Author's Note: Hey, I hope you guys like this chapter. It's the longest chapter I've ever written and I think it's the most Jerry Springer like one, too. I mean, it's like a friggin' soap opera…oh, well. I've now increased the level of ridiculousness and confusion for you. Enjoy

Chapter 11

Two weeks had passed since the Halliwells and Winchesters had met to discuss the threat that had been uncovered. Since that time, things had begun to change dramatically for the large extended family. One change that had been unexpected and greatly welcomed was the change to Johnny, Wyatt's youngest child by only a manner of minutes.

For the past five years Johnny had spent his time fulfilling the typical families spot for "deadbeat mooch" who avoided any and all family functions and worked as a bartender at the Manor House and P3. The truth was Johnny couldn't stand being around the family. It wasn't that he thought they were obnoxious or annoying, but rather he felt pathetic every time a loved one showed compassion or concern for his well being. It somehow made him feel inadequate, but hey, when you were the family mooch that only bothered to show up to family events when there was an open bar it tends to make you feel like less of a human being.

Let's face it; the Halliwells were righteous people, even if they didn't act like it. So the fact that Johnny – never-converse-for-more-than-two-minutes-in-any-topic-that-isn't-about-football Johnny—had been interacting with his siblings and cousins was seen as a small miracle. Because even though Johnny couldn't bear the pity his family threw at him, baring down on his chest as a weight that was suffocating him, he loved his family and wasn't about to leave them hanging when there was a hit on them.

His family was right, though. In the two weeks since he had casually taken Sam Winchester to bed he had changed.

They had changed; Payton Elise Halliwell certainly knew that. She and Dean had changed; but when she looked back on her discovery that he was married and the events that followed it was bound to happen. And man, had those events taken a toll on what they had had before they were reunited.

Since the confrontation at brunch to the walk of shame the next morning, Payton had remained under the impression that Dean was married. It made her question the type of person she was; if she should be in the position to handle the kind of power she was born to and would give birth to in six months.

Then, after one of the many late night visits Payton had shared with Dean, they had gotten to talking. It was only then that she felt like the biggest fool and she remembered an old adage about eavesdroppers only getting half of the story. Now, knowing that Dean had never really been married and having the hindsight to realize that she had inadvertently walked into the investigation of the hit on her family, the eldest Halliwell of her generation felt sick knowing that she had almost single-handedly ruined her child's future with his father.

Looking down at her abdomen where Dean was resting his hand, Payton vowed never to jeopardize her families' future with each other. She leaned back against Dean and fell into the first peaceful night she had spent with him since being reunited.

Sam stepped out of the shower and reached for a black towel that she wrapped around her body. She wasn't used to getting regular booty from a repeat performance. It's kind of nice. Walking up to the foggy vanity mirror, she took a brush and ran it through her soaking wet hair.

The door opened, and Johnny walked up from behind her; wrapping his arms around her. It was sweet, she thought. She smiled back at him in the mirror. Suddenly he hefted her up into a fireman's carry and sent her into a fit of laughter.

Helena and Brie had breakfast at the manor. It was two weeks before Porter's wedding and they had decided to go out shopping together for dresses.

"At least you're guaranteed some action," Brie said before popping an apple tart into her mouth.

Helena tilted her head at her sister and gave her a 'I can't believe you just said that' look. At the incredulous facial expressions from the redhead, Brie snorted, saying, "Don't give me that look. It's been a while since I've," she paused pondering the right words, "interacted with a man. I want this dry spell to end."

"Still, just because Milo lives two houses away doesn't mean anything is going to happen between us," Helena replied, receiving a pointed look from Brie. "Or," she said with a bashful tone, "that it will continue to happen."

"I knew you were sleeping with him, again," Brie said playfully. "Dun dun dun," she sang out. "And so the plot thickens."

"What plot," Payton asked after orbing in.

"Oh, nothing. Lena's just getting into some well needed trouble."

