Dean looked back at the birth certificate. "The father isn't listed. That doesn't necessarily mean Craig isn't your dad."

Taylor took the paper back. "This is the best bit of news I've gotten in months and you are trying to squash it."

Dean chuckled. "I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I think you should clarify before you get too far ahead of yourself. Even if you are Craig's kid, family doesn't end in blood. Just because you are blood doesn't always mean you are family."

"I'm going to call my mom." Taylor said with a pep in his voice.

"You may want to wait until she is off work." Dean said.

Taylor sighed. "She's made her choices. She didn't give me any consideration so she shouldn't get any."

Dean leaned back against his car. "Message her first to make sure she isn't with a client. She may deserve the shock but the client doesn't."

Taylor blushed slightly. "Okay."

Dean felt bad for putting a damper on Taylor's excitement. He just didn't want him to tell other people and then go through the disappointment if Craig was indeed his father.

Taylor sent Misty a text and hoped she would call quickly. He was a ball of nerves with this new development. He wondered if Craig knew and that was why he singled him out. "You know, I don't really look like my brothers."

Dean smirked. "Sammy and I don't look much alike either. If you aren't Craig's that is great but that does raise a whole lot of questions."

Taylor knew he was over reacting. He didn't fit in with his family and this seemed like a reason.

Taylor's phone rang and Dean motioned for him to hand it over. "Hey, Misty, this is Dean. Taylor found something and I want to make sure now is a good time." He handed the phone to Taylor. "She's on lunch."

Taylor felt lightheaded. He was so ready to get answers but he felt himself reverting back into the Taylor he was raised to be. How could he ask her something like that and risk hurting her.

Dean caught Taylor's attention. "Now's your chance."

"Um, Hi mom. Yes, I'm okay. Look, I'll just get to it. I found my birth certificate. No, not that one." Taylor heard silence from the other end of the phone. "Mom? Is Craig my dad?"

Misty hadn't intended for him to find that. "You do not call him by his name. That is disrespectful."

Taylor felt his temper rising. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wont call him by his name. Is the bastard you let hit me my entire life my actual father?"

Dean's eyes got wide. He could hear Misty chewing Taylor out. He could see the vein on Taylor's neck throbbing and figured he was closed to snapping.

"Stop defending him for two minutes! I have been trying to figure out why I've been targeted by angels. If he isn't my dad, that is an entire half of my genetics that I have no idea about. So either he is my dad or you have known he wasn't this whole time and didn't think to tell me." Taylor was seething.

"Alright." Dean said and took the phone from his hand. "Dean again. He has been working all day every day trying to figure out what is going on. You can understand that he would be upset if something this big was left out."

Taylor gritted his teeth.

"We do need to know. We want to figure this all out before things take a turn for the worst. I understand. No, he didn't learn that tone here. I'd say he is pretty stressed out and has been for a long time. I'll take care of it. Yep. Okay, thank you." Dean said and hung up the phone.

Taylor's eyes were sad. "You're going to take care of it?"

"How you speak to your mother." Dean said.

Taylor's shoulders dropped.

Dean handed him the phone. "Don't say stuff like that again... to her face." He smirked to let Taylor know it was okay.

Taylor let out the breath he was holding. "I thought I held back."

Dean nudged him toward the house. "As long as she doesn't start having nightmares we are good."

Taylor's face turned red. "Right."

Dean stopped before he opened the front door. "By the way, you aren't Craig's."

Taylor ripped the door open. He felt like he had won the lottery.

Dean shook his head and followed him in.

Taylor proudly held his birth certificate up like a golden ticket.

Bobby looked up from his desk. "What did you find?"

Taylor slapped it down on the desk.

Bobby jumped slightly. "Ah, proof that you are human and weren't born in a petri dish."

Taylor laughed. "That is another way to look at it."

"We will have a teenager in the house soon too." Bobby said and looked to Dean.

Dean motioned for him to continue.

