Chapter Four : An End, A Beginning

Something was wrong... Something was really, really fucking wrong, and I don't mean like yesterday with the freakout at the supermarket and the stress and shit. This... this was something else. Something so wrong, so... powerful, that even my hunting instinct picked up on it, leaving me terrified. I didn't know what it could be, I didn't.

I had woken up as normal, I was in the big bed with Papa and Dadd- Cas and Dean, ugh- I was warm, I was comfortable. I didn't have a single bad dream, and I mean, I was in desperate need of a change, but that wasn't something that would bring along a feeling like this. I hated it. It made my heart race, my temperature rise... and all I wanted was for someone to hold me and tell me everything would be alright.

"Shh..." Dean mumbled out, his large hand moving to rub my back. "It's okay, baby boy.. jus' a dream.." No.. no, this isn't a dream. Something's wrong, Dean—Daddy- "Shh, shh, come here... Daddy's gotcha.." He pushed himself up a bit, resting back on the pillows as he pulled me into his arms, letting my lie against his chest as he continued rubbing my back. I whimpered softly around my pacifier, snuggling into him.

I didn't like this feeling- what it was doing to me. I didn't like being scared... and being as it seemed to have no intention of going away anytime soon, there was no way in hell I was going to go back to sleep, not even lying against Dean's chest.

"U-uhps.." It came out softly, a whisper if nothing else, so I didn't know if he heard me. Wanting to make sure, I pushed myself up, reaching a hand up to pat his cheek. Once, twice, and on the third time, he sighed out, a small smile on his face.

"Okay, EJ, I'm up." Cue very big yawn, and a half stretch, and he got out of bed with me in his arms. Good... Though... I wonder what time it is. The curtains they'd hung in their bedroom were dark and made of a thick material, so I couldn't see anything through them, not even the smallest sliver of sunlight.

But my room? Since the window didn't shine directly on the crib, they hadn't felt the need to block it off... so there were cute, thin curtains hanging over the window, meaning that when we made our way in, I was able to see to the outside. It was early, but the sun was up... sorta. It was getting there though, so I didn't feel too bad about waking Dean up.

I could tell he was still tired though, more so because after a quick diaper change, we headed right back into his and Cas's room. He hadn't even thought to try and dress me. Huh... Maybe he's going to let me be nekky all day. That'd be pretty cool. Of course, I'd get dirty faster, and would probably actually wind up with an injury.

Anyway, when we were standing beside the bed, his smile grew and he looked from me to Cas before setting me down beside the still sleeping man. "How about you wake up Papa." I stared up at him, confused, which only caused him to smile wider. Why does he want me to wake him up? Is he a grumpy person in the morning? Hah, maybe seeing my adorable self will defuse any early morning tension. "Go on."

With a small shrug, I scooted a little closer to Papa, moving so that I was propped up on my knees as I tugged at his shirt. "Uhp." He didn't move, though his breathing lightened and he stopped snoring. Is he awake? Well... he didn't move, so maybe not. Guess I'd have to try a little harder. "Uhp!" I said it louder that time, jerking hard on his shirt. Still, nothing. Geez, he's a heavy sleeper.

"Hm..." I looked up at Dean. "Try giving him a big kiss." Would that work? It didn't sound like something that would work, but... the way he said it, it just might! Okay!

I scooted further up the bed, placing my hands onto Cas's chest to steady myself as I stood up, leaning over just enough to reach down a plant a big, wet, open mouthed kiss onto his cheek. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a small smile and he opened one eye. "Uhp?" I huffed, puffing my cheeks out angrily as he closed his eye started to snore again. Faker! "Uhp!"

"I think Papa is being extra stubborn this morning." I nodded at Dean, pouting. "Maybe the tickle monster would be able to wake him up." Tickle monster? For the first time that morning, I grinned, nodding once more. If the tickle monster is what it took to get Cas out of bed, then so be it! I'd tickle monster him until he was the one that needed a diaper!

Yeah, not quite, unfortunately. As I reached for his side, he reached out and grabbed me, rolling me onto my back as he got onto his knees. I barely had time to gasp before his fingers started to lightly dig into my own sides, causing me to squeal out in a very loud, high pitched laughter. "You forget though, that Papa is the tickle monster!"

"N-nooo!" The word came out between laughs as I kept trying, to no avail, to squirm away from Papa's wriggling fingers. He had a good hold on me, and Dean was of course, no help what-so-ever as he stood beside the bed with a huge grin on his face. "Pahpah! Noooo!" If he doesn't stop soon, I'm gonna need to be changed again!

Thank the freaking heavens that he stopped not longer after that, pulling me into a tight hug, laughing at me as I panted, trying to catch my breath. I stuck my tongue out at him, but he just laughed harder, pressing a kiss on top of my head with a 'muah!'. "Good morning, my little lion." I grinned at that.

"Lion?" Daddy feigned hurt, his lower lip poking out in a pout. "I thought you were my little dinosaur." Giggles escaped me as I looked between them. "What do you want to be, EJ? A lion or a dinosaur?"

First, I looked at Cas—then Dean, and once again, back and forth before grinning wider, opening my mouth to say one thing: "Roar!" It took a second for them to process, but when they did, they both started laughing. It wasn't an answer, not in the least, but it was all the answer they'd get. I wasn't going to choose between them!

"So, you remember what today is?" I looked up at them both as they stared down at me expectantly... what was today... well, since Dean was off of work yesterday, that meant it was Saturday.. and today was Sunday... the shopping...

"Eee-ser!" I exclaimed with glee. "Eee-ser!" That meant it was time for cake and pie and candy and all the awesome stuff that they had to have planned. I mean, with all the stuff they bought and the people they invited over- I was excited, all bad feelings pushed to the back of my mind.

"That's right, baby boy. It's Easter. Y'know what that means." Daddy grinned over at Cas, who practically jumped out of bed, still holding onto me. I giggled, holding onto his shirt. "I'll go start on breakfast. You get our little guy dressed in his special outfit." Special outfit? Well, that doesn't sound like it's going to bode well for me.

They weren't going to put me in like... a dress or something, right?

ooOoo

Okay, so no, it wasn't a dress but in my opinion, it was just as bad! I mean, the jean shorts were fine, but the shirt? Uh, no. Not quite. I'm sure to them, it was adorable, but in my eyes, it was horrible. A bright blue, short sleeved monstrosity is what it was- with a white circle of fabric on the front, like a belly, a big white puffball on the back to look like a freaking tail and the hood? Yeah, it had ears on it. Big, floppy rabbit ears. He was trying to turn me into a tiny Easter bunny! "Ick!" I pointed at the decidedly evil article of clothing, wanting nothing to do with it.

"It's just for today, baby boy. Please?" I glared up at Cas, arms crossed over my chest as I shook my head. It wasn't gonna happen. No way in hell. "Pretty please?" He stuck his lower lip out, pouting at me and- uggh... With a begrudged sigh, I relented. I guess it's only fair... I pout to get what I want... besides, like he said, it's just for one day. My arms went up, and I allowed him to slip it onto me, fixing it in place. "Thank you, sweetheart." Yeah, yeah, eat it up. This was a one time thing only. At least it's not pink.

Cas was grinning from ear to ear as he pulled the little hood onto my head, the ears bouncing as I moved around. "Everyone is just going to love you." Everyone? Oh, right, shit. They invited a butt-ton of people over for their Easter party. This... is definitely gonna be interesting, if nothing else.

Daddy grinned as wide as Cas did once he saw my outfit, though he also looked like he was trying to hold back laughter. It came out though, loud and happy, as I stuck my tongue out at him in annoyance. "Sorry, kiddo, but you are too cute." I don't care how cute I am. This stupid hoodie is coming off as soon as possible, no matter what you say.

