Candy Capers by brassband777
Candy Capers
Characters: Sam, Emily (8), Alice (6), Dean, Will (10)
Written by brassband777 for Capricorn86
Sam Winchester held the TV remote and flicked lazily through the channels while waiting for his daughters to finish getting dressed in their Halloween costumes. On occasions such as this, Sam always felt torn inside - he loved spending quality, fun time with his girls, but couldn’t help thinking of his beloved Laura. She had adored having children and had always made a big deal over holidays and special celebrations. Even though four long years had passed, he still grieved for her.
Sam was interrupted from his melancholy thoughts as six-year-old Alice literally bounced into the room. She was dressed as a witch, her blond waves intermingling with the green synthetic hair hanging from the rim of her tall, black witch’s hat.
“Hey, baby girl,” greeted Sam, eyeing her bright green face with amusement, “Emily did a good job with the face paint I see.”
He jerked his head back, narrowly missing getting impaled in the eye by the point of the hat as his youngest clambered onto his knee and settled down.
“Read to me, Daddy….please?” Alice thrust a book under his nose. “Emmy’s not ready yet, she’s bushying her hair.”
“Bushying?” Sam quirked an enquiring eyebrow. He couldn’t keep up with all the new girly fads and fashions….presumably this was some kind of new-fangled hairstyle.
Alice nodded. “Yeah, ‘cause Hermione has bushy hair.”
“Ah, I see.” Now he understood.
Sam took the book from Alice’s small hand and glanced at the cover. It was one of Emily’s treasured Beatrix Potter collection that Laura had given her for her fourth birthday - the last birthday that they had ever spent together as a family. He knew how important these books were to his eldest.
As if reading his thoughts, Alice piped up, “I promised I’d be careful with it. Come on, Daddy, I wanna hear about Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.”
Sam looped an arm around the little girl’s waist, pulling her snuggly against his chest and began to read. He was halfway through the story when he was interrupted by a plea from his eldest in her bedroom.
“Daaaaaaddy!”
Sam cocked his head waiting for further confirmation of what she wanted. He could tell from her whiney tone that something wasn’t going according to plan.
A moment later, Emily called again. “Can you help me Daddy? It’s stuck!”
Stuck? What was stuck? “Come on, Alice, we’d better go rescue your sister by the sounds of it.”
Sam paused in the doorway of his eldest’s bedroom and beheld the scene in front of him in shock. He had no idea how she’d done it, but the left-hand section of Emily’s usually sleek, straight, shiny long brown hair was a tangled mess. It looked like she’d stuck her finger in a plug socket. Well, it’s definitely bushy! he thought.
“I couldn’t reach the back properly and I got the brush stuck,” explained Emily, her voice tinged with impatience.
Sam took note of the brush held suspended amidst the tangles. “Errr….what exactly were you doing?”
“Backcombing,” replied Emily as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“But that’s a brush,” pointed out Sam reasonably.
Emily rolled her eyes. “I know that, Daddy, but you can use a comb or a brush. Dawn taught me how to do it. Can you please get it out?”
Sam carefully tried to disentangle the brush, apologising as Emily flinched when he accidentally pulled her hair. Eventually he managed to free it, after much silent cursing and held it out to his daughter.
“Can you finish doing it please, Daddy?” She turned her imploring green eyes on Sam. “It’ll be quicker and then we can start the trick or treating.”
“Yay, candy!” enthused Alice, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.
Sam couldn’t help grinning. His youngest definitely took after her Uncle Dean where her sweet tooth was concerned. He shuddered involuntarily as he remembered Dean even being willing to eat candy that had at one point been contaminated with razor blades!
“Ummm, are you sure these tangles will come out okay?” asked Sam, realising that Emily was awaiting an answer.
The eight-year-old nodded. “Yeah, Dawn said I just need to use lots of conditioner when I wash my hair.” She waited expectantly for Sam to begin, then broke into giggles when she noticed the dumbfounded way that he was staring at the brush in his hand. “It’s okay, Daddy, I’ll teach you how to do it.”
Sam watched as Emily grasped the ends of a section of her hair and began running the brush back up towards the roots. Once he’d got the hang of it, it only took the ex-hunter five minutes to complete the Hermione-hairstyle on his eldest. He had had to buy Emily’s costume over the internet - it consisted of a black robe bearing the Gryffindor logo and a Hogwarts tie.
Just before they left the house, Sam made his daughters pose for a picture. Both were holding a large, plastic pumpkin-shaped basket for storing their treats in. Alice was also clutching a toy broom that she had (with Sam’s assistance) tied her stuffed black cat toy to.
“That’s it, my little wicked witches, smile.” Sam shifted his cell phone, so that the two small girls were centred in the screen.
“Hermione’s not wicked,” teased Emily, shaking her head at her Dad’s lack of knowledge.
Sam grinned back. “Hey, I do read you know. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Alice snorted and looked up at her big sister, her hazel eyes glinting mischievously. “You’re not even a proper witch, Emmy, you’re a made-up one. All fairy-tale witches look like me.”
Emily raised her eyebrows at her little sister. “You do know witches aren’t real, right?” she teased back.
Alice opened her mouth to protest and Sam took the opportunity to usher his girls out the door before a full-blown argument could ensue. How he wished that Emily’s statement was true!
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
They’d been trick or treating for just over half an hour when Sam caught sight of the two familiar figures up ahead. Alice spotted them a second later and took off towards them as fast as her little legs could carry her.
“Uncle Dean!”
Dean Winchester spun around upon hearing his name and scooped the flying tiny girl up into his arms. “Why, hello there, Alice Marie.”
