Then I Saw [by Invite Only]

[Zee Pritchard]

She'd called Eve to get the news, she needed a status report before driving in to Vegas. She ended up being glad she'd done it, Zee had dropped out of contact quite deliberately for a while but it meant she'd missed the news. The report she'd received had been brief but thorough and had sent her stomach into a twist of anxiety and guilt that didn't go away even through a four hundred mile drive.

When she got to the casino she checked the postit note that had the room number on it, even though she'd had it memorized since the second she'd heard it. Maybe, hopefully, nobody would ever know just how much courage it took Zee to park her car in the casino's lot. To walk across the loud, crowded lobby. To push the elevator button. To step into the car when it arrived. Each step of this process seemed to be the hardest thing she'd ever done, and when she got to the flat blank hotel room door and raised her hand to knock she had to bite down on her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood before she could make herself knock.

The door opened and there he stood. Looking tired but as handsome as ever, maybe a bit wary. Because of what had been going on in this city over the past month? Or because he wasn't expecting her here? If she let herself think about it too long she'd do something humiliating like beg him not to be mad at her. Goddamned hormones, she hated chemistry so bad.

"Sam." She had to tilt her head way back to meet his eyes, and resented it in a dim sort of way even now. "We need to talk."

[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Facing the music.


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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] It had been several days since he'd woken up in a room full of people. He'd taken naps and slept on and off since then, giving his body time to fully recover. Of course, he was raring to get back out into the dark nights and hunt something viscious down. Maybe partially because of the things that now slithered inside his mind, he wanted to hurt something so badly that it would never recover. Not the healthiest attitude to adapt, but it was what Sam had to hold onto. God, but he hurt. And not in the physical sense. Mentally he felt almost constantly drained, but he soldiered through it. There was nothing else he could do, other than lay down and die. Today was a little better than others had been. Hell, Sam had managed to go down to the lobby and find the gift shop. He'd bought some useless trinket, collected a coffee and returned to his room. The trinket lay on his nightstand, looking just as useless as it was. Sam had no idea what had encouraged him to buy it, he just remembered that his hands had started trembling and he'd heard Lucifer whispering into his ear. The thought had a shudder running through the big frame and Sam tried to shake it off. He was pacing his room for lack of anything better to do. Sesame street had lost it's mindless appeal once he'd come back with memories intact. Every time he flipped through the channels, he felt the frightening urge to track down some of the Disney stars and rip them to pieces. Literally. Then he'd start trembling again and he'd have to turn it off or risk breaking something. He needed something, anything to focus on. Something that was not, obviously, his memories. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to hold it together and Adam wouldn't have anyone to rely on. There was a knock on the door and Sam instinctively reached for the gun that he'd given to Norah for safe-keeping. Because he was as likely to blow someone away as answer the door right now. Mentally lecturing himself, Sam smoothed out his white t-shirt (he'd left the plaid in a drawer somewhere), using the physical action to smooth his own anxiety from his features. Slowly, he opened the door and had to look down, down, down to find Zee standing at his doorstep. Her words sounded ominous, but Sam stepped back anyway and gestured her inside. Closing the door behind her, he gestured at the bed. "Please, take a seat. Things are a little messy right now, but that's just circumstantial." He didn't ask if she knew about his issue, it wasn't pertinent; and he really wasn't sure if he wanted Zee to know how bad it was, he'd prefer she saw him as the strong person he'd been the last time they'd run into one another. The person he still was, he reminded himself. "You look so serious. It has me concerned. Please tell me that there isn't another faerie to hunt in the area." Sam smiled easily, forcing the tension to ease from his shoulders. "All joking aside...What's wrong, Zee?" [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: Blargh!! [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

For just a second Zee had an urge to reach out and catch the hem of Sam's t-shirt, twist her fingers into it like she would if he were Louis or Flynn or Paul or her daddy. Honestly that was probably a good sign for her relative emotional stability, that she trusted him enough for the instinct to even arise. Zee, however, didn't read it that way right then. It just had her hating the hormones even harder, and made her more inclined to want to glare at him.

His comment about the faerie got a crack of harsh laughter out of her. "No, it's not about thim. Though if I ever catch wind of that fucker again it's gonna take him a week to die." She sounded disturbingly serious about that threat. "Naw, it's--" she bit her bottom lip and all of a sudden she was looking up at Sam with a softness that had never been there between them. Not except for that one night, the one that had already broken all the rules of their relationship even before this. She was meant to be poking him and insulting him and calling him names. She was meant to be goading him toward a shouting match, and never mind that their entire antagonistic relationship was the emotionally-stunted-hunter version of pulling one another's pigtails.

