Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Ellison "Ellie" Winchester/Mary Rothman does.
A/N: For right now, Fridays in May is still on hiatus. For right now, enjoy this new one!
There were days on the calendar that stuck out for John Winchester. As the years passed, they began to diminish somewhat in meaning, though they still had a lasting imprint on John's psyche. April 17th was his wedding anniversary, which he still celebrated despite the fact that his wife had been dead and buried for nearly a quarter century. January 24th was the birthday of his oldest son, Dean. May 2nd was the birthday of his younger son Sam. March 18th was his own birthday, which he hadn't celebrated in more years than he could count.
But there were two days that hurt John more than anything else.
One of them was November 2nd. November 2nd was the day that Mary, his wife had died. And exactly two weeks later, November 16th, had been the second day in John's life that he was surprised he'd been able to live through. The day he'd discovered that his oldest daughter, Ellie, was dead.
John didn't know the exact day or time that Ellie had died, because she'd run away after a massive fight with him. Well, if John was honest with himself, she'd run away after he'd screamed like a banshee at her and made her feel, in his words, 'no better than the girls your brother sometimes picks up in bars, and you aren't even legal age yet'. John had left the motel room they were staying in when he'd drawn his fist back to hit her, only to come back later and find that she'd taken nothing more than her sweater, the clothes on her back, and her journal. A five-day hunt for Ellie had turned up nothing, until that horrible phone call from Jim that had nearly ended John's life as well.
Ellie had committed suicide.
She'd been found underneath a bridge in a county nearly fifty miles away, where she'd apparently jumped to her death after writing a note in her journal and leaving it for her father. John knew the note by heart. Daddy, I'm so sorry I disappointed you. I hope you can move on without me here. Tell Sammy and Deanie that I love them and care about them, and that I'm sorry things couldn't be better. Please, no matter what, don't split up because of me. Yours forever, Ellie' Ellie's death had been bad enough, and it alone had nearly destroyed John's will to live. But there was another tragic piece to the puzzle.
Ellie had been three months pregnant when she died.
That had been the catalyst for the fight, and John had left because of it. He'd left feeling angry and betrayed that at fifteen, almost sixteen, she could throw away her life for something as stupid as unprotected sex. She had tried to defend herself in the argument, but it had done no good. John had continued to scream, Ellie continued to cry, and he'd stormed out. Two hours later, he'd realized how reckless he'd been, and had gone back to the room to find her gone.
Now, as John dressed and prepared himself for the day on what should have been both Ellie and Sam's thirtieth birthday, John wished beyond everything that he could have gotten to know his grandchild. That he could've gotten to know the joy of holding another baby in his arms, to feel the unconditional love a small child provided. But he didn't, and never would, have that chance.
John was shaken out of his thoughts by Dean, who stumbled into the front room of the small house that he, Sam, and John all shared. It wasn't much, but it was the home base that Sam and Ellie, and Dean in John's suspicion, had always hoped for. John had bought the house after Ellie died in an attempt to fulfill her last wish of all of them staying together. There seemed to have been an unspoken agreement between the three of them to keep hunting, but to focus more on themselves as a family in their downtime as well.
"Hey, dad." Dean said.
"Hey, Dean. You ready to head out on that hunt today?" John asked as he poured coffee.
"Yeah." Dean answered with a yawn. "Sam's just getting dressed, then we'll be ready."
"Good." John said. "I have the name and address of the next place this spirit is likely to target. Mr. and Mrs. Jason Rothman."
"Why them?" Dean asked.
"Well, they've been married for ten years, but have a son, Connor, who's fourteen."
"Interesting." Dean said, voice only dripping with a bit of sarcasm.
"Hey, guys. Ready to go?"
Sam came out and the three of them headed off to Salinsa, New York to work the case. They chatted about theories on how to draw the spirit out on the way, but John was thinking about Ellie. The spirit they were chasing went after unwed mothers. John wondered if Ellie had lived whether the spirit would be going after her. When they arrived in Salinas, John sent Sam and Dean ahead to do a little reconnaissance, while he slept in the motel room. Some light protest came from Sam and Dean, but they went about their agreed mission.
The afternoon was dull. Mrs. Rothman didn't come home for a while, so they were stuck, mostly in silence, in the Impala. Finally, a car pulled up into the driveway. It was what Dean called the typical 'mom mobile'-a station wagon meant for a family with a lot of kids. And Mrs. Rothman fit the bill. When she stopped the car, a boy of about fifteen, which Dean guessed was Connor, piled out holding a soccer ball, and went around to the back and got out a few bags of groceries. His mom got out of the car, thanked him, and let out three little girls, identical triplets, who looked to be about three years old. The mom helped everyone into the house, but Dean stared in bewilderment. Surely it was a trick, a hallucination, a cruel joke. It couldn't be true.
"Sam." Dean said, smacking Sam in the stomach with a light 'ow' of protest from his brother. "Look at Mrs. Rothman."
Sam did look, and he seemed just as amazed as Dean. Before either of them could say anything, there was a light tapping on the back passenger door of the Impala, and Connor was standing there with a phone in his hand.
"My mom told me to bring this phone out to you guys and to come straight back into the house."
Dean took the phone from Connor, who promptly turned around to head back inside. The caller ID simply read 'Home'. Dean put it on speaker before saying,
"Hello?"
"Well?" A familiar female voice answered. "Aren't you two gonna come inside?"
Dean quickly hung up the cell phone and looked to Sam. The most bizarre case they'd ever handled was right through the door of that house across the street, and it had nothing to do with the vengeful spirit. Slowly, they walked over and into the house, where the front door was open and waiting for them. The three girls played in a circle on the living room floor, while Mrs. Rothman quickly thanked Connor for going to the car for her and gave him permission to go upstairs to play video games. When Mrs. Rothman was facing them, Dean and Sam could no longer deny the truth.
"Ellie?" Sam asked.
As the breath left his chest, he found the ability to inhale suddenly non-existent. Dean was speechless.
Mrs. Rothman smiled, put her hands on her hips, and said, "Hi, guys. It's good to see you."
