Chapter 21

Dream Catch Me

"You ok?" Dean asked Andie as he wandered back into the room holding a pacifier in Allie's mouth. Andie was staring out the window with a crinkle in her brow.

"She has powers." Andie jabbed her finger out the window. "Maddie."

Dean nodded. "They both do."

Andie snapped her head around to look at him; she wasn't expecting that. "They're both telekinetic?" She glanced at the gurgling baby in Dean's arms and felt a strange feeling in her heart...pride?

"Yeah, so far." Dean told her.

"So far?" Andie repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Maddie...she has dreams." Dean shrugged, trying to play down the enormity of the situation. Andie didn't need another reason to freak out.

"What kind of dreams?" Andie was definitely intrigued now; no one in her family had prophetic dreams before. Then she remembered; Sam used to have visions. Bad ones; he had told Andie it was like his head was splitting in two.

"Not like Sam's visions." Dean assured her; seeing the ripple of worry in her face. "She isn't in any pain when she has them; she just," He shrugged. "Dreams things that come true sometimes."

"So they both have powers..." Andie said slowly.

"Yeah; and Maddie has pretty decent control over hers." Dean said with proud grin. "I'm sure this one will, too." He jiggled Allie in his arms and she cooed happily.

"But for some reason I've told her not to use them," Andie continued. "Why did I do that?"

"Like I said; no more demons." Dean told her. "So no need for the powers. You didn't want the girls growing up feeling like freaks, being able to do things that normal people can't so you've been telling them not to use their powers anymore."

Andie couldn't think why she would ask them to do that. Sure, her telekinesis sometimes got the better of her but she never wished she didn't have it. She liked being unique. And when she didn't use it, it pent up and sometimes came out sporadically. She couldn't imagine how these contained powers would burst out of a child.

"Y'know, I'm gonna take Allie to watch Maddie's game." Dean spoke up, shifting the baby to one arm and rubbing Andie's shoulder with the other. "You should stay here and wait for Sam; I don't think you're up to seeing all the other soccer mums." He gently stroked the side of her face and kissed her forehead.

Andie began the mindless, maternal task of cleaning up after breakfast as Dean dressed himself and Allie before heading off for Maddie's soccer game. Glancing at the clock, Andie saw that it was almost ten in the morning. She was still in her pyjamas so she headed back upstairs to her bedroom, grabbed some clothes and then went in search of a bathroom. She found it at the end of the hall but soon realized that her life wasn't the only thing that had changed in the past ten years. There were strange contraptions on the side of the shower. Unsure of what might happen if she pressed the buttons, Andie just opened the shower door.

"Good morning, Andie." An automated, female voice spoke.

Andie almost jumped out of her skin. She noticed a speaker box on the door of the shower; it was automated. Cautiously stepping inside, the first thing she noticed was that there were no faucets; just the shower head. "Wh...?" Andie ran her hands over the tiles where the taps were meant to be.

"Please select water temperature." The voice asked.

"Ah...body temp?" Andie guessed, feeling completely insane to be talking with her shower.

"Command; recognized." The voice said.

The shower head started spraying Andie with perfectly heated water. As she showered, Andie quickly learned that the contraptions on the side of the shower contained shampoo, conditioner and soap and they were all voice activated.

After her futuristic shower, Andie dressed in jeans and a black singlet; she'd had to search through her cupboard to find something remotely like what she wore back in her own time. She had a lot more colours in her wardrobe these days, and even a couple of dresses. Not willing to completely fall into this Andie's life, Andie located a pair of denim jeans and a black singlet buried underneath a bright yellow sweater.

Due to her experience with the advanced shower; Andie wondered what else was in her house so she took up her much loved passion of snooping. Although, it wasn't really snooping since it was her own house, but she still felt a bit weird about it. The first room on the right was Maddie's; it had her name on the door. The walls were painted sky blue with patterns of yellow swirls and flowers stamped across it. She had a desk in the centre of the room covered in crayons and drawings. Andie picked up the closest one; it was of three smiling people; two women and a little girl. The girl was holding both the women's hands and all three were dressed in the same clothes; a red dress. Andie set the drawing down as her eyes locked on a photo atop the bedside table. It was a photo of Maddie and Andie; the pair were smiling and pulling faces at the camera. She was such a beautiful little girl; she reminded Andie of her Grandmother, Ellie. She had one childhood picture of her and always remembered thinking how she looked so much older than she really was. Maddie had that look.

The next room was a nursery; Allie's room. It was painted in soft yellows and tinges of lilac. Her crib was made from beautiful, polished timber with white, cotton blankets that had teddy bears in various poses patterned across the fabric. Her window looked out the backyard where Andie saw a swing-set and slide as well as a handful of other toys scattered around the lawn. It was the perfect life.

"Used to it yet?" A familiar voice called from the doorway.

