Chapter 11

It was still early as Sam roused and realized there was a warm body lying beside him. He opened his eyes enough to see the back of his brother's head and sighed happily before letting himself go back to sleep. This was the best and longest sleep he had gotten since Dean went missing. His closeness gave him peace of mind and a feeling of security. He knew they would be up soon enough, and he would see how Dean had been living since coming to stay with the Hoopers. It was a couple hours later that he was shook awake by his brother.

"Hey, wake up, the day starts early here," Dean said.

Sam groaned and tried to wake his body up. The old Dean was not a morning person and he guessed it was something new. He saw Dean was already dressed and was putting on his boots that looked new. Then he remembered there was one boot stuck on the driver's side of Bobby's car. He didn't really think about it, but Dean had walked all that way with only one boot. Sam didn't mention the bad dream Dean must have had during the night since he didn't know if he even remembered it.

"Bessie will have breakfast ready for us, so get your clothes on."

"I'm up," Sam grunted as he swung his legs off the bed and sat there for a moment before pushing up to head for the bathroom. He grabbed his jeans to put on and when he came back out, looked around for his boots. He found them pushed under the edge of the bed and grabbed them slipping them on. "I'm ready," Sam called to Dean who was waiting near the door.

"Good, we've got a lot to do today," Dean told him as he opened the door to head across the yard to the main house. "Hello," he called going in the back door.

"Hello, you timed it perfectly, I was just getting ready to make French toast," Bessie replied.

"What can I do?" Dean asked stepping into the kitchen and looking around.

"Be a dear and check the bacon, it is probably ready to be taken up."

"I can do that; help yourself to coffee Sammy," Dean said. He began to take up the bacon, putting it on a paper towel to drain before transferring it to a plate.

Sam took one of the cups sitting at the coffee pot and poured a cup. He used the creamer and sugar sitting beside it and doctored it to his liking before moving to the table out of the way. He watched with interest as Dean helped in the kitchen, teasing Bessie and seeming right at home here. This was the most relaxed he had seen his brother in a very long time, if ever. He guessed not having the end of the world hanging over his head or some monster to track down and kill made a difference in his life. He wondered if this easy going, laid back brother would still be there when all his memories returned, and he knew about their past. Sam was happy Dean was able to experience this kind of life, to see what it felt like. He knew his brother deserved this and wished it could last but knew it wouldn't.

"Good morning boys, I hope you slept well," Jasper greeted them joyfully. "I see Bessie has breakfast about ready."

"Morning Jasper," Dean replied.

"Good morning sir," Sam greeted him feeling a little out of place with the three of them. He felt like an outsider watching their lives play out in front of him. He almost regretted interrupting what Dean had here. It was a piece of normal that he had never had before since the night of the fire that changed their lives forever. The past few weeks must have been foreign to him to have never experienced something like this before. He envied him slightly but knew it couldn't last. He had tried to have normal when he went off to college and only succeeded in getting the love of his life killed. He honestly didn't know if normal would ever be in the cards for them and he had come to terms with that. As long as he had his brother by his side, he could make it.

"I'm going to get your tractor running, and we can start getting the potatoes up if you like or clear the field so it can be plowed. I already talked to Sammy and we're staying until everything that needs to be done is done. You two have been too good to me to leave you with work to be done."

"You don't have to stay here Dean; we can get someone from town to help out."

"Absolutely not, I said I would help, and I keep my word. Sammy, do you have any money? I need to repay Bessie for what she's bought me."

"Yeah, I've got a little cash and can get more if you need it," Sam replied.

"Here we go," Bessie said. She sat a plate of French toast on the table and pulled a bowl of cutup fruit from the fridge. "Dean, I told you that wasn't necessary, I'm glad we could help."

"We'll discuss that later, let's eat while it's hot," Jasper insisted taking a piece of toast and passing it to Sam.

"This looks delicious Bessie," Sam praised her taking some toast and passing it on.

"Oh, it is," Dean beamed with pride. "She is one fantastic cook."

"Go on with you," Bessie said, patting Dean's arm lovingly.

"Are you handy on a car engine too Sam?" Jasper asked him.

"No, afraid not," Sam chuckled. "Dean got all that knowledge. He tries to show me, but I'm not very good at it. He keeps me away from an engine for a good reason."

"Sammy's more a nerd," Dean smirked seeing Sam give him what he knew as a bitch look. He chuckled realizing this was a memory coming back and he had seen that look many times in the past.

"Am not," Sam mumbled. "I like research and reading."

"And there's nothing wrong with that either," Jasper added.

