Chapter 9- Sweet Child O' Mine
(Guns N' Roses)
Now that the case of the grabber was solved Sam and Dean were in no hurry. They took their time driving back to Kansas. They spent two days on the road, and drove in absolute silence the entire way. In fact, they didn't speak at all until the second day that they had been back in the bunker. Dean approached Sam as he ate breakfast at the island in the kitchen. He stood across from his brother and pressed his fists to the top of the steel. "So you gonna tell me what the hell all that was back in New Orleans?" Sam tossed the piece of toast he was eating back on his plate and dusted off his hands. "Dean I don't know how many times I have to say it before it starts clicking with you. This life we have is something I didn't want. Dad forced us into this, and I want different for M.J. If later on down the line she decides she wants to take up the family business as you call it then that will be her choice, but I'm not going to force her to live this way." "So we're back at this again Sam. All you're pent up teenage angst rears its head once more." "Yes, Dean we're back at this again. When are you going to understand that after I left you and dad I had an entirely different life! I was a great student with a law degree in my future." "Oh yes, and a hell of a lot good that law degree would have done you man. Why not tell that to Jessica, oh wait that's right…" "You're a selfish bastard Dean! Do you ever think of anyone else other than yourself?!" "Are you kidding me Sammy?! How many times have I taken a bullet for you, sold my soul for you, literally gone to hell and back for you to sit here and throw this in my face? You're the one sending Zoey away, because you're weak." "I'M NOT WEAK! I just want her to have a choice that I didn't." "NO Sam! You're not giving her a choice. You've already made the decision for her. She hasn't gotten to decide anything." "Well you know I must have learned from the best Dean. Isn't that the Winchester way? To make decisions for people without asking their opinion first." "Oh bullshit Sam, everything dad or I decided for you was to save your life. You wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't because of a decision me or dad made to keep you safe." "And that's just it right there Dean! You said it! I'm making this decision to keep Zoey and Mary-Jo alive." "That's crap and you know it Sammy. Being with us in this bunker isn't life threatening to either of them. She might die of boredom in here, but she is far better off under this roof than she would be out there under the eye of Crowley!" "You really think I'm that stupid Dean? You think I hadn't thought about that the second I shook his hand. I have a Plan B…I've been planning since we left New Orleans." "Alright then Sam, humor me. What's your master plan for all this?" "After I made the deal I started thinking that Cas could have his angels pull double duty. They're already keeping an eye on the three of us. What's one more human to look after? I was thinking that Cas could help me set up a place for Zoey in Texas. Somewhere that she'll be left alone, a place where no one and nothing would think to look for her. This way if Crowley does try to pull anything stupid, then they'll be angels around to defend her." Dean steadily shook his head with disapproval. "That's it…your plan is to ship her off? Keep her as far from you as possible under the watchful eye of Crowley and Cas. No offense man, but that sounds like a piss poor idea." "Dean you know just as well as I do that our lives don't just end. We don't have the luxury to hang it up and start over fresh. When our time comes it's not going to be pretty, and I don't want any more people mixed up in that chaos. We don't get happy endings, but Zoey and M.J. have a shot at one, just as soon as I get them away from here." Dean was at his wits end with Sam, but didn't have it in him to keep beating a dead horse. "OK Sammy, if this is what you really want, but you know how I feel and I'm not gonna keep going back and forth." "Good…Thank you. So can we please just drop this now?" Dean put up his arms in surrender, but asked one more question. "So when you plan on telling her all this?" "I won't…at least no time soon anyways."
From that moment on things began to change for Sam. He had a private rendezvous with Cas, and clued him in to the whole situation. Castiel was just as skeptical as Dean and another argument ensued, but eventually he agreed to help Sam. Together the two of them found the perfect location to stash Zoey. They refurbished an abandoned home in Point Blank, Texas. It was a rural community, only an hour or so from Houston. There Zoey would have 2 acres of land to do as she pleased and to raise M.J. in the quiet of the country side. It took a month to get everything in order, and by that time Zoey was back in the bunker and doing better than ever. So Sam had his work cut out for him as he tried to keep everything a secret. Once the plans had been set in stone Sam arranged another private rendezvous, but this time with Crowley. He showed him the house that Zoey would be staying in and reminded the King of Hell exactly what would happen if he messed with her or the baby in any way. Crowley was not easily threatened though, and he told Sam that he was at heart always a business man, and a good business man keeps his word. Zoey and M.J. weren't to be harmed and they'd live out a peaceful human life. Now all that was left to do was tell Zoey the truth, but Sam couldn't. He spent the last months of Zoey's pregnancy trying to work out how he would tell her, but there was simply no easy way to say "I'm ditching you." Sam would spend those months driving himself mad thinking up how to say good bye, but in the end he ultimately decided to just wait until after the baby was born. As Zoey's due date got closer and closer Sam spent more and more time with her. He was constantly waiting on her hand and foot. He read all the baby books, and the three of them (Dean included) figured it would be best if Zoey could deliver in heaven. Castiel agreed to this, and prepared his medical staff to get ready for the birth. Dean, Sam, and Zoey all thought they were ready for M.J. to arrive, but like most first timers, they had no clue what they were really in for.
