A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took so long to get up! I really wanted to get this posted sooner, but life happened and as is usual in my life, nothing happened like I planned. Anywho, it's up now and I hope you like it. Let me know what you think, I'm not entirely sure how I'm feeling about the big news in this chapter and would love some feedback. Thanks for reading :)
Morning slowly drifted to afternoon and Ana had yet to wake up. Dean had spent most of the day by her side, but had eventually been convinced to leave if only to get some food and give Connor some time with her, even if she was unconscious. The bunker had been mostly silent since everything that had happened that morning, each person settling into the relief that Ana was home, in one piece, and safe. Neither Gabe or Cas had returned from whatever meeting they were having with Chuck and other than Connor being able to tell that Ana was still okay, he didn't have an answer to when she would wake up. So everyone was playing the waiting game, each hoping that it wouldn't be long before the young witch came back to them.
Connor lay on his side next to Ana, watching her chest slowly rise and fall as she breathed. His thoughts were still racing, trying to decipher how it was that the spell he performed that morning to summon her body back to the bunker had worked, but he was coming up with a bunch of maybe's and if's. He wouldn't have a definite answer until Ana woke up and answered the question for him, that didn't mean that he stopped thinking about it though. It didn't help that he was still extremely tired after the lack of sleep with her being gone which made it difficult to hold onto a train of thought if it took too much work to follow. Letting his mind drift away from the spell and that morning's events, he found himself wondering what it must have been like for her to be in Hell and so dangerously close to the Devil and the Prince of the Seraphim. Not being able to even grasp an idea of the concept, Connor sighed and closed his eyes, reaching his arm out and holding himself against her side. He hoped that it wouldn't be much longer until she woke up, he wasn't sure he could continue to go on much longer without talking to her.
The short period of time that they had been apart while she was away at school and he was back in Louisiana had been one of the hardest times he had been through since he had left his family as a child, but knowing that she was in Hell was far worse. Ana hadn't just been away, learning and living life like a normal girl her age, her soul had been separated from her body and while part of her was dealing with the cage in Hell the rest of her had been locked down in the bunker, driving the rest of them to their breaking points. While his eyes were glued to her relaxed face, he held his left hand out and conjured the small box that he had left in the top drawer of his dresser amongst his socks, somewhere he knew that she would never have reason to look. While he and the others had been waiting for Ana to wake up at the hospital, Connor called Diane and asked her to find the old wooden box for him. Though when he placed it in the safe at Diane's shop he never really thought he would have need for it, but he still wanted it to be in a safe place should the time come he decided to use it. Diane had been more than happy to send it to him, using her magic rather than shipping it because the box and it's contents were both very old.
Connor had planned on waiting to propose until they were free of the craziness of the world or at least until a time where it had calmed down from the plan to release Michael and Lucifer. It seemed that the cage wasn't going to be opened anytime soon thanks to the witch that lay next to him and though there was still so much to deal with, he knew that there was no guarantee that it would calm down after they had dealt with Jade. Which was why he wanted to do this sooner than he had originally planned. He knew that Ana felt that they were really young to be dedicating the rest of their lives to one another, not that either of them wanted to fight against their fate, but she had told him that she didn't see the need in rushing it if they were going to have their entire lives together. Even knowing that Connor saw no reason to wait any longer, there really wasn't a difference to him in being her soulmate or being married and he wanted the privilege to call her his wife. With that thought in mind he slowly moved off of the bed and with one last look at the love of his life he turned and left the room, making his way toward the library in search of Dean. His attuned senses told him that Dean was there, but that he wasn't alone. Coming to a stop in the entryway of the large room, he waited a moment as he looked to see that everyone was there, sitting around the table and talking with soft smiles that hadn't been there a day ago.
Dean was laughing at some smart ass crack that Kellen made about avoiding handcuffs of any sort for the remainder of his life when he noticed Connor paused in the hall. "Hey, any change?" He asked, his hand fiddling with a pen that had been sitting in front of him.
