and settled for walking at his side. “I know better than to thin k Bobby has anything to make a salad with, so let’s go through produce and see what’s available. And we should pick up some French bread; I’ll make cheesy garlic bread to go with the steaks.”
The grocery store wasn’t that crowded for a Wednesday afternoon, but there were still a good few people wandering the store as Sam and Dean strolled through. The music playing over the speakers was something from the fifties, kinda of jazzy and all about falling in love.
"It's Bobby so I doubt that he has that much and your right I can't see there being much healthy shit there." He said as they headed down the first lane towards the back. Normally Dean shopped at some place like Seven 11, so shopping for actually meals… this was something he assumed Sam would know more about. Maybe it was bred into her from being chick, he didn't know.
Coming down the produce section Dean looked around, lost. "I wonder if you're going to be one of those girls that craves fruits and all that. You know one who doesn't even take advantage of eating all you want and anything you want."
Sam scoffed and started picking over the different types of lettuce, looking for arugula but only finding the standard romaine and iceburg. “I’m sure I’ll get creepy cravings, just like other women. Let’s hope that this store is open twenty-four/seven, because I’ve heard that cravings happen mostly in the middle of the night.” She grabbed the romaine lettuce and put it in the cart, figuring on a Caesar salad since the men in her life weren’t that big on vegetables. Lettuce, dressing, parmesan cheese and croutons would probably be their limit for ‘green food’.
"Yeah, Bobby was wondering if it would be me or dad going out for your two am pudding cravings or something." He rolled his eyes as he pushed the cart and clear his throat. "Please promise me I will get some sleep every once in a while, huh?" he asked. It wasn't like Dean ever slept that much but being able to have the chance was something he sort of was looking forward to.
“Still, I plan on having a pretty healthy diet the entire time I’m pregnant so that I don’t end up with twenty extra pounds hanging around my belly after the baby is born. Cravings notwithstanding, of course.” Sam grinned over at Dean and then tugged him along to the bakery, looking for French bread. “Dean, I am able to walk and get things on my own, you know? If I want something that damn bad, I can go get it myself. You’ll get plenty of sleep.” Sam had seen the same stereotypical things on TV about pregnant women that Dean had, so she was determined to be the exact opposite unless she had no other choice.
"Healthy it so boring," Dean commented as he looked up and around. Finding the junk food, he smirked. He moved down the bakery section and cleared his throat. "I swear to God you would think dad would have more of an idea how to handle this. I mean mom did go through this twice, you know?" Like not yelling at Sam every five seconds might be a good place to start.
“Healthy isn’t boring, it’s ‘healthy’, which is good for me since I’m kind of growing another person in my body; I’ll need all of the vitamins and proteins I can get since the baby will get the majority of what I take in.” Sam shook her head at her brother and sighed.
"Hey, I'm fine with going for you and all that I'm just making a simple request," Dean answered. "I mean, the last thing I want is for you to be doing something you shouldn't be and getting hurt or something." He didn't know too much about this kind of thing but he knew that at some point Sam was going to be bigger and just shouldn't be stressing herself out doing little things or bigger things. "Hm, maybe we should slow down on the sex, then," he joked.
“Dad isn’t going to treat me like he treated mom, Dean. I’m his baby and I’m pregnant far before he’s ready for me to be, so he’s going to stay angry and pissy and… well, it’s not like I make things any easier on him. If he wasn’t so damn domineering all the time, I might be able to hold a conversation with him that didn’t end in us screaming at each other.” Sam frowned as she looked over the different types of fresh bread offered, determined to try and keep her temper in check with dad so that she’d be able to give at least a little bit of relief. She couldn’t promise much, but it would be better than normal, which would probably make John wary.
Sam and John were both to blame with shit, they were both hot headed and stubborn. Dean wasn't any different but he never fought with those two like they did with each other so he was normally the one trying to get them to chill out and shut the fuck up every once in a while. Or he used to, anymore he just stopped trying. "Yeah, well, it'll be better once we aren't all living in the same house. I mean, he can't bitch and you can't either if you hardly see one another."
“I’ll try harder to get along with him, okay? I know you hate being caught in the middle of us, and if he’s going out hunting and we’re not going to see much of him, it’ll be easier and better if I make an effort to keep myself in check.” And it wasn’t just that; John could, if he wanted to, drag Dean back out on the road and leave her in Bobby’s care if he decided to be an asshole and Sam didn’t want to chance it. “Go get some junk food before you start drooling. And, just so you know, there’s no way in hell I’ll agree with slowing down on the sex; I want you, you want me-we’re christening every single room in that house.”
