AN: Very long chapter. But I'm told having a baby takes awhile...

Chapter 36

Blackbird

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Cassidy asked Andie for the millionth time as she hugged her tightly around her middle, resting her cheek against her friend's heavily pregnant belly.

"Cass, you've been doting on me for almost three weeks now," Andie patted her head. "I think I can handle two days without you."

"We won't be long," Luka said from the doorway where he was stacking their bags. "Sounded like a regular ghost from the way the lady described it on the phone."

"It's going to take us longer to get there and back then it is to deal with the damn thing." Cass complained.

Luka smiled. "And I get to spend eight hours in a car with her. Fabulous."

Cassidy eyed Andie up and down. "Maybe I should try getting onto Zoe again; maybe she can take this case? Or come and stay with you?"

"Leave her alone!" Andie snapped with a wry grin. "Leave me alone! I'll be fine." She shoved Cass's hands off of her. "Go, go, go." She pointed to Luka. "Take your boy and go."

"I'll keep my phone on." Cassidy promised. "And Mrs. Landers next door is on notice if something goes wrong, ok?"

"Landers? The woman with the puke green station wagon? Cass, no."

"I don't want to hear an argument!" Cassidy held up her finger, trying to stamp down her authority. "We mapped it out. It's faster to drive to the hospital than to wait for an ambulance."

"Yes. Ok. Go. Now." Andie waved at her; eager to get the apartment to herself. Cassidy was a good friend to her but, man, she was irritating. Or perhaps the word was overbearing... or overprotective. She watched what Andie ate, made sure she slept, even got her out walking around the neighbourhood to keep her energy up. It would be nice to have free reign over the apartment, even for just a couple of days.

It took another ten minutes, but Luka and Cassidy finally left Andie alone. The first thing she did was get the ice-cream container from the freezer, park herself in front of an old black and white movie and begin to eat. The baby seemed happy enough, although every time she ate too much sugar the baby would roll around for a lot longer than usual, hopped up on junk food already, Andie assumed.

At some point, she dozed off, because her ringing cell phone woke her. "Cass, I'm fine." She answered groggily, keeping her eyes closed.

"No, it's me."

"Sam?" Andie heaved herself up, realizing she'd rested the ice-cream on her belly, and now it was all over the floor. "Oh, crap." She groaned.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just... ice-cream explosion." She said, yawning and pushing herself up in her seat. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking in."

Andie paused, muting the volume on the television. "Does he know you're calling me?" She hadn't spoken to Dean since the night he left.

"No, no he doesn't." Sam admitted. "He's paying for gas, and picking out candy – so he'll be awhile."

"Where are you guys?"

"Indiana."

That was a few states away. "On a case?"

"Dunno yet. All we got right now is rain. And lots of it."

Andie pulled her sweater down over her belly, the day before her belly button had gone from an in-y to an out-y. "Is that why you called me? To tell me it's raining?"

"I'm just checking in..." Sam said again.

"Do you miss me?"

"No."

"Me neither."

Sam laughed. "He does." He said a moment later.

Andie smiled to herself, not sure what to say to that. "Listen... if you're headed this way for any reason... I wouldn't hate seeing you..."

A sharp surge of static cracked through the phone line. "Th-.. be.. –re...- ay?" Sam stammered.

"What? Sam, you're cutting out." Andie sat up, trying to move around to get better reception; but she was pretty sure it was Sam's line that was having issues.

"An-...?"

"Sam?" Andie gave up and tossed the phone aside. "Idgit." A stabbing pain made Andie groan and grab at her lower back. "Dammit." She shouldn't sleep on the couch; it always left her with a sore back. "Fine; we'll go to bed." She told the baby. "I'll deal with you tomorrow." She pointed at the ice-cream stain on the carpet.

xxx

Dean was forced to pull off the highway, the storm was crashing down on them so hard the windscreen wipers of the Impala didn't even stand a chance against the torrent of water that sprayed down upon them. As luck would have it; they stumbled upon a hotel. Kind of old-fashioned in the way that seemed on purpose, The Elysian Fields Hotel was plush and expansive. It had a bellhop and the receptionist looked like he was from an old Clark Gable movie.

