Jayna handed the sleepy girls each a steaming cup of tea.
"Chamomile and Lemon Balm for you, Stella." Stella reached out, delighted. Aunt Jayna's tea was always fantastic. She could make tree bark appetizing. Stella blew on the green mug and took a sip. Yum.
Elizabeth perked up at the mention, "Did you say 'lemon'? I'm—"
Jayna put up a gentle hand that quieted Elizabeth immediately. "Allergic? Of course my dear, that's why I gave you Chamomile and Linden flowers instead. It's more fruity than the chai tea that you like, but it'll help with your nerves."
She tenatively took the mug from Aunt Jayna, and sipped, "Wow…"
Aunt Jayna smiled, "I'll be right back with some honey pastries." With that, she floated away to the kitchen, the peach floral kimono she wore around the house trailing behind her.
Elizabeth turned to Stella, who was enjoying her tea. "HOW does she do that? Did you tell her?" She whispered, incredulous.
Stella waved her off, "She's psychic. You'll get used to it."
They sipped their tea, still a little shook up but generally okay. The tea and Jayna's comforting presence was calming them down. After Stella left Dean the voicemail, she immediately got in her car, grabbed some clothes from their apartment, and drove her and her roommate to Aunt Jayna's house. Stella would have called, but when she saw Jayna standing on her front porch before they had pulled into the driveway, she knew it wouldn't have mattered. Aunt Jayna had her two nieces on radar. They had a wavelength that lit up when they were stressed or in trouble, and Aunt Jayna would ring them up to check in. Without needing a word of explanation, Stella's Aunt had welcomed them with open arms into the house. A house that was warm and somehow always smelled like vanilla. They had spent the night in the guest room, bunked in the same full-size bed, and clocked in about an hour of sleep.
A slam at the front door shook the house and made the girls jump, and Elizabeth spilled a bit of her tea.
"STELLA."
Stella put her tea to the side to prepare for herself for the oncoming storm that was her little sister. Her hands were still shaking, and she didn't need to spill her tea, too.
"ARE YOU OKAY? YOU SAW A DEAD BODY? IS THAT ELIZABETH? HI ELIZABETH. IS SHE OKAY? HOW ARE YOU SO CALM? WHEN ARE THE WINCHESTERS GETTING HERE?"
Roxi stopped to catch her breath and her sister got up from the couch to hold her shoulders. Stella wrapped her slightly smaller sister in a hug. Fortunately, they saw each other often: Stella had graduated college and moved closer to where Roxi went to school. They were lucky to have Saturday visits of tea and coffee and Netflix marathons with their Auntie in her cozy home…and the occasional hunting trip.
Stella stroked her sister's hair. She loved her, but it was way too early in the morning for screeching. "Rox, calm down. We're fine. We've been to purgatory, one dead body isn't gonna freak me out too much."
Roxi pointed to Stella's roommate who was sipping her tea on Aunt Jayna's oversized and comfy couch. "What about her?"
Elizabeth looked up from petting Aunt Jayna's purring black cat (Zeke) and replied cheerfully, "My family owns a funeral home, so I'm familiar with corpses, even though this one was super bloody. This one time I got lost in a room full of coffins when I was little." She smiled and went back to rubbing the kitty behind the ears.
Roxi stared at her. "That's cool? I'm sorry I have no idea what to say to that."
What the hell? Roxi mouthed to her sister.
She's fine, don't worry about it. Stella mouthed back. Stella knew that Elizabeth could take care of herself, as she trained hard in track and karate, but Elizabeth hadn't been privy to the DeLuci's after-school activities in the supernatural. Stella was very protective of her.
Aunt Jayna glided back in the room and handed Roxi a cup of cocoa and kissed her on the temple. "Elizabeth, you spilled?" She nodded, and Jayna handed her a napkin from under the tray of pastries she was holding. She set them on the table. "Roxi, to answer your question, the Winchesters should be here soon."
The phone chimed. Aunt Jayna picked up the receiver and smiled. Stella knew that specific smile, the one that pretty much reached her ears and brought out a new sparkle in her eyes. The smile that only came about when Sam Winchester was on the other end of the conversation.
"Sam Winchester."
Stella looked at Roxi and rolled her eyes with a chuckle. Aunt Jayna definitely had a thing for Sam and they both knew it. They had some sort of undeniable chemistry that vibrated the air around them when they were in a room together, like their auras fizzling. Auras, Stella thought, That's such an Aunt Jayna thing…
"Jayna!" The squeal on the other end of the line was so loud the girls could hear it from the couch. Roxi snorted and clapped her hands to her face when Aunt Jayna shot her a look.
Sam cleared his throat and started again, about an octave lower, "We're about ten minutes away. How are… the girls?"
Jayna smirked and said, "The girls are good, Stella and her friend are still frazzled from what they saw. I'm also very well."
"Good. I mean not about the girls. I mean not about how they saw a body, it's good they're okay." Jayna stifled a giggle, she could hear him rub his forehead, exasperated with his inability to get out the right words. He usually had this whole flirting with women thing down pat, but Jayna's intuition kept him from being anything but real, and real was usually an awkward-middle-school-style flirting over the phone. "Um, we'll be there shortly. Yours is the little house on the corner right? With the wind chimes?"
"That's me."
"Great. We're in the neighborhood. See you soon, Jayna." He breathed, hanging up the phone. Jayna smiled, with a shade of rose quickly spreading across her cheeks.
"Who was that?" Elizabeth chirped.
"Only Sammy Winchesterrr, psssychic loverrr extraordinairrre." Roxi rolled her tongue with the words and made kissy faces in Aunt Jayna's direction. Jayna shushed her nieces and scurried back to get herself a cup of tea before the boys got there.