This chapter is one of my personal favorites of Emily that I've ever written. Shout out to my real life nephew who served as inspiration for this adventure! Can't wait to hear what you think :)
Thank you to Emma Winchester 424 for being my cheerleader and beta! Please take a moment to check out her Dean/Daughter fic and be prepared to have your socks blown off.
Read, Review, but most importantly ENJOY!
Three-and-a-half-year-old Emily let out a yawn as she pulled the covers up closer to her chin. She loved bedtime when Uncle Dean was there because he read the best stories. They always seemed to be different than when her dad read the same books. And that was simply because Dean embellished the stories whereas his brother actually read the stupid words on the page.
"Okay, you water alien," because that had been his version of The Little Mermaid, "time to go to sleep."
She turned on her side and looked up at Dean, who was sitting on the edge of the bed right by her head. "We still go to the museum tomorrow?" Her blue eyes glimmered with hope.
He smoothed back her hair. "Heck yeah, we are. So, you better go to sleep so tomorrow can get here faster." He cherished the special weekends he was able to swing by and spend with his family. He desperately wished he could be around more, especially after Sam's wife, Sarah, passed away over a year ago. But the hunting life kept him on the road, coast to coast, allowing him to only stop by maybe once a month or so.
Emily grinned, already excited about what was going to happen tomorrow. She'd been waiting all week for their trip to the children's museum to play. She had been on her absolute best behavior because if not, Daddy said she couldn't go. She made sure to pick up her toys, eat her vegetables, and go to bed without a fuss for a whole week! It was very hard work for the toddler, but it was totally worth it. "I love you," she said quietly.
Dean smiled affectionately at the brown-haired girl, but before he could respond back, a gush of wind outside rattled the window, causing her to grip the comforter tighter and cower back in fear. "Hey, hey, Em, it's okay," he soothed, resting his hand on her head. He knew it was actually just the wind—there had been high wind gusts all day, but he hated seeing her like this.
His comforting hand allowed her to relax a little before she sheepishly confessed, "Sometimes I get scared when it does that."
The overprotective side in Dean came out and he was ready to do anything to make it better, but he realized it wasn't like he could make the wind go away. He thought back to his little brother when he was this age and how Dean used to comfort him when he got scared. And then he knew that all his little niece needed was someone to be there with her. He scooted over and laid down beside her, reaching over to clasp her tiny hands between his. "It's okay to be scared sometimes, Em. I got you."
Emily snuggled into his side, soaking up the love before replying, "I'm all betterer now."
And they laid together until she drifted off into her dream land of dolls and dinosaurs.
Emily was literally bouncing off the walls ever since she woke up at seven in the morning. There was something unique about kids, they all woke up with copious amount of energy at god forsaken hours of the morning when all adults of the world just wanted to peace and quiet. Although seven a.m. was pretty late for Dean to be waking up, he wasn't used to having a ball of fire do laps around him.
Dean sat at the kitchen table and cradled his coffee mug with both hands, staring blankly at the wall on the other side of the room. He hadn't fully been woken up yet. The coffee hadn't quite touched his inner soul, but yet he could hear a noise faintly beside him.
"And we're gonna see the dinosaurs and the trains and the merry goes round and the—," Emily went on and on from her seat at the end of the table. She was going a mile a minute, eager to get to the Children's Museum today with her dad and uncle.
Sam chuckled as everything Emily said to Dean seemed to go in one ear and out the other at this hour. He couldn't blame the guy—if he didn't have to deal with this every day, he'd be reacting the same way. He gently patted his daughter's hand. "Emmy, sit down and eat your breakfast first. Then you can tell Uncle Dean all about the museum, okay?"
She blinked a few times, contemplating his request. His raised eyebrows told her she better obey, so with a loud sigh, she picked up her spoon and dug into her oatmeal quietly.
Taking advantage of the moment to get in a word, Sam began, "I was thinking we'd head out around—"
Dean cut him off before he could finish his sentence. He groaned like a caveman and simply held up his palm, demanding silence. Then he took a long swig of coffee, letting it invigorate his soul. Sam shook his head but complied with the barbarian's request. After about three minutes, Dean had polished off his first mug and was already starting into his second. There was enough caffeine in his system to function now. He waved his finger in a circular motion as if to tell Sam to start it back up.
