"Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone. I hear you call my name, and it feels like home…" Ethan sang, stopping everything that we were doing. "Take it away, Mer!" Ethan and Meredith both waited for the chorus before resuming any cooking or dancing.

"When you call my name, it's like a little prayer. I'm down on my knees. I want to take you there. In the midnight hour, I want to feel you power. Just like a prayer. You know I'll take you there!" Meredith sang as she and Ethan danced around the kitchen of the Winchester house. The three families always took turns hosting Thanksgiving at their homes and this year, it was at Dean and Meredith's.

"Ah, it's just like the good old days. Madonna… thanksgiving food… all we're missing is Mom and the Falcon," Ethan sighed happily.

"Yeah, but at least you're mom is happy in Florida with Terrence. I'm glad she finally found someone after your dad," Meredith answered.

"Yeah. At first I wasn't quite sure how I felt about him but he's a great guy… a pretty cool step dad too," Ethan replied.

"And as a step grandfather?" Meredith asked back.

"Not too shabby," Ethan teased.

"Gotcha," Meredith said.

"Dad, are you listening to Madonna?" Renee asked, going into the kitchen and getting a glass of water.

"Of course, sweetie. I hope you wouldn't expect any less," Ethan replied. Meredith laughed at Ethan's response and he playfully glared at her.

"Hey, if anyone needs any help I can help," Victoria offered, going into the kitchen.

"The invalid? No. Gross!" John protested coming into the kitchen as well.

"I will trip you," Victoria warned. "Besides, I'm all better. It was like a two day thing. Jesus!"

"If it counts for anything, I give you permission," Renee chimed in.

"What?" John exclaimed in surprise.

"What? You're being mean to your sister," Renee shrugged, kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh, man! I left my camera in the car," Ethan said, as he was in the middle of cutting potatoes up.

"I'll get it for you, Dad," Renee volunteered.

"Thanks, sweetie. Here are the keys," Ethan said, pulling the car keys out of his pocket.

"No problem," Renee said. She then turned to John. "Hey, I'll meet you back in the living room to watch the game. I can't stand that the Seagulls are up by one. Looks like this game is going to be a close one."

"So hot," John smirked, taking her hand as they walked out of the kitchen together towards the living room where the football game was on.

Ethan and Meredith exchanged glances.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but she's good for him. Gets him to tone down the ego," Ethan admitted.

"Sorry, dude. It's kind of in the genes- the ego things that is. You can blame my husband," Meredith answered .

"Oh, I do already," Ethan said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, be nice," Meredith warned.

"I guess I have to since he's my best friend's husband and all…" he trailed off.

"Oh, shut up. I've caught you and Dean in several 'bromantic' moments," Meredith said, calling her best friend out.

Ethan gasped dramatically, "No!"

"Si!" Meredith exclaimed, jokingly.

"You two are too funny," Victoria chuckled, just shaking her head. "And slightly embarrassing."

"Hey, watch it, missy," Meredith warned, jokingly as Victoria started to leave the kitchen.

"Okay, Mom," Victoria said back, taking the warning with a grain of salt.

"Since when did she grow up and become all sassy?" Ethan asked.

"Beats me. Since when did she grow up and get a boyfriend? That's the real question," Meredith asked back.

"I like to ask that question about Renee sometimes, but with John, I honestly can't say that I didn't see it coming. I think that's why I didn't freak out. We all knew it'd happen since… day one," Ethan replied, with a small sigh.

"Hey, I can't complain. Renee's a great girl and it's about time that John dated one," Meredith added.

"At my expense," Ethan coughed.

"John's a good kid, Ethan," Meredith tried to reason.

"I know. I just don't want him going and breaking her heart or anything…" Ethan trailed off.

"You know, he's a lot more fragile than he looks," Meredith said.

Outside of the kitchen, Renee just stood there listening. She had returned with her dad's car keys but couldn't help listening to their conversation. Meredith was right. She hadn't really given it much thought but underneath that tough guy, manly man exterior, John was really sweet. Of course she had seen this side of him but she had never really thought about it. It scared her, really. What if she was the one to break his heart? She always feared that John would break hers but what if things ended up the other way around? They had been best friends since forever and she cared about him. She would never dream of that. Luckily, things didn't look like they were going in that direction.

"Okay, I got your camera, Dad. I gave it to Mom and she is snapping away so no worries. You will have tons of pointless pictures of people watching the game by the end of this night," Renee chuckled.

"Thanks," Ethan replied.

Renee left the kitchen, heading towards the living room. She saw a spot near John and sat down right next to him, shooting him a small smile.

"Alright kids, smile," Molly said, aiming the camera towards them. "Oh come on. Act like you like each other." John and Renee exchanged glances, laughing a little. Renee rolled her eyes playfully as she scooted over closer to John, leaning against him as he put his arm around her. "That's adorable, you two." Molly took a couple more pictures before getting up to go take pictures of Ethan and Meredith cooking in the kitchen.

