A Hard Road Ch. 22
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. Nor am I making a profit from it.
Author's Note: Dean is 8 and Sammy is 4 in this chapter. SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT ON THIS CHAPTER!
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As John packed his duffle bag with the items he would need for the P-skig-demos hunt, he glanced over at his youngest child who was presently engrossed in watching cartoons on television. He hated that he was about to leave his boys alone in a cheaply rented house for twenty four hours or more on their own, but this hunt was just too damned dangerous to take the boys along since the creature was a slayer of men and children. As he finished packing his gear, he turned around to face his oldest child. "Dean, I know this is kind of scary for you, but you're a big boy now and I know I can trust you to take care of things while I'm gone. I've left enough food for you and Sammy to eat until I get back, just make sure you keep Sammy away from the stove while you're heating the food. There is also some juice in the refrigerator so you shouldn't have to leave the house for any reason. Don't answer the phone unless it rings three times and then stops before ringing again, that way you'll now that it's me calling. Make sure you keep the door locked and keep the salt lines in tact. And most importantly Dean, make sure…."
"Make sure I watch out for Sammy" Dean finished for his dad with a knowing smile. His dad had been preparing him for the past two days for the responsibility of watching over Sammy while he was gone. They had gone over things at least twenty times until Dean had everything firmly set in his mind. He knew how to properly salt the windows and doors and he knew how to heat canned food since he had been doing that for over a month now. He also knew that if forty eight hours had passed with no word from his dad, he was to call Bobby or Pastor Jim for help. "I can do this dad, don't worry about us, we'll be fine" Dean informed his dad hiding the nervousness he felt. He wanted his dad to have faith in him and his ability to take care of Sammy.
"I know you can Ace" John said as he reached out to ruffle Dean's hair. "Make sure Sammy gets a bath tonight and that he is in bed by eight."
"Yes Sir" Dean replied as he watched his father walk over to say goodbye to his baby brother. He knew Sammy wasn't old enough to understand what was happening, but he still deserved to know that their dad was leaving for a little while.
As John sat on the couch beside his youngest child, he picked Sammy up and placed him in his lap. "Hey tiger, whatcha watching?" John asked as he smoothed down Sammy's unruly hair with his hand.
"Fundercats" Sammy replied as he snuggled into his dad's arms. "You wanna watch too Daddy?"
"Sorry tiger, but daddy has to leave for a little while. I want you to listen to your big brother and do everything that Dean says okay kiddo?"
"Otay Daddy" Sammy replied as he turned around to kiss his daddy on the cheek and wrap his arms around his neck. "I wuvs you Daddy"
"I love you too kiddo" John said as he returned the embrace. His baby was still innocent about the things that happened out there in the world and he hoped it would remain that way for a long time to come. He hated that Dean already knew what he hunted, but it couldn't be avoided after what he had witnessed almost a year ago in the graveyard. John kissed Sammy on the head before placing him on the couch once again so he could watch his cartoon.
Taking a deep breath, John walked over towards the door and grasped the doorknob in his hand, and twisted it open. As he said goodbye to his boys once gain he felt a huge knot of guilt deep in his gut as he took those first few steps out the door and then shut it behind him. What kind of father was he to leave two small children under the age of ten on their own for any length of time? He almost turned around to go back inside and get them, but then he realized it would be ten times more dangerous for the boys to be on the hunt than staying by themselves. He quickly jogged to the Impala and placed his stuff inside. He pulled out of the driveway and drove away before he could change his mind.
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After his Thundercats cartoon went off, Sammy quickly became bored since the only other cartoon coming on was Jem and that was for sissy girls. He pushed himself up off the couch and walked over towards Dean who was reading a Batman comic. "Deanie, can we go outside and play?"
"I'm sorry Sammy but Daddy said we have to stay inside."
"Pwease Deanie, there aint nuthin to do in here" Sammy pleaded with his expressive puppy dog eyes.
"Daddy said no Sammy and 'sides, it's too cold out there for you right now since you've had the sniffles the past few days" Dean replied as he continued to read his comic.
"But Deanie, I'm bored" Sammy said using a statement he heard Dean use on their dad many times to get him to allow them to go out to play.
"Tell ya what Sammy" Dean said as he lay his comic book down on the table. "Why don't we play with my soldiers. I'll build us a fort with some chairs and the blankets off our beds and then we can battle it out with your dinosaurs. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"Yay, we gets to have a battle" Sammy hollered as he took off racing to find his dinosaur toys.
