Denouement || Book 3 of 'Reawakening Series'

Chapter 17 - Book of the Damned

"Mary, you're finally doing it!" I cry out happily.

She has the biggest grin on her face as she uses the toilet by herself. We've been training her for around six months now and it's finally happened! Dean stands beside me and gives her an encouraging nod, "Good job, kiddo."

"Thank, Dada." She says.

Once she's finished her business, I help her get dressed and wash her hands. She runs off down the hallway and Dean, follows after her, "Oi!"

Her giggles echo down the hallway and I follow after them, moving at a much slower pace then them nowadays. I make my way into the main room and see Dean has her scooped up in his arms, dangling her by feet.

"Please don't drop her!" I call out, a little anxious at the sight.

"She's fine." Dean argues, "She loves it!"

"Put me down!" Mary laughs as I come to their side.

Dean lowers her to the ground slowly and lays her down. She quickly scrambles to her feet and runs towards the library where Sam sits at one of the table, laptop and books surrounding him.

"Uncle Sam!" She cries, rushing towards him.

"Hey there kiddo!" He says, allowing her to crawl up onto his lap.

"I did it! I went potty!" She exclaims excitedly.

"You did?" He asks, his eyes widening as he holds up his hand, "Good job MaryBoo, high five!"

She slaps her hand against his and he begins to tickle her, causing her to laugh at the top of her lungs. I smile at the sight and feel Dean take my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"What's all this?" Dean asks as Mary climbs down, going to her toy chest in the corner of the room.

Sam sighs and shakes his head as gestures the resources in front of him, "So, I've been checking through everything again, double checking and triple checking."

"The mark is a curse." Dean states from beside me.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Sam scoffs, typing away at laptop once more.

I pull out the chair in front of me and lower myself into it, my feet beginning to ache. Dean shakes his head, "No, guys. It's, uh... It's an actual curse."

"What're you talking about?" I ask, looking towards him curiously.

He takes a breath, "Crowley told me. Or rather, Rowena told him after she tried and failed to kill me."

My heart stops beating as we both look at him in shock, Sam speaking, "What the hell happened?"

"The mark protected me." He explains, pulling out a chair and speaking quietly to not disturb Mary, "Rowena doesn't really have beef with me. She was pissed at Crowley because she thinks he's going soft."

"She's not wrong." I murmur and Sam nods in agreement.

"Yeah, well... After he and mommy dearest got into a fight-" Dean begins, but Sam cuts him off, "'Mommy dearest'?"

"Rowena is Crowley's mother." Dean explains and my eyes widen further, but Dean continues, "More about that later. So then he came and told me what she had said. The mark is an actual curse. So anyway, I'm sorry. I probably should've told you that."