Chapter Text
Sunday, March 15, 1981
San Marco Neighborhood,
Jacksonville, FL
Dean Winchester came tearing through his parents’ historic bungalow home, squealing at the top of his lungs in just a diaper as his Daddy, John Winchester, chased him out to the backyard where his beautiful sunshine haired Mommy, Mary, had just finished transplanting her stunning pink tulips. The little blonde baby ran to his mother and fell into her lap as she pulled her dirt covered gloves off. John panted on the porch as she situated their baby on her lap. Both parents nearly had a heart attack each when their boy came toddling down the porch steps at a breakneck speed for someone as little as him.
“Goodness sakes, De!” Mary cooed, holding her mostly naked and giggling toddler in her arms. “Are we finally into our terrible twos?”
Dean giggled and turned to hide his face in his mother’s chest as he saw his Daddy approaching.
“No!” Dean called, sure that Daddy was still possessed by the tickle monster. “No tickies!”
“It’s okay, Dean.” John chuckled, sitting on the grass next to his wife. “Mr. Tickles went bye-bye. It’s just Daddy.”
“Is that why there’s a naked baby running around my house?” Mary questioned with a sly look at her tall, brunette husband. “What did Mommy say about Mr. Tickles stopping by so soon?”
“No-no!” Dean answered, looking up at his Mommy and then Daddy with a serious face.
“That’s right! No-no!” Mary laughed, rubbing her nose against baby Dean’s as her hair came down and tickled his chubby little face. “Let’s get you dressed so we can have some pancakes!”
“‘Cakes!” Dean cheered, snuggling up to her.
“No need to butter me up,” Mary teased, getting to her feet with her little boy in her arms. “I’m not a pancake, but I’m sure you will be!”
“You are what you eat, Dean,” John agreed with a grin following his wife and son into the house to start breakfast. “I’ll get started while you two get cleaned up.”
Mary walked through the kitchen to the hall outside the bedrooms and single bathroom. She took a right into their son’s room, barely keeping a hold of her excited baby. Dean was set in his crib while she dug through his drawers to find an outfit that would be appropriate for the early spring weather. It wasn’t supposed to rain and it would be a touch warm out so she settled on a little gray polo and blue jean shorts.
Lifting her hyper baby from his bed, she gently tossed him up in the air and caught him, inciting a fresh round of rampant giggles as his dimples made adorable little shadows on his chubby cheeks. Mary smiled warmly as she set him on the ground and helped him get dressed for the day.
Once that was done, she carried Dean to the kitchen and strapped him into his highchair. John had already warmed up a pan on one of the burners of the stove top, which was sizzling with freshly melted butter. Mary kissed her husband and moved to the sink to wash her hands as he started pouring some of the batter onto the pan. She decided to cook some bacon to go along with it after getting a sippy cup of ice water for her little angel.
After about a half hour and a few almost swears from getting hit with popping grease, John and Mary started plating breakfast. It was a Sunday so John had the day off and the little family had nowhere special to be. If Dean hadn’t been so hyped up, they would have said it was a lazy day at home.
Alas, their little adventurer wouldn’t be cooped up all day if he could help it. Besides, Sunday was park day and there was no way the baby was missing out on going down the slides, swinging on the swings, and playing in the sandbox- that was the one that Mommy hated but she always just shook her head and smiled as Dean would throw the little granules up in the air with his eyes closed and his head down, giggling like mad. Once breakfast was finished and Dean was washed up (much to his dismay), Mary started packing the diaper bag while John sat on the couch in the living room to read “Corduroy” to their baby boy. Before Daddy even made it to the title page, Dean was in tears because his Corduroy bear was missing.
“Mary, honey!” John hollered, heading towards Dean’s room with the toddler wailing as Daddy held him on his hip. “Have you seen Corduroy?”
“The book or De’s teddy?” Mary prompted, her heart breaking as she listened to her baby cry while tucking a spare change of clothes in the diaper bag.
“His teddy, babe.” John clarified, bouncing the little boy in his arms.
“I think we left Corduroy in the car from our trip to the grocery store. It should be on the seat next to his.” Mary responded. “Do you want me to take him while you run out to the car?”
“No, I’ll just take him with me.” John answered, kissing her cheek and heading towards the front door.
