So I know this may come as a shock, but this is the final chapter. As I neared the end, I realized that it was time. However, I am currently working on a sequel! Ellie will be a little bit older, but I can guarantee the same fun will occur. Therefore, to everyone following this story, I ask you to please continue following me on the next installment, which will be linked at the end of this chapter! It's called I Like Me Better.
One last thank you to everyone who followed me on this journey; this was my first fic I've ever written, and the views alone make me feel really good inside. The reviews just make me want to weep with joy.
Thanks again, y'all, and here's the final installment of One Thing Right! : )
Sam woke up the next morning to Ellie screaming as she ran into his room.
"It's my birthday!"
She jumped onto his bed, scrambling up to sit on his back. Sam moaned, smashing his face further into his pillow. Ellie began bouncing on him, continually squealing about it being her birthday. Sam peeped an eye out to look at the clock, wincing when he saw it read 6:34.
"Yes, it's your birthday," he waited until she bounced up and flipped over, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her down onto his chest. Because she was so small, he could reach her ribs easily with his hands with his arms wrapped around her and he began to tickle her mercilessly. Ellie screeched and tried to squirm out of his grip, but he was holding her too tight. He reached down with his chin, rubbing his stubble against her neck to add to her torture.
"I can't breathe," she drawled in a high-pitched squeal between her giggles. Sam finally stopped, then let her bring her head off of his chest to look at him.
"Happy birthday, baby," he smiled, puffing his lips out for her to give him a kiss.
"Can I go wake up Uncle Dean?" Ellie sat up, her legs straddling his stomach with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Sam thought for a moment, then held up a finger and shoved her off of him, "Let me go do something really quick, then you can. Wait here."
He crept down the hallway towards his brother's room, trying to make as little noise as possible. He slowly pushed Dean's ajar door open all the way, smirking when he saw him sleeping almost diagonally on the bed. This would work excellently for his plan. Sam tiptoed to the edge of the bed, reaching under the pillow that Dean's head was thankfully not on top of. He pulled the piece of metal out and tucked it into the back of his pajama pants before creeping back out of the room.
"Go for it," he smirked as he saw Ellie standing in his doorway, her head peeking down the hallway. Ellie grinned and ran to her uncle's room, stopping at the foot of his bed for a second before she crawled onto it.
"It's my birthday," she squealed into his ear once she was seated on Dean's shoulders, poking his cheek.
Dean jerked awake, almost throwing Ellie from his shoulders as he searched for his pillow. When he realized his gun was nowhere to be found, he opened one eye and groaned when he saw Sam standing in his doorway.
Ellie began to bounce, giggling, "Wake up, it's my birthday!"
Dean moaned, pulling his pillow over his face, "It's too early, squirt."
"No it's not," she whined, yanking the pillow off of his head, "I want pancakes for breakfast."
"Your dad can make them," Dean growled, stuffing his face into his mattress.
Ellie shook her head, "Nope. I want your pancakes. And bacon."
"Ellie," Dean whimpered, lifting his head slightly and turning it, snorting when he realized that she had tilted her head down so her face was right in front of his, "I'm still tired."
"Too bad," she poked his nose, "It's my birthday, you have to get up."
Dean sighed loudly before smiling and suddenly pushing his upper half up, effectively lifting Ellie with him. She squealed as she reached down, wrapping her hands under his chin. Dean carefully stood up off of his bed, keeping Ellie poised on his shoulders.
"Fine, let's go," he mumbled, walking towards the doorway as Ellie continued giggling, holding tight to his neck.
All throughout breakfast, Ellie was incredibly giddy. She kept asking what time it was, to see how close it was to her party. Sam eventually got sick of responding, so he just told her that it wasn't time yet. A few hours later, Ellie ran into Sam's room with a hairbrush and her basket of bows.
"Dad, what am I going to wear?" she was obviously distraught, her eyes big with concern.
