Chapter 56

Jessie's head was much clearer by the time she returned to the motel. Before she decided to go inside, she noticed the Impala was parked nearby. She hadn't expected Dean to be back so soon, but she had to imagine that Sam had called him. Now she knew she was in trouble. She may have been able to fool Sam, but fooling both of them was going to be more difficult. She was beginning to think staying with the Winchesters during her pregnancy was going to be even more difficult than she had originally imagined.

She stopped at the door to listen as soon as she heard raised voices. Normally she wouldn't eavesdrop, but after all the things she'd done lately, this didn't seem so bad.

"Are you crazy, Sam?!" she heard Dean yell. "You let her go off alone after what happened last night?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Tie her down or something! I don't know!"

"Why do you care so much, Dean? She's my responsibility"

"Yeah, and you're my responsibility, Sam. Which makes her mine as well."

She sighed, pulling herself away from the door. She couldn't allow them to continue arguing about her, so she quickly entered the motel room to interrupt them before they had a chance to say anything else to each other.

"I told you I'd be back in fifteen," she said as she closed the door behind her.

Both men gazed at her with surprise.

"You can tell time. You deserve a prize," Dean said with sarcasm.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes, instead deciding just to bite the bullet. She swallowed hard, hoping they wouldn't suspect anything.

"I'm sorry for taking off but I needed to cool down."

"We get that," he replied. "But what we don't get is what got you so pissed off in the first place."

She knew why, but she couldn't exactly tell them the whole truth. She had to tell them the most likely and believable story and hope they believed it. At least it would be the truth, if only part of it.

"Dean, you weren't here so I don't know why I'm gonna explain myself to you," she replied.

"But you are going to explain yourself?"

She shot Sam an apologetic glance before turning her attention back to his brother.

"I know you've been around the block a few more times than I have, Dean, so I can't expect you to understand."

"So this was all about last night?"

She snorted in disbelief. "I killed someone last night, Dean. A hunter. In cold blood."

"You were saving your life," he interrupted.

"That may be, but I'm not exactly dealing with it very well," she replied, glancing away for a moment. "And do you know what makes it worse?"

He asked, "what?" when she didn't respond right away. But she couldn't. She was fighting back a wave of emotions she didn't want to deal with. She wanted a beer, or ten. That was how she'd always dealt with things before. And now that she wasn't feeling the craving for demon blood, satisfying it only minutes before, she felt everything she was supposed to have been feeling and she knew it meant there were going to be tears, whether she liked it or not.

"What makes it worse is that I'll probably have to do it again," she finally said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Hunters don't give up, they don't quit, Dean. You know that better than anyone."

"We just have to convince them they're wrong."

"Right. That'll happen," she replied with sarcasm. "Hell, why not? Why not play devil's advocate? Let's say you're right and they quit hunting me. What's gonna stop the demons? Are they just gonna give up? And the angels? Do you think they're just gonna say, oh sure your son is powerful but we're sure you'll be able to handle it."

"Jessie—"

"No, Sam, I'm not done," she replied, nearly choking on tears. "This is all on top of everything else. I mean, being pregnant isn't exactly a picnic. My feet hurt. I have to pee all the time. It's hard to get comfortable sometimes. And the kicker?" she said, stopping for a moment to wipe tears from her face. "I'm emotional, but I don't have anyone to share my feelings with."

"Jess—"

"No!" she yelled at Sam, cutting him off again. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare say I can tell you how I'm feeling, because I can't. I can't just spew all my feelings out to someone, that's just not me. Even if that's how I feel, I can't do it. Especially with the two of you. Especially like this. You have no idea."

As soon as she was finished speaking, her hands went to her face, covering it in shame. She'd opened up and said almost everything she was feeling—leaving out the part about being a terrible mother—and now she felt raw and exposed. She just wanted to hide herself from the world.

Only moments later she felt a pair of arms wrap around her in an embrace. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that it wasn't Sam. She could tell by the not quite so familiar smell that it was Dean. She almost pulled away to seek out her husband's arms, but at that moment she felt comforted. It wasn't long before her sobbing subsided.

"I'm sorry, Jessie," Dean said gently as he loosened his grip on her. "I might not like talking feelings, but I don't want you to feel like you have to keep everything to yourself. If you need to talk..."

