Chapter 62

"Okay…" Wow, Brooklynn did NOT expect Claira to tell her boyfriend about their magical abilities, or at least hers and her father's. "Alright…" She stood up to grab a paper towel and dabbed her mouth with it before taking the sponge, wiping it off the wall. "Have you explained to Dean what happens if you DON'T lose your virginity, Claira?"

"N-No…not exactly…" Claira was nervous enough talking about sex with her mother let alone her boyfriend! "Mom…"

"You know he's out there still. And you know he's waiting for the PERFECT opportunity to snatch you up and try to open that dimension."

"I know, but…I wanted my first time to be…memorable, in a good way." Her face was crimson again and Claira could NOT meet Dean's eyes.

"Okay, can someone please explain to me what's going on here?" Dean was confused, his eyes widening at the words coming out of Brooklynn's mouth. "Who is this 'he' and what does he want with my girl?"

"It's Seth."

Dean snorted, draping an arm around her shoulders. "What about him, babe? He's a pushover, I'll knock him down and out in three seconds flat."

Claira chewed her bottom lip, clasping her hands together. "No, you won't…because he's not human. Well, …he's half human…and half Demon…"

"Excuse me?"

Now Dean was pale white. "Sit down, son, and let us explain."

Dean listened, swallowing hard and could NOT believe Demons actually existed.

"No," Mark interrupted before any 'explaining' could begin. "We're not explaining shit, Lynn. That's on Claira if she wants too. Dean, you got the picture, her last boyfriend was beyond the average pain in her ass." He shot Brooklynn a dark look, shaking his head at her and then smiled. "Come on, darlin', leave the kids alone and come look outside, see what I've done." He took her, and their beer, what was left of hers anyway, and guided her right out those doors. "Lynn, he knows plenty about us and magic, and the fact that he hasn't gone running yet is great. But… that's an awful lot to spring on the kid, especially when he's just getting to know you, darlin'. That decision, to tell him about Seth and the virginity, is up to Claira, not us."

He already knew Claira would clear up the fact that Seth was beyond dangerous. He was deadly and had goals of releasing his equally deadly Daddy. However, the details of that, especially when Claira was looking to actually lose her virginity to Dean… maybe the parents should sit that one out. If Dean felt pressured, or freaked out, if they were there, he might not react in a good way. If it was one on one… just them, Claira had seen him freak out before and Claira was an adult, making adult decisions. She already knew the importance of honesty, she had seen it with them and their mistakes.

"If afterward, he wants to talk to us, for more information or clarification, then we'll step in. Or… if they get really damn serious and she doesn't tell him." They'd have to step in then too, for his own sake. But Claira deserved the chance to do it herself, without Mommy and Daddy holding her hand. Brooklynn listened to what he had to say and reached up to stroke his face with the back of her hand, knowing he was right. Very seldom was Mark wrong and he was rational, thought things through, while Brooklynn acted without thinking. One of her flaws, indeed.

"Okay, I'll let her handle it. That conversation wasn't meant for you and Dean though, so she may not tell him what's going on right away…" Mark nodded in understanding, pulling her closer while taking a pull from his beer. "I have to ask, what made Claira and you decide it was a good idea to tell Dean about your magic?" Last she checked, Claira only accepted her magic in order to be able to protect herself from monsters like Seth Rollins.

"We were working with water, moving things with her mind and focus. Figured water would be good. It wasn't going to break anything and, if we got the floor wet, it could just be mopped up," Mark led her out to the picnic table, dropping down on the top of it and watched as she joined him. "He has a habit of just coming by, whenever he wants, and we didn't hear him knock. He walked in on us, watched for a few minutes, had a mild panic attack and we just went from there."

Brooklynn couldn't help laughing at that story, envisioning Dean's wide eyes and dropped jaw at the sight of blobs of water flying of their own accord through the air. "Well no wonder, but he looks to be okay with it for the most part."

She didn't know if Claira told Dean about her gift, hoping not because the last thing she needed was him knowing she could see the dead. Surprisingly, it'd been quite on the spirit front, which wasn't a good omen since Brooklynn had only crossed around 20 spirits over or so throughout the past year. Something was going on, the balance in the spirit realm was off. She didn't want to worry about it right now, not when she just came home and had an amazing reconciliation with Mark, her hand immediately reaching for his.

"The yard looks amazing, you've been busy."

