A/N: So, this is a mixed chapter. It's mostly sad, but there's some hope in it. It's been fifteen months since Jess and Mary's death. Sam is coping, barely, but he's fallen into a rut. He isn't able to sleep in the bedroom he shared with Jess, so Kayla comes over three times a week to make sure the house is clean, Sam is eating right, and that everything is running as smoothly as it can. Anyway, Kayla has taken on a project here. She turns a spare room in Sam and Jess's house into a new bedroom for Sam, one that he can use to sleep in so he doesn't keep sleeping on the couch. She adds a special touch to the new room that helps Sam realize that maybe, he still has a lot to live for.

Sam and Samantha's relationship has suffered a little too. In this chapter, Samantha tells her mother that Sam has been 'mean' to her. I don't feel like I really need to say this, but I should just to be safe. I don't mean 'mean' to say that Sam is abusive to her in any way. I just picture it as Sam not being as patient with Sammie as he would've been before-maybe a little quicker to scold her, or maybe losing his temper and snapping at her more easily. That's what happened to my mom when my stepdad died a few years ago. He and I weren't particularly close, and their marriage was not a good one, but she was under so much strain and pressure that if I so much as breathed wrong I got a long winded lecture. I know now that it was just her reacting to what she was going through, but back then, being a straight-A, never got in trouble student, it really hurt me. Things are better between us now.

I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas!

Kayla wiped her forehead. The work had been longer than she'd thought, but she was grateful Sam allowed her to do it. For the fifteen months since Jess and Mary had died, Sam had been sleeping downstairs. He'd told Kayla that he just couldn't force himself to go up there. Kayla had started visiting every day at Dean's insistence, cutting her visits down to three times a week. When she came, she would pull out work clothes for Sam, arranging them downstairs so he could just get his clothes, get ready in the bathroom, and go to work. Kayla would also cook enough meals for Sam to last until the next time Kayla came. She would check to make sure Sam had enough groceries, that the house was clean enough, and that the bills were paid on time.

Kayla also took care of Dean, whose remission didn't last very long. His cancer had spread to his liver, so he had to stop drinking, which was a battle all by itself. But Dean persevered, and Kayla carried on taking care of the two of them.

Kayla had finally convinced Sam to let her make a bedroom for him. It was still too painful for him to sleep in the room he shared with Jess. Kayla had gone in a few times when she missed her mother, and into Mary's bedroom when she missed her sister. But Sam hadn't been in either one. Knowing her mother would've hated it if the room was left to get dusty, Kayla had cleaned it, but that was it.

Her project over the past two weekends had been to set up a new bedroom for Sam. There was a bedroom that was hardly ever used in the house. Its only purpose had been as a guest room on the rare occasion that company was over that wasn't one of Kayla or Mary's friends from school. The first weekend Kayla spent simply cleaning the room from top to bottom, washing the linens on the bed, dusting the dresser and rest of the furniture, cleaning the wood floors, taking everything off the walls, and patching up the minor holes in the wall to prepare it to be painted.

The second week had been for what Dean called the 'nitty gritty' work. Kayla took everything out of the room, painted the walls, and rearranged the furniture. All the walls were painted a soft green color, except for the smaller wall directly underneath the window. Kayla had been inspired by five year old's Samantha's desire to help 'make Papa happy again'. Kayla had painted that wall white, then very carefully sat Samantha down and explained her 'job'.

"Listen to me very, very carefully, Sammie. Do you see this blue tape on the wall?"

"I see it, Mommy."

"You can paint anything you want inside that blue paint. Just leave a little room for me to put your brother's handprints on the wall after Papa and Denny bring him back. Okay?"

"Okay, Mommy."

"And listen to me one more time. This is the only time you will ever be allowed to paint on the wall. If you do it anywhere else, what happens?"

"I get in trouble and I gets a consquence."

"That's right. Okay, Mommy's going down to the kitchen to make us a little lunch. Call me if you need help."

"I will. Promise."

