"Alright, here you go," Dean said to Destinee. He fed her some whipped cream and watched as she smacked her lips as she devoured it. Destinee tried reaching for the spoon to eat some more as Dean gave her more whipped cream.
"Dean, not too much," Renee said. "Gosh, I feel like we've fed Destinee two racks of ribs with extra barbeque sauce."
"Renee, I'm only giving her a small amount of whipped cream. Don't you worry, my darling."
Renee took some butter and spread it over her waffles then cut a piece and ate it.
"This is very good," she said.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it. I can enjoy eating a nice meal and don't have to worry about getting jumped afterwards."
Renee looked up at Dean.
"Dean, that's in the past," she said. "Don't let it eat away at you."
"I won't," Dean said.
The tone of his voice indicted that he was still hurt by Sami's betrayal but Renee decided not to press the issue further and instead continued to enjoy brunch.
After brunch, they headed to the park. Dean carried Destinee around and showed her everything in the park. Him and Renee sat down at the bench near the pond.
"This is where your mother and I had peanut butter jelly sandwiches and orange juice. It was a nice day outside. I saw little kids playing and couldn't stop thinking about the day you'd start running around." Dean stood Destinee up on her feet in his lap. "Cutie pie."
When he gave Destinee a kiss, she started laughing and squealing.
"I see a tooth!" Dean said.
Renee looked closely and indeed saw a tooth sticking up a little out of Destinee's bottom gum.
"Aww! Your first tooth is coming in!" she said.
"Isn't she going to get mad? Or cranky? Then start crying because she'll be in pain?"
"Maybe."
"Ah. Good thing she has those teething rings. Just try not to scream your head off, alright?"
"Hopefully she won't." Renee looked at Dean and saw that he was thinking about something. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Um…my job…my boss was thinking of sending some of us to another city to work for two weeks. We would have to stay in a hotel and stuff. It's in Damond City. That's about two hours away."
"Are you worried that your boss will ask you and you'd have to be away from me and Destinee?"
Dean nodded his head.
"I just…I just want to stay. I know I shouldn't chicken out but I don't want to go."
"If your boss asks you to, will you?"
"I won't have no choice."
"We'll be fine. If your boss wants you to work in Damond City, then go."
"Easy for you to say."
"It is. Because I know you'll be fine if you do go. I believe in you. I have faith in you."
Dean smiled.
"I can always count on you to make me feel happy," he said.
"You definitely can," Renee said.
Dean placed Destinee on the ground while continuing to hold her.
"Let us see if you can stand or walk a little," he said.
Destinee lifted up her right foot but then put it back down. She started to coo and speak gibberish instead of walking. Dean picked her back up and sat her on his lap.
"Soon," he said.
"Yup. Soon," Renee said.
"You know what we should make tonight for dinner? Chicken and dumplings," Dean said.
"Sounds good."
Renee held out her arms so she could hold Destinee. When she held the baby in her arms, Destinee ended up throwing up on her mother. Dean breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally, she didn't throw up on me!" he said.
"Shut up, Dean! It's probably from you feeding her all types of food!" Renee said.
"Nonsense!" Dean said.
"Whatever! Let's go home. It's getting cold out here and I don't want Destinee to be outside for too long."
Getting up, they made their way to the truck.
"I'm not happy that you threw up on you but she always throws up on me."
"Mmmhmm. Sure, Dean."
"I'm serious, Nae."
"Since you're smirking still, I'm going to body slam you when we get home."
"After we eat, you can try to body slam me."
"Deal. And I will body slam you. No doubt about it, honey bun."
Dean kept trying to teach Destinee on how to walk and he was very confident that she would learn how to walk very soon. He dangled his car keys and some of Destinee's toys in front of her to try and get her to go after them. Instead of walking, however, she would just crawl towards her father. Dean decided to hold her up and stand her on her feet to try to get her to walk. The baby didn't attempt to move her feet and instead bounced up and down.
"Aww, toots," Dean said. "Soon. Soon."
Renee enjoyed watching Dean teach Destinee how to walk. She herself have tried to get Destinee to walk but the baby just ended up crawling again.
