A/N: Vivi here! So I have to apologize. I told you there were like three more chapters, but this is it. I went back and edited the A/N in the last chapter so I wouldn't break too many future hearts. I know. I'm a lying, cliffhanging, heart-wrenching meanie pants. But I do read all my reviews and messages (sorry, I don't reply to a lot of them, graduate school kind of sucks my time away), and I've gotten the feeling that you guys are tired of cliffhangers. So I cut the last two chapters off of this fic, and they'll be the first two of the next one. That way Family Practice wraps up with a warm and fuzzy, feel good ending with very few cliffhangers for those of you who have really been looking forward to this moment!

Also, I'm so struggling to come up with a name for the next fic. I know you guys don't know the plot yet, but I'm open to suggestions! Let me know if you have any title ideas in the review box below!

Previously on Family Practice:

"I just want you to be safe."

"I will be."

We had cereal for breakfast. No one felt like cooking and Dean was barely conscious when he woke up and stumbled out of his room in search of coffee at noon. I figured that once they had full bellies and plenty of liquid energy in them, we could start the talk. No use in putting a ton of effort into a big breakfast to placate them; they'd have the same reaction regardless.

Food wouldn't provide any kind of cushion for something like this.

Hey Cas. It's me. We're all at the bunker. Sam and Dean are sick, but you already knew that… Anyway, I- uh, I could use your help. I'm going to tell the guys the truth. If I don't chicken out at the last second and-

A resounding set of metallic thumps echoed through the whole bunker before they had me jumping from my seat in the kitchen and walking fast to the front door.

"What's goin' on?" Dean asked lazily as I rushed out.

Sure enough, it was Cas standing on the other side of that big iron door, his figure warped a little through the aperture. I tugged the door open and gave him a sheepish, guilty smile. "Hi Cas."

"You will not 'chicken out'." He said as he pushed past me. There was absolutely zero humor in his voice.

Here we go.

I followed Cas into the kitchen, where Sam was just approaching the doorway, probably to follow me and make sure I wasn't going crazy. "Hey Cas." Sam seemed surprised to see the angel in the bunker. That is, until he looked at me and realized with a not-so-quiet sigh that yes, it was time for the talk.

"How's it goin', Feathers?" Dean asked, sipping on his coffee while the rest of us joined him at the table.

"My name is Castiel." Cas said gruffly, glaring momentarily at the hunter wrapping in a blanket.

"Alrighty then, grumpy-Cas." Dean muttered and returned his attention to his coffee.

"So now that I have you all in the same room, I wanted to have a meeting. A family meeting… a-about…" I started, freezing up when all eyes fell on me.

"The baby." Sam filled in gently, resting his elbows on the table and running one hand through his hair.

"Uh, yeah." I glanced at Dean and saw suspicion flare up in his eyes as he wrapped his hands around his coffee mug. He doesn't think the kid is Sam's. He doesn't think he's a Winchester at all. How am I going to convince Dean and Sam that this baby could be either of theirs? They have no reason to believe me; for all they know, I'm lying to cover my ass and stay safe, get them to raise my kid for me. Why did I think this conversation would be a good idea? There's no way it'll lead to anything good-

"What about him?" Dean asked, putting on his neutral tone.

"It's a he? You already know?" Sam perked up, looking to me for confirmation.

"Well… I don't actually know. Just feels like a 'he'." I shrugged, feeling another wave of guilt crush over me.

Sam's face didn't falter at all; he looked almost close to a smile. "So you can feel him?"

"Yeah, that's kinda why we need to talk."

Once again, I had all eyes on me. Cas' were demanding, waiting for me to speak up and finally fill the guys in on our little secret. Dean's were professionally blank, the kind of poker face earned from years of practice and refined in a 'trial by fire' technique perfected by John Winchester himself. Sam was just confused.

"Maybe we should start with questions…" I said quietly after the long silence I took to try and figure out how to start the conversation. I was kind of hoping one of them would say something while I struggled, but no such luck.

"How far along are you?" Dean asked almost immediately, his eyes never leaving my face. I looked at him in shock, my cheeks getting hot as my mouth opened and closed, trying and failing to form coherent words. Sam looked from Dean to me, seeming to be almost as surprised as I was. And why shouldn't he be? He thought the kid wasn't even a week old yet. Why ask a silly question like that when Dean knew just as well as he did that there had been a massive 'oops' not five days ago?

