What's in a Name?
Dean was snuggled in his mother's lap as they sat at the kitchen table, a piece of paper laid before them. Mary tapped her pencil against the table as she waited for Dean to answer. They were thinking of baby names together, and although Mary had some ideas of her own, she wanted to see what her son would come up with.
"Bruce?" he suggested, twisting his head around so he could see her face.
His mother giggled, instantly catching on to his train of thought. "No, sweetie, you're my Batman, there can't be two of you, can there?"
He gently patted his mother's ever growing tummy. He had a one track mind today. "Robin."
Dean was four now, but sometimes he had trouble remembering how many fingers that was when people asked him. He had been waiting for what his mom told him was four whole months since he found out he would be a big brother, but he still had three months to wait.
"You don' like that name, Mommy?" he asked when she didn't reply, his eyes welling up with tears.
How am I supposed to resist that? Mary would let him name the baby Batman Robin Winchester if he kept it up with that look of his. This kid was going to be trouble for sure when he got older. And if he taught his sibling the ways of manipulating Mommy? Mary was done for, they could have ice cream for breakfast for all she cared. Luckily for her and the baby, she steered away. "I'll think about it, baby. Keep thinking up other names though, in case Daddy doesn't like them."
That was enough to appease his threatening tantrum, and he continued to babble other Batman-related and completely implausible names.
The baby started to kick. It always did when Dean started talking a lot. Dean leaned down to kiss his mother's tummy as his sibling move, then continued on his tirade of names. Not even Mary or her husband could coax their unborn child to move the way their son could. Dean Winchester was already winning over the baby and he was barely out of toddlerhood. That was another thing she was grateful she could give Dean that she didn't have: the love of a sibling. Both she and John were only children, and while that had been fine for them and there was nothing wrong with it, she always wondered what the experience was like. As silly as it sounded, she was living vicariously through her four-year-old, thankful she would raise her child completely different than her own childhood had been.
Mary had been thinking about her father an awful lot lately. She missed him and her mother, despite how much she resented being raised in the hunter lifestyle. She picked up the pencil again. Dean had been named after her mother, so it only seemed right. She wrote down the first name on the paper.
Samuel.
Dean immediately stopped talking. "Wha's that say, Mommy?".
She smiled warmly. "Samuel. Or Samantha if it's a girl."
"Sam-mule," he struggled to pronounce. Dean had still refused to acknowledge the possibility of a sister.
"You can call the baby Sam if that's too difficult to say, sweetie. Or Sammy," she added on.
His face lit up, his green eyes sparkling. "Sammy." Dean felt like it was the perfect name. "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy," he repeated as he hopped off his mother lap and began dancing around the room, turning the name into his own little song the way only four-year-olds can.
John walked through the door, home from work. "Daddy!" Dean exclaimed as he leapt into his father's arms. He loved hugging his Daddy, especially since he wasn't able to as often as he did his Mommy since he worked and all. He breathed in the smell of his leather jacket and motor oil and sighed contently.
"Hey, kiddo," said John, rubbing his hair. "How's your day been?"
Suddenly, Dean remembered the important news and his head whipped up. "Sammy," he said simply, pointing at his mother.
"I seem to recall your father being none too found of me, Mary," he said, shifting Dean's weight around so he sat snugly on his hip.
"Oh, he was just looking out for his little girl, John. Besides," she said, tilting her head at Dean, "it seems only right."
Dean was giving his father a full-on angry-pout face and John did a double take. "What'd I do?"
"Sam-mule's his name, so you better not have a prob'em." The attitude of this kid, John thought, but brushed it off.
"What if it's a girl?" John questioned.
"Then his name will be Sa-" he looked towards his mother for help pronouncing the name.
"Samantha," she assisted.
"What if it's a dog?" John teased.
Dean's brow furrowed in confusion. He hadn't considered that possibility. "Then I think you did something wrong," he squeaked. His parents laughed.
"What if... it's a kitty cat?" his dad asked.
Dean's nose crinkled. "I hope not. Cats make me sneeze." He turned towards Mary for reassurance. "He's not a cat, right?"
"No, love," she laughed.
"What if it's a dragon!" John continued.
Dean giggled. "No, Daddy. Now you're just being silly."
"What if... it's a vampire!" said John, tickling Dean. His son screamed in delight. But for Mary, it hit a nerve.
That life's over, she reminded herself. Dean and John will never have to worry about those horrors. I'll make sure of that.
John continued teasing Dean with endless impossibilities until their son couldn't take it anymore and was squirming and giggling with delight.
Author's Note: I wrote parts of this slightly intoxicated, so apologies, I'll edit mistakes out in the morning. The idea and wording of everything was worded while sober, I swear. Hope you enjoy.