Give Me A Moment Please:
Dean pulled up in front of the dark walkway to park and gave his brother another pointed and unfriendly look. Sam missed it yet again because he was too preoccupied with gathering up all of his belongings to carry them inside. Although Dean still didn't agree with his brother's reasons for making this pit stop at this time of day, well night, he refrained from voicing any more objections because they seemed pretty useless, especially now that the brothers had reached their final destination.
At Sam's insistence they both moved to the trunk of the car to unload their duffle bags and carried them as they made their way down the unlit walkway. When they reached the stairs to the front door, Sam immediately noticed that there were no lights on in the house. He froze in his spot with one foot on the bottom stop and then turned to his brother to say, "Shit! What time is it? Do you think that they're home? Or…? Shit do you think that they're asleep?"
Dean rolled his eyes and stomped his way up the front stairs replying, "No way! You are NOT back out now. I told you this was a dumb idea, but noooo…" He elongated the one syllable word while he turned back towards the door to ring the doorbell a couple of times before Sam could say anything else. "So we aren't backing out now. We're here, so we're staying until someone answers the damn door because I know I saw Toni's truck parked…"
He abruptly cut himself off at the sound of the lock clicking and the door opening up behind him. Dean turned and was almost able to plaster a fake warm smile on his face before he heard a groggy voice ask, "Yes…? Can I help you with something young man?"
Dean had anticipated meeting a surly and sleepy Toni at the door, so he was caught completely off guard by seeing the half-awake male that was now standing in front of him. Toni's dad was still slowly rubbing the sleep from his eyes which gave Sam ample opportunity to push past his stunned brother to greet the older man.
"Hey Tom, I'm really sorry that we woke you… I guess we kind of lost track of time."
The Colonel took a couple of seconds to focus on Sam's face while Dean mumbled under his breath "You might of but I damn well know it's 2am." Once the Colonel saw the hunter's face more clearly, Tom smiled and answered (without acknowledging Dean's comment), "Sam there's no need to apologize. Toni told me that you might be stopping by, but I didn't know that meant that you were going to drive straight through the night to get here."
"Yeah again sorry about that… I guess we aren't really used to interacting with people who actually sleep at night," Sam explained with an embarrassed laugh.
"And again it's nothing for you to apologize about son," Tom replied sympathetically while patting Sam on the shoulder. He then turned and pointed at the interior of the house saying, "Why don't you two boys come in and make yourself more comfortable? I'm sure you must be tired from all of the driving."
Sam gave the Colonel a tight smile and nodded whispering, "Thanks."
When Dean moved to step through the door he was abruptly stopped by the older man thrusting out his hand for a handshake. Dean took it quickly and replied a little too rapidly to cover his unease, "Colonel McNamara, it's an honor to finally meet you… Your daughter speaks very highly of you Sir."
The Colonel's cheeks took on a very pale pink shade at Dean's kind words. He then tried to laugh off his embarrassment as he said, "Oh please Dean just call me Tom. Honestly there is no need for you to be so formal when you're a guest in my home." Dean nodded his understanding and acceptance of this offer but didn't really have anything else to say. Tom patted his back and then led him into the townhouse with an arm wrapped around Dean's shoulders. "And my daughter has had some very enlightening things to tell me about you as well."
Unsure if the Colonel was alluding to anything ominous, Dean immediately went on high alert and tried to defend himself just in case anything Toni had to say was less than flattering. "Sir, I…"
"Dad? Who the hell was at the door?" Toni's voice came from somewhere at the top of the stairs to the second level of the townhouse. She was firmly rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands as she almost inaudibly grumbled, "Better be fucking important… Wake me up after only two hours sleep…"
Tom let out a loud masculine laugh before he called out, "Angel if you would just open your eyes then you would have all of your questions answered."
Never one to disobey a direct order, well at least she wasn't prone to do so when the orders were logical and made perfect sense, Toni opened her eyes and dropped her hands to her sides. Her gaze landed first on her father and then a millisecond later her eyes found her boyfriend.
"Sam!" She exclaimed as she ran down the stairs in his general direction. Sam was anticipating that Toni was going to hug him, but he wasn't quite prepared for her to launch herself into his arms from halfway up the staircase. Sam let out a quiet "OOMPH" as he tried to balance her weight in his arms, but Toni ignored his slight struggle and hugged his neck tightly while she simultaneously wrapped her legs around his waist. "You didn't have to drive all night to get here… Dad and I would have still been here in the morning."
"It wasn't all that far from the hospital, so it really is no big deal," Sam fibbed against her hair.
Toni of course knew how far away the hospital was from her home, so she knew it was farther away than Sam had tried to play it of being, but she let Sam's white lie slide. For one she honestly was too tired to argue with him and for two she was just too damned relieved to see him awake and alert to care about anything else.
She leaned back in his arms to hold both of his cheeks in her hands while she let him see the relief plain on her face. She then quickly bent down to peck his lips and then whispered against them, "I missed you too."
Sam let himself get lost in Toni's gaze but he was abruptly ripped away from it by the sound of someone clearly their throat loudly behind him.
"Well looks like Sam will be bunking with Toni tonight," Tom announced with a good natured chuckle. He then gave Dean an amiable slap on the back saying, "I guess that means you'll be staying with me, Roomie."
Tom let his hand slide over Dean's back until he had a firm hold of the younger man's shoulder. Dean went completely rigid the instant that he felt the Colonel press his body against the older man's side. Dean kept his eyes fixed on a spot on the wall ahead of him so he missed the playful glint in Toni's father's eyes. Tom seemed to be completely unaware of how uncomfortable he was making Dean feel, but when Toni leaned back to laugh at his joke she instantly caught the chagrinned look on Dean's face.
Toni untangled herself from her embrace with Sam then glared at her father half-heartedly (while barely being able to suppress a cheeky grin) and gasped out an astonished, "DAD!"
The Colonel continued to look amused and proud of his off color humor so Toni clenched her jaw with a much more serious look in her eye and jutted her chin in the older hunter's direction. Her dad quickly took the hint and released Dean so that he could look into the face of the younger man.
"Dean surely you know that I was just joking!" Tom stated almost sounding panicked. "I… I thought that… I was trying to… I'm so sorry, but I thought that that was in line with your sense of humor… I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Dean."
Toni squeezed her dad's arm with a soft smile on her face. After he looked like he had calmed down some Toni turned her attention to Dean. When she spoke she made sure she kept her tone calm and careful because she was afraid that she might spook him even more than he already was from her dad's joke.
"Hey… Look… I think we're all pretty exhausted, so why don't we all get some sleep and start the introductions over tomorrow?" She turned to look over her shoulder at Sam to instruct him, "Why don't you take your bag up to my room and I'll get Dean settled down here in the den?"
