Disclaimer: Supernatural and all the wonderful characters in it belong to the studio…lucky studio ;)

Author's note: Okay, okay I'm officially the worst updater on the planet….. I've got half a dozen fics spinning around in my head instead of theorems of economics which I should be studying for AHHHH exams in a month! Anyway I solemnly promise to update D.G.A.C soon, here's a little tid-bit to hold you over until then.

Lumpy green footballs

Ah, Wednesday! It used to be my favourite day of the week; it was closer to next weekend than it was to the one before. But that means very little when you don't have a job, when you spend you days lying on the couch watching daytime tv trying to convince yourself that what you saw wasn't 'what you saw'. Trying not to go over it again and again in your head. Wednesday…. Who the fuck cares any more? Kate called me at lunch today and in between shifts and on her lunch break. I'd say my plan to get rid of her was working abysmally. There was no chance they'd be staying in this house a second longer than was necessary fro him to pull himself together and find a place for him and the boys. I figured I needed to get away from everyone being so nice. I'd never spoken to half the neighbours and suddenly since Mary died they all think I need them to be my best friends. And who came up with the idea of giving casseroles to a grieving family. Does anyone honestly think that 25 chicken noodle casseroles are going to cheer anyone up? Maybe if they were T bone steaks or chocolate éclairs. But casseroles? I really needed to get out of the house and considering there was no way in hell I was feeding my kids any more of that bloody casserole I decided I needed to go to the supermarket.

I completely understood that I was putting off my grief. Pretending to be a tough guy when all I wanted to do was curl up and watch Opera until I cried myself to sleep. But how the hell was that going to help me? Maybe it's unhealthy to pretend everything is fine but if a guy chooses to eat junk food nobody tut tuts at him and suggests he should go to counselling.

I got Dean to help me write a shopping list. I did the actual writing I mean Dean's smart but he is only four. He seemed to find the whole idea of me actually cooking dinner so absolutely hilarious I was almost insulted. But I wasn't going to stop him laughing. If he thought I was funny I'd join the god damn circus to keep him smiling.

So we ended up with a list that I thought had a little too much junk food and maybe not enough vegetables but I figured it would do for a first try.

I'd been trekking in the rocky mountains, been stranded in the Arizona desert and waged war in the gulf but that was nothing compared to trying to pack all the stuff Sammy needs on a constant basis into one small duffle bag. How many nappies does a baby need for a two hour outing. I'd been a father for more than four years how was it possible I didn't know this stuff? So about an hour and a half after I'd been planning to leave, I finally bundled Dean and Sam into the back of the Impala and headed out to the shops.

Now I'd been grocery shopping for as long as I could remember. When my mum was at work or dad hadn't come home from the bar I'd just nick off down the shops to get something for dinner. However this was a little different. As a child my diet had consisted mainly of baked beans on toast and peanut butter sandwiches. They were the only things I could make, and while my cooking skills haven't improved that much I was determined my kids should eat more healthy than I did. To my dismay by the time we got to the supermarket it was so packed that there weren't any trolleys left. Now I had had it all planned out. Sam would be strapped into the baby seat thingy that was attached to the top of the trolley and Dean would sit in the tray. I'd pass him the food and he'd dump it in the trolley. Hey presto no problem. This plan went to shit when I realised Sam would have to go into the baby bag thing that we both hated. He hated not being able to see what was going on and I hated it because he screamed whenever he was in it. So here I was with my screaming baby boy strapped to my chest a jumbo sized carry basket in each hand and Dean hanging on to the leg of my jeans. How the hell had Mary done this every week?

Eventually Sam cried herself into a grumpy mood but at least he'd stopped screaming. I gave up trying to cheer him up by making faces when people started giving me weird looks. Superior bastards. So I had about half of the stuff on my list and the carry baskets were chock full of stuff. I'd have to pay for this stuff take it out to the car then come back and get the rest. Now I really wanted to cry. It's not just that but the entire supermarket seemed to be designed to be confusing. The breakfast cereals were in an isle with the olive oil and fresh bread was down the opposite end of the shop to the milk. By this time I was well and truly fed up. I decided I'd just buy what I had and come back bright and early tomorrow to get the rest. It was then that I realised Dean was missing. He's been holding onto the edge of one of the baskets a minute ago and then Sam had started wriggling and I had to put them down to make him more comfortable and now he was gone.

"Dean." I turned around slowly scanning the grocery section. He wasn't hidden between the piles of apples or oranges. He wasn't hovering in front of the deli looking at all the lunch meats. He wasn't asking the nice supermarket lady if he could have a lollipop even though he knew he wasn't allowed sweets before lunch.

He wasn't anywhere. Oh god someone took my son.

"DEAN!" I scrambled around dropping the baskets, food rolling around everywhere. One of the shop assistants came up asking what was wrong. The young man looked quiet unconcerned leaving to put over an announcement on the intercom.

"A little boy named Dean has gone missing from the grocery department if anyone can see him please bring him to the customer service desk. Enjoy your day thankyou"

By now I was well and truly panicking, Sam had picked up on my anxiety and had started to grizzle. Wrapping an arm around him seemed to comfort him a bit but I was still a mess. I felt a tug on the back of my shirt and spun around to see Dean looking very proud of himself. I dropped to my knees in relief yanking him to me in a vicious hug. Sam squalled at being squished between us so I let Dean go.

He looked very confused but smiled at me none the less.

"Look Daddy I got a laceus" he held up what looked to me like a misshapen green football but was in fact a vegetable.

"Lettuce." I sighed in relief "Oh thank God."

I grabbed him by the shoulders. "Don't you ever do that again Dean do you hear me. You nearly gave me heart attack."

Dean looked terrified at the idea he'd hurt me and out his little hand against my chest to assure himself that my heart was still beating.

"Don't leave Daddy when we're out okay?" Dean nodded solemnly.

"But it was on the list." He mumbled.

"The lettuce. Yeah it was. Okay good job. But next time tell me when you want to go and get something, okay? I worry about you."

He nodded. And helped me collect the food that had fallen out of the basket.

We walked toward the check out I paid for our stuff and somehow managed to get Sam, Dean, myself and twenty bags back to the car.

For lunch Dean and I had cheese and lettuce sandwiches and for the first time in my life I didn't mind that the lettuce had no flavour and the consistency of a crunchy Kleenex.

As far as I was concerned it tasted great as long as Dean was here to eat it with me.

Note: I know, I know John is kinda out of character here but I figure this is a few months after Mary died, he's no longer completely grief stricken nor is he in hunter mode…he's just trying to pull himself together you know?

Please review and let me know what you think. This story was originally part of a much longer saga, let me know if you want to here more about John after Mary's death.

Cheers love Balloons