Thank you so much Shazza19 and Blondie50000 for your feedback! Thank you for coming back Shazza19! I'm so happy you like Gemma...I really never intended to do an OC love interest for John (or mother for the boys) but it just happened which is why writing fan fiction is fun, you get to let your imagination run wild *grin*.
LOL Blondie50000 I want to smack John too! Oh I know...poor John. I needed his injuries to be serious enough that he couldn't just pack the kids up and go but not life threatening.
Okay so this next chapter is pretty much fluff...some bonding between Gemma and Sammy (because Sammy needs some extra loving) and the kids get a chance to just be kids.
Thank you again and enjoy!
Chapter 20
The next day after they had breakfast Gemma, the children and Rumsford were packed the car and heading to the small pond. It was tucked away and didn't seem to have too many visitors, so the small party lucked out and had the place to themselves.
Once they set up the blanket and Gemma had coated each child in suntan lotion to help protect their fair skin she joined them in the water. She made sure Sammy and Jo had their swimmers on properly and took turns with Dean on showing the younger children how to swim.
They weren't too far out from shore and Gemma had her arms stretched out under the water with Sammy laying across them as she was instructing him how to move his arms and kick his legs. Dean was doing the same with Jo. Soon she had three little swimmers (granted Sammy and Jo needed her and Dean to help them still) giggling and playing in the water.
Gemma was taking turns picking each child up and tossing them into the water. She smirked as Jo and Sammy seemed to take after Rumsford and doggie paddled more than actually swim around her. Dean though, she was a little surprised at how good of a swimmer he was. John had done a great job teaching him. Then again she shouldn't have been surprised, Dean seemed to be like Jo. Very adept at physical activities where Sammy seems to prefer to reading and puzzles.
Finally she called a time out and suggested they take a break from the water. She smirked when Rumsford followed his human playmates up to the blanket and the poor thing collapsed on the ground next to it. "I feel your pain boy," Gemma said as she rubbed the dog's head.
"Gemma, is it time for lunch? I'm hungry," Sammy said, and she saw Dean and Jo quickly nod their heads in agreement.
She looked down at her watch and gasped at the time. "It sure is," she told them as she opened the cooler and began pulling out the containers with the fried chicken, potato salad and three bean salad while Dean grabbed the bag that housed the paper plates, utensils and napkins for her. Soon she was passing the kids each a plate full of food and a juice box.
Gemma reached into the bag and pulled out two plastic bowls and quickly filled one with water from the other cooler she had bought and filled the other with kibble for Rumsford. "There you go Buddy," she told the dog as she place both bowls down for him and was rewarded with some very loud slurps.
"Mmm, this is good." Dean said as he attacked the chicken leg she had given him.
"Glad you approve Dean." She teased as she took a sip of water. "So I say we spend two more hours here and then we head home so we can get cleaned up and go see Mrs. O'Brien to wish her a happy birthday and deliver her cake."
"Can we bake Uncle John's cake tomorrow?" Jo asked.
Gemma smiled as she nodded her head. "Yup but remember we're doing that angel food cake since your Uncle John's tummy needs special food right now."
"Okay," the little girl chirped as Dean nudged her.
"I'm done, who wants to go back in the water?" Dean shouted as he hopped up.
"I do," Jo cried as she took the last bite of potato salad.
"Whoa, slow down you two. You just ate. You have to wait at least 30 minutes." Gemma told them.
"Aww that's just an old wives tale Gemma," Dean argued as Jo stood up next to him.
"Too bad, I still believe it. You can play for a little bit and then go back in."
Jo reached down and grabbed the pails and shovels they had bought yesterday. "We can build a sandcastle."
The older boy sighed but nodded his head. "Okay, come on Sammy." He said as he turned his attention towards his brother.
"I'm gonna read," the youngest Winchester said as he scooted a little closer to Gemma.
Dean and Jo shrugged their shoulders before they turned and ran down towards the water's edge to build their castle.
Gemma watched to make sure that Dean and Jo didn't go into the water and sat along the bank of the pond and began filling their pails with the sand around the water's edge. "Sammy, would you mind helping me put this stuff away?" She asked the little boy.
"Kay," Sammy said as he stood up and began helping Gemma put the food back into the cooler and pick up the dish that Rumsford's lunch had been in. He bent down and gave the sleeping dog a kiss on the top of his head.
Once everything was settled Gemma sat back down and smiled when Sammy climbed onto her lap. "Gemma is Daddy hurt real bad?"
She wrapped her arms around the child and gave him a quick hug. "Your Daddy will be alright Sammy. He just needs time to heal. Once he does though, he'll be as good as new. You boys just need to remember when you see him that you have to be gentle."
"Right," the youngest Winchester said with a firm nod of his head. "We can't hug him too tight and we can't jump on him either."
"Exactly," Gemma said as rocked the child ever so slightly. She could see he was tired and knew at least one of her charges was might be taking a nap on the blanket pretty soon.
"Gemma," Sammy said around a yawn. "Will we have to stay with Uncle Bobby cuz of Daddy being hurt?"
"I think so. I don't think your Daddy is going to be up to driving and hunting for a while. Why? Don't you want to stay at your Uncle Bobby's place?"
Sammy looked up and nodded his head. "I love staying with Uncle Bobby. Me and Dean have our own beds and we don't have SpaghettiOs every night for dinner like when it's just me and Dean staying in the motel room."
Gemma closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten to help remain calm. Since that first night when Dean woke up with a nightmare, the older boy had filled Gemma in on their life on the road. He wanted to know if that was how it was with her and her parents, trying to figure out if all children of hunters lived the same way.
"You don't like the motels do you?" She asked softly.