Sam checked the pair in for the night and then they headed straight for the buffet - the one that boasted the best pie in town. Not being too hungry, Sam loaded his plate with pasta and went to a free table. He took out his cell phone and again tried to get reception; he hadn't been able to get the damn thing working since he'd been cut off from Andie. Not uncommon, he knew, for electrical storms to interfere with phone lines, but they had been stopped short mid conversation. And with Dean not calling her, Sam liked having some sort of connection to Andie even if it was just via a cell phone.

Clanging his plate of pie down on the table, Dean huffed into his seat. "Come on, Sam, unpucker and eat something."

"We should hit the road, Dean."

"Why? 'Cos of the storm?"

"It's biblical." Sam pointed out. "Lightning so bad it messes up phone lines? Rain so hard you can't see the road? It's friggin Noah's Ark out there and we're- eating pie."

Dean narrowed his eyes at him, sensing he was keeping something close to his chest, hence his eagerness to keep moving. "How many hours of sleep you get last night, huh? Three? Four?"

"That's not it." Sam told him, forcing himself to eat some of his food, if just to get Dean off his back.

Dean paused, holding his fork in his piece of pie, and eyed his brother; having a sudden clue as to why he was being so cagey. "Look, if you're talking to Andie, you don't have to hide it."

"Ok, fine, yeah," Sam didn't see the point in keeping it quiet. "I'm talking to her. I call her every couple of days."

"Why?"

"Why?" Sam repeated, his eyes widening. "She's pregnant. She's like my sister. She's my friend. These are all good reasons; you pick your favourite."

"How is she?" Dean tried to ask nonchalantly, but his concern came through clear as day.

"Fine." Sam assured him. "Lonely."

"She told you that?"

Sam gave him a Look. "Of course not. But every time I call; she actually talks to me. Full sentences, paragraphs even." Sam shook his head. "This isn't working, Dean. You two just splitting like that. Are you really going to go the rest of your life without speaking to her again?"

"Sammy; the rest of my life doesn't seem like it's gonna be all that long, now, does it?" Dean pointed out.

"What if she has the baby?"

"It's not due for like another month." Dean said quickly.

"And, what, you're hoping you'll be dead and won't have to deal with it? Or that she'll be-"

"Stop!" Dean cut in, his voice commanding, almost dangerous. "Don't say it! Of course not! With all the people we've lost? Why the hell would I want something like that to happen to Andie?"

"I don't know!" Sam said, an exasperated smile appearing on his tired face. "I still don't understand why you sent her away. Even eight months pregnant she's stronger than us."

Dean dove back into his pie. "It's because it was the right thing to do." He muttered.

"Yeah; if she were a normal, human woman having a normal, human baby." Sam reasoned. "But she's not. The normal rules don't apply. And I'm not willing to give up."

"No one's giving up!" Dean said sharply. "Especially me." He saw the uncertainty flicker across his brothers face. "We will find a way to beat the Devil, ok? I can feel it. And we'll find Cas, and Adam, and Andie and the kid'll be safe, ok? But you are no good to me burnt out."

Sam sighed deeply. "Yeah... yeah, okay."

"I mean, come on," Dean tried to sound upbeat. "We actually get the night off for once; let's enjoy it."

xxx

Andie was having a peaceful dream; in fact it was a memory from years ago; singing karaoke with Cassidy in a bar in San Francisco. They were a hit. They'd sung a duet, a Spice Girls track, and it brought the house down. Andie hadn't thought of that moment for awhile; but it was a cheerful dream for once, with no dark, scary shadows lurking around it.

So when she woke up with a searing pain across her abdomen, she figured it was just the 'bad' part of her dream rearing its ugly head. So she waited for it to pass; or to wake up. And then she realized she was awake; and the pain was still there.

