You'll See
You'll See
John shook his head, wondering how the hell something so small could make so much noise. “I’ve fought banshees that didn’t make this much noise.” He said over it.
Sam looked lost and so did Eliot who was holding the source of all that noise. “Diaper?” Sam suggested. Eliot shook his head. “Already changed that. And she won’t take the bottle either.” Eliot looked up at him. “John, you’re supposed to know how to deal with this man, you had two kids already…”
John was more than a little ashamed to admit he didn’t know the first thing about babies. Mary took care of the babies and John normally got to do the fun stuff with Dean like playing with trains or going to the park. With Sam, he’d left his care in the hands of his four year old brother. He opened his mouth to say something, anything but nothing came.
“What is wrong with you people?” Dean can striding into the room, none of them having heard the front door. His eldest son had run to the store and almost as soon as he was gone John’s daughter had started fussing.
Dean grabbed her from Eliot’s arms and no one tried to stop him. He grabbed the spit rag from Eliot’s shoulder and placed it on his own, hiking her up on one shoulder, bouncing her softly. “Sam, take care of the groceries.” He said to his bemused little brother. Sam smiled at his little sister as she calmed down to small hiccups on Dean’s shoulder then kissed her little forehead. “Sam… groceries…” Dean said with an indulgent smile.
“I’ll go help-”
“No you won’t.” Dean cut John off before he could retreat. “Look, you got through two kids without learning this stuff, you don’t have the choice this time.”
“You changed her diaper right? Made sure she was warm and comfy? Fed her?” Eliot nodded in answer to Dean's questions. “So what did you forget?”
Eliot looked up at John and John had no idea either. Dean shook his head. “You two are helpless. This weekend Sam and I are taking off. You’re going to be on your own for a few days so you better get this down now because I won’t be here to save you.”
Eliot ran both hands through his hair, trying to think and John was no better. He should be, he should know how to handle his baby girl but he just didn’t. Dean handed her back to Eliot and she squirmed a little as he set her on his shoulder like Dean had her. He rubbed her back lightly, shushing her and then her whole body drew up and she let out a large burp.
Eliot let his head fall back against the back of the rocker as he continued to pat her back. “There you go sweetheart. All better now?”
Dean nodded as he started to walk out. “You couldn’t have just told us?” He asked his son.
Dean shrugged. “You’ll remember better this way, same way I learned.”
There was a reprimand there, buried slightly but unmistakable. John took a deep breath as his son left the room and he looked at Eliot, holding tight onto the beautiful girl he’d given birth to. “How’d he learn to be so good with kids John?” Eliot asked lightly.
John shook his head. “I wasn’t in a good place when Mary died.” He said honestly. “I had a four year old and a six month old and a wife dead by something I didn’t understand. Dean, he could calm Sam down like nothing else could. Just by being there. I don’t know when it started, but at some point, Sam was… he was Dean’s. I love my boys Eliot, I just wasn’t always a parent. Gonna do right by her though.” He said softly.
Eliot smiled. “I know you will John. We all will. We’ll figure it out somehow.” He leaned over and gave John a soft kiss. “Besides, I have a feeling Sam’s just waiting in the background until we screw up to take away our little Mary.”
John laughed then, the first since his baby girl had started crying. “He does seem taken with her, doesn’t he? Not all that unlike Dean was with him.”
“He doesn’t…” Eliot was worried about something, John could see. "Dean doesn’t seem to want to hold her much.”
John let out a small huff of air, amused at his lover’s reaction to Dean’s reaction. He knew his eldest and understood exactly what he was doing. “Just between you and me Eliot, Dean would like nothing more than to come in here and keep her wrapped up in his arms until you and I force him out the door.”
“Why doesn’t he do anything with her then?”
“You think all babies sleep through the night?”
“Um… no.”
“Neither does she. Dean’s been getting up with her, taking care of her when everyone else is sleeping. Doesn’t want us to see him doting on her. And here’s the thing…” John said, leaning forward and brushing his fingers across his daughter’s cheek. “He doesn’t want us relying on him. He wants us to be able to handle this and he wants to give Sam some time to be the big brother so he stays back unless we can’t figure it out.”
Eliot nodded, filing it all away. It was obvious he didn’t believe it all, but John just smiled. “You hear her fuss tonight and get up. You’ll see.”