Chapter 3

The wedding wasn't fancy, but then again, neither were the Winchesters. Or anyone else that was in attendance. Dean and Meredith exchanged vows in a courtroom in front of a judge and their living friends and family. They recited traditional vows, nothing flowery, repeating after the judge, exchanged rings, and kissed when the judge proclaimed them husband and wife. The whole thing went by a lot faster than Dean thought it would, but he was certain he would never forget a second of it.

He was happy as he walked out of the courthouse with his wife and their guests. He looked around to see if he could find his daughter, knowing she had been passed around, and discovered she was with Mrs. Tran. He hadn't thought Kevin's mom would come, but he was glad she had, and he wanted to go talk to her, but someone else caught his eye.

This guest hadn't been invited, and she was definitely a surprise, but not necessarily a bad one. She was standing with Garth and his family, and Sam had spotted her at the same time. Sam left Brooke and Trevor and made a beeline for the familiar young woman at the same time Dean did. Meredith followed in his wake. She had noticed his surprised reaction and was curious about the girl that had caused it.

"Kate?" Dean said when the three Winchesters reached the small group of werewolves at the same time.

"Hi guys." she said, smiling happily at Sam and Dean.

"Not that it's not nice to see you, but what are you doing here?" Dean asked, thrown off by her unexpected presence.

"Kate's with us." Garth informed him.

Dean glanced at Bess, holding a one year old version of herself, and then back at Kate. His gaze shifted back to Garth. "So, what, you got some kind of weird werewolf sister wife thing going on now?"

"Dean." Sam chided.

"What?" Dean asked. "It's a legitimate question."

"It's a rude question." Sam said.

"Well, you gotta admit they aren't a normal family." Dean said. "Or a normal pack."

Sam looked to Meredith for help, but she just held up her hands and took a step back, indicating that she wasn't getting involved.

"It's okay, Sam." Bess said sweetly. "We know Dean doesn't mean to be offensive. He just doesn't fully understand our family yet. And that's okay."

"Kate's not my wife, Dean." Garth assured him and put his arm around Bess, beaming at her. "Bess is the only girl for me."

Sam spotted the silver bullet hanging around Kate's neck. "But you are part of the pack?"

Kate's hand went to her necklace, absentmindedly playing with the bullet. The contact with the silver didn't seem to bother her too much. She nodded. "Yeah. I hit a rough patch a little while back, and Garth and Bess...well...they saved me."

"What kind of rough patch?" Dean asked.

Garth answered because he knew it would bother both Dean and Sam until they knew what had happened. "Sam, you remember that crazy cult pack we took down? In California?"

"Yeah." he looked at Kate. "You were part of that?"

"Not willingly." Kate said quickly. "A lot of their members were recruited by force. I didn't want any part of it, but they basically held me prisoner. I tried to escape, but they caught me."

"They made their prisoners eat human hearts." Garth explained. "Tied 'em up, and forced 'em to eat."

Dean didn't even realize he had tucked Meredith behind him in a subconscious effort to protect her in case Kate attacked. But everyone else did.

"It's okay, Dean." Kate said. "I'm okay. I didn't want to eat the hearts. They made me. They tortured me until I gave in, and after...Garth didn't want to kill me because it wasn't my fault and I had never actually hurt anyone. I begged him to, but he wouldn't do it."

"I had faith in her." Garth said. "But she didn't think she could stay in control, so I talked to Bess, and we decided to take her in."

"She's doing great." Bess said, smiling at the other blonde wolf.

"No slip ups?" Dean asked, looking at Kate.

"One." she admitted. "During the my first full moon after Garth and Bess took me in. I lost control and I did attack someone, but Garth found me and pulled me back before I could really hurt him."

"She's okay." Garth assured Dean, who looked a little skeptical. "She's not gonna hurt anyone. If she does I'll take care of it."

Dean relaxed a little, but only because he trusted Garth to do the right thing if the time came. He took his attention off Kate, and nodded at the kid. "And what about this little guy? What do baby werewolves...uh...lycanthropes eat?"

"Actually," Garth said. "Little Man here was born human."

Sam looked confused. "If you're both werewolves, how was your son born human?"

"We're not entirely sure how it works, but we think lycanthropy might be a recessive trait." Garth replied.

