Chapter 3: Reunion
"Wait, your dad knew this guy?" Dean picked up the notebook and pointed to the name at the bottom.
"Yeah, of course. John was a legend. I only met him a few times, but I still remember what he was like. Dad didn't like that he used to drag his kids all over with him, but he was an effective hunter. Usually when they teamed up he'd dump his kids with my mom and they'd go off together to hunt. John was a good guy, but my dad wasn't a huge fan of all the decisions his cousin made."
Dean choked on his beer, "Wait, John Winchester was your dad's cousin?"
"Yeah, why do you know what happened to him? Apparently he went missing a few years ago and none of the hunters around here know what happened to him. Said his kids were still hunting, but no one knew how to reach them. Something about them being vessels-didn't really make sense to me, none of my research ever mentioned anything like that."
"We're his kids." Sam pointed at Dean and himself, "We're Sam and Dean Winchester."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments as everyone processed what had happened.
"So, I suppose I should catch you up on what's happened with your distant relatives, just to make sure you're aware of how amazing it is that you're still alive." Dean said, breaking the silence. He went on to explain the Winchester family curse and how he and Sam had narrowly avoided death-and had actually died and returned-multiple times. Mike seemed receptive enough, frequently asking questions about some of the more ridiculous aspects of their journey and making notes in a blank journal.
"Well, that's a lot to process. How about you guys spend the night and we figure out the hunt tomorrow. I'm sure the boys would love to meet their uncles, if you'd be up for it."
Sam looked at Dean, who shrugged, "Sure. We'd love to."
Mike left to walk down the block and pick up Avery and Alvin from a "play-date" a few minutes later, leaving Dean and Sam sitting alone in the living room.
"Dean, we need to leave." Sam turned to him as soon as the front door clicked shut.
"What, why? The guy seems nice enough-a bit of a dork, but he knows his stuff. I mean, look at these journals. He came up with a ranking system on how dangerous shit is and how experienced you should be before going up against it."
"No, not that. It just seems like every time we meet anyone we're related to they end up as collateral damage within a week. Mike seems happy enough-and he's got kids. I don't want his blood on our hands if he ends up biting it on a hunt with us."
"He's not going to go on the hunt, remember, the guy said he just does research. And besides, we owe it to him to at least try to connect. Apparently he remembers us from all those years ago."
"Fine. But he is not going anywhere near wherever this thing is holed up."
As Sam finished Mike opened the front door. He was carrying an exhausted looking tyke with an older boy walking along in front of him.
"Alvin, Avery, these are my cousins-Sam and Dean." Mike stooped over to put down the smaller boy. He had curly, dark hair and dark green eyes. He rubbed them for a minute before looking up at the tall strangers.
"Hello Sam. Hello Dean." He yawned.
"Avery, say hello." Mike nudged forward the older boy, who up to that point was clinging to his father's leg.
"Hi." He bashfully waved and looked down at his sneakers, rubbing the Velcro on his left foot with the bottom of his right sneaker.
"Sorry, Avery's a bit shy. Give him time and he'll be your best friend." Mike smiled. "Alright Vinnie, time for a nap before dinner-Mrs. Dorchester said you didn't want one earlier and I know you need one."
The three year old pouted, but didn't resist as Mike picked him back up and slung him over his shoulder.
"Avery if you want you can show Sam and Dean some of your racecars. I'm sure Dean would like to see them-he's a car guy like Dad."
Avery stopped looking at his feet and glanced up at Dean. He blinked, his brown eyes quickly darting up and back down as he spoke. "Do ya want to see my cars?"
Dean smiled, "Sure, bud. Where are they?"
After Mike had gotten Alvin settled he started on dinner. Avery was surprisingly talkative once he opened up. Apparently his father had instilled early on a love of classic cars, with most of his toys being copies of his favorites.
"And this one is an Edsel. I think it's a Corsair, but I don't know how to read the bottom to check what it says. You can tell it's a '58 because of the front. It has a horse collar grill." Avery pointed at the front of the car.
Dean had sat cross legged on the floor to watch the six year old talk, smiling. Sam thought Dean was basically just an oversized child, and watched from across the room as the two talked about the different cars. He decided not to try to insert himself into the moment-Dean loved talking about cars, even if it was just with a little kid.
Dinner was ready around six, and the extended family all sat around a picnic table on the back patio. The yard was as neat and ordinary as the house. A play set stood in the far corner, with a small tree nearby. A wooden fence surrounded the yard, but it was easy to hear the other sounds of a suburban evening. A symphony of lawnmowers, barking dogs, and children playing in the summer breeze filled the air as Mike held out his hands for his two boys and bowed his head. Sam and Dean followed suit.
"Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty of Christ thy Lord, Amen." He nodded his head, then looked up. "Alright, let's dig in!"
It had been a long time since Sam and Dean had said grace. After meeting Castiel and all the bullshit with Lucifer, then everything else after that, it seemed refreshing, the naiveté of a simple dinner prayer.
