The Kids Are Alright
Evie's POV
Sam and I were currently sitting in a café with Sam still pouring over his computer while I was on the phone to my Dad arguing over his dismissal since I'd emailed him a ritual that was supposed to dispel a demon but he was adamant that it wouldn't work on getting Dean out of his deal.
"What do you mean it won't work Dad?" I asked him looking up at Sam as we shared a look. "It's a demon dispelling ritual" I added right before there was a tap on the window and we looked up seeing Dean still pushing Gray around in the stroller trying to get him down for his nap. "Maybe we got the translation wrong" I added going back to my phone conversation. "Look Dad we can't let Dean fry in hell while we-" I sighed listening to my Dad argue. "Well there's gotta be something Dad…" I looked up seeing Dean walk in. "Okay yeah I gotta go…never mind" I quickly hung up just as Dean reached us pushing the stroller in front of me and I saw Grayson wide awake.
"Who was that?" Dean asked.
"Just my Dad checking in, no luck with the little man huh?"
"Nope" he argued sitting across from us while I laughed pulling Grayson out and smiled at him, he was nearly a month old now and I couldn't believe how fast that time flied and although it filled me with pride watching my son grow it also was upsetting as I thought about Dean's clock.
"What are you looking at?" Dean asked trying to peer around but Sam closed it.
"Just ordering pizza" I looked over at Sam raising an eyebrow.
"Dude you do realize your in a restaurant?" Dean argued glancing around the small café/diner.
"Yeah, oh yeah I just felt like pizza you know?" Sam said and I laughed shaking my head at him.
"Okay Weirdy McWeirderton" I smirked at Dean's reply looking back down at gray as I smiled. "So I think I got something"
"Yeah?" Sam replied and I heard Dean throw the newspaper in his hand across to Sam.
"Cicero, Indiana…falls on his own power saw" I frowned since that didn't seem like much.
"And?" Sam pressed saying what I was thinking since that wasn't really screaming supernatural to me. "What that's it, one power saw?"
"Well yeah" Dean shrugged and I looked up confused.
"And you think that this is a case?" I pressed raising my eyebrow at him.
"Well I don't know, could be" Dean shrugged.
"I don't know Dean-"
"Alright there's something else in Cicero than just a case-"
"And that is?" Sam pressed.
"Big Dogs Smokehouse" Dean smirked and I raised an eye
"Should I even ask?" Sam asked laughing.
"Remember that road trip I took…uh eight years ago, you were in Orlando with Dad wrapping up that banshee thing"
"Yeah, yeah five states, five days" Sam agreed remembering and I sort of remembered it as well since the next time Dean had come around the salvage yard he'd told me about his travels and he'd even gotten me a few postcards along the way, they were hanging up in my room in Sioux Falls.
"Yeah…I found they have the best ribs" Dean nodded and I rolled my eyes putting Gray back into the stroller and stood to grab one of his bottles out of his baby bag.
"So let me get this straight, you wanna drive all the way to Cicero for ribs?" Sam asked him and I sighed grabbing out the formula and started making a bottle using the boiled water I'd ordered earlier which was luke warm now.
"They were really good ribs and come on man have a heart, it's my dying wish" Dean argued and Sam looked at me as if asking me what my thoughts were on this but I didn't even want to think about it or anymore of Dean's dying wishes since he's had a lot of them.
"Yeah well how many more dying wishes are you gonna get?" Sam asked him and I lowered my eyes to Grayson who was starting to fuss so I moved in and got him to take the bottle I'd prepared.
"As many as I can squeeze out" Dean protested and I sighed sharing another look with Sam. "Come on you two smile, god knows I'm gonna be smiling with a plate of those ribs" he added and I couldn't help laugh a little and of course Dean took that as us agreeing.
We made the drive from where we were to Indiana and Dean stopped at the first motel that had a vacancy and all but kicked Sam out of the car since he hadn't wanted any part of Dean's plight for these amazing ribs so it was just me, Gray and him as we hit up this place and ate and although this was one of his dying wishes I was actually having fun and it felt good to just be doing something as a family.
