AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello Dear Readers, I haven't abandoned Kate and the boys, it's just that there's another little girl who has been very adamant that I tell her story! I also realized that I've been dragging my feet with this story because Kate is going into middle school, and my middle school experience was not a good time. I wasn't looking forward to dredging up all those unpleasant memories, but then I reminded myself that this a fic, and I can write it however I want, and Kate's experiences don't have to mirror what I went through! So here's a new chapter, I know that GuestG and some others have been asking me about it recently- it's short, but I'm getting back into the swing of things- enjoy!
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Sam pointed at the mannequin wearing a matching bra and panty set and said, "Eww," then he and Dean burst into giggles.
"I'm afraid I won't be much help here, Kate," Dad said apologetically.
"That's okay," I said, feeling embarrassed.
"We'll be over in the boy's department, come find us when you're done." Dad said, pushing the cart slightly.
"Okay," I said.
"I want a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt!" Sam hopped in place.
"A teenage mutant what?" Dad asked.
"It's a cartoon, Dad." Dean told him.
"Hmm, back in my day we just had cartoons with rabbits, ducks and pigs, none of these mutant turtles or anything," Dad raised his eyebrow.
"Daaaad!" Sam said. "The Ninja Turtles are cool!"
Dad ruffled his hair. "I'm just teasing you, Sammy. All right, let's go. We'll see you in a little while, Kate."
We were shopping for school clothes, and Dad had dropped me off in the Junior's Department.
I wasn't sure what to do- in the past, my mother had taken me to an upscale department store, found an employee, and then the two of them had put together outfits for me and made me try them on. I hadn't ever really had a say in what I was wearing, and now I didn't even know what to pick out for myself.
I wandered through the racks of clothes, and finally decided on plain t-shirts in different colors and some comfortable loose jeans. My mother had always stayed on top of what was fashionable, but I had never cared. I wanted to wear what I felt comfortable in, and I didn't really care what the current fashions were. I found some long sleeved t-shirts too, and a couple of pretty patterned sweaters.
I made my way over to the boy's department, and I could hear them in a dressing room.
"I don't like these, they're too big," Sam was saying. "I like my old jeans."
"Your old jeans have holes in the knees," Dad told him, "you need to next size up too. Once we wash them a couple of times they'll feel better."
"Dad, can I go pick out some t-shirts? I'll be right out side."
"Go ahead, Dean, just be careful," Dad sighed.
I heard a door open and then Dean came out of the dressing room area.
"I thought you would take a long time!" he said. "Don't girls take a long time with clothes?"
"Not this girl!" I told him.
"I want a Star Wars t-shirt, come see what they have!" Dean motioned me to follow him. There was a display with shirts that had logos of bands, and pictures of characters from movies on them. Dean picked out a couple.
Dad came walking over to us. "There you are," he said. "Did you find some clothes?"
"Yeah, I put them in the cart," I told him. We walked over and he sorted through everything. "No dresses or skirts, Kate?" he asked.
"I'm not really a dress kind of girl," I said, feeling shy.
"Okay. If you decide that you want some, let me know, and I'll get you some dresses. You may need one for a dance or something."
"Kate's going to go to a dance?" Sam teased. "With a boy?"
"No, probably not," I said, feeling myself start to blush. "Hush, you." I poked Sam in the stomach and he giggled.
After the boys had picked out some shirts we walked over to the shoe section and tried on shoes. I helped Sam while Dad helped Dean.
"How is it that your feet have gotten so much bigger in one season, kid?" Dad asked Dean. "You and Sammy are probably going to be taller than me one day."
"That will be so funny!" Sam said, hopping in place. "I'll be the tallest one of all, and I'll get to tell you what to do!"
"Being tall doesn't have anything to do with telling people what to do, Sam," I told him. "Dean and I will still be older than you, so we'll still be in charge."
"Nuh-uh, when I'm big, no one will be the boss of me," Sam said with a grin.
"You keep thinking that, little brother," Dean said, and he grabbed Sam and started to tickle him.
"All right, you two, settle down," Dad told them. "Kate, do you need new shoes yet?"
"Mine are okay," I said. "I don't think my feet have grown any this summer."
"Well then, we just need jackets and then we can go," Dad said. "Boys, hold off on the silliness a little bit longer, please."
Even though Sam and Dean's behavior deteriorated rapidly after that, because they were bored, Dad didn't get annoyed this time- he was in a good mood.
We stopped to eat at a diner on the way home. When the waitress brought our food, she said, "Your children are so polite, and sweet with each other!" She smiled at us as she handed out the plates.
Dad looked across the table at me and smiled. "Yes, they are. Thank you."
Sam looked up at me. " 'Member when that old lady thought you were part of our family, when we went to get ice cream? Now, it's for real!" He grinned at me.
"Yes, it is," I said, grinning back at him. "Now we're stuck with each other!" I tickled his side.
"Heeyy!" he said, moving away from me. "Cut that out!"
"Settle down, you two," Dad said.
Sam and I kept teasing and tickling each other throughout the meal. I hadn't had anyone to goof around with like that before, and it was fun. Dean kept laughing at us, and when we were on the way home, he joined in, until Dad had to tell us to stop being so rowdy.
