And just like that, everything changed.
Suddenly, the house was too quiet, too still without the boys.
There was no Sam leafing through books and sitting in an armchair, no Dean rummaging through the fridge for food or listening to music way too loudly. Dinner was taken quietly, whenever we felt like it, usually while watching something on the history channel. Cas had decided that he was no longer needed for training, unless I had questions or something, so I spent the few days practicing on my own until Sam and Dean got back, although my angel mentor still popped in for more than one weekly lesson. Bobby decided to register me under a false ID for home schooling, even if he wouldn't be teaching me anything. I could still at least officially graduate eventually, so if I wanted to go to college, I could.
Sam and Dean came back later that week to check in and stayed for a few days before leaving for another job. For the next two, they came home, but after that they just kept skipping along from one job to the next and didn't bother to come back. They still called whenever they could though.
On their third job out, they phoned at two in the morning to ask how to kill a gollum. I had the answer after ten minutes of research, and gave it to them. Bobby still wouldn't let me answer the fake FBI management lines though. Bummer.
They were gone for almost a month before they finally came back, looking tired, Sam sporting a gash on his elbow, which I healed for him.
I was upstairs when I heard them for the first time.
"We're home!" Dean called, sounding surprisingly happy.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the porch as they told me about what they had done, so that I could take notes. Just like their dad's journal, if they had some idea of what they had done before, it could be useful for them to use in the future.
That night we stayed up late watching an old Steven King movie. We even celebrated their return with some pie.
I considered it my birthday celebration, because although my sweet sixteen was tomorrow, I hardly expected them to remember it.
Even if they did, I wouldn't expect much from them because they had completely taken me in from the goodness of their hearts, and that was already doing too much.
We all said good night and went our separate ways. The next morning, Cas had planned to meet me to evaluate my skills.
Great birthday present.
It was storming. Pouring rain, thunder, lightning, unusual for so late in the season.
And, of course, no reason to cancel angel boot camp. I asked Cas if we could take a rain date, but he simply replied that if I didn't like getting wet, I wouldn't have to, that I could just use my powers to stay dry.
But, I felt like that was kinda defying nature, so I just tried not to mind getting wet. I had kept quiet all this time about my parents, and had no intention of stopping that today. Although, at this point, I wondered if I even wanted to know. Fitting in so well here, I questioned if I wanted to be torn away from it all again by the discovery.
Another thing was that Cas had been accidentally staring at me lately. Just sort of not paying attention and drifting off sometimes. I felt like he was thinking about my parents, but I never intruded, because it also might not have been.
At the end of the lesson today, he finished his long stare by talking.
"Today is your birthday," he said, not really asking or stating, just sort of thinking out loud. He looked me in the eye.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen," I replied curiously. It wasn't the kind of question he normally asked.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Reasons." He replied. He picked up that line from me.
"Like what reasons?" I asked.
"You have been alive for longer than sixteen years, even though you have only seen sixteen birthdays," he replied.
"And what does that mean?" I wondered, curious.
"There may have been a time when you were... Dormant, perhaps. Maybe... In storage. Or, you were forwarded through time."
"Why would I have been forwarded through time?" I asked, already half way to an answer.
"To protect you from being followed. Or perhaps to keep you away from a certain time period when you could be in danger."
"What kinds of danger?" I pressed
"The apocalypse, for example. If your powers had awakened even a year earlier, you would have been in the thick of the fighting. Your father clearly planned for that at the very least."
"And what about my mother? Where would she have been during that time?" I asked, still holding on to a little hope that my real mom could be alive somewhere.
Cas' expression clouded.
"I do not know." He replied. I let the subject drop.
I knew that I shouldn't have.
As per usual, Cas walked me back until we were close enough to see the house, and then left. Sam wasn't out on the porch today, although the rain had stopped. The salvage lot still smelled like petrichor, the smell of earth after rain, and my thoughts were everywhere by the time my feet followed their usual trail back to the house, around the barn, through the back door.
Where, in the kitchen, a small party was waiting for me.
"Surprise," Dean said, smirking a little bit. I was taken aback for a moment, not managing much more than to smile and laugh. The drab and dusty kitchen had been decorated feebly with some multi colored streamers.
Sam was sitting, looking slightly disgruntled wearing a too small party hat that said,"Party Boy," on the top, something that Dean must have just done before I walked in.
Bobby walked in carrying a cake, alight with sixteen candles. Cas was even there, standing by the table and curiously watching the festivities.
I was wrapped up in the moment and spent the evening laughing and talking, as the boys told war stories and we ate the cake for dinner.
Even Cas thought it was tasty.
The boys had just fallen silent for the first time, when Sam had announced that it was time for presents.
"You guys did not have to get me anything!" I exclaimed, totally justified at my response. They had literally taken me in when I had nothing and given me all I had now.
They all ignored my protests, except for Cas.
"It is customary to give a gift on someone's birthday." He explained, extending a hand, holding a bright silver knife out to me, by the hilt. I took it gingerly. It felt weighted perfectly in my hand.
On one side, in Enochian, it read "Blade of God". On the other it read "Servant of Heaven".
"It's an angel blade," Cas explained. "The only weapon capable of killing an angel, and one of the few that can kill a demon."
"Thank you," I said, examining it further, really meaning the thanks.
This was more than just any knife. Cas had literally given me the ability to kill him. He trusted me.
Sam and Dean raised an eyebrow. That kind of trust never came easy.
"Me next," Sam said, handing over two small rectangular packages, wrapped in paper and held together with ribbon. They looked small in his hands, but were really quite large.
The package on the bottom contained a thick and empty leather journal, just like John's, complete with warding symbols on the front to keep intruders out. On the top, was a small book about angels. It was a beautiful volume, a cover made of canvas and painted by hand, holding a mass of pages, all of a thin vellum, some holding images or even runic marks.
"Thanks, Sam. It's perfect," I said, smiling a little shyly. He had gotten me exactly what I had wanted, even though I had never said. I figured that he must have known me really well to have chosen such a great gift.
"Bobby. Would you like to do the honors?" Dean asked, hesitating slightly.
"Sure."
Bobby placed a small box on the table. When I picked it up, it rattled a little. It didn't escape me that Dean had left the room, ducking out behind me.
I opened the small black box that Bobby had given me. It could have been some kind of jewelry, but it wasn't. Instead of a necklace or ring, there was just one key, on a key chain. A car key.
"No way," I said, not even quite hearing myself. "No freaking way." It was every kid's dream to get a car for their sweet sixteen.
"Yes way. It's for that Mustang out back. She just needs a new paint job, then she'll be ready for the road. I saw you eyeing her up," Bobby replied, smiling at my reaction.
It was totally true. I looked at that car every day on my way back from training, even going as far as to sit in the front seat and read for a little while, once. It hadn't been in its usual spot lately, but I hadn't been concerned, figuring that Bobby had just moved it, as he often did with everything in the lot. He had fixed it up for me.
I stood up and hugged him. Out of all the boys, Bobby was the most like a parent, like a dad to me. He seemed to understand that I needed someone to play that role.
I followed with hugs to Sam and Cas, the latter just a little bit stiff.
"Don't forget about me," Dean said, coming back into the kitchen.
He was carrying a brand new guitar, an acoustic electric, made of a dark wood and accented in black. It looked very expensive, and like just about the most beautiful instrument I had ever seen.
"Is that really for me?" I remember asking, incredulously.
He nodded, grinning.
"Happy Birthday, kid."
Just the last happy chapter before things start to go downhill. Thought you ought to know. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Ta! xx