Thank you Scaramou for the heads up about how this chapter posted. Thank you so much Blondie 20000 for your feedback! Yup I couldn't resist making Gemma and John parents, not to mention Dean and Sammy big brothers. Heh of course Caleb and Bonnie would end up together :). Well Dean does see Jo a little differently but not for long...unfortunately for all the adults. Well what can I say...girls mature faster than boys *wink*. Besides Dean and Jo have always had a special bond.

Thank you again and I hope people enjoy this next part.

Val

Chapter 25

John and Dean looked up as Bobby came through the kitchen door. "Hi Bobby, need a hand?"

The older man was carrying two large duffel bags. "There's one more in the car," he huffed.

"I'll get it…hey where's Jo?"

"Dropped her off at the store she somehow managed to forget something…what I don't know. I swear she packed everything in her room."

"This is all Jo's stuff?" He asked shocked.

"Yup," he told the boy before turning to John. "You sure you don't mind Rumsford staying here too? Regular place that takes him is closed for a few weeks."

Dean gave the dog in question a quick pat before he ran out and grabbed the last ba. John smirk as his oldest dropped the bag next to the other two before turning to his old friend. "It's fine, Gemma loves that dog almost as much as she loves the kids."

"I think she packed bricks." Dean said to the older men as he joined them.

"Who packed bricks?" Sam asked as he went over and pulled out a bowl and a box of cereal before sitting down at the table.

"Jo," Dean told him as went over and poured himself and Bobby a cup of coffee.

The men sat down at the table and discussed the upcoming hunt. John also took the opportunity to remind Dean about the two engines he wanted him to work on while they were gone.

The four looked up when they heard the front door open and closed and voices coming in from the living room. "Look who I found while at the store." Gemma said as she came into the kitchen.

Dean looked up expecting to see little Jo Harvelle to come bouncing in behind Gemma, but he wasn't expecting the beautiful young woman who came in carrying Colleen.

Dean had decided during his freshman year he wanted to go to the technical trade school and had transferred out of the regular high school his sophomore year. The one drawback was that he no longer saw his brother or Jo in school any longer. Where the junior and high schools shared the same campus, the trade school was on a different campus.

He knew that he hadn't seen her for a little over four months, but he never expected her to change so much. Where his little brother still looked pretty much the same Jo had shot up at least four inches and now was actually taller than Sam. She hadn't just gotten taller…his Jo had nice soft curves in all the right places.

"Hi Sam," Jo said brightly to her friend.

"Hi Jo," Sam said, blushing as Jo gave him a grin.

"Hey Jo," Dean finally said.

"Hello Dean," she said coolly, his mistreatment from Thanksgiving clearly not forgiven.

"Hi Uncle John," Jo chirped happily as she leaned down to kiss his father's cheek and Dean snuck a look at her cleavage…lord have mercy Jo had cleavage…when the Hell did that happen!

If that wasn't enough to wrap his brain around he saw his brother openly staring down Jo's shirt, earning a head slap from Bobby while the older hunter mumbled 'idjet' under his breath.

John looked at both his boys and the way they were checking Jo out before shooting a look at Gemma who shrugged her shoulders. Okay when did Jo grow up and why didn't anyone tell him while he mentally reminding himself to lock Colleen in the attic until she's forty so horn dogs like his sons wouldn't drool over his little girl.

"Girl what on earth did you need at the store anyways? You packed your whole room." Bobby said as Jo passed Colleen to John before hopping up and sitting on the counter behind her.

"Do you really want to know Uncle Bobby?" Jo teased her uncle.

Bobby narrowed his eyes at the young girl but then ducked his head at the way she was smirking and realized what she had to get and shook his head. "Nope…don't want to know."

Gemma snicker at that as she knew exactly what Jo had picked up. She remembered six months ago when the girl called to say she needed Gemma to come to the house…that she got her period but that she was too embarrassed to ask Bobby to pick up what she needed. The girl just continued to blossom and was already a knockout. Gemma didn't want to think about what Bobby would be going through when she turned 16.

"So what do you have in three bags Girl." Her uncle insisted.

Jo sighed as she hopped down and went over to her bags. Pointing to one of the larger bags she explained. "This one has my crossbow, arrows, knives, my .45 and my saw off shotgun. Plus ammo. That one," she said pointing to the other larger bag. "Has my books to research my case and that one has my clothes, shoes, running sneakers and my steel toe boots." She finished pointing to the smallest bag.

"Case! You're working a case?" Sam asked in awe.

"She is not. I told her she could research it and if it's something then either myself or Caleb will follow up on it." Bobby said firmly as he shot Jo a look that said she would be paying Hell if she tried anything else.

Dean just smiled at Jo. He always knew she would follow in her uncle's footsteps and become a hunter. She had the natural talent for it.

Thirteen and she was just as comfortable with weapons as him, his father and Bobby. He could even admit she was a better shot than him…aww Hell she could outshoot Bobby and he'd even seen her best his father a few times.

"Dean can take you for target practice," John told her.

Jo looked over at the boy in question and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't need a spotter." She told her uncle.

"No spotter…no target practice and that is nonnegotiable." The elder Winchester told her.

"Yes sir," she said as she glared at Dean.

The older teen decided to try and offer an olive branch. "Here Jo, let me help you with your bags. You're in the room across from me downstairs."

After his parents adopted Colleen they decided to make use of the basement and made two bedrooms plus the den where they kept the family computer. Dean had moved downstairs so that Sam could take his room and they could turn Sammy's room into the nursery since it was closest to his parent's bedroom.

"Why don't you both help her," Gemma suggested.

