Well then, here we go for the final time with this story and firstly a big thanks to everyone reading and particularly to everyone who has left a review (or 31 of them!) I am blown away by the support and love. You are all wonderful! Sequel details below!

Guest, 'For the most part' is a good way of describing how Dean is, but his squeaky new family will get him through the trauma and love him to pieces. Thank you so much for your reviews!

Wolfgirl2013, Aww, thank you and thank you so much for reviewing, it's always so gratifying to see the review counter ticking! Hope you'll tune in for the sequel too, this isn't the end!

Mandy, Here you go girl! Final installment and as ever, thank you so much for being there every chapter, especially when I'm posting like mad! See you at the sequel I hope! *Hugs*

xXBalorBabeXx, Yep, Mama and Papa Reigns are officially 'mom and dad' now and they are very happy about that fact! Thank you so much for your lovely reviews. See you at the sequel?!

Minnie1015, Yep, a sequel I couldn't help myself! I decided there were still a few loose ends to explore, so we're doing it again! Thank you for all your amazing reviews you lovely person you!

SkittlezLvr79, Well, if Dean doesn't believe they care, then maybe this final chapter will help! Also, thank you so much for your reviews, they're always so detailed and fun to read, I love them!

Skovko, I feel like Roman is a guy that doesn't say things often, but when he does it's perfectly thought out! So, here we are again! Thank you sooo much for reviewing. See you at the next one?!

Tfan23, Yay! I'm so glad you're going to be tuning in for the sequel (maybe I should have left it little longer but I couldn't help myself!) Thank you so much for reviewing, it means a lot to me!

HannonsPen, Always happy to be a guilty pleasure! See? Now that's why I wrote a sequel, for loose ends (some of them) Thank you so much for your reviews, they always make me smile!

Let's wrap this baby up then!

Thirty One.

Dean's birthday comes and then goes a few days later but isn't really kept with any revelry or flare. Thanks to the whole knifepoint-kidnapping debacle there is still a whole lot of legal stuff to sort out, particularly for Papa Reigns and Titus who are putting in the man hours building up a case. Dean would be happy with his asshole of a father – his former father since he has a new one now – simply being thrown in jail and left to rot there.

But, evidently that's not how it works.

Instead they are pushing for a full-on trial with witnesses and juries and all of that deal. Possibly it means that Dean will have to testify and they sit him down and explain about that, but – as he tells them – he did it for emancipation and if he has to then he will just do it all again.

"Good man," Papa Reigns smiles, squeezing his shoulder and glowing with pride, "That's my boy."

For his birthday itself there is a meal at a restaurant but not a super fancy one since there's a bowling alley attached. All of Roman's family are there in attendance – including little kids – and the gym staff come too, which allows Roman's father to see them all together and how much they care for one another and get on and have fun.

Second family.

Dean spends the entire day grinning which only broadens wider as the presents are brought out. Mostly he's still a little awkward about getting things because he's spent so many long empty years without and because his father repeated the word worthless enough times for Dean to feel that he must have had a point. People parting with their hard-earned money for him is as touching as it is pretty darn weird. Still, he's grateful – like – stupidly grateful because people care.

They care about him for once.

The guys at the gym all club in together and buy a leather jacket with stripes on the arms. It fits like a glove and he feels a million bucks in it although has to fend off teasing about being James Dean. Roman's sisters have bought him a ton of gift certificates – for video games and clothing and anything else that he might need – while Mom and Pop Reigns have bought him a cell phone so that he can call them when he's in trouble or any other time in between.

"We want you to be safe honey," Mama Reigns coos at him, stroking his hair as he blinks at the cell, "It's top of the range so you can call us from anywhere and we've put our numbers in there as well."

Dean shakes his head.

"It – it's too much, I can't take it."

Papa Reigns cuts him off with a smile.

"Yes you can."

But compared to Roman's gift the phone seems minimal because Roman buys him a fucking laptop.

"For your business work uce, so you don't have to keep scrawlin' on torn bits of paper."

"Roman, I – ,"

"Don't say you can't to me, alright? You need it and you sure as hell deserve it."

"O-kay, then – thanks uce."

Roman grins,

"Plus I bought it months ago, so I'm pretty damn sure the returns policy's run out."

They put it on the built-in desk in Dean's bedroom and some days he even takes it along to work too, sitting on the comfortable couch in Roman's office and jotting down ideas and other gym-related stuff. Because that's something else that's coming on better now –

The gym is actually starting to do well.

