Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.
A/N: So after all my angsty John fics lately, I decided to try to write one where he's not so…John-ish.
Mary Poppins from Hell
"But I don't want a babysitter!"
Normally, Evy's whine would send shivers of impatience down John's spine. He would grit his teeth, and allow Sam to handle it before he said something he regretted. Keeping Evy depended on him keeping his temper. Less than two weeks earlier, after punishing Evy when she didn't deserve it, Bobby had threatened to shoot him if he ever lost his temper with Evy again. Bobby had transferred the responsibility for punishing her when she misbehaved to him, Dean, and mainly Sam. Ever since, his relationship with Evy had been improving slowly. She didn't seem afraid of him anymore, told him she loved him more often, and was in a much more relaxed mood overall. Not now.
John wasn't impatient this time. The truth was, he didn't want to leave Evy with a babysitter either. But he didn't have much of a choice. Sam had contracted chicken pox the day before, and had insisted on going to stay with pastor Jim so that Evy didn't get sick too. John needed Dean, Bobby, and Caleb on the hunt he was about to undertake. There was nowhere else to take Evy. John picked her up and tried to explain it to her again.
"I know, little one. I don't want to leave you with a babysitter either. But Sammy's sick, and me, Dean, and Bobby have to go on this hunt. I don't have any other choice."
"What about Cabe?" Evy asked.
Despite the situation, John smirked. "Caleb has to go too."
"But I don't know this lady. What if she's mean to me?" Evy asked.
"She's really nice. And me and Dean'll be back as fast as we possibly can. If Sammy gets better before we come back, Pastor Jim said he'd come pick you up and you could go stay with him." John said.
Tears filled Evy's eyes, breaking her father's heart. She still wasn't convinced. "I never stayed with anybody else before."
"I know, little one. But I promise, pastor Jim said Mrs. Trunch is really nice. You'll be with her a couple days at the most. I promise." John said. He checked the clock on Bobby's wall. "We gotta get going, little one."
"Okay, Daddy." Evy said.
"Can you please be brave for me?" John asked gently. "When we come back, I promise we'll do something fun together."
Evy wiped her face and let out a shaky breath. "I'll be brave, Daddy."
"Good girl." John said, and despite feeling miserable, Evy smiled. "Good girl. Let's go."
The ride to Mrs. Trunch's wasn't that long, but it was completely silent. John kept stealing glances at Evy in the backseat. She held Squish tight to her chest and looked out the window. She looked so lost that John came close to pulling the car over and apologizing to her again. But he didn't, and thirty minutes later, they pulled into the driveway he was searching for. The house was an old brick house, but was kept in fairly good condition. The yard had been cut recently, and there was a swing on the front porch. A silver haired woman with a slightly hunched over back came outside to meet them.
"Hello!" she called kindly, waving at them.
"Come on, little one." John said.
Evy climbed out of the backseat obediently, but she was still not looking forward to staying here. John got her bag out from the trunk of the car and handed it to her. Evy did something then that she hadn't done in months. She held up her arms for John to pick her up. Don't give in, John thought, but he couldn't help doing what she wanted and picking her up to hold her. He understood she was scared, so he decided to be indulgent with her this time. With Evy and Squish in one arm and Evy's bag in the other, he walked over to Mrs. Trunch.
"Well hello there, sweetheart. How are you?" Mrs. Trunch asked Evy.
"I'm okay." Evy said quietly from the comfort of her father's arm.
"Are you ready to have a good weekend?" Mrs. Trunch asked. "I've got plenty of sweets in my kitchen."
Evy seemed to finally melt a bit, offering Mrs. Trunch a smile. "Really? I like sweets."
John laughed. "That's an understatement. I have to warn you, she has quite the appetite."
"Oh, that's quite all right." Mrs. Trunch said. "I raised five boys with healthy appetites, I'm sure I can handle one more."
"Thanks again for doing this. Jim said you used to be a member of his congregation…?" John asked.
"Years ago, yes. I was his church secretary for years, until I had to move away. When he called and asked if I would watch this little angel, I couldn't resist." Mrs. Trunch said.