She pulled away slightly, smiling at him. "Thanks, Dean. It really means a lot to me—especially since I know you're squirming inside."

"Yeah, well, I mean it," he said with conviction. "No more holding it in until you explode. It can't be any good for the baby."

She gazed at him with a surprised look for a moment before smiling appreciatively.

"And now that things are under control, I guess I'll go and enjoy the rest of my night," he remarked, patting her arm supportively before sweeping from the room quickly.

She turned to look at Sam with a strange smile. "Same old, Dean."

"Yeah," he replied hesitantly.

"Are we okay, Sam?"

He approached her slowly, placing one hand around her waist, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jessie. I guess I've been pretty thoughtless lately."

"Sam—"

He placed his finger on her lips to hush her. "It's my turn to interrupt you," he said as he removed his finger from her lips. "I guess I sometimes forget that you're pregnant and it might be affecting you. I mean, you're strong. You walk, run and fight just like you always have, so, sometimes I don't realize you might be hurting."

"I do, Sam. I'm just not one to complain."

"I get that, Jess. But sometimes you need to tell me what's going on. Even if you don't want to."

"I can't promise you that. But I can promise to try."

He smiled and nodded, brushing hair from her face. "Now that it's settled, let's say we make the most of our evening alone."

She smiled. "I couldn't think of anything I'd like to do more."

It was around 2 a.m. when Jessie woke up. She thought at first it was because she needed to use the bathroom, but then she realized she was wide awake. She wasn't sure if it was because she'd napped earlier or another reason, but she didn't think she'd be going back to sleep any time soon.

While she was in the bathroom she had an epiphany. Something she hadn't thought to check before. Something she should've thought of, but she'd been too preoccupied with other things to notice. Upon leaving the bathroom, she headed to the kitchen table, took out her laptop and began some research.

It was only an hour later when Dean returned to the motel room. He looked like hell, but Jessie decided not to say anything. She really wanted to tease him, but after how nice he'd been earlier she gave him a pass, this one time. He didn't say much to her, he just wanted to go to bed, which is probably where he needed to be. He looked exhausted.

The sun was rising when Sam finally awakened. He rolled over to find the bed empty, which caused a momentary panic, until he rolled back over—with his eyes open this time—and saw Jessie sitting at the kitchen table.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she said with a bright smile as he approached her.

"Good morning to you, too," he said with a smile before leaning down to kiss her lightly. "What's all this?"

"I had a breakthrough in the case."

"Really? When?"

"While you were sleeping."

He gazed at her with concern. "How long have you been awake?"

She knew exactly how he was going to react, so for a moment she thought about lying to him. But besides feeling guilty, Dean knew she'd been up early. She didn't want to get caught lying to him for a stupid reason.

"About 2 a.m.," she replied nonchalantly.

His look of concern grew. "Maybe you should go back to bed."

She patted the chair beside her, indicating she wanted him to sit down. Once he did, she took his hand, placing it on her belly. "Even if I wanted to, this little guy has other ideas right now."

He smiled happily as he felt the baby kick his hand.

"I'll be fine, Sam. I'm wide awake," she assured him. "What I really need is coffee and some breakfast."

"I can do that," he said, immediately standing up and kissing her on the top of the head. "As soon as I get changed."

She was too wrapped up in her research to realize how quickly he had got himself ready to go out until he opened the door to leave. She barely had enough time to hollar at him to get Dean an extra coffee before he was gone. She figured the way he had looked when he had got back to the motel, he'd need it.

By the time Sam made it back with coffee and food, Dean was awake. He stumbled out of bed without a word to anyone, grabbed a coffee, drinking it with only one eye open.

"Rough night last night?" Sam asked his brother.

"Most fun I've had in a while," he replied with a grin.

"Well I hope you're ready to work now," Jessie said between sips of coffee. "I finally found something for us to do."

"A couple coffees and I'll be right as rain," he replied teasingly.

She rolled her eyes. "Just hurry up and wake up so we can get going."

"Go where?"

"To find an apartment," she replied tersely.

"What?!" the boys said in unison.

"I'll explain after I have breakfast," she grinned teasingly.

