"Mr. Winchester, what is this?" Meredith asked, bringing over the papers she had found on the kitchen table to the large man sitting in the Singer residence living room. Compared to her seven year old self, he was so tall and rugged looking that if he hadn't been so nice to her, she would've been afraid of him. "I thought you were a hunter, not a weather man."
"Meredith, how many times have I told you to call me John?" John Winchester asked back, chucking heartily as the little girl sat herself on the couch right next to him, handing him the papers that he had left on the table.
"I keep forgetting. Sorry," she blushed.
"No, it's alright. I'm tracking a demon," John replied. What Meredith always liked about John is that he was always honest with her. Instead of trying to hide it like her father always did, John always told her about monsters and demons when she asked.
"The one that hurt your wife?" she asked.
John nodded, "Yeah. It's not something that many hunters use, but some of them can track demons with weather patterns. That's what I'm learning."
"And how's it going?" she asked, curiously. John smiled, taking one good look at her sweet, innocent, full of life face. He knew he shouldn't be telling this little girl about monsters and demons and he knew he shouldn't be dragging his sons, the same age and younger, on the road all the time, but it's what he had to do.
"It's going good, kiddo," John answered.
"I'm glad. I hope you get it. The demon," Meredith said.
"Me too," John replied.
Meredith's eyes snapped open as she awoke from her dream. She remembered that exact day that had happened. It had been the Winchester's second visit since the first time she met Dean and had been ecstatic to have them back. Sam had been so cute as a four year old and she got butterflies every time she saw Dean. And she saw right through John Winchester. When she was a kid, she thought all he needed was a friend, so she tried to be that for him.
But she knew this dream meant something. It didn't matter if they had the colt. They needed to find out where the First was located as well and right now, they had no clue. So she, ambitious, just like her father in law, was going to try to track this demon with weather patterns. She had seen strange weather reports across the world and had a hunch they weren't due to global warning or El Niño.
"Look who decided to join the land of the living," Dean said, as he noticed his wife stirring in bed. Meredith blinked a couple of times, glancing around the hotel room.
"How long have I been out?" she asked.
"A couple of hours," Dean replied. "You were tossing and turning in your sleep. Dreaming about me?" Meredith watched a smirk spread across his lips and he looked her up and down.
She groaned, sleepily, "No." She stretched before pulling the covers off of her and sitting up on the bed. She got up and walked towards the window, pulling the curtain back and looking at the view. The city of Philadelphia was great and she had missed being in a big city.
"Mer, we promised. No demon stuff for Jude's graduation, okay?" Dean reminded, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. He leaned his head on her shoulder and then began leaving kissing on her neck and shoulders.
Meredith giggled, "I know, I know. I just had this dream about your dad, actually. It was more of a memory actually. It was that one time he told me that he was learning to track the yellow eyed demon with weather patterns. I figured we'd give it a shot, but we can wait till we get back to Sioux Falls."
"Good, because we said no distractions. This weekend is about Jude, the family, getting away from demons and… you and I are on the opposite end of the floor as our kids. We have a hotel room of our own and my wild imagination," Dean smirked.
"Your wild imagination, huh?" Meredith asked, playfully.
"Uh huh," Dean replied, turning her head to the side and capturing her lips with his. Meredith closed her eyes, letting herself slip into the kiss. Dean was going to make it very easy to relax and get her mind off of demons for a change.
Just as she got really into the kiss, the hotel room phone rang loudly and obnoxiously. Meredith groaned as Dean pulled away, only enough that their lips were millimeters apart, about to go in for another kiss.
"We should get that," she mumbled, as he kissed her again.
"Who could be calling us? We're in Philadelphia!" Dean replied, pulling her to him and kissing her again. God, if it weren't for the fact that they were meeting Jude for dinner in less than an hour, he'd take her right there and then. He knew if Mer checked the time, she'd freak out and scramble to get ready so he knew if they started something, she look at the clock.
"Dean," she giggled, pulling away from him. She crawled over the bed and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mom? When are we meeting in the lobby?" the voice asked.
"Flynn?" she asked back.
"Yeah," Flynn replied.
"Oh. Uh…" Meredith said, glancing at the clock. Her eyes widened. She didn't have much time to get ready.
"How about in thirty minutes?" she proposed.
"Okay. Thanks, Mom," Flynn replied.
"Bye, sweetie," Meredith said, before hanging up the phone. Meredith then got off of the bed and started towards the bathroom.
"Hey, where are you going?" Dean asked.
"I'm just going to take a quick shower before we go," Meredith replied.
