Okay, so I have a reason this chapter was sort of delayed…I lost my iPod Touch. It contained a lot of notes about very important things i wanted to have in this chapter and future kid chapters before doing a mini time-skip of a few years. That happened in July and while I was figuring out what I should do, working on this chapter sort of ground to a halt. Fast forward to middle of August when I get a call from my old college, where my grandpa is a professor, to tell me my iPod was found and turned in last month shortly after it was lost (dropped out of my bag while I was getting him from work), but that for some reason they couldn't reach me (my old phone was TRASH). So by a stroke of luck, having my number engraved on the back, and having honest people exist, I was able to have it returned to me and I can continue with the chapters as planned. Well…except I'm in grad school so…slow updates, but you know, it's all relative I guess? Then there was the bitch of a hurricane named Irma. I evacuated. Again. But it ended up coming to my city as a tropical storm… :/ I got a nice little NC vacation out of it but I got back to a mountain of catch-up work. Anyway…

Can't believe we've almost reached a whole 10 chapters in! I feel like this is a big milestone. More mini-time skips coming up very soon. The "babies" continue to grow. And with growing comes growing pains—and the supernatural. Please review! The feedback really helps inspire me.


"How's she doing Dean?" John asked as he walked into the room. Two days later and Gracie's fever was only slightly lowered.

They were still snowed in with no sign of a rescue anytime soon, so John and the boys were trying to make the most of it while watching Gracie. Dean had set up vigil at her bedside. And Sam was helping any way he could. John was thankful his boys were being so responsible while he was on the mend. Although, his injuries didn't hurt nearly as much as they normally would. It even seemed like…he was healing faster. Impossible, but the closed wounds becoming pink and itchy and the dull pain in his side didn't lie.

Dean's eyes slowly lifted from Gracie's face, nearly peaceful as she slept. Except for the rattle of the mucus in her lungs. "Better, I think."

John handed over some Tylenol and a glass of juice for Gracie, a sandwich on a plate for Dean. The unspoken rule was whoever wasn't on watch shift made something for the one who was. "Get her to take it when she's up."

Dean nodded slowly and John left the room, throwing one more backwards glance at the two. Dean ate his sandwich, watching the small chest lift and drop. It was better. Sort of. She still was pretty out of it.

"C'mon Gracie…" he sighed. "You'll pull through." Because really, the alternative wasn't acceptable, so he wasn't letting himself think it.

"Why wouldn't she?"

Startled, Dean looked up and saw Sam standing in the door way, looking at him expectantly.

"Thought you were reading or something…"

Sam entered the room, a worn copy of Charlotte's Web dangling from his hand. "I was. But now I'm done," he carefully sat himself on the bed, staring at his sister's sweating face. Dean watched as Sam lightly pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, then felt his own for comparison. "She's still got a fever…"

"No duh, genius."

"Don't be a jerk!"

The brothers glared at each.

Gracie groaned quietly and they broke their staring contest to see her face appeared pinched. She was muttering unintelligibly.

"What's she trying to say?" Sam asked, concerned.

Dean shrugged. "How should I know? I don't speak…" he gesticulated, "sick."

"…Angels…" Gracie whispered. "Is he here?"

Confused, Sam and Dean leaned in. "Hey, you awake?" Dean whispered, lightly shaking her shoulder.

She looked at them tiredly. "Sorry…Mr. Joshua tol' me to watch Sam." she blurted. "But…I got sick, so I couldn't. And I dunno what Sammy did that I have to watch him."

"Watch? Who's Joshua?" Dean asked, alarmed.

"The angel that talks to me sometimes." She continued softly. Dean looked into her glassy eyes and touched her forehead. She was having fever hallucinations. She probably didn't even know who she was talking to.

"He's nice…" she continued. "He always makes me dream good dreams."

"And Josh the angel tells you to watch Sam?" Dean asked dryly.

"I knew it!" Sam exclaimed.

Dean looked at his little brother, who was grinning.

"What are you talking about? She's just saying stuff she dreamed about, you know. She's not gonna remember any of it later." Dean informed him crossly.

Sam gave his brother a defiant stare. "But why can't angels be watching over us for real?" he challenged.

The older boy jerked back, alarmed. A memory he'd tried to bury down popped up of a blond woman smiling down at him lovingly as she stroked his hair.

"Just remember, angels are watching over you, Dean."

"Because angels aren't real, Sam." He bit out.

"They could be…" he insisted stubbornly.

"Well that's stupid, Sam. You know why?" he asked. "Because if angels really were looking out for us, Mom would still be here, wouldn't she?" he snapped. "But they didn't care about her, and they don't care about us. So grow up. They're not real!"

