Hey, hey, hey, you beautiful member of the SPN Family! How's your day going? Are you having a great one?

I got a lot of requests for some more Natalie/Uncle Sam stuff, so here's one for you! I'll have more Natalie and Uncle Sam coming soon, too. But I've been working on a big story that was requested that I finally feel ready to share with you all- look for it soon :)

All the thanks, hugs, and pie in the world to Jenmm31. She's got brilliant stories in her repertoire, so go check them out! I'm a particular fan of her Kate series and her Emily series, but everything she writes is wonderful. Go show her some love and check them out!

If you have requests, I'd love to hear them. It takes me forever to write them, but I will, I promise! I'm going to focus on requests for a while here, so hopefully if you've requested a story, you'll see it soon. I'll write just about anything as long as it stays in the plot line and is true to Natalie's character.

Okay, fabulous people, please read and review. You make my hunter's heart so happy, I love you all.

A/N- in this story, Natalie is nine months old. Please see profile page for disclaimer.

Sam couldn't concentrate. Between ruckus of whatever was going on in the motel room next to theirs, and the angry shrieks of his 9 month old niece, he wasn't absorbing any of the information he was trying to read. He knew that he had read and reread the web page in front of him at least three times, and none of it was sticking. He pushed his chair back from the small, stained, fake wooden table of the sleazy motel. Neither he nor Dean had been particularly happy with the location, but they had pulled in late last night, and it had been the only place open. Sam wondered if calling down to the front office would actually get results in dealing with the noise next door. From the little he could make out from their screaming, it sounded like someone had cheated someone out of money on some kind of deal. Sam didn't even want to think what the original transaction was. He had already preemptively packed them up and texted Dean that they were moving motels the second he got back from the case sight. Dean had agreed, but had also sent a list of clues he had discovered at the crime scene. Sam had instantly fired up the laptop and tried to start researching, but with all the screaming, it was getting less and less likely he was actually going to find something. Sam's eyes wandered over to the small playpen, where Natalie was standing, supporting herself, and hollering wordlessly, impatiently.

Sam half smiled, half sighed, as he went to go pick her up. When she saw her uncle coming towards her, Natalie's scrunched up angry baby face instantly transformed into the happy go lucky little angel she usually was. She had just started walking a couple weeks ago. It had been an emotional and exciting moment, followed by intense dread. The hyperactive child was now mobile. This did not bode well for anybody. Sam instantly understood all the hoopla over "baby-proofing" a house. Letting Natalie loose anymore made him a nervous wreck, and Dean wasn't much better. They had previously been plopping her down in her collapsible playpen while they worked, in a sea of stuffed animals, plastic key rings, and other baby whatnot. Up until she started walking, she had been perfectly content with that- her toys were close and she had enough room to crawl around to keep her satisfied.

However, the second she had gotten her feet under her, it all changed. She now wanted to be out, free and able to toddle around to her heart's content. It was proving very difficult for the boys to try to dig into their research with only one eye while keeping the other eye on the little Tasmanian devil. Sam still couldn't believe how fast she had picked up on walking- it was almost unnatural. Sam had checked and double checked his baby progression research. According to Google- purveyor of all knowledge- it was totally normal for a baby to start walking at 9 months. But if they took their eyes off her for more than five seconds, she would have crossed the entire motel room by grabbing on to table legs, sofas, and whatever other furniture she could reach. Sam didn't even know what to type in on the search engine to see if that was normal. He was almost afraid to. She seemed healthy, and Dean wasn't concerned, so he tried to let it be.

A sudden booming crash from next door caused her whining to stop suddenly, as her wide green eyes looked at the wall between the rooms, not understanding where the loudness was coming from. Sam watched as she looked back at him and whimpered. His heart immediately twisted in his chest as he realized that it wasn't just that she wanted out- the noise was scaring her, too. Sam cursed himself seven ways to Sunday for not realizing it sooner. He bolted the rest of the way over to her, and immediately hoisted her up into his strong arms. She was still smiling at him, but wiggling and twisting, a clear sign of her agitation.

