***This is it! Final chapter! I want to thank all of you who stuck around to the end, but its not really the end. Keep an eye out for one shots/side stories and sequels. I love this story a little too much to let it go...

And for those interested, the box contains the recording Dean made, letters for Sam, Caleb and Bobby, birth certificates for Kayla and 'Dana', the Last Will and Testament of 'Dana Smith' and Dean Winchester, and also custodial papers for Kayla naming Caleb Reeves her guardian...though Sam does get Baby.***

Vrskaandrea: Yes I had to torment Dean. I promised a few people it would be as painful as possible, but its done now and we just need to see what state Dean is in when he wakes up.

Blondie 20000: He really wanted to but then I would have had to drag this story out another month and I'm not sure any if us would have survived!

Franki3Winchester: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it. Yes, Kayla senses her mothers pain and Rufus has been around the supernatural a long time and he's not entirely stupid so I think he's probably figured it out, but Bobby gave him a job protecting the baby and he will do it. Oh, and shoes will drop, don't worry about that.

VegasGranny: I promised you Dean would suffer and suffer he did. Kayla stays Kayla but she does sense her Mums pain.

CHAPTER 73

Caleb vaulted over his unconscious friend and raced into the house. Following Kaylas screams he took the stairs three at a time, skidding to a stop just inside the door where he was greeted by the business end of a high powered rifle.

"No one gets near this kid before taking the test." Rufus said.

He was standing beside the crib, it had one of the side gates lowered. He was holding the rifle one handed, propping it against his hip. The other hand was in the crib but Caleb couldn't see what he was doing.

"What are you doing? Get away from her!" Caleb growled low and dangerous.

"Take the tests. Don't think I won't shoot you." Rufus replied.

Quickly Caleb tipped some salt in his mouth then took a large gulp form the flask containing the holy water. Finally he slashed his arm with the silver knife and waited. Satisfied Rufus nodded lowered the weapon. Caleb rushed to the crying child.

"Get out of the way!" He said as he shoved Rufus aside.

Inside the crib Kayla was red faced from screaming. Her fists were clenched and her face was scrunched up and every muscle in her body tense. Each scream would last until she had no air left in her lungs but the part that worried Caleb the most was the way she had thrown herself backwards. Her spine almost at an unnatural curve. It became clear to Caleb that Rufus had been holding his hand near her head to stop her injuring herself against the bars on the crib.

"Go down and help with Dean." He snarled at Rufus as he tried to pick Kayla up.

Rufus didn't even question the words Caleb said. Deep down he had suspected the identity of the mystery woman. He left the room and went out to help Sam and Bobby.

"Shush baby. I got you. It's okay. Everything's alright." He crooned softly to Kayla.

Gently he was able to coax her to relax against his chest but still she screamed. He went to the window and saw Rufus walk out and join Sam and Bobby. The three of them carried Dean inside. Caleb noticed that Kaylas cries lessened the closer Dean got to the house. He watched until they disappeared from view. Kaylas screams had reduced to her standard level of distressed cries and after a few more moments he turned away from the window and left the room.

Sam watched as Caleb leapt Deans prostrate body and raced into the house.

"Is he okay?" He asked Bobby, worriedly.

Bobby was checking Deans pulse, respiration and pupil reaction.

"Yeah, it looks like he's fine." Bobby said after a while. "Let's get him inside."

They could still hear Kayla wailing from the house as they lifted Dean and began to slowly make their way inside. Rufus met them half way and took some of the weight.

"We'll take him down to the panic room." Bobby said when they finally made it inside the house.

"Are you good with him?" Sam asked the others once they got Dean in the bed. "I want to check on Kayla."

"Yeah, go." Bobby said.

Sam left the room and met Caleb in the kitchen. Kaylas cries has lessened to a tired whine by now.

"Where are you going with her?" Sam asked.

"She needs her father." Caleb said as he walked past.

