Chapter 35 – It just seems inevitable

Claire waited with Conrad at the bottom of the hill. She wanted to climb up there but Conrad already had this part down. The waiting. His girls were little older than Erica. 19, twin dark haired beauties. Erica, about to turn 18, blonde hair shining. They met after the move to North California. She'd taken Erica to sign up for some classes. Keep her busy while she sulked about moving. It wasn't like Battle Creek. She had no reason to socialize with the other moms. Then she saw the coach. Striking blue eyes and dark hair and hollering at some girls while making motions to a pair of twins as they flipped and turned and glanced for more instruction.

The juniors coach was a little different. Claire didn't like him. She approached the dark haired coach. "This isn't juniors work."

"No, it's not." He answered without taking his eyes off the twins who were still at it.

"My girl is not used to such… lax material in the junior level. Will you take a look, move her up?"

"I saw her. She's good." He finally turned to her. Those blue eyes looking her over. "Hunter?"

Claire blinked at him but didn't otherwise show her hand. "Sometimes."

"You do, does she?"

"Sometimes." Claire grinned. "Claire Reid."

"Conrad Caldwell." He shook her hand. "My girls hunt but not on their own. We do this to tire them out so they don't get themselves killed doing what other kids do."

"I let her take down a werewolf this summer." Claire bragged.

"You help?"

"Just with the prep."

"I'll train her. You tumble?" He turned to face her.

"Not in years."

"You should join us. I still tumble."

"Caldwell?" Claire tilted her head at that.

"Family name. We don't sell laughing gas, though." His smile was screwed up. Old family joke that she didn't understand until later.

His girls were fierce. They'd had to be. Their mother was gone, taken by a leviathan. Caldwell had picked up books his family had long put down. Claire joined them and after a bit Erica did, too. She liked Conrad. Called him Pop, the second he let her.

"Pop. That's a strange affectation." Conrad stared after the girl as she bounded away. "Why Pop?"

"It's a compliment. Ask her about Pop-pop sometime." Claire shook her head. "Your girls call you Pa."

"Hold over from the old days of the wild west." He joked. His walkie went off and he jumped up to take it outside.

Claire listened while he instructed his team. Private security. Good cover for a hunter. Good connections. The right connections when you were caught in a graveyard late at night. Even better when the contract for cemetery security fell into the right hands. The logo of his company was on everything. A star, outlined so that it could be a pentagram if tilted the right way. All of his employees were protected by simply wearing their uniforms.

Now, all three girls were grown and going after a vetala. Nasty thing but alone. Conrad had nearly burst a vein when Claire had consulted Sam and then Dean. Then he was relieved when she told him they always hunted in pairs and then they confirmed this one was indeed alone.

Conrad looked at his watch. Claire hefted herself up onto the tailgate. He leaned and stroked her leg. "You ever going to marry me?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"Come on."

"I got one kid to finish high school."

"Really?" His blue eyes sparkled at her, mouth screwed up.

She grabbed his face and kissed him. "Really."

"Do we have to wait?"

"She already calls you Pop and believe me that's a high compliment from her." Claire took his shoulders in her hands. "I love you. You know that. A piece of paper is not going to change that."

"Maybe not but I feel like I don't get to keep you."

"You do. I promise." She kissed him again. "I have never loved anyone as much as I love you… I'm just a little broken but you're doing a good job of putting me back together."

"I'm covered in Vetala guts and you guys are more disgusting." Opal Caldwell sneered at them.

"Seriously." Emerald Caldwell had the same expression on her face… with less blood on her face.

"What they said." Erica flipped a thick braid over her shoulder.

Conrad started laughing. "What happened to Opal?"

"I was the bait. Remember?"

"Come on. Hose bath and into the back of the truck."

"You're not going to ask if we burned it?" Erica jumped into the truck bed.

"I can smell it. I don't have to ask." Conrad kissed her face, then Emerald's then blew a kiss at Opal while he cranked the pump.

"I hate you."

"I know." Conrad waited until Claire had a blanket ready. "Here it comes."

