Chapter Nineteen
The More Things Change
A/N: This is it, guys! This is my last chapter for a while. I wanted to finish it before I leave for Ireland in seven hours! What? Can it really be here already? I've been planning this trip for close to two years, and it's here. I can't really believe it. Ahh!
Anyway, on a more serious note-this chapter is, in a way, similar to the last chapter. I wasn't planning on writing this one. A friend of mine who's reading this for me before I post it said that she really liked the way I portrayed how Sam deals with Evy. But since John was portrayed as being rather impatient with Evy most of the time, she'd be interested to see what drove Sam to treat her so differently. So, in this chapter, Dean's attitude towards Evy changes drastically after he and Sam lose their job and they are forced to move. He becomes mean and finally snaps and punishes her unfairly. Sam and Dean explore in this chapter the reason that Sam refuses to spank Evy and refuses to allow Dean to do it either. My own opinion on spanking does influence this chapter, but I AM NOT looking to debate anyone. So please don't do that in the reviews. Thanks!
Time had not been kind to the Winchesters.
The last nine months had been some of the most trying of Sam, Dean, and Evy's life. It had started one morning when Sam got to work, surprised to find that Laura wasn't there. Figuring her to just be running late, he'd waited about ten minutes before getting a call from Dean. After figuring out that neither Scott nor Laura had shown up to work, Sam and Dean had immediately raced towards Scott and Laura's house. They'd arrived to find the fire department there, and the house reduced to nothing but rubble. It appeared that, during the thunderstorm the night before, a stray bolt of lightning had hit a power line right next to the house, knocking it down and hitting the old wooden house, setting it ablaze and burning the house down in no time.
Sam and Dean had tried to find other jobs in town, but Scott's garage and Laura's bookstore had been the two biggest businesses in town. The garage was eventually shut down and sold by the new owners, as was the bookstore. Sam had even taken the bar exam, in the hopes of getting a job at Linda's firm. But despite Linda trying to convince her bosses to hire him, there was a hiring freeze that they refused to lift. Three months of fruitless job searches led to Sam and Dean having to make the painful decision to move. Sam had a lump in his throat as he told Evy, who seemed to take the news fairly well. She was clearly upset, but realized that they didn't have a choice. Watching Evy say goodbye to Lily was one of the hardest things Sam had ever had to deal with. Sam had sold his own car to give them a little more cash, so he climbed into the backseat with Evy as Dean drove off towards their new home. Evy leaned against him, watching the town she'd grown up in get smaller and smaller through the window. Sam couldn't help but be reminded of all the times he'd faced this same situation, and how it made him feel every time. When he saw Evy wipe her face, trying to hide her tears and not make Sam feel worse than he already did, Sam wrapped one arm around her shoulder and used his other to wipe her face for her.
"I'm sorry." Sam whispered in her ear.
Evy said nothing, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over.
"It's okay to cry."
That was the only reminder Evy needed. Sam felt her start shaking under his arm. She turned and buried her face into his side, sobbing quietly. Sam held her and comforted her, but didn't say anything. He wanted to promise her that they'd be okay, that once they got to their new home she'd make friends. But he couldn't do that. Evy had been friends with Lily since age seven, the first day of second grade. Though she had occasionally brought over other friends to play with, Lily had been the constant presence at the Winchester house.
But Evy did do well, at least academically. She convinced the coach of her new school to let her try out for the basketball team, despite tryouts having been done over two months earlier. The coach had taken her eagerly, calling her "one of the best players he'd ever seen". Despite being popular with her team, Evy expressed no interest in doing anything with them outside of practices and games.
Sam had found a job almost right away, at a law firm as a paralegal. There was no room for another lawyer, but as soon as there was Sam had been promised a promotion. The new job required a lot more hours than the bookstore had, which meant that Sam was home a lot less often. He made it to as many of Evy's games as he could, but it became rare for him to be there when she woke up or went to bed.
Dean had less success finding a job. It became his responsibility to make sure Evy got up for school, got there on time, pick her up, and make sure she went to bed on time. At first, Evy had been excited about the change in routine. Although she missed Sam, she had thought it would fun to be at home with Dean. She was wrong.
Because she rarely spent any quality time with Sam, Evy didn't tell him that Dean's attitude had changed. He seemed meaner, more distant and less willing to talk to her. Any attempt at conversation about school or homework was met with a demand to get ready for bed or do some chore. Evy got frustrated, and eventually stopped trying. With Sam gone, Dean not willing to talk to her, and her difficulties making friends at her new school, Evy felt lonelier than ever.
