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Jensen feels victorious. He shouldn’t. Alpha hadn’t at all been happy with his begging and pleading to spend the day with the Padaleckis instead of the Mortensens, but at the ripe, old age of ten he’d developed quite the stubborn streak.
Besides, Jeff had been bragging about Momma Padalecki’s apple pie all week at baseball practice. She was making a special batch with extra apples and homemade vanilla ice cream for their celebration.
Jensen had worked extra hard for coach Padalecki to notice him after that. Jensen loved apple pie, and while he wasn’t as fast as all the little werewolf boys, he could pitch really good. It wasn’t about how fast they were running around the bases, it was about getting the ball there first, and even with his stupid myopic eyesight and stupid glasses, Jensen’s arm was great at throwing.
Coach had just smiled at him and patted his head though. No more or no less proud than he was of any of the other kids, even Miles Sampson who kept running the wrong way whenever he finally hit the ball.
Jared had been thrilled though. He’d cheered and hollered at every one of Jensen’s victories and booed his own father when he disagreed with the calls. It was like having his very own sports groupie.
Jeff had mocked his brother and whined about having to take little Jared everywhere, but Jensen had shoved him when Jared’s eyes had started to well up and his lower lip started to pout in that dog like way he had.
After that, Jared had been glued to Jensen’s side. He declared Jensen, “The bestest ever!”
If Jensen ever does find out what he’s supposed to be ‘bestest’ at, he’ll be surprised. Jared’s six year old mind isn’t so great at anything requiring details.
In any case, Jared’s blatant hero worship had guaranteed Jensen an invitation to the Padalecki barbeque and left over picnic during the town fireworks show.
From there Jensen had wrangled and pleaded and begged until he got out of spending the holiday with his current assigned family. One day couldn’t hurt all that much, and regular folks were always trying to get rid of their kids for a little while, weren’t they?
That last argument had gotten him a sad look. The one that said, “Forgot you were human there, son. Forgot you actually sympathize with that human crap on television and believe it.”
Jensen hates that look. It reminds him that besides their strength and abilities, the pack doesn’t always view things the way that a human does. Even though Jensen knows that he isn’t living like a real human would, he also is old enough to know that he’s missing a lot of the natural instincts that a werewolf has.
Pack is a muted knowledge to him, not a living one. He can’t smell emotions the way the Jeff or even little Jared can, but he makes up for it by paying extra close attention to their faces. Werewolves notice scent first, so their faces are left open while they try to control the rest of their bodies.
Jensen makes sure that he pays attention to everything in an effort to not be left behind. He does a good job of it, he thinks. At least, nobody’s called him a sissy, loser human since he was eight and Jared bit down on the kid’s calf and wouldn’t let go.
Poor Mike still has the scar. He gets teased about having a turning bite. Jared has yet to repent, but never denies remembering the incident even though he was four at the time and maybe doesn’t have the clearest recollection on things.
In any case, Jensen finally won his long, hard battle of wills with the Alpha and got special permission to spend the holiday with the Padaleckis.
Mr. Padalecki has the meanest grill on the face of the entire planet. He makes steaks and chicken and hot dogs, and if Jensen had a tail like the rest of the kids, he’d be wagging it in anticipation.
Mrs. Wallace swears that Jensen has an unnatural love of barbeque and grilling. For a while, Jensen had mapped out everywhere in the United States that was famous for their barbeque, certain that if he just read enough about those places, he’d recognize one as his home.
It hadn’t worked, and like so many other things that he’d done, including wishing upon stars and fallen out baby teeth, Jensen eventually folded up his stupid dreams and put them away to wait for the next hair brained idea that he will be sure will tell him where his real family is.
Until that moment, he has the pack to be with and a barbeque to eat at.
That Jared is the one who greets him isn’t a shock. The whole family could probably hear Jensen and his heavy human footsteps as he approached their house, but Jared’s energy has never let him sit still for long. He’s in his wolf form and bouncing around Jensen like mad.
Mrs. Padalecki waves from the front porch, but the harried look on her face clearly begs Jensen to keep Jared outside. It’s a nice out, and Jared is a hoot to play with when he’s in wolf form, so Jensen just waves back and heads to their backyard.
Mr. Padalecki already has his grills going. He’s a firm believer in charcoal only, so the beef roast is already sizzling as its juices drip down onto it while the pork ribs and whole chicken are doing the same on their respective grills. The steaks, hamburgers and bratwurst will come later while Mrs. Padalecki whips out her famous potato salad, corn on the cob and her mother-in-law’s pierogies.
Jared stops to sniff and whine at one of the grills and Jensen laughs. If there is one person who doesn’t make Jensen feel bad about his love of barbecue, it is Jared. Then again, Jared also has a strange fondness for white bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He doesn’t have the best taste in food.
They play catch for a while, and Jensen is probably the only one keenly aware that to anybody else, it would look like he’s playing fetch with his dog. The pack would never realize such a thing. They’d only look and comment on how sweet it is that Jensen is playing with such a young pup.
Jeff eventually ambles out and growls at Jared when the little guy whines at having their game interrupted for big kid time. Jared growls right back at his brother, and for one terrifying second, Jensen is sure he’s about to witness a miniature alpha fight.
Then Mrs. Padalecki comes along to scold Jeff, and Jared wags his tail, and the baby gets set onto the grass for Jensen to watch while Mrs. Padalecki helps carry platters of meat out to the grills for her husband to work his magic on.
Jared's little sister is adorable in her little baby wolfishness. She’d remind Jensen of the little wolf pup that Jared was when they’d first met, but she’s much too delicate and agile for that. Jared still lumbers into things with boundless enthusiasm where his much younger sister darts around with grace that not even Jeff possesses.
They goof off until the food is ready. Jared begrudgingly shifts and heads back to the house to put some clothes on while Mrs. Padalecki comes to retrieve her youngest and make Jared's sister do the same.
They eat until their bellies are full, and they play some more while the adults pack up the picnic baskets.
Then they all drive out to the preselected location for the picnic. There are other weres milling about, all enjoying the festivities, but this particular spot has been the Padalecki’s since the founding of Denton, and nobody infringes on it.
The Fourth of July is a celebration to the pack of not only their country, but of their people as well. It’s one of the best attended holidays because they celebrate the ending of being hunted. It’s their freedom from the old world where people believed in superstition and lies. It’s a time to celebrate their continued existence and the happiness that they’ve found.
For Jensen, it’s a chance to have time with a family that will tide him over until the day that he finds his own.