Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.
A/N: So, this one shot was not planned until I started writing it. It just kind of happened. Enjoy!
"No, Sam."
"Dad, you promised…" Sam tried, even though he knew it would be futile.
"Sam, I just got back from a hunt." John said. "I'm sorry. You need to stay with your sister."
"Why can't Dean stay with her?" Sam asked.
Dean came from the kitchen, dressed and with the car keys in his hand. "What's going on?"
"Dean, can you please stay with Evy tonight?" Sam asked. "I have a date."
"So do I, bud." Dean said. "Sorry."
Sam ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Fine." he said, defeated.
"Sam, maybe after I come back…" Dean offered.
"Forget it, Dean." Sam snapped.
"Sam, lose the attitude." John ordered sternly, his patience reaching its limits. "I said no. Now what's your problem?"
Sam forced himself to take a deep breath before talking. "My problem is that I have taken care of Evy every single night for a month. I love her more than anything else, but I need a break. I asked you a week ago if I could go. Stacy and I had our whole night planned out, and now I have to call her and tell her that I can't go because you need to sleep and Dean has a date he probably just made today."
"Sam, there's no one else who can watch her right now…" John started.
"Really, dad?" Sam said. "Last time I checked, she wasn't my daughter!"
"Watch it." John warned.
Sam shook his head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 7:30, and Evy's bedtime was 8:00. She had been fed and had a bath, and was in her room playing until bedtime. Sam had assumed he would be getting ready for his date right now, but as soon as John had come home from the hunt, he'd asked Sam why he was dressed up, and Sam's heart had sunk. John had told him that he couldn't go. As Sam walked away, John asked angrily,
"Where are you going? Don't walk away from me!"
Sam turned back and calmly said, "I'm going to check on your daughter before I cancel my date. Is that okay with you, sir?"
"I'm sorry taking care of your sister has become so much of a burden, Sam." John spat. "I'm sorry it's so hard for you that Dean and I have to go save lives and all I require from you is that you take care of your sister. And the reason Dean is allowed to go tonight is because this hunt drained both of us and he did an exceptional job on it. So sorry that takes precedent over what you want to do. It may not be fair, but life isn't fair either. So yes, go take care of your sister, which is about the only thing you'll be doing for a while. You're grounded to school, this apartment, and training for the foreseeable future. And I'll let you know what else you'll be doing when you get back down here."
Sam was livid. Once again, nothing he did was good enough for his father. Sam meant what he had said. He loved Evy more than his own life. And he did understand that they needed to rest from the hunt. But Sam really, really liked Stacy, and wanted to get to know her better. She was cute, funny, and interested in him. And yes, he was hoping that things would go a little further than talking that night, but he had, of course, neglected to mention that to John and Dean. But apparently, all Sam was good for in his father's eyes was making sure Evy was alive. Right now, though, he had to put all that aside. He stood at Evy's bedroom door, keeping his hand on the doorknob, and took a breath before walking in.
"Hey, Cricket, you about ready…?"
Sam had been expecting to find Evy either playing on the floor, reading on the bed, or maybe coloring at the small desk that had come with the room. Instead, Evy was sitting on her bed, clutching Squish in her arms, crying quietly. Sam sat himself on the edge of her bed, all thoughts about the argument downstairs immediately forgotten. Evy didn't seem to be hurt, but Sam couldn't be sure.
"Cricket? What's wrong, baby?" Sam asked.
Evy cried a little harder, wiping her eyes and looking down towards the end of the bed.
"Baby, come on. You're scaring me." Sam said. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry, Sammy." Evy said, her voice breaking as she talked.
"Sorry for what, Cricket?" When it hit Sam what she could possibly be apologizing for, his heart sank to his stomach. "You heard us arguing downstairs, didn't you?"
Evy nodded.
"Oh, Cricket…" Sam said, guilt beginning to eat at him.
He tried to reach for her to give her a hug, but Evy backed away. Sam felt like a knife had been jabbed in his heart. Evy was a very affectionate child, craving hugs and kisses as often as she could get them. For her to back away from him, she was deeply hurt. Maybe even heartbroken.
"Cricket?" Sam asked, afraid at what she was going to say.
Evy shook her head. "You're mad at me."
"No." Sam said firmly. "No, Cricket, I'm not mad at you."
"Daddy and Deanie are too." Evy said, not willing to believe him.
"Baby, please. Listen to me. We are not mad at you." Sam said.
Evy looked at Sam, the tears still falling like rivers. "Then why doesn't anybody want to stay here with me?" she asked, everyone to two words interrupted by a hiccup, caused by her crying. "That's why you're fighting."
"Oh, baby…"
Sam felt like an idiot. He should have known that Evy could hear them, and asked his father to move into the kitchen to talk to him. It bothered Sam that while most kids at Evy's age could be afraid of monsters, Evy wasn't. She knew monsters were real, and she knew they were scary, but she feared one thing above all else. Two years earlier, at age four, Evy had been kidnapped by a demon who had tried to convince her that she couldn't travel with the family anymore because she was in the way. They had convinced her the demon was lying, but the fear had never completely gone away. The thought that she might be a burden to her family, especially to Sam, scared her worse than anything else.
"I'm sorry, Sammy." Evy cried again.
"Baby, listen to me. Okay? Please, baby, take a breath and listen to me." Sam said. He tentatively reached over and brushed some hair out of her face. "Breathe, baby."
