Ponygirl I didn't even realize I had that many yet. You are awesome! So is everyone else. I hope I haven't made the story too complicated. It all ties together like the first one.
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"That is a key?" Dean said and looked at Taylor's arm.
Taylor put his head on the table. "I'm a key."
Sam cleared his throat. "A key key or a key to how to read that stuff?"
Dean nudged Taylor.
Taylor groaned. "I'm paper." He snickered. "I'm a whiteboard!"
John rubbed his head. "I don't think he is quite here."
Taylor flopped his arm on the table. "Can somebody write this down before it heals?"
Kate quickly grabbed a slip of paper and wrote down what she could see on Taylor's arm.
Sam grabbed Bobby's camera and documented it as well.
Dean crouched beside Taylor. "Is it only your arm?"
Taylor looked down the collar of his shirt. "I think so."
Dean rolled his sleeve up to make sure it didn't continue onto his shoulder.
Sam got Taylor some orange juice and toast. "Here, this may help you."
Taylor took the toast and sipped at the juice.
Dean went to take a shower and left the others to watch over Taylor. He looked around the room and didn't notice anything off. He wasn't sure if the mysterious creature was able to get into the house or if the ringing had to do with their psychic abilities. They weren't quite sure if it was a creature. They had a tiny list of things they knew and a long list that they didn't.
Kate looked at the new message and felt her head hurting. "I can't quite make out what this means."
Taylor was still feeling loopy. "Maybe yell for an English translation next time."
"Are you high?" Kate asked.
Taylor rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling. "I hope not. This trip isn't very fun."
Bobby chuckled but stayed out of the conversation.
"Are you getting less groggy?" Kate asked, hopefully.
Taylor looked back at the table. "Yes. The walls stopped moving."
Bobby tossed him a bottle of medication for his head. "Take two of these."
Taylor looked into the bottle. He dumped two in his hand. "This is two right?"
Kate giggled. "Yeah." The longer she looked at the symbols, the more her head hurt. "I'm going to grab something from my room."
Bobby watched her leave and hoped that she wasn't hiding something.
Sam walked behind her. "Does your head hurt?"
"Yes. I just want my drawing pad. I was going to show Bobby what I was working on." Kate said.
Sam offered to get it for her. "You look like you're going to fall over."
Kate stopped at the bottom stair. "Okay, thank you."
Sam ran up and then back down.
"Bobby, I want to show you what I'm working on so I don't get anything wrong." Kate said.
Bobby took the notebook and swallowed hard.
"Is it okay?" Kate asked.
Bobby sat the book down and wrapped her in a hug.
Kate squeaked. "I need air."
Bobby let her go and then hugged her again.
Kate smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."
Taylor leaned over the table to look at the paper. "Who is that?"
Bobby looked at him with sad eyes. "My wife, Karen. I lost her a long time ago and Kate is sweet enough to do a drawing as if she was here now."
Kate blushed. "It isn't that big of a deal."
Bobby looked back at the drawing. "It looks finished."
Kate shook her head. "Nope, more details. Trust the process."
Taylor smiled. "That is really cool. I can't draw a circle."
Kate giggled. "That seems to be the general consensus except John."
Bobby furrowed his brows briefly. "Huh, I guess he can draw."
John sat back down at the table. "Not like that."
"You can draw creatures really well." Kate said.
Taylor was curious. "Can I see them?"
John grabbed his journal from his duffle and brought it back to Taylor.
Taylor flipped through and was amazed but also startled by the drawings. "Do wendigos actually look like this?"
"Uglier in person." John said.
"I know all this stuff is real but it is different seeing it instead of just reading or being told about it." Taylor said.
John nodded. "It can be unsettling fighting the things."
"Unsettling is a rough word for it." Kate said.
Taylor looked at Kate. "I guess you have met a few of these things."
"Ghosts just look like normal people and demons do too. They are scary but don't really look like creatures. Hellhounds are a different story. Do you have a page on them?" She flipped through the journal and found the section surrounding her dad's death.
John put his hand on the journal. "I don't think you need to go back through that."
Kate frowned. "It happened. I can't pretend it didn't."
"No, it wasn't that long ago and I know that when I look at the pages about Mary that it sends me into a dark place. I don't have any drawings of the hounds anyway." John said.
Kate sat back. "I guess you didn't get a good look at them since you were possessed."
