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Disclaimer: See Chapter 3.
Dean-15
Sam-11
Kate-6
"Deeeeaaannnn…I think I'm dying!" Katie yelled over from where she was sitting on the bed beside Sam.
"You're not dying. It's normal. Happened to me and Sammy too," Dean responded as he took the soup off the stove and poured it into 3 separate bowls.
"Having spots like those Disney doggies is NOT normal," Kate said.
"Stop scratching," Sam scolded as he reached over and lightly smacked her hand away from her leg.
"Katie, if you keep scratching, I'm going to duct tape Sammy's dirty socks to your hands," Dean yelled over from the kitchen.
"I gots chicken pox, I don't need cooties too! Icky!" Katie said as she crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip—full on pout position.
"Kay, guys. Come and get it while it's hot," Dean announced. Sam and Kate hopped off the bed and made their way over to the table to join him. They all say down and dug in.
"Can I go to school tomorrow? Pleeeeeease!" Katie looked up at Dean with hopeful eyes.
"Nope. You're stuck here with me until your alien spots disappear," Dean replied nonchalantly.
"But we was gonna learn to subtract, Dean! That means you make numbers more smaller," she added for clarification.
"Well that's what you have this guy here for," Dean said as he reached his hand out to give Sam a hard pat on the back.
Both Katie and Sam looked at each other and let out a loud sigh, neither liking what Dean said. He couldn't help but chuckle. They may hate each other now, but he was sure one day they'd be great friends. They were too much alike not to be.
They finished up their meal making small talk, then Dean announced, "Bath time kiddo." He picked Katie up and sat her down by the bathroom door.
"But I'm real sick. I don't wanna." Cue the pout face.
"I got this creamy oatmeal wash stuff. It will make you stop scratching," Dean tried to persuade her.
"Promise?"
"Yeah. It's what mom used for me and Sammy. Now come on," he said as he went inside the bathroom and started to fill up the tub. Dean began to pour some of the thick, oatmeal-type mixture into the water as he sat down on the side of the tub. "Okay, let's get you ready." He motioned for her to come over. He started to reach for her shirt to help her take it off, but she tried to keep it pushed down, suddenly embarrassed by her chicken pox spots everywhere.
"Deeeeann….," she wined. "I wanna do it by myself." Her face was apparently stuck on constant pout mode today.
"I gotta help you get this stuff all over your polka dots or it won't work." He glanced back at the growing water and thick mixture on top. She still wouldn't budge her hands. "Come on, Katie. I used to change your smelly ass diapers. This is nothing." She didn't move a muscle, her gaze firmly saying she wasn't changing her mind. Damn was she stubborn.
"Ok, you have 30 seconds to get yourself in that tub before I come back," he announced as he turned off the water and walked out. Katie quickly threw her clothes on the floor and hopped in the tub. She ran her fingers through the water. She couldn't even see her own legs because the stuff Dean had put in made the top of the water very thick. She felt like she was swimming in a layer of mashed potatoes. It was all mushy and she officially wasn't a fan.
Finally Dean came back in and knelt down beside the tub. "Ok, let's get you smothered in this crap." He grabbed a washcloth and began to put it on her back while she rubbed it on her arms. Once she was covered head to toe in the mush, he said, "Now, we let you soak for 10 minutes."
"What am I supposed to do for 10 whole minutes?" To Katie any amount of time seemed like an eternity these days.
"Sit still," he said as he scooted over so he was sitting up against the wall by the tub. He wasn't about to leave her alone since this girl practically was a magnet for mischief and trouble lately. He felt better being able to just keep a watchful eye on her.
Only about 30 seconds had passed when Katie finally broke the silence. "What was mom like?"
Dean rolled his head along the wall to look at her. He knew she was going to bring it up, especially since he had mentioned her earlier. As he looked at her mushy oatmeal-esque covered face, he knew this time he couldn't say no. "Well...she was...she was perfect."
Sam's head instantly shot up. Dean never talked about mom. Sam had been almost 6 when she died, so he had his own memories, but they were nothing like the ones Dean had. He quietly crept over and sat outside the bathroom door, trying to stay out of sight.
"She had green eyes just like yours." Kate broke into a smile, showing a gap where she had lost a front tooth last week. "She was the nicest person you'd ever meet." Dean rested his head back against the wall and continued to look straight ahead at the other wall. "She would read us stories and give us a kiss goodnight everyday."
"Like my Green Eggs and Ham book?" Katie had recently become obsessed with that book. So much so that Dean was forced to actually make green eggs one time so she would stop nagging him.
"Yup, remember I told you how Mom gave Sammy that book when he was little like you," Dean finished. There was a long pause as Dean gently smiled at the memories flooding his mind.
"Is Mommy an angel?" Katie broke the silence with her innocent curiosity showing.
"Yeah, she is. And you know what? Now she's watching over us." Dean felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He quickly brushed it away before Katie could notice. There was a long silence as the 3 Winchesters were each caught up in their own thoughts, thinking over what had just been said.
Suddenly Dean scooted up beside the tub. "Ok, that's enough story time for today. Let's get you cleaned up," he said as he got a small cup and turned on the water so he could rinse her off.
Sam quietly got up and crawled into his bed. He curled up on his side and pulled the covers over his head and let the tears silently flow. He felt guilty because he hadn't thought about his mom for quite some time. He felt guilty because he was the last one to see her before she died. And he felt guilty because Katie would never get to know how tender a parent's love could really be.
But none of them would ever know just how much she loved her kids. Mary never told anyone that not only had she made one deal with the yellow-eyed demon, but she had made two. When Dean was diagnosed with terminal cancer at just 8 months old, she sought him out and begged for him to cure her baby. Any mother would have done the same at seeing their first-born child so tragically ill. She'd never tell anyone that in exchange for Dean's full recovery, she had given the demon permission to enter her house for second time in 10 years. She would never find out that the first time he came, he had managed to feed Sam demon blood at the tender age of 6 months. The second time he came, Katie was just one year old. No one had ever told Katie that her mother died trying to protect her from that demon. She was too young to understand the truth. Mary died in the fire before she knew she had succeeded in stopping the demon and he had fled the demon before he bled on Kate. All of these secrets she would never be able to share with her kids or even the love of her life, John. But it wasn't necessary. A mother's love wasn't something you could see or hear through a story. It was something you felt. And she was positive that her boys would make sure her baby girl knew exactly what that love felt like.
