"Caleb, oh thank God you're here," cried John.
"John, What the hell is going on here?" asked Caleb.
"Werewolf killed her," answered John.
"I can see that. I searched and searched for you. Have you been here this whole time?" asked Caleb. He hadn't known John for that long and began to wonder if he would disappear for a month to shack up with some woman.
"Caleb, I'll explain everything later. We have to take care of the werewolf's body," said John.
"I told you not to go after the thing by yourself" admonished Caleb.
"Well, I didn't want it to kill anyone," said John sadly. He may have been angry at Molly, but he didn't want her to be brutally killed by the werewolf.
"It didn't," admitted Caleb.
"What?" asked John.
"There were no dead bodies found after the night you went missing. The werewolf didn't kill anyone that night," said Caleb.
John and Caleb worked quickly to dispose of the werewolf. Afterwards they moved Molly's body inside. John didn't want to leave it outside where wild animals could get it. Later John would make an anonymous call to the local authorities.
"Alright John, the werewolf's taken care of now spill it!" demanded Caleb.
John explained everything to Caleb. From how he ended up at the cabin till Molly being killed by the werewolf. John felt a huge amount of guilt about that. If he had listened to Caleb and not gone out that night, he wouldn't have been attacked and he wouldn't have shown up on Molly's doorstep. She would still be alive.
"Gees John, I'm sorry. When I saw you here tonight, I thought maybe you had ran out on your children," said Caleb.
"I would never do that to my boys. How are they? Do they think I'm dead?" asked John.
"Jim and I both feared the worst, but Jim couldn't bring himself to tell that yet to Dean and Sammy. I searched for you for several days. I couldn't find any sign of you and I thought maybe you were killed," said Caleb.
"So how are Dean and Sammy? Are they okay?" John voiced was laced with concern as he spoke.
"Sammy's good. He seems to spend a lot of time running around. I think Jim's getting quite a workout keeping up after him," said Caleb.
"And Dean?" asked John.
"Dean he's ah, he's…" Caleb didn't quite know how to explain to the father that something wasn't right with his oldest boy.
"What is it Caleb? Is something wrong with Dean? Did he get hurt?" John couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.
"Physically Dean's fine, but…" Caleb paused.
"But what?" John was fighting the urge to grab Caleb by the collar and shake the answer out of him.
"Dean hasn't spoken a word in almost two weeks," said Caleb softly.
"What?" cried John.
"According to Jim, Dean was fine at first when you didn't return, but he just seemed to slowly shut down. It's all Jim can do to get him to eat. He won't even speak to Sammy. Not that Sammy would let anyone get a word in with the way he's always babbling," said Caleb.
John felt like he had been punched in the stomach. That was exactly how Dean acted after Mary died. God, I hope Dean doesn't think I'm dead thought John. And since when did little Sammy babble. He hardly said anything other than no. More than anything John wanted to be with his boys at that moment.
oooooOOOOooooo
After finishing cleaning up at the cabin John and Caleb hiked back to Caleb's rental car and then went to retrieve the Impala. Luckily, It was still were John left it. John wanted to drive straight through to Pastor Jim's, but Caleb insisted that they stop halfway there and spend the night at a motel. John was up and ready to go before the sun rose. He was silent most of the ride, lost in his thoughts. As they got closer to Jim's house, John tried to push back the fear and guilt that were eating at him. Fear for his son and guilt for Molly's death.
Once they reached Pastor Jim's, John was jumping out of the car before Caleb had come to a complete stop. Not bothering to knock, John entered the house.
"Sammy get back here," Pastor Jim called out.
Sammy ran into the hallway. He squealed with delight when he saw his father.
"Dada home," shouted Sammy as he ran down the hallway and flung himself at John.
John quickly scooped the little boy into his arms and kissed both of his cheeks. John held Sammy so tight that he was squirming to get free.
"Oh baby, I missed you so much," cried John.
"Dada home. Dada home," squealed Sammy.
Home, Sammy didn't know how to say home when I left. John took a good look at the little boy in his arms. He seemed a little different, a little bigger. His hair looked longer. God, missing a month of a toddler's life was like missing a year of an adult's life.
"John, I'm so glad you're okay," said Jim as he walked into the hallway wearing a huge grin.
"Hey Jim. Where's Dean?" John couldn't help, but notice his older son did not come out to greet him.
At the mention of Dean's name the grin slid off of Jim's face. "Dean's in the family room watching tv. Here let me take Sammy." He knew that John and Dean would need some time together.
Sammy didn't want to leave John until Jim suggested that they go have some ice cream.
"Yummy," said Sammy as he walked to the kitchen.
oooooOOOOooooo
Any lingering guilt John had about Molly's death disappeared the moment he saw Dean. It was quickly replaced with anger. The television was on, but Dean was not watching it. He was staring blankly at the wall across the room. John's heart broke at the sight of him. He quickly crossed the room and stood in front of Dean. Crouching down, he studied his son's face. There were dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Unlike Sammy, Dean didn't throw himself at John. He just sat there not even acknowledging his father's presence.
"Hey Dean," said John softly.
Dean didn't respond. John sat down on the sofa and pulled Dean into his lap and wrapped his arms around tightly him. He couldn't help, but notice how tense his son was.
"Dean, I'm so sorry that I wasn't back when I promised I would be. I wanted to, but something happened and I couldn't be here. I am so sorry baby," said John as he rubbed soothing circles on Dean's back.
John sat there with Dean in his arms, whispering words of love and reassurance. He was scared at how reminiscent this was of Dean's behavior after Mary died. After about an hour Dean finally spoke. It was music to John's ears.
"Daddy" said Dean quietly.
"I'm here Dean," said John.
"Oh daddy," said Dean again before he burst into tears.
"It's okay Dean. It's okay," said John. He held his son tightly as he cried. Not for the first time John asked himself what hunting was costing his family. He sadly realized that he couldn't make promises to his children anymore at least not ones that involved hunting.
When Dean had finally stopped crying, he looked up at his father. John was smiling down at him, cheeks damp from his own tears.
"Do you want to have some ice cream?" asked John.
"With sprinkles?" replied Dean.
"Definitely with sprinkles," said John.
Hand and hand father and son headed into the kitchen for ice cream.
oooooOOOOooooo
That night, instead of sleeping, John sat up watching his children sleep. He had this slightly irrational fear that he was dreaming and when he woke up he would be back in that cabin with Molly. Eventually John drifted off to sleep, still sitting on the floor, sandwiched between Dean's bed and Sammy's crib.
John woke up, his neck stiff from his uncomfortable sleeping position, but he wasn't going to complain. He was back where he belonged with his boys.
The EndA/N: I want to send a big thanks out to everyone who read this story! An even bigger thanks goes out to everyone who took the time to write a review. You guys are awesome!!!