A/N: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.
This is my fifth Evy story. I've put up three stories this week. The only reason I've been able to do that, unfortunately, is because I've been in bed sick with the flu. I'm getting better, but I'm going to have to go back to school and work soon. I had never really planned on making Evy into a series, but here it is. I am planning to do more of them, depending on my time constraints.
In this story, it's Evy's tenth birthday. She doesn't hear from John and is heartbroken at being ignored by him. Sam and Jess show her that even if John's not there, she still has a family.
The sun was just starting to come up when Evy opened her eyes. It was Saturday, so she waited a few minutes before getting up. She heard footsteps in the kitchen, and heard Jess giggling. Evy bit her lip and smiled. It was her tenth birthday, and it was the first time in weeks she'd been this excited. She'd been living with Jess and Sam now for six weeks. It had been a roller coaster of emotions for all of them, but Evy was happier and more content than she'd ever been. Evy took Beanie, her teddy bear she'd gotten from Sam when she'd first come to Stanford and placed him on her pillow, then walked out towards the kitchen. She stood and watched them for a minute before saying anything. Sam was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes. Evy could smell the cinnamon and smiled. He was making cinnamon pancakes, her favorite breakfast. Jess was standing there with him, arms around his waist, watching him. Sam suddenly giggled and jumped.
"Stop it, you're gonna make me burn them!" he said.
"I like watching you cook." Jess said. "If you burn 'em, you'll have to make more."
"But I'm hungry." Evy finally said, walking into the kitchen with them.
Jess and Sam turned to Evy and Jess acted first. She loosened her grip around Sam's waist and walked over to Evy, who was now sitting at the table. Evy smiled as Jess hugged her.
"Happy birthday, birthday girl!"
"Thanks." Evy said. Jess always went out of her way to make her feel special.
Sam placed the plate of pancakes on the table and kissed Evy on the cheek. "Good morning, Cricket. Happy birthday."
"Thanks, Sammy." Evy said.
As Sam got the plates and cups out for them to eat breakfast, Jess continued to talk to Evy. "So what do you want to do today?"
Evy was surprised. "You two don't have to work?"
"Nope." Sam answered as he sat down. "We both took the day off."
Evy was stunned. She wasn't used to things being pushed around for her. John had never done it. If her birthday fell at a time when John was on a hunt, which was almost every year, she'd get a quick "happy birthday" and that was the end of it. Sometimes not even that. Evy looked down, unsure how to answer them. She saw Sam put a pancake on her plate, then felt him take her hand. She looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"You okay, Cricket?" he asked.
Evy smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Sam was about to refute her when the phone rang. He got up and answered it quickly. "Hello?...Yeah. Hang on, she's right here…" Sam walked over and handed the phone to Evy. "It's Dean."
Evy smiled and took the phone from him. "Hi, Deanie."
Sam watched her for a minute. He knew if something was really bothering her, she would eventually tell him. It finally occurred to him after a minute of thinking what might really be bothering Evy. She wanted to hear from John. Sam thought about asking her if that was the case, but decided instead to try and distract her. It worked for a little while. After she hung up with Dean, Sam started a food fight with Jess, which Evy eventually joined. They took her out to play in the Quad, something she'd grown fond of in the last few weeks. After around forty-five minutes outside, Evy went back inside to use the bathroom.
As Evy washed up and headed back outside, she spotted Sam's cell phone on the kitchen counter. A thought occurred to her. She picked it up and dialed John's number. She waited a moment before pressing 'SEND', deciding whether or not to go through with it. She had tried to call John several times in the last six weeks, and he had not answered any of her calls. Sam had tried to tell her that everything was okay, that Dad was just sleeping or was on a hunt and couldn't get away. Evy had pretended to buy what Sam was telling her, but it still hurt. She knew that she'd hurt Daddy by leaving, but she just couldn't understand why he wouldn't talk to her. Evy took a breath, deciding that if John wouldn't talk to her this time, that would be it. She pressed 'SEND' and waited.
