"Michelle? You okay?" Sam asked as he rapped his knuckles against the bathroom door. She'd excused herself into the fifth hand of Texas Hold 'Em and hadn't yet come out. Bobby had finished his cigar and they'd polished off a six pack during the time she'd been away from the table. Sam knew something had to be wrong, no one stayed in the bathroom that long unless they weren't feeling well. Or unless they were upset. He sincerely hoped she was neither.

"I'm fine, Sam," he heard her reply weakly from behind the closed door.

"No, you're not," he argued and reached for the doorknob. "Open the door. I want to help you."

A hard, bitter laugh stilled his hand. "Believe me, Sam. You've already done more than enough. Please just go away."

Reluctantly, Sam's fingers slipped from the doorknob and he returned to the small table and picked up his cards. Bobby glanced up at him curiously but he just shook his head and tossed a couple of nickels in the pot.

"Call," he said.

Inside the small bathroom, Michelle was sitting on the toilet lid with her arms wrapped around her middle. She didn't want to believe it. Surely God couldn't be that cruel. Could he? How could he have let this happen? She'd always been a good Catholic, had gone to Mass on Sunday, confession on Tuesdays. Why had he let that demon take over her body? What good could have come from her possession?

Hot tears slipped down her cheeks and splashed onto her bare arms as she rocked back and forth. She knew she should get up and rinse the bile from her mouth but right then she just didn't have the strength. It was all coming at her so fast. Logically, Michelle knew her body was just playing catch up. Ruby's possession had kept all the symptoms at bay and now that she was free of the demon, it was all rushing through her system. The tiredness, the dizziness, the nausea. It was as plain as the nose on her face. She didn't need a store bought test to tell her what her heart told her was true. She was going to have a baby, Sam's baby.

"Oh God," she prayed brokenly. "Please don't do this to me. Please, I'm begging you."

"What are you so afraid of, Michelle?" Castiel asked softly as he knelt between her feet.

Unsurprised to see him kneeling there, she closed eyes in misery and she answered, "What if it's one of them? What if my baby is a demon?"

The angel took one of her hands and squeezed it in reassurance. "Your child is as human as you are. The demon, Ruby, did not have control over your body, only your mind. But do not be deceived. Your child is important. He is very, very special."

"He?" she asked, her eyes wide and suddenly hopeful.

Castiel nodded. "There is nothing more important to either of them than family. The conception of your son, of his son, marks a turning point. While Sam's destiny remains unclear, there is now hope where there once was none."

The hand that wasn't being held by the angel pressed against her belly. After Jake died, Michelle had given up hope for ever having a family again. She didn't believe she would ever love again and while she didn't know what it was she felt for Sam, she knew she'd always be grateful for this gift he'd unknowingly given her. Castiel's assurance that her baby wasn't a demon was enough to turn her fear into joy.

"Thank…" her words trailed off when she noticed he'd gone. "You," she finished quietly. With a renewed sense of purpose, Michelle wiped away her tears and stood up. After splashing cold water on her face, she blotted her skin dry on a towel and opened the bathroom door.

Sam's head swung around when he heard the door hinges creak. "You okay?" he asked again, his concern evident in his tone.

"No, not really," she admitted with a sad shake of her head. "But I think I will be. Do you think we could talk for a bit? Maybe take a walk or something?"

Surprised by her invitation, Sam didn't respond right away. Bobby kicked him under the table and nodded his head meaningfully. "Oh, right," Sam said. "Sure, Michelle. Is…now?"

She smiled a little at his stuttered response. The fact that she made him uncomfortable wasn't lost on Michelle. She even understood it. That didn't mean she had forgiven him for what he'd done but she was going to try. Their son was going to change a lot of things, the least she could do was make an effort towards mending this rift between them. Her growing attraction to him wasn't something she could ignore either.

It wasn't terribly late, a little after ten p.m. but they both tucked guns into the backs of their jeans beneath their jackets before the left the motel room. They walked in silence heading in the general direction of the Huddle House Restaurant a few blocks away. When Michelle finally spoke her heart was in her throat.

