"Alec, you gotta stand still for me buddy," Sam said. He tried to get the sunscreen on Alec, but he just wouldn't stop fidgeting. They were at the public pool and Alec had been excited before they left, but now he was nervous with all the new people around. "I gotta get this sunscreen on you so you don't burn."
"Where's Daddy?" Alec whispered.
"Daddy's getting us a locker to keep our things safe while we swim," Sam reassured. "He's gonna be so proud of you if you have your sunscreen on by the time he gets back. So, if you stand still, I can get your sunscreen on."
"Why couldn't we swim in the creek?" Alec asked.
"The creek is cold buddy," Sam said. "And this way you might be able to make some new friends."
"I don't want new friends," Alec argued. His eyes widened and he looked at him in panic when he realized that he had just argued with him. "I'm sorry Uncle Sammy," Alec quickly apologized.
Sam gave him a small smile and stroked his cheek, "It's ok, Alec. Now just stand still for me, ok?" Alec nodded and actually stood still long enough for him to get sunscreen all over his back, arms, and chest. "Ok, now close your eyes real tight so I can get your face," Sam said. Alec shut his eyes as tightly as he could, looking super cute. He rubbed in the sunscreen and made sure he got the rest of his tiny nephew. He didn't want Alec to burn while they were at the pool.
"C'mere you little monster," Dean growled, running over and scooping Alec up.
Alec squealed in delight and yelled, "Daddy!"
"You smell like sunscreen," Dean said.
"Uncle Sammy made me," Alec said.
"Uncle Sammy is super smart," Dean said. "You ready to go swimming? Show off all your skills to Uncle Sammy?"
"Yeah! Let's go swimming!" Alec yelled.
Sam smiled as he watched his brother carry Alec to the water. He got in, but Alec clung to him like he was afraid of the water. Sam got up and walked over to where they were and got in the water too. There were still a lot of people in the pool, but now that Dean was there Alec decided it was ok now.
"Alec, can you swim to Uncle Sammy?" Dean asked him.
"Daddy, don't let go," Alec said.
"Ok baby, I won't let go," Dead said in amusement.
Alec swam over to him with Dean holding on the entire time. He picked him up and smiled when Alec yelled, "Did you see that Uncle Sammy?!"
"Wow! You're a good swimmer!" Sam replied. "Can you swim back to Daddy?" Alec nodded and swam back to Dean without any help at all. Dean picked him up and held him up high before he splashed back into the water.
"Alec, do you wanna know what would be really fun?" Dean asked.
"What?" Alec asked back.
"There are a bunch of little kids here and I'm sure they would love to play with you. Do you think that sounds fun?" Dean asked.
"Will you and Uncle Sammy play too?" Alec asked, his voice small.
"Maybe, but don't you wanna try it?" Dean asked. Alec still didn't look sure, so Dean pleaded, "For me?"
"Ok," Alec whispered.
Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. When he'd mentioned making new friends Alec had argued with him, but when Dean asked him to do it he didn't argue at all. Dean looked over at him and smirked when he saw his shock.
Dean walked over to the shallow end with Alec and played in the sprinklers with him for a while. Sam sat at the edge of the pool and watched as Dean found another little boy about Alec's age and played with both of them. Dean played and chased the boys around until Alec warmed up to the other boy and started playing with him. They splashed in the shallow water and ran through the sprinklers, chasing each other now that Dean was no longer with them.
Dean came back over to him and sat on the edge. "He should be ok now," Dean said. "Just takes him a while to warm up to people."
"How come he didn't argue with you?" Sam asked, sounding about as old as his nephew.
Dean shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe he got it all out when he argued with you."
"So, we're really gonna do this," Sam said. "We're gonna raise Alec, work on cars, go to school…we're gonna be normal."
Dean chuckled, "Yeah college boy, we're gonna be normal. I didn't think I would like being normal, but I love it. I love taking care of Alec. Every day it's somethin' new and he's so happy. I want him to be the happiest kid there ever was."
"Me too," Sam agreed. "You know, maybe we should take him to a theme park or something. He wouldn't be able to ride all the rides, but I think he'd have fun."
"And we should take him to a baseball game. I always wanted Dad to take us to a game when we were little," Dean said.
"We're gonna have to save up some money for all of this though," Sam said. "I think the college is hiring tutors, so I'm going to try to get that."
"And I'm going to help Bobby restore cars, so that's going to help," Dean said. "The problem is, I wanna get him some more clothes and more toys. Plus, we're gonna make up a room for him. My little boy's gonna cost us some money."
