Hello! I hope everyone's March is off to a great start. This is a story that I've had in mind since I first came up with Katie 10 years ago, and I was finally able to make it come to life on paper :) A very belated Happy Birthday to Dean Winchester!

Fair warning that John kind of sucks in the chapter and discipline is mentioned.

HUGE shout out to Emma Winchester 424 for being the best beta and friend there ever was.

As always, reach out with ideas or requests for future chapters!

Read, Review, but most importantly, ENJOY!

Dean - 17

Sam - 13

Katie - 10

As they entered the third week of January, the Winchester clan had settled into a new town in freezing cold Maine after Christmas break. New schools hit each Winchester differently, and for his senior year, Dean didn't have any shits left to give. He'd long given up on trying to fit in; instead, he saw a new school as an opportunity to impress a new selection of ladies.

John was out on an early supply run while the siblings got ready for school. It was Dean's turn in the bathroom, and of course he was taking his time to make sure his hair was spiked just right. Tomorrow he turned 18, legally an adult, and he couldn't be happier. He had plenty of fake IDs that put him over 18 already, but truly being an adult was a special feeling in itself. He couldn't think of anything that he'd actually do differently as a legal adult, but just knowing that he could do certain things was satisfying in itself.

Meanwhile, Sam and Katie were finishing up breakfast at the kitchen table. She took another bite of cereal and casually turned the page of the newspaper that her dad had left discarded this morning. She'd always known her dad to be dedicated to reading as many newspapers as he could - he'd say that it was to keep up to date with current events, which wasn't a full lie. Katie looked at the pictures more out of boredom than anything this morning, but a large black and white picture of some classic cars caught her eye. Pulling the paper closer, she read the details.

Classic Car Show

This Friday, January 24th, 2:00pm

$15

Katie's eyes darted over to the bathroom door to make sure it was closed before she slid the newspaper over to Sam, pointing repeatedly at the ad in excitement. "Check it out!"

Sam slurped some milk out of his almost empty bowl and glanced at the paper. "What is it?"

Katie groaned. Why did he make it so difficult? She hopped down from her seat and stood next to Sam to make sure she could whisper. "It's a car show on Dean's birthday tomorrow. It's like fate! We have to get him a ticket."

Honestly, Sam was immediately interested in the idea. They didn't always get Dean a birthday gift, and if they did, it was usually something small like a magazine or candy bar. Life on a strict budget and all didn't leave much room for luxuries. But this year, he was turning 18, and maybe it was a sign that they should do something more meaningful.

Being the fiscally responsible teenager he was, Sam's eyes went right to the price tag. "How are we going to come up with $15 by tomorrow?" It wasn't like they got an allowance or anything - they got the bare minimum to get by on school lunches and nothing more. If they did truly need something, they'd just ask Dean (or their dad in a true emergency), but it defeated the point to ask Dean for money for his own gift.

She shrugged her shoulders while she racked her brain for an idea of how they could come up with the money in one day. But she knew that they had to make it work. It wasn't often that they could do something special for Dean like this. Then, like a sign from the gods, she saw the edge of a white bulky envelope resting underneath another part of the discarded newspaper. She motioned toward the envelope as the answer to their problem.

Sam's eyebrows about flew off. "No way. That's Dad's."

"Yeah, but it's full of cash. He won't notice - it's been sitting on the table for like a week." She threw another glance at the bathroom door to be safe, and then reached over and grabbed the envelope. Opening it slowly, she saw that it was filled with a ton of small bills: $5's, $10's, and numerous $20's. She wasn't wrong - John had the wad of cash sitting on the table for close to a week and had honestly never mentioned it to the kids.

"Katie, we can't take that!" Sam hissed in a low voice when she opened the envelope.

Against her better judgment or any rational thought, Katie quickly grabbed a $10 and a $5, before Sam snatched the envelope out of her hand. "Put it back," he whispered harshly. However, she didn't listen and she shoved the money in her pocket.