But here she was, looking up at him with the worry right there, softening her eyes no matter how much eyeliner was painted around them. Her hands tugging at the hem of that baggy striped shirt she wore under her voodoo hoodie, her voice way too gentle as she asked, "How are you feeling, Sam? I heard shit's been rough on you lately. And I've got some pretty heavy shit to throw at you. You up for that right now? I do not want to be explaining to your family why I broke their moose." Even that last was way too soft, and it was that realization and only that which kept her from reaching over to touch the back of his hand.

[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: She's been working on growing up, but it still gets away from her some.


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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] Her surprisingly serious comment regarding the serious caught his attention. He wanted to muse on it, as he'd considered the consequences of their hunt something harmless. Well, mostly harmless. Maybe she'd viewed it in another way? The thought that what had transpired between them bothered her struck him and he was startled by it. Unfortunately, he was distracted from his thoughts by her....her change in expression. She'd gone soft. Zee never went 'soft', not for anyone. Sam immediately felt on edge and the tension he'd managed to ease out crept right back in. Suddenly, he wished he had holy water on him. Or salt. Salt would do well. He hadn't thought to check her. And now she was acting...not like herself. Her words were almost the same as everyone else's and Sam managed to force some relaxation back into his frame. He was about to answer with his trusted statement. That he was fine; that everyone could just stop worrying about him. Sam didn't plan on keeling over any time soon and it was hard to focus with everyone breathing down his back, expecting him to explode or go bonkers. He had that at the tip of his tongue, all ready and prepared. Then he just...didn't. Instead, Sam took one of her hands in his, absently noting just how tiny it was in his grasp. "Everyone's been asking me. I was going to go on my tirade about how I'm fine, that everyone can stop...Can stop worrying, you know?" He smiled, the expression painful. "I'm as good as I'm going to get right now. You can never tell Adam, but I may be the saddest excuse for a human being right now. However, you don't need to worry about me going all exorcist on you, I'm holding it together. It's what Winchesters do. We survive and we go on." He sighed, a release of built up pressure. "Lay it on me, Zee. Just rip the bandaid off. Right now, I can't handle suspension. It's easier if you just smash me with it than hold it off." For a moment, his gaze focused on a corner of the room, just beyond her shoulder. The slightest of tremors ran through his solid frame and his gaze was on her again, focused and clear. [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: Rip that bandaid off! RAWR! [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

A too-quiet laugh. "Holding it together is plenty, some months. Hell, half the time I think that's all any of us are doing." And because he'd been honest with her, plus the guilt and nerves and a thousand other things that were pushing at Zee to get her to grow up faster than she had been, she said, "I spend a lot of time just holding it together. And making 'as good as I'm going to get right now' be good enough."

He wanted it straight out, so she made herself not twitch or pull away or change the subject or pick a fight or any of the other options that sounded so much better than telling him what she needed to tell him right now. "Yeah. Okay. Um, you remember that night in Shreveport?" Duh, as though they hadn't just been talking about it. "Well, I'm pregnant. And both math and angels say it's that night. That it's you. The father. That you're the father." God, could she please stop babbling?

Apparently not: "And I'm not telling you because I want anything out of you. You don't have to...I'm not looking for money or attention or sympathy or, really, anything. I mean, I'm the one who made the call that I'm keeping the kid, so if you don't want that, you don't have to have anything to do with it and I won't blame you at all. It's just that this is something I have to do, I can't not do it. I thought about it. I mean, Christ, I thought about it a lot. About stopping it. Terminating or adoption or something, because has there ever been anybody less fit to have a baby than me? But I have to. I have to keep him. So I'm telling you because, well, you ought to know. You have the right. But just...don't feel obligated or anything? Because you don't have to be."

Somehow, miraculously, she managed to stop talking. She didn't dare look up at him for fear that there'd be something pleading in her eyes, so she looked down instead. Down at their linked hands, his so long and graceful and strong compared to her pale starfish of a hand. Would their son have hands like his? God, she hoped so.

[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Once she starts blurting, she can't stop.