"As I was saying, I think we should head out—"
"Hey Uncle Dean!" Emily cut in, sensing it was okay to talk now because her dad was doing it.
Sam quickly turned to her with a stern glare. "Emily, I was talking. Are you supposed to interrupt people when they are talking?" he asked with patience.
This was a trick question and she knew it. Her dad asked her all kinds of questions like these, the ones that made her think. However, she knew the answer to this one. He'd told her before, but she forgot. It was hard to remember all these rules. Her eyes darted down to her empty bowl as she replied solemnly, "No. I'm sorry."
He gently rubbed her head. "It's okay. Now wait your turn, got it?" He waited for her to nod before he continued, "So we're heading out around 9:30, so we can be inside by the time it opens at 10. Will you be caffeinated enough by then?"
"I'm going to need something stronger if you expect me to keep up with that all day." He subtly nodded at the young girl.
"What? Body not holding up like it used to?" Sam grinned.
Dean sat his cup down, offended. "I'll have you know that I can still please the la—" He stopped mid-sentence as he realized who was in his presence, a little girl who was wiggling with anticipation to talk. He quickly finished his thought, "I can still please others better than you ever could. Even in your prime." With a triumphant smirk, he picked his mug back up and sipped the dark liquid before turning to Emily. "Yes, young one, how can I help you?"
Her eyes quickly darted to Sam's to make sure it was okay to talk again. He subtly nodded and she sat up on her knees, leaning over the table enthusiastically. "Let's go play before we go to the museum!"
Dean loved this girl—oh God knew how much he doted on her. But her never ending energy was too much for him to handle. If he was going to go all out and enjoy the museum with her, he had to save up. He wanted the trip to be the best thing ever, considering he was secretly excited to go himself. Their dad had never taken them to a children's museum back in the day, so the inner little Dean was anxious to fulfill a long overdue dream.
Sensing the hesitation of not wanting to disappoint Emily but also wanting to conserve all battery power, Sam came to the rescue. "Em, how about you go play in your room for a while and then we'll get ready to go? Uncle Dean and I need to do some work." It was a blatant lie, but Emily knew that "work" meant she needed to go do her own thing and leave the adults alone.
Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout, clearly not liking the response. Play time was her favorite. Especially when it was with Uncle Dean. However, she knew better than to fight back on this, so she mumbled an okay before hopping down from her chair. Before she left the room, she turned back to Dean and asked for confirmation, "You still coming to the museum, right?" She just had to make sure he wasn't going to leave.
"I wouldn't miss it, kid," he replied with affection. She flashed him her million-dollar smile and skipped off upstairs to her room with glee.
Finally, the time had come and they arrived at the museum. Sam was thrilled that Dean had agreed to come along. It had taken some minor convincing, but when he had his secret weapon aka a passionate three year old do the asking, there really was no battle. But in order to not scare him away, Sam had taken the day off for work so they could go during the week when there was significantly less children at the museum. It was almost empty at this early hour actually. Even better for them.
They purchased their tickets and made their way past the entrance. Sam had a firm grip on Emily's hand as she was practically squirming with anticipation thinking all the fun that was to come. Her dad brought her here frequently, maybe once a month or so. They'd take their time exploring all the awesome things! Sam liked to make sure they spent time reading factual information posted around the museum to keep the learning alive, but Emily actually enjoyed it. Her dad could make learning fun!
Emily easily recognized the sign to the dinosaur cave up ahead and she was about to rocket off, but Sam had learned one of the most important things of being here with a toddler: always look for the bathroom. He spotted one up ahead and he knew they should stop by because once they got into the actual museum, there was no turning back with his stubborn little girl. It was one of the qualities he had hoped she wouldn't inherit from him and it made him dread the teenage years already.
Sam veered left toward the bathrooms without saying a word and Dean tagged along silently right up until he noticed Sam was heading for the "family bathroom."
"Nope. I'll just wait out here then," he declared like a defiant child.
Sam stopped and turned to him in annoyance. "Why?"
