Here's chapter four. Thanks for the reviews and feedback.
Disclaimer: not mine now or ever.
A.N: I'm not American so I just picked a state park of Wiki's list for Minnesota so some of the info here is real, the rest made up.
The next morning, John was exhausted. He had only slept for a half the night because of Deans teething which had made the baby fussy and irritable, unable to sleep very well. His cries carried on and off until around 4 in the morning when it seemed he had cried himself into exhaustion and just passed out. As he set Dean gently down into his cot, John was ready to pass out himself. He had forgotten that heart breaking cry Dean could make when he was tired or sick and it was draining listening to it. He felt almost like a new father again, anxious and worried over the slightest noise that seemed out of place.
Catching a few hours sleep until his alarm went off at 9; John got up and took a long shower. After dressing he checked on Dean who still asleep, he walked into the kitchen heading straight for the coffee maker. After chugging a cup, he poured another and sat down in a chair, accepting breakfast from Jim who pushed it in front of him.
He was receiving sympathetic looks from the other two; he felt very weary which not the ideal start for a hunt. As the hunters made the final checks of weapons, medical supplies and Deans things were all ready in the car. John only had to load Deans cot and diaper bag into the truck and they were set to go. As they finished final checks, John heard Dean wailing again from upstairs. Sighing heavily, he headed upstairs to his son. In his cot, Dean was tired and in pain. Picking him up and rocking him gently, John knew this day would be very long. Like the previous night Dean was flushed and running a small temperature. He also now had a nice diaper rash to add to his teething pain and John's eardrums pain. Quietening him down, John quickly gave Dean a wash and changed, redressed him for the day. He gave him the pacifier he had bought the previous night to keep him occupied from crying.
After Dean had eaten they set off to the outskirts of Ithaca state park for the hunt.
The drive to Itasca State Park and Park Rapids took a few hours. The murderous family had once lived on the outskirts in a farm and had lived isolated from society, carrying on a crime spree until they murdered the local sheriff's daughter. The said sheriff exacted revenge by having all of them hung for their crimes in the 1940s. The ghosts who were nuts alive were made worse by death and very protective of their burial sites of their victims, most of whom had never been recovered. Today their farm had been reclaimed and was now a common route for campers and backpackers. Unfortunately it also hid the one of the many burial sites for their victims. Now any disturbance by health nuts meant the ghosts chased the person through the heavily wooded tracks like Jason, killing them by impaling them on sharpened tree branches.
As Mac and the two Winchesters drove to the out skirts of Park Rapids, to meet up with Caleb who was still in the dark on Dean's condition, Mac knew his adoptive son would find this either very funny or very wrong. He had spent a lot of time with the Winchester boys as they grew up, but it was Sam not Dean who had been the baby then. Dean had been able to interact, talk and play with him. Caleb would be in shock for a while, Mac decided.
After stopping a few times for Dean who was grizzly and tired all day, the hunters arrived at the city. They were to meet Caleb at a cabin that they had hired. Pulling up at the cabin, John parked beside Caleb's car. He saw the younger hunter come out of the front door, smiling at them. Mac came out of his car and walked up to his adoptive son, embracing him tightly. They exchanged word while John removed Dean from his car seat. Dean was a little sleepy so he immediately nuzzled into his dads shoulder. The other two were watching them, Mac was waiting for John to explain how he had a baby that he hadn't 4 months ago when Caleb had last seen him.
"Johnny, how's it going man? Who's the kid?" Caleb asked. He was a bit worried about this hunt, adding a baby was not going to help.
John grinned at him. "Dean, dude. He got hit with a regression curse."
Caleb looked stunned and he just starred at the sleepy baby in Johns arms. The baby in question decided it was time to begin crying again. Loudly. The three hunters winced at the force of Deans cries and they moved inside quickly. Caleb couldn't help but stare at Dean. The last time he had seen Dean he had been still moping over Sams leaving but he had been laughing and smiling and they had enjoyed a bottle or two of tequila together. Now he was a tiny red faced runt who was not impressed at his current surroundings and had the ability to kill his ear drums. Inside the cabin which was a two roomed plus a bathroom type, the hunters began to fill each other in for their hunt. As the hunt was discussed in detail and the intricate details worked out, Caleb voiced a thought that had been nagging at him for an hour since he was informed of Dean's new uh lifestyle.
"Ok fine that's how it will lay out, but what about Dean? We can't bring him on a hunt." He glanced towards Dean's cot which had been set up near the bed John had claimed. The kid was sacked out snoring softly in it.
Mac and Caleb looked at John for an answer. He grinned at Caleb.
"You are, Mac and I have done the legwork on this already, and we know what we are going into". Mac nodded through this. "And you should spend time with your friend Caleb". Mac said, smiling superiorly at him.
Caleb scowled at them both, this was unfair. He was here to kill ghosts not, change diapers and watch a baby.
"But I don't… wont he be upset?" Caleb asked, hoping to touch a softer side of Winchester.
