Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and the CW. Just writing about it for pure enjoyment.

Thank you SO much to everyone who wrote a review! Your kind words mean so much to me. Here's the next part. It's quite a bit longer than the first. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: Sunburn

Four years since the toaster incident, and it was just a memory in the back of his mind. Now his mind was on other things. Like the heat. John and his boys were in California after news of a mysterious string of deaths surrounding a small town about thirty miles from there.

"It's hot daddy," Sammy whined as he hung on to an equally annoyed Dean. "An' my skin's all sticky." He scrunched up his nose to show his disgust.

"I know son," was all he could reply. It was hot. And very humid.

John had taken Sam and Dean along with him to ask some people around town about any information they had on the deaths. He hadn't really wanted to bring the boys, but there was no air conditioning in the little run-down house they'd been staying in. Now that he thought about it, there was no air conditioning in his Chevy either. It was just as hot as it would have been at the house, but at least the two could get some fresh air.

"Just awhile longer," he told the five-year-old as he turned down a road that led them deeper into the country side. But Sammy was giving him that look. The look that could make a soldier's heart melt. He looked up at John with those big, sad, disappointed eyes. Damn. If looks could kill.

"And then we can go and get you boys some ice cream to cool down," John said as they continued to walk down the street, hoping that that would cheer him up and get that damn look off his face.

Sammy's face instantly lit up. "Really?" he shouted a little too loudly. "Did you hear that Dean? Daddy says we can get ice cream!"

"I heard Sammy. Wow dad, you really are a sucker for that look," Dean replied.

Dean was quiet once John shot his son a look of his own, one that Dean knew meant 'watch it.'

John stopped the car in front of a long driveway that lead to an old looking white and blue farmhouse. All three Winchesters got out.

"You boys listen real carefully," John began as he crouched down eye level to Sammy. "You two wait by the car. I need to go inside for a little while and talk to some people. If there's any trouble Dean-"he paused and watched as a car drove by. "If there's any trouble, and I mean any kind of trouble, you get Sammy out of here as quick as you can. There are weapons in the trunk," he concluded. Then he added, "Only for in case. Stay out of the trunk- don't even touch the trunk, unless you absolutely have to," he said, knowing that these two got bored easily. "I'm not expecting anythin'll happen. But just remember, if anything does-"

"We know dad," Dean interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Any trouble, get Sammy out. Don't touch the weapons unless we need to."

"This is a big deal Dean. I need to know you two can be safe." This was the most important thing. This was his sons' safety.

"We promise we'll stay safe daddy," Sammy said. "Just hurry back so we can get ice cream."

John patted his son on the shoulder before getting up and heading down the long driveway towards the farmhouse. He turned back to his sons. "And remember boys," he shouted. "You stay right where you are. I mean it. Don't you wander off. If anyone comes by, don't tell them anything about yourselves; just say your dad will be right back."

"We know," both boys yelled back, urging him to hurry up.

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The job had taken longer than he'd expected. It turned out that this was actually the home of the spirit that had been causing so much trouble for the little town. It had given him some trouble as well, especially when it came to digging up those bones.

By the time he was finished burning and salting the remains it was late afternoon. The sun was just beginning to set. It was no longer so humid, but instead the sun shined down with an intense, burning heat. He was tired and hot and wanted nothing more than to turn on the fan and lie in bed. Ice cream would have to wait.

He looked down the driveway and in the distance and saw his sons leaning against the car, apparently asleep. Whenever he dragged the boys along on hunts, that's often how the day ended. John would return to the Impala, tired and sore, to find the boys cuddled together, asleep.

But as John got closer, he noticed something. The boys' faces were awfully red. Too red. He picked up his pace and quickly returned to where Sam and Dean lay sleeping, but what he saw discomforted him. His boys' arms were just as red as there faces, if not redder, and John knew that the cause had been the blazing hot sun. Damn it. He was so sure he hadn't forgotten anything. But he did. Sunscreen. Why didn't he think to make his boys wear sunscreen?

He crouched down and gently shook Dean's leg. Dean woke up, unaware that anything was wrong. "Done already dad?" he asked sleepily. Sammy woke up at the sound of his brother's voice. He lifted a hand and rubbed his face, crying out as his hand touched the tender red skin.

"Owwww!" He cried. Tears began to rush to his eyes, streaming down his red face.

