Marie couldn't believe that after all these months, the little hunter family was getting to experience a normal life event.

Although they were all ecstatic that South was conscious and healthy, they gave the little family the night to themselves, then went up to the hospital the next morning after breakfast.

"Here she is," Dean grinned, handing the baby over to Sam. "Gracelin Mary."

Sam took the baby, carefully cradling her against his chest. Gracelin looked even tinier against her uncle's large frame. She stretched out her tiny little arm and opened her eyes. Just like when she had been aware of Sam while still in South's belly, Gracelin seemed to already know who her Uncle Sam was.

"She's perfect," Sam smiled, looking to his brother. "You did good, Dean."

"Hey, he didn't do it all himself!" South teased.

Marie watched while she waited for her turn to hold the baby. She could already see the grace and the powers in little Gracelin. She saw the pride in Dean's eyes as he watched his brother hold his newborn daughter. She could see the gentleness in Sam's demeanor, his fear of hurting this fragile, new human being, and his fascination that his brother and one of his best friends had created a life together.

But Marie could also see the black seeping into Sam's soul. Since the showdown in Oklahoma, Sam's soul had clouded over. Recently, the black had started to show. Sam was not an evil man, but something evil was trying to invade his very being.

"Marie? You all right?"

She looked over from Sam to South. Her friend's face had concern written all over it. "I'm sorry. I just got distracted, looking at this amazing little girl."

Marie took Gracelin from Sam and had a seat in a nearby chair. She talked softly to the baby, promising to always be there for her and protect her, just as the rest of the family would do. It amazed her to see how pure a soul could be, brand new to the world, and even after everything South had gone through to keep her daughter in the womb for as long as possible.

Ten minutes later, Bobby finally stepped up to take Gracelin from Marie. It was a sight to see, the gruff old man carefully supporting the baby's small body, and talking so softly to Gracelin that no one else could make out the words he was saying.

South sighed, the content kind of sigh that lets on to calm and happiness. "All of our family, right here in this room."

"Two generations now," Sam added. "You going to teach her to hunt?"

"Not if we can help it," Dean said, with no room for argument. "If I have anything to do with it, my daughter will never know anything but a normal life."

Marie looked to South then, whose happy expression had faded a bit. South connected her gaze with Marie, just for a second – just long enough for Marie to wonder what visions of Gracelin's future South had already experienced.

.&.

Dean watched South carefully place Gracelin in the bassinet in their bedroom a few days later. It was their first night at home with the baby, and he couldn't have been more grateful for a clean bill of health for both his daughter and his wife.

"Are you sure we don't need to put her in between us or something?" Dean asked. "What if she gets scared?"

South smiled. "Then she'll cry and once of us will wake up and take care of her. She'll be just fine, Dean. I promise."

With the baby comfortably sleeping in her little bed, South crawled under the covers of the big bed, and sidled up next to her husband. The doctor had told her to be careful with her incision, that it might leave a scar, and had set up a follow-up appointment with her doctor to have it looked at for infection. South had always healed fast anyway, but some of her surging powers remained, and the incision from her C-section just a few days before was already nearly healed.

"Are you happy?" South asked Dean. "Would you still go back and change the good things, to avoid all of the awful things?"

Dean leaned down and kissed her. "I never should have said that when I did. You and Gracie, you're my world. My life. And I wouldn't change any of it, for anything. Even with everything that happened … Lulabelle, you're it for me. I love you."

"I love you, too," South grinned up at Dean before pulling him in for another kiss.

.&.

When everyone was in bed, Marie sat on the front porch, waiting for her angel. It took a little bit, but Castiel finally made an appearance. Almost before he could even say hello, Marie was asking about Sam's soul.

"We've talked about so much, I still forget sometimes how much you have to learn," the angel told her. "I wanted to pace in order to salvage as much of your humanity as possible, but now there may not be time.

For the first time since she had known him, Marie felt herself growing angry with Castiel. "I'm not a child. You don't have to hold things back from me. I got thrown into this because a demon possessed me, Cas. If that doesn't scare me – if what happened to South doesn't scare me – why should anything else?"

For the first time in a long time, Castiel was at a loss for words.

.&.

