Still writing my way out :) Thank you to all of you who have been so incredibly supportive. I cannot tell you what it means to me to have this family. I'm so proud of all of you for fighting the good fight too. Massive thanks to my sis, Jenmm31, who is literally the best and kept me off the edge of the cliff.

I'm needing a hell of a lot of fluff right now, so the next couple chapters, more than likely, are going to be fluffier than Disney cotton candy. I've got some baby Nat coming at you (finally, I know), some Christmas, and some other stuff. I'll get back into cases and gore, I promise, but right now I need sweet and family and all that and if you read my last postscript you'll know exactly why.

This, however, is another small puzzle piece, written before the last episode. A couple of you have read between some of the lines in my series and have figured out that there's something I'm not telling you. Consider this another little nugget, hee hee.

A/N- in this story, Natalie is six. Please see profile page for disclaimers.

"Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day? Is it lore day?"

"NATALIEEEEEEEE," Dean groaned for what felt like the thirtieth time in the last four minutes. "Shut your pie hole."

"But I wanna know if it's lore day!"

"Oh, is that what you wanted? Had no idea."

"Daaaaaaaad!"

"Patience, young padawan," Dean said, doing one final visual check before zipping the duffle bag. "Go pack up your stuff."

"I did that already."

"You sure you got everything?"

"I'm sure, I'm sure! Is it lore day?"

"If you forgot one thing, doesn't matter if it's lore day or not, you ain't getting your hands on any of those books. You hear me?"

Groaning theatrically, Natalie huffed back towards the motel couch that had been her bed for the past two weeks. Flattening herself on the floor, she double-checked underneath to make certain she had gotten all socks, crayons, army men, and other various accouterment that accompanied life with a six year old. Finding nothing, she ran over to Sam's bed and partially unzipped her little duffle bag. Her blanket was right on top, like normal. And her stuffed dog, Tufty, was sitting on top of her backpack propped up on the couch. With a satisfied nod, she raced back to Dean's side.

"I got it all, Dad! Is it lore day?"

"Yes, Bug, it's lore day," Sam broke in before Dean could say anything. He looked up at her as he rezipped Natalie's bag and folded his last flannel into his own.

"YAAAAAAAY!" Natalie cheered, throwing her hands into the air and taking off around the room like she was training for the fifty-yard dash. She got to study lore in Hunter Homeschooling today!

Dean looked up at Sam, annoyed. "Dude!" he said. "You had to go and ruin it. I was gonna make her clean Baby's interior before I told her."

"Hey, you're not the only one getting tired of hearing 'is it lore day' for the five thousandth time," Sam shot back. Dean just shook his head, then looked over at the pint-sized Winchester.

"Leave it to Uncle Sammy to take all the fun outta teasing you," he said pompously. But Natalie was too excited to stop and punch him for teasing her himself. She moved onto skipping joyously around the room, cheering loudly.

"It's lore day! It's lore day! It's lore day!"

"You know, Bug, I'm insulted," Sam said in a flat tone. Natalie instantly stopped her romping and looked at Sam with wide eyes, wondering if he was serious. But when she saw the slight grin on his face, she knew he was playing with her too. "You never get this excited about your other school work," he said, throwing a playful pout her way.

She skipped over to him. "Yes huh!" she said. "I like when we do reading and when we do science, 'specially if we're learning about dinosaurs and flowers and blowing stuff up."

"That is quite an eclectic range of science topics."

"What's 'eclectic' mean?"

"It means wide and unique choices from one subject."

"Oh. Cool. Oh yeah- I like when we do vocabulary too!"

Sam chuckled. They had been doing Hunter Homeschooling for about a month now. Everything seemed to be going well- for the most part. Sam had observed quite a few things about his niece- the least of which was the fact that she obviously preferred to learn about anything supernatural over anything scholarly- and he had made a mental note to talk to Dean about some of his observations. However, trying to figure out their schedule and hunt and teach was proving a little trickier than they had originally anticipated. Sam chalked it up to it all being a first time situation, but he had to stop making mental notes to talk to Dean and actually do it. But before he could bring it up, Natalie started chanting again. This time, at the top of her little lungs.