"Uh, no." Connor answered, walking into the room as he considered pulling Dean aside to talk to him about his plan alone, but seeing everyone together made him realize that if he was going to basically ask Dean about it, that everyone at the table should have a say. They had each been with Ana through so much and he knew that their love for her was unwavering, so he didn't see the point in not letting everyone in on what he wanted to do. "She hasn't moved at all, I'm hoping that she'll wake up soon."
Nodding in agreement, Dean sighed, "Cas said that she was going to be fine. Took Sam a long while to rejoin the world of the living after he had his soul shoved back in, she'll probably be back with us by tomorrow." It was a pure guess, but he hoped that it was true because he was growing antsy as well waiting for his daughter to wake up.
Connor slowly nodded, brushing a hand through his hair, "Yeah, probably." Standing at the table he realized that he was now nervous and he could tell that he wasn't hiding it at all because the three men and one woman at the table where each giving him an odd look.
"You okay, Connor?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow at the kid in front of her. He wasn't much younger than she was, but it was fun to refer to him as 'kid', mostly because he hated it. She pushed the random thought away as she focused back on him, since Ana had come back Charlie had been in such a good mood that her mind was more scattered than normal.
Again he nodded, bringing the box in his hand up to his chest where he held it between the index finger and thumb of both of his hands, considering changing his mind on telling them. In a quick, but gentle motion he opened the box and set it down in the middle of the table, watching as everyone's eyes drifted to the box's contents. He waited as they each processed the ring and what exactly it meant, waiting for Dean to freak out or Charlie to squeal in an overtly girly manner.
"Is that what I think it is?" Kellen questioned, slowly looking away from the ring up toward Connor, his head reeling with what was going on.
"No, it's a snake." Charlie muttered sarcastically before a wide smile took over her lips, "Of course it's what you think it is and unless this is some weird polygamy thing where Connor's proposing to all of us, I'm pretty sure he's just informing us on what he plans on doing."
Dean's face was stoic as he looked at the ring in the wooden box before him. Of course this was going to come at some point, he was fully aware that nothing was going to keep the two witches apart and frankly he really didn't mind. Connor had proved countless times how much he loved Ana, how he would do anything to protect her from the evil of the world they lived in and Dean was glad that all of that didn't fall on just him. He could have done it, but it was nice to know that there was someone there to back him up, someone with the upper hand of magic. He slowly turned his eyes back to Connor, not saying a word as he looked at the witch, trying to find the right words, but before he could the other man spoke.
"Though we may not be the technical term for a family and God knows we are anything from old-fashioned or classy, I still wanted to do this. Ana and I are soulmates, which pretty much means we're going to be together our whole lives, but as I've pointed out to her it's not completely unheard of for a Winchester to chose their own destiny and she's made it clear that she doesn't plan on following that same path. We're young and with witches weddings aren't that big of a thing, but I still want her to have it." Connor told them all, taking in a deep breath as he looked at each of them. "In a weird way I'm asking you all for your blessing. I was going to just ask Dean, but I feel like any of you has the right to speak against it if you don't think it's a wise decision."
Sam glanced over at his brother, trying to decipher the look on his face, but he wasn't quite sure if Dean was in shock or if this was just the calm before the storm. Clearing his throat, Sam looked up at Connor with a warm smile, deciding to speak before Dean had the chance to freak out. "I, for one, see no reason in saying anything against it. We've known you two are soulmates for a while now and this was bound to happen, as long as you both are happy I don't think it matters if you get married and if you do, when."
"I'm with Sam," Charlie spoke up, her smile slowly transforming to a thin line and her eyes going cold, "but you better back it a damn good proposal or so help me, I will beat you. That girl just put a stop to the Devil and the oldest archangel being released, she deserves a big romantic gesture."
Kellen shook his head, "Not too big though, she tends to get nervous in those type of situations. Last thing you want when you're down on one knee is for the girl you're in love with to have a panic attack."