"Twelve weeks." This time, my panicking eyes shot to Cas, who was glaring at Dean's surprised look. The angel's words hung like a suffocating cloud in the air. What the hell, Cas? Heaven forbid you help me ease them into it.

I could feel my throat closing up and my heart beat faster within three seconds. Everything in me told me to get up, get out, before they kick you out. Leaving is better than being evicted, right?

"T-twelve weeks?" Sam stuttered, his gaze jumping from me to Cas and back again. "But how- you- we… Twelve weeks?!"

He was no longer the calm and cool Sam I knew. His cheeks flushed to match mine, but the source of his color was very apart from my own. Those normally soft hazel eyes were hard and calculating, all signs of trust and respect wiped away by those two little words.

In Sam's mind, he'd just lost his child, again. He'd lost his best chance at normal.

I had to close my eyes to keep from fleeing or having a panic attack. It was fifty fifty at that point. There was silence while I battled myself in my head, trying to keep the shame and fear and, well, the entire range of emotions from manifesting in sobs or an escape attempt. If I can just- I just need to explain. They'll understand if I explain-

"That was right after we got the demon out of you." Sam's voice was much more reserved this time around. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. "You… We didn't leave you alone at all after that. And you and me didn't… There's no way you could've…"

"The demon." Dean said suddenly, shock in his tone. "Did she do this to you?"

I hung my head and tried to take deep breaths. "I'm sorry." I whispered, emotion leaking into my words despite my best efforts.

"Why are you sorry?" Sam asked, confusion thick in his voice. "Was it the demon or not?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." I said as loudly as I could. My voice was nothing more than a loud whisper. "I was scared."

"Scared of what?" Sam's voice was soft now. That alone made it so much easier for me to think.

"Rejection. Abandonment. Isolation." I listed off just a few of my reasons in a monotone, trying to keep my voice even.

"Li." Dean leaned in closer across the table. "Hey. Look at me." Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and looked at Dean with blurry vision. "You're not going anywhere, okay? We talked about this."

"Right."

"We all on the same page now?" Sam asked, looking from Dean to me.

"Yeah. Got it." A tiny sliver of a smile eked onto my face before it disappeared.

"Now we need details, Li. Anything you can give us." Dean said before taking another sip of his coffee.

Sam started coughing, so I used that as an excuse to not talk for a few seconds. He stopped coughing before I came up with anything good to say. I sighed, trying to send all the fear out with the breath. "Yes, it was Francesca. She- uh… she raped some people." My voice was a shaky murmur.

"Were you hurt?"

"Did you get an STD?"

"Are you okay?"

I took another deep breath and felt some tension roll out of my shoulders; of course they would be worried about me. They cared. They were family. Maybe… this could turn out okay. "Yes and no. She was… rough. A lot of tearing and bleeding and rug burn. Bruises. I was sore for a while, that's all. No infection."

"I'm going to kill her. I'm going to find a way, and I'm going to kill her. Why would she do that?" Sam growled, clearly upset by the news. I would be too. In fact, I still was. "She was obsessed with you, why would she hurt you like that? I didn't think those things even wanted that anymore. "

"They were people at one time, Sam. Some habits just don't die." I said softly, swinging one leg under my seat. Tell them. They need to know what Francesca wanted to do. They deserve to know. It's important.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "She- she didn't just… She wasn't in it for the thrill. Not that time."

"What?"

I hung my head, not wanting them to see the fear and dread on my face. "She needed a child."

"What are you talk-"

"She needed my child."

There was silence until Cas spoke, a long few seconds later. "Explain."

"It- that's why she killed my family. The blood of five generations… it's part of a curse she wants to put on me." One more deep breath, then you have to say it. The breath wasn't nearly long enough. "It would seal her inside me for centuries." I took another breath through my mouth, since my nose was now completely plugged. "She took some ancestor of mine and wore her around for decades. The bitch liked that body so much that when she broke out of hell again, she found her bloodline. My bloodline. And she chose me. Made me kill everyone else while she collected the blood of all four living generations of my family. She- she didn't know…" My crossed arms dropped down to my stomach, still hugging myself.

