Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dark Angel or Supernatural characters. The characters of Lexi, Jake and Jackie are from a Supernatural AU Verse that I write. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone that has been reading this story and thanks for the reviews. Reviews would be great!

Chapter 23

April 9

Lexi was sitting in bed reading her mother's hunting journal, the maps and pictures of the building she was supposed to be studying were tossed to the side. She couldn't concentrate on them at the moment. She was having second thoughts about their plan, well actually, she was having second thoughts about unbinding her powers. She had to make up her mind either way soon because in two weeks her stitches were being removed and Stella would come any day after that. They had decided they would wait to unbind her powers until after she had Stella. Lexi didn't want to take the chance of the spell harming her daughter.

Lexi closed the journal and sighed before running her hand down the worn cover. It breaks her heart to read the plans her mother had for her. How she was going to bind Lexi's powers and stop hunting so that she could have a normal life. Lexi can't help but feel like she's letting her mother down.

"Mom?"

Lexi wipes her eyes discreetly before looking up with a smile plastered on her face, "Yeah Benny?"

"Can I ask you something?" He questions as he makes his way over to the bed. Lexi nods and Ben climbs on to the bed next to her, "Are you and Dad really going to take on Manticore?"

"Yeah, we are."

"But you're all ordinaries. I don't understand how you think you can win."

"I'm not really an ordinary."

"Well, yeah, you're psychic but that's not going to help you against Manticore."

Lexi ran her hand down the cover of the journal and decided she was going to have to tell Ben, and Alec, the truth about what she was. She sighed as she looked at Ben knowing that if anyone could understand about being different, her older boys would. "I'm more than psychic. See, my biological father had his own genetic engineering program going and I'm the result. He told my mom his name was Michael. She fell in love with him and got pregnant with me. Well, he wasn't who or what he said he was. When she found out the truth, she attempted to kill him. See, my mom, Megan Conners, was a hunter. She came from a long line of hunters dating back to the early 1600's and she died trying to protect me. My father was a demon named Azazel. He murdered her when I was six months old, burned her alive in my nursery. Somehow, my Uncle Gavin got me out of the house and hid me from my father but he wiped out all the Conners. Me and my Uncle Gavin are the only ones left."

"Mom..."

"Let me finish, Benny. My powers started when I turned twenty two. It was just visions at first and then I had one about Dean dying. So, I left New York to find him. Your dad thought I was one of Azazel's special kids like your Uncle Sammy but my powers developed way faster than his. By then, Azazel was coming to me in dreams saying 'You make a father proud.' I thought he was messing with my head since I was adopted. Then when I was pregnant with your brother Jake, I found out the truth. I was so scared to tell your dad because Azazel murdered his mother too. And I kept thinking I'm what they hunt, how could he stay with me let alone love me? The thing about your dad though, he's loyal and stubborn. He kept telling me I wasn't like my father, that I would never be like him. It was all true until something bad happened. Your Uncle Sammy turned and he stole Jake when he was a baby. I lost it. I turned into the thing I always feared I would. I was my father's daughter and I did some terrible things until your dad saved me. Since then, my powers have been on lock down. The truth is, I know me using these powers would save all of us from Manticore but you're dad's right it's a slippery slope."

"Wow."

"You don't need to be afraid of me. I'd never hurt you or your brothers."

"I'm not afraid of you. You have something inside you like me and Alec do but it's like you and dad told us that doesn't make us bad."

"Hey, Benny," Both Ben and Lexi turn to see Dean leaning in the doorway. He smiles at his son as he makes his way across the room, "why don't you go outside and play with your brothers?"

Ben nods and leans over kissing his mom's cheek before leaving the room. Lexi stares down at her hands not wanting to meet her husband's eyes. She feels the mattress sink from his added weight but doesn't lift her gaze, "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough." Dean states quietly while he lifts her chin to make her look at him, "I don't know how many times I need to say this but just cuz you're father was an evil sonofabitch doesn't make you evil."

"Dean, I...I did..."

"Horrible things? Yeah, so have I. Everyone has but what really counts is that you regret doing those things. C'mon Lex, I've known you since you were sixteen, you're not evil. Those powers don't make you who you are Lex. You're kind and you care about people. Hell, you're a surgeon, you save people. Baby girl, if I could get rid of those powers for you I would."

"Thanks for the pep talk."

"No problem."

