Jo responded to the knocking at her door, glancing back over her shoulder at Sam who gave her a nod of encouragement. She turned the deadbolt and opened the door as far as the safety chain above it would allow. She peered out the opening, putting a tone of surprise into her voice. "Mom? What are you doing here?
"Joanna Beth, let me in. we can play 20 questions inside."
"Sorry mom." Jo closed the door long enough to slip the chain free and opened the door.
Ellen stepped across the threshold, slipping her jacket off as she entered, "I was up in Eau Claire helping a couple of hunters tracking a pair of demons. Thought I'd drop by for a visit before I headed back to Nebraska."
"Did they get them?" the familiar male voice caught her attention.
"Mornin' Sam", Ellen looked at him sitting at the kitchen counter that divided the kitchen from the living room. "I saw the Impala downstairs, when did you get to Duluth?"
"Early this morning. Bobby, Rufus Turner, and I ganked a nest of vamps down in Clear Lake, last night."
"Enough discussion," Ellen said. "Come over here and give me a hug, boy. "
Sam met Ellen half way, and her arms went around his waist and he returned her embrace. She squeezed him hard. "So sorry about Dean."
"Thanks Ellen," he said pulling back to meet Ellen's gaze.
"He was fine young man, Sam. You two were a great hunting team. "
Sam backed up a step, turning to try to keep Ellen from seeing his struggle with tears. He was still an emotional basket case when it came to his brother. Ellen didn't allow it, reaching out to turn his face back to her. "Sam, don't fight it, the hurt is too fresh. In time you won't melt down so easily, but it will take time, lots of it."
She glanced at Jo who herself was now struggling to fight back a sob. "Jo, you too. You do know you and Dean didn't fool anyone. You were piss-poor at hiding it. There were too many looks back and forth when both of you thought the other one wasn't looking."
Jo glanced at Sam before looking back at her mother, her statement more for Sam than Ellen. "Mom, nothing ever happened between me and Dean."
Ellen just ignored Jo's comment, "I seriously wish the boy had grown a big enough pair to confront me about it. It was not him I would have objected to, it wasn't Dean not being good enough, it was not wanting you tied down to this kind of life."
Jo raised her voice just a bit louder. "Mom, drop It! Whatever may or may not have happened is over and done. I've moved on. "
To say this grabbed Ellen's interest was an understatement. "Who Jo? That handsome bartender where you work? His name was Scott wasn't it?"
Jo was trying to curb Ellen's abrupt enthusiasm. "No, Mom, he's just a very good friend."
Sam took this as his cue for confession. He didn't think of a better point in the conversation to admit it. "What about me Ellen?"
Confusion fell across Ellen's face. "What about you, Sam?"
"Am I good enough for your daughter?"
Ellen's mouth dropped open, and she was silent as she digested what she'd just heard and all its implications. She finally found enough voice for the single word. "What?"
He kept his admission simple and to the point. "Ellen, I'm in love with Jo."
Jo took this as a good time to reinforce Sam's comment, she went to his side slipping her hand into his, curling her fingers between his in a tight grip. Trying to present a united front, "Sam and I are—well, we're together Mom."
Sam drew Jo closer into his side and pressed his case, "I swear Ellen, I'll do my best to make her happy and keep her safe."
"Of course you will, or you'll have me to deal with."
Jo interrupted, "Mom you're gonna scare him to death .
Ellen looked from Sam to her daughter. "Joanna Beth?"
"I love him too."
Ellen didn't doubt a syllable that came from Sam's mouth, she had never met another hunter with the amount of integrity than Sam and Dean Winchester had possessed. Sam was not one that would lie about anything outside of what was necessary to the jobs at hand.
However she also noted the exact phrasing of her daughter, "I love him too." not "I'm in love with him." It didn't matter that Sam thought she meant exactly the same thing he'd said.
"Sam you're a fine young man, you have one of the biggest hearts around, but truthfully I cannot give you my blessing right now…."
Jo opened her mouth to protest, and Ellen put up a hand to silence her. "Let me finish."
Sam spoke up, although he didn't relinquish so much as an iota of his grip on Jo. "She's your mother, sweetheart, hear her out. "
"Thank you Sam." Ellen replied. "I said right now. This has happened way too fast. Sam, I have loved you boys almost like my own. Just like Bobby and your Dad, I've always tried to think of you Winchester boys as family. You and Dean carved out a place in my heart and just like the hole in your heart where you and Jo both held Dean is like a wound that won't ever heal completely, I have one too."
"Yes ma'am" Sam agreed.
She sized up the fidgety pair standing before her pretty quickly, "I'm going to assume that asking the two of you hold off on intimacy would be like closing the corral gate after all the horses have run off."
Both parties flushed bright red. Sam looked down at his feet, instead of looking up to meet Ellen's eye. "That assumption would be correct."
Jo hissed, "Why'd you admit that Sammy?"
He brought his gaze back to Jo. "What good would lying about it do for anyone?"
Ellen agreed with Sam. "That's right Jo, and further discussion of this topic isn't going to result in anything but information that I'd probably rather not know about. So did I smell fresh coffee?
As Sam poured a cup of coffee for Ellen all that she could think of at that moment was if Bobby had known about this and not warned her, he was going to get a fine piece of her mind.