"It'll be okay," she replied with a level of confidence only possible in a naive kid.

Before Sam could convince her how much of a bad idea this was, the bathroom door flung open and out strode an overly confident Dean. "Well if I ain't perfection, I don't know what–" Dean stopped mid-sentence when he saw his two siblings huddled together quite suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"What? Nothing," Katie replied quickly as Sam lowered the envelope of cash and stashed it stealthy under his leg, out of view.

Dean's eyes narrowed between the two of them, clearly up to something. "Then why do you both look guilty?"

Sam knew he had two choices - he could move forward with this plan and hope John didn't find out, or he could throw Katie under the bus right now and they'd only endure the wrath of Dean (which was a walk in the park compared to the alternative). However, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Deep down, he wanted to give Dean something special for his birthday, and this was their only option. There was a part of him that still held a glimmer of hope that they'd pull this off, and he'd find a way to repay the money before his dad noticed somehow.

Wanting to keep Dean off their trail, Sam replied accusingly, "Cause Katie didn't finish her cereal again, and I told her you'd be pissed."

Katie hadn't expected that, and her eyes quickly went over to her bowl. Well, he wasn't wrong. She'd been completely distracted and hadn't finished. Dean's eyes bore into her, demanding an explanation because she knew better than to waste cereal. Without another thought, she played along because he was clearly buying the made up story. "Sorry, it just got so soggy and icky, you know?"

Dean rolled his eyes at her lame excuse that she'd used more than once. "Well you better eat it or hide the evidence, because if Dad finds out, I'm not covering for you," he retorted as he went to put on his boots. It was a total lie - they all knew he'd insert himself as a buffer no matter what, but Katie did want to make it right, so she went back over to her cereal and ate the rest of it as fast as she could. There was no need to cause any additional scenes today.

Meanwhile, Sam waited for Dean's back to be turned and he placed the white envelope exactly how they found it - just $15 less.

The siblings made their way back to the motel after school, keeping their chit chat to a minimum because they were all bloody cold. The January afternoon wind was relentless and made the 5 block walk annoying as hell. After they filed back into the room, Dean quickly closed the door and shivered. "Damn, never been so thankful for heat."

Just then, John slammed his hand down on the table and immediately caught the attention of all three, who turned to him in surprise. "Well, we won't have heat for long," John replied stoically.

The three kids shared a glance, seeing if anyone knew what was going on, but they were each met with equally confused stares.

"What's going on, Dad?" Dean asked as he shrugged off his jacket and threw it onto the bed. He could tell something was wrong, but he was treading as lightly as he could since he didn't know what he was walking into.

"It's been an interesting day," John started as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together. "You see, I had to go pay our next month's rent at the front desk this morning. Shouldn't have been a problem because I'd counted out every dollar last night."

Katie and Sam knew exactly where this was heading, and the full body panic began to settle in - heart racing, sweaty palms, fear coursing through their veins. They weren't going to be able to give Dean the gift because they were about to die. Not even eight hours had passed before they'd been made.

When nobody spoke up, John continued, watching them like a hawk now. "Imagine my shock when I came up $15 short. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now would you?" His eyes burned into each of his kids one at a time, trying to bring the culprit to light.

Dean was completely taken aback by this - it had been the last thing he'd been expecting today. Who would have been dumb enough to take $15 from their father of all people? The thought that John was mistaken ran through his mind, but he quickly pushed that aside because when it came to finances, John Winchester didn't leave any room for error. Dean turned to see his younger siblings beside him, and their eyes connected with his for the briefest of moments. It was a millisecond, but Dean was so attuned to them that he immediately knew what was behind those looks - they were guilty as fuck. And now the encounter he'd had in the morning made so much more sense. Those morons stole money out of the envelope John had left on the table. He was honestly dumbfounded for a moment as his mind raced with what few options he had.

