Big Bertha
"Bobby, where are we going?" Balthazar asked while watching the scenery change through the window. They had been driving forever and the angel was beginning to get restless. Bobby just smiled and kept driving. He wasn't going to go spoiling the big surprise yet. Not when they were only a few miles away. "Bobby!" Balthazar whined restlessly. Bobby removed one hand from the steering wheel and pointed at a lake stretching out ahead of them. There were speedboats and peoples one jet skis.
"I reserved us a boat and a water tube," Bobby said happily. "Even got our own driver." Balthazar's eyes widened and he leaned closer to the window, watching the water ahead. Excitement built up in his chest, but then a thought killed it.
"Why didn't the others come with?" he asked, turning his gaze back to Bobby. The hunter bit at his lip and shrugged.
"Figured you and I needed a break and all…"
"This is about the past couple of days, isn't it?" Balthazar questioned, smile falling to a frown. Bobby sighed and eyed the angel closely.
"I just want to make sure you're okay, kiddo. You've been under a lot of stress lately. So have the others, but…I figure you need the vacation the most."
"What about you?" Balthazar asked. Bobby paused for a moment. He thought about telling the angel about his nightmare the other night. It was one way back when he got shot in the head by the Leviathan. He'd had the nightmare before, usually facing the reality of leaving his two sons behind. This time the dream had been different, but it still scared the hell out of the hunter. If it wasn't for Castiel waking him up after tripping over some books, the nightmare probably would have gotten even worse. Still, the nightmares going on lately in their little house hold seemed to be hitting everyone. It worried him. Dreams never ended well for them, but he didn't want to bring anything up. Everything has gone downhill lately. The last thing they needed to worry over was a bunch of ominous dreams. Still…they couldn't just push the dreams aside forever. Whatever the dreams meant, something bad was – "Bobby!" The hunter startled from his thoughts and sighed.
"Just needed to get out and stretch my legs, idjit. Being trapped in that house gets on my nerves sometimes," he lied. Balthazar at least seemed to buy it. Bobby glanced back to the road, pulling up into the parking lot. He picked Balthazar up; checking the angel's back to make sure the grace spell to hide his wings hadn't worn off yet.
"Howdy!" Balthazar and Bobby looked up, watching as a man with a scruffy brown beard and camouflaged T-shirt rushed towards them.
"Hey," Bobby greeted back, maneuvering Balthy into one arm so he could shake the man's hand.
"I'm Jeff and I take it you're the Singers?" the man asked. Bobby nodded and Jeff's grin widened. "I'm going to be your captain this afternoon." He ducked his head down a little, giving his attention to Balthazar. He held out a hand and shook Balthazar's smaller one. "What's your name, little man?"
"Balthazar," the angel stated. Jeff's brow rose, but he didn't say anything about the weird name. Instead, he smiled and pointed his chin towards something floating in the water and tied to the boat.
"Wanna meet a friend of mine, Zar?" Jeff asked. Balthazar nodded and Jeff stood back up, leading Bobby and Balthazar to the edge of the dock. He waved at the water, motioning at a water tube.
"That's Big Bertha. She's the best tube on these waters!" Balthazar leaned in closer to the tube.
"What do we do?" Balthazar asked. Jeff laughed and motioned to the boat.
"All aboard and change into your swim trunks and life vests if you wanna find out." Balthy didn't have to be told twice. He leapt from Bobby's arms and dashed onto the boat, the hunter and Jeff right behind him. Jeff quickly got the boat started and sped out towards the middle of the lake. He stopped the boat then and turned to the hunter and angel. They had both stripped down to their bathing suits. Balthazar had Pokémon swim trunks while Bobby just had boring blue ones. Both wore yellow life vests. Jeff grinned at them and started putting on his own orange life vest. "Alright, team, this is how this works," Jeff started, walking over to the back of the boat and pointing at the water tube still in the water. You just have to sit in the tube and hold onto the straps. Then, I'll pull you over the waves with the boat." Balthazar looked down at the tube. It sounded simple enough.
Balthy carefully slid down the back of the boat and landed on top of the yellow water tube with big bold letters written in red spelling out 'Big Bertha'. He took hold of the little black straps on the side and sprawled out on his belly. Jeff held up a hand then. "This thing will fling you off if you hit a big enough wave and lose your grip. Just make sure you don't do a belly flop when you hit the water. Now, if I'm going too fast and you get scared just let go of one strap and stick it straight up into the air and I'll stop, okay?" Balthazar nodded. "Or you could just jump if you want." Balthazar nodded again and Jeff wished him luck before rushing to the front of the boat. Bobby took a seat in one of the chairs, giving Balthy a thumbs-up. Balthazar reciprocated the hand motion and the boat suddenly started to move. It was slow at first and the water tube bounced gently against the tiny waves. Balthazar giggled, letting go of one strap and slapping at the water. That's when the boat suddenly started to pick up speed. The waves became bigger and Big Bertha bounced higher into the air. Balthy quickly grabbed back onto the strap again after almost getting kicked off. "You okay if I go faster?!" Jeff called through the roar of the ship's motor. Balthy understood now why Jeff wanted him to use hand motions. He could barely hear the human.