Taylor got tired of waiting. "I don't know who my dad is!"

Bobby was caught off by Taylor's excitement.

"Craig isn't my dad."

Bobby's own father was a lot like Craig and he would have loved if he wasn't related to the man. "That is wonderful."

"Forget my birthday. This is reason to celebrate." Taylor said.

Dean snorted. "I already told him that it didn't matter who he was to Craig. He isn't like him."

Taylor felt a freedom that he had not felt before. He fell back in the extra chair and took a deep breath. He suddenly sat forward. "That means I don't know who my dad is."

"Does Misty know?" Bobby asked.

Dean shook his head. "We called her. The conversation was... colorful. I didn't manage to get a name out of her."

Taylor grimaced. "She shuts down when she is yelled at. I should have stayed calm."

Dean put a hand on his shoulder. "We will figure that out later. She is the adult. She should have told you and not gotten defensive."

Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"We agreed as long as he keeps his mind to himself and Misty doesn't start hallucinating, he's good." Dean said.

Bobby chuckled. "How do you want to celebrate?"

"Oh, I didn't mean actually celebrate. I was just excited." Taylor said, sheepishly.

Dean laughed. "Forced birthday celebrations are a staple here."

"Just a cake." Taylor said.

Dean clicked his tongue. "Do you think Kate is going to realize you are about to have a birthday and let you off with just a cake?"

Taylor jumped up. "Kate!"

Dean stepped back so he wouldn't get trampled.

Bobby looked up at Dean. "That is the most emotion I have seen that kid express."

"That is Kate level excitement." He felt his teeth ache from a particularly high pitched screech. "Never mind, Kate has a whole new level."

Kate wrapped her arms around his neck. "So who is your dad?"

Taylor shrugged. "I don't know yet."

Kate screeched again. "I'm happy for you. Maybe if we find out who your real dad is, he can lead us to more connections."

"I can contact her tomorrow and try to get a name." Bobby said.

Dean sat down in the vacant chair. "She didn't really want to answer. Even after we brought up needing to know because of these abilities. Maybe dad can get some information from Craig."

"I'll try a different tactic." Bobby said.

Dean smiled. "Demanding to know if the bastard she let hit him for years was or wasn't his father wasn't effective."

Bobby felt a smile cross his face. "He said that?"

"I can't say I blame him." Dean said.

"No, not at all." Bobby was never able to stand up to his mother that way. Even after he protected her, she blamed him for things.

#### ####

Friday afternoon Kate and Taylor were taking a break from chores.

Kate perked up. "Oh! Your birthday is tomorrow. We could go to the diner."

Taylor shook his head. "I am happy with just cake."

"Sam has some secret climbing spots. You are turning 13. You are going to be a teenager. We have to do something." Kate said.

Taylor had parties before but he felt like this one was different. They had given him so much already and he didn't need a special day.

"We got you gifts so you can't complain about those. We are going to celebrate." Kate said.

Taylor groaned. "I told you not to."

Kate grabbed his shoulders. "Taylor, we don't have that many things to celebrate."

"If my nana's wasn't so far away I'd say we could go there." Taylor said, almost to himself.

Kate ran down the hallway into Bobby's office. "Can we go to Marie's for Taylor's birthday?"

Taylor sent her a glare. He didn't mean for her to run with the information.

Dean waved his hand to tell her to be quiet.

Kate sat on Bobby's desk and waited.

He was on the phone with John and wrapping up the conversation.

Kate waited for the phone to beep as the call ended. "So, can we go to Marie's?"

Taylor threw his hands up. "No, we can't. It is 2 hours one way and short notice. I told you I don't need to celebrate but you wont listen."

Dean smirked at Kate.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Fine. We can go over there another day then."

"You could ask instead of inviting yourself." Dean said.

"I wasn't inviting myself. I'm trying to do something for him and he is being a grump." Kate said.

Dean rubbed his temples. "I am sure she would love visitors but Taylor can ask her about another day. Taylor, you do not want a big fuss but would you like a cake and to go hang out at the lake?"