"Or am I just going to have to punish all of you?" John threatened, knowing he could smoke the person out with that classic threat.

The warning didn't linger in the air for more than two seconds. Dean now had no choice. "It was me," he lied without a second thought. If his kid siblings did in fact steal the money, he was sure it was for a good reason, although he was pissed that they didn't come to him first. Why they thought they could steal from John and get away with it was beyond him. But he bit the bullet and confessed, already making a mental note to smack them upside the head later. "I took the money. I'm sorry, sir," Dean said as he ducked his head, playing the part.

That had been the last child that he thought would be guilty. John ran his tongue along his front teeth, trying to decide if he believed Dean would do this. But after a few seconds, he accepted that it was Dean, because the boy knew better than to lie to his face.

John sat back in the chair, his arms coldly folded across his chest. "Dean, front and center," he barked.

Katie and Sam shared a panicked look, unsure what to do. Step in now, and John would rip them all to shreds. It was like Dean could sense their conflict, and he turned to look at them as he moved to stand in front of his father. Ever so subtly, he shook his head at them, silently saying to stand down and not interfere because it would only make things worse.

The father was now on his feet, towering over his eldest in full authoritative mode. "What was so damn important that you had to steal from me, boy?" He added extra emphasis on the sin.

After a moment of struggle, Dean lifted his eyes to meet his father's, knowing that he had to or it would just make things worse. "I was a bit short on cash. I promise I'll go out and bring you back double tonight."

John took a threatening step closer, his patience clearly gone. "What. Did. You. Buy. You won't like it if I have to ask again." His eyes were lasers that set him ablaze.

Dean racked his brain for literally anything he could say that would make a lick of sense. He blurted out the first plausible thing he could think of. "A magazine." He regretted how stupid it sounded after he said it, but he was committed now.

"A magazine?!" John bellowed. "A MAGAZINE?" Dean remained silent, knowing that was best. "You thought it was a good idea to STEAL from your FATHER for a damn MAGAZINE?" Steam was pouring out of his ears. "Where is it?" he demanded harshly.

"It's at school in my locker," Dean lied with remorse.

"What the hell were you thinking!" John bellowed loudly, causing Katie to quietly take a step closer to Sam. John caught the movement out of the side of his eye, reminding him that his other two kids were still in the room. He ran an exhausted hand down his face, never liking that he had to punish any of his children. But he'd be damned if he let one of them get away with stealing from him. He turned to the window and momentarily thought about sending them outside like he'd done on occasion before. John may have a hard hand, but he wasn't malicious enough to send them out into the freezing cold. So he turned to the other two and commanded, "Go in the bathroom and close the door."

Dean's head hung low, knowing exactly what this meant. If those little shits didn't have a good reason for him getting his ass beat, he was going to put hot sauce in their toothpaste for a year. Katie and Sam shared a look, but didn't say anything as they scurried off to the bathroom. Katie looked at Dean as she was overcome with guilt as she closed the door.

"Sammy, we have to tell Dad the truth," she whispered as she sat down beside Sam in front of the tub. "This isn't Dean's fault."

Sam took a deep breath. "We can't…Dean practically told us not to interfere. So we just have to let it play out and make it up to him…somehow." But being Sam, he had to add for good measure, "I told you this was a bad idea."

She punched him lightly in the arm, knowing full well that he was right. Before she could reply, they heard Dean's voice through the door. "Dad, please, I'm almost 18."

John instantly retorted firmly, "I don't care how old you are. You disobey and you pay the consequences."

Katie then turned into Sam and buried her face into his chest, covering her ears because she knew what was coming next.

Not too much time had passed, and Dean was now sitting uncomfortably at the kitchen table, writing an exorcism 50 times at his father's demand. John knew how much Dean hated writing lines - the teenager thrived more at being active, so being forced to sit still always packed a larger punch. The room had palpable tension until John declared he was going to pick up dinner, and nobody should do anything stupid again today while he was gone.

