Thanks so much to everyone following this! This is one of my favorite chapters. Not only does it show the devotion Dean and Sam have for each other, but I loved the way the chapter ends.
Chapter 4
Mike came home that evening all charged up with excitement. First he set up the baby monitor transmitter in the boys' room with Sammy trailing behind him, asking a million questions. Dean stayed downstairs in the room where Mikey was, changing out toys. Sammy said something about Baby Mikey getting bored, he thought, but honestly Mike wasn't really paying too much attention.
Dean peered cautiously into his and Sammy's room. Baby Mikey's crib was still right where he left it this morning. Why were they leaving it here? Dean had to wonder. He never, ever had been able to get his way before. Okay, granted, Sammy asked Pop to leave the baby here...
A slow smile spread on his face. Sammy asked for it. Dean's eyes landed on his little brother playing cars on the floor. They wanted Sammy here, it was the only reason he was allowed to live here too. If Mom and Pop thought Sammy wanted something, they might give it to him. All Dean had to do was convince Sammy to tell Mom and Pop what he wanted. Like a new football. Sammy left his outside in the rain and it was ruined. Mom had thrown it out last month.
As Dean dropped to the floor to sit next to Sammy, and maybe work on his new football, he noticed a blinking light. He nudged Sammy. "What's that?" he asked.
Sammy's head turned briefly, then he shrugged and went back to playing cars. "Pop did it. Now Pop and Mommy can hear Baby Mikey."
Dean stared at the green blinking light for a long time. If Mom and Pop could hear Baby Mikey, they could hear him and Sammy too. He walked over to look at it. A cord ran from it and plugged into the wall. Dean pulled the plug out of the wall socket. The blinking light stopped.
Relieved, Dean returned to Sammy and picked up one of the cars. "Sammy? Would you like to play football with me?"
Sammy's face lit up with a big grin. "My like, Dean! Now?"
Dean sighed, looking sad. "Oh, I guess we can't. Mom threw out my football, remember?"
Now Sammy looked guilt stricken. "My sowwy Dean. My vewy, vewy, vewy sowwy. My not do dat again."
Dean shrugged, sighing again. "You know, you could ask Mom to buy another one. Then we could play football again."
Sammy's face twisted in thought. "Mommy say no mow footballs."
"But I bet if you asked her," Dean prodded, "she would say yes."
Sammy rolled his eyes. "My twy. Okay, Dean? My twy."
Dean grinned at his little brother. "Thanks, Sammy." He tousled Sammy's long hair.
Dean followed Sammy downstairs, wanting to be sure he asked Mom for the football. Sometimes Sammy could be distracted when he didn't want to do something. When Sammy wanted to do it, though, look out. There was no stopping him.
Sammy toddled into the main room, where Mom and Pop were watching television. Mom jumped up and turned it off when Sammy walked in. Pop looked annoyed, which was not good considering he wanted that football. Dean waited nervously in the doorway, keeping an eye on Sammy. He also did not want Sammy in trouble because of him, it wouldn't be worth it.
Sammy walked right up to Mom and looked her in the eye. "Dean not have football. My want Dean have football."
Mom frowned at Sammy. Oh, no, oh, no! Don't make her mad, Dean pleaded silently.
"Sammy, I said no more footballs because Dean left his outside and it was ruined," Mom told him. "If he can't take care of his things..."
"My do it," Sammy told her. Finally. "My weave it outside. Dean want go get it, but Mommy say no mow outside."
"Was..." Mom glanced over at Dean, forcing Dean to duck into the hallway. "Was Dean mad at you?"
"Nah," Sammy said. "Dean ne'er mad. But Mommy make Dean sad wif no mow footballs. My not like Dean sad." Dean peeked into the room. Sammy was making the big sad eyes at Mom, which always worked on him. Would it work on Mom? "Pwease, Mommy?"
Pop cleared his throat. He did something funny with his head. Mom looked around and Dean ducked back again.
"Sammy, did you really leave Dean's football outside?" Mom asked. "Or did Dean ask you to say that so he could get a new football?"
