Supernatural fic - "Walk With You In Dreams" (Part Four)
See the masterpost for summary, disclaimer, and previous parts.
Dean sat Indian-style on the floor of Carmen's apartment and leveled a serious look at his target.
"All right now," he said while pointing a finger, "listen up. Your name is Shelby. Got that? Shelby."
Opposite him, the rolly-polly yellow lab puppy yipped and bounded clumsily into Dean's lap. Her tongue lapped at his chin and ears happily, heedless of the serious conversation they supposedly were having.
"Baby, I don't think she's taking me seriously," Dean complained, trying to sound truly put out but breaking out into a hearty chuckle as the puppy continued her love assault.
Carmen, leaning against the kitchen counter with her chin propped in her hand, smiled, though whether it was more at the term of endearment or the puppy's antics Dean wasn't sure. It was a private joke with them, that Dean had really shown his colors when he deigned to call anything besides the Impala 'baby'.
Dean finally managed to get the puppy under control and looked toward Carmen. "You sure you're cool with me naming her? If you don't like Shelby, you can pick something else."
Carmen smiled brighter and shook her head. "I want you to name her." Carmen came around the kitchen counter to sit on the floor opposite Dean. The puppy, now dubbed Shelby, fought out of Dean's lap and raced across the hardwood floor toward Carmen, slipping and landing on her chin in a heap halfway. Carmen leaned forward and scooped the puppy up in her arms. Shelby, undeterred by her klutziness, began to launch a tongue bath attack on Carmen. Carmen laughed and juggled the little bundle of energy. Dean watched the two and decided he just about loved them together.
"I should have talked to you before I brought home a puppy," Carmen said as she fended off the puppy's undying affection with little success, "but Teresa's mother was giving them away. I couldn't resist."
"You don't need my permission to get a dog," Dean pointed out with a smile, "it's your apartment."
Carmen planted a kiss on the puppy's head and countered, "Yes, but you live here, too."
And that was pretty much the day when Dean officially moved in with Carmen. The moment was not lost on Dean, and to hide the goofy grin trying to win over his face, he said, "You know, when you called the garage and told me you'd gotten a puppy… the guys all told me I should run for the hills."
Carmen put the puppy down on the floor and got up to fetch the old pair of sweat pants she'd knotted and turned into a chew toy. "How come?"
Dean got up and strolled casually in Carmen's direction, careful to avoid Shelby as she jumped at Dean's pant leg. "Oh, they said that when a girlfriend gets a puppy, it's a gateway pet. Guys swore up and down if you got a puppy, means you were feeling out how I'd react to the idea of a baby."
Carmen stopped playing with Shelby and looked up, stunned, at Dean. "They said that, huh?" she finally asked.
Dean nodded. "Yep… sure did." He could see Carmen practically squirming. They had never talked about children. Never. They'd been dating for quite a while, and Dean had never loved any of his prior girlfriends the way he loved Carmen, but still… they hadn't treaded into those kinds of serious, life-altering discussions.
"Men…" Carmen snorted. "It's just a dog."
"That's what I said," Dean agreed.
Carmen nodded and threw the toy for Shelby. "Right."
The air could be cut with a knife. Dean moved closer to Carmen, forcing her to look up at him. "But I have to admit, getting it from all sides today, I believed them for a little while."
Carmen smirked up at him. "Yeah? You must have been flipping out."
Dean snaked his arms around her waist. "Honestly? Not really."
Carmen looked genuinely surprised. She studied his face, and Dean watched a flush color her cheeks as they stood inches apart. "You weren't freaking out when you thought… you're telling me the idea of having a baby didn't send you, Dean Winchester, into a panic?"
Dean smiled lazily. "I really thought it would, too, but it didn't. When I got in the car to come home, I said to myself 'maybe it's just a dog, but if isn't…'," Dean shrugged, "I'm open to the idea."
Carmen stared up at him in silence a long time, her expression unreadable, and Dean started to get worried he'd totally misjudged Carmen's feelings on the topic. He knew Carmen loved kids, he knew Carmen loved him, so he had just put the two together and assumed…
"Ah, you know… just so you know," Dean muttered, his confidence failing him in the face of her silence.