Following the same routine as the previous two days, I was put into the high chair for breakfast, a bib snapped around my neck to make sure I didn't muck up my clothes, and given a sippy cup full of juice. It was grape today, which I sipped at while waiting for the actual food. The smell of cinnamon and pancakes surrounded me and my stomach growled loudly enough for both of them to hear.

"Just a couple more minutes." I could wait for a few more minutes, if it meant pancakes. Not a problem at all, especially once I settled on watching Daddy cook, finding myself amazed at how he wielded the frying pan, not even using a spatula to flip the pancakes. He'd just flick the pan upwards with practiced ease, causing the pancakes to fly into the air, and catch them without a problem. Not a single one was dropped or even hit the ceiling!

I remember trying that once! I wasn't so good at it though... a pancake actually stuck to the ceiling with a messy splat and I couldn't reach it to scrape it off. It did fall off though, about ten minutes later when St- Star? Who was that... that name.. familiar, but I couldn't put a face to it... it wasn't me... but it did fall on someone's head, because I could remember them getting really mad and I almost pissed myself laughing.. then again, maybe it was me? I couldn't remember...

My thoughts were interrupted as a plate with spaceships and stars all over it was placed in front of me, along with a matching fork, then a huge pancake! It had to be as big as my face! I stared at it hungrily, but as Papa reached to put syrup, I stopped him, covering the pancake with both hands. "No! Icky!" I didn't like syrup and I was not going to allow it to contaminate the awesome pancake that Daddy made me!

He blinked, a little confused, but smiled anyway and let it be. I grinned, picking up the pancake with both hands. It was delicious, like, the best goddamn pancake ever. I nommed on it, making sure to be careful so I didn't choke. "Hungry, huh?" I nodded, swallowing a mouthful of the deliciousness. "Just don't eat too fast, baby. We wouldn't want you to get sick." A kiss was placed on my head as Cas walked by me, heading into the living room. I watched him, curious- he pulled out his cell phone, though only briefly glanced at the screen before pocketing it, smiling.

Almost immediately after that, there was a knock on the front door and I jumped. Their guests... who was supposed to show up first... And why would they show up so early. It was way to early to actually do anything. Dean was placing a freaking huge stack of pancakes on the table as the first -of what was sure to be many- guests walked into the kitchen- another pair of guys. Somehow, I'm not surprised..

"Geez, Sammy, when you said early..." Dean shook his head, though was smiling as he got out a stack of plates and set them on the table. I eyed the newcomers as I chewed on my pancake. Wow, he's big. I stared at the taller of the two- holy shit he was tall, even taller than Dean—Daddy—whatever.

"We meant it." The taller one laughed, grinning. That's Sammy then... so if I'm right the shorter fella is Gabriel... "Gabe was too excited to wait, so we wound up leaving a few hours early." Well, I was right. Good for me.

Said man looked as thought he'd had way too much coffee though, and was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, about to burst with excitement. He turned his gaze onto me and I stared back with wide, curious -and somewhat scared- eyes. "Hey there, kiddo!" Friendly at least, and making a good first impression.. but there was something about him... something... almost familiar, but.. a different kind of familiar. The kind that set me a little on edge. That feeling this morning... could that have been h- "Aww, don't look at me like that. You love me!"

All thoughts of that morning, all the feelings, the fear, the worry- all of it disappeared as a wave of dizziness swept over me. Just like what had been happening over the last two days, my mind was overwhelmed with images and emotions- me, us, him, all of them- family- and fucking HELL this one was so much more painful than all the others. I clenched my jaw, sucking in a sharp breath as I whimpered, rubbing at my head and willing with all my might for it to go away!

And.. and then it did. All of it gone, in an instant, like it had never happened. There wasn't even the slightest trace of pain.. All the men around me were staring with eyes full of concern, Papa looking like it was taking all of his willpower to not scoop me into his arms and cuddle the heck out of me... I didn't like it. I didn't mean to make them worry, to scare them... but I was all better now and I couldn't tell them what the hell had happened... so.. I did the next best thing.

I put on my biggest, brightest grin and reached out for Gabriel with both hands, the remainder of my pancake forgotten. "Unca Gabee!" They all seemed to breathe out in relief and the aforementioned man lifted me right up and into his arms, squeezing me in a tight hug, causing me to giggle as I held onto him. "Eee-ser!"

"That's right, kiddo. It's Easter! That means lots of candy and games and me and Sammy here brought you something extra special to celebrate your very first Easter with us." Special? I wonder what it is! Maybe it's a.. a... Oooh, I dunno, but I wanna know! "Ah ah. You can have it this afternoon, after your nap, and that's only if you're an extra good boy today. Deal?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Ye! De-ahl!" I had already been being really good since I'd woken up anyway. I didn't fight during the diaper change, I was eating my breakfast without making a mess or starting a food fight and I even let Papa put this stupid bunny shirt on me. Naptime would be after lunch, though... so that meant I had to be good for just a few hours. Easy as pie!

"Don't hog him, Gabe. I want to cuddle my nephew too!" Sammy said with a pout, earning more giggles from me. Grown-ups- er- these guys looked silly when they pouted. Still a grown-up—ugh, adult. Still an adult, EJ. Just not in an adult body. With a roll of his eyes and an amused smirk, Gabriel passed me over to the giant of a person. The change in height scared me, just a little, but I clung to his shirt, ensuring that he couldn't drop me. "Heavy little guy, huh?" I stuck my tongue at him. "You were so little last time we saw you."

Cas laughed, smiling as he brushed a hand over my cheek. "He has an appetite like Dean." That actually seemed to explain everything, as both Sammy and Gabriel nodded, and well, I guess I could see why. From what I'd seen the last few days, Daddy could put down some food. Heck, if it wasn't for Papa, he'd probably have stuffed himself to the point of exploding by now.

"So long as you don't let him eat like Dean, I think he'll be alright." A playful jab at him, judging by the smirk on Sammy's face. "At least you're glad to see us though. I was a little worried.." Worried? Why would he be worried? Heck, it was my first time meeting them- I mean, I think so anyway... and so far, they'd been nothing but cool. Gabriel even said that they'd brought a surprise for me! "Last time we saw you, you were terrified of me." Sammy smiled down at me softly, and in return I stared up at him, confused.

"That's because you're fu-" Dean cut himself off at Cas's warning glare, "fuh-reaking huge, Sam." Sammy is really, really big, and I can see why I, or well, not me, but someone my size, would have been scared, but he's nice, which makes him like a big teddy bear or something. "He was scared of everyone at first, though, remember? Even me and Cas."

How could I have ever been scared of them? They're not intimidating at all! Heck, even when I first woke up here, I wasn't scared. Pissed, yeah, but not scared. "Yeah, I remember. The system can do that to a kid, though." Hey, wait up. What? The system? Does he mean like...? "Even if it was only a few months... you never know, Dean."

No, no way. There was no way he was talking about social services. I'd only been around here for two—almost three- days! Ugh, great, just what I needed. That along raised a thousand more questions that I'd very likely never get the answer to.

"Y'know, it's actually a good thing you two showed up early." I turned to Daddy, pushing thoughts of the previous discussion out of my head. "Me and Cas still have to finish putting things together, which means you are on h-i-d-i-n-g duty, Sammy."

H-i-d-i-n-g duty? H-i... Hi... hidi... Nothing. My mind blanked. I—I couldn't- W-what the hell!? I can spell, dammit! I'm a grown ass man! Why couldn't- why couldn't I- This isn't good. This can't be good. I gulped, willing myself with all my might to stop from shaking. I already had one freak out, I didn't need a second one, not this soon.

Thankfully, Gabriel was more than happy to provide a distraction- "Which means I get to watch the baby!" He piped up, the biggest grin on his face, like he was more excited about spending time with me than about what they had planned. "After we eat breakfast of course. There's no way I'm missing out on a meal cooked by Deano." I giggled at his nickname for Dean, and Sammy shook his head, placing me back into the high chair.

