It was official. John Winchester was a foster parent.

As it turned out, he was already well on his way to meeting the requirements. He was financially stable, had never been convicted of a crime, and since Gil was at John's house multiple times a week checking on Ronnie, the home study was a formality. Dean and Lisa had gotten home from their vacation the night before. John broke the news to them about Ronnie, and the two of them, along with Ben, were coming for dinner that night.

"Hey, you." John said that morning. Ronnie had been unnaturally quiet that day. "What's bugging you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all? You're really quiet."

Ronnie looked up from her cereal bowl, which had been empty for the last ten minutes. "I don't do so good meeting families."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"Dean's coming for dinner, right?"

"Yeah. Are you worried about meeting them tonight?"

"Yes, sir." Ronnie said.

John knew right away something was wrong. Ronnie was whispering, turning away from him and towards the wall. There was a story behind the way she was feeling now, and he debated whether or not to bring it up. Talking seemed to help her, but he still felt awkward trying to initiate a conversation with her that went deeper than what to have for dinner that night.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Seriously. Dean's excited to meet you, and you'll love Ben and Lisa."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Didn't you say Dean loves pie?"

John chuckled. "That's the understatement of the century."

"I know how to make it. Will you help me?"

"Sweetie, you don't have to do anything to impress Dean."

"I know. I just…I want to. But you don't have some of the stuff here to make them. Can we go to the market and do it? We can do it together."

John smiled. "Sure. That sounds like fun. Clean up your breakfast and get dressed."

Six hours later, as Ronnie was pulling out the last of three pies out of the oven and making sure the pasta she'd made was just right, the front doorbell rang. Less than two seconds later, the door opened and Ronnie heard the voice of a little boy practically shrieking,

"GRANDPA!"

"Hey, kiddo. I missed you. How was vacation?"

"It was so cool!"

Ronnie watched the family from the kitchen. Ben was dramatically waving his arms and making it next to impossible for his mother to take his jacket off. John helped her, handing Lisa the jacket to hang next to the door while Ben talked the entire time. John kissed Lisa's cheek and greeted Dean, who simply nodded at his dad.

"I'm glad you had fun, buddy. You can tell me more about it during dinner, okay? Right now, I want you to meet someone."

"Okay." Ben said. He then noticed Ronnie standing in the doorway looking at all of them. "Hi."

"Hi." Ronnie answered quietly.

"Come on, sweetie, it's okay." John urged her gently.

Ronnie walked over and felt the eyes all over her. While Dean and Lisa seemed friendly enough, she was used to being scrutinized by strangers. John put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed, trying to encourage her.

"Dean, Lisa, this is Ronnie. Ronnie, this is Dean, my son, Lisa, his wife, and Ben, their son."

"Hi, everybody."

"Hey, Ronnie. It's nice to meet you." Lisa said with a big smile.

But does she mean it? Ronnie couldn't help but think. "Thanks."

"How you doing?" Dean asked, still friendly but slightly more standoffish than Lisa.

"Okay." Ronnie said nervously. Dean was a little more intimidating than Ronnie anticipated.

"Ronnie, why don't you show Dean what you made for dessert?"

"Okay. Sure. It's right in here…"

Dean's eyes suddenly grew wide. "You made pie?"

"Yeah. Your dad said you really liked it…"

Lisa was laughing heartily at Dean's reaction. "You just made a new best friend, Ronnie."

"Dean, stop drooling. Dinner first."

"Ronnie, you need help with anything, honey?"

"Um, can you help me set the table? I got so busy cooking I forgot." Ronnie said apologetically.

John didn't miss the apologetic tone. "It's alright, Ronnie."

"I'd love to help you, sweetheart." Lisa said. "Come on."

Dinner went well. Even the picky eater Ben lapped up Ronnie's pasta and begged for seconds. By the end of the meal, Ronnie even found herself smiling and her nervousness gone.

"Well, I don't know about anybody else, but I am ready for that pie." Dean said with a hungry grin.

"I'll get it." Ronnie said. "Ben, you wanna help me?"

"Sure!" Ben helped bring the three pie pans from the kitchen to the table. "These look good!"

"Uh oh."

"Ronnie, what is it, honey?" John asked.

Ronnie blushed slightly. "I don't remember which one's which."

"Hey, that just means more taste testing for me!" Dean said enthusiastically. "Let's get this party started."

Two hours later, as a sleeping Ben was being tucked into his bed that was kept at John's house, Ronnie was in the living room still talking with Dean and Lisa. She was surprised how comfortable she now felt with them. They were close to, but not quite yet, family.