Sam nodded and picked up his bag to sling it over his shoulder. When he moved to step closer to Toni, she turned away from him and picked Dean's bag up from the floor. Dean quickly claimed the handles of his bag from her, so Toni took his arm in her now empty hand to lead him to their new destination. As they made their way into the other room, Toni overheard her dad telling Sam not to worry about anything because he was sure that Toni would be able smooth things over with his brother.
Dean flopped down on the couch and sighed heavily while Toni kept moving around to gather everything she thought he needed together. She slipped into the hallway to retrieve some fresh linens and towels from the closet. When she returned to the den she found Dean sitting with his elbows on his knees and holding his head in both of his hands. Toni could pretty much guess what the commentary was that was running through Dean's head right now, so she wanted to make sure to ease his mind as soon as possible. She knew that her dad was mentally beating himself up for his faux pas but she also knew that he would easily get over it if he knew that Dean's mind was no longer in turmoil. As such she stood in the doorway watching Dean while she tried to figure out a way to fix this situation before either of them tried to settle to sleep for the night.
When she felt like she had the perfect solution to their problem figured out she entered the room and placed the linens on the couch beside Dean before she sat down on the coffee table in front of him. Dean didn't seem to have noticed her presence at all so Toni reached out a tentative hand to gently tap him on the shoulder. After a slow count to five Dean raised his head to find Toni smiling serenely at him in return of his conflicted appearance.
Before Dean could even think about speaking Toni said, "You didn't offend him at all, so please don't worry about that, alright?" He still had an uncertain, almost worried look on his face prompting Toni to grin a little bit wider. "Honestly Dean… He was just really nervous about finally getting to meet you and… Well you know how I easily succumb to 'foot in mouth syndrome' when I'm nervous? Well it turns out that it's an inherited trait."
Toni smirked humorously at the end of her statement and Dean finally let out a short, tension easing laugh. When she noticed that Dean still looked slightly distressed despite his efforts to hide it, Toni reached out attain to place her hand gently on his forearm in to try to reassure him.
Dean laughed nervously again then said, "Well when you put it that way it doesn't sound like anything could be all that bad."
"And that's because it isn't," Toni reaffirmed. "Dad, he… He knows how important… I mean… You're Sam's brother and dad knows how much Sam means to me so they've kind of bonded of the last little while and he wanted to try to make you feel like you were just as welcomed in our home too, but I'm sure he's seen the error of his ways by now and all."
"But Toni, he opened his home to us…To me and then I…"
"Didn't laugh at his joke?" Toni jumped in when Dean's comment faded into being completely inaudible. "Seriously Dean he gets it. After everything he and I have been through and worked through together, I know that he'll more than understand where this went wrong. He…"
Toni hesitated for a moment to finish her thought because she wasn't sure that she was permitted to share this part of her father's past with anyone. She and the Colonel had been able to work through so many issues together that she had lost count of how many long ago, but many of them were demons that they had had to slay alone as a duo. With that in mind she tried to remain conscious of the fact that some things were private and at this moment in time she wished that she had of been able to keep her loud mouth shut, but then again they do say 'if wishes were horses, beggars would ride' or so Toni vaguely remembered her mother saying something like that to her brothers when they were being unreasonable during their youth. Since she didn't want to revert back to the times when she and Dean had been so badly at odds that they were barely on speaking terms (alright Toni might concede that they were times when Toni had chosen to ignore Dean despite his attempts to talk to her) Toni opted to be as truthful as she could right now with him.
"It'll sound kind of stupid, but his counselor suggested that we try to make up for lost time whenever we could, so dad's trying to do just that… One thing that he heard was that 'normal' parents are prone to say things that embarrass their children and… Umm… He's been trying to master that skill."
Dean chuckled self-consciously then said, "Yeah I think he just might have done that… So you seriously think everything will be okay between him and me?"
"Yeah I'm pretty sure it will be, especially if you eat whatever he prepares for breakfast in the morning and make really convincing 'yummy' noises," Toni replied with a tiny smirk curling her lips on one side of her mouth.
Completely unamused by Toni's attempt at humor, Dean gave her the look that he felt her last comment deserved as he said, "Yeah… Okay… I think your sleep deprivation is starting to affect your judgment, so you should probably try to get back to sleep now Toni."
Toni gave Dean a mock sour-puss look as she stood up by when she spoke she sounded nothing but cordial and polite, "Sure… That sounds like a good plan. I grabbed a couple of clean towels for you. The bathroom is just down the hall by the laundry room… It has a stand up shower in it and… Umm… A shampoo and conditioner dispenser…. I also pulled out a couple of sheets, a fleece blanket and a few pillows out there for you… Did…? Did you want me to help you pull out the bed at all?"
Dean stood, stretching his arms over his head replying, "No that's okay, the couch seems wide enough that I should be able to sleep on it just fine as it is, but thanks for the offer Toni."
"Yeah that's true, I've fallen asleep in front of the TV more times than I should admit to and I've never woken up with a kink in my neck or anything," Toni replied as she stood to leave. When she reached the door, Toni paused and half turned around to softly call out, "Good night Dean… Hope you sleep well."
He waved a hand over his head and called out a quiet, "You too" before he returned his attention to smoothing out the sheet over the cushions of the couch. Toni couldn't help but linger at the doorway while she watched Dean create his nest… Err settle in for the night. He used one sheet to over the seat cushions and then he used the second sheet to cover the back of the couch before he sat down to remove his boots and jeans.
When Toni realized that Dean was stripping down to his undershirt and boxer briefs, she quickly turned away to make her hasty retreat. She then continued her regular nightly routine of checking the front then back doors to make sure that their locks were secure. After the incident with Addy and Dean's son, Toni had asked Sam about any inconspicuous precautionary steps that she could take to keep her dad and herself safe from anything supernatural that might try to get into the townhouse and he had suggested drawing Devil's Traps at the thresholds and covering them with doormats. She had followed his suggestion of course and tonight she couldn't help but check that the Sharpie ink looked just as good as the day she had originally drawn the traps. Since the brothers were visiting she even went so far as to place a thin salt line at the back door. (She stopped herself from doing the same at the front door because it would have been harder to hide and she didn't want to look paranoid in front of the brothers after all.)
As she moved down the hallway she made sure that all of the lights were turned off and then she made her way slowly up the stairs. On passing the framed photos of her family on the wall of the stairwell, Toni unconsciously kissed her index and middle fingers of her right hand and pressed a 'kiss' to each of the smiling faces of her mother and brothers. She couldn't really pinpoint a date when she had added these three acts of remembrance and affection to her end of the day routine, but she found that she couldn't get a restful night's sleep without them when she was at home.
