Author's Note: Ponygirlrunner23, wandamarie, tamilyn313, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, MariaKata, sueturpen, Luvreading67, thank you for leaving reviews, and I'd love to hear from more of you! Also thanks to Edge_of_Clairvoyance and Script Doctor for beta-ing.

There is a Content Warning for spanking in this chapter, if this will bother you, hit the back button and go in peace. I have a question for y'all: do I really need to continue with the content warnings? We all know that I write spankfics, and you know that at some point there will be spankings happening with either hand or implement in some chapters, so...are the warnings necessary? Please let me know if you'd like me to continue with them or not. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Friday morning rolled around, and I was annoyed. My friends were going to go to the football game and then to a party, and I was going to be stuck at home with my family. I was going to be missing out on so much fun!

Dad and I were the only ones awake when I was getting ready for school, and I basically ignored him.

He sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper as I made myself toast.

I wanted to say something snarky about not being allowed to go to the football game, but I didn't want to risk getting scolded or worse. Dad had no qualms about handing out spankings no matter the time of day, and he could be a bear before he had his coffee.

Dad closed the newspaper and folded it, setting it on the table, and picked up the next one from the stack. He turned to look at me-I was standing at the sink eating my toast.

"Why aren't you sitting?" He asked.

"Don't want to bother you." I said shortly.

He frowned. "It's no bother if you sit at the table."

I shoved the last bit of crust in my mouth and brushed my hands off. "I gotta go."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I spent the day feeling envious as I listened to my friends making plans for the evening. When I had told them I wasn't allowed to go to the game, they had commiserated, but had quickly moved on to talking about the party.

At the end of the school day, Jenny and I stood at the back of the hallway where the car riders waited for pickup, away from everyone else, so we could sing. We decided to practice the new piece we had been learning- sometimes we sang in the hallways while walking to class.

"Lady, flow'r of ev'rything," she sang. The tile walls and bare linoleum provided a cool echo effect.

"Rosa sine spina," I sang.

"Thou bare Jesu, Heaven's King," She sang.

"Gratia divina," I sang in response.

Then we sang together: "Of all thou bear'st the prize, Lady, queen of paradise."

At the other end of the hallway, Mrs. Foster called, "Alyson, your ride is here."

Jenny squeezed my arm. "That sounded great!"

I smiled at her. "Yeah, I can't wait to sing it!"

As we started to walk towards the end of the hallway where the students stood, they began to clap. Jenny was blushing and I'm sure I was too as I waved to her and then walked outside.

As usual, the Impala was waiting at the curb. Dean smiled happily at me when I got in the car.

"I know you're pretty bummed about missing out on the game and all this weekend, but we've got plans!"

"What plans?" I asked suspiciously. Oftentimes, their plans meant that they went out somewhere and I got dropped off at someone's house.

"Dad wants to drive over to Bartonsville, and I found a great restaurant there. It's got a gaming area with pool tables and arcade games and stuff, but it's family-friendly, the bar is separated from the main restaurant. We can all go to the gaming area and play some Galaga, how 'bout it?" He bumped my elbow with his. "Think you could beat me at Galaga or Pac-Man?"

"I dunno." I was actually surprised they were including me.

"Hey, c'mon, cheer up, I specifically looked for a place we could all go out to eat, so that you didn't get stuck at home."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dean."

When we got home, Dad was packing a bag with some books and papers.

"Lemme go change and spruce up a little, and we can go." Dean said.

Sam rolled his eyes. "We're just going out to eat."

Dean popped his collar. "Hey, I gotta look my best, you never know when I might meet the right person!"

Sam chuckled. "You looking to get married?"

"I didn't say I wanted to meet Ms. Right, but Ms. Right Now would be nice!"

Sam shook his head as Dean laughed and left the room.

Dad was chuckling and shaking his head.

I took my phone out of my backpack and walked over to hand it to Dad.

"It's been a week, you can be off of grounding for your phone." Dad said.

"Oh." I put my phone in my pocket. "Just in time for me to get texts from my friends about the football game and everything."

Dad and Sam both looked at me with surprise, Dad frowning at me. "Keep that up, and I'll keep your phone for another week. Is that what you want?"

"No." I walked over to the sofa and threw myself down, crossing my arms over my chest. Dad left the room.

Sam came over. "Hey, chill out, would you?" He said quietly. "We're going out tonight, to a nice place with games and stuff."

I sighed. "You're right. I don't know what got into me."

"You just have to push his buttons." Sam shook his head. "I used to do it too. Just- try to think before you speak, all right? That way your mouth won't keep getting your butt in trouble."