"Ah," Payton sighed. "I didn't realize it was more than a onetime deal."

"You knew?" Brie turned from her cousin to her sister. "You told her before me?"

"She kind of witnessed his walk of shame."

"It's true. But it didn't look like he was ashamed of anything."

"Must have been a good night," Brie added. "I'm jealous."

The three finished eating before leaving for dress shopping. All Helena could think of was the vision she had had two weeks ago, when she had seen the end to her time with Milo.

After their romp in the hey, Johnny held Sam close to his heart, resting his chin on her head. Sam was as different from Winona as morning was to night.

"What are you thinking," Sam demanded in a drowsy tone. She moved to position herself in a more comfortable way.

"How I've changed since meeting you."

"Um, how so?" Sam rubbed her hand over his abs in a soothing matter. For her, his answer could be a moment of truth for her. What he said had the power to change the course of her life or condemn her to it. Sam wasn't ashamed of her past. Like her grandfather, she enjoyed the sins of the flesh. Hell, she didn't even really consider it a sin. But people looked at it completely different when it was a woman moving from bed to bed than when it was a man.

Two weeks ago –hell, even one week—she would have balked at the idea of being with one person for forever. Then she thought of Dean, Sr. He had loved his wife Lonnie, Sam's grandmother in a way that was unexpected. Even though she had grown up seeing it, Sam wondered how it was that the womanizer had ended up with sweet, subtle, simple Lonnie. Still, her tactic in handling Dean was genius; she would say nothing, seeming content to agree with Dean, until she had him so insecure about his move that he would do whatever it was Lonnie had first suggested. Of course, when it came to hunting Dean was the go to man. It was at home that Lonnie reigned supreme.

If it was possible for someone like her –like Dean—to find love, then the number of men she had or could sleep with would no longer matter to her.

"I wasn't happy," Johnny answered her as she held baited breath. "I've kind of been the pathetic loner of the family for the past five years."

Tilting her head up to get a glance at her man, she delved deeper into an unfamiliar territory that could either give her a deeper insight to this man, or block her off from him completely. "Why is that?"

"I had a fiancé, and I met her through my cousin Brie—"

"The one you don't like?"

"That'd be the one. Only back then we were tight. We're about the same age, and our dad's are really tight so I'm closer to them than any of the other cousins. Anyway, she introduced me to her roommate, Winona."

"Like the actress?"

"Exactly like," Johnny said playing with her hair. "We were only nineteen but that wouldn't stop us. I was gone the first time I saw her. It was like being bludgeoned in the face," he continued. Sam wasn't exactly liking this part of the discussion and began to feel inferior, which was completely different for her. "Anyway, we were together for six months and I was completely infatuated. I asked her to marry me and she said yes."

"What was she like," Sam questioned, somberly.

Johnny cupped her face in his palms. "Your complete opposite. She liked fruity little drinks and expensive Italian shoes that she mostly got of ebay. Winnie always had manicured hands," he said while taking hers and kissing it. "She was," he hesitated, "shallow and oblivious despite her genius IQ. I wanted her though, exactly the way she was," he said bitterly.

"What changed?"

"Brie dropped the ball. She allowed Winnie to stumble upon our little secret."

"And Winnie reacted badly?"

"No, Winnie loved it. So much so that she wanted to know everything about magic."

"So what went wrong?"

"Winnie decided at a certain point that she knew enough to help Brie and Payton on a vanquish. I wasn't going to allow it but the demon ambushed us at the manor. Winnie rushed in thinking she was going to save the day. There was a potion to scald the flesh that she had and she threw it at the demon. But not before he burned a hole in her heart that I could see through."

"I'm so sorry Johnny." Sam didn't know what else to say. The other woman hadn't given him up out of stupidity or tried to get something out of him. Winnie had stuck by him. It had made his loss all the more tragic, in her opinion.

"Brie loved having a friend she could share her secret with; to teach and conspire with. If she hadn't exposed us, Winnie might still be here."