"Wait what?" Taylor asked.
John sighed. He lifted the side of the shirt and showed Taylor the scar on his side. "A demon possessed me. She threw a knife coated in holy water and sliced my side."
Taylor was intrigued. "Then what happened? Did you get the demon to go away? Did you have to go to the hospital?"
John glanced over at Bobby and knew Kate was going to wind up focusing on that night.
Kate grimaced. John hadn't went to the hospital because she did. "I purposefully hit his side so it didn't hurt him that bad. It caught the demon off guard and gave Dean a chance to get away from him while trapping him in a devil's trap."
"Kate." John warned.
"Wow, you guys must have really had it planned out. How'd you know he was a demon?" Taylor asked.
Kate tried to remember that night but some things were hazy. She had pushed so much to the far corners of her mind and had forgotten how serious the situation had been. "I just noticed some weird things for a day or two."
Dean sat down after grabbing some coffee. He had missed the first part of the conversation.
"Did you see the hellhounds?" Taylor asked Dean.
Dean sat his coffee down. "Why are you talking about this?"
"We were talking about drawings and how John draws creatures really well. He doesn't have a hell hound drawing though because he was preoccupied when they came." Kate said.
"Yeah but you and Sam were outside, right?" Taylor asked.
Dean shot John a look. "I didn't see them."
Kate furrowed her brows. "How? Do you mean you couldn't get a good look at them?"
"No, I mean I couldn't see them. Sam kind of did but he said it was like seeing heat waves." Dean said.
"Why did Kate see them?" Taylor asked.
John put his hand on Kate's shoulder.
Kate chewed on her fingers. "Looks like you can only see them when they are after you."
Taylor saw the sadness in her eyes.
John stopped Taylor before he said anything. "No more talk of hell hounds or what happened that night."
Kate looked up at John. "It is okay, we probably need a drawing of one."
John shook his head. "No."
"I'm okay with it." Kate said.
John pinched the bridge of his nose. "Drop it."
Taylor and Kate both shut their mouths.
"I do not want you dwelling on that and having those visions again." John said.
Kate rolled her eyes. "I can control visions now."
John lowered his voice. "Drop it or go get what I gave Dean."
Kate slid down in her seat. "Yes sir."
Taylor stared at his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about it causing flashbacks."
John nodded. "You know now. So just pick something lighter to talk about."
Dean cleared his throat. "You two could help out at Lacy's again."
Kate huffed. "That went so well last time."
Dean sipped his coffee. "All four of us will be there."
Kate shrugged. "Okay but I'm not chasing him down."
Dean chuckled. "If he makes a break for it I can catch him."
John smiled to himself. "Is he about like Sam as a kid?"
Dean shook his head. "Far worse."
"He ran away from the park and almost ran into the street. That is why I had to compel him to stop." Kate reminded John.
"Sam only darted a few times before he stopped that." John said.
Dean snorted. "He was terrified to try running."
John leaned back in his chair. "At least for a while."
Sam overheard them talking about him. "I would like to point out that being four and running across the street is different than being older and running away from home."
"Did running end well either of those times?" Dean asked.
Sam scoffed. "No."
"You ran away from home?" Taylor asked.
"I have a few times." Sam said with a bit of sadness in his voice.
Taylor could conjure up some reasons he may have ran but he was trying to process that they seemed okay with it. His parents would hold it over his head and had kicked him out of the house for less.
Dean got a good look at his face. "What are you thinking about?"
Taylor blushed.
"In this house, if you screw up, we deal with it. It may not always be fun to deal with but we get through it and things go back to the way they were. I was pissed at Sam for the last time he ran but no hard feelings now." Dean said.
Taylor smirked and looked at Kate. "He does read minds."
Dean sat back, satisfied. "Don't even need mojo for that."
Taylor gave Dean a small smile. When he had met Kate at Ellie's house he had thought she was an interesting person. She was unsure of herself and didn't seem like she knew how to be around other kids. Sure she was pretty but more than anything she was different. He saw a lot of himself in her and that is why he approached her. He could see the pain in her eyes and knew she had seen some stuff. It turned out that she had seen so much more than he had and was stronger than he was and that fascinated him.
Dean snapped his fingers in front of Taylor's face. "Earth to Taylor."
Taylor blinked.
"Where were you?" Dean asked.
"Uh, I was thinking." Taylor said sheepishly.
