Anna was dreaming of her perfect wedding.
She was at the beach in the most beautiful white dress she could ever imagine and feeling the sand on her barefeet.
The sky was a clear blue and she was surrounded by her friends and family, listening to the waves crash against the shore.
She would have been enjoying this dream for a while, except she was startled awake by a loud screeching noise.
She was so surprised she rolled off her bed, landing on her back on the floor. Anna looked up and saw Jo looking down at her, laughing like a hyena.
"What in God's name is wrong with you?" Anna said, trying and failing to sound mad.
"I was trying to scare you." Jo said, trying to stop laughing.
"Yeah, well it worked." Anna sat up and glared at Jo. "Do you think you're funny?"
"I think I'm hilarious."
"Why am I with you?"
"Because of my perky nipples." Jo said confidently.
Anna narrowed her eyes, and then started laughing.
Jo smiled back nervously and said "So, y'know how my dad's birthday is in a few days?"
"Yeah. Are you inviting me to go?"
Jo sighed. "I hate it when you do that. I seriously think you're psychic or some crap like that."
"The angels in my head told me," Anna said seriously.
"Are you gonna go with me or not?"
Anna got up and Jo moved to the other side of the bed so Anna could lie next to her.
She lightly flicked Jo's ear.
"Oh my God, why?" Jo said.
"For asking a stupid question," Anna replied. "Of course I'm going with you! This the first time in the year and a half we've been together that you've invited me to a family function. I am not passing this up for anything! I'll use some of my vacation d-"
Jo cut her off with a kiss.
She rested her forehead against Anna's. "Thank you," she said.
Anna ran her fingers through Jo's hair.
The 5 hour flight from New York to South Dakota was met with no layovers or delays.
Jo read a book about moose hunting, then slept for the rest of the flight, her head resting on Anna's shoulder.
Anna played some video games on her Nintendo DS. She wasn't concentrating on the games though. She was thinking about Jo.
Thinking about Jo is not an abnormal thing for Anna. She's always thinking about her.
This was different. She kept pausing whatever game she was playing and looking at Jo; the way her chest moved up and down as she breathed, the way she gripped Anna's knee with her right hand, the way her blond hair framed her face.
To Anna, Jo was perfection.
She knew Jo didn't think of herself that way.
Anna had always known she was gay; Jo didn't.
Jo had dated guys throughout high school and most of college.
She caught the eye of a girl named Meg. Meg was in Jo's Art History class.
After a few dates and a drunken night resulting in Jo losing her virginity, Meg dumped her for no rhyme or reason.
She had a few girlfriends after that: Lilith, the satanist; Chastity, the prostitute; Pamela, the "psychic"; and Ruby, the drugdealer.
Jo had told Anna all of this halfway through their third date, drunk on wine.
Jo started to twitch and whimper in her sleep. Anna stroked the side of her face, and she relaxed.
Anna parked their rental car in a spot right across from the Singer house. She turned off the ignition and then shook Jo awake.
"Go 'way," Jo mumbled.
"Jo," Anna said firmly, "c'mon you slept enough on the plane. I'm not carrying you in."
Jo yawned and stretched. She looked out the window and perked up.
"Dean!" she opened the car door and ran out.
Anna sighed, and got out. She watched as Jo rushed across the street and jumped on her brother, who was standing in the driveway next to his Impala.
Anna walked up to them, just as Jo was being put down. A dark haired man got of the car and stood next to Jo's brother
"Dean," Jo said. "This is my g- uh, roommate, Anna. Anna this is m-"
"Brother. Got it." Anna said. "Let me see if I remember correctly. You're a gym teacher and you love pie." She looked at the dark haired man. "You must be Castiel. You're Dean's boyfriend of 5 years, if I'm not mistaken, and you're a tax accountant."
"Jesus, Jo," Dean said. "What'd you do, write a book?"
"No," Jo replied. "Anna is a normal person who listens when someone talks."
"Are you saying I don't listen?" Dean asked, pretending to be offended.
"You don't." Castiel said.
Dean made a bitchface at him and Jo and Anna giggled.
"Are you four gonna come in or just stand outside all day?" Ellen Singer called from the doorway of her house.
