dudeimbatman | This is Halloween

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This is Halloween | Itinere

Itinere does something every Halloween. It appears like magic on the morning of the 31st then disappears just as magically on November 1st. Sometimes it's more trick than treat, but this year in keeping with Itinere's recent graciousness, Halloween is all treat. The stores are bedecked in black and orange. Skeletons, more cartoonish than terrifying, hang on doors and there are pumpkins aglow with warm light everywhere. Even the foliage has turned red, gold, orange, and brown overnight. The air is just brisk enough to warrant a jacket or a sweater. The town has turned into a Fall Wonderland.

A fall festival has sprung up in the town square complete with rides, games, hot drink stands, and food trucks. Take a hayride or explore the corn maze. Try your hand at a shooting game or ring toss. Even if you lose, every vendor, shop, ride, and stand is handing out candy. You won't leave empty-handed.

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He chuckles at her recollection. "It's a damn wonder I didn't end up a fat little kid." Let's be honest, it's a damn miracle he's not a fat big kid now. Winchester metabolism is the eighth wonder of the world.

He considers a moment. "Sammy had this phase he went through. He was a chubby little kid then he decided he wanted to be on the soccer team. He was pretty good. Lost all his baby fat. Probably had something to do with turning 12 too."

She stifles a laugh. Picturing Dean with chubby cheeks is simple (he had them when he was four), but a belly is a little harder. "I'm not sure if that comes from your father's side or mine." Or it could come from both sides.

It does not escape her attention that everything but Dean is in that story. "And your face when you were little was different?"

"I don't know. Dad never really got a belly either." It was probably the hunting and the training for it.

Oh, Dean is in the story in every way, but Dean doesn't mention his part in that story to her. "I didn't ever really go through the chubby kid stage." He was too busy making sure Sammy had enough to eat. "Sam's the one with the sweet tooth. He hides it pretty well now, but he didn't always."

Her lip twitches up in a cracked smile. Oh, Dean. She has thought that before in an appreciative way. It's not a thought to share with her son though. "Okay, valid point. Maybe Sam inherited it from someone else in the family."

He shouldn't leave those parts out because Mary is as interested in them as she is with Sam. She can see she has to ask specific questions with Dean and that's fine. "Are there pictures to of you two to compare?" She seen the ones in the library, but now that they're talking about this, she wants another look. "It's possible he gets that from me. Though, I don't hide it." She smiles at the end.

Please, Mom. Don't scar him. "Yeah?" he asks, actually curious. He takes a sip of his coffee. "We never had lots of family growing up. You know that, but there were lots of people in our lives that were like family. I don't guess you ever knew Bobby or Ellen, but they were good people and around a lot. We stayed with Bobby some when we were kids." He takes a bite of pie and just barely remembers not to talk with his mouth full. "Of course, that doesn't explain why Sam is a freak." The words could be harsh, but Dean says them with a big grin and obvious love in his voice. It's clear to anyone who cares to pay attention that Dean adores his little brother (and he's the only on that gets to call him a freak).

Dean only ever wants to hit the highlights of his life (has he told her that he killed Hitler?). Mary will have to ask specific questions about Dean's childhood because a lot of it wasn't what he considers a highlight. "Nah...well.. I might have a couple in the firebox in my room. I'll show you them when we get home." There are pictures of Mary in there (of course) and of John and Mary. There's also pictures of Dean and Sam as kids as well as this one. Dean will be happy to show her those. "Sam started this health kick after college, I guess. He got really serious about it five years later or so." You know, about the time he was recovering from blood addiction, which Dean won't share with Mary and which hasn't happened to the Sam here (Dean prays on a damn regular basis ~~to Cas~~ to any damn thing with the power to keep Sam here that he never has to live through that).

She won't. He's safe. She shrugs, but appears thoughtful enough to answer. "You're grandparents, maybe." She pauses. They were gone before Dean was born. The heart attacks the police and doctors concluded it was never sat well with Mary. "We have family kicking around out there, too. I have an older brother and cousins on my father's side." She shakes her head because neither Bobby or Ellen ring any bells. "I wish I could know them." Bobby especially, from the sounds of it. To say thank you for helping her boys grow up to be safe and to have more family. Dean barely remembered not to talk with his mouth full at four, think she can give him a pass. Her smile grows with healthy amusement when Dean calls Sam a freak because she can see the brotherly love in that goofy grin. "Be nice," she teases.

