Maybe Someday; Sam Winchester

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Over the next following weeks, Cielo physically recovered and kept quiet as far it went with the mark. Truth be told, she wasn't getting psychologically better.

But she found a better coping mechanism than what she had before. Rather than trying to face it and accept what happened, she just chose to ignore it and focus on better things. While that wasn't exactly the healthiest of solutions, it was easier to pretend like she was okay in front of Stella.

Now that Stella was two, she needed way more attending to as she entered the 'terrible twos' phase of her life and liked to create more mischief when Cielo, Sam, and Dean least expected it. Cielo was thankful that Stella needed more eyes on her now because Cielo used her motherly instincts as an excuse to forget about the mark and forget about the negative that was in her life. Since she was spending way more time with Stella now, she'd been speaking more Spanish around her and Stella was relatively quick at picking it up and using words Cielo used.

Meanwhile, the brothers, especially Sam, were attentive to Cielo as well as searching every site and book for a way to get the mark off of Cielo's arm while Diana was off with Ciana and Charlie in search of the Book of the Damned.

Cielo stirred the food in the pot a few more times before shutting off the stove and taking the pot off the heat. She grabbed Stella's bowl and served some before grabbing a spoon and walking out of the kitchen, blowing on it to cool it off for Stella to eat. She walked back to the library with the brothers, furrowing her eyebrows at Sam's sudden silence the second that she walked in. She watched him set his phone back down on the table and rub the bottom half of his face, something he did when he was caught.

"Hey," Sam said, scratching the back of his neck. "What are you doing?"

Cielo kept her eyebrows furrowed as she paused her steps. He was hiding something from her. "Uh," she hesitated a bit before lifting the bowl up a bit to show him. "Getting Stella her lunch?" She replied, referring to Stella who was sitting in her booster seat by Dean and playing with her little finger toys. "Everything okay?" She asked, walking around him to give Stella the food.

"No, yeah," Sam replied, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah." Cielo looked unconvinced as she looked between him and Dean, but Dean remained quiet, shifting his gaze between the lamp on the table and Stella.

"Okay," she dragged out, putting the bowl in front of Stella and looking at her. "¿Recuerdas cómo usar una cuchara?" Cielo asked her slowly, pulling her hair back and tying it up into a quick ponytail with the hair tie on her wrist.

"Si," Stella replied hesitantly, picking up the spoon. "Tank you, seetheart."

Cielo snickered, ruffling her hair affectionately and walking around to sit across from Sam. "You okay?" She asked him, pulling her legs up for her to sit comfortably.

Sam's shoulders slumped slightly, his expression becoming weary. He ran a face across his face and Cielo could see the fatigue and frustration in his features. "'M just tired," he mumbled, leaning back in his seat. "Every lead we've had has been a dead end. Keep coming up empty-handed. It's all just..." He trailed off, his eyes darting over to Stella, the unspoken words hanging over them because she knew exactly what he was gonna say.

It's all a load of shit.

Cielo wet her lips, playing with her fingers and looking down at her hands. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her, but she took a deep breath. Sam noticed her nerves, noting the way she spun her thumbs. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward to lean on the table. "What is it?" He asked her.

"The mark is a curse," she says quietly in a breath, looking up at Sam and Dean.

Both of them furrowed their eyebrows at her. "Yeah, tell me about it," Dean scoffs.