Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.
A/N: I promise that I'm still working on Sittin' In a Tree. This just held my inspiration a little harder. It's an idea prompted by a request from the reader 2 sides of the same girl. Evy's had a really bad couple of days, and John and Sam don't seem to care. Dean comes to the rescue.
I wrote the first part of the story completely from Evy's point of view. It's similar to Sharks, which is written the way a three-year-old might think. This one is written like I imagine a seven-year-old might think, so there's a few long, slightly run on sentences. That's done on purpose.
One last warning. John and Sam are big ol' jerks to Evy in this story. Nothing outrageous, just everyone having bad days and taking it out on the littlest member of the family. Enjoy!
Evy's Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day
Evy stepped off the school bus feeling terrible. Her new school was awful. All the kids picked on her, she was smaller than everyone else, and she couldn't fight back because Daddy had told her not to 'draw attention to them' or she'd be in 'bigger trouble than you've ever been in before'. As she stepped off the bus and into the front yard, Evy's bad mood started to turn around. Daddy's truck was still in the yard, which meant that he hadn't left on his hunt yet.
Evy had cried the night before because Daddy had promised to stay for at least a week. He'd promised that before he headed out on another hunt, he would take her out to dinner, just the two of them. The thought of it made her smile. Her daddy was big and tough and sometimes kind of mean to her, but she loved him. Being able to talk to him without Dean being there to talk about hunting or Sammy there to argue with him about hunting made her excited. But when she'd gotten home from school the day before, Daddy had told her he was leaving again after only being home for three days. Evy begged him to at least keep his promise about dinner, but he'd said no.
"I'll make it up to you when I come back."
In an uncharacteristic display of defiance, Evy had shouted back angrily, "You always say that! You're never gonna do it!"
While John was forbidden, by order of her uncle Bobby, to spank Evy, he was not above swatting her once or twice. After two very hard swats to her bottom, an order to never yell at him again and to go straight to bed, Evy had fled the room and cried into her pillow until she went to sleep. Sammy had tried to make her feel better, promising that he'd spend time with her and that he'd talk to Daddy about keeping his promise to her, but Evy had refused and told him to go away. She'd seen the look on Sammy's face when she sent him away. It made him sad, but Evy didn't care right then. All she wanted was her Daddy, and no one else would do at that moment.
When Evy walked inside, she found Daddy on the phone with someone. He was mad, really mad, and Evy waited patiently for him to get off the phone. She wanted to apologize for yelling at him the night before. She really did feel bad about it, and maybe if Daddy had stayed behind, he felt bad about not keeping his promise. Daddy finally hung up the phone. He didn't seem to be less angry, but Evy smiled at him anyway.
"Hi, Daddy."
"Hi." John answered.
"I thought you had to leave."
"I tried. My truck is broken down." John explained. "Go do your homework."
"Yes, sir." Evy said, trying not to frown. "Daddy?"
"What?"
"I'm sorry about last night." Evy said.
John only grunted in response.
Evy took a deep breath, preparing herself for what would likely be John yelling at her and maybe even swatting her again. "Since you're not leaving now, can we do our dinner tonight?"
John gripped the phone in his hand so hard that Evy noticed his knuckles were white. "I told you we'd do it when I came back. Since you're so determined not to listen to me, that dinner isn't happening."
Evy's mouth fell open. "Daddy…"
"No, Evelyn. I told you. I will spend time with you when I can. You're acting just like your brother; putting yourself above other people who need help. It's over. Now."
"I'm sorry, please don't take it away…" Evy begged.
"No. It's over. Now do what I told you. Go do your homework. Now."
Knowing it was useless to beg further, Evy nodded. "Yes, sir."
Evy picked up her backpack and walked towards the room she shared with Sam and Dean. She normally had a room to herself, but the house had not come with a couch, which was where John normally slept. Evy didn't mind the change. She had nightmares quite a lot, and would, more nights than not, end up sleeping with Sam. Evy was ready for her big brother to get home, so she could apologize to him too and get a hug and kiss from him.
To Evy's surprise, however, Sam was already home. He was sitting on the bed, nose buried in a book, and Evy approached him slowly. Sam didn't usually stay mad at her, but he usually got up to give her a hug when he saw her after school too.
"Sammy?"
Sam sniffed and didn't turn to her. "What?"
"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to be mean to you."
"It's fine." Sam said.
Evy waited a long moment for an invitation, but when it didn't come, she got scared. "Are you mad at me?"
"No." Sam said simply.
"Can I get on the bed with you?"
"Not right now. Go do your homework." Sam said.
