Get Away and Out of This City:
After stepping out of the Impala, Dean put on his navy blue blazer and smoothed down the arms nervously. Before walking around to the front of the car, he stared at the building in front of him and closed his eyes while taking a calming breath. His partner appeared to be taking this job in stride and smiled warmly trying to demonstrate to Dean that he was ready to complete this job as soon as possible.
They met at the nose of the car before continuing forward side by side in complete silence. Dean stopped mid-step suddenly when he felt a hand grip his forearm tightly.
"Are you sure that you're okay? You know, that you're ready for this?"
Dean nodded and quietly answered, "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Okay… But you look like you might barf up a lung. Did you want to talk about it before we go in?"
Dean swallowed hard and chuckled warmly. He pulled the shorter male into a side hug and replied more confidently, "I'm fine Toby. Really, I am. But, it just that… After this… Well, that's it… She's really gone."
Toby nodded against his father's shoulder and said, "Yeah… That's true. So, what do you think she left for us in there?"
Dean smoothed the front of his jacket and flashed his son a bright smile and winked replying, "There's only one way to find out."
As soon as they were through the door, they were greeted by a few solemn looking smiles from the tellers. In Dean's opinion, it was almost as if they all had been expecting the father and son duo to arrive because the Manager, Colin Fayle, emerged from his office and signaled for the two of them to follow him without uttering a word. Dean and Toby shared a confused look between the two of them, but followed without protest.
"It's good to see you Toby and Mr. Winchester. The deposit box area is just this way," Mr. Fayle explained, confirming Dean's initial suspicions. "Would you two like separate rooms or would you prefer a larger room to open your boxes together?"
Dean turned to his son and deferred the decision to the younger male. Toby took in a deep breath while furrowing his brow as he weighed the Pros and Cons of each choice silently to himself.
"Umm… Would you mind if we… If we have separate rooms?" Toby replied almost shyly to the Bank Manager and then he turned to his father so that he could add, "I just figured that that way we can see what she had to say to each of us and all… That is okay, right?"
"Of course it's okay Toby," Dean replied warmly. "Mr. Fayle, it looks like we will need a room each thank you."
The Manager offered them each a fairly sad smile then point to the first open door in the corridor that they came to saying, "One of you can take this room and the other can take that one over there. If you have your keys, I'll go and retrieve your boxes for you."
They each passed him their key before retreating into their respective rooms. Colin quickly unlocked the secure vaults that corresponded with the key that Toby and Dean had given him and after placing the metal Safety Deposit boxes down, he left them saying, " In the rooms there's a phone, please call and let me know if you need anything else."
Toby opened his very tentatively and found another white envelope labeled "TOBY". Before exploring the contents any further, Toby tore it open with nervous anticipation. Inside, he found another silver key with "08" inscribed on it with a note saying:
"TOBY… BUDDY, I'M SO SORRY IF THIS IS STARTING TO FEEL LIKE SOME CRAZY SCAVENGER HUNT, BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL ALL MAKE SENSE TO YOU SOON ENOUGH.
IN THIS BOX, YOU'LL FIND SOME FAIRLY BORING PAPERWORK LIKE THE DEED TO MY… WELL YOUR HOUSE, BUT THERE ARE ALSO A FEW THINGS THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE.
I HOPE YOU LIKE IT AND ENJOY, TOBS.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF BUDDY… I LOVE YOU MORE THAN I CAN EVER TRY TO PUT INTO WORDS.
Addy"
Toby picked up the phone in his room and asked Mr. Fayle to return so that he could pass him the second key. Once the Manager had retrieve the second (and hopefully last box) and set it down beside the first, Toby started pulling out the paperwork that he found in the first. As his mother had stated he did in fact find the deed to the house, the pink slip for the car and deeds to a few different properties that Toby had never heard of or seen before. He looked over the third set of papers more thoroughly, but remained completely confused about their significance until he found a stray note that had fallen out of its paperclip.