At the top of the stairs she turned to head to her room, but she hesitated when she noticed a sliver of light shining out from under her father's bedroom door. It wasn't unusual for Toni to find her dad passed out on his bed with his bed-side light still illuminated on his night stand. Those nights she had just carefully extracted the book from his grasp to place it on his night stand before quietly tucking him in and turning off the light. For some reason as she approached her father's door she was more than confident that that would not actually be the case tonight.
With that nagging thought trying to force its way from the back of her mind to cause her to obsess about it, Toni placed her right hand on her dad's door knob while simultaneously knocking on his door softly with her left.
His simple, quiet reply of "Yes?" prompted Toni to slowly push open her father's bedroom door. She wasn't sure what she had expected to see, but watching her dad carefully place a bookmark in the spine of his novel he was reading before holding it protectively to his chest caused Toni's heart to break slightly.
The Colonel opened his mouth and then closed it quickly before he could try to speak. He knew what information he wanted to get from his daughter, but he couldn't quite find the words to ask her for it just yet. Toni could see her father's internal struggle plain on his face so she sat down on his bed by his knees and patted his leg gently.
"He's fine dad. When I poked my head into the den after checking the back door, he looked like he was completely passed out cold for the night," Toni said with a sympathetic smile spreading across her lips. "Although…"
"What? Although what Angel?" Her dad asked worriedly as he sat up a bit straighter in his spot.
Feigning coyness, Toni picked at her dad's comforter to avoid making eye contact then answered with an 'awe shucks' tone in her voice, "Although I did sort of volunteer you to make us all breakfast tomorrow… I hope that wasn't over stepping…"
Toni turned just her eyes to check for her father's reaction. She was sure that he would get her joke straightaway, but the look of confusion he was wearing told her a totally different story. Her head shot up and she was just about to lunge forward and apologize to her dad when a smile finally broke out across his lips.
Pausing mid-motion, Toni felt her eyebrows tilt down in a misunderstanding frown as her dad let out a quiet, throaty laugh. "Of course I'd be more than happy to play chef for everyone in the morning, you know that already. But…? Angel… Toni do you really think my cooking a meal will really do all that much to help me smooth things over with Dean?"
Toni finally completed her previous movement and leaned forward to hug her dad around the neck. "I know it will dad." She pushed back so that she could look the Colonel in the eye but kept her hands clasped behind his neck when she said, "In fact it was Dean who was under the impression that he was the one that would be needing to figure out a way to apologize to you."
"Me…? Why…? Why would he have a crazy notion like that in his head?" Her dad sputtered out in utter disbelief.
Toni's hands unhooked themselves from around the Colonel's neck so that she could hold his hands while she spoke. "Dad… Now who's the one underestimating themselves?" Her dad's bright blush was all the response that Toni needed, so she continued with her explanation and didn't give him a chance to get a word in edgewise. "He really is grateful for everything we've done for Sam and felt like his misunderstanding your joke was disrespectful and made him look ungrateful. He didn't mean to react so strongly or so negatively and I actually do believe him on those points. And I… I think I actually… Actually made him feel kind of embarrassed when I tried to laugh it off by saying that it was just you going through a belated 'parent embarrassing their child at every turn' phase."
"Antonia," her father groused without any heat to back up his words. "You didn't really tell him that did you Sweetheart?"
Toni raised a hand to her dad's cheek and tried her best not to sputter out a laugh that was bubbling up in her chest. She had thought that her father's nervousness had come from his trying too hard to make Dean feel as comfortable in their home as Sam seemed to have the moment that he had stepped through their door, but now she was thinking that she might have been wrong. It took up until that moment for her to recognize that her dad was acting more like she had when she was a teenager and was trying her best to impress Alex or Will (or rather their friends who were much older than herself). Nervousness she had anticipated, but hero worship? Well she probably should have seen that coming by the almost dreamy way her father spoke about any of the Winchesters' heroic exploits and yet she hadn't had any idea that her dad would react this way to meeting the eldest Winchester.
Now she understood the flash of terror that she had seen pass through her father's eyes before she told him the truth about what she said to Dean. Thomas McNamara had been an upstanding, respected Colonel in the US Army who had been granted an honorable discharge after many years of service (and the passing of his beloved wife, which had devastated his psyche beyond all comprehension), so how would it look if it got out that he visited a counselor twice a month (for a while Tom and Toni had visited Mister Spencer's office on a weekly basis to help repair the life time of damage that had been done to their relationship) got out to the other retired soldiers? For Toni it was a non-issue because all of those sessions, as tear-filled and difficult as they had been, had actually given her the one thing that she had never dreamed could have ever happened during her life time; a functional, loving relationship with her father. For that fact alone she had never felt any embarrassment or shame when speaking about their time spent in therapy together, but now she was faced with the fact that her father might not want to air such laundry in front of a macho, heroic figure like the iconic Dean Winchester from the novels that her father had practically memorized word for word by now.
"Dad?" Toni started cautiously. "Dean… He… He knows all about us doing the whole counseling thing together… Uhh… In fact if it wasn't for everything Spence taught us, I don't think that Dean and I would be on speaking terms at all."
"So Dean…? He…? He…?" Tom tried to ask but his uneasiness seemed to impede his ability to complete a single thought out loud.
Once again Toni was able to recognize her father's internal struggle as she replied, "So he knows that's a part of what makes you YOU and me… Well it makes me the slightly neurotic woman that nearly cut his balls off when he accused me of deserting Sam when he was worried about his brother because I really needed to come home and spend some time with you."
Toni was about to go on a half-hearted Dean bashing spree, but another quick, quiet shout of "Antonia" silenced the rest of her impending diatribe.
"Okay… Okay, but seriously dad he knows about the counseling and he was still worried about making a good impression on you so… I was thinking that we should all get a good night's sleep and then we could all restart this visit over breakfast, okay? That seems doable, don't you think?"
"So you think we can just sit down and eat some eggs, hash browns with coffee and then we can just his restart like tonight never happened?" The Colonel asked sounding more intrigued than he sounded skeptical or disbelieving.
Giving her father a knowing smile Toni replied, "And bacon… Seriously dad you cannot forget the bacon or all of my hard work tonight will have been for nothing."
Tom pulled his daughter into a tight hug as he replied against her hair, "I would never dream of forgetting the bacon Toni… Never." He then held her face in his hands as he concluded, "But before we can have breakfast we have to at least try to get some shut eye."
Toni stared at her dad in a dumbfounded silence because she couldn't believe what had just happened. Somehow she had single-handedly been able to ease not only Dean's troubled mind, but she had also been able to do the same for her dad as well. Not only that, she had been able to accomplish both goals without resorting to using sex or alcohol as a diversion. Well the sex would have really only been offered to or worked for Dean, but still she was the peacemaker and all it took was finding the right thing to say to both men and nothing more.
By the time Toni had caught up with her racing thoughts, Toni's dad had started to look slightly concerned. She quickly leaned forward to hug her dad's neck tightly yet again. "You're definitely right dad, we should…" She sat back and pet his cheek in a careful tone, "So you're good? I mean all that crap with Dean…? It's all good now, right?"