"Let me go get Ben." Dean said.

"You will do no such thing." John insisted. "He's out like a light."

"Are you sure, John?" Lisa asked.

"Absolutely. You guys can stay too if you want."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a night to ourselves…" Dean said with a mischievous grin.

Lisa laughed. "Only if it's okay with your father and Ronnie. She just met Ben, it might be weird to have him spend the night…"

"It's okay with me." Ronnie said. "Really."

"Are you sure? It's okay to say no until you two get to know each other better."

"No. It's really okay. Ben's a great kid. I like him a lot."

Lisa nodded. "Okay. We'll come back in the morning before he wakes up…"

"Oh, come on! Ben wakes up with the sun!" Dean protested.

"You guys can sleep in. If Ben wakes up before you get here, I'll keep an eye on him."

"Okay. Thank you, honey. That'll help us a lot. Ben wore us out on the trip."

"You're welcome." Ronnie said. "I should wash the dishes…"

"No. You won't. You cooked all day, I'll clean up." John answered. "You stay here and relax a little. Dean, you come help me."

"Aw, come on, Dad."

"I will come on. With you to the kitchen. Get a move on."

"Actually, Dean, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ronnie asked. "Alone?"

Everyone seemed surprised, but Dean shrugged. "Sure."

"John, I'll come help you." Lisa said.

"Sure. Thanks."

John and Lisa headed towards the kitchen, and Dean was left with an awkward Ronnie, who was shifting her feet from side to side. As comfortable as everything seemed to be, there was still one outstanding question on her mind. Now that she was actually alone with him, the question that had been burning in her mind just didn't seem to want to come out.

"What's on your mind?" Dean asked.

"Um, I have to ask." Ronnie said, clearing her throat and gathering her courage. "Are you really okay with me being here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that John's your dad. I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to take him away from you or something."

Dean, confused, took a moment to wonder exactly what Ronnie had been through to make her worry about that. "Kiddo, why would you ask that?"

"I just…" Ronnie sighed, the fear building up to a climax inside of her. She was so used to rejection that she felt she had to make sure it wasn't coming. "I just need to know."

"Listen to me. I haven't seen my dad smile so much in years. I'm good with it. Okay?"

Ronnie exhaled in relief. She could tell Dean was being sincere. "Okay."

"Don't worry about that. Promise?"

"Promise."

"Lisa was right about Ben staying. Thank you for that." Dean said. A moment passed as he wondered whether to say what else was on his mind. "You haven't had much of a family before, have you?"

Ronnie felt the moisture creep into her eyes and turned away.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me any specifics. But I get it. You're still getting used to having a family. But we're your family. Not just Dad, but me, and Lisa, and Ben too. You need something, let us know. Got it?"

Ronnie nodded. "Got it. Thanks, Dean."

"Thank you for that amazing pie. Now that I know you can cook, you can definitely stay."

Ronnie laughed. "You're welcome."

"Why don't we step outside so we don't get roped into helping with the dishes?"

"Sure. I wanted to say something else first. Your dad told me about Sam. I'm sorry."

Dean squirmed a bit. He hadn't talked about Sam in years. "Thanks."

"I had a brother once too."

"You did?"

"Yeah." Ronnie said. "My mom was with this guy for a while. They had a baby boy when I was four."

"Where is he?"

Ronnie swallowed hard. "He died. When he was a baby. Mom found him in his crib and he wasn't breathing."

"Wow. I'm sorry, kid. What was his name?"

"Caleb."

"I think Caleb would be real proud of you." Dean said.

"I think Sam would be of you and your dad."

"Alright. That's it." Lisa had come back to the living room, followed closely by John. "Dishes are done."

"Thanks for doing them." Ronnie said.

"My pleasure, honey. You two okay? Seemed like a pretty serious conversation going on in here."

"We're fine." Dean said. "You ready to get home?"

Lisa suddenly snapped her fingers. "Almost. Dean, can you pop the trunk of the car? I want to give Ronnie that stuff we brought for her."

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know. I wanted to. Come on."

Ronnie walked towards the car with Lisa, John and Dean following behind her. The trunk of the car came up, and Lisa pulled out a large shopping bag. She closed the trunk and placed the bag on top. Ronnie pulled down the top of the bag slightly to take a look inside.

"Clothes?"

"Yeah. I'm a little bit of a pack rat, so I still had a lot of my clothes from when I was your age. They need to be washed and sorted, but they look to be about your size."

