Thank you JenniferC16 for such sweet feedback! I really appreciate it! I hope people enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 4

"Are you sure you don't want to hold her since you're the one who protected us so that she could be born." She asked gently.

"I can't Jo. I'm afraid if I did I wouldn't be able to let her go." He confessed.

Jo sighed. "Gabriel, you know I love you."

"I know. Just not the way I love you."

Jo snuggled Amelie to her chest with one arm as she reached out to the angel with the other. "I'm sorry that I'm hurting you. That is the last thing I want."

"You're already falling in love with him." He murmured.

"I..." Jo didn't know how to explain her feelings. She barely understood them. "I'm not ready to be in love with him or any man. I've barely have had time to mourn my Dean. Not to mention my John and Sammy. Right now Amelie is my life."

Gabriel smiled sadly. "Just because you need time doesn't mean it isn't happening."

"I've told him I'm not ready."

"Yet he is already becoming entrenched in Amelie's well being."

"Isn't it a good thing he wants to help care for her?"

Gabriel sat down. "It is." He admitted as he looked down at his hands.

"You're leaving aren't you?" Jo asked as she let the tears fall, her heart breaking at hurting the angel in front of her.

"I'm sorry Jo. I don't belong here."

"That's not true. You're family Gabriel."

"Darling, you're the only one who feels that way. My own brother doesn't even see me that way."

"Well you're mine and Amelie's family. I don't want you to leave." She told him sincerely.

He gave her a small smile and decided she needed to know how her and Dean could be vital to win the fight against his father. "As much as I hate to admit it, what's happening between you and Dean may be part of how we take out the old man Jo."

She stared at him in shock. "That's not possible...why would our feelings matter?"

"Because for once this Dean and Sam both plan to put you and Amelie first instead of each other. This is the one version of their lives the old man never imagined. That's why they were his favorites because they never let anyone else come first, it was always each other."

"Why would Sam put us first?" She asked. This all seemed surreal to her.

Gabriel gave her a small smile. "He loves his brother and knows that you and the baby are his heart desire. That he didn't take his chance to be in love with their Jo because of him. He's watched his brother become a functioning alcoholic all these years and knows how things could have been different for Dean if he had gone back to her after Duluth and confessed he was in love with her."

"I'm not saying there isn't a connection between us Gabriel but you and Dean keep saying we're falling in love but I think you both are putting the cart before the horse. Dean's seems more in love with the idea of what I offer him than with me. We barely know each other."

He nodded his head. "You're right but you will grow closer as you both care for Amelie together." Sighing he stood up. "I need to go, Castiel is on his way back to stay with you until Dean comes back."

"Don't leave, I'll speak to them and..." She urged.

"Jo, please I need to leave. You and Dean need to be able to follow where your hearts will eventually take you both and I can't be a distraction and that's what would happen."

"Don't I have a say in this or are you and this Dean making all the decisions for me now?" She said annoyingly.

"He'll take care of you both. You know it's what your Dean would want. You and Amelie being protected."

"I know." She whispered. Her husband had instructed her to listen to Gabriel. That he would give her the guidance she needed.

Gabriel grinned before he leaned down and cupped her cheek. "I love you Jo." He murmured as he kissed her forehead before straightening and vanished before her eyes.

Jo sobbed as she cradled Amelie who had also begun to cry. "Shhh...Mama sorry she upset you." She whispered as she placed butterfly kisses on the infant's cheeks.

"Joanna, how can I help?" Castiel asked as he stood in the doorway.

Jo looked up at the other angel angrily. "He is the only one that actually knows me. Me! He doesn't see me as 'other dimension Jo'. He has been with me every step. He swore to my husband before he died to protect me and find me a safe haven to deliver our child. You and Dean forced him to leave me. Dean because he felt threatened by our relationship and you because you want to hold an old grudge against your brother."

Castiel stared at the woman. "Joanna..."

"Don't...just leave. Call Dean and tell him not to come back...I don't want to see him now." She told him as she reached for the call button to call for a nurse.

He ducked his head as he left the room listening to her crying softly as she murmured words of love to her child. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and broke the news to Dean.

SPNSPNSPN

Dean ended the call with Cas as Sammy came over with and armful of onesies, baby clothes and booties in various shades of pink and purple.

