Chapter 8 - Family

Days, turned to weeks and Dean had settled himself in to their home, taking on some of the jobs that Sam had been doing on his own. Taking Hope to day care was now one of his favourite things to do, Dean enjoyed it, because he flirted openly with all the women in the centre, even the matronly manager would smile and laugh at Deans compliments and flattery directed her way. Hope enjoyed it as well, clapping and squealing along to the classic rock that Dean would play. Sam had pointedly not played his brothers music because it brought back to many memories.

Another job that Dean seemed to enjoy, was cooking, for both his brother and his daughter. He found that the act of finding recipes and trying them out was something that he looked forward to, he even enjoyed cooking meals for bake sales and town fairs. He had amazingly won a blue ribbon in the annual bake off in town, which he stuck to the fridge with pride and Sam teased him for a week but was secretly proud.

Sam was enjoying watching his big brother look after his daughter. Sam had already been through a whole mountain of firsts with Hope and learnt many lessons on the way. Dean insisted that he knew what he was doing "I looked after you Sammy… I don't need your help" Dean said waving him off as he carried Hope into her room to change her diaper.

Dean could be heard exclaiming in horror at what he was seeing while trying to change Hopes nappy and most hilariously from Sam's perspective, what he was smelling. Sam had to cover up his laughter when Dean came running into the room with the nappy held as far away as his arm would allow and his fingers on his free hand squeezing his nose closed. He threw it into the garbage bin and then picked up the garbage bag, tied it up and threw the bag out the back door so the offending item could away from his nose. "My god! How could something so adorable do something so gross?!" Dean exclaimed gagging then stomped back into the bedroom to a chorus of Sam's laugher which he couldn't hold in any more.

Dean slowly realised that even thought he had been a brother/parent to Sam growing up, not all children were the same. Where Sam had been quiet and inquisitive, Hope was boisterous and loud. Hope enjoyed spending time with her 'Dadda' and most especially in the Impala. So if Dean wanted to go out on an errand or simply to go for a drive, she would scream and cry out for her 'Pala!'. Dean was both exasperated and proud that his daughter loved his Baby so much that she would have a tantrum. Dean strutted around for days, the first time she did it and Sam didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably separation anxiety that was causing Hope to scream and carry on more than anything.

After a few weeks of Dean being home and taking on some of the responsibility of looking after Hope, Sam started to branch out a little, on Fridays he would go out for drinks after work. Dean would tease him by taking Hope into his room really early on a Saturday morning to sing a good morning song. Sam was always a little hung over so it always took him a while to get started. He grumbled "Dean, go away" and tried to cover his head with his bed covers. Hope would laugh and clap, 'Hide!" she would yell, making him smile and laugh, effectively waking him up and starting his day.

It took a while for them both to get used to living with each other again. Sam had become accustomed to doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted but now that Dean was back in his life, Sam had to deal with his big brothers quirks and eccentricities.

Dean wasn't a dog person, so he had trouble getting used to Riot at first. The dog would steal food from his plate, he would leave muddy food prints all over the place and he tried to jump into the Impala on more than one occasion. "Why does this dog keep trying to get into the car Sam?" Dean asked angrily after the half a dozenth time.

Sam had to reluctantly admit to Dean that he had allowed the dog into the car when he had been driving it "Don't worry, I put a blanket down Dean, he didn't scratch the leather or anything" Sam said trying to placate him but Dean just huffed and stormed off and gave the car a thorough clean inside and out. Sam just shook his head in disbelief, he had in fact looked after their beloved car while he had been on his own. Inf act it was the only source of comfort for him until Hope had come along but his brother just wouldn't believe him.

A month or so later, Sam found Dean and dog, splayed out on the couch together, obviously enjoying some snuggle time, he snapped a photo, chuckling, "Not a dog person, my ass".

Dean was a night owl, staying up late watching Netflix, eating junk food and waking up late the next day. Whereas Sam was a morning person, getting up early, going for a run, eating healthy food and going to bed at a reasonable hour. With Hope their routines changed, Dean started getting up earlier now that he was getting up for her through the night. He actually had a spring in his step, and he supposed it was that feeling on having a proper 'family' with Hope and his brother Sam that was the reason for it.

Growing up, Sam had always wanted to stay in a town for longer than the current job, he had wanted the feeling of home to last a little longer, then when they started hunting together again, each motel was just a place to set his head at night, to kill the monster and move on, and when the two brothers were living in the bunker and had a constant home base, Sam never settled in and considered it his home, he hadn't wanted to get his hopes up. Now that they had set down roots, Dean now made it his mission to ensure that Sam was happy, it was important that his little brother was content with the life he had always wanted.

The two brothers actually took some time to relax now, weekends were actually family time, they would take day trips and sometime stay somewhere overnight, they took walks down to the park with Hope and Riot, they would have picnics, (the idea of which made Dean laugh but he actually enjoyed) they loved to watch Hope wobble around playing with the dog and they just to joy in spending time together and enjoyed each other's company.