Things started to boil over one afternoon in late February. Dean was supposed to pick her up from school, but when 4:00 rolled around and he hadn't yet arrived, Evy went to the library and sat down to start on her homework. She pulled out her cell phone and texted Dean, with no reply. There were no free tables in the library, so she approached a table with a boy from one of her classes who seemed friendly.
"Do you mind?"
The boy, Jordan, looked up and smiled. "Sure." he said, pointing at the chair in front of him.
Evy set her backpack in the chair next to him. "You're Jordan, right?"
"Yeah. Jordan Tyler. You're Evelyn?" he asked.
Evy bristled. "I hate that name. I'm Evy."
"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm kind of bad with names, so just remind me if I forget." Jordan said.
"It's okay." Evy said. "What are you working on?"
Evy pulled out her math book, intending to start on her algebra homework, but she and Jordan ended up talking instead. Evy started to think to herself maybe I've finally found a friend. She checked her phone again and shook her head, annoyed. It was 5:45.
"Are you okay?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah." Evy said. "My uncle was supposed to pick me up, but I think he forgot."
"Oh." Jordan said. "Did you try to call him?"
Before she could respond, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Evelyn Winchester, come to the office, please."
"That's probably him. I should go." Evy said, packing her things into her backpack. "It was nice to meet you. For real, not just seeing you in class."
"You too." Jordan said.
Evy left and walked towards the office, where she was met by an angry looking Dean. "Where were you?"
"I went to the library." Evy explained.
"Get in the car." Dean said moodily.
Evy did as he said, irritated. He was the one that had been nearly two and a half hours late picking her up, and he was angry at her? She got in the backseat, a sure sign she was angry. Dean got in the front and turned around to face her.
"You know you're supposed to wait for me out front."
"Why are you mad at me?" Evy asked, her temper threatening to explode. "You're the one that was almost three hours late without calling. It's twenty degrees out here!"
"Watch it, little girl." Dean said. "Watch it."
Dean said nothing else and turned to start the car. Evy stared out the window, thinking about how unfair everything was. She gave serious thought to telling Sam about Dean being so late, and about his worsening attitude towards her. She missed Sam more than ever, and didn't know if she could handle Dean on her own anymore. She decided to do it. She knew Sam was exhausted from his long hours at the law firm, but she needed help. She only needed to keep the peace with Dean for a few more hours.
This proved easier said than done. They arrived back at the house just before six, and five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Dean yelled from the kitchen for Evy to get it, and she bit her tongue to keep from saying "I am getting it!". She didn't want to risk another scolding for having a bad attitude, which seemed to be Dean's favorite thing to say when she was the least bit angry with him. Dean was starting to remind her more and more of an angry John Winchester. Evy opened the door to see Jordan standing there.
"Hi!" she said, surprised.
"Hey." Jordan said, slightly awkwardly. "You left this in the library." He held up her algebra book.
"Oh!" Evy took the book from him and checked the name inside. "I didn't even know it was missing. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Jordan said.
"How'd you know where I live?" Evy asked.
"Oh, my mom." Jordan pointed to the car in the driveway. "She's the school secretary. She looked up your address so we could bring it to you. I knew you didn't get your homework done in the library so I figured you might need it."
"I do. Thanks again." Evy said.
"Sorry about that, by the way." Jordan said.
"Sorry? For what?"
"It's kind of my fault you didn't get your homework done." Jordan said.
"Oh. Don't worry about that. I liked talking to you too. It won't take me long to do my homework tonight." Evy assured him.
"So, I wanted to ask you something. You know Katie Simpson and Barbara Jackson from our science class?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, tomorrow we were all gonna meet together at the café after school. We go there once a month to help each other study. Tomorrow's a half day, so we were gonna meet there and hang out for a couple hours. Do you want to join us?" he asked.
Evy smiled. "Um, I'll have to ask my dad when he gets home…"
"The answer's no."
Dean had come behind her and was listening to Jordan and Evy's conversation.
"What?" Evy asked.
"I said the answer's no." Dean said again. He turned to Jordan. "It's time for you to go."
"Uncle Dean!" Evy said, horrified at how rude he was being to Jordan.
"If I have to say it again," Dean threatened, "you're grounded for a week."
Evy turned to Jordan. "I'm sorry." she said.
"It's okay." Jordan said. Evy was relieved he didn't seem mad, just sympathetic. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Okay. Bye."