"Do you want turkey and mustard or peanut butter and jelly?"

"Can I has one each?"

"Wow, you're a hungry girl today." Kayla smiled.

"I worked hard, Mommy. Helping you clean and stuff. Denny says that makes you hungry."

"Well, he's absolutely right. And you have been a very big help today, my big girl. Thank you." Kayla kissed Samantha's cheek as a thank you, making the new kindergartener giggle. "And thank you for staying and helping Mommy instead of going out and having fun with Papa and Denny and Bubble. You didn't have to."

"I know. But I wanted to make Papa happy again. He never is anymore."

"He's trying, honey. It's hard."

"Cause he misses Nana so much? And Mamie?"

"That's right." Kayla explained.

"But you miss 'em too. And you're happy sometimes."

Kayla sighed, trying to form the words to explain something to Samantha she hardly understood herself. "Well, I have you and your brother and your daddy to take care of. That helps me not be so sad. Denny's here with Papa, but he's a grown up. Papa doesn't have to take care of him. I think that's what makes him so sad. Does that make sense?"

"I guess." Samantha said.

"Hey. Something else is going on with you. What is it?"

Samantha took a sudden interest in her feet. Kayla waited patiently, and eventually Samantha revealed her fear.

"You really think this'll make Papa happy again?"

"I think it'll help. Why?"

A few seconds passed before Samantha finally asked sheepishly, "Do you think he'll like me again?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, he always gets mad at me real easy. He'll get mad and then say he's sorry but he'll do it again the next time I see him."

"Has this happened a lot?"

"Yeah. Almost every time I see him."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Papa said sorry." Samantha said. "I didn't want to tattle on him."

"I see." Kayla said. "Has he ever done anything other than yell at you and hurt your feelings?"

"No."

"Good." Kayla said, relieved. "If he ever does, I want you to tell me. Okay? And if he hurts your feelings again, I want you tell me that too. It's not tattling if it keeps happening."

"I will, Mommy."

"And as for whether Papa will like you again? Baby, I know it might not seem like it, but Papa never stopped liking you. Or loving you either for that matter. I promise, Papa loves you very, very much. He always has and he always will."

"But you love me moistest, right? You and Daddy?"

"That's right." Kayla smiled. "Can Mommy have one more kiss before I go make lunch?"

"No. You can have two."

"My goodness, we're so generous today."

Two minutes later, Kayla headed down the hall and to the kitchen to make lunch for her and Samantha. Thirty minutes later, Samantha announced her masterpiece was done, but before Kayla could see it, Sam and Dean were home with Jesse. Samantha begged her mother to let her put Jesse's handprints on the wall, and promised to put all the paint supplies in the bathroom. Once she finished, she came into the living room, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Mommy, can I show him?"

"Honey, I think we should all do it."

"You can come too, but I want to show Papa what we did. Please?"

"Alright. Dad, are you okay with that?"

Sam smiled, which was getting easier and easier to do as the days passed. Sometimes, he even genuinely felt it. "Sure, Sammie. Show me."

"Close your eyes."

"Honey…"

"Close your eyes, Papa." Sammie said. "It's not a good surprise unless you close your eyes. Please?"

"Sam, she won't give up. She's like a certain other little girl who begged to be a lawyer for Halloween so she could surprise you. Remember?"

Sam laughed, something else that was getting a little easier with each day. "How will I see if I close my eyes?" he asked Samantha.

"I'll lead you. I won't let you bump into anything. Promise."

"Alright, sweetheart. Lead the way."

Samantha very carefully lead her grandfather down the hallway, followed by Kayla and Dean, who held an excited Jesse. When she reached the bedroom, Samantha pulled Sam just far enough inside the entrance that everyone else could see the unveiling too.

"Okay, Papa. One, two, three. Surprise!"

