For a whole week, I had been seeing Nate at the park every afternoon. The moment I got out of school, I'd pick up John and Jude, bring them to the park and just sit there. For a while, it was just nice for me to have something to do instead of obsessing over the fact that Dean wasn't home and I never expected Nate to be there, but he always showed up and we talked and it would be a great way for me to unwind.

"Hey, you're here," a voice said.

I turned around and smiled as soon as I saw Nate. He was here, right on time.

"Yeah, as always," I replied.

"Hi, Meredith," Tommy said.

"Hi, Tommy. How are you?" I asked as he waved at me.

"I'm good, thank you. I'm going to go play on the playground now," Tommy said, running off.

Nate laughed, "He's eager. I don't know why! We're coming to the park every day."

"This is true," I said.

"Hey, I stopped by to get a coffee and figured I'd pick you up something," Nate said, handing me a paper cup warm from the hot coffee.

I smiled, "Thanks, Nate. You didn't have to do all of this."

"It was no big deal," Nate said, sitting down next to me.

I laughed, "You know, if you keep bringing me things, I am going to so fat! First day we did this it was frozen yogurt, the next day… pound cake. The day that was somewhat healthy was fruit. But thank you, Nate. Really."

"Like I said, it's no big deal. Have you heard from Dean yet?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, he finally called back a few days ago. Says he's fine. We're talking a little… conversations are short and civil but, he's going to be home soon and I don't really know how I feel about that yet," I replied.

"Sounds rough," Nate nodded.

"Yeah it is," I said back. "But let's not talk about me today. I feel like I've worn the subject out. What about you? We've talked about you a little but-, you keep saying we're similar and you have this great advice that hast to be coming from somewhere! Tell me about you." I was genuinely curious about who Nate was and where he came from.

"Well, we just moved from Santa Barbara. It's a big adjustment but I got a pretty good job offer and then I got the news about Bobby. It sounded like a good move. There are... a lot of memories in Santa Barbara. Needed to get away…" Nate started.

"How well did you know Bobby?" I asked, curiously.

"I didn't. I met him once, maybe twice but they wanted someone that was… at least somewhat related to Bobby… blood wise. Not that you're-," Nate started.

"Oh, no, you're fine! That makes sense," I said. "So this baggage…? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no it's alright. It was about my wife. It was just too painful to be around there. I think I needed a fresh start. I mean, I'm not going to forget her – I don't want to – but I do need to stop being haunted by it all. It's just the way that it all ended. She and I were fighting a lot and she was so obsessed with finding the pack of werewolves that killed her father. She kept leaving, like Dean, but when she was gone… I just wished that I could say to her that I loved her. It was… I wish it had happened differently," Nate explained.

"Nate, don't blame yourself. It's hard to say 'I love you' when the other person isn't putting in the effort," I replied.

"But if I had stopped her-," Nate said.

"Nate, I think you and I both know that we can't stop anyone this obsessed. I'm starting to realize it…" I said back with a sigh. This made me nervous. Nate's wife had died because of an obsession with revenge and it was making me think about Dean. Dean always got reckless in situations like this. No matter how angry I was at Dean, I couldn't let my kids feel the pain of losing him. Not yet. They were too young. They had just lost Bobby. They couldn't lose their father too.

Jude was having a hard time – I could tell. He was trying to grasp the concept of death and the fact that he had lost Bobby and the fact that it felt like he was losing his dad. I couldn't imagine how hard and how confusing this was for Jude. I hated that he had to go through this already…

"Yeah, you're right," Nate admitted.

I nodded. Just then, my cell phone rang. It was Dean. "Sorry, one moment." I got up off of the park bench and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Dean, where the hell have you been?" I asked.

"We got held up on another case," Dean replied.

"You told Jude you'd be home yesterday," I replied.

"I know, I'm sorry!" Dean exclaimed.

I sighed. I was not in the mood to get in another fight with him, "What do you want, Dean? Why are you calling?" I asked calmly. Some kid was yelling in the background and I guess Dean could hear it over the phone.

"Meredith, where are you?" Dean asked.

"I'm at the park," I replied.