Andie knew who it was before she even turned around. "Sam!" She cried happily. "Thank God you're here."

xxx

Sam knew Andie's house better than she did, so he led the way to the kitchen and made her coffee while she sat herself at the kitchen table. Sam had given her a couple of photo albums to familiarize herself with her daughters' lives. Each album contained their birth certificates. Madeline Elizabeth Mary Morgan-Winchester; her eldest's full name honouring Andie's grandmother and Dean's mother. And apparently Dean and Andie had never resolved the argument as to what to do with their last names. Then there was Alexandra Lillian Cassidy Morgan-Winchester, Allie had been named after Andie's mother and her best friend. Sighing loudly, Andie closed both photo albums.

"You ok?" Sam asked as he sat a mug of coffee in front of her.

"My children's names sound like law firms." Andie grumbled, resting her jaw in her hand.

Sam chuckled. "Yeah; kinda." He agreed.

Andie smiled vaguely, Sam looked really great. He had aged very well. His hair was a little shorter and he had more smile lines than Andie recalled, but he looked just like she had pictured he would. He was still in excellent shape and bore no air of tortured grief as he did in her time. Apparently, whatever he had been doing with Ruby he was no longer involved in. And as a result; he looked fantastic.

"As for your task," Sam was saying. "I don't even know where to start."

Andie took a long drink from her mug before answering him. "Maybe it's a demon? Or some sort of supernat-"

"No." Sam cut her off. "We haven't fought, seen or heard of a demon in almost nine years." He shrugged his muscular shoulders. "I'm not sure I'd know where to start."

"Aren't you helpful," Andie murmured sarcastically. "Ok," She slumped her head in her hands. "Let's get back to basics then, shall we? Journals. My mum's, your dad's. Maybe I made a note or something..."

Sam and Andie poured over John Winchester and Lily Morgan's journals' for the better part of the afternoon; Andie found a lot of new information that she had written in the past couple of years since the birth of her daughters. There was a good extra hundred pages or so to it than what Andie's remembered. It was strange reading her own words about events in the future. Plus, Andie noticed that there was a definite change in her attitude in the years that had passed. She supposed motherhood agreed with her in the future; she'd never really thought about it that much. There was even softness to her handwriting; it had a pretty cursive swirl to it as opposed to her normal, scratchy scrawl. Yet another change Andie had to immediately get used to.

"We're home!" Dean's voice echoed through the house at around six o'clock. "Sorry we're late; team went out for pizza."

"We won!" Followed Maddie's triumphant squeal as she skipped into the kitchen. "Uncle Sam!" She through herself at him and squeezed him around the neck.

"Heya, Goober!" He kissed the top of her head. "You won, huh?"

"Yeah; and I scored!" She jumped off Sam's lap and mimicked kicking a goal. "It was the coolest."

"Sure was." Dean agreed as he came into join them, Allie slumbering in his arms. Apparently still on a winning high; Maddie then took off upstairs with Dean calling out after her to get out of her soccer uniform. "So how'd you two get on?" He glanced apprehensively at the open journals on the table. "Wow; haven't seen those in awhile. Find anything?"

"Not of use, no." Andie replied dejectedly; closing the page of her mother's journal.

"Andie; you look like hell," Dean stroked the back of her hair.

"Poor choice of words." She mumbled, glancing at Allie as she stretched in her father's arms.

"I'll put this one to bed." He kissed his baby daughter on the top of her head. "Come on, baby." He whispered to her sweetly.

Andie watched Dean and Allie disappear upstairs and turned back to Sam. "See that?" She jabbed a thumb towards the staircase. "That is very hard to get used to."

Sam chuckled. "Dean mentioned that."

"I mean, the Dean I know is not that kind of guy." Andie explained. "If I found out I was pregnant right now, in 2009, I'm positive I'd find him hyperventilating in the back of the Impala.

"It's been almost ten years, Andie," Sam reached out and nudged her arm. "Things change."

"Yes, I see that." Andie

Sam stayed for the rest of the evening but took of around eight o'clock. Andie, exhausted from her day of discovery, and Dean, wiped from spending all day with the girls, headed to bed early. If Andie thought it had been weird that morning; her new life jumped up a whole new notch on the crazy pole as she prepared for bed. "Prepared" being the operative word. Dean didn't prepare for sleep; he slept where he fell, half the time wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing all day. Now, he had a routine. Brushing his teeth, getting in pyjamas, checking on the girls, and then climbing into bed. Andie wasn't sure what her 'normal' routine was; so she just followed Dean around and then yanked the blankets back from the bed as Dean returned from peering in on his daughters.

"Maddie wants to say goodnight." Dean said through a yawn as he made a beeline for his mattress.

"She does?" Andie raised her eyebrows. She'd only spoken a handful of words to the little girl; and to be honest she was intrigued to talk to her about her powers. But she didn't want to traumatize her; as far as Maddie knew Andie was still the same mother she'd known the day before and not an imposter.

"She won't bite, Andie." Dean climbed into bed and rested back against his pillows. "She's just a kid. Your kid; I might remind you."

"Ok; ok," Andie waved her hands up in defeat as she exited the room. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

The hall was quiet and calm; peaceful. Andie peered into the nursery and saw Allie slumbering the night away in her crib. She then moved onto Maddie's room and hovered in the doorway. The little girl was already tucked in and waiting for her. "Hey, kid," Andie called from the doorway. "So, ah...goodnight."