"Right you are Angel." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before saying with a playful glint in his eyes, "But you shouldn't be worrying about an old man like me, not when you have your estranged boyfriend waiting for you in your room."
"Dad!" Toni exclaimed quietly as a hot blush spread quickly across her cheeks and neck. "I… You know… Umm… I guess that means I should be saying 'good night' now."
"That it does Angel. Breakfast should be ready by the time you two get up… Or at least I'll make sure to keep some warm for you."
Toni stopped at the door and had to swallow a deep breath to hide her further embarrassment so that she could look over her shoulder to say, "Thanks dad. Sweet dreams and I'll see you in the morning."
Her dad had already turned off his bedside lamp and was already settling in to sleep but he still called out "Sweet dreams Angel."
Toni then left his room and finally made her way to her room. She double checked that her dad's bathroom was clean and orderly. As she turned out its light Toni couldn't help but shake her head while silently laughing at herself. If anyone had ever questioned that her father had retired after a long and honored military career all they had to do was look at his bed or bathroom. Both rooms always looked like a photographer was going to show up to take photos for a spread in 'Good Housekeeping' at any moment. Toni tried to keep her own bed and bathrooms as tidy as possible, but for some reason her bed corners never looked as crisp as his and her toothpaste was forever dribbling onto the countertop. Of course the latter could have had something to do with her lifelong habit of losing toothpaste caps and therefore was never able to put it back on properly.
At her closed bedroom door, Toni stopped and rested her forehead against the painted wooden door. So far she was two for two, but she wasn't sure that she had the energy to try to bat a thousand by comforting another worried man tonight. On top of that, if sis did strike out with Sam then she would STRIKE OUT with Sam. She missed him with every fiber of her being, but more importantly she needed him to talk to her so that she could see for herself that he was really alive, well and actually okay. He had assured her over the phone that Emmanuel had actually been Castiel and he had come through for him and saved him from completely succumbing to his insanity. It all sounded reasonable and a little too good to be true over the phone, but until she could see the miraculous healing for herself she wouldn't be convinced that he was really back to his old, more normal self.
As soon as that thought formed in her head, Toni stood up straight and smiled brightly at her door. She was still feeling some lingering effects of her fatigue, but with her new course of action decided she started to feel like she was starting to get a second wind. She then reached out her hand and took in a deep, steadying breath thinking to herself Alright… Here goes nothing… You can do this Toni.
Toni opened her door slowly and once she entered the room the sight that she was met with nearly caused her to lose all of the wind from her sails. She once again found Sam sitting hunched over on her bed with his elbows on his knees and his head cradled in his hands. Toni's heart nearly broke from the vivid memories this scene evoked from the last time she had found Sam in this exact same position during his first visit to her home. Granted Sam had treated her to some of the most amazing sex she had ever experienced, but then he had followed it up with one of the most horrific revelations that he had ever dropped on her in a very long time so she knew this could go either way depending on what either of them said or did in the next few moments.
Thankfully she chose to remain optimistic because they both had been in a celebratory mood the last time that they had talked on the phone. With that in mind, Toni straightened herself up and plastered an easy smile on her face as she approached Sam. When he saw Toni force herself to exude nothing but confidence while she moved towards him, Sam decided that he should do the same. By the time that Toni was within touching distance, Sam was leisurely leaning on her bed's mattress with his hands anchored about a foot behind his back. That stance plus the mild leer on Sam's face caused Toni's breath to catch and her knees to feel so weak that she almost thought that she was going to fall over face first into him.
Since Toni had never been good at giving anyone the upper-hand (if they earned or won it she would concede her defeat, but just give it up? Never. Or at least not yet) so she tried her best not to react to how scrumptious Sam looked just yet as she said (trying for an easy, nonchalant tone), "Well… Well… Well… Look at what the cat finally fucking dragged in… And now you just show up here, flaunting yourself all over my bed like that…" Toni stepped in between Sam's splayed legs to run her fingers through his hair in an effort to erase the worried look that was on his face. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead and then both of his now closed eye lids before she whispered seductively, "I hope that you're ready for your full inspection Soldier."
Toni leaned back just far enough for Sam to see that her eyes were so consumed with lust that the color of her irises had been eaten by her dilated pupils. Sam had to swallow so thickly a couple of times that it was audible to anyone in the room before he could finally stammer out, "Oh… Oh… Oh-kay… I… I… I mean… Yeah… Ye… Yes ma'am, I'm ready."
"Good," Toni breathed out against his temple before she kissed a spot above and below his left eye. "The abrasions here and here have healed well…" She reported in a husky tone. Toni held his cheeks in both hands for a moment before she nodded once quickly and pecked his lips.
Her hands then slid from Sam's cheeks to his neck and then they continued to his shoulders and the front of his shirt. Sam opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself from uttering a word when Toni's fingers gracefully flicked open each of the little white buttons of his fleece over shirt. Toni kept her eyes trained on Sam's face as she undid his shirt but they both sucked in a quick, surprised breath when her right hand slipped under the flannel to connect with nothing but the bare flesh of his pectoral muscle.
"Sam," Toni said against his ear more breathily than she had anticipated. "How are your ribs healing?" She asked as she gingerly moved her hand from the center of his chest to his side where two of his ribs had been cracked when they had been hit by a moving car.
The question caught Sam so off guard that he couldn't find any words to answer Toni as she slipped the flannel garment off of his shoulders. His continued silence didn't faze Toni and she used his stunned state to her advantage by pushing on his shoulders to slowly lower his upper body onto the bed.
Once Sam was laying down on her bed with his legs still hanging over the edge as if he was still sitting up straight, Toni straddled his stomach without attempting to remove any of her clothes. She wasn't looking to cause Sam any pain so she made sure to keep the majority of her weight off of his body by kneeling on her mattress on either side of Sam's thighs. Sam once again tried to open his mouth to speak, but Toni quickly silenced him by placing her fingertips against his lips. True she had asked him a question and that usually meant that he was expected to answer her, but Toni had other plans for Sam Winchester, so his inability to formulate an answer didn't worry her at all.
Sam still looked confused, but he didn't fight Toni when she moved both of his hands over his head. She was watching his face intently while she did it so that there was no way that she could have missed the slight tightening at the corners of his eyes when the skin and muscles of his chest and upper body were forced to stretch as she raised his hands over his head. His breathing didn't change at all, so Toni took that as a sign that she hadn't aggravated his wound or wounds too much. Sam kept his hands clasped over his head as Toni started to run her hands down the length of both of his arms. When she reached his elbows he still hadn't attempted to move at all and Toni rewarded him by kissing him on the tip of his nose.