"TOBS, YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD ME TALK ABOUT THESE PLACES BEFORE, BUT YOUR MOM AND DAD KNOW ALL ABOUT THEM. THESE ARE PROPERTIES THAT MY POPPY (YOUR GREAT GRANDDAD. YOU UNFORTUNATELY WILL NEVER GET TO MEET HIM, BUT I HOPE YOU REMEMBER THE STORIES I TOLD YOU ABOUT HIM) HAD BOUGHT BEFORE I WAS BORN AND THEN WILLED TO ME WHEN HE PASSED AWAY.
YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE EACH CARED FOR BY A GREAT LOCAL MANAGEMENT COMPANY. YOUR DAD HAS BEEN HELPING ME OUT FOR A WHILE NOW WITH THEM SO THAT WE COULD KEEP TABS ON THEM TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE DOING EVERYTHING WE NEEDED THEM TO DO TO KEEP THE PROPERTIES UP TO PAR AND BELIEVE ME BUDDY, THEY HAVE. SO, BILL… YOUR DAD, HE HAS THAT ALL TAKEN CARE OF FOR YOU. I ASKED HIM TO TAKE CARE OF THAT IN CASE… IN CASE THIS HAPPENED.
SOME OF THE BUILDINGS HAVE POOLS, BUT EACH OF THEM HAS A FURNISHED SUITE THAT YOU (OR ANYONE ELSE THAT YOU WANT TO GIVE A KEY TO… OH YOUR PARENTS HAVE A SET OF KEYS FOR EVERY ONE OF THESE PROPERTIES AND THERE'S A SECOND AT MY… YOUR HOUSE) CAN USE ANYTIME THAT YOU WOULD LIKE.
PLEASE DO TAKE NOTE, THERE'S ONE IN BOSTON, ANOTHER IN LOS ANGELES AND ANOTHER IN NEW HAVEN. NOW, NO PRESSURE, BUT IF YOU CHOOSE TO GO TO SCHOOL NEAR ANY OF THESE CITIES, YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT PLACE TO STAY.
BUT AGAIN, NO PRESSURE BUDDY.
EVERYHING ELSE IS PRETTY SELF-EXPLANITORY. I KIND OF WISH I COULD TAKE CREDIT FOR THE… SCRAPBOOK, BUT THE THANKS FOR IT GOES SOLEY TO MY MUM (REMEMBER HER? VICKI?) SHE MADE SURE TO DOCUMENT EVERYTHING FROM THE BEGINNING, BUT I JUST COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO GIVE IT TO YOUR MOM BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW THE TRUTH.
I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY BUDDY… I'VE ALSO ADDED SOME (EDITED) DIARIES FROM THAT PERIOD OF MY LIFE SO THAT YOU WOULD HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH ME DURING THAT TIME. I DON'T REALLY KNOW IF YOU WANT ANY OR ALL OF THESE DETAILS, BUT THEY'RE ALL IN THERE JUST IN CASE YOU DO.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH BUDDY… MORE THAN ANY OTHER PERSON ON THIS PLANET. I'M SORRY I CAN'T BE THERE TO SEE WHAT AN AMAZING MAN I KNOW THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GROW UP TO BE.
REMEMBER TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART. YOU CAN BE ANYTHING AND ANYONE YOU WANT TO BE. BUT KEEP IN MIND, THE 'FEAR OF REJECTION KEEPS {THE} HEART AT BAY', SO BE BOLD AND YOU'LL BE MORE THAN FINE BUDDY.
~Addy"
Toby then carefully removed the baby blue book that he assumed was the scrapbook that was under all of the other paperwork and diaries. On the cover there was a cartoonish depiction of a kangaroo with a little baby 'Joey' beside it. He laughed quietly to himself knowing that Vicki (Grandma he corrected in his mind) had given her the pet name 'Roo'. He brushed away a few stay tears that betrayed him during his laughter. He then slowly opened the front over and read a description on the title page that was scrawled in unfamiliar writing: "MY ROO'S LITTLE JOEY"
I guess Grandma Vicki made this before Mom and Pop named me, he thought to himself with another chuckle.
