Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.

A/N: There will be more chapters to this story. It just turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be, so I broke it up. The plan right now is for five chapters, so please be patient.

As always, everyone stay safe and stay healthy!

One Year Old

Dean finished the rice and poured it into three bowls. It was a pitiful meal, but the best of what they had left. Dean walked down to Sam's room to tell him it was time for dinner, only to find him already asleep. Concerned, Dean placed a hand on Sam's forehead. Sam had been sluggish all day, and Dean's worst fear was realized. He was sick.

Babbling from the floor below him broke Dean out of his dread. Evy was playing on a blanket, focused intently on Squish and a plastic Lego train that she was pushing back and forth. Deciding to leave Sam alone and let him sleep, since he probably wouldn't later that night, Dean turned to Evy and crouched down a little, immediately catching her attention.

"Ready for dinner?"

Evy giggled and held out her hands towards Dean. "Deanie!"

"Let's go, kiddo."

There was one benefit to only having a baby for company, Dean decided. It was easy to convince her that the rice was a gourmet meal. The second Dean put the bowl in front of her, Evy dug her hands into it, and in no time, her face was a sticky mess of cheese and broccoli bits.

"Nummy."

"It's good?"

"Nummy." Evy confirmed as she dug a hand into her bowl again. When she looked over and saw Dean's already empty bowl, she offered him what was left in her little fist. "Deanie."

"I'm full. You finish it."

"Deanie." Evy insisted.

Dean smiled and pretended to eat a bite out of Evy's hand. "Mmmm."

"Nummy?"

"Nummy." Dean chuckled and kissed Evy's cheek. "Love you, baby girl."

Two Years Old

"I do it!"

Sam sighed, trying hard to keep his patience. "Please, just let me get you dressed."

"I do it!" Evy insisted, holding a hand out to take the shirt from Sam's hand.

"Fine." Sam said, exasperated. "Here."

Sam handed the shirt to Evy, who very studiously tried to open it and put it over her head. Sam helped when Evy wasn't looking, a minute later, she was finally dressed.

"I do it!"

"Yeah, you did it, Cricket." Sam said. "You're growing up, baby."

"No baby. Big girl."

Sam, somewhat taken aback and saddened by the declaration, nodded. "Yeah. My big girl."

Three Years Old

John stood at the door next to the room Evy slept in. His intention had been to tell her to go to bed, but he stopped when he overheard her talking to herself. When he peeked in, the sight made him smile. Evy was standing in front of the mirror that had come with the house, a foam sword in her hand, and a pillowcase tied around her shoulders. She thrusted the sword at the mirror and proclaimed,

"Got you, monster!"

A chuckled escaped John's throat before he felt a sharp twinge of guilt. Evy was his last baby, and a few days earlier he'd made the dumbest decision he'd ever made. He'd told her the truth of the world, the truth that the monsters she was fighting in her play weren't just play. They were real. The only thing to eventually calm the hysterical Evy had been a conversation with Sam and Dean, where Dean had told her something she'd been repeating to herself ever since.

The monsters are scared of us, baby girl.

"Whatever that was, you took it down, little one."

Evy turned and beamed at her father's praise. "It was a dragon, Daddy! I beated it all by myself."

"Well, you did an excellent job." John said. "But I'm gonna tell you something that's important to remember, okay?"

"What, Daddy?"

"That if you ever need help, you call me or your brothers, okay? You don't have to do anything all alone. Can you remember that?"

"I 'member, Daddy."

"It's time for bed, little one." John said.

"I not seepy." Evy insisted.

"It's still bedtime. You don't have to sleep, but you do have to lay in bed."

"Can I seep with you?" Evy asked as she yawned.

John started to say no, but if Evy was yawning, it meant that she was only a few minutes from snoring. "If you promise you'll lay down and go straight to sleep."

"Promise, Daddy." Evy said. "Give me hug?"

"Come here."

John enveloped Evy into a hug and savored the feeling of having her safe and secure with him. The feeling was one he carried with him when he was away, and he knew it would become scarcer and scarcer as time went on. John picked her up, deciding that pajamas could be skipped for that night.

"Let's go to bed, little one."

"Daddy, I not wittle." Evy said as she yawned again.

"Whatever you say."

