Chapter 4

The Winchesters had finally returned to the bunker, late in the night. Dean had carried Hope, inside. She had fallen asleep some time ago and was still out. He made sure to be careful as not to wake her. Sam got the lights as they made their way inside. Dean went straight for the bedrooms, to one of the spares and laid Hope down.

The minute Hope was on the bed, the little girl stirred.

"Shh shh," Dean told her, softly. "It's okay, Hope. We're home now. Go back to sleep." He removed her shoes, first before her braces, setting them over on the desk. When he returned to his daughter's bedside, Dean removed her hearing aides for her and covered her up with the blanket. He then kissed Hope on the forehead.

He made to leave when she sat up, to grab his arm. Looking back at her, Dean signed, what's wrong?

Hope signed in return, Sleep with you?

Dean replaced her hearing aides and leaned his hands on the bed, beside her. "This is your room, now. Mine's just right across the hall. Okay? I'll keep my phone on so you can get a hold of me." When he tried to leave again, Hope grabbed onto his arm again. She shook her head.

Sammy, the alligator was on the bed, on the other side of Hope.

Dean reached over and picked it up, to show her. "You have Sammy."

She continued to shake her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. So, Dean gave in. He wasn't sure why Hope was clingy, all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because she had just lost her mother. Or, maybe it was because she was in a strange new place and this was her first night. Hope had been fine, the night before. But, whatever it was, Dean wasn't going to fight it. At least, not tonight. He was tired and wanted to sleep.

Dean assured he was going to go shut off the light and come right back. He shut off the switch before climbing into bed with his daughter. Both laid underneath the blanket as Hope snuggled in her father's arms, holding Sammy as well. They fell asleep, shortly after.

The next day, everyone, including Hope, slept in. At least until nine, that is.

Dean had walked Hope into the library where the other two already sat, talking.

"Whoo! Go, Hope!" Sam and Mary cheered as if the little girl was running a race. It made a smile appear on her face as she continued to make her way towards the table, holding onto Dean's hands.

Sam made Hope, a bowl of Lucky Charms while Dean got her Kindle. She watched cartoons while she ate breakfast and the adults had their usual morning coffee. After a while, after Hope had finished her cereal, she switched to her communicator app.

Hey!

Sam, Dean, and Mary had been discussing health insurance while Sam looked it up on his laptop.

"What's up, Squirt?" Dean was the one to respond, as all three adults looked over at Hope.

Want to hear Mommy's song?

"Sure," said Sam, interested. So, did Rachel write a song?

Hope switched to the YouTube app and searched for a music video. Dean, who sat beside his daughter, could see her type in the country singer, Martina McBride and the words, 'God's Will.' The kid didn't know how to spell the singer's name but thankfully, YouTube figured it out anyway. He didn't know who the singer was. It was probably one of those church hymn singers, Dean figured and was not looking forward to hearing it. Nonetheless, he sucked it up for his daughter. If Hope liked the song enough she wanted to share it with them, Dean would pretend to like it.

She selected the second video from the list that had loaded. The video loaded up and started to play soft piano music as the camera zoomed in on a woman, with short, brown hair. She was sitting on a park bench as leaves blew across the ground. A single leaf blew into the air as the woman watched it soar, high. When it came back down, gently, the scene had changed to kids treat-a-treating, dressed up in costumes. That's when a woman's voice started to sing.

"Met God's Will on a Halloween night. He was dressed as a bag of leaves. It hid the braces on his legs at first."

Sam, Dean, and Mary understood right away why this was Rachel's favorite song.

"His smile was as bright as the August sun when he looked at me. As he struggled down the driveway, it almost made me hurt." They watched as a kid, a little older than Hope hobbled over to the same woman, who was now sitting on porch steps. She held a bowl of candy on her lap and dropped one into the boy's bag before he turned to walk away. "Will don't walk too good. Will don't talk too good. He won't do the things that the other kids do, in our neighborhood. I've been searching, wondering, thinking. Lost and looking all my life. I've been wounded, jaded, loved, and hated. Wrestled wrong and right. He was a boy without a father and his mother's miracle. I've been reading, writing, praying, fighting. I guess I would be still. Yeah, that was until I knew God's Will."