He continued to turn the pages with the same care that he would use whenever he read through any of Bobby's old… Well ancient texts. On the first page he flipped to there were three photos of his two birth parents dress in formal wear. Two of them appeared to have been taken in the living room of his Mum's home, whereas the third looked like a professional photo that was posed in front of a "Winter Wonderland" backdrop somewhere.
This must be the Winter Formal that she told me about, Toby mused smiling to himself as he touched her cheek in the picture of her smiling in Dean's arms at the dance. On that same page there were a few rose petals that had been dried and were glued by the photos along with the tickets that his birth parents had used for admittance to the dance. His Grandmother had also taken the time to cut out and draw some small snowflakes and places them around the page decoratively.
In the baby book that his Mom and Pop (the Connors) had put together, Toby had already seen a few of his sonogram photos and the next two pages had photocopies of each one of them. The only items that were new to him were a hospital bracelet from the 'Lincoln General Hospital' in Nebraska and a small printout with results from some tests run on her blood. Toby remembered the story his Mum related to him and his dad during their last trip to Chicago when she told him about her 'hunt-vacations' that she had taken with her own Mum. Courtesy of the inscriptions written down by his Grandmother, he learned that his Mum had been injured so severely that she had to go to the Emergency Room (which explained the hospital bracelet). At the 'Lincoln General Hospital' they ran some tests (but nothing here told him why) and the printout that was pasted with everything else confirmed her pregnancy. It was badly wrinkled and he guessed that his birth mother had thrown it out (or at least attempted to trash it), but his Grandmother had saved it and archived it with all of the other momentos.
He lingered on that page for longer than he had intended because he was so stunned. Here was the first proof of his existence… Full stop. He wasn't sure that he was ready to see that and he wasn't sure how he felt about seeing it. However, he smiled none the less and continued through the pages.
There weren't too many other pages for him to scrutinize, but each of the proceeding photos showed his Mum at various stages in his (and her) development. They were each neatly labeled (in succession): 2 Months, 4 Months, 5.5 Months, 7 Months, and 8 Months. His birth mother didn't look overly comfortable in any of them and he guessed (correctly) that she had to be coaxed into posing and having her picture taken by the photographer. He couldn't help but snort through a laugh when he got to the one labeled '5.5 Months' because he could see a woman's hand directing her to stand still for the photo that was now pasted on the page.
He held his breath unconsciously as he tried to memorize the last photo in the line-up because it was the first one that he had seen of his birth mother's Mum. She was hugging a very pregnant seventeen year old in a beautiful bubblegum pink summer dress with a white cardigan beside the ever familiar '67 GTO. They both looked so happy in this photo that he sort of wondered who had taken it (not knowing it was John, his Grandfather that had reluctantly left his truck to capture this moment in time). He never once attempted to stop his tears from flowing as he let his feelings of loss surface. He quickly turned the page in the hopes that there would be more surprising, candid family moments, but that was where this story ended.
Toby sat there, just allowing himself to cry silently and after countless minutes (maybe even an hour) before he finally caught his breath and pulled out a few Kleenex from a box that was on the table to blow his nose and dry his face. After he had calmed himself, he finally grabbed out the last two items she had left for him in this metal box: Two beige colored canvas bags.
He shook them out vigorously in the hopes that they would yield some other clues, but there was nothing else there for him. He was feeling somewhat defeated and deflated as he packed the contents of the first box into a bag that his Mum had provided before he turned his attention to the second box.
When he finally opened it, he found a very short note on a piece of paper:
"THIS IS JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE 18 FOR YOUR REAL INHERITANCE BUDDY."
He slowly started removing the stacks of bills that she had secured in box into the second canvas bag. He couldn't hold back the gasp he uttered when he realized that he deposit box had been filled to the brim with one hundred dollar bills.