Taylor thought about it. "That would be okay."

Kate put her hands on her hips. "I offered stuff like that and you shot me down."

Taylor mimicked her voice. "Because you demanded it."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, Kate."

Kate flopped her arms to her side. "Really?"

Taylor grinned. "No. I was overwhelmed. The lake may be fun."

Dean tapped his palms on his legs. "Do you want gifts today? We have been doing a lot of that."

Taylor shrugged. "You guys didn't need to get me anything."

"We did, so your choice is now or later." Dean said.

Taylor looked at Kate who was about to burst a blood vessel. "Today, only because I'm worried she may die if I decide to wait."

Kate took off up the stairs. "Sam! Present time!"

Sam groaned. "Is it necessary to yell?"

Kate pulled Taylor's gift from under her bed. "Stop being an old man and come downstairs."

Sam sat his book down and followed her. The adults of the household had to brain storm to come up with ideas for Taylor. They knew he wouldn't be comfortable with most gifts.

Taylor was pushed into the living room and made to sit down on the couch.

Kate handed him the wrapped gift she had found.

Taylor shook it beside his ear. "Hmm, I don't hear anything." He took his time unwrapping it to bug Kate. "It's a box. I love it."

Kate smacked his shoulder. "Just open it."

Taylor grinned. "You made me a cd?"

"Yeah, you made one for my birthday. There is more." Kate said.

Taylor emptied the box into his lap. He found his own version of the necklace that Kate wore to ward off creatures. "Thank you." He said and put it on his neck. "Bonus is it looks really cool."

Kate gave him a huff. "They wouldn't let me get anything else."

Taylor felt the cool metal around his neck. "This is perfect. So is the cd. I forgot about making you one."

"Sammy and I talked a lot about what you would like. We did tell her not to get anything else. You are practical and I thought you'd feel uncomfortable if we got you anything fancy." Dean said.

Taylor nodded his head. "I am grateful no matter what but feel bad when people spend money on me."

"So the two that are from the three of us, are a bit different." Dean added.

Taylor smiled. "Okay."

Dean put the two gifts in front of him.

Taylor stared at them. He grabbed the larger one and carefully unwrapped it. He pulled the paper away and had to swallow a few times.

Kate looked at it. "Me and Sam have the same one. Dean gave it to us."

Taylor knew the story behind it.

"Do you have an entire box of them?" Kate asked, she could see Taylor needed a moment.

"The guy that made the other two is still around. He made the same joke." Dean said with a smile.

"You had it made?" Taylor asked.

Kate turned the blade over and showed him his initial.

"Same type of wood and everything." Dean said.

Taylor stared at the knife. It had a leather sheath like Kate's and the same carving that marked the knife as his. Kate was so proud of hers and he knew how much it meant to her because it came from Dean. "Thank you."

Dean cleared his throat. "No chick flick moments." He joked. He could see Taylor struggling with the emotions that were rolling over him

Taylor took a deep breath. "Right. What is this one?"

Kate nudged him. "Open it. I don't know either."

Taylor shook it and felt something small sliding around inside. He pulled the lid off and furrowed his brows.

"It is a key?" Kate asked.

Bobby leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "House key."

Taylor felt his eyes start to burn and his jaw start to cramp.

"Sam will be gone, Dean's going to be on the road and you'll need a way in if somebody isn't already here." Bobby said.

Taylor instantly got what the key meant. It meant that this was his home too. It meant that they trusted him. He didn't trust himself to talk and didn't want to break down.

Dean stood up, giving Taylor a way out. "That knife is weighted differently than your other one. If you want to go outside I'll show you how to use it."

Taylor put the key in his pocket and followed Dean.

Kate whispered to Bobby. "Is he okay?"

Bobby nodded. "Yes. Not everyone is comfortable being emotional in front of other people."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I've noticed that."