Dean lays his hand over hers not knowing what else to say. It kills him to see how she rips herself a part over something she had no say in. So, she has some demon blood, Sam does too. That's not what decides what kind of people they are, their actions do. And he'll keep telling them that with his dying breath. He squeezes her hand, smiles and then says, "Hey, what I really came up here for was to see if you felt up to going into town to pick out a crib. I figured we could take the boys with us and stop at the diner on the way back."

"Sounds good to me."

Two hours later

Alec wandered up and down the aisles of the baby store despite his father's direct order to stay in sight. He was bored out of his mind and couldn't understand why it was taking his mother so long to pick out a crib. It wasn't like Stella was gonna care what she was sleeping in. He walked a little further down the aisle and stopped in front of a display of colorful baby toys. He cocked his head to the side before taking one of the toys off the display. He gave the little stuffed pink bear a shake dropping it the moment it started playing, "Twinkle, twinkle little star."

"So, this is where you ran off to, uh?" Alec froze at the sound of the low rumbling voice and then stiffened when the heavy hand landed on his shoulder. "Didn't I tell you to stay where I could see you?"

Alec turned to see his dad looking down at him with his eyebrow quirked, "Sorry, dad but this is SO BORING."

"Yeah, I know but we're getting outta here. Your mom finally picked out a crib and I'm STARVING."

Alec's face broke out in a huge grin. There was one thing that could always make him smile, diner food. He couldn't wait till there was a cheeseburger and chili fries in front of him. He turned to follow his dad then stopped just as suddenly. "Hey, dad? Can we get this for Stella?" Alec held up the little pink bear he had dropped giving it a little wave, "I think she NEEDS this bear."

"Yeah, sure. Let's get moving kiddo before your mom changes her mind."

Phillips Avenue Diner

Dean steered his older two boys into a booth by the window without a hitch. His youngest boy though, was now fighting him tooth and nail over getting into the high chair. Jake threw the temper tantrum of all temper tantrums in the middle of the diner proclaiming for all to hear that he was a big boy now and was not sitting in the baby chair. Dean stared at his normally easy going son stupefied. His initial reaction was to tell his three years old he'd give him something to cry about if he didn't get into that high chair but the words died on his lips when he heard Lexi say softly, "Dean, ask for a booster." Dean nodded his head while looking down at Jake who had his chubby little arms crossed and was glaring up at him defiantly as if daring him to try and put him in the high chair again. Dean cocked his eyebrow and walked over to the hostess station to get a booster seat.

Once Jake was situated in his booster seat and happily playing with the packets of jelly, Dean thought they could have a nice peaceful dinner, that is until Alec began gripping over ordering off the kids menu.

"I want a double bacon cheeseburger." Alec declared slamming his hand on the table, "Why do I have to order off the kids menu?"

Dean looked up from his menu his eyebrow quirked, "Ya know what my old man would say to that Alec? Nice to want. And guess what I know you can't finish a double bacon cheeseburger and you're a kid so you order off the kids menu."

"But Dad!"

"No buts, kiddo."

"Fine. Then I guess I'll give the waffle banana split a whirl."

"Alec, that's not dinner."

"You didn't say it had to be a dinner item just that it had to be on the kids menu, Dad."

Dean was about to argue further when Lexi placed her hand over his and interrupted him, "Let him have it, Dean. It's not like we take them out to eat a lot."

To keep the peace, Dean went along with it. He closed his menu and signaled for their waitress to come over. He watched his three boys as they colored on the back of their place mats wondering what the hell he was going to do in a few weeks when a fourth kid was added to their family. Over a year ago when Lexi told him she wanted to give Jake a sibling he thought it was a good idea. They could surely handle two kids but now with Ben and Alec joining the family? Him and Lexi were going to be outnumbered and that left Dean scared shitless.

May 1st

11 PM

Lexi laid in bed counting minutes. She had not been feeling well since after dinner and had chalked it up to indigestion. This, was definitely not indigestion. She sat up in bed turning the light on before shaking her husband gently, "Dean, Dean sweetie wake up."

"Hmmmm?"

"It's time."

"Time for wha'?"

"Dean, I'm in labor."

Dean bolted out of bed his eyes wide. He began pulling on random articles of clothing as he muttered to himself. He stopped suddenly staring at his wife, "Where's your bag?"

"In the trunk of the Impala, where you put it a week ago."

"Right. We have to call your doctor."

"I can do that on the way to the hospital."

"What hospital?"

"Sioux Falls Hospital. Dean calm down. Everything's going to be okay."