The men sat quietly waiting for her to explain once they'd all finished eating. She was busy on her laptop and continued to hush them while she was busy. The moment her gaze shifted from the screen and her hand moved from her mouse, both of them began asking her what was going on.

"Okay, long story short. I had an epiphany early this morning so I went back and did some research on the victims of this creature and I finally came up with a common denominator. They're all Roman Catholic."

The two men gazed at each other with confused looks.

"Oh my god! Are you two really that thick? After all this research?" she asked, sighing with exasperation. "The Caranioang Aswangs live as Roman Catholics, going to church every Sunday. It's our best bet on catching it."

"No. I got that," Sam said. "But what did you mean about finding an apartment?"

"To get close to this monster we're gonna have to start going to church and see if we can figure out who it is, since these things live as humans by day," she began to explain. "The best way to draw this thing to us is to have our own place to live, not living out of a motel."

"Draw this thing to us?" Sam said anxiously. "You mean use yourself as bait."

"We're not going through this again, Sam," she stated adamantly. "It's not like I'll be doing this alone, I'll have you two."

"She's got a point, Sammy."

He glared angrily at his brother for agreeing, although he knew they were both right. He knew all along she'd want to use herself as bait, but he didn't have to like it.

She gazed at him apologetically before continuing.

"Anyway, that's the reason the attacks have taken place all over town. It's not hunting close to its home. It's choosing its victims from the church it attends."

"And you're sure all the victims were from the same church? Even the dead ones?" Dean asked.

She nodded.

"How did you manage to track that info down?"

"Because I'm that good," she replied with a egomaniacal grin.

He rolled his eyes slightly. "Well, let's say we get the hell outta here," he said eagerly.

She smiled as she grabbed a stack of papers and headed out the door without so much as a backwards glance.

It was the third apartment they visited that Jessie was finally satisfied with. It was furnished, it was clean and the most important of all, it had two bedrooms. She needed their charade to look as real as possible, so Dean needed his own room.

The Winchesters seemed satisfied with the apartment as well, but she could sense something like apprehension. She wasn't sure if they were hesitant about the apartment or something else. But if she had to bet, she would say it was something else.

The three of them ended up spending the entire day settling in to their new place. They wanted it to look like it was lived in, like it was a permanent residence, not just somewhere to sleep. And by the end of the day they decided to turn in early so they could get an early start the next day.

Since it was only Saturday, there wasn't much they could do about the church, but Dean went to scope it out anyway, while Jessie and Sam went shopping—again. This time, she went shopping for some maternity clothes that would actually accentuate her pregnant belly. It was the last thing in the world she wanted to do, but she wanted to be noticed. In fact, she would—almost—rather die than get caught wearing some cutsie maternity outfit. But it was necessary.

When they got back to the apartment, Dean was in the kitchen busily putting groceries away in the fridge.

He turned as they entered the room with a huge grin on his face.

"You wanted it to look like we live here, right?"

She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I hope you aren't expecting me to do all the cooking?"

"Uh, no," he replied hesitantly.

She kept a serious look for a few more moments before chuckling in amusement. "You're so easy."

"Does this mean you're gonna do all the cooking?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh my god, Dean! Don't you know when to quit while you're ahead?" his brother said, before his wife had a chance to respond.

She chuckled. "It's okay, Sam. I'll cook. I'll just let him do all the errand running. Coffee. Food. Whatever else I might need."

"Hmmm, I think I got off easy," he replied with a grin.

She chuckled, leaning close to Sam and whispering, "When I send him out for ice cream at 2 a.m he won't think he got off so easily."

He chuckled shooting his brother a teasing glance.

"What? What did she say?"

"You should've quit while you were ahead, Dean," he said with a grin.

The couple laughed as they left the kitchen, leaving Dean confused and worried.

The two Winchesters were up early the next morning allowing Jessie to sleep in. Even deciding to cook breakfast for her. It was mainly Dean's idea, but he allowed Sam to take the credit after he'd seen the mood she was in, assuming it would make her happier that way. She wasn't so much irritable as she was annoyed by having to wear cutsie maternity clothes. And he couldn't blame her. He thought she looked kind of ridiculous. Of course he'd never say that to her face. Not if he wanted to live.

After breakfast, Jessie wanted to go through what they needed to be on the lookout for during the church service.