"Kole." Sam said quietly, the horror in his voice not masked in the slightest.

I nodded quickly and kept going. "She only got four generations because she killed Kole and Cas… removed him. So she had to make a new generation. Using my bloodline. Using me."

"How do you know all this?" Dean asked, sounding skeptical. "She tell you?"

"No. A shifter working for her let the secret slip. He… didn't last much longer after that." I tried not to see the shifter, who had taken on the form of Dean, laying on the floor with his neck at an unnatural angle. "She filled in the details here and there after that."

"She was using you to grow an ingredient? She got you pregnant for a curse to possess you forever that requires the blood of your own baby?" Dean snapped, his tone growing more angered by the minute.

"It wouldn't be forever. Vessels wear out eventually." I said quietly.

"If I could kill that bitch-"

"Ali, are you okay?"

Slowly, I looked up, my face revealing my confusion. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Sam repeated, leaning in just a little.

"Yeah. I mean… I'm fine. Everything healed up and-"

"Not what I meant."

I just stared at him for a while, not connecting the dots he set out. He proceeded to connect them for me. "Are you… I don't know… coping? I mean, you were raped. That's not something someone just bounces back from. And on top of that, you got pregnant. Conceived a child with the guy. And there's a demon, still alive, that wants to kill the baby to seal itself inside you, effectively killing you. You know you almost… faded out when she had you last time. You almost died. She'd kill you on the spot if she got you again." Sam said, talking like I was the only other person in the room. "You can't just be okay with that."

"I'm not." I said, swallowing back the lump that formed in my throat. "I've been struggling for the past twelve weeks, but… he's a miracle no matter how he came to be. I'm keeping him. No matter what. Even if there's a chance Francesca could use him against me."

"We're keeping him." Dean said firmly. "You're not going anywhere without us. Not in your condition."

I almost sneered at 'your condition'. Like I can't still do things while pregnant. It's not a disability. I don't need pampered and coddled. Save that for the kid.

"No one is asking you to terminate, Ali. We would never." Sam frowned. "We know how much he must mean to you."

"Your very own rainbow baby." Dean said with a gentle smile.

I crumbled a little, a tiny grin leaking onto my lips. "How do you even know what that is?"

"I read." He shrugged, returning to his coffee.

Sam looked lost, but continued nonetheless. "If you ever need to talk, we're here for you."

"I know." I rolled my eyes, looking down at the table as I wiped a bit of moisture from my eye.

"So… when did it happen? If you're comfortable talking about it, that is." Sam asked slowly, carefully.

I froze. "When did what happen?"

"When did she hurt you?"

I dreaded looking back at him, anticipating the rejection and disappointment I'd find in his face. Yeah, he cares, but he won't want to be with me ever again. I'm stained. I'm ruined. He probably can't even look at me. Probably regrets last night already. I held my breath as I forced my eyes to meet Sam's.

There was no rejection. There was no disappointment. There was worry, there was pain, there was… shame? A shaky, shocked breath slipped out before I knew what was happening.

"It could not have been more than five days before she was freed. Gametes can only survive for a few days before they degenerate if not fertilized." Cas said flatly. He had his own way of moving the conversation along, I guess.

I chose to ignore him. This is it… What if they freak out? What if they can't live with seeing me every day and knowing what I did to them? They might fight over the kid- or worse, change their minds and fight with me over terminating. Both of them have made it very clear how bad this timing is. I know all that, but this is my baby, too. No way in hell I'm letting some Winchester take him away from me. "It was- it was just before Dean shot me." I said, wincing as I remembered how much he hated himself for what he'd done. Why did I bring that up? It won't help anything and it's gonna hurt Dean. "She assaulted three people. Three men."

"Five days, Cas?" Dean asked with his eyes narrowed.

"At the most, yes."

Oh right. Cas doesn't know what happened to him either. The guys have to know but… Maybe I could skirt around that part and just focus on the guys. Cas said the kid was human, so…

"So, we pulled the demon out. That's one day." Dean said.

"And Bobby brought me back from the hospital the day before, so that's two." Sam interjected. I didn't expect him to remember the events around that time very well. He'd been laid up with a bad leg injury and those painkillers were pretty strong.

