Chapter 18

Jen knocked on the door of the hospital room, easing it open as Jeff followed her in. "Everyone awake?"

"Hey!" smiled Piper from the small couch built into the far wall. "Come on in!"

Jen and Jeff left the door partway open as they walked in. Piper sat with Noah on the couch as Julia played with a puzzle at the table. John sat in one of the hospital beds, his arm and shoulder wrapped in gauze and in a sling. They had managed to get Trucker the same room as John, and he was sleeping off some pain medication in the next bed.

"Good morning," said Jen. "How was everyone's nap?"

Piper huffed in annoyance. "What nap?"

Noah wrapped an arm around her. "She's had a long night. They did a lot of tests."

"And?" asked Jeff.

"Baby's very healthy, thank God," smiled Piper, one hand on her stomach.

"Good," said Jen. She looked over at John. "What about you?"

"Been through worse," John assured her. "Although, those Colt bullets really pack a punch."

"Sam been by yet?" asked Jeff.

"Yeah, he's been waiting for John to get out of surgery ever since his wrist got casted," Noah told them. "He just made a run down to the cafeteria for food."

"By himself?" asked Jen, pulling up two of the table's chairs for Jeff and herself.

"Well, John and Trucker get their breakfasts brought to them, and we didn't know you'd be coming in this early," said Piper.

"They're not the only ones."

Jen glanced over to see Dean and Tish at the door, walking in. "Hey, guys!"

"How're you doing, Pr—I mean, Dean?" asked Piper. "With the whole 'getting your life back' thing."

"Not bad," shrugged Dean. "Yeah, all of those memories are a bit much, but I've had all these years to deal with them, so it's almost like it's no big deal."

Jen frowned as Dean and Tish shared a smile, Dean pulling Tish just a little closer. "What's up?"

Tish frowned over at her. "What do you mean?"

"There's something different about you two," said Jen with narrowed eyes, trying to place it.

"Well, maybe, but you'll have to wait for Sam and Trucker to join us," said Tish.

"One of them already has," grumbled Trucker as he opened his eyes and began searching his bed for something.

"Hey, how are you?" asked Tish.

Trucker finally located the bed controls and eased the head of the bed upwards so he could sit up. "Better, now that I've got some morphine."

"What'd the doctors say?" asked Dean.

"Broken arm, sprained ankle and a concussion," shrugged Trucker. "Nothing I can't heal from."

"Good, 'cause Jen's gonna need someone to walk her down the aisle," said Dean.

"Yes, of course." Trucker smiled over to Jen. "You won't mind walking down the aisle with a guy with a limp, will you?"

"As long as it's you, not at all," said Jen with a smile.

"I hope jello's okay," said Sam, walking into the room with a heavily laden tray of food in his arms. "They were all out of pudding." He looked up and spotted the four new additions to the room. He deflated a little, narrowing his eyes at them. "You're all getting your own food, you know."

"We already ate," Jeff told him.

"So did we," Tish reassured him.

"Good," said Sam, placing the tray on the table next to Julia's puzzle. "I am not navigating that cafeteria again."

"Thanks, Sam," said Noah, grabbing a banana and a bottle of milk.

"No problem," said Sam, taking a banana nut muffin and an apple for himself.

Piper immediately pounced on the two cups of jello, handing one to Julia as she dug into her own.

"So…" said Jen with a look at Dean and Tish.

"What?" asked Tish.

"We're all here," said Jen.

"Oh," said Dean, smiling over at Tish as he took her hand. "Well…Tish and I have some news for you guys."

Piper gasped excitedly, beaming at Tish. "You're pregnant!"

Dean looked at her, exasperated. "No!" He then frowned and looked over at Tish in questioning and maybe a little worry. "No?"

Tish gave him a little smile and a negative shake of her head.

Dean turned back to Piper exasperatedly once again. "No!"

Tish chuckled as she placed her left hand on Dean's chest. "We're engaged."

Everyone looked at the diamond ring on her hand and began congratulating them. Dean had his hand shaken and back patted by the guys as the girls hugged Tish and fawned over her new ring. The excitement died down after a while, and Tish sat in the fourth chair at the table while Dean and Sam opted to sit on the foot of the hospital beds.