Sam smiled, then motioned with his head for her to come over to his bed. He reached under it, pulling out the box and handing it to her.
"Row—Auntie Rowena sent this for you to wear today," Sam watched as she ripped it open, pulling at the tissue paper roughly.
Ellie's eyes lit up as she pulled out the dress. The base color was a pale pink, with a multiple colored large flower print all over the entirety. It was knee length, with the bottom having a lace underlay that peeped out from underneath.
"Look at it," Ellie squealed, shoving the box to the side as she stood up and held it out, "It's so beautiful."
Sam reached into the discarded box and pulled out the final piece that Rowena had told him about, holding it in front of him for Ellie to examine.
"A flower headband?" her smile got even bigger, if possible. Sam nodded as she carefully took it from his hands, running her fingers over the fake flowers.
"Why don't you go put your dress on, and I'll help you put this in your hair," Sam took the headband back. Ellie nodded and ran out of the room to her bedroom, almost knocking over Dean in the process.
"Whoa," Dean held his hands up as she ran past him, "What's up with her?"
"I showed her the dress from Rowena," Sam chuckled, playing with the headband in his hand.
Dean watched as his brother continued playing with the headpiece, biting his lips. He knew something was bothering him, but waited for him to speak first.
"She's seven."
"What?" Dean leaned forward, almost unable to hear because Sam had whispered it so quietly.
"She's seven," Sam repeated louder, chuckling.
Dean straightened up, nodding, "Yeah, that's kind of what happens on a birthday. They get older."
"She'll be a teenager in six years, man," Sam set the headband on his bed and ran a hand through his hair, "Then she'll start driving, and then…"
Dean chuckled softly to himself, looking down at the ground as he slowly walked over and joined his brother on the bed. He rested a hand on Sam's knee, turning to look at him, "That's a long ways off."
"Is it though?" Sam scoffed, "I know it's only been a month but damn, I want her to stay this little forever."
"Well duh," Dean replied, "Right now we can somewhat control her."
"I just don't want her to grow up," Sam mumbled as he stood, his voice low, "She's my baby."
"I know," Dean slowly got up before pulling Sam down into a hug, "She's always gonna be your baby."
"I hope so," Sam whispered before patting Dean's back and pulling away from the hug. He heard Ellie running in the hallway and turned just in time to see her skidding to a stop at his doorway.
"How do I look?" she spun in place, her mouth open in a giant smile.
"Gorgeous," Dean grinned, looking over to where Sam was trying to conceal the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Daddy?" she slowly walked up to Sam's feet, looking up at him, "Can you help me with the flower crown?"
Sam smiled and reached back to his bed and grabbed the headpiece, leaning over to place it on her head. He made sure he pushed back the front of her hair so it wasn't in her face, and gently smoothed down the back.
"Do I look pretty?"
Sam sighed, then bent over and picked her up, smiling as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She snuggled into his neck, and he felt the cool metal from her amulet on his collar bone.
"You're perfect," Sam whispered into her ear before he pulled her head back and kissed her nose. Just as she was starting to try and squirm out of his grasp, they all heard the familiar clanking of someone knocking on the bunker door.
"Someone's here," Ellie squealed, pushing off of Sam's chest and running out of the room. Sam and Dean both laughed as they slowly followed her to the map room.
"Wait for us, squirt," Dean called out as she ran up the stairs. Ellie of course ignored him and tried to open the bunker door, quickly realizing she still didn't have the strength to turn the large metal knob.
Dean rolled his eyes as he walked up the stairs, glaring at her when he reached the top, "You know better than to try and open this door without one of us here."
"But it's my birthday," she smiled sweetly, holding her hands behind her back and swaying.
Dean narrowed his eyes at her before he looked through the peep hole, his hand ever present on the gun in the back of his jeans. He smiled before he looked down at Ellie, "Back up so I can open the door."