"Oh, God," She groaned as she tried to sit up; her body curling back into itself. Her insides felt like they were on fire, starting from her lower back and spreading around to her abdomen. "Oh..." She took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out, and repeated the process for a few moments.

Something felt wrong. Well, not wrong, but Andie's mind was telling her to get up; not to go back to sleep, that something was happened to her body and she had to deal with it. Still breathing slowly, Andie pushed back her covers and sat up in bed, clicking on her nightlight, terrified that she might find her sheets stained in blood. Thankfully; they were dry.

On her nightstand was one of Cassidy's baby books, What To Expect When You're Expecting. Andie had been flipping through it; but she hadn't read it all the way through yet; she was still at the part about preparing the baby's room. She kept breathing steadily as she flipped to the back of the book; recalling something about false labour. What she found was a chart that compared false labour to actual labour.

"Ok..." Andie skimmed the table titles. "Where do you feel pain?" She muttered. "Lower back..." She skimmed the chart, pain starting at the lower back was a sign of actual labour. "Dammit." She breathed again and looked at the next title. "How strong is the pain?... pretty freaking strong..." She reached for the cordless phone by the bed and dialled Cassidy's cell phone. It went straight to voicemail. "Cass? I think I'm in labour... call me... or come home... both would be preferable." She hung up and tossed the phone aside, skimming to a page in the book about how to soothe labour pains. The easiest thing she could do right now was focus her breathing, so she did. And the pain went away after thirty seconds, or so.

Now wide awake, Andie edged herself off the bed and got unsteadily to her feet. "Grams?" She called out, waiting for her grandmother's arrival. "Grams!" She shuffled slowly towards the bathroom, thinking maybe a warm bath would soothe her aches, similar to using a hot water bottle for menstrual cramps. She used her telekinesis to flick on the taps so she didn't have to bend over, slowly stripped off and lowered herself into the warm, comforting water. "Ok, ok, ok..." She muttered, closing her eyes and setting her hands against her belly; she could feel the baby moving around. "I know you want to come out... but believe me this is not a good time."

When the second contraction hit her, Andie knew that this was definitely happening. She'd never felt pain like she felt at that moment. Grunting out loud, she grabbed the side of the bathtub and squeezed until her knuckles were white. She kept holding her breath; it was hard to breathe normally but she forced herself to, breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out... She managed to count in her head this time, thirty-three seconds. Her previous contraction had been approximately a half hour before, and she knew she had until at least seven minutes between them before she really had to worry.

"Ok, we have time..." She muttered to the baby, pulling the plug from the tub and letting the water drain out around her. "We have plenty of time to get to a hospital, so don't come out yet, ok?"

After she got out of the tub, Andie threw on a black, cotton dress with thin straps; she didn't bother with any other clothing, it wasn't as though she needed to be dressed up for a birth. Suddenly, she was so grateful for Cassidy, because her Go Bag was already packed and ready. She grabbed it and sat on the bed, trying Cassidy's phone again. It went to voicemail. She left another message and then called Luka, his phone didn't even have a voicemail, and it just cut out. "Great, just great."

Andie had a sudden flash memory, Mrs. Landers. The neighbour next door; Cassidy had said she was on alert. The number was on a Post-It on the brim of the lamp, so Andie quickly dialled it. She could hear it ringing next door, and the sounds of someone walking to answer it.

"It is three in the morning, who is this?"

"Mrs. Landers? I'm Andie Morgan, I've been staying next door with Cassidy."

"Oh; yes... dear, are you alright?"

"I think my baby's coming... and I can't get onto Cassidy."

"Don't worry, I'll be right over." With that, she hung up.

Andie hung up, too, letting the fear she was feeling flutter around in her heart for just a minute longer. "See, Bug?" she rubbed her belly. "We'll hitch a ride with this old chick to the hospital, and you can be born there, in a nice, sterile, environment." She punched another phone number into the keypad. And again; was met with a voicemail. "Dean? It's me... the baby's coming. And I need you here so... please come." She hung up the phone, wondering why now, of all times, everyone decided to go off the grid.

