Author's note: Wow! Look at me. It is still possible for me to post a new chapter! I feel as if I should say something more profound considering how long it's been and that this is the last chapter...but I wasn't feeling very inspired when I posted this. So, this is an attempt for some more serious closure that I spoke of months ago. And it's all for this story's one-year anniversary. (Even if it's almost a month past) Ah...the memories. Also, considering how much has passed in the Supernatural universe since I last updated, this story is most definitely AU. Wow, that feels weird saying. Anyway, on another note, the opening scene is dedicated to a movie I saw recently (if recently counts as two months) and inspired the opening of this chapter. See if you can guess. Anyway, enjoy!

Music suggestions: 'Paranoid' by Black Sabbath, 'I write sins not tragedies' by Panic! at the Disco, 'More than a feeling' by Boston, 'Heaven' by Warrant.

Disclaimer: After all this time...still don't own Supernatural.

Chapter 18: A future

Taylor stared down at the white narrow strip in front of her, the bright pink cross mocking her. Tossing the offending piece of plastic in the trash, she stood up from the toilet and washed her hands.

There's no avoiding the truth, fertile Myrtle." the nerdy store clerk called out when she approached the front to pay for the test.

Smacking down the appropriate amount of cash on the counter, she glared at the attendant and said, "I drank a whole gallon of orange juice on the way here so I could take that damned test, again for the third time, so mind your own business."

"Just stating the obvious." he replied, putting her cash in the tender and handing her back the change. "It doesn't matter how many times you take it, the result isn't gonna change. Even if you shake it like an Etcha Sketch."

"Piss off." Taylor bit out scathingly, turning on her heel and stalking out of the exit.

ooovooooo*ooorooonooo*

Dean watched Taylor as she paced back and forth in front of him, looking frazzled and stressed out about something. They'd been together for almost two years now, and it was going along more or less rather well, so he personally thought it was time to take the next step. He didn't know how exactly they'd get married considering they were all fugitives, including his brother and Shane, but he knew they could figure something out if she said yes.

Now all he had to do was ask her. If only she'd stop making him dizzy with pacing. He made to get up from his perch on the bed when a thought occurred to him. What if she'd found out he was going to propose? Sure, he wasn't exactly the proposing type and there was no way she could've known, but what if she had one of those premonition things and she was trying to break it, being her refusal, to him gently?

He honestly hadn't thought of that.

Cursing himself, he stood anyway and caught Taylor by the waist as she made her next pass. She gave him a brief annoyed glance before pulling his arm away and crossing her arms over her chest, looking at him expectantly.

They continued to stare each other down, neither willing to back down yet both afraid to speak.

"Did you have something to say?" Taylor asked when Dean's gaze drifted to the wall over her left shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, avoiding the question. For some reason or another, she was genuinely upset over something. And her happiness mattered more at the present than his childish dream of wanting to settle down with the love of his life and making an endless stream of tiny tots to form his own baseball team. Well, that and he was scared shitless.

"Nothing's wrong. Why does something always have to be wrong with me?" Taylor retorted defensively, turning away from him.

"Because then the sex would get boring." Dean joked, attempting to lighten an already tense situation. He didn't see the small smile worm its way onto her face as he continued, thinking he'd made it worse when she didn't reply. "Seriously, I can tell when something's bothering you. Hard to believe as that is. I haven't seen you like this since we came across that sthriga in Georgia. You should know by now that you can tell me pretty much anything. And I won't tease you over it. Much." As Dean finished, he closed the space between them and placed his hands on her shoulders, massaging them before leaning in and resting his chin on her head and wrapping his arms around her torso.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around in his embrace, her eyes lowered slightly but a light smile quirking her lips.

"Dean...I'm pregnant." Taylor said quietly, raising her eyes to meet his surprised ones. Her grin spread at the stupefied look gracing his features. No matter how serious the situation, somehow he could always make her feel better. Even if most of the time it was at his own expense. She didn't think he'd figured that one out yet.

