Summary: Withdrawn after an assault, pediatrician Dean is visited by handsome therapist Sam, a man with two shocking secrets. AU Sam/Dean slash romance. Warning: implied Alastair/Dean noncon

Conjugal Glue (Part 11: The Babydaddy) by frostygossamer

In a dark and sleazy cantina someplace in Colombia, Sam Singer sat at a rickety table dealing a hand of poker to a greasy, middle-aged, latino guy in a filthy bandana. A poorly tuned radio behind the bar played grating tango music, while the cries of shoeless kids, playing soccer in the street with a half-deflated ball, drifted in through the open, broken-shuttered windows.

Sam had been down there for months and had spent almost every day hanging out in this dodgy dive, drinking too much and trying to forget. This was where he belonged, right?

OK, so he'd tried to turn his back on this kind of lawless life. He had tried becoming a worthy member of society. He had tried to clean up his act and straighten out. He had fallen in love, but he'd made a stupid mess of it and lost the only love he'd ever needed. He was a screw-up who might as well vanish never to be heard from again.

The fat, blowsy female, bandana's wife, who ran the bar and kept order, waddled over to the table, bringing another bottle of local hooch together with a piece of printed paper.

"Es un telegrama," she said brusquely, slapping it down on the table with the bottle.

Sam flicked the scrap of paper on the filth-strewn floor and poured himself another shot. The woman grumbled and toed the note with her sandaled foot.

"Not from la senora this time," she commented. "Business maybe?"

Sam hesitated, the shot glass halfway to his lips. He considered for a moment then bent down and retrieved the wire, smoothing it slowly on the table top.

It read,

Sam Singer, get your goddamn ass back here yesterday.
Our better third is about to pop a puppy stat.
If you're not right the hell here to catch it,
you can damn well be on the next shuttle to Mars. X

Sam stared for a long time at that final X. He rubbed it with his thumb in case it was just some dirt on the paper. But, no, it was part of the message. Like the smiley at the end of an email, it meant more than the whole message without it, that kiss.

Sam threw his cards down on the table.

"Lo siento, amigo," he said. "I'm outta the game."

~0~

Anna had been admitted to Maternity. Dean sat by her bedside feeling kind of amazed that he had finally wound up here, after all the failed attempts to get pregnant with poor Lisa, all the years he had believed that he could never be a father.

"I still don't totally get why you went along with all this crap, Anna," he said, "why you let Sam Singer talk you into this."

Anna smiled gently. "Because Sam was my first love, Dean. Despite everything he was still my one-that-got-away. And when he brought you to me it was because he loved you and he wanted me to love you too. And I do, darling. You've been the perfect birth partner these last few months. Don't know what I would have done without you."

Over the last months of Anna's pregnancy, she and Dean had bonded over Lamaze and parenting classes. Anna had turned out to be a real sweet lady with a frosty glaze thanks to her high-powered job. Dean's warm heart had gradually melted that icy coating.

"But a baby, Anna. Why would you do that?" he asked, caressing her cheek. "It's one helluva thing."

Despite being tired, Anna grinned. "Dean, I've always wanted a child, but my career came first. I've been a go-getter, a hotshot, and my life had to come second. Somehow I could never spare the time to be a regular wife and mother. Then Sam came back out of nowhere and offered me this, a traditional Deltaic arrangement with him and the one he loved. How could I refuse? Darling, It's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She touch his hand on her face. "I just know that together we can be good parents for this baby."

Dean smiled fondly. "I'll do my best," he assured her.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the temple.

~0~

"Breathe, baby," Dean repeated. "Breathe slow and deep."

It was hours later and Sam still hadn't shown. Anna's contractions had started. She squeezed Dean's hand and tried to smile through the pain.

"If I'd known labour was going to be so gosh darned painful I would've found some way to make YOU be the one to give birth, Dean Winchester," she joked darkly.

Dean chuckled. "Still pretty sure THAT's not possible. But, baby, I would do it if I could."

Anna smiled. "I believe you would, Dean darling," she hissed, as another contraction hit her.

"Slow and deep, baby. Remember," Dean reminded her.

A nurse fussed around the expectant mother, preparing her for transfer to the Delivery Room for the birth. Anna smiled at the nurse and then turned an exasperated face back to her lover.

