Guardian Angels
~ 1986 ~
"Yeah, just like that Sammy, good!" Dean says, standing above Sam and flapping his arms out to the sides to show him what to do. Sam wiggles his arms in the snow. He laughs and powers through, though his thick coat and snowsuit limit his range of movement. "Good. Now your legs," Dean says, demonstrating with some jumping jacks. Sam kicks his stubby little legs out.
"Alright, you're done!" Dean says, holding a hand out to his baby brother and helping him up. "Look at the angel you made, Sammy!"
Sam looks down at his handiwork. "Wow!" he says with a big grin up to Dean.
"You did a great job," Dean says, beaming back at Sam. "D'you know what Mom used to tell us before bed?" Sam shakes his head. "She said that angels were watching over us. Angels just like that one," he says, pointing to the tiny Sam-shaped angel in the snow.
"You make wum, Beam," Sam says. Dean bites back a laugh at the clumsy way Sam mispronounces his name.
"Okay, I'll make one right next to yours. How does that sound?" Dean asks.
"Goob!" Sam says, clapping as Dean lies down in the snow. Dean kicks and flaps, creating a slightly bigger angel besides Sam's. He carefully gets up and stands beside Sam. "Umber," Sam says.
"What's under?" Dean asks.
"Angel watch umber us," Sam says as though it's painfully obvious.
"Oh, yeah. You're right. These angels are under us," Dean agrees. He looks up to see a stranger watching them closely, leaning on the chain-link fence that encloses the little open space behind their motel room. The middle-aged man grins and waves their way, a crooked smile on his lips. Sammy waves back. Dean steps in front of Sam.
"Hey, are you cold? I'm getting cold," Dean asks. Sam nods. "Alright, let's go inside," Dean says, grabbing Sam's little mitten-clad hand and taking him into the motel. He locks the door and reaches up on tiptoes to bolt it.
"Don't tell Daddy about the man, okay?" Dean tells Sam.
Sam nods as he pulls his mittens off. "Okay. Why mot?" he asks as Dean helps him unzip his coat.
"'Cause... we weren't supposed to be outside by ourselves," Dean says.
"Why?"
"Because... Do you want some hot chocolate?"
Sam's eyes light up. "Yeah!" he shouts with a big smile.
Dean unzips his own coat and pulls it off. "Alright, I'll make us some." As he walks over to the kitchenette area, he makes a mental note that chocolate is a good distraction for questions he doesn't know how to answer. At least for now.
Thanks for reading! This first scene takes place in 1986, thus Dean is seven and Sam is three. I actually started writing this around Christmas of last year but I didn't dust it off and edit it until now. I thought I might as well post it. A few more chapters to come. Please take a minute to review if you are so inclined. Thanks!
~a