Vrskaandrea: Well he had to some time and one dirty diaper won't kill him! Yes Dean is relaxing a bit and guess what? This is the chapter you have been waiting for!

Blondie 20000: Yep, just when Dean realises its okay to take a break and share the load he still ends up overseeing the whole thing! If Caleb wants to be a part of Kaylas life he needs to learn this stuff and diapers are a great big stinky part of it!

Franki3Winchester: Thanks for the review. With four children I found ignoring them always worked best!

VegasGranny: Its always hard for any parent to leave their children the first couple of times. I guess Deans slightly more over protective than most. And its not so much slithering off, just Dean trying to be prepared for whatever the ritual might bring..maybe trying to find the face cream for men? 😆

CHAPTER 71

Caleb was relaxing in the room he was sharing with Sam, sitting on his bed, legs crossed at the ankles, flicking through Deans diary. Somewhere along the way he had fallen into a sleep, waking up when he heard Kayla crying. He stashed the book back in his bag and walked into her room, looking into the crib.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Look who's finally awake." He said, reaching down and picking her up. "Aww, don't cry baby girl. I got you."

He held her to his chest and bounced her a few times making quiet shushing sounds, but still she cried.

"There, there baby, shhhh, daddy's got you. It's okay, daddy's here."

It felt nice to finally say the words out loud, even if no one was there to hear them. "Let's go get you your cup, huh?"

He left the room and saw Sam coming up the stairs, holding Kaylas cup. His stomach gave a small lurch but he realised that there would have been no way Sam would have heard his words from that far away.

•

Sam was sitting in the study doing some research for Bobby when he heard Kayla cry. Picking up the book he kept reading as he walked into the kitchen and got her juice. Stepping over the bottom gate he climbed the stairs then stepped over the second gate. He was still concentrating on the book when he approached Kaylas door. Just as he opened his mouth to say something he heard Caleb's voice coming from the room.

"There, there baby, shhhh, daddy's got you. It's okay, daddy's here."

Sams eyes widened and he quickly stepped back from the door as quietly as possible. He took a few seconds to process what he'd just heard.

'Caleb's Kaylas father?' He thought to himself.

Hearing Caleb moving to the door, Sam quickly schooled his expression and stepped back over the baby gate and down a couple of steps.

"Oh hey Sam." Caleb said as he left the room carrying a still sniffling Kayla.

"Hey, I was just bringing up her drink." Sam said holding up the cup.

"And some light reading?" Caleb asked pointing at the large tome he had pressed against his chest.

"What? Oh, no." Sam chuckled.

Caleb stepped over the gate and walked down the stairs, Sam following. Once in the lounge Caleb sat and Sam handed Kayla her drink. As she drank she let her head tip to the side to watch Sam.

Sam observed the girl closely. Now that he knew, there were glimpses of Caleb in his nieces face. She had blue/green eyes, a mix of both parents DNA and her hair was slightly darker than Deans but Sam knew it would continue to darken as she got older which would probably leave her with a colour closer to Caleb. The shape of her lips were Deans but her eyes and nose were hard to tell, but then again Caleb looked so similar to both Sam and Dean he was often mistaken for their brother. The way Kayla stared back at him was intense.

"Ammy." She said, pulling the cup from her mouth. She reached out with her spare hand and opened and closed her fist, waving to him. She reached up and tapped Caleb's jaw then pointed to Sam. "Eb, Ammy."

"Yeah it is, Princess." Caleb said. He looked at Sam. "What you staring at there Runt?"

"Oh, nothing. Just Kayla. Never thought I'd ever have a niece is all. She's pretty special." Sam lied smoothly, then went back to his reading.

"Yeah she is." Caleb agreed.

•

Dean ran into the room. Sam and Caleb were searching the other rooms and Kayla and Bobby were securing the perimeter. Shining her flashlight around the beam landed on two vampires feasting on a victim on the ground. Raising her gun she fired, shooting one in the head. The other vampire lifted its head and hissed at Dean. She took aim at the second creature but the light from the torch in her hand landed on the face of the victim. The girl was probably about 14 years of age but Dean recognised her immediately. Kayla lay on the ground. Her dark hair, matted with blood, spread out around her like a grotesque halo. Her chest was covered in blood and her throat torn out. Lifeless eyes stared from her pale face.