Alice leaned in and kissed his cheek, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. A moment later, Sam and Emily arrived and Dean set the six-year-old down gently so that he could return the hug of his eldest niece, as Emily had wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.
Will ran up, having successfully obtained candy from the door he had just knocked at.
The ten-year-old skidded to a halt. “Hiyuh, Uncle Sam. May the force be with you.” Will was dressed as Luke Skywalker, complete with glowing blue light saber.
Sam reached out and ruffled his nephew’s chocolate brown curls affectionately, grinning when the boy immediately ducked away from his hand. “Greetings Jedi Master. Where’s your big sister, huh?” Sam couldn’t see his twelve-year-old niece anywhere nearby.
It was Dean who answered. “Oh, Dawn considers herself too old to go trick-or-treating with her Dad now.” The sarcasm of his tone was belied by the easy, roguish grin.
“She’s at a Halloween Party at one of her friend’s houses. Don’t worry, I checked it was legit and was parentally chaperoned.”
Sam smirked, having no intention of telling his brother that his cheek was now smeared with green face paint from where Alice had kissed him. He saw Will glance up at his father and then do a double take, opening his mouth to tell his dad. Sam caught his eye and shook his head at him imperceptibly and winked. The ten-year-old immediately got the message and a mischievous grin spread across his face. The expression was so like Dean’s, when he had been a child, that for a moment Sam was transported back in time.
The Winchesters carefully crossed the street together, so that they could move on to the houses on the next block. As they stepped up the kerb onto the sidewalk, Will caught his foot and stumbled. Dean, completely accustomed to his son’s clumsiness, automatically caught hold of the boy’s arm and righted him before he could faceplant on the unyielding concrete. He then reached casually into Will’s bucket for a candy.
“Daaad,” whined Will, watching as Dean popped the chewy caramel into his mouth.
“What?” shrugged Dean, “It’s payment for me taking you trick or treating. Aint that right, Sammy?”
Sam grinned at the memory. “Don’t worry, Will, he always did that to me too when we were kids.”
“You can’t complain, dude, ‘cause you wouldn’t have gone trick or treating at all if it hadn’t been for your awesome big brother here.”
“Didn’t your dad, Grandpa John, take you?” asked Emily.
Sam shook his head. “No, he was always too busy with his errr…….job.” Sam and Dean had chosen to protect their children from the truth about the supernatural and their previous lives as hunters. “So when we were both little, we missed out on the fun, but Dad always tried to make up for it by bringing us some candy home. Then when your Uncle Dean had turned eleven, Grandpa John decided he was responsible enough to take me trick or treating without adult supervision.” Not to mention that John knew his eldest was a perfect shot and would do anything to protect his little brother!
Sam looked down to find Alice hugging his leg. “I’m glad you’re not too busy, Daddy.”
“Me too, baby girl.” Sam returned the hug and then looked up to find Dean smirking at him.
“You know,” he said conversationally to the three children, “I remember one particular Halloween where your Uncle Sammy was got good and proper. You wanna hear about it?”
He had a captive audience, as three small heads nodded. Sam groaned - whatever his brother was about to recount, he strongly suspected that it would be humiliating.
“Well,” began Dean, “there was this house where a bunch of teenagers were having a party. Anyway, they’d decided they weren’t gonna treat any kids that came knockin’, they were gonna trick ‘em. So your Uncle Sam knocks on the door and straight away, a girl with a knife stuck through her head runs out screaming, being chased by a guy in a mask with an axe. Oh, and in the entranceway, there’s a guy lying on the floor covered in blood. I could tell it was all fake right away, but your Uncle Sammy? No, he throws his candy away……can you believe that?....and then legs it into the forest behind the house - the forest that our Dad had expressly forbidden us to enter, screaming like a girl.”
Emily huffed indignantly at her uncle. “That’s insulting girls, Uncle Dean! I’m a girl and I don’t scream like that.”
“True…okay, he was screaming like a wuss,” amended Dean with a grin.
Sam was mortified. He knew that he was blushing, he could feel the uncomfortable warmth flooding his cheeks. “Hey, come on man, I was only eight!”
This time Emily rounded on her father. “Daddy, I’m eight and I’m not a baby!” she pouted indignantly.
Sam threw up his hands in exasperation. “Thanks, Dean, now the kids all think I’m a coward.”
Dean grinned, totally unrepentant and reached out to ruffle Sam’s floppy hair, knowing it would irritate his little brother further.
Will’s bright blue eyes were wide as he voiced his question - his Dad had told him on numerous occasions just how strict Grandpa John had been about following orders and doing as you were told. “Did Uncle Sam get spanked for going in the forest when he’d been told not to?”
Sam didn’t think he could blush anymore without his cheeks actually setting on fire.
Dean shook his head, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Nah, your Grandpa John knew exactly how much of a wimp Sammy-Boy was, so he didn’t blame him. I did have to call him and get him to leave work though to help me find the kid ‘cause your uncle obviously didn’t just run into the forest, he had to go and get hopelessly lost in it too.”
As Sam remembered the ending of that particular Halloween, he couldn’t prevent the affection that he felt towards his older brother from surfacing, in spite of the embarrassment he presently felt. Dean may be teasing him about it now, but he hadn’t back then, knowing as always, what his little brother had needed.
It may have been John that had carried the sobbing eight-year-old out of the forest and placed him gently in the back seat of the Impala, but it was his brother that had calmed him down. Dean had climbed into the back with Sam instead of riding Shotgun and had cuddled his little brother to him. Not complaining as Sam covered the front of his new, prized cowboy outfit with his snot and tears. Dean had stroked his little brother’s back and whispered soothing words into the floppy chestnut head that had been nestled just under his chin, until Sam’s panicked breathing and racing heart had finally returned to normal.