It was 5 am, on January 6th when Zoey rolled over in her sleep and noticed something amiss. She sat up in bed and pulled the sheets off of her. Feeling in between her legs, the fitted sheet was wet. For a second Zoey thought she peed, but then reality set in. She leaned over Sam and started shaking his shoulder. "Sam…Sam wake up. I think my water broke." In a daze Sam sleepily responded with, "No we don't have uh water bill." "What? No…Sammy my water broke!" Coming out of his sleep state Sam turned on the lap by the bed and squinted at Zoey. Sitting up, he pulled the covers all the way off and looked at the sheets underneath her. "OH crap Zoey! Your water broke!" "Yes, thank you Sam for finally joining us." Once Sam realized the seriousness of the situation his body went from 0 to 100 is a matter of seconds. Jumping out of bed he fumbled around with his jeans, then threw on a plaid button up and ran down the hall to get Dean. Zoey stayed behind still sitting on the bed, and started to softly laugh and talk out loud to herself. "Oh that's nice. Just leave your pregnant girlfriend behind. Daddy totally just ditched us M.J." Zoey eased her way out of bed and headed for the shower so she could clean up. As she did so, Sam was waking Dean up, who turned out to be just as frantic as his brother.
"Dean come on man hurry get dressed!" "I'm doing this as fast as I can Sammy!" "Well go faster Dean my kid could be here any second!" It didn't register in Sam's brain that he left Zoey behind until that exact moment. Quickly he rushed out of the room and went back to get her. He panicked when she wasn't there. Running back down the hall he met up with Dean. "She's gone man! I, I, I…don't know where she went?" "OK fan out and search the bunker, she couldn't have gotten far." Sam and Dean raced around the bunker and screamed out for Zoey, but it was Dean how found her in the bathroom as he heard the shower running. "Zoey, we were looking for you all over! Don't do that to us." Zoey pocked her head out from behind the shower curtain. "Calm down crazies, it's been like 2 minutes." Sam's loud footsteps echoed down the hall as he trotted towards Dean. "IS SHE IN THERE?!" "Yea, she's here Sam just takin a shower." Sam ran up to his brother who stood at the doorway and gave Zoey a stern look. "Don't do that ever again!" Zoey laughed. "It's not funny Zo! Anything might have happened." "OK psycho. You two need to go sit down and have a beer. You make it so a girl can't clean pre-baby juices off herself." Dean gagged, "Oh that's disgusting." "Would you two please just go sit somewhere? The first stages of labor can take hours. I'm fine alright. One of you just make sure to call Cas and let him know that the baby is coming." "On it." Sam replied and the two of them left her to finish her shower.
Zoey wasn't naïve when she told the boys that labor could take a long time, because it did. 8 hours later Dean was sitting with Castiel in heaven waiting for his niece to arrive. Sam held Zoey's hand in his as she lay in a twin size bed pushing out their baby. A few angels were standing by, but it was Delilah that was helping to deliver little M.J. "OH Zoey that's great! You got her head out! Just push a little more and she'll be here." A single tear escaped Sam as he saw the squished up face of his baby slowly making her way into the world. Her eyes were still closed, but she had a head full of black hair. "Zoey you're amazing right now I can't believe this." Sam placed a kiss on her forehead, but Zoey winced. She was trying to focus on her breathing and pushing out this tiny human being. Zoey had decided against an epidural and was regretting it right now. "OK do you feel a contraction?" Delilah asked. Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head yes. "Whenever you're ready you can push her out." Zoey tightened her grip on Sam's hand and let out a long groan as she born down and finally freed Mary-Jo from her body. Zoey gasped and threw her back on the pillow. For a split second the room was silent, and then there it was. The sound that Sam and Zoey had waited nine long months for, Mary-Jo started crying. A smile broke across Zoey's face as she opened her eyes to her child. Delilah quickly wiped M.J. down and laid her on Zoey's chest. Again she gasped, "Sammy she's perfect." Sam was at a complete loss for words, all he could do was cry. When Zoey looked into his eye, she started crying as well. They kissed each other and sobbed as they took in all the beauty of their sweet little girl.