"I'm pretty sure I misheard you." CJ spoke calmly, her tone terrifying not only the two men on Dean's phone screen, but both her boyfriend and father as well. They all knew she would be upset at the information, but they didn't think she'd be furious. Little Olivia just babbled to her parents, excited to see them after having been away from them for hours.
"Is it that big of a deal, babe?" Seth asked, fearing her answer when she gave her signature huff and eye roll combination.
"We have the damn bullet for a reason, Seth. The fridge was stocked because I had just gone grocery shopping and-"
"Babygirl, I-" Roman tried to interject, but the blonde just kept going as if she hadn't heard him.
"Do you know how long those prepackaged containers sit on the shelves before they're bought? Like, forever. I can't believe that you guys had the nerve to just blatantly deny basic family rules. Why?"
"Because that bullet is too damn hard to manage."
"Oh, cry me a river. How hard is it to look at a recipe, load up the shit, and turn the damn thing on?" Dean put in his two cents, not happy at all about his daughter being fed shelf food. He was just picking his arguments because CJ had this more than just handled.
"Well Roman didn't make sure the lid was on and covered your kitchen in strawberry, banana, and kale, so..." Seth trailed off, shamelessly throwing Roman under the bus as he adjusted Olivia in his arms. Both parents were silent after that, Dean trying to figure out how that was even possible and CJ praying that the two(who were never babysitting again, by the way) had the decency to at least clean up the mess that was made.
"Thanks, Seth." Roman muttered, seeing the way the couple's eyes widened. "Let the record reflect that I was the one who cleaned it up."
"Because I had to give the baby a bath because you got strawberry mush in her hair after the first bath."
"Not to be that person, but I can't even right now." CJ mumbled, shutting her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Relax, your highness." Dean whispered, gently rubbing her back in an effort to calm her down. "What matters is that Olive is taken care of."
"And Bear?"
"Fast asleep in his bed." Seth confirmed, smiling in an attempt to reassure the couple.
"Alright. We're gonna let you guys go so you can put Olive to bed." Dean stated, smiling when his daughter tried reaching out to him. "No, princess. We'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"She doesn't like it when you deny her." CJ commented as their daughter's smile instantly turned into a pout, lip quivering in a silent threat to start crying. The couple had to rush their goodbyes after that, both hating when their daughter cried and neither wanting to watch her cry when they could do nothing about it.
"I hate saying no to her, babe. You know that." Dean sighed once Seth had hung up, running a hand through his hair as his girlfriend started coughing into her arm. It sounded so painful, and he wasn't surprised when she gave a small whine before accepting her bottle of water from Adam.
"My throat hurts so bad." She complained, leaning into Dean once she had finished with the water.
"Well, Chrissie, they can't dope you up any more for at least two hours because they're afraid of making you OD." Adam spoke softly, sitting at the foot of her bed and squeezing her feet. "If I could take the pain away, you know I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"Yeah, I know. This just sucks."
CJ was in a so-so position. She still felt like complete shit and was still pissed over having to slow down, but she was cuddled up with her boyfriend in her hospital bed. After ten minutes of her quietly begging(since Adam was asleep in one of the chairs in the room and she didn't want to wake him), Dean had finally given in and gotten into the bed with her. She liked cuddling into him, feeling his warm hand on her back gently caressing her through the pajamas that the nurses said she could change into. She missed her baby girl, though.
She knew that Olivia was in... capable hands, at least she hoped. Both Seth and Roman were great with her, but they'd never really been alone with her for long periods of time. Olivia could get fussy when she hadn't seen either of her parents in a while and that's what had CJ worried. She didn't want her to throw a tantrum and make things difficult for Seth and Roman.
"What are you thinking about, Christina?" Dean asked quietly, being mindful to not wake up Adam. The man had been through enough in the last six hours that he deserved the nap.
"I miss my baby girl." CJ mumbled into his neck, earning a sigh from her boyfriend. She knew that he was missing her, too, but he wasn't going to voice that because he didn't want her worrying. He was too prideful sometimes.
"I miss her too, babe. But this isn't a good place for her right now." He reasoned, still rubbing her back. He didn't know what else to do with her. "I'm just glad that you're going to be okay."
"Yeah." She whispered, snuggling closer to her boyfriend. She was certain that she couldn't get any closer, but Dean made her feel safe so she was more than willing to burrow into him. Dean was her life source. "I love you, Ambrose."
"I love you, too, Copeland." Dean murmured, gently petting her head with the hand that wasn't on her back. "I need you to promise me that you'll never scare me like that again, alright?"
"You were scared?"
"I almost lost you, Christina. Of course I was scared." He stated, tilting her chin up to enforce eye contact with her. "You're my everything, sweetheart. I don't know how many times I can say it."
"I'm so sorry, Dean."