~ ~ spn ~ ~

The restaurant had floor to ceiling decorations of all kinds and things even hanging from the light fixtures. The area for eating was the main part, with the family gaming area off to the right side in another room separated by a half-wall. There was also a bar down a short hallway near the back. There was a low hum in the restaurant coming from the many families seated at the tables, and every once in a while there would be a whoop or clapping from the area with the pool tables.

Dean, freshly shaven and smelling of aftershave, flirted shamelessly with the waitress and got us a free basket of garlic knots and dipping sauce.

He took a swig of his beer and glanced around. "Nice decor. I think I'd like to invest in some neon art someday." There were several neon signs as well as decorations like a neon pink flamingo and neon palm trees in the corner.

"Nice if you live in a bar, maybe." Sam retorted.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Dean grinned at him.

We were most of the way through our meal when a man approached the table. He was wearing the standard hunter gear of a plaid shirt, battered boots, and a baseball cap. "Uh-John Winchester?"

Dad looked up at him. "Who's asking?"

The man extended his hand. "Will Sexton- Bobby Singer put us in touch?"

Dad set down his fork and shook the man's hand. "Yes. Let me go out to my truck and get my papers." He stood up, looking at us. "I'm about finished, you don't have to save the rest of my meal. I'm gonna be talking with him over in the bar. Take your time and enjoy it." He took out his wallet and held out some folded bills to me. "For your games."

Dean waved him off. "I got it, Dad."

Dad put the money back in his wallet and then turned to leave, the man following him.

My brothers looked at each other, a mix of emotions washing over their faces.

"Of course he has to turn this into a working dinner. Now we know why he wanted to take his truck." Sam said with annoyance. "You know he's either gonna go off somewhere with the guy or they're going to end up staying here all hours."

Dean shook his head. "I wish he'd introduced us, y'know? We're all supposed to be working together, and he keeps doing this. We already talked to him about including us."

I was surprised because Dean never said anything negative about Dad.

The waitress came over to the table. "How are we all doing?" She smiled at Dean.

"We are doing well, Rosa." Dean smiled back at her.

"Can I take any plates or are you still working on your meals?"

"You can take this one, please." Dean indicated Dad's plate.

She cleared Dad's place. "All righty. Are we ready for dessert?"

"Yeah, I'm always ready for pie." Dean said with a wink. "How about you, Aly?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I can bring those out to you. Any coffee?"

"We'll probably get some more drinks later, we're going to go into the gaming area." Sam said.

"Sounds good. You can have food and drinks there, but you have to keep it at one of the side tables, you can't have anything near the arcade games or the pool tables." Rosa explained.

"Yes ma'am." Dean said.

"I'll be back with your desserts." Rosa smiled again and walked back to the kitchen.

"Are we really going to stay and play games?" I asked.

"Sure, Aly. Me and Sammy might just win something." Dean grinned at Sam.

"You're gonna play pool for money?"

Dean leaned toward me. "Shh! This place looks like you have to do that kind of thing on the down-low, but yeah, there's always someone who wants to put a couple bucks down on a game."

"What am I supposed to do while you guys are playing?"

"You can keep playing the video games."

Rosa brought our desserts- Dean had ordered a slice of cherry pie and I had ordered a piece of lava cake. She had added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each plate and heated Dean's pie. He made a big deal out of it and she walked away with a huge smile on her face. After we ate, we went over to the area with all the games.

Sam touched my shoulder and pointed at the dartboards. "What do you say, Aly, you and me?"

"Um, okay." When I was younger I had enjoyed playing darts and had actually developed a little bit of talent for it. You would think that my aim would have translated into other avenues, but I wasn't good at shooting a gun and I wasn't strong enough to handle a bow. I was nervous around knives and had never really asked Dad to teach me how to throw one.

It took me a couple of games before I hit my stride, but I began to hit the bullseye more often than not.

"Go, Aly!" Dean clapped as I sent another dart into the bullseye. "Sammy, she's kicking your ass!"

I won the third game in a row. "Great job, Alybug!" Sam hugged me, lifting me off of the ground.

"Thanks!" I said happily as he set me down. "I think I'm done for now."

Dean came up to us, pulling me in for a hug. "You did awesome, babygirl!"

"Thanks, Dean." I smiled at him.

A balding man holding a bottle of beer came over. "Ya know, you got a real talent, missy, you should think about goin' on the professional circuit!"

Dean chuckled. "Well, seeing as how she's a teenager, I don't think that's possible."

