Thank you so much /spanSarahWeasleyWinchester and Blondie 20000 for your feedback *hugs*! Okay just fair warning things get a little heated here and I definitely wrote John as a hardass in this chapter but Jo is very special to him. She was the first crack in his walls before Gemma completely knocked it down. He loves her and he wants to protect her as much as he does with his boys. He knows what she's been through and he doesn't want her to be hurt.

Anyhoo, I hope people like this next part.

Thanks

Val

Chapter 29

Bobby, John and Gemma sat staring at Dean and Jo. "Did you just ask for my permission to date my niece?" Bobby asked as he narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him.

Dean shifted slightly as he looked at Jo's uncle. "Yes Sir, I did." He told him as he deliberately stood straighter.

Gemma's release the breath she was holding as she looked over at her husband and placed her hand on his knee when she saw the way his jaw clenched.

"Bobby doesn't need to even consider this because it's not happening!" John told him.

"John," Gemma said.

"No! He'll be 18 in January!" John snapped as he stood up and took a few steps towards his son. "'I'm tired of this nonsense, she's a little girl and you're going to be a man soon! What the hell is wrong with you? I didn't raise a damn pedophile!"

"JOHN!" Gemma yelled when she saw her husband grabbed her son's shoulders and shake him violently.

"Gemma, John's right. She's a little girl." Bobby said.

"STOP IT!" Jo shouted. Turning she looked at her uncle. "How dare you call me a little girl! I haven't been a little girl in a long time Uncle Bobby!" She said. "And you certainly don't treat me like one when I cook your meals, keep your home clean, manage the scrapyard's office or doing research on a hunt for you or other hunters."

"Jo," Bobby said gently as he reached out towards her.

"Don't," Jo said as she took a step back. "You treat me like an adult…both of you and John do," she continued deliberately dropping the endearment of Uncle when she look at the elder Winchester. "You're both just hung up on the fact that Dean and I may have sex."

John turned his attention towards Jo, "Damn straight we are young lady!"

Dean snorted as he pushed away from his father. "I can't believe you two! I love Jo and I know everything that she has gone through including when that bastard Roy did to her. You think I would ever try to force her to do anything she isn't ready for! To do anything that would hurt her!" He snapped.

"Look everyone needs to calm down," Gemma said as she stood between her husband and son.

"Calm down! Gemma I know you can be a bit carefree but even you must see how inappropriate this is." John said to his wife.

"What I see is everyone getting upset and not really listening to each other." She said trying to reason with her husband.

"There is nothing to listen to! Bobby isn't going to give his permission and I'll drag him to the sheriff myself if he so much as look at her the second he turns 18!" John shouted.

"You hypocrite!" Dean argued. "You were six years older than Mom. You started dating her when she was 17 and you were 23!"

"Enough!" Bobby shouted. "John this is between me, Dean and Jo." He told the other hunter as he stood up. "You two with me," he said as he pointed to the front door.

"The Hell it is. I have a say here Bobby." John said as he stood in front of the other man.

"She's my niece and he's asking my permission. He doesn't need your permission you fool." Bobby snapped as he got into John's face.

"The Hell he doesn't! I'm not going to allow a son of mine to live und…"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence John Winchester," Gemma said as she went over and stood before Dean. "You and Jo go talk to Bobby and then the three of us will talk." She told him as she reached out and gave his hand a gently squeeze.

Dean nodded his head and went to follow Bobby and Jo outside. He barely took two steps before he swung around and pulled Gemma in for a hug. "Thank you Gem…Mom," he whispered as he finally realized that his mother wouldn't feel betrayed by him loving and calling Gemma mom. He could finally admit to himself Mary would be happy that him and Sam have Gemma in their lives.

When he pulled back he saw the tears in her eyes and he cursed himself for taking so long to come to this realization. He caught his father shocked expression but didn't have time to think about it as Gemma said softly. "Bobby and Jo are waiting, go on."

Gemma watched her oldest follow Bobby and Jo outside before looking over her shoulder at her husband. "Now do you want to tell me what this is all about….calmly." She added when she saw him getting ready to explode again.

"It's not right Gemma! Dean is going to be a man soon and Jo's a little girl," he hissed as he pointed towards the door the three had just left by.

"Oh come on John. Even you must see that isn't true."

"I…she's a child." He argued.

"John she's not a child…she hasn't been a child in a very long time."

"Alright I know that since Bobby was hurt…"

"It goes further back than that John." She told him softly as she sat down.

John looked at his wife and accepted her outstretched hand and sat beside her. "What do you mean?"

"We did a lot of talking this week and John she really opened up."

"About?"

"Did you know she asked Bobby if she could start seeing Tom again?"

John shook his head; Bobby hadn't mentioned anything to him. "I'm surprised, Jo seemed to have dealt with the shooting."

"She's not seeing him about the shooting. She'd seeing him to finally deal with what she went through with Ellen that last year before she went to live with Bobby and to deal with Roy molesting her."

"I…she already did back when she first saw Tom. She bounced back like a champ." John said.

"No John…not really. Jo told me that Tom knew she was holding back, hiding behind a wall she had built around herself. She wasn't ready to deal with that part of her life and she just wanted to be that girl that you and Bobby doted on. You both made her feel so safe and loved that she was able build that wall around herself and enjoy being a child again."

"Are you saying she was putting on some kind of act all that time?" He asked not sure what to think of that.