"Yeah!" Balthy shouted as loud as he could, giving Jeff a thumbs up for extra measure. Jeff nodded and cranked up the speed, turning the boat in different directions and spinning in big circles. Balthy felt a gleeful scream burst from his lips as the boat picked up on even more speed. The water tube bounced around on the waves, tossing Balthy all over and threatening to tip him off into the water. Balthy watched the waves as they came at him, leaning his body weight in different directions to hit them. It was all going so well, but then, the big wave appeared.
It was the biggest wave Balthy had seen so far and it looked like it was only going to get bigger. Balthazar prepared for it, holding on tight, but instead of going over the giant wave it pulled him and the tube under. Balthy gasped in shock, sucking in a bunch of water. Big Bertha popped up from beneath the wave then and bounced high into the air. Balthy gasped out, forgetting to focus on keeping his grip. His fingers slipped from the straps and his tiny body went flying into the air. Balthy yelped and went to flap his wings, but stopped himself. He couldn't just start flying. He was surrounded by people. What if they saw? Balthy glanced down at the water he was falling closer to. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact.
Splash!
The angel sunk beneath the cool water only to be pulled back up by his life vest. Balthy gasped for air, coughing up the water he had swallowed when first pulled under the wave. Strong arms lifted him from the water suddenly and Balthy was pressed against someone's shoulder. A hand came down against his back and the angel coughed up the rest of the water trapped in his lungs.
"You alright, idjit? You were under for a while," Bobby asked worriedly, pulling the angel from his shoulder.
"I'm okay," Balthy reassured the worried hunter. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." Bobby sighed in relief and Jeff hopped over, looking a little worried too.
"Sorry about that wave, Zar," the man apologized. Balthazar shook his head.
"It wasn't your fault," Balthy reassured. He glanced back at the water tube sitting in the water. "Can I try again?" he asked. Jeff grinned.
"Sure can!" he shouted.
"But this time I'm coming with you, alright?" Bobby asked. Balthazar nodded and crawled from Bobby's lap. He was a little shaky from getting tossed around, but he made it back onto Big Bertha. Bobby hopped on next, taking one side while Balthy took the other.
"Ready?!" Jeff shouted. Bobby and Balthy both gave a thumbs-up and Jeff started the boat up again. It started up slow like last time, but picked up speed pretty quickly again. Big Bertha carried them over the waves, bouncing in the air and sending water spraying into their faces. The waves grew large and the boat went faster. Balthazar squealed with glee as they bounced off of each wave. Bobby joined in eventually too and soon they were both whooping with laughter and glee as they were pulled through the water. Another big wave came at them after a while and the two braced themselves. Big Bertha smacked into the wave, but instead of being pulled under water, the tube was thrown high up into the air. Bobby lost his grip on a handle and slipped off, taking Balthazar with him. Bobby and Balthazar hit the water, their life jackets keeping them from going under for too long. Balthazar let out a loud whoop as he returned to the surface, punching the air.
"Let's do it again!" Bobby spat out a stream of water, muttering a soft 'idjit' before climbing back aboard Big Bertha.
Bobby and Balthazar lounged in the water, floating against the cool waves and soaking up the last of the sun. The sun was starting to set and after a long day of water tubing the two were worn out. Jeff peaked over the edge of the boat, watching the two.
"Hey, time to head back to shore guys," he called at them. Balthazar, popped an eye open and swam to the edge of the boat. Jeff helped lift him out of the water and Bobby crawled over the edge, grabbing a towel for himself and Balthazar. He dried off Balthazar's hair and whispered that they'd dry of the angel's invisible (but still very wet) wings once they were in the safety of the car where no one could see. "So, think you two want to visit me and Big Bertha again sometime again?" Jeff asked. Balthy's eyes lit up and he jumped up and down.
"Yes! Yes! Can we?!" Jeff laughed and glanced at Bobby. The hunter chuckled and picked the excited angel back up.
"Sure, why not. We'll have to bring the rest of the crew with us though next time," Bobby stated. Jeff laughed.
"I'll make sure to have bigger boat around," he joked, sitting back at the wheel. Bobby and Balthazar took a seat on one of the chairs and looked back over the waves. Big Bertha slapped against each wave and the two watched, memories of the day lulling Balthazar into a light doze. Bobby smiled down at the angel in his arms and stroked a hand through Balthy's wet hair, pulling it back and pressing a quick kiss to the angel's forehead.
"I'm going to tell the others you did that," Balthy teased tiredly. Bobby rolled his eyes, but didn't pull away from the little angelic fluff ball in his arms. Instead, he held on tighter, closing his own eyes and listening to the soft slapping of a Big Bertha bouncing against the fresh lake water.
In honor of Supernatural's return tonight, I've decided to post a chapter. Hope you all enjoy today's chapter and tonight's episode!
Fun Fact: Big Bertha is an actual water tube that my family and friends used to ride while at one of lakes we live by.