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Sammy's Time at Stanford - Related Works
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Published:
2016-02-19
Updated:
2016-06-13
Words:
6,320
Chapters:
2/?
Comments:
179
Kudos:
224
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Sammy's Time At Stanford AU: A fic based on a fic

Summary:

Sam had some trouble dealing with something, so Castiel and his twin brother Jimmy help him out.

(Written in the world created by ZoyciteM in "Sammy's Time At Stanford", picks up from something that happened circa chapter 11 and diverges from there)

Notes:

So I'm a HUGE fan of ZoyciteM's "Sammy's Time At Stanford", and I'm also a HUGE fan of ZoyciteM, period. She's pretty awesome and so is her writing, and I figured, what better way to show my love for this 'verse of hers and get back into writing than write a companion piece to her awesome fic?

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

“Cas, are you sure you’re okay? I mean, the guys at Health Services said that it was best-“ Sam started, only to find himself cut off by Cas.

“Sam, look at me,” he started, and waited for Sam to do as told.

“I appreciate that you’re trying to help, and I’m thankful, but sweetheart, this is the seventh time you’ve asked me that,” Cas told him, which prompted him to look down again. Once Cas had Sam looking at him again, he continued speaking. “This whole thing has been tough on me, I’m sure you’ve seen that; but I can’t even begin to imagine how rough this must’ve been on you and Jimmy, too,” Cas said, running a hand through Sam’s hair, as he’d found it was a good way of calming the taller one down. Cas had noticed the bags under his boyfriend’s eyes, and how he seemed to be wound up so tightly he might snap at any second.

“You’ve taken this harder than me, for sure, Sam,” Jimmy added. “Not that I wasn’t shaken up or worried about my brother, I mean, you’d have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to notice, but with the way you’ve been handling this, Cas and I are more than a little worried about you.”

“Guys, I’m fine. Have either of you seen Cas right now?“ Sam protested, sitting up from where he was leaning against Castiel and moving to look at the other twin. “If we should all be worrying about anyone in this room, you’re looking at the wrong guy. I’m not the one with a broken face.”

“Sam, whether or not you’re fine doesn’t limit itself to physical injury. We’re concerned with how little you’ve been looking after yourself. With you and Jimmy looking after me, there’s been no one to look after you, and if you can’t do that on your own right now, you know we’d both be happy to help you,” Cas said, making Sam turn around once more.

“You haven’t been sleeping well, if at all. Do you think we don’t notice every time you wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night? Every day when Cas and I wake up, you’re already working on an assignment or reading ahead, or getting breakfast, or cleaning up the room. You’ve lost weight, too. You haven’t been eating much during lunch or dinner, and I think you’ve been skipping breakfast altogether. You need fuel to run on all day, Sam. We’re worried about you. Let us help you; if not for you and your well being, then for us. Please.” That was Jimmy. He and Cas both sounded so worried for Sam, and although he didn’t know how to fix whatever it was that worried them so, he would do anything to get rid of all that worry and sadness.

When Sam drew in a breath to answer, however, Castiel cut him off.

“Jimmy and I were thinking about a scene we had planned, and originally it was going to take place after your midterms, but in light of recent events, we’re putting it on the table now,” he said. “Sam, we’re going to need you to look at us while we all talk this one through. We’re not sure you’ll be familiar with what we’re about to bring up and we need to be sure you understand exactly what you’re getting yourself into.”
“So tell me, Sammy, what do you know about infantilism?” Another genius line of Jimmy’s.

“Isn’t that the thing where you guys dress me up like a baby? Because if we’re being honest here, I don’t need an intervention, and I especially don’t need to be treated like I’m more useless than I already feel in this situation,” Sam told them both, not being mindful of his tone or filtering his opinion for once. After seeing the looks on the twins’ faces, however, he softened. “Guys, I’m telling you both, I’m okay. I am getting enough sleep, and I promise you both I’m eating enough. Please, guys, just drop it, okay?”

