Chapter 19: For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
A/N: Okay, this chapter is pure fluff, but when you consider all the bad stuff that happens to our gorgeous hunks I think they need a little bit of happy, happy, joy, joy, too! Plus, Dean needed a little closure regarding his wheels.
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Sam pushed the book cart ahead of him and put the books back on the shelf where they belonged. It had been nine weeks since the night of his last vision, the night he and his family got their tattoos. In all that time they hadn't been bothered in the slightest by the demon or his followers.
For the past seven weeks Sam had been working here at the library. He loved this job. He didn't make as much money as his father or Dean did working full time at the garage, but still, the job paid well at $9 an hour and thirty hours a week. It wasn't exactly full time but that was actually a good thing since it let him get home before his family. He'd have an hour to make something for dinner before they arrived.
It was dumb luck he had gotten the job. He had returned to the library to collect the two books he had requested a week earlier and Ms. Alice was just putting out a help wanted sign. As soon as he told her about Stanford and the two semesters he spent working in the college library to help pay for his dorm room she hired him.
He liked working for Alice. She was a nice woman. Sometimes she tried to mother him a bit too much but for the most part he loved his job. It was quiet and peaceful and safe. Plus, he had plenty of time to browse at the books and even time to read a few during the day when the library was quiet.
Dean had been relentless in his teasing. Psychic boy had been retired and Geek boy had once again become his usually nickname with Dean. Dean had been working too and even though he pretended to hate having a day job Sam knew Dean secretly loved his job at the garage with Dad. He had been working there for eight weeks now making the same pay as Dad. After his work hours were done for the day Chuck had been nice enough to let Dean work in the back and finish building his new car. A lot of the time Sam would even go to the garage with them after dinner was over to help them out.
Heck, they would even spend time on the weekends working on the car since they had only gone on four hunts since the trolls. Every night when the day was over Dad would look through the papers and Sam and Dean would search the web looking for jobs but everything they found was too far away to be taken care of in a weekend so it had to wait.
Personally, Sam didn't mind if weekends came and went and they just stayed home. Actually, he loved it. He also noticed that Dean was changing. He no longer seemed to need to be on the go. Sam was almost afraid to say it but his brother was actually settling into living a normal life with a job and a house. Since Dean had gotten this new car it was like he didn't even have time to think about spooks or demons.
Dean had found a 1966 Pontiac GTO hardtop at the junkyard and had used his first two paychecks to by it. Now he and Dad had been working to restore it for a little over a month. Every day when Dean would come home he would talk Sam's ear off about how they had just installed the new seats or put in such and such component.
Just yesterday they got the engine working and Dean had taken it out for a two-hour test drive. Now all the car needed was some bonding on the body and a new paint job. Dean was short on cash to pay for the bodywork but Sam was going to surprise him tonight. It was Dean's birthday and Sam was going all out for his brother.
For the past five weeks Sam had been putting the bulk of his pay aside. He had been taking out just enough to help with groceries and buy a few necessities. He now had $600 to give to Dean for the car.
Originally the money wasn't planned for the body work, it was just going to be an awesome surprise for Dean's birthday. His brother had never really had a real birthday before. Sure, Sam had always made a point of giving Dean some token present every year and would surprise him with a Hostess cupcake, but this year would be different.
At first he struggled to figure out what to get him but then he just knew that the best present he could give his brother would be the cash necessary to finish his new baby. Plus, he figured since he would spend as much time as Dean in the car once it was finished he should help pitch in.
Sam looked down at his watch. It was time to go home. He would walk past the bank first and cash his paycheck. Then he needed to walk across the street and buy a big chocolate cake and a pack of candles. He had purchased the card yesterday. He couldn't wait to surprise Dean tonight. He even had balloons to blow up and a banner that said 'Happy Birthday'.
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Dean worked patiently on the VW Passat. He couldn't figure out why anyone would want a car like this. It had no character, no class, and no soul. Heck, even a PT Cruiser was better than this, but only by a bit. Maybe his beloved Impala was gone, but his GTO was slowly but surely easing his heartache over losing his baby.
Sure, she wasn't much to look at right now but once her bodywork was done she would be a thing of beauty. It felt so good last night to get in his car and drive. She had been rebuilt to perfection. Every dollar he had made in the past two months had been put into her and her engine purred like a kitten. Her chrome was so shiny that it was like she was covered in mirrors. He had spent hours buffing out every square inch of it.
He only had another hour on the clock and then he and Dad would go home for dinner and come back.
He didn't know what he liked better, working on his car, or working with his Dad on his car. The past two months had really been a good bonding opportunity for them. Dean suspected Dad was working hard to make up for his little lapse in drinking. At least the man hadn't had a drop to drink since.
The only thing that could make the situation even better was if Sammy had worked at the garage too. Dean had tried to convince his baby bro to work there but geek boy had found a job at the library. Personally Dean thought he was nuts for working there. First off it was boring as all shit, and second, he made less money than Dean and Dad, and he had to pay taxes so he lost even more money. Still, Sam was happy there and at least he made a point of coming with them in the evening and spending time with them as they continued to work on the vintage car.
Dean had visited him once during his lunch hour to surprise Sammy with some monster cheeseburgers. He found his brother happily shelving books and fixing bookbindings. At least the lady he worked for was nice. He noticed that Alice made a point of bringing Sammy muffins and treats to help 'fatten' him up as she said. She had all but adopted Sammy. Any person who was nice to his little brother was okay in Dean's book. Still, Dean did miss Sam sometimes. He was used to being with him 24/7. At first it had been nice to have a bit of a break, but that soon passed and Dean would find himself pulling out his cell phone just to check in and see how Sam was doing.
