AN: Okay, quick announcement. My life's a little hectic right now so I'm making some changes to how I update story. Mainly, I'll be updating over the entire weekend depending on what I got ready. This story will still update weekly, but it might be on Friday and Sunday instead of Saturday. I know it doesn't make a different to everyone, but I just wanted to let everyone know what was going on.
Sam stepped back a little as the fire started to really blaze under the metal bars.
It was the fourth of July and the family was spending the day at the park with a borrowed grill, and Sam, as the only grown male of the group, as archaic as that might sound, got stuck with the dubious honor of grilling.
At that point Reason came over to him. "Ah, I know I'm no expert on the subject, but don't you think it's a little early to actually start up the grill?"
"Well, from what I read it take a little bit for the grill to actually heat up to actually cook." Sam explained, "Again, tell Saul we really owe him by the way."
"He really didn't mind; he apparently collects them." Reason told him, "You sure you don't want any help."
Sam made a rather awkward face. "Yeah, Reason, no offense, but…."
That raise Reason's hackles a bit. "But what?"
"You're from Missouri." Sam got out.
"And what does that have to do with anything?" Reason challenged.
"Well, no offense but Missouri barbecue is –it's not really even barbecue." Sam told he, "It's thinly sliced meat with a little sauce on it, on toast."
"It's—it's-" Reason stammered out, "How do you even know that?"
"Because I've been to Missouri and I've had their alleged barbecue." Sam answered.
"Alright, fair enough." Reason conceded, "Are we actually having anything barbecued?"
Sam paused a second. "Fair enough."
That was when Charlie came up with a bowel. "Where do you want me to put this?"
"On the picknick table should be fine." Sam told her, gesturing to the table.
Meanwhile, nearby in the same park Benedict Rawls was preparing his own grill when he saw Serena Joy's nova pull up.
"Hey." She called out to him, getting out holding a thing of Tupperware, waving with her free hand.
"Hey yourself!" Rawls called out and she walked up to the grill, "I thought you were heading to your parents."
"Doesn't mean I can't a least stop by." Serena Joy said, setting the Tupperware down on the side of the grill and giving Rawls a peck on the cheek. Pulling back, she saw the contained of sliced pink rounds next to grill and asked, "What is that?"
"Bologna." Rawls answered and when that earned him an even more confused look he responded, "What? You're telling you've never barbecued bologna? Okay, wait a few minutes, I am making you a sample to take with you."
As Rawls squirted barbecue into a bowl they heard a little voice call out, "Aunt Serena, Aunt Serena!" Then a whirl of auburn and black hit Serena Joy with a thud. Wrapped around her waist with a big grin, wearing a little straw hat, was Scarlet.
"Hey there Scarlet." Serena Joy greeted her, returning the hug, but giving Rawls a look as if to ask Aunt Serena?
"Scarlet, we've talked about this." Rawls told her, crouching down, "Just because Miss Serena's Uncle Benny's –ahh-friend doesn't make her your aunt yet."
"Oh." Scarlet said, sadly, looking down.
"But I still really appreciate the welcome." Serena Joy crouched down, changing the subject, "Now let me get a look at what this shirt says." As Scarlet pulled back Serena Joy read aloud, "I'm the reason we have rules?" It didn't make sense until she looked and saw Elsbeth, carrying Dory in spite of the pink harness with a cute little unicorn backpack she had on, Vanessa walking alongside her as she walked up. Vanessa was wearing a dark t-shirt that read, I make the rules, and Dory was wearing one that read, the rules don't apply to me. "Oh. Cute."
"Mommy, Miss Serena's here!" Scarlet announced.
"I see that." Elsbeth responded, "It's good to see you again, Serena."
"You too." Serena Joy said, as Vanessa hugged her as well, making her feel a little guilty that she couldn't stay for long, "I was dropping some things off."
Rawls opened the container revealing slices of yellowish white pound cake and two sticks of butter.
"Spread it with a little butter and put it on the grill, it's delicious." Serena Joy told him.
That was when Scarlet, being five, said, "But we brought watermelon."
Dory began to whimper, nuzzle into her head into Elsbeth's chest. There was going to be fight. And Dory didn't like fighting.
"It's okay." Elsbeth soothed, "It's no big deal. No one's mad at anyone."
"I'm so sorry." Serena Joy began, "I didn't think."
"No, it's okay." Elsbeth assured her, " You didn't know. In fact—Dory, I have to put you down for a moment, okay." Dory didn't protest as she was sat down, Elsbeth slipping the pink leash handle around her wrist and she pulled her own Tupperware container and plastic bag, "Take some." She opened the conation, revealing pink and green watermelon slices, which she began to put into the bag, "We got a way too big one anyway, no way we're eating all this. Put some olive oil on it, and grill if for about two minutes, it's amazing. "
"I—I didn't know you could do that with water melon." Serena Joy admitted.
