"Dean, baby, I love you, but you are right in the way."

Dean grinned and watched Piper bustle around him in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. "I know."

She rolled her eyes and moved around him with a mixing bowl of sliced apples. "You know, these are for your pie, you'd think you'd behave a little better."

Dean set his beer down and followed her to the counter where she set the bowl down. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Mhm," he hummed softly against her.

She leaned back against him, and Dean felt peace work it's way through him again. He hadn't known this would happen, that he would be so content here, with her. He hadn't known that this life would be this good. If he had, he may have clubbed her over the head and dragged her to the suburbs the moment he'd laid eyes on her again, when he'd come out from under Baby and seen her sitting on the hood of that sedan.

"I have to move, handsome," she said with a smile, pushing back against him.

"No," he said gently, turning her around so she was facing him and pinning her there with his hips. He took her face into his hands, examined her for just a moment, then bent and met her lips with his. He kissed her thoroughly, smiling a little against her lips when she responded enthusiastically.

He pulled away and pressed his lips to her forehead. She leaned against him again. "What was that for?" she asked softly.

"I love you, kitten," he whispered.

She leaned back and smiled warmly. "I love you, too, handsome."

And he felt something deep inside him change forever, again, so he kissed her again, until she laughed and banished him from the kitchen.

xxxxx

Piper flung the door open. "Garth!"

Garth grinned and held up a plastic bag. "Smalls! I brought wine."

She smiled and stepped out to hug him fiercely. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered.

He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. "Me, too, Smalls." He took a step back and smiled. "Where's Dean?"

"Inside, already on the couch."

"Because I was told to stay out of the kitchen," Dean said amicably from behind her. "Garth, how's it goin', man?"

She smiled and took the wine from Garth's hand to take it into the kitchen. She listened while the men talked in the living room, smiling at Dean's lame, awkward attempts to converse with Garth, who was a creature all his own.

She was happy, but it was overshadowed by doubt. Doubt about Bobby. Why had he acted so strange on the phone? Like he… Like he didn't want to talk to her.

She stopped mashing potatoes and looked up, eyes narrowing. Like he's hiding something from me.

She thought for a moment about it, then went back to mashing the potatoes. Well, I'm definitely not just going to let that go.

xxxxx

On the way to Dean and Piper's, Bobby tried to put his game face on.

He figured he could fool Dean. Dean wasn't that observant to begin with, and Bobby suspected he would be too wrapped up in his wife to notice much about Bobby. So he wasn't real worried about Dean.

He was real worried about Piper.

Piper was not only observant, she was annoyingly compassionate and empathetic, so if she saw that he was hiding something, or that he was distressed, she would ask him about it. And she would keep asking until, somehow, he was telling her everything she wanted to know.

And he couldn't do that this time. He had to stay strong against her big hazel eyes and her sharp wit. Because now, what he knew would hurt her. And Bobby would rather die a hundred times than be the cause of Piper's hurt.

She hadn't said so on the phone, but her happiness had come through clear as day in her voice. She had taken to the civilian life fast and hard, and she was flourishing. Bobby wouldn't ruin that for her.

He felt the same about Dean, of course. They were his kids. He loved them, and seeing them happy after so many years of seeing them fight and be devastated and sad and beaten… Well, it was the best thing Bobby had ever done.

So he steeled himself as he turned down their street. Game face, Singer.

xxxxx

Dean watched, in equal parts amusement and irritation, as Bobby dodged being alone even for a second with the very determined Mrs. Winchester.

If Bobby was in the kitchen, and he heard Piper head his way, he would dart out to the living room and strike up a quick conversation with Garth, which was a feat in and of itself. If he was anywhere and he heard her coming, he would quickly make sure someone else was around, to keep the pressure off.

A surprising number of people had shown up, at least it was surprising to Dean. Hunters from all over had come to Piper's call, and his wife was on cloud nine.

Except for the fact that Bobby wouldn't talk to her.

