Lol everyone wants to know about the ring and knife! In time, dear friends... in time...

Seriously, thank you for the love and hello new followers!

On with the show!


Time flew by faster than Sam could process. Last night was Thanksgiving and it was a little rough. He and Jess had talked about possibly staying in Palo Alto and eating dinner with her family this year. Since that obviously didn't happen, Mary suggested a really small family dinner, just the four of them. Though that didn't really help much with Sam's sour mood. He did appreciate her parents calling to check on him, however. That was nice of them. And his friends were all sending each other pictures of their breaks back home so that was a nice sense of normalcy for a minute.

The next morning Sam came downstairs in his pajamas. The shop was closed for the four-day weekend so he didn't have to worry about Dean picking him up. While he was making his cereal, he found a note on the fridge.

Took Dad to doctor's appointment. We'll bring home lunch. -Mom

Sam snorted at the little smiley face she drew next to her name.

Tossing the note in the trash, he went out to the couch and flipped on the television, settling for a Maury marathon. Content with having the house to himself all morning, Sam happily ate his cereal for breakfast and watched people argue over petty family drama.

The phone behind Sam's head rang. He reached behind him and grabbed the cordless phone, recognizing Dean's name on the caller ID screen. Speaking of petty family drama.

"Yea?" Sam answered.

"Hey, where's Mom?"

"She took Dad to an appointment."

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered. Sam began to notice the slight panic in his brother's voice.

"Dean?" Sam turned off the television. "Is everything okay?"

"Lisa's dad had a heart attack last night. It's not looking good."

Oh shit. "What are you gonna do?"

Dean sighed. "Lisa left a message asking me to pick up Ben from the hospital. I'm on my way there now."

"Yeah, get Ben and bring him here," Sam agreed.

"The house? Why?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Your apartment isn't exactly kid-friendly, Dean."

Fuck. "Good point. I'll let you know."

Sam hung up the phone. He stared at the half-empty bowl of cereal and the now turned off television. So much for a quiet morning alone.


Dean exited the elevator in the hospital, anxiously rubbing his hands together. The only other time he had heard Lisa call in a panic was when that pregnancy test turned positive. He's just a dad picking up his son; what's so nerve-wracking about that?

Lisa practically burst into tears when she saw him. He greeted her with a hug. It had been a while since they had any physical contact but Dean thought the sentimental moment was a good excuse. Plus she looked like she needed it.

"How is he?" Dean asked although he couldn't actually care.

"They just took him into surgery," Lisa explained. "I don't know what. It all happened so fast."

Dean could fake his feelings for him, but not for Lisa. "What happened? He just collapse or something?"

Lisa ran her hand through her hair. "I don't know. He wasn't feeling well after dinner last night so he went to bed early. A couple of hours later, my mom found him on the bathroom floor and we called 911."

Dean shuddered. He didn't know what he would do if his mom found his dad just lying on the bathroom floor. "What can I do, Lis?" He asked, busting out an old nickname. "Seriously. Name it."

"I just really need you to take Ben for the next couple of days. Just until we figure out what's going on."

"You got it."

Lisa reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. She took one off the ring and handed it to Dean. "In case Ben needs something from the house. Alarm code is 1975. He was sick last week so he has some makeup homework to do. Don't let him lie to you and say he already did it. And his bedtime is now 8:30 because he gets cranky in the morning."

"Yes ma'am."

Lisa smiled at Dean. "I owe you."

Dean smiled back. "Yes, you do."

They heard footsteps approaching behind them. Dean turned around to see Ben coming down the hall accompanied by Lisa's mom.

"He didn't like anything they had in the cafeteria," she uttered, almost as if she were bothered by a seven-year-old. Dean tried not to take it personally; her husband is in the hospital after all.

"That's alright," Dean said, "we'll find something. Right, Ben?"

The boy nodded and rubbed his eyes.

Lisa bent down in front of her son. "You're gonna stay with Dad for a little bit okay?"

"What about Grandpa?"

