Cassie


"Stop looking at the phone." Cassie said, sitting at the kitchen table with Thea who was constantly looking at her phone in front of her, "You heard dad, and the doctors, her condition isn't gonna change tonight." She said.

"But what if it does and we're not there?" Thea asked.

"The hospital is ten minutes away. We'll get there." Cassie nodded.

"I just… I can't believe it." Thea shook her head, "It's like you don't expect anything bad to happen to her. She's just… she's mom. She's supposed to be around all the time." Thea said, tears in her eyes as Cassie nodded.

"She'll wake up." Cassie said, "She's only in the coma to help her. To keep her brain from any further damage." She said as Thea nodded.

"A coma still isn't good, Cassie. I mean… even when she does wake up, I'm scared for what… what she might be like. I'm scared for dad. I know he's a strong guy but… he also depends on her a lot. We all do." She shook her head.

"Dad will be fine. We're there for him." Cassie assured her, "And we'll help mom, whatever she needs."

"I'm supposed to be the one assuring you." Thea shook her head, "How are you so calm?" She asked.

"I'm terrified." Cassie assured her, "But we know what mom's like. She'd absolutely hate for us all to be standing around in that hospital room, panicking each other and worrying." She said.

"She would." Thea nodded, "I forget how grown up you are sometimes." She shook her head.

"Still the baby." Cassie smiled as Thea nodded, "Is Dominic ok?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping in the spare room with the kids." Thea nodded, "I said I would crash on the couch. If I decide to crash." She said.

"You should get some sleep." Cassie nodded, "If we're gonna go visit her in the morning."

"Every time I close my eyes over I just imagine the worst." Thea shook her head, placing her hands over her mouth and taking a deep breath, "And then the guilt comes in because… I know I've taken her for granted over the years." She shook her head.

"No you haven't." Cassie said, "She knows how important she is. She knows we all love her."

"I don't think you got to see her at her strongest." Thea shook her head, "I remember I used to come downstairs and she'd be holding you, you were just a baby, and she'd be crying but… somehow she was still keeping you quiet and calm." She said, "She held down a job and still managed to raise us. She was like a superhero." She smiled as Cassie nodded.

"She is a superhero." Cassie said.


"April?" Dean walked into the house, walking down the hall and into the kitchen where nine month pregnant AJ was sat at the kitchen table with some papers out in front of her.

"Hey." AJ said, not bothering to look up.

"Hey… what are you doing?" Dean asked curiously, "Are the girls in bed?"

"Yeah, they're asleep." AJ nodded, "I'm working on this appeal for Phil." She said as Dean looked across at her, placing his hands on his hips.

"April, the first one got rejected." Dean reminded her.

"I know but I found out a way to appeal again, as long as you just change some things. I've called a different lawyer so it's a different representation." AJ looked up at him hopefully.

"April." Dean sighed to himself.

"This one could really get passed through." AJ nodded hopefully as Dean sat down across from her.

"April, look at me." Dean said, taking her hands from the sheets of paper as AJ looked across at him, "Phil isn't getting out on appeal." He made clear, "You've appealed already and it was a straight rejection. They got him. They got him good." He said as AJ looked at him, "He is staying in prison." He made clear. He didn't want to be so blunt and cruel, but he couldn't watch his sister-in-law keep putting herself through the emotional pain of constant rejection. It just made the acceptance of this harder for her.

"At least I'm trying to do something." AJ ripped her hands from him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to accept that my brother is gonna be in prison for a while. You need to as well." Dean suggested.

"I'm about to have three children, Dean. Phil isn't my brother. I can't just accept it and move on-"

"I'm not saying I'm doing that either." Dean made clear.

"No, but it's easier for you. You don't have his children here asking you where their dad is." AJ stood up from the chair, "He was sentenced to thirteen years-"

"He won't do all that time-"

"Half is still seven or eight… do you really expect me to go all that time without having him here?" AJ shook her head.

"No, April but you're gonna have to. I know you don't want to but the… the quicker you come to terms with it, the easier it'll get-"

"Easier?" AJ laughed, "Nothing will ever be easy about this. How dare you." AJ spat.

"Just… calm down." He shook his head, "I know nothing is easy about this. I get it." Dean said.

"No… no, you don't get it." AJ shook her head, "He is the person I come home to every night. He's my best friend. I am on my own here." She said.

"You're not on your own. I'm here." Dean said.

"No… at night, when the girls are in bed, I am here on my own and I hate it. I miss him. I miss his voice and I miss sleeping beside him. I even miss fighting with him over… stupid stuff." AJ shook her head, "And I am not spending the next years of my life being on my own." She shook her head, "Without him."