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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] He was thinking back to Shreveport, again wondering if she was regretting what had happened that night. Or if she'd gotten cancer from him somehow. At this point, he honestly wouldn't be surprised. Of the two, Sam was hoping for the first option. He could handle that, he could seek redemption for having sex with her. He could not seek for forgiveness if his hell-body had given her cancer. If it was the latter, he could just commit suicide. Multiple times, until he'd died in enough painful ways to even pretend to have repented for his newly laid sin. Sam was well aware that his thoughts were just getting to ridiculous now. When the words fell from her lips, he froze. Literally froze, all the muscles in his body going rigid. While she spoke, he didn't move, simply stared at the floor, frozen next to her. He was a father? The rest of her words breezed into his mind, laying forgotten on the front step while his brain tried to process this information. They'd had sex and she wasn't dying. He hadn't killed her by touching her. No, instead they'd created the impossible. They had created life. An itch began in the fingers wrapped around her small hand. Hope blossomed in his chest. Hallucination-Lucifer was wrong. His touch was not a sign of death. Zee came to a stop and Sam suddenly whirled on her. Keeping hold of her hand, and pulling it up to his chest, he wrapped his other arm around her and crushed her to him, albeit gently. It wasn't until he was wrapped around her that he realized that he was crying, that his hot tears were soaking her shirt. "No. No. Zee Pritchard. You are carrying my child. Our child. You...you've given me hope. I don't know how to explain it....But you don't have to worry. I won't abandon you." He'd found his stepping stone, his first building block. He was a father. Sam was capable of creating life. And he wanted this life, he wanted this child. "This is not obligation. This is me. I want this. I want..." He paused, pulled away to push ebony locks from her face. "Did you say 'him'? It's a boy." Pure awe filled his face and he studied her, green eyes filled with a spark of life, true life, for the first time in a while. Gathering himself, Sam met Zee's gaze. "You don't have to face the future alone. Even if you don't want me at your side, I'll be nearby. I just...I want to be a part of his life." His saving grace, the fact that he could do something good. He had failed everyone at some point in his life, but the one person he could attest that he would never let himself fail was his own child. [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: He doesn't know how to describe what he's going through, but it's good. [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

Zee found herself laughing, not because it was funny (though it was, kinda) but because she was just so relieved. In the weeks she'd spent building up to coming out here and talking to Sam, she'd tried to picture his reaction about a thousand times, each of them different. She'd prepared herself mentally for anger, rejection, disbelief, indifference. For him to declare that he wanted the baby but not her and would be taking him as soon as he was born. She'd braced up against the possibility of despair or black depression or even hate. Guilt, obligation, duty, weary acceptance. But happiness? She hadn't let herself imagine it. She'd wanted to, but then had reasoned that if she tried to imagine him being pleased and then he wasn't, she wouldn't be able to handle whatever it was he did come back at her with. It maybe wasn't the healthiest mental construct, but it was hers and she had done her best with it.

But jubiliation surprised her, had her wrapping her arms around Sam's shoulders in pure instinct. Well, instinct and a slight fear that he might fling her across the room in a burst of exuberance. He was an awful lot bigger than her, after all. She ended up with her hands deep in his hair, holding him against her shoulder for a moment like it was the most natural, sensible gesture in the world.

When he pulled back, she smiled at him and if there was a shine of tears across her wintersky eyes, well, everyone's entitled to that now and then. "Castiel says it's a boy. I figured he probably knows." As he put her back down on her feet, Zee gave in to that impulse that had been there from the beginning to take hold of the hem of his shirt. To twist her fingers up into the fabric and take the security that helped her feel. "Thirteen weeks, just into the second trimester. I've got an ultrasound, but he mostly just looks like a spindly little babydoll about the size of your thumb. There's medical records and--" she laughed again, high and helpless, "God, other stuff I've got to tell you. Good and bad. But I just..." she took a firm hold of his hand again, giving herself over to the giddy relief of how he was taking this news and promising herself that she'd go back to being tough and stuff later.

"Thank you. For being happy about this." A quick rill of laughter, she knew how dumb it sounded. "I was making myself be okay with it if you weren't. Or if you needed time to figure out how you felt, or anything else. But this is better. Always assuming you don't kick me out when you hear the rest of it."

[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: So freakin' relieved.


