Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.

A special thanks to AlElizabeth for beta'ing my story.

Summary: Here are a series of one-shots of the first few years after the fire in Lawrence.

A/N: I am going to do this story a little different. You, the readers, will decided what happens next. I have written the first two chapters. The next ones will be from what you would like me to write. Only requirement for the prompts is that they are wee!chester. Anything from the ages of 0-6 for Sam and 4-10 for Dean.

Enjoy.

Family Minus One

Chapter 1: The First Weeks

It has been two weeks since the fire at Lawrence. John was at his wits end trying to cope with the death of his wife while simultaneously trying to care for two small boys. He loved his boys. He really did, but he was so not prepared for every day life of looking after the welfare a baby and a toddler. It was hard enough for him to stay at the garage. It was even harder to find a babysitter who would watch the boys.

His boys. What was he going to do? Poor Sammy. He would grow up and never know how much his mother loved him. He would never know how beautiful she was, or how she could light up a room by just walking into it.

Then there was Dean. He had spent every day with his Mom and now he knew that she was gone. It's really sad, but sometimes he wished that Dean was like Sam; that he hadn't known his mother so he wouldn't be hurt as much by her death. But no, now poor Dean has taken his mother's murder so badly that he hasn't spoken a word since the fire. He doesn't even talk to Sammy any more. John's not diminishing the fact that Dean's not there for Sam. On the contrary, Dean won't leave Sam's side. Now, Dean will only sleep in the crib with Sam. He won't sleep anywhere else. The father had tried tried to put him in his own bed, but the four-year old wouldn't stay. One night, John remembered, he came into the bedroom that they all shared and found Dean, as usual, in the crib asleep. John walked over to the crib and picked a very sleep Dean and walked over to the bed and laid him down on the bed. John went into the bathroom and changed into his nightclothes (sweats and a shirt). He came out walked over towards the crib, leaned down and kissed his baby on the forehead, then walked over to the bed and got in next to Dean. Within moments, all the Winchester men were asleep.

John tossed and turned in his sleep. Sweat pouring down from his face. It was the same dream that he'd been having for the past few days. His dear sweet Mary pinned on the wall. John jerked awake. At first he was clueless to where he was, then he remembered everything that has happened. It all hit him like a ton of bricks. The tears pricked his eyes. Slowly, not wanting to wake up Dean or Sammy, he got up and walked to the bathroom.

Inside, he splashed water on his face. The coolness of the water was able to soothe the heat that was coming from his skin. He knew he wasn't sick; no he was just upset (and rightly so). Earlier that day, he had a meeting with the Fire Marshall. The Marshall had told him that they were ruling Mary's death an accident. That didn't sit well with John. He may not have been sure about many things but he was sure about this. Mary's death was no accident. Something had killed his wife. Though, there was little to no proof of this, John was certain of this.

He took a deep breath. He knew that he had to get some sleep. He had a big day tomorrow. He would meet up with a kind woman who had promised to give him the answers that the Marshall couldn't or wouldn't give him. A friend had told him about her. Missouri was her name. John couldn't help but to snicker at the fact that he remembered her name. John had always been one of never remembering anyone's name. In fact, it was always Mare that kept up with people's names. He thinks that because Missouri's name was an unusual name that's why he remembered.

Taking another deep breath in order to calm himself down before walking back in to the bedroom with his sons, he looked at the mirror and stared at the face before him. He looked tired and worn out. Rest is what the doctor ordered, he thought. He kept the lights off in the room as to not wake up his babies. Carefully he walked back towards the bed and got in. He was just about to relax against the pillow when he realized that something was wrong. His left hand stretched out on the bed and noticed something wrong. There was no small body in the bed. Panic began to fill John. What was he going to do? Where was Dean? What kind of father was he that he lost his son in a small room?

John got up from the bed and turned on the light. He knew that that would probably wake Sammy up, but right now that was the least of his worries. With the light on, he searched everywhere he could think. Under the bed, in the closet, even the bathroom- which hardly made sense since he had just left the bathroom- but couldn't find his eldest boy.

Then John heard movement coming from the crib and thought to check on Sammy to see how he was doing. To his surprise and complete delight, there in the crib lay both his sons. Dean somehow was on his back with his baby brother lying on his chest. Both boys are fast asleep. What surprised him more was that Sammy little hands were curled up in Dean's nightshirt. John's racing heart slowed down once he saw both his sons in the bed. He reached down and tried to move Sam off of Dean. What he saw next really surprised him. Dean's little arms reached around and grabbed Sam. He would not let him go.

"I stay with Sammy," whispered Dean.

John blinked down at his son in the bed. It was the first thing Dean had said since the fire. He was happy that he was back talking again, but he wished the four-year old didn't feel that he needed to protect Sammy all the time now. But to placate Dean, John allowed Dean to stay with Sam. He walked away from the crib and went back to bed. When he turned out the light, he heard something that totally broke his heart.

"Don't worry Sammy, I'll always watch out for you."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The second one should be posted soon. Please leave a review or prompt. :)

This is new to me, so please be patient with me. :)

Many hugs and kisses

Mandancie :)

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