Born in Blood

Chapter 12

Deans POV

Leah started coughing as if she was choking on her pizza. I reached out to pat her on the back, but she held up her hand and gave one final cough before sighing.
"Not much to tell really, but what do you want to know?"
She took another bite and chewed slowly, her eyes quickly darting between us three men.
"How about school?" Sam asked, leaning back and taking a swift drink of his beer. "Since you're gonna be living with us we'll have to figure out what we're gonna do about your schooling. Either homeschool or signing you up for the local school here in Sioux Falls."
Leah grimaced.
"Me and school aren't on good terms. My grades weren't...that bad...I mean...I was passing...for the most part."
Bobby gave a gruff 'harumph' and began eating another slice. He wasn't saying much but his attention was fully focused on my daughter. I ignored him and gave Leah a half smile, before taking a swallow of my beer.
"Don't worry. I wasn't too good in school either. Of course, our dad wasn't too worried about it."
"That's not something to be proud of Dean." Sam spat.
"I skipped my classes a lot." Leah surprisingly admitted. She seemed to slowly be getting more comfortable as we ate and talked.
"Ah, I remember those days, Ditching class..." I trailed off as a forgotten memory flooded my mind and I blushed. Suddenly I didn't feel quite as okay with my daughter skipping her classes.

Leah shoved another slice of pizza into her mouth and drank her coke greedily, and as she licked the grease off her fingers she smiled.

"I had good friends at my old school. I didn't get along with a lot of people but my two best friends always had my back. Jasper was the one who called 911 when I had my heart attack after I got into a fight with one of the other girls in our class."

My blood ran cold.

"Heart attack?! You're like 14!"
Even I could hear the panic in my voice and it came out harsher than I had intended it too. I was suddenly reminded of what she had said when we rescued her.  Bobby raised a brow at me, but said nothing, instead turning his attention back to Leah. She shrank back, leaning against Sam as if my sudden outburst had scared her.

"Well...yeah. I've had heart and lung problems since I was born." She said
She looked sullen then, placing her hand on her chest as she bit her lip.

"Mom said the doctors only gave me a few years to live it was so bad. They were shocked when I made it to 5, and I guess I've been shocking them ever since considering I've made it this long."
She looked up at me then, giving me a weak smile that wasn't quite convincing.

"I had no idea." I mummered.

"How would you? We just met. It's fine. I've dealt with it my entire life so I'm used to it. There hasn't really been anything too major in the last few years, well, except for the heart attack."

As she spoke, the memory of finding her the vampires nest came to the forefront of my mind. It was still so new and fresh that it still felt like I was there. The image of her, struggling to breathe, made even more sense now. I didn't like it. The thought of my daughter being so fragile didn't sit right with me. Even if we didn't take her hunting, being a hunter's child was dangerous.
Surely...when Cas healed her injuries he healed her conditions too? Surely he was smart enough to think of that. He had to have noticed them the moment he laid his hands on her. I'd have to ask him later. I didn't want to say anything in front of her yet and get her hopes up.

"Well, what about hobbies then?" Bobby suddenly asked. I was surprised but it seemed like he was trying to lighten the increasing souring mood.

"Oh, well, I really love horror movies and reading...and I used to take dance classes until about a year and a half ago."
"Dance classes?" Sam asked, intrigued.

"Yeah!"
Leah's face suddenly lit up. I had hey to see her that animated so I could tell she must have really enjoyed dance.

"I took ballet classes and even used to perform in local recitals and compete in competitions! I was really good at it too! I got first place once..." she paused... "I kind of got made fun of here and there because I didn't look or act like most people think a ballerina is supposed to act. I wasn't prim and proper or elegant or exceptionally girly. But I didn't care. I had my friends and my mom even though she didn't like the idea of me doing dance. She was scared it would aggravate my condition, and it did, but I powered through it. It was never anything I couldn't handle until around almost 2 years ago when my health problems suddenly started worsening. After that doing any kind of grueling physical activity was too much for me so I had to quit..."
The tension in the room was heavy again. I wasn't sure what to say after that. It was clear that she was upset. Her breathing was a little heavier than it was before so I knew she was holding back tears.

"I'm sure you were a great dancer." Sam said, surprising me, and taking Leah's hand to give it a quick squeeze.
Leah stared at him, shocked, before giving him a wide, toothy, grin.
"Ah! Thanks!"
It felt good, seeing her have such a genuine smile. I don't think I'd seen her have such a genuine smile in the short time I'd known her and I couldn't help but feel just a little hurt that it wasn't directed towards me but I pushed that feeling aside. I was just happy that she finally seemed happy, if only for a fleeting moment.