"Yeah, her job right now is school." Sam put his hand on my head.

"Well, you were great!" The man raised his bottle in a salute and took a drink, then wandered away as we said thank you.

Dean looked at me. "Are you up for Galaga now?"

"Yeah, I could go for that!"

We played Asteroids and Galaga and of course, he beat me at both.

I turned to him when my last spaceship blew up. "I'm done, I'm just not good at these."

"Okay." Dean still had a couple more rounds to play, so I stood and watched him.

When he finished, he put his arm around my neck and pulled me in to kiss my forehead. "You did a good job even if you didn't win."

"Thanks, Dean, but you're much better than me." I told him as we walked over to Sam.

I went to the restroom, which was off of the same hallway that led to the bar. I peeked into the open doorway of the bar, trying to spot Dad. He and the other hunter were in a booth in the far corner, deep in conversation. I could see papers and books spread out on the table between him and the other guy.

"Can I help you?" A broad-shouldered, tattooed man filled the doorway.

"Uh, no, thank you." I replied, and hurried back to the other room.

My brothers had ordered me a Coke and a plate of loaded nachos. They were going to play pool, so I sat at a table off to the side and ate while they played. Dean, of course, had to show off, and soon a small crowd had gathered. A couple of people were standing nearby, and I could overhear what they were saying.

"The one in the blue and green plaid is a knockout, he looks like a model; I'm rooting for him!" Said a tall woman with short blonde hair.

"Nah, he's too cocky. Arrogance like that is a big turn off for me. I'll take the other guy, did you see how big his hands are? Can you imagine-" her companion leaned over and whispered something, and the blonde woman sucked in her breath. "Ooohh, yeah! I like that!" She laughed.

I shuddered, hoping I didn't have to listen to much more of this.

A short time later, I stood on the edge of the crowd as Dean sank the last ball. Everyone clapped and cheered. Dean gave Sam a high-five and clapped him on the back, and a couple of men came over and gave them high-fives or fist bumps. The blonde lady I had overheard earlier walked up to Dean.

"I'd say a win like that deserves a reward, can I buy you a drink?" She tilted her head and smiled at him.

"Winning does make a guy thirsty, lead the way!" Dean gave her a mega-watt smile.

I threaded through the other people who were around Sam, and touched his arm. "Are you guys going to play again?"

"No thanks, I'm done for the night." Sam was saying as someone held up a pitcher of beer to him. He looked at me. "How you holding up?"

"Can we go soon?" I asked.

"Sure, let me find Dean, I think he might want to stay."

"Are we supposed to sit around and wait for him while he flirts and gets drunk?" I complained.

"No, we can check if he can get a ride with Dad. Let me go talk to him." Sam went over to the bar and I walked back over to our table.

In a few minutes, Sam was back, holding Dean's keys. "C'mon, I'll take you home. Dean'll get a ride home with Dad, he's gonna go over to the bar."

There was a crowd of mostly men around Dean now, clapping him on the back and talking about the game. The woman who had bought him a drink was hanging on to his arm, so I didn't try to say goodbye to him.

Sam let me turn on the radio and find a station that I liked on the ride home. He wasn't as picky about the music that played while he drove.

"I know you didn't get to go out with your friends, but did you have fun tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did." I admitted. I had been a little bored while my brothers played pool but I had had fun when I played with them.

"You should really practice darts some more, you've got a good eye. In fact, I wonder if we should try and train you to do some other stuff now." Sam looked at me speculatively.

"Uhh...like what?" Thinking about handling most weapons made me nervous.

"Well, you're big enough now to handle a gun. And with your eye, you might be good with knives."

"I don't know, Sam." I twisted my hands together, remembering the times in the past that Dad had tried to teach me about weapons, and how I had failed at everything. "Dad already tried and I pretty much couldn't do anything, remember?" The memory of seeing the flash of disappointment in his eyes made me cringe with shame.

"But you were younger, you know? You were scared of everything, and you're not like that anymore. I think you could handle it." He said with confidence.

"Um...I don't know."

He reached over to shove my shoulder. "Don't keep saying that! I'll talk to Dad about it, see what he thinks, okay?" He glanced over his shoulder and turned the wheel, then looked at me. "Plus, if you start weapons training, Dad will start looking at you as more grown up, you know?"

"Only if I succeed." I said sourly. "You didn't see the disappointment on his face every time I screwed up."

"I think you will succeed." He said firmly. "You're a Winchester."