"Yeah, but if that kid gets a part of everything you get…" Dean said making a bit of a face because that really was kind of gross. Sam made a face at that, too. He moved over to the junk food the second that she gave the okay because there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to eat whatever healthy food she would buy. "I'll try to talk to him, too; remind him that the last thing you need is stress and maybe he'll back off a little." He shrugged, knowing it may or may not work. He looked over at his sister for a second before adding. "You know, I hear that women get really horny when they are getting ready to drop a kid."
“Dude, I’m always this way. So, if I’m supposed to get worse the further along I get then you might need to take out an insurance policy or start taking some stamina enhancers because I’ll probably end up eating you alive.” Sam grinned smugly and put two short loaves of French bread in the cart before pushing it over to where Dean was greedily ogling the junk food. “I think I’m jealous of Twinkies; you stare at them with that much fascination and I’ll start wondering about you and your junk food fetish.”
"Hey, I'm young enough to keep up with you, I think," Dean said making a bit of a face as he looked over all the different snacks and grabbed a few things, putting them into the cart. "You should be jealous though, because you have no idea how many different uses for chocolate sauce that I've had," he answered with a leer on his lips.
All humor slid from Sam’s face and she started off down the aisle at a calm walk, shoulders tight. “I don’t want to know about your women, if you don’t mind.” She quickly grabbed parmesan cheese, cheddar, fresh garlic, and croutons further down, and then marched to the back of the store in search of steaks. As long as she didn’t think about it, then Dean never had other women before and he could be just hers. It was stupid, maybe, but Sam had grown up with Dean at the center of her universe and she was a little possessive of him. She knew it, but that didn’t take away the boil in her veins when he mentioned having been with other people.
"I didn't mean…" he started but she stalked off and he just rolled his eyes. Well, at least one of them could pretend. As far as Dean knew, or, rather, as far as she was letting him believe, in about eight months he would have a daily loud reminder of the fact that she had been with someone else. He had been with other women, of course; he was fucking around years before Sam had crawled into bed with him and all this had started. He followed her down towards the back and stopped behind her. "Do we need to stop at the drug store or something before we go home?"
“No, we don’t need anything as far as I know,” Sam replied and tried to ignore the burn of jealousy that curled in her gut, but she had to comment one more time. She just couldn’t help herself. “Dean,” she said tiredly. “I’m seriously possessive of you, so unless you want me to go on a rampage around the country killing any women that have touched you, you won’t mention them to me, okay?”
Dean really was trying to ignore the annoyance of where this part of the conversation was going. He sighed in annoyance because did she seriously think she had the right? Like really? "Sam, I haven't been fucking anyone else but you in the last two years, so are we done with this crap now?" he asked, grabbing the cart.
Sam opened her mouth to reply and then snapped it shut and folded her arms over her stomach. She couldn’t exactly come clean and tell Dean that she’d never been with anyone else without him realizing that the baby was his. Sure, he might be willing to marry her, fuck her, and keep her, but literally being a father… well, he was going to do that, maybe, but… no. Just, just no.
He was already skittish about the baby to begin with, telling him it was his would make him run and Sam just couldn’t handle that. “Pick out some steaks, please, and I’ll go find some… I’m going to look at a few things. I’ll be back.” She walked off without giving him a chance to speak, too upset with the tangle her lie had become to stand there and keep her mouth shut.
Dean picked out something at random and just threw it into the cart; he didn't much give a damn for anything at the moment. He was pissed off at her now. He wasn't looking to fight with her but she couldn't stand there and get mad at him for a stupid joke. One he might add had nothing to do with any of the other women he had been with after she had…. She loved him, okay, but she had wanted normality too and college was more likely to give her that than he was.
He pressed his lips together and picked up a second package, putting it in before heading up towards the front. To find out the kid was his would freak him out, at some point the reality of this would set in. It may be after the kid was born that Dean realized that he was going to be playing daddy but right now… she wasn't even showing for God’s sake!
Sam was standing at the front of the store with her back to Dean, picking over novels with a little package of baby rattles and what looked like a windchime dangling from her hand. Her shoulders were tight and she was more pawing than neatly shifting the books around. She shifted from foot to foot and glanced around briefly before carding her fingers through her hair in distress. She fisted her hand and smacked it hard against her thigh, then hung her head, shaking it side to side.