"Dinner is ready," Renee said.
"Let's eat!" Dean said.
Dean sat Destinee into her high chair then went to the cupboard to get her some apple sauce. Renee put their plates of food on the table then sat down. Dean grabbed Destinee's spoon out of the drawer and brought her applesauce to her. He opened it and started to feed it to her.
"This is a sight to see!" Renee said.
"Ha ha. Yes, I don't always feed our child junk food," Dean said. He sat down and took a bite of his food. "Damn, woman. This is good."
"I'm glad you like it," Renee said. "I'm going to get some more chicken tomorrow to make chicken casserole. How does that sound?"
"Sounds delicious," Dean said. "Oh. I just forgot. I have to give Lisa her sugar back. I'll be right back."
Dean quickly grabbed the sugar from the cabinet then headed out of the door.
"Don't eat my food," Dean said as he headed out.
He walked onto the sidewalk and saw a car pull into his sister's driveway. He saw a man get out, holding a blue bag in his hand. The dim streetlights slightly helped Dean make out who it was. It was someone who he hadn't seen in two years. Someone he never thought he'd see again.
Jerry.
Jerry was about to walk towards Lisa's house when he saw Dean walking towards him.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," Dean said.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine. Lisa and I started talking again recently. I needed to reevaluate my life and get myself together. Especially if I wanted to come around and see Aaron more often. I just want to start over again. I know I am very the last person to get a second chance let alone ask for a one. She did let me see Aaron but only for a little while. He says he misses me a lot. I regret what I did to him and his mother. They deserved better. But I've learned from my mistakes. I hope they can forgive me."
Dean nodded his head.
"They do. Otherwise they wouldn't want to see you," he said.
"You're right," Jerry said. Him and Dean started to walk towards the house. "Lisa told me about you and Renee. Congratulations on your marriage and having a baby."
"Thank you," Dean said. "And I'm glad you were able to work things out with Lisa again."
"Thanks," Jerry said.
Aaron opened the door when he saw his dad and uncle walking onto the porch.
"Daddy! Uncle Dean!" Aaron ran to his father and gave him a big hug then gave his uncle a big hug. "I've missed you, Daddy! And how are you, Uncle Dean?"
"I've missed you, too, little guy," Jerry said.
"I'm doing fine. Just here to give your mother her sugar back," Dean said.
"I got you that new action figure you wanted," Jerry said. He handed Aaron the bag.
"Thank you!" Aaron said.
Lisa then came to the door.
"Hey, Jerry," she said.
"Hey," he said.
"Thank you for returning the sugar," Lisa said. "I'm sure you fed half of it to Destinee."
"Yup, I did," Dean said jokingly. "Thanks for letting me use it. Hey, Jim. Alright, I'm on my way back to my house to finish my dinner. Love you guys!"
Dean gave Lisa and Aaron a big hug and a kiss, gave Jerry a big hug, then left to go back home. He went back into the house and straight into the kitchen to finish eating and feeding Destinee. After dinner, him and Renee gave Destinee a bath and got her ready for bed. Dean put a pink onesie with butterflies on Destinee.
"Alright. One more time," Dean said. "I'm going to try and get our little one to walk one more time." He picked Destinee up and stood her on her feet. "Just try for Mommy and Daddy."
Renee picked up her phone and walked over to Dean's side of the room to film Destinee.
Destinee looked down at her feet then picked up her right foot and took a step forward. Then she lifted her left foot and took another step forward.
"I'm going to let you go now," Dean said.
When Dean stopped holding Destinee, she was finally standing on her own two feet without problem.
"Yay!" Renee said.
Dean hurried over to Renee's side.
"Come here," he said to Destinee.
Destinee laughed and took a few small steps forward before losing her balance and sitting back down on the floor. She continued to laugh and stuck her hand in her mouth.
"You did it, butterball!" Dean said. "Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!"
Dean picked up Destinee and gave her a huge kiss on her cheek along with Renee.
"Soon, you'll be running after Daddy and drop kicking him!" Renee said.
"Ha ha. Very funny," Dean said.
"I'm still going to body slam you. Do not think I've forgotten."
"I know you didn't. Bring it on."