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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] A boy. Wonder had filled him. They had a boy. A wry smile curved his lips. Well, at least he could claim the Winchester hereditary trait of making boys. He tried to imagine the baby, tried to envision the child. "Cas probably would know. A boy." His words were absent, the info was still sinking into that giant brain. He slowly sank down to sit on the edge of the bed again, pulling her down next to him. He barely noticed that she was twisting the hem of his shirt with her fingers. Yet, it was a comfort to feel the gentle tug of her fingers against the fabric. Second trimester. He'd gone so long without knowing. He thought back to that night, thirteen weeks ago. Three months. It had been three months since they'd run into that faerie. He still hated the damn man, but he was glad that their tumble between the sheets had lead to someting he could handle, something he could take care of. Someone to protect, to dedicate his life to. A longing in his chest, the need to have something to grow from, or grow into, had been...well, it seemed it might have been filled. He'd needed a goal. Something to reach for in his darkest moments. At first he missed her mentioning about other stuff, so focused on how happy she was and how happy he was. "You are welcome. Part of my happiness is selfish, I'll admit. He gives me a reason to climb back out of the pit, to grow beyond what happened. I needed that." Sam paused, turning to study her. "The rest of it? Please don't tell me he's going to be a demon. Or that you suddenly have cancer. I don't think I could handle it." His face had gone pale, eyes dark with grief already. "Zee, he can't be evil." It was stated so desperately, and there was a real terror that the life he'd helped create had already been ruined by his past. [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: CANCER AND DEMON BABIES! OH NO!!! [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

It was altogether too natural to sit down next to him, lean into his side. Zee wasn't self-aware enough to be seeing the pattern, she truly believed that she'd scoured all normal romantic and familial impulses out of herself when she shed her birth family. Except now she was talking with them again, wasn't she? She was using her real last name. She was looking forward farther than a week. The desire for a family unit runs deep, and by now even Zee had been forced to admit that she had been crushing on Sam Winchester since she was fourteen.

Which...speaking of. She laughed and bumped her shoulder against his arm (that damned height difference again). "No demon, no cancer, no evil. God, way to make my bad news seem like no biggie." She twisted slightly so that she could see him better, but her fingers stayed tangled up in the hem of his shirt. "Two things. I've got to stick pretty close to a city with a decent heart center in it. I've got a mild heart defect that's basically only dangerous during pregnancy, it needs to be monitored. Twice a month appointments, I've been going to a clinic in Colorado but it's not that big a thing, as long as I've got my medical records."

"The other thing is," she took a deep breath, it shook a bit on the inhale but she smiled at the end of it. "Not demoncancer. But I kinda lied about my age. I'm, uh, still seventeen. Not for much longer, though!" As though that fixed it.

[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Cards on the table.


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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] All his relief disappeared in less than a second. Guilt slammed into him and all the blood drained from Sam's face. "You aren't legal?" The words ran around in his head in circles, over and over again. Seventeen. She was ten years younger than him. Not only did he feel like the biggest dunce in history, he felt his shoulders slumping. "I'm a rapist." Probably harsher terms than necessarily needed, but technically true. He remembered his time in college and it just kind of broke him. He was going to have a child with a minor. Which made him a pedophile. Did his luck never turn around? Could he never take a step in the right direction? The pit was looking better and better right now. He could handle repetitious castration over the heavy guilt weighing him down now. Sam didn't pull away from her, but his body just kind of deflated. The horror and disgust was aimed wholly at himself. For not realizing, or noticing or even attempting to notice. "Zee." He stopped before he went further. Sam wanted to apologize. He just didn't know how. [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: Well, there's a turn of events. [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

[style=opacity: 0.65; filter:alpha(opacity=65); margin: 0px; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Palatino", Georgia, serif; color: #000; text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px #ada39d; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 5px 10px 5px 20px; width: 300px; height: 590px; float: right; overflow-y: auto; z-index: 20;]
"Oh, for fuck's sake." All the snap was back in her voice, and she didn't let go of her grip on his shirt hem but she did smack lightly at his upper arm. "Would you stop that? Look at me, okay? Really look at me. And ask yourself whether I'm a kid." A hard glare. "I haven't been a kid in a long, long time, Sam. That got taken away before I even met Paul. So instead of tying yourself in knots about how you didn't mysteriously notice something that no other person has been able to figure out in the almost four years that I've been lying to you all about it, how about cutting yourself the same slack you'd cut anybody else?"

"You didn't know. Nobody knew, not until a couple of weeks ago when I had to 'fess up to get my Social Security card and birth certificate and stuff. Nobody, not even Zaza Koch who is my best friend in the entire universe. Only Paul knew. Everybody else thought the exact same thing that you thought--that when you first met me and I was saying I was eighteen I was actually more like sixteen or seventeen, making me nineteen or twenty now." She shook her head. "Not that fairyboy's magic gave you much time to be thinking about it then anyway."

