Chapter 17

The next day was unseasonably warm for that part of the state and after church Lily and the boys changed into warm weather clothes and arranged to meet the Winchesters and Bobby at the archery range.

Sam and Dean took the younger boys into the clubhouse while Lily and Bobby greeted each other. Then they followed the others.

The man behind the counter got them set up and explained how to load, aim and fire the crossbows. Because of their training everyone hit the targets well and they really enjoyed their outing. Afterward, the Winchesters got into a conversation with the manager about the different materials the bolts could be made from. They quickly realized they'd have to have theirs made by a craftsman if they wanted specific metals like silver and iron.

Afterward, the boys were out front with Sam and Dean trying to get them to open the trunk of The Impala.

Bobby was watching them with Lily. He turned to her. "So, what did they say after we ended our call?

"Oh" Lily laughed a little. "They were angry, but at the end they were happy about their new little sister. The thing that made them mad… well, I agree with them; I have no excuse. Not really."

"What made them the maddest?" Bobby thought he could probably guess the answer.

"That we hopped into bed within hours of meeting."

Bobby nodded his agreement. "Yeah"

"At first, they were mad because they thought we were careless. When I explained that we were sent to each other and that I thought the baby was meant to be, they were better about it."

"You know, Sam and Dean met up with a cherub; it's possible one interfered that night, too."

Lily nodded, "I remember that incident from Chuck's writings. Actually, not to take away from the seriousness of that time, but the boys and I use something Dean said as a catch phrase. Lily smiled at his questioning face. "He said, 'Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?' You could tell he didn't know whether to get ready for a rumble or what he needed to do. We all thought it was funny, so we use it when we want to diffuse a pending argument between us."

"I'm gonna have to read that." Bobby smiled gently at her.

Lily looked nervously at him as she revealed another secret, "I've got all of his writings, you know. He sent them to a lawyer, who sent them to me when I reported him missing."

"You're kidding!" Bobby looked at her, astounded. He paused for a moment thinking hard, "Well, I'm not sure Sam and Dean need to know that. They wanted to break into Chuck's house and search it. We looked in the windows, though and there was no computer."

Lily nodded "I have that as well. There are locked files regarding Sam on it."

Bobby looked at her, "Locked, huh? I can imagine what's on them… did you read them?"

Lily nodded, "Chuck insisted; he couldn't tell me why, but he kept saying it was important that I know everything. As soon as I read them, he reset the password. I couldn't open those files now if I wanted to."

Bobby looked worried, "Yeah, you should keep that to yourself"

"I will."

They both glanced over at the four boys by The Impala. They had managed to get Dean to open the trunk and were pointing at various things in it. Lily and Bobby walked over, hand in hand. Lily wanted to look at it, too.

They all went out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. Afterward, Bobby went with Lily to her house so he and the younger boys could talk.

SPNSPNSPN

When they got home, Lily led everyone into the living room. It amazed her how much time had been spent in this room in the last 24 hours or so. So much had been discovered here; a lot of questions and even some answers.

She looked at her sons who were standing up, looking at Bobby, and waiting.

Bobby couldn't believe how nervous he felt. He looked at Lily and said, "I understand your nerves." Lily smiled at him and nodded.

Bobby turned to the boys, "Well, go ahead, I know ya got something to say."

Young Sam and Dean looked at each other and once again, Bobby remembered that they could communicate without words; a lot like his Sam and Dean.

Dean finally spoke. "What are you planning to do?"

Bobby looked him in the eye and said, "I haven't made any plans because Lily and I haven't had much time to talk. But I will tell you that you and your needs are just as important as mine and Lily's and the baby's, too. So whatever plans we make you will be in on."

"Will you marry her?" Sam asked.

Bobby could feel sweat start in his back. "I don't know…"

"Boys, I told you last night that we hadn't even thought that far ahead." Lily interrupted.

"Well, we think that should be high on the list." answered Dean.

"Will I be accepted as your step-dad?" asked Bobby.

Sam and Dean didn't answer. They did look at each other again.

Dean looked at Lily. "Are we going to move to South Dakota?"

Bobby answered. "I want you to. Your mother is a writer, so I think she can write anywhere." He looked at Lily, who smiled and nodded at him. "My house is pretty big. There are four bedrooms upstairs. So everyone would have their own."

