Disclaimer: Supernatural and all its characters belong to Kripke and the CW. I own nothing.

Title taken from the Billy Dean song of the same name.

"Let them be little, 'cause they're only that way for a while."

Billy Dean

Dean Winchester scrutinized the pool table mentally setting up his next shot. Walking around to the left side of the table he leaned down, angled his cue stick, and pulled it back before tapping the white cue ball. The ball rolled across the table and lazily knocked the eight ball into the side pocket. Smiling Dean picked up the fat wad of bills on the side of the table and laid his cue stick across it. "Thanks for the game, dude" he cheerfully said.

"Youssss good" the leather clad biker slurred slapping Dean on the back. Holding onto the table to keep from falling flat the burly man downed another shot. Slamming the empty glass on a nearby table he wiped a hand across his mouth and drunkenly grinned. "One m're game?"

"Sorry man, don't have time. Gotta be getting home soon." Dean apologized as he motioned for the waitress to bring the biker another round. "Maybe next time, okay?"

"Ssssure" the drunk garbled. Taking the offered glass from the waitress he held it up to Dean in salute before downing the shot in one go. "L'ter man."

Dean waved at the drunken fellow and then turned and made his way to the bar. He loved finding happy drunks to hustle. Not only were they easy marks, but he didn't have to worry about them trying to kick his a$$ when the game was over. The money he'd made on the few games he'd played was enough to keep them comfortably for a while and it was still early. Taking his beer Dean took a small sip as he scanned the smoky room. Now that their money issues were solved it was time to move on to other things like that beautiful red head in the corner that was sizing him up. Turning on his infamous charm he winked at the young lady giving her a mega watt smile as she crooked a finger at him in a 'come here' gesture. "Oh yeah!" Dean thought as he swaggered across the room. "This is definitely my night!" Maneuvering around the large crowd of college students that had just entered the bar the elder Winchester strolled up to the table. "Mind if I sit down?" he asked.

"Not at all, handsome" the red head replied pulling out the chair beside hers. She waited for Dean to take a seat and then scooted as close to him as the chairs allowed. Running her hands across his chest she whispered, "Buy you a drink cowboy?"

"Absolutely" Dean said. He threw his arm across the back of her chair squirming as her hands continued roaming up and down his body. "Name's Dean. I'm a movie producer from…OW! What the hell was that for?!" he asked rubbing his reddened cheek. "Geez, what is this? Some kind of…" he was cut off by another slap to the face. "Seriously, what the…"

"Daddy?"

Dean's eyes flew open as a tiny hand slapped him once more. Looking up he found himself face to face with a drooling toddler. "You couldn't have let me sleep just a little longer, dude?" he moaned rubbing his eyes. Lifting Sammy off his chest he sat the baby down beside him on the bed and then slowly sat up. Looking down at the wide eyed little boy Dean smiled. "Morning Sammy" he greeted ruffling the toddler's messy hair.

"Daddy, I hungwy" Sammy said.

"Okay, kiddo. I'll get you something to eat, just let me put some pants on first." Dean told his little brother. Climbing out of bed he grabbed his blue jeans off the back of the chair and swiftly pulled them on. Turning he glanced down to see Sammy sucking on the ear of a stuffed dog. Recognizing it as the one Sam made, the one that reminded him of Jess Dean quickly snatched it away from the toddler. Seeing Sammy's bottom lip begin to quiver as he reached for the toy the older brother glanced from his brother to the animal. The stuffed dog would keep little Sammy from crying but if he damaged it in any way big Sam would be the one upset. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place; it was deal with a crying Sammy now or a pissed Sam later. Maybe he could…

"Doggie?" Sammy pleaded as tears began rolling down his cheeks. "Sammy haf doggie, peas?"

Thinking fast Dean set the stuffed toy on the nightstand away from tiny hands before scooping the crying toddler up. "Sorry Sammy, you can't play with that doggie." He said as he walked toward the door. "See that's Uncle Sam's dog and he'll be really sad if something happens to it."

"Unta Sam?" Sammy asked curiously.

"Yeah, Uncle Sam." Dean replied. "That's his toy Sammy. We'll go to the store and get you a doggie after breakfast, okay?"

"Otay" Sammy agreed.

Dean carried Sammy into the bathroom and sat him on the stepstool. After helping his brother use the bathroom and wash up, he walked back into the bedroom and set the baby back on the bed. Rifling through their bags he pulled out a Blue's Clue's shirt, jeans, a clean pull-up and all the other supplies he needed. He dropped them all on the bed and then quickly dressed Sammy for the day. He tossed the baby's pajamas on the bed and the pull-up in the trash can and jumped onto the bed bouncing Sammy who clapped his hands in delight. Bending over the toddler Dean pulled up his shirt and blew a raspberry on Sammy's tummy. Laughing as the baby giggled and tried to wiggle away he attacked again eliciting more giggles. Deciding he'd better stop before he got the boy so excited that he'd have to change the kid again Dean picked up the toddler and left the room.

Laying his head on Dean's shoulder Sammy sucked on his thumb happily playing with his brother's hair as he was carried down the stairs, across the living room, and into the kitchen. Seeing a certain someone standing by the stove he started squirming. "Down" he commanded. Once on the floor the toddler ran across the kitchen as fast as his little legs could go. "Papa! Papa!" he shouted.

Bobby leaned down and caught the jumping toddler. Standing back up he settled the baby on his hip and turned back to his pancakes. "Morning Sammy" he greeted as he flipped the pancakes over. Noticing the dried tear tracks he frowned. "What's wrong buddy?"

"Daddy tated my doggie" Sammy pouted.