Sam and I passed the rest of the evening sitting on opposite ends of the couch, reading together. By the time I went to bed, Dad and Dean still weren't home.

~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dad was at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee and a stack of folders when I got up. It didn't matter how little sleep he got, he was always up at the crack of dawn and he had rarely ever slept in.

He glanced up from his papers. "Have fun last night?"

I went over to the cabinet to get out a bowl and spoon. "Yeah, I did." I poured myself some cereal and milk and went to sit down across from him. "Did you?"

"Did I what?" He took a sip of his coffee.

"Have fun?"

He huffed a short laugh. "Wouldn't call it fun, but I was successful in what I set out to do."

We both heard the front door open, and Dad looked at me with a frown.

"Who is that?" I asked as he got up quickly and hurried into the living room. I didn't get up until I heard Dean say, "Hey, Dad."

I went into the living room. Dean was standing by the door, his shirt untucked, hair disheveled. I hadn't even realized that he hadn't come home last night!

"Late night?" Dad asked dryly.

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that." He started to remove his jacket and grimaced. "Guess my shoulder wasn't as healed as I thought it was, I think I strained it last night during the games, and then later...well, let's just say I wasn't as careful with it as I should've been. Where's the med kit?" He went into the kitchen, Dad and I following him.

"Dean, if you knew your shoulder wasn't doing well you should have stopped and rested it." Dad said sternly.

Dean had gotten the med kit out of the cabinet and was looking at various bottles. "Couldn't break my stride, could I? I won upwards of three hundred bucks!"

"You're still healing, you shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard." Dad said.

"Ah, here it is!" Dean popped the top off of a bottle and shook out a couple of pills.

"That's supposed to be for serious injuries!" Dad snapped.

Dean grabbed a mug out of the cabinet, poured himself some coffee, and tossed the pills into his mouth. He took a couple of swallows and set the mug into the sink. "I just need to take the edge off, my shoulder was killing me all night."

Dad stepped up to Dean, his jaw set. His voice was hard when he spoke. "You're not being responsible, Dean. You need to make sure your injuries heal properly so that you're in good shape for the next hunt. I'm trusting that you're going to do the right thing but I'll bench you if I have to."

Dean dropped his eyes for a moment- no one could withstand The Winchester Glare when it was coming from John Winchester. "Okay, Dad, I hear you. Gonna go take a shower." He glanced at me and then left the room.

Dad sat down at the table, muttering, "He needs to take this more seriously."

I sat down and quickly ate my now-soggy cereal. Dad was grumpy now and I didn't want him turning that mood on me, so I left the kitchen as soon as I had washed my bowl and spoon.

The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully- Dad was up to his elbows in research, with Sam helping him. Dean rested on the sofa, alternating putting ice and heat on his shoulder and watching TV. He took me grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon so I could buy food for the week. That night, I made baked ziti with meat sauce for dinner, with a loaf of crusty Italian bread that I heated in the oven and Italian green beans. Dad loved burgers as much as Dean but he had a weak spot for pasta.

We were in the middle of eating when Sam said, "So, Dad, I wanted to tell you, Aly did a really good job when we were playing darts. Might be time to look at getting her some weapons training."

"Playing darts is a lot different than shooting a gun." Dad said.

"Yes, but she's got a good eye for darts, maybe we can translate that into a type of weapon." Sam said reasonably.

"She doesn't need to handle weapons." Dad took a bite of bread.

"But she is getting older, she should at least know how to handle a pistol and maybe a short knife, you know? Even if she doesn't go hunting, it's just basic defense skills." Dean chimed in.

"I'll think about it." Dad said.

No better time to ask than now, I thought to myself. "Um...did you think about something else yet?" I asked timidly. Dad looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. "You know, the field trip?"

"What field trip?"

I barely stopped myself from huffing in time. "The one I asked you about- the choir going to the elementary school this week?"

"How are you getting there?"

"Ms. Brown will drive us over in one of the school vans."

Dad shook his head. "No, I don't want you going."

"But Dad! Why not? I-"

He held his hand up, palm out. "I'm going to stop you there, Alyson. I don't have to give you a reason for anything."

"That's not fair!" I threw my fork down on the table.

"Don't. Start." Dad's voice was like stone now.

"You never tell me anything, you just say 'No, because I said so, you don't need to know'." I lowered my voice in imitation of his gruff tone and saw a quick grin flit across Dean's face. "Shouldn't I-"

Dad interrupted me. "And this is precisely the reason why I don't tell you things, because you fuss about things not being fair and you throw a fit."

