This is not the story I promised in my last AN on Just A Dream. However, there are still some familiar faces for us and the boys. Just not the ones I had planned for.

I'm a little hesitant to start posting now because this story has grown much bigger than the others in this series. It doesn't just focus on Sam like I had originally planned. Dean's family is still very much involved, and there's another story line that I came up with simply to give a character a reason for showing up and it turned into something that needed to be played out properly instead of just being mentioned and moved on from. And then there's the stuff with Sam that I can't go into too much detail on without giving away major spoilers.

If you've read some of my other stories you know I can get carried away with adding characters and plot twists and story lines, and that tends to lead to stories not getting finished (WOTW series, Rosewood Falls, Saving Grace, etc.). That's part of why I've kept the other stories in this series so simple, and why I've waited to post them until they're finished. I get carried away and then the story gets out of control, and this one has the potential to do the same thing. So part of me wants to wait until it's finished to share, but I'm too excited about it to wait any longer. I'm particularly excited to read everyone's reactions to chapter 5, which I actually wrote in its entirety this morning before I even finished chapter 4, and may possibly be the most important chapter of the story. Possibly of the series thanks to the unexpected things one character decided to say.

I haven't been quite this excited about anything really in the last three-ish months, so I'm gonna go ahead and start posting and hope (and maybe even pray) that I can finish it without getting distracted or loosing interest or control. With that said, let's see what the Mitchell/Winchester family is up to. ~SG

Chapter 1

Dean had washed, waxed, and made sure both cars were running perfectly. He had fixed anything and everything that needed fixing in or out of the house, and dug up the yard to put in an underground iron devil's trap. He had also put in a devil's trap at Jake and Kim's house and helped Jake with a few things that needed fixing over there. He had helped Meredith clean out and organize the garage and attic, had been doing a majority of the household cleaning, and had put together every piece of furniture in the nursery along with helping to paint it and get it set up once Meredith had decided what she wanted to do with it. He helped out with grocery shopping and cooking, made sure they made every doctor's appointment, and made sure they were doing everything they were supposed to be doing to make sure Meredith and Kit were healthy. On top of all of that he worked at the garage Monday through Friday, and he and Jake gave the rest of the family lessons in hunting, self defense, and all things supernatural on the weekends. He had already made sure they were stocked up on salt, holy water, and silver bullets, and had cleaned and sharpened all of his blades. Now he was taking apart every gun he owned, cleaning them whether they needed it or not, and putting them back together at the kitchen table.

Meredith was lying on the couch reading. School was almost out for the summer, and she was beginning to notice changes in Dean that concerned her. He was still the same loving, protective man he had always been, making sure the house was properly locked up and salted each night and taking wonderful care of her, but he seemed restless lately. It was like he had cabin fever even though he was in and out of the house all day every day, interacting with their friends and neighbors, running errands, doing chores. He was living a perfectly normal life, and that was exactly the problem.

"Love?" Meredith called as she marked her place in her book and struggled into a sitting position. It was difficult now that she was just about a month away from her due date.

"Yeah?" Dean replied from the kitchen.

The couch was facing away from the kitchen so she couldn't see what he was doing, but she could still hear him working away. "Could you come here for a minute? I want to talk to you about something."

He set down whatever gun part he was cleaning, pushed the chair back, and walked into the living room, sitting down beside her when she patted the cushion. Meredith could sense he was worried even though he was doing a good job of hiding it. She knew him too well for him to be able to completely hide anything from her.

"What's up?"

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I feel fine." he replied. "Why?"

"You've just seemed restless lately." she said. "I'm worried about you."

"I'm not restless. I'm just...trying to stay busy and get everything done."

"Everything's been done." she said. "The nursery's finished, the house is clean and protected, the yard looks great. Why are you trying to stay busy?"

He shrugged. "I just don't like doing nothing."

"You miss hunting."

"Maybe a little, but—"

She shook her head. "No. No maybe about it, Dean. I know you. And I know you've been turning down jobs."