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
Sam unlocked the front door and entered the living room, both of his happy, chattering daughters following close behind.
“Okay, girls, you can choose two pieces of candy each to eat now and then I’ll put the rest away and I’ll let you have a few every day.”
Emily immediately chose two of her favourites and obediently handed her pumpkin basket to Sam. Alice however, folded her arms across her chest, a pout firmly fixed in place.
“I want to keep it all, Daddy.”
“You can’t have it all, sweetheart, you’d make yourself sick,” explained Sam patiently. Although Dean had never made himself sick from pigging out.
“No I won’t,” replied Alice stubbornly.
“I’m still going to look after it for you. Now which two do you want?”
“All of it,” Alice clutched the basket to her chest.
“Alice Marie!” a stern note had crept into Sam’s voice, “You can either choose two and give me the rest or you won’t get any today at all if I’ve got to take it off you. What’s it gonna be?”
Alice reluctantly chose two mini chocolate bars and handed the rest to her dad.
“Good girl. “ Sam smiled at her, rewarding her for making the right choice and then addressed both of them, “Now, I’m going to put the rest of your candy in the kitchen, but you’re not allowed to have any without my permission, okay?”
Emily nodded, but Alice looked mutinous.
Sam contemplated his youngest sternly. “And if I find that either of you have eaten any without permission, then I’m afraid some bottoms are going to have to be spanked.”
He carried the candy into the kitchen and set it down on the counter, then thought better of it and put it on the very top shelf instead. There was no point in tempting fate and with Alice’s infamous sweet tooth it was much better to remove the temptation all together. Unbeknownst to Sam, his youngest was peeking around the doorframe to see where her dad was putting her beloved candy.
When bedtime rolled around for Alice, Sam was pleasantly surprised that the little girl went meekly. He surmised that perhaps the trick or treating had worn her out. He didn’t dare to hope that she’d finally outgrown this phase. Usually, bedtimes with his youngest proved to be a battle of wills and often resulted in the tantrumming six-year-old going to bed with a soundly swatted behind.
“Goodnight, baby girl.” Sam tucked the covers snuggly around Alice after finishing the bedtime story and leaned in to gently kiss her baby-soft cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
Alice waited until Sam had turned on her bedside nightlight and exited her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him, before reaching under her bed for her flashlight. The nightlight only cast a comforting glow and wasn’t bright enough to see clearly by.
Alice had a cunning plan! She would wait until her dad had gone to bed and then she would go and sneak some candy. It wasn’t stealing, she reasoned, because it did belong to her after all! But the little girl was tired and knew that if she just lay there, she would fall asleep, so she got out her colouring book and crayons and happily began to colour in a picture of a fairy riding on a unicorn. She concentrated really hard to stay in the lines.
In the living room, Sam settled himself comfortably on the sofa with a book, totally oblivious to the scheming of his youngest. He glanced up as Emily entered the room, freshly showered and dressed in her pyjamas. He was relieved to see that her damp hair was straight and minus all the tangles. The eight-year-old was carrying a book of her own and snuggled up next to her father on the sofa. Sam looped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on the top of her damp head before returning to his book.
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
Alice tiptoed to her bedroom door and quietly opened it. She had heard her dad go to bed a while ago and figured that the coast was now clear. The problem was that she needed to enlist her big sisters help - Alice knew from a previous escapade involving the cookie jar that even standing on the counter top she was still too small to reach the top shelf.
She quietly entered Emily’s bedroom and tiptoed over to her bed. Emily was fast asleep, her cheek resting on one of her hands. Alice reached out and shook her shoulder gently.
“Wh…what?” Emily sat up abruptly, rubbing the sleep blearily out of her eyes.
“Hush!” whispered Alice urgently, “We don’t want Daddy to wake up!” The small girl quickly outlined her plan.
Emily listened sceptically. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Alice. Remember the cookie jar? Uncle Dean spanked us.”
Alice unconsciously turned on her puppy-dog gaze which she had undoubtedly inherited from her father. And just as Dean had never been able to deny Sam anything when he had pulled out this secret weapon, Emily was just as powerless to resist it. “Come on, Emmy, it’ll be fine. We only got caught last time ‘cause we smashed the jar and we’ll be really really quiet.”
Emily sighed and gave in. She pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed. “Okay, Alice, but we’ll only be able to take a bit or Daddy will notice.”
Alice nodded eagerly, flashing Emily a winning smile, before trotting quietly after her big sister as she made her way to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Emily turned on the light and moved a chair from the table over to the counter. “Okay,“ she whispered, “we’ll both climb up and then I’ll pass them to you and you can hold them until I get down and then I’ll help you down. All right?” Emily was fiercely protective of her little sister and didn’t want to risk her falling.
Alice nodded in agreement. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on the candy!
Emily helped Alice to climb from the chair onto the counter top and then quickly climbed up herself. The girl successfully passed one of the pumpkin-shaped baskets to her sister, but when she passed the second one, their carefully laid plan fell apart.
As Alice attempted to grasp hold of the second tub of candy, she inadvertently let go of the first. Then, as the little girl reacted instinctively to try and catch the falling pumpkin, she was unable to maintain her hold on the second. Both plastic baskets fell to the tiled floor with a loud clatter, spraying candy everywhere. The girls immediately froze, praying that the sound hadn’t woken their dad.
Sam jerked awake at the unexpected noise, all his hunting senses immediately on alert. He moved quietly out of his bedroom, prepared to take on any attacker and protect his family. On seeing the kitchen light on, a suspicion began to grow in his mind, which was confirmed when he reached the doorway and discovered his children standing on the counter top, looking like a couple of deer caught in the headlights.