She complied, bouncing on her heels as the door swung open to reveal a group of women. Jody, Donna, Claire, and Alex all stood there, each with multiple wrapped gifts in their arms.
"Happy birthday, Ellie," Jody cheered as they all entered, smiling down at the little girl. Ellie raced down the stairs and into the library to where Cass was finishing up hanging the pink and green streamers. The women all followed her, placing their presents on a table that Sam had set up off to the side.
"Thank you for coming," Ellie remembered that Sam had told her to say this today to everyone, smiling up at all of them.
"You are so welcome," Jody leaned over and gave her a quick hug, "Ellie, this is Donna."
"Dad told me about you," Ellie stepped forward, shaking the blonde's outstretched hand, "You're a police woman like Jody, aren't you?"
"Sure are," Donna grinned, "You look so much like your daddy."
Ellie rolled her eyes, making the adults all laugh, "Everyone always says that."
By the time Dean had gone and picked up the pizza from the next town over, Rowena and Crowley had arrived. Of course there was tension between the humans and the witch and the demon, but Sam had made everyone promise to behave themselves for Ellie's party. Luckily, Ellie was very good at keeping the peace with her adorable personality. Once everyone was settled in and ate their pizza, she ran up to Sam and Dean at the gift table, her eyes bright.
"Can I open my presents now?"
"I don't know, you sure you don't want to wait?" Dean looked down at her with an amused look on his face as she scowled.
"No."
"Well, one of your presents is in your bedroom now," Sam smiled down at her, having heard from Dean and Cass that they had successfully moved the dollhouse into her room. "You wanna go check it out?"
"Yeah," she yelled before racing to the hallway.
Dean turned to address the guests, "Ellie is looking at her first present, and I'm sure we'll all hear her reaction shortl—"
He was cut off by Ellie screaming at the top of her lungs, then her footsteps as she ran back into the library, almost tackling Sam.
"It's so big, and pretty, and I love it, and it's perfect, and," she stopped, catching her breath. Sam chuckled and squatted in front of her, opening his arms for a hug. She lunged forward and squeezed his neck as tightly as she could, "Thank you, Daddy."
"You're welcome, baby," he pulled back and kissed her cheek before standing, "You ready for all the rest?"
"Yeah," she cheered, hurrying over to the chair poised in the middle of the library, bouncing on her bottom as she waited for Sam to bring her a present.
After multiple new Barbies from Jody and Donna, and a bracelet making kit from Alex, Ellie's jaw dropped when she opened Claire's gift. It was a nerf gun, with a shoulder holster full of extra foam bullets. She squealed and turned the box around, showing Sam.
"Claire got me a gun!"
All eyes shifted to the young blonde, who shrugged, "What? It's not real."
"Thank you so much," Ellie shouted, jumping off of her chair and running over to Claire to give her a tight hug. Claire was taken aback, but gave her a quick squeeze back.
Ellie continued her assault on her many presents, laughing when she saw that Crowley had given her a stuffed dog that was almost as big as her. Sam and Dean slowly turned to look at the demon, who mouthed 'at least it's not a real hell hound'. Rowena had brought her a couple more fancy dresses, with a matching headpiece for each one. Ellie took a while to open all of her presents from a certain angel, who most definitely had gone a little crazy. There were lego sets and baby dolls and a horde of stuffed animals and so much more that caused Dean to roll his eyes at Cass.
"So much for 'a few things'," Dean leaned over and mumbled to the angel, who kept his eyes pointed at Ellie and ignored the hunter's words.
"Next present is from," Sam paused, turning over the box to try and find a tag.
"Oh, that's from me," Dean lifted his hand. He leaned towards Cass and nudged him, causing the angel to nod and turn around, removing his tie, "But have her open yours first."
Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother before turning and grabbing the small box with her new shirt in it and handing it to Ellie. He didn't notice when Dean and Cass both slipped into the hallway, unbuttoning their shirts.
