Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for all the wonderful feedback and love you all are giving this story. Thank you Shienna, DeanJo pairing, Hayley, Dhee, L and Guest/Readers!

Just a tiny time jump here to move the story along and I hope people enjoy the newest member of team I decided to come help the others out. Author's Note at the bottom.

Thank you all again and I hope you enjoy this next part!

Val

Chapter 9

Jo rolled over when she heard her son gurgling and smiled when she saw Dean standing over his crib. "Hey, when'd you get in?"

"Around a half hour ago," Dean said as he gently rubbed Tony's stomach. "See Rufus and Ellen are back too."

"Got in this morning," Jo told him as she sat up and watched the other hunter, "how did your hunt go?"

Dean leaned down and kissed the infant's forehead before turning towards Jo who patted the space next to her.

"It wasn't as simple as I thought it would be," he told her, not sure how she was going to react to what happened.

It had been three months since Sam's death, and they all had been hunting pretty much nonstop in teams of two. Dean had contacted his old hunting buddy Lee and was able to convince him to join the fight.

So, he was working jobs with Lee while Jo and Ellen usually worked with either Bobby or Rufus, but Jo or Ellen never were gone at the same time so one was always there with Tony along with one of the men.

Since the teams had started hunting down the demons that escaped when the gate opened, they had taken out six more demons in between other hunts.

This last trip went sideways fast. Dean decided to check out a storage unit his dad had to see if there was anything they could use to help in the war they were fighting.

He certainly never expected to find a friggin rabbit foot or that it would actually work. Then he met that bitch Bela but even that wasn't the worst. The worst was that Gordon Walker was back in their lives and not in a good way.

Tony's father had sent his buddies Kubrick and Creedy after Dean. He had told them about the special children and that Sam had been one. God help them he had convinced the other two men that the Winchesters and Jo had flipped sides and were helping the demons. That Sam sent Jo to seduce him and conceive the child that the demons would groom to be Lucifer's vessel.

Dean dreaded having to tell Jo this latest development. She had kept an open mind that if Gordon wanted some kind of relationship with his son she wouldn't stand in his way. She was determined not to be one of those single mothers who raised a child to believe their father was a bastard who ran out on them.

He understood why it was important to her, but Gordon Walker didn't deserve it. He was obviously deranged and delusional. He didn't have anything other than hatred towards an innocent baby that unfortunately had him for a father.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and looked at Jo. "I need to tell you something and you're not going to like it," he told her as he kicked off his boots before climbing onto the bed and sitting next to Jo.

Jo sat up straighter and looked at Dean, "okay," she said as she saw the way he kept looking over at Tony, causing a giant pit in her stomach.

She listened as Dean explained about Gordon's theory and that he sent Kurbrick and Creedy to hunt Dean down. She felt the bile rise in her throat when he told her that Gordon actually believes Jo used him to conceive Lucifer's vessel.

"How could I have completely misread him?" She said as she got out of bed and went over to her son. Her need to hold Tony was overwhelming.

"He played into your anger about your mother keeping our dad's part in your dad's death from you. Your anger at how not only your mom but me trying to control your life. Also, I doubt you had to seduce him, that's a freaking joke. Hunting together…the adrenaline rush…no big surprised you ended up in bed together."

"You and I didn't," Jo reminded him as she sat down on the bed next to Dean.

"Not because I didn't want you." He told her honestly, "that and no sooner did we finish the hunt…your mother showed up. No offense but your mother is a bit of a mood killer."

Jo couldn't help snicking at him as she laid her cheek on top of Tony's head. "How is it possible that the worst mistake I ever made gave me this incredible gift?" She asked as she kissed her son.

"Jo don't do that to yourself. I mean you have tried to stay opened minded about Gordon. You were willing to let him have a place in your son's life if he wanted one. Sadly, that will never happen but that isn't your fault. You're a good mother…don't ever doubt that."

Jo stared up into Dean's eyes and whispered, "thank you."

He gave her a reassuring smile as he shifted to stand up. He stopped when he felt Jo's hand rest on his arm. "Jo?"

"Don't go. I've missed you…we haven't seen each other in almost three weeks. Stay here…please." She said softly.

Dean swallowed as he looked into Jo's eyes. They had been taken it slow like she wanted, and he had to admit he was glad she had insisted they did because they've grown closer every day and their relationship just got stronger and stronger.