"Hmm...I...No, when...What...Sorry, could you say that again?" Dean said, stumbling over his words and unable to finish a complete thought.

Bringing one hand up and cupping his face, Taylor laughed as she said again, "I'm pregnant."

As she said this, his eyes lit up and a wide grin broke out across his face. Tightening his arms around her, he lifted her up and spun her around a few times before putting her back down, concern creeping onto his features.

"Oh, God. I didn't just hurt you did I?" Dean said worriedly, looking down at her flat stomach. Kneeling down, he patted her stomach and said, "Sorry 'bout that. Probably won't be the last time, either. Your mom and I can get a little rough sometimes."

Taylor stared down at him with an eyebrow quirked, but said nothing until he stood back up.

"I think we've got some time before that becomes a problem." Taylor said lightly.

"It's good to see that my girl is keeping ahead of the game. Even if you did shoot my five-year plan all to hell." Dean continued on in a slightly hurried teasing tone, confusing Taylor as he continued to speak. "Of course, if I'd have known you were especially fertile, I would have proposed a long time ago. We could have been well onto our second by now. And just so you know," Dean paused as he dug around in his back jeans pocket until his fingers closed around the simple engagement ring he'd been hiding from her for weeks. Taylor's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when he presented the ring. He continued with a nervous smile as she gazed on in wonder, "I plan on having at least five of the little wall climbers."

"Wow." Taylor replied monotonously, at a complete loss for words.

"So?" Dean asked when Taylor failed to continue.

Jerking her gaze up, she smiled sweetly and said, "Well, yeah. I don't have anything better to do."

oooeoooo*oozoooooooo*oosoooooooo

"Sam? Is there something wrong with me?" Shane asked quietly as she trailed her finger along Sam's chest, laying curled up under his arm after their most recent lovemaking.

"Why would there be something wrong with you? Are you feeling okay? All you had to do was say no that last time around. I would have stopped if I'd known you weren't feeling alright." Sam replied worriedly, turning slightly onto his side and bringing arm around to massage her neck gently as he gazed at her intently, trying to assess her problems.

Shane smiled slightly at the gesture, but shook her head 'no' imperceptibly.

"How many times have we had sex without protection?" Shane asked carefully at the same quiet level.

"Only a handful of times, if that. Why?" Sam replied. His eyes widened slightly a few seconds later and asked uncomfortably, "Are you...you know, pregnant?"

"No." Shane answered shortly, if not without a hint of self-loathing.

"Then what?" Sam asked in a confused tone. "What brought this on?"

"Taylor is." Shane said flatly. "Pregnant, I mean." She refused to look up from his chest as she said this.

"That's great, I guess." Sam said in reply, thrown off by Shane's reaction to the news. Shouldn't she be happy? "It is great, isn't it?"

"What?" Shane asked distractedly. "Yeah, I mean, sure. Of course it is. My sister's having an unplanned baby and Dean's proposed and they plan to be married by the end of the month by a friend of Bobby's in some undoubtedly beautiful location with perfect weather." Sam forgot how to breathe for a moment and he frowned in disbelief at the part involving Dean proposing. Proposing anything, let alone to anyone. "It's everything I ever wanted. It just isn't happening to me." Shane finished bitterly.

"Shane, you're the most responsible woman I've ever met. Planning is what you do. You don't rush into anything. And I don't mean to speak down towards Taylor, you know I love her to death, but the girl cannot plan to save her life. She's unpredictable, uncouth at times, and spur-of-the-moment in just about every aspect. This is just the way the chips fell. Everything will work itself out. We're still young, Shane, and have plenty of time for children, if that's what you really want. It just isn't the right time. It will be alright. Patience is what we two have an abundance of, remember?" Sam finished, kissing the top of her head and pulling her even tighter into his embrace. "Just wait and see."

All Shane could muster was a mumbled noncommital agreement, zipping up the unresolved issue for a later date.

oooxooooco*oonooooo*ooroooooo

Shane sat silently on her side of the backseat of Dean's car as her sister chatted amiably with the two boys in front on issues varying from which weapons were appropriate for certain demons to appropriate baby names. For both her unborn children as well as Shane's.

