"I'm so sorry," Dean said for the tenth time since they'd gotten back to their room.
"It's not your fault," Sophie assured him. She was sitting on the couch, sorting through a pile of folded laundry and trying to find something to put on. She was down eight pounds from vomiting so much, but even at seven weeks there was a baby bump creeping in already, which meant almost none of her skirts fit right. To make things worse, nothing, literally nothing, felt comfortable on her hormone-ravaged skin.
"We should get you to a better doctor," Dean suggested, "Maybe they can help? Sioux Falls isn't a small town. They should have a good hospital. That's where your neurologist is right?"
"Yeah," Sophie agreed, "I don't love the idea of being this sick at a hotel…but it would be better to go to a real doctor." She fell silent for a few moments, sorting through the clothes.
Dean contemplated their options. With Bobby gone he felt oddly isolated. Ever since he could remember there'd been someone to call if he ended up in over his head. He'd not been able to lean on anyone consistently - but if push came to shove he could usually manage a phone call and some advice. Be that from John, Pastor Jim, Bobby, someone. But right now, as he looked at Sophie sitting there folding laundry and trying to act like everything was fine, he felt so utterly and completely alone. And he was positive this pregnancy had him in over his head.
"So Cas can identify people by smell," she said after a while, "Like a bloodhound. That's fun."
"Cas is a bundle of weird fun abilities," Dean snorted, "Might come in handy that he can hear the heartbeat."
"I was thinking that, too," Sophie agreed. She rubbed her belly protectively and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Why is Sam being weird about this?" The words came out in a rush.
"Half a dozen reasons, probably," Dean said, crouching in front of her, "I don't pretend to understand what goes on in that head of his." "What did he mean it's not normal for hunters to have babies?" Sophie asked.
"It isn't," Dean replied simply, "Used to be more common. But little by little extramarital sex and bachelorhood both got less socially taboo and fewer and fewer hunters bothered to get married and settle down. Most women don't like being left at home while their husband shoots demons. You're a rare exception."
"I guess that makes sense," Sophie said, "But we're not doing something wrong? Nobody's gonna…"
"Come punish you for it?" Dean filled in the rest of the sentence that he knew was running through her head.
She would never admit it, but Sophie hadn't gotten over John's beating years before. She had that nasty scar on her lower lip as a reminder, after all.
"It's nothing like that, baby. I promise," Dean replied, "Just don't expect a baby shower from our colleagues. Okay?"
Sam and Cas stared at each other from opposite sides of the kitchen counter.
"We need to throw a baby shower," they said in near unison.
"How do we throw a baby shower?" Sam asked.
"You're the human," Cas replied.