WBY - The Love of a Girl (part three)
Adam leads Elizabeth around to the side of the house following his father.
If it is his father. Shapeshifter maybe?
Adam can’t be too sure but the soft-spoken dewy -eyed man he just witnessed was, in fact, the John Winchester he knows. That sounds kind of mean but it is the truth. His father tends to be blunt. He’s more likely to curse one of his sons rather than call them baby. Well, truthfully, Adam had never heard him call anyone baby. In terms of giving in with Teague, Dad didn’t give in to anyone. Apparently he has met his match in a blue eyed honey haired little girl.
Adam shakes his head in disbelief.
A moment later they are in the back yard. Dean is standing at the grill. Adam can smell the charcoal…no damn propane for Dean Winchester! There are flames licking up the sides of the grill and Dean has his back to them. “Adam” Dean says without turning around, “you sorry sonofabitch…all you had to do was grab some hot dogs. Youda thought we’d sent you to Vancouver.”
John ahems loudly and Dean turns to see their guest. His eyes widen and then he grins, a moment later it morphs into a leer.
“Adam, you old dog! I had no idea you had a friend invited. Better yet one of the lady variety!”
“Dean!” John’s voice is sharp.
Dean leer splits into a wide smile, “Sorry, ma’am” he nods unapologetically to Elizabeth,” we’re not used to women around here.”
Elizabeth smiles brightly, “Obviously.”
Adam laughs and licks his index finger swiping the air at an imaginary ticky box.
“Oooh, big brother. She’s got your number all ready!”
“She doesn’t have it yet little brother, but she might before the night is out!”
John strides to Dean and offers him a sharp smack to the head, “Mind your manners, boy.” Dean takes it without a rub but Adam does see him flush just a bit. Of course it could be the heat of the grill.
Adam nods to Dean by way of introduction, “The man getting his brain rattled and burning up perfectly good steaks is my oldest brother Dean. Dean, this is Elizabeth Martin.”
Elizabeth smiles again, “Dean Winchester right? We’ve met.” Adam notices she pointedly does not offer her hand. But then again, his brother is wielding a spatula and is standing next to what amounts to a fire high enough to salt and burn a Wendingo.
“I’m sure I would have remembered meeting you, sweetheart,” Dean says waving the spatula with one hand and grabbing a water spray bottle with another to spritz down the flames.
“I seriously doubt it. I was with a group of friends and you were drunk. You tried to pick me up with some stupid line about how difficult single parenting was,” Elizabeth says sweetly and then she turns to Adam, “Your brother is a hound dog.”
Adam’s brows arch, “You shot down Dean?” He is both incredulous and angry in equal measure. His brother hitting on Elizabeth? Hound dog is not the word he would use. His eyes narrow at Dean but Dean appears oblivious. Of course he is. He is Dean Winchester. Why would he care?
“Took him out faster than a Peregrine Falcon on a dove.” Elizabeth answers.
John settles on one of the Adirondack chairs that have migrated from the front porch, “I think I like you, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth feigns a curtsy, “Why thank you, John. It’s nice to see that some of the Winchester men know how to speak to a lady.”
She laughs then, light and musical. She laughs like a girl Adam thinks, and then he silently berates himself. He has been around farting, grunting, snoring men far too long. He loves his family; it’s one of the reasons he has moved closer to them in the past year. His place is not too far from theirs and it feels good to be near them.
Most of the time, he amends silently.
But the close proximity of Elizabeth makes him want them gone. All of them.
He allows himself a brief thought of Elizabeth, her body melting into his, the golden hair cascading down her back and covering her breasts.
Adam drops his head a bit, the palm of his hand brushing the warmth flooding up his neck then glances quickly around. He needs a moment or two to sort through the rush of feelings that the past few moments have brought.
“Can I get you something to drink, Elizabeth?” Adam asks trying to find a way to absorb all of the information he has just received.
“Iced tea would be nice if you have it, otherwise water will be fine.”
“Sammy can get it, “ John offers, “He’s in the kitchen on salad duty and he is bringing out the tea anyway. Hey SAM!” John bellows from the chair. “Bring out the tea!”