"Are you alright, dear?"

Andie gasped as she turned to see Mrs. Landers, a woman in her eighties with greying brown hair and a penchant for too much floral, standing right in her bedroom doorway. "Yes," Andie answered with a shaky grin; wondering how the woman had gotten into the house, trying to remember if Cassidy had given her an extra key.

"Did you call an ambulance?"

"No, no, I was trying to call my husband." Andie forced herself to her feet. "He's not answering."

"Of course he's not." Mrs. Landers said sweetly. "He doesn't care about you. He left you here alone like a whore to have his child."

Andie narrowed her eyes at her. "What did you just say to me?"

Mrs. Landers eyes flushed blacker than sin. "And now your baby... is gonna burn."

With a swift flick of Andie's wrist, Mrs. Landers (or the demon who was possessing her) smacked against the closet door, tumbling inside. Grabbing her Go Bag, Andie dashed as quickly as she could through to the kitchen. Her hand grasped the salt shaker on the table, ripped off the lid and poured the salt into her head. Mrs. Landers was on her feet, advancing towards Andie with an evil sneer.

"Who sent you?" Andie demanded, threatening her with the handful of salt. "How many of you are there?"

Mrs. Landers laughed. "It would be faster to run around the world than to give you that list. Of course," She held out her hands. "If you'll just come with me; hand over your wretched child; we'll leave you alone."

"Dream on, bitch." Andie tossed the salt into the demon's eyes, causing her to screech and rear back, giving Andie time to snatch one of the many pure iron daggers Cassidy kept in one of the top kitchen shelves (commonplace in the house of a demon hunter) and stab it deep into Mrs. Landers's chest.

As she backed away from the dying demon, another contraction ripped through Andie's middle, so painful it brought tears to her eyes. "Oh, God, no..." She grunted, gripping the doorframe for support. "Not yet, just wait..." She grunted again. "Wait!" Breathing through the pain, Andie snatched her Go Bag off the floor, grabbed some of the cylinders of salt from under the sink and tossed them, and her cell phone, in with her clothes, and made her way through to the front door.

The worst of the contraction was over, but she was still in pain as she edged for the elevator. "Are you alright?" An elderly man stumbling along in a cane called to her as she repeatedly hit the DOWN button of the elevator.

"Yes, I'm fine, just leave me alone, please." Andie told him, now wary of everyone who might look at her. If Mrs. Landers was possessed; everyone in the damn building could be.

"Are you sure?"

The elevator pinged open. "Yes," Andie assured him as she got inside. "Just go away." The doors began to close; when suddenly the old man's walking stick was blocking them. With ease, he managed to push the doors back open. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Andie screeched, tossing her hands at the man and sending him flying back down the hallway. She let herself sink to the floor of the elevator as the doors closed fully and she began descending.

Realizing she was still crying, Andie tried to figure out what she was going to do next. She didn't have a car. She'd had to leave it when Cassidy came to pick her up when Dean sent her away; Sam told her it was at Bobby's. That was of no use right now. The elevator opened on the bottom floor, Andie pushed herself to her feet and waddled as fast as she could outside. And then there it was, like a gleaming light, Mrs. Landers puke green station wagon. She wouldn't be using it anytime soon.

Something Andie had taken for granted, but was now thankful for, when living in an apartment building inhabited predominately by the elderly was that there was a level of trust among them all; trust that meant Mrs. Landers had left her keys on the dashboard. Thankful again that she could fit behind the wheel of this old vehicle, Andie tossed her bag in the passenger's seat and started up the car. It coughed to life, giving Andie her way out. She peeled onto the road and started for the hospital. It was ten minutes away, she knew that from Cassidy's mapping out of the fastest route, she was ten minutes away from help.

What if the doctors are all possessed?

What if the baby comes out while I'm driving?

What if Dean doesn't come back?

What if no one comes back?

What if the baby dies and I'm left all alone?

What if I die and the baby is left all alone?

