"Mom? Dad?" The voices of Cas and Meg's kids echoed down the hallway off the garage as the pair entered their home. The twins dropped their bags as soon as they stepped inside the threshold. Sam offered a small smile as Jack and Clare approached. He hugged both of the kids tight before they peeked in the guest bathroom where Ruby and Riley were.
"How's Dean?" Jack asked quietly. Their mom had texted them last evening and gave them a heads up as there would probably be out of town guests staying with them indefinitely if need be. The twins had gone to Washington DC for their class trip and were gone the entire week.
"He's in the intensive care unit." Sam answered. Clare's eyes immediately moved to Riley, studying her reaction, or lack thereof. She was seated on the (closed) toilet now and Ruby stood next to her, hand on her shoulder protectively. "How was your trip, guys?" Sam asked.
"It was good." Jack answered for the both of them. He exchanged a look with his twin sister before she spoke, almost reading his mind.
"Are we able to go up to the hospital? Can we see Dean?" Clare nibbled on her bottom lip nervously.
"Yeah," Ruby said softly. "You sure can." She looked down at Riley, then to her husband before she spoke. "I'm actually gonna stay here and take a nap because I worked last night." She glanced at her husband. ""Sam, you wanna take the kids up there? Riley and I will be up in a few hours."
"Yeah, sounds good." Sam's phone rang suddenly and he swallowed hard when he saw the name flash across the screen. "It's my mom... I gotta take this. You guys be ready in ten, alright?" He thumbed on his phone and moved down the hallway. "Hey mom, thank God you guys got a flight... I just saw your text." His voice faded and the twins looked at one another.
"If Ben okay?" Clare asked softly, her mind going to Dean's son. They were a few years apart, but the families were close and he was like another brother to both her and Jack. Again, Riley made no move to answer, so Ruby took the liberty.
"I don't know, but I bet he would appreciate you guys being there." Ruby smiled warmly. Sam came back down the hallway then in his clean clothing Meg had washed during the night and placed on the dryer by Ben's.
"You guys ready?" Sam came back, pulling on his jacket, his car keys in hand.
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Four hours later, Meg and Castiel went back to their house. Ruby and Riley were in the kitchen, getting ready to leave as the pair came in carrying a few grocery bags.
"Hey guys," Ruby moved to hug Cas. "Shitty week for the convention, hm?"
"Yeah, real shitty." He kissed her temple. "Thanks for being here... I guess we're the hub for this because we're so close to the hospital."
Meg was pulling items out of the grocery bags. "We swung by the store real quick. I'm making chili and cornbread for tonight. I figure when visiting hours are over, everyone will probably be starving. They can come here." Meg paused and looked to Cas. "Where are Mary and John staying?"
"They can stay with Sam and me. The guest room is finally painted now and we'd be glad to have them..." Ruby answered as she reached in one of the reusuable grocery bags to pull out fresh ground coffee and a coffee cake.
The three turned to Riley, who hadn't said a word. "Ry? You stay here with Cas and me and the kids, okay?" Meg's voice was soft and Cas and Ruby waited for their friend's answer. "Just until everything's back to normal?" She didn't dare say, when Dean gets home, because she couldn't promise that.
The brunette nodded numbly, another tear sliding down her cheek. Ruby slid an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close and kissing the side of her head.
"We're gonna head back up there." The petite brunette informed the couple. "I slept a couple hours. I'm good."
"Did you eat?" Meg fretted over the night shift nurse for a moment. "Can I at least get you a mug of coffee to take with you to the hospital?"
"I ate a bagel when I got up. I'm fine." Ruby smiled at her. "But I won't turn down coffee." Meg moved to the coffee maker. "We'll go up for a few hours and visit Dean. You want everyone back here tonight, then? You want me to pick up some drinks or anything, just text me."
"Absolutely." Cas smiled at his wife, who was brewing a single cup pf coffee into one of their travel mugs. "We'll feed everyone tonight. It's the least I can do."
"Thank you." Riley managed to say. Her stomach was a wreck and she felt the room spinning a bit. "We'd better go." She gave Meg a small smile before the two hugged tightly. Castiel handed the mug of black coffee to the night shifter before Meg walked them to the side door. She watched the girls get into Ruby's pickup truck and waved as she backed out of the driveway. Meg sighed before moving back to the kitchen table where the groceries were.
Castiel watched his wife of 15 years put away some of the cold items and he took the hint when she looked at him pointedly, handing him the ground beef. He pulled out a pan and turned the heat under it to medium. "I'm so worried. About Riley. About Dean."
Meg smirked. "Well you should be. One of them might have been puking her guts up in our bathroom this morning." Cas, his blue eyes wide, paused on his hunt through the endless amount of utensils in the drawer next to the stove.
"I'm sorry... What?" He stared at the brunette until she giggled at his shocked expression. "Is she pregnant?"
"She said she wasn't sure. But we're not supposed to know. Ruby and Sam were the ones she admitted this to this morning before the kids came home from DC." Cas was still standing there in shock until Meg kissed his cheek. "Cook up that ground beef so I can get this chili in the crockpot. You think they would eat salad too?" Meg mused out loud as she eyed the big bowl on her counter top. "Cas? You with me?"