He hasn't, actually. If he wants to hit some highlights, she would be impressed with the killing Hitler story. For now, anything she will ask Dean will come as she thinks of them. But there is too much she wants to ask, and too little certainty of the things he did growing up to know where to start. It's a small reprieve to the guessing game when Dean mentions the pictures in the firebox. "I would like that." She can only guess what he has in there. She does hope there is something that would answer her questions and give her something to ask about. Like how long it seems Dean has known Castiel for. "Well...it's not the worst thing for him. Just means a few more vegetables for dinner and more burgers for us, you know?" She smiles and takes a fry from her plate to chomp. There's something to cherish about one son having the same eating habits as herself and the other choosing to eat well despite what she passed on.

Dean hesitates only a moment before confessing. "I met them once. Deanna and Samuel. Cas can--could send us back in time. I met you, Dad, and them once for a little while." He won't destroy her idea of what happened to her parents. Nor will he tell her that he met the rest of the family because that hadn't been a good meeting or a good time. "Who knows. Maybe they'll show up here one of these days," Dean responds. He grins at her. "That is nice," he assures her with that grin.

They've got time here, something he will never stop being grateful for. "You know he likes tofu bacon? Who the hell likes tofu bacon?" he jokes, but he agrees with that mindset.

She'd understand that her family is rough around the edges to outsiders at most. But his call on there is good. Keep the conversation light. She pauses briefly before even the first thing comes to mind. "What? he can do that. What was it like meeting them? I don't remember meeting you." Can't say time travel is light but it surprises her a little less after hearing Carmen's background. Can say she grows more curious as the seconds go on. She nods, heart wishing her parents could show up. "Maybe. I would love to see them again." But with a grin like that from Dean, she can't be completely sad that they're not.

She has family right in front of her. "Okay. We'll call it nice." She can't and won't argue with that grin. It's a little like looking at a mirror image of John's.

The time that has already passed has helped her adjust. A piece of her is grateful they got time too. "Tofu bacon? How does that happen?" Her nose wrinkles because she's never heard of that one before.

It doesn't feel like a day for delving into the tragedy of their lives. "Yeah. He can do that. Surreal? I didn't know that Sam and me were named after them. Deanna made us dinner. Dad was looking at a VW van at the car lot. I told him that it had to be the Impala all the way. You..." he stops and shakes his head. "you were incredible." He's always been a momma's boy at heart.

She does and Dean appreciates that his family is here every day.

"Dude, hell if I know. It's weird and tastes nothing like bacon. Ask him though. He'll be happy to make you some along with one of those gross green things he drinks."

There is a little more to share about her parents some other time though. "So what can't he do?," she asks then nods because it's very surreal. "Naming you two after them was the easiest decision I made." She can't ever really put into words how important her parents were to her as they were in her life for so long. But it made sense to her to give a piece of that love to each one of her sons.

It's the mention of Dean being at dinner that doesn't connect to any memory she has and she visibly looks to him puzzled. However, the story Impala is easier to connect because she remembers the day John drove the Impala home well. He had said something like that. "That was you?" She shouldn't be surprised really. Her smile grows because the word incredible has always been Dean's way of giving a compliment.

"You used to say that to me all the time," she tells him. The memory of four year old Dean using it on people or new experiences comes back to her like it was yesterday.

She softly chuckles. "I'll take your word for it." Of course she will pass. She loves when she can sit down with Sam but tea is more than satisfactory.

"Flirt?" Dean suggests. "He's like that Rainman kid when it comes to other people," Dean confesses, but he says it with the same affection that he uses when he calls Sam a bitch.

He nods, pleased with himself. "I know you wanted Dad to get a van, but..." he shakes his head. He couldn't let that happen.

He looks surprised at that. "Yeah? Guess I haven't changed that much." In some ways, he hasn't but in others (of course) he has.

"maybe we can con Dad into trying one," he suggests in a conspiratorial tone.

Rainman, Dean? The small reference very clearly goes over Mary's head as evidenced by her brow arching; the gist behind it not so much to stop her chuckle. "Explain that one to me." She rests her chin into her palm.

She remembers how she said to John that a van would be the safest option. "I'm glad that you didn't let that happen," she admits. Today, she knows a van would have been a mistake.

"No" she shakes her head to agree. The only difference Mary sees sometimes is that Dean is able to use more words to express himself, but his actions still remain his primary form of expression.

"A protein shake?" The suggestion itself isn't shocking, but the conspiratorial tone makes it sound as if they've become partners in crime. Mary is on board. "You know you can't make your dad do anything he doesn't want to, but tell me your idea."

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This is Halloween | Itinere

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