"But he's worth it," Sam said. He caught Alec's eye, and he quickly waved him over. "I'll be right back. Looks like Alec needs something."
"Go get him, tiger," Dean teased.
"Shut up," Sam grumbled, pushing Dean into the water. He ran before Dean could retaliate, and headed for his nephew. "Hey buddy, what's up?"
"Uncle Sammy," Alec whispered, motioning for him to come closer.
"Yeah buddy?" Sam asked, leaning down further.
"Can we go down the slide?" Alec asked.
"Sure! Does your friend wanna go too?" Sam asked, looking around for where Alec's new friend could be.
Alec shook his head no, "His Mommy said it was time to go."
"Ok, I'll take you down the slide," Sam said. He reached down and picked Alec up and headed for the slide.
"Uncle Sammy?"
"Yeah buddy?"
"What's a Mommy?"
"A Mommy's just like a Daddy, only she's a she," Sam explained, feeling like he was definitely failing at this. "Does that make any sense?"
Alec shrugged, "Does everyone have a Mommy?"
"Um, well buddy, um, most kids do have a Mommy," Sam hedged.
"Do I have a Mommy?" Alec asked.
Sam hesitated, but then replied, "No, you just have a Daddy."
"And Uncle Sammy," Alec said, poking his cheek.
Sam chuckled, "Yeah, and Uncle Sammy. Oh, and don't forget Grandpa Bobby."
Alec nodded and gave him a tight hug. "I love you Uncle Sammy."
Sam nearly dropped Alec in shock; love wasn't a word the Winchesters ever used. He knew Dean loved him, but he'd never heard his brother say it. Dean showed it all the time, but he never said it. And when Alec was older, he had a problem saying things like that too. He was shocked to hear it come so easily from his two-year-old nephew.
"I love you too, Alec," Sam finally replied, realizing that he needed to say it back. He held Alec close and walked the rest of the way to the small slide for little kids. Dean met them at the bottom and scooped Alec up as soon as he splashed into the water. Alec beamed when he realized his Daddy caught him and gave him a tight hug too.
Bobby chuckled to himself when he saw his boys passed out on his living room furniture. They had gotten back from the pool a couple hours ago, and they were wiped out. Dean was taking up the entire sofa with Alec tucked away beside him. Sam had his arms and legs hanging over the sides of the recliner, and he was snoring softly as he slept.
He shook his head and slowly started to pick up Alec's toys that were spread across the room. Well, all of his toys except his teddy, which he was holding onto as he slept, curled up against Dean's side.
He took the toys up to Dean's room and put them in the box they had found for them. He had started to make some things out in the shop for Alec's room, but he hadn't shown any of them yet. He knew Dean was worried about money, but he could make about half of what they needed. He'd built a frame for a bed and he'd started on a toy chest. He still wanted to make a nightstand and a dresser, but they would have to buy the rest for him.
He knew Dean didn't really want Alec to have a room since he liked having Alec sleep with him. But if they weren't going to look for a way to get Alec back to normal, then he would eventually need his own room. He wouldn't want to sleep with Dean forever, so they needed to be prepared.
Bobby slowly walked back down the stairs, but he stopped in the doorway of the living room. He saw Alec wake up and rub his eyes as he looked around. Alec didn't see him watching him, but he looked at Dean to see if he was really asleep. Alec carefully stood up and crawled over Dean and slid to the floor. The kid looked fairly suspicious, so he decided to follow him. He shouldn't walk around without supervision since they hadn't baby proofed the house yet.
Alec walked out of the room, his little legs carrying him to the study. Bobby continued to follow him, and he was glad he did. Alec headed straight for the door to the basement, where he knew he wasn't allowed to go. Luckily he was too little to reach the doorknob, but that didn't stop him from trying. He reached up and stood on tip-toes to try to get ahold of it, and he nearly fell with the effort.
"What d'you think you're doing?" Bobby growled, making Alec look up at him in panic.
"I'm sorry," Alec replied pitifully.
Bobby chuckled and shook his head, "You have your Daddy and your Uncle wrapped around your little finger." Alec cocked his head to the side, not understanding what he meant. "What were you up to?"
"I just wanna see down there," Alec said.
"Well, it's dangerous down there," Bobby said. "I'll take ya, but you can't go down here by yourself, ya hear?"
"Ok Grandpa," Alec said.
His heart warmed; he liked hearing baby Alec call him grandpa. "Alright, let me pick ya up," Bobby said. Alec ran over to him and he picked the little boy up. "But I'll tell ya, it's not that exciting down there."
