A/N: This chapter, out of all the ones I've done in Evy's history, was the toughest I've ever written. I realize that what Sam and Dean do in this chapter is basically kidnapping, but, like I said before, I wanted to explore the question of what would have happened if they decided to keep her and give her a decent life. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Breaking the News

Dean stared at Sam with bulging, disbelieving eyes. Was he seriously considering doing it? Dean had brought it up, but the possibility of it actually happening had not occurred to him. Forget the fact that it was Evy. He would, as he'd often told Evy, do anything for her. But how could Sam and Dean raise a kid? Especially from the bunker? This was no life for her.

"Sam…"

"No, Dean." Sam said, putting a definitive end to Dean's objections. "Look, I'd like you to do this with me, but I won't make you. She deserves this. We'll work out the details later, but I'm doing this."

Dean opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn't. Evy did deserve this. Sam deserved this. And not that he would ever admit it, Dean deserved this. They all deserved to be happier, a chance to start over. Dean turned around to accept Chuck's offer too, but Chuck was already gone.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Dean asked.

"Not talk about it tonight." Sam said. "We're both exhausted and there's way too much to decide tonight."

"We do need to decide what we're going to tell her in the morning." Dean pointed out. "Sam, you did promise we'd get her home."

"I know." Sam said. "Let's cross that bridge first. Tell her in the morning that she's not going home, give her a few days to get used to it. Then we'll work out the details."

"Okay." Dean said. "Oh, wow."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Did we just become parents?" Dean asked.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. I think we did."

Both of them were up for a few more hours. Neither of them could sleep, and neither wanted to admit that it was because they felt guilty. Evy was going to be devastated that she couldn't go home. They didn't want to lie to her, but admitting that they weren't going to send her home when they did have that option was sure to turn her against them, and that would not be entirely unjustified. Every time Sam started to feel guility about lying to her, he'd remember things like leaving for Stanford, Jess dying, John dying, Lillith attacking her, and his resolve would set again. Sam fell asleep at the kitchen table, and was woken up the next morning by small fingers poking him in the side.

"Sammy."

Sam jumped. "What?" he said, still half asleep.

"Sammy, wake up, please."

It was Evy. Sam smiled; a part of him had still thought that everything had been a dream. Sam sat up fully, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Evy climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his chest. Sam returned her hug.

"You okay?" he asked as he held her.

"Yeah." Evy said with a yawn.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Okay." Evy answered. "This place is big and kinda scary."

Sam chuckled. "You get used to it." he said. "Are you hungry?"

Forty-five minutes later, Sam had a happily fed Evy sitting across from him at the kitchen table. They were playing a game that Sam had forgotten about. He placed his hand on the table, Evy placed hers on top of his, Sam placed his other hand on top of hers, and Evy's other hand was on top of the pile. The person on the bottom of the pile had to quickly pull their hand out and place it on the top of the pile. It was simple, and there was no winners or losers. More often than not, the two of them ended up in a hysterically laughing pile on the floor. It was the sound of that laughter and Evy's fifth chant in fifteen minutes of "Again!" that woke up Dean and brought him to the kitchen.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, his messy hair sticking up all over the place from heavy sleep.

"Deanie!" Evy exclaimed happily, jumping off the kitchen chair and running to him.

Dean was so shocked that Evy was nearly able to knock him over. She wrapped her arms around Dean's waist and held on. Dean had tears in his eyes as he reached down to pick her up. Sam watched the scene with tears too, and he saw in Dean's face an acceptance that they were doing the right thing. Dean poured himself a cup of coffee and walked back over to the table with Evy.

"Did you two save me any breakfast?" he asked.

Evy suddenly looked guilty. "No. Sorry."

"You didn't leave me anything?" Dean asked in mock upset. "You mean it's all in here?"

Dean poked Evy's stomach lightly, which made her giggle. "Sammy ate some too." she said between laughs.

"He did, did he?" Dean asked. "I guess I'll have to make lunch then. What do you want?"

"I get to choose?" Evy asked. "All by myself?"
"Anything other than cookies, candy, or ice cream." Sam said.

"Anything?" Evy asked again.

"Anything." Sam promised.

"Pie."

Dean, who had been taking a sip of coffee, nearly snorted the coffee out of his nose. Sam rolled his eyes, forgetting that, even though she had spent more time with him as she grew up, she had Dean's mischievous attitude. He had to put his hand in front of his mouth to hide a grin. Once Dean stopped laughing, he very unhelpfully pointed out to Sam,

"You did say anything other than cake, cookies, or ice cream."

Sam just shook his head. He had on his mind what he had been dreading all night. He knew it was time; if they put it off any longer, it would just become harder. Sam reached across the table and took Evy's hands in his. Dean realized what he was about to do and immediately stopped laughing. He wrapped an arm around Evy's waist.

"Cricket, Deanie and I need to tell you something.

Evy looked to Sam first, then up at Dean, scared at their change in attitude and demeanor. "What's wrong?"

Sam took a deep breath and broke the news to her. "We're not going to be able to send you back home, baby."