Opal shrieked when the water hit her. Soon as it stopped, she stripped out of her overclothes and jumped into the blanket. The other girls huddled with her on the drive back home. At the house, the girls jumped out to get showered and sleep. Claire and Conrad unloaded the truck and a PTA mom paused during her powerwalk. She held them up for ten minutes with small talk about preliminatries and eliminations. Claire accidentally offended the woman and Conrad laughed all the way upstairs. She shut the garage door and followed him up. Shower. Bed… Bed.

The girls were already dead asleep. Conrad talked Claire into some water conservation before they hit the hay. They woke in time for stretches, changes and to rush to the gym. Claire watched from the stadium while Conrad paced the floor and shouted at the team. Erica and his girls never needed shouting. It was the hand signals and they were good. But Erica lost her balance a couple of times, recovered but she knew the judges had seen it. Opal placed as an alternate. Emerald didn't but Claire thought maybe she was only still competing because of Conrad. Erica placed just after the alternates… so, not at all. Claire spent the after exchanging texts with Dean, while the girls walked the floor and got their things together. They didn't like socializing with the other girls. That had been a long conversation about eating disorders, the other girls thinking they were weird and sabotage.

They went to dinner at a steakhouse. The girls demolished rib-eyes and potatoes, the look on their faces when the waitress asked about salads had been pure gold. The poor girl had almost run away. Conrad ate his fill and sat back, started talking. He did that sometimes. Talked about his time overseas before he met their mother. He talked about his unit, how they worked. How he'd never in a thousand years would have guessed that he'd teach his daughters to do the same. Bragged on the type of people he hired and how he could spot the diamonds in the rough. He reminded Claire a bit of her father.

Claire waited a while to bring up business. The girls wanted cake and after a competition, Conrad let them. Then Claire sipped her tea and looked to Erica first. "Dean Winchester would like our assistance with something big."

"Did something happen?" Erica sat up.

"He's about to do something and he'd like back up. I've kept in touch the last few years and he knows that we're training you three. This would… be a once in a lifetime type of situation and he feels strongly that we need to see it… or kill him if it goes wrong."

"What exactly is he doing?" Conrad stared at her.

Claire got them loaded up in the car. She and Erica took turns driving. Conrad wanted to stop halfway but the Reids wanted to push through. They arrived late and Dean texted they could stay in her old house. Ben had been living in it since Kelly moved out and Ben could always sleep on the couch. She missed this house. The girls took over Erica's old room. The bunk beds were still there. Erica hauled an air mattress up so the twins could have the bunks. Claire and Conrad were still settling in when the front door banged open and footsteps came up the stairs. Claire took her gun to the door but set it down when she recognized Ben Braedan stumbling up the last few steps. "Young man, you're drunk."

"I wasn't driving." He sighed. "You're here." He rubbed at the back of his neck as he glanced at the closed door to Erica's old room. "I'll crash downstairs."

"See you in the morning, kid." She told him before he waved her off. He almost slid back down the stairs. She took a breath and turned to Conrad. "Just Ben, he'll be between any monster and your girls."

Claire woke up and made coffee and enjoyed the early morning in silence before everyone started waking up. She left a note and walked to Lisa's. Lisa and Dean were up with their coffee. She hugged them and they chatted for a bit before Lou bounded through the room… on her hands.

"Hey, feet on the floor, we have a guest." Dean swatted her with a napkin.

"Hi." Lou popped up.

"You're so big." Claire cooed over her for a moment. "Bet you don't even remember me."

"You're Erica's mom."

"Yeah, that's me."

"Go get your family. Dean and I were about to start a mean breakfast train." Lisa told her. "I want to see Erica… Birthday was yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"And you spent it driving? I'm sorry." Dean shook his head.

"No, she loved it. She was excited to come back." She sighed. "I have an adult on my hands."

"How did the other two take it?" Lisa asked as she started gathering ingredients.

"They grumbled but they're good girls. They like hunting. It was really lucky meeting Conrad and his girls." Claire smiled down at the ring on her finger. She refused to answer his question but she'd taken it anyway. "They're all probably still asleep."

"What time did Ben stagger in?" Dean cleared his throat.

"Two?" Claire shook her head at his face. "You, sir, can throw exactly zero stones."

"I know."

"He's trying." Lisa patted Dean's head when he got up for more coffee. "Dean and Ben have been butting heads lately."

"That why he moved out?"

"Yeah. Sometimes Emma goes over there to make sure he's eating."

"Where is Emma?"