They all took a seat around the table, fixing themselves a plate of food- Gabriel and Daddy having almost twice as many pancakes as Sammy and Papa, though it was only Gabriel who smothered his in syrup. Putting on my best smile –I didn't want to worry anyone again-, I returned to my own pancake, not wanting it to go to waste.

ooOoo

I gotta say, if there's one good thing I can say about Uncle Gabe, it's that he is not at all a boring person. Since Daddy and Cas claimed that we needed to stay 'out of the way' while they set up for whatever they had planned for the afternoon, we were confined to my room, but so far, it was anything but unpleasant.

As soon as everyone set out to start on what they needed to do, we raided the toy box in my room, grabbing all sorts of things out by the armful, all of which were now spread about the floor; foam blocks, plastic cars, big squishy dinosaurs, baby puzzles, and lots of stuffed animals. Uncle Gabe was even more interested in the toys than I was!

I thought he was just being weird, kinda silly, as he pushed the cars around on the floor, making 'vroom vroom' sounds as it raced across the carpet, or 'roars' and 'grrrs' as he made Kippy stomp on said cars and knock over 'buildings' made from the other toys. I didn't want to play along with him, not really... at least not at first...

I wanted to go find Sammy and Dean and Cas and see what they were doing, because they were keeping it a secret and I wanted to know what it was! But... watching Kippy destroying the town and act like Godzilla was... well, it started to look kinda fun. So with a grin, I joined in and started building up more towers and buildings and whatever I could think of out of the blocks and other toys.

Of course, I also giggled like freaking crazy when they were knocked over, sent tumbling across the floor. I didn't even care that I had to start all over again every time he did it. It was funny as hell!

It wasn't meant to last though, and in the middle of our 'create and destroy' game, everything went to hell in a hand basket. The weird feeling that I'd woken up with started to come back with a-fucking-vengeance and it was beyond horrible. My stomach twisted into knots, nausea hitting me like a sack of bricks and my eyes watered. It felt like I couldn't breath and I was pretty fucking sure I was having a panic attack.

"U-Unca Gabee.." I stood where I was amongst the toys, frozen, shaking, but I wanted him, I needed someone, anyone. Immediately, he dropped the toys in his hands and sat up, picking me up as he did so and holding me to him. I wrapped my arms as best I could around his neck, not wanting him to let me go or even think he could put me down.

He was bouncing me softly, rubbing my back like Daddy and Papa did to calm me down, and it felt nice, but it wasn't helping. "Shh, kiddo, you're okay." No, no I wasn't okay. I was not, in any sense of the fucking word, okay. Something was wrong, really really wrong, and no matter how much I tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there, it was and for fucks sake, I was scared.

I was losing myself- how I hadn't noticed before, I'll never know, but I was, and I didn't know how to stop it. I was.. I was actually turning into a fucking kid. There were things that I couldn't remember that I knew I should -that person, that... that girl.. and the thing I was after, I couldn't even remember what it was-, and I was remembering things that I know couldn't have ever happened -playing with Dean, meeting Gabe and Sammy-.

It's been two and a half days. Two and a half fucking days but it's starting to feel like it's been months and that isn't possible. It's just not possible. It felt- it felt like I was running out of time, but I didn't understand how- what was going to happen, what had that thing done to me? Could I even be saved at this point?

"C'mon, little buddy. It's okay. You're okay." Uncle- no, just Gabe, he isn't my Uncle, just like Cas and Dean aren't my parents. Nothing about this was okay, but he didn't know that, none of them did. This was their life, not mine!

Maybe though... maybe if I tried to tell him what was wrong, he could help me make it better- how, I had no idea. But I had to try. "No. N-no okee." I hiccuped, wiping at the tears on my face with one hand as I pushed myself away so I could look him in the eye. "F-feel baaad."

His eyes softened and he frowned. "You feel bad, kiddo?" I nodded, sniffling. "Wonder if you're getting sick.." He placed the back of his hand to my forehead and I shook it off. I wasn't sick and I wasn't getting sick. "Are you sad because your Daddy's busy?" I shook my head. No, I wasn't sad! And what's wrong has nothing to do with Dadd—Dean or Cas. Come on, man. "You look kinda freaked, kiddo."

Finally! I nodded, wiping at my face more. My arm was getting covered in snot and tears but I didn't care. "S-sca-" Stupid words. Stupid toddler body. "Sa-cay-wed."

"You're... scared?" At my nod, another round of tears started to flow down my cheeks. Gabe sighed, putting on a smile, soft and gentle as he wiped away the tears with his shirt. "There's nothing for you to be scared of, kiddo. I promise." But how can he promise that? He doesn't know what's wrong, he doesn't understand-! "Your parents would never let anything happen to you and hey, you've got me and Uncle Sammy here now too!"

I-I guess he was right.. I wasn't alone, and they've proven lots of times that they cared about me and wanted me to be safe and happy and...but that didn't- but I... "How about I let you in on a little secret?"

A secret? What.. what kinda secret? Curiosity got the better of me and despite my sniffling, I nodded. "Atta boy. Now, we haven't told this to anyone yet, so you gotta keep it quiet okay?" He made a 'shhh' noise, holding a finger to his lips and I nodded once more. "The reason me and Uncle Sammy are here so early is because we bought a house in town." A.. a house? They're moving? Here...? "We've been in the process of moving for about a week now, and just got everything finished. We're gonna surprise everyone at the party."

"No buh-bye?" It came out without my thinking, but he seemed to know what I was asking and his smile turned to a wide grin, which, well... in all honesty, it made me feel a little better.

"Nope. No bye-bye, kiddo. You're gonna get to see us aaaaalll the time." So... That means that I'm going to have more... more... family around? My head throbbed as I tried to work that through. No, they aren't my real family, just- just the people I'm stuck with, because of... because of that... thing?

Shit, I can't even remember what it was that did this to me anymore. All I could remember was fighting... pain... but that's it. Good fucking hell, I'm in troub- Cue round two of 'memory flash mental overload' of the day.

The room began to spin around me, swirling into faces, people, places, things. Memories. But they weren't mind- or they were, but they also weren't. They were clear and vibrant, like watching a movie, just, without sound. It was so bright though, too fucking bright and it made my head throb worse- I thought I was going to actually pass out that time, and then, as always, after what felt like for-freaking-ever, it went away.

I let out a soft groan, shaking my head as I cleared my vision, looking up at the concerned face of Uncle Gabe, my hands clinging to his shirt. "Hey..." He spoke softly and I felt him rubbing my head, running a hand through my hair. "You zoned out hardcore for a few minutes, little guy. I was worried." Worried? All I seem to do is worry people and ruin shit these days...

"S-sowwy Unca Gabee.." Hey, I actually did feel bad for that shit. It wasn't something I could control, but it seemed to scare whoever witnessed it.. "I okee."

Once again, he was smiling, "It's alright, kiddo. All's good." I smiled as well at that because at least he doesn't look freaked this time. "Y'know what I think we need." I shook my head, blinking up at him with a questioning look. "Chocolate milk! And maybe one of those delicious desserts your Papa baked..." He licked his lips and I giggled softly.

We weren't supposed to go into the kitchen, not at all until we were given the okay by Papa himself, though... What if we got caught?! "Pfft, don't give me that look. I am the master at sneaking sweets." More giggles slipped out as Uncle Gabe smirked, looking proud. "Watch me and learn, little man." Setting me down on the floor, he hopped to his feet. "Follow close behind me, okay?"

I nodded. "Kay."

"And remember, we have to be very quiet." Once more I nodded, placing a finger on my lips like he had done, to show I'd be as quiet as possible. "Let's go." The door was opened slowly, and he poked his head out into the hallway, looking first to the right, then to the left for any sign of the other grown-ups- adults-er, yeah. Whatever.

