Chapter 10

A/N: Once again thank you to Soar for all her beta work and suggestions.

"Margaret, you're home early."

Dean stood as his grandmother entered the room and he got his first good look at her. The best word he could use to describe her was severe. She had her hair done up in a bun that was so tight, Dean wondered if it was keeping wrinkles out of her face. Her face had a pinched look to it, much like she was sucking on a lemon. Her outfit was spotless, every button done up and with not so much as a wrinkle or a tear.

"Frank," Margaret said as a greeting.

"How was your trip?"

"It was going fine, but I had to come home."

Not wanting to get into this in front of Dean, Frank decided to steer the conversation to safer ground. "Margaret, this is our grandson, Dean. He's Mary's oldest boy."

"Ah, hello,'" Dean stammered. Dean was not sure how to address the older woman. He had a feeling that Grandma wouldn't go over very well. "It's good to meet you."

"Frank, get Miles to take my things up to my room. We have to talk. I will meet you in your office after I freshen up," Margaret said completely ignoring Dean's greeting.

Dean tried to remember his father's words, but he was still stung by his grandmother's treatment and became instantly uncomfortable. He turned to his grandfather. "Grandpa, it's getting late. I, um, I think I'd better leave."

"You don't have to leave, Dean," Frank offered. "You were about to tell me about your first date."

"I better go. I don't want dad to worry," Dean restated.

"I think that would be for the best," added Margaret.

Frank didn't miss Dean's flinch.

Frank was trying to hold his temper in check over his wife's behaviour. He should have warned Dean a little more about her.

"I'll take you back," Frank said. "Want to take the Ferrari, or is there any other car out there you want to take for spin?"

"Doesn't matter," Dean said in a forced tone as he collected his jacket and started for the door.

In an effort to make Dean feel better, Frank drove Dean home in the Ferrari. Dean was quiet the whole way back though, despite Frank's effort to draw him out.

"Thanks, Grandpa, I'll talk to you later," he said as he reached for the door handle.

"Dean, wait," Frank said. "Please don't let Margaret upset you. It's not you. She treats everyone that way, even me."

"Okay," agreed Dean. He forced his emotions down.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Frank stated. Then on impulse, he reached over and hugged the young hunter.

Dean's first instinct was to pull away, but that quickly faded and he returned the older man's gesture. No matter what happened with his grandmother, he truly cared for his grandfather.

"Sure. 'Night, Grandpa," Dean said.

Frank watched Dean as he entered the motel room. He pulled the car out and returned to his home. This was one conversation he was not looking forward to.

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Margaret Jackson was most displeased that her trip had been interrupted. She had been in contact with Winifred Butler and she couldn't believe the way her husband was acting. They were important people in the community and it had taken a long time to get over the shame she had experienced when her daughter had started to date a grease monkey. She had been so embarrassed and couldn't show her face in front of her friends for at least a month. Now it seemed to be starting all over again, since the grease monkey's son had shown up, Frank had not been himself.

She could still remember the outrage she had felt when Winifred had called her about Frank's behaviour, wearing that stupid tie. Once again, she swore to herself she was going to burn it, once she found out where he hid it. She had also been infuriated by the nerve that boy had displayed, insulting her best friend's granddaughter. What she had discovered when she called Nathan to see how the auction had gone, and found out what her husband and the grease monkey had done, was just the last straw. She came home as soon as she could. She was going to put a stop to all this nonsense before her place in the community was destroyed.

Frank returned shortly after and as soon as he came into the room, she chastised him like he was a child.

"Really, Francis, I have heard how you have been acting and I will not tolerate it. We will be the laughing stock of all our friends."

"Margaret, Dean is our grandson. He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman in front of our friends. They were all impressed with him at the auction and Ian told me how much he enjoyed meeting him, and both Paul and Michelle Ames told me what a fine young man he is," Frank stated, defending his grandson.

"A proper gentleman does not insult his elders. What about the way he treated Winifred, and let us not forget his treatment of poor, young Tabitha," countered Margaret.

"Exactly who told you that? Winifred maybe? I was there, Margaret, you weren't. Dean did not insult her. He was nothing but polite and respectful to her. She's the one that insulted Dean by ignoring him," said Frank, his voice starting to contain a trace of anger.

"What about Tabitha? I heard about what happened in the bar. He dismissed her without a second thought."

"Maybe you should get your facts straight," Frank said. He had spoken to Ian and he knew exactly what had gone down.

"Winifred told me how distraught Tabitha was. That poor, young girl," said Margaret, repeating her lament.

"Margaret, I hate to break it to you, but Tabitha Butler is anything but a poor, young girl. Truth be told, she's a miserable, insufferable, spoiled brat and you know it."

"See, this boy is causing you to insult our friends and I will really not put up with this. What about your treatment of Nathan? He is a pillar of this community and you tried to undermine him."

"I wanted him to see how wrong he was about Dean, how wrong we all were. He is a terrific young man and I am proud to introduce him as my grandson. I want everyone to see the man that Mary's son has become."

"That is the only reason you want him around, is it not? He is Mary's son."

"No, he's Dean. That's why I want him in my life. If I have to choose between him and our social standing, he's going to win everytime."

"He was not good enough when he was born, why, all of a sudden, is he good enough now?" questioned Margaret.

"I was so wrong back then and I wish I could go back and re-live that day. I can't, so I am thankful that I am getting a second chance with Dean."

"I am surprised he accepted you after he found out you rejected him," Margaret commented. She saw the look on her husband's face. "You never told him did you?"

"No, and he's not ever going to know. Look, Margaret, John and the boys are only in town for a little while. You are not going to say anything. I promise Dean won't hurt us socially."

"I will not say anything as long as my position in this community does not suffer," she said after a moment of thought.

With that, Margaret left the room. She went to her safe and opened it, there was something she wanted to check on. Unbeknownst to Frank, Margaret had a copy of Mary's letter made. She had wanted to be prepared in case something like this happened.

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John had been the first to awake the next day. He looked over at his sleeping sons. He hadn't expected Dean home so early last night. Dean had said he'd a good time with his grandpa and was excited about getting the information about the house, and wanted to share it with his father and brother.

John couldn't shake the feeling, though, that something seemed off with his first born. Normally, after he spent a day with his grandfather, he was upbeat and told them about every second. Last night, all he said was that the food was great and The Shining was still his favourite movie.

When John had asked Dean if it had been hard to get the information, Dean's only comment was that they had run into Paul and Michelle at the restaurant and had dinner with them, and that his grandfather had been the one to volunteer the information. He said the only thing he had to do was listen as his grandfather told him the story behind the house.

Dean had remained quiet and subdued for the rest of the evening and had gone to bed early. John was wondering if something had happened with Frank. Even Sam had noticed the change that had come over his brother and spent most of the evening shooting questioning looks at his father.

John was going to get to the bottom of this. He left a note for the boys, saying he was going for breakfast. As soon as he was out of the motel room though, he dialled and asked to speak with his father--in-law.

"Hello," said Frank.

"Frank, it's John. What the hell happened last night?" John asked, not even bothering with the pleasantries.

"What do you mean?" asked Frank, the confusion evident in his voice.

"Why is Dean so upset? Frank, did you say something to him because if you did, I swear to God..." John trailed off.

"I swear, John, I didn't. You know I wouldn't. Unless..."

"What?" interrupted John.

"Margaret came home last night. She acted like Dean wasn't even in the room until he asked to leave and she agreed that he should."

Frank had to hold the phone away from his ear to preserve his hearing as John let loose a long string of curse words "Damn her, she ignored him. That's worse than out right insulting him. Please tell me she didn't say anything to him."

"No, she promised she wouldn't. I tried to explain to Dean that he shouldn't worry about it. Margaret treats everyone that way. Margaret didn't treat him any worse than Winifred did at the auction."

"One key difference, Frank, Winifred Butler is not family. The thing that scares Dean the most is the thought that his family doesn't need him, or that he's not good enough."

"John, is Dean alright?" asked Frank, silently praying that he hadn't blown the best thing that had happened to him in recent years.

"He will be. I'll talk to him. Frank, just make sure you contact him today, call him, stop by the motel, I don't care. If you don't, he's going to think you agree with your wife."

