AN: I hope everyone enjoys this one. A quick shout out to Sammygirl1963 since she's out a about doing something she loves... enjoy!
The fire was front page news the next morning which was mostly ignored by most of the town's population; after all, a fire in an old warehouse wasn't anything new, right
The fire was front page news the next morning which was mostly ignored by most of the town's population; after all, a fire in an old warehouse wasn't anything new, right? The only thing of interest to some of these people was the fact that it had taken their fire department talking to another department in Las Vegas about a solution to fighting the blaze, since they had fought a similar one fairly recently. Those were of course the same people who shook their heads and complained that it was a shame that their boys hadn't been given the adequate training to take care of it themselves and they shouldn't have to rely on other people to bail them out of a jam. Of course, these were the same people who called the fire department to get their pet cat out of trees, and their toes unjammed from the tub's facet; so it was no wonder why the firehouses of Lawrence would have scoffed at the condemnation sent their way; if they weren't already asleep, worn out from fighting the blaze all night.
It wasn't until Firehouse 53 got a call about a baby locked in a car that the firefighters woke up and although not completely rested, was definitely feeling better than before. While they rushed to the scene, one of them actually took the time to take notice of the beautiful day that dawned, which would have freaked him out that he had noticed it in the first place, but at the moment he was too tired to give that thought any merit and instead leaned back and relaxed the rest of the way to their next rescue. Dean Winchester may be self absorbed at times, but apparently he still could enjoy the simpler things in life once in awhile.
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Sam had just finished clearing off the counter from breakfast with Ellie and sent her upstairs to get dressed when a knock on the door brought him back to the present. He'd been thinking about the conversation he had with his parents the night before and he still hadn't fully wrapped his head around the fact that they were actually interested in him, and not some abstract thought of what he could do for them. As he shook the thought out of his head, he opened the door and saw the very people he was thinking about standing there with big smiles on their faces. Puzzled, he could only stand there for a moment before he moved to the side and let them in; normally they used their key if the door was locked, or just walked in if it wasn't.
"Uh, hi." He said, pulling down a couple of mugs from the cabinet to pour them some coffee. Since neither of them said anything, his concern grew until finally he handed them both their cups and asked, "What's going on?"
Mary and John looked at each other then back at him and finally answered. "We have a solution." Mary said happily. "Your father and I talked about it last night and we realized that we had been pushing… a lot. So, we thought we'd give you this." She said as she pulled several pieces of paper from her purse and handed it to him.
When Sam tried to read the pages, they looked almost foreign to him which sent his insecurity level off the charts. It wasn't until his father spoke up that he felt himself start to calm down again.
"Sammy, we had those drawn up so you would know we were serious about what we talked about last night. Basically they say that we have no right to Ellie and will not pursue any legal action to gain custody of her unless both you and Dean have passed. We know that you have already declared Dean her legal guardian in case something happens to you, and we didn't want to interfere with that." John said as he watched his son look over the papers in confusion.
"Uh, look, about last night…" Sam said hesitantly, he was already feeling bad about how reacted, and this was just making him worse.
"No Sam, you have nothing to apologize for. Actually, I think I have more to apologize about than you do; I know that the only reason why you've allowed us to be so much a part of you and Ellie's life right now is because you don't want to hurt my feelings, and I've taken full advantage of it." Mary said with a sad smile. "We love you, and we want to be a part of you and that beautiful little girl's life; we just have to remember that you've been taking care of yourself a lot longer than we have."
Looking at both his parents he didn't know what to say. He could have easily said 'Ok' and been done with it, but that didn't seem right. Their whole situation was more complex than a one word answer and it frustrated him to not be able to express what he felt. If he was completely honest with himself he would admit that he liked having people care about him just as much as it scared him. He didn't know what to say; or how to act so he stood there in the middle of the kitchen and looked at the two people who brought him into the world, and didn't respond at all.
Mary grew concerned as her son continued to stare at them. She turned to her husband and hoped he had an idea of what to do next. When she saw him smile, she understood that he had figured it out before her.