I got between his legs and looked out too, but didn't or hear anyone. All clear. With a nod, he tip-toed into the hallway, giving me a short glance to signal to follow close. My footsteps weren't as light as his were, but since no one had put shoes on my feet yet, they didn't make much noise, thankfully. I'd hate to accidentally give us away.

I hid behind him as we crept through the hall, one hand holding tightly to the leg of his jeans. We stayed as quiet as possible as we made our way to the kitchen, and so far, so good. No one had seen us, heck, no one even seemed to actually be in the house, but still, we had to be careful. Papa—Cas, had told all of us that we had to wait until after lunch and after my nap to have any of the sweets, so we'd get into a lot of trouble if someone happened to catch us.

Uncle Gabe peeked around the corner—no one was in the living room, so we zoomed through it to the entryway to the kitchen. Someone's in there- shit! We were going to get caught and Papa was gonna be mad at us for not listening and- Wait a second.

I scooted past Gabe, poking my head into the kitchen and- Daddy! He was standing by the island, half of a cookie in his hand, the other half no doubt in his mouth. I couldn't help but let out a giggle as he let out a noise of pleasure at the taste, popping the second half into his mouth as soon as he swallowed. He froze in place, and I giggled again. "Ba-ad Dahdee."

With a grin on his face, he sighed defeated and turned to look at us. "Yeah, yeah, you caught me. Cas is making me hold out like everyone else, but man, it smells so good..."

Gabe waved him off, smirking. "Hey, we didn't see anything if you didn't." At Daddy's confused look, Gabe went about our mission—first heading to the plate of cookies sitting near Daddy on the island, and snatching up a handful. They were quickly wrapped in a few paper towels and handed to me to hold on to while he fixed our drinks.

"Deal." Daddy smiled again. "Cas and Sammy are just outside though so hurry up." I toddled over to him, tugging on his pants leg. "Hey, EJ. You havin' fun with Uncle Gabe?"

"Ye!" Nodding, I grinned. "Suh-neek." He lowered himself to one knee, ruffling my hair with one hand.

"Sneak? You two being sneaky, huh?" I nodded again and he laughed. "Better be extra sneaky when it comes to hiding the evidence. I won't tell but you can't get caught, okay?" Once more I nodded, and he planted a kiss on my forehead, turning his attention to Uncle Gabe. "Don't overdo it, okay man? Otherwise, you're gonna be the one explaining to Cas why we have a sick baby."

Uncle Gabe though, just waved him off, "Pfft. He's almost two, Deano. He can handle a bit of extra sugar." Almost two, huh? I really am a baby, then. Geez. "Besides, it's Easter. His first Easter with us! I think that gives us permission to spoil him." Yeah Daddy!

With a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes, he stood back up, "Fine, but I hold to what I said." A glance to the door leading outside had him wiping off his hands and shirt and hurrying to pick the cookies back up. "C'mon, hurry. Sam's coming this way. And remember-"

"We didn't see anything!" With that, Uncle Gabe nodded at me and we took off back across the house to my room. He shut the door extra quietly so that no one would suspect anything, especially if Uncle Sammy was coming inside. As soon as the door was shut, I plopped down onto my butt and turned into a mess of giggles, kicking my feet as I tried to cover my mouth to silence them. "You liked that, huh?"

"Ye!" I placed the cookies down in front of my, the napkin unwrapping itself to be used as a makeshift plate, and Uncle Gabe handed me my sippy cup. As promised, it was full of chocolate milk and it was fucking amazing. I hadn't had chocolate milk in forever. "Mmm." I picked up a cookie and started to chew on it— it was soft and still kinda warm, and it was homemade which meant that it was the best tasting cookie ever! I can't believe Papa wanted us to wait!

"My little partner in crime." Uncle Gabe smiled and I grinned back, teeth covered in bits of cookie. "So, we still haaaaaaaaaave..." He pulled out a cell phone, glancing at the screen. "Wowza, it's already ten." Ten? We woke up super early, too... wow, we've been playing for a long time. "So, two hours, kiddo. Whatcha wanna do?"

Immediately I perked up with a soft gasp, almost dropping my sippy cup in the process. "Tow-ah!" I stood, cookies forgotten as I started gathering up the toys with one hand. I tried to tell him all about the tower I'd built with Daddy and Papa the day before, but between the speed of my horribly baby-garbled words and the fact that I kept sticking my sippy cup in my mouth, he probably had no freaking idea what I was talking about.

"You wanna build a big ole' tower, huh?" I nodded enthusiastically, happily laughing at the fact that he actually did understand and knew what I wanted to do! "Sounds like a plan to me!"

"Ye! Tow-ah!" It was gonna be a super awesome tower too, even better than the one that I'd built before because Uncle Gabe was gonna help me build it and we could make it really, really big because there were even more blocks and toys in here than in the living room and because after we were done, we could team up with Kippy and pretend to be big monsters and knock it over! "Ippy! Ippy!" I pointed to the stuffed dog sitting by him, near the crib, where he'd landed when we finished with our last game.

Uncle Gabe passed him over and I set him next to me, sitting where I could see him and he could watch us, before placing my sippy cup down between his legs so he could hold onto it. Satisfied that my drunk and friend were safe, I turned my attention back to the matter at hand- The soon to be Super Tower! (I don't know what possessed Daddy to buy me so many sets of blocks, but I definitely wasn't going to complain.)

Construction of the tower took what felt like forever. Definitely a lot longer than it should have taken and I have no problem admitting that it was almost for sure, all my fault. The sugar from the cookies and milk we stole kicked in hard and fast and I was, for lack of better terms, bouncing off the walls.

I accidentally knocked over our progress a lot while trying to move certain pieces or reach to a part that I wasn't quite tall enough to, but heck, I couldn't even begin to get frustrated about it. I'd just giggle my butt off for a few minutes, get up, and start all over again.

Uncle Gabe thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, too, laughing right along with me as I ran around the room, gathering new things to add to the tower. It did, unfortunately, become a little less funny when I turned too fast and smacked right into the bottom of the crib, which sent my tumbling back onto my bottom, a bump forming on my forehead.

He almost panicked- I could see it building in his eyes, but I wasn't hurt that bad, so I sent him a pout, rubbing my sore forehead. "Unca Gabee, owie." With a smile, he scooted over to me, placing a kiss on the reddening area.

"There you go. All better?" I nodded, scrambling back to my feet and wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug. As he squeezed me back, the door opened and Uncle Sammy appeared. "Heya, Sammy!" Uncle Gabe grinned up at him, skillfully and sneakily positioning himself in front of the cookie crumb covered paper and his chocolate milk glass. "Everything ready to-"

With more speed than I thought I could muster, I left Uncle Gabe's side and wiggled my way between Uncle Sammy's legs, bolting down the hall before either of them could register what I'd done and try to stop me. "Elliot!" That would be Uncle Sammy's voice, a little confused, a little panicked, but I was on a mission and I wasn't about to stop so that he could ruin it! I was going find Cas or Dean!

Just as I passed the entryway to the kitchen, a pair of large hands grabbed hold of me and hoisted me into the air. I let out a squeal of surprise and kicked my legs, not liking the sudden lack of solid ground. But as I was turned and saw the face of one very people I was looking for, I burst into giggles. "Pahpah!"

I reached for him and he pulled me closer, kissing my head as I squeezed him around the neck in a hug. "Someone's in a good mood." I nodded as he grinned down at me, though as I returned it, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Or maybe a certain little boy is just hyper." Papa turned and faced the hallway, where Uncle Sammy and a very guilty looking Uncle Gabe stood. "Did Uncle Gabriel give you sugar?" Papa was looking at me now and while I didn't say anything, I couldn't hold back the giggles. "I think he did."

Uncle Sammy was grinning and shrugged, shaking his head as he looked down at Uncle Gabe. "You really should have expected that, Cas." I nodded in agreement.