Taylor didn't even notice Shane's preoccupation until she turned to ask her sister what she thought of the name 'Leonidas' if she had a boy - not entirely seriously, of course - and all she received was her sister leaning on her hand and staring out of the window morosely.

She understood where her sister was coming from. Ever since they were young, Shane was always expecting the 'settling down and starting a family' aspect first. It had been her dream to get married and pop out two to four children and have the white picket fence surrounding a perfect little two-story cottage detached from the rest of the world. Planning was what Shane did and her sister getting the first crack at it brought Shane down considerably.

"Come on now, sis. Don't be so glum. We can't both be out of commission at the same time. One of us has to stay on active duty to protect me and the boys from themselves. Lord knows they can't cover their own asses, let alone ours." Taylor teased playfully, nudging Shane with her shoulder and laying her head against the back of Shane's and adopting a plaintive expression.

"Come on, I'll even buy all your monthly stuff. Just imagine the looks I'll get." Taylor said, arcing her arm around as if staring into the future. "An overly obvious preggers girl buying tampons and Midol. Priceless."

"Hey!" Dean said indignantly, turning around slightly in the driver's seat with a look that would make one think his ears were about to bleed. "Men are present in the conversation hearing range."

"Where?" Taylor replied tartly, frowning and glancing over her shoulder searchingly. Shane's lips quirked up into a smug smile but remained silent.

"See?" Taylor continued when she saw Shane's smile. "It won't be so bad. Besides, if I don't have a kid first, who's gonna look after yours when they get older? Dean and I are the bodyguards. You and Sam are the brains. Your kids are going to need ours for protection. This gives us time to prepare them for action. See, it all works out for the best." Taylor finished, nodding curtly as Shane turned to face her sister.

"You are crazy, you know that?" Shane said lightly, feeling slightly better from her sister's usual unlogical logic. She just needed some time to think. And being surrounded by two boys and an overly obsessive twin sister made that near impossible.

Taylor lips twitched up and she said seriously, "I wasn't kidding about buying the monthlies for you. People won't know what to think."

ooowooooo*oocoooooooo*ooorooosoo*

Once reaching Bobby's, Dean had decided that his car was long overdue for an indepth detailing. And being who he was, he quickly enlisted everyone in the task. Bobby left them to their task by claiming 'shop talk' with a few visiting hunters and drove off, leaving them with only the supplies they needed and a key to the door.

"I figure I have at least three months before I have to give up hunting with you guys before the baby becomes a hindrance." Taylor mused as she dunked a sponge into a bucket of soapy water and brought it up to the trunk of the car to clean it.

"No freakin' way." Dean exclaimed, standing up from scrubbing around the headlights with a toothbrush to glare at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? There is no more hunting for you. Period. You've been regulated to research until further notice. Or until you pop, whichever comes first."

"Are you crazy?" Taylor asked, pausing in her task to frown at him. "You guys still need me and I'm still in active physical shape. You can't just throw me a desk job the moment you all find out I'm preggers. Shane? Back me up on this." Taylor finished, looking over at her twin imploringly, desperate to find an ally.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go with Dean on this one." Shane replied, only half-listening to the conversation and not even looking up from her task of cleaning the tires, sitting cross-legged beside the front passenger side wheel. Freezing her actions, her eyes bugged out slightly and a look of astonishment graced her features before saying in a whimsical tone, "Did I just agree with something Dean said? Willingly?"

"I'm afraid so." Dean replied, the smirk that graced his lips also heard clearly in his voice. "Told you we couldn't disagree about everything."

"Pity. That means you must be smarter than you look." Shane mused, finishing the tire in front of her and standing up, brushing the dust and leaves from her butt and walking around him to the next one.

"Well, obviously. Otherwise you wouldn't still be hanging around, making my ears bleed." Dean retorted casually. Looking thoughtful, he then said cockily, "Or maybe it's just my devilishly handsome good looks and witty humor."

