Prologue

Take care of Samantha. That's how it had started. Since that fateful night of the fire, Dean had done just that. He'd taken care of Samantha, because Dean was a good boy, and he did what he was told. Then John got hurt, and it was Be good for Bobby. Dean didn't mind that, Bobby was nice; he treated Dean and Samantha like they were his own children. But then John met Maggie. Once their father had become enamored with the red-haired bar tender from one of the dingiest towns Dean could ever remember…things changed. No longer was it Take care of Samantha; look after yourselves, Dean, you're a big boy now.

No. Now it was Listen to Maggie! Dean, obey your mother! That was when Dean realized that things were never going to be the same. John had forgotten—or chosen to forget—about Mary, his and Samantha's mother, and now Maggie was supposed to take their beautiful mother's place. That didn't settle with Dean. But for his father's sake, Dean had persevered, hoping that someday, John would realize the mistake he was making, and would turn back time to make it all right.

Here Dean was, three years later—looking into the eyes of another baby, Maggie's baby—and he realized that it would never be all right again. Not as long as Maggie was in the picture. Now that John had a baby to look after and coo at, a baby whose mother was still alive to enjoy its life with him, Dean and Samantha were nothing to him. Just painful reminders of a life that John once had, but had been taken from him.

When Dean was watching John and Maggie play with Chester, ooh-ing and aah-ing over the baby's cuteness, Dean realized that he and Samantha were like crumbs. Pieces of food that had once been important, but were now only in the way. Not quite trash, because there might be a little value in a crumb, especially if you're starving, but it's certainly not the new sandwich that you're holding in your hands.

"Life as a crumb, Samantha." Dean said softly, cuddling his baby sister to his side. "We're crumbs. Nobody likes those."

The little girl shook her head, her wide brown eyes staring up at her hero brother with unabashed adoration. "Puppies like crumbs, Dean."

Dean smiled at the girl's innocence. "Then we gotta find us a puppy, huh Sam?"