After so many years on the go, they finally talked about anything and everything, their hopes and dreams and about all the misunderstanding they never had the chance to talk about when they hunted. Their relationship healed from years of secrets and missed opportunities, it grew stronger as time went on that they became each other's confidants and when they had moments of sadness or depression about the things they used to do, they would go to each other for help.

One day Dean had gone into town to pick Sam up from work, while his car was being serviced and had gone inside the Library/book store to wait for him and he noticed a sign with the name of a writer 'Mason Smith' and the book title 'Hope and the Lady Bug' caught Deans eye. Curious, Dean picked the book up and have a closer look, the fact that it had the name 'Hope' in the title, made him think maybe his daughter would like it when he realised that the author, Mason Smith, was actually one of Sam's alias'. He opened the book, and did a little flick through, it was a really nice children's book with drawings of a familiar child and a dog who was exactly like the one waiting for him at home. Throughout the book were drawings of little symbol's that to a normal person were just decorative, but to Dean were protective symbols. He smiled to himself as he looked through the pages, thinking of ways he could tease his brother for writing a children's book of all things. When he went back to the from of the book, he saw the dedication and any thoughts of teasing his brother went straight out the window. 'This book is dedicated to my brother, to who I owe my life, and to his daughter who is giving me a reason to live' Dean cleared his throat to cover the emotions that had bubbled up. How could he have ever thought his little brother would abandon him, when he had done nothing but love and care for what was left of his family.

Dean had accused his brother numerous times of abandoning his family and wanting to leave to have a normal life with a wife and 2.5 kids in a house with a picket fence. However Sam had shown time and again that it wasn't that he didn't want to leave Dean or their family, it was more the restrictive nature of his father's strict rules, he had wanted to prove himself, he wanted to use his big brain, his love of research and his skills at planning, organising and analysing were his strengths, but their father had forced his own rules and restrictions on him and didn't allow him to have an opinion or a to come up with a better idea. If he had been given the opportunity to be an equal partner, then he would have flourished. So when the Winchester brothers had finally hunted together again, when they were at their best, they were a well-oiled machine and had been a team to be reckoned with.

Now, they were both learning to be a different type of team, a family, which they hadn't been in a really long time. Hope had changed everything, she's brought light and laughter to his life, she'd brought both brothers a way out of the never-ending cycle of hunting, danger and death and now that Dean has had a taste for it, he doesn't know how he ever lived without it. It was refreshing and a culture shock, he was so used to waking up on edge and always looking over his shoulders for danger than he never relaxed. This new life was what he had always craved and more often than not he got out of bed with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.

When Sam had come up to him in the book store, Dean had smiled at him and when they had both gotten in the car, Dean sat there for a moment and looked over at Sam, who was looking at him curiously. "Why didn't you tell me to wrote a kids book?" Dean asked

Sam's eyebrows rose, then his cheeks began to colour "Oh, well, I just… I did it at first just for Hope, then I gave a copy to the childcare centre and my boss found out and the next thing I know, the first book has been published and I have 3 more books on the way… I just… it seemed to make Hope happy and I knew you were going to make fun of me, I mean I know it's weird for a man to write a children's book…" Sam just kept babbling, nervously, then Dean put his hand on his shoulder and stopped him mid flow.

"I actually think they're amazing Sam… I… I love them, actually" Dean chuckled a little "I mean, you even had Baby, in one of them" Dean said smiling, in the book entitled 'Hope and the Fun Park" Sam and drawn Hope in her car seat, in the back seat of Baby and in the background you can see a sleek black car.

Sam laughed at that "I did… she had to be in there somewhere" Sam was smiling, his dimples popping out.

"Did you do all the pictures?" Dean asked, and when Sam nodded, Dean patted him on the back smiling back at him, he was impressed because he thought the images were so beautiful. "Amazing Sammy"

Sam smiled shyly 'Really?" Sam dumbfounded that his brother wasn't ragging on him, he had expected this to be a source of ridicule but his brother was surprising him yet again.

"Yeah Sammy, they are fantastic… I would have bought all of your books if I didn't think you already had copies of them at home" Dean said genuinely. He would be recommending copies to anyone he knew or saw in the street with little kids.

"Wow, ok… you know you've really changed Dean… I never wanted you to know I wrote those books, because I thought you would just… mock me for the rest of my life" Sam chuckled at the last bit.

Dean chuckled in reply "Yeah, when I first realised it was you, I came up with a million jibes to make fun of you but then I read the dedication…"

"Ahhh yeah uummm" Sam nodded and looked away, knowing exactly when he meant.

"Yeah… you just… right to the heart man" Dean said clearing his throat. The chick flix moments were more frequent now adays and neither of them really wanted to stop them. They had both learned to express their feelings and they allowed them to happen then they moved on.

"You weren't here… so I wanted to put that out there, because after all these years, I feel like I didn't tell you enough, that you saved my life more than once and I really appreciate it, I'm thankful and grateful for this second... third… millionth chance that we have" Sam replied a little misty eyed.

"Well… so am I Sammy… so am I" Dean replied patting him on the back "Maybe next time you can put me in it" he said chuckling

"Yeah, I don't thin so" Sam said and ducked out of the way when Dean tried to clock him in the head.

TBA