Vrskaandrea: Gee, you would think that I don't actually like Caleb much but I actually do. I just have one more 'beating' for Caleb then everything settles down. As a present there is a cameo appearance by Castiel in this chapter. 😬
Blondie 20000: You make me laugh! Your absolute Hatred for Dean is so intense! Love it!
Shazza19: I feel sorry for Caleb too. Dean is over the top possessive right now but Kayla gives Caleb a lovely gift at the end of the chapter, showing him she knows he can be trusted. And how can a not quite one year old do that, you might ask? Read on and find out...😉
NoilyPrat: Welcome, my guess is you will catch up sooner rather than later. x
VegasGranny: You and Blondie make quite the team. I promise you will be able to relax that grip after this chapter...x
CHAPTER 67
Two days later Dean was in the kitchen making Sam a birthday breakfast when she heard a commotion outside the room. She walked to the door and saw Sam and Bobby rushing down the stairs heading for the front door.
"What going on?" She asked.
"We got a hunter in trouble." Bobby said rushing past.
"Do you need help? Want me to come?" Dean offered.
"No!" Sam snapped stopping at the door. "Stay here. Lock the doors and salt everything."
"Sam this is Bobby's. We don't need to salt the doors."
"Just do it! Every door and window. And keep Kayla inside." Sam said.
"What's going on Sam?"
"Just, just trust me right now. Stay inside and I'll call you later."
He dropped a quick kiss on Deans head, shocking them both and then left the house. Dean stood at the door and watched them peal out of the yard.
"Happy birthday." She said to the departing car.
•
Dean paced for a while. She'd packed up all the food she had bought for Sam to celebrate his birthday then sat in the living room and played with Kayla, her phone always close by. It was well into the night when Sam called.
"Sammy? What's happening?" Dean asked as soon as she answered.
"Dean...it's Caleb..."
•
Sam and Bobby carried Caleb, cut, beaten, broken and bleeding into the opd hunters shack and gently lay him on an old bed.
"He's a mess Bobby!" Sam said, raking bloodied hands through his hair. "We should have taken him to a hospital."
"No..." Caleb protested weakly.
"I know, but I don't think a hospital is quite equipped to deal with this. Start cleaning him up and I'll get the med kit."
Sam filled a bowl with warm water and gently started to clean Caleb's wounds as Bobby set up needles, threads and anything else he thought he might need. Caleb groaned weakly and grabbed at Sams hand.
"D'mons...Kayla...I didn't...give her...tell Dean...I 'tected her.." Caleb whispered. His eyes rolled back and he fell into unconsciousness.
Bobby did as much as he could. Stitched what he needed to, reset some broken bones, bandaged what he could. When he sat back he was just as bloody as Caleb.
"He really should be in a hospital but I've done what I can. It's in gods hands now." He said.
As Bobby cleaned up Sam stepped outside and called Dean.
•
"Dean...it's Caleb." Sam said down the phone.
Dean felt the blood drain from her head and had to sit.
"How bad?" She knew it was going to be bad when Sam and Bobby raced from the house that morning.
"Demons got the drop on them. They wanted Kayla. It looks like when they realised Neilson didn't know who they were talking about they ended him, but it was messy."
"How...bad?" Dean asked again.
"It's not looking good Dean." Sam answered honestly. "Bobby did what he could, but he's not hopeful. Caleb said...he told me to tell you, he didn't talk, he protected her."
A tear slid down Deans cheek.
"Okay." Dean said. "Thanks for calling."
"I'll keep you updated." Sam said.
"Sure." Dean looked to where Kayla was sleeping in her crib. "Happy Birthday Sammy."
Dean disconnected the call and dropped her head into her hands and wept silently. She'd know Caleb for more than twenty years, he was her best friend and Kaylas father, she couldn't let him die.
"Cas? Cas, I need you. It's important!" She looked around the room, standing and walking to the side of Kaylas crib. "Castiel!" She called.
The room was filled with the sound of flapping and a slight breeze made Deans clothing and hair move.
"Dean." Castiel said. He tilted his head and looked at Dean. He reached out and touched two fingers to her forehead and in a second had healed her of the cuts and bruises still on face and body.
"Ah, thanks?"
"Why did you summon me?"
"Caleb's hurt, you need to go help him."
"Caleb is not my mission."
