Dean woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. He immediately got up to start getting ready to head to Bobby's. He couldn't say that he was totally looking forward to it. He was of course happy to see Bobby whenever he could, but he was more than a little wary about why Bobby had asked him to come. His surrogate father had told him that there was someone there that wanted to see him, but not much else. That left him a bit uneasy.

Dean tried to shake the worry away. Bobby wouldn't have him come if he thought there were any problems, especially nowadays. Still, Dean couldn't imagine who would want to see him. Bobby said it wasn't a hunter, but the only people Bobby really knew were hunters.

Dean sighed. He decided it was best not to dwell on what was going to happen. The only way he'd find out was to go, so it was best he started to get ready. He wanted to get on the road as early as possible.

Dean was about to get up when he noticed the picture on his nightstand. Well, actually, there were two, but the one that he picked up was the one of him and Sam. It had been five years since he'd last seen Sam. He missed his brother so much. It wasn't as bad as it used to be, but he would never stop missing his little brother.

There was a time when Dean thought losing Sam was going to kill him. It almost did. He spent years drowning himself in alcohol and one-night stands. He was sure that one night he'd drink so much that it killed him. Then one night of drinking and a one-night stand changed his entire life forever, even if he didn't know about it for a while after.

Dean put the picture of his brother down and picked up the picture right beside it. It was picture of a three-year-old boy with blond hair and green eyes. It was a picture of the only reason Dean was alive today. His son.

Flashback

Dean woke up in his motel room with a massive headache. It was how he woke every morning these days. He got drunk as hell, passed out, and repeated the process the next day. He was fairly certain by now that if he even tried to stop drinking, he'd go into withdrawal. Not that he had any intention of stopping.

Dean got up and walked around the beer and vodka bottles all over the floor. He went to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He opened it and then grabbed the bottle of Aspirin from the table. He popped two and washed them down with his beer.

Dean soon heard his cellphone ring. He grabbed this head, as the noise worsened his hangover, but otherwise, he ignored the call. He didn't answer his cell anymore. There was no one he wanted to talk to

The phone stopped after about six rings, but then started up again a couple of seconds later.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean cursed before going back to the bed and grabbing the phone from the nightstand. He answered the call and put the phone to his ear. "What?"

"Hi, is this Dean?" a male voice Dean didn't recognize asked.

"Who the hell is this and why are you blowing up my phone?" Dean demanded.

"My name is James Quinn. You knew my sister, Nicole," he said.

"Look, this is gonna sound crude, but I'm hung over, so I don't really care. You're going to have to be more specific. I've met a lot of women, some of whom I don't know the names of," Dean said.

"Sure, I'll be more specific," the man said in a dark tone. "The girl you got pregnant and the girl who died giving birth to your kid."

The beer bottle in Dean's hand slowly fell out and crashed to the floor.

Flashback

Dean really should've known his recklessness would catch up with him one day. In fact, it was a miracle it hadn't happened years earlier. Not that Dean was sorry for what happened. His kid was the best thing that ever happened to him. It forced him to clean up his life before he killed himself.

As soon as the DNA test came back that the boy was his, Dean knew he had to get his act together. He could never abandon his own son, and he couldn't be a father if he lived in a bottle of booze. So he got off the alcohol, which admittedly took a while because he was an addict. He also had to get a job and a place to live. In that time, his son stayed with Bobby. Nicole's remaining family wasn't very interested in her son, blaming him for her death.

Dean was pulled from his thoughts when he heard small footsteps. He turned in time to see his three-year-old enter the room. He placed the photo he was holding back on the table and held his arms open for his son. "Hey. Come here."

"Daddy," the boy said before running into his arms.

Dean picked the boy up and sat him on his lap. "Hey, Ethan. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

Ethan bobbed his hid up and down.

"Good. Come on. Let's go have breakfast and get ready to go to Uncle Bobby's," Dean said before standing up and shifting the boy so he was resting on his hip.

"Yay! Uncle Bobby!" the boy exclaimed as he was carried out the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Bobby was in the middle of cleaning his house. He was about to have two boys in his place that would trying to get their hands into everything. He'd already packed up all the books and put them down in the panic room. He'd done the same with any weapons laying around. He was now making sure there wasn't anything else the kids could get their hands on.

Bobby was interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. He immediately went to open it. He found Gabriel and Sam on the other side. "Hey."

"Hi, Uncle Bobby," Sam said before going to hug his uncle.

"Hey, kid," Bobby said as hugged the boy back.

"Is Dean here yet?" Sam asked as he pulled away. He was really excited to see his brother. It was all he thought about in the two days since Bobby called him.

"Not yet, but he's gonna be here soon. I talked to him a little while ago. Why don't you guys come on in?" Bobby asked as he stopped aside.

Gabriel helped Sam take his coat off and hung it on a hook by the door.

"Hey, Sam, come with me. I got something for you," Bobby said.

Sam happily took his uncle's hand and let the man lead him into the kitchen. Gabriel followed behind them.

There were two wrapped gifts sitting on the table. Bobby picked up the top one and handed it to Sam. "That's for you."

"Yay!" Sam said before he started opening it. When he got it open, he found a box with picture of a big toy dump truck on it. "Wow! Thank you, Uncle Bobby."

"You're welcome," Bobby said with a smile.

Sam turned to his father and showed him. "Daddy, look."

"Wow. That's a cool looking truck," Gabriel.

"Will you help me open it?" Sam asked.

"Of course," Gabriel said before putting the box down on the table and opening it up for the boy.

Soon, Bobby heard a car pull up. He immediately went outside and found the Impala in the yard. As soon as it came to a complete stop, Bobby opened it the back seat to get Ethan.

"Uncle Bobby! Uncle Bobby!" Ethan exclaimed as he reached his arms out to be picked up.

"Please, take him before I kill him," Dean grumbled. He'd been driving on and off for two days and his son was less than pleased with the activities. He'd been whining all day. Dean couldn't really blame the kid, but he was getting frustrated.

"Touch ride," Bobby asked as he unbuckled the kid's car seat and pulled him into his arms.

"No more car," Ethan said in as firm a voice as the three-year-old could.

"Yeah, a tough ride," Dean said before shutting the car off and getting out. "I need a drink."

"You don't drink anymore," Bobby reminded him in an amused voice.

"Don't remind me, Bobby. So these people I gotta see, they inside?" Dean asked.

"Yep," Bobby said.

Dean walked inside without another word. As soon as he stepped inside, he heard a child's giggle. He stopped dead. He knew that laugh. No matter how many years passed, he could never forget it.

Dean's feet began moving without his consent. He soon found himself in the kitchen and his eyes fell to the floor where his very little brother was playing with a toy truck. Gabriel was not far from him grinning at Dean.

Dean felt the urge to run, because he knew this couldn't be real. He'd had dreams like this too many times. Most consisted of an adult Sam, but there were occasionally ones with Little Sam. Every time, they'd end just as he got close.

Sam looked over and his eyes lit up when he saw his big brother. He immediately got up and ran over to him. "Dean!"

Dean watched as his little brother held out his arms expectantly. Despite the fear that it wasn't real, Dean didn't run. Instead, once again, his body parts moved without his brain telling them to. He reached out and picked Sam up. It wasn't until the child was actually in his arms that he let himself believe it was real. Then he hugged Sam as tightly as he could and started to cry.