It was the day before Christmas and Lily was alone in the motel- Sam and Dean had gone out for a few drinks and had given her strict instructions to stay put. Of course, Lily had no intentions of doing so.
Christmas was tomorrow and she didn't have a present for either Dean or Sam. She didn't have any money, but that didn't matter to her much- she knew how to shoplift even if she didn't like it.
Like the time Logan was five and had really wanted a toy for his birthday, but their mom had spent the last of the money on booze. She could see the hopeful look in Logan's eyes when he woke up and it just broke Lily.
And then there had been a few times when her mom had been out of work and there hadn't been food or money.
Lily nervously opened the front door- she knew that if she was caught out of the motel, she'd be in big trouble. But she needed to do this.
K-Mart was open and crowded with people doing last minute shopping; all the better because then no one would notice Lily as she walked through the aisles.
Picking something out would be hard. She'd lived with them for a few months now but still felt like she didn't know them.
Lily thoughtfully picked up a beaded bracelet with skulls on it. It seemed like something Dean would wear, but she wasn't sure. The only jewelry he had was a ring and a necklace. The more she thought about it, the more she figured he'd like it. Shaking her head, she went to put it back, but quickly slid it down her sleeve and walked away.
Now, Sam. He liked to read but she wasn't sure in his taste of books. She skimmed the aisles, but decided against it. Lily thoughtfully walked down an aisle that had belts and grabbed a dark brown leather one.
She casually took the tags off and slid the belt around her waist. She felt nervous, like she usually did, but she didn't run towards the door. Instead, she walked slowly, mingling in the crowd of people. Lily waited until a woman with about six kids walked through and followed closely behind her.
The alarm didn't go off and with a rave of relief; Lily made the quick trip back to the motel. She was relieved that neither Sam nor Dean were waiting for her.
But now she was faced with the task of wrapping it. She couldn't very well give them a present that wasn't wrapped.
Lily walked down the hall and to the main desk.
"Do you have any newspaper and tape?" Lily asked the middle aged woman at the desk.
"Sure, why?" She asked.
"I need to wrap a Christmas present." Lily said.
"You know, I think I may have some old wrapping paper. Let me check." She said, smiling as she got up, returning a few minutes later with two pieces of snowman wrapping paper. "Here you go, honey. Who's the gift for?"
"My Dad and Uncle." Lily said, feeling awkward for a moment.
"Well, Merry Christmas." She said, handing her some tape.
"You too." Lily said, nodding as she walked back to her room. She had just enough time to wrap and hide the presents under the bed before they came back.
When the brothers finally returned, they had with them the most pathetic tree Lily had ever seen. It was probably two feet tall in a pot and was missing a chunk of it- but because of the way Dean proudly held it, she had to smile.
"I like it." Lily said, nodding.
"We got some stuff to decorate it with, too." Sam said, holding up a bag.
They spent twenty minutes perfecting the tree- or well, Sam and Lily did. Dean laid on the bed drinking a beer and commenting every so often on their placements.
"Thanks, guys." Lily said, nodding at the tree.
"No problem." Dean replied. "Now you better get to sleep before Santa comes."
"Dean, I know Santa's not real." Lily commented, but she headed into the bathroom to change anyway.
Lily fell asleep fairly easy, hoping she wouldn't have a nightmare that night and Christmas would be good.
Sam and Dean waited until they were sure Lily was asleep before going to the Impala and grabbing the wrapped presents. There were a total of eight in all and by far, more than she usually got.
Thankfully, Lily didn't have a nightmare and slept until a quarter to ten. When she saw the presents the next morning, she started to cry a little. It was so…thoughtful. No one had ever cared that much for her, she was sure.
"Wake up, guys." Lily said, dancing around the presents. "Come on, wake up."
"What? Why?" Dean asked, faking confusion.
"I want to open my presents!" Lily said smiling broadly.
"Presents? I thought you said Santa wasn't real."
