Sorry it took me so long to start posting this one, y'all! I've just been in a weird mood lately and haven't felt like it. I haven't even felt much like writing at all the last couple of days, but I have made some progress on the next story in this series, so hopefully I can keep up regular posting with this one and get the next one finished and up soon. P.S. I didn't do extremely exstensive medical research, and I've never personally had any of Dean's injuries, so those particular details may be off, but they're not really a pivital part of the story so I didn't worry about it too much. Y'all don't mind, right? Anyway, here it is. Enjoy! ~SG

Chapter 1

"So," Meredith said as she handed Dean an open bottle of beer and sat down beside him after getting him settled on the couch. "How's it feel to be home?"

Dean took the bottle with his good hand, the one that wasn't in a cast and a sling, and tried to ignore the single crutch leaning against the couch on his other side. His injured foot was propped up on the coffee table with a throw pillow under it, and he winced a little at the pain as he shifted ever so slightly into a more comfortable position.

Once he was as comfortable as he was going to get he took a swig from the bottle and considered her question. He could tell by the sound of her voice that she loved asking it, that she loved the idea that her home was his home now too.

Once Sam and Dean had both been cleared to leave the hospital Dean had paid a visit to Crowley's room while Sam had helped Meredith and Claire sneak Cas out. Despite the human blood Rowena had been shooting him up with Crowley was still a demon, though she had poisoned him the same as she had poisoned Cas and he wasn't healing properly. He was also jonesing for a hit since his mother had gotten him hooked again, and Dean used that to his advantage, promising a shot of his own blood in exchange for a deal. Crowley would go back to running Hell because Sam and Dean didn't want to think about what might happen if someone else took over, but he was to keep his demons in line. If any of them went rogue or started causing even the least amount of trouble or welshing on deals, one or both of the Winchesters would gladly take them out. The same went for Crowley. The King of Hell had agreed fairly quickly, willing to agree to anything at that point for a taste of human blood.

Sam had come back after getting Cas smuggled into the backseat of Meredith's Camaro so that the girls could get him settled at the motel, and they had worked out all the details of the deal, going over each line carefully to make sure there was no loophole Crowley could slip through before anyone signed their name to the long scroll.

After getting Crowley out of the hospital and set up with a private nurse that had been promised a large sum of money to keep her mouth shut, the Winchesters, Meredith, Cas, and Claire spent a few more days at the motel in Staten Island to give Cas some time to heal a little more, and then they had all piled into the Camaro and driven back to the bunker. The plan was for Claire and Cas to stay there until Cas was fully recouperated. Dean was headed back to Bristol Ridge, opting to ride along with Meredith while Sam followed in the Impala. Sam was spending the night with Dean and Meredith and then flying back to Kansas in the morning to help Claire take care of Cas. Dean was stayng put. For now at least.

They all knew there was still a chance that this wouldn't work out, and Meredith would wake up one morning alone in her bed after having said a tearful and heartbreaking goodbye the night before. Dean knew he couldn't leave her without saying goodbye, but for now he had no intentions of going anywhere. Partly because he physically couldn't without some help, and partly because what Meredith had just said was true. This, here with her, was his home now.

He smiled, unable to stop himself even if he had wanted to, and spoke softly because his nearly crushed trachea was still on the mend. "Good. Really good."

Meredith smiled as well and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow as she rested her head on his good shoulder. She turned the TV on and they found an old black and white movie to watch. Dean kissed the top of her head, and thought that maybe, just maybe, this could last for a while.

Six months later...

Six months. With the exception of the forty years he had spent in Hell, his year with Ben and Lisa, and his year in Purgatory, it was the longest amount of time Dean had ever spent in one place. But this was different than any of those times. This felt like it might have the possibility of permanence. This felt right.

