Chapter 12-
(Recap from end of previous chapter)
Dean stared longingly at his heavily swollen abdomen. "Please baby girl. Please move, and I swear that I'll stop being a selfish prick and look after you….like you deserve. I might not be able to raise you and protect you after you're born……but I can protect you now".
Tears started to form in Sam's eyes. He had never seen his strong, tough brother act this way before and it was heartbreaking. He hoped that Dean hadn't been too late in accepting his responsibilities.
The brother's sat in silence for an indeterminate amount of time. The only sound was the low rumble of the traffic outside the motel. Sam's face was stained with tears and Dean was sat on the bed, too stunned to move or say anything else. His arms were wrapped around his stomach trying to feel for any movement from within him, no matter how small.
"Aah Sam!" Dean shouted out as he grabbed Sam's hand.
Sam immediately feared for the worse once again. "It's OK Dean, I'm here".
"No, Sammy! Feel! Here, she's moving, she's OK!". The brothers looked at each other in amazement as they felt the movements together and sighed in relief.
"Guess you'll be back to bitching about your swollen ankles and bad back again" Sam laughed, feeling that he had to try and make light of the situation after the last 30 minutes of uncertainty.
"Yeah I guess I will" Dean said as his face broke into a grin.
At that moment the room lit up white. "Castiel?" Dean squinted as he tried to see.
"Nope. Try again" said the voice. The light dissipated and the form of the owner's voice became apparent.
"Zach?!".
"Yes Dean. Well I hope that you have learnt a valuable lesson here".
"A lesson? What the hell does that mean?" Dean spat.
"We gave you an order. To carry this child and to keep her safe. You put her in danger tonight Dean. You shouldn't be so careless hunting in your current……condition" he sneered.
"Wait, this, this was to teach me a lesson? You sick son-of-a-bitch. You would really use an innocent child…my daughter, as a pawn in your sick little game? Just to 'teach me a lesson?". Dean rolled off the bed and stood up moving towards Zachariah with as much fluidity as he could.
"Now now Dean. Watch your blood pressure".
"You're sick, you know that?"
Sam intervened. "Come on Dean, you are still hurt, lets get you back to bed.
Dean roughly pushed Sam's hands off him. Zachariah looked smugly at Dean. "Well, I think that you get the idea now. You don't mess with us Dean. When we give you an order we expect you to obey. Just take it easy, if anything happens to the baby before she's born……well it's never too late to throw you back into hell, and the pleasure would be all mine".
"You bastard" Dean said, feeling anger rise from deep within. He looked down and gently put his hand on his stomach, feeling his daughter move again.
When he looked up Zachariah was gone. "Yeah that would be about right you pathetic son-of-a-bitch!" he shouted, picking up the nearest thing he could reach and throwing it across the room at the point where Zach had disappeared.
"Wow. I didn't think that the angel's would stoop that low. Always thought they were on our side. I'm sure that they are, they just got a funny way of showing it" Sam said disappointedly.
"Oh they have always been scheming bastards. At least you know where you stand with a demon".
Dean sat back down on the bed and sighed. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Zach was right. It was a cruel trick, but effective. He had to face facts and start looking after himself a bit more, even if that meant giving up hunting for a few weeks.
"I guess lounging about in a Motel room for a few more weeks isn't so bad. And having Oprah keeping me company can't be too bad either. I was thinking, if we are going to stay put in a crappy Motel, let's go somewhere nice. I want to go by the sea, go down to the coast. Do things that normal people do for a while……things that we never had the chance to do as kids".
Sam thought that Zachariah's little visit had certainly shocked his brother, which was obviously the intended purpose. Dean had admitted his true feelings about how much he cared for the baby, granted under horrible circumstances but at least he had opened up.
"OK, if that's what you want, we'll do that. That bump on your head has made you go soft Dean. Think you should rest now" he said.
Dean pulled the covers over him and put his head on the pillow. "Yeah….I'm going to have a bitching headache in the morning! Oh and Sammy?"
"Yes Dean?"
"I may be knocked up and going soft here……….but you will still be more of chick than I am!".
Sam playfully threw a pillow over to his brother. "Shut up. Bitch".
"Jerk" Dean said as he drifted off to sleep, one hand protectively over his stomach, for once not complaining that the baby was kicking the hell out of him.
