Chapter 17

Serra

I am a mother.

It's still hard for me to believe, but when I look into that chubby little face, my chest fills with a pride that I've never felt before. I've been home with him for four and a half months, but my maternity leave from the hospital is almost out. I have to go back on Monday and I am dreading it.

As I feed Levi, I take the time to memorize his face. He has Sammy's dimples and my dark hair. His eyes haven't stopped changing color since he was born, but it seems that they're heading towards a dark hazel with green flecks, just like his father. I am floored that my darker eyes didn't translate, considering genetics tell me that brown is the dominant trait, but being able to see so much Winchester in Levi is comforting.

Grace tried to help as much as she could when it came to breastfeeding Levi, but honestly, I didn't have the patience for it. I did for about three months, but it is exhausting, time consuming, and painful. He was never a great latch, either, and just now are the scabs starting to heal.

Sammy is an amazing father, just like I knew he would be. He gets up at night with Levi, feeds him when he can, and changes his diaper every chance he gets. I think he still looks to Dean as a guide, knowing that if he emulates his big brother, he will be successful as a dad, and really, I'm grateful that he has someone like Dean to look to. Grace has trained him well.

My phone vibrated next to me and I flip it over, seeing Libby's face across my screen. "Hey, Gracie," I say, holding the phone in between my shoulder and my face. "How was lunch?"

"It was great," she said, breathless. "Libby, put that down. Walk away. Stop. Lib," she scolded, "hold on a sec," she directed at me. I waited, pulling Levi onto my shoulder and patted his back as he cooed into my shoulder. "Lib, stop. Leave her alone and go play over there." Grace sighed as she spoke into the phone to me again, "Sorry," she said. "Anyway, yeah, lunch was great. Doug is retiring."

"Retiring?" I asked, worried about my brother-in-law's job. "What's going to happen to the shop?"

Grace giggled slightly, barely able to keep it in. "He wants Dean to buy him out."

"Holy shit, Grace!" I yelled, not even getting a reaction from Levi. He was used to my outbursts already. "Are you guys going to do it?"

Grace nodded as she answered, "Yeah, he went to talk to him after I left this afternoon. Libby, stop. Give me the fork."

I laughed, listening to my sister scold my niece. "What is she doing?"

"Dean gave her one of those Army forks that's also a spoon? She's obsessed with it and keeps trying to poke Glory with it."

Shaking my head, I began my normal pace loop around the living room to get Levi to sleep. The kid loved to walk. "When does this all go down?"

"In two months. Dean and I need to go down to the bank next week to file for the loan, but then at the end of July, transfer papers will go into the Winchester name." Grace's attention strayed again as she walked around the bar to Liberty once more. "Liberty Adeline," she started, "leave her alone. Do you want to play with Play-Doh?"

I listened patiently and wondered silently how my sister would cope with Levi thrown into the mix next week. Everett was attached to her hip, never happy with anyone or anything besides Grace but luckily, Glory was happy with Dean or the floor. Liberty had started getting into everything…being two and a half was definitely adventurous. A few days ago, she had followed Johnny out the back door and into the wheat field between our houses alone. It had been a good five minutes before Grace realized that she was outside, mainly because she hadn't noticed a difference in hearing her thoughts. She could hear her and she was happy, but she was unattended, and it had sent Grace into a panic attack about keeping track of all three kids. Dean was calm and comforting, but it definitely left my sister shaken.

"So Dean will be owner and Eric is staying as Shift Supervisor, but he's going to hire out for House/Floor Manager. Eric can't handle something like that," Grace finished, sighing contentedly.

"That's so amazing, Gracie. Congratulations!" I said, climbing the steps to Levi's room to put him down. "Is Dean stoked?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Grace answered. I could her Liberty in the background, singing tonelessly about Play-doh. "You guys wanna come over for a celebration dinner? Dean's bringing home meatball sandwiches from Patsy's."

"Oh that sounds really good. I'll call Sam and tell him," I said, closing the door behind me after laying Levi down in his crib. "What time?"

"Whenever Sammy gets home and you feel like coming over," she said, sounding distracted.

I listened to the tone of my sister's voice and waited for more details, but nothing came. "You okay, Gracie?" I asked, silently walking back downstairs. When she didn't answer immediately, I asked again. "Grace?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, too quickly.

"Tell me," I said, ignoring her answer.

Grace took a deep breath, obviously doing a one-eighty in her thought process. I assumed that she was nervous about Dean taking on that much responsibility at the shop, but when she began to tell me the root of her shift in mood, I was apprehensive. "There was a woman today at the counter when I got there that I couldn't hear."

"What do you mean you couldn't hear her?"

"Her thoughts. I couldn't hear her thoughts," Grace said. "Libby, here. The rolling pin is right here. She was standing at the counter, talking to Dean, and her body language was all over him…she wanted him bad. But I couldn't hear what she was thinking."

I remained silent as Grace described what happened at the shop earlier and listened as concern crept into her voice. "What bothered you more: the fact that you couldn't hear her or that you didn't know exactly what impure thoughts she was having about your husband?"

She chuckled nervously. "The last time I couldn't hear someone, it was because they were vampires."

I grabbed a bag banana chips as I plopped into the squishy chair in the living room. Crunching away, I tilted my head, "Was she a vampire?" The silence from my sister's end of the phone concerned me slightly. "Grace, was she a vampire?" I asked a bit more forcefully.

"I don't think so," she said, "but I do think she was a monster."

…

Around 5:30 that evening, Sam, Levi, and I crossed the field over to the Big House for dinner. Johnny ran out ahead of us to meet Liberty as she stumbled down the back steps, landing in the dirt. Sammy trotted the rest of the way to help our niece up and to dust her off. "Hi, Lib!" he called. "What happened?"