He had been happy with Ben and Lisa, had loved them even, but this was...more. What he felt for Meredith was deeper, and, for some reason he felt like he fit in here better than he ever had in the world he had lived in with Ben and Lisa, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Instead of suburban neighborhood barbecues he was dragged out to celebratory events that spanned the entire town, sometimes the entire county, but it was still the same general idea. Friends and neighbors getting together around grills and pools, and kids running around playing while the adults chatted and drank. Throw in a few fireworks and craft shows here and there, and you had a general idea of the Bristol Ridge social scene. With Ben and Lisa he had taken a job in construction, which hadn't really felt like the right fit, but was better than nothing, and here he had been completely out of work for a few months while his injuries had healed. Now he had a job, provided somewhat grudgingly by Jake, as a mechanic at Bristol Automotive. It was a good fit, but he wasn't sure he was really happy with it. Especially since he and Jake still seemed to rub each other the wrong way on a fairly frequent basis. Was it that they simply had too much in common, or was it that they had Meredith in common?

Along with the town events and his new job he had also been domesticated once more, which he really didn't mind. He helped Meredith around the house as much as he could, more so now that he didn't need her to help him help her, and they had fallen into a nearly perfect synchronicity, almost like they were meant to be together. He wasn't sure he believed in the whole soul mate thing, even after that whole weird Cupid encounter, but it definitely seemed as though they had been made for each other. Of course, there were some arguments and things they had been forced to agree to disagree about, but overall things were good, and it was so much easier with Meredith than it had been with Lisa. Maybe because there wasn't a kid involved.

Dean hadn't had any problems stepping up and being the man in Ben's life, but he had never felt completely comfortable with the entire dad role. Hanging out and teaching him how to work on cars had come easily, but the punishment part had been weird. He wasn't actually Ben's dad, or even his stepdad for that matter, and he had never been sure if he was supposed to be handling that side of things as well or if he should just leave it up to Lisa. With Meredith there was none of that because the only kids in their life didn't legally belong to her, so all he really had to do was be aware of whatever rules Jake and Kim and the Archers set for their children and stick to them.

Yeah, Dean thought as he shut off the water and pushed the shower curtain back. I can see myself staying in this life.

As long as nothing forced him out.

Sam was doing just fine on his own, taking care of the occasional monster and being some kind of mix between Bobby and the Men of Letters, and everyone else seemed to be doing just fine as well. Cas had healed completely, and was working hard at his day job trying to keep Heaven in line while still visiting frequently, and continuing to be sort of a father figure to Claire. Jody hadn't had any supernatural trouble in a long time, and both Alex and Claire were in college now. Claire was even managing to juggle school with the occasional weekend hunt, usually only venturing into the supernatural world if Sam needed a hand on a case. And Crowley was holding up his end of the deal he had made with the Winchesters. There had been a few incidents that had needed Sam's attention, but overall things seemed to be running smoothly, which frankly amazed Dean. There was no way it was going to last forever, but he was bound and determined to enjoy it while it did.

He had even heard from Garth a couple of months back, and was happy to hear that his weird little friend was doing just fine with his weird little werewolf family. They even had a kid now, which was why Garth had called.

By some miracle things were going well and life was good, and Dean couldn't help but smile as he got dressed. And his smile only grew wider when he walked out of the bedroom and almost collided with Meredith as she came out of the guest bathroom.

"What, you can't pee with me in the shower?" he teased.

"Sometimes a girl just likes a little privacy." she replied and headed toward the kitchen.

Dean followed her. "See, that just makes me want to know exactly what you were doing in there, because it kind of sounds like something I might've been able to help with."

Of course he would make it about sex. "Who says I need any help?"

"Now, that just hurts my feelings." he said, pouting as she filled a reusable plastic bottle with sweet tea, which she preferred over coffee as her source of caffeine. "Do I need to step up my game? I mean, I know I'm a little rusty, but in my defense I was recovering from nearly fatal wounds for about three months."

"Rusty is the last word I would use." she assured him, trying and failing to hide a smile. "Your game is just fine."

Dean grinned wickedly. "Wanna play?"

Meredith laughed. "No. I want to not be late for work."

"We've got time."

"Yeah, we've got time for you to drop me and the kids off at school."

Dean glanced at the clock on the stove and realized that she was right. They were cutting it a little close this morning. "In that case we should probably get going."

"Brilliant idea, my love." she agreed and moved toward the mudroom, grabbing her purse from the counter.

Dean, wanting another moment alone with her, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, spinning her around to face him before pressing his lips to hers. "You know, if I had had a teacher that looked like you in high school I might've done better."

"Don't blame the teachers." she chided, slipping her arms around his neck. "You, Dean Winchester, are plenty smart. You could've done better if you had wanted to."