He snagged his keys on the way out and descended the porch steps. Their ‘67 Chevrolet Impala was waiting in the street for her next trip. John had just waxed and polished her after a thorough tune-up so she was looking even sleeker than normal. Ordinarily, John would have taken a moment to admire his classic beauty, but this time his priority was righting the terrible wrong of his son’s teddy bear being missing.
Personally, the mechanic could think of a million things more upsetting and world-ending than an absent plush comfort item but he reminded himself that Dean was only two years old and though he was incredibly bright and perceptive for his age, he was still just a baby. He unlocked the car and popped open the rear passenger door to retrieve the beloved bear that formerly had a missing button that was eventually replaced by one that had fallen off Mommy’s old maternity dress. It was white with little hand painted flowers and looked quite out of place on the stuffed bear’s overalls but Dean loved it even more because of that.
John handed the bear to his son and locked up the Impala, being sure to shut the doors to his mechanical pride and joy nice and tight. Dean quieted down almost instantly as he buried his face in the back of Corduroy’s head and clutched a hand to his Daddy’s shirt.
They went back inside and sat down once more, picking the story back up and actually delving in with theatrical voice-overs and all. Dean had suckered his Mommy and Daddy into getting the bear for him a few months ago. He had carried the book around and fussed whenever they tried to put it up. Dean felt bad for the poor teddy who only wanted love and cuddles. When they found the loveable stuffed children’s icon in the department store, Dean had grabbed a hold of it tight and pat the teddy’s back, just like Mommy and Daddy did whenever he was upset and needed love. Mary had cooed at him and asked him if Corduroy needed lovings and Dean had looked up at her sadly and nodded. He had, with his limited vocabulary, explained that the bear deserved love too and that he would give it that love.
Mary had looked right at John and dared him to say no to their little bleeding heart. Of course, the man caved and coughed up the money for the bear. Ever since then, Corduroy went just about everywhere that Dean did- except for the bath tub and the changing table since his teddy didn’t need a bath or a diaper change. Whenever it was time to wash his best stuffed friend, Mommy said that Corduroy was going on a special spa day where he would come back cuddlier and prettier than ever! Dean was ecstatic to note that Mommy had never lied about that and his teddy always smelled like flowers and cookies when he got it back.
Finally, Mommy came out in a sundress and sandals with the diaper bag over her shoulder and a sun hat in one hand while the other held the dreaded sun block. Dean looked up at her with a small, almost sleepy smile and proudly held up his teddy to show that Corduroy had not been lost or forgotten. Mary smiled softly at her adorable little man and knelt on the floor, setting her hat and the bag to the side and extending her arms out to Dean.
“Come on, Angel, let’s get some sun block on and then we’ll go to the park.” Mary coaxed as her son hesitated, looking between her and his bear.
“Wuv!” Dean said, kissing Corduroy on the nose and handing the bear to Daddy.
He carefully slid off the sofa and watched as John cradled the stuffed animal in his arms like a baby to his appease his little boy. Dean smiled and toddled happily to Mommy. She started spreading sunscreen here, there and everywhere, rolling her eyes with a smirk as Dean periodically looked back to make sure Daddy was still treating his teddy bear nicely.
Once the sunblock was on him, she let him go back to John and cuddle with his stuffie while she slathered herself with the oily but necessary substance. It always smelled funny to her and her least favorite part was putting it on her face. She sent a pouting look to her husband and son as they laughed at the faces she made as the smell of the pasty lotion assaulted her nose.With that done, she hoisted herself up, donned her sun hat, grabbed the diaper bag and lifted her baby, teddy and all, into her arms. She already had his shoes in the bag to put on in the car so they just had to wait for her slow-poke husband to get his sneakers on before they could take off.
“I’m going, I’m going!” John assured the pair as Mary constantly stood over his shoulder- her playful way of reminding him that she was waiting on his royal snail-ness.
Mary laughed and followed John out to the car, slipping into the back seat, buckling Dean in and then herself. John got settled and buckled in, starting the car and pulling away from the curb. It was a short drive to the park, one spent with Mary’s head tilted back on the headrest as she and her imaginative little one watched the clouds and guessed what they might be. As the engine died out, Mary sat up and started the process of getting herself and her baby out of the car. She slipped his shoes on and took him out of his seat.
