Chapter 6

Sam had guided them to the river that ran through the woods and let Dean wade in the water and play. He sat on a rock in the sun and soaked in some rays before deciding they should head back to the house. Dean was sad about leaving, but Sam promised they would come back with maybe a picnic one day soon, but it all depended on how long it took them to find a way to age Dean again.

On the way back Dean scared up a doe and fawn that ran deeper into the woods. He stumbled backwards into some vines and weeds, falling on his butt. Sam recognized the three leafed plant and knew he needed to get Dean back to the house and in the bathtub to hopefully stop the spread of poison ivy. He hurried Dean along and when they broke through the woods grabbed him up and jogged toward the gate. He knew how bad poison ivy could be from experience and didn't want that for Dean.

"We need to get you in the shower and wash you down with alcohol and scrub your skin Dean. That was poison ivy you fell into, and you do not want to get that started on your body," Sam explained to him as he headed in the backdoor and straight upstairs to the bathroom. "I'll get the water started and you take off those clothes."

Sam looked under the sink for a bottle of alcohol and soaked a washcloth with it to wipe his arms good. He glanced to see Dean was doing as he asked and checked the water in the tub. Sam wet the cloth again and began to rub Dean's legs and arms that were exposed to the ivy leaves.

"Okay, hop in the tub," Sam instructed Dean when he was satisfied, he had cleaned his limbs as good as he could. "I'll soap another washcloth and wash your arms and legs good before you stand under the shower to rinse and then we'll get your hair. I don't want the oils of the leaves to stay any longer on your body than needed."

"Okay," Dean replied taking the cloth and stepping under the spray to wet his body. He started washing as good as he could not sure why this was such a big deal, but he trusted Sam. "I'm done."

"Let me have that cloth and I'll put it with your clothes to wash in hot water," Sam told him. "Wet your hair and I'll let you wash it; can you do that?"

"Yes," Dean nodded holding his hand out for the shampoo. He rubbed it into his hair, and then stepped under the spray, squinting his eyes shut as the water rinsed the suds away. Once Dean was done, Sam shut the water off and wrapped a towel around Dean's body to dry him off.

"Okay, careful getting out and wait here while I get you some clean clothes to put on. Might be a good idea for me get a quick shower and change clothes too since I had you against my clothes," Sam mumbled as an afterthought. He headed into the bedroom and got clean clothes for them. He helped Dean dry his body and hair so he could dress. "Why don't you wait in the bedroom, and I'll get a shower? You can look at the book we read last night."

"Do I have to put on shoes?" Dean asked Sam looking down at his bare feet, wiggling his toes.

"If we're inside it's okay, but if we go out, you'll need them on. You can take your sneakers downstairs and leave them."

"I like to go barefooted," Dean told Sam before going into the bedroom and climbing onto the bed to wait on him. He picked up the stuffed dog and decided to read the storybook to him.

Sam made sure Dean was alright and smiled when he saw what he was doing, pretending to read to the dog. He found his cell in a pocket and eased to the door to take a couple of pictures of Dean to add to his collection. He wanted proof of what had happened and to have something to remember this time by. Sam wanted Dean to know he that he tried to give him some of his childhood back that was so brutely taken from him with the death of their mother. He was going to do what he could to make Dean happy and feel carefree and show him how much he loved him. With a soft sigh, Sam stepped back into the bathroom to shower and hoped neither of them broke out with poison ivy.

When Sam came from the bathroom after taking a long, hot shower, ending with a quick cool rinse, he found Dean still on his bed curled up with the stuffed dog asleep. The book he was pretending to read was partway under him and Sam gently slid it out from under his body and laid it aside. He stood by the bed just staring at him for a few moments before taking his cell and snapping some more photos. Sam was still feeling lousy and still had a headache, so he decided to lay down too, but decided to run downstairs and throw their clothes and washcloths in to wash in hot water so not to contaminate their other clothes.

Once Sam had the washer going, he headed back upstairs deciding to nap while Dean did. He hoped that it would help get rid of his headache. He stretched out on Dean's bed and sighed softly as his body sunk into the mattress. He listened to the noises around him, picking up the familiar settling of the house, the soft buffing of the wind hitting the side of the house, and his little big brother snoring across from him. All the familiar things seemed to calm his weary mind and he let the darkness pull him away into the abyss.

spn

Wakefulness started coming back to Sam when he felt something moving beside him. He felt the mattress dip and opened his eyes in slits to see Dean had crawled up on the bed and was snuggling down against his side. He laid his head on Sam's chest and settled back down. Sam could feel his warm body pressed tightly to his and slowly moved his arm to put it around Dean's shoulders to be sure he didn't fall from the bed. He was happy Dean was trusting him now. Sam closed his eyes again deciding it didn't matter if they wouldn't sleep tonight. He was basking in the love he had for Dean and was seeing him in a completely different light. There was so much he had taken for granted over the years that he never thought about.

Sam looked toward the window to see the sun was sinking toward the horizon and he felt a pain of hunger as his stomach rumbled softly. He was sure they had slept through lunch, and it was getting close to dinnertime. Movement by his side had him glancing down to the small body tucked into his body.

"Sam," Dean spoke softly. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah buddy, I'm awake."

"My tummy is empty, can we get something to eat?"

"Sure, we missed lunch with our nap. Why don't we get up and head downstairs and see what we can find to eat?"

"Okay, bathroom first."