“See, Sam, that’s the thing: we don’t want to drop it. This has been going on for a week. The only time you let either of us see how you were really doing was when you cried, on the day it happened, and clearly, you have more where that came from, if how you’ve been doing has been any sort of evidence at all. We’re worried about you, Sam, and we just want to get you out of this bad headspace, is all,” Jimmy told him, blue eyes earnest and staring straight into Sam’s hazel ones.

“Will you at least listen to what we have in mind for you? Sam, sweetheart, we just want to see you okay again, and Jimmy and I might have found a good way to do that. Please, just give it a shot,” Cas pleaded, trying to get the taller to listen. He knew couldn’t make Sam do this, or it would just make things worse; but if Sam chose to obey, if he chose to listen and do as told, it could do wonders for him, Cas just knew it.

“I promise I’ll listen. I can’t really promise I’ll do anything more, but I’ll listen,” Sam told them, settling back down into Cas’ side, only to have the hand sitting atop the couch slip around his shoulders immediately after. A few breaths later, he was comfortable, and that’s when Castiel began talking.

“Jimmy and I both were interested when we saw your score for Boy/Girl on that BDSM test we did, back when we had just met. Your score was pretty high, around 80%, if my memory serves me right. We didn’t get a relevant enough score on either side of that spectrum, if I’m going to be honest, but we’d both still like to try a scene with you,” Cas told him, pausing to try to gauge Sam’s reaction to what had been said so far.

“The ‘tl-dr’ version of it is, we want to get you into a headspace where you just let me and Cas take care of you for a few days, and this seemed like as good of an idea as any. Originally, we were thinking that 3 days sounded good, but we’re open to renegotiation on that. As for age, that’s a little trickier. I don’t think Cas or I have any interest in getting you down to a baby, but a toddler might just work for what we have in mind, maybe a 4-year-old? What do you think, Sam?” Jimmy said, the playfulness from the start vanishing and warping into serious looks.

Sam took a second to think. 3 days, Jimmy had asked for. That was the same timeframe he’d asked for when they did that Master/Toy scene. It didn’t seem like 3 days at the time, dragging on or speeding up at times. Would that happen with this too, if he decided to try it? Another thing to think about was how he’d miss his Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday classes. Surely, they’d thought about that, hadn’t they? Although, come to think about it, Sam was supposed to take a few ‘mental health days’, according to the doctor the twins took him to. It would be easy to email his professors the note claiming his week off, on a doctor’s orders, and have them send him any assignment he’d missed.

Then came the hardest part to think about: the scene they’re proposing. Would he be willing to be a four-year-old? He could barely remember what his 4-year-old self was like, and why would the twins be so interested in him as a little kid, anyway? He knew he could talk by then, and walk too, but could he read yet? Had he been potty trained already? – Did Cas and Jimmy expect to put him in diapers? Would he do that for them?

“Sam?” Cas called, breaking him from his thoughts. “I believe Jimmy asked you a question, and we’re both waiting for your answer.”

“Yes,” Sam blurted out, not giving himself a chance to back out. “Yes, I want to – I mean, I‘m not opposed to trying it. You guys aren’t going to, like, put me in diapers or something, right?” he added, once he realized that the word ‘yes’ didn’t provide much explanation.

Even if he didn’t like it, he would try, for them. And if he did? It was because he was making them happy, he told himself. He definitely was not weird, especially not that weird.

“No Sam, we wouldn’t be putting you in a diaper, and unless you want us to, we won’t push you. We would, however, be interested in seeing how you react to pull-ups. At four, we’re trying to be sure we can trust our little boy to make it to the bathroom in time, but it’s okay to have accidents too, sometimes,” Cas told him gently.

“That’s another thing: what would I call you guys? I mean, I’d rather not call you guys my dads,” Sam said, sounding mildly horrified at the thought of calling his boyfriends his fathers. “Oh, and um… I could- I can try pull ups, if you guys want me to,” he answered, knowing fully well how red his face must’ve been.