"The cut here had healed completely," she reported without hiding her surprise as she ran her fingers over his left collarbone. Sam nodded slowly bud that turned into a quicker up and down motion as Toni started to caress that spot on his chest with her lips and tongue. She continued to kiss her way down his chest and she couldn't help but to grin against his skin when Toni felt Sam suck in a shallow breath and hold it after she lightly bit the sensitive flesh by his left nipple. "No loss of sensation here, that's a good sign," she stated in a tone that sounded like she was failing to sound completely detached.
Sam couldn't stop himself from chuckling slightly at the husky tone of Toni's voice when she spoke before she continued to trail kisses down his torso. When she reached the spot where two Sam's ribs had been broken, Toni's embraces became almost feather-light to avoid causing Sam any undue pain or suffering. Sam watched Toni with calm eyes as the tip of her tongue snaked out from between her lips to trace the length of his two formerly broken bones. When Sam gasped in a surprised breath, Toni assumed that she had hurt him so she ghosted another kiss over his ribcage before she backed off his flesh completely.
"No… No…" Sam sighed out in an almost blissful daze. "No… Not… That was… Felt so good."
Toni looked shocked for a millisecond before she gently grazed the teeth of her upper jaw along his ribs starting from the center of his chest towards his back. This time her oral attentions only elicited a nearly imperceptible shudder from Sam as Goosebumps blossomed all over his skin. Toni turned her eyes towards Sam's face to monitor his reaction as she ran just her lips over that same expanse of flesh. When Toni was amidst her third pass over his ribs, Sam turned just his eyes so that he could try to watch Toni 'worshipping' his flesh.
The instant their eyes met, Toni's breath caught once again in her throat. All of the cuts, abrasions and bruises she had anticipated finding (and having to avoid during any shows of intimacy so that she wouldn't hurt him any further) were completely healed and it took Toni a couple of seconds to figure out why that might be. Sam had winced slightly when she had stretched Sam's arms over his head, but now she was thinking that that had more to do with natural muscle fatigue from sitting in the Impala for so long as opposed to any actual injuries that Toni had thought would be inevitable for her to encounter.
Sam continued to watch Toni in silence while she continued to lavish the left side of his rib cage with fleeting kisses and soft bites. When she reached the spot where he had recently experienced broken bones, Toni bit down a little harder causing Sam to gasp in a sharp breath. She lick his 'wound' softly and looked up at him with a playful glint in her eyes as she quietly asked with her chin resting against his ribs, "Castiel?"
Sam scowled his misunderstanding and Toni couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on his face. She then rested her left cheek on his well-defined abdominal muscles to look at his face and asked while running her fingertips lightly over the length of his ribs to clarify her previous question, "Your broken bones…? The bruises and cuts…? Even the hallucinations… Was…? Was it Castiel that healed all of it for you?"
Toni's fingers found a sensitive spot that caused Sam to squirm and huff out a nervous laugh as he answered, "Yeah… I mean… Yes… Yes Ma'am… It was Castiel that healed all of my injuries, Ma'am."
Toni smiled against his stomach and then turned her face even further to hiss his tight stomach with a soft chuckle. She wasn't sure that Sam would be up for maintaining this style of role play she they hadn't actually used this sex game since the early months in their relationship while at Stanford. Since Sam was willing to at least try to stay in character, Toni dutifully replied as she snaked her way down his body, "Good to hear… Now… At ease soldier."
That 'order' resulted in Sam's eyes flying open before he raised his head to watch Toni's face disappear off the end of the bed. He knew that Toni wanted him to relax, but until he was sure of where all of this was going with her, Sam knew that it would be impossible for him to settle down completely. In fact, he was actually damn close to breaking character and calling out her name to check on her when he saw just her hands start to slide up slowly over his calves and then her head reappeared as they travelled up to his thighs and the waist of his jeans.
Toni didn't have to raise her face all the way up to look at Sam's face for her to know that he was straining his neck to raise his head in order to watch her with a concerned eye. In an effort to ease his mind, she worked relatively blind to open the button and zipper fly of Sam's jeans. As soon as the zipper was open, Sam sighed out loudly and let his head flop back onto the mattress.
Grinning at the sound of Sam's head hitting the mattress hard, Toni finally ventured a peek up the line of his body to make sure that Sam was back on board with her original plan: No deep conversations this evening. Just some good old fashioned sex between lovers to make sure that everything was still working properly.
Sam's breathing had started to speed up as he felt Toni raise up over his groin causing Toni to laugh softly against his clothing. She then pulled back his jeans and thankfully Sam lifted his buttocks off the bad automatically and without her having to request him to do so which allowed her to leave him in the worked up headspace he had put himself into just a few minutes ago. Another plus in Sam's favor was that he had removed his boots and socks at the door to Toni's bedroom long before she had been able to join him and she rewarded his forethought with wet kisses down the flesh of his legs as it was revealed during her process of peeling the denim off each of his legs.
Once she had his jeans removed from his legs, Toni pointedly took her time folding them to leave the jeans at the foot of her bed. Sam's breathing had evened out slightly during her short interlude of folding his jeans so she picked up one of his feet and started massaging the sole of it while kissing his calf in an effort to reawaken his sexual appetite that she had previously felt. Sam immediately started to pant in his breaths under her ministrations, so Toni turned her attention to his other foot and leg to give them the same attention that she had already lovingly bestowed upon his other limb.
Much to Toni's relieved dismay, Sam's breath quickened even further and she had to stop herself form biting the inside of his left thigh as she raised herself up off of the floor completely. Sam had an arm thrown over his eyes while he tried to control his breathing, but Toni wanted him to lose complete control so she ran her tongue up the inside of his left thigh in an effort to reach that goal. When she reached the barrier of his boxers she bunched the loose legs of the shorts up in the same way many a man had done to her in order to get to the center of her passion and she let her tongue, lips and teeth tease his flesh like she would have wanted any man to tease her into being more than primed and ready for a fun filled night.
At this point Toni had Sam's boxers pulled up to look more like bikini briefs while she enthusiastically mouthed his clothed erection. Sam tried to raise his head more than once to watch her, but every time she saw him try to lift his head at the neck, Toni would do something with her mouth that would cause him to flop his head back with his eyes rolled up into the back of his head.
"Shh… Sammy, I'll make this good for you," Toni whispered against his thigh as she started to roll the waist of his boxers down.
Unlike before, Sam didn't just raise his hips and buttocks off the mattress this time he also helped to push at the cotton boxers so they could get them down his thighs. Toni quickly caught onto his impatience and was almost ready to reprimand him for his 'disobedience' until she caught a glimpse of his rock hard and leaking erection that was just laying there waiting for her to suck it down and give it all of the attentions that it deserved.
After she had folded Sam's boxers to place them on top of Sam's jeans, Toni started to kiss her way up Sam's left thigh. When she reached the most intimate of parts of him that she could have sucked him down to help him reach his apex, Toni made sure to skirt around hit with her lips to the less sensitive skin of his stomach and belly button.
