Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.
A/N: This story is inspired by my babysitting job a couple days ago. The little girl I was watching lost her teddy bear, and I did the only thing I could think of-offer to be her teddy bear for her. I also wrote it because I've missed writing baby Evy stories. Enjoy!
Squishy
Dean and Sam were officially going crazy. Twenty month old Evy had been crying for two solid hours. Her cries had started off as whimpers, sitting up in the playpen she now slept in most nights. Sam had held her, sung to her, and cuddled her, but he couldn't figure out what was making her stay up. She hated going to sleep, but would normally lie down without much complaint if she had a bath, full belly, and a fair share of attention. Not tonight. And Sam had no idea why. Evy, who had begun speaking in nearly complete sentences for weeks, was crying too hard to talk when asked why she was so upset. Sam had finally figured out why she was so upset when he made out one word.
"Squishy."
Holding Evy on his hip, Sam checked the playpen and saw it. Evy's stuffed cat, Squish, that she had slept with every night since she was a few days old, was missing. Sam realized he was in for a long night. There was no way Evy was going to sleep willingly now. Sam had called Dean, who at first had done a cursory search of the house, thinking that Squish had just been placed in the wrong bag when they'd moved. But after a half hour of not finding Squish, Dean was starting to get panicked too.
"What are we gonna do?"
The brothers did the only thing they could think to do. They took half hour shifts comforting Evy while the other one checked the bags and the rest of the house. Sam knew that the cat wasn't in the house, and prayed that John's hunt would be over soon so he could check the Impala. While Sam checked the house for the fourth time, Dean held a distraught Evy on the rickety couch in the living room. She had stopped crying, purely out of exhaustion and was fighting sleep. Dean laid down with her, rubbing her stomach, hoping it would help her finally get to sleep.
"Deanie?" Evy said sadly, turning to face him. "Where Squishy?"
"I don't know, kiddo." Dean said. "Me and Sammy are looking for him."
"Can't seep." Evy said, . "Want Squishy."
"I know."
Dean hated this. Evy was usually a very docile kid, one that very easily comforted and soothed. But losing Squish had thrown her whole world apart. Dean felt sorry for her. At not even two years old, her whole world was Squish, Dean, Sam, and John. With Dean and John gone most of the time, Dean imagined that she was feeling lonely at the moment. When Evy stuck a thumb in her mouth and curled up closer to Dean's side. Dean got an idea.
"Hey, kiddo, I'll be your Squishy. Would that help you go to sleep?"
Evy looked up at Dean. "You be Squishy?"
"Yeah." Dean said. "I'll be your Squishy. You can sleep right here. Just hold on to me, okay?"
Evy seemed skeptical, but grabbed Dean's shirt and pulled it to her. "Deanie Squishy."
"There you go." Dean said. "Go to sleep, kiddo."
Evy was so tired that she didn't even babble. She just pulled Dean's shirt to her chest, hugged it tight, and closed her heavy eyes. Dean quickly decided if they didn't find Squish that night, he'd give Evy the shirt he was wearing and let her sleep with it. Sam came back to the living room to take over, but Dean quickly put a finger to his lips and shook his head. A relieved Sam mouthed thank you and started to head to bed himself.
The front door opened just as Sam started to go to his bed. John walked in, stepped carefully over the salt line at the door, and closed it back again. Evy whined, having not quite drifted off to sleep yet, and got a tighter grip on Dean's shirt. The lights were out, and Dean saw that John held something in his hand.
"Is someone missing?" John asked.
Evy, who had woken up at the sound of her daddy's voice, spotted it first, even in the pitch black dark of the front room. "Squishy!"
John laughed. "Here you go, little one."
John handed the old, beaten up cat to Evy, who eagerly dropped Dean's shirt and accepted the real thing. She squeezed Squish's neck, babbling happily to him. John imagined she was telling him that she was happy to see him again, and that she'd never let him go. John started to walk back to his room, when he was stopped dead in his tracks.
"Daddy!"
John turned back around and saw a familiar sight. Evy was sitting up, holding both arms out towards him, and flexing her fingers, begging him to pick her up. As tired as he was, John picked her up, and Evy kept one arm around Squish and wrapped the other around John's neck.
"Love daddy."
John thought his heart would explode. Being gone as often as he was meant that Evy was most attached to Sam. He was jealous of the close relationship Evy had with Sam, but couldn't be around enough to form one of his own. When he'd seen Squish left behind in the backseat of the Impala as he headed towards his hunt, John saw his opportunity. He'd now have only two hours to sleep before having to leave again, but he didn't care. It was worth it if Evy saw him as a hero, even for just a few minutes.
"I love you too, little one."
Sam let them have a moment before saying, "Ready for bed, Cricket?"
"Daddy." Evy said, grabbing John's neck.
"You want me to put you to bed?" John asked.
Evy laid her head on his shoulder and yawned. "Daddy." She said again.
"You want to sleep with me?"
Evy's answer was to snuggle into John's neck and yawn.
John laughed. "Okay, little one. Let's go."
Dean and Sam both kissed Evy goodnight, and John carried her towards the last remaining unused bedroom in the house. He laid down, not removing his jacket or clothes. He would just have to get dressed again in less than two hours, so he decided to just take a nap. John laid Evy down on the bed. She was already sleeping, Squish pulled close to her side. Once John set the alarm clock, he pulled Evy carefully next to him. He brushed some of her curly brown hair carefully out of her face, a brief fleeting thought of her mother Missy crossing his mind.
"Good night, little one. Daddy loves you."
