Thank you so much Kathy, Secretwrittenword, Blue Diamunds, Leann Nickerson and Long Live BRUCAS for the feedback! You all are the best!

Leann, I wanted to give John a chance to show how much he's changed but your absolutely right about hospitals allowing parents to stay with small children. At least the hospitals in my area do...I'm assuming that would be the norm though.

Okay so this isn't a very long chapter but John does get some closure oh and just some Dean being so cute...you'll probable get a toothache *grin*.

Thank you again everyone for all the support!

Enjoy!

Val

Chapter 8

John grunted as he knelt next to the bathtub. It had been almost two month since the accident that made him reevaluate his priorities.

Rufus had been true to his words. Between him, Bobby, Caleb and Jim they tracked Yellow Eyes down and finally two nights ago John got the faithful phone call from his friend Jim telling him that it was finally over.

He still didn't know how he felt about the news. He wanted to feel like he was free from all the anger that had driven him all these years and he did feel a good part of it lifted but not completely.

Maybe Sam was right, it was more important for him to be the one to have put the bullet into the demon instead of stopping him from hurting or killing other innocent people.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Dean splashed him with a giggle. "Oh you think you're funny Little Man?" He said with a chuckle.

"Daddy need washie!" Dean said with a wide grin.

"Daddy washes up in the shower," John told the child. It amused him that he was missing Dean calling him Dada but last week Sammy spent a good part of an afternoon getting him to say Daddy instead.

Sam had taken to teaching his brother as much as possible and the toddler was able to count to ten with some prompting and liked to sing the alphabet song ever though he skip most of the letters much to Sam's chagrin.

Part of him wanted to tell Sam to slow down. They had agreed to give Dean the childhood he had robbed him of yet Sam was intent in cramming as much learning as possible when he realized how clever Dean was.

He choked when he walked into the bathroom the day before and saw some weird step stool with a child size toilet seat attached at the top.. He told Sam he was still a little young but the other Winchester insisted they try and if he was honest with himself he wouldn't mind not having to change diapers anymore either.

Who was he kidding though he was falling more in love with taking care of little Dean every day. A realization that hit him hard when as badly as he wanted in on taking out Yellow Eyes that he wasn't feeling the urge to hunt otherwise like normal.

Maybe his age was finally catching up with him. Maybe it was the realization that this was his last chance to be a Daddy to one of his boys. Maybe it was the way Sam smiled when he watched him with his now baby brother.

Who knew baby Dean could do something that big Dean had been striving to do for the past twenty years…he succeeded in bringing John and Sam together.

They were closing in on month three of the spell that had turned his oldest into a toddler again and he was wishing there were a way to slow down time now that he had fully embraced the situation.

"Alright Bud, enough playing. We need to wash the mud off that you thought was fun to play in." John told Dean as he soaped up a wash cloth.

"Okay Daddy," Dean said as he let the boat he was playing with drop into the water and held his hand up for the wash cloth.

John looked at his muddy child, "I think Daddy should help, you're pretty dirty Dean."

Dean pouted at his father and said, "Daddy me big boy. Me do."

John sighed, "Dean behave or you're going to find yourself standing in the corner when we're done here."

Dean huffed at his father but the threat of corner time was enough for him to give in. Sammy made him stand in the corner twice yesterday for being naughty and he didn't like it one bit.

John made quick work of cleaning his son. When he got to Dean's feet he tickled the toddler toes and earned several high pitch giggles from the pouting child.

"Daddy stop!" Dean gasped in between giggles.

John smirked down at his son, "stop what Little Man." He began tickling Dean's sides. "Stop this?"

Dean's laughter filled the bathroom and John quickly reached over and grabbed the baby shampoo and put a dab in his hand and began washing Dean's hair while he was still laughing.

"Dean close your eyes," John told him as he lifted the hose to rinse him.

Soon John finish the bath and had a towel clad Dean standing next to him. He fought the urge to laugh at his formally six foot son standing wrapped in a hooded towel that Caleb had gotten him with a shark fine on the hood.

