Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.

A/N: This story's a little different. I've had this idea ever since I first wrote Life After Death. I always wanted to give Evy a different ending, so I decided to go ahead and take the plunge. This is basically a 'what if' version of Life After Death-what if Sam and Dean had decided to keep Evy instead of sending her back? The first two and a half chapters are exactly the same as in Life After Death. Halfway through the third chapter, the story changes. There is a note indicating where it changes.

This story is also more open ended than the others. I normally don't like posting a story unless it's complete. I really don't like leaving anything unfinished. I do have a rough idea of the direction I want to take with this, but I'm going to take it one chapter at a time from this point forward. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Big Surprise, Little Package

It was a bright, beautiful sunny day, but Sam couldn't enjoy it. He sat at the little isolated spot in the woods, a half mile from the bunker, where the only thing around was trees and a headstone. It had been three and a half long, grueling years since the worst day of Sam's life, and right now he felt every minute of it. Sam continued to pull out the weeds surrounding the headstone, and when that was done, he sat down on the ground, thinking carefully about what exactly he wanted to say. He read the headstone for the thousandth time that day.

EVELYN ABIGAIL WINCHESTER

"WHEN I LOOK AT YOU, I CAN FEEL IT. I LOOK AT YOU, AND I'M HOME."

Sam laid down the flowers he had brought to the grave, a mix of roses, tulips, sunflowers, and wildflowers. He threw out the flowers that he'd brought two weeks earlier, and placed the fresh ones next the gravestone. Sam smiled, thinking about what Evy would have said if she'd seen him out here. Sam had gotten the headstone made six weeks after Evy's death, and placed it out this far so that he could have a place to be with her. As far as Sam knew, no one else was aware of it, and every couple of weeks he would come out and talk to her. Tell her what was going on, how much he loved and missed her and wished that she was back.

In the first few days after Evy's death, Sam had been a zombie. He'd sat in the bunker, either crying nonstop or staring at the wall. He actively avoided his bedroom, where Evy had died. Dean had eventually coaxed him back into hunting, but Sam had never felt the same sense of fulfillment from it again. Saving lives just wasn't the same without Evy around.

"Happy birthday, Cricket."

Sam sat for a few more minutes, talking to her and catching her up on his and Dean's latest hunt. He talked as if she was listening, hoping that somehow she was. When he finally ran out of things to say, Sam stood up and prepared to leave.

"I love you, Cricket. I miss you. Be back soon."

As Sam turned to walk back towards the bunker, he heard the distinct sound of a twig snapping. Figuring it to be a squirrel or something, Sam ignored it at first; he walked a few feet, but then the sound of shuffling feet was added to the twigs. Sam was immediately on guard, putting his hand to his waist where his gun was.

"Who's there?" Sam asked.

The first thing Sam saw was two small feet walking out from behind the bushes a few yards away. A couple seconds later, Sam had recovered from his shock enough to realize that the feet belonged to a little girl. She looked vaguely familiar, though Sam couldn't place her right away. She had shoulder length, wavy brown hair, and was wearing jeans, a plain blue tshirt, and blue sneakers. When Sam realized who it was, his heart lodged in his throat and his mouth hung open in shock. The little girl spoke first.

"Who are you?" she asked in a tiny frightened voice.

"Cricket?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

The little girl backed up into a nearby tree, terrified. Sam crouched down slowly, putting both hands in front of him. His heart was pumping fast, so fast that Sam thought it would beat right out of his chest. He took two breaths and let them out slowly, still not entirely sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" Sam assured her.

"Who are you?" she asked again. "Where am I?"

"Sweetheart, please." Sam said. "It's me. It's Sammy. I'm your brother."

Evy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she looked at him as if he was crazy. "You're not my Sammy." She said. "You're too big to be my Sammy."

Sam smiled. "Honey, I don't know what's going on, but I promise, I'm your brother."

Evy suddenly recovered and said, in her best grown up voice, "Prove it."

Sam was shocked by the order. "What?" he asked.

"Prove it." She said again. "If you're my Sammy, prove it."

Sam laughed, all doubt as to who the little girl was now removed from his mind. That was a very Evy thing to say, he thought. Sam nodded, and sat back down on the ground, trying to set her a little more at ease.

"Okay. Your name is Evelyn Abigail Winchester. You've got two brothers, Dean and Sam. Sam calls you Cricket, Dean calls you kiddo or baby girl. Your dad's name is John Winchester. He calls you little one, but you don't really like that. You've got uncle Bobby, who calls you Baitfish. You don't have a favorite color, because you think it isn't fair to choose. Your favorite movie is Pinocchio. Your favorite song is 'Listen to the Music', and you know every word of it by heart. How am I doing so far?" Sam asked.

"How'd you know all of that?" Evy asked.