All these questions repeated over and over in her mind as she drove along; but she couldn't get her head around the answers to them. Perhaps her brain was too focused on other things right now. Pulling to a stop at a red light, Andie held her hand to her belly and breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm herself. The baby was kicking; hard; which didn't help matters. She wanted to come out; and she was pummelling her mother's insides to make her understand that she would be born tonight, no matter where they were or who they were with.

As the light went green, Andie felt the now familiar surge of a contraction hit her. But this one was much sharper than the earlier ones. It sliced through her middle and made her lurch forward, her chest pressing on the horn. Her toes curled up; pulling her feet off the pedals. "No!" Andie cried out in vain to no one as she lost control of the car, the wheel steering hard to the left and shooting her straight into a telephone pole, the front of the car obscenely crushed and broken with smoke fuming from the engine.

Andie didn't lost consciousness; thankfully she'd been well under the speed limit, but the car was trashed, and she knew she had to get out. Her Go Bag was still sitting helpfully beside her; so she slung it over her neck around her shoulder and tried to get out of the car. The shock of it crashing must have locked it in place; so she had to use her power to fling it open.

Leaning against the car for support; she looked up and down the street for a car; anyone to help her. But there was no one in sight. Suddenly she was worried; if a demon possessed Mrs. Landers so easily; then a demon could possess any passerby who stopped to offer 'help'. So, instead, Andie turned and hobbled to the building ahead of her. It was a half-finished home; being rebuilt from the ground up according to the sign sticking out of the grass next to the letterbox.

"Hello?" She called; after using her power to knock through the front door. The house was two-stories, but the top half wasn't complete yet. Its walls were wide open to the stars and there was no roof. Downstairs, however, looked mostly complete; except that there wasn't any furniture to speak of; just a whole bunch of tarps and left over pieces of wood and plaster.

"Grrr!" Andie growled as another contraction slammed her body, causing her legs to buckle. She felt like she couldn't stand, and then felt a warm liquid trickling down her bare legs. At first she thought she'd peed herself. "Oh, no," She whimpered eying the clear fluid at her feet. "No, no, no." Her water breaking meant the baby would be soon to follow. "No, no, no."

She crept towards a door inside the house; it led to a basement. Somewhere in her head, she knew this was the place she was going to give birth, and so the mechanical part of her body went to work. She sat on the top step and pushed herself down one by one until she was sitting on the floor. She pulled the salt she'd taken from Cassidy's kitchen from her bag and made a huge circle around herself; checking twice to make sure it wasn't broken. She took a black felt-tip pen from her front pocket and scrawled a Devil's trap in front of her, as well as a protection symbol on the wall beside her. Then she ripped whatever clothing she could out of the bag and found a sweatshirt that she placed on the floor between her legs. She stuffed a pair of jeans underneath that; wondering if the baby might shoot out, at least she'd land somewhere safe. It was all Andie could think to do.

Andie was hot and cold at the same time. She was sweating, and desperate for a drink of water, but she could feel herself shivering as well, perhaps it was nerves. Her body knew what it had to do; but Andie wasn't so sure. She pushed herself back up two stairs, so she was on an angle. Another contraction came over her; forcing her forwards. Andie tried to breathe through it but it was too painful and she just found herself panting. She could feel movement inside her now. Not the baby moving, but the baby being moved, being pushed out; being born.

Tears were streaming down Andie's face, tears for everything. For being alone, for her baby being born in a basement with demons on their tail, for being in so much pain when she'd planned to be as drugged up in a hospital as she could be. None of that mattered now; her mind was on one thing. Get the baby out now.

"Andie?"

She ignored the voice; it was Cassidy in her mind. Somehow, just in her mind.

"Andie, oh my God!"

The voice was louder now, so Andie forced herself to look up. Her best friend was kneeling before her in the Devil's trap. "You're a demon!" Andie cried.