"I'm not getting any, am I?" he asked, playfully disappointed.
"Later, if you're lucky," Meredith winked before going into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
Jude pulled up to the restaurant and parked the car, getting out of it and going into the restaurant. He knew he was fifteen minutes early but he planned on getting a drink at the bar to calm his nerves. As excited as he was to see his family, they always were a handful and he could use a drink to loosen up and stop stressing about everything. He headed straight to the bar and ordered a shot of Jack Daniels' whiskey.
"Make that two," he heard a voice say, causing him to look over at the person next to him.
"Anna," Jude said, surprised.
"Hey," she replied, smiling sweetly. The two stared at each other, not knowing what to say, awkwardly. "So how've you been?"
"Good…" Jude replied.
"Good…" Anna trailed off. "So listen, I hope that this isn't awkward. I know we haven't spoken much since… well, you know… but I just hope that we're alright, especially because we're both going to U Penn. And because I care about you, Jude. I hope you know you can always talk to me if you ever need to-."
Jude chuckled, awkwardly, cutting her off, "It's okay, Anna. Really. I'm fine. But thank you."
"So, you're whole family's in town this weekend?" Anna asked, making small talk.
"Yeah, they are. All five of them," Jude answered with a laugh.
"Well, I'm sure it'll be great. My parents flew in and my sister took a train in from Connecticut," Anna replied.
"Wait, you're little sister at boarding school who you never talk to?" Jude asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep, that's the one," Anna replied.
"Wow. Your graduation's bringing the whole family together," Jude noticed. Jude and Anna both thanked the bartender a she brought their drinks back. The two of them drank a little bit of their drinks over small talk.
"Yeah, it's a first," Anna replied, with a small laugh.
"So… I didn't know you were going to be here tonight," Jude started, looking around the crowded restaurant.
"Jude, it looks like everyone graduation tomorrow is here tonight with their families," Anna replied, taking another sip of her whiskey. She really needed it. Her sister and her had never been close, so getting through dinner was going to be hard. Her parents had already begun the lectures and criticism of everything but the kitchen sink, while her sister sat there, rolling her eyes at them, which certainly didn't help the tension. And now Jude was going to be here with his family. Could this night get any more awkward?
"This is true," Jude replied.
"Well, I should get going before the parents notice that I'm back. That or my sister dies… or kills one of them," Anna said, slightly joking and somewhat serious all at the same time.
"Ah… Mr. and Mrs. Peters… Gotta love 'em," Jude joked.
"Uh huh. That's why I needed this," Anna sounded in agreement, chugging down the last of her whiskey before setting the glass down on the bar. "Bye, Jude."
"Bye," he said. As she passed him, he looked back at her, watching her as she went all the way back to her table. He had to admit, he missed her a lot. She had broken her heart, but in a way, he knew that he had broken hers with all the hunting. He couldn't do that to her, no matter how much he missed her.
"I think that's him!" he heard a voice whisper-yell.
"Of course it is. He's at the bar!" another voice said.
"Like father like son," he heard a voice chuckle.
A wide grin spread across Jude's face as he heard the voices of his family. He drank the last bit of his whiskey before hopping off of the bar stool and turning around to see his family.
"Hey, guys," he smiled, instantly being greeted by his whole family. His mother was first.
"Ugh, it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
Jude gasped, patting his mom on the back gently, "Mom… can't breathe…"
"Oh, sorry," she chuckled, pulling away. "That's what you get for not coming home for spring break. I miss you too much!"
"She's a lot stronger than she looks," Jude said as his father pulled him in for a hug as well.
"Yes, she is," Dean answered. "You look good, kid. Almost a college graduate. How does it feel?"
"It feels… not real," Jude answered. Dean chuckled, shaking his head and moving out of the way for the rest of the family to say hi to Jude.
"My turn!" Victoria exclaimed, practically jumping into her brother's open arms.
"Hey, kiddo," Jude smiled. He looked over at his dad over her shoulder. "Does she still have a boyfriend?"
"Yes," Dean groaned.
"Dean!"
"Dad!" Victoria and Meredith exclaimed, simultaneously.
Jude chuckled, "Glad to see things haven't change. Hey, man." Jude 'bro-hugged' Flynn and then, finally was faced with John.
"So… how've things been?" John asked, casually.
"Good," Jude replied, casually as well.
"Cool."
"Cool."
"Oh, who are we kidding, man?" John asked, hugging his brother while the family laughed at the two.
"Table for Winchester, right?" the waitress asked, coming by the big group of people. She seemed irritated, which was rational, since there was a giant group of six blocking the doorway.