"HOE-LEE CRAP!"
************** Meanwhile In the other room*******************
Dean stared at the dark green metal box, scrutinizing every inch of it before he could even contemplate opening it. After he had decided that she hadn't booby trapped it in any way, shape or form, Dean flipped the lid open quickly and slightly jumped back towards his chair. When he finally did allow himself to look inside, he found a white envelope labeled "DEAN" tucked inside with a beige canvas bag.
Damn it! She planned every fucking detail! Dean thought to himself with a soft, sad, tear-filled laugh.
He swiftly plucked the envelope out, but opened it carefully because he noted that it felt heavier than a regular letter should be as he carefully pulled the piece of paper out. He watched it with a careful eye to make sure that he didn't allow anything to fallout with her note. When he was confident that whatever was accompanying the letter was still safe inside the envelope, he flipped the paper open with his right hand to read it.
"HEY DEAN,
OKAY… HERE'S THE STORY I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU IN PERSON…
WHEN I WAS SIXTEEN, POPPY TOOK ME OUT FOR A LOOONNNG DRIVE IN MY NEW (WELL NEW TO ME) GTO SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A 'HEART TO HEART'. HE WAS THE CLOSEST THING THAT I HAD EVER KNOWN TO BE A "FATHER" AND HE HAD QUICKLY PICKED UP ON SOME SUBTLE INDICATIONS THAT I HAD A NEW 'BEAU' AS HE PUT IT (EVEN IF SYDNEY DECIDED TO REMAIN IGNORANT).
INCIDENTALLY, HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON THAT I EVER TOLD ABOUT MY FEELINGS FOR YOU. I WAS SOOO RELUCTANT TO DO SO BECAUSE I WAS SO CERTAIN THAT HE WOULD TELL ME THAT I WAS TOO YOUNG TO HAVE THOSE KINDS OF FEELINGS, BUT MY POPPY NEVER WAS ONE TO DO WHAT I EXPECTED OF HIM.
INSTEAD OF MY PREDICTED REACTION, POPPY GAVE THE RING YOU FOUND IN THIS ENVELOPE. IT WAS THE WEDDING BAND THAT MY NANA HAD BOUGHT FOR HIM AFTER HE HAD RETURNED FROM OVERSEAS. HE GRACIOUSLY GAVE IT TO ME… BUT HE BEQUEATHED IT TO ME WITH ONE SIMPLE INSTRUCTION: FOR ME TO "GIVE IT TO THE MAN THAT OWNS MY HEART".
WHEN I WAS SEVENTEEN, I HAD DREAMT OF THE DAY THAT I WOULD MARRY YOU AND I HAD ANTICIPATED PLACING IT ON YOUR FINGER ON OUR WEDDING DAY… OF COURSE WE BOTH KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT…
AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED LATELY, I FINALLY REALIZED THAT MY FEELINGS FOR YOU HADN'T… I MEAN, HAVEN'T CHANGED. LIKE MY OTHER LETTER SAID, I WAS JUST TOO STUPID AND STUBBORN TO LOOK BEYOND MY ANGER TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT.
OBVIOUSLY I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT YOU PROBABLY DON'T RETURN MY FEELINGS, BUT I'M JUST SO SICK AND TIRED OF NOT BEING HONEST. NOW, IF THIS IS THE CASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T JUST TOSS THIS RING IN THE TRASH OR PAWN IT JUST TO SPITE ME! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PASS IT ONTO OUR SON. (SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO PULL 'THAT' CARD.) IF POPPY'S RING CAN'T BE WITH THE MAN THAT I KNOW OWNS MY HEART, THEN PLEASE LET IT GO TO MY ONLY BLOOD RELATION. (SYDNEY DOESN'T COUNT HERE.)