"Hi, mom!" Jo waved.
"Get in the house." Ellen said back.
"I think we should go in before she drags us by the hair." Dean said.
When the four of them got inside, they noticed that the table was set.
"Ma, it's 4:30," Jo said. "We're gonna eat now?"
"Why do you have to question good things?" Dean asked. "Where's everyone else?"
"Ash, Adam! Get your asses down here now." Ellen shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
"You're mom has nice boobs and Dean is bowlegged," Anna whispered.
Jo covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
Adam and Ash raced down the steps.
"Jo!" Adam squeaked when he saw her, launching his little 5 year old body on her.
"Hey kiddo," she said. She pried him off her and set him on the floor. "Adam, this is my friend Anna." Anna waved.
"I don't get a hug?" Dean said.
"No," Adam replied "you're here every day."
"Where are Sam and Jess?" Jo asked. "And dad?"
"In the kitchen." Ellen said. "Bobby! Sam! Jess! Get in here!"
"Mom, why you gotta yell?" Ash said. "Damn, I'm tired."
"You're always tired." Jo said.
"No, you're always tired," Ash said. He looked Anna up and down. "This your girl?" he whispered.
"Don't assume things, Ash, it makes you more of an ass then you already are."
"Twin telepathy," Ash said, pointing to his head.
"So, Anna, what do you do?" Ellen asked.
For dinner they were having steak, carrots, and mashed potatoes.
"Oh, uhm. I'm an artist." she said.
"Do you do nudes?" Dean asked. Castiel elbowed him in the side.
"An artist and a video game tester," Bobby said. "There's a sitcom in there somewhere."
"What do you draw?" Jessica asked.
"Mostly landscapes and animals and stuff. I usually do them for children's books."
"Daddy," Adam suddenly said. "How old are you gonna be tomorrow?"
"How old was I last year?" Bobby said.
"26."
"The year before that?"
"26."
"So how old will I be tomorrow?"
"26!" Adam said happily.
"That's my boy," Bobby said proudly.
"You couldn't even pass for 50." Ash said.
"Get a haircut," Bobby said.
"Don't hate on the mullet," Ash said, running his fingers through his hair.
"Long-haired bros for life, Ash," Sam said raising his fist.
Jo laughed and looked at her brother and Castiel.
Dean had a nervous look on his face, and Castiel was whispering something to him.
Now? Dean mouthed. Castiel nodded.
"Hey, uh, everyone," Dean cleared his throat, "I have to, uhh, I-I… kinda got an announcement." He exhaled. "Last week, Cas asked me to marry him, and I, uhhh, said yes."
"Oh my God," Sam screeched like a little girl.
"It's about damn time," Bobby and Ellen said at the same time.
"Best man," Ash said. "Best man. I called it. Sam and Jess can be the flower girls."
Jo looked at Anna. Her face was completely expressionless. She saw Jo looking at her then put on a fake smile.
"Congrats," she said a little too loudly.
Jo felt her heart clench.
Anna always got like this whenever any of their friends got engaged; Distant and sad.
She wished she could take away Anna's pain, tell her what she meant to her.
She couldn't do it at the moment, though.
"Dean, you better not wear white," she said. "Everyone knows that's a lie."
Dean threw a carrot piece at her.
After dessert they played several games of charades and watched "Ghostbusters".
Sam and Jessica left for their hotel room.
("There's enough room here."
"No there isn't, ma"
"I barely get to see you."
"Stop guilt-tripping me")
Dean and Castiel were forced to stay.
("Dean, how many beers did you have?"
"Uh, one mom."
"You had three."
"Jo, you are a traitor, and hope you step on a screw."
"You're staying."
"We live only 10 minutes away!"
"Dean Michael Singer."
"Okay, we're staying.")
Anna and Jo stayed in Ash and Jo's old room.
"I always feel weird being in here," she said looking through her closet. "They kept everything exactly as I left it."
"If you got arrested," Anna said from Ash's old bed, "would you hire Sam or Jessica as your lawyer?"
Jo turned around. "What the hell kind of a question is that?"
"Just a question…" Anna flipped a page in the book she was reading.
