This is a little filler, but it introduces a load of characters, so bear with me. I wanted the chapters to be the similar length and it was getting out of control. So Dean and Cas' day later in the week.

And if you like anyone in particular I can get them more screen time in later chapters.


Monday morning Dean woke up to the buzzing of his phone.

"Whaat?" Dean grunted because it was too early to get angry.

"Same as always I see. Sorry for waking you," a familiar voice came from the phone.

"I'll survive, Lis. Everything ok?" Dean asked, more alert than his voice gave away.

"Generally, yes, but I need a little help with Ben today, if that'd be ok?" she inquired calmly, not for the first time coming to Dean for help in the matter.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"He's coming down with some bug, and I don't want to leave him alone. Do you think you could come by later and check on him? Gonna keep him home for few days."

He took a mental note of his schedule. He had to pick Cas up, then head to Sam's place to plan their course of action for the nursery, then drive him back, and in the evening he was having dinner at his parent's place.

"I can do you one better. I'm doing a lot of driving today, but I can take him to my parents. Mom and Ben get along fine, and she's a black belt in curing people, so she can kick his ass back to health," he offered.

"Are you sure that's not gonna be an inconvenience?" she said hesitantly, but she was lacking any other options. "It's not her obligation, or-"

"Lisa, stop. Ben is like family, and so are you. We already tested Mom's babysitting skills when we were together and, trust me, she makes this tomato-rice soup that makes me jealous of Ben's flu right now."

He won himself a relieved laugh from her. "Well, ok, if you say so. But, please, call Mary first and ask her. I don't wanna dump a sick kid on her out of nowhere."

"Sure thing, but be ready. I'll pop by your place in an hour and take the snot-nose off your hands. And you don't have to worry, I can take him back later."

"I can do that. It's just a couple of blocks."

"Nah, I'm having dinner with the folks anyways, you go do something for yourself. I'm gonna take him back around nine probably."

"Great. Thanks a lot, Dean. We'll be waiting then," Lisa sighed, clearly relieved.

"Ha! I knew you knew my Mom would agree!" Dean exclaimed, satisfied to be right.

"Yeah, yeah. I've always depended on the kindness of Winchesters. See you when you get here."


Dean parked his car in front of the Braedens' house about an hour later. The phone call to his mom was quick and ended with a "Get your butts down here" from the other side. As he walked to the door he shot a quick prayer of thanks for his awesome family that one could always count on.

The door was opened by a very unhappy looking boy holding his backpack. "Hey Dean," he mumbled unintelligibly because of his stuffy nose.

"Hey, Ben." Dean grinned, a similar picture invading his memories–a 6-year-old Ben clutching to his teddy-bear and diving into his and Lisa's then-shared bed to hide from the storm with a similarly miserable look on his face as now.

"Ready to go? Man, you're in for a treat. Being sick at Casa Winchester is like a holiday in the Bahamas. Whole nine yards, right up to fruity drinks with a bendy straw."

He was answered with a short but little more enthusiastic nod as Lisa emerged from inside of the house.

"Ok, Ben. Be good, and try not to cause too many troubles for Mrs. Winchester," Lisa told him, the boy giving another nod. "Thanks again, Dean."

He returned her smile and nodded as well. "Are you kiddin' me? Mom lives for taking care of weakened and sick people, it's like her life mission. And she needs a final rehearsal before the mini-Moose gets here. Let's go."

With a short wave at Lisa Dean went back to the car, accompanied by Ben. "If you're gonna spew your guts, let me know. 'Cause there are consequences of puking in my Baby," Dean said after they sat in the Impala and strapped their belts, because he wasn't driving the kid otherwise.

He was glad to be in his Baby again. He spent the entire last week driving the truck, making deliveries and getting materials for ordered furniture. Today he was driving people, and he liked to do that with style, especially one particular person he was meeting today. After all, a little good impression would only work in his favor.

"You ok there? Seem a little quiet, buddy," he asked his current human cargo.