"On her way. She was tracking down a stray chupacabra and found it late last night."

"Dean take over." Lisa motioned. She tugged Claire with her out the door and they walked slowly back to Claire's house. "Dean and Ben… it's… they're so much alike and… Ben was excited at first… to know his dad and then it started coming back to him all the times he missed having a dad. He thinks Emma is the favorite. I tell him that Emma is… special circumstances. Poor Lou… she's… just starting to understand all the differences between her and Emma and we still have a little bit of time before she figures the rest out. Dean's going crazy."

"Is he hunting?"

"No… less and less. He'll go supervise a hunt for the kids but they do all the research and heavy lifting."

They walked in and Ben was snoring. Lisa nudged him. "Ben, wake up."

"Hey." Conrad walked in with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Where'd you go?"

"Checked in." She kissed his mouth and turn. "Conrad Caldwell, this is Lisa Braedan and Ben, her son."

"Nice to meet you." Lisa shook his hand and went back to nudging Ben awake. "Come on. I need you showered and at the house. Brush your teeth and gargle, I don't want your dad to smell the booze on your breath."

"Girls up?" Claire straightened Conrad's shirt.

"Barely conscious. I told them they had 20 minutes to make a decision on breakfast or they were going without."

"I want to see my girl." Lisa moved to the staircase. "Erica!"

It took about five minutes before Erica came staggering down the stairs to drape herself over Lisa. "Hi."

"You're so tall. Look at you." Lisa took a deep breath and looked her over. "I can't believe that when you left you were awkward and pimply."

"Lisa." Erica whined.

"You're so grown up. I heard you had a qualifier."

"If the teammate's alternate's alternate's alternate can't make it, I'm in. but one of those is Opal so… I'm not hoping too hard."

"Hope." Conrad told her. "Truth be told, as proud as I would be… I don't want to go to the Olympics. Other countries hate us and I can't really pass for anything but American."

"You could pass for Welsh." Lisa told him.

"Thanks." He sighed. "Go on. Go get ready. We're hungry."

"I'll be back." Erica ran back up the stairs. "If Dean is cooking, don't leave me behind. Opal! Emerald! Get your asses up!"

"We have three high school graduates." Claire turned to Conrad. "Three."

"And they all need jobs and to get out of my house." He crossed his arms. "I mean… eventually."

"Eventually." Claire sighed. "We did a good job. We could kick them out."

"Do, kick them out." Ben shoved himself up from the couch. "Before the fighting starts."

"Would you stop? He loves you and he cares what happens to you." Lisa breathed in. "Go shower."

"Come here." Claire stood him up. "You look good. You're eating at least… or you still having Mom cook all your meals?" He shrugged. "Well, it's good to see you. I missed you. Give me a hug."

He gave her a smile and gave her a squeeze. Then he held his hand out to Conrad. "Good to finally meet you."

"Oh, so you do talk to your friends about me." Conrad looked to his girlfriend.

"I do."

"She still hasn't said yes?" Lisa sighed. "She will, eventually."

"You might have to wait on the shower, sweetie. Three girls."

"Right." Ben looked around. "Well, I guess I can brush my teeth in the kitchen."

"Hey, Mom!" Erica bounded back down, hair wet and dressed. "Is Pop-pop in town?"

"Erica?" Ben stared

"Hey." She waved. "Is he?"

"Supposed to be by later." Ben nodded to her.

"Yes!" Erica ran back up the steps.

"She hasn't seen him at all, has she." Lisa looked to Claire.

"No… and as much grief as she gave him when we were together… she never stops talking about him."

"Never." Conrad confirmed. "She was a little cold to me when she realized we were together but she warmed up once she realized I hunted, too."

"That girl." Lisa nudged Ben. "Go wash up."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Claire let the parade to Lisa's. The girls moved in unison. It was always a little unnerving but Conrad had drummed that rhythm into them. The three of them in a row was sometimes a little funny. Three identical hairstyles, brunette, blonde, brunette. The twins always kept Erica in the middle. Then Erica saw John pulling up to the house and went running.