"Fall down," Libby answered, rubbing her hands together. "Uncle Sammy kiss."

"Poor thing," he said, scooping her up and fixing her dress. "Let me see." Libby opened her hands to his face and he blew the dust off. He planted a kiss on each of her palms and one on her forehead. "There. No blood. You'll live!" She hugged him fiercely and he opened the door with the other hand, holding it for me and Levi.

Dean had Glory on his hip as we came through the door, and turning, he saw that Sammy was carrying Libby. "What happened, Meatloaf?"

"Libby falled," she said in her tiny, sweet voice. "Uncle Sammy kiss."

"Well, it's a good thing," Dean said, slapping his brother on the shoulder. "Uncle Sammy does everything right."

"Yeah he does," I said under my breath, grinning at him. He leaned over and kissed me as Dean handed him a beer. As we came up for air, I looked around. "Where's Grace?"

"Out on the porch," Dean said, offering me a beer. I took it and he continued, "Everett's eating again."

I shook my head. "That kid," I said as Sam put Libby down and took Levi from my arms. I left the boys, Glory and Lib in the kitchen and headed out to the front to see Grace. "Hey, sis," I greeted, letting the screen door slam behind me as I took the rocker next to hers. "Tonka Truck chow time?"

"Again? Still?" Grace chuckled and stared down at her son, "I can't tell the difference anymore."

I giggled and we sat silently for a bit, just looking out onto the farmland. Dean had finished the porch around the time Liberty was born, but Grace had recently added details like hanging pots filled with red, white, and blue flowers draping from the sides and American flag bunting around the rail, just in time for Independence Day. A screen had been added all the way around the porch as well, keeping the flying bugs at bay for the summer. I took mental notes for the smaller version over on our side of the property. It would be nice to escape the upstairs summer heat by hanging out on our front porch with Levi in the coming months. Glancing over at my sister, I could tell she wasn't in the moment: her thoughts were elsewhere and tilting my head; I finally spoke the questions she wasn't responding to in my mind.

"Are you still thinking about that woman from the shop?"

She nodded without making eye contact.

"Do you think we're in danger? Or anyone else from town?"

She shrugged and shook her head, still looking out onto the corn, three properties over.

"Have you figured out what she is?"

Everett had fallen asleep, still latched onto Grace. She pulled him away from her body, pulled her tank top back into place and left him, cradled in her lap. She finally looked at me, her blue eyes full of worry. "No," she said. "She could be anything, and she might not even be dangerous, but I don't like having her here."

The screen door slammed behind us, making me jump. Grace hadn't given any indication that the boys were coming out, but the lack of shock from her told me that she heard them coming. Dean walked to Grace's side and sat in the chair next to her, Libby close at his heels. Sammy leaned against the railing, still holding Levi against his chest. "Hi, baby girl," Grace greeted Libby as she twirled in front of her, making her watermelon-printed dress poof around her.

She leaned on Grace's lap and touched Everett's face. "Brudder sweeping," she said, looking up at Dean.

"Yeah, so leave him alone," he replied quietly. "Come talk to Morning Glory." Lib complied and Dean glanced at Grace then at me. "What's up, you two? Why are you being mysterious out here?"

I let Grace turn to him and answer, knowing that I really couldn't fix anything. I hadn't met the woman she kept referring to, so I had no real opinion of her, but knowing that Grace was so wary of her made me nervous. Grace took a deep breath and answered, "I'm just still thinking about that customer from the shop." Grace rubbed her shoulder against the back of the rocker. "That's all."

"You figure out what she is?" Sammy asked. I had filled him in on Grace's story when he got home from work this afternoon. He didn't seem concerned, but Sam was rarely concerned about anything these days. He took life a lot less seriously, ever since Cas and Grace dragged him back from Heaven. His main focus lately was Levi and me. I smiled at the thought. I liked it that way.

Grace shook her head, "No, but whatever. It's not like she's knocking down our door. We're not here to talk about her."

Sam smiled and raised his beer. "Yeah, we're here to celebrate my big brother." Dean grinned, leaning back casually in his rocker with Glory. She pulled on the leather bracelet he wore and looked up slightly when Sammy began to speak. "I'm really proud of you, man," he continued. "Living the dream."

"Hell yes we are," Dean said, lifting his bottle of beer. "We've got it all."

…

After we ate dinner, Grace went upstairs to put Liberty and Everett to bed. Glory was rocking it, still awake and happy on the rug with Levi. They lay on their bellies, watching the lights change patterns in a fake aquarium between them and I sat on the barstool next to Sam as the brothers were in deep conversation.

"You took the account?" Sam was saying as I joined them.

Dean shrugged, taking a swig of beer. "Well, I yeah, I mean, it's not like she had fangs showing." He set his empty bottle on the counter and turned to the fridge, getting out four more. "The only vibe I got from her was 'horny.'"

"Ew," I said, taking a drink of my fresh beer. "She hit on you?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, and threw daggers at Grace when I went out to help her unload the kids." He chuckled, "The look on that girl's face when I walked in with a wife and three littles."

Sammy chuckled as well, but I could see why Grace had an uneasy feeling. I was catching it, too. If Grace couldn't hear her, she would be a creature similar to a vampire, but she had no outward signs of being a monster at all. She could be a shape shifter, but something told me that Grace would be able to tell the difference. Glancing at the calendar behind Dean's head, I could see that the moon's cycle was still waxing towards its first quarter. That fact added evidence to the theory beginning in my head. I knew that a waxing moon meant mating season for one of my favorite monsters: werewolves.

Grace was coming down the stairs, nodding. "I was just thinking the same thing," she said to my thoughts.

"What?" Dean asked as he held out his arm for Grace to join him, "Lucky have a theory?"

We spoke in tandem, the way we used to before…everything. "Werewolves."