“You can call us whatever you’d feel comfortable with, Sam, whether it’s our names or whatever you’d like, “ Jimmy told him. “I know it’s pretty late to start tonight, but we could maybe have a trial run now, and if you like it, tomorrow we can start, then?”

Once Sam had agreed, Cas asked Jimmy to ‘get the stuff’ – whatever all that stuff was, however, was a mystery. Jimmy left the room, most likely off to his own room to get ‘the stuff’ in a place kept hidden from Sam, leaving the man in question and Cas in their room, waiting.

“How about I help you with those clothes, huh, Sammy? Taking off clothes and shoes can be hard for little boys to do on their own,” Cas suggested kindly, looking at Sam with the soft eyes of a caregiver, and moving to help strip the boy of his clothes with the same gentle kindness, once he realized Sam wouldn’t be giving him an answer.

Jimmy had come in at some point during the process of ridding Sam of his ‘big’ clothes, holding what looked like a garment bag, a package of what were clearly adult pull-ups, and a bag that seemed nearly full of things he couldn’t really see.

“Heya there, sugar plum! How about a bubble bath, and then Cas and I can get you into some comfy jammies for bed, hm?” Jimmy asked, speaking as he would to a four-year-old child, and not someone of his own age. At the boy’s nod of agreement, Jimmy continued talking.

“I’m gonna go get that bath running for you, then, honey. Cas, could you get the bath toys and the bubbles for me? They’re in my room.” The difference in Jimmy’s tone was so evident, but Sam found he not only thought it fitting, but also kind of liked the way Jimmy was talking to him.

Cas told him to go ahead with Jimmy into their bathroom, Sam still clad in only his boxers (which would no doubt be joining his ‘big’ clothes in his closet) under the premise of being ‘right back, sweetheart, I promise’. Sam, being the good little boy he was, followed Jimmy into the bathroom and sat down on the lid of the toilet as told. Once the water was tested for temperature and approved by Jimmy, Cas was back, with a bag of bath toys, a little toy boat catching Sammy’s eye; and a bottle of something that claimed to ‘make more bubbles’ and that said bubbles ‘last 10x longer’.

“Okay, squirt, in you go! Let’s just get these off you first, though,” Jimmy told him, getting his boxers off him before Cas stepped in to help maneuver their sasquatch into his bath.

“What do you say get some bubbles in there, baby, we can’t have a bubble bath with no bubbles, can we?” one of the twins said. He hadn’t bothered to pay attention long enough to see who’d spoken to him, focusing instead on the toy boat sitting not even two feet from him, yet seemingly so far away.

He tried to get himself to speak, to ask for the toy, but he found no words for it. When he tried to point to the boat in a silent question for it, he couldn’t bring himself to move his arm. Instead, Sammy sat in the tub, bubbles surrounding him, staring intently at a toy he couldn’t find the words to ask the twins for, because it felt too close to accepting this part of him, the one where he likes being treated like a little kid, the sick part of him.

“What does our precious boy want? This boat over here?” a twin asked, holding up the boat in question, Sam could only nod before it was placed in the tub. Just as he was about to reach for it, he was splashed with water and saw a hand moving the boat straight at him. For some reason, he giggled, and that was it for him. It was like his 18-year-old brain just shut off, and his ‘little’ self took over, playing with the bubbles and smiling and giggling.

Knowing Sam would enjoy himself was completely different from seeing it happen, and the twins were both awed at how Sam gave himself over wholeheartedly to them, to do as they pleased with him. Castiel chose to make quick work of washing Sam, while Jimmy played with him and kept those adorable giggles coming.

It seemed that their little boy absolutely adored playing with water, and honestly, what little boy didn’t? That’s why they got him all those bath toys in the first place, after all. Both Castiel and Jimmy knew that the bath would be the easiest way to get Sam to let himself have fun, but unfortunately, they knew that for most of the things they had in mind for him, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy.

