Sam huffed dramatically, scuffing his foot petulantly on the floor of the store they were in.

"Come on, Sammy, we're nearly done… Mom'll be done soon, and then we can go home."

"I don't care! I'm bored! I'm going…"

"No you ain't, buddy boy… Come here, now. You're staying right here where I can see you, understand?"

"No." Sam shook his head stubbornly, his soft brown bangs swishing wildly through the air, "Why can't I go off and look around like Dean? It's not fair!" An all too enthusiastic stamp of Sam's foot accompanied his whines.

"Because, Samuel, you are too young to be wandering off yourself. Because I want you to help me find the right stuff to buy, and because Dean went to go and buy something he really wanted in the sale. It is, however, perfectly fair. When you're older, you too will get the freedom of getting to go off to shops by yourself. But until then, you stay with me Momma when we go shopping, do you understand me?" John raised his eyebrow at his son who mumbled that yes, he did understand, before taking his son's hand. "Come on, Sammy. I promise we'll try be quick and then we can go get you a Gameboy game or a film or something if you're good." He squeezed the little boy's hand encouragingly before leading him further into the kids' section of the department store.

Half an hour had passed and they were still looking at clothes, and Sammy was fed up! He wanted to go off by himself… But his Dad had told him no, so maybe he'd better not… However, this didn't stop Sammy from taking his tantrum out, at least a little. He'd show Dad… With this in mind, Sam trailed after his Dad, reaching his hand out and knocking items of clothing of the hangers, not bothering to pick them up. His rebellion didn't last long, however. He suddenly found himself walking right into the person in front of him, "Hey! Watch it, you stupid jerk!" he yelled before looking at the man standing for him. Aw crap.

"Samuel, you have until the count of five to get those clothes picked up and fix your attitude and stop being so disrespectful. One."

Sam frowned, looking petulant. John winced inwardly, the pounding headache he felt increasing in intensity. This was going to get messy real soon if he didn't see some action from his son. "Two."

Sam's stubborn look got worse and he didn't move. "Three. You better get moving, kid."

"No…" By this point, other shoppers had paused in their bargain hunting to watch the scene playing out before them, waiting to see if the father would effectively end his son's tantrum or let him 'run riot'. John continued, unphased; this was between his son and him, and he sure intended on re-earning his son's respect, because he loved his little boy a helluva' lot and wasn't about to let him grow up too soon, especially not into a brat.

"Four. Last warning, young man…" John practically growled, arms folded across his chest, legs spaced firmly apart as he drew himself up to his full height, towering over the child. Sam wasn't thinking straight, so hadn't quite lost the attitude as told, instead telling John that he don't gotta listen to him because he was a big kid and this trip was stupid anyway and that he was going to do his own thing, before turning on his heel and storming off with enough attitude to sink a ship.

"Five. That's it, Samuel…" Sam froze as he heard the dreaded number, his heart pounding in his chest. John closed the distance between them in a few short steps, turning Sammy to the side and landing a flurry of sharp swats to the jean clad backside, ignoring his son's yelp as he knelt down, looking Sam in the eye, "I have had enough of your nonsense, Sam. And you can damn well count on the fact that I will not tolerate such blatant disrespect from my son. You know how to behave better than this, I know you do, and this is completely unacceptable." He chastised, looking the boy in the eye before turning to a nearby store assistant who was about to clear up the mess Sam had created.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Please, leave that for now. My son was the one who cause the display to become such a mess, and he will be tidying it up to the level he found it, just as soon as he and I have a little discussion about his behaviour. Could you make sure the items aren't moved?" She nodded her acquiescence with a sympathetic smile to Sam, and John took this has his cue to stand up, still firmly holding his child's arm in a tight grip. He tugged Sammy's arm and led him in search of the store toilets. When they couldn't find this, John led his son to a corner of the where he found a thigh height stepladder. This'll do, he thought grimly, placing his leg on the upper rim of the ladder. He then turned his attention to the squirming, blushing, teary eyed child before him. "Sam, your behaviour there was totally inappropriate and I am not willing to wait until we get home to deal with such disrespect and disobedience. I realize I've only done this a few times before, but I'm going to deal with this here. You not only disobeyed me and disrespected me with your back chat and attitude, but you were disrespectful to all the other shoppers too. I'm really disappointed that you chose to behave that way…"

With that, John yanked his son's jeans to his knees, pulling him over his lap and landing heavy swats to Sam's backside. Mindful of their location, he focussed his attention on Sam's sit spots and thighs, landing a total of twenty swats from side to side before tipping the boy forward and landing a further ten swats to his sit spots with extra force; the level of spanking he'd apply to Dean's backside. Sammy wailed from the start, and by the end was sobbing. As soon as he was done, John swept him into his arms, righting his jeans and offering reassurance and comfort to his precious baby. He knew Sammy was tired, but he'd thought the boy would manage their trip out before crashing. It was, after all, the Christmas (or just after) sales, and his son still hadn't gotten over the excitement of Christmas Day or caught up with the sleep he'd missed yet. John sighed; they'd have to right this as soon as they got home, or possibly even in the car.

As John soothed his son's with his quiet hushes and gentle words of love and pride in the child, Sammy began to calm down. Soon, he was only sniffling and hiccupping, and John rubbed his back in soothing circles as Sammy wrapped his arms tightly around his Daddy's neck, his face buried in his Dad's shoulder as the last few tears leaked from his eyes. "That's it, buddy. Calm down… Dad's here, dad's got you. We're all okay now, I promise. I love you so much, Sammy. Hush, it's all over. You're safe, Daddy's gonna keep you safe; I forgive you now… Shhh."

Eventually Sammy quieted, but didn't realise his hold which didn't surprise John at all; Sammy was usually clingy after a spanking, wanting to be near his Dad (the likely discipliner in most scenarios, thank you very much!) but today this was amplified by his son's exhaustion.

John walked the child back to the scene of the crime, as it were, and with one arm wrapped firmly around his son's back securing the child to his hip, he methodically righted the displays that Sammy had damaged, before paying for the clothes they'd successfully chosen out on their trip. Holding the bags on his wrist, he carded his hand through his kid's hair, letting his protective streak take over his instincts. "Come on, we'll go find your Momma and brother and get some lunch, then we'll get you home for a nap after all your excitement this week. Don't worry, baby bear, Poppa's got you…"

John left the (very much hated!) department store in search of his wife, ready to go home and let his son sleep away the last of his disrespect and disobedience so that they could once again enjoy the sunny, bright faced Sammy that they knew and loved.

The end!