They only planned to spend an hour or two at the park since Dean would get tuckered out rather quick and likely need a change before too long. Mary hated the public bathrooms and avoided them at all cost and John was not a fan of changing the baby in his car- though they had a silent agreement that if Dean was legitimately at risk of diaper rash then he would risk it so his little boy didn’t have to experience such discomfort. So off they went to the toddler friendly playground equipment. Mary and John knew they wouldn’t be there for very long since Dean always wanted to do what the bigger kids were doing, even if the little boy’s friends- Andy and Ava- were content to stay on the toddlers’ equipment.
Dean immediately started to toddle up to the highest slide and watched Mommy walk to the bottom. He knew better than to go down without her there. Sometimes, his stupid shoes tried to stop his descent and then he’d tumble the rest of the way. The first time it happened, Mommy hadn’t made it to the slide and Daddy was at work when Dean’s shoes refused to slide. He had tried bending his knees and sort of scooting a bit to get going again, but he ended up leaning too far forward and slid down on his tummy like a penguin. Ava had been there that day since they were supposed to be playing together. She had been following him up to the slide and waiting to go down behind him. When she saw Dean colliding with the wood chips at the bottom, she had screamed bloody murder and cried for him. It wasn’t long after that that Dean burst into wails of pain and fear himself. Mommy had rushed over and fussed over him. She immediately grabbed Ava and Dean and took them back to her home so she could remove the splinters, clean his scrapes, and get him all bandaged up. He and Ava ended up cuddling on the couch and watching a baby friendly movie until Ava’s mom came to get her. Dean refused to go back to the park the following Sunday, but he eventually warmed back up to it. Now, he waited for Mommy because she could fix it so he wouldn’t go penguin sliding.
Once she was there, Dean sat down on his butt and slid down, squealing in delight as Daddy surprised him by peeking out from behind the slide as he went. He did everything (which wasn’t much considering it was just two slides, stairs, a set of baby bucket swings, a couple of spring riders and a seesaw) at least twice before he got bored and started wandering closer to the side that ran between the toddlers’ and the big kids’ equipment. He looked back at Mommy and Daddy with a bit of a pout forming.
“Daddy, I think he wants to go to play elsewhere.” Mary hinted, swinging the hand that was holding her husband’s.
“I think you nailed it, Mommy.” John agreed as they walked towards their little boy.
There were maybe two or three other kids over there and then there were a couple people walking dogs on the grassy field next to the playgrounds. John grinned as he saw the sweet, dopey pitbull practically running around it’s owner with excitement. They’d met the owner and the dog before when they were carrying a sleeping Dean back to the car one afternoon. The owner was a twenty something year old woman with dirty blonde hair and average build named Hailey and the male pitbull was a smoky almost blue color with a white chest and tummy named Diesel. The Winchesters fully understood the name of the dog given that it was almost always happily running about and playing with Hailey. At the moment, the young woman was talking to the other dog owner and his chocolate lab was trying to get Diesel’s attention.
“Go on, baby!” Mary called, certain that Dean would be alright since he knew not to go on the elevated equipment until she or John was there with him. “Wait for Daddy before you go monkeying up there!”
The blonde baby grinned and giggled, toddling as fast as his little bowed legs would take him. In that instant, all hell seemed to have broke loose. Diesel had caught sight of the baby Winchester and seemed to remember him from last time. The pit had tried to stand on it’s hind legs to lick the sleeping baby’s face but ultimately settled for licking the tiny lag dangling in front of him. Hailey explained that Diesel had fathered pups before and usually thought of little kids as his pups- even kids he didn’t know. That’s when it happened. Mary’s and John’s hearts stopped and they froze for a split second. Hailey had been switching the retractable leash to her other hand when Diesel bolted, yanking it from her grasp.
The pit came barrelling at Dean full speed and knocked the baby onto the patch of grass between the two play areas. The little boy instantly burst into tears that escalated to wails within seconds. Diesel never bit or stood on the tiny boy, but he had his paws on either side of Dean’s torso and licked his head, neck and hands. The baby was just so shocked and had hit the ground so hard that it traumatized him. Diesel backed off quickly, realizing the ‘pup’ was distressed and laid down sulkily in the grass next to him. Mary and John were at full sprint and so was Hailey. She was already calling out apologies as she approached while simultaneously scolding her well-intentioned dog. Dean reached for Mary as soon as she was in sight and was rewarded with being nestled up to her torso as she calmly soothed him while John rubbed his back and then ran a hand through his hair, also assuring his little boy that he was alright and everything was okay.