Reluctant as they were to get him out of the bath once they were done washing him up, busying themselves with playing with Sam and watching their boy be happy and carefree for the first time in a while, the water was really starting to get cold, and they had some warm pajamas waiting for him once he got out.

Cas made sure to get Sam out of the bath himself, leaving Jimmy to clean up the mess they’d made while he, hopefully, got to steal some Sammy snuggles before Jimmy tried to hog them all.

“Sammy, I have some nice and warm jammies for you outside your bath, but you have to get out of the bathtub to put them on, sweetheart,” Cas said, trying to coax Sam into helping him get the sasquatch out of the tub once he saw the boy’s reluctance.

“Nuh-uh, don’t wanna,” Sam told them both, stubbornly, not quite looking either of the twins in the eye. Everything about him at the moment screamed he was in his littlespace, such as his crossed arms in stubborn childlike defiance, and his adorably unhappy pout and his childish word choice.

However much Sam was glaringly a little boy, it was also clear to see that it wasn’t the Sam Cas and Jimmy had come to know and love that was now in littlespace. Castiel suspected it was, in fact, Sam’s actual 4-year-old self they were both seeing. Once he’d realized that, the calm silence of Sam’s bath he had been expecting made no sense at all, as Dean had obviously still been caring for the boy and sheltering him from their father, leaving them to see an innocent, almost-too-quick-to-smile Sam, not the quiet and calm one they’d seen so far.

“C’mon, Sammy, if we don’t get you out now, the water will get too cold and you could get sick, honey. If you get sick, then we can’t have lots and lots of fun like me and Jimmy planned for us,” Cas told him, in a gentle voice laced with finality.

“Okay,” Sam said, once he realized he couldn’t win. Helping Cas get him out of the bathtub, he waited until a fluffy towel and Cas’s arms were around him to speak again. “Cas?”

“Yes, sweetheart?” he answered immediately, stopping his task of drying Sam to look the boy in the eye.

“Can we watch a movie before bedtime, Cas? Please?” Sam asked, his face the picture of childlike innocence – as if he didn’t know Cas just couldn’t say no to him, but still hoped he would get what he wanted.

As Cas carried on with the oh-so-arduous (as pointed out by his twin) task of getting Sam into bed, taking (absolutely necessary!) breaks to kiss Sam’s skin or tickle him somewhere, Jimmy was drying up the floor where Sam had wet it, either by splashing around in his bath, or by standing there while Cas got the towel to dry him in.

The struggle to put Sam in a pull-up was done and over with before Jimmy resurfaced from their bathroom. In fact, when Jimmy was walking towards the pair, Cas had just zipped up his pajamas. His footie pajamas. With a flap. On his butt. Oh, and not to forget: it was covered in superhero insignia. His actual 4-year-old self would’ve loved these, his current self acting 4 years old, not so much.

“Look at you, all covered in superheroes!” Jimmy exclaimed, in the same tone he’d been using with Sam ever since he’d agreed to this scene of theirs. “Does that mean you’re a hero too, Super Sam?”

“No, Jimmy!” was the giggled answer Sam gave him, and it definitely managed to bring a smile onto the Novak boys’ faces again.

“Superhero or not, this little boy needs to get into bed so we can watch our movie and go to sleep,” Cas announced, looking at Sam and Jimmy with a firm glance. “Come on now, honey, up on the bed, right down the middle there,” he directed, sifting through the movies on Netflix he deemed appropriate for Sam on his own monitor, the large one he used only for his digital drawings. Choice made, he started the movie and climbed into bed himself, flanking Sam’s side opposite where Jimmy lay.

“What’d you pick, Cassie?” Jimmy asked him, only to have the screen pop up with a Greek-looking vase and five women singing. If he’d have to guess, he’d say it was “Hercules”, and soon enough, his suspicions are confirmed.