Evy tried not to cry. She was seven. She wasn't a baby anymore. But her heart was hurting. School had been terrible, Daddy was mad at her, Sammy was mad at her, and Deanie wasn't home yet. Evy picked up her backpack and headed to the kitchen. She put her backpack on the table and quickly completed her homework. Her class was starting to learn division, and Evy found it really hard. But she did her best and put it away, wishing that she could have gone back in the bedroom and asked Sammy for help. But she couldn't.
Sitting all alone in the kitchen, waiting on Dean to get home, Evy couldn't help but remember all the things that happened at school that day. Missing the bus and having to get Dean to come home from work and take her to school. Dean hadn't been mad, telling her only that "everybody makes mistakes, kiddo", but she'd gotten in trouble getting a pass from the office and told she had to make sure a parent came in with her next time. Then, in her math class, she'd answered two questions wrong and everyone laughed at her. Someone had tripped her in the cafeteria and she'd almost lost her chance to eat because she'd had to clean up the mess herself then go to the nurse. Then, at recess, no one would let her play with them or use any of the playground equipment. She'd ended up sitting on a bench watching everyone else play. To top everything off, she'd gotten in trouble in her last class because she'd forgotten her homework for it, and Daddy and Sammy were both mad at her.
"Hey, kiddo."
"Hey, Deanie." Evy said quietly.
"What's going on?" Dean asked as he pulled off his jacket and laid it on the chair.
"Nothing."
Dean, who had been headed to the stove to start dinner, immediately stopped and turned back to Evy. "There's a whole lot of something behind that nothing. What's wrong?"
Evy swallowed hard. Daddy and Sammy didn't care what was going on with her, why would Dean? "Nothing, really. I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine. Talk to me. What's wrong?"
Evy took a ragged breath, still trying to hold back the tears. But it didn't work, and her voice finally broke. "I just had a really bad day."
"Oh, kiddo." Dean said, taking the kitchen chair and pulling it around to face her. "You want to tell me about it?"
"No." Evy said, embarrassed to be crying in front of her big brother.
"You need a hug?"
Evy didn't answer that, just climbed into Dean's lap and let him hold her. It took a few minutes, but she eventually opened up.
"I got in trouble because you didn't come in with me to the office."
"I'm sorry, kiddo. But I had to go to work." Dean said.
"I know. But after that, I went to class and I answered a couple of questions wrong. Everybody laughed at me. Then somebody tripped me in the cafeteria and I almost didn't get to eat lunch."
"Why?" Dean asked. "If someone tripped you, why did you get in trouble?"
"Because the teacher in the cafeteria didn't see me fall. She just thought I had dropped my tray. She made me clean it up and sent me to the nurse's office when one of the other kids told her I'd tripped."
"They didn't let you eat lunch?" Dean asked, his anger steadily rising.
"Yeah, I did eat. The lunch lady saw me leaving and she gave me another sandwich."
"What else happened, kiddo?" Dean asked, reminding himself to go handle the teacher that tried to deny lunch to his little sister.
"Nobody wanted to let me play with them or play with anything on the playground at recess. I ended up just sitting by myself watching everyone else play."
"Why didn't you stick up for yourself, kiddo? I know you know how." Dean asked.
"Daddy told me not to bring attention to us, so I didn't want get in a fight." Evy said.
Dean nodded. He made another reminder to talk to Dad about making it clear to Evy that she could stand up for herself. "Is that everything?"
"No. I forgot my spelling homework and my teacher yelled at me for it and gave me a zero. Then I got home and Daddy and Sammy were both mad at me."
"Why?"
"I asked Daddy if he would take me to dinner like he promised since he didn't leave yet. He told me 'cause I asked him again he was taking it away."
"Oh, kiddo. I'm sorry." Dean said, pushing some of Evy's hair out of her face. "Dad didn't mean that, I promise. He'll do something with you soon. Now what happened with Sam?"
"I told him I was sorry 'cause I was mean to him last night."
"I find that hard to believe." Dean said. Evy didn't have a mean bone anywhere in her body.
"He tried to make me feel better when Daddy yelled at me and I told him to go away." Evy explained.
"That's not mean, kiddo." Dean explained, wiping her eyes of the tears that were still spilling. "It's okay if you wanna be alone."
Evy sniffed. "I wanted to talk to him about school but he said no."
"Oh, kiddo. I'm sorry. You have had a rough couple of days. Can I do anything? Make you feel better?"
Evy sniffed again and shook her head. "No. I just wanted someone to listen to me." Evy accepted the napkin Dean offered and blew her nose. "Can I help you make dinner?"
