Authors notes – This is most definitely AU. I have only seen an 8 year old Ben and his mother on one episode of Supernatural. This started as a one off short story but I suddenly realised I was writing 2 stories at the same time and that there were others lurking in the depths. Therefore I will attempt to explain a few things. In this verse/series John, Dean and Sam Winchester are alive and they are all hunters. Many things from the series remain much the same, Mary was killed by something supernatural, John bought the boys up much the same, Sam did run off to college, John did disappear off the radar during a hunt and the boys did join up to find him. However no demons were involved it was simply a hunt gone badly wrong. Nobody has been to hell or died, nobody has been "chosen" for or by anything or anybody, there hasn't been an Apocalypse and there's not likely to be one anytime soon. They are simply hunters of the supernatural all those things that go bump in the night and maybe occasionally during the day too! Dean has been in a relationship with Lisa since a few months after the Changeling incident. Do not expect to see much of Lisa, she is only in the first part because it seemed necessary to the following story. I'm not feeling mean enough to kill her off today but be warned it may well happen so if Lisa is a favourite of yours beware!

The "Fatherless Bastard" aka "Does DNA Really Matter?

Dean had regularly been in contact with the Braedens, ever since the incident with the Changelings when Ben was eight. Over the years they had been spending more and more time together as a "family". Life was good and not just because Lisa was "bendy", it was just that little bit of normal in an otherwise very odd life, and regardless of the fact that Dean didn't at that point know it Ben was his in every way that mattered.
When Ben was 12 there was an incident at school, initially a small argument over a pick-up ball game that escalated into name calling. At some point Ben had been taunted about being a "fatherless bastard" and fists started flying. Lisa had been at work and it had been Dean who had collected a bruised and subdued Ben from the school office that afternoon ready to start a 3 day suspension. Although he would never have admitted it out loud Dean was pleased to note that the two boys Ben was glaring at as he approached were in a far worse state than "his boy"!
After dealing with the cuts and bruises Dean left Ben in his room with instructions to get properly cleaned up, changed into some sweats or nightclothes and join him downstairs in the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later Dean turned to see Ben dressed in dark grey sweat pants and what appeared to be one of his old Metallica t-shirts, standing half in, half out of the kitchen looking ready to bolt at any sudden movement. Dean nodded towards the kitchen table and chairs.
"Take a seat Ben."
"You gonna spank me?"
"Not planning on it this time bud, but we do need to talk."
What Ben didn't realise was that before collecting him from the school office Dean had spoken with Mr Roberts the Principal who was actually not the "asshole" that Dean had come to expect all Principals to be. Mr Robert's knew his kids well, kept his eyes and ears open and had been pretty certain that Ben had been provoked into fighting. After speaking to all the kids involved in the fracas he had a clear idea of what had actually happened. Mr Roberts had explained to Dean that he would have to suspend Ben for the full 3 days, school policy dictated that this was the minimum punishment for all pupils involved in fighting. Apart from that no further action would be taken against Ben. He had also made it very clear to Dean where he thought the true blame lay, said he didn't think it was the first time and that it would be dealt with firmly and he then passed on exactly what had been said to Ben.
Dean settled at the kitchen table across from Ben and pushed a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies in his direction. Ben looked up in surprise; if he wasn't getting spanked he was at least expecting a firm telling off, groundings and chores in the not so distant future. These things were not normally accompanied by comfort food and drink. He was confused and about to ask what was going on but Dean beat him to it.
"Would you like to tell me exactly what went down at school this afternoon Ben?"
"It was just a stupid fight about football Dean."
"So what got you so upset that you took those two punks out and caused all that damage before anyone could break it up?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing huh? Come on Ben, give me a break I can't help unless you tell me what got you so riled up."
In less time than it took to blink Ben was out of his seat, standing and yelling at Dean,
"NOTHING, I TOLD YOU IT WAS JUST A STUPID FUCKING FIGHT! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU CARE ANYWAY, YOU'RE NOT MY DAD!"
Dean calmly but firmly got a hold on Ben swatted his backside half a dozen times, hard, and pushed him back down into his chair keeping his hands on his shoulders. " Look at me Ben." Ben reluctantly obeyed.
"Now I told you I wasn't planning on spanking you and I'm not, but let's just get one thing clear before we finish this. You ever shout and swear at me like that again and you'll find yourself over my knee with your ass bared for a proper spanking before you can say Jiminy Cricket! You got that little boy?"