"Oh, alright. Well uh, never mind. I've got to go," Dean said.

"No, Dean wait-," I started. But the line went dead. I took a deep breath before putting my phone back into my pocket. I had no idea what was going on but he had just made it impossible to enjoy the rest of the day at the park. I was just going to take the boys and go home. I returned to Nate on the park bench. "Hey, sorry about that. I've got to go."

"Where are you going? We just got here," Nate asked, surprised.

"I'm sorry. I just, I have to go," I said, while gathering my stuff.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Nate asked.

"Uh… yeah," I replied, nodding.

Jude ran into the house, me following right behind him with John in my arms.

"Jude, your shoe is untied," I noticed, looking down. Jude stopped, staring at something and I looked up to see what he was looking up. Jude's face lit up and he smiled as soon as he saw Dean.

"Daddy!" Jude exclaimed, running towards his dad.

"Hey, kiddo," Dean smiled, picking Jude up and pulling him into his arms. He hugged his son tightly. "I missed you so much, buddy! I hope you took good care of your mommy when I was away."

"I did. Daddy, Bobby talked to me in my dream and told me to hit you and call you an idgit, Daddy!" Jude exclaimed, lightly punching Dean's arm with his small fist.

Dean chuckled, "He did, did he?" Dean gave me a strange look about the Bobby thing and I just shrugged. The two of us knew that there was no such thing as coincidence in this world. I shot him a weak smile back. We had a lot of talking to do but I wasn't going to spoil this for Jude. He had missed his dad so much.

"Yeah. He says that you need to stay home," Jude declared.

"Did he say that or did you say that?" Dean asked, busting his son.

"He did," Jude shrugged, coyly.

"I see," Dean said. "Hey, buddy, why don't you go play with your cars. I need to talk to your mama?" Dean set Jude down and he looked from me to Dean.

"Okay. But you guys aren't allowed to fight anymore. That's what Bobby told me too. He says you should stop yelling at each other. I don't like it either," Jude said.

"We won't, baby. Hey, how about John comes to join you? I can set up the little play area and you can show him all of the best cars. He has to learn from you, you know?" I suggested.

"Sure, Mama," Jude replied.

"Sorry," I said to Dean before following Jude upstairs with John in my arms. I went to the play room and set John down in his little play area before closing the door behind me. I hurried back downstairs to Dean. I honestly had no idea what to say to him so I said this: "You're here."

"Yeah. I hope that's okay," Dean replied.

"Uh, yeah- I mean… why wouldn't it be? You're- you live here," I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts. I couldn't help but think about Jude and how he wanted us to stop fighting. I knew it was hard on him. Nate's stories about the end of his wife's life was getting to me too. Dean was behaving that exact same way and I was scared. Maybe he'd stay and I could keep him away from all of it if I just made it easy for him to come home instead of giving him a hard time although I would still let him know how I felt.

"Right um, well, how is everything?" Dean asked.

"Dean, why didn't you say something? You just left without saying something," I asked, ignoring his question.

"I'm sorry… I just thought it would be easier," Dean replied, hesitantly.

"For you or for me?" I asked back.

"For the both of us," Dean answered. He took a pause, gathering his words and I crossed my arms over my chest, defensively. "I don't know. It was stupid. I know, but I thought that if I left without saying anything, we wouldn't have to fight again. It would save the both of us a lot of pain and- like I said, it's stupid."

I took a deep breath, "yeah, it was. And… look, Dean, I need to know that you're going to be here for me. I mean, not just me but for Jude and for John."

"Meredith, how could you say that? Of course-," Dean started.

"Wait," I begged. Dean stopped talking and just waited for me to say something again. "You keep leaving and… and it's like you don't even want to listen to what I have to say. At least that's the way it feels. It feels like you're not here and I need to feel like you are because… because I love you, Dean and sometimes, even when it's not, I need you to hold and tell me that everything is okay. I-." I felt tears in my eyes and I could feel myself breaking. Dean looked at me and realized the effect that all of this was having on me and the effect that his behavior was having on me.