Sam looked enraptured by the story already, and it was easy to tell he’d never seen the movie before. While it made Jimmy’s heart ache for Sam and his clearly lacking childhood, it did give him some form of comfort to know that at least now he’d get to do things he should’ve gotten to do before.

For the duration of the movie, he’d been cuddled between the twins, all warm and comfortable. Between the twins cuddling him and one of their hands in his hair, he didn’t make it to the end, falling into a calm sleep filled with only the best of dreams.

Chapter 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Unlike every day for the past week, Sammy was not the first one up that day.

“Good morning, Sam. Did you sleep well last night? It’s a shame you didn’t make it to the end of the movie, although Jimmy and I would be happy to watch it with you again sometime,” Cas told him, not an ounce of teasing in his voice when mentioning how he’d fallen asleep during the movie just like a little kid. In Sam’s opinion, Cas not making fun of him for that was actually kind of worse than the alternative.

“Wait, what’s going on? Aren’t we still doing that little kid thing? Where’s Jimmy?” Sammy asked, wasting no time in trying to get a grasp on the situation. He was more than a little confused. Hadn’t he agreed to three days of whatever the heck the past night had been yesterday? Why was Cas talking to him like he talked to adult Sam? And shit, why was he already thinking of himself as adult Sammy and little Sammy? That wasn’t okay. That was seriously not okay.

“Sam? Come back down to Earth, sweetheart. I’m trying to answer your questions,” Cas said, and there was that gentle tone he’d used so often last night. Sammy didn’t know how to react to the warm feeling he got from hearing it.

Once Cas had established Sammy was paying attention, he carried on speaking. “Remember when Jimmy said last night was a trial run? Last night, we were giving it a shot to see if you really were going to enjoy what we had in mind, and today we’d talk about how the next few days were going to go. As to where Jimmy is, I can’t really tell you for certain, as I don’t know myself, but I do know he’s getting us breakfast.”

“Actually, you two, I’m right here, and now that I’m back, we should talk and figure out what our game plan is for today,” Jimmy answered, barging into the room as well as he could without dropping the food he’d gotten them. After setting down the food and their accompanying hot beverages, he stopped the other two from getting to them, on the grounds that if they ate before they talked, they’d keep stalling. The fact that every one of them knew that by ‘they’, Jimmy meant ‘Sam’ went unsaid.

“There isn’t anything to talk about, Jimmy,” Sammy muttered stubbornly as he sat back down on the bed, a pout forming on his lips just like the one that was there just last night.

“Oh, but darling, you’ll notice that in fact, there is. How was last night for you? Did you like it? Walk us through it. What worked? What do you want to change? Was the bubble bath nice? Are the PJs comfortable for you, did we get the size wrong, or…?” Jimmy trailed off, looking at Sammy expectantly. Of course, then he actually looked at Sammy and how he was holding himself, and that was enough of an answer for both Novak twins. Clearly, Sammy was still a little in his headspace, but was just self-conscious about acting on it. Lucky for him, the twins had anticipated this happening, and had a solid idea on how to fix it: the good ole “pretend it never happened” approach.

Cas stepped closer to where the boy was sitting and sat beside him, holding him close to his chest and burying his face in his soft hair after Sammy immediately tucked his face into Cas’s neck. He pressed a few kisses to Sam’s hair while Jimmy talked.

“Sammy? Hey, c’mon buddy, could you please look at me?” he tried, only to fail. “C’mon, pumpkin, I promise we don’t have to talk about this now, only once it’s over. We can tell you’re not ready for it to be over, though, so we’re just going to keep going. Does that sound good?” Jimmy tried again. It seemed that was enough to get Sammy to pull away from the hug enough to look him in the eye. With a grin, Jimmy took that as a win and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Okay, how about some breakfast, then? Once we’re done eating, we’re going to get you dressed so we can go out to buy a couple of things,” Cas said softly to Sam, who still didn’t seem ready - or willing, for that matter - to leave Cas’s comforting embrace. Although Cas was willing to give Sammy all the time he’d need to get himself out of his arms, not that having him there was any sort of a hardship in the first place, he had to admit he was kind of glad he started getting up after a little while.