"Hel-lo! I'm having a disagreement discussion here and I don't appreciate being brushed off." Taylor called out in a frustrated tone, soapy sponge clutched in her left hand and dripping down her leg with both hands on her hips detracting from her serious stance and demeanor.

"Taylor, you should know better by now that neither one of them can go five minutes without insulting each other. It makes them feel better." Sam added, his voice slightly muffled from sitting inside the car, polishing the seats and all over cleaning the interior in general. Sitting up and leaning out the open back door, Sam rested his arms on his legs and looked up and over at Taylor. "Besides, did you seriously think any of us would let you or Shane put yourselves in harm's way while carrying one of our future children?"

"Well, to be honest, I hadn't really thought about it." Taylor muttered, frowning as she spoke. She then shook her head. "But that's not the point."

"Oh really?" Shane asked, finished with the tire in front of her. Standing up again and getting ready to move to the next tire, she asked, "And what exactly would the point be?"

"This." Taylor said lowly, an evil glint in her eyes.

Shane shrieked in surprise when a wet, soapy sponge hit her square in the face. Her head snapping up, her eyes widened even further when she noted what Taylor had aimed at her. It may be a hot and humid day, but she wasn't particularly in the mood to be shot at with super chilled water from a garden hose.

"Him. Aim at him." Shane said, throwing the blame over to Dean, hoping her sister would take the bait. "It was his idea."

"Shane!" Dean said indignantly. Looking back at Taylor, his hands shot up as he saw her redirect her aim. "Taylor, no. No. You love me, don't you?" Dean said placatingly, nodding his head in the affirmative encouragingly.

Ducking down after she spoke, Shane felt droplets of water patter against her head as Dean was sprayed full blast in the chest.

And thus the car wash war began.

ooomooooo*ooovoooo*oooeooooooo

"Daddy, don't go."

Turning back around at the sound of his four year old daughter's tears and pleading tone, Dean knelt down to his little girl and held his arms out for her.

"I won't be gone long. You just stay here and look after your mom and your baby brother, alright Sarah?" Dean said softly, holding her close and speaking the words into her soft light brown hair.

"No, Daddy. Bad things happen to you and Unk Sam. You won't come back." Sarah wailed into his shoulder, her hands clutching his sides.

Dean stilled and a chill ran down his spine at her words. He pulled away from her and held her out until his eyes met his daughter's, staring into the hauntingly green orbs and the knowledge that hid within their depths.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a nightmare? You've had them before and nothing came of them. Your Uncle Sam and I are both fine." Dean questioned, bringing a hand up and wiping away the tears from her face as her tears began to subside.

She shook her head vigorously "Uh uh. Have come true before and not always while I'm asleep. Baby Will would have been taken away if I hadn't opened his crib and put him in my bed to sleep with me. I always make sure nothing happen to Will."

"Wait, what happened to your brother? How come you didn't tell me or your mother about this? Sarah, you shouldn't hide things from us. Honesty keeps us alive." Dean scolded, shaking her lightly.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Sarah sniffed, her eyes welling up again.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's go find your mother." Dean said in a placating tone, lifting her up into his arms and walking deeper into the house.

"Taylor!" Dean called out, stopping in the hallway to look back down at his little girl, her wide innocent eyes staring back into his imploringly. It was so hard to be a hero for a little girl that could see your future.

Looking back up, he continued down the hall towards her muffled response as he called out begrudgingly, "Looks like we're going to have yet another witch in the family."

ooozoooooo*ooaooooooo*ooonoooooo

A/N: The last scene was inspired by the last song on my music suggestion list. I don't know how. I don't know why. But that's how it all worked out. Overall it feels rather patched together, like pieces are missing. Especially the last scene. I've said this before, but the nagging feeling just won't leave sometimes. That and I'm kinda paranoid about these things. Well, it's been a long strange trip. I hope you all liked it as much as I did. And considering this is the last chapter, the opening reference is from Juno.