He loved the woman next to him and he could see the future his brother longed for him to embrace. He was terrified of screwing up what they had built since the night him, and Sammy walked back into the Roadhouse…back into Jo's life.

Jo smiled as she saw the conflict in his eyes and knew what he was thinking. "Hey," she whispered. "You know things are good between us, right? That we've moved past what happened when Gabriel came to us? You know that I know you would never hurt me or Tony?"

"Never," he told her.

"Then stay," she urged.

He nodded his head as he stood up, "I just need to hit the head." He told her as she got up too so that she could change Tony's diaper before laying him back down in his crib while Dean went to use the bathroom. She was just getting back into bed when Dean joined her.

"I can't believe he's sleeping through the night," he said as he shucked his jeans and flannel shirt before he got into bed next to Jo.

"Didn't even wake up when I changed him," she told him.

"So, he's a heavy sleeper?" Dean asked as Jo snuggled against him.

Yawning Jo nodded her head slightly, "he is but I wouldn't test it with making a lot of noise." She told him as she entwined her hand with his.

"Right," Dean said as he realized what she was actually saying.

"Mom thinks it's time I move him to his own room. Bobby suggested we turn the room you've been staying in into a nursery for him." She said, looking up to see Dean's expression at this idea.

"If that became the nursery, where would I stay then?"

Jo smiled, "I guess you and I would have to share…or you could bunk with my mom."

Dean pretended to think about his options, "I don't know…you're a blanket hog."

Jo snorted, "and you snore like a freight train."

"Jo, are you sure about this? I know what I just told you…"

"Dean…stop. Look around the room." Jo urged.

The hunter stopped and let his eyes actually look around the room and smiled. He saw that the toys and stuff animals that were usually scattered about were in several baskets close to the door. That's when he saw his spare boots by the closet door that was open enough that he could see his shirts hanging in there.

Then he saw it on the wall across from the bed. A collage frame with FAMILY written across the top with some of the photos that him and Sam had taken when they had gone back to Lawrence last year.

"Jo?"

"Nothing you just told me has anything to do with me wanting to move forward with you. I meant it before when I told you that I love you Dean. You've been amazing about us taking it slow but Dean I'm ready to start building a real life with you."

Dean smiled as he wrapped his arms around Jo, holding her as close as possible. "Then I vote we take a pass on the next couple of hunts that come our way and we do up Tony's room right."

"Do you think we can really do that?" Jo asked. She wanted nothing more than to have some serious time with Dean, Tony, and their family together instead of a day here or there like the past three months.

"Yeah, I do. We've all been running nonstop with little down time. I think this is the first time since Gabriel came and told us everything that we've all been together. It'll be good for all of us to recharge our batteries."

"Then I guess we should get some sleep because when I tell my mom about the nursery, she's going to go into drill sergeant mode. I see painting in our future."

Dean laughed as he kissed the top of Jo's head. "You know I can't think of anything else I would rather do?"

Jo turned so that she could look up at Dean and gave him a naughty grin and teased, "really…Dean Winchester can't think of anything else he would like to do?"

"Well, anything that wouldn't possibly scar Tony for life." He said as he leaned down and kissed Jo.

Soon both were breathing heavy as Dean gently rolled them so that he was laying on top of Jo. "Ohh," Jo panted as Dean began nibbling on her earlobe. Dean rested his head on Jo's shoulder and chuckle when Tony decided he wanted some attention and let out a loud cry.

"Guess he's not as heavy of a sleeper than you thought," he said as he rolled off of Jo and got out of bed to check on the infant. "Hey Little Man, what's wrong?"

Jo rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand and smiled as Dean lifted Tony up and cradle him in his arms, swinging him gently before wrinkling his nose. "Don't think he's gonna sleep through this diaper change."

Jo laughed, "I swear he waits until he's in a clean diaper." She told him as he laid the infant on the changing table.

"Oh, do you…you little stinker." He cooed as he unsnapped the infant's sleeper.

Jo watched Dean with her son. She may have been wrong about Gordon and the type of man she thought he was, but she didn't have a single doubt about Dean. She knew he was a good man who truly cares about her and her son. Maybe Dean wasn't the only one who could see a real future for them.

SPNSPNSPN

Bobby looked around his living room. Once Dean and Jo decided to turn the room the boys had always used into a nursery the makeover extended to the other bedrooms and the first floor.

Well, he had told Jo after Tony was born that this was their home now and he didn't want to hear any crap about it being temporary either.

After the past two years now more than ever they all needed the rag tag family they had formed, and his home was now all their home for as long as they needed it to be.