The phone rang seven long, agonizing times. The whole time Evy was thinking to herself please, Daddy, please talk to me. Her heart dropped with each ring, and just as she was about to give up, she heard a click. Her heart leapt for one brief second; until she realized that it wasn't her father, but Dean.
"Hey, kiddo. You okay?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, um…" Evy was scrambling, unsure what to say. "I was looking for Daddy."
"Oh…" Dean seemed to be scrambling now. "Hang on, honey, I'll go find him."
"Okay!" Evy said brightly.
Maybe this was it. Maybe she really would get to talk to him now. Evy waited as patiently as she could, but it was hard to keep the smile off her face. She knew that Sam was probably looking for her now, but there was no way she was going to stop the call now that she had him close. She was grinning when she heard another voice on the line. Her heart jumped in excitement. It was daddy's voice. He was there. He couldn't avoid her now. Right?
"Hey, kiddo, you still there?" Dean asked when he came back.
"Yeah." Evy answered.
"Dad's not here." Dean told her.
The excitement of the last few seconds were replaced with utter devastation. Dean was lying, but Evy could tell he didn't want to. She fought to keep from crying, and didn't answer Dean for a second.
"You still there, sweetie?" Dean asked again.
"Yeah." Evy said, her voice starting to break.
"I'm sorry, kiddo." Dean said. "I really am."
"I know, Dean." Evy replied, wiping away the first falling tear. "It's okay."
"No." Dean responded. "It isn't. I love you, sweetheart. Dad does too."
"Love you." Evy said, hanging up quickly.
Evy placed the phone on the counter and the dam broke. She slid down to the kitchen floor and hugged her knees, the tears coming now too fast to stop them. She didn't know how long she'd been crying when she heard the front door open.
"Hey, Cricket, are you…" Sam flew to Evy's side when he saw that she was crying. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Cricket, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No." Evy said, looking back up at Sam. "I tried to call Daddy."
Sam's concern was immediately replaced with dread. "What happened?"
Evy sniffed and told him sadly. "Dean picked up. Said Daddy wasn't there."
Fat chance, Sam thought. "Maybe he wasn't." He said, trying to comfort her, as he wiped her tears away from her face.
"I heard him." Evy said. "I heard his voice in the background. He was there. He made Dean tell me he wasn't."
Sam sighed. He had gotten used to John's rejection, feeling as if he wasn't good enough for him, but to see Evy so hurt and heartbroken by it made him feel like a failure. He was desperate to make her feel better, show her that no matter what John decided to do, she still meant the world to him. Sam ran his hand up and down her arm to try and comfort her.
"I'm sorry, baby." He said quietly. "Maybe we can try again next week."
"No." Evy said quickly.
"No what?" Sam asked.
"I'm done." Evy said. "If he doesn't want to talk to me, then I'm done trying to get him to."
Sam felt his heart shatter. Evy had done absolutely nothing to deserve this, and she was the one suffering the most. Sam, for the first time ever, was completely lost in finding what to say to make her feel better.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked.
Evy nodded and more tears spilled out.
"Oh, sweetheart…"
Before Sam could think of anything else to do, Jess came back inside. "Hey, where did you two…." She stopped when she saw the two of them on the floor. "…get off to? What happened?"
Sam sighed. Evy wiped tears away with her sleeve while Sam explained. "My dad blew her off again."
Jess watched Evy for a minute before saying anything. She loved Evy, and could not understand why her and Sam's father seemed to want nothing to do with them. She knew it bothered Sam, but Sam seemed to be dealing with it, so she mostly left him alone about it. But Evy was different. Jess was and had always been a daddy's girl, so for her it just didn't make sense that John seemed to not want anything to do with Evy. Sam looked lost as to how to help her, so Jess took over. She walked over to Evy and grabbed her hand.
"Come with me." She said gently.
Evy stood up and walked over towards the couch with Jess. Jess pulled Evy into her lap just as Sam was coming over to join them. Jess didn't say anything at first, just held Evy in her lap for a minute. Sam reached over and scratched Evy's back, and Jess finally started to talk to her.
"I'm gonna ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Okay?"
"Okay." Evy said miserably.
"I think…" Jess said, shifting around so she could hold Evy a little easier. She cleared her throat and started again. "I think that you know how important you are to Sam. Right?"
