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Dean and Jack had done a phenomenal job. Well okay, you could tell that it wasn’t done by professionals but still, after long days of work they finally had their own, private space again.
Their mom hadn’t reacted too well to them essentially locking her out but she rarely spent any time in the bunker anyway. Mostly she was out doing her own hunts and if she was in the bunker she spent it with alternate Bobby, a fact that made Sam and Dean shudder when they thought about it.
Sam woke up slowly, his face mushed against Dean’s chest, rising and falling with every breath. He slowly rolled over and checked his phone. It was before seven on a Saturday and there were no messages so Sam had no reason to get up right now.
The younger Winchester was just about to snuggle back into Dean when the door to their room quietly opened. Sam sat up halfway and looked at the intruder, relaxing when Jack pushed his head into the room.
“Mom?” He asked, shuffling his feet.
“Yeah, buddy. What’s going on?” Sam replied, trying to see if he could read Jack.
“Can I- could you-” The nephilim mumbled out, not meeting Sam’s eyes.
Sam snorted quietly, this wasn’t the first time it had happened since they had gotten their privacy back but it still embarrassed Jack, no matter how many times Sam and Dean tried to assure him it wasn’t.
“You wanna cuddle?” Sam asked and pulled up the comforter, earning a slight grumble from Dean.
Jack nodded reluctantly but moved forward until he was able to climb over Sam and crawl into the space between the brothers.
Dean blinked his eyes open at the disturbance, frowning until he realized that it was now Jack next to him.
“Hey, kid.” He mumbled out sleepily and rearranged himself so Jack could slot perfectly in between them with Sam now using Dean’s arm as a pillow.
They dozed on and off again like that for another hour. Content in the warmth and knowledge that their family was safe and together. After the past stressful weeks they deserved some time to themselves, they deserved to be a happy family.
Sam smiled softly at the two people he loved the most in the world. Jack’s hair was a tousled mess that reminded Sam of the time Dean had tried to style Sam’s hair with some mousse when they were kids and a previous tenant had left some. Their son was spread out on Dean’s chest, though he had one hand fisted in Sam’s shirt. From what he could tell both him and Dean had their mouths slightly open and their sleepy expressions were so similar you’d think they were blood related if you didn’t know better.
After their initial hurdles, Dean had taken to being a dad like a duck to water. He was constantly showing Jack how to do things, both in relation to hunting and not. If Sam was really honest with himself, sometimes he felt jealous of their bond and how much Jack reveled in Dean’s interests.
Sam took a deeper breath and sighed inwardly, telling himself that he was ridiculously and to let it go. He concentrated on the two in front of him again and rationally knew that he didn’t need to worry. They were one family, they loved each other and didn’t need to compete.
A long while and a lot of staring later, Jack woke up once more. He stirred and his eyelids twitched until he pried them open. The nephilim smiled at his mpm when he saw Sam watching him.
“Sleep well?” Sam asked quietly.
“Yeah, what time is it?” Jack replied, equally quiet.
Sam reached a hand out and ruffled the boy's hair lightly. “Just past eight, wanna go and make breakfast with me?”
Jack nodded and sat up, careful not to disturb Dean who thankfully slept on.
They maneuvered into the small kitchen they had built into one of the rooms. It wasn’t much and certainly not big or stocked enough for an elaborate meal but they had a fridge and a portable electric stove top and most importantly a coffee machine.
Sam started on the coffee while Jack got the ingredients for pancakes out of the fridge. He had just recently taught the nephilim how to cook pancakes from scratch and he knew that Jack wanted to try his hand at making them all by himself.
They wouldn’t have bacon but together Sam and Jack were able to create a more than decent breakfast for their family. While the last few pancakes cooked in the pan, Sam placed his arm around Jack’s shoulders and pulled him in. The taller man bent down and pressed a few kisses against Jack’s hair.
“You did great, Jack. They look fantastic.” Sam praised, watching the first bubbles on their pancakes form.
“Thanks, mom.” Jack replied and flipped the pancakes carefully while staying beneath Sam’s arm. He pressed his head against Sam’s shoulder while they waited for their breakfast to cook through, a happy smile on the young boy's face.
A deep voice made both Sam and Jack flinch when it came from behind them. “That smells great.” Dean said as he moved into the kitchen.
When Sam turned to glare at him, he saw the smug smile on Dean’s face and knew that he had been purposefully lurking to scare them.
“Breakfast is almost ready, coffee is in the pot.” Sam said, glaring slightly.
Dean poured himself a cup before planting a quick kiss on Sam’s cheek and Jack’s head. He sat down with a thump, coffee almost spilling over.
…
“So,” Sam started once they had finished their food. “I was thinking you and I could have a bit of a mom and son day if you’d like, Jack.” Sam knew his cheeks were tinged pink but he didn’t care as long as Jack didn’t hate the idea.
Jack's eyes widened but before Sam could start to worry, the young boy began nodding. “Yeah, I’d love that.” He quickly replied.
“Great.” Sam grinned back. “You got something you wanna do? Otherwise I would have suggested the zoo down in Salina. It’s not the biggest but it’s only a two hour drive and Salina has a movie theater we could go to afterwards.”