"No that's not what I'm saying," Gemma reassured him. "John, what she lived through before going to live with Bobby was a horror show and she was forced to learned how to take care of herself at a very young age. Then when Bobby came and saved her. Not only did he save her, but he also gave her a chance to be a child again. Then when Bobby was hurt, she realized that he needed her now and did what came natural to her."

John looked down at his hands and admitted, "she's always been so damn adaptable, now I get why. How the Hell did we all miss this?"

"I don't think we all did," Gemma told him gently.

John sighed, "Dean…those two from day one were inseparable. Up until he turned 16 and he started dating that Susie Lincoln."

"We all know why he went out with that girl." Gemma said. She had never liked the girl and her dislike was even greater when she had dumped Dean just before his birthday.

"He was trying to pull away from Jo."

"I think so. It's always been Jo and I think the older he got and he saw that Jo still looked like a little girl that he knew it was inappropriate to have those feelings and tried to push her away."

"And now she doesn't look like a little girl anymore." He finished.

"Her body finally caught up…" Gemma added.

"And Dean thinks it's alright for him to be with her." John said cutting her off before continuing. "Sorry Gemma, no matter what he's too old for her. If this is real then he can wait at least until she's 17." John said.

"John ultimately it's Bobby's decision not yours. If he gives Dean his permission then you will have to accept it and you better not think you will threaten to kick our son out of this house to try and force him not to see her." She said as she stood up.

The elder Winchester tried to stare his wife down but instead he duck his head slightly when Gemma crosses her arms over her chest and cocked her eyebrow. John sighed knowing that ultimately it wasn't his decision. "So what do we do if Bobby agrees to this?"

"Set up ground rules," Gemma said. "You should also know that when I spoke to Jo she told me she wasn't ready for a physical relationship. She even told Dean, told him that he should date other girls but he told her he didn't want to see other girls and he they would wait until they're both ready."

John looked over at the door before looking back at Gemma. "She told you that?"

"She's working through a lot of things John and well there are certain things a young woman really only feels comfortable talking to another woman about." His wife explained.

"I guess," John agreed as nodded his head.

Gemma took a few steps and reached down to take John's hands in hers. "I don't know about you but I'm damn proud of Dean and that he wants to stand by her through all of this."

"Gem, I'm proud of the man he's becoming too. I'm still not comfortable with idea of him and Jo being a couple right now."

"I know you aren't but she's not that little girl you put on your shoulders so that she could feed the giraffes anymore," Gemma murmured as she reached up and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.

John looked into his wife's eyes and sighed, "yesterday Gemma it was just yesterday that she was sitting in Bobby's den having a tea party with her doll and stuff animals and she made me a cup of make believe coffee in her little pink plastic tea cup because Daddies drink coffee before climbing on my lap and now she just called me John…not Uncle John…just John."

Gemma smiled at her husband, "John Winchester you're a sentimental fool." She said gently.

John snorted as he leaned down and stole a quick kiss from wife. "I'm telling you right now, Colleen isn't dating until she's 25."

Gemma shook her head in amusement, "Oh honey…good luck with that."

SPNSPNSPN

Dean sat next to Jo on the front porch swing as Bobby took the chair next to them. He reached down and smiled when he felt Jo slip her hand into his.

Bobby watched the young couple and knew that if he didn't give his permission now that he would have a rebellious teenager girl on his hands sooner rather than later.

Besides, he wasn't a fool like John. Screaming and threatening wasn't going to work here. Instead her took a deep breath and said. "If I give you my permission then you will obey the rules…is that understood?"

Both teens looked at the older man in shock but quickly nodded their heads. "Yes sir," Dean added quickly.

Bobby took a deep breath, "first thing first…I'm guessing Jo told you she's started seeing Tom again after her mother died?"

Dean looked over at Jo and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes Sir, she told me."

"Then we need to speak to him about you two and if he says he thinks it going to harm Jo's therapy in any way then you both need to accept his concerns and wait to start dating. If he doesn't… then we can talk about you two dating.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jo said clearly surprised by her uncle's suggestion.

Bobby looked at his niece, "you said earlier that I've been treating you like an adult for a while and I admit that's true so I'm going to continue to treat you like one and your therapy is important."

"I don't see why Dr. Tom has to sign off on me and Dean being together." Jo argued.

"Because your wellbeing is my priority. Dean said he would never do anything to hurt you and I want Tom to give his professional opinion if he thinks that emotionally you're ready for a serious relationship right now or if it would be better to wait."

Dean squeezed Jo's hand, "Jo, I meant that I would never do anything to hurt you and maybe we should talk to Tom." he said softly.

The blonde looked over at Dean and saw the concern in his eyes. She smiled as she nodded her head before looking over at her uncle. "Okay," she agreed. "We'll talk to Tom."

Bobby nodded his head firmly and said, "Fine. Now let me go in and talk to John and Gemma because the three of us need to decide together on the rules that we will expect you two for follow."

"Yes Sir," Dean and Jo said at the same time as Dean squeezed Jo's hand reassuringly.

The gruff hunter saw the way Jo looked up at Dean and found himself saying, "it's a nice night, why don't you two sit out here and we'll call you in after I'm done talking with Dean's parents."

Jo grinned at her uncle as she jumped up and hugged him. "I love you Uncle Bobby," she said before she kissed his cheek.

Bobby cleared his throat as he said, "love you too Baby Girl." He kissed the top of Jo's head and shot a look at Dean, a look the younger man knew meant he was trusting him with the most precious thing in his life and Dean swore to himself he would never let Bobby regret that decision.

TBC