Lily looked past Jody to Sam.
"We should make him go lie down. He's been up almost forty-eight hours."
"I'll get him," Jody said. She woke Sam up, and he reluctantly went upstairs to the bedroom where his bed roll was laid out. He came down just a few minutes later and Jody was just about to fuss until Sam shoved a piece of paper at her. She read it aloud.
"'Sammy, turns out Snider is Chronos.' Wait, this is from Dean? How..."
"Just read," Sam said with a huge smile.
Lily got up from the floor and walked behind Jody, reading over her shoulder. Sam pointed out a date at the top of the letter. Now they knew the date Dean would be going after Chronos. Sam hoped to get the exact time from someone Dean mentioned in the letter. Lila Taylor. Chronos' girlfriend. Sam had taken the letter back to get the girl's name again. Lily took it from him and sat at the table. No one noticed how Lily ran her fingers over the handwriting, wishing she was holding Dean, telling him everything. She hadn't considered that they might not get him back. It wasn't an option. They would get him back. They had to.
"Okay," Sam said, "I don't think we should all go. So, Lily, why don't you..."
"Oh no," she said, cutting him off, "I stayed behind while you and Dean went off and did your thing, and now Dean might be stuck in 1944. I'm goin'."
Sam seemed surprised, and maybe even a little hurt, by Lily's tone. She realized it may have come out a little harsh, but she made no apologies. She was worried, and she wasn't backing down. "Why don't you go round up the ingredients we need for the spell while we get the time from Lila?"
"Yeah, okay... that sounds like a plan."
Jody drove them to the retirement home where Lila now lived. It didn't look promising at first. She seemed a bit spaced out, but once they brought up that night, she seemed to have an excellent memory. She told them that all the clocks in the house stopped that night at 11:34 when two cops came to arrest her boyfriend, Ethan. Lily and Jody knew that Ethan was actually Chronos. Lily pulled out one of Dean's fake ID's and showed it to Lila.
"Ma'am, was this man one of the police officers?"
Lila looked at the photo and nodded. "Ethan choked the life out of that man."
Lily's eyes grew wide and she looked to Jody. They had to hurry. Dean was in trouble. They practically ran back to the car as Lily pulled out her cell to call Sam.
"We've got the time. 11:34. You got what we need?"
"Got it."
"Start setting up. We need to hurry. Lila said that Chronos kills Dean."
"Okay, I'm on it."
Jody floored it and they made it back to the house as Sam finished writing the time on a piece of paper, in blood. He began reciting, and Lily struck a match, setting fire to the paper with the time on it. When Sam finished, a glowing, red light filled the room and Dean and Chronos fell to the floor. Lily ran to Dean, kneeling beside him and pulling his head into her lap. He was gasping, fighting for air, but was soon able to catch his breath. Lily lost sight of what was happening around her, until she saw Jody land across the room. Lily looked behind her and saw Sam on the floor behind Chronos, who was looking down at Dean.
"No!" Chronos screamed. "You... destroyed everything!" He took one look at the way Lily was holding Dean and an evil grin appeared on his face. He took two quick steps toward Lily, so fast that she had no time to move, and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off of her feet. "I'll return the favor."
Lily clawed at Chronos' hand. Dean, still weak and breathing heavily, struggled to get to his feet. Sam was slowly coming around behind Chronos. He saw a stake, that Dean had brought with him, on the floor and grabbed it.
Once on his feet, Sam called out, "Hey, Chronos!"
Expecting an attack, Chronos threw Lily into the wall and turned to defend himself, but Sam was ready. He plunged the stake into Chronos' heart.
Lily didn't see any of it. She was barely conscious. She managed to focus on Dean's voice. It sounded as if it were coming to her through a fog. She opened her eyes to blurred vision. Slowly, her hearing and vision cleared, but the pain grew. And grew. She curled up and grabbed her stomach, letting out a weak cry.
"Lily?" The concern in Dean's voice was obvious. "Lily, what's wrong?"
"Hospital," was all she could manage.
Dean picked her up and carried her to the car. Sam drove and Jody rode up front while Dean held Lily in the back. She forced herself to work through the pain, grabbing Dean's hand.
"Dean... I'm so sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything. That monster attacked you."
Lily shook her head. "I'm pregnant."
Dean looked down at her, his face full of shock. "What?"
She nodded as another wave of pain washed over her. She squeezed Dean's hand and cried out.
"Hurry up, Sam!" Dean yelled.