The minute he saw Sam shrink back, eyes wide, he knew he'd gone too far.

"I—Sammy I'm so—"

"What the hell is going on in here?" John demanded, stomping his way into the room.

Dean instantly bowed his head in submission. "N-Nothing, sir. Sorry."

"You know your sister still needs her rest. I need you boys to step up, so whatever the fight was about, it's dropped, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Dean said immediately.

"…"

"Sam?" John cut his younger son a stern look.

"Yes, sir." Sam huffed.

Satisfied, John approached Gracie, who was still staring blankly with glossy eyes. "How are you feeling sweetheart? Drink this." He brought the glass of juice to her lips, coaxing her to drink some of it. She still seemed dazed, settling back on the pillow and mumbling incoherently.

"Dean, you're coming with me to the kitchen." He didn't protest as he followed his father out of the room in silence.

As soon as they reached the small space, John went for the cupboards, muttering to himself. "I guess it's a good thing I went for a grocery run a few days ago…who'd have thought we'd get snowed in like this in October."

Dean stood by quietly, watching his dad take out a half loaf of bread and a can of soup. John glanced at his son as he got out a can opener. "Well what're you just standing there for? Get the peanut butter."

Dean fumbled around until he eventually got the jar and put it on the counter. "Dad…?" he asked hesitantly.

John's back was turned as he dumped the soup into a pot. "What?"

"Um…are you still gonna teach them how to shoot and stuff?"

"Soon as the weather clears up."

Dean looked down, deep in thought. "Oh. But eight is kinda…" he trailed off, unsure what to say.

John looked up from spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread and turned to his son. "Dean, you were younger than them when I started teaching you, remember? They'll be fine. Might be a little scared at first but they'll come around."

"I…I know, Dad. I just thought they might not…be able to handle it. I mean they don't even really remember what happened to Mom and—"

"Listen. I'm not sure what your issue is with your brother and sister learning how to defend themselves, but let me worry about that. I trained you and I'll train them. Can't keep babying them when it's kill or be killed out there. Bad things happen, Dean. It doesn't matter if they're ready or not to the monsters. So I'm gonna do what it takes to get them prepared. I don't want to hear any more about this." John finished by roughly slapping the other piece of bread together and plating the sandwich. He pulled the soup off the tiny stove and sloshed it into a paper bowl. "Take that to your sister."

Dean trudged back to the room, feeling anxious. He stopped at the door when he heard Sam's voice muttering quietly. He peeked around the corner to see him kneeling by the bed. Head bowed and eyes closed. Dean leaned in to hear him whispering,"…make my sister better. And Dean's sort of a jerk sometimes, but he's still a good brother. So I hope you keep him safe. Oh yeah, and Dad. Amen." Dean blinked, shocked and guilty at the same time. This was the kid whose faith he was trying to crush.

He knocked quietly, just because he was already feeling awkward. Sam turned around, but Gracie had gone back to sleep.

"Uh, hey…" Dean held the food and gestured down with his head. "Brought Gracie's lunch. You eat anything yet?"

Sam shrugged to his ears, "Enough." He said coolly.

Dean wanted to glare, but held it in. Sam was playing that game.

He ignored his little brother as he moved around the bed, and shook his sister by the shoulder. She groaned, but seemed to have a little more energy than she did the day before when she sat up and blindly reached for the food she knew Dean had for her.

She bit into the sandwich. "Peammut butter…" she said around a mouthful, smacking.

"Yeah, there's juice on the table if you need it."

Gracie reached for it without looking, her fingers brushing against the side of the cup and almost jostling it. Dean sighed, handing it to her before she could spill. After a long gulp, she stared down into the bowl of soup in her lap. "Tomato soup doesn't go with peanut butter…" she said finally.

Her elder brother frowned. "It does so." He argued. "And I'm pretty sure I've seen you eat pastrami between two donuts before when that was the only thing left lying around."

"That was you." Sam couldn't help himself from saying.

"Shut up," Dean said half-heartedly. It was him, now that he thought about it, but that was beside the point. "Anyway, we're running low on options, so just…" he waved his hand at the cooling red soup. "Pretend it's something else if it helps."

Gracie sighed, spooning soup into her mouth with a blank expression. As soon as he'd made sure she was going to eat, Dean turned to Sam. "Don't bug her, okay? Dad wants her to rest up as much as possible. So go do your nerd stuff or whatever."

Sam made a face but didn't take the bait, and Dean guessed they were still playing that game. Sam would crack eventually though. He left the room in a huff. Honestly, things were less complicated when the twins were babies. Sure they drooled, cried, and needed their diapers changed, but it was all pretty simple.