What! Dean poked his head back in the room. Did Mom really think he... She did, he realized. Dean turned and ran, straight for the closet in his room. He stopped in the hallway upstairs. Mom found him there last time, when he made her cry. No, no, no. He darted into the other room, Baby Mikey's room. Dean closed himself in the closet, burying himself under a bunch of blankets and things stacked on the floor.
They really thought he would blame his little brother for his screw-ups? Well, that was a screw-up. He should have known it was his fault. Dean never should have let Sammy play with his football in the first place. The tears came whether he wanted them to or not, so Dean shoved his face further into the blankets, trying to muffle any sound he might make.
"Dean?"
"Dean?"
"Dean!" The last one was Sammy. "Deeeeean!"
Part of him wanted to race to Sammy, to settle his little brother down, to take the panic our of his voice. The rest of him wanted to stay hidden, knowing they were all better off without him.
"My know! My know!" Sammy's voice was loud, so they were probably in the upstairs hall. "'mere, Mommy! 'mere!"
He heard pounding footsteps, then just one person moving around. When he heard his name being called softly, Dean knew it was Pop.
"Dean? Sammy told us he left the football outside," Pop said in the same soft voice. He said some more stuff too, but Dean couldn't make it out because Pop left Baby Mikey's room.
Dean was wondering how he could leave without being spotted, and where he would go, when he heard Sammy fussing.
"Come on, you dumb baby! Cry!"
Dean sat up alarmed, knocking the stuff off of him. What the hell was Sammy doing? He heard a clunking noise and then Baby Mikey crying.
"Dean! Baby Mikey need you!" Sammy shouted. Baby Mikey cried louder. "Dean! Baby Mikey cry!"
Mom and Pop were out there, they would take care of the baby, Dean told himself. But the baby continued to cry.
"Dean!" Sammy sounded really mad now. Dean swallowed hard. "Dean! My make Baby Mikey cry bad! Dean come make better now!" He heard the clunking noise again and Baby Mikey let out a loud, mad wail. When Baby Mikey sounded like that, it was so hard to calm him down. Why was Sammy doing this?
Drawn by the anguished baby wails, Dean slowly stood up, blankets and stuff falling off of him. He cautiously pushed open the closet door. With a deep breath, he peeked out. So far so good, the coast was clear. Dean could not imagine where Mom and Pop were while Sammy was out there making Baby Mikey so mad. They weren't asleep yet, they should have come running.
"Dean!" Sammy shouted, plowing into him. When Sammy pulled away, he had a stern face. "Now MY Dean make dat baby quiet." He pointed at the crib in the hall.
"Why is Baby Mikey out here?" Dean demanded as he lowered the side. He reached in to touch the baby. Baby Mikey squalled louder. With a sigh, Dean turned him gently over to rub wide circles over his back, the only thing which seemed to calm him down when he was this upset. Plus with his face not pointing directly up, Baby Mikey wasn't as loud.
"My want find Dean," Sammy said, stamping his foot. He shook a chubby finger at Dean. "My Dean not hide! My want know why Dean hide from Sammy." Sammy grabbed Dean's shirt with both hands. "My Dean," he said and tears fell down his round cheeks. "My Dean not hide. Scare Sammy."
Baby Mikey was starting to settle down. Dean used his free hand to hug Sammy to his side. "Sorry, Sammy," he whispered. "I'm sorry."
Both of Sammy's arms wrapped around his waist and held on tight. Even after Baby Mikey fell asleep, Sammy kept hugging him. Dean turned all of his attention on his little brother. He knelt down so he could hug Sammy back. "Sorry Sammy," he whispered again. "I promise, I won't leave you. Ever. I promise." Not like Dad, he thought to himself. Dean promised himself he would never be like Dad.
Sammy nodded, his curly hair brushing Dean's cheek. They heard the front door open and close.
"I got it!" Pop shouted. "Come on, Kate!"
