Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester and her mother Missy do.

A/N: After writing New Life, New Family, I decided to try another 'what if?' Evy story. What if Missy had lived and had to raise Evy with John? That's basically the question behind this. This will be a multi-chapter story, and I'll get chapters up as fast as I can. Enjoy!

"Sammyyy…"

"Whateeee…" Thirteen year old Sam said from his bed, not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

"What ya doing?"

Sam sighed and looked up at his little sister. Evy was standing at the edge of his bed, looking at him with the biggest, most pleading brown eyes he'd ever seen. She was in pajamas, her long brown curly hair still slightly damp from her bath. Sam checked the clock. It was 8:15, and her bedtime was 8:30. He put the pieces together right away. She was trying to avoid bedtime. He wondered if Missy knew where Evy was right then, or if she knew and was just hoping for a few minutes alone. Sam put his book down and answered,

"I'm doing homework. What are you doing?"

"Nuffin." Evy answered.

"I see that." Sam said. "Where's mommy?"

"She sent me in here to tell you goodnight."

"Well, in that case," Sam said, getting up and setting her in his lap for a hug, "Goodnight."

"I don't wanna go to bed!" Evy whined slightly.

Ignore it, Sam reminded himself. "Go on, go to your room."

"How's it going?"

Sam looked up to see Missy in the doorway of his room. "There's some foot dragging, but it's not too bad."

Missy chuckled but kept her best 'mom means business' voice. "Come on, kitten. Time for bed."

"Mommy, can Sammy tuck me in?" Evy asked.

"Did you ask him?"

"Sammy?" Evy asked, turning those big pleading eyes back on him.

Sam gave a dramatic sigh, then answered, "I guess."

"YAY!" Evy shouted, making Missy and Sam wince.

"Inside voice, please." Missy said patiently.

Evy frowned; she forgot for a moment she was supposed to be quiet inside. "Sorry, mommy."

"It's okay. Sammy can tuck you in if you promise to go to sleep."

"Can I have a story?" Evy asked.

"If he will read to you, you can have one story." Missy said. "You have to go to school tomorrow."

"Okay, mommy." Evy said. She turned around and grabbed Sam's hand. "Come on, Sammy, let's go."

"I'm coming. Say goodnight to mommy."

Evy ran back to her mom, who picked her up and hugged her. "Good night, kitten. Mommy loves you so much."
"Love you too, mommy. Night night." Evy kissed her mother's cheek, then squirmed to get down.

"You sure you got this?" Missy asked.

"Yeah, I got it." Sam said.

"I'll make you a deal." Missy said. "If she's asleep in thirty minutes, I'll let you stay up until ten."

"Deal!" Sam said eagerly, running over to Evy's room.

Missy laughed, watching as Sam went over to Evy's bedroom. She heard the two of them getting ready to go to bed, and slowly trudged to her own bedroom. As always, when Evy was lying down and she had the house to herself, Missy's mind wandered to the other two people she wished was in the house. On the nightstand next to Missy's bed was a framed photo that she looked at every night as she fell asleep. She picked it up and stared at it, her mind and heart wandering.

She didn't know why she loved John Winchester so much. When they'd met, he seemed to be a gruff know-it-all with no real personality. The two of them had bonded over losing their spouses to the supernatural. After a week together, Missy had moved in with John and his kids, supposedly on a temporary basis, but five weeks later, she was pregnant. Despite the whirlwind romance, Missy believed that she and John were a good match. She never doubted that he loved her.

"Come back home, babe." Missy said, before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

Missy's peaceful sleep was interrupted by her buzzing alarm clock at exactly 5:45. She always got up thirty minutes earlier than she woke up Evy and Sam, so she could have a cup of coffee and a little peace before starting their day. Which was why she was so surprised when she walked to Evy's room to check on her and heard her distinct giggle from the living room. She found a sight that lit her heart up. Evy was in John's lap on the couch, with her stuffed cat Squish in front of her, talking off the ears of John and Dean. When she saw Missy standing in the doorway, instead of running to her like she normally did, Evy pointed at John.

"Look, mommy! Daddy and Deanie are home!"

"I see that." A sleepy Missy said, walking over to John and giving him a kiss. "You want some coffee?"
"Yes, please." John said. "Thank you."

"Dean? You want some?"

"No thanks." Dean said.