"Because the second we," he motioned between the three of them, "walk into a family bathroom, people are gonna think you're not her only father, if you catch my drift?" It would totally put a cramp in his style of picking up any hot nannies or single moms today. It was too risky, and he had an image to uphold.
Sam's bottom jaw shifted from side to side. Before he could tell Dean that he just unleashed a can of worms, Emily piped up, "If Uncle De don't go, me neither."
His eyes narrowed at his older brother. He knew Emily was going through a phase where she wanted to do anything and everything her beloved uncle wanted to do. She had become quite his mini-me in recent visits, soaking up his every movement, and he knew this would be no different.
Dean could see Sam was about to bitch him out, so he quickly back-tracked to smooth things over. "Fine, we use the normal bathroom." He pointed to the men's entrance.
Knowing that was his only option, Sam relented and headed that way with Emily in tow. She tried to keep up with her dad's pace, but it was hard as she kept turning around to make sure Uncle Dean was following. She would only go in if he did, remember?
Noticing the curious eyes, Dean made silly faces at her to elicit the much-loved laughter. And he didn't fail.
Once inside the bathroom, Emily announced to Dean, "You gotta wait for me right here." She pointed to an area beside the sink. Sam opened a stall and started to tug her in, but she refused to go until she saw her uncle nod in agreement.
Through the closed door, Dean could easily hear their conversation in low voices.
"But I don't gotta go pee, Daddy."
"Yes, you do. You haven't gone since this morning."
"Nuh-uh." Even though Sam was right.
"Emily, just pee."
"I don't wanna."
"Either go pee or we're going back home."
Dean couldn't help but chuckle softly at the conversation. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who both started and stopped the apocalypse and fought Lucifer himself. He was now locked in a tight battle to convince a three-year-old to pee. It cracked him up just thinking about it and he made a mental note to tease Sam later, because that was what big brothers were for. But honestly, he knew there was nowhere else Sam would rather be.
After Emily finished up her business, Sam opened the door for her to escape, making sure to lock eyes with Dean. The message was clear- watch the kid while I take a turn.
"Help, please," she called out to Dean, who then lifted her up to wash her hands. After she quickly finished and shook off the water instead of using a dryer (much more fun!), she grabbed her uncle's hand and headed for the door. "Let's wait outside for Daddy."
Seeing no harm in the matter, he followed the kid out, calling over his shoulder, "Don't stink up the joint!" He was only met with a loud flush and presumably a bitch face.
Once back into the hall, Emily kept tugging on his arm. "Come on, let's go!"
Dean firmly planted his feet apart on the ground to keep his balance while she continued to pull on him. "We gotta wait for your dad, kid. The museum will still be there in a minute."
"Nnooooo!" she declared a bit louder, pulling with all her might. "Go now!"
Dean quickly glanced around to see who was in earshot of a pending meltdown. He tried to keep his patience, but the kid had some strength packed in her midget form. Clearly she didn't get that from her father. But the midget was stubborn—that he knew. So he tried to be firm with her, not wanting it to escalate into an actual issue. "Em, I said we're waiting, okay?" He tried to reason with her.
"Nnoooo!" she whined again. The museum was just feet away—she could see it. She didn't want to wait forever longer because that was clearly how long it had been already. "Go now!" As she continued to grunt and tug, Sam walked out of the bathroom to witness the scene before him. It didn't take him more than a moment to realize Emily wasn't listening to Dean.
He sighed. This wasn't how he had planned to start their trip. He walked over to them and gripped Emily's arm, pulling her away from Dean and into the back corner. He put her back against the wall and knelt down in front of her, his stern father face plastered on. She knew she was in trouble, but that didn't stop her from trying to squirm away around him.
"Stand still."
She continued to squirm, not liking the fact that she was getting in trouble in front of her uncle. "I wanna go play," she cried out softly.
"Stop moving, Emily."
"Go plaayyyy." She tried to move around him. He just wasn't understanding what she needed to do!
Sam spoke quietly, but clearly, needing a last ditch effort to not turn this into something larger and ruin the whole trip before it even started. "Stand still unless you want Uncle Dean to see you get a spanking."