"Ok I don't care if you call me Samantha but I'm having fun buying this baby stuff." He said with a grin as he put everything in the second wagon. They were going to have to split up to check out with everything they had in the wagons.

"Well I think we have everything. Let's go pay and head back to the bunker to set up the nursery." Dean said as he shoved his phone into his back pocket.

Sam looked at his brother and saw the look of hurt on his face. "Well you can help me bring everything in but I'll be fine to put the stuff together so that you can head back to the hospital."

"I'm not going back. Let's go." Dean told him.

Sam reached out and grabbed his brother's arm. "What happened?"

Dean sighed. "She's pissed at me and Cas about Gabriel leaving."

"Dean contact Cas and have him find Gabriel and then go to the hospital and apologize to Jo."

"Not happening...she'll get over this and then we can move on." He said stubbornly.

"Dean try looking at this from her perspective. Up to three weeks ago she was happily married to her husband. They had an 18 year relationship. They actually grew up together. They shared their hopes and dreams. They experienced the joy of having a child and then they mourned the loss of that child together. I can only imagine how strong their bond was after that. Then three weeks ago everything changed for them and one by one she lost the last of her family. Then the angel her husband entrusted to save his wife and unborn child manages to get her here. You may not like it but Gabriel is important to Jo. He saved her and she loves him. You took away the last person from her dimension that she loves Dean. How do you expect her to feel?"

"He's in love with her. What? You just want me to stand by and watch him try to win her over." He snapped in frustration. "She's my destiny and I'm not about to share her with him." He said as he began pushing the cart towards the front of the store.

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock at his brother's outburst. "Dean do you hear yourself.? You sound like a toddler who doesn't want to share his favorite toy." He said as he forced Dean to stop walking and pay attention to what he was saying. "You need to slow down dude or you'll lose her before you have a real chance with her. She isn't going to let you control her any more than our Jo would have let you."

Dean took several deep breaths knowing that Sammy was right and that he was just being stubborn. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. "Cas, do me a favor and track Gabriel down...because Jo needs him here that's why...yes I'm sure. I'm gonna have Sammy drop me at the hospital...when you find him you both head back to the bunker to help Sammy set up the nursery...yeah thanks."

Sam smile at the other man. "You're doing the right thing."

"I hope you're right about this. Let's haul ass so you can drop me off and I can grovel for forgiveness."

"Hey...she's worth it Dean. You just need to be patient."

"Well we both know how great I am at being patient."

"Dean, I know you said earlier that you told her that you knew she needed time but you do understand it could be a while before she's ready to move on. Not just a few weeks, she may need months or even a year."

The older hunter looked at his brother in shock. "You really think that?"

"What did you think would happen. We would get her and the baby back in the bunker and after a month or so you two would just be together."

Dean blushed because that was exactly what he thought. "Look Cas said she was already falling in love with me."

"Subconsciously maybe but emotionally she isn't ready to move on Dean."

"Great what about Chuck then?"

"I have a feeling the fact that you being so open to the possibilities of wanting a life with Jo is what matters...not you two falling into each other arms or into bed." He told his brother knowing that having a physical relationship with Jo would be front and center in Dean's mind.

Dean let Sam's words wash over him as he looked down at everything in the wagons and nodded his head in understanding. "You're right and I get what you're saying and I'll keep that in mind. Come on let's go. Oh by the way Samantha did you get enough pink?"

"Told you, don't care." Sam chuckled as he followed Dean towards the checkout.

SPNSPNSPN

Jo sighed as she looked out her window. The nurse had taken Amelie back to the nursery so that she could rest before her next feeding.

They were surprised when Jo told them her husband wasn't going to be back tonight to help take care of the baby. Jo was truly upset about that because it meant the baby would stay in the nursery since she couldn't get up on her own to pick Amelie up and change her diapers. She had been so happy originally when Dean was gonna stay with them so that Amelie would be in the room overnight.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the sounds of footsteps enter her room. Looking up she swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Dean walking in.

"I don't want you here." She told him firmly.

"Can I at least come in and apologize?"

"Do you think an 'I'm sorry' is going to make everything better between us?"

He made his way over to stand beside her. "No but I'm hoping it's a start. That and asking Cas to find Gabriel and ask him to come back to the bunker. We had no right to make him feel he wasn't welcome."

Jo took a deep breath as she played with the top of the hospital blanket. "That's a start."