Personally, if he knew what she was thinking, he would have considered that a good thing. It meant more spirits were finding their way on their own. Mark nodded, taking in the yard. Claira had gotten annoyed one day, he was pretty sure it had been Mother's Day and dragged him out here. They had tugged weeds, she had made him dig beds, paint fencing… and then, then… they had put in a pool.

"She got it in her head she wanted me to bust my ass… and she gets scary." Like her mother, he thought with a grin.

"She wouldn't let you stay broken the way I was. I get it." Brooklynn owed Claira a lot for keeping her father in line because Mark could've gone off the deep end. "We really do have an amazing daughter."

In more ways than one, Claira was their saving grace and Brooklynn didn't realize just how GROUNDED the girl made them. Without having a child and settling down, they would've eventually gotten tired of the 'peaceful' life and ventured out to find trouble. It was hard-wired in both of them, which is why she had reverted back to her old ways as soon as she left Mark.

"And it's about time we finally have a pool." They would definitely be putting that to good use.

"I think the last time we talked about a pool, Lynn, Claira was three…" Mark mused, nodding after thinking about it for a few seconds. They had then decided not to do it because a toddler and a pool seemed like a bad combination. So what had they done? They had taken her to the beach, a lot. "She's leaving soon enough, we can come out at night, naked, float on the rafts and drink." The sex went without say… it was a big pretty big pool and those filters hadn't been tested properly yet.

"Mmm, that sounds heavenly…"

Moving, Brooklynn swung one leg over his lap until she straddled him, resting her hands on his broad shoulders. She had used that salve this morning, before getting dressed, not wanting to feel sore and achy throughout the day. They still had so much more time to make up for. Last night had only been the beginning. She kissed him softly, wrapping her arms around his neck when he immediately deepened it and slid his hands up her sides, revealing part of the black rose tattoo/magical binding they had together.

"Holy shit Mom, when did you get a tattoo?!"

She groaned, reluctantly breaking the kiss and shook her head with an eye roll at his chuckle. "It's…not exactly a tattoo, Claira…"

"It looks like a tattoo," Dean observed beside Claira, his arm wrapped around her waist. "Your Dad has a bunch of new ones too…"

Now that he mentioned it, all those bindings were back. Taker had explained them to her and she studied her Mom's thoughtfully. "Mom… is that… is it a commitment binding, like Dad's?" And how come hers was so much… more something. Like, her Dad's looked neat, but they weren't anything like this. They were thin and crept up his arms like tiny black vines.

"Yeah, it is." Brooklynn didn't move from her spot, not ashamed in the slightest and felt her daughter push her tank top up further to admire the magical artwork. "I don't know, sweetheart. Your Dad cast it on me and even he doesn't fully understand it. I do know, at one point, black roses were very symbolic between us, so maybe that's why mine looks like an actual tattoo." Not with Mark, but with Taker and since he was both now, merged, there was no point in designating them separately anymore.

"I take it you're a fan of roses?"

"Yeah, black ones are my favorite though and they're rare. It's hard to find them." Unless one had magic, then it was a cakewalk.

"Rare is an understatement. No such thing as a real black rose, there are… varieties that are so red, or purple, that they appear black, but nothing pure black." Mark explained, ignoring Brooklynn's sudden curiosity, feeling her eyes on him. He had all those memories now, in one head, all converged, they were now HIS memories. "There's a place in Australia that grows them and they look mostly black. Any roses that are black elsewhere are painted." He had cheated a time or two and used magic, but magic wasn't exactly common.

"You went to Australia, to get her roses?"

"Don't even think it, Claira." Dean narrowed his eyes at Mark, though he was grinning. "Pops, you're setting that bar a little high for the rest of us, don't you think?" He teased good-naturedly.

"You'll never reach his bar, try as you might, Deano."

Claira giggled, nodding in agreement. "My parents are one of a kind." Literally, there was nobody else quite like them on the planet.

"Yeah well…if I HAD magic powers, I'd give you lilacs every day." That was Claira's favorite flower. "Roses are so cliché anyway."

"Not to me. I rather enjoy them, and the smell is intoxicating. Lilacs are beautiful too and their smell is very relaxing."

"Yeah." Claira hopped up to sit on the picnic table by her parents. "I told Dean everything. He asked me to tell him and I did." Better safe than sorry and honesty was the best policy; it was better to be honest, especially with the man who would take her virginity as well as marry her one day.

"That's your business, Claira, and whatever you decide to do, Daddy and I support you." Brooklynn snuggled against her man, scooting closer and felt his hands caress her back soothingly. "By the way, did you guys fix the AC?" It was supposed to be in the 90's today.