"Alright." Dean said, shrugging. "Well, as long as no one's ripping hearts out I'm cool with it."

"Now that that's all out of the way," Bess said, smiling at Meredith. "I don't believe we've been introduced to your lovely wife yet, Dean."

"Oh!" he said, having completely forgotten that Meredith hadn't officially met Garth and his family yet. He pulled her forward, draping his arm around her shoulders, and grinned proudly. "This is Meredith Winchester. My wife. Mere, this is Garth and Bess Fitzgerald, and Kate...something or other. I have no idea what your last name is."

Kate smiled. "Sheridan."

"Sheridan." Dean said. "This is Kate Sheridan."

"And this," Garth said, taking the baby from Bess and matching Dean proud smile for proud smile. "Is Garth Fitzgerald, the Fifth."

"We call him Fitz." Bess said.

"Fitz Fitzgerald." Sam said, smiling. "Cute. He looks just like you, Bess."

Suddenly Fitz started crying.

"I think someone needs a diaper change." Kate said. "I'll take care of it."

Garth handed the child to the young werewolf. "Go on with Aunt Katie, Little Man."

Meredith smiled. "Kit could probably use a diaper change too. Where is she?"

Dean looked around. "Last I saw her she was with Mrs. Tran."

As if on cue Alex came over with Kit, having taken the fussy baby from Mrs. Tran. "Where's the diaper bag?"

"I got it." Meredith said, gesturing to the bag at her feet. She picked it up, took her daughter, and followed Kate back into the building so they could find a bathroom to change the babies in.

"I know we just met, but can I ask you something?" Kate asked as they stepped into the bathroom.

"Sure." Meredith said.

"I know you're not a single mother, but Garth said your sister was." Kate said. "Is it hard? To be a single mother?"

Meredith paused in the process of changing Kit's wet diaper and looked at Kate in mild surprise. "Are you pregnant?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. Garth and Bess don't know. I haven't told them yet."

Meredith went back to work when Kit started fussing. "Does the father know?"

"Yeah." Kate said. "My boyfriend...ex-boyfriend...he doesn't know what I am, but I told him about the baby when I found out, and..."

"He freaked out?"

"He dumped me."

"I'm sorry." Meredith said sincerely. "My niece's father managed to stick around for about a year before he split. Luckily my sister wasn't completely alone. She had me, but it still wasn't easy. Have you decided if you're going to keep it yet?"

Kate finished changing Fitz' diaper and shook her head. She looked up and met Meredith's gaze. "I don't know what to do, Mrs. Winchester. It's not so much the single mom thing, but what if it's born a werewolf? Garth and Bess are both wolves, and Fitz is human. My ex is human, and I was only bitten, but what if my baby's a werewolf? I don't know if I want to keep the baby even if it's human, but I can't put a werewolf up for adoption."

"There is a third option." Meredith said, snuggling Kit against her shoulder.

"Oh, no, I could never do that." Kate said. "At least I don't think I could. Have you?"

"No. But I did seriously consider it when I found out I was pregnant with Kit." Meredith said. "My mother had a pair of twins that didn't survive, and I had a miscarriage and a baby that was stillborn. I wanted Kit, and I knew Dean would, but I was so scared we would lose her."

"But you didn't." Kate observed.

"She came about a month early, but she was fine." Meredith confirmed. "Nothing bad happened."

"Do you think mine'll be okay?"

Meredith shifted Kit as Kate picked up Fitz. "I can't really answer that, but I'm sure you'll make the best decision for you."

"I don't think I can do it on my own."

"Talk to Garth and Bess." Meredith said. "I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help you figure it out and support you in whatever you decide."

"I'll probably keep it." Kate said. "I'm just scared. Really scared."

Meredith smiled softly. "There's nothing wrong with being scared, Kate." She put her arm around the younger woman and gave her a hug. "You'll be fine. You've got Garth and Bess to help you with whatever you decide to do, and you've got us too."

"You and Dean?"

Meredith nodded. "Yep. And Kim and Jake, and Travis and Shelly. If you need to, or if you want to, you can always come out here, and we'll make sure you're taken care of. Just don't wolf out on us."

Kate chuckled, smiling. "It's not easy, but I'm getting pretty good at keeping it under control. If I keep the baby I guess I'll have even more reason to stay in control."