Sam voiced his displeasure by groaning out a strangled, "Toe… Knee… Pleeease."
She then started to kiss and nip her way back down Sam's body. Toni let her mouth linger on the very sensitive skin between his legs near his groin before she sat up on his legs after she decided to change her tactics.
"It's okay," she said almost automatically as she shifted her weight to sit up straighter on the meat of his thighs. "If you would just put a little more trust in me then we will be able to have the most unbelievable sex… But if you won't… Well I can go and call Dean from his dead sleep to tell him that you'll be sleeping in the den with him tonight… But I'm pretty sure that you don't really want to do that."
Sam remained silent, but he looked like he was having troubles swallowing, so Toni took his length in her hands and worked them up and down it slowly. She wanted to ensure that he wouldn't lose any of his arousal while she continued to tease him verbally, "Seriously there isn't a single scar or bruise left on you…I guess you might have a point about how useful that angel friend of yours can be… Might need to think about my position about forgiving him…"
Toni momentarily got lost in her thought up until the moment when Sam suddenly squeezed a hand over both of hers. Toni tilted her chin down so that she could meet Sam's eyes and slack-jawed look. He held her hands loosely around himself and breathlessly asked, "Can…? Can we not…? I mean… Ma'am… Can we cease any further conversation of other men until after we've…? We've…? Made love?"
Toni's cheeks rouged slightly as her eyes cast down to where Sam was holding her hands. He definitely had a point because she had always been the first one to remind him that she should be the only woman on his mind whenever they were in bed together and what had she been doing? Not only had she brought up her least favorite angel, she had also brought up Sam's brother's name. Could there have been a worse way for her to try to make Sam feel sexy? Probably not, so Toni knew that she had to make it up to him and she was going to start by dropping her insistence to continue on with this style of role playing.
She then crawled up so that her hands were on either side of Sam's head with her knees pressing into either side of his ribcage. Sam had closed his eyes fearing that he had angered his 'commanding officer', so Toni gently ran her fingers through his hair until he hesitantly opened his eyes. She smiled at him and then kissed him softly once he had his eyes wide open.
"You're right Sam," she said as she moved his hands to the waist of her sleep shorts. "But I'll do you one better… How 'bout we not broach any heavy topics until after we both have had a mind blowing orgasm or two?"
Sam's fingers wrapped themselves around the elastic waistband of Toni's shorts while nodding his head emphatically as he answered, "I like the sounds of that."
Toni smiled brightly and kissed Sam so enthusiastically that it was almost uncomfortable and painful. She quickly gripped his head so that she could shift the angle of his face and then their kisses just seemed to work perfectly. She continued to attack his mouth until she felt him slip the elastic of her shorts under the flesh of her buttocks. Toni lifted her face just enough so that she could pant against Sam's mouth while he ran his fingernails over her now exposed skin of her firm backside.
Sam puckered his lips to kiss Toni again, but Toni moved a little further back unconsciously as she got lost in the sensation of Sam teasing her flesh. Before could even form a thought of concern, Toni sat up and whipped her oversized t-shirt up and over her head and threw it somewhere in the direction of her bathroom. She then scooted back on the bed to a spot between his legs to try to get her shorts off as quickly as possible.
It only took her kicking him in the side once for Sam to sit up and still Toni's hands and legs. He laughed as he claimed her lips in a reassuring kiss. "Slow down Toni… There's no need to resort to physical violence… Yet."
Toni let out a sound that was a perfect cross between a laugh and a sob as she replied against Sam's ear, "I've missed you so much."
The raw emotion in Toni's voice caught Sam slightly off guard so he wrapped his arms around her body to hug her against him tightly. He had half expected her to protest, but much to his surprise her arms unfolded from between them so that she could cling to him like her life depended on it. Sam then started to run his hands up and down her back in anticipation of any impending tears so he could comfort her, but all he felt at first was Toni's blunt nails digging into his back as she tried to pull him even closer to her.
After a few moments Sam was completely mystified that Toni didn't breakdown at all, instead she started to massage his shoulder blades as she kissed his neck and jaw. When he felt that she was totally distracted, Sam wrapped Toni's legs around his waist. She paused mid-kiss against his neck but before she could speak, Sam rolled them over so that Toni was the one who was laying down against the mattress. She let out a quiet, breathy laugh as her back bounced against her bed. Sam gave her a brief predatory grin before he dove down to suck on of her nipples between his lips.
Toni's hands immediately found the back of Sam's head to press his mouth more firmly against her breast. Her fingers got tangled in Sam's locks when he pulled back and away from the flesh that he had practically been devouring. When he felt Toni's fingers flex and then relax, Sam slowly brushed his lips down the inside of her breast until he reached the chest bone between her two healthy mounds.
Now it was Toni's turn to moan quietly while her eyes rolled back into the back of her head due to the careful ministrations of her lover's mouth. Sam forced himself not to laugh or grin against Toni's skin as he continued to trail kisses down her torso. When Sam started to nibble at the soft skin under her belly button, Toni's hands fell back onto her comforter while a pleading moan escaped from between her lips.
Sam kept his lips against Toni's skin as he raised his hands up to tug against her shorts. Unlike when Toni was relieving Sam of his jeans and boxers, Toni didn't move her lower half at all to aid Sam in his removal of her shorts. He struggled slightly to shimmy the flannel fabric down her legs but he didn't voice any complaints because he could feel Toni relaxing even deeper against her bed as he stripped her out of her last piece of clothing.
Once he had her shorts at her knees, Sam backed off from lavishing her flesh with open mouthed kisses so that he could pull them off the rest of the way with ease. This time it was Toni's turn to show her impatience by pushing Sam off of her just enough that she could kick her shorts off her heel and the edge of the bed. When she was done Toni stared up at Sam from where she was holding him at arm's length above her and they both began to pan in their breaths because of their mutual desire and anticipation.
Staring into Toni's too close eyes Sam smiled then whispered, "Sorry… Just give me a second and then we'll get you back on top."
"NO!" Toni answered quickly as her legs wrapped around his hips. Her right hand slipped in-between their bodies so that she could once again get a firm grip on Sam's hardened member. She stroked his length slowly a couple of times as she said just over a whisper, "No, you've more than earned this… Just… Oh God Sam… Just make love to me? Please? I've missed you so much."
Sam kissed her forehead then replied against it, "I missed you too Toni. I'm sorry that it took me this long to come back to you. I swear that I didn't mean to be away so long…"
"I know," Toni breathed out against his mouth as her hand guided him to her awaiting heat. "I know Sam, so no more apologies… Let's just make love."