"Well, maybe if I had a teacher that looked like you I would've wanted to." he said, closing his arms around her waist. "Nothing impresses a teacher like a smart kid."

"Actually," she corrected, stopping him as he moved in for another kiss. "I'm not all that impressed by smart kids. Don't get me wrong. Smart kids are great, but what I really love to see is when a kid that maybe isn't catching on so quickly tries their hardest to do the best they can."

"So, you prefer the kids like me." Dean surmised. "The ones that aren't so naturally gifted in school like Sam was, but that try harder than I did."

"I like all of my students." she argued. "But yes. I do love to see a kid try. Besides, book smarts are great and all, but they're not everything. I'll take a man with common sense and street smarts over a Ph. D. any day."

"And here I thought you only liked me for my looks." Dean joked. "Turns out you think I'm smart too."

"I think you're very smart." she agreed, and smiled playfully. "But no one's ever gonna hear me complaining about the way you look."

Dean smiled and ended the conversation with another kiss. "And I happen to know for a fact tht you don't like all of your students." he added before letting her go.

"Some kids are just creepy." she said in her own defense.

When they got outside they found Dylan and Rowan waiting by the Impala. Dylan was poking at Rowan and she was twisting and squirming, trying desperately to escape him, and squeaking every time his finger dug into her side.

"Dylan!" she whined. "Stop it!"

"In the car!" Meredith called above Rowan's noisy protests, bringing an end to Dylan's attacks.

"Hey, Dean," Dylan said, looking hopeful. "Can I drive?"

"Nope." Dean replied, fighting hard against the urge to cave as the kid's face fell. He knew better.

"It's been a month." Dylan begged.

"It hasn't been a month." Dean corrected. "You still have a week left."

Dylan tried again. "The accident wasn't even that bad. I barely even tapped Mr. Winslow's car."

Dean didn't bite. "Tell that to the dent I had to take out of Baby's front fender, and your dad's bank account."

"You don't even like my dad." Dylan accused.

Dean didn't necessarily not like Jake, but it was true that they didn't get along all that well a lot of the time. Again, Dean wondered if it was because of Meredith.

Whatever the reason, he couldn't really argue with Dylan on that point, but he could still stand his ground on the driving because one had nothing to do with the other. "Your dad and I may not see eye to eye on every little thing, but we do agree on this. You weren't paying attention to the road because you were too busy texting, and you ran a stop sign and hit Mr. Winslow's car. You could've seriously hurt someone. Or killed someone. You were lucky, Dylan."

"But..."

"Your parents said no driving for a month, and I'm not bending on that." Dean said, cutting off whatever protest the boy had in mind. "Maybe next time you get behind the wheel you'll remember to pay attention to the road and not your phone. Get in the car."

He may not have felt completely comfortable punishing Ben, but this wasn't the first time he had laid down the law with a kid. He had done it a few times with Ben, and he had done it more than a few times with Sam. And with Claire. And with Krissy Chambers. He realized as he got in the car that he had been parenting other people's kids his whole life. Too bad Sam had been forced to shoot Emma, or maybe Dean could actually parent his own kid for a change, but he was pulled out of his thoughts a few moments later.

Meredith smiled in amusement at the look on Dean's face when he turned the radio on and found it set to a hip hop station. In a matter of seconds his expression went from surprise and confusion, to realization and mild annoyance, to an eye roll and a look shot in her direction that said: Really? Again?.

It was a game they had started playing in the last couple of months since he had been cleared by the doctor. They would sneak out to each other's car and either change the station to something that should never be playing in that particular vehicle (which was difficult for Dean because Meredith listened to nearly everything), mess with each other's presets (which Dean had never had in the Impala before his decision to settle down with Meredith), or turn the volume up so that the music blasted out of the speakers at deafening levels and made them glad that they didn't lived in a crowded subdivision with a lot of neighbors to disturb.

"Really?" he asked out loud, adding to the look he was giving her.

Meredith just smiled.

I really wish I could've included a flashback of Dean finding out about Dylan's accident, but sadly it didn't fit. Maybe I can post it as a quick one-shot accompiniment piece. Actually, I didn't even think to add it until just now so I really have no idea what happened, but who else would like to find out with me? ~SG