Six

Dean looked up as the main door to the Bunker opened and Mary stepped inside. Closing the door behind her, she slumped against it for a brief moment, her eyes shut before opening them again and making her way down the steps.

"How'd it go?" Dean asked, sitting in the shadows- the overhead lights turned down for the night- and startled Mary visibly.

"I didn't see you there," she told him, "why are you sitting in the dark?"

Dean shrugged, "Just thinking."

Mary didn't respond. Though she hadn't known her sons as grown men for long, she didn't see Dean as the brooding type.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, moving closer to her eldest son, uneasy about him being shrouded in darkness.

Dean didn't speak for a moment. He raised one hand and ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair.

"The future…Sammy…His future."

Thinking that Dean was beginning to regret not pressing to find a way to reverse the curse on his brother, Mary spoke up.

"You heard what Mick said; we don't know what spell changed Sam. We could end up seriously hurting him if-"

Dean held up a hand and Mary stopped.

"I know what he said, Mom. You know there is no freaking way I'd hurt Sammy but… I am worried about him."

Mary nodded and approached her eldest, taking his raised hand in one of hers.

"I know, Dean," she murmured, ""But we'll get through this somehow. We always do."

She offered an encouraging smile. Dean didn't smile back, instead opening his mouth as though he was about to speak again when a cry cut through the silence.

"Sammy," Dean announced and stood, leaving Mary to sit alone in the Bunker's main room while he went to see his sibling.

SPN

Mary sat down in Dean's vacated chair and sighed. Thinking about what the Man of Letters had told them, she knew they had made the right decision not to play around with spells with the small possibility that one might change Sam back to his proper age. And, if Mary was completely honest with herself, she didn't want her youngest son to be an adult again. She had barely had the chance to be a mother to her boys before she was taken away from her family and did not want to lose this golden opportunity to raise her youngest child, as she should have.

Dean may be Sam's older brother but she was his mother and she knew more about children than her eldest son did. Dean didn't even have any children of his own to show of his "parenting skills". No, Dean thought he knew how to take care of a baby but he didn't, not like Mary did.

SPN

"Hey buddy, what's wrong?" Dean murmured as he reached into the crib and lifted his weeping brother.

The infant opened his hazel eyes and began to cry harder.

Frowning, the hunter laid the baby against his shoulder and began rubbing Sam's back.

"It's okay," Dean whispered, "I've got ya."

The sound of footsteps alerted the hunter to Mary's approach. She remained standing in the doorway for a moment, her green eyes tracking her son's movements, before stepping into the room.

"Give him to me, Dean," she stated, "I can get him to stop crying."

Her eldest son turned away from her casually, "I can do it, Mom."

Mary frowned, a small vertical line forming between her eyebrows, "He's my baby."

"You've just got back from hunting," Dean told her, "Why don't you take a hot shower and get some rest? You look like you could use it."

Mary's expression turned stormy, "I want to hold my baby, Dean."

The younger hunter looked up, startled by his mother's tone.

"Okay," he replied and handed Mary the crying infant.

The boys' mother cradled the baby in her arms and cooed to him.

"He's probably just a little gassy," Dean told her over the sound of Sam's cries.

Mary lifted the child to her shoulder and began patting his back.

For a moment or two, nothing happened; Sam continued to cry, than suddenly the infant let out a wet burp and sighed, nestling his head against Mary's shoulder.

"See Dean, he just needed a mother's touch," Mary told her eldest son, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"I could have done that," Dean muttered as Mary laid the baby back into the crib.

"I think I'll take that shower now," Mary said, "Have a good night."

Dean nodded and watched her leave the room before peering into his sibling's crib. Sam lay on his back, his eyes already drooping with sleep.

Sighing, Dean reached out to close his bedroom door before sitting on the end of his bed. As he stared at the crib, a chill ran down his spine but he dismissed it and turned out the lamp on the nightstand before laying down in bed.

Author's Note:

Thanks to Katlover8, lenail125, Mistycat, Sallyannerenee, mckydstarlight, jensensgirl3, mandancie, Trucklady53, reannablue, burninglikeacid, and BranchSuper for reviewing.

Hey ladies and gents! I'm back from my hiatus. I have moved into my new apartment, have an Internet connection and can finally start writing my stories again! Thank you all for your patience and I hope to see you for the next chapter.