"And you'd be married."

Johnny looked down at the woman he was holding. "No. I was floored by how incredible Winnie was, at first. But I saw how she acted around others. It wasn't love, or if it was it didn't last. Magic became an obsession and nothing else mattered except what it could get her or the things she could experience. At the end I knew it wouldn't be anything she would have experienced with me. I wouldn't have gone through with it because sooner or later, whether it was magic or an internship, I would have realized that she wanted the newest and best things. When things were tired she threw them away like a used rag. She would have moved on, but at least she would have been alive."

"So your loss caused you unhappiness and now you think that you're the pathetic family member whom everyone feels sorry for?"

"I might have said it in nicer terms, but yeah. They look at me like the sad loser who spends his life serving drinks or being served drinks."

"I don't care if you only bartend," Sam offered, kissing his neck.

"And if I were rich?"

"Oh, I definitely wouldn't care," she said while laughing.

"Good, because I am."

"Am what?"

"Rich."

"Whose rich?"

"I'm rich, Sam." He looked down into her confused eyes and saw the questions in them.

"But you're a bartender."

"Only at nights. I have to do something other than sleep during the days."

"Like what?"

"I write graphic novels. They're pretty popular, you may have heard of them. They're the Troubled Sagas."

Sam gasped out loud. "Oh, my God. I've read those," she said. "And I don't read, like ever! Every body's read those and its practically a comic book; I don't care if you're ninety. Why doesn't your family think about that when they mention doing something other than bar tending?"

"Because they don't know. Only my aunt Trish does; she introduced me to her publishing company and they liked what they saw."

"You know," Sam said coyly, "so do I." She began delivering kisses on his neck, then further down to his chest.

"Oh, do you?"

The Halliwell "Elders" were meeting for dinner at Wyatt's home. After years of dealing with the heavenly beings who really didn't offer as much help as would be expected, the eldest living generation of Halliwells had started to be called the elders by their children as they seemed to have more wisdom and know how than those who Leo had originally described to Piper as the Founders.

All in all, that made for nine Halliwells at a table, and then there were the spouses and their guests; Samuel and Dean Winchester. Dean spared a look at Penny, who was not only alone but didn't wear a wedding ring. Back when they had shared a common life, Penny had worn his mother's ring with pride and satisfaction. Dean knew from the research that she had never married, and that she was the mother of triplets; all fraternal.

It killed him to know that there was a man lucky enough to have had her, yet hadn't stayed around long enough to watch their children grow up. He felt horrible as he acknowledged this. Dean, Sr. had loved his wife, but she wasn't the love of his life and that killed him. If he had known it hadn't she?

They were all together to enjoy a meal as well as talk over strategy. Dean had to hand it to them; they knew what they were doing, even more so than he probably did. Still, he felt a need to help protect Penny's family, as she had once upon saved his.

The women were all in the kitchen. The men had moved into the den to watch a football game after they were sure they were on the same page about how to deal with the Phoenix. Plans were being made for everything; plans to locate the clan, to interrogate lower level demons which needed to be coordinated between the family members so that no one went alone. Margret and Gabby were cornered off talking about God knew what, and Penny walked directly to her sister Prue and Cousin Melinda.

"I have to tell you something," she said immediately getting their attention.

"What is it?" Prue looked at her youngest sister, wondering what had shaken her.

"It's him."

"Him who," Mel asked unsure of the meaning.

"Their father," she whispered loudly.

"Wait, what?" Prue ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. "You mean one of the Winchesters? But they're almost thirty years your senior."

"Well, when you time travel the age difference becomes confusing!" Penny placed her hands on the table to keep her balance and slowly looked around the room to see cousins and in-laws looking at her suspiciously. "Sorry for the disturbance, folks. Just go on ahead with your conversations now," she said tongue in cheek before turning back to the only people who really knew her situation.

"What do I do now?"

Mel and Prue turned to look at one another; each unsure of what to do or say.