Her phone buzzed and played the annoying default alarm far too early for her liking. For goodness sakes, it was only five in the morning. But, that's just one of the perks of being a teacher. Liz taught second grade and it was nearing the end of the school year. She was happy with the performance of her students. She thought about how much growth they had made over the past year and smiled as she stretched her arms above her head. When her arms fell back down she accidently hit Lee, her fiancé.

"Sorry, love." She whispered and kissed his cheek. Liz got out of bed and shivered at the cold air hitting her skin. Getting out of a warm bed was not something that she enjoyed doing. But, what must be done, right? She walked into the bathroom, trying to keep her footsteps quiet. God only knows what would happen if she woke Lee up. He worked a rotating shift and was sleeping off some long hours. He probably would yell something incoherent from the other room and be grumpy for the rest of the day. Then, when she got home from work, she would never hear the end of it.

When she stepped into the bathroom, she flipped the light switch and looked in the mirror. Her natural curls were pointing in every direction and smudges of yesterday's eyeliner were around her eyes. She looked down her body and smiled. The tiniest little baby bump was beginning to show through her shirt and she began smiling wider as she thought about how in only eight more months, a little baby would be in the apartment. She was happier than she ever had been. Still smiling, she turned on the shower and took off her shorts and tank top.

While the water was warming up, she threw her pajamas in the hamper and straightened up the sink counter. Lee had a tendency to just haphazardly throw his aftershave, comb, and other manly stuff around, or in, the sink. That was one of her biggest pet peeves. She giggled to herself thinking about how if that was her biggest peeve, she had it pretty good in life. Looking in the mirror once more, Liz smiled at herself, promising herself that today was going to be a wonderful day.

Once the water was at the right temperature, she stepped into the shower. While letting the water run over her, she began thinking about what all needed to be done that day. Number one, she needed to get ready and get to school before the buses got there. If she had to hear those kids scream about her not being there to tell them "hey," one more time, she was going to lose it. Secondly, she needed to teach without getting distracted by Thomas. That child made her want to quit somedays from all of his outbursts and fits. Third, she needed to pick up some chips for the game tonight.

Oh, shoot! The game! Liz had completely forgotten that tonight was not just a game, but THE game. It was her alma mater's homecoming football game and she, along with some of her old college friends, were getting together to watch it. They normally spent Fridays together watching a game of some kind but Lee didn't like her going very much. She would never understand why. She was one of the guys in college so, naturally, there were all guys there. But they were like her brothers. She chuckled thinking about those idiots she called her best friends.

There was Cas. He was literally the most awkward person Liz had ever met. But he was the first person she met in college and the first real friend she had ever had. Liz stood up for Cas one day after their math class and they had become close friends very soon afterwards. Some douchebag pushed Cas into the wall and made fun his trench coat. So, Liz naturally said "Yea, well, you should see what he's hiding under that thing. He would put all of you to shame. Ain't that right, babe?" Cas just nodded and smiled at her, silently thanking her for drawing the attention away from the fact that he was cute-awkwardness personified. Cas enjoyed hanging out with Liz and invited her to spend some time with himself and his dorm neighbors.

They were brothers. The tall one intimidated Liz when they first met. His name was Sam and he was literally a giant compared to her. He had dimples and sweet personality, though, so Liz didn't feel too scared. It quickly became clear that he was a good-hearted, academically driven young man. While he and Liz didn't hang out much their first semester due to their schedules, they became incredibly close over the next seven. She had helped him ask out the girl of his dreams and they had together egged a frat house. He gave her advice on papers and she told him how to make his girlfriend actually have an orgasm during sex. He pulled the fire alarm for her to get out of an exam and she flirted with a professor to try and convince him to boost Sam's grade. They were proud of themselves and spent most nights watching cartoons, drinking beer, and laughing about all of the trouble they could get into. While they played pranks, made stupid decisions, and were drinking pals, their friendship wasn't quite as strong as the one she had with his brother.

Sam's brother was Dean. Dean. Ugh. That guy. Liz loved Dean to death and Dean loved Liz. But just as friends! That's where the "ugh" came from. Everyone thought they were dating and it was literally the worst thing about college for Liz. Dean was a senior when Liz was a freshman. He came back around to hang out with her after his graduation but to also hang out with his brother and Cas. That's not what everyone else saw. See, Sam and his girlfriend, Jess, lived together in an apartment and Dean didn't want to impose when he would come up on weekends. (Well, he said that, but Liz knew it was just so he didn't have to hear his brother and Jess banging.) Cas lived with his older brother Gabe and Gabe didn't really like Dean for some reason. So, Dean slept on Liz's futon. Her bed was lofted with the futon underneath and they would spend hours talking about how his new job as a body shop owner was going, how she couldn't decide what grade she wanted to teach, and which kind of nacho dip was the best. They were, and after five years still are, best friends.

