It sucks moving from one place to another place constantly. But when your parents are renowned professors of theology and philosophy, you get used to it. But why they would want to settle down in a small town like Lawrence, Kansas, after living in places like New York and D.C., I would never know.
As me, mom, dad, Jimmy, Michael, and Gabriel pulled up next to or new home, I wondered if this was actually going to be home. It was a nice two-story house that looked like it had been written out of a fairytale. It was a nice shade of white, complete with an idyllic, light brown picket fence and beautiful wildflowers spread in what appeared to be a garden. I heard my mom squeal in delight, which woke Gabriel from his nap and made Michael cringe at the high-pitched volume our mother produced. Jimmy was asleep in the very back, thank the Lord God.
"Oh Chuck! I love it; it's absolutely adorable!" my mom exclaimed. She then reached over to give our father a hug. He instantly returned it and gave me a small smile and mouthed "Thank you" over my mom's shoulder to me. I nodded my head slightly and mouthed "You're welcome" in return. When mom had mentioned that she wanted Gabriel and Michael to settle down for their final year of high school, dad had enlisted my help because I had inherited some of my mom's tastes. Which is why I'm usually asked to help decide what to get mom for her birthday, Christmas, and Mother's Day.
As the rest of my family got out to stretch after the thirteen-hour car ride, I reached behind us to wake up Jimmy. Jimmy was the baby of the family at only six years old. I was the second youngest at seventeen. Gabriel was next at eighteen years. Finally, Michael topped us all at nineteen. Despite the age differences, we were really close. Even though I sometimes wondered if Gabriel ever developed in the womb after he got his first orifice.
Then again, it's a flaw of being a Novak: we have shells to protect ourselves from getting hurt. Michael acts like he has a rod up his... you know. Gabriel puts off the persona of a prankster, hence his nickname "The Trickster." Jimmy, fortunately, didn't develop like them; he's pretty open to people. And me? I'm just the dork with the nerdy glasses who prefers to draw than make friends. Though in my defense it is much easier and more secure to have a sketchbook as your best friend when you move every couple of months.
As I woke Jimmy up and got him out of his seat (he may be six but he's still tiny), I noticed someone sitting out on the front steps of the house next door to us, reading a thick leather-bound book. He had light brown hair that went to his collar bone, hazel eyes, and he looked about my age, maybe a little younger. Jimmy caught my eye and followed where I was looking. He squirmed in my arms and yelled "Hi!" to the stranger. I tried to shush Jimmy but it was too late. The stranger looked up from his book to see what made the noise and caught my eye. He immediately smiled and waved. I hesitantly waved back and was surprised when I saw him place a bookmark in the novel, set it down, and walk over to or family. This was the first time that I can remember that someone saw me and wanted to get to know me since I was about eleven years old.
He walked up to me and gave me a welcoming smile. I gave him a small, shy smile in return. He held out his hand in greeting and said, "Hi, welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Sam Winchester, and you are?"
I adjusted Jimmy on my hip and took his proffered hand in mine, saying in return, "Castiel Novak. And this," pointing to my little rider, "is my brother Jimmy. Say hi to Sam, Jimmy."
Jimmy stares at Sam, his big blue eyes filled with wonder at the giant. And it was true. I couldn't tell with him sitting down, but Sam appeared to be a little over six feet tall. Sam smiled at Jimmy and offered him a hand. Jimmy looked at Sam's hand and grabbed it, bringing the appendage closer to his face for inspection. Sam laughed at Jimmy's open curiosity, and the sound drew the attention of the rest of my family.
Sam realized he was the center of attention and cleared his throat, but let Jimmy continue to study his hand. "Hi," he repeated, "I'm your new neighbor, Sam Winchester." He used his other hand and extended it towards my father.
He hesitated a moment before taking Sam's hand and shaking it, saying, "I'm Chuck. This is my wife Becky," putting an arm around Mom's waist in acknowledgement to what he said, "my eldest Michael and Gabriel. You've already met my youngest, Castiel and Jimmy."
Sam offered his hand to my mother and both of my siblings, though I noted he seemed to linger with his grasp of Gabriel's hand. I looked at Mom and she acknowledged with a small nod that she saw it too. She then looked at Sam and asked, "So is it just you by yourself in that big house?"
Sam turned his head back to his house, which had a similar paint job to or won. "No my mom and dad are in there," he said, "along with my older sister, my twin brother and my younger sister. If you want to meet them, I can go get them...?"
Mom smiled at his offer and replied, "If its no trouble to you and your family, that would be wonderful."
Sam gave my mother a kind smile, saying, "No problem at all, Mrs. Novak." He went to extract his hand from Jimmy's grasp and got a whine of protest out of the youngest Novak. He chuckled and looked at Jimmy with eagerness in his eyes. "I'll be right back, Jimmy. Then you can have my hand back. Deal?"
Jimmy looked saddened at the departure of his new best friend but still released Sam's hand from his grip. "Promise?" he asked, eyes still wide with curiosity. Sam chuckled once more and nodded. He then held out his pinky finger for my baby brother to take in his own, which he did.
"I'll be back in five," Sam called over his shoulder as he jogged back to his house. I looked down at Jimmy, a small smile tugging at my lips. Then I remembered Gabriel's reaction to Sam and looked in the direction of my brother. He was staring at the hand Sam had shaken as if it had electrocuted him. Judging by the blush that had overcome his face, I guess it had.
I turned my head back towards the noise coming from the Winchester residence. From there emerged Sam and what I assumed was the rest of his family. There was a man and a woman whom I guessed were Sam's parents. There was also a teenage boy with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and fell just short of six feet (Sam's twin). Finally a little girl with a blonde halo and blue eyes similar to that of her mother, clutching to a stuffed Winnie the Pooh like it was the only thing keeping her alive. That's when I noticed that the eldest was absent. Before I could question it any further, the little girl stopped right in front of me and looked into my eyes unflinchingly. She then gave me a big smile and said, "Hi! I'm Kate!"
Sam hurried over, picked Kate up, which made her squeal in delight, and placed her with one leg on either side of her neck. "Sorry 'bout that. She really likes meeting new people since it doesn't happen that often around here."
The rest of his family came over and introduced themselves. "Hi, I'm Mary," the woman said to us, "and this is my husband John..."
"Hi," John said with a confident smile.
"...my other son, Adam..."
"Hey," said Adam, a lot more shy than the rest of his family.
"...and my daughter is still working. But she should be back soon."
We acknowledged this with a nod then I asked "Where does she work?" while I handed Jimmy off to Sam, who put Kate back on the ground in order to let Jimmy continue to look at his gargantuan hand.
The mother, Mary, looked at me, her blue eyes amiable and replied, "At her uncle's auto shop-slash-salvage yard."
I nodded at her answer. "Does she wish to be a mechanic?"
Before anyone could answer, we all heard the purr of a car come around the corner, I turned around and felt my draw go slack. I may not be a car enthusiast like Gabriel, but I had been around him long enough to appreciate the classics. What pulled up in front of the Winchester house was a 1967 Chevy Impala with a sleek black paint job and a purr that could put cats to shame. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam smirk and say, "Well why don't you ask er yourself," just as the driver emerged from the car.
