WEEK AT BOBBY'S
Chapter 3.
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Like the last time – which also happened to be the first time – the boys had stayed with Bobby, the two young kids were up earlier than the salvage yard owner himself. Bobby found them on the couch in his living room; Sam covered with a blanket and with his head in Dean's lap while Dean was absent-mindedly rubbing a hand up and down the younger boy's back - his eyes fixed on the cartoons in TV. And even Ranger had joined in on the huddling on the couch as he had placed his head underneath Sam's arm.
"Good morning." Bobby told the kids.
"Morning." Dean yawned.
"Morning Unca Bobba!" Sam exclaimed in a hoarse voice and coughed a little.
"Easy." Dean told the youngest brother while continuing to rub his back, and Dean then turned his head towards Bobby. "Sammy's still sick."
"He is, huh?" Bobby commented and closed the distance to the couch before crouching down in front of the boys. "How you doing, Sam? Throat hurts?"
Sam nodded.
"And his head hurts too." Dean added.
Bobby felt Sam's forehead and sighed a little when he felt the warmth radiating from Sam's skin.
"You know what? I have just the right cure for you." Bobby told the youngest boy. "Wanna know what it is?"
"Okay." Sam said and blinked up at the older hunter with big green eyes.
"If I tell you, do you promise me to take the medicine then?" Bobby asked.
Sam hesitated a bit and peeked up at his older brother.
"I would say yes if it was me." Dean revealed to Sam and the youngest Winchester brother turned his eyes back at Bobby before nodding.
"Alright, I'll show you then. Hang on." Bobby said and got back on his feet before he went to the kitchen, and returned a few moments later with a box in his hand. "Here's something that'll make you feel better for sure."
Bobby shook the box in his hand, and Sam's face lit up before he happily exclaimed; "Lucky Charms! Look Dean, Lucky Charms!"
Dean smiled because of his little brother's excitement and gave Bobby a thumbs-up which made the older hunter smile as well. Ranger started wagging its tail and barked a couple of times because of the excitement in the room and that made Sam laugh heartily – until it dissolved into a coughing fit that reminded Bobby that Sam was good for another dose of liquid Tylenol.
Sam actually finished almost an entire bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast and even swallowed down the medicine without too much trouble and resistance. Bobby let the boys watch cartoons most of the afternoon while he got some work done – by his desk where he could keep an eye on the brothers, just to make sure they were alright – and the older hunter smiled amused every now and then when he overheard the conversation between Dean and Sam.
"You see Sammy, that's Batman." Dean told his younger brother and pointed at the TV. "He's the coolest superhero in the world."
"Batwam?" Sam said.
"Batman." Dean corrected. "When I grow up, I wanna be as cool as him."
A frown line appeared between Sam's eyes and he tilted his head a bit to the side while watching the superhero in TV.
"Dean, Batwam's no pants." Sam said in a serious tone, and Bobby had to hide behind a book while Dean deadpanned.
"It's Batman, Sammy." Dean said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And he is wearing a superhero costume so he doesn't need pants."
"But Deeeaaan…" Sam said and Dean sighed.
"If you're gonna ask me if I'm not gonna wear pants either when I grow up, I'm gonna hit you." Dean threatened and Sam kept silent – for about five seconds.
"Deeean." Sam started.
"Sam." Dean sighed. "What?"
"Head hurts." Sam said and Dean removed his eyes from the TV screen to look at his brother.
"Bad?" Dean asked and Sam nodded.
Dean pulled Sam closer and began to card his fingers through Sam's curly mop in a soothing way, all the while Bobby decided he had to come up with something fun to do for the eight-year-old and his sick little brother that didn't include watching TV.
"Dean, can you make sure that you and Sam put on some warm clothes?" Bobby asked the oldest brother later in the day. "We're going outside."
"Sure Uncle Bobby." Dean said though he looked a little pensive as to what the older hunter had come up with. "Come on, Sammy."
While Dean put on some warm clothes and helped his brother getting into warm clothes as well, Bobby went outside to prepare his little surprise for the boys. Bobby lit up a little bonfire in the middle of his salvage yard, used some old car seat cushions for seats and found a couple of long sticks and a bag of marshmallows before he went inside again to check up on the boys. Dean was in the middle of tugging Sam's beanie over the younger brother's head when Bobby showed up.
"Are you ready?" Bobby asked and grabbed some blankets that he intended to bring with him to the bonfire.
"Almost." Dean answered, zipped up Sam's jacket, tightened the scarf around Sam's neck a bit and pulled a pair of gloves over Sam's small fingers – all the while Sam put up with his older brother's ministrations without any complains.
Dean gave Sam a quick once over with his eyes before he found a napkin, held it against the younger boy's nose and told him to blow. Bobby hadn't known a lot of kids in his life but he felt it was safe to say that Dean Winchester was the most motherly eight-year-old he'd ever met, ever heard of and would probably ever know of.