"Don't be sorry, your highness. Just be more careful, okay? Listen to your body from now on."
"Somebody has to take care of you and Olive and-"
"I can handle Olive- I just can't handle her while you're coughing up a lung because you've been sick for weeks and didn't bother to tell me."
"I'm such a shitty girlfriend."
"No, 'Stina. You're the best girl I could ever ask for. A dream come true." Dean quickly assured, kissing her forehead with a smile. "Stubborn as hell, yeah, but never shitty."
"I owe you, Ambrose."
"Nah, tables will probably be turned in the future."
"So you're saying that you'd rather get deathly ill and stuck in the hospital than get sucked off?" She asked, teasing smile on her features as she looked up at her boyfriend. His face cycled through expressions as he looked down at her, almost in disbelief that she would even suggest such a thing.
"I'm so done with you."
"Well, I guess you get no head."
"Even when you're sick, you're an evil little tease. But two can play at that game, your highness."
"You guys are so fucking gross. I'm still here!" Adam complained, covering his ears with the pillow he was once resting his head on. "Terrible people."
CJ only giggled as Dean kissed her forehead again, snuggling into her boyfriend some more. There was no place she'd rather be than with Dean.
"Just wait until we're married and I have every reason to just grope her in public." Her boyfriend whispered to her dad, chuckling when the Canadian groaned loudly in protest.
"I'm going to take back my blessing, asshole."
"You love me too much to do that."
What the couple wasn't expecting was for Adam to be silent, confirming that he actually did love his daughter's boyfriend. But they'd take it, CJ loving that she never had to deal with her dad hating the man she loved and Dean relishing in the fact that he was a loved member of his girlfriend's family. They weren't just pretending for her sake or because he fathered most of her child, they really loved him.
Seth woke with a start when he heard the front door open at eight in the morning. Olivia was fast asleep upstairs while Roman was asleep with the dog using his legs as a pillow and the baby monitor clutched tightly in his hand, so he was at a loss in his half-asleep frame of mind as to who could be entering the house so early. But he let whoever it was slide, knowing that they had to have had a key to get into the house without the alarm going off.
"Dean, I'm fine."
"Excuse me, but the last time you tried walking in this house was when you passed out on the stairs and I'd love it if I didn't have to watch that again."
"You're being ridiulou-oh shit!"
"I've got you, but has my point been made?"
"There's a dog toy on the floor that I didn't see, prick."
"Stubborn woman."
"Stupid man."
They were back. Seth couldn't go back to sleep now. CJ being home meant that Dean would be needing help, which was why he was there. He couldn't help Dean if he was asleep, that was common knowledge. Dean was relying on him to help with CJ and the baby. So Seth got up to greet the couple, happy that they were home so that the baby could relax a bit. The fact that they were home also meant that CJ was much better than she had been a couple days ago, which was a huge relief to him. She wasn't going to die any time soon. Not that her dying was a major concern of his or anything, but it was on his mind.
"You guys are home earlier than expected."
"Her fever dropped to 101 and she was annoying the hell out of the staff after Adam had to leave." Dean explained, rubbing his girlfriend's back before ushering her towards the stairs. "Straight to bed with you, do not pass go or collect a hundred dollars."
"Its two hundred dollars, Ambrose." She corrected, kissing his cheek before kissing Seth's cheek on her way to the stairs. She looked much better than she did before. Still pale and moving like her body ached, but she still looked a thousand times better than she did before.
"She looks better." Seth spoke softly when she had made it up the stairs without an issue, not missing the smile on Dean's face as he, too, started up the stairs.
"Loads better, right?"
"Yeah. I've got a baby to cuddle, but I'll most likely be back down in ten-fifteen minutes."
"Alright. She's missed you guys." Seth informed, not having to clarify just who he was talking about. "And some lady called your home phone demanding that you speak to her. She said that she was your mom and that's when I hung up on her."
Dean froze at those words, fear setting in at the fact that his mother knew his home phone number. She could probably find out where he lived that way, and that was even more terrifying. Anything could happen now, and he definitely wasn't ready for it.
"Dean?"
"Whatever you do, just don't tell CJ." The blonde spoke firmly, pointing to Seth as he looked up the stairs to make sure that his girlfriend wasn't listening. "I'll take care of it."
Wow, okay. It took me a lot longer than I thought to finish this chapter. Writer's block and lack of creativity had me in a bad spot, but I think I've hit a good upswing. I think. We'll just see how long it goes. On a positive(and kind of negative) note, a new story idea has popped into my head. I've got a chapter written already, but I've got some logistics to work out when it comes to the ones I've got going before I start up another. Scout's honor.
Anyways, I'd like to thank nattiebroskette, Sarcastic Nightmare, ChelleLew, KailahBoo11, calwitch, CarolReigns, and ItReignsJustice-619 for reviewing the last chapter! Love you guys!