We were in the living room, cutting the tags off of the new clothes, when the doorbell rang. Dad opened the door.
"Hi, I'm, uh, one of the new neighbors," said a woman with dark blonde hair. "I live a few houses down, and I'm on the Neighborhood Watch and the Welcoming Committee. My name is April Jones."
"Come in," Dad stepped back and opened the door. She came into the house. She was holding a dish with plastic wrap over it.
"I know this is kind of a cliché, but I brought you a peach cobbler to welcome you," she said, blushing a little bit. "Sorry, I'm not very good at this," she gave us a nervous smile.
"I'm John Winchester," Dad offered his hand and they shook, "and this is my daughter, Kate. My boys are outside."
"I'll take that," I stepped forward and took the dish out of her hands, then walked it to the kitchen.
"Is there a Mrs. Winchester?" she asked, looking around.
"Oh, uh, no, just us," Dad smiled.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said apologetically, her face getting even more red.
"It's all right," Dad said.
"I live about 4 houses down, it's the hosue with all the little kid toys in front of it," she said. "I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old."
"Sam is 6, maybe the kids will be in the same class." Dad said.
"Maybe. You know that orientation is in a couple of weeks, right?"
"Yes, I got the paperwork," Dad told her.
"Well, I just wanted to introduce myself," she said after a long moment of silence. "I'll be seeing you around."
Dad let her out of the house, and turned to me. "Hopefully all the neighbors won't be that awkward," he said.
I gathered up all the new clothes and went to put them in the washing machine, then went into the kitchen to look through the cabinets and figure out where everything was.
Dad came in. "Getting the lay of the land?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I've never had to do this before, so it's kinda weird. Can I move stuff around?"
"Sure, put things where it's best for you. You're a better cook than me, so you'll probably do more cooking in here."
I felt myself blushing. "I'm not-"
"I didn't start learning how to cook until I was in the marines, with a bunch of men who were confirmed bachelors, so a lot of what I make is basically- well they called it 'bachelor chow'. Add into that having to make do with whatever canned goods you've got when you're in the middle of the jungle in Vietnam, and my cooking skills are just a step above keeping a person alive." he grinned at me. "It's okay that you're better than me, and it's okay to say that."
"O-okay," I said, realizing why it had made me uncomfortable- because my father would never have said something like that, he always had to point out his accomplishments and could never allow that there was someone in the room who might have been better at something than him.
"I'm glad that you can cook well, Kate, and I hope that you get better at it, and that you teach the boys," his voice became soft. "I feel bad that they've grown up without the influence of a mother, and without a lot of good home-cooked meals, and I think that having you around has helped them, even though you're not their mother." He pulled me into a hug.
I felt tears come to my eyes. "Thanks," I said.
The front door opened and then Sam appeared in the doorway. "Kate, you should come meet the kids, there's a bunch on the street!"
Dad let me go. "Go ahead, I'll figure out dinner. Go make some friends."
I reluctantly followed Sam outside- I was unsure about meeting more new faces right now. Dean and Sam introduced me to everyone, but I hung back and just watched as they started having races with their bikes and skateboards. There were several kids of all different ages, and I couldn't remember anyone's name.
I brought the laundry basket into the boy's room, and took a stack of clothes out, setting them on Sam's bed.
"Here's your new stuff," I told him. "Dean, yours is in the basket."
"Let's put them away now," Dad said. He had come in to say good night to the boys.
"Hey, did one of you go into my room earlier?" I asked.
"No, why?" Dean opened one of his drawers and shoved the folded shirts in there.
"Well, when I went in to put my clothes away, all the drawers of my bureau were open a little bit like someone had gone through them."
"Not me," Sam said.
"Me neither," Dean chimed in.
I frowned. "Hmm," I said. Maybe I just hadn't closed them all the way this morning. I'd been in a hurry when I was getting dressed.
"Daddy, it gets cold in here at night," Sam said, bouncing on his bed.
"What do you mean?" Dad asked. "I know the AC did kick on last night."
"When I was falling asleep it got real cold for a while," Sam told him.
"Well, sometimes older houses can have cold spots," Dad frowned briefly.
"I felt it too," I said, "I woke up in the middle of the night and it was freezing."
"Okay, I won't turn the AC down so low then," Dad said, "All right, in bed with you."
The boys got into their beds, and both Dad and I hugged and kissed them. Afterwards we went to the living room.
"It's nice to be in our own house again," Dad remarked as I sat down with a book. "I've moved the boys around so much in the past few years, it's good when we get to settle in somewhere."
"I hope that this is a nice place," I said. I still felt nervous about going to a new school and meeting new people. I had lived in the same house, in the same area, all my life.
"I think it is, Jim has lived here for over 20 years," he told me.
That night, I woke up again briefly, hearing creaking. I opened my eyes- the rocking chair was moving slightly, and I remembered that I'd forgotten to move it away from the vent. I stood up and stumbled over to it, pulling it a couple of feet away from the bed, and then got back into bed. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