“Oh my goodness, I am so, so, so sorry!” Hailey profusely apologized, taking a firm hold on Diesel’s leash. “He normally never dashes off like that, not that that’s any excuse… Is Dean okay?”
“Not sure yet. He’s definitely upset and shaken up, but it’s hard to tell if he has scrapes or anything.” Mary calmly answered. “He should be fine. I know you and Diesel are nice and things just happen. Diesel just got overexcited.”
John didn’t say a word. He definitely looked miffed to say the least.
“I will gladly take care of any doctor bills or anything that I can do to make it up to you. I feel so awful about all of this.” Hailey told them.
“What you can do is pay attention to your damn dog! Maybe if you were a better owner he wouldn’t be running off like that!” John snapped, infuriated by her ‘weak’ response since she didn’t seem to be taking any responsibility and blaming it all on the dog. “If you can’t take care of that hellhound and keep it inline and on a leash, you need to put it down!”
“John! You need to calm down. She said she was sorry! He didn’t even hurt Dean!” Mary scolded, surprised by her husband. “Diesel just wanted to play and lick Dean! He’s just a dog. He doesn’t realize how much bigger and stronger he is.”
“Mr. Winchester, I am well and truly sorry but I don’t appreciate your harsh response. I screwed up and Diesel misbehaved and clearly,” Hailey pointed out, gesturing to Diesel, who was still sulking on the ground with his head between his paws. “We both feel awful about how upset and potentially hurt your son is. Please try to see that…”
“Hailey, It’s okay, really. If Dean does turn out to need to stitches or something crazy, we’ll contact you and work it out. I still have your number from when you watched Dean.” Mary assured her, throwing a look to her husband to warn him to be nice or keep quiet- he chose the latter. “Again, I’m sure that he’s just upset and maybe has a few minor scrapes. He’ll be right as rain in no time. As for Diesel, just work on keeping him a bit calmer around little ones. I think he just got too fired up about seeing Dean running and thought it was play time.”
At this point, Dean had quieted down and just comforted himself by playing with Mommy’s hair and sucking his thumb.
“Right. I agree and, again, I really am sorry and hope that he’s okay.” Hailey profusely apologized, gently tugging on Diesel’s leash to say it was time to go.
Diesel got up and gave a gentle lick to Dean’s left leg, shrinking back as Hailey told him no since he was the reason Dean was potentially hurt and certainly upset. John glared at the pair as he ushered his wife and son back to the car. They’d had enough ‘excitement’ for one day so it was time to go home. It was barely ten in the morning, but that was okay. Mary hated being out before and after noon since scientists and doctors said that it was the window of time where the sun was the most intense and people were more likely to get burned. The trip home was rough, Dean fussed the whole way since he didn’t want to be out of Mommy’s arms.
Once they were home, it didn’t get much better. John switched from his clothes to his swim trunks and got into the bath with Dean while Mary dug out the first aid kit. Dean fussed and cried because he’d lost some skin on his knees and right elbow from the tumble and small cut on his forehead. He wouldn’t need stitches (she only knew from her mom, who was a nurse, patching her up over the years) but those cuts and scrapes were gonna hurt until they healed. After the bath, Mary diapered her little angel and got his wounds dressed before putting him in his footie pajamas. Today would just be a lazy day of cuddling, after all. John and Mary settled in on the couch. There was a mountain of children’s books that they could read to Dean, movies lined up in front of the tv, Corduroy was safely tucked in the little one’s arms, and a sippy cup of water set on the side table for their poor baby.
The rest of the day passed quietly with Dean fussing and crying whenever Mommy or Daddy were out of reach. Mealtimes were the worst because the little boy wanted nothing to do with his high chair- the restraints reminded him of being stood over by Diesel and he was so far away from John and Mary. His parents were definitely concerned and they figured they might have to see a therapist at some point so their boy wouldn’t have a meltdown every time he saw a dog- that was no way to live life. Mary would have to contact Hailey and let her know as well, but it was bedtime for their special little boy. He was certainly tired, but he fought hard when they attempted to tuck him into his crib so they changed strategies and cuddled him between them. Mary sang “Hey Jude” by the Beatles like always before turning the light out. Dean was almost asleep when she leaned over to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear.
“Goodnight, my sweet baby boy. Never forget that angels are watching over you.”
Unfortunately, Dean wouldn’t believe that until nearly thirty years later.