"No, but you promised me you would watch over Kayla and Caleb's her father. I can't do this on my own. She is going to need him as she get older. If you won't do it for me, save him for her." Dean demanded.
Castiel looked at the sleeping infant. He nodded once and was gone.
•
The two beds in the room were both occupied. Sam sat on the edge of one, holding vigil over Caleb who was lying on the other. Caleb's breathing was shallow and slowing. His colour was the palest Sam had ever seen on a human. He had just checked Caleb's pulse and noted it was weaker than the when he'd checked five minute previously, slower too. Bobby had said it would just be a matter of time.
The sound of Castiel arriving in the room had Sam and Bobby up and out of their seats, reaching for weapons until they recognised their former ally standing by the bed.
"Cas?" Sam uttered in disbelief.
"Hello Sam, Bobby." He nodded at the pair. Looking down at Caleb on the bed he held out his hand as a light began to emanate from his palm.
"Wait! Why are you here?" Sam asked pulling Cas away from Caleb.
"Dean sent me."
"So for two years we prayed to you and you ignored us but one word from Dean and you're back on the playing board?" Sam asked angrily.
"He sent me to heal Caleb." Cas pulled away from Sam and once again placed a hand on Caleb's chest. The blue light engulfed him and when it faded all of Caleb's injuries had gone. His body was free of all blood, cuts and bruises.
"You may remove the dressings now. He is healed and will wake soon."
"Answer my damn question!" Sam demanded. "You were supposed to protect us! Help us! But you've left Dean like that, a woman, for years, why?"
"You stopped the apocalypse, then I, how do you put it? Oh yes, 'had my hands full' restoring heaven."
"And you were too busy to help them?" Bobby asked.
Castiel turned to Bobby and fixed him with a flat stare.
"Sam and Dean Winchester are no longer my mission."
And with that he was gone.
•
Sam had called Dean to let her know Cas healed Caleb and they would return the next day. Kayla had just woken from a nap when Dean heard the front door open and close. She carried her daughter down the stairs, having finally figured out how to use the gates one handed, and walked into the living room stopping just inside the door. Caleb was sitting on the couch, his head leaned back against the back with his eyes closed.
"Sam told me you sent Castiel." He said not even opening his eyes.
"Yeah, well, you were dying."
"Ha! Wouldn't that have been better for you? Guess you were shit out of luck there." He said throwing Deans words back at her.
"I deserved that." Dean said, placing Kayla on the ground. She immediately crawled to the chair and pulled herself up and began walking around, using the furniture as support. "The others not back yet?"
"Nah. Bobby needed to make a detour, they shouldn't be far behind. Sam wanted to drive me but I wanted time alone."
"Good, um, we need to talk." Dean said, watching Kayla move around. "I was thinking about what you said, and you were right. I kept her away from you and that wasn't fair. You missed stuff so, this is for you."
Dean picked up a book that was on the end table and handed it to Caleb.
"What's this?" He asked flicking through the book.
"I wrote in it almost every day. Theres pictures of her."
"'I hate you so much! You have no idea the gross stuff that comes from this child's butt, you owe me'?" Caleb read. "A diary? You take my child away from me and keep her hidden for a year and you think words and a few photos will make up for it?"
He stood and threw the book onto the sofa.
"No, I know it won't but you've gotta look at this from my perspective." Dean began.
"I don't gotta do anything!" Caleb snapped.
"You have always made your views on parenthood crystal clear! You'd run a million miles if a chick suggested breakfast!" Dean said, her own anger slowly rising. "If I came to you and told you I was pregnant but the ritual would make it all go away, like it never existed, what would you have done?"
"I don't know."
"I do, you would have convinced me to go through with it. And I would have! That's why I left! Kayla deserved the right to live, to exist! Why should she pay because I made a mistake? I left because I knew you would have convinced me to go through with it!"
"You don't know that."
"I do. You never wanted kids, Kayla was forced on you, and for that I'm sorry and I don't expect anything from you, but don't stand there and act like you wouldn't have jumped at the chance to make it all go away!"
"Well I guess we'll never know what I would have done because you took that opportunity away from me! I have missed out on so much!" Caleb shouted at Dean. "I missed watching her grow inside you! I missed her birth..."
Dean looked down at Kayla and tilted her head.
"Caleb."
"First teeth, crawling..."
"Caleb!" Dean shouted.
"What!"
"Look." Dean nodded down to Kayla.
