Kathy- Yay! I try really hard to stay as "realistic" as possible so that made me really happy. Things are absolutely insane but I'll be okay. Only a couple more weeks!

Thank you all for your support! Hi to the new followers! Read and review! Check out my other stories! Follow me on Tumblr keepingupwithjackandclaire for SPN related content and yes, I am rebranding myself, thank you for noticing.

On with the show!

Mary walked around the bedroom gathering her belongings and packing her overnight bag. Her best friend and co-worker Amanda had convinced her to go along to find that werewolf during the upcoming lunar cycle along the Kansas-Colorado border. It had been a while since she had been on a hunt; she liked to stick to small stuff not too far from Lawrence since the boys were so young. But they were getting older now... And John did agree to stay the weekend with them... And Colorado wasn't even a ten-hour drive away. They would be fine, right?

"Alright guys, remember," Mary said, walking into the kitchen where her sons were eating breakfast on barstools at the counter. "I'm leaving right after school ends and your father isn't off until seven, so when you come home, you'll be by yourself for a couple of hours, okay?"

"Okay!" they both responded, Sam more enthusiastic than Dean.

"Here," Mary said, handing Dean a $20 bill, "dinner is on me tonight. Make sure you get something your brother likes."

Dean scoffed and looked over at Sam, who had propped himself up and was reading cheesy jokes off the side of the cereal box. This kid was so picky he practically lived off of Lucky Charms and mac and cheese.

"Hey Dean! Listen to this one!" Sam piped up. Dean glanced back over in his direction. "What kind of music do mummies listen to?"

"I don't know Sammy," Dean answered.

"Wrap music!"

Dean couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched Sam burst out laughing.

"This one too! What kind of music do balloons hate?"

"What kind?"

"Pop!"

"I got one for you. What's red and bad for your teeth?"

"What?" Sam asked innocently.

"A brick."

"Hey!" Mary said, scolding her oldest as she poured coffee into a to-go cup. "Nice jokes please."

"I don't get it," Sam said.

"Sammy, go upstairs and find your shoes."

Sam jumped down from the counter, put his bowl in the sink, and ran upstairs. Mary screwed the lid on her to-go cup as she sat on the stool Sam was just sitting on.

"Are you going to be okay this weekend?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Cause Dad's going to be here. And I just... wanted to make sure you're going to be okay." Because I know how uncomfortable you've been around him lately.

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'll give him the hotel number just in case."

"No Mom, I'm not going to call you on your stupid spa trip, okay?" Dean snapped. "Sammy and I will be fine for two freaking days."

"Okay," was all Mary could say. She rubbed Dean's shoulder and left the kitchen to go make sure Sam found his shoes. Dean decided he was done with his breakfast and dumped his half-full bowl in the sick. He rinsed his and Sam's dishes and loaded them in the dishwasher so he wouldn't have to bother with them later.

A whole weekend alone with Dad for the first time since he left? Fun.

School was... school.

Dean got out and walked down the street to the elementary school to get Sam. He should have gone in and waited where all the other parents pick up kids, but he liked to avoid his old teachers as much as possible. So he stood outside the back gate behind the schoolyard where Sam knew to come to him. They walked to the corner and got on the bus to go back to the house. Dean wanted to pull out his headphones and begin dreading this weekend but Sam just keep bragging about how he had the highest math test score in his class that week. Dean only listened to half of what Sam was saying and threw out an "uh huh" and a "cool" every once in a while to satisfy him.

Dean felt a small finger jab his shoulder and opened his eyes. He didn't realize he had closed them.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine. I have a headache."

"Oh," Sam said. He leaned in close to Dean and whispered in his ear: "I know where Mom keeps her medicine."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam. "You mean the ibuprofen?" he asked. Sam nodded, eyes wide big like he just revealed something huge.

"It's not a secret Sammy," Dean said, softly laughing. "It's called a medicine cabinet for a reason."

Sam shrugged and turned back around, still bouncing in his seat and staring out the bus window. They got off at their stop and Dean unlocked the front door and turned the house alarm off. They dropped their stuff on the floor by the door and went their separate ways: Sam to the kitchen to hang his math test on the fridge and Dean to mope in his room. They ordered pizza for dinner and Dad came home around seven as expected. And that was Friday.

"Are you listening to me?" Amanda asked.

"What?" Mary asked back, unaware she had completely zoned out.

"You're thinking about the boys again aren't you?"

Mary shrugged and started to unpack her overnight bag. The girls left during their prep periods, aka last period, around 1:30. It was just after midnight when they had made it to a hotel and started to get settled.

"Listen," Amanda said, sitting on the edge of what would be Mary's bed. "John may be a shitty husband, but he's a good father. They'll be just fine!"

"I know but... I just wish you could see the way Dean's been acting lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed he's been quieter than usual in class. I wanted to check in but I was worried he would think I'd report to you."

"Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Report to me."

"I love that kid Mary. But just like any other student, if he confides in me, I'll respect it."

"Sooooo if he tells you something about me or John?"

"Then I'm not repeating it! But he's never going to believe that so I don't think he'd tell me anything anyway."

"I wish he would tell someone something," Mary admitted. "He's holding something back. I can tell."

"Have you considered therapy?"

"Yeah," Mary said, laughing harder than she should be, "because that will go over well."

"Seriously! My sister-in-law works with kids going through difficult changes. You'd be surprised."

The atmosphere in the room changed significantly as both women stopped talking and finished settling in the hotel room.

"Alright, no more talk about my boys. Are we gonna find this son of a bitch or what?"

someones-big-sister