Lily rolled her eyes and waited until both Sam and Dean were up to take her first present. She made a big show of shaking it before ripping the colored paper off.
"A sketch pad, thanks. I've really wanted to draw, and look, this is the good stuff too- nice and thick."
"That one's from me." Sam said, rubbing his eyes.
"Thanks, Sammy." Lily said, moving on to the next present which was from Dean. It was a set of expensive drawing pencils and colored pencils.
Next came a silver necklace with a diamond heart stone and matching earrings. She had never had any jewelry and insisted that Dean put it on her right then.
Next came an outfit, a pair of black jeans, an ACDC concert t-shirt and a pair of leather boots. Lily was grateful- they hadn't been able to salvage much from the house and she'd been wearing about the same four outfits' since then.
"How'd you know I wanted boots like that, Dean?" Lily asked.
"It's a talent." Dean said, shrugging as he smirked.
Next came a leather jacket with a hood- Lily pulled it on. "Thanks."
"You don't have to say thank-you after every present, Lil; just a blanket thank-you will suffice." Sam said.
"Sorry, it's just, I'm not use to Christmas presents, that's all."
Dean frowned a little at the comment but Lily didn't notice- she was down to two presents.
Opening it she found a pale blue long sleeve dress. Confused, she opened the other box and found black flats. "I don't get it. It's a nice dress and all, but where will I wear it?" Lily asked.
"We're going out to dinner." Dean said, smiling proudly.
Lily couldn't help but smile as she got up and gave both of them a hug.
"Thanks, guys, this means a lot." Lily said, before going to the bed and pulling out her presents. "For you and you."
Confused they opened the presents, surprise filling their faces.
"How'd you get these, Lily?" Dean asked. "And when?"
Lily shrugged, walking over to the couch and laying down.
"Lily…how did you pay for these?" Dean asked.
Lily smiled and casually waved her fingers in the air.
"You stole them?" Sam asked.
"You act like this a huge deal. I know you guys hustle pool and do credit card scams. Besides, it's not my first time."
"If you need something, Lily, just ask. We can't afford for you to get caught and sent away." Sam said.
"I'll forget this time that you left the motel room, but don't do it again. There are things out there that will hurt you, Lil. You should know that."
"I was careful, okay? But I had to get you something."
"Then you ask one of us to go with you." Dean said.
"But if I had asked Sam to go with me, then he would have known I was getting something for him. And I'd have to ask you, so then you'd know as well. This was the only way."
"Just talk to us first next time, okay?" Dean said, standing up. "I like it though, thank you."
"Yeah, Lily, thanks." Sam said.
Dean left and came back with breakfast. They spent most of the day watching TV and eating donuts, until around three came along and Dean said it was probably time to get ready.
After a quick shower, Lily changed into the dress and came out of the bathroom. Then Sam went it for his shower, returning in a simple black suit he referred to as his "Fed Suit" and Dean did the same.
Lily was putting her hair halfway up when Dean came out.
"We're a pretty good lookin' group." Lily commented as they got into the Impala.
The dinner was wonderful and so was the food. It was so nice- usually Christmas dinner was turkey sandwiches from a gas station.
Afterwards, Lily sat on the couch, flipping through the channels. But her mind wasn't there. It was on Logan. She wished so much that he could have been here- he would have liked Dean and Sam.
Lily didn't even realize she was crying until Sam sat down beside her.
"What's wrong?"
"I miss my brother…" Lily said, wiping her eyes. "Does it get easier, Sam? I mean, Jessica died a while ago, but does it get better?"
"I don't know." Sam said. "Honestly, it's still hard every day but it isn't like before. I'm not as crippled as before, but it still hurts."
"Sammy…I dreamt about Logan's death before it happened. I heard what Mary said to you. Was it my fault he died?"
"No, you had no idea it was real."
Lily nodded and laid back against the bed, before falling asleep.