"You know, your mother and I had the greatest first date that anyone could ever ask for." John began as he sat at the counter. "We had decided to go to a little carnival in town, and it was the perfect day for it; it was sunny and warm, but not too hot, everyone was in a good mood and smiling. It was a wonderful day, and an even better date. I had got paid the day before, and after paying my rent and putting gas in the car I knew that everything was set. We went on every ride at least twice, saw every exhibit they had, and even had our picture taken in one of those goofy old time booths that they make you dress up in western style clothes." He paused and looked at Mary. "You know, I've never seen a more beautiful call girl." He laughed when she playfully slapped his arm. "By the time I took her home, we both were laughing so hard that we were in tears, and I knew that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."
Sam looked between his parents, and although it was a really nice story, he couldn't help but feel as if it was a little out of place in the here and now. He was just about to ask a question when Ellie walked in with mismatched shoes and both a pair of pants and a pull over dress on. Seeing the sight he laughed and scooped her up to at least make sure her shoes were on the right feet. Before he had a chance to respond, his mom broke in his thoughts.
"Go ahead, tell him the rest." She said wryly, giving Sam a knowing look.
Nodding, John continued. "The next day I walk out to go to work and two of my tires have been slashed, completely non-repairable. At the time Mike and I were still working for a guy across town, and he didn't take too well to giving out advances or even allowing people to make payments to him, so I was stuck; either buy two tires and not eat for the week, or eat and walk back and forth to work for the same amount of time. Worse yet, I didn't want your mother to know that I blew all the money I had and risk showing her that I couldn't take care of her. Well, I was realistic enough to know that I had to eat, so I chose to walk back and forth to work every day. It was Wednesday when I hear the scariest sound that I have ever heard in my life and it was directed at me. I had been avoiding her calls, and hadn't called her either and she wanted to know why; I learned right then and there that when your mother is angry, she's scary." He laughed, but gave his wife a hug. "She accused me of being the most… what was it? Oh yeah, 'stubborn, mule headed ass that she'd ever laid eyes on' and if he was going to marry her some day then I needed to pull my head out and realize that it was ok to ask for help. Apparently she thought I was ill and had gone by my apartment only to see my car on blocks and put two and two together. Have I mentioned how wonderfully smart my wife is?" he asked, while pulling her closer.
"Your father wasn't going to tell me that he was in a bind because of his misplaced pride, and his machismo attitude that he had to take care of everything no matter how big or how small." Mary said while running her hand through her husband's hair. "So, are you getting the moral of this story or do we need to bore you with another trip down memory lane?" she asked with a smile.
"No ma'am, I think I got it." Sam said, enjoying the moment of knowing that his parents had known from the start they were meant to be together and worked as one to keep it that way.
"Good, now if you don't mind, I'm heading towards the shop. Oh, and don't forget, you have that last meeting with the workman's comp board this afternoon." John said with concern lacing his voice. "If you want I'm sure that Hal can reschedule under the circumstances." Seeing his son's answer, he smiled and nodded, then turned around in surprise at Sam's question.
"You will be there, right?" Sam asked, not feeling sure of what was really going to happen and hoped that he didn't have to do this particular thing by himself.
"You know I will, in fact I'll pick you up and we'll go together." He said then smiled at the relief he saw in his son's eyes.
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They were piling in for lunch when Dean noticed something very strange, and he really wasn't sure he was seeing what he thought. There was one space left at the table but it was full of baby feeding items; a small plate, a small bowl, a sippy cup and a bib all coordinated with the same cartoon characters. Dean stared at it for a moment, before one of the guys smacked himself on the head and exclaimed. "What were we thinking guys, Sammy's not here!" then rushed off and came back with a baby blanket that matched the set on the table. "We knew you wouldn't feel right without your security blanket, and we just want to make you feel at home."
Finally Dean understood, yesterday's dash home in a blind panic had caused this and he was torn between what he was feeling; either he was pissed that they pulled this on him, or embarrassed that he hadn't seen it coming. Deciding that they wouldn't have done it if they didn't care, he laughed. "Ha Ha guys, very funny! I'm surprised you didn't bring in a high chair too." He said as he sat down and piled the baby plate with food. Looking around at the amused expressions he asked, "What? A man has to eat doesn't he?"
