Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the amazing Eric Kripke and the CW. The rest are figments of my imagination.
Ever since Sam figured out a way to get Dean out of the deal without either of them dying, Dean had a lot of time on his hands. Sure there were escaped demons to take care of. Hell he and Sam had taken out nine of them in the last month alone. Plus they had taken care of a certain pesky problem known as Bela. She was now spending the next twenty years in a woman's correctional facility in upstate New York. A little anonymous tip led to her being arrested for trying to steal some priceless Native American artifacts from a museum.
Feeling a little burned out from all the hunting lately, Dean decided he and Sam needed to take a well deserved vacation. The only problem was where to go. Dean was still puzzling over that one while waiting in line at the pizza shop where he was picking up dinner for him and Sam. Standing in front of him was man in his mid-thirties with a boy who looked to be about eight or nine.
"Dad, did you see me shoot the winning basket?" asked the boy.
"I sure did Joey," replied the father. "I guess all of our time practicing in the driveway has paid off."
"Coach said that he's gonna start me in the next." Joey had a grin a mile wide on across his face.
"That's my boy!" replied the father as he patted his son on the back.
Dean felt a small pang as he watched the father and son. He wished he had been able to have that kind of childhood. Even more than that he wished he could be that kind of dad. Coming so close to dying made him realize that he didn't want the Impala to be the only legacy he left behind.
oooooOOOOooooo
Two days later found Dean and Sam cruising down the highway headed for their much needed vacation. Their destination of Indiana was Dean's choice. There was a reason that he wanted to go to Indiana and it wasn't the Pacers.
"Dean, didn't you tell me that Ben wasn't your kid," asked Sam. "Were you lying?"
"No."
"Then what, you think Lisa was lying?"
"I don't know, maybe. I mean, maybe after getting a taste of our life, she probably wanted to shield Ben from that."
"Maybe she was telling the truth," said Sam. "What if Ben has a dad who's involved in his life?"
"Then where was he? Where was he for Ben's birthday? Where was he when Ben and Lisa were almost killed?"
oooooOOOOooooo
Standing outside of Lisa's front door, Dean felt a little nervous. He hoped she had gotten his message and wasn't going to be too surprised to him. Of course he hadn't told her the reason for his visit, just that he would be in the area and he wanted to see her and Ben. Pushing down his nerves, Dean rang the bell.
The front door opened to reveal Lisa. Wearing a pair of black slacks and a cream colored sweater, she very much looked like she had just gotten off work. She gave a small smile when she saw Dean.
"Hey Lisa," said Dean. "Did you get my message?"
"Yeah, I did," replied Lisa. "Listen Dean, right now it's not a good time for a visit."
Dean was just about to ask Lisa why when Ben appeared in the hallway.
"Mom, I'm not hungry," said Ben. "I'm gonna go upstairs."
"Sweetie, you've hardly eaten anything all day," said Lisa.
"Hey Ben," said Dean with a smile.
"Hey Dean." Ben was just noticing that they had a visitor. "Mom, I'll be in my room."
As Dean watched Ben slowly trudge up the stairs, he couldn't help, but notice how sullen the child looked. He wasn't expecting Ben to be bouncing off the walls at seeing him, but he did think the kid would at least be happy to see him.
Lisa gave a heavy sigh. "Dean, I'm not sure why you're here, but I hope you will understand that now is not a good time for a visit."
"What's wrong with him," asked Dean, ignoring her comment.
Lisa gave another heavy sigh. "Ben's dad died two years ago today."
"Ben's dad?" sputtered Dean.
"Yeah and Ben gets depressed around this time of year," said Lisa softly.
I guess she wasn't lying when she said that I'm not Ben's dad, thought Dean. He felt sad at that thought. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up and planned on coming here and demanding to be a part of Ben's life, thought Dean.
"What happened?" asked Dean.
"Steve had a brain aneurysm in his sleep and never woke up. The doctor said that he probably went quickly and we should take comfort in the fact that he didn't suffer." Lisa gave a small huff. "Try explaining that to a six-year old."
"I'm sorry Lisa. It must have been hard on you losing your husband like that."
"Steve wasn't my husband."
There was a chilling draft blowing through open front door so Lisa invited Dean in for a cup of coffee. She decided it might be nice to have someone to talk to. After fixing two cups of coffee, she joined Dean in the family room.
"So tell me about Steve," said Dean just before he took a sip of coffee.
Lisa decided to start at the beginning. "I met Steve a couple of months after I last saw you. We went out for about a month, but it just didn't work out. Then a two months later I found out I was pregnant. I thought about not telling Steve. I mean we were over."
"So what changed your mind?"
"I realized that my baby deserved to have a father in his life."
"So how did Steve take the news?"
"Better than I thought. I was afraid that he would want nothing to do with the baby, and me, but he was great about everything. He even offered to marry me, but we both knew that would never work out. We weren't right for each other, but when it came to our son we were both devoted. Steve turned out to be such a good father. He tried to spend as much time as with him. He even moved out of his apartment and bought a condo a few blocks away from the townhouse Ben and I lived in." Lisa paused for a moment.
Dean sat in silence as Lisa spoke taking in everything that she said.
"You know to look at Steve you wouldn't picture him as the kind of guy who would want to coach a little league team, but he did. He grew up without a father and he didn't want that for his son. Ben just adored him. He wanted to be just like his dad. He was such a happy go lucky kid before Steve died. Then he just kind of closed himself off."
"I'm so sorry Lisa." Dean knew the pain of losing a parent at a young age. It was never easy.
"The first Christmas after Steve died I took Ben to see Santa at the mall. It was always one of his favorite things to do at the holidays. When he was asked what he wanted for Christmas, Ben said he wanted his daddy back. I think my heart broke right there on the spot. I try to get him to open up to me, but he refuses. I don't know what to do and I wonder if it will be like this every year."
