Chapter 32

"Boys , hurry up !". Dean yelled up the stairs as he tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. "Fifteen minutes. It takes maximum fifteen minutes to get ready. What am I ?. Surrounded by a bunch of girls ?". He muttered to himself as he looked at his watch.

"Hey , man. Calm down. You gonna give yourself a ucler otherwise." Sam chimed in shaking his head at his brother. Sometimes Dean was just so much like their dad. For instance , John Winchester didn't have an ounce of patience on him. He absolutely hated waiting on others. He used to yell up a storm if his sons weren't ready at the same time as he was when they used to travel across the country to hunt.

And Dean wasn't that much different from their old man. If he was ready to head out then the whole house had to be ready to head out with him.

"I am calm." Dean growled out. His expression anything but calm.

"Remember that it is supposed to be a relaxing day for all of us. You looking ready to punch the living lights out of somebody is not part of the plan." Sam reasoned pointing a finger at Dean. "Just try to smile and go start the car. I'm gonna bring the kids out in a minute."

"Two minutes." Dean warned as he made his way out.

Finally , after ten more minutes and three honks from Dean later , the entire Winchester family was seated in the Impala ready to have a day full of fun.

"Are there gonna be tigers there , daddy. ?". DJ asked excitedly from the backseat as Dean brought the Impala to life.

After much discussions , arguing and surfing on the internet later they decided to take the kids to a zoo. The weather was pleasant for a perfect outdoor day and Adam and DJ had never been to a zoo before. Even Sam and Dean hadn't been to one either so it did work well for all of them.

"Yes , buddy. There will be tigers there." Sam replied smiling as DJ squealed in excitement.

"What about lions ?". DJ asked a minute later his excitement only increasing by each passing second.

DJ was practically bouncing in his car seat and Adam was thankful that Sam had buckled the kid down. Otherwise , there was no telling when he would bounce over the backseat and land in between Sam and Dean.

"Yep , kiddo."

"Monkeys ?"

"Yes , DJ." Sam sighed , he knew this game. DJ won't stop until he asked about every animal he could think of. His kid had this annoying habit of asking around a million questions about whatever place they were going , every freaking time. While Sam loved his kid to death it just moments like this he wished DJ was still little so he could stuck a pacifier in the kid's mouth and call it a day.

"Birds ?".

"Alright , son. Let's just say there are gonna be a lot of animals there. Okay ?".

"Okay." DJ replied seeming satisfied. Atleast for now.

"What about bears ?". The car was silent for all of two minutes before DJ spoke once again. Yes , Sam counted them because he knew DJ wasn't done so easily. He wanted to smile at the worried tone in DJ's voice when he asked his question as if not seeing bears would really be the worse thing that could happen to his son.

"Good." DJ replied in a relived tone when his daddy said that bears would be there before he laid back in his car seat.

"You like bears , kiddo ?". Dean asked as he gazed up at his nephew from the rearview mirror.

"Nope." DJ replied shaking his head and Dean frowned while Adam snorted.

"Then why were you worried about not seeing them ?". Dean questioned his nephew though he shouldn't even bother because knowing DJ it could be anything. The kid had forced Sam to heat his ice cream and cried when Sam refused to a week back for christ sakes. Claiming he liked chocolate soup more than the cold ice cream was his only explaination for his weird demand. But nonetheless it was always funny to see what DJ could come up with every and now then.

"I don't know. I like them because they are big and I don't like them because they are too big. I want to see them and I don't want to see them." DJ replied moving his little head up and down as if what he said had even made a lick of sense to anyone besides him in the car.

"You asked , dude." Sam shrugged when Dean and Adam looked at him in confusion.

"Daddy , what about -".

"Alright , Dean James. No more questions about what animals will be there or not. You will have to wait and see yourself." Sam declared in a stern voice ignoring his son's pout.

"Yes sir." DJ replied pouting and Sam sighed in relief until he heard ,

"Baby tigers ?".

"Dean ..." Sam said in warning and levelled a stern look at his son. While besides him , Dean reminded himself that Sam wasn't talking to him. Damn if Sam's voice didn't sound like his dad when the man was angry. Hearing it had always made Dean felt as if he was in trouble. It brought back certain memories of past , of him in trouble and standing in front of his irate father waiting for a punishment. Seriously , he was honoured to have his nephew named after him but it did get pretty confusing sometimes.