"What? No, I'm not! I swear!" She jumped out of the devil's trap and rubbed her hands in the salt. "I'm really me, I promise! I got your messages and when I tried to call you wouldn't answer so we came right home. Dead Mrs. Landers and a bitching old man plus a stolen car told me you were gone; and then I saw the accident."

"Cass-"

"Luka's up there keeping watch; we smoked three demons at the apartment. They know this is happening."

"Cass, I'm having a baby!" Andie whined as she breathed through another painful contraction.

"I know, honey, I know," Cass said with a nervous smile. "And I'm gonna help you, ok?" She searched around in Andie's Go Bag and found a baby blanket, she set it aside and pulled a water bottle from her own handbag and washed off her hands.

"No, Cass, you can't!" Andie refused, pulling her knees together.

Cassidy just looked at her, bewildered. "Andie, I have to help you!"

"No! Don't." Andie begged tearfully.

"What?"

"Let me do it; I have to do it by myself!"

"Why?" Cassidy felt tears burning in her eyes.

"Because I do!" Andie cried. "It has to be me!"

"Andie-"

"I can't do it, Cass, I can't!" Andie screamed loudly. "I don't know how to be a mother! No one ever taught me how to-" She groaned through a heavy contraction. "I didn't want this! I didn't want to be alone! I don't want the baby to grow up scared; I don't want it to grow up like me!"

Cassidy didn't bother trying to stop herself crying. "You are not alone, do you hear me?" She knelt up on the step by Andie and squeezed her hand tightly in both of her own. "I am right here with you, and I need you to let me help you." She kissed her fingers. "You will never be alone as long as you have me, do you understand? I am not going anywhere."

"But... it's not..." Andie panted. "I can't... it knows I don't want it! I've never wanted this baby; not once, and it knows that!"

"You love your baby, Andie." Cassidy said firmly, smiling through her tears. "I love you. And your baby loves you. And she knows that you love her. You play her music, you picked a name, you carried her inside you and kept her safe. She knows how much you love her. And I know how much you love her so don't give me that crap."

Andie let her head roll back and sobbed loudly. "It hurts, Cass, and Dean's not here. Ellie's not answering. No one's here!"

"I am." Cassidy said seriously, squeezing her hand again. "It's you and me against the world, right? That's what we always say. You and me, Andie. And right now you and I have to deliver this baby, and I need your help to help me do that, ok?" Andie just cried. "Please, I need you to help me here, I need you to help me, will you do that?"

Andie breathed as steadily as she could and nodded to her friend.

"Ok, good," Cassidy smiled, getting into position at the bottom of the stairs and pushing Andie's knees open. "Oh, Lord, ok, this is really happening right now." Cass's mind was racing; she tried to think back to what she'd read about delivery. She'd been so sure she knew everything there was to know; and right now she felt like she knew nothing. "Ok, Andie stop pushing." She remembered. "Stop pushing." She nodded at her friend and squeezed her knees. "Ok, just breathe. Now you have to push when you get another contraction, ok?"

Andie nodded. "Black—b-bird sing-singing in—

Cassidy gave her a strange look. Was she singing?

"In the dead of niiigggggg..." Andie tried to sing through the pain; it was as far as she'd gotten in writing her birth plan. The song. "Take... these... broken..." She growled loudly in pain as another contraction hit her; and she started pushing.

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night," Cassidy sang softly, and in tune, resting her hands on Andie's knees. "Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise..." She gasped in absolute adoration as the baby's head became clear. "Oh, God, Andie you're doing it; she had a head of dark hair.

Andie laughed painfully. "Dammit, Cass, it hurts."

"I know, baby, I know." Cassidy tried to appear calm, even though inside she was screaming. Instead, she kept singing. "Blackbird... fly. Blackbird singing in the dead of night... take these sunken eyes and learn to see... all your life. You were only waiting for this moment to be free..."

Andie felt another contraction coming on; but her energy was gone. "I can't!" She gasped, unable to find the strength to even push up off the stairs.

"Oh, no, no, no, not now," Cassidy shook her head. "No, you can't stop now, Andie you have to keep pushing."