"Uncle Sam what do you and Uncle Dean do?" Avery said, looking up from his sliced hotdog and French fries.
"Uh… we're traveling salesmen." Sam awkwardly replied, not wanting to have to explain what a hunter was to a six year old.
"Yeah, we go door to door making sure people get what they need." Dean added.
"You don't need to make a cover story guys. They know about hunting." Mike commented before taking a bite of his burger.
"You guys are hunters? That's awesome!" Alvin piped up from his booster.
Dean raised an eyebrow, surprised that Mike had decided to tell his children about hunting and the supernatural. "Yeah, Sam and I have been doing it all our lives. Our dad used to hunt with us when we were kids and it just kind of became our thing."
"I wish we could go on a hunt. All we ever do is learn about monsters, never see them…" Avery huffed.
"No you don't. Believe me." Sam cautioned, "Hunting is very dangerous. There's a good chance something bad could happen to you. Dean and I are lucky to be alive with all the things we've fought."
"Yeah, I guess…" The boy sullenly replied, looking at the checked table cloth.
"Besides, your dad seems to be working hard to keep both of you safe here. If I were you I'd just be happy to get to learn about all the different monsters, not many people get to know all that cool stuff." Dean added, earning a nod of approval from Sam.
Later that evening, after Alvin and Avery were in bed, Sam, Dean, and Mike decided to relax a bit.
"So, why'd you decide to stay in it? Continue even researching into the supernatural? I mean, you're living the American dream: house in the 'burbs, two kids… I mean, it certainly doesn't look like a hunter's life." Dean asked, nursing his second drink from the mini-bar in the corner of the den.
"To be honest, it's all I know. I never went on hunts but the lore always mystified me. Even as a kid I wanted to learn as much as I could about the stuff, maybe to try to figure out how to fix it all… I guess now the main thing is trying to keep my kids safe and make sure they're informed about the stuff that goes bump in the night. Eventually I want to compile all these notes into some sort of book, but for the time being I just keep adding and revising."
"I guess that makes sense, keeping your kids in on it helps them from becoming victims. Plus when it comes to safety there's nowhere much safer than tract housing." Dean made a mock gesture of elegance.
"Especially when you have the builder makes some modifications prior to moving in." Mike smiled.
"Like what?" Sam looked up from the notebooks of research he'd been pouring over.
"Where to begin? The whole house is surrounded by a PVC pipe completely stuffed full of salt. All the doors and windows have devil's traps under them-painted in clear acrylic so no one sees. Walls are lined with iron sheeting under the drywall-that was expensive. And the sprinkler system is filled with holy water, courtesy of an industrial sized tank in the basement that I have a priest come once a month to bless-he thinks I do it to get a greener lawn. Which to his credit, it does help, but the main thing is my industrial sized pesticide sprayer. Baby holds twenty gallons!"
"That's pretty thorough…" Sam stated, surprised at the level of planning.
"Well, after what happened to Wendy I have to be."
"Who's Wendy? You mentioned her earlier." Sam tilted his head and sat back from being hunched over the pile of notebooks.
"Wendy is-was-my wife." Mike rubbed his neck. "I don't know what exactly got her-all I know is that it should have been me. Something was coming after me, apparently looking for vengeance of some kind, and Wendy was caught in the crossfire. I've looked into her death a thousand times and I don't know what it was. It wasn't a demon, or ghost, or anything else I could even think of-all I know is that one minute she was in bed next to me, the next she was jumping out of the second story window onto the driveway below. She wasn't suicidal, something came over her and forced her to do it. I never told her about my life and it was then I swore I would protect my kids and keep them from her fate."
"I'm sorry. We know what it's like to lose someone, it's never easy." Sam thought a minute about Jess and how Dean had to give up his life with Ben and Lisa.
"Thanks. I'm sorry to bring down the room, it was two years ago, at this point I figure I should start to try and move on." He coughed. "Anyway, I'm ready to turn in, I'll show you guys the guest room upstairs."
Mike led Sam and Dean upstairs to the guest bedroom. The room appeared to match the décor of the rest of the house, with a bright floral print on the walls and bedspread, and dark wooden furniture. It was a small room with an attached bath, likely intended as second master bedroom. There was a pair of single beds with a dresser between them on the far wall and a desk with a table lamp next to a wardrobe near the door to the bathroom.
"I know it isn't much, but I imagine with you guys on the road all the time you've probably had to deal with worse. In any case, if you guys need anything I'm in the next room. Feel free to wake me up if you need anything." Mike nodded to signify goodnight, then walked next door to his bedroom.
"So this is what it's like to have relatives. I've got to say, so far I like it." Dean commented, flopping onto the left mattress.
"Well don't get used to it. For his safety I don't intend on sticking around longer than we have to."
"Come on Sammy, don't get like that. Nothing's going to happen to this guy. I'm going to make sure of that."
"I know, let's just get some sleep. I don't exactly love the idea of facing another wendigo-the first time wasn't exactly our finest hour…"