Ben almost nodded but then remembered the "Winchester Rules" as Sam called them and responded verbally with a "Yes Sir."
Dean took his hands off of Ben's shoulders, ruffled his hair and returned to his chair.
"Right now that's sorted we'll deal with the rest, hey?"
Not actually waiting for any response from Ben, Dean simply carried on talking.
"Now since you don't want to tell me what happened, I'll tell you what I think went down and afterwards you can chip in and correct me if I'm wrong, fair enough? Thought so. So this is what I think happened."
Dean launched into a fairly accurate version of the afternoon's big event ending with,
"So how did I do kiddo, anything like what actually went down?"
Ben was slightly gobsmacked and suddenly realised he was opening and shutting his mouth in a reasonably accurate impersonation of a goldfish. He quickly snapped it shut and was struggling for something to say when once again he was beaten to it by Dean.
"Listen Ben, I may not be your real Dad and I'm truly sorry that I'm not but I'm here for you and I'll be glad to come and tell all those kids that you do have a father! I'd be proud to call you mine. Truthfully Ben you couldn't mean more to me even if you were biologically my son. Why do you think I've been hanging around for the last four and a half years, I love you kid and I do care. If you ever again try and tell me I don't just because we don't share DNA you'll be in big trouble."
"But you're not my real Dad Dean. What if you and Mom split up, you won't love me then and I'll never see you again."
"Just between you and me Ben I'm kind of hopelessly in love with your Mom too, I'm not planning on going anywhere, as long as you and your Mom want me I'll be here as much as I can! But for arguments sake let's say we did split up, I'd still want to see you, spend time hanging out, I'm not going to stop loving you just because things don't work out with your Mom and I don't honestly think your Mom would have a problem with that, do you?"
Ben shook his head.
"Use your words Ben, oh forget it c'mere and give your old man a hug."
Ben was around the table and in Dean's lap in record time, finally giving in to the tears that he'd been struggling to hold back all afternoon,
"'m sorry Dean, I didn't mean to shout at you and say those things."
"I know buddy, I know, it's forgotten already, just talk to me Ben, okay, remember that I love you, and I'll be your "Dad" as long as you want me."
"Love you too "Dad". Hey can I really call you that?"
"Call me what? Dad you mean?"
"Yeah Dad, can I."
"Honestly I'd love it but I think we need to speak to your Mom first."
"As long as you two are happy it's fine by me."
Lisa's voice startled Dean. He had been so engrossed in his dealings with Ben he hadn't even heard the car or Lisa coming in from the garage, some hunter he was!
"How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to hear "our" son over-using the "f" word!"
Ben gave his Mom a sheepish smile over Dean's shoulder, "Sorry Mom."
"Be thankful I saw the swats too or you'd be getting some from me!"
"Yes ma'am, sorry."
"Forgiven, now come here and give me a hug, then you can take yourself up to your room until dinners ready, Dean and I need to talk okay?"
Ben went straight from Dean's lap into his Mom's arms for a hug and a kiss then raced out of the kitchen and upstairs to his room.
"Well he certainly seems happier."
"You did a good job Dean, you always do."
"Yeah well don't forget I bought one kid up already."
"That's true and despite that Sam turned out pretty good!"
"Hey!" Dean reached out and grabbed at Lisa as she tried to dance away pulling her over his knee and playfully swatting her a couple of times, before pulling her up into a hug much the same as he had held Ben earlier, only this time the kisses were a little different. Before things got too serious Lisa slipped off Dean's lap to start dinner and Dean joined her at the counter always willing to try and improve his limited knowledge of cooking.
Lisa was chopping onions, whilst Dean stood beside her at the sink peeling potatoes as instructed when Lisa suddenly put down the knife, blurted out "He's yours!" and then looking absolutely panic stricken headed for the patio doors.
Dean reacted amazingly quickly reaching the door before Lisa and grabbing hold of her upper arms, halting her progress.
"Whoa there girl, what's the sudden rush, come on baby breath, hey it's okay, baby it's okay, talk to me Lis, I'm not gonna yell, talk to me, please. Are you telling me Ben's mine?"