Dean stiffened as Mom's and Pop's footsteps headed up the stairs, but Sammy held on tight. Pop was smiling at them when he walked up.
"Got Mikey to quiet down, I see," Pop said. He held a white plastic bag. "I have special surprises here. One for each of you." Mom was right behind him and her eyes were kind of red and puffy. Great. Baby Mikey and Mom were both crying? Now Dean felt even worse, and he hadn't thought it would be possible.
Pop reached into his white bag to take out the smallest football Dean had ever seen. "This one is for Mikey," he said.
"Baby Mikey," Sammy corrected, without letting go of Dean.
Pop chuckled, winking at Sammy. "Baby Mikey." He set it carefully inside the crib. "Want to put that side up, Dean?" he asked as he reached into the bag again.
Dean released Sammy to carefully raise the side of Baby Mikey's crib.
"This one," Pop said, holding up a blue football, "is for Sammy. Sammy," he said, holding it out for Sammy to take, "if you play outside by yourself, use this one. The rain won't ruin it."
"'kay, Pop," Sammy said, only releasing Dean with one hand to take it. Then Sammy crowded close again.
"And for Dean." Pop smiled big. He took a real football, a brown leather one, out of the bag. It even said NFL on it! Dean gasped and his eyes almost fell out of his head. Pop held it out for him. "I know you'll take good care of it."
Not willing to believe it, Dean looked from the ball to Pop several times.
"Are you going to make Daddy hold it all day, Dean?" Mom demanded. "You better go put it away."
Dean swallowed hard, not willing to disobey Mom. Besides, they might take the football away. He reached out a shaking hand to take the football. Wow. It was even better than his old one! An unbidden smile creased his face and Sammy hugged him tighter.
"My Dean happy!" he crowed. "'mere, Dean!" Sammy released him to tug on his hand. Staring down at the really cool football in his hand, Dean followed Sammy into their room.
"Where my football go, Dean?" Sammy demanded.
Dean picked a good spot on one of the lower shelves for Sammy's football. He removed his from the box before putting it up on the very top shelf, out of Sammy's reach.
"Play wif Sammy 'morrow, Dean?" Sammy asked. "Bof footballs?" Sammy hopped a little. "My ask George come play! Dean like dat?"
Actually, he would like to throw the football with someone who could catch and throw back, like George from next door. George never seemed to mind the fact he wouldn't talk, either. George talked enough for about four people anyway, Dean doubted he even noticed it was always a one-sided conversation. And if they used both balls, he could throw to Sammy in-between throws with George. Dean nodded.
Sammy nodded seriously, staring at Dean with hard eyes. "And Dean not hide from Sammy. Never."
"Never," Dean promised. "Never ever."
Sammy grinned at him.
"Here we go," Pop said in a hushed voice as he pushed the crib into their room. "Dean? Can you show me what you did to settle Mikey down?"
Dean glanced cautiously up at Pop's face, wondering what the man was up to now.
"When Mike- uh, Baby Mikey is that upset, I never can calm him down. How'd you do it?" Pop asked. Mom leaned over the end of the crib, watching Dean curiously.
"Dean show you," Sammy promised. He shoved Dean in the side. "Go, Dean. Do it."
Dean kept his eyes averted from Mom and Pop as he lowered the side of Baby Mikey's crib. He reached in to rub wide, comforting circles on the baby's back. Even in his sleep, Baby Mikey let out a relaxed baby sigh. Dean smiled down at his new baby brother. What a sweet baby. Sammy had been a sweet baby too, and just as fussy as Baby Mikey after coming to live with Mom and Pop, but still sweet.
"Does it work every time?" Mom asked.
Dean nodded without looking up. He pulled his hand slowly away. Sammy's round little face beamed at him as Pop put the side of the crib up.
"You boys play," Pop said. "We'll call you when dinner is ready."
"'kay, Pop!" Sammy sang out. Dean shot Sammy a glare for being so loud with Baby Mikey sleeping. Sammy frowned, but he said in a loud whisper, "'kay, Pop."