"I'm not throwing a fit!" I exclaimed. Anger overtook me just then. "This is SO not fa- you want to see a fit? Fine, I'll show you a fit!" I swept my plate onto the floor, the dish crashing loudly against the linoleum, and threw my half-eaten bread across the room. Then I stood up and leaned over, shoving the casserole dish toward the opposite edge of the table. Dean caught it, looking up at me with shock on his face.

"ALYSON!" Dad shouted. "That is ENOUGH!" He stood up, grabbing my arm and pulling me over to his chair. He bent me over the back of the chair and held me there as his hand began to fall on my butt. I was shocked, but it quickly wore off as the pain built in my rear. "Ow! Dad, stop!" I cried out as my eyes filled with tears.

I tried to push up on the seat of the chair but I was no match for his strength, his hand pressing on my lower back keeping me in place. I didn't dare look up to see my brothers' faces. I shrieked as Dad's hand continued to pepper my rear end with stinging smacks, tears starting to pour down my cheeks.

Finally Dad stopped spanking and let me up. "GO TO YOUR ROOM AND GO STRAIGHT TO BED!" He roared, and I ran, practically blinded by tears.

I threw myself down on my bed, sobbing. I hated this! Why didn't he ever tell me anything or talk to me about any of it? This was unfair, this whole thing was unfair, being in a hunting family sucked! Everything sucked! I punched the pillow.

All of a sudden, Sam telling me,"You've got to convince Dad that you can handle anything he tells you, and he's not going to share anything if he still feels like you're a little kid." went through my head, and just like that, my anger fizzled out. Oh God, I had basically thrown a tantrum, and Dad had spanked me right there in the kitchen, in front of my brothers, like I was a bratty little kid. I couldn't remember the last time he had spanked me in front of them. Embarrassment rose up in me like a wave and I started to cry again. Why was I so immature? What the hell had gotten into me? I was never going to be able to face them again!

I got up to go to the bathroom, and while I was in the hallway I could hear them talking. I heard Sam say, "-just think you could approach things a little differently-" as I went into the bathroom.

I blew my nose and splashed water on my face after I washed my hands, then I went back to my room. I changed into my pajamas, wincing as I pulled my jeans down. The spanking had been quick, but Dad's heavy hand had left my rear end throbbing and sore. I climbed into bed and curled up under the covers, tears coming to my eyes again.

I was almost asleep when I heard a tap on my door. I pulled the covers over my head as I heard the door open.

"Aly?" Sam asked.

"Go away," I whimpered.

"I just wanted to check on you...see how you were feeling." Sam said quietly. I heard footsteps and then the end of the bed sunk down.

"What do you want me to say? You were right, I'm a brat and I'm immature and Dad's never going to see me as anything other than a little kid." I said bitterly.

I heard him sigh. "No one thinks you're a brat. Hey, can you look at me?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because- because I'm embarrassed! I acted like an idiot and threw a fit and then Dad spanked me in front of you guys!"

He gave a small chuckle. "We've all had our share of getting walloped by Dad in front of other people...one time when Dad was training us, we were with some other hunters at this cabin, supposed to be practicing shooting, but Dean and I were bickering over the guns. Dad got fed up because we wouldn't stop and he swatted us both in front of the other men, and then ended up spanking me right then and there because I just couldn't quit running my mouth."

"I don't remember that."

"I think you were staying with Bobby. The point is, we've all had times of being embarrassed when we ended up getting punished in front of others. Dean and I don't care, we've seen you get spanked before, it's not a big deal."

"I care!" I said hotly. "I just don't- I got so mad, and then I just-it was like the anger got ahead of me."

"I know what you mean. When I was a teenager, I felt angry all the time, and when I'd argue with Dad, it was like I couldn't stop. I didn't want to back down for anything, even though I knew it meant that I was going to end up with a sore ass."

"I remember you and Dad arguing a lot and you getting spanked. How did you stop?"

"Well, I guess...Dad started using the hairbrush, and piling on other punishments like copying lore books and cleaning the guns and stuff...why do you think I know so much about all the creatures that we hunt?"

I pulled the covers off of my head and peeked at him. "Wait, you-you got the brush too? I don't remember that!"

He looked chagrined. "You weren't always around, or Dean would take you to the playground or a walk."

"I thought I was the only one who got spanked with that stupid hairbrush." I said sourly.

He shook his head. "Nope, that thing's been around since Dean and I were kids, and he got it quite a bit when we were younger."