Eight years on and nothing was really simple anymore.

Dad was always gone, always hunting.

Sam was moody and opinionated.

Mom was just a memory.

And Gracie was struggling to fit in with other kids.

Now the twins would become hunters soon.

Yeah, he'd take the simpler times any day.


Her eyes flew open and she sat up with a gasp. For the first time in days, she felt…good. Not achy or weak or nauseous. She gingerly touched her own forehead and it didn't feel feverishly warm anymore. Blinking, she looked around the room and spotted Sam sleeping haphazardly on the other bed, half in and half out.

Gracie tried to remember the events of the last few days, but honestly memories came in blurred flashes. She was fine and then she wasn't. She was cold, and the faces of her family kept hovering over her.

All that seemed like a dream now. She kicked off her blankets and got out of bed. Sam stirred, and then rolled over and off the bed. The impact woke him up, and he rubbed his eye with a groan to see his sister up and trying to stifle a giggle at his expense.

"Gracie?" he asked tiredly. His brain slowly rebooted and he perked up. "Gracie!"

She was somewhat surprised when her brother got up and hugged her. He acted like he hadn't seen her in a while.

"Sammy, are you okay?" she asked slowly.

"It's more like are you okay?" he countered. "You were really, really sick. Don't you remember?"

Gracie frowned, trying to piece together her memory of the last few days. "Sort of, but not really."

"Dean said you wouldn't…" he mumbled. For some reason he said that curtly.

"Were you fighting again?" Gracie asked. She was sick for a few days and without a mediator her brothers were going at it. Boys.

Sam didn't answer. He just gave an exaggeratedly slow shrug. She waited patiently for him to spill whatever was on his mind. Whatever Dean or Dad had said or done to make him upset. Predictably, Sam started talking.

"Dean said angels aren't real. But they have to be. How else is Mom gonna watch over us?" Sam asked rhetorically, his brows deeply furrowed.

"You think she's an angel?" Gracie asked quietly.

Sam looked at her with sad eyes. "You don't?"

She thought for a minute. Obviously it meant a lot to her brother to believe that their mom was still with them. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and hurt him more. And, Joshua never said people who went to heaven couldn't be angels. In Gracie's mind, there was no doubt that's where her mommy was. Smiling, she took Sam's hand.

There was the usual rush of emotions she now was positive weren't hers. Hope, sadness and confusion flooded into her. As always, it was overwhelming. But she tried to calm the tangled mess that represented Sam's feelings with the comfort of a clear mind. She had no idea if it worked both ways.

She didn't know if he felt what she felt like she felt what he did. No one had ever acted like they experienced the same thing she did at all. Just in case though, she tried to direct reassurance into the invisible link.

She looked into Sam's face, expecting him to still be wearing the same pensive expression. Instead she was alarmed to see him staring blankly at nothing, his eyes glazed over. Then, a dopey smile slowly spread across his face.

Shocked, she pulled her hand away, and just as quickly, Sam's expression changed again. He looked confused briefly before his face changed back into the same pitiful look. "Mommy's watching over us. I…I know she is." Gracie smiled weakly. It wasn't that she didn't believe what she was telling her brother, but whatever had happened with Sam was odd. She wondered if Joshua could tell her what it was the next time she saw him.

"Because she's an angel, and angels are real." he stated firmly.

Gracie nodded seriously. "Angels are real."


The snowstorm had finally subsided enough for the motel to start bringing in crew to help clear the piled up snow from in front of everyone's blocked doors. John peered through the blinds and sighed. "About damn time…"

He glanced behind him. All three of his kids were sitting around restlessly. Gracie was back up and it was almost like she'd never been sick. Sam wasn't sulking like he had been, and John put that down to being happy his sister was better. And Dean was unusually quiet…but he would leave dealing with that for another time. "We should be outta here soon."

"Can we stay for a little while longer?" Sam piped up, his big eyes pleading. "Til the end of the month at least?"

John knew how much Sam always hated switching schools. And while he'd be all too happy to put Scranton in his rearview mirror, he decided he could give the kids at least until the end of the month. A few more weeks…as long as another freak snowstorm out of season didn't happen, they'd be okay.

"The end of the month." John repeated. "Then we're back on the road."

That seemed to appease Sam, who smiled excitedly.

John figured he'd find a quick case or two. Nothing too extravagant. Maybe just a salt and burn, or a poltergeist. Something to pass time for a few weeks.