"Is… is that my diary?" Jo asked.
"Yep. You really kicked a police officer in the ass?"
"Put it down, Anna." She made a beeline for the bed. She tried to grab it from Anna's hand. Anna moved it out of her reach.
"I haven't finished reading it. You kissed a guy named 'Garth'?"
"Give it back." She tried to grab it from her again, and ended up falling onto the bed.
Anna threw the book at the wall and kissed her.
Jo placed her hands on Anna's shoulders and kissed her back enthusiastically.
Their tongues curled around each other and their pulses raced.
The door opened suddenly and they broke apart.
"Really, Jo?" Ash said. "In my bed?"
"This isn't your bed," Jo replied. "You have an apartment. Why don't you go there?"
"I am. I just came to say goodnight to the lady lovebirds."
"Okay, good night," Jo said dismissively.
"Night," Anna said, feeling awkward.
"You two gonna have some fun in here?" Ash raised his eyebrows up and down.
"You are a dick. Go home." Jo was starting to sound angry.
"You know," Ash said, sounding serious, "I think you should tell mom and dad."
"Go home, Ash."
"They'll be completely fine with it."
"Go home, Ash," Jo threw a pillow at him.
He smacked the pillow out of his way and said "You better do it sometime, Joanna Beth." He shut the door behind him.
Neither Jo nor Anna said anything for a few seconds.
"Jo," Anna said.
"Don't," Jo replied, avoiding her eyes. "Please don't."
"You really should tell-"
"Can we please just go to sleep?" Jo turned off the light and climbed into her old bed.
Anna sighed and closed her eyes.
Jo was wide awake. She has been lying on her bed, staring the ceiling. She could hear Anna's light snores.
She wished she could tell her parents. As much as Anna loves her, she doesn't understand this one thing.
Jo used to be so adamant about liking guys. She just refused to believe that everything she thought about herself was a lie.
After she realized she liked girls, she felt like if she told her parents then it would've been like lying to them most of her life.
She knew she had to tell them eventually.
Jo became aware of murmuring from the room next hers, Dean and Sam's old room.
She got up and pressed her ear to the wall.
"I love you more than pie," Dean was saying.
She could imagine them. Castiel lying on the bed, Dean resting on his chest.
"What kind of pie?" Castiel asked.
"All kind. Apple, cherry, blueberry. There are too many to choose from."
"Okay," Castiel said. "I love you more than cheeseburgers."
Jo rubbed a hand over her face and crawled back into her bed, putting her pillow over her head.
Stupid, she thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why is Anna even with me? Dammit! Why can't I tell them?
She fell asleep, angry with herself.
The Singers have an odd tradition.
If it's your birthday, "Happy Birthday" is sung to you before each meal.
For breakfast, Ellen made pancakes with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and vanilla ice cream.
"How are none of us diabetic?" Sam said, earning smack in the head from Ellen.
Jo came down the stairs a few minutes after, hair a mess and a sour expression on her face. Everyone else was already in the living room.
"Joanna Beth, you get that look off your face," Ellen said.
Jo rolled her eyes.
"Daddy, sit on the couch," Adam said pulling Bobby by the hand.
He sat down. "Where's the food, women?" he said, amusement in his voice.
Ellen glared at him and put the pancakes on the coffee table.
"Hey, Jo," Dean said. "How long have you and Anna been together?"
Jo's eyes widened. "What?"
"Together, you know; dating, courting, f-"
"Dean!" Bobby and Ellen both yelled at he same time.
"Wait, what?" Jo said.
"They've been together, like, a year and a half, or something." Ash said.
"Ash, what the hell did you tell them?"
"Nothing!" Ash said defensively.
"Jo, how dumb do you think we are?" Bobby said. "We've always known."
"You… always…" Everyone nodded, even Adam. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"
"We thought you knew we knew." Sam said.
"Can you start singin' so I can eat?" Bobby said impatiently.
While everyone sang, Jo stood there in surprise. She looked at Anna.
Anna's hand was covering her mouth, tears in her eyes.
"How is this funny?" Jo whispered.
"It just is," Anna whispered back, taking her hand from her mouth.
"Why-"
Anna kissed her.