"So what do you think?" Dean asked and I smiled looking up.
"Their good" I nodded and he smiled which made my smile widen even more just happy to see him so happy. "But I'm more happy to be spending time with you and our little man" I laughed looking down at Grayson who was still on his nap in the stroller beside our table.
"Yeah me too" Dean smiled reaching across the table grabbing my hand. "This is really all I wanted, was to spend time with my family" he added and I blushed since I could never get used to Dean calling us his family.
We spent about another half an hour getting a desert to share and Gray had woken up so I'd fed him and quickly changes him before meeting back up with Dean and we left to head back to the motel and meet up with Sam but as I wheeled out the stroller I accidently hit a woman making her way in.
"Oh I'm so sorry" I apologized looking up and saw a brunette woman. "Still getting used to stroller driving" I added and she laughed.
"It's okay" the woman smiled.
"She's dangerous with that thing I swear" Dean added and I jabbed my elbow into his ribs.
"Dean?" the woman said and we both looked up.
"L…Lisa?" Dean replied and I turned to him confused on how in the hell they knew each other.
"Oh my god, it's been what eight years" she smiled and hugged him.
"Yeah it has" Dean agreed and I cleared my throat. "Right, Lisa this is my girlfriend Evelyn and the little guy there that has to suffer her terrible stroller driving is our son Grayson" I jabbed Dean's ribs again but he was just smiling so I smiled over at Lisa.
"Oh wow" Lisa said and smiled down at Gray. "I never thought I'd ever see you again Dean or the day that you were settled down with a girlfriend and a son"
"Yeah a lots changed" Dean smiled.
"Well I have to get my party order"
"Party?" Dean asked and I turned to him since really.
"Yeah, just having a party with some friends" Lisa replied.
"I love parties" Dean added and I bumped into his shoulder.
"Dean" I warned.
"It's okay" Lisa interrupted smiling at Dean. "If you guys want to stop by-" she grabbed a piece of paper out of her pocket and scribbled out the address.
"Thanks" Dean smiled taking it and Gray chose that moment to start whimpering.
"We should be going, this guys ready for his own lunch"
"Well the parties at 2:30" Lisa smiled.
"We'll be there" Dean nodded before we walked away.
"Do I even want to know who she is?" I asked Dean as we walked towards the Impala.
"Uh…" he stuttered for an answer to that and that gave me my answer.
"I don't really want to know Dean but I really don't want to go to this party-"
"Come on it'll be fun and it's been ages since we've been able to have fun"
"Yeah it's called being a parent Dean" I argued pulling Gray out of the stroller to get him situated in his car seat while Dean folded the stroller up and it was hilarious to watch sometimes since no matter how many times he's done it now he always struggles.
"We'll get Sam to babysit" he shrugged fighting with the clip to fold down the stroller.
"I'm not…I can't do that" I argued clipping the restraints together then hopped out and helped him with the stroller getting it down in one fluid motion and Dean practically glared at me with annoyance while I laughed and placed it in the boot.
"He's nearly four weeks old Evie and you haven't spent any time away from him in that time" Dean argued as we got into the car and he started driving.
"I just can't Dean" I insisted looking out the passenger window.
"Then we'll take him with us" I sighed having a feeling that he wasn't going to be talked out of this party.
"Alright fine" I relented.
"Awesome" he laughed excitedly and I rolled my eyes with a small smile.
"I'm so gonna regret this" I muttered to myself since not only had I agreed to attend a party I didn't even want to go to I knew that Lisa was one of Dean's previous one-night stands and granted it was before we got together doesn't mean I like it.
We arrived at the address Lisa had written down for us but it was pretty easy to spot with the colored balloons tied to the mailbox so we got out grabbing Grayson and I strapped him into the sling carrier against my chest before we walked up to the door and Dean rang the doorbell.