If Adam had noticed and snickered at Dean turning towards Sam and looking away a moment later then it was his business and nobody else's. Sam's voice wasn't much different when he was angry at Dean in comparison to when he was angry at DJ. It was fun to watch his older brother getting confused.

"You said no more asking about animals. You didn't say anything about baby animals." DJ said crossing his arms across his chest with an expectant look on his face.

Dean barely held back a smile as he looked at DJ. The kid was looking as if he was Sam's father and not the other way around. His little face was practically screaming at Sam to admit his mistake , and he had a look too which was not that much different from Sam's 'I am right and you are wrong' look if you discount the chubby baby cheeks.

"Okay. No more questions about baby animals , parent animals or any other animals until we get there." Sam clarified his previous statement to his four year old who this time nodded at him in satisfaction. Yep , he wasn't clear enough. That was it.

They reached the zoo about twelve in the afternoon. And as expected on account of it being a Saturday the zoo was packed. Dean drove around in search of a parking spot which wasn't that far away from the gate. Atleast Sam thought that was the reason Dean was driving them around until he learnt that Dean didn't care about that like at all. Infact , all he wanted to do was find a spot where his baby could be safe from all the other poor drivers. Yeah , his brother had his priorities set straight in order. Apparantly , Dean had a technique of just looking at people or their cars and determining their driving abilities.

"Seriously , Dean. That was a good spot." Sam pointed to the empty spot they just passed as Adam muttered from the back , "just like the two before."

"Between two SUV's ?!. Have you lost your mind Sam ?. You saw who was driving one of them didn't you. A man about eighty year old was driving. What if he couldn't control his hands or his feet on the wheel or gas and end up slamming my girl. And shouldn't he drive something lighter in the first place ? He shouldn't even be driving if you ask me." Dean looked at Sam as if he had grown a second head. Completely baffled by the idea of Sam even suggesting such a ridiculous thing.

Yeah , how stupid of Sam to point out an empty parking spot to his brother when they were driving around the lot in search of one.

"Look , Dean. There , on the right of you. That will work right ?". Adam chimed in eagerly from the backseat as he leaned forward and pointed his finger to the right. He really wanted to go inside the zoo sometime today , alright.

"That's my boy. Now that's what you call a perfect spot." Dean grinned as he swerved the car to the right and finally parked it.

Sam , Adam and DJ all sighed in relief.

"Hey !. No running , mister." Sam hooked his fingers in the back of DJ's shirt as he pulled his son back.

"Where do we go first ?". Adam asked excitedly gazing down at the site map they had picked up at the ticket counter.

"Wherever you boys wanna go." Dean said as he looked around stepping just a tiny bit closer to DJ and Adam in the process. Old habits die hard and in a hunter's case , they really never did. Public places still made him nervous. He always doubted that there was something evil lurking in the corner just waiting to attack. But as long as he was around nothing bad would ever happen to his family. Dean gave a quick once over to his surroundings. The zoo was vast but he had memorized every exit point the moment his eyes landed on the site map. They were good. He took a deep breath and willed his body to release the tension.

If Sam noticed Dean going in a hunter's mode , he chose to keep quiet.

"Daddy , Uncle Dean , Adam look at the cheetah !.". DJ tugged at all of their clothes excitedly as he pointed his finger towards the glass cage , no matter if they were just standing besides him and were able to see on their own what the kid was seeing. Sam had a suspicion that DJ would have yelled the names of other people too if he knew them but hey , he did tug at their clothes and pointed at the cage causing Sam to apologise for his son's behaviour.

The animal was tall and bulky just on the other side of the glass looking around at all the people gathered there with a predatory gaze as the people snapped pictures all around. While the kids close to DJ's age jumped and squealed in their excitement.

"Yeah , buddy. It's nice." Dean replied with a grin as he watched DJ gazing inside the cage at the Cheetah with a look of wonder on his face. Adam wasn't much better. Even though he wasn't shouting as much as DJ was nor he had a mouth gaping look but the kid looked damn happy. And Dean , well he only grinned wider as he looked at all the smiling faces of his family.