Dean looked over at Jeff, Noah and Julia. "Well, I bet you guys are confused about this weekend."

"Not really," said Jeff. "They told us everything."

"Everything?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, your whole life story and all that," nodded Jeff.

"Oh, okay," shrugged Dean.

"Speaking of…" began Sam, looking at Dean, "how you doing?"

"Well, like I told them while you were gone, I'm doing pretty good, considering," said Dean.

"And it's…all over now," stated Sam. "You're back to being you."

Dean nodded. "Yep." He caught Sam's hesitant stare and smiled. "Let me guess: you're not a hundred percent certain about this, are you?"

"Well, it's just—I—" sputtered Sam quickly. "One minute, you have amnesia; the next, you're you again. It's kinda sudden."

Dean shrugged. "Big knock to the head drove the memories out; it took just as big a knock to the head to drive 'em back."

Sam still looked a little uncertain.

Dean sighed, understanding, and pulled his necklace out from under his shirt. "First time I saw this, I asked what it was. You said Bobby gave it to you as a present for Dad. But you gave it to me because I spilled the beans on the family secret."

"What?"

Sam and Dean both looked over at John, who was staring at them with slightly wide eyes.

Dean froze with wide eyes at John, letting his amulet drop back to his chest. "Nothing." He turned his head away from him, wincing in an "I'm busted" expression.

"You're the one who told Sam about hunting?" asked John.

Dean hesitated, glancing at Sam out of the corner of his eye. The smug little jerk was smirking at his predicament.

"Maybe…" said Dean.

"Dean—" began John.

"Well, what'd you expect leaving your journal lying around the motel room?" said Dean, looking back at him. "Of course he found it!" He froze when he realized he had just talked back…to his father. He immediately retreated from John's gaze, frowning over at Sam. "Okay, where'd that come from? That's not like me."

"That was all Priestly," Trucker told him.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Great. It's like multiple personalities. How fun."

"No, it's just part of who you are now," said John.

Dean looked over at him, a little anxious about if he was angry or not.

"Your personality had to majorly shift to deal with the past two years," John told him, the apology in his eyes. "Priestly became a part of you. Just keep that in mind. You'll get the hang of things again."

Dean was a little taken aback by John's more laid back approach to family relations. The past month aside, Dean was used to the tough-as-nails, take-no-one's-crap, my-way-goes drill sergeant. Now, it looks like Dean's disappearance really had done something good for this family: softened his father into a more accepting man.

Dean frowned between Sam and John. "So, this is really you two now? The other day not included, you guys just…don't fight anymore?"

Sam and John glanced at each other, shrugging.

"Not really…"

"Not so much…"

Dean nodded. "Good." He smiled at them. "I like it."

"Not to interrupt the tender family moment…" said Jen.

The Winchesters looked over at her.

"But you mind if we join the conversation?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course," said Sam.

Jen smiled. "Good. Now, about the wedding…"

************************************************** ****SPN/TIH*************************************** **

One week later

Jen smiled as Trucker walked next to her down the aisle of the wedding chapel, arm hooked through hers. The rest of the gang had chipped in to buy her a new wedding dress, since her original got dirtied and torn during the whole kidnapping fiasco. It wasn't as fancy or elegant as the other, but there was a certain beautiful simplicity to it that still made Jen look like a radiant bride.

Trucker's ankle had recovered nicely since the attack, and his limp was barely noticeable. He was also able to hide his casted arm under his tux quite well. As for Jen, they had managed to cover her few fading bruises and scrapes with make-up; after all, Piper was quite the artist.

Jen smiled up at the altar, where Jeff stood with the minister, waiting for her with his best man and two groomsmen. On the other side of the minister stood Jen's sister as the maid of honor and her two bridesmaids, Piper and Tish. Julia walked in front of Jen and Trucker, dropping white rose petals on the floor from the basket she carried.

The two of them reached the altar as Julia joined Piper on the side.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Piper James and Jeff Kenline in marriage," began the minister. "In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. If any person can show just cause as to why these two may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

The minister paused for the customary silence before turning towards Jen and Trucker.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" asked the minister.

