Bobby's POV:

New's Years Eve and resolutions go hand and hand or are supposed to. Since Karen died and I got into hunting, I stopped paying too much mind to those types of things. Usually I spend the holidays up to my neck in some form of hunt or doing research or if I count last year, passed out drunk…well, last year sucked in my opinion since I had one boy supposedly stuck in a hole in hell and the other falling apart in modern suburbia.

This year I've had 'em both here for all three of the major ones even if I did end up with a giant sleigh on my roof and I still want to know how the hell Dean got that Wendigo figure in that damn snowball out front.

This has been the longest I've had people in the house since usually the boys will come, hang out a few days to a week if one or the other was hurt seriously. Or like after the accident and the Impala was trash a month but this is going on almost four months if not longer and I'm surprised that Dean's not going stir crazy by now.

Don't get me wrong. I love having 'em here even though at times it reminds me of when they were boys and John would drop 'em off for weeks at a time. I couldn't turn around without tripping over one or the other and keepin' 'em out of mischief.

That's how I know they'll be hittin' the road soon. Even though he's still hoverin' over Sam, Dean's also been getting into stuff. Twice I've kicked him out of the basement because he was into stuff down there that shouldn't be messed with, not to mention his attempts at cooking have turned into worse disasters than Sam's attempt at washing clothes. If I don't get these two outta my house soon, I'll be needing new appliances.

I finally tossed Rufus out. Dealing with two Winchesters is one thing but throw Rufus into the mix and I was ready to ask the damn Sheriff to lock me up just to keep my sanity. I owe the old coot though. He stuck it out while we tried to find the boys and while they both recovered. Not to mention he helped me salt and burn that damn old man's corpse since there was no way in hell I was letting either Sam or Dean do that.

I know there's going to be further hassles with the Campbell family, especially when they find out about Samuel's death, but like I told Rufus I'll handle that when it comes because those boys sure didn't deserve what the old man did…especially to Sam.

Sam. I take a quick look to be sure he's still sitting at my desk in the library before I go back to figuring out dessert. His brother left earlier to go to the store but I couldn't get Dean outta the house before I got a laundry list of things his brother could and couldn't do.

Ever since Dean got Sam back a few months ago he's been bad in the over protective manic obsessive hovering stage. At first, I humored the kid. I mean, he had just found out that the brother he thought had been trapped in a Cage in Hell with Lucifer had been out but instead of being free he'd been held by a damn shapeshifter for nearly a year. So, I gave Dean leeway in the hovering stage…to a point.

When I figured Sam was doing pretty good I started trying to ease Dean off. Get him to allow Sam to come downstairs, or move around some and boy, did that cause some fights because Dean Winchester is his Daddy's son when it comes to being stubborn.

He had just started to relax, to allow Sam to do stuff on his own while still staying close since Sam had a limit too that I noticed. The past few years when the boys were so distant with one another, they could go for days being in this house without seeing one another, the past few months was a change back to when they'd been kids. Sam didn't like not knowing where his brother was and right after he woke up from being chained in that warehouse, he'd panic if Dean wasn't in eyesight. He'd gotten past that before Samuel made his last move and I've caught him tensing again if he can't find Dean right away. Another reason I wish I could kill that bastard again.

Since I became a hunter, I'd heard the tales of the Campbell family. Fierce, no nonsense hunters. I'd never met one and truth be told, I had no desire to. Meeting what I have since, I can honestly say that if I go the rest of my life without seein' another damn Campbell or have them come close to the boys, I'll be happy. They'd give hunters a bad name for just what they'll willin' to do…or maybe it was just old man Campbell who was willing to sell his family down the demon drain just to kill John and had it turned on him.

Thinking of New Year's and resolutions makes me think of John for some reason. Seeing him, or his spirit, in that building, reminded me of a lot of things that I'd forgotten or pushed aside when it came to John Winchester.

I mean, sure he was a stubborn, mule-headed son of a bitch and I cheerfully could've taken a shotgun to his hide more than once…threatened to on occasion, but seeing him there also reminded me that while he could be mean, nasty, and treated those boys like crap he also had his moments where he loved 'em more than his life.

First time I met John I wanted to slap him upside the head. No man in their right mind should take two small boys into this life and I harped on him all the damn time that he needed a stable base. Somewhere to leave Sam and Dean when he hunted but nope, he'd leave'em here with me or up in Blue Earth with Jim or at some crappy motels while he took off but he'd never consider letting them grow up in one place. I often wondered if he did that for himself or out of some misguided idea that to protect the boys he had to keep moving them.

There was a New Year's that John had gotten hurt on a hunt so he and the boys were here with me. Sam was probably about six while Dean woulda been ten. They were asleep so John and I were bringing in the New Year with a bottle of Jack. When John drank, he talked and on nights like that he talked about Mary and the life he wanted for the boys. Always made the same resolution, that next year would be the year he found the thing that killed her and then his boys would be safe. It never happened like that but it gave him something to hold onto…at least until the boys got older and the fights became more frequent.