"Yeah." Evy answered.
Sam smiled. At least she didn't doubt that right now. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking. He was curious, though, where exactly Jess was planning to go with this.
"But…" Jess continued, "…other than Sam, I think you feel like you aren't very important. Am I right?"
The question rattled Sam so much that he stopped scratching Evy's back and stared at Jess open mouthed in shock. How could Evy not feel like she was important? Sam felt his heart break when Evy answered.
"Yeah." Evy answered. "You're right."
"Ah, Cricket…" Sam started.
Jess shook her head and held up one finger. Sam immediately stopped speaking, as hard as it was for him. He wanted to take Evy, hold her, tell her he loved her. But he realized that Evy was hurt right now, beyond anything he'd ever had to help her with before. His standard fix of holding her and telling her he loved her and was proud of her might not be enough this time. She was heartbroken, having just been rejected by the one person in the world who should never have rejected her. Jess patted Evy's arm.
"Sit up for a second, sweetie."
Evy turned around and faced Jess, her eyes watery and clearly reflecting the hurt and pain she was feeling. Jess wiped Evy's face and smiled. Evy relaxed a little, and kept her eyes on Jess's face.
"I know you're hurting. I'm sorry, sweetie. But let me tell you something. Whatever's going through your dad's head right now, it is not your fault. None of this is on you." Sam nodded next to Jess. "And as far as not feeling important, you know you mean the world to Sam. But you mean a lot to me, too. And in this house, you are just as important as me and Sam. This is your family now, kiddo. Something's wrong, or you need us, we're here for you. We won't let you go. Okay?"
Sam's heart leapt in cautious optimism when Evy smiled. "That's right, baby." He said.
Evy looked at both of them for a minute, taking in what they said. She finally hugged Jess around the neck, holding an arm out for a hug from Sam too. For almost a full minute, they sat that way, Evy with one arm on Jess and one on Sam, until Sam decided to break up the group hug by tickling Evy in the side. Though her face still shined with tears, she giggled and laughed until she was crying all over again. Jess and Evy eventually turned the tables and ganged up on Sam, who pretended to be powerless to fight off both of them. When they all had calmed down, only letting out the occasional giggle, Jess asked Evy,
"Feel better?"
Evy nodded and hugged her again. "Thanks, Jess. I love you."
Sam and Jess's mouths were both hanging open in shock. As close as the two of them had become, Evy had never said that to Jess before. Sam saw tears in Jess's eyes, and Jess seemed unsure she had heard correctly. Jess wrapped both arms around Evy and squeezed tightly, kissing the top of her head before responding.
"I love you too, baby. I love you too." Jess held her for another few seconds, and pulled out of the hug. "I've got another surprise for you."
Evy watched as Jess went over to the fridge and pulled something out of the cabinet directly above it. It was a white envelope which Jess handed to Evy. Evy pulled out three small pieces of paper and her eyes grew the size of saucers.
"Thanks, Jess!" she said excitedly.
"What is it?" Sam asked curiously. He took them from Evy and saw they were movie tickets to Finding Nemo. "Why are there only two though?"
"You two are going to the movie this afternoon." Jess said. "I have some work to do for class, so I'm gonna stay here." Evy looked slightly disappointed. "Don't worry. When you get back tonight, you can tell me all about it, okay?"
Evy was almost overcome with gratitude. "Thank you." She said again. "Thank you."
"You need to go change." Jess said. "The movie starts in an hour."
Evy looked down. Her t-shirt was covered in grass and dirt from running around with her and Sam outside. "Okay." She said, running back to her room.
As soon as Evy was gone, Sam turned to her. "You don't have any classwork to do today."
Jess cracked a grin. "I know."
"So what are you up to?" he asked.
"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." Jess said. When he got close and gave her a kiss, she said, "Yeah, you need to change too."
Sam laughed and did as she said. Forty-five minutes later, Sam and Evy were headed down to the local movie theater for the matinee showing of Finding Nemo. Being the middle of the afternoon, the theater wasn't very crowded. There were only two other people there. Sam watched Evy more than the movie. He thought about the difference in her over the last few weeks. She laughed and smiled more than ever. She seemed more at peace with herself. One line from the movie stuck out to Sam and made him reach over and grab Evy into a hug.
