Chapter 25
Serra and Dean were sprawled out in the living room in silence, after eating mac and cheese when Johnny got up from his place on the rug and trotted to the front door. Dean glanced towards the door from the chair that he laid back in with Liberty asleep on his chest. He and Serra exchanged looks and Serra padded to the chest where she knew Dean kept a loaded pistol. Out of new habit, she glanced at the clock in the kitchen as she ensured the gun was loaded; fifteen hours, fifty-fix minutes. She closed her eyes and rolled her head from side to side and stared at the front door, waiting.
Johnny's tail began to wag as she heard tires in the gravel of the driveway. Breathing a sigh of relief, she put the safety back on the pistol, returned it to the chest for safekeeping as her sister walked through the door. "Grace," Serra whispered, running to hug her, "where the hell have you been?"
"Cas and I had a little errand to run," she said, stepping back. Grace saw the redness of her sister's eyes and hugged her again, pushing the hair from her face. Moving aside, Grace watched Serra as Cas walked through the door, closely followed by Sam.
The silence that flooded the room was palpable. Serra gasped; a ragged, raw, emotional sound, and held her breath. She turned back to Grace and slapped her across the face. "You did not make a deal."
"Ow," Grace sighed, rubbing her face, "No, you moron. Of course I didn't."
"Then I'm hallucinating," Serra whispered, standing close to her sister, unwilling to believe what she was seeing.
"Serra, it's me," Sam said gently, holding his hands out, palms towards his wife. "Grace and Cas came into Heaven and pleaded my case."
Dean stood, then, still holding a sleeping Liberty. "Sammy?" he said, unbelieving himself.
"Pleaded your case?" Serra repeated, shaking her head. "I don't understand. I watched you die."
Slowly, he took another step towards his wife. "I did, Serra, and I ended up in this holding room, waiting to hear if the angels accepted my good deeds over my bad ones. Grace and Cas were fast enough to get to them before they made a decision and reversed it. They let me come home."
Serra was in disbelief, simply staring at her husband, her chestnut eyes examining his face. "I watched you die," she repeated, shaking her head. Sam took another step and Grace moved away, allowing Sam to fill the space. As he moved closer, Serra's instincts were to step away, but she stood, rooted to her spot as her family looked on. Sammy was close now; within arms reach, and Serra locked her jaw, setting her teeth in anger. She hit Sam, closed fist as her eyes filled with tears.
Sam opened his mouth, stretching out his mouth in pain and raised his eyebrows. "Ow," he said, rolling his eyes. "I told you I'm real."
She leaped on him then, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. He reciprocated quickly, bending at the waist and lifting Serra from the floor. She looked over Sam's shoulder at the clock and smiled as she kissed him: Fifteen hours and fifty-nine minutes.
Grace giggled and put her hands to her mouth, tears leaking from her eyes in happiness. Dean moved to Grace's side and she leaned on his shoulder as he breathed a sigh of relief.
His family was home.