Adam proudly dug his phone out from his bedside drawer, where the poor thing had been for the last four days. He had fully supported DJ in his punishment. The kid was banned from watching television and having any dessert for three days. He had supported the little boy by banning himself from using his phone and having any dessert too. Not that there had been any dessert in the house. Because having a sweet dish in front of an almost four year old who wasn't allowed to have one was just plain cruelty. The one Sam and Dean had no inclination to stoop down to.
So, he held the device in his hand, a big smile firmly in place. Dean had fixed a screen time for him. Meaning he wasn't allowed to use his phone except for a total of four hours each day. It was up to him how he utilized those hours. All at once, or some in the afternoon and the rest after dinner. But he was yet to use any of those today, so without further ado, he plugged his phone on charging.
It would take some time for the phone to charge. But he was patient, and he had other ways to amuse himself.
Adam climbed down the stairs and reached the living room. Sam and Dean were both in presence. It was Monday, but it was a rare slow day at work for the both of them. He walked to where Sam was sitting and plopped himself beside his brother on the couch.
"So, next Saturday's the little man's birthday, right?"
Dean asked, taking a sip of his beer. Sam nodded in response.
"What should we do?" Adam asked excitedly. "Wait, a surprise party for the kid would be awesome!" He exclaimed, barely able to contain himself. He couldn't remember the last birthday party he had been to. Heck, he never had one for his birthday either. His mother had been busy most of the time, and anyway, even if she wasn't , they couldn't have had one. They didn't have that much money. But that wasn't the problem in the Winchester household. They could have a party. And DJ would have a blast on his birthday.
"Hmm, that would be nice. What d'ya say, Sammy?" Dean said, tapping his finger against the rim of his beer bottle.
"A party with a cake and balloons?" Sam asked with an unreadable look on his face.
It was a stupid question, Adam thought. Dean thought so, too, because he shot back sarcastically,
"No, one with strippers and booze. The kid's turning four. He should celebrate by treating himself to a lap dance."
"Dean...," Sam's response was a classic Sam's bitch face. Dean just rolled his eyes in response. Adam snorted and tried to swallow down his laughter. But he couldn't. He did stop, however, when Sam shot him a glare.
"I just meant he never had a birthday party before. Not since Jessica's..." Sam trailed off. His expression was one of melancholy. Adam knew Jessica was the name of Sam's wife and DJ's mother, who had died in a car accident. Sam still missed her. However, DJ barely remembered her. The kid had been too young when he lost his mother. Adam swallowed down his own emotions. He didn't know whether he was right or wrong when he thought that it was a good thing, that DJ's mom died when he was too young to even remember her. Because if DJ had been older like him, it would have hurt like heck. Every single day, in the back of his mind, there would have been a constant pain. His heart would have always felt a little bit broken, no matter how many new people he met and happy memories he create, that ache just wasn't treatable.
"Then all the more reason for us to make the kid's day as special as possible. "
Dean broke the uncomfortable moment. He stood up, slapped Sam on the back, and cuffed his neck in an affectionate hold. Dean released him when Sam met his eyes, a silent communication passing between his two brothers. Then he made his way toward the front door, likely back toward his garage.
"Alright, so where's DJ?"
Adam asked, hoping to distract Sam from his sad thoughts. It worked as a smile broke across Sam's face when he answered,
"In his room. He's having a secret meeting with all his stuffed toys as we speak. A secret meeting to which no one's allowed. Apparently, Max, the stuffed dog, was mean to Lily the dinosaur. So he's teaching them some manners while all the other toys watch so they won't behave like Max. At least, that's what I understood from his long speech."
Adam laughed at that, and so did Sam. For now, the sad moment was all forgotten.
Adam went to his room and unplugged his phone. It was still low on battery but not that low, that it couldn't be used. He switched it on and bounced upon his bed. Notifications after notifications started pinging. He grinned at that. Ah, how he had missed that sound.
He scanned each one of them, but there was one that gave him pause. It said @Impala.67 accepted your follow request from Instagram. And, another one that said Dean Winchester accepted your friend request from Facebook.
He frowned because he hadn't sent any request to Dean on Instagram and Facebook. His confusion gave way to anger when he realised that these notifications meant that Dean had gone through his phone. Because other than it being in his bedside drawer for the past few days, before that, it was confiscated by Dean. The last time his phone had been on, it was in Dean's hands. And the man had gone through it without his permission, without Adam knowing and certainly without any reasonable excuse. If that wasn't a privacy violation, he didn't know what was.
