Author's Note: Hey all! Sorry for the wait. :D Unfortunately I'm posting faster than I can write, so it's taking me longer than before. Anyways, I know this is getting long, I'm expecting probably 30 chapters total, if I squeeze. So that's exciting! I really like this chapter, like a lot. :D

I also started a new story (surprise!) after a reviewer mentioned Sam needing some love. It's called Hearts a Mess. You should give it a shot and let me know.

Kisses and love. (ugh, cheesy).

Chapter 21: Maturity

Singer Salvage wasn't perfect. It was cluttered, dirty, and had more than it's fair share of bodies buried on the grounds. For Bobby Singer it held many bad memories. He had lived with Karen in the very home he still occupied. Karen had been possessed in that house. He had killed her in that house.

Though for every bad memory he had a good one. Sam had gotten ready for a winter formal in the guest room. Dean had learned how to pack salt rounds in the kitchen. Both brothers had done so many things in the home. They had allowed Bobby to teach them the ways of a hunter in the study.

Sam and Dean, his boys, had filled it with so many good times.

Bobby lifted his tired eyes from the tome in front of him and rubbed at them with a thumb and forefinger. He had been researching lore on demons for days, hoping to find a way to finally stick it to Crowley. That smug faced demon deserved to rot in Hell, again.

"Hey Bobby. Find anything?"

Bobby removed his hand to see Sam leaning against a wall with a sandwich in his hand. In the back of his mind he wondered how Sam had been able to scrap together a decent meal from his kitchen.

The taller Winchester looked concerned, as he normally did.

"Nah, nothing yet, but that doesn't mean I'll stop lookin'" Bobby told the other hunter. "Where's your brother?"

A rare smile spread across the younger hunter's face and he jerked his head towards the windows. Bobby stood and approached the glass.

Dean was outside with a piece of plywood and spray paint, teaching Hermione anti-demonic sigils. Hermione had rounded out, as she was four months pregnant, and wearing a sundress with one of Dean's flannels thrown over her shoulders. It was an oddly cool day in Sioux Falls and she hadn't dressed for the chill.

What took the older man by surprise was the wide smile on Dean's face. It had been so long since the older hunter had seen such a thing. At that moment Hermione's mouth dropped and her hands went to her belly. Dean spun to her and concern crossed his face. It was only when his hands found her bump that he smiled again. He bent and kissed her, his hands never leaving their spot.

"It's bizarre, isn't it?" Sam asked from beside him. Bobby could see that Sam was nearly as happy as his brother.

"Yeah, I'd say. I've never seen your idjit of a brother look so-" Bobby trailed off.

"Happy?" Sam offered.

"That fits. If I didn't know any better I'd say he is in love," Bobby said, more to himself than Sam.

The younger Winchester raised his sandwich to his mouth and took a contemplative bite, his gaze never wavering from his brother. "Bobby, I think he could be. In love that is, maybe not completely but he is getting there. He wasn't even like this with Cassie."

"Dean Winchester. Family man," Bobby whispered.

"It's always what he's wanted, Bobby. A life outside of this. She is making that possible for him," Sam replied just as softly.

"Has he talked about you about this?" Bobby questioned. He took a step back from the glass and reached for a bottle of whiskey, pouring two fingers worth into a tumbler.

Sam motioned to an empty glass; a silent request for a drink of his own. "He doesn't have to. I know my brother better than anyone," Sam explained. "He is afraid to talk about what he wants because he's afraid of jinxing it."

"She would be in danger. Damn near twenty-four seven," Bobby exclaimed as he sat himself back in his rickety desk chair.

Sam took a sip, swishing it around his mouth before swallowing. "I don't think so, Bobby. Dean's been teaching her, and she gets it. If she wasn't learning it as precaution because of the baby I would say she would make a perfect hunter. That's why Dean is still around. She's strong, determined and not afraid of anything."

Bobby turned his head to see Hermione paint the sigils Dean had just demonstrated. They were perfect.

"He told her, you know," Sam whispered.

Bobby turned his head to see Sam watching the pair. "Told her what?"

"About Hell," Sam explained, making the older hunter's jaw drop. "And she's still here! I almost didn't want to stick around after he told me."

"Well, damn," Bobby let out in a low breath.

Bobby himself hadn't heard specifics about what happened in Hell. The boys evaded the issue like a okami avoided a Shinto priest-blessed bamboo dagger. Sam was right. The fact that Hermione was privy to the whole story and was still here, letting Dean get close to her, spoke volumes.

There was a smack from a kitchen as the screen door was opened, followed by two sets of footsteps.

Hermione followed Dean into the house, while going over the sigils in her head. Dean kept asking her to paint them on the castle, and she was trying to figure out a way to do it discreetly to appease him. They weren't that awful to look at. Maybe she could tell Minerva that they were ancient runes. It was a sloppy plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"What's the word, Bobby? Any new intel?" Dean asked while snatching a tumbler out of his brother's fingers. Hermione scoffed before grabbing the tumbler and passing it back to Sam.

"Nothing yet," Bobby told the older Winchester. "How're the lessons going?" He asked, directing the question at herself.

"Splendidly," Hermione told them with a smile. "I've actually been working on something." Her voice was quiet, sheepish. "So holy water is the best thing to repel a demon if it gets too close, right?"

"Yeah, the only thing that can slow them down," Sam groaned.

Hermione took a further step into the room and took a seat on the red couch. "Well, I've been tweaking a spell we have. It's augumenti and it produces water." Hermione pulled out her wand and conjured a bucket. All three men looked at her strangely, which she ignored. Hermione cleared her throat, before speaking another spell. "Augumentus Sanctus!"

A jet of pure white water sprung from her wand before falling into the bucket. Once it settled at the bottom it turned translucent.

