Title: Love Has Many Forms, Part 8
Author/Artist: my_sam_dean
Pairing: Dean/ofc
Fandom: Supernatural
Theme: 18 - crowd control
Disclaimer: I own nothing Supernatural.
“Dean!”
He squinted in the sunshine as he took his head out from under the hood of the car he was working on and turned to Daisy, who was just stepping off the porch.
“School called. They want you to go down there.” She had a hand shielding her eyes.
“Are the kids okay?”
“I asked if they needed to go to the clinic, and the secretary told me they didn’t. Apparently, there was a scuffle during recess.”
Dean closed the hood and wiped his hands on a nearby rag. “Which one is it?”
“Both.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“You should just expect it by now.”
The halls were quiet. Their footsteps echoed in the empty corridors. Daisy took Dean’s hand. “Just remember that we have to try to get along. No swearing or swinging your fists.”
In the office, Knut and Linnae sat beside each other on the row of chairs. Linnae was swinging her short legs back and forth. Knut wasn’t moving at all. He inherited Dean’s temper and he was pissed.
“Hey, guys,” Daisy knelt down in front of them as Dean spoke to the secretary. “Are you doing okay?”
Knut gave her a snapped nod of his head and clenched his teeth tighter. The chubby legs stopped moving and Linnae’s red eyes teared up again. She threw herself into Daisy’s arms, sobbing so hard that she couldn’t talk.
“Linnae? Are you hurt?” She couldn’t tell Daisy and Knut wasn’t speaking.
Hearing Linnae’s cry, Dean went into Superdad mode. He swept her up out of Daisy’s arms and comforted her as best he could. “I need to speak to the principal now! I don’t care if he’s in a meeting. He called us and someone is going to tell us what the hell is going on!”
That got people moving. They were ushered into the principal’s office shortly after Dean’s outburst.
“Mr. Winchester. We’re trying to piece together what happened on the playground but neither one of your children will speak to us. Another child was injured. This isn’t something we can ignore.” The principal wrung his hands. He was a little scared of Mr. Winchester.
Linnae had fallen asleep in Dean’s arms. He handed her off to Daisy and she slept on.
“Knut. Come here.” Dean could see his son was shaking with the anger he was holding inside. “I want you to tell me what happened.”
The first grade boy looked at the principal.
“Don’t worry about him or where we are. Just tell me.”
Knut was silent for a moment as he chose his words carefully. “It’s wrong to say things to hurt people.” Dean nodded, urging him on. “I stopped the words. That’s what I’m supposed to do, right?”
Baffled, he looked at his son and saw how his eyes kept cutting to the side to look at Daisy and Linnae.
"Daisy? Do you want to take her out of the office? She's been upset enough for one day." Dean smiled at his wife, knowing that she wouldn't go very far.
"We'll be just outside the door."
When the door closed, Dean asked, “What didn’t you want to say in front of Linnae or Daisy?”
He was so distraught. When Dean put him on his lap, Knut put his hands around Dean’s neck. He was still trembling. “He told Linnae that Daisy isn’t our real mom. He said our real mom didn’t want us and Daisy’s a retard. Over and over. Linnae cried. I pushed him.” His voice wavered, “Am I in big trouble now? I didn’t want to say in front of Daisy because she’s not a retard, she’s my mom.”
“You did good, Son. Real good.” Dean glared at the principal. “Did you get all that? I’m taking them home for the rest of the day.”
“That’s for the best,” the older man sighed.
“I expect you will handle this matter and speak with the other child’s parents. Knut and Linnae are going to stick together. Better the school system figures that out now. My kids know not to hurt others. Isn’t that something you try to teach here?”
“Yes, Mr. Winchester. The teacher didn’t notice there was trouble until the other student was on the ground. We’ll add more teachers when the classes go outside. All students should be comfortable here.”
Dean scoffed. “Yeah. You work on that.” He turned on his heel, walked out and took his family for ice cream.
***
"What happened after I left?" Daisy asked him later that night.
"Not much." Dean replied. "Knut knows not to do it again and the principal knows not to mess with one Winchester or he'll get them all."
Daisy frowned and she bit her lip. "Think they'll be happy when they find out they're getting a little brother or sister?"
Wrapping his wife in his arms, he told her, "They'll be as thrilled as I am. Linnae and Knut understand the meaning of family. Besides, we just found out. We have some time before we have to share the news. We'll think of the right thing to say before then."
"I hope so."
"I know so." Dean rested his palms on her lower belly, knowing that a large part of their future was inside. He was happy, content.
Dean felt that he was the luckiest man in the world. He had an amazing wife, great kids, good friends and a brother that would go through hell for him. He knew not to take it for granted. John had no doubt felt the same before Mary died.
He couldn't fault the way he grew up because he'd learned all the important lessons of life:
Family comes first.
Loyalty is key.
And, because of John's obsession to kill the demon responsible for taking his wife, love never dies.
The End