"Course we did."

"Why are you worried about the AC when there's a pool?" Dean wiggled his eyebrows at Claira. "Want to work on your tan?" He cursed under his breath when Mark's hand was suddenly upside his skull. "Damn pops… Whatever happened to the honeymoon suite?"

Claira began laughing her ass off when Dean took off running, Mark right on his heels. It was so weird, seeing her Dad running, those long ass legs of his… weird.

A week passed by since Brooklynn came home, and things were better than ever. Claira decided not to go on her trip, wanting to be home with her family now that her Mom was back. Brooklynn took at least 3 hours out of the day to focus on her writing, which Mark had made an office for her downstairs in the basement. It was refurbished with carpet, painted walls, even the ceiling was done. Mark had been really busy the past year with the house and had outdone himself. He had led her downstairs when she announced she was going to work on her current book and flipped the light on, surprising her with her very own office in one of the rooms.

Brooklynn wound up thanking him by giving him a blowjob in her office, which quickly changed to screwing right on her new desk, after swiping everything off it. Luckily, nothing broke and neither cared as they tore into each other, straight fucking right on the desk. They'd already christened most of the house, while Claira was out with Dean, the only room off limits being their daughter's. They would never cross that line, no matter how horny they were. Currently, she was downstairs in her office, typing away on her laptop with soft music playing in the corner and had just saved her document when the screen began flickering in front of her.

Flickering, in and out, the word program would be there, then the screen would go blank besides the reflection of her from the light behind her. In. Out. In. Out. Another reflection. In. Out. Closer. In. Out. Closer. In. Out. Right there behind her. In. Out. Bending down. In. Out. In Out. A face was right there besides hers as the screen went out one last time, this time staying out.

There wasn't hot breath on her neck or anything, but this wasn't Brooklynn's first rodeo and she could feel when a spirit entered the room or surrounded her. The flickering of lights and her breath puffing out in front of her, the room turning cold. She didn't have to turn her head to know a spirit was there, though there was no danger emanating from him. The lights flickered again, and she slowly turned around until curious amber met sad grey eyes. The spirit was a young man, couldn't be more than 17 or 18 years old and his throat was slashed. He was naturally tanned, Samoan or Indian, maybe and he had long black hair and haunting grey eyes.

"Do you know who you are?" It was one of the first questions she always asked a spirit, her voice soft and gentle.

It took a minute, but…the young man slowly nodded and tears filled his eyes. "A-Am I dead?"

Her heart broke like it did so many times when dealing with lost spirits. "Yes, you are. Can you tell me your name?"

"R-Roman. Roman Reigns…"

"Okay Roman…my name is Brooklynn." She smiled at him, knowing better than to show any kind of pity. "Do you see a light, Roman?"

He shook his head, frowning.

"Okay, that's alright, I'm going to try to help you. Will you tell me how you died?"

His dark brows furrowed, eyes narrowing somewhat, and he had to let out a shaky breath. "Murder. I was…murdered…"

Brooklynn swallowed hard, nodding in understanding. "Okay, do you know who murdered you?"

"No…but…your name was mentioned and that's why I'm here, I think…"

That was very unsettling.

Roman stared at her intently, his haunted eyes taking her in. "Do you know why I was murdered?" He finally managed to ask, his body and presence becoming more solid the longer she focused on him.

Not that he would know that, but spirits needed attention and energy, someone to notice them, to become more grounded. Well, some of them anyway. Some had enough energy or enough anger, or sorrow, to materialize on their own, properly. Those were the ones at risk of turning into something dark and dangerous if they couldn't be crossed over one way or the other.

"No, Roman, I don't, and I have no idea why you were sent to me, but we're going to figure this out. You have unfinished business of some sort to take care of." Mark's warding on the house did not prevent spirits from entering, only physical bodies that didn't share blood with Claira. She had asked him a few days after moving back in, not wanting any lost spirits unable to meet with her. "Once we take care of your unfinished business, whatever it is, whatever you need me to do, then you can cross over into the light and find peace."

For some reason, Roman felt like he could trust this woman and slowly nodded, deciding he really had nothing left to lose since he was dead. "We should go back to the place I woke up at. That's where my body is, currently." That meant his death was very fresh and new.

This wouldn't be the first dead body she encountered. "Lead me to your body, Roman. I will call the authorities once we get there and have your body recovered for your family."

"Thank you, Brooklynn."