"Sammy, that's not your dog, remember? It's Uncle Sam's." Dean huffed. "I told you we'd get you one after breakfast."

Bobby raised an eyebrow at Dean but held back his comment not wanting Sammy to see them disagreeing. Gazing down at Sammy he said, "Listen to De…your daddy, Sammy." He turned off the stove and then walked over to the table. Sitting the toddler in his booster seat the older man grabbed the sides of the chair and carefully pushed it closer to the table. He gave Sam a pat on the head and walked back to the stove. After loading his plate and Sammy's with pancakes and a tad of syrup, he brought the plates to the table setting them down before taking a seat himself. "Better get some while they're hot." He told Dean as he cut the toddler's pancake into small pieces.

"Umm, Bobby I'd really like to get a shower before I eat. Think you can handle watching Sammy for a while?" Dean asked.

Bobby rolled his eyes at the younger man. "Of course I can handle Sammy. Who do you think use to watch you two when Johnny would go off on a hunt? The Easter bunny?" he sarcastically growled.

"Sorry Bobby, I didn't mean…"

"I know boy" Bobby broke in. "Go take your shower. We'll be fine, won't we Sammy?" Getting an enthusiastic nod from the syrup covered toddler he laughed. "Oh, and Dean, you might want to lay out the wet wipes and some more clothes for Sammy before you get in."

"What? Why?" Dean questioned looking back at Bobby and Sam. Seeing his sticky mess of a brother he groaned. "Oh man, Sammy, you're supposed to eat it not wear it."

"I is" Sammy stated shoving another piece in his mouth dripping syrup all down the front of him as he licked his fingers.

Sighing Dean turned and hurried out of the room and up the stairs before Bobby could change his mind. It looked like it was going to be a long day. Getting to their room he pulled out the baby wipes as well as a green tractor shirt and overalls for Sammy and then grabbed a change of clothes for himself and headed to the bathroom for a nice, long shower.

A while later a much more relaxed Dean exited the bathroom followed by a cloud of steam. Going into the bedroom he tossed his dirty clothes into a growing pile and sat on the bed. After slipping on his boots, he stood and walked out of the room and down the hall. Bounding down the stairs he went into the living room finding Bobby and Sammy sitting on the couch reading a book. He leaned on the back of the recliner listening as Bobby read an old, tattered copy of "The Runaway Bunny" to the fascinated toddler. Smiling at Sammy's cry of 'again!' when Bobby finished the book, Dean rose and called out, "You ready to go to the store with m-daddy, Sammy?"

"Sammy get doggie?" the boy questioned. Seeing his father's nod he leapt out of Bobby's lap and raced over to Dean. "Yea! Doggie!" he hollered.

Dean scooped up his overexcited little brother. "Yeah, a doggie for Sammy." He agreed as he took the boy into the kitchen. "We just have to do one thing first." Setting Sam on the counter beside him he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the boy's medicine. Grabbing a spoon out of the silverware drawer he carefully measured out the correct dosage. "Here you go Sammy. Take you medicine and we can go."

Sammy took one look at the prescription bottle and shook his head furiously. "No" he said clamping his mouth shut.

"Come on Sammy. You've gotta take your medicine or we can't go get your doggie." Dean bribed holding out the spoon. Getting another stubborn shake of the head he put on his best John Winchester glare. "Sammy" he warned.

"Dean, let me try" Bobby offered holding out his hand.

"Go for it" Dean replied handing over the medicine and spoon. Stepping to the side he kept a hold of his little brother's arm to make sure the toddler wouldn't fall. He watched curiously as the old hunter put the prescription bottle away and took a small character head bottle out of the fridge and turned to Sam.

"Sammy, papa got you a new kind of grape juice. Do you want some?" Bobby asked showing the toddler the Scooby Doo headed bottle.

"Juice!" Sammy shouted reaching for the bottle.

"Wait a minute buddy. I wanna make sure you like it first. How about you try a little sip to see?" Bobby suggested grinning at Dean as the toddler eagerly nodded his agreement. Holding the juice bottle in one hand and the spoon in the other the older man pretended to pour some on the spoon. He held the medicine filled spoon out to the little boy who quickly slurped it up.

"More juice!" Sammy said reaching out for the bottle again. Taking the bottle from Bobby he wrapped his lips around the pop top and tilted the bottle up for a drink.

"Piece of cake" Bobby whispered as he walked past Dean to the sink.

"Where did you…how'd you know that would work?" Dean asked folding a couple of napkins over the collar of Sam's shirt to catch the dripping juice.

"How do you think we use to get the kid to take medicine?" Bobby chuckled. "Worked every time, least till he got about four and figured out what we were doing."

"You're good" Dean praised. Picking up his juice guzzling brother he headed for the door. "We'll be back by lunch time." he said, "Anything you need me to get?"

"Yeah, more grape juice for the kid." Bobby replied. "Oh, and you probably need to pick him up a few more outfits otherwise we'll be stuck doing wash every day."

"Got it" Dean called over his shoulder. Going through the living room he stopped long enough to pick up the baby wipes that were lying on the couch and then went out the door. He bounced down the porch steps and strode over to the impala. Opening the back door he carefully secured Sammy in his car seat before taking the now empty bottle from the toddler and tossing it in a nearby trash heap along with the napkins covering the boy's shirt. Pulling out a wet one Dean quickly wiped the grape juice off Sammy's face and hands and then closed the door. Tossing the dirty wipe away he climbed into his classic Chevy and revved the engine. After a glance back at his passenger, Dean gunned the engine and peeled off down the driveway ready for their first big adventure.