Dean nodded his approval at Sammy. Sammy rolled his eyes. When the sound of Mom and Pop going downstairs finished, Sammy turned to Dean with both hands on his hips.
"Dean show Sammy new hiding place. Now. Or my wake up Baby Mikey," Sammy threatened.
Dean sighed, leading Sammy back into the bedroom he hated. This really was a creepy room, and not just because Mom and Pop locked him in here once. There were strange noises, creaky noises, scary noises. Dean opened the closet door to reveal the mess he left in there. Crap. He should clean it up. Dean dropped to his knees to fold the fallen blankets and stack them back up.
"Dean hided under dat?" Sammy demanded. He looked around. "Dean not like dis room. Why hide here?"
He sighed as he stacked up some of the blankets. "I knew you wouldn't look for me in the creepy room," he admitted.
Then he felt Sammy's little hand on his back, rubbing in the same kind of circles Dean used for Baby Mikey. "My love Dean," Sammy said softly. "My Dean not go. My not let Dean go. My love Dean."
Dean finished stacking the stuff in the closet. It wasn't as nice and neat as before, but Dean thought he did a pretty good job. He felt better knowing Sammy would stick up for him, make Mom and Pop let him stay. Dean would just have to make sure they didn't make Mom or Pop mad, that's all. He could do that. He could.
"Want to play with the crash cars?" Dean offered, knowing it was Sammy's favorite.
Sammy's face lit up. "My get it!" He ran out of the creepy room.
The crash cars set was in the top of their closet. Oh, crap! Dean ran after his little brother before Sammy climbed up and hurt himself. Or woke up Baby Mikey.
Mike brought out the receiver for the baby monitor, grinning like a mad-man.
"Now what?" Kate demanded. She still wasn't over the fact she had been hoodwinked by a two year old and a six year old had bested her parenting skills. Again.
Mike shook it at her. "I turned the transmitter back on while we were looking for Dean. Little rascal must have figured out what we were up to." He grinned. "But now we're gonna hear him talk." Mike thumbed the wheel to turn it on and the volume up.
"My help," Sammy's voice insisted through crackling static.
"Here," Dean replied. Kate watched Mike's whole frame tense at the sound of Dean's voice. "Put that part together."
Mike's fist pumped up in the air. "More than two words!" he hissed softly.
Kate couldn't help but laugh at him. The boys were quiet while they put whatever-it-was together. Kate tried not to worry about the mess they had to be making. Boys will be boys, Mike kept telling her. Well, he wasn't the one picking up after them, either.
"Ready," Dean said. "Pick your car, Sammy."
They heard Sammy's laughter with each car crash. Kate smiled at Mike, enjoying the sounds of the boys having a good time. Mike smiled back, turning on the television with the volume off to watch the game.
"We're gonna hear a lot more," Mike promised her. He knew how much Dean's silence bothered her. "We will, Kate."
She nodded, staring hopefully at the monitor. The sounds of the racetrack stopped.
"What's that?" Dean asked, sounding very alarmed.
"Justa light, Dean," Sammy said and Kate winced. "Dean not worry."
"Damn it," Dean muttered. Kate shot her husband a strong look. She had been warning him about using profanity in front of the boys. Then the monitor went dead.
"Damn it," Mike echoed. "I'll have to see if I can find one without a light on it."
"He's on to you," she said slowly. "And as paranoid as Dean is, I'll bet he looks for a baby monitor before speaking again."
She heard heavy stomps down the stairs. It had to be Sammy, Dean was always so quiet. The two year old barreled into the room, face red and glaring at them venomously. He held the transmitter in one hand. Sammy threw it on the floor where it burst open, pieces of plastic scattering across the floor.
"Not funny!" Sammy shouted angrily before turning around to stomp back upstairs.
"Or not," Mike said slowly, watching Sammy leave with wide eyes.
"I'd go with not," Kate agreed, thinking another baby monitor in the boys' room would be a bad idea even though hearing Dean's voice had been nice. They would just have to work on him more.