He did laugh when Sammy came into the room and prompted Dean to tell Daddy what a shark says and the little boy began doing the theme from Jaws.

"You're nothing but a performing monkey for Sam and Caleb," he said with a shake of his head as he dried Dean and quickly helped him into a pair of pull ups and clean onesie.

"Bobby called," Sam said as he picked Dean up when he ran over to him. "They'll be here in time for dinner."

"Good," John replied as he pulled the plug to empty the tub.

"Dad, I'll clean up in here."

"Thanks," John said as he stood up and winced at the way his knees creaked.

"There's a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove with meatballs and sausage. I'll cook the pasta when they get here."

"Sounds good," John nodded his head in approval. "Come on Dean…time for your nap."

Dean went over and grabbed Wolfie from the little stool he was perched on before holding his hand out for his father to take.

Sam watched his father lead Dean out of the room before getting to work of tiding up the bathroom. When he was done he headed towards the bedroom he shared with his father and brother and smiled when he found his father passed out on his bed with Dean sitting on top of him playing quietly with his stuff dog.

"Me…Daddy napping," the toddler told his clearly amused brother.

"Looks to me like Dad's napping and you're playing," Sam said as he crossed the room, picking up the throw blanket in the crib. "Come on Dean. Lay down next to Dad."

Sam tucked his brother in and waited until his eyes began to slowly closed as his busy morning caught up with him.

He watched his father and brother sleep for a few seconds before grabbing the laundry basket and head out of the room. Stopping by the bathroom to grab Dean's muddy clothes and towel.

He spent the next two hours doing the laundry and cleaning the first floor. He didn't want Jim to come home to a disaster area. Between Dean and Artie they kept Sam jumping.

Once he was done he sat down with a mug of coffee and his laptop. He looked down when he felt a head nudging his leg.

"Let me guess it's time for a walk," he said to Artie as he stood up. "Go fetch your leash," he told the dog as he went over and turned the stove off before writing a quick note on the whiteboard on the fridge for his father.

He snapped the leash on the dog and grabbed his keys. He opened the door and let the dog cross over before laying down a thick layer of salt and stepping over it. Sam carefully shut the door and locked it behind him.

"Come on Artie," he said to the dog as he jogged down the stairs. Three months ago he couldn't imagine staying with his Dad without working on a hunt let alone living with him raising his de-aged brother.

Then two nights ago so much changed for the Winchester men. Pastor Jim called to tell them that Caleb had taken the kill shot using the Colt and that Yellow Eyes was dead and that John's quest was finally over.

He knew it didn't end the way his father had always envisioned and he also knew how hard it was for the older man to accept sitting on the sidelines but watching his former adult son de-aged to a toddler and then to see that toddler lying unconscious after a bad fall was like a switch was flipped and he knew that Dean needed him to take a knee and care for him like he would have the first time Dean was two.

But still he knew it wasn't easy for the older man and Sam had caught his father later that night cradling a sleeping Dean in his arms. His father's back was to the door and he hadn't heard Sam coming out of the bathroom.

He had stood still as he listened to John telling a sleeping Dean that it was finally over. That the bastard who killed his Mom was gone. Sam started to walk over to his father but he stopped and backed out of the room when he heard his father's first sob as he cradled his brother.

The last two days hadn't been easy for either men but today he watched his father smiled as Dean found a mud puddle and the child entertain himself playing with his army men.

It was the look in his father's eyes that stopped him short. It was a look he had never seen before in his father's eyes. He was used to the wariness he would see in his father's eyes but watching the older man with his brother in that moment he had a look of utter joy in his eyes and Sam couldn't help wondering if his father had ever looked at him that way.

As quickly as that thought entered his mind Sam pushed it away. He knew his father was putting Dean first just as much for him as he was for Dean. Who knew co-parenting his former big brother with his father would bring them closer together.

TBC