CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Caroline and Nycole walk into the blonde's house, each with one of the twins. They go into the living room and see Sheriff Forbes with two men in suits sitting beside her.

"Mom, what's going on?" Caroline asks as the three of them get to their feet.

"Girls, this is Special Agent Henriksen and his partner. They're with the FBI." She tells them, and Nyx sighs.

"You just can't leave me alone, can you?" She mutters as she looks at Caroline. "Will you help me put the twins down for their nap?"

"Yeah." She nods.

"Nycole." Sheriff Forbes calls, and she looks at her.

"I just want to get them down, and then I'll be right back. Everly hasn't​ been feeling well and she's been cranky. When she's upset, it makes Alex fussy." She tells her. "I'm running on two hours of sleep, and— Ow!" She hisses as Alex pulls a chunk of her hair.

"It's alright, we can wait." Henriksen says, and the two girls take the twins into her room and set them up on her bed.

Nyx has to lay with them until they fall asleep or they won't go to sleep. They had been going to sleep fine on their own, but with Everly getting sick, it messed up their schedule and it's even worse with Dean gone. They know that he's not there, and they want him with them too.

"Nyx?" The sheriff comes in, and the teenager forces her eyes open.

"Huh? Oh, right. The harassment by the FBI." She carefully gets off the bed and throws her hair into a ponytail.

"Why didn't you sleep in the car?" Caroline asks as they walk into the living room.

"I couldn't. The twins were too fussy, and that child with the hair pulling..." She shakes her head, rubbing her eyes. "He's adorable and I love him, but I seriously need to figure out how to make him stop doing that." She sighs.

"You have spit up on your shirt."

"You've had your fair share of spit up on you too." Nyx says as she goes into the bathroom to get a washcloth to attempt to clean her shirt.

"We need to talk to you about Sam and Dean Winchester." Henriksen says as he follows Nyx. "Are you aware that they were arrested for theft?"

"No. How would I know that?" She asks as she cleans the spot on her shirt.

"You don't seem surprised."

"I wouldn't read anything into that if I were you." She tells him. "I've been through a lot recently, and the twins have been keeping​ me up at night. I'm a little numb to showing any emotion."

"I understand that you were out of town for some time recently." He says, and she nods.

"Yeah, my little brother died, and my childhood home burned down. I just didn't​ want to be in town anymore. My sister moved in with her boyfriend, and I've been staying at my family's old lake house with the twins and my friend, Caroline."

"Why'd you come back now?" He asks.

"Caroline needed to. She's still in school, but she worked it out with her teachers to give her her work and take it back at the time they set. Monday being that time." She explains, and he nods.

"When was the last time you had contact with either Sam or Dean?"

"Um... I don't know. I wasn't really keeping track." She shrugs. "Did you miss the part about my little brother dying? I've lost a lot in the last two years. I'm just trying to focus on my kids now."

"Do you understand the kind of man that their father is?" He asks, and she sets down the washcloth and looks back at him.

"Come here." She walks past him and leads him to where the twins are sleeping. "When I was sixteen, my parents died. I left and I met a man who was great. He helped me get through the hardest thing that I'd been through up to that point. My sister and I have lost our entire family and then she left because she couldn't handle it. Now, I'm trying to hold it together so that I can be the best mom that I possibly can." She looks at him. "My daughter is sick, and her brother knows, and he doesn't like it. It's both completely adorable and driving me absolutely crazy. I am trying so hard to be a good mother for them, but that is made more and more difficult by your constant visits."

"I understand you have a lot on your—"

"No, you don't." She shakes her head. "You can't possibly imagine what I've been through. It has been hell for me, and the only things keeping me sane are my kids." She tells him. "I don't know where Dean is or what's been going on. What I do know is that I'm beyond exhausted, and those two are going to wake up in a few hours, and I'm gonna have to feed them. So, if you're done harassing me, I would like to get some much needed sleep now."

"We'll be back if we have any further questions." He says and just as he's about to turn to leave, Nyx places her hand on his arm, causing him to look at her again.

"What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?" She asks, looking into his dark brown eyes.

"If we saw no evidence of Dean here, and that you were moving on with a life without him, we'd have no reason to come back." He tells her, and she nods.

"Forget I asked." The brunette says, and then he goes to get his partner from the living room, and they leave.

—

"Hey." Caroline walks over to Nycole and the twins at the grill. "How are they?"

"Better, finally." Nyx smiles tiredly as she sits down across from her.

"Have the agents​ been back?" She asks, and the brunette shakes her head.

"Maybe they're finally gonna leave me alone." She says, though part of her seriously doubts it.

"I'm really sorry, Nyx. I hate that you have to go through all this." Care says, and she shrugs.

"I knew what I was signing up for when I first started training with Dean." She tells her. "I know it's hard, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I mean, look at what I've got now."

Everly smiles when Nyx looks at her and she starts giggling. Alex is chewing​ on one of his toys, and their mom chuckles at how fascinated he is by it. Caroline reaches over and gets Everly's attention, she starts playing with her.

"I just hope that they get to know the man that I fell in love with." Nyx sighs, and Care looks back up at her.

"Why are you in my room?" Nyx questions as she opens her eyes and looks at Dean. He's standing in the doorway of her room at the lake house.

"Why are you in your room?" He counters, and she just looks at him. "I give you one day off and you plan to spend it in your bed?"

"What else should I do?"

"Well, it's summer and there's a lake outside. Maybe you should put two and two together." He says, and she chuckles.

"Are you more prepared this time?"

"As a matter of fact, I am." He says. "So, what do you say?"

"I say... What are we waiting for?" She gets up, and he smiles as she walks over to her closet to get what she needs for the lake.

Nyx walks outside​ and sees that Dean's standing by the picnic table. He's looking​ out at the water as she walks up beside him.

"So, you plan on going swimming in your jeans and jacket?" The brunette asks him. "Why the hell are you wearing that thing anyway?"

"No, I'm not swimming in my jeans and jacket, you smartass." He says as he looks down at her.

"Well, then get changed and meet me out there." She sets the two towels she brought out on the table and then walks away from him.

She dives into the water, and he jumps in a few minutes later. "So, this is where you spent your summers growing up, huh?" He asks, and she nods as she swims over to him. "You miss it?"

"Everyday." She smiles. "But I'm all for making new memories here too." She splashes him in his face and then quickly swims away as he starts to chase after her, claiming he's 'going to get her for that'.

"He sounds a little different than the guy I know." Caroline says, and she nods.

"He is." Nyx tells her. "All this stuff with his dad, and...the demon — it's changed things. It's changed him. But he's trying."

"Yeah, I can see that too." The blonde nods. "Whenever he's with you or with the twins... He just seems happier when he's with the three of you."

"I hope you're right. I hope we do make him happier. After everything that he's done for me, I owe him at least that much." She smiles as she looks down at the twins again.