Dean came up behind Sam and watched her sort of flip out. He had no idea what she was doing or what she was looking at that seemed to upset her so much. He moved behind her putting the cart off to the side before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sam?" he asked, his own anger forgotten for the time being. Sam always seemed to drown out everything else, even when she was part of the issue to begin with.
She jumped and spun, eyes huge and guilty as she looked up at him, and then Sam sighed in relief when she recognized him and relaxed. “Um, sorry about that. I… it’s bad luck to move into a house without buying something pretty for it, and… well, I saw these and figured if I buy things here and there up until I have the baby, then I won’t have to go out and buy everything at once, you know?”
Dean leaned against the cart and pulled his hand back as he looked down at what Sam had in her hand. "Building a nest?" he joked and as he looked over at the other things she had been looking at. "Yeah, I guess there's a lot to get before the house is ready and all that. Better to do everything here and there rather than, like, four weeks before you're due."
“Speaking of due, we need to go back to Bobby’s. Doc Carver said she’d call with test results, right? I kinda have to be there since it’s illegal to give medical information out to anyone other than the patient.” Which Sam decided was a good thing since the last thing she needed was for Bobby or dad to find out she was a little over two months along. And Dean definitely didn’t need to know that, not right now. “So, are we ready to go?”
"That's a good thing because I doubt you want dad in your business about it," Dean muttered because at this point what John and Sam would fight about… He didn't even want to know. John was all for finding the baby's father, Dean didn't want to fucking know for the same reason Sam didn't want to hear about anyone he had been with. Honestly though Sam was his so he would easily kill the fucker. "I'm ready, though." Dean turned the cart and headed towards the closest cashier.
Sam followed him and stood beside him in line, staring at the magazine racks thoughtfully. She tried to picture scenarios in which she told Dean the truth, but in every one of them all she could picture him doing was running. He’d never wanted kids, had been adamant about it since he learned where babies had come from, and steered clear of pregnant women like they carried the plague. The only reason he was even sticking around at the moment was because she was his sister. Sam sighed heavily and looked over at Dean. “I’m sorry I lost my temper earlier. I’ve got no room getting an attitude about that.”
Dean put the stuff on the counter and pulled his wallet out, looking back at Sam as she spoke. He nodded his head but really didn't know what to say at first. He had some shit he wanted to say but he wasn't going to be an asshole. "It's okay," he said and thought for a second; cash or credit cards? He was going to have to get rid of pretty much all of his credit cards. "Why were you freaking out over there?" he asked, still concerned but less willing to show it, it tended to annoy her and he knew it.
“Nothing, nothing, just general ‘oh shit, I’m gonna be someone’s mom’ kind of thing,” Sam said with a nervous laugh. While that was true, it wasn’t all of it. “And, it’s not okay that I turned into a jealous little bitch, but I will work on not freaking out when you make jokes about… about your past.” And that was about as politely as Sam could find to put it. Because it was, it was the past. Dean was hers now, and she was going to marry him and have this baby with him and they’d live happily ever after, goddamn it.
Dean really wasn't making a joke about the past. He had just meant things he thought of to do with Sam and chocolate sauce but there was no use in bringing that up now because seriously that would be a turn off now, for Sam at least. He smiled sort of sadly; Sam was going to be a mom and that would completely change his Sammie, but that was just being self-centered and he pushed the thought from his mind. "I'll try to be more careful," he said honestly. "I'm sorry I upset you to begin with." He paid the woman and moved to the end of the counter to pick their bags up so they could head outside and finally get home.
“I can carry some of that. I mean, I’ve been going to class with heavier books than those bags for awhile now, even despite being pregnant. Granted, I didn’t know at the time, but it didn’t bother me.” Sam moved over to him, pushed the cart out of the way, and grabbed one of the bags.
"You know, you may want to try and enjoy being babied while it lasts," Dean said as they headed out the door. He held it open for her and walked to the car.
Sam snorted and opened the backdoor on her side, set the bag in the floorboard, and then closed it up before crawling in the front seat. “Well, yeah, I probably should because I know dad is going to have me running PT as soon as I can while he sits and plays with the baby.”
Dean made a face. "Sam, you’re going to have a kid I think I can honestly say you can tell dad to shove it." That was a bit odd coming from Dean, though, because he was normally the one that followed orders to perfect detail. Then the blow up with Sam happened and Dean sort of blamed their dad and a lot changed after that. Yeah, he followed orders but as far as dad was concerned, with his attitude, he wasn't the perfect son anymore. He pulled out onto the road and headed for home.