He clenched his teeth and shook his head in anger. With fury clouding his mind, he left his room and stomped down the stairs. His phone was clutched tightly in his hands. Dean was in the garage, so that's where he went. He was engaged with a customer and bent over the hood of a car. When Adam entered the garage, Dean looked up at him. He knew his face was tight in anger, and so did Dean. If the frown that came upon his face at seeing him was any indication.
"Can I talk with you?"
Adam asked. It was more likely a yell. But whatever, he was angry. And this time, it wasn't his fault.
Dean's expression tightened, his gaze flew to the customer, an old gentleman before landing on him and fixing him with a glare. The look on the oldest Winchester's face reminded him to watch his tone. But unfortunately, Adam wasn't in the mood.
"Whatever it is, it can wait. I am busy as you can already see. If it's something urgent, talk to Sam about it." Dean ordered before turning toward the old man by his side.
"See, that wouldn't work because it's you I have to talk to."
Adam threw back. He took a deep breath to calm himself down when the old guy beside Dean commented,"Kids these days," and shook his head in Adam's direction, looking at him in disapproval. And Dean's response to that was to nod his head in agreement.
"Mr. Spencer, will you excuse me for a moment?"
Dean left Spencer alone and walked to him with a glare firmly in place.
"What is it?" Dean demanded, his voice said he was pissed off at Adam interrupting him at work. But again, he didn't care. Dean had said it was a slow day at work, and suddenly, when he had to talk to the man, there came a customer. He knew the customer wasn't Dean's fault. But he wanted to have a talk with his brother, and he wanted it now. He didn't care about the customer. Beside, he had heard Sam saying that Dean was over working himself. That he needed a break. This could be that break.
"Did you go through my phone?" He knew the answer was yes. But he didn't know what else to ask.
Dean didn't even hesitate. He bit out a ,'yes' at him. And without waiting for Adam to say anything, he started towards his customer. The customer who was surely eavesdropping and busy acting like the worst actor in the world, while trying to seem like he was deathly interested in studying his hands, his attention none whatsoever on the mechanic and the young boy, when it was the complete opposite. Adam rolled his eyes at Spencer's and grabbed Dean's arm before he could walk away.
Dean turned to him with a glare, his expression screamed impatience. "Adam, I have work to do. This ain't the right time."
"You went through my phone without my permission! I don't care. We will talk now!" Without even him realising his voice rose a few degrees. Enough for Spencer to go tsk at him. Seriously, what was his problem? The guy looked in his seventies. It was way past time for him to learn the basic lesson of 'mind your own damn business'.
"Adam Milligan Winchester, you move your ass in the house right this second."
Adam wanted to refuse and argue some more. But his sense of self-preservation won over his anger. Dean looked positively murderous. Even though, in his opinion, only he had the right to look mad in this situation.He moved to the house, but certainly not before taking a little revenge from Mr. Spencer. The man's car was parked near the entrance of the garage. And the car doors were opened. On his way out, he slammed the driver's door, the one most near to the entrance with as much force as he could. Smiling in satisfaction, at the sharp inhale he heard behind his back. Take that, old man.
His smile quickly vanished when he heard his name from Dean, though, "Adam Milligan-" before Dean could finish yelling his full name again, he was full-on running to the house.
"Whoa, kid."
Sam caught Adam's hand just before the young boy could slam into him. Adam panted, sagging against his side. He frowned in confusion. The kid was running as if the bats from hell were after him.
Before he could open his mouth to ask what had happened, Dean was marching up to them. The expression on his face was thunderous. His eyes were shooting daggers in Adam's direction. Sam turned to the kid at his side, fully expecting the boy to look scared under the force of Dean's glare. But on the complete opposite, Adam looked just as angry at Dean. His little eyes were shooting their own daggers at their older brother.
By now, Sam should have known that Adam and Dean were incapable of living in close quarters without locking horns with each other every few days. Still, he was surprised. In the back of his eyes, he could feel a headache coming on. Because whether he liked it or not, he would be the refree in whatever fight they both were having.
A/N: Hi! I missed y'all. I hope I didn't disappoint y'all too much. But I have no excuse except to say, I tried my best to manage everything. But life comes in the way and things happen that are outside of your control. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.
And do review, please. I want to hear you guys' thoughts. I was reading some of the earlier reviews dropped on this story and others. They inspire to put in the effort of writing and posting a chapter, believe me.