SO…I KNOW THAT THE REST OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOX DON'T REALLY REQUIRE MUCH EXPLINATION… HOWEVER, ME BEING ME, HERE IT IS ANYWAY: THE OTHER NIGHT I WAS DRINKING IN A BAR WATCHING TWO GUYS GO AT IT FULL ON AFTER ONE HAD LOST (BADLY) DURING A GAME OF POOL. SUDDENLY I REALIZED HOW MUCH I'D HATE TO THINK THAT THE THING THAT FINALLY TOOK DOWN (THE ALMIGHTY) DEAN WHINCHESTER WOULD BE SOME DICKHEAD WHO COULDN'T HANDLE LOSING TO A MASTER OF MANIPULATION. PLEASE DON'T BE STUBBORN DEAN… JUST TAKE THE MONEY I'VE LEFT YOU.
AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT TOBY… HE'S BEEN TAKEN CARE OF, I PROMISE. BUT IF FOR SOME REASON (BE HONEST HERE) YOU CAN'T STOMACH TAKING MONEY FROM ME (OF ALL PEOPLE) THEN THAT'S FINE TOO. I'LL LET YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH IT… BUT IF I MAY ADD MY TWO CENTS (NOT THAT YOU CAN STOP ME NOW) PLEASE DON'T FORGET BOBBY… HE'S BEEN A CONSTANT FOR ALL OF US, EVEN WHEN WE DIDN'T DESERVE IT.
ANYWAYS… AGAIN, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I REALLY DO THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME APOLOGIZE. I LOVE YOU DEAN AND PLEASE BE SAFE… FIND A WAY TO STAY ON THIS EARTH DAMN YOU!
~Addy"
Dean let the band in the envelope fall into the palm of his hand while he looked it over with teary eyes. It was a fairly wide (compared to what might be considered a standard size for a wedding ring) white gold band with a darker, almost black metal inlay that looked like a barbed wire motif. On the inside there was an inscription of: 1 CORINTHIANS 13: 4-13.
With his very limited knowledge of the bible, Dean was aware of the significance of those verses. He slowly placed the band on his left ring finger to test the size and when it appeared to fit, he pushed it all the way onto his finger. He held his hand out so that he could admire how it looked before pulling out the canvas bag. He too was flabbergasted to see that every spare inch in the box had been neatly packed with one hundred dollar bills.
"Damn it Lay," he playfully cursed as he placed the bills into the bag.
Dean emerged from his room before Toby and waited for his son in the hallway, idly twisting the ring on his finger. When Toby exited his room, he was still sniffling slightly, but he maintained a tight grip on his two canvas bags. In an effort to ensure that the weight of the money would be distributed evenly, he kept the scrapbook out and placed some of the cash in with the legal papers.
His father reached out with his left hand and touched the back of the baby blue book asking, "What do you have there Toby?"
"Scrapbook that Grandma Vicki made when Mum was pregnant," he replied with a sad smile. He awkwardly gripped his father's hand and added, "What's that on your finger Dad?"
"Oh, just a ring your Great Granddad passed down to your Mum," Dean replied with a wink as he started to walk down the corridor.
"Cool."
They continued into the main part of the bank and said another "Thank you" along with a farewell to the Manager and other staff. As Dean shook Mr. Fayle's hand, a few of the tellers came over to Toby and offered their condolences. Toby managed to inch himself away just as Dean was able to detach himself from the Branch Manager. Once their backs touched, Dean and Toby nodded to each other then fell into the usual discourse that they had been saying to acquaintances since the funeral until they finally found themselves in the fresh air.
At the top of the stairs, Dean wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders and led him to the car. Toby placed his bags at his feet but clutched tightly to the scrapbook. Dean gave him a sideways glance, wanting to ask Toby more about the contents of the book he was holding, but decided to wait until they were on more comfortable terrain before the interrogation would commence.