“Emily Elizabeth! Alice Marie! What were you thinking?” he scolded, although the candy scattered all over the floor told him exactly what they had been thinking. He also had no doubts whatsoever as to which one of his daughters was the instigator here.
Alice’s sweet tooth had gotten them both into trouble before.
Sam was worried that they might fall off the counter and hurt themselves, so in two quick strides he moved across the room and lifted Alice down first, before grasping Emily around the waist and doing the same with her. He then stepped back and put his hands on his hips studying both girls grimly.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” murmured Emily, refusing to meet his eyes.
Alice stayed quiet. She studied her feet, while biting her lip. Hopefully Daddy would just tell them off and send them back to bed.
“I’m really disappointed in you two!” Sam’s tone was stern. “You knew you weren’t allowed any more candy without permission. Not to mention that you know you’re not allowed to climb on the counters. You could have fallen and gotten hurt! Have you anything to say for yourselves?”
“We just wanted some candy, Daddy. We know we shouldn’t have. We won’t do it again.” It was Emily who answered, Alice was still staring at the floor, twirling a strand of her blond hair nervously.
Sam couldn’t help but feel proud of his eldest - Emily could easily have tried to shift more blame onto her sister by disclosing the fact that it had been her idea, but instead, she was willing to take responsibility for her own choices.
“What did I say would happen if you did try to take any candy without permission?”
Emily bit her lip before answering, her voice so quiet that it was nearly inaudible. “You would spank us.”
Sam nodded. “So, I’m sorry, I really don’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.” Sam hated punishing his children and it was always the last thing that he wanted to do, never mind the fact that it was the middle of the night and they were all tired.
On hearing the dreaded ‘spanking’ word, Alice immediately turned and ran from the kitchen. Sam watched his youngest disappear with a sigh. He would deal with his eldest first and then seek out the six-year-old’s hiding place.
“You understand why I’m going to spank you, Emily Elizabeth?” He didn’t plan on delivering a harsh spanking, just an unpleasant reminder that rules needed to be followed.
Emily nodded sadly. Why did she let Alice talk her into these things?
Sam took a firm hold of Emily’s upper arm and turned the girl sideways so that he would have unrestricted access to her buttocks. He then wasted no time in administering ten hard, stinging swats to her pyjama-clad derriere. Emily instinctively tried to pull away, but Sam held her easily in place. The spanking wasn’t hard enough to make her cry, but when Sam released her, her green eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
“I really am sorry, Daddy”
Sam pulled the eight-year-old into a tight hug, feeling her slim arms slide around him and hug back. “Hush, it’s okay, sweetheart. You’ve been spanked now, so it’s in the past. Forgiven and forgotten.”
He dropped a tender kiss on the top of her head before pulling back. “Off to bed with you. Remember I love you, Emily. Now I’ve got to go and find your sister.”
Sam smiled as he watched Emily slowly making her way to her bedroom, unconsciously rubbing her stinging bottom. He then turned to the task at hand - locating his missing six-year-old. Sam sighed, wondering when his youngest would finally realise that running and hiding wouldn’t save her from getting spanked. Unlike his own father, Sam never added extra swats for trying to avoid the punishment. He figured it was a natural response to try and avoid getting spanked if it was at all possible!
After a few minutes of searching, Sam found Alice hiding down the side of the armchair. He gently lifted her out and stood the small girl in front of him, keeping his hands resting on her shoulders to prevent her running off again.
“I don’t want a spanking, Daddy,” she pouted, giving him the puppy-dog gaze.
“And I don’t want to spank you, Alice, but I told you what would happen if you didn’t listen about the candy.”
“But it huuuurts,” the small girl whined, tears beginning to fill her hazel eyes as she realised that Sam had no intention of letting her off.
“It’s supposed to, so that next time, you’ll think twice before disobeying again.” Sam always found it harder to spank Alice than Emily, because she always got really upset when spanked, even if she was only given a couple of mild swats.
Not wanting to prolong the little girl’s anxiety any longer, Sam picked her up and held her easily against his hip.
“Daddy, noooo!” she squealed.
Sam snapped his right hand down sharply seven times on her small bottom. His large hand covered the majority of her buttocks with each swat. Alice ‘owwed’ and kicked her legs throughout. Sam was also aware that the child had burst into tears after swat number two and had had to force himself to continue. Even though Alice was sobbing hard by the time he finished, Sam knew that the spanking he had delivered had only been mild.
He gathered the crying child into his arms and held her against his chest. Sam began rocking her as he carried her towards her bedroom.“Shhh, baby, you’re all right now.”
He sat down on Alice’s bed and continued to cuddle her until her sobs had quietened to mere sniffles.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she sniffed.
“I know, baby girl,” murmured Sam soothingly, pulling back the covers and tucking the six-year-old into bed. He smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her tear-streaked cheek. Alice’s eyelids were already beginning to droop - the late night and the stress of the spanking had totally worn her out.
“Daddy, loves you remember.”
“I love you too.”
Sam smiled as her eyelids slid closed and her breathing evened out indicating sleep almost immediately.
He left the bedroom quietly and returned to the kitchen with a sigh. He was tired and all he wanted to do was to go back to bed, but he couldn’t leave all the candy on the floor.
Sam had replaced about half of it in the two pumpkin baskets when Emily appeared in the doorway. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had realised that her dad was still up.
“Would you like some help, Daddy?” she asked hesitantly, not sure if Sam would rather her be in bed.
Sam smiled up at her from his uncomfortable crouched position on the floor. “If you’re not too tired, then yeah, I’d appreciate it.”
Emily impulsively put her arms around his neck and hugged him, before lowering herself beside him and beginning to help to pick up the fallen candy….