Lily looked at her boys. "The main reason why I didn't put you back into a school this year was because I knew I wanted to move closer to Bobby. I would have bought a house and gotten you guys set up at a school there. I knew it would happen after school started here and it didn't seem logical. Your lesson plans have been coming from a school in Bobby's district ever since. We discussed this last month in one of our last counseling sessions, remember?"

They nodded.

Bobby looked at the boys who were looking at each other again. He waited.

Sam started to blush. "Why did you do what you did?"

Bobby also started to blush. "I'm not going to go into it in depth. I will tell you that from the first moment I laid eyes on her I, uh, wanted her." He held up his hand. "Not just that way, but in every way."

He took a deep breath, "Lily and I discussed the possibility of a cupid interfering." Lily nodded.

"You mean like in Chuck's manuscript? The one he called "My Bloody Valentine" that kind of cupid?" Dean asked. Lily nodded again.

Sam and Dean smiled at each other. "We wondered that, too, actually."

Bobby was impressed with their thinking. "I think we should go to the kitchen table and sit and discuss this and start making plans."

Everyone agreed and the tension in the room was suddenly gone. They sat at the table and drew up plans for selling Lily's house and moving them all to South Dakota. Suddenly Bobby's life was more full and more rewarding than it had been in a long time.

SPNSPNSPN

Sam and Dean were in their motel room. Dean was sitting in front of the TV, but not watching it and Sam was doing research on his computer. Dean could not think of an opening to the conversation he knew they needed to have. He sighed and put down the remote, "Sam, we gotta talk."

Sam looked up, but did not look at his brother. He sighed, "Yeah."

There was silence for a few seconds as the boys thought about what they wanted to say to each other. They were mindful of Chuck's warning; they knew they needed to hash things out and clear the air.

"Dean-"

"Sam-"

Then they both kind of gave a smile.

"Dean, you mind if I go first?" Sam asked.

"Go ahead."

He took a deep breath, "When you called me and let me back in… you wanted us to start small… I knew that you blamed me for setting Lucifer free and starting the apocalypse, and then you admitted that you played a role in it as well. I thought that meant that you had forgiven me.

"We started to get things right again. I thought you were back to trusting me. We were working together. Whenever Ruby was mentioned, you didn't look at me with derision."

"Derision?" Dean looked at him sideways.

"Look, whatever, the point is that I thought you had forgiven me, but apparently I was wrong. You've never forgiven me." He paused and got up from the chair. Angrily he turned and looked at his brother, "Well, I'm done; I won't apologize for my actions anymore. I'm done trying to atone for what I did."

Dean got up too, so he could look his brother in the eyes, "Sam, I did forgive you for starting the apocalypse; I started it, you finished it and we fixed it. What I couldn't forgive was that you left with Ruby. You chose a demon over you own brother. I didn't trust her, but I couldn't get through to you! I knew she was using you and I kept trying to get you back from her, but you kept taking her side! I was trying to protect you, to warn you, but you wouldn't listen! I'm family! I should have come first!"

Dean took a deep breath, trying to calm down, "When we were in Heaven, all of your memories were times away from me and dad. Or they were times when you tried to get away from me and dad. My memories were times with our mom and you. You told me that you didn't look at family the way I do. I didn't know that dick was changing and manipulating it, so I was angry and hurt. What with that and Ruby, I just couldn't forgive you."

Dean took a deep, shaky breath, "Can you forgive me?"

Sam nodded.

Dean went on, "Can I ask you something?"

Sam nodded again.

"This has been on my mind for a long time… Why didn't you go to Jess' funeral? I mean, I thought at the time that it was too raw, you couldn't face it, but now… I need to know."

"I couldn't face them."

Who? Her parents, her family?" Sam nodded.

Dean looked incredulous. "Did you ever meet them?"

Sam shook his head.

"How did you manage to avoid that? I was with Lisa five days when her mom called and invited us to a party. Lisa held her off for a month before I had to go. We went to a Fourth of July barbeque. It wasn't too bad. Not meeting her family… well that had to have caused problems between you and Jess."

Sam nodded yet again.

"Sam…" Dean started, cleared his throat, "Sam, I think you missed out there.

Sam just looked at him.