"You'll be fine." Meredith reassured. "Come on. I've got to go get married again."

"Thanks, Mrs. Winchester." Kate said.

"As much as I love that, you can call me Meredith."

"Thanks, Meredith."

Meredith smiled. "You're welcome, Kate."

%%%

"You did what?" Dean demanded as he drove back to the house.

"You said you were okay with it." Meredith reminded him. She had just told him about her conversation with Kate, and he was reacting exactly how she had expected him to. Badly.

"I'm okay with her living with Garth and Bess." Dean said. "Not us. Did you seriously invite her to come stay with us?"

"I thought she was your friend."

"I've only met her once, Mere." he said. "I don't know her."

"I thought you'd met her twice."

"The first time we only saw the movie she put together before she skipped town to explain to us that she didn't chose to become a werewolf." Dean explained. "We didn't actually meet her until after she turned her sister and the sister started killing people."

"And you trusted her enough to let her go both times." Meredith reminded him. "She's never hurt anyone, Dean."

"Yeah, except the guy she attacked."

"She only attacked him because of what that cult did to her."

"I get that she didn't chose to eat the hearts, but she did." he said. "And now that she's got the taste it's only a matter of time before she loses control and kills someone."

"Would you be saying the same thing if it was Sam?" she asked. "Or me? Would you keep me away from my own child just because I might loose control?"

"Yes." he said firmly. "If I thought there was any chance you might hurt her I'd do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"Would you kill me?"

Dean looked over at her. There were tears in her eyes. "You're not a monster, so it doesn't matter."

"Answer the question, Dean." she demanded, almost shouting at him. "If you thought there was a chance I might hurt Kit would you kill me?"

He focused his attention back on the road and answered honestly. "Yes. If I had no other choice I'd kill you to keep our family safe. But only if there was no way around it. And I wouldn't do it if I thought you might hurt her. Only if I knew you would. But we're never gonna have to worry about that so why are we talking about it?"

"Because it's important, Dean." she said. "I could get bitten by a werewolf or a skinwalker, or turned into a vampire. Someone could put a hex on me. Or you."

"Would you kill me?" he asked curiously.

"If I absolutely had to, and even then I'd probably have to call Sam or have Jake do it because I don't think I could."

"You took out that ghost in Montgomery with no problem."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I had Claire and Krissy with me, and that was a ghost, Dean, not my husband."

"Okay, well, if something happens to me you need to be prepared to take care of it."

"I am." she said. "I just don't think I could do it myself. You've got way more experience with this stuff than I do."

"Just so long as we're on the same page here." he said. "If either one of us goes too far off the deep end for whatever reason and it can't be fixed...we have to take care of it."

"That goes for Kit too."

"What?"

"I mean it, Dean. It kills me to even think it, but you know I'm right." she said. "Something could happen to her just as easily if not easier than it could happen to us. If it can't be fixed or lived with..."

"We take care of it."

It was a reasonable plan, but he wasn't sure he could go through with it if he had to. He hadn't been able to kill Emma once he knew she was his even though he was aware that she was trying to kill him. He hadn't even known Emma. How could he possibly kill Kit? Or Meredith. Or anyone else he loved.

"So, back to Kate." he said, redirecting the conversation. "I guess, if she needs to, I'm okay with her coming out here as long as she can stay in control."

"Good." Meredith reached out and brushed her fingers through his hair just because. "Now, no more fighting today. It's supposed to be a happy day, and we've still got to deal with my mom and your dad, so..."

"So, no more fighting." Dean caught her hand and kissed it before letting go as they pulled into the driveway. He got out of the truck and walked around to help her out, giving her a long kiss before he let her go. "I'll see you in a little bit."

She made sure he had Kit safely out of the truck before she went inside to change for the second ceremony, thinking that she couldn't possibly be any happier than she was right now. She had a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter.

She paused just inside the bedroom and laid her hand on her belly that wouldn't be flat for much longer. She had everything she had ever dreamed of, and now she had another baby on the way.

Would you look at that? Dean Winchester is officially off the market! Sorry ladies. And Mere wants to take in all the strays. Good luck with that, Dean. Until tomorrow, my loves. ~SG