Despite being the one to call him into her room, she also wasn't in a hurry to start actually talking about it. She looked down at Dean asleep in her arms, making sure that he was comfortable and still asleep.

Taking a deep breath she looked up at John who had also been watching Dean but then met her eyes. He looked apprehensive at whatever she was going to tell him but waited patiently for her to start.

"I don't want Dean to become a Man of Letters." she told him. "It's not fair to him, that he's not even getting a choice in this. He's almost four years old and from what you told me, he's going to be forced to start learning next year."

"You keep talking like this is the worst thing to have ever happened," John said. "Mary, I'm a Man of Letters to be initiated, I'm happy with that and where I am."

"You were also ready to leave them and be with me and our sons if it came to that." Mary reminded him. "You've only changed your mind when those old fucks said we could be together so long as Dean became one of them."

John breathed out slowly, seemingly mentally counting in his head to remain calm. "Do you want to break up?" he asked tensely. "Because I don't know what else to do here."

"I don't want to break up, I love you, I just want our children to be safe." Mary told him. "I want them to have a choice. I want," her voice hitched but then she went on, "I want them to be safe and normal."

"Them being 'normal' was never going to happen." he told her gently. "Either your side or mine, and especially when it's combined, I don't think them being normal was ever really on the table."

"But that's why I want to put it on the table." Mary shot back. "Why can't you get it? I don't want Dean to be a Letters. I don't want Sammy to be a hunter. I want a simple normal life with taxes and a dog and the white picket fence but apparently this makes me the bad guy."

"This doesn't make you the bad guy Mary, but you need to understand." John said, trying to placate her. "We want to be together and as a result, we need to make some sacrifices."

"But we're not the ones making the sacrifice, the kids are." Mary injected. "We're sacrificing their childhoods and their future. They're not going to have a choice in this. What if Dean wants to go to college? Or what if Sammy wants to join the circus? They're not going to be able to because we threw their futures and choices away."

John had made a face about the circus and he had a point at that but she had just used that as an example. "We can deal with that when the time comes." he told her.

"That's a cop-out and you know it." Mary said. "I want to hear it from them, that if the boys want to change their minds or go on a different path or, I don't know, just decide to burn the bunker down that they can."

John breathed out slowly. "I can talk to them, but I'm going to be honest, don't get your hopes up that they're going to agree to it."

"So then why bother even asking them." Mary said bitterly, leaning back into the bed. "So that's it then, no choice whatsoever for the kids. Deans gonna be a Letter and Sammys gonna be a Hunter and that's it."

John sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Mary," he said, trying to find the right words to say. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to protect our kids." Mary told him simply. "I want our boys to be happy and safe, away from the supernatural."

"Away from the supernatural is not an option, that's just something you need to understand." John said. "Everything else...I don't know. What do you want besides 'normal'?"

"A childhood." Mary said simply. "I want them to experience things that other children experience. I want them to go to school with the other kids, I want them to be on the record, with papers, and once they turn eighteen to be able to go to college if they want."

"Alright, they go to school, I'm sure they'll want to have after school activities, maybe a friend group or a sports team." John said. "Where does Deans Letters lessons come in and Sam's hunting lessons come in?"

"We'll control that." Mary told him. "We'll control it alongside their regular homework, increasing as they get older just like it was with you."

"You do know that the first lessons are the same subjects as any public school?" John asked her. "Because I think you believe we skip straight into Latin and lore."

"Wouldn't surprise me if you came out of your mom already ready to exorcize a demon." Mary told him. "But we'll be the ones teaching them and we'll decide how much or how little we should put on them. But school will come first."

"And it wouldn't have surprised me if you had come out of your mom with a machete in hand, poor Deana." John shot back at her. "Dean will be really behind compared to the other initiates."

"But he'll still be learning everything that he needs to in a timely fashion." Mary said, trying to keep any smugness out of her voice. "They want him to learn? Fine, but we'll choose his pace."

She could hear John breathe out through his nose. "I'll bring it up to them." he said. "Anything else?"

"Not at this moment." Mary said, staring at him. "You're acting like I'm the enemy that you're trying to negotiate with. Is what I'm asking for really that outlandish?"

"No, it's not." John conceded. He gave a heavy sigh. "I'll go talk to them, find out if there's any kind of spells that can help you to not miscarry while I'm there."

Mary nodded. "Alright." she said simply. "You know when you'll be back?"

"I'll try for tomorrow, if anything I'll call you." he said, leaning over to kiss her. Mary's hand came up to grip at the bottom of his shirt, letting the kiss linger for a few moments more before he pulled back. He reached out to gently touch her stomach and then to stroke Dean's face. "I love you."

"I love you too." Mary told him, falling back into the bed and holding Dean close to her as he left. She listened to make sure that he locked up and sighed, one hand going to her stomach and the other still on Dean.

"We're going to be okay." she told them. "We're going to be okay."

I do not own Supernatural.

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