"Alright , family. It's picture time." Sam announced as he took out a small camera from his jacket. Jess had bought it when DJ was still a baby because like every other parent they had gone through a phase where they had thought that they had to take a picture of every single thing their kid did. No matter what.

For a moment , Sam had to try hard to push the sadness that memory of his dead wife caused him but it was made somewhat easier as he looked at the happy faces of DJ , Adam and Dean. In his heart , he knew Jess was watching him and their family with a smile on her face. And also she was one tough woman who wouldn't hesitate to come in his dreams just to kick his butt if he tried to bring others down by being all mopey remembering her.

Sam snapped a couple pictures of DJ , Adam and Dean as they all yelled 'Cheese' and posed in front of the cage. Dean had DJ sitting on his shoulders while Adam locked in a one armed hug as they all smiled at the camera. Dean called Sam and snapped a coupla pictures of him with the boys too.

Later , they asked a couple besides them to take their family picture. In which Sam and Dean stood proud next to eachother with the boys standing in front of them. Each brother had his arm wrapped securily around the kids.

A few years back if someone would have said to Dean that he would be a regular man running a garage with his brother and taking his family out for picnics on weekends. He would have laughed his ass off and ran the person out of the room but look at him now. Sometimes , he couldn't believe that this was his life. As a kid , he didn't even dream of having a family. Hell , he used to think that he would die on the job even before he turned forty. Life had a way of running in complete different directions. His old man used to say. 'Dad , I hope you are happy seeing your family all together like this.' Dean thought as he looked at the sky and smiled as if he could really see his father up there. He didn't believe in god but he liked to believe that his dad was keeping an eye out for their family.

"Let's watch the tigers next." Adam said once they all had had their fill of watching the Cheetah and even the animal was now looking bored as if he was also tired of watching the same faces around him.

"Yesssss !. Tigers , here we come. Tigerrrs , here we cooome !". DJ skipped ahead tugging Sam along with him singing his made up song the lyrics to which only he knew. "Uncle Dean , hurry up."

"Calm your horses down , kid. I'm coming." Dean said as DJ tugged at his jean leg to get him moving. Not like he wasn't moving before , it was just he wasn't moving fast enough , well not upto DJ's satisfaction that was.

"I can swear that he gets tired everytime by just cleaning his room. Now look at him." Adam muttered nodding towards DJ who was pulling Sam forward with as much force as a sugar high toddler could. He knew eating chocolate cake on top of waffles was a bad idea for the little boy.

Dean chuckled at Adam's comment as he wrapped an arm around Adam tugging the kid to his side as they all walked towards the tigers' cage.

"Hey , what's that ?". Dean asked Sam nodding his head to the right.

"Oh , the zoo nowadays do this thing where they like hand you a baby animal and you can get your pictures snapped with it." Sam answered looking to the side where a small crowd was gathered to get their pictures taken with a four month old baby tiger.

"That's sounds fun." Dean replied as he tapped Adam and DJ on their shoulders to get their attention.

"Wanna get a picture taken with a tiger cub ?". He asked and the boys nodded excitedly.

"Fifty bucks for taking a picture with a baby tiger. That's what you call robbery in the broad daylight." Dean grumbled shaking his head and Sam sighed.

"Dude , there are eight pictures. Like two for each one of us. With a baby tiger and they came framed." He explained for what seemed like the fifth time in the past five minutes. Yeah , Dean could be really cheap when he wanted to be.

"I offered to take a picture of y'all if that bulky hairy dude would have allowed me. It could have saved us a coupla bucks." Dean muttered and Sam didn't bother to argue more like saying something along the lines of , 'That's not how these things work' , because the zoo authority had already explained it to his brother in detail when Dean had argued about the same thing with them. Instead he waved at Adam and DJ as they shouted happily from their zoo train ride.

When the ride was over and the kids came running towards them , they decided to get something to eat and also visit the zoo gift shop. After a good meal ( a bit costly if you ask Dean ) , they were off to visit the gift shop.

"Oh , wowww. Daddy , look at all the animals." DJ was awed by the large amount of stuffed animals in the shop.