"But isn't she already with her father?" Sam asked Caleb's back.

Caleb paused.

"We'll do this later." He said. "Right now she needs Dean."

He carefully carried Kayla down the basement steps.

"Well I guess you've got questions." Bobby said to Rufus once they'd made Dean relatively comfortable and covered him with a blanket.

"A few." Rufus replied.

Caleb walked into the room carrying a whimpering Kayla. He placed her down on the bed against Deans side.

"What are you doing?" Bobby asked. "Why did you bring her down here?"

"They need each other." Caleb answered.

"Dada." She whimpered then lay down against him. She clutched at his T-shirt and snuggled close and letting out a shuddering breath. She closed her eyes and slowly her breathing evened out, only the occasional hitch evidence to the distress she had just suffered through.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, stepping up beside Caleb. "That beds kinda narrow. She might fall."

"I'll get a chair and watch her." Caleb said not looking away from the two sleeping bodies on the bed in front of them.

Dean had been completely still until Kayla snuggled in. They watched as his arm curled around her and he turned his body ever so slightly toward her.

"Come on Rufus lets go. I need a whiskey." Bobby said, leading his friend from the room.

"And I want answers." Rufus said, trailing behind.

Caleb got the chair from beside the door and placed it next to the bed. He sat with his knees pressed against the frame to ensure Kayla didn't fall.

"You go on up." He said to Sam. "You look beat. Go rest and I'll take first watch."

Sam was going to argue but although he wanted to have that conversation with Caleb he knew now wasn't the time, besides he could use a whiskey himself.

Caleb awoke with a snort to one small hand on this thigh and one relentlessly beating at his stomach. He looked down and saw Kayla looking up at him. He gently took her tiny hand in his.

"Hey baby girl. How'd you sleep?"

"Ook, dada." She said pointing at Dean. "Ook Eb, dada!"

"Yes princess. It's your daddy." Caleb said agreeing with her.

She wiggled around and crawled carefully to Dean, climbing up and bracing herself on his chest.

"Dada!" She called as she pushed on him.

She sat down beside him and rested her head on his chest. Deans arm curled around her again. Caleb checked his watch and saw it was almost 7am.

"Hey baby, are you hungry?" He asked. "How about we let daddy sleep and go get some food. I bet you need your diaper changed as well."

Caleb tried to pick Kayla up but Deans arm tightened. Caleb placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay brother. I'm just taking the munchkin to change her and find her some food."

Deans arm loosened and Caleb picked her up.

Sam stepped into the room and closed the door.

"So you're Kaylas father."

"How did you know?" Caleb asked without even turning around.

"I heard you talking to her in here the other day. Were you ever going to tell me?"

"What do you want me to say, Sam?" Caleb asked as he slipped Kayla into a little pair of overalls. "There, all done, Princess.".

"How about, 'hey Sam, I'm fucking your brother'?" Sam spat out.

"It wasn't like that." Caleb said trying to remain calm, picking Kayla up and turning to face Sam. He could feel the anger radiating from the other hunter in the room and didn't want to set him off. "She was going to do it any way. Would you rather she go off with some random stranger or be with me, someone you could trust to take care of her?"

"I'd rather she didn't do it at all!"

"Yeah Sam, use your brain. Like that was ever going to happen." He put Kayla on the ground to play.

Sam fixed Caleb with a death stare, then looked at the little girl Caleb had strategically placed behind him, as if he thought he would have to protect her from Sam.

"Did you know about Kayla? Is that why Dean ran away? Did you make him leave?" Sam asked suddenly.

"No Sam." Caleb said taking a step towards his friend. "I didn't know I swear."

"Really?" Sam scoffed. "Because your views on parenthood are well known."

"Ha, that's exactly what Dean said."

"Did you try and make him go through with the ritual?" Sam asked. "That's why you would always stop me looking anytime I got a location from her cell isn't it?"

