Woohoo I'm finally back! Thank you so much Leann Nickerson, Long Live BRUCAS, Kathy, Allison and Blondie 20000 for all your support and feedback on this story.

LOL Long Live BRUCAS the car will come into the story again but don't worry it won't prompt the blessing to end quicker.

Awww thank you Allison! Yes, we all need to stay hydrated and healthy! I just got my booster shot and my regular flu shot. I've already had Covid once and I certainly don't want it again or see anyone else get it. So, everyone please take care!

Hehe well you heard of Christmas in July...how does 4th of July in December sound. Yup the Winchesters celebrate the 4th.

Thank you and I hope people enjoy!

Val

Chapter 18

Sam smiled as felt Dean climb up onto his bed, "hey Buddy."

"Sammy," his brother shouted happily as he jumped on top of him.

Sam laughed as he grabbed Dean around the waist and pulled him down to tickle him. "You excited to go to work with Dad today?"

"I go work with Daddy and help fix cars?" Dean asked as he snuggled down as Sam kissed the top of his head.

"Yup you've got a busy day ahead of you. How about we go get ready?"

"Okay!" Dean shouted as he wiggled away from Sam and slid off the bed and ran out the door and down the hall to the bathroom to get ready for his big day.

SPNSPNSPN

"Was that Dean making all that noise?" Caleb asked as he wandered into the kitchen where John was pulling out eggs and milk.

John eyed the younger hunter. He had rolled into town yesterday afternoon and had convinced Sam to ask the girls they had gone out with at Christmas time to go pub hopping last night.

"You reek," John said as he placed a mug of coffee in front of the other man.

Caleb flashed him a grin that said 'I know…you want to hear the gory details, but the grin quickly turned into a grimace when John slammed a cast iron frying pan on the stove and asked how he wanted his eggs.

"Scrambled," Caleb said around a yawn before asking, "are they delivering that 57' Bel Air today?"

"Finally. I'm expecting most of the parts to be delivered next Wednesday so that I can begin working on it." He explained.

Caleb nodded his head, "so you don't have much going on until then, right?"

"Not really, why you are looking for some work?"

"Well, you know that the 4th of July is Thursday. Talked to Sammy last night and he said he's off from Wednesday until Monday…we were thinking we should take advantage of the long weekend and take off. Mrs. Riley's daughter and son-in-law have a cabin on Lura Lake and they offered it to Jim for the holiday weekend. Said there was plenty of room and extended the offer to us." He said as he watched John's reaction.

"You and Sam want to go away for the weekend huh?" John said as he poured the eggs he finished whisking into the skillet.

"We only have a little over a month left John, let's make the most of it for him," Caleb reasoned before continuing. "Bobby and Rufus said they could make it…maybe we could teach the little bugger how to fish."

John nodded his head slightly as he dished up a couple of plates of eggs and placed one in front of Caleb, "and I suppose Sam thinks we should go too." He said gruffly.

Caleb narrowed his eyes as he caught the faint smile on the older man's face, "Jim already talked to you didn't he."

"We're leaving Wednesday morning," John said with a chuckle.

"You're an ass," Caleb mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. He winced slightly as he heard a door above slam shut before the sound of little running feet and Sam shouting for Dean to slow down.

A few seconds later the Winchester brothers came into the kitchen and John chuckled as he took in the sight of his sons. Sam had managed to find a toddler size pair of coveralls that matched the ones he had for the shop. He had even taken one of the iron-on Winchester and Sons patches and added it to the suit.

John shook his head in amusement as the littlest Winchester who stood next to Sam bouncing in excitement as he exclaimed, "Daddy I ready for work!""

SPNSPNSPN

John watched as Dean and Artie ran around on the front lawn of the cabin. It was quite the change for the hunters who were all use to shacking up in run down cabins with broken furniture and dubious running water.

"Here you go Dad," Sam said as he passed his father an open beer.

Bobby and Rufus had pulled in an hour ago and Caleb was currently manning the barbecue, cooking the hamburgers and hotdogs they had picked up earlier.

Sam looked over at his father as he sat back with eyes closed. "So tomorrow I was thinking we could get a couple of hours in fishing and then later we could head over to Mapleton. Jim said the parish is having a fair with some amusement park rides and then later they're gonna have fireworks."

John opened one eye to look at his son, "I got a better idea. Why don't we get a couple of hours fishing in tomorrow and then you take your brother into Mapleton?"

"Don't you want to go?" Sam asked a little surprised.

"I thought you might want to spend a little one on one time with him at the fair…maybe show off your shooting skills for Deano…win him some toys," John said as he sat up straight.

Sam stared at his father slightly in shock, "I…I would love that." He finally said. Somewhere since this had all began Sam had taken on the teacher role while his father was obviously the parent and had stepped back into the role of caregiver easily, but he was also Dean's best buddy.

A part of Sam was embarrassed that he was jealous of the bond between his father and this Dean. Sure, Dean went to Sam, and they had fun, but he knew that if he had to choose this version of Dean would go to their father first where the Dean, he grew up with was 'his Dean'. Him and his brother were inseparable as children, but he didn't have that connection with this Dean.

"Daddy!" Dean cried as he ran up to the porch with a dandelion. "Watch Daddy!" He exclaimed as the little boy pursed his lips together and blew.

John laughed and said diligently, "wow."