Four Years Old

Bobby Singer knew when something was wrong with the Winchester clan. They got quiet. And broody. It was nothing for John to be that way, somewhat less common for Dean, and not unheard of for Sam.

But for Evy, who was the lighthouse of the Winchester family, pulling them out of the darkness when they all got too close and it threatened to swallow them whole, brooding was unheard of.

It had been two weeks since Evy's first introduction to the truly dark side of the hunting world. She'd known the truth, much to Bobby's dismay, for over a year, but the real ugly side had thrown itself at her. And the effect was clear. Evy didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she cried at the drop of a hat. Now, she was sitting in Bobby's chair, gripping Squish in her arms tightly and trying hard not to cry.

Bobby approached the chair and picked up Evy. He prayed she wouldn't start fighting him as she'd done her father when she'd been found. She didn't. Instead, Evy allowed Bobby to take her and put her in his lap, and for a long moment, neither one said anything.

"What's that little head of yours thinking?"

"I'm nothing but a baby."

"What's that mean?"

"I couldn't do nothing."

"What? You mean when you got taken?"

"Yeah. He hurt Squish and taked me and all I did was cry."

"That's not what I heard."

"What you mean?"

"Well, I heard that when he kept trying to get you to stay with him, you told him no. No matter how scary it got, you kept telling him no." Bobby said. "And I also heard that when he tried to tell you that your daddy and brothers didn't want you, you told him he was lying."

"Yeah. I did that."

"That don't sound like no baby to me. That sounds like a brave kid."

"But I was real scared. I still scared."

"Listen to me. Being brave don't mean not getting scared. It's what you do when you're scared that makes you brave." Bobby chuckled. "And taking that swing at your dad when he tried to pick you up was pretty brave too."

"Uncle Baby? Do you still gets scared?"

"Sometimes, Baitfish."

"How do you not be scared?" Evy asked.

Bobby took a breath before answering. He knew how he quit being scared, but he had a feeling that giving Evy a shot of whiskey was not the kind of advice that would keep him breathing for long.

"Honestly? I get a hug from you."

"That helps you not be scared?"

"It sure does."

"I'm scared, uncle Baby. I don't wanna go to sleep 'cause I'll see him again." Evy said, swallowing back the tears she was trying to fight.

"How about I return the favor, huh?" Bobby suggested. "You sleep right here with me and you'll be just fine. Okay?"

"You promise?"

"Promise, Baitfish. Come here." Five tear streaked minutes later, Evy was sleeping soundly, curled up against Bobby's chest. "I got you, baby girl."

Five Years Old

They had reached the door of her classroom, and Evy had thought she was ready. But there were a lot more kids in there than she'd thought there would be. She hadn't been around a lot of other kids before, and she was scared. What if they didn't like her? What if she wasn't good at school? Sam had tried to tell her that she'd be okay, that she'd love school and it would be fun. She'd believed him, but she found it hard to believe him now. Sam talked for a minute with her teacher, then bent down to talk to her. He took her hand and asked,

"Are you scared?"

Evy looked into the classroom again, then back to Sam. "A little." she admitted.

"You want me to stay with you?" Sam asked.

"You don't have to go?" Evy asked.

"Daddy said I could stay with you for today if you wanted me to." Sam assured her. "Or part of the day. Whatever you want me to do, Cricket."

The truth was, Sam wanted to pick her up and take her back home. Keep her the true baby of the family for as long as possible. He was fighting back tears, trying not to shed them in front of Evy. If he cried, she would cry for sure. After a few seconds, she answered,

"No. I'll be brave." Evy said.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Evy answered. "I'll be okay."

Though he felt his heart crack and bleed that she didn't need him right then, Sam also felt intensely proud. Evy was indeed brave. At only five, she rarely became so scared of something that she backed down from facing it. Part of that was forced from having the scary truth about monsters told to her at age three. But Sam knew that part of it was her own character, and that, more than anything, told him that she was telling the truth. She would be okay.

"Alright, Cricket. Remember what we told you about what daddy does for a living if anyone asks?" Evy nodded. "Okay. Have fun, baby. I love you."

"Love you too, Sammy."

Evy gave Sam a quick but affectionate squeeze and ran into her classroom. Sam stared at her for a few seconds before whispering,

"That's my girl."