Dean paced around the waiting room. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes moist. He couldn't decide if he was more worried or angry. Angry at Chronos. Angry at Lily. But he couldn't be angry at Lily. Not now, when she was in so much pain. Not when they had both just come so close to dying. But the anger was there. He thought back over the last few months, and remembered her trip to the clinic. That had to be when she found out, and she still hadn't told him that he was going to be a father. Why?
Sam overheard when Lily told Dean, and he was just as surprised. He knew his brother had conflicting emotions right now, and he could see the anger on Dean's face.
"Dean, she'll be okay."
"Like Bobby was okay?" Dean stopped pacing and stared at Sam. "I tried. I tried to believe that it would be okay, but it wasn't. I can't do this again." He started pacing again. "And why did she hide it from me?"
"Dean," Jody said, "I think you should talk to her before you accuse her of 'hiding' it."
A couple of hours later, a doctor came into the waiting area and called out one of Dean's aliases. Sam stood and walked over with his brother. Jody sat up, but didn't follow.
"You're the father?" the doctor asked.
"Yes. How's Lily?"
"She's doing fine."
"And the... the baby?"
"The baby is okay, for now. I have to be honest, it was touch and go, but right now we have them both pretty stable. But the baby is not out of the woods yet." Dean nodded, and the doctor continued. "I can bring you to see her, but she should stay calm. It'll help both her and the baby."
Sam patted Dean on the back as he moved to follow the doctor, then he returned to wait with Jody.
Dean quietly entered the room and saw that Lily's eyes were closed. He walked over to the side of the bed, unable to take his eyes from her stomach. She was carrying his baby. He reached out and gently laid his hand on her stomach, somewhat hoping to feel something... some kind of movement. He didn't even know if he was supposed to be able to feel anything. He was completely clueless in this situation, but it didn't change the fact that this was his baby, and his baby was hurt. And Lily. He looked up and saw that her eyes were open, and staring at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"I tried... the timing was always bad."
"You should have told me, anyway."
"I'm sorry." A tear slipped down her cheek. "Bobby died, and you were so upset. I didn't know how you would take it. I didn't want to make it worse."
"You think me finding out the woman I love is carrying my baby would upset me?"
Lily paused for just a moment before staring directly into his eyes. "Hunters shouldn't have kids... remember that?"
Dean's face fell. He did remember saying that after working the case with Krissy and her dad.
"I didn't know..."
"I know you didn't, but you can't honestly tell me that you'd have thought any differently if you had known."
"I don't know what I would have thought," Dean said, his voice slightly raised, "and neither do you. That's the point."
Another tear slipped down Lily's cheek. "Please don't be angry with me. Not now. After everything that's happened, the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart right now is knowing that we got you back, and you're safe."
Dean took her face in his hands and kissed her. "You're right, I'm safe. Let's focus on keeping you and the baby safe now, okay?"
Lily nodded. Dean wiped her tears away with his thumbs before kissing her again. He caressed her face for a moment, his forehead resting against hers, before he left to talk to Sam and Jody. Lily would have to stay in the hospital, and Dean was staying with her, so Sam and Jody went back to the house.
That night, Dean slept in the chair next to Lily's bed. The doctor told her she might still feel some cramping, and she shouldn't panic, but she should call the nurse's station if they were more severe than just a discomfort. She struggled to get to sleep, but she finally drifted off, holding Dean's hand.
She awoke just a few hours later in horrible pain. She tried to reach the call button, but the pain worsened when she moved. She managed to croak out Dean's name, waking him. He saw the look on her face, and her body curled up in pain, and immediately pushed for help.
The nurse came into the room, took one look at Lily, and called for the doctor. She asked Dean to wait in the hall, which he did reluctantly. Just minutes after the doctor came running, they were wheeling Lily out of the room. Dean grabbed a nurse as she came out.
"What's goin' on?"
"The doctor believes that the placenta has torn away. Based on her pain, it is likely still tearing. If that's the case, the baby won't make it... it's just too soon. I'm sorry. Right now we are focusing on keeping the mother alive."
Dean nodded, his eyes filling with tears. He ran a hand over his face, and the nurse touched his arm. "Come with me. I'll bring you to a waiting area so you can be kept updated."
"Thanks."
Dean sat and waited. He paced... and he waited. When the nurse came back, he practically pounced on her.
"How's Lily?"
"Lily is fine. You can see her soon."
"The baby?"
The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry."
Dean sat back down and ran his hands through his hair. His life as a father was over before it began, and he couldn't figure out if he should be sad or relieved, which made him angry at himself.