"Hey, sweetheart, come on now, you're okay," Sam whispered to her, bouncing her a couple times. She responded by blowing a raspberry- a new trick she had learned courtesy of her father. Sam couldn't help but smile. He grabbed the spit cloth off of the edge of the playpen, knowing that when she started this, the drooling that would follow was akin to having a run in with Slimer of Ghostbusters fame. He knew that there was no way he could put her back in the playpen now; he was just going to have to do the best he could with his research with a baby in his lap.

As another loud crash sounded next door, Natalie let out a very loud and dissatisfied squawk of her own, causing Sam to wince. He took her back to the table with him and set her down in his lap. She immediately threw her chubby baby arms on top of the table and began banging them up and down. Sam reached one long arm out to his keyboard, making sure that it wasn't within striking distance of Natalie's little hands, and started typing. He kept the other arm locked around her little torso. Upon hearing the beloved clickity-clack of the keyboard, Natalie perked up. Sam typed and read as fast as he could; knowing that the distraction would be short lived. She was going to want to get her grubby little paws on it sooner rather than later.

The sounds of the keyboard bought Sam a solid five minutes. Natalie stared at the computer screen as it moved, changed, and lit up. Her eyes would wander down towards the keyboard and watched Sam's long slender fingers typing, creating all kinds of delicious noise that drew her like a moth to a flame. Sam found himself wondering why on earth the sound of the computer keyboard was interesting to her. He dropped a kiss onto the top of her downy head.

"You like the computer, don't you, Natalie?" he said. "Gonna be a great hacker when you grow up? Hmmm?" The baby didn't respond other than to tilt her head the other way as she continued to study the screen. Sam chuckled. The fight next door seemed to be quieting down. He wondered if he could persuade the baby to go back into her playpen for a while if he switched out the toys that were in there. He then shook his head. Man, it was different trying to do this with a baby around. But he wouldn't trade it for the world.

As terrified as he was for his niece, constantly worrying about everything from her toddling around in a strange motel room to the ever-present threat of supernatural attacks, he couldn't deny that Natalie had been a life saver for both him and Dean, but in very different ways. Dean had been still coping with shutting the door on Lisa forever when they'd gotten the call about Natalie. Sam had just come out of the Cage- more scarred and damaged than he was willing to let on. All the things he had survived- all the torment and the torture- he had wondered if he would have been able to handle it coming back. Castiel had given him a lifeline, and he took it, promising himself that he was going to cope and deal with it all for Dean. Dean needed him, and he, for once, had to be his brother's hero. And then, Natalie came along. Sam found a whole new reason to fight. Originally, his first reaction upon hearing that there was going to be a new little Winchester was sheer terror. How could they risk messing up a child's life willingly? He had been totally against keeping Natalie with them- until he met her. When he looked at her for the first time, he saw the good that he had done all his life, instead of only seeing the bad. He saw that the world could be beautiful, instead of the screwed up mess that he had made it. He saw all the lives he saved instead of all the lives he had taken. And he was slowly getting better.

He pulled the baby in close to his torso in a one armed hug, reminded again of how lucky he really was. She promptly drooled all over his arm and giggled. He chuckled again at the absurdity of the direction their lives had taken.

Just then, the screaming started up again next door. He rolled his eyes in frustration as Natalie let out a wail of her own at the loud, angry sound. Sam pulled her in close, winding both arms around her, and stood up. He stormed over to the push button phone on the table between his and Dean's bed. He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. No dial tone. He tried pressing the buttons in the receiver cradle a few times- nothing. He exhaled heavily, and then hung up. He looked everywhere for a listing of the front desk numbers- he'd just use his cell. Unfortunately, there was nothing-not even a match book. He was gritting his teeth, and had just made the decision to go downstairs and tell the manager himself, when the door to the adjoining room slammed shut from the outside. Sam could still hear the screaming of the arguing couple as they vacated the premises, but their voices were getting quieter and quieter the further they got away.