"I figured—no, I hoped that Dean would be able to stop them before they could-" Papa trailed off, sighing with an amused smile. "You three really are something else." I was shifted onto his hip and I held onto his shirt, wiggling to get comfy since I didn't think he'd be putting me back down. "Think you still have room in that little belly for a bit of real food?

"Ye! Hug-wee." And I actually was. A couple of cookies and a cup of chocolate milk weren't anywhere near enough to fill me up (well, and a pancake, but still.)

"That's my boy." Papa smiled wide. "I take it you won't be napping today?" I shook my head. With how I felt? There's no way I'd be able to fall asleep, even if I wanted to. "Well, let's head outside then. We've got lots of surprises for you, baby boy."

ooOoo

It was a good thing that Papa had carried me outside to the picnic table because I knew, as soon as I laid eyes on the yard, that I would have immediately taken off into the grass had I been free. Other than the play equipment that was already there, there was now a blue plastic pool with it's own little slide, a big green turtle shaped thing (no idea what it is, but it looks cool), and there were colourful eggs all over the yard- in the grass, in the bushes, there was one atop the slide too!

I wanted to hunt down the eggs and jump in the pool and maybe see what the hell the turtle's deal was and- oh, man, I just wanted to play! Buuuut, Papa said that we had to eat lunch first, so I was forced to wait and I was not happy about it. They all knew it too, if the angry pout and grumbled words were any indicator.

So I tried to focus on everything else going on. Uncle Sammy and Uncle Gabe were sitting with me at the picnic table, waiting for the food, which Daddy and Papa were working on- Daddy was standing near a huge barbeque pit and Papa was setting out the paper plates and forks.

The smell of whatever Daddy was cooking really helped to keep me from bouncing right out of my seat, but it was still difficult to just sit there on the bench. "You want a hot dog, EJ?" I nodded over to Daddy, huffing out a sigh. I don't wanna just sit here-

"Starting without us, I see." A woman's voice came from behind me, snapping my out of my thoughts. It clicked in my head as soon as I heard it and I knew who was there. In my excitement, I jumped off the bench before any of the men could grab me, and ran over to her.

"Jojo!" I almost plowed right into the blonde's legs, but she caught me just in time, swinging me into the air and onto her hip with ease. "Nan!" I kept one hand on Jojo's shirt so she couldn't let me go as I reached out to the other woman—Nan. J—Jo... and Ell.. Ellen... I tried to pieced together their names. Jo and Ellen! I grinned in triumph as I did so. I didn't know how or why I recognized the two, but I did, and I was more than happy to see them.

I received a grin from both women, and a hug, too! "Hey there, EJ. You been good for your daddies?" I nodded, smiling as I thought about it. I had been pretty good, y'know, not counting the few, very small hiccups. Ellen, Nan, laughed. "You excited?"

"Ye! Eee-ser, Nan! Eee-ser!"

"That's right, sweetheart. It's Easter." She smiled wider. "We brought you a little something, too." I stared at the older woman with wide, curious eyes and she nodded, stepping to the side. There was a third woman with them, though this one didn't strike even the smallest bit of familiarity in my mind. She seemed alright, with red hair and a pretty, gentle smile, and hey, if she was with Nan and Jojo, then she had to be nice, right?

The new woman stepped forward, though stayed a good few feet away so she wouldn't scare me or something, I guess. "Hi there, little guy. I'm Charlie." Immediately, I smiled, letting out a soft giggle. "You must be the famous Elliot I've been hearing so much about." Definitely nice. I nodded. "We brought you a little gift." She pulled her hands from behind her back, revealing to me a brand new, adorable -shut up- stuffed rabbit. It was made just like Kippy, except that it was a light green and brown colour. I gasped as I saw it and reached out with both hands.

"B-uhn, pease!" She laughed softly and handed him over. I squeezed him to me and rubbed my cheek against his soft, plush fur. "F-fank yoo, C—C-" I huffed as I tried to pronounce her name. I was trying to, I really was, but the stupid 'Ch' was throwing me off. It didn't bother her though, and she simply smiled wider.

"You are very welcome, mister. Are you going to give him a name?" I looked down to the bunny, then back to Charlie and nodded. Of course he'd need a name, just like Kippy... but I'd have to think about it for a while. Maybe Daddy could help me think of one... First priority after all, was food, which was made clear as my stomach gave off a little growl. "Grub first, huh?" I nodded again.

Jojo carried me over to the table, though kept me in her lap as the food was served; hot dogs and burgers, but with barbeque sauce! My hotdog was cut up into little bits so that I was less likely to choke on it, which was a smart precaution for them to take, seeing how I tried to inhale the thing so I could be released to play.

"Slow down, little man." Jojo laughed, running a hand over my head. "The food's not going anywhere." Of course it was. It was going in my- Ooh, she meant that it wasn't going to run off or something. Of course it's not gonna run off. I'd catch it before it made it off the table! "You must be really hungry."

"Nah." Nan said with a smile. "I think he's just more worried about the toys." She motioned to the yard and I nodded. "You guys wanna let him go on and play?" I started bouncing on Jojo's lap, looking between Papa and Daddy with my best 'puppy eyes'. I really, really wanted to go and play, more specifically, I wanted to swim.

Papa looked over at me, then to Daddy, biting his lip. "Well... we were hoping Bobby and Jody would be here in time for the egg hunt, but..." Egg hunt? Forget that, Papa, I want to swim! It's been for-freaking-ever since I got to play in the water, or spend any significant amount of time in water that wasn't a shower (or bath, I can say now, haha) without the threat of something trying to eat or kill me.

"No, Pahpah!" I wiggled, pointing over to the blue plastic pool sitting in the grass. "Sim!" Eh, it was close enough to the actual word. "Siiim!" The eggs weren't going anywhere, so they could wait until later, when whoever the hell they were waiting for showed up. "Pease?"

"Oooh, you want to play in the pool, baby boy?" I nodded, wiggling around more in Jojo's lap, excitement bubbling inside of me. They both looked at me, then to each other... and nodded. Yes! I grinned as Papa walked around the table to me. "We'll have to put you in a swimming diaper first..." He mumbled to himself, "Are you ready, EJ?" I nodded, my grin widening. "Alright, sweetheart. Let's go get you changed." Jojo passed me over and Papa planted a kiss on my forehead as he held me close.

We went straight to my room and he sat me down on the changing table before turning to get out what he needed. I fought back a yawn, hoping with all my being that he didn't see because there was no way in hell I was missing out on pool time.

I held onto my new rabbit as he did what he needed to do, playing with it's ears to pass the time and keep myself alert. It didn't take long to get the swimming diaper on, since I didn't even make an attempt to wriggle away. It wasn't too bad either, looks wise. Blue and green with little fish all over it. Papa even took off that stupid bunny hoodie!

Figuring I was done and ready to go, I held up my arms, wanting to go back outside. "Just a minute, EJ. I've got to put sunblock you, otherwise I'm going to have a baby lobster running around." I giggled, grinning up at him. If it meant I finally got to go play, I think I could deal with being a lobster for a while. "You think that's funny, huh?" I nodded. "Well, Papa doesn't think you'd like being a lobster."

"Ob-ser!" I giggled more at myself, allowing him to rub me down with sunblock. It smelled like freaking baby powder, which as pretty neat, seeing as normal sunblock smelled damn awful. "Sim, Pahpah?"

He laughed, kissing my head. "In just a few minutes, sweetheart." But you said we could go after you put it on! I huffed, pouting and grumbling impatiently. "We've got to let the sunblock set or it'll all wash off." It would? Well, shit, then I really would be a little lobster. "I'll set the timer for fifteen minutes, and until then, how about we see where Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jody are?" I looked up at Cas as he picked me up again, my brow furrowed in confusion.

More people that I didn't know... but... that I did? I guess? The names struck a cord of familiarity, but to my knowledge, I'd never met anyone by those names... or... I mean, I guess I could have... ugh.. I shook my head to clear away the confusing thoughts, not wanting to deal with it. Just smile and accept it. It's not the weirdest thing that's happened.