"You have me and Renee. You have your girls and… this baby." He said, "You're not alone, April." He shook his head, watching her pause for a second, placing her hand on the kitchen table, "What? What's wrong?"

"My waters just broke." She said calmly as Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Huh?" Dean panicked as AJ sighed to herself. It wasn't a sigh because she was nervous about giving birth or worried about the pain, it was a sigh because she didn't want to do this on her own again, like she did with Thea.

"My bag is already in the car. I can drive myself." AJ nodded.

"Are you kidding? I'm coming." Dean shook his head, "I'll call Renee and get her to come here to watch the girls."

"Ok." AJ nodded to herself, taking calm deep breaths as Dean watched her. She was definitely calm and composed.

"You alright?" Dean nodded to her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded calmly, looking over at the carrier sitting on the kitchen counter, "I'm gonna need that." She remembered this time.


"You got a name for her yet?" Dean smiled, sitting by AJ's bed a couple hours later, staring on at his new niece who wasn't long born.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "We picked out Cassie for a girl." She said.

"Cassie." Dean smiled, "Sweet." He nodded to her as AJ smiled, holding her new bundle of joy in her arms, "You did really good." He nodded, rubbing AJ's arm softly as she smiled to him.

"Thank you for staying with me." AJ said, "You didn't have to."

"Yeah I did, April." Dean said, "You're my sister. And I'm here for you. Throughout this whole thing." He made clear, watching as she looked down at Cassie. She'd had a healthy and quick delivery. Both her and baby Cassie were doing good, but he could see the sadness in her as she held her newborn daughter.

"She's beautiful." AJ whispered. Cassie was her light in all the dark around her. She didn't fix anything, but she certainly gave her so much purpose and direction.

"You know… you can call the prison and let him know." Dean said as AJ looked over at him.

"I don't think I could tell him over the phone." AJ shook her head with a lump in her throat as Dean nodded, understanding, "Thea's supposed to be seeing him after school tomorrow so maybe… maybe she'll let him know." She said as Dean nodded.

"Yeah…. Yeah, he'll appreciate it coming from her." Dean smiled as AJ nodded.

"I have to accept this, don't I?" AJ realised, looking at him as he sighed to himself.

"I think so." Dean said as AJ nodded, looking down at her baby girl.

"He should be here." AJ shook her head, "He's not a… bad person." She sighed with tears in her eyes, "He was just trying to protect us. It's all he's ever wanted to do."

"I know." Dean said, "You just wanna be mad at the world, huh?" He said as AJ nodded.

"I just can't imagine him missing all the things he's going to miss." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I know." Dean sighed, "But you've got your girls. And you guys are gonna be so close. And I know that it's daunting and it's pressure that you're not used to, but if there was someone I thought of, that would do good in leading a pack of little girls in the right direction… it's gotta be you." He nodded as AJ smiled to him.

"A pack, huh?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah, it's gotta be. Like little wolves." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"You're so weird, Dean." AJ smiled as he shrugged, "And I love you." She said as he winked to her, "Would you… give me a minute alone?" She asked him.

"Sure, I can." Dean nodded, standing up, leaning over and kissing her head as AJ smiled, "You laying down the ground rules for her?" He teased, doing anything to keep her smiling.

"Something like that." AJ nodded, watching as he left the hospital room, leaving her alone with Cassie in the empty hospital room.

AJ looked down at Cassie, watching her sleep peacefully, "Hi, baby." She whispered, stroking her soft cheek, "I guess maybe you expected a bigger welcoming, huh?" She said quietly, "I did too." She nodded, "He's not here but I know he loves you so much." She said, "And he'd do anything to be here. I know he would." She said, watching her little nose twitching as she smiled.

"I'm gonna do my best." AJ nodded, "And it might not always be good enough but… I promise you, I'll be trying so hard." She said, "Because you deserve so much better than this and… you're only a few hours old." She sighed, a tear running down her cheek.

"You've got two amazing big sisters. Jude and Thea. I figure if I'm not doing the best I can, they'll let me know." She said, looking down at Cassie, "It's just us girls now, baby." She whispered, stroking her cheek softly, looking up and staring across at the baby carrier in the corner of the room, tears running down her cheeks as she cried to herself quietly, leaning down and kissing Cassie's head softly.

Seeing Cassie was her wakeup call. Being on her own with her was the wakeup call she needed. The wakeup call which had her realising she was on her own now.