"Well, little Miss Chloe here decided at the last minute that she didn't want to walk down the aisle."

Dean's heart was beating so fast in his chest he thought it would fly out. Pastor Jim stood beside him, Sam stood opposite him, and the wedding had officially started. Caleb and Bobby, who'd had to be begged into participating in the wedding by Chloe, walked down the aisle with Amanda's two best friends from college. Riley walked down with the rings, beaming with pride when Dean winked at him. Finally, it became Chloe's turn.

But, Dean noticed, she stood frozen. She'd rehearsed it with Dean and Amanda and the rest of the wedding party the night before, even insisting on going through it again "so I don't mess it up". Only when Dean promised that she couldn't mess it up did Chloe feel better. A long while later, after the organist had played the processional song twice and was going around for a third time, Dean walked down the aisle towards Chloe.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I'm scared."

"Just do like we practiced last night." Dean said.

"But there's a lot more people than last night."

Dean sighed.

"'m sorry, Deanie. I don't mean to mess the wedding up."

"I'm not mad, kiddo. You got stage fright, that's all." Dean said. "And you're not messing anything up. We'll just do it a little different."

"What do you mean?"

"If I walk with you, will you go?" Dean asked.

Chloe smiled. "Sure."

Dean took Chloe's hand, and slowly the two of them made it to the front of the church. Dean could hear the 'aww's coming from some of the wedding guests, but for once he didn't care. When they reached the front, Dean knelt down again.

"Alright, kiddo. You did good. Time to sit."

"No."

"Chloe…."

"No. This is my family too. I should be up there with you." Chloe insisted. "I'll be good, I promise."

"You can't stay up there with me and Mommy."

Chloe looked around and spotted Sam. "Can I stand with Sammy?"

Dean looked over to Sam, who seemed amused by the turn in events, as did the spectators in the pews. He signaled for the organist to stop playing, then signaled for Sam to join them. Dean turned to the guests, mostly friends of Amanda's, and explained, "Sorry, folks. Just a brief pause We'll be back underway in a minute."

Sam knelt down next to Dean and Chloe. "What's up?"

"Chloe wants to be up there with us. Can she stand with you?"

"I got a better idea." Sam said, turning to Chloe. "How about I hold you so you can see everything going on?"

"Would you?" Chloe asked. "Thanks, uncle Sammy!"

"Thanks, Sammy." Dean said, grateful.

"Come on, kiddo." Sam said, lifting up a delighted Chloe.

"We good now?" Dean asked.

"We're good." Chloe said. "Thanks, Deanie."

"You're welcome, kiddo." Dean said.

"Bring Mommy in now." Chloe said. "She looks real pretty."

"She always does. So do you."

Dean reached over and wiggled Chloe's nose, making her giggle, before nodding at the organist. The moment of truth arrived, and here comes the bride started playing.

"You really were a beautiful bride, Amanda." John said.

Amanda, not used to compliments from John, stuttered a little. "Th…thanks."

"Break's over, guys." Dean said. "Sam just left the police station. He's on his way here."

Sam had texted Dean he was on the way, but he found now that he couldn't start the car. Scott's confession was running through his mind, and it made Sam give serious thought to starting the car and leaving for good.

Apparently, after Sam had visited Scott months earlier, about signing the papers for Chloe's adoption, he'd only pretended to not put up a fight over it. He'd begun forming his plan then. But Scott was smart. Patient. He knew that if he had just come back and taken some kind of a strike at them, he would have been arrested on the spot. So, after months of planning and coming up with nothing, he'd stumbled on Riley knowing Chloe and come up with the plan.

Sam knew it was irrational. He knew that Dean and Amanda and Chloe and his father and even a stranger on the street would tell him that it wasn't his fault. But he couldn't avoid the feeling. If he hadn't agreed to Chloe's plan, if he hadn't gone to intimidate Scott into signing the papers, then maybe Riley wouldn't be dead. Knowing that his family would be waiting on pins and needles for him to get to the house, Sam put the key in his ignition and drove on. A few minutes later, he sat in Amanda and Dean's living room, telling them what was happening from that point on.