Evy waved at Jordan once more, and watched him and his mother pull out of the driveway. Once they were out of sight, she slammed the door shut and turned on Dean, shaking with anger and embarrassment.
"Did you have to do that?"
"Do what?" Dean asked.
"Embarrass me like that." Evy said. "Be so rude to Jordan. He was just trying to be nice to me."
"You're too young to be hanging out with boys." Dean said. "And watch the attitude."
"So you're allowed to be mean to me? What did I do to you?" Evy asked.
"Go to your room." Dean said. "Do your homework, which should have been done already, by the way. You can come out when you drop the snotty attitude."
"Fine." Evy said, getting her backpack and shoving her math book into it. "I don't want to be here with you anyway."
"I'm not that crazy about you either."
Evy tried to hide it, but that last comment had stung terribly. She'd wondered in the back of her mind if Dean didn't love her anymore, and apparently it was true. She ran to her room, threw her backpack on the bed, and cried as she typed out a text to Sam.
Are you going to be home before I go to bed? I really need to talk to you.
Sam replied a few minutes later. I'm leaving in a minute. I'll be home around eight. Are you okay?
Just come to my room when you get here, please. Evy answered.
Okay I will. Love you.
Love you too.
When Evy put her phone down, she was weeping. She missed Sam, missed her home, missed Lily more than ever. She thought about calling Lily, but due mostly to distance, the two of them had grown apart from each other. They'd at first talked nearly every day, which had turned into once a week, and had eventually faded to once in a while. Evy hadn't talked to Lily in close to two months. Before she knew it, she heard Sam's car pull up in the driveway. But instead of going outside to meet him as she usually did, she waited on him to come inside. She heard him move around a little in the living room, probably looking for Dean. A minute later, there was a knock at her door.
"Come in."
The door opened and Sam came and sat on the edge of her bed. "Hey, baby. You okay?" He saw her face and grew worried. "Have you been crying?"
"Yeah."
Evy told him everything she'd been holding back-Dean's attitude towards her since they'd moved, him being late picking her up that day, getting mad at her about it, being rude to Jordan, what he'd said to her, and refusing to let her go to the café the next day. She finally asked Sam what she'd been fearing all along.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked. "Is this my fault?"
"No, baby." Sam said. "No, it's not."
"Then why doesn't he like me anymore?"
Sam sighed. "Listen, baby. Dean loves you. I know it's hard to believe with the way he's been acting, but he does. He's just frustrated. He wants to find a job, but he's having a hard time with it. I don't think he means to take it out on you, and I'm gonna talk to him about that. But don't let him make you think he doesn't love you. Okay?"
Evy nodded, but she still felt unsure. "Can I go?"
"Go where?" Sam asked.
"To the café tomorrow." Evy asked.
Sam frowned. "I don't know."
"Why not?" Evy asked.
"I don't know how I feel about you hanging out with kids I don't know." Sam said.
Evy was devastated. "You told me to make friends."
"Yes, I did, but…"
"But how am I supposed to make friends if I can't do anything with them?" Evy asked.
Sam didn't want to, but he agreed. She was right; it wasn't fair to make her introduce her friends to him if he was almost never home. And if Dean's attitude really was getting out of control, he didn't blame her for not wanting to bring them around. Evy was a responsible kid. She'd proved that over and over. Sam trusted her, so he decided to give her a chance.
"Okay. I'm going to let you do it." Sam said. "You're right. I can't meet them because of work, so I'm trusting you. You need to be home by dark."
Evy smiled. "Thank you, daddy."
"You're welcome. But I need you to do something for me." Sam said.
"What?"
"I'll talk to Dean in the morning." Sam said. "I'll let him know I gave you permission to go. And I'll tell him to stop being a jerk to you. But I need you to be a little patient with him. It might not change overnight. If he's really mean to you, like what he said earlier, you can tell me, but just try not to take anything he says personally. Deal?"
"Deal." Evy agreed.
"Do you have any homework?" Sam asked.
"A little." Evy admitted. "I was going to do it earlier, but…"
"Why don't you bring it to the kitchen table?" Sam said. "I brought your favorite pizza. You can eat and do it there. And catch me up on school."
"Okay." Evy said, grabbing her backpack. "What do you want to know?"
"For one thing," Sam said as he walked just behind her, "who is this boy that came to the house today?"
"Daddy!" Evy said, blushing from slight embarrassment.
Sam tried to wait for Dean to come back, but ended up falling asleep on the living room couch. When he woke the next morning, Dean was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hand. Sam poured himself one and began the conversation about Evy.