"Deanie? Will you make me pancakes please?" Evy asked.

"You don't want me to make you breakfast?" Missy asked.

"I want Deanie to do it." Evy insisted. She turned to Dean and turned on the puppy dog eyes she'd inherited from Sam. "Please Deanie?"

"Sure, kiddo. You want to help?"

Missy watched the scene unfold in front of her. She was happy that John was home, but she saw the signs of a meltdown coming. Evy had only been going to school for a few weeks, so she didn't know how Evy was going to react when Missy made her go to school with him home. But she was yawning, being clingy to Dean and John, and was starting to whine a little. Missy hoped that John wouldn't snap at her, as he had a tendency to do when she was whiny. But the morning went smoothly. Sam got on the bus at 7:00. Missy helped Evy get dressed and get her shoes on. Evy's backpack was already in the car, so Missy gave her another few minutes with her Daddy before she made the announcement.

"Okay, Kitten, give Daddy a hug and a kiss. It's time to go to school."

"Mommy, I don't wanna go to school!" Evy whined.

"You have to go to school." Missy said firmly. "Give your father and brother a kiss and come on."

"I want to stay with Daddy!" Evy begged. "Please, mommy?"

Missy closed her eyes and counted to five. She understood Evy just wanted her father. She only had to go to preschool for four hours, but that was an eternity for a three-year-old. When Missy opened her eyes again, she saw that Evy had tears in her eyes. As calmly and patiently as she could, she said,

"You can see Daddy and Deanie after school. Come on and get in the car, sweetie."

Evy backed away from the couch and stomped her foot as hard as she could on the floor. "NO! I'm not going! I wanna stay home!"

Missy saw John move off the couch, his hand twitching to spank Evy for her tantrum, but she was quicker. She got on her knees, grabbed Evy's arm, and spoke clearly and firmly.

"Evelyn Abigail, enough. You are going to school. Get in the car so you can go to school NOW, or you will spend the day in your room when you get home. Now what's your choice?"

Evy's bottom lip was trembling, but she reluctantly said, "I'll go to the car."

"Good girl." Missy said, kissing the heartbroken toddler's cheek. "Give daddy a kiss and get to the car."

"'Kay, mommy."

Evy kissed John and Dean's cheeks, then slumped out to the car like she was the embodiment of despair itself. Missy felt like the world's crappiest parent, and the look on Dean's face for forcing Evy to leave didn't help at all. Missy ignored him and walked outside, where Evy was waiting by the back passenger door for her. She still refused to look at her mom, so Missy silently picked her up and put her in her car seat. Evy didn't fight her anymore, but there were silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Missy wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and hug her to death, but both of them needed to calm down first.

The four-mile ride to preschool seemed to take forever. Missy still felt terrible. Evy just didn't throw tantrums. It wasn't her style. Missy believed in empathy, and as a result, true tantrums very rarely happened in her house. At a stoplight, the answer occurred to her. The only time Evy really did throw tantrums was when she was tired. Really tired. She remembered that Evy had been awake already when she got up that morning. Exactly how long had she been up? Missy pulled into the school's driveway, thankful that they still had fifteen minutes to talk. When she turned the car off, she turned around to face Evy, who was still crying silently in the backseat.

"You okay?" Missy asked softly.

Evy sniffed and wiped her face. "No."

"I know you want to be with your daddy today. And you can see him all you want after school. But you know you have to go to school."

"But he's been gone so long!" Evy said. "He might not be there when I get home."

Missy's heart nearly shattered. John had been gone for over two weeks this time. Evy was so used to her father being gone that the thought of being away from him for even a few hours was terrifying. The tears were enough to nearly make Missy turn the car back on and take her home. But she was adamant about keeping Evy on a normal schedule and a regular routine, so she decided to just try and stem the flow of her tears.

"Kitten, listen to me. I promise your daddy will be home when you get back from school. You can hug him, get him to play with you, whatever you want. But you have to go to school."

"How do you know?" Evy asked, hiccupping as she talked. "He didn't stay home last time."

How the hell do you have such a good memory? Missy thought. John had taken a hunt in the summer that led to one of the biggest fights the two of them had ever had. He had just gotten back from one hunt the night before, come home for eighteen hours, and snuck out of the house while Evy was sleeping and Sam was babysitting. She'd cried for her Daddy all day and night until she went to bed, and Missy had told him not to ever sneak out on Evy without saying goodbye again. Missy got out of the car and walked around so she could sit next to Evy in the backseat. She took one of Evy's hands and asked,

"Hey. Who's the boss in our house?"