Sometime in the middle of the evening, Piper seemed to accept defeat. Dean saw a myriad of emotions cross her pretty features, and it had him immediately putting his plate down and crossing the room to be with her. When she saw him, she smiled and raised her arms so he could pull her close as she wrapped them around his neck.

He rocked her back and forth for a moment. "It's gonna be okay, kitten."

She nodded and took a deep breath, but left her face buried in his neck. "I know."

"Want me to kick his ass?"

She laughed softly and leaned back to smile at him. "No, no, of course not. I'll be all right. It's just… I guess it's just another adjustment I have to make."

Dean kissed her on the forehead, partially out of affection, partially to hide his frown. "We'll make it together, baby."

xxxxx

She held it together until everyone but Garth was gone, and even until he passed out on the couch, too drunk to walk to the car, much less drive.

Piper was a little surprised at the force of the feeling of betrayal she was experiencing. She had been shocked when Bobby had started avoiding talking to her one-on-one, but had been determined to catch him and drag the truth out of him.

But he'd been fast, and she hadn't been able to catch him, and sometime halfway through the evening, she'd given up completely. He was definitely hiding something from her, something he'd never done before, and now he wouldn't even be alone with her. She was heartbroken.

Dean, ever the psychic, and known immediately. And as usual, his arms had kept her from the worst of the storm somehow, enough so that she could keep up a happy facade until everyone had left.

As soon as everyone was gone, she was starting to clean up in the kitchen. She didn't even realize how upset she was until her chest heaved and her vision blurred, making her carefully set down the plate she'd been washing.

She wasn't even there for a second when his strong, warm arms were encircling her, bringing her into his body heat, and his lips were at her ear. "Come on, Pipes, leave this for tomorrow, let's go to bed, baby."

She shook her head, but made no move to defy him. "No, I… I mean, I can't just leave this mess here."

He gently pulled her hands out of the sink and nodded. "Yes, you can. Come on, kitten, I'm tired, humor me."

She followed him upstairs to their bedroom, the stripped her clothes off and crawled into bed next to him, where he immediately pulled her close again, his big hand rubbing comforting circles into her hip. She groaned and buried her face in his chest. "Why am I so upset?"

"You love Bobby, and he's being a bastard," he said softly, pressing gentle kisses to her forehead, down to her cheekbones, and across her nose.

"But, you're not upset by it," she protested in a whisper.

He smiled against her. "Pipes, I'm a little bit of a different animal than you are."

She decided to just… Let it go. She was upset, and she would deal with her father figure later. But for now, she was in bed, naked, with her insanely attractive husband, who loved her to distraction.

As she ran her hand down his muscled abdomen and smiled when his breath quickened, Piper decided she had much, much better things to think about.

xxxxx

The next morning, Dean woke before Piper did. He watched her sleep, curled on her side. Her auburn hair was a crazy cloud around her pretty face, and his heart ached with how much he felt for her.

Dean adored Piper. He loved her spirit, and her heart, and her sweet demeanor. He was in awe of her strength, physically and otherwise. He admired her tenacity and her intelligence. He lived for the sparkle in her eye and the curve of her lips into a smile.

And suddenly, he was extremely irritated at Bobby.

He got out of bed slowly, moving carefully so as not to wake her up. He pulled on a pair of sweats, almost walked out the door, remembered that Garth was probably still on the couch, grabbed a t-shirt and pulled it on, then walked out the door.

He grabbed his cell phone and walked out to the back deck. He dialed the number from memory, then looked around the backyard idly as it rang. Maybe we should get a dog. Piper would like a dog, and I could put up with it.

"Dean?"

"Bobby," he said genially. "Got a minute?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. What's up?"

Dean thought for a brief moment, but he knew what he wanted to say. "So, you wanna tell me what the fuck that was yesterday? Why you were avoiding Piper?"

Bobby sighed, which just made Dean angrier. "Dean, there's just-"

"Just what? Some big secret you're keeping from her? Some big, bullshit reason you'll barely even look at her?"

The silence on the other end of the line told him all he needed to know.