.

.

.

Dean woke in her bed, both sweating and shivering. She got out and crossed the room almost afraid to look into the crib. There her baby daughter lay. Sleeping peacefully and safe. Dean let out a shuddering breath of relief. She stroked her cheek once and Kayla smiled in her sleep before settling again. Dean watched her for a moment before turning back to her bed.

She cried out and stumbled back as she was faced with the vision of her deceased, suddenly grown, daughter. Her hair was stiff with dried blood and her shirt stained. Her face was pale and bloodless and strips of flesh hung where her throat was ripped.

"Dean would have saved me." Kayla accused her, staring blindly at her mother.

•

Deans eyes shot open. She moved like lightning, rolling to the side of the bed, heaving as she emptied everything in her stomach onto the floor. Shaking and sweating she drew her knees up and lay in a fetal position taking shaky breaths. When her breathing was under control she carefully climbed from her bed and made her way to Kaylas crib, tears tracking down her face. Gripping the bars tightly she leaned over and peered inside.

It calmed her somewhat to see the child sleeping peacefully, occasionally moving her mouth as if she was sucking an imaginary soother. Dean turned and slid down to the ground. Leaning against the side of the crib she rested her elbows on her knees and placed her head in her hands.

"Two more days Dean, two more days." She prayed that the dreams would stop once they had performed the ritual.

•

There was a weird vibe around the salvage yard the next day. There was only one more night until they would perform the reversal, and while everyone assured Dean they trusted her and didn't think she was going to take off again, that day was spent with Dean being in someone's company at all times.

"So I need to go into town, who's gonna be my chaperone?" Dean asked walking into the kitchen.

"What? We're not..." Sam began. Dean arched an eyebrow at him questioningly. Sam sighed. "Yeah, okay. I'll come."

•

Dean instructed Sam to park near one of the local hair salons.

"I'll probably be about an hour. Do you want to take Kayla to the park or something?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, sure, I can do that." Sam replied.

"Cool. I'll call when I'm done."

They got out of the car and Dean showed Sam how to set up the pusher and after she'd securely strapped Kayla in she gave the child a quick kiss and said goodbye.

•

Sam was on his fifth circuit around the park, listening to Kayla babble, interjecting a 'yeah?', 'Uh-huh' or 'oh really?' occasionally as he'd heard Dean do, when Dean finally called.

"I'm done. Meet you at the car." She said.

Sam rounded the corner and saw Dean leaning against the Impala. Well, at least he thought it was Dean.

"What did you do to your hair?" Sam asked.

Dean ran her fingers through her now short hair. It was slightly longer than she wore it when she was a he but it was still quite short.

"I figured I'd fix it up before we fixed the rest of me other wise I would looking like you." Dean said. "Do you like it?"

"Looks good. Looks more like you." Sam admitted.

•

Caleb walked out the back door and saw Dean sitting on the step.

"Dean?"

She turned her head so he could see her profile in the weak porch light. Something about the way she sat told him that wasn't Dean.

"Dana."

She smiled at him then turned back to look out into the darkness.

"Haven't seen you around for a while." Caleb said as he sat next to his friend.

"No, We've been keeping the switch firmly to Dean." She admitted. "But I thought it would be nice to come out for one last look."

"So it's 3 am, why are you out here?" Caleb asked.

Dean thought about the dream that woke her, the nightmare. This time it was a werewolf, shaking her daughter like a rag doll. Again Kayla accused her of not protecting her before she ripped her mothers heart out.

"Couldn't sleep." She said staring into the darkness. "You?"

"Same."

They sat in the silence for a while.

"You'll look after her won't you Caleb? You'll protect her right?" Dean asked, shattering the peaceful quiet.

"There you go again, talking like this will go pear shaped. Everything's going to be fine. This time tomorrow you'll be a man again. I swear." Caleb said, slapping a hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I know but promise me anyway."

"I promise Dean. I will defend her with my very last breath." Caleb said.

"Now who's being dramatic." Dean smiled and shoulder bumped Caleb. "But thanks, I needed to hear that."

"You know you don't have to do this." Caleb said, not looking at Dean.

"Yeah I do. It's become very apparent, I don't have a choice anymore."