Dean clapped for his little brother happily as Sammy blew out the candles. Dad hadn't let Sammy have a real birthday party with all his friends from school, but Dean was doing his best to make this day as special as he could for his little brother.
"Wow, Sammy. And now you're twelve – that peaceful time where you go from being the cute, innocent Sammy that I know and love, to a hormonal teenage bomb that's ready to blow up in my face at any second. Good thing I can get you down on the ground in two seconds." Dean laughed. Sam just eyed his older brother confusedly before rolling his eyes and ignoring the dumbass.
At least half the cake was gone by the time Dad got home half an hour later (Dean ate most of it). Sam wasn't sure if his father remembered that it was his birthday, or if he just saw the cake and was reminded, but John surprised him by wishing him a Happy Birthday.
Dad rarely remembered birthdays. It was normal when he didn't buy the boys gifts of even eat the cake that was usually clumsily made by one of the brothers, though neither of them had much experience in cooking (Dean even burned down one of the houses, which pissed John off royally. Dean was sore for three weeks afterwards).
But now, John seemed to remember as he pulled something out of his coat. It wasn't wrapped or anything, but it didn't matter to Sam. He was amazed at the fact that that he was receiving anything from someone other than Dean.
"Thanks Dad." He said softly. Dean stood behind him, staring at his father suspiciously. In Sam's hands was a book titled The Da Vinci Code. It was a bit of a higher level than Sam was used to reading, but the boy always loved to read and much appreciated the gift.
Dad smiled at Sammy before moving past him to the cake and taking a piece for himself. "This is good! Where did you get it?"
"Dean made it. He always makes my cake on my birthday." Sam informed his father, still watching the man closely. John just nodded in acknowledgment.
"OK, Sammy, you stay in here and I'll be right back." Dean told his brother before dashing down the hall. When he came back, the older boy held 2 small wrapped gifts. He handed them to his brother. "Happy Birthday kiddo." Sam scowled at the nickname but didn't say anything.
Dean got Sam Sleepy Hollow and American Pie. Sam looked up at his brother. "Uh… Dean, American Pie is your favorite movie." Dean stood up straight.
"No it's not. It's yours." Dean argued. Sam shook his head. The 16 yr old looked at him with disbelief. "I could've sworn…" Sam grinned at his brother and hugged him.
"Thanks Dean. Let's watch Sleepy Hollow tonight." Dean hugged his brother back for a while before pulling away and looking at his little brother in mock-disgust.
"Get off me, freak." He said, jokingly. John silently watched his sons joke around from his spot at the table. They grew up so fast. And the looks they gave him when they realized that John had gotten Sammy a book… John shuddered. He wished that he could just start over with his sons from the day Mary died. He wished he could take away their pain. The pain that he caused.
John looked down at his plate and found he couldn't eat the rest of the cake. He threw the last bit of his piece in the garbage and sat on the armchair in the den to watch the movie with his sons just this once.
…
Dean got up from his bed in the middle of the night feeling sneaky. A birthday past deserves a birthday prank… he snickered to himself quietly as he poured the Nair into the shampoo bottle. After the entire bottle was used up, Dean snuck back to bed.
…
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Dean nearly spit out his cereal when he heard his brother's yell. He went on pretending nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. It took longer for Sam to storm out of the bathroom and chew out Dean than he had expected. But when he did it made Dean spit out his cereal for real.
He couldn't help it. The laughter was so overwhelming it was hard to control anything he did. Sam's head wasn't entirely bald, like he'd expected after reading about Nair's hair removal system. No. It was worse.
He had bald patches spotted throughout his hair. Hair was still falling out. Loose hair that had come off his head already was still draped along his body where he hadn't taken the time to wash it off yet in his panic.
Dean tried to cut the laughter down a little to assume the role of the innocent. "What," he gasped, fighting off more chuckles. It helped if he looked at the floor rather than his little brother. "What happened to you?" He faltered near the end, breaking into chuckles.
"What did you do to my shampoo?!" The distress in the statement made Dean fight harder against the chortles. He took a second to calm himself down again, still staring at the floor.
"What was wrong with your shampoo, Sammy?" He asked, feigning innocence the best he could.
"Don't act like you don't know! I went to wash my hair but the shampoo felt weird and my scalp burned! It obviously wasn't shampoo, was it Dean?" He glared at Dean as if to make a point.
Dean couldn't keep up the act any longer. He guffawed at his brother and his bald patchy head. Sam only glared at him. "Awww, lighten up Sammy! It's just a little birthday prank!" He caught Sammy in a headlock and gave him a noogie.