"I heard you the first hundred times, Jessie," Dean replied abesentmindedly while he was fixing his tie.

"Really, Dean?" she asked, adjusting her outfit with irritation. "Then explain it to me."

He sighed loudly. "We have to watch out for anyone who walks out during the transubstantiation."

"And what is the transubstantiation, Dean?"

He shot his brother a quizzical look, but he only shrugged in response.

"Dammit, Dean," she said with a disappointed sigh. "How the hell are we going to find this thing if you don't pay attention?"

"I was gonna ask Sam what it was."

She rolled her eyes. "The transubstantiation is the part of the service when the priest gives out the little wafer thing," she said, deciding to explain it in terms he would understand.

"I knew that," he replied nonchalantly. "I just wanted to see if you knew."

She shook her head in irritation and disbelief as she grabbed her purse from the kitchen table, heading out of the apartment without another word.

"Why do you do that?" Sam asked his brother with annoyance.

"What're you talking about?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Come on, Dean. You knew what the hell transubstantiation is. Why do you have to annoy her like that?"

"I don't know," he replied with a grin. "It's just fun."

He sighed. "Dean, normally I wouldn't care what goes on between the two of you. But with her emotions being so up and down and her huge blow up the other day, not to mention this case weighing on her so heavily. Do you think you could give it a rest?"

"I'm sorry, Sam," he replied apologetically.

He was then silent for a few, pondering how to say what he was thinking. Eventually just coming right out and saying it.

"But Sam, she's not a delicate flower ya know. If she finds out I'm taking it easy on her because of her, uh, condition, she's gonna get pissed."

"I know but..." he replied, trailing off.

He gazed at his brother with concern. "What is it?"

He swallowed hard. "Don't you think her emotions have been all over the place lately?"

"Isn't that normal for a pregnant woman?"

"Yeah, but, I dunno, Dean. She just seems a little different to me."

He patted his brother on the shoulder supportively.

"With everything going on in her life I'm sure it's just overwhelming her."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Let's go then," he said, slapping his brother's shoulder. "Before she kicks our asses for taking so long to follow her."

He nodded, following behind his brother quickly.

Jessie was waiting in the back seat of the car when the boys finally made it outside. She wasn't angry, which relieved—and surprised—them. In fact, if they could've read her mind, they would've known she was content just sitting in the car, hiding from everyone. She was more than a little irritated by wearing the clothes she had on. And as much as she tried to tell herself it was for the job, it wasn't really helping. She just hated wearing the clothes that much.

Jessie became nervous the moment they arrived at the church. It was a strange irrational feeling that she'd never felt before and she wasn't sure why. It was almost like she could feel the evil.

The three of them had arrived early enough, congregating near the front entrance, so they could watch for other pregnant women—if there were any. They wanted to know who they were so they could hopefully talk to them after the service. It wasn't a very big church, so there weren't really a lot of people to begin with. They weren't surprised when there were only two pregnant women that they noticed. One of them looking like she could give birth at any moment. The other was probably not as far along as Jessie was.

The three of them sat in the back of the church so they could have a good view of everyone. That seemed to earn them some attention, since some people would occasionally turn to glance at them quickly before turning back to the sermon. They figured it was because they were new to the church. With such a small church, they had to imagine that many of the people knew each other, at least in passing.

Once it was time for the transubstantiation, the three of them kept a keen eye on the crowd. And since they were sitting near the only exit out of the church, they would see whomever chose to leave at that moment. But in a twist they hadn't seen coming, more than one person walked out. In fact, three of them did. One man, which meant it probably wasn't him since the monster they assumed they were hunting usually lived as a woman, and two women. And by what they had observed, both women seemed to be there alone. That meant two possible suspects.

"What're we gonna do now?" Jessie heard Dean ask Sam quietly.

She hushed them before Sam could answer. "I have a plan."

The brothers passed each other a curious look, but stayed silent.

When the service was over, Jessie made sure they were the first ones out the door. They didn't go very far though, congregating once again near the front. She didn't tell them her plan, but she hoped they had worked together long enough now that they would be able to follow her without a heads up.

