Although there was little activity from Yellow-Eyes, the family still though it safer to continue with Bobby's original plan of moving them into a safe house. The home was a safe-guard against every possible kind of supernatural threat, and it was conveniently situated closer to Bobby's home. The close proximity to the hunter made Caleb feel just the slightest bit safer, and even enabled him to loosen some of the protective reigns he had put around the boys. Because the entirety of the property was a fortress, dangerous to any demon that entered, the kids were allowed to be just that for the first time in weeks. Still not able to keep his eye off of them for too long, Caleb watched Dean teach Sam how to shoot with the bow and arrow, and Sam's excited squeal when he managed to make a shot.
Turning back to what he was doing at the sink, he tried to breathe for the first time. Every room in the house had a Devil's Trap, and iron fixtures encompassed the home. More importantly, Holy Water ran through each and every source of water they had. Leaving Minnesota had been hard, but it had been the right move. For years, they lived there in relative peace, but that all changed when the demon made his move. And when Jim died. No longer did the place hold happy memories, but traumatic ones that would never leave them. However, he hoped they would start the process of healing finally.
"Hey," Dean said, bounding through the door, his arms laden down with the bow and arrow. "Daydreaming?"
"As if," Caleb replied with a scoff. "Just thinking. How's that arm of yours?" The grab the little girl made had ended up bruising it far more than Caleb thought.
Dean shrugged. "Can't complain. Just as long as Casper's little sister is done."
"Well," Caleb said, reaching for his arm to better inspect it. "I'd still like to keep an eye on it. It's pretty gnarly."
Dean did not like having any kind of special attention heaped on him, and so Caleb tried to be casual about his inspection of it. From the color of the bruising, he knew it was starting the slow process of healing. That was good, because the boys had already missed enough school that he knew it would start to raise suspicion if they did not take the chance. And Caleb needed to go to work, and that was a prospect he hated. Although he felt better at having the boys under the protection of a secure compound, it did not completely erase the unease he had. Luckily, Bobby was closer to them than ever before and was able to check in with Sam and Dean whenever they needed him to.
Not able to continue the conversation when Sam bounced through the door, he shook off his plethora of thoughts and instead picked up the child. Hugging him close, Sam wrapped his arms around his neck. For the first time in a long time, Caleb felt a peace that was slowly beginning to take the place of the nervousness. No matter what, they were still a family. They lost Jim, but their family was stronger than ever after having gone through the worst possible thing. The pain would ebb and flow, but he knew their bond would crush any evil thing. Turning to look out the window at the gathering storm clouds, for once he did not fear them.
"I love you," Sam whispered, stretching his hand down to play with Caleb's hand. It was a coping gesture that Sam did whenever he was scared, or uneasy.
"I love you too, Sammy Boy. Forever and always." Reaching out to pull Dean against him, he was surprised when the teen did not resist. "You both are my world. You were Jim's, too."
Dean nodded. "Yeah. We'd...we'd be dead without you. Like, no kidding."
"We'll be okay. We'll carry on just like we always have."
And Caleb meant that, too. As a family, he knew they would thrive.
AN:
Only two more stories. So far. This next one...prepare yourselves. It's my favorite that I've written, but boy do things happen. I'm not kidding, either. I'm really anxious to hear all of your thoughts on this next story. It will be called The Fight.