Toby popped out the mix tape that he had been forcing his dad to listen to and exchanged it for another one that he had just made. Dean allowed Toby to break the most sacred rule of riding in the Impala because one day he finally saw Toby crack a smile the day after her funeral when a random radio station played Savage Garden's 'I Want You'. Toby refused to drink anything by Cherry Coke for nearly five days straight, but his mom stepped in and forced him to return to his proper eating habits. So Dean decided that if hearing the voice of his birth-mother's favorite singer could help to put a smile on his son's face, then Dean would allow his ears to be 'assaulted' by the mellow pop tunes. And no, he did NOT still know all of the words to 'Truly Madly Deeply', nor would he admit that you could in fact head bang to 'Break Me Shake Me' if you put a little bit of effort into it. However this mix seemed to be a bit more on the melancholy side and Dean was sure that he saw tears brimming Toby's eyes during 'A Hundred Challenging Things a Boy Could Do', but Toby still had a hint of a smile on his face so Dean declined commenting.
At the house, they each retrieved their bags then made their way up the stairs into the house. Toby flopped onto a chair at the breakfast nook, let his bags fall to the ground and started to absentmindedly trace the outline of the two kangaroos on the cover of the book.
Dean stood at the island and stared at Toby before quietly asking, "Hey Buddy? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
Toby looked up and as their eyes locked he started nodding vigorously, "Yeah, I would ki… I'd really like a glass of water, thanks Dad."
His father was already filling himself a glass of water, so he filled a second for his son and grabbed a bag of chips before joining him at the table.
They sat there lost in their own thoughts as they sipped their drinks, then suddenly Toby turned the baby book towards Dean and asked, "Do you wanna look at the baby book Grandma Vicki put together?"
Dean smiled and nodded answering, "If you don't mind."
Toby shook his head saying, "I don't mind at all. Mum even gave me some diaries from then too if you wanted to read them later."
Dean nodded, not hearing the end of Toby's statement because he had reached the page with the pictures of the two of them at her Winter Formal. He lingered on that page for a little too long and was only brought out of him memories by Toby calling his name.
"Dad? Does that mean that you remember that night? I mean you're humming Savage Garden and all," Toby teased.
Dean smiled then replied, "Yeah, that… That was a GREAT night." Once his eyes hit Toby's face, Dean blushed at the memory he had been focusing on and continued, "Yeah, I do. Did you know that this was the first formal dress that she ever bought? I hadn't seen her in a dress before that night." Toby's jaw dropped as he shook his head. "Vicki helped me by picking up the corsages. Hell… She even rented my tux for me to make sure that we would coordinate properly."
Toby chuckled then commented, "You guys did look a little too perfect for that not to be preplanned."
Dean was more than ready to change the subject because he couldn't stop thinking about how he loved to tease her about how she earned her new nickname "Lay".
"So Buddy? What else is in here?"
Toby eagerly flipped the pages and narrated each page as if it was a story book he had been reading for years and had memorized. Dean fell deathly silent and was barely holding back his tears. This was the first time that he had been allowed to see how her body changed to accommodate their first child and it brought back all of the memories of their last few months together.
His son recognized the overwhelmed look in his dad's eyes, so he switched gears saying, "She also gave me a bunch of paperwork… The deeds to everything… But that's kinda boring… Umm… Can I look at your ring?"
Dean had to pry his eyes away from the last picture of the Jones women and removed the ring from his finger. Toby quickly took it from him adding, "She was really pretty, wasn't she?"
Dean's eyes returned to the picture as he answered, "Yeah, she sure was."
Toby looked over every inch of the ring then started to recite, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
When he was finished reciting the verses inscribed on the inside of the band, he looked up at his father and asked, "Was Mum's Poppy religious? Because I don't remember Mum ever going to church but she knew that passage by heart."
Dean reclaimed the ring and placed it back on his finger as he formulated his reply. "From what I remember, she said her dad's family were into church and all that, but not super religious. Once Sydney met Vicki he kind of let going to church fall by the wayside. Her Poppy loved to throw out random verses here and there to keep her on her toes. I think he was more religious than he let on."