"I told you." Sam said, as evenly and calmly as he could. "I'm your brother."

Evy walked slowly towards him, and Sam stayed right where he was. She walked towards him until she was no more than a couple of feet away, and Sam's heart broke when he noticed tears shining on the edge of her eyes. She was scared and trying not to cry.

"Sammy?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, Cricket. It's me." He said.

"What's happening?" she asked, biting her bottom lip.

"I don't know, honey. But if you come with me, I promise you me and Dean'll find out." He said.

Evy's eyes lit up. "Deanie's here too?" she asked.

"Yes, sweetheart. Dean's here too." Sam said, a sad smile crossing his face.

Evy finally stepped up to Sam and into his open arms. Sam picked her up and held her tightly, reminding himself not to weep or it would scare her. So he walked back towards the bunker, slowly, wondering to himself what the hell was going on as little Evy rested her head on his shoulder and clung to him tightly. Without thinking, Sam reached over and scratched her back as he walked. Evy relaxed and looked around.

"You live out here?" she asked.

"Yeah." Sam said. "What do you think?"

Evy smiled. "It's pretty." She said.

Sam looked around. He had never really noticed, but it was gorgeous in this part of the woods. There were no buidlings, no other people, just the plants and animals.

"You're right. It is pretty out here." Sam said.

When they reached the bunker, Evy's eyes got even bigger. As Sam opened the door and stepped inside, she scanned every detail around her. Sam hugged her closely, and Evy squeezed him even tighter. Sam was inside the kitchen before he heard Dean's voice coming down the stairs.

"Sam? You back?" he asked. "Where'd you go?"

Sam walked into the kitchen towards the counter, then turned and waited for Dean. Dean walked in and started to repeat his question, until he noticed the little girl hanging onto Sam. He stared for a moment, going between Sam and the little girl. He knew who she looked like, but it couldn't possibly be….could it? She looked at Dean and smiled.

"Deanie?" she asked.

Dean wanted to answer, but couldn't. Sam saw the shock on Dean's face, and immediately felt relief. Dean saw her too, so he wasn't hallucinating. Sam patted Evy's back and set her down on the floor.

"Dean and I need to talk alone for a minute. We'll be right in the hallway. Are you okay?" he asked.

Evy nodded.

"Good girl." Sam said, smiling at her. "We'll be right back."

Sam stepped out into the hallway with Dean, whose mouth was still hanging open. He said nothing for almost a full fifteen seconds, just continued to start at Evy. Finally he turned to Sam and asked,

"What the hell, Sam? Is that…?"

"Yeah." Sam said. "It's Evy."

Dean shrugged and asked again, "Seriously, dude. What the hell?"

"I don't know, Dean. Believe me, I'm just as confused as you." Sam said.

"How old is she?" Dean asked.

"Five or six." Sam said, realizing he'd forgotten to ask.

Dean looked back in the kitchen, where Evy was still taking in her surroundings. "How did she get here?" he asked. "I mean, time travel?"

"Yeah." Sam said. "Apparently."

"Sammy."

Evy had stepped into the hallway with Sam and Dean. Sam bent down and asked her,

"What's wrong, Cricket?"

"I'm hungry." She said.

The request caught Sam off guard. "What?"

"I'm hungry." Evy said again, with a small pout and a whine, putting a hand to her stomach.

Sam smiled. He had assumed with the fact that his long dead baby sister had travelled through time to come and see him, and he had no idea how or why, that he should prepare himself for something else that he had to figure out. Relieved to have a problem that he could solve right away, Sam reached over and put both arms around her waist.

"Why don't we go fix that?" he said. "You still like monkey sandwiches?"

Evy's grin immediately transported Sam back to his younger days, when his primary responsibility had been caring for her. He missed those days desperately; days before breaking her heart by leaving for Stanford, before going back into hunting with Dean, before her attack from Lillith, before hell, before her giving up her own life to save the world. Sam pulled her in for a tight hug before picking her up and turning back to Dean.

"Dean, I'm gonna make her some lunch. Why don't you call Cass and see what you can find out?" he asked.

Dean nodded slowly, still unable to believe what he was seeing. Evy smiled at him from Sam's shoulder, and Dean finally smiled back at her. He missed Evy too. In all the darkness and despair and muck and chaos that he and Sam dealt with on a daily basis, Evy had been the constant bright light in their lives.

"Deanie? You want a monkey sandwich too?"

Dean shook his head when Evy spoke. "Monkey sandwich? What's that?"

"Peanut butter and bananas." She said.

Dean pulled a face. "That sounds gross."

"Come try one." Evy said. "Please."

Dean decided that Cass could wait. Whatever was going on, they'd figure it out later. "Sure thing, baby girl. I'm coming."