“Cas, your cup is the one on the left, over there. I’ll get Sammy his,” Jimmy told him, walking to get said cup. Sammy was curious, though, as to why Jimmy said whose cup was whose, didn’t they all get coffee? Jimmy, however, anticipated the question, and gave him his answer in a soft voice, as he handed Sammy his cup, smiling as the boy thanked him. “Little boys shouldn’t be drinking coffee, munchkin. I got you some nice hot chocolate, instead. Be careful, though, it’s still pretty hot and we can’t have our Sammy burning his tongue, now can we?”

Cas was too busy looking at what Jimmy had brought over for breakfast to really interact with the other two, but was keeping an eye on Sam, for anything he’d need.

“Hey sweetheart, look at what Jimmy got you! Your favorite fruit!” Cas said, happily holding up two bananas. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, as that launched Sammy into a tantrum that left the twins floundering for something to do that could fix it.

“No! No ‘nanners! Nuh-uh!” Sammy protested loudly, so loudly, in fact, that the twins were worried someone would barge in the room to find out what was happening.

“Shh, Sammy, darling, calm down. Can you do that for me? Just breathe, in and out,” Jimmy soothed, having been the one closest to Sam. He didn’t seem inclined to stop his yelling, but he wanted to be good for them, so he did.

“There’s a good boy. Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Cas asked, crouching down to meet Sam’s eyes. Both twins were at a loss for what to do.

“Don’t want ‘nanners,” Sammy told them in a much quieter voice, already dripping with shame from his scream-fest. “Sorry, Jimmy. Sorry, Cas.”

“Honey, it’s alright, just don’t do it again, okay? If you don’t want your bananas, though, what do you want to eat for breakfast?” Cas gently asked, trying not to set the boy off again.

“Shit, Cas! I have an idea! Hold on!” Jimmy said excitedly, quickly leaping up and walking out the door before Cas could scold him for his language. He’d taken the bananas with him, and what could possibly solve this? Curious, but trusting his brother’s judgment, Cas worked on making sure Sammy knew better than to yell at them again.

Not three minutes later did Jimmy walk back into the room, brandishing a smug look and a plate with two sandwiches on it. Holding it out to Sammy and telling him to eat, he winked at Cas. Sammy smiled, tasting the familiar sandwich his brother used to make for him when he actually was little.

“So, sport, is it good?” Jimmy asked, with a knowing smile.

“Yes! Thank you, Jimmy! De used to make these for me all the time! Thank you!” he answered, his whole face lighting up at memories of his big brother making him peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

“You’re definitely welcome, Sammy. Next time, though, how about we just stick to asking, and not yelling about it?” Jimmy told him, only to then turn to his brother. “See, told you I could fix it! Once when we were having breakfast, Sammy told me it was one of his favorite foods when he was little so Dean used to make those for him all the time, so I figured it was worth a shot, at least.”

“Good going, Jimmy. Now we just have to eat and get dressed before we dress him and take him to the mall,” Cas reminded him, pushing Jimmy’s breakfast at him, but watching Sammy take down the two sandwiches with utter delight instead. “Actually, don’t you have your morning classes? You should be leaving soon unless you’d rather be late,” he added, with a sharper edge to his voice and looking at his brother now.

He wasn’t expecting Jimmy’s smug smile, or his response. “Actually, brother mine, guess who’s had their morning classes canceled today? I had a double Anatomy period and then that arts one I have with you, but they were both canceled because everyone knows Morrison and Lee are screwing and Lee’s been kind of sick, so you know what that means…” he said, smug smile now nearly a smirk.