"Fine. Just wanna lay down," Ben answered tiredly, although he was fidgeting slightly in his seat.

The remaining drive went by in silence. After all, his parents just lived just a few block over. So soon enough Dean killed the engine and looked over to the passenger seat, but Ben made no move to leave the car.

"Dean, can I ask you something?" came a quiet question.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You don't have to say yes... I mean...I'd totally understand if you say no...but I thought...that maybe..."

"Jeez, buddy, you're not asking my daughter to prom." Dean smiled lightly. "Just spill it."

Ben gave him a weak smile in response. "We have this project at school. We're supposed to make a genealogy tree of our family and add some souvenirs or some funny stories other people have about our family members."

So what, the kid wanted him to spill the beans about something from Lisa's past? Because Dean was walking encyclopedia of embarrassing facts of varied ratings, some of them even fitting for a school project. He waited for Ben to ask him, though, which he was obviously about to given the deep breath the boy took.

"So I hoped you won't mind if I put you and your family on the paternal side of my tree," he blurted out as quickly as possible.

Now Dean was quite certain he heard that, but it didn't make any sense. He always thought Ben saw him as this barely stranger who lived in his house and that the boy only spent time with the ex-boyfriend to humor his mother, so Dean was working his jaw in attempt to say something but was defeated by the huge grin that spilled all over his face.

"That would be awesome if you really want to," he answered, but the boy was still not meeting his eyes.

"Seriously, Ben," Dean added, finally forcing him to look up. "I'm really honored you see me that way, and I'd love to be a part of your family. And I hope you know that even though I'm not with your mom anymore you can still come to me anytime with anything."

Ben smiled, looking relieved. "Thanks, Dean. And I knew that."

"Ok, let's go inside or my mom will think we're conspiring. Besides, you really should lay down."

Ben went back to just nodding.

"And, tell you what..." Dean added as he stepped out of the car. "When I get back later we can make a trip to the attic to look for some family photos, and maybe we'll find some useful stuff. It's gonna be awesome." He was met with a grateful smile.

"You know that mom's ancestors came here on the Mayflower?" And here it was—his inner nerd waking inside the small boy.

"Seriously," Dean thought rather fondly. "It's like Nerdville; Sam, Sarah, and now Ben. I wonder who else around me is gonna turn out to be a closeted nerd." "So I'm sure she can tell you a whole bunch of stories," he finished and knocked the door.

Really, there was no need for that since his keychain was heavy with several sets of keys, which was kind of funny as he only had three of his own–the Impala, his house and the store. The rest were the keys to houses of his family and some friends as well. Seriously, he sometimes felt like a damned porter.

Both Dean and Ben looked up as the door finally opened and they were greeted with the sight of a smiling Mary.

"Hey, honey," she said to Dean before turning to the boy. "Hey, Ben, sweetie. Why don't you both come in. Ben, there's already couch with your name on it in the living room since I didn't want to exile you up to Dean's old room—the fumes coming out of there could just make you worse." She fixed her son with a pointed look but the slight smile destroyed the whole mean vibe.

"Thank you, Mrs. Winchester, and sorry for all the inconvenience," Ben said softly, and Dean was again reminded of what a great kid Ben was.

"No inconvenience at all. I'm happy to help," Mary replied as she started walking into the house before she suddenly turned her head and winked at the boys. "And, just a heads up, you're just in time for some Winchester-Winchester drama."

Dean grinned at that, and Ben just looked up curiously as the taller man mouthed, "You'll see."

Soon enough, as they entered the living room, they could hear a clear:

"John Henry Winchester, I could kick your butt when we were children, and I'm not above doing so now."

"Hey, aunt Ellen," Dean greeted and the woman who was just threatening his father looked their way.

"Hey, boy. Hello, Ben."

"Good morning, Mrs. Harvelle," Ben greeted, being well acquainted with basically every member of Dean's family like John Winchester's two younger sisters–Ellen and Kate, respectively going by the names of Harvelle and Milligan; although it seemed that Kate went back to her maiden name after the divorce.