Hugs all around and then the group moved into the house where Dean was setting a stack of paper plates on the dining room table. Sam had put most of the food out so they could self serve. Dean goggled when he saw Erica. More hugs. Dean grilled Conrad over a stack of bacon. Opal and Emerald made eyes at Sam. Sam took his plate to another room. Adam crashed into the table, winked at the girls and kept moving. Erica told John all about the Vetala hunt. Mary listened, fascinated. Lou moved from dining room to kitchen carrying messages and stealing bacon.

Then Chuck arrived with his entourage. It was way more people than anyone had planned on being there. It was tense when Ellen and Jo greeted John. Charlie and Dean hugged so long, Lisa almost asked if she was really a lesbian. Kevin and Sam regarded each other from a distance.

Chuck stood in the middle of the yard. Sam passed out machetes and angel blades. The yard was ringed with hunters. Just the few in the middle. Dean, Chuck, Sam, Charlie, Ellen and Kevin.

Claire stared around the yard. She had Erica by her side. Conrad flanked by his girls. Jo, they spoke briefly, standing near John and Mary. Ben, Adam and Claire, the younger, all together. All ready. All waiting.

Chuck touched Ellen first and her chest looked like it was trying to escape the rest of her body. Then she was panting and kneeling on the ground and a being emerged briefly before it disappeared. Then Charlie was next. That went a little easier. Charlie waved before her Angel was gone. Kevin was next. Chuck struggled a bit getting Michael out of there. Then Sam. Lucifer kicked up a fuss just because he could. Sam was panting and aching when he hit his knees and the brilliant light shot up out of the yard.

Then it was just Dean and Chuck. Dean said some words, pressed his thumb to the mark and his pores began to leak darkness. Dean all but disappeared from sight.

Hunters all gripped their weapons. Four strangers walked into the yard and formed a little circle between the hunters and the event in the middle of the yard.

Then she was there. She looked around the yard. "You don't trust me."

"There's trust and then there's… well." Chuck shrugged. "I've waited a long time for this."

"Where to?"

"Anywhere."

"Do we take them with us?"

"No. They're going to keep an eye on things until we get back." Chuck looked to his children. "There had better be a planet when I get back."

"Who's in charge?" One asked.

"Castiel."

"What?" All four spat out.

"He's at least tried to keep my vision intact. Go. Off with you. Report in." Chuck took Amara's hand. Amara stared at Dean. Dean stared back. Amara looked around the yard. "Amara. Please."

"They all know I could destroy them but they are all here, ready to fight."

"That's what family does." Dean told her.

"I will miss our time, Dean."

"You got your own family to be with."

"We may never meet again."

"Maybe."

Then they turned into an inky darkness and a blinding light and then they were gone. The Angels walked out. It took the family a minute to realize it was over. It was just Dean standing in the middle of the yard staring at his arm. Everyone got tested. Then folks grouped off to catch up.

Dean hugged Ellen tightly. She whispered reassuring things in his ear. Kevin shook his hand and awkwardly exchanged a few words with Sam. Jo took a walk with Sam to compare notes. Dean dragged Ellen and Charlie around to meet everyone. Dean found Emma chatting with Conrad and his girls. "Emma, this is Charlie."

"Hi!" Emma immediately hugged her.

"Wow." Charlie's eyes widened. "Hi."

"Sorry. I'm a hugger. Dad's told me so much about you. You're… kind of my hero."

"Are you a big nerd?" Charlie grinned.

"No…" Emma took a breath. "I'm bisexual and it really freaked me out but Dad kept telling me about you and how awesome you were… are. Dad's still a little weird about the girls I bring home but he's cool."

"Look at you, progressive Dean the Dad."

"Actually, it's the boys you bring home that freak me out." Dean took a breath. "Ellen, this is Emma."

"Hi. Let me look at you." Ellen made her turn around. "This one is your spitting image. I saw the boy and he looks like you but… this one… just like you."

"Emma and I are going to take a walk, Dean." Charlie told him. "I think you're in high demand today."

Claire leaned on the house and watched people dart from one side to the other to catch up with some dead friend or another. John leaned next to her after a while. "I met Conrad. That's a name right there."

"Family name."

"What's the last name?"

"Caldwell."

"I know that name."

"Figured you would."

"He… new hunter or grew up in it?"

"His family used to do it and he knew about it but…"

"Lost his wife?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Wouldn't happen to be related to the Caldwells that married into the Colts." John kept watching him and his daughters look around helplessly as their hosts were scattered about.