Dean sat back and listened to everyone, watching how each of them were completely fine with what Connor was suggesting. "Do something small and thoughtful. She'll appreciate that way more than something huge and less intimate."
Everyone paused, turning to look at Dean, each not expecting for him to chime in on their suggestions for the proposal. "Did you say 'intimate'?" Sam questioned, holding back a chuckle as he raised an eyebrow at his brother.
"Shut up." Dean grumbled, smacking Sam on the arm while turning his attention back to Connor. "Seriously though, if I know anything about my kid it's that she'd rather it be something small and thoughtful."
Charlie suddenly stood up quickly, the wide smiled returned to her face, "Let us help you plan it! You have four of the people who love Ana more than anything and though I don't know her as well as the rest of you, I think I know enough to help put the girly stuff in this shindig."
Kellen slowly stood up from his chair and moved away from Charlie who had been sitting next to him, "I think you just unlocked a whole new level of crazy with this one." he whispered to Connor as he walked past the man who was picking the box back up off of the table.
"I heard that!" Charlie snapped, placing her hands firmly on her hips and glaring at Kellen. "Plus, I don't think it's going to matter how crazy I am when Ana is blown away by how awesome this is going to be."
"How awesome what is going to be?" Ana questioned as she walked into the room, still looking a little weak, but at least she was up on her feet. She had been awake for a few minutes before she had left her room. Choosing to take her time to change out of the tight black clothing that her soulless body deemed appropriate and trade the outfit for a comfortable pair of sweats paired with her favorite purple hoodie.
There was a brief pause before Dean smoothly stood up from the table, "The welcome back party Charlie wanted to throw you. It was supposed to be a surprise, but looks like that's out." he lied easily, moving around the table and toward his daughter to envelope her in a tight hug. "We're just all really happy to have you back."
While Ana relaxed into her father's hug Connor took the moment to teleport the box back to it's hiding place in his room, making her none the wiser to their actual plan. "How are you feeling?" he asked, watching as father and daughter slowly let each other go. She seemed to pause a moment, giving him a long look and oddly keeping her distance as she simply nodded. "Ana?" He prodded, wondering why she had yet to close the space between them and hug him the way she had hugged her father.
"I'm fine, just a little out of it. Guess this whole fusing back together thing is a little weird." Ana shrugged, knowing that she needed to get Connor alone so that she could tell him the news. Part of her considered hiding it for a while longer, as long as she could. Obviously at some point it would be hard to hide the growing bump of her stomach or the morning sickness that was bound to come, but maybe she could hold it off for a while longer. There was a quick rush in her head and a sensation that followed that she hadn't felt in the months that she had been in the pit. Connor, their bond was put back in place and she knew then that her plan wouldn't work. We need to talk. She sent the words through their bond, smiling slightly as his eyes widened as he realized that their bond was back.
"You're probably hungry. Let's get you something to eat." Connor offered, walking over to her and offering her his hand. He led her from the library to the kitchen and he was about to use their joined hands to pull her into a hug, but she moved away from him. "Ana, what's going on?"
Moving further away from him, she didn't stop walking until she had moved around the island so that it was separating them. There was no telling how he was going to react to what she had to tell him and though she obviously knew he wouldn't do anything drastic, she also didn't get her hopes up that he would be happy about this. They had decided to wait years before even thinking about having a child and there she stood, with the knowledge that the product of their love was growing inside of her. "I… I learned something while I was in Hell."
"Learned what?" He questioned, keeping himself planted in the spot where she had walked away from him. "You've never hid anything from me, then you offer to split your soul from your body without so much as a word to me and now you can't tell me whatever it is you learned while you were in Hell." His tone was filled with hurt and a little bit of anger. "Just tell-"
"I'm pregnant." She quickly interrupted him before he could get more worked up, the last thing she needed was for him to already be angry and in the middle of giving her a piece of his mind while she was trying to break the news of their unborn child.