The grin was there, but tentative as she reached up and touched his forehead where the stress lines were trying to appear. "Look, dude. I've had a lot longer to think about this situation than you have, and something I noticed? This shit was done to us. Some fairy cast sex magic on us. Even so we still remembered to use a rubber, and I was on the Nuva Ring. I think we both know why the TX-65 X-wing starfighter of your penis managed to launch proton torpedos directly into the reactor core, and it's not the Force. It's the same reason that all of a sudden I can't spit without hitting an angel who is just falling all over themselves to tell me that all they want is to protect me and the baby."

"Which, do not get me wrong, pisses me off no end. But since I'm not willing to terminate and I can't hide him from them forever, I'm trying to concentrate on the parts we can do something about. Like what we're going to tell your family. Like whether you're going to buy me dinner because I've been driving for eight hours and came straight up here and I'm tired and kind of grubby and that's not going to lead anywhere but crankiness if I don't get a burger sometime soon."


[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Logic, please.

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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] He reeled from her words. Obediently turning to look at her, he really studied her. To be honest, she was no child. He knew that. It was obvious from the way she held herself. The very way she spoke and gestured, even her gaze was so much more than her young years. By the terms of reality, she was far older than she should be. But then, he'd been older at that age, too. Not nearly as old as her. Still young enough to try to run away. He had made so many mistakes. Maybe it was possible to rectify some of them, help her in her worries and frustrations. Not protect her, never fully protect. Sam was fully aware that she was strong enough to stand next to him, to take the same hits, but it just wasn't in him to let anyone take the worst when he was there. Slack. He hadn't cut himself slack in years. Not since...Not since Jess. He'd started holding himself up to standards far above others. He still remembered begging Dean to kill him. Dean had seen something in him then, something worth saving. Despite everything that had happened, he was alive again. Someone out there was cutting him a little slack. Maybe a break, just once, in her case. She had a point about the fairy. Sam had been far too busy trying to get her clothes off to care about ages or anything else. Her touch was gentle, her words logical. Something he could grab onto and hold. His brain snatched up the Star Wars hint and a smile curved his lips again, warm and amused. What with all the reasons she shouldn't be pregnant, either he really did have super sperm - which was probably a recent development - or somebody had twisted the lines of fate again. Angels were flocking. Maybe all of it had been orchestrated; the fairy, the sex, the failure of all precautions. The child might have a 'destiny', one that Sam would destroy with his bare hands if he had to. Sam relaxed next to her, logic made sense to him, fighting the forces of so-called 'destiny' made sense to him, he gathered her close again. "We'll tell them straight. No need to hide. For all I know, maybe Dad will be happy. Food. Food!" He stood suddenly, pulling her to her feet. "There's a restaurant somewhere in this place. I know there's a casino because my head won the winnings. And, where there's gambling, there's generally food in this town. Spending begets spending, and apparently gambling makes a person really hungry." He paused. "Or...I could order up to the room, you can get a shower and relax your muscles and we can discuss things. There's also movies, but I so rarely have the time to actually watch them that I'm a little behind on the times." Not to mention the year he'd lost while soulless. "Go, shower. I'll get us some food. Good, hot food. And then you can scarf down everything you can handle." Sam nudged her toward the bathroom, his mind running a million miles a minute. [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: A little more reflection this time. More talking/action soon. [/style]

[/quote]

[Zee Pritchard]

[style=opacity: 0.65; filter:alpha(opacity=65); margin: 0px; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Palatino", Georgia, serif; color: #000; text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px #ada39d; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 5px 10px 5px 20px; width: 300px; height: 590px; float: right; overflow-y: auto; z-index: 20;]
"I personally will be amazed if any member of your family is in any way happy with the news that I'm becoming a part of your life, but sure. The truth is better than lies. And I'm gonna have to call Zaza and Flynn and let them know that I'm here and that I'm ready to talk. They've known for about a week and a half what was up, but I had them under a gag order because I didn't want word getting out until I talked to you." She was still only half-believing that he wasn't tossing her out on her skinny ass for having the gall to get pregnant. Him being happy about it was...nothing she'd prepared for.

But she was definitely liking it, and she laughed at his babble about food. "Sure, room service is great. A burger with blue cheese and bacon on it, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, sweet tea, and apple pie or some other apple-cinnamon based something. Ala mode with the pie hot and the ice cream on the side if they have pie." This was not pregnancy speaking, Zee always ate like this. She had a liking for pairing up foods that normally wouldn't be eaten together, like eating pizza with a bowl of Lucky Charms for dessert.