"Well don't hurt yourself. I need you ready in 20 to go to Lacy's house." Dean said with a smirk.
Taylor pushed his chair back. "Ye-"
"Don't say it." Dean said with a laugh.
Taylor shrugged and ran up the stairs to change.
"What was he going to say?" John asked.
Dean shook his head. "Yes sir. I'm not sir. I'm not that old yet."
John chuckled. "Seems to have the opposite issue that Kate does."
Kate huffed. "Dean is a brother to me."
Dean ruffled her hair. "Yep, run get ready too."
Kate smiled at him and took off down the hallway.
John watched Dean make sandwiches to go. Dean had a caretaker gene that John had lost when Mary died. He was an excellent hunter and fighter but years of protecting Sam had given him an edge that John didn't have. It made him proud but also saddened him.
Dean stuffed a piece of bacon in his mouth. "Bobby, if you need anything from town I can pick it up on the way back."
Bobby handed him a travel mug. "Call me later in the day and I'll let you know."
Dean looked at Sam. "What are you doing?"
Sam looked at John and then back to Dean. "Helping dad with a hunt a few towns over. "
Dean turned and looked at John with raised brows. "I didn't know you were hunting today."
John smirked. "You have babysitting duty. Me and your brother can handle it."
Dean scoffed. "I'll ditch the babies."
John shook his head. "I want to see how Sam does by himself."
Dean shrugged. "Don't mess up too bad."
Sam punched him in the arm. "Jerk."
"Bitch." Dean said as he grabbed his keys. Dean whistled up the stairs and waited to hear movement.
"Stop whistling!" Kate said.
"Hey, it works." Dean shot back.
Taylor grabbed the rest of his stuff and ran down the stairs.
Dean handed him the snacks and told him to put them in the car.
Kate purposefully took her time.
"Get a move on." Dean said.
Kate looked down the stairs. "You said twenty minutes."
Dean rolled his eyes. "You are clearly ready, don't test me."
Kate slowly grabbed her bag. "Waiting wont kill you."
Dean grinned.
"You know what, shut up. I heard it." Kate said, realizing that he had impressed that exact lesson upon her.
Dean grabbed a few drinks and tossed them in a plastic bag. He took a short list from Bobby and went out to the car.
Kate waited for him to go outside before hurrying down the stairs.
"You're playing a dangerous game there." John said.
Kate turned around and offered him a sweet smile. "My favorite kind." She waved and ran to the car.
John went back to the kitchen and got another cup of coffee. "She has you beat on attitude, Sam."
Sam shrugged. "I'm okay with that."
"We need to figure out the Taylor situation." John said.
"His momma didn't seem to worried about getting him back." Bobby said.
"No but that is short term. Craig may get released and keep it together but he is better out hunting than at home." John added.
Bobby sighed. "What's one more? He can stay here when he needs to."
"He is here a lot already. If he is here even more I think he needs to learn the ropes. He and Kate don't need to grow up to be hunters but they do need to know what to do to protect themselves." John said and sipped his coffee.
"He knows most of what Kate knows. We have been training him. You should see him with a bow." Sam said.
John tapped his fingers on his cup. "Is he good with it?"
"He can show you when we get back from this hunt. I think you'll be surprised." Sam said.
"I'll take your word for it." John said.
Bobby cleared his throat. "It might mean a good bit to the kid if you let him show off. Might be a good chance to get to the bottom of what Craig did too."
"Alright, that ain't a bad idea."
Sam stretched. "When do we head out?"
John checked his watch. "I'll get the gear now. We should be able to get there and back before too late."
Bobby helped them gather things and saw them off. He was pleased to see John taking time with Sam. His comment about showing off had just as much to do with Sam as it did with Taylor. His house was quiet again. He could hear the creaking of settling foundation and the hum of the refrigerator. He sat down at his desk and cracked open a book on shapeshifters. A younger hunter needed information and Bobby was the hub for hunters.
Dean killed the engine and got out of the car. He met Lacy at the door and gave her a quick kiss. "Miss me?"
Lacy grinned. "You bet."
He barely made it in the door before Luke wrapped himself around Dean's legs.
Kate and Taylor followed and got tackled too.
Kate scooped Ivy up in her arms. "Hi, Ivy."
Ivy waved her hand as she had learned to wave hi and bye.
Taylor waved back at her and felt a tug on his other hand. "Where are we going, Luke?"