"Hey you made it" Lisa smiled as she answered the door. "Come on in" she stepped aside and let us in but we were nearly trampled by some kids running in through the back door and that's when I got a good look around seeing just what kind of party this was judging by the amount of kids and the huge jumping castle and was pretty sure this was not the party Dean had in mind.
"So who's the party for?" Dean asked looking around taking in that realization as well.
"Ben…my son" Lisa replied
"Oh you have a-?" Dean asked her seemingly shocked and I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah" she nodded then she turned pointing to a young boy who was opening presents. "That's him" she smiled.
"Yes ACDC rules!" the kid yelled out and I raised an eye since he had old taste for a kid. "Awesome that's so cool!" I frowned looking at him and thought he looked school aged and Lisa and Dean were together…7…8 years ago.
"How old?" I found myself asking.
"Eight" she replied still smiling at Ben and I frowned looking up at Dean seeing the cogs in his brain working to process what Lisa just said. "Oh Dean, Evelyn could you excuse me a minute" she suddenly said and walked away while I turned back to Ben staring at him before I turned back and looked at Dean with a glare.
"What?" he asked as if he hadn't already made the connection, I rolled my eyes and walked away since Gray was starting to whimper and I needed to calm him down before he started bawling watching Dean out of the corner of my eyes as he helped himself to the food rolling my eyes at him again.
"Did you hear Lisa call him Dean?" I overheard and turned seeing to women sitting on some plastic chairs staring over at Dean grabbing a plate of cake.
"Yeah why?" the woman next to her said.
"You don't know about Dean…The Dean…Best night of my life Dean?" the first one asked and I rolled my eyes.
"No tell me?"
"Oh my god, so they had this crazy semi-illegal-" she cut herself off when Dean turned and noticed them looking at him.
"Hi" he nodded and I couldn't help laugh a little as I walked back towards him and planted a kiss on his lips before I leaned into his hear.
"Those ladies think you're a sex god"
"Well we both know that's true" he smiled looking over my shoulder at them before down at Gray who was wide awake now and looking around in that uncoordinated baby way that made me smile momentarily forgetting that I was angry at Dean.
We walked away heading up towards the jumping castle spotting Ben standing off to the side looking at it with his own plate of cake and frowned sharing a look with Dean as he walked towards him and leaned back against the fence behind him.
"What's up?" Ben asked him.
"What's up with you?" Dean asked back and I scoffed shaking my head moving over to stand beside him gently swaying to keep Gray content and quiet but looked up when a mother and daughter walked past seeing both Dean and Ben looking at them watching them pass before taking bites of their cake at the same time and frowned.
"So it's your birthday?" I asked the kid.
"Guilty" Ben replied and I stared shocked as that was so something Dean would say which just made my suspicion worse.
"It's a cool party" Dean added.
"Dude it's so freaking sweet and this moon bounce its epic" Ben said making me raise an eye at him.
"Yeah it's pretty awesome" Dean replied apprehensive
"You know who else thinks they're awesome…chicks" I looked down with a frown, this kid is too freaking young to think like that. "Its like hot chick city out there" he added hitting Dean's arm before he put down his cake and ran over to the jumping castle. "Look out ladies here comes trouble…yee ha!" Ben exclaimed before climbing in and I turned when Dean suddenly turned nearly tripping over a bin before rushing towards the house.
"I think your Dad just finally figured it out Gray" I frowned looking down at him seeing him looking up at me with eyes that were starting to take on hues of green that always made me smile since they were Dean's eyes and that thought always made me happy and sad at the same time because I was glad that Gray had Dean's eyes since I loved Dean's eyes but knew after Dean was gone every time I looked into our sons eyes I was going to be seeing Dean.
I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my head as I walked back down towards the house seeing Dean inside talking to Lisa no doubt probably blatantly asking her if Ben was his and sighed still not sure what to even think about that matter right now since it wasn't everyday that you learn your boyfriend has a kid with another woman.
"Something wrong with your friend?" I heard Dean ask when I made my way inside seeing a woman and her daughter leaving.
