Happy Birthday
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The computer purred contentedly as Sam booted her up, responding to his touch as a cat would to its owner's caress.
He had tossed and turned for the better part of the night, the few moments of sleep he had managed to get only plying him with nightmares. Strangely enough his most recent ones were all concentrated on Dean dying a horrible death by the hand of some monster, and of Sam himself being left on his own, lost and abandoned without his big brother.
His nightmares had evolved during the years, beginning with the pre-vision ones, then with those of Dean being dragged off to Hell, the icily chilling ones of being destined as Lucifer's vessel, then the occasional glimpses of the cold-blooded way he had hunted as Robo-Sam and of his time in the Cage.
These ones about Dean however were a whole new ball-game.
X
He shook his head as he thought back to his youthful ingeniousness in trying to escape from the hunting life.
He knew now that it was never remotely possible, and although he would have given his right hand to have been able to change things, the truth was that he and Dean were special, and normal had never been nor ever would be, a part of their existence.
They had been created as a pair, like shoes, one to fit the left foot Lucifer and one to fit the right foot Michael; and just as they had been forged together, they would go out together.
Sam was adamant about that; he would never leave his brother again.
X
He glanced fondly over at Dean; when he was asleep all the tension in his brother's face relaxed and he looked no older than a young teen.
Sam's heart pulsed fiercely with love for this man who had raised and cared for him better than any mother, and who had died willingly to save him. There were debts that could never be repaid but Sam would spend the rest of his life caring for Dean, just as his big brother had done for him.
X
In a week's time it would be Dean's birthday, he would be thirty-two and Sam wanted to get him something special. His brother always brushed off these things as being too chick-flicky but Sam knew that secretly Dean loved to be feted, and Sam was determined to make it a great day.
Never once had Dean forgotten his birthday and although it might not have been the standard celebration that children came to expect, it was filled with love and happiness just the same, as Dean would beg, steal or borrow to give Sam his day.
He browsed the 'net, looking for the perfect gift, grunting in satisfaction as he found it.
Delivery in two days.
Sam gave the motel's address, sure of the fact that they would be here for a while. They had just arrived and the case they had come to work looked as if it was complicated enough to warrant a few days' stay.
He dressed quickly and went out get breakfast, whistling quietly as he drove off in the Impala.
X
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Dean awoke to the aroma of hot coffee titillating his nostrils enticingly; that meant that Sam had gone out for breakfast, he reflected drowsily
What would I do without him, Dean mused as he shook the last remnants of sleep from his mind.
X
"Sammy. That smells like coffee!"
"Maybe because it is, Dude." Sam smiled.
"Get up off your ass if you want to drink it hot, and before you ask, I did not forget the pie. Apple!
"Sammy," Dean drawled. "Did I ever tell you that you're the best kid brother in the world?"
Sam's face took on a pinkish tinge.
Dean didn't usually deliver such a direct compliment, preferring to hide his affection behind a snarky remark.
X
"You sleep okay?" Sam asked to cover his momentary embarrassment at his brother's words. "You looked completely zoned out when I left."
"Yes and no, Sam," was the cryptic reply. "I started off having nightmares but then I ended up in a happy place, so I'm not complaining."
"You, Sammy?"
"Let's just say I got the nightmares but without the happy place," Sam huffed.
"That's because you're the broodiest being on the planet. You can't let go even when you sleep. You gotta lighten up, man! If you cave in who's gonna bring me breakfast, " Dean mumbled, his mouth full of the delicious pie.
"You know something, Dean; you're right! I do brood too much, usually about things I can't change or that we've lost , and I tend to underestimate what I do have." His eyes met Dean's, his meaning crystal clear to both of them.
Dean cleared his throat; the moment thick with intensity.
"That's….good to hear Sam. If it means I don't have to keep pulling you out of those moping funks, that's fine with me," Dean snarked, he too needing to gloss over the moment of pure emotion and renewed affirmation of the bond that linked them from the depths of the past to an eternal future.
X
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X
As Sam had predicted, the case took them four days before they managed to gank the crafty ghost, during which time Sam's order had been safely delivered into his hands.
The twenty-fourth of January dawned to a cold crisp day as Sam slipped out on his usual brekfast run, coming back with coffee and an entire pie.
He settled it on the table and took out the five candles he had bought, three blue ones, one for each decade and two green ones for the two single years. He put a packet and an envelope down next to the pie, lit the candles and went to wake his brother.
"Hey, dude, wake up"
"Sam, what the Hell! You know it's dangerous to wake a man up when he's sleeping." Dean grumbled as Sam pulled back the covers.
"That's rubbish, Dean. I've woken you up hundreds of times and not as gently as this either, " Sam snorted.
"What's so urgent that it couldn't wait till later?" he grumbled, his eyes opening wide at the sight of the glowing candles on the cake.
Sam basked in the feel-good sensation that came over him as he saw Dean's face light-up.
X
"Sam …?" he queried as he got out of bed.
"Happy birthday, Dean," Sam answered.. "Come on, make a wish and blow out the candles before they burn up the pie."
"Dean shuffled his way over to the table, looking back at his brother before doing as he was asked
"Sammy….I …..!
"Open the packets, Dean. They're for you."
Dean delicately opened the first one; inside was a whole range of cassettes of Dean's favourite groups, many of which had been lost or just plain worn out by all the times they had been played in the Impala.
"You like, Dean," Sam asked as Dean worked his way through the titles.
Dean just nodded, his throat too choked up to say anything.
"Open the other one."
The envelope contained two tickets to the next Metallica concert in Boise. ID, that same night. If they left now they would get there in plenty of time.
X
Dean turned moist eyes on his little brother.
"Sam, thanks, but you didn't have to get me anything."
"Yes, I did,"Sam answered seriously. "You've always done everything for me Dean. God, you even sold your soul for me. From now on I'm gonna birthday and Christmas you every year 'cos you're my big brother and you deserve this and much more," Sam said his eyes filling with unshed tears.
Dean studied him.
"Sam, it was never any bother to me to look after you. I wanted to and, there's no better gift I could have asked for than having you as my little brother, brood and all."
He pulled Sam into a bear-hug,
He had always looked after Sam and he would never stop doing it until he still had breath in his body and although he couldn't hear them, Sam's thoughts exactly reflected his own.
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XXX The enD XXX