“Yeah, well, it’s dad. Besides, I’ll need to get back in shape after the baby and it’ll be kind of cute to see him all moon-eyed over his grandson or granddaughter, you know? I can lord it over him for the rest of his life.” Sam grinned wickedly at the thought. She knew that there was a soft spot somewhere deep down under John Winchester’s cold and aloof façade and she just hoped that a baby would find it.
Dean smirked and leaned back as he drove. "Maybe. I remember how he was when you were first born, well I sort of remember anyway." John had been a mess with a new baby girl around so it was kind of funny. Of course back then their dad wasn't so much of a hardass, close, but nowhere near how he was now.
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t hit the roof when we suggest playing a couple for now. We’ll worry about him turning into a big softy after the baby gets here. We’ve got months and months to wait for that. He’d better damn well show up for the birth, though. After all the birthdays and holidays he missed when we were growing up, he’d better show for this kid or I’m going to shoot him in the ass with a shotgun. It won’t kill him, but it’ll hurt like hell.” Sam slid down in her seat, legs sprawled wide against the dashboard, and her hands laced over her flat stomach. The skirt was only barely hiding the fact that she was without panties in that position, but no one was there to bitch about it so she might as well cool off.
"Don't people normally seem to be nicer to their grandkids than they are to their actual kids, anyway?" he asked. "I mean, I can really see dad being all over the idea of an infant around. Between him and Bobby I think you're going to be hearing all the advice that you can take and then some." Bobby was already on the wagon and now there was just John to work on but he had faith it would come at some point. Sam was his baby girl, Dean knew that, now they just had to make him show it.
"Well, he'll get use to it, just like everything else… I hope." He looked out of the corner of his eyes and smirked, turning back to the road as they made it out of town and back to Bobby's. Parking the car he looked back to where Sam had thrown her shorts. Now, normally he would assume she would change back. "Are you staying in the skirt or are you going to try and play nice before diner?" he joked.
“I’ll play nice, if only because when I get you to our room I’m going to ride you like a pony and I don’t want to waste time getting undressed.” Sam grinned brightly at Dean and slid gracefully out of the car. She grabbed a bag and her shorts, and sashayed across the yard toward the door.
Reaching in the back seat he grabbed the second bag and laughed, shaking his head. Man and the horny part of this whole thing was just starting. Maybe babies weren't so bad after all, you know, as long as they were still in there anyway. He headed towards the house behind his sister and stopped a second to look at where Sam had broken part of the house. He sighed and shook his head, he'd fix that tomorrow. Last thing they needed to do was tear the man's house down after everything that he'd been doing for them.
John and Bobby were at the kitchen table when Sam and Dean stepped in, and Sam hurried to put her bag down on the counter before crawling up in Bobby’s lap and planting a hard, smacking kiss right on his mouth. “The house is awesome, Bobby!” she squealed as she hugged his neck, ignoring the nervous and uncomfortable sputtering Bobby was doing.
Then, without warning, Sam crawled up in John’s lap and kissed him the same way before flinging her arms around his neck. “It’s just gorgeous! I’ve got all kinds of things I want to do with it, and maybe we can get a dog,” she babbled, straddling John’s knees like she was five again. “And, it’s only got the two bedrooms, but the baby and I will have one and Dean will have the other one. The couch looks comfortable so if you want to stay with us you can sleep there. It’s… it’s perfect, daddy! Can we have it?”
John pulled back and looked at Sam like she was insane or maybe a shapeshifter or something. She was never this happy, ever, no matter what was going on. He raised an eyebrow and put his hand to her back to keep her from falling off his lap or something and just looked at Dean as he came in. His son merely shrugged and set his bag down before laughing softly.
John had to assume she was really Sam and not some demon or something. "You got any holy water on you by any chance, Bobby?" he asked with a smirk, no matter his surprise. "Yeah… you know, if you’re sure you want it," he joked. He couldn't help it actually; he hadn't seen Sam this happy in a very long time, he was fairly sure the last time she had smiled like that she was only seven. He assumed everything went okay at the doctor or she wouldn't be so happy so his first series of questions took a backseat for now.
Bobby snorted at the holy water comment and shared a fondly exasperated look with Dean before scrubbing a hand over his mouth. It was… weird to know what Sam’s mouth felt like against his own. Creepy, even. She’d never kissed him, not even when she’d been a kid. He expected that the house was right up her alley, in a really big way for her to have crossed that line.
