Hello, you fabulous reader! Thanks for stopping by for another installment of little Katie! For those of you who have been watching season 15, I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am! It's definitely bittersweet.

A big shoutout to Emma Winchester 424 for being my awesome beta and always encouraging me to keep fighting :) Show her some love by checking out her killer Dean/daughter story!

Don't hesitate to let me know if you have ideas for future chapters! As always, read, review, but most importantly ENJOY!

Dean – 10

Sam – 6

Katie – 2

There weren't many times when John Winchester wished he didn't have a daughter. He loved all kids equally for the most part (although he had different expectations), but there were times when having only one female in the family made everything worse for him. And today was one of those days.

It was the task that every parent hated—running errands with kids in tow. Typically, John Winchester would just leave them at the motel, but they'd spent a lot of time there this week, so he felt guilty. As if somehow dragging them along on endless errands would be "fun" and make up for his lack of being a good parent this week. To his surprise, the kids were actually excited to get out of the room and tag along for the morning. They'd been to two stores and lunch already with no incidents worth commenting on. The kids were their usual selves—playful and energetic to no end.

Finally, there was just one last stop—grocery shopping. However, before they were more than ten feet inside the store, Sam announced that he had to go to the bathroom. With a sigh, John tugged all three along to the bathroom. He was always nervous about keeping an eye on them in public where all kinds of evil—both supernatural and not—could lurk around the corner. That or his youngest would try to make a break for it again when no one was watching.

Once in the men's restroom, Dean stood by Katie along the wall near the entrance while John and Sam took care of their business standing up in front of the urinals. It wasn't Katie's first time in a men's bathroom—actually, she had yet to see the inside of the women's, not having a need to go in one yet. And even if she could use the women's restroom, John wasn't ready to let her go anywhere alone or unprotected, so it'd be a few more years before that happened.

Young, innocent Katie stared at Sam and John's backs for a moment, the wheels in her two-year-old head turning in thought. "Hey, De?" she asked, her soon-to-be catch phrase.

He reflexively responded with little interest, "Yeah?"

"Why…why Daddy go potty up?" She pointed to his back, referring to how he was standing up. She'd been to the bathroom with them multiple times, the downfall of being the only girl in the family and still in diapers, but she was young enough that it didn't even matter. At her age, everything had to be "why this" and "why that." She honestly didn't know of any other way to use the bathroom other than standing up, because that was all she'd seen so far, and her two-year-old curiosity got the better of her today, and she wanted to know why.

However, at hearing her question, an older man chuckled as he washed his hands by them. Dean groaned. Of course, his little sister had to be so freaking embarrassing in public. It was like she lived to torture them. He responded quietly, hoping she'd keep it down, too. "Because he's a boy," he shot back.

Her green eyes turned to him, "Can I, too?" Recently, she'd been on quite an independent streak, but there was always an underlying desire to be as much like her family as she possibly could. She wanted to do things just like they did and not be different from the ones she loved the most.

Dean scooted closer to her and whispered back, "No, you wear diapers."

But that answer wasn't good enough for her. She pulled her hand from Dean's grip and marched over to her father, who had just zipped up his pants. "Daddy?"

John looked down at her sudden appearance and headed over to the sink with her hot on his trail. "Yeah?"

"I wanna go potty like you," she announced with determination.

John chuckled. "You do, huh?"

Sam trotted over and joined John at the sink, chiming in, "You can't. You're a baby." It was Sam's job to remind her of the obvious, and if it meant getting under her skin, well that was a bonus.

Katie's eyes instantly narrow as she stomped her foot. "I NOT a baby!" She hated when people called her that. It was so mean. She could dress herself, walk, eat her own food, do everything like a big kid. Sammy was just mean and stupid and a poophead.

Knowing a battle was brewing, John put an end to it right then and there, learning from his past mistakes of trying to ignore it. He wiped his wet hands on his jeans and turned toward Sam, clasping onto his shoulder firmly. "That's enough, Sam."

Sam's head fell. "Sorry, Dad," he muttered quietly before returning his gaze to his hands as he finished washing them with embarrassed, red cheeks at being scolded in public.

Satisfied with the response, John released his grip and turned to the little girl behind him. He scooped her up into his arms. "So, you're a big girl, huh?"

