A Good Man

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or any rights to Supernatural, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Summary: Every mother wants her daughter to find a good man and settle down and Lisa Braeden's mother is no different. It doesn't take long for her to see that Dean Winchester, he isn't your ordinary good man.

Author's Notes: I wrote a bunch of sappy one shots from Lisa's mother's point of view of Lisa, Dean and Ben's lives. They start in the 3rd Season episode "the Kids are Alright". It you guys like this one, I'll post more that begin in 5th season and go beyond. I haven't watched any spoilers for Season 6 so this story is my own AU to that season. And I would appreciate no spoilery info in your reviews. I love a good surprise and can't wait for things to be revealed when the new season starts!

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"The" Dean

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Lindsey Braeden hated that she had to overhear gossip to learn something about her own daughter. Following the gossipers' line of sight to a young, unfamiliar man standing beside her grandson, she wondered why Lisa's friends knew abut this Dean guy and she didn't.

Lisa had made it a habit to parade her boyfriends in front of her, each one worse than the last, simply the last men on earth that she would choose for her one and only daughter. And Lisa, she loved how it upset her, her poor choices in men. Even Ben's father had little redeeming traits, save giving Lindsey a grandson she absolutely adored. But to keep him in Ben's life, in Lisa's life? At least Lisa hadn't taken her bad judgment that far, not since Ben was born.

'Until now,' Lindsay darkly thought, eyes tracking Dean. She had to give her daughter credit on this one. Dean was gorgeous and drew her attention even across the yard. But there was something dangerous lurking there too, some type of power that he kept a tight reign on.

She laughed out loud as she saw him nearly knock over a trash can in a nervous retreat, destroying his macho man image. Somehow he sensed the attention and his eyes landed on hers amid the running children and gossiping mothers. And he smiled an embarrassed 'you just saw me do that, didn't you' smile and she felt her own lips betraying her. She smiled back.

Then he headed into the house where Lisa was and Lindsey understood why he was "the" Dean. There was more to the man than met the eye, was something there that you wanted to trust.

Later, as she helped Lisa pick up the party carnage in the backyard, she tested the waters. "So that was "the" Dean." It earned her Lisa's surprised, guilty look. "He was the envy of all your friends," she teasingly pointed out, hoping her tone wasn't laced with censure at Lisa's oversight in telling her about "the" Dean.

Lisa gave almost a shy, school girl, happy smile. Lindsay had seen a few girls wear that smile before, like when someone asked them if the hottest guy in the school was their boyfriend and they decided not brag that it was true.

"I don't remember you talking about him?" Again Lindsey tried for lightness, had worked hard for her relationship with Lisa to be this tight, this open, and she didn't want to ruin it, not over some random old boyfriend of Lisa's.

"Was years ago," Lisa dismissively answered but there was a love struck look in her eyes.

"Clearly he didn't forget you," Lindsey gently stated, afraid that her daughter was going to go back to her old ways, would be swayed by a gorgeous face.

"Guess not," Lisa gave a non-committal reply.

It forced Lindsey to press harder. "And the way you watched every move he made today. I can see you didn't forget him either."

"I wanted to make sure he didn't upset anyone," Lisa briskly supplied but her eyes were on the party hats she was stuffing into the trash.

Lindsey snorted at Lisa's poor deflection. "More like you wanted to make sure none of your friends made a move on him."

Lisa's surprised and embarrassed eyes flew up to hers and she sputtered, "Mom?"

Lindsay gave her daughter a mischievous smile. "Admit it, honey. You still have a thing for him."

" A thing? Are we teenage girls?" Lisa scoffed but her coloring was turning higher.

"You're avoiding the question. And hey, I'm not judging you, sweetheart. The guy…" Lindsey gave a wolf call whistle and enjoyed her daughter's snickering. "They didn't make them that good looking in my era."

"Maybe I should have worried about you making a move on him more than my friends?" Lisa challenged, her eyes twinkling with delight.

"He's not the type to like cougars," Lindsey drawled out, pouring regret into her tone.

Lisa gave her mother a playful shove. "Mom, I can't believe you just said that?"

Lindsey shrugged but she didn't dismiss her insight. Then she reached out and grabbed Lisa's hand, effectively drawing her daughter's full focus to her. "You still have feelings for Dean." And it was a statement not a question and though Lisa stilled, she didn't deny it. "So why have you never mentioned him to me, Lisa?" she achingly prodded, left the rest of her evidence unsaid. 'When you always threw every guy you had a rump in the sheets with out to me, brought losers to my table that barely knew what silverware was, guys who had done prison time or most likely were headed for prison.'

As if Lisa had read her mother's mind, she softly declared, "Dean wasn't like the others."

And in that moment, Lindsey understood. Dean Winchester wasn't worse than all the rest of Lisa's conquests, he was better than them. Too important for Lisa to parade spitefully in front of her, to be lambasted under her revulsion she had for all the one night stand men that her daughter picked up in bars.

With awe Lindsey realized, "You didn't want to hurt him. You didn't want to chance introducing him to me and having me hurt him. Not years ago and not today."

Turning fully to her mother, Lisa implored her mother to understand, to see Dean the way she did. "He comes off all strong but there's something in his eyes…pain. Now more than before. And I…I don't want to see him get hurt. Not because of me."

And it's the most nurturing, protective thing Lisa has ever said about anyone other than her own son.

"He's the one, isn't he?" Lindsey carefully asked but she already knew the answer, even if Lisa didn't.

"The one what?" Lisa tried to deflect but she hid her eyes from her mother's perceptive gaze.

"That you finally let down your guard for," Lindsey gently guessed, gave a tender smile as Lisa's eyes finally met hers. Reaching out, she pushed a strand of Lisa's hair behind her ear like she had when her daughter was a young girl.

"Doesn't matter. I let him go…" Lisa breathlessly said, regret shining in her eyes and evident in the tremble in her chin.

"And he came back. I think that says a lot," Lindsey affectionately theorized, surprised to find herself championing Dean Winchester.

"I have Ben now," Lisa firmly concluded as if that blessing superseded everything else her heart might desire.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you don't have more love to go around. Or that Ben doesn't either," Lindsey tacked on because, she had seen the way her grandson had talked with Dean during the party, how his young eyes had tracked the man's departure with a look of losing something he didn't yet realize he wanted to keep.

"You're actually telling me to get together with one of my old boyfriends?" There was true mirth in Lisa's tone as she incredulously looked at her mother.

"Yeah, but that's solely so I can meet him this time. I think I can change his mind on his cougar standards." And she held back her laughter…only as long as Lisa did.

Then their laughter meshed into a joyful echo across the quiet backyard. It was rare, even in their new reforged relationship: the lightness, the laughter. And Lindsey knew, strange as it was, that she owed Dean Winchester for that moment with her daughter. She found herself hoping that, one day, she would get introduced to Dean and be able to say a proper hello. And maybe thank him for crashing Ben's birthday party and miraculously allowing her to bridge the gap between her and Lisa just a little bit more.

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TBC?

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Thanks for any one who took the time to read this!

If you enjoyed it and want more, I would love to hear from you. I have some more penned but if there is no interest, I'll bury them away with the rest of my unfinished tales.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.