Luke drug him into the spare room. "Cars."
Taylor ducked his head out of the door. "Apparently we are playing with cars."
Lacy gave him a thumbs up and turned to Dean. "Want to help me in the kitchen?"
Dean raised a brow. "What kind of help are you needing?"
Lacy gave him a look and turned to walk in the kitchen.
Kate cringed and looked at Ivy. "Gross." Kate took Ivy into the room with Luke and Taylor. She was astonished by how quickly Ivy grew. It hadn't been that long since she had babysat but babies did grow alarmingly fast.
Taylor handed Ivy a car and helped Luke put together tracks.
"You are good at this." Kate said.
"I had these tracks until a few years ago." Taylor said without looking up.
Even with how Taylor's parents were, he still knew how to be a normal kid. Kate struggled with knowing just how to play with Luke.
Dean wrapped his arms around Lacy and lifted her to sit on the kitchen counter. He kissed her and smiled. "What kind of help did you need?"
Lacy leaned her forehead against his. "This."
"You doing okay?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm just tired. I just want to go to a cabin somewhere and it just be the two of us, no distractions." Lacy said.
Dean kissed her again. "I happen to know of a cabin where we could do that." He ran his hands up her legs.
Kate put her hand over her eyes. "Uh, I have a question."
Dean rolled his eyes. "You need to ask it now?"
Kate nodded. "The kitchen doesn't have a door."
Lacy laughed and got off the counter. "What do you need?"
"Ivy's cup."
Lacy got it out of the fridge. "Here you go. Take Luke's too."
Kate thanked her. "Maybe don't do that stuff in the kitchen. There are children here." She said and gave Dean a grin.
Dean shooed her out of the kitchen. "When you turn 30 and are allowed to date I will make sure to interrupt any alone time you may have."
Kate rolled her eyes and bowed out of the room.
Lacy smiled. "30 is it?"
"Yep. Keeping her under lock and key until then." Dean said with a grin.
"Neither of us is 30." Lacy said.
Dean sat down and pulled her toward him. "Exactly, I know how guys can be."
"What does that say about me?" She teased him.
"You are lucky I'm not one of those guys." Dean said before kissing her again.
Lacy swatted his hands away. "Later, when the kids go home."
Dean groaned. "You tease." He swatted her and pulled her back to him for one more kiss. "Fine."
Lacy handed him a pack of lightbulbs. "Here, take your mind off of it."
Dean changed the lights above the table and flipped the switch on. "Hey, they work."
Lacy started to say something but was cut off by Ivy crying.
Kate picked Ivy up and stepped out of the room. "Shh, you're okay." She hushed her and bounced her.
Lacy appeared in the hallway. "What is wrong?"
Kate bit back her frustration. "Luke hit her in the eye with a car."
Lacy looked at Ivy's face. "Oh man, that may be a black eye." She took Ivy to the kitchen to get a cool cloth for her eye.
Kate looked at Dean. "What do I do?"
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"He hit her in the eye. He could have really injured her. She is just a baby." Kate said.
"Katie, he isn't my kid." Dean said.
Kate huffed. "News flash, I'm not either."
Dean gave her a hurt look. "That is different. You aren't my kid but you are family."
Kate frowned. "I didn't mean it like that. I just got upset with him."
Dean stepped into the room. "Did you hit your sister?"
Luke shook his head.
"Hmm, I think you did. I think you are lying." Dean said and sat down in front of Luke.
Luke stepped back. "I'm not lying."
Dean chewed his cheek. "I'll let you in on a secret. When you lie, your ears turn red. Yours are pretty red right now so I know you are telling a lie."
Luke gasped and covered his ears. "She stepped on my tracks."
Dean shrugged. "Little sisters do that kind of thing but she is a baby. You have two bigger kids here who can help put them together. Do you think you should apologize and make sure she is okay? As the big brother you have to protect her, not hurt her."
Luke kept his hands over his ears and went to find Ivy. "I'm sorry I hit you."
Lacy let him know it was okay. When Luke went back to Taylor and Kate she asked Dean what was wrong with his ears.
Dean chuckled. "I told him that your ears turn red when you lie."
Lacy smiled. "That is clever."
Dean gave Ivy a smile. "I think she is going to live."
Lacy pulled the cloth away. "Big brothers are jerks aren't they?"