Sam opened his eyes and was amazed. Kayla had completely transformed the dusty old room into a colorful, cozy bedroom. There was a single picture on the nightstand of Kayla, Mary, Jess, and Sam, taken the day they'd all moved into the house years earlier. He started to say thank you to Kayla for all her hard work, before he spotted the wall painted by Samantha.

"What's this?"

"I'll show you, Papa." Samantha said. "Come see." Samantha took Sam's hand and led him over to the wall. Sam had to kneel down to see it, and Samantha very proudly explained her work. "These handprints is Bubble's."

"They're beautiful, Jesse. Thank you."

Not quite three and a half year old Jesse, who was shy when it came to compliments, simply smiled and shrank back against his mother.

"This down here" Samantha explained, pointing to some stick figures at the bottom of the wall, "is me and Jesse with Mommy and Daddy, and these here is you and Denny."

"What about up here?" Sam asked.

"Them's Nana and Mamie. Up in heaven." Samantha said proudly.

Sam, struck by the familiar ache he always felt when Jess or Mary was mentioned, found it hard to hold back tears.

"Papa? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's okay, Sammie. It really is, Baby." Sam said. "The picture's beautiful, honey."

"Then why you crying? I made you mad again."

"No, you didn't." Sam said. "You didn't make me mad. Actually, you made me happy."

"I did?"

"You did. See, you reminded me that I still have a lot of people that love me. That's something I forget sometimes."

"I can remind you." Samantha said.

"How about I'll make that your special job?" Sam proposed. "You be the one to remind me when you see I'm feeling sad how much everyone loves me."

"I'll do it, Papa. Promise."

Sam swallowed. "I haven't been very nice to you sometimes, huh?"

"No. But it's okay. I know you really sad."

"That's not a good enough reason. And I'm sorry for that. Really sorry. Okay? I need you to make one more promise to me."

"What is it?"

"When I'm not nice to you like I should be, you tell me. Just tell me like this. 'Papa, I don't think that was very nice.' I'll think about it, and if I agree with you, I'll apologize and do my best not to do it again. Can you do that?"

"I won't get in trouble for that? From you or Mommy?"

"No, honey." Kayla interjected. "No, you wouldn't get in trouble with me for it."

"With me either." Sam promised. "Do we have a deal?"

"Deal, Papa." Samantha said. "High five?"

"How about a hug instead?"

As Sam and Samantha were sealing the deal, Kayla came up with a suggestion. "Dad, it's almost n-a-p-t-i-m-e. Why don't you christen your new room by reading the kids a story so they'll go to s-l-e-e-p?"

"That sounds like a plan." Sam said. "Sammie, why don't you go pick out one story, and let your brother pick one out too."

"Okay! Come on, Bubble!"

When the two kids were out of the room, Sam turned to Kayla. "Thank you. I mean that. Not just for the room, but for everything."

Kayla smiled. "I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm…working on it."

"Kiddo, how about you and me go for a walk? Let your dad take care of the mini yous."

"I don't want to leave them…"

"Go." Sam insisted. "You deserve a break. I've got the kids for a while. Besides, you said it yourself it was their naptime. They'll be asleep soon."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Go."

"Okay. Thank you." Kayla said.

Kayla and Dean's walk turned into a movie. Two hours later, when they got back to the house, there was dead silence. A concerned Kayla headed up to the newly completed bedroom and smiled at what she found.

There were more than ten children's books spread out on top of the bed. Clearly, Samantha and Jesse had begged for more and more stories. Sam was in the middle of the comforter. Samantha slept on his right side, an arm around her Papa's middle, while Jesse slept slightly away from both of them, sucking contentedly on his thumb.

"Hey, you find 'em?"

"Shh. Look." Kayla brought Dean into the room with a finger to her mouth, pointing at the bed.

Dean chuckled. "Well, if that ain't just about picture perfect."

Kayla took a picture on her phone of the three of them, then walked over to the bed and kissed everyone's cheek. "Sleep tight, everyone." On her way out the door, she stopped at her mother and sister's picture and kissed them too. "Miss you guys. Rest in peace."