Part 8

Dean sat on the hammock for a long time, tucking Alice's feet under his arm when he had climbed in. She didn't talk for a long time. "Was that what it was like for you and my mom?"

"Pretty much." Dean acknowledged.

"It's just… My mom paints this picture of good girl done wrong and then you say 'ships passing' and it never really, really clicked what I really was." She looked up at him. "I'm an accident."

"Even children of married couples are accidents." He pointed out.

"Mom's been with Christopher for longer than I can remember. I don't have any reference for her being the kind of girl who would go to bed with a stranger."

"It's probably better that way." Dean thumped her knee. "I don't know your mom. I can't say a thing about her. Know this… it's your dad who's the whore." He cut off her protest. "If she's got a nice ass and great rack, I'm happy to take her to bed."

"That's not very responsible."

Dean stared at her hard. "Of all the mistakes that I've made in my life. You're one that I don't regret." He sat up, nearly upsetting their balance so that he could make sure she heard him. "If I had to be this old in my life and I didn't have a kid, I would probably kill myself."

"How do you know that you don't have more kids? I could have half-brothers and -sisters out there." She pointed out softly.

"I don't know. You're right… but you're the only one that I know about, so you're the one that counts."

--

The night was still. Dean wanted a drink and a lay but he still felt bad for disappointing Alice. He didn't know how much longer they had together before she had to be back in school. He really shouldn't waste it. Trudging his way through the shopping center, he found the restaurant that he was meeting the rest of the clan at for dinner. He had to stop short so he could really see what he thought he was seeing.

Team Winchester on everyone's shirts. Maddy and Sammy Too had a subtitle on theirs. "Mommy made us wear these because she wears the pants in the family."

Sam's boasted. "My wife used my allowance to pay for this shirt."

Sarah's did make Dean laugh out loud. "My trophy husband is well trained."

Then he saw Alice's shirt. "Team Winchester. My Dad is Bad Ass."

When he finally joined them, she handed him a shirt. He spread it out over his hands. "I'm the Bad Ass." He grinned then looked up at all of them. "So, uh… what's going on?"

"It's a family reunion." Sam patted his brother on the shoulder. "Figured we'd make it official." Then he slugged his brother in the arm. "So join the family and put your shirt on."

Dean shrugged out of his jacket and pulled the T-shirt on over his long sleeve shirt. He almost took his jacket back but Alice had slung it over the back of their bench so that everyone could know that they were all six Team Winchester.

There was conversation and laughter. Sam managed to tell stories about Grandpa Winchester that were heartwarming and sometimes even funny. Dean had to censor his mouth for the little ones but managed to relate a tale or two that were more or less intact for the sake of the little outing. Alice sipped her beer while her father and uncle argued over the best weapon to have on hand in the event of a surprise attack from a vampire, however unlikely that would be since they were practically extinct. Dean favored a machete and Sam preferred an ax.

"Wuss." Dean breathed into his beer bottle. "Too heavy to be worth lugging around."

"The blade does most of the work for you."

"It's still too heavy. Machete is light and uses the same amount of power to cut."

"Guys, I hate to cut this short." Sarah interrupted from where she was smoothing Maddy's hair away from her face. "The kids are falling asleep."

"Okay. Meet you two at the house." Sam pulled out his wallet and waved to the host.

Dean tossed Alice a look. She nodded and polished off her beer. They found the Impala and sat in it for a good twenty minutes. "Why didn't you tell me this was a send off party?"

Alice only shrugged. She slipped off her shoes and propped her feet up on the dashboard. It was another ten minutes before she spoke. "I guess I'm realizing how much I'm holding you back right now."

"It's not like I have a job to get back to."

"Yeah, you do." She tilted her head at him. "You were doing your job when you saved me. I need to get back to my life. I can't hide forever."

Dean ran his hands over the steering wheel but didn't start the engine. "When did you want to start back?"

"Tomorrow?"

"We can do that."

"Dean… can you promise me that you'll answer your phone when I call you?" Silence was her answer. She stared straight ahead at other families drifting from the stores to their cars. "Will you at least stop by when you're in Texas?"

"Maybe."

"Or if I come up to visit Uncle Sam and Aunt Sarah?"

"If you're heading this way, I will, too."

"I want us to keep in touch."

"Yeah. That'd be cool." Dean nodded and turned the key. "Come on. Let's go get you packed up. Marta will want to pack us some food for the road."

TBC