"IT'S LORE DAY, IT'S LORE DAY, IT'S LORE DAY, IT'S-"

"Alright, that's it," Dean said suddenly, jumping into his daughter's path and snatching her up, holding her high in the air. Her cheers turned into loud giggles. "Where's the off button on this thing?" he asked, twisting Natalie around midair, pretending to examine her. Her giggles became childish screams of laughter. "Maybe it's….here," Dean said, suddenly tickling her mercilessly.

"DADDYYYYY," Natalie screamed with joy in between bouts of laughter. "NOOOOO don't tickle meeeeeeeee!"

"Naw, that ain't it. This thing gets louder when you push that button," Dean said. He stopped tickling and flipped her around again while she gulped for air and giggled. "Maybe it's this one," he said, pulling her face to face with him and poking her nose. Natalie laughed and swatted at his hands as he kept poking her. "Dammit, that seems to have activated her ninja chop action," he grumbled playfully. He looked up at Sam, who was watching the show with a grin. "Sammy, I think this thing is broken. Did we get a warranty on it?"

"Yeah, but it expired after the first year," Sam answered back, hoisting his and Natalie's duffles onto his broad shoulders. "You're stuck with her the way she is."

"Aw, c'mon, there's gotta be a factory reset or something," Dean complained loudly, flipping Natalie mid air again and playfully shaking her as she exploded with giggles. As Sam made his way towards the car, Dean tossed Natalie up in the air one last time before setting her on her feet. "Alright, monkey," he said. "Bathroom, then get in the car."

"Yes, sir!" she chirped, taking off at top speed to obey. Ten minutes later, the family was packed into the Impala, heading off down the road. Natalie was practically vibrating with excitement. She loved it when she got to read the gigantic dusty books that taught you how to defeat monsters and spells and all that junk. But she had another very specific goal in mind for lore day today and was going for it.

"Hey Dad?" she asked after they had gotten out of town and onto the back roads. "Can I read Grandpa's journal for lore stuff today?" she asked calmly and carefully.

Dean glanced at her quickly in the rearview mirror and smirked. He knew she'd been wanting to read it for years. She was sitting up, looking at him eagerly. He had to hand it to her- she wasn't begging outright. She was reserving that card if she felt she was going to lose the battle. She was getting to be quite the little grifter. He was so proud.

"What the hell. Why not?" Dean answered, moving to pick it up from its usual residence on the front seat between himself and Sam. However, Sam's hand shot out and landed firmly on top of the book.

"Uh, maybe that's not such a good idea," Sam said gently and deliberately.

Natalie blinked, surprised. "Why not, Uncle Sam?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah, Uncle Sam," Dean said, his voice full of steel. "Why not?" He turned and shot Sam a death glare. Sam sighed. He knew what was going on in Dean's mind. Even though they had agreed that Natalie needed to continue her hunting studies at the same time as her academic studies, they still had wildly different ideas about what was appropriate for a six year old.

Sam had to hand it to Dean. As Natalie's father, he obviously had final say on absolutely everything having to do with his child. But he usually let Sam state his case and actually listened to what he had to say. It had been a huge mark of respect for the younger man, that his stubborn-as-hell brother listened to his arguments. Sam was nervous that too much "guts and gore" would scare Natalie. He had argued that having been around the supernatural her entire life wasn't enough to keep the terror of some of the things in their books at bay. Dean had agreed, in so much as he read and checked everything before he put it in his daughter's hands. Dean let almost all but the really messed up stuff pass, much to Sam's chagrin. Dean just called him a nervous nelly, and Sam knew that that was what was going through his brother's mind now, regarding the journal. But that was far from the reason Sam stopped Dean.

"Well Bug," Sam said carefully, trying to answer Dean's question in a way that wouldn't cause a million new questions from the child. "It's a great resource that you should read...someday. But," he said with a deliberate icy glare at his older brother. "Our dad wrote some stuff in there about a long time ago that I don't think is the best for you to be reading at the moment." Sam's eyes bore into the side of Dean's head, willing his brother to read between the lines of what he was saying.

"What kind of stuff?" Natalie asked, intrigued.

And it suddenly dawned on Dean. John had not only written about lore, but also about his personal life. There were passages in there describing the boys' childhoods, growing up, puberty…dates…one night stands…

Suddenly changing his tone, Dean refocused on the open road. "Yeah, on second thought, maybe the giant nerd is right," he said. Natalie gave a huff of exasperation.

"But you just said that I could read Grandpa's journal!" she argued.