Renee looked out the window to see Iz, Jackson, Haley, Flynn, and Victoria all playing basketball outside. She returned to her focus to the game on TV, but as Renee tried to focus on the game, she couldn't fight the feeling that someone was watching her. She turned to John to see him looking at her. She shot him a funny before crossing her arms over her chest and returning her focus to the game. Again, the feeling didn't go away. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Yes," John answered definitely.

"What about the game?" Renee asked, her eyes widening. "John, if the Seagulls win-."

John leaned in whispering in her ear, "You know, as hot as I find the fact that you're almost as into football as I am, I've got a better idea."John nodded once before getting up and offering his hand out to Renee. Cole and Jude exchanged glances, snickering a little. She took it and he pulled her up, leading her up the stairs.

"What could you possibly need help with… in your bedroom?" Renee asked, playing dumb.

"I have been waiting all day to get you alone," John said.

"I've only been here for a couple of hours," Renee giggled as John pulled her close to him.

"So?" John asked, carelessly. He leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips. She smiled before kissing him again.

"What're you doing?" Renee asked as John walked them towards his bed, sitting down and bringing her down with him. Renee sat on his lap, kissing him a couple more times. She had one leg on each side of John, straddling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're shorter than me. I've got to level the playing field," John replied.

"I'm not that much shorter than you," Renee protested. John shook his head. "Six inches."

"Yeah, well maybe I like you in this position," John smirked. Renee laughed, rolling her eyes.

"So is this where you take all of your conquests?" Renee asked.

"Nope. Just the ones six inches shorter than me," John joked. Renee giggled before kissing pushing him down on the bed and kissing him. John kissed her back, deepening the kiss before rolling them over so that he was on top of her. They shared a series of short, sweet kisses before John really kissed her. She tangled her hands into his hair while his went to the hem of her shirt, inching it up slowly.

"Is this okay?" John asked.

"Uh huh," Renee nodded, still a little unsure. John leaned down, kissing her again but she pulled away. "Yes, and no."

"Oh," John said, taking his hands off of her and leaning on his forearms on the bed so he wouldn't crush her.

"It's just we're probably having dinner soon… and in the house with not only your parents but my parents too and the rest of our family, which, no offense, but yours is specifically nosy," Renee rambled. John laughed.

"I get it. You want to take things slow, right?" John asked. Renee nodded. "Okay. Fair enough."

"You sure you're okay with this?" Renee asked.

"I'm sure. It doesn't mean we can't kiss either which is why I brought you up here in the first place," John said, leaning down a place a soft, sweet kiss on her. Renee smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him down, closer to her. She kissed him again, the deepening the kiss this time. John knew she wanted to take things slow, but if she was going to kiss him like that, she was going to make it incredibly hard to do so. Just when things were getting good, John felt Renee pull away a little bit.

"I-, wait. I need to tell you something," Renee started.

"Uh uh. I'm sorry. We're past the confessional part of this program. We're onto the make out," John said, leaning down to kiss her. Renee retreated.

"John, stop," she begged.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

Renee took a deep breath. This was not a comfortable conversation that she wanted to have but she knew it needed to happen just to clear things up. John deserved to know why she wanted to take things slow.

"I-, I'm not-, you know… I'm not a virgin, John," Renee finally admitted.

John was shocked at what he had just heard. Had she really just blurted that out?

"M-me neither," John stammered.

"Yeah, well, I know you aren't. I think everyone does… I just thought you needed to know that I'm not… The reason I want to take it slow is because I care about you. A lot. I don't want to wreck anything between us by something happening too fast," Renee explained.

"Right, yeah," John said, still taken off guard.

"You seem… frazzled," Renee said. John bit his lip, not sure what to say. "Wait, did you think-?"

"No!" John protested. Renee gave him a look and he sighed. "Yeah."

"I was in a serious relationship last year," Renee reminded.

"Yeah, and I don't like to think about that!" John replied.

"Sorry," Renee muttered.

"I get it. I do… but I can't say that I haven't thought about it before," John said a small smirk spreading across his lips.

"Me too but for now… slow," Renee said.

John nodded, "By the way, I care about you too."

Renee smiled, "Hey, why don't we go back downstairs and watch the game? I want to see how it all turns out and if you keep me in here any longer, you may tempt me to do something that I shouldn't do."

"I'd love to-," John started.

"Uh uh. Come on," Renee said, pushing him off of her and getting up. She ran a hand through her hair, attempting to smooth it down but instead just pulled it up in a ponytail. She looked back to see John lying on the bed, just watching. "Creepy, John."

"What?" John asked, innocently.

"Come on," she said, offering her hand out to him.

He sighed, "If I must." She rolled her eyes, laughing as John took her hand and the two of them went back downstairs to the living room.

"Hey, Anna," Jude started.

"Hello?" Anna asked.

"Hey, it's me… uh… Jude," Jude answered.

"Yeah, I know it's you, silly. Caller ID, remember?" Anna asked back, playfully.

Jude chuckled, "Yeah. I just wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing."

"I'm uh, I'm fine. I'm having Thanksgiving at my grandparents…" Anna answered, a little weirdly.

"That's- that's good," Jude said. Damn it, Winchester. What happened to the smooth talking Jude? He cleared his throat. "I just wanted to call and wish you a happy Thanksgiving… you know."