“Fine. If your professors canceled the class, you should stay here and read up on whatever you were supposed to be learning today, at least for Anatomy. Sammy and I’ll be back before you’re done, for sure,” Cas told him. Cas might not be a pre-med like his brother, but between the two, he was arguably the most clever.

“Or! Or I could go with you guys, to keep an eye on Sam! You know how kids are, especially in shopping malls! They always wander off, and you can’t keep track of him on your own, it’ll be great to have someone else looking out for him too!” Jimmy added, desperate to be allowed to go with them. He was saying absolutely anything except for what he really meant, not that Cas couldn’t figure it out on his own.

“Jimmy, just out with it. You don’t want to study because we have Sammy to entertain and you’d love nothing more than to spend all day with him. It’s obvious, and if you actually asked for what you wanted, you could easily have spent all day with him, but instead, you’re going to spend the afternoon in class, because you refused to catch up on whatever you’re missing this morning,” Cas told him, clearly not up for putting up with much bullshit from his brother this morning after Sam’s tantrum, but still finding humor in the situation.

“Okay, fine. You know I’d rather spend time with you and Sammy than go to class or hit the books. That’s what’s obvious. But I’m not kidding about you needing help to herd Sammy in the mall later,” a reluctant Jimmy admitted.

“Well, then it’s a good thing I said you’d be spending your afternoon in class, isn’t it?” Cas replied with a wink.

By then, Sammy had taken down his second sandwich and was carefully blowing on his hot chocolate as to not burn his tongue like Jimmy had warned him not to. Jimmy thought it was particularly cute of Sam, but Cas was just busy worrying he’d spill hot chocolate all over the place now that Sammy had taken the lid off. A watchful eye back on his boy, Cas went back to finishing his breakfast, then walked over to Sam.

“Sweetheart, Jimmy and I are gonna dress you so we can go shopping, like I told you, okay? I just need you to be really careful with that hot chocolate so you don’t spill and put it on the nightstand, can you do that for me?” Cas said to Sammy gently. For all intents and purposes, Sammy was four years old now, and needed to be treated accordingly, which included dressing him and talking down to him.

At Sam’s nod of agreement, Cas walked over to Sam’s closet to select what he’d be dressing Sammy in, while the boy set his hot chocolate on the nightstand just like Cas had told him to, like a big boy.

“Cas?” came the soft call from Sam, bringing the man in question’s attention to him.

“Yes, Sammy?” Cas answered, still not looking away from Sam’s closet, trying to decide on a T-shirt of Sam’s, having chosen Sam’s jeans and boots already.

“I need to go potty,” the boy told him, blushing. Cas, in turn, immediately asked Jimmy to assist him while he was still choosing what they’d be dressing him in.

It took Cas no less than another two minutes to choose the shirt he’d have Sammy wear: a plain light blue shirt that looked old, but was definitely well-loved. When he’d turned to fetch Sammy and Jimmy from the bathroom, he saw what was probably the cutest thing in the world: Jimmy had gotten Sammy to sit on the counter, and was helping the boy brush his teeth. The hairbrush next to where Sammy sat let him know Jimmy had already gone through the trouble of sorting out Sam’s hair before that, too. He let Jimmy finish up with Sammy before calling out to him, inevitably startling them both.

“Sammy, let’s get you dressed, shall we?” Cas asked, with a smile that morphed into a grin at Jimmy’s jump. With Sam’s beaming smile in return, though, it was hard not to keep one on his face.

Bouncing over to Castiel, Sammy let himself get dressed, while Jimmy left them both to get dressed himself.

“First we’re going to get your PJs off of you, okay, sweetheart?” Cas told him. At Sam’s first sounds of protest, claiming not wanting to take off the warm clothing he seemed to loathe the night before, he shushed his boy. “No, Sam. We’re putting you in clothes you can go out wearing, because you’re going to the mall with Jimmy and me. Little boys can’t stay home alone, you know that, sweetheart,” Cas sternly told him, with an air of finality even Jimmy wouldn’t argue with. Instead of argumentation like he expected, however, Sammy had a kicked-puppy look on his face.