"He did?" I was shocked.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, his trademark sass wasn't looked on favorably. His mouth got him in trouble quite a lot back then." He put his hand on my ankle. "So you don't need to be embarrassed by getting punished in front of Dean and me."

I covered my head again. "But the rest of it…"

He pulled on my leg. "Look, another thing that helped when I was so pissed off when I was younger was that Dean and Bobby talked to me about things. It helped to get an outside perspective, maybe if you talked to Bobby?"

"What advice is a grumpy old hunter going to give a teenage girl?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, remember, he wasn't always a hunter either. He was married and all before he became a hunter. He's got a good ear for listening, you know."

"Yeah, he does." I said. There had been times in the past when I'd stayed with him, times when I was angry about Dad leaving me a lot, and Uncle Bobby had listened to me complain and made me feel better about things. "I don't know…"

"We all have our moments where we get mad and do or say things we regret later. You can apologize tomorrow and it'll be clean slate."

"Yeah, okay…"

I felt the bed shift again as Sam got up and came over. He put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, give me a hug."

I pushed the covers off and sat up, putting my arms around him. He hugged me and then tousled my hair after we let go. "Get a good night's sleep, things will look different in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Sam."

"I accept your apology. It'll be okay."

"Good night, love you, Sammy." I scooted back down under the covers and he pulled them up and tucked me in.

"Good night, love you back, Alybug."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dad was standing at the counter when I came into the kitchen the next morning.

I stood awkwardly in the doorway, staring at the floor. "Dad, I-I'm sorry for last night. I'm sorry I got mad and yelled and-" I closed my eyes briefly in a moment of shame. "Threw a fit."

"All right, Alyson." He set the mug he was holding on the counter and beckoned me. "Come here."

I walked over to him slowly, unable to gauge his mood. He pulled me in for a hug. "Thank you for apologizing." He said gruffly.

"Are you-do you hate me?" I blurted out, tears filling my eyes.

"What? No!" He pulled back, taking my chin in his hand and lifting my head. "Look at me."

I tried to blink the tears away, forcing myself to look him in the eyes as the tears spilled over.

He smiled at me, and his voice was gentle. "I don't hate you, I could never hate you, you're my daughter, and I will always love you. I-I'm sorry I lost my temper with you, I should have taken a moment to cool down." He wiped my damp cheek with his thumb.

"I-I thought you were still mad at me." I whispered.

He shook his head. "I should've checked in with you later, I'm sorry I didn't. I thought-" He grimaced. "I figured that you were probably really angry with me, and I didn't-I knew I messed up."

Dad rarely apologized for things, much less admitted that he had made a mistake. This was huge! I wondered if my brothers had talked to him and that was what made him apologize.

He brushed my hair back from my face. "I'm not upset with you, clean slate, all right?" He pulled me in for another hug. I slid my arms around him and buried my face in his shirt, feeling relieved. Snuggling into Dad's broad flannel chest always made me feel comforted. "I don't always- I know I don't always say or do the right things with you, it's just, having a teenage daughter is-well, your brothers were very different. And I'm still getting used to you being a teen." He put his hand on the back of my head.

Maybe Sam had talked to him about not thinking of me like a child anymore. Maybe he'd treat me differently now, maybe he'd change his mind about things? "Thanks, Dad...um...is there any chance of you changing your mind about the field trip?"

"No, Alyson. My decisions are final, and there are considerations that I can't always share with you. Do you understand?" I stiffened in his arms. He let me go and I stepped back. "You need to work on keeping those emotions in check."

"Yeah, I do." I sighed.

He picked up his mug and took a sip. "If you want me to talk to you about hunting and explain what's happening, then you're going to have to show me a certain level of maturity."

That hurt a little, but I didn't show it. "Okay." I made myself some toast, and he left the room while I was eating it. I sighed, thinking about my friends in the choir getting to go to the elementary school and sing without me. It sucked that my family was so protective of me.

When I went into the living room to grab my backpack, I saw Dad's journal balanced on top of a stack of loose papers. On impulse, I leaned down and looked at the first couple of papers. One of them said, "Blueprint Requisition Form" at the top, and at the bottom I saw Dad's signature written as "Dr. J. Winchester". I made a decision just then-I was going to do this! I grabbed the form, hastily folded it and shoved it in my pocket, then hurried out the door to the bus stop. While I was waiting I took the paper out, unfolding it and looking at his name. I could copy his signature, I could take the h and n from his last name and use them to recreate his first name, and an o shouldn't be that hard to write, right? I was going to go on the field trip, whether Dad said I could or not. I just had to practice writing his signature.