Ronnie was stunned. "You're just…you're just giving 'em to me?"

"If you want 'em, sure." Lisa said. "If there's any you don't like, you can donate 'em. But John told us you didn't have a lot of clothes of your own, so I dug these out for you."

All three adults were left dumbfounded when Ronnie burst into tears, but Lisa seemed best equipped to handle it. While John and Dean simply stood by, unable to think of what to do, Lisa immediately wrapped an arm around Ronnie's shoulder and comforted her before asking what was wrong.

"Hey. What is it?"

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm awful." Ronnie said with a sob.

"No. I don't. But I would like to know what's wrong."

"Nothing. Really. It's just…" Ronnie sniffed and pointed to the bag of clothes. "I'm not used to anybody doing stuff like this for me. It doesn't really feel real." Ronnie laughed a little, her emotions running in every direction. "Does that sound dumb?"

"Not at all." John answered.

"I felt the same way when I married Lisa." Dean admitted. "And when Ben was born."

"Thank you." Ronnie said. "I was getting pretty tired of wearing the same three things."

"I'll tell you what. Tomorrow morning I'll come back over. I'll help you go through the bag and wash what you like. And if John can spare you for a few hours, you and me can go…"

"Oh, no, not the 's' word!" Dean lamented.

Ronnie laughed. "What's the 's' word?"

"Shopping, dear. Shopping." Lisa answered. "And relax, Dean. You don't have to go."

"Oh. That's okay, then." Dean grinned.

"You can stay here and do that boy's night in with Ben like you promised. And if you want, Ronnie, you can stay with me at my house and we'll have a slumber party." Lisa said. "I know it's probably not much fun with an adult, but…"

"No. It sounds like fun." Ronnie said. She turned to John and asked, "Is it okay?"

"It's okay with me." John said. "Lisa, you mind getting her school stuff too? We got her supply list in the mail yesterday."

"Sure. We can do that."

"Thanks again." Ronnie said. She grabbed the clothes bag and tried to lug it inside, but it was too heavy and broke underneath her.

"Here, kiddo. I'll get this." Dean volunteered.

Dean carried the clothes to Ronnie's room. An hour later, Ronnie was getting herself ready for bed. As they did every so often, memories were running through her head. Unable to sleep, Ronnie started to go through the clothes that Lisa had brought her, thinking back to the night she thought she'd learned that everyone was alone in the world.

Seven Years Earlier

Her sixth birthday had been a day she'd dreamed about for months.

She'd lived in five different houses this year. Her first home, where she'd gone right after Mommy went to heaven, with Mama Jo and Papa George, had been the best. Mama Jo would hold her and wouldn't get mad at her when she cried or wet the bed or woke up in the middle of the night. Papa George showed her all kinds of cool stuff, like fixing cars and how to trap bugs. But something had happened, something Ronnie still didn't quite understand, and she'd had to leave them.

Every home since then had been terrible. Nobody liked her, and some of the parents were downright mean to her. Her mommy had never been mean to her. Her grandma had, but grandma was in the hospital now. Gil had told her that Grandma had killed her mommy, and she'd been very sick when she did it, so she'd have to go live in a hospital for a long, long time.

But none of that mattered now. Mommy was gone, Grandma was gone, and now Ronnie was all by herself.

She'd thought that her birthday would be different. Everybody got to have fun on their birthdays, right? But no one had said anything, and she'd gotten in big trouble for saying anything about it at dinner. She'd been relieved not to get a spanking again, like she seemed to get for everything, but she was still left feeling sad.

Ronnie got an idea just before she went to bed. She grabbed her notebook and ripped out a page, drawing herself a picture and putting it next to her pillow. She'd gotten the spanking she escaped at dinnertime when she was caught being up past her bedtime, but luckily, her picture was safe. Once she stopped crying, Ronnie pulled her picture out. It was a cupcake with a single candle on top of it.

"Happy birthday, Ronnie."

Ronnie blew gently on the cupcake, folded the picture, and stuffed it under her pillow, right next to her picture of her mommy. She said goodnight to her mother, then closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Ronnie finally felt tired enough to go to bed, and laid down feeling better than she had in years. She had a roof over her head, clothes, food. Everything, for once, was taken care of, and Ronnie didn't have to worry about taking care of herself.

For the first time since her mother's death, Ronnie felt as if someone truly loved her.

She tried to ignore the voice in the back of her head telling her it was all too good to be true.