Gwen is trying to get comfortable on the long flight home, and when she arrives she gets a few surprise messages. Castiel shares 'everything' with Unique. Ianto and Jack arrives at the Harkness house, and spend some time alone before the parents come home. Mr Winchester is eager to get everything done, and the workers he hires prevent Dean from getting any sleep. Pastor Novak wants to meet the new family in the neighborhood, and tags along when Cas goes to visit Dean.

Songs in this chapter

History - One Direction - M/L: Hector, Ryan, Drewett, Bunetta, Payne, Tomlinson

Candle in the wind - Elton John - M/L: Elton John; Bernie Taupin

Gwen adjusted her earplugs and tried to get comfortable in the seat. Even if she didn't get much shuteye during her last night in Lima, she didn't think it would be possible to fall asleep on the plane.

"You gotta help me, I'm losing my mind

Keep getting the feeling you wanna leave this all behind

Thought we were going strong

I thought we were holding on

Aren't we?"

She stroked her belly, and wondered what Rhys would say when she told him about the baby. Not that she worried so much. Rhys wanted to have kids. He wanted a big family, but he was probably not prepared for it to happen so soon.

"No they don't teach you this in school

Now my heart's breaking and I don't know what to do

Thought we were going strong…"

Leaving Lima and the guys in the choir was sad. She missed them already, and wished that she could have taken them all with her.

"You and me got a whole lot of history

We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen

You and me got a whole lot of history

So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever."

The song didn't help much with her mood, so when she saw the cabin crew starting to hand out food, she turned it off.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Castiel was so excited that he wanted to tell someone. Unique was the only one he had involved in this, but calling her in the early morning hour after her graduation party could possibly be conceived as quite cruel, so he decided to be a little subtle about it, and sent a text.

"Call me. I spent the night with Dean."

He snuck through the house, and had just entered the bathroom when the call came. "For real? Tell me everything." Unique was whispering for some reason. "Did you… I mean, you spent the night, but did you play solitaire or something?"

Castiel needed to pee, so he put her on speaker as he unbuttoned his pants. "Yeah, sure, because solitaire is a two person game." He kept it down because he didn't know if anyone else was awake yet. "We, erm, we are kind of together." He did his best to avoid making too much noise as he took a leak. His underwear was kind of crusty, and he needed a shower soon anyway, so he undressed and grabbed his robe.

"Together? Did you…? You didn't? Cas, you need to tell me. I can hear that you are in the bathroom. Get me out of there." Unique was still whispering, but there was a clear urgency in her voice. "Tell me everything."

It was still early, but Cas knew that his dad would get up pretty soon. "I need to take a shower, and I need to sleep a little. I didn't expect you to reply so fast. Can I call you back later? I want to be alone in the house for this."

Unique was a little hesitant to let go. "Can't you give me a little hint?" When Castiel declined, and again asked if she could wait, he got a huff and an annoyed 'yeah' from her before they hung up.

Throwing his clothes into the hamper, Cas wondered how much he should tell her. He and Dean didn't actually have sex, and what went down was kind of embarrassing. He had cummed into his pants after a brief touch from Dean's hand. When Dean jerked himself off, Cas knew that he should have stepped up, but he was totally unable to muster up the courage.

Did Unique really need to know the details?

He got about five hours of choppy sleep before he gave up on the whole thing and decided to call Unique back. Cas was still so tired that he wasn't sure if he could keep a conversation going, but his dad and both his siblings had headed out, so he was alone in the house, and could speak freely.

Of course he told her everything. He started with the stalking attempt that went so wrong. It moved on to Jack's excellent lasagna, and the revelation about Gwen. "Oh shit, that was supposed to be a secret." He continued to tell Unique how he helped Sam make his bed, before he eventually reached the point in the story where he and Dean were alone.

Stuttering a little, Cas did his best to relay the the gist of what happened without using too many words. Unique seemed to get it. "Are you sure you want to pursue this? According to himself, Dean has been quite a player before. I'm happy for you, but please take care."

Castiel huffed and then he chuckled a little. "He was a player. He was playing with the girls, but now he is on the right team. I am aware, but I think he is sincere."

He fiddled with his phone for a little while after they hung up. Cas wasn't sure if he should have done it, but eventually he wrote a short message to Gwen on Facebook. He wanted to get ready to go over to the Winchester house as soon as possible, but after getting everything off his chest, he fell asleep again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack parked on the curb, and handed Ianto the car keys before they both got out. "Home at last." He chuckled as he stretched his body. "I don't think my parents are home yet." He turned to Ianto gesturing for him to open the trunk, and could spot a little bit of fear on his face.

"I'm sure they will be here shortly. Let's get inside." He wanted to be alone with Ianto, but understood that the guy was a little intimidated at the moment. Ianto grabbed his and Jack's bag, while Jack took the suitcase.