"Hey, dude. How's it going?" he said, hoping to ease his way into the subject.
"Not bad. How about you?"
"Same." Sam said, taking a sip of coffee. "Listen, Evy's kind of upset. She says you've been riding her really hard lately."
"Well, she's had a bad attitude lately." Dean answered.
"Really? Because in all the years of taking care of her, I've never once seen her have a bad attitude that wasn't brought on by someone treating her like dirt." Sam said, surprising himself with how defensive he was.
Dean's head snapped up at the accusation. "Is that what she said about me?"
"Dean, look. I know you've had a hard time with this job search. But Evy's had a hard time too." Sam said.
"She'll just have to learn to deal with it." Dean said bitterly.
Sam slammed his mug down on the kitchen counter, causing Dean to jump. "Damn it, Dean! I don't have time for this. Telling you to stop being mean to her is not her having a 'snotty attitude'. Evy's a kid, and she's acting more like an adult than you are. She had a problem, and she asked me for help. You could learn a thing or two from her. So I'm only gonna say this once. Stop treating her like shit. I need you to be here to look after her, but if that's too big a task for you, you can go back to hunting and move back to the bunker. Is that what you want?"
"No." Dean said.
"Then stop acting like it. And for now, I'm going to tell her that if she wants to do something, she can text me and ask me. Got it?" Sam asked.
"You don't have to do that."
"Yeah, Dean, I do. Because she's afraid of you. You really hurt her yesterday." Sam said.
Dean finally seemed at least a little guilty. "She's afraid of me?"
"Yes." Sam said. "Which is why I expect you to apologize."
Dean nodded.
"And Dean? I gave her permission to go out with her friends after school today. She's earned it. Do not give her a hard time about it. I told her to be home by dark, but I don't know if she'll be home before that or not. Got it?" Sam said.
Dean's mind seemed far away, and he didn't respond to Sam.
"Dean?" Dean looked up and at Sam. "I said, do you understand? Do not give her a hard time today."
"Yeah." Dean said. "Yeah, I got it."
Sam nodded, convinced that Dean finally understood him. He drained the last of his coffee, put the mug in the sink, and started to head to his car. His phone beeped and he checked the text from Evy.
I overheard you talking to uncle Dean. I left to walk to school and let him squirm a little. Thanks Daddy :) Love you 3
Sam smiled and responded Love you too, baby. If Dean does anything, yells at you, hurts your feelings, anything like that, let me know. I'll try to come home by six tonight, but no promises. I'm proud of you xoxoxo
Sam told Dean that Evy was already on her way to school, then headed out to work. Dean did squirm, unable to get his mind off what Sam had said about Evy being afraid of him. Dean decided to make her favorite pancakes for a snack when she got home from school. Around two o'clock, he started on the pancakes, then left the house to go pick her up. Sam's warning was still fresh on his mind; but he had not heard what Sam said about letting Evy go out after school.
At the same time Dean was trying to pick up Evy, Evy was having a great time with her friends from school. They'd eaten lunch at the café, and when the café had begun to get busy, Evy had texted Sam for permission to go with her friends to the park. She'd apologized to Jordan for the way Dean had acted the day before. Jordan assured her it was okay, and was impressed that she'd gotten her dad to agree. Sam agreed on the park trip, and Evy and her friends were in the middle of a game of horse when they heard it.
"EVELYN!"
Evy, who had just thrown the ball, jumped and looked to the other end of the park. An angry Dean was stomping across the park towards her. Evy's heart sank. Sam's talk with Dean that morning had apparently accomplished nothing. Dean reached her in just under a few seconds, and scared Evy when he grabbed her arm hard and shook it.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you home?"
Evy tried to pull her arm away from him as she said, "Daddy told you this morning I could come!"
Dean gripped her harder. "I told you no! I've been running all over town looking for you! Come on. Now. We'll talk about this at home."
"Let me go!" Evy said, pushing hard against Dean's hand.
It was that moment that Dean snapped. He pulled her around and wrapped an arm around her waist, pinning her to his side. Dean's hand fell hard ten times across Evy's backside before her horrified crying brought him back to reality. Once he realized what he was doing, he released her. But it was too late. The damage was done. A shocked Evy had a hand to her mouth and was breathing hard, tears streaming down her face. Her friends stood frozen, not sure what to do or even if they should step in. Evy took a quick glance towards them, hoping they had somehow disappeared and couldn't see her. When she saw them staring, she turned away, crying even harder in embarrassment. Dean put a hand to her shoulder.