As soon as Sam's flesh felt the comforting wet warmth of Toni's canal, Sam's hips bucked forward more forcefully than he had anticipated. Toni moaned loudly letting Sam know that she was primed enough that he wouldn't hurt her so he pressed his hips forward hard so that she had taken his length in just two firm thrusts. Sam paused there and just stared down at the blissed out expression on Toni's face while neither of them attempted to move their lower halves at all.
Toni's eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled almost shyly as she stared into Sam's beautiful eyes. He leaned down slowly to claim her lips in a slow soft embrace. Toni returned his kisses at the same pace and didn't try to deepen or quicken the movement of their mouths at all. Considering that Sam was still fully sheathed inside her and they were both beyond worked up, their kissing remained fairly chaste and innocent. Toni let her hands run up and down Sam's back at a pace that matched their lips perfectly until her right hand travelled up to the back of his head. Sam hesitated slightly when Toni unconsciously squeezed a fistful of his hair painfully, but that only lasted for a brief second. Once Sam's lips started moving again, Toni's fingers started to comb their way through Sam's locks comfortingly.
"I love you," she whispered against his lips as her left hand joined her right hand to push his hair out of his face.
Sam's hips pulled back and then thrust forward sharply a couple of times causing Toni's head to flop back while she let out a contented sigh. For a few moments Toni thought that Sam hadn't hear her declaration of love because his hips kept moving until they reached a pace where she had to move her hips in a matching motion so that she wouldn't chafe or get hurt in any other way despite her feeble protests.
"Sam… Sam… Sammmmm… Oh God… SAM!" She chanted until she was nearly screaming during her climax.
Toni went completely limp under Sam as she came down from her high. Sam's hips maintained their overly exuberant pace and Toni could only moan softly in response to his continued efforts. When Toni started to think that she couldn't take it anymore and she was about to beg him to stop, Sam's thighs slowed their pace significantly and his thrust became longer and stronger. The change of Sam's rhythm caused Toni to feel another orgasm building quickly in her loins. She wanted to participate in bring about both of their climaxes, but her legs still felt like jelly so she just let Sam maintain the reigns to bring them both to their ultimate completion.
By the time her second orgasm hit, Toni couldn't find the breath to make a sound and her throat felt hoarse. Her mouth gaped open with a soundless scream and the fluttering walls against Sam's tender flesh caused Sam to thrust one last time, almost painfully hard as he groaned into her comforter just over her shoulder. Toni once again went completely boneless under Sam's now near dead weight as he settled against her body in the afterglow of his climax.
Toni thought that Sam was so blissed out that he was going to fall asleep against her and suffocate her, but couldn't do anything to struggle against him. Suddenly he pushed his palms into her mattress in a half push up so he could look into her face saying quietly and reverently, "And I love you."
When the sun hit her face to wake her up, Toni wasn't all that surprised to find herself alone in bed. She had already come to terms long ago with the fact that she required more sleep than any man in her life right now, but she still felt slightly saddened that she didn't get to steal a few minutes (or hours) to just snuggle with Sam in bed. Sure the sex was still hot and beyond satisfying, but she secretly wished that she could have stolen a moment alone with him to just hold each other. If it turned into them being able to talk about everything that had happened while they were apart, well… Okay Toni had been banking on the time alone to find out the truth about what Sam had been through, but as she stared at his bag where he had dumped it by her bathroom door, another thought shocked her into full wakefulness.
Oh fuck! Dad's alone with Sam and Dean! She thought to herself as she shot up into a sitting position. Shit! Shit! What are they going to tell the Colonel about…? Fuck! I have to get down there like yesterday!
After the fastest shower she had ever taken in her life, Toni was running down the stairs still prying a t-shirt over her head that her long, wet ponytail would be drying itself against. She stumbled slightly on the stairs, so she forced herself to pause until she had her head and arms through their holes of the garment to avoid doing something stupid like injuring herself while getting dressed. When she had finished smoothing down the front of her shirt she looked up to meet the face of her eldest brother Alex who was sporting his patented cocky smirk.
She fondly remembered the day that their brother Will had captured this candid moment in time, but she had no idea that her dad knew that this picture even existed. Alex had come home unexpectedly, well at least to Toni. He and Will had planned to surprise her by showing up in their driveway to help Will celebrate his acceptance into the Navy. Unbeknownst to Toni and her parents, her brothers had conspired to keep his visit a secret so she was beyond stunned to see Alex's truck parked at their house the day after Will had shown the rest of his family the letter that told him where and when he was expected to report for training. Toni still maintained that she had run out to Alex's truck solely because she was concerned for his well-being and not that she missed her eldest brother dearly. They all may have known what she said wasn't the truth, but her brothers also knew that they had raised their sister well enough that she could never allow herself to admit the truth to the out loud. On this day Alex had snuck up behind Toni as she approached his truck and Will had perfectly captured the moment Alex had caught Toni by her neck in a playful head lock as well as the look on Alex's face as he forced Toni's nose into his sweaty (and what he hoped was also smelly) armpit.
Toni had never really seen the look on her brother's face before she landed a defensive punch into his groin to force him to let her go. But now that she was staring into that familiar face that Alex used to give her when he thought that he had gotten one over on her, she couldn't help but chuckle before she petulantly said quietly to the framed photo, "Yuck it up goofball, but when did you ever sack up and bring a girlfriend home for the Colonel to scrutinize?"
The joke had the desired effect because Toni made the rest of her way to the kitchen with a hint of a laugh on her face. Deep down she still felt somewhat apprehensive about seeing the three men together, but she was able to suppress her hesitations when she heard three male voices talking and laughing heartily.
When she finally made it to the kitchen door, Toni found her dad at the stove fussing over something in a pan while the two Winchester brothers were seated at the table laughing and talking with food in their mouths. Toni had a good idea of what the menu of the day was going to be, so she lingered by the doorway in the hopes that she would hear enough of their conversation to join in seamlessly.
"Oh shut up Dean," Sam groused as he threw down a piece of bacon. "There's no way that you knew all of her true motives back then."
Dean smiled cheekily as he bit into Sam's 'discarded' piece of bacon before he replied, "Well that's one perk of being the older brother Sammy… With age comes wisdom and…"
"Dean…" Sam groaned out with a warning tone.
Before Dean could reply with his own smartass response, Tom turned from the stove with a pan in one hand while authoritatively stating, "Boys… Now I know you both believe that you are in the right, but let's get through our breakfast before we hash the rest of this out, okay?" Both Winchesters mumbled out a response to the affirmative as the Colonel placed two pieces of French toast on each of their plates. Once he was settled in a seat beside Dean, Tom shoveled some food into his mouth before he half-mumbled, "But Dean does have a point… Ruby WAS a manipulative demon that seemed to be trying to play you from the beginning."