"Yep, me too. You go on first and then I'll take my turn." Sam let Dean slide off the bed and head for the bathroom before he slowly sat up on the side of the bed to see how his head was doing. There was still an annoying ache, but it was much better after his nap. He rolled his head stretching his neck muscles and shoulders and yawned widely.

"All done," Dean announced from the doorway.

"Okay, let me use the bathroom and we'll go hunt us something to eat." Sam stood stiffly and got his balance before walking across the hall to the bathroom. When he was done, Sam found Dean waiting in the hall for him. They headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Alright," Sam grunted as he looked in the fridge. "We can have…Mmmm let me see, hamburgers, chicken tenders, or sandwiches. What do you want?"

"Hamburger," Dean told him. "Can I have cheese on mine?"

"Of course, you can." Sam busied himself with making the burgers and cooking some tater tots to go with them. Dean stood by the counter to watch him prepare the food. He set the table and got the drinks from the fridge. When the food was ready, they sat down and ate their meal. Sam was happy to see Dean had an appetite and ate just about everything on his plate.

A phone started ringing in the office and Sam got up to answer it, hoping it would be Bobby with news that he would be coming home soon so they could go clear John's storage locker out. He was anxious to find out what caused Dean to turn into a child.

"That was Uncle Bobby, he'll be home in two days if all goes well," Sam informed Dean when he came back to the table.

"Okay," Dean shrugged with little interest. He didn't know what was going to happen yet when Bobby got back.

"Do you want to help me with the dishes?"

"Can I wash?" Dean questioned.

"Sure, as long as you get them clean," Sam replied getting up to take his dirty dishes to the sink. He moved Dean's chair to the sink so he could kneel on it to reach the dishes to wash them. He started water and added the dish detergent, letting it begin to suds. "Be careful and don't splash water everywhere."

"Okay," Dean said. He took the dish cloth, dropped it into the water, and began to carefully wash the dishes.

Sam put the frying pan and pan at the sink to be washed before wiping the table and counter. He got a drying towel from a drawer and rinsed the dishes before drying them, making sure Dean got the clean. Sam scooped some suds onto a finger and smeared them on Dean's nose making him giggle and slap at Sam. He leaned over and wiped his nose on Sam's shirt making Sam laugh.

"Will you read to me when we are done?" Dean asked Sam, looking sideways at him.

"Sure, I will. I enjoy reading to you. You did good washing the dishes Dean, thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," said Dean shyly, dropping his head with the praise.

"I think there's some books upstairs in the spare room that you used…." Sam started and stopped himself when he realized what he was about to say. He cleared his throat and coughed seeing Dean didn't notice and continued. "That you might like. I'll go up and see if I can find them."

"Are they interesting?" Dena inquired.

"I think so. Let's get you dried off and you can wait in the living room. I'll finish up in here and go see if I can find them." Sam dried Dean's hands and wiped his shirt before helping him down and moving the chair back to the table. He let the water out and wiped the sink, giving the kitchen a quick glance before heading for the stairs to go upstairs.

Sam went down the hall to the end room that Bobby used for storage and opened the door. He turned on the overhead light and looked around the room at the spare furniture, boxes, lamps, and miscellaneous items. He walked over to a stack of boxes and looked at the writing on them until he found the box he wanted labeled kid books. Sam sat the box in a chair and opened it so he could inspect the contents. He pulled several books from the box that he thought Dean might like and left the box where he could easily access it. He headed back downstairs and found Dean sitting in Bobby's recliner waiting on him.

"Alright," Sam commented moving Dean so he could sit down and pulled him into his lap. "What would you like to read first?"

Dean looked at the books Sam offered him very intensely before picking the one with the pirate on the front of it.

"Treasure Island, excellent choice," Sam told him sitting the others aside. He let Dean settle on his chest and opened the book to begin reading it. It was a scaled down version for kids that Bobby had found in a thrift store for them when they used to stay with him. Dean would read to him every night before bedtime or if he was sick and he was trying to entertain him so he wouldn't whine.

Dean listened to every word Sam read and studied the pictures on each page. He liked to hear Sam read and turned the page for him as he finished them. Dean laid his head back and to the side on Sam's chest and could hear the steady, strong beat of his heart through his shirt.

After over an hour of reading, Sam had to stop and get something to drink to wet his dry throat. He was impressed that Dean wanted him to continue reading and hadn't gotten bored yet. They took a quick bathroom break before Sam started reading again. He had forgotten how intriguing the classic stories were and was enjoying this one as much as Dean was.

"Okay, I think that's enough for tonight, I'm all read out," Sam sighed when his voice started getting hoarse and gave out. "We'll read some more tomorrow, how's that?"

"Yeah, it's a good book," Dean told him.

"Let's see what's on the tube. Maybe we can find a movie to watch." Sam slid Dean to the side and got up to turn on the television. He clicked through the channels, adjusting the antenna that Bobby had installed to pick up a few more channels. After going through them all, Sam went back to a movie that was Dean appropriate. He came back to the recliner to sit down, letting Dean squeeze in beside him. He let the footrest up and settled back to enjoy the movie.

Dean wiggled around until he was comfortable tucked into Sam's side and cast his eyes toward the television screen to watch the movie. He could feel Sam's hand gently rub up and down his back and thought it felt good and relaxing. Even if he couldn't remember anything, this felt right, him being with Sam. He knew he would protect him and look out for him.

A/N: Sam is enjoying his time with his big little brother and wants to give him what he didn't have growing up. Thanks for taking this journey with me. Thank you to any guests that have left reviews. I do like reviews/comments. NC