~SPN~

Being back at school was preferable in every way to being cooped up in a motel room. Especially because she wasn't sick. She had a feeling she was one of the only kids in the class to feel that way though.

"I'm glad to see everyone made it back to school safely." Mr. Valdez said. "We've got a lot to catch up on so let's get right to it. Could I get my class helper to pass out these worksheets?" Immediately, a tall girl near the back of the class stood up and slowly walked to the front. She didn't look particularly excited to be back at school either.

"Here you go, Rachel. One for everybody, okay?" Rachel nodded mutely and took the stack of papers, slipping one onto everyone's desk. When Gracie got her paper she looked down at it and blanched. Her dyslexia was back with a vengeance. Some days were easier than others, but Gracie could already tell it wouldn't be one of those days. She sighed loudly, resting her cheek in her palm and glaring down at the paper.

"This is just simple review." Mr. Valdez continued calmly, completely oblivious to Gracie's dilemma. "So we'll work on this for twenty minutes and then I'll collect it."

Panicking, Gracie blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, trying to push herself to focus. Everyone else was doing the work with no problems, including Sam. But none of them were seeing what she was seeing. She took a few deep breaths, managing to get through the first question. The more she calmed down, the easier it got. She felt proud of herself when Mr. Valdez came around to collect the papers. He took it from her and quickly skimmed over her answers, a small smile lifting his lips as he added it to his stack.

It wasn't until he passed that she let out a breath of relief she wasn't even sure when she'd started holding. 'Now I don't have to stay behind today.' There was a warm giddiness in her stomach at not having to stay in class late because she couldn't finish her work.

She rode the high of her accomplishment all the way until lunch time, when everyone all but stampeded out of the room. She was about to run for Sam, who was waiting for her in the hallway, but she was surprised by the warm hand firmly grabbing her by the shoulder. Surprised, she looked up at Mr. Valdez to see him calmly looking down at her. "Gracie, a minute please?" Gulping nervously, she turned to meet Sam's eyes. He'd moved into the doorway and was staring at his sister and their teacher in concerned confusion.

"It's alright, Sam. I'll send her down as soon as I can. I promise." Sam was clearly hesitant, but Mr. Valdez was a teacher. Teachers were trustworthy adults.

"I'll save you a spot." Sam whispered, leaving with the rest of their classmates.

As soon as he was gone, Mr. Valdez shut the door and returned to his desk. "Have a seat, please. I don't bite." he chuckled kindly.

She returned it with a weak grin, sitting in the chair next to his desk he'd pulled up for her.

She nervously met his eyes, because Daddy had always said it was the respectful thing to do. "Y-Yes, sir?" The reassuring smile hadn't left the teacher's lips as he leaned towards her.

"You know, you haven't been here very long. You or your brother." He said suddenly, catching her off guard. "Is everything alright? Adjusting okay?"

Gracie stared at him, her mind blanking over what to say. She'd been prepared for him to tell her she was falling behind in school, or she was in trouble for something—though she wouldn't have known what—but he was actually just…concerned about her? But if that was the case, why didn't he keep Sam back too? The thought flitted through her head that once Sam opened up, he was always better at adjusting than she was. He probably wasn't that worried about her brother not making friends or keeping up in class.

But Mr. Valdez was still watching her expectantly, clearly waiting on an answer. "Oh, um, y-yes sir!"

"Hmm." He hummed, his hands clasped on the desk. "That's good."

Some of the tension left her body. She wasn't in trouble. Mr. Valdez was just worried. It was alright. Everything was alright. But why didn't it feel alright? There was something she felt, something she hadn't felt from him before the snowstorm. It scared her a little.

"And Sam, he's alright too?"

The feeling inside her persisted but she pushed it down. "I-I think so…"

"I know I'm your teacher, Gracie. But if something's wrong, anything at all you can talk to me about it. If you don't understand something in class, or someone isn't being nice to you…if you or Sam are having problems at home…or see anything strange, I'll listen."

She jolted in her seat. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, you know, you're at the age where every shadow looks like something scary. Parents sometimes just don't understand."

Gracie tried to remain calm, even though she felt her heart pounding and her palms sweating. She tried to discreetly brush her hands on her tights, pressing her lips together into a thin smile. Mr. Valdez seemed oblivious to her discomfort.

"My big brother says scary things aren't real…" She said quietly, looking at her lap. She knew better, but she wanted to believe Dean more than she wanted to believe her own fear.

The teacher's eyes shined oddly. Gracie shyly peeked at him and for a minute, just a minute, she thought she saw something horrible. An ugly face and pitch black eyes. "Of course they aren't, but when you're young, that's not always clear." He said. "And sometimes," he took her hand, squeezing it with a bruising grip. "They are real."