The brothers looked at each other and finally conceded to Gemma's suggestion and the three teens were trudging downstairs with Jo's bags.

Gemma poured herself a cup a coffee and sat at table. "What do you say I go with Bobby and you stay here." She said to her husband.

John laughed, "I would rather deal with this witch. You can deal with Archie, Jughead and Betty."

Gemma gaped at John. "I'm not sure what I'm more shocked by….that you would leave me here to deal with them or that you used that pop reference correctly."

John smirked at his wife as he stood up. "I have faith you can handle the three of them." He said as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Give me my daughter and go say goodbye to the kids." She teased as she wrinkled her nose at John.

SPNSPNSPN

Twenty minutes later Bobby had his stuff stored in the John's truck and the men said goodbye to the kids.

John took Dean aside to speak to him privately. "Look I know Jo's still pissed about Thanksgiving, but you make it right because I don't want her sneaking off to practice her shooting alone."

"Yes Sir, I'll talk to her." He promised. No matter how proficient Jo was with her weapons none of the kids were allowed to practice alone.

"Good," John said as he pulled Dean in for a one arm hug.

SPNSPNSPN

"Jo you need to get over whatever this thing is with Dean. Gemma ain't gonna referee between the two of you the whole time we're gone."

Jo snuck a glance towards the older teen before looking up at her uncle. "Yes Sir, I'll talk to him."

"Good girl," Bobby said as Jo reached up and gave him a hug.

Jo and Bobby joined the others as John was kissing the top of Colleen's head before leaning in and kissing his wife. John turned and hugged Sammy goodbye before pulling Jo in for a hug and kissing her on the forehead.

Gemma smile as she kissed Bobby on his cheek before reassuring him not to worry about Jo and the boys. They stood back as the men got into the truck and drove off. Gemma slung her free arm around Sam's shoulder, "come Kiddo, your turn to do the dishes."

Dean watched as his brother, Gemma and Colleen headed back into the house. Jo sighed as she watched John's truck turned at the end of the street and disappeared. She looked over her shoulder as Dean came and stood behind her. "Look Jo about Thanksgiving…I'm sorry I was an ass for the way I treated you and blowing you off."

She turned and looked back towards the road. "Well was Susie Lincoln worth it? Treating me like a five years old tugging on your pant leg looking for attention when I was trying to talk to you."

Dean winced as that was exactly what he had done because Susie was going to let him get to third base and he didn't want to take the time to hang with Jo before he went out. "Would it make you feel better to know she dumped me for a college guy with his own car two days before my birthday?"

Jo turned around at that. "Oh my god what a bitch!"

Dean's eyebrow shot up at the outburst. "Bobby know that you cuss?"

Jo rolled her eyes as she bumped Dean with her shoulder. "Butthead'" she teased.

"So I'm forgiven?" he asked hopefully.

Sighing she looked up at the older teen. "Maybe…if you take me for a hot fudge sundae."

"Deal!" Dean said as he pulled her in for an overdue hug, lifting her up off the ground and swinging a laughing Jo around in a circle.

Gemma shook her head at the two teens, happy that they seemed to have made up. Her attention was pulled from the two across from her when she heard Sammy sigh.

"What's wrong Bud?"

"It's always gonna be Dean isn't it?"

"You and Jo are good friends too."

Sam looked over to his mother and said, "yeah but she'll never look at me the way she looks at him."

Gemma watched as Sam hung his head and went inside. Her heart broke for the younger Winchester but there was nothing anyone could say or do to make Sam feel better.

Dean and Jo always had a special connection. She thought maybe after Thanksgiving that the two would continue to drift further apart because of their age differences and maybe if Jo actually looked and behaved like a regular 13 year old girl that would have happened, but she didn't look like a little girl anymore thanks to her growth spurt and she didn't behave like one either.

Jo seem to have grown up overnight two years earlier, her body was just catching up with her. Bobby had been hurt badly on a hunt and suddenly gone was the little girl who still liked to play with her Barbies. Sure Jo had started to help around the house and did most of the cooking, but these actions were her 'chores' but they were never really her responsibilities but that stopped when she almost lost Bobby. After Bobby was hurt they became her responsibilities. She took it upon herself to take over running the household as well as helping him running the office for the salvage yard.

It actually amused Gemma and John in a way when Dean and Jo had their fight, that Dean treated Jo like she was a child when in all honesty she was more mature than Dean. He just wasn't savvy enough get the difference between looking grown up versus maturity.

As if taking responsibility for their home and the business wasn't enough Jo also took a more active interest in hunting. Sure she had started weapon training a few years before, but she never seemed to think much about hunting other than when her uncle would be gone. Suddenly though she took over things like laying down salt lines and touching up the paint on the devil traps around the house.

She had begun researching cases too and even John admitted the girl was going to be a natural hunter, just like her Dean, something Gemma hated but knew was a losing battle. John talked to her last night about how Dean wasn't going to be put off much longer. The boy was ready to go on his first hunt this summer.

So worrying about the possibility of Dean going on a hunt sooner rather than later now Gemma had to add worry about Jo too. My god the girl had come to their house fully weaponized and brought all her research on a case she was putting together. Gemma wished she could turn back the clock to that first summer she came to stay with them when Bobby had gone after John. Maybe she couldn't turn back the clock, but she could attempt to relive at least one moment from that time.

TBC

Author's Note: I know I started the story saying that Jo and Dean were 4 years apart but I've decided (author's license *wink*) to make Jo's birthday in June that way she's only 3 1/2 years younger than Dean. In my mind she needed to be closer to 14 than 13 for the upcoming parts. So she's technically older than Sam but still in the same grade.