And just as he'd thought, it did the trick. He wasn't one to punish his kid in public or even spank her, but he had quite the hunch that the threat would be enough. She was mortified at the thought of her beloved uncle seeing her get swatted. It was a fate worse than death and was enough to quickly snap her into submission.
"Good. Now pay attention." He waited for her blue eyes to meet his. "You better be on your best behavior in there. You listen to Uncle Dean when he tells you to do something. If you can't do that, we have to go back home and nobody gets to go to the museum. Is that what you want?"
She shook her head fervently. Her life would be over if that happened.
"Okay then. Go apologize to him and I better not see it happen again. Clear?"
"Yes, Daddy," she mumbled quietly. "I'll be good."
"That's my girl," he praised as he brushed his hand along her cheek to show he wasn't mad. He stood back up and gave her a soft pat on the bottom to get her moving back over to the eldest Winchester.
She sheepishly walked back up to him, clearly embarrassed to have gotten in a little trouble. She reached up for his hand and said genuinely, "'M sorry."
He ruffled her hair. "All is forgiven, Em." He exchanged another look with Sam to confirm that everyone was in the clear now to play. Dean would be just as upset as Emily if they didn't get to have their day at the museum. Sam gave a quick nod and he couldn't help but notice that Dean's green eyes turned playful with childlike excitement. Dean looked back down at his niece and exclaimed, "Now let's go find some dinosaurs."
Emily immediately perked up and let out a loud roooaarrrr as they took off toward the dinosaur exhibit.
Sam couldn't help but laugh as he pulled out his phone and quickly snapped a picture of the two of them, running off hand in hand. Maybe today wouldn't be so crazy after all.
Emily and Dean were like two sugar-hyped kids on the loose, exploring anything and everything. It was quite comical to sit back and watch it all unfold. They were like two peas in a pod and Sam loved how much they were having fun together. Secretly, he was thankful for the momentary break of always having to be "on" for his daughter. Being a parent was something he'd always wanted in life, but they never prepared you for how exhausting it could be, especially as a single father.
The duo was currently digging for fossils in a sand pit with goggles and gloves as Sam watched, leaning on the railing surrounding the pit.
"Look Dr. Uncle De! Is another one!" she pointed excitedly to the dinosaur bones she'd uncovered with her large paintbrush swooshing through the sand.
Dean pretended to stare at it extensively and rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "Ah, yes. You've found a Sam-farty-opolous! The smelliest of all dinosaurs!" He threw his brother a grin as if to say damn I'm good. His answer was met with a round of laughter from the little one.
"A Sam-farty-opolous!" she repeated with delight.
Sam leaned over the railing to the sand pit and looked down at the two. "That's not a real dinosaur," he had to correct for his daughter's sake.
But Dean wasn't having it. Keeping in his true paleontologist character, he turned to Emily with wide eyes. "Did you see that?" His eyes darted to Sam and back again. "It's the voice of a Sam-farty-opolous!"
Soaking up the creativity, she played right along. "Oh no! He gonna get us!"
Dean quickly stood up and tossed off his goggles. "We better get going before he smells up the WHOLE place and sucks all the fun out!" His exaggerated facial expressions showed intense worry.
"Guys," Sam tried to intervene, but they were already too far gone in their role playing.
"We gots to go!" Emily tossed her goggles aside in the sand pit, too, and took off up the few stairs to get out of the sand pit. Without missing a beat, Sam leaned down and wrapped his arm around her waist with a dinosaur growl, pulling her up in the air. "AAHHH! He gotted me! Help!"
Dean jumped into action and was beside Emily in a flash. "Hold your breath so the smell doesn't get to you!" Emily immediately sucked in a ball of air as her cheeks ballooned out, even though she kept breathing through her nose.
Sam's bitchface only deepened at their continued game. Sigh. He always had to be the responsible one around here. "Well this dinosaur says you can't go play with something else until you put your goggles back where they belong." He nodded with his head toward the bin on the ground by them.
Dean raised his fist to the sky. "Gahh! He strikes again, sucking the fun out of everything! Hurry up, kid! We gotta get moving!" He obliged Sam's command and grabbed Emily from him, carrying her back into the sandpit before setting her down. "Get the goggles quick! We got more exploring to do!"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" she replied joyously as she picked up her goggles and moved as fast as she could to get them into their proper place.
