This is basically a filler, transition chapter. Sorry for the wait, life's been hectic!
93: Starting Out or Over
"What do you think?"
"What do you think?"
Dean sighed, considering the apartment they were looking over. This being a normal, married couple thing was not as easy as it had seemed. It probably would have been, if they didn't have what had just happened only days ago looming over them still. Maybe. "I don't know, Janey, it's…"
"Small." She said finally, seeing him nodding in agreement. They should have been used to small, they practically lived in motel rooms. But… it was one thing to live in tiny rooms out of necessity, it was another thing completely to do it for… forever. "Dean, if you don't like it…"
"It sucks." He announced after taking in what was the living room and dining area rolled into one, the miniscule kitchen just off the main room, separated by a counter. "That kitchen alone makes me say no."
"Thank, God." She breathed, smiling slightly when he actually chuckled. Dean hadn't done much smiling or laughing lately so she would take what she could get. "Dean, why don't we go look at that house?"
"The one in that…"
"Cul-de-sac."
He wrinkled his nose. "It kinda looked like it might be above our paygrade."
"Mr. Winchester…" Jane leaned up to kiss his unshaven jaw. "We might need to get proper jobs."
"Son of a bitch."
Proper jobs indeed… finding honest, legitimate work was challenging. Dean eventually found something, construction. The pay was good, it was hard work, and they hadn't looked too hard at the documentation he had provided for the background check and all that other fun, normal stuff. He was considered dead by some and wanted by others, there was no way in hell he could use his actual name and legal identity. Not to mention, just because Satan had been locked up that didn't mean demons weren't still going to come hunting them down.
Jane had found herself a clerical job. Something she claimed was mind numbing and way too sedentary for the likes of her, but… it had steady hours and actual benefits. They'd both be working nine to five jobs, be home together… they'd be… an actual married couple.
They even had the starter house now, the one in the cul-de-sac. It was a rental, but their landlord had said after a year, they could discuss the possibility of buying it if they wanted. Buying a house, owning a home… Dean felt almost overwhelmed at the idea. It was a simple one story, two bedroom but it had a fireplace, a large kitchen, and a respectable back yard that Jane was currently out in.
He had just gone through the house, safe guarding it from both supernatural threats and the 'typical' ones, like burglars. He couldn't remember if he had ever dealt with robbers before, might be an interesting change. He stood on the cement patio, staring out at his wife.
She seemed… okay, given their new situation, and what they had just walked out of. She had asked him once if he wanted to talk and never approached the topic again, though he had caught her crying a time or two. He had also caught her tipping her head to the side, eyes squinting in pain, and knew she was dealing with some of her psychic issues, but she never offered information and he didn't ask. He was assuming it was never anything threatening because so far, nothing had happened. Maybe she was just having twinges.
"What're you doing, sweetheart?" He asked, crossing the grass to join her. She was squatting down by what looked like a giant patch of dirt and weeds. Dean smiled slightly as he took her in. Denim shorts, a tank top with no bra, bare feet, and her hair hanging loose about her shoulders. She looked… delicious, and when she glanced up at him, he spotted a smear of dirt across the bridge of her nose. Her hands were also smudged. "Playing in the dirt, Janey?"
"Something like that." She brushed her palms off on her knees before dropping down onto her backside, patting the grass beside her. When Dean joined her in the grass, she grabbed his arm, guided it around her shoulders and leaned into him. "I think this used to be a spot for a garden."
He could already see where this was going and surveyed the patch thoughtfully. "Thinking about growing your own rabbit food?"
"Something like that. A few more veggies in your diet would probably be a good thing, Dean."
He snorted at that, letting his cheek rest against the top of her head. "We've already cut out diner food, Jane, I'm pretty sure that's as healthy as I need to be."
"You'll be as healthy as I want you to be, Mr. Winchester, so stop arguing with me."
"Women…"
"Word."
He raised his head, blinking down at her. "The hell?"
She just shrugged.
"I don't get any of this."
Jane personally agreed with Dean, frowning as she stared at all the paperwork before them on the table. They hadn't even been settled into their new house for a week when it started coming in. "Maybe it's a regional thing…" She mused, wondering where to even start.
"You didn't have to deal with all this before?" She had had something like a normal life before Meg had kidnapped her, so to speak. She'd lived in an apartment, had a nine to five job, all that jazz… He, on the other hand, had lived without the mail and bills issue. This all seemed very unnecessary
"Not this... what the hell is a homeowner's association? We're not homeowners, we rent." That one was set in the garbage pile. "Next." She held out a hand.
Dean slipped her the next piece of unopened mail. "This one is a bunch of advertisements for cable and Internet… you have to pay for those." Sam and Jane always dealt with the Internet crap, he heard them mentioned WiFi and hotspots, piggybacking, stuff like that, but never anything about pay for it. "Do we need these?" Money they had, sort of, they weren't bottom of the barrel broke but they weren't going to be able to live off of stolen identities anymore. They'd have to actually squirrel away money from their new jobs.
"Nope, pitch it." Jane had had enough. Anything that didn't look important just got thrown and all the rest was put in a pile to deal with later. "I'm this on you, Wincester." She said after a moment, turning to stare down at him. "I never had this much mail in my life. What the hell?"
Dean shrugged, trying not to grin at the annoyed look on her face. "It's just mail, Janey, sweetheart."
"You'd better put some damn salt in the mailbox."
He snorted at that.
By the end of the month, they had settled into a routine. A boring, normal routine and Dean was, for the most part, completely okay with that. It was hard, life without his brother, but he was adjusting. It helped, having Jane, who seemed to be waiting patiently on him to make up his mind about something. He had a feeling it had to do with hunting. He wasn't actively hunting anymore, but that didn't make him any less alert. He salted their doors and windows, kept charms and devil's traps around, just in case. Maybe Jane was waiting on him to announce that their downtime was over and it was back to the grind.
But there was no more grind, this was it. He wasn't sure if they were starting out, or maybe starting over. Probably a bit of both. Bobby checked in from time to time and the conversations were always short, and kind of forced. He didn't mention anything supernatural, or about Sam, and neither did they. Castiel was nowhere to be found, and Dean hadn't tried calling for him. If the angel was visiting Jane in her dreams again, she wasn't saying.
This was it, their normal apple pie life.
