A Father Lost, A Father Gained Ch. 11
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Previously: "Kay Uncle Bobby" Sammy said with a yawn as he rolled over onto his side. He felt Dean climb into the bed and lay down beside him and snuggled into his chest as Dean threw an arm over him. "Love you Deanie." He whispered just before fading off to sleep, his dreams filled with thought of the upcoming day at the park.
Waking up at sunrise early the next morning, Bobby began his preparations for their day ahead at the park. He knew Sammy well enough to know that he would soon be up and he wanted to have everything ready so all he would to worry about would be getting the boys ready. Walking into the kitchen, he grabbed a loaf of bread and some sandwich meats from the fridge. He figured the easiest thing to do would be to fix a picnic basket so they could spend most of their day having fun. Once he had the sandwiches makings, he walked over to his food pantry and pulled out a couple of bags of potato chips, barbecue for Dean and regular flavored ones for Sammy since he was still quite young.
Knowing how thirsty two little boys could get during an afternoon of play, he grabbed a few bottles of soda along with some jugs of Kool-Aid he had made the previous night for the occasion. He knew it seemed a bit much to drink, but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Placing the drink items in a cooler along with some ice, he set about preparing breakfast. He wanted to make sure the boys at least started the day off with full stomachs. Placing some of the pancake batter into the skillet, he fervently hoped there wouldn't be any more choking incidents like the one they had had last night with the youngest Winchester.
Hearing the sound of feet on the stairwell, Bobby turned around to see Dean leading his baby brother down the steps. "Morning boys" he said with a smile as he noted the sparkle in Sammy's eyes even though it was still early.
"Morning Uncle Bobby." Sammy returned as he bounded over to the table and climbed up into his chair, Dean right behind him. "When we's going to da park?"
"Well tiger, I thought we could go just as soon as you and Dean finish breakfast if that's okay with you boys." Bobby replied as he gazed at Dean specifically to see Dean nod his approval.
"Yay!" Sammy replied enthusiastically as he began to bounce up and down in his seat.
"Sammy, stop bouncing before you fall out of your seat." Dean chided as he pulled out a chair to sit down in himself just as Bobby brought their pancakes over and sat them down in front of them.
"I's sorry Deanie, I won'ts do it again." Sammy stated humbly, eyes misting with tears, hoping he hadn't just ruined his chances of going to the park now that Dean had gotten on to him.
"S'okay tiger, just eat your breakfast and we'll go to the park soon." Dean informed his baby brother seeing the saddened look on Sammy's face. He didn't want Sammy to be upset.
"Kay" Sammy replied happily with a grin from ear to ear as he picked up his fork and started to eat the small bite sizes pieces that Bobby had cut his pancake up into. He had the best big brother in the world.
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As John lay sleeping early the next morning, his mind was once again assaulted by images of his past. He saw a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair standing by a crib looking down lovingly at the baby inside. At her side stood a young boy who was standing on something as he bent down to kiss the baby good night. An instant later though, the picture flashed to the woman who was now pinned on the ceiling with blood dripping from her stomach just before she burst in to flames.
"What the hell?" John gasped as he startled awake from his dream soaked in sweat. Running shaky hands through his hair since his head was no longer swathed in bandages, he took some deep calming breaths as he tried to make sense of what he had seen in his dream. Surely it had to have been some kind of horrible nightmare or his mind playing tricks on him. He knew there was no logical way for a woman to be on the ceiling, much less bursting into flames the way she did. "Must have been some movie I saw mingling with reality." He thought a little worriedly
Trying to wipe the horrific sight from his mind, he once again thought about the little boy who was bending down to kiss the baby. The mop of blonde hair and freckles tugged at his memory and he knew those kids in his dreams were important to him, but how? "Damn it, why can't I remember?" He growled as he fisted his hair, pissed off with the fact that the blonde kid's name was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't spit it out.
"John, are you okay?" Nurse Sarah inquired as she walked into the room carrying John's breakfast tray to see him extremely upset.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish I could remember something about my life damn it." John answered as he pushed himself up a little more as Sarah pulled the small portable table over after having placed his tray on it.
"I wish you could too if it means anything." Sarah replied as she lifted the lid to reveal a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, a biscuit and a small carton of milk. John had been able to keep down the meal the night before so his meals would now consist of solid foods once again. "Hopefully with your recovery progressing at a quick pace now, your memories will return soon and you will have your life back."
"I sure hope you're right." John voiced as he picked up his fork and stabbed it into the eggs. They looked to be pretty bland, but he would eat anything they put in front of him as long as it allowed him to get out of the frigging hospital so he could start filling in the missing pieces of his life.
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Driving into the small town of Millersville Kentucky, Joshua and Caleb hoped they would have better luck with looking for John than they had had at the last one. Neither one of them wanted to even think about having to see the body of another John Doe to establish whether or not it was the hunter they were looking for, once was more than enough to last them their lifetimes.