"She's been through a lot, her ex just died in this horrible accident" Lisa replied and I looked at Dean thinking about the newspaper article he'd told us about before coming here.
"Oh yeah didn't I just read about that?" Dean said turning to me when I stopped beside him. "The power saw?"
"Yeah" Lisa nodded. "I guess there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood lately"
"What kind of bad luck?" I asked her instantly in hunter mode and Lisa told us about four more 'freak accidents' that were never in the paper all in this small community so after she told us we made a polite leave and got back into the car where Dean pulled out his phone to call Sam.
"Dude, there is a job here" Dean said pulling his phone away from his ear to put it on loudspeaker so I could hear as I was in the back feeding Gray as he'd gotten pretty fussy.
"Really?" Sam asked.
"Yeah you know that one freak accident we read in the paper, turns out there's four more just like it that never even made the paper all in this Morning Hill gated community, people falling off ladders, drowning in their Jacuzzis all over the neighborhood"
"That is weird" Sam replied and I looked up to the front since he sounded off.
"Yeah somethings up, something these nice big gates can't protect them from" Dean replied and I saw him adjusting the mirror looking into it and glared at him knowing he was trying to get a look at my breast.
"Dean!" I exclaimed seeing him smile before he went back to talking with Sam agreeing to investigate into these accidents while I finished up feeding Gray by burping him before getting him settled into his car seat before I got Dean to drop Gray and I off at the motel leaving the investigation to the boys while I started researching.
I looked up all the people Lisa had told us about and sent the addresses over to the boys then started looking up different lore's that matched the pattern we were seeing her but was getting no hits until Sam finally came back and added his own findings, all the women he'd seen had these bruises on the back of her necks and what came out of that was a changeling lore.
"Somethings wrong with the kids in this town" Dean announced walking in closing the door behind him.
"Yeah tell me about it" I replied looking up at him as he walked over to the porta crib and looked in at Gray who was sound asleep before he took off his jacket and laid it on the edge of one of the beds.
"So what do you know about changelings?" Sam asked looking up from his computer.
"Evil monster babies?" Dean asked.
"No not necessarily babies" Sam argued.
"The kids?" Dean nodded getting what Sam meant. "Creepy, stare-at-you-like-your-lunch kids?" he added walking over to the table.
"Yup" Sam and I said nodding our heads.
"There's one at every victims house" Sam added holding up a map which I'd drawn up indicating where each victim lived and Dean took it from me to get a look himself. "So changelings can perfectly mimic children, according to lore they climb in the window, snatch the kids, now there were marks on the windowsill at one of the kid's houses looked to me like blood" Sam explained further after Dean had started to make up the fire sprayers since fire was the only thing that could kill a changeling.
"So the changeling grabs a kid, assumes its form, joins the happy fam just for kicks?" Dean asked.
"Not quite" Sam argued. "Changelings feed on the Mom, synovial fluid…the moms have these odd bruises on the back of their necks, Changelings can drain them for a few weeks before mom finally croaks" he added.
"And then there's dad and the babysitter…"
"Yeah" I nodded re-tucking the blanket around Gray as he had a habit of kicking it off. "It seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead.
"And fire's the only way to waste them? Dean asks holding up one of the torches and Sam nods which Dean sees in the mirror he's sitting in front of. "Great we'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn that will play great with the neighbors" I rolled my eyes since we can be a bit more subtler than that. "What about the real ones, what happens to them?"
"They stash them underground somewhere, I don't know why but if it's true the real kids might be out there" Sam replied.
"We better start looking" Dean nods grabbing the bag he'd put the torches in then stood walking over to Sam and took the lighter from him pausing as he seemed to think about something. "So, any kid in the neighborhood is vulnerable?" he asked and I knew he was talking about Ben.
"Yep" Sam nodded.
"We gotta make a stop I want to check on someone" Dean said moving towards the door grabbing his jacket.
"Well Dean if the real kids are still alive, we don't have time" Sam argued.
"We have to" Dean insisted before walking out of the room and Sam turned to me as I quickly and carefully picked up Gray without waking him.