“I’m not possessed, dad,” Sam grinned. “But, I am sure about the house. And, um, there’s something I want to ask you and Bobby about.” She shifted a bit, realizing how freaky it was to sit on her dad’s lap without anything on under her skirt, but she couldn’t get up without making John suspicious all of a sudden. “The receptionist at the doctor’s office called me and Dean ‘Mr. and Mrs. Winchester’ and I got to thinking that maybe if we just pose as a couple in public, it would give Dean a reason to fly to my rescue if someone gets out of line, and Dean would be able to go to the doctor with me. Besides, it would be kind of creepy to the locals if a brother and sister were moving in and I’m pregnant. It would… it would look like something it isn’t.” Even if it was the truth, Sam thought privately.
Dean looked from Bobby to John and just rolled his eyes. Seriously Sam had gone from sort of bitchy to all over them so yeah he could understand where the weird looks were coming from. Bobby tended to be a little… less affectionate, anyway.
He leaned against the counter and turned to see Sam still sitting on John's lap and clenched his teeth against the swell of jealousy that rose in his gut because that was getting really fucking stupid so he just ignored it and sat down only to look up and have John glare at him. "What? I thought it was a good idea. I mean, men gape at her as it is. If she has a husband that is known to fly off the handle, well, I won't need to pay people off to watch her back," he said honestly.
"That's kind of… odd, isn't it?" John asked, unsure how his children would be able to pull that one off. Brothers and sisters acted differently towards one another than a husband and wife did for fuck’s sake. Though he did understand Dean's point of view and God knew the last thing that Sam or any of them needed was someone coming in trying to play boyfriend or daddy.
“Which would be odder, dad; Dean pretending to be my husband to keep me safe, or Dean being my big brother and the neighbors talking about us and getting noticed?” Sam asked, tipping her head to the side. “Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s not like Dean and I haven’t played couples on hunts before. Dean and I are cool with being in each other’s space, and it’s safer for me. I’m going to end up with a huge belly, and I won’t be able to defend myself as well, and some people, even in small towns like this, would take advantage of a single pregnant woman where they’d leave a married pregnant woman alone.”
“She’s got a point, John. It’s a smart idea, and the people in this town talk; if it came out that they were siblings, there would be talk of incest and they’d speculate over whether the baby is Dean’s or not. Can’t draw that kind of attention to ‘em,” Bobby muttered, agreeing, but not comfortable with the idea.
John didn't like the idea but he couldn't really argue with it because it did make sense. Besides as protective as Dean was of Sam it would look normal for them to be a couple rather than just a brother and a sister. He sighed and looked from his daughter to Bobby, not at all comfortable with this because… they were siblings, and to have his kids playing house twenty-four/seven was more not-normal than even he was used to. "Alright, fine."
Dean saw the look on his father's face when Bobby said the word ‘incest’ and he was very much reminded why they were very careful when it came to Sam and his relationship with her.
Sam’s smile went nuclear and she flung her arms around John’s neck, squeezing him tight. “Thanks, daddy. I was kind of worried about living away from Bobby if people knew Dean was my brother, you know? I got some… looks, while we were in the store. Oh! Speaking of which, we’re having steak for dinner. I’m cooking.”
“Well, what the hell are you sittin’ around for, girl! Get your skinny ass up and start cookin’,” Bobby said, sounding horrified that there was steak in his house and it wasn’t already cooking. Bobby was a sucker for a good steak.
John made a bit of a face but managed to remove it by the time Sam pulled back again and was face to face with him. "What kind of looks?" he asked but soon moved onto the fact that they were having steak because Christ knew it was one of John's favorites, if not his favorite. "Yeah, you better start now or we'll start eating it before you even get it into the pan."
Dean was more relaxed now that John and Bobby weren't freaked about the idea, not at all pleased about it but not going through the roof. He laughed and looked over at Sam. "Told you it would go over well," he commented at Bobby's reaction. "Of course she wants a salad for herself but that's a battle I'm not bothering with."
“Hey, I’m having a steak, too. Just… a balanced meal needs vegetables. It’s only a Caesar salad, and I’ll even make them small. You guys need some vegetables in your diets or you’re going to keel over from a heart attack.” Sam slid off of John’s lap, twitching when a fold in his jeans scrubbed over sensitive skin, and made her way to the bags to start dinner.
“Are you sure that’s your kid, John? Only hunter I’ve ever seen that worries about ‘balanced meals’.” Bobby wrinkled his nose but privately admitted that a small salad wouldn’t kill him. Maybe.
“Nope, I’m a pod-person, Bobby,” Sam replied, tipping his hat forward on his head and scruffing her hand through John’s hair as she passed to get the steaks prepped for the grill. “Dean, can you start up the grill for me?”
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