Connor froze, mouth clamping shut and eyes growing wide as he just stared at her for a moment. "You're what?" surely he hadn't heard her right, there must have been a jumbling of words as he was ranting and she was trying to speak.
"Pregnant." Ana spoke clearly, sucking in a deep breath before she continued. "Connor, we're going to have a baby." Saying the words out loud to him made them finally sink home with her and it was as if everything was coming down around her. When he didn't respond she took the reaction to mean her worst fears and she turned to walked out of the room. Her hand flew up to her mouth as tears ran down her face, picking up her pace she hoped that she could make it out of the kitchen's second exit and to her room without running to anyone, but luck was not on her side.
"Ana!" Connor called after her once he finally realized that she had run from him. Turning to follow her out of the room, he barely made it out the door when he saw her crash into Dean head on.
Hunter's reflexes kicked in and Dean instantly wrapped his arms around Ana so that she wouldn't fall after colliding into him. "Woah, what's going on?" he asked, trying to keep her against his chest as she tried to pull away. He could feel her body shake as she cried and it was an instant reaction to look up at Connor in question as the male witch walked down the hall toward him. "What the hell happened?"
Connor shook his head at Dean, "I've got this, I'll let you know what's going on later." he stated before reaching out a hand and placing it on Ana's shoulder, using the connection to teleport both of them out of the bunker and to Ana's favorite spot to think. Though it was late afternoon in Kansas night had already set in on the country of Ireland and the moon shone brightly down on the cliff that Ana visited so many times before. She still had her back to him, shoulders shaking as she cried, "Do you not want this?" he questioned, assuming that it was the reason she was upset. When she didn't respond he moved around so that they were facing each other and though she refused to look at him, at least he could see your face. "Ana, I need to know what you're thinking. I can't help unless I know what's going through your head."
"We're not ready for this." She told him, eyes finally meeting his. "We talked about this just enough to know that this wasn't something either of us wanted for years and now it's happening. Plus we still have to worry about the prophecy, I may have kept Michael and Lucifer locked up for now, but that doesn't mean that it's the end of it with those two. Pair that with the prophecy of this child and there's not enough luck in this world to keep our family whole. Who would want to bring a baby into any of that?"
With a sigh Connor turned away from her, rubbing a hand over his face as she considered what she was saying. This was in no way good timing, Ana's points about Michael and Lucifer were solid and if they were going to have to fight of the archangel at some point it wouldn't be the safest place for either of them, let alone a baby. It all was too late to fix now though. Of course there were other options, neither of which he was comfortable thinking about. "We just have to take this one step at a time. No, this wasn't planned, but it happened and now we will find a way to move on from here."
"What?" Ana questioned, her tear filled eyes staring at the back of his head. She could sense the layer of panic under the serenity that he was forcing himself to focus on and part of her wondered how he was even keeping himself slightly calm.
"We're obviously going to have to tell everyone. Also we need to talk about your options birth wise, a lot of witches tend to use midwives in the witch community over human doctors, but we have some time to look into all of that." He started making a list out loud, knowing that it would be easier for both of them if they had an idea where to go from here. "God, Dean is going to kill me." The shock was slowly overpowering his system and his eyes went wide as he looked at her, "We're going to be parents." While he watched her, Connor could feel the fear and panic that filled her head and wanted nothing more than to make both of those feelings go away. Closing the distance between them, he stopped once he was standing in front of her and fell to his knees. "When we were in Finch dealing with the devil's gate I made you a promise while you were resting after we found out about the prophecy. I swore that I would protect you and any children we have with everything I have, just because you weren't awake to hear it doesn't mean that I won't keep it. We're going to make it through this… or at least you will, I still stand by the statement that Dean will kill me once we tell him."
His last comment made Ana chuckled through the tears and she placed a gentle hand against his cheek, "He can't get too mad, I did make it past eighteen unlike he did." she pointed out, taking in a deep breath in attempt to calm herself down. "You sure we're going to make it through this?"