"Where the Hell all my research books?" He asked the two women.

"Turned that dining room you never use into a makeshift library so stop your bitching," Ellen told her old friend good-naturedly.

"Sorry Bobby, it was my idea. Things were getting tight when we set up Tony's bassinet and bouncy chair down here. We don't use the dining room, so we put the books in there." Jo said as she rocked Tony slightly in her arms.

The older hunter sighed in defeat as Jo gently lifted Tony's hand and had him 'wave' to his Uncle Bobby. "Fine," he huffed.

Jo grinned at Bobby, "trust me, I think you'll like it when we're done. We're going to make it a legit library for us."

"It better," he told the young mother as he stomped towards the kitchen. "I've got a tow for a buddy next state over. I should be back in time for supper. When I get back this make over better be done."

"You'll love it!" Jo said before hurrying towards the stairs once Bobby left and called up, "Dean…Lee can you guys do me a favor?"

SPNSPNSPN

Bobby cut the engine of his tow truck before he jumped down and stretched to work the kinks out in his lower back as he headed into the house.

He stopped when he came into the kitchen, and he smelled something simmering on the stove. "You made it," Rufus said as he lifted the lid off the pot and stirred the contents inside.

"You cooked?"

"Shrimp étouffée with andouille sausage," the other man said as Ellen walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, good you're here. Jo and the boys just finished if you want to go in and check out what they did before we eat." She said as she began to set the table.

"I'll check it out. I'm just gonna go wash up first." He told her as he headed upstairs to the bathroom to hit the head and wash the grease off his hands and face.

Fifteen minutes later Bobby had scrubbed all the grease off and had put on a clean pair of trousers and shirt that he had grabbed before coming upstairs.

Jo and Ellen never said anything, but he knew they weren't crazy about him or Dean holding Tony after they worked on a car due to the grease and gasoline. Of course, the little bugger always gave him that 'pick me up and cuddle me' baby smile that sucked him in.

He made his way back downstairs and braced himself for the inevitable. In a little over a week the six hunters had scrubbed all the floors, stripped the dingy old wallpaper that ran through most of the first floor and hung paintable wallpaper so now most the rooms were painted various shades of cream or pale yellow that actually brighten up the place more than he could have imagined.

Thankfully the sigils that Gabriel reinforced were seared into the floors, ceiling and all the doorways and window casing. He also agreed with Dean, and they added salt to all the paint too as an added extra step in protecting their home.

He smiled to himself when he thought about how Jo had pulled him aside the second day into the makeover and had ask if they could go on a little shopping trip together. So, Jo and Tony had helped him pick out an armoire and a daybed that looked like an actual sofa for his den.

The two of them had spent a whole day cleaning and setting up the den that had been a pseudo bedroom since his wife died into a more comfortable room for the older man.

He knew the others wanted to show their appreciation and that by giving his den and now the defunct dining room a new purpose was how they could do that. Taking a deep breath, he crossed the hallway and slid the pocket doors open.

He gaped at the sight before him. While he was gone the boys had removed the old dining room table, he hadn't been able to sit at since his Karen died. They had set up floor to ceiling bookcases and two desks facing each other. He smiled when he saw two leather armchairs too.

Jo turned from where she was finishing polishing the end table between the chairs. "Oh, there you are. What do you think?" She asked as Dean and Lee turned from where they were putting some of his research books into the bookcases.

"Ain't too bad," he admitted gruffly.

"Damn, that's like a five-star review." Dean teased.

"Shut it you idjet." Bobby grumbled before a sound caught his attention in the corner and he looked down to see Tony was currently laying in his car seat carrier playing happily with his feet.

"Do you like the chairs?" Jo asked.

"Jo found an ad in the paper a few days ago. An old lawyer who recently retired was clearing out his office and was practically giving his furniture away so we took Lee's truck to pick up the bookcases and desks. He threw in the chairs."

"So?" Jo said as she looked at Bobby.

"It looks really good," the older man told her.

Jo beam at the compliment as she threw her arms around Bobby's neck and hugged him. "I was afraid you'd hate it," she confessed.

"Hey, you three, are joining us for supper?" Ellen asked as she came into the new library.

"Don't know about them but Tony and I are coming. I'm starving and could use a beer." Dean said as he went over and grabbed the handle of the car seat carrier. "Come on Little Man…what's that you say." Dean jokingly asked the infant as he leaned down pretending that Tony was speaking to him. "You wouldn't say no to a bottle either."