Evy sniffed. "You are."

"That's right. I will not let Daddy leave today. He will be here at least until you get up in the morning."
"You promise?" Evy asked.

"I promise." Missy said. When Evy yawned, Missy got another idea. "Why don't I get Daddy to pick you up halfway through your school day?"

Evy finally smiled. "Really?"

"Really. How's that sound?" Missy asked.

"Thank you, mommy." Evy said.

"You're welcome, baby." Missy said. "I'm sorry you're so sad right now."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Evy said.

"I forgive you. You forgive me?" Missy asked.

"I don't got nothing to forgive you for, mommy." Evy said. "Can I has hug now?"

"You bet you can. Come here." Missy picked Evy up out of the car seat and eagerly squeezed her in a rib crushing hug. "I love you so much, Kitten."
"Love you too, mommy."

"Come on. Let's go to school." Missy said, patting Evy's leg.

Missy walked Evy into school, giving her a few extra cuddles and kisses at the door. Before she left, Evy was laughing. Missy cautioned Evy's teacher, a wonderful, grandmotherly woman in her seventies, that Evy had been through a tough morning and hadn't had much sleep the night before. The teacher pulled Missy out in the hallway and reassured her,

"Evy's one of the sweetest, kindest children I've ever met. We all have bad days, darling. It doesn't make you a bad mommy. It makes you human. Evy will be just fine. You go get some rest."

Missy left the building feeling better about herself, but still determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. Her mother's instinct, together with the rational part of her brain, told her that someone had woken Evy up that morning. She hadn't just woken up early on her own. When she made it back to the house, she opened the front door, saw that Dean and John were both sleeping, and slammed the front door hard. Both Dean and John jumped up from their respective spots, guns out and drawn. They lowered the guns at the sight of Missy glaring in the doorway.

"Which one of you woke her up this morning?"

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"Someone woke Evy up on purpose this morning. She doesn't wake up early unless she's sick. She wasn't sick, so someone woke her up." Missy said. "Who was it?"

"It was me." Dean said. "I went in to check on her when we got home. She woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep."

"What time was that?" Missy asked.

"Around three."

Missy nearly screamed. She didn't believe that Dean had just gone in to check on Evy. She had discovered, after Evy was born, that she would wake up in the middle of the night not because of normal baby wants and needs, but because Dean would go in her room and shake her awake. Missy had talked to him about it, but after catching him twice more, had finally banned him from Evy's room when she was sleeping.

"Dean, did you wake her up?"

"No!" Dean said. "Not on purpose."

"Dean…" John said. "Did you wake up your sister?"

Dean faltered under his father's tone. "Yes, sir."

"Damn it, Dean!" Missy shouted, slamming her hand against the wall in frustration.

"I just wanted to see her for a minute…"

"I told you not to wake her up in the middle of the night." Missy seethed. "I'm the one who takes care of her. That means I make the rules."

"Geez, I'm sorry!" Dean said.

"Dean…"

"John, I've got this." Missy snapped. "Dean, if you wanted to see her, I would have let you take her to school or pick her up. Take her to the park or out for ice cream. There's a thousand other things you can do. But you do not wake her up. Understand?"

"I'm sorry!" Dean repeated.

"Are you? Really?" Missy asked.

"He said he was." John said. "It's over now."

"No, it isn't." Missy said. "I've given you a ton of chances with this, Dean. The next time your father has a hunt, you're staying behind."

"You can't do that!" Dean protested.

"She most certainly can, Dean." John said. "Next hunt, you're benched."

"May I be excused, sir?" Dean asked through clenched teeth.

"Yes." John said. "And work on your attitude. I expect you to give Missy a proper apology."

"Yes, sir."

Dean stomped down the hall towards his bedroom. Missy sighed; for the second time that day, she had made a kid mad at her. She rubbed her nose to fend off a coming headache when John said something to fray her nerves even more.

"He just wanted to see her."

"Well, you can't wake a three-year-old up at three o'clock in the morning and then be surprised when she has a tantrum at seven thirty." Missy snapped.

"I was ready to deal with that tantrum…"

"How John? By spanking her? Is that your answer to everything?" Missy asked.