John grins sheepishly at Elizabeth, “Maybe I need a brush up on my manners too huh?”
“And whose gonna slap you in the head, Dad?” Dean asks from the grill.
“No one, if they know what’s good for them,” John answers and then settles back in his chair.
“Sam is my middle brother, “ Adam says to Elizabeth, ignoring his father and brother. Elizabeth nods her acknowledgement.
Adam glances around the back yard, “By the way, where is nephew number one? Normally he’s sniffing around a grill like Teague.”
Dean nods toward the field where Adam can make out Jamie’s shape loping around the back end of the pasture.
“What he do?” Adam asks.
“Can’t keep his smart mouth closed.” Dean answers a little sullenly.
“Much like his father,” John deadpans.
“What is the world…?” Elizabeth asks her gaze following the Winchesters and shielding her eyes with a cupped hand against the late afternoon sun.
“That boy is just running around the field. Isn’t he a little old to be chasing butterflies or something?” There is no meanness in her voice, just obvious confusion.
John chuckles but it’s Dean who answers her, “That Elizabeth, is Winchester consequences. He’s taking five laps around the field. He’s almost done though.” Dean yells toward the field, “You’re runnin’ kiddo, not taking a jog! Move like you mean it!”
Elizabeth watches as Jamie picks up the pace. It looked to her like he was running in the first place! Five laps! She turns to Dean, “Don’t you think that is a little rough on him? I mean it has to be 90 degrees out and that looks like a pretty big field.”
Dean cocks his head, “Almost five miles for five laps. Not quite though.”
“Seriously? You are making that boy run five miles because he was a little mouthy? What kind of father are you?”
“The kind that won’t take back chat from a 16 year old boy. Jamie knows what he can get away with and what he can’t. And who are you to judge my parenting skills?”
A moment later River comes walking around the house, he is carrying Mandy and Teague is jumping around them in circles. The dog stops and play bows in front of them, tail wagging madly and then pounces off to the left circling again.
“I, Dean Winchester, am a parent myself,” She nods to River and Mandy, her face indignant.
Mandy is crying, not bawling but fat tears are rolling down her face.
Elizabeth is there in a minute outstretched arms and Mandy falls into her mother’s embrace. She buries her face in Elizabeth’s neck and clings to her like she is her lifeline. Which she is, Adam guesses.
“She got stung by a bee.” River explains. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was there and Teague snapped at it and then suddenly she was crying.”
River looks totally panic stricken. His brows are knitted together in worry, his blue eyes full and scared. He sweeps his blonde hair nervously back, a tell as noticeable as a trembling hand. He has helped stitch up most of his family at some time or another and knows first aid out the ying yang but apparently a bee sting on a little girl is too much for him to handle.
“I’m sorry,” He says again woefully and toes the grass in front of his feet.
“No worries, River.” Elizabeth soothes. She reaches reassuringly to River and rubs his arm as she shifts Mandy over to her hip.
“Let me see, honey.” Elizabeth says.
Mandy shakes her head, “NOOOO, it hurts.”
“I know Boo, I have to take a look and see if the stinger is still in there.”
Mandy’s eyes fill up with more tears, “A STINGER. NO MOMMA!”
Adam walks over to Mandy and Elizabeth, “Hey kiddo, mind if I look. If there is a stinger I can show you something cool.”
Mandy sniffles once and then rubs her hand across her nose. There is a smear of snot there and oddly enough Adam finds it cute as hell.
“Something cool?” She asks tentatively.
“Totally,” Adam says with a smile.
Elizabeth places Mandy on the ground and Mandy holds out a tiny hand to Adam.
Adam examines her hand with a critical eye.
“Yup! There’s a stinger. You got stung by a honeybee.”
“A honeybee? They make honey not sting people.”
“They do make honey but they sting if they are scared. And honeybees are also very brave. Can you be brave while I take it out.”
Mandy nods but she doesn’t look too sure of it.
River has already brought the med kit outside. It is way overkill for a bee sting but there are surgical tweezers in there that are so pointy and grasp so well that any doctor in any OR would want them.
“These are tweezers, honey. They are sterile. Do you know what that means?”