His biggest worry was that Sam would have a vision and be all alone at the library. Dean had even made a point of telling Alice that Sam sometimes had epileptic episodes and that if he passed out or got dizzy not to call an ambulance but to call him instead. Luckily since the tattoos there hadn't been any visions of any kind. Sam was even sleeping better. They were all healthy and even happy.
He looked over and saw his dad working on a Stratus. It needed a new master cylinder for the brakes. Dean hated bleeding brake lines. It was a major pain in the ass. He was glad Dad was doing the bulk of the work on that job but he knew his help would be needed soon since that was a two man job. Oh well, he still liked his job better than Sammy's.
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Sam taped the last balloon to the wall. He had made a point of getting blue and silver thinking they would be manly enough for Dean even though he had been sorely tempted to get pink and yellow just to get a rise out of him. The birthday banner was hanging in the kitchen along the window and large chocolate cake decorated with a picture of a GTO sat center stage on the kitchen table. Sam didn't want to mess up the picture he had custom ordered with twenty-seven candles so he bought the candles shaped like numbers. A polka dotted number two and a number seven stood side by side on the edge of the cake. Sam had even gone one step further and gotten Dean his favorite dinner from Kerby's Coney Island just down the street. There were two cheeseburgers, chili cheese French fries, and beer battered onion rings for all of them.
He glanced at his watch and saw that Dean and Dad were due home in just five minutes. He was surprised to find his stomach was full of butterflies. He had never done anything like this for a member of his family and he wasn't exactly sure how Dean would react to a surprise birthday party, even if it was just the three of them.
He made a quick trip though the house one more time tidying up and making sure the place was spotless before they got there. Sam had to admit that this really was one of the better places they had lived in. Not to mention, since they had now lived there for over three months they had acquired even more stuff and the place really looked like a home instead of just a temporary shelter.
Finally Sam heard his family pull into the driveway. He quickly grabbed the lighter and lit the candles on the cake and hid in the kitchen waiting for them to come in.
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Dean parked the truck and he and his father climbed out. They went up the stairs, gabbed the junk mail on the way and then opened the door. Dean instantly smelled something good.
"All right, Sammy. You got us Kerb…" he stopped talking when he entered the kitchen with his father right behind him and saw the room decorated to celebrate a birthday. For a moment he was confused.
"Happy birthday, Dean," Sam said somewhat nervously. He was concerned by the confused look on his brother's face.
Honestly, Dean had forgotten it was his birthday. He used to pay attention to the date back before Sam went to college, but after he left and it was just him and Dad birthdays became nonexistent.
"Sammy, what is this?" Dean asked.
"I believe it's called a birthday party," Sam smirked.
"You did all this for me?"
"No, I did it for the homeless guy who sleeps behind the library. Duh, of course I did this for you. I got you your favorite dinner from Kerby's and then I got you a cake. Chocolate, chocolate, your favorite. Plus, look at the design."
Dean looked at the cake and saw a red GTO hardtop. He had mentioned to Sam that he was thinking about having his new car painted red.
"Sam, thanks. I don't know what to say," Dean said as he looked at the cake and the balloons.
"You don't have to say anything," Sam replied with a smile. It wasn't too often that Dean Winchester was speechless.
"Well, we better eat up," Dad announced. "After you have your cake we still need to get back and finish up the muffler on your car."
Sam sighed. He had hoped they would spend the evening together, maybe even go out somewhere but as usual Dad was a killjoy. Still, Sam could see by the look on Dean's face that he had made his big brother happy.
Dinner was eaten pretty quickly as everyone was anxious to dig into the cake. Dean absolutely refused to let Sam sing Happy Birthday reminding him that he had heard plenty of singing from Sam the night he was drunk. But Dean did make a wish and blow out his candles. Even Dad seemed to get in the mood as he cut himself a second piece of cake.
"It seems a shame to cut up such a beautiful car," Dean laughed.
"Yeah, but it won't be long before you'll have the real thing," Sam said.
Dean sighed. "It's going to take me weeks before I can afford to get her painted."
Sam didn't say a word. He just finished his cake and then started collecting the dirty dishes to put in the sink.
"Well we should get going," Dad finally said once everyone had eaten and the mess was cleaned up. "There won't be too much daylight left."
"Wait, I have one more thing," Sam said. He opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a blue envelope.
"What's this?" Dean asked.
"Open it and find out," Sam grinned.
Dean rolled his eyes but tore the envelope open. He pulled out a card that said 'Happy Birthday Brother' on it. Dean opened it to read the inside but he didn't get the chance. Six one hundred dollar bills fell out of the card.
"Sammy, what did you do? Rob a bank?"
"No you idiot. That's the money I've been making from the library."
"But, why are you giving it to me? You should get yourself something with this," Dean protested.
"I want you to have it. Now you can get the body work and the paint job for the car."
Dean gasped. "Are you serious?"
"Well yeah. I have no intentions to be seen riding around in that thing with the way it looks right now," Sam joked.
Dean couldn't believe Sam was doing this for him. No one had ever given him something this special. "Sam…I…you…I mean…"
"Dean, your welcome," Sam said calmly. Sam couldn't remember a time he felt so happy to be giving a gift. If ever there was a person who deserved to have something nice done for him it was Dean, the person who had spent his entire life taking care of others.
Dean finally smiled happily at his brother. "Thanks Sam."
For the rest of the night Dean felt like he was walking on clouds. Between his pay that day and Sammy's gift he could afford to put his car in the shop on Monday and have her looking as good as she ran. Dean still couldn't believe Sam had done that for him. He always knew that Sam loved him and now after their long talks in the hospital he even knew that his little brother needed him, but somehow Sam's actions today spoke so much louder than words ever could. Today was the first time in Dean's life that he felt special, like he actually mattered to someone. It was a wonderful feeling.
A/N: I hope this wasn't too corny.