"It's a long story Sam and not my place" I sighed grabbing the diaper bag before following Dean out putting Gray in his seat while Sam locked up and came out and as soon as Sam was in the front seat Dean was driving.
When we got to Lisa's Dean was out of the car as soon as he'd pulled it to a stop and was knocking on Lisa's door while Sam and I waited in the car staring at the exchange and Sam was looking on in confusion.
"So who is this woman?"
"An old flame" I replied bitterly thinking about Lisa and he turned to look at me. "Like I said long story Sammy" I added right as Dean came back.
"They took Ben, he's changed" he said
"What, are you sure?" Sam asked him.
"I'm sure, I checked his windowsill" Dean replied getting in.
"Blood?" Sam asked him.
"I don't think its blood" Dean argued. "And I think I know where the kids are" he added making Sam and I share a confused look but didn't ask as he started driving before pulling up a couple minutes later at a house that was in development and we got out with Gray wrapped up in his blanket against my chest wrapped tight so I had use of my arms and Dean ran his hand through the mound of dirt.
"Red dirt" Sam pointed out scoffing. "That's what was on the window"
"You take the front, I'll go around and Evelyn…stay here" Dean instructed and I frowned but did as he asked since this was no place for a baby especially with fire involved so I returned to the car locking it watching them disappear inside the house.
Dean's POV
I went in through the back turning on my torch once inside moving through the house in search of the kids turning when I heard a noise knowing it couldn't be Sam but saw nothing so I continued on slowly finding a staircase that lead down and remembered Sam saying the kids were stored underground and heard various clanks and other noises so I started descending down the stairs hearing more clanks and rattling noises so I moved towards the sounds coming across a bunch of cages and saw a hand before my eyes settled on Ben inside the cage.
"Ben…Ben it's okay I'm gonna get you out of here okay" I told him as I moved past the cages trying to find a way to bust them open but stopped when I saw a larger cage with the same lady that I saw at Ben's birthday party.
I grabbed a piece of metal that I found nearby and used it to bust the locks on the cages getting the kids out with Ben hugging me making me smile for a split second thinking once more that he could be my son before I focused back on the kids looking over seeing Ben helping them.
"It's okay, your gonna get out of here alright?" he said while I continued to bust the locks open one by one getting them all out before I looked up at the window.
"Alright everybody back, everybody back" I told the kids getting them to stand back from the window removing a plank of wood. "Cover your eyes" I told them before smashing the window removing as much glass as I could.
"Here use this" Ben said and I looked up seeing him pulling his jacket off, I quickly grabbed it and put it over the sill to cover up the jagged edges.
"Alright come on, my girlfriends outside go to her" I told the kids.
"You first" Ben said pushing a younger boy towards me.
"Dean!" Sam yelled running into the room. "Dean there's a mother!"
"Mother changeling?" I asked in confusion helping the kids.
"Yeah we gotta get these kids out quick" he nodded as I helped a few of the kids climb out the window.
"Right there there's another one, you gotta break the lock" I said pointing to the last cage. "Guess that's why changelings keep the kids alive so the Mom can snack on them" I added right before one of the girls screamed and I looked up seeing the woman from the party only this was the mother changeling.
Evie's POV
I'd heard glass breaking so I got out running towards the house and saw kids crawling through a window from the basement so I quickly helped them seeing Ben was the one helping them through using a large crate.
"Ben where's Dean?" I asked and he turned so I bent down seeing a woman beating up Sam and Dean quite successfully. "Alright come on" I said focusing back on the kids since getting them out was the main priority until Ben was the last. "Ben come on" I urged but he was looking back at Dean. "Ben now!" I told him and he finally climbed out right as Sam torched the mother changeling. "Okay kids come on" I lead them towards the car before turning hearing footsteps and saw Dean and Sam virtually unscathed. "You boys okay?" I asked smugly seeing as they were both getting beaten up by a woman.
