Mary felt as if her heart was freezing over, staring at the old photos from Dean's childhood. Her Dean, but the faces looked wrong. Not once, in any photo, is Sam or John smiling. The only one to smile is Dean, with his toothy grin. He enjoys photos. Sam and John would rather not be taken pictures of. Mary had noticed, right away, the lack of pictures of John in the Bunker. Most of the pictures were before her death or years after, during the years they lived with Bobby Singer.
Dean had entire book of photos, each one marked in his sloppy handwriting. 'Kevin's birthday', 'Charlie and Sam watching Game of Thrones', 'Dean, Cas, Sam on Impala, photo by Bobby', 'Bobby doesn't like his picture taken', 'Crowley sold me this picture of him kissing Bobby'... there were a lot more. One of them read 'End of the World Party- Chuck, Rowena, Crowley, Castiel, Dean, Sam, Billie in the Bunker.' Mary stared at the photo. They hadn't mentioned Chuck. Or Charlie. Or Kevin. The pictures told more than Sam and Dean ever would. This wasn't her world anymore.
She laughed at the one called 'Castiel gets pranked- pie toss', but her smile faded when she came across 'Family photo- 2010- burned but found in the remains of Bobby Singer's home by Jody Mills'. Bobby Singer sat in a wheelchair, with Sam, Dean, and Cas. Two women were also in the picture, who Mary didn't know. She turned it over. 'Dean and Lisa with Ben' the next photo read. Then, 'Family photo 1983'. Mary was surprised when she saw it. It was taken in front of their old house in Lawrence, Kansas, by the tree that once stood there. She saw herself, Dean, a baby Sam, and John smiling, all happy. It was surreal.
"Mom." Dean said lightly, walking in. "Going through photos?"
"Yeah… thanks for letting me look."
"It's fine. Did I ever show you the one of you and me? It's my favorite. I have two copies, but it's easier to get the one from my… desk…"
"Dean?"
"Oh… it's not here… huh." He said. "Maybe… I don't know… I must have set it somewhere. I can ask Sam. I'll grab the framed one."
He opened up the chest at the end of his bed and pulled out the framed version. "Here it is. You and me."
"It's so cute."
"This picture got me through so much." Dean smiled. "I was about to give up, and Sam showed it to me… he said that, to him, I would always be good."
"Good?"
"A hero." Dean said. "I was… insane. I was hurting people. You know Lucifer? Yeah, I was like him… but I recovered, and he didn't. I recovered because I always knew… I knew that you wanted me to be brave."
"I don't know what to say." Mary laughed nervously.
"It's okay."
"I guess I'm not really the… mother you were expecting."
"But you're the mother I've got." Dean said. He put the photo back. "I swear that I put that photo back in my drawer… I'll see if Sam stole it."
Dean left. Mary smiled slightly. She looked down at the photos again. It was so hard to see the connection between the two men in front of her and the children in her memories… she would just have to make do. They weren't the children she expected, but they were the children she had.