Chapter One

Four months later…

Dean stuck the plate of pancakes on the dining room table.

"What's this?" asked Lisa, walking into the room in her bathrobe.

"Ben's birthday," answered Dean. "Kid needs his birthday breakfast."

Lisa smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

"It was no trouble," said Dean. "My boss gave me the day off. Slow week. So I woke up early."

Lisa walked up and gave him a kiss. "You are amazing." Dean smiled. "You wanna go wake him up?"

"Okay," said Dean. He made his way to Ben's bedroom, sneaking in. He approached the bed and pounced on Ben, tickling him.

Ben jolted awake, screaming with laughter. "Stop! Stop!"

Dean laughed as he quit. "Happy 11th Birthday, buddy!"

Ben laughed as he sat up. "Do you have to wake me up like that?"

"Hey, I can't help it if you sleep like the dead," said Dean. "You're gonna sleep right through your surprise."

Ben's eyes lit up. "Surprise?"

"It's in the dining room," said Dean.

Ben sprang out of bed and rushed to the dining room as Dean followed. Ben stared with wide eyes at the pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast and chocolate milk. "Wow! Thanks!"

"You're welcome," said Dean. They sat down to eat. Dean looked up at Lisa. "Oh, and I'll take Ben to school. You take a few more minutes for yourself."

"You sure?" asked Lisa.

"Yeah," said Dean. "I need to run some errands anyway."

"Thanks, Dean," smiled Lisa.

As soon as breakfast was done, Lisa moved to clean up the table.

"No, you head to take a bath," said Dean. "I'll clean up."

Lisa smiled. "What would I do without you?"

"Find a biker dude, get married and drive off on his big black Harley," teased Dean.

Lisa laughed as she headed for the bathroom. "Have a good day at school, Ben!"

"Okay, Mom!" Ben called from his room.

Dean cleaned the table off and did the dishes. He grabbed the car keys. "Ben, time to go!"

Ben rushed into the living room, grabbing his backpack. "Ready!"

Dean and Ben headed out to the Impala, getting in. They arrived at the elementary school.

"Have a good day, Ben!" said Dean.

"Okay, Dean," said Ben as he got out.

Dean pulled away from the school, driving to the automotive store. He needed a new valve cover, new wipers, and a new spark plug for the Impala. As he exited the store with his purchases, he was digging in his pocket for the keys when someone bumped into him. He dropped his bag as the guy dropped his books.

"I'm so sorry!" said the guy as they bent down to pick up their things. "I should've been watching where I was going."

Dean grabbed the spark plug and valve cover. "It's okay. I wasn't looking either."

Dean looked up at the guy, but he was faced the other way, grabbing some stuff behind him. Dean could tell the guy was tall, even as he crouched on the ground. He also had dark brown hair that came halfway down his neck. Dean still hadn't seen his face. Dean turned and grabbed some books next to him, holding them out to the guy.

The guy grabbed the books. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Dean. "You?"

"I'm okay," said the guy. "Oh, here's your wipers." He turned, holding them out.

"Thanks," said Dean, turning to grab it out of his hand. His gaze went up to the guy's face. Dean froze, his hand still holding the wipers. "Sam?"