"O-ow! That hurts!" she yelped, pulling her hand away. Alarmed, she clutched her throbbing hand close to her chest and stood up, terrified. Mr. Valdez was looking at her in concern.

"I'm so sorry, Gracie. I think I've scared you more than I helped you. I hope you'll still come to me if you need something."

She nodded vigorously. At this point she'd say anything to get out of the room. "Y-y-yes, sir..."

"Excellent. Well, go find your brother. I'm sure he's waiting."

The redhead didn't waste any time. She practically bolted for the door, fumbling with the doorknob before she got it open. Gracie didn't bother looking back. If she had, she would have seen the black eyes watching her, an eerie smirk on the man's face. "She's not one of his special children, but I definitely felt something. How interesting."

~SPN~

Sam tilted his head. His sister wasn't acting like herself. She wasn't all smiles and she wasn't as talkative as usual. She was jumpy, looking behind her at every corner, staring up every block with wide eyes.

"You okay?" Sam put a hand on her shoulder, and she screamed.

Dean had been walking a little ahead of them, but he turned immediately. When he didn't see a threat, his eyes landed on the twins in confusion.

"S-Sorry…" She smiled apologetically, clutching herself tightly.

"What's up with you?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"I…I just wasn't paying attention." Gracie explained lamely. "S-So when Sammy touched my shoulder it scared me."

Dean continued to stare skeptically and Sam frowned. "No, really!" she insisted. "I'm fine!"

It took a few minutes for her brothers to stop giving her questioning looks, and even then she didn't think they were really convinced. They started walking again without a word, but this time Sam took her mittened hand in his. She met his eyes and smiled gratefully. She still hadn't forgotten how strange Mr. Valdez had been. But would anyone really believe her if she said something? What would she even say? It could've all just been in her head. It had to be. Mr. Valdez was nice…he wasn't…some monster.

"Guess you're gonna be real excited for Halloween." Dean said sarcastically.

Gracie felt her nose scrunch. "Halloween?"

"Yeah, it's only like a few weeks away, you know." He reminded her. "All this freaking snow makes it easy to forget it's October."

"Oh…" she breathed.

"Yeah, 'oh'." Dean rolled his eyes, now walking backwards with his hands behind his head. Gracie wanted to tell him he could slip and fall doing that.

"So anyway, I got invited to this really cool party." Dean continued. "The girl throwing it's the cutest one in class." He sighed happily.

"Daddy's gonna let you go?" Sam asked dubiously. Normally, John had Dean on babysitting duty, watching the twins in the motel all night. Sometimes, if Dean was in a good mood he'd sneak them out and take them trick-or-treating. But he always took a share of their candy as his "payment". Sam complained that most of the candy Dean took was his.

"I haven't exactly asked him yet." Dean admitted, grumbling. "But you guys are old enough to be on your own for a few hours, right? You'll be fine. And Lori's house isn't that far from the motel."

Gracie gripped Sam's hand tighter. She didn't want to be stuck in the hotel all night on Halloween. What if something bad happened? A real monster could come to the door in a costume!

"That's not fair," Sam complained. "What about trick-or-treating?"

Dean sighed. "Oh come on, Sam! Dad'll probably by a bunch of candy from the store or something. You can eat that."

"It's not the same." Sam pouted.

"Well can't you go trick-or-treating with some of your dorky friends?"

Sam shook his head. "Yeah, right. Like Dad would really let us." Dean stopped walking, glaring down at them. Well, really Sam.

"Don't be a bitch about this. It the first time I ever get to go to a Halloween party like a normal kid. If you ruin it for me I swear I'll sit on you and eat any candy you get in your face."

Sam mumbled something under his breath.

"What'd you say?" Dean snapped.

"I said you're a big, stupid jerk!"

Gracie listened to her brothers go back and forth, but she didn't have the energy to stop them. Besides, even if it was fighting, it at least brought a little normalcy back into her day.

Normalcy was good. It was what she needed to make her forget.


I have wanted to get this chapter finished for so, so long… So many things kept happening it almost felt like the universe was conspiring against me at times… *suspicious glances upward* I have 34 stories up right now, but I think secretly, this one is definitely one of my most favorites. It may not be as popular as some of my others fave/follow/review wise, but I put so much heart into it at this point, I can't help but feel attached. I love Gracie (and I know I'm biased) and I'm incredibly excited about the character I plan for her to become in the future. Also excited for all the twists and turns this story will take. I'm also super happy with all the Sam and Gracie moments in this chapter (and the ones that'll be in next chapter), so there's that~