"Why is it closed?" Alec asked.
"It's not safe for a little kid. There are things that could hurt you," Bobby tried to explain.
Alec gasped and hid his face against his shoulder. "I don't wanna go."
"What? Why? I'm with ya, so it's gonna be alright," Bobby said.
"Are there 'nomalies?" Alec asked.
Bobby frowned; he had no idea what a nomaly was and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. "No, there ain't no 'nomalies down there. Just sharp things and heavy things. There's nothin' livin' down there."
"Ok," Alec whispered.
Bobby walked down the rickety stairs and showed Alec the dark basement. There really wasn't much down there, but some day he wanted to build a panic room just in case. He'd have to wait now since he had a grandson to look after. "See, it ain't that scary. Just dangerous for little kids."
"It smells funny," Alec said.
Bobby chuckled, "Yeah, well, most basements smell funny."
"Alec?!" He heard Dean's panicked voice come from the top of the stairs. "Alec, are you down here?"
"Sounds like your Daddy's lookin' for ya," Bobby said. "We're down here Dean!"
Dean instantly ran down the stairs and breathed out in relief when he saw Alec. The little boy reached out for Dean, who took him and held him against his chest. "I woke up and he wasn't there. I looked all over the house, but then I saw the door open and I panicked."
"Everythin's alright," Bobby reassured, trying to hide his smile. Dean usually tried to hide his worry, but with Alec he just couldn't. He was responsible for Alec now, and he was terrified of anything happening to his boy.
"Alec, you can't disappear like that," Dean said. "I was so scared that something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry Daddy," Alec whispered.
"It's ok baby," Dean replied.
"Let's go on back upstairs. We can start dinner or somethin'," Bobby suggested. Dean nodded in agreement and slowly walked back upstairs with Alec in his arms.
"Daddy?"
"Hmmm?" Dean hummed. He was so tired; Alec had way more energy than he did, and he could only keep up with his little boy for so long. He'd meant to take Alec up to bed a couple hours ago, but instead he'd fallen asleep on the sofa while Alec had been coloring.
"Daddy…" Alec climbed up on the sofa and crawled on top of him and whispered, "I'm scared."
Dean opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Alec. "What?" Why was his little boy scared? He definitely should've taken him up to bed where he felt safe to sleep. What if he'd had a nightmare and he hadn't been there for him? Alec had to find him in the dark living room, and he'd been scared and all alone.
"I'm scared," Alec said again. Thunder shook the house suddenly and Alec trembled in his arms. He nearly sighed with relief. Alec hadn't had a nightmare, he was just scared of the thunder. He could fix this.
"Alec, it's ok, it's just thunder," Dean reassured. "It's not gonna get ya."
"It's loud," Alec whispered against his neck.
"I know, but it won't last forever," Dean said. "Just go to sleep and it'll be over before you know it." Thunder rumbled again, and Alec shook harder. "It's ok, baby…"
Dean held Alec closer and rubbed his back in soothing circles, "Uncle Sammy used to be scared of thunder too, but I promise it'll go away. Where's your teddy?"
Alec sniffled and fisted his hand in his shirt, "I don't know…"
"C'mon, we'll find your teddy," Dean said. He picked Alec up and held him against his chest as he walked around the house. He wasn't sure where Alec left his bear, but he would find it. He would do anything for Alec.
But walking around seemed to help Alec calm down. He liked moving and he liked being held close, so it helped. It actually helped so much that Alec actually dozed off against him. He continued walking and looking for Alec's teddy even though Alec was mostly asleep now.
He walked upstairs and looked around his room until he found Alec's bear behind his bed. "There he is," Dean whispered. "Now we can go to bed." He got into bed, still holding Alec close. He kissed Alec's forehead and closed his eyes.
But Alec squeaked in fear before he could fall asleep again as lightening lit up the room and the thunder quickly followed. It sounded even worse upstairs than it had downstairs.
"Daddy," Alec cried, tears hitting his shirt.
"Shh, it's ok baby," Dean soothed. Alec continued to cry though, and none of his tricks were helping. "Ok, ok, Daddy's gotcha," he reassured, standing up again. "Hold on to your teddy and we'll walk around again."
"Daddy, why is it so loud?" Alec whispered as he stood up.
"It's just how the weather is, baby," Dean said. He didn't want to try to explain it to his little boy, especially since he was exhausted. "Just try to go to sleep, ok? It'll be over before you know it."