“Dad used to leave me and De alone all the time,” Sammy told Cas, with a defensive tone. There was no way his daddy did the wrong thing by leaving his sons behind in a motel room while he was off working. No, Sammy would only come to know of the horror that was and is John Winchester later in life, and would only then realize just how John had done quite the number on his boys’ lives. At four, the man was the boy’s hero, second to Dean and only because big brothers are bestest in the world.

Immediately, Castiel backtracked. This wasn’t about making Sammy feel worse, and criticizing the man Sammy was defending now would only do exactly that.

“But you boys weren’t alone, now were you? You both had someone to keep an eye on you. You had Dean, and Dean had you. You two weren’t alone, you two were with your family,” he told Sam, as if that were a perfect reason for his father to leave two young children alone for hours on end.

If there was one person Castiel hoped he got to meet some day, it was Dean Winchester, to thank him for everything he’d ever done for Sam. What kind of a poor excuse for a father left his two young sons behind in some random and, most likely, locked motel room, unattended? Sammy deserved a better childhood, and if Cas’s suspicions were right, Dean deserved an actual childhood instead of one where he’d had a younger brother to look after all the time.

If the Novak boys got their way, though, Sammy would be making up for lost time now. John might’ve not been anywhere near a competent parent, and as hard as Dean might’ve tried, he was still only a child himself when he was trying to look after another. This time around, Sammy was going to learn what it was like to have a childhood full of the things he should’ve had before: stability, toys, and enough love to go around.

“We all ready to go yet? Let’s get this show on the road!” Jimmy loudly exclaimed, announcing his presence in the room. Once he’d stepped in and seen Sammy still clad in superheroes, he knew his brother clearly needed some help.

Oh well, Jimmy to the rescue, thought Jimmy. It seemed like Sammy was turning out to be quite the brat, but luckily for Jimmy, it takes one to know how to deal with one, doesn’t it?

“Cas, you go get yourself dressed, I’ll handle the little tyke,” he ordered his brother, taking Sam’s clothes in his hands and setting them on the nearest surface, which happened to be Sam’s bed.

“Okay, kiddo, we’re going to get you out of this and then we’re going to put you in these,” Jimmy told him, gesticulating with his hands towards the pajamas and the clothes he’d be wearing for the day. Sam might’ve been in the mind of a 4-year-old child, but even at that young age he knew better than to kid with anyone who seemed to not put up with people’s shit. Getting the zipper open and his arms out, Sammy held onto Jimmy for balance to pull his feet through the legs of the garment without falling over, moving to sit on the bed behind him once he’d gotten the PJs off entirely.

“There’s a good boy, Sammy. Now, do you think you can get this shirt on on your own, or do you want my help?” Jimmy asked, crouching to meet his eyes. “It’s perfectly fine if you need my help, sweetheart, you know that, but you can do it yourself if you want.”

Sammy was quiet for a moment, looking down to avoid his eyes, and Jimmy took that as an invitation.

“Do you want me to help you, honey?” Jimmy asked kindly.

“Yes, please, Jimmy,” Sammy answered, ever the polite little boy. With a smile, Jimmy helped him put on his shirt and didn’t hesitate to help him pull on his pants too.

Turning to his brother once more, Jimmy asked if his brother was ready to leave. Having heard what he wanted to hear, he held Sammy’s hand in his and the three of them walked out of their dorm, on their way to the shopping mall in the limo Castiel had called for.

Notes:

ZoyciteM, you may see that your challenge was completed, because unlike you, I can write in line challenges easily. #shade (Just kidding, although seriously, for every line challenge I've given you, there is a simple solution, and you've yet to find any kind of solution.)

Notes:

Comments are always appreciated and will most likely keep me writing - if I go MIA, I'm dead. The IB and the stress it caused me literally killed me.