"Samuel Colt is in that family. He doesn't really like to talk about it."

"He good to you?"

"He wants to marry me." Claire shook her head. "Think I'm too jaded to want it anymore and that's not your fault. Had a lot of men in my life aside from you."

"Think you will?"

"Maybe when the girls are on their own. I just feel like… now's not the time."

"You see Ben looking at your girl?"

"I saw." Claire laughed. "She's not even registering it. Look at her. She's meeting all the people Dean's told her stories about. Who is that she's talking to now? Kevin, I think?"

"Emma looks like she's in heaven." John nodded.

"Where's Lou?"

"Inside, I suppose. Dean didn't let her come outside for this. She was supposed to stay in her room until it was over. I don't think anyone ran up to grab her."

"Who is that woman you were talking to? I think your wife was about to punch her in the face."

"Ellen… I got her husband killed way back when I was too green to know better and too arrogant to get it. She let me have it and I earned that. Mary backed off when Ellen got to the meat of it." Then Ben caught his eye again. He laughed. "You okay with the boy drooling on your girl like that?"

"She's been trying to nail him down since she met him. Let him sweat a while." Claire shook her head. "I'm going to go save my man from that aneurysm he's about to have."

Adam was surrounded by young women. He started to look nervous. Claire ushered her future stepdaughters back to their father. Jo cooed over him. "If I had known there was a Winchester who wasn't crazy…"

"He's not a Winchester." Claire corrected Jo. "Hi, I'm Claire. Where's your girlfriend, Adam?"

"I think she went inside. Too much… Winchester out here." Adam shrugged.

"Go on. Get inside. Send Lou out here to join the fun."

"You're a hunter?" Jo asked.

"Yeah."

"You look… a little… to be a hunter." She tilted her head at her. "Too… put together."

"John taught me everything I know."

"Well, then. You're a hunter." Jo strolled off.

Claire rejoined Conrad. "You want to go get lunch?"

"Yeah… and don't think we won't talk about your ex."

"Let's not." She took his arm. "Let's leave Erica and pretend we're not hunters for an hour."

Kevin sat with Lisa and Lou. Lisa watched him fiddle with a napkin and pick at cold breakfast. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I just… spent the last few years with an Archangel in my head and staying away from everything I've known. I'm not a prophet anymore and my mom…" Kevin shook his head. "I haven't talked to real people in a long time. I worry about her."

"You could go to her, now."

"Maybe." Kevin nodded.

"Can I go outside?" Lou pleaded.

Dean walked in and kissed his girlfriend and his child. "Kevin, man…"

"I know I said no hard feelings but… I was in heaven man." Kevin took a deep breath and shot to his feet.

"You're not done. There's no prophecies, no wars with angels or demons… your mom is still around." Dean looked at him. "I'm sorry but I just… didn't… you're family."

"I know." Kevin nodded. "Michael is such a dick, though."

"Charlie said she was working on some stuff… figured you might want to help. She'll set you up with a new identity… for your mom, too."

"Maybe." Kevin nodded. "We talked a bit about it on the way here."

John listened to Jo's stories and couldn't help but feel guilty. "Your dad would be proud."

"I tell her all the time." Ellen nodded.

"This is so strange." Jo laughed nervously. "We've spent all this time… just laying low and doing small time hunts and now… we can do whatever we want."

"It's hard." Mary told them. "I spent a year… drifting and then… there's Sam and John and Dean's got three kids."

"Well, I'm sure chasing John takes up a lot of your time. I always thought he needed a babysitter." Ellen smacked John's arm. "How did you adjust?"

"Poorly." John shook his head. "That tall blonde over there was supposed to keep me busy. She ran off and I chased her all over the countryside. She was nine and gave me a run for my money. We found Emma over there. I learned I was not equipped for girl children. Then I learned I'm a horrible boyfriend. We found Mary and I… almost messed that up."

"No, you didn't." Mary told him. "I didn't help by being a jealous harpy."

"It all worked out. I got my wife, my boys, grandkids. Adam's got a girl, looks like that will make the long haul. Sam is celibate." John sighed when Mary snorted. "Well, he's staying away from steady."

"So, that's Dean's wife and that's Adam's girlfriend and that… is…" Ellen sighed.