"…when I look at you, I can feel it. And...and I look at you, and I...and I'm home!"
"Sam!" Evy whined a little when he pulled her into his side.
"I can't help it." Sam said. "You're just so huggable."
They left the movie and walked back to campus at a slow, leisurely pace. Sam took her to the school cafeteria for dinner, wanting a little more one-on-one quality time with her. He warned her not to eat too much, as she had a birthday cake waiting for her back at the apartment. She had not mentioned John again, and Sam wondered if she ever would. Sam did hope that one day, the four of them would reconcile, but he vowed then and there that they would never go back to the way things were before. If that meant he raised Evy until she turned eighteen, so be it. Evy finished her dinner and Sam checked the clock again. It was 6:08, and they'd been gone for almost four hours.
"What do you say we go check on Jess?" he suggested.
Sam was surprised when they got back to their room and the lights were all off. Maybe she really did have work to do, he thought, taking out his key and opening the front door. Evy stepped in right behind him, taking her shoes off at the door and putting them neatly to the side. When Sam flipped the light on, they both jumped when a multitude of voices shouted,
"SURPRISE!"
There were seven other people in the apartment. Grady, Sam's best friend; Allison, Jess's best friend; their neighbors, Gary and Marissa; Evy's principal, Mrs. Jackson; and two classmates of Jess's, both female, that Sam had met before but couldn't remember the names of. The apartment was decorated in pink streamers, Evy's favorite color. There was a large 'Happy Birthday' banner above the table, where the cake Sam had bought was now placed. On either side of the cake was a few presents. Evy's hands covered her mouth in shock, and she had fallen back against Sam's legs. She looked up at him, disbelief and happiness crossing her face. Sam patted her shoulder and pointed to the table.
"Get over there!" he prodded gently.
The party was winding down a couple hours later. Everyone had gone but Grady and Allison, who were playing a game of Scrabble with Evy. Evy was in the lead, with Allison a close second, and Grady a distant third. Sam and Jess were cleaning up the mess from the party. As Sam put the last plate into the sink, Jess walked up to him and leaned against the counter. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She started to say something, but Sam just walked up and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her in for a long, passionate kiss.
"You're amazing." Sam said, still holding her close. They heard a giggle from the other room, and Sam continued, "She is so happy. Thank you."
"She deserves it." Jess whispered. "Now it's time to pay me back."
"Oh, yeah?" Sam asked, kissing her again. "And how am I gonna do that?"
Jess kissed him a few more times, before grabbing the dish towel from the sink and shoving it at him. "By washing the dishes."
Sam's smile faded. Jess laughed; clearly he had hoped to do something else while Evy was distracted with Grady and Allison. But he took the towel and, with a quick "Yes, m'am" and another kiss, he turned towards the sink while Jess went into the living room. Sam was normally strict about Evy's bedtime, but made an exception when Evy begged for "tonight only"; it was, after all, her birthday, it wasn't a school night, and they had all had a tough day. It was nearly midnight when Grady and Allison left. Evy went and changed into her pajamas. When she came back out, Jess and Sam were on the couch, Sam's arm around Jess's shoulder. Evy thanked Jess again, hugging her for a long time before pulling away. She turned her attention to Sam, and hugged him too.
"Thank you, Sammy." She said, arms still wrapped around his neck.
"For what?" Sam asked.
Evy pulled away, smiling. "Bringing me home."
Sam felt his heart swell. The year that he'd been at Stanford without her had been one of the happiest of his life, but he'd spent the entire year feeling incomplete. Now, he felt complete.
"Come here, Cricket." Sam said, pulling her in for another hug.
This time, Evy didn't whine, didn't pull away, just let Sam hold her. When she yawned, Sam reluctantly made her go to bed, and he and Jess followed not long after. He realized as he fell asleep, Jess beside him and Evy in the next room, that he was home too.
"Good night, my girls." He said quietly, and closed his eyes.