"No! I had no idea Dean was pregnant. She never said a word. I stopped you from looking because Deans not stupid. By the time you got there she would have been long gone and you would have been disappointed all over again. I didn't want you hurt, I was protecting you. But I swear, I didn't know about Kayla when Dean left. She never said a word. It wasn't until after she took off that I thought...maybe. I honestly thought she would have come to me, said something. Look, I know I said I never wanted to be a father but now." Caleb shrugged. "I couldn't imagine life with out Kayla."

Sam looked down at Kayla playing on the floor.

"That's what you were fighting about, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Caleb admitted. "Dean didn't want anyone to know, especially you. She told me I had no rights, no claim, to Kayla and I told her I would get her tested."

"We know that." Sam said.

"A DNA test. To prove I'm Kaylas father. Things went down hill pretty rapidly from there." Caleb scratched his neck and looked at the floor shamefully. "Not my proudest moment, beating up the mother of my child."

"Truth be told, Caleb, you were the one on the ground, gasping for breath, I'd say she beat you up." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe. But Sam I promise I didn't know. You wanna hit me? Hit me! You wanna yell and rant and rave? Go ahead, but I swear on my life, on Kayla's, I didn't know she was pregnant! Do you really think I'd want Dean out there, alone and unprotected? I honestly don't know how I would have reacted if she told me but I would have respected whatever decision she made. I love this kid and I will give my last breath to see she is happy and safe. Dean doesn't want anyone to know who her father is, fine. I'll go along with that as long as it's what's best for Kayla." Caleb said.

Sam nodded.

"Okay. This whole situation is just..." Sam shuddered. "Fucked up, but I guess I'll just deal with it in the Winchester way."

"And what's that?" Caleb asked.

"Booze and truckloads of denial."

"So we good?"

"We're good. But you hurt either of them and they'll never find your body." Sam warned before leaving the room.

"That's one scary uncle you've got there!" Caleb said as he picked Kayla up and followed Sam out the door.

Sam and Caleb sat a vigil in the panic room, watching over Dean. He'd seemed tense when they walked back in but relaxed when he heard Kaylas voice, so they kept her in the room with them, laying a thick blanket in the ground and setting her up with books and toys to keep herself amused. Mostly she played but every so often she would toddle over to check on her daddy and pat him on the arm before wandering back to her toys. Rufus had left a few hours after they had completed the ritual, swearing to keep the secret. Bobby had come in a few times to check his vitals and was satisfied that everything seemed alright.

"If he don't wake in a few hours we might consider a saline drip, just to keep him hydrated." Bobby had said before he left the last time.

The boys were currently sitting on either side of Dean. Sam had Kayla standing on his lap, tightly gripping her hands and was bouncing his legs up and down giving Kayla a bumpy ride and making her laugh.

"Man, I can't believe it. You and Dean." Sam said shaking his head. "How did you even manage it?"

"Whiskey mostly." Caleb answered. "Well at first anyway. She wanted to know what sex was like for a chick so I obliged, after lots and lots of whiskey."

"So, it was just the once?"

"You want honesty right?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah."

"No, wasn't just the one time. Went on for a couple of months."

"A couple of months?"

"Yeah, It was weird. It was like there were two completely different personalities in there so it was easy to forget about Dean and just be with Dana until Dean put a stop to it. Guess it was too late by then." Caleb admitted.

"I had no clue."

"Yeah, Deans sneaky like that." Caleb shrugged.

A few hours later the boys were leaning against the wall chatting quietly and Kayla was doing one of her daddy inspections when Dean began to moan.

"Ooh! Dada!" Kayla said pointing at Dean, smiling widely.

"Dean?" Sam said moving quickly to his side.

Deans face contorted with pain and he curled onto his side groaning.

"Dean, man, wake up." Sam encouraged his brother.

"Ook, Eb, dada!" Kayla proudly pointed at Dean.

"Yeah, baby. That's daddy." He said as he moved to pick her up.