Kate and her son Adam lived next door, and Ellen and her daughter Jo ran a local bar, known as The Roadhouse, that Ellen took after her husband, William, died. The three of them, Ellen, Jo and Ash—Ellen's stepson from her husband's first marriage, we're living a short driving distance as well in the house next to the bar. And because the members of the Winchester clan kept close to each other, there was basically an open house policy in each household.

Dean was raised together with his cousins and his baby brother, and, being the oldest one, felt very protective of their bunch. The closest to his age was Ash, only a year behind, and since Ash's father married Ellen when the boy was three, they spend a lot of time together. Then there was Sammy, Dean's younger brother. Another addition to their little bunch, coming just months after Sam, was Jo, and then four years later the baby of the group, Adam, came along.

John, being the head of the family, didn't have it easy with two sisters like that.

"Don't sweat it, Ellie," came a calm response from Dean's collected—as usual—father. "Ash is a grown-ass man, and if he wants to go on a hunting trip with Bobby and myself, you can't really say no. Besides, a little wilderness will be good for that boy."

"I know! But I'm not a fan of your manly club shunning us girls out!"

"Oh, Jo can come too, if she's willing." John took an irritatingly slow sip from his cup. He knew it would drive his sister crazy, and Ellen knew he did it on purpose, so she just throw a book at him and stormed out while muttering something about 'semen solidarity' and 'no more free booze'.

Mary, Dean and Ben were just standing in the doorway, listening to the sibling banter, all highly amused.

"Hey, Dad. I see aunt Ellen is up with the protective mother act again."

Seriously, it wasn't necessary. Dean went on few of those hunting trips with his dad and uncle Bobby, and it was mostly camping, drinking beer and making s'mores.

"Hello, Dean. Like you wouldn't believe; what a mother hen she turned into. Would you be surprised to know that as a little girl she didn't even like kids?" John asked before he turned to the younger boy. "Nice to see you again, Ben. Heard you'll be accompanying my wife today?"

"Yes. Hello, Mr. Winchester." Ben smiled and shook the offered hand.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm leaving Ben in Mom's capable hands. Sorry, but gotta go now. I'll be seeing you this evening?"

"Of course, boy. Your brother and Sarah are gonna be here around seven, so I hope it suits you as well. And could you bring some dessert? I was hoping that us scroungers could go easy on your mom this time," John asked, smiling lovingly at the silhouette of Mary in the garden.

"No problem, Dad. I know this great pastry shop. I'll get us some Rosy Cheeks," Dean decided and added quickly at John's questioning look, "No, Dad. It's like two buns connected together and filled with these rose 'confitures', which is basically a marmalade. So it looks like butt cheeks and it taste like roses. Get it?" And when he didn't hear any appraisals from his father—not Dean's fault the man couldn't appreciate the finer things in life—he felt the need to elaborate.

"'Cause, there's this shop in town and all the pastry names are, like, uncommon. For example-"

"Yes, Dean, I understand. You found a coffee shop that bills extra for funny names. I'll be sure to take that into consideration when I stuff my mouth with it. But, now, us simple folks have to go to our mundane, little less racy jobs," John interrupted, effectively ending the conversation. "And, Ben, I hope you will stay to have dinner with us."

"Yes, thanks, Mr. Winchester."

"Ok, you're all good, Ben, so I'll be seeing you later," Dean told him before saying his goodbyes to his family and going back to the car.

Ok, so it looked like the day was going good so far, and it was about to get even better as he'd have a chance to learn more about Cas… And maybe ask him out.


OK. So I just learned that Jim Beaver got friendly with Carrie Ann Fleming aka. Zombie Wife. So he was initially shacked up with Jody Mills, but I'm mulling the possibility of Karen Singer. Thoughts on the subject?

And the next chapter will be Dean and Cas' day together, getting to know each other.