THE END
Written by: brassband777
Characters: Sam, Emily (8), Alice (6), Dean, Will (10)
Written by brassband777 for Capricorn86
Sam Winchester held the TV remote and flicked lazily through the channels while waiting for his daughters to finish getting dressed in their Halloween costumes. On occasions such as this, Sam always felt torn inside - he loved spending quality, fun time with his girls, but couldn’t help thinking of his beloved Laura. She had adored having children and had always made a big deal over holidays and special celebrations. Even though four long years had passed, he still grieved for her.
Sam was interrupted from his melancholy thoughts as six-year-old Alice literally bounced into the room. She was dressed as a witch, her blond waves intermingling with the green synthetic hair hanging from the rim of her tall, black witch’s hat.
“Hey, baby girl,” greeted Sam, eyeing her bright green face with amusement, “Emily did a good job with the face paint I see.”
He jerked his head back, narrowly missing getting impaled in the eye by the point of the hat as his youngest clambered onto his knee and settled down.
“Read to me, Daddy….please?” Alice thrust a book under his nose. “Emmy’s not ready yet, she’s bushying her hair.”
“Bushying?” Sam quirked an enquiring eyebrow. He couldn’t keep up with all the new girly fads and fashions….presumably this was some kind of new-fangled hairstyle.
Alice nodded. “Yeah, ‘cause Hermione has bushy hair.”
“Ah, I see.” Now he understood.
Sam took the book from Alice’s small hand and glanced at the cover. It was one of Emily’s treasured Beatrix Potter collection that Laura had given her for her fourth birthday - the last birthday that they had ever spent together as a family. He knew how important these books were to his eldest.
As if reading his thoughts, Alice piped up, “I promised I’d be careful with it. Come on, Daddy, I wanna hear about Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.”
Sam looped an arm around the little girl’s waist, pulling her snuggly against his chest and began to read. He was halfway through the story when he was interrupted by a plea from his eldest in her bedroom.
“Daaaaaaddy!”
Sam cocked his head waiting for further confirmation of what she wanted. He could tell from her whiney tone that something wasn’t going according to plan.
A moment later, Emily called again. “Can you help me Daddy? It’s stuck!”
Stuck? What was stuck? “Come on, Alice, we’d better go rescue your sister by the sounds of it.”
Sam paused in the doorway of his eldest’s bedroom and beheld the scene in front of him in shock. He had no idea how she’d done it, but the left-hand section of Emily’s usually sleek, straight, shiny long brown hair was a tangled mess. It looked like she’d stuck her finger in a plug socket. Well, it’s definitely bushy! he thought.
“I couldn’t reach the back properly and I got the brush stuck,” explained Emily, her voice tinged with impatience.
Sam took note of the brush held suspended amidst the tangles. “Errr….what exactly were you doing?”
“Backcombing,” replied Emily as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“But that’s a brush,” pointed out Sam reasonably.
Emily rolled her eyes. “I know that, Daddy, but you can use a comb or a brush. Dawn taught me how to do it. Can you please get it out?”
Sam carefully tried to disentangle the brush, apologising as Emily flinched when he accidentally pulled her hair. Eventually he managed to free it, after much silent cursing and held it out to his daughter.
“Can you finish doing it please, Daddy?” She turned her imploring green eyes on Sam. “It’ll be quicker and then we can start the trick or treating.”
“Yay, candy!” enthused Alice, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.
Sam couldn’t help grinning. His youngest definitely took after her Uncle Dean where her sweet tooth was concerned. He shuddered involuntarily as he remembered Dean even being willing to eat candy that had at one point been contaminated with razor blades!
“Ummm, are you sure these tangles will come out okay?” asked Sam, realising that Emily was awaiting an answer.
The eight-year-old nodded. “Yeah, Dawn said I just need to use lots of conditioner when I wash my hair.” She waited expectantly for Sam to begin, then broke into giggles when she noticed the dumbfounded way that he was staring at the brush in his hand. “It’s okay, Daddy, I’ll teach you how to do it.”
Sam watched as Emily grasped the ends of a section of her hair and began running the brush back up towards the roots. Once he’d got the hang of it, it only took the ex-hunter five minutes to complete the Hermione-hairstyle on his eldest. He had had to buy Emily’s costume over the internet - it consisted of a black robe bearing the Gryffindor logo and a Hogwarts tie.
Just before they left the house, Sam made his daughters pose for a picture. Both were holding a large, plastic pumpkin-shaped basket for storing their treats in. Alice was also clutching a toy broom that she had (with Sam’s assistance) tied her stuffed black cat toy to.
“That’s it, my little wicked witches, smile.” Sam shifted his cell phone, so that the two small girls were centred in the screen.
“Hermione’s not wicked,” teased Emily, shaking her head at her Dad’s lack of knowledge.
Sam grinned back. “Hey, I do read you know. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Alice snorted and looked up at her big sister, her hazel eyes glinting mischievously. “You’re not even a proper witch, Emmy, you’re a made-up one. All fairy-tale witches look like me.”
Emily raised her eyebrows at her little sister. “You do know witches aren’t real, right?” she teased back.
Alice opened her mouth to protest and Sam took the opportunity to usher his girls out the door before a full-blown argument could ensue. How he wished that Emily’s statement was true!
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
They’d been trick or treating for just over half an hour when Sam caught sight of the two familiar figures up ahead. Alice spotted them a second later and took off towards them as fast as her little legs could carry her.
“Uncle Dean!”
Dean Winchester spun around upon hearing his name and scooped the flying tiny girl up into his arms. “Why, hello there, Alice Marie.”
Alice leaned in and kissed his cheek, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. A moment later, Sam and Emily arrived and Dean set the six-year-old down gently so that he could return the hug of his eldest niece, as Emily had wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.
