Losing a tooth.
The first rite of passage from child to adult. A small step, to be sure, but a momentous occasion nonetheless.
Sam Winchester leaned into the streaked bathroom mirror of his family's current place of residence — a dingy motel that had probably housed more vermin than humans. His feet were planted on the lid of the stained toilet and he braced himself against the sink, watching his tooth move back and forth with each push of his tongue.
His eyebrows scrunched together as he put more force on the tooth. Maybe if he pushed just hard enough…
"Hey, Sa- What the hell are you doing?"
Dean's enthusiastic entrance into the bathroom, complete with a loud voice and banging door, made him jump. His right hand slipped off the edge of the sink and he fell forward, banging his mouth on the porcelain as he dropped to the floor.
"Oh, shit. Oh, god, Sammy, are you okay? I didn't mean…"
Dean's hands were on him almost instantly, pulling off the tile and into his lap. Green eyes wide with panic, he grabbed Sam's face and tilted his mouth towards the light.
Though gentle, Dean's probing pulsed more pain into his throbbing jaw. Sam could taste blood, warm and salty, and feel it dripping off his chin. His breath hitched in small gasps and his eyes burned.
He hated crying in front of Dean — he was five, not a baby — but now…
Tears slipped from his eyes, hot and wet, and his body shuddered with a loud sob.
At the sound, Dean's eyes darted up from his mouth and his face twisted.
"Aw, Sammy, don't cry-"
Sam gripped Dean's sleeve as his brother pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in Dean's shoulder, trembling and crying.
"It's okay, Sammy. You're okay, bud. Let me look at it, okay?" Dean soothed, words Sam remembered hearing from their father when Dean busted his knee last week.
He wiped his snot and tears on Dean's shoulder.
"Hurts, Dean," he said into his brother's neck.
Dean rubbed Sam's back.
"I know it does, Sammy. Just let me look, okay? I won't touch if you don't want me to."
Sam sniffled and sat back, tilting his face for inspection.
Dean's eyes scrutinized his chin and he winced at whatever he saw.
"Not too bad," he said lightly. "Open up."
Sam gingerly opened his mouth, whimpering at the pull. As Dean peered inside, Sam ran his tongue over the aching area.
His eyes widened as it encountered unfamiliar territory.
"Dean!" he screeched.
"What?!"
"It's GONE!" Sam wailed. He pushed away from his brother and scrambled back onto the toilet. Dean, still looking alarmed and vaguely confused, jumped up to grab his little brother.
"Sammy, what-"
"No, Dean," Sam cried, gripping the sink as Dean wrapped his arms around him to pull him down. "I have to see!"
"Sam, get down. You're. Going. To. Fall. Again," Dean grunted, each word accompanied by a yank.
Sam was stretched from the sink to his brother, hands white-knuckling the sink as he squirmed to look in the mirror.
It was at this moment, of course, that John Winchester made his appearance. Drawn by the shouts, he had come to investigate. Taking in the blood, shouts and fraternal tug-of-war, he quickly fell back to his best parenting strategy.
"BOYS!"
Startled, Sam let go of the sink. Dean had frozen mid-pull and stumbled back at the unexpected lack of resistance from his brother. Sam yelped as he again slid towards the floor. Anticipating the spill, John caught his youngest with one hand and steadied his oldest with the other.
Setting Sam down, he looked at them sternly.
"Somebody want to tell me what's going on here?"
Dean shot a quick glance at his brother before opening his mouth. Before he could speak, Sam burst out, "It's my tooth, Daddy!"
John's brow furrowed. He knew Sam had a loose tooth. Hell, everyone knew he had a loose tooth. The kid hadn't stopped talking about the thing since its first wiggle.
"What about your tooth, son?"
Sam's eyes widened as he continued enthusiastically, spraying John with bloody saliva as he spoke.
"I was on the sink so I could see my tooth move and then Dean came in and scared me and I hit the sink and fell down and then Dean helped me-"
"Breathe, Sam."
"And there was a lot of blood and I was gonna see if my tooth was okay 'cause it hurt, but it wasn't there anymore-"
"Breathe, Sam."
"And then I wanted to see it again, so I got back on the toilet and Dean grabbed me but I really wanted to see it, so I kept pulling on the sink-"
"Sam!" John grabbed the boy's shoulders. "Breathe!"
Sam sucked in a huge breath.
"And then you came in."
John rolled his eyes.
"Okay, boys, first things first. Let me see your mouth, Sammy."
Sam obediently opened wide and John examined his teeth, rubbing a gentle thumb on his cheek as he pulled away.
"You're gonna have quite a bruise, but I think you'll live," he said. "Now we've got to find the tooth. I'm thinking you either swallowed it-"
"No shit," Dean breathed, eyes wide with excitement at the possibility.
Sam just whimpered, petrified gaze glued to John's face.
"Language, Dean," John reprimanded. "Or, it fell out in the sink or on the ground, both more likely than swallowing."
Sam relaxed at that and immediately began hunting around for his ivory prize. Dean dropped to his knees to help and John glanced in the sink, relieved to find no sign of the tooth.
"Got it!" Dean hollered, a few seconds into the search.
Grinning, he presented the tooth to his brother.
Sam grabbed it, cradling the small object in his palm as he inspected it. Apparently finding all to his liking, he fisted it and gave his family a bloody grin.
"Now I gotta put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy!"
Sam trotted out of the bathroom, leaving his father and brother to exchange amused grins. John grabbed a towel and began cleaning away the snotty, bloody mess on Dean's neck.
Both jumped as Sam shouted excitedly from the other room.
"DAD! I think the sink gave me another loose tooth!"