Dean reached out and gently lifted her hand in his. "Can you be patient with me Jo? I know I'm probably making you feel like I'm pushing things between us and I'm sorry about that too. It's just that I haven't been truly hopeful about any part of my personal life since before my Dad died and the thought that we could make a life together is a miracle to me and I'm pretty anxious about it." He explained seriously.

"Dean," Jo sighed as she squeezed his hand. "How about we try being friends, get to know each other and move on when it really feels right for both of us."

"I think I would like that." He told her before asking hopefully. "Let me stay with you and Amelie tonight. Let me help take care of her instead of her being in the maternity ward nursery."

Jo chewed on her lower lip. "I want to say yes..."

"Then say yes." He begged. "Let me be a friend and help take care of Amelie. "

"Alright." She agreed.

Dean smiled. He knew it was a small step but a small step in the right direction. The silence was broken by the sound of his cell phone. He grabbed the phone and quickly answered it when he saw Cas's name and put him on speaker.

"Hey Cas, I'm with Jo and you're on speaker. Did you find him?"

"I did, he is here with me. He would like to speak to Joanna."

"I'm here Gabriel." Jo said.

"Can you take me off speaker and give the phone to Jo." Gabriel's asked.

Dean pushed the speaker button on his phone as he handed it to Jo. "I'll go and tell the nurses that I'm able to stay." He said as he headed out of the room to give her some privacy.

SPNSPNSPN

Dean stood at her door and took a deep breath before entering. He kept reminding himself he had to give Jo the space she needed and to be supportive of her friendship with Gabriel.

He knocked lightly before opening the door. "Is it alright if I come back in?"

Jo nodded her head as she held his phone out for him. "He said he needed time." She explained sadly.

"I'm sorry Jo. I didn't mean to hurt your friendship with Gabriel."

"He said I should keep my heart open." She told him.

He could see the anxiety written on her face and sat down next to her bed. "Look let's just focus on being friends like we said earlier. I'll talk to Cas and tell him that we will make our own destiny in our on time and to tell Gabriel not to stay away because your friendship is just as important to you."

"Thank you for saying that but if I was being honest, I know it's not you and me that Gabriel is distancing himself from. It's me. We had known for months that he was drawn to me but he respected Dean and our marriage but these last few weeks I've been so clingy. I think he felt that he and I...well you know. I gave him false hope."

"Hey," he said interrupting her. "All things considered I think you handled everything pretty amazingly and that includes dealing with me being a complete asshole to you."

Jo opened her mouth to reply to Dean but stopped when the door opened and the nurse came in pushing the portable crib her baby girl was currently sleeping in.

"Somebody wanted to see her Mommy and Daddy." The nurse named Susan said with a smile.

Dean grinned down at the infant. "Hey sleepy head." He said as he reached into the crib and gently lifted Amelie up and cuddled her to his chest. He chuckled when the little bundle in his arms yawned as she tried to open her eyes.

"Jo it's time for a feeding. Do you want to try nursing her or do you want me to make a bottle?

Jo couldn't keep the smile off her face as she watched the silly faces Dean was making at her daughter. "I would like to try nursing her again."

"Now you be nice to your Mama." He whispered as he brought her over to Jo.

He stood back not sure if he should leave the room but realized it might look strange to the nurse that a husband would leave to give his wife privacy to nurse their baby.

"How's Mama's girl?" Jo asked as she loosen her gown so that she could lower it as she guided Amelie to her breast. It took her a few minutes and just when she thought they would need a bottle after all when she felt her daughter nuzzle her breast and slowly latched onto her nipple.

She grinned when she felt the sensation of her daughter suckling. "There you go." She murmured as she kissed the top of her head.

"Well I guess she figured it out." Susan said with a soft chuckle as she updated the whiteboard with the time of this feeding. "I'm going to give you and your husband some bonding time and will be back in a bit."

"Thank you," Dean said as he watched Amelie. He looked up at Jo in wonderment and said. "I hope it's okay for me to say this but you nursing her is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Jo smiled. "It's fine."

Dean sat down and sighed contentedly and said. "Thank you for letting me be part of this."

Jo looked up. "Wait until you change her diaper for the first time and you see that meconium poop."

"Meconium?" He asked.

"Oh you'll see." She reassured him with a smirk.

"Why do I feel like I should be worried?"

Jo laughed at the look on Dean's face as she slowly move Amelie to her other breast.