Sammy blushed as he ducked his head. Dean always tells him that Daddy does what he can, but he couldn't deny that he didn't like it. "It's scary when Daddy's not there and it's just me and Dean."
"I bet it is," she said as she gave the little boy another quick hug.
Sammy chewed on his bottom lip. "If Daddy married you then you could be our Mama and we could live with you all the time," he said as he looked up at her hopefully. "Then we could go to the same school all year, you could take us to the zoo when you're working, and we could read together each night before bed too."
Gemma's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh Sammy…Honey. You're Daddy and I are just friends," she explained to the child.
"You don't want to be our Mama?" The child asked and Gemma had to fight the urge to say she did. Because that is exactly what she wanted. She wanted to take the two little boys and give them the life they deserved. A life where they felt safe, secured and loved.
"Honey…it's not that easy. I love you and your brother so much, I do, and I love spending time with you kids. Marriage is different thought. When two people get married it's because they're in love and they want to make a life together. I care about your Daddy but we're…we're friends." She said, knowing that what she said wasn't enough, but she didn't know what else to say to the child.
Suddenly she truly understood why John didn't think it was a good idea for her to be around his boys and she hated to admit it but he right about her spending time with his boys…this wasn't fair to them or to her.
"Can't you and Daddy try to be in love?" Sammy asked innocently.
"Baby," Gemma cried as she wiped away her tears. "I wish it could work like that, but it doesn't. I'm so sorry Sammy."
The little boy sniffled but tried to be brave as he hugged Gemma. "It's okay Gemma, don't cry."
"What's wrong?" Dean asked as him and Jo suddenly appeared in front of them. The older boy had seen Gemma crying and they came rushing back up to the blanket.
Gemma blushed as she realized she was upsetting the children and quickly wiped away her tears and forced a smile on her face. "I'm fine. Just being silly is all." She reassured them before she looked down at her watch. "It's been a half hour, if you two want to go back in the water let me just put Jo's swimmers on her arms."
Dean looked at Gemma, then at his brother and frowned. He had a sneaky suspicion about why Gemma was crying. They had a meeting the last night while Gemma was covering the phones for Bobby. Sammy had it in his head that if Dad married Gemma they could be a family and live with her all the time.
Dean told Sammy not to say anything. That it would only upset Gemma and she had been real good to them and it would be wrong to upset her. He knew Sammy was still a little kid, but he needed to understand that just because he wanted Gemma to be their Mom that it wasn't up to them. It was up to their Dad and Gemma.
Dean gave Gemma a smile. "Nah, we've got a real good sandcastle going," he told her before reaching down and grabbing his brother's arm, pulling him up. "Come on Sammy, you can help." He said as he dragged his brother alongside him and Jo.
Gemma returned Dean's smile as she nodded her head. "Okay, just stay at the water's edge."
"We will," Dean reassured her before the three headed down together towards the water.
The three dropped to their knees where Jo and Dean had been playing a few moments earlier. The older boy looked over his shoulder and saw Gemma had turned slightly so that the kids couldn't see her face, but Dean could tell by the way her shoulders shook that she was still crying.
"What did you say to Gemma?" Dean asked his brother. Sammy blushed as he ducked his head which caused his brother to sigh and say, "Dammit Sammy."
"You want her to be our Mom too," Sammy argued meekly.
Jo looked over at Gemma before she reached out and took Dean's hand in hers. "Dean, Gemma's still crying."
Dean chewed on his lower lip before he looked over at the dog currently chasing his tail. "Rumsford, go to Gemma." He ordered the dog and watched as the animal stopped and sprinted up towards their guardian. He smiled when Rumsford laid down beside Gemma and put his big head in her lap causing her to chuckle slightly as she began patting his head.
"I told you not to say anything. Do you know how much trouble we'll be in if Gemma tells Dad?"
"Gemma won't tell Uncle John," Jo said as she picked up a pail and began filling it with wet sand.
Dean nodded his head as he passed Sammy the other pail. "Yeah, you're right…Gemma's pretty cool," he said as he took a shovel and began working on the moat around the castle.
"I didn't mean to make Gemma cry Dean," Sammy said as he tilted his pail of sand and patted the tower he created.
"Yeah well just cut it out. We push Dad too much and he'll make us leave even if he's hurt."
Sammy sighed as he nodded his head as he said sadly, "okay."
Dean look up at Jo before reaching over and patting Sammy on the shoulder. "Look I want to stay too."
"I know," Sammy said as he looked at his brother and then at Jo. "I know."
The children fell silent as they continued to work on their castle until Gemma came down to the water edge and told them they needed to head home to get ready to go to Mrs. O'Brien.
"Wow, this castle is amazing." She gushed. "What's are you going to call it?"
The three grinned as they looked up at the woman. "Call it?" Sammy asked as he got up and wrapped his arms around Gemma, giving her a hug.
Gemma leaned down and kissed the little boy on the top of his head. "Yup, castles have names. Like Windsor Castle."
Dean nodded his head as he considered what Gemma was saying before he looked down at their handiwork before looking up with a grin. "How about Metallica Manor?"
Gemma couldn't help but laugh as she ruffled Dean's hair. Metallica Manor it is." She said as she clapped her hands together. "Okay you three, time to go. Say goodbye to Metallica Manor."
The three children quickly picked up their shovels and pails as they trailed behind Gemma who had already packed up the car and Rumsford was sitting by it waiting for them.
"As soon as we get home, you three wash up and get ready so that we can bring the cake to Mrs. O'Brien." She said as she opened the door and the three climbed into the back seat before Gemma and Rumsford climbed into the front and the five headed home to enjoy their last night together.
TBC