Lisa nodded took a few deep breaths and then started talking,
"This wasn't how I meant to tell you, and I was going to tell you, honestly Dean. It had just been so long when you came back and I wasn't sure what to do, I didn't think you'd settle, I didn't think you'd stay and I didn't want to make you feel trapped. Then after the Changelings, realising that all those "things" were out there, Dean I was so scared, scared for Ben, scared for you. After you came back that first time a few months later it got even harder. Every time you left I was frightened that something would happen to you, that one day you'd leave and never come back and we wouldn't know whether you were alive or not. I couldn't bear the thought of telling Ben his Dad was dead, that maybe if I didn't tell him or you the truth it would be easier if anything happened. I knew I was fooling myself, just watching you two together it was obvious it didn't really matter whether you were related or not, if something happened to you Ben would be devastated no blood connection necessary. But then you got into that huge argument with Sam because he lied to you about something, I can't even remember what it was, it was so silly but you were really angry and you didn't speak to him for weeks. I got even more scared because I thought if I told you the truth you'd be angry because I'd lied, I thought you'd be so angry that you'd leave us, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, really sorry Dean, can you forgive me?"
"I'll get back to you on that last question in a minute, I need to know a few things first and I need you to know some things too, seem fair to you?"
Lisa nodded and Dean almost told her to use her words before he remembered who he was dealing with.
"Are you absolutely 100% sure Ben is mine? You're not just saying this to make me and Ben happy. Are you? Because you know I love him anyway, like I just told Ben DNA doesn't matter."
"Ben is yours Dean, no question, there was nobody else for well over a year before I met you and there's been nobody since, you kind of spoiled it for the competition. We can get tests done if you need to know for sure."
" I believe you Lisa, I think deep down I always knew, it just feels right but I would like my name on his birth certificate, if that's ok with the both of you, we may need tests for that, I'm not sure how things work. Actually I'd like him to have Winchester as his last name, would that be okay with you if Ben agrees?"
Again Lisa simply nodded.
"Right that's the questions out of the way! Lisa I love you and I love Ben. You must have heard what I told Ben and I meant every single word, as long as you both want me I'll be sticking around, I'm kind of pissed you didn't trust me enough to know that! That said I think I get where you were coming from when you told me Ben wasn't mine, it did make it easier to leave and get on with the job, but I felt I had to come back anyway, not for Ben at first, for you, Ben was the icing on the cake! I even understand why you continued to keep it from us, I really do, but you're right I am angry. I'm angry that there was a need for you to lie, I'm angry that there are things out there that mean you end up worried and frightened for me and Ben, I'm angry at myself for not checking on you for eight years, I'm angry at a lot of things but I'm not truly angry with you, you were only trying to protect the most precious thing in your life, our son and I am thankful that he has had you even when I wasn't here. Now seeing as I'm still standing here alone I take it I need to explain in more detail! Lisa Braeden you are forgiven, I love you, come here and give me a kiss."
Needless to say dinner was quite late and when Ben was eventually called down he found it was take-out. If Ben wondered what had taken so long he certainly didn't ask. After dinner was eaten Dean and Lisa told Ben the truth that Dean was actually his real Dad. He took it well as they had expected him too. At first he was mad at his Mom for keeping it from him but they all talked and with a little persuasion from Dean he calmed down some. However he was the one that requested that tests be done as he wanted proof, not only so he could be sure his "parents" weren't just trying to make him feel good, but so he had something official that said "Dean Winchester is my Dad" or at least something similar that meant the exact same thing. He was more than happy to have a name change. Ever since he'd met the Winchester men he'd wanted to be one of them and he was promised this would all be arranged as soon as possible.
A full stomach and a long emotional day led to Ben nodding off as they all sat on the sofa watching a movie. Dean picked him up carried him upstairs, carefully tucked him under the covers and kissed his forehead whispering a quiet "Night son."
As he left the room he turned for one more look at his "sleeping" son who wriggled further under the covers with a quiet "Night Dad."
And that's when it truly hit home. Dean rushed back downstairs, grabbed his cell, pressed a few buttons and yelled,
"I'm a Dad!"
"Dean Winchester you better not be saying what I think you are. I saw Lisa less than three weeks ago and she sure as hell didn't look pregnant to me!"
"No Dad! Lisa hasn't had a baby I…."
"I am going to kill you Dean, I don't care how old you are, you're not too old to feel my belt, I'm on my way!"
With that the phone went dead.
"Oh shit. I think my Dad thinks I've been cheating on you, he's heading this way. Hide me!"
Unfortunately Lisa was too busy laughing to be of any help whatsoever.