Show me how to make a fist," Caleb instructed one afternoon.
Dean had proved to be a natural at shooting off the guns, so Caleb had, hesitantly, moved on to harder, hand-to-hand combat.
"Like this?" Dean asked, making his best approximation of a fist as he showed Caleb.
"Close," Caleb assured him, when he saw his face fall slightly. "Here, let me show you."
Gently gripping Dean's hand, he angled his wrist down into the proper position. It was hard enough to perfect the positions on yourself, but when he was teaching a child, it made it all that much harder.
"Like this?" Dean asked, looking up at him for his approval.
"Good. Now, punch the bag and show me what you can do."
This was Dean's favorite part of the afternoon-he loved whaling on the punching bag in the basement. It released all of his built up anger, and gave him an outlet for when he was frustrated.
After a few minutes of watching Dean punch the bag, Caleb moved in front of him. Dean immediately backed off like he had been taught.
"How did I do?"
Caleb smiled. "Excellent job, dude."
Dean simply beamed with pride the way he did whenever one of the adults offered him a compliment or gave him an important task. "What's next?"
"You want to work on your aim with the gun?"
"Sure."
The boys loved it when the guys took time off work to indulge them in some activities. The Church Jim was working at, was offering a family day that Sunday, complete with a petting zoo and face painting games.
"Do you want to ride the horse?" Caleb asked, looking at Dean.
"That's for babies," Dean said, wrinkling his nose. "Maybe Sammy does, though."
In Caleb's arms, Sam nodded.
It was a nice change from their usual, scheduled routine. It was nice to see the boys interact with kids their own age, and see them enjoy regular games and fun.
"Can I have a clown face?" Dean asked,
"Sure, bud," Caleb said, walking over to the face painting station with him. "You have to hold still, though."
"I know," Dean said, with a roll of his eyes.
Once the artist was done with his work, he spun Dean around to face his family. Sam, not knowing that it was his brother, immediately let out a wail, while Caleb chuckled at Dean's drastically altered appearance.
"Sammy," Dean said, looking startled at his brother's reaction. "It's me." Reaching out, he tickled his brother's neck, something that he always did to tease Sam.
That seemed to appease Sam, who's tears calmed down a little.
"What do you think Sam would like to do?" Caleb asked.
"He likes animals," Dean said, "maybe he'd like to pet the goats?"
It was worth a shot-carrying him over to the animal pen, Caleb leaned foreword, allowing Sam the chance to reach inside and pet one of the animals.
Giggling, Sam reached inside and gently pet the eager animals.
"That's my goat!" Sam announced, perhaps getting a little too carried away, as he gripped the goat's fur.
Caleb smiled, trying to gently extricate Sam's hand from its rough hold. "You have to be gentle, Sam. Okay?"
Sam nodded seriously. "Okay."
"What are you guys doing?" Jim asked, appearing for the first time that afternoon.
"Petting the animals," Dean said, "Sammy likes them."
"I see that. Do you think he'll turn into one?"
"Yes," Dean said with a laugh. "He looks like one, anyway."