After kicking their shoes off in the hall, Jack led the way to his room. "I'm not going to unpack now." He dumped the suitcase on the floor, and pointed to the bed. It was big enough for two and then some. "You can sleep on the bed, and if you, erm, I don't, I can sleep on the floor if you want?"

Ianto hadn't said a single word since they drove into town, and Jack worried a little about how this would go. He looked at the guy. "What do you say?"

It took a moment or two before he got an answer. Ianto drew his breath heavily and swallowed. "That's not okay. It's your bed. You can't sleep on the floor." He was actually blushing, and Jack had to cover up a giggle before he decided to dive into it. "Oh please. Do you want to share the bed with me? I want that."

The nod was almost undetectable, but Jack chose to take it as a yes. "It's settled then. Let's look for a snack. We won't get any supper for another three hours at least." He didn't want Ianto to worry that they'd be alone for too long, although he knew that eventually they would be spending a whole night together in the same bed.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Dean didn't get much sleep. As soon as Castiel had left, he hurried to his room and crashed on the mattress Sam had brought. He didn't even bother to undress, he just grabbed the blanket and tucked himself in. He wasn't out for long before the sound of his dad's truck woke him up again.

"Hello boys! Are you ready for work?" John Winchester came inside and he actually banged the wall to rouse Dean and his brother.

Through the half open door to his room, Dean could hear Sam groan loudly as he stepped out in the hall. "I think I slept for three hours, and Dean possibly slept even less. Could you give us a little bit more time?"

There were some commotion going on down there before their father replied. "Time? I have no time. I have a job waiting for me, and have to leave the day after tomorrow. I have absolutely no time." Dean looked at his phone. It was exactly one hour since Castiel left.

He was so tired that he actually passed out when it suddenly got quiet, and didn't know what happened during the next half hour.

A loud bang woke him up again, and for a moment he had forgotten where he was. "Sorry boys!" His dad sounded sincere, but then there was more weird noises. Dean practically crawled towards the door, and pushed it gently until it was shut before he hurried back to the sorry excuse for a bed.

He actually managed to fall asleep again, but it was choppy to say the least. The closed door didn't help much. Loud voices, and more banging kept disturbing him, and after another hour he finally had to give in.

He met his brother in the hall, and without a word between them, just a silent nod towards the door to the bathroom, they played 'rock, paper, scissors' to determine who'd go first. Sam won, but he was courteous enough to not spend too much time in there. "If we're gonna be put to work right now, I'll have a shower later." He walked towards his room. "Just need to put on another t-shirt. I can brush my teeth when you're done."

Unlike his brother, Dean felt an overwhelming need to rinse off. They had failed to bring any big towels, so after a hurried shower, which mostly focused on the crotch area, he had to dry off with a tiny little hand towel. It was okay. It was a bigger problem that he hadn't brought any spare jeans, so he had to go downstairs in the sweatpants.

The new door was in, although it didn't have any trim; the floor in front of it was just a big hole, and a man - presumably a carpenter - was working on covering it up with new boards. The kitchen looked like a war zone. Part of the counter was removed, and a man was lying under the kitchen sink. "I have to turn off the water now." The man crawled out from there and headed for the door. "It won't take long."

Dean groaned. He wanted coffee; he needed coffee. As if his dad had read his mind, he came over with a thermos. "There's a little bit left, and there's some sandwiches over there." He pointed to a lunchbox on the table. "Didn't even know we had a table."

The plumber managed on his own, but Dean had to help with the floorboards, while Sam and his dad left to get some more supplies.

Three hours later, the floor was done and they also had a dishwasher. It was second hand, but it was good enough. The carpenter moved on to finish with the door, and the plumber was in the downstairs bathroom to install fixtures for a washing machine.

When his dad came back from the third supply run, it was without Sam, and Dean wondered where his brother was. He got the answer shortly after when a Ford Escort parked on the curb. Sam crawled out of it while rolling his eyes. "I hope your mechanic skills are as good as they say. This is a piece of junk." He shook his head. "He promised me a car, but I'm not so sure about this." He did smile as he looked at their dad. "It's not his fault. I picked it so we would have more money for the house."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

As soon as the plane landed on Heathrow, Gwen turned on her smartphone. She had kept the plan during her stay in America, although she hadn't used it much because it was too expensive to make any calls from it. Ianto had let her have his old flip phone while she was there, but she couldn't go online on that one.

After digging the carryon out of the overhead compartment, waiting in line to get out of the plane, she was amazed by the number of text-messages and missed calls. Four of them were from friends in the UK, wishing her welcome back. Rhys had called once, but later sent a text asking her to contact him as soon as she landed. Her mother had obviously tried to call her several times over the last couple of hours, so Gwen decided to ring her back first.

