Thanks to kissacazador for her help constructing this chapter! A shout out to her! Also a cheer for those who have reviewed and favourited this story.

"Didn't you enjoy today?" asked Chrissie, her eyes wide like a puppy dog as she gazed up at her eldest brother. "You got that grumpy face on and that means you're not happy."

Dean winced as he guided the child back into their current lodgings at Bobby's house. His left side felt very painful, and he just assumed that it was due to overindulging himself on food. Chrissie was worried in case she had done something to upset or anger her big brother as he seemed out of character.

"I did have fun today and I am happy," Dean softly replied. "But sorry that I made Sam and you uncomfortable."

Chrissie wrinkled her nose as she unbuckled her black t-bar mary-janes, exposing her tiny white socks. She placed the shoes neatly beside the front door.

"What does umcarfartable mean?" asked the five year old, making an effort yet mispronouncing the long word. "That's a really long word and I don't think I've heard it before. I might have, but I maybe forgot."

Chrissie always had her own way of saying things, usually followed by her own bizarre theories and words.

"Well, it means that big brother did something very stupid to baby sis and little bro," answered her bemused eldest, leading her into the kitchen. "It's all forgotten now."

Chrissie rocked on her heels, her hands clasped behind her back as she continued to gaze up at her beloved brother.

"You not sad or mad then?" she asked. "If you were then I would be very sad too."

Empathy was triggered within Chrissie at a very early age and she always had a knack of figuring out people's individual emotions, as if she could read minds. It made her all the more endearing.

"Nah, I ain't mad," said Dean as he kneeled in front of his big-hearted little sister, a small smile on his face. "I had a great big meal, gotta a couple of phone numbers and a new t-shirt; plus, I gotta have my picture taken with two princesses and a horse."

The five year old child blinked and wrinkled her nose in her trademark confused expression.

"I only saw one princess," she said. "I didn't see another one."

Dean laughed and carefully picked her up, ignoring the pain in his side as he did so. She was so tiny compared to the seventeen year old.

"You are, silly," he replied, a large grin spreading across his lips. "You're the other princess. Between you and me, you are so much prettier than the one we saw."

Sam walked in at that moment, snapping a surprise photograph of his two siblings with his camera. The bright flash caused the two startled siblings discomfort.

"Dammit, Sammy!" Dean barked, while setting down his bewildered little sister.

Chrissie rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to adjust her vision due to the flash.

"Yeah, dammit, Sammy!" parroted the child, after several moments of blinking.

The brothers turned their attention to the youngest, surprised and shocked by her choice of exclamation.

"Christina!" they yelled in unison.

Chrissie sighed theatrically and put her hands on her hips. In her innocent mind, the word seemed pretty harmless and it confused her on why her brothers were reacting like this.

"Dean Winchester!" remarked Bobby, coming in behind the trio. "You need to apologize to them right now!"

Bobby shook his head at the siblings and sighed on witnessing the eldest's overreacting.

"Me?" exclaimed the seventeen year old, pointing down at his bemused baby sister. "She's the one who said it."

Sam glared at him, giving his older brother his famous bitch-face expression.

"Fine, I'll do it," the eldest reluctantly said, kneeling back down to level himself with his sister. "Hey, Chrissie, what I said was a very, very bad word. A little girl, especially a princess, would never say that word, even though it was accidental."

Chrissie's eyes widened, her quivering lips curled out into an adorable pout. She cocked her head as she gazed up at her brother.

"We're not mad. I was wrong for you to hear that bad word" explained the eldest softly.

Chrissie's bright green eyes created a kicked puppy dog effect, which reminded Dean of Sam when he was that age. The tiny five year old nodded, and without saying a single word, she wandered towards the living room. She crawled onto the long couch. Chrissie hated getting reprimanded by her family members. She lay on her front in a prone position, looking very upset.

"Ah jeez, Dean, c'mon already," Sam annoyingly stated, watching his little sister's movements. "Find out what's wrong."

Dean felt his side twinge with that same sharp pain again. Why was he the one to solve all the problems? Each time there was mess, he was the one to clean it up and pick up the broken pieces left behind. Nevertheless, he had a duty as the eldest to deal with all of this. He wasn't allowed to complain or show sign of struggle.

