Disclaimer: I do not own the concept or characters from the show "Supernatural." Any other characters not related to the show or the Nightwold series, however, are mine and are not to be used in any other fan fictions. Some concepts were also borrowed or loosely adapted from L.J. Smith's "Nightworld" and "The Vampire Diaries" series. This fan fiction starts a week after "Lazarus Rising" and this chapter has information on the episodes up until 10/16/08. I will not include any spoilers for future episodes of Season 4 until they are released on TV. This is the third story in my trilogy: "Possession" and "Broken."
"So you're both probably wondering why I called you here."
"Yeah, sorta," Dean started, staring daggers at his brother.
They all stood in a wide circle in Abby's family room. She had called them both separately, knowing neither would show up if she elicited the real reason for the gathering. Her head shook at the Winchesters, seeing that Sam must have taken her up on jest of them punching each other; their eyes were both black, blue and puffy.
"Listen. We all need to get our priorities straight," she said, with her hands authoritatively on her hips. "The kids should be the number one priority. Are we all on agreement with that?"
The boys glanced over to each other before nodding in accord.
"Good. My feeling is, I don't want to hurt them. Sam, you're a huge part of their lives. Dean, I want you to be in there lives. I assume you two would like to be?"
"Oh, yeah," Sam agreed without hesitation.
"Absolutely," Dean added.
"Well, then, I'm going to set some ground rules. For right now, one of you can visit the twins at a time.
And you both have to call before you come over. I don't want any fighting around the kids, period, so I'm going to avoid it all costs by separating you two while you're around them" she said, setting the regulations.
"Woah, it's not like Sam and I are getting a divorce," Dean contested. "Why all the rules?"
"Yeah," Sam agreed.
"It's for their benefit. If you two can't get along, then there are no concessions."
"Well, I think it's stupid," Dean spat. "I mean, we're going to hunt together again…eventually."
"Stupid huh," Abby asked, grabbing her purse and keys.
"Where are you going," Dean yelled.
"Out. Don't bother calling, I'm turning my phone off," she said before slamming the door. Sam wondered why she had a slight smile on her lips as she left.
"What the fuck was that about," Dean asked Sam.
"I don't know, Dean, what do you think? You can't just follow simple suggestions -"
"They weren't suggestions, Sam, they were demands. I just think they're a little extreme," Dean said. No, he felt they were way too extreme.
"Well, I think we should -," Sam said before being cut off by the sound of screaming children.
Sam darted upstairs ahead of Dean, heading for the twins room.
"Wait woah, woah," Dean said from the doorway. "She left us alone with the kids?!"
"Yeah, so," Sam said, soothing April in his arms. "She used to leave me alone with them all the time. Mind taking care of Dylan?"
Dylan looked up at his with a sad, sleepy face. Apparently, they had just woken up from a nap.
"Hey, there," Dean said to his son. Dean picked him up and held him cautiously in his arms. "Wow…they got so big." He noticed the unintentional sad catch in his own voice.
"Yeah," Sam said, with the same melancholy, as he held April. "They eat after their late afternoon nap. Come on…and bring Dylan."
The brothers carried the twins down the stairs to the kitchen. Sam set April down in the highchair, strapping her in expertly with one hand. Dean had wished he had paid closer attention.
"Uh, how do I tie this kid into this torture chair," Dean said as he held onto his son.
"Here," Sam said annoyed, motioning for Dean to give him Dylan.
Dean reluctantly gave his son over to his brother. Sam held Dylan over the chair.
"Well, do you want to learn or not," Sam spat. Dean moved over to his brother, watching him strap in the kid and install the tray. "There. It's not hard."
Sam moved to the cabinets and scavenged some food to prepare for the twins.
"Hey, Dean, can you get the kids their sippy cups," Sam said, as he watched the veggies heat in the microwave.
"Well if you could point me in the right direction I could -," Dean said.
"Never mind, I'll do it," Sam said, grabbing the cups from an upper cabinet before filling them with milk. He strode over the to the kids, who were swinging their legs in anticipation. They swiped the cups from Sam and greedily drank them down. Dean smiled at them.
"Hi kids," he said, kneeling down so he was eye level with them. He was curious about the way they looked at him. They were cautious but inquisitive. Deep down, part of him had hoped they would remember him…but he had only been until they were eight months old. Before, they were just small babies starting to develop personalities. Now, they looked like little versions of himself and Abby.
Sam brought the kids their dinner: cut up hotdogs, mashed sweet potatoes, and applesauce.
"That's what they eat now? People food," Dean asked.
"Yeah, regular food is ok as long as you watch them to make sure they don't choke," Sam answered abruptly.
The brothers stood in the kitchen, with their arms crossed defensively, watching the kids finish their meal. They didn't speak to one another. Dean still felt the boiling tension between them. They had gone on one hunt since Abby found out about him being back. It had ended with a fistfight in the hotel room. Now that they got that out of their system, they were talking on a need to basis only.
The children quickly devoured their meals and motioned for the adults to get them out of the chairs. Dean went over to April and managed to get her out of the device quickly. He was happy to feel like he was learning. She reached up for Dean, smearing some mashed up potatoes from her fingers to his face. She laughed hysterically.
"Are they always this sticky," Dean asked Sam.
"Always," Sam chuckled. Sam ran to the kitchen to grab a wet paper towel and wiped April's hands clean.
April continued to cackle.
"Oh, so you think that's funny," Dean asked April. April just nodded.
Dylan toddled into the family room to his bucket of toys in the corner, pulling it out so he could grab his choice. April squirmed in Dean's arms as a sign for him to gently set her down. She ran over to meet her brother and grabbed some toys join him in play.
"You go watch them," Sam said. "I'll clean up."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure, Dean."
Dean shrugged and happily walked to the family room, placing himself on the couch to watch his kids play. They were playing cars together. He smiled that his daughter was so cool as to play cars with her brother. When Dylan finally realized he was in the room, he walked over to him, handing him a car.
"Thanks, buddy," Dean said. "What, do you want me to play?"
Dylan nodded.
Dean sat on the floor with them, zooming his car around the floor. April ran her pink corvette into her father's car, laughing as she did it.
"You're a violent little kid aren't you," he smiled before she pounced on him. April jumped on his back playfully, causing her brother to gleefully join in the pile. Dean laughed as he wrestled with his kids. It was in that moment that he found himself just worrying about what they were doing; he didn't care that much about the rest of the world.
That night, they played several intense games of peek-a-boo, tag, hide and go seek and they tossed a ball around. In the process, they accidentally broke one of mommy's picture frames.
"Oops," Dean said as Dylan's lip quivered. He knew his momma would be mad. "Hey, Dylan, it's ok buddy," Dean said, comforting his son. "I'll take care of it. Mom won't be mad at you, ok?" Dylan reluctantly seemed to believed him and ran back to play with his sister.
"I'll clean it up," Sam muttered as he went to get a dust pan.
After dinner, Sam had kept quiet for most of the night. He had sat alone in the kitchen, watching them play from the table and had seemed to be trapped in deep thought.
After a long night of running around, the kids were getting tired and cranky.
"Time for baths," Sam announced with a clap, motioning for Dean to grab one of the kids. Dean snatched April and followed Sam upstairs to the kid's bathroom, which was decorated in an ocean theme complete with blue walls and fish painted all around.
Dean put April down and got both of the kids undressed. Sam motioned for Dean to come closer to the tub.
"Now, you want to set the water to lukewarm. Anything warmer can hurt their skin, ok?"
"Yeah. Got it."
"Fill it up only to about here," he said, pointing to an invisible line in the tub. "And you have to watch them at all times. One slip up and they could get hurt or worse. Here's the shampoo and soap. Good luck," he stated before walking out of the room with a slight smile.
"Ok. Hey Sammy," he yelled, making his brother reappear. "Thanks."
Sam shook his head in acknowledgement.
Dean somehow managed to get through bath time mostly unscathed. The kids were more about splashing and getting him wet than they were about getting clean. He finally managed to wash them one at a time and dried them off.
He picked up both kids in his arms and went to their bedroom. With the door firmly closed behind him, he let the kids down on the carpet. From drawer to drawer, he searched for pajamas. After coming to the final drawer, he found footed ones in purple and blue. He asked April to come to him, and he was surprised as she practically threw herself into his arms. He gave her a quick hug before setting her down to get diapered and get in her sleeper. After she was done, it was Dylan's turn. Dean was amazed at how easy it had been to get them into their clothes; he was expecting more of a fight.
After they were cleaned and dressed, he put them into their cribs.
"Night, kids," he said, closing the door behind him before they started screaming.
"What, what," he yelled, looking around the room. It hadn't occurred to him that they just didn't want to be alone. His instincts had expected some sort of supernatural force.
"Um…let's see," he thought as they cried. "How about a song?"
He tried to think in his head of any kids songs he knew. He tried "Row Your Boat," "This Old Man," and "Jingle Bells." They still screamed. So, he resorted to the only music he knew…classic rock. He hummed a Metallica song and was surprised to find them quieting and laying themselves down to sleep.
"Holy crap," he whispered, as he looked down at his sleeping kids. "They are totally 100 percent mine." He walked over to both, giving each a kiss on their heads. "I love you guys."
He closed the door softly behind him as he left the room with pride.
"So, Metallica, huh," Sam asked, leaning against the wall in the hallway.
"Did the job, didn't it?"
"Yeah. Not bad, Dean."
"Thanks, Sam. And…thanks for letting me get a chance to…you know…"
"Be a parent? It's kinda your job now, Dean," Sam started before heading downstairs. Dean followed after him.
"Well, thanks anyways. I know it was hard on you tonight."
Sam shrugged in response.
"No, I'm serious, Sam. Thank you," he put his hand out to him.
Sam took it.
"Aww," came a voice from the front door.
Abby stumbled into the house. She laughed as Gwen tripped inside after her.
"I'm so glad to see you guys getting along better," Abby garbled.
"Where have you been," Sam asked as Dean smirked at her.
"We went out to a few clubs," she said, motioning towards Gwen.
"Thanks for telling us about leaving the kids," Sam complained.
"Oh, you two would have figured out once they started crying. Besides, it seemed to work out better than I planned. You guy's are talking now, am I right," she said laughing as she and Gwen both slipped on the tile.
"Are you drunk," Dean chuckled.
"Very."
"Yeah, she needed it," Gwen said. "We haven't gone out in a long time. Hey Abby, who's your friend?" She motioned towards Dean.
"Oh..that's…," she whispered to Gwen.
"OH! That's him?! Wow! Nice to finally meet you," she nodded to him.
"And you are?"
"Gwen Sullivan. Abby's friend. I work at the nest."
Abby took a few steps towards the family room and found Sam leading her outside.
"Abby, I need to talk to you," he rushed as they made it out the front door.
"What's the matter," she slurred nervously.
"Nothing," he chuckled. He moved his hand to stroke her cheek and reluctantly put it back down. "Listen, the kids are in bed and I'm just going to head back to the hotel."
"Oh. Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Tell Dean I'm taking the Impala."
"Do you want him to come with?"
"No. I kinda want to be alone. Could you just let him stay here tonight," he asked and she nodded. "Thanks. Good night." He lightly kissed her cheek as a gesture of a goodbye between friends.
Sam took off in the Impala without another word. Abby was confused by his intentions. He was blocking his thoughts again, but she could tell in his eyes that he was contemplating their future. His kiss seemed like a surrender.
Abby walked back into the house, fazed by Sam's apparent change in attitude.
"Where's Sam…and my car," he asked suspiciously as he looked out the window to find the driveway empty. His heart raced in the anticipation of having his baby disappear.
"He went back to the hotel. He said you could stay the night here," she said in the form of a question.
"Oh," Dean said, sounding just as flabbergasted.
"Well, that's my cue to exit," Gwen giggled. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ab. And don't worry, I'm taking a cab home." She reached over to give her friend a hug.
After Gwen left, Abby and Dean were alone. She moved slowly from the hallway to the family room, trying to make herself believe it was all still real. Leisurely, she peeked her head around the corner to find Dean lounging in the big recliner, watching TV. It was like she had always pictured it.
"Hey," he smirked at her. He scooted over, making room, and motioned for her to sit by him. She gladly excepted his invitation. Abby crawled over the ottoman and snuggled up against him. In her drunken state, she found herself giggling uncontrollably.
"What's so funny," he asked, not knowing the joke.
"You know," she said, doodling on his t-shirt. "The kids are in bed. We could go upstairs…and you know." He smiled down at her, rubbing her cheek in his hand.
"Abby, you are so wasted. And as hot as you are now, I'm am totally wiped out from taking care of the kids."
"They wore you out, huh?"
"So much so that…god I never thought I'd say this, but not tonight. Can we just chill and watch some TV?"
That made her break into hysterics. Dean Winchester…did he just say "not tonight?" Wow he must be tired, she thought. After finding herself through the laughter, she grabbed the afghan off the arm of the sofa and threw it over them.
"Alright," she conceded, snuggling up next to him. Dean flipped through the channels until they came to an episode of The Simpsons he had missed while he was away. They laughed at the jokes together and she couldn't help but smile. His hand rubbed her arm as she laid her head on his chest, listening to the comforting sound of his heart beat and the feel of his chest rise.
Before long, she was finding herself drifting to sleep, but before she could fully reach unconsciousness, she was surprised by a noise. She lifted her head to look around for the source, finding Dean completely asleep and lightly snoring. She smiled at him, giving him a kiss on the cheek, and pulling the covers up over both of them. The last thing she felt before she finally fell asleep was his arms wrap around her and a light kiss in her hair.
Author's Note: I had made images, headers, for each story as I was going to put them in my livejournal. I have included links to them in my account on here as well. Take a look if you want. Enjoy!