"What makes you think that?"

"Sam told me." she said. "When I talked to him the other day he asked if you were okay. Apparently he's called you about a few jobs and you refused to go. Why?"

"Because I'm not a hunter anymore." Dean said. "This is my life now. You and Kit. Hunting doesn't mix well with a normal life."

"But you love hunting." she argued. "Why would you want to give it up?"

"Because..." he trailed off, not sure how to answer the question. "I have to. I'm either a hunter, or I'm here. I can't have both."

"Why not?" she asked. "I never asked you to quit. I never wanted you to. It's too much a part of who you are."

Dean was quiet for a long time while he tried to come up with the right words to make her understand. "It just doesn't work that way, Mere. I have a family to take care of now. I can't just go chasing down monsters anymore. It's dangerous. You know that. I could get hurt or killed."

"That was always a possibility, Dean. You have been hurt and killed."

"Yeah, but that was before I had you. Back when it was just me and Sam...Sam was fine on his own. I can't run off and risk my life anymore. I can't leave you to raise Kit on your own. I never thought I would have a family of my own. I never thought I'd live long enough. But now...I want to watch Kit grow up and play with her little brothers and sisters, and graduate from high school and maybe college. I want to walk her down the aisle when she gets married, and play with our grandkids. I have a normal life now, and I love it. I want it to keep going. And it won't if I keep hunting."

Meredith could see in his eyes that he was genuinely afraid of getting hurt or killed if he continued hunting. He was afraid of not being able to come back to her, to their family. And she understood that, but she also knew that hunting had been such a huge part of his world for most of his life. He had been raised in that life, and it was what had shaped him into the man that she loved. It was as much a part of him as his arms and legs, and staying away from it was hurting him. It had been a long time since he had hunted anything, the djinn being the last, and it was obvious to her that civilian life, no matter how much he loved it, was beginning to take a toll on him.

"Dean." she said reaching over and laying her hand on his knee. "I love that you love this life. I love that you're happy here with me, and I get that you don't want to jeopardize that. Really, I do. But I can see what this life is doing to you. You can't do just this forever. It'll make you miserable, and I refuse to be the reason you're miserable."

"I'm not miserable." he argued.

"No, but you're getting there." she said. "You're itching to get out of here."

"Yeah, well, I can't."

"Yes, you can. You don't have to turn down jobs, Dean. I don't want you to."

"Mere."

"I know." she said, cutting off his argument. "I know it's dangerous, but I also know how good you are. Everyone I've talked to says you and Sam are the best hunters there are. You're smart, and you're good at what you do. I trust you to come home in one piece. Or at least to come home. I never asked you to give up hunting, and to be perfectly honest I'd feel a hell of a lot safer knowing you're out there getting rid of the things that could threaten our family. Do I want you gone all the time? No. Of course not, but I don't mind if you take a job here and there. Or even just a vacation if you're that dead set against hunting. You're not used to being in one place all the time, and you've been here for over a year now."

"So, what, you want me to...to take a trip?" he asked.

Meredith nodded. "Yes. Go see Sam, visit Claire. I don't really care where you go, but just go somewhere. This house has never been so clean, and your hovering is driving me crazy."

"I don't hover."

"Yeah." she said. "You do. You don't mean to, but you do."

"Well, I can't go anywhere right now." he said, gesturing to her belly. "We're about to have a baby."

"We've got a month." she reminded him. "Dr. Beyers and Cas have both told us we have nothing to worry about. Everything's fine."

"What if she comes early?"

"I don't think she will. And if she does, I don't think it'll be more than a couple of weeks." Meredith said. "You can take a week to go hang out with your brother. I know you miss him."

"Yeah." Dean admitted. "I've gotten used to it, but it's still kind of weird not having him around all the time."