Lee's snoring jarred Liz out of her memories and she smiled, turning off the water. She wrapped a towel around her hair and dried off with another. She would never understand why Lee didn't trust her with her friends. She was marrying him. She had never had a single inappropriate thought about any of the boys. Oh, well. Men. She shrugged off the thought and she began drying her dirty blonde hair. It fell past her shoulders and had, what she considered, too much curl. Her eyes were a bright blue and her lips were full. She was an above average looking woman, she supposed. But her baby bump made her have a certain glow that she liked.

When her hair was dry, she quickly got a curling iron and tried to make the curls she had work together to make an actual hairstyle. Once she got close enough, she began putting on makeup. When she started teaching, she had a fifteen-minute makeup routine. Now it was down to two. No one has time for makeup in an elementary school. Once she was ready from the shoulders up, she went to her closet. She stood looking for a while. One half of the closet was her work clothes; stereotypical teacher clothes like slacks and blazers. The other half was her comfy clothes; jeans, tank tops, plaid over-shirts, and faded band tees. Lee told her that she needed to move on from college. Until she hit thirty, she wasn't planning on putting a stop to her current wardrobe.

She settled on a pair of black slacks and a light pink button up shirt. She slipped on her flats, kissed Lee while he was still asleep, grabbed her bag and keys, and was out the door. Just like clockwork, at 6:00 AM, her phone lit up with a call from Dean. Ever since he found out that his "baby sister" was pregnant, he called her every morning to make sure she was okay and see how the baby was.

Liz touched the "accept" icon and lifted the phone to her ear. "What do you want?"

"Nice to hear from you, too, asshole."

"Shut up, dick."

The two of them laughed at their standard greeting. "So, seriously," Dean continued, "how are you and that future rock-star godson of mine?"

"I'm fine. But you're going to have to accept the fact that Lee isn't going to choose you over his own brother to be the godfather…"

"I spent my entire life-"

"No Godfather movie references or I will punch you through the phone." Dean laughed and Liz just rolled her eyes. "But, yea, I'm fine. Just tired. The baby seems fine. It's still the size of like a shrimp right now. Remember, we still don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."

"I'm pretty sure it's a boy."

"Oh, whatever. You just want me to have a boy 'cause you can't even get laid so you can have a kid."

"Whoa… ouch, Liz. Hurt me right in the heart." Dean chuckled and sighed. "Well, I just wanted to check in with you two. I have got to get a shower and you need to educate the young of tomorrow."

"Yup. Oh, I have a staff meeting after work today so I'll be coming straight over from there. I won't have a chance to change. So, I will be needing to steal some football appropriate clothing from you or Sam. I'm not wearing this shit all day."

"No problem. Sam's your best bet 'cause of the man boobs, you know?"

Liz laughed thinking about how Sam was just as fit as Dean, if not more. "Well, that is fine. See you tonight!"

"See ya!" Dean hung up the phone and put it in his pocket.

He smiled wide. He always did after he talked to Liz. She was his absolute best friend. He and Sam were brothers so they obviously were close. But Liz was… Liz. The rebellious college student turned domestic that he absolutely adored. But just as a friend! He got so frustrated when people thought that they were together. He didn't see Liz like that. Not at all. He would admit that she was hot but, again, she was Liz. She was like the younger sister he never had. He threatened the ex-boyfriends for her and tried his hardest to protect her. She was a wonderful person with a great mind and he never wanted to see her hurt. But, that's just part of being an older brother.

Dean turned back over in his bed, looking at the clock. He didn't need to get a shower yet. Hell, he didn't need to be up yet but he wanted to check on Liz and the baby. He still couldn't believe that she was pregnant. He didn't doubt for a second that she would be a good mom but thinking of the girl who once called a professor a "dickwad" to his face was not the first thing he thought of when he thought of the word "parent." Lee would be a good dad, too. Liz and Lee had been together for three years and Dean interrogated him to no end about his intentions. Finally, Dean determined that they were a good match and that he was happy for them. He really was. He was just jealous that he couldn't find someone that made him as happy as they made one another.

Dean rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head. He needed a few more hours before he was ready to go work on busted-up cars all day. He may have been the owner, but he just had one employee and that was his dad. So he still had to work his ass off. His dad, Bobby, had signed over the business to Dean when he graduated. They both ran the place equally, Dean would say, but it was technically his own business. He smiled at that. He had never really had much of his own considering his little brother. But this was good. This was really good.

When his eyes opened again, it was 8:46 AM. "Ugh…" He closed his eyes tightly and wished the clock back a few hours. The sheets felt nice around his muscles and his bed was the only place he really felt relaxed. He sighed before standing up and leaving the warm bed. He hated doing that. It was too warm to leave. He went to drain the main vein and came back into his room to grab some clothes to put on after his shower. He picked up the pants he had worn the day before and a shirt from the floor. When he was standing up, he saw that he had a missed call. It was from Lee.

"Weird…" He gave Lee a call back and was met with the sounds of crying and sniffling.

"Dean?!"

"Lee? What the hell is going on, man?"

"It's Liz. Something is wrong with the baby."

"I'm on my way." Dean threw his clothes on and shoved his phone in his pocket. He was out the door in less than a minute.