Katie grinned and nodded her head fervently, loving it when she was recognized as being a big kid. See? Her dad knew she was a big girl and not a stupid baby like Sammy said. "Uh-huh. And, and I no wanna have diaper." She pulled up her shirt and motioned to the piece of diaper sticking above her waistline, just to make sure her point was clear. "I go potty up like you," she announced.

This was like music to John's ears—his youngest was ready to be potty trained and the kid was going willingly. He quickly envisioned a life without rushed backseat diaper changes since no male bathroom seemed to have a changing table. He pictured a life where he'd save money on diapers, so he could buy more ammo. He dreamt of a life where his youngest started to become more independent, so he could take Dean on more trips with him. He looked down at Katie with a smile. It was finally going to happen. His parental dream was becoming a reality. He'd seen Mary do it with the two boys, so how hard could it be? This potty training was going to be a breeze. But what he didn't realize was that Mary could make anything look easy. "That sounds great," he praised. "We can try today, okay?"

"'Kay!" she exclaimed gleefully before she turned to Dean with a smug grin, because her dad had given into her wishes when Dean hadn't.

She was going to be just like her family now.

John wasn't about to let his youngest change her mind, so he quickly formulated a plan. With Katie sitting in the seat on the cart, Sam inside the cart, and Dean pushing the both of them, they made their way to the children's clothing section. This store didn't have a lot of options, but it would have to do for them. The Winchesters didn't need anything fancy anyway. John glanced along the wall of underwear, landing on a pack for little girls that had a bunch of pink and purple horses on it. My Little Pony. Whatever the hell that was, it would do the job. He held them up as he felt his masculinity drop. "Look what you get to wear now," he tried to sound excited about unnaturally colored horses.

Katie examined them for a moment before deciding on her response. "No," she said firmly.

Hoping the momentum wasn't already gone, John tried to keep his voice light and not annoyed, something that was easier said than done as a single parent of three. "You said you wanted to be a big girl, Katie."

She shook her head fervently, her hair shaking back and forth.

Dean innately knew when to step in to prevent their father's patience from growing thin. He poked her arm to get her to stop moving her head. "Use words, midget."

She sighed and stated simply, "Batman." She turned to Dean with a huge grin, knowing he would be happy.

Dean's brow furrowed. "You want Batman underwear?" he asked with a chuckle.

She clapped her hands together in approval. "Yes! Batman like De!"

Now it was Sam's turn to be disgusted. "Eewwwww! She knows what kind of underwear you have."

Kate swiveled in her seat to face Sam. She pointed at him with a smile. "Turtles!" she explained, referring to the Ninja Turtles.

And it was Dean who got the last laugh. "Guess she knows yours too, Sammy." But in reality, it was because there wasn't really any sense of privacy in this family. In the close quarters they shared, they knew quite a bit about one another. More than anyone would admit.

While the boys were bickering, John scanned the wall for Batman underwear. Much to his disappointment but not to his surprise, he didn't see any superhero underwear in the girl's section. He inwardly cursed all the creators of underwear for assuming that girls couldn't have superheroes. What a bunch of bastards. Not wasting any time, he tugged on the cart to signal Dean to follow along, and he quickly headed over to the next aisle where the boy's clothing was located.

Reading between the lines of what his dad was trying to do, Dean parked the cart and went over to their father, stating quietly, "Dad, you can't buy her boy's underwear."

John crouched down as he looked through packs to find the right size. "Don't care, son," he countered. Kids underwear was kids underwear with only minor differences between gender. If it was Batman underwear she wanted to be potty trained in, God help him, he would stop at nothing to get that for her. Finally, he found what he was looking for! Handing the package over to Katie to examine, he asked, "What do you think?"

After thoroughly analyzing the package, she grinned with satisfaction, pressing it toward her chest in a hug. "Batman!"

Relieved that they'd found something for her, he tossed another pack into the cart and made his way toward the groceries. This was going to be easy.

After they'd arrived back at the motel, John gladly took his youngest into the bathroom to show her how to put on the new underwear. He tossed the diaper into the trashcan, praying it would be his last. As he sat on the side of the tub, it took him a while to go over the basics with her—how to let him know when she had to use the restroom, that it was okay to need help, etc. She had nodded along understandingly, but she quickly grew impatient as would any toddler and stopped listening to him, something John often forgot.