Andie tried to push down but she felt like all her muscles were spent. "I can't, I can't push anymore..." She sobbed.

"Yes you can, honey," Cassidy urged her as she saw more of the baby's head. "Please, you have to keep pushing, it'll be over soon I swear, you're so close!"

"I can't!"

"Dammit, Andie, PUSH!"

"AGGGHHHH!" Andie hollered as loud as she could muster and pushed down so hard she thought her insides would burst out of her.

"Yes!" Cassidy cried. "Oh, God, you can do this Andie, one more. Her shoulders are out. Just one more, come on! On three, ok?"

Andie nodded feverishly.

"One." She breathed slowly. "Two. Three."

"GRRRRRRRRAHHH!" Andie pulled her knees up as hard as she could and pushed down with every might of her being that still remained.

"You did it!" Cassidy squealed as the infant almost tumbled into her arms, sticky, wet and crying. Now Cass's tears flowed like rain; the baby was perfect. "Oh, she's beautiful, Andie." Cass smiled to her friend who looked utterly exhausted.

"Is she okay?" Andie breathed, falling back into the stairs.

"She's fine." Cassidy said through streaming tears, placing the baby on the clean blanket. "Oh, she's fine..." Then she saw something that made her do a double take. "Oh, but you're gonna have to change her name."

Andie was suddenly alarmed. "What, why?"

"She's a boy." Cass grinned; wrapped the baby up under the blanket and showing him to his mother.

"What?" Andie looked and saw that, indeed, she had a son. There was no mistaking what he had there; he was a boy.

"It's a boy, Andie you have a son, you have a little boy!" Cassidy was barely able to hold in her excitement as she clipped of the umbilical cord with Luka's army knife and wrapped the squirming, screeching little man in a soft towel. "Oh; he's beautiful, Andie."

"Is he okay?" Andie's mind was racing again, for different reasons now. She had a son? A boy? "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Cassidy nodded and passed the crying baby up to her friend, resting him against her breast. "You have a baby boy." She said again; neither of them being able to fully believe it.

Andie took the tiny, wriggling little bundle of human being that was being handed to her. Her son. Her baby son. He was squealing so hard, his eyes were tightly closed and his little hands were balled into determined little fists. "Oh, hi." Andie said to him, touching the side of his face. He had a head full of dark hair, and as Andie spoke to him he quieted down a little. He kept whimpering, but he opened his eyes, looking at her, recognizing her. "I'm your mum." She said through more tears. His eyes were the bluest blue Andie had ever seen; no hint of any other colour within them. Just blue. He gripped Andie's little finger with his whole fist and squeezed it tight.

"I can't believe you did it." Cassidy said quietly as she peered at the baby boy in his mother's arms.

"Thank you." Andie said tearfully to her. "Thank you so much."

"It was all you, Morgan." Cass sniffled.

"He's a he." Andie said in disbelief, giggling. "And he's here."

"ANDIE?"

Cass's eyes flew to the top of the stairs. Dean was thundering down them.

"I got your messages and then Castiel showed up and said that..." He trailed off when he saw the baby in her arms. "Oh..." he seemed to collapse slightly onto the stairs, falling beside her, his eyes glued to his baby. "Oh, my God." He put his arm around Andie's shoulders and kissed her damp, sweating temple. "Oh, my God."

"Here." Andie shuffled the baby in her arms enough so that Dean could take him from her. "Say hello to your son."

"Hi..." He looked back at Andie, and then to Cassidy who nodded excitedly. "Son? It's a boy?" He peered inside the blanket to get proof for himself. "Oh, man, you are a boy. You're my boy." He held the fussing infant to his chest. "Oh, hi, Bug, hi," He said as tears fell from his eyes. "Oh, you're so beautiful." He kissed Andie full on the mouth and reached out to take Cassidy's hand. "Thank you." He said sincerely. "Thank you so much."

Cassidy smiled, looking at the peaceful family, proud of her involvement in bringing this little man into the world. "You're more than welcome."

xxx