Satisfied that Mrs. Trunch was trustworthy, he told her a few things that Evy didn't really pay attention to. She watched Mrs. Trunch from John's arm. The old lady did seem nice, but Evy couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She couldn't describe how she felt, so she didn't try. Had she been a couple years older, she might've told John that she didn't trust Mrs. Trunch. But Daddy had asked her to be brave, so she didn't ask him to stay. John finally set Evy down, then got on his knee to tell her goodbye.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"
Evy nodded. "Okay, Daddy. I'll be brave like you said."
John placed a hand on Evy's cheek. "Good girl. I love you."
"Love you more, Daddy."
They shared a hug, and John was off. Evy stood in the driveway and watched until John was out of sight, then turned back to Mrs. Trunch. No one said anything at first. Evy was waiting for Mrs. Trunch to tell her it was okay to go inside, and Mrs. Trunch was now scowling at the scared little girl.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mrs. Trunch snapped. "Get your bag and get inside."
Evy bit her bottom lip. Mrs. Trunch had turned mean, just like she'd been afraid she would. Evy picked up her bag, but it was heavy. She had to drag it inside. When she got into the house, she closed the door behind her, to find Mrs. Trunch standing there waiting on her.
"You'll sleep in here." Mrs. Trunch said, pointing to the first room on the right.
Evy looked inside; she was surprised to see that the room was big. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
"Put your things inside." Mrs. Trunch said, then turned to leave.
"What can I do?" Evy said.
Annoyed, Mrs. Trunch turned back to Evy. "What do you mean?"
"Are there any rules? About what I can and can't do?" Evy asked.
"I don't care. I'll tell you when it's time for dinner. Until then, stay out of my way."
Mrs. Trunch turned and went into her living room. She turned on the TV and sat there. Evy couldn't tell time yet, but she guessed it was close to lunchtime. Daddy had given her breakfast, and she was starting to get hungry again. Evy pulled her bag into the bedroom. She pushed it up next to the bed. She almost cried when she realized that the bed was too high for her to climb up on. The bed was made for a grown up, and she wasn't tall enough yet. But Evy remembered her promise to Daddy to be brave, so she started looking around. She found a step stool in the corner of the room, pushed it to the bed, emptied her things on top of it, then climbed up.
Evy didn't want to bother Mrs. Trunch. She didn't want her to call Daddy, Dean, or, even worse, Sammy, and tell them she wasn't listening. Daddy and Dean would be disappointed, and Sammy might make her apologize to mean old Mrs. Trunch. So Evy took one of the books that she'd packed and opened it. For what felt like forever, she sat there looking at the pictures and practicing sounding out the words. Sammy was teaching her to read. It took a while, but she made it through the first book.
Evy realized when she finished the book she had to go to the potty. So she carefully climbed down from the bed and walked into the living room. She waited, but Mrs. Trunch didn't say anything to her. When she finally couldn't stand it any longer, Evy carefully spoke up.
"Mrs. Trunch?"
Mrs. Trunch was laughing at something on the television. When she stopped, she turned to Evy with a mean look. "What is it?"
"Can I use your bathroom?"
"Yes, of course, it's right down…What are you doing?" Mrs. Trunch suddenly yelled.
Evy had tried to stop it, but she'd had an accident. "I'm sorry." She said, starting to cry again.
"Oh, don't cry, just get yourself cleaned up. The bathroom's at the last door down the hall."
"Can you help me?" Evy asked.
Irritated, Mrs. Trunch clenched her teeth. "Can you dress yourself? Or are you still a baby?"
"I can dress myself." Evy said quietly.
"Then get your own clothes and get to the bathroom."
"Yes, ma'am." Evy answered, turning away from Mrs. Trunch and wiping away tears.
Evy walked back into the bedroom, wet and uncomfortable. She was still hungry, but she felt more sad than anything. Sammy wasn't here, Daddy was gone, Dean and uncle Bobby were gone, and she was stuck here with a mean old lady that she barely knew. As she got herself more clothes, she thought about what Sammy would say if he'd been there. It's over, Cricket. It was just an accident. But it still made her feel like a 'baby', as Mrs. Trunch had said in the living room earlier.
"Daddy, please come back and get me." Evy said sadly as she walked back to the bathroom.
It took her a long time, but she redressed herself. She took her old, wet clothes and put them in the plastic bag Daddy had put in the bottom of her backpack, then waited again. What felt like a long time later, Mrs. Trunch finally came back to get her. The sun was going down, and Evy was getting sleepy. She didn't know, but it was almost her bedtime.