While Sammy searched for his dinosaurs, Dean pulled the blankets off of his and Sammy's bed and took them to the kitchen. He pulled the chairs out from the rickety old dining room table and set about making their fort. Once he had the fort just as he wanted it, he returned to their room to get his soldiers. He was surprised when he found Sammy sitting on his bed and crying. He quickly crossed the room and kneeled down in front of his baby brother.
"What's the matter tiger, why are you crying?"
"I ca-can't s find the dino-dinosaurs" Sammy wailed as he threw himself into Dean's waiting arms and wrapped his own arms around Dean's neck.
"It's alright, I'll help you find them" Dean soothed as he rubbed a comforting hand on Sammy's back. Daddy probably just put them up on the high shelf without thinking." Dean used his thumb to wipe away Sammy's tears and said, "You go crawl under my bed and pull out the shoebox with the soldiers in it and I'll find your dinosaurs okay."
"K-Kay" Sammy replied as he wiped his runny nose on his sleeve and then climbed off the bed to do as Dean said. By the time he had pulled the soldiers out, Dean had found his dinosaurs which had been hidden under their winter coats that were lying on the floor in the closet.
"Okay Sammy I got em, let's go have a battle."
The dinosaurs were waging a long and weary fight, but the soldiers were winning because of all their awesome firepower. They had taken out the dinosaurs one by one as the corporals separated them from each other while Seargant Sammy threw grenades and Master Sergeant Dean shot them with his assault rifle. Dean was just setting up the dinosaurs for their next offensive when he crawled back into the tent to find Sammy curled up and fast asleep on the floor. "Looks like the battle has to be put on hold" he said as he smiled at the sight that met his eyes. He walked into their dad's room and grabbed a blanket off of his bed to cover Sammy up with since it was kind of cool on the floor. He didn't need Sammy to get sick on him before Daddy got back.
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Approximately an hour later, Sammy crawled out of the tent and was scrubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fists as he looked around for Dean. He glanced into the living room to see his big brother sitting on the couch and watching a cartoon. He slowly walked into the room and crawled up on the couch to lay down with his head in Dean's lap. Dean absent mindedly ran his fingers through Sammy's hair as they watched Scooby Doo together. It was just getting to the scary part when Dean heard Sammy's tummy rumble. "Sounds like you're getting hungry Sammy. Do you want me to make you something to eat?"
"Uh huh, can I have scabettio's?" Sammy asked since they were his favorite thing to eat.
"Sure you can" Dean replied as he helped Sammy to sit up and then had Sammy follow him into the kitchen while he warmed the Spaghettio's for him. He had seen this episode of Scooby Doo before and knew that Sammy would be scared by the ghost.
"Okay, you get the bread and the butter for me while I put the food on to cook" Dean said as he opened up the can of Spaghettio's. He knew that Sammy liked butter bread with his spaghetti as much as he did. While the food was warming. Dean pulled out a knife and buttered one piece of bread for Sammy and two for himself. After the food was ready, he spooned some into two bowls and then placed them on the table while Sammy got them two cups for their juice. He poured each one of them a glass of apple juice before sitting down to eat himself.
After they finished, Dean quickly washed the dishes and then ran some bath water for Sammy since it was already seven thirty in the evening. He added some bubble bath knowing how much Sammy enjoyed playing with the bubbles. He allowed Sammy to play for a few minutes before he gave him his bath and then helped him out of the tub so he could dry him off and dress him in his Spiderman pajama's. He made sure that Sammy brushed his teeth and used the bathroom before grabbing their blankets from the kitchen and taking him their room.
"Can I have a story Deanie?" Sammy asked as he climbed up into the bed while Dean covered him up.
"Sure ya can dude, which one do you wanna hear?" Dean asked knowing exactly which book Sammy would say.
"The Free Bears" Sammy said as he snuggled down onto his pillow. He loved the way that Dean did the voice for Daddy Bear, Deanie Bear, and Sammy Bear.
By the time the story was over, Dean closed the book and leaned down to kiss his sleeping baby brother on the forehead. "Sweet Dreams Sammy" he said as he turned off the light and left the room. He made sure to leave the door open so he could hear if Sammy had a nightmare. He sat down on the couch and turned the television on low as he waited for his dad to call.
TBC