Chapter Ten

Father's Day

Jody walked down the grocery aisle slowly, Evy trailing behind her. They were picking up supplies for a Father's Day party Evy had begged for help with. When they had finally picked up the last ingredient, Evy and Jody started to go and check out. The line was a bit long, so Jody watched Evy. Evy was keeping one hand on the cart at all times, but that was not a rule that Jody insisted on; Evy was still clingy after her experience with the Genai. She was slowly getting better, but she could not be alone for more than a few minutes without searching for company. Jody noticed she was also getting quieter and quieter.

"Hey." Jody asked, placing a hand on top of Evy's. Evy looked at her and seemed startled, as if she had been a thousand miles away. "What's eating you?"

Evy looked back in the direction she'd been staring a moment earlier. Jody followed her eyes and saw it. In the corner was a father, with a little girl a couple years younger than Evy. The father was helping the little girl tie her shoe, showing her how to do it on one then helping her do it herself on the other. When she did it, the little girl lit up in a bright smile and hugged her father's neck. Evy finally couldn't stand looking anymore and turned away. Before Jody could say anything else, Evy asked,

"Do you think my daddy misses me?"

"Honey, we've only been gone an hour." Jody said, as she started to load the groceries onto the conveyor belt.

"I'm not talking about Sammy." Evy said.

Jody stopped what she was doing and bent down to Evy. "Of course he does, honey. Why would you ask that?"

"I don't think he liked me very much." Evy said.

Jody allowed the customer behind them to go first. "Why do you think that?"

"He wasn't there when I got sick." Evy said. "He wasn't there a lot."

"Even so," Jody said, "you know who was there for you? Think about it."

After a moment, Evy smiled and answered, "Daddy was. Sammy."

"That's right." Jody said. "He loves you, kiddo. He always will."

"Thanks, aunt Jody." Evy said, grabbing Jody's neck in a hug.

"You're welcome, babe." Jody said. "Let's go get ready for this party, huh?"

"Okay." Evy said, her earlier exuberance coming back. "Daddy and uncle Deanie'll be gone tonight, right?"

"I made sure." Jody answered, glad to have her little girl back.

The party preparations proceeded flawlessly, Jody keeping Evy distracted while Sam prepared a surprise of his own. Sam and Dean returned a half hour earlier than expected, so, at Evy's request, Claire and Cass kept the two of them in the living room. Dean kept trying to sneak away "to go to the bathroom", and Cass finally locked him down on the couch forcefully.

"Come on, Cass."

"Dean, you keep trying to get up and we're going to throw this surprise in your face." Jody said, finally emerging from the kitchen with Evy in tow.

"About time!" Dean said.

"Be patient." Evy said. "Or you don't get your present."

Laughs all around, and Dean replied, "Yes, ma'am."

Evy brought over a bag and set it in front of Sam, then brought another one over and set it in front of Dean. She sat on the couch between them, waiting anxiously for them to start. When neither of them moved, Evy said impatiently,

"Go on!"

Both of them laughed and opened up their gifts. Dean finished first. His was a box with an apple pie inside it. Evy also had given him a handmade card, drawn in marker which read 'Happy Father's Day Uncle Deanie' with a picture of her and Dean on the front. Sam also had a card in his, with some oatmeal cookies that Evy had made for him. When neither Dean or Sam said anything, Evy got worried.

"You like them, don't you?"

Dean and Sam both grabbed Evy in a tight hug. "We love them." Sam assured her.

"Best present I ever got." said Dean.

Evy allowed them to hold her for a few seconds, until she got embarrassed from all the attention. "You're squishing me!"

Dean laughed and winked at Sam, who figured out what he was planning to do and nodded. "Well, kiddo, we'll let you go, but there's a rule."

"What rule?" Evy asked, still caught under Dean and Sam.

"If we're not hugging you, we have to be…" Dean said.

Sam finished for him. "Tickling you!"

Evy let out a squeal of surprised delight as Dean and Sam's fingers started making their way up and down her sides. Only when she was gasping for breath and asking them to stop did the commotion end.

"Come on, kiddo, I'm ready to try some of this pie you made." Dean said.

"Aunt Jody helped." Evy reminded him.

