Lol, I thought I wouldn't continue this... ever. Well, I'm full of shit, apparently. I hope people still read this.
"The kid? Is he-" John starts, eyes following where Amy had led their young son back to the car with the promise of ice cream.
"He's my son." Sam answered the unfinished question. "Wasn't planned, but he's amazing." He eyed his father.
"He's, what, two?"
"Three."
John nodded, his gaze back on Sam. His expression, although masked, still showed signs of uncertainty. His son, this man standing in front of him with too-long hair and a wedding band on his finger was a stranger to him, a different person from the young teen that had disappeared in '98.
"Why'd you leave?" He asked softly, as if speaking it would cause him to vanish once more.
Sam shrugged, running a hand through his hair as he spoke, "I decided to be happy. There were so many times I wanted to leave before, but…"
John waited for him to continue.
"I was so, so tired of putting family first. I just wanted to be a kid, Dad. Amy, too." He glanced around the park briefly. "We should probably talk somewhere else. Follow me, I guess."
They began to walk towards his car at a slow pace as he talked. "I met her during that hunt. She was the one that killed the kitsune."
"Impressive," John admitted, if grudgingly. "She come from Hunters?"
He hesitated before answering cautiously. "No."
They'd reached the car, and Amy reached over from the driver's seat to open the passenger door for her husband.
"He's coming back to the house, for a bit," Sam told her quietly, and she nodded, glancing into the back seat as her unfamiliar father-in-law buckled himself next to his curious grandson.
The drive, although short, was tense, and the three adults didn't speak a word for the duration. Jacob, however, had decided that this new stranger was in need of a snack, and was attempting to share cheerios.
"Need 'nack, 'nack," he prompted, holding a slightly sticky hand out to the older man, "Share."
In the rearview mirror, Sam watched the corners of his father's mouth twitch slightly as he accepted the offering with a soft, "Thanks, kid."
There house was small, only a two bedroom, but it was warm and homey upon entering. John glanced around as he stood by the door, gathering in family pictures, including a snapshot of the couple as young teens. It had been taken not long after they'd disappeared and started off on their own. A twinge of sadness rested in Sam's gut as he watched his father, but the worry for both Jacob and Amy's safety quashed that.
"How'd you find me?" He asked. He and Amy sat on the loveseat pushed against the wall opposite the front door, Jacob sitting happily on the floor in front of them, munching on a popsicle his mother had provided from the freezer.
"I didn't know that you were here," John admitted. "I'd just finished a hunt and was moving onto a trail. Am I right to say that you have been moving around?"
The young couple nodded.
"I tried to stay away from anything Hunting related for the longest time," Sam said, as Amy stroked his hand with her thumb, "But there were times where I had to intervene." He looked to his wife with a question in his eyes, and she bit her lip nervously.
"We also were moving around to not become suspicious," She said. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "And we didn't want to leave a trail behind of missing brains. I'm not… human."
John immediately became tense, hand on his belt. Sam was unsure if he was reaching for a gun or a knife, but didn't want him to get his hands on either, frankly. He quickly jumped to his feet and placed himself in front of his wife.
"Do not touch her," he warned. His father opened his mouth to argue, but Sam cut him off. "I've known what she was since the night we left. She's a good person, dad, even if she's not a human. My son is the same." John glanced at the child who was looking up at the adults, confused at what was happening.
"Dada?" He leaned to tug on his father's jeans
"It's okay, baby," Amy said, leaning forward and reaching for him. He pushed away, squirming. "Daddy's just talking."
"The kitsune she killed was her mother," Sam said, still attempting to block Amy from his father. "She was going to kill me but she didn't because her own daughter stopped her."
John nodded, but didn't visibly relax. Amy excused herself, carrying a now fussy Jacob to the bathroom to clean the popsicle from his face and hands, as well as from his hair. It gleamed sticky and red in his soft mousy curls.
Sam started from the beginning, explaining how he and Amy had connected before he'd known what she was, and how she'd helped him, protected him, all those years ago. When he admitted to Dean making a visit, although unaware of his sister-in-law, John sighed, wiping a hand down his face and plopping himself into an armchair.
His son watched for a moment, before softly speaking, "I'm studying to be a lawyer. We're saving for a new car, Jacob just got accepted into preschool. It's, well, it's the normal life I wanted since I could want anything. But," he blew out a breath before continuing, "I don't think I'm… allowed to have that. At least, not all the way. Jacob's babysitter… She died in a house fire a month ago. On the ceiling."
"Fuck."