Thanks for the sweet reviews, guys. I always enjoy reading those :)
Second chapter of the story coming right up!
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Sammy kept on wailing while Bobby desperately tried to calm him down but without any success. The crying was so damn loud that Bobby felt like his head was gonna explode any second now, and that was when he noticed that Dean was trying to get his attention.
"What was that?" Bobby asked the boy and put two fingers behind his ear to indicate that he had a hard time hearing anything for the loud crying.
"Let me take him." Dean said and held out his arms.
Bobby looked a bit hesitatingly at the boy whose attitude had changed pretty significant on only a few seconds. Dean had gone from being sulking and miserable to being concerned and protective which – in Bobby's opinion – was quite remarkable for such a young boy. Without hesitating any further, Bobby handed the crying baby boy over to Dean.
"Sammy.." Dean said in a calm voice. "Shh, it's okay. I'm right here. Don't cry Sammy."
And then something incredible happened. Bobby could only watch in awe as Sam stopped crying and instead sniffled miserably as he buried his face in Dean's neck.
"How did you do that?" Bobby asked.
Dean just smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders.
"Piece of cake." He said which made Bobby huff but the hunter couldn't stop a smile from spreading on his face after all.
I already like that smug kid, Bobby thought before he shook his head and then picked up the bag John had left on the ground.
"This is the only bag you've got?" Bobby asked Dean as he put the bag on his shoulder.
"Yeah." Dean said before he put Sam down and then grabbed his little brother's hand.
Sam still sniffled a little but he didn't seem to be so upset anymore. Bobby still hadn't had the opportunity to take a good look at the boy though, since Sam had decided to hide behind his big brother as soon as Dean had put him down.
"So all your toys fit into this small bag?" Bobby asked incredulously and watched as a little frown line appeared between Dean's eyes.
"Yes." Dean then said while looking at Bobby as if the man was stupid. "Sammy's teddy and my walkman.."
Bobby looked stunned at the young boy and then started realizing that maybe John wasn't doing the best job being a hunter and a father at the same time after all. Bobby hadn't had the best childhood himself but even he had had more than one toy to play with, so he wondered if he ought to talk to John Winchester about it when he returned. But who was he to give any parental advices anyway? He hadn't got any kids of his own and not really any experience on how to take care of kids either.
Bobby shook his head and since he didn't know how to respond to the young boy in front of him, he just cleared his throat before he led the way into his house. Bobby put the bag down on a chair in the living room and turned around to see Dean looking curiously around while Sam was still doing his best to hide behind his brother.
"Just ehm.. Just act like you're home, okay?" Bobby said.
"Motel rooms usually don't have this much stuff.." Dean said while still looking curiously around.
"Oh right.." Bobby said and mentally kicked himself for not remembering that John never really settled down anywhere for longer than what was necessary to finish a job.
Bobby leaned back against his desk and washed a hand down his face. To be honest, he felt way out of his comport zone having to take care of these kids. Dean seemed to be a cool and independent kid that Bobby didn't think he would have too much trouble dealing with (at least he hoped he wouldn't) but he still didn't know what to think of the youngest one. The boy was obviously still frightened and Bobby hadn't been able to get a descent look at the boy at all. But Bobby couldn't help but feeling a little amused though as the three-year-old once in a while dared to peek at him from behind his curly locks from his position behind his big brother.
"That one doesn't talk?" Bobby asked and nodded towards the youngest boy.
"Sam? He talks.. a lot.." Dean said. "Actually, most of the time you can't really get him to shut up again. It's when he doesn't talk that you have to worry, really.. "
"So do we need to worry then?" Bobby asked and eyed the three-year-old as he once again peeked at him.
"No, I don't think so." Dean said with a wry smile and ruffled Sam's hair. "Sammy's just shy."
"Well.." Bobby started but didn't get to say more before his fairly new dog came scrambling into the room. "Oh, hey boy.."
Bobby had adopted the little fellow after he and Rufus had found it in a victim's house during a hunt recently. Rufus had called him a softie but Bobby didn't really care. He couldn't let the scrawny little thing be left all alone, so he had taken the dog with him to Rufus' big amusement.
"A puppy!" A little voice suddenly exclaimed which broke Bobby out of his thoughts and he saw the youngest Winchester brother pull at his brother's sleeve with a big smile on his face. "Look Dean! Puppy!"
"Yeah, I see the puppy Sammy.." Dean said with a smile.
