The Arms Hotel, Zoe and John's Room, Tuesday Morning

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe watched John carefully as they started in on breakfast in the morning. He'd been brooding ever since they heard about Sam getting hurt, and it bothered her that she couldn't think of any way to make all three Winchesters feel better. She tried to come up with something to say, but her thoughts were interrupted by a quick pain at her side, and she glared down at her belly.

"I'm feeding you as quickly as I can. You can stop kicking any time now, honestly."

Comments

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

That pulled a faint smile out of John. "She's definitely a Winchester."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"What makes you say that? The kicking, or the appetite?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"Both. Sammy could always throw some impressive temper tantrums."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Oooh, something else to look forward to. How exciting," Zoe deadpanned, smirking nonetheless.

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"Well, Dean never really went throough the whole tantrum throwing stage. Not anything like Sammy did. So maybe we'll get lucky with Grace."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Clearly, the lesson here is to stop at one child," Zoe teased. "But then again, Sam's turned out all right in the end, it seems."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

And just like that John's eyes went dark and distant again. "Yeah," he said quietly. "He's a survivor."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"He certainly is," Zoe said. "He's a very strong boy, and more than a bit of that is your doing."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"And Dean's," John said, hands worrying at the coffee cup he was holding.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"And Dean's," Zoe agreed, reaching over to put her hands over his. "You've raised two amazing boys, and it's going to take something a lot worse than whatever happened to Sam to take them down."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"More luck than any skill of mine," John said. "I've made so many mistakes, Zoe. You don't know. When we got Dean back, I told myself I'd do better, but.." He sighed and shook his head. "They're still getting hurt."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"You can't watch them 24/7," she pointed out. "And you can't wrap them up in padding either. I don't know if there's anything you could have done differently that would have kept Sam from getting hurt. So you can't say that your mistakes had anything to do with this."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"I need to keep a closer eye on them," John said.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"And how do you intend to do that?" Zoe asked lightly. "You already came here to keep an eye on them. You can't get any closer without sleeping in their bedrooms, and I think their roommates might object to that decision."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"I can try and give them something closer to a home," John said. "I haven't since Mary died."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Haven't you already done that?" Zoe asked. "By staying here in town, I mean."

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"It's a start," John said. "But... dorm rooms aren't a home." He waved a hand at their surroundings. "Hotel rooms aren't a home. They need -- we need -- an actual place."

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe smiled, nodding easily. "You're right. I think we do too. The tower's really only fit for one person, maybe two at best. Even after it's fixed, it won't really be big enough once Grace is born. Do you think we can find a place in town? Someplace that's just ours?"

[demons-death.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to," he said, looking at up at her, his expression making him seem as young as his sons.

[bigdamnprincipal]

When John looked at her like that, Zoe wasn't sure there was anything he could suggest that she'd say no to. "Well, then I guess we'd better start looking, huh?"