Connor slowly stood up, a soft smile on his lips once he reached his full height, "We've faced a Knight of Hell together, went up against the largest gathering of supernatural beings I've ever seen, and your soul literally just got back from Hell. I think we can handle being parents."
"We're going to have to tell everyone." Ana sighed as she shook her head, "Can we not and say we did? It will be another few months before I can't hide the bump with a sweater." Her worst fear had always been being a disappointment in the eyes of those she loved and now that she was nineteen, on the verge of twenty and already carrying a child she could only imagine that disappointment was the only reaction they would get.
"Hiding it probably wouldn't be the smartest choice, Red." He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, glad that she had stopped crying and seemed to be on the same page as him about the situation. "I think we should rip it off like a band aid. We'll head back to the bunker and tell everyone there now, then we can tell everyone else tomorrow."
Ana nodded, knowing that Connor would lend her his strength as he had so many times before and be by her side while they informed their family of the news. Either way, admitting it to her father wasn't going to be an easy task. "Alright, let's get this over with."
"You sure you're ready? We can wait a couple of more minutes." He offered, knowing that she wasn't actually ready for their task.
"No, I'm not ready, but if we don't do this now I'm going to lose my nerve." With a soft smile, she grabbed his hand and teleported the both of them back to the bunker, just outside of the library which was filled with everyone as it had been when Ana had woke up not long ago.
-A-
Dean had been instantly confused and worried once Ana and Connor had teleported out of the bunker. Part of him was worried that Connor had done something to upset her, but as he calmed down while he made his way toward the kitchen where he had been headed before he'd run into Ana, he knew that it was pretty unlikely for that to happen. His best guess was that it was something to do with her time in Hell, but that made him more worried. There was no way he could even imagine what it had been like for her, he and Sam had both experienced Hell in a much different way. Sighing, he grabbed himself a beer and made his way back to the library, not entirely sure he was ready to jump back into all of the outrageous ideas Charlie was throwing out for the proposal, but there was really no point in avoiding it. Once he was back in his seat, he focused his attention back on the topic of discussion which had thankfully passed from Charlie's plan to overtake any idea Connor had in his mind about how he was going to ask Ana to marry him to how good it was to have their Ana back and how Hell must have been for her.
"She'll be okay." Kellen spoke as Dean caught the sudden appearance of both witches out of the corner of his eye. "Ana's always been tough, she can handle anything."
"Speak of the witch." Dean interrupted before Kellen could speak much further, "You guys alright?" He questioned as he actually looked at his daughter and how Connor stood next to her, a protective arm around her shoulders. Her eyes were red, redder than they were when they had left which meant that she had continued to cry once they got to wherever the couple did their talking. Dean was about to repeat the question when Connor ushered Ana into the room and something about the way both of them looked made him think something was wrong. "What's going on guys?"
"We have some news." Connor started, looking to Ana for her to fill them in. Though he had been part of the reason they were in this situation, he felt like it was mostly her news to tell.
Charlie's eyes widened, "You proposed already didn't you?! I had the greatest plan too!" she groaned, upset that none of her ideas were going to come to fruition.
"What?!" Ana squeaked, eyes growing wide as she spun to look at Connor, "You plan on proposing to me?!"
Connor sighed, "Thanks Charlie." he muttered, knowing that Ana would quickly use this as a distraction so that they wouldn't have to talk about their real news. "Yes, but that's not what's important right now." he gave her a pointed look.
Dean watched the two witches, waiting for one of them to say something, "Well if he didn't propose, what's going on?" He pushed, wanting to know what could have Ana looking so worried if it wasn't the two of them being engaged.
I can't. Ana sent Connor through their bond, shaking her head as she did. They were going to be disappointed, Dean would be angry, and they would treat her differently. It was all bound to go bad once they knew.
"Ana's pregnant." Connor spoke clearly, his eyes not leaving her's. They have to know. They love you. He spoke to her before turning his attention to the shocked expressions of those in the room, "We're going to be parents."