"Can I pway with it, De?" Sam pleaded and looked at his brother with the most adorable big green eyes Bobby had ever seen.
Dammit Singer, you sure are getting soft!
"Well, it's not my dog." Dean said. "You'll have to ask Bobby."
Sam's face fell a little and he looked warily between Dean and Bobby a few times until the dog let out a yelp and wagged its tail which was all it took for Sam to completely forget about his shyness.
"Can I pway with the puppy, Bobba? Pwease?" Sam begged and Bobby's heart melted right on the spot.
"Sure kid." Bobby said and the three-year-old gave him a big dimpled smile before sitting down on the floor next to the puppy.
Dean – how uninterested he might have pretended to look like – was quite fascinated with the puppy as well and was soon playing with the dog too.
"What's its name?" Dean asked.
"Ranger.." Bobby answered with a wry smile.
"Here Wanger!" Sammy called and then giggled as the puppy started licking his face. "It twickles!"
"It's Ranger, Sammy.." Dean chuckled.
"Wanger!" Sam giggled and the sight of the two young boys playing with the puppy had Bobby smiling like an old hippie smoking weed.
Bobby let the boys play for a bit while he managed to get a little work done around the house. He had a good feeling about this whole ordeal now – maybe it wasn't so tough to look after two kids after all. However, that feeling took a full 180 when Bobby returned to the living room a little while later.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed when he saw that the books that had been in a neat pile on his desk were now scattered all over the floor. "What happened in here?"
"Sorry sir, it was an accident." Dean said as he began to pick up the books.
"An accident?" Bobby asked. "How on earth did this happen as an accident?"
He looked down on Sam who was sitting on the floor with quivering lips and big tearful eyes, before he turned his attention back to Dean.
"Sammy wanted to show Ranger his teddy, but then the puppy stole it." Dean explained. "When I tried to make Ranger give the teddy back, it started running and I was chasing it and then I accidentally knocked over the books. I'm sorry sir, I really am."
"It's okay Dean.." Bobby assured him and helped the boy pick up the last books. "Where's Ranger now?"
"It's hiding under the couch." Dean said.
"With tweddy!" Sam added and sniffled miserably before rubbing his eyes.
"Balls.." Bobby mumbled and then got on his hands and knees in front of the couch. "Ranger, come here boy. Come here."
As the puppy came closer, Bobby could see the teddy bear sticking out of its mouth and when it was close enough Bobby pulled it away from the dog's mouth, before bringing both of them out from under the couch.
"There you go Sammy.." Bobby said and handed the teddy to the little boy, but just as Sam was about to grab onto it, the poor teddy - that had been the puppy's chew toy - lost its arm.
Sam's eyes widened in horror by the sight of his only toy missing an arm, and big tears then started rolling down his cheeks.
"Dean..!" Sam sobbed and Dean wrapped his arms around his little brother in an instant.
"Shh, it's okay Sammy." Dean told the younger boy in a calm voice and rubbed soothing circles on Sam's back, even though panic was evident in his eyes. "Bobby, is there anything you can do? Anything? It's.. It's his teddy.."
"I ehm…" Bobby said and lifted his cap to scratch his hair.
Truth to be told, Bobby had never thought he would ever be in a situation like this where he'd actually had to fix a teddy bear, and if someone had told him he would be Bobby would have laughed in their faces. Still, five minutes later Bobby was in his kitchen doing sutures on a teddy bear and he swore to himself that he would never tell anyone about this. But even though he tried to deny it, it wasn't all bad though. The two young boys had been watching him in awe and when Bobby had finished up – and even added a little bandage to the sutured arm – he had handed the fixed teddy bear to Sammy and had been rewarded for his efforts when the three-year-old threw his arms around the hunter's legs.
"Thankies Bobba.." Sam said in a soft voice.
Bobby awkwardly but gently patted the boy's head and then received a big smile from Dean.
"He likes you." Dean told him, and Bobby had a feeling that it somehow meant that Dean now liked him too.
Now that the teddy bear crisis had come to an end, Bobby decided nothing further could possibly go wrong that day.
"What do you two want for dinner?" Bobby asked as he opened up the fridge.
"Lucky Charms!" Sam exclaimed.
"Lucky Charms? What's that?" Bobby asked and Sammy then started pouting and looked very miserable which made the hunter sigh. "Balls.."
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TBC….
Please review! Thank you :)
-Elisa.