"Kiddo, I'm…"
"Don't touch me!" Evy said. "I'm going to the car."
Dean nodded, sick to his stomach. "Okay." he whispered.
Evy ran away from him as fast as he could. The line he had just crossed made Dean sure that Sam would kick him out this time. The fear that Sam had told him about was all too clear now. But an apology wouldn't fix it this time. Dean walked towards the car, and the less than five minute ride home was one of the longest of both their lives. Evy climbed out of the car and ran inside to her room, throwing herself on her bed and crying harder than the day at the bunker where Sam and Dean had told her she wouldn't be going home. After standing outside the door pacing for five solid minutes, Dean tentatively knocked and opened it.
"Kiddo, can I come…" Before Dean could finish what he was saying, a pillow came flying at his face.
"GO AWAY!" Evy screamed.
Though Dean was sick with guilt, he did as she told him. He went to the kitchen and got a beer, but it did nothing to kill the guilt. He was on his third when he heard Sam's car pull up. It was before six, two hours before Sam usually got home. Dean thought about leaving, but at that point, Sam would have just tracked him down. So Dean finished the beer he was on and waited for the inevitable fight.
Sam walked in the house completely oblivious to anything being wrong. The sun was going down, so he hoped that Evy was home. He hoped that Dean had apologized to her, and that they were on the way to getting along like they had before. When he walked in the house, the first thing he noticed was that no one was around. The lights were off in the living room. He heard a beer bottle clink in the kitchen and headed that way.
"Hey, I'm home." Sam said as he poked his head into the kitchen. When he saw only Dean, he asked, "Where's Evy?"
"She's in her room."
The tone of Dean's voice made Sam's heart sink. "Dean what the hell did you do?"
Dean told him the whole story, start to finish, and Sam had formed two fists by the time he was finished. Sam said nothing to Dean, just turned and went to Evy's room. Though he could hear Evy still crying, he took several deep breaths at her door before knocking.
"I said go away!" Evy yelled.
"Baby, it's daddy. Can I come in?" Sam said, his voice much gentler than when he'd talked to Dean.
"Yeah."
Sam opened the door and found Evy lying down and looking heartbroken. He sat on the edge of her bed and asked, "Dean told me what happened. Are you okay?"
"No." Evy answered.
"Did Dean hurt you?" Sam asked, his voice turning slightly harder.
Evy shook her head and sat up. "No more than dad did when he spanked me."
"Talk to me then, baby. Why are you still crying?"
"Because it's embarrassing!" Evy said. "It's hard enough for me to make friends. It's gonna be impossible now!"
"Oh, baby." Sam said.
"I thought you talked to him this morning." Evy said as she wiped her eyes.
"I thought I did too. Apparently Dean wasn't listening." Sam looked in the general direction of the kitchen and scowled. "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's get out of here. Just you and me."
"And go where?" Evy asked.
"Anywhere you want." Sam said. "What do you say?"
"Do I have to talk to him first?" Evy asked.
"Nope. Let me handle that. You go wait in the car for me." Sam said.
"What if he doesn't listen to you this time either?" Evy asked fearfully.
"He'll listen to me or he'll have to leave." Sam said simply. "I swear to you Dean's going to change after today. I'll make sure of it."
Evy swallowed and nodded. "Okay." she said.
"Okay." Sam said. "Do you need a hug?"
Evy answered by throwing herself into Sam's arms. Sam loved the fact that she still fit in his lap. Even though she was upset, it felt right having her there; as if the universe was telling him she's your responsibility. Treat her right. Evy climbed off the bed and went out to the car quickly. Sam went to the kitchen the second he heard the car door slam shut. Sam dropped the gentle father persona he'd put on for Evy and went to the kitchen to deal with Dean. Dean was still sitting at the table, staring at the far wall. Sam walked to the kitchen sink, where Sam was sure Dean could see him. Sam crossed his arms, not wanting to hit Dean. Yet.
"Do I even need to say how bad you screwed up today?" Sam asked in a low, dangerous voice.
"No." Dean said. "How's baby girl?"
"How do you think she is, Dean!? She's thirteen and you spanked her in front of her friends. She's humiliated. And she's terrified of you now." Sam said.
"I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry…" Dean started to say.