Their membership is higher than potentially it has ever been and they're expanding their range of classes and putting the word out. People now seem to know there's a gym there and that it's friendly and has a community vibe. Roman even talks about hiring new staff on and asks Dean to sit in on interviews once applications go out out. They're still receiving résumés by the time they get to Christmas and –

Christmas.

Dean can barely believe it's here.

The first week after his birthday he starts plotting presents because he wants to get everyone pretty much the perfect gift. The problem is – however – that he's never bought gifts before because he never had the money or anyone to buy them for.

Roman helps on some of it – perfumes that his sisters like, or things to buy their kids – but a lot Dean does himself, window-shopping for hours on the weekends or trying to squeeze facts out of people on the fly. When he does buy things he buys them with his bank card which is about the biggest living thrill in the world, then he creeps home and hides them beneath his dresser in case Roman comes across them or maybe even their mom. He wraps them himself too although that takes him forever and he can hear Roman laughing from somewhere in the living room whenever he curses or gets the tape all tangled which he does pretty often because it's actually hard. The finished outcome doesn't look too professional but is a worthy first attempt and so Dean still feels pretty proud.

Even so, he's nervous as hell about them and so dips his toe in with Truth and Sasha first. For his mentor he has bought a thickset necklace with a cross on it, since he knows that Truth is a religious sort of guy. Sasha has sunglasses – purple to match her hair color – with diamante studs stuck around the outside. He gives them over in a torrent of teenage awkwardness, practically stubbing his damn toe into the ground while Roman – damn him – chuckles behind him and tries to not find the whole thing funny as hell. On the plus side though, both guys love their presents, or at least they certainly say they do. Sasha even gives him a kiss on the cheek for it and the whole thing gives him confidence going into Christmas to give the rest of his gift horde out too.

It's set to be a real family holiday which is evidenced by their summons to the Reigns' household the night before. There's a car on the driveway when he and Roman pull into it and Dean's eyes light up.

"Wow, who owns that?"

Roman merely shrugs at him,

"A cousin or somethin' probably, why, you like it?"

"Um, yeah."

Ever since turning sixteen a few weeks earlier, Dean's thoughts have been preoccupied with learning how to drive. Roman has already promised to teach him so that's not a problem. But Dean doesn't own a car. Once Christmas is over though, that's next on his hitlist although the car on the driveway is pretty much his ideal buy. It's a classic Mustang in red – like it should be – and looking pretty damn neat for being thirty years old. It's sleek and shiny and the lines are like catnip.

Whoever owns that car is a very lucky man.

The house itself is packed with relations including Roman's sisters, husbands and all of their kids, as well as new aunties, uncles and cousins. There's even an ancient and spindly old grandmother who is sharp is tack and funny as hell. The whole house feels rammed and it makes him kind of panicky because honestly, out of all of them, he really sticks out. Mama Reigns knows though and makes him kitchen helper, which means he is rescued from the more curious stares,

"Honey, can you come and help me with the gravy? I need you to pour while I stir."

Thank god.

Towards the end of the evening they all turn out again – the entire family – to attend midnight mass. Dean has barely ever even been to church before so expects that it will be boring as hell, but instead there are songs and candles and festivity so it's nice.

A fitting way to end the day.

By the time he folds into bed he's exhausted as – apparently – so is Roman as well who's down once again on the squeaky blow-up single, since his own teenage room has been given to a relative and frankly there's very little other space to be had. Dean's just lucky to have scored his old bed back which he only thinks he has because it's his first Christmas there. Still it's better than being on the fold-out so he thanks his lucky stars for everything.

This Christmas – he can feel – is going to be a good one and he's so damn excited that he can hardly wait. He wakes up very early the next morning to give Roman his present without the added pressure of eight thousand eyes, knowing that it's probably the most important gift he has ever given and frankly desperate to have gotten it right. Not that Roman would ever be anything less than delighted by whatever was eventually offered across but for Dean it is a monumental moment which is why he dispenses with the preamble,

"Uh, here."

It isn't a very big or terribly well wrapped present and of everything thing Dean has bought, it's the one that worries him the most because it doesn't really seem especially fancy or expensive, mostly because –

Well, because it's not.

It's a photo frame – in black to match the apartment décor – with a photo of the two of them inside. It was taken on the day Dean received emancipation and shows them leant back on the porch steps out front. Roman has an arm slung over Dean's shoulders and he in return is sort of leaning into him, tucking in underneath Roman's broad shoulder and grinning big and wide.

