It had been a full minute since Dean and Amanda went to the kitchen, but neither John nor Chloe had said anything. Chloe continue to stare at her feet, and John continued to stare out the window. Just when John was about to give up and propose a truce just believable enough for Dean to think they'd made up, Chloe spoke first.
"Why don't you like me?"
"What?" John asked.
"Why don't you like me?" Chloe repeated. "I tried to be nice to you when you moved in, but you just keep looking at me like my dad used to."
"How is that?"
"Like I'm nothing to you. Like you wish I wasn't here." Chloe's voice started shaking, and John immediately felt like a jerk. "I just don't get it. What did I do to you?"
John swallowed. Time for brutal honesty. "You didn't do anything, Chloe."
"I didn't?"
"No. You didn't." John sighed deeply, hiding his face behind his hands, wishing it would hide him from the world around him. When that didn't work, he turned back to Chloe. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"Sure. I guess."
"It isn't you I don't like very much." John admitted. "It's me."
Chloe, surprised, finally turned towards John gave him her full attention. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I screwed up with Sam and Dean. I beat myself up over it a lot. I wasn't a good dad with them, and I messed up my chance to be a good grandpa too."
"What do you mean you screwed up with Dean?" Chloe asked. "Dean's great. And so's Sam."
John smiled. "Yeah. They are. But that's their own doing. Dean raised Sam, not me. He raised himself too."
Chloe, not sure what to say, looked down again. Her fingers suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world.
"You're a good kid, Chloe."
"What?" Chloe asked, looking up in shock.
"You're a good kid. You really are. I'll admit, a bit of a hard kid for me to understand, but you're a good kid."
"I appreciate that, but it's hard to believe you believe it."
"I know. And I'm sorry for that. But I do believe it." John said. "In fact, you remind me a lot of Sam."
"I do?"
"Yeah. You do. You're both very smart, and kind. And you've both been through more than anyone ever should." John looked at a picture on the wall, one of Chloe and Dean taken a few years earlier. "And if your father wasn't able to see that, and treasure it, then it's his loss. Not yours."
"Do you really mean that?"
"Yeah. I do." John said. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I'll try to do better. Just be patient with me is all I ask. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure. I'm sorry too. I was kinda bratty to you today."
"How about a truce? I forgive you, you forgive me?"
Chloe smiled. "Sure. Thanks, Mr. Winchester."
"How about you call me John? We can at least be friends."
"I think I like Grandpa better."
John had never been much of an emotional man, but Chloe's answer made him think he wanted to cry. "I think I like that too, kiddo."
Chloe smiled again. "You know, when you're nice like this, you remind me a lot of Dean."
"Yeah? How so?" John asked, and Chloe began to recount for him one of her favorite memories.
Eleven Years Earlier
"Mommy?"
Dean put his magazine down and looked at the entrance to the living room. He'd been so entrenched in trying to find spare parts for Baby that he hadn't heard Chloe get up. She held her stuffed shark to her chest tight and continued to look around for Amanda. There were tears on her cheek, a sight still too common for Dean's taste.
"Hey, kiddo. You okay?"
"Where's Mommy?"
"She got called into an emergency at work. Did you have a bad dream or something?"
"No. Just wanted my Mommy." Chloe said, rubbing her eyes with her fist and sniffing.
"Oh. Hey, don't cry. Come here." Dean put down the magazine and patted his leg. Chloe immediately took the invitation and climbed up with him, and before long she was stubbornly refusing sleep again. "You sure you didn't have a bad dream?"
"No bad dream." Chloe said with a yawn.
"Okay. You ready to go back to bed?"
"NO!" Chloe answered emphatically, suddenly full of life and wide awake.
"Okay, okay. Relax." Why was she afraid if she hadn't had a bad dream? "You want to look at some cars with me?"
"Sure."
Dean picked up the magazine beside him and continued looking, explaining to Chloe the pros and cons of each choice. A few minutes later, he noticed she was opening and closing her eyes.
"Kiddo, I really think it's time to go back to bed."
"Deanie, please, please don't make me go back to bed." Chloe asked. "Please, please, please."
"If you didn't have a bad dream, why are you so scared?" Dean asked. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on."
Chloe suddenly burst into tears again, mystifying Dean. She started muttering something over and over again, but was crying so hard Dean couldn't make it out. He decided the only way to find out what was going on was to go to the source. He picked up Chloe and started walking back to the bedroom. Chloe's panicked crying intensified, and at first, Dean didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Only after taking a close look did he notice any hint of a problem.
"Chloe, honey, calm down. Are you crying because you wet the bed?"
"'M sorry. Pleaseā¦" Chloe gulped and begged. "Please don't be mad."