"Yes," Meredith replied. She chuckled, watching her family reunite.
"Right this way," the waitress instructed, heading over towards a large, circular table, set for six.
"You outdid yourselves on this one, guys. When I said that I'd be fine with a low key place, I meant it," Jude started, as they all sat down.
"Oh, hush! It's your graduation dinner. We wanted to go somewhere nice," Meredith interjected. She looked around. "And apparently every other parent with a kid graduation tomorrow had the same idea."
"It's fine, babe," Dean said, placing a hand on the small of her back.
"Hey, I would've been fine with a roadhouse," Jude shrugged.
"I'm in!" John exclaimed. His mother shot him a look and he shrugged. "What? I'm eighteen. I can do that stuff now." He noticed the look on his mother's face and awkwardly said, "Except for drink… because drinking is bad," causing Flynn and Victoria to crack up with laughter and Jude to shake his head, jokingly.
"You may be, but I wouldn't be, especially with this one," Dean said, pointing to Victoria.
"What? Why me? Flynn's the youngest!" Victoria protested.
"By three minutes!" Flynn exclaimed.
"Because, creepy old men won't hit on Flynn," Dean explained.
"Hey!" Flynn said.
"No offense," Dean said back, as a side note.
"Dad, chill. What? You want me to wear a turtle neck for the rest of my life?" Victoria asked.
"Well, actually-," Dean started.
"Dean," Meredith giggled, squeezing his knee underneath the table. The two exchanged glances and smiled at each other.
"I trust Tyler. Not guys in roadhouses," Dean clarified.
"You trust Tyler?" Victoria asked, her eyes wide and gleamy. She had never heard her father say the actual words, although she knew he had trusted Tyler for a while now – the auto shop class had really been a big help.
"Yeah, don't let it get to your head," Dean replied.
Dinner went on, glasses of wine were poured, and dinner was finally being served. But most importantly, the Winchester family, who had been thrown out of whack due to demons, finally had their night of normalcy, something that hadn't been common, recently.
"Oh, finally! I'm starving," John said, as their food arrived and the waiters were gone. He picked up his fork, about to eat when Meredith stopped everyone.
"Wait, hold on!" she said, getting everyone's attention.
"Mom, since when do we ever say grace? We're not even religious," Flynn asked.
"Not that," Meredith said, raising her glass. "I'd like to propose a toast to Jude. Jude, it feels like just yesterday, Dean came back and you, he, and I were the beginning of this family. Words can't express how proud I am of you. I've watched you grow from an insanely charming, funny boy, to an insanely charming, funny, smart man with a huge heart. You've always taken care of us and are on the path to taking care of others. Your dad and I can't tell you how proud we are that you're going to med school. So here's to Jude for all of his achievements, and all that he's done for this family."
"Cheers," the family said, in agreement.
"To Jude!"
"To family," Jude said, raising his glass and then drinking out of it. As much as he hated fighting, tonight had made me realize what he was fighting for. This family. The people he loved and the people that loved him.
"Brooke Ingrid Wells," the speaker called out as the petite, blonde girl walked across the stage, receiving the diploma, and then walking off.
"Willa Wendy Winchell," the speaker called out again, waiting for the next graduate to walk across the stage.
"What kind of name is Willa Wendy Winchell?" Dean asked, leaning over to his wife.
"Dean," she giggled, nudging him playfully.
"What?" Dean asked, the arm around her, tickling her ribcage lightly.
She laughed even more, "Dean, stop it!"
"Shhh!" someone behind them said. Dean glanced back at the man behind them before returning to Meredith.
"That is what happens when you're old and you don't get laid," Dean whispered. Meredith just shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully.
"See, what i have a problem with is the other girl's middle name: Inga. What kind of name is Inga!" Meredith asked. Dean chuckled.
"Jude Robert Winchester," the speaker said.
"Oh my God, this is it!" Meredith gasped, clapping madly. "Wooo!"
"That's my boy!" Dean cheered.
"You're the man! Gettin' that college degree!" John yelled.
"Yeah, Jude!" Victoria hollered.
"Yeah, buddy!" Flynn called out.
The family cheered excessively for Jude, earning irritated looks from the people sitting around them. Jude chuckled, as he got up on stage, shaking hands with the head of the pre-med department, and then taking his diploma, shaking a couple of other hands on the way. When he heard his family's cheers, he couldn't help but laugh and roll his eyes playfully. That was his family – the family he'd do anything for. When he finally sat down, the clapping died down and another name was call. Jude took one deep breath.
He was finally a college graduate.