Dean wanted to swallow a sudden lump in his throat when it mentioned the boy not having a father when Hope had spent the first five years of her life without him. Sam had suspected it would touch a nerve, looking over to see his brother just sitting there, watching the video.

The Kindle laid, flat on the table where everyone could see it. Mary and Sam sat across from Dean and Hope, leaning on their arms.

"Will's mom had to work two jobs. We'd watch him when she had to work late. And, we'd all laugh like I haven't laughed since I don't know when. 'Hey, Jude' was his favorite song. At dinner, he'd ask to pray. And then he'll pray for everybody in the world but him." The woman and Will played a board game, along with a little girl the same age. Will stood up on a crutch, to take his plate to the sink while the girls took their turns.

While the same chorus played again, Mary got Hope's attention, to ask, "Is 'Hey, Jude' your favorite song?"

Hope nodded and signed, I love it.

She couldn't help smile. "Mine, too," pointing at herself.

"I've been searching, wondering, thinking. Lost and looking all my life. I've been wounded, jaded, loved, and hated. Wrestled wrong and right. He was a boy without a father and his mother's miracle. I've been reading, writing, praying, fighting. I guess I would be still. Yeah, that was until I knew God's Will." This time, while it flashed between the woman on the park bench, it showed Will lying on the floor, coloring a picture with crayons and then to his mother helping Will hit a ball off a tee.

Dean continued to watch the video, in silence. The woman had it down to a tee. No pun intended. He understood almost every word. The lump grew larger when the line, 'he was a boy without a father' came up again. A picture of Dean standing with Hope, helping her hit a ball off a tee, appeared in his mind. He wasn't even sure if girls liked baseball, or at least tee ball. If Hope wanted to, and Dean hoped she did, he would make sure that picture came true.

"Before they moved to California, his mother said, they didn't think he'd live. She said each day that I have him, well, it's just another gift. And, I never got to tell her that the boy showed me the truth. In crayon red, on notebook paper, he had written, 'me and God love you.'" This time, the video played a scene where Will's mother was packing the rest of their stuff in a large SUV as Will hobbled over to hand the woman a folded piece of paper. He hugged both her and the little girl before his mother helped him into the car. The woman unfolded the paper to find a picture of Will and her, holding hands that he had drawn. She had to fight back the tears as the woman read the words he had written and waved at him instead as they drove away.

"I've been searching, praying, wounded, jaded. I guess I would be still. Yeah, that was until…" It switched back to a close up of the woman on the bench. "I met God's Will on a Halloween night. He was dressed as a bag of leaves." She picked up the folded piece of paper she had next to her and unfolded it. After looking at it, the woman hugged it to her chest as she smiled up at the sky. Eventually, the little girl came over and took her hand, as the woman stood up. They walked away while the camera remained on the park bench.

The camera followed the same leaf upward until it glided back down, into a puddle of water. The video ended, shrinking into the lower, right right corner of the small screen.

Sam was the first to speak. "Wow. Can't help but wonder how much true that song is, for Hope."

Mary agreed while Dean remained quiet.

Hope exited out of YouTube and went back to her communicator app, to type, Mommy cries every time she listens to this song. She keeps listening to it though. It's her favorite song.

"It's a lovely song, Hope," Mary told her. "Right, Dean?" She turned to her firstborn, to see him still staring at the Kindle. "Dean?" Mary lowered her head, tilting it at him. "Dean, are you alright?" It took her a moment to get his attention, who snapped out of a daze.

Dean couldn't help think of everything they've been through, as a family and how much he had missed of his own kid's life. It was heartbreaking to know Rachel had to raise Hope, alone without him there as her father. Sure, Clark was there but Dean was her father, not him. He should have been there all along.

In his seat, Dean turned and pulled Hope into an embrace. Nothing was said as he just held his little girl in his arms.

Sam and Mary exchanged looks between them. Neither one else said anything either.

Hey! The moment I heard this song I couldn't help think of Hope. Sorry I've been scarce on here, lately. Been busy. But, when I heard this song during work, I had to come home and write this. Hope you like it! Sorry, it's short. It's really early. But, I needed to get this out before I could go to bed. Feedback is always welcome!