Sam wanted to talk to her, to tell her she was wrong, that she wasn't a burden. But he was afraid, as hard as she was crying, that she would have an anxiety attack, so he continued to try and calm her before saying anything else. He climbed on the bed next to her and gathered her into his arms. Evy buried her face in his neck and continued to cry. It took a long while, but eventually Evy calmed down.
"Cricket, listen to me, okay? I am not mad at you. Daddy and Deanie aren't either. We love you, baby. We were arguing because I had plans tonight to go out with a friend and dad said I couldn't go. That's all. I wasn't mad because I had to stay with you. I just wanted daddy or Deanie to spend some time with you. Does that make sense?"
Evy sat up in the bed, her legs now draped over Sam's. "You….You're not…You're not mad at me?" she asked, hiccupping.
"No, baby." Sam said, wiping her face carefully. "No, I'm not mad at you. I love you, Cricket. I love you so much. I wasn't upset with you. I was upset with daddy and Deanie. Okay?"
"Okay." Evy said.
"You want to go and see daddy and Deanie?" Sam asked. Evy nodded, and Sam picked her up carefully. "Okay, let's go."
Back in the living room, John had, for a few seconds, been stewing about what Sam had said to him. John turned to storm to the kitchen and think of what other punishments to add to Sam's list. He was surprised to see that Dean had not left yet. He was standing there, looking down towards the floor. John could see he wanted to say something.
"Why are you still here?" John asked.
Dean looked up, asking hopefully, "Dad, I know Sam was out of line, but maybe I could put off my date until tomorrow and let him go tonight…"
"No, Dean." John said firmly. "You're exactly right. Sam was out of line."
"With all due respect, sir," Dean asked nervously, "how out of line was he?"
"What does that mean?" John asked.
"Think about it, dad." Dean said. "How much of what we do would we be able to do without Sam keeping Evy?"
John's anger at Sam shifted towards himself at that point. Most of the reason he'd been mad at Sam earlier had been because he was right. John knew he had been entirely unfair with Sam. Sam did everything for Evy, much as Dean had done everything for Sam when they had been younger. Sam rarely complained, and when he did, it was usually to complain about the way John treated Evy. Evy had been to the hospital five weeks earlier with appendicitis and refused to wake up after her surgery. After three long, grueling days, Evy had woken up, and three days after that, she'd been sent home. She'd stayed in bed for a week after that, and finally been allowed to go back to school. Sam's routine had been the same every day. Get up, get ready for school, get Evy up, get Evy ready for school, pick up Evy, bring her home, make her dinner, help her with her homework, put her to bed. Repeat the next day. Sam had taken care of Evy practically since she was born, but he'd always taken a break when he needed to. Now that Dean was travelling more with John, his opportunities to take those breaks were becoming more and more scarce. If John were honest with himself, asking for three hours to go on a date was the very least that Sam had the right to ask for.
Something else occurred to John. He was always complaining, mostly to himself, that he never got the chance to spend any close time with Evy. Here was a prime opportunity, and he was throwing it away to win a stupid argument with Sam. He also realized how crappy a parent he truly was when his son had to beg him to spend an hour with his daughter after he'd been doing it for weeks on end. John exhaled, preparing himself mentally to apologize to Sam.
"Dad?" Dean asked, a little worried by John's brooding silence that he had stepped out of line, too.
"Go on your date, Dean." John said. "I'll stay here with Evy. And I'll apologize to Sam too."
Dean smiled and clapped John on the shoulder, but before he could leave Sam came walking in with Evy in his arms. She was hugging Sam's neck, and her face was puffy as if she'd been crying. Sam sat on the couch with her and snuggled her for a second, as John and Dean walked over to check on her.
"Kiddo, you okay?" Dean asked.
"You want me to tell them?" Sam asked. Evy nodded sadly, and Sam turned her slightly so he could scratch her back. "She heard us arguing earlier, and she thinks we're all mad at her."
"Mad at you?" John asked. "Why?"
"Because we were arguing over who had to stay with her." Sam explained. "She thinks we don't want to be with her."
"Oh, little one." John said. So not only had he been a jerk to Sam that day, he had hurt Evy too. "Little one, we aren't angry with you."
"Yeah, kiddo." Dean said. "We just got in a stupid argument. We're sorry."
"You're not mad at me either?" Evy asked. "I thought you didn't want me anymore."
"Little one, nothing could be farther from the truth." John explained. "All of us love you so much."
"See?" Sam asked. "Told you."
Sam reached down and grabbed Evy's feet lightly, which made her laugh. Dean was next, running his fingers up and down her side. John tickled her neck, and suddenly, all three of them forgot about anything else they had planned for that night. Evy fell asleep a little while later, and after Sam tucked her in, he dragged himself back to his father.
"Alright, dad." Sam said. "Lay it on me."
John sighed. "Sam, I'm sorry."
"What?" Sam asked, his mouth open in shock.
"I'm sorry." John said again. "You were right. You have earned a night off, and you do deserve a break. And if you want, you can call Stacy and apologize and see if she'll still go out with you tonight or tomorrow night."
Sam, unsure what to say, simply decided on, "Thank you, dad."
Sam did go on his date the following night. Though he had a good time, he found the whole time that he missed Evy. He was thankful for the break, and it did help him refocus on Evy. When Sam walked into Evy's room that night, he leaned over her and watched her for a minute before kissing her cheek.
"Goodnight, Cricket. Sammy loves you."