"Chloe, come on. It's okay. Calm down, sweetie. Calm down."
It took a long time, but Chloe finally calmed down enough to talk. "You're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad, honey? It was an accident, right?" Dean asked. "Why are you so afraid I'd be mad?"
Chloe bit her lip and Dean saw more tears forming when he put it together.
"Did your Daddy get mad at you when you wet the bed?"
Chloe nodded.
"What did he do to you when you wet the bed?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Chloe said quietly.
"Chloe, please. I need to know." Dean said as he wiped her face. So I know exactly what not to do, Dean thought to himself.
"It happened one night while Mommy was working at the hospital late. He yelled real loud and spanked me for it really hard. Then he made me stay up all night so it wouldn't happen again."
Dean closed his eyes and exhaled hard against the curses he wanted to let out. Amanda had told him horror stories about Scott, but he'd never heard Chloe talk about him much. He assumed, her being only five and away from Scott for nearly eighteen months, she'd almost forgotten about him. He opened his eyes again to find Chloe still shaking and watching him close.
"Chloe, listen to me. I will never hurt you. Ever. Do you hear me?"
Chloe nodded.
"Do you believe me?"
"I believe you."
"You wet your bed. This is not a big deal. I don't want you to be afraid to tell me stuff like this. Okay?"
"Okay." Chloe said quietly.
"Is this the real reason you were looking for Mommy?"
"She told me not to tell Daddy when I wet the bed. To let her know and she'd take care of it."
"Well, Daddy's gone now. So you promise you'll tell me?"
"Promise." Chloe said.
"Okay, kiddo. You're a good kid, you know that?"
Chloe's grin made Dean feel his soul light up. Chloe suddenly grabbed Dean neck in a suffocating hug. "You're a good Daddy, Dean."
"And you're a good kid." Dean repeated, unable to think of what else to say in the wake of his own happy tears. It suddenly came to him. "Hey. I've got an idea."
"What idea?"
"Let's go get ice cream.'"
Chloe lifted her head, her expression one of 'your pulling my leg and I don't appreciate it'. "Ice cream? But it's nighttime!"
"So?"
"Mommy says we can't go after dark."
"Who says Mommy has to know?"
"But what if she comes home and we're not here? Won't she be scared?"
"We'll leave her a note and tell her we went on an adventure and we'll be back soon. How's that?"
"Okay. Let's go!"
"Okay. You don't have to change, but get your slippers on."
Chloe slipped on her slippers, and Dean picked her up to head to the door. He nearly collided head on with someone standing in the doorway.
"You two are busted."
A quick thinking Chloe laid her head on Dean's shoulder and pretended to snore, then quickly wake up. "Oh. Hi, Mommy."
Amanda was fighting a laughing for at Chloe's quick attempt to get out of any trouble. "I suppose you were just sleeping, huh?"
"That's right. Just sleeping."
"You little traitor!" Dean exclaimed.
"Hey. She's my mommy, mister. I'm not gonna get in trouble with you."
Amanda and Dean both burst into laughter that made them cry almost as much as Chloe had earlier. After a tickling match with Chloe, Amanda had pieced together what happened.
"Did I hear you two say something about ice cream?"
"Maybe..." Chloe answered, drawing another snort out of Dean.
"Can Mommy come too?"
"Yay!" Chloe cheered. "Come on, you guys, let's go."
"That sounds like a plan, kiddo. Let's go."
John was laughing for the first time in forever. "That sounds like Dean. Ice cream in the middle of the night."
"So, what should we do now?" Chloe asked.
"Why don't you call your friends back? You guys should work on your routine."
Chloe considered taking the offer, but she got another idea. She walked across the room and opened the bottom drawer of the entertainment center. She pulled out a purple leather book, worn and covered with small scratches. It was almost too big for Chloe to carry, but she brought it over to John.
"You want to look through this with me?"
"What is it?"
"Mom got tired of keeping a bunch of different scrapbooks, so she took all the photos we had and put them together. You want to see? It can help you catch up on what you've missed."
John smiled. "Sure, sweetie."
"How about I'll tell you about one page of photos, you tell me one sorry about either yourself or Sam and Dean."
"Deal."
"Mom, Dean, you can stop pretending to not be listening now."
Dean and Amanda both walked back to the living room, laughing that they'd been caught. Before anyone could say anything else, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it. It's probably Tyler and Colton coming to check on me."
But when Chloe opened the door, she froze. A familiar fear started to creep into her, and her hand shook on the doorknob. The man standing there flashed a fake but prize winning smile.
"Hi, Chloe. Long time, no see."
"Daddy?"