Thankfully Sam had a mouthful of food so he could only glare at his brother who was laughing quietly at Tom's jab which gave Toni a perfect opportunity to announce her presence. "Hey! Something smells amazing! Dad did you actually make your once a year, only if you're really well behaved, Christmastime French toast?"
"Why yes I did Angel," he replied with a huge smile on his face.
Toni's gaze followed her dad's hand to a plate that was waiting for her beside Sam. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she whispered, "With icing sugar? You… You only let us do that once."
The atmosphere of the room quickly turned form playful to somber at the hint of tears that the men could hear lingering in Toni's words. The Colonel cast his eyes to his plate of food at the glisten of tears in his daughter's eyes. Dean moved only his eyes to stare at his brother to silently demand that he help to ease some of the tension in the room. The elder Winchester had been thoroughly enjoying his breakfast and wanted nothing more than to continue savoring it, but he was actually kind of afraid to move because he thought that that might tip the scales and cause Toni to break down.
Sam resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes at his brother's apparent selfishness, but he still reached over towards Toni's plate of food with the intention of picking it up and using some playful teasing to coax her to sit down with them. As soon as his fingers got close to touching Toni's plate, Sam's hand froze in its place and his head whipped around to stare at the spot where a fork had come into contact with the back of his hand.
Not even trying to hide his dismay, Sam raised his eyes to look at where Toni was now standing. She pressed the utensil more firmly into his hand without actually trying to draw blood to make sure his hand didn't move as she slipped into her seat. Toni didn't let up the pressure on the fork until she had pulled her plate closer to herself and safely away from him. When she was satisfied that no one else could touch her breakfast, Toni dropped the fork to pick up a piece of her French toast to take a healthy bite out of it.
After swallowing her mouthful, Toni smiled at Sam saying, "I love you, but I haven't waited twenty five years for dad to make me my French toast like this just to let someone steal it away from me without some bloodshed." Sam's eyes twinkled with the smile that he was forcing himself not to give her because he could tell that she wasn't finished with her declaration. "And I'm totally with you Sammy. That manipulative bitch was a damn good liar and it was beyond below the belt for her to use saving your brother to get in your pants when she really couldn't. I would have fallen for it too if she offered to get me my brothers back." Dean scoffed somewhat indignantly causing Toni to turn her attention to him. She then pointed the piece of toast she had been raising to her lips to say, "That being said, when the truth did come out, I would have stabbed that lying whore in the face with a smile on my face." Toni then put her food down and turned to her father with a doe-eyed expression. "I apologize for the vulgar language Colonel. It's a poor way of showing you my appreciation for this amazing breakfast. I hope that you can forgive me Sir."
The Colonel stared at his daughter with a blank look on his face because he knew that the ball was now in his court. The way that he reacted to his daughter's dialogue would either lighten or darken the atmosphere in the room. This had been an exercise that he and Toni had played out numerous times in their counselor's office, but this was the first time that they had ever tried to do it at home, let alone doing it with 'outsiders' involved.
After putting down his knife and fork on the table with a deliberate slowness, Tom wiped his mouth and hands on a napkin then said, "Well… ANTONIA… I have to say… That black eyed skank got off too easily after screwing with these two… In my humblest opinion."
The severely serious tone that the Colonel had used during his response had caused everyone but Toni to freeze in their spot and brace for the worst. She could see the mildly panicked looks on the brothers' faces so Toni elbowed Sam in the ribs teasing, "Shit… I thought Cas fixed you. Did he forget to give you back your sense of humor?" Sam continued to scowl at her as if he didn't understand her question prompting Toni to push her plate towards Sam saying, "If I offered you some of my coveted French toast, would you believe me then that we were just trying to yank your chains?"
Sam finally laughed softly and let the tension release from his shoulders as he pushed her plate back towards Toni answering, "No that's okay. I wouldn't want to deprive you of enjoying your meal since you've waited so long for it."
Just before Toni could reclaim her plate, Dean's hand shot out to grasp her wrist to pull the plate closer to him saying, "Hey wait! Sammy isn't the only one that had been traumatized by your antics; maybe that decadent delight might help to ease some of my pain."
"Dean…" Sam sighed out in exasperation while missing the playful look that passed between his brother and girlfriend.
The Colonel immediately noticed the fact that the youngest Winchester hadn't picked up on the sarcasm the other three of them were using, He then abruptly stood up and said with a chuckle, "Or I could just make another batch of French toast and sprinkle some icing sugar on it, but… Honestly I thought you all would have grown out of this phase by now."
Dean whipped around in his seat to face the older man's back proclaiming, "Oooh fresh hot toast instead of Toni's cold half-eaten meal? That's a plan that I can back any day Colonel… I mean Tom."
While Dean and her dad continued their good natured banter, Toni leaned over to grab Sam's hand and run her thumb over his new wound quietly asking, "Are you okay? You seem tense."
"Really?" Sam countered incredulously. "Did you three plan this routine out just to torture me?"
Toni grinned brightly around the large piece of toast in her mouth before she swallowed and answered, "No… Dad and I are just that good and Dean's apparently more relaxed here now so he joined in…" Toni quickly checked that the other two men weren't watching them so that she could kiss Sam quickly. "Seriously Sam… Dad and Dean seem cool so everything's working out. We can all just relax now."
The sound of the other two men laughing briefly captured Sam's attention momentarily, but he quickly turned back to Toni smiling as he replied, "Yeah you're right… I guess we can."
"Are you sure this place is Toni's favorite?" Dean asked yet again as he stared into the paper take-out bag. "I mean isn't she kind of a health nut like you?"
Sam smacked his brother's hand replying, "Yes it is… And Paulie doesn't let anyone but Toni get take-out from him, so can you please keep the bag closed so that all of the heat doesn't leak out? It isn't the burgers fault that Meg's call put you on edge."
Dean gave Sam an unimpressed look but he still folded the opening of the bag over a couple of time and placed it on the floor of the car behind their seat. He then opened his mouth to give his younger brother a piece of his mind when he was stopped by the sound of his cellphone ringing. He gave Sam another warning look, almost as if he thought that Sam had caused his phone to right for the sole purpose of keeping him from getting his ass chewed out, but he still answered his phone with his usual gruff, "Hello."
While Dean spoke on the phone, the only thing Sam was sure of was that it was a guy named 'Garth' that was on the other end of the conversation. It took him a moment to be able to place the name to a face or job and when he did, Sam visibly winced. If it was the same 'Garth' as that job with… In Delaware then Sam would have been more than grateful if he hadn't actually been able to place the name at all.
Sam remained lost in his own thoughts while Dean spoke with the other hunter. The sound of Dean's phone clicking closed cause Sam to snap back into full consciousness. He then turned his head almost reluctantly to look at Dean. To his surprise he was met with an apologetic, somewhat sad look causing him to breath out a long sigh before saying, "Fine, but our bags are back at their place, so can we wait to leave until after we have dinner with them?"