"Why not?" Evy asked, her eyes immediately flooding with devastated tears. "You said yesterday…"
"We thought yesterday we would be able to send you back, sweetheart." Dean said, knowing that Evy's crying would make it impossible for Sam to do the job on his own. "But things have changed."
"What things?" Evy asked, pulling her hands out of Sam's and pushing Dean's away from her waist. "I want to go home!"

"I know it's hard to understand, baby." Sam said. "But we can't…"

"You can't keep me here!" Evy protested. "I want my family!"

"We are your family." Dean said. "We are your family, just older."

"No, you're not!" Evy said. "You're not my family! I want my Sammy and my Deanie! They're gonna be looking for me…"

"We did."

Sam's statement was so full of certainty that, had Dean not known it to be a flat out lie, he would have believed it himself. Sam was fighting tears too, and Dean waited to see how he was going to play this out.

"We did look for you, baby." Sam said. "We looked for you for a long time. But you went missing from your hospital bed. Daddy and me and Deanie tried to find you, but we never could. Until now."

Both Sam and Dean held their breath, praying their fabricated explanation would work and Evy would accept it. Evy was crying hard now, and she shook her head and pulled even further away from Dean. She was now sitting on the edge of his lap. Her tears were falling in a puddle onto the table.

"Cricket, listen…" Sam said.

"NO!" Evy suddenly shouted, jumping off Dean's lap. "No, leave me alone!"

Evy bolted from the kitchen like there was jet fuel in her shoes. She ran in the direction of the bedroom Sam had put her to sleep in the night before. Dean started to run after her, but Sam stopped him.

"She just lost her whole family, Dean." Sam said. "Give her some time alone."

"We are her family." Dean said.

"No." Sam said, though it killed him to admit it. "No, we're not. She was right about that. She doesn't know us. When she's calmed down, I'll go talk to her again."

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Dean asked.

Sam turned to him with a you've got to be kidding me look. "This was your idea in the first place!"

"I know, but…" Dean said, running his hand through his hair. "I never really thought it was possible. And I just don't want her to hate us."

"I know." Sam replied. "I know. I don't either. And I don't think she will. She just needs a little time. I'll go check on her in a few minutes."

Evy flung open the bedroom door and jumped into the bed, burying her face in a pillow and crying hysterically. She wanted her family back. When she'd gone to sleep on the operating room table, what kept her from being scared was knowing that Sammy was there, waiting for her to wake up. When she thought about Sammy, her Sammy, it caused her crying to get worse. He never allowed her to be sad or scared if he could help it, and she knew he was probably crying right now too. Evy was crying so hard now she thought she was going to be sick. She felt someone sit down on the bed beside her. She hadn't heard anyone come in, but assumed it was Sammy.

"Go away!" she said.

"I can't do that, sweetie."

Evy jumped. She didn't recognize this new voice. It wasn't Sam or Dean, and it wasn't their friend Cass either. This was a different man. He looked nice, but she was scared enough already. She got as far away from him as she could without actually getting off the bed.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Chuck." he said. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart."

"What do you want?" she asked. "My brothers are right outside."

"They can't see or hear me." Chuck said. "And for the moment, they can't hear anything going on in this room. So you can do whatever you want. Yell, scream, cry, whatever. Just please, listen to me for a minute."

"What do you want?" Evy repeated.

"I know you're scared." Chuck said. "But what your brothers were telling you earlier is true. You need to stay here with them. It's too dangerous for you to go back."

"How do you know that?" Evy asked.

"Because I'm the one who put you here from your hospital bed, sweetie." Chuck explained. "I'm the one who sent you here."

"Then you can send me back!" Evy exclaimed. "If you brought me here, then you can send me back."

"No." Chuck said flatly. "No. Sweetie, like I said, it's too dangerous for you to go back."

"I want my family!" Evy suddenly shouted, startling Chuck. She reached over and threw the nearest thing she could get her hands on, a book on the nightstand table, as hard as she could at Chuck's head. "I want to go home!"

"I know." Chuck said patiently. "I know you do, sweetie."

All of Evy's anger drained out of her, replaced with sadness. "I'm never going to see them again."

"I know it feels that way right now." Chuck said. "But trust me, sweetheart, your family is right outside the door."

"Not daddy." Evy said. "Daddy's dead, isn't he?"

"What makes you say that?" Chuck asked.

"If he wasn't, Sammy would've tried to get him to come back by now." Evy explained.

"Yes, honey." Chuck said. "Your daddy's gone."

Evy fixed her eyes on Chuck. "Are you an angel too?" she asked.

"No." Chuck said. "But how did you know Cass was an angel?"

"I don't know. I just knew." Evy explained simply, as she wiped her face again.

"No, honey, I'm not an angel." Chuck said again. "But I do know all the angels."

"You do?" Evy asked.

Chuck nodded.

Evy was hesitant to ask this, but she had to know. "Do you know my mommy?"

Her question was so innocent, so heartfelt, that Chuck thought his own heart was going to shatter. "I do know her, sweetheart."

"If you brought me back to Sammy and Deanie," Evy asked, "can you bring my mommy and daddy back to me?"