"You know, it would have been one thing if she actually had gone against what you told her to do. That still doesn't excuse what you did, but it would at least be a little more understandable. And I wasn't crazy about her going either, but I gave her permission because you were being such a jerk to her lately. In return for letting her go, I convinced her to give you a second chance. I feel really, really stupid for that now." Sam said. "Dean, we talked about this. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I thought she was being defiant…."
"'Being defiant?'" Sam asked. "You know who you sound like right now, right?"
Dean flinched; he knew exactly who he sounded like.
"Dean, we talked about this. Years ago. I've forgiven dad for pretty much everything he ever did to me and Evy. But I am not raising her the way dad did us. It wasn't good for us, and it's definitely not good for her."
Dean hadn't done it in years, but he couldn't help it. "Dad did the best he could…"
"You know what she said to me when I asked her if you'd hurt her? She said 'no more than dad did when he spanked me'. You did to her exactly what dad would have done if he'd been here. So you tell me, Dean. Was it worth it? Trying to mimic dad here? Because she adored you. Now she's afraid of you. Think about that. Seven years of trust and you broke it by acting like dad." Sam said.
Dean hadn't meant what he'd said, but Sam was right. Dean had always known, deep down, that John was a terrible parent to Evy. He hadn't done it deliberately, but Evy had never trusted him. Whereas John had raised Sam and Dean with a firm hand, Evy needed lots of patience, reassurance, and gentle guidance. She was a good kid, but didn't feel like one when John would come down hard on her. As Evy had gotten older, John had come down on her less often. But that had been because she spent more time with Sam and Dean and Bobby, not because she was getting closer to John. All too often Dean had seen the crushed look on Evy's face when John would say something insensitive to her, or punish her for no good reason. It was almost the same look she'd given him in the park, and it made him sick.
"Where is she?" Dean asked.
"I'm taking her out. I don't know where, but somewhere. We'll be gone for a while. If we come back tonight, you have two choices. Be ready with one hell of an apology, or have all your stuff in the house packed up and gone."
Sam didn't give Dean a chance to answer, just stormed out of the house and out to the car with Evy. Evy decided she wanted Mexican food, so they stopped at the only Mexican place in town and had a blast. The restaurant was offering a 'sample the whole menu' special, and that was exactly what they did. For three hours, they both tried various dishes, most of which were hits, some of which were misses. At various points, both of them found themselves wishing Dean were there. It was the kind of thing Dean and Evy would have loved to do together. When Sam paid the check and they were back in the car, he checked the clock. 9:15. Perfect. Not too late. he thought. Sam turned to Evy with a mischievious grin.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"I have a surprise for you." Sam said. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do." Evy said.
"Good." Sam looked around, and saw a scarf Evy had left in the backseat a couple weeks earlier. He picked it up and said, "Enough to let me blindfold you?"
"WHAT?" Evy asked. "Why?"
"Just trust me, okay? It'll be worth it." Sam assured her.
Evy asked after thinking it over, "How long?"
"Fifteen minutes." Sam promised. "I promise, no longer than that."
"I guess." Evy said.
Sam reached over and tied the scarf around Evy's eyes. She told him it wasn't too tight, and Sam started driving. Evy moved to the middle seat and kept a hand on his jacket; she didn't like not being able to see him, so she wanted to at least feel him. She could tell they were headed out of town somewhere. When Sam finally parked the car, Evy reached over to take the scarf off, but Sam stopped her.
"Not yet."
Sam grabbed a blanket from the backseat. Evy giggled, completely unsure of what he was doing. He came back to the car a few seconds later, reached in, and grabbed Evy's hand. He helped her out of the car and a few feet over to where he had placed the blanket. He held her hand as he sat down on the ground. He pulled Evy down gently. She smiled; she was sitting in his lap now.
"Alright, I'm gonna take the blindfold off, but don't open your eyes until I say. Okay?"
"Okay, daddy." Evy said.
Sam took off the blindfold, wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on top of her head. "Open up."
"WOW!"
They were in the middle of a field outside of town. Sam had laid a blanket on the ground, and all Evy could see above them was stars. It was a cloudless night, so they shone against the black sky like fireflies. Sam smiled. He hadn't seen her so excited over anything in a long time. They sat in silence for a couple minutes before Evy asked,
"How did you find this place?"
"Magicians don't reveal their secrets." Sam said simply. "Neither do daddies."
"Wow." Evy whispered again.
After a few more minutes of stargazing, Evy asked, "Daddy? Do you like your job?"
Sam thought about it for a minute before answering. "Yeah. Yeah, I do like my job. Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering." Evy said.
"Do you like your school?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Evy had tried to hide it, but Sam had heard the crack in her voice.