Will ran up, having successfully obtained candy from the door he had just knocked at.
The ten-year-old skidded to a halt. “Hiyuh, Uncle Sam. May the force be with you.” Will was dressed as Luke Skywalker, complete with glowing blue light saber.
Sam reached out and ruffled his nephew’s chocolate brown curls affectionately, grinning when the boy immediately ducked away from his hand. “Greetings Jedi Master. Where’s your big sister, huh?” Sam couldn’t see his twelve-year-old niece anywhere nearby.
It was Dean who answered. “Oh, Dawn considers herself too old to go trick-or-treating with her Dad now.” The sarcasm of his tone was belied by the easy, roguish grin.
“She’s at a Halloween Party at one of her friend’s houses. Don’t worry, I checked it was legit and was parentally chaperoned.”
Sam smirked, having no intention of telling his brother that his cheek was now smeared with green face paint from where Alice had kissed him. He saw Will glance up at his father and then do a double take, opening his mouth to tell his dad. Sam caught his eye and shook his head at him imperceptibly and winked. The ten-year-old immediately got the message and a mischievous grin spread across his face. The expression was so like Dean’s, when he had been a child, that for a moment Sam was transported back in time.
The Winchesters carefully crossed the street together, so that they could move on to the houses on the next block. As they stepped up the kerb onto the sidewalk, Will caught his foot and stumbled. Dean, completely accustomed to his son’s clumsiness, automatically caught hold of the boy’s arm and righted him before he could faceplant on the unyielding concrete. He then reached casually into Will’s bucket for a candy.
“Daaad,” whined Will, watching as Dean popped the chewy caramel into his mouth.
“What?” shrugged Dean, “It’s payment for me taking you trick or treating. Aint that right, Sammy?”
Sam grinned at the memory. “Don’t worry, Will, he always did that to me too when we were kids.”
“You can’t complain, dude, ‘cause you wouldn’t have gone trick or treating at all if it hadn’t been for your awesome big brother here.”
“Didn’t your dad, Grandpa John, take you?” asked Emily.
Sam shook his head. “No, he was always too busy with his errr…….job.” Sam and Dean had chosen to protect their children from the truth about the supernatural and their previous lives as hunters. “So when we were both little, we missed out on the fun, but Dad always tried to make up for it by bringing us some candy home. Then when your Uncle Dean had turned eleven, Grandpa John decided he was responsible enough to take me trick or treating without adult supervision.” Not to mention that John knew his eldest was a perfect shot and would do anything to protect his little brother!
Sam looked down to find Alice hugging his leg. “I’m glad you’re not too busy, Daddy.”
“Me too, baby girl.” Sam returned the hug and then looked up to find Dean smirking at him.
“You know,” he said conversationally to the three children, “I remember one particular Halloween where your Uncle Sammy was got good and proper. You wanna hear about it?”
He had a captive audience, as three small heads nodded. Sam groaned - whatever his brother was about to recount, he strongly suspected that it would be humiliating.
“Well,” began Dean, “there was this house where a bunch of teenagers were having a party. Anyway, they’d decided they weren’t gonna treat any kids that came knockin’, they were gonna trick ‘em. So your Uncle Sam knocks on the door and straight away, a girl with a knife stuck through her head runs out screaming, being chased by a guy in a mask with an axe. Oh, and in the entranceway, there’s a guy lying on the floor covered in blood. I could tell it was all fake right away, but your Uncle Sammy? No, he throws his candy away……can you believe that?....and then legs it into the forest behind the house - the forest that our Dad had expressly forbidden us to enter, screaming like a girl.”
Emily huffed indignantly at her uncle. “That’s insulting girls, Uncle Dean! I’m a girl and I don’t scream like that.”
“True…okay, he was screaming like a wuss,” amended Dean with a grin.
Sam was mortified. He knew that he was blushing, he could feel the uncomfortable warmth flooding his cheeks. “Hey, come on man, I was only eight!”
This time Emily rounded on her father. “Daddy, I’m eight and I’m not a baby!” she pouted indignantly.
Sam threw up his hands in exasperation. “Thanks, Dean, now the kids all think I’m a coward.”
Dean grinned, totally unrepentant and reached out to ruffle Sam’s floppy hair, knowing it would irritate his little brother further.
Will’s bright blue eyes were wide as he voiced his question - his Dad had told him on numerous occasions just how strict Grandpa John had been about following orders and doing as you were told. “Did Uncle Sam get spanked for going in the forest when he’d been told not to?”
Sam didn’t think he could blush anymore without his cheeks actually setting on fire.
Dean shook his head, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Nah, your Grandpa John knew exactly how much of a wimp Sammy-Boy was, so he didn’t blame him. I did have to call him and get him to leave work though to help me find the kid ‘cause your uncle obviously didn’t just run into the forest, he had to go and get hopelessly lost in it too.”
As Sam remembered the ending of that particular Halloween, he couldn’t prevent the affection that he felt towards his older brother from surfacing, in spite of the embarrassment he presently felt. Dean may be teasing him about it now, but he hadn’t back then, knowing as always, what his little brother had needed.
It may have been John that had carried the sobbing eight-year-old out of the forest and placed him gently in the back seat of the Impala, but it was his brother that had calmed him down. Dean had climbed into the back with Sam instead of riding Shotgun and had cuddled his little brother to him. Not complaining as Sam covered the front of his new, prized cowboy outfit with his snot and tears. Dean had stroked his little brother’s back and whispered soothing words into the floppy chestnut head that had been nestled just under his chin, until Sam’s panicked breathing and racing heart had finally returned to normal.
