Where we left off with Brothers Lost, Sam, Dean, and Jacob left behind a house once haunted by the littlest ghost ever. Here’s a little update on what’s going on with Dean’s favorite resident of the walls in that house, a special treat to start the new year off right!
Melanie awoke to a shuffling in her home. She blinked her eyes slowly, staring around in brief confusion while her mind took its time waking up. There was some weak light filtering in, courtesy of a strategically placed seam in the wallpaper of the humans’ “guest room”. It illuminated the tidy little house she kept.
It took her a moment to register that someone else was in the house with her. Their back was turned as they brushed dust off of a doll’s vanity chest that she kept to one side of her home.
She sat up sluggishly in her bed so she could better see out of its alcove. The curtain separating it from the main room of the house was drawn aside, and she could swear it hadn’t been when she went to sleep. “Mom, what are you doing over here?” she croaked, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes and yawn.
Her mother turned to offer a bemused grin. “Sweetie, you were going to come and visit us today. Did you oversleep?” She made her way over to stand at the end of the bed.
Melanie yawned again and patted her hair ruefully. “I’ve been tired all week,” she admitted.
Her mother clucked her tongue. “What, haven’t you been eating enough since you sent a human to go get a bunch of food?” she teased.
Melanie wrinkled her nose and shot her mother a mock sour face. “I didn’t send a human anywhere. He volunteered,” she said, the same old story she always used when the subject came up.
Jacob, an absolutely massive human, had indeed volunteered to bring food and supplies to the house. The resident humans had been gone for too long, and his kindness not only saved Melanie and her family from a few hard days, he’d stocked them up to last well after their humans returned the next week. They’d probably be set for months, if not a year, on all the things he brought back.
She could hardly believe it all herself, but there was at least one human out there who was sympathetic to little folk like them.
Somehow, he’d ended up traveling with two people that fit on his hand. Brothers, on a mission to help people from all kinds of unexplainable things while they sought their dad. Melanie never was sure how exactly they planned to find him, and she never thought to ask.
No, while Sam, the younger brother, left to get supplies with Jacob the human, Melanie had her mind on other things. Dean, a handsome drifter, had caught her attention quickly and held it when they arrived at the house. His stay was brief, but she had her memories.
“Oh my God, Mel,” her mother said with a laugh, breaking Melanie out of her thoughts. “You really are worn out. You’re about to drift off just sitting there, are you sure you want to come today? Papa will understand if you want to rest.”
Melanie shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine,” she said, waving her hand. “Just a slow start.”
After kicking her blankets out of the way, Melanie scooted to the end of her bed. It was just like any other day, right until she tried to stand. A dizzy wave crashed over her and she faltered.
When it passed, she found her mother had caught her, and now had firm hands on her arms to keep her standing. “Goodness, Mel, are you sure you’ve been eating enough? We have so much from that human, you really can have more!”
Melanie huffed and turned away from her mother to wander to her vanity. The small mirror hooked into it was tarnished on the corner, but it worked well for her otherwise. She combed her fingers through her bedraggled hair to smooth out the pin-straight locks. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “But … have you guys been to raid the fruit bowl for one of those mini oranges the humans always get?”
Her mother fell silent, long enough for Melanie to look over her shoulder with her own bemused look. She found her mother looking her over critically, and turned to face her. “Mom?”
Her mother suddenly grinned widely. “Oh, Melanie,” she said, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “I think I know why you’re tired.” After that, she went to a deep plastic lid that Melanie used to hold her shirts and dresses. Rummaging through it, she picked out something for Melanie to put on, that smile still lighting up her face. “We should get back to see your papa and send him to get you an orange.”
Melanie didn’t take the long tunic her mother held out to her. Instead, she fixed her with a confused frown. “Uh. Mom? What’re you smiling about?”
The tunic was shoved into her hands anyway. “You’re tired, sweetie. Tired for a week, you said.”
“Yes, I am, but it’s not because I’m starving,” she countered, drifting towards her bedroom alcove to change in spite of her confusion. Her mother waited, practically bouncing on her feet in the excitement.
“Melanie, sweetie. This is … when I was pregnant with you, do you know what was the first food on my mind every day?”
Melanie stopped with only one arm in a sleeve. She glanced down at herself, and then leaned out of the alcove to stare at her mother in shock. “What?”
“Oranges, Mel. And I was tired as all get out, some mornings your father practically had to yell to get me to wake up. How long ago was that handsome man of yours here?” her mother said, giving her a wink.
Melanie blushed and ducked back into her alcove to hastily finish changing. “A … um. A few weeks,” she answered. Her mother chuckled knowingly again, and left her with the conclusion nagging at her head.
Then, as the situation sank in, Melanie sat with a huff on her bed. Her cheeks practically blushed fire. “Oh. Oh, mom,” she said, her hands covering her face sheepishly. There was a smile hiding there.
“I’m … I’m gonna have a baby.”
Brothers Apart 