Author's Note: It's been a long couple of weeks. The lack of updates was me being chained to my desk for finals. Let me tell you that it also sucks when your birthday's around finals. It tends to put a damper on things. But as of Tuesday I'm finished and shall never have to write another paper! Graduation from college is on Saturday. Real world here I come.

The Winchesters in Technicolor

Part 4

Last Time: When the Djinn captured Dean last year his 'wish' coming true was a painful reminder of a life that they'd never had and never would; it made it all so much worse.

A clip from 'The Wizard of Oz' fuzzed in while Sam was lost in his thoughts. A colorful hot air balloon was rising into the sky and Dorothy was crying. "Oh, but this could never be like Kansas! I just want to go home..."

May 8, 1983

Mother's Day

The picture flipped in and the blonde cherub that was Sam's little older brother was sitting on a bed in front of the camera with a blank look on, blinking at the camera as though he had been unceremoniously dropped in that spot by a tornado and looked understandably disoriented.

The partially unmade queen-sized bed in John and Mary's room was set like a stage in a Sear's photo studio, a comforter folded up behind Dean as if it were propping him up. Little Sammy was wrapped up in a puffy blanket with teddy bears and balloons, one eye still stuck shut (something the doctors had assured them would only last a week or so), propped in Dean's lap with the boy's slightly chubby arms wrapped around him.

There was a little shuffling behind the camcorder and Mary's voice came through from behind again. "Okay, the red light's on right? –Say hi, Dean."

"Hye, Dean," The little boy echoed with a grin.

"Yeah, you're very funny." There was a smile in Mary's voice. "Say 'hi Julie'!"

"Hi Ju'ie." Dean's grin widened, quite happy with the attention, while Sammy made little noises like a newborn kitten and shifted on his brother's lap.

"Hi Deacon, Hi Carol," She instructed him.

"Hye Dee-cun, Hye Cawel." Dean gave his most charming look at the camera.

"This is my brother."

Dean's grip was getting a little lax on the infant and Sammy, half asleep, started to slide down the toddler's knees. "Dis is my brudder…" Then he proceeded to sneeze in his brother's face while the baby yawned provoking an 'oh great, he sneezed right in his face' and a groan from his mother.

"Keep a' hold on him, boy. Remember Paula and Kenny." John interjected.

Dean nodded seriously at his mission and one arm hoisted Sammy back up underneath his neck and shoulders to get him settled again. "Hye Pawla an' Kenny."

"And Deacon."

"He just said Deacon," Mary interrupted this time. "Is he still coming over next Saturday?"

"Yeah, he's bringing the kids. I hear he's having a little trouble with Carol though. Just don't mention it when you and the girls do… whatever it is you do when you go out."

"You mean troll for new husbands with more money?" Dean was poking at his baby brother on camera while his parents were distracted, sticking his tongue out when the baby tried to open the eye that was stuck shut and failed.

"Well if that means I can go after other women…" John replied slyly.

Mary's soft voice was suddenly deadly serious. "Better not if you want to keep the capability to have more kids, John Winchester." A little smooching and a soft smack as she laughed a little. "Now quit it and let me get back to my movie, you big jerk. –Who's with you, Baby? Who are you sitting with?" Her attention was finally back on Dean who beamed.

"I'm not a baby, 'm a big brudder." Dean leaned into the baby's face, nuzzling his nose to give him an Eskimo kiss and petting his head roughly.

"This is great..." Mary breathed to her husband conspiratorially. "My mistake. What's your brother's name?" John wandered into the frame to make sure Dean had a good hold on Sam again, looking amused.

"John, jeez, get out of the picture." Mary hissed before deciding to give her son a hint. "Is that Sammy?"

Dean bit his lip before smiling brilliantly and nodding. "Yah, this is Sammy." Then he spared a look at his mother out of view. "Tha't a boy's name? Are boys name' Sammy?"

--

Dean snorted at the same time as young John on the screen as he popped another beer.

Sam spared him a moment to roll his eyes, smirking a little at the same time when his brother and Dad had the same reaction. I always knew Dean was a lot closer to Dad than I was, well… as close as you could be to the man, but I never thought that either of us were anything like him. It was a little sad that this good humored version of the man had died only six months after this video was taken.

--

Another playful smack was heard when John snickered but neither parent intruded on the scene. "Of course it is."

Dean smiled proudly at making his father laugh, eyeing the camera as if playing to an invisible audience, really hamming it up. "I wan' candy! I want easta' eggs."

"No more Easter eggs, buddy. Easter was a long time ago, today's Mother's Day remember?

The camera flipped again suddenly with no space between clips. Mary Winchester was sitting in a loose t-shirt and jeans a size too big for her, probably due to her recent delivery. She was holding her infant son in one arm against the side of the chair as Dean crawled into her lap and gave her a big hug and a sloppy kiss. "Happy Mudder's day. Love you, Mommy." She hugged her sons back and gave Dean a kiss back on the head.

"I love you too, Dean. And my present." She held up a necklace made of paperclips, wallpaper, and paste that hadn't been visible around his neck. "Did you make it at nursery school?"

--

The adult Dean suddenly stood up. "That's enough, Sam."

Sam was startled out of watching the scene, of watching the love in his mother's eyes. The same look she gave to Sam as her ghost stroked his face and said 'I'm sorry.'

"What? What's wrong?"

"I'm just sick of watching this shit that's all." Dean slammed his last empty beer on the table, his voice rough. "Give it a rest. You've got the rest of your life to watch this stuff, right."

Sam winced at Dean's unintentional reminder of his impending death. Everyday closer to the day the hellhounds came for his soul.

Dean must have noticed Sam's stricken look. "Jeez. Don't give me that look, Sammy. It's just for a little bit, okay? It's not like they're gonna disappear." That was when Sam noticed how tired his older brother suddenly looked, his eyes were a little red and they looked a little shiny in the dim light of the hotel room.

Dean suddenly turned away before Sam could look any closer.

"Dean…?"

"I'm going to bed so just shut the damn thing off, okay?" There was no room for anything else to say so Sam didn't. For now.

And that was the end of it.