Dean held his hand out for Taylor's knife. "You'll get used to it. It is a bit easier to hold onto."

Taylor watched Dean take a few practice jabs.

Dean handed it back. "This isn't a throwing knife but it is the one that Kate got my dad in the side with."

Bobby watched them through the window. Dean was an excellent teacher.

Kate nudged Bobby's elbow so he would pick it up and put it around her. "You are running a training academy for kids."

Bobby snorted. "If I was running an academy you'd think I'd get paid."

Kate left the window and went outside to swing on the tire swing at the back of Bobby's house. She enjoyed the quiet sometimes. Everything was about to change again and it made her uncomfortable. Sam was leaving, school was starting and Dean would be gone more often. At least she had Taylor. She was tired of looking at the research and getting nowhere. They couldn't even figure out who Taylor's father was. Both of her parents were dead and had left very little records. She doubted anyone in her family was alive at all. She had asked Sam to look through some registries to see if she had any distant relatives but he couldn't find many answers. What records her mom had kept, burned in the fire. Her dad never spoke about his family so she felt like there was a gigantic gap between Ada and Brian.

Taylor got comfortable with the knife and tested how it felt to carry. "Dean."

Dean leaned against the fence. "What?"

Taylor searched for words but nothing felt right. "Thanks."

Dean popped his knuckles and shook his hand out. "No problem."

"No. I mean it. No one has ever put so much thought into a gift for me. I just couldn't put it into words." Taylor said.

Dean smirked. "I bailed you out of there before you embarrassed yourself."

Taylor grinned. "Thanks for that. I didn't mean to seem rude."

"You weren't. Bobby knows." Dean said.

Taylor relaxed. He would thank Bobby and Sam too but he was still processing his thoughts. His mom would have scolded him for not appearing thankful.

Dean watched him. "I have my key with my car keys. You may want to tie something to yours so you don't lose it."

Taylor patted his pocket and then took his necklace off. He put the key next to the pendant and placed it back around his neck.

"That works. Kinda girly." Dean teased.

Taylor pointed to the necklace that Dean kept tucked into his shirt. "You wear jewelry."

Dean pulled it out. "Sam gave it to me when he was around 8. Feels weird if I don't wear it."

Taylor. "Wearing a necklace your little brother gave you a decade ago goes against your tough guy act."

"Not an act." Dean said and scoffed.

Kate let the tire swing spin. She liked to twist one way and spin the other way as she closed her eyes. It made her feel like she was flying. As the swing stopped spinning and came to a stop, her body still felt as though it was moving. She had learned in one of the medical textbooks that it had to do with fluid in the ears. She was still fascinated by the human body and how to mend it. Due to Taylor finding out about his father, she gained a new fascination with genetics. When someone was bitten by a werewolf or vampire, their DNA changed. She wondered what her own DNA was doing. She was still very much human but normal humans didn't have the abilities that she did. Missouri had abilities but she was born with the genetic components. So much had happened to Kate that she wasn't sure what was genetic and what was from an outside source.

Dean walked with Taylor back inside the house.

Taylor found Bobby and thanked him for the key. He showed him that it was on his necklace and thanked Sam as well.

Part of the decision to give Taylor the key was that Bobby had spoken to Misty. He was concerned that she would change the locks. He didn't understand how someone could disown their kid, especially one like Taylor. There was a lot going on that Misty wasn't inclined to talk about. That frustrated Bobby because she could have half the answers they needed. He was waiting to talk to Taylor when it wasn't his birthday.

Kate took a deep breath and let her head stop spinning. She felt anxious. She bit her lip and tried talking to the Grigori. It was nice and had helped her before. She wished that she could just speak to it in a normal manner. The lore was spotty and unreliable. If the helper was an angel, the common myth of angels was wrong. He didn't appear with wings and a harp. They hit a lull on information on Grigori and it bothered her. She wanted to think that they had their own angel but there was no proof that they weren't still in danger. Kate closed her eyes and sent up a prayer for a sign. She opened her eyes and blew her hair out of her line of vision. She needed to learn to braid her own hair before Sam left because the curls at the front were determined to park themselves right in her eyes. She couldn't fight if she couldn't see. She let the tire swing rock back and forth and frowned deeply. She just wanted one sign; one hint. Was someone hiding who she really was from her or was it just too complicated to keep straight?