"I know you've been avoiding me, Sam. And I can't say that I blame you. It must have hurt, losing her that way."

Sam sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation with anyone but he owed Michelle an explanation. "Honestly, I don't even know anymore. I didn't love her, but I did care about her. She was there for me when Dean…when he was gone. She filled a hole in me for awhile, I guess. I had no idea she felt that way about me, didn't know demons could feel anything in the first place. It's just...Why did she do it? I just can't understand it, any of it."

"Would you die for Dean, if you knew your death could save him?"

"In a heartbeat," he answered vehemently. "But that's just it. Dean did die for me. And now Ruby. Who else has to die because of me?"

Michelle caught his hand and held it tightly in her own. "They didn't die because of you, they died for you - because they loved you. Do you really think so little of yourself? That you're not worthy of their love, of their sacrifice?"

"Everyone I've ever loved has died because of me," Sam said as he tugged his hand from hers. "You don't know what that's like."

"You're right. I don't. But I do know what it's like to lose everyone you love. If you'd stop wallowing in your own self-pity for two seconds you'd see that you're not the only one who's hurting. Your brother, Charlie, Bobby, me. We're all in this together and we're all of us affected by it. So, you'd better pony up and snap out of this funk you've gotten yourself into Sam. We're depending on you. We need you."

"You're forgetting one very important detail, Michelle. I've got demon blood in me. I'm a freak that even the angels are afraid of. How would you feel if it were you?"

"If you weren't so God awful tall, I'd kick your ass into next week, Sam Winchester. You want to talk about important details? Well here's one for you. I'm pregnant." When he paled visibly, she said, "That's right. Pregnant - with your baby, a baby I don't have any memory of conceiving because I was possessed by a demon when the deed was done. So if you want to stand there and have a pity party, you might as well throw that log onto the fire with the rest of them. You're going to be a daddy, Sam. You might want to think about that before you go throwing in the towel."

Michelle turned then and began walking back to the motel. She cursed herself for a fool. She hadn't intended to tell him about the baby. She'd just wanted to talk to him and he'd had to go and ruin it by being such a selfish, self-centered prick. Funny, the Sam she got to know through Ruby's eyes had been anything but. The bitter, war weary man who now occupied his body was starting to grate on her nerves.

Bobby looked up from the game of Solitaire he was dealing when she slammed into the room a few minutes later. He didn't say a word. He'd learned long ago, under fire, that when women were pissed off enough to start slamming doors it was best to give them a wide berth. When Sam followed suit ten minutes after, Bobby's eyes widened in surprise.

The younger Winchester angrily stalked into the room and jerked Michelle to her feet, curling an arm around her waist and hoisting her up against him. "Is it true?" he asked in wonder. When she nodded, Sam pressed his mouth to hers in a quick, happy kiss. "Thank you," he whispered against her lips.

"What for?" she asked, pulling back and looking at him in confusion.

Smiling broadly, Sam answered, "For, I don't know, everything?"

"Do I even want to know what's going on with you two?" Bobby asked from the table without glancing up.

Michelle and Sam shared a look. Without saying a word, they both seemed to understand that now wasn't the time to be announcing the impending arrival of the next Winchester.

"No," Sam said, fighting a smile. "Just finally got a few things straight."

When he'd caught his breath, Dean pushed himself up to rest on one elbow and smiled down into Charlie's eyes. "Hey," he said softly.

She blushed and turned her head away, biting her bottom lip as she tried not to smile back. A curious warmth spread through her body, leaving her feeling shy and more than a little out of her depth. Is this what love felt like? Her heart hammered against her chest and she felt as though she'd never be able to breathe normally again.

With two fingers beneath her chin, Dean turned her face back to him. "You okay?" She answered with a quick, jerky nod of her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Still hate me?"

The way he said the words told her he'd understood what she'd been trying to say even when she hadn't fully understood herself. The brightness of his smile and the way his heartbeat echoed her own gave her the courage to reach up and pull his mouth down to hers.

"Always," Charlie promised against his lips.

"Good," Dean smiled. "Me too."