"Yeah, I didn't either until one of the girls at work gave us some." Elsbeth told her.
Looking at the water melon, she said, "I—I couldn't possibly—"
"Oh, I insist." Elsbeth responded, "Come on, make your boyfriend's life a little easier, give him a little less work to do."
Serena Joy smirked at her. "Well, when you put it like that." She took the offered watermelon.
"Can you at least come to the playground with us?" Scarlet requested.
"And on that note," Elsbeth quipped, "Benny, I was going to take the girls over to the playground to run off some energy for a little bit, you gonna be okay?"
"Sure." Rawls assured them. Elsbeth was a bit on edge and the girls had been cooped up since they got to town.
"Can Serena Joy come to?" Scarlet pleaded, "Please, please, please!"
Elsbeth looked for an answer as to whether she could confirm or deny the request.
"Well, I should probably at least make sure you don't get lost on the way." Serena Joy quipped walking off with the group.
Meanwhile, Hannah, Reason , Charlie and Alex had the same idea, and were walking the children over to the playground as they rand ahead of them "Maudie, slow down!" Reason requested, struggling to hold on, causing Alex to giggle.
Maudie obeyed and when they got to the playground, unfastening the children from their harnesses when they immediately ran to bucking animals.
The park had a bench on ever side of the playground area, and on the one adjacent from them saw an elderly woman with a prim face. It was on that bench that Elsbeth made the mistake of plopping Dory down to undo her harness so she could go play with her sisters. Because the moment she saw the leash she started in, harshly. "That is just shameful! That is just—just cruel to chain up a child right that! It—it's barbaric. I swear parents who use those things ought not to be allowed to have kids."
Getting upset, Dory started to cry. Elsbeth grabbed her up in her arms, whispering soothing words.
The woman either somehow unaware of the trouble she was causing or not caring, kept on. "Seriously, how lazy are you that you treat your daughter like a dog?! That's what you're doing you know; you're treating her like a dog! You should be ashamed!"
By that point Hannah, seeing the whole scene, rushed over. "Excuse me," She started, remaining very clam, "Are you of any relation to these people?"
That got the woman's attention. "Excuse me?"
"Are you a relative to this woman or this child?" Hannah restated, then realized she recognized the family being attacked.
"Well, are you?" The woman challenged.
"Actually, we are in fact acquaintances." Hannah told her very politely, "Hello Elsbeth."
"Hey." Elsbeth greeted her, still trying to calm Dory down.
"Yeah, so she has slightly more reason to be involved than you do." Serena Joy pointed out, grabbing the offending leash.
"And it's a unicorn, not a dog!" Scarlet informed her, hands on hip.
"The point is, unless she's beating them, how she manages her children is none of your business." Hannah took over again, "Furthermore are you willing to run around to keep track of these kids? Make sure they get safely from place to place? Keep in mind she has three. Also, thankfully you missed us but me and my friend both had our children on leashes." She pointed over to the bench where Reason and the others were watching the kids, not wanting to cause too much of a scene, and yes, the leashes were sitting right next to them, "The only complaint I've heard from my kids was that their friend has a teddy bear on the back and they just have the plain ones." After a moment she thought to add, "Actually, Serena, weren't you the one who got that harness for her?"
Serena Joy nodded, "She looked at me like I had lost my mind, but when the kid got to walking, she became a convert."
Turning back to the woman, Hannah finished, "So, it seems you're actually in the minatory in addition to giving unsolicited opinions about things that are not your business and making a toddler cry. So please, kindly back off. "
"I—you-," The woman stammered out, "Hmp!" The she turned around and hurried off so fast she actually breaking into a trout trying to get away.
That was when a little boy about the same age as Scarlet called out, "Grandma, where are you going?! Grandma!"
"Should we—" Charlie began, approaching the group.
"Give it a minute." Serena Joy said.
The little boy took off crying out, "Grandma! Don't leave me!"
At that point the woman turned around and turned beet red then blanched as she realized for all her criticism of other parents, she was the one that had actually nearly abandoned her charge. She abashedly walked over to pick a few toys the boy had left in his panic, then ran to her car with the child.
As they drove off, everything was silent for a moment, then the woman burst out laughing.
"Are you alright now, baby?" Elsbeth asked Dory, who had calmed down somewhat.
Dory, her face still slick with tears nodded.