"That's not fair. She needs to learn to respect you…"

"She does. You want to know why she threw that tantrum? Because she was terrified that if she went to school you wouldn't be here when she got home. Because of your little stunt with that last hunt, she's scared that if you aren't in her eyeline it means you aren't coming back." Missy explained. "She also threw it because she was tired. And if you had spanked her, all it would have done was make her more confused and more miserable and wonder to herself why Daddy doesn't want to be with her."

John was stunned at Missy's explanation. "She really thinks that?"
"Yes. Which is why you are going to pick her up at 10:30. You will bring her back here, take a nap with her, and then spend the day with her. Understand?"

"Got it." John said. "Will you wake me up if…?"

"No, John. I will not wake you up. Set an alarm or don't go to sleep, I really don't care. But you will be at her school at 10:30 on the dot to pick her up. It's on you." Missy said.

"I'll do it." John said. "Promise."

The look of guilt on his face melted Missy's heart. She knew he was trying, and she felt bad for blowing up at him. She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist, and he gratefully returned her hug. He loved this woman so much, almost as much as he had Mary. She was trying to give him a second chance at life, and he intended to take it.
"I'm glad you're home." Missy said sincerely. "Stay for a little while this time? Please?"

"I will." John said.

"Good." Missy checked the clock. 8:42. She grinned. "You know, if you're not too tired, you can play with mommy a little bit before you go pick up Evy…"

"I'm never too tired for that." John said.

"Okay. Go take a shower and change first, though. You stink."

John chuckled and playfully swatted her butt. "Yes, ma'am."

"I'm gonna go talk to Dean for a second."
Evy walked down the hall to the room Dean shared with Sammy. The door was open, so she didn't have to worry about knocking and being asked to leave him alone. He had taken off his jacket and shoes and was laying on the bed against the headboard. He didn't seem angry, just sad. Even though it was open, Missy knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." A dejected Dean said.

Missy sat down on Sam's bed a few feet from Dean's. "Dean, I'm sorry that I blew up with you."
"I deserved it."
"No. No, you didn't deserve it." Missy said. "I should have talked to you about it, not yelled at you like I did. I know you love Evy and you just want to see her. But you not letting her sleep is the reason she threw that tantrum this morning."

"It is?" Dean asked.

"Yes, Dean. She was tired and she didn't want to go to school because she thought it meant that you and your daddy wouldn't be here when she got back. But she was tired, so she didn't think to stop and tell me that." Missy explained. "I had to find out after she cried the entire way to school."

"She was crying?" Dean asked, guilt finally making its way into his features.

"Yes." Missy said. "Look, Dean, I know you still want to help take care of Sam and your sister. I get that. I'm not trying to take that away from you. But I'm the parent here. To Evy and, even though I know you don't like to admit it, Sam."

"I know." Dean said. "I just don't feel useful at home anymore 'cause Sam doesn't need me."

"That's just it, Dean. He does. Just because I take care of them most of the time, doesn't mean that I don't need your help. The best thing that you can do to help me? Do you want to know what it is?"

Dean nodded eagerly.

"When you and your dad get home from a hunt, ask me if I need some time to myself, or alone time with your dad. If they're not in school for the day or doing something else important, you can babysit then."

"Really? Sam won't like having a babysitter."

"Sam doesn't have to know, does he?" Missy answered with a wink.
"I guess not." Dean said. "Look, I know I messed up, but can you please reconsider me not going on the next hunt?"

"No." Missy said. "Hunting's what you'd miss the most, so that's what you get taken away from you."

"I'm seventeen!" Dean protested.

"And still living under this roof. As long as that happens, you willingly break a rule, you get punished. Understand me, young man?" Missy asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Dean said miserably. "Do I have to stay in here?"

"Nope. I got a nice long list of house chores for you to do. Which I'll give you after you get some rest." Missy answered.

"Yes, ma'am. Thanks." Dean said.

"You're welcome." Missy answered. "And Dean? I know I'm not your mom, but you know I love you, right?"

"I love you too." Dean said back.

"Okay, kiddo. Get some sleep." Missy said.
"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Missy said.

Her motherly instinct took over. She knew Dean hated it, but he was already drifting to sleep. She wrapped him up with a blanket, brushed his hair out of his face, and kissed his cheek.

"Sweet dreams." She said as she shut the door behind her.