Everyone was laughing and ribbing Dean when one of the guys reached over to take the blanket from the back of his chair making him growl. "Dude, leave my 'Sammy' alone." Causing everyone to roar in laughter again until tears started to fall.
Later in the rec room, Dean was leaning back on the couch with his feet propped up when Lucas Kramer thumped him lightly on the head. Dean liked Lucas if for no other reason than the man was a straight shooter. A veteran firefighter, Lucas didn't have a problem with telling the newbies when they screwed up and how, while at the same time making sure that those times were few and far between. "Hey Lucas, what's up?" Dean asked the man as he motioned next to him on the couch.
"Well kid, I just wanted to make sure everything had simmered down since yesterday, your brother ok now?" he asked, watching Dean for any uncertainty.
Not sure how to answer, Dean knew that any stretch of the truth was going to be met with fierce opposition. "I guess so. He pushes himself too hard; like he has to make sure everything is done just right so people will like him or something." Dean said, taking his gaze off the TV. "I don't know, maybe he thinks he still has something to prove, but when I heard the word 'blood clot' it…"
"Whoa, wait a minute… the kid has a blood clot?" Lucas asked, wondering how'd they had missed that information.
"No… at least I don't think so. I talked to the doctor who released him and he said that Sammy could develop one pretty easily though. Between that and how the doc reacted when talking about the physical therapy… I guess I jumped the gun."
Lucas laughed lightly, "Kid, sounds like something to jump the gun about. Look, we know how it is to balance family around the job, but you need to realize that your brother is learning how to balance all of you too." When he saw Dean's puzzled look he smiled. "Yeah, I know, you guys are the freakin' Cleaver's, maybe that's what's wrong; too much normal in a very condensed package."
Dean thought about that for a minute and wondered if that's what his little brother thought. He knew that his family wasn't perfect, but compared to some of his friend's growing up he had it made with both parents still together, a house that he'd grown up in and never really moved away from; he could see how others might think of it as a fairy tale type life. Now though, he wondered why that would be so intimidating to someone who never had that.
"You know, people take for granted what they have going for them. For people who have had to work hard just to survive, being around people with the 'apple pie life' can be scary; you're always worried that you'll mess everything up somehow, or worse yet, that you were just fooling yourself to begin with." Lucas said quietly while he caught the game's score. "I had that trouble for quite awhile, in fact my wife still jokes that one day I'll wake up one morning and go back to what I used to call 'normal'. Thing is, now I couldn't even if I wanted to, too much has happened, too much has changed; I've changed. It took me awhile, but now if we need something and we're not in a position to get it at that moment I'm the one running to the phone to ask her family for some help; they taught me that, and I wasn't an easy student."
Having heard about how Lucas had wound up in the Lawrence Fire Department, Dean started to understand what the other man was saying; have some patience, Sammy would come around. Nodding, he was just about to stand up when he turned and looked at Lucas again. "Do you ever regret not staying on the road?"
"Nope, I have a new life; one that doesn't involve bar fights, loose women, and things a young newbie should never hear about. I won't say I never get itchy feet, but then I take a look around and see my life for what it is. There's nothing I wouldn't pass up to keep what I have already, and I'm betting your little brother feels the same way."
When Dean walked into the house three days later, he found his little brother sound asleep at the kitchen table surrounded by school books, notes, and of course the baby monitor by his side. Sensing someone close by he looked over at the doorway and saw Bobby give him a death glare that read 'you wake that boy up and I'll shoot you.' Nodding in agreement, he quietly made his way upstairs and to his room after a quick peek to check on Ellie. Seeing the time on her Mickey Mouse clock, he knew he had enough time to shower before the day began again, this time he was determined to make the most of it for his little brother, not because of him.
AN: hope you liked it... I know... not enough action, right? uh... be careful what you wish for??