Dean woke to that quiet but insistent sound of a newborn crying. Miriam was four days old and tomorrow he was supposed to take her and Sophie up to Sioux Falls for a doctor's appointment. The snow had finally cleared enough for the roads to be passable again.
"She's hungry," Sophie muttered groggily, pushing herself up in bed, "Can you get her for me?"
Dean reached over the edge of the bassinet and picked up their daughter.
He genuinely hadn't thought he could love anyone else as much as he loved Sam and Sophie. In the ninety-six hours she'd been around so far, Miriam had proven him wrong.
She was a spitfire already and he loved it.
"You got her?" Dean asked, tucking the baby into Sophie's arms. Dean gently hummed "Hey Jude," trying to settle the both of them as Miriam wailed and Sophie fumbled blindly and frantically with the buttons on her nightgown.
"Let me help," Dean suggested, "You just cuddle her for a minute."
"She won't stop crying until she eats," Sophie insisted sleepily.
"I know, I know," Dean assured her, making quick work of the buttons, "There you go."
With baby Miriam suckling happily Dean sat up next to Sophie and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're a really good dad," she said.
"And you're a really good mom," Dean agreed, kissing her head, humming again. It seemed to help them all get back to sleep. Regular lullabies backfired every time, but The Beatles, that worked.
Sophie started to doze and Dean moved a hand to support the baby at her chest, still humming gently. He'd moved on from "Hey Jude" to "Smoke on the Water." Sophie was too tired to notice. And Miriam seemed to like anything that hadn't been deliberately written to convince children to sleep.
Sophie was out cold when Miriam opened her eyes again and started to fuss.
"Other side?" Dean suggested, picking up the newborn and readjusting Sophie's shirt before he tucked Miriam back against her chest.
"You've got Sam's dimples already," he murmured, putting a palm behind Miriam's head as she drifted off.
And then someone was pounding on their bedroom door. Sophie startled, clutching the baby up closer as she startled awake. In classic newborn fashion, Miriam didn't stir.
"Can you open up please?" Sam shouted.
"It's unlocked," Dean instructed, "Come in. Come in. You okay?"
Sam looked unsteady on his feet as he came through the door and half collapsed onto the couch.
"I got through the last of the tapes," Sam said, "I figured out how to complete the third trial. We've gotta go. Now."
"But she just…I can't…" Dean stuttered.
Sophie curled even closer into Dean's chest.
"Give us a minute Sam?" Dean suggested.
"Of course. I'm sorry…I should have waited until morning," Sam said apologetically, walking out into the hallway and closing the door behind him, "I'm not gonna lie I wasn't actually super aware it was the middle of the night until just now…"
"Go get some sleep!" Dean called after his brother.
"I know you have to go," Sophie said, her voice heavy with tears, "I get it."
"Hey, hey," Dean coaxed her chin up so she'd look at him. Miriam was still asleep at Sophie's breast.
"You save the world," Sophie reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks, "That's one of the many, many, innumerable things I love about you. And while the timing is really bad…you have to go save the world."
"Maybe I could…" Dean started, but Sophie cut him off.
"Call Jody or Garth or someone," Sophie instructed, "Get help down here as soon as possible. The minute backup walks through that door you go. But you come back to me, Dean Winchester. Promise."
"Promise."