"Shhh, Sammy, it's ok son. Come on, we're gonna take care of this," he said gently, trying to calm the wailing boy down. Dean looked at his own arms and got up, but not without John noticing the wince that he gave. John saw tears beginning to pool in Dean's eyes as well. He looked at both the boys again, reassessing the burns. They were bad. How could a sunburn be this bad?

He put one arm gently under Sammy's legs. The touch made Sammy cry even louder. He put another arm behind his son's back and as quickly and gently as possible, lifted him into the Impala.

"You should have looked for some shade," John said, the comment directed towards Dean. Unsure of why he really said it. This wasn't Dean's fault.

"I'm sorry," Dean began. "It's just the closest tree is way over there," he motioned to a big tree that stood farther out in a field. "and you told us to stay by the car. I guess we got tired and fell asleep."

John didn't reply to his son's explanation. He had told the boys to stay where they were.

Once they were all settled, John drove quickly down the road, looking back at his boys in the rear-view mirror. Sammy was still sniffling, tears threatening to stream down his red face again. He'd caused his sons to be in pain. How could he be so stupid? He heard Dean whispering small words of comfort to the hurting five-year-old. He sped on down the road, just a little faster.

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The three Winchesters made it back to the old house that they'd rented fairly quickly. The three got out of the car and quickly made there way up the old wooden steps that creaked under their feet. John led the boys into the kitchen and motioned for them to sit down on two chairs. He searched through a cabinet that contained bottles of various pills and medicines. He threw the bottles to the floor in a frustrated search for something to help with the burns. Finally, he found a bottle of aloe. He pulled out the bottle, along with some rags and children's aspirin.

John gave both the boy's some aspirin to help with the pain. He began treating Sammy's burns first. "I'm sorry Sammy, this is gonna hurt. But once I do it, it'll feel nice and cool," he said as he reached for his son's arm. John winced as the little boy began to wail again as the cold remedy touched his skin. This was all his fault.

As John continued, he thought back to a fourth of July picnic that he, Mary, Dean, and Sam had gone to. It was Sam's first fourth of July and Dean was excited enough for the both of them. As soon as they got there, Dean was running around to all of the colorful booths that had been set up, insisting on making sure that Sammy see everything.

It was hot that day. Mary stopped for a minute and began to put sunscreen on the baby, before covering his head with a hat. John had taken Dean to play one of the games that had been set up. Mary went over to the two. She'd said something about Dean, sunscreen, and the heat, but he hadn't managed to catch the entire sentence, as Dean threw a baseball at one of the stacked up bottles.

"Good job son," he said to Dean enthusiastically after he'd knocked one down. "Look Mary, our son's a natural."

The day had gone by quickly. It wasn't until late afternoon that John had noticed Dean's face becoming slightly red. Apparently, Mary noticed it to and quickly began rubbing sunscreen onto Dean, giving John an angry look. He'd forgotten about the sunscreen.

The day went on, ending with the four of them sitting on a blanket as the night was lit up by blazing fireworks. For now, John's mistake was forgotten, but he would be reminded of it later that night, when Dean, half asleep, crawled into bed between him and Mary, complaining that his sunburn hurt. Even then, he couldn't remember a simple parenting task.

---------

John had just finished treating the last of Dean's burns, reminded of the little boy who had crawled into his bed that night.

"How does that feel?" he asked his sons.

"Better dad," Dean replied, forcing a grin and rubbing at the gauze his dad had just put over the worst part of the sunburn. The boys looked better and John couldn't help but relax a little in relief.

"But daddy," Sammy spoke up after a moment of silence. He was no longer crying, simply hiccupping and sniffling now and then.

"Yeah Sammy?"

"I think me and Dean would feel better if we had some ice cream."

John said nothing, simply grinned. His grin turned into a smile, his smile turn into a laugh.

He watched Sammy's hopeful expression for a minute before giving in. "I'll be right back. Ice cream parlor's right down the street. "Are you two ok here for a minute?"

Both boys nodded eagerly. John grabbed his keys and headed toward the door. He closed it, began to lock it, and then paused. He'd really done it this time. How could he have forgotten something so simple? He was so caught up in making sure they knew what to do in case of an attack, that he'd forgotten about a much simpler threat. But that's always how it was. He was too caught up in the hunt to notice the little things.

He turned around and headed toward the Impala. He could have thought about it some more, but he didn't. After all, there were two hungry boys in there, just waiting for some ice cream.

Hope you enjoyed it!

As before, reviews and suggestions are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated.