Archive of Our Own

Sam tiredly sat up and yawned, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes before he excitedly gasped, remembering what day it was.

Instantly energized, Sam hopped up from his bed and dashed a couple feet to his older brother’s identical one.

He jumped onto the mattress and started shaking his brother.

“De! Wake up, wake up, wake up!!” Sam chanted, bouncing slightly.

Dean groaned.

“Sammy?” He yawned sleepily.

“De! Iss my birfday!! I’m four years old!!!” The younger boy squealed with excitement as his brother tiredly rubbed his eyes similarly to how Sam had, moments earlier.

Dean smiled fondly at his little brother before a mischievous idea formed in his head.

“I know, Sammy! You know what that means?”

The newly four year old was practically shaking with excitement and he nodded.

“Birfday cake!!”

Dean chuckled at that and nodded his head.

“Yeah, that too… but you know what else?”

Sam shook his little head, eyes glimmering with joy and curiosity.

“It means…”

The older then growled, pulling his baby brother close and spidering his fingers all over his ribs and tummy.

“It means that I get to tickle you for a whole four minutes!”

Sam squealed gleefully, kicking and wriggling in his big brothers grasp.

“Noooo, Dehehehee!! No tihickles!” Adorable giggles flooded the dreary motel room and brightened it up significantly.

“Sorry, Sammy! You gotta get tickled for four minutes; those are the rules!” He buried his face in the little boys neck, nuzzling and nibbling and even blowing little raspberries into the soft skin.

Bright bubbly laughter fell from the youngest boy’s lips; tears pricking the corners of his eyes while his cheeks were turning a sweet rosy pink.

“DEHEHEHEE!! I-I’LL SHARE SOHOME OF MY BIRFDAY CAKE WIFF YOHOHOU!”

Dean pulled away with a laugh, amused by his little brother’s bargaining.

“Hmm… I dunno, Sammy..” He muttered thoughtfully.

“But it’s cahahake!!!”

Dean smiled.

“Yeah, cake is pretty sweet…” He mused, scooting down slightly.

“But you’re sweeter!”

Sam squealed happily when Dean started blowing raspberries all over his belly.

Sam’s 8th Birthday

Dean practically rolled out of bed this morning.

Today was his little brother’s eighth birthday and he wanted to make it special for him; so he got up at the ass crack of dawn, went straight to the kitchen, and made some chocolate chip pancakes.

When he went to go retrieve his brother, he saw that he was still sound asleep and he sighed.

“Sammy…” he walked over to the boys bed and lightly shook his brother who only mumbled sleepily.

Dean rolled his eyes.

“Sammy… get up! It’s your birthday!” He tried again.

Sam just stayed in his spot where he was sprawled out on his stomach with his arms hugging his pillow.

Dean grinned cheekily; he knew just how to get his baby brother out of bed.

He quickly leaped on top of Sam and pinned him to the bed, digging his fingers into his armpits.

Sam practically screamed, falling into hysterical laughter and struggling to pull his arms out from under the pillow.

“DEHEHEHEAN!!” He shrieked.

“Wake up, Sammy! It’s your birthday!” The older brother continued the playful assault, moving to vibrate his fingers against the boys ribs.

“GAHAH!- IM AWAKE IM AWAHAKE!!”

The eight year old kicked his legs out behind him in ticklish agony, still struggling to free his arms.

Dean stopped and crawled off his brother before giving him one last poke to the ribs.

“Get up, birthday boy. I made chocolate chip pancakes!”

Sam’s head perked up.

“Awesome!” He hopped out of his bed, leftover giggles slowly fading away.

Before they sat down to eat, Sam hugged his brother tight.

“Thank you, De. You’re the best big brother ever!”

Dean smiled, heart flooding with warmth.

He ruffled the eight year olds hair before returning the hug.

“No problem… Happy birthday, Sammy.”

Sam’s 12th Birthday

Sam hugged his pillow, sniffling softly as he wet it with his tears.

“Happy birth-! Sammy?” His older brother threw the door open energetically, freezing when he saw Sam curled up in his bed with tear stained cheeks.

He was beside his brother in the blink of an eye.

“Sammy, look at me. what’s wrong, bud?” He gently turned Sam’s face towards him, heart breaking at the sorrowful expression on his innocent face.

“Talk to me, Sammy.” He wiped the tears from Sam’s eyes as the boy took a shaky breath.

“D-Dad..” He started.

Dean blinked with mild confusion.

“What about dad?”

Sam’s eyes welled up with fresh tears threatening to spill.

“H-He forgot my birthday..” He crumbled, letting the tears flood his cheeks.

The older boy’s heart broke into pieces and he hugged his brother tight, carding fingers through his soft hair to try and calm him down.

“Oh Sammy… I’m sure he didn’t forget. He probably had something super important to take care of..” Dean tried his best to explain their dad’s actions.

Their father didn’t have the best track record with birthdays. He’d already forgotten Dean’s more than once.

He tried to be okay with it but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling of anger inside him.

He could handle a forgotten birthday or two… but Sammy deserved to have each birthday better than the last.

“He didn’t even say goodbye before he l-left!”

The utter pain in his brothers voice filled Dean with rage. He was gonna give their father hell for this. He’d give him hell for hurting his Sammy!

Dean shook off the anger and refocused his priorities on getting his little brother to stop crying.

He pulled back from the hug and wiped the tears from the boys eyes, holding his cheeks firmly and looking at him with such care.

“Hey, look at me. Don’t worry about dad. He’s an ass!”

Sam looked at him with surprise.

Dean never talked that way about their father.

“B-But…”

“No!” The older interrupted.

“Sammy, your birthday is important and it deserves to be celebrated every single year! That’s something a father shouldn’t forget, ever!” He spoke firmly.

“Dad might forget your birthday, but you know who sure as hell never will?”

Sam blinked away his shock, looking at his brother with big round eyes.

“G-God?”

Dean snorted at his brothers sincerity.

“No, you goof… Me.” He gave the younger boy the warmest smile he could provide.

“I won’t forget your birthday ever, ever, ever!” He placed kisses in the soft hair on each “ever”, drawing soft giggles from the younger.

“Never ever forever?” The small boy smiled softly.

Dean grinned.

“Never, never, never, ever, forever and ever!!” He playfully buried his face in Sam’s neck, nuzzling the sensitive skin while simultaneously tickling at the boy’s sides.

Sam burst into surprised laughter, collapsing against his brother as Dean continued to playful attack.

“Never, ehehever ehEhEVEHER?” Sam’s laughter kicked up when his big brother vibrated a claw into his tummy.

“Dammit, Sam, never!” He laughed exasperatedly, enjoying the precious smile in favor to the miserable expression he had on earlier.

“Are you ready to go celebrate now or do I need to break out the raspberries?”

Sam’s face flushed and he shook his head rapidly.

“nonono, Dehehe doHOHOHONT!!”

The older brother dove his head down and blew a messy raspberry against the sensitive skin, earning hysterical laughter.

Sam shrieked and squealed, shoving at his brothers head but otherwise not doing much.

When his laughter went silent, Dean pulled away and let his brother breathe.

“You alright, kiddo?” He laughed fondly.

Sam giggled and nodded, beaming at his older brother.

“You ready to go eat some cake and open presents?”

Sam’s eyes widened.

“You got me a cake and presents?!”

Dean nodded and was met with an armful of Sammy.

“Thank you, Dean!!” He squeezed the elder as hard as he could.

Dean pat his back and laughed.

“Your welcome, Sammy. Now let’s go eat some cake. I’m starving!” He teased.

Sam didn’t think about their dad for the rest of the day.

Sam’s 16th Birthday

Sam sighed as he approached the motel door.

Dean had forgotten his birthday.

He hadn’t said a word to him all day.

Hell, he’s pretty sure Dean downright ignored him!

He should’ve known better than to believe that his brother would actually never forget his birthday.

He opened the door, ready to put on a mask of indifference when-

“SURPRISE!”

Sam got confetti thrown in his face.

He jumped, surprised indeed.

“Wha- Dean?” He looked at his brother, then around the motel room.

The room was decorated with cheap decorations, a couple of gifts set on the table along with a vanilla cake topped with sprinkles and 16 candles.

“Happy 16th, Sammy!!” He cheered, gesturing towards the cheap banner that he had hung up.

Sam felt his eyes well up with tears and he tried to blink them away.

“Dean, what is all this for?” He gaped.

Dean grinned brightly at him.

“It’s your sweet sixteen, baby bro! I decided to spruce the place up a bit before you got back!”

Sam was in awe.

He had gone the whole day thinking his big brother had broken his promise and forgot his birthday when in reality, he was making it one of his most special.

“Dean, you didn’t have to do all this…”

Dean saw the happy tears in his eyes and pulled his brother into a hug.

“Course I did! Hey, no cryin on your birthday!”

He poked Sam’s side and was met with a squeak.

“Dean, dohont!”

“Sorry, Sammy. You’re not allowed to cry on your birthday. Consider this your punishment!”

He smirked cheekily and dug into the sensitive ribs, eliciting loud laughter.

“DEHEHEAN! IM TOO OLD FOR THIHIHIS!!”

He shrieked, getting a snort from his older brother.

“You’re never too old to get absolutely destroyed by your big brother, Sammy.”

Sam’s 27th Birthday

It was Sam’s birthday.

Again.

For the 27th time.

Sam planned to hide away until this god forsaken day ended.

He was not gonna let his birthday hurt someone again.

“Rise and shine, Sammy!” His brother sang from the doorway.

“Go away, Dean.”

That response immediately set off all the big brother alarms in Dean’s head.

Something was wrong.

He approached his brother’s bed and stopped in front of it, crossing his arms questioningly.

“You alright?” He asked although he already knew the answer.

“Dean, please.” Sam hid under his blanket. “I don’t wanna celebrate today… bad things always happen on my birthday and I can’t risk hurting anyone!”

Deans heart broke.

“What are you talking about, Sam?”

“Mom’s deal, your deal, losing you?!”

His eyes glistened.

“I can’t let that happen again Dean! I… I can’t lose you again..”

Dean was furious with himself.

Sam was blaming himself for a deal that Dean made and that wasn’t fair.

Sam deserved all the happiness in the world.

“Nope. Uh uh. Don’t you talk like that, Sammy… that deal was my fault, not yours.”

He started.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, Sammy. I’m back now! And I’m gonna celebrate your birthday every damn year because you are the most important thing in my life, Sam! Don’t you dare forget that.”

By this point, Sam had tears streaming down his face.

“None of the shit that happened on your birthday was your fault. You deserve happiness, Sam.”

He pulled his brother close and let him cry into his shoulder.

After Sam calmed down, Dean pulled away and smiled at him.

“Now get out of that dirty ass bed so we can go celebrate.”

Sam laughed.

“I don’t know, Dean. This dirty ass bed is pretty comfortable.”

Dean rolled his eyes and scribbled his fingers across Sam’s stomach.

Sam burst into giggles immediately.

No matter what happened on his birthday, Dean would always make sure his birthdays were full of light and happiness and Sam knew that he did in fact have the best big brother ever.