She had been walking around holding on to the chairs but now she was standing on her own, looking at Caleb then ever so carefully she lifted one foot and put it down, taking a wobbly step. She looked up at Caleb and took another step, holding her arms out to the side for balance,
"She's walking on her own." Dean said. "She's never done that before."
Caleb looked from Kayla to Dean, a shocked smile on his face.
"Her first steps, and they're to you." Dean whispered.
Caleb crouched down and held out his arms.
"Come on baby, you can do it." He encouraged.
Tiny step after tiny step Kayla toddled across the few feet that separated her from the chair to her father. She giggled and fell into his arms as soon as she was close enough.
"That's it! Good girl! I'm so proud of you!" He said as he stood, holding her close to him and kissing her face proudly.
Dean stepped close and wrapped an arm around Kayla.
"Look at you baby! No stopping you now!" She said, kissing her daughter.
Dean and Caleb looked at each other laughing along with the giggling child, all arguments forgotten.
"Let's see if she will do it again." Caleb said.
Dean stepped a few feet back and knelt to the ground. Caleb crouched down and placed Kaylas feet on the ground. When he was sure she was stable he let her go.
"Come here baby. Come to momma." Dean coaxed her.
Kayla toddled a step then looked back at Caleb. She turned and walked back to him. And took a tight hold of his hand as soon as she could.
"No, no. Walk to mommy."
Caleb turned her around and put her down. He gentle pressed a hand against her back.
"Go on, walk to mommy."
Kayla took one step then dropped down to her hands and knees and crawled to Dean, squealing loudly when Dean scooped her up and held her over her head.
"Okay, let's see if you will go back to...Caleb." Dean said.
All awkwardness between them was forgotten but Caleb didn't miss the fact Dean had called him 'Caleb', but he wasn't going to press the issue now it seemed there was a sustainable truce between them.
Kayla squealed with delight and took off with her steps becoming more and more confident with each one as she walked across the room.
They were both laughing 15 minutes later when Sam and Bobby walked in the house.
"What's going on?" Sam asked as he walked into the room.
"Kayla learnt a new trick." Dean said. She put Kayla down facing Sam. "Go on baby, walk to Uncle Sammy."
"Wait she's walking?" Sam asked shocked. He'd spent the last few days stretching his leg out between items of furniture so she could hold it to navigate the room.
"Yep." Caleb said smiling widely. "Go on sweetie, go to Sammy."
Kayla grinned at Sam and took one step then stopped. Sams eyes widened in surprised and he knelt down and held out his arms.
"Well, look at that!" Bobby murmured from the doorway.
"Come on, come to Sammy." Sam coaxed the girl, caught up in the moment.
"Ammy!" Kayla said then dropped down on her butt. She crawled over to her uncle and wrapped her arms around him.
"Aww, I missed you too." Sam said as she planted a slobbery kiss on his cheek.
"Put her down, see if she'll go to Caleb again." Dean said.
Sam put her down and when she started moving he let go and watch her walk confidently to Caleb's outstretched arms.
"Every time!" Dean said laughing.
They continued to send Kayla person to person until she began to yawn and so far Caleb was the only one she had walked all the way to, this made him swell with love inside.
•
Caleb watch from the doorway as Dean placed a sleeping Kayla in her crib. All the walking had worn the little girl out.
"Thank you." He said.
"For what?" Dean asked confused.
"You're right. I never wanted kids, that whole commitment thing, ugh." He pretended to shudder. "And I would have talked you into the ritual. Well tried to at least. By leaving you took that that option away but I wouldn't have Kayla today."
Dean went to respond but Caleb held up his hand stopping her.
"I know you don't want anyone to know I'm her dad, and I'll respect that decision. As long as I get to see her, spend time with her, be around to see her grow up, I can live with that."
"Thank you. Maybe one day the truth can come out but I think for now, one shock at a time." Dean smile and patted Caleb on the shoulder as she walked past.
"You said you made a mistake earlier." Caleb said, causing Dean to turn back around. "But she's not a mistake, a mistake is something you don't want. No, she's a surprise. She's something we didn't know we wanted until we had her."
***I hope that was enough of a fluffy moment between Caleb, Kayla and Dean to begin making amends. Also regarding Castiels appearance, I really don't like how he has been watered down, so to speak, so the Castiel that appears to Sam and is so cold and straight forward is based on the original appearances of our favourite angel. Back when he was kick arse!***