Toby smiled and pulled the scrapbook towards his side of the table. Unexpectedly, he looked up at Dean and said, "I feel kind of tired. I think I'm going to take a nap if that's okay?"
Dean smiled and replied, "Sure Buddy" then Toby bounded towards the stairs and continued up to his room.
Dean poured himself a tumbler of scotch then attempted to commit every detail of each picture to memory. As he stared at the ones of them from the night of her Winter Formal, Dean could feel in his gut that he knew what his next move had to be.
She was gone and there was nothing that he could do to bring her back now, but Sam… Sam could still be saved. Before he left Toby, he promised to visit on a pre-approved schedule. He was confident that his son understood that he had to do whatever he could to restore someone he loved, so he didn't go into much detail with Toby about what he had to do in order to restore Sam's soul.
Without Dean's knowledge, Toby had put one of the three photos of the two of them in the Impala. Dean immediately tucked in into the visor and would periodically look at it to help keep him on task.
*****************
Change of POV
*****************
I heard someone clear their throat and I turned my head until my gaze locked with a pair of the kindest eyes that I have ever seen.
She smiled brightly and greeted me warmly saying, "Good morning Addy. I hope you had a good rest."
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound would come out. My mouth was completely devoid of any moisture and my throat felt like someone had scrubbed it with sandpaper. Before I could make any other painful attempts to speak, she smiled serenely and gently placed her fingertips to my lips.
"Shh… don't try to speak just yet. Here, drink some tea and then we'll try again later," she explained and passed me an oversized coffee mug filled with chamomile tea.
I tried to say "Thank you", but my voice failed me again, so I just smiled and drank the warm liquid greedily. After I finished my first mugful, she refilled it and kindly said, "Just take your time Addy, you've been through a lot."
She could see the questions running through my mind, so she added, "Shh… We'll go over all of that later. You should try to rest again before we get into all of it."
I just nodded and tried to take in everything that she was saying while a thousand more questions started running through my mind. "How did she know what I was thinking?" Was the question that repeated itself the most.
"Adelaide, you know," she stated firmly as she took the now empty mug and tucked my hair behind my ear. "You know. Now, please, rest."
I laid back on the plush pillows and curled up under the blankets. As I tried to rest, I finally looked around the room to try to take stock of where I was. When the décor came into focus, I inadvertently sat up on the bed. My companion appeared to be thoroughly amused by my reaction but only issued a soft chuckle in response.
I still didn't feel like I could speak, so I tried communicating with her telepathically. Is this that Bed and Breakfast Mum and I used to come to?
"Yes it is. I thought that you would be comfortable here," she explained aloud as she gently forced me to lie down again. "Was I wrong?"
I shook my head against my pillow. No… I just haven't been back here since… Since she…
"I know. You don't have to explain. Now rest."
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep in order to appease her, but when I heard the familiar rustle of wings I opened my eyes and sat up again. I knew there was no way I could fall asleep until I came to terms with where I was brought to… Even if this all might just be a dream.
When I was fifteen, my Mum took me on my first hunt here. We came to this Bed and Breakfast that was set beside a beautiful lake because it was plagued with a deadly water wraith. Mum and I had been successful in killing it but the owners' only child had been one of its victims, so they went forward with their plans to close their business. They were so devastated by the loss of life that they couldn't bring themselves to sell the property, despite Mum's adamant declarations that everything was safe.
The owners gave Mum their keys and told her that we were welcome to use it whenever we liked. We didn't go on vacations much… Well never really, but we did use it as a pit stop on numerous occasions. After Sister Marie Catherine passed, I hid here for a week while I dealt with my feelings. I hadn't returned here since that week because it reminded me too much of how much I missed my Mum and Sister Marie Catherine.
To my surprise, it appeared that my companion had freshened things up since my last visit. There was a fire lit in the fireplace and she had placed vases all over the room with bouquets of gladiolus and white hyacinths. On the night stand there was another warm cup of tea, so I drank it and tried once again to sleep, but this time it was in earnest.