"Jude is everything okay? You're acting kinda weird?" Anna asked.

"No, yeah, everything's fine," Jude replied.

"Look, I should go, but uh, thanks Jude. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. It means a lot to me that you called," Anna replied. Anna didn't know how to react. Jude hadn't acted like this since Peru. Since when did he care so much about her? There was no way he still had feelings for her, right? After the way she left things and the fact that he just left? But then again, things were getting very familiar back at Drexel. Did Jude still have feelings for her? Anna knew she was always going to have a weak spot for him, especially since there really hadn't been any closure, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Yeah, me too," Jude answered.

"I'll see you when we get back to school," she said.

"You too," Jude replied.

"Bye," she said, before hanging up.

"Smooth, Winchester," Jude muttered to himself.

"Hey, was that her?" Victoria asked, coming up the porch steps over to her brother who was sitting on the porch swing, his phone in his lap. She was out of breath from the basketball game so she sat down next to him.

"Yeah," Jude replied.

"How'd it go?" She asked, her eyes lighting up.

"It was… weird," Jude replied.

Back inside the house, John and Cole were talking and setting the table. By now, Sam and Sawyer had come inside and were helping out as well. Molly and Dean were helping with the food along with their spouses and everything was almost ready.

"Dude, I hope you're not pining away after Greer right now," John started.

"What? No!" Cole protested.

"Good, then cheer up. You are way too gloomy right now. Look, she's coming back. She said she would, okay?" John asked.

"Since when do you trust her?" Cole asked, narrowing his eyes at John.

"She doesn't seem so bad after all, you know? I kinda like her," John shrugged.

"Hey, John, will you go tell everyone outside that dinner is ready?" Dean asked.

"Sure, Dad," John said, leaving Cole and heading outside where Flynn, Victoria, and Jude all sat.

"Hey, Dad told me to tell you guys that dinner's ready," John said. "What're you guys doing out here?"

"Jude has girl problems," Victoria blurted out.

"Victoria!" Jude exclaimed.

"What? And you didn't tell me?" John asked, stepping outside.

"Didn't you just say dinner was ready? I'll… I'll tell you later. God, this family is so nosy," Jude teased.

"Takes one to know one," Flynn shot back. Jude chuckled rolling his eyes and ruffling up his brother's hair. "Hey!"

"You deserved it," Jude shrugged.

John smiled as he and his three siblings headed in the house together. As annoying and crazy as his family got, he loved more than anything. The three walked into the kitchen where there were two tables set up, even dispersed so that the whole family had a place to sit.

"John, right over here," John heard Renee say. He looked at her to see an empty seat between her and Cole. He smiled, heading over there.

"Victoria, Flynn, come on!" Haley urged, nodding to two empty seats.

"You coming, man?" Cole asked Jude.

All of the Winchesters and Walshes had sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. This was yet another one of those large traditional, family gatherings that would never been forgotten. Meredith and Dean looked around before exchanging glances. How had they come this far?

"Remember the beginning of it all?" Dean asked.

"How could I forget?" Meredith asked back. "Molly debuted those dressed, we said 'I love you'…"

"Yeah," Dean smiled.

"Unless you meant the beginning of this tradition…" Meredith trailed off.

~Flashback – Meredith's POV~

I helped Andrea with setting the table and everything and then we all sat down to eat. Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays because all of the people that I loved gathered here at the Falcon and just enjoyed each others' company. I sat down next to Dean and watched as Cameron, bravely, sat down next to Dean. I gave him a small, encouraging smile as he scooted his chair in a little closer to the table.

"Well, Thanksgiving… here we are again. It's good to see all the familiar faces. It looks like we have a lot give thanks for," Andrea started. It was a tradition that we all went around the table and shared something we were thankful for before we ate. "I guess I'll start. Well, I'm thankful, even though we've had many losses, to still have people to call family. I have no idea what I'd do without all of you." We all 'awed' or mumbled something sweet to Andrea.

It was then my turn, "Okay, um, I thankful for yes, this group of people, and um… my wonderful and amazing husband."

"I'm thankful for having a brother as good as Sam, a group of people that actually do care, and uh, my very, very hot wife," Dean smirked. There were "ohhhh's" and "awes" from everyone. Everyone around the table went and it was very sweet and sentimental.

~End Flashback~

"Alright, everyone, now that we're all settled, I think we'll continue on with this Winchester/Walsh tradition by going around the table and saying what we're thankful for," Ethan announced. "Anyone like to go first?"

"I will," Iz volunteered.

"Alright then. Here we go again," Ethan said, looking over at his childhood best friend.

Meredith smiled wickedly, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"No idea," Ethan said, winking mischievously. Iz began to talk about what she was thankful for and everyone listened attentively. Meredith couldn't help but think of something Andrea had once said.

"You know, someday you're going to be having some of these on your own."

And she had been right.

Author's Note: I apologize that I couldn't include everyone in this chapter and mainly focused on John/Renee and Jude, but this chapter would've been a bajillion pages long if I had. I hope I haven't been deficeint. More to come soon and more frequent updates. I've got a lot in store for you guys! Just you wait ;)