Sam sighed in relief, and looked down again at the baby in his arms. "Well, hopefully, they're gone for good. And as soon as your dad gets back, we will be too," he said, pulling Natalie in close. She was still upset and agitated from all the loud noise, however. She screwed up her face like she was about to cry. Sam hurriedly started bouncing her, hoping that the motion would calm her down. It didn't work. She started huffing and whimpering, and Sam knew a thunderstorm of tears was on the horizon unless he distracted her, and quick. His eyes darted around the room, looking for a toy, or her blanket, or something to help him out. They landed on his phone, face up on the table.

Without another moment's thought, he raced over to it, still trying to bounce and shush his cranky niece before she could really get going. He sat down at the table, placed her on his lap, and snatched the phone up, his fingers flying as he punched in the pass code. Upon seeing the screen light up, Natalie's attention was diverted again. Her fussing slowed down to a couple of gurgles and the occasional whimper, but for the most part, she was calm. Sam bounced his knee up and down, keeping her moving, which helped as well. Sam frantically looked through his apps, but they were all news, sports, health- nothing but words. Nothing that would keep a baby occupied. Natalie sensed her entertainment was coming to a close just as quickly as it had begun, and started fussing again. In desperation, Sam opened the camera feature, and flipped the image. He then pointed it at himself and her.

Instantly the fussing and squirming stopped. Her eyes got wide- wider than Sam had ever seen them. Her little mouth dropped open as she looked at the screen and saw herself. She reached out and tried to grab the phone. Sam brought it a bit closer so she could see better. The second her hands were around the phone, however, straight into her mouth it went. Sam quickly pulled it away, but he hadn't been quick enough. Of course, she had slimed it. "Eurgh," he said as he grimaced in disgust. "You had to drool all over my phone?" He wiped the slobbered-on phone on the thigh of his jeans, trying to get it dry again. Natalie's eyes and grabbing hands tried to reach down to pull the phone back to her, but Sam's strong left arm around her middle prevented that. She let out a frustrated screech at not getting her way. Sam hastened to bring it back up and in front of her so she could see the screen again. Just like before, she was struck dumb by the moving picture of herself.

"Who's that, Natalie? Huh? Who's that?" Sam whispered playfully to her, watching her reaction in the video. He saw her eyes flick up to the video picture of his face, and the momentary panic at seeing Sam from a different angle, not understanding where his voice was coming from. That little moment scared him- was this too much for her? But as quickly as it came, she seemed to settle down again, staring at his image, then back to hers. Sam smiled at her wonderment, which made her smile too. "Is that the prettiest girl in the whole world? Huh? You're the prettiest girl in the world, do you know that?" As if she could understand what he was saying, Natalie banged her tiny hands on the table, squealing with delight. She reached out for the phone again.

Sam quickly started making faces at her, which caused her to snap to attention again. After staring at him for two solid minutes as he continued to cross his eyes, make duck lips, and stick his tongue out at her, a tiny giggle escaped her lips. Sam's relief at her joy was palpable. He made another funny face at her, and snapped a picture, hoping to get a photo of her laughing. She didn't laugh on this particular face. Well- I might as well go for it if it makes her happy, Sam thought to himself.

He began snapping selfie after selfie of Natalie and himself. The sound of the camera was also intriguing to the baby, and after about seventeen selfies, she finally blurted out a laugh that he managed to capture. He double and triple checked the picture to make sure. There she was- laughing to beat the band. Unfortunately for him, he was making a duck lipped face that looked like it belonged on a Kardashian. Ah, well. Nobody would be looking at him in that picture anyways.

*SPN SPN SPN*

Later that night, much later after Dean had returned and they had relocated to a motel that was quiet and clean, Sam was watching Natalie sleeping in her playpen. Dean was in the shower, after having made sure his daughter successfully went to sleep. Sam stole a few moments of a quiet Natalie, enjoying the rarity. After watching her gently breathing and smiling in her sleep, he quietly went over to his phone on the bedside table. He changed his home screen to the selfie of Natalie laughing. He smiled, and felt his lungs take in a full, deep breath. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he had been able to do that.