It's a pretty nice photo and Dean really likes it.

He just hopes that Roman will as well.

It's an idea he had run past Mama Reigns a few weeks earlier and she had positively loved the plan. Although naturally of course now that it's Christmas, Dean is suddenly a lot less confident about the thing which he broaches as Roman peels off the paper with a frown on his brow,

"Uh, it's not – like – super impressive or anythin' an' I'm sorry it's not sorta bigger y' know?"

He winces as the gift is revealed in its entirety although Roman simply gapes and then grins at him,

"Uce – ,"

"Yeah, I know, it's not very good but – ,"

"What are you talkin' about? It's amazing."

Dean blinks mildly,

"Um, you really mean that, or – ,"

Roman drags him close into a hug which instantly shuts out any hesitation and makes Dean beam.

"I really mean that."

By the time they make it down to breakfast Mama Reigns is already up and at work along with every other woman in the household who has risen on some strange biological Christmas clock. There are pies and meats and about twelve types of vegetable already cooking for the big feast at lunch and desserts of all shapes and sizes sit on the table waiting for their turn at going into the oven to bake. Everyone is happy and smiling and laughing and it feels like a dream to be surrounded by it all. Full of love like he always hoped would be the feeling and which grows as they all start to gather around the tree. There are relatives perched on every spare surface and people squeezed almost five abreast on the couch, Roman's grandmother even is on the floor cross-legged but despite his amazement no else seems aghast.

Roman sees him gaping open-mouthed and her and whispers a word with a wink,

"Yoga."

Despite the fact it's his very first Christmas there, everyone seems to have brought him a gift, ranging from video games, socks and confectionary through to books and even some aftershave. It's pretty overwhelming but he manages to thank them all and then waits with bated breath for Mom and Pop to open theirs, which comprises of a scarf dotted with cakes for Roman's mother to add to her collection and a silver pen for him, which has the word dad engraved along the stem in delicate scrollwork and is from he and Roman both.

"Dean's idea though," Roman adds in quickly as his father studies it with delight in his eyes and Dean squirms and tries to protest that point a little before Papa Reigns looks up and smiles at him,

"The perfect gift."

At some point someone goes off to get eggnog and others drift back into the kitchen to cook, which instantly takes away some of the tension and Dean breathes a sigh out.

Thank goodness that's done.

"Dean, honey?" Mama Reigns calls out to him, standing juggling a sack of wrapping paper shreds, "Can I get a hand with the door?"

He's standing before she's even finished asking and then follows her to take the lid off the trash. Roman is standing in the cold flanked by his father and Dean frowns at them and stops, confused.

"Uh, what's goin' on?"

"We've still got one more present."

Dean blinks at him,

"You do? Who for?"

"That would be you uce."

Behind him, Mama Reigns deposits the wrapping scraps and then moves in gently and forces him to walk. He goes with her blindly as she leads him past the other two before stopping beside a parked up car. It's the sleek red mustang and Dean's eyes fall across it and stay there in admiration.

Papa Reigns snorts,

"A beauty, huh?"

"Uh huh," Dean nods, holding back the urge to touch it and run his fingers across the paintwork.

"Want to take her out?"

"I – what?"

He looks up sharply, blinking towards his new father like he's crazy and catching sight of Roman standing just behind him, smiling widely and nodding his head. There is something hanging from his older brother's fingers and they look like –

No way.

Car keys.

"It's yours."

For a second there is nothing outside but loud silence as Dean sort of goldfishes his mouth up and down. He looks between all three of them, waiting for the shoe to drop but it doesn't and they're serious.

They bought him a car.

Surging forward he knocks into Roman's father – his father now – and then draws him arms around. The older man chuckles then returns the hug fondly before ruffling his hair.

"Thanks dad."

"You're welcome son."

Behind him both Roman and his mother are grinning and Dean beams back from within Papa Reigns' arms, feeling loved and secure and treasured and happy.

Finally he belongs.

He's a part of a team now.

There you have it, the end of this long saga, which came from a tiny little idea I had and blew up into a mega story! Thank you all for having been a part of it.

Now, the sequel…

It is going to be called (imaginatively) Little Brother 2 and I'll start posting it a week from now (so I can get a headstart on editing the thing) Hope to see you all there for further adventures and brotherly feelings.

Until then everyone!