He groaned and rubbed a hand down his face. "God dammit, Bobby. What is it? What could possibly be so important that you're ignoring Piper?"

"No, Dean, I'm not telling you anything. It's nothin' I can't handle."

Dean closed his eyes and fought with his temper. "Anything we can do?"

"No. I don't want you kids getting back into this. You stay there, take care of Piper."

"Yeah, yeah, I will." Dean let a beat pass, then, "Listen, Bobby. You know… I… I mean-"

"Spit it out, boy, I gotta get offa here."

Dean took a deep breath. "Bobby, if you're going to be a dick to Piper, don't come back around here. Don't come and make her life hell just because you can't… You shoulda seen her last night, Bobby," he said desperately, hoping the older man would understand.

The second long silence told Dean that Bobby did, in fact, understand.

"What am I supposed to do when she invites me?"

"Make something up, God dammit! You've been lying to people for as long as I've known you, Bobby, figure something out!"

"All right, all right. Now, this don't mean I'm gonna stay away forever," Bobby said ominously. "You're my kids, I'm coming around sometime or another."

"Yeah, yeah. Just… Just make sure you're not a dick when you're around Piper, all right?"

There was a moment, then, "Okay. Yeah, you're right. Apologize for me, will you?"

"Yeah, I will. Take care of yourself, Bobby."

"You, too, boy."

Dean flipped the phone shut and watched the backyard some more, looking around and surveying the land they rented. Should we get a dog? Maybe Pipes wants one. She likes Brandy's dog, that little rat thing. Of course, we'd get a bigger one, I don't want something I can kill by sitting on it-

Her slender arms slipping around his waist pulled him out of his thoughts. She pressed her face into his back. "Whatcha upto?"

He ran his palms down her forearms, then circled her delicate wrists with his fingers. "Just soaking in the morning, kitten."

"Liar," she murmured, planting a kiss on his back. Then she slipped beneath his arm and came around to his front, smiling up at him. "Was that Bobby?"

He sighed and just held her close, giving up completely on ever being able to keep anything at all from her. "Yeah, just called to chat with him about yesterday."

She lay her cheek on his chest and hummed a little. "Threatened him, did you?"

"I was nice," he said vaguely.

"Ah, so you were just confrontational."

He put his chin on top of her head. "He deserved it."

She was quiet for a long time, then, "Yeah, he kind of did." She lifted her head and smiled. "Garth's already gone. Do you have to work today?" When he shook his head, the heat in her eyes made his head spin a little. "Good, because I have plans for you, Mr. Winchester."

xxxxx

After what happened at Thanksgiving, they decided not to have people over for Christmas.

Instead, Dean took her to the hotel in California they'd gone to right after the prize fight. Her sparkling hazel eyes told him it was a good call. So, she likes revisiting our greatest hits, good to know.

He woke up on Christmas morning in bed by himself. He frowned and turned onto his stomach, burying his face into the pillow. She'd be around somewhere.

He was proven right by her warm hands on the bare planes of his back, and the feeling of her straddling his hips. He groaned. "Morning, kitten."

There was a smile in her voice. "Morning, handsome." She leaned over hip and nipped at his ear. "Merry Christmas, Dean."

Smirking, he bucked and flipped beneath her, so she was suddenly straddling his hips as he lay on his back. She was wearing one of his flannels, and what looked like very, very little else.

Starting at her knees, he ran his hands up her legs, the smirk widening into a grin on his face when her eyes got wider and wider. "Merry Christmas, Piper."

xxxxx

Later, at a little cafe she'd liked when they came the first time, Piper watched Dean smile and interact with the people around them. The first time they'd come there, he had been quiet and closed off, only focused on her, always touching her somehow.

Now, of course, he was still focused on her, but he was more relaxed, less withdrawn. It was a good change.

"I love you," she said softly, smiling at him over her menu.

He looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "You, too, Pipes."

xxxxx

Hi, beautiful readers! Here are my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters. (heartbroken).
Reviews and comments give me life and keep me going.
And, as always, thank you for reading, you beautiful, beautiful people.