Harvey and I kept our promise to Abi. The four of us were just the right size family, but we did add a puppy or two. And then she talked us into a few stray cats. I'm still not sure which one of us gave the OK for the rabbit though.

Abigail grew to be more inquisitive and her passion was for all the animals that seemed lonely or orphaned. She brought us birds that had fallen from trees. Once a snake that had been squished near the end of its body, and she found joy in the stories that Harvey told her about mad scientists and their quest to make God knew what that instead created animals with strengths and sizes that sounded more like a movie or video game than reality.

Caelum was quieter, but no less intelligent. He liked to sit with me and read, and he loved visits with his uncle Cas. Although, honestly, I think uncle Crowley might have been his favorite. I wasn't surprised when he showed an interest in following in my footsteps, wanting to research and learn as much as he could about the 'family business'.

Dean and Sam continued to visit, easy additions to the days prior to holidays and listening to Abi try to convince them that she was old enough to date when she turned sixteen was one of my favorite arguments to date. Caelum was just as close to the Winchester men, having no qualms about them being his big brothers too, even without the same genetics.

We gave Abi the chest filled with John's letters and gifts when she was ten. I didn't want to overwhelm her too soon, and I also wanted her to be young enough for his presence to be welcome should she choose it. She read through them all, and opened each gift smiling and finding a home for trinkets and stuffed animals in her room. Abi, showing she was far more rational than her mother, took her time in deciding whether or not to let John back into her life. And when she did, after asking for a lunch date alone with her daddy first, she started small. A letter, then a call, and once she felt more comfortable, she asked if she could have him visit.

Harvey took the choice with more calm than I felt. Allowing John back into our lives scared me, but I knew that I'd promised my daughter that it was her choice. I agreed, but asked that he come while I was out. Seeing them bond, watching Harvey have to see it, would be too much. The first couple of visits went the same. I'd get warning, Caelum and I would go to town for the day, and Harvey would call to let me know when he'd gone.

It took a few visits before I decided I wouldn't rush away. It was our house, why should I run away? Caelum had shown interest in meeting Abi's 'other dad', and I watched with a lump in my throat as she introduced them. I let myself relax when I noticed that Harvey and John had found peace around one another and from that moment, his visits became more frequent and anticlimactic.

Mary came a few times, but Abi didn't warm to her. I didn't ask, because Abi's relationship with John was hers. During a shopping trip when she was around thirteen she confessed to me that she couldn't look at John's wife without seeing how hurt I must have been when she came back. I tried to convince her that I was fine, and she shouldn't let how I felt or had felt taint her own feelings.

"I'm not, Mom," she offered, her eyes on a very pretty dress. "I just can't see her without thinking about you dying for him." Her eyes, a mirror of my own, met mine. "She's a sad replacement for you." Shrugging like an average teenager, she asked if she could try on the dress that had caught her eye.

Harvey and I never lost the same rush that hit us when our skin touched. And our kids groaned at us so many times over the years that he took it as a challenge to embarrass them as much as possible.

My parents passed away in a car accident when Abi was seventeen and Caelum had just turned fifteen. It hit us all hard, but the loss brought us even closer together. Crowley, Rowena, and Cas stepped in to fill in our void, and I knew the kids and I appreciated it.

As I'd told John Winchester the day I married Harvey Russell, the four of us were the conclusion to our story. I didn't know how long it would run, but I knew that my husband and our two kids were what mattered most to me. Everything else was just filler.