We're not even going to talk about how long it's been since I updated, okay? Okay.

I've been racking my brain on how to continue this story, and a lot of what I've come up with are standalone scenes. The next chapter will follow Chapters 19 and 20's events and then they become snippets in time. I'll keep them chronological, but there will be some skipping of weeks and months. Fair warning: I'm not good at writing happy, shiny, sunshine-and-roses crap. There will be angst. Nothing tragic or earth-shattering, but the drama isn't over. Hope you enjoy.

There are probably 6 or 7 chapters ready, so I'll try to be diligent about posting one a day.

CHAPTER 21

Dean woke the next morning surprised that he had slept all night without nightmares. He felt rested and stronger. He picked up his phone to check the time - it was a little after 10 - and saw the message light flashing. He smiled, knowing it was Britt. He opened the text.

'Good morning :) Hope you slept well.'

He scrolled down to the next message.

'Cara just called and invited Caylee and me over for brunch. See you soon :D'

He replied, 'Can't wait :)' He couldn't believe he was sending text messages with smiley faces in them. Sam could never find out about this or he'd never stop teasing his big brother.

Dean stretched, finding that his body wasn't quite as sore as it had been. He carefully got out of bed and on his crutches before making his way to the bathroom and then to the living room.

Sam looked up in surprise as Dean maneuvered to the couch where he was currently sitting.

"Morning Sammy," Dean said as he lowered himself down next to his brother. He was winded, but it was much easier than it had been.

"Morning," Sam answered. "You're moving around better. Why didn't you text me back?"

"Huh?" Dean asked, pulling out his phone and checking his messages. There was one from Sam that he didn't see earlier telling Dean to text him when he was ready to get up so that Sam could come help.

"Oops, I didn't see that," Dean answered. "I was distracted," he said with a smile.

"Britt text-blocked me?" Sam asked with a laugh. "I see how your priorities are changing."

Dean grinned. "I guess you could call it that. And I'm feeling pretty good today. Finally getting my strength back."

"That's great," Sam said sincerely. "We'll be gimpy for a couple of weeks, but it's good to know we're both on the mend."

"Yeah, I'm getting a little stir-crazy just lying in bed all the time," Dean replied. "Maybe we can start figuring things out soon. You know, jobs and all that? We still need to get our "retirement package" straightened out."

"Yes we do," Sam said. "We need to go over to the bank and check the safe deposit boxes, and I need a vehicle. I know we're used to sharing the Impala, but I'm going to need some transportation of my own with the baby coming and all that."

"We've never been car shopping before," Dean said. "Especially not with plans to actually pay for one," he added with a smirk. "This could be fun."

"And with the balances in our bank accounts, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about money for a while," Sam replied, shaking his head in amazement. "Who would have thought that after all these years of hustling and scamming, we have legitimate bank accounts full of money?"

"And they say crime doesn't pay," Dean joked. "Are the girls working today?"

"Cara has a short shift after lunch. I don't know about Britt. She and Caylee should be here soon though," Sam answered.

"Where's your bride-to-be?" Dean asked.

"She ran out to get food. She was going to cook breakfast for everyone, but apparently the baby wanted a specific kind of pancakes from a local place."

"The baby, huh?" Dean said with a laugh. Sam shrugged and grinned.

The back door opened and Caylee came running in with Britt on her heels.

"Dean!" Caylee said with a grin, leaping into his lap.

"Well, hey there sweetheart," Dean replied with a laugh. "What are you up to?"

"We came for bweakfast," Caylee said. "And Mommy said that maybe I can stay wif you and Uncle Sammy while she goes to work!"

Dean chuckled. "Oh really?"

Britt gave an embarrassed smile. "In my defense, I did say maybe. Caylee, why don't you go find some cartoons?"

"Okay!" the little girl said without hesitation.

"Sorry to put you on the spot," Britt apologized. "Caylee's daycare has had a flu outbreak so I don't really want her around that. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Sam said as Dean agreed. "We're going to take it easy this afternoon, so she's more than welcome to hang out here."

"Right," Dean said. "Besides, "Uncle Sammy" here needs some practice since his little one will be here soon."

"Good point," Britt agreed with a smile. "Luckily, Caylee is more self-sufficient since you two aren't in the best shape right now. She'll be happy to watch cartoons and color and go play outside if you're good with that."

Dean nodded. "Sounds like a plan. How late are you working?"

"My shift is over at 6, but it'll probably be more like 6:30 before I get back. Cara gets off at the same time, so we'll pick up some dinner on the way home," Britt told the guys. "Are you sure it's okay for Caylee to stay here?"

"Absolutely," Dean answered, taking her hand and pulling her to sit next to him. "Caylee is a great kid and we don't have any other plans, right Sammy?"

"Right," Sam agreed. "Except maybe to go get Cara a ring," he added with a smile. "If Dean feels up to it."

Britt grinned. "Oh yeah, congratulations!" she told Sam. Since she was nestled beside Dean, she signed for his benefit. "Cara called me this morning and told me you had decided to get married."

"Soon," Dean added. "These two aren't wasting any time. I think I can handle a short shopping trip. Caylee can go with us…if that's good with you?" he asked, looking at Britt.