"Come eat." Mrs. Trunch said simply.
Evy climbed out of the bed and went to the kitchen, still feeling bad about herself for what had happened earlier. She needed a hug, but she was afraid to ask Mrs. Trunch for one. The 'old bat', as Dean would have called her, would probably have swatted or maybe even spanked her for asking for a hug. So Evy crawled into the kitchen chair Mrs. Trunch had pulled out for her. She was pleasantly surprised to see a glass of apple juice on the table, her favorite. But the plate made her pull what Bobby called a 'yucky face'. There was a small piece of chicken on it, and a scoop of mashed potatoes, which Evy actually liked. It was the broccoli that made her turn up her nose.
"What's wrong with you?" Mrs. Trunch asked.
Fighting hard to stay polite, like Sammy would want her to, Evy asked, "Could I please just eat the potatoes and the chicken?"
"What's wrong with the broccoli?" Mrs. Trunch asked.
"Nothing. It's just, broccoli's the only food I don't really like." Evy explained.
Mrs. Trunch suddenly turned meaner than she'd been all day. "Why, you ungrateful little brat! I go to all this trouble for you and you ask me that?"
Evy suddenly got scared. Really scared. "I'm sorry!" Evy said. "I'm sorry, I'll eat it."
"No. Too late." Mrs. Trunch said, marching over to the table. She snatched up Evy's plate and threw the food in the garbage. "You're not eating anything now."
"But I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!" Evy protested, and she couldn't help the tears that fell. "I'm hungry! Please?"
"I said no. Now get ready for bed."
Evy started crying even harder, but not so hard that she couldn't get out, "I'm telling my Daddy and my brothers you was mean to me."
Mrs. Trunch lifted Evy up until she was standing up on the chair and delivered three hard, blistering swats to Evy's bottom. "Get your butt in that bed now, or you'll get a lot more."
Evy broke away from Mrs. Trunch and ran as fast as she could towards the bedroom. She stumbled as she went, because she was crying so hard. The swats had hurt, hurt her a lot, but what hurt worse was how alone she felt. She climbed up on the bed and laid down on her stomach, crying as hard as she could. She grabbed Squish and cuddled him hard to her chest.
"Come back, Daddy."
John was happy. Really happy. And that was an unusual feeling for him. They'd wrapped up the hunt much earlier than expected, and they were on their way to pick up Evy. He'd dropped her off Friday morning, and it was Sunday. As a surprise for her, John had picked up a nearly fully recovered Sam from pastor Jim's, and had Bobby following the Impala in his truck. Dean sat beside John in the passenger seat, a wide grin on his face. They were all looking forward to picking up Evy.
As John pulled into the driveway, he got an eerie feeling. He couldn't explain why, but something was wrong. He, Dean, Sam, and Bobby all headed to the front door, where John knocked and waited on Mrs. Trunch to come to the door. When she did, John's feeling of foreboding got worse. Mrs. Trunch no longer had the sweet, kind disposition she'd had when he dropped Evy off two days earlier. She looked tired and aggravated.
"It's about time you came back." Mrs. Trunch said. "Come in."
John looked over at Sam, Dean, and Bobby, all of whom seemed as confused as he was. As everyone walked into the house, John asked, "Is there a problem? Where's Evy?"
"She's in the bedroom, where I've made her stay all weekend. Your daughter has been a complete heathen all weekend."
Now John was even more confused than ever. "My daughter? Are you sure we're talking about the same kid?"
"Are you calling me a liar?" Mrs. Trunch asked.
"I am." Sam said, speaking for the first time.
"Sam." John warned, though he didn't believe Mrs. Trunch either. Evy had days where she was cranky, but she didn't seem capable of true misbehavior that could make someone keep her in a room all weekend. "What exactly happened?"
The story Mrs. Trunch laid out was bizarre. Apparently, after John had dropped off Evy, she'd thrown a tantrum when told the rules of the house, deliberately wet her pants, and refused to eat her dinner. And that was just the first night. John could see Sam getting more and more riled up, so he sent Sam to the bedroom to talk to Evy. When Sam opened the door, he found Evy sitting on the edge of the bed. She didn't look good, and it concerned him when she didn't even acknowledge him.