"Shut it Evie" Dean shot at me as I laughed before our focus was back on the kids since we ought to get them all home leaving Ben last and it was morning by the time we were pulling up outside Lisa's and she came running out as soon as we pulled up.
"Ben!" she yelled as Ben climbed out of the car behind Dean and run up to her. "Baby are you okay?" she asked picking him up hugging him.
"I'm okay Mom" Ben replied and I smiled since he was one tough kid before she turned to where Dean and I stood. "What the hell just happened?" she asked and I frowned since thinking about how we could explain this.
"We'll explain everything if you want us to but trust me you probably don't" I replied since it wasn't always good to know the truth.
"Important thing is that Ben's safe" Dean added ruffling Ben's hair.
"Thank you" Lisa said looking at Dean before she hugged him and I tried to keep the frown off my face especially when she let go of Dean and was pulling me into a hug as well and in that moment I knew that I couldn't be rude to her when she didn't deserve it since Dean and I weren't together or the fact that she too had been impregnated by Dean who clearly didn't know how to wear a freaking condom…not that he was entirely to blame for that either but it was the better option.
"I'm gonna give you guys some time and I'll watch Grayson" Sam spoke up from the car, we nodded then followed Lisa inside the house watching as Ben acted like none of that had happened and I don't know whether it was a front or if he really wasn't fazed by it all while we told Lisa everything…mostly concerning changelings.
"Changelings?" she asked almost in disbelief.
"You know how I never mentioned my job?" Dean asked her and she nodded. "This is my job…well our job" he added nodding at me.
"I so didn't want to know that" she replied shaking her head.
"It's hard to take it we know" I smiled and she nodded before looking over at Ben again.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked us.
"Yeah I think he'll be fine" Dean nodded. "Okay seriously…I mean your 100% sure he's not mine right?" Dean asked and I frowned looking up at him before I turned to Lisa as she laughed.
"You're off the hook, I did a blood test when he was a baby" she replied. "There was this guy, some barback in a biker joint-" Dean turned to look at her. "What I had a type" she laughed seeing it. "Leather jacket, couple of scars, no mailing address I was there…guess I was a little wild back then before I became a Mom" she added and I smiled relating with that statement.
"Yeah" I smiled.
"So yeah, you can both relax" she added but I caught Dean's look since it was almost as if he was disappointed.
"Well bye Lisa" I said grabbing Dean's hand and she nodded walking over to where Ben was as Dean and I walked towards the door.
"Why do I feel like your disappointed Ben's not yours" I asked quietly and he stopped when we were outside and closed the door behind us.
"Yeah I don't know" he admitted looking at me. "It's weird you know, Lisa's life…I mean the house, the kid its not our lives…never will be, with everything that's happened recently…anyway a guy in my situation you start to think you know…" he added and I frowned looking into his eyes. "…I'm gonna be gone one day and what am I leaving behind besides a car and you with Gray?"
"Dean-" I stopped since I couldn't keep pretending this wasn't happening. "Were not all your leaving behind Dean, your leaving behind a lot of good since these kids wouldn't be alive without you, a lot of people wouldn't be alive without you" I cupped his cheek. "This might not be our life but I don't want this, I love what we have because it's you…it's me…it's us and that's what matters to me" I leaned in to kiss him. "Now what's say we head back to the motel…grab another room for the night and you and I spend some quality you and me time"
"Mm now your talking" he laughed grabbing my hand and we went back to the motel renting another room giving Sam the usual routine of we are not to be disturbed and I reluctantly agreed to let him babysit pumping the nights worth of milk before Dean and I retired to our own motel room being intimate for the first time since Grayson was born as I'd read that it was okay to begin sexual intercourse after four weeks at the earliest but I was willing to chance it since it's what Dean and I needed right now and as usual it was amazing…mind blowing…passionate and made me fall in love with Dean all over again.
A/N: I know it's been a little while since I updated and I apologize but I have been super busy with my studies so I don't know when I'll be able to post another update I can only ask that you continue to Favorite and Follow this story and of course review. Thank you.