A Couple Months Later

Dean pulled South's new SUV into the parking lot of the Humane Society. His actions showed compliance, but his expression read resistance.

"Would you quit looking so grumpy?" South chuckled, playfully punching him in the arm. "This is happening. We're here. You can't stop it."

She slid out of her seat and went to the next door back, straining to get her daughter's carrier unbuckled before pushing up the arm of the thing and sliding it out of the vehicle.

Dean grunted and got out of the car, too. He was convinced that he could be here with his wife and his daughter and not come home with a new, four-legged member to their family. As if I've ever really been able to tell her no, he mocked himself.

"We are not getting a dog," he warned South as they entered the cool air of the building. South turned back to him and rolled her eyes as she approached the woman at the front desk.

"We'd like to see the dogs you have available for adoption, please."

"Of course," the woman smiled. "I see you have a new addition to the family you need some extra protection for."

Dean tried not to reply to that. If this woman had any idea about the snares his daughter could possibly come up against, ones that a dumb canine would have no chance of protecting her against, she would send them away without question.

But Gracelin cooed from her carrier and gave her chubby-cheeked grin to the woman, and South looked at him with a genuine excitement shining in her purple eyes – the kind of shine he loved to see, the human kind – and he knew that was the end of it. They were getting a dog.

Just the same, he put his hands on South's shoulders and leaned forward, whispering in her ear so the woman couldn't hear, "We're not getting a dog."

South turned to him with a smile that he knew was feigned. "Dean Winchester. May I remind you that you stood me up for my senior prom? And I'm not talking about you just didn't show up that night – you didn't show up for another five years."

Dean's eyes grew. "I'm sorry – marrying you and going through all of that in Oklahoma didn't make up for that?"

"So you married me and came down to Oklahoma to rescue me only because you stood me up that night?" South questioned.

"Everything all right?" the employee called from a door a few feet away.

"It's great," South assured, moving forward, sending a warning look back that he knew good and well meant that if Dean ever wanted to sleep in the same bed with his wife again, he would follow her.

So he did.

A few rows of large kennels were situated in a large concrete room. There were mutts, big and little, shaggy and smooth-haired, all looking at the little family expectantly. Each one seemed to say, "Take me home!" or "I'm a good dog!"

"Dean …" South breathed when they came to a cage at the far end of the middle row.

It was a small, black and white pitbull pup, maybe a few months old. The little guy perked his floppy ears and wagged his tail, sitting patiently, but still making eye contact with both South and Dean.

"Let's just see how he does with Gracelin," South suggested.

Dean held a hand up, one of the first signs of defeat. "Sure, whatever you think."

South smirked; she knew she had him. The employee, who had been patiently waiting for them to spot a possible adoptee, opened the cage and picked up the dog, taking them to an isolated room. South set the carrier down, sat next to her daughter on the floor, and held her arms out for the puppy.

Dean took a seat in one of the chairs in the small room, close enough to seem involved to the Society's workers, but not actually close enough for South to think he was at all eager for this thing to come home with them.

But, then, the dog did something Dean would never forget. Gracelin began to fuss from her seat. The little guy's ears perked up and he trotted over to the baby, gently nudging her foot with his nose.

When Gracelin's fussing turned to crying, South moved to pick her up; Dean scooted down a chair and stopped her.

"Just wait," he whispered.

The puppy continued to nudge at Gracelin as her cries continued. When he found that licking her foot didn't help matters, the black-and-white fur ball took a few tries and finally succeeded in getting into the carrier with their baby girl. It was a little bit of a tight fit, but, after a couple seconds, Gracelin's cries were gone. South was catching the whole event on video with her phone, and after a couple of minutes, their daughter had fallen asleep with her head leaning against the puppy, who was also snoozing soundly.

South smiled at Dean, who heaved a sigh of defeat. He picked up the carrier – neither the baby nor the puppy stirred – and headed for the front desk.

"How was your visit?" the woman asked, her voice full of hope.

Dean looked down at the carrier again, and his mouth turned up with the hint of a smile. "I guess we're getting a dog."

A/N: That marks the end of this story! Thank you to everyone who read and kept up with it. It's exciting to have it done and start thinking about Marie and Castiel's story.