"Talk to me." Sam said gently, tightening his grip on her just a little.
"I'm sorry." Evy said. "You're trying to make me feel better and I'm ruining it."
"No." Sam said firmly. "You haven't ruined anything. Talk to me, baby. What's going on?"
Evy finally said, after a solid minute of crying in Sam's arms, "Everything's all different."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked as he wiped her face for her.
"I miss you." Evy explained. "I miss you at home with me. I thought it would be okay with uncle Dean there, but he's a whole different person."
"I know." Sam said. "I know he is, baby. And I know this probably won't help much, but he's sick over what happened at the park today."
"He scared me." Evy said. "He's never been that mean to me before."
"I know. I ripped into him good before we left the house. And things are gonna change, baby." Sam said.
"What do you mean?" Evy asked.
"Well," Sam said, shifting slightly, "Dean didn't just hurt you today. He hurt me too. I thought I could trust him to take care of you, but apparently I can't. So, if you want, a couple days a week I'll give you bus fare so you can come to my office after school."
Evy narrowed her eyes, which Sam took to mean she wasn't very happy with the thought.
"You don't have to." Sam said. "But a lot of my job is sitting at a desk shuffling papers. I can't promise we could be together the whole time, but it would help us spend some more time together."
"No, I like the idea." Evy said. "Are you sure your boss will be okay with it?"
"I asked her today. She said she was afraid it would be kind of boring for you, but if you wanted to come, you could."
"I can handle boring." Evy said. "I'd kind of like to see what you do."
"Really?" Sam asked. "I didn't know you were interested."
"Yeah." Evy said. "You always like to know what's going on at school. I'd like to see what you do at work."
"Sure, baby." Sam said. He was touched she was that interested in his life. "I'd love to have you there."
"Are there any other changes?" Evy asked.
"Yeah. I know you want to forgive Dean for what happened today." Sam said.
Evy looked up into his eyes. "Yeah. I do. How'd you know that?"
Sam smiled. "Because I know you." Evy grinned and looked back at the sky above them. "There's nothing wrong with that, baby. In fact, I think it's wonderful you're so forgiving. And I'm not saying don't forgive him. But you need to make him earn your trust back, just like he's going to have to earn mine back." Sam said.
"How's he gonna have to earn it back?" Evy asked.
"If you want to do something with your friends, I want you to text me and ask me. If he says anything to hurt your feelings or yells at you when you didn't do anything, you tell me. If he has a bad attitude with you, then you tell him again to quit being a jerk." Sam said. "Whatever Dean's problem is, he's got no right taking it out on you."
"I can still talk to him, right?" Evy asked. "About school and stuff like that?"
"Yeah. You can. But at least for now, anything you need permission for, you come to me. If he treats you like crap, you either tell me or you tell him to back off. Does that make sense?" Sam asked.
"How long should we do that?" Evy asked.
Sam hadn't considered that question. Forever, he thought but didn't say. "When you decide that you want to let him off the hook, talk to me. But give it at least a couple weeks."
"I will, daddy." Evy promised. "I was planning to forgive him, but you're right. I don't really trust him not to do this anymore."
"And if he ever hits you again," Sam said, grabbing Evy's shoulder and turning her around to look him in the eye, "you hit him as hard as you can. In the face. Knock him down. I mean what I said about not spanking. It's not good for you, and you deserve better than that."
Evy nodded. "Okay. Thanks, daddy."
"You're welcome." Sam said. He checked his watch. "You ready to go home?"
"Do we have to?" Evy asked. "It's not a school night and you don't have to work tomorrow."
Sam laughed. "How do you know I don't have to work tomorrow?"
"I was guessing." Evy said. "You mean I was right?"
"Yeah, you were right." Sam said.
"So do we have to go?" Evy asked.
"No." Sam answered. "No, we don't."
Evy smiled and turned back around. The weather was getting steadily colder, so an hour after arriving, Sam told her they did have to leave. He promised they'd come back, and around midnight, they were pulling back into their driveway. Evy was telling Sam some more about school. They talked a couple more minutes before Sam saw Evy yawn.
"You ready to go in?"
Evy looked over to Dean's car. "I guess."
"You don't have to talk to him tonight. I'd actually rather you didn't. You're pretty tired." Sam said.
As she yawned, Evy said, "We'll see."
The two of them headed in together, Sam keeping an arm on her shoulder for support. They found Dean sitting in the living room, a box in front of him. He held a photograph in his hands that he was staring at intently.