Mandy sniffles again then shakes her head no.
“It means they are super, super clean so they can’t cause your bee sting to get infected. You wouldn’t want that would you?
She shakes her head again.
Adam is crouching down in front of Mandy. He holds her tiny-stung hand in the palm of his own.
“Look at the stinger, Mandy.”
Mandy squints her eyes and stares at the tiny stinger in her hand.
“This is the cool part and the part that shows how brave a honeybee is. It’s also kinda gross. See that?” Adam points to the stinger and a glob attached to it with the tweezers. It pulses and wiggles a little.
Mandy nods.
“That is bee guts.”
“EEEEWWWWWWE.” Mandy cries but doesn’t move her hand or stop from looking at the stinger.
“First of all, most of the honeybees you see are girls. And they are the soldiers and the protectors of the hive. The boys sit around and do nothing.” Adam adds and is rewarded by a soft smile from Mandy. “Honeybees are so brave, and want to protect their family so much that they sting when they think someone is attacking their home. But stinging isn’t good for the honeybee, when she stings, she gives it her all because part of her guts come out with the stinger. Right into the person she stung and she dies. It’s really pretty gruesome. It’s kind of like bleeding to death with a big old hole in her butt but she does it willingly. She gives her life up for her family. Pretty impressive huh?”
Mandy nods in awe.
Adam clasps the tweezers closed at the stinger and pulls quickly. It comes out in a flash.
He holds the stinger up for Mandy to look at while he quickly swabs her hand with disinfectant and slaps some toothpaste on it.
Adam looks up at Elizabeth’s startled look and explains, “It helps take the sting out. Gotta use toothpaste though, not gel.”
“Well I’ll be…” Elizabeth says as Mandy takes the tweezers and honeybee guts to show River.
“Make sure you be careful with the tweezers, Mandy. They are sharp and we have to sterilize them again and put them back in the kit in case anyone has a bee sting,” Adam says as River shows appropriate admiration for the stinger and bee guts.
Adam stands and grins, “Another tragedy averted by Winchester know-how.”
Elizabeth laughs and leans up to kiss him softly on the cheek, “Thank you for taking care of my baby.”
This time Adam really blushes, from his neck to his cheeks.
The moment is short lived though because Jamie comes trotting up to the grill. He is drenched in sweat, bare-chested and wearing sweat pants that he has modified into shorts by cutting off the bottoms. They are uneven and frayed and as sweaty as the rest of him. His sneakers are spattered with an assortment of mud and probably horse poo. His whitish socks are as muddy. There is not a dry spot on his body. He stops by the ice chest, grabs a bottle of water and pours it over his head, then drops his hands to his knees and pants letting the water and sweat pool beneath his feet on a patch of lawn that is more dirt than grass. He grabs another bottle, swishes the water in his mouth and spits just missing Dean by inches.
“Hey, watch it!” Dean grumbles.
“Why? You’re the one who put me in this condition.”
“Hardly. You’re the one who put you in that condition by mouthing off and if you don’t want some more of the same you will keep your comments to yourself.”
Elizabeth looks horrified.
She glares at Dean, “He’s just a boy!”
“He’s just a boy who is going to be running some more if he doesn’t watch his attitude.”
Elizabeth’s eyes flash, “You, Dean Winchester, are an ingrate!”
“And you, Elizabeth Martin, are a busy body.”
“Hey!” Adam says stepping toward Dean, his body coiled like a rattler ready to strike, “You keep your comments to yourself or you aren’t going to have to worry about Dad…you are gonna have to worry about ME.”
Dean sets down his spatula and squares up, “Any time little brother. Any time.”
“For Christ’s sake!” Elizabeth says, hands on hips and scowling for all she is worth, “You two are like a couple of twelve year olds!”
She points at Dean. “You have no right to dictate what I say and when I say it. I’ll do as I please. And you-” Elizabeth glares at Adam, “I do not need you to fight my battles. Now if you two can stop behaving like un-neutered pit bulls, I would love to sit down and enjoy those steaks. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they say together.
From the chair Adam hears his father, “Told you I liked that girl.”
Part four http://wildblueyonder6.livejournal.com/54310.html