"Scott eventually admitted that everything in Riley's note was true. That works in our favor. His lawyer is arguing though that since he didn't actually threaten to kill Riley, that Riley could have made a different choice. He could have gone to the police, done something other than jump off that roof."

"That's stupid!" Chloe said.

"I know. I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm just trying to explain what his lawyer's going to argue."

"So what else should we know, Sam?"

"Well, the district attorney both wants to prosecute this and doesn't. It would make his career if he could win the case. But his argument's flimsy. So he offered Scott a plea bargain tonight while I was at the police station. He pleads guilty to felony assault for beating up Riley, and threatening Chloe's life, and he gets seven years."

"Seven years?" Amanda asked. "For killing Riley?"

"I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. I'm speaking as a lawyer here and not Chloe's uncle or Riley's friend. The murder case is incredibly thin. The chances of him getting convicted are next to nothing, and if he's acquitted, he likely won't be charged with anything. I know seven years is nothing. I get that. But the choice is basically seven years or nothing."

"What about Emily?"

Sam sighed. "Emily's is even worse. She already accepted a deal. Misdemeanor abuse. Three months in jail, two years probation."

"Sam? What do you think Scott's gonna do?" John asked.

"If I were his lawyer, honestly, I'd probably advise him to take the plea." Sam said. "Even thought the murder case is thin, it's got enough emotional value that there's a 50/50 chance he'd be convicted. If he did get convicted, there's a good chance that conviction could be successfully appealed. But that would take years. Better to take a chance and go ahead and serve a few years than risk spending even longer in jail waiting for an overturned conviction."

"He just gets away with this?"

"I'm sorry, Chloe. But yes. It looks like he does." Sam said. "And I'm sorry, guys."

"What are you sorry for?" Dean asked.

"If I hadn't done what I did to get Scott to sign the adoption…"

"Sam, stop. You are in no way, shape, or form responsible for this. Do you hear me?" Amanda said.

Sam swallowed. "Yeah."

"She's right, Sam." Dean agreed. "Don't blame yourself for this."

"I won't." Sam said. When Dean raised an eyebrow in doubt, Sam smiled. "I swear I won't."

"I can't believe he's gonna get away with this." Chloe said again.

Amanda started to say something, but John took over. "Chloe, listen. I know it's not fair. I don't blame you for being upset. But trust me when I say this, sweetie. Dwelling on this isn't going to help."

"But…"

"Just listen to me. Okay? I spent years trying to make the…" John almost said 'demon', but stopped himself when he caught the look in Dean's eye. "…person that killed Sam and Dean's mom pay. It was all I could think about. Being a dad, doing what Mary would have really wanted me to do, all that took a back seat."

"Did you find them?" Chloe asked.

"Yes." John answered honestly. "I did. But it…" John took a deep breath; he'd never admitted what he was about to say to anyone, even to himself. "It wasn't worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"I screwed up. Revenge, it didn't mean anything. Being there for my boys as they grew up, that would have meant something. Being the man and the father that Mary would have wanted me to be, that would've meant something. I had to learn that lesson the hard way. I don't want it to be that hard for you. So just trust me, okay? Don't dwell on this. At least he's getting something."

"But how do I move on?" Chloe asked.

"I think that note you told Sam about would be a good start. The one you said your mom was keeping for you. Have you read it yet?"

"No." Chloe said. "Mom?"

"If you're really ready, I'll get it for you."

"Please."

As Amanda went to her room, Sam and Dean were reeling from what their father had said about hunting. It wasn't worth it. Dean couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Even though he hadn't been there when his father found the demon, he felt like he'd given up his childhood for nothing. Sam was stunned. He'd always felt like a burden to his father, like he was in the way because he was different from John and Dean. But if being in Sam's life meant so much to John that he actually regretted going after Mary's killer, then maybe it was time for Sam to rethink how he felt about his father.

"Here it is, honey." Amanda said. "You sure you're ready for this?"

"Yeah. Open it, please."

A/N: The next chapter is the final one. Chloe reads the note, Sam and John talk more, Chloe finally performs in her senior showcase, and both she and Amanda get a huge surprise. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story. It's definitely one of the toughest ones I've ever done. Since there's so much in the last chapter, give me a few days and it should be up. I'll be on vacation next week, so updates might be spotty. Thanks again!