She did post her UK number on Facebook, but she hadn't expected any of her American friends to use it. It was quite a surprise that she had gotten three messages from over there.

Jo: "Hope the trip went well. Can't wait to see you on Skype, but I won't nag you about it. Get settled and greet your family from me."

John: "Hey. John here. I'm not sure I dialed the right combination of numbers, and I hope this reaches you. I left a long message for you on FB."

Jack: "I hope you landed safely. Plz forgive me. I know it was supposed to be a secret, but I have to congratulate you with the bun. I miss u already, but we'll meet again some day. Take care. Hugz and kisses. Jack."

Ianto must have told him. Gwen got a little bit annoyed, but she knew how nervous her cousin had been when they parted. After waiting patiently for months for Ianto to tell her anything about anything, he had finally opened the door to that closet he was stuck in. With limited time, and with the rest of the family stressing around to get ready for her departure, Gwen didn't get much information, only a promise that he'd tell all as soon as they could talk privately on the phone.

Sitting in the car with Jack for a couple of hours, Gwen guessed that Ianto had blurted it out just to have something to talk about. He was easily forgiven. Rhys would be informed shortly, and then it wouldn't be a secret anymore.

As she was waiting in line for the passport control, she made a quick call to her mother just to confirm that she was on British soil. He parents would not come to the airport; it was a bit of a drive, so she perfectly well understood. When she booked the flight, she wanted to go to Cardiff, but there were no low-fare tickets available. When Rhys offered to come pick her up at any airport in the whole country, she suddenly had more options, and ended up getting a ridiculously cheap flight to London.

There was a bit of a wait at the luggage claim. Gwen couldn't find a seat, but slumped down on the floor to check the rest of her messages, and answer them accordingly. The little Facebook icon on the screen showed that she had 14 notifications. Some of them were random updates by friends, while the rest was PM's.

She knew that one of them was from John, and a few were from friends in the UK, but she almost choked when she started sifting through them.

Unique: "Hey Mama. I can't believe you didn't tell us. How are you doing? When is the little one due? Text me back soon. I'm so excited for you."

Dean: "Goodbye Gwen. We will miss you. Take care of the little one. You'll be a great mother."

Castiel: "I had to leave early yesterday, and didn't see you. Sam told me about the baby. I'm very happy for you and Rhys. Hope you can come back one day to visit. Well. Have a nice flight. xoxo"

John: "Hey Gwen. I sent you a message on the phone, but I'm not sure I had the right number. Anyway. Just wanted to tell you what an awesome person you are, and that I will miss you a lot. I hope that you are available late July because I have persuaded my mom to take a trip to Cardiff. Will keep you updated on that. Going out to drink legally will be just awesome.

I know that you are carrying a secret, but when more than four people knows, it's not a secret anymore. Ianto told me, and I wasn't going to mention it, but Jo didn't manage to keep her mouth shut about it either, so… Congratz.

If Rhys does not support you, I'll come over and punch him. Keep in touch. See you in July. Love you."

Ianto: "I told John. I didn't want to say it before you left. Sorry, but he promised to keep it to himself. I'll call you on the landline during the weekend. 3"

Charlie, Jane and Madison didn't mention anything about the baby, but that didn't mean they didn't know. Gwen was almost hyperventilating. When she finally managed to rip herself loose from the screen, she saw one of her suitcases on the other side of the carousel going for a round-trip. She didn't bother to chase it. It would come back around eventually. She took a couple of deep breaths before she called Rhys. Keeping a keen eye on the luggage, she waited patiently for him to pick up.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack raided the fridge and scrambled together a small meal. Ianto hadn't eaten much since he left home to go to the airport, but he tried to restrain himself. If they would be served dinner in a couple of hours anyway, it would be silly to fill up on snack foods.

Ianto did manage to carry a conversation somewhat, but it was kind of rough. He knew perfectly well what he wanted out of this trip, but being there was almost too much to handle. Jack was his usual sparkling self, and did his best to make Ianto feel welcome, but there was clearly a tension in the air.

"Goodbye Norma Jean

Though I never knew you at all

You had the grace to hold yourself

While those around you crawled."

Jack had slumped down on the piano stool and started playing and singing. "You know this one, don't you?" He threw a smile at Ianto before he continued. Ianto was quite sure that Jack did this to try to break the ice, and there was a possibility it would work.

"And it seems to me you lived your life

Like a candle in the wind

Never knowing who to cling to

When the rain set in."

It was really not his kind of music, but Ianto knew the song very well, and couldn't help singing along.

"And I would have liked to have known you

But I was just a kid

Your candle burned out long before

Your legend ever did."

Jack smiled at him as he continued playing. He delivered an impromptu piano solo before he went on to the next verse.