"Yeah, and now I'm saying you can't. Not today, anyway. Here," Dean said, picking up the book he had selected for today. "I think you'll like this one. Start on page eighty one, under 'Shtriga'. It's got some freaking awesome pictures with it. Totally creepy stuff."

He handed the book over the backseat without looking, but didn't feel her take it. "Natalie," he said firmly, warning her not to start the fight he could feel brewing in her mind. He heard a small sigh in response.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, taking the book out of his hand.

"Good girl," he replied. "Now start reading. By the time we get to the motel, we're gonna do a pop quiz. Got it?"

"Is it just gonna be on the sh- the sh-"

"Shtriga."

"The shtriga, or are we gonna do other monsters too?" Dean noted the glimmer of excitement in her voice. Phew. No tantrum. Crisis averted.

"Eh, I'll throw in a couple others, just to keep you on your toes," he said, grinning at her in the rearview mirror. She giggled back in response, then immediately bent her little head over the book and began reading.

Dean knew he should thank Sam for saving him from Natalie reading some potentially embarrassing information that he'd rather her not know just yet, but he had his pride. He gripped the steering wheel tight and gave a little nod in Sam's direction. Good enough.

Later that night, after they were settled into an overnight room (it was a long drive back to Bobby's and sleeping in a car with a six year old who was already going to fight sleeping tooth and nail wasn't an option), Dean finished up Natalie's verbal pop quiz while unpacking the essentials.

"Nice work, squirt," he praised, airing out her blanket and smoothing it out on the rollaway bed. This room didn't have a couch, so Natalie knew she had to suck it up and deal with a bed. Whatever. She'd done awesome on her shtriga quiz so life was good.

"Thanks!" she squealed back, wiggling her butt in excitement. "Wanna play cars?"

"Um, Dean?" Sam's voice cut into their conversation. "I was actually thinking that maybe you and I could go make a quick supply run and let Natalie stay here and watch TV. What do you think?"

Dean's brow wrinkled in confusion. What the hell? They were only staying here overnight, what did they need? But then he looked full into Sam's face. Ah. He knew that look. He wanted to talk. Great. Probably another lecture about appropriate reading material for a child blah blah blah.

"Sounds good," Dean said heartily, trying to actually make it sound like he thought that. He looked over at Natalie. "You gonna be okay while we head to the store?"

Natalie looked back and forth between them. This wasn't routine- she knew something was up. "Can I go with you?" she asked outright.

"Your dad and I need to talk, Bug," Sam said gently.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked, her worried eyes darting between the two of them.

"Did you do something bad?" Dean asked.

"No."

"Then you're not in trouble. Uncle Sam and I just need to chat for a second, okay? You hold down the fort. Here." He walked over to the bedside table, snatching up the remote. "Find us something cool to watch tonight. I'll make sure to load up on candy. Deal?"

She giggled. "Okay." She jumped onto his bed, preparing to settle in and channel surf. Dean grinned.

A couple minutes later, Sam and Dean were heading towards the nearest Gas N' Sip. Dean decided to just get it over with. "Alright, Sam. Let's have it."

Sam looked at him, confused. "Have what?"

"Whatever it is that's causing the stick to stay lodged up your ass," Dean answered. Sam rolled his eyes, but Dean persisted. "You gonna lecture me again on what I choose to give my kid to read? Or something else this time?"

"Why do you automatically assume I'm just going to start fussing at you?"

"Because you get your panties in a twist about everything."

"Dean, you know I think you're doing a good job, right?"

That threw Dean for a loop. In the secret recesses of his heart, in that place where he shoved his dark thoughts, he was constantly tormenting himself about how he was raising his daughter. A part of him knew he was doing what was right and best for her. But that small nagging demon screaming inside of him wouldn't shut up. So to hear Sam say that when he was expecting a rebuke stunned him into silence.

Sam waited for Dean to respond, but when he didn't, Sam kept speaking. "Seriously. Between all of the moving around, the constant schedule shifts, reworking OUR schedule for some consistency for Natalie- you're really doing great. The journal thing today was just because I didn't think you'd want your six year old reading about your little bender in New York at CBGB's or that New Year's Day where you couldn't move for forty-eight hours afterwards."

Dean swallowed hard. "Thanks, Sam," he said in a gruff voice that told Sam much more than just 'thanks'. Sam smiled.

