FIC - What Now? 6/?
Nov. 1st, 2011 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verucasalt123
title: What Now? 6/?
pairing: Sam/Dean
rating: R/NC-17 eventually, there will be Wincest at some point
summary: Pre-series. Sam ends up with a baby, and copes as long as he can on his own. Additional chapters will be added as they show up in my brain.
A/N: A turn toward some domesticity.
After a couple of hours, the brothers stood back and admired their accomplishment. They’d gotten the crib put together without murdering each other or breaking anything, which was a minor miracle.
“This calls for a celebration, I think. How about if I go pick us up some Chinese food?”
Sam almost fainted at the thought of getting takeout, it was a luxury he’d treated himself to maybe twice in the past year or so. But he just smiled up at his brother and said, “Sure, if you don’t mind, that would be fantastic.”
“Vegetable lo mein?”
Laughing, Sam replied, “God, you remember everything, Dean. Yeah.”
“What about the baby?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I can’t really be sure what’s in everything, and I don’t think they’re”
Dean was giving him the look again. “All right, just get him steamed vegetable dumplings, those are soft and I can cut them into little pieces, see if he likes it.”
“Cool. Be right back. Don’t turn Jay into a girl while I’m gone. Oooh, the simultaneous eyeroll and bitchface. Haven’t lost your touch, Sammy.”
Sam set Jay in his high chair and went into the bedroom to put the sheets onto his new crib. As he was tying the bumper onto the slats, he started thinking again how great this all was and wondering how long it would last. He had to work the next day, so Dean would probably take off. Hopefully now he would come visit on a regular basis, though, Sam was almost positive that would happen. Dean was obviously having a good time, and not doing anything because he felt obligated, that much was absolutely clear. And he was completely smitten with Jay, which wasn’t really all that surprising now that Sam really thought about it. No matter how good he was at hunting, Dean had always been a family man.
Once they got their dinner set up, Sam cooled down the dumplings and cut them into tiny pieces for Jay, who dug into them with gusto. “Next time, we’ll see how he likes pork dumplings”, Dean said, shooting his brother a sly smile.
Next time. Sam never thought those two words would sound so amazing. Dean lost the smile, though, and his face turned serious as he seemed to be searching for something to say. Maybe about how it was probably time for him to get back on the road. That was all right, Sam thought, Dean would clearly be back, and it felt to him like they’d reconnected more in less than two days than he’d ever thought possible.
“Look, I hate to spring this on you, Sam, but do you think it would be all right if I stayed for a while? You can throw me out whenever you’re tired of me, but I could get some kind of job, hunt when there’s something local, maybe help out with Jay?”
Jesus Christ. Sam wasn’t prepared for this. He thought maybe Dean would stay for a day, get the kid a toy and move on. There was nothing on the entire fucking planet Sam wanted more, but he had to be sure. And he had to be strong, too, certain that whatever non-brotherly feelings he had for Dean could be contained.
“Dean. You’re a hunter. It’s what you do. I can’t ask you to give that up. After everything I’ve done, I can’t ask you for anything. I get that I scared you when I called the other night, but I promise I’m not that bad off. Just having this little bit of time with you, knowing you’ll be around sometimes, I feel so much better. I can take care of the baby, I know I can, you don’t have to worry.”
“Okay, first of all, ‘after everything I’ve done’, fuck you, you haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not saying I want to stay here and keep an eye on you because I think you can’t take care of Jay, so don’t you go thinking that for a minute. And second, you didn’t ask me for shit. This is me asking you. I’m not giving up hunting, I’d still do it. But if you’re willing to take on a roommate, even part-time, I’m asking. Would you let me stay?”
Sam studied his brother for any hint that Dean was feeling like he needed to start taking care of him again, either out of habit or obligation. But there was nothing even remotely like that in Dean’s face. Sam understood the look on his brother’s face like he understood his own self. Dean saw this little bit of domesticity and wanted a part of it. So he said the dumbest thing possible.
“There’s only one bedroom. I could sleep on the couch, though, and if you wanted to stay…then yeah. Yeah, I’d love it if you would stay.” Sam’s brain was shouting at him. YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID NO. But he didn’t. Selfish. Again.