Feeling the pangs of hunger, they pulled into the parking lot of a small diner and strolled inside to order some breakfast knowing how much John favored them when he was hunting because they were best places for picking up small town gossip. With any luck, they would be able to question the waitress about the hunt and if they were extremely lucky, maybe she would have some knowledge of John's whereabouts. Walking to the back of the restaurant, they took a seat on opposite sides of each other as they pulled out a menu and looked through the contents.
"Good morning gentlemen, what will it be?" The petite waitress asked as she pulled the small ordering pad from her pocket and a pencil from behind her ear.
"I'll have the steak and eggs, and a cup of black coffee." Joshua answered with a smile as he placed the menu back into it's holder.
"Make that two orders please." Caleb stated with a wink at the pretty young waitress who smiled and then sashayed away, a slight sway to her hips.
"Looks like she has a thing for you Caleb. Why don't you see if you can get any information out of her when she returns with the coffee while I go the restroom and wash up." Joshua said as he stood up to leave knowing that the waitress would be more flirty with Caleb without him sitting there.
"Sure thing dude." Caleb replied with a smirk as he washed Joshua stand up and walk away. He would be more than happy work his magic on the waitress, hopefully scoring a phone number in the process.
"Here you are sir." The waitress said as she returned and sat a cup of coffee in front of Caleb and placed the other one where Joshua was sitting.
"Thanks sugar." Caleb said with a wink giving the waitress his best smile. "You mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure honey, ask me anything." The waitress replied as she sat down and stared dreamily into Caleb's eyes.
"I was wondering if maybe you seen a friend of mine. He was supposed to be going through this area when he turned up missing. I know the chances of you seeing him are remote, but if you wouldn't mind taking a look at a picture for me I sure would appreciate it." Caleb stated as he pulled out his wallet and removed a picture of John and the boys that had been taken during a barbecue at Bobby's place.
Taking the picture in hand, the waitress glanced at the picture and smiled. "I do recognize the man in the picture, he came through here a couple of weeks back. I remember because he helped me out with a burly customer who was drunk and disorderly." Karen replied, happy that she was able to help the good looking man in front of her.
Breathing a sigh of relief that at least somebody had seen John, Caleb asked, "He didn't say where he was going by any chance did he?"
"No, not directly anyway. He just said he was on his way to Indiana for some kind of hunt." Karen answered as she stood back up to get the hunter's food platters when the small bell rang announcing it was ready. "Hope that helps you some."
"It helps a lot, thank you." Caleb stated just as Joshua returned to the table. Now that they knew the general direction John was headed, it should be much easier to find the missing hunter.
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Once they had eaten breakfast and cleaned up, Bobby had loaded the boys into his truck and drove down to the park which was only a thirty minute drive from his place. Even though the park was relatively small compared to some of the other state parks in the area, it had a well maintained playground where the boys could have fun playing while allowing him to scan the area for any signs of danger or unwanted visitors. He wasn't taking any chances with John's boys being hurt or worse while on his watch.
Climbing out of the truck, he watched as Dean helped Sammy out of the other side before the youngest Winchester immediately ran over to the slides and started climbing up the ladder with Dean close on his heels. "Be careful boys." He shouted as he began to unload the picnic basket and cooler from the truck. As he carried the items over to the table, he could hear the sounds of childish giggles coming from the playground as Sammy slid down the slide into the waiting arms of Dean.
Once he had placed the items on one of the picnic tables that the park provided, he walked over to the area where the boys were playing, determined to join in the fun. Arriving near the slide where Dean was now standing to make sure Sammy safely climbed up the steps, he said, "Why don't you let me watch over him for a little while Dean so you can have some fun yourself. I promise not to let him get hurt."
"I don't know Uncle Bobby, Sammy is my responsibility when dad is hunting" Dean answered as he chewed on his bottom lip looking over towards the monkey bars with anticipation, he really would like to climb and play on them, just for a little while.
"And you do a wonderful job taking care of Sammy and being responsible for him Dean, but I'm sure your dad would want you to have some fun too." Bobby replied as he walked around to the bottom of the slide to catch Sammy to keep him from sliding off the edge as Dean had done previously. "Listen Dean, hasn't you dad told you to call for help from Pastor Jim if he didn't return from a hunt when he was supposed to?" Bobby questioned knowing that Dean would spend his day taking care of Sammy instead of having some fun himself if he didn't convince him to do otherwise.
"Yes Sir."
"Well then I think he would be okay with you letting me help you out with watching over your baby brother. I just want you to take a little time to have some fun for yourself, hell you can even slide here with Sammy if it will make you feel better." Bobby implored as he waited to see what Dean would do.
TBC