John shook his head at him. "Dean will be fine, he is teething at the moment, but the sleep should help with that. He will sleep to the morning I reckon so you will be fine and you have watched a baby before." He reminded Caleb of the times he babysat Sam when he was Dean's current age and he was fine then.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get out of this, Caleb nodded at them grudgingly. He hoped Dean was going to be more manageable than Sam had been. As if reading his thoughts John began to tell him of how Dean would usually behave and what he liked to play and what not to do with him.
"But you should be fine with him dude, I'll assure him when we leave tomorrow for the site of the burial mounds, and if we go at night he will be asleep again, so no worries alright."
The hunters retired for the night, and the hunt got under way the next day.
The next morning, Dean was feeling somewhat better. Standing in his cot he looked around the new room that he was in and all the various things on the wall. Gurgling away to himself nonsensically he spied his dad in the bed by his. The baby Winchester used the awesome power he now possessed and woke his daddy up.
Jerking awake at the cries John quickly roused himself into action and scooped up Dean who stopped crying immediately. Smiling at his dad, he cuddled into him for a morning cuddle. John sat back down on his bed with Dean in his lap, holding the stuffed yellow and black spotted dog that he had latched onto in during his Wal-Mart escapades. He spoke soft words to his son, after a cuddle and quickly washed and dressed and then turned back to Dean who gazed at him gnawing slightly on his fist. John smiled, Dean was always hungry.
"Come on then, lets feed you then." He headed to the kitchen and assembled a baby breakfast suitable for Dean and began to feed him. He was glad Jim had put Sam's old one in his garage, it was useful again. As he finished feeding Dean, and gave him a bottle of juice to drink, he started food for Mac and Caleb. Soon the other two came into the kitchen, dressed and ready for the day. Groaning loudly, Caleb rubbed his neck, he was bigger than the bed he had slept in and he had to share with his dad, so not cool.
"Drink, I need a drink." He moaned, "Of coffee." He amended seeing his fathers warning look. At the word 'drink', Dean had stopped drinking his bottle and was watching Caleb. Looking at his own drink and back at Caleb he then held it out to his friend.
"Gah dink dink". He told Caleb insistently. Caleb smiled at him, handing it back to him.
"Thanks Deuce." He gently rubbed the downy baby head, "I'm looking for something stronger."
He poured himself a cup of strong black coffee and sat in the vacant chair beside Dean's highchair. The other two hunters were amused by Dean's antics and Caleb's reaction, John knew that Dean would be fine with Caleb; he wouldn't offer to share his food otherwise.
After making sure Dean felt safe with Caleb, John and Mac headed out in the late morning to mark the burial sites while it was light, they would also try and find what kept the murderous farming family earth bound and still killing. Both suspected that the sheriff had not been entirely truthful and lawful when he had hung the family, and that was the reason they were still around.
When his dad and John had been gone for an hour or so and Dean was playing on the floor by his feet as he did some research on his computer and in some county records in the history of the cop, he smelt something truly awful. Looking down at Dean he groaned. He knew what had happened: Dean had filled his diaper. Getting up from his research, he picked up Dean who blinked and cooed happily at him.
"Deuce, you stink and you're happy about it?" He shook hid head at the baby who babbled at him as he got the necessary equipment out and ready. Laying Dean down, he undid the romper overall that Dean was in and took them off, and then opened his diaper.
Wizzz! He jerked back in disgust as a stream of urine was shot into the air splashing his face. Wiping his face on a wipe, he looked at Dean who was giggling away at him.
Muttering under his breath he quickly changed the dirty diaper and redressed Dean, returning him to his play. He then went back to his research after giving Dean a snack and a bottle.
He rang John when he had found something interesting about the hanging and raid of the farm in the 1940s. Hmm it looked like the daughter had been in love with a son of the murdering family and had been implicated in several murders herself. He then found a suggestive article on the sheriff murdering the girl, blaming it on the family, and then in the raid helping himself to a few hunting tools.
He rang the other two relaying the information. They had found the main site that the cops had missed and had begun salting and burning. They were in luck. The particular track was closed at the moment because of weather issues so they weren't in danger of being seen. He also assured John that Dean was fine and napping right now, no he hadn't seemed too uncomfortable with his teething pain, and yes Caleb had given him the teething ring. He hung up, amused at the papa bear antics of John. He was going to lose his badass reputation while Dean was small, he couldn't wait to rub it both their faces when Dean was back to normal.
Two days later and the ghost were put to rest, the hunters parted ways. They had agreed to meet up at Jims during Christmas, barring anything major. Caleb watched John and Dean drive off feeling a little sad to see Dean go. He had actually enjoyed spending time with the little runt. He was cute in an I'll scream your ears off way he decided. He and Mac headed towards Nebraska while John headed back to Bobby's.
TBC.
So a very long chapter this one, read, review. Coming up next the Wal-Mart escapade one-shot and….Sam!