"Well thank you too, aunt Jody." Dean said, giving Jody a peck on the cheek.

"Dean, wait." Sam reached under the couch and pulled a neatly wrapped gift. "Cricket, this is for you."

Evy took the gift from Sam and unwrapped it carefully. When she saw what was inside, she gasped. It was an eight by ten inch photo in a frame, a black and white picture of a woman that Evy recognized but had never officially met.

"You know who that it, Cricket?" Sam asked, pulling her close to him and placing an arm around her shoulder.

"It's mommy." Evy whispered, holding the photo tight in her hand.

Evy took a long look at her mother, taking in every detail. Her mother was sitting on what she recognized as Bobby Singer's front porch. She was in a rocking chair, one that Evy remembered Bobby rocking her in many times. John stood behind her, doing something that Evy didn't remember a lot of: smiling. He had his arms wrapped around Missy's neck, and was kissing her cheek. Missy was holding his arm, and looked genuinely happy. Evy noticed something about the photo.

"Is that me?" she asked, pointing to Missy's very swollen belly.

"Yep. That's you, baby, right before you got here."

Evy stared at the photo again, then hugged Sam. "Thank you, daddy."

The rest of the day was spent lazing around Jody's house, eating the sweets that she and Evy had made. As Sam tucked Evy into bed that night, Dean surprised them by asking if he could join them. He claimed to have big news to give them. He announced that he was leaving the next day to start a new job on Tuesday.

"Does that mean you're not hunting anymore?" Evy asked excitedly.

"That's right, baby girl. I'll be home a lot more." Dean said.

Evy had already been tucked in and was laying down, so it surprised both Sam and Dean when she jumped out of her covers, sat up on the bed, and grabbed Dean's neck tightly. Dean, once he was over the shock, wrapped his arms around her neck.

"That's the best surprise ever!"

Dean's eyes shone with tears. He'd spent the two weeks at Jody's wondering how he was going to help care for Evy without hunting or hustling pool. The answer had finally come that morning. He'd received a call from Scott Myles, husband of Sam's boss Laura, explaining that he'd fired a mechanic that afternoon who'd been embezzling from the business. He needed someone right away he trusted, and wanted Dean to take the job if he was interested. After mouthing to Sam I'll tell you about it later, Dean patted Evy's back.

"Sleep tight, kiddo."

Evy pulled away from Dean with another big smile on her face. "Thank you, Deanie."

"Thank you for what, kiddo?" Dean asked.

"Staying home with me. I know you love hunting." Evy said.

"I do love hunting." Dean admitted. "But I have a secret for you."

"What is it?" Evy asked.

Dean leaned in close to Evy's ear and whispered loudly, "I love you even more."

Evy smiled again, that big, brilliant, childish grin that had lighted the dark worlds of Sam and Dean for so long. Dean kissed her forehead and wished her good night again, before turning and leaving to go give Jody the good news.

"That's pretty cool, huh?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Evy answered. "I like that you'll both be home now."
"I like it too." Sam answered.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?" Sam asked.

"Can we go home with uncle Deanie tomorrow?" Evy asked hopefully.

Sam looked at her thoughtfully. "Are you sure you're ready to go home?"

"Yeah." Evy said. "I like staying here with aunt Jody, but I miss our house."

"And Lily?" Sam asked.

"And Lily." Evy confirmed.

"Well," Sam answered, "we could go home with uncle Deanie tomorrow."

"But…?"" Evy asked.

"Or we could use the tickets I have in my wallet to go to the zoo on Friday, and then go home Saturday." Sam said with a smile.

"The zoo! Really?" Evy asked.

"Really, baby. You want to go?"

"You bet I want to go!" Evy said.

Sam laughed. "Okay. But we can't go to the zoo with no sleep. Time for bed."

"Okay." Evy said.

Sam tucked her in again and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, Cricket."

"Goodnight, daddy. I love you." Evy said.

Sam felt a sudden surge of emotion towards Evy. "I love you too, my baby."

"Will you sing me to sleep?" Evy asked as she laid down.

"You bet." As Evy turned over, he scratched her back and started. "Don't you feel it growing, day by day…"

Next Chapter: Evy's eighth birthday.