Saints or Sinners | {BOOK 3}

5| Reunited

Maddie was playing with Zep on the floor while I fixed lunch when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked, sandwiching the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I continued making lunch.

"We did it. We stopped 'em."

"You figured it out?"

"Bobby did," Dean explained. "Sodium Borate burns 'em enough to slow 'em down. Then if we chop off the head and keep it separated from the body-"

"It stops them," I finished. "Awesome. So does that mean-?"

"We're staying at one of Rufus' old cabins. I'll send you the address and you can meet us there."

"Sounds good. See you soon, then."

"See you soon, Ellie Bear."

I hung up and set my phone down, smiling.

"Hey, Maddie? Want to go find Daddy?"

"We're going to go back to Daddy?" the three year old's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Yep, after you eat your lunch. Come on."

She jumped up, abandoning her brother on the floor and rushing over to the table to eat the sandwich and carrot sticks I'd made for her. Laughing, I walked over and picked up Zeppelin and carried him over to his high chair.

"Don't think I forgot about you, little big man," I joked, pulling a jar of baby food out of the fridge.

The five month old babbled, hitting his tray a couple times as I fed him bites. I was trying to ween him off of milk already, though he still preferred it to the mashed food I was trying to feed him now.

 For a preemie, he had made some amazing progress growth-wise. He was still a little skinny thing with hardly any baby fat, but I didn't care. I was just happy that he was still alive and healthy. I was getting to experience all the stuff with him that I never got with Maddie since she had technically been a miscarriage and was already two and a half years old when Cass gave her back to Dean and me.

"All done!" Maddie declared, pushing her empty plate away from her.

"Alright, pack your stuff in your bag while I get your brother ready and then we'll go," I told her.

I smiled as she jumped up from her spot and ran over to get her backpack to put her stuff away in. It made me happy to see how excited she was to go back to Dean. Honestly, I was just as excited myself, even if I didn't show it outwardly as much. 

After strapping Zeppelin into his car seat, I helped clear Maddie and my plates and cleaned up some more. Then I worked on packing up the play pen and gathering my own bag of mine and Zeppelin's stuff so we could go. Once everything was loaded in the car and the kids were strapped down in the back, I put the address Dean sent me into the GPS and we took off.

⁘

"Madelaine Rose! Slow down!" I yelled as she took off sprinting toward the cabin in the woods several hours later.

"Daddy!" she squealed, running into Dean's arms.

"Hey, princess," Dean smiled, hugging her. "Let's help your mom unload the car, alright?"

She sighed, reluctantly walking back toward the car with him as he made his way over to me. I had just finished unstrapping Zeppelin from his car seat and turned him outwards on my hip so he was looking at Dean.

"Look, buddy, it's dada," I told him.

"Hey, little big man," Dean grinned, taking Zep from me. "And hello to you, too, stranger."

"Uh huh," I rolled my eyes, laughing a little as he leaned in to kiss me.

Bobby came out a moment later.

"Grandpa Bobby!" Maddie squealed, running to the older of the two.

"Hey, sweetheart," Bobby greeted her. "What can we help with, Ellie?"

"Just need to get everything inside," I replied, opening the trunk where the bags and playpen were stashed. "Maddie, come get your bag."

"Okay," she agreed, grabbing her backpack.

Bobby grabbed the pen while I grabbed the remaining bags and Dean carried Zep inside.

"So what have you been doing these past couple months?" Bobby asked me.

"Holing up in motels trying to keep those two alive," I nodded to Maddie and the five month old in Dean's arms. "Nothing terribly exciting like you guys, I'm sure. Where's Sammy?"

"Sam, uh," Dean shifted uncomfortably, adjusting Zep in his arms, "Sam decided to go his own way for a little while."

I stared at him for a moment, but decided to drop it.

"What about the Impala? I didn't see her outside when I pulled up."

"Yeah, Baby's on lockdown for a while. At least until the mess with the doppelgangers dies down a little more. Wouldn't want to raise the red flag too soon."

"Makes sense," I nodded. "Good thing we have my car."

He rolled his eyes and I laughed a little.

"Well, who's hungry?" Bobby asked.

"Me!" Maddie replied.

He led her into another part of the cabin, letting Dean and I have a little privacy.

"Alright, let me have it," Dean said once they were clear. "Lay it on me."

"I'm not going to yell at you, Dean," I informed him.

"Then hit me."

"I'm not going to hit you either," I shook my head.

"Is it because I'm holding Zep? Because I can set him down."

"No, it's not because you're holding Zep. I'm not mad at you, Dean."

"Really? Because you taking the kids and going radio silent for four months would suggest otherwise."

"Look, was I mad at first? Sure," I sighed. "You basically admitted in front of me that not only did you want to kill yourself, but you wanted to bring me, Sam and the kids down with you that night. And it might not have been directed at me, but hearing you say something like that... especially with Maddie in front of you, too..."

"Yeah, I get it," Dean nodded. "And I'm sorry. I am. We were just... dealing with a lot at that point. My brain felt like it was going to explode. We'd lost Cass, it seemed like we'd lost Bobby and with the stuff going on with Sam and the Leviathan... I was in a dark place, Ellie."

"And I understand that, Dean. I do. Probably better than anyone. That's literally where I was back when we were dealing with the apocalypse. I was just scared. I couldn't have Maddie and Zep around you when you were in that headspace, I just couldn't. And maybe it would have been better to just talk about it, but all I could think about was getting Maddie and Zep away from that."

Dean nodded, expression somber as he bounced Zep in his arms. I had started subconsciously swaying in time with him. It was a habit I'd picked up anytime I was around other people while they held my child. Even though I wasn't the one holding him, I was still doing the sway that kept him quiet and happy.

"You really aren't mad?"

"Not any more. Come on. I'm starving."