"I'm sorry." Chuck answered. "No, I can't bring them back to you. But you can meet your mommy if you'd like."

"I can?" Evy asked.

"Yeah." Chuck said. "Would you like that?"

Evy nodded, and immediately there was a woman standing next to the bed. She had long, curly brown hair and brown eyes, just like Evy. She was smiling, and was as beautiful as Evy had always imagined her.

"Mommy?" Evy whispered. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, my sweet, beautiful girl. It is."

"Mommy!"

Evy jumped off the bed and ran to her mother, and got the hug she'd wanted her entire life. She had dreamt of what it would feel like to be hugged by her mommy, and her wish was finally coming true. Mommy smelled like flowers, just like Sammy had always told her. Mommy kept Evy close to her, and wiped her tears away from her face as she asked,

"Why are you so sad, sweetheart?"

"I'm scared, mommy." Evy explained. "I miss Sammy and Deanie and Daddy. I don't wanna stay here."

"I know." Mommy said. "I know you don't. But like Sammy and Chuck said, it's too dangerous for you to go back. Hasn't Sammy always taken good care of you?"

"Yeah." Evy said.

"And he always will." Mommy told her. "No matter where you are, kitten, me and daddy and Deanie and Sammy are always right here." Mommy pointed to Evy's heart, and Evy immediately felt a sense of calm and peace that she hadn't had before. "You will have a good life here with Sammy and Deanie, sweetness. I promise. Just give them a chance.'

"Okay, mommy." Evy said. "I promise I'll try."

"That's my good girl." Mommy said. "Are you ready for Sammy to come back?"

"Can I have another hug first?" Evy asked.

Mommy laughed. "Of course."

Mommy gave Evy another long hug. She held her tightly, and with a final "I love you", she said goodbye. Evy was again alone in her room, and she climbed back on the bed. She was still sad, but was no longer scared. She knew she'd be okay. There was a knock at the door a few minutes later.

"Come in."

Sam was a little surprised at the invitation, but grateful for it. When he walked in, he saw Evy sitting on the bed. She looked completely drained emotionally and physically. Sam could see the dried tears on her face, and immediately felt even more guilt. He sat on the edge of her bed cautiously; if she asked him to leave, he was going to. She had no reason at all to trust Sam, and he wanted her to trust him on his own.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I guess." Evy said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Oh, baby." Sam said, his heart breaking again. "You were scared. You've got nothing to be sorry for."

"It's not fair, Sammy." Evy said.

"What's not, baby?" Sam asked.

"I went to sleep with one family and woke up with a different one." Evy said.

"I know, baby." Sam said. "You're right. It's not fair." But neither is anything else that happened to you, Sam thought. "It's not fair, and I wish I could change it. But I promise you, we'll be okay. Deanie and I will take care of you."

Evy was silent for a long time before asking Sam, "Did you really look for me?"

"Yes." Sam said. "Yes, we did. We looked for you everywhere."

That was not entirely a lie. After Evy's death, Sam had found himself looking for her constantly. He would hear water running and his brain would tell him Evy's taking a shower or washing her face. He would hear Dean watching a movie and think Evy's in there with him. Several times, especially in the first two weeks after Evy had died, Sam would have a nightmare about Evy, and he would wake up thinking Evy needs me. He had looked for Evy, looked for a way to fill the hole in his heart that had been ripped open when she had taken her last breath. He knew that it was selfish, but he was going to take that opportunity now.

"What happens to me now?" Evy asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Is it gonna be like it was before?" Evy asked. "Do you and Deanie still hunt monsters?"

"I don't know what's gonna happen, baby." Sam said. "Can I sit with you?" Evy nodded, and Sam climbed on the bed beside and pulled her onto his lap. "Dean and I still do hunt. But I'm not going to anymore."
"Why not?" Evy asked.

"Because you come first." Sam said. "You come first before anything else. You deserve to have someone take care of you. And from now on, that's gonna be me. Full time. Alright?"

"You mean a home?" Evy asked.
Sam had to swallow hard to stop from crying. Evy was barely six years old and it killed Sam that she was hoping for a home. He remembered all too well hoping for the same thing at her age. He had always tried to provide her with one, but he knew that it had always fallen short. Sam brushed Evy's hair gently out of her face.

"Yeah, baby. I mean a home. A real one." Sam said. "How's that sound?"

Evy smiled and wrapped her arms around Sam's waist. "I love you, Sammy."

"I love you too, my baby." Sam said. "I love you too." After a few minutes of holding her close to him, Sam asked, "Do you feel better? Is there anything I can do?"

Evy sat up grinning. "Can we have the pie for lunch?"

Sam laughed. Though it went against every parental instinct he had, if letting Evy have pie for lunch was all she wanted from him after all she'd been through the last two days, he would swallow the urge to tell her no for now.

"Listen to me, Cricket. This is the only time I will let you have sugar for lunch, okay?"

"Okay, Sammy." Evy said. "Come on, let's go."

"Yeah, baby." Sam said quckly, kissing her forehead before putting her on the floor next to the bed. "Let's go."