Dean grinned at his father before holding his finger up in the universal 'shhh' as he snuck over to where Bobby and Rufus were talking. He watched as both men pretended not to see or hear the child before he raised his other chubby hand clutching several flowers that he proceeded to blow into their faces.

Bobby and Rufus put on a show of being surprised as Dean ran back to his father and brother and giggled, "I got Uncle Bobby and Uncle Rufus!"

"You sure did Squirt," Sam said as he and lifted a still laughing toddler up and plopped him down on his lap. "Hey, would you like to go to a fair tomorrow?"

"What a fair?" Dean asked as he tilted his face up to look at his brother.

Sam smiled as he said, "oh a fair is awesome. They have popcorn, ice cream, fun rides and games."

Dean eyes practically popped out of his head as he said, "I wanna go to fair!"

Sam chuckled, "Okay, then we'll go tomorrow afternoon."

Dean squirmed around and look at his father, "Daddy we going to fair!"

"I heard," John told him as he stood up and ruffled his hair. "I think dinner is almost ready, let's go wash our hands Ace."

"Daddy…I have hot dog?"

"Yup, Caleb cooked hot dogs and hamburgers," John told him as they headed inside to get ready for dinner.

SPNSPNSPN

Dean yawn as he sat in the chair, holding the fishing pole his Daddy had handed him and told him now he had to wait for a nibble.

"Daddy when fishies nibble?"

"It might be a while," he told him.

"How long while?"

John looked down at Dean, "I don't know. When it happens, it happens."

Dean sighed as he looked over at his brother, "Sammy we go fair now please?"

"It's not open yet; we'll go in a while." Sam said as he covered his mouth as he yawned.

Dean turned back to his father, "Daddy is while over, please?"

The other men chuckled as John shook his head, "Dean trust me, you just need to be patient and quiet, so you don't scare the fish away."

"Why?" the little boy asked.

"Because that's what fishing is," John told him. "Now be a big boy and be patient."

Dean nodded his head solemnly as he looked at the lake. He was a big boy now and he could be patient like Daddy told him.

John sat back smugly as the other men rolled their eyes since they had argued that Dean was too little to fish. John smugness faded quickly when a certain little boy asked, "Daddy how long is pachant?"

SPNSPNSPN

Sam grinned as he stood next to Dean who laughed happily as he sat on the horse that was currently going up and down on the carousel.

The ride slowly came to a stop and Sam lifted his brother off his horse and placed him on the floor next to him before guiding him off the ride.

"So, what do you want to do next? Sam asked his brother. Dean's little head turned around in wonderment as he looked at the sights around him before they landed on the largest item at the fair.

"Can we do that Sammy? Please!" He asked as he pointed to the Ferris wheel.

"Sure, let's go." Sam agreed as he reached down and took Dean's hand in his.

SPNSPNSPN

"And we went up to sky Daddy!" Dean told his father excitedly as they sat on the blanket in the park.

John and the others had joined the brothers for a supper at the local diner in town before heading over to scope out a spot in the town park to watch the fireworks.

"You went that high?" John asked as he accepted the beer Rufus handed him from their cooler.

"Un-hun! And then I went on the swings and went round real fast!"

"Sounds like you and Sammy had fun," John said.

"Sammy bestest at game and win me froggie!" He gushed as he held the stuffed animal.

"Wow," John said as Dean climbed onto his lap and yawned. He gently rocked his son as he rested his head on on chest. He wasn't surprised when he heard the toddler yawn again.

Soon the day caught up with Dean and John heard him snoring softly. "Here John, let's put him on the blanket to nap before the fireworks." Jim suggested as he reached down to lift the child and settled him on the blanket.

"Somebody conked out," Caleb said as him and Sam strolled up to them. The younger hunters had joined a pickup game of baseball after they had finished eating. The others had gone and cheered them on before heading over to green to find a spot to watch the fireworks.

"He definitely had fun," Sam said proudly.

"Yes, he keeps telling me about going up into the sky," John teased.

"And don't forget the swings that go fast," Jim added.

"Or that you're the bestest at the game and won him froggie," Rufus added.

Sam smirked as he quipped, "don't be jealous Rufus. I can go over and win you a stuff animal if you want."

"Funny," Rufus huffed as the other men laughed.

SPNSPNSPN

"Looks like they're getting ready to start the fireworks," Caleb said as he sat on the blanket. Him and Sam had decided to go to the local bar with a some of the guys they played baseball with earlier and had just made their way back to the rest of their group.

"Fireworks?" Dean asked as he rubbed his eyes. John had woken him up a few minutes ago.

"Yup, trust me you'll love them," John said as Dean made his way over to him and sat between his legs. John smiled as he leaned forward and pointed up towards the sky and told him, "Now watch the sky."

Less than a minute later Dean jumped, and his little hands flew up to cover his ears as he ducked his head. John wrapped his arms around Dean's body and urged him to look up. "It's okay Ace. You need to look up so you can see the fireworks."

Dean jumped again with the next loud boom, but he tentatively lifted his head when heard his Daddy laughed as he kissed the top off his head. He slowly opened his eyes and gasped when he saw all the shimmering lights in the sky and cried, "Daddy fireworks!"

"I told you that you would like them," John said as he settled back with Dean securely in his arms as they watched the display in the sky. The look of awe on Dean's face made him glad he had agreed to the little family trip. Caleb was right, time was running out and he wanted to give not only Dean but Sam as many happy memories as he could.

TBC