"So go spend some time with him, catch up, kill something." she urged. "I'll be right here when you get back. I'll have Jake and Kim to help me, and if anything happens we'll call you. Please, Dean. Do me a favor, and get out of my hair for a little while."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

Dean didn't look or sound like he was convinced it was a good idea, but he agreed to go spend a week with Sam. He missed his brother, but he didn't really want to leave home right now. Not so close to their due date, but she insisted.

"Okay." he said. "I'll go. But only for a week, and you'd better call me if anything happens. And I mean anything."

"I promise." she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"I don't like it."

"I know, but you know I'm right."

Dean sighed and put his arm around her as she snuggled against him. "Yeah."

He laid his hand on Meredith's belly, something he did quite often, and Kit kicked against it as if she were saying hello. The smile that spread across Dean's face was completely involuntary. In fact, he wouldn't have noticed it except for the fact that he knew he always smiled when he felt his daughter moving around. He couldn't wait to hold her, and part of him still couldn't believe he was going to get to. This was something he had dreamed about, but it was a dream he had felt certain would never come true. And yet, here he was, just a month away from meeting his little girl.

And Meredith was practically pushing him out the door. He understood why, and he knew he needed a little time away from his domestic life. Part of him really wanted to go, but there was also a part of him that never wanted to leave.

%%%

"Can I go?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Both questions were posed at the same time as soon as Dean and Meredith told the rest of the family that Dean would be taking some time off to go see Sam over dinner that night. One was from Dylan, who was still super excited about all things supernatural, and the other was from Jake, who seemed to share the same concerns that were still keeping Dean from being excited about going.

"No." Dean and Kim said, answering both questions.

"Oh, come on, Mom." Dylan whined.

"You've still got a month left of school." Kim reminded her son. It was only early May. Summer vacation hadn't started yet.

"What if I just go for the weekend?" Dylan suggested. He really wanted to check out the bunker.

"No." Kim said.

Dylan looked to Dean for help.

Dean shook his head. "I'm with your mom on this one, pal. If Sam and I end up catching a case you can't go, and I don't want to leave you at the bunker by yourself. Besides, how would you get home? I'm staying a whole week. Maybe more if we get a job."

Dylan's face fell into a pout.

"Maybe next time." Jake said, hoping to cheer his son up a bit and clearly failing.

"There won't be a next time." Dylan said. "The baby'll be here, and Dean'll never go on another hunt again."

No one argued that point. Meredith may have gotten Dean to agree to go off for a week this time, but she was pretty sure it would take a special job to get him to leave once the baby had arrived. No matter how much he loved hunting.

"Even if you did go with me this time you wouldn't be going hunting." Dean said.

"What's the point in training us if we can't hunt?"

"We're training you to be able to protect yourselves if you have to." Jake explained. "It's good for you to know how to defend yourselves, but don't go getting any ideas about chasing down monsters."

"Dean was chasing down monsters when he was my age." Dylan argued.

"And that's exactly why you're not going to." Dean said. "It's a dangerous life, Dylan, and it's no life for a kid to grow up in. Do you really think I would've chosen that life if I had been given a choice?"

"You did." Dylan said. "You could've left when you turned eighteen like Sam did. But you stayed."

"Because it's all I knew and my dad needed my help." Dean said honestly.

"Tell you what." Kim said. "After graduation, if you want to become a hunter, go for it. Until then, you follow our rules. You're not going anywhere until school's out, and you're not hunting anything period. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Dylan said.

With that discussion ended Jake turned his attention back to Dean and posed his original question again. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to leave now?"

"No." Dean said. "But she didn't really give me a choice."

"He's driving me crazy." Meredith said, speaking up for the first time since the announcement had been made.

"What if—"

"She won't." Meredith said, cutting off Jake's question because she knew what he was going to ask.

"How do you know?" Rowan asked curiously.

"I don't really, but I can't stand to see Dean miserable." Meredith told her niece. "If the baby comes early then the baby comes early, and there's nothing we can do about it, but I need Dean to not be miserable. So, this is what we're going to do, and you can all stop looking at me like that. Everything will be fine."