Dean slowly opened his eyes. Blinking a few times he managed to focus on Sam, crouching beside him.

"S'm? Wha.." He swallowed once. "What happened?"

"It worked. The ritual worked. You're back to normal." Sam said.

Dean closed his eyes and groaned in pain.

"Do you want some water, some painkillers?" Sam asked worried.

Dean shook his head and pushed Sam away. Slowly he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He supported himself with his elbows on his thighs.

"How you feeling brother?" Caleb asked.

"Like I've been stretched on a rack. Every bone, every joint aches."

"Well you kinda have." Sam said. "The ritual re-grew you. We felt it, it was kinda gross to be honest."

Dean grunted once.

Kayla was squirming so Caleb placed her on the ground. She walked over to Dean and put both little hands on his leg, beaming up at him. Dean glanced at her and placed a gentle hand on her head. She tapped his leg before pointing behind her.

"Ook dada, Ammy, ook, Eb." She said, trying to show her father her uncle and friend, because he would want to see them.

Dean frowned slightly.

"What's with the kid? You suddenly running a hunters daycare?" He asked.

"Dean, she's yours." Sam said looking at Caleb with concern.

"What? Did some broad turn up and dump her on the doorstep?"

"Dada, ook Ammy, ook Eb!"

When Dean didn't respond Kayla gave her dad a baby frown then turned and went back to Sam.

"Uh!" She said holding her arms up to him. He bent down and picked her up. She tapped Sams chest.

"Ammy, dada?" She questioned. Sam smiled and nodded reassuringly.

"No, Dean. You had her. When the witch changed you, you got pregnant and gave birth to her." Sam explained.

Dean scoffed.

"No seriously dude." Caleb said. "She's yours."

"Whatever! Nice joke but I'm not falling for it!" Dean said.

"What do you remember?" Sam asked handing Kayla off to Caleb.

"Eb? Dada?" Kayla asked again.

"Yeah baby, that's daddy." Caleb whispered.

Sam poured a glass of water and handed it to Dean. Dean sipped as he thought.

"Not much. We were hunting that witch. I jumped on her when she was about to curse you...aaaand then...nothin'. I woke up here." Dean shrugged.

"Dean you've been a woman for over two years!" Sam said.

"Fuck off!" Dean exclaimed.

"You have. And this is your daughter, this is Kayla." Caleb assured him.

The child in his arms wriggled again and demanded to be put down. She crawled over to Dean and pulled herself up again.

"Okay, Kayla is it? Let's have a look at you." Dean once again ran his hand over her hair. He tilted his head to look at her face, giving her a small smile.

"Dada?"

Dean picked Kayla up and placed her on his knee while the others looked on expectantly.

"Well aren't you a cutie?" He asked as he stood, holding Kayla on his hip.

"Dada. Ammy, Eb, ook." She said pointing to the other hunters in the room.

"Yeah, I can see Sammy and Caleb." Dean said softly to the young child. "And can you see the dumb looks on their stupid faces? They honestly thought I'd forgotten you."

Dean tickled Kayla making her squeal. He hugged her close and kissed her cheek while the others looked on in shock.

"How silly they are! I could never forget you my darling girl! Now how about we go get you something to eat?"

"Yeah." Kayla agreed.

"Dean, wait, that was all a joke?" Sam asked still stunned.

Dean shot him a cheeky grin then turned to walk out the door.

"What about some bacon? Do you want some bacon?" Dean asked his daughter.

"Bacon!" Kayla called raising her little fists in the air.

"Oh, sure, bacon she can say." Caleb grumbled as he and Sam followed Dean out the door.

28112019

***And that my friends is it. I want to give much love to my constant readers and reviewers, especially Vrskaandrea and Blondie 20000 whose support and encouragement kept me going. Make sure you check out their stories, you wont regret it! And before I forget, new Amy fic coming soon! Love you all, SWW XXXXX