Dean suddenly got an idea. He had been saving up money to buy himself a new Walkman lately, and nearly had just enough for it. But he couldn't stand the lonely, sad, desperate look on Evy's face. With John constantly hunting, Sam and John constantly fighting, and Dean constantly working, Evy was quickly slipping through the cracks.
"Hey, kiddo, I've got an idea. What do you think about us going on a brother sister date?"
"A date?" Evy asked, intrigued. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you and me go get something to eat, maybe go to a movie or something after that."
"Just you and me?" Evy asked.
"Just you and me."
"But I have school tomorrow." Evy said sadly.
Dean frowned. "Actually, Dad said we were leaving the day after tomorrow." Dean explained. "So tomorrow would have been your last day anyway. Why don't we go out tonight, and you can stay and help me clean up and pack tomorrow instead of going to school?"
"What about Daddy and Sammy?"
"They can take care of themselves for one night. What do you say?"
Evy finally smiled, the first time she'd done so all week. "Okay."
"There we go. Atta girl." Dean said. He lifted her off his lap and set her back onto the floor. "Go to the bathroom and wash your face and get cleaned up. Then meet me at the car. Okay?"
"Okay. Thanks, Deanie."
"Go on." Dean said, gently patting her back to hurry her along.
Evy quickly washed her face and, with Dean's blessing, changed into the only dress she owned. It was almost too big for her now. Sam had given it to her for her sixth birthday. It was white and covered in pink roses, and Evy loved it as much now as she had when Sam had gotten it for her. She put on a sweater and her nice pair of shoes, then went outside to wait for Dean.
Once the door was shut, Dean turned with a sigh to Sam and John. He'd figured out their problems when he'd first gotten home. John had been itching to leave for a hunt, but his truck wouldn't start. He'd wanted to take the Impala, but Dean, who'd been working a good job since they arrived, pointed out that his job was ten miles away and there was no public transportation in the area at all. A frustrated John couldn't help but admit that Dean was right and had been forced to pass the hunt along to Caleb and Mac. Bobby had agreed to come down and work on the truck, and, assuming Bobby could fix it, they would be on their way soon.
Sam had gotten out of school early due to a water pipe bursting inside, and gotten into a fight with John about training. John, already short tempered because of the truck, had given Sam his first spanking in almost two years, putting Sam in an even fouler mood than was normal lately. Clearly, both of them had taken their bad days out on Evy, the only truly innocent one of all of them. Sam was in the living room, sitting on the floor with a lore book in his lap, while John was sitting in the chair nursing a half full glass of Jack Daniels. Dean cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I have something to say to the both of you, and I need you to hear me and hear me good."
Sam and John both looked up from what they were doing, and John was the first to speak. "Dean, watch your tone."
"Not this time, sir. Did either of you happen to notice that baby girl's been crying ever since I got home?"
Sam, whose instincts when it came to Evy were usually fine-tuned, had been so focused on himself that he hadn't even noticed Evy was upset. "What?"
"Yeah. You two have been so wrapped up in your own crap that you didn't even notice she's been bullied all damn day. And you've got her so scared about drawing attention to us, Dad, that she's just letting everyone run all over her." Dean gave them both a rundown of Evy's day, then finished off with, "All that, then she comes home looking for someone to care and you both shove her aside."
Sam put down the book in his lap and stood up. "Where is she?"
"I'm taking her out for the night. A brother sister date. Take care of her like you two should have when she got home."
"Dean, she has school tomorrow…" John protested weakly.
"It's Thursday, Dad, and we're leaving tomorrow night or Saturday. She's not going back to that school. She can stay here and help me pack up tomorrow."
Dean expected at the very least a scowl from his father for the clear insubordination. But John surprised him by hanging his head in shame and nodding his agreement.
"Do you need any cash for your night out?"
Dean thought about saying no, but the offer was so rare and he was so pissed that he couldn't turn it down. "I have some, but I could use a little more."
John dug a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to Dean.
"Dean? Here. Take this too." Sam pulled a ten out of his pocket and handed it to him. "She's been looking for another dress because hers is getting too small. Will you take her shopping for another one?"
"Sure." Dean said.
"She needs some shoes too." Sam said.
"Got it."
Dean knew it would take much more time to save up for his new Walkman now, but the time was well worth it. He took Evy for dinner at Golden Corral, where she tried several different kinds of foods she'd never had before. Being the persuasive little sister that she was, she got Dean to try them too. Dean took her to a kid's movie after that, then to a thrift store he was surprised was open so late. He found her two dresses and a pair of shoes, and allowed her to get one toy and one book. They ended the night by putting her things in the car and walking around the local park, Evy riding around the park on top of Dean's shoulders. By the time Dean buckled her in the front seat of the car, well after ten o'clock, Evy was barely keeping her eyes open.
