Miracle lay at the foot of Dean's bed. Waiting.

Sam walked by the open door, his heart sinking as he saw the dog. He sat on the edge of Dean's mattress and pulled Miracle onto his lap. "Me too, buddy," he said. "Me too. Hey, come on. You and me, we got work to do."

Miracle jumped onto the floor and picked up one of Dean's boots in his mouth.

"Leave that here," Sam said. "You can get it when we come back."

Miracle dropped the boot, followed Sam down the hall of the Bunker, up the stairs and outside to the car. He stood by Baby's back door.

"You can ride shotgun, Miracle." Sam said, opening the front passenger side for the dog.

Miracle hesitated before jumping in.

00000

"Dinner, buddy," Sam called out, banging a spoon against a metal bowl. He walked down the hall, "Come on, you want some food?"

He found Miracle in Dean's room. Where he always was.

"You want to eat in here? Okay," he said as he put the bowl down. "I'll join you."

Sam came back from the kitchen with a sandwich and sat at Dean's desk, watching the dog eat. When Miracle was finished, he curled into a ball and rested his head on Dean's boot.

Sam sighed. He knew it would get easier. The grief. That he'd miss his brother every day, instead of every second of every day. That he wouldn't feel like he was drowning every time he thought of Dean. He knew one day his memories would make him smile instead of cry. He just wished that day would hurry and come. But then again, he also didn't.

0000

Miracle charged across the backyard and chased an unsuspecting squirrel up a tree.

"You have fun, boy?" Sam said, as he ruffled the dog's fur. "You like your new house?"

Miracle barked, then ran and got Dean's boot, carrying it to Sam and dropping it at his feet.

"Yup," Sam said as a familiar lump rose in his throat. "I think he'd like it here too. How about we take this inside," he said, picking up the old boot.

It had got ratty over the years, the scuffs becoming holes, the laces knotted and frayed. But Sam and Miracle were not going to let it go. They would never let it go.

0000

"You can come in, buddy," Sam said. "But be gentle, okay?"

Miracle put his nose to the tiny swaddled bundle in Sam's arms and took a sniff.

"Smells weird, huh?" Sam said with a laugh. "He's your little brother, buddy. This is Dean."

Miracle's ears pricked up, and he wagged his tail at the sound of the name.

"You like that, huh?" Sam said. "How about you look after him? Like my brother looked after me."

Miracle's tail wagged even harder. As if he understood every word.

0000

"Dad," Dean yelled from the garden, "Come look at this!"

Sam walked out on to his back porch, to see his son and Miracle running in circles around a tree.

"Maybe he thinks you're a squirrel!" Sam said and laughed at the chaotic scene.

"I'm a squirrel. I'm a squirrel, " Dean squealed, and Miracle jumped up and down, barking in agreement as the pair fell to the grass.

Sam watched on as Dean giggled, and Miracle covered him in licks.

A smile spread across Sam's face, and he ran down the stairs, two at a time, strode across the yard and dropped to the ground laughing as his son and Miracle piled on top of him.

0000

Sam tucked Dean in. "Goodnight," he said, kissing his son on the forehead.

"Where's Miracle?" Dean said.

"Where he always is."

Dean smiled. "Night daddy," he said. "Night Miracle."

Sam turned on the nightlight and looked down at the dog at the end of his son's bed. Miracle's head was resting as always, on Dean's old boot. He ruffled the dog's fur and pulled the door closed behind him, leaving it open just a crack.

Taking a deep breath, he went outside to the garage, his hand trembling a little on the handle of the door as he pushed it open.

He pulled back the dusty tarp and looked at the car beneath it, running his hand along her shiny, black metal. He folded his body into the driver's seat, noting how it was no longer quite so easy. The aches in his bones, joining the ache in his heart. He put his hands on the steering-wheel and closed his eyes. His memories so clear, so vivid, like they happened only yesterday. Of him and Dean, his brother, driving down the back highways of America. Saving people. Hunting things. Laughing. Fighting. Singing. The good memories and the bad. All of them mixed up together in happiness and sorrow. He turned to the passenger seat, where Dean sometimes sat if he let Sam drive, and allowed the memories to wash over him, thick and rich, giving into it, all of it, just for a moment. Then took another deep breath, got back out, closed the car door, and rested his head against Baby's cool steal.

"I miss you, Dean," he whispered.

He heard a whimper at the door.

Miracle was there waiting for him, his tail swishing back and forth.

Sam smiled. "Come on, buddy," he said. "Let's head back inside."

0000

Sam held Miracle in his arms. The old dog's eyes were forever closed now.

Dean wept at his father's side.

"I know," Sam said. Reaching one hand down to Dean's shoulder. "But it will get better. I promise. And he knew you loved him. He knew he was loved. He always knew he was loved."

Dean nodded his head and wiped his runny nose along the back of his sleeve. He reached down and picked up the boot.

"We have to bury him with this," he said through sobs.

"You bet we do," Sam said, as he gently laid the dog into the hole he dug for him under his favourite squirrel tree.

Sam took Dean's boot, his brother's boot, and held it in his hands. A familiar lump rose in his throat. He smiled. A smile filled with sadness. A smile filled with joy. A smile filled with gratitude for the life he and his brother got to share. He placed the boot at the old dog's feet, covered them both with a plaid blanket, and filled in the hole.

"You got the plaque," he said to Dean beside him.

Dean nodded and handed his father the plaque they crafted together.

It read:

MIRACLE

A GOOD DOG.

WHO LOVED DEAN.

"Is Miracle in heaven?" Dean asked, as they walked back towards the house.

"He sure is. He's with your Uncle Dean now."

"He can give Uncle Dean back his boot."

Sam laughed. "I'm not sure Dean would want it after all these years, but yeah he can."

xxxxxx

A flash of something caught Dean's eye as he drove passed the towering trees. He pumped the breaks and put Baby in reverse, speeding backwards up the road.

On the shoulder sat a dog.

"Miracle?" he said.

He reached over and flung open the passenger door.

"Miracle, buddy. Is that you?"

Miracle barked, picked up the boot and jumped into the car.

"Buddy!" Dean said, as the dog covered him in licks. "Did you have a good life?"

Miracle barked again.

Dean held the dog close to his chest. "Sammy took good care of you, huh?" he said, then, "What you got there," as he suddenly noticed the boot Miracle had dropped to the floor. "Is that one of my old boots?"

Dean picked it up and looked at it. The boot was filthy now, and covered in holes. The sole had peeled back, and the laces were nothing more than a few strands of cotton.

"How long you been carrying this around?" He laughed and put it at the dog's feet. "Might have to get you a new one," he said, and leaned over, pulled Baby's door closed and ruffled his dog's fur.

Dean and Miracle sped along the road, the scent of the pine trees filling the car, the music blaring from the radio speakers. Miracle hung his head out the window. His fur blowing back in the breeze, his boot at his feet, and his master by his side once again.