"Okay, Samantha, don't get your panties in a twist," replied Dean with a hiss. "Bitch!"

The brothers felt so tempted to size each other up, both annoyed with each other's behavior and attitudes.

"Just go!" Sam growled back with a glower, shoving him towards their sister's direction. "Jerk!"

Dean wandered over and slowly sat next to the silent child on the long couch.

"Hey baby," he said, his tone gentle. "What's wrong?"

At the sound of Dean's voice, Chrissie started to cry. Her sobs were little sniffles, and very capable of tugging at heartstrings.

"Aww, don't cry. Please tell me what's wrong?" Dean softly asked, gently rubbing circles on her back. "You can tell me, okay? I won't be mad or anything. Please."

The little girl tilted her head slightly in order to gaze up at her big brother, tears gliding down her freckled cheeks.

"I didn't mean to say the bad word," sniffled the five year old. "I don't mean to be naughty."

Even though she was a gutsy child, Chrissie was also very sensitive and fragile minded, and not one to take criticism.

"Chrissie, you're not trouble. You learn bad things from me and I need to be more careful on what I say and do when your around," Dean stated as pulled her up into a hug. "C'mere."

As she was rocked back and forth like an infant, Chrissie sniffed as several more tear drops leaked down her cheeks.

"If it's a bad word, then why do you say it?" asked Chrissie, her green eyes puffy with tears. "I don't understand why it's a bad word if you say it?"

Dean gazed down at her. Chrissie was always one for asking endless questions on everything. The phrases "What's that?" and "Why?" were common things to hear when she was a toddler.

"When I get mad, frustrated or something, it just comes out," the seventeen year old replied. "I really don't mean to say it, but it happens and I'm really sorry."

Chrissie sniffed once again, wiping her red rimmed eyes with the back of her hand.

"I didn't mean to cry" she said in a small innocent voice. "I was being a big silly baby."

Dean smoothed down her unruly waves and kissed her on the forehead.

"Nah, you weren't," he replied. "Hell, just last week Sammy cried like a freakin' baby when he got hit in the face by that blue Frisbee."

Poor Sam had it rough during that particular day. The siblings had ventured to the park, which ended up a complete disaster for the middle Winchester. The youth got smacked in the nose with the Frisbee, an object that he later had to rescue from a tree, which resulted in him falling out the tree and landing heavily on his rear end, also causing him to rip his jeans. On top of all of that, his ice cream decided to topple out of the cone and onto his sneakers.

"That was cos he hurted his nose. He had lots of red paint coming out of it," said Chrissie. She wrinkled her nose and gazed up at her big brother curiously. "Do you cry?"

The seventeen year old couldn't find an answer for his baby sister's question. He couldn't let his sister know his true emotions on the situation they had found themselves in. Leaving his father was hard, but it was a necessary move in order to protect his younger siblings. John had allowed Chrissie to be placed as bait in order to catch a dangerous spirit, which resulted in the child becoming ill with Infant Ghost Sickness and that event alone caused a lot of grief and suffering. Two months later and the eldest was beginning to feel the strain. Yet, the stubborn teen wouldn't express any sigh of struggle. He would continue playing parent to his brother and sister, making sure he attended to their every need and request. His sleep pattern wasn't the same and half of the time he looked exhausted. He would even sneak liquor in order for him to put his stressed mind at ease, at least for a while.

The pain in his side was getting worse too. The teenager assumed it was a pulled muscle, due to the rigorous exercises he did each morning before his siblings woke up. He even failed to notice his gaunt face and baggy eyes every time he gazed at his reflection.

His mind was overflowing with worries. From Sam's training to Chrissie starting Kindergarten at the end of the month. Yet, the seventeen year old's biggest worry was the fact that John would turn up eventually. That would cause so much fireworks that people would think Chinese New Year had already begun. Everything was ticking away, like a dangerous and emotional time bomb.

"No," whispered Dean to the little girl in his lap. "Big Brothers are like rocks. I don't cry. I never cry."

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