And then Carmen's arms were thrown around his neck and she was kissing him.
So it seemed Dean did know Carmen pretty well after all.
When they broke apart, Carmen was beaming up at him. "Do you know how much I love you?"
Something in him hurt, but hurt in the way it hurt to eat ten pounds of chocolate. A good hurt of too much of a good thing. "I've got a pretty good guess."
Carmen shook her head ruefully. "We'll talk about the baby thing… I mean, if you really…"
Dean kissed her again, languid and soft. "I really," he whispered, their lips still touching.
Carmen breathed against his mouth, her hands straying over his chest, and it might have moved into the bedroom if a trickling sound hadn't drawn their attention to Shelby, who was squatting and peeing on the floor.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should have the conversation after we've mastered house-training," he teased, then marched over and picked up the puppy (who looked entirely too proud of her puddle). "Come on, girl, outside."
Carmen came to clean up the mess with a wad of paper towels, but before Dean could get out the door with the puppy she kissed Shelby on the nose and Dean on the cheek.
It made Dean happy, goofily so, as he tucked Shelby under his arm and took her outside.
***********************
Sam worries when Dean is out of his sight. It's ridiculous and Sam knows it, but Dean still isn't acting like his normal self, hasn't since Joliet, and Sam worries. He doesn't like to not be watching his older brother; he's scared that he doesn't know what Dean is going to do in the state he's in.
Sam loses track of Dean in a small town in Kentucky, and for ten minutes he searches the streets for him like a father whose four-year-old has wandered off.
He catches sight of a familiar leather jacket in the window of a pet store.
Hurrying inside, Sam stops cold when he sees Dean standing next to a glass pen of puppies, holding one of the little yellow animals in his arms.
When they were kids, it was always Sam who asked if they could keep every stray that crossed their path… not Dean. Never Dean.
Sam opens his mouth to say something, anything, but the puppy in Dean's arms twists, cranes up to lick the underside of Dean's jaw, and a look crosses Dean's face that isn't so much happy as it is pained.
But still, Dean holds the young animal close. Almost as if unable to bear letting it go.
Part Five
Dean sat Indian-style on the floor of Carmen's apartment and leveled a serious look at his target.
"All right now," he said while pointing a finger, "listen up. Your name is Shelby. Got that? Shelby."
Opposite him, the rolly-polly yellow lab puppy yipped and bounded clumsily into Dean's lap. Her tongue lapped at his chin and ears happily, heedless of the serious conversation they supposedly were having.
"Baby, I don't think she's taking me seriously," Dean complained, trying to sound truly put out but breaking out into a hearty chuckle as the puppy continued her love assault.
Carmen, leaning against the kitchen counter with her chin propped in her hand, smiled, though whether it was more at the term of endearment or the puppy's antics Dean wasn't sure. It was a private joke with them, that Dean had really shown his colors when he deigned to call anything besides the Impala 'baby'.
Dean finally managed to get the puppy under control and looked toward Carmen. "You sure you're cool with me naming her? If you don't like Shelby, you can pick something else."
Carmen smiled brighter and shook her head. "I want you to name her." Carmen came around the kitchen counter to sit on the floor opposite Dean. The puppy, now dubbed Shelby, fought out of Dean's lap and raced across the hardwood floor toward Carmen, slipping and landing on her chin in a heap halfway. Carmen leaned forward and scooped the puppy up in her arms. Shelby, undeterred by her klutziness, began to launch a tongue bath attack on Carmen. Carmen laughed and juggled the little bundle of energy. Dean watched the two and decided he just about loved them together.
"I should have talked to you before I brought home a puppy," Carmen said as she fended off the puppy's undying affection with little success, "but Teresa's mother was giving them away. I couldn't resist."
"You don't need my permission to get a dog," Dean pointed out with a smile, "it's your apartment."
Carmen planted a kiss on the puppy's head and countered, "Yes, but you live here, too."
And that was pretty much the day when Dean officially moved in with Carmen. The moment was not lost on Dean, and to hide the goofy grin trying to win over his face, he said, "You know, when you called the garage and told me you'd gotten a puppy… the guys all told me I should run for the hills."