Dean went to check on Kate. She looked sad. "Hey, kiddo. What are you doing back here?"

Kate shrugged. "Listening to nature."

Dean nudged the swing. "What is nature saying to you?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Nothing yet."

It was a warm, August day. The kind of day that made metal too hot to touch and flowers wilt. Dean felt a chill run up his spine and shivered.

Kate felt it too.

Dean stopped the swing. Even the breeze just blew hot air around. He grabbed her arm and helped her out of the swing. As a hunter, an uncharacteristic chill was never a good sign.

Kate whipped her head around. "Trees?"

Dean looked at the trees. "Yes, we are surrounded by them."

Kate's eyes flicked back and forth as she tried to identify which direction the sound was coming from.

Dean pulled her into the house. "What was that?"

"The whispers. Just one though." Kate said.

Dean furrowed his brows. "And it mentioned the trees?"

"Rough translation I think it was saying look at the trees." Kate said.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Taylor, come here." Kate said.

Taylor went to the window. "Yeah?"

Kate tried to repeat what she had heard.

"I agree about the trees being the key message. What context though?" Taylor said.

Kate's eyes got wide. "I asked for a sign and it told me to look at the trees."

"Maybe the trees will talk to you." Dean teased.

Bobby grumbled. "If Vietnam taught me anything, talking trees are never a good thing."

"Why?" Kate asked.

Bobby waved her off. "Ah you'd have had to been there."

Kate sighed. "I reached out to the Grigori and asked for a sign. Then, there's a single whisper that says to look at the trees. Maybe it means 'it is in the trees.' Either way the trees have answers."

"I guess we can check the warding again. It could be another safety notice." Dean said.

Kate went to go back outside. "I'll go with you!"

Dean stopped her. "Hold up. You brought the thing here. It could still be here."

Kate spun on her heel. "It doesn't want to hurt me. It may, however, start leaving messages on cars again if I don't get what it is trying to say."

Dean looked at Bobby for agreeance. "Okay. Taylor, you're coming with us."

"Dean needs body guards." Kate said with a snicker.

"Alright, brat. Taylor and I can go and you can stay." Dean said.

Kate skipped out the door. "Let's go talk to some trees."

"How do you want to do this?" Taylor asked.

"Warding first. That seems like an obvious answer." Dean said.

"You can check the warding while we walk with you. Taylor and I can look at the other trees for new markings." Kate said.

"As long as you stay with me. Who am I going to trip if a bear shows up if you two are off on your own?" Dean gave Kate a crooked grin.

Kate grabbed chalk from a bucket. "Here, so we can mark trees we have checked."

Taylor took his own piece. He shook a young tree with the toe of his shoe. "I don't think this one holds any mysteries." He drew a tiny x on the bark.

Dean found it amusing. "One down, so many more to go."

They worked quickly to ensure the warding was still up. They didn't see any markings aside from a few that an animal left. Kate was frustrated. The sign was intended for them. There was no question that the whisper meant something. She started to wonder if it didn't mean the trees around Bobby's house. Maybe it was different trees or a type of tree. She tried to think of relevant trees. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got. She was tired of riddles.

They returned to the house empty handed. Dean didn't expect to find anything but he understood why Kate was annoyed. There was an urgency to the situation but Kate was pushing harder than she needed to.

Taylor sat down on the couch and ran his fingers over the key on his neck. The key to his own house was upstairs, tossed somewhere in his backpack. It wasn't abnormal for him to spend chunks of time away from home. He did have his friend's house that he ran to but he felt like a guest there. He was beginning to feel like Bobby's house was his too. He wasn't on edge. He didn't feel like the smallest mistake would get him shunned. When he went to bed he fell asleep completely happy.