"Where the HELL is that damned MAN?" she demanded. "You definitely spoke to him?"

"Called me from the airport," Dean assured her. "Should be here anytime."

"That bastard had better be right here in the next ten minutes or I'll raise this damned baby as a single mother, and he can sing for visitation," she yelled.

"Anna, you're not gonna be a single mother. You got me, no matter what. Sam is gonna have to earn his place in this family. He knows that," Dean retorted calmly.

Anna nodded and squeezed his hand again. "So glad you're here, Dean," she panted. "You're a lifesaver, darling."

"Just remember to breathe, Anna," Dean repeated. "Just breathe."

A porter arrived and wheeled Anna out into the corridor, en route to the Delivery Room. Dean walked alongside, Anna still gripping his hand. Just as they reached the end of the corridor, Sam suddenly appeared breathing hard and with a look of desperation plastered on his face.

~0~

Sam stood there panting and grinning manically at them.

"Dude, What the hell took you so freakin' long?" Dean demanded.

"Couldn't get a cab. Couldn't get parked. Couldn't find the right floor. Thank God I got here in time," the late arrival gasped.

He grabbed the hand Anna wasn't mashing Dean's with, and bobbed down to kiss her on the forehead.

"Baby, I was so scared I was gonna miss the birth. Forgive me," he pleaded.

"I'd forgive you more easily if you'd been here last month," Anna snapped. "What kept you?"

"There were things I'd got to tie up," he replied mysteriously.

"Dude, I hope none of those things were illegal," Dean remarked.

Sam grinned. "Nothing that's gonna come back to bite us," he assured him.

Despite her harsh words, Anna insisted that both her guys were present during the birth, even though the nurses were a little surprised that she wanted two of them there.

Afterwards, as the exhausted mother slept off the trauma in her hospital room, Dean took Sam to the cafeteria for a much needed fix of caffeine.

~0~

Sitting in the cafeteria, Sam took a slurp of his coffee and let out a long sigh.

"Dude, you don't know how good it is to be back," he said.

"Never asked you to leave, Sam," Dean remarked tersely.

Sam reached over and stroked the hand Dean had wrapped around his coffee mug.

"Ran away," he said. "Ran away again. Got a habit of doing that. Dunno why. Know it never solved any damn thing."

Dean stared at him for a while. "You taught me to face my demons, Sam. You gotta learn to face yours. Anna and me, we need to be able to trust you, trust you not to run out on us. You're gonna have to learn to stand and fight for what you want."

He paused for a second, glancing down at the table.

Then he whispered, "If we're worth fighting for."

"You're all I've ever wanted," Sam hissed desperately, "you and Anna. But mainly you. Anna is still very special to me. But you... you're everything, Dean. Everything."

Dean glanced around the almost deserted cafeteria, and then leaned over the table and planted a kiss on Sam's mouth.

"You better not screw this up, Sam," he warned. "Or I'm gonna kick your sorry ass right into next week."

~0~

They went and sat with Anna while she dozed in her room. After a while a nurse came along with the newborn baby girl and asked who was the father. Dean let Sam take the baby and be the first to hold her. He figured Sam was the one who needed to bond the most.

"Picked out a name?" Sam whispered, gently dandling the baby.

"We were thinking 'Deanna', maybe," Dean replied.

"Oh cool!" Sam responded. "Kinduva portmanteau thing of 'Dean' and 'Anna'. Like it."

"Yeah, well, we like it," Dean said. "And it was starting to look like you wouldn't be around to care."

Sam heaved a sigh, totally choked up.

"Been a fool, Dean," he whispered sadly. "Been acting like an ass. Gonna change."

"You bet ya," Dean concurred.

Anna opened sleepy eyes and watched the two guys cooing over their new infant. They looked so natural. They were going to make good parents for her little one.

She smiled to herself as she drifted off. This was what she had signed up for. The traditional Deltaic thing, the up-front commitment of the initial twosome, the sturdy strength of the triangle that the third angle gave to the relationship.

The regular people she dealt with every day in her divorce law practice would never know this kind of security. They had no conjugal glue to keep them together.

TBC

A/N: Ahh! I hope everyone who took against Anna feels a little better about her now. More tomorrow.