That was when Elsbeth saw something that she knew would turn the child's day around. "You know, I think I saw Castiel on those animals over there." She said pointing him out.
Dory's eyes immediately lit up she saw him, wordlessly running off. It took a minute, but when Cas saw her, he got off, pulling Dory and her deer into a hug. "You want to ride with me?" He asked when they broke the embrace. Dory nodded and allowed him to help her onto the horse.
"Thanks for the rescue guys." Elsbeth said as they walked over to the other bench.
"It wasn't any trouble." Hannah assured her, "I've encountered a few people who somehow believe I've asked for their advice when I haven't said a word to them during my time as a mother."
"And it's never like the normal people or the people that are saying common sense things, is it?" replied, "It's always the APs, or the anti-vax or the ones who think putting your baby is a sling next to you is coddling."
"I thought AP and anti-vax were the same thing?" Serena Joy asked.
"Oh, AP is anti-vax plus." Elsbeth told her, "And—trust me, that's all you want to know."
"Oh, I ran into one of those types in the store once and they thought I was doing it for some reason." Hannah added, "When I told I was more or less doing the opposite, it was not pretty."
"Wait, so stuff like that happens a lot?" Alex spoke up.
"Well, not to that degree, but yes." Hannah answered.
"It seems to be a rule as a parent everything you do is wrong and every busybody in the neighborhood knows better ways of raising your child." Elsbeth added.
"Well that seriously puts me off having kid." Charlie added in.
"And the worst for me, is that—I have some insecurities when it comes to my parenting abilities, so I always wonder if maybe I should be listening to them." Reason confessed.
"Pro tip," Elsbeth began, "If they mention the Illuminati or make reference to an unidentified 'they' just—tune them out and get away as fast as you can. Also, when someone asks me about my parenting philosophy, just to have some fun, I tell I follow the styles of truly awful people from history, like Anton LaVey, Aleister Crowley, Jim Jones, L Ron Hubbard, Warren Jeffs, even Marquis de Sade once. And that time they told me they would have to look at his Facebook page to find out more about him. And these were college educated people! My higher education was beauty school, how do I know about the guy we get the word sadism from and they don't?"
And so, they spent a good fifteen minutes discussing the unexpected parrels of motherhood.
"Okay guys." Serena Joy told the kids, "I really need to go now. I got half my family blowing up my phone here."
"Aw!" Scarlet wined.
"I know." Serena Joy responded, pulling her into a hug, "Hey, I promise to see you again while you're in town, okay?"
"Okay." Scarlet agreed reluctantly.
After that Vanessa came in for a hug, and even the boys and Maudie, did. However, Dory just stood there, looking almost scared. Serena Joy waved her in, but the little girl just hid behind Castiel.
"Don't worry." Scarlet assured Serena Joy, "She's like that with most people. When you're our aunt, she'll see you more and she won't be scared of you."
Serena Joy hid a flood of mixed emotions behind a smirk. "Glad you have so much faith in me, kiddo."
And so, all was well. The kids were playing the moms were talking and Elsbeth had an idea. "Hey, what are you guys doing for lunch?"
"Sam and a friend of ours are working on the grill." Hannah answered, "Why?"
"I was thinking maybe we could all get together." Elsbeth suggested, "You know, combine resources, share the same area. I mean, look at those guys. Does it seem like they're gonna want to split up?"
Indeed, Dean and Maudie were having the time of their lives with the older girls and Dory was not going to leave Cas easily.
Hannah smiled. "I'm sure something could be arranged."
Shortly after they came to that agreement, both meals were cooked, so the women helped their children pick up any toys they had brought with them and began bundle them up to go. Dory let out a whimper as the harness was put over her shoulder.
"Hey," Elsbeth began, concerned, "What's the matter, baby?"
"That mean lady said the hug was bad…." Dory began.
"That mean lady was wrong." Elsbeth told her gently but firmly, "While we have to listen to some people some of the time, there are sometimes it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. As you get older, you'll get better at telling which is which and now's one of the times it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Now, how do you feel about your hug?"
Dory was quiet for a moment then said, "I love my hug."
"Then here we go." Elsbeth said, fastening the device, "How about a human hug too?" She wrapped her arms around the child, then pulled back and put the end around her wrist.
"Thanks Mama Elsbeth." Dory smiled up at her.
Hannah cocked her head in confusion. Mama Elsbeth?
"Not my idea." Elsbeth told them, sensing the confusion, "She just—started that one day and now I can't get her to stop. Well, I guess it's less weird than her just calling me by my first name…." Her voice trailed off as she realized, "You don't know, do you? Benny never said anything to you?"