"Her friends and family," said Trucker. He hugged Jen tightly. "Good luck, angel." He broke away and turned towards the audience.

As Jen walked up the steps to join Jeff at the altar, Trucker walked to the second pew and sat next to Zo, who had thankfully recovered from the mild food poisoning she had contracted the day of the last wedding. Although it had been horrible for her to put up with, Trucker thanked God for it every day; that food poisoning had spared Zo from the demonic torment of that weekend.

Trucker smiled and wrapped an arm around Zo as the minister began again.

"May you always need one another, not to fill an emptiness, but to help each other know your fullness," said the minister. "May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another. May you succeed in all important ways with each other, and not fail in the little graces. May you have happiness, and may you find it in making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it in loving one another."

Dean watched from the pews next to Sam and John, the usher he had filled in for having now recovered enough to be there. He was so happy for Jen, his friend…his sister. They had all become like his brothers and sisters; Trucker had even become sort of a second surrogate father, after Bobby.

As the ceremony played on, Dean thought back to the days when Jen only knew Jeff as Fuzzy22. Jen had been so excited about him, yet so insecure about herself. He also remembered the day he had set the two of them up, and Jeff had walked into the Beach City Grill in the guise of one of the homeless people Jen's heart always reached out to.

Dean was glad that he could once again help them toward their life together. He glanced over at Tish in her beautiful lavender bridesmaid dress.

And maybe even our life together, Dean thought.

Tish glanced over at him, giving him a warm smile through the happy tears as Jen and Jeff began exchanging their vows.

********************************************SPN/TI H************************************************* *********************

Dean walked over to Jen, wrapping her in a small hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you," said Jen, holding him close.

"Oh, it was nothing," Dean brushed off.

"No, really," said Jen, looking him in the eye. "Thank you." She let out a chuckle. "I swear, I will never get used to your new look."

Dean laughed with her.

After last weekend, Dean had gotten rid of the eyeliner, hair dye and piercings, the last one mostly as a safety precaution. Hunting and facial piercings didn't exactly mix. The tattoos, he had decided, would stay. After all, they were already there. What was the point in removing them? His style of dress was now a halfway mix between Dean and Priestly. Some days, he would lean more towards one then the other.

"What can I say?" said Dean. "This is the new me."

"Well, we love it," Jen assured him.

Dean turned his attention back to the receipt in Trucker's backyard. "So, what do you think?"

"You guys did a great job decorating this place," said Jen.

"Well, it kind of decorated itself," shrugged Dean.

"Before you know it, it'll be your turn," Jen told him.

Dean smiled over at Tish as she laughed with Piper and a few other guests. "Yeah…"

"Oh, excuse me," said Jen, spotting some guests waving at her. "Duty calls."

"Go," Dean told her. "Mingle."

Jen rushed off as Trucker walked over to him.

"How's the leg holding up?" asked Dean.

"Better than I expected," said Trucker. "Must be all that bed rest Zo forced on me."

Dean shrugged. "The lady always knows best."

"Yeah," chuckled Trucker, glancing over at Jen. "So, you decide what you wanna do yet?"

Dean frowned over at him.

"You gonna go hunt with your family?" asked Trucker.

Dean nodded in understanding and looked over at Tish, silent for a while. "You know, my whole life, I've hunted these things. And it's such a perfect fit for me; I was born to be a hunter. We've moved around so many times—I haven't had a home since I was four."

Trucker nodded, accepting that the way Dean grew up was just his life and couldn't be changed. That's what he was used to, and that's how it always would be.

"But then, two years ago, this strange old hippie invited me to join his family," said Dean with a smile at Trucker. "I suddenly found myself with a place to belong." He looked over at Tish fondly. "A home."

Tish looked over at him and gave him a little wave.

Dean waved back as she went back to her conversation. "So, yes, I am a hunter. But now, I'm a hunter with a home. And trust me when I saw that that is a rare thing."

Trucker gave him a smile. "I can believe that." He looked over at Tish. "Why don't you go break the good news to her?"

"I think she kind of already knows," Dean told him. He gave Trucker a pat on the shoulder before heading to join his fiancé.