We went into the kitchen and Papa set the timer, as promised, before grabbing his cellphone off the counter and flipping it open. He really should keep that on him at all times. You never know when there'll be an emergency.

A lesson I learned a long time ago.

Speaking of lessons learned, that whole 'what goes up must come down' bit? I was feeling it. The sugar from those cookies was starting to fizzle out. So long as they don't notice, I'm still good.

Anyway, it took only a few seconds of ringing for a deep, gruff voice to answer, not even giving Papa a chance to say hello. "We're pullin' into the driveway now, ya impatient idjit." I giggled aloud at the 'greeting', wiggling in Papa's arms. "We'll meetcha in the backyard." The phone clicked off at that and Cas shook his head, sighing with a smile.

"You heard him, EJ. To the backyard we go again."

Everyone was still around the picnic table, with the addition of two others who weren't there before- Bobby and Jody. Another flash of memories, another freaking headache- this one minor, thank fucking goodness, and I was excited as could be to see them. "Unca Bee!" My arms reached out for the older man, fingers wiggling as I squirmed to get out of Papa's arms.

I was passed over and as Uncle Bobby held me, I grinned happily up at him, babbling (and yeah, I mean babbling because there is no chance in hell that anyone could understand even half of what I was saying) about all the goodies that Cas had baked and that there were eggs all over the yard and that I was going to go swimming but not until the sunblock was done doing whatever it had to do.

He nodded along to everything I was saying, face lighting up with a grin of his own as I finished. "Sounds like you've had quite a day, and it's barely afternoon." I nodded, giggling- or, trying to giggle anyway. A stupid yawn broke through and interrupted me. "He ain't had a nap yet?"

"No." Papa rolled his eyes, shooting a half-heared glare at Uncle Gabe. "A certain someone snuck into the kitchen and got him chocolate milk and cookies this morning, so he's been pretty hyped up." Uncle Gabe didn't care though- grinning as he shrugged and the others laughed. "I think now would be the perfect time for a nap though."

What? Now? No way! Not now! I just put the stupid sunblock on and I'm even in my swimming diaper and I want to go swimming! "No!" I glared at Papa, holding onto Uncle Bobby's shirt. I wasn't going down without a fight!

Daddy decided now was a good time to step in though, with his stupid good ideas. "What if Uncle Bobby puts you down for your nap?" My glare lightened, and I looked between the three men... I didn't want to nap. I didn't need to take a stupid nap. Only old people and babies need naps!

And, of course, cue yawn number two. Fine! I'll lie in my crib but I won't go to sleep! I'll just play with Kippy and my bun and if someone comes in, pretend I'm asleep. Just for a little while, then I'll call for someone to come get me. It's perfect!

With that plan in mind, I nodded, buuuuut, I didn't want Uncle Bobby to do it. No offense to him, but... "An'Jo!" I reached for Aunt Jody, who had been watching us, amusement clear on her face.

"You want Aunt Jody to do it?" I nodded, and was quickly passed over to the waiting woman. I hadn't even said hi to her yet, so it was only fair that she was the last one to see me before I was left to myself for a while. "We'll see you in a little while, baby boy." Daddy and Papa gave me a kiss on the head before Aunt Jody carried me inside.

I sighed, staring at the backdoor as we walked away, and she looked down at me with a smile. "Don't worry, sweetie. You'll have all evening to play." I nodded and held onto her, letting out a small yawn. "Tell you what, I won't even put your clothes back on. You can sleep just like this."

Really? In just a swimming diaper? I looked up at her questioningly and she nodded. "Yep. That way, you're ready to go as soon as you wake up." That idea I liked, so I didn't make a fuss when I was put into my crib. Aunt Jody handed me my bunny and Kippy, oh, and my pacifier, before kissing my forehead and clicking the light off, leaving the room with the baby monitor in hand.

I was out within minutes.

ooOoo

Aunt Jody lied to me! I mean, she probably didn't mean to, but she still did and I wasn't happy about it. After I woke up, which was nearly two hours later (talk about a hard crash, yikes), I had to get Daddy to put more sunblock on me, after putting on a different swimming diaper, which meant I had to wait even longer to go play. After all that, I didn't even want to go swimming.

But, I won't lie, as upset about all of that as I was, all my my anger and pouting and the urge to cry were blown right the hell away as I laid my eyes on what was waiting for me on the picnic table.

It was a basket! A freaking huge, green wicker basket filled with blue and purple confetti grass and a ton of candy- there were chocolate covered eggs, marshmallow chicks, twizzlers, m&ms and right on top in the middle was the biggest chocolate rabbit I'd ever seen. "Wow!" I stared at the mess of candy in absolute amazement before reaching for one of the chocolate eggs. It was wrapped in foil paper, not something I could easily rip open on my own with these stupid tiny hands.

But that's what they were waiting for- for me to open it and take a bite. Papa had the camera ready and Uncle Sammy and Jojo had cell phones out- I didn't understand why they were so hyped up about me eating a piece of chocolate, but whatever floats their boat.

I did my best to open the candy and put on a show while doing it... which wasn't that hard, because it really was hard to open. They were happily cheering me on as I went and when I finally managed to rip the freaking paper off, I held the (now smashed to hell) chocolage egg up in triumph, grinning wide.

"Good job, sweetheart!" I squirmed at the praise and happily obliged, even going so far as to smile at my camera wielding family members with chocolate covered teeth (and lips and fingers... and some may have dripped onto my chest and legs). After I finished the egg, Daddy cleaned me off with a baby wipe and I turned my attention to the yard once again. The candy could wait- I could eat more later, but I wanted to play before it got dark!

We'd never be able to find the eggs then, and there'd be mosquitoes, so I wouldn't be able to go anywhere near the water! "Sim?" Apply puppy eyes and smile, "Pease?" They wouldn't be able to resis-

"Just a minute, baby boy." Cue angry pout. "Aww, don't pout. I just thought that maybe you'd like to hunt for all the little eggs the Easter Bunny left. They're super special eggs!" Okay, yeah, that had my attention. Special?

"Very special." Charlie winked at me, smiling. "I hear Easter Bunny eggs are even magic! Sometimes they even have something really cool inside." And sold.

Magical eggs with cool stuff inside? Hell yeah, I wanted to find them! "Egg! Egg!" With a laugh, Nan helped me down off the table and I made a break for the yard. Or, tried to. Papa stopped me. I looked up at him with a pout, but he just smiled.

"How about Daddy helps you find the eggs?" Help? Why would I need him to help? It's just lookin' around for eggs. I mean... it wouldn't be much fun for a grown-up anyway... "Mm.. I think he'd really like to help. He could help you reach the eggs that are too high up!" Oooh, well, that was true -that one on the slide may be troublesome after all- and I guess if he actually wanted to come look with me, that was a different story entirely.

And hey, he may even have more fun than me with it!

"Kee!" I hopped over to Dean, who was now smiling down at me. "Egg, Dahdee!" I tugged at his jeans, trying to pull him with me to the yard. "Eeeeeeggg!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. We need to get your basket first though." Basket? Why would I need my basket? I looked up at him questioningly but all he did was smile and pick me up, holding me in one arm. "That way we can keep track of all the eggs you find." Well... okay. That did make sense. I was just gonna carry them back to the table for Jojo or Uncle Sammy or someone to hold.

All of the candy sitting in my basket was placed onto one of the plates, though the grass was left in, to protect the eggs we'd find, and off into the yard we went! Daddy put me down once we were in the middle of the yard, near the giant turtle, and the hunt was on!

Step one, evaluate the area.

Now, I don't know who the Easter Bunny thinks he is, but he he freaking sucks when it comes to hiding things. Most of the eggs were visible from where we stood! Man, unless he was super sneaky with the most special of the magic eggs, this was going to be the fastest hunt ever, even faster than the first... first ghost, I think it was? Ghost hunt with.. my... with... someone?