Jo rolled her eyes, "very funny."

Bobby snorted as he followed Jo toward the kitchen. "You sure you want that idjet?"

Jo snickered when her mother chortled at Bobby's question. "Yup, I'm sure."

The party made their way into the kitchen where Rufus was putting the pot on the table. "It's about time," the other man said.

"Rufus, it smells amazing," Jo said as she sat down next to Dean who had put Tony's carrier between then.

The makeshift family ate a noisy dinner as they argued the best way to battle the demons that escaped when the Hellgate was opened.

"I'm just saying we need to get more hunters working the demons. They need to be dealt with." Lee said.

Bobby nodded his head, "I've been getting the word out but it's still slow going."

Dean shook his head as he bent down and lifted Tony up so that he could feed him the bottle Jo just finished making. "Yeah, after Jo got the first group the others seemed to have gone off the grid and they're getting harder and harder to track."

Jo sighed, "too bad we have to track them down one by one."

"Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to gather together someplace where so you can recite the exorcism over a loudspeaker." Rufus teased.

Jo smiled at the other hunter, "could you imagine if Ash were here? He'd probably hack into the EAS and play a recording of the rite of exorcism."

Dean snorted, "that'd be one way of getting them. Unfortunately, none of us have the hacking skills to pull something like that off." He told her with a grin before adding, "but I like the way you think."

Bobby stared at the two of them. "That is the craziest idea I've ever heard…so crazy it could probably work."

"Yeah, except we don't have anyone who could execute it." Lee reminded him.

Rufus looked at his old friend and groaned when he saw the look in the other man's eyes, "no…no way man. You can't even be thinking about calling that nut job."

Dean looked up from feeding Tony and saw the way the two men were holding a silent conversation. "Okay…either one of you want to tell us what you two are talking about."

Rufus dropped his spoon into his bowl as he glared at Bobby. "He's a maniac…actually he's an asshole and a maniac!"

"He's a genius…and an asshole," Bobby conceded.

Jo gaped at the two men, "wait…are you saying you know somebody who could actually hack the EAS?"

Dean, Jo, Lee, and Ellen stared at the other two hunters. "Oh shit, you do know somebody who could do it don't you? You know somebody who could hack in and play the damn exorcism and knock out a bunch of these bastards in one fell swoop." Ellen said.

Lee swallowed as he asked, "could it really work?"

"Theoretically it should. Jo's already proven you don't need to say the rite face to face." Bobby told him.

"Yeah, but could we even get the message out there completely before it was pulled?" Dean asked as he exchanged a look with the others. It wasn't going win the war, but it would definitely put them on a more even playing ground.

"We could speed up the recording," Lee suggested.

"Would that even work?" Jo asked as she looked down at her son nestled in Dean's arms.

"Look you all aren't hearing where I said he's an asshole and a maniac?" Rufus said to the others.

"I know you two don't get along…" Bobby argued.

"No…no," Rufus argued. "This isn't about us not getting along. He's unpredictable and unreliable. The wind could blow the wrong way and he might just abandon his end of the job. Just like he did in Baltimore."

"Come on Rufus...I get your concerns but if we could pull this off it would be a big check mark in the win column for us." Dean countered.

"You don't think I know that!" The other man said heatedly.

"Calm down you two," Ellen said as she saw the way her grandson began to fuss as their voices gradually got louder. "Now if there's a chance this could actually work then we need to take it because those bastards are never coming after my grandbaby ever again."

Rufus sighed as he nodded his head. He knew Ellen and Jo tried to keep up a brave face, but they were both worried that the demons would go after Tony at some point because Dean didn't make the deal. "Fine," he agreed begrudgingly.

Jo chewed on her lower lip, "we still don't know if we could record the rite and speed, it up if it would work."

"There's only one way to know for sure," Bobby said. "We test it."

"How are we going to do that?" Jo asked.

The other hunters all nodded their heads in agreement as Dean lifted Tony, resting him against his shoulder and began to pat his back and smirked when the infant gave him a loud burp before looking at Jo. "We capture one of those bastards and try it out. What do you say Sweetheart, feel like trapping a demon with me?"

"Awww you really do know how to make a girl feel special." She teased.

TBC

Author's Note: ok I'm not a tech person and completely making up this stuff about hacking into EAS. I tried researching it a little but honestly didn't think it was such a great idea to goggle 'how to hack the EAS in the US'.