Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original characters of Kayla Winchester, Leslie Moore, and other minor characters along the way do.
A/N: So, I don't know how far I'll take it with this story but I do have other chapters planned.
"Good morning, Sam!"
"Hi, mom." Sam said happily. He walked over and kissed Leslie on the cheek. "I wish you'd let me make breakfast for you one day."
"Oh, stop fussing." Leslie said as she scooped another pancake onto the griddle. "I enjoy taking care of you and Jess and the baby. It's a nice distraction."
"Well, I appreciate you. I want you to know that." Sam said.
"My pleasure, dear." Leslie said pleasantly. "Would you set the table for me, please?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Sam and Jess had moved in with Jess's parents a few months earlier, and Sam never got over how loving the two of them were. They'd come to visit after Jess's father, Lloyd, had died, and Leslie ended up asking them to stay. Sam felt guilty not working and paying his way living there. But Leslie made her position clear, standing in the kitchen with a hand on her hips reminding him frighteningly of Jess.
"You've got no family to help you, Sam. Now my Jess loves you, and I can see why. You've got a big, loving, and caring heart. You helped Jess graduate, and you've given me a son with you and now a granddaughter with Kayla. Now if all you need in exchange for that is a bed to sleep on and someone to cook for you, then that's the least that I can do. Besides, with Lloyd gone, it does me good to have someone to take care of. I know you're trying to find a job. You take your time with that, and until you and Jess are ready to move, this is your home and I'll have no argument about it. Got it?"
A familiar babble broke Sam out of his thoughts as he set the last dish on the table. "Good morning, Kayla bug."
Kayla, who was not quite talking yet, made some more excited, incoherent babbling noises as she reached both hands out towards her father.
"She's definitely a daddy's girl." Leslie remarked with a grin as she finished flipping the last of the pancakes.
"Not quite, mom. Watch." Jess said. She walked away from Sam and Kayla briefly towards Leslie's direction. "Bye, bye, Kay."
Kayla now held one arm around her father's neck and made another, less happy noise as she reached out an arm towards her mother. No, mommy. You stay, Jess imagined her saying.
"Well, I'll be." Leslie said as she turned off the burner to the stove. As she placed the plate of pancakes on the table, she asked, "How about a kiss for grandma, huh?"
Kayla suddenly pushed away from her father and mother and held out both arms towards Leslie. All three adults laughed as Kayla eagerly climbed into her grandmother's arms. Just before breakfast was done, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Sam answered.
When Sam opened the front door, his breath caught in his chest. There, with a ragged black jacket and a familiar face full of unkempt facial hair, was a man that Sam had thought he'd never see again.
"Dad?"
"Hi, Sam." John said. "I need your help with something."
Before Sam could answer, Jess called from the kitchen. "Incoming, Sam!"
Sam looked to the floor to find Kayla crawling towards him as fast as her little arms and legs could carry her.
"Sorry." Jess said, coming from the kitchen wiping her hands with a cloth. "I set her down on the floor to clean the tray on her high chair and she took off."
"Look at you, Kayla bug!" Sam said as Kayla grabbed his leg and pulled herself up. Sam happily picked her up and hugged her. "You're crawling now!"
"Sam, who's this?" Jess asked.
"Oh." Sam bit his lip to keep from cursing; it was one of the few things that made Leslie angry. "Jess, this is my father, John."
"What?" Jess asked. "Really?"
"Really." Sam said, clearly displeased. "Look, Jess, would you take Kayla to the kitchen with your mom, please? I need to talk to my dad alone."
"Sure." Jess took Kayla from Sam, who looked offended at the thought of leaving her daddy when she'd worked so hard to get to him. Despite the serious look on Sam's face, Jess giggled. "Don't worry, Daddy'll make it up to you."
"I'll come get you soon, bug." Sam promised. "Go with mommy and grandma." Sam pushed John back from the doorway slightly and firmly shut the front door behind him. "What do you want, Dad?"
"Look, I'm not happy I have to be here, either. But like I said, I need your help."
"No." Sam said.
"You don't even know what I'm here to ask." John said.
"I have a feeling I do, but the answer's still no." Sam said firmly. "No matter what it is, Dad, the answer is no."
"Sam, I have no one to help with this hunt, I need backup…"
"I SAID NO!" Sam shouted.
"Watch it, boy. I'm still your father. You will show me respect…"
"The hell I will!" Sam said. "You've got a hell of a nerve coming here and trying to play the dad card on me."
"Look I know the last time we saw each other we said some things…"
"I'm not doing this with you." Sam said.
"I'm trying here…" John said impatiently.
"The hell you are." Sam said. "You only came because you couldn't find help with whatever hunt you're about to go on. Well, I'll say it again, Dad, and as many times as it takes to get through. I am not now, nor am I ever coming to help on a hunt again."
"Sam, do you think I would have come if I had any other choice?"
"I don't know and I don't care."
John was shaking his head in obvious disapproval. "You're still the same selfish…"
"Yes. I am. I am still the same selfish son of a bitch that I was the day I told you I was going to college. And you are still the same selfish bastard who told your son to leave the house and not come back. The difference is this. I'm okay with it. Because I am not gonna turn into you. I will not leave my daughter to save strangers. If that means people die, then that's a chance I'm willing to take."
John scoffed. "Fine."
"Don't come back here, Dad." Sam said.
"You know, you make me out to be the bad guy in this, and you're the one who didn't even tell me you had a baby."
"Look me in the eye and tell me Dean didn't tell you when Kayla was born." Sam said. "Tell me he didn't tell you when I graduated Stanford, when I graduated law school, when I married Jess, and when Kayla was born."
John shuffled his feet.
"I wouldn't have stopped you from being there, Dad. But don't you dare blame me for not going back to you. I followed your last order to the letter, sir. I left and didn't come back. Don't get pissy now because I actually did what you told me."
"Sam, please." John begged again.
"Dad. No. For the last time, no."
"Then forget the strangers, Sam. I need you…"
"It's called a boundary, Dad. And I'm making it now. I know you're unfamiliar with that word and that you think you can bully, guilt, or push people to do what the hell you want, but that's not gonna work here. Now I'll make this clear, Dad. I would love for you to be in Kayla's life. But she's my kid, and she's Jess's kid. That means the buck stops with us, and us alone. You want to be in my kid's life, you can be. But you have to leave the hunting behind." Sam said.
"I can't just leave…" John protested weakly.
"You never were much for listening, were you? I never said you had to leave hunting, Dad. But I've left, and you need to respect that. If you step within ten feet of my kid, your attention needs to be on her, and her alone. You so much as breathe the truth to her about monsters, you're done."
"You think keeping them ignorant is going to keep them safe?"
"I told you, Dad, and I'm only gonna say it once more. You want to see Kayla, you keep the hunting away. If you make a promise to her, you keep it. If you can't handle that, then leave and don't ever come back."
John knew it was a stab at him, and he didn't care. "Fine. I'll take this hunt myself."
"Be safe, Dad. I mean that. Don't be reckless. I hope I see you again one day. Kayla's already lost one grandfather, I'd hate for her to lose both."
John turned to leave, but Sam had one more thing to say.
"Dad? You know Bobby lives just a little over fifty miles away. Jess and I go to see him about every other weekend. I'm sure if you were looking for a permanent place, Bobby would take you in. You'd get to keep doing this, and you'd get to see Kayla grow up. Just think about it."
John still had his back to Sam. He said nothing, but his mind was turning. As he pulled back onto the road, he made his decision. When the hunt was over, he was calling Bobby.