“Fuck that, Sasquatch, I’ll sleep on the couch, you’d never fit on this thing. Let’s do this – I’ll hang out for a few days. We’ll see how things work out. If it’s not unbearable, I’ll stay. If it sucks, I’ll go. Sound fair?”
“Sure, Dean. Perfectly fair. I don’t know what to say. I mean, you know, thanks, and…”
“Chick-flick moment. Unnecessary. You’re the one doing me a favor here. An apartment is much better than a filthy motel room, and as long as I’m here, I get to spoil your baby. Unless you’ll be mad if I spoil him. Wait, no, nevermind, I don’t really give a shit about that, I’m going to spoil the baby regardless, which is my God-given right as his uncle. So don’t bother arguing that particular point.”
Sam genuinely laughed at that and readily agreed. Hell, if things were the other way around and Dean had a son, Sam would spoil the kid completely rotten, so he shouldn’t be surprised.
But he knew for sure that he couldn’t let Dean in on his secret. His desire to have Dean all over him, spoiling him in a completely different way. When they were still kids, he’d thought he’d caught a bit of reciprocation on his brother’s part, but it had probably been his horny teenage imagination. Now that they were both adults, all that was best forgotten.
“Please, Sam. Never think I don’t have faith in your ability to raise this kid, and raise him well. Hell, you learned from the best, right? Anyway, two sets of hands are better than one. I’ll have a home base and a baby to teach Zeppelin lyrics to, you’ll have some help with the day to day, and we’ll both have – well, we’ll have each other.” There was a flash in Dean’s eyes then, there and gone in just a second, and Sam could almost convince himself he imagined it. It probably wasn’t – no, it definitely wasn’t that. Dean just meant they could be close again, like they’d been before.
“Yeah. Each other. It’ll be nice to have, uh, have company. Someone to talk to who can actually talk back. You’ll have Jay singing Ramble On before you know it. But please, man, no Motorhead. I gotta draw the line somewhere.”
They both smiled and clinked their beer bottles together once more. “All right, then. Let’s just try it out. You gotta work tomorrow?”
“Bright and early. You gonna be bored out of your mind sitting around here all day?”
“Nah. Not if you let Jay stay here with me”, Dean replied, flashing that irresistible grin again. “Just for the day. I won’t take him to a pool hall or anything, I swear.”
“Shit, Dean, yeah, of course. You can put him in the stroller and walk around the neighborhood some, maybe introduce yourself to one of the cute single moms at the park.” Sam tried to sound casual about it. “Oh, and hey, you can cook me some damn dinner too”, he smirked, “I might have an apron around here somewhere.”
Dean cuffed him on the back of the head, and Sam threw a balled up napkin at Dean’s face. Things were feeling good. Sam could keep his little secret and they would make this work, he was just sure of it.
But there was one other thing that hadn’t been brought up yet, and now that they’d made this decision, it had to be said.
Dean, of course, was the one to say it.
“Sammy, you gotta tell Dad. I’m going to call him and tell him I’m staying here for a while, or you can tell him when you talk to him, but seriously, there’s no getting around it at this point. I’m not saying you have to invite him to visit, but you have to tell him what’s going on with you.”
“I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing since you got here. It’s not like the two of you are in each other’s pockets anymore, but you still talk, and I’d never put you in a position where you had to keep this from him. Honestly, I’d rather do it sooner than later. I’ll call him tonight. Probably have to leave a message, it’s not like my number’s on his contacts list.”
“All right. How about if I clean this stuff up and give Jay a bath, you can try to get in touch with him.”
Dean scribbled down the number on a napkin, and Sam took a deep breath as he dialed, having not the first clue what he was going to say to his father after all this time.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 02:53 am (UTC)I love the way that Sam and Dean interact over dinner in this chapter!
And, as always, I can't wait for more!
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Date: 2011-11-02 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 08:41 am (UTC)Hmmm calling John! Hope he doesn't screw things up.
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Date: 2011-11-02 12:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 11:59 pm (UTC)