Sam had felt stupid to scour the internet for tips on what to do with your child but by the joy he could see on Jack’s face, he had done the right thing. It had been such a rare thing for their dad to spend some down time with him and he didn’t want Jack to get the same impression.
“Zoo, with like all the animals?” Jack asked excitedly and looked more like a five than a fifteen year old for a moment.
Sam nodded and grinned when Jack’s smile widened impossibly. Sam shifted his eyes across the table and saw Dean looking at them with a fond smile. His older brother had been encouraging Sam to take some time and do something alone with Jack, knowing they both needed the time away from the other bunker inhabitants.
“Well, d’you wanna go now or later?” Sam asked and was not surprised when Jack jumped up, declaring that he was ready to go now.
-
Two and a half hours later Sam had finally bought the tickets and was entering the zoo with Jack by his side. The boy was so excited he was practically vibrating and Sam was a little worried that he might let out some of his grace by accident.
Sam’s face seemed to be stuck in a bemused smile, loving how excited Jack was. He kept a careful eye on him, afraid Jack could run off at any moment when he spotted the next animal he wanted to see.
The young nephilim was especially fascinated by the prairie dogs that ran around in their enclosures. He gripped Sam’s sleeve tightly, pulling him along and pointing at the little mammals.
“Why are they called dogs, mom? They look nothing like other dogs.” He asked and looked at Sam curiously.
Sam pulled up blank for a moment, not knowing the answer either. “Oh, uh Jack, I don’t-” He started but then spotted a sign with some information on it. “See, here it says they’re called dogs because they make sounds that sound like dogs barking.”
Jack looked in thought and nodded slightly, pushing closer to Sam and reading the rest of the information.
And well, after that they had to stop at every informational sign there was. Jack wanted to know everything and if Sam didn’t know better he would say he had inherited that trait from himself. It reminded him of the whole nature vs. nurture debate and he was glad that at least for Jack the nurture theory was winning.
A couple animals later, Jack was just as fascinated by the giraffes, looking up slowly until he had to crane his neck to see their faces. As another surprise for his son, Sam had successfully managed to get them to the giraffes on time, right when they put out new feed and a few lucky people were even allowed to feed them branches with fresh leaves. Sam subtly pushed Jack to the front, whispering to him that he should use the opportunity and feed one of the giants.
Sam pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos as well as a short video of Jack excitedly feeding a branch of leaves to a giraffe.
“Who's that for?” Jack asked when he saw the phone pointed at him.
“Your dad.” Sam replied and snapped another picture of Jack.
…
To be honest with himself, Sam was exhausted. Sam and Jack had spent hours walking around the zoo and sometimes it was like chasing a five year old on a sugar high.
After they had finally seen every animal for long enough they had made their way into Salina. They had watched a movie that Sam couldn’t really tell you what it was about, just that Jack enjoyed it and it was confusing enough for Sam to keep him awake.
He had treated them to McDonald’s for dinner before starting the journey back home. And to no one's surprise, Jack still had enough energy to keep the two hour drive back entertaining , if slightly too much for Sam’s liking.
Sam had really hoped that the meal and all the walking would make Jack tired but it only seemed to catch up to him after they had gotten home. He had just been about to offer something else that they could do together, like building that one big lego set Castiel had gifted their son, when the first yawn was ripped from the boy.
“Getting tired, baby?” Sam asked while he ruffled a hand through the boy’s curls.
Jack nodded underneath Sam’s hand. “Yeah, mom.”
Sam chuckled slightly at the feeling. “Alright, how about you get ready for bed then.”
“No. I don’t wanna go to bed yet, I don’t want today to be over.” The boy said and pouted at Sam.
The younger Winchester could feel his heart break at the statement, already feeling like he wasn’t paying as much attention to Jack as he would like. He swallowed heavily before replying again. “Okay, buddy. How about this then - you and I both get ready for bed and we can watch some tv together or something.”
“Can we do it in your room?” Jack asked sheepishly.
“Sure we can.” Sam confirmed which prompted the nephilim to quickly head into the bathroom.
Sam used the few minutes to mostly get ready himself and change into pajamas as well as set up the tv and grab extra blankets and pillows from the living room.
When they were both done Jack crawled up the bed and slotted himself against Sam’s side, laying his head on the older’s shoulder and staring at the tv.
They watched a few episodes of a show while Sam carded his hand through Jack’s hair.
Jack had been yawning a lot and Sam knew that it wouldn’t take long for him to fall asleep but he needed to say a few more things before that.
“Jack?” He asked quietly while the credits to the latest episode were playing.
“Hmh?” Came the sleepy reply.
“You know you can always come to me right? With anything and everything, no matter what or when, right?”
Jack shifted in order to look up at Sam with big, puppy eyes.
“Yeah, I know, Mom.” He replied quietly.
“Just had to make sure.”
“I do, it sometimes just takes me a while, okay?” Jack added when Sam apparently didn’t look too convinced.
Sam tightened his arm around Jack, pulling him closer again and nuzzling into his hair. “Okay, kiddo and I promise this won’t be the last day we spend like this. I’ll try my best to have some more time for just us.”
Tears welled in both their eyes but they didn’t need to say anything, they just hugged each other closer in silent agreement.