"You got back that same day, Sam." Dean corrected. "In the afternoon. We dragged it out that night."

"One day then."

"I spent like a three and a half days trying to get information from that bitch while she was in the dungeon."

"So that's four and a half days?"

Dean shook his head. "That half day was after Bobby brought you back. He, uh… he tried to help." For a moment, I tried to decipher the expression that shot across Dean's face. It was like anger and betrayal and shame all in one, but it was gone too quick for me to make out exactly what it was.

"Four days, then. And there would have been no way for her to have any of… that kind of contact in that time, right?" Sam asked, looking to Dean. He knew Cas was out cold for the entire period in question; Bobby brought both of them back from the hospital at the same time. They came home to a drunken Dean in the library and a bloody demon cuffed and tied to a chair in the dungeon.

They're gonna figure it out on their own. But there's no way…

"Right." Dean said, scrubbing one hand over his face as he thought. "I woke up at the hospital before all that and found Li a couple hours later. That was the day I started with the questions, so still four days by then."

"What happened the day before that? That's the last day it could have happened, right?" Sam looked to me at that point. "I mean, I know we ambushed the demon that day and it got away. We went to Dad's old safe house to regroup… What did the demon do between escaping the motel and drugging us in that house, Ali?"

"I- she, uh… she knocked me out for a lot of it. We went to a fancy hotel. She told me what she was going to do to you." My next words stuck in my throat and I allowed my mouth to shut, looking down at my arms; my hands were wringing together almost painfully.

Nut up, girl. They need to know. This isn't just your kid. He has a father, and he's going to want to know his father. And Daddy will probably want to know his kid, whoever he turns out to be. This isn't about you anymore. It never was. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the long awaited reveal.

"The safe house." Sam said quietly, realization sweeping over his face as soon as I looked up.

I felt the blood leave my cheeks. He- he figured it out? But how…?

"I had blood literally everywhere on my clothes when they gave them back at the hospital, but most of my injuries were arms and legs and feet, nothing really severe enough to make it that far. Not, uh, all the way down there." Sam said, looking to Dean and blushing lightly. "Did you…?"

"Yeah." It was little more than a whisper. Dean's eyes, alarmed, flew from Sam to me. "And you- you had a really long cycle that month, or I thought you did. There was so much blood soaked into your pants when we pulled the demon- I thought your period was the only way that could've happened. I had you in that chair for days, no change of clothes or anything. And I didn't have any real bleeders, but I had blood on my pants in questionable places just like Sam. The nurse almost had 'em destroyed they were so bad."

"Cas? You were there, too. Do you remember anything?" Sam asked, pulling his gaze away from me to fix those distressed eyes on the angel. "Were you bloody too?"

Oh, c'mon, Sam… I whined in my head, shame making me grimace and blush more than I had been the whole conversation.

If ever I had seen the angel caught off guard and dumbstruck, it was that moment. Cas turned to me, slowly looking more and more horrified and panicked. The stare was heavy- like I'd just kicked a puppy or something. I had to look away, back to my wringing hands to keep them from shaking. It was a good long while before Cas spoke up, his voice quiet but guarded. "Yes, but it was not my blood on much of my clothing."

"Three men?" Dean asked. All eyes were on me as I looked up, keeping my head low and avoiding eye contact.

I nodded numbly. I'm not ready. I was wrong I'm not ready for them to know I can't do this they can't know yet I can't-

"Ali." The word hit me like a wall of water, almost making me flinch. The kindness, softness of the tone had me fighting back tears. Sam waited until I looked up to continue. Everything seemed to stand still in that moment. I saw Dean's look of unnerved realization and Cas' disbelieving and glazed over eyes, both making me feel like bugs were starting to crawl under my skin. Like I was some kind of freak, something to be done away with, discarded, or hidden. I couldn't look at them anymore.

But then there was Sam. Cool, collected Sam. With the idea of me being unfaithful or careless totally off the table now, he was the lighthouse in the storm. I didn't see any judgement in those eyes.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Sam couldn't have said anything to make me feel worse.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't stop her!" I yelled, feeling like a cornered animal. The tears broke loose and started streaming down my face. Waves of anger and fear and betrayal and anxiety and hopelessness and shame washed over me. They'll hate me for not telling them. There's no other way this could go down.