"Riley's pregnant?" He was still standing there, spatula in hand. His wife peeled the plastic off the ground beef and dumped it into the cast iron pan.
"How are you supposed to keep it a secret when you're standing there with that look on your face?" She laughed.
"I... don't know."
"You're adorable. Now get that beef done."
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It was shortly after seven in the evening when everyone started trickling into Cas and Meg's cape cod style home. They congregated in the living room after Sam opened the front door and called out. "Meg? Cas?"
"In the kitchen," Cas called and Meg moved out to meet her visitors. Mary and John were with Sam, Ruby and Riley. Meg hugged their parents and invited them in, taking their coats as Sam closed the front door. She lay them over the back of the couch and waved them into her home.
"Guys, dinner's about ready. Cas was just gonna go run and pick up a couple pizzas." She smiled at the weary travelers. "Go on in and help yourselves."
"You didn't have to do all this." Mary murmured and Cas smiled as he joined them, shaking John's hand before he slipped on his jacket.
"It is our pleasure." Meg insisted. "Sam, would you be a doll and grab the folding card table and chairs from the basement?"
"Yeah, we can do that." John answered, glad to be able to help in some small way. That left the four women standing there for a moment, silence settling over them for a somber moment.
"Bathroom is down the hall there and kitchen is right this way." Ever the gracious host, Meg smiled.
Just then, the front door opened again and this time it was Ben, Jack and Clare. Mary immediately got teary eyed at the sight of her grandson and hugged the teenager tight. "Oh honey..." Both she and John hugged him tightly and everyone in the room felt the emotion from the exchange.
"Lisa dropped us off before she had to get to work." Clare explained quietly. Jack stepped over to help Sam unfold the card table and four chairs.
"Dean's doing better." Jack added, looking from his friend Ben to his mom. "The nurses are really nice and let the 3 of us visit for a little while even though they had a 2 person limit." Everyone relaxed some at that statement and the atmosphere shifted to a more hopeful one.
"Well, go eat while it's hot." Cas encouraged the group. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes." He leaned in to kiss Meg before he slipped out the front door.
The table held the crockpot full of chili, two dozen cornbread muffins, crackers and shredded cheese, bowls and utensils. Along the counter was a large salad with a couple bottles of dressing and two packages of cookies from the bakery in town. Mary and John started off the line and everyone was either sitting on the couch with their plates on the coffee table or sitting at the card table.
Before long, everyone had filled their bellies and Cas felt a hand on his arm and he looked to his right. Riley gave him a sad little smile, her eyes red-rimmed and glassy. Before he could speak, she disappeared into the kitchen and he turned to follow when he saw his teenage daughter set her empty bowl down on the end table and follow the young woman into the kitchen.
The door swung closed behind the blonde teenager and Cas sighed softly, the soft chatter around him bringing him back to reality. The exhaustion from his jet lag was finally settling into his bones and he realized then he'd been up for over 24 hours. As if she sensed it, Meg was at his side. "Babe, go to bed. I got this." She murmured and he smiled gratefully before excusing himself for a shower upstairs before he settled into his own bed.
Crossing the tiny kitchen, Clare followed Riley out onto the covered back porch. The cool fall air made goosebumps form on her skin and she pulled her sweatshirt around her tighter. "Riley, you okay?"
"No. Clare." Pause. "I'm pretty far from okay." She sank onto one of the adirondak chairs, putting her feet up on the deck railing. There were no crickets chirping or any sort of insect singing in the evenings now, signaling the impending approach of winter. She sniffled and Clare leaned against the railing near Riley's feet, looking down at the woman whose life revolved around Dean's.
Dean was like a second father to the blonde and he and her dad were very close. She could see how much Riley loved him and suddenly, it seemed so strange, that everyone was at her house, visiting and eating dinner and enjoying one another's company while Dean lay hooked to machines in a hospital half an hour away.
"What if he doesn't come home?" Riley echoed her thoughts just then and Clare fought back the lump in her throat.
"Of course he'll come home."
"We don't know that."
The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the sting of tears and not wanting to let Riley see her lose it. "Riley, you can't talk like that." The sliding glass door opened a bit and Clare looked up to see Sam coming through the door. She gave him a desperate look and he nodded before the door closed behind her, leaving the two of them alone.
"You gotta eat something." Like a big brother, he pressed her a bit.
"I'm not eating anything. I'm not hungry." For some reason, Riley's statement struck him with some sort of deja vu, but he shook that off. His eyes moved over her disheveled appearance; her hair was unbrushed and her eyes were dull, the sparkle Sam had grown to love was long gone.
"Sam?"
"Yeah honey?"
"I love your brother so much."
Sam folded his tall form into the chair next to her, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "This isn't your fault, Ry." She snorted. He closed his eyes briefly. "Ry, please let me take care of you. When we get Dean back, he's gonna kick my ass royally for not taking care of you for him." Riley stood up then and Sam rose as well and she moved into his arms. He hugged her tight, his chin on top of her head. "Let me take care of you, Ry." His hand came up to cup her cheek, making her look up to him. "For Dean."
"For Dean."
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Hey y'all!
Loved the new episode tonight! Did you catch Jensen's new song in there near the end? LOVED IT.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are love! Have a great week!
CitrineMama