"I go potty all by myself," she announced as she gave him a light tug on the arm, signaling him to leave the bathroom.

John didn't budge. "How about we do the first time together?"

"All by myself," she repeated more forcefully. With each day, the girl's willpower and stubbornness grew in true Winchester fashion. She didn't often demand to do things all by herself, but it was becoming more and more common by the week. Her independent streak was starting.

"You're going to need my help getting on the seat, Katie," he tried to reason.

The two-year-old's patience had left the room. "ALL BY MYSELF!" she yelled, causing John's eyebrows to hit his hairline.

"Excuse me?" The tone clearly said she had one chance to make this right.

With a loud huff, she calmed herself down, not wanting to get in trouble. "Daddy, please. I go by myself," she pleaded.

Against his better judgement and logic, John relented. This was a hill he didn't feel like dying on today, so he wasn't going to fight it. The fact was she wanted to use the actual toilet and that was all that mattered. He headed to the bathroom door before turning around one last time. "Let me know if you need help, okay?"

She muttered quietly, "All by myself," as she pushed the door closed on him. John couldn't help but chuckle on the other side. Damn, this girl had more determination than most. And he knew exactly where she got it from.

Meanwhile, Katie stood in front of the toilet, staring at it in childish wonder. This was her chance to be more like her big brother and daddy. Not Sammy though. It was an important distinction for the little girl and her archenemy. With a smile and excitement, she pulled down her pants and underwear, still facing the toilet. And then she did it! She peed.

However, she was quite shocked when she felt the warm liquid fall down her leg. At first, she was confused, but after a few moments, she looked down in horror as the clothing pooled between her legs became wet along with the floor. This wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to happen this way! She'd seen her family pee a million times and this had never happened. It was supposed to go inside the toilet, not on the ground.

So, she did the only thing that was left to do for a two-year-old. She cried out loudly.

At the sudden burst of tears, John rushed into the bathroom, followed by the two brothers, one concerned and one more curious than anything. It took John a moment before he fully understood what had unfolded in front of him.

"Oh, Katie," John commented half out of annoyance, half out of pity for the little kid. It only caused her to cry harder, feeling as if she'd made him mad for doing it wrong. He he picked her up, leaving her pants and underwear discarded on the floor while he deposited her in the tub. "You're okay, Kate," he tried to soothe, wanting her to calm down.

A chorus of "ew", "gross!", "so nasty!" came from the peanut gallery, only making Katie cry harder, if nothing but from sheer embarrassment now. John provided the look of death and both boys skedaddled in a millisecond before John could reach over and smack them.

John gently rolled Katie's shirt up before reaching for a plastic cup that he used to rinse the kids' hair out. "Katie, did you not make it to the toilet in time?" he asked over her cries, trying to keep his voice as tender as he could.

She hiccupped as she tried to get herself under control. "I go potty up."

Not understanding what she meant, he turned on the water and started filling the cup and rinsing off her bottom half. "I know you tried to go potty. But it didn't quite work, did it? You need to let me help you, Katie."

She didn't respond as she sucked on two fingers for comfort while John continued to rinse her off. Her cries began to subside, but she felt the need to explain again. Pulling her fingers out, she added, "I go potty up like you."

"Yes, you'll learn to use the bathroom like all of us do. That's right," he praised as he turned off the water.

Before Kate could repeat the same phrase again, Dean appeared in the doorway, not wanting to get involved in this disgusting scene—he'd already changed his fair share of diapers, so he wasn't about to mop up pee. He felt guilty and hated hearing her cry as it affected him more than he'd ever admit as his young age. But he wanted to put his dad out of his misery before she repeated the same damn phrase again. If there was anyone in this household that could understand every word that the little one said, it was Dean. It was his job to know everything about his siblings, and that included speaking their weird kid language. He hesitated for a moment before chiming in, "Hey, Dad, uh, she's trying to tell you she peed standing up like you do."

John blinked stoically as he stared at his eldest for a moment in shock. Oh shit. He gave Dean and appreciative nod, thankful to have him around. But now he knew he was left with no choice but to explain to her why she had to do it differently from the three of them. He knew it was about to break her heart, because she adamantly hated doing things differently than them. Life was mocking him for thinking this would be easy.

And that was the first time John wished he didn't have a daughter…but in reality, it was a yearning for her to have a mother to give her all the things he couldn't.