"Huh , who would want to get stuffed otters ?". Dean wondered aloud as he ran his fingers along the soft furs of the toy.

"Same people who would get these scary and weird stuffed rats." Adam replied as he looked at the black scary looking stuffed rat in his hands. This didn't even look like a toy but more like a monster from a scary movie , seriously it could even cause nightmares for little kids. He thought as he threw the toy back in the basket.

"This cap looks cool." Dean commented picking up a baseball cap from the rake and plopping it down on Adam's head. "It looks nice on ya. You want it ?".

Adam shrugged as he looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted the cap on his head. He didn't look bad. The cap was okay and besides it was a sunny day. "Yeah , alright." He replied as he took it off and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Alright. Look around and see if you like anything else. Okay ?". Dean said as he picked up a pair of black aviator sunglasses off the shelf. Damn , he looked sexy he thought as he examined himself in front of a mirror. Yep , still got it. He smirked before taking off towards Sam and DJ with Adam in tow.

"Can I get this tiger ?." DJ asked pleadingly hugging a tiger stuff toy that was even taller than him. Before Sam could reply he interjected , "Remember you didn't let me take the baby Alex." He accused as if that was the reason alone he should be allowed to have this toy.

"First , I am surprised you named that baby tiger so fast. And second , wild animals are not pets that you can adopt. They are really dangerous. As I have already told you." Sam said as he looked down at his son. It was a fun experience getting their pictures taken with such a powerful animal like tiger no matter even if it was with a baby tiger. And second ,the experience was made more unforgettable when Dean got in an argument with the caretaker about the prices of the photos and Sam had to meddle in between while all people around watched them in amusement. And then was the incident of DJ refusing to let the cub go after they were done with their pictures. What a fun time !. So he shouldn't be that much surprised when DJ even named the baby tiger. His son had looked at the animal in his hands as if it was love on first sight , after all.

"I promised to protect you from the tiger." DJ argued his point.

"How could I forget when you yelled it in front of all those people and they had snickered at my expense. Including Dean and Adam." Sam thought as he sighed in defeat. "Alright. But nothing more. It's still time if you wanna take a look at all the other toys. But no more if I buy you this giant here." He warned and smiled as DJ opened his small arms as far as they could go , he kneeled to be level with his son to hug him properly. But he shouldn't have bothered as DJ meant to hug the tiger and not him. Sam stood up blushing a bit and glaring at the stuffed animal as if it was all it's fault.

"Uncle Dean. Meet my friend , Mr. Tiger." DJ shoved his toy at his uncle and looked up at Dean with smiling hazel eyes.

"Whoa. It's big , buddy. Bigger than even you." Dean said looking at Sam who shook his head and made his way towards the checkout counter to pay.

As expected , Sam ended up carrying the giant toy while DJ skipped happily alongside him.

"Dude , encyclopaedia of animals. That's the thing that caught your eyes in the whole shop. You're such a geek , Sammy." Dean commented with a scowl though his eyes were full of affection as he waved the heavy book at his little brother who levelled his patented bitch face at him.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Finally after an eventful day at the zoo. They were on their way back home. DJ was tired and sleeping soundly on his father's shoulders while Adam looked like he had given up walking and was just dragging his feet around. Dean had to shove Adam forward and in the right direction gently a couple of times as the kid looked ready to sleep any moment , bed or not. He had offered to carry Adam and all he had gotten back was an impressive glare and an indignant , "I'm twelve , dude" thrown at him. After that he had given up asking and just continued to carry DJ's giant tiger and their other stuff around. Sam was also looking pretty tired but he had a happy look on his face and so did Dean.

They had all enjoyed a hell of a lot today. They all had laughed , taken silly pictures , riden on a few of the rides provided by the zoo , feasted on a lot of junk food , treated eachother with gifts and seen a lot of animals they hadn't seen before in their lifetimes. All in all , the day out was a blast. Tomorrow , it was back to work. For a moment , Dean just wished for the day to never end. Even though he knew life was all about going ahead.

I hope you liked it. If you do please comment. Thank you for taking time for reading.

Thank you for all those who do comment. I love y'all.