"Loneliness was tough

The toughest role you ever played…"

Jack stopped singing but kept hitting the keys. "Didn't he, Elton John…? He rewrote this song to fit Princess Diana. Sorry, it wasn't a question, I know he did." Jack chuckled a little. "I don't know if I remember the lyrics."

Ianto didn't remember Diana when she was alive, but she was some kind of an icon in Britain. He knew that song though, even if it would never be on his playlist.

"Goodbye England's rose

May you ever grow in our hearts

You were the grace that placed itself

Where lives were torn apart."

While Jack was getting ready for the chorus, his parents came home, so he just played a couple of random chords before he got up from the stool. "Hi. This is Ianto. He's going to stay for a couple of days and help me get ready for New York."

Ianto tried to act confident as he walked over to say hello. Jack grabbed one of the bags that his mother was carrying. "He drove me here, and I invited him to stay. He's looking into getting to Broadway himself, and I thought I'd help him."

That was just a straight out lie, and Ianto realized that Jack wasn't as confident about this as he seemed to be. Suddenly everything got easier. It was actually hard keeping a straight face when he suddenly learned that he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

Dinner at the Harkness house consisted of Domino's Pizza. Ianto was far from impressed until he learned that it was Jack's guilty pleasure. "We wanted to give you what you like." Jack's mother laughed as she opened the box. Then she turned to Ianto and cocked her head. "We are all capable of making a meal from scratch, but you know. He is our baby."

Jack yawned through the meal, and explained that he hadn't slept much last night, When Ianto during the conversation told them that he'd been up at the crack of dawn to take his cousin to the airport, Jack's parents understood perfectly well that they both needed to go to bed early.

The little sliver of confidence Ianto had downstairs, vanished completely as they entered Jack's room. He got to use the bathroom first, and as soon as he was done he crawled into bed and made sure he left plenty of space for Jack.

He could hear that Jack came back, and he could feel that the guy entered the bed. It took a little more than a minute before one of Jack's fingers drew a line down his spine and rested at the small of his back. "Are you still awake?" Jack was whispering quietly, and if Ianto had been sleeping he would probably not have been disturbed by it. "No, I'm not."

Jack moved closer and wrapped his arm around Ianto's waist. "I have a confession to make." He was still whispering. "I spent the night at Dean's house, and I didn't sleep a wink. I so much want to… I just… I need to sleep now." He nuzzled his face into the back of Ianto's neck. "I can hold you like this right? I just want to hold you."

Ianto wanted so much more, but he was also extremely tired. "This is good. Let's sleep. This feels perfect."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Castiel didn't know what time it was when he woke up, and he got somewhat disturbed when he realized that it was late afternoon. Nobody in his family had even tried to wake him up - he would have remembered that - and he wondered why.

The front door slammed shut, and when he heard his dad's voice asking if there was anybody home, he realized that he'd been home alone for several hours. Michael left sometime in the morning when Cas was still semi-alert, and he remembered that Rachel was working the afternoon shift and wouldn't be back for another two hours.

He grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans before he snuck out of his room. "I'm here. I'm coming down shortly." Cas ran across the hall to the bathroom and threw cold water in his face so his dad wouldn't see that he just woke up, and then he hurried to put on the clothes.

"Michael isn't home yet?" The pastor was in the kitchen when Castiel came down the stairs. "No, I guess not." He actually had no idea, but his brother normally turned the radio on as soon as he came inside, so he was probably not there.

"Do you want something to eat now, or should we wait for Rachel?" Castiel's dad was looking into the fridge before he turned around. Cas was hungry, but he wanted to leave this very second. He didn't know what to say to be able to get away, but he gave it a shot. "I'm not hungry. I have plans, so if you don't mind, I'm leaving soon."

He sincerely hoped that Dean had something to eat, but if not, Cas was ready to starve himself to get out. "I promised to help them today too, but they asked me to come after supper because they can't really cook food in that place yet." He wasn't even sorry for lying. He just needed an excuse to leave as soon as possible.

"You won't stay out all night?" His dad looked at him curiously. "Not that is a big problem, but you live here, and I'm not sure I like your nightly adventures."

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Dad, don't worry. They live like ten minutes walk from here. You can check it out yourself." He wasn't sure if it was the best idea he'd had in the world, but he continued. "Walk with me. See for yourself. They are decent people."

He didn't expect his dad to actually do it. Cas just wanted him to believe that he could, but the pastor nodded vigorously before he went to the hall to put his shoes on. "Why not. It'll be a nice walk."

The dusk was creeping in, and in a neighborhood with a lot of trees, it was quite dark on the streets. Castiel was reminded about his previous stalking attempt, but this time he could walk with his head held high. He was expected, and presumably very welcome in the house.

That his dad was walking along side him, was a minor concern. It could actually be good. He wanted his family to meet Dean, although he had no intentions of revealing the truth about their relationship.