Watching Sam in the library studying that piece of paper he'd been looking at since he sat down reminded me of how much that boy could be like John. His father could be scary intense when on a hunt and before the whole deal with Lucifer went down I saw a lot of John in Sam. I often think that's why Sam and John fought so much. They were too damn much alike. It was like putting two immovable objects against one another. There was bound to be sparks.

Oh, I don't mean that John wasn't an asshole most of the time and his temper got the better of him way too much. I know damn good and well that Jim would've taken both those boys if I'd told him half of what I could've. Dean was good at hiding things but I could still tell when he was hiding the bruises he'd get after John would get angry. I told John straight out that if he ever beat on either of those boys like he did after Sam ran away that I'd put a bullet in his head. I'm not stupid enough to think that he never did but I like to think that he always thought twice about it.

Seeing the pain in John's eyes in that building made me wonder if he regretted the crap he put those boys through or if he would've changed any of it if he could've. I'm not sure and it's a little too late now so all I can do is be there for Dean and Sam as much as possible. Those two are the closest things to sons I'll ever have and even though they drive me to drink at times and make me what to slap 'em at others, I wouldn't trade those two idjits for anything.

After the plan to make a pie literally blew up in my face (Lord, how Karen could bake 'em I'll never know) I figure it's time to check on Sam. He's still at the desk but he seems more relaxed than he did earlier which either means he's figured out what he's been trying to write all day or his brother's coming back…it's scary sometimes how those two boys seem to know where the other one is.

Hearing a growl, I happen to notice the pup I found…(I'm stickin' to that story like I am the one about Jodi droppin' the tree off) was chewing on one of Dean's new boots. Yep, that'll go over real good. "Where's that brother of yours?" I ask him, noticing that he still jumps if he's not expecting a sound. I also still catch him keeping that hand close to him which reminds me to see if either of them will let me check Sam's wounds.

"Not sure but…" Sam had started to reply when we both hear the Impala pulling up and I watch the kid's body language go from subtly tense to relaxed fully now that Dean's back. Then he's out of the library with the pup running ahead of him. "Grab a coat before he banishes your butt!" I shout to him but know the warnings too little too late at the sound of the front door. "Idjit's gonna have damn pneumonia before he's healed," I mutter, taking a look at the wrinkled paper Sam had been marking on all day to see he'd been making his own resolutions and what I saw made me frown.

#1-Be a better brother? Hell, how anyone could be a better brother is beyond me. Sam, since he'd been a baby, had adored his big brother. Except for the years he went to school and the last couple, I can't recall a time when Sam didn't look up to Dean. The kid still blames himself for the fights he and Dean had before and after the Apocalypse started. I've told Sam that nothing was really his fault, especially the day in Stull when Lucifer was wearing his skin but Sam's like John there too. Once he gets something in his head, there's no getting it out except when he's good and ready to let go.

#2-Earn the right to wear the jacket? So, that's what the damn issue is. I know that Dean's been lettin' his brother hold onto his leather jacket since we got the kid back but I also know that he literally gave Sam the jacket during Thanksgiving. Sam feel's more secure with it so both Dean and I were surprised when, after Sam woke up this time, that he gave it back to Dean while sayin' something about not deserving it. Damn John for how he raised those boys. Sam thinks he has to prove something to his brother to earn the right to wear the jacket that John gave to Dean and that Dean wants to give to Sam. Lord, Winchesters will be the death of me.

Wondering if Dean needs to see this, I put the paper back as I head back to the kitchen just as Dean's ushering Sam back inside while griping about him not using a jacket…like I wasn't expecting that. I turn to see the older Winchester tossing stuff from the store bags inside the refrigerator. "It took you that long just to run to the store?" I see a slight shift of his shoulders and pin Dean with a look. "What're you up to now?"

"Nothing, Bobby. Yeesh, give me a break," he tried the innocent look that usually only works for his brother but I know when he hightails it outta the kitchen to make a grab for Sam who's about to go out the front door after something that Dean's up to no good.

I wait until Dean's gotten his brother settled back in the library and has gone back outside to follow him. I'm hoping maybe the kid's going to do some actual work in the yard to make up for all the damage to the cars he does every time after he dresses Sam's wounds but no, I find him heading away from the house with a cardboard box.

"Do I even wanna know what you go planned in that head of yours, boy?" I ask after making sure he knows it's me coming up on him. Dean's got sharper reflexes these days and he's almost never without his .45 these days.

"Just a surprise for Sammy tonight," he answers quickly enough…too quickly and a surprise from Dean has never been a good thing so…

Moving around to see what was in the box and expecting the worst, I wasn't disappointed as I felt my stomach drop and my blood pressure shoot up. "There ain't no way in hell you're doing that, ya flamin' idjit!" I shout, trying to keep my voice down so Sam didn't get alarmed but at seeing what his brother was planning I had a right to shout.

"Bobby, trust me. I know what I'm doing," Dean promised with that solemn look that got me to agree to having my house decorated up for Christmas.

Damn, I'm going soft in the head as I just kick a rock and storm back to the house, hoping I still had one come 12:01 this morning.

My resolutions? Redo the wards and guards around my house, change my phone number so Rufus doesn't have it, and learn to say no to the damn Winchester charm before it kills me.

TBC