"I…uh…actually, I've wanted to talk to you about something for a week or so," Sam said hesitantly. The tone was enough to make Dean's eyes narrow, just a bit. "It's nothing bad," Sam hastened. "But it's something…well, something that I think maybe we should talk about."

"Okay," Dean said, nodding, determined to take this like a man. "Go for it."

"So I've been working with her school stuff, and you've been working with her on hunting stuff."

"Right."

"Well, as her father, I just feel…that you need to be aware of something."

"'As her father'?" Dean repeated, turning to look at Sam incredulously as he braked at a stop sign. "Wait. Hang on. Is this…is this like a…parent-teacher conference?"

Both boys were silent for a long moment. Sam stared at Dean, and Dean stared back at Sam.

"This is weird," said Sam finally, breaking the silence.

"Very weird," Dean muttered in agreement, before turning his attention back to the road. "I mean, not for nothing Sam, but every parent-teacher conference I've actually been to resulted in me getting laid afterwards."

"Oh, c'mon Dean," Sam complained, holding up a hand. "You really think that just made this any less awkward?"

"Alright, alright," Dean said, waving his hand, before getting his lopsided grin on. "So Mr. Winchester. Please tell me how my child is doing in class. Is she biting the other kids? Eating glue? Has she been tackling the boys again?"

"Are you gonna take this seriously?"

"Naw, it's more fun pissing you off."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Now that you've gotten that out of your system, you ready to listen?"

"Lay it on me, Sammy."

"So Natalie is really, really…smart."

Silence.

"That's it? That's what you've been dying to tell me for a week? News flash, Samuel. I know."

"It's not just that she's smart, Dean. She's like…super smart. Like way advanced for her age smart."

That got Dean's attention. "Like…what? How advanced? We talking Stephen Hawking smart here?" he asked, not entirely sure where Sam was heading with his.

"Well, that's just it. I'm not really sure. I mean, she was reading at the age of four, and her vocabulary has always been pretty advanced. You remember how she used to refuse to say words until she could say them perfectly?"

"Yeah?"

"That's…not normal. And now. Her comprehension is off the charts. I mean, there are some things she doesn't like, so she doesn't work as hard at them, but I know she gets it. She's tripping a bit on Latin-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- Latin? You're working on Latin with a six year old?!"

"Of course I'm working on Latin. We're freaking hunters, dude. She's gonna need to know it."

"She's six, Sam!"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Dean! She's getting it. At age SIX. I mean, yeah, she's not great at it, but she really understands the basics. You know she's had exorcisms memorized for god knows how long. It's just a small jump to other words for her. It's really the only thing I see a mental block with her. Everything else is just…it's almost too easy for her." Sam swallowed. "Dean, she's reading at a fifth grade level. In first grade."

Dean's eyes were wide as he processed all the information. "Huh," he finally said. "Guess maybe I should have actually paid attention in those real parent teacher conferences last year," he admitted sheepishly.

Sam gave him a bitch face. "Ya think?" he said sourly.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay. So she's super smart. What does that mean?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. In everything else, emotionally, physically, she's right on target for a six year old. It's like her mind is racing ahead, but her body is staying right where she's supposed to be."

"And that's good, right?"

"I…guess?"

Both boys were silent for another long moment. Dean broke the silence this time as he pulled into the gas station. "So what's wrong with that?" he asked. "I mean, her being smart isn't…like…hurting her or anything, right?"

"Well, no. Not that I can tell."

"No. And you're clearly able to determine where she is and actually challenge her, right? I mean, you know what level she's reading at, and you're able to give her stuff at that level."

"I'm…I mean I'm trying…"

"And you're succeeding. She's not complaining about her work like she used to when she was in kindergarten. I do remember Nicole saying that she didn't think Natalie was being challenged enough in class, and now you're challenging her. And she likes it. She likes the lore. She's…happy. So…so I say we let sleeping dogs lie unless it becomes an issue." Dean turned to Sam. "What do you think?"

Sam took a moment, then nodded. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. But…but if you think I need to be doing something different, or handling this a different way, then you'll tell me, right?"

Dean looked pensive for a moment before answering. "Sam, we're both learning on the job on this one. Tell you what. If you see something, you say it, and if I see something, I'll say it." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Sam took his brother's hand with a grin. "Deal." They shook. Sam chuckled again. "Now can we go get some beer and get this weird parent-teacher conference feel behind us?"

"Oh, hell yes."