Ellie opened the box and pulled out the red jersey, smiling brightly when she saw that the front said 'Winchester' with a devil's trap sigil on it. She turned it around, giggling when she saw the back said 'ELLIE' with the number 7 underneath it.
"Thanks Dad!" she lunged over the arm of the chair, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
Dean came back into the library, his button up pulled closed in front although the buttons were all separated, "Sam, that other one is actually for you."
"What?" Sam scoffed, looking back to the box.
"Just open it," Dean sighed as Cass walked back in, holding his trench coat closed.
Sam shook his head before tearing the wrapping paper, pulling off the lid to the box. It was another red jersey, identical to Ellie's. Sam tilted his head in confusion as he pulled it out, lifting the top of the box off.
"Aw," Jody whispered.
"That's super adorable," Donna chuckled.
"Okay shit, that's cute," Claire laughed.
Sam finally turned the jersey around, and his breath caught in his throat. On the back it said 'DAD', with the number 52, his favorite number. When he dropped the shirt to look back at Dean, he saw his brother and Cass both standing with their backs to him, having revealed identical jerseys that must have been underneath their shirts. Their jerseys said 'UNCLE DEAN' and 'UNCLE CASS', with their own favorite numbers underneath. The two men turned back around and Sam stood, walking over to them.
"You hate personalized jerseys," Sam muttered as he walked up to his brother.
Dean held a hand out, "No click flick moments."
"Shut up," Sam smacked his hand out of the way, wrapping his arms around Dean's shoulders. The older Winchester smiled as he hugged him back.
"You're welcome," he said quietly as they pulled apart, winking at his brother.
"We all have matching jerseys," Ellie stood up excitedly, holding her own shirt up as she looked back and forth between the three men's shirts, "Can we start our own football team?"
"Oh yeah," Dean snickered, "Two hunters, an angel, and a six year old. We'll win the Super Bowl for sure."
"Hey," Ellie shouted, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm seven now."
After singing 'happy birthday' and eating cake, everyone trickled out. After the last guest left, Sam noticed Ellie yawning in her chair as she finished her second helping of ice cream.
"You need a nap, El?"
"No," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, "Naps are for babies. I'm too old for naps."
Sam raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, watching as her head began to bob with her eyes drifting closed. He sighed and squatted next to her chair, rubbing her back.
"Ellie, everyone takes naps sometimes," he spoke quietly, snorting when he looked across the table at his brother, "Look at Uncle Dean."
Dean was sitting with his feet crossed on the table, his arms crossed and his mouth agape as he head hung backwards. He was completely out. Ellie giggled softly as she looked over at him, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Come on," Sam pulled her chair away from the table and pulled her into his arms, her head lolling against his shoulder as he stood. He carried her down the hall, pausing for a moment outside her bedroom. Cass had moved all of her gifts in there, her bed full of toys. Sam sighed and continued down the hallway to his own bedroom. He walked in and carefully laid her down, her eyes already closing.
"Dad," she moaned, holding tight on his shirt so he couldn't stand up.
"What's up?" he moved to sit next to her.
"Thanks," she mumbled with a small smile on her face, "That was the best birthday ever."
"You're welcome, baby," he bent over and kissed her forehead, a smile on his lip.
Ellie snuggled into the pillow, pulling the blankets up to her chin before whispering, "I love you Daddy."
"I love you more," he patted her back before getting up to leave the room.
"I love you most."
Sam almost turned around in the doorway when he heard those four words Ellie whispered. He felt tears sting his eyes, and just shook his head before leaving his room. After those little four words, he knew that everything was going to be okay. Once he heard her tiny voice say it, that simple phrase, he knew that with all of the wrong he had done in his life, he had at least done one thing right.
There you go! As promised, here's the link for the sequel, I Like Me Better!
s/13472080/1/I-Like-Me-Better
Please jump over there and continue following this story, and following Ellie! : )