"Where's your clothes?" She hadn't brought up her own bag, she'd get it later but she didn't want to mess with it now. When he pointed her in the right direction she stole one of his plain white undershirts and headed off for the shower, getting in immediately to let the steam and hotel soap wash away the road grit and, more importantly, to give her and Sam both a bit of space to think about what had happened in the past twenty minutes.


[style=font-size: smaller; padding-right: 10px; text-align: right;]
Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Retreat to corners. Regroup.

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[Sam Winchester]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/do8d8x.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #232a00; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable] As soon as she was gone in the shower, he called down for food, managing to barely remember everything she'd mentioned and throwing in a salad for his own benefit. Then, he sat down on the bed again. He considerd all that she had told him and all that had transpired in the last half an hour. A shudder of fear rolled through him. Could he really do this, become a father? He remembered the look on Dean's face, so long ago now, when he'd thought Ben might be his son. That had been years ago, when Dean was facing a painful death. A huge chunk of him was happy, excited almost. He'd never believe he would, or even could, have children. He'd wanted them, when he'd had Jess. But he'd given them up when he turned to the life of hunting. Now, here was a young woman, his friend and sometimes hunting-nemesis, offering him that chance. At her own expense. Even if he hadn't been excited, he would never have been able to throw her out. The excitement, though, added something. Made him want to keep her close and safe. He considered her a good friend and a respectable hunter. As a person, he could say he honestly liked her, even when she was trying to beat him up. There was a knock on the door and, when he answered, a young man rolled a cart full of food in. Tipping the man, he sent him off and eyed the cart speculatively. Okay, he was in for the long haul. Even if he and Zee never developed past their friendship, he would stand by her. As the father their child deserved and as anything that she might need. Sam honestly cared about her and wanted to make sure she was safe. Especially during her prenancy. Hearing the bathroom door open, he turned to her. She looked decidedly tiny in his far too big shirt. And yet, he was drawn to that image. He wanted to take care of her, if she'd let him. Clearing his throat, Sam gestured at the cart. "Food! Please, go wild." [style=padding: 0px 10px; font-size: smaller;] Location: NYNY Casino, Las Vegas Wearing: White T-shirt and jeans. Music: Empire of Dirt - Johnny Cash Notes: Okay, I give up on him. [/style]

[Zee Pritchard]

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Zee came out with her hair still damp, her face scrubbed clean of makeup except for the kohl that she'd reapplied the moment her skin was dry enough. Here and now, with the conversation they'd just had still hanging between them, it was so much easier to see her true age for what it was. Those heavy black bangs and the hard lines of eye makeup did exactly what they were supposed to do in aging her, making her look closer to 21 than 18. But with no other makeup on, her hair tucked back behind her ears, with her barefoot and only lightly armed, she looked more like the teenager she actually was.

"Num, food." She glanced down at herself and grimaced at how tentlike his shirt really was on her, and then did one of those obscure girl-things that men never really learn. In this case she gathered the hem of the t-shirt around behind her, twisted all the extra fabric into a long rope until the front of the shirt was pulled in tight enough to show that she hadn't bothered with a bra on getting out of the shower, and then knotted it up behind her so that it would stay up and out of her way. This whole process accomplished two things. The first was to bare a few inches of skin around her midsection and make it look like the shirt almost maybe fit her. The second was that it showed off the small baby bump that she was already sporting. It only showed at all because she was so ridiculously small--another thing that was easier to see here and now, without the armor of her boots and guns--and was more a gentle swell than a proper pregnancy belly. But it was definitely there, a round bump that pressed forward at her jeans, rumpling the front a little as Zee had tucked the low-rises down under her belly.

All her attention right now was on the food, and Zee dropped to sit down at the table and attack her mashed potatoes. Burgers were fine a little lukewarm, but potatoes got nasty. "So how do you think we ought to work this? I mean...I don't even know what I mean. I'm not sure what decisions need to be made first, even. Are we supposed to figure out a name? Medical care? Are you staying with the band for a while? What do we need to work out?

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Location: Sam's Hotel Room, NYNY Casino, Las Vegas
Outfit: A black and cream striped tee and jeans, way more Juno than her usual look
Music: Falling - Julee Cruse
Notes: Trying to prioritize.

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