But Alec didn't sleep. He would doze off and he'd lay down thinking that he could sleep when Alec would get scared and wake up again. It had even stopped storming, but Alec wouldn't sleep. He walked around the house over one hundred times and he was pretty sure he could pass out at any moment.
"Dean, what're you doing?" Sam asked, walking down the stairs. He looked to the clock in surprise and saw that it was actually seven in the morning. He'd stayed up the entire night.
"He couldn't sleep because of the storm," Dean replied, his voice rough.
"Did you sleep at all?" Sam asked. He walked over to him and reached out to take Alec and he gladly passed his little boy over.
"Maybe a couple hours before he got scared," Dean said. "He hasn't gotten much sleep either though since he would only doze off when we were walking."
"I'll keep an eye on him. You go get some sleep," Sam said.
"Watch out for when he gets grumpy," Dean said, still refusing to leave his little boy. "And if you have to, just bring him up since I think he'd actually sleep now that the sun's coming out."
"Dean, go get some sleep," Sam said with a small smile.
He didn't want to leave Alec, but if he could get a couple more hours then he'd be ready to go again. He ran his hand through Alec's hair and kissed his forehead. "Let me know when he wakes up, ok?" Dean asked, looking up at his brother.
"Alright, I'll let you know," Sam said.
Dean absentmindedly ran his hand through Alec's hair as he sat on his lap, playing with his teddy. Alec looked up at him every so often and he'd smile and Alec would go back to playing. It was still raining so they couldn't go outside to play, but it wasn't thundering so Alec didn't mind.
"Daddy, can I keep teddy forever and ever?" Alec asked him. He'd already asked him this a few times, but Alec kept thinking someone was going to take it away.
"Yeah baby, you can keep teddy forever," Dean automatically replied.
"Teddy was all alone at the store before we found him and now he has a home just like me," Alec said, playing with the little paws.
He kissed the top of Alec's head and reassured, "And we'll never let him go."
Alec stood up on his legs and turned to face him, putting his little hands on his shoulders. "Daddy, can we go outside and play?"
"No Alec, it's raining outside," Dean said, bouncing his legs up and down.
Alec giggled and held onto his shirt. "Daddy, when is it going to stop raining?"
Dean smiled and shook his head, "I don't know, kiddo, it could rain all day."
"Daddy?"
"Yeah baby?"
"Where's Uncle Sammy? Is he playing outside?" Alec asked.
Dean chuckled, "No Alec, Uncle Sammy isn't outside playing."
"Is Grandpa?" Alec asked.
Dean grabbed Alec and held him against the sofa, tickling him. "No, Grandpa's not outside either." Alec laughed and wiggled to try to get away from him. "And no outside time until it stops raining."
"Daddy!" Alec yelled, trying to get free. "Daddy stop!"
Dean laughed and picked Alec up again. "Stop? You don't want to be tickled?"
"No!" Alec yelled.
"Alright, give Daddy a kiss and we'll find something to do," Dean said. Alec threw his arms around his neck and gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek, but before he could go anywhere he heard footsteps coming towards the living room.
"Dean," Sam said, quickly walking into the room. He had his phone in his hand and there was a sense of panic to his steps. Dean instantly went on alert and held Alec closer to himself. He didn't know what was wrong, but Alec was going to be kept safe no matter what.
"What is it?" Dean asked.
Sam sat down in the recliner and said, "We have a problem. Max just called."
"Did you answer?" Dean asked. He hadn't really thought about Max in all of this. Alec had been her boyfriend when he was older, but now he was two and he didn't want to tell her. And he didn't want to share his little boy. Max would want to see him and that could be a problem.
"No, but she left a message," Sam said. "She wants to talk to Alec. She's worried since she hasn't heard from him in a while and his phone goes straight to voicemail."
"I don't want to tell her," Dean whispered.
"Dean, we can't keep him hidden," Sam argued. "She's just going to keep calling and worrying about him if we don't tell her."
"Just not yet, ok? He's barely been with us a week. He still needs time to get used to things and I don't think it's a good idea to introduce him to a bunch of new people," Dean said.
"We should at least call her back and tell her everything's fine," Sam said. "Just tell her Alec's busy or sleeping or something."
"Daddy?"
"Yeah baby?"
"What's going on?"
"Nothin', everything's alright," Dean reassured, rubbing Alec's back. "Let's go find your car and make a racetrack."
"Ok!" Alec agreed.
Dean gave Sam one more look, and then picked Alec up and carried him upstairs.
More soon...