So, counting, there were twelve eggs visible from our starting point, scattered about the yard. Those would be the first to be collected. Then- wait... I don't even know how many eggs there are! How am I even supposed to know when I find them all? I guess Daddy would have to tell me. I mean, the grownups seemed to know a lot about the Easter Bunny, so maybe they know him. He'd have told Daddy how many eggs there were for sure.

Okay, so, step two, hunt! Daddy was definitely getting his exercise for the day -week, even- as he attempted to follow me around the yard. The sugar boost from the chocolate egg combined with post-nap energy meant I was one speedy little bugger. I could hear laughs as he tried to keep up with me, meaning everyone was watching our little game of 'catch the baby that seemed to be going on.

I'd run to one of the eggs, carefully pick it up so it wouldn't break, place it into the basket that Daddy was holding for me, then run like hell to the next egg. This of course lead to many faceplants into the grass, but I'd get up with a laugh and a smile and continue on. They only hurt a little bit anyway, so as long as no one freaked out about it, I was good to go.

Of course, after the first one, Papa insisted that I at least put my shorts back on, to protect me a little, and after giving me puppy eyes, I even let him put the hoodie back on, just for the hunt. I had a feeling he was taking pictures the entire time, which is why he wanted me dressed up.

I didn't mind so much now though, because I was preoccupied with hunting those eggs! I managed to collect all twelve that I'd seen when we first started, and there were even more hidden even better! Like the one on top of the slide and there was one right in the corner of the fence and even one underneath the barbeque pit!

After we found all the eggs, and it took a while, we retreated back to the picnic table where everyone was sitting. I don't know what they were talking about, but it must have been something serious because Aunt Jody and Uncle Bobby looked kinda mad... they smiled again when I came back, but something definitely happened.

Dean put me on the table with my basket and I gave them my biggest grin and held out a shiny purple egg. It's shell looked like it had glitter on it and it was kinda heavy too, so whatever the Easter Bunny put inside must have been really special.

They looked at each other, then at me, and I could see their smiles turning... softer. "Appee Eee-ser." A few 'awws' were heard behind me, which made me squirm a little.

At first, it didn't look like they were going to take the egg, but I held it out, shaking it a little to try and entice them to. Aunt Jody was the one to reach out and finally take it, and I watched as she opened it, which caused my eyes to widen because it split in half perfectly, and sitting inside was a super tiny chocolate bunny with blue candy eyes and a pink bow tie.

"Thank you, Elliot." Aunt Jody's smile grew. "Happy Easter to you too, sweetie." Satisfied, I turned back to my basket and started digging through the eggs. There were so many in the basket, there was no way I needed all of them, so what else to do than share them with my fami- with the people who came to spend Easter with me.

Everyone was focused on me as I did this, amused, amazed, happy, I dunno. It was a pretty wide range of reactions, but seeing as they all looked positive, I figured it was a damn good idea. The second egg I pulled out was a darker green one with light green stripes, which I handed to Uncle Bobby, and he accepted it happily and without hesitation.

The next one was pink with purple hearts, which I gave to Nan, then blue with green spots which went to Jojo. Charlie's egg was up after that, red with blue zigzags. Uncle Sammy's egg wound up being one that was green on top and blue on bottom with Uncle Gabe's being the opposite, so they kind of matched.

Last, but most definitely not least were Papa and Daddy. I had to make sure to give them a super awesome extra special egg each, because if it weren't for them, none of this would have happened in the first place! My very first Easter celebration since I was a kid the first time around and... and it was the best I could remember. Hell, it was the most fun I'd had on any holiday in a fair number of years.

Hunting just... never left room for this kind of thing. We celebrated, yeah, but it was usually because we were stoked about having finished a job that we never thought we'd finish or killing something freaking ridiculous. Even then, it was usually celebrated with alcohol, strip-card games, and 'celebration sex'.

But this... Easter party, was so innocent, so fun and... perfect.

Perfect. I knew what I was going to do. I tugged the basket closer to them before reaching in. The first egg was a plain blue, but it was a bright, sky blue that almost matched Cas's eyes. I held it in both hands, placed a soft kiss on top, and held it out to him. The next one was similar-plain green though, much like Daddy's eyes, and with a kiss to it as well, I passed it off.

They looked at their eggs, then to each other, and finally down at me. I took a big, deep breath and held up my arms so one of them would pick me up. Papa scooped me up and I was held between them, which was perfect because it allowed me to place a kiss on each man's cheek before smiling shyly.

"Pahpah... Dahdee.." I looked between them, fidgeting a little—nervous. "Wuv yoo." Tears seemed to appeared in both man's eyes and they squeezed me in the biggest, tightest, warmest hug I had ever experienced in my entire life.

"We love you too, Elliot. So, so much." Daddy mumbled out, smiling wider than I'd seen him do since I'd gotten here. "You're our very special little boy and you always will be." Those words caused my stomach to twist, my heart to... to just ache... and then I was the one crying. Count on me to ruin the moment.

They didn't seem to think so though, because they both had smiles as they hugged me, kissing my head and all over my face as they whispered soft, soothing words to me. My crying calmed down much faster than I thought it would, but they didn't put me down again. I looked up at them with questioning eyes, only to be greeted by warm smiles.

"How about we finally check out that pool?"

ooOoo

Okay, so, the pool? Way awesome. I mean, it's too small to do any real swimming in (not that I think I could swim at this point...), but I could still splash around and hey, I was even given a bunch of toys to play with. (Papa got me a bunch of colourful plastic boats and some squeaky fish and stuff.) I created my own game with them, too. I would pretend that I was a big shark and 'smash' the boats, eating up all the little people who would scream for help.

Of course, I didn't want to spend all of my time in the water, so my curiosity wound up getting the better of me and I finally got around to examining that big turtle looking thing in the yard. It was a sandbox! The shell came off and inside was a bunch of sand along with a bucket and shovel!

I would play in the pool, then get out and run to the turtle, and back to the pool. It went on like that for about half an hour before Daddy just moved the pool next to the turtle, so I could hop back and forth easier. It was like being at the beach! Just without jellyfish and seaweed.

The grown ups took turns playing with me, and I made sure that I was able to spend a decent amount of time playing with each and every person. They all seemed like they wanted to play with me though, which was pretty awesome. Now, not all of them would get as into it as say, Uncle Gabe or Charlie (that one was a surprise—she was just as fun as Uncle Gabe!), but it was still really fun. And after Uncle Gabe told me that the turtle was from him and Uncle Sammy (the special surprise they mentioned earlier!), I made sure to play with them a little longer than everyone else, to show them how grateful I was.

Unfortunately, playtime eventually did have to come to an end once dinner time rolled around. I responded to that with an angry pout, annoyed huffing, and I may have even whined, just a little bit. They wouldn't give in though, not even to the pouty puppy eyes, and that was that.

We did still get to eat outside though, and I was allowed to stay 'nekky' after Papa changed me into a normal diaper, and Charlie even let me sit in her lap while we ate. She opted to feed me instead of letting me pick at my food, pretending the little fork was a spaceship delivering cargo to a base on the moon, which had me laughing almost more than eating.

As dinner started to wind down, I caught Uncle Gabe giving a look to Uncle Sammy. One of those looks that means they're having a silent conversation, y'know? Uncle Gabe looked to me after and gave me a wink, letting me in on what they were about to do. "So, we have something that we've been waiting to tell everyone..."

At that, everyone's attention was on them, excluding mine. I was more worried about trying to climb up onto the table, though I was still listening.

Uncle Sammy spoke next, barely able to contain his excitement, "The reason we arrived so early is that as of last Saturday, Gabriel and I-" Apparently Uncle Sammy wasn't getting out the news fast enough because Uncle Gabe cut him off mid sentence.