"Tank 'ou, Deanie." Evy said as she yawned.
"For what, kiddo?"
"Making me feel special." Evy said.
Dean smiled. "You are special, kiddo. More special than you know."
"I love you, Deanie."
Dean, who pretended to hate spontaneous displays of affection, hugged Evy and kissed her forehead. "I love you too, baby girl. You ready to go home?"
Evy, yawning again, could only nod her head.
"Let's go."
When they pulled up to the house just a few minutes later, Evy was fast asleep. Dean picked up her bag from the thrift store and hung it from his arm. He thought about just letting her sleep, but knew she hated it when she slept in her clothes.
"Hey, wake up, baby girl. We're home."
Evy stirred and groaned. "Don't wanna."
Dean laughed at how similar she sounded to a seven-year-old Sammy. "I know, kiddo. But you need to get in PJs."
"Do I gotta get a bath?" Evy asked, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
"Not tonight. You can take it in the morning. Just get in your PJs, okay?"
"Okay." Evy said. She held out her arms and gave Dean a pleading look.
Dean chuckled. "Aren't you a little big for that?"
"No." Evy said simply.
"Alright, just this once." Dean said, knowing full well it would be far from the last time.
Dean carried her inside, and Evy was very nearly asleep again as they walked back inside the house. Her head lay on Dean's shoulder, and her arms were wrapped snug around his neck. Dean was surprised to find John and Sam up waiting on them.
"Hi, Daddy. Hi, Sammy."
"Hey, Cricket." Sam greeted.
"Hey, little one. Did you have fun?" John asked.
"Yes, sir. Deanie and I had a lot of fun." Evy said.
"Good." John said, somewhat awkwardly. After a long silence, John said, "Sammy and I need to talk to you, little one."
Evy, whose head still laid on Dean's shoulder, squeezed his neck a little bit tighter in fear. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, Cricket. Just the opposite." Sam said. "Daddy and I want to apologize."
"For what?" Evy asked. "I was the one mean to both of you."
"No, little one. You weren't mean to us. You were just trying to get us to pay attention to you. You deserve that, and we were just putting our own frustrations ahead of you." John explained. "That was wrong of us, and we're really sorry, little one."
"I second that." Sam said. "I'm sorry you had a bad day at school, Cricket. I'm sorry you couldn't talk to me about it."
"Daddy, can we please have our dinner together? I know I don't deserve it 'cause I yelled at you, but I just want to spend time with you. I'll do it whenever you can, I promise. I just…" Evy swallowed and looked away, feeling the tears starting to come back.
"Just what, little one?" John asked gently.
"I just want my Daddy."
John walked over to Evy, took her chin in his hand, and lifted it up to make her eyes meet his. "I would be honored to have dinner with you. And if you'll still have me, we'll do it tomorrow night."
"Really?"
"Really." John promised. "Will you give me another chance?"
"I will, Daddy." Evy said.
"Thank you." John replied. He kissed Evy's cheek and asked, "Are you almost ready for bed?"
"I have to change into my pajamas first." Evy said.
"You do that. I'll come tuck you in."
"Cricket?" Sam stood up and joined Dean and John next to Evy. "Can we have our own date night? After we get to Bobby's this weekend?"
"You mean you want to too?" Evy asked. "You not mad at me anymore?"
"I never was, Cricket. I'm sorry I made you think so. You forgive me?"
"I forgive you." Evy said with a smile. She suddenly got an idea. "Daddy? Sammy? I know it's late, but will you do something for me?"
"What, little one?"
Evy reached into her bag from the thrift store and pulled out her copy of Ramona and Her Father. "Will you both read to me?"
"It is really late, Cricket." Sam said with no real authority.
"One chapter each? Please?"
"One chapter each." John agreed. "Come on."
As excited as she was, an exhausted Evy never made it through two chapters of her book. Dean retrieved Squish from Evy's bed and handed him to her. Sam was barely halfway through the first chapter when Evy was leaning against John's side and lightly snoring. A disappointed John lifted her up. The frustration of the last two days and the guilt melted slightly when Evy instinctively wrapped her arms around John's neck and whispered,
"Love Daddy."
"Daddy loves you too, little one." John whispered back. "Sweet dreams."
John laid her down on the bed, followed close by Sam who tucked her in. A still guilty Sam brushed her hair back from her face and said,
"Goodnight, Cricket. Sammy loves you."