"Cricket?"
Evy looked up and, instead of smiling like Sam had expected, started crying. "Sammy!"
"Hey, hey, hey." Sam said, running to her, alarmed at the panic in her voice. "It's okay. What's going on?"
"Sammy…" Evy said again, crying and grabbing onto his waist.
This is more than just being worried she's in trouble, Sam thought. Something bad happened. "Cricket, it's okay. I'm here now. What happened this weekend?"
"Mrs. Trunch is mean. Sammy, can we please leave?" Evy begged.
"What do you mean she's mean?" Sam asked. "Cricket, sit up. I need to talk to you."
Evy sat up and wiped at her face again.
"Cricket, listen. Mrs. Trunch said you didn't behave this weekend. She said you threw a tantrum, wet your pants on purpose, and wouldn't eat your dinner Friday night. Is that true?" Sam asked.
"Noooo!" Evy said desperately. "No, Sammy, it's not true. She's lying to you."
"Okay. Okay. Listen. Take a breath. I need to hear your side. Take your time." Sam said.
Evy calmed down, and told Sam the whole story, slowly so she could get it out without crying.
"She spanked you?" Sam said, his temper rising.
Evy nodded. "Yeah."
"When you wouldn't eat your dinner?"
Evy looked even more frustrated; she apparently wasn't telling her story very clearly. "I didn't tell her I wouldn't. I asked her real nicely if I could just eat my chicken and potatoes. She got mad at me and threw it out."
"So you didn't eat anything Friday?" Sam asked. "Except breakfast?"
Evy shook her head. "Or yesterday."
There's no way I heard that right. Sam thought. "Are you telling me that you haven't eaten anything since before Daddy dropped you off here?"
Evy nodded. "All she'd give me was milk and apple juice and water. I'm hungry, Sammy." She said, crying all over again.
Never before had Sam had to swallow such rage. The evil bitch in the living room had not only hit Evy for asking not to have to eat the only thing in the world she didn't like to eat, but she had refused to help Evy when she had a bathroom accident, made her feel bad about it, and then withheld food from her. But if Sam ranted, raved, and raged like he wanted to, it would only scare Evy more. And right now, she needed him.
"Okay, baby. You stay here. I need to tell Daddy what you just told me."
"Sammy? Is Daddy gonna be mad at me? Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
Sam's heart cracked and bled at that. "No. You did nothing wrong. You hear me? Nothing."
Evy nodded, and Sam heard her stomach rumble loudly. "You got anything to eat, Sammy?"
Sam dug in his pockets and pulled out a granola bar. "Here. You eat this now, and when we leave, we'll get you something else. Whatever you want. Okay?" He opened the bar and handed it to her. "Not too fast. I know you're hungry, but I don't want you to get sick."
"Okay." Evy said, taking her first cautious bite.
"You stay in here while I go talk to Daddy." Sam said.
"Sammy? Is Daddy gonna get her for being mean to me?" Evy asked.
"All of us are." Sam said. "Dean and Bobby are here too."
"Can I watch?"
Sam was startled at Evy's tone. She didn't have a malicious bone in her body. She tended to be very forgiving, which was what made Sam laugh when she wanted to go watch their father tear into someone for hurting her.
"You bet you can." Sam said.
He picked Evy up and carried her to the living room, where John was still listening to Mrs. Trunch trash talk Evy. Sam calmly walked up to Dean, handed Evy to him after assuring her he wasn't going anywhere, and walked up to John and Mrs. Trunch. John noticed the look on Sam's face, but before he could say anything, Sam spoke. His voice was calm and even, but held more rage than John had ever heard from him.
"Mrs. Trunch? Whatever she supposedly did, would you please tell us why you thought it was okay to not give her anything to eat at all?"
"Sam? What are you talking about?" John asked. He was as sure as Sam had been that he hadn't heard correctly.
Sam didn't take his eyes off Mrs. Trunch as he said, "She hasn't eaten anything since breakfast Friday. Only milk and apple juice. And she didn't just ground Evy to the bedroom. She spanked her too."
"EXCUSE ME?" John yelled, and Evy squeezed her arms around Dean's neck, even though she knew she wasn't in trouble. He turned to Evy and asked in a slightly gentler voice, "Little one, what happened?"