"Said anything about what?" Hannah asked.
Looking at the kids then back to Hannah and Reason, Elsbeth whispered, "Not here. When they go gown for their nap, okay?"
Both Hannah and Reason nodded in an I understanding agreement.
The spread on the table consisted of hot dogs, hamburger, ribs, barbecued bologna, potato chips, baked beans, and cold slaw. It was so much certain people had trouble deciding.
Dean walked back to the paper platter with the burgers, and the bologna. He liked burgers, but the bologna looked good too. He couldn't decide!
"Can't I have both?" Dean asked.
"How 'bout you have one now and one for seconds?" Sam suggested.
"But I might not be hungry then." Dean worried.
"Okay, then how 'bout this?" Sam began cutting a hamburger and piece of bologna in half putting a piece each on the younger's plate.
"Okay." Dean grinned as they walked to the side.
When they all sat down, Dean very happily finished everything on his plate. No screaming to intimate the food. "Can I have some more of the bologna stuff, Daddy?"
"Sure, bud." Sam agreed, getting him one of the smaller pieces, "Just remember there's dessert, too."
Dean wasn't the only one who liked the barbecued bologna. Alex was practically ripping the stuff apart. "Seriously, where has this stuff been all my life?"
"Alex, sweetie, you got a little—" Jody began, handing her a napkin.
Alex took it, wrapping her mouth and telling the youngers, "Have better table manners than me."
Dessert was prepared after left overs were put up, a large amount of grilled pancake (As Serena Joy had also given Reason some) with the option of vanilla ice cream topping, and grilled watermelon.
"I didn't even know you could grill watermelon." Sam said as he turned his portion of pound cake over, "Then again I didn't know you could grill pound cake until today either."
"Yeah," Rawls agreed, "Here's hopping, we do it right."
The grilled pound cake cooked up a darker shade of yellow with dark brown stripes, and the watermelon cooked up rather unchanged except for looking a little dry with black marks from the grill. Both were delicious. And sure enough, right after lunch everyone under the age of five curled up for a nap.
Giving Elsbeth the chance to explain a few things.
"Dorian-Selene's the girls half-sister." Elsbeth explained, "Different mother, same father."
"He knocked up a washed-up pageant queen with some serious shades of Sunset Boulevard." Edith commented.
"Edith!" Rawls exclaimed.
"What?" Edith responded, "It's not like we're all thinking it and as long as we're airing the dirty laundry—"
"The girls could've heard you said that." Elsbeth hissed.
"Dory's dead to the world and Scarlet and Nessa are absorbed in—throwing rocks—that they're not paying attention to what we're saying." Edith insisted.
"Anyway," Elsbeth said, deciding to just move on, "Like Edith just alluded to Lucky is not the most stable person in the world, and for now let's just leave it at that. A few months ago—actually just before we met you guys, actually, I get a call from her little sister saying that Lucky's been arrested for shoplifting and assault and battery, and destruction of property. Apparently, she tried to stuff a hundred-dollar prom dress in her purse, and then when the teenage chaser confronted her, threw a fit, eventually biting the kid, kicked a mall cop in the shin, and knocked over a rack of jewelry and those chocolate displays they have on the counter. And Dory saw the whole thing." She rubbed her temples her heart breaking again at what the poor child must had gone through, "They had on a 48-hour psych eval, the cops had Dory down and the station and were trying to find relatives before calling CPS. Her grandmother was in the hospital, the sister that called me was with her and wasn't in a position to leave, they couldn't get a hold of the other sister, Dorian, my ex, his brother, the girls' father, was of course nowhere to be found, I was able to stall them until Benny could come up from here. We managed to talk Lucky and to signing custody over to me while she gets helps—" Elsbeth winced, "And possibly still serves some jail time. The judge agreed to it, even thought it was a little unconventional and now—and now we're here."
"Oh my—that poor child." Hannah gasped.
"I know it's not my place, but have you— "Sam began, wondering if some behavior they had put off as shyness was something more.
"We're looking at kiddie therapists." Elsbeth confirmed, "In the meantime, I'm just—doing everything I can to make sure she has it as normal as possible." She looked down where Dory was curled up next to Cas and started playing with a strand of her hair, "Believe it or I, ah, actually think your son helps. She just—comes to life around him. I don't—I don't know why, but thank God for him, really. I don't know if this is the most appropriate time for this but—we're going to be in town for a longer stay this time, weeks, months maybe, do you think maybe we could do like a more—planned play date or something."
"Of course." Hannah answered.
"Yeah, the boys would actually love that." Sam added. This was something they didn't need to discuss.