"We bought a house in town!" I looked up just in time to see Uncle Sammy roll his eyes at the over-excited man. "Sammy made me promise to keep it a secret until today, so we could finish moving in, which juuuuuust so happened to be yesterday!"

"We started talking about it when you mentioned trying for adoption... and once it went through, we decided that we wanted to be closer to actual family again." So it was my... my adoption that prompted them to want to come here? Me? "California was nice it was just... too far away."

It took a few seconds for the information to process, but when it did, Uncle Bobby reached over and swatted Uncle Sammy. "Y'idgit! We've been tellin' ya that since ya moved out there."

Uncle Sammy rubbed at his arm, "I know, I know, but I couldn't pass up that scholarship. We're back now though, and that's what counts." Everyone nodded in agreement, and the conversation drifted off into 'when can we come visit' and 'now you can babysit all the time', among other things. I don't really know, because it was about then that I sort of zoned out.

I didn't mean to, but it just... kind of happened. I was looking around, just taking in the view, but when my eyes locked on the sun, which was beginning to set, things just went... weird. Much like the times it had happened since I'd woken up here, everything went.. fuzzy. It didn't hurt this time, not at all really. It felt... it actually felt kind of nice. Which, thinking about it, probably wasn't a good thing.

I could see more flashes, more.. more memories, but they weren't flying by this time. It was slower, and I could actually make out the details- the people, the surroundings, where we were, what we were doing. They... they were filling in the blanks, answering the questions that had formed in my head throughout the day, letting me know who all these people were, why they were so happy to spend time with me.

Daddy and Papa- Cas and Dean—they'd been trying so hard for so long to have a baby. I could remember discussions they'd had—ones that I'd been witness to during the 'adoption' process. I'd... this body.. had kind of popped up out of nowhere. There were no records, no idea of my 'real parents' whereabouts.

I was, as Uncle Sammy said, 'in the system' for a number of months, and during that time, no one, and I mean no one had tried to claim me as theirs or even try to adopt me, so when Daddy and Papa came, they... finally got their chance. It... it was like I'd been waiting for them.

Like I'd been lost... just so that they could find me.

"I think we have a tired baby on our hands." Nan's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to look up at her, blinking slowly. Now that she mentioned it... I was feeling pretty burnt out. All the running around, on top of having a full belly must have sucked up all of my energy.

"I think you're right." Papa spoke softly, nodding over to Daddy, who then took my from Charlie. "You alright getting him to bed?" It took a moment to register why he'd be asking, but Daddy had to have been tired as well.

He was in good shape, but after chasing me around for most of the afternoon, he had to be worn out, but he just nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I got him. Don't have too much fun without me." I settled in his arms, holding onto his shirt with one hand while I cuddled against him. "Alright, EJ, let's get you ready for bed."

First off, I had to have a bath, because even though I spent a lot of time in the pool, I was still dirty as hell, covered in sand and mud, but thankfully, Daddy could see just how tired I was, because we weren't in the bathroom even half an hour. It was a nice, warm, quick bath, then I was wrapped up in a fluffy towel and we were on our way to my room.

"Did you have fun today, baby boy?" I nodded up at him with a tired smile as he laid me back on the changing table. "You know..." I stared up at him as he trailed off in thought. "Me and Papa were pretty worried about how you'd adjust.. to us, to our family to... to everything." Which was completely understandable. I mean, anyone, at any age, can have trouble adjusting to a new home and new people, especially if they'd been 'in the system'. "You put up a hell of a fight. I was kinda impressed, actually."

Okay, that got my attention. I mean, I can imagine a kid putting up a fight when being passed off to a couple of strangers, but with adoption, they met the kid first, spent time with them, got to know them. Y'know, make sure they're 'compatible' or something, like they do with dogs and cats. If I'd have fought against them during those periods... they'd never have been allowed to adopt me.

Which meant... which meant that... he was talking abou- "But you settled down so fast that I think it made Papa's head spin." He said that part with a laugh, but I was far from amused. I was frozen, barely breathing as I stared up at him, a look of what I was sure was fear, betrayal, clear on my face. "I'm so glad though, that you managed to settle down. We wouldn't have had a very fun Easter otherwise." He sat me up at that, tilting his head as he dug through the dresser. "So, how about dinosaurs tonight?"

I didn't respond, though I don't think he really expected me to. I wanted to fight against him as he slipped the blue, dinosaur themed shirt onto me—I wanted to kick and flail and bite, just like I had done when he tried to change me that first time, but I.. I was just so tired. I didn't have the energy for it.

"There we go. All ready for bed." That was it—the final straw. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't stop myself- I started to cry. It was about the only thing I could do at that point, so I didn't bother to even try and stop the tears. "Oh, no, EJ. Don't cry." Once more I was in his arms, and though I hated myself for it, I held onto him, fists clenching his shirt as I cried, wanting, no- needing the comfort.

All I wanted was to scream at him, to tell him that I fucking hated him for this- for all of this. For knowing, for knowing who and what I was. For being a part of this fucking... plan from the very beginning. I wanted to demand that they release me, that I be put back into my right body, that I didn't care of I woke up, bloody, bruised, and broken on the warehouse floor I'd fallen on.

But I couldn't do any of that. All I could do was hold onto him and cry. Cry harder than I could ever remember crying before. "Shh, baby boy. It's okay. You're okay." He walked me around the room, softly bouncing me, rubbing my back, and every once in a while planting soft kisses on my head, but none of it worked. "Hmm..."

"I know that life ain't always good to you o/`" Is he.. singing? He.. he was singing, softly, so very softly, like he didn't want anyone but me to hear him. "I've seen exactly what it's put you through o/` Thrown you around, and turned you upside down—o/`" He stopped walking then, choosing to sit down in the rocking chair that was sitting in the corner near the changing table. "And so you got to thinkin' there was no way out o/` You started sinking and it pulled you down-"

My crying quieted, some, and I looked up at him- his eyes were glistening with unshed tears, a soft smile on his face as he went on. He knew... they both.. no, they.. they all knew.. but they still care about me.. they... they love me.. "Anytime you need someone, sombody strong to lean on.. well, you can count on me to hold you till that healin' is done o/`"

My life, what it was before... I knew it was still there, but now... now it was nothing more than a distant memory. I was a hunter, that much I knew for sure, but people, names, faces... places I'd been, creatures I'd killed... the things I'd done... all of it was blurry, fuzzy, slowly.. slowly fading away, being replaced with.. with new memories.

Memories of people that cared about me and loved me... that thought me nothing more than a sweet little boy. To them, nothing I'd done mattered. Nothing that I was mattered. I wasn't a killer, I wasn't a murderer... I was just Elliot. "Just take my hand and I will help you stand o/`"

Here, with them... there were no monsters.

"I'm here for you so don't forget, you can count on me, cause I will carry you till you carry on o/`"

There were no demons.

"Anytime you need someone, somebody strong to lean on... o/`"

A clean slate.

That's what this was. A clean slate. A complete do over. A second freaking chance at.. at everything. It was a second chance that I didn't ask for, that I'd have never asked for... but maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. I'd destroyed any chance I had at having a normal life the day I decided to become what I was, the day I decided to hunt, so maybe... maybe...

"I'm here for you so don't forget, that you can count on me to hold you till that feelin' is gone.. o/`" My tears stopped and I was left just staring up at... at my Daddy, fighting to keep my eyes open. I hiccuped softly, which was followed by a yawn. My pacifier was offered and I took it into my mouth, sucking on it as I let out a contented sigh.

"Sweet dreams, baby." A kiss was placed on my forehead as he stood. "Everything will be better tomorrow." You know... I think you're right.. I think it will be better... He took the few steps over to my crib, gently laying me down on the soft mattress. Kippy was placed in my arms, Bun beside me, and the blanket tugged over me. "I love you, Elliot."

Star... Star, I'm sorry..

But this... this life.. the way things turned out...

Maybe it's for the best.