"Uncle Deanie?"
Dean looked up and gave Evy something that she hadn't seen since they'd moved-a smile. "Hey, kiddo."
"Are you okay?" Evy asked.
"You don't have to, kiddo. But would you come sit with me for a minute?" Dean asked.
Evy looked up to Sam, who shrugged. "It's up to you."
"Okay." Evy said, approaching Dean slowly.
Dean handed the photo to Evy. Evy was three years old in the photo. Dean was holding her upside down, tickling her stomach. Evy looked at the photo for a long moment before looking at Dean.
"Do you remember that photo?" Dean asked.
"A little." Evy said. "I know you and Dad had just gotten back from a hunt."
"Yeah. We had." Dean said. "But there's more to it."
"What do you mean?" Evy asked.
"Dad and I had just gotten back from a hunt. It was late at night and you were supposed to be asleep. The hunt had been…bad." Dean explained. He looked to Sam, who was standing against the living room wall, listening. "Anyway, when we got back, Dad saw that you were still up. He was irritated and he grabbed you and spanked you for not being in bed yet."
Evy looked down at the photo again. She had a vague memory of John being unhappy that night, but the stronger memory was in the photo. "I don't remember that."
"I do." Dean said. "As soon as dad let you go, you were crying and sniffling. He felt bad about it, but when he tried to pick you up, you wouldn't go to him. You told him after you calmed down that you were waiting for us because it was his birthday and you wanted to surprise him with…"
"The best birthday hug ever." Evy completed.
"Yeah." Dean said. "Kiddo, I couldn't take that look on your face when dad let you go. You were just so hurt and scared. I had to do something to make you feel better."
"Is that why you did the rocket?" Evy asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Dean said, the memory quickly crossing his mind of lifting her through the air gently and 'landing' her upside down. Dean took a breath and said, "Listen, baby girl. I was being so cranky with you because I was disappointed in myself, not you. I've always taken care of you and Sammy and I feel like I'm not doing it now. You deserve so much and I can't give it to you."
Evy said something that stopped Dean in his tracks. "I'm proud of you. I don't care about what you can give me. I want you."
Dean swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, and continued his apology. "Baby girl, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you like that. Or embarrass you like that in front of your friends. I hope you'll forgive me."
"We're having a long talk about all that tomorrow, Dean." Sam said. "Evy can forgive you right now if she wants, but you've got some work to do to get her trust back. And mine."
"That's fair." Dean said. He turned to Evy and said, "Baby girl, I'm not asking you to trust me right now. I don't deserve it. I just hope you don't hate me."
Evy jumped into Dean's arms. A relieved Dean hugged her back, grateful that she wasn't holding any kind of a grudge. Evy spoke as she held onto him, refusing to let him go until he got her message loud and clear.
"You know what I remember about that night?" Evy asked.
"What, kiddo?"
"I remember waiting on you and Dad to get back. And feeling like you loved me no matter what." Evy said. "That's all I remember."
Dean felt a tear slip down his cheek, which he normally would have wiped away but left alone. "I still love you, kiddo. Always."
"I love you too." Evy said.
Sam watched them for a moment, then announced, "Bedtime, baby. It's almost one am."
"Okay." Evy said. "Good night, uncle Deanie."
"Good night, kiddo."
Evy hugged and kissed him one more time, then turned to Sam for his turn. "Good night, daddy. Love you."
"I love you too." Sam said. "Love you too, baby."
When Evy had closed her bedroom door, Dean looked to Sam. "So do I need to go?"
Sam took a hard look at Dean. "This cannot happen again, Dean. Ever."
"I know. It won't." Dean vowed. "I'm sorry, Sam."
Sam nodded. "Okay. I'm giving you another chance, Dean. Don't screw it up."
Sam turned and headed to his own bedroom. He changed into pajamas and walked back to Evy's room to check on her. She was fast asleep, Beanie cuddled next to her, reminding Sam more of the tiny three-year-old in Dean's photo than the thirteen year old teenager she actually was. Sam checked to make sure she wrapped up, then leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Good night, baby. Daddy loves you."
As soon as Sam left the room, Dean came in. "I love you too, kiddo. Sleep tight."
Next Chapter: Evy and Jordan grow closer.
A/N: I know that the last couple of chapters have been about Dean and Sam coming down too hard on Evy unfairly, but I am planning on writing some chapters about Evy getting into legitimate teenage trouble. It'll be a while before I get there, mostly because of the trip I'm about to take, but it is coming.