New Day
by Riama82
A/N: Sequel to "Nothing Really Happens At Midnight" (read to know what's going on here! ^-^)
Eyeing the little boy sitting across the kitchen's counter, Sam is carefully deliberating about the best way to approach the little boy. He feels awkward. Sam hasn't been around kids in a while. Well, in fact he hasn't been around kids since he was one himself. And he feels like an expeditionary in a mysterious foreign land.
Dean is still asleep, so it's just him and Evan for the moment. And it is awkward, the silence, at least for him, without the bullet shield his brother is.
Evan on the other hand is completely relaxed, comfortable with himself and the current situation, oblivious to his uncle's discomfort. He's busy drawing on one of Sam's old notebooks, tongue twisting in concentration, feet dangling far from the floor. He's so carefree Sam is almost jealous.
He examines the kid in daylight for the first time, and the resemblance with Dean is even more shocking. He's wearing a Jess-sized t-shirt and his longish blond hair is disheveled, sticking up at angles.
Swirls of morning light reflect on Evan's fair hair and eyes, making him look delicate and ethereal. So Dean and so un-Dean at the same time…
Sam coughs uncomfortable.
"So…" He rests his hands on the wooden counter. "What do you eat?" His own stupidity makes him cringe.
Evan giggles, finding his uncle's words amusing.
"Food!" He prompts happily.
"Yeah, well… I know that… For breakfast. What do you usually have for breakfast?"
"Lucky Charms!"
Sam's eyebrows disappear under his bangs.
"Really?!"
"Yeah. They're the bestest!"
"Okay, Lucky Charms it is then!" He relaxes. Lucky Charms? That he can do.
He starts preparing breakfast for both of them and Evan keeps coloring. And there's a big black thing in the center of the paper with a suspicious resemblance with the Impala.
It's sort of nice, this moment. Maybe because it's sort of "normal". This is the kind of thing he'd fantasized about all his life. Well, if Evan were his. And if they were in a white-fenced house instead of a tiny apartment. And if he had a 9 to 5 job. And if Jess were there…
Fuck, Jess! She's gonna flip when she comes back… She's gonna love Evan, obviously, ´cause the kid is freaking adorable. But Dean… Well, they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.
The milk bottle wouldn't open and he starts hitting it against the counter, trying to loosen the lid. Evan finds it amusing too. Or maybe he's just laughing at him. Mini-Me giggles, and Sam glares at him. He wonders what he looks like through Evan's eyes: a big awkward dork.
Then the phone rings and they both freeze, looking up at the same time, in a synchronized movement. Evan with his hand mid-air, Sam with the bottle of milk resting against the counter's edge.
Suddenly, Evan bounces from the stool and stalks down the hall to take the phone.
The receiver looks huge against his ear, but he's all seriousness.
"Hello?"
Somebody replies and he nods.
"No. Sammy can't come to the phone now. He's hitting the bottle. Sowy. Bye!"
And with that he puts the receiver down and, struggling to climb to the stool, he returns happily to his crayons.
Sam looks at him horrified, breakfast forgotten.
"Evan…?"
"Yeah?"
"Who… who was on the phone??"
"A man from the var… var… varsity!" He smiles accomplished. That word was really hard.
Oh no, oh no, oh no…
"From the… From the University?!?
The boy nods vigorously and then frowns, eyebrows knitted together in concern.
"Uh-huh. He wasn't vewy nice. Didn't say peease or fank you. So not cool..."
He should've guessed his day wasn't going to be easy since the moment he woke up. Or more likely, since the moment he was woken up by a toddler. It was a pretty traumatic experience… for both of them.
Apparently, Evan had climbed on his bed while he was asleep. Curious to see if Sam was awake, and showing no mercy, he opened his uncle's eyes while he was still soundly asleep. The result: Sam shot up in bed, making Evan fall to the floor with an audible thump.
Chin trembling, Evan peered through his bangs at his uncle with huge shiny eyes, scared. Like really really scared. It made Sam feel so horribly guilty that he promised him an ice-cream. Hell, he would've promised him a pony if he could, but an ice-cream had to do it.
Kids shouldn't answer the phone when they aren't in their own home, Sam explains patiently, because that's not nice.
"But…" Evan sighs in frustration and rolls his eyes at Sam. And when he speaks he does it slowly. "I was twying to do somefingnice for you 'cause you were making breakfast for me. You have to say fank you."
Taking a deep breath Sam forces a smile.
"It's… it's okay Evan. You're right…" He says slowly, trying to remain calm. "Thanks for answering the phone for me."
"You're welcome!"
Making a mental note to make an appointment with the school's dean to explain that he's actually not a drunk, he resumes preparing breakfast and sits across Evan with his own bowl of Lucky Charms. And they eat in comfortable silence.
"Where you go?" Evan snaps as soon as he's on his feet.
"Bathroom. Be right back, okay?"
And he can't help but notice a change in Evan's relaxed demeanor. The kid tenses up.
In a matter of seconds there's a boy hugging Sam's leg for dear life.
"No, no, no! Don't go Sammy, peeease! Don't go there!"
Sam's taken aback by Evan's sudden outburst because, wow, something's clearly wrong here. The boy went from calm to almost hysterics in a matter of seconds. He's crying, terrorized by something Sam can't understand. And Sam is at lost.
"Okay, calm down, okay?"
"Don't go there Sammy! You won't come back…"
Oh…
"What if… what if you come with me? Huh? How does it sound?"
Evan sniffles loudly and looks up at Sam. Teary eyed, he seems to be considering the offer. He nods almost imperceptibly and wipes his nose against Sam's leg. Eeeww… Definitely Dean's, he thinks.
"Okay."
He lets Sam's leg go when he offers his hand instead.
It's weird. It's like Sam is too big and Evan is too small, and they both have to stretch to fit. But they do.
If he'd thought that taking a piss while his brother sang "Ramble On" in the shower was the most annoying thing ever, doing it in front of a curious 3 year-old (almost 4!) beats it.
Evan is standing against the doorjamb, huge eyes following Sam's every move. He's clearly nervous, fidgeting worriedly, as if he were expecting something to happen any minute.
"I can sing to you." He whispers.
"What?" Sam looks over his shoulder, not sure of have heard right.
"When I'm all alone and yellow won't come out, I sing. It heps!"
"Emmm… No, thanks."
Evan seems so deflated that he agrees.
"Okay."
And he almost misses his target when the boy starts singing at the top of his lungs.
"TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR…!!!"
"Okay... Evan?... I'm done! Thanks…"
"I helped?"
"Yeah, yeah… sure you did."
He washes his hands, picks Evan up in his arms and closes the bathroom's door while the boy watches him like a hawk. He doesn't relax until Sam makes sure it is really dweally closed. He lets out a breath and hugs his uncle. And Sam hugs him back and he feels something warm spreading on his chest and his eyes are suddenly itchy.
"Don't like the toilet." He whispers into Sam's neck as he's being carried back to the kitchen.
"I see that." He whispers back, and he rubs Evan's back, trying to offer comfort.
"Bad things happen there." He's still whispering, breath warm against Sam. He's sharing a secret too bad to say out loud.
"Really?"
Sam feels Evan nodding against his neck.
"Mommy went in there and never came back."
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