Dean scoffed. "Don't lump us all into the same group."
"Oh I have heard stories." Lacy said with a smile.
"Stories? What kind of stories?" Dean asked.
Lacy shook her head. "Sworn to secrecy."
John handed Sam a map and let him navigate to their destination. "You are good at that."
Sam thanked him. "I've been navigator since Dean got the car."
"That was a year or two ago." John said, distantly.
Sam didn't have the same ease that Dean did when it came to being around John. Even when they were on good terms there was a wall between them. "So you think this is a cursed object?"
"Seems to be. The behavior is a lot like a ghost but isn't in one place. I've been following it for a few weeks and I think we have a good chance of nailing it down." John said.
Sam told him to take the next left. "Do you know what it looks like?"
"No. It could be a coin or jewelry. It is portable." John answered.
Sam flipped through the pages of notes that John had. "Needle in a haystack."
"Good thing we have a magnet." John motioned toward his duffle. "I have a hex bag that will burn when it gets near the object."
"How do you know?"
John took a deep breath. "Because I have been on this case for a while and I've been hunting as long as you've been alive."
Sam shut his mouth. He wasn't trying to question John's judgement.
John gripped the steering wheel and swore under his breath. "I mean, I did my research. I have a trusted source that made the hex bag to react with the type of magic that thing puts off."
Sam nodded. "Okay."
John hated that his first reaction was to snap. Sam always was a curious person and John didn't like having to explain himself. "Side pocket of my duffle. There is a folded paper that will tell you all I know about the object and that hex bag."
Sam reached back and dug around until he could find it. "Thanks."
John nodded and focused back on the road. He just didn't know how to talk to Sam without it sounding like an attack. They were both quiet for a while. "Stanford has been around a long time, right?"
Sam looked up from the paper. "Yeah."
"Some of those old schools have those big libraries." John said.
Sam put the paper down. "A lot of them do."
John was quiet for another minute. "If you find anything old and interesting, you could let us know."
Sam recognized the olive branch for what it was. "Yeah, for sure. There is bound to be a book or two that Bobby would like to look at."
John nodded and tapped his fingers along the leather of the steering wheel.
Sam smiled to himself and found the next road. "Up ahead, turn on Allen Ave."
John turned the truck and soon they were where they needed to be.
"So, if one of us is holding the hex bag when we get close to the object, what do we do?" Sam asked.
John smirked. "You've played hot potato haven't you?"
Sam nodded. He got a split second glimpse of Dean. "Got it."
They combed over the block and questioned witnesses until they narrowed down a location.
John pulled the hex bag out. "Let's see what we can find."
Sam found a few objects that looked old enough to be the object in question. He had read about the bad luck that seemed to follow people who came into contact with it. The attacks seemed to be random in style which made it that much more difficult to know what they were looking for. "Palms getting sweaty yet?"
John held up the hand that the bag was in. "Nothing yet."
Sam entered a room and stopped in his tracks. "Dad, get out."
John stopped. "What?"
Sam turned and yelled. "Get out of the building!"
John turned and quickly left through the front entrance. "What?"
Sam ran out after him. "Somebody left the stove on."
John still didn't put it together.
"Either that is coincidence or somebody knew about the bag burning when it gets near the object. Burning bag, gas stove..." Sam said.
John took a deep breath and smiled. "Good work, son."
Sam furrowed his brows. He at least expected a dressing down for his tone.
"The object must be in that room then." John said.
Sam walked around the building to the window. "This one."
John picked up a brick to break the window before Sam shoved him. "What the-"
A large tree branch fell from overhead.
John looked up at the tree. "Or the object is on me."
Sam looked him over. "Maybe it isn't on you. Maybe it saw you as a threat."
"It is an object." John said.
"What if it isn't?" Sam said.
John let Sam mull over the information.
"Each person who died had a similar demeanor." He gave John a leery look.
"Go on."
"Middle aged men who are ... gruff." Sam said.
John nodded. "So the object doesn't like men?"
Sam went to John's truck and pulled out the paper. "I have an idea."
"Don't go back in there." John said.
Sam stopped at the door to the building. "Can you trust me on this?"
John grumbled. "Watch your back."
Sam stepped into the building and put down his weapon. He slowly walked to the room with the stove and reached to turn it off. He kept his movements slow and gentle. He saw a small figurine. "Alright, I'm here to help. If you could just.. not... kill me that would be great."