"No problem, John, I was going to do that anyway."

The two ended the conversation and any thoughts John had been harbouring about staying in town flew right out of his head. Dean had met his grandmother for all of five minutes and if he had been this upset about her rejection, how would he react if he found out about Frank's? John just didn't trust Margaret, despite Frank's promise. John knew, given the deep attachment Dean had formed with his grandfather, it would devastate his son and cause Dean to lose all the progress he had made since the accident. They had one piece of final information they needed to complete the hunt and when it was over, they were out of here. Sure, Dean was going to miss Frank, but that was the lesser of two evils.

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Shortly after they had finished eating their breakfast, Frank did call Dean and Dean seemed a little more like himself. When Frank asked him if he would like to join him for lunch the next day, Dean agreed and was enthusiastic when Frank mentioned that he had invited Ian and Alex to join them. John was ecstatic when Dean negotiated a trade, Frank would loan John his Porsche so Dean could take the Impala. He wanted to show it to Ian and Alex. John had tried for the Ferrari, but Frank wouldn't budge. He said his baby didn't go anywhere without him.

To find more information, John had sent the boys to the library and armed with the information from Frank, it had been easy for them to find what they were looking for. Isaac and Matilda Fitzgerald were killed when their home had been broken into, and their young son, Simon, had witnessed the event. He was never the same afterward and he had died a little over a year later in a car accident. His parent's killers were never bought to justice. Dean was not looking forward to this salt and burn. He hated jobs that involved kids.

Upon returning to the hotel, they formulated a plan and decided they could go to the cemetary tonight and take care of the hunt. John explained to both boys that he wanted to move on after the hunt was over. Sam agreed and reluctantly, so did Dean. He understood his father wanted to get back to hunting the demon. He was going to miss his grandfather, but John promised that they would stop by whenever they were in the area.

Dean asked his father if he could go see Frank before they went to the cemetary that night, so he could spend a little extra time with his grandfather. John agreed and Dean called Frank who said Dean was welcome anytime.

Dean was feeling a little better, but if he was honest with himself, he would have said that he was still hurt by his grandmother's rejection. He wanted to say goodbye to Grandpa tonight though, get all the chick flick moments out of the way so they could enjoy themselves during lunch tomorrow.

"Hey, Dean," John said.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What about this?" John asked holding up Mary's journal. He had read it from cover to cover and he thought it would really help his son if he read it too.

"What about it?" replied Dean.

"Does Frank want this back?"

"He said it was a loan when he gave it to me, so I guess he does." Dean looked at it. He really wanted to read it but he was unsure if he could. If he didn't do it now though, he wasn't sure when he would get another chance.

"It's still early, you can read it and give it back to Frank tonight," John said trying to encourage his son.

"I don't know," replied Dean hesitantly.

"No pressure, kiddo. It's up to you. I just hope you're not upset that I read it," admitted John.

"No, why would I be?" Dean questioned.

"Your mother wrote it for… um, her father," explained John. John had almost said she wrote it for you, but if he had, he knew that Dean would question why Frank had the journal.

"No, I don't mind."

"Can I ask you to do one thing for me, son," John asked tenderly, not sure how his request would be received. "Would you read the first entry? Just that one. If you can't go on, put the book down and I'll say no more about it."

Dean looked at the cover and felt a sense of longing, surely he could handle one entry. He took the journal from his father and stretched out on the bed. John watched as Dean read the first entry. It caused Dean to chuckle and look up at his father.

"Did mom always get cravings like that?"

"Yup, with both of you," answered John. Sam, who had been pretending to read, but was really monitoring the conversation between John and Dean, looked up when his father said this. "You didn't mention food around your mother when she was pregnant. There was this one time when she was pregnant with you, Sam. We had fallen asleep with the TV on and your mother woke and saw some characters travelling a rocky road so she woke me and made me go for rocky road ice cream at 3 in the morning.

Both Sam and Dean laughed at that. Then John and Sam watched as Dean leaned back against the headboard and turned the page to the second entry.

"That's my boy," John whispered softly.

A/N Hoped you like this chapter. The next one will be Dean reading his mother's journal.