"That's Claire's daughter. She left with her man and his kids. They were just here to increase our numbers… just in case."

"Who is Claire?" Ellen looked to John.

"His ex." Mary filled in. "The reason I'm a jealous harpy."

"I thought you didn't have time for women." Ellen blinked at John.

"That didn't happen until the boys were grown. And it was just for a while after we came back. It doesn't work and we should've known better. I'm happy. I got my wife."

"I'll leave it be." Ellen sighed. "Dean's… so different."

"You should have seen it when I got back. He's different from then. That was a scary side of him I never knew he had."

Charlie looked around the house. "This is nice, Dean. So much better than the bunker."

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"What I do. I run around and solve injustice by tapping the keys of my laptop." She shrugged. "You know your son… so weird by the way. Is following around a barely legal?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "She'll make him wait. Payback."

"Emma's sweet. A little too sweet. She was telling me about her mom and their… tribe. So weird to hear that word in the 21st century but I guess that's… Amazons. Wow." Charlie picked up a picture of Dean and Lou off a shelf. "This little one is so adorable. Almost makes me want kids."

"Don't do it. It's horrible." Dean made a face at his daughter, doing her rounds of the house on her hands again. "I can't keep her feet on the ground."

"Good." Charlie smiled. "Emma wants to go to Oz with me."

"What?"

"Just for a little while."

"Is Kevin going?"

"I think so. We… he wants to spend time with his mother but… he's tired of running and Oz is peaceful and… I could put them up in an… effortless position or two."

"I mean… whatever you want to do but…" Dean found Emma with her head tilted in the kitchen… listening in. "I guess there are worse places for her to be."

"Daddy." Lou popped up and jumped on his lap. "Can I go to Becky's house?"

"A lot people here and you haven't met them all."

"It's so boring." She flopped into a death pose.

"I like her." Charlie looked at the little girl.

"Go find your mom." Dean let her fall to the floor.

"Ow." She faked the noise and popped back up. "Ben's being gross."

"I know."

"Erica's my friend."

"She's an adult. I'm plenty sure she's friends with lots of people."

"Dad." She groaned.

"Go shake hands with everyone, come back and tell me all of their names and then you can go."

"I really like her." Charlie pointed to Lou as she ran off.

Claire sank into the bed and stared at her ring. Erica flopped across the end. "You should marry him already."

"Soon." Claire nodded to her. "Well, how do you like being back?"

"Everyone's different."

"So are you."

She shut her eyes and then opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. "Ben's different."

"Yeah."

"He looks at me weird."

"Oh yeah?" Claire chuckled.

"What?" Erica sat up.

Conrad kicked his shoes off and pulled off his shirt. He swatted Erica. "He's looking at you."

"Yeah, weird." She blinked at him when he laughed. "What?"

"He likes you." Conrad climbed onto the bed. "And not because he knew you when you were a little girl. You're an adult now and he sees that."

"No, he doesn't." Erica slid her eyes over to her mother. "He's too old anyway."

"I'm not the one to make arguments about too old." Claire shrugged. "John was easily 10 years older than me."

"Just ten." Conrad snorted.

"Well, he is now. Or he was in '98. It's confusing but yes, he's a lot older than me." Claire shook her head.

"Lisa is older than Dean… but it's just a couple of years." Erica mused.

"Adam is older than Claire… technically… probably the same number of years, too."

"Really?" Erica stared at her fingernails.

"You dated that coach for the competition. He was older." Conrad pointed out.

"We didn't really… date."

"I know you didn't but you almost gave me a heart attack and I'm going with the word "date."" Conrad told her.

"He is sleeping on the couch and you are sleeping in your old room with your sisters." Claire told her.

"Ugh. You're so paranoid." She slinked off the bed.

"We were not paranoid about that coach!" Conrad called after her. They heard the twins giggling from down the hall. "Nothing you girls have schemed is new! Mom and I know all!" More giggles. "No respect."

"Ben and Erica were hit by a Cupid early on." Claire told Conrad. "I've known it was going to go this way for a long time."

"Weird." Conrad huffed. "Cupid? A. As in… there are… several?"

"I guess. I only met the one."

"Jo and I have been holed up, teaching Raphael lessons about mothers and daughters, patience type hunts. Drifting has no appeal… but people." Ellen shrugged at John and Mary.