"Grandma and I are going to stay here and make sure Grandpa's okay."

"But I wanna stay here with Grandpa too!" Ben tried to fight.

Lisa sighed, frantically trying to avoid the too-tired kid from throwing a tantrum. "Come on, Ben, you're always asking me to take you to Dad's and now you have the chance! Doesn't that sound exciting?"

Dean caught onto the game she was trying to play. "Yeah bud, I'm going to take you to hang out with Uncle Sam at your other Grandma and Grandpa's and I bet we're going to have a lot of fun."

Ben yawned and rubbed his eyes again. "Do you have games?"

Dean and Lisa laughed. "Hell yeah dude, I'm sure Grandma has all kinds of games in the garage."

That seemed to win the child over. "Okay," he shrugged. Dean picked Ben up, who practically fell asleep with his arms wrapped around Dean's neck. Lisa walked with them to the parking lot so Ben had his car booster seat and whatever quick overnight bag she had packed for him. She promised to keep Dean updated and off they went.


The realization hit as soon as Dean pulled out of the parking garage. Holy shit, I have my kid all to myself. I'm alone with my own child.

Dean snuck a peek in the rearview mirror. Ben had fallen asleep in the back with his head against the window. Suddenly, Dean was transported back to when he was nineteen, driving Lisa and a newborn Ben home, going just below the speed limit and avoiding taking any chances.

Those thoughts didn't stop Dean from cringing when he pulled into his parents' driveway, hit that curb, and Ben's head rolled around on his neck like a fucking bobblehead.

This was already turning out to be the most nerve-wracking experience of Dean's life. How in the hell does she do this every day?

Dean gently shook Ben awake so he could get out of the car and go inside the house. Sam greeted them at the door.

"Ben, this is your Uncle Sam," Dean explained. "You probably don't remember him but he's been away at college."

"Hi Ben," Sam waved. He had about as much experience with his nephew as Dean did. "Are you excited to hang out with your dad?"

Ben tugged on Dean's sleeve. "I hafta go to the bathroom," he whispered.

Dean took a second for his brain to process. "Uhh, yeah, sure, okay, let's uh, let's go upstairs," he said, guiding the kid to the second floor. Sam snorted at his brother's awkwardness and followed behind them. "Do you need any help?" Dean nervously asked. Ben shook his head. Obviously, because the kid is old enough to be potty trained, you fucking idiot. "Awesome. We'll be in this room next door when you're all done, okay?"

Ben went inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Dean groaned at his own stupid acting and Sam started failing at holding back laughter.

"Shut up," Dean mumbled.

"Dude, I thought you were gonna shit your pants when I opened the door!"

"I said shut up Sam."

"Oh my god, you're so bad at this. How are you so bad at this? He's your kid!"

Dean punched Sam in the chest. "You gonna keep making jokes or are you going to help me?" Dean threatened, grabbing a fresh set of sheets from the closet.

Sam held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, guess I'll help you."

The two of them quickly made up Dean's old bed for Ben. A minute later, Ben emerged in the doorway, still looking tired as hell.

"Here, bud, you can finish your nap here," Dean told him.

Ben didn't hesitate to get into bed. "I can't sleep without Teddy," he whined.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. "Is Teddy in the bag Mom packed ya?" Dean asked. Ben nodded, his hair getting fluffed up by the pillow. "Okay, I'll run down to the car and get your bag. You just... go to sleep. Okay? Deal?"

Ben nodded again, yawning and closing his eyes.

"Stay here with him," Dean ordered Sam. Sam rolled his eyes and fought back from saying some sort of stupid retort. He stood in the doorway and watched his nephew slowly drift off to sleep. Dean returned, rummaging through Ben's bag and pulling out a small brown teddy bear. Dean's heart burst when he recognized it as one of the stuffed animals he picked out for Ben's nursery.

And just like when baby Ben was brought home from the hospital, Dean placed the teddy bear under his arm and tucked them both in with the blanket.


coffeeaddict13