Dean was tired. He was so tired that he fell asleep at the workbench in Bobby's garage that afternoon, and nearly dropped a wrench on his foot.
Rayan, who was nearing two months old, had decided to let the stubborn Winchester side of her personality come out in full force this last week and it sadly involved her being totally unwilling to fall asleep at night.
Dean had been trying everything. He made sure she wasn't hungry. He made sure she didn't need a diaper change. He read to her. He sang to her. Hell, he'd even rocked her back and forth for nearly two hours last night.
It was like Rayan didn't want to close her eyes.
And tonight was no different for Dean. It was a little after ten thirty, and Dean had been fighting to get Rayan asleep for almost two and a half hours. Yet, she stubbornly refused to close those beautiful green eyes of hers. Instead, she just stared up at Dean in mild fascination and a hint of rebelliousness, if that was even possible.
"Come on short stuff," Dean pleaded with his daughter. "Daddy's tired. He needs sleep too, you know." Rayan just squirmed around in his arms a bit before settling back down into another comfortable position.
Dean sighed before moving over to the old rocking chair in the corner of the nursery and sitting down. "I bet you're just finding this hilarious, aren't you?" Dean teased Rayan, smiling softly down at her.
He leaned his head back against the chair and laughed lightly. If someone had told him a year ago that he would be rocking his daughter to sleep, he would have thought they were crazy. But now, after the last three months of his life had went by, Dean couldn't help but realize how lucky he really was.
Even if it felt like he hadn't slept in years.
"Any luck yet?" Bobby questioned as he stepped inside the nursery, startling Dean slightly in the process. At the sound of Bobby's voice, Rayan started to squirm once again in Dean's arms, obviously in response to the older man's presence.
"Of course not," Dean replied. "She's my kid. Rayan won't do anything she doesn't want to do."
Bobby felt bad for the young man in front of him. He could see the dark circles under Dean's eyes, even in the faint glow from the lamp in the corner of the room. It looked like he hadn't slept more than a few hours.
"Why don't you let me worry about getting the little darlin' to bed tonight," Bobby offered, reaching down and gently transferring Rayan into his own arms. "You need to get some sleep, Dean."
Dean looked like he was going to hesitate, so Bobby gently pushed him slightly towards the door with one arm while he held Rayan in the other. "I can't have you cutting a finger off in the shop tomorrow."
"Bobby, are you sure?" Dean asked the older man, but Bobby could see the resolve leaving Dean's face at the prospect of getting some much-needed shuteye.
"Dean, I wouldn't be offering if I wasn't sure," Bobby deadpanned. "Besides, me and the little darlin' ain't had a whole lot of quality time together that didn't involve answering phones or researching wendigos."
Dean looked down at Rayan one more time before nodded his head in agreement to the offer. "Thanks, Bobby," he said grateful to the older man. "I owe you one."
"Don't even mention it, Dean."
Before Dean left the room, he gently leaned down and planted a soft kiss on top of Rayan's forehead. "Sleep well, short stuff. I'll see you in the morning."
With that, Dean exited the nursery and walked across the hall to his own room, closing the door softly behind him.
Bobby turned back around and settled himself in the rocking chair that Dean had occupied just minutes before. He surveyed the room around him as he gently rocked Rayan back and forth. "We really need to finish this nursery, don't we darlin'," Bobby stated.
The walls were only half painted in the bright green paint. The job had been put on hold when there was a pick up in supernatural activity, leaving Dean and Bobby with a lot of research to work on for other hunters.
Bobby realized that he still had to get those iron devils trap window decorations done too, as he noticed the salt that lined the windowsill across from him. "I guess I've been a little behind lately," he mumbled to himself.
Rayan apparently didn't like being ignored for any length of time, because Bobby felt a small fist bump into his chest. He glanced down at the small girl, and was amused to find a look of mild annoyance. However, her green eyes were as wide and awake as ever.
"I'm sorry darlin'," Bobby gently spoke. "I didn't mean to ignore you. Now, how about you give old Bobby and your dad a break and try to get some shuteye."
The little girl ignored Bobby's request and instead began to fiddle with the edge of his button up shirt, apparently fascinated by the feel of the fabric. Bobby laughed a little bit at the girl's antics.
He couldn't believe how inquisitive she was turning out to be, even at such a young age. Bobby could tell she was going to be a smart girl when she grew older. And while that made him proud, it also made him a little nervous. With his and Dean's lifestyles, it would be impossible to hide the world of the supernatural from Rayan.
But that was a worry for another night, Bobby supposed. What needed to be done tonight involved getting Rayan to sleep in her crib. And soon.
"Now you listen to me," Bobby began speaking in a playful voice to the girl. "You need to get some sleep, so we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."
Rayan just stared up at the older man.
"Of course you're going to choose the hard way. Can't take it easy on an old man," Bobby complained good-naturedly. "I'm going to try something that my momma used to use when I wouldn't sleep as a kid. But you got to promise me something. You can't go telling your Daddy that I did this. He'd never let me live it down."
With that, Bobby began singing the lyrics to an old lullaby his mother had sang to him as a kid. He couldn't remember the name anymore, or even half the words. But the tune was like an imprint in his mind, so he figured that it wouldn't matter if he made up some new words.
Little did Bobby know, Rayan wouldn't need to tell Dean about his impromptu singing session. Dean stood just outside the nursery door in the shadows as he listened to Bobby interact with his daughter. And he had to admit, Bobby wasn't a half bad singer. His deep bass was a little pitchy here and there, but Dean sounded a hell of a lot worse, he was sure.
The singing went on for about ten minutes, Bobby just repeating the tune over and over to Rayan. Pretty soon, Dean noticed that Bobby was heading towards the crib, his singing getting softer and softer as he lowered Rayan down onto the mattress. When Bobby straightened his back, Dean could see Rayan laying inside, her eyes closed and her chest slowly rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
Dean couldn't believe it. In just under ten minutes, Bobby had managed to get the littlest Winchester knocked out like a light. It would have taken Dean at least two more hours before Rayan had even started to get drowsy.
And suddenly, as if Dean had run into a brick wall, he felt a pang of sadness crawl through his chest as he watched Bobby stand over Rayan's crib with a small smile on his face. Dean couldn't help but wish it were John standing over his daughter with that look on his face. Hell, it should have been John.
But Dean couldn't have asked for anything more from Bobby, and he was turning out to be a hell of a grandfather for Rayan, whether he realized it or not. Dean knew that one day, she would idolize Bobby and look up to the older man. And he was fine with that, because Dean knew that Bobby already loved the little girl like they were blood, just like he loved Dean and Sam as he would love sons.
"I'll see you in the morning, little darlin'," Dean heard Bobby softly whisper to the sleeping child, and he knew that it was time to scoot back into his own room before Bobby caught him lurking in the hallway.
He has just finished closing his door softly when he heard Bobby's heavy footfalls strike the wood of the hallway floor. Dean heard the soft click of the nursery room door close and the older hunter make his way back down the stairs before Dean allowed himself to relax. Flopping backwards onto the old bed, he turned his head to the nightstand beside him and ensured that the baby monitor was on and the volume turned up.
When he was satisfied with everything, Dean finally let his eyes slip closed and the last thoughts he had before his eyes slipped closed involved his small ragtag, but amazing, family.