"Sam offered us rooms at the bunker." Jo told her mother.

"You sure it wasn't that he offered you his room?" Ellen looked back at her.

"Shut up."

"I thought you hated Sam."

"He… he wasn't the one who strung me up. That was a demon." Jo shrugged.

Mary grabbed John's arm. John laughed. Ellen saw the move and had to grin. "Though, if we got a grandkid out of the deal, who am I to say a word?"

"What? No. Shut up. I'm leaving." Jo got up to find someone else to talk to.

Claire, the younger, leaned on Adam and shrugged at Dean. "Jody met some dude at one of those sheriff's conferences. Alex fell for that guy's son and she's moving to Minneapolis. Jody dumped the dude. Said he was way too normal. Sheriff Donna comes sometimes and they go out together. Donna's kind of funny when you get used to her yokel talk."

"She still with Doug #2?"

"Yeah. She's a good wingwoman, though. Jody has a lot of fun with her." Claire nodded.

"Sam told me that you two were moving out."

"Yes." Claire nodded. "It was one thing when we were just starting out, Sam was a good tie breaker but sometimes… we don't want to research. It's took to have a 15 minute drive between hunts and home, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I told Dad we were leaving like 20 minutes ago." Adam cut in.

"Right." Claire nodded. She looked at Dean. "Have you seen Castiel?"

"No. He's been upstairs and now I think I know why." Dean took a breath. "He'll be better this time."

Lisa and Claire spent an evening catching up, just the two of them. They talked about the Ben and Erica romance as it was humorous as neither one knew how to behave around each other. Claire talked about Opal and Emerald and how they were likely to disappear if they didn't keep them close. They loved their father but he was overbearing and it was too late to pull back. Lisa talked about Lou and her new habit of hand-walking everywhere. Ben's drinking had gotten bad but she'd hardly seen him touch a drop since Erica had arrived. Dean seemed relieved. Lisa talked about how estranged she'd become from her sister and how their mother, as annoying and manipulative as she'd been, had been the glue. Claire mused about Conrad's ties to Sam Colt. Lisa was quiet. "It just seems… inevitable."

"I know."

"Conrad's been hinting, heavily." Lisa pointed out and gestured with her right ring finger.

"Yes… the girls are all graduated and Erica wants to come back, obviously. The twins are halfway out the door. It's time. He wants to go to Niagara and I would like to see Hawaii."

"Erica calls Conrad "Pop."" Lisa prompted.

"Yeah. Says he doesn't deserve to be named twice."

"She's a scamp."

"Who is going to run away and romance your son and probably give us grandbabies." Claire laughed.

"God and Emma's going to Oz. When Dean told me, I threw a fit… but I guess she needs to see the world and without Amazons hanging around."

"How's John?"

"Good. He and Mary finally found their stride together. I can empathize." Lisa nodded. "It took a lot of soul searching for me to be okay with Dean being around again and with my memories… and… I almost threw in the towel a few times but he begged. Dean begged and I caved because I didn't really want to do it alone and now… I… I can't wake up without him beside me. I watched them and… John was still reeling from finding out she was alive and she'd had some time to adjust before seeing him. She was ready… and ready to fight for him." Lisa took a breath. "I guess things weren't perfect when she was alive and she was trying to make sure she didn't lose him."

"And he was trying to make sure he was being fair."

"Yeah."

"Jody and I are going on a ladies' weekend, soon. You should come. Donna, I think is coming, too. I've always wanted to meet her."

"Me, too."

Dean nudged Sam as they watched a game. Drinking beer slowly. "Jo?"

"Jo." Sam sighed. "I never thought… ever."

"Older women are awesome."

"She's not older than me… not anymore." Sam took a breath. "Ellen and Jo just want to see the bunker… I'm not… planning anything."

"We all saw it. Both of you deserve something good."

"Ellen will be there… not like… anyway."

"Ellen said she's seeing a woman near where they were holed up… she might not be going back to the bunker with you guys." Dean smacked his brother. "Come with me. I'm getting a tattoo."

"Why? Don't we have enough ink?"

"I don't want Crowley finding out I don't have the mark."

"You think?"

"I think he probably has some fine print I didn't read."

TBC