Sam cut another piece of toast, dipped it in syrup and popped it in his mouth relishing the delicious taste of it. "This melts in your mouth, I can see why Dean wants to stay Bessie. Your cooking is amazing."

"Good thing we're going to be working to burn off the calories," Dean said.

"If we eat like this at every meal, I may have to get bigger pants," Sam sighed with contentment.

"Nonsense, both of you could use a few extra pounds on your skinny bodies," Bessie commented. "The girls have got to have something to hold on to."

"Don't listen to my wife, she thinks everyone is too skinny," Jasper laughed.

"Well, they usually are," Bessie insisted.

"Finish up Sammy, we've got work to do," Dean told him snagging another piece of toast and bacon.

"Me? You're the one taking seconds."

"I'm a growing boy," Dean noted taking a big bite and smiling as he chewed and smacked his mouth.

"Excuse my brother, sometimes he has no manners," Sam apologized as he rolled his eyes with his antics. This was his Dean coming back and he liked it.

They finished their meal and the brothers headed for the barn to work on the tractor. Dean did the work and had Sam be his gofer, handing him tools, getting waters for them and cleaning up after him. By midmorning, Dean had the tractor running and pulled it from the barn. Jasper stood to the side and motioned Dean to the attachment that they would use to plow up the potatoes. Sam helped get it hooked to the tractor and went to get the truck to take baskets to the field to put the freshly dug potatoes in.

With Jasper supervising, Dean carefully plowed one row of potatoes and stopped to help Sam gather them into the baskets. They would be taken back to the barn and spread out to dry. Part would be stored for the winter months and part would be taken into town to be sold.

Dean instructed Sam about being sure to get all the dirt off the potatoes and to separate the small ones from the larger ones. Sam was impressed with his knowledge wondering if Jasper had told him what to do. He followed his brother's directions and they finished one row before Jasper told them it was time for lunch, and they needed a break. Sam found picking up potatoes was a back breaking job and was going to find some Tylenol when they stopped by the studio to wash up before going to the house for lunch. Sam didn't think he would be hungry after a big breakfast, but he was ready to eat and eager to see what Bessie had made.

Bessie had thick, meaty sandwiches and homemade potato salad ready, with fresh squeezed lemonade. She had a peach pie for dessert and refused to let Dean start with that. Dean cautioned Sam to not overeat since they still had three rows of potatoes and two rows of sweet potatoes to take up. He told him the same thing when Dean went for seconds. He had a few choice words for him but mumbled them under his breath where only Sam could hear. Sam blinked away the tears because Dean was sounding and acting like he should, and he hoped this was a turning point for him. He thought maybe reading the journals had helped him with remembering his life. They finished their meal and headed back out to get back to work. Jasper gave them both ballcaps to wear for protection from the sun since it was a warm fall day.

spn

Sam was dragging by the time Jasper called it quits for the day. They had gotten all the regular potatoes up, cleaned, sorted and spread out in the barn to dry. He was sore and dirty from head to toe but had a sense of pride for what he had accomplished. This was nothing like a hunt but at least there was no fighting involved. They were going to get showers and change clothes before going to the house for dinner. Sam was surprised that Dean let him have the shower first since he always complained that he took too long. He didn't object and was going to speed his shower up this time so Dean could get his.

Dean was pleased with what they had gotten done today and was glad Sam agreed to help. He knew this wasn't their usual job, but it was something he needed to do. He figured they could have the remaining crops harvested, the fields plowed for the winter, and what Jasper wanted taken into town and sold finished in about a week.

His memories were returning, slowly and in no order, but they were returning. He still had some questions for his brother but was in no hurry to rush things. He would do what Jasper suggested and let them come on their own and not worry about it. He rummaged in the bag Sam had brought for him that had his clothes in it and paused when his hand felt something down in the bottom of the bag. He pulled it out to find another journal and opened it slowly. It was his by the handwriting that had gotten stronger and neater. He flipped through it and saw it was only two-thirds full and realized this was a recent one. He looked at it as his chest tightened, wondering if he was ready to learn about what this would tell him. Dean finally decided it could wait. He had his brother for firsthand knowledge and was going to go with that for now. He kind of liked what he had here and wanted to enjoy a few more days of it before walking back into their lives. He already knew that it was dangerous and bloody and unbelievable, but it was his life and that was something he couldn't change.

Fate had thrown a monkey wrench into his life, but he would deal with it one day at a time and let his brother lead him back to the life they had. Maybe it was good this had happened, since it let him see his world with more clarity and let him understand things better. Life would go on and he planned on being better than he was before. He would face whatever the Fates sent his way with his brother by his side like it should be.

The End