Cherry Pie

Dream On

[Dean]

It was my toughest challenge yet.

I eyed the car seat as if it were a bomb that I had to deactivate before it exploded. Then again, I probably would've had more success with the bomb. Lily was sitting inside it — clutching her toes and blowing raspberries at me.

Rayne pushed me aside with a soft laugh. "Will you ever get the hang of it?"

Scratching the back of my head, I stepped back and watched Rayne expertly strap Lily into the seat and give her a kiss on the head before climbing in to sit next to her. Sam was in the passenger seat, and that left me to drive the van. With a quick, longing glance at the Impala that was parked next to it, I got into the monstrosity of a vehicle. As soon as I started the car, Led Zeppelin's "All of My Love" came on through the speakers.

Next to me, Sam snorted. "Dude, you couldn't even let go of your weird obsession with rock for your own daughter?"

"Now, Sammy," Rayne said from the back seat, "Dean and I both agreed that classic rock would be a lot more educational for Lily than listening to the wheels on the bus going round and round. Besides, it's not like we're playing Metallica for her. Yet."

I turned around to look at Rayne with slight disbelief. "How did I end up with such a cool chick?"

She laughed. "You just got low standards."

I would have begged to differ, however. If anything, she was still way out of my league. A big part of the reason why I'd always been against marriage and parenthood was because I imagined it to consist of nothing but a continuous stream of annoying kiddie songs, a stressed out wife, and a dangerously high sleep deficiency level.

To my utter surprise, it looked like my daughter would be raised on classic rock; Rayne was as laid-back as ever, and, heck, she and I apparently even had time for morning sex.

And, well, with all of that going for me, even a crappy family van didn't seem all that horrible anymore. With a satisfied grin, I backed out of our driveway and drove us to my parent's house.

As soon as we pulled in, my mom stepped out onto the porch and went to hug Sam while I grabbed the diaper bag from the trunk and Rayne unhooked the car seat that apparently also doubled as a carrier. I quickly exchanged with her the bag for the carrier that still held Lily in it, and we made our way up to the house. Sam went in first, followed by Lily and I, and Rayne was in the back with my mom, hugging and chatting away about something as if they were old friends. Which, I guess they might have been.

Inside the foyer, I set down the carrier and managed to get Lily out of it after a few moments of struggling with the fasteners. I sort of began to understand why people were so obsessed with babies. I couldn't get enough of her. It was mind-boggling how much parenthood changed me in such a short amount of time and without my consent either.

"Your father is in the backyard, boys," my mother said. "Why don't you go say hello to him while Rayne helps me in the kitchen with the food?"

Rayne stepped towards me. "You've got Lily?"

I nodded and gave her a light kiss on the lips. My mom was watching us from the doorway — beaming. I always suspected that she would've loved Rayne.

With Lily in hand, Sam and I made our way through the house into the backyard where our father was grilling burgers and sipping on a beer. When he saw us come out, his gaze immediately zeroed in on Lily and his face broke out into the widest grin I had ever seen.

He set down his beer and spatula and animatedly made a beeline towards us like he was pretending to be a plane or something. With outstretched arms and cutesy fussing noises, he picked Lily up, lifted her high in the air (which caused her to squeal it sheer delight), and then pressed her down towards him.