"Now that we've got all of that settled, Jake and I have some news to share too." Kim said, changing the subject to something she knew would cheer everyone up.

"Oh my god!" Rowan exclaimed, grinning before her mother could even try to make her announcement. "Are you having a baby? Please say you're having a baby."

The adults all chuckled at her reaction, and Kim nodded. "Yes. We're having a baby."

Rowan threw her fists up in celebration. "Yes!" She had always wanted to be a big sister.

Kim was right. Her news had cheered everyone up. As she looked around the table at her family she noted that every one of them was smiling as they congratulated her and Jake on the impending arrival of their first child together. Even Dylan seemed to have forgotten his sadness over not being allowed to go on a hunting trip with Dean, and Dean didn't seem as troubled about leaving Meredith so close to their due date. The rest of the meal passed jovially, and Rowan ran off to call Maddie and share the good news as soon as her plate was clean, which surprised no one.

%%%

Maddie arrived on her bike not long after Rowan had called her, and the three kids entertained themselves in the backyard while Dean and Jake took care of cleaning up the kitchen and Meredith showed Kim the finished nursery.

"Wow." Kim said. "You guys did a great job in here."

The room was actually Dean and Meredith's walk-in closet that had been temporarily converted into a nursery so they wouldn't have to give up their home office where Meredith graded papers or the two guest rooms upstairs quite so soon. It was a small room, but a newborn baby didn't really need a ton of space.

The walls were a pale shade of olive green on top with cream colored paneling below, and were decorated with pictures and other things Kit probably wouldn't care about but made the room look complete. The crib and dresser were a matching set with pale pink and white bedding in the crib and a changing station on top of the dresser, and the chair and ottoman tucked in the corner were gray with white trim and a ruffled pink throw pillow. The little table beside the chair held a lamp and the small bookcase against the back wall was stocked with books and toys. Both pieces of furniture matched the paneling on the walls, and there was a small, round braided rug that Meredith had made resting on the soft beige carpet in front of the bookcase. Dean had done a wonderful job of renovating the closet, and aside from the lack of windows, there was nothing to give away the fact that it hadn't always been a small bedroom.

"I think it's my favorite room in the entire house." Meredith said, running her hand over the smooth wood of the crib rail.

Kim smiled. "I bet it was nice to be able to start from scratch and put it all together. We had to use mismatched hand-me-downs for Rowan."

"We didn't have money for new things back then." Meredith said, reminding them both of how tight money had been during those years when it was just the two of them and Jason, and even after when it was just the two of them and Rowan. "But this time you can afford to do whatever you want with your nursery."

"Will you help me?"

"Why would you even ask that?" Meredith replied, sitting down on the ottoman because standing wasn't so easy anymore. Her students had pulled their money together and bought her a fancy office chair to roll around in so she wouldn't have to be on her feet all day. "Of course I'll help you."

Kim leaned back against the crib. "Can you believe this?"

"Believe what?"

"After all the crappy stuff we've been through we're finally happy." Kim said. "We've found ourselves a couple of really great men, and the kids aren't juvenile delinquents, and our little family is growing instead of going extinct."

"And our really great men are actually getting along now." Meredith added. "I dare say they're friends."

"Take that, Hanna Durant."

Meredith giggled.

"What about Hanna Durant?" Dean asked as he appeared in the doorway.

"She lost." Kim said, smiling as Dean came into the little room and casually draped his arm around her shoulders. "We're alive and happy."

"And safe." Meredith added. "And we owe it all to you."

"Aw shucks." Dean drawled, making both women giggle. "I was just doin' my job. Didn't realize I was gonna get a family out of the deal."

Meredith rested her hand on her belly and smiled. Her sister was right. They had all lost so many people and suffered so much heartache, but this life was pretty perfect.

And since I forgot to mention it earlier, thanks to ArtistKurai for all your help, and if you guys haven't you really need to check out her story "Beautiful Soldier" and keep an eye out for the next one. I've read the first little bit and I think it broke me just a little. In a good way. ~SG