When they first pregnant couple came outside, Jessie introduced herself—using an alias that had been pre-planned—as new to town and began asking questions, such as, the name of a good OB/GYN and various other pregnancy related questions. What she'd been fishing for was the woman's full name, which she managed to get. And after a few pleasantries, the couple departed for their vehicle.

"Dean, were you watching for the other couple while I was busy talking?" she asked.

"Do you think this is the first case I've been on?" he replied sarcastically.

She shot him a stern glare. "Can you cut that shit out for now?" she asked harshly, yet quietly. "We're on a job."

"They're still in there. And so are the two women that walked out during the transubstantiation," he replied.

She nodded in acknowledgement.

They didn't have to wait long for the other couple to appear. But when they did they seemed to be in a hurry. As she tried to talk to them they apologized for being in a hurry. They were rushing to the hospital because the woman's water had broke. She wished them luck as they were leaving, turning back to the boys, speaking quietly.

"That only leaves two of us now."

Sam shot his brother an anxious look. His brother returning it with a supportive one.

It was only moments later when the priest and the two ladies—who'd walked out during the transubstantiation—appeared. She knew this was her chance to get their attention, while making acquaintance with the priest.

"That was an inspiring sermon," she said to the priest as he approached.

"Thank you," he said with a kind smile, reaching out his hand in greeting. "You must be new to the neighbourhood."

She shook his hand, watching as the boys did the same. "Yes. We just moved to town a few days ago."

"I'm Father Winslow," he replied, introducing himself. "And these are two of the churches most devout followers, Lily Anderson and Margaret Chance."

She nodded to each of them in acknowledgment. "I'm Jessie. And this is my husband, Sam and his brother Dean."

He nodded to each of the brothers. "It's nice to meet the three of you. Will you be here again next week?" he asked.

"Absolutely. We wouldn't miss it," she replied convincingly.

"I thank you for coming and hope to see you next week," he said with a friendly smile.

After saying goodbye, the trio headed back into the Impala.

"Well that was easy," she said to the brothers once she'd closed her door.

"A little too easy perhaps," Sam replied.

"Huh?"

"Don't you think it was strange that the priest gave out the women's names?"

She chuckled. "Not if they're very involved in the church. I betcha if we check into the goings on at the church, that their names will be mentioned somewhere, perhaps several times."

"You think so?"

"I know so, Sam," she replied with a knowing grin. "You seem to forget I used to go to church every Sunday when I lived with my grandparents. Unfortunately I know how they—operate."

"All I have to say is, let's hope we find and gank this monster before next Sunday," Dean said as he started the car and began driving.

"Why is that?" she asked curiously.

"Because. If I have to sit through another long, boring sermon like that again I'm gonna shoot myself."

She chuckled. It was pretty much how she felt about going to church as well. And for several reasons, she really wanted to gank the monster before the week was out. However, none of them involved going to church.

Once they made it back to their apartment, Jessie hopped on her laptop and began researching.

The first thing she researched was the pregnant woman, getting all the information she could, especially her home address. Once she had that, she sent Dean and Sam to check the place out. She would call them when she had more.

The next thing she checked into was anything involving the church. And just as she'd thought, the two women she'd met were mentioned in their newsletters and bulletins several times. However, both of them were only recent members to the church. One of them was only mentioned as far back as two months before, while the other one went back about six months. She wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but it definitely seemed to prove that both of them had recently moved to the area. Didn't make figuring out who the monster was any easier.

She texted the brothers, sending them the addresses of both women so they could check them out. It would keep them busy long enough for her to make a quick trip.

She was sitting in the back booth of a small diner just around the corner from the apartment when she felt a familiar shiver go up her spine. Her gut reaction was always the same, her hand curling tighter around the weapon in her pocket, although she knew it would be useless.

"Hello, my dear," Crowley greeted her with a furtive smile as he sat at the table across from her. "Cute outfit."

"Can we just cut through the bullshit and you give me what I need already?" she asked with irritation.

He grinned. "And here I thought you enjoyed my company."

She held her tongue, knowing he was just trying to get a reaction from her. She couldn't afford to anger him, not when she needed that blood. She'd felt herself on edge for a short time now and she couldn't let that happen while in the midst of the case. She felt like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"You're really starting to feel the need for it now, aren't you?" he asked with a devious grin.

"Is that what you're plan has been about all along?" she asked. "Screw me up to get back at Sam."