All at once it seemed that all eyes were on Dean, everyone waiting for him to react in anyway, but he just sat in shock. Twice in one day he was speechless about the things happening in his daughter's life, a daughter he had barely known two years and here she was about to have a kid of her own and marry her soulmate. She was still so young, her twentieth birthday just a couple of months away, moving through life at such a fast pace. He wished he could make things slow down for her, having grown up quickly himself all he wanted was for Ana to be able to be young for just a while longer. That seemed impossible though and now they were going to have an addition to their already growing family.
Ana could see the wheels turning in her father's head, watching as his thoughts took all of his attention and he just looked at her. "Dad?" she questioned, knowing that everyone else was waiting for him to react before they said anything themselves.
"How did you find out?" He questioned, assuming that she didn't have time to take a test between waking up earlier and joining the rest of them. Of course there was always the possibility that she knew before her soul was separated from her body, but he figured that something would have happened by now to tip off her secret.
"Crowley." She answered with a sigh, "He mentioned it while I was in his throne room, fighting for my body. He made the comment that I should track my body down before it hurt my unborn child."
Dean nodded, slowly standing up from his chair, he always thought better on his feet. "Are you sure he was telling the truth? Crowley isn't below lying to get kicks out of a situation." Part of him hoped that the demon had lied, that he just wanted to mess with Ana while she was already having a rough time, but something in his gut was telling him that Crowley had told the truth.
There was the sound of wings moving through air, signalling the appearance of both Castiel and Gabriel just behind Dean. "What Crowley said is true." Cas spoke, eyes focused on Ana as he continued. "When you fell after your soul was placed back into your body I checked to make sure that you were unharmed and felt the child. So far everything seems to be going along the right path, she was perfectly healthy when I checked on her while you were unconscious."
"It's a girl?" Ana asked, placing a hand to her flat stomach, not entirely sure how to take that news.
Gabriel smiled, "Of course it's a girl, the Good line has only produced girls for years, what would make your child any different?" he asked, understanding that the witch was in shock and probably scared out of her pants at the thought of being a parent right now. Though at the beginning he hadn't been pleased by the concept of man, he now knew that many things could come out of his Father's creation and while he thought the entire birthing process was a little much, a woman creating life was a beautiful thing. The angel stopped, he had to spend less time around these damn people, they were making him all touchy-feely. Gabe shuddered at the thought and waited for Ana to answer him.
She shrugged, "I just assumed that if we ever had kids that the Winchester gene would win out and I'd have a boy on my hands." Ana looked up at her dad with a soft smile, being able to imagine her own daughter wrapping the gruff man around her little finger.
"You're pregnant." Dean said the words slowly, letting them sink in as he walked over to his daughter.
"And that's just the beginning of what's to come, bucko." Gabriel spoke up, pulling everyone's attention to him. "The meeting we had with Dad was very informative. Apparently the reason you're even with child right now is because things have changed on the playing field."
Ana felt dread fill her system, of course what small amount of joy she felt toward the growing child in her womb would be destroyed by the fact that said child was only there because something had gone wrong. "What exactly has changed?"
Castiel looked at everyone, things had just gotten better for his wayward family and now they were about to fall toward the worse. "Our Father has found the one who started the spark that ignited the flame of the idea to release our brothers. Unlike we had thought the source is an angel not a demon."
"Which angel?" Dean demanded, fed up with having to deal with those prick angels, at least he knew he had two he could trust.
Gabe huffed a dramatic sigh and moved to sit down in a chair at the table, "Gadreel. Though he's not the brightest angel there ever was, he is dead set on his mission to release Michael and Lucifer."
"What does Ana being pregnant have to do with any of this?" Connor moved closer to his soulmate, feeling the need to protect her even now when they were surrounded by family.
"Let's just say that you're going to need the extra power boost that the kid is going to give you to finish off this one, Princess." He spoke to Ana, his eyes holding hers to gauge how she was taking this information. "If Dad is right about what he thinks is going to happen, which he normally is, we're going to need all of the help we can get."