Evy suddenly grew shy with all the faces in the room looking at her.
"You want me to tell him, Cricket?" Sam asked. Evy nodded, and Sam reminded her, "Eat that granola bar. Dean'll help you if you need it."
Evy smiled. Her head felt funny, like there was nothing inside it, so she handed the bar to Dean and let him feed her small pieces of it. Sam relayed the story to John exactly the way Evy had told it. When he was done, John's hands were in fists so hard that his knuckles were white. Sam asked Evy,
"Did I get everything right, Cricket?"
"Yeah." Evy said quietly as she took the last bite of the granola bar.
John turned on his heel and puffed out his chest. "So you make my four-year-old daughter clean up after herself when she has an accident, spank her without anyone's permission, keep her in a bedroom by herself all weekend, AND starve her?"
"She's lying…" Mrs. Trunch said.
"Try again. My daughter's never lied to me in her life. Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now." John said.
Mrs. Trunch was too stunned at the threat to respond, so Bobby took advantage of her silence to grab John's shoulder. "Come on, John. Let's go. She ain't worth it."
"You still owe me…" Mrs. Trunch said.
"YOU HONESTLY EXPECT ME TO PAY YOU?" John raged. "If I wasn't so eager to get out of here, I'd call the cops and have your ass in jail. You ever approach my daughter again, we will kill you. Understand?"
"Dad!" Dean said.
John turned around and was shocked out of his rage by Evy. Dean had sat down on the couch, and Evy was curled up into his chest, crying. Concerned, John knelt down in front of them and brushed some hair out of her face.
"Little one, what's wrong?"
Evy turned her head so she could look at her dad, but kept her head against Dean's chest. "I'm sorry, Daddy." Evy said. "I tied to be good and be brave like you told me, but…"
"Little one, stop. Listen to me. Are you listening?" John asked, a gentleness in his voice that was nearly the exact opposite of the rage he'd displayed just a few seconds earlier.
"Yes, sir." Evy whispered.
"This is not your fault. You are not the one in trouble here. Okay? And you are so brave. I'm very, very proud of you." John said.
"You are?" Evy asked.
"I am." John said with a smile, which made Evy give him one too. "What do you say we get out of here, huh? Get you something solid to eat?"
"Okay, Daddy." Evy said. Sam moved to pick her up, but Evy shocked everyone when she asked, "Daddy? Can I have a hug?"
"You bet. Come here, little one."
John picked up Evy and held her tight. Sam joined them, followed by Dean, then Bobby. Evy was in the middle of the four men who cared about her most in the world. They'd protect her, keep her safe, and they loved her. Evy opened her eyes and saw Mrs. Trunch scowling at them. Evy couldn't help it. She knew John and Sammy wouldn't approve. But they weren't looking. Evy remembered her words to Mrs. Trunch her first night there. I'm telling my Daddy and my brothers you was mean to me. Evy stuck her tongue out as far as it could go. Mrs. Trunch looked like she wanted to say something, but she knew better and just kept silent. Evy laid her head back on John's shoulder as if nothing had happened.
"You ready for something to eat, little one?" John asked. "We'll get whatever you want."
"Umm…" Evy said, thinking about it. "'paghetti. Lots and lots of 'pahetti."
John chuckled. "I think we can handle that. Let's go."
Everyone piled into cars, Bobby giving Evy a few extra hugs and kisses outside. Sam held Evy in the backseat, and John took another look at her before driving off. He turned around to face her. The guilt was enormous. She'd been hurt after begging him not to take her there in the first place. Evy gave him a small smile.
"Little one? Can I do anything to make this up to you? Other than the spaghetti?"
Evy seemed to think about her response, but answered, "Can you just promise not to leave me with anyone I don't know again?"
"That, my sweet little cookie…" John said, reaching back to tickle her stomach a little, "is not a problem at all. I love you, little one."
"Love you too, Daddy." Evy said.
And for once, she knew for sure that her daddy did love her. John turned around and started the car, driving towards the Italian restaurant they'd found a few miles back. He smirked when he realized that he'd be using the money he was going to pay Mrs. Trunch with to pay for their unusually fancy for them meal. As they sat down at the table, he heard Sam remind Evy not to fill up on breadsticks, John thought to himself never again, little one. Never again.