The figurine moved.
Sam stopped in his tracks.
John saw a flash of red light and ran into the house. "Sam!"
Sam held his hand out.
"What the hell is that?" John said.
Sam got closer to the figurine. "It isn't a cursed object. It is a cursed person."
John felt the hex bag begin to heat. It caught fire and he dropped it.
Sam acted on instinct and grabbed the figurine, tossing it into the small fire.
There was another flash of red light before a spirit released itself from the fire. It looked like a young boy. It appeared to wave before vanishing out the door and into the sky.
Sam stomped the fire out. He waited for the lecture on not following the plan.
John walked out of the house and looked around.
Sam walked out of the building and shut the door.
"Do you want to tell me what that was?" John asked.
Sam stammered. "Sorry, sir."
John stopped him. "I'm not asking for an apology. I'm asking how you knew what that was."
Sam blinked a few times. "Uh, hunch?"
John rubbed the back of his neck. "Hell of a hunch."
"I will have to double check with Bobby but I think the spirit was cursed. It being a kid might explain why it went after a certain type of adult." Sam said.
John furrowed his brows. "That is a new one."
"Good luck drawing that." Sam said with a smile.
John clapped him on the back. "I'll need a report."
"I'll get on that." Sam said.
It wasn't lost on John that Sam had saved him twice. "Your brother is going to sulk for a few weeks over this."
Sam grinned. "I'll make sure he does."
They got in the truck and let Bobby know they were headed back.
Sam saved the story for when they were all back at Bobby's.
With both Luke and Ivy sleeping, Taylor and Kate took a break and sat in the living room and cooled off.
"I did a spell to pull my dad's soul. I added an adhesive to the paint to draw the sigil. That is how I knew John tried to mess the spell up. Well, not John but the demon." Kate answered.
"So that is why you checked his shoe?" Taylor was still amazed by the whole ordeal.
"Yes. I threw the knife and escaped. That is when the-" She froze as she felt a hand clamp the back of her neck.
"I might be wrong here but I think that you two were told to drop it." Dean said.
Kate tried to slide down on the couch. "You've gotten more stealthy."
Dean walked around and sat on Lacy's coffee table. "Were you told to drop it?"
Taylor nodded. "We were."
"Then why are you talking about it? Especially here where Lacy could have heard you?" Dean asked.
Kate didn't have a response.
"When we get back to Bobby's you two can run three laps." Dean said.
"That is excessive." Kate complained.
"Would you prefer to not run laps and just explain this all to dad?" Dean asked.
"No! I just don't understand why." Kate answered, honestly.
"When you talk about it you start having those dreams again." Dean said.
Kate shrugged. "I can handle it."
"We can't, Kate. The whole ordeal was hell for you. It was for us too. Seeing you bloody like that and how close you came to not making it." Dean looked away so he didn't get emotional. "Dad blames himself for getting possessed. He couldn't protect you because he was trapped."
Kate hung her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."
"That is why you are running laps and not getting your ass kicked." Dean said.
Kate cringed. "Fair."
Dean looked over at Taylor. "You count as part of the family. Consider this an initiation."
Taylor nodded quickly.
Kate scooted forward toward Dean. "John wouldn't."
Dean shrugged. "I don't know. Do you want to ask him?"
Kate shook her head. "You are a really good big brother. A true show of acceptance of a new family member would be making it two laps. You know... trust and everything. I mean it would be the cool brother thing to do."
Dean smirked and sat back. "Two but you two better run both."
Kate hugged him. "Thanks."
Dean patted her and stood up. "Next time you decide to stand in front of a bus I'm not pulling you out of the way."
Kate turned to Taylor and saw his face. "Are you okay?"
"Part of the family?" Taylor asked.
Kate shrugged. "They like you."
Taylor put his elbows on his knees. He was certain that Dean was pissed but then he called him part of the family and took Kate's suggestion.
"Yeah, it is confusing at first. You'll get the hang of it." Kate said. "Down side is Dean's a bit of a hardass."
Dean cleared his throat. "I heard that."
Kate and Taylor both turned.
Kate grinned. "I said a bit. Not totally. 50/50."
"That better be 20/80." Dean said from the kitchen.
Kate ducked her head and mouthed. "See what I mean?"
Taylor nodded slowly. He didn't care if it was an 80/20 split, he counted for something.
