"You Have To Grow Up Someday"

"How are you feeling?" Dean asked, running a hand along Emma's back.

"I'll be all right," Emma replied, staring calmly at her lap.

He held her close, and tapped his head against hers. "We might actually have a kid one day, you know?"

She recalled the last occasion on which they'd had this talk, and noticed a difference in her mood this time. She held quiet a moment, then smiled at him. "I know," Emma said, leaning into his arms. "I've actually come to believe that now."

Emma stared out at the dancing waters. "In my dream, we had three children, and one was a boy."

Dean nodded in response while listening on, recalling her tales about each of the kids.

"I keep thinking, 'What if that happened in reality?' What if I had children of both genders? And what if I had three?" Emma paused. "Would I become a more experienced mother than…her?"

Dean lifted an eyebrow. "Than who?" he wondered.

Emma licked her lips. "Than my own mother," she said.

He narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. "A more experienced mother…or a better one?"

She lowered her gaze to her twiddling fingers.

"Is that the real reason you want kids, Em?" He wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Are you trying to prove that you can do a better job than your mom?"

Emma paused a moment while considering that question. "No," she answered, speaking quietly. "I've got nothing but love for my mother now. This isn't about my old issues with her. This is only about my feelings for you." She snuggled a little bit closer to Dean.

He placed a soft kiss atop her temple.

"It's about all the things that I've imagined and dreamed of." She ran her gaze across the beach. "I think that this would be a fun place for a kid — even though they couldn't do all the stuff that we got to do growing up."

"Like what?" he asked, wanting to hear her childhood memories.

"Taking a trip to a toy store." She grinned.

Dean chuckled while recalling that experience himself.

"What about you?" Emma wondered. She suddenly realized that they'd never talked much about this. "Besides soccer, tell me about another special memory of yours."

"Christmas break and spring break," Dean said with a smile. "I always got excited whenever those came around."

Emma slowly nodded. "Me too," she concurred.

Dean felt a giddy little warmth in his heart. "There was a time when I never wanted my childhood to end. Of course, my dad always reminded me that I'd have to grow up someday." His voice got softer. "And maybe he was right."

Emma grew curious. "What do you mean 'maybe?' "

Dean glanced around at the familiar island. "You and me…we didn't get to grow up the way that other people do. We didn't have civilization to complete the process."

Emma went quiet as those words sank in.

"I know that we're officially adults now, but do you actually feel like one, or do you still feel like a teenager?"

After a brief bit of silence, she quietly spoke up. "I think I feel like a little of both," she admitted. "But most of the time, I feel like an adult." Emma turned her head to him. "The fact is, we have grown up on this island, Dean. We didn't need civilization in order to mature."

Dean smiled again while holding her close.

"We accomplished that on our own, by being there for each other."