Once the items were replaced to Sam's satisfaction, Sam stepped aside, opening their path to move through a walking tunnel to the next exhibit.
"There! There!" Emily pointed to the dimly lit cave. "We gots to go there!"
Dean's eyes danced with childish pleasure again. "I'll race you!"
Before Sam could open his mouth to protest, they both had already taken off, the eldest clearly at only a fraction of his normal speed. "No running!" Sam called after them.
They both stopped dead in their tracks at his voice and Dean raised his fist again to the sky once more as if to say Gah! He strikes again! He then picked up Emily and tucked her under his pit, holding her out to his side. He then took off at a speed walking pace and yelled back at his brother before he could complain, "We ain't running!"
Two children. Sam had two children.
Next up had been a train exhibit where the two played quite an elaborate show of a runaway train. Luckily, Emily had been strong enough to stop the immobile train cart just in time before it hit the city. Dean had been counting on her to do it because he wasn't strong enough, so good thing she had been there to save the day. It was a close call, even her dad had been nervous, playing along from inside the train cart. Emily couldn't have been happier. But like all three-year-olds, attention spans could only last so long.
"Let's go to China, Uncle De!" she announced giddy. She knew this museum pretty well, coming here regularly with Sam.
Dean had no idea what she was referring to, but he didn't give a crap. "To China!" he cheered.
Emily immediately grabbed his hand and started leading him farther down the hall. After running into another exhibit that had to do with mummies, she stopped and turned back to her dad, tugging on his jean to get him to kneel down.
"Yes, Em?"
"Daddy, can you show us how go to China?" she asked innocently, having forgotten the way.
Sam chuckled. "I caaaannn….for a price," he bargained with a wink.
She nodded fervently, willing to accept anything to get to the next play area. Sam leaned in purposefully with playful eyes and whispered something in her ear so Dean couldn't hear. He pulled back and searched her eyes for understanding. "That's real easy. I'll take him—" He quickly placed his fingers on her lips and shushed her.
"Remember, it's a surprise."
She nodded again and glanced back at Dean with a huge grin, letting him know that whatever it was clearly had to do with him. The eldest Winchester tried to give his brother an intense stare down to get answers, but the little bitch was like a locked vault. Whatever. It was a freaking children's museum. He'd take whatever Sam thought he could dish out here.
Sam led the way to the ramp that led from the first to the second floor. On the way up, Dean perched Emily high on his shoulders simply because he could. She squealed with delight as they exited the ramp onto the second floor. "There it is! China!" she pointed to their right where the next exhibit started.
Dean placed Emily back on the ground and she started tugging him to move faster. When they were almost there, Sam slowed his pace, wanting to be behind them to really take it all in. Emily stopped right in front of the entrance and pointed to her right. "Look! Airplane! We fly to China. Come on," she tugged him again.
But this time Dean fought against her as he took in what was before him. It was a freaking life-like airplane sitting in the middle of a mother fucking children's museum. He felt his heart actually jump up into his throat.
Emily tugged again. "Come on, we gots to take the airplane. Daddy said so!"
Ah, the price of hiring a tour guide to get to China. He was being forced on the airplane instead of walking straight through the entrance six feet to his left. Dean turned around to Sam, who was clearly gloating at this point.
"Come on!" Emily said again, this time a little louder. However, once the words left her mouth, she quickly remembered getting in trouble for this before. Oblivious to the staring match between the brothers, she stopped pulling on his arm and said sweetly, "I really wanna go to China with you, Uncle De."
Dean's eyes squeezed shut at those words. Damn this little girl pulling all the right heartstrings today. He opened his green eyes again and gave his brother the look of death before turning to face his fate. He let Emily start pulling him again toward it and he had a mental conversation with himself.
This is fake.
It's not even a real airplane.
We're not even going to get off the ground.
There's no way it's lifelike inside. It's a children's museum.
I'm fucking Dean Winchester. I ain't no sissy. Sam's the sissy.