"I need you to do that for me because you're the only one that can do that for me. You're the only person that can make it okay even when it's not and I just- yeah I can talk about what's going on for however long to whoever but the unsettling feeling that you and I aren't alright… well that's not okay! I don't like the way I've been feeling, Dean. It hasn't been good for everything with losing Bobby and-."

"Shh, it's okay," Dean said, coming over to me and pulling me into his arms. I hugged him back and he just held me close to him and let me cry. I hadn't planned on completely losing it but here I was. I almost wished that I had given Dean a harder time for being a dick, but this right here, this felt good. It felt right and that's all I needed right now. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"

"I know, Dean. You-, I love you but sometimes you're too wrapped up in your own world. I feel… empty and broken, and hurt and… and I need you," I said.

"I know that now. I'm sorry. I know it's not an excuse but sometimes I think I can't help," Dean said back, holding my hands in his.

"But you can," I said back.

Dean nodded slowly, "Oh God, I've been a dick."

"Yeah, you have," I replied. "Sorry."

"No you're right," Dean said, cupping my face and wiping away a few tears. "Jude must be feeling so lost right now."

I nodded, "He is. You should talk to him."

"Yeah. I just, I want to make sure you're alright. Are you…?" Dean asked.

I sighed, "I don't know anymore. Some days I am… some days I'm not."

Dean nodded, "Okay. Well let's try to have a couple of those better days soon, then?"

"Okay," I smiled. "

"I love you, Mer. I want to try a lot harder to be better this time. I'm sorry that I haven't been here. I guess I was just so wrapped up…" Dean said, kissing me softly.

"I love you too and thank you," I replied.

The next morning, Saturday morning, I took John and Jude to the art museum while Dean was asleep. Like always, Dean slept like a rock all day the day after he came back from hunts. Yesterday had made things a lot better and I was beginning to feel like I could trust him again. Jude was putting together a puzzle while I sat on the floor with John in my lap.

"Hey," I heard a voice say.

I turned around to see Nate standing behind me.

"Hi, what're you doing here?" I asked, in shock.

"Well, you didn't show up at the park this morning so I stopped by The Falcon and Andrea told me you'd be here," Nate replied.

"Ahhh. Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of promised the boys that I'd take them to the art museum this Saturday to cheer them up when Dean didn't show two nights ago but uh, he's back now and we're working things out… things are good," I smiled.

"That's great," Nate nodded, smiling.

"Thanks. And thanks for being here for me… I know you never really knew Bobby, but I think he really would've loved you," I said. Nate sat down next to me and glanced over at Jude who was doing his puzzle. Jude looked back at Nate and smiled.

"Hi, Nate. You meet us at the park right?" Jude asked.

"Yeah, I'm one of your mom's friends," Nate replied.

"I know," Jude said, before returning to his puzzle. Nate and I both laughed.

"Speaking of the family, you know, I think it's time that you meet some of them. I mean, you're Bobby's nephew. You're practically family!" I said.

"I don't know…" Nate trailed off.

"Bobby would've wanted you to," I said.

Nate sighed, "Yeah, okay, but do you think it would be a good idea? I mean, you guys just lost him… it might shake things up a little big – in a bad way."

I sighed, "You're right." I thought it over for a couple of moments before having a genius idea. "Actually, I have an idea. We have this gala tomorrow night to raise money for the public education systems of Sioux Falls which means, you know, elementary, middle, high school, and some of the public universities. It's for teachers only and uh, Dean, Sam, and Sawyer will all be there… I can introduce you as a new teacher at the school and they can meet you. That way you can judge whether or not you even want to be a part of our crazy family."

Nate chuckled, "Alright, yeah. I'll do it."

"Great," I smiled, contently. Things seemed to be going pretty well now.

Author's Note: So Dean's FINALLY had some sense knocked into him… or has he? When I was rewatching the "Adventures in Babysitting" episode, the thing that Frank says about smiling through it really stuck with me so that is why Dean is at least getting better. We'll see how long it sticks. Also, in this story, there's a time gap between "Time After Time After Time" (the last hunt they went on) and the episode "The Slice Girls". Thanks!