While Dean zipped up his own jacket, Sam looked up at Bobby with a dimpled smile and Bobby couldn't have stopped himself from returning the gesture even if he had wanted to.
"Now we're ready." Dean said and grabbed Sam's gloved hand in his before looking expectantly up at the older hunter.
"Alright, come on then." Bobby said and opened up the front door, almost stumbled when Ranger came rushing by to join them outside.
"Dean! Fire!" Sam exclaimed when his eyes caught sight of the bonfire in the salvage yard and tugged at Dean's hand. "Look!"
Dean froze on the spot and clenched Sam's hand harder in his while his eyes were clued to the orange flames that lit up the darkening salvage yard.
"Dean? You okay, boy?" Bobby asked with a frown when he noticed the look on the oldest Winchester brother's face.
"Y-yeah." Dean said, an involuntarily shutter passing through his body. "I just don't like fire that much."
"Well, it's only a bonfire." Bobby assured the eight-year-old. "You'll be safe."
He sat down on one of the old car seat cushions and waved the brothers closer.
"I figured we could roast some marshmallows." Bobby commented and waved the bag of marshmallows in the air.
"Me lovey candy!" Sam said, smiling up at his older brother and then coughed a bit.
"I know, Sam." Dean said, tearing his eyes away from the bonfire and sending the smaller boy a quick smile before guiding him towards Bobby.
Dean sat down on a car seat cushion next to Bobby and pulled Sam down with him so that the younger boy could sit on his lap while Ranger lay down in front of them. Bobby draped a blanket around the two boys before he handed each of them a stick with a marshmallow.
"Now, hold the stick close to the flames but be careful not to put it into the flames." Bobby explained and showed the boys how to do it with a marshmallow stick of his own. "See? It's easy."
Dean quickly got the hang of it while Bobby roasted the marshmallows for Sam since the three-year-old kept dropping his stick into the flames.
"What are those lights?" Dean asked the salvage yard owner and pointed towards some small flying lights in the distance.
"That's Lampyridae – also known as fireflies." Bobby answered. "It's little winged beetles actually. Pretty, aren't they?"
"Yeah." Dean admitted. Sam, on the other hand, was more fascinated with the gooey marshmallows that had come to stick to his face and fingers; some of it was even sticking to his little nose.
"Stowy, Unca Bobba?" Sam asked before sneezing.
"Bless you. And what was that, Sam?" Bobby wanted to know.
"Sam wants you to tell a story." Dean said and tucked the blanket a little closer around Sam while the younger boy nodded eagerly.
"A story, huh?" Bobby asked and scratched his beard a bit. "I don't know.."
"Pweeease, Unca Bobba!" Sam pleaded with big expressive eyes.
"Well alright, I guess I can tell you a story." Bobby said, giving in to the youngest Winchester's pleading. "Let's see.. Once upon a time there was an old king who lived all alone in his big kingdom."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Well, it was because he had lost his wife – the queen." Bobby said. "She was gone because a bad dragon had taken her."
Sam cuddled up closer to his big brother, since the part about the dragon had frightened him a little, and Dean tightened his arms around Sam.
"The king and queen never had any kids so there weren't any princes or princesses in the kingdom either." Bobby continued while staring into the flames of the bonfire. "You see, the king never really wanted kids but he had to admit that living all alone in that big kingdom of his was rather lonely."
"Then what happened?" Dean asked.
"Then one day, a knight came along with his two little boys on a shiny black stallion; the oldest was very, very brave and the youngest was as sweet as the day is long." Bobby said. "The knight was a very busy fellow; always out saving princesses from bad dragons, so he asked the king if he could look after the knight's boys in the meanwhile. And the king said yes."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"To do the knight a favor. But the more time the king spent with the boys, the more he cared for them." Bobby said. "He treated them like had they been real princes in his kingdom."
Bobby cleared his throat a bit since he suddenly felt a little emotional. No, Bobby Singer is never emotional, damn it!
"Did the knight come back?" Dean wanted to know and Bobby nodded.
"He did, and the boys left with him." Bobby said. "But the boys were always welcome to visit the old king anytime they wanted and the king was no longer lonely. And they lived happily ever after."
"Good story, Uncle Bobby." Dean said and Bobby smiled a little.
"Thanks, kid." Bobby said and ruffled Dean's hair before glancing down at Sam. "Looks like your brother fell asleep."
"Yeah." Dean said, resting his chin on the top of Sam's head.
"And you look tired too." Bobby noticed. "Come on."
The older hunter left his seat, took the sleeping kid from Dean and guided the older boy back inside with a hand on his shoulder - while Ranger followed faithfully behind and Sam continued to sleep peacefully on Bobby's arm.
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TBC..
I don't yet know how many chapters I'll keep making of this story - but time will show! Feel free to leave a review ;)
-Elisa.