The second the door closed, Dean was on his feet, storming over to the couch where his siblings were sitting. "Which one of you little shits stole that money?" he demanded as his eyes narrowed at them.

They both instantly sat up straighter, dripping with guilt. "We didn't mean for any of this to happen," Katie quickly confessed.

"WE?! So both you ass hats are in on this? What did you think would happen?" He threw his hands up in pure frustration.

Sam and Katie may get along much better now than they did a year ago, but Sam wasn't about to go down on this ship without making the truth known. "I told her it wasn't a good idea."

"Well no shit it wasn't a good idea. I got my ass handed–"

Katie couldn't take the guilt anymore and she sprung to her feet and wrapped her arms around Dean's waist tightly, almost knocking the wind out of him. "I'm really sorry, Dean. I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll do all the dishes, and laundry, and be really good."

Dean patted her on the back once before he shoved her off him, quickly reaching his limit for feelsy crap and he was still livid. "Damn straight you're going to do all that and whatever else I come up with." He looked over at Sam and pointed. "That goes for you too, short bus."

"Oh, come on, I didn't –" Sam tried to save himself, but Dean cut him off with a pissed off glare that instantly shut him up.

"Now what was so damn important that you couldn't just ask me for $15?" Dean demanded with crossed arms.

Katie stole a glance with Sam, silently asking if it was okay to move forward. Sam just shrugged, not seeing any point to keep it a secret or lie about it at this point. So she went over to her backpack and pulled out a folded up piece of newspaper with the money inside.

It was clear that she was overcome with remorse, and she held onto some smidge of hope that this wouldn't end as a complete disaster. She walked back up to Dean and held out the paper. "We wanted to get this for your birthday. So, uh, happy birthday, De."

Although he'd never admit it, her use of his childhood nickname quickly cooled some of the fire raging inside him. Dean was completely taken back that this had to do with a birthday gift for him - that had been the last thing that he'd expected. Confused, he cautiously unwrapped the newspaper clipping, unsure what he was about to find. Suddenly the $15 fell out, which he quickly caught. He stared at the paper, taking in what it actually was - an ad for a classic car show. When he saw that the entrance fee was $15 and the date was tomorrow, it all made sense.

His stupid brother and sister had just wanted to get him a birthday gift - and a meaningful one at that. He truly was touched by this, even if he was slightly annoyed that they thought it was okay to steal money rather than just ask him or literally any other option that wouldn't get their asses kicked.

He took another moment to stare at it before sharing a look with them both. "I appreciate this, guys. It's, uh, it's very nice of you." He chucked sarcastically, "Even if I was the one who had to pay for it."

"I'm sorry about that, Dean. It wasn't our best idea," Sam finally gave in, knowing he did in fact play a role in all this. "We'll tell Dad the truth when he comes back."

Dean shook his head abruptly. "Hell no. Leave it alone, Sammy. It's over, and we won't talk about it again." He looked between the both of them, making sure that they understood. If they confessed, their dad would go ballistic on all of them, and Dean couldn't handle a second round of this.

Katie nodded in understanding. "So do you think you'll be able to go?" Katie asked quietly, hoping that they didn't go through all this for nothing.

Dean looked at the ad's details again. 2:00pm start time - if he cut last period study hall, he could surely make it for a few hours before he had to swing back by and pick up these two morons. Honestly, it would be pretty damn cool to spend his birthday looking at some classic cars up close. Hell, maybe he'd be able to sit in one of them, too.

"Yeah, I think I can make it work." He smiled, secretly getting excited and making him forget about what had gone down just an hour before. "But you two pull something like this again, and I ain't covering for you. Not a chance." He pointed a finger sternly before heading back over to the table to finish his assignment. But everyone in the room knew that it would always be an empty threat, because that was what Dean did - he'd protect those two from anyone and anything until his last day.