He laughed with amusement. "Do you really think that's what I'm up to? Give me a little credit for being much more complex than that. Besides, if you thought that was all I was up to, would you really have drank it to begin with?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No."

"Good. That little side effect is only the cherry on top," he said with a chuckle.

"You sonofabitch," she replied harshly.

"You knew what you were getting yourself in to."

"The hell I did," she replied angrily. "You never told me I'd become addicted to it."

"Have you ever spoken to Sam about his time on the sauce?" he asked with a wide grin.

"No. Why would I have? All I know is what Bobby's told me."

"If you had—then maybe you wouldn't have been so eager to consume it."

She gazed at him in horror. "I'm not gonna turn into some freak, am I?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly."

"Care to elaborate?"

He rolled his eyes very slightly. "This conversation has become very tiresome."

"Dammit Crowley!" she said, slamming her fist in the table in anger. "Explain it to me or I'm done with you!"

He narrowed his eyes, speaking in a quiet, ominous voice. "You really should learn your place, young lady. Don't you forget who you're dealing with."

She tried to respond, but she found herself suddenly unable to speak. She also found herself suddenly unable to move as she tried to reach for the salt on the table.

"And now that I've reminded you," he said, waving his hand lazily, breaking his control over her, "I can give you what you've come for."

He placed a small flask on the table in front of her. And although she was able to move, she found herself only staring at it.

"No. I'm done," she replied adamantly. "If you're not gonna explain these 'side effects' to me, then I'm done."

He snorted derisively. "You make it seem like you're doing me some kind of favor."

"Aren't I? For some reason, that you won't explain to me, you have an interest in the safety of my child."

He narrowed his eyes shrewdly. "You can take my help or not, Jessie. If you think you can protect yourself from Meg without my help, be my guest."

She wanted to continue being snarky, telling him off, but the truth was he had helped her in the past. She didn't feel like she owed him or anything, since she knew he had only done it to serve his own purpose, but she did need the help. Or at least she thought she did.

"I want to take it," she said with an air of desperation in her voice. "But I want to know about these side effects first."

He shook his head slightly in disbelief. "It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

"No," she replied without hesitation.

He gazed at her shrewdly for a moment. "You're not consumming enough blood to do much."

"Then why should I bother?"

He sighed in annoyance. "Didn't we discuss this before? Your child needs it to become stronger. And, the more often you drink, the sooner you will become immune to demonic powers."

"And how long will that take? You just used them on me, so how do I know that it's gonna work."

"It took some effort this time, so I'm betting that any average demon wouldn't be able to do anything to you. Meg on the other hand, probably won't have any issues."

"In other words, you want me to drink more, don't you?"

"It couldn't hurt."

"Really?"

"If you keep your emotions in check, everything will be fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I already told you. At the moment you're not consumming enough for you to be able to do anything—unnatural. But if you increase it, the chances become more likely."

"Why do you have to be so damn cryptic?" she asked angrily.

"Uh, demon, remember?" he replied sarcastically. "Besides, I doubt you'd be capable of very much. It's not like you've been drinking it for long."

"You doubt? That doesn't reassure me."

"Like I said, keep yourself in check and nothing will happen accidentally."

She didn't find his assurances very reassuring at all, especially after her burst of anger the other day. She wasn't even sure what she could possibly be capable of if she did lose control. She was suddenly having some very serious reservations about all of it. But as she glanced down in thought, she glimpsed her protruding stomach, causing her to rub it lovingly. Her thoughts began turning towards her child again, not to herself. It was the baby she was concerned about. And immunity from demon powers could almost assure his safety, at least until he was born.

When she glanced back across the table, Crowley was gone. The flask was also gone, replaced by a much larger thermos. The realization that he'd already known how their conversation was going to go sent a shiver down her spine. Regardless, she dug into her pants pocket for some cash for her bill, which she threw haphazardly on the table, grabbed the thermos and left without a second thought. She knew if she put any more thought into the blood she wouldn't be able to continue taking it. And now wasn't the time to be distracted. She needed to get back to the apartment before the boys did.

A/N: I hope the wait between chapters wasn't too long this time. I've been trying to write a little more often but some days I'm just too busy or the words just won't come.

Thanks for reading!