"Is that holy water?" Dean asked aghast.

"I think so, but I haven't been able to test it yet," Hermione told them with a proud smile on her face.

The mens' reactions varied. Bobby immediately snatched the bucket, nearly shoving his head inside. Hermione was tempted to remind him that it took only four inches of water to drown, but figured the older hunter knew the risks. Sam looked impressed. No doubt her brains reminding him of his years at Stanford. Dean just picked her up and hugged her. In the background she heard Sam and Bobby sigh and leave the room together.

"Well, son of a bitch! My girlfriend's a genius!" Dean called happily throughout the house. Hermione giggled as he spun her around; thanking Merlin that her morning sickness had passed.

"I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend, Dean?" A new voice asked from behind Hermione. She recognized that voice. Dean's eyes widened as he set her down carefully. Swiftly he grabbed her wand and shoved it down the pocket of the flannel she was wearing.

"It's a little new, Jo," Dean explained. Hermione could tell he was nervous. She wasn't blind. Hermione had seen the flame the other hunter carried for Dean, and she assumed at one point it was reciprocated. Though for one reason or another neither had acted on it. Now she had no choice but to hurt the woman more.

Hermione spun and saw Jo immediately react to her stomach. The blonde's eyes strayed down, and she took a step back. "Oh," she let out quietly.

The tension in the room was palpable. The baby sensed it, squirming inside her. It took all her concentration to not show excitement at the feeling. Having the baby move was a new sensation that she cherished, but now was not the time to indulge herself.

"Let me guess, Bozeman?" Jo asked tightly. Hermione could tell she was fighting tears.

Dean nodded. "I should have told you. I'm sorry," Dean said softly. Hermione suddenly felt like she was interrupting something private.

"I'm going to leave you two alone for a bit," Hermione told the two quietly as she took a few steps away from Dean. "I'll go find Sam."

"You don't have to leave," Dean told her, dropping his voice so Jo would have a hard time hearing.

Hermione smiled at him, conveying that she trusted him. "It's okay, really. You obviously need to talk."

Dean gulped, making his Adam's apple bob, and smiled weakly. "Thanks," he added as a last minute thought.

Without another word Hermione left the room in search of Sam. She found him in the scrap yard, cleaning his gun in the back of an old pick up. Hermione couldn't help but like Sam. He was so caring; towards Bobby, Dean and herself.

"Hey," Hermione said quietly. Sam looked up from his project and tossed a lazy smile at her. Hermione held out her hands, and Sam was quick to take them and pull her into the bed of the truck.

"What're you doing out here?" Sam asked as he returned to his task. Hermione was always so impressed with the brothers' aptness with the guns. She knew how to use one in an emergency, but they tended to make her twitchy.

"Jo's here," Hermione explained with a glance at the house. If she concentrated on the bay window she would see them. Dean was standing, while Jo sat on the red couch. It looked tense even from a distance. Sam's head had shot up at his words and he too was looking their way. "I thought they deserved some privacy."

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked honestly.

"Jo cares for Dean, maybe more so than you realize. I think seeing me really hurt her, and she deserved the chance to tell Dean the truth," Hermione explained as she fiddled with a spare screwdriver.

Sam's hands stalled. "You don't think he'll-?"

"Leave me for her? No, I don't, or at lease I hope not. But he should be able to make that choice for himself," Hermione finished. Sam chuckled and shook his head.

"You really are something. Most women would try to mark their territory or something," Sam said with a shake of his head.

A small smile crossed her face. "I told him back in Shreveport that this wasn't something he had to do. It had to be his choice, and people are allowed to change their minds."

"But you don't want him to," Sam said. It wasn't a question.

"Not at all. I really care about Dean," Hermione told him, her voice dropping. A strange emotion filled her at the words. They weren't completely true. She didn't just care about him. Hermione knew her feelings were stronger than that. She felt her baby flutter. Without much thought Hermione grabbed Sam's hand and pressed it to her stomach. "She always know's when I'm talking about him."

"She?" Sam asked. His voice was higher than usual with his large hand sprawled across the cotton dress.

"I don't know for sure, but it feels like a she," Hermione said.

Sam threw his head back and laughed. "Dean would lose his shit if it was a girl," he got out between snickers.

"There's no reason to be scared of girls, Sam," Hermione chastised with a smile.

"We're not scared," he replied with mock hurt in his voice.

"Yeah, uh huh. I don't believe you," Hermione laughed as she good-naturedly shoved Sam in the shoulder.

The two fell into silence as Sam finished cleaning his weapon while Hermione watched.

"Can I be really honest with you, Hermione?" Sam asked once he had reassembled the gun. Hermione just nodded. "I am so glad Dean picked you up in that bar."

"Really?" Hermione asked in genuine shock.

"Really. I know Dean talks a big talk about hunting. That it's the 'family business' and it is, don't get me wrong. It's just that I think Dean had needed more than that. I was able to get away for a while when I went to Stanford, but Dean didn't. He's always been in the trenches, and with you he is getting just what he needs. What he deserves," Sam said quietly, but strongly. "You two are kinda perfect for each other, and I hope he see's that."

Hermione felt herself smile. Hearing Sam say those things, it was more than she had ever hoped for.

"Hermione?"

She turned and saw Jo standing awkwardly beside the truck. The blonde's eyes were red and puffy, but she still had a beauty to her that Hermione couldn't help but envy. "Yeah?" She asked uncertainly.

"Could I talk to you? Girl to girl?" Jo asked with a pointed look at Sam.

Hermione nodded. "Of course," she said shyly. "Thanks Sam, for what you said."

Sam gave her a reassuring look before hopping out of the bed. The two women were left alone, the only sound being the clap of she screen door as Sam disappeared into the house.