Chapter 25: Daddy Dearest
Castiel flew us back to the Impala and we drove home in silence, all thinking about Jack. At 2pm, when we got back, Bobby greeted us at the door.
"Guys, come look at this." He said, beckoning us inside, a rare smile across his face.
We followed curiously behind him until we came to the lounge room. Inside, DJ, who was about 9 months old, was holding on to the couch with his little fists and was pulling himself up until he was standing, then he put one foot in front of the other and let go of the couch, taking clumsy steps across the floor. I let out an excited cry and I felt Sam's proud hand on my shoulder. DJ turned towards me and giggled, then stumbled towards us. He was about a metre way when he tripped and Sam reached forwards and caught him.
"Look at you, big boy." Sam said, lifting him up and throwing him in the air.
"Who taught you that?" I asked him, tickling him under his chin.
"Gran-pa Bobby!" DJ squeaked and Bobby smiled.
"Clever Grandpa Bobby!" I teased.
That night after my shower (with the door firmly locked), I slipped into bed next to Sam and as I snuggled down he whispered in my ear, "since everything is normal again and we have some free time from angels and alphas, do you want to start planning the wedding?"
Butterflies filled my stomach and I smiled.
"Yes!" I squeaked excitedly.
Sam laughed and rolled over but I was too excited to sleep. I had a wedding to plan!
I called Taylor and hoped she wasn't still at the hospital.
"Hello?" Yawned Taylor's tired voice, it was about 2 in the morning in Seattle.
"Hey Taylor, it's me, Cas-Cas!" I squeaked.
"Hi Cas-Cas. Why are you calling me at this hour?"
"Sam asked me to marry me!" I cried like it was new news.
"Seriously? Oh my gosh, that's great!" Taylor squeaked.
"Who you talking to?" Said a vaguely familiar male voice from over the phone.
"Who's that Taylor?" I asked suspiciously.
"Hang on Cas-Cas," she pulled the phone away from her and talked to the guy behind her, "it's just a friend, go back to sleep."
"Ok." Mystery Guy laughed and I could hear him roll over and he fell silent.
"Taylor…" I said and I could almost feel her blush from over the phone.
"It's… Doctor O'Malley." She whispered sheepishly.
"Taylor!" I gasped.
"We're together."
"I can see that!" I laughed and she laughed back.
"Taylor, can you help me plan my wedding?" I asked.
"Sure, I have a few days off at the end of the week, I'll drive down and help you plan your wedding."
"Thank you. And Taylor, will you be my Maid of Honor?"
"It would be my pleasure." She laughed.
At the end of the week, as promised, there was a knock at the door and Sam opened it to find Taylor.
"Doctor? What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion.
"I'm here for Cas-Cas." She said.
I saw her at the door and ran past Sam, wrapping my arms around Taylor in a tight hug.
"Taylor, you made it!" I squeaked.
"Yeah, the drive was amazing. Come on, we have a wedding to plan!" She said, dragging me by the arm to the lounge room.
After twelve straight hours of work, the wedding was complete. It was to be held at the church a few miles away from Bobby's and we had bought the dresses and shoes and suits from the bridal boutique just a few miles past the church. My dress was strapless and sparkly and looked like one out of a fairy tale. It had a full-length veil and fitted me perfectly.
It was three o'clock in the morning and we were still putting the final touches on the wedding.
"Ok, we'll hold the reception here and I'll get my friend Izzie to cook the food and stuff. She'd love to do this. And we need a song for you to do your marriage waltz to." Taylor yawned, taking another swig of coffee.
"Do we have to do that? It's so old-fashioned." I whined.
"No. You have to do this!" Taylor insisted.
"Fine, go through my iPod and I'll choose a song."
She took my iPod and scrolled through as I looked at an article called 'ideal guest checklist' in a bridal magazine. I was just skimming over it when something made me stop, my eyes glued to the page. I found it hard to breath and my hands began to shake.
"Hey, what's this?" I heard Taylor ask.
She pressed on something and I could hear the video of Sam and I doing our drunken duet.
"Seriously, this is perfect. You have to waltz to this song… Cas-Cas? Cas? Earth calling Cassidy?"
I tried to speak but nothing would come out. Taylor crawled over and followed my gaze to the sentence that I was stuck on.
"What's wrong Cas?" Taylor asked.
Slowly, my eyes moved to the fireplace, and sitting on top was my dad's hunting journal. Suddenly, after twenty-three years, all I wanted was my daddy.
"Taylor. I need to call my dad."
I looked back down at the magazine at the sentence that shook me, which read:
Father of the bride – to walk you down the aisle on your big day!
"Are you sure about this?" Taylor said five minutes later as I stared down at the phone. I nodded shakily.
"He might have changed his phone number, you never know." She said and I just shrugged.
I flicked to the first page of the hunting journal and read out the number in a shaky voice as she entered it into the phone.
She passed it to me and I held it, staring down at the number on the screen.
"I can talk if you want." Taylor said but I shook my head. I had to do this.
"Should I stay?" Asked Taylor but I shake my head and whisper, "go get some sleep."
I took a deep breath and press 'call'. It rang for a little and I sacristy breathed while I held it to my ear. The ringing stopped and my heart pounded as a male voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Asked the voice.
Tears welled in my eyes but I opened my mouth and found my voice.
"Is this Luke Hunter?" I said, trying to hide the emotion in my voice.
"Yes. Who is this?" He asked.
"This is Cassidy Hunter, your daughter." I breathed.
"Cassidy… Bridget is your mother, right?" Luke said, his voice sounding startled.
"Was. She was my mother. She's dead now." I said coldly.
"Oh," I could hear the sadness in his voice, "you have a twin, as well?
"Had. Past tense. I killed her. She was a vampire. She ate Mum, and she would have killed me if it weren't for that journal you left with Mum." My icy voice cut through the conversation like a razor.
"Oh god. I thought Bridget would be safer without me around-"
"But instead, it put her in even more danger." I finished his sentence. I could hear him sobbing on the other end of the phone and I felt sorry for him.
"Why did you call me?" Luke said, his voice full of sudden rage, "why did you fill me with all this regret from my past life?"
"Because I want you to remember your past life. I want you to remember me, and Mum. I want you to know that it was a mistake leaving her and that I cost her, her life." I yelled through tears.
"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I look back everyday and regret leaving your mum? Leaving the family I never got to have? I do. Everyday for years, I beat myself up over it until I finally shoved that life into a little box and left it hidden deep down because, if I left it to take over, it would have killed me. Then you come alone and open the box, and let all the memories flow back. Why?" Luke shouted, his voice cracking with tears.
"Because it was the only way for you to forgive yourself. You have to face this, because I need you to forgive yourself, because I want you in my life. I have never met you, my own father. I don't even have a picture of you, just a story from Mum and an old book. That's not good enough. I am a hunter now, and I'm raising my own family. Your grandson, Daniel, will never meet his only living relatives if you don't forgive yourself. I need you to forgive yourself so you can walk me down the aisle on my wedding day, like a father should. That is why I called, because I need a father. I need you." I shouted back; big, fat tears rolling down my cheeks.
"I could never forgive myself." Luke sighed.
"You have to! For me! For the family you never knew!"
"Ok! For you."
"Thank you, Dad." I cried and I could almost feel him smiling from the other side of the phone.