Kate tried to sleep. She was exhausted. She tossed and turned well past the time that Sam went to bed. She went downstairs for a cup of water but Bobby and Dean were both in bed too. She flipped the kitchen light on and sat at the table with her drink. If she couldn't sleep, she could work. She pulled out the family papers again and stared at them. She visualized her mom. She thought about her grandparents and possible aunts or uncles. Nothing appeared. She didn't understand why she couldn't connect with anyone when she had with Ada. She needed a book from Bobby's office. Maybe she could do a locating spell. She went to his office and read the spines of the books. She found the one she wanted and opened it. The wooden boxes caught her eye and she swallowed hard. Trees could mean the type of tree the box was made out of.

"No, walk away from the boxes." Kate said to herself. She could bring it up the next day. She could push boundaries but that one was pretty clear. She could make a case for it in just a few hours. She sighed and took the book back to the kitchen. Some spells were dangerous but others had no ill effects. She learned her lesson with dangerous spells but a tracking spell could be helpful. The one she was looking for was subtle. She sat a penny on the table and stood it on its side. She read the incantation out loud and waited. The penny rolled to the end of the table and fell on its face. "Well that was underwhelming." Kate grumbled. She reached across the table to pick the penny up and her fingers brushed a single paper. She picked it up and groaned loudly. "Of course, trees."

Kate dug around and found a family tree that Sam drew in elementary school. She paired it with Taylor's and wrote down what she knew of her own. She waited for something to jump out at her but nothing did. She couldn't trace the trees on her own. She asked her own personal angel for help. The whispers filled her ears and gave her something to look for. There was a common vein and she just had to find it. She found Taylor's great grandfather and put a pin by his name. "Okay, now what?" Kate worked for hours by cross referencing multiple papers and books. She found a split in the tree that made her head hurt. Her eyes were blurry and she could feel her body giving out.

Sam noticed Kate wasn't in her bed and went to look for her. He saw the glow of the kitchen light when he opened the bedroom door. "What are you doing?"

Kate didn't look at him. "I found the trees."

Sam sat down beside her and shifted so he was facing her side. He pulled her chair around as well. "Kate, it is one in the morning."

Kate tried to turn back around. "Okay but look. The trees. Family trees, not actual trees."

Sam looked at the increasingly erratic writing. "You can look at trees in the morning. Right now you need some sleep."

Kate finally looked at him. "No."

Sam sighed. He handed her a tissue. "You've got a bleed there."

Kate put it to her nose. "I'm okay. Go back to bed."

Sam put his hand on top of the paper. "Your head is hurting isn't it?"

Kate groaned. "Just leave me alone so I can fix this."

Sam grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "You can tomorrow. You look like hell. Just get a few hours of sleep and then you can look at this."

Kate tried to pull her hand away. "No, Sam."

Sam pulled her chair back and made her stand up. "Dean and Bobby are irked because you keep pushing. You spoke to the Grigori earlier. You are on way thinner ice than you think. I am trying to keep you out of hot water."

Kate frowned. "But this could be the answer."

"It could be but you will think more clearly tomorrow morning." Sam said. He could see how badly she was struggling. "You have two minutes. Give me a run down of what you found and then we both will go to bed."

Kate spilled everything she had found out.

Sam took a deep breath. He wasn't even going to touch the spell work. "We can ask his grandmother about that side of the family. We just can't call her tonight."

Kate reluctantly left her work and went with Sam.

The penny fell off the table and Sam tossed it back onto the pile of papers. He shut off the light and ushered Kate to her bed. Once she was in bed he cut the bedroom light and fell back into his pillow.

Downstairs, the penny rolled a few inches to the left. It spun around as it lost its balance and landed dead center on one name. Jedidiah Campbell.

##### #####

Author's note. That last line is a show reference. The plot is quite twisty. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I adore you all.