But damn did this plane look real once he got inside. There were only about four rows of seats on both sides and two large TV screens that showed Chinese flight attendants telling them about where they were going. The round windows at the end of each aisle were also screens and it currently looked as if they were on the ground at an airport.
"Dammit," Dean muttered under his breath.
Sam clasped him on the back as they entered the fake plane and mocked, "To China!"
Emily quickly released Dean's hand and grabbed her father's, leading him to a seat in the back row. "You sit here, Daddy," she instructed and he obliged, not taking his amused eyes off Dean.
The toddler went back to retrieve her uncle and led him to the row right across from Sam. "You go here, Uncle De," she commanded with delight, unaware of his current mental state.
Knowing the responsibility of safety relied solely on her in this dangerous situation, she moved back over to her father to help fasten his seatbelt. It was easy to tell that Sam had played this game before because he immediately raised his arms up, so Emily could do it for him.
Why did a fucking fake plane need fake seatbelts? To what end?! Dean's mind was in overdrive. He had to fight hard to keep his outward appearance from showing his inner mental state for the sake of his niece. And to distract himself, he continued to glare at his brother and plot all the ways he was going to torture him with clowns in the next 48 hours.
Emily effortlessly moved back over to Dean and requested, "Arms up, sir." She was clearly repeating phrases she'd heard elsewhere. Dean cringed but knew he had no choice but to oblige. "Safety first always." No doubt that came from his idiot brother who only had minutes left to live because Dean was going to kill him.
Emily then took off to the front of the plane and stood in the aisle, saying something that was incoherent. She was trying to repeat the safety instructions from the video on the screen she'd seen too many times. And today she was trying to do it in Mandarin, which she clearly had never learned.
Dean snapped over to Sam in a hushed voice, "I murder you."
Sam put a hand on his chest as if he'd been suddenly offended by those words. "Such hateful words, Dean. Maybe you need a hug." He didn't even try to hide his dimpled grin. It wasn't often when he would get one over on his brother, so he was clearly reveling in the joy of the moment.
Dean shifted uncomfortably in this stupid seat, already wanting to rip out of the buckle and run off the stupid airplane. But his pride was the only thing that kept him here.
His angered eyes glared back at his little brother again. "Murder, Sam. There will be torture and then there'll be murder."
"BLAST OFF!" Emily suddenly declared loudly, pressing a red button below the TV screen. She sprinted back to her seat beside Dean and quickly buckled up. "We're moving super fast!" she declared, pointing to the window beside her. The screen looked as if they were rushing down the runway for take off, even if the fake airplane itself wasn't even moving. When her uncle wasn't playing along with her, she poked him a few times. "Look! Super fast!"
Dean peered over with one eye closed to get a glimpse of what she was referring to. That was it. He was done with this damn museum. How did they have the kind of budget to make shit look so real? This had to be traumatizing for so many kids! Although, if he would have asked anyone else, they would have confirmed how fake everything did seem.
There was something special about children in how they could pick up on things that nobody thought they would be able to understand. Emily was no exception to this rule. It didn't take her more than a few moments of carefully studying her uncle to realize that something was wrong. She scooted as close as she could and stared as his closed eyes again. Her eyes softened when she realized what was going on –she knew that look. She searched for his hand resting on his thigh. Without another thought, she reached out and placed her hand on top of his, repeating a familiar phrase without a second thought, "It's 'kay to be scared sometimes, Uncle De. I got you."
And there was something just so special about that moment that it caused Dean to swallow his own pride and let this little girl comfort him, damn whoever saw. He never truly understood how much his niece picked up on every damn word he said. It really brought it into perspective for him, just how good and righteous he had to be around her. She deserved that.
In a move that not even Sam had expected, Dean leaned over and gave Emily a kiss on the top of the head, clearly moved by her affectionate gesture. He whispered, "I'm much better now."
Sam's heart grew three sizes as he witnessed the scene unfold before him. He had no idea where the phrase had come from and he didn't care. For all the crap he and his brother gave one another, his little girl turned out to be even more compassionate than he'd ever known. She got one of his wife's best character traits and for that he was grateful.
And right then, Sam realized how thankful he was. Thankful that his daughter would grow up in a life with a devoted, playful uncle who wrapped her in copious amounts of love and laughter.