"Lisa, are your parents still alive?" asked Dean.
Lisa wasn't sure where Dean was going with this, but she answered anyways. "Yes, they live in Boca Raton. Why do you ask?"
"You're not a member of the club."
"What club?" asked Lisa. "Dean, what are you talking about?"
"The lost a parent club," said Dean. "Lisa, I never told you this, but when I was four my mother died and then last year I lost my dad."
"Oh Dean, I'm so sorry to hear that." Lisa knew it was hard on Ben losing his dad at six, but to be only four she couldn't even imagine to imagine how hard that must have been for Dean.
"Lisa, would you mind if I had a talk with Ben?"
Figuring that it couldn't hurt her son and maybe it would actually help him she agreed.
oooooOOOOooooo
Dean knocked softly on the door and waited for an answer.
"Mom, I said I'm not hungry," called out Ben.
"Ben, its Dean. Can I come in?" A few seconds had passed and Dean was afraid that the boy wasn't going to answer him when the door slowly opened.
Dean entered the room and watched as Ben crossed the room and sank down on his bed. He grabbed a stuffed teddy bear, wrapping his arms tightly around it and stared at the floor.
A quick glance around the room showed the usual things one might find in a boy's bedroom. There were a few Matchbox cars scattered across a small table and a couple of action figures on the floor. There were also some things one would not expect to find in a young child's room. There was a poster of AC/DC and another one for Rush.
When he walked inside the room Dean hadn't known where to start, but after seeing the posters he got an idea. "Ben, you have great taste in music. AD/DC is awesome and Rush man, Rush is a phenomenal band."
"I know. Neal Pert is best rock drummer ever," said Ben finally looking up from the floor.
"Wow, I don't know many people who truly appreciate the genius that is Neal Pert."
"He was my dad's favorite."
"That's cool. My dad was more of a John Bonham fan." Dean spotted a picture on Ben's desk. It was that of a younger Ben sitting on the lap of a man Dean guessed was his father. He could see the resemblance. He had the same eyes as Ben. "Is this your dad?"
Ben gave a small nod, but didn't say anything. Once again his eyes turned towards the floor.
Dean sat down on the bed next to Ben. The kid was hugging his bear so tight that Dean was surprised that the stuffing didn't burst through the seams.
"Who's your friend?" asked Dean.
"His name's Neal," said Ben. He relaxed his death grip on the bear and held him out so Dean could see him. The bear was brown and he was dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans and a black leather jacket.
"Wow, Neal's a cool bear," said Dean.
"My dad bought him for me when I was born."
"I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your dad."
Ben stared at Dean, but he didn't say anything.
"I think I know what you're going through. When I was four my mom died."
"She did?"
"Yeah, she did," said Dean. "Then last year my dad died. It hurt so much losing my dad."
"I miss my dad," said Ben sounding close to tears.
"I know you do buddy. I miss my mom and dad too. I wish I could tell you that that feeling will disappear, but it doesn't. You just learn to live with it."
"You do?"
"Yeah you do. It's not easy, but I know my mom and dad would want me to be happy instead of sad," said Dean. "I bet your dad would want you to be happy too."
'That's what my mom says."
"Well I think your mom is right."
oooooOOOOooooo
Lisa was pacing the family room not sure what to do. Dean had been up in Ben's room for quite awhile now. She was debating whether or not she should go up and check on them when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She walked into the hall just in time to see Dean and Ben coming down the stairs.
"Hey guys," she said.
"Mom, can Dean stay for dinner?" asked Ben.
"If he wants to," replied Lisa.
Dean nodded in agreement.
"Can we have pepperoni pizza instead of chicken?" Ben gave his mom his best puppy eyes look.
"Sure thing." Lisa knew that Ben had always loved eating pepperoni pizza with his dad.
oooooOOOOooooo
Two hours later Lisa stepped into the family room with two beers. She had just finished tucking her son in bed. Handing a beer to Dean, she sat down on the sofa next to him.
"Dean, thank you so much for talking to Ben," said Lisa. "I don't know what you said to him, but he seems to be in a much better mood."
"I'm glad that I was able to help," replied Dean. "Sometimes a boy needs a man to talk to."
"I know. I went out on a date with this guy recently when he found out I had a son he told me that he wasn't looking to be a dad anytime soon. I was so angry with him. I told him that just because Ben's dad not alive that doesn't mean he needs a replacement. No one could ever replace Steve in Ben's life, but I do wish he had a male role model in his life. Steve's brother Jim tries to help out, but it's hard with him living in Portland, Oregon."
"You know Lisa, I'm still on the road a lot, but I wouldn't mind swinging by now and again to spend some time with Ben."
"Oh Dean, I couldn't ask you to do that."
"I want to. Ben's a great kid. Besides he needs someone to help him continue on with his musical education." Ben might not be his kid, but that didn't mean that he couldn't make time for the boy. After all they were both members of the club.
"I only own one Celine Dion cd."
"I rest my case."
oooooOOOOooooo
Dean spent the night in the guestroom so he could be there to see Ben before he went off to school.
"Hey Ben, your mom said that I could pick you up after school and take you to the park," said Dean. "Would you like that?"
"Yeah, that would be cool," replied Ben. "Could we play Frisbee? My dad was awesome at Frisbee and he taught me some cool tricks."
"Frisbee, it is," said Dean.
After a quick hug, Ben raced out the door to catch the bus. Dean stood in the doorway and watched him go.
"Thank you so much Dean," said Lisa. "You don't have to do this."
"I want to," replied Dean.
The End
Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are always greatly appreciated. Please let me know what you think.