Carmen put the puppy down on the floor and got up to fetch the old pair of sweat pants she'd knotted and turned into a chew toy. "How come?"
Dean got up and strolled casually in Carmen's direction, careful to avoid Shelby as she jumped at Dean's pant leg. "Oh, they said that when a girlfriend gets a puppy, it's a gateway pet. Guys swore up and down if you got a puppy, means you were feeling out how I'd react to the idea of a baby."
Carmen stopped playing with Shelby and looked up, stunned, at Dean. "They said that, huh?" she finally asked.
Dean nodded. "Yep… sure did." He could see Carmen practically squirming. They had never talked about children. Never. They'd been dating for quite a while, and Dean had never loved any of his prior girlfriends the way he loved Carmen, but still… they hadn't treaded into those kinds of serious, life-altering discussions.
"Men…" Carmen snorted. "It's just a dog."
"That's what I said," Dean agreed.
Carmen nodded and threw the toy for Shelby. "Right."
The air could be cut with a knife. Dean moved closer to Carmen, forcing her to look up at him. "But I have to admit, getting it from all sides today, I believed them for a little while."
Carmen smirked up at him. "Yeah? You must have been flipping out."
Dean snaked his arms around her waist. "Honestly? Not really."
Carmen looked genuinely surprised. She studied his face, and Dean watched a flush color her cheeks as they stood inches apart. "You weren't freaking out when you thought… you're telling me the idea of having a baby didn't send you, Dean Winchester, into a panic?"
Dean smiled lazily. "I really thought it would, too, but it didn't. When I got in the car to come home, I said to myself 'maybe it's just a dog, but if isn't…'," Dean shrugged, "I'm open to the idea."
Carmen stared up at him in silence a long time, her expression unreadable, and Dean started to get worried he'd totally misjudged Carmen's feelings on the topic. He knew Carmen loved kids, he knew Carmen loved him, so he had just put the two together and assumed…
"Ah, you know… just so you know," Dean muttered, his confidence failing him in the face of her silence.
And then Carmen's arms were thrown around his neck and she was kissing him.
So it seemed Dean did know Carmen pretty well after all.
When they broke apart, Carmen was beaming up at him. "Do you know how much I love you?"
Something in him hurt, but hurt in the way it hurt to eat ten pounds of chocolate. A good hurt of too much of a good thing. "I've got a pretty good guess."
Carmen shook her head ruefully. "We'll talk about the baby thing… I mean, if you really…"
Dean kissed her again, languid and soft. "I really," he whispered, their lips still touching.
Carmen breathed against his mouth, her hands straying over his chest, and it might have moved into the bedroom if a trickling sound hadn't drawn their attention to Shelby, who was squatting and peeing on the floor.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should have the conversation after we've mastered house-training," he teased, then marched over and picked up the puppy (who looked entirely too proud of her puddle). "Come on, girl, outside."
Carmen came to clean up the mess with a wad of paper towels, but before Dean could get out the door with the puppy she kissed Shelby on the nose and Dean on the cheek.
It made Dean happy, goofily so, as he tucked Shelby under his arm and took her outside.
***********************
Sam worries when Dean is out of his sight. It's ridiculous and Sam knows it, but Dean still isn't acting like his normal self, hasn't since Joliet, and Sam worries. He doesn't like to not be watching his older brother; he's scared that he doesn't know what Dean is going to do in the state he's in.
Sam loses track of Dean in a small town in Kentucky, and for ten minutes he searches the streets for him like a father whose four-year-old has wandered off.
He catches sight of a familiar leather jacket in the window of a pet store.
Hurrying inside, Sam stops cold when he sees Dean standing next to a glass pen of puppies, holding one of the little yellow animals in his arms.
When they were kids, it was always Sam who asked if they could keep every stray that crossed their path… not Dean. Never Dean.
Sam opens his mouth to say something, anything, but the puppy in Dean's arms twists, cranes up to lick the underside of Dean's jaw, and a look crosses Dean's face that isn't so much happy as it is pained.
But still, Dean holds the young animal close. Almost as if unable to bear letting it go.
Part Five