"Goodnight." Maddie smiled at her and snuggled into her pillows. "And don't worry," She added. "I know you're not my real Mummy."

Andie paused in the doorway. "What?" She managed to say after a brief moment of shock.

"It's ok," Maddie leant up on her elbow. "My real Mummy told me not to be scared of you."

Andie shut the door and went over to Maddie's bedside. "I told you – I mean, your real mum told you about me?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, silly, I told her about you." She smiled. "I dreamed it."

Andie's mouth pulled upwards into a smile. "And what did you dream, exactly?"

"I dreamed you got your hand burned." Maddie reached out and touched the fading burn on Andie's hand from the incident in the kitchen that morning. "I dreamed you didn't wanna hold Allie. And I dreamed what we're saying right now."

"Huh...that's quite the dream." Andie mused. "When did you have it?"

"Last week." Maddie answered. "But my real mummy says I shouldn't talk about my dreams anymore; that they don't come true." A small smile spread across her face. "But this one did."

"Yeah, I guess it did." Andie mumbled, pulling her knees up and hugging them to her chest.

"Do you think," Maddie sat up and tucked her knees up to her chin just like Andie. "That means my other dreams are real, too?" She spoke in a tentative, hushed whisper.

"'Other' dreams?" Andie had wanted intrigue; and she'd found it. "Like what?"

"I've been dreaming of a house; an old house." Maddie explained. "And there's a girl inside; she's really sad. She wants her mummy and daddy but they can't hear her."

"You have this dream a lot?" Andie tried to sound nonchalant, but with the way Maddie was speaking so confidently about her dreams, she imagined that the little girl didn't fear these dreams; they were just a normal thing for her.

Maddie was quiet for a moment as she pondered Andie's question. "All the time." She answered. "But sometimes my dreams don't come true...so how do I know if this one is real?"

"Well..." Andie pursed her lips together and tried to think of an explanation. She wondered if her future self had improved when it came to dishing out advice. "Maybe when you get another sign? Like, you'll see something when you're awake that'll make you think of what you dreamt. Then you know what you're seeing is real; and not just a regular dream." She paused. "Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah; I guess." Maddie muttered, flopping back against her cushions.

"Things always seem worse at night," Andie told her; her words echoing ones she remembered hearing from her mother about a million years ago. "It'll be better in the morning."

"Ok." Maddie smiled tiredly and closed her eyes. "Goodnight."

Smirking wide enough to be mistaken for a smile, Andie made sure the little girl was completely covered in her blanket and got to her feet. "Goodnight, Maddie." She whispered.

When she climbed into bed beside Dean, Andie pulled the covers up to her shoulders. "You awake?" She asked him.

"No." He grumbled; opening his eyes a crack. "What's wrong?"

"How accurate are Maddie's dreams?" Andie asked, turning on her side so she could see his eyes. "Like, does she see car accidents? Or does she predict stuff? What does she see?"

"It changes." Dean replied, shuffling closer to her. "Sometimes she dreams of people, sometimes of places. She knows bad things are going to happen, but you don't like her talking about it."

"Yeah; she mentioned that." Andie muttered, curious as to why she would do that.

"She used to get upset when she had them." Dean explained, sensing the confusion in Andie's voice. "She didn't want to go to sleep anymore because she was afraid of what she'd see. So you've been telling her they won't come true if she doesn't believe they will; that they're just dreams. She's been better."

Andie mulled his over as she chewed on her bottom lip. Maddie had just admitted to her she'd been having a recurring dream. She wasn't 'better'. Andie had the uncomfortable feeling in her gut that Maddie had convinced her future mother that she wasn't dreaming anymore when, in fact, she was and the dreams were getting more vivid.

"Don't worry, Andie," Dean shifted closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. "It'll all be ok."

Andie twitched uncomfortably in his arms. She was not used to him being like this. This Dean was calm, collected...responsible. The day before she'd been arguing with Dean about who invented ketchup. Dean maintained it was a multi-national company who had gotten together and marketed it while Andie wholeheartedly claimed it was invented by Henry John Heinz; and that was where the business Heinz came from. Now; Dean was cuddling her in bed like they were just any other happy couple. It was strange and gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Demons she could handle. Ghosts were a breeze. Anything remotely supernatural; Andie could hold her own. But real life...definitely not her forte. However, discomfort didn't necessarily mean bad. Hadn't she been lying with Dean this same way before Castiel showed up; resting her back against his chest and hugging his arm over her body? She certainly didn't feel anxious with Dean; it was just the rest of this life that was freaking her out. Andie had barely been prepared for the one child she was destined to have; let alone two. A solid marriage, beautiful children, a nice house, an awesome brother-in-law and no demons; surely that wasn't a bad future to look forward too. It was just different than the life she thought she was going to have. Although judging by how settled she felt in this bed with Dean's arms protectively cradling her; different certainly did not mean bad. Resolving to be much more receptive to her new life in the morning, Andie closed her eyes and awaited a peaceful sleep. Until...

"Mummy!!!"

xxx