-September 20, 2008….
"UNCLE SAM!"
Sam raised an eyebrow curiously at his brother. "Uncle Sam? Since when…?"
"She calls me dad sometimes, but then corrects herself. I think she wants to go do it, but isn't sure if we're gonna stick around. So…just go with it."
Sam walked into the kitchen. "Yes, Katie?"
"Grace wants to talk to you about my schooling." She walked into the living room, on her way in, she hands her phone to Sam. She looked at her father. "Are you cool with me being with you forever?"
"Huh?" he asked a little confused. "I…I thought that that's what being a parent was about, Kiddo?" he asked.
She shrugged. Dean knew that if he wanted her to open up to him, he'd have to insist on it. "Katie, you can tell me anything and I promise you whatever you've gotta say isn't going to make me run in the other direction."
"Grace isn't coming back."
"Wha…what?"
She nodded. "So, if you have a problem with me being with you and Sam you might want to say something now and I don't know…I'll stay with Bobby."
"She's really not coming back?"
She shook her head. "She's going to join forces with that Mike guy and tool around with him." She sighed and plopped on the couch. She laid back. "Why doesn't anyone want to be around me?"
Dean smiled. And our first teenage mood swing. "Sweetheart, I want to be here. I wasn't lying when I told you that I wanted to be your dad, Katie. I'm sorry that Grace and your mother have disappointed you, but I can at least promise that I'm going to try not to."
She sighed heavily. "Dad," she said softly and Dean smiled, but she kept her arm over her eyes. "They disappoint me. They dropped the ball. Mom was supposed to be my mom and once I got old enough to be on my own she would leave me in the motel room while her and Grace went to hunt the big bad. The only reason why I know what I know about hunting now is because Grace was afraid that whatever they were hunting would come for me to get to them."
"And she's right," he told her. "They will. How much did Grace show you."
"Well, I'm only five-one…I know how to punch hard enough to get away."
He laughed softly and moved to the couch. He crouched down in front of her. "Well, that's good, but Katie, honey, your height hasn't got anything to do with your ability to kick ass, trust me." He sighed. "As much as I didn't want you to know about this world I can't stop it now. So, if you want me to I can teach you how to do it."
She turned her head quickly and stared at him. "Really?"
He nodded. She slowly sat up and looked at her dad. "You're not going to bail or tell me later that I'm too young?"
He shook his head. "No. Grace is right about one thing, Honey."
"What's that?"
"Whatever we're hunting might come after you to get to us." He looked at up as Sam walked in. "I know Uncle Sam and I will be more at ease knowing you can take care of yourself."
"Especially since you're going to be with us one-hundred percent of the time."
"Wha..wha..what do you mean?"
Dean looked at him with an identical confused look. Sam smiled. "Grace called to inform Katie that she wasn't coming back and anything that she was instructed to either keep or throw out. While she wanted to talk to me about becoming Katie's teacher."
Katie's jaw dropped in shock. "Really?"
He nodded. "There's some things I gotta do before the state will accept it but if you want I will teach you until you graduate from high school and then we'll discuss what to do after that-hunting full-time or college." He looked at Dean and then said, "That's your choice."
She looked from Sam to Dean and stared at Dean. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
She smiled. Sam looked at Dean. "Grace is going to rush mail me Katie's information. I have to do a bunch of stuff before South Dakota will accept it, but it shouldn't be a problem for me to be her teacher." He studied him. "If that's okay with you?"
He nodded. "Absolutely. Sammy, you know I sucked in school. I'm still not entirely sure how I graduated."
Sam laughed. He knew how important it was for his brother to have a relationship with his daughter and honestly he wanted one with her too. He looked at Katie. "And your dad's right. You're stuck with us, Kate. If you want us that is?"
She looked at both of the guys. "So, wait, um…you want me to stick around?"
Dean nodded. "You're my kid. I'm not going to turn my back on you. I'm sorry I wasn't there for the first twelve years of your life, but I would love to be there for the rest." He pushed a curly tendril from her face. "But, Sweetheart, I'm gonna ask you to be patient with me and your uncle Sam. We've never raised a kid and definitely not a little girl."
She laughed. "I'm not much different than a boy, da-Dean. Except I have my period and I'm growing boobs." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight. She turned her face into his neck and whispered, "Thank you for everything. I don't care what mom thought you're ready to be my dad."
He smiled. "Does that mean you'll start calling me dad?"
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Maybe someday soon."
Hey, he'd take that any day.