"Yeah, she'd love that," Britt said. "She adores Cara – and she's getting pretty fond of you two – so that would make her day. Just don't plan on keeping it a secret for too long. Four year olds aren't known for their discretion."

"Fond of us, huh?" Dean teased.

Britt rolled her eyes. "She decided in the bathtub last night that since Sam is marrying "Aunt Cawa," he should be Uncle Sam now. Then she decided that since Dean calls him Sammy, she should call him that too, and so now he's Uncle Sammy. Everything was "Dean this" and "Uncle Sammy that" this morning. "Dean has a cool bwack car." "Uncle Sammy is weally weally tall." "Dean has gween eyes like me." She's fallen hard."

Dean and Sam laughed. "I was sure Dean had put her up to the Uncle Sammy thing. He used to call me that just because he knew it annoyed me," Sam said.

"Would I do that?" Dean asked. "Use an innocent child like that?"

"Yep," Sam said. "It's much cuter coming from her, too."

"Well in this case, I had nothing to do with it…only because I didn't think of it," Dean said with a smirk. "She's an awesome kid."

Cara pulled in the driveway and Sam headed out to help her with the bags.

Britt stood up, too. "I'm going to go get out the dishes and fix some coffee. But first," she said softly as she leaned in and kissed Dean, "Good morning. We didn't get a chance to do that earlier."

Dean smiled. "Good morning," he said softly as he kissed her again. "Guess we'll just have to make up for it."

Britt stole a couple more kisses before she pulled away with a smile. "Caylee, you want to help me?"

"Uh huh!" the little girl said excitedly as she followed her mom to the kitchen.

Cara and Sam came in and took the to-go boxes to the dining room. Britt pulled out a handful of silverware and Caylee took it to the table. When Caylee returned, the coffee was brewing and Britt was pulling out coffee mugs.

"Will you go ask Dean if he wants coffee?" Britt asked Caylee.

Caylee nodded and went to the doorway. "Dean, Mommy wants to know if you want coffee."

She didn't get an answer. Britt realized that Dean was probably facing the TV and didn't notice that Caylee was talking to him.

"Baby, Dean can't hear you. You're going to –" Britt started to say.

"DEAN, MOMMY WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU WANT COFFEE," Caylee yelled before Britt could finish her sentence. The little girl was confused. Why didn't Dean answer her?

Britt put down the mugs and turned to her daughter. "Caylee, Dean can't hear you."

"But I yelled weally loud," Caylee argued.

"I know you did," Britt said gently as she tried to figure out how to explain that Dean was deaf. Luckily, Sam saved the moment with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder.

"Can I help?" he asked softly. Britt nodded in relief.

"Caylee, I guess you're pretty confused, huh?" he asked as he scooped her up with his good arm and sat her on the counter. Caylee nodded.

"Is Dean mad at me?" she asked in a small voice.

"No sweetie, Dean's not mad," Sam assured her with a smile. "Dean couldn't hear you."

"But I yelled weally loud," Caylee said again, softly this time.

"You did. I heard you," Sam said with a laugh. "You did it just right. There's something that you need to know. It's hard to explain but you're a smart girl, so I know you can figure it out, okay?"

Caylee nodded.

"Dean has a special problem with his ears. He's deaf. That means his ears don't work right, so he can't hear things like you and I can. When you were talking to him, was Dean looking at you?"

"He was watching TV," Caylee said.

Sam nodded. "If Dean doesn't know you're talking, he can't watch to figure out what you're saying. Dean is really good at using his eyes to listen. Sometimes we forget that he's different because he's so good at it. Dean will always listen to you, you just have to help him out some."

Caylee nodded. Sam was sure she still didn't quite understand.

"Let's go talk to Dean. I bet he can explain it better," he said as he lifted Caylee down to the floor. She took off running to the living room.

"Dean!" she said as she ran around the couch and jumped in his lap. "Uncle Sammy said you listen with your eyes because your ears are bwoken!"

Dean looked at his brother in confusion. Sam quickly signed an explanation.

Dean huffed a laugh. "It's confusing, isn't it, sweetheart?" he said as he brushed Caylee's hair back. "Let's see if I can help."

Dean thought for a minute. "My ears don't work like yours do. A long time ago, I got really sick and my ears got hurt. I couldn't hear anymore, so my dad and Sammy and the doctors helped me learn a new way to talk to people. Even though I can't hear you, I can watch your lips when you talk. We also learned how to use sign language to talk with our hands."

"You can't hear anyfing?" Caylee asked seriously.

"Not really," Dean answered. "Sometimes if something is really, really loud or makes just the right sound, I can hear it a little. It never sounds right though."

Caylee was absorbing it all.

"Do you want to ask any questions?" Dean asked. "I'll try to help you understand."

"Does it still hurt?" Caylee asked, concerned.

"No, baby," Dean said with a smile. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good," Caylee replied as she leaned into Dean's chest and hugged him. Dean returned the gesture, stroking the little girl's curls.

After a moment, Sam spoke up. "Caylee wants to know if she can learn sign language, too," he said to Dean before addressing his niece. "Caylee, remember to look at Dean when you're talking to him, okay?" Caylee nodded before sitting up.

"Can you teach me?" Caylee asked. Looking into her big green eyes, Dean knew he'd probably never say no to anything she wanted.

"Absolutely," Dean said with a grin. "Let's start now."