An Afternoon In The Park
XXXXXX
The chocolate coloured bangs bobbed up and down as Sammy vented all his displeasure at his big brother's, "NO"!
Dean watched exasperated as his kid brother ventured into tantrum territory, something rare for him. Usually a placid child, the younger Winchester accepted their wandering reclusive life-style calmly enough, but when he dug in his heels he was the most stubborn little tyke on the planet, or so Dean thought tiredly as he tried to calm his red-faced sibling down.
He couldn't be angry with Sammy, after all the kid only wanted to go to the park they'd seen when entering the little town three days ago.
Dad had dumped them in this scruffy motel with what he considered enough food for a couple of days, and cautioned Dean to stay locked in until he came back.
The older child sighed; he was the first to be bored out of his mind, having used up all his inventiveness in trying to keep them both occupied, but Sam had reached his limit and Dean knew that if the kid didn't get out for a breath of fresh air, he'd never calm down.
x
Dean was aware of what his father did when he left them alone like this; at eight years of age he was already informed of the monsters that preyed on the ignorant humans, so when his Dad warned him to look out for Sammy, it wasn't just to defend his little brother from scraped knees or cuts and bruises, but from the deadly nightmares that crept around in the shadows.
His eyes took in the shotgun lying high up on the dresser to keep it from falling into Sammy's curious hands. His dad had taught him how to use it and he was already a good shot but he wondered how much of a defence the gun could be against a super-strong monster that might enter the room.
x
Sam by this time had made things worse by bursting into tears and Dean who loved his little brother with a heart-felt passion, could never say no whenever he turned his huge teary pleading eyes up at him.
"Please, Dean," he sniffled. "Why can't we go to the park and play on the swings for a while. Why do we always have to stay in here?"
"It's what Dad wants, Sammy," Dean answered, his heart bleeding for his little brother. "He's afraid something bad's gonna happen to us if we go outside."
"But why? Other kids play outside all day and nothing happens to them, why can't we? Don't you want to go out too, Dean?"
x
Dean bent down and pulled the child into his arms. "I know Sammy, but something bad happened to Mom, and Dad's afraid for us too."
He could feel Sam's tears wetting his shirt as he rubbed his little face on the soft plaid." Please Dean, just for a little while, I'll be good, I promise. I'll do everything you say. Dad will never find out," he begged.
Dean put a hand under his chin and tuned his face up, meeting the puppy eyes. "Promise me you'll stay right beside me and don't run off like you did once before; Dad bawled me out for days afterwards when he had to go look for you," Dean reminded him.
Sam nodded, his curls jiggling wildly about."I promise Dean. I'll stick to you like glue."
"Okay then, just for a half-hour, and when I say it's time to go, we go!"
He unlocked the door, took Sam's grubby hand firmly in his own and stepped outside, carefully closing it behind him and slipping the key into his pocket.
X
It was a beautiful day. The sun made their eyes squint for a moment after the relative shade of the motel room, and Sam smiled up at him happily as they made their way along the side-walk to the park.
True to his promise, Sam didn't try to run off towards the swings but stayed by his big brother's side until Dean led him over and hefted him up on the seat.
"Push me up high," Sam said gleefully as the swing began to move back and forth gaining momentum, accompanied by Sammy's squeals of delight.
"Hold on tight squirt," Dean warned. "If you fall off, it'll be worse for you!"
x
Anyone looking on would have seen two kids playing around, a normal occurrence and not worthy of note, but for these two children it was equivalent to the most expensive game that money could buy.
Dean threw himself whole heartedly into keeping Sammy amused and tiring him out; hopefully his little brother would sleep for hours tonight. He was expecting dad to come home at any time; when he arrived they'd move on and Sammy wouldn't have to hang out in that room for much longer.
He took a quick glance at the clock on the town hall which overlooked the park; they'd been here well over an hour now; it was time to go back.
x
"Sammy," he called to his brother who was hanging on to the climbing frame like a monkey. "it's time for us to go. Come on!"
Sam's face took on a wistful expression, but he obediently skittered down and trotted over to the bench where Dean was sitting and wriggled his hand into his.
"See Dean," he said solemnly "I promised I'd do what you said, even if I wanna stay here forever."
"You're a good kid, Sammy," Dean replied mussing his unruly hair. "I wish you could stay here all day too, but we gotta get back. Dad could show up at any time."
Sam tugged on his hand, eyes wide and transparent. "Thanks Dean."
"Yeah, squirt. Good job you've got an awesome big brother like me to look out for you," Dean replied, his face flushing, moved by the all-encompassing trust in Sam's gaze. "Come on!"
x
As they made their way back, they passed an ice-cream parlour and Sam couldn't stop himself from turning his head towards it, though he didn't say anything; but then he didn't have to; Dean understood his silences. He put his hand into his pocket searching for any loose change that might be there; pulling out a dollar and some coins. Just enough for one, he reckoned.
"You want an ice cream, Sammy? I've still got some of dad's money left."
"Can I?" Sam replied worriedly.
Dean shrugged. "If dad doesn't show up soon, this money won't but us anything else anyway. Might as well use it for this. You want vanilla and chocolate, Dude?"
x
Sam nodded happily and took the cone that Dean passed to him.
"What about you Dean?" Sam frowned, as his brother remained empty-handed.
"Only enough for one."
"Then we share mine," Sam said, holding up the rapidly melting ice.
"It doesn't matter, squirt," Dean shrugged. "You eat it."
"NO! If we don't share then I won't eat it either," Sam insisted, a stubborn expression working its way onto his face."You lick the chocolate and I'll lick the vanilla," he added.
x
Dean smiled down at his little brother. Their life sucked, but the way Sam looked up at him as if he was God's gift to the world, made up for it all.
They shared the ice-cream, passing it from one to the other as they walked back to the motel; entering and closing the door just minutes before the roar of the Impala made itself heard in the parking space outside the room.
The brothers glanced at each other and smiled; today they had shared a stolen moment that was theirs alone. A good memory to help balance out all the bad that had been, and was still to come.
X
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