That afternoon after everybody woke up, Edith wound up treating the youngers to an impromptu concert.
The parents just wish she'd pick more appropriate songs for her audience.
"Where she seemed alright by dawn's early light, thought she looked a little worried and weak…." Edith sang.
"She isn't." Rawls said.
"What's the problem?" Hannah asked.
"She tried to pretend he wasn't drinking again, but Daddy left the proof on her cheek…." Edith continued.
"Oh." Hannah said slowly.
"And I was only eight years old that summer, and I always seemed to be in the way. So, I took myself down to the fair in town, on Independence day." Edith did a little just instrumental than began singing again. "Well word gets around in a small, small town. They said he was a dangerous man. But Mama was proud and she stood her ground, though she knew she was on the losing end. Some folks whispered; some folks talked but everybody looked the other way. When time ran out there was no one about, on independence day." She was about to start the refrain when she caught the disapproving looks of the adults, "What? I mean, it involves the holiday."
"Well, can't you do just a regular patriotic song or something? "Sam suggested, "Something a little—kid friendly?"
"Come on, it's not going to have any affect." Edith responded.
That when Dean spoke up. "How do you leave proof on a cheek?"
Both Hannah and Elsbeth shot Edith looks that said, Do YOU want to explain the concept of domestic violence to them? Reason just faced palmed and Jody adjusted the collar of her shirt uncomfortably.
Edith sighed. "Okay, maybe you're right. I haven't exactly been the most kid-friendly today. Sorry."
Trying break up the tension, Elsbeth said, "Yeah, you're giving us red heads a bad name."
Edith smiled, then changed songs. "Well if you ask me where I come, here's what I tell everyone…"
Soon after that, it got dark enough that they began making preparations for the main event. That meant putting earplugs in the kids' ears.
"Okay, guys, when the fireworks go off, they can make a loud noise, and sometimes that can be scary." Sam explained taking the orange foam pellets out of their packaging, "So we're going to put these in your ears so they won't be as loud."
"Are you gonna wear them too, Daddy?" Dean asked.
"Well, bud, the noise doesn't really scare me." Sam told him.
"Then it won't scare me either." Dean declared.
"Can you put them on anyway?" Sam asked, "Just for me?"
Dean just folded his arms and shook his head.
"Alright, then." Sam responded, before sticking the plugs in his own ear, "What about now?"
"Okay." Dean agreed, sticking it in.
And so, sitting down on the blankets, they began to wait.
"Are the fireworks going to start now?" Maudie asked about thirty minutes in.
"Not yet." Reason told her, "They're just waiting it to be a bit darker."
Ten minutes after that Dean asked, "Is it time for the fireworks yet?"
"Not yet, bud." Sam responded.
"How 'bout now?" Cas asked a few minutes later.
"Not let little one." Hannah told him.
Sam told to Jody. "How long does this phase last?"
"Mama, its time for the fireworks yet?" Scarlet asked.
"Does that answer your question?" Jody responded.
Just then thankfully the first shot of a blue rocket flew up in the sky, sending sparkles through the sky. Then a green one. Then one with glittery pinks and greens and reds.
"Oohh, pretty!" Maudie grinned.
"There aren't scary!" Dean declared, "They'se pretty!"
"I'm glad you think so, bud." Sam responded, "What about you Cas?"
"They're sparkly." Cas observed.
That was when another firework went up a bright white one with even more sparkles within it. The kids really loved this one. It went for a good hour like that, spurts of fire and color raining down, ending with one giant cluster of fireworks in all colors. Red, white, blue, green, gold, seemingly every color.
Of course, by that point, the toddlers had fell asleep, Dean curled up in Sam's lap, Cas in Hannah's, Maudie in Reason's, Dory and Elsbeth.
"I'll get the stuff, you guys head to car with the little guys." Jody volunteered, Charlie and Alex helping her.
"Thanks." Sam said, getting up with Dean
The Winchesters, Reason and Elsbeth walked side by side with their asleep or half-asleep children. "We'll talk later?" Hannah asked Elsbeth.
"Defiantly." Elsbeth confirmed as she loaded her kids into the car, "You two Reason?"
"Of course." Reason agreed as she buckled Maudie into a crowded back seat.
By the time they got everyone loaded up, Sam and the others had had loaded up everything they brought with them. "You were right." Hannah told him as he got in the car, "This was a good idea."
"Thanks." Sam responded, starting the engine, "Hey, did I ever tell you about the fourth of July me and Dean burned down a field with fireworks?"
"No, actually." Hannah responded.
"Well, it was a little tricky for us to get them, but when we did…" Sam began as they drove off into the night.