Dean was on the verge of a panic attack. Everything was not okay. She was in labor and given the fact that she already has had a difficult pregnancy, anything could go wrong. He had to tell himself to breathe as he helped Lexi down the stairs and into the Impala. He stopped at the driver's side door taking a deep breath to calm himself. It didn't matter that he had already been through this three years ago, he was still freaking out. In a few hours, he would be responsible for a whole other person.

They made it to the hospital in record time. Dean still couldn't understand how Lexi could be so calm even after her water broke in the car. He slammed the car in park and ran around to the passenger side door to help her out with shaking hands, "C'mon lets go."

"I'm okay. Calm down."

"I'm fine."

An orderly met them at the door with a wheelchair and brought Lexi in the Emergency room. She calmly told the nurse that she was in labor and she had already called her doctor. Dean listened to all this and glared down at the clipboard of paperwork that the nurse handed him to fill out. He looked at Lexi and then the paperwork cursing under his breath. He filled it out as quickly as possible and handed over their insurance cards. He could feel the panic tightening his chest as his anxiousness took over. All Dean wanted to do was to get to wherever his wife was.

Dean ran up five flights of stairs to the maternity ward. There was no way he was waiting for an elevator. He wanted to get to Lexi as quickly as possible. He tore down the hallway checking room numbers until he found room 518. He pushed the door open and skidded to halt when he saw Lexi sitting up in bed calmly.

"You okay, Dean?"

"Me?" Dean panted taking the chair next to her bed, "I'm fine."

"You need to relax."

"I am relaxed!"

"I'm fine, Stella's fine. There's nothing for you to worry about. We just have to wait."

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's peachy fucking keen."

Now that Lexi was in her room, the waiting was the worst part for Dean. Doctors and nurses that kept coming in saying it wasn't time yet were making him anxious. Her contractions were getting closer together and seeing her in pain left Dean feeling helpless and frustrated. He went out to the Nurse's station to ask when they were going to give her the epidural since there was nothing else he could do for his wife at the moment. A few minutes later a nurse came in to give Lexi her drugs carrying one of the biggest needles Dean had ever seen. He suddenly flashed back to when she was in labor with Jake and excused himself to call Sam. He wasn't about to have a repeat of ending up in the bed next to her with a knot the size of a baseball on the back of his head.

May 2nd

6:30 AM

Dean couldn't believe it. The whole time Lexi was pregnant with Stella, it felt surreal. Now, seeing his little girl made it very real to him. He couldn't help the huge smile that was plastered on his face as he watched his wife count Stella's fingers and toes. Lexi looked so incredibly happy holding their little girl that she practically glowed.

"You okay, Dean?" she asked while shifting Stella in her arms, "You're awful quiet."

He nodded in response. He was suddenly nervous; his palms were sweating and his hands shook slightly.

"You wanna hold her?"

Dean stared at the little pink bundle in Lexi's arms. He wanted to hold her more than anything. He wiped his palms on his jeans while he scooted his chair closer to the bed. He cleared his throat and reached for his little girl, "Yeah, give her to me."

Dean felt himself relax the moment Lexi put Stella in his arms. Everything was gonna be okay. Nothing else mattered at the moment except that their daughter was born happy and healthy. All their problems felt miles away. He would deal with Manticore and Lydecker but not today. Lexi inched closer to them fussing with Stella's blanket and hat before turning to Dean her face all lit up with a smile, "Look what we did."

"Yeah," Dean snorted, "look what we did."

"You're not happy?"

"I'm more than happy, Lex."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know I am." He whispered while he gazed down at their daughter that was now asleep in his arms.

Lexi leaned over staring at their little girl's face. She could already see that Stella had her mouth and nose, the same dark hair as well, but Lexi hoped she would have her father's gold flecked green eyes, "Look at her Dean. She's so perfect."

"She really is." He said softly leaning forward to kiss Lexi's cheek, "Go to sleep."

"You should call Sam."

"I'll make a deal with you, Lex." Dean said flashing his most adorable smile, "You go to sleep and maybe I'll call him."

Lexi shook her head trying not to smile but she gave into her husband's request and settled back against the pillows closing her eyes. Dean kissed her forehead once she fell asleep and joined her on her hospital bed. He made himself comfortable against the headboard with Stella secure in his sturdy arms. Dean wasn't ready to give his daughter up just yet when the nurse came in to take her for the night. He asked the nurse if it would be okay if Stella stayed with them in the room. She nodded saying something about Dean making sure to lay her on her back in the little clear plastic crib and that a nurse would be by later to check on them. A little while later Dean did as he was told but moved the crib up against the side of the bed just to be safe.