I stood from the table as quickly as I could and ran for the library doorway. Twenty seconds and I could be out. I can't outrun them, but if I hide- Someone stood up to follow me, but I ground to a halt just before the threshold anyway. A part of me- most of me- couldn't take another step.

I'd been running during this whole pregnancy. Running from responsibilities, from my anxieties, from rejection; running from the truth. I don't want to run anymore.

Slowly, I wiped the tears from my face and turned. Sam was right behind me, looking all kinds of worried. Just to his right and a few feet back, I saw Dean, his blanket forgotten, body swaying slightly with a look of hope and apprehension on his face. Cas was nowhere to be seen, but as expected, when I glanced over my shoulder, he stood in the library doorway probably ready to herd me back into the fray should I make it that far. 'You will not chicken out'. You certainly are an angel of your word.

I looked down to the ground and crossed my arms, taking a deep breath and sniffing my nose pathetically. One short, personal pep talk later, I looked up and addressed both Winchesters. "I'm sorry. For that. I- I shouldn't have walked away." I took a deep breath, waiting for one of them to speak. When they didn't, I continued, trying to make eye contact no matter how difficult it was. "She woke me up in that house and told me she needed you for 'just a moment'." I made dramatic air quotes and rolled my eyes before wiping more tears away. "She showed me you guys- all three of you- out cold in a room upstairs. There were demons everywhere downstairs, outside… They were Francesca's followers, making sure her plan came to fruition. She knocked me out and by the time I fought back to the surface-"

My voice broke and I closed my eyes to continue, hugging myself tighter. "She was done. And then she said she was going to break every bone in your bodies and then kill you before she killed me. You were already beaten and bloody and bruised and I just… You know why you had blood where you found it, and it wasn't yours." I opened my eyes but looked once again at the clean cement floor. I didn't want to see the expressions that were surely splayed all over my friend's faces. "I couldn't let her hurt you any more. I fought back and sent the demons away and ran a cruiser into a tree but she still wouldn't die. I wanted you to leave me behind to get her out of your lives. She's dangerous and she's not after you, not really. This is all on me. I didn't know… I didn't know that this would happen, that this even could happen. The baby, he- he's human. Cas said so, right after he could see him. Not a demon, not an-"

Two big arms wrapped me up in a warm embrace. I melted into Sam and held him tightly, hanging on for dear life, managing to keep sobbing from happening for the time being. What felt like an entire week's worth of held breaths blew out of me in a sigh that might have just cleaned my soul.

"We're not going anywhere." Sam said gently, not loosening his grip in the slightest.

"No matter what." Dean said, walking closer but making no move to break up the hug. "I wouldn't miss meeting my nephew for the world."

That broke up the hug. I heard a soft whoosh, accompanied by a light draft; Cas was gone. "But-" Sam started to speak, confusion written all over him as he let go of me and turned to his brother.

"No buts about it. Junior's yours, Sam. Always has been. And I promise I'm not just trying to be a deadbeat. I want in on raisin' him, but that space on the certificate is all yours, kid." Dean clapped Sam on his good shoulder and smiled at us like everything in the world was okay. "Congratulations, brother. Looks like Sasquatch and the Princess have a bun in the oven."

It took a few seconds, but Sam's face moved from utter confusion to resigned, happy, sincere gratitude.

I got my hug in, both Dean and I smiling like fools. "I'm not a princess, you selfless jerk."

For once, everything really was okay in our little world.

Who would have thought?

A/N: (Sighs happily.) If you wanted a happy ending to this series of fics, you should stop with this one. It's all nice and tied up with a pretty bow and only a couple loose ends. The next fic pulls on those loose ends until everything unravels. A few things to expect in the next installment of this plotline: knights, ghosts, comas, wings, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, waiting tables, and one very strange dungeon scene.

Can't wait to see you at the next fic! Follow and favorite me (VirchowsTriadDuo, aka Vivi) down by the review box to stay up to date on the posting of the continuation story. I've got a couple more fics in the works, so I'll be sure to mention which one is which in the description of each.

You've been great; I certainly enjoyed your reviews and reactions. I hoped you enjoyed reading Family Practice as much as I enjoyed writing it. See ya later! (Probably in a week…)