Standing on the sidewalk I watched Desi fumble with her keys. As the door closed behind her a low rumble could be heard approaching. Max sat at my side, his body rigid, wary of the newcomer. The Impala pulled to the curb in front of us, engine idling a moment before the night was once again quiet. Scratching between Max's ears I let him know it was alright.

"Hey stranger."

He still looked the same as he always had, I guess I had expected life with Lisa to change him somehow.

"Hey now, that hurts." He said wrapping me in an actual hug.

Okay, so maybe his new life had changed him after all.

"That's from Bobby."

Or maybe not...

Once inside he grabbed my hands holding me at arms length.

"You look great, that whole glowing thing really suits you."

My face fell flat as I tried to gain control of the myriad of emotions coursing through me. Maybe he didn't mean what most people did when they said that. After all he couldn't know, I hadn't told anyone. But the look on his face begged to differ. The room around me spinning I was lucky to make it to the loveseat without incident. Dean had followed taking a seat in the recliner across from me. Max lay on the floor between us, still keeping an eye on Dean.

He nodded in approval as he took in the house, or as much of it as he could from his vantage point. "Congratulations. Guess I'm gonna be an uncle."

"Dean, I haven't told anyone..."

"Seriously?" Seeing by my face that I was in fact not joking he dropped his smile. "Sonofa.."

"So how did you know?" I asked cutting him off.

"Sam."

So Sam had paid his brother a visit.

Still didn't explain how he knew.

Over the next hour or so Dean filled me in on Sam showing up in the middle of the night. That Lucifer had known, after he'd tried killing me that is. But what had us both puzzled was why my being pregnant had stopped him, and what that could mean for my baby. I pulled a folded up piece of paper from under the stack of magazines on the coffee table and handed it over to Dean. By now I had that letter memorized word for word. Sam's ultimatum. He reread it himself a few times before the implications finally took root.

Setting the paper aside he looked to me for further confirmation. "So does that mean..."

My lack of response was all the answer he needed. An awkward silence came between us as I let that sink in.

Dragging a pair of old sneakers out of the hall closet Max's tail was already wagging at full speed.

"You can crash here tonight if you want."

"Thanks, but I think I better get home."

"There's apple pie in the fridge if you want some. I'm gonna take Max for a run."

He grunted something I couldn't make out his head already searching for his beloved pie.

"Lock up when you go. And Dean, don't be such a stranger eh?"

I rested my hand protectively over my stomach, wondering what this world held in store for the little one growing inside of me. Almost at three months along and the slightest bump was just starting to show. After the doctor had confirmed it I'd started wearing shirts that were a bit looser and no one had been the wiser. I had planned on waiting until after my next check-up to let my girlfriends know, but now that the cat was out of the bag it didn't seem to matter. Max ran ahead of me and we jogged a few blocks before I pulled my cell out of my pocket.

We need to talk ASAP.

Hitting send I sent Sam the text, pocketed my cell and jogged until I was out of steam. Slowly I retraced our steps home thinking what the next step was going to be. Not just for me, but for my baby. Was I going to need to be on guard for demons coming after us? Hiding wouldn't help, but if they were coming I wanted to be prepared. But if this baby had made Lucifer halt in his steps would the angels also be a problem?

Returning home at a slower pace Max let out a bark in greeting and raced to the front steps where Sam sat waiting. I walked past him and unlocked the front door.

"You just missed your brother."

"Oh."

Kicking my shoes off I grabbed a bottled water and made my way into the living room.

"Ohhh..." Sam said putting two and two together. The urgent message after a visit from his brother becoming clear.

"It's okay, really. That's not why I thought we needed to talk, at least not the main reason."

His shoulders still tense he took a seat where not long ago his brother had been sitting.

"This whole us avoiding each other isn't working for me. I understand how you think you feel, but given time I know you'll see it was just born from us hanging onto each other to keep from drowning in our personal grief and misery."

"I shouldn't have made it sound like an ultimatum, I remember hating my dad for doing that to me. You don't have to say anything, you deserve better than me Bree."

"How you can even say that is beyond me. You're an amazing guy Sam. More than amazing, just I really can't think of a word that describes how selfless you are. You're my best friend, and I love you..."

I took a deep breath letting it out in a loud sigh.

"But..."

There was always a but wasn't there?

"But you deserve more than being someone's second choice. Someone who will love you beyond the normal limitations of life and death, just because somewhere you exist. Someone who knows that deep down in their heart you are their last and only love."

"You mean the way you love Cas?"

The depth of emotion in his eyes made it hard for me to look away. "Yeah..."

Passing a slip of paper over to him I waited while he looked it over. All that was written on it was a name and phone number.

"How did you get this?"

"Your brother. Sarah's waiting for your call. Sleep on it or whatever you need to do."

He looked from the slip of paper to me as if asking me what the right thing to do was.

I rested my hand on my barely there baby bump while pushing myself up off the couch.

"I need my friend back. We both do."

Making my way up the stairs slowly I hoped he would decide to stay the night, even if it was on the couch downstairs. Just knowing he was there made me feel safe despite my fears for the baby. I paused with my hand on the banister.

"For what its worth I would've been happy with you. I'm sorry Sam..."

I continued up the steps not aware of the tears that shone in his eyes. I hadn't lied to him, I did need him. No matter what happened it just felt right having him in my life. As I was drifting off to sleep I prayed he felt the same way. Especially considering what I was going to ask of him...