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
Sam unlocked the front door and entered the living room, both of his happy, chattering daughters following close behind.
“Okay, girls, you can choose two pieces of candy each to eat now and then I’ll put the rest away and I’ll let you have a few every day.”
Emily immediately chose two of her favourites and obediently handed her pumpkin basket to Sam. Alice however, folded her arms across her chest, a pout firmly fixed in place.
“I want to keep it all, Daddy.”
“You can’t have it all, sweetheart, you’d make yourself sick,” explained Sam patiently. Although Dean had never made himself sick from pigging out.
“No I won’t,” replied Alice stubbornly.
“I’m still going to look after it for you. Now which two do you want?”
“All of it,” Alice clutched the basket to her chest.
“Alice Marie!” a stern note had crept into Sam’s voice, “You can either choose two and give me the rest or you won’t get any today at all if I’ve got to take it off you. What’s it gonna be?”
Alice reluctantly chose two mini chocolate bars and handed the rest to her dad.
“Good girl. “ Sam smiled at her, rewarding her for making the right choice and then addressed both of them, “Now, I’m going to put the rest of your candy in the kitchen, but you’re not allowed to have any without my permission, okay?”
Emily nodded, but Alice looked mutinous.
Sam contemplated his youngest sternly. “And if I find that either of you have eaten any without permission, then I’m afraid some bottoms are going to have to be spanked.”
He carried the candy into the kitchen and set it down on the counter, then thought better of it and put it on the very top shelf instead. There was no point in tempting fate and with Alice’s infamous sweet tooth it was much better to remove the temptation all together. Unbeknownst to Sam, his youngest was peeking around the doorframe to see where her dad was putting her beloved candy.
When bedtime rolled around for Alice, Sam was pleasantly surprised that the little girl went meekly. He surmised that perhaps the trick or treating had worn her out. He didn’t dare to hope that she’d finally outgrown this phase. Usually, bedtimes with his youngest proved to be a battle of wills and often resulted in the tantrumming six-year-old going to bed with a soundly swatted behind.
“Goodnight, baby girl.” Sam tucked the covers snuggly around Alice after finishing the bedtime story and leaned in to gently kiss her baby-soft cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
Alice waited until Sam had turned on her bedside nightlight and exited her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him, before reaching under her bed for her flashlight. The nightlight only cast a comforting glow and wasn’t bright enough to see clearly by.
Alice had a cunning plan! She would wait until her dad had gone to bed and then she would go and sneak some candy. It wasn’t stealing, she reasoned, because it did belong to her after all! But the little girl was tired and knew that if she just lay there, she would fall asleep, so she got out her colouring book and crayons and happily began to colour in a picture of a fairy riding on a unicorn. She concentrated really hard to stay in the lines.
In the living room, Sam settled himself comfortably on the sofa with a book, totally oblivious to the scheming of his youngest. He glanced up as Emily entered the room, freshly showered and dressed in her pyjamas. He was relieved to see that her damp hair was straight and minus all the tangles. The eight-year-old was carrying a book of her own and snuggled up next to her father on the sofa. Sam looped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on the top of her damp head before returning to his book.
Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~ Supernatural ~
Alice tiptoed to her bedroom door and quietly opened it. She had heard her dad go to bed a while ago and figured that the coast was now clear. The problem was that she needed to enlist her big sisters help - Alice knew from a previous escapade involving the cookie jar that even standing on the counter top she was still too small to reach the top shelf.
She quietly entered Emily’s bedroom and tiptoed over to her bed. Emily was fast asleep, her cheek resting on one of her hands. Alice reached out and shook her shoulder gently.
“Wh…what?” Emily sat up abruptly, rubbing the sleep blearily out of her eyes.
“Hush!” whispered Alice urgently, “We don’t want Daddy to wake up!” The small girl quickly outlined her plan.
Emily listened sceptically. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Alice. Remember the cookie jar? Uncle Dean spanked us.”
Alice unconsciously turned on her puppy-dog gaze which she had undoubtedly inherited from her father. And just as Dean had never been able to deny Sam anything when he had pulled out this secret weapon, Emily was just as powerless to resist it. “Come on, Emmy, it’ll be fine. We only got caught last time ‘cause we smashed the jar and we’ll be really really quiet.”
Emily sighed and gave in. She pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed. “Okay, Alice, but we’ll only be able to take a bit or Daddy will notice.”
Alice nodded eagerly, flashing Emily a winning smile, before trotting quietly after her big sister as she made her way to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Emily turned on the light and moved a chair from the table over to the counter. “Okay,“ she whispered, “we’ll both climb up and then I’ll pass them to you and you can hold them until I get down and then I’ll help you down. All right?” Emily was fiercely protective of her little sister and didn’t want to risk her falling.
Alice nodded in agreement. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on the candy!
Emily helped Alice to climb from the chair onto the counter top and then quickly climbed up herself. The girl successfully passed one of the pumpkin-shaped baskets to her sister, but when she passed the second one, their carefully laid plan fell apart.
As Alice attempted to grasp hold of the second tub of candy, she inadvertently let go of the first. Then, as the little girl reacted instinctively to try and catch the falling pumpkin, she was unable to maintain her hold on the second. Both plastic baskets fell to the tiled floor with a loud clatter, spraying candy everywhere. The girls immediately froze, praying that the sound hadn’t woken their dad.
Sam jerked awake at the unexpected noise, all his hunting senses immediately on alert. He moved quietly out of his bedroom, prepared to take on any attacker and protect his family. On seeing the kitchen light on, a suspicion began to grow in his mind, which was confirmed when he reached the doorway and discovered his children standing on the counter top, looking like a couple of deer caught in the headlights.
“Emily Elizabeth! Alice Marie! What were you thinking?” he scolded, although the candy scattered all over the floor told him exactly what they had been thinking. He also had no doubts whatsoever as to which one of his daughters was the instigator here.
Alice’s sweet tooth had gotten them both into trouble before.
Sam was worried that they might fall off the counter and hurt themselves, so in two quick strides he moved across the room and lifted Alice down first, before grasping Emily around the waist and doing the same with her. He then stepped back and put his hands on his hips studying both girls grimly.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” murmured Emily, refusing to meet his eyes.
Alice stayed quiet. She studied her feet, while biting her lip. Hopefully Daddy would just tell them off and send them back to bed.
“I’m really disappointed in you two!” Sam’s tone was stern. “You knew you weren’t allowed any more candy without permission. Not to mention that you know you’re not allowed to climb on the counters. You could have fallen and gotten hurt! Have you anything to say for yourselves?”
“We just wanted some candy, Daddy. We know we shouldn’t have. We won’t do it again.” It was Emily who answered, Alice was still staring at the floor, twirling a strand of her blond hair nervously.
Sam couldn’t help but feel proud of his eldest - Emily could easily have tried to shift more blame onto her sister by disclosing the fact that it had been her idea, but instead, she was willing to take responsibility for her own choices.
“What did I say would happen if you did try to take any candy without permission?”
Emily bit her lip before answering, her voice so quiet that it was nearly inaudible. “You would spank us.”
Sam nodded. “So, I’m sorry, I really don’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.” Sam hated punishing his children and it was always the last thing that he wanted to do, never mind the fact that it was the middle of the night and they were all tired.
On hearing the dreaded ‘spanking’ word, Alice immediately turned and ran from the kitchen. Sam watched his youngest disappear with a sigh. He would deal with his eldest first and then seek out the six-year-old’s hiding place.
“You understand why I’m going to spank you, Emily Elizabeth?” He didn’t plan on delivering a harsh spanking, just an unpleasant reminder that rules needed to be followed.
Emily nodded sadly. Why did she let Alice talk her into these things?
Sam took a firm hold of Emily’s upper arm and turned the girl sideways so that he would have unrestricted access to her buttocks. He then wasted no time in administering ten hard, stinging swats to her pyjama-clad derriere. Emily instinctively tried to pull away, but Sam held her easily in place. The spanking wasn’t hard enough to make her cry, but when Sam released her, her green eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
“I really am sorry, Daddy”
Sam pulled the eight-year-old into a tight hug, feeling her slim arms slide around him and hug back. “Hush, it’s okay, sweetheart. You’ve been spanked now, so it’s in the past. Forgiven and forgotten.”
He dropped a tender kiss on the top of her head before pulling back. “Off to bed with you. Remember I love you, Emily. Now I’ve got to go and find your sister.”
Sam smiled as he watched Emily slowly making her way to her bedroom, unconsciously rubbing her stinging bottom. He then turned to the task at hand - locating his missing six-year-old. Sam sighed, wondering when his youngest would finally realise that running and hiding wouldn’t save her from getting spanked. Unlike his own father, Sam never added extra swats for trying to avoid the punishment. He figured it was a natural response to try and avoid getting spanked if it was at all possible!
After a few minutes of searching, Sam found Alice hiding down the side of the armchair. He gently lifted her out and stood the small girl in front of him, keeping his hands resting on her shoulders to prevent her running off again.
“I don’t want a spanking, Daddy,” she pouted, giving him the puppy-dog gaze.
“And I don’t want to spank you, Alice, but I told you what would happen if you didn’t listen about the candy.”
“But it huuuurts,” the small girl whined, tears beginning to fill her hazel eyes as she realised that Sam had no intention of letting her off.
“It’s supposed to, so that next time, you’ll think twice before disobeying again.” Sam always found it harder to spank Alice than Emily, because she always got really upset when spanked, even if she was only given a couple of mild swats.
Not wanting to prolong the little girl’s anxiety any longer, Sam picked her up and held her easily against his hip.
“Daddy, noooo!” she squealed.
Sam snapped his right hand down sharply seven times on her small bottom. His large hand covered the majority of her buttocks with each swat. Alice ‘owwed’ and kicked her legs throughout. Sam was also aware that the child had burst into tears after swat number two and had had to force himself to continue. Even though Alice was sobbing hard by the time he finished, Sam knew that the spanking he had delivered had only been mild.
He gathered the crying child into his arms and held her against his chest. Sam began rocking her as he carried her towards her bedroom.“Shhh, baby, you’re all right now.”
He sat down on Alice’s bed and continued to cuddle her until her sobs had quietened to mere sniffles.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she sniffed.
“I know, baby girl,” murmured Sam soothingly, pulling back the covers and tucking the six-year-old into bed. He smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her tear-streaked cheek. Alice’s eyelids were already beginning to droop - the late night and the stress of the spanking had totally worn her out.
“Daddy, loves you remember.”
“I love you too.”
Sam smiled as her eyelids slid closed and her breathing evened out indicating sleep almost immediately.
He left the bedroom quietly and returned to the kitchen with a sigh. He was tired and all he wanted to do was to go back to bed, but he couldn’t leave all the candy on the floor.
Sam had replaced about half of it in the two pumpkin baskets when Emily appeared in the doorway. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had realised that her dad was still up.
“Would you like some help, Daddy?” she asked hesitantly, not sure if Sam would rather her be in bed.
Sam smiled